April 8, 2021 • 10:44 am Comments Off on Robert Carl: White Heron
My review of this marvelous BMOP anthology of Robert Carl’s music for Gramophone has now been posted here.
Aficionados of contemporary music will already be familiar with the name Robert Carl as a writer. He has authored extensive reviews for Fanfare and a recent, thought-provoking collection of essays on the challenges faced by 21st-century composers…
Filed under: American music, CD review, Gramophone
April 2, 2021 • 12:19 am Comments Off on Bach Passions
If you haven’t yet experienced the Peter Sellars staging of J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion, I can’t recommend it highly enough — and the Berliner Philharmoniker production with Simon Rattle is currently available to view for free (until Monday) at the Digital Concert Hall.
Meanwhile, Bach’s St. John Passion will be performed by John Eliot Gardiner, the Monteverdi Choir, and the English Baroque Soloists. It can be viewed for a fee of 9.90 Euros on a Deutsche Grammophon Stage stream from the historic Sheldonian Theatre in Oxford, starting at 3pm CET on Good Friday, 2 April.
Remarks Gardiner: “I look forward to this performance for DG Stage of Bach’s St John Passion. “I recorded the piece for the first time for Archiv Produktion back in 1986 and it remains truly special to me. Bach conceived the piece as much as an act of worship as a work of religious art. Almost 300 years after it was heard for the first time, it continues to move listeners of all faiths and none.”
And here’s a performance from 2019 of the 1725 version of the St. John Passion (available for the next 48 hours) from Solomon’s Knot: recorded live at the Nikolaikirche, Bachfest Leipzig, on 19 June 2019. Dramatization by John La Bouchardière.
Filed under: Bach, music news
March 30, 2021 • 1:41 am Comments Off on Bruits from Imani Winds
I reviewed the latest release from Imani Winds for Gramophone:
Musicians have felt an increasing urgency over the past year to become engaged with issues of social justice. Imani Winds were already there well before most, having devoted themselves to giving a platform to marginalised voices since they started out in 1997. So the moral focus of their new album, which addresses the effects of systemic racism, reflects much more than a current trend.
Filed under: CD review, Gramophone
March 28, 2021 • 12:40 pm Comments Off on Voices of Silicon Valley: On Stockhausen’s Stimmung
Sunday at 5PM PST, the Voices of Silicon Valley present a discussion of Stockhausen’s landmark work Stimmung.
Distinguished African American composer and media artist Pamela Z and Voices of Silicon Valley (VOSV) Artistic Director Cyril Deaconoff will discuss its cultural context, Stockhausen’s influence on the French spectral school (Gerard Grisey in particular), and the learning process and technique used by VOSV.
This discussion will be presented on VOSV’s Youtube channel here.
The 17-minute presentation was originally recorded for the digital Gala/ Orpheus album release party on 15 November 2020. After the re-broadcast this Sunday, it will stay on Youtube and may be viewed later. Stockhausen’s Stimmung appears on VOSV’s album Voices of Our Time, which features the first recording of this work by an American group.
Filed under: choral music, Karlheinz Stockhausen, music news
March 27, 2021 • 11:02 am Comments Off on Tribute to Clara Schumann
On Sunday 28 March at 5pm PST, Port Angeles’s Music on the Strait — the Strait of Juan de Fuca, that is — presents Tribute to Clara Schumann from the shores of Lake Sutherland. The performers include co-artistic director James Garlick (violin), Saeunn Thorsteindottir (cello), Orion Weiss (piano), and Nathan Hughes (oboe). Violist and Music on the Strait co-artistic director Richard O’Neill, who just won the Best Classical Instrumental Solo Performance Grammy Award, will introduce. The concert can be accessed for free here.
Program:
Clara Schumann: Three Romances for Violin and Piano, Op 22
Robert Schumann: Three Romances for Oboe and Piano, Op 94
Johannes Brahms: Wiegenlied and Liebestreu arr. for Cello and Piano
Clara Schumann: Piano Trio, Op 17
My story for the New York Times on Clara Schumann’s 200th birthday can be read here.
Filed under: chamber music, music news
March 20, 2021 • 9:41 am Comments Off on Bang on a Can Marathon Live Online
For MaerzMusik 2021, Bang on a Can has curated a special edition of its online Bang on a Can Marathon: four hours of live performances from both sides of the Atlantic. Bang on a Can Marathon Live Online – MaerzMusik Edition will be presented by Berliner Festspiele on Sunday, 21 March 2021 from 3pm-7pm ET.
The Bang on a Can Marathon is one of many events taking place during the MaerzMusik Festival 2021, running March 19-28. MaerzMusik 2021 aims at providing a variety of online experiences: world premieres recorded with state-of-the-art 360° camera and 3D sound technology, binaural audio streams, live-streamed concerts, pre-produced concert films, music videos, documentaries, lectures and talks.
In addition to the artists of the Bang on a Can marathon, works by Jessie Cox, Halim El-Dabh, Jessica Ekomane, Beatriz Ferreyra, Carlos Guitérrez, Sofia Jernberg, Marisol Jiménez, Hannah Kendall, Daniel Kidane, Tania León, Bernard Parmegiani, Éliane Radigue, Manuel Rodríguez Valenzuela, and many others can be experienced.
These digital productions are connecting the physical locations Haus der Berliner Festspiele, Chamber Music Hall of the Philharmonie, Zeiss-Großplanetarium, SAVVY Contemporary, silent green, Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin, Université du Québec à Montréal, and Schloss Rheinsberg, as well as private apartments and studios around the world where music, language, and moving images are being created for this festival. The full festival programming is available here: www.berlinerfestspiele.de/maerzmusik-en
The Bang on a Can Marathon is free to watch, but viewers are encouraged to consider purchasing a ticket. Doing so helps Bang on a Can and MaerzMusik to pay more players, commission more composers, and make more music.
Bang on a Can Marathon Live Online – MaerzMusik Edition
Set times are approximate and subject to change.
3PM NEW YORK | 8PM BERLIN
Daniel Bernard Roumain Why Did They Kill Sandra Bland? performed by Arlen Hlusko
Arnold Dreyblatt
Mazz Swift
Rohan Chander △ or THE TRAGEDY OF HIKKOMORI LOVELESS from FINAL//FANTASY performed by Vicky Chow
4PM NEW YORK | 9PM BERLIN
Kristina Wolfe Listening to the Wind performed by Molly Barth
Miya Masaoka
Aeryn Santillan disconnect. performed by Ken Thomson
Adam Cuthbert
5PM NEW YORK | 10PM BERLIN
Ken Thomson Birds and Ambulances performed by Robert Black
Tomeka Reid Lamenting G.F., A.A., B.T., T.M. performed by Vicky Chow
Steve Reich Vermont Counterpoint performed by Claire Chase
Christina Wheeler
Molly Joyce Purity performed by David Cossin
6PM NEW YORK | 11PM BERLIN
Tyshawn Sorey
Jeffrey Brooks Santuario performed by Mark Stewart
Moor Mother
Bill Frisell
Marathon Program Info
March 19, 2021 • 10:28 am Comments Off on Remembering Paul Taub (1952-2021)
Some thoughts on the wonderful and irreplaceable Paul Taub. May his memory be a blessing.
An internationally acclaimed flutist and pioneer of Seattle’s new music community, Paul Taub died at his home in Seattle on March 13 after a heart attack. He was 68.
Paul Taub’s last performances were with the organist Joseph Adam, on 26 February 2021 as well as in the video shown above, which premiered online on 28 February but was prerecorded for a program titled Solo Flute Spectacular. For the latter program, he played from Barang I (1974) by Barbara Benary (1946-2019) and the Air in G Minor (1947) by Lou Harrison (1917–2003).
His very last live performance took place on 26 February at Seattle’s St. James Cathedral. For this live concert stream, titled A Musical Prayer, Paul and Joseph Adam performed the following program:
Jehan Alain, arr. Marie-Claire Alain: Trois Mouvements for flute and organ
Alan Hovhaness: Sonata for Ryūteki and Shō, or Flute and Organ
Julie Mandel: Every Monday for flute alone (world premiere)
Anna Bon di Venezia: Sonata No. 1 in C major, Op. 1, No. 1 for flute and organ
Filed under: music news, new music, Seattle Chamber Players
March 19, 2021 • 9:16 am Comments Off on Happy Birthday, J.S. Bach!
Byron Schenkman & Friends presents an homage to the Thomaskirche Cantor with Happy Birthday, J.S. Bach! This concert features Joshua Romatowski on flute, Ingrid Matthews on violin, Caroline Nicolas on viol, and Byron Schenkman on harpsichord.
In addition to works by J.S. Bach, this program includes music composed around the time of his birth by Isabella Leonarda and Johann Kaspar Kerll.
This is a free digital concert and will be streamed at 7:00pm PST on Sunday, March 21, 2021; it will remain available at Byron Schenkman & Friends and on BS&F’s YouTube channel.
The video link above is to BS&F’s February concert, Piano Songs & Fantasies, which offered a remarkable program of Mozart, Teresa Carreño, Florence Price, Johannes Brahms, Margaret Bonds, Hale Smith, and Franz Schubert.
PROGRAM:
Filed under: Bach, Byron Schenkman
March 12, 2021 • 2:15 pm Comments Off on Nicholas Cords Offers Comfort and Connection with Touch Harmonious
For Strings magazine, I recently spoke with the wonderful violist and musical thinker Nicholas Cords about Touch Harmonious, his new solo album from In a Circle Records.
The story begins on p. 10 (pdf download).
Filed under: Strings
March 7, 2021 • 10:00 am Comments Off on Emerald City Music’s Spring Online Offerings
Emerald City Music has announced a series of concerts and musical events through May. Every month features a new cast of musicians who perform, share about their craft, and provide insights into the music they perform. The series is filmed in collaboration with two New York City-based filmmakers, Tristan Cook and Zac Nicholson, who bring their own artistic merits to this unique experience of chamber music.
All concerts will be available on Emerald City Music’s website and Vimeo platform for one month; at which point the next performance premieres. Listeners have a choice of how to gain access: pay for each performance for $20 (which supports future listening experiences) or share it on social media to gain free access.
Currently in rotation: The Calidore String Quartet pairs two quartets recently recorded for their newest album, Babel. These two works by Robert Schumann and Dmitri Shostakovich stem from bleak periods when each composer suffered, and overcame, depression. Their music transmits what occurs when music substitutes for language. In the case of Shostakovich, words aren’t enough to fill the void of forbidden speech. Schumann uses music to sing the name of his wife, Clara.
Filed under: chamber music, music news
Arts & Culture Stories from NPR
MEMETERIA by Thomas May 