# Boston Phil. conductor car stolen,scores missing!!



## bagpipers (Jun 29, 2013)

Priceless Musical Scores Missing After Boston Philharmonic Conductor's Car Theft


For those who keep score, three stolen scores has the Boston music community rocked. “It was a catastrophe,” Alfonso Piacentini, assistant conductor of the Boston Philharmonic, said Tuesday. “That moment was just catastrophic.” This all started on Nov. 5, when Philharmonic Conductor Benjamin...




www.necn.com


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## Hogwash (5 mo ago)




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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

The scores aren't priceless and the loss of one person's work isn't catastrophic except in a comedic personal sense.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

"Conducting without a score? Is that a problem?"


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## Nate Miller (Oct 24, 2016)

I read that article, and it sounds like it was the assistant conductor who found the stolen car by driving around the neighborhood

I guess that's the difference between Cambridge police and BPD


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## fluteman (Dec 7, 2015)

What a bummer. But disasters like this and even worse have happened before. When Pierre Monteux was forced to leave Paris with World War II looming, he had to leave many of his scores behind, including those he had inherited from the great French conductor Edouard Colonne, for whom he had served as assistant conductor early in his career. They were never recovered. Colonne had known and worked with Berlioz, so his notes on his score of, for example, the Symphonie Fantastique, among those lost, would have been worth preserving.


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## Nate Miller (Oct 24, 2016)

Good thing he was working in Boston. If he was conductor of the Philadelphia Symphony he would probably have been car-jacked


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## fluteman (Dec 7, 2015)

Nate Miller said:


> Good thing he was working in Boston. If he was conductor of the Philadelphia Symphony he would probably have been car-jacked


No doubt both cities have their share of crime, and both have areas you wouldn't want to walk through late at night, or maybe even during the day. But Philadelphia in particular has made quite a comeback since the bad old days of the 70s and 80s. Mr. Zander's house is in upscale and fashionable Cambridge, not Boston itself. In the Philadelphia area, no doubt he'd live in Bala Cynwyd or thereabouts. In either place, symphony conductors need to have good theft-deterrent systems in their BMWs or Mercedes.


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## Nate Miller (Oct 24, 2016)

Heck, chain stores here in PA are pulling out of Philly because they can't keep up with the flash mobs looting thier stores. But the truth is that crime in Philly is actually down if you take out all the shootings, smash and grab robberies and car jackings.

If you live in Philly and you're sticking up for your home town, that's cool. But I got to call it as I see it


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

Manxfeeder said:


> "Conducting without a score? Is that a problem?"


Sure, it can be. The issue isn't the scores themselves. The BSO library will have multiple copies or they can readily be attained from any number of sources in the area. The issue is the conductor's personal markings and annotations detailing performance decisions that he relies upon during a performance. The conductor should with some effort be able to reconstruct these. The issue here would seem to be not having time to do so before an imminent performance.


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## Manxfeeder (Oct 19, 2010)

EdwardBast said:


> Sure, it can be. The issue isn't the scores themselves. The BSO library will have multiple copies or they can readily be attained from any number of sources in the area. The issue is the conductor's personal markings and annotations detailing performance decisions that he relies upon during a performance. The conductor should with some effort be able to reconstruct these. The issue here would seem to be not having time to do so before an imminent performance.


I have a picture somewhere of the first page of Zander's annotated copy of Mahler's 9th symphony, so I know how detailed he is about his scores. 

I was just pointing out that Toscanini didn't have that problem.


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## Vasks (Dec 9, 2013)

Why did he leave them in his car?


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## EdwardBast (Nov 25, 2013)

Manxfeeder said:


> I have a picture somewhere of the first page of Zander's annotated copy of Mahler's 9th symphony, so I know how detailed he is about his scores.
> 
> I was just pointing out that Toscanini didn't have that problem.


Sorry. Missed the humor.


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## fluteman (Dec 7, 2015)

Nate Miller said:


> Heck, chain stores here in PA are pulling out of Philly because they can't keep up with the flash mobs looting thier stores. But the truth is that crime in Philly is actually down if you take out all the shootings, smash and grab robberies and car jackings.
> 
> If you live in Philly and you're sticking up for your home town, that's cool. But I got to call it as I see it


No, I don't live in Philly. But I can read crime statistics. And while Philadelphia ranks ahead of Boston for most violent crime rates, neither one is anywhere near the most dangerous major city in the US. St. Louis, Baltimore, Detroit, Memphis, Milwaukee, Chicago, Cleveland and even Anchorage, Alaska are far more dangerous places to be. What Philly and Boston have in common with most older US cities is a mass exodus of those with money, and upscale chain stores and restaurants, and financial, legal and accounting professional practices, ever further into suburbia. But my point was, there are still wealthy enclaves within or just outside the city limits of both Philly and Boston for symphony orchestra conductors, and well-heeled patrons with season tickets for the best seats, for that matter.

Maybe you're out there in King of Prussia or Newtown Square, but if you have $$$ you could have a row house in Old City or a mansion in Mount Airy, right? Or if you're a hipster, even a place on Bainbridge near the South Street Whole Foods? It's the same in Boston, or New York.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Vasks said:


> Why did he leave them in his car?


If you have any important paperwork, it's probably best not to leave it with Zander.


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## Nate Miller (Oct 24, 2016)

fluteman said:


> No, I don't live in Philly. But I can read crime statistics. And while Philadelphia ranks ahead of Boston for most violent crime rates, neither one is anywhere near the most dangerous major city in the US. St. Louis, Baltimore, Detroit, Memphis, Milwaukee, Chicago, Cleveland and even Anchorage, Alaska are far more dangerous places to be. What Philly and Boston have in common with most older US cities is a mass exodus of those with money, and upscale chain stores and restaurants, and financial, legal and accounting professional practices, ever further into suburbia. But my point was, there are still wealthy enclaves within or just outside the city limits of both Philly and Boston for symphony orchestra conductors, and well-heeled patrons with season tickets for the best seats, for that matter.
> 
> Maybe you're out there in King of Prussia or Newtown Square, but if you have $$$ you could have a row house in Old City or a mansion in Mount Airy, right? Or if you're a hipster, even a place on Bainbridge near the South Street Whole Foods? It's the same in Boston, or New York.


thanks for the update on crime statistics. I live here, but you're right, what would I know

I'm sorry that mentioning crime in Philly upset you. I was making a joke because the guy got his car stolen. Good thing he didnt get car jacked...sort of thing.

its no big deal, just a joke,


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## superhorn (Mar 23, 2010)

EdwardBast said:


> The scores aren't priceless and the loss of one person's work isn't catastrophic except in a comedic personal sense.


. These scores are still extremely valuable to the music director of the orchestra, Benjamin Zander , because they no doubt have his own markings in them. which he or any conductor uses to prepare for rehearsals . Markings such as bowings for the strings , dynamics etc .


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## fluteman (Dec 7, 2015)

Nate Miller said:


> thanks for the update on crime statistics. I live here, but you're right, what would I know
> 
> I'm sorry that mentioning crime in Philly upset you. I was making a joke because the guy got his car stolen. Good thing he didnt get car jacked...sort of thing.
> 
> its no big deal, just a joke,


No worries. The trouble is, we're living in times when jokes like that are taken seriously and accepted as fact. I'm a lawyer, and I see a lot of ignorance online when it comes to crime and other legal stuff. Best to stay on the classical music topic and make fun of absent-minded conductors who have their heads in the clouds and leave their briefcases in their BMWs. BTW, though I have friends and family in the Philly area and have spent much time there for business and personal reasons, I have no reason to defend it. I'm not a big fan of the city and wouldn't live there, even in a posh neighborhood. I have been to some good concerts there, though.


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## Alfacharger (Dec 6, 2013)

Manxfeeder said:


> I have a picture somewhere of the first page of Zander's annotated copy of Mahler's 9th symphony, so I know how detailed he is about his scores.
> 
> I was just pointing out that Toscanini didn't have that problem.


Zander's first page notes for Titan Symphony.


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## bagpipers (Jun 29, 2013)

Xander has great educational masterclasses on Youtube ,there worth checking out


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## perempe (Feb 27, 2014)

bagpipers said:


> Xander has great educational masterclasses on Youtube ,there worth checking out


I agree.


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## Nate Miller (Oct 24, 2016)

fluteman said:


> No worries. The trouble is, we're living in times when jokes like that are taken seriously and accepted as fact. I'm a lawyer, and I see a lot of ignorance online when it comes to crime and other legal stuff. Best to stay on the classical music topic and make fun of absent-minded conductors who have their heads in the clouds and leave their briefcases in their BMWs. BTW, though I have friends and family in the Philly area and have spent much time there for business and personal reasons, I have no reason to defend it. I'm not a big fan of the city and wouldn't live there, even in a posh neighborhood. I have been to some good concerts there, though.



actually, crime in Philly is no joke. The city is only 90 minutes down the turnpike. You act like I wouldn't know what I'm talking about, but its not a big deal to go to Philly to see a show. People do that, you know. I can assure you its getting worse out there. And by worse, I mean you better put your money in your shoe and keep your head on a swivel.


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## fluteman (Dec 7, 2015)

Nate Miller said:


> actually, crime in Philly is no joke. The city is only 90 minutes down the turnpike. You act like I wouldn't know what I'm talking about, but its not a big deal to go to Philly to see a show. People do that, you know. I can assure you its getting worse out there. And by worse, I mean you better put your money in your shoe and keep your head on a swivel.


Alas, you do know what you're talking about. And it's getting a lot worse everywhere. Benjamin Zander is the one who needs to learn your lesson, not me. If you have to park a high-end luxury car on the street -- any street -- you don't leave valuables in it, including irreplaceable orchestral scores. There are bandits cruising the streets of every major city looking for exactly that. And now porch pirates are on the rise in the burbs. 

I learned the lesson back when I lived in NYC. Park your car on the street overnight, and the odds that one night someone will blow out your window or jimmy the lock on your door to take whatever you were foolish enough to leave on the seat are 100 percent. Cars are designed better these days, but not enough better, obviously.


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## bagpipers (Jun 29, 2013)

The roughest city in Massachusetts is likely Springfield not Boston.But Hartford and New Haven are the worst in New England.


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