Seattle Times | MEMETERIA by Thomas May

March 18, 2016 • 4:55 pm 1

John Adams’s Extraordinary Night with the Seattle Symphony

JA-Seattle John Adams with the Seattle Symphony (photo credit: Chris Bennion)

Here’s my Seattle Times review of last night’s Seattle Symphony concert with John Adams at the podium:

The chance to hear a great living composer conducting his own music is rarity enough. But the new work John Adams has brought with him is rarer still: a composition created in the here-and-now that shows every sign of becoming part of the canon.

Leila Josefowicz, photographed by Chris Lee, 5/13/15. Photo by Chris Lee

Filed under: John Adams, review, Seattle Symphony, Seattle Times, violinists

March 16, 2016 • 12:40 am Comments Off on Jeremy Denk’s “iPhone Shuffle about Syncopation”

Jeremy Denk’s “iPhone Shuffle about Syncopation”

JeremyDenk

UPDATE: This morning (16 March) I was informed that Mr. Denk — not uncharacteristically — has announced a last-minute change of program. The first half remains the same; the second half (originally Haydn, Beethoven, and Schubert/Wanderer Fantasy) will be replaced by the Goldberg Variations.

Here’s my latest story for the Seattle Times:

He’s got rhythm — “fascinatin’ rhythm,” as Ira Gershwin might say.

Toes will inevitably tap when pianist — and New Yorker contributor — Jeremy Denk returns to Seattle to perform at Meany Hall on Friday evening, March 18. For his recital, which concludes the President’s Piano Series at the University of Washington this season, Denk has programmed a dim sum of pieces to illustrate the way composers across the centuries have played with the beat.

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Filed under: pianists, preview, Seattle Times, Uncategorized

March 12, 2016 • 10:08 am Comments Off on John Adams Conducts Scheherazade.2 at Seattle Symphony

John Adams Conducts Scheherazade.2 at Seattle Symphony

JA-Sea

Illustration by Gabriel Campanario / The Seattle Times

The cover story of the weekend section of The Seattle Times‘ is my feature on John Adams. He’ll be in town this coming week to conduct the Seattle Symphony in the West Coast premiere of his brilliant new violin concerto/dramatic symphony Scheherazade.2:

Some people feel like they’ve missed out because Mozart and Beethoven lived in a different century. But they’re overlooking the great artists who are in our midst today — composers writing music that is just as meaningful, and just as likely to last.

Filed under: American music, John Adams, Seattle Symphony, Seattle Times

February 19, 2016 • 3:53 am Comments Off on Jordi Savall’s Weekend in Seattle

Jordi Savall’s Weekend in Seattle

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Here’s my Seattle Times preview of Jordi Savall’s upcoming weekend in Seattle (at the end of February):

Call it folk, world or early music: Jordi Savall is the master artist who makes whatever project he takes up seem to illuminate entire eras.

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Filed under: early music, Jordi Savall, preview, Seattle Times

February 8, 2016 • 7:21 am Comments Off on Igor Levit To Make Seattle Debut

Igor Levit To Make Seattle Debut

Igor Levit

My Seattle Times piece on Igor Levit has now been posted:

Unclassifiable pianist Igor Levit finds meaning in composers from Bach to Prokofiev

It’s common practice in the classical-music world — and an often annoying one — to introduce young soloists by reeling off a litany of their competition prizes, strung together like a list of battles won.

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Filed under: pianists, preview, Seattle Times

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