Jordan’s leading classical music broadcaster will play for first time the recordings of Francesco Mander, an orchestra conductor and composer of international renown, in digital format. The Italian Embassy in Amman announced the event which will coincide with World Music Day, which falls on the summer solstice each year and features a rich calendar of events all over Europe. This confirms Italy’s commitment in promoting our musical culture.
The project was spearheaded by the conductor’s widow, Annemarie Mander, who made a selection of original recordings featuring the most famous orchestras and soloists who made the history of music in the twentieth century. Mander’s long career began in 1940, and he conducted Oistrakh, Kempff, Rubinstein, Arrau, Ogdon, Argerich, Ferras, Fournier and Uto Ughi among others. He also taught Zubin Mehta.
His vast repertoire and cultural interests, ranging from philosophy to literature, made him a very charismatic figure for students and the general public alike. As a conductor, he was very demanding, and loved saying that “Mozart’s subtle humour won’t come out if his pieces are played badly: the only solution is to only give high quality concerts, especially when the public is not expert and does not have effective terms of reference”. For Mander, “music is emotion and thought, the highest form of art, and art is the essence that reflects the whole of civilisation. It is the ‘universal language’ on this Earth. This is our life, so this is our art, because they are inseparable. Art, literature and music cannot be separated from life”.
