Rating the Presidents
Ronald Reagan, 40th President: 1981-1989
Economy: When Reagan was elected in 1980, the economy had nowhere to go but up. High inflation (13%), high interest rates, and slow economic growth had combined to create the dreaded term “stagflation.” Reagan pushed through a broad series of tax cuts in the summer of 1981, which initially provoked an even deeper recession in early 1982, but which in turn tamed inflation and brought about lower interest rates. The taming of inflation and lower interest rates sparked an economic recovery beginning in 1983. By 1984, reelection year, the economy was smoking, but genuine prosperity was mostly confined to those in the higher income brackets. Additionally, despite his promise to reduce the size of the Federal government, spending skyrocketed during the Reagan Era, producing unprecedented deficits. While it was convenient to blame the Democratic controlled Congress for the high deficits, in fact the budgets Congress approved invariably had lower debt/asset ratios than those proposed by the White House. Anxiety over deficits and the savings and loan crisis provoked the Stock Market crash of 1987, but the economy generally continued functioning well. By 1989, however, the near tripling of the national debt had taken its toll and the country headed into another, milder, recession.
Civil Rights: In 1964, Reagan initially opposed the Civil Rights Act as an intrusion of the Federal government into State authority. During his tenure as President, Reagan opposed an expansion of existing civil rights laws, and opposed the creation of new civil rights laws to cover homosexuals. However, he did not roll back existing laws. His appointments to the Supreme Court, particularly Antonin Scalia, generally favored a strict-constructionalist philosophy, which held the Constitution should be interpreted within 18th Century parameters. Two of his appointments, Justices O’Connor and Kennedy, turned out to be more moderate than conservative.
Domestic Affairs: Reagan was painfully slow to respond to the looming AIDS crisis of the 1980s. Money for research into GRID, as it was then known, was painfully scant. Indeed, the Federal Government made no attempt to inform the public about ways to protect themselves from AIDS until 1986, when Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, acting on his own initiative, sent informational pamphlets to every household in the United States. Far right conservatives were up in arms about Koop’s advocacy of the use of condoms to prevent transmission and demanded Koop’s dismissal. Reagan, despite his own reservations about the mailing, refused to fire Koop. During the 1980s, much of the country’s infrastructure was neglected, which put a greater strain on local and state governments. Despite his philosophy calling for a retreat of Federal power in favor of more local control, Reagan strong armed state governments on several issues. During his second term, he threatened to hold back Federal highway funding to states unless they raised the drinking age to 21, which they promptly did. Reagan ran on an anti-welfare platform, but was unable to work out a deal with Democrats to reform the Welfare system. Welfare would go unreformed until the Clinton Era. Reagan also ran on a platform calling for a return to prayer in public schools and an end to abortion, neither of which happened.
Foreign Affairs: Reagan’s principle goal on taking office was to triumph over the Soviet Union in the Cold War. The Soviets made the critical mistake of underestimating Reagan as a B-movie actor who would be ineffective in the White House. But Reagan put into place a duel policy of arms buildup (which he called Peace through Strength) and diplomatic pressure, at a time when the older generation of Soviet leaders were dropping like flies. With younger, reformist Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, Reagan signed the first ever treaty reducing nuclear arms. His policies were effective, and the Berlin Wall fell eleven months after Reagan left office, with the peaceful breakup of the Soviet Union coming two years later. Although the eventual breakup of the Soviet Union was inevitable given their financial woes, Reagan deserves some credit for accelerating the process and moving history along ahead of itself. Reagan’s Cold War focus tended to push aside other foreign affair priorities, resulting in long term consequences, particularly in the Middle East. The 1982 bombing of marine headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon, caused the deaths of 241 marines. Reagan condemned the attacks, but made little effort to bring the bombers to justice or retaliate against their organization. This inaction left the door open for further terrorist actions, culminating in the Al Queda attack on September 11, 2001. He also cozied up to Saddam Hussein in a short sighted attempt to balance influence from Iran. Reagan, despite his image as a trigger happy cowboy, was reluctant to use military force if avoidable. Both the 1984 incursion into Grenada and the 1986 bombing of Libian intelligence headquarters were restrained, small scale operations.
Honesty/Integrity: Although personally an honest man, Reagan’s “hands-off” management style resulted in senior and junior staffers not being adequately monitored. Edwin Meese provided illegal assistance while he was Counselor to the President to the Wedtech Corporation. Interior Secretary James Watt was convicted in a 1980s influence-peddling scandal at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. These scandals were overshadowed by the Iran-Contra affair, which for a time threatened to bring down Reagan’s Presidency. It has never been conclusively proven that Reagan had direct knowledge of the diversion of funds to the Contras. (Reagan’s apparent confusion about which conversations he had at what time have led some to believe that he may have been in the early stages of Alzheimer’s Disease during his second term.) Reagan cooperated fully with the investigation, and accepted full responsibility for the affair. Just as with the Captain of a ship, the President is ultimately responsible for the actions of those in his administration.
Summary: Ronald Reagan, returned a measure of prestige to the Presidency, which had been battered by corruption (Nixon) and incompetence (Carter). Through the force of his personality, he brought confidence back to an American public which had been demoralized by defeat in Vietnam, Watergate, gas lines, and runaway inflation. Beyond question, the country as a whole was better off in 1989 than it had been in 1981. These achievements were not without cost or compromise, and it will take generations for the American people to pay down the debt created during his presidency. Despite these shortcomings, Reagan ranks as a better than average President and a true leader who was unafraid to take unpopular stands. He deserves neither the deification dished out by uncritical sycophants, nor the vitriolic condemnation that has been leveled at him by others. During the five years he was in the public eye after leaving office, Reagan was willing to take on his own party over several issues, including the Brady gun control bill. Alzheimer’s Disease robbed Reagan of ten years of elder statesmanship, and it is interesting to speculate how the former President would have reacted to the issues of the time.
Economy 8
Civil Rights 4
Domestic Affairs 3
Foreign Affairs 8
Honesty/Integrity 6
Average: 5.8
Friday, June 11, 2004
Friday, June 4, 2004
How Bush and Hitler are alike
My readers at this point must be thinking, "Bush, like Hitler? Drake must have gone mad. How can Bush be anything like Hitler?"
But bear with me. I am not saying Bush is another Hitler. Hitler was evil. President Bush is merely corrupt. And for the record, everyone has something in common with someone nefarious in human history. For example, I share a common characteristic with Hitler: Good taste in music.
Bush and Hitler's commonality is a tendency to take complex issues and boil them down to simple solutions.
Hitler underestimated America because he was ignorant of its complexity. His prime source of knowkedge on America was a series of Western he had read (ironically, written by a German author), combined with his racial beliefs. He was astonished when an African-American won a gold medal in the 1936 Olympics. In 1942, when President Roosevelt announced sky-high goals for war production, Hitler laughed the numbers off (he actually belived FDR was insane). There was no way America--a nation of Negroes, Jews, and mongrels--could produce war materiel in anywhere near the numbers FDR proposed (actually, FDR's projections were ultimately exceeded). People have had the mistaken notion that Hitler was some kind of diabolical "genius" because he was a fair painter, had good taste in music, and was a dynamic public speaker. In reality, he was a second rate intellect who couldn't handle ambiguity or inconsistency.
Bush's main criticism of Kerry thus far has been the Senator's inconsistency on various issues. But most great politicians have contradicted themselves at one time or another. Bush, like Hitler, prefers to boil down complex problems to simple formulas. "You're either with us or against us...dead or alive" etc. Bush is a prisoner of his own simple mind. Pray that America is not mentally imprisoned by Bush another four years.
But bear with me. I am not saying Bush is another Hitler. Hitler was evil. President Bush is merely corrupt. And for the record, everyone has something in common with someone nefarious in human history. For example, I share a common characteristic with Hitler: Good taste in music.
Bush and Hitler's commonality is a tendency to take complex issues and boil them down to simple solutions.
Hitler underestimated America because he was ignorant of its complexity. His prime source of knowkedge on America was a series of Western he had read (ironically, written by a German author), combined with his racial beliefs. He was astonished when an African-American won a gold medal in the 1936 Olympics. In 1942, when President Roosevelt announced sky-high goals for war production, Hitler laughed the numbers off (he actually belived FDR was insane). There was no way America--a nation of Negroes, Jews, and mongrels--could produce war materiel in anywhere near the numbers FDR proposed (actually, FDR's projections were ultimately exceeded). People have had the mistaken notion that Hitler was some kind of diabolical "genius" because he was a fair painter, had good taste in music, and was a dynamic public speaker. In reality, he was a second rate intellect who couldn't handle ambiguity or inconsistency.
Bush's main criticism of Kerry thus far has been the Senator's inconsistency on various issues. But most great politicians have contradicted themselves at one time or another. Bush, like Hitler, prefers to boil down complex problems to simple formulas. "You're either with us or against us...dead or alive" etc. Bush is a prisoner of his own simple mind. Pray that America is not mentally imprisoned by Bush another four years.
Friday, May 21, 2004
Church & State
Despite what religious fundamentalists and the misinformed will tell you, the United States was not founded on Christianity. The founding fathers were largely DEISTS--the closest equivalent today would be Unitarian Universalists. The US Constitution does not mention God once, and there is only a fleeting reference to divine providence in the Declaration of Independence.
The bedrock principle of the federal government has been one of NEUTRALITY with respect to religion, which is precisely what the First Amendment was written to ensure. That neutrality has been chipped away since 1954 when "In God We Trust" was put on the money and "Under God" was added to the Pledge of Allegiance. Bush's faith based initiatives have further eroded the First Amendment.
In am of the Chrisitian faith. However, I have no desire to see that faith forced upon anyone. I am also cognizant that the separation of church and state has part of its basis in the New Testament ("Render to Caesar what is Caesar's and unto God what is God's"). That seems to escape some of the more fundamentalist Christians.
I have no desire to see the United States morph into a Christian Iran, and I suspect the vast majority of Americans agree with me, whatever their personal religious beliefs.
“The government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion.” - Treaty of Tripoli, signed by John Adams (giving it full power of law - read the Constitution)
“Twenty times in the course of my late reading, have I been upon the point of breaking out, ‘this would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it.’” - John Adams
“Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between church and State.” - Thomas Jefferson
“...an amendment was proposed by inserting the words, ‘Jesus Christ...the holy author of our religion,’ which was rejected ‘By a great majority in proof that they meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and the Mohammedan, the Hindoo and the Infidel of every denomination.’” - Thomas Jefferson
“Our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions, more than on our opinions in physics and geometry. . . .” - Thomas Jefferson
“The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg. . . .” - Thomas Jefferson
“The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the Supreme Being as his father, in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter.” - Thomas Jefferson
“Religion and government will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together.” - James Madison
“My parents had given me betimes religious impressions, and I received from my infancy a pious education in the principles of Calvinism. But scarcely was I arrived at fifteen years of age, when, after having doubted in turn of different tenets, according as I found them combated in the different books that I read, I began to doubt of Revelation itself.” - Benjamin Franklin
“It is the duty of every true Deist to vindicate the moral justice of God against the evils of the Bible.” - Thomas Paine
The bedrock principle of the federal government has been one of NEUTRALITY with respect to religion, which is precisely what the First Amendment was written to ensure. That neutrality has been chipped away since 1954 when "In God We Trust" was put on the money and "Under God" was added to the Pledge of Allegiance. Bush's faith based initiatives have further eroded the First Amendment.
In am of the Chrisitian faith. However, I have no desire to see that faith forced upon anyone. I am also cognizant that the separation of church and state has part of its basis in the New Testament ("Render to Caesar what is Caesar's and unto God what is God's"). That seems to escape some of the more fundamentalist Christians.
I have no desire to see the United States morph into a Christian Iran, and I suspect the vast majority of Americans agree with me, whatever their personal religious beliefs.
“The government of the United States is not in any sense founded on the Christian religion.” - Treaty of Tripoli, signed by John Adams (giving it full power of law - read the Constitution)
“Twenty times in the course of my late reading, have I been upon the point of breaking out, ‘this would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it.’” - John Adams
“Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legislative powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should ‘make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof,’ thus building a wall of separation between church and State.” - Thomas Jefferson
“...an amendment was proposed by inserting the words, ‘Jesus Christ...the holy author of our religion,’ which was rejected ‘By a great majority in proof that they meant to comprehend, within the mantle of its protection, the Jew and the Gentile, the Christian and the Mohammedan, the Hindoo and the Infidel of every denomination.’” - Thomas Jefferson
“Our civil rights have no dependence on our religious opinions, more than on our opinions in physics and geometry. . . .” - Thomas Jefferson
“The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg. . . .” - Thomas Jefferson
“The day will come when the mystical generation of Jesus, by the Supreme Being as his father, in the womb of a virgin, will be classed with the fable of the generation of Minerva in the brain of Jupiter.” - Thomas Jefferson
“Religion and government will both exist in greater purity, the less they are mixed together.” - James Madison
“My parents had given me betimes religious impressions, and I received from my infancy a pious education in the principles of Calvinism. But scarcely was I arrived at fifteen years of age, when, after having doubted in turn of different tenets, according as I found them combated in the different books that I read, I began to doubt of Revelation itself.” - Benjamin Franklin
“It is the duty of every true Deist to vindicate the moral justice of God against the evils of the Bible.” - Thomas Paine
Saturday, May 15, 2004
Bushisms
There's a bunch of em, but trust me, this list can go on and on and on:
"Just remember it's the birds that's supposed to suffer, not the hunter."—Advising quail hunter and New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici, Roswell, N.M., Jan. 22, 2004
"So thank you for reminding me about the importance of being a good mom and a great volunteer as well."—St. Louis, Jan. 5, 2004
"The best way to find these terrorists who hide in holes is to get people coming forth to describe the location of the hole, is to give clues and data."
"The ambassador and the general were briefing me on the—the vast majority of Iraqis want to live in a peaceful, free world. And we will find these people and we will bring them to justice."—Washington, D.C., Oct. 27, 2003
"I glance at the headlines just to kind of get a flavor for what's moving. I rarely read the stories, and get briefed by people who are probably read the news themselves."—Washington, D.C., Sept. 21, 2003
"I'm the master of low expectations."—Aboard Air Force One, June 4, 2003
"First, let me make it very clear, poor people aren't necessarily killers. Just because you happen to be not rich doesn't mean you're willing to kill."—Washington, D.C., May 19, 2003
"I think the American people—I hope the American–I don't think, let me—I hope the American people trust me."—Washington, D.C., Dec. 18, 2002
"We need an energy bill that encourages consumption."—Trenton, N.J., Sept. 23, 2002
"There's an old saying in Tennessee—I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee—that says, fool me once, shame on—shame on you. Fool me—you can't get fooled again."—Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002
"Do you have blacks, too?"—To Brazilian President Fernando Cardoso, Washington, D.C., Nov. 8, 2001
"Our nation must come together to unite."—Tampa, Fla., June 4, 2001
"Natural gas is hemispheric. I like to call it hemispheric in nature because it is a product that we can find in our neighborhoods."
Austin, Texas, Dec. 20, 2000
"The great thing about America is everybody should vote."
Austin, Texas, Dec. 8, 2000
"They want the federal government controlling Social Security like it's some kind of federal program."
St. Charles, Mo., Nov. 2, 2000
"There's not going to be enough people in the system to take advantage of people like me."
-On the coming Social Security crisis; Wilton, Conn.; June 9, 2000
"The fact that he relies on facts...says things that are not factual...are going to undermine his campaign."
-New York Times, March 4, 2000
"I think we agree, the past is over."
-On his meeting with John McCain, Dallas Morning News, May 10, 2000
"It's clearly a budget. It's got a lot of numbers in it." -Reuters, May 5, 2000
"I was raised in the West. The west of Texas. It's pretty close to California. In more ways than Washington, D.C., is close to California."
-In Los Angeles as quoted by the Los Angeles Times, April 8, 2000
"It is not Reaganesque to support a tax plan that is Clinton in nature."
-Los Angeles, Feb. 23, 2000
"Will the highways on the Internet become more few?"
-Concord, N.H., Jan. 29, 2000
"Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?"
-Florence, S.C., Jan. 11, 2000
"I think anybody who doesn't think I'm smart enough to handle the job is underestimating."
-U.S. News & World Report, April 3, 2000
"Just remember it's the birds that's supposed to suffer, not the hunter."—Advising quail hunter and New Mexico Sen. Pete Domenici, Roswell, N.M., Jan. 22, 2004
"So thank you for reminding me about the importance of being a good mom and a great volunteer as well."—St. Louis, Jan. 5, 2004
"The best way to find these terrorists who hide in holes is to get people coming forth to describe the location of the hole, is to give clues and data."
"The ambassador and the general were briefing me on the—the vast majority of Iraqis want to live in a peaceful, free world. And we will find these people and we will bring them to justice."—Washington, D.C., Oct. 27, 2003
"I glance at the headlines just to kind of get a flavor for what's moving. I rarely read the stories, and get briefed by people who are probably read the news themselves."—Washington, D.C., Sept. 21, 2003
"I'm the master of low expectations."—Aboard Air Force One, June 4, 2003
"First, let me make it very clear, poor people aren't necessarily killers. Just because you happen to be not rich doesn't mean you're willing to kill."—Washington, D.C., May 19, 2003
"I think the American people—I hope the American–I don't think, let me—I hope the American people trust me."—Washington, D.C., Dec. 18, 2002
"We need an energy bill that encourages consumption."—Trenton, N.J., Sept. 23, 2002
"There's an old saying in Tennessee—I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee—that says, fool me once, shame on—shame on you. Fool me—you can't get fooled again."—Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002
"Do you have blacks, too?"—To Brazilian President Fernando Cardoso, Washington, D.C., Nov. 8, 2001
"Our nation must come together to unite."—Tampa, Fla., June 4, 2001
"Natural gas is hemispheric. I like to call it hemispheric in nature because it is a product that we can find in our neighborhoods."
Austin, Texas, Dec. 20, 2000
"The great thing about America is everybody should vote."
Austin, Texas, Dec. 8, 2000
"They want the federal government controlling Social Security like it's some kind of federal program."
St. Charles, Mo., Nov. 2, 2000
"There's not going to be enough people in the system to take advantage of people like me."
-On the coming Social Security crisis; Wilton, Conn.; June 9, 2000
"The fact that he relies on facts...says things that are not factual...are going to undermine his campaign."
-New York Times, March 4, 2000
"I think we agree, the past is over."
-On his meeting with John McCain, Dallas Morning News, May 10, 2000
"It's clearly a budget. It's got a lot of numbers in it." -Reuters, May 5, 2000
"I was raised in the West. The west of Texas. It's pretty close to California. In more ways than Washington, D.C., is close to California."
-In Los Angeles as quoted by the Los Angeles Times, April 8, 2000
"It is not Reaganesque to support a tax plan that is Clinton in nature."
-Los Angeles, Feb. 23, 2000
"Will the highways on the Internet become more few?"
-Concord, N.H., Jan. 29, 2000
"Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?"
-Florence, S.C., Jan. 11, 2000
"I think anybody who doesn't think I'm smart enough to handle the job is underestimating."
-U.S. News & World Report, April 3, 2000
Thursday, May 13, 2004
Bush, not destined for Mount Rushmore
Given the recent performance of the stock market, the likely rise in interest rates, and the skyrocketing oil prices, I think we're headed for a third dip into a recessionary pattern.
Bush's lack of leadership is shown better nowhere than in that stupid speech he gave to Congress days after 9/11. Instead of asking Americans to sacrifice for the common good (as FDR did in his 1942 State of the Union), he essentially told citizens to "go about your business," i.e., spend the country out of the recession. He should have told people to stop driving their SUVs, then pushed Congress into passing legislation to make hybrid or alternative fuel cars mandatory by 2010. Going into Afghanistan was justified. Too bad he didn't stay there & finish the job.
Iraq has been a disaster: 700+ American lives and counting. Nick Berg was not killed by Saddam loyalists, he was killed by Al Queda terrorists who would not be in Iraq if Bush had not gotten us into this mess.
Gays like myself have not been this pissed off at the government since the 1980s. Many in the community would have been more than content to accept a compromise like Civil Unions, or would have at least been gratified to hear Bush say something like "let's have a reasoned national discussion on this issue." He did not. Rather, he kowtowed to the far right of his party by calling for a Constitutional Amendment to ban same-sex marriage. Many in the gay community are becoming entrenched in their views--Bush's actions this winter amount to a gay Pearl Harbor. And I'm sorry to put it so bluntly, but any gay/lesbian voter who supports Bush is a deluded fool and a traitor to our community.
As far as education goes, here in Ohio things have never been so bad. The religious right has taken over numerous school boards and state agencies, and is now pushing a right wing agenda including abstinence only education and creationism. Things here have gotten so bad that, had I children, I would send them to a private school where they could get decent education in the arts and sciences.
Bush is no leader. Leadership by definition means influencing public opinion THROUGH THE FORCE OF ONE'S IDEAS. Bush has no ideas, only misinformation about WMDs and Iraq/An Queda links. He's also terrified of contradicting public opinion. Has this guy ever even vetoed anything?
Bush's presidency is the worst failure in American politics since the demise of Herbert Hoover. Hopefully, come November, the Bush dynasty will be relegated to the ash-heap of American politics--forever.
Bush's lack of leadership is shown better nowhere than in that stupid speech he gave to Congress days after 9/11. Instead of asking Americans to sacrifice for the common good (as FDR did in his 1942 State of the Union), he essentially told citizens to "go about your business," i.e., spend the country out of the recession. He should have told people to stop driving their SUVs, then pushed Congress into passing legislation to make hybrid or alternative fuel cars mandatory by 2010. Going into Afghanistan was justified. Too bad he didn't stay there & finish the job.
Iraq has been a disaster: 700+ American lives and counting. Nick Berg was not killed by Saddam loyalists, he was killed by Al Queda terrorists who would not be in Iraq if Bush had not gotten us into this mess.
Gays like myself have not been this pissed off at the government since the 1980s. Many in the community would have been more than content to accept a compromise like Civil Unions, or would have at least been gratified to hear Bush say something like "let's have a reasoned national discussion on this issue." He did not. Rather, he kowtowed to the far right of his party by calling for a Constitutional Amendment to ban same-sex marriage. Many in the gay community are becoming entrenched in their views--Bush's actions this winter amount to a gay Pearl Harbor. And I'm sorry to put it so bluntly, but any gay/lesbian voter who supports Bush is a deluded fool and a traitor to our community.
As far as education goes, here in Ohio things have never been so bad. The religious right has taken over numerous school boards and state agencies, and is now pushing a right wing agenda including abstinence only education and creationism. Things here have gotten so bad that, had I children, I would send them to a private school where they could get decent education in the arts and sciences.
Bush is no leader. Leadership by definition means influencing public opinion THROUGH THE FORCE OF ONE'S IDEAS. Bush has no ideas, only misinformation about WMDs and Iraq/An Queda links. He's also terrified of contradicting public opinion. Has this guy ever even vetoed anything?
Bush's presidency is the worst failure in American politics since the demise of Herbert Hoover. Hopefully, come November, the Bush dynasty will be relegated to the ash-heap of American politics--forever.
Sunday, April 18, 2004
Stephen Scores
Saturday night, I went to Severance Hall to see Stephen Hough perform Rachmaninoff’s Second Concerto with the Cleveland Orchestra. Ivan Fischer was the guest conductor.
The program at Severance was all Russian. The brief excepts from Prokofiev’s Love for Three Oranges were played with bite and pungency. Then Stephen Hough came onstage for the Rachmaninoff.
Immediately, I knew we were in for a commanding performance. The pianist did not linger over the opening chords as is customary, but played them strictly in time. The tempo for the first movement was a bit faster then usual, and was expunged of all the “traditional” ritardandos and accellerandos that pervade all too many performances of this piece. Conversely, the second movement was a bit slower than usual. Not dragged like Pogorelich has done, but there were blessed moments of suspended animation. My only complaint was that in the slow movement’s wrap-up, the strings were too loud, so that the woodwind triplets were obscured. The finale went at a great clip, with liberal mixing of inner voices on Hough’s part. There was a brief lapse (a mis-struck bass note), which Hough acknowledged with a sheepish grin toward the conductor.
The rest of the concert went well, a rousing Stravinsky Petrouchka suite (the 1947 version) was followed by a searing performance of Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet. I must admit, after hearing how the orchestra played their hearts out under Ivan Fischer, that my first thought was that Cleveland’s powers that be should vigorously recruit him and ditch Franz Welser-Most—-who has been dubbed Frankly Worse that Most by more than one critic.
The program at Severance was all Russian. The brief excepts from Prokofiev’s Love for Three Oranges were played with bite and pungency. Then Stephen Hough came onstage for the Rachmaninoff.
Immediately, I knew we were in for a commanding performance. The pianist did not linger over the opening chords as is customary, but played them strictly in time. The tempo for the first movement was a bit faster then usual, and was expunged of all the “traditional” ritardandos and accellerandos that pervade all too many performances of this piece. Conversely, the second movement was a bit slower than usual. Not dragged like Pogorelich has done, but there were blessed moments of suspended animation. My only complaint was that in the slow movement’s wrap-up, the strings were too loud, so that the woodwind triplets were obscured. The finale went at a great clip, with liberal mixing of inner voices on Hough’s part. There was a brief lapse (a mis-struck bass note), which Hough acknowledged with a sheepish grin toward the conductor.
The rest of the concert went well, a rousing Stravinsky Petrouchka suite (the 1947 version) was followed by a searing performance of Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet. I must admit, after hearing how the orchestra played their hearts out under Ivan Fischer, that my first thought was that Cleveland’s powers that be should vigorously recruit him and ditch Franz Welser-Most—-who has been dubbed Frankly Worse that Most by more than one critic.
Thursday, April 1, 2004
"No fingers!"
That was a remark pianist Moritz Rosenthal is alleged to have made upon hearing that fellow pianist Artur Schnabel had been rejected from military service.
Last night my friend I went to see the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra with Conductor Carl Topilow at Severance Hall. It’s always a treat to hear them at Severance, since their usual locale, Kulas Hall, tends to be a bit dry acoustically.
The CIM played the first half of the program superbly. Carl Topilow hadn’t even waited for the applause to finish before he lanched into a rollicking Maskarade Overture by Nielsen. The orchestra brought sustained pianissimo playing in the Britten Passacaglia from Peter Grimes, and superb ensemble work in one of my favorites, Prokofiev’s suite from Lieutenant Kije. The trumpet soloist contributed some fine work, discreetly darting on and off stage for his more distant solos. It is no exaggeration to say that the CIM’s kids play at a level that many professional orchestras would envy.
After intermission came the Beethoven Concerto in G Major, my favorite Beethoven Concerto and one of my favorite Concertos in the entire repertoire. The soloist was Jerome Lowenthal, who was greeted with a big publicity splash in Sunday’s Plain Dealer. Again, the orchestral contribution was fine. The same can’t be said for Lowenthal’s playing. The performance was a mis-mash of dropped (not played) notes, wrong notes, awkward phrasing, poor balance between piano and orchestra (entirely the fault of the soloist) and overpedalling to the extent that Beethoven’s piano writing was at times incomprehensible. This is a professional pianist? Half the students at CIM could play it better than he did. Indeed, at the 1997 competition several contestants played this very same concerto, and they all did a better job. I’ve heard about 40 different performances of this concerto, from legendary interpreters such as Kempff and Rubinstein, all the way down to students, but I have never heard the piece sloppily molested as it was last night. What a disappointment!
About the only point of interest in Lowenthal’s performance was the fact that he played a new Cadenza by Rzewski in the first movement and one by Medtner in the last. Rumor has it he’s to record the concerto with several different cadenzas, which the listener may choose from, but that would be the only reason to buy this disc.
Last night my friend I went to see the Cleveland Institute of Music Orchestra with Conductor Carl Topilow at Severance Hall. It’s always a treat to hear them at Severance, since their usual locale, Kulas Hall, tends to be a bit dry acoustically.
The CIM played the first half of the program superbly. Carl Topilow hadn’t even waited for the applause to finish before he lanched into a rollicking Maskarade Overture by Nielsen. The orchestra brought sustained pianissimo playing in the Britten Passacaglia from Peter Grimes, and superb ensemble work in one of my favorites, Prokofiev’s suite from Lieutenant Kije. The trumpet soloist contributed some fine work, discreetly darting on and off stage for his more distant solos. It is no exaggeration to say that the CIM’s kids play at a level that many professional orchestras would envy.
After intermission came the Beethoven Concerto in G Major, my favorite Beethoven Concerto and one of my favorite Concertos in the entire repertoire. The soloist was Jerome Lowenthal, who was greeted with a big publicity splash in Sunday’s Plain Dealer. Again, the orchestral contribution was fine. The same can’t be said for Lowenthal’s playing. The performance was a mis-mash of dropped (not played) notes, wrong notes, awkward phrasing, poor balance between piano and orchestra (entirely the fault of the soloist) and overpedalling to the extent that Beethoven’s piano writing was at times incomprehensible. This is a professional pianist? Half the students at CIM could play it better than he did. Indeed, at the 1997 competition several contestants played this very same concerto, and they all did a better job. I’ve heard about 40 different performances of this concerto, from legendary interpreters such as Kempff and Rubinstein, all the way down to students, but I have never heard the piece sloppily molested as it was last night. What a disappointment!
About the only point of interest in Lowenthal’s performance was the fact that he played a new Cadenza by Rzewski in the first movement and one by Medtner in the last. Rumor has it he’s to record the concerto with several different cadenzas, which the listener may choose from, but that would be the only reason to buy this disc.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
