My review of Seattle Opera’s new Elixir of Love.
While the world pins its hope on a coronavirus vaccine, another elixir is getting top billing at Seattle Opera…
Filed under: review, Seattle Opera
November 17, 2020 • 9:45 am Comments Off on Seattle Opera’s Elixir of Love Beams with the Joy of Singing
Seattle Opera’s Elixir of Love Beams with the Joy of Singing
November 16, 2020 • 8:47 pm Comments Off on New Season from American Classical Orchestra
New Season from American Classical Orchestra
On Tuesday, 17 November, New York City’s American Classical Orchestra opens its 2020-21 season with the first part of Chaconne, a virtual program of chamber music in two parts.
Part One becomes available online starting at 7:30 PM EST on aconyc.org; the second part will be available on Friday, 20 November. It was filmed at Harlem Parish, a neo-Gothic church celebrated for its fan vaulting and fine acoustics. Along with the award-winning Mexican mezzo-soprano Guadalupe Peraza, the performers include the violinists Karen Dekker and Chloe Fedor, gambist Arnie Tanimoto, theorbo player Charles Weaver, and
Thomas Crawford on harpsichord. Suggested donation for virtual event: $25. Additional information here.
Here’s the complete lineup:
Part One: Tuesday, November 17, 2020, 7:30 PM (Pre-recorded)
Part Two: Friday, November 20, 2020, 7:30 PM (Pre-recorded)
Filmed at the Harlem Parish
Karen Dekker and Chloe Fedor, Baroque violin
Maureen Murchie,viola
Arnie Tanimoto, viola da gamba and cello
Charles Weaver, theorbo and Baroque guitar
Guadalupe Peraza, mezzo soprano
Thomas Crawford, harpsichord
Juan Arañés: Chacona a la vida bona
Nicola Francesco Haym: Ciaccona in E Major
Barbara Strozzi: L’Eraclito amoroso
Marin Marais: Chaconne in A Major, from Pièces de Viole, Book 4
Arcangelo Corelli: Trio Sonata, Opus 2, No. 12
Johann Sebastian Bach: Chaconne from Partita for Solo Violin, BWV 1004
François Couperin: La Favorite
Claudio Monteverdi: Lamento della Ninfa
Henry Purcell: Chaconne from King Arthur
Filed under: music news
November 15, 2020 • 2:15 pm Comments Off on Tuning Up to Stockhausen’s Stimmung
Tuning Up to Stockhausen’s Stimmung
Today (Sunday November 15) at 5 p.m. PT, Voices of Silicon Valley is having a free virtual gala/album launch party on their YouTube channel to celebrate the release of their recording of Karlheinz Stockhausen’s 1968 milestone Stimmung (Orpheus Classical).
Voices of Silicon Valley collaborated in 2017 with two of the original six members of the Stockhausen group Collegium Vocale, bringing this avant-garde milestone to the San Francisco Bay area for the first live performance there in three decades.
The new recording also includes works by Cyril Deaconoff. Joined by mezzo-soprano Leandra Ramm and Edwin and Diane Bernbaum from Vital Arts, the launch event includes the premiere of a new video production titled Searching for a Perfect Harmony. It features interviews with the Stimmung singers and artistic director Cyril Deaconoff, whose new choral works and string quartet are also featured on the album.
They will discuss the multicultural and global impact of Stimmung with the composer, performer, and multimedia artist Pamela Z and will highlight recent VOSV projects: the Ghost Ship Memorial concert and the Sugihara Project, which honors the Japanese diplomat who saved thousands of Jewish refugees during WWII.
Filed under: choral music, Karlheinz Stockhausen
November 12, 2020 • 1:49 am Comments Off on Cantata for a More Hopeful Tomorrow
Cantata for a More Hopeful Tomorrow
On Saturday evening at 7:30pm ET, the Washington Chorus presents the world premiere of Cantata for a More Hopeful Tomorrow, an innovative and timely work by Portland-based composer Damien Geter and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Bob Berg.
Commissioned by the Washington Chorus in response to stories of hope and the disproportionate impact that COVID-19 has had on the Black community, Cantata for a More Hopeful Tomorrow involves both a new score and a new film that was created as a collaboration between Geter and Berg.
The premiere will be streamed live on the Vimeo platform via TicketSpice and will thereafter be available via Vimeo+ on demand and other streaming services.
According to the ensemble’s website, this film-cantata “tells the story of one individual’s journey as he grapples with recovery from COVID-19: a journey from despair and hurt to redemption and hope” and features a score “influenced by Bach, modern music, and traditional spirituals.” Soprano Aundi Marie Moore will join the Washington Chorus as soloist, with Eugene Rogers conducting.
I wrote about Damien Geter in my cover story on “secular requiems” for the Summer 2020 issue of Chorus America’s Voice Magazine.
Filed under: African-American musicians, choral music, commissions, COVID-19 Era
November 11, 2020 • 8:01 am Comments Off on A Turning-Point in the History of Recording
A Turning-Point in the History of Recording
In the history of recording , what is called the “electrical era” began in the mid-1920s. But it was on this date 100 years ago, 11 November 1920, that the first-ever experiment in the new technology was made, at Westminster Abbey–at the Burial of the Unknown Soldier.
The clip above replicates what was recorded: “Abide with Me” and “Kipling’s Recessional.”
More on this turning-point here.
Filed under: music news, recording industry
November 9, 2020 • 10:54 am Comments Off on How Do You Stage an Opera During a Pandemic?
How Do You Stage an Opera During a Pandemic?
My latest story for Seattle Times, on a new, COVID-era staging of Donizetti’s L’elisir d’amore by Seattle Opera:
The course of true love never did run smooth.”
Shakespeare’s observation applies as much to effective artistic strategy as to human psychology. Even the sunniest of love stories needs complications to get the audience to invest its attention. But the COVID-19 pandemic has made Seattle Opera confront some unprecedented curveballs in order to realize its new production of Gaetano Donizetti’s lighthearted, seductively tuneful opera The Elixir of Love….
Filed under: directors, Donizetti, Seattle Opera
November 4, 2020 • 6:30 pm Comments Off on Ludovic Morlot Returns to Seattle Symphony
Ludovic Morlot Returns to Seattle Symphony
Watch Ludovic Morlot’s reunion with Seattle Symphony on Thursday 5 November at 7.30pm PT. You can watch the livestream on Seattle Symphony Live* here.
The program includes THOMAS ADÈS/Three Studies from Couperin; DEBUSSY: Danses sacrée et profane; MARTIN/Ballade for Flute and Orchestra; and HONEGGER/ Symphony No. 2.
*Monthly passes to Seattle Symphony Live are $12.99/month and include a free 7-day trial with no commitment required.
Filed under: Ludovic Morlot, Seattle Symphony
November 1, 2020 • 7:57 pm Comments Off on New Artist of the Month: Liza Stepanova
New Artist of the Month: Liza Stepanova
Musical America’s New Artist of the Month for November is Liza Stepanova. Here’s my story on this fascinating pianist.
See Stepanova performing Reinaldo Moya’s Rain Outside the Church with the video she commissioned from Kevork Mourad:
Filed under: Liza Stepanova, Musical America
October 31, 2020 • 1:28 pm Comments Off on American Youth Symphony’s Virtual Gala
American Youth Symphony’s Virtual Gala
The American Youth Symphony will present its virtual gala this Sunday Nov. 1 at 7pm ET. Tickets are free.
The program includes:
Igor STRAVINSKY: Symphonies of Wind Instrument AYS Virtual Wind & Brass Ensemble
Jessie MONTGOMERY: Starburst AYS String Ensemble
Carlos IZCARAY: Bloom, WORLD PREMIERE
Percussion Trio (Carlos Izcaray is the Music Director of AYS)
Benjamin BRITTEN: Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge AYS String Ensemble
Carlos Izcaray on his new piece, Bloom:
“Bloom is a piece for two percussionists and a keyboardist who operates both a synthesizer and pre-recorded electronic sounds. Wanting to highlight potent messages from the Black community, the sounds include recorded poetry readings by authors Gwendolyn Brooks (We Real Cool) and Lucille Clifton (won’t you celebrate with me), as well as extracts from George Washington Johnson’s 1890’s recording of The Laughing Song, early recordings from descendants of slaves, statements from recent student protests, and songs from Zulu singers that I recorded during a visit to South Africa. Shaped more or less as an arch, the first section, played by two marimbas, is optimistic and hopeful, but it is interrupted by a much darker synth-sounds middle section that reminds us of unresolved issues regarding equity and social justice. This middle episode erupts into a frenzy that points us towards a bright resolution.”
Filed under: music news
October 28, 2020 • 11:02 am Comments Off on Lucerne Festival Cancellation
Lucerne Festival Cancellation
Another round of bad news begins. While musical life with restrictions was continuing this fall in Europe, the coronavirus pandemic is far from over and is now causing a new round of cancellations. Today Lucerne Festival announced that it has been forced to cancel the “Beethoven Farewell” Fall Festival originally planned for late November.
From the press release:
We had been so looking forward to celebrating our “Beethoven Farewell” with you at the end of November and thus to concluding the difficult year 2020 in a spirit full of hope.
But the coronavirus pandemic has caught up with us again, and the second wave is frustrating our wonderful plans. After the latest decisions by the Swiss Federal Council, which were taken on 28 October 2020, it is unfortunately no longer possible to hold this Fall Festival. Therefore, with a heavy heart we must inform you that the five concerts we had planned cannot take place.
We are in close contact with Patricia Kopatchinskaja and Igor Levit, the two protagonists of “Farewell Beethoven,” and are already discussing how we might reschedule these projects and make up for lost time. We will keep you informed about all further developments – and hopefully come back to you soon with better news.
Filed under: Lucerne Festival, music news
MEMETERIA by Thomas May 