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Maestro Maurice Abravanel

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Episodes:

• Communicating A Composer's Vision To Audiences Is More Important Than The Notes Or The Sound

  Maestro Maurice Abravanel conducts the Utah Symphony in concert and talks about the importance of communication, the goal of every composer. He explains that the Utah Symphony Orchestra has the ability to communicate better than most orchestras and how that gives the symphony a quality of its own which makes it extraordinary. He attributes this to the commitment, involvement and devotion of the musicians and he says that their ability to communicate is even more important than the notes and the sound. That is why, even though Salt Lake is a small town, they attract audiences of over 5,000.

  Length:	00:02:30

• The Role of the Composer, Conductor and Audience in the Performance of Classical Music

  Maurice Abravanel talks about the need for recordings of contemporary music that led the Utah Symphony Orchestra to recording all of the works of Gustav Mahler for Vanguard Records. He converses with University of Utah music professor Paul Banham and discusses how great performances need both what the composer brings and what the conductor can bring to the music. He elaborates by saying that the conductor must first really know the music and know what the composer wants to say, and only then he can bring his own "blood" into the presentation. The role of the audience is to have faith.

  Length:	00:02:20

• Why Maestro Maurice Abravanel Came to Utah and Stayed

  Maestro Maurice Abravanel rehearses Utah Symphony orchestra members and singer, Laura Garff, in Mahler's 2nd Symphony. Then he explains how the opportunity to come to Utah enabled him to make the contribution he wanted to make to the arts. He talks about coming at the right time in the state's history to develop a first-class orchestra and nurture other arts activities and how this opportunity allowed him to "forget himself" and be passionately involved in a way that has given his life great purpose.

  Length:	00:03:54

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