Classical Notes

Virtuoso or "finger-merchant?"

2009-11-06T16:33:29Z

Just read an interesting piece about pianists as super-heroes, raising the issue of whether a piano soloist's job is to wow us with pyrotechnics or make beautiful music (hopefully both.) It brought to mind a conversation I had with the visiting artist Kirill Gerstein about playing even etudes musically!

Classical Grrl Power

2009-11-05T03:43:00Z

The BBC reports that Durham Cathedral, one of the England's oldest and largest, has admitted girls to its traditional choir of men and boys. The girls sang Evensong last Sunday. Going forward, the choir will have 20 boys and 20 girls, most girls between the ages of nine and eleven. It's the end of a tradition that goes back to the year 1640, and as The Very Reverend Michael Sadgrove put it: "It is not often that we can genuinely say that we are making history in a cathedral as old as this." From 1703 to 1741, Antonio Vivaldi spent the last 38 years of his life as teaching and conducting the all-girl orchestra at the Ospedale della Pieta in Venice. It was a home for orphaned, abandoned, or illegitimate girls. Music was a primary activity, and the level of instruction was so high that some parents would try to pass off their legitimate children as illegitimate in order to get them in! A plaque outside Vivaldi's school warned that anyone who attempted this fraud would be struck by lightning. The Seika Girls' High School Band of Japan isn't restricted to orphans, but it's one of the best in the world. Hey, forget the Supremes and all those other Girl Groups of the '60s; the precision and passion in this video is stunning. Check out the powerful low brass section; they put many college-age bands to shame. (BTW, props to my old friend Aaron Brask of the Jacksonville Symphony for passing this along...)

Composing Well Is the Best Revenge

2009-11-04T23:39:05Z

The financial and legal ordeal of composer Peter Maxwell Davies, who had been defrauded by his former manager, has reached some kind of closure. Details here, including the revenge that the composer is mulling over.

This Week's Euro Classics

2009-11-04T09:15:42Z

Okay all you classical music night owls, there's another Euro Classic coming up late tonight. Just past midnight I'll present an exclusive recording featuring the Aviv Quartet playing the Shostakovich String Quartet No. 3 in F. Shostakovich himself thought this Quartet was one of his finest achievements. It was composed in the immediate aftermath of World War II. Tonight's Euro Classic was recorded live in September, 2008 at the Beursschouwburg, Brussels. And don't forget Saturday's Euro Classic. Just after 8pm, Philippe Jordan conducts the Radio France Philharmonic Orchestra in Bartok's Two Pictures. This concert took place last February at Salle Pleyel in Paris. Hope you can tune in, either on the radio or on-line.

Another American Conductor on the Disabled List

2009-11-04T05:26:50Z

While conductor James Levine's medical leave keeps getting longer, another American conductor has cancelled a couple of weeks worth of concerts. Current Detroit Symphony music director Leonard Slatkin gave new definition to the phrase "the show must go on" Sunday night in Rotterdam. He suffered a heart attack, but managed to finish the concert before undergoing surgery later that night. Read more about it here.

Halloween with Ben Folds at Orchestra Hall

2009-11-03T15:52:57Z

In the previous blog, my colleague Alison Young talked about dressing as an SPCO musician wannabe Halloween night in St. Paul. Down I-94 in Minneapolis that night, Orchestra Hall was handing out fake eye-glasses to patrons (many in costume) attending the Minnesota Orchestra pops concert featuring Ben Folds, who's known (among other things) for his horn-rimmed specs. Nice touch for a night full of fun music. Special kudos to Pops conductor Sara Hicks who seemed to have as much fun as anyone, including coming out for the second half of the concert as Cher, along with Folds' Sonny. Being a big fan of Folds, I was really curious to hear how this collaboration would work - and for the most part, it worked quite well. Most importantly though, the hall was packed - and I'm guessing a good portion of those in attendance had not been there before and were hearing the Minnesota Orchestra for the first time. Hopefully, they'll be back.

"Air" musician anyone?

2009-11-01T18:38:56Z

Last night at the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra's Halloween concert, a long black formal served as my costume. I went as an SPCO musician-wannabe. When I sit in the host's chair at Classical MPR, I often air-conduct or air-play all the right notes in some tricky solo right along with the CD. Why else BE a host? No performance anxiety for me! Composer Michael Gordon wrote in his blog yesterday about the popular 'rock band' and 'guitar hero' videos and asks why not bring out an orchestra hero and give us all a chance to virtually play in one of the great orchestras? The comments are as fun a read as his blog.

Minnesota Organist/Composer Dies

2009-10-29T06:17:53Z

Word from Michael Barone about the death Wednesday night of Minnesota organist and composer Paul Manz, whose most famous choral work is the Advent motet "E'en So, Lord Jesus, Quickly Come." In 2001, Manz was featured in a PIPEDREAMS program of his compositions, performances and commentary. More about that when you click here. Paul Manz was 90.

Blogger Adams

2009-10-28T14:07:07Z

Add composer John Adams to the list of prominent musical bloggers. Go here to see his jottings on air travel, taking his pointer Eloise to the dog show, preparing a work for its world premiere, and more. We have a member drive going on right now -- thanks to all our contributors!

Up Late With The Euro Classic

2009-10-28T07:08:32Z

I hope you're making it a habit to stay up late on Wednesdays for our weekly Euro Classic on Classical Minnesota Public Radio. You can catch the Euro Classic each week, just after midnight (so it's actually Thursday morning!) - a recent European concert performance, recorded live and made available exclusively to Classical Minnesota Public Radio listeners. Tonight I'll feature a performance by Finnish baroque violinist Sirkka-Liisa Kaakinen and the Helsinki Baroque Orchestra playing the D Major Violin Concerto by Johann Agrell. The performance took place last June at the Rococo Theatre in Schwetzingen, Germany. And there's another Euro Classic Saturday night (October 31st, in the 8:00 hour), as Bob Christiansen presents a performance of Prokofiev's Piano Concerto No. 3 by Cedric Tiberghian and the Hong Kong Sinfonietta.

Interactive Ives

2009-10-23T21:58:51Z

If you remember our series The MTT Files (MTT being conductor Michael Tilson Thomas), you'll be interested to know that new episodes of the related TV series, Keeping Score, have now been released. They're accompanied with abundant amounts of online information--text, images, video, and interactive pages. Here's one that lets you be your own Charles Ives. It combines Taps, played by a single trumpeter, with a marching band. The trumpeter stands in a skiff on a New England pond; with your mouse, you can place him off in the distance, or bring him in to shore, as the band plays on (or not). Charles Ives had a fondness for this kind of aural scene-setting--give it a try for yourself.

Messiaen as performance art

2009-10-23T19:47:57Z

When Olivier Messiaen was a prisoner of war, he composed one of the most astonishing pieces of music of the 20th century: "The Quartet for the End of Time." It's said that Messiaen suffered from Synesthesia - the neurological condition that blurs the senses. Messiaen called it "colored hearing." So it seems only natural that the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center would create a music video of painters in the act of creating vivid and colorful art to the music of Messiaen. Thanks to Michael Barone for finding this video!

What does classical music mean to you?

2009-10-23T14:31:51Z

We're in the thick of our fall fund drive - audible groan - but even amidst the interrupted programs, the extra shifts and my stumbling over the myriad different ways of saying the same thing (that we need your support to keep the music you love on the air) an odd and glorious thing happens: listeners tell us WHY they listen. Just yesterday I read thank-yous from as far away as Anchorage and Dubai saying classical MPR is their "refuge," it keeps them sane, it's a place to feel free, energized and inspired. And the odd thing is that after reading these words, I begin to remember the reasons why I also need to be surrounded by classical music. Thanks for supporting the music - but most importantly, thanks for sharing with me what the music means to you!

Levine: The Arrangement is Perfect

2009-10-22T21:32:44Z

Conductor James Levine found himself taking an unexpected medical leave a few weeks ago, as we reported previously on Classical Notes. He was supposed to be back in action tonight with the Boston Symphony, but now he'll wait until October 30th. With this being his third medical leave in the last five years, some wonder if his jobs as music director of both the Metropolitan Opera (in NYC) and the Boston Symphony are too much for him to handle, but he says no:

"The way it works is much more stimulating and much more in balance in terms of artistic growth and artistic content than it would be if I did one or the other."

Compared to holding jobs in New York and Munich, as he used to do, it's a piece of cake. And everybody else is doing it. Read more about it here.

Clubbin' with the Cello

2009-10-22T04:30:14Z

Matt Haimovitz is one of the best cellists in the world today, and you're liable to see him play just about anywhere. Haimovitz is midway through his "Figment" Tour, saluting contemporary music icon Elliott Carter and also bringing together a wide range of important new music for cello and electronics. Look for Haimovitz next week, just up the block from Orchestra Hall in Minneapolis.....at the Dakota Jazz Club. The Haimovitz Dakota gig is October 28th at 7pm. There's a lot more about this innovative young artist when you click here.