Robert Redford, giant of American cinema, dies aged 89

Redford achieved huge critical and commercial success in the 60s and 70s with a string of hits including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Way We Were and The Sting, before becoming an Oscar-winning director

Robert Redford dies aged 89. (REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni/File Photo)

By Andrew Pulver

Robert Redford, star of Hollywood classics including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Sting and All the President’s Men, has died aged 89.

In a statement, his publicist Cindi Berger said the actor died on Tuesday at his home “at Sundance in the mountains of Utah - the place he loved, surrounded by those he loved”.

“He will be missed greatly,” Berger said, adding that Redford’s family are requesting privacy.

Redford was one of the defining movie stars of the 1970s, crossing with ease between the Hollywood new wave and the mainstream film industry, before also becoming an Oscar-winning director and producer in the ensuing decades. He played a key role in the establishment of American independent cinema by co-founding the Sundance Film Festival, which acted as a platform for films such as Reservoir Dogs, The Blair Witch Project, Donnie Darko, Fruitvale Station and Coda.

Redford also acquired a reputation as one of Hollywood’s leading liberals and campaigned on environmental issues, including acting as a trustee of the Natural Resources Defence Council advocacy group and vocally opposing the now cancelled Keystone XL pipeline extension.

Born Charles Robert Redford in 1936, he grew up in Los Angeles and, after he was expelled from the University of Colorado, studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. After playing a series of small parts on TV, stage and film, he began to make headway in the early 60s, being nominated for a best supporting actor Emmy in 1962 for The Voice of Charlie Pont and winning a lead role in the original 1963 Broadway production of Neil Simon’s hit play Barefoot in the Park.

Redford’s film breakthrough arrived in 1965: an eye-catching role as a bisexual film star in Inside Daisy Clover opposite Natalie Wood, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe.

After a series of solid Hollywood films, including The Chase and a screen adaptation of Barefoot in the Park, Redford had a huge hit with the 1969 outlaw western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, in which he starred opposite Paul Newman and Katharine Ross. It was nominated for seven Oscars, though none were for the actors.

Redford starred in Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here, the first directing credit in over 20 years by former blacklistee Abraham Polonsky, and then a string of key 1970s hits: frontier western Jeremiah Johnson (1972), period romance The Way We Were (1973) opposite Barbra Streisand, crime comedy The Sting (1973), again opposite Newman, and literary adaptation The Great Gatsby (1974). Redford followed these up with conspiracy thriller Three Days of the Condor (1975) and Watergate drama All the President’s Men (1976), co-starring with Dustin Hoffman.

Redford with Jane Fonda in the 1967 film version of Barefoot in the Park. 
Photograph: Silver Screen Collection/Getty Images

After a prolonged break from acting in the late 70s, Redford turned to directing with the ensemble drama Ordinary People, adapted from the novel by Judith Guest. A substantial hit, it won four Oscars in 1981, including best picture and best director for Redford – an accolade he never received for his acting.

His success as an actor continued in the 1980s and 1990s, though perhaps with less of the cutting-edge impact of his 1970s work. Baseball drama The Natural, adapted from a Bernard Malamud novel in 1984, was followed by Out of Africa in 1985, in which he played big game hunter Denys Finch Hatton opposite Meryl Streep’s Danish aristocrat. He returned to directing with The Milagro Beanfield War in 1988 and A River Runs Through It in 1992, both grappling in different ways with rural America. A year later he made what in retrospect was something of a turning point: an unalloyed Hollywood project, the erotic thriller Indecent Proposal, in which his businessman character offers a million dollars to sleep with Demi Moore’s character. It re-established Redford as a commercial force. Later in the 90s he directed Quiz Show and The Horse Whisperer (the latter of which he also starred in).

With fellow winners Robert De Niro, Sissy Spacek and Ordinary People producer Ronald L Schwary
at the Oscars in 1981. Photograph: AP

It was in this period that the Sundance Film Festival – which Redford’s production company had co-founded in 1978 as the Utah/US film festival and renamed in 1984 after Redford’s Sundance Institute – began to exert its influence as a showcase for US independent cinema, promoting the likes of Steven Soderbergh, Quentin Tarantino, Robert Rodriguez and Kevin Smith. Its impact only increased in subsequent decades as a forum for boosting films’ commercial chances and achieving awards recognition, showcasing films such as 500 Days of Summer, Napoleon Dynamite, Whiplash, Fruitvale Station and Coda.

Redford’s 2007 Afghan war film Lions for Lambs was a disappointment, but an impressive solo performance in the 2013 survival-at-sea drama All Is Lost went some way to compensating for it. In 2014 Redford joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Hydra leader Alexander Pierce in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. He said at the time: “I wanted to experience this new form of film-making that’s taken over, where you have kind of cartoon characters brought to life through high technology.” He made a cameo in the same role in Avengers: Endgame in 2019.

Redford in his final major film role in The Old Man & the Gun in 2018. Photograph: Eric Zachanowich/AP

In the mid-2010s Redford scaled back his film-making activities, handing over stewardship of the Sundance Film Festival and announcing his retirement from acting. His final substantial role was in the 2018 crime drama The Old Man & the Gun, directed by David Lowery.

Redford was awarded an honorary Oscar in 2002, a lifetime achievement Golden Lion from the Venice film festival in 2017, and an honorary César in 2019. In 2010 he was also made a Chevalier of the Légion d’honneur and in 2016 he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama.

Redford was married twice: to historian Lola Van Wagenen between 1958 and 1985, with whom he had four children, and artist Sibylle Szaggars in 2009.

First published at The Guardian, September 16, 2025

John Painter, Canberra School of Music ‘trailblazer’ dies ages 92

John Painter in his cello-playing days… “A sparkle in his eyes.”

By Helen Musa

One of Australia’s most significant musicians, John Painter, cellist, founder of the Australian Chamber Orchestra and former head of the then Canberra School of Music, died in Canberra on Saturday September 13. He was 92.

Born in 1932 in Adelaide and known for his perfect pitch, Painter was first educated at the Elder Conservatorium of Music in Adelaide, then at the NSW State Conservatorium of Music (later the Sydney Con) during which time he supported himself by playing with the ABC Dance Band and the Colgate-Palmolive Orchestra.

He moved back home to become the principal cellist for the SA Symphony at the age of 18.

Returning to Sydney, he played with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra from 1954-66, where he toured internationally as principal cellist from 1960.

In 1966 Painter formed the full-time Sydney String Quartet and in 1974 the Australian Chamber Orchestra, with which he played for 10 years.

After serving with the Australia Council’s Music and Community Art Boards, the Sydney International Piano competition and national music camps, he became director of the NSW Conservatorium,1982-85; the Canberra School of Music, 1985-95; then the Australian Institute of Music in Sydney, 1997-2003.

He eventually retired in Canberra where he continued to play a role in music, serving on the board of the Canberra Symphony Orchestra.

In a tribute to him, present-day ACO director Richard Tognetti says: “Fifty years ago, this extraordinary Australian, John Painter, formed the Australian Chamber Orchestra. He also played a crucial role in the evolution of our Australian National Academy of Music and served as the director of both the Sydney Conservatorium of Music and the Canberra School of Music.”

Tognetti describes Painter as “part of an era of trailblazers who defied norms to create new paths.”

Music scholar Robyn Holmes, who conducted an oral history interview with Painter, on open access at the NLA, says his contribution as performer, educator, advocate and visionary gave him  him “rare insight and unparalleled influence over the development of music-making and musicians in Australia.”

Flautist Sally Aalker, now a faculty member at the ANU, praises the Painter as “an exceptionally bright, passionate and visionary man… a testament to the difference one person can make.”

Walker first met him when as a child she was auditioning for a scholarship and found him a formidable authority figure, but one “with a sparkle in his eyes”.

I can vouch for that, having enjoyed many a concert in company with Painter, who maintained a keen interest in  the Canberra music scene’s emerging ensembles.

Painter had two sons by an early marriage, then married the noted cellist Lois Simpson, who predeceased him. He was later partnered with Renée Goossens until his death.

First published at Canberra its News, September 16, 2025

Man who killed John Lennon denied parole for 14th time

Mark David Chapman, 70, appeared before a parole board in August

John Lennon in London, July 19, 1971. Photo: Michael Putland / Getty Images

By Charisma Madarang

The man who murdered John Lennon was denied parole for the 14th time, according to the decision posted online by the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

Mark David Chapman, 70, first became eligible for parole in 2000, 20 years after fatally shooting the former Beatle outside of his Upper West Side apartment. He appeared before a parole board on. Aug 27, according to the Associated Press.

Chapman pleaded guilty to killing Lennon outside of the Dakota apartment complex on Dec. 8, 1980, shortly after Lennon had autographed an album for him. Lennon died at the age of 40. Chapman was found waiting for authorities outside the building with a copy of J.D. Salinger’s novel The Catcher in the Rye, and was sentenced to 20 years to life in 1981. 

In 2022, Chapman said in unsealed transcripts from a 12th parole hearing that there was “evil in my heart.”

“I am not going to blame anything else or anybody else for bringing me there,” Chapman told the board during the previous hearing. “I knew what I was doing, and I knew it was evil, I knew it was wrong, but I wanted the fame so much that I was willing to give everything and take a human life.”

At the time, when denying his parole, the board cited Chapman’s “selfish disregard for human life of global consequence,” which had lasting consequences that left “the world recovering from the void of which you created.”

The latest parole board hearing transcript was not immediately released.

Chapman is serving a 20-years-to-life sentence at Green Haven Correctional Facility in New York’s Hudson Valley. His next parole hearing is set for February 2027.

First published in Rolling Stone, September 10, 2025

Christoph von Dohnányi, visionary conductor who elevated the Cleveland Orchestra to global prominence, dies at 95

Christoph von Dohnányi, whose transformative 18-year tenure as music director of the
Cleveland Orchestra redefined its international stature, died Saturday in Munich at age 95.
(Gus Chan / The Plain Dealer)

By Donald Rosenberg

Christoph von  Dohnányi the German conductor whose 18-year collaboration with the Cleveland Orchestra was widely considered one of the finest musical combinations of the 20th Century, died in Munich, Germany on Saturday. He was 95.

Dohnanyi served as music director of the Cleveland Orchestra from 1984 to 2002, a period in which he recorded more than 100 works with the ensemble, making it the most-recorded American orchestra of the time. He was named the orchestra’s music director laureate in 2002. His concert programming was admired for its breadth of repertoire, spanning the late 18th century to recent and commissioned works.

The orchestra issued a statement late Sunday mourning Dohnanyi’s passing.

“Christoph von Dohnányi was a superb conductor and Music Director, respected the world over,” said orchestra President and CEO André Gremillet. “His storied family history gave him a unique musical perspective, and The Cleveland Orchestra was fortunate to have him in Cleveland for such a significant part of its history. Maestro Dohnányi’s artistry and dedication led to a deep mutual respect with our musicians, which was felt sincerely by our audiences who had an enormous appreciation for him. We send condolences to his family and friends, and to all he touched with his music in Cleveland and beyond,” d Orchestra."

During his tenure, Dohnanyi took the Cleveland Orchestra on more than a dozen international tours, performing in Europe and Asia, including the ensemble’s debut in the People’s Republic of China in 1998. In addition, he led the orchestra in numerous concerts throughout the United States. Performances by Dohnanyi and Cleveland at Carnegie Hall were considered highlights of New York’s musical life.

In the 1990s, Cleveland became the first American orchestra in decades to serve as a resident ensemble at the prestigious Salzburg Festival in Austria. Summer trips to Europe also included the Edinburgh and Lucerne festivals, as well as the festive BBC Proms at London’s Royal Albert Hall.

One of the great, if troubled, projects of Dohnanyi’s tenure was Wagner’s massive “Ring” cycle, which comprises four works. Originally, Dohnanyi and the orchestra were supposed to give concert performances of each opera at Severance Hall and then record it for Decca Records. Only the first two, “Das Rheingold” and “Die Walkuere,” were preserved before the collapse of the classical recording industry prompted the cancellation of the second half of the cycle.

Even so, Dohnanyi ended his tenure at Severance Hall in June 2002 with the third opera, “Siegfried,” which was not recorded. There was talk that he would return, as music director laureate, to lead the final opera, “Goetterdaemmerung,” in April 2005. But those performances were canceled, evidently due to budgetary concerns.

Christoph von Dohnanyi acknowledges the applause of the crowd during his last concert as music director of the Cleveland Orchestra at Severance Hall Saturday night, June 1, 2002. Dohnanyi's served as music director of the orchestra for 18 years. (Gus Chan / The Plain Dealer)

Dohnanyi’s adventurous programming, allied to ultra-refined and precise orchestral skills, compelled Time magazine to dub the Cleveland Orchestra “the best band in the land” in 1994. While Dohnanyi’s performances were considered by some to be cool and correct, others found his artistry to be deeply probing and alive. No one questioned the lofty standards he maintained in Cleveland, which he viewed as the most satisfying achievement of his career.

“It’s been the main part of my musical life,” Dohnanyi said in 2002, not long before he stepped down as music director.

“I learned so much from this orchestra. This absolutely boosted my understanding of music and music-making. It was a very important time for me. It set standards. If you go to other places, you know what’s possible. Nobody can tell us it’s not possible if I’ve done it here.”

Ironically, the Berlin-born conductor was a long shot ever to become Cleveland’s boss.

The orchestra had been searching for a successor to music director Lorin Maazel for more than two years when Dohnanyi, then head of the Hamburg State Opera in Germany, arrived at Severance Hall in December 1981 to make his debut as a guest conductor.

The outstanding success of those concerts, which featured works by Bartok and Dvorak, largely won him the post. He was named music director-designate in March 1982 and took up his duties full time at Severance Hall in September 1984.

In addition to the “Ring” project, Dohnanyi led several other concert performances of major operas at Severance, including Beethoven’s “Fidelio” and Berg’s “Wozzeck.”

The wildly imaginative production at Blossom Music Center of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” that he not only conducted but also staged in August 1985 was greatly admired, though its cost was exorbitant. The following summer, he led a production of Lehar’s “The Merry Widow” in cooperation with Brussels’ Theatre de la Monnaie at Blossom with German soprano Anja Silja, then his wife, in the title role.

Dohnanyi eventually became disenchanted with Blossom, which he had wanted to transform into a genuine international arts festival. The Musical Arts Association, the orchestra’s governing body, balked at the idea, citing cost. Leonard Slatkin became Blossom Festival Director in 1990. Former resident conductor Jahja Ling held the post from 2000 until 2006, after which the position was eliminated

Dohnanyi had a major impact on Cleveland beyond music-making. He was the catalyst behind the $37 million renovation of Severance Hall, which began with the idea of restoring the Norton Memorial Organ and bringing it down from loft to stage level. The project included the upgrading and expansion of the 1931 building. New aspects of the hall, which reopened in January 2000, were designed by architect David M. Schwarz and acoustician Christopher Jaffe.

Upon his appointment in 1982, the essentially unknown Dohnanyi became a figure of enormous local interest, especially since he had grown up in Nazi Germany. He was born Sept. 8, 1929, in Berlin, the third child of Hans von Dohnanyi, a prominent jurist, and Christine Bonhoeffer, whose brother was the admired Protestant theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Dohnanyi’s father and uncle were part of the resistance movement that attempted to kill Adolf Hitler. For their part in those unsuccessful plots, they, along with several other family members, were arrested and sent to concentration camps during World War II. All of them were executed in different camps on April 9, 1945, weeks before Hitler committed suicide and the Germans surrendered.

Dohnanyi initially intended to do his part for justice in Germany by becoming a lawyer. But he had studied music seriously as a child in an extended family whose descendants had been closely associated with Brahms, Liszt and other 19th-century musical masters. Instead of law, Dohnanyi decided to pursue a career as a conductor.

After winning the Richard Strauss Prize of Munich, he spent a summer studying with his grandfather, the noted Hungarian composer, conductor and pianist Ernst von Dohnanyi, who had joined the faculty at Florida State University in Tallahassee.

On his return to Europe, he became an assistant to Georg Solti at the Frankfurt Opera. Dohnanyi held several posts in small German opera houses before serving as artistic and music director of the Frankfurt Opera from 1968 to 1978, when he left to head the Hamburg State Opera.

With his keen ear and fastidious attention to detail, Dohnanyi became a leading champion of 20th-century music, especially the composers of the Second Viennese School. But his repertoire was wide. He recorded all of the Beethoven, Brahms and Schumann symphonies and many of the Bruckner and Mahler symphonies with the Cleveland Orchestra, as well as works by composers ranging from Mozart to Birtwistle.

In 1997, Dohnanyi was engaged as principal conductor of London’s Philharmonia Orchestra, and he became chief conductor of the NDR Symphony Orchestra in Hamburg in 2004.

Dohnanyi returned to Northeast Ohio several times in the ensuing years as a guest conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra, and was widely heralded by listeners and media alike. In 2014, a Plain Dealer reviewer said Dohnanyi “remains a powerful and beneficial influence, fully worthy of his specially created position.

His last appearance with the orchestra was in 2015. He had been scheduled to conduct in 2017, but withdrew upon the advice of his physician.

Christoph von Dohnanyi, the Cleveland Orchestra's music director laureate, made his final appearance with the orchestra in 2015. The Plain Dealer

Dohnanyi’s first two marriages — to German actress Renate Zillessen and soprano Silja — ended in divorce, a situation he attributed in part to his seriousness about his art.

“For whatever reason, I wasn’t so lucky being married,” he said in 2002. “My profession eats you up. In a way, it has to. The profession doesn’t really let you rest. Things grow on you. There are so many things to try to find out musically, and it never stops. Once you’re in it, you’re obsessed with it.”

But Dohnanyi finally found luck when he married Barbara Koller, his former assistant, in 2004. He remained close to his five children, all of whom survive him: Justus and Katja, from his marriage to Zillessen; and Julia, Benedikt and Olga, from his marriage to Silja. He is also survived by a brother, Klaus.

Zachary Lewis, a freelance writer and a former longtime classical music critic of The Plain Dealer, contributed to this report.

First published at cleveland.com, September 7, 2025

Supertramp co-founder Rick Davies dies aged 81

Rick Davies has died aged 81. (AFP: Francois Guillot)

Rick Davies, the co-founder and lead singer for British rock band Supertramp, has died aged 81 after a decade-long battle with cancer.

The group confirmed Davies' death on Sunday, local time.

As co-writer with partner Roger Hodgson, Davies was the voice and pianist behind Supertramp's most iconic songs, leaving a mark on rock music history with hits like Goodbye Stranger and Bloody Well Right.

"His soulful vocals and unmistakable touch on the Wurlitzer became the heartbeat of the band's sound," the band said, whose progressive rock was among the most successful in the 1970s and early 1980s.

British rock band Supertramp performs in 1983. (AFP: Patrick Kovarik)

Born in Swindon, England in 1944, Davies discovered his passion for music as a child listening to Gene Krupa's Drummin' Man, which sparked a lifelong love of jazz, blues and rock 'n' roll.

In 2015, the singer announced he was suffering from multiple myeloma, a bone marrow cancer, and began "aggressive treatment" that forced Supertramp to cancel a European tour.

He then suffered from it for over a decade, and the band never performed again.

The singer died on Saturday at his home on Long Island in the United States, according to Rolling Stone.

Supertramp achieved massive commercial success with albums including Crime of the Century (1974), Crisis? What Crisis? (1975), and their breakthrough Breakfast in America (1979), topping charts in the United States and Canada, winning two Grammys and selling more than 18 million copies worldwide.

Supertramp's Rick Davies and John Helliweil perform together in 2002. (Reuters: Heino Kalis)

Supertramp were known for their art rock albums and theatrical live performances, helping define the progressive rock era alongside pioneering bands like Pink Floyd and Yes.

"Beyond the stage, Davies was known for his warmth, resilience and devotion to his wife Sue, with whom he shared over five decades of marriage," the band said.

After serious health challenges forced him to stop touring with Supertramp, Davies continued performing with his local group Ricky and the Rockets in his hometown, they added.

"Rick's music and legacy continue to inspire many and bears testament to the fact that great songs never die, they live on," the statement said.

AFP

First published at ABC News, September 8 2025

Refined and polished playing from Krupiński and Nowak

Polish Journey

Łukasz Krupiński piano

Kacper Nowak cello

DUX 1998, © 2024.

Reviewed by Tony Magee

In this 2024 release on the Polish DUX label, pianist Łukasz Krupiński and cellist Kacper Nowak masterfully present works by Chopin, Panufnik and Penderecki in a stunning recording both in performance and audio engineering.

Opening with the Sonata in G minor for Piano and Cello Op. 65 by Fryderyk Chopin (1910 - 1849), the work is widely regarded as a new stage in the output of Chopin. It is visionary and pioneering in its advanced chromaticism and polyphony.

The piece was composed for Chopin’s friend, the cellist Auguste Franchomme. It is dedicated to her, and was the last of Chopin's works published during his lifetime. It was premiered by the two at the composer's final public concert at the Saille Pleyel on February 16, 1848. 

Krupiński sets a commanding opening standard in the introductory motifs of the piece for both players to follow. The cello joins with mournful passages before the two engage in complex counterpoint, all wonderfully executed, played with intensity and confidence. 

Both players bring forth a diverse range of musical textures, transitioning expertly from piano-solo passages to piano and cello counterpoint, with Nowak capturing the cantabile qualities of the Scherzo movement beautifully. 

Born in Poland, Kasper Nowak has won many awards at international competitions including the Johannes Brahms Competition in Pörtschach, Austria, the Rotary International Competition Madrid Velázquez, the International Music Competition in Vienna and the Edmond Baert International Cello Competition in Brussels. In 2022, he made his debut at the Wiener Konzerthaus performing Beethoven’s Triple Concerto with the Wiener Kammerorchester.

Continuing with Chopin’s Introduction and Polonaise in C major for piano and cello Op, 3, it shares many themes and motifs with his Andante Spianato And Grande Polonaise In E-Flat Major, Op. 22, composed around the same time.

Nowak captures the main theme of the introduction wonderfully whilst Krupinsk’s realisation of the piano accompaniment stylistically explores Chopin’s nocturne form.

Both players bring forth a cheerful quality to the piece with Krupinski delivering frenzied, almost playful piano inserts.

Łukasz Krupiński (left), Kacper Nowak. Photo courtesy Mechelen Cultural Centre

Andrzej Panufnik (1914 - 1991) composed Dreamscape in 1977. Originally for Mezzosoprano and piano it is characterised by various tone colours creating a dreamy wash with feelings of different sleep phases.

Challenging to capture, Nowak brings forth the atonal and oblique harmonies wonderfully. The effect of detuning the cello intensifies the composer’s penchant for quarter tones which Nowak delivers vividly. Both players explore the tonal possibilities of the piece in an incredibly convincing way. The listener is transported to a sense of mystery and illusion.

Composed in 1976, Love Song is also originally for voice and piano. 

Krupinski plays the gentle opening piano motif with tenderness. Nowak on cello contrasts with definitively played oblique harmonies. 

Łukasz Krupińsk is the winner of many major piano competitions including all prizes at the 7th San Marino International Piano Competition, the Chopin Geselschaft in Hannover, Aachen, Goerlitz, and the Yamaha Music Foundation of Europe. His debut album Espressione was nominated for the International Classical Music Awards in 2018, alongside albums by Kristian Zimmerman and Evgeny Kissen.

Krzysztof Penderecki (1933 - 2020) composed his Sonata No 1 for violin (cello) and piano in 1953. 

The two players brilliantly capture the sublime effects in the first movement, contrasting with intense passages of counterpoint.

The gentleness of the opening of the Andante movement is brought forward by both players with delicacy in a kind of musical respect for both the instruments, the music and the composer. Nowak explores the upper register of the cello in an inquisitive way as the movement progresses.

The two players are aligned in their musical thought and capture the contrasts between delicate phrases and abstract boldness in others. The final Allegro vivace movement is played with great authority, with both players completing the piece convincingly with a definitive structured cadence point of staccato.

The Polish DUX recording is superb. Stereo qualities of the piano are brought forward magnificently and the full dynamic range of both instruments are wonderfully captured from the softest pianissimos to huge fortes.

Polish Journey is a wonderful CD showcasing two outstanding musical talents of whom Poland can be proud.