Death of George Cleve, Conductor

[Ace]

Primarily of San Francisco Bay area interest. I worked with him with Berkeley Opera. Tony Clements worked with him in San Jose Symphony for many years. Very good conductor, IMHO. Interesting background.

http://www.mercurynews.com/music/ci_287 ... costatimes" target="_blank" target="_blank

Ace

Edit: Sorry, I meant to put this post in the Off Topic section.

[mbeastep]

When I started in the Winnipeg Symphony in January, 1975, Cleve had already come and gone as music director there, but had left a big imprint on the players. They felt that his best performances were absolutely top-notch, electrifying experiences. On the other hand, sometimes when something would go wrong, the fire would go out of his eyes and he would visibly give up and limp to the finish. Cleve's time in Winnipeg corresponded to a period of emotional instability in his life that led to some embarassing incidents. Nevertheless, some excellent musicians in the orchestra regarded some of his performances as being highlights in their careers.

Although I believe he returned to Winnipeg during my time there and conducted in Calgary, his programs always involved Classical period composers, and I never played under him. I feel that this is my loss