Classical in Seattle

Moving

2008-03-02T08:49:00.000-08:00

This blog is moving and changing names. You can find everything on this site and more here: www.gatheringnote.wordpress.com. This is a move and a name change that I have been considering for awhile.

The move will take some time for the change to be complete, but I do think Wordpress will be a much better platform as the blog grows and expands.

Sorry for any confusion and thank you for your patience while this change is underway.

Regards,
Zach

Focus: American guest conductors

2008-02-26T17:59:00.001-08:00

The Seattle Symphony released its 2008/2009 season last week. The theme the season is built around is American guest conductors. I harbor ambivalence about season themes. On the one hand themes, especially when used to develop concert programs, can be a good device to explore unfamiliar repertoire. On the other hand, themes are often so poorly done that they end up hurting the season more than helping. Fortunately for Seattle audiences Schwarz has developed programmatic themes that are interesting and unlike other orchestras. There is no season long Brahms festival for Seattle, but we do get refreshing Central Europe, immigrant composer, and contemporary American music programs.

This season’s unifying theme could be very good. The composer’s being tapped are big names. Andre Previn comes for two weeks. Dennis Russell Davies, the conductor of the Bruckner Orchestra of Linz, does too. Leonard Slatkin makes his debut with the Seattle Symphony and conducts Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique. Joann Falletta, arguably the first woman to head a “major” American orchestra (she leads the Buffalo Philharmonic) will conduct Faure’s Requiem. Saint Louis Symphony’s David Robertson is also coming to town. All in all the talent on the podium will be fun to watch and hear.

Unfortunately, Rossen Milanov will be conducting one of the Mostly Mozart concerts. When I lived in Iowa, Milanov came through town. Fresh after being appointed to Philadelphia, Milanov put together an exciting performance of Franck’s Symphony with my town’s resident part time orchestra.

The visiting orchestras are also pleasing. The San Francisco Symphony, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields and the Academy of Ancient Music will each perform.

But there are still pieces of the season that puzzle me. For instance, how does a complete cycle of Beethoven string quartets fit with the overarching subject of the season? For me it is an intriguing addition, but one that seems oddly juxtaposed alongside a robust orchestral season. It may not compliment the American guest conductor theme, but it does add a chamber music dimension to the season.

Best of all, the season opener is Mahler’s gargantuan Symphony No.8. Last fall I was talking with a record store clerk and I let him know that I wanted to hear each of Mahler’s symphonies performed live at least once. The record store clerk thought the eighth would never be performed. Cost would prohibit Mahler’s Symphony of a Thousand from ever reaching the stage. Thankfully, Schwarz and Phillion decided to perform the piece anyway.

If your like me and can't wait to hear Mahler's No.8 check out this wonderful clip of Simon Rattle conducting the piece at the 2002 Proms.

Winter nights

2008-02-25T06:59:00.001-08:00

The history of Russian music and as a result Russian chamber music, can be divided before opera and after opera. Prior to the arrival of opera, Russian musical tradition could be generously described as primitive. There were no composers of note and no real instrumental tradition. Folk songs and folk performances were typical, but even those were discouraged by the harsh influence of the Orthodox Church.

We know that this isn’t the whole story of Russian music. We would never have heard Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich and Prokofiev if it were.

The arrival of opera marked a dramatic shift and musical renaissance within Russia. In less than fifty years, Russia was able to establish itself as a global musical force influenced by the west but with its own unique voice. Early Russian musical pioneers successfully reconciled Western forms and influences with a unique Russian imprint.

The Russian Chamber Music Foundation’s inaugural concert last night at the Nordstrom recital hall may do the same thing for Russian chamber music in Seattle.

Russian Chamber Music was founded in 2007 by Dr. Natalya Ageyeva. Ageyeva began formal piano lessons at the age of thirteen when she was accepted at Moscow’s Special Music School for Talented Children. She came to the United States to complete her PhD at the University Washington. Local music audiences remember Ageyeva as the Finisterra Trio’s pianist.

The goal of Russian Chamber Music is ambitious: “to bring the best of Russian chamber music to American audiences.” Choosing the best is almost an impossible task because there is so much good, interesting Russian chamber music out there. Moreover, defining what is “Russian” is equally as difficult. Do we include Ukrainian, Georgian, Estonian and other regions that are not ethnically Russian but were associated with Russia and the Soviet Union? Arensky, Taneyev, Silvestrov, Gubaidulina, Glinka and Miaskovsky come to mind as “Russian” composers worth exploring and with any luck Seattle will occasionally hear more music from these and other composers that don’t often show up in Seattle concert programs. Ultimately these are challenges, as artistic director, for Ageyeva to determine.

Nevertheless, how Ageyeva defines what is “Russian” and what constitutes the “best” may not matter much as long as Ageyeva and her fellow musicians perform like they did last night.

Ageyeva was joined by local favorite cellist Josh Roman and Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center violinist Arnaud Sussman. The three don’t regularly play together and while this was apparent at times, especially when one player would dominate the other, they dug into the music, exploring both the dark and light.

Sussman was especially fine. His performance of Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir D’un Lieu Cher and Waltz Scherzo flowed effortlessly. His playing was nuanced and shimmering.

The meat of the performance, Prokofiev’s Cello Sonata and the ubiquitous Shostakovich Trio Op.67, were framed by three short pieces by Tchaikovsky and Rimsky-Korsakov. Prokofiev’s Op.119 sonata was one of the composer’s final works, having been composed while Prokofiev carried the burden of being denounced as a “formalist.” Roman had a clear affinity for the music. Roman’s performance was sympathetic and very warm. Even the furious passages for the cello were handled well. Sean McLean, the host for the evening, suggested Roman's performance of the sonata may even show up on a recording when the cellist strikes out as a solo artist at the end of the Seattle Symphony season.

The Shostakovich Trio has been popular this year. Earlier in the year, I heard Ageyeva’s former ensemble, the Finisterra Trio, perform the same piece. And not too long after the Finisterra’s performance the Onyx Chamber Players took on the piece. Compared to the Finisterra’s performance last fall, Saturday’s performance was highly rugged. The Allegretto was even more intense than usual with Sussman, Roman and Ageyeva letting Shostakovich’s music to lash out wildly as if they were tempting their own skill to keep it all together. For people who like their Shostakovich unbridled, the three young performers delivered.

Hopefully the Russian Chamber Music Foundation is successful. There is much to love in the Russian chamber repertoire. The next concert doesn’t come until November 5, 2008 but will feature the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center in a Rachmaninov inspired concert. Mark your calendars now because I suspect the next concert will be even more popular than Saturday’s inaugural performance.

Four concertmasters

2008-02-24T07:15:00.001-08:00

The Seattle Times reports the Seattle Symphony's four concertmaster experiment is causing some distress among the players. Essentially, no part time positions are allowed and with four concertmasters you have four part time players.

The Way

2008-02-23T10:06:00.001-08:00

Last night, St. James Cathedral demonstrated once again why they are central to musical and religious life in the Emerald City. The occasion was the Stations of Cross, presided over by Father Michael Ryan. The music was Antonin Dvorak’s Stabat Mater.

For those not familiar with the Stations, it is essentially a reduction of the Passion of Jesus Christ. For Catholics, it is a representative and popular spiritual journey for worshipers during Lent. Worshipers meditate and pray on each step of Jesus’ journey as they go on their own personal journey.

The Stabat Mater is frequently used during the Stations of the Cross. The Stabat Mater attempts to convey Mary’s suffering as she bears witness to the suffering of her son, Jesus Christ. Composers from Arvo Part to Richard Davy have written Stabat Mater's. However, there are few composers who have captured the profundity of the setting as movingly as Antonin Dvorak.

The composer’s own personal tragedy likely motivated his heart wrenching music. In three short years Dvorak lost three children. In 1875, the composer’s infant daughter Josefa died. In 1876 Dvorak began to channel his grief into initial sketches of his Stabat Mater. In 1877 Josefa’s death was compounded by the death of his daughter Ruzenka who died of poisoning and their son Otakar who died of small pox.

After the death of Otakar, Dvorak quickly finished his Stabat Mater, needing only two months for the task.

St. James has a long history of incorporating “classical” music into worship. There are times during mass when Bach or Bruckner will come pouring out of the cathedral organ. Moments like these startle and comfort me. Growing up in a dusty manufacturing town In Iowa my mass experience was generally limited to unconvincing attempts to make church music fun and meaningful. Most Catholics can recount similar bad post-Vatican II music experiences.

When I started listening to classical music in the mid-90’s, classical sacred music became a mild obsession of mine. I wondered why actual church music seldom resembled the wonders I was finding in recordings.

That changed when I moved to Seattle. My first experience with Seattle’s robust religious music scene was St. Mark’s Sunday evening Compline. Not too long after that, when I was shopping around for a new home church I found St. James.

It is almost impossible to write objectively about an event, like last night’s Stabat Mater/Stations of the Cross. St. James’ music department deserves immense credit for infusing religious worship with extra dimensions. Months ago readers may recall I heaped praise on the cathedral for their setting of Mozart’s Requiem.

Even though the various performances at St. James are far from definitive, I firmly believe there is no better place in Seattle to have both a musical and a spiritual experience.

Last night was no different. After a long week at work I was barely able to sit up, but as soon as cathedral organ began playing Dvorak’s introduction followed by the choir mournfully singing “Stabat Mater dolorosa…” (the mother stood grieving). I knew the entire service would provide ample reflection on the tragedy and uplift of Jesus’ last moments. Of course, Dvorak’s shifting from minor to major keys helps with the uplift too.

Even if you aren’t Catholic, St. James should be a required stop for anyone who loves sacred music. I know the mechanics and opulence of Catholic religious practice can be intimidating, but being uncomfortable for only a few hours is a small price to pay for the beauty and emotions inherent in most St. James services.

New links

2008-02-17T16:50:00.001-08:00

Just a quick post to draw your attention to two new links. The first is Cappella Romana. The ensemble is one of the few truly professional vocal groups in the Northwest. They perform frequently in both Seattle and Portland. Their recent performance "Arctic Light" was positively covered. You can watch a clip of Cappella Romana in a dress performance below.

The other link is the newly created Russian Chamber Music Foundation of Seattle. This organization's inaugural concert is this week on February 23, 2008. As a fan of Russian music, including chamber music, I am hopeful this organization will take off. The inaugural concert features Shostakovich's frenetic Op.67 trio and Prokofiev's Sonata for Cello and Piano.

Both Cappella Romana and the Russian Chamber Music Foundation of Seattle are well worth looking into.

The commercial power of blogs

2008-02-15T14:33:00.001-08:00

The Hollywood Reporter has a short piece on the commercial influence of blogs. According to an NYU professor, if a record is mentioned more than forty times the record sales three to five times above average.

Flying Soloist

2008-02-12T13:46:00.000-08:00

So after listening to almost exclusively Mahler for just about 15 days running, I decided it was time for something different.

In one of my constant attempts to stay on the cutting edge of what’s new in music I picked up a disc of a composer I knew absolutely nothing about. The only thing I knew about this CD while buying it is that Martin Grubinger, the solo percussionist, is a force to be reckoned with. With it’s sleek hyper-modern neon cover art, something told me that composer Rolf Wallin would give me something aurally modern to chew on. And boy was I right, for those out there who like their modernism fast, lean and logical then step right up for Mr. Wallin’s wild ride. All the fat has been trimmed off his compositions, but that’s not to say his compositions are dry, oh no, quite the contrary. Had this music been created prior to the 2001: A Space Odyssey Stanley Krubrick would’ve tossed out his Ligeti LPs and replaced them with Wallin’s futuristic soundscapes.

A level headed approach to Brahms first piano concerto, soloist Cedric Tiberghien has the technical know-how to grasp what Brahms is dishing out (he also has pretty big hands from my understanding), but doesn’t dig in the way one often thinks Viennese romance should be. Instead he plays Brahms in a very Chopinesque manner, more gentle than we typically associate with Brahms. Conductor Jiri Belohlavek smooths out some of the more bombastic elements of the score and creates a cool, refined symphonic backdrop. His conducting in the Haydn Variations come across the same way, excellently played, but slightly too proper for Brahms. This team may be better suited for Schumann rather than a hot head like Brahms.

Now, I haven’t heard this one, but I encourage everyone to go out and buy it immediately. Ernst Bloch’s Concerto Grosso No. 1 has suffered from never receiving a recording that lives up to my standards. The best recording I’ve heard was tape recorded in someone’s lap at some college performance in Utah (I don’t even remember which college). I have sadly never found a recording that matches it’s intensity or spontaneity. “Why haven’t you bought this one” some people may be asking, well Hansslser is expensive and I’m not made out of gold. Normally I don’t recommend something so highly without hearing it first, but Jenny Lin is a fierce pianist with true instincts for music, I’d recommend any of her discs.

Here’s one to help start a discussion at the brandy parlor, Daniel Hope, who I believe is more well equipped to tackle modern masterpieces pieces than past warhorses, brings us the world premiere recordings of two of Mendelssohn’s most famous pieces, his Violin Concerto in E minor op. 64 and his Octet in E flat major op. 20 in their original unrevised form. Now I’m inclined to just outright say ‘the revised versions are better’ because I truly think that they are. But someone could easily persuade me away from that mindset by arguing that it’s just Daniel Hope’s playing, he’s just not as convincing as other players have been. So the jury is still out on this one, it’ll take a little digesting, perhaps another recording or two of the violin concerto and octet are in order before I make a final decision.

Can’t get enough Golijov? Well if you don’t mind him broken down into 2 minute increments then the score for Francis Ford Coppola's newest movie Youth Without Youth will have to be your next fix. Golijov speaks very highly about the making of the score, particularly working with Coppola, describing him as “…a great hero of mine…” and going on to say “I felt it was possible to fulfill every dream in life!” The score isn’t terribly engaging, but it’s good noncommittal music, music to listen to while doing something else.

"The pity of war"

2008-02-10T23:18:00.001-08:00

The music of the Twentieth Century echoed through Seattle's concert halls this weekend. Michael Stern and the Seattle Symphony started the weekend with performances of Edgard Varese's rarely heard Integrales, Victor Herbert's equally rare Cello Concerto No.2 and the romantic longing of Rachmaninov's Symphony No.3. However, the real treat of the weekend was Benjamin Britten's War Requiem. George Shangrow and his talented, home-grown Orchestra Seattle and Seattle Chamber Singers played the Requiem. By most accounts the piece has not been heard in the Puget Sound for almost thirty years.

Two themes ran through both performances. On the one hand, Varese and Britten were deeply impacted by the carnage of war. Varese was conscripted into the army before he fell ill and made his way to the United States. Similarly, Benjamin Britten was a staunch conscientious objector who crafted his Requiem for the dedication of the rebuilt Coventry Cathedral. Britten also dedicated the piece to four friends who died during World War II. The pessimism and renewal that follows a period of war are found in both pieces.

Conversely, while Britten and Varese were taking music in new directions. Varese exploding harmony and line in favor of "sound masses," rhythm and timbre and Britten later explored traditional forms in inventive ways, Sergei Rachmaninov and Victor Herbert seemingly clung to the old-fashioned, idioms of the past.

Roughly 60 years separates the earliest work, Herbert's Cello Concerto No.2 (the earliest work) and the War Requiem (the latest). The separation in time is not obvious. Rachmaninov's symphony sounds as if it were composed contemporaneously with Herbert's concerto. In fact, forty years separate the works. Similarly, Varese's musicial idiom is so jarring that I suspect most listeners would not place the composition at the start of the last century. Britten's War Requiem is just as elusive.

Herbert's concerto seems obsolete in comparison to the work of his contemporaries (Debussy, Mahler, and Sibelius). Nonetheless, as evidenced by his almost constant swaying and humming (?), guest cellist Lynn Harrell enjoyed the piece and so did the audience. Harrell luxuriated in the work's artifice and the audience eagerly joined him on the ride. Rachmaninov's Symphony No.3, composed less than a decade after Varese's uncomfortable Integrales, clings to the romantic sentiment that was being jettisoned by composers in Europe and America.

Michael Stern is building a formidable career with the Kansas City Symphony by conducting pieces usually overlooked by larger, more well known orchestras. This year alone, Stern is conducting excerpts from Berg's Wozzeck, Stephen Dankner's The Apocalypse of St. John, Lou Harrison's Concerto for Pipa and String Orchestra and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No.1, Winter Dreams. His recent release on Naxos of Gordon Shi-Wen Chin's Double Concerto has been favorably reviewed by music critiques.

The collision of red state Missouri and Kansas is an unusual place for new and forgotten classical music to find an audience. It's a development that should give Seattle pause.

Britten's War Requiem ties the past and present together. His dissonance is counterbalanced with haunting moods and abundant atmosphere. Britten's affinity for vocal composition is credited with restoring English operatic and choral tradition. The War Requiem synthesizes all of these traits into a profound piece of music.

Britten juxtaposed the traditional mass for the dead alongside the anti-war poetry of Wilfred Owen. Discord and placidity coexist side by side. Notably, the sheer volume of the forces used and their placement (the boys chorus and chamber organ are off stage) are designed to create a three dimensional musical experience not unlike Stockhausen's Gruppen.

At a time when our own country is fighting two wars, Britten's music is as relevant now as it was in 1962 when the world was rebuilding from the catastrophe of the war to end all wars.

Shangrow has a knack for tackling difficult works. In December, he drew out a fine performance of Monteverdi's forward looking 1610 Vespers. Later this year, he takes on Mahler's Symphony No.4. Shangrow's Britten was no different.

For almost ninety minutes, Shangrow had the piece unfold naturally. The Northwest Boy's Choir was angelic. I sat in the balcony where I was close to the crisp singing of the choir. This may have been a mistake, since I did not get to experience how the choir sounds as it was intended. Shangrow's tempos were patient. He let the music unfold naturally, allowing the secular and sacred to become one. The performance was satisfying from start to finish, culminating in a mesmerizing Libra me.

The orchestra generated an unexpectedly full and somber sound. I shouldn't be surprised, Shangrow has nurtured his orchestra building it into one of the better community orchestras in Seattle. At times the brass had balance problems, drowning out the chorus, soloists and the orchestra. The effect was powerful albeit distorted.

Even though this weekend's performances were dominated by music of the Twentieth Century, Seattle depends (heavily) on the talent of visiting conductors and orchestra's like Orchestra Seattle to expose audiences to fare different from Brahms and Beethoven. Without George Shangrow's steady vision of musical possibility, works like the War Requiem would never be heard.

When Michael Stern took the microphone to introduce Integrales he gushed over Seattle's openness to modern music. Peering out in the Benaroya Hall audience he had to see that there were plenty of empty seats. If he had eyes in the back of his head he would have seen what I saw, restless thumbing of program notes during the Varese. With a little bit of forethought and audience conditioning modern music can work in Seattle.

Modern music need not be relegated to fifteen minutes at the start of program. Shangrow's Britten proved this.

Upcoming

2008-02-09T17:53:00.001-08:00

Seattle Symphony: Guest Conductor Michael Stern is in town this weekend to conduct SSO in Rachmaninoff Symphony No.3 and Victor Herbert's addictive Cello Concerto No.2. Since taking over at the helm of the Kansas City Symphony, Stern has helped revitalize the city's arts scene.

Orchestra Seattle: Tomorrow, George Shangrow and his home-grown orchestra perform Benjamin Britten's War Requiem. Britten's requiem is a gigantic work, setting poetry alongside the traditional Catholic mass, to create a piece that is one of the Twentieth Century's greatest musical achievements.

2008-02-05T11:38:00.000-08:00

In response to my most recent account of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra performance, Marty Ronish, had this to say:

"I'm so glad you stopped in to hear the Chicago Symphony. As the producer of the national broadcasts for the CSO, I want my fellow Seattleites to know they can hear live Chicago Symphony Orchestra concerts on-demand anytime they want. I post each broadcast online for two weeks at cso.org, 52 weeks a year. The programs do not air on KING-FM, I'm sad to say, but you can always get them online.The concert you heard with Pierre Boulez and Susan Graham will be on the broadcast this summer. I just did the interviews with them this past week. Happy listening! "

Marty RonishProducer, BP Chicago Symphony Orchestra Broadcasts

(and devoted Seattle resident)

You heard it here folks. You can hear what I'm writing about. The site is beautifully laid out, complete with program notes, special interviews, and of course, the best performances you could ever hope for. So, thank you Marty and happy listening indeed to everyone.

In the shadow of a giant

2008-02-04T20:13:00.001-08:00

The pre-concert lecture for the recent Seattle Symphony concert was titled "In the shadow of a giant." The title, an obvious reference to Brahms' First Symphony. Brahms labored for twenty years on his first symphony. His creativity gripped by the belief that he could never surpass, let alone equal, the achievement in Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.

However, the title could have been extended further to include the two other composers on the program. Claude Debussy labored to break free from Wagner, Liszt and the rest of the music mainstream. In a larger way, Debussy resided firmly in the long cast of the Twentieth Century and the avant garde music scene that was erupting around him in Paris. Arnold Schoenberg's place in the continuum of music is more obvious. A pupil of Zemlinsky, Schoenberg emerged from the post-Romantic world of Mahler seeking to extend and differentiate his own music from an extensive German musical tradition.

While this past weekend's program wasn't exactly revolutionary, it was different enough to cause me to wonder what things might be like at Benaroya Hall if Schwarz ever left. Debussy's practically unknown Symphonic Fragments from The Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian and Schoenberg's better known, Transfigured Night filled out the first half of the concert. Ingo Metzmacher's approach to both was expansive and deliberate.

In Transfigured Night, Metzmacher drew out ravishing solo playing from Susan Gulkis Assadi and quarter time concertmaster Frank Almond. I wonder what incoming Milwaukee music director Edo de Waart thinks about Almond's part time gig and Schwarz's experiment?

But, Almond and Assadi weren't the only ones deserving of credit. Metzmacher pulled out of the Seattle Symphony strings an exceedingly fine performance that could have only come from a conductor with a keen understanding of Schoenberg's music.

Metzmacher's Brahms was a aurally delicious way to end the concert. Brahms struggled for two decades to finish his First Symphony and the obvious tension in the piece from struggle to triumph had critics to comparing the work to Beethoven's Ninth.

Sunday's performance demonstrated the power of a controlled performance. Metzmacher's command of the physics of the piece and orchestra created a tightly coiled sensation for the entirety of the work. Most people probably prefer their Brahms on the wild, unrestrained side. Perhaps, even a little opulent. I should know, that's usually how I like my Brahms. The only problem with highly emotional, overflowing, and unrestrained Brahms is that it leaves you worn out by the end.

Metzmacher's approach had my ears begging for more when the final notes were played. Nearly the entire time, I was hoping for a Bacchanal to erupt. However, Metzmacher's restraint peaked my anticipation and had me more engaged in the composer's symphony than I had been in a long time.

Magical Evocations

2008-02-03T09:48:00.001-08:00

Having already attended performances of the Music of the Baroque, the Baroque Band, and the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, among other things, I thought I would give myself the ultimate pleasure in the city by attending a performance of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. I had shied away from going to the CSO because I thought tickets would be really expensive. But once I accepted the notion that I didn't have to be right in front with the bourgeoisie and just focused on getting a seat that I liked, I ended up becoming a 5-concert subscriber. If the quality of the first concert is what I can expect for the rest, I am in for quite a time.

The concert did not have a German in sight. The concert began with four short pieces by Luciano Berio and concluded with Stravinsky's ballet of 1911, Petrouchka. Both works call for massive orchestras, and it was certainly fun to see such a large ensemble after having had a slight musical diet of baroque orchestras whose total compliment would be thirty. In this orchestra, the violins alone were thirty, with twelve violas, ten cellos, 7 basses, four flutes, two doubling piccolo, and on down the line. I think you can get the picture: big. In the middle, and the real reason why I chose this concert, the CSO was performing Les nuits d'ete, Op.7 of Hector Berlioz. Long established as one of my favorite vocal pieces (along with Britten's Serenade and Copland's Dickinson Songs), I was finally going to hear them live and with American superstar mezzo-soprano Susan Graham singing. Then, when you add in the expert conducting of Pierre Boulez, especially in this repertoire, the concert was guaranteed to be stunning, and it was.

The program began with something called Quatre dedicaces by Berio. A composer of diverse interests, as represented by his concerto for trombone, SOLO, and his reconstruction of Schubert's tenth symphony, Berio also wrote several short pieces for specific occasions. Four of these, Fanfara (1982), Entrata (1980), Festum (1989) and Encore (1978/81) were performed under the afore-mentioned title given by Boulez, and together began the concert with a strong whiff of modernity. The four were written during the late 1970's and 1980's, and they call for a large orchestra, even if all the effort is for twelve minutes. As you might imagine, they were cacophonous creations, and all the musicians were noticeably paying close attention to their music, as was Boulez, who was giving the precise beat with his batonless hand. The works had much going on, but it never reached the border of noise. The pieces reminded me of busy cities, with cars and pedestrians going in every direction, all with their own agendas, but seemingly making up what city life is as a whole. Strings, divided in all sorts of ways, would do their thing, as the many winds, brass and percussion would add their trajectories. The little pieces even required the presence of piano, celesta and organ! They buzzed along to their conclusions and were a raucous beginning to this concert.

Over half the musicians left the stage for the performance of the song cycle of 1840. Although Berlioz can certainly cull together huge orchestral forces, he pared himself down to an intimate orchestra for the magical accompaniment to the songs. I first fell in love with this set when I purchased a two-disc set that had a performance of Romeo et Juliet, his choral symphony. Such a large work, it spills onto a second disc, and added as filler was a wondrous performance of the songs by British mezzo Dame Janet Baker. Her rendering of the second song in the set, Le Spectre de la Rose, stays with me long after I hear the disc. That staggering benchmark was what Susan Graham was up against, and for the most part, she lived up to that standard. She was truly brilliant in the middle songs, Sur les Lagunes being a morose affair filled with painful resignation. But the world shifted as she sang Absence. The first line, "come back, come back, my best beloved!" was followed by a long, heavy pause, as if Graham were calling out into the void. It was overwhelming and each stanza was treated so differently, but always came back to that mournful hail. The final song, L'ile inconnue, about a boy asking his girl where in the world she would like him to take her, was perfect, each person being evoked as their words came forth. The song cycle ends with quiet as the boat with the lovers moves off into the distance. It was a beautiful performance, and just like Baker's, stayed with me for a long time.

Petrouchka, a strange ballet about the anguished life and death of a puppet, is considered one of Boulez' specialties. The massive orchestra together again, the four scenes of the ballet were played without pause. That was a problem for me because I am not very familiar with the ballet nor its identifying sounds. So, the music went by as a thirty minute tone poem, with many evocative and colorful passages. Boulez was in clear command of this piece. With a small flourish from his hand, a piece of the orchestral color would come to the fore and then melt back in. I also noticed how Stravinsky used the instruments in so many different combinations. Early on, you would have a small tune played by bass clarinet doubling clarinet, with the flute buzzing through quick arpeggios and that would lead into another fragment played by celesta. At one point, two performers were needed to play the celesta, while another person played the piano. Another example is when the flute has a wondrous solo, but is accompanied by four cellos only. There is no way to tell in a recording, but it was fascinating to see those orchestral choices. Seemingly ever instrument had lush solos, the flute being expertly played by Mathieu Dufour, whose whole head would move up and down as he played staccato notes, and Larry Combs on clarinet, whose face turned bright red as he played. As I listened, I just became more enamored with the music of Stravinsky and was thankful that the CSO under Haitink and Boulez decided to focus on French and Russian music this season. As the ballet came to its quiet ending, with the ghost of the puppet Petrouchka having the last laugh, and the audience broke out in rapturous applause, I was glad I decided to get tickets to the CSO because they are, truly and confirmed, one of the best orchestras in the world.

Diversion

2008-02-02T18:30:00.001-08:00

Even though this is a blog about music, I can't resist. My trade is politics and this, by any measure, is an amazing crowd for Senator Barack Obama.

Senator Obama's rally today in Minnesota.

"Love and tragedy" no more

2008-02-01T17:46:00.001-08:00

Some months back, this weekend's Seattle Symphony concert was dubbed "Love and Tragedy." Back in September the program featured two Brahms works - the Tragic Overture and the Symphony No.1. But, Schoenberg's Pelleas und Melisande was also on the program.

However, the program has been considerably revised. First, the Tragic Overture is out. Perhaps there was too much Brahms. Taking the place of the overture is Symphonic Fragments from Le Martyre de Saint Sebastien. Debussy's Le Martyre de Saint Sebastien is an odd work of incidental music which includes opera, cantata and orchestral music. Debussy's amalgam was both his last attempt at composing for the stage and a flop. Also jettisoned from the program is Schoenberg's Pelleas und Melisande. In its place: Verklarte Nacht. The piece is one of Schoenberg's earliest and is probably his most popular.

Verklarte Nacht is a musical setting of Richard Dehmel's poem. The poem's narrative is pretty simple. A couple is strolling through a forest. The woman confides in her lover that she is pregnant with the child of another man. Rather than rejecting her, the woman's lover graciously embraces the circumstances, promising to make the child his own.

The "love and tragedy" are still there: martyrdom, the love of a woman and a child and the "tragedy" of Brahms difficulty composing his symphony.

Release Date: February 12th

2008-01-30T20:59:00.001-08:00

Harmonia Mundi and its affiliate labels have a promising set of new releases and re-issue slated for the 12th of February. Some of them include, but are not limited to...

Having tackled Handel's Op. 3 with much critical acclaim, worthy sales and a gramophone award, the Academy of Ancient Music and Richard Eggar set their sights on Handel's Op.4 Organ Concertos. This is a priority release for Harmonia Mundi so expect lots of press, promotion and other hoopla in the coming months. For you audiophiles out there this is also an SACD Hybrid.

Harmonia Mundi's budget priced re-issue series Musique d'Aboard has six previously deleted titles reemerging, most of which focus strongly on early music including discs by Englishman John Blow, the young Rameau contemporary Jean Joseph Mondonville, early 20th century Spaniard Joaquín Turina, rococo composer Luigi Boccherini and 2 separate releases of early chant, one entitled Carmina Burana the other focusing on Syrian chant called Chant Traditionnel Maronite

And the hits just keep on coming. Sir Colin Davis and the LSO bring us a live recording of what may be the biggest tear jerker in classical music history, Mozart's Requiem (sorry, no link at the moment). Few would disagree that Davis is one of the premier Mozart interpreters around, having recorded more Mozart in his career than any other composer. If he puts out anything less than an absolutely exceptional performance my jaw will hit the floor.

Nothing gets my pulse racing like an eclectic pairing of pieces (I'm not sure why, they usually end up being awkward and strange) so needless to say, this new disc from Onyx has me salivating. The fantastic Christine Schäfer has chosen to pair up songs by the proper Brit, Mr. Henry Purcell, with American eccentric George Crumb on a disc called Apparition. Not only is she performing them together, but she's blending the twos compositions into one mass in order to help find parallels between the two. I can barely contain myself.

And finally, we have one for fanatics only. Testament is finally releasing the 1955, premiere stereo recording (according to Testament) of Der Ring des Nibelungen. Now, the four separate operas have been available previously, but this is the first time it's been all in one box. Testament is the very definition of a full priced label, so it's a commitment.

More on Roman's departure

2008-01-30T20:45:00.001-08:00

The Seattle Times has an article up on Roman's departure from the Seattle Symphony.

Moving on

2008-01-30T15:37:00.001-08:00

The Seattle Symphony's principal cellist, Josh Roman, is moving on, leaving at the end of the current season. Below is the text of the letter he sent out that was posted elsewhere.

Dear Friends and Family,

I am writing to let you know of my decision to leave the Seattle Symphony following the current 07-08 season. I informed the orchestra management of this decision yesterday. I thought it would be nice to tell all of you myself, instead of you hearing the news from others. This email was the best way I could come up with. In any case: This decision comes at an exciting time for me. I have had so many opportunities since I came to the Seattle Symphony, and lately I have been taking more solo and chamber engagements here and elsewhere. I really appreciate the willingness of the Seattle Symphony to have placed so much faith in me at this critical point in my career.

I will miss many of the friends that I have made here, including two of the musicians that I sit next to almost every week; my stand partner, Susan Williams, and the charming man who sits next to me in the violins, John Weller. There are many more in the cello section, orchestra, staff, and around the city that I will remember fondly. My sincere hope is that our relationships will be lasting and flourish no matter where our roads take us.

As much as I have loved my time in Seattle, it is very important for me to keep a strong focus and commitment to my goals, and the foremost musical goal I have is to become the best cellist I can be. To that end, I will be doing tons of traveling over the next years, listening to many great musicians, practicing hard, performing a lot, and doing other cool stuff too. I plan to return to Seattle frequently and I already have several engagements here next season. Seattle is like a home to me; I love this place and the people I’ve met here!

I thank all of you for your support, especially my family, who has always thought that I was a bit nuts to want this life, but has supported me in everything nonetheless. It is because of this support that I am able to carry on and I hope to make the best of every opportunity and trust I am given.
All the best to all of you.

Joshua Roman

"I sit like Glen Gould"

2008-01-29T18:06:00.001-08:00

For almost twenty years Judith Cohen has been the artistic director of the Governor’s Chamber Music Series. In a parlor off of the main entry of the mansion, musicians from Washington and elsewhere have dazzled packed rooms with performances of familiar classics and new favorites.

In a series of firsts, last night was the first time I had been in the Washington Governor’s Mansion (which, when you consider my work as part of the legislative and political process in Olympia is lamentable), the first time I attended a Governor’s Chamber Music Series concert, and the first time I heard Seattle pianist Judith Cohen perform. In just over an hour, Cohen and her co-performers presented a concert that was more cohesive than I was expecting and well played. Surrounded by the elegance of the Governor’s Mansion it is easy to understand why the Governor’s Chamber Music Series has become so popular.

Cohen was joined by the prominent and much loved George Shangrow. Shangrow has built a reputation in the Northwest and abroad as a fine interpreter of an enormous swath of music. Shangrow has also helped build Orchestra Seattle and the Seattle Chamber Singers. But, Shangrow is also a well regarded pianist who has performed with the likes of the Seattle Symphony and the Kronos Quartet.

It was Shangrow’s ability as a pianist that brought him to Olympia last night. To open the concert, Shangrow and Cohen performed Gershwin’s immediately recognizable Rhapsody in Blue. The version Shangrow and Cohen performed was a reduction, for two pianos, of the orchestral version Gershwin and composer Ferde Grofe assembled when Gershwin was a mere twenty six. The reduced Rhapsody was as enjoyable as the orchestral version audiences are familiar with. The two piano version, and Shangrow and Cohen’s performance portrayed the rhythm and buoyancy of the work in a way the richly orchestrated version sometimes does not.

Gershwin’s most popular piece was a smartly chosen lead in for the rest of the concert. Jackson Berkey, a Juilliard trained musician, composer and pianist for Manheim Steamroller was the focus of the remaining two thirds of the program.

Berkey’s music reminded me of a cross between the Neo-Romantics, John Adams, and Alan Hovhaness. Both Berkey’s Nocturne #22 and his Suite for Two Pianos were fairly tuneful, atmospheric and depended on a sustained feeling of movement and forward motion.

I was surprised by the introspection in Berkey’s Suite for Two Pianos. The suite was commissioned to remember the death of a young woman who was killed by a drunk driver. In Berkey’s explanation, each movement illustrates a different aspect of life. The first movement, “Flying High,” crashes on itself depicting life’s onward march. The second movement, “Rainydark and Firelight” is dark and introspective. Cohen and Berkey’s pianos and fingers ruminated over the unexpected tragedy that too often interferes with life. The final movement, “Fading Memories,” was intentionally loose and inconclusive, ending with whispering chimes.

Last night’s evening of firsts was a delightful change of pace for a city known primarily for politics and bureaucracy. Judith Cohen is doing Washington proud by bringing well played music into the Governor’s Mansion. Any trip to Washington’s capitol should endeavor to include a concert in the Governor’s Mansion in the itinerary.

Just a reminder

2008-01-28T21:38:00.001-08:00

Just a friendly reminder to readers that there are three contributors on this site. Two Seattleites and one Chicagoan. Sometimes our opinions converge and just as often they diverge.

Feldman: museum soundtrack

2008-01-28T21:14:00.001-08:00

In retrospect, I am not sure getting up bright and early to attend a day long Morton Feldman marathon was the best way to spend a Sunday. One person contended my time would have been better spent tracking down another recording of Mozart's wind concertos.

In any case, as I mentioned earlier this week, the Seattle Chamber Players ended their Icebreaker festival with a series of three lectures on Morton Feldman and a four hour marathon of Feldman's music in the Seattle Art Museum's contemporary galleries. The goal of the festival and lectures was to tie Feldman to the inspiration he found in abstract expressionist painters. The music would be surrounded by the vestiges of his inspiration.

The lectures explored Feldman in three ways. Kyle Gann's lecture offered an expansive look at Feldman, his music and how the composer fits within the modernist and minimalist schools. Alex Ross was more topical. Ross compared Feldman and the composers of the New Viennese school - Schoenberg and Berg in particular. The middle presentation focused on Feldman's obtuse notation style.

After the second hour of the lectures, I had to wonder if the audience was really extracting anything useful from the presentations. During the question and answer session, one women, who attested to her own unfamiliarity with Feldman and his music, asked a simple question about Feldman's graph notation and how if what is to be played is indeterminate how would anyone know if the music is being performed as intended. The question elicited a curt response that probably made the subject of Feldman's notation more perplexing. I appreciated the woman's question, her honesty and her willingness to struggle with the topic even though she didn't fully understand what she was hearing.

Even if others were having trouble wrapping their head around the subject, the substance of Gann's talk was the most interesting. Gann attempted to place Feldman outside of all classifications, distinct from both the minimalists and advocates of noisy atonalists. A composer who tried to embody nothing specific but something uniquely profound. In an intriguing line of thought, Feldman was linked to generations of classical composers who had come before because Feldman had rediscovered the value of intuition. The result,Gann argued, was music that was sparse but overflowing with meaning and complexity. This simplicity contrasts with the minimalist trends of the 70's and 80's, in that Feldman's music follows an evolutionary process that demands the listener's attention. According to Gann, If my attention wavered for even a moment, I would miss a valuable insight. Nothing short of rapt attention will do for one of Morton Feldman's pieces.

Gann's vigorous defense of Feldman readied me for the afternoon's performances. Feldman's music doesn't come naturally to my ears. In rare instances, as is the case with Rothko Chapel, I do find myself opening up to the music. However, over the entirety of the Feldman music I have heard, my openness is rare. Ross' honesty on this point was a relief. Ross admitted to admiring Feldman's music because of the emotional response he feels. To conclude his own talk, Ross treated the audience to a recording he made for college radio. In the recording, Ross poignantly juxtaposed an interview with Feldman over Rothko Chapel. Feldman is heard wondering out loud about the mournfulness of his music. All the while, Feldman's own lugubrious music perfectly matching each thought.

Yet, as I rode the escalator to the third floor galleries, spied the carefully roped off area where the Seattle Chamber Players would play, and observed the art gawking crowd, I wondered how anyone could actually give Feldman's music the attention that arguably it demands. Plenty of people and abundant background noise threatened to drown out Feldman's occasionally barely audible sound world. If Gann was right, the surroundings would not compliment but distract from the music. Rather than demand the rapt attention of SAM's patrons, Feldman's music was relegated to an inferior position. If Feldman's music of the 70's and 80's is as pivotal as Gann believes, then it deserved more than to serve as a museum sound track. Sadly, this was the end result.

The idea of the all day Feldman festival was a good one. Link the music, the composer and the artists he found inspiration in. However, its execution was hampered by a space that would have been ideal without the distractions implicit in a gallery and an audience unwilling and in most cases unable to devote the attention Feldman's music requires.

Get the Picture?

2008-01-27T06:41:00.001-08:00

Although Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony Orchestra escaped a legal peccadillo recently, the reality still remains that something smells bad over there. In fact, if you read the Seattle Weekly's article summarizing the case, the symphony's argument to dismiss the harassment case by violinist Peter Kaman was based on the fact that it couldn't be harassment against the violinist in particular because "the declarations from other SSO members suggest the maestro dishes it out pretty widely." If that is a victory for the Seattle Symphony, then there is something wrong there too. And now Alex Ross has gotten into the mix in his recent conversation with Jen Graves. According to Ross, the West Coast has always been this pioneering area of the country that confronts its myths about what classical music is and what it's supposed to be. When Graves asked if Seattle can join San Francisco and Los Angeles in that effort, here is what Ross said:

"I think there could be an amazing effect if Seattle had a music director who was following that same kind of recipe. Gerard Schwarz doesn't seem to be on the cutting edge of anything. I can just imagine a whole lot more energy and conviction in that direction, and I think Seattle instantly could become one of the leading orchestras in terms of setting the agenda for classical music, because I think there's this great potential audience there."

Such a stern indictment. Then again, what does Alex Ross know? Or the musicians of the Seattle Symphony? Or the New York Times? Or some blogger from Chicago? In the end, Seattle will have to make the ultimate decision, and as long as the Seattle Symphony board thinks that Schwarz has something to contribute, then I guess he will be allowed to. In the mean time Seattlites, continue to enjoy whatever you can from the symphony and keep your hopes alive about what the Symphony could be in the future.

Interrogation: Alex Ross

2008-01-26T17:19:00.001-08:00

This week's Stranger has a Q&A with Alex Ross. The article is pretty tame. Although, Graves and Ross slightly pan the Messiaen and Radio Head concert at Town Hall earlier this month and the artistic direction of the Seattle Symphony.

Morton Feldman and the Seattle Art Museum

2008-01-25T19:46:00.001-08:00

This weekend is packed with music. The Seattle Chamber Players and On the Boards are featuring a festival of new music from American composers. Commentary and insights are coming from Alex Ross and Kyle Gann, two people who know the most about composers making waves in new music circles. At the same time Seattle Chamber Music will be wowing crowds at Benaroya Hall with more traditional offerings - Bach, Mozart, Mendelssohn. Pianist and part time blogger Jeremy Denk, is performing Bach's Goldberg Variations.

Denk's thoughts on the Variations are well documented in a post from earlier this month.

The Goldberg Variations are (intake of breath, flip of hair, reluctant
uprise of gesturing arm) … is there any way out of this? … the Goldberg
Variations are … wait, hold on a moment, we needn’t bother to say, it
transcends saying, it’s effing ineffable! and don’t you know that in
place of speech we should roll our bloodshot eyes at the infinities we
receive through our retinae and via vibrations rammed up our ear canals
… does anyone have a Q-tip? … but here we go, out with it now, the
Goldberg Variations are (don’t just say it you idiot, slight pompous
lift to tone, now, give it some heft, some vavoom!): sublime, perfect, divine, magnificent. Whew. Don’t you feel better, now? Pat me on the back, I may have burped meanwhile.

But an event that has been overlooked is Sunday's all day Morton Feldman marathon at the Seattle Art Museum. Just like the events at On the Boards, new music expert, author and New Yorker critic Alex Ross will participate in a discussion on Morton Feldman's music. Later in the day, surrounded by paintings by Feldman's contemporaries, the Seattle Chamber Players perform Feldman pieces inspired by paintings and painters.

For instance, De Kooning, a piece for violin, piano, horn, percussion and cello, was inspired by watching William De Kooning paint. As is typical of Feldman's music the piece unfolds quietly and purposefully.

Feldman's affinity for the abstract expressionists significantly influenced many of Feldman's longer works from the 1970's including Rothko Chapel and Piano Piece to Philip Guston.

All the pieces on the program span Feldman's compositional output. Nature Pieces, a collection of short piano pieces was written in 1951 not too long after Feldman's first encounter with Anton Webern's Symphony and John Cage. Shortly after this meeting, Feldman moved into an apartment below Cage and began experimenting with Cage inspired musical formulas that cast off standard notation, harmony and even serial technique. Nature Pieces confirms the influence John Cage had on Feldman's music.

By contrast, one of Feldman's last pieces Palais de Mari, synthesizes the qualities of his longer compositions into a much shorter form. Coming in at around twenty four minutes, the work uses all of the elements that make up Feldman's mature style, which closely follows the minimalist sounds of the late 1980's.

Feldman's music and the Seattle Art Museum are perfectly matched. The Seattle Art Museum boasts one of the best collections of modern American art. Less than a year ago, "SAM" reopened sporting a new addition of understated beauty. The architecture's subtlety will surely compliment Feldman's penchant for pianissimo and ethereal dimensions.

Dismissed

2008-01-25T17:53:00.001-08:00

The discrimination suit against the Seattle Symphony and Gerard Schwarz was dismissed.

The Rest is Noise

2008-01-24T17:31:00.001-08:00

Henry Fogel has nice things to say about Alex Ross and the Rest is Noise.

The Three B's

2008-01-22T10:48:00.000-08:00

In a recent article in the Washington Post, staff writer Anne Midgette disclosed a secret that many in the classical world have, but are afraid to confess. Namely, she doesn't like the music of Johannes Brahms all that much. Her examination of Brahms was prompted by a series of concerts in her area that included works by Brahms. Certainly Seattle is familiar with this as the Emerald City had several concerts in November 2007 with pianist Vladimir Feltsman featuring various works of the German Master. The question becomes, "Is Brahms worth all the attention?"

He certainly was at one point, and if you look at what gets performed in America, Brahms still ranks considerably high in what gets played. In fact, for the 2006-2007 concert season, Brahms was the winner for the composition with the most performances:

Top Ten most frequently performed works during the 2006-07 Season

Brahms, Johannes SYMPHONY NO. 2 IN D MAJOR, OP.73 (72)
Tchaikovsky, Piotr Ilyich SYMPHONY NO. 6 IN B MINOR, OP.74, (69)
Shostakovich, Dmitri SYMPHONY NO. 5, OP. 47 (66)
Brahms, Johannes SYMPHONY NO. 1 IN C MINOR, OP.68 (62)
Rimsky-Korsakov SCHEHEREZADE, OP. 35 (62)
Brahms, Johannes CONCERTO, VIOLIN, IN D MAJOR, OP.77 (62)
Beethoven, Ludwig Van SYMPHONY NO. 3 IN E-FLAT MAJOR, OPUS 55 (58)
Brahms, Johannes CONCERTO, PIANO, NO. 1 IN D MINOR, OP.15 (54)
Berlioz, Hector SYMPHONIE FANTASTIQUE, OPUS 14 (52)
Beethoven, Ludwig Van SYMPHONY NO. 5 IN C MINOR, OPUS 67 (51)

In fact, what you see is that last season was a particularly good season for Brahms. Four of the top ten compositions were by him. It makes sense in a way: America has always been an extrememly conservative audience in general, and Brahms, along with Bach and Beethoven, were the holy trinity of musical excellence. But, then, you have articles like Ms. Midgette's. What gives?

I think it goes to a split that is well-exposed in this top ten listing. Some people like their classical music "opaque" and highly academic, even if heartfelt, and some like their music of the heart-on-sleeve vein. After all, Tchaikovsky's cry fest is number two on the list. As a person who has always preferred Tchaikovsky over Brahms, I like my music flashy and highly emotional. Certainly, pieces like Scheherazade, Shostakovich's music in general, and the Symphonie Fantastique attest to that preference in others as well. But, the intellecutal camp thrives on Brahms and Beethoven ( I think Beethoven blends both worlds and so is the greatest composer that ever lived), and they of course round out the list.

Appreciating the music of Brahms requires a great deal of patience, and a commitment to look for the emotion buried deep beneath the highly abstracted variations and modulations. If one must like Brahms, despite your emotional inclinations, I would recommend appreciating the small details. One of the first pieces I simply fell in love with was his Trio for piano, violin and horn. It is heartfelt in its slow movement, written in honor of his recently deceased mother, and active and thrilling in its finale. The unique sound of the horn doesn't hurt either. Orchestrally, nothing surpasses the beauty and airy quality of the Symphony No.2. It has wonderful themes and striking leaps that just lift your heart, especially in the first movement. The German Requiem, although completely academic in its execution, fugues everywhere, has moments of true emotion. There are also flashy showpieces, and pieces of lighthearted ebullience, like the fun Hungarian Dances. All you have to do is get through the piece. Sometimes, it's harder and sometimes it's easier.

The list shows that the heart trumps the head, even in its choice of Brahms. The second symphony is pure pastoral beauty, the first, intense drama. The violin concerto is a tour de force which also happens to employ catchy Hungarian rhythms, and the first piano concerto, though long, is highly dramatic, just like the first symphony. If you give Brahms a try, and you are okay with not liking everything of his, then there is lots to enjoy, even if you prefer to cry than think when listening to your music.

Two of a Kind

2008-01-21T21:40:00.001-08:00

Today was the Music of Baroque's and Music Director Jane Glover's annual salute to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who would have turned 252 this year had he lived in biblical times. Jane Glover, an internationally renown Mozart specialist, introduced the program with so much love for the man and unabashed enthusiasm for the music that there could be no way that the concert was going to be a disappointment. At its best the concert was a revelation of how Mozart's music should sound, and at the very least, it was a rollicking good time. Performed at Millennium Park's Harris Theater for Music and Dance, this concert once again proved the wisdom of becoming a subscriber to the MOB. There's only one concert left for me in this subscription, and the concert features no less imposing a work than Bach's St. Matthew Passion. I can't wait. But I digress.

The concert featured two symphonies, Nos. 34 and 39 and the piano concerto No.22. I was going to describe the concerto as elegant, but with Mozart, such an adjective is implied. Mozart's music is always refined and well-poised, and these performances were no different. Jane Glover led her ensemble of under 30 with no score. She stood before the players without the obstacle of a stand. This allowed her to practically be amongst the strings when she wanted to show emphasis. It also showed the audience that when it comes to Mozart, she loves to listen to it as much as conduct it. The two symphonies were performed with such command and precision. Especially in the slow movements, Glover allowed the silent moments to become events in themselves. These movements were treated with as much respect for their emotional gravitas as any Romantic slow movement would demand. The slow movement of the 34th truly shines brightly under Glover's direction. It takes on such poignancy and weight at the center of this three-movement work. The fast movements are alive, and the finale of the 39th really shows its contrapuntal complexity rivalling anything Haydn could manage. They were brilliantly performed.

Imogen Cooper, Mozart specialist in her own right, was the soloist in the Piano Concerto No.22 in E-flat major. My first encounter with this piece of music was in the movie Amadeus where the concerto's finale is used as the music for the end credits. I had no idea what music that was when I first saw that movie, but I knew I loved the music. And under Cooper's hands, that movement comes alive. Ms. Cooper personifies the qualities inherent in Mozart's music - poise, grace, refinement. She flowed on stage and sat stiffly upright at the piano, as if to slouch would be an insult to the music. Her playing was assured and thoroughly Mozartean. I felt at times that it was too elegant, as if there was nothing below the surface. Her playing seemed to vary from quiet to whisper and back, nothing boldly stated. Perhaps that wouldn't seem in character anyway. Her cadenzas (I assume they're hers because no indication was given in the notes as to authorship, so why not her) were not consistently successful. The first movement cadenza was a true synthesis of as many themes she could get in there, but at times, I felt it stunted the forward motion of the piece. The final cadenza however, was more forceful than I had heard all evening, and never seemed halting, flowing naturally into the wonderful conclusion. Cooper seemed so comfortable with the music by the end that one wished she started that way. It wasn't some ossified classic that had to be respected from a distance with a stiff back, but just music that makes you feel like you've come home. With these two interpreters, Glover and Cooper, Mozart is home, and the audience was allowed to peak inside their most comfortable space for a truly enjoyable performance.

Belcea Quartet comes to town

2008-01-21T21:24:00.001-08:00

This week the Belcea Quartet stops by Meany Hall. The performance is part of the President’s International Chamber Series.

The British ensemble has been on a tear lately, recording exclusively with EMI. In September, the quartet finished recording Bela Bartok’s six string quartets. This latest recording project comes on the heels of successful and well received recordings of Brahms, Debussy, Ades, Schubert and Britten.

The Belcea Quartet marks yet another move by the Meany Hall management to feature young and emerging artists. This stands in contrast to earlier years which didn't often make room for emerging artists. For listeners accustomed to Meany Hall will find much to like in this year's schedule of performances. Remember, it was only a few months ago Yevgeny Subdin and the Chiara Quartet made their way to the University of Washington, providing a fresh view on new and old classics.

Outside of the recording studio, the ensemble has garnered reviews across the United States and around the world. Uniformly, the quartet has been praised for their expressivity, clarity of performance and style.

Schubert and Beethoven make up Wednesday’s concert. You can get the full details here.

More Seattle Symphony

2008-01-20T18:13:00.001-08:00

The Seattle Weekly has a story/editorial on the Seattle Symphony, Gerard Schwarz and the lawsuit between the orchestra, the management and violinist Peter Kaman. Nothing new really. However, it does sound as if the litigation between Kaman and et al will be coming to an end.

Barack Obama and Alex Ross

2008-01-20T17:52:00.001-08:00

The other local weekly alternative, the Stranger, has a nifty post on the SLOG which attempts to bring out the similarities between Senator Obama's view of politics and the world and Ross' view of music. The post comes courtesy of Counter Critic who doesn't care for Ross.

Like Feit, I dig Alex Ross AND Obama. And, I am attracted to each for precisely the same reason. As someone who works, professionally in politics, I believe there is more in common among people, interest groups, lobbyists, legislators, and legislation than meets the eye. Though I like to think of myself as working for the "good guys" I have been prone to instructing my colleagues that no one has a monopoly on right and wrong. There are valid and important points on every side of an issue and across the ideological divide. And like Obama, I think most problems can be solved by bringing people together.

Similarly, though I gravitate to a particular type of music (classical) and within that genre to particular periods, composers, and forms I know that Brahms doesn't exist as the alpha and omega of music. Even though I am personally repelled by all sorts of music, I can grudgingly appreciate those qualities that bind Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Strauss, Mahler, Schoenberg, and Boulez to pop and alternative artists. As Ross points out, without twelve tone writing much of the music our ears have become accustomed to wouldn't exist.

Both music and politics are well served by stepping back and looking at the subject from a macro perspective.

For what it's worth, Ross' recently released book, the Rest is Noise, is essential reading in my mind. For most of my listening life, composers and music have existed in their own, individual worlds without a unifying narrative connecting the music and personalities of the 20th century together. Ross' book is the narrative I have been searching for. Moreover, the book isn't a dense march through history. Ross peppers the history with anecdotes and vivid descriptions of countless pieces of music. It is a convincing narrative for anyone evening remotely interested in the music of the last century.

Alex Ross will be in town this week for a three day film and new music festival featuring the Seattle Chamber Players. Of the three days of music, film and commentary I will be venturing down to SAM to hear a day's worth of Morton Feldman's chamber music. I will be writing more about the festival later this week.

For the Nancarrow nut...

2008-01-19T19:51:00.001-08:00

Nancarrow: String Quartets, Transcriptions, Etc
Arditti String Quartet
Wergo #6696

Now every classical fan has something in their collection that outsiders may deem slightly excessive or perhaps even partially eccentric. Things like having more than a few comprehensive ring cycles, whole oeuvres by composers other than Webern or Varese, that sort of thing. For me, I'd say the most obvious of these traits is my complete collection of Conlon Nancarrow's Studies for Player Piano.

One would think that 5 discs worth of Nancarrow's music would be enough for any mortal, but alas, it isn't. Wergo's latest release of Nancarrow material features the Arditti String Quartet playing a variety of compositions, from string quartets to transcriptions of his player piano studies to little lollipops for strings and player piano. Nancarrow's music has the tremendous advantage of being both charming and completely bizarre, like watching a children's cartoon in another language, but with no subtitles. All at once being familiar and fun, but also from a world very different from our own.

This particular disc though isn't for the Nancarrow newbie, only for established eccentrics. Someone unfamiliar with Nancarrow's obsessions with canons and fugues would find more interest in the impossibilities of his Study for Player Piano 3a rather than anything here. But if your thirst for Conlon Nancarrow has yet to be quenched by previous recordings then this might be the next CD to add to your collection.

New additions

2008-01-19T10:28:00.001-08:00

A couple new blogs/sites to report. Stephen Beaudoin keeps up with the music in Portland. You might remember a few months ago Beaudoin created a flap of sorts when he wrote about the Oregon Symphony.

Local composer Doug Palmer has an interesting, almost stream of conscious blog. The writing is honest and perceptive.

I also added Cappella Romana and will be adding their concert schedule to the calendar.

This is the busy time of year for me and as a result I will be posting less. However, my co-contributors will continue to post their thoughts and observations.

Too Visual for My Ears

2008-01-15T20:40:00.001-08:00

Since attending concerts is only one part of a well-rounded musical education, I thought I would take a stab at writing about a new recording to show a different side. I chose the new Telarc disc of P.D.Q Bach and Peter Schickele entitled The Jekyll & Hyde Tour, recorded live in Maryland, oh so long ago on June 16, 2007. The album features Schickele of course, singing and playing the piano, off-coloratura soprano Michele Eaton, tenor profundo David Dusing and the Armadillo Quartet from Los Angeles. The cd is a record of the tour that Peter Schickele took around the country, playing old P.D.Q Bach favorites with the premieres of newly "discovered" works, along with some humorous music of Schickele himself. Ultimately however, I couldn't get behind this music as much as previous P.D.Q. efforts. They have become too visual in their humor and and ultimately, not about what Schickele can do with music, which has always stunned me.

My love affair with P.D.Q Bach goes back quite a long way to when I was a freshman in college, sitting in the audio/visual center of the Iowa State University library laughing my head off to Iphigenia in Brooklyn. Although the physical humor was there in that performance too (missed by me since it was an audio recording), I could get the gist of what was going on as long as the music remained intact. On this disc for example, which features quite a substantial string quartet by P.D.Q, the music of the quartet is completely interrupted for an unimpressive joke about cell phones going off during performances, except this time, it was one of the musicians taking the call. I am sure it's sort of humorous if you're there, but not so much when you listen to it. I guess when you run out of musical ideas, the simpler humor has to be forced into service. As I listened to the cd, I kept on being baffled by the idea that Schickele's music is taking backseat to such bad jokes. Bad jokes are par for the course in his introductions and comments, but they invaded the musical works just a tad too much for my taste.

The featured works of "Bach" on this album include a set of songs entitled Four Next-to-Last Songs, in a very Schubertian mood, a massive string quartet in F major called The Moose ( complete with police siren (I'm sure it's funny visually)), and some small rounds for the three voices (Schickele, Eaton and Dusing). The set of songs, sung uninspiringly by David Dusing, was not Schickele's best, and certainly does not compare to the Four Folksong Upsettings, sung beautifully and hilariously by Dana Krueger. The last song's big punch line is about Linda Tripp! How is that funny in 2008? The string quartet is funnier but veers off into nonmusical humor far too often. It does begin humorously enough with the quartet performing some rather modern sounding music only to discover they have the wrong parts, which, once corrected, leads into typical Mozartian grace. That is the essence of musical humor. Sirens and cell phone calls, not so much. The rounds are cute and short. Of the pieces that Schickele claims as his own, which includes two songs and two rounds, the Songs from Shakespeare are the most entertaining. They take famous speeches from various Shakespeare plays and match them with musical styles from the '50's. My favorite is the speech of the Three Witches from Macbeth. Of course, all the songs can be finished in under 6 minutes total, so that leaves a lot of the cd with music that is rather disappointing at times. I guess nothing can top Oedipus Tex. I'll keep on waiting.

Although I am not impressed with this cd, please don't let it stop you from exploring the world and music of P.D.Q Bach. He is exactly what classical music needs at times - that dose of humility where we don't take ourselves too seriously. Try any of his other albums. You won't be disappointed.

Slow Period

2008-01-15T14:43:00.000-08:00

For someone who enjoys staying on top on newish releases this is the time of year that stinks. Between mid December and early February new releases come almost to a halt. So unless you're a fan of early 20th Century British orchestral music (in which case you'll be happy to know Lyrita will be popping them out again in no time) the selection may be a little sparse for some.

So far this year, nothing really eye catching has come out, but I'm expecting things to pick up right around the end of January. In the meantime though, I've come up with some titles that I haven't personally listened to, but based on reputation, reviews, and what little I have heard of from these discs I'll recommend them.

Schoenberg: Gurrelieder
Michael Gielen, Bavarian Radio Chorus, South German Radio Symphony Orchestra, Middle German Radio Chorus Leipzig
Hänssler #93198

One of Schoenberg's more approachable pieces, Gurrelider combines two of his earlies influences, Brahms and Wagner by blending his love of structure and form with a more bombastic lushness. For those audiophiles out there this is on SACD and would be great to addition to the collection.

Dim Sum
Ying Quartet
Telarc #80690

The Ying Quartet have shown in the past that they can give some other quartets a run for their money. Now they've come out with a disc of strictly Asian pieces for string quartet with composers ranging from fairly well known (i.e. Tan Dun or Bright Sheng) to completely obscure. Sounds like an adventure to me.

Victorious Love - Purcell Arias
Carolyn Sampson, et company
BIS #1536

Ok, so I know I'm kind of a sucker for baroque and classical era aria collections, but Carolyn Sampson is really exceptional. Her disc of Handle arias (Hyperion #67627) was fantastic and now she's handpicked some Purcell, it's going to be good, it just doesn't come out until the 29th. Sampson's voice is rich and strong making her idealy suited for a number of styles of singing. Any disc where she's the star is worth having.

Quartet: part II

2008-01-13T12:16:00.001-08:00

Melinda Bargreen is out with her assessment of Josh Roman's performance of the Quartet for the End of Time. Thanks to Doug Palmer for pointing out Bargreen's review.

Quartet

2008-01-12T08:39:00.001-08:00

I didn't get to hear Josh Roman at Town Hall this past Thursday. Nonetheless, the PI's Philippa Kiraly has a nice write-up of the concert.

Improving fortunes for the Seattle Symphony

2008-01-12T08:35:00.001-08:00

Even though the Seattle Symphony was smarting from a negative write up in the New York Times, there has been apparently no effect on the band's bottom line. In fact, as Cross Cut reports December ticket sales were stronger than usual, putting the orchestra $150,000 ahead of its budget for ticket sales.

Schwarz is off to Europe, traveling with St. Martin in the Fields. Along with young pianist Jonathan Biss, the orchestra will be stopping in Hamburg, Cologne, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Munich and Stuttgart. This is a plum opportunity for Schwarz and ultimately good press for Seattle.

Still, the intrigue between players, management and the maestro continues. The new topics of concern center on the orchestra's unique four concertmaster arrangement and payments to the orchestra's pension.

Seattle Symphony sale

2008-01-10T20:05:00.001-08:00

The SSO's ticket sale began yesterday. Last year, the catch was 20 concerts for $20 each. This year, the theme is changed slightly. 30 concerts for $30 each. The concert selection is a nice mix of interesting programs, special guests, and visiting orchestras.

In early February, folks can hear the orchestra perform Brahms' First Symphony alongside Schoenberg's Verklarte Nacht.

Dawn Upshaw is coming at the end of February to sing Golijov's Ayre. For months, Ayre was the only piece on the program. Recently, however, the rest of the program came into focus. Ayre will be paired with Stephan Hartke's Meanwhile, incidental music to imaginary puppet plays and George Crumb's Vox Balaenae.

One of the selections in March is the Bach B Minor Mass. Only recently have I warmed to this piece. From the Second City will be visiting the Emerald City and he will undoubtedly render an opinion on Seattle's flagship orchestra and their take on the Mass. Also, in March, Camerata Ireland comes to town bringing a light concert of Mozart, Prokofiev, Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky.

All of the concerts in the spring mini-festival "Coming to America," are on sale. Including, Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky. The performance is actually part of the Seattle International Film Festival and will include a showing (I presume) of Nevsky. Another concert worth investigating is the performance of the Genesis Suite, Korngold's Violin Concerto, and Martinu's Third Symphony. The Martinu and Korngold deserve to be played more. The verdict is still out on the Genesis Suite. The suite is an amalgamation of music by seven different composers ranging from Stravinsky to Shilkret. The suite is more of a novelty than anything destined to endure as standard repertoire.

Mahler's bleak Sixth Symphony concludes the orchestra's season and the concerts on sale.

Slashing ticket prices seems to be the norm these days. The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra cut their prices to $10 a ticket for younger patrons, Baltimore has $25 subscription tickets, and the Saint Louis Symphony has a $99 concert pass that lets patrons into nearly every concert between January 10 - March 2.

Seattle's offer may not be as generous, but it is still a good deal. Because the tickets are "best available" most seats are at least 50% less. The cost cutting is essential for most of the concerts on the list, especially the "Coming to America" festival. The festival features so much good, but not readily knowable music, that cutting ticket prices is probably the only way to generate a respectable audience. This good news for patrons who like to mix up their listening but are deterred by climbing ticket prices.

Upcoming events

2008-01-05T09:04:00.001-08:00

The big event this week is the Joshua Roman led Town Hall recital "Quartet." Roman and friends will tackle Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time and Dan Visconti's Fractured Jams. Visconti's music has been popular in Seattle. Last October, Violist Melia Watras performed Visconti's Traveler's Jam. Messiaen's Quartet is no stranger to the Northwest. A few years back Chamber Music Northwest put out a fine recording of the piece on the Delos label. Since arriving in Seattle, Roman has been on a tear, upending Seattle's classical landscape. Roman has done this with equal measures of charisma, challenging programming and uncompromising skill as a cellist.

The same night, Oboist Roger Cole will be performing a recital featuring sonatas Saint Saens, Poulenc, and Hindemith. "An Oboe Player's Hit Parade" says the University of Washington's School of Music.

Replacing Keith Lockhart

2008-01-04T20:11:00.001-08:00

While scanning the Seattle Weekly website, I saw Gavin Borchert linked to this article about who might replace Keith Lockhart in Utah. Interestingly, Schwarz's name is mentioned. Borchert correctly points out that while there has been considerable focus on Schwarz and Seattle Symphony relations, there is less coverage of what might be in store for Schwarz should he ever leave the Seattle Symphony.

Michael Jinsoo Lim

2007-12-31T16:28:00.001-08:00

A couple weeks ago, I mentioned I was going to be starting a regular feature on performers and composers active in Seattle's new and experimental music scene. Seattle might appear far removed from the cultural and musical hubs of LA, New York and Chicago, separated by large swaths of "flyover country." But, geographic isolation hasn't dampened the enthusiasm of local musicians and composers.

In fact, Seattle has long been both a destination and an incubator for new music. How could anyone forget the rise of grunge and alternative music? Bright Sheng spent time in Seattle as composer in residence with the Seattle Symphony. The Seattle Symphony also regularly commissions and performs contemporary music. This year, the orchestra premieres a new piece by Kernis. William Bolcom was born and educated here. The University of Washington's own DXARTS program continues to chart new, unexplored musical terrain. Of course, the Seattle Chamber Players continue to advocate for new music. And this is just scratching the surface of what Seattle has to offer.

As founding member of the Corigliano Quartet, Michael Lim knows a thing or two about contemporary music. The quartet has a strong affection for and built a partnership with composer John Corigliano. Closer to home, Lim teaches Violin, Viola and Chamber Music at Seattle's Cornish College of Arts. This is familiar territory for Lim, as he previously taught Chamber Music at Juilliard while an assistant for the Juilliard Quartet. Lim is fairly new to Seattle, providing him a unique insight into the local music scene.

Zach Carstensen: How did you become interested in new music?

Michael LIm: When I was an undergrad in college, a composer friend asked me to play a piece of his. I'd never really done any contemporary music before and was thrilled by the language of the piece, the newness of the sounds, and the fact that I was the first person to ever play the piece. Since then, I've been drawn to new music. It's exciting to bring something new to life as a performer and to interact with composers. I like the fact that there is no performer's blueprint for new works. It's unchartered waters.

ZC: How do you define your own music?

ML: As a performer, I strive to bring energy and a fresh approach to everything I play. Lately, I'm becoming more and more interested in improvising. In addition to being in the Corigliano Quartet, I'm a member of Open End, a New York-based group that performs new works and improvisations. We do free improvs based on our collective musical vocabulary. When you've performed a lot of new music, you start to develop a language that you can call on quickly. We read and react to each other. It's exciting to develop a piece together on the spot.

ZC: What are you currently working on?

ML: 2008 is the 70th birthday of composer John Corigliano, who has been a great friend and source of inspiration. John has long been a leading figure in American music, and is one of the most decorated composers (Pulitzer, Grammy, Oscar). To help honor John, I'll be presenting two of his works here in Seattle. I'm playing his violin sonata with pianist Cristina Valdes in my recital at the Cornish Music Series on February 29, and also on the Transport Series, when Cristina and I present a duo recital on March 19. On May 22, the Corigliano Quartet will perform John's string quartet on the UW World Series.

ZC: Is Seattle's new music scene different from other cities?

ML: All new music scenes are somewhat "underground" and Seattle is no exception. But I don't get the sense that Seattle's new music scene struggles to gain acceptance. It seems to be happy to have its own place, doing its own thing.

ZC: What good things does "Seattle" bring to the scene?

ML: There's just such an artistic openness about Seattle that I love. It's okay to be into whatever you want here, and I find that to be refreshing for new music.

ZC: Have you found a type of music more predominant in Seattle?

ML: I wouldn't say there is one particular type or school that dominates in Seattle. I think that's a good thing, to keep things moving in many directions. It keeps things fresh.

ZC: How does the University of Washington's DXARTS program figure into the local music scene?

ML: Quite prominently. It's a wonderful place where technology and artistry walk hand in hand, with both components being at the highest level. They are taking art into the new millennium and Seattle is fortunate to have DXARTS in its backyard.

ZC: Do you think the programs at the University of Washington and Cornish are more open to new music than schools in other cities?

ML: I just recently began teaching at Cornish and I'm blown away by the spirit of the school. One of the big things at Cornish is inter-disciplinary artistic endeavors. I got to do an amazing show there about composer Erwin Schulhoff called "Tempo of Recollection." It combined theater, music, dance, and art, in a way that really made sense and had a great narrative thread, and was entertaining as well. The music department has a great jazz scene, and historically has been a hotbed of creativity. John Cage taught at Cornish, and even invented the prepared piano there. The faculty is wonderful, and we're really starting to make a push to build the string department there. The students are enthusiastic, and extremely open to new things. It's an exciting atmosphere to work in.

ZC: IPods and the Internet have democratized music, essentially allowing any composer to distribute his/her music. Do you think this democratization is good for new/experimental music?

ML: You have this potential to reach people with new and interesting music, and as a result, you're seeing a lot of innovation in the use of technology. Not only to create music, but to distribute it as well. So in the sense of reaching more people, it's a good thing.

ZC: How would you categorize the composers active in the Seattle new/experimental music scene?

ML: Independent and spirited.

Xmas bonus put to work

2007-12-31T12:02:00.000-08:00

So my internet died on me for a few days during the holiday period there. I could still write, but I could not report... until now...

Arie De Bravura - Salieri, Mozart & Righini
Diana Damrau; Le Cerde De L’harmonie; Jeremie Rhorer
Virgin Classics #95250

For those out there who prefer their aria collections over the top then this is the one to go for. On her debut recording Diana Damrau has chosen some of her favorite classical era arias to show off her skills. She blisters through Mozart at light speed, I‘ve never heard the Queen of the Night aria done so quickly. She may do the same for the other composers, but all the other arias that aren’t Mozart I’ve never heard before. Her renditions of Salieri arias gave me a better understanding as to why he was so popular in his day, the man could write an aria. She gives some guy named Righini a chance to shine, but I wasn‘t terribly impressed. Start to finish the collection has a little to many fireworks for my liking, but piece by piece it does a good job showing off a side of the classical era that not everyone is familiar with.

Sibelius; M. Lindberg: Violin Concertos
Lisa Batiashvili; Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra; Sakar Oramo
Sony #712936

Most classical fans have encountered the Sibelius violin concerto at some point or another and with good reason, it’s a great concerto, but the greatness of the concerto was not the reason I bought this disc. Magnus Lindberg won a gramophone award last year for his clarinet concerto (which, by the way, is way better than that piece of fluff Kalevi Aho wrote that everyone went so crazy for) and with good reason, his compositions are fantastic. His violin concerto isn’t his most convincing case, but it’s worth a listen. Lindberg sounds like a proper combinations of Stravinsky, Bartok and Penderecki, strong, smart and often violent. His violin concerto is a bit more on the tame side, but still provides great moments.

Stockhausen: Stimmung
Paul Hillier; Theatre of Voices
Harmonia Mundi #807408

I actually bought this disc when it came out a few months ago, but now that he’s dead I figure I should draw some attention to it. Stimmung is a deeply meditative and somber piece, involving a small group of singers chanting into a microphone with various electronic effects tagged on. To the casual listener this piece may sound boring, but the introverts out there will find it strangely intriguing.

Polish Spirits / Mlynarski; Karlowicz; Chopin
Nigel Kennedy
EMI Classics #79934

After a discussion with ZC about the lack of unifying traits in Polish classical music this little disc showed up in the new release bin. It looked interesting enough, not to mention Nigel Kennedy knows how to pick and play good violin concerti, and with my curiosity towards Poland gearing up I took note of this particular item. After reading a few reviews though I was discouraged, not because the reviews were bad, quite the opposite they were all good. I just usually end up less than pleased with these so called ‘hidden gem’ releases. For one reason or another this CD ended up in my player and after a listen, I must say I was pleased. High romance is nothing if not accessible, and this has enough lushness for anyone who’s a strong fan of Dvorak, Chopin or Grieg.

Ornstein: Complete Works for cello and piano
Joshua Gordon; Randall Hodgkinson
New World Records #80655

Any new disc of Leo Ornstein compositions always catch my eye for a number of reasons. 1) There aren’t very many of them. 2)Ornstein’s style is so erratic, often within the same piece, his discs always make for at least a very interesting listen. And 3) Most of his music is terribly engaging, no matter which side of the compositional fence he’s sitting on. And of course any new releases from New World Records always deems at least a little attention from me. And lo, all this things describe the disc to a T. All the pieces on this disc are from Ornstein’s early important period when he seemed to take his inspirations then cut-and-paste them together into compositions. Sometimes sounding like Scriabin, other times sounding like Ravel, often times sounding like Schoenberg. A terribly impressive disc to the early twenty century chamber music fan.

Prokofiev: Piano concerto 2; Ravel: Concerto in G Major
Yundi Li, Seiji Ozawa, BPO
DG #001017502

The Prokofiev might as well be called Concerto in G minor for piano and young pianist. It’s overflowing with that youthful exuberance we all long to keep through our lives. Long extended passages for solo piano, hard dramatic thrusts and dynamics, everything anyone wants out of Russian piano concerto. As far as fireworks and technical swagger are concerned, Prokofiev’s third (and considerably more famous) has nothing on his second. And Yundi Li provides an absolutely incendiary performance from start to finish. He may play a little too fast for those who prefer a more stern Russian approach to the piece, but he hits all the right notes and he hits them right.

Sadly the Ravel doesn’t live up in the shadow of the Prokofiev. Ravel’s famous concerto in G major I think is too subtle for Li at his young age. He lacks the delicate touch this piece needs and listening to it I can’t help but feel as if the whole thing just kind of clobbers around until it’s over. So while I can’t give my support to the Ravel performance, I suggest to buy this disc just for the Prokofiev.

Scriabin: Piano Works
Yevgeny Sudbin
BIS #1568

Who doesn’t love a Scriabin recital? Especially one laid out as nicely and with such a variety as this one. Sudbin has been receiving accolades from the start of his recording career, but this is really the first time I think he feels that he put out a disc he can really be proud of. Not because he didn’t feel passionate about the material or performances on previous discs, it’s just that in the liner notes (which he writes) he speaks so passionately about Scriabin compared to how he speaks about Tchaikovsky or Medtner. Sudbin has a clear love for the piano works of Scriabin and this disc I think gave him the ability to really showcase it.

Classical music: alive and well

2007-12-31T10:47:00.001-08:00

Anthony Tommasini has a wonderful article in the NY Times. The punch line? Classical music is becoming relevant again.

Slow

2007-12-30T11:55:00.001-08:00

The holidays have considerably slowed my posting. There are few concerts before the end of 2007. The exception is the Seattle Symphony's annual performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony.

Allan Kozinn's story about music education has been rattling around in my head since it came out on Christmas Day. A few months back I said one of the ways to improve the standing of classical music was to improve music education in our schools.

My own experience, according to Kozinn, is one of an era long gone. Not 40 years ago, but 20 years ago. By this time, music eduction was ambling toward extinction. I vividly recall my elementary music teacher Ms. Gray. Three times a week, my class would walk to the other side of the school for music class. Music was clumped in the same general wing as the library, art and science rooms.

Beethoven, Mozart, Wagner, Liszt, Chopin, and Haydn were all part of the curriculum. We would spend entire classes listening to excerpts of Chopin or Mozart. The particulars of these lessons have faded, but the exposure to the Masters prepared me for my love of classical music today. Unbelievably, the Masters were a part of me through adolescence. This is remarkable when you consider Beethoven was fighting for space in my brain with Nirvana, Public Enemy, U2, Beck, and Radiohead.

Reading music, studying the elements of music, singing, rhythm sticks, and attending live performances of the Quad City Symphony were also part of the curriculum. Even access to free instruments and lessons were part of the program. One of my stinging childhood memories is directly related to playing a musical instrument.

On a fall day, near the start of my second or third grade year in elementary school, the orchestra director made a pitch to my music class. Ms. Gray sat on her piano bench, while the orchestra director, a short, frumpy and blading man (Mr. Chickatele was his name I think) was pitching the orchestra. To play an instrument and in the orchestra, all we had to do was pick our instrument and have our parents sign the form. I picked the cello. The picture is what attracted me. I circled it, took the form home, and presented it my parents.

My parents said no. Their reason? They felt I should focus on art lessons, presenting at art shows, painting, and drawing. My elementary school also had a respectable art education program which had captured my attention for a lot longer than music. Crestfallen, I retreated to my room to draw and read.

It's depressing to think that in twenty years, music and art have vanished from public education. By the time I was in high school, my art teacher was selling candy and soda to pay for canvas, paint, brushes and other needed equipment. Music stopped being a required course. I am grateful for Ms. Gray and the Masters. Because of them, when I rediscovered classical music in college, I was able take to the music immediately. I mourn the artistic awareness of kids today and I believe classical music would be stronger today if music education made were part of public education curriculum. In 2007, the Masters don't have to joust for attention with Hannah Montana. She has it all to herself.

Flawless!

2007-12-29T22:20:00.001-08:00

A fixture of the holiday season is, of course, Tchaikovsky's The Nutcracker. Here in Chicago, this famous ballet must be performed by our very own Joffrey Ballet. For the first time, I attended a performance of this well-worn masterpiece and was, not surprisingly, completely overjoyed. Knowing the music so well allowed me to focus on the interpretation in dance, which, when left in the capable hands of Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino, the co-founders of the Joffrey Ballet, was assured and beautiful. This interpretation is, in fact, celebrating its twentieth year. Coupled with the astounding beauty of the Auditorium Theater, one of the greatest pieces of architecture in Chicago, the performance was a rousing and gorgeous success, a review the Joffrey is very used to.

Sitting in about the eighth row, completely level with the stage, I could have asked for no better seat in the house. The audience was comprised of all sorts - overexcited women who probably come every year, families, and gay couples. It was a far more diverse audience than I am used to while attending other "high art" performances. Then again, The Nutcracker seems to occupy a place all its own in the realm of ballet. Its popularity guarantees its perennial presence as assuredly as Handel makes his presence with Messiah. Regardless of the number of times heard, both lose no charm, and with Nutcracker, such a loss is virtually impossible with flawless performances by the Joffrey Ballet. The Chicago Sinfonietta provided the live music. Their accompaniment was excellent and almost flawless. The scenery and costumes were as traditional as can be, which is a great benefit when one wants to take in the whole experience without being distracted by strange artistic choices. There was liberal use of fog and an endless supply of snowflakes for Act I, Scene III, "The Land of Snowflakes." Every detail was impeccable and received warm applause from the audience. Even the initial appearance of Dr. Drosselmeyer, Godfather to Clara, engendered rapturous applause. With so much flawless execution, all there is left to focus on is the dancing.

There are many ensemble pieces in the ballet, numbers for whole groups of dancers. Some are straightforward, as in the opening dances by the party guests, while others are involved and filled with movement, as in Arpino's choreography to the "Waltz of the Snowflakes." One of the dancers that stood out immediately was Calvin Kitten, a true master of his art. At 5' 7", he was first assigned the role of Fritz, the bothersome brother who breaks Clara's nutcracker soldier. He not only dances wonderfully, but acts the hell out of that role. I was very impressed. His next role is as the Snow Prince, a staple of his repertoire. The applause was warm and sustained for all the seemingly effortless and amazing things he was able to do. His last role was as the male Tea bearer from China, in Act II. A much less ostentatious number, but again, performed flawlessly. Another dancer worth mentioning was the exceedingly limber Emily Patterson, who performed in the Arabian Coffee segment of the Divertissements. She was ably matched by Thomas Nicholas, and together, they created a pause in time. The music was slowed to half its original tempo and started with Thomas Nicholas dancing very angularly. He retrieved his partner and put her through her paces. She was able to do about a 190 degree split, standing. The whole effect of the dance was mesmerizing and I thought the slowed tempo worked magnificently. I didn't agree with the same choice for the final Pas de deux, some of the most beautiful music of the ballet, but that is a minor quibble. The dancers for that piece were Victoria Jaiani as the Sugar Plum Fairy and Fabrice Calmels as the Nutcracker Prince. They were both excellent. Calmels is 6' 6", and quite noticeable paired with such petite women (his partners wear large headpieces to compensate for the visual imbalance). But, when he dances alone, the long lines that he is able to create, and his effortless traversal of the stage, make for some wonderful dancing.

Wonderful dancing would be quite a succinct description of the whole affair, down to each of the many children who also were on stage. You can see a performance of the Pas de Deux at this link. You have to scroll down where the screen is to where it says "Joffrey performs the Nutcracker", sit through a couple of seconds of commercial, and then voila, a whole performance of the number with the dancers mentioned above. It will give you an opportunity to see how outstanding they are. Then multiply that by 10 for the whole excellent performance of the Joffrey Nutcracker.

The Revolution Starts Here

2007-12-28T19:15:00.001-08:00

There is a wonderful article in the web magazine New Music Box by Roger Rudenstein that attempts to pinpoint when the American public turned its back on classical music as something vital and important in American life. After all, there was a point in our history where Leonard Bernstein was able to have a television series on classical music and the National Broadcasting Corporation had its own orchestra. Something in the culture happened, as Rudenstein points out, that made everyone think that classical music was no longer a living art form, responding to the times we live in, but rather an old, worn mass of politically incorrect, elitist music from the past. Rudenstein, using himself as an example, earmarks the sixties as that moment in time. The decade of rebellion, of eschewing all the values and cultural artifacts of your parents, was the moment in time when classical music was shown the door, and people like Elvis and Bob Dylan were invited in. Music of the people was now rock and roll and folk music, with songs responding to what was happening at the time in a way that people could appreciate. And what was classical music doing at this time? Was it responding to what was happening? In a word, yes. Was the product of that response something that people could connect with? No. And there is where the relevancy of classical music started to dissipate. America could either listen to anti-Vietnam War songs that echoed strong feelings inside many Americans, or sit through a John Cage piece for prepared piano, seemingly completely disconnected from anything in the world around it.

Now that the tyranny of atonality has departed, classical music now has an opportunity to let America know that it is repentant and wants its renewed consideration. There is a great point made in the article that too many composers today try to reach that pop-addicted American public by writing music that sounds like pop:

"modern classical music composers suffer greatly from the public disregard of our work since we are forced to compete for the attention of an ever smaller pool of people, grants and awards. We are constantly tempted to come up with the gimmick that will bring us an audience, although, often, that gimmick seems to be making it sound like pop music."

Composers that fall into that category are many. Osvaldo Golijov fits that category, as does some works by Michael Daugherty and Aaron Jay Kernis. Whether such an approach will make such works "durable" remains to be seen. Either way, Rudentstein provides us with wise advice on how to get the public back. If you ask most people, they will say they "like" classical music ("It is so soothing. It helps me relax."). The question is how to move them from that basic inclination towards it to something more meaningful. Here is what Rudenstein suggests:

"1. ... education should be an important part of any concert. We can no longer take it for granted that the audience will understand classical music much less modern music. We must find creative, non- pedantic ways of accomplishing this.

2. We should pool our resources and set in motion an ad campaign that aims to educate people about classical music in creative ways and using well-known people to get across the message. Although it may be true that at some point in time (a time far, far away) you had to be wealthy or an aristocrat to hear this music, that is no longer the case and this pleasure, like chocolate and pineapples, is available to all.

3. We need classical music awards ("The Classies") that are presented publicly and in grand style like the Emmys or Oscars. (They could even be televised on public television.) Being the most unimportant part of the Grammys sends a message that we need to counter.

4. We need to significantly increase the patronage for classical music. Popular music doesn't require patronage, because it is commercial. It may be that a revivified classical scene will generate some commercial success stories, but, as has always been the case, classical music requires a commitment from society just like schools, fire departments, libraries, and health care.

5. The writing class and the media should be courted and lobbied to stop throwing mud at classical music either by ignoring it or attacking it as the plaything of the outdated elite. We need to vigorously answer assaults on common sense that assert classical music is dead, over, or just a niche like ukulele music.

6. We need, first of all to win back the classical music audience and then go on from there to convince the rest of the world that our kind of music, in addition to a powerful catalog, has the ability to significantly enhance their lives as it does ours.

7. Clearly the Internet is giving us a chance to bring our music to newbies, communicate and debate more among ourselves and will be key to a revival of classical music. As Alex Ross pointed out in a recent article in The New Yorker, the World Wide Web has allowed us to escape from the cone of silence imposed by the mainstream media on our music."

Right on brother! If classical music matters, then you have to start evangelizing. Stop commiserating about its demise and start inviting people to go to concerts with you. Prepare them, give them meaningful ways of accessing the music. Talk about it. Tell everyone why you love it as you go around the board room talking about your weekends. Come out of the closet and declare your love for classical music openly and proudly. You know you can, you know you want to!

Near-Opera

2007-12-26T04:27:00.001-08:00

There has always been a strict divide between what we classical folk call opera and the world of musicals, those Broadway shows with singers using microphones and plots so silly, they rival opera. Although there is good reason to put Verdi and Wagner in one camp and musicals in another, sometimes they can approximate each other quite easily. One of the clearest examples is Bernstein's Candide, the operatic musical, or maybe the musical-opera. Another example is Gershwin's Porgy & Bess, which probably has an equal number of recordings between operatic voices and musical theater voices. Regardless of those exceptions, composers of musicals are usually not composers of operas. They are quite different animals and I am not going to make this a sermon on how musical theater is America's opera. After all, American composers make opera too, just not that successfully.

What I am going to write about is how Stephen Sondheim made his near-opera with Sweeney Todd, the Demon Barber of Fleet Street. I have never seen the musical before, being aware of its existence only by watching a PBS documentary on the history of Broadway. It took a movie starring Hollywood actors to bring this musical to life for me. Although the original is a three-hour bonanza using a 23-piece pit orchestra, the movie cut it down to a swift two hours with a re-orchestration of Sondheim's music by Jonathan Tunick for a grand 78-piece orchestra. The songs, with beautiful and vivid lyrics by Sondheim, were cut and re-arranged to exclude interruptions by verbal interjections. So, what you get on screen is a musical of almost continual singing with a very large orchestra supporting the singers. Does that structure sound familiar to anyone?

The story is worthy of any opera composer, and in fact, my dear friend thought that Sweeney Todd was an opera composed by Benjamin Britten. Who can blame him when Britten wrote operas called Paul Bunyan, Peter Grimes, Albert Herring and Billy Budd? I would have thought as much too. Even though Britten never got around to making a Todd, Sondheim found the 19th-century legend compelling enough, and we are the beneficiaries. The story is gruesome, but the music is far from it.

From the very outset, the music is dramatic and operatic. The music is not straight-forward, but murky and complex. The songs are highly varied, and at many points, various characters' songs are sung together, true ensemble writing that Mozart would at least nod at in approval. The song Johanna, one of the most beautiful melodies in the musical, is as good as it gets. While most songs in the dark tale feature a lot of half-steps, the tonalities becoming obscured, this song is open and moves in whole steps, leaping up and down the octaves, with little details of half-step moves to let you know it still belongs in this musical. There is challenging music as well, as the song The Worst Pies in London, which requires quite a bit of stamina and perfect diction. When Patti Lapone sings it in a 2001 concert version, she has to belt it out in full operatic style.

If you are still not quite convinced, see the movie. The original musical might not fit the idea of opera, but this adaptation of Sweeney Todd brings out the opera that is inside it. It is glorious and at least for me, Stephen Sondheim has gotten a lot of classical points for this score.

Merry Christmas

2007-12-25T07:52:00.001-08:00

Merry Christmas from Iowa!

Happy birthday Elliott Carter

2007-12-21T12:57:00.001-08:00

One of the best musical institutions in Davenport, Iowa is Chamber Music Quad Cities. Twice a year, Greg Sauer (cello), Tom Sauer (piano) and Serena Canin (violin) come to Davenport to visit their family, show off grand children, and perform chamber recitals for hometown audiences. The trio's summer visit unfolds over the course of a chamber music festival. Their winter concert falls right after Christmas and is performed at the intimate Davenport Unitarian Church. It's not uncommon for other friends (violists, flautists, etc.) to come along for the ride too.

In all the years I attended the twice a year recitals I was never disappointed. Their programs are always inventive, mixing the old and the new. They aren't afraid to give status-quo Iowans a jolt of Rorem or Schnittke. This year, appropriately enough, with the composer's 99th birthday behind him and his 100th coming up in 2008, Elliott Carter figures into the winter concert.

There is a Seattle connection to all of this. Greg Sauer, who used to live and work in Oklahoma, taught the Seattle Symphony's own Josh Roman.

UPDATE: Unfortunately the Sauer brothers are no longer artistic directors of Chamber Music Quad Cities. While trying to track down more information about their upcoming concert, I learned Greg and Tom are no longer associated with the organization.

Borchert and the case for traditional classical venues

2007-12-20T15:52:00.001-08:00

I am writing from the soggy shores of eastern Iowa. It seems I brought Seattle's weather with me. At around two p.m. a light, persistent drizzle began to fall and hasn't let up. Christmas shopping and other holiday requirements haven't stopped me from reading the news coming out of Seattle. In fact, I enjoyed Gavin Borchert's take on classical music conventions and venues. You can read the article here.

Borchert does a good job arguing for traditional performance spaces and silence. He also uses the Chiara Quartet's two concerts last month as a case study. One concert was held at the Tractor Tavern the other at Meaney Hall on the University of Washington campus. One concert was formal the other informal. In both cases the audience was attentive and respectful. Even though the audiences were told they could clap when they wanted to.

Borchert's conclusion? People behaved because they wanted to hear the music and not because there is a concert etiquette regime keeping the audience in check.

Sacred music can dance

2007-12-18T14:11:00.001-08:00

Claudio Monteverdi, as the story goes, conceived and wrote the Vespro della Beata Vergine (1610 Vespers) as a musical resume. His relationship with his employer at the time, the Gonzaga family of Mantua, was going sour. The areas around Mantua were fighting off pestilence. And, like all good parents, he was worried about having enough money to educate his sons. The Vespers, Monteverdi thought, would show potential employers what he was capable of composing and help pave the way for a new job.

Monteverdi’s “resume” didn’t immediately help him get out of Mantua. It wasn’t until 1613 when he was appointed conductor of San Marco in Venice. Sadly, the Vespers all but disappeared until the mid-1930’s when Nadia Boulanger and others in her circle began extolling the work’s virtues.

In Seattle, only George Shangrow, Orchestra Seattle and the Seattle Chamber Singers (OSSCS) have regularly performed the Vespers. Monday’s performance of the Monteverdi Vespers was the first time the piece had been performed in Seattle since 1999. Shangrow’s ensemble has distinguished itself locally as interpreters of a wide repertoire of classical music ranging from Renaissance to Contemporary. Shangrow puts on exquisite Messiah and Monday’s performance of the 1610 Vespers will be followed in January by Benjamin Britten’s War Requiem.

It is fitting that Shangrow would choose Monteverdi's Vespers to precede Britten's War Requiem. Monteverdi, like Britten straddled different compositional styles and as a result each developed an original language. The Vespers and the Requiem are both choral and orchestral masterpieces, set against the back drop of more traditional forms.

The myriad of styles and techniques used in the Vespers can stump the best conductors and orchestras. Monteverdi employs practically every type of music and device available at the time. Coming up with a coherent performance can prove difficult.

Fortunately, Shangrow's ensemble was perfectly at ease with the Vespers. OSSCS’s facility with a variety of styles, old and new, paid off. From the glorious Introduction with its trumpet fanfares to the humble, concluding antiphon, the playing and singing was unswerving. Each section, from the soloists to the orchestra, found ways to leave their mark.

While there is much to love in the Vespers, I was especially moved by the antiphons. Growing up in eastern Iowa, I would occasionally venture to the Trappist monastery in Dubuque, Iowa. The chanting of the monks always touched my soul. The Seattle Chamber Singers brought me back to those sparse, monastic moments. Each word was heavenly. The words were reverent but so was the performance.

Other parts, though not as spiritually moving, were still pleasing and performed expertly. The Dixit Dominus danced. Shangrow’s tempo underscored the rhythmic qualities of the work. Also, his focus on the little things added immeasurable depth to the music. How words sound and phrases are carried mattered. Under Shangrow, a simple Amen conveyed the emotional core of the work.

The Hymnus showcased Orchestra Seattle’s talented strings. Catherine Haight and Carrie Henneman Shaw were strong, particularly in the Laudate pueri Dominum. The Magnificat was stunning. The Magnificat anima mea Dominum was sung beautifully. The Sancta Maria was riveting; Shangrow achieved a pleasing balance between the instrumental and vocal forces. In general, movements like the Sancta Maria, which can come across as masses of incoherent sound in recordings were clear. The contrasts Monteverdi strived for were apparent and for the first time, sounded as revolutionary to me as they must have when the work was premiered.

If there was a flaw last night, it was the acoustics of the First Free Methodist Church. At times, the sound seemed to disappear. I noticed this most with the tenor soloists. At times I strained to comprehend what was being sung. I could see their lips enunciating words and syllables, but the sound didn’t make its way back to me. For different movements, as the tenors and baritones were able to move closer to the center of the stage, they became easier to hear.

Seattle’s classical music scene is a better place because of George Shangrow, Orchestra Seattle and Seattle Chamber Singers. Without OSSCS and Shangrow there is no guarantee the 1610 Vespers or even the upcoming War Requiem would find a musical voice in Seattle. OSSCS and Shangrow have a knack for taking on challenging pieces of music which don't always find their way onto the concert stage. Shangrow and his ensembles demonstrated this talent with a wonderful performance of Monteverdi’s 1610 Vespers.

A logical project in the world of Glass

2007-12-18T11:59:00.000-08:00

Glass: Book of Longing
Leonard Cohen, Philip Glass Ensemble
Orange Mountain Music #43

Phillip Glass has done what I having been hoping an accessible American composer would do for years, which is to create arrangements for the poetry of Leonard Cohen. While Phillip Glass may not have been my first choice (I’m a bigger supporter of John Adams as far as minimalism is concerned, but I’d really much prefer to see what Frederic Rzewski is capable of), but I’ll take what I can get. Plus, most of the poems that Glass sets to his music have not been recorded by Cohen previously which made this set too high of a priority item to not buy right away.

The arrangements are what one would expect from a Phillip Glass score, syncopation, hypnotic repetition, emphasis on pleasing musical textures, no real surprises there. His vocal settings are wisely less operatic in nature than say his operas or his symphonies that involve singers. Some Cohen fans may find the singing style a bit out of place, even outright wrong at times, but what is being sung is the real star of the show. The song cycle is at its best though when no one is signing at all. The portions of the disc where Cohen acts as narrator and simply speaks his poems either with or without any accompaniment are the most rewarding (I just love they way he talks).

The elements work well together, Glass’s music never draws too much attention away from the main focus of the piece which is a skill that Glass is exceptional at… there‘s a reason why he gets so much work as a film score composer. Also, Leonard Cohen albums have been cursed by having some of the absolute worst arrangements I've ever heard in my life (He’s never had a George to his Ira) so having an adequate composer at his side is a huge bonus. Some of Leonard Cohen’s own songs have been crippled by unintelligent arrangements and horrendous overproduction in the past, it’s so nice to have a disc that supports the lyrics instead of masking them. There is never a point where the music distracts from the words, which is a great relief to an established Cohen fan.

Overall though, I would have much preferred the text to be spoken by Cohen rather than sung by members of the Phillip Glass Ensemble. Nothing against the singers or the style, just the way Cohen talks is so much cooler than the way some singers sing.

Chicago's Search Continues...

2007-12-16T19:00:00.001-08:00

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is continuing its search for a more permanent principal conductor. Don't get me wrong, Bernard Haitink has been doing an amazing job at keeping the orchestra in wonderful shape and challenging them at every turn. My most recent experience of Haitink was with the training orchestra of the CSO, and the results were stupendous. He is a conductor of international renown who is committed to a high level of musical excellence. Of course, he realizes that he can't accomplish that goal without the help of the orchestra he conducts. He would never say something like this:

“What I try to do in my life is not to be loved by the orchestra but to do a great job artistically.”

Bernard Haitink realizes that good music is produced through the cooperation and combined dedication of himself and the orchestra before him. Great music is the combination of the conductor's vision and the orchestra's precision. One cannot be achieved without the other. Haitink would never believe that he could achieve great music on his own. Each player has a role to play, with each section's leader being responsible for the craftsmanship of those beneath him or her. He would never say something like this:

“There will not be a single leader ... I’m the single leader.”

When Haitink leaves Chicago, I hope that his replacement will share his values about how to produce good music. There is no room for ego in the creation of art which is produced by over 100 people. The final product is more than the sum of its parts. If that is the belief of the conductor, there would be no animosity from those who work with him, not under him.

Upcoming events

2007-12-16T12:42:00.001-08:00

I'll be leaving for the Christmas holiday on Wednesday. Before I venture to the snowy and icy Midwest, I will be covering Orchestra Seattle's performance of Claudio Monteverdi's 1610 Vespers. Maestro George Shangrow agreed to participate in a short Q&A and I will be writing about the performance Tuesday or Wednesday. If you live in Seattle and are looking to soak up some Renaissance/Baroque music you must hear the 1610 Vespers.

On Tuesday Canadian Brass will be playing music of Barber and Bach. The concert starts at 7:00 pm. If you are looking for a lunch time diversion on Thursday head on down to Seattle City Hall and hear the Northwest Chamber Chorus. The concert is free. Friday, Baroque Northwest will be performing seasonal music from Germany and Italy. In the short time Baroque Northwest has been in Seattle, they have developed quite a following and consistently challenge notions about what constitutes a period performance. Finally, on Saturday, Seattle Baroque will perform a family-friendly version of Handel's Messiah.

Also, I plan on starting a new, recurring feature focusing on Seattle New Music personalities, musicians, and ensembles. The first post in this new feature will be coming before the Christmas holiday.

Seattle Symphony in NY Times

2007-12-16T08:26:00.001-08:00

The Seattle Symphony made the New York Times this weekend. The article isn't favorable and it reports a lot of the same information that has made the Seattle Weekly. The focus of the article is on an impending lawsuit but it also manages to traverse a little more than ten years of symphony turmoil. Sources are plentiful and generally negative. Nevertheless, a couple of the kinder paragraphs at the beginning of the article describe the recent good fortune of the orchestra:

"Yet even as this soap opera has unfolded, the orchestra has continued its rise from regional ensemble to national presence. With a current roster of 88 and a budget of $22 million, it plays in one of America’s finest modern auditoriums, Benaroya Hall. It also churns out recordings while others remain mute and made its Carnegie Hall debut in 2004. It has a large and loyal audience and, as of this season, a balanced budget at a time when neither can be taken for granted.
Much of the orchestra’s success can be attributed to its conductor, Gerard Schwarz, a throwback to the era of long-ruling maestros, having held the podium for nearly a quarter-century. He has been the kind of music director often held up as the ideal, heavily involved in fund-raising for the orchestra and active in the civic affairs of Seattle."

Walla Walla update

2007-12-14T12:43:00.001-08:00

Henry Fogel continues his overview of community orchestras in the Northwest with a piece on the Walla Walla Symphony. Previously, Walla Walla was known for the Walla Walla Sweet Onion (Washington's state vegetable) but now the town can lay claim to having a pretty good orchestra too.

Mahler: Symphony 4

2007-12-13T00:12:00.000-08:00

Mahler: Symphony 4
Bernard Haitink; Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra; Christine Schäfer
RCO Live #7003

Now, as a reviewer the temptation to act like I know everything there is to know about classical music is very easy (fun too) so I’d like to start out this review by saying this is my introduction to Mahler’s 4th symphony.

I’m usually hesitant about Mahler in general, even if I’m already familiar with the piece. His music is just so damn mature than sometimes I feel like a child trying desperately to follow along in a grown ups conversation. The 4th though, to my great discovery, is very light, gentle, airy and most importantly, very accessible. Out of all the Mahler I’ve heard this is head and shoulders the most tuneful or dare I say ‘classical’ I’ve ever heard Mahler be. His music breaths and flows at a very natural pace. It’s never trying to be more than what it is. It almost seems like a happy carefree mood embodies the whole piece. At no point does it feel bogged down by the dramatic harmonic thickness that I tend to associate with Mahler.

Because of the ‘classical’ characteristics this symphony embodies, Mahler’s colorful melodies actually shine for once. They aren’t masked behind the hugeness of an orchestra along with 3 different choirs, miscellaneous vocal soloists or an organ or whatever Mahler as thrown in. The melodies glisten and they show off, they unfold gracefully and playfully giving the ear perfect focus points. Particularly in the first movement, the rhythm is lively and buoyant, dance like (although a variety of different dances), filled with bells and chimes and strong percussion.

The 2nd movement is almost wry in nature, predominantly from the woodwinds. It’s almost as if Mahler was telling us an amusing little anecdote before the next two movements. The 3rd movement is longest, but it’s also the most traditionally romantic of all the movements and romance is rarely fast. I say that, but my immediate comparison would probably actually be Bach’s Air on G String. It starts out with a nice slow walking tempo with the type of lilting melodies that I’m sure Percy Faith stole. The 4th brings one of my favorite aspects of any Mahler piece, a nice juicy spot for soprano. Let no one ever say Mahler couldn’t write a great piece for soprano. He always knew just how to let the singer really savor every syllable and here Christine Schäfer just sinks her teeth right into it.

Overall this is a side of Mahler I had not really seen before. There had been hints of his gentle side in his 1st symphony, and I could see humor in his 2nd, but after hearing the 3rd this is not the direction I thought his mind would have gone towards (especially if you know what the 5th has in store). Overall this will make a tremendous addition to my Mahler collection.

Baroque Band on the Move!

2007-12-12T21:40:00.001-08:00

Today was the second concert in the Baroque Band's inaugural season, and while the first was a rather underwhelming experience for me, this concert was quite superb. Titled, Handel's in a Rage, the concert featured works by Handel, mostly from his Italianate period. It featured the overtures to his Xerxes and Semele operas, along with two Italian cantatas, Tu fedel? Tu constante? and Armida abbandonata, two very dramatic portraits of women dealing with love lost. Along with soprano Jennifer Ellis Kampani, the Baroque Band pulled off a highly successful concert, mainly due to the commitment of the players, but more importantly, the genius of the program. After all, the Baroque period has literally thousands of pieces to choose from, so success must come from the intelligent selection and arrangement of those pieces.

It started with the overture to Xerxes, a rather stately and dramatic overture that served as the appetizer to the stormy cantata Tu fedel? Tu constante? which followed immediately after the conclusion of the overture. The works have nothing to do with each other, but in the mind of the ensemble's director Garry Clarke, the overture was perfect music to introduce the cantata, being drafted as its overture. It worked superbly. The cantata's scenario is a standard piece from the Baroque, expressing some maid's anger and sorrow over her lover's inconstancy. Handel's music is a different story. It is filled with musical gestures that engage the listener in the well-trodden story. Jennifer Ellis Kampani sang the piece with assurance, although her voice took some getting used to for my taste. It seemed brittle and her vibrato was rather quick, many oscillations per second if that makes sense. But in certain recitativos and passages in the arias, her voice was well-matched to the music. After the dynamic duo of overture and cantata, they concluded the half with one of Handel's famous concerti grossi, Op.6. I found it to be a rather abrupt change in style. Although the form may be Italian, Handel wrote it with English audiences in mind and doesn't betray a dramatic impetus, unlike the other pieces so far. But, the approach is redeemed in the second half.

The same formula is used, this time with the overture to Semele. After its conclusion, the ensemble takes its bow. Armida begins after the applause and proceeds between great resignation and fury on the part of the sorceress. The music matches the word's mood swings perfectly, and it is simply a much more entertaining piece of music than the previous cantata. It ends quietly with Armida asking the God of Love to destroy not her fleeing lover, but her love for him. The masterstroke for me was the immediate segue into Handel's Concerto Grosso No.7, which begins with a Largo of stately grace. To make it suit what preceded it, each phrase was played quite apart from the others, creating a musical meditation on the witch's noble grief. I was just dumbstruck by the move's seamlessness. If you knew me, small details like that are what make me tick, and to have it in the realm of programming is an even more pleasurable surprise. The small audience gave the Baroque Band and Jennifer Ellis their well-deserved ovation.

I liked this concert so much better than the first. I think lots of things conspired to make this one a great one. First, I wanted music, so I was ready. Sometimes, you just have to have the desire not just the time. Secondly, I got there with enough time to sit and enjoy the stunning beauty of the Grainger Ballroom in the CSO's Symphony Center. It is such a beautiful space, made even moreso with its magical Christmas garb. That combined with the lush string sound created by the small ensemble, especially in the concerti grossi made for pure delight. I also think Handel had something to do with it. It was nice to hear Handel that isn't Messiah, especially in December. Let's not forget that he spent a very long time in Italy perfecting his skills in Italianate composition, including Italian opera and Italian oratorio. So early works, but matched together in a sensible and varied program that not only makes sense on paper, but sonically as well. Bravo to the Baroque Band.

"Light in the summer, dark in the winter"

2007-12-12T12:49:00.001-08:00

It seemed appropriate that on a cold night in Seattle, with the longest day of the year coming soon, the Finnish pianist Antii Siirala would be in town for a piano recital at the University of Washington. The recital was the second in the President's Piano Series.

Siirala, a young, not quite thirty year old pianist, was preceded by a personal message from Finland's Seattle consulate. The consulate mused about Finland, independence from Russia, and of course Sibelius. As you would expect, Sibelius was well represented on the program. Sibelius' piano music is plentiful but is overshadowed by his popular symphonies and tone poems. However, the Finish composer Kaija Saariaho also figured into the evening's program. An absence of Finland's greatest composer and FInland's most promising composer from a performance by a Finnish pianist would have been unexplainable.

Sibelius and Saariaho represent Finnish music at its best. Sibelius' music is steeped in the nationalism and folklore of Finland. By contrast, Saariaho's music charts the future of classical music. Closely affiliated with Pierre Boulez's IRCAM in Paris, Saariaho's music often deploys electronic sounds and other scientific techniques. While Saariaho's music might seem sterile it isn't. Her sound world is shimmering and ethereal.

Siirala used Sibelius and Saariaho to fill the center of a program bookended by Beethoven's Op.109 Sonata and Chopin's Twenty-four Preludes.

Siirala captured the organic beauty of Saariaho's Ballade. Saariaho’s own comments about the work provide insight. She says “In this short piece I wanted to write music with a melody that grows out of the texture before descending into it again; a work that constantly shifts from a complex multi-layered texture to concentrated single lines and back again.” Siirala’s approach was unforced. The music unfolded naturally under his fingers. He conveyed the work’s driving intensity while also underscoring it’s brittleness.

From Saariaho, the pianist transitioned beautifully, without interruption, to four works for piano by Jean Sibelius. The absence of a break, united Saariaho’s Ballade with Sibelius’ Reverie Op.58 No.1; Scherzino Op.58, No.2; Romance Op.24, No.2; and a piano transcription of the popular Finlandia.

He gave Finlandia a bold performance. For me, the appeal of the orchestral version of Finlandia is the contrasts between different sections of the orchestra. Siirala's performance was dramatic, capturing the struggle and triumph of the Fins against the Russians. Siirala filled out his performance of the work with plenty of color and contrast.

After a break, Siirala came back and performed Chopin’s Twenty-four Preludes. Chopin’s Preludes are one of the finest collections of romantic piano music ever composed. Like the Sibelius and Saariaho pieces in the first half, the preludes are atmospheric pieces. There is a prelude for each key. The preludes conjure up different sensations ranging from melancholy to joy.

Like the composer's etudes, the preludes are a test of a pianist's virtuosity. They challenge the dexterity and skill of even the most accomplished pianists. But, unlike the etudes, the preludes are highly emotional. Being able to perform the preludes with technical brilliance and emotional honesty is no easy accomplishment. Siirala made the feat look and sound easy.

Tuesday's program accentuated Siirala’s ability to explain sometimes abstract musical material with uncompromising technique and a keen appreciation of beauty, emotion and interpretation. Even the Beethoven sonata, which adheres to traditional forms (sonata allegro, scherzo, and theme and variation) is possessed with an indescribable beauty. Siirala’s upward advance through the classical ranks seems undeniable. On a cold, dark night in Seattle, the audience got to hear a young pianist on the rise.

Break a leg

2007-12-11T18:44:00.001-08:00

Courtesy of Charles Noble and Crosscut, Gerard Schwarz, the Seattle Symphony's music director, broke his leg in a skiing accident. Fortunately, the break won't prevent the maestro from meeting his conducting obligations. Even though he has been told to stay off the leg, he will lead the orchestra with the help of a seat.

Music for the holidays

2007-12-11T09:06:00.001-08:00

Giving the gift of music should be a priority this holiday season. To help you along, I have assembled the following list of my favorite albums from the last twelve months.

Works of Igor Stravinsky - This 22 cd set is perhaps the best classical bargain out there right now. For a mere $31 you get all of the recordings Igor Stravinsky made with CBS. Even though most of the music dates from the late-1950's and 1960's, the remastering is excellent. The only downside is the meager booklet included.

Red Violin Concerto - This disk marked the return of the Baltimore Symphony to the album shelves. The live recording this album is derived from marked the premiere performance of John Corigliano's Red Violin Concerto, a four movement work built out of Corigliano's music for the movie the Red Violin. As a bonus, there is Corigliano's Violin Sonata. Joshua Bell and Marin Alsop are in splendid form.

Brahms Symphony No.4 - Marin Alsop wraps up her cycle of the Brahms Symphonies in solid form. It's not a definitive recording by any stretch of the imagination. The disk does reveal the versatility of the conductor who is too often perceived as someone only proficient in American and contemporary music.

Aho Clarinet Concerto - Martin Frost is an amazing clarinet virtuoso. His recordings on BIS have all been good. This recording of Kalevi Aho's Clarinet Concerto is no different. In addition to being able to witness the clarinet wizardry of Frost, you get to also hear a work by an impressive contemporary classical voice.

Wagner/Stokowski - This recent Naxos release is in my cd player a lot. Wagner's operatic music has been synthesized into seamless orchestral form. Serebrier and the Bournemouth Symphony do justice to the "Stokowski sound" and Wagner's trademark lushness.

Mahler Symphony No.5 - I like this album only because of Dudamel. It is certainly not the best Mahler 5 out there. Other recent releases are better in my opinion. This one gets a nod because, like Alsop's Brahms, Dudamel's facility with a musical monument like the Mahler 5 is outstanding.

Brundibar - Gerard Schwarz and Seattle's Music of Remembrance perform Krasa's rarely heard Holocaust era opera.

Oceana - Osvaldo Golijov's recent release is splendid. Nuff said.

Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928 - 2007)

2007-12-07T18:39:00.001-08:00

By now, most of the music loving world is aware that Avant Garde pioneer Karl Heinz Stockhausen is dead. If you're looking for a way to get your Stockhausen fix, the DG Web Shop can help out with the classic Abbado/Berlin recording of Gruppen.

A plug for Walla Walla

2007-12-07T08:29:00.001-08:00

Henry Fogel gives the Walla Walla Symphony a plug. I wish he would have talked more about the orchestra and the concert he heard. The gist of the plug is that there is perfectly acceptable and often high quality music being made with small, community orchestras. I tend to agree. This has certainly been my experience in Seattle and previously in the Midwest.

Ravel, Beethoven and Handel

2007-12-06T20:17:00.000-08:00

Today, the Icicle Creek Piano Trio, an ensemble of faculty from the Icicle Creek Music Center, performed Maurice Ravel's Piano Trio at the Sherman Clay Piano Studio. The Trio was composed in 1914 and had its debut in 1915. In typical Ravel fashion, he created a transparent, inventive piece requiring a high level of virtuosity for the piano, violin and cello.

Early on, Ravel struggled with the piece. France's entry into World War I, and Ravel's desire to enlist in the army, motivated the composer to finish the work.

The work unfolds over four movements and adheres to established forms. The first movement takes the sonata-allegro form, the second is a playful "French" scherzo, the third movement is a passacaglia, and the fourth movement is a brisk, passionate finale.

The Icicle Piano Trio gave a crystalline performance of the work, with equal attention to Ravel's passion and precision.

The night before, the Rain City Symphony, Seattle's "opportunity orchestra," put on their fall concert. The orchestra advertises itself as an auditionless, community orchestra which gives amateur musicians the chance to play in an orchestral setting. The orchestra performs three concerts each season.

The orchestra is lead by Teresa Metger Howe. Howe is a local fixture, leading the Rain City Symphony and the Bellevue Youth Symphony. Previously, she taught music at the Lakeside Upper School.

On the program was Handel's Music for Royal Fireworks and Beethoven's Consecration of the House Overture.

Fireworks was composed to commemorate the installation of an arch in London's Green Park. To make music suitable for the event, Handel originally conceived Fireworks for a large contingent of brass and woodwinds. Unfortunately for listeners, Handel modified the orchestration for more manageable proportions.

Like Fireworks, Beethoven's Consecration of the House Overture is associated with an event. The overture was premiered along with Beethoven's paradigm changing Ninth Symphony.

The Rain City Symphony provides a helpful vehicle for musicians to perform popular, orchestral favorites.

Audiophiles, Cover Your Eyes!

2007-12-05T17:17:00.001-08:00

Since my co-blogger has seen it fit to write about the move that many of us classical fans are making to digital, going on at length about the convenience and versatility of the iPod and its associated management software, iTunes, I thought it might be a worthy companion piece to talk about sites that would be worth your time. In fact, the move to the digital realm is making news all over the world as music companies, especially the titan of music companies, Universal Music Group, devourer of Decca, Deutsche Grammaphon, and Philips, finally is making an online shop. There is much for the classical music connoisseur to enjoy in online stores, especially as the CD store disappears from the planet.

Of course, the first stop is iTunes Store. It works best when you download iTunes onto your computer. Essentially, every album that has been converted for digital download from every music label on the planet has been put on iTunes. If you are willing to pay $.99 or more per track on a new cd, or pay one lump sum, usually much less than the price of actually buying the cd, then this site is for you. It works if you want to have access to the catalogs of the Universal Music Group, having albums from Decca, DG and Philips. It also has all the smaller, independent labels as well, like Harmonia Mundi or Ondine. Of course now that DG has opened its own web store, those discs just might disappear from iTunes. The downside is that it caters more to non-classical music, so its navigation and search features are less than exemplary.

Naxos has put forth a more tailor-made experience with its effort, ClassicsOnline. It has an impressive array of independent labels to offer, with no downloading restrictions. It even allows you the opportunity to download the booklets if you so choose. It is as close as you are going to get to having everything that a physical disc offers you. You can pay for tracks individually, usually around $.99, or buy the entire cd, which is more than likely a much better deal. The problem is with these sites and others that are similar is that they charge prices for each track that are dependent on its length. If the track is short, they might charge 99 cents. If it is longer, they will charge you a proportionate amount more. And if it is a track of a single-movement work of some length, the site might not let you download it at all, except when you purchase the whole disc. Here is an example from ClassicsOnlilne and a disc by Feliksas Bajoras.

That is why my favorite site, and one mentioned in passing in my co-blogger's post, is Emusic, a music site for those who walk outside the mainstream. They offer music in a variety of genres, but not a single one are of pop or alternative. In the classical field, which is by its nature outside the mainstream nowadays, the website offers literally thousands of discs to browse through and download. The second best thing about this site is that it does not make any adjustments to its pricing based on length of track. But by a wide margin, the best thing about this site is that each track on average costs you about $.30 or less! You read it right. I have been a member of the site for a while, so my tracks are even less than that. At those prices, almost everyone has the financial ability to take some risks on composers you don't know, performers you have never heard of, or for that matter, types of music you wouldn't ever dream of buying at CD prices. They have a decent search function for classical music and its genre page is complete with recommendations and articles. The site also has a vibrant message board where regulars come and "talk" about what's on the site. It also allows subscribers to create lists that are shared with others. So if you have found that disc of C.P.E Bach symphonies you were looking for and were wondering where to go from there, on the right side will be several lists by other subscribers who have recommendations that you might be interested in. It is a well-conceived and spectacular online store. I myself have downloaded hundreds of pieces of music to add to my 2000+ cd collection. And that is part of the beauty - I can fill in gaps in my collection with specific pieces or assimilate wholesale the works of a composer that I haven't gotten around to. I recently purchased practically everything recorded on Naxos, Ondine and Bis of Einojuhani Rautavaara for about $25. The only drawback, if you count it as one, is that it does not include albums from the Universal Music Group. They haven't allowed their discs to be distributed by Emusic yet. Once that's done, nothing will rival this site for its expansive catalogue and price.

Now that you know where to go, have no fear of buying that iTouch and filling it with all the music you are willing to stomach (Emusic has a subscription for 300 tracks a month!). Now the debate over fidelity versus convenience will rage on for a while longer, but the trend can't be denied. Besides, my major issue with the whole thing is whether jogging or commuting to work are the best places to have an epiphany listening to Bach's Mass in B minor, but that's a whole different story.

Hi Fi

2007-12-05T10:35:00.001-08:00

I have to admit, when I was first introduced to the iPod I thought it was a ridiculous invention. Compressed music files crammed onto what amounted to a small hard drive. People who really love music would never jump from CD's to MP3's. After accepting the MP3 format myself, the recent article in Slate on the Hi Fidelity vs MP3 debate strikes me as a desperate, last ditch effort to push back against a new recorded music standard.

The early days of the iPod and the proliferation of the MP3 format were a time when I was buying CD's like crazy. My collection rapidly outgrew existing shelves, covered multiple walls, and ended up in precariously staked piles on my floor. This was how music was supposed to be. It was supposed to sound glorious and be cumbersome. I recoiled at anything to resembled an iPod or sounded like MP3.

However, while my music collection was growing exponentially, my audio equipment remained pretty stagnate. I was still using the same stereo I bought in law school. I knew I could spend more on an expensive stereo, but why? The sound was good enough and not investing in a high end stereo freed up money for more CD's, concerts, and music related trips around the country and the world.

After researching the MP3 format and MP3 players, I decided to give this new audio format a chance. I didn't buy an iPod. Something in me was still resisting Apple's juggernaut of cool. Instead I bought a very large, very clunky and very Soviet looking Creative Labs player. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I abandoned the device after a few months. It was a pain to navigate and obviously un-cool.

My brief stint with Creative Labs convinced me the CD was king and would always be king. It took Emusic and iTunes to give the MP3 format a second chance.

I was still put off by Apple's device. When I began downloading MP3's from the subscription based Emusic, iTunes was the best available software to organize and listen to the music on my PC. An investment in new computer speakers turned my computer into a close approximation to my aging stereo. The sound wasn't perfect but it was pretty darn good. One of my first downloads was the LSO Live/Bernard Haitink Beethoven Symphony cycle. Whatever your opinion on the artistic merits of the cycle, the MP3's did not have the same range of sounds and depth as a CD. There was, however, no mistaking the music for anything but Beethoven.

After about six months of downloading and listening to music on my computer, I warmed to the MP3 format. Some files were bad but most were pretty good. Never having heard music on a Hi Fi system, what was coming out of my computer was perfectly acceptable. Better yet, MP3's were less expensive than CD's and the flexibility of the format allowed me to plug holes in my collection without having to buy a whole album. There is nothing more frustrating than buying a CD with 70 minutes of music for a seven minute piece.

The format and the mutable file tags allowed me to manipulate and organize my growing iTunes library in a way you can't do with physical CD's. Pieces could be organized independent of their albums. Searching for a particular work or album was as easy typing in the composer or work's name.

When I finally bought an iPod the portability of MP3's became a factor. I cannot live without my iPod. I am not exaggerating. I carry a stack of music with me every day. Whole symphony cycles at my finger tips. At any given point in the day, I can pull out my iPod and listen. My iPod goes with me to lunch. If it's a long lunch I can cram in a few hours of music. Long Mahler symphonies can be listened to without having to change CD's.

Today, the MP3 is not equal in sound quality to the compact disk. That will change. In the meantime, Bose headphones help improve the quality. What the MP3 lacks in sound quality it makes up for in its potential ability to change culture. Think about it. The portability of the format enables people to easily music to their work day. The small size of compressed music files allows record companies like Chandos, Naxos, and now Deutsche Grammophone to make their entire catalog available. The cost, encourages experimentation with new genres, composers, and recordings of tried and true pieces. Because of MP3's people have access to more music than ever before. Classical music is doing surprisingly well with the new format. The MP3 format might push classical music back into the mainstream.

Recorded music has always been about approximating the live music experience. The Slate article concedes as much. But recordings also exist to preserve music. Each new recording technology improving on the one that came before it. MP3's are just the latest incarnation. Instead of groping for the past, music lovers should be looking forward to possibility of new formats.

New things

2007-12-04T14:28:00.001-08:00

On the right side of this site and the bottom of the page, I have included a calendar of events in the Seattle area. I am still working on the size, format and information that will go on the calendar. The location of the calendar may change as well. My hope is to create as comprehensive a calendar as possible. Since there area a lot of events in the Seattle area, please be patient as I comb every source for events. If you find there are events missing please let me know.

The other "new thing" these days is the album, Notes From the Kelp, from San Juan composer Alex Shapiro sent me. Shapiro is formerly from California but lives these days on the San Juan Islands. She is also a blogger and you can read her thoughts here. Once I have given the disk a good listen (or two) I will have more to say. In the meantime, check out her site.

Upcoming holiday cheer

2007-12-02T13:51:00.001-08:00

First there's Thanksgiving, then Black Friday, and finally there is the three weeks before Christmas that are saturated with "holiday" music. Pops concerts, Christmas carols, and other calendar sensitive favorites are being trotted out this week. There are a few non-Christmas related options for music lovers already weary of the season.

Federal Way Symphony: The South King County orchestra performs holiday favorites at St. Luke's Church.

Brandenburg Christmas: Seattle Baroque Orchestra plays music of Bach, Handel and Telemann. Brandenburg Concerto No.5 makes the cut as do Handel's Concerto Grosso Op.3 No.3 and Telemann's Concerto in E Minor for flute and recorder

Carol Fest: Monday, the University of Washington's seven choirs put on a holiday show of, predictably enough, carols.

Hawaiian Christmas: Amy Hanaiali'i Gilliom performs Wednesday at Town Hall.

Rain City Symphony: Dubbed the opportunity orchestra, the band performs Handel's Music for the Royal Fireworks and Beethoven's Consecration of the House overture.

Holiday Pops: Thursday, The Seattle Symphony plunges head first into the holiday spirit with their annual pop's concert.

Icicle Creek Piano Trio: Part of the Thursday, Sherman Clay free lunchtime recital series.

Update

2007-12-01T09:11:00.001-08:00

A few months ago I decided to earnestly blog about classical music in the Seattle area. This wasn't entirely new for me. During law school I had a part time job covering music for an independent newspaper.

I have been pleasantly surprised at the response to this site.

Over the course of three months, traffic has steadily increased. In November alone, 1,496 unique visitors stopped by the site. I was hoping to top 1,500, but that will have to wait until December. This number represents almost a 700 visitor increase over October (893 unique visitors) and nearly triple the 572 visitors who stopped by in September.

In the coming weeks, a third contributor will begin to review classical albums. My cohort in Chicago will continue to write about events there. I intend to continue covering a variety of classical music events happening in the Emerald City.

Suggestions and ideas are always welcome.

Of course, the modest success of this site is the result of the musicians, public relations people, and venues who have helped with content and graciously submitted themselves to my questions. Also, the sites which link here have been essential to spreading the word about Seattle's classical music world. Finally, I wouldn't be trying to write about classical music if it weren't for From the Second City. He gave me my first taste of classical music when I was a junior in college.

Thank you.

Q & A: Jonah Sirota

2007-11-29T07:22:00.001-08:00

The Chiara Quartet wrapped up their swing through the Northwest with a performance as Seattle's Tractor Tavern. A day earlier, the group performed as part of the University of Washington's World Chamber Series. Their cross cultural concert epitomized the worldliness of the chamber series and the commitment of a quartet intent on changing how chamber music is played.

Before heading back to Nebraska, Jonah Sirota the group's violist, graciously answered a few questions about the University of Nebraska, different audiences, and Osvaldo Golijov.

Zach Carstensen: What brought you to the University of Nebraska?

Jonah Sirota: Nebraska founded new artists-in-residence positions for our group. It's unusual and stimulating to be able to grow a program from its start. Their commitment to building a world-class chamber music program and the great flexibility of our teaching load at the school make it a great job for a touring ensemble like us.

ZC: Before Lincoln you spent significant time in New York. What is different about the classical music and performance “scene” in Nebraska when compared to New York and other parts of the country?

JS: Well, of course New York is a major center for classical music in this country and in the world. We still spend a great deal of time there, because it is a great place to bring performances and because the audiences are so knowledgeable. Having said that, we are finding that the stereotypes about the relative "small-town" audience in Nebraska are not true. The audiences in Lincoln are numerous, supportive, and sophisticated. The per-capita cultural density is impressive there, much more than New York!

ZC: How is your approach for a concert in a club or bar different from one in a concert hall?

JS: We like to use the club performances as a chance to question the typical "classical" approach to putting together a concert. We string movements together into sets, jumping from one style-period to the next. We also strongly encourage people to clap whenever they feel so compelled. Basically, unlike in a traditional classical venue, we want a club audience to feel like their experience is not a minefield of potential embarrassing mistakes! We want the newcomer to feel incredibly welcome, and to be able to hear the music as it is, without the distraction of all the non-musical traditions of concert music.

ZC: You have said in other interviews that club audiences are as attentive if not more so than those at traditional venues. Why do you think this is case?

JS: I think it is the difference between the music compelling you to listen versus feeling compelled by the rules to just be quiet. So many people have trouble with that in a concert hall that they end up in coughing fits, or whatever. In the club, you're still going to have the cash register and the ice machine to fight, so it requires a different level of focus from both audience and performer.

ZC: Do you think venues like the Tractor Tavern reflect the historic and traditional intimacy of chamber music better than concert halls?

JS: Yeah, in many ways. Most of the music we play was certainly intended for rooms closer to the size of a club than of a concert hall. Having said that, I think we live in a special time when this music really can be accessible to all.

ZC: What was your inspiration for your Meaney Hall program which features music by composers who have their feet in different cultural worlds?

JS: This program came out of a piece we play, written for us by composer Gabriela Lena Frank. The work is called Leyendas: An Andean Walkabout. (Leyendas means legends). She wrote this as her answer to Bartok's approach to composition, taking folk material from her roots, and writing them into serious and complex large-scale classical forms. We wanted to explore a program of composers who brought their cultural identity to classical forms, but managed to do so without losing one in the other. Of course that's a very subjective criteria, but that's where our own creative process came into play.

ZC: As performers, do you sometimes feel like you straddle different worlds when you perform in a club one night but a concert hall the next?

JS: Yes, but when communication and meaningful artistic experience is the goal, that kind of transcends the specific details of place, repertoire, audience make-up, etc.

ZC: Golijov’s Yiddishbbuk is being featured in your Meaney Hall performance. What is it about Golijov’s music that performers find so irresistible?

JS: He grapples with big ideas, and his music has an element of improv in it, but its in a controlled, limited sphere. Classical musicians are scared to improvise, but we want to try!

ZC: What are you listening to these days?

JS: Simone Dinnerstein's Goldberg Variations, the band Godspeed You Black Emperor (who might as well be a classical new-music group) and the Beatles again, after a long hiatus.

Chiara Quartet takes listeners on a global adventure

2007-11-28T10:20:00.001-08:00

Young, adventurous and daring the Chiara Quartet is blazing a path in the classical music world that isn't as foreign as it once was. The quartet regularly performs in clubs, bars and other non-traditional venues, they insist on programming at least one "new" piece of music in each concert, and aren't afraid of challenging their audience.

Its a tried, but generally new formula for chamber music and its a formula that fits with the smorgasbord nature of classical music today. Arguably, the group's approach to performance and music is more authentic and truer to the historical roots of chamber music. Chamber music was initially conceived for parlors, private residences, and if there was going to be an audience intimate performance spaces. Not unlike today's clubs, bars, and other social gathering spots today.

Don't be fooled though. This isn't an ensemble that masks bad technique with good looks (although they are a pretty dashing bunch), amplified instruments, and tight clothes. The Chiara Quartet can play. They are also comfortable in traditional performance spaces (like Meaney Hall). The group has been praised by the New York Times, joined the University of Nebraska as artists in residence, will soon spend time at Harvard, and were rewarded with the Guarneri Quartet Residency Award for artistic excellence.

On their two day stop in Seattle the ensemble will spend time in two distinct musical worlds. Tuesday, the quartet performed as part of the University of Washington World Chamber Series which features chamber ensembles from around the world. Tonight they head on down to the Tractor Tavern for a performance.

On Tuesday the quartet offered their thematic program Mestizaje: Harmony of Differences. This intelligently conceived program is completely modern and features Gabriella Lena Frank's Leyendas, An Andean Walkabout, Bela Bartok's introspective second quartet, Osvaldo Golijov's Yiddishbbuk, and Chinese-American composer Zhou Long's Song of the Ch'in.

Each piece represents a fusion of cultural influences. In Frank's Walkabout the composer delves into South American folk melodies and mimics the instruments commonly found in the Andes Mountains. Similarly Zhou Long's Ch'in fuses the sounds and gestures of the Ch'in, a seven stringed plucked zither, with the very Western string quartet. Bartok's folk discoveries from Hungary and elsewhere are on obvious display in the composer's second quartet, but are synthesized with the composer's own classical influences.

The emphasis on cross cultural influences compliments the quartet well. In many ways the quartet is as cross cultural as the music they played. Juilliard trained the quartet has taken up residence in Lincoln, Nebraska. A college town in the middle of the country. The quartet founded a music festival in North Dakota rather than more glamorous, and culturally invigorating locations on the East or West coast. And, as was already mentioned, the ensemble plays as often in clubs and bars, venues not traditionally known for classical music, as they do in the concert hall.

Prefacing Tuesday's performance, the group's violist Jonah Sirota, explained the narrative of the evening. Each piece would be played but the quartet wouldn't be bowing in between each work. The end of each work would be marked by a darkened hall. And, Frank's six movement Walkabout, would be divided in three, two movement sections, filling out the beginning, middle and end of the concert. Dividing Walkabout worked beautifully. Effectively, each two movement section acted as a tour guide. Like a good tour guide, the audience could rest easy knowing that after each adventure in unfamiliar musical territory, they would be met on their return by friendly and familiar sounds.

Though each piece shared a similar synthesis of diverse cultures, they were also remarkably different. Yiddishbbuk was fierce but mournful as the composer paid tribute to the dead. Walkabout was tuneful and evocative, conjuring images and sounds of South America, traditional instruments, and folk melodies. Zhou Long's Ch'in recalled the mystery and tradition of China. Even Bela Bartok's second quartet offered glimpses into a composer who relied on the music of the people for inspiration, but found himself living in seclusion because of World War I.

The Chiara Quartet played these different pieces brilliantly. As an ensemble their sound was rich and full not thin as can sometimes happen. This attribute served the group in the Bartok, and especially the first movement which ranks as some of the most sensuous music Bartok ever wrote. The quartet was equally comfortable in the furious musical landscape of Osvaldo Golijov. Their intensity never flagged.

For me, however, it was the group's performance of Walkabout which impressed me the most. The piece navigated so much different territory and plumbed so many different sounds that it was the perfect showcase for the ensemble's collective and individual abilities. The Chiara was incisive (canto de velorio - fifth movement); seductive (coquetos - sixth movement) and exotic (Himno de Zamponas - third movement)

The Chiara Quartet is a daring, able ensemble with respect for the intelligence of their audience. Other quartets might have balked at the prospect of performing a program of largely unfamiliar works. If the Meaney Hall audience was reluctant to commit themselves to the global and culture crossing musical adventure presented by the Chiara Quartet, any worries the audience may have had were put at ease with the group's expert performance and obvious charisma.

The Chaira Quartet will be performing in Seattle one more time at the Tractor Tavern in Ballard. The concert starts at 8:00 p.m.

Wagnerian, Fluorescent Strauss

2007-11-27T20:58:00.001-08:00

Well, there have been many additions to the Lyric Opera website regarding this opera. Firstly, there is an in-depth article on the Lyric production of the opera that is interesting. Secondly, there is a link to a dress rehearsal that shows you the set in action and the fantastic divas at work. Thirdly, pictures have been posted from the sets. Here are some that correspond to my previous post.

First, the Falcon in the box of fluorescence. The costume is beautiful but the cage is up to personal taste.

Then there is the set that was used for the earthly sphere. Here is a picture of the set in full bloom when the Nurse was enticing Barak's wife to sell her shadow in exchange for a much happier life, filled with color. The stage director said in the article that the set was purposely drab because the life that the Dyer and his wife lead is one of unhappiness, absent of joy. The only color comes from his vats of brilliant dyes. Nice idea but poorly executed in my opinion, as was the forest scene in Act Two.

The Lyric was kind enough to provide us with a picture of the mighty Emperor on his floating horse. You can decide for yourself whether it was a stroke of genius or just plain silly.

It is also up to you to decide if the attractive Youth that was offered up to the Wife was effectively executed. He is wrapped in the center of the picture up there waiting to be opened. When that happens, the Wife has to decide whether to accept her gift. There were moments of raw sexuality at these parts as the Wife's hands made their way down.

The Best or the Worst?

2007-11-26T22:15:00.001-08:00

Today, I attended a Lyric Opera performance of Richard Strauss's Die Frau ohne Schatten, led by famed soprano Deborah Voigt as the Empress. The evening was a stunning four hours in length, and cramming that in after a full day's work can be quite a challenge, especially when you're dealing with this opera in this current production. This is the third Strauss opera I have seen at the Lyric in recent years and as one can guess, I really like Strauss operas. The only operas I like more are by Mozart, and the similarities between the two operatic composers are clear. In fact, this fairy tale is based on ideas from, you guessed it, Die Zauberflote. But that is where the connection ends. The rest of the influence comes from Richard Wagner - a 100+ orchestra crammed into the pit, and gargantuan voices from gargantuan women to sing over that huge orchestra. After viewing this opera, I can emphatically state that this opera is not one of my favorites by Strauss. I like Ariadne and Rosenkavalier, and I can even make room for Salome. But this opera is just too strange and bombastic for my tastes. There were moments when I thought I was watching experimental theater or the final scenes from Phantom of the Opera. Yes, it was that over the top. The vision of the Stage Director, Paul Curran, didn't make it any easier on me either. In fact, I think it is what spoiled the opera for me.

The story of the opera leaves much to be desired. It is one of those "simplistic" stories that is supposed to portend to greater meaning. That may be true, but the ultimate point doesn't require four hours. But story aside, the staging was the most difficult aspect for me. The opera requires three different worlds - one of the gods (more specifically, their underworld), one where they mix, a sort of holding cell for a wayward goddess, and the mortal sphere where humans go about their business. All three sets were disappointing.

The opera opens in the second world described, the home of the Goddess Empress and her human husband the Emperor. They live separately from the rest of the world, and the impression I got from the set is one of darkness and isolation. It was like a jail cell, with the staging even going so far as to have a big eye in one of the back "windows" to signify the ever-watchful eye of the Empress's father, Keikobad. The lighting was either very dark or harsh spot lights, both designed to minimize shadows. That works, until a woman who is supposed to be a falcon floats down from the rafters in a square of fluorescent tubing. I think it's supposed to represent a branch. Later on they will bring down many tubes in the Act 2 scene requiring a forest. Continuing with the insult in that forest scene, the Emperor glides down indecorously from the rafters on a fiberglass horse and plops down on stage to sing his monologue. He then clumsily gets back on the horse at the end and floats away. I imagine such ploys are to show the Emperor's traversal of the fluorescent tube forest, but I would have accepted him moving across the stage.

Another problem was the set of the humans, where most of the opera took place. It was a drab and uninteresting set to have to look at for hours. It was so oddly shaped that the singers seemed to spend more energy trying to make their way around the set than act out their parts. Franz Hawlata, who played the lowly human Barak, tripped at one point but acted like it was all part of the plan. What makes things worse is that the three divas are all heavyweights of varying degrees. That made the set even more precarious for them, with their long dresses and dainty feet.

There were even dancers in this opera to provide connection between scenes and to add interest. Most of the dancing seemed commonplace and more of a distraction than an addition. That is how I would describe everything about this production - distractions without adding anything. At one point, one of the characters, the Nurse, tries to wrest the shadow away from the aforementioned Barak's wife by enticing her with a hot man. One of the muscular dancers was painted gold, asked to stand on a hydraulic lift in a speedo, and endlessly go up and down as the Wife agrees and then doesn't. The audience laughed on many occasions rest assured.

All that mess aside, you are left with the unbelievable music of Richard Strauss. He brings out every timbral combination during the course of the opera. One of the most intriguing is the prelude to Act Three for solo bassoon, then two bassoons before the curtain goes up. There is no comic effect in that bassoon solo. Celesta, xylophone, two harps, every woodwind possible, solos for violin and cello, all have their chance. It is a definite Wagner-scaled score, but with all the characteristic Strauss touches that I love so much. The singing was wonderful. Jill Grove who played the Nurse has such a beautifully rich lower range. Act Two belonged to Christine Brewer who played the Dyer's Wife. Unfortunately, she plays an unhappy woman who is not given many enticing melodies. It is in Act Three where Brewer is allowed to really show what she can do, and she does it with ease and beautiful tone, especially in the extreme registers, high and low. Deborah Voigt's character is a watcher for the vast middle of the opera. But, Voigt is a consumate actress and a wonderful singer. She sang with conviction and passion. You could tell this is one of her signature roles. The three women were perfect for Strauss. In fact, Brewer will be performing the very same role right after her Lyric tenure for the Opera National de Paris.

So how to sum up? Strauss's music is amazing but wasted on a ridiculous story of self-sacrifice, loyalty and family. The singing was wonderful but coupled with a rotten production (at one point they had a woman sitting in a fiber glass hand that was supposed to represent an infernal river), I can say that this performance didn't work for me at all. If I want to see a fairytale, I think I'll stick with Mozart.

Upcoming events

2007-11-25T15:55:00.001-08:00

Chiara String Quartet: Like cellist Matt Haimovitz, this quartet will be coming to town, stopping at Ballard's Tractor Tavern on Wednesday. Before the Tractor, they will be performing at the University of Washington as part of the International Chamber Music Series. On the program: Bartok's second string quartet and Golijov's Yiddishbuk.

Yefim Bronfman: The pianist returns for a solo recital at Benaroya Hall. Balakirev's Islamey as well as music by Schumann and Ravel's Gaspard de la nuit are on the program. Composed in only a month, Balakirev was inspired to compose Islamey after a visit to the Caucuses. Incidentally, Ravel was trying to out due Balakirev when he wrote Gaspard de la nuit.

Trio Mediaeval: This early music vocal ensemble will be performing French and English carols, Norwegian folk songs, and modern works built on ancient models.

Make Way for the Rest

2007-11-22T11:47:00.001-08:00

Apparently, Alfred Brendel has just announced his retirement. After his 2008 season of endless concerts, he will be off to do other things. Good for him. His career has been illustrious and I myself have an untold number of recordings that attest to his fame and musical intelligence and sensibility. Of course, many of those recordings reach far back in time. So thank you for your service to music Mr. Brendel.

I am also thankful because his absence makes room for other deserving pianists to get more performances around the world. His packed concert houses will now be vacant unless filled by other extraordinary pianists. My co-blogger seems to enjoy the work of Yevgeny Sudbin or maybe it is Olli Mustonen who can fill the void? Who knows? The point is that as the generation of superstars retires, it leaves open miles of musical terrain for the new generation to fill. Isn't that part of the excitement about loving classical music nowadays? The older generation looks fondly upon who they were raised on: Toscanini, Karajan, Bernstein, Stern, Richter, Rostropovich. The list is endless and intimidating. But the future looks just as bright as the past did. Young and innovative conductors are taking the reins and endless highly capable and compelling soloists are making their way across the world. When you add in the amount and variety of music that is being composed, we are in an entirely new millennium filled with possibility. Now that is exciting.

Haitink and Mahler's 3rd

2007-11-20T20:14:00.001-08:00

Because of the slow holiday week here is a clip of B. Haitink conducting my favorite movement of Mahler's breathtaking third symphony.

Podium prospects

2007-11-20T10:08:00.001-08:00

The Philadelphia Inquirer has an interesting article about the impending search for a music director to replace the venerable Christoph Eschenbach. You might remember Eschenbach had differences of opinion with the orchestra. The equally venerable Charles Dutoit will be filling in for four years while the search ensues.

The predicament in Philadelphia has me wondering about the process that may or may not happen in Seattle. The SSO's current music director, Gerard Schwarz, recently had his contract extended to 2011. If the SSO board thinks the orchestra needs new leadership at the end of Schwarz's contract, it would seem that now is the time to start looking.

As the article correctly points out, conducting a music director search takes time. Potential guest conductors are booked years in advance. Most conductors need to come back and work with the orchestra a second and perhaps even third time for a search committee to decide if the conductor is the right fit for the orchestra and the city.

By the end of the current season, the orchestra leadership will only have roughly three years to begin, conduct and complete a search for a music director. It is possible, of course, the orchestra could develop a temporary arrangement with Schwarz beyond his current contract, providing artistic stability. Or, it is also possible the orchestra could start looking for a replacement at the conclusion of Schwarz's contract. This later scenario would mirror what happened in Chicago with the end of the Barenboim era.

Unfortunately, Seattle is not Chicago. The candidates likely to be interested in a position with Seattle will probably not include the likes of: Simon Rattle, Michael Tilson Thomas, the Davis's, Ricardo Muti, Esa Pekka Salonen or Paavo Jarvi. Chicago has been successful in the post-Barenboim years because of their coy, unabashed flirting with every superstar conductor that comes to the Windy City. Deborah Card knows very well the CSO is one of the best orchestras in the world with one of the most coveted vacancies in music today.

I can understand why some people would like to see a new music director on the podium at Benaroya Hall. There is something to be said for freshness. However, these sentiments might in fact be hasty. Schwarz has shown a demonstrated commitment to new ideas and inventive programming. Collaborations with the Seattle International Film Festival, Dale Chihuly, and the Triple Door are good examples. He has presided over a number of interesting spring festivals highlighting the music of America, Eastern Europe and Shostakovich. Under his tenure the orchestra has recorded extensively for Delos, Naxos, and Artek. His recent Shostakovich work for Artek receiving generous praise. He consistenly has the orchestra turning out above average performances especially with bread and butter pieces by Sibelius, Mahler and Bruckner. Perhaps most importantly, Schwarz has graciously taken up the task of fundraising for the orchestra. With increasingly tight budgets and the widening disdain for fundraising, this is a quality that shouldn't be overlooked. Without Schwarz there would be no Benaroya Hall.

The orchestra is also adapting to the management of a new Executive Director. This is Thomas Philion's first season as ED with the orchestra. I have no doubt that he has the requisite skills to help lead the SSO. Nonetheless, coming to a new city, starting a new job, and learning the lay of the land takes time.

Schwarz's numerous artistic and musical attributes would have to be weighed against the potential benefits of having someone new at the helm. Conductors would have to be vetted with musicians, staff and donors. Philadelphia offers a good example. Before Eschenbach took over in Philidelphia he had been warmly received by the orchestra. As soon as he arrived problems began. Eschenbach's potential was never fully realized.

Regardless of the ultimate decision of the Seattle Symphony board, time may not be on the side of the orchestra.

The triumph of the human spirit: Saint Saens, Sibelius, Prokofiev, but not Beethoven

2007-11-18T10:28:00.001-08:00

Prokofiev and Shostakovich resumed their friendly rivalry Saturday night with dueling concerts. While the Seattle Symphony was reprising Shostakovich's 11th Symphony, a titanic work most recently heard last year when the Kirov Orchestra came to town. A few blocks east , Alan Shen and the plucky Puget Sound Symphony Orchestra performed Prokofiev's fifth symphony, a symphonic tribute to the intertwining of triumph and tragedy.

An all volunteer orchestra, the Puget Sound Symphony performs three times. This aspect accounts for the unbelievably low ticket price. For five dollars in advance and eight dollars at the door, people got to hear live classical music. The orchestra's preparation and performance cycle consists of eight weeks of once weekly rehearsals followed by a concert. The fall concert last night marked the start of the orchestra's ninth season.

Conventional wisdom might lead you to believe attendance would be sparse and the performance, at a minimum would be bad and at worst disastrous. On both accounts, conventional wisdom is wrong.

The concert began fifteen minutes late. The delay was caused by a seemingly never ending supply of people streaming into the hall. They just kept coming. One after the other. It is hard to know whether people were drawn by the practically free ticket price or the opportunity to hear friends and family perform. At the end of the day it may not matter much. The hall was filling up and it was filling up with young, old, middle aged, green haired and pierced people. Who says classical music is dead?

Other orchestras would have shut the doors and began on time. Not this one. Off to the side and clearly elated, Alan Shen watched carefully as each new person found a seat. After suffering through years of pretentious, concert hall etiquette, It was refreshing to shelve unnecessary stuffiness for at least one night.

With everyone settled, Shen came forward, thanked everyone for coming, and began to talk about the program for the evening and the season. This evening, Saint Saens first cello concerto, Sibelius' Finlandia, Beethoven's overture to Creatures of Prometheus, and Prokofiev's aforementioned fifth symphony. Shen admitted there was no overarching theme for the Saturday's performance or for that matter the entire season, but that didn't stop him from making one up on the fly. The theme Shen came up with? The triumph of the human spirit. In a relaxed manner that seems to be this band's style, Shen said the theme only applies to 75% of the program. Tongue in cheek, Shen said the theme was both a dollar extra and a bargain.

Let me just say, the performance was not without problems. At times the orchestra struggled to hang together as a group. Sometimes individual sections struggled together. Wrong notes were played. Town Hall's smallness and unforgiving acoustics didn't do the orchestra any favors either. There was, however, plenty to cheer. The strings were surprisingly good. the cellos and basses hummed in Finlandia and the violins galloped in the Prokofiev. The woodwinds were nimble and the brass were generally strong. Kai Chen, the soloist for the evening, gave a better than average performance of the Saint Saens. The orchestra was a sympathetic partner.

The audience appreciated the effort of the orchestra and rewarded them with excited applause.

I gather most of the people who came out to hear the PSSO weren't expecting a perfect performance. Given the relaxed nature of the evening, I have to think they knew they weren't hearing one of the world's best orchestras. I do think they expected to have a good time and hear competently played classical music. In this regard, the orchestra delivered. Really, shouldn't classical music be enjoyable?

The orchestra is probably as good as most civic, small town and regional orchestras. More important the entire concert was fun. Alan Shen's nervous charisma and self deprecation was well received by the audience. The members of the orchestra responded to each other and to their leader. There is indescribable attraction to music performed by people who are performing out of love for the music and performance rather than a paycheck.

Last night was the second time in the last few years I heard an orchestra perform Prokofiev's fifth symphony. The last time was April 2006 with the Seattle Symphony and visiting conductor Mstislav Rostropovich. The PSSO's performance reminded me a lot of that Rostropovich lead performance. Like last night, the Seattle Symphony and Rostropovich had a good time, each obviously enjoyed the task at hand, and the results, while not perfect, were unquestionably enjoyable.

As long as the PSSO continues to enjoy performing and improves with each performance, I have no doubt they will continue to entertain growing audiences.

Glimpses

2007-11-17T12:28:00.001-08:00

Understanding Messiaen’s music has always been problematic for me. Part of the challenge lies with his musical language. The composer’s own Modes of Limited Transposition, experimentation with total serialism, and his non-western musical influences create a complex sound environment.

The other challenging element is the composer’s extra-musical ideas. Messiaen was unshakeably religious. His Catholicism permeates every note he wrote on paper. His music is imbued with religious symbolism, references to religious music and styles, and reverence for God.

Twenty gazes/contemplations on the infant Jesus is a prime example of Messiaen’s complicated music. The work is one of the most important pieces for solo piano written during the 20^th century. Played from start to finish it is over two hours long and encompasses twenty movements. The "gazes" shift from harsh atonality to mesmerizing beauty.

On Friday night Dr. Christopher Bowlby, a pianist from Issaquah, Washington illuminated seven of the movements with a solid performance and thorough discussion. The recital was part of the St. Ignatius Chapel’s recital series, this year dubbed “the Chapel Keys.” Bowlby’s exploration of Messiaen’s music was helped with the serenity of the Seattle University chapel. When I arrived in Seattle five years ago the chapel was one of the first places people urged me to visit. Though its small and unassuming, and plainly outfitted inside, it stands in stark contrast to the typical Catholic need to decorate everything in religious representational art. It was the perfect space to explore the divine.

For the evening Bowlby chose seven movements: Contemplation of the Father, Contemplation of the Star, Contemplation of the Virgin, Contemplation of the Son upon the Son, Contemplation of the Cross, The kiss of the infant Jesus, and Contemplation of the prophets, shepards and the magi.

Bowlby’s selections provided a good overview of the entire work. Each chosen movement prominently features the symmetrical and rhythmically enticing theme of God. Messiaen deploys the perfectly symmetrical, eternally constructed theme throughout the piece. Bowlby’s explanation of the theme added to the mystery and awe present in each movement. Bowlby’s selections also explored the early music and religious influences as well. In the Contemplation of the Star, Bowlby pointed out the movement’s plain chant qualities. In the Contemplation of the Son upon the Son, Bowlby explained and separated the complex polyphonic textures.

The choices also cast light on the numeric significance of the many of the twenty movements. In the Contemplation of the Virgin, the fourth movement, Messiaen chose the number four as a representation of humanity and in this case, Mary as that representation. Bowlby explained how the number five and each movement divisible by five references the idea of divinity.

I have no doubt Messiaen’s music will always be difficult for me. His deliberate use of a challenging musical language and religious influences begs to be decoded and I want to decode it. Each revelation revealing new questions. However, for a few hours on Friday night I glimpsed Messiaen’s divine muse.

Puget Sound Symphony Orchestra

2007-11-16T13:06:00.001-08:00

Because YouTube is such a ubiquitous and pervasive part of culture these days, I am pleased to bring you this clip of the Puget Sound Symphony rehersing Howard Hanson's 2nd Symphony. The orchestra was started by Alan Shen, a Microsoft manager. The members volunteer their time and are involved in the programing and artistic development of the orchestra.

Upcoming Events

2007-11-15T11:18:00.001-08:00

Gregory Partain: a University of Washington graduate is in town to perform a recital featuring a movement from Charles Ives’ Concord Sonata. Arguably, Ives was experimenting with new sounds long before it became popular to do so in Europe. In fact, some of Ives' material for the Concord Sonata dates from around 1904. Other examples of Ives' early, groundbreaking voice can be heard in the Unanswered Question and Central Park in the Dark.

The Concord Sonata is tied closely with Trancendentalism and specifically individuals associated with the movement. Partain will be performing the nostalgic and calm “The Alcotts.” The movement follows two chaotic movements and is an homage to family life and specifically Bronson and Louisa May Alcott.

Matt Haimovitz: As I mentioned before Matt Haimovitz is at the Tractor Tavern in Seattle’s Ballard neighborhood. He’ll be playing After Reading Shakespeare. A work adorned with Shakespeare references, but without any real connection to the references themselves. Haimovitz performed the piece for free yesterday at Borders. Haimovitz’s expressiveness and intensity made an otherwise unremarkable piece remarkable. Sean MacLean added to the experience with readings from the passages that inspired the titles for each of the nine movements.

Christopher Bowlby: This pianist is playing Messiaen at Seattle University. Its almost advent, and in preparation for the season, Bowlby will be playing selections from Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jésus. The performance and discussion are free (free will offering asked) and you get to spend some time in the mesmerizing Stephen Holl designed Seattle U chapel.

Puget Sound Symphony Orchestra: This all volunteer orchestra is playing music of Prokofiev, Beethoven, Saint Saens, and Sibelius. The orchestra’s website makes it known that the band play's music that is interesting and fun. Prokofiev’s fifth symphony and Sibelius’ Finlandia fit the bill. As does Saint Saens melodic first cello concerto. The orchestra will be playing at Seattle’s Town Hall. Tickets are extremely cheap - $5 for adults.

Gallery Concerts: This chamber music organization will play a concert of music inspired by JS Bach on period instruments.

Good deal

2007-11-14T16:28:00.001-08:00

At the cd store today I stumbled on a remarkable deal...

22 cd's worth of Stravinsky.

Fantasy Concert League Anyone?

2007-11-13T21:34:00.001-08:00

On my recent trip to Dubuque, I heard the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra in concert. It was an interesting experience - the small town orchestra held its own. It accommodates small town tastes for the tried and true while simultaneously trying to be as adventurous as it can get away with. This season featured a performance of Mark O'Connor's new symphony and its February concert is devoted to African American composers and Mendelssohn (the violinist is African American). The orchestra also does a fine job in trying to create interest for itself by playing off the interests of a small town in Iowa.

You have to understand that Iowa has no professional sports teams. College sports reign in this Midwestern state, whether the Iowa State University Cyclones, the University of Northern Iowa Panthers, or the University of Iowa Hawkeyes. March Madness is a real affliction in these parts, and as homage to that college basketball obsession, and as savvy business strategy, the DSO has created Classical Madness! Just like fantasy football, each individual gets a chance to pick their perfect match-up of overture, concerto and symphony, along with a wild card for good measure. 64 pieces were hand-picked by a "distinguished panel of musical experts" and it will be winnowed down to four, which will be performed in free concerts next year.

Although this sounds like provincial silliness on its surface, I think we would all like the opportunity to impact what gets played in a concert. Just the idea that you can command an ensemble of over a hundred to do your bidding is too enticing a daydream to pass up. This scheme the DSO cooked up for itself plays on that wish and combines it with the realities of Iowa living. Classical and sports finally meet. As their website puts it, can the Grieg piano concerto stand up to the perennial favorite that is Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue? Is Beethoven's Ninth more popular than Tchaikovsky's Sixth? They go head to head in the DSO's Classical Madness, and I for one, can't wait to see what makes it to the stage in 2008. My final four off their list is Wagner's Overture to The Flying Dutchman, Grieg's Piano Concerto for the first half. Sibelius's Finlandia and Dvorak's Symphony No.9 for the second half. So much diversity in one little concert. Good luck DSO patrons.

$10 tickets in St. Paul

2007-11-13T21:06:00.001-08:00

The St. Paul Chamber Orchestra is offering $10 tickets for people in their 20's and 30's. Playbill Arts has the story here. This development in St. Paul reminds me of a phone conversation I had with my co-contributor on this blog. Asked to participate in a survey by the Chicago Symphony, he cited cost as one of the reasons he doesn't attend concerts more often. Maybe after all of this talk of programming and soloists the real answer to filing seats is to make tickets more affordable. At least one other orchestra (Baltimore) has offered $25 tickets for new subscribers and predictably enough the response has been positive.

After reading Shakespeare

2007-11-13T20:04:00.001-08:00

Matt Haimovitz is in town this week for a series of performances. One of them free at the downtown Borders. He is joined by KING FM’s Sean MacLean. The other concert will occur at the Tractor a Ballard bar/club.

Unusual? Not for Haimovitz. He's performed at the Tractor before and the exercise fits with the cellist's larger vision for classical music.

After graduating from Harvard and ditching his DG contract (for whom he recorded a number of solo cello works by Ligeti, Sessions, Britten, and others) he began what amounted to an examination of the music industry and classical music performance.

As a result, Haimovitz began looking at non-standard repertoire and also began exploring non-traditional performance spaces. He also founded his own record label – Oxyngale – which he’s used to record and distribute everything from Bach to Osvaldo Golijov.

For his upcoming visit to Seattle he is bringing Ned Rorem’s After Reading Shakespeare with him.

Ned Rorem began the piece in 1979 at the urging of cellist Sharon Robinson. Though the piece was inspired as Rorem was re-reading Shakespeare, the titles don’t necessarily frame the music. They aren’t portraits. However, Rorem has noted that what the titles do provide is a cohesive narrative for the listener to more easily grasp the music.

The piece is comprised of nine movements, lasting for a total of about twenty minutes. Listeners get Lear, Caliban, Iago and Othello, and Remembrance of Things Past. Even though the music is not connected in any meaningful way to the titles, it is a work worth investigating.

On Wednesday, If you get a chance, head on over to Borders during the lunch hour. Or wait until Thursday, have a beer and listen to Haimovitz at the Tractor.

Technorati Tags: Classical Music, Ned Rorem, Cello, Matt Haimovitz

In the Heartland

2007-11-12T16:16:00.001-08:00

Over the weekend, my friend and I went to Dubuque, IA to spend some time. An idyllic small town with many accolades, it also is home to the Dubuque Symphony Orchestra, which so happened to be playing during our trip. It wasn't part of the itinerary, but if they were going to play during the eclipse of time I was going to spend in Dubuque, I was going to go, plan or no plan. You can't stop good music from being heard. At $39 a person, I thought it was a bit expensive, but the town's citizens have money to burn, so the DSO can charge that price. Two blocks away from the Julien Inn stood the old-fashioned and quaint Five Flags Theater where the orchestra regularly plays. It is an intimate space, first opened in 1840 and rebuilt in 1910. Either way, it is an old establishment, perfect for hearing the old stand-bys that made up the concert: Beethoven's Piano Concerto No.5 and Brahms' Symphony No.4. It was going to be a long concert, but it was going to be fun to see and hear how small town orchestras tackle the biggies.

The first thing you notice is that the concert hall is very small. There really is no bad seat in the house and my seat, at the front of the first balcony, positioned me practically onstage, or at the very least, in a perfect acoustic environment.

The orchestra had to be smaller than the standard orchestra of today, totaling around 55 to 60 players, to fit onstage. With the piano, the stage was filled to the brim. Two Hungarian Dances of Brahms opened the program, and although played a little too slowly for my tastes, the orchestra, led by its Music Director and Conductor, William Intriligator, seemed to be at home playing flashy showpieces. The miracle of Beethoven's piano concerto is that it combines all the showmanship in the world with depth and sensitivity, especially in the woodwind accompaniments of many passages in the piece. For this performance, the DSO was joined by 2005 Van Cliburn finalist Davide Cabassi who played with exceptional dexterity and command. From my perfect vantage point, I could see his fingers moving so deftly across the keyboard that it didn't even seem to be a long span, that 88 keys was just a hop, skip and a jump for his reach. He had all the technical assurance one could ask for. His interpretation however left something to be desired. I felt that the majority of the performance was performed from forte to fortississimo, which was unnecessary given the timid accompaniment of the orchestra. The woodwinds were especially at fault here, and the principal bassoon and clarinet the greatest at fault. Overall though, everyone involved knew their stuff and were committed throughout, which was surprising and pleasing to me.

After an intermission that had the pianist signing autographs on his most recent album, the DSO was back on stage to play Brahms. As the conductor himself explained in his prefatory comments, this symphony is very much a personal statement and so is at heart, a passion-filled emotional piece that would require sensitivity on the part of the orchestra. Needless to say, that was sorely lacking in many instances of the performance. So much of the melodic work is carried out by the strings that a solid section is a requirement to pull the symphony off. Although there is a strong foundation there, the strings need a lot of work to sound more uniform and full. There were too many instances when individual violinists could be heard, which makes the sound flimsy, a no-no for a piece by Johannes Brahms. I felt that with more practice and direct work on their sound production, the orchestra will eventually be able to pull off Brahm's Fourth, along with any other symphony that can accommodate the limitations of stage space. The audience was respectful and appreciative of the performance, and the DSO is well-loved as evidenced by the almost 95% butt-in-seat percentage of the concert. Of course, in a small town, I am sure the Symphony is a major social event and no one would deign be absent. Fortunately for me, two were absent, and my friend and I were glad to occupy their seats for them.

Small towns are very different creatures than places like Chicago or Seattle. It was a fun and interesting change of pace to hear Brahms' Fourth in Dubuque, a day before my co-blogger heard it at Benaroya Hall in Seattle. I wonder which performance would win in a match-up? More on music and competition later.

The forces of history

2007-11-12T11:16:00.001-08:00

The Boston Globe had a very nice piece this morning on the Hungarian composer Gyorgy Kurtag. Kurtag's Jatekok was on the program this weekend in a concert of works for four hands.

Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms

2007-11-11T18:19:00.001-08:00

The Seattle Symphony finished its four day Brahms festival with a performance of Brahms' second piano concerto and his fourth symphony. Previously, the orchestra played the first piano concerto and the second symphony. Vladimir Feltsman helped out in the soloist department.

Feltsman probably wasn’t the ideal soloist. The Brahms concertos are taxing and demand the full attention of the soloist. Feltsman played well enough, and quixotically pushed his way through both concertos.

His playing was powerful if not periodically sloppy, but with no finesse. And even in those moments when the piano goes toe to toe with the orchestra, sometimes he was overwhelmed by the orchestra. This was especially the case on Friday in the performance of the first concerto.

There is no question the Brahms concertos require a firm keyboard presence. The concertos have the same scope as symphonies. The first concerto was initially conceived as a symphony before Brahms turned into a concerto. Similarly the second concerto unfolds over four movements, casting off a sustained solo cadenza in the first movement, inserting a scherzo movement, and adding more dramatic heft for the piano.

As good as Feltsman was at navigating the bold terrain of each concerto, he wasn’t able to capture the lyrical, spiritual and tender aspects of each concerto. That's fine. Feltsman hasn't built his career on sentiment and tenderness.

While I may have wished a more balanced soloist was at the keyboard, I can’t say I didn’t enjoy myself. What’s not to like? We don’t say Bach, Beethoven and Brahms for nothing.

There was plenty to cheer.

For example, Josh Roman’s cello work in the slow movement of the second concerto was sublime. I wonder if Roman has ever considered drafting one of his SSO violin colleagues to perform Brahms' double concerto. Given Roman’s past engagement with the Northwest Sinfonietta, I am sure the band would happily oblige. Ben Hausmann was equally excellent. Also, the orchestra as a whole

was an astute counterpart to Feltsman.

The symphonies were a different story all together. The second symphony was about as good as it gets. The playing was lucid and warm. The orchestra's playing matched the pastoral intentions of Brahms.

The fourth was a mixed bag. It took a few moments for the second violins to get into the game, but when they did there was plenty of drama. The third movement was particularly fine and the fourth movement was solid. The usually reliable trumpets were less than perfect this afternoon. Even with a few problems the symphony never dragged and Schwarz maintained the tension throughout the work.

The crowds for Friday and earlier today were unusual. On Friday there was ample seating throughout the hall. By contrast, today’s matinee was bursting at the seams. I also can’t recall an audience as ill as today’s. At times I it was easy to think Brahms scored his pieces for antiphonal coughing and wheezing. Friday’s audience was healthier but less patient. Maybe the largesse of the second symphony was too much for them. People were leaving during the third movement.

All in all, a commendable and enjoyable four days for the symphony and concertgoers.

Technorati Tags: classical, music, Seattle Symphony, Brahms, Vladimir Feltsman

Backstage

2007-11-10T18:01:00.001-08:00

Last night's SSO concert may have concluded part I of the mini-Brahms festival, but it was the latest issue of Backstage which caught my attention and especially the article by Michael Crusoe (principal timpanist). Backstage is the periodic publication of the players organization. Periodically, enthusiastic members of the orchestra hand out copies of the publication at SSO concerts.

I won't recount the whole article right here, but I will draw your attention to a few select quotes from the eminent Crusoe. His article is especially interest given some of the conversations that have swirled around the Northwest about the health of its orchestras.

Crusoe muses:

"Every major city with a professional sports franchise has a local radio show featuring sports talk. When a team has a losing season with some regularity, or is otherwise inconsistent in its performance, the blame for the team's quality ultimately rests with the owners. Managers and players may receive their share of criticism, but the sports community (fans) usually end up questioning the owners' commitment to putting together a winning team, along with their knowledge and willingness to do so."

Hmmm.

"In other words, if a team is to perform better and/or play up to its potential, the motivation must first come from the top. This fact is just as true when it comes to symphony orchestras...

"It doesn't start with the music director or the musicians. If music directors are left to their own devices to run the organization, you will have a dictatorship motivated by personal agendas that can short-circuit an orchestra's growth and its potential to achieve the highest level of performance. If musicians were left to their own devices to run things, you could have anarchy and chaos that would yield the same results."

Crusoe comments on board leadership:

"Musical standards are progressive and ever evolving. They don't rest with any one individual's ideas or perceptions of how things should be. This fact illustrates not only the importance of an orchestra's board being well informed in its leadership roles, but also the reason its crucial to have open and objective communication throughout all levels of organizations such as ours."

Finally:

"We are here to serve your musical needs. Like the example of the sports fans, your voices should be heard as well. We we need to know that you want a great orchestra. If you knew the Chicago Symphony or the Berlin Philharmonic were coming to Benaroya Hall next week, would you be excited and enthused at the prospect?...But the question to also consider is whether such anticipation and excitement exist toward your own Seattle Symphony. "

Given the controversy that has swirled around the Seattle Symphony its easy for me to read each word as polite dissent. But then again, maybe I am reading too much into his article. In any case, the article presents some useful questions for every American orchestra not in Chicago, New York, Boston, Cleveland or Philadelphia.

P.S. I will give a full accounting of Vladimir Feltsman and SSO's Brahms excursion after I hear part II tomorrow.

"Music always happens only once"

2007-11-09T08:56:00.001-08:00

While you could hear two all Brahms concerts at Benaroya Hall this weekend, more adventurous ears might prefer hearing Los Angeles’ Motoko Honda and Seattle’s Tiffany Lin perform a concert of works for four hands and a new piece for toy piano and melodica arranged for boom box. The concert is happening this Saturday, 8:00 p.m. at the Good Shepard Center/Chapel Performance Space.

The program mixes the old with the new. Debussy’s magical impressionistic writing is juxtaposed next to George Crumb’s sometimes percussive Celestial Mechanics. According to Crumb’s website:

“I had long been tempted to try my hand at the four-hand medium, perhaps because I myself have been a passionate four-hand player over the years. The best of the original four-hand music -- which includes, of course, those many superb works by Mozart, Schubert, and Brahms -- occupies a very special niche in the literature of music.”

Schubert, Brahms and Mozart may have served as Crumb’s foundation, but the composer builds on what has come before with an atmospheric work inspired by four stars with a title borrowed from a French mathematician.

Also on the program is Gyorgy Kurtag’s Jatekok “Games.” Jatekok is a series of on going miniatures, some for piano duo. In the work, Kurtag pays homage to his friends and composers who have preceded him, J.S. Bach among them. The work may be best compared to Bartok’s on set of miniatures Mikrokosmos. The collection of miniatures travels through diverse territory. Some are accessible and lyrical others are rough.

Motoko Honda, one of the two pianists performing on Saturday evening, was born in Japan and began playing the piano at the age of four. When she was eleven, Honda was discovered by Tokiwa Ishibashi and became one of Ms. Ishibashi’s pupils.

Honda went on to receive degrees from Bethany College and the California Institute of Arts. Honda is the founding member of the Los Angeles Piano Unit and is active in the Sound Escape Project.

On her first trip to Seattle, Honda described her thoughts on Saturday’s program and what concertgoers can expect when they hear the duo play.

Zach Carstensen: What do you think about Seattle’s new and experimental music scene?

Motoko Honda: To be honest, I don’t know much since this is my first visit. But I have known great musicians in the area, and I have always wanted to work together with them. So I am very happy and excited that it is finally happening, thanks to my friend Tiffany Lin. I am also very thankful to Chapel Performance Space to give us the opportunity. I know that is always a hard work to keep a space that supports new, experimental, and creative music scene. I am hoping to visit Seattle more often to collaborate with musicians, and to invite them to perform with me here in LA.

ZC: At your concert this Saturday you are performing works for four hands with Tiffany Lin, how did you and Tiffany meet?

MH: I met Tiffany when I went to CalArts-California Institute of the Arts for my MFA. Tiffany was doing BFA in the same Piano and Multi Keyboard Performance Program. I think we both were always the curious and mischievous ones, so we connected on that level.

ZC: Other than Saturday’s concert, what other projects are the two of you working on?

MH: We are planning to perform same programs in different cities in United States, also are going to start working on more contemporary work and commission new pieces with piano in a non-standard approach; prepared, electronics, extended techniques and more. I also am planning to compose music for both of us.

ZC: Speaking of Saturday’s concert, what’s on the program?

MH: "Getting Together with Sticky Labels" is the title of the concert because we have to use lots of them. Except Hungarian Folk Song, everything else is works for 4 hands on 1 piano.

Six Épigraphes Antiques: Claude Debussy
Játékok (Games) for four hands: György Kurtág
Hungarian Folk Song for Toy Piano and Melodica: Arranged by Ferenc Farkas and Tiffany Lin
Celestial Mechanics, from Makrokosmos Cycle: George Crumb

ZC: One of the pieces is a work for toy piano and boombox, can you say a little something about the piece?

MH: We planned to have something commissioned, but it didn’t work out this time. So we are doing a Hungarian Folk Song, which was originally arranged by Ferenc Farkas for toy piano and melodica. Tiffany arranged it once to toy piano, melodica and boom box, now we’re going to play adaptation of that. Complicated, but fun.

ZC: As a performer, why are you attracted to composers like George Crumb and Gyorgy Kurtag?

MH: When I grew up, I wasn't supposed to touch the inside of the piano, nor was I supposed to play with my palms and elbows. It was a long journey for me to accept the music I play now. But I still remember the thrill and the fear of reaching into the piano, and excitement to discover that it was always what I was meant to do. Composers like Crumb and Kurtag really turn this playful approach to the piano into an art. Their compositions and indications are precise for the specific effect, and it is exciting to face such demanding, yet playful music, which still keep all of us wondering.

ZC: Where do you think contemporary and experimental music fits in today’s classical music world?

MH: The more I study and perform contemporary and experimental music, the more I don’t see the difference with classical music. It is all new yet all old and done. I hope it fits right in the middle! Once I was asked to give a very contemporary solo performance at wedding when everybody would expect to hear a beautiful classical works. People actually had to listen to me for more than thirty minutes! But people stopped talking, started to listen to dots and spots of notes, silences, it was a beautiful experience. Most of people had never heard such music and they told me, but somehow it was a perfect music for that day. I love creating a concert that challenges audiences to go beyond these boundaries.

ZC: What would you tell someone who has never heard a piece by George Crumb or, for that matter, never heard music composed for toy piano, to expect if they came to your concert?

MH: Be open-minded. Forget all what you think or taught how music should sounds like. “We” are the music after all. Let your body and heart sink into the sounds, be curious, be anxious, and be imaginative. Relax. Music always happens only once. Whatever you feel is true; so let yourself discover the world of music.

Technorati Tags: Classical, Piano, Crumb, Kurtag, Debussy, Motoko Honda, Tiffany Lin

If no one knows the star soloist, is the soloist still a star?

2007-11-08T19:04:00.001-08:00

The debate is still raging in Portland over how the orchestra can cure its myriad problems. The guy from Cross Cut has weighed in again and the Oregonian's arts critic has his own thoughts.

A few ideas have been tossed around, one of them being attract marquee soloists. Sadly, too few solo artists have broad enough crossover appeal to effectively draw in people who wouldn’t otherwise be inclined to attend an orchestral concert.

Blogs and arts writers have named a number of artists who would be welcome additions to any concert program. However, of the names I have seen none of them strike me as having extensive crossover appeal and by extension, the ability to draw in the much coveted new listener.

Instead, someone like Gil Shaham (whom I incidentally think is wonderful) will resonate with people already in the know. People who have one of his recordings or have heard him in concert previously. These people, I would assume, are already the folks predisposed to attending a concert to begin with.

My brother, who doesn't know an oboe from a saxophone, but who has liked every classical album I have ever played for him, wouldn't shell out $20+ to hear Gil Shaham perform anything, no matter the piece Shaham is playing.

Zen thought: If no one knows the star soloist, is the soloist still a star?

Thankfully, Daily Observations has pointed out an article by Jim Palermo which confirms my thinking.

Technorati Tags: Classical, Music, Commentary

Mystical experiences

2007-11-08T09:16:00.001-08:00

There is something strangely satisfying about Alexander Scriabin’s music. His ideas and language are very much forward looking. He eschews the conservative paradigm contemporaries like Rachmaninoff clung to. Nonetheless, Scriabin insisted on cramming his ideas into age old forms.

Of course, the “colorful” aspects of Scriabin’s life help fill out the personal context in which his music was formed. What’s not to love? Scriabin believed he could transmute sound waves into light waves and light waves back into sound waves. Scriabin’s friends drank cocktails of vodka, gunpowder, and congealed blood. Other friends skipped the gunpowder and vodka and just drank the blood but chased it with a chunk of human flesh. There was a logical reason for all of this grotesque behavior. Scriabin’s friends were trying to induce “mystical experiences.” If I had friends like Scriabin’s my life would be exponentially more interesting.

Last night, Yevgeny Sudbin was in town. On the program were two Scriabin sonatas. The second sonata and the devilish Black Mass sonata. Four of Scriabin’s youthful Mazurka’s also were on the program. For the first half, Sudbin dazzled the audience with a mix of Haydn, Medtner, and Chopin.

The first half of Wednesday’s recital was generally less interesting than the all Scriabin second half. As expected, Sudbin’s playing was crystalline. He played each piece with passion, enunciated each note, and drew out unexpected colors. The problem I had was Haydn’s Sonata No.30 and C Major Sonata filled up too much space on the program. I whispered my displeasure to my concert companion: “a little Haydn goes a long way.” Not even a committed performance of Medtner’s Remeniscenza Sonata could shake the funk. I agree with Vladamir Horowitz when he once asked “Why nobody plays Medtner?”

Fortunately, after a brief intermission, I was ready for Sudbin’s stab at Scriabin. To begin the half, Sudbin picked four of Scriabin’s mazurkas. Their innocence doesn’t begin to predict the sorcery that comes in the composer’s later works.

Two sonatas were chosen to close the recital. First Sudbin played the second sonata. The second is an attempt at impressionism. In Sudbin’s own notes he indicates it was inspired by three seas: the Baltic, Black and Mediterranean. Sudbin’s approach was lyrical and sensitive. The etude like second movement was no match for Sudbin's virtuosity. Listening to the performance its hard to believe the composer of the Mazurkas and the second sonata is the same person who was obsessed with the macabre and himself.

The Black Mass sonata is much different.

The music is fiendish and haunting. The language is dissonant. The complexity of the piece builds and builds, until it ends with a vigorous and startling conclusion. Through out, there are hints of birds twittering, wailing, and distorted marches. Sudbin’s range, touch and consideration of the rhythm prevented the piece for getting bogged down.

The Haydn heavy first half may have put me in a funk but the Scriabin second brought me close to ecstasy. Sadly there were a lot of empty seats in Meaney Theater. Next time Sudbin comes to town, maybe he'll show us how Scriabin turned sound into light.

Technorati Tags: Classical, Music, Scriabin, Medtner, Chopin, Yevgeny Sudbin

"Fingers of steel and a heart of gold"

2007-11-06T20:17:00.000-08:00

By all accounts, pianist Yevgeny Sudbin cuts an unassuming figure. He is definitely not in the mold of the dominating Russian pianists (and personalities) who have come before him. Though he is cautious of praise, Sudbin has been hailed by critics as an artist who has the potential to be one of the greatest pianists of the 21^st century. Other critics have described the young pianist as having “fingers of steel and a heart of gold.”

Sudbin’s considerable talents may have been lost to the classical music world and the public had his parents not indulged their son’s desire to play the piano. In a 2005 interview with the Daily Telegraph he recalled how he ultimately ended up playing piano.

"Both of my parents are pianists and I grew up hearing them practicing. I really wanted to play. When I was about four or five I was sitting improvising and my mother noticed that I had perfect pitch. She took me to a music teacher and I made rapid progress. I auditioned for the specialist music school in St. Petersburg and was accepted, and from there things went quickly.”

Sudbin participated in his first international competition by the time he was ten, but quickly found himself adapting to new surroundings after his parents fled the Soviet Union for Berlin in 1990.

Fortunately, not even the confines of a refugee shelter could keep the Sudbin from playing the piano. Word spread about the young prodigy and through the generosity of strangers, a piano, albeit a piano in poor condition, appeared for the young artist to use.

Yevgeny Sudbin’s first album, a collection of Scarlatti keyboard sonatas gives indication as to his view of the piano repertoire and why critics have been so want to shower him with praise. “With Scarlatti you could end up just playing the notes” he recounted in an interview with Piano. “I started off being very experimental, but my teacher thought it was over the top.”

In the eyes of critics, Sudbin’s willingness to take chances with the music, in a way challenging the music itself, has imbued his performances with a freshness and spontaneity that some might say is lacking among today’s crop of pianists.

The freshness in his playing, especially as captured on his disk of Tchaikovsky”s and Medtner’s first piano concerto and his recording of the Rachmaninoff second sonata (the two albums I own), are immediately likable. His playing has a distinct improvised feel. Some may prefer a more sterile approach, but I prefer being surprised and even astonished. While other recordings are only good for a listen or two, both albums are regularly in rotation on my iPod.

The Rachmaninoff is nothing short of dynamic. For the recording, Sudbin uses Vladamir Horowitz’s recording of the second sonata. Listening to this fine album and hearing his imaginative account, I get the feeling he is doing more than just playing the notes of the piece but is actively reassessing and even rediscovering the music on the fly.

Sudbin doesn’t stop with the music, the pianist has developed a knack for compiling his own booklet notes. This work he says “brings me closer to the music and I have a chance to study his music away from the keyboard.”
Tomorrow evening, Seattle will get to hear why much of the classical music world has taken such a liking to Yevgeny Sudbin.

A response from Elaine Calder

2007-11-05T20:14:00.000-08:00

Elaine Calder, the Oregon Symphony’s Executive Director, has weighed in with a pointed response to the article that ran on Crosscut last week. Calder’s response is right on. I tried my best to come to the defense of the Oregon Symphony, but Calder does it better. One of the band’s violists offered his own defense of the orchestra. You can read his thoughts over at Daily Observations.

My favorite paragraph of Elaine’s response is the following:

"Carlos Kalmar had the unenviable challenge of succeeding a much-loved, long-serving music director, and has wisely concentrated on forming his own relationships with the orchestra, our audiences, our donors and the broader community. He’s a younger man, with a busy international career, and his work with other orchestras has brought us a new and diverse roster of conductors and guest artists like Valentina Lisitsa, who opened our season in that "respectable - if safe - opening-season concert". I suppose there’s nothing safer than Rachmaninoff’s second piano concerto, and Dvorak’s Symphonic Variations and Strauss’s Also sprach Zarathustra are certainly "respectable" - but we sold a quarter million dollars worth of tickets to large audiences who roared their approval. We’re trying to close a $2 million structural deficit, and we think the solution lies in having as many people happily paying for our performances as possible. We don’t blame Carlos for the financial problems, and he’s working with us to design programs that will attract bigger audiences and help fix the mess."

Technorati Tags: classical, commentary

What a Conductor can Do

2007-11-04T21:03:00.001-08:00

Today I had the great pleasure of attending a concert of the Civic Orchestra of Chicago, the training orchestra for the CSO. Having heard them previously, and aware of what they could do, I was looking forward to a good concert. What I hadn't taken into account though was that the ensemble was going to be directed by Maestro Bernard Haitink, the 2007 Musician of the Year. What I enjoyed today was a gripping and compelling pair of performances that could only have been drawn out by a master. It was all in the conducting, and Haitink made it look easy.

The concert was made that much more special because I had company in the form of my nephew, mother (both attendees of the previous concert), along with my father, and my sister-in-law. It was fun to expose more and more people to the rarified world of classical music. By doing so, maybe it won't be so rarified anymore. I wouldn't recommend sitting through the hour-long Symphony No.10 of Shostakovich as the introduction to the world of classical music, but they were all champs. It was my first time hearing that piece as well, so there was a lot of anticipation and excitement on my part. I wasn't disappointed.

First, there was the Beethoven Leonore Overture No.3. There were some missteps on the part of the orchestra: some woodwinds came in slightly after the beat, the strings couldn't handle all the buzzing to and fro in various moments of the piece, and the brass were too loud at times. Added up, these foibles lasted about nine seconds out of the fourteen minutes it took to perform the overture. What I was far more impressed with was the precision of the playing, especially from the strings. The 60-plus string section acted as one instrument that Haitink played with complete mastery. He would give the smallest gesture to the strings to make a diminuendo, and it would be done instantly. If we needed to hear the woodwinds perform their delicate solos, Haitink would slowly move his left hand downward, palm down, to let the strings know they had to be quieter. When the brass came in and the conductor thought they were playing too loudly, he let them know by shooting them a look of such strong disapproval. They never sounded too loud again for the rest of the concert. The quietude that opened the piece was sustained and palpable. Haitink kept all the forces in strict check, and the audience was spellbound by the misery of the prison cell, and Florestan's reminiscences of better days. It was a superb performance elicited by a superb conductor.

The Shostakovich followed without intermission. In this piece, I had to take in the performance, as well as the composition for the first time. I had read up on the piece and knew what I was in for. Shostakovich is always genuinely and unapologetically true to himself. That means that the work will have utter desolation, insane sarcasm, wit, and an offbeat quality that is his trademark. His other trademark was prominent as well - his musical initials abound in the third and fourth movements. It is a stark and fascinating work. It provides the listener with the experience of living under intellectual and personal tyranny. The pathos and instability are constant, as well as a sense of utter isolation. I found all the solo wind writing over a pedal point of strings, almost always in their low registers, to be moving and effective. At one point, there is a short dialogue between bassoon and contrabassoon that I thought ennobled both instruments considerably. The finale is completely surprising and very twisted given what came before. Its unabashed optimism is that of an insane person who doesn't know better, but optimism shines through regardless. The symphony can truly be described as an "optimistic tragedy."

The Civic Orchestra's performance would not have been possible without the maestro's clear vision for this piece. Even the half-hour long first movement flowed from idea to idea seamlessly. The players were committed and the result was a reassured performance, as if they had played that symphony countless times. More than anything else, this concert proved that a conductor is an integral part of the orchestra. Without someone to give vision and direction, there is no point. I am glad that as we look for a person to do that for our great symphony, we have Bernard Haitink to keep the orchestra in line. I am also glad that he took the time to train the training orchestra, and that I got to see what he does, for the first time no less, for free. Amazing.

Events this week

2007-11-04T15:31:00.001-08:00

Finisterra Trio: Seattle's award winning piano trio will be performing at Highline Community College in South King County on Tuesday. You might recall from earlier posts that this trio is making headway in the musical world, garnering praise from folks like Ned Rorem (and myself), and playing and recording the interesting trios of American composer Daron Hagen. Go if you can.

Yevgeny Sudbin: Opens the University of Washington's President's Piano Series this Wednesday at Meaney Hall. I'll be at this one. Sudbin has been wowing audiences with his interpretations of Scarlatti and Scriabin. His recent recording on BIS of Tchaikovsky's first piano concerto is well worth the $20. Another disk worth investigating is his recording of the Rachmaninoff second sonata. Its a captivating recording of one of the more challenging sonatas out there.

Onyx Chamber Players: Take their chamber music prowess to St, Mark's Episcopal Cathedral with a performance of Mozart's E Flat Piano Quartet.

Seattle Opera Young Artists: Preview Bernstein's Trouble in Tahiti this Thursday at City Hall. Best part about this one is the price tag - free!

Cards, Jazz, Dead Lovers, and Spain

2007-11-04T09:24:00.003-08:00

Stephane Deneve was in town over the weekend, conducting a series of "French" concerts with the Seattle Symphony. His side kick for the endeavor was pianist Frank Braley. Deneve has been getting considerable praise recently. His current swing through the United States and Canada has been well received, his Naxos debut of Roussel's orchestral music has been lauded by David Hurwitz and Classicstoday.com, and even his hometown critics agree the Royal Scottish National Orchestra is sounding better and they generally approve of his work, even on toughies like Mahler's enormous third symphony. Deneve's forte is in French music (who can blame him?) but Deneve's Royal Scottish National Orchestra is playing more than Debussy, Ravel, and Faure. Rota, Tchaikovsky, Mahler (as was mentioned before), and even Corigliano show up this season.

Deneve brought a program of music by Ravel, Debussy, Faure, and Stravinsky. All of them French, with the exception of the Franco-Ameri-Russian Stravinsky. Before going to Benaroya Hall, I conducted an informal survey of opinions of the previous nights' Deneve lead concerts. The complaint, if people had one, was that the music on the program sounded too much alike. Nothing, in my mind, could be further from the truth. Faure's music for doomed lovers doesn't sound anything like, Ravel's live and let live, jazz influenced G major piano concerto. I suppose the names on the page conspired to make concertgoers think what they were hearing was just more of the same.

In any case, the Seattle Symphony sounded good, really good. They clearly liked their leader as well - giving Deneve the orchestra equivalent of a big, sloppy, French kiss at the end of the performance. I can't blame the orchestra for their exuberant embrace of the young Frenchman. His guidance was direct, crisp and unambiguous. His charisma obvious. Under Schwarz's tenure, the Seattle Symphony has become an orchestra that can (almost) perform any way you want them to so long as you let them know what you want.

Perhaps the most unusual comment I overheard centered on Deneve's need to move his big, floppy, curly hair out of his eyes so that he can read the score and see the orchestra in front of him. This concertgoer believed Deneve's need to swipe his hair from his eyes was evidence of musical genius and an act laced with subtle, if not secret instructions to the orchestra. I think Ben Haussmann (oboe) and Scott Goff (flute) - both who performed brilliantly through out - must have observed their cues and performed well because of Deneve's frequent repositioning of his hair. Strange.

Braley was equally well received. Braley's fleet playing stands in stark contrast to Cecil Licad's direct and forceful performance earlier this season. Ravel's concerto is remarkable for its unpretentious freshness. Braley luxuriated in the nine minute or so adagio.

The real treat for me was Stravinsky's neo-classical ballet Jeu de cartes (Game of Cards). While cities like Cincinnati honor Stravinsky's birth with mini-festivals, Stravinsky doesn't get heard much in the Pacific Northwest. This particular ballet was new to me. It is similar in style and sound to Stravinsky's other neo-classical ballets and just as enjoyable.

I hope the Seattle Symphony brass take note of this week's performances and bring both Deneve and Braley back to Seattle.

More on the Oregon Symphony

2007-11-03T07:32:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, I posted a rant about an article lamenting the decline of the Oregon Symphony. The original article makes a number of claims that too easily try to explain the decline of an otherwise fine regional orchestra. The blog of one of the orchestra's violists also has worthwhile thoughts on the direction of the band.

In response to a comment, pianist Jeffrey Biegel offered his own thoughts on the subject of contemporary/new music and the playing of the Oregon Symphony. The comment was helpful in explaining how, a conservative Midwest orchestra like the South Dakota Symphony got around to programming new music. Jeffrey has his own thoughts on what makes a healthy orchestra. I certainly appreciate his long view of new music. His original comment follows below.

I notice the inclusion above of the South Dakota Symphony Orchestra programming Lowell Liebermann’s Third Concerto, written for me. Before Delta David Gier arrived as Music Director of the South Dakota Symphony, the SDSO did not program as much new music as they do presently. David introduced new music during his first season by including a work by a Pulitzer Prize composer for each concert of the season. This allowed him to bring the South Dakota Symphony into the Liebermann project, and introduced new music to the audiences in a slow progression. We are now exploring having the South Dakota Symphony in the 2010-11 William Bolcom ’Choral Fantasy’ project for piano, orchestra and chorus. The Oregon Symphony is one that Mr. Bolcom suggested to me with my project team, and they are indeed aware of the project. They have included new music in concert, and I have heard fine things about their progress under the baton of Maestro Kalmar. I also believe that it is not just the Music Director’s presence that makes or breaks an orchestra, but the community support, and the internal groups of people that stir activity and enthusiasm in the organization. Volunteers, Women’s Leagues, Visiting Guest Artists throughout the community, etc, are what keep the spirit of the organization in motion. Although I have not yet been a guest artist of the Oregon Symphony, (though hope to be sometime soon), they have a national presence and high reputation and it is the hope of many that they will progress as time moves forward. Of course, one cannot deny that we live in the 21st century, and what was new music 20-30 years ago will inevitably be accepted in the standard repertoire during the course of this century--providing it is accessible and audience-friendly music.

Classical in Seattle

Moving

Focus: American guest conductors

Winter nights

Four concertmasters

The Way

New links

The commercial power of blogs

Flying Soloist

"The pity of war"

Upcoming

In the shadow of a giant

Magical Evocations

Diversion

"Love and tragedy" no more

Release Date: February 12th

More on Roman's departure

Moving on

"I sit like Glen Gould"

Just a reminder

Feldman: museum soundtrack

Get the Picture?

Interrogation: Alex Ross

Morton Feldman and the Seattle Art Museum

Dismissed

The Rest is Noise

The Three B's

Two of a Kind

Belcea Quartet comes to town

More Seattle Symphony

Barack Obama and Alex Ross

For the Nancarrow nut...

New additions

Too Visual for My Ears

Slow Period

Quartet: part II

Quartet

Improving fortunes for the Seattle Symphony

Seattle Symphony sale

Upcoming events

Replacing Keith Lockhart

Michael Jinsoo Lim

Xmas bonus put to work

Classical music: alive and well

Slow

Flawless!

The Revolution Starts Here

Near-Opera

Merry Christmas

Happy birthday Elliott Carter

Borchert and the case for traditional classical venues

Sacred music can dance

A logical project in the world of Glass

More on the NY Times article

Chicago's Search Continues...

Upcoming events

Seattle Symphony in NY Times

Walla Walla update

Mahler: Symphony 4

Baroque Band on the Move!

"Light in the summer, dark in the winter"

Break a leg

Music for the holidays

Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928 - 2007)

A plug for Walla Walla

Ravel, Beethoven and Handel

Audiophiles, Cover Your Eyes!

Hi Fi

New things

Upcoming holiday cheer

Update

Q & A: Jonah Sirota

Chiara Quartet takes listeners on a global adventure

Wagnerian, Fluorescent Strauss

The Best or the Worst?

Upcoming events

Make Way for the Rest

Haitink and Mahler's 3rd

Podium prospects

The triumph of the human spirit: Saint Saens, Sibelius, Prokofiev, but not Beethoven