After a long battle with aggressive brain cancer (discussed in this thread (https://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,31537.msg1430329.html#msg1430329)), the great conductor, pianist, and composer died at home yesterday.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/23/arts/music/michael-tilson-thomas-dead.html
Quote from: Brian on April 23, 2026, 06:50:10 AMAfter a long battle with aggressive brain cancer (discussed in this thread (https://www.good-music-guide.com/community/index.php/topic,31537.msg1430329.html#msg1430329)), the great conductor, pianist, and composer died at home yesterday.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/04/23/arts/music/michael-tilson-thomas-dead.html
A fine conductor and an admirable human being. He will be missed!
His fine recording legacy will endure
Sad news. May God rest him in peace.
Ah, that is indeed sad news. He seemed such a versatile conductor, but I think I actually most associate him with Ives simply because his recordings of the symphonies are my favourite.
RIP
Quote from: (poco) Sforzando on April 23, 2026, 07:48:01 AMA fine conductor and an admirable human being. He will be missed!
Yes!
A sad day. I have some fine recordings by him in my collection. Never got to see him live, but some years ago my son called me from Washington DC, where he was spending some days, to ask me whether it would be worthwhile to get tickets for a concert at Kennedy Center of music by Charles Ives, conducted by "one Michael Tilson Thomas". My reply was "run, don't walk!". :)
Quote from: Iota on April 23, 2026, 10:52:09 AMAh, that is indeed sad news. He seemed such a versatile conductor, but I think I actually most associate him with Ives simply because his recordings of the symphonies are my favourite.
RIP
Quote from: ritter on April 23, 2026, 01:24:57 PMA sad day. I have some fine recordings by him in my collection. Never got to see him live, but some years ago my son called me from Washington DC, where he was spending some days, to ask me whether it would be worthwhile to get tickets for a concert at Kennedy Center of music by Charles Ives, conducted by "one Michael Tilson Thomas". My reply was "run, don't walk!". :)
I just heard about this: yes, too young for The Grim Reaper.
Yes, he was a great advocate for
Charles Ives!
e.g.
I just saw this on Australian news.
His husband died 2 months ago. That must have been especially difficult.
I was very sorry to learn about the death of MTT who fought a courageous battle with brain cancer. On top of that his life partner died in February, 2026 so that must have been additionally tragic. We are left with the legacy of his talent and can only be grateful for that.
Vale MTT.
I'd never heard of him. I'm listening to his Mahler 1, excellent.
Very thrilling!
I'm truly sorry to hear that. I remember listening to some of his broadcasts about Mahler, in particular. Good for PBS (here in the States).
K
Aww, not unexpected but still sad to hear. He was fabulous! RIP. :(
I thoroughly enjoy his Keeping Score presentations.
I was lucky to see MTT with the San Francisco Symphony often when they came to Carnegie Hall, and as others have said, his Ives and Mahler were spectacular. But the prize for originality goes to his 2012 appearances in a four-concert series called "American Mavericks," with an unlikely trio of performers doing John Cage: Joan La Barbara, Meredith Monk — and a third I would never have placed with those two.
Thank you, MTT, for all the incredible music, for being a terrific human (from all reports), and for inspiring one of my favorite opening paragraphs (https://seenandheard-international.com/2012/04/michael-tilson-thomas-and-the-san-francisco-symphony-rock-carnegie-hall/).
Quote from: Iota on April 23, 2026, 10:52:09 AMAh, that is indeed sad news. He seemed such a versatile conductor, but I think I actually most associate him with Ives simply because his recordings of the symphonies are my favourite.
RIP
His recording of Three Places in New England (DGG) is, by far, my favourite version. I also liked his recording of Tchaikovsky's Symphony 1 'Winter Daydreams'.
Quote from: Madiel on April 24, 2026, 04:24:26 AMHusband.
Correct. MTT married his longtime partner Joshua Robison in 2014, a year after California legalized gay marriage, and a year before national legalization.
Very sad news, may he rest in peace. His recordings of Ives are the best I've ever listened to.
I remember Tilson Thomas championing the music of Carl Ruggles while with the Buffalo Philharmonic. I added his 70s video about Ruggles to this post.
I believe he vied for the Boston Symphony Orchestra position following William Steinberg, and if I remember correctly, the New York Philharmonic post following Mehta as well. Tilson Thomas and Ozawa were both Leonard Bernstein protégés, I think, but Ozawa got the leg up with the Boston job.
The last recording I heard from Tilson Thomas and San Francisco was his performance of Mahler's
Das Klagende Lied. He was certainly a major musical spirit.
VS
Quote from: Karl Henning on April 24, 2026, 06:38:44 AMI thoroughly enjoy his Keeping Score presentations.
I stumbled across his one on Mahler and greatly enjoyed it. Looks like one can watch all of them here: https://michaeltilsonthomas.com/projects/keeping-score/
K
@Karl Henning I found out, when looking at his website, that he actually did a two-parter on Mahler, so I need to watch Part II (maybe revisit Part I as I had watched it a number of years ago).
I didn't know that he had done so many episodes featuring different composers. Thank you for mentioning the name of that series. :) Glad that I can watch them.
K
I'm about 30 minutes into this one on Shostakovich...excellent, but I started it too late [I was thinking that they were about 1 hour each; this one is close to 2], so I might have to finish it tomorrow.
Really well done.
K
Quote from: Kalevala on April 24, 2026, 08:03:16 PMI'm about 30 minutes into this one on Shostakovich...excellent, but I started it too late [I was thinking that they were about 1 hour each; this one is close to 2], so I might have to finish it tomorrow.
Really well done.
K
Ah, think that I've figured it out; the first hour is a combo of discussion about the symphony, history, what Shostakovich (his family and friends and fellow artists went through and fellow countrymen) and then a performance of the whole symphony. Not certain whether or not I will be able to stay awake for the whole performance---but I do want to hear/see it. I did finish watching the first part. It helped me to understand the work much better. Some new-to-me history facts too which I appreciated. And the discussion with fellow musicians who were from Russia...what can I say. :(
K
I'll never forget hearing him perform Prokofiev Symphony No. 3. It was terrifying and I've never heard a recording that matched that live performance - part of the shock was it being my introduction to the work so every note was a surprise but the ending was so intense! I also kind of love his background that he wasn't really raised in high society or classical music but his parents who according to AI (so this might be made up) worked more in theater and worked with Orson Welles on his radio plays.
FYI wikipedia says his parents were a theatrical stage manager and a middle school history teacher.
I also didn't know he first met his husband when they were age 11/12 in their school orchestra!
Quote from: Brian on April 25, 2026, 07:46:56 AMFYI wikipedia says his parents were a theatrical stage manager and a middle school history teacher.
I also didn't know he first met his husband when they were age 11/12 in their school orchestra!
This was his grandfather
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Thomashefsky
I watched the performance of Shostakovich's fifth yesterday with the SFS. Loved it! I was too sleepy from having stayed up too late the other day to want to watch it.
Not certain which one I'll visit next. Need to focus on yard work for the time being.
K
I think MTT has kept Gershwin's 'concert hall' music alive and well during his lifetime. I'm giving thanks for that!