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Is there any possible reason why an opera with this power and deeply moral message should be protested?Protests raged the other night when the opera The Death of Klinghoffer by John Adams was performed at the Metropolitan Opera. It is good to protest operas that incite hatred, ask us to think about evil people, contain offensive stereotypes, or marginalize anyone.But if you want to do away with Klinghoffer, moral consistency requires that you boycott the following operas too, or possibly burn their scores . . . You must never again attend performances of Mozart's Don Giovanni, which…
Classical Music
Most Topular Stories
Let's All Boycott The Death of KlinghofferClassical Commentary: Barry Lenson's Classical Music Blog22 Oct 2014 | 6:06 am
The Dumbest Thing I Ever Heard about Opera, Part OneClassical Commentary: Barry Lenson's Classical Music Blog15 Sep 2014 | 2:39 pmDolora Zajic – Are you going to tell me that anybody sang this aria better than this in years gone by?In case you missed it, the title of today's post is a joke. But it is a joke with a point, because just when you think you have heard the dumbest thing ever said about opera, somebody seems to come along to top it.But of all the dumb things ever said about opera, this is surely one of the dumbest . . . "All the great voices . . . where have they gone?"I have heard this idiotic opinion many times over the years. I think the first time was about 40 years ago (gulp, I must be old) when I…
Mahler's First Symphony: Victory and Paradise + MOREStars & Catz » Classical Music & Opera Buzz16 Oct 2014 | 5:02 pmToday's News & Buzz Classical Music News – Mats Rondin – www.mvdaily.com Swedish cellist and conductor Mats Rondin died in October 2014, aged fifty-four Continue Reading On www.mvdaily.com » Troubadour Blue by Nils Bultmann on Innova – www.icareifyoulisten.com Often the viola is not thought of as a solo instrument. It is the connecting […]
Matthew Rose @ Vocal Arts D.C.Ionarts21 Oct 2014 | 9:51 amSchubert, Winterreise, M. Rose, G. Matthewman (Stone Records, 2013) Matthew Rose's voice continues to grow, after first striking me as a little gruff and unrounded. The British bass, whose Leporello was one of the best parts of a Don Giovanni at Santa Fe in 2009, opened the Vocal Arts D.C. season on Sunday afternoon, with a lightly attended recital in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. The
AND THEY'RE HERE...JDCMB22 Oct 2014 | 2:26 amPLEASE WELCOME TO JDCMB OUR NEW ASSISTANTS... RICKI AND COSIRicki and Cosi are Somali cats. A bit like longhaired Abyssinians. I met some Somali cats about 16 years ago and thought they were the most wonderful animals in all the world. Have harboured a secret longing for a Somali of my own ever since.They are pedigrees, and consequently highish maintenance. (They even have official Pedigree names: they are "Somantikks Siegfried and Isolde"...don't ask...) When Solti "crossed the rainbow bridge" a few months ago, life without him was so dismal that we knew we'd need someone very, very…
Opera About 1985 Achille Lauro Hijacking Draws Protests At Met21 Oct 2014 | 5:41 amFormer Mayor Rudolph Giuliani was among those who denounced The Death of Klinghoffer by John Adams, calling it anti-Semitic and anti-Israel.» E-Mail This
After 200 Years, A Schubert Song Still Resonates19 Oct 2014 | 1:03 amOn Oct. 19, 1814, an Austrian teenager named Franz Schubert wrote "Gretchen at the Spinning Wheel," a boldly innovative song that remains an inspiration for singers and songwriters.» E-Mail This
Postlude To A Kiss: Scriabin's Raging 'Poem Of Ecstasy'18 Oct 2014 | 1:03 amMystical Russian composer Alexander Scriabin saw music, heard colors and wrote music that goes from ecstasy to frenzy. Baltimore Symphony conductor Marin Alsop explores Scriabin's best-known piece.» E-Mail This
Twenty Years Later, 'Klinghoffer' Still Draws Protests17 Oct 2014 | 12:54 pmSome critics charge that John Adams' opera is anti-Israel, even anti-Semitic. But the opera's supporters dispute that. With its Met debut on Monday, there are calls to burn the set to the ground.» E-Mail This
The Case Of The Stolen Stradivarius12 Oct 2014 | 1:54 pmMilwaukee Orchestra concertmaster Frank Almond was carrying his rare Stradivarius violin out to the parking lot after a show when he was suddenly attacked. The violin, worth millions, was stolen.» E-Mail This
NYT > Music
ArtsBeat: CMJ 2014: The Out-of-Town Advantage for Happyness, the Crookes and Money22 Oct 2014 | 4:18 pmThree English bands offer proof that guitar-driven rock is not extinct.
Music Review: Rae Sremmurd and Makonnen at CMJ Music Marathon22 Oct 2014 | 2:40 pmAt the CMJ Music Marathon, the rappers Rae Sremmurd, Makonnen and Father show that hits can come from unlikely places.
In Performance: Frederic Chiu22 Oct 2014 | 2:03 pmThe pianist Frederic Chiu plays his transcription of the Troika from Prokofiev's "Lieutenant Kije" Suite.
Music Review: Lang Lang Shares the Spotlight With the Philharmonic22 Oct 2014 | 1:53 pmLang Lang played two Mozart piano concertos with Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic.
Music Review: Luca Pisaroni in Concert at Carnegie Hall22 Oct 2014 | 12:53 pmThe bass-baritone Luca Pisaroni, known for Mozart operas, offered a concert of German lieder at Zankel Hall.
Slipped Disc
Ex-LSO trumpet has died, aged 9222 Oct 2014 | 1:59 pmBram Wiggins was assistant principal trumpet in the London Symphony Orchestra for 11 years before migrating to Canada. He returned to play in other London orchestras and teach at the Royal Academy. He is internationally known as an author of instrument tuition books and a composer of brass pieces.
Klinghoffer director: We never expected Gaza22 Oct 2014 | 1:49 pmThe English director Tom Morris, who staged The Death of Klinghoffer at English National Opera and the Met, has given an interview today to The Hollywood Reporter about the emotions aroused by the work. He says: Obviously we had no idea when we started planning this production that there was going to be a bitter conflict this year in Gaza. That fact that there was, [reminds us] of the underlying problems that inform and motivate the crime in The Death of Klinghoffer. He adds: One thing that's happening already is that people are coming to the show because they're heard it's…
New music crosses New York lines in 11 subway wi-fi link-up22 Oct 2014 | 9:02 amLjova Zhurbin introduces …. a short experimental video project that we've just uploaded — young filmmaker Chris Shimojima commissioned me to write a composition for 11 NYC subway buskers, who would be connected via the newly-established wifi network to play a song together. The instrumentation was too good to pass up — musical saw, theremin, accordion, guitar, beatbox, as well as the more common instruments like trumpet, viola, cello and bass, and percussionists from Jamaica and Trinidad. Chance of a lifetime — and, I was conscripted to conduct. Did it work out?
US conductor asks mother with sleeping child to leave his concert22 Oct 2014 | 8:48 amLarry Johnson on South Florida Classical Review reports that 'Michael Tilson Thomas told a woman sitting near the stage with a child in her lap that she was distracting him and asked her to leave…. The child was apparently sleeping noiselessly on the woman's lap.' Full report here. UPDATE: We have received this clarification from a player in the New World Symphony, who asked for anonymity: MTT was distracted by the woman and child during the second movement (not sure on details – I know that it was more than the mother caressing her sleeping daughter's hair)…
New video: How to sell a festival (if you're French)22 Oct 2014 | 8:42 amThis is Renaud Capucon's idiosyncratic new promo for his Easter Festival at Aix. Very stylish, but what exactly is he selling? Teaser Festival de Pâques by Festival_de_Paques
Click. Click. Done. Sign Up For The ArtsHacker Launch22 Oct 2014 | 12:00 amArtsHacker is marching steadily toward an early December launch and you can now sign up for the official launch notice (and maybe just a few special sneak peeks). While you're at it, get your social on and connect via Twitter and Facebook where you can leave a question or topic suggestion for one of the ArtsHackers.
A Sad Day: Stephen Paulus Has Died21 Oct 2014 | 12:00 amFifteen months after suffering a stroke composer Stephen Paulus passed away on 10/19/2014 and the field is better having him been a part of it. In addition to being a gifted and successful composer, Paulus was a genuine entrepreneur composer who was decades ahead of his time and generously shared his time and wisdom with fellow composers. In addition to a 23 year tenure as an American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers board member, he founded The American Composers Forum, a leading service organization serving the needs of composers. You can read more about Paulus' career and…
Downfall. Orchestra Style.20 Oct 2014 | 12:00 amIn what might be one of the funniest things to hit the field since Ryan Gosling, Arts Administrator, an orchestra version of the long running Downfall meme hit YouTube on 10/11/2014. If you aren't already in the know, the Downfall meme is a series of videos based on the climactic scene from the 2002 German film Der Untergang (Downfall), a movie about Traudl Junge, the final secretary for Adolf Hitler, recounts the Nazi dictator's final days in his Berlin bunker at the end of WWII. Sure, it may not sound like fodder for a string of parody videos, but creativity knows no bounds. In…
No News Is Bad News In Atlanta17 Oct 2014 | 12:00 amIt appears that mediation is having little impact at resolving the lockout between the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO)/Woodruff Arts Center (WAC) and the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Players' Association (ASOPA). The 10/16/14 edition of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Arts & Culture blog featured a post by Howard Pousner which reports that the ASOPA has become frustrated after what they characterized as intransigence wrapped inside delaying tactics from WAC negotiating representatives. As a result, ASOPA reached out to ASO board members via letter to voice dissatisfaction…
Joe Patti Gets Ready For ArtsHacker16 Oct 2014 | 12:00 amArtsHacker won't likely be up and running until November/December but that isn't stopping Joe Patti who posted a wonderfully informative overview of written agreements by demonstrating that not everything presented in written form is set in stone. Patti's article is an excellent example of the sort of nuts and bolts content you can expect at ArtsHacker and I can wholeheartedly endorse his recommendation for springing for a full version of Adobe Acrobat although pushing to work in MS Word or Google Doc formats makes life much easier for editing toward a final agreement.
Chicago: A scavenger hunt of world premieres22 Oct 2014 | 2:24 pmIt was Open House Chicago this weekend. Open House is, apparently, a worldwide celebratory architectural free-for-all phenomenon that started in London. But I've only ever experienced it in Chicago. Here, it usually falls in late October, when each rainstorm is a tender rite of passage that strips the city of a bit more color.
League of American Orchestras & New Music USA Announce 12 New Music Alive Residencies22 Oct 2014 | 9:34 amTwelve orchestras and composers have been selected to receive Music Alive: New Partnerships grants of $7,500 each, the League of American Orchestras and New Music USA announced today.
Getting Past Difficult Pronunciations to Answering Some Difficult Questions—the 2014 ISCM World Music Days21 Oct 2014 | 8:16 amFinding a way to attend the International Society for Contemporary Music's annual World Music Days ought to be a new music aficionado's equivalent to going on the hajj. Here are some highlights from this year's edition which was held in Wrocław, Poland.
Music in a Time of Snapchat: Ephemeral Contexts20 Oct 2014 | 8:01 amIt's fair to say that we yearn for more opportunities to enjoy music in less formal spaces. But can you still have a valuable musical experience while ordering a drink, chewing an hors d'oeuvre, or making conversation?
Boston: A Fight for Love and Glory—Pipeline! at 2516 Oct 2014 | 10:32 amBoston loves its exemplars—those acts that either are so singular as to make (and, sometimes, break) the mold, or that so fully embody a sound, or a genre, or an attitude, as to aspire to a kind of universal standard.
Alex Ross: The Rest Is Noise
Protest and counterprotest21 Oct 2014 | 4:18 amIn advance of The Death of Klinghoffer at the Met.
The Sellars Passion20 Oct 2014 | 5:13 amAtonement. The New Yorker, Oct. 27, 2014. In brief: Chaya Czernowin.
Beethoven essay12 Oct 2014 | 9:23 pmDeus Ex Musica. The New Yorker, Oct. 20, 2014. Also in this week's issue, a column on Anna Netrebko at the Met and the NY Phil's Nielsen series.
Miscellany11 Oct 2014 | 7:59 amGeoff Edgers, formerly of the Boston Globe and newly arrived at the Washington Post, has a richly detailed, wrenching piece on the Atlanta Symphony lockout. It seems to me that the conduct of the Woodruff Arts Center, and in particular its murky financial dealings, demand a serious investigation.... A retrospective of the work of filmmaker Bill Morrison, who has collaborated so memorably with John Moran (The Death Train), Michael Gordon (Decasia), and Jóhann Jóhannsson (The Miners' Hymns), among others, opens at MoMA next week. There will be film-concerts with Dave Douglas, Maya…
Two views of a new building11 Oct 2014 | 7:47 am
Gnarwhallaby in Concert at Boston Court Pasadena15 Oct 2014 | 9:26 pmThe friendly confines of Boston Court in Pasadena was the venue for a concert by Los Angeles-based gnarwhallaby on Saturday, October 4, 2014. The quartet appeared complete with their trademark rock-solid playing and black jumpsuits for the performance of six pieces by European and American composers of new music. The concert opened with Euphorium (1995-96) by the Czech composer Martin Smolka. This featured Matt Barbier on euphonium and Brian Walsh on baritone saxophone. Combined with the piano and cello this produced a wonderfully robust bass line and a big sound that bounced and jumped…
Experimental Sound Practices Concert at Cal Arts10 Oct 2014 | 11:35 amOn Friday October 3, 2014 Cal Arts opened the WaveCave, a new experimental sound installation space and hosted a reunion concert by alumni on campus at the Roy O. Disney Music Hall. The WaveCave occupies a room just off the lobby of the concert hall and is intended to be a permanent venue for sound art installation. The space will be filled with Experimental Sound Practices alumni works for the Fall of 2014 with current student works premiering in 2015. Zephyrs, a sound installation by Mark Trayle is the initial work to appear in the WaveCave and included three separate assemblies consisting…
ETHEL Celebrates 10 Years of Grand Canyon Residency7 Oct 2014 | 7:43 amAt Window Rock: ETHEL's Kip Jones, dear friend James Bilagody, Jesse and Fiona Sherman. For the past decade, the nationally acclaimed string quartet ETHEL has served as the Ensemble-in-Residence of the Grand Canyon Music Festival's Native American Composer Apprentice Project (NACAP). To date, ETHEL's residency has impacted almost 18,000 students, premiered over 150 works by Native American children, and touched more than 15 schools throughout Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. For about three weeks, the quartet conducts intense, one-on-one tutorial sessions, readings and…
Outside of music — On the role of the audience1 Oct 2014 | 2:45 pm[Editor's note: Samuel Vriezen is a brilliant Dutch composer, performer, poet, polymath... oh, let's just say the list goes on. I've known Samuel -- online, at least -- for the better part of 15 years now, following his artistic and aesthetic progression, getting into stimulating conversations and sharp smack-downs along the way. Just the other day Samuel approached me with an essay that he'd been working on, that he felt might be ready for a wider audience through a place like S21. Of course I immediately agreed; Samuel has one of the sharpest minds I know, and whatever rolls around and…
ensemble: Périphérie – Morris, MN, 9/23/1429 Sep 2014 | 8:13 pm(image source ensemble: Périphérie) A common theme in my reviews is that new music is what and where you make it. ensemble: Périphérie ascribes to the same philosophy. The group, founded in 2010 by composers Luke Dahn and Joseph Dangerfield, contains performers from all over the United States; they get together a few times a year for a week of intense rehearsals and a short tour. Make no mistake, though; while the rehearsal time may be brief, these musicians are skilled and the performances are high-quality. The group started its Fall 2014 tour at the University of Minnesota Morris, where…
Classical Performance Podcast
Beethoven from H+H8 Oct 2014 | 10:00 pmHandel and Haydn Society Trio performs Beethoven in the Fraser Performance Studio *** Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Trio No. 5 in D, Op. 70, No. 1 Members of the Handel and Haydn Society: Susanna Ogata, violin; Guy Fishman, cello; Ian Watson, fortepiano +++ Recorded at WGBH's Fraser Performance Studio on June 5, 2012 © 2014 WGBH Educational Foundation http://www.classicalwcrb.org/podcasts
Markus Schirmer and A Far Cry1 Sep 2014 | 10:00 pmMarkus Schirmer and A Far Cry play Mozart in the Fraser Performance Studio *** Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Concerto No. 12 in A major, K.414 Markus Schirmer, piano; A Far Cry +++ Recorded at WGBH's Fraser Performance Studio on May 20, 2009 © 2014 WGBH Educational Foundation http://www.classicalwcrb.org/podcasts photo of Markus Schirmer by BIG SHOT/Christian Jungwirth, courtesy of the artist
Kirill Gerstein Plays Weber18 Aug 2014 | 10:00 pmKiril Gerstein plays Weber in the Fraser Performance Studio *** Carl Maria von Weber: Invitation to the Dance, Op. 65 Kiril Gerstein, piano +++ Recorded at WGBH's Fraser Performance Studio on March 26, 2012 2014 WGBH Educational Foundation http://www.classicalwcrb.org/podcasts
Hadelich Plays Ysaÿe and Kreisler29 Jul 2014 | 10:00 pmAugustin Hadelich plays Ysaye and Kreisler in our WGBH Studios *** Eugene Ysaye: Sonata No. 4 in E minor, "Kreisler" Augustin Hadelich, violin Fritz Kreisler: Caprice Viennois Augustin Hadelich, violin; Philip Fisher, piano +++ Recorded at WGBH's Fraser Performance Studio on November 16, 2012 and April 12, 2007 © 2014 WGBH Educational Foundation http://www.classicalwcrb.org/podcasts
The Calder Quartet Plays Haydn15 Jul 2014 | 10:00 pmThe Calder Quartet plays Haydn in WGBH's Studio One *** Franz Joseph Haydn: String Quartet in G Major, Op. 76, No. I Benjamin Jacobson and Andrew Bulbrook, violins; Jonathan Moerschel, viola; Eric Byers, cello +++ Recorded at WGBH's Fraser Performance Studio on February 22, 2005 © 2014 WGBH Educational Foundation http://www.classicalwcrb.org/podcasts (photo of Calder Quartet by Autumn de Wilde)
Power, Perfection and Natural Artistry20 Oct 2014 | 3:00 pmViolinist Lisa Batiashvili's virtuosity, curiosity, and musical passions together make her the perfect choice to be this year's Philharmonic Artist-in-Residence.
Golden Glow15 Oct 2014 | 12:00 pmIn his new production of Le Nozze di Figaro, conducted by James Levine, director Richard Eyre brings to the fore the sensuality of Mozart's shimmering masterpiece.
Troy Schumacher on His First Work For City Ballet10 Oct 2014 | 12:00 pm"I have no idea what it's going to be like and I love that," says Troy Schumacher, speaking ahead of a milestone: the debut of his first ballet created for NYCB, which premiered at the Company's Fall Gala performance on September 23.
AND THEY'RE HERE...22 Oct 2014 | 2:26 amPLEASE WELCOME TO JDCMB OUR NEW ASSISTANTS... RICKI AND COSIRicki and Cosi are Somali cats. A bit like longhaired Abyssinians. I met some Somali cats about 16 years ago and thought they were the most wonderful animals in all the world. Have harboured a secret longing for a Somali of my own ever since.They are pedigrees, and consequently highish maintenance. (They even have official Pedigree names: they are "Somantikks Siegfried and Isolde"...don't ask...) When Solti "crossed the rainbow bridge" a few months ago, life without him was so dismal that we knew we'd need someone very, very…
Today...21 Oct 2014 | 1:03 am...we are fetching the new kittens. There just had to be a hurricane, didn't there. Please send us some good vibes and with any luck I'll be back later (most likely tomorrow) with the first pictures.Meanwhile, huge sober thank-yous to my Go Sober for October donators in the past week:Judith Mellor, my lovely neighbourBarbara Maria Rathbone, dynamic head of Musica Universalis Collaborative Artists' ManagementA kind anonymous donor.Current amount raised for Macmillan Cancer Support by Team JDCMB: £272. Keep it coming, folks - just 10 days to go. You can donate here for this marvellous…
A debate about Klinghoffer - the British way20 Oct 2014 | 9:39 amThis is the civilised debate that ENO held about The Death of Klinghoffer and the nature of art before Tom Morris's staging opened here two years ago. The run itself was generally well received and passed without incident.Parterre has provided an audio streaming of the opera from its world premiere in 1991 and a link to the libretto, so it is perfectly possible to make yourself well informed about the reality of its content if you so wish. http://parterre.com/2014/10/20/hearing-klinghoffer/Update, 9.40pm: here is my article on Klinghoffer from The Independent in…
Ten things we should change at gigs20 Oct 2014 | 12:07 am[Warning: you need your Sarcasm radar in working order for this one.]We've been hearing an awful lot from people desperate to change classical concerts into...well, rock gigs. Places where there are big screens, drinks on tap, you stand all the way through and so forth. Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead is prime, and even the conductor Baldur Brönnimann suggests that tweeting and texting should be OK (believe me, it is bloody distracting if someone next to you is busy tapping on a bright screen while you're trying to listen to The Art of Fugue).So why don't we hear anything about what's wrong…
The Boy Who Cried Wolf18 Oct 2014 | 11:20 pmTo cheer us all up, here is the Muppets' take on The Boy Who Cried Wolf. Warning: you'll need a sense of humour for what follows, so if you don't have one, please surf away now.
Classical Music Features from Minnesota Public Radio
Remembering Stephen Paulus22 Oct 2014 | 12:37 pmStephen Paulus passed away October 19, 2014 due to complications from a stroke (which occurred in June of 2013). As we celebrate his life and legacy, we've combed through our archives to provide the most comprehensive listening experiences for those who wish to remember this esteemed composer.
Playing backup: The joys of being an accompanist22 Oct 2014 | 11:22 amBeing an accompanist means you're not the main event; however, if a composer included a piano part as accompaniment, then the work needed both the soloist and piano. Some composers gave the pianist little to do; others, like Beethoven, made the pianist an equal partner in the music.
Passion and Precision: See the Vienna Boys Choir Nov. 622 Oct 2014 | 7:50 amThe world-renowned Vienna Boys Choir has thrilled audiences of all ages for more than 500 years; now, it bring its singular sound to the Basilica of Saint Mary.
New Classical Tracks: Pushing the Boundaries21 Oct 2014 | 10:01 pmPianist Alessio Bax is fascinated by Beethoven's music. Even though Bax feels Beethoven's music can never be mastered, there's enough to explore and discover that Bax has released a new album of Beethoven music. Plus, you can enter to win a copy of the CD.
Vote for your Creepy Classics favorites21 Oct 2014 | 4:50 pmWe're creating the perfect soundtrack for Halloween and trick-or-treating, with your help. Visit our online ballot to vote for your favorite Creepy Classics as we build our playlist for Friday, Oct. 31.
Matthew Rose @ Vocal Arts D.C.21 Oct 2014 | 9:51 amSchubert, Winterreise, M. Rose, G. Matthewman (Stone Records, 2013) Matthew Rose's voice continues to grow, after first striking me as a little gruff and unrounded. The British bass, whose Leporello was one of the best parts of a Don Giovanni at Santa Fe in 2009, opened the Vocal Arts D.C. season on Sunday afternoon, with a lightly attended recital in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. The
Choral Arts Chamber Singers Go Finnish20 Oct 2014 | 6:07 amE. Rautavaara, Works for Mixed Chorus, Finnish Radio Chamber Choir, E.-O. Söderström (Ondine, 1996) Charles T. Downey, Choral Arts Chamber Singers perform 'Under the Midnight Sun' (Washington Post, October 20, 2014) Scott Tucker was appointed artistic director of the Choral Arts Society of Washington in 2012. As the ensemble nears its 50th anniversary next year, Tucker has instituted the
Ionarts-at-Large: Aussies Rock Viennese Classics in Vienna19 Oct 2014 | 10:39 am(function(d, s, id) { var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0]; if (d.getElementById(id)) return; js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id; js.src = "//connect.facebook.net/en_US/all.js#xfbml=1"; fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs); }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk')); Follow @Konzerthauswien !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http
Perchance to Stream: Mid-October Opera Edition19 Oct 2014 | 4:49 amHere is your regular Sunday selection of links to online audio and online video from the week gone by. After clicking to an audio or video stream, you may need to press the "Play" button to start the broadcast. Some of these streams become unavailable after a few days. The Choeur de Chambre de Namur and Les Agrémens give a concert performance of Rameau's Le temple de la gloire at the Opéra Royal
Dip Your Ears, No. 177 (Frankfurt Liebesverbot)18 Oct 2014 | 9:00 amR.Wagner, Das Liebesverbot S.Weigle / Frankfurt O&M Orch. & Chorus / M.Nagy, C.Libor et al. Oehms Riccardo Wagner & Elliot Spitzer Less Wagner in Wagner is impossible. If Wagner's Rienzi is "Meyebeer's best Opera" (von Bülow), Das Liebesverbot might be 'Bellini's worst'—in ludicrous German translation. But at its best "The Ban on Love" is entertaining Italianate grand German opera with
The Rambler
Hear me talk at the Red Gallery, 23 October17 Oct 2014 | 4:08 amThis Thursday, as part of the Nonclassical 10th anniversary celebrations/We Break Strings book launch, I'll be joining some very fine people in a panel discussion on the new music scene at the Red Gallery, Shoreditch. Details all on the flyer above. Do come along – it should be lively. Filed under: Music Tagged: nonclassical
Back from the RNCM, with love2 Oct 2014 | 8:50 amIt was a real pleasure to talk yesterday at the Royal Northern College of Music on the subject of contemporary music history. I don't know what attendance is usually like for these events, but there were people standing at the back and sitting on the floor at the front, so I couldn't have been happier … Continue reading →
On the latest issue of Tempo18 Sep 2014 | 5:21 amThe October 2014 issue of Tempo has just dropped through the door, I think the fifth since its editorship passed from Malcolm Macdonald to Bob Gilmore last year. And it's another good one: Gilmore is doing great stuff there. In his editorial he notes that one of the things he wanted to do with Tempo upon taking over was … Continue reading →
Help fund the first Heather Roche composition competition16 Sep 2014 | 2:39 amClarinetist Heather Roche is crowdsourcing a brand new composition competition. Heather is one of the hardest working young players in the business, and most people involved in new music – particularly in central and northern Europe – will know her for her dedication and enthusiasm for creating new repertory, as well as her talents as a player. (If you're a clarinetist … Continue reading →
Wandelweiser's Minnesota debut15 Sep 2014 | 2:36 amWord from Crow With No Mouth promotions that the Wandelweiser group will be making its Minnesota concert debut later this month. Here are the details from the event blog: our wandelweiser festival program will consist of the premiere of nine new pieces, written by nine composers integral to the wandelweiser collective, especially for our weekend. this is … Continue reading →
Opera Today
On The Death of Klinghoffer19 Oct 2014 | 9:38 pmThis is a revised version of my review of the Sept 5th 1991American premiere of The Death of Klinghoffer, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. The opera was first performed at Brussels' La Monnaie the previous spring.
The Royal Shakespeare Company Releases Music From Its Archive18 Oct 2014 | 9:41 pm
Anna Netrebko, now a dramatic soprano, shines in the Met's dark and murky 'Macbeth'18 Oct 2014 | 11:54 amThe former lyric soprano holds up well — and survives the intrusive close-up camerawork of the 'Live in HD' transmission
Joyce DiDonato at the Gowanus Ballroom17 Oct 2014 | 1:55 pm
Arizona Opera Presents First Mariachi Opera16 Oct 2014 | 5:03 pmHouston Grand Opera commissioned Cruzar la Cara de la Luna from composer José "Pepe" Martínez, music director of Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán, who wrote the text together with Broadway and opera director Leonard Foglia. The work had its world premier in 2010. Since then, it has traveled to several cities including Paris, Chicago, and San Diego.
Opera Today News Headlines
The Royal Shakespeare Company Releases Music From Its Archive18 Oct 2014 | 9:41 pmBy Ari Shapiro [NPR, 12 October 2014] For more than a century, the Royal Shakespeare Company in England has hired composers to write original music for its productions. That sheet music has sat in a vault for decades — until now. [More . . . .]
Joyce DiDonato at the Gowanus Ballroom17 Oct 2014 | 1:55 pm
Trusting the ensemble — Charles Hazlewood14 Oct 2014 | 11:22 am
How playing an instrument benefits your brain14 Oct 2014 | 11:15 am
Architecture: The Opera Garnier14 Oct 2014 | 11:11 am
aworks :: "new" american classical music
aworks album log no. 1018 Oct 2014 | 6:02 pmAmerican classical John Schneider - Por Gitaro: Suites for Tuned Guitars How come I only discovered this album of Lou Harrison guitar music fourteen six years after it was released? [Mode] Brooklyn Rider - The Brooklyn Rider Almanac [Mercury Classics] Meredith Monk - Key [Lovely Music] Cypress String Quartet - How She Danced: String Quartets of Elena Ruehr [Cypress String Quartet] Joan Jeanrenaud & PC Muñoz - Pop-PopFormer cellist of the Kronos Quaret paired with a multi-disciplinary artist. I list this under "American classical" but it doesn't particularly sound like "American…
aworks album log :: oct. 12, 2014 #carsick #book #rider12 Oct 2014 | 3:49 pmCarsick Cars - 3 Upbeat Chinese rock with crisp guitars and drums. [Maybe Mars Music] Joseph Kubera - Books of Horizons Especially like Michael Byron's Book of Horizons. [New World Records] Meredith Monk - Key [Lovely Music] Brooklyn Rider - The Brooklyn Rider Almanac [Mercury Classics] Herva - What I Feel EP [Delsin Records] Issa Bagayogo - Mali KouraRecommended by last.fm as being similar to Ali Farka Touré & Toumani Diabaté and Tinariwen. This is more percussion and piano than the expected guitar. [Six Degrees Travel Series]Date Palms - Of Psalms Recommended by last.fm as being…
aworks album log :: oct. 4 #feldman #brooklyn #monk #theotherchrishughes4 Oct 2014 | 8:57 amUniversity of California Berkeley Chamber Chorus, California EAR Unit - Morton Feldman: Rothko Chapel / Why Patterns? The canonical Morton Feldman album. [New Albion] Brooklyn Rider - The Brooklyn Rider Almanac A kickstarter-funded project. Works by Vijay Iyer, Glenn Kotche, Bill Frisell and others and inspired by Keith Haring, William Faulkner, James Brown, Chick Corea and others. [Mercury Classics] Meredith Monk - Key From 1995. I like the songs with minimalist accompaniment. The Vision tracks are just too weird, though.[Lovely Music] Nate Wooley - Seven Storey Mountain Two tracks of…
aworks album log :: sept. 29, 2014 #motets #nixon #remixes29 Sep 2014 | 8:19 pmAmerican Classical: Marcus Creed, SWR Vokalensemble Stuttgart - America: Copland, Reich, Cage, Feldman, Bernstein, Barber Four Motets by Aaron Copland is a worthy work and new to me. [haenssler CLASSIC] Robert Orth, Maria Kanyova, Etc./Marin Alsop: Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Opera Colorado Chorus - John Adams: Nixon in China, Act 1 [Naxos] Gil Rose, Boston Modern Orchestra Project - Milton Babbitt: All Set Also new to me, but not appealing as these things go. All Set almost sounds jazz-ish. Correspondences is more serious. [BMOP/sound] Beyond: Tinariwen - Remixed 2012 recording; I really…
aworks album log :: september 27, 2014 #guitar #notguitar #21stcentury27 Sep 2014 | 9:17 pmAmerican classical: Guitar in the 21st Century I like the concept and I like several of the works e.g. Sebastien Roux & Kim Myhr's SIX, Mike Vernusky's Nylah, and Duane Pitre's Music for Microtonal Guitars and Mallets. From 2009, this of course is little like traditional guitar, with Keith Rowe's Fragment from a Response to Cardew's Treatment and Jandek's The World Stops the most primitive, bordering on unpleasantly difficult. [Quiet Design Records] Lincoln Trio - Notable Women: Trios by Today's Female Composers I happened to listen to this after watching Stephen Spielberg's Lincoln for…
Internet Skilled Releases Ten Internet Resolutions For Little Companies22 Oct 2014 | 4:25 pmSwiss gold bars are certainly one of the most popular gold investment decision alternatives available these days. As you are most likely informed, Switzerland retains a special place with regards to gold investment decision. Prolonged the home to both specific & corporate gold holdings, this country is regarded as historically one thing of a safe haven. It is also home to a quantity of steel refiners, who supply gold bullion to collectors &investors. One of the actions you can do to help alleviate back again pain is to reinforce your main. Do sit-ups and any other type of workout…
How To Know If There Is Adware On Your Mobile Phone?22 Oct 2014 | 4:20 pmEvery church is unique. Each and every church has a unique pastoral employees, location, congregation, expression, and mission. If you feel of churches in terms of searching, churches entice church buyers based on applications and provider, things church buyers want and need to have. Church buyers decide on to attend and take part in the applications of a church by decision or they don't decide on a distinct church by decision. The massive reason why this type of spy tech is so well-known AND so efficient, is that as before long as the spy application is set up on a cell phone,…
A Beginners Help Guide To A Limo Employ The Service Of In Perth22 Oct 2014 | 8:53 amHappy New Year! A lot of make resolutions to just take care of by themselves but we need to also get treatment of our valuable belongings a time to vow to treatment for your automobiles with a car, truck or RV include to protect your investment. Automobiles are costly and well worth caring for, selling longevity and curb appeal. We invest useful time washing and waxing, why not go the added action and maintain that hard work by covering with a high quality auto include of other car cover. To illustrate the point, as a social worker, 1 of the first trainings I ever attended was about the…
Hunting Land For Sale In Western Kentucky21 Oct 2014 | 3:45 pmThere may possibly be oil underneath your workplace. For all we know, a huge deposit of oil may be waiting around a few thousand toes below your chair mat. Just consider of what that could mean to your organization's bottom line. Can you arrange for a drilling rig to drop by Thursday so you can punch a hole by means of the ground and start off to drill a effectively? Selling your royalty now and taking pleasure in a lump sum payment rather than a small quantity over a lot of years thus putting that cash to operate for you now (getting true estate, spending bills, spending off credit…
parterre box
Anger's aweigh22 Oct 2014 | 12:20 amIt was a night a-tingle with excitement at the Metropolitan Opera House. At least part of this lay in never knowing when vocal protests might explode (verbally) somewhere in the auditorium. The place was crawling with cops, the plaza itself largely cordoned off. There were two serious outbursts, a bunch of folks in the Orchestra level between the Prologue and Act I, and a lone but loud "We will never forgive the murder of Klinghoffer!" at the top of the Family Circle between two scenes of Act I. That both disturbances took place when no music was being performed I take as a sign of…
Le veau d'or21 Oct 2014 | 10:24 pmOn this day in 1883, the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City opened with a performance of Gounod's Faust. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JcW3Tj9wRpg Born on this day in 1809 composer Federico Ricci http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVMj2z4uoQg Born on this day in 1811 composer Franz Liszt http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0v0jXDc7Oks Born on this day in 1859 conductor Carl Muck http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YA10NIkAt9A Born on this day in 1907 tenor Günther Treptow http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmxvOA46Ymw Born on this day in 1912 soprano Esther Réthy…
Bee movie20 Oct 2014 | 1:26 pmLa Cieca is gradually coming to the conclusion that Tara Erraught (pictured) has built her dressing room over an Indian burial mound. Then again, to be fair, we really should see this costume (for the role of Krista in Vec Makropulos) in the context of the whole production, to be webcast from the Bayerische Staatsoper on November 1. The trailer certainly looks intriguing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dn7NSEIjyKw
Hearing Klinghoffer19 Oct 2014 | 10:00 pmSince the Met's production of The Death of Klinghoffer (opening tonight) will apparently not be broadcast, Jungfer Marianne Leitmetzerin has graciously provided in streaming form a recording from the world premiere of the work in 1991 at the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie. John Adams/Alice Goodman: The Death of Klinghoffer Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie Kent Nagano, conductor 19 March 1991 World Premiere Alma Rumor – Stephanie Friedman Jonathan Rumor – Thomas Young Harry Rumor – Sanford Sylvan The Captain – James Maddalena Swiss Grandmother – Janice Felty The First Officer –…
Low, low prices19 Oct 2014 | 9:25 pmOn this day in 1803 the United States Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase. Happy 83rd birthday contralto Lauris Elms http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCEh2TFPx2w Happy 71st birthday dramatic soprano/mezzo-soprano Dunja Vejzovic http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U3lq5cgk1N0 Happy 69th birthday composer Thomas Pasatieri http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Pj2YQ7OtCk Happy 68th birthday tenor John Joseph Elwes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTqGstoSyv4 Happy 67th birthday baritone Wolfgang Brendel http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SgdPwiMS_w
Opus Arte New Releases
MOMPOU, F.: Songs (Padullés, Burnside) (OACD9021D)30 Sep 2014 | 5:00 pm
MAILLOT, J.-C.: LAC (Ballet after Swan Lake) (Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, 2013) (Blu-ray, HD) (OABD7154D)30 Sep 2014 | 5:00 pm
MOZART, W.A.: Opera Box Set - Le nozze di Figaro / Don Giovanni / Die Zauberflöte (Royal Opera House, 2003-2008) (5 DVD Box Set) (NTSC) (OA1150BD)30 Sep 2014 | 5:00 pm
MAILLOT, J.-C.: LAC (Ballet after Swan Lake) (Les Ballets de Monte Carlo, 2013) (NTSC) (OA1148D)30 Sep 2014 | 5:00 pm
MOZART, W.A.: Opera Box Set - Le nozze di Figaro / Don Giovanni / Die Zauberflöte (Royal Opera House, 2003-2008) (5 Blu-ray Disc Box Set) (OABD7155BD)30 Sep 2014 | 5:00 pm
The Wagnerian
Book Of The Month:Treacherous Bonds and Laughing Fire22 Oct 2014 | 4:33 pmWe have left this book far to long to review. So, one shall follow shortly, But in the mean time we have decided to make this our book of the month. Yes, it is horrendously expensive but that surely is what libraries are for - should you not want to make the investment. Full details below and a more than generous sample also. Treacherous Bonds and Laughing Fire: Politics and Religion in Wagner's Ring.Mark Berry, Royal Holloway, University of London, UKMark Berry explores the political and religious ideas expounded in Wagner's Ring through close attention to the text and…
LFO Announce Cast Of New Tristan Und Isolde - 201522 Oct 2014 | 4:09 pmTristan and Isolde lithograph by Milen Litchkov Longborugh return to Wagner after a, sort of, rest season, with a new production of Tristan. Details below.12, 16, 18, 20 June CONDUCTOR Anthony NegusDIRECTOR Carmen JakobiDESIGNER Kimie NakanoLIGHTING DESIGNER Ben OrmerodCHOREOGRAPHER Didy Veldman Sung in German with English surtitles. Longborough's Wagner journey continues with this eagerly-awaited new production conducted by Anthony Negus, directed by Carmen Jakobi. Performances begin at 3.00 pm and have a short interval after Act One and a longer 75 minute dining interval after Act…
Washington National Opera Announces Complete Casting for 2016's Ring22 Oct 2014 | 3:12 pmWashington National Opera (WNO) today announced complete casting for its first full presentation of Richard Wagner's four-part Ring cycle. Three cycles will be presented from April 30 to May 22, 2016 and will be directed by Artistic Director Francesca Zambello and conducted by WNO Music Director Philippe Auguin. Contribution packages with priority seating for The Ring are on sale now. For more information, go to WNO's Ring website. The complete casting announcement follows the principal casting announcement this spring. WNO's Ring cycles feature two Brunnhildes. Acclaimed British soprano…
Bernd Weikl And Why You Should Simply Not Take It Anymore7 Oct 2014 | 2:47 pmSarcasm and satire - dangerous tools. Not for the power their use may have when used well (although this too has its dangers), but if they are misunderstood by their audience. No more so then in 'Wagner studies' where, if one didn't know better, it is easy to assume that certain interpretations of Wagner's work and characters must surely be the work of a mischievous mind - or sometimes just a very strange one. After all, how else are we to accept interpretations by those that insist that Wagner meant Klingsor to represent a negative Jewish stereotype because, somehow, we are to equate…
Ring Cycle Player - Listen While You Read4 Oct 2014 | 4:22 pmWagner Composing The Ring of the Nibelungen: L. BalestrieriWe have tried various methods of bringing a permanent Wagner music player to the site over the years - I think the first was back in 2011. However, there have been problems with most of them, meaning that often either the player did not display in certain browsers, it refused to play or simply slowed things down for too many readers, However, we are hoping the newest addition will be compatible with as many users operating systems and web browsers as possible. Indeed, using HTML5, as it does, it may even work in many mobile/phone…
Arthaus Musik New Releases
WAGNER VS. VERDI - A Documentary in 6 Parts (Blu-ray, HD) (108120)30 Sep 2014 | 5:00 pm
HARNONCOURT, N.: Opera Collection - BEETHOVEN, L. van Fidelio / WEBER, C.M. von: Der Freischütz / SCHUMANN, R.: Genoveva (Blu-ray) (108129)30 Sep 2014 | 5:00 pm
TCHOUDA, B.L.: Nutcracker (A) (Dance) (Compagnie Malka) (NTSC) (102202)30 Sep 2014 | 5:00 pm
HUMPERDINCK, E.: Hänsel und Gretel (Zurich Opera, 1999) (Blu-ray) (108135)30 Sep 2014 | 5:00 pm
TCHOUDA, B.L.: Nutcracker (A) (Dance) (Compagnie Malka) (Blu-ray, HD) (108121)30 Sep 2014 | 5:00 pm
Naxos AudioBooks New Releases
HEYER, G.: Cousin Kate (Unabridged) (NA0182)30 Sep 2014 | 5:00 pmWhen young and beautiful governess Kate Malvern finds herself unemployed, she is taken in by Minerva Broome, the aunt she has never met, and whisked away to the majestic country home of Staplewood. However, things are not as they seem: strange things start to happen in the manor and Staplewood soon turns from an inviting stately house to a cold and gloomy mansion with a dreadful secret! One of Georgette Heyer's later novels, Cousin Kate sees the author take a more experimental turn as she blends the Regency romance genre with the suspenseful style of Gothic horror.
HARDY, T.: Under the Greenwood Tree (Unabridged) (NA0173)30 Sep 2014 | 5:00 pmUnder the Greenwood Tree is an affectionate and youthful portrait of a world Hardy knew well—village life in 'Wessex'—in which a romantic tale is set against changing circumstances. The traditional feature of local music-making performed by the village band and choir is challenged by the modern innovation of organ and organist providing music in the church. Fancy Day, the new, comely school mistress is also an accomplished organist, and these qualities create conflict in the village, especially when the unmarried young vicar and Dick Dewy, a member of the Mellstock…
DUMAS, A.: Man in the Iron Mask (The) (Unabridged) (NA0188)30 Sep 2014 | 5:00 pmThe Man in the Iron Mask continues the adventures of the dauntless heroes of The Three Musketeers—Aramis, Athos, Porthos and d'Artagnan. In old age their swashbuckling ought to have been replaced by a more gentle way of life, but the veteran warriors find themselves at the centre of a plot in which both hearts and heads are broken, and the very throne of France is at stake.
GIBBON, E.: Memoirs of My Life (Unabridged) (NA0191)30 Sep 2014 | 5:00 pmEdward Gibbon (1737−1794) was an English historian and Member of Parliament known for his monumental series The Decline and Fall of The Roman Empire, which chronicled the dissipation of the Roman dynasties in a lofty, majestic style unique to its author. Memoirs of My Life, published posthumously in 1796, wholly unveils the character of the world's greatest historian in full candour and openness. We follow him from birth, through to his education at Oxford, to his time in Switzerland where he met Voltaire and fell in love with a Swiss girl. We accompany him on his travels through…
GIBBON, E.: Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (The), Vol. 6 (Unabridged) (NA0130)30 Sep 2014 | 5:00 pmThe Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire has always maintained its initial appeal to both the general public and scholars alike. Its sheer scale is daunting, encompassing over a millennium of history, covering not merely the Western Empire from the days of the early emperors to its extinction in AD 476, but also the Eastern Empire, which lasted for another thousand years until the Turks vanquished it in 1453. But Gibbon's style, part historical fact and part literature, is enticing, and the sheer honesty of the man, who endeavours to be scrupulously impartial in his presentation,…
Kenneth Woods- conductor
Feature article on KW in The Tablet- "Rock to Redneck Mahler" by Rick Jones20 Oct 2014 | 11:49 amThere's a nice feature piece in the October 18th issue of The Tablet by journalist and critic Rick Jones. Click here to subscribe. You can read his reviews of selected Bobby and Hans CD's on his blog Robert Schumann Symphony no. 1- KW/OOTS and Yannick Nezet Seugin/COE "Two Springs" Hans Gál and Robert Schumann- First Symphonies £12.00 Add to cart Schumann Symphony no. 2 and Gál Symphony no. 4 Hans Gál- Symphony no.4 "Sinfonia Concertante," Robert Schumann- Symphony no. 2 £12.00 Add to cart …
CD Review- Gramophone Magazine on Sawyers Symphony no. 2, Cello Concerto and Concertante for Violin, Piano and Strings13 Oct 2014 | 6:27 amCritic Andrew Achenbach writes in the current issue of Gramophone Magazine about the new Nimbus CD of orchestral music by Philip Sawyers. Buy your copy today, or better yet, subscribe. Buy your copy of the CD in the Downbeat Store. Philip Sawyers- Symphony no. 2, Cello Concerto, Concertante for Violin, Piano and Strings £12.00 Add to cart "Here are three recent works of strong personality, genuine substance and warm-hearted integrity…uncommon skill in handling instrumental forces…performed here with thrilling conviction and formidable assurance by soloist Maja…
Thoughts on the Saint Louis Requiem Protest5 Oct 2014 | 4:28 amVia the Saint Louis Dispatch "Michael Brown protesters interrupted the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra's concert on Saturday night, causing a brief delay in the performance at Powell Symphony Hall. The orchestra and chorus were preparing to perform Johannes Brahms' Requiem just after intermission when two audience members in the middle aisle on the main floor began singing an old civil rights tune, "Which Side are You on?" They soon were joined, in harmony, by other protesters, who stood at seats in various locations on the main floor and in the balcony. The…
"Hey buddy! Does that there sarrusophone have a volume knob on it?" or "Can wind players do dynamics?"28 Sep 2014 | 8:56 amThis Friday I'm conducting the winds of the English Symphony Orchestra in a program of wind ensemble masterpieces by Hans Gál, Mozart and Dvorák. You should come- it's going to be fantastic! It's no secret I'm a cellist, so I have grown up outside the wind ensemble tradition (although the wonderful Dvorák Wind Serenade actually has a significant cello part, which I've played many times). In spite of this, I absolutely LOVE (love!!!!!) conducting wind ensembles. I still remember the first time I conducted an all-wind group. It was the Stravinsky Octet for Winds. WOW! The…
Explore the Score- Shostakovich (arr. Barshai): Chamber Symphony, opus 110a9 Sep 2014 | 8:29 amKen will be conducting this work with the musicians of the English String Orchestra on Saturday, the 13th of September, 2014 in Christ Church, Malvern. The ESO will be repeating this work on their concert at Elgar Concert Hall in May 2015, and will be recording the complete Shostakovich Chamber Symphonies for Avie Records for release in 2016. Dmitri Shostakovich's Chamber Symphony opus 110a, an arrangement for string orchestra of his String Quartet no. 8 in C minor, opus 110, was the first of five orchestral transcriptions of his string quartets by his friend, the violist and…
Iron Tongue of Midnight
Why We Need Proofreaders22 Oct 2014 | 3:43 pmReceived in the mail, a fund-raising letter over David Gockley's name and signature. Somewhere in the bowels of the War Memorial Opera House, someone is grimacing, and it's not over the missing serial comma, either:We were able to present a superb roster of performers that day, all of whom will grace our main stage this fall. What a line-up! Thomas Hampson, Brandon Jovanovich, Brian Mulligan, Heidi Stober, Ramon Vargas and the powerhouse soprano Dolora Zajick, as well as our own recent Adler Fellow Brian Jagde. San Francisco Opera is one of the few opera companies in the world that can…
The Death of Klinghoffer Media Roundup22 Oct 2014 | 7:30 amReviews are coming in; watch for updates:Anthony Tommasini, NY Times (Top of the page on the web just now)John Yohalem, Parterre BoxPamela McCorduck, Iron Tongue of MidnightJoe Dziemianowicz, Daily NewsJustin Davidson, Vulture.com James Jorden, NY ObserverGeorge Grella, NY Classical ReviewMartin Bernheimer, Financial TimesAnne Midgette, Washington Post (includes her media roundup)Manuela Holterhoff, BloombergHeidi Waleson, WSJMark Swed, LA TimesPaul Pelkonen, SuperconductorPoison Ivy, Poison Ivy's Wall of TextSam Reising, I Care If You Listen
Klinghoffer Sock-Puppetry21 Oct 2014 | 2:08 pmI hardly ever read opera-l these days, but happened to take a look because of all the Klinghoffer opinions flying around. And what do you know, the first alphabetic posting is by our friend "Genevieve Castle Room," and it cites something a lot like what I found on my blog the other day:GCR quotes "John Blackburn on Twitter": "Sad that Adams is held in such esteem. Musically bland pabulum spiced withprogrammatic narrative. By programmatic narrative, I mean his fondness for political libretti and such—cover for light musical thought""Carrie Theuring" on my blog: "It's sad that…
Guest Post: Death of Klinghoffer Review21 Oct 2014 | 10:48 amPamela McCorduck, author of Machines Who Think and co-author of The Futures of Women, was at the Met opening of The Death of Klinghoffer and sent me this review, which I am publishing with her permission:Arrived to a tremendous police presence, which saddened me, but which also reassured me. Ticket holders had to enter at the side of the plaza, which was otherwise completely sealed off; the demonstrators were out toward Columbus Avenue. Plenty of purse-checking once inside the house too.The production was given a tremendous ovation (which it earned) at the…
Curtain Up!20 Oct 2014 | 9:32 pmThe latest on The Death of Klinghoffer, which opened this evening at the Met. Here are the latest articles about this opera.'Klinghoffer' Protesters Flock to Met Opera House, Michael Cooper, Times. (Sorry, staging this opera doesn't license you to kill someone any more than Verdi's Macbeth does.)(This includes a post-opera update, apparently!)With New 'Klinghoffer,' Furor Only Grows, Michael Cooper, TimesAn Opera Under Fire, Zachary Woolfe, TimesTwenty Years Later, 'Klinghoffer' Still Draws Protests, Joel Rose, Deceptive Cadence (NPR)From 2012, Jessica Duchen's piece on…
Musical Assumptions
Using a Product Logo as a Teaching Tool20 Oct 2014 | 6:35 pmMy violin students need to be constantly reminded to keep their left arms under the violin while they are playing. Today, while I was (once again) reminding a pre-teen student to keep her arm under, I noticed that all her clothes had the "Under Armour" logo on them. I drew it in her music to remind her to keep her arm under. Under Armour = Arm Under.We both laughed. I told her that I would share this idea with other violin teachers on line, so here it is. Remember that you read it here first!
Rules17 Oct 2014 | 12:44 pmWhile I was slowly and carefully playing through the last of Bach's English Suites until a few minutes ago, I kept thinking about how many rules of counterpoint Bach breaks, and how often he breaks them. Then it occurred to me that Fux (1660-1741), the guy who wrote the rules of counterpoint as we know them, may have predated Bach by a generation, but he didn't write his Gradus Ad Parnassum until 1725, and by the time Bach could have even gotten his hands on a copy he could no longer see.I have nothing against Fux. I cut several sets of teeth on Gradus Ad Parnassum. I just had a sudden…
Teaching16 Oct 2014 | 2:01 pmI used to enjoy teaching music appreciation classes at our local community college. In the early years of the 21st century I had students in my classes who were genuinely interested in the material. Some were adult students who had returned to college after having children, some were adult students who were trying to make a new start by getting an education after unproductive early adulthood, and some were students who had served in the military. I had extremely smart students of normal college age who were using community college as an inexpensive way of taking courses that could be…
Meet the Composer Podcast from WQXR8 Oct 2014 | 6:07 pmI listened to an interview with Caroline Shaw today on "Meet the Composer," the new podcast from WQXR's Q2 station. I was impressed with the way Nadia Sirota conducted the interview, impressed by Shaw, and impressed with her music and the way she explained the extended vocal techniques used by Roomful of Teeth, the vocal ensemble she sings with and writes for. I plan to listen to this podcast regularly.
Tendencies7 Oct 2014 | 5:17 amWhen I taught flute students I would often observe their throats getting tight when they found themselves in the musical land of many sharps. I noticed it in myself as well, and always had to work to counteract the tendency.Lately I have noticed the tendency of my bow arm to stray from the optimum sounding point when I find myself crossing strings in musical landscapes that have many flats.Hmm . . .
eighth blackbird » Blog
Pattycake en masse27 Sep 2014 | 7:33 amWho doesn't know how to play Pattycake?? It's one of those things that all children seem to do in the schoolyard – elaborate hand clapping routines with a partner accompanied by rhyming chants or songs. I certainly knew a whole bunch of them and loved playing them with my sisters and friends. I don't remember how I learned them; they just seemed to come naturally. Lisa, Matthew, Nick, and I are learning Sean Griffin's Pattycake for this year's acoustic program. It's a boisterous and theatrically satisfying clapping piece that anyone can do. Well, anyone with good rhythm and…
Colombine Redux26 Sep 2014 | 7:19 pmWe remounted our staged production Colombine's Paradise Theatre two weeks ago for two shows only: one at our beloved MCA in Chicago and the other as a season opener for the Miller Theatre in New York. Ellen McSweeney writes in New Music Box: "Only a mind-boggling amount of labor—memorizing the score and learning elaborate physical staging and choreography—could have produced such a performance." Tell me about it. It was somewhat easier the second time around, but Mark took the opportunity of our already knowing the music and movement to push us harder and refine bad habits, all of…
World Premiere of John Luther Adams' SILA: The Breath of the World15 Sep 2014 | 10:59 amPulitzer Prize winning composer John Luther Adams has released the video to his latest performance, called Sila: The Breath of the World. On July 25th 2014, a crowd of over two thousand people gathered in Lincoln Center's Hearst Plaza to watch the pulitzer prize winners latest performance, which included eighty musicians mostly from the New York area. Drawing heavily on nature for inspiration, John explains the title of his latest piece: "In Inuit tradition the spirit that animates all things is Sila, the breath of the world. Sila is the wind and the weather … Sila…
Heart and Breath at the Miller Theatre3 Sep 2014 | 10:00 amFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 18, 2014 Press Contacts: Information: 212/854-7799; millertheatre.com Aleba Gartner, 212/206-1450; firstname.lastname@example.com Charlotte Levitt, 212/854-2380; firstname.lastname@example.com "a highly stylized, darkly beautiful love story that's steeped in myth yet utterly modern." – Washington Post "a polished, personable, routinely dazzling sextet … a group whose professionalism and…
Colombine's Paradise Theatre Discussion3 Sep 2014 | 9:43 amThe Museum of Contemporary Art, together with the Italian Cultural Institute, will be holding a discussion on the creation of the performance Colombine's Paradise Theatre, featuring eighth blackbird's pianist Lisa Kaplan and celebrated composer Amy Beth Kirsten. The talk, which will be held at the Italian Cultural Institute of Chicago, will explore the relationship between Colombine's Paradise Theatre and Italy's rich cultural and artistic history. Also in attendance to explore these themes will be an award winning music Professor, The University of Chicago's…
an unamplified voice
Midlife6 Oct 2014 | 4:30 pmMacbeth - Metropolitan Opera, 9/24/2014Lucic, Netrebko, Calleja, Pape / LuisiThis was, despite what seems to be generally positive press, a dispiriting night at the Met. It hasn't been that long since Anna Netrebko was the wonder of the Mariinsky's 1998 tour, a bel canto soprano of limitless beauty and promise (as one can hear from Gergiev's Bethrothal in a Monastery and Ruslan & Lyudmila recordings), but that silver-voiced singer never really sang with this company -- at least not past her official debut in 2002's War and Peace. Netrebko returned in the late-Volpe/early-Gelb era a different…
High life29 Sep 2014 | 3:30 pmLe Nozze di Figaro - Metropolitan Opera, 9/22/2014Abdrazakov, Petersen, Majeski, Leonard, Mattei / LevineAfter a less than memorable closing run two seasons ago for Jonathan Miller's production of Figaro (which served the house well long after the director banished himself in a snit about Bartoli's airing of alternate arias), the Met opened 2014-15 with another Englishman's production. Richard Eyre's attempt isn't much better or worse than his predecessor's. It will probably serve the house in much the same way through casts both better and worse than this one.The physical production won't…
The 2014-15 season, at its start25 Sep 2014 | 1:21 pmThis is a revision of the original preview post from February. Changes are in bold and discussed [in brackets].Figaro (new Richard Eyre production)Abdrazakov, Majeski, Petersen, Leonard, Mattei / Levine (September-October)Schrott, Willis-Sørensen, de Niese, Malfi, Kwiecien / de Waart (December)Levine opens the season, as he should, with an excellent male cast and a somewhat odd but not impossible female cast for this new Figaro. As for the second bunch, I've knocked Erwin Schrott's Figaro in the past, and still have little hope for dramatic parts, but his excellence in comedy since then…
Some other show24 Sep 2014 | 8:51 amMonday, facing out from the Met Plaza...These protesters were probably right, but they were also a month too early.
Day one22 Sep 2014 | 1:14 pmAlthough I've been snarky about the latest news, the announcement last month that the labor talks threatening to derail the season had successfully concluded pleased me rather more than I'd expected.It should not, perhaps, be news that an institution is determined to function, that it's set on carrying out its mission despite the human failings of its management, employees, performers, audience, supporters, and critics - Ich selber exkludier' mir net! - but given the endless parade of counterexamples that now greets the eye - not least in the opera-free zone across the plaza - it apparently…
On An Overgrown Path
How many protests against the death of an orchestra?22 Oct 2014 | 12:59 amI find protests against the Metropolitan Opera's production of The Death of Klinghoffer disturbing. I also find the threatened closure of the Ulster Orchestra - an invaluable ensemble praised in posts including What price the Simon Bolivar roadshow?- disturbing. And I find the imbalance between the abundant coverage in both the music and mainstream media of classical music's problems in New York, Atlanta, Minneapolis etc and the sparse reporting of the looming tragedy in Belfast disturbing. Also on Facebook and Twitter. Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for…
Borrowed landscapes and borrowed music21 Oct 2014 | 8:56 am'Borrowed Landscape' (shakkei) is the Japanese garden design discipline that imports 'foreign' landscapes into local environments, and the borrowed landscape of Les Jardins du Loriot at Venansault in France featured in my 2012 post The sound of 4' 33". Shakkei is also practised by architects to import landscapes that are foreign in geographic or temporal terms. My photos show the Medina in Agadir, southern Morocco created by the architect Coco Polizzi in the early 1990s to provide the city with a traditional artisan's quarter after the original kasbah was destroyed in the disastrous 1960…
Change the celebrity musicians, not the audience19 Oct 2014 | 9:10 amElsewhere the dead horse of changing concert hall conventions is being given another futile flogging. Has it not occurred to anyone else that concertgoers applaud between movements to add some spontaneity to the perfectly manicured and totally lifeless performances that are the stock-in-trade of the new generation of youthful maestros? Has it not occurred to anyone else that audiences bring drinks into concert halls because today's unadventurous and uninspired concerts are best experienced through an alcoholic haze? The sociologist Emile Durkheim posited that to redefine a convention you must…
Keeping my head in the clouds12 Oct 2014 | 1:39 amShall I share with the world the ten pieces of music I'd rather not hear again, or the ten pieces I'd like to hear more often? Should I widen my horizons by reading about the ten pieces a celebrity maestro won't conduct again? Perhaps I should boost On An Overgrown Path's readership by starting a new thread about the ten most stupid things to do on social media? Or should I continue to sit here on a remote hillside drinking in the view of Mont Ventoux seen above - it has been a vintage year for mountains - while reading Satish Kumar's autobiographical You Are Therefore I Am. It's no contest:…
Noise kills thought10 Oct 2014 | 1:42 am'Don't crack your whip so terribly. Noise kills thought' - Nietzsche in Also Sprach ZarathustraMy photos show Rudy Ricciotti's new Museum of European and Mediterranean Civilisations (MuCEM) in Marseille, which is where this post was written. Coincidentally, or maybe not, the museum, with its mix of Eurupean and Mediterranean visual cues, stands on the waterfront from where that great transcultural traveller Isabelle Eberhardt departed for Algeria. Travelling is currently taking precedence over blogging; so I won't be cracking my whip for a while. Also on Facebook and Twitter.
My two favorite patter songs14 Oct 2014 | 1:59 pm"Pick a little, talk a little" from Music Man by Meredith Willson. "Not getting married" from COMPANY by Stephen Sondheim. Both of these are inspirations for my patter song in LA PALOMA Y EL RUISEÑOR where Julián nervously reintroduces himself to Ángela as she returns to Mexico from Europe.
Armando Piña performs "Ja vas lyublyu" (Prince's Aria) from The Queen of Spades by Peter Illyich Tchaikovsky13 Oct 2014 | 11:17 amA handheld private recording made by someone, but you'll get a glimpse into the talent of Armando Piña performing in a recent competition who will be premiering the role of Julián in LA PALOMA Y EL RUISENOR, at the Teatro Angela Peralta; Nov. 14, 15, 2014 in Mazatlán, Mexico. The work Armando performs here is "Ja vas lyublyu" (Prince's Aria) from The Queen of Spades by Peter Illyich Tchaikovsky. From Final del XXXII Concurso Nacional de Canto Carlo Morelli, conducted by Enrique Patrón de Rueda, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Mexico City.
Penélope Luna performs Concerto for Coloratura Soprano and Orchestra by Reinhold Glière12 Oct 2014 | 4:18 pmI had the honor of working with a most brilliant soprano on the faculty in Mazatlan, Penelope Luna, who will play Rosa in LA PALOMA Y EL RUISENOR. I made a number of adjustments for her voice and talent. And after I heard this Gliere performance, I felt free to go even higher! You will get an idea of her talent by this amazing performance of the Gliere Concerto for Coloratura Soprano and Orchestra under the baton of Enrique Patron de Rueda. Conductor Scott Dunn and I are honored to have the assistance of Maestro Patron and Maestra Martha Félix in coaching the chorus and soloists in our…
Jessica Loaiza performs "Era desso il figlio mio" – Donizetti3 Oct 2014 | 6:33 pmJessica will performing the role of Ángela Peralta in Mazatlán in November. Here she is performing "Era desso il figlio mio" by Donizetti VI Concurso Canto Internacional Sinaloa 2014 Jessica Loaiza Pérez, segundo lugar, premio del Público y premio La voz Sonfonic. Orquesta Sinaloa de las Artes Mtro. Enrique Patrón de Rueda, director Era desso il figlio mio de la Ópera Lucrezia Borgia de Donizetti
Channeling a countermelody1 Oct 2014 | 10:44 amMany of my faithful readers know that I channel dead composers from time to time. Well, not really, I pretend to and it makes for a good read. But something eery happened recently that was very likely channeling something or someone. And I have a witness. Conductor, Scott Dunn sat with me for several days going over the orchestration of my opera [on my computer using notation/playback software called Sibelius] with meticulous detail. While going over part of Act 2, I heard an amazing countermelody. I tried to not say anything. I scrolled to look at the horn part as the countermelody was in…
Jason Heath's Double Bass Blog
Jason Moran's collaboration with Chicago's Kenwood Academy3 Oct 2014 | 9:27 pmThis is a wonderful documentary from the Chicago Tribune about important musical happenings in Chicago jazz and the Kenwood Academy–well worth a viewing:
Music as a Language: Victor Wooten at TEDxGabriolaIsland – YouTube15 Sep 2014 | 8:13 pmMusic as a Language: Victor Wooten at TEDxGabriolaIsland – YouTube.
All About That [Upright] Bass10 Sep 2014 | 10:39 pmAll About That [Upright] Bass – Jazz Meghan Trainor Cover ft. Kate Davis – Postmodern Jukebox – YouTube.
Alexander Hanna Interview – YouTube1 Sep 2014 | 8:48 pmAlexander Hanna Interview – YouTube.
Everything you need to know about tennis elbow for the bass7 Jul 2014 | 6:50 pmThe International Society of Bassists (@ISB_World) recently put out a post featuring Randy Kurtz talking about tennis elbow for bassists. This is something that affects a great number of bassists, and this video is well worth a viewing for a better understanding of the condition. Video Link
Naxos New Releases
SHOSTAKOVICH, D.: Symphonies, Vol. 11 - Symphony No. 13, `Babi Yar` (Vinogradov, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, Petrenko) (8.573218)30 Sep 2014 | 5:00 pmShostakovich wrote his Symphony No. 13, Op. 113 in 1962. The climax of his 'Russian period' and, in its scoring for bass soloist, male chorus and orchestra, among the most Mussorgskian of his works, it attracted controversy through its settings of poems by Yevgeny Yevtushenko (the 'Russian Bob Dylan' of his day)—not least the first movement, where the poet underlines the plight of Jews in Soviet society. The other movements are no less pertinent in their observations on the relationship between society and the individual. This is the final release in Vasily…
PINHO VARGAS, A.: Requiem / Judas (Gulbenkian Choir and Orchestra, J. Carneiro, Eldoro) (8.573277)30 Sep 2014 | 5:00 pmMuch decorated by his native country, António Pinho Vargas, originally best known for his jazz performances, is now one of Portugal's leading classical composers. His instrumental and film music has won numerous awards, and his chamber works have been performed by some of the world's leading ensembles. In turning to the sacred, Pinho Vargas has crafted music of moving declamatory power. He has organised Judas into five specific scenes with an epilogue, whilst the Requiem is a very personal and powerful reply, in the composer's words, 'to a history of numerous…
CASTELNUOVO-TEDESCO, M.: Evangélion (A. Marangoni) (8.573316)30 Sep 2014 | 5:00 pmMario Castelnuovo-Tedesco was Jewish by culture but regularly composed on Biblical themes. A meditation on stories from the New Testament in music of tender simplicity, moving lyricism and potent drama, the epic but rarely heard Evangélion starts with The Annunciation and concludes with The Last Words and The Resurrection. Composed in 1947 soon after the death of the composer's father, the work was possibly conceived after a visit to the Acolman Convent in Mexico. This is its first complete recording. Alessandro Marangoni can also be heard in Castelnuovo-Tedesco's two Piano…
PAULUS, S.: Three Places of Enlightenment / Veil of Tears / Grand Concerto (Nashville Symphony, Guerrero) (8.559740)30 Sep 2014 | 5:00 pmDescribing himself as 'a composer who can satisfy all kinds', Stephen Paulus possesses a remarkable versatility and gift for the dramatic. Concertos for string quartet and orchestra are a rarity, and Three Places of Enlightenment is both a journey of discovery for the listener and a spectacular showcase for the principal strings of the Nashville Symphony. Both this concerto and the reflective Veil of Tears are considered by the composer among his most significant works. Employing hymn fragments, the Grand Concerto is a work of sweeping gestures and melodies as well as wide…
Cello Music (Canadian) - COULTHARD, J. / WEINZWEIG, J. / GUERRERO, A. / ARCHER, V. (When Music Sounds) (J. Harrison, Keillor) (9.70126)30 Sep 2014 | 5:00 pmThis selection of undeservedly neglected Canadian works for cello and piano is framed by the music of Jean Coulthard, her 1946 Sonata establishing a personal voice while building on the influence of Debussy, the later When Music Sounds exemplifying her lyricism and sensitive treatment of both instruments. John Weinzweig's Cello Sonata fascinatingly combines serial technique with Jewish melodic shapes, expressing national joy and the struggles of creating the new state of Israel. Remembered as the teacher of Glenn Gould, Alberto Guerrero's Chants oubliés extend the…
The Naxos Blog
Podcast: Twists and turns16 Oct 2014 | 4:45 pmIn this week's podcast, Raymond Bisha explores works by the Italian musical adventurer Gian Francesco Malipiero, the fascinating 20th-century composer who trod his own prolific path, often defying tradition with his idiosyncratic flair. Album details… Naxos 8.573291
Playing on one's name9 Oct 2014 | 4:43 pmMany instruments evolved over centuries, their names changing in tandem with their timbre. The lute became the guitar, the viol progressed to the violin and the sackbut got transformed into the trombone. Just occasionally, however, an inventor introduces a brand new kid onto the block and, naturally enough, gives it the family name. The most widely recognised example is probably that of Adolphe Sax, the son of a Belgian musical instrument maker. Born 200 years ago he went on to cultivate a new instrument, the saxophone, which in turn cultivated numerous enemies (including Adolf Hitler, the…
Podcast: Shostakovich 132 Oct 2014 | 9:00 amVasily Petrenko and the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra bring their brilliant cycle of the Shostakovich symphonies to a stupendous conclusion with the release of the Thirteenth Symphony, Babi Yar. It's a work the Russian conductor has inhabited since his teenage years, when he first recorded it as a member of the male chorus. In conversation with Edward Seckerson, Petrenko reveals his insights into a work that simultaneously courted controversy and attracted fame for the composer.
The devil's in the detail25 Sep 2014 | 9:00 am"Why should the devil have all the best tunes?" … or something along those lines. The exact quotation and its source have long been the subject of speculation. But the devil certainly has attracted the attention of many fine composers who have etched him (or maybe her) into the musical annals as vividly as visual artists have done down the ages. My own first brush with a spooky chill down the spine happened at a production of Weber's 1821 opera Der Freischütz in which the devil makes his dramatic midnight appearance at the end of the Wolf's Glen Scene to claim the soul of…
Podcast: Out of character18 Sep 2014 | 9:00 amRichard Strauss, Giacomo Puccini and Giuseppe Verdi are all remembered as famed composers of operatic masterpieces. But they also contributed to the string quartet repertoire with a handful of works that are immediately attractive, yet relatively unknown. Raymond Bisha unveils these skilfully crafted rarities. Album details… Catalogue No.: 8.573108
Classical CD Reviews
Bach Cello Suites Viola de Hoog13 Oct 2014 | 8:31 am<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE AR-SA MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 9]>
Wagner Die Walküre Solti 19613 Oct 2014 | 3:41 am<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE AR-SA MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 9]>
Lachenmann String Quartets JACK Quartet17 Sep 2014 | 8:22 am<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE AR-SA MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 9]>
Kirill Gerstein Imaginary Pictures10 Sep 2014 | 7:42 am<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE AR-SA MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 9]>
Schoenberg Moses und Aron Cambreling SWR SO Baden-Baden und Freiburg2 Sep 2014 | 5:22 am<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE AR-SA MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 9]>
Classical CD Reviews
Bach Cello Suites Viola de Hoog13 Oct 2014 | 8:31 am<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE AR-SA MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 9]>
Wagner Die Walküre Solti 19613 Oct 2014 | 3:41 am<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE AR-SA MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 9]>
Lachenmann String Quartets JACK Quartet17 Sep 2014 | 8:22 am<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE AR-SA MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 9]>
Kirill Gerstein Imaginary Pictures10 Sep 2014 | 7:42 am<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE AR-SA MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 9]>
Schoenberg Moses und Aron Cambreling SWR SO Baden-Baden und Freiburg2 Sep 2014 | 5:22 am<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false EN-GB X-NONE AR-SA MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 9]>
Anne Midgette: Most Recent Articles and Archives
The verdict(s) on "Klinghoffer:" a review roundup22 Oct 2014 | 6:22 amI am still in the process of reading all of the critical responses that have appeared so far to the "Death of Klinghoffer" at the Metropolitan Opera, and I know more will follow. I am compiling all the links here in part simply as a service to myself, but I'm sure I'm not the only person who is interested in the discussion. I'll keep adding more as I get them. Read full article >>
Lindsey, Portillo shine in Washington Concert Opera's "I Capuleti e i Montecchi"29 Sep 2014 | 2:52 pmThe Wolf Trap Opera deserves a lot of credit. This is not, to be clear, a review of a Wolf Trap production. The show I saw on Sunday, Bellini's "I Capuleti e i Montecchi" (a.k.a. "Romeo and Juliet"), was presented by the Washington Concert Opera, and an engrossing, melodious presentation it was. But two of its brightest lights have sung leading roles in this region. David Portillo, a tenor, and Kate Lindsey, a luminous mezzo-soprano, each spent two summers at the Wolf Trap company, which identifies and supports young talent. (Lindsey, from Richmond, was back at Wolf Trap for an…
Eric Owens on singers and opera companies: "We need to help them help us."11 Jul 2014 | 10:28 amI wanted to write about Eric Owens, the bass-baritone, because he seems to be turning up an awful lot of places as artist-in-residence — Glimmerglass, Wolf Trap, and the Washington National Opera. I didn't realize, however, just how deep his commitment to expanding his role actually is — something I outline in my article in this Sunday's Washington Post, as he spends six weeks with the young singers at the Wolf Trap Opera. Read full article >>
The NSO's 'Fantasia,' a critic's guilty pleasure31 May 2014 | 10:17 amPutting together a picnic, and sitting on the lawn with friends, sipping warm white wine out of plastic cups, a couple of which inevitably develop hairline cracks from being sat on or squashed in the car on the way over, while a balloon bobs over your picnic basket to make it easier for your other friends to find you in the crowd, until the person behind you protests that the balloon blocks her view and the usher comes over to tell you to get rid of it, and you wish you could let it drift up in the sky, like some of the other freed balloons, rising over the grounds and perhaps signaling to…
The audience of the future responds to "The Magic Flute."3 May 2014 | 8:39 pmMy review of the Washington National Opera's "The Magic Flute," which opened on Saturday night, will appear on line on Sunday, and in print in Monday's paper. I was, however, accompanied by a friend who was so eager to report that he took notes during the show, returned home and produced an overnight review on the spot. Here, then, is a ten-year-old's initial assessment, as told to me (with minimal editing), of "The Magic Flute." Read full article >>
Met Opera premiere of John Adams' The Death of Klinghoffer22 Oct 2014 | 4:00 amMonday, October 20 marked the opening of the Metropolitan Opera's highly anticipated production of The Death of Klinghoffer, with a score by John Adams and a libretto by Alice Goodman. The Met's production has been dripping with controversy and allegations that the opera is anti-Semitic, which led to the cancellation of the international simulcast of [...] Visit I CARE IF YOU LISTEN's Blog to read more!
5 Questions to Paul Dresher (Composer)21 Oct 2014 | 4:00 amAt Roulette, on Sunday, October 26, the Paul Dresher Double Duo will perform Double Ikat Part 2, Dresher's invented instrument duo Glimpsed From Afar, John Cage's Six Melodies for Violin & Keyboard Instrument and Martin Bresnick's Fantasia on A Theme By Willie Dixon. TwoSense performing the world premiere of Dresher's three movement duo for cello & [...] Visit I CARE IF YOU LISTEN's Blog to read more!
This week: concerts in New York (October 20 – October 26, 2014)20 Oct 2014 | 4:00 amImmix Christopher Yohmei Blasdel & Sasha Bogdanowitsch present new original works & improvisations for shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute) , voice, world instruments & electronics, intermingling ancient instruments alongside contemporary creations. Monday, October 20 at 7:30 PM Tickets $12 JACK, 505 ½ Waverly Ave, Brooklyn, NY ..:: Website Sonic Tapestry | Roomful of Teeth Roomful of [...] Visit I CARE IF YOU LISTEN's Blog to read more!
I CARE IF YOU LISTEN Magazine: Issue 9 is out!17 Oct 2014 | 5:10 amIssue 9 of I CARE IF YOU LISTEN Magazine is out! Ti Ra Ki Ta* by Thomas Deneuville Music for Heart and Breath on Deutsche Grammophon by Daniel J. Kushner Aspen Diaries by Aaron Holloway-Nahum Indian Music in New Music by Ronni Reich Michael Harrison: A Portrait by David Dies Getting Started With Arduino by Nick [...] Visit I CARE IF YOU LISTEN's Blog to read more!
Troubadour Blue by Nils Bultmann on Innova16 Oct 2014 | 4:00 amOften the viola is not thought of as a solo instrument. It is the connecting timbre between violin and cello, the warm, reedy middle layer that we crave in the orchestra whether we know it our not. Troubadour Blue is an album that revolves almost entirely around this overlooked instrument making it stand out against the cello suites [...] Visit I CARE IF YOU LISTEN's Blog to read more!
9 upbeat pop songs I had on repeat16 Oct 2014 | 8:30 amMany Classical pianists don't "learn" pop music, but let's face it: playing pop music can be motivating and catchy. Let's add some pop into the mix. I picked out some favourite songs from my playlist for you. Then I paired these with video clips from the summer, that were swimming on my computer. The piano sheet music solos are […]
How to start a concert tour across the country4 Oct 2014 | 9:30 amIf you're a performer, concert tours might be special for you. Even if you're not a performer, you'll benefit from meeting people who love what you do. My friend the metal guitarist, Andrew Baena, is home from touring across Canada so of course we had to sit down. He first started playing guitar in his bedroom, and made some smart choices that grew his […]
How to Ignite a Passion That You Thought Was Dead (Plus a Giveaway!)13 Sep 2014 | 8:40 pmThere are many reasons we phase out of doing something we love, and often we don't notice how far we've strayed until we're long gone. I was in the garden, watering, when my neighbour's piano-playing filtered through like the ghost of an old friend. This neighbour and I had never met, but we'd shared the same taste in piano music and […]
How Comfortable Are You With Your Wild Side? Here's a Quiz.4 Sep 2014 | 7:40 amBeing wild isn't the same as being comfortable in your own skin. A pianist can be wild in the practice room but uncomfortable displaying this onstage. We have so many names for this– nerves, performance anxiety, butterflies. I've interviewed performance experts around the world, and so many of them suggest that the playing must push […]
Favourite Moments of Spring/Summer29 Aug 2014 | 6:01 amBefore we welcome the fall season, let's look at how the past few months were enjoyable, interesting, and most of all, worth anticipating. Starting the Design Lab course was one of my major experiments this summer. I like that it was a difficult project, that sometimes I ignored my guts and slapped my forehead afterwards, that I was […]
Grand Piano Passion™
A Pianist Experienced with Hearing Loss20 Oct 2014 | 2:00 amAmateur pianist Joyce Morton plays Beethoven and talks about coping with hearing loss and customizing her hearing aids for music in this video interview. Nancy M. Williams, Founding Editor The full article A Pianist Experienced with Hearing Loss is on Grand Piano Passion™.
Your Brain on Adult Music Lessons6 Oct 2014 | 2:00 amStudies show that music lessons are good for your brain as a child or an adult. An adult student wants to see if studying the flute will improve her memory. Lesley Green Leben, Contributing Writer The full article Your Brain on Adult Music Lessons is on Grand Piano Passion™.
Piano Keys: Theory, History, and Secrets Unlocked8 Sep 2014 | 2:00 amLearn the history of how our modern piano keys came to be, and what they represent, from sound frequencies and mathematical relationships to music theory. Jay Alan Zimmerman, Contributing Writer The full article Piano Keys: Theory, History, and Secrets Unlocked is on Grand Piano Passion™.
A Listening Profit from My Hearing Loss2 Sep 2014 | 9:55 amNancy M. Williams looks back on how she used to hide her hearing loss, but realizes she draws strong listening skills and musicality from her hearing loss. Nancy M. Williams, Founding Editor The full article A Listening Profit from My Hearing Loss is on Grand Piano Passion™.
Top 10 Warning Signs You May Be a Piano Nerd25 Aug 2014 | 2:00 amAn adult piano student has detected an unintended consequence of her passion for piano: becoming a piano nerd. Here's a list of the top 10 warning signs. Nancy M. Williams, Founding Editor The full article Top 10 Warning Signs You May Be a Piano Nerd is on Grand Piano Passion™.
Free piano concert tonight at Tulane @8pm20 Oct 2014 | 7:27 amHere are the program details: Newcomb Dept. of Music Presents Pianist Andre Ponochevney Monday, October 20th- 8:00 pm Dixon Hall-Tulane University Free admission Program Domenico Scarlatti, Six Sonatas D Minor K 213 E Minor K198 C Major K487 B Minor K87 E Major K531 A Major K24 Sergey Prokofiev, Sonata No.7 in B flat major, Op. 83 Allegro…
Free Halloween worksheet pack from Eartrainingandimprov.com!13 Oct 2014 | 8:16 amI just happened upon this bundle from http://www.eartrainingandimprov.com/ in my inbox this morning. It's a great assortment of beginner music theory worksheets for children. I printed them all out and am going to assemble a worksheet packet that my students will work through up until Halloween. Kristin (the lady behind the packet) gives great suggestions for how to make these exercises extra fun for kids. I'm especially looking forward to the rhythm dictation worksheet called "Knock, Knock Trick or Treat." If the student "knocks" correctly, they get the…
JK. We decided to stay here.13 Oct 2014 | 8:02 amI know I said we were moving, but wordpress called us back. So just ignore that moving thing we mentioned here. Note: posts that were made on our website NewOrleansPianoTeacher.com are still there. Maybe one day I'll move them here, but in the meantime, check there for content too.
15 Things You Need to Know About Supporting Your Child Learning to Play the Piano15 Sep 2014 | 9:33 amCollin:Has some really great insights. Especially nos. 3, 5, and 9. I may print this out and distribute to students! Originally posted on Elissa Milne: This list was first published in It Takes Two Generations at the end of 2013. If you're a parent who has no background in playing a musical instrument it's easy to be overwhelmed by the number of things the piano teacher accidentally takes for granted along the way. Don't be overly worried about this – the teacher won't have enough time in each lesson to fill in all the gaps and still keep your child engaged and enthused about…
Moving!4 Jun 2014 | 10:18 amWe are jumping ship from our present wordpress home and putting our blog where it belongs – on our regular website. Find future posts (and old ones as soon as we migrate them) here!
Classical Commentary: Barry Lenson's Classical Music Blog
Let's All Boycott The Death of Klinghoffer22 Oct 2014 | 6:06 amIs there any possible reason why an opera with this power and deeply moral message should be protested?Protests raged the other night when the opera The Death of Klinghoffer by John Adams was performed at the Metropolitan Opera. It is good to protest operas that incite hatred, ask us to think about evil people, contain offensive stereotypes, or marginalize anyone.But if you want to do away with Klinghoffer, moral consistency requires that you boycott the following operas too, or possibly burn their scores . . . You must never again attend performances of Mozart's Don Giovanni, which…
When Composers Need Promotion5 Oct 2014 | 6:57 amCarl Nielsen I always feel a little suspicious when the works of a particular composer need "promotion," don't you? The first such composer who comes to mind is Paul Hindemith. Back in the 1940s, my parents attended some meetings of a Hindemith Society in New York, an organization that endeavored to teach music-lovers about the system that Hindemith (1895-1963) used to compose music. The society also aimed to encourage listeners to appreciate his works. Today, several Hindemith societies still exist, including the Hindemith Institute in Frankfurt, Germany. And then there are the…
The Dumbest Thing I Ever Heard about Opera, Part One15 Sep 2014 | 2:39 pmDolora Zajic – Are you going to tell me that anybody sang this aria better than this in years gone by?In case you missed it, the title of today's post is a joke. But it is a joke with a point, because just when you think you have heard the dumbest thing ever said about opera, somebody seems to come along to top it.But of all the dumb things ever said about opera, this is surely one of the dumbest . . . "All the great voices . . . where have they gone?"I have heard this idiotic opinion many times over the years. I think the first time was about 40 years ago (gulp, I must be old) when I…
A Very Smart Bluffer's Guide to Classical Music4 Sep 2014 | 7:18 amI recently wrote an article "Twelve Musical Works that Every Student Should Know," for the Classical Archives Newsletter.In the weeks since then, I've been thinking about cultural literacy, which can be roughly defined as a person's knowledge about the most important stuff that ever happened. I don't know about you, but I have come to know many people who have graduated from college – even very prestigious ones – who don't know a dog-eared thing about some of the most important cultural milestones ever. Here are some examples, which don't pertain only to…
Toscanini Genius: The 1954 Ballo Broadcast19 Aug 2014 | 6:11 amI grew up listening to recordings of Toscanini performances on LP. Mostly, I played a boxed set of Wagner orchestral excerpts so often that the LPs were practically playing both sides at once. I also spent a lot of time listening to the 1947 Toscanini recording of Otello with Ramon Vinay, Herva Nelli and Giuseppe Valdengo. They were great recordings, but I now realize that they lacked punch. Perhaps the engineering and analog vinyl format submerged the immediacy of the actual performances. That could be why I find a YouTube audio of Un Ballo in Maschera to be so extraordinary and…
Stars & Catz » Classical Music & Opera Buzz
Music Review: American Symphony Orchestra Presents 'Marriage Actually' + MORE20 Oct 2014 | 5:00 pmToday's News & Buzz The Kuss Quartet Particularly Impress in Haydn and Mendelssohn – www.seenandheard-international.com Haydn, Janáček, Mendelssohn: Kuss Quartet [Jana Kuss & Olivier Wille (violins), William Coleman (viola), Mikayel Hakhnazaryan (cello)], King's Place, London, 17.10.2014 (CS) Haydn: String Quartet in D Op.50 No.6 (Hob. III:49, The Frog) Janáček: String Quartet No.1 (Kreutzer […]
Mahler's First Symphony: Victory and Paradise + MORE16 Oct 2014 | 5:02 pmToday's News & Buzz Classical Music News – Mats Rondin – www.mvdaily.com Swedish cellist and conductor Mats Rondin died in October 2014, aged fifty-four Continue Reading On www.mvdaily.com » Troubadour Blue by Nils Bultmann on Innova – www.icareifyoulisten.com Often the viola is not thought of as a solo instrument. It is the connecting […]
Rare Performance of Peter Ronnefeld's Nachtausgabe + MORE14 Oct 2014 | 9:02 pmToday's News & Buzz One more into the breeches – parterre.com "Norwegian mezzo-soprano Ingeborg Gillebo will make her Met debut singing the role of Cherubino in this evening's performance of Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro, replacing Isabel Leonard, who is ill." This from the Met press office. Continue Reading On parterre.com » BBCSO/Oramo/Hadelich […]
Avec la garde montante + MORE13 Oct 2014 | 10:02 amToday's News & Buzz Alcina, The English Concert, Barbican, London and touring – review – www.ft.com At times, this concert performance of Handel's opera resembled a sing-off between starry soloists Continue Reading On www.ft.com » Mozartian magic, a bacchanal – www.theaustralian.com.au IN Concerto for Orchestra, premiered by West Australian Symphony Orchestra, Carl Vine […]
Keeping my head in the clouds + MORE12 Oct 2014 | 6:02 amToday's News & Buzz The Trial, Music Theatre Wales, Linbury Studio Theatre, review: 'cannily pitched' – www.telegraph.co.uk Rupert Christiansen wishes Philip Glass could build dramatic momentum into his opera Continue Reading On www.telegraph.co.uk » Philip Glass : The Trial, Music Theatre Wales Linbury ROH – classical-iconoclast.blogspot.com Music Theatre Wales presented the world premiere […]
The Violin Channel | The World's Leading Violin, Strings & Classical Music News Source
Frank Huang Announced as 2nd Trial Candidate for New York Phil Concertmaster20 Oct 2014 | 8:26 pmThe New York Philharmonic has today announced 36 year old Chinese-born American violinist Frank Huang as the second candidate to be invited to officially trial for the orchestra's coveted Concertmaster position. "Mr Huang remains one of several candidates being considered for the position of Concertmaster," a statement released to the New York Times has read, "….additional details about the search and audition procedures remain confidential." The New York Philharmonic has been conducting an ongoing search for a new Concertmaster to succeed Glenn Dicterow, who retired at…
Injured Hilary Hahn Cancels Further Concerts Due to On-Going Muscle Strain20 Oct 2014 | 7:22 pmViolin virtuoso Hilary Hahn has today announced the further cancellation of 3 additional upcoming scheduled performances – due to an ongoing 'inflamed muscle' injury. "I have made solid, steady progress, and fully expected to be healed in time for my engagement with The Cleveland Orchestra. Unfortunately, my doctor has said that performing next week would be detrimental to my long-term recovery. With sadness, I must withdraw from these concerts," Hahn has said via Facebook. On July 24th, the 34 year old announced she was withdrawing from all performances for 6 weeks – due to a…
VC 'Young Artist' InMo Yang Awarded 1st Prize at New York's Concert Artists Guild20 Oct 2014 | 6:35 pm19 year old VC 'Young Artist' InMo Yang, from South Korea has been awarded 1st prize at the 2014 Concert Artists Guild Victor Elmaleh Competition, in New York. A student of Miriam Fried at the New England Conservatory, InMo is a former prize winner at the Menuhin and Joachim International Violin Competitions. He will received US $5,000 and 2 years artistic management with CAG Artists. IN MO YANG | YSAYE | CAPRICE D'APRES L'ETUDE EN FORME DE VALSE DE SAINT-SAENS | MENUHIN COMPETITION | 2014 Chinese pianist Fei-Fei was awarded 2nd prize – with 3rd presented to Canadian…
VC GIVEAWAY | Enter to Win 1 of 5 Personally Autographed 'Schubert' Chamber Music CDs19 Oct 2014 | 1:33 pmThe help celebrate the international release of 'Schubert', featuring a selection of Schubert chamber works by violinist Lara St John, Berlin Philharmonic Principal Harpist Marie-Pierre Langlamet, Soprano Anna Prohaska and Berlin Philharmonic Principal Cellist Ludwig Quandt, The Violin Channel in conjunction with Ancalagon Records is this week giving away 5 personally autographed copies. Exclusive VC Giveway! 5 Chances to Win! Personally Signed by Lara St John and Marie-Pierre Langlamet. Enter Now: http://s.heyo.com/75cfce Entries Close: October 26th, 2014 The post VC GIVEAWAY |…
MEET THE PROS | Cho-Liang Lin, Juilliard School & Rice University – 'VC 20 Questions' [VIDEO]19 Oct 2014 | 1:00 pmThe Violin Channel recently caught up with acclaimed violinist Cho-Liang Lin – jury member of the 2014 International Violin Competition of Indianapolis. We sat the Taiwanese-born American virtuoso down for a quirky game of 'VC 20 Questions' – to help gain some fun insight into the man behind the music. CHO-LIANG LIN | THE JUILLIARD SCHOOL & RICE UNIVERSITY | 'VC 20 QUESTIONS' Taiwanese-American violin virtuoso Cho-Liang Lin has appeared as soloist with many of the world's major orchestras- and in 2000 was awarded the coveted 'Musical America:…
Stephen P Brown
Classical vs. Pop Music16 Oct 2014 | 7:14 amSometimes I wonder if blog posts are fake, trying to prove a point that there are still people in the world who are passionate and take things too seriously. I know I do. On purpose. But I can... Give me more... →
Reaching for 'comfort'16 Oct 2014 | 2:45 amI recently spent some time delving into some possible reasons why live music affects us so much and so intimately - when we choose to let it. It was a fascinating study that led to... Give me more... →
#PsalmQuest 30 – "How Long?" for brass quintet14 Oct 2014 | 3:56 amThis is actually my first brass quintet in the #PsalmQuest, but the second I've ever written. It is a fun piece, and I would be thrilled if people from 30 different countries... Give me more... →
Refining more helps more9 Oct 2014 | 9:01 amConverse to many popular beliefs and teachings, when someone or a company narrows down their focus and refines their services, more people benefit. I know, weird, right? "Diversification" is still a buzz word in the Corporate world, as is "mergers and acquisitions" and a whole host of rebranded phrases … Give me more... →
#PsalmQuest 30 #CountryReview8 Oct 2014 | 12:08 pmA little while back someone suggested I gather together people from 150 countries to review one of my #PsalmQuest compositions. I don't have the resources to make that happen… yet. In the meantime, you can play a quick and easy part in helping to achieve it! For this composition, we're hoping to … Give me more... →
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FEATURE: The making of The Monograph Collection22 Oct 2014 | 10:13 amWith the fourth volume in The Monograph Collection, a collaboration between J&A Beare and Amati, about to be published, the series' writer John Dilworth reveals the challenges and discoveries of putting the books together In early 2013, less than a year after the publication of his monumental dictionary The Brompton's…
CONCERT REVIEW: Nash Ensemble/LSO St Luke's, London21 Oct 2014 | 12:59 amNash Ensemble: Marianne Thorsen, Laura Samuel (violins); Lawrence Power, Philip Dukes (violas); Rebecca Gilliver, Pierre Doumenge (cellos)LSO St Luke's, Thursday 16 October 2014 Rating: **** It's presently fashionable – and often enlightening – to explore the inner workings of the symphonic tradition through chamber-sized media, from Beethoven's own piano-trio arrangement…
CONCERT OF THE WEEK: Dumay, Meneses, Pires/Saffron Walden19 Oct 2014 | 11:45 pmWe look ahead to an unmissable music event over the next seven days Augustin Dumay (violin), Antonio Meneses (cello), Maria João Pires (piano)Saffron Hall, Saffron Walden, Saturday 25 October French violinist Augustin Dumay, Brazilian cellist Antonio Meneses and celebrated Portuguese pianist Maria João Pires bring a combined 100-plus years of…
FEATURE: David Fulton – the Collector17 Oct 2014 | 2:33 amSeattle-based David Fulton has single-handedly amassed one of the world's most prestigious collections of fine stringed instruments. Peter Somerford spoke to him about how he got started, what drives him – and how he ensures their immaculate condition for future generations There are plenty of individuals around the world with…
THE IMMORTALS: Yehudi Menuhin15 Oct 2014 | 3:23 amIn the third of a series celebrating great string players of the past and present, Julian Haylock remembers the unbridled creativity and spiritual insights of Yehudi Menuhin Yehudi Menuhin was a violinist's violinist, whose recreative genius kept his interpretations brimming with zest and vitality right to the end of…