December 7, 2020 • 12:50 pm Comments Off on Golijov’s Falling Out of Time
Here’s my review for Gramophone of Osvaldo Golijov’s remarkable new collaboration with Silkroad Ensemble, Falling Out of Time.
Though conceived and created well before the pandemic, Osvaldo Golijov’s latest collaboration with Silkroad Ensemble seems uncannily well suited to the era of corona.
Filed under: CD review, Gramophone, Osvaldo Golijov, Silk Road Project
December 5, 2020 • 12:13 pm Comments Off on Songs at the Confluence: Indigenous Poets on Place
Songs at the Confluence: Indigenous Poets on Place is a digital poetry event presented by the Adrian Brinkerhoff Poetry Foundation and Tippet Rise Art Center, in partnership with In-Na-Po (Indigenous Nations’ Poets). It is presented in conjunction with the recently published Norton Anthology of Native Nations Poetry, When the Light of the World Was Subdued, Our Songs Came Through, with curation by Kimberly Blaeser and Jake Skeets.
This video contains seven short films by emerging and celebrated Indigenous poets reading their own work, as well as other works from the anthology; a discussion between two of the anthology’s editors, LeAnne Howe and Jennifer Foerster; and video recordings of the inspiring landscape and music produced at Tippet Rise.
Poets included: Kimberly Blaeser (Anishinaabe), Sy Hoahwah (Yapaituka Comanche and Southern Arapaho), Brandy Nalani McDougall (Kanaka Maoli), and Jake Skeets (Diné) reading their own work, and anthology editors LeAnne Howe (Choctaw) and Jennifer Foerster (Mvskoke) in discussion. Also included: Jake Skeets reading a poem by Adrian Louis (Lovelock Paiute), Kimberly Blaeser reading a poem by b: william bearheart (Anishinaabe-St. Croix), and Jennifer Foerster reading a poem by Louis Little Coon Oliver (Mvskoke).
Filed under: poetry, Tippet Rise
December 4, 2020 • 10:31 am Comments Off on Dover Quartet at Cal Performances
While preparing to write program notes for the upcoming stream from Cal Performances — a concert by the Dover Quartet that premieres on 10 December — I got to submerge myself in some glorious string quartets. Along with Haydn’s Op. 76, No. 2 (“Die Quinten”) and Dvořák’s magnificent Op. 106, the Dovers will perform an early work from the years while György Ligeti was still in Budapest (Métamorphoses nocturnes).
Here’s a look at the Ligeti, with score included:
Filed under: Cal Performances, Ligeti, string quartet
November 29, 2020 • 10:50 am Comments Off on Deep Listening with Arvo Pärt
The best-of lists for a worst-of year are being finalized all around. One sure contender is this remarkable collection of choral music by Arvo Pärt from Gloriæ Dei Cantores.
The Cape Cod-based choir, which is led by Richard K. Pugsley, has a deep affinity for the Estonian composer. Each member of the choir has participated in study projects on Arvo Pärt’s style and his approach to text setting.
Gloriæ Dei Cantores’ repertoire includes larger Pärt works such as Passio and the Stabat Mater as well as the less frequently heard L’abbé Agathon and Berliner Mass. The recording is rooted in their experience singing his music in worship, on tour, and as part of an extensive concert series at their home, the Church of the Transfiguration in Orleans, Massachusetts.
The recording offers a powerful sampling of the range of Pärt’s choral writing, including his settings of Salve Regina and Nunc dimittis. L’abbé Agathon “sets the scene of an ancient 4th century story of the chance (or was it?) meeting of the hermit Agathon and a leper. After several testings of the hermit’s patience and his generosity, the leper reveals himself to be an angel, and blesses the hermit Agathon, and goes on his way. “
The exuberant Peace Upon You, Jerusalem and the Magnificat are juxtaposed with Pärt’s unforgettable setting of the sorrowful Stabat Mater, the culminating work on this collection. Originally commissioned to mark the centenary of Alban Berg’s birth in 1985, the piece was expanded in a new version that premiered in 2008.
“Music is my friend, ever-understanding. Compassionate. Forgiving, it’s a comforter, the handkerchief for drying my tears of sadness, the source of my tears of joy,” says the composer. These six selections span a large part of Pärt’s career and encourage a state of deep listening, far past the poisonous noise of the year now coming to a close.
Filed under: Arvo Pärt, choral music, recommended listening
November 24, 2020 • 6:04 am Comments Off on Seth Parker Woods and Seattle Symphony Premiere Tyshawn Sorey’s For Roscoe Mitchell
Cellist Seth Parker Woods and the Seattle Symphony with David Robertson conducting; image (c) James Holt
I reviewed the world premiere of Tyshawn Sorey’s extraordinary new Seattle Symphony commission for Musical America. Here’s a longer version of the opening paragraphs (including some details that had to be cut for length):
Like an artfully spliced film sequence, the highlight of Seattle Symphony’s concert on November 19 seemed to bridge the painful months separating us from the pre-COVID-19 era. Tyshawn Sorey’s For Roscoe Mitchell for cello and orchestra transmitted all the excitement that comes with a “normal” world premiere of an important composition.
The account featuring Seth Parker Woods as the soloist and guest conductor David Robertson on the podium cast such a powerful and lasting spell that I occasionally forgot this was an online stream. Performing live in real time from the Benaroya concert hall, the musicians felt more present than is usually the case in the virtual medium.
The initial round of shutdowns in the spring had cheated us of hearing the piece as originally intended: in the context of a Beethoven festival juxtaposing several new commissions with a complete symphony cycle, which had been planned as last season’s culmination. Sorey’s new work is his first SSO commission and the final project envisioned by former vice president of artistic planning Elena Dubinets before her lamented departure from the organization.
In September, SSO began a new online season, using its own streaming service, Seattle Symphony Live, as a platform to disseminate live performances from its home concert hall (sans audience). For Roscoe Mitchell barely escaped a second postponement. This concert was the last event allowed to proceed before new statewide mandates for Washington caused all remaining 2020 concerts to be canceled.
Filed under: commissions, Seattle Symphony, Seth Parker Woods, Tyshawn Sorey
November 17, 2020 • 9:45 am Comments Off on Seattle Opera’s Elixir of Love Beams with the Joy of Singing
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 16, 2020 • 8:47 pm Comments Off on 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
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
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
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
Arts & Culture Stories from NPR
MEMETERIA by Thomas May 