Classical Notes: August 2006 Archive

Menlo: outdated by the time you read this

Posted at 12:09 PM on August 1, 2006 by Brian Newhouse (1 Comments)
Filed under: Concerts

I gave a talk the other day to 40 or so young musicians who’ve come to study at Music@Menlo, its title being “Your Career and the Troublingly Open Arms of Media.” I’d hoped to give them a few inside tips on making recordings so that they would all become nice and famous. But the problem, I started by telling them, was that these tips would be obsolete by dinnertime.

Sooner or later these performers (8-28 years old) will want to give media a great big hug. But media and technology and the legalities that swirl around them shape-shift every six hours. How to succeed? Here’s one credo and as far as I can see it’s the most reliable one around: more is better. Chris Andersen, Wired Magazine’s editor-in-chief, said recently that musicians have to become “agnostic” about media and create as many ways as possible for the audience to find them; don’t presume ahead of time how people will want to find music. I added that, while musicians and consumers get excited about new technologies, also don’t forget that radio (very solid research says) is still going to be the dominant way for Americans to hear classical music for at least the next five to ten years.

That’s it in a nutshell, though how these musicians execute on that, and in particular make money at it, is a whole semester’s worth of classes. The Menlo kids asked smart questions afterward, but I could tell they’re nervous – reaching for a door they know someday they’ll want to open yet not sure what’ll be behind it.

Talented, passionate kids. How they love this music. I wish I could tell them.

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Menlo: students and the pros

Posted at 11:19 AM on August 2, 2006 by Brian Newhouse (8 Comments)
Filed under: Concerts

You should see how the eyes on the Music@Menlo student musicians narrow as they watch the veterans here perform. The pros – all of whom have international careers touring and recording – make it look so easy. Last night for instance, the Orion String Quartet had us in the palm of their hand with Mozart’s haunting arrangement of Bach’s Prelude and Fugues from the Well-Tempered Clavier. Watch the kids’ faces during moments like that and you see this great mix of awe and determination forming: ‘I want to do that’ and ‘I will do that.’

In my talk to these students the other day I told them that, while they’re busy practicing and dreaming, give some thought about how they’re going to position themselves if the big record companies and promoters are a little slow in calling. How can you make your art, I asked them, how can you be useful to your community – which by the way is a pretty solid strategy for gathering great press and advancing your careers.

In a story taken from my own backyard, I told them about a Minneapolis elementary school that’s trying hard to keep music in the curriculum. I showed them Jerry Holt’s gorgeous slide show that ran with this Star Tribune article. Check it out yourself here.

Now go back and stop the show when the counter is 15 seconds from the end. What do you see in that photo?

That girl’s eyes have stayed with me ever since this story ran in the paper two months ago. She’s part of Minneapolis’ burgeoning east-African refugee community and most likely has seen things I hope never to see. But there she is, that bright shiny flute in her hands and she’s doing her best. I told the Menlo kids that, while you can see many things in that photo, something you can’t miss is plain, simple opportunity. This girl is waiting for us, all of us, including the future stars of Menlo, to show her how. Being useful to her could jump-start or be a whole career right there.

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Menlo: Nicolas van Pouke

Posted at 10:38 AM on August 3, 2006 by Brian Newhouse (31 Comments)
Filed under: Concerts

I’m taking Jayson’s point when he responded to Monday’s blog and, while I assure him that every effort is made to keep the Boredom Quotient as low as possible, I’m going to yield the floor to someone whose B.Q. is in deep negative numbers.

He’s Nicolas van Pouke, all of 13 years old, who came from the Netherlands to study piano at Music@Menlo. Ten, twenty years from now the people at this year’s Festival are going to say “We heard him in ’06…” This kid is an animal, and after a concert last night he came up to me and asked if I’d like to listen to his performance at the finals of the Princess Christina Competition in his native Holland this spring. Very shyly he handed me this CD.

Here he is playing the first movement of a Haydn Sonata (Hob. XVI: 50) live in front of judges and audience in The Hague. I’d bet this month’s rent that Nicolas, who hasn’t started to shave yet, is going places. Let me know what you think, Jayson.

Listen to Nicolas van Pouke perform the first movement of a Haydn Sonata

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Menlo: the set and setting

Posted at 3:18 PM on August 4, 2006 by Gayle Ober
Filed under: Concerts

As MPR producer Brian Newhouse and I stood on the grounds of the Menlo School yesterday, I could see why Artistic Directors Wu Han and David Finckel chose this location for their festival, Music@Menlo. With its bright white buildings, gravel driveways and mature trees, it is a beautiful place that encourages you to come in and stay for a while.

Shortly after arriving, we were greeted by the head of the Menlo School, Norman Colb. As we looked up at the magnificent old mansion that anchors the school, he told us the "real" story of how Wu Han and David chose this place. It goes something like this: One winter when the school was on break, Wu Han and David were visiting a friend who lived not far from the Menlo campus. Their host insisted that they see the grand ballroom of the mansion on campus, which he claimed had wonderful acoustics. There's a bit of a mystery about how Wu Han, David, and their host garnered a key to get into the building, but in they went. What they discovered was a beautiful space that begged to be filled with glorious music.

Yesterday we heard music from noon onward, but it seemed like a very short day, with performances from the youngest members of the Festival Academy—10-year-olds playing early Mozart works for piano and violin—to some of our nation's most accomplished wind players giving us snippets of the magic that we would hear in future concerts. We might expect this from a summer festival led by two of America’s finest chamber musicians, but there is such a spirit of discovery and unbridled joy on the grounds during the day and in the concert hall in the evening that makes me want to gather a group of friends and return next year for more. As I listen to the broadcasts in the weeks ahead, I'm eager to experience this visit to Music@Menlo again.

Gayle Ober is Director of Classical Programming at American Public Media and Minnesota Public Radio. She joined Brian Newhouse in Menlo on Wednesday.

Menlo: Ara Guzelimian

Posted at 3:31 PM on August 4, 2006 by Brian Newhouse
Filed under: Concerts

Headed home now, wishing everyone who’s stopped by to read this blog could spend at least a day with Music@Menlo.

Ara Guzelimian, Carnegie Hall’s Artistic Adviser, gave the lecture-demo last night and took the audience into Mozart’s wind music. That topic didn’t really grab my lapels when I heard it was coming: Mozart was all about the symphony, the operas, the piano concertos, and the string quartets – not necessarily winds. But working with musicians onstage and with bits of recordings, Ara showed us how Mozart so often picked a wind instrument when he wanted to say something uniquely powerful.

Ara didn’t even mention the late clarinet masterworks (the Concerto, the Quintet) which would’ve made his point right there. Instead, he went into the piano concertos, operas like The Magic Flute, Clemenza di Tito, and even the pivotal C Minor String Quintet, and showed how wind instruments either inspired them or put blood in their veins.

Menlo 2006 is all about the world’s most famous composer, but also the composer you hear on hold and in the elevator, the composer you take for granted and don’t really hear after a while. Last night I got an ear scrubbing. I’ll probably grab some perfect stranger by the elbow in an elevator someday and say, “Listen! Clarinets in pairs! Mozart’s voice of angels…”

Like I say, I wish everyone could be here at least a day or so, to remember why he or she fell in love with this music in the first place.

Menlo: final post

Posted at 2:03 PM on August 7, 2006 by Gayle Ober
Filed under: Concerts

“Oh, to have a camera right now!,” Brian Newhouse lamented on Friday afternoon as we watched Jorja Fleezanis, the Concertmaster of the Minnesota Orchestra, rub “Tiger Balm” into the shoulders of one of the young violinists studying at Music@Menlo. We all stood around a picnic table on a bright sunny California afternoon and watched as Jorja accompanied her ministrations with stern, caring words about stretching, warming up and generally taking care of the body during these intense rehearsals. Meanwhile all around us, the younger students were playing ping pong or laughing like they were at a playground.

Having spent some time at the Aspen Music Festival, also a marvelous training ground for young musicians, I tried to remember if I’d ever witnessed such a personal interaction between a professional musician and a student. I’m sure it happens there as well, but just the sheer size of that festival, versus the intimacy of Music@Menlo, would preclude an outsider like me from sharing in the joy and awe of that moment.

This opportunity to hear great chamber music and watch as professional musicians teach others their craft flows everywhere throughout Menlo. And, it’s done right out in the open for all to see. From open rehearsals to the coaching sessions, those of us watching are invited to be a part of the learning. One more example:

Saturday morning was the final coaching sessions for the Sunday concert given by the 18-and-under students. The session began with the oldest students and finished with the very youngest. Some of them could be described as prodigies, others are just talented young people who work very hard to play this well. During this coaching session, Wu Han (coffee cup and cell phone in hand) took time to offer last-minute advice on technical and musical matters. She also heaped praise on every student and encouraged those of us in the audience to help her through our applause and cheering.

Then David Finckel and she talked about getting on and off the stage, gave tips on how to manage your audience when you have a quiet ending, and how to get your face out of the score during your solo part so the audience knows that something special is happening. Each student is also required to speak to the audience via a little introduction to their piece. No detail was forgotten and no opportunity for praise overlooked.

In the midst of creating some of the most memorable chamber music concerts I’ll ever attend, I could not help but be reminded of the fact that Wu Han and David and their teaching and performing colleagues are creating the next generation of chamber musicians. They are also nurturing and educating the future of our world and doing it with great love and affection for the music and for those who create it. The students are asked to be the best they can be but in an environment that acknowledges that they are indeed emerging human beings who need more than just lessons, coachings and performances.

If I were the parent of one of the young students at the Music@Menlo Festival, I would want to know that in addition to giving the incredible musical experiences, someone rubbed Tiger Balm on my child’s tired and sore shoulders and made sure they played ping pong after lunch.

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Menlo listening: Shostakovich

Posted at 5:44 PM on August 12, 2006 by Brian Newhouse
Filed under: Concerts

Shostakovich: Sonata for Cello and Piano in d minor, op. 40
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For Menlo's first three seasons, co-artistic directors David Finckel and Wu Han never appeared in duet together because they—a phenomenal husband-wife cello-piano team—were very conscious that Menlo should not be all about them. Their focus was on the music itself and the artists they'd invited. But here in the first moments of the first 2006 concert they paired up for this fantastic performance that shows why they are who they are.

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Menlo listening: piano trio

Posted at 2:59 PM on August 14, 2006 by Brian Newhouse
Filed under: Concerts

Shostakovich: Piano Trio No. 2 in e, op. 67
—Derek Han, piano; Ani Kavafian, violin; Peter Wiley, cello
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Mozart celebrated birthday number 250 this year, so he was the headline of the 2006 Menlo festival, but the sub-head was Shostakovich who has 100 candles on his cake. Not that there’s much celebrating going on in this piece, written in the horrible year of 1944. If you like your music nice and dramatico, here you go. If you’ve only got a minute to sample it, drop the needle on the very beginning of the first movement and check out Peter Wiley’s beautiful, eerie cello solo, pitched so high that it sounds like a completely different instrument.

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Menlo listening highlight

Posted at 11:28 AM on August 23, 2006 by Brian Newhouse
Filed under: Concerts

Mozart: Church Sonatas in F, K. 244; E-flat, K. 67; C, K. 336
Ani Kavafian, Tein-Hsin Wu, violin; Peter Wiley, cello; James Welch, organ

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These churchy pieces always make me smile, knowing a bit about the complexity of Mozart's character, especially his delight in bathroom humor. But here he is being a good pious young man, and a professional composer trying to please his boss.

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Menlo listening highlight

Posted at 3:41 PM on August 25, 2006 by Brian Newhouse
Filed under: Concerts

Mozart: Piano Quartet in g, K. 478
Wu Han, piano; Ani Kavafian, violin; Carla Maria Rodrigues, viola; Peter Wiley, cello

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The delicious final course in the musical meal of Menlo's first program.

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Menlo listening highlight

Posted at 2:58 PM on August 29, 2006 by Brian Newhouse
Filed under: Concerts

Schubert: Fantasy for Piano, Four Hands, in f, D. 940
Jeffery Kahane, Wu Han, piano
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I think Schubert must have had read some twisted, tragic story before sitting down to write this, because he's so clearly trying to do the same with this music. He tells it as a story in four movements—four chapters, if you like—but each one flows without a break to the next. Jeffrey Kahane takes the lower part, while Wu Han plays 'right hand.' Afterward Jeffrey was telling me how surprised he was at the power of this particular Steinway, especially the low end, and that if he'd had another set of hands he would've covered his ears! (see post Menlo: noisy world)

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