Classical Notes: March 29, 2007 Archive

Creepy Guitar

Posted at 9:50 AM on March 29, 2007 by John Zech
Filed under: The blog

Joaquin Rodrigo, the blind composer who wrote the very popular Concierto de Aranjuez, once said the ideal Spanish guitar for composers would be a "strange, fantastic, multiform instrument with the wings of a harp, the tail of a piano, and the soul of a guitar."

I think I found one. It's actually weirder than what Rodrigo imagined, but then he didn't have YouTube. Jeff Esworthy put me onto this, and it's creeping me out....

Wow! new from Herzog & De Meuron

Posted at 10:35 AM on March 29, 2007 by John Birge
Filed under: The blog

From the architects who created the Tate Modern in London, and "the angry Rock 'em Sock 'em Robot Head" (as James Lileks so aptly described it) that is the Walker Art Center expansion in Minneapolis, comes a new concert hall design for Hamburg. Amazing inside and out! Scroll down for both views here.

Chanticleer calls

Posted at 2:00 PM on March 29, 2007 by Don Lee

The celebrated men's singing group Chanticleer has a young man from La Crosse under strong consideration for membership. The La Crosse Tribune has the story about Matt Curtis, 21, a junior at Viterbo University.

Not to shortchange Minnesota's own Cantus, but having been around for nearly 30 years, Chanticleer is the standard-setter in the field. So being invited to San Francisco for the final round of the group's auditions looks pretty good on a young singer's resume.

As the story and Chanticleer's Web site indicate, making it to the finals can be an end in itself. The group holds auditions every year, even if it doesn't have openings. Right now Chanticleer isn't looking for a new tenor.