Filed under: music news, Nelson Freire, pianists
November 4, 2021 • 5:47 pm Comments Off on RIP Nelson Freire (1944-2021)
RIP Nelson Freire (1944-2021)
November 2, 2021 • 10:50 am Comments Off on Recovered Voices 2021: Schulhoff and More
Recovered Voices 2021: Schulhoff and More
On Tuesday 2 November, an online series delving into the life and music of Erwin Schulhoff (1894-1942) will be launched. Titled Recovered Voices 2021: Schulhoff and More and presented by the Los Angeles-based Colburn School’s Ziering-Conlon Initiative for Recovered Voices, the series will explore this prolific and multi-faceted composer who drew on an enormous range of styles and influences.
From the press release:
The Ziering-Conlon Initiative for Recovered Voices was established in 2013 with the purpose of championing composers such as Schulhoff whose lives were disrupted—or even ended—during the years of the Nazi regime in Europe. In collaboration with Robert Elias and with the critical support of individual philanthropists, the Initiative continues to bring this important repertory back to life for generations to come through performances, classes, competitions, symposia, recordings, and more.
For the past seven years, the Ziering-Conlon Initiative offered an annual semester-long course, “Recovered Voices: An Examination of Lesser-Known Composers and Works of the Early Twentieth Century,” with weekly lectures by Conlon, Elias, and other experts. Due to COVID, the annual in-person course was reimagined for digital platforms. This free series will consist of four 45-minute multimedia presentations by Conlon exploring the life and legacy of composer Erwin Schulhoff, including musical examples—most performed and recorded by Colburn musicians—in each installment.
Recovered Voices 2021: Schulhoff and MorePresented by James ConlonAll episodes premiere at 12pm PT
Nov. 2, 2021Recovered Voices 101
Nov. 16, 2021Erwin Schulhoff’s Early Life and Music: Tradition Meets Dada
Nov. 30, 2021Erwin Schulhoff: A Classical Music Jazz Prophet
Dec. 14, 2021Erwin Schulhoff: The Twenties and a Turn Toward Socialist Realism
All episodes will be available at colburnschool.edu/schulhoff.
Filed under: James Conlon, music news, recovered voices
October 21, 2021 • 3:51 pm 1
RIP Bernard Haitink (1929-2021)
Bernard Haitink has died. The 92-year-old conductor passed away peacefully at home, according to his representatives.
I had the privilege of attending his very final concert, in the summer of 2019, when he led the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra at Lucerne Festival. He maintained a close association with Lucerne for many years, including a nearby residence. Haitink’s farewell song was Bruckner’s Symphony No. 7 (without score), paired with Beethoven’s G major Piano Concerto, with Emanuel Ax as the soloist.
Christian Wildhagen penned an eloquent review: ““Hatte er zuvor bei Beethovens 4. Klavierkonzert vorrangig Emmanuel Ax, einem feinsinnigen Pianisten der alten Schule, in nobel-zurückhaltender Weise die Bühne bereitet, so kam bei Bruckner noch einmal der grosse Architekt, der überragende Formgestalter Haitink zur Geltung. Wie beim späten Günter Wand wird die Detailarbeit hier mitnichten zur Nebensache, sie bildet aber lediglich die Basis für eine viel weiter ausgreifende Gestaltung, in der Entwicklungen teilweise über drei, vier Minuten behutsam entfaltet werden (etwa in der magischen Rückführung zur Reprise im ersten Satz oder beim grossen Wagner-Epitaph im Adagio), während sich die Spannungsbögen sogar bruchlos über ganze Sätze wölben.”
That summer–the last before the pandemic–there was also a vernissage for the publication of Erich Singer and Peter Hagmann’s fine collection of essays and conversations with Haitink: Dirigieren ist ein Rätsel. An English translation has yet to be issued.
Filed under: Bernard Haitink, Lucerne Festival, music news
October 16, 2021 • 7:34 pm Comments Off on Joy and Sorrow Across the Waters
Joy and Sorrow Across the Waters
UPDATE: Here’s a link to this lovely concert.
Byron Schenkman & Friends launch their ninth season on Sunday, 17 October, with the program Joy and Sorrow Across the Waters. It promises to be a fascinating program, presenting traditional music and stories of the Coast Salish People alongside 17th-century European Baroque music for violin and harpsichord from Spain, Italy, Germany, and the Netherlands. The performers include Native American flutist Paul Chiyokten Wagner, Ingrid Matthews, and Byron Schenkman.
This free digital premiere will launch at 7:00 PM, Pacific Time, and remain available on the BS&F website (www.byronandfriends.org) and the BS&F YouTube channel (https://youtube.com/c/ByronSchenkmanFriends). Free access; donations welcome here.
The program lineup:
Bartolomeo de Selma y Salaverde: Canzona III (for violin and continuo)
Maddalena Casulana: Amor per qual cagion (for harpsichord)
Paul Chiyokten Wagner: Elk Spirit Calls (for flute and drum)
Jan Pieterszon Sweelinck: Unter der Linden grüne (for harpsichord)
Johann Schop: Lachrymae Pavan (for violin and continuo)
Paul Chiyokten Wagner: Skitu: story of a merwoman
Paul Chiyokten Wagner: Gentle Crystalline Waters (for solo flute)
Paul Chiyokten Wagner & Byron Schenkman: Salish Sea Improvisation (for flute and harpsichord)
Andrea Falconieri: La Monarca (for violin and continuo)
Giovanni Battista Fontana: Sonata III (for violin and continuo)
Filed under: Byron Schenkman, music news
October 9, 2021 • 11:53 am Comments Off on Two Pianos, 40 Fingers: Judith Cohen & Friends
Two Pianos, 40 Fingers: Judith Cohen & Friends
The beloved Seattle-based pianist Judith Cohen will be joined Jill Timmons, Terry Spiller, and Dean Williamson for an intriguing edition of the Governor’s Chamber Music Series on Sunday, 10 September, at 3pm at the Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue, WA. Titled Two Pianos, 40 Fingers, the eight-hands program includes music by Liszt, Debussy, Ravel, Piazzolla, and more.
Filed under: music news
October 6, 2021 • 1:36 pm Comments Off on Elena Dubinets, Russian Composers Abroad
Elena Dubinets, Russian Composers Abroad
The much-anticipated new book by the eminent musicologist and artistic programming genius Elena Dubinets has just been published: Russian Composers Abroad: How They Left, Stayed, Returned. I had the honor of contributing one of the cover blurbs for this study of a century of Russian émigré composers (especially from the 1970s on) and diasporic identities.
As Vice President of Artistic Planning and Creative Projects for Seattle Symphony, Elena Dubinets not only played a decisive role in shaping that institution — its international profile grew significantly under her tenure — but left a mark the American orchestral field generally.
To Seattle’s loss, Dubinets left the SSO just before the pandemic and has only recently embarked on a new path as Artistic Director of the London Philharmonic. The LPO is going through an exciting period of transition as it returns to live performances under its new Chief Conductor, Edward Gardner.
Highly recommended!
Filed under: book recs, music news
September 30, 2021 • 1:41 pm Comments Off on RIP Carlisle Floyd (1926-2001)
RIP Carlisle Floyd (1926-2001)
From NPR:
Composer Carlisle Floyd, widely viewed as a founding father of American opera, died Thursday at age 95 in Tallahassee, Fla. His death was announced by his publisher, Boosey & Hawkes, which did not share the cause of his death.
Filed under: music news
September 23, 2021 • 9:31 pm 1
What’s Happening to Seattle Symphony’s Thomas Dausgaard?
Seattle Symphony just announced that Thomas Dausgaard, who was reportedly unable to join his orchestra for last weekend’s much-anticipated gala concert and comeback to live performance, has been “further delayed due to pandemic restrictions.” As the official press release phrases it: “Due to continued and unavoidable governmental delays, the Seattle Symphony’s Music Director Thomas Dausgaard is unable to join the orchestra for his originally scheduled Delta Air Lines Masterworks Series concerts in October.”
Why the “continued and unavoidable governmental delays” when other artists have successfully managed the paperwork and roadblocks? Are they really unavoidable?
Here’s the complete wording of the press release:
Seattle, WA — Due to continued and unavoidable governmental delays, the Seattle Symphony’s Music Director Thomas Dausgaard is unable to join the orchestra for his originally scheduled Delta Air Lines Masterworks Series concerts in October.
As Dausgaard’s work visa process continues to be severely stalled due to COVID-19-related travel issues, the Seattle Symphony has confirmed two renowned guest conductors as substitutes. Eight-time Grammy winner Giancarlo Guerrero will take to the podium on October 7 and 9 for vibrant concerts that include Rachmaninov’s Symphonic Dances and Arturo Márquez’s Fandango, a new violin concerto featuring revered soloist Anne Akiko Meyers. Meyers will be performing instead of the previously announced violinist, Patricia Kopatchinskaja, who also encountered pandemic travel restrictions. Music lovers can also stream the October 7 concert on Seattle Symphony Live. Then, on October 14 and 16, Stefan Asbury will make his Seattle Symphony debut for a performance featuring soprano and composer Adeliia Faizullina and her Tatar Folk Songs, which won the Seattle Symphony’s 2020 Celebrate Asia Composition Competition.
Filed under: music news, Seattle Symphony
September 4, 2021 • 7:09 am Comments Off on Rebecca Saunders World Premiere at Lucerne Festival
Rebecca Saunders World Premiere at Lucerne Festival
The British-born, Berlin-residing Rebecca Saunders is this summer’s composer-in-residence at Lucerne Festival. Tonight brings the culminating event of her residency: the world premiere of her piano concerto to an utterance. She wrote it while working closely with the soloist Nicholas Hodges, in her signature fashion, to explore aspects of the instrument’s sound potential.
The premiere was originally to have taken place last summer and had to be postponed because of the pandemic. In another twist, Ivan Volkov, who was originally scheduled to conduct, had to bow out just last week for reasons of health. Composer-conductor Enno Poppe will lead the newly named Lucerne Festival Contemporary Orchestra. They will then take the work to Musicfest Berlin.
“The solo piano within this concerto was conceived as a disembodied voice,” explains Saunders. “It seeks to tell its own story, wavering, almost painfully, inevitably failing to sustain its uncertain striving. It seeks to attain the silence of its end through its own excessive speaking: an incessant, compulsive soliloquy on the precipice of non-being.”
The clip above is from a piece titled “Study,” based on the solo part, that Saunders presented last year at the Musikfest Berlin.
to an utterance is the tenth in the series of Roche Commissions sponsored by the pharmaceutical giant Roche. The latest composer to be commissioned has also been announced: Thomas Adés, who will write a violin concerto for Anne-Sophie Mutter to be unveiled in the summer of 2022.
Filed under: Lucerne Festival, music news, Rebecca Saunders, Roche Commissions, Thomas Adès
August 28, 2021 • 12:32 am Comments Off on 2021 George Enescu Festival
2021 George Enescu Festival
The 25th annual George Enescu Festival is now underway in the composer’s native Romania. This year’s edition, held between 28 August and 26 September 26, is presenting over 3,500 international and Romanian artists. Most of the performances take place in Bucharest, but some are planned for other cities around Romania.
Paavo Järvi conducted the George Enescu Philharmonic Orchestra in the opening night concert–Ensecu’s Romanian Rhapsody Op. 11, no. 2, the Sibelius Violin Concerto, and Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2 on Saturday, with Hilary Hahn as the soloist. A complete listing of events programmed for this ambitious festival can be found here.
Filed under: George Enescu, music festivals, music news
MEMETERIA 