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Along with general director Anthony Freud and Lyric's creative consultant Renée Fleming, he is a major cultural force in the Windy city and around the world.
1. A few works of classical music that you adore:
There are seven of them:
Thomas Tallis: Lamentations of Jeremiah
J.S. Bach: St. Matthew Passion
W. A. Mozart: Le Nozze di Figaro
Hector Berlioz: L’enfance du Christ
Edward Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius
Fredrick Delius: Sea Drift
Alban Berg: Lulu
2. Classical music recordings that you treasure:
Leoš Janáček: Glagolitic Mass – Karel Ančerl with The Czech Philharmonic
3. Favorite non-classical musicians and/or recordings:
The Beatles, Oscar Peterson, Ravi Shankar
4. Music that makes you cry – any genre:
The end of Dialogues of the Carmelites by Poulenc
Delius: Brigg Fair
Rap music, for the wrong reasons! ;)
5. Definitely underrated work(s) or composer (s):
Elgar: Falstaff
Debussy: Jeux
Ives: Symphony No. 4
6. Possibly overrated work(s) or composer (s):
Orff: Carmina Burana
7. Live music performance (s) you attended – any genre – that you’ll never forget:
Premiere of a choral piece by my son Edward, written in memory of my father
8. A few relatively recent films you love:
The King’s Speech
War Horse
9. A few films you consider classics:
Oh, Mr. Porter
Kind Hearts and Coronets
On Golden Pond
10. A book (or two) that is important to you (and why):
Hermann Hesse: The Glass Bead Game. I’ve read it four times, and it never ceases to mesmerize me.
11. Thing(s) about yourself that you’re most proud of:
My ability to search out the most economical travel option for any trip
12. Thing(s) about yourself that you’re embarrassed by:
See Number 11
13. Three things you can’t live without:
Music, Books, Travel
14. “When I want to get away from it all I…”
I find a book that I know will be difficult, like Shakespeare’s Sonnets or anything that tries to explain to me what space time is
15. “People are surprised to find out that I…”
was an organist before I took up conducting
16. “My favorite cities are…”
Chicago, Toronto, Venice, Barcelona
17. “I have a secret crush on…”
Meryl Streep
18. “My most obvious guilty pleasure is…”
watching game shows. I love the game show network
19. “I’d really love to have met…”
Alban Berg
20. “I never understood why…”
So many people put apostrophes in the wrong place
BONUS QUESTION:
21. Question you wish someone would ask you (and the answer to that question):
Q: Maestro, what can I get you to drink?
A: A negroni!
Past installments of 20 (PLUS) QUESTIONS:
Harpsichordist and Conductor Christophe Rousset
New-Music Sextet eighth blackbird
Composer and Violinist Mark O'Connor
Composer Jake Heggie
Composer Ricky Ian Gordon
Pianist David Greilsammer
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Albert Imperato, a music promoter who co-founded 21C Media Group in January 2000, writes frequently about the arts for various publications and blogs.
His new series, 20 (PLUS) QUESTIONS, is his take on (and nod to) Vanity Fair's "Proust Questionnaire." Email him at [email protected].
