Yondani Butt

Last updated

Yondani Chak Cheung Butt (January 13, 1945 - August 28, 2014) was an orchestral conductor. [1] He was born in Macau of Chinese parentage. He studied music at Indiana University Bloomington and the University of Michigan. He also had a PhD in chemistry, [2] on which subject he has published numerous research papers, particularly on polyene photochemistry. He studied conducting with Wolfgang Vacano (1906–1985) at Indiana University, majoring in chemistry. He continued to study conducting with Josef Blatt (1906–1999) at the University of Michigan while pursuing his chemistry degree.

As founder of Symphonie Canadiana, he led the orchestra on major tours throughout North America. Since 1983, he held the position of resident conductor of the Victoria International Festival, creating the Concerti Extravaganza series, for which he conducted more than 23 concertos in six weeks. Butt recorded and performed in the US, Canada, Latin America, Asia and Europe. [3] He led the Philharmonia Orchestra of London, London Symphony Orchestra, Royal Philharmonic, the American Symphony (with which he performed a Brahms cycle in New York), Hamilton Philharmonic of Canada, Orquesta Sinfónica del Estado de México, Singapore Symphony, Seoul Philharmonic, Japan Gunma Symphony and Het Gelders Orkest, amongst many others. He recorded the Symphony No. 1 by Mahler, Glazunov's Symphony No. 3 through Symphony No. 6, [4] the Saint-Saëns Symphony No. 2  [ fr; de ], and many more works.

In 1995, Butt received an MRA Gramophone Award in the Symphony category for his recording of Glazunov's Symphony No. 6. He had won the same award in 1986 for his interpretation of Rimsky-Korsakov's Symphony No. 3  [ it ]. [5] His recording of Glazunov's Symphony No. 3 [6] is recognized by the Glazunov Society as definitive, and earned him the title of Honorary Patron of the Society. His extensive discography includes works by Elgar, Glière, [7] Grieg, Kodály, Lalo, Liszt, Mahler, Raff, Saint-Saëns, [8] Sibelius [9] and Richard Strauss. [10] His recording of Goldmark's Rustic Wedding Symphony featured in the classical charts and was a Gramophone Critics’ Choice. [11] [12]

In the early 2000s, Butt suffered damage to his vocal cords, and retired from conducting. However, in 2009 he returned to the podium, working with the London Symphony Orchestra to record many of the Austro-German classics, including Beethoven, [13] [14] [15] Brahms, Schumann and Wagner, as well as works by Tchaikovsky, and a disc of French classics. [16]

Butt was also a composer. He studied free counterpoint and composition with Bernhard Heiden. [17] In Indiana, he studied piano with Sidney Foster, [18] a protégé of Isabelle Vengerova and David Saperton at the Curtis Institute. In Michigan, he studied ensemble with Eugene Bossart (1917–2011) and piano with Karen Keys.

Butt died on August 28, 2014, after a sudden illness while living in China.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra</span> English orchestra with a remit to serve the South and South West of England

The Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra (BSO) is an English orchestra, founded in 1893 and originally based in Bournemouth. With a remit to serve the South and South West of England, the BSO is administratively based in the adjacent town of Poole, since 1979. The orchestra is resident at Lighthouse in Poole, with other major concert series given at Portsmouth Guildhall, the Great Hall of Exeter University and Bristol Beacon. Shorter series are also given in Bournemouth and Basingstoke.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vladimir Ashkenazy</span> Icelandic pianist and conductor from Russia

Vladimir Davidovich Ashkenazy is a Russian solo pianist, chamber music performer, and conductor. Born in the Soviet Union, he has held Icelandic citizenship since 1972 and has been a resident of Switzerland since 1978. Ashkenazy has collaborated with well-known orchestras and soloists. In addition, he has recorded a large repertoire of classical and romantic works. His recordings have earned him five Grammy awards and Iceland's Order of the Falcon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leopold Stokowski</span> British-born American conductor (1882–1977)

Leopold Anthony Stokowski was a British-born American conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra. He was especially noted for his free-hand conducting style that spurned the traditional baton and for obtaining a characteristically sumptuous sound from the orchestras he directed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Glazunov</span> Russian composer (1865–1936)

Alexander Konstantinovich Glazunov was a Russian composer, music teacher, and conductor of the late Russian Romantic period. He was director of the Saint Petersburg Conservatory between 1905 and 1928 and was instrumental in the reorganization of the institute into the Petrograd Conservatory, then the Leningrad Conservatory, following the Bolshevik Revolution. He continued as head of the Conservatory until 1930, though he had left the Soviet Union in 1928 and did not return. The best-known student under his tenure during the early Soviet years was Dmitri Shostakovich.

John Richard Lill is a British classical pianist.

<i>Capriccio Espagnol</i>

Capriccio espagnol, Op. 34, is the common Western title for a five movement orchestral suite, based on Spanish folk melodies, composed by the Russian composer Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in 1887. It received its premiere on 31 October 1887, in St. Petersburg, performed by the Imperial Orchestra conducted by the composer. Rimsky-Korsakov originally intended to write the work for a solo violin with orchestra, but later decided that a purely orchestral work would do better justice to the lively melodies. The Russian title is Каприччио на испанские темы.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paavo Berglund</span> Finnish conductor and violinist

Paavo Allan Engelbert Berglund was a Finnish conductor and violinist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sergei Taneyev</span> Russian composer and pianist (1856–1915)

Sergey Ivanovich Taneyev was a Russian composer, pianist, teacher of composition, music theorist and author.

James Ehnes, is a Canadian concert violinist and violist.

Gil Shaham is an American violinist. His accolades include a Grammy Award in 1999, and he has performed as a soloist with such orchestras as the New York Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, Vienna Philharmonic, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Cleveland Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, Russian National Orchestra, Academy of St. Martin in the Fields, and the Orchestre de Paris.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">William Steinberg</span> German-American conductor (1899–1978)

William Steinberg was a German-American conductor.

<i>Scheherazade</i> (Rimsky-Korsakov) Symphonic poem by Rimsky-Korsakov

Scheherazade, also commonly Sheherazade, Op. 35, is a symphonic suite composed by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov in 1888 and based on One Thousand and One Nights.

Selected discography of recordings conducted by Thomas Beecham:

With its debut in 1993, the Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra(PSYO) became the first educational program of Pacific Symphony and is now one of four youth orchestras in the Pacific Symphony Youth Ensembles (PSYE) program. Pacific Symphony Youth Orchestra gives an opportunity to young, talented musicians in the Orange County and Inland Empire areas to grow and be trained as orchestral musicians. Composed of youth in grades 9 through 12, members of PSYO are given the opportunity to work with the professional musicians of Pacific Symphony and are led by Jacob Sustaita, Assistant Conductor of Pacific Symphony. PSYO currently performs its annual concert series in the Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts.

Alexander Glazunov wrote his Symphony No. 1 in E major, Op. 5, in 1881, when he was 16 years old. It was premiered the following year in St. Petersburg. It is known as his Slavonian Symphony.

Hu Kun is a Chinese violinist and conductor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saint Petersburg Philharmonia</span> Music society and hall in Saint Petersburg, Russia

Saint Petersburg Philharmonia, officially the Saint Petersburg Academic Philharmonia Named After D. D. Shostakovich, is a music society located in Saint Petersburg, Russia, and is the name of the building where it is housed. Also there is another one building of Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Society: Malii Zal. The location of the Small Hall is in the city centre. The society now hosts two symphony orchestras: Saint Petersburg Philharmonic Orchestra and Saint Petersburg Academic Symphony Orchestra. The venue is named after Dmitri Shostakovich.

Sviatoslav Nikolayevich Knushevitsky was a Soviet-Russian classical cellist. He was particularly noted for his partnership with the violinist David Oistrakh and the pianist Lev Oborin in a renowned piano trio from 1940 until his death. After Mstislav Rostropovich and Daniil Shafran, he is spoken of as one of the pre-eminent Russian cellists of the 20th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Esther Yoo</span> Musical artist

Esther Yoo is an American violinist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Othmar Mága</span> German conductor (1929–2020)

Othmar Mága was a German conductor, who was chief conductor internationally, including the Odense Symphony Orchestra in Denmark and the KBS Symphony Orchestra in Korea. Among his many recordings are several rarely played concertos for instruments such as horn and double bass, including works of the 20th century.

References

  1. ↑ The Penguin guide to compact discs. Penguin Books. 2002. pp. 522–.
  2. ↑ Butt, Yondani C. C.; Singh, Anil K.; Baretz, Bruce H.; Liu, R. S. H. (1981). "Photosensitized geometric isomerization of alloocimene. The triplet torsional potential surface of a conjugated triene" (PDF). The Journal of Physical Chemistry. 85 (14): 2091–2097. doi:10.1021/j150614a028.
  3. ↑ King's Lynn Festival, Eastern Daily Press , August 1, 2000, Evening of the World-Class Playing at Philharmonia Orchestra, conducted by Yondani Butt
  4. ↑ See OCLC   961118624, OCLC   601693976 and OCLC   601694510.
  5. ↑ San Francisco Chronicle , "Rimsky-Korsakov, Symphony No. 3, A Fairy Tale Op. 29", July 20, 1986
  6. ↑ Gramophone , November 1999. "Glazunov Symphony Nos. 4 & 5, ASV CDDCA1051", Ivan March
  7. ↑ "Glière: Violin Concerto, Symphony No. 2, Butt/Philharmonia Orchestra ASV CDDCA1129, Critics' Choice of the Year 2002", Robert McColley, Fanfare , December/November 2002
  8. ↑ Gramophone , "Saint-Saens, Symphony No. 2, London Symphony, Yondani Butt, reviewed by Ivan March, July 1990
  9. ↑ American Record Guide , "Review Sibelius, Pelléas et Mélisande, Swanwhite, Kuolema , Valse Romantique; Spring Song, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. ASV CDDCA649", 9 October 1989.
  10. ↑ R. Strauss, "Don Juan, Till Eulenspiegel, Death and Transfiguration, Imp Classics Nov/Dec 1991", American Record Guide , Mckelvey.
  11. ↑ Classic CD, July 27, 1992, "ASV CDDCA791, Goldmark, Rustic Wedding Symphony, Sakuntala Overture Op. 13, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, David Doughty
  12. ↑ "Goldmark, Rustic Wedding Symphony, Sakuntala Overture, Op. 13, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Critics' Choice", Gramophone , July 1992, ASV CDDCA791
  13. ↑ Classical Candor, Classical Music Reviewed by John J. Puccio, September 2011; Beethoven: Symphony No. 3 “Eroica”, Fidelio, Consecration of the House, Nimbus Alliance N16144
  14. ↑ International Record Review, Nimbus Alliance NI6147, Beethoven's Symphony Nos. 4 & 5, Mortimer H. Frank.
  15. ↑ Classical Net, Nimbus Alliance NI6146, Beethoven, Symphony No. 9, Gerald French.
  16. ↑ French Classics, John Whitmore, Music Web International, October 29, 2012
  17. ↑ "Classical composer database". March 3, 2001. Retrieved January 3, 2014.
  18. ↑ Sidney Foster, Ovation to Sidney Foster, International Piano Archives at Maryland, IPAM/204A-B
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.