Latest news with #Seventh
Chicago Tribune
14-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Chicago Tribune
CSO gives a sneak peek of its big Amsterdam trip with upcoming Mahler concerts
Forget Lollapalooza and all the rest. The hottest festival ticket happens just once a generation, if not once a lifetime. That would be the Mahler Festival, a musical G20 summit of sorts celebrating the life and legacy of Gustav Mahler. From May 8 to 18, orchestras from around the world will convene in Amsterdam to perform the composer and conductor's complete orchestral works, marathon-style. This year's Mahler Festival is notable for two reasons. First off, it's just the third in history: The festival was founded in 1920, and its last iteration was in 1995. Second, an orchestra from the Americas has never been invited to participate until this year — a distinction reserved for our very own Chicago Symphony. 'It has been sold out already for one year,' conductor Jaap van Zweden says of the CSO's festival appearances. 'Everybody is really excited, of course, for the festival itself. But also, having the Chicago Symphony there is a huge honor for us.' With its music-director-to-be, Klaus Mäkelä, already booked to lead Amsterdam's own Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the CSO will play Mahler's Sixth and Seventh symphonies with van Zweden. The Dutch conductor already led an explosive Mahler 6 with the Chicagoans in 2022; he reprises it at Symphony Center May 8 and 9. Before that, he gives a preview of the Seventh for local audiences from April 17 to 19. 'The best thing would be playing (the symphonies) on a single night: 6, then 7 after intermission,' van Zweden says. 'That's impossible, of course' — that would be nearly three hours of music — 'but 6 and 7 are so related.' Both symphonies contain some of Mahler's darkest and most uncompromising music. His Sixth Symphony, sometimes nicknamed the 'Tragic,' is, in van Zweden's words, 'devastating.' The Seventh, written just after it, seesaws between the 'demonic' and hopeful. '(Mahler) is coming out of the woods. It's like there is still life after this symphony,' van Zweden says. Even at personal and professional high points, Mahler's life was full of inner turmoil. He fretted over his tempestuous marriage, over his conducting responsibilities sapping the little free time he had to compose, and over relentless antisemitic barbs in the Viennese press, despite having converted to Catholicism to improve his professional prospects. His music is often haunted by death — premonitions that, in his case, proved correct. Mahler died in 1911 from illnesses exacerbated by a heart condition, at just 50. 'Although it's very tragic, thank god it all happened to him. Without these very deep life experiences, Mahler would not have made this incredible music,' van Zweden says. Van Zweden's own connections to Amsterdam, and the festival, are multifold. An accomplished violinist, he was born and raised in the city. He left to study at Juilliard, only to be promptly tugged home: Bernard Haitink — at the time the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra's principal conductor, and later taking the same role at the CSO — invited van Zweden to become the prestigious orchestra's concertmaster at just 19. Van Zweden would play in the orchestra until 1995, when he began conducting in earnest. One of his last major undertakings as concertmaster was, in fact, playing that 1995 Mahler Fest. 'I think it helps tremendously that I've played all the Mahler symphonies, both on the podium and as a player,' he says. 'He doesn't give you the feeling of power, but it is a very powerful feeling. Those are completely different things. You are part of something very big and very emotional.' Van Zweden has spent a good chunk of his career in the U.S., most recently as the music director of the New York Philharmonic. He shares that résumé line with both Mahler himself and Mahler Festival founder Willem Mengelberg, one of the only conductors to champion Mahler's music while the composer was still alive. Before his stint in New York, Mengelberg became the youngest chief conductor of the city's Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in 1895, when he was appointed at 24. (That will make Mäkelä the second youngest when he takes the reins of the Concertgebouw in 2027, the same year he assumes leadership of the CSO.) The festival invited van Zweden for his long history with the Concertgebouw and Amsterdam generally: One of the Mahler symphonies he played at the 1995 festival was, in fact, the Sixth. From there, the festival specifically requested he appear with the CSO — a testament to the orchestra's 'incredible history' with Mahler. The orchestra became the first in the U.S. to play the Seventh Symphony in 1921, shortly after then-CSO music director Frederick Stock heard it at the very first Mahler Festival. The CSO would become especially associated with Mahler under the leadership of Sir Georg Solti, whose pummeling, precise recordings of the composer's complete symphonies won multiple Grammys. Through memorable performances, recordings and tours, Haitink and principal guest conductor Pierre Boulez also asserted the orchestra's identity as world-class Mahlerians. 'It's not for nothing that the Concertgebouw asked me to bring the Chicago Symphony with me,' van Zweden says. '(The orchestra is) legendary for its Mahler playing.' Leading the orchestra in a setting as august as this, Van Zweden is looking forward to building on that history. But he stresses that these symphonies are anything but museum pieces. 'I remember coming to New York and doing a Mahler symphony with (specific) bowings. They said, 'Well, this is the tradition of Bernstein.' I thought, how interesting — because when Bernstein was in Amsterdam, he did a different bowing,' he says. 'So, what is tradition? All the different conductors who are coming will bring their own tradition, their own life, their own experience to the orchestra. Tradition is always something that needs to be alive.' Hannah Edgar is a freelance critic.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
'If I'd really hit him, he wouldn't be playing football' – Aston Villa's Monchi reacts to supposed bust-up
'If I'd really hit him, he wouldn't be playing football' – Aston Villa's Monchi reacts to supposed bust-up The Seville derby is fast approaching in Spain, and Aston Villa Sporting Director Monchi, forever linked to Sevilla, has gone viral in the city. The former Nervionense sporting director on two occasions was approached by Real Betis fan hoping to have some fun at his expense, and was met with an unexpected response. Going into the Seville derby on Sunday, one of Betis great hopes will be the form of Isco Alarcon, their star playmaker… Who of course was signed by Monchi for Sevilla. After leaving Real Madrid, Sevilla brought Isco in on a one-year deal, but things did not quite work out, with the Spain international leaving in December by mutual consent after a disagreement with Monchi. He would then go six months without a club before Betis offered him a chance to return to the city. Image via Gol Digital Approached by the Betis fan in the street, the camera-holder says to Monchi 'seriously, all joking aside, thank you for the swing you took at Isco. That blessed swing.' To his credit, Monchi took the wind up in good humour and with a smile. Advertisement 'Yes, yes. Do you really think so? But I didn't hit Isco… If I had really hit him, he wouldn't be playing football. But we sent Isco off and won the Seventh! Or don't you remember?' Monchi retorts, referring to the fact that Sevilla would go on to win their seventh Europe League the same season. 'Let's see if you win anything?' he then dismisses the Betis fan with. At the time, it was reported that a training ground argument between Monchi and Isco was the motive for the separation, and the Betis star himself assures that Monchi grabbed him by the neck while out on the pitch in front of his teammates. This is something Monchi has denied, but at the time, it was also reported that Monchi had hit Isco. It is not clear if the video is from this week or another point, but Monchi's credentials as a Sevilla fan are beyond doubt. That said, those at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan may be a little less amused by Monchi's attempts to sign Loic Bade in the January transfer window.
Fox News
13-02-2025
- Business
- Fox News
SENS. BERNIE SANDERS AND JOSH HAWLEY: Cap credit card interest rates at 10%
In his "Divine Comedy," Italian poet Dante Alighieri reserved a special place in the Seventh Circle of Hell for people who charged usurious interest rates. Seven hundred years later, "usury" doesn't come up much in common parlance, but the problem hasn't gone away. Last year, both Republicans and Democrats campaigned on providing economic relief to hard-working Americans, particularly with regard to crippling credit card debt. For too long, too-big-to-fail banks have made huge profits by charging outrageously high credit card interest rates. This needs to end. That's why we've introduced legislation to immediately cap credit card interest rates at a maximum of 10%. Americans are drowning in a record-breaking $1.17 trillion in credit card debt. Thanks to inflation and a sluggish economy, many families have been forced to charge basics like groceries, gasoline and even rent to their credit cards, racking up deep debt. It's unsustainable — and credit card companies know it. That's why they've hiked interest rates so dramatically. Meanwhile, these companies are getting richer and richer. In 2022 alone, they made an incredible $130 billion in interest and fees after mailing some three billion solicitations urging Americans to sign up for their credit cards. And even though Big Banks can borrow money at less than 4.5% from the Federal Reserve, a recent Forbes report found that these same financial institutions are charging the average consumer 28.6% interest on credit cards. Let's be clear. When large financial institutions charge over 25% interest on credit cards, they're not engaged in the business of making credit available. They're engaged in extortion and loan sharking. And it needs to end. During the campaign, President Donald Trump pitched an idea that we both support. In September, his campaign promised to cap interest rates at 10% to provide temporary and immediate relief for hardworking Americans who are struggling to make ends meet and cannot afford hefty interest payments on top of the skyrocketing costs of mortgages, rent, groceries and gas. We agree. That's why we introduced legislation to deliver on Trump's promise. By capping credit card interest rates at 10% for the next five years, our bill would give Americans a chance to catch up, offering real relief for working people. Visa, MasterCard, and American Express will no doubt be actively lobbying Congress against this legislation. That should come as no surprise. After all, over the last five years, these three huge credit card conglomerates made over $145 billion in profits, all while paying their CEOs nearly $375 million in compensation. Their main argument against our bill is that it may restrict access to credit for low-income consumers. They have it backwards. Our bill would restrict financial institutions from charging working-class Americans exploitative and predatory credit card interest rates that can trap them into a vicious cycle of debt. Today, a 28% interest rate on a $5,000 credit card balance costs a consumer as much as $11,000 in interest and takes up to 24 years to pay off. Capping credit card interest rates at 10% would save that consumer over $7,200 in interest. Banks would still be able to make over $3,700 off that consumer. They just wouldn't be able to gouge them. Our legislation is not radical. It's what the overwhelming majority wants. A recent poll found that 77% of Americans support capping credit card interest rates. By capping credit card interest rates at 10% for the next five years, our bill would give Americans a chance to catch up, offering real relief for working people. When too-big-to-fail banks were on the verge of collapse in 2008 after their greed and recklessness caused millions of Americans to lose their homes, jobs and life savings, taxpayers came to their rescue with a multi-trillion-dollar bailout. But when it comes to helping working families, it seems Congress couldn't care less. Now, it's time for Congress to offer tangible financial relief to working families struggling under the weight of usurious interest rates. Americans need relief. And we can provide it by passing this critical legislation. Republican Josh Hawley represents Missouri in the United States Senate and is the author of "Manhood: The Masculine Virtues America Needs."
