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New York Times
16-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Times
Michael Flynn, a Trump Ally, Sponsors Beethoven at the Kennedy Center
The list of donors to the National Symphony Orchestra, one of the Kennedy Center's flagship ensembles, is usually filled with financiers, socialites, corporations and foundations. But the name of a sponsor of this week's performances of Beethoven's 'Missa Solemnis' stood out. It was Michael T. Flynn, the general and former national security adviser during President Trump's first term. He was listed, along with his nonprofit, America's Future Inc., as 'performance sponsors' for the National Symphony Orchestra's concerts from May 15 to 17. Mr. Flynn said on social media that his nonprofit was 'thrilled to sponsor a spectacular three-night performance at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts!' 'This performance is filled with a vibrant celebration of music, culture, and the unyielding spirit uniting all Americans,' he wrote in a post on X. 'The Kennedy Center shines as a proud symbol of our nation's legacy!' Mr. Flynn's gift to the National Symphony Orchestra totaled $300,000, according to two people familiar with the donation who were granted anonymity because details of the gift were not publicized. Officials at the Kennedy Center said they did not have details of the gift. 'We didn't know how much but we welcome all sponsorships,' the center said in a statement. With his gift, Mr. Flynn has emerged as one of the most prominent donors to the Kennedy Center since Mr. Trump's takeover in February. Mr. Trump purged the center's board of all Biden appointees and installed himself as chairman, ousting the financier David M. Rubenstein, who had given well over $100 million over the years and helped raise considerably more. Mr. Flynn's gift is somewhat unusual for the Kennedy Center. While the center has long taken in donations from individuals, as well corporations, military contractors and even foreign governments, it has rarely received such large gifts from politicians. Mr. Flynn is a contentious figure, having pleaded guilty to lying to the F.B.I. about his conversations with a Russian diplomat during a wider investigation into contacts between the first Trump presidential campaign and Russian officials. Mr. Trump later pardoned Mr. Flynn. America's Future Inc. has also been the subject of scrutiny. A New York Times investigation last year found the group was making payments to Mr. Flynn's relatives and amplifying conspiracy theories. Representatives for Mr. Flynn and America's Future Inc. did not immediately respond to requests for comment. On Friday, Mr. Flynn posted a video showing him speaking at a reception after Thursday's concert, where he met National Symphony Orchestra staff members; other donors; and the ensemble's music director, Gianandrea Noseda. It is still unclear how Mr. Trump's takeover is affecting donations at the Kennedy Center, which relies heavily on philanthropy to survive. The president has promised to remake the center, and he recently requested $257 million from Congress to help with capital repairs and other costs, according to lawmakers. Fund-raising remains a challenge at the center, which hosts more than 2,000 engagements each year. The center receives only a small portion of its $268 million budget — about $43 million, or 16 percent — from the federal government. And the center's endowment, at $163 million, is relatively small for an institution of its size.
The Guardian
11-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Missa Solemnis review – glorious and memorable Beethoven
Beethoven believed his Missa Solemnis to be his best work, a labour of love and faith. Conceived on a symphonic scale, the huge demands this great and weightiest of choral masterpieces makes on his voices, treating them as instruments, are a deterrent to any but the finest choruses. Here, under the baton of Andrew Manze, the fearless and very fine BBC National Chorus of Wales – schooled by chorus director Adrian Partington – acquitted themselves admirably. They tackled the high tessitura, notably the sopranos, and the tricky fugal writing with impunity and remarkable stamina. In the context of Llandaff Cathedral, despite their slightly awkward placement in the choir stalls behind Jacob Epstein's Majestas, they maximised the resonance and, in the parts of the mass whose prevailing mood is not at all solemn, were joyful and exultant. Yet it was the exceptional quality of the solo quartet – treated by Beethoven as a micro-chorus, without any individual arias and set against the body of massed voices – that allowed the music's complex structure to emerge clearly. Soprano Carolyn Sampson, mezzo Sophie Harmsen, tenor Ed Lyon and bass Darren Jeffery were particularly well-matched in terms of vivid projection and richness of tone. In music as testing as any key operatic role, they nevertheless blended together, each ceding one to the other, in the manner of a string quartet, with Sampson soaring gloriously high in crowning passages. At the heart of the Sanctus section, the Benedictus is simply extraordinary. In it, these four voices realised a sublime expressive beauty, heightened by Beethoven's interpolation of an ethereal solo violin, weaving in and around the vocal lines, perhaps inspired by the example of Bach and wonderfully played here by leader Lesley Hatfield. Eloquent playing by principals in the BBC National Orchestra of Wales also marked this memorable evening. There may have been the odd quibble about the occasional loss of detail in the overall wealth of sound, but this was a performance whose broadcast on Radio 3 next week should not be missed. On BBC Radio 3 on Maundy Thursday, 17 April
