Thank you to Ionarts, for linking to videos of Prokofiev’s Second Piano Concerto played by Yuja Wang (NU CD 4 U) and conducted by Charles Dutoit with what I think is the NHK Symphony.
Related on the topic of the young musicians, James Gaffigan led a few Chicago Symphony concerts this past weekend on the “Lincoln Birthday” theme, which I missed out on hearing. James Earl Jones narrated Lincoln Portrait and read a few poems. At least the Lincoln Portrait exists in a recording.
But back to Gaffigan, who’s currently the San Francisco Symphony’ s associate conductor, and held a similar post with the Cleveland Orchestra. I heard him in the Maazel/Vilar Competition back in the early ’00s, when he was a last-minute addition to the candidates in the Bloomington, Indiana, round. I think Awadagin Pratt pulled out. Anyway, Gaffigan was on his way to starting a Master’s at Rice University that fall, and did very well in the hoops the candidates had to conduct through. (Judge 1: “Tune that chord.” Judge 2: “Again.” Judge 1: “It’s G major!!!!”) Glad to see he’s moved on to bigger and better things. Here he is in rehearsal with the Rotterdam Philharmonic with Petroushka whizzing by.