I am listening to a live performance on WCRB, Boston’s Classical music radio station. Andris Nelsons is conducting, in his public premier as Musical Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra. But there is a sad counterpoint to the excitement of Nelsons taking over the baton in Boston, because I have just learned of the death of Christopher Hogwood.
I saw Hogwood quite a few times when he was conductor of the Handel and Haydn Society. Hearing Mozart and Beethoven as they were heard by Mozart and Beethoven (well, only up to a point with Ludwig), played by right-sized ensembles on original period instruments, was always a delight under Hogwood’s direction. He was only 73 and his passing is a very sad and significant loss.