tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post2083643894251401783..comments2024-03-26T15:57:13.443+00:00Comments on On An Overgrown Path: He made a kid love BrucknerUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8060605.post-83566666989263024042013-02-11T12:05:38.224+00:002013-02-11T12:05:38.224+00:00A fine and fitting tribute by John McLaughlin Will...A fine and fitting tribute by John McLaughlin Williams. I moved from London to Canada the same year DePreist became conductor of the Quebec Symphony. I heard many of their broadcast concerts and remained an ardent admirer of his work thereafter. He was there only four years, but his long tenure with the Oregon demonstrated that he was an orchestra builder par excellence -- he put it firmly on the map as an ensemble to be reckoned with, while endearing himself to orchestra and public alike. His orchestra he treated as colleagues, the public as friends, known as 'Jimmy' to all. Honours he did receive aplenty, but I should much like to see his recordings given more recognition. His Shostakovich cycle with the Helsinki Philharmonic should be mentioned alongside some of the best in comparative reviews, perhaps especially the tricky 11th, and I think also of his recording of Rachmaninov's 2nd symphony with the Oregon, a recording which also introduced me to Respighi's orchestration of one of the etudes-tableaux.<br /><br />Any neglect of talent rankles with me, and yes, as with Dean Dixon, I should like to have seen Jimmy in charge of a top-ranking orchestra, but as an African American in a less than always welcoming milieu, and to boot a man who had to cope with the loss of the use of his legs owing to polio, his achievements were as wondrous as his spirit and humility.Philip Amoshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11739418522974972567noreply@blogger.com