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December 31, 2007
"Classical business is temperamentally resistant to novelty"
* Paganini, Arthur Fiedler, The 5 Browns, and countless others would beg to differ.* 4 Discs of LPO, Beecham thru Boult.
* Mac users buy more music.
* DIY merch goes big time.
Originally posted by jodru from ANABlog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 31, 2007 at 11:22 PM | Comments (0)
Chico Hamilton... New York Art Quartet... Evan Parker... Albert Ayler... Mississippi Fred McDowell
There were so many good and great gigs this year that I have not had time to sit around and count them all up to wrap them into a retrospective. Shucks... Maybe tomorrow... But here are four tracks to consider before I roll out the last seasonal mix.Chico Hamilton – undersung somewhat overall and probably because of spending time out on the West Coast rather than in the belly of the New York beast where the main publicity action was to be found in jazz. (Although he was commercially very successful for a period in the fifties/early sixties). This is one of his 'chamber jazz' setups playing 'Theme for a starlet.' Introduced by see-sawing strings (Hamilton pioneered the use of cello in jazz) and Eric Dolphy's piping flute. Dennis Budomir's guitar joins them as they hit a slow steady tempo. Short, moody, more about texture than improvisation. A broadening of the palette.
A few years on and a pioneer band from 1964, The New York Art Quartet. The title track of their album, 'Mohawk.' Free jazz had arrived... Although Tchicai was and is a thoughtful player, not given to the scrawk and scream of other saxophonists. Jerky, pulling each other about in a collective performance that is, however, finely balanced overall. Rudd is marvellous, tailgate nouveau, playing off the alto, Workman deft and solid as needed, Graves underneath giving surely-pitched polyrhythmic ballast. A band that listens to each other. A compressed track, four and half minutes but much to consider. Underplayed and perhaps more interesting because of that...
Down the line a ways and Evan Parker, doyen of the European avant garde. A fairly short performance, not one of his marathons. Parker is one of the most consistently brilliant players around – this is 'Banda (O.D.J.B.),' taken from his 1991 album 'Process and reality.' Is there a joke in there, somewhere? Those initials spell 'Original Dixieland Jazz (Jass) Band to me... Or maybe an obscure homage? I wonder what Evan would make of 'Livery Stable Blues'? Anyway... exploring studio multi-tracking for the first time, (I think) he creates a dense space where his soprano weaves across itself, sounding at times like a riffing horn section and/or a tape loop as a line goes in a higher spiral over its cloned selves. A simultaneous evocation of jazz and Steve Reich style systems musics – all improvised freely...
And turning back (maybe): Albert Ayler, from his album 1967 album 'Love Cry,' the title track. One of the last sessions that the recently deceased Donald Ayler played on with his brother, if I remember correctly. (If not the last). A simple declamatory fanfare opens, a yodelling voice briefly echoes it (to return towards the end) then the horns have at it, fairly sedately – Albert is in the usual tenor register, Donald playing simple but strong figures – there is a very good blogpost about him here... Scuttling bass opens it up underneath as Graves rolls his drums out in waves. A distillation of the Ayler methods, quieter than the firestorms he was capable of. Evoking earlier jazz idioms of collective improvisation, simple folk forms, the trumpet especially giving a marching band feel almost, with a vocal quality coming from the blues (and gospel, as Godoggo pointed out a while back in one of his comments, although the saxophone vibrato is not quite as broad-banded here as it usually was). I love Albert...
Mississippi Fred McDowell in 1965... crisp stinging bottleneck, a rolling rhythm and Mississippi Fred's high plaintive voice combine in a crystalline, pure reading of 'Going down to the river.' Country blues brought back from obscurity for a new audience by one of the masters... timeless.
In the Videodrome...
Chico at Newport...
Mississippi Fred McDowell...
Charles Mingus takes the 'A' Train...
Evan and Ned...
Chico Hamilton (d) Eric Dolphy (fl) Dennis Budimir (g) Nathan Gershman (c) Wyatt Ruther or Ralph Pena (b)
Theme for a starlet
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New York Art Quartet
John Tchicai (as) Roswell Rudd (tb) Reggie Workman (b) Milford Graves (d)
Mohawk
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Evan Parker (ss)
Banda (O.D.J.B.)
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Albert Ayler
Albert Ayler (ts) Donald Ayler (t) Alan Silva (b) Milford Graves (d)
Love Cry
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Mississippi Fred McDowell
Going down to the river
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Originally from wordsandmusic, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 31, 2007 at 11:10 PM | Comments (0)
Happy long tail to all my readers
Right at the end of 2007 the Observer ran a story that shames the whole classical music community, including this and other blogs. It was about the BBC's rejection of director Tony Palmer's Vaughan Williams film, a news story that was featured prominently by the Observer and several music blogs, including this one. It now appears that the rejection letter quoted in the coverage was a publicity-seeking hoax, although the identity of the hoaxer remains unclear - read the full account here.
This story neatly sums up a year in which relevance became the order of the day, and swapping the long tail of culture for the short head of the mass market became the number one priority. 2007 saw Norman Lebrecht's attempts to go mass market hit the buffers, while William Barrinton-Coupe's efforts on behalf of his late wife met a similar fate. It was also the year when the Royal Opera House went mass market with its advertising, BBC TV went mass market with its classical music programming, Deutsche Grammophon went mass market with its album covers, John Foulds went mass market with his World Requiem, the BBC Proms went mass market with its crooners, and the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra went mass market with its concert attire and politics.
'Relevance' is in and the long tail is out. But it doesn't always work as Dominic Sandbrook recounts in his excellent book White Heat, a History of Britain in the Swinging Sixties? 'Many Protestant churchmen, alarmed at their inability to reverse the long decline in church-going, concluded that 'relevance was the order of the day'. According to Grace Davie, the churches, besotted like so many other institutions by the 'desire to be modern', consequently 'looked to the secular world for a lead and borrowed, in some cases rather uncritically, both its ideas and forms of expression'. It was in this period, for example, that liberal churchmen first began wielding guitars, introducing handclapping into the Anglican rite and generally conducting themselves like frustrated pop singers, a tactic that failed to attract many new parishioners and often alienated those still loyal to the Church of England'
In 2008 On An Overgrown Path will stay firmly focussed on the long tail, and now playing is Satori (1999) for solo harpsichord by John Palmer. A long way from the Anglican rite, Satori describes the spiritual awakening during Zen meditation. This penetrating work, with its long silences is influenced both by the composer's friendship with John Cage and by his deep involvement with Japanese culture. Adventurous and thought-provoking new music from the enterprising Sargasso label who revel in promoting the long tail. Check out good length audio samples here.
Excellent sleeve notes by Peter Burt, including this one for the title work on the CD - A koan, for instance, is that type of apparently nonsensical question by means of which students in the Rinzai school of Zen are trained to transcend the limitations of verbal reasoning, the most famous example perhaps being Hakuin's 'What is the sound of one hand clapping?' (My own mischievous answer has always been that it is the audience reaction at the average new music concert).
Peter Burt neatly disposes of the long tail versus mass market conflict with these words - All this picturesque 'Japaneseness' might make it sound as though the listener to this CD is in for a comfortable session of 'New-age' easy listening. But be warned: someone who submits himself to the ascetic severities of Zen monastery life could hardly be expected to opt for facile and superficial artistic solutions, and the musical language of John Palmer's work is uncompromisingly Western and modernist. It demands of its listener, no less than of its creator, an attitude of disciplined seriousness. Deeply rewarding listening.
Which eloquently sums up the long tail listening experience.
* Celebrate the New Year with some more long tail - my David Munrow on the record programme is being repeated on Future Radio by popular demand at 7.00pm on New Year's Day, click here for the audio stream.
Sand mandala header photo from my 2007 post about the Free Tibet campaign. And no apologies to all those who think politics, art and sport don't mix. With the Olympics in Beijing in 2008 it is a subject I'll doubtless be returning to. Sand mandalas are a motif in Martin Scorsese's film Kundun which also deals with the Chinese occupation of Tibet, and I featured Philip Glass' score for the film on internet radio in November. My middle photo is from Going Buddhist which featured the music of Lou Harrison, the footer image is from Zen and the art of new music about Jonathan Harvey's music, and there is another contemporary music Koan here from James Tenney. Lots of long tail links there for the New Year.
All photos (c) On An Overgrown Path 2007. Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk
Originally from On An Overgrown Path, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 31, 2007 at 05:12 PM | Comments (0)
I Have Seen the Future (& It's Not This Rosy)
Back from a holiday hiatus to Tucson and the rejuvenating environs of Rancho de Taylor. The desert sun and air did me good, but it also made the transition back to the double digit minus temps of Minneapolis all...Originally from Bagatellen, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 31, 2007 at 05:11 PM | Comments (0)
Hans Otte - Aquarian Music
I’m sitting here late into the night working away on some writing, listening to some of the loveliest music I’ve heard in quite some time, Hans Otte’s Siebengesang and Wassermanmusik from his album Aquarian Music (also listenable on Rhapsody). Such lovely harmonies and colors, I’m looking forward to getting to know these pieces much better over the next few weeks…
Originally posted by Steven from steven yi :: music, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 31, 2007 at 03:59 PM | Comments (0)
Waltraud Meier´s opera schedule until 2010/11
Approximate operatic performance schedule for Waltraud Meier until 2010/11 (from her agent http://www.hilbert.de/). Subject to changes, of course.
2008
Bastille Paris: LOHENGRIN/Ortrud
BadenBaden: TANNHÄUSER/Venus
Berlin: FIDELIO
Paris Bastille: TRISTAN
2009
Moscow: TRISTAN (Guest performance from Paris Opera)
Dresden: FIDELIO
Berlin: PARSIFAL
MET New York: WALKÜRE/Sieglinde
Paris/München: WOZZECK/Marie
2010/11
Berlin: TRISTAN
Vienna: LOHENGRIN and PARSIFAL
Milan LaScala: WALKÜRE/Debut: Brünnhilde
Originally from mostly opera..., ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 31, 2007 at 03:58 PM | Comments (0)
2008 - The Messiaen Year
My entrance into the works of Olivier Messiaen started with his organ music, which I find entirely unparallelled in it´s deep felt spirituality an ability to communicate faith. And surprisingly to me, I found it the most easily accessible of his music. For me, it started with this recording, moving me for days upon my first listening. I have never experienced faith, spirituality and the sense of eternity communicated so powerfully through music (or indeed through anything) before.Newcomers to Messiaen´s music may find his organ works easier to approach than most of his other output, as I did. Subsequently I have discovered much of the same beauty in his orchestral pieces. I still have trouble with the Vingt regards and the rest of his piano music and the Quartet for the end of time as well, but I suppose I am getting there...And I´m looking very much forward to the Francoise d´Assise in Amsterdam (see below).
2008 is Messiaen year, celebration his 100th birthday with events covering the entire year. Plenty of opportunity for ondes martenot listening and thus I might finally experience a live performance of the Turangalîla symphony.
More background on Messiaen and the festival year on his website here and at co-blogger On an overgrown Path.
A full list of all concerts may be seen on Messiaen´s website here. There are hundreds of events to attend all over the world.
The South-Bank Centre in London has a year-long Messiaen Festival, "From the Canyons to the stars". More here.
Events which I find of particular interest:
February 2nd: Olivier Messiaen Des Canyons aux etoiles. Ensemble Intercontemporain. Susanne Mälkki and Pierre-Laurent Aimard. London. More here.
February 7th: Turangalîla Symphony w/ Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Philharmonia. London. More here.
February 17th: Boulez Rituel in memoriam Bruno Maderna and Messiaen "Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum" London Sinfonietta; Peter Eötvös, Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, UK. More here.
May 1st: Ascension day service at Westminster Abbey with the organ version of l´Ascension. More here.
Spring 2008: Listening to Messiaen´s complete organ works at various London locations. More here.
June 2008: Saint François d´Assise musical director Ingo Metzmacher, director Pierre Audi; Camilla Tilling, Rodney Gilfry at Amsterdam Opera, Holland. More here.
August 31th 2008: Turangalîla Symphony, Simon Rattle with Berliner Phil. More here.
October 16th: La Transfiguration de notre seigneur Jesus-Christ for chorus & orchestra, Nagano with the Philharmonia. London. More here.
December 10th: Couleurs de la cité céleste and Sept Haïkaï, Boulez: sur Incises, Ensemble Intercontemporain w Pierre Boulez. London. More here.
Originally from mostly opera..., ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 31, 2007 at 03:58 PM | Comments (0)
Before you go...
Ludovic Morlot made his official, subscription series debut with the Chicago Symphony last night, having filled in at the last minute for Riccardo Muti previously. His lack of pretension and focus on the details, along with an ability rare in a musician not yet 40 to corral the differing ideas of a large group of musicians caught my eye when I first heard him, and so it went last night. (I'm not the only one to take notice.) Strauss's over-the-top Suite from Der Rosenkavalier was appropriately over-the-top, but not ugly. And I've heard it done ugly.
The Strauss was the big main course of the program, and Morlot led a swashbuckling account of it, with big, lusty, brassy waltzes. The tender parts of the score weren't lost on him, either, and for those who don't like their Strauss all bloated and goopy and leaking all over the place, this was pretty much ideal. Others found it too bombastic; based on other accounts I've been unfortunate enough to attend (Yan Pascal Tortelier in Pittsburgh, looking in your direction), it wasn't.
Principal oboist Eugene Izotov made his solo debut in Mozart's C major Oboe Concerto, with a reduced complement of strings. His lithe and focused tone cut the work's phrases to the quick, and his ability to spin out a legato line effortlessly is rather enviable. Izotov also wrote his own cadenzas, I think, and improvised little connective passages in the finale; all nice, all welcome, all congenial.
Four of Dvorak's Slavonic Dances opened the program, and Bizet's L'Arlesienne Suite came first on the second half. Instead of playing them up as mini-showpieces, Morlot and the orchestra found the music inside, and the saxophone of Burl Lane and Mathieu Dufour's flute made special contributions in the Bizet.
I could go on, but suffice to say, this was a warm and friendly way to for the orchestra to end 2007. This is also, I hope, a warm and friendly way to end the blogging of 2007, so I look forward to getting back to the swing of things in 2008. I love you all...but not like that.
Originally posted by MarcGeelhoed from Marc Geelhoed: Deceptively Simple, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 31, 2007 at 03:58 PM | Comments (0)
Top '07 shows
"Hall-marked moments," Time Out Chicago, December 27, 2007. Instead of writing up the usual "Best Concerts of 2007" list, I compiled the concerts I felt made the best use of their venues. Props to Opera Cabal, the New Millennium Orchestra, and pianist Maurizio Pollini, whose solo recital provided the solid, traditional context for the experimenters.
Previously: The review of Opera Cabal, and my advance interview with Pollini prior to that recital last May.
Originally posted by MarcGeelhoed from Marc Geelhoed: Deceptively Simple, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 31, 2007 at 03:58 PM | Comments (0)
Liverpool: European Capital of Culture 2008 - Independent
Liverpool: European Capital of Culture 2008 Independent, UK - Chicago sextet eighth blackbird presents a new work by Steve Reich, while George Benjamin's Pied Piper opera Into the Little Hill also receives its UK ... |
Originally from lutoslawski OR xenakis OR boulez OR Dutilleux OR ligeti OR "elliott carter" OR stockhausen OR "steve reich" AND music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 31, 2007 at 03:58 PM | Comments (0)
Opera on DVD: Billy Budd
 Britten, Billy Budd, Philip Langridge, English National Opera (1988) (DVD release, 2001) |
 Billy Budd, P. Langridge, S. Keenlyside, J. Tomlinson, London SO, R. Hickox |
Richard Van Allan is a vampiric Claggart, tall and thin and costumed in black with swept back graying hair -- Claggart as Emperor Palpatine. Van Allan's thick, resonant voice sounds slightly worn and a little weary here and there. (Curiously, the sound seems not to line up with the singer's movements during O Beauty! O Handsomeness!, as if it were edited). Thomas Allen is a piercing Billy, perhaps too old and experienced for the role, especially in closeup, but vocally very effective. Tim Albery’s production is dark, spare, and pointedly effective, while conductor David Atherton puts together a worthy rendition of Britten's gorgeous score. Although well worth watching, it is not the best DVD of Billy Budd one could imagine, making the absence of competition all the stranger.
Arthaus Musik 100278
Originally from ionarts, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 31, 2007 at 03:53 PM | Comments (0)
Feast of St. Thomas Becket
On December 29, Thomas Becket (1118-70), Archbishop of Canterbury, was murdered in his cathedral by soldiers, as described by an eyewitness, Edward Grim. He had been appointed to the position by his old friend, King Henry II, whom he had previously served as Lord Chancellor. A worldly clerk, educated at Merton Abbey and in Paris, who had traveled to Rome and many other places, he took his episcopal appointment to heart and gave up his old pleasure-loving life at court. The king, outraged that his archbishop did not simply approve of his plans for the English church, quickly became frustrated with Becket and may have directly or indirectly provoked the soldiers to murder him.Becket's grave in Canterbury Cathedral quickly became an important pilgrimage site, drawing the 30 pilgrims of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales in the 14th century. Becket even got an entry in the Golden Legend of Jacobus de Voragine, popularity that inevitably led to the destruction of the saint's remains and famous tomb at Canterbury by the Protestants. Becket has fascinated modern minds, too, inspiring plays by Lord Tennyson (Becket, 1884), Jean Anouilh (Becket ou l'honneur de Dieu, 1959), and T. S. Eliot's modern masterpiece Murder in the Cathedral. The latter examines Becket's opposition to authority in the month before he was killed (the Burnt Norton part of Four Quartets was originally written as part of the play). Ildebrando Pizzetti (1880-1968) even wrote an opera based on Eliot's play, Assassinio nella cattedrale (La Scala, 1958).
Image: Detail of stained glass window, St. Thomas Becket, Canterbury Cathedral
Originally from ionarts, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 31, 2007 at 03:53 PM | Comments (0)
In Brief: Goodbye, 2007
Here is your regular Sunday selection of links to good things in Blogville and Beyond.- Marcus Plieninger has a pessimistic but on-the-money assessment of the New York Philharmonic's upcoming trip to North Korea, which may not be the feel-good story it is cracked up to be. [Armavirumque]
- Scott Spiegelberg has worked his Internet magic again this week and published his biannual ranking of the Top 50 Music Blogs this week. Ionarts is still up there in the mix, coming in at No. 7 in the rankings, under both formats. Thanks to everybody who reads and links to us! [Musical Perceptions]
- Ionarts is calling together the Washington Music League Welcome Wagon for the arrival of Greg Sandow and Anne Midgette to the area. Midgette will be taking up the position of Interim Classical Music Critic at the Washington Post in the New Year. We wish them a happy time down here! [Sandow]
- Heh. Few writers have critical venom as vitriolic as the Snarkmeister, Norman Lebrecht. Get a good Bah Humbug Christmas laugh as he dismantles bad holiday releases. [Slipped Disc]
- Sarah Noble has put together an operatic Advent calendar, with a different YouTube video for each day. [Prima la musica, poi le parole]
- A man calling himself OneManSho has put this video on YouTube. In it he sings a song, backwards, while doing various things at the same time. Then, the video plays backwards so that you can understand what song he is singing. [Via Boing Boing]
- As regular readers know, I am weary of Handel's Messiah, which in a running joke I usually call the M-Word in print. In an interview with Stephen Moss, conductor Harry Christophers reminds me of all the things there are to love about the work. [The Guardian]
- On his way out of town, Tim Page left his list of the year's top five area events in classical music. See how his notes compare with ours. We wish Page the best on his sabbatical in California and hope to read him in the paper again soon. [Washington Post]
Originally from ionarts, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 31, 2007 at 03:53 PM | Comments (0)
Various Artists - NetBloc Volume 10
Earlier in the year I featured the first volume of a continuing series from the BlocSonic blog called NetBloc. Its purpose is to present on a regular basis a showcase of music from netlabels and independent artists. Since then there have been 10 volumes, all of high quality with a well written booklet of liner notes. It is fitting that I would feature the latest of this series at the end of this year if only to remind you that if you haven’t been regularly checking these volumes out, you are missing a awfully large amount of great music.
netBloc Volume 10: Postmodernism is dead. Postmillennialism killed it… sorry Andy :( may be the best of the lot. As usual, it is an eclectic blend of mainly hip-hop, electronica, and indie pop served by an international cast. Ghostown starts the album with a very tasty rap offering. More hip hop is imported from Spain by El Klan Delos Dedete. Singer-Songwriter DavidBowman offers a classy hybrid of folk and electro-pop. If I had to pick a favorite I would go with the great techno-pop track “Munchen” by Garmish Partenkirchen. The best music to get totally lost in is the dreamy and jazzy “Valletta 1:27 a.m.” by The Incognito Traveller. Joijoijoi is minimalist pop while Shorthand Phonetic is Emo like you won’t believe. Most regulars of Free Album Galore will already know the joys of My First Trumpet and Surbuhar (You’re welcome, Mike!). As mentioned before, if you are missing out on this series you are missing some of the best of independent and netlabel music.
Originally posted by freealbums from Free Albums Galore, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 31, 2007 at 03:53 PM | Comments (0)
vox novus
Originally from david's waste of bandwidth..., ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 31, 2007 at 03:53 PM | Comments (0)
Cheap Earbuds Suck
Gizmodo has a comparison up of replacement earbuds to the ghastly buggers that come free with almost every MP3 player out there. However, their conclusion is that those ubiquitous bright white iPod earphones actually sound quite good… when compared to a bunch of other crappy earphones. The comments in the story have some interesting recommendations though (but naturally span the range from clueless Britney fan to overly prodigal audiophile)
What would be really interesting to see is a review encompassing the key $20-$50 range, which is more typical of people who want decent sound quality without paying extortionate and exorbitant amounts of money. I’ve been pretty happy with my $45 Sennheisers. They’re about 3967 times more comfortable than the ergonomic monstrosities which I got with my player, and sound a hell of a lot better.They also seem like a good balance between cost and quality, given that they tend to be used in a noisy environment.
Originally posted by Ben from classicalconvert.com, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 31, 2007 at 03:53 PM | Comments (0)
Symphony lockout has long-term effects
Timothy Gibbons, Florida Times-Union, 12/30/2007Originally from Classical Music News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 31, 2007 at 03:52 PM | Comments (0)
AMN Best of 2007
We don’t take “best of” lists all that seriously, but they do serve as a great way of providing a long list of albums that are worth checking out. Without further ado, here is our best of…with a few disappointments of 2007 at the end.
The very best:
Battles - Mirrored
Blackshaw, James - The Cloud of Unknowing
Far Corner - Endangered
Reuter, Markus / Robert Rich - Eleven Questions
The quite good:
3Sacchetti - Bora! Bora! Mr. Motto
Albert, Jeff - ACGKS
Andersson, Peter - Music for Film and Exhibition
Bad Plus, The - Prog
Braxton, Anthony - 9 Compositions (Iridium) 2006
Bynum, Taylor Ho / Sextet - The Middle Picture
Cartwright, George - A Tenacious Slew
Cline, Nels / Singers - Draw Breath
Fantastic Merlins - Look Around
Fields Ensemble, Scott - Beckett
Houston Drone Concern, The - Variations for Bob Ostertag (EP)
Koverhult, Tommy - Trane to Taube
Lehman, Steve - On Meaning
Ochs, Larry / Sax and Drumming Core - Up from Under
Parker, William / Hamid Drake - Summer Snow
Radio Massacre International - Rain Falls in Grey
Rongey, Kurt - With Form It Threatens Silence
Soft Machine Legacy, The - Steam
Trio M (Myra Melford / Mark Dresser / Matt Wilson) - Big Picture
Weasel Walter Quartet - Revolt Music
Wyatt, Robert - Comicopera
Zorn, John - Six Litanies for Heliogabalus
The notable mentions:
Adams, John Luther - Red Arc / Blue Veil
Alamaailman Vasarat - Maahan
Anderson, Fred / Hamid Drake - From the River to the Ocean
Athletic Automation - A Journey Through Roman’s Empire
Atrium Carceri - Ptahil
Brant, Henry - A Concord Symphony
Brotzmann, Peter / Paal Nilssen-Love /M.Gustafsson - The Fat Is Gone
Car Bomb - Centralia
Cline, Nels - Suite Bittersweet
Deerhoof - Friend Opportunity
Derome, Jean - Le GGRIL
Evans, Peter / Quartet - Peter Evans Quartet
Formentini, Luca - Tacet
Friedlander, Erik -Block Ice and Propane
Ghost in the House - Ghost in the House
Halvorson, Mary / Jessica Pavone - On and Off
Hopper, Hugh - Numero D’Vol
Ito, Teiji - Tenno
Lee, Eugene - Srivbanacore
Moe!kestra, Moe! Staiano’s - Two Rooms of Uranium Inside 83 Markers
Motian, Paul / Bill Frisell / Joe Lovano - Time and Time Again
Norton, Steve / Norton Plsek / Gino Robair - Firehouse Futurities
Original Silence - The First Original Silence
Parker, William - Corn Meal Dance
Pasqua, Alan - The Antisocial Club
Powerhouse Sound - Oslo / Chicago: Break
Rational Diet - Rational Diet
Redhooker - The Future According to Yesterday
Roach, Steve - Fever Dreams III
Sarno, Devin and G.E. Stinson - Heart Cell Memory
Shipp, Matthew - Piano Vortex
Shurdut, Jeffrey Hayden - This Is the Music of Life - Live at Tonic
Sleepytime Gorilla Museum - In Glorious Times
Social Interiors - Spatial Circumference
Sungsang Lebam Telak - Kecuali Mengenang Betismu
Thomas, Oluyemi / Henry Grimes - The Power of Light
Tobin, Amon - Foley Room
Torn, David - Prezens
Two Bands and a Legend - I See You Baby
Two Bands and a Legend - Two Bands and a Legend
Walker, Scott - And Who Shall Go to the Ball, and What Shall Go to the Ball?
Ware, David S. - Renunciation
Wilkerson, Phillip - The Dream Beneath
Witham, David - Spinning the Circle
The Disappointments:
Aerotrio - Aerotrio
Banhart, Devendra - Smokey Rolls Down Thunder Canyon
Circle - Panic
Drkula, Petr - Metrospective
Free Zen Society, The - The Free Zen Society
Fromuz - Audio Diplomacy
Kyron - Dark Goddess
Murray, David - Sacred Ground
Radiohead - In Rainbows
Werchowska / Werchowski / Boubaker - Trio BWW
Gorowski - Simulators
Originally posted by Mike from Avant Music News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 31, 2007 at 03:52 PM | Comments (0)
MUSIC REVIEWS: Britney beatdown eclipsed noteworthy music of 2007 - Kansas City Star
MUSIC REVIEWS: Britney beatdown eclipsed noteworthy music of 2007 Kansas City Star, MO - Longtime collaborator Mark Bell and producer Timbaland keep her electro sound appropriately avant-garde. 4. Queens of the Stone Age's "Era Vulgaris. ... |
Originally from "contemporary classical" | "avant garde" music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 31, 2007 at 03:52 PM | Comments (0)
Two-way match - Guardian Unlimited
Two-way match Guardian Unlimited, UK - If I was staying in town, I'd go see a play or something more avant garde. If I was at home, I'd cook. Watch a DVD ('Goodbye Lenin', maybe). ... |
Originally from "contemporary classical" | "avant garde" music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 31, 2007 at 03:52 PM | Comments (0)
Who's Fred Peters?
I'm not sure who he is, but this is some very odd, very interesting stuff. Parental Guidance suggested:http://www.podcastfm.co.uk/116224282445466b0817856.mp3
http://www.podcastfm.co.uk/11620645954543b2d3debf2.mp3
Reminds me of Lou Reed or Genesis P-Orridge
Originally posted by dolf from ANABlog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 31, 2007 at 12:09 AM | Comments (0)
December 30, 2007
Here’s to 2008!
Consider making a tax-deductible year-end gift to ETHEL's Foundation for the Arts.Dear Friends,In 2008, our band turns ten years old. In our decade of existence, we haveperformed more than 300 shows a...Originally from Ethel - MySpace Blog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 11:10 PM | Comments (0)
Mix update...
The xmas mix 3 has now been added to the mp3 player on the sidebar... Just realised it is New Year's Eve tomorrow... The time of year for bloggers to start posting best-of worst-of lists... Hmmm... maybe... maybe not...Originally from wordsandmusic, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 08:10 PM | Comments (0)
Variations on the Goldberg Variations
The big bonus of presenting programmes on internet radio is I get to play the music I want to play, not the music that a focus group tells me to play. On Monday afternoon we have a fun programme for New Year's Eve, and as part of it I'm playing a 15 minute sequence from a double CD that's a personal favourite, but that doesn't fit into any conventional programme format.
Jazz pianist Uri Caine's treatment of Bach's Goldberg Variations defies any categorisation and I'll be playing tracks varying from solo piano to full on jazz. It's all part of our Happy New Ear's programme which is on Future Radio from 1.00 to 4.00pm on Monday December 31st, the Goldberg sequence should be on air at around 2.00pm.
Uri Caine's take is just one of several variations on the Goldberg Variations in my CD collection. Least successful is Robin Holloway's 'recomposition' for two pianos titled Gilded Goldbergs on Hyperion, a double CD which takes a long time to add very little, while Jacques Loussier's jazz variations take less time to say little more.
Among my favourite variations on variations are two recordings of Dimitri Sitkovetsky's masterly transcription for strings. One is a limited edition CD recorded in the beautiful Romanesque cathedral in Vaison la Romaine by the Trio de Prague in 2002, while the other is the fine 1993 recording by the NES Chamber Orchestra on Nonesuch which is noteworthy for both its committed performance and the sleeve notes by John Adams. But Uri Caine is up there with the best, listen in at 2.00pm UK time on Monday December 30th if you can.
Read more about Dmitry Sitkovetsky and those John Adams sleeve notes here.
Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk
Originally from On An Overgrown Path, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 08:10 PM | Comments (0)
[no title]
Editors -- Hands off Don Rosenberg!I was very pleased when I saw that Donald Rosenberg, the Cleveland Plain Dealer's excellent classical music critic, had a roundup in the Sunday PD on the year in classical music. I knew he'd have something trenchant to say about the Cleveland Chamber Symphony's dramatic year -- the Grammy Award it shared with local pianist Angelin Chang, its survival of the departure of board president Mark George, the exciting new season it has begun. (It's performing work by a bunch of local composers next year, including Michael Leese, Eric Gould, Chris Auerbach-Brown, Dennis Eberhard, Loris Chobanian and Monica Houghton.)
But the Rosenberg article doesn't say a word about any of this. It does mention CityMusic Cleveland, including its premiere of Margaret Brouwer's excellent violin concerto, which Rosenberg says "deserves to enter the standard repertoire."
No doubt Rosenberg mentioned the Cleveland Chamber Symphony in his original article, and and his editor chopped it out. Yeah, that's what happened!
Originally from Modernclassical, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 05:10 PM | Comments (0)
[no title]
Roy Harris's Third Symphony2007 was the centennial year for my native state, Oklahoma, and before it fades away, I wanted to mention a recent post by Robert Gable. Gable writes, that "I personally, subjectively, non-rationally prefer Harris' Symphony No. 3 to anything by Adams or Reich. Of course, numbers 2 thru 24 are all Adams and Reich (with #25 Lara Downes playing Harris' American Ballads)."
Gable talks about the work as if it's a guilty pleasure. I like it, too (there's a cheap recording easily available.)
Harris was an Oklahoma native, although I don't remember hearing anything about him when I lived there, even when I took a classical music appreciation class at the University of Oklahoma.
Harris biography here.
Originally from Modernclassical, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 05:10 PM | Comments (0)
The Terrifying Tale of the Murdering Maestro:
* Before the Garden State banned capital punishment, it sent the conductor of the Camden Philharmonic to the electric chair.* $1,000 reward for info on slain conductor.
* Review of the new Henryk Melcer CD.
* New Drinking Game: Every time Gustavo Dudamel is not mentioned on a best of 2007 list, take a shot. (You're sure to be sober as a judge)
* Tommasini: "classical music seems in the midst of an unmistakable rebound"
Originally posted by jodru from ANABlog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 03:33 PM | Comments (0)
Congratulations to Heather MacDonald on her Sydney
Her portrait of the excesses of Regietheater earned her a nod from David Brooks in his annual summary of the best essays of the year:Bieito transferred the Abduction to a contemporary Eastern European brothel and translated the dignified pasha of Mozart’s sadly irrelevant tale into the brothel’s sick pimp overseer. To give the production’s explicit sadomasochistic sex an even greater frisson of realism, Bieito hired real prostitutes off the streets of Berlin to perform onstage. Needless to say, neither the streetwalkers nor the whippings, masturbation, and transvestite bondage are anywhere suggested in Mozart’s opera. In one representative moment, the leading soprano, Constanze—who has already suffered digital violation during a poignant lament—is beaten and then held down and forced to watch as the pasha’s servant, Osmin, first forces a prostitute to perform fellatio on him and then gags the prostitute and slashes her to death. Osmin hands the prostitute’s trophy nipples to Constanze, who by then is retching.
Originally posted by jodru from ANABlog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 03:33 PM | Comments (0)
Allen Strange's Taqueria
I divide composers into two classes, those who care about cooking and those who don't. (It also happens that the class of composers who write music I like is more or less coterminus with those who care about cooking, but in a universe with many happy coincidences, should that be altogether a surprise?)Newly returned to the internet is composer Allen Strange's Manual for Mexican Street Cooking, available here. This is a nice resource, with a personal and pragmatic take on some matters strictly gourmand. Strange, long a professor of music in San Jose, has retired to places North, continues to make music, and also has written, with violinist Patricia Strange, a valuable book of instrumentation recipes for composers, The Contemporary Violin.
Growing up in Southern California, the present season has always been one intimately associated with tamales. Yes, if you stuff it in dough, I'll probably eat it, but tamales are in a class by themselves, whether sweet (filled with pineapple, mango, jam) or savory (my ideal is the long lost Atascadero tamale of my childhood). The recipes I use come mostly from an ancient copy of Maria A De Garbia's Mexico en la cocina de MARICHU, which I picked up somewhere in Mexico City a long time ago, but at this point, I tend to go freestyle with my tamale stuffings, improvising with whatever is at hand, and remaining resolutely un-PC with my tamale dough, happily enriched with dangerous quantities of manteca (yep, lard).
Originally from Renewable Music, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 03:11 PM | Comments (0)
A Fever'd Mind Seldom Rests
A thought experiment: We all wake up one morning having forgotten music, what music is, and what music does to us. Three things can happen: (1) we re-invent music, more or less as it was before, or (2) we re-invent music, but it differs in substantial ways from what it had been, or (3) we get about with our lives but without any music. What have we lost and what have we gained in each scenario? What does this suggest about the nature and value of music? To what degree do these three possibilities reflect the working methods of a composer?Originally from Renewable Music, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 03:11 PM | Comments (0)
What's Opera, Doc?
Originally from Renewable Music, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 03:10 PM | Comments (0)
Prom 19: Halle/Elder - Strauss, Britten and Nielsen
Evidently a mixed affair, not helped by the late indisposition of Lisa Milne:http://www.musicalcriticism.com/concerts/prom-19-0707.htm
Originally from Musical Criticism - the blog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 03:10 PM | Comments (0)
Probably my last post of the year
And i really just dont have that much to say. Vacation is nice, but it makes me lazy. Ive written a number of tiny little piano pieces specifically tailored for beginners. Its the only kind of composition i can really tolerate right now. I think I've written about 8 of these little things. They're nice, maybe i'll post them sometime.um. What else. Ive continued to browse youtube on occasion, i stumbled upon a good performance of Shoenberg's gorgeous Verklarte Nacht. ( I found that after listening to Blondie... hahaha.) And realized that the wierd and unpleasant world of blindingly ignorant youtube trolls makes its way to shoenberg videos too. Bizarre and stupid comments litter this video of six nice musicians just doing their job... (and doing a great job that would make Schoenberg proud) I cant really say much in the face of so much stifling idiocy (its more a problem of "where to start tearing down this monolithic tangle of crap?") So i just generally ignore what people post on youtube.
Probably the best for my sanity.
____
So thats the last post for the year of 2007. Onto 2008.
When did my perception of the passage of time become so warped? I swear time seemed to pass slower when i was little. The years just seem to speed up as they go.
Originally from Music in a Suburban Scene, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 03:10 PM | Comments (0)
Walking around La Scala with a camera....
Walking to the opera through the Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II:
Piazza della Scala with the opera house in the background around midday:
Piazza della Scala seen from the Opera with the entrance to Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II in the background:
And the mighty Milano Cathedral, only five minutes away by foot:
The Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II around midday:
And, below the Scala Opera around noon. The sense of history around this house is unlike anything I´ve experienced before, possibly equalled by the Vienna State Opera.
Next to the opera is a small museum, through which you may enter one of the balcony boxes of the Scala Opera: Only when I saw the theater workers mounting the sets for the first act of Tristan at 3 pm in the afternoon of the performance, I became entirely convinced they would actually be playing..The records shop within the actual opera house is excellent and displayed several items I have not seen anywhere else, particularly by historical singers associated with La Scala.
Originally from mostly opera..., ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 03:10 PM | Comments (0)
Rolando Villazón: Probably back soon..
Obviously you never know for sure, but it definitely seems like Rolando Villazón will be back soon:Staatsoper Berlin earlier this week announced a recital he is to give together with Daniel Barenboim on the 22th of March in Berlin - already sold out, of course (link here).
He is also to appear twice in Verdi´s Requiem (25th and 26th of February), also with Barenboim (and most importantly: René Pape!) in Berlin - also sold out of course (link here).
And his comeback will be as Werther on the 5th of January in Vienna, where he probably will appear, since he still figures on the company website (link here).
And in June, of course, he will be Don Carlos at the Royal Opera House, London (link here)
So is he worth hearing at or is he just hyped up? My take: Definitely worth hearing. I heard him in Manon earlier this year in Berlin and he impressed with a warm voice and fine acting (my review of that performance here).
Originally from mostly opera..., ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 03:10 PM | Comments (0)
The Ring - the musical - the happy ending..
Opened to great success at the Bonn Opera last week: The Ring - a musical composed by renowned German musical composer Frank Nimsgern (son of bass-barytone Siegmund Nimsgern. a former Bayreuth-Wotan), with libretto by Daniel Call and directed by Christian von Götz. A 3 hour musical freely based on Wagner´s Der Ring des Nibelungens (with several major outbreaks from Wagner´s storyline), which runs approximately like this (from Kurier and http://www.derringdasmusical.de/):With the gift of gold, the Gods kindle greed and envy in the hearts of Mankind. To put an end to the brutal wars that rage as a result, the Gods decide to take back the gold and sink it in the depths of the river Rhine. The hidden treasures are to be protected by three heavenly daughters. Unfortunately the three guardians; “Tenderness”, “Desire” and “Pain” are not blessed with intelligence or wisdom. The three maids are seen shaking to rock music at the bottom of the Rhine. After a thousand years of lying desolate on the bed of the Rhine, a dwarf called Alberich manages to steal the gold and also the legendary “Ring Of Power”.
By wearing the ring, Alberich begins a reign of terror over “Nibelheim”. The father of the Gods, Wotan, desperately needs to pay the giants who have just finished building his monumental palace “Walhall” - decorated with pink clouds. He manages to skilfully steal the gold and the ring from Alberich.
The giant that wears the ring is transformed into a fierce, fire-breathing dragon and is so entrusted with its safekeeping. Alberich won’t give up. He wants the ring back. He forges the “perfect man” out of iron and steel to be able to snatch the ring from the claws of the dragon.
Siegfried succeeds, but also becomes enchanted by the powers of the ring. He saves Wotan’s shunned daughter Brunhild from the flames; Wotan is disempowered and Siegfried arises as the new world leader. In the end true love conquers all and the sun apparently shines on the Götterdämmerung.....
Much more on the informative website http://www.derringdasmusical.de/ here.
Trailer for the production may be viewed here (note the logo, which looks suspiciously like the logo of the Kupfer/Barenboim Bayreuth Ring) :
Originally from mostly opera..., ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 03:10 PM | Comments (0)
Bayreuth 2008: The tickets are now out...
The tickets have now been distributed for the 2008 Bayreuth Festival. So - have you applied and not received your ticket yet, chances are very high that the you´ll receive a nice refusal letter in January.
And remember: If you didn´t get a ticket/or the tickets you wanted, don´t hesitate to phone the Ticket Office in Bayreuth and explain why you really need those tickets...I talked to several people last year, who´d done this: A French lady, who´d gotten tickets to Parsifal after a 10-year wait, phoned them up and literally cried in the phone resulting in additional tickets for The Ring and Tannhäuser...
I am counting on obtaining tickets by queuing on the day of the performance, if I decide to go: Which depends quite a lot on the cast, which doesn´t look too exciting (officially to be published in February)..
Originally from mostly opera..., ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 03:10 PM | Comments (0)
Die Gezeichneten from Salzburg 2005: Superb DVD version
Seriously, it´s not worth bothering too much about the plot, which is immensely stupid and lenghty to explain (link to plot description and detailed information on the DVD here).
However, this is probably the best Lehnhoff production I´ve ever seen -managing the combination of being immensely stylish and aesthetically beautiful without being static, which in other productions seem to be Lehnhoff´s main problem. The simplicity of the dark sets here makes an excellent contrast with Shreker´s dense-textured score. Those familiar with the score may note that some cuts, most notably in Act 3 of about 20 minutes have been made, allegedly to simplify the story-line.
Wonderfully playing by the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin conducted by Kent Nagano. Fine soloists in Anne Schwanewilms with the cool soprano nicely fitting Carlotta´s character (as the fragile artist with a heart condition, who will die if she engages in ehh..... too strenous physical activity, if you get the point!) and Michael Brubaker and Michael Volle as the male leads.
Originally from mostly opera..., ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 03:10 PM | Comments (0)
The Bayreuth Succession part 15: What is going on?
Previous episodes of this Wagnerian docu-soap may be read here, and for new readers the background of this unique Wagnerian docu-soap is written up here.The answer to the above question: Not much....
Gudrun Wagner death was acknowledged with a public ceremony in Bayreuth on December 13th (more here)
Christoph Schlingensief claims never really having liked directing theater and now he intends to focus on opera. And he wouldn´t mind running the Bayreuth Festival together with some equal-minded friends (not an option).
The Intendant of the Stuttgart Opera claims not to be interested in running the Bayreuth Festival (ehhh. good to know I guess...more here)
The protagonists (Katharina Wagner/Thielemann/Ruzicka vs. Eva/Nike Wagner) are supposed to be delivering written-up Festival management strategies to the Board of Directors in the near future.
Christian Thielemann by the way is conducting the Meistersinger revival at the Wiener Staatsoper in January (more on that later).
Originally from mostly opera..., ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 03:09 PM | Comments (0)
Henze´s Boulevard Solitude on DVD in excellent Lehnhoff production
Lehnhoff´s simplistic staging concept evolves around a waiting hall with people continuously passing by, which sets the right backdrop for Henze´s score, of which the inspirations range from 12-tone music to jazz. Good performances from Laura Aikin (Manon), Tom Fox (her brother) and Pär Lindskog (des Grieux). Also nice to see Henze walk to the brink of the orchestra pit to receive standing ovations after the performance.
Originally from mostly opera..., ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 03:09 PM | Comments (0)
New Maskarade DVD
Released last week, this DVD of Michael Schönwandt/Kasper Bech Holten´s new production of the unofficial Danish national opera Maskarade is a most welcome addition to the Maskarade discography (previously consisting only of Schirmer/Pountney´s version from Covent Garden/Bregenz - link here).
I saw this production in the new opera house in Copenhagen earlier this year, where it premiered in 2006. Actually I participated in this production - more on that in my review here. Detailed information on this DVD, which is a live recording from the Royal Danish Opera earlier this year, may be found here.
There simply is no point in producing Maskarade if you do not have the right singer to play Jeronimus (the conservative archetype and main character of the opera): Until his death Aage Haugland literally owned this role, which he also recorded on the brilliant Maskarade CD recording 1998 with Ulf Schirmer/Danish National Radio Symphony Orchestra - link here.
Now the role has passed on to Stephen Milling, who has the exact combination of commanding stage presence and vocal strength to convincingly play this anti-hero with the exact balance between comical talent and dignity which is a prerequisite to create a successful Jeronimus.
The entire cast is very strong, especially Johan Reuter as Henrik displays a very convincing comical talent (he will need to keep up his good spirits to survive Götz Friedrich´s dusty Ring production as Wotan next month in Berlin...). Also future Berlin Wagnerian Susanne Resmark (will play Ortrud in Lohengrin in May) showed a considerable comical talent as Jeronimus´wife Magdelone. Very strong playing from the Royal Danish Opera orchestra conducted by Michael Schönwandt (who will also be conducting the above Lohengrin in Berlin in May). Compared to Schirmer´s 10-year old recording, Michael Schönwandt has a slightly (but only slightly) more heavy approach to the score, which suits it extremely well. I simply cannot imagine a better conducted performance of this work. There are moments of both Falstaff as well as Rosenkavalier and Meistersinger in Carl Nielsen´s score, but Carl Nielsen has succeeded in combining giving the otherwise elitist opera a wide public appeal in a way that none of the above composers (perhaps with the exception of Verdi) succeeded in doing.
The entire opera is about the conflict between generations and between the old and the new with a touch of social criticism (based on a play by Holberg).
Kasper Bech Holten´s production is definitely modern in the outlook, and may not appeal to all. I must admit I find it both very refreshing and very funny. Described in detail here.
The camera angles are switched very frequently on this DVD, with many shots of the orchestra players and conductor during the performance. For this opera I think it works quite well and gives an added sense of being at the actual performance. Had it been a performance Parsifal or Tristan, I would probably have found the switching angles highly irritating.
Excellent bonus tracks with a behind-the-scenes view of the preparation of the production and an interview with Michael Schönwandt explaining the plot of the opera. Also a very informative booklet with an extensive information on the history of Maskarade. Perhaps some of the biographies would benefit from an update - the otherwise very detailed biography of Stephen Milling seems to stop at his performances at La Scala in 1999 (in a very small role) and the Seattle Ring several years ago, but with no mention of his Metropolitan performances (Hunding and Sarastro) or those at Covent Garden and Wiener Staatsoper (Parsifal), which would probably be considered his career highlights so far.
Originally from mostly opera..., ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 03:09 PM | Comments (0)
Jenufa on DVD: The small stone, the mighty stone, the shattered stone...
The center of the production is a stone symbolizing Jenufa´s troubles/baby: Just appearing from beneath the earth in Act 1, mighty overshadowing everything in Act 2 and shattered to pieces in Act 3..Everyone with a basic course in psychoanalysis may join in here...Otherwise the sets are simplistic and make a fine backdrop for the action and highlights why this is a masterpiece: Janacek´s detailed characteristics of the protagonists both in words and music are almost unrivalled.
And the protagonists are first-rate with Nina Stemme (Jenufa), Eva Marton (Kostelnicka) and Jorma Silvasti (Laca). There is something in the colour of Nina Stemme´s voice, which has never appealed to me and I much prefer Karita Mattila´s Jenufa. Not that this should take anything away from Stemme´s performance, which was both deep felt and moving. And she has excellent chemistry with Eva Marton´s both well-sung and excellently acted Kostelnicka, which is a prerequisite for a successful performance of this opera. I must admit, that this is the first really good performance I´ve heard from Eva Marton in almost 20 years, since her voice deteriorated in the start of the 90´s leading to an incredibly obnoxious vibrato. Just as long as she stays with Kostelnicka and doesn´t return to Ortrud. Please.....
My main problem with this DVD lies with the orchestra, conducted by Peter Schneider: It´s just unspectacular. The music just does not flow. There is no clarity and it just seems to drag on. Just listening to the live excerpts on the Los Angeles Opera website shows how this music can sound.
Presently the only other DVD of Jenufa is the Lehnhoff Glyndebourne production (more here). I prefer the Barcelona production due to the superior staging (I find Lehnhoff´s production claustrophobic) and Nina Stemme´s Jenufa (compared to Roberta Alexander, whom I find anonymous), while the orchestra conducted by Andrew Davis in the Glyndebourne version is clearly superior.
However, what I´d really like is a version with Karita Mattila and a first-rate Janacek conductor/orchestra. I suppose this DVD release unfortunately precludes the release of the Metropolitan production with Mattila and Silja since it´s the same staging...
Originally from mostly opera..., ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 03:09 PM | Comments (0)
2007 mostly opera awards: The best, the worst, the funniest, the most boring......
Top 5 operatic performances of 2007:1. Tristan and Isolde, La Scala, Milano (review here)
2. Tristan and Isolde, Munich (review here)
3. Parsifal, Berlin State Opera (review here)
4. Don Giovanni, Berlin State Opera (review here)
5. Meistersinger, Bayreuth (review here)
Top 3 non-operatic performances of 2007:
1. Wagner Gala in Munich (review here)
2. Renée Fleming in Thaïs (review here)
3. Pollini recital in Salzburg (review here)
Worst performance: Hans Neuenfels´ staging of the Magic Flute at Komische Oper in Berlin. I´ve tried to forget it, but at times like this, it just pops up (review will follow soon).
Best opera on CD: Testaments release of the complete 1956 Keilberth Ring from Bayreuth. It beats every other version out there, even Solti. Link here.
Best opera on DVD: The complete Kupfer/Barenboim Bayreuth Ring. It´s also top of my Ring DVD list now. Link here.
Best recital disc: Karita Mattila´s Helsinki recital. More here.
Best singer: This will have to be split between René Pape and Waltraud Meier. René Pape for: Filip, Boris Godunov, Gurnemanz, Marke, Hunding and Don G. (link here) Waltraud Meier for these Isoldes. And Ortrud as well. And Sieglinde (link here).
Best conductor: Daniel Barenboim. For the unparallelled intensity he generates conducting Wagner live. And Mozart as well. For: Parsifal, Tristan and Don Giovanni (link here). With Christian Thielemann a close runner-up for that magnificent Bayreuth-Ring.
Best director: Patrice Chéreau. For this. With Dmitri Tcherniakov as a runner-up. For this and this.
Best opera seen on TV/in cinema: Eugene Onegin from the MET. More here. Searing. Unbelievably moving. (Chéreau´s Tristan has moved to the "live opera" category or would otherwise probably have won this category).
Biggest disappointment: To have to close my ears to the awful singing in Siegfried Act III in Wagner´s own theater in Bayreuth, while at the same time listening to Thielemann´s magnificent conducting. More here.
Biggest surprise: To suddenly find myself on stage in Carl Nielsen´s opera Maskarade at the Royal Danish Opera. More here.
Most misunderstood: Katharina Wagner´s staging of Meistersinger in Bayreuth. Claiming that she is an exceptionally radical stage director is simply far off the mark, and is due to the fact that almost nobody has actually seen her work, which lies plainly within the ”modern” German staging tradition and not the slightest radical. More here.
Most ridiculous: The whole game of succession regarding the leadership of the Bayreuth Festival. More here.
Strangest and most amazing: Being in Bayreuth and attending the performances in the Festival House. More here.
Worst behaviour: Bryn Terfel canceling the ROH Ring at almost no notice. More here.
Best behaviour: Reading here about how Plácido Domingo took time to go backstage between acts and meet his fans at the Royal Opera Walküre and apparently was very pleasant as well.
Most generous: When a stranger gave me a free first-rate ticket to the Pollini recital in Salzburg immediately before the performance. More here.
Most irritating: Sitting almost in front of Daniel Barenboim at a Pierre Boulez concert in Berlin, where he was continuously shuffling some papers very noisily around for the entire concert..only to find out that the day after we were sitting right beside him at another Pierre Boulez concert (with the same paper shuffling going on…) .
Most boring: Regardless of excellent productions, and performances of the highest musical quality, baroque operas just are very long…. (no link, since it´s really not the performers fault that baroque opera doesn´t appeal to me)
Most funny: Attending Hoffmann´s tales ath the Royal Opera in Copenhagen an evening where both the tenor lead and substitute were ill and were substituted by….the conductor! More here.
Most disappointing statement: That René Pape has canceled Hans Sachs in Berlin 2008. More here.
Most exciting statement: That he will sing Wotan at La Scala 2010. And Waltraud Meier will be Brünnhilde. More here.
Originally from mostly opera..., ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 03:09 PM | Comments (0)
'Concrete Frequency': Life in the big city - Los Angeles Times
'Concrete Frequency': Life in the big city Los Angeles Times, CA - To contrast composers who love modern technology and those who might have doubts, Robertson has paired Pierre Boulez's high-tech extravaganza ... |
Originally from lutoslawski OR xenakis OR boulez OR Dutilleux OR ligeti OR "elliott carter" OR stockhausen OR "steve reich" AND music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 03:09 PM | Comments (0)
World Atonality Day
Originally from listen., ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 03:09 PM | Comments (0)
End of the Year
Originally from listen., ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 03:09 PM | Comments (0)
Thumbsuckers
That’s a newspaper expression for columns that aren’t relevant to the day’s news, pieces that would have been as timely, or not, six months ago or six months hence. Hardcore journalists like to deride such pieces as lazy (you didn’t go out and find something new to report) or self-indulgently "writerly."
Columnists, however, would be hard-pressed to meet their quotas without thumbsucking, especially in down times such as the week after Christmas, and after already having had their year-end wrap-ups printed. Coping with that circumstance, two of The New York Times’ music writers, Anthony Tommasini and Bernard Holland, deliver engaging examples of the genre:
Tommasini’s:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/30/arts/music/30tomm.html?ref=music
Holland’s:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/29/arts/music/29youn.html
Originally from Letter V, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 03:09 PM | Comments (0)
Various Artists - Avant Garde Project’s Editor’s Choice Samplers
One of the most interesting music sites on the internet is The Avant Garde Project (AGP). The project is an attempt to make available important recordings of post-classical and avant garde works that are no longer in print and would surely be lost to most ears. The site managers take great care to make sure there are no in-print recordings of these compositions available else where. Given the esoteric nature of most of these recordings, this may be one of the few chances you will have to hear these pieces. The composers range from the well-known to the obscure but all are unarguably innovators of modern music.
The AGP archive can be rather unwieldy if you are a beginner to this music so the web managers have provided two Editor’s Choice Samplers to get you started. These are the editor’s favorites and they are hard to disagree with.
Sampler 1 is instrumental music that is live and electronically manipulated. Robert Erickson’s “Night Music” is very beautiful, very melodic, and a excellent place to start for those who think avant-garde music is always dissonant. “Monochrome Sea” is a many colored work by the Japanese percussionist Yasukazu Amemiya. “In Motu Proprio” by Dieter Schnebel features two woodwinds that interacts with long tones and single lines in amazing ways. Finally, Morton Subotnick’s “Descent into Air” is part of The Double Life of Amphibians which is so far my favorite work on the archives.
Sampler 2 is electro-acoustic. For most, this might be seen as the more adventurous album. “ANIMUS III” by Jacob Druckman uses electronics and clarinet. Bernard Parmegiani’s “Ponomatopees II” uses vocal sounds and pop vocals as its source material. It’s an riveting piece. “Musique Douze”, by the Swedish composer Ragnar Grippe is another arresting piece that holds your attention. John Cage’s “Variation II” explores any inch of the piano using microphones and phonograph cartridges to amplify the sound. Finally, Josef Anton Reid’s “Glas-Spiele” is composed for original instruments made of glass.
The AGP offers these tracks in both FLAC and MP3 files. FLAC files have the higher quality sound but they are very large and your music software may not be able to play them. If you enjoy the music, check out the other offerings on the web site. Hopefully you will want to continue to explore the works of these great modern composers.
Download
FLAC files
MP3 files
Originally posted by freealbums from Free Albums Galore, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 03:08 PM | Comments (0)
Reversed Singing
Can you work out which song this is?
You will at the halfway point, at which the video is reversed. This scallywag is singing the phonetic reversal of the song, so that when played backward it sounds normal again. Sort of.
Black Lodge, anyone?
It’s really hard to get re-reversed speech to sound good. We used to try doing it on the computer (record a sentence, memorize how it sounds, record your version of it, reverse that and play it) and just sticking together a reasonably long sentence is a tiresomely tricky process. I suspect it’s impossible for humans to vocalize the necessary noises accurately, which is why it always sounds somewhat off.
Originally posted by Ben from classicalconvert.com, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 03:07 PM | Comments (0)
If only I had one of these…
My research would go so much quicker, better, faster, etc.
Technology years are kind of like dog years: when comparing historical documents they seem about ten times more out of date than the numerical gap would indicate.
Originally posted by Ben from classicalconvert.com, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 03:07 PM | Comments (0)
Time to let players strut their hour upon the stage
Juliette Hughes, The Age.com, 12/29/2007Originally from Classical Music News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 03:07 PM | Comments (0)
Lavish lunches and nights at the opera for BBC executives
Owen Gibson and David Hencke, Guardian Unlimited, 12/29/2007Originally from Classical Music News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 03:07 PM | Comments (0)
links for 2007-12-30
Originally from aworks :: "new" american classical music, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 03:07 PM | Comments (0)
Drop
From Cornelius
Oh, and also…
I have nothing more to say
Originally posted by Michael Kaulkin from About the Composer, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 03:06 PM | Comments (0)
Pay Paul Hindemith One Million Dollars
About twenty years ago I responded to an offer for a free magazine subscription that had been made available for college students. It was probably Newsweek or something like that.
Just for the hell of it, instead of my own name, I gave the name “Paul Hindemith” with my valid home address. It wasn’t long before I started receiving all kinds of junk mail addressed to the composer of the Pittsburgh Symphony and a sonata for every instrument.
When I received the envelope above it became one of my prize possessions. It remains unopened, in pristine condition to this day.
Click here for a closer look.
Originally posted by Michael Kaulkin from About the Composer, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 03:06 PM | Comments (0)
The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century - Chicago Tribune
The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century Chicago Tribune, United States - On the basis of Alex Ross' superb study of contemporary classical music, "The Rest Is Noise," we might ascribe a related clash to the composers of the last ... |
Originally from "contemporary classical" | "avant garde" music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 03:06 PM | Comments (0)
German avant-garde musician Hans Otte dies at 81 - The Canadian Press
German avant-garde musician Hans Otte dies at 81 The Canadian Press - Otte died on Tuesday after a long illness, Radio Bremen, whose music department he led from 1959 to 1984, said in a brief statement on its website. ... |
Originally from "contemporary classical" | "avant garde" music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 03:06 PM | Comments (0)
2008 Faces to Watch: Music - calendarlive.com
2008 Faces to Watch: Music calendarlive.com, CA - A precursor of third stream, the once-controversial score, written in 1954, mixes elements from the then-burgeoning German avant-garde with jazz. ... |
Originally from "contemporary classical" | "avant garde" music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 03:06 PM | Comments (0)
Mercury Season Concert
Coalescense is being performed by Mercury Season Sunday night (12/30) at 5 Seasons North. I will be playing the first violin part so its kinda turned into a flute quartet and it works pretty well. We will also be playing Brian Chamberlain's "Lost Hollow Road" and works by Erik Kofoed.Here's the info:
December, 30 2007 at 5 Seasons North 3655 Old Milton Parkway, Alpharetta, Georgia 30005
Cost : Donations Accepted
8th Annual New Years Party. Come relax and enjoy a fun night of music and good cheer at the 5 Seasons North! Food and drink will be available through the restaurant & brewery. Music will be provided by the Mercury Season ensemble. Will there be more than one string player in this sea of wind players? How many French horns can get along in one place? Find the answers and more when you join Mercury Season in celebrating the beginning of the start of the New Year. Why not get your New Year’s started early?! We hope to see you there!
Originally from Atlanta Composers Blog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 08:15 AM | Comments (0)
Mix 3/Cecil Taylor/ Plexus/ Horace Tapscott/Martin Carthy/Cyril Tawney/Sinatra/Mal Waldron/Charles Mingus/Harlan T. Bobo/Pet Shop Boys/Tubby Hayes
Early in the morning of Sunday... a strange Christmas – quiet and much confinement to barracks due to chest infection in a combo with the usual physical crap that lays me down frequently. But you use these periods – reading and listening – and plotting. And maybe drinking too much – but that's the traditional hazard of the season's turn – somewhat enthusiastically embraced, maybe, to counteract the stuttering of the body's clumsy passing through this time continuum. We still aim towards the light, to transcend that downdrag...I hope everyone has had the Christmas they wanted – here's another mix...
1.Cecil Taylor – an encore...
2.Plexus – extract from 23 September – suite 4
3.Horace Tapscott – A Dress for Renee
4.Martin Carthy – Scarborough Fair
5.Cyril Tawney – Sally free and easy
6.Frank Sinatra – Last night when I was young
7.Mal Waldron – You don't know what love is
8.Charles Mingus – Solo Dancer (First track from 'Black Saint and the Sinner Lady.').
9.Harlan T. Bobo – Bottle and Hotel
10.Pet Shop Boys – King's Cross
11.Tubby Hayes Orchestra – The Killers of W.1
I was watching John Huston's last movie, 'The Dead,' earlier... which I haven't seen for a long time.
It raised a lot of memories... 'Lass of Loughrim' especially – I'd forgotten where I first heard that song... bittersweet stuff...
But we move on... 2008 looms...
WordsandmusicXmasMix3
Download
Originally from wordsandmusic, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 05:10 AM | Comments (0)
[no title]
Ross releases his 'year's best' listCritic Alex Ross has posted his 2007 "best of" list, including performances, recordings and his "Person of the Year." I was mostly interested in his recordings list. I've already bought three of the titles he lists -- the Lieberson, the Radiohead and the new recording of Steve Reich's "Music for 18 Musicians."
Originally from Modernclassical, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 30, 2007 at 05:10 AM | Comments (0)
December 29, 2007
Ripped your Adams CDs to your computer? The RIAA says pay up.
And you thought the only ones who needed to worry were the illegal file-sharers? After reading this article, think again:
…in an unusual case in which an Arizona recipient of an RIAA letter has fought back in court rather than write a check to avoid hefty legal fees, the industry is taking its argument against music sharing one step further: In legal documents in its federal case against Jeffrey Howell, a Scottsdale, Ariz., man who kept a collection of about 2,000 music recordings on his personal computer, the industry maintains that it is illegal for someone who has legally purchased a CD to transfer that music into his computer.
The industry’s lawyer in the case, Ira Schwartz, argues in a brief filed earlier this month that the MP3 files Howell made on his computer from legally bought CDs are “unauthorized copies” of copyrighted recordings.
“I couldn’t believe it when I read that,” says Ray Beckerman, a New York lawyer who represents six clients who have been sued by the RIAA. “The basic principle in the law is that you have to distribute actual physical copies to be guilty of violating copyright. But recently, the industry has been going around saying that even a personal copy on your computer is a violation.”
Originally posted by Steve Layton from Sequenza21/, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 29, 2007 at 08:11 PM | Comments (0)
The Blush of the New - New York Times
 New York Times | The Blush of the New New York Times, United States - (A gift of this book and “The Rest Is Noise,” Alex Ross’s magisterial history of modern music, would equal about three years of college. ... |
Originally from "contemporary classical" | "avant garde" music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 29, 2007 at 02:16 PM | Comments (0)
Today's BBC - the envy of the world?
Envy? Try some other 'Es - 'Expensive, egregious and ennobled.
The source of that 'envy of the world' quote is here.
Photo (c) 2007 On An Overgrown Path. Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk
Originally from On An Overgrown Path, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 29, 2007 at 02:10 PM | Comments (0)
December 28, 2007
Best of 2007.
As published in the December 27 edition of Time Out New York, here is my annual list of the top ten events, happenings and developments in New York City's classical music scene for 2007 (in alphabetical order), followed by lists of my top ten classical and non-classical recordings.
"Berlin in Lights" Carnegie Hall's ambitious salute to Germany's cultural capital offered context for incandescent performances by Gustavo Dudamel, Simon Rattle and many more.
Concrete Robert Ashley's latest multimedia opera took us someplace we'd never been before: deep inside the composer's most personal memories.
Sasha Cooke After an arresting summer cameo at the Bard Music Festival, this young mezzo served notice of a major talent on the rise at Zankel Hall in October. [New note: Cooke is currently appearing as the Sandman in the Met's Hansel and Gretel, and will present a concert titled "The Eternal Feminine" at Ico Gallery (formerly Gallerie Icosahedron) on Thursday, January 10 at 7pm.]
Delusion of the Fury Japan Society's sharp production of Harry Partch's quirky magnum opus was the year's most moving revival.
DG Web Shop The venerable Deutsche Grammophon label unveiled the first download store guaranteed to please the pickiest classical audiophile.
ICE Burg The International Contemporary Ensemble set up shop in Brooklyn in spring, and promptly mounted its biggest, most diverse New York season to date.
Il Barbiere di Siviglia How could the Metropolitan Opera improve Bartlett Sher's winning new production? By adding spunky mezzo Joyce DiDonato to the mix.
Iphigénie en Tauride Susan Graham and Plácido Domingo were riveting in this profound Gluck drama, while director Stephen Wadsworth deftly balanced the mythic and the intimate.
Nico Muhly In his debut Zankel Hall showcase, wildly inventive composer Muhly stacked his quirky postclassical pieces up against the Tudor church music that first fired his imagination.
What Next? Elliott Carter marked his 99th birthday with a sold-out run of his cryptic opera at Miller Theatre.
Top Ten Classical Recordings
1. J.S. Bach Goldberg Variations (Telarc) Simone Dinnerstein's intensely personal take on this keyboard cornerstone polarized critics... and became a runaway hit.
2. Steve Reich Music for 18 Musicians (Innova) Michigan's Grand Valley State University New Music Ensemble made a disc of the minimalist masterpiece that won the composer's approval.
3. Osvaldo Golijov Oceana (Deutsche Grammophon) Dawn Upshaw, the Kronos Quartet, Robert Spano and the Atlanta Symphony demonstrated the infinite variety of the Argentine composer's music.
4. Robert Ashley Now Eleanor's Idea (Lovely Music) More than a decade after the last performance of Ashley's freewheeling lowrider exegesis, recording technology has finally caught up.
5. Tristan Murail Winter Fragments (Aeon) Michel Galante's excellent Argento Chamber Ensemble made its CD debut with crystalline landscapes from a modern French master.
6. Sibelius and Lindberg Violin Concertos (Sony Classical) Lisa Batiashvili reveled in the cool fire of Sibelius's familiar showpiece, and introduced a new classic by Lindberg.
7. Bridget Kibbey Love Is Come Again (self-released) With playing, production and packaging as gorgeous as local harpist Kibbey provided on her first CD, who needs a record label?
8. Mark Padmore As Steals the Morn... (Harmonia Mundi) Handel recitals arrive more often than crosstown buses, but British tenor Padmore commanded respect for his poise and precise diction.
9. Ludwig van Beethoven Symphonies Nos. 3 and 8 (RCA Red Seal) Paavo Järvi and the Deutsche Kammerphilharmonie turned two well-worn standards into brisk, bracing voyages of discovery.
10. Michael Harrison Revelation (Cantaloupe) Pianist-composer Harrison documented his just-intonation solo manifesto, and the results were completely absorbing.
Top Ten Non-Classical Recordings
1. Suzanne Vega Beauty & Crime (Blue Note) New York's soft-spoken poet laureate fashioned a love letter to her hometown, filled with ghosts, nostalgia and quiet passion.
2. Tyshawn Sorey that/not (Firehouse 12) The young polymath drummer, pianist, trombonist and composer recorded a suitably audacious CD debut. [Bonus track: My TONY CD review, from the December 13 issue.]
3. Radiohead In Rainbows (W.A.S.T.E.) A mix of solid songcraft and adventure made Radiohead's seventh studio effort vital well past its download-by date.
4. Robert Glasper In My Element (Blue Note) In their second Blue Note outing, pianist Glasper and his triomates breath fresh life and fire into a well-worn format.
5. Battles Mirrored (Warp) Mixing Ty Braxton's loopy, good-natured vocals with a solid math-metal core is sort of like watching Multiplication Rock on the monitor while sweating at Crunch.
6. Muhal Richard Abrams Vision Toward Essence (Pi) The Chicago patriarch distills a lifetime spent extending jazz tradition into a single hour at the piano.
7. Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles Diamonds in the Dark (Sugar Hill) Boston singer-guitarist Borges draws a straight line from Wanda Jackson to X in this memorable set of rowdy rockers and weepy ballads.
8. Exploding Star Orchestra We Are All from Somewhere Else (Thrill Jockey) Globe-trotting cornetist Rob Mazurek and his big big band hit escape velocity in a fiery set that bites Sun Ra, Steve Reich, Kraftwerk and funk.
9. Brakesbrakesbrakes The Beatific Visions (Worlds Fair) It's just a madly infectious collection of twangy pub punk -- until you notice undertones of paranoia and wartime unease in Eamon Hamilton's lyrics.
10. Sam Sadigursky The Words Project (New Amsterdam) Saxophonist Sam Sadigursky's literate, luminous poetry settings are given voice by a bumper crop of impressive young singers.
I abstained from both the Idolator and Pazz & Jop polls this year, reckoning that I hadn't paid very much attention to pop records this year (and didn't care much for most of what I heard -- The National being a noteworthy exception). But for good measure, here's the ballot I submitted for this year's Village Voice Jazz Poll, half of which you'll recognize from what immediately preceded it.
Top Ten Jazz CDs of 2007
1. Tyshawn Sorey that/not (Firehouse 12)
2. Robert Glasper In My Element (Blue Note)
3. Muhal Richard Abrams Vision Toward Essence (Pi)
4. Exploding Star Orchestra We Are All from Somewhere Else (Thrill Jockey)
5. Sam Sadigursky The Words Project (New Amsterdam)
6. Tim Berne's Bloodcount Seconds (Screwgun)
7. The Bad Plus Prog (Do the Math/Heads Up)
8. Brad Shepik Trio Places You Go (Songlines)
9. Myra Melford and Tanya Kalmanovitch Heart Mountain (Perspicacity)
10. Amir ElSaffar Two Rivers (Pi)
Reissues
1. Miles Davis The Complete On the Corner Sessions (Sony Legacy)
2. Bennie Maupin The Jewel in the Lotus (ECM)
3. Charles Mingus Charles Mingus in Paris: The Complete America Recordings (Sunnyside)
Top vocal CD
Sam Sadigursky The Words Project (New Amsterdam)
Top debut CD
Tyshawn Sorey that/not (Firehouse 12)
Originally posted by NightAfterNight from Night After Night, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 28, 2007 at 08:10 PM | Comments (0)
House Slaves
I love reading David Mamet's essays while I'm composing, because he so trenchantly exhorts the artist to be honest, to...Originally from PostClassic, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 28, 2007 at 08:10 PM | Comments (0)
David Munrow tribute on internet radio
Grammy winning recording producer Christopher Bishop talks about David Munrow on the record on my programme on Future Radio this Sunday (Dec 30) at 5.00pm UK time. The programme includes music from Munrow's first LP for EMI, Two Renaissance Dance Bands, which is seen above and which was produced by Christopher Bishop. Below is a page from Christopher's recording diary, the second entry down is the sessions for another classic David Munrow album, The Art of Courtly Love.
Christopher Bishop worked with many great artists during historic times. Here is an excerpt from Michael Kennedy's 1971 biography of Sir John Barbiroli: 'It was Bishop with whom Barbiroli was working at the Abbey Road Studios on a day at the height of the Beatle's popularity. As John arrived he saw the famous four and their retinue. 'Is that the Fuzzy Wuzzies?' he asked Christopher, 'because we'd better close the door in case they charge.''
Now playing - Renaissance Dance. This new Virgin Veritas double CD brings together two classic David Munrow LPs, Two Renaissance Dance Bands from 1971 (later reissued as Pleasures of the Court) and Praetorius - Dances and Motets from 1973, and adds five bonus tracks from Munrow's last recording, Monteverdi's Contemporaries, from 1975. This is a must for all Munrow enthusiasts, and a perfect introduction to his music for those too young to have grown up with his LPs. Current price on Amazon.co.uk is £5.97 ($12), unmissable.
Hear David Munrow on the record on Future Radio at 5.00pm UK time this Sunday, December 30th in real time via this audio stream. An Overgrown Path podcast will follow. Read more about David Munrow on the record here.
Hear the programme on Future Radio on Sunday December 30 at 5.00pm UK time (convert to local time zones here). Listen by launching the Radeo internet player from the right side-bar, or via the audio stream. Convert time to your local time zone using this link. Windows Media Player doesn't like the audio stream very much and takes ages to buffer. WinAmp or iTunes handle it best. Unfortunately the royalty license doesn't permit on-demand replay, so you have to listen in real time. If you are in the Norwich, UK area tune to 96.9FM. With thanks to Future Radio for making the programme possible, and in particular to Dan Nyman editor extraordinaire. Also thanks, again, to James the joiner for the sleeve scans. Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk
Originally from On An Overgrown Path, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 28, 2007 at 05:10 PM | Comments (0)
Top Twelve Recordings and Review of the Year 2007 - Musical Criticism
 | Top Twelve Recordings and Review of the Year 2007 Musical Criticism, UK - 2&4) while Pierre Boulez concluded his Mahler cycle with a slightly unconvincing 'Symphony of a thousand' (both on DG). Semyon Bychkov added an excellent ... |
Originally from lutoslawski OR xenakis OR boulez OR Dutilleux OR ligeti OR "elliott carter" OR stockhausen OR "steve reich" AND music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 28, 2007 at 03:10 PM | Comments (0)
Great USC team effort...no, not football...Opera!
Steve Spurrier is not the only newcomer to USC who's energized a program at the school. Last year Opera at USC brought on board the very dynamic and gifted Ellen Douglas Schlaefer as the new Director of Opera Studies at the School of Music. In her brief time at the school the opera program has mounted some very ambitious and successful productions. This weekend you have two opportunities to see their fall presentation, Rossini's 1813 opera, "The Italian Girl in Algiers.". Shows are Friday Nov. 11 at 7:30, and Sunday Nov. 13 at 3 PM, both at Keenan High School.Expect lots of laughs and hijinks in this show. You'll hear some outstanding singing and really fine young talent, as well. The students have been working very hard on this opera throughout the fall, under the guidance of this marvelous team (full disclosure policy dictates that I point out my wife Lynn is the vocal/opera coach at USC, so I REALLY know how much sweat has gone into this, from students and faculty). Sadly, I have to miss this opera since I'm in New York this weekend (see below), but if you're reading this in the Midlands area, don't miss these performances! The training these young people get in all aspects of opera (acting, vocal technique, musical and stylistic issues, language) is extraordinary.
Originally posted by Phillip from Mostly Music in the Midlands, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 28, 2007 at 03:10 PM | Comments (0)
AMN Podcast: The Denison / Kimball Trio - Soul Machine
The Denison / Kimball Trio
“Terminal 2″ (mp3)
from “Soul Machine”
(Skin Graft Records)
Buy at eMusic
More On This Album
Originally posted by Mike from Avant Music News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 28, 2007 at 03:09 PM | Comments (0)
Troy Collins’ Best of 2007
Troy Collins from AAJ gives a nice long best of 2007 list, which is could serve as a shopping guide for 2008.
Originally posted by Mike from Avant Music News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 28, 2007 at 03:09 PM | Comments (0)
ending the year with new music
Ending the year with new music is always a great idea. On that note, I'm well into a new work for violin and piano. While it is not finished and what I've written still has some rough edges, I might post a preview later this week.
So please listen to WPRB during its new music marathon. Any station that programs new music is to be welcomed, since this stuff needs to be heard and enjoyed more often.
Originally from david's waste of bandwidth..., ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 28, 2007 at 03:08 PM | Comments (0)
yet another realization of darfur pogrommen, this time by steve layton
I also uploaded a very slightly revised version of the realization I did in Reason 4.0 that fixes a few incorrectly tied beats in the bass line during the first few minutes (not sure how that happened, since the MIDI output seems fine), and that version is here. There are now three realizations of this piece for open instrumentation, and if you're really taken with it, could listen to these versions end-to-end in just around 2 1/2 hours.
Originally from david's waste of bandwidth..., ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 28, 2007 at 03:08 PM | Comments (0)
Adventures in Radioland
* Ravi Shankar says fusion is the future.* "There are lots of ways to go broke in the music business."
* Jay Greenberg is so old.
* Highlights of the Muscovian music year.
* High school musical about Honest Abe.
Originally posted by jodru from ANABlog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 28, 2007 at 03:08 PM | Comments (0)
Oscar Peterson 1925-2007: Obits and Tributes List
Here’s what the press is saying.
Obituaries
The Globe and Mail
New York Times
Associated Press
The Guardian
Reuters
Tributes
The Guardian– leave your own memories and tributes
The Overgrown Path–an interesting juxtaposition of Stockhausen and Peterson
John Fordham in the Guardian on how he came to love Oscar
In Praise Of Oscar Peterson in the Guardian
The Star’s Peter Goddard on the private side of Peterson
Terry Teachout from About Last Night
JD Considine wrote King of The Keys Made Jazz A Pleasure in the Globe
Plans for a memorial concert in January are going ahead.
BBC
CBC
Richard Harrington of the Washington Post has The Touch of a Master
Miss Mussel will endeavour to keep this updated but please feel free to send along links to pieces she has missed.
Originally posted by OM from The Omniscient Mussel on Classical Music & Culture, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 28, 2007 at 11:16 AM | Comments (0)
8 reasons to spend Xmas in Paris
1. At Christmas, London dies, but Paris stays alive and has fun. The Metro runs on 25 December and you can buy flowers, a sandwich or a steaming glass of vin chaud if and when you need to.
2. Nobody insists that you spend 25 December cooking or eating turkey, Brussels sprouts and boiled plum pudding that takes three days to digest. Instead, try a little foie gras, chevre, la bûche de Noël (Xmas log-shaped cake)...
3. You can experience some of the greatest wonders of the artistic world. For example, the Monet Waterlilies in the expertly refitted Orangerie.
4. Another was Matthias Goerne singing 'O du mein holder Abendstern'. There were a number of world-class voices on the vast Bastille stage - not all of them covered in red paint (more about this later) - but when Goerne opens his mouth, you're in another world. He has a unique gift for 'innigkeit' - the more quietly and inwardly he sings, the more it pulps your heart.
5. That's before we mention the orchestra and Seiji Ozawa, or the fabulous Eva-Marie Westbroek, let alone the production by Robert Carsen - a radical reinterpretation of Tannhauser which naturally some people didn't like but which I thought worked an absolute treat. A clue: the programme cover showed Manet's 'Dejeuner sur l'herbe'.
6. The easygoing atmosphere in Paris makes Xmas here in the UK look like one big ridiculous shoe-horn designed to stress the population to crazy levels, forcing them to overspend and binge-drink until their livers and bank accounts pack up. Across La Manche, it's not quite such a big deal.
7. The Eurostar from St Pancras to the Gare du Nord now takes only two and a quarter hours.
8. Paris is Paris. Given a choice, why be anywhere else?
Originally from Jessica Duchen's classical music blog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 28, 2007 at 11:15 AM | Comments (0)
Pouring Harmony
"Does anyone know a bit of music terminology that we use when a minor-key piece ends with--whoa!--a brilliant major chord?"(These are the thinkiest of students. Brows furrowed and lips were bit, but an answer failed to surface.)
"It's some kind of 'third' ... named after a town in France ..."
"Oh! Oh! The Bordeaux third!"
These are the moments--sitting quietly (a bit bored) at the piano, with one leg over the other's knee, and with my mind occupied in equal parts by grocery lists, measure numbers and key signatures, some recent New Yorker article, a dream of a car--for which I live. The Bordeaux third. It elicited a definite giggle.
Originally from in the wings, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 28, 2007 at 11:14 AM | Comments (0)
stale, stale, stale
The holiday break has already been a great opportunity to recharge my batteries: seeing family, giving gifts, etc. While I've had some time to practice, I've noticed that something seems to be stuck. At first it feels like there are physical issues, but today I accidentally stumbled upon a huge piece of the puzzle.I'm sure that most musicians would tell you that the best path to conveying a piece of music to an audience is to spend time living inside it and working out its every detail. However, if we do this with enough material at once, we're bound to tread water. Chicago Symphony Orchestra tubist and legendary brass teacher Arnold Jacobs would, on top of preparing his music for the symphony, would work on rotating sets of material. One would be a "recital program" that would change every two months or so, while other exercises would keep him sharp. Right now, I've got an amount of material and a lack of time that has stopped me from practicing much else. I had some extra time today and read through some new pieces. Just as I finished, the evidence of my staleness hit me. What surprised me the most was that, by challenging my brain to "wake up" to new material, I shook off a lot of dust that had settled while I worked on the same 7 or 8 things. Keeping high standards will help to iron out my physical issues, but I will continue to suffer over little issues in practice sessions far more than I should if I take the time to exercise the full breadth of my musicianship. Just repeating some new or different material and hearing evidence of my progress has convinced me to immediately make this a regular part of my practice routine. Here are the simple ways I've come up with.
1. Run through a few excerpts
On most days, it might be smart to stick to more familiar excerpts that have been learned to a point where little details won't have to be obsessed over. Memorized excerpts especially help with that level of familiarity.
2. Commit a favorite piece to memory
This I have found to be very beneficial. You give yourself the opportunity to perform for a deeper place and put the majority of your effort go into the right mechanics. I've started with things that I might use as more of a warm-up, including the Sarabande from the second Bach Cello Suite and Britten's setting of "The Last Rose of Summer".
3. Just grab something
This works better with material I've worked on in the past, even if it was years ago, than with new literature. My favorite segments of pieces are often the ones that I have the best conception of how I should sound, making it an easy way to change things up and be productive in a short period of time.
4. Imrpovise
I still push myself to do this occasionally. In free improvisation, my goal is to create material that I can remember and come back to once or twice so that I'm engaged in the form of the improvistaion, not just pure content.
I should also continue to make efforts to be educated and creative in non-euphonium ways. I'm sure this blog will hear about those efforts.
Originally from the search for artistry, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 28, 2007 at 06:06 AM | Comments (0)
event spotlight - St. John's Telegram
 | event spotlight St. John's Telegram, Canada - Heather Tuach (cello) and Nancy Dhan (violin) will hold a concert featuring modern classical music by Ligeti, Crumb, Penderecki, Bartok and Kodaly Sunday, ... |
Originally from lutoslawski OR xenakis OR boulez OR Dutilleux OR ligeti OR "elliott carter" OR stockhausen OR "steve reich" AND music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 28, 2007 at 06:05 AM | Comments (0)
Billy Joel to play with Philadelphia Orchestra - The News Journal
Billy Joel to play with Philadelphia Orchestra The News Journal, DE - The program, led by music director Christoph Eschenbach, will feature selections from Joel's pop repertoire, as well as classical and avant garde selections ... |
Originally from "contemporary classical" | "avant garde" music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 28, 2007 at 06:03 AM | Comments (0)
Keith Rowe/Cor Fuhler - s/t * Cor Fuhler - Slee
Rowe/Fuhler Conundrom 3 Recorded in Amsterdam in December of 2003, this strong duo performance provides interesting contrasts as well as similarities when compared with the Duos for Doris session done in January of that year. In addition to the...Originally from Bagatellen, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 28, 2007 at 05:11 AM | Comments (0)
Hans Otte passed away
Kyle Gann noted yesterday the passing of Hans Otte whose Das Buch der Klänge is a work I’ve long enjoyed since I first got a recording of it on CD. I do not know very much about the man or his other works but am curious to lose myself in Das Buch der Klänge once again…
Originally posted by Steven from steven yi :: music, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 28, 2007 at 01:55 AM | Comments (0)
Quote for the day
As friends and readers probably know, your blogger is not much for promoting the holidays (last Friday night's superb concert by The Crossing notwithstanding). So I call your attention to this excellent quotation by Amin Maalouf, excavated by Marc Geelhoed on Christmas Day and very much worth pondering.
Originally posted by bhodgesnyc from Monotonous Forest, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 28, 2007 at 01:54 AM | Comments (0)
Christmas music you haven't heard
Once again it's time for an evening by The Crossing, Donald Nally's 20-voice choir in Philadelphia. The brilliantly eclectic program includes Thomas Adès ("The Fayrfax Carol" from 1997), Judith Bingham ("The clouded heaven," 1998), two versions of "What child is this" (one arranged by R. Brant Ruggles from 1971, and another by Andrew Gant from 1995), and of course, James MacMillan (Tremunt videntes angeli, 2002) with whom the group has a singular history. From 2006 come works by Don Michael Dicie and Kerry Andrew, and the world premiere of Et incarnatus est (2007) by David Shapiro. Anyone who appreciates unusual repertoire immaculately sung by one of the country's most accomplished new choral groups should check it out. (Friday, Dec. 21 at 8:00 P.M., at The Presbyterian Church of Chestnut Hill.)
[Photo by Mark Tassoni: Donald Nally in rehearsal with The Crossing]
Originally posted by bhodgesnyc from Monotonous Forest, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 28, 2007 at 01:54 AM | Comments (0)
'Salt River' is short and not much of anything happens - The Canadian Press
'Salt River' is short and not much of anything happens The Canadian Press - He's also published mainstream and avant-garde novels (including "Renderings" in 1995), biographies (including "Chester Himes, A Life" in 2001), music ... |
Originally from "contemporary classical" | "avant garde" music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 28, 2007 at 01:53 AM | Comments (0)
Historic NEA Funding Boost Expected
Last week, Democrats gave up their fight to block $70 billion in unrestricted war funding and on December 19, Congress sent the $556 billion omnibus spending bill to President Bush, who is expected to sign it.
Included in this bill is a historic increase in funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. Funding for the NEA will be increased by $20.144 million, or about 16%, to $144.706 million for FY08. This is less than the $160 million appropriation proposed in the House version of the bill, but more than the Senate proposal of $133.412 million and more than the President’s requested $128.412 million, and it represents the largest increase in NEA funding since 1979, when funding was increased by $25.735 million (which itself followed an increase of $23.978 million in 1978). The $144.706 million was actually $147 million before an across-the-board cut of 1.56%. NEA funding still has not recovered from the massive $62.8 million cut to the 1996 budget, but has increased every year starting with the 2001 appropriations.
Within the NEA appropriation, the biggest funding increase is to the “American Masterpieces” initiative, which the NEA website says “is a major initiative to acquaint Americans with the best of their cultural and artistic legacy. Through American Masterpieces, the National Endowment for the Arts sponsors performances, exhibitions, tours, and educational programs across different art forms that reach large and small communities in all 50 states.” The 2007 budget for this program was $5.911 million and it stands to nearly double to $13.289 million in 2008.
The League of American Orchestras is reporting that “Congressional Arts Caucus co-chairs Louise Slaughter (D-NY) and Chris Shays (R-CT) rallied House colleagues in support of the NEA, and Interior Appropriations Committee Chairman Norm Dicks (D-WA) championed NEA funding as a priority issue.” Special thanks to LAO’s Heather Noonan for help in finding the details of the bill, which you can see here and here.
National Endowment for the Humanities funding will increase by just $3.602 million, in spite of an $18.895 million request in the House version of the bill.
Originally posted by Galen H. Brown from Sequenza21/, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 28, 2007 at 01:52 AM | Comments (0)
RIP, Hans
Originally posted by jodru from ANABlog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 28, 2007 at 01:51 AM | Comments (0)
Hans Werner Henze, "Katherina Blum"
The Lost Honor of Katherina Blum(1975)
Directed by
Volker Schlöndorff &
Margarethe von Trotta
Based on the novel by
Heinrich Böll
Music by
Hans Werner Henze
Originally posted by jodru from ANABlog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 28, 2007 at 01:51 AM | Comments (0)
December 27, 2007
Passion and Consumption
A few days ago a heated debate broke out between some of the fellows about the nature of art: two fellows were vociferously arguing that the only art that really matters is that which is informed by mass culture: high art and low art are useless misnomers, and the avant-garde is irrelevant if not non-existent. On the other side of the sticky bar table, some of the other fellows pointed out that art is always being created in the shadows of successful art.Originally from NewMusicBox, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 27, 2007 at 11:10 PM | Comments (0)
"The surgeons confirmed that she has been martyred"
* RIP, Benazir* "When you hear 'Harry Potter,' and 'Star Wars' — that's something Vienna can be proud of."
* RIP, Jiří Pauer
* The Bad New: There used to be an orchestra with the name 'The Concertos With OrchestraThousand Oaks orchestra'. The Good News: It's changed its name.
* MET simulcast makes the top five musical events of 2007 in Toronto.
* "Electronic music is always moving forward -- that's its nature. If anything, it's the real L.A. alternative"
* Amazon adds Warner.
Originally posted by jodru from ANABlog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 27, 2007 at 03:58 PM | Comments (0)
Orchestra Listings, December 27 - 30
Twas the week after Christmas, and all through the land, only three groups were playing; so, let's give them a hand.Atlanta Symphony Orchestra
- Not Playing -
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
- Not Playing -
Boston Symphony Orchestra (12/27)
(As Pops)
Holiday Pops
Keith Lockhart, conductor
Joshua Taylor, baritone
Ken Oringer, Chef, Clio
(12/28-30)
Gershwin & Friends
Keith Lockhart, conductor
Ron Raines, baritone
Kathleen Brett, soprano
Chicago Symphony Orchestra
- Not Playing -
Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra
- Not Playing -
Cleveland Orchestra
- Not Playing -
Dallas Symphony Orchestra
- Not Playing -
Detroit Symphony Orchestra
- Not Playing -
Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra
- Not Playing -
Los Angeles Philharmonic
- Not Playing -
Minnesota Orchestra
- Not Playing -
National Symphony Orchestra
- Not Playing -
New York Philharmonic
- Not Playing -
Philadelphia Orchestra
- Not Playing -
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
- Not Playing -
Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra (12/29-30)
CHAPLIN - Modern Times (with film)
David Robertson, conductor
San Francisco Symphony Orchestra (12/30)
New York Nights
James Gaffigan, conductor
Michael Feinstein, vocalist
Originally posted by jodru from ANABlog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 27, 2007 at 03:58 PM | Comments (0)
Soul Salvation - LA City Beat
Soul Salvation LA City Beat, CA - In the early ’70s, trumpeter Davis took the most radical musical ideas of Karlheinz Stockhausen, Sly Stone, and Jimi Hendrix, tossed them into a pot, ... |
Originally from lutoslawski OR xenakis OR boulez OR Dutilleux OR ligeti OR "elliott carter" OR stockhausen OR "steve reich" AND music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 27, 2007 at 03:57 PM | Comments (0)
Elsewhere
My choices of best classical recordings and most memorable concerts in Richmond in 2007, along with other critics' picks in jazz, pop and rock, now in print in Style Weekly, online at:
http://www.styleweekly.com/article.asp?idarticle=15958
Originally from Letter V, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 27, 2007 at 03:57 PM | Comments (0)
Top 10 Live Performances
We hear so much good music every year, which makes this annual post difficult to compile. After consultation with my fellow reviewers, we offer this list of the ten best Washington-area concerts we heard in 2007 (a similar list from beyond the region tomorrow). It is pointless to try to rank them from best to least best, so they are listed in chronological order, with a memorable excerpt from our review. As always, your comments about the year in review are welcome.
Deborah Voigt, Salome (Kennedy Center, January 18):Behind the singers, Maestro Slatkin and the National Symphony Orchestra churned the lush score out with excellence, impressive brass work (scarcely a mistake and very expressive throughout). In combination with hearing the orchestra from the stage and not the pit, the Straussian orchestral genius was fully revealed and worth the price of admission alone. With the addition of Voigt and Held, this is a concert that ought not be missed by anyone whose pulse has a rhythm. (Jens F. Laurson)Kirov Opera: Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (Kennedy Center, February 4):
Tenor Viktor Lutsiuk as Sergey visibly reveled in his part as that indefinably anti-heroic character (the only fitting description for this two-timing, double-crossing, misogynist, cunning, possibly loving – more likely exploiting element is: “scumbag”). A terrific actor of small gestures, he provided all the necessary drama to make one forget that this was not in fact a staged performance. Evgeny Akimov, in the relatively small role of Katerina’s indecisive, ineffectual husband Zinovy Borisovich Ismailov, made his strangulation a truly mourned event. His tenor sounded like the fullest of baritones, his voice rang above the orchestra with clarity and astounding ease. (Jens F. Laurson)
Till Fellner (National Gallery of Art, February 11):The first half concluded with J. S. Bach, the three-part inventions instead of the Well-Tempered Clavier. These pieces are often relegated to the status of etudes for advanced piano students, but Fellner rethought them as a cycle of character pieces, in a way that harmonized naturally with the way that Bach thought as a composer of encyclopedic collections. No. 5 was a drooping sarabande of beautiful languor, all achieved through tone and articulation -- the tempo never flagged. In no. 9, Fellner wove the tortured harmonic turns of the theme into a delicate web of complicated lace, and in no. 12 he produced an almost machine-like whirr of sound in the supporting voices. (Charles T. Downey)Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (George Mason, March 3):
Chailly’s directorship in Leipzig is one of the happiest musical marriages that the east of Germany has had in the last half century. Don Juan, op. 20, was a fine example of that. Razor-sharp, acute, explosive, aggressive even, fine-tuned and in such unison that there was not a single blurred edge, not a smudged climax, nor a single unclean detail. Don Juan usually doesn’t sound this good. The force with which this 1889 tone poem was played was almost unnerving and tempted at least this listener to attempt to buckle his seatbelt. Concertmaster Frank Michael Erben’s solo moments were as exquisite as those torn and wild, ecstatic bits that were played to the hilt, the playful and light parts that came across perfectly dainty, the solemn gloom that was brooding and shuddered lowly with delight. (Jens F. Laurson)Osmo Vänskä with the National Symphony (Kennedy Center, March 7):
The opening string suite by Sibelius, Rakastava (The Lover) op.14 (originally a work for male choir) brought out the best in the NSO string section I have heard in a long, long time. Discipline, delicacy, detail, and coherence were evident everywhere; dynamic changes from pp to mf sounded like they came at the flick of a switch. The work itself is hushed and whispered here, a fragile dance there, silver-threaded, and with wistful pathos – audibly related to the Karelia Suite from around the same time. (Jens F. Laurson)
Jenůfa (Washington National Opera, May 5):The lovely, smooth-voiced Patricia Racette captures both Jenůfa's innocent sweetness and her unmeasurable sorrow. Her voice has roundness and power in all registers and ranges from delectable simplicity, as in the heart-breaking setting of the Salve Regina, with quiet harp and glockenspiel, in Act II, to banshee's keen. She was matched in intensity, perhaps exceeded, by the other star of the evening, Catherine Malfitano, who reprised her lauded performance as the Kostelnička. In a severe black dress (costumes by Jon Morrell), she is a terrifying figure, making her unraveling at the end of Act II, where she has a guilt-ridden vision of "death staring me in the face," one of the most dramatic moments of the evening. (Charles T. Downey)Pierre-Laurent Aimard (La Maison Française, May 7)
This was the stunning effect of Aimard's juxtaposition of atonal and tonal selections, so that the end of one dovetailed perfectly with the next, often pivoting on the same note or chord. This was most striking in the third section, Intermezzo zodiacal, where Romantic sublimations of country dances like the Ländler, mostly by Schubert, alternated with movements from Karlheinz Stockhausen's Zodiac. (Was it a coincidence that this suite of pairings ended with the Virgo movements, which happens to be Aimard's astrological sign?) No matter how far toward the fluffy Romantic stereotype the selection went, even Liadov's A Musical Snuffbox and an excerpt from Tchaikovsky's Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies, the pattern made Stockhausen seem only a step away. (Charles T. Downey)
Christian Gerhaher and Gerold Huber (Vocal Arts Society, October 11):The tall Huber, like Gerhaher in formal tails, sat hunched over the embassy's sonorous Bösendorfer, favoring the soft pedal to craft a delicate envelope of sound, like the Lotusblume opening only to the gentle moonlight, perfectly scaled to Gerhaher's voice. The softness of many of the songs honed one's ears, so that we were glad indeed when the performers paused while helicopters passed over the embassy. That sensitivity also made those moments when the full power of Gerhaher's high range and the boom of the Bösendorfer were unleashed even more impressive. My hair literally stood on end when Gerhaher roared at the end of Waldesgespräch and in Frühlingsnacht, both part of a complete performance of Liederkreis, op. 39. (Charles T. Downey)Andrew Manze and Richard Egarr (Clarice Smith Center, November 4):
As explained by the performers, Egarr sat at a Thomas and Barbara Wolf copy of a fortepiano by Johann Schantz, and Manze played on his historical instrument, a violin reconditioned to 18th-century standards. The result was an extraordinary glimpse into the musical past, in the intimate setting of the sold-out Gildenhorn Recital Hall, with the soft spectrum of these two instruments suited so well to one another and to the smaller hall. The program began with the F major sonata, K. 376, where the second movement (Andante) stood out for its well-chosen tempo and graceful ornamentation, as did the third for its force and folksy, earthy color. The E-flat major sonata, K. 481, featured an Allegretto movement a little, happily, on the plucky, poky side, at the end of which Egarr toyed with listeners who were tempted to clap before he began the capping fourth movement. (Charles T. Downey)
Leipzig Quartet, Beethoven Anniversary (National Gallery of Art, December 16):As a celebration of Beethoven's life, it is hard to imagine a better choice for a late-period quartet than the mysterious, quasi-liturgical op. 132 ("Heiliger Dankgesang," from 1825). Its third movement, a Lydian-mode song of thanksgiving for Beethoven's recovery from illness, became the psalm of solemn gratitude from the hearts of generations of Beethoven's devoted listeners. The Leipzig Quartet played a perfectly tuned, pure, and unified rendition. With almost no vibrato and careful attention to each note and line, its celestial ending left the quartet visibly exhausted. The bubbly, joyous second movement contained an enigmatic contrast with its own drone-based trio, a moment of Arcadian repose. (Charles T. Downey)HONORABLE MENTION:
- Susan Graham (Kennedy Center, January 26)
- Rape of Lucretia (Châteauville Foundation, April 14)
- Leila Josefowicz (Jewish Community Center of Greater Washington, May 13)
- Sasha Cooke (Young Concert Artists, September 30)
- Murray Perahia (Strathmore, October 28)
- Café Zimmermann (Library of Congress, November 3)
- Emmanuel Pahud and Eric Le Sage (Phillips Collection, November 7)
- Ben Heppner (Shriver Hall, December 2)
Originally from ionarts, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 27, 2007 at 03:56 PM | Comments (0)
Top 10 Live Performances, Ionarts at Large
Yesterday's Top 10 Live Performances year-in-review post was limited to music we have reviewed here in the Washington area. In 2007, however, Ionarts also brought you reviews from New York, Santa Fe, France, Italy, Germany, and other places, and here are the best performances we heard during our travels.Vadim Repin Plays Schnittke (Carnegie Hall, March 27):
What a delight and joy to be presented with the wacky, wild, and wondrous Fourth Violin Concerto by Alfred Schnittke, instead! The musical gods seemed to have smiled upon me, even if many audience members more likely gritted their teeth. They should not have, because this concerto, even if its fourth movement is probably a little too long for its own good, is music to smile about and laugh at... it’s entertainment in the best sense. It toys with beauty and the listeners’ expectations before it irreverently pulls the rug out from underneath them. It’s a creative and unique collage of styles; it is part serene, part surreal. (Jens F. Laurson)
Mitsuko Uchida and Radu Lupu (New York Philharmonic, March 29)The almost nervously active, entirely playful and animated Mitsuko Uchida on one side, on the other Radu Lupu, understated, relaxed and contributing his part to K.365 with casual flair, leaning back on a regular chair as if only half-involved – that was the curious and utterly delightful sight when these two artists came together on stage for the Concerto for Two Pianos. Lupu had his arms crossed whenever he wasn’t sprinkling and thumping notes from the keyboard into Alice Tully Hall. (Jens F. Laurson)Wagner, The Flying Dutchman (Munich Staatsoper, May 11):
Traditionally that is achieved by going into the water. But in Konwitschny's set there is no convenient rock to throw herself from. In her increasingly mad state of mind, she topples the barrels that are stored in the port facility. The keen eye sees the explosive sign on them. As she utters her last words - along the lines of "I'll show you how faithful I can be - until death" - she takes a candle and moves suspiciously toward the barrels. In the performance I just had time to think to myself: "Oh, no you're not going to..." And as it became clear that she was, I thought: "Well, you can't possibly can pull it off, realistically, in the theater..." (Jens F. Laurson)R. Strauss, Der Rosenkavalier (Munich Staatsoper, June 15, 2007):
With Adrianne Pieczonka, Munich may have found a new favorite Marschallin. Sophie Koch's Octavian was a happy combination of excellent (and believable!) acting and singing. Diana Damrau was the most sublime Sophie. Eike Wilm Schulte as Herr von Faninal (wonderful in the Washington Daphne) and John Tomlinson as Baron Ochs just about held their own against such a formidable female cast. The female trio, in whichever combination, was able to move to tears- to present the highly intelligent libretto in its best and most realistic light- to give the already glorious music that last touch that elevates it to pure genius. The sincerity, the nuances, the clarity, the warmth and melancholia (Pieczonka), the excited, naive yet also knowing (Damrau), the boyishly eager and earnest (Koch) were such, that the characters were recreated in front of the audience, despite the models and idols of the past and all the audience's preconceived notions and expectations. I know that I will consider myself very lucky should I ever hear such a fine female cast in a live Rosenkavalier again. (Jens F. Laurson)Wagner, Die Walküre, La Fura dels Baus (Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, June 29):
The acrobats of the Fura dels Baus troupe did not make an appearance until the third act, when they represented the dead warriors being gathered up during the Ride of the Valkyries. In a powerful image, they were an immobile mass of bodies, swinging back and forth on a huge globe. Some bodies lay on the stage floor, pierced with arrows like pin cushions. In the most stunning display of the cycle thus far, four of the Valkyries soared around the stage on the levitating platforms as they sang. Because the battle-maidens could be extended out over the orchestra, as well as above one another and really into our faces (we were seated this time in a side box with an excellent view), this was truly the most convincingly staged Ride of the Valkyries I have ever seen. (Charles T. Downey)
Video of a rehearsal of Ride of the Valkyries
Berlin Staatskapelle, Mahler Fifth Symphony (Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, July 3):
[Barenboim's] conducting, musical approach, and even work at the piano are robust, tending toward emotional outbursts, tense and exciting build-ups, and above all, powerful sound. This was a full-voiced Mahler, with Barenboim massing sound into monolithic blocks. Thrilling moments, dominated by the impressive brass section, abounded in the middle part of the funeral march, and even more in the vehement opening of the second movement and the crushing loudness of the last. At the same time, Barenboim paid careful attention to scaling sections down to bring out unusual voicings and colors. The contrabassoon and triangle popped out of the softer part of the second movement, as did a stunning cello solo, so pure and sweet, leading to that powerful crescendo. Superb solo horn playing was featured in the gently undulating scherzo movement, with those strange stylistic turns -- a little balalaika serenade, a pretty music box aria. (Charles T. Downey)
Monteverdi, Orfeo, Concerto Italiano (Estate Musicale Chigiana di Siena, July 11):As you might expect from listening to Alessandrini's recordings, he conducts with exciting verve. When not accompanying recitatives or playing on either the portative organ or the harpsichord stacked on top of it, he lunged toward the singers or instrumentalists, indicating with his agitated dancing or gentle gestures the musical spirit he wanted to create. Even for someone familiar with the score, Alessandrini's direction regularly surprised, from the shockingly florid embellishments (by the awe-inspiring cornetti, played by Doron Sherwin and Fiona Russell, in the famous opening toccata or by singers, as in La Musica's strophic prologue) to the sometimes unusual choice of tempo (a very fast opening ritornello to "Io la Musica son," for example, and unexpectedly languid sections in "Lasciate i monti"). (Charles T. Downey)Accademia di Santa Cecilia (Settimana Musicale Senese, July 14):
The eight singers, the piano, and other instruments were picked up by microphones, which created the appearance of an electronic production, reminiscent of musique concrète. The Swingle Singers mostly created glistening dissonant chords in close harmonic arrangements or added to the chaotic effects of the orchestra by whispering or shouting. The first tenor -- the part sung by Ward Swingle, the group's founder -- recited most of the narration, drawn from Claude-Lévi Strauss's Le cru et le cuit, a study of Brazilian traditional mythology relating to the origin of water, and Samuel Beckett's L'Innommable. From the third movement on, there is also English commentary on the experience of listening to Sinfonia -- "it's a compulsory show," "perhaps it is a recitation, someone reciting selected passages," and "waiting for it to start -- that is the show." The postmodern attitude, deconstructing the work and the listener's possible experiences of it, is made specific with references to the citations of the Resurrection symphony ("there was even for a moment a chance of resurrection") and with the words directed to the conductor at the close of the fourth movement ("Thank you, Mr. Antonio Pappano"). It could be characterized as the dialogue of voices inside a puzzled listener's head or like a berserk color commentary on the action. (Charles T. Downey)Rameau, Platée (Santa Fe Opera, August 7):
Bicket amusingly gave up his baton to a frog after Act II, when during the long set change a bored-acting frog beside the audience began gesturing for the conductor to begin the introduction to Act III. Bicket finally complied, and the frog strutted through the audience, perched behind the conductor, and began messing with his hair. Bicket lunged after the frog, though the frog escaped, only to return (after grabbing a bass player’s music and handing it to an audience member) to steal Bicket’s baton, cut off the orchestral introduction at its actual end, and take a massive frog bow to applause from the real audience. (Michael Lodico)Cavalli, La Calisto (Munich Staatsoper, November 7):
One of the last new productions under the auspices of the former General Manager Sir Peter Jonas, it brings together Munich’s “Dream Team” of Baroque opera, director David Alden and Ivor Bolton. The entire team, including the principal singers, have continuously worked on and fine tuned this Calisto. And the continuous work shows. La Calisto is a unity of music, singing, and staging that the composer and librettist (Giovanni Faustini) could never have imagined. The set (Paul Steinberg) and the costumes (Buki Shiff) are a colorful and quirky romp that seduce on the account of their visual appeal and they remove the story from any particular time or period (as should be, in a story about Gods, Demigods, and Nymphs) by means of abstraction. Words won’t quite do justice to the amorphous walls with patterns of bright swirls, or the long bar where the subsidiary characters (Pane, Silvano, Satirino et al.) get together for a drink, accompanied by assorted non-speaking creatures chosen from the signs of the zodiac and a most amusingly realistic, dramatically oversized drink-serving chameleon. (Jens F. Laurson)
Originally from ionarts, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 27, 2007 at 03:55 PM | Comments (0)
International implications
Sorry for yet another post title with alliteration, I can't resist. Two last notes this morning:1) From Sieglinde's Diaries over at BalconyBox I was linked to an article that suggests the Metropolitan Opera Company (New York) is looking into opening a branch in Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates. The Louvre and New York’s Guggenheim Museum have already agreed to do the same, and a major performing arts center is under construction. What are the implications of this?
2) Everyone who hasn’t already should read the New York Times Magazine profile of Gustavo Dudamel and el sistema of Venezuela. The program seeks to provide an instrument and an orchestra for any child in the country that is interested. Founder Jose Antonio Abreu: “As a musician, I had the ambition to see a poor child play Mozart. Why not? Why concentrate in one class the privilege of playing Mozart and Beethoven? The high musical culture of the world has to be a common culture, part of the education of everyone.” With over 250,000 young people presently involved in el sistema, no one can deny that it is working wonders. But I am curious if anyone has voiced concern about the focus on Western classical music, as opposed to Venezuelan music. Why not commit the same energy and money to a program centered on the traditional music and instruments of Venezuela and Latin America, or a program that offers access to both? I most definitely look at what Abreu has done with awe and it is right that other nations seriously consider adapting his model, but I think the preservation of native folk musics can be intertwined with the general social goals of such a program.
Originally from classicalive, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 27, 2007 at 03:54 PM | Comments (0)
The Digital Gramophone
This is old but interesting. Some guy noticed that if you look at the grooves of a record with a magnifying glass you can actually see the encoded soundwaves. Naturally, he decided to stick them in a scanner and attempt to extract the sound by analyzing the scanned images, with limited success as you can hear by means of the file on his website.
This reminds me of those laser based record players. Except, you know, way slower and about fifty thousand times worse quality.
Originally posted by Ben from classicalconvert.com, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 27, 2007 at 03:53 PM | Comments (0)
Present-ed Music
Two CDs received by moi, ich, ik, me over the brief but very pleasant (and already being missed) Christmas excursion to Maine are:
Which got stuck on my ultra-selective Amazon public wishlist so it must be something that was particularly attention grabbing when it got all aural up in my ears. It hasn’t had any listening time yet due to not being available on the CDDB — the database which mp3 ripping software uses to work out the names of tracks (which, incidentally is how the Hatto scandal was detected). I’m extra lazy when not officially at work, so couldn’t be bothered to spend the five minutes required to type in the track names. The Naxos info for this recording is here.
The other CD I got is (was?):
This was on the hitlist due to: 1) me wanting to own every available Shostakovich opus, but also 1++) me especially being fond of the late (post about Op. 100) pieces. Until now these had been unfamiliar. After a couple of listens all of these pieces sound WONDERFUL. The main event, Op. 119, is a 30 minute cantata-ey type piece in the style of his symphony No. 13. Very, very similar, in fact - but since I flippin’ love Op. 113 that’s not necessarily a negative thing at all. Op. 131 “October” is a vibrant little nationalistic number commemorating one of the revolutions, it reminds me of the driving 2nd movement of the 11th symphony. The 3rd piece on the CD, op. 42 ‘Five Fragments” are a set of five precursors to the desk-drawered and schizophrenic 4th symphony. Some of the fragments survived the transition basically intact, others I can’t place so well. All are interesting, but short. The Naxos CD info is here.
More thoughts as they get processed! Anyone else get anything interesting for xmas?
Originally posted by Ben from classicalconvert.com, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 27, 2007 at 03:53 PM | Comments (0)
Personal memories of a jazz icon
Irwin Block, Montreal Gazette, 12/26/2007Originally from Classical Music News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 27, 2007 at 03:52 PM | Comments (0)
AMN Podcast: The Flying Luttenbachers - Destroy All Music Revisited
The Flying Luttenbachers “Demonic Velocities/ 20,000,000 Volts” (mp3)
from “Destroy All Music Revisited”
(Skin Graft Records) Buy at eMusic More On This Album
Originally posted by Mike from Avant Music News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 27, 2007 at 03:52 PM | Comments (0)
German avant-garde musician Hans Otte dies at 81 - The Canadian Press
German avant-garde musician Hans Otte dies at 81 The Canadian Press - Otte died on Tuesday after a long illness, Radio Bremen, whose music department he led from 1959 to 1984, said in a brief statement on its website. ... |
Originally from "contemporary classical" | "avant garde" music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 27, 2007 at 03:51 PM | Comments (0)
Centre Pompidou - New York Times
Centre Pompidou New York Times, United States - Reopened in January 2000 in what was called in the 1970s "the most avant-garde building in the world," the restored Centre Pompidou is packing in the ... |
Originally from "contemporary classical" | "avant garde" music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 27, 2007 at 03:51 PM | Comments (0)
Measure for Measure - Windy City Times
Measure for Measure Windy City Times, IL - 12 double bill of Contempo and the Graznya Auguscik Sextet with Jarek Bester; Contempo being the contemporary classical music ensemble of the University of ... |
Originally from "contemporary classical" | "avant garde" music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 27, 2007 at 03:51 PM | Comments (0)
Language of the spirit - phillyBurbs.com
Language of the spirit phillyBurbs.com, PA - While he would eventually drift more toward hip-hop, joining the avant-garde Basehead in Washington, doing some DJ work and producing singles, ... |
Originally from "contemporary classical" | "avant garde" music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 27, 2007 at 03:51 PM | Comments (0)
Shots Fired from Inside the Fortress
Ha! Alex Ross can take a holiday hiatus, but here at Postclassic, the all-important week between Christmas and New Year's...Originally from PostClassic, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 27, 2007 at 03:41 PM | Comments (0)
True West - Hollywood Holiday Revisited
Atavistic 179 Whatever one thinks of the Paisley Underground of psychedelic bands emanating from Los Angeles in the early 80s (Dream Syndicate, Green On Red, etc.), the first four tracks on the Hollywood Holiday EP (Bring Out Your Dead...Originally from Bagatellen, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 27, 2007 at 02:11 PM | Comments (0)
T-Model Ford - Pee Wee Get My Gun (Fat Possum)
A bit of a relic from Fat Possums not-so-distant past, the label has since wisely moved on to stewarding more reliable and lucrative wards like Dinosaur Jr. and the Heartless Bastards. Back in the Nineties though, they still banked...Originally from Bagatellen, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 27, 2007 at 02:11 PM | Comments (0)
Weasel Walter Firestorm
ugEXPLODE 22 Even the hardiest improv-salted souls can find themselves beset by vocational self doubts. Such demons seem to have finally caught up with Weasel Walter who marked the waning months of this year with several editorials mapping his...Originally from Bagatellen, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 27, 2007 at 02:11 PM | Comments (0)
Oscar Peterson or Karlheinz Stockhausen?
Who touched more people's lives, Oscar Peterson or Karlheinz Stockhausen? Not a rhetorical question, but one prompted by reading a fascinating book over the Christmas break. Both Peterson and Stockhausen were consumate musicians who created seminal works in the 1960s. Night Train was recorded in 1962 and Stimmung was composed in 1968. But they were polar opposites in their approach to music making, and they were polar opposites in their propensity to disturb people.
White Heat, A History of Britain in the Swinging Sixties by Dominic Sandbrook is a superbly researched social history which follows on from the author's survey of Britain in the 1950s. Sandbrook's central thesis is that 'the sixties are best understood not as a dramatic turning point, interrupting the course of the nation's history and sending it off in a radically new direction, but rather as a stage in a long evolution stretching back into the forgotten past'. His conclusion is echoed by a New Society survey of social attitudes carried out at the end of the 1960s.
'Shouldn't one talk of the Cautious Sixties, rather than the Swinging Sixties? Hardly any of the obsessions of the metropolitan mass media rate favourably: some of them don't even rate strongly. You emerge with the very strong impression that if the the 1960s meant anything special to most people in Britain it was because they got, during them, a better chance to lead a not-too-poor, not-too-insecure life ... Despite the way the 1960s have often been portrayed, this has not become a wildly changed country: most people are not that keen on being disturbed.'
Oscar Peterson or Karlheinz Stockhausen? I would choose both. But despite our current obsession with all things new, doesn't Dominic Sandbrook's summing up apply as much to the first decade of the twenty-first century as it does to the 1960s? - 'Not ... a dramatic turning point, interrupting the course of ... history and sending it off in a radically new direction, but rather as a stage in a long evolution stretching back into the forgotten past.'
Read how Bill Evans and György Ligeti were part of that evolution.
Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk
Originally from On An Overgrown Path, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 27, 2007 at 02:10 PM | Comments (0)
[no title]
Cleveland Orchestra to premiere Ades pieceThe Cleveland Orchestra, which has been criticized for failing to program new music, will give the U.S. premiere of a Thomas Ades work, Suite from "Powder Her Face," in a series of concerts on Jan. 17, 18 and 19. They are also playing two Stravinky pieces ("Firebird" and "Pulcinella" suites) and Mozart's 20th piano concerto. It's a nice program, and I'll be
there.
Originally from Modernclassical, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 27, 2007 at 02:10 AM | Comments (0)
December 26, 2007
Classical Music: Alive and Kicking
I doubt that rejection of modernism is what drove Baby Boomers away from classical music; they weren't there in the first place. Part of their act of rebellion was to put a minus sign on anything their parents found important and classical music was seen as part of the conformity and stuffiness of the middle class life they rejected.Originally from NewMusicBox, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 26, 2007 at 11:10 PM | Comments (0)
The Composer vs. The Audience
The holidays have in no way diminished the debate about the relationship between the composer and the audience.Originally from NewMusicBox, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 26, 2007 at 11:10 PM | Comments (0)
The Arbiters of Doom
The modernist presumption that audiences exert a negative and coercive effect on our artistic options is often an inversion of the truth.Originally from NewMusicBox, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 26, 2007 at 11:10 PM | Comments (0)
Sign of the Apocalypse
And lo, in the last days even he who had forever sworn that he would rather have his eyeballs penetrated...Originally from PostClassic, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 26, 2007 at 11:10 PM | Comments (0)
Hans Otte, 1926-2007
Hans Otte, the German postminimalist composer of the piano magnum opus Das Buch der Klänge (1979-82), has just died. I...Originally from PostClassic, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 26, 2007 at 11:10 PM | Comments (0)
Elcho Islanders Go Viral
* Aborigines dance to Zorba the Greek.* The year in Canadian music.
* The state of the protest song.
* Baidu beats the rap.
* Lukas Haas: "It's so easy to play music."
Originally posted by jodru from ANABlog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 26, 2007 at 07:08 PM | Comments (0)
From 'Neptune's Daughter'
The original version of 'Baby It's Cold Outside', sung by Esther Williams and Ricardo Montalban.Originally posted by jodru from ANABlog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 26, 2007 at 07:08 PM | Comments (0)
That’s Earle, Brother
I missed this little diatribe from Bernard Holland in the Times. Thanks to Carmen Tellez for bringing it to my attention:
Unpleasant truths were another topic brought back forcefully by a concert at the Kitchen in September, by the fine young group Either/Or. Here was a program of 1960s arrogance and self-absorption, with people like Cornelius Cardew, Christian Wolff and Earle Brown as the main offenders. Listening to a collection of composers sharing inside jokes and private messages in music that reeked of contempt for the public made me get down on my knees and give thanks that an era so damaging to music was over. It didn’t drive an intelligent public away from classical music by itself, but it helped.
Originally posted by Jerry Bowles from Sequenza21/, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 26, 2007 at 05:11 PM | Comments (0)
New Music News Wire
Donald Martino has been elected to the Classical Music Hall of Fame; Benjamin Lees donates archive to Yale; James Kendrick Appointed to ASCAP's board of directors following two consecutive nights of ASCAP awards honoring a wide variety of music; Harvestworks announces its 2008 Artists In Residence; and 27 composers receive over $30K in the latest AMC Composer Assistance Program awards.Originally from NewMusicBox, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 26, 2007 at 05:10 PM | Comments (0)
Reindeer Games
My brother and I have developed a ritualistic nightly game entitled "Best Song/Favorite Song," a trifle of deceptive simplicity in which we take a band whose output we know back to front and each propose our favorite songs and, separately, the songs we feel are the best of the group's catalogue.Originally from NewMusicBox, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 26, 2007 at 05:10 PM | Comments (0)
Too
David Mamet in his wonderful new book Bambi vs. Godzilla: Every [film] studio pays myriads of number crunchers, market analysts,...Originally from PostClassic, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 26, 2007 at 05:10 PM | Comments (0)
The almost submerged cathedral
Claude Debussy's La cathédrale engloutie (The submerged cathedral) in his Préludes Book 1 was inspired by the legend of the sunken city of Ys off the Brittany coast. My photograph above was taken in France, but not in Brittany. It shows the Church of Champaubert which is almost submerged by the waters of the Lac du Der Chantecoq in the Champagne region. The lake was created in 1974 as part of a massive flood prevention scheme for the tributaries of the River Seine. It covers 4800 hectacres, and its creation submerged three villages whose 345 residents had to be relocated. Champaubert was one of the villages flooded, but the church remains in eerie isolation by the lakeside.
The huge man-made resovoir has been put to good use. A cycle path runs round the lake, and the area is now a major centre for watersports and cycling. The photo below shows me on the lakeside path. For cycling readers, I am riding my Moulton APB, which is the bike I travel with when serious off-roading is not on the agenda. My ride round the lake was a lot more pleasant than that taken by Debussy's friend Ernest Chausson. In 1899 he lost control of his bicycle on a downhill slope, ran straight into the brick wall of his estate in Limary, Seine-et-Oise, and died instantly, aged 44. But no such mistakes by me on the big downhills.
An interesting bit of music trivia. In 1930 Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra performed an orchestral transcription of Debussy's La cathédrale engloutie with the bass line augmented by a theremin. But the low frequencies caused nausea in the back ranks of the srting section and the experiment was not repeated.
Now playing - Debussy's La cathédrale engloutie, on a piano, what else? Gordon Fergus-Thompson is the pianist on the Brilliant Classics reissue of his ASV recordings of the complete piano music of Debussy and Ravel. Another brilliant bargain from the Dutch label.
More on floods here and here.
Photographs (c) 2007 On An Overgrown Path. Report broken links, missing images and other errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk
Originally from On An Overgrown Path, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 26, 2007 at 11:10 AM | Comments (0)
December 25, 2007
Monk's Legacy: New Book - eJazzNews
Monk's Legacy: New Book eJazzNews, Canada - He considers how Monk's stature has grown, from the narrowly focused wing of the avant-garde in the 1960s and '70s to the present, where he is claimed as an ... |
Originally from "contemporary classical" | "avant garde" music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 25, 2007 at 07:19 PM | Comments (0)
Oscar Peterson, Piano Virtuoso - Hartford Courant
Oscar Peterson, Piano Virtuoso Hartford Courant, United States - His father, a railroad porter and amateur organist, pushed music on his five children, beating them if they did not play well and criticizing them ... |
Originally from "contemporary classical" | "avant garde" music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 25, 2007 at 07:19 PM | Comments (0)
Merry Whiskers and Happy New Ears!
Originally posted by Jerry Bowles from Sequenza21/, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 25, 2007 at 07:14 PM | Comments (0)
Xmas mix info...
Hope everyone is enjoying their day... just an update to say that the two Xmas mixes can be heard by clicking on the appropriate links in the flash player on the side - just above the Hype machine links...Originally from wordsandmusic, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 25, 2007 at 05:10 PM | Comments (0)
It's a John Cage Christmas
* Kiwis cut hit single that only dogs can hear.* Hansel & Gretel get lost all over again.
* "If you don't give concerts, you can't have a presence."
* Cue the Ghost of Music Education Past.
* The world's most inept retiree quits his second job.
Originally posted by jodru from ANABlog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 25, 2007 at 03:08 PM | Comments (0)
Xmas Mix 2... Prince Far I... Burning Star Core... Sidney Bechet... Miles Davis... Arcana... Howling Wolf... Fugazi... Jackson C. Frank... and more
And now it's Christmas Day... Another mix...1.Prince Far I – Heavy manners
2.Burning Star Core – This moon will be your grave
3.Sidney Bechet – Blues in thirds
4.Miles Davis – Jeru
5.Arcana – Derek Bailey/Bill Laswell/Tony Williams – Tears of astral rain
6.Howling Wolf – How many more years
7.Fugazi – Repeater
8.Jackson C. Frank -Yonder come the blues
9.Booker Ervin – Den Tex
10.The Impressions – The girl I find
11.J.S.Bach (K. Richter) – Dem wir das Heilig mitz wit Freuden lasse
WordsandmusicXmasMix2
Download
Originally from wordsandmusic, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 25, 2007 at 11:10 AM | Comments (0)
A World Premiere Experience
Many world premieres in the classical music world are fleeting moments of disconnection - a composer works in a solitary manner, crafting an orchestral composition while his/her commissioners can only sit and speculate as to what it might sound like. Shortly before the premiere, the piece arrives on the musicians' music stands and the composer and conductor have only a handful of rehearsals to communicate this new vision to the orchestra before it is performed over a weekend for an audience who has little idea what to expect. The end result of this process varies: the audience may be either blown away or sometimes just plain confounded at the originality and uniqueness of the piece. Either way, there is usually little opportunity to get any further into the piece - the premiere is over and that's the end of the story.But The Phoenix Symphony's Composer-in-Residence, Mark Grey, wanted the experience of his new piece, Enemy Slayer: A Navajo Oratorio, to be vastly different. With the help of The Phoenix Symphony staff, Grey created 4 residency weeks full of events that would introduce the community to the concepts behind his new composition and even provide previews of what the audience would hear on premiere night. The artistic team even took a trip to the Navajo Reservation in northeast Arizona to present a preview of the project at Diné College as well as to Navajo high school students. The result is a new orchestral work that people can take a tour of and connect with so that when the main event occurs in February it won't be a fleeting moment, but rather the culmination of an experience.
I have had the opportunity to document the composer residency over the last three months and have put together a short preview of Enemy Slayer: A Navajo Oratorio that will introduce you to the artists, traditions, story, and some of the music behind this remarkable project. You can watch it online or download a high resolution version through this link.
And remember, there are still two residency weeks left in the months of January and February. Take the opportunity to learn more about this project and be a part of this world premiere experience!
Brendan Anderson
Web Administrator
(Photo by Deborah O'Grady)
Originally from SoundPost - The Phoenix Symphony, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 25, 2007 at 05:19 AM | Comments (0)
View our RSS feed using Rocketinfo: - Audiophile Audition
 | View our RSS feed using Rocketinfo: Audiophile Audition - Homage a Gyorgy LIGETI = 5 Pieces for piano four hands; Invention; Capriccio No. 1 and No. 2; Musica Ricercata; 3 Pieces for Cembalo; 3 Pieces for 2 Pianos; ... |
Originally from lutoslawski OR xenakis OR boulez OR Dutilleux OR ligeti OR "elliott carter" OR stockhausen OR "steve reich" AND music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 25, 2007 at 05:18 AM | Comments (0)
Christmas Lights
Originally posted by jodru from ANABlog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 25, 2007 at 05:14 AM | Comments (0)
RIP, Oscar
Originally posted by jodru from ANABlog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 25, 2007 at 05:14 AM | Comments (0)
Ringo, "Christmas Time Is Here Again"
Ringo's Plea on Behalf of the BWBF
Originally posted by jodru from ANABlog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 25, 2007 at 05:14 AM | Comments (0)
Not a creature was stirring
(Click to enlarge.) Critic-at-large Moe is listening to Al Green: O Holy Night (MP3, 3.4 MB). He has had it up to here with all of your cat pictures. Nevertheless, he wishes everyone a peaceful holiday season. See you next year!
Originally from Soho the Dog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 25, 2007 at 05:11 AM | Comments (0)
December 24, 2007
Blinded By The Light
“It’s the same with all those conductors who shut themselves off from everything new. I look upon them as undertakers, exploiters of dead composers. They’re the Herods of modern music.” – Karlheinz Stockhausen
When Donnerstag aus LICHT premiered at La Scala on March 15, 1981 it was conducted by Peter Eötvös , directed by Luca Ronconi, and Stockhausen was credited with having composed the 'music, libretto, dance, actions, and gestures'. The composer sat, as per usual, in the middle of the hall, manning an enormous sound projection desk, the location a matter of utility, surely, but also a not-so-subtle illusion which made the entire production seem to materialize before its creator. The first act would only reinforce this atmosphere of megalomania as it dramatizes the deaths of Stockhausen's parents (played by Eve and Lucifer). The composer would be represented by no less than Michael the Archangel, who, in turn, is a stand-in for Christ.The easy label for this is egocentric (and it has been unsparingly applied), but credit Stockhausen with at least having an operatic childhood. Most of us would have mini-traumas of dead goldfish and divorce to put onstage, Stockhausen's mum was euthanized by the Nazis for being mentally ill and his father died in the war. He left out his own experience tending to wounded and dying soldiers at a military hospital, but if the egoism of this prelude to LICHT is really to be considered a sin, let's bear in mind that the very act of composing is self-centered. And writing an opera after Wagner? Well, that's every composer's white whale. Stockhausen may set the bar, but he's hardly alone in the ego department.
By most accounts, the audience warmly received Donnerstag. The thought of the Stockhausen of pure electronic music, suffocating serialism, and unrepentant modernism premiering an opera on the stage at La Scala is strange indeed, almost as strange as the opera itself. To get to their seats, the audience would've had to walk past a chamber ensemble in the lobby which was playing a Thursday Greeting. Once in their seats, they would have been surrounded by a ring of speakers, which would project the voices of an Invisible Choir throughout the opera. Afterwards, trumpeters would play a Thursday Farewell from separate balconies above the theater's square.
In discussing LICHT, it's helpful to remember that opera originated as a marriage of disciplines. LICHT owes far more to Monteverdi than it does to Wagner in that sense. The chief contributor to its strangeness is the fact that Stockhausen's frame of reference is so vast. LICHT vacuums up the traditions of film, dance, mime, Western and Indian classical music, Noh theater, astrology, and Christianity, with tips of the hat to everyone from Bach to Brecht.
In Donnerstag, there are only three characters, but they each play multiple roles and have multiple identifying features. Stockhausen takes the tradition, so familiar through Bach's Passions, of pairing a solo instrument with a solo voice to the extreme. For long stretches of the opera, the only manifestation of the characters we see onstage are their instrumental doppelgangers.Forget the leitmotif; it's for lightweights. Stockhausen's idea of total serialization is translated into a matrix of characteristics that he bestows on his three leads:
| MICHAEL | EVE | LUCIFER | |
| Voice: | tenor | soprano | bass |
| Instrument: | trumpet | basset horn | trombone |
| Body: | dancer | dancer & speaker | dancer-mime & speaker |
| Primary Color: | blue | light green | ice blue & blue green |
| Secondary Colors: | purple & violet | off-white, opaline & silver | black green, black blue, & gray |
In keeping with operatic tradition, Stockhausen's characters are well-worn archetypes, but as with a pitch set, the composer wrings as much meaning out of them as he can. Eve is not only the first woman, but she also slips into the role of Jocasta, seducing her son in the first act. Michael is at once the Archangel (Prince of Light in the apocrypha), Jesus Christ, and Stephen Dedalus. Donnerstag's loose narrative is his bildungsroman. Stockhausen would often compare these multi-layered characters to refracted light. So much of the writing in LICHT is the musical equivalent of a prism, shattering a single beam into its stunningly varied components.
After he is orphaned, Michael auditions for the conservatory, and the four-person jury is played by (who else?) Eve and Lucifer. Very rarely in the course of its three hours does Donnerstag sound like anything but a chamber opera. This economy of means is part of what many critics thought put the opera at odds with itself. In one moment, the staging is sparse, in another, absurdly grand. The entire second act is dominated by a giant globe, which opens in various spots to reveal the trumpeter Michael as he journeys around the world. A grand gesture indeed (the first of many in LICHT), but in a lowbrow visual pun, the orchestra, which sits at approximately the South Pole, are all dressed up as penguins.
From a dramatic viewpoint, the disparities continue. The odd but intelligible libretto of the first act is abandoned in the second for a completely abstract ballet set to a trumpet concerto. In the third act, snatches of scripture are sung in Hebrew and German by the invisible choirs as Michael ascends into heaven. Stockhausen summarizes the journey with an execrable acronym:
[Michael] experienced theThe critical response to all of this was bewildered but admiring. Paul Griffiths titled his review for The Times, "A great creative mind talks to itself". He summed up the production as "an evening that is breathtakingly spectacular yet honest in taking account of the opera's discrepancies of vision and its weird mixture of cosmic imagination with juvenile smut and artistic shodiness."
Melodies of CHILDHOOD with mother and father
Intensity of love through MOON-EVE
Chromaticism of the soul during EXAMINATION
Harmony of the languages on the JOURNEY AROUND THE EARTH
Audiogrammar of the emotions in the CRUCIFIXION
Ecstasy of polyphony in the ASCENSION, the
Light of the resurrection at the RETURN HOME.
Covent Garden bet on 60% of capacity when it gambled by opening its 1985-86 season with Donnerstag, and the final box office beat their wager by 20%. It is difficult to imagine an opera this bizarre captivating critics and audiences in 2007 as Donnerstag did in the early 80's. The level of engagement with Stockhausen's work puts the lie to the popular current narrative of a composer who cloistered himself in the last 30 years of his life.As an opening salvo in a heptology, Donnerstag is a bundle of contradictions. It holds precious few clues as to what the rest of the cycle will entail, while at the same time, it neatly outlines all of its major devices. There is no cliffhanger or even dramatic tension which hints at the need for a series of sequels, yet its self-containment is clearly stretched to its limit as the opera all but bursts at its seams. For a variety of reasons, Donnerstag would be the last that most people would hear of LICHT. It is the most widely accessible of the seven operas, as it was released in a 4-disc set by Deutsche Grammophon. For most, LICHT took on the aura of a massive art project like Roden Crater after 1985, some bizarrely gigantic work that would eventually see the light of day in a few decades. Even now, four years after its completion, the entire cycle remains shrouded in mystery and most likely will for some time to come.
Originally posted by jodru from ANABlog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 07:25 PM | Comments (0)
Academic milestones
I was just informed by Dean Waterman that my promotion to Professor Step VI has been approved by the Committee on Academic Personnel and by the Chancellor. This is a career review step and one that indicates that the professor has a national and/or international reputation. This step carries with it a few extra words: “Professor with great distinction.”
Having been hired in 1983 as a Visiting Lecturer for a 2-year appointment, I feel happy to have patiently traversed the academic ladder to Step Vi. There are still steps VII, VIII, and IX but VI is the hardest one. This procedure took about a year to happen. Whew!
Originally posted by Roger Bourland from rogerbourland.com, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 07:24 PM | Comments (0)
Where music comes from
Many of us love to talk and write about music. I might divide writers about music into several off-the-cuff categories: There are critics who become expert in telling the public their opinions in words. There are music teachers at all levels who teach the art and craft of playing an instrument. There are music teachers who specialize in telling people “how music [supposedly] works” with respect to melody, counterpoint, harmony, and structure. There are music scholars who are passionate about certain aspects of music and devote their lives to researching, writing and teaching about that passion. And finally, there is a huge amount of literature written by fans who may, but usually don’t have the expertise to really describe music technically, but know what they like and let it be known in a variety of ways.
And then there are composers who talk about music–other composer’s music as well as their own. My own advice is to ALWAYS take whatever composers say about their music, with a grain of salt. You can usually trust their comments to be true if they tell you it was written over a certain period of time, commissioned or not by someone, orchestrated for some ensemble, and premiered by someone somewhere on a certain date. Beyond that, turn up the purple prose filter and just nod politely. Granted, much music can and is described with minimal purple prose. But we composers love to go on–being the artists and gasbags that we are.
As I sit and compose music, and I’m having a really good session where the music is just pouring out, I don’t really know what I’m doing, where it’s really coming from, how many notes are there, how it relates to the overall structure, and other parameters composers like to go on about. When I look at it later, I may notice these things, or make up an analysis or scholarly stories about “how the music works” or how I composed it. But I fear that “where music comes from” will always be a mystery. I’m not ready to ape Stravinsky and tell you that I am but the vessel through which it passes to be given to the world. I’m not going to tell you that I channel music. I’m not going to tell you that God composes my music. I just don’t know, and that’s fine.
Originally posted by Roger Bourland from rogerbourland.com, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 07:24 PM | Comments (0)
Classical Music Blog ratings
Twice a year Scott Spiegelberg reports the “Top 50 Classical Music Blogs.” He uses two different methods, the first being the google ranking, and the second being the Technorati methods. Each post describes the differerences. I am happy to report that even tho I’ve dropped down in posts on my blog since becoming Chair, my blog still rocks, er, ranks.
In The Top 50 Classical Music Blogs (Google version) this blog ranked number 39.
In the Top 51 Classical Music Blogs (Technorati version) this blog ranked number 29.
I strongly urge those of you with a little time on your hands to take a look at these excellent blogs. For those of you with less time, just read my blog [LOL].
Happy Christmas!
Originally posted by Roger Bourland from rogerbourland.com, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 07:24 PM | Comments (0)
It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Weihnachten
What’s Christmas without a little organ music? Der Engel by our own Steve Layton.
Originally posted by Jerry Bowles from Sequenza21/, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 05:11 PM | Comments (0)
Olewnick's 2008 Review Sabbatical
I wanted to announce my intention to take a more or less complete break from reviewing new music during 2008 for the purpose of allowing myself more time to concentrate on the Rowe biography. I figured I'd post it prominently...Originally from Bagatellen, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 05:11 PM | Comments (0)
Happy Christmas to all my readers
Photo taken at the festival of lessons and carols in Blythburgh Church on December 22nd, 2007, a church which has many connections with Benjamin Britten. Have a peaceful Christmas everyone, and a very musical New Year.
Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk
Originally from On An Overgrown Path, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 05:10 PM | Comments (0)
Joyeux Noël de Le Petit Prince:
* Wisconsin Public Television viewers get a Christmas Day treat.* Filipino finds a treasure trove of music.
* "It's a folk tradition ... as opposed to being composed by a trained composer."
* Keep your eye on these acts in 2008.
* A fascinating look at a christmas concert in Jakarta.
* Live webcasting looks well-positioned for 2008.
* "...without the beauty of the human voice expressing deep emotional truths, something of a culture's heartbeat is cauterised."
Originally posted by jodru from ANABlog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 04:48 PM | Comments (0)
Telling It Like It Is
Originally from Iron Tongue of Midnight, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 03:45 PM | Comments (0)
The Sound of the New Is Heard All Over - New York Times
 | The Sound of the New Is Heard All Over New York Times, United States - In March he led Christian Tetzlaff in a knockout performance of Gyorgy Ligeti’s Violin Concerto (1992). Not incidentally, the orchestra played magnificently ... |
Originally from lutoslawski OR xenakis OR boulez OR Dutilleux OR ligeti OR "elliott carter" OR stockhausen OR "steve reich" AND music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 03:44 PM | Comments (0)
Classical music for free - Manila Standard Today
Classical music for free Manila Standard Today, Philippines - Performed by the Cleveland Orchestra and Chorus, conducted by Pierre Boulez. (Deutsche Grammophon). Smitten by the beauty of an Irish Shakespearean actress, ... |
Originally from lutoslawski OR xenakis OR boulez OR Dutilleux OR ligeti OR "elliott carter" OR stockhausen OR "steve reich" AND music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 03:44 PM | Comments (0)
And the band played on - Guardian Unlimited
And the band played on Guardian Unlimited, UK - The death of Karlheinz Stockhausen got mixed notices. Philip Hensher in the Independent did a little rapture about "90 minutes of the sung overtones of a ... |
Originally from lutoslawski OR xenakis OR boulez OR Dutilleux OR ligeti OR "elliott carter" OR stockhausen OR "steve reich" AND music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 03:43 PM | Comments (0)
2007 is almost over (part 1)
I think I have finally recovered from the Solstice show and the crazy week of rehearsals leading up to it...The highlights for me:
premiering Raz Mesinai's new quartet, Citadelle
premiering my own piece, Take the 2 Train, with pianist Stephen Gosling
watching illusionist Jarrett Parker as we played the finale
It was a blast working with director Daniel Flannery and pianists Stephen Gosling, Kathleen Supove, Raja Rahman, and Robert Schwimmer. We'll be back again next year with a completely different show.
My favorite world premieres of 2007:
May 16 Ken Thomson Such Insolence!
June 10: Shelley Burgon Four Days
June 10: Miguel Frasconi Telling Time #2
June 10: Kenji Bunch Sandcastle #2
November 17: Anna Clyne Roulette
December 14: Okkyung Lee then, there, that corner...
December 21: Raz Mesinai Citadelle
I am honored to have helped bring these pieces into the world.
Happy holidays!!!
Originally from Urban Modes: Music and Life in New York, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 03:43 PM | Comments (0)
Xmas mix - Whitedog... Charles Ives... Bill Evans... Cecil Taylor... Peter Brotzmann...Guy Clark... Judee Sill... Second Zion 4... Roland Kirk
Christmas greetings to everyone... this is the first of two mixes I have done for the festive season, tracklisting below...1.Whitedog – Budapest 4 a.m.
2.Charles Ives First Symphony – Adagio molto (sustenuto)
3.Bill Evans/Lee Konitz/Warner Marsh – Night and Day
4.Cecil Taylor – 11-52 (From 3 Phasis)
5.Peter Brotzmann Chicago Tentet – Aziz
6.Guy Clark – Let him roll
7.Judee Sill – The lamb ran away with the crown
8.Second Zion Four – Praise him shining angels
9.Roland Kirk – We free kings
An odd mixture, perhaps... stuff I like... the Kirk is a bit of a seasonal favourite – but it's always worth a runout. Who knows – for the same reasons, I may even whack the MJQ's version of 'God rest ye merry gentlemen' up tomorrow as part of the Christmas day mix...
Beware - this is a relatively large file if uploading, over 70mb... Number two tomorrow, alcohol/fun permitting...
The Wordsand musicXmasMix1
Download
Peace...
Originally from wordsandmusic, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 02:10 PM | Comments (0)
For unto us a child is born
It was a night spent in the basement of a burnt out building.
People injured by the atomic bomb took shelter in this room, filling it.
They passed the night in darkness, not even a single candle among them.
The raw smell of blood, the stench of death.
Body heat and the reek of sweat. Moaning.
Miraculously, out of the darkness, a voice sounded:
"The baby's coming!"
In that basement room, in those lower reaches of hell,
A young woman was now going into labor.
What were they to do,
Without even a single match to light the darkness?
People forgot their own suffering to do what they could.
A seriously injured woman who had been moaning but a moments before,
Spoke out:
"I'm a midwife. Let me help with the birth."
And now life was born
There in the deep, dark depths of hell.
Her work done, the midwife did not even wait for the break of day.
She died, still covered with the blood.
Bring forth new life!
Even should it cost me my own,
Bring forth new life!
ref="http://www.asahi.com/english/nation/TKY200503080131.html">Sadako Kurihara
Sadako Kurihara was at her home in Hiroshima when the atomic bomb exploded on August 6th 1945. Two days later, in a nearby basement shelter just a mile from ground zero, a baby was born in pitch darkness surrounded by the dead and dying. The seriously injured nurse who delivered the child died, but the baby survived and grew into an adult who sixty years later still lives in the city.
After the trauma of Hiroshima Sadako Kurihara was determined to express her furious hatred of nuclear weapons, and to campaign against their use. Her talent as a poet gave her a powerful outlet for her beliefs. Her most famous work is the story of the baby born amongst nuclear devastation. In Japanese it is Umashimenkana, which translates as Bring forth new life.
For the rest of her life Sadako Kurihara was a staunch anti-war and anti-nuclear campaigner. She published a literary magazine on the theme of the atom bomb attacks on Japan, and circulated an anthology of anti-war poems when discussion of the bombing was restricted by the occupying Allied powers. The author of more than five hundred poems in a writing career spanning more than seventy years, she died in March 2005 aged 92.
Now take An Overgrown Path to the radiance of a thousand suns.
Credit for image and text, Tomiko Miyaji September 15, 1945, from Hiroshima Peace site. Please visit the website of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) who are a non-partisan international grouping of medical organisations dedicated to the abolition of nuclear weapons. They work with the long-term victims of nuclear explosions and accidents from Hiroshima to Chernobyl, and their work has been recognised with the 1984 UNESCO Peace Prize, and 1985 Nobel Peace Prize.
Originally from On An Overgrown Path, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 11:10 AM | Comments (0)
Neues Kabarett Music Series Presents Anthony Coleman - NewsBlaze (press release)
Neues Kabarett Music Series Presents Anthony Coleman NewsBlaze (press release), CA - The Brecht Forum's Neues Kabarettseries has presented monthly avant-garde / free jazz and experimental music concerts since 1998. ... |
Originally from "contemporary classical" | "avant garde" music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 05:29 AM | Comments (0)
To This We've Come
Originally from Iron Tongue of Midnight, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 05:28 AM | Comments (0)
Full Moon
Originally posted by jodru from ANABlog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 05:28 AM | Comments (0)
The Feast of Love (1964). Virgil Thomson /links/
Originally from aworks :: "new" american classical music, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 02:08 AM | Comments (0)
Unsilent Aftermath
Baltimore’s 2nd annual performance of Phil Kline’s amibient Christmas masterpiece Unsilent Night took place last night and was by all accounts a smashing success. We had a record crowd of nearly 100 totally awesome participants. New for the 2007 edition of Unsilent Night in Baltimore was the summoning of aliens as we gathered in a circle around the infamous Male/Femal sculpture in front of Penn Station; convincing the Amtrak police that we were the “carolers” they were expecting and we did indeed know where to stage—after sharing the joy with everyone in the train station; and making our way in and then out of the lobby of the Charles Theater. Many thanks again to all the folks who helped out and spread the word about this year’s event. We’ll see everyone again next year!
P.s. Some photos of the event can be had here. And, by the way, if you came out last night and took some photos and would like to share them, that would be great. Just send me an email!
Originally posted by brian from brian sacawa | sounds like now, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 02:08 AM | Comments (0)
Movin’ on up
SLN has received a bump in the polls this year—the polls being Scott Spiegelberg’s annual Top 50 Classical Music Blogs. Using a new, and I might add, improved ranking system, we’ve skyrocketed from tied-for-49th to a very respectable 15th. This actually makes SLN the 4th best performer blog, though it’s not fair for us to be in the same category as the Violin Diaries, since I am but one person and they’ve got bloggers posting from all over the world on their aggregate site. So with that little adjustment, SLN is the 3rd best music blog by a performer. But if you put SLN in its proper instrument category—that being woodwinds—its the Number One Woodwind Performer Music Blog. Woo-hoo! We’re Number One!
Originally posted by brian from brian sacawa | sounds like now, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 02:08 AM | Comments (0)
Crashing stereotypes
Researchers at Oxford University find that socioeconomic status is not a predictor of cultural interests. "Billy Elliott – the fictional working-class boy from a northern mining village with a passion for ballet – is not the social freak he might seem to be. Equally, someone with an impressive ancestry and blue blood coursing through his veins is not necessarily any more cultured than the rest of us," Andy McSmith reports in The Independent:
http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/this_britain/article3266586.ece
A Zogby International survey, conducted in June for the Norman Lear Center of the University of Southern California's Annenberg School, found that its sample of 3,939 American adults expressed roughly equal preferences for classical music and rock:
http://www.learcenter.org/html/projects/?cm=zogby
(via Alex Ross, via Jody Rosen)
This research, signaling the collapse of the old highbrow/lowbrow divide, complements my contention that notions of "mainstream" and "niche" musical interests are obsolete. "Each listener's preferences differ, at least incrementally, from everyone else's. Each of us is a subatomic particle, darting between dissimilar and often distant points in an expanding universe of musical ideas," I wrote in a February essay for NewMusicBox:
http://www.newmusicbox.org/article.nmbx?id=4962
Originally from Letter V, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 02:07 AM | Comments (0)
Wordsworth rap't, relocated
The classic video of William Wordsworth's "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud," as rendered by rapper mc nuts, has disappeared from its original home, the Lake District tourism Web site. Happily, it can still be found on YouTube, where, one hopes, it will reign forever and ever:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXbrSALG684
Originally from Letter V, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 02:07 AM | Comments (0)
good tidings
The countdown is quickening, the house is decorated and clean (almost), the baking nearly done except for the plum tarts (the filling is made, the dough is chilling)...Originally posted by Marja-Leena from Marja-Leena Rathje, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 02:07 AM | Comments (0)
The Make-up Wizard and the Witch
New production opening tomorrow!Philip Langridge, acclaimed for his portrayals of such diverse characters as Tito, Loge, Peter Grimes, or Tom Rakewell, takes on a new challenge when he makes his role debut as the Witch in the Met’s new Hansel and Gretel. To successfully transform the British tenor into the Brothers Grimm fairy-tale character, the Met hired make-up artist Louie Zakarian. “When they asked me if I was interested, I said of course,” he said during a rehearsal on Tuesday. “I thought it would be a fun opportunity to work at the Met. I’d never done it before so I was more than thrilled to be here.” Even though this is his first opera, Zakarian is a veteran of stage and screen. “I did some Broadway, and I do a lot of television. I designed Saturday Night Live, I’ve been doing that for 13 years. And then I do a lot of movies.” Most recently, he built 30 identical soldier’s heads for a scene in Across the Universe, the Julie Taymor film that came out this fall.Creating the look of the Witch took a lot of careful preparation. “They took a cast of Philip’s face in London,” Zakarian explains. “They use a special material that covers the entire face and then put plaster over it. It takes about 25 minutes, then you pop it off and fill it with plaster, and once it sets and you peel it all off you’re left with this.” He holds up what looks like a sand-colored, three-dimensional mask. “It’s an exact copy of Philip’s face, with every line, every pore on it.” It’s what Zakarian needs as the basis for his own work. “What I do on top of this,” he continues, “is sculpting the prosthetic appliance. I take clay and just sculpt what I want it to look like. Once I’ve got all the sculpture done I take more plaster and build that up on top of it.” After it sets, he opens up the two halves, getting a negative impression of the Witch’s face. “Then there’s a material called foam latex that I whip in a big whipper. It’s like the one Philip has on stage to make whipped cream, it’s the same exact thing, it looks like whipped cream. I pour that into the mould, and the cast of Philip’s face is pressed into the mould. Then I put it in the oven for three hours, it bakes—I have a big bakery—then I open up the two pieces and I’m left with the prosthetic.” Each one of the foam latex pieces can only be used once. “I glue it onto Philip’s face,” Zakarian says, “blending off all the edges and then painting it.” The process takes about an hour and a half. “Well, we’ve been doing it in about an hour,” he adds. “And then another 20 minutes to get out of it at the end of the day.” Zakarian will be spending a lot of time at the Met during the next couple of weeks, and he’s not the only one enjoying it. “My wife loves opera, and when I told her about it, she said, Great, now we’ll finally get to go. She’s been dying for me to take her to the opera, and now we’re here!”
Tenor Philip Langridge…
…becomes the Witch!
Photo: Ken Howard/Metropolitan Opera
Originally posted by Philipp Brieler from MetBlog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 02:06 AM | Comments (0)
Fascism - Then and Now
I'm hard on the books I read. I don't/won't/can't spend much of my time reading, I carry whatever books I finally decide to read around with me for months finding a few minutes here or there for a chance to read a few pages now or then.I cram books in my computer bag. I crush, crumple and bend them. I spill things on them, mostly coffee. Books probably hate me. The ones I pick definitely are not new when I finish with them. Do not loan me a book whose condition you value.
Our current U.S. administration has gotten a bad rap - deservedly so, in my opinion. George W. Bush may be the worst president ever. Critics of America's lurch to the right have occasionally compared George II to Hitler. (Here's a listing.)
I was very concerned whether there was any truth to this comparison. How much should I worry.? I decided to read a book to find out.
I choose a 3-volume history of the Nazis by Richard J. Evans. The first book, The Coming of the Third Reich, is about the Weimar Republic and how the Nazis managed to get into power in the first place (they never won a fair election but they did beat a lot of people up).
I just finished the second book, The Third Reich in Power, which covers the "peacetime" years of Nazi control, 1933 to 1939. It deals with the consolidation of the dictatorship and the intentional redirection of an entire nation towards inevitable war under a single political party.
Just over 700 pages of text is not very much when you're describing all the ebbs and flows of an entire country in the throes of turbulent change, but Evans' style is easy to read and he organizes his material clearly.
The third book by Evans (about World War II) hasn't been announced yet. I wonder how the story will turn out.
The Germany described in these books was more bizarre and more malevolent than any possible future United States. There are a lot of jaw-dropping moments in The Third Reich in Power. You could never make stuff like this up and expect anyone to believe you. Far from showing me how the U.S. and Nazi Germany were alike, these books reveal the extent of the differences.
My suggestion to a person making a comparison of the US and the Nazis would be "Go read a book." Evans' books would be a good choice, but any book would probably suffice. Then remind that person that the U.S., unlike Germany in the 30s, has had a functional, albeit imperfect, democracy for an awfully long time.
For example, we can all be pretty sure that, come the evening of January 20, 2009, George II Bush will no longer be POTUS. The selection of his successor, although it will have been infused with outright lies, insidious half-truths, unreasoning emotion, blind faith and sky-scraping mountain ranges of big money both foreign and domestic, will not have involved widespread bloodshed or mass imprisonment. Maybe a little computer fraud and some intimidation of potential voters who don't speak the English so good. The US is a long way from perfect.
Still, while reading The Third Reich in Power I was aware of one troubling similarity with contemporary America: Faith.
The intense irrational faith of the Nazis (that their race was superior and destined to rule the world) seems to parallel the intense irrational faith prevalent in the U.S. today (that our country has been chosen by God to lead the world.) Hitler said he was chosen by "Providence". We just use the word "God" instead. If America's faith in ourselves, aided and abetted by a bit of frenzy whipped up by the corporate media, somehow gets US into marching in lockstep then anything could happen. We could even go to war half way around the world for no good reason. (Saddam was not harboring Al Queda.)
Oh right. I was talking about faith. Here's a quote (in this post) by an "Ex-Southern Conservative" Christian who was discussing the 2004 Presidential election:
If I were still a conservative Christian I can tell you exactly how this election would look to me right now. Kerry is an immoral man of the World, and I thank God that Bush, a man of clear moral integrity who is out to defeat Satan regardless of the forces that stand in his way, has been blessed with victory. He didn't win the election--God chose him as the leader of this nation.Sinclair Lewis said
"When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross."I'm not suggesting anything is inevitable - we have a long way to go before "it", meaning something as bad as Nazism, can happen here in the United States. I think it would be a good idea if we made sure that "it" doesn't ever happen here. The best way of making sure is not to deny the possibility.
Beyond the issue of faith, I found the Nazi treatment of the arts, especially music, particularly interesting in The Third Reich in Power.
Among the interesting bits Evans tells how Hitler once gave Nazi officials one thousand free tickets to Der Meistersinger. Hardly any of them showed up and the Leader was furious. So the next year he made attendance mandatory. The officers showed up and fell asleep. Apparently lower echelon Nazis didn't care much for the music of Richard Wagner. After that Hitler had the tickets sold to the opera-going public (pp.200-201).
The subject I found most disturbing, for obvious personal reasons, was Nazi policy toward Jews. Never more than 1% of German population, Jews were cast by Nazi propaganda as the cause of every problem. By 1939 Germany was largely free of Jews thanks to draconian legal discrimination and carefully orchestrated violence. But in early 1939 Hitler made his first public reference to what would happen later, saying that a world war would result in "the annihilation of the Jewish race in Europe." (pp.603-604)
Looking back from the United States of 2007, a Golden Age for Jews who have achieved more wealth, influence and equality than in any other society ever, it is really essential for all Americans to remember how evil another country could become.
A nation of well-meaning people were led to do bad things in the name of Providence and Fatherland. Let's make sure nothing similar happens here in the name of God and Homeland Security.
Other Mixed Meters posts referring to Hitler or Nazis:
- Artistic Politicians (those would be Nixon and Hitler)
- Composers About Composers: Richard John and Richard (the first Richard is Strauss)
- The Lieutenant Colonel and the Untersturmfuhrer (about Abu Gharib and taking responsibility)
- Who's Saluting What? (with pictures of Arnold Schwarzenegger, some Catholic priests, a bunch of Santa Claus statues and a small boy dressed as Hitler who all appear to be making a certain gesture)
- In which David imagines George Bush and Charles Ives (also about a movie about Wilhelm Furtwangler and the fine books about Nazi music by Michael H. Kater)
The story about the Statue of Liberty replica with a cross is here.
The praying George II counseled by the spirits of George Washington and Abe Lincoln comes from the Presidential Prayer Team.
A fascinating article about Israeli Nazi-themed pornographic novels is here.
Nazi Tags: Richard J Evans. . . Third Reich in Power. . . Nazi Germany. . . George W Bush. . . Adolph Hitler. . . faith. . . democracy. . . facism. . . antisemitism. . . Providence. . . God. . . POTUS
Originally from Mixed Meters, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 02:06 AM | Comments (0)
Some Music from al Magrebia.
I thought, since i dedicated the post below to morocco in pictures, i should post a few words, too, so i'll do that now-North african music was a highlight of my travels, Berber music in particular, which was played loudly in front of restaurants and cafes, in front of shops and in houses in the High Atlas. Im certainly not the first to be surprised by its beauty and freshness, theres a lot of study by ethnomusicologists (For good reason!) of the beautiful and alluring art they create there.
People sing in north Africa, and they dance; music is embedded in the culture. The elaborate echoing Adhan sent out from loudspeakers on the mosque every morning (woke me up always at 5:30, particularly on fridays) calls the faithful to prayer (and they do go! oh they do). Then they ring out 4 more times before days end, every day framed with short musical prayers. It reminded me i wasnt in france anymore, and that in fact i was somewhere far more interesting.
Currently im listening to the gorgeous music of Larbi Imghrane (the link is a good preview of his music) which fuses traditional berber songs with more modern instrumentation and electronics. The rich in lyricism and beauty. The CD i own, is Series of immortal songs, volume 1: The best of Raiss Ahmed Bizmaven- bought in Marakech's Djemaa El Fna square (photos 5 and 6 in the previous post). Mr. Imghrane is pretty famous in morocco, so its possible to find lots of his music online, thankfully. Unfortunately i cant read Arabic, so i dont know the name of my favorite song on my Cd, track 4, but i can assure you its really lovely.
A section from the first track of my CD HERE, forgive the cheesy video. Its in a Berber dialect, by the way, not Arabic, so most Moroccans probably dont know the words either.
Originally from Music in a Suburban Scene, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 02:05 AM | Comments (0)
Terry Riley- Music for the Gift III
I stumbled upon this little gem on Youtube just today, so i thought i'd share it. Im no expert on Riley's music, but i do love it, and every now and then something just appears online that really just faciniates me, like this little piece. Its tape-looped jazz quartet from 1963, and this avant-garde work really sets the stage for what came directly after it- In C, and consequently the entire minimalist "idea". Whats surprising is how early it was made, and yet its still so refreshing. These kinds of pieces support my thinking that Mr. Riley is one of the most under-rated of major composers from the last 50 yearsOriginally from Music in a Suburban Scene, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 02:05 AM | Comments (0)
Where music comes from
Roger Bourland has once again reached into the collective compositional unconscious and speaks eloquently for those of us who like to spend our time stacking and pasting together the notes and rhythms we find lying around the house.
Originally from Musical Assumptions, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 02:05 AM | Comments (0)
The most unwanted song
Michael sent me this article in Design Observer that has a link to and a description of what they call "the most unwanted song," made of elements that I guess people in a survey group said they didn't like in songs (atonality, bagpipes, accordion, banjo, etc). It's 22 minutes long, and is a kind of "rhapsody" of stitched-together elements, a musical collage, if you will. It certainly is annoying at times, but I did enjoy the the atonal parts, especially the singer's voice.You can read more about it here. I guess I am one of the 200 people in the world's population (mentioned in the above link) who would like this: I'm partial to the accordion and the banjo (which my son practices all the time, and distracts me from my work because I really love listening to him play), I enjoy well-performed and well-written atonal pieces, and I don't have a problem with music that lasts more than 25 minutes.
Tags: unpopular music
Originally from Musical Assumptions, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 02:05 AM | Comments (0)
From the guy who gave us the metronome
There's a treat on BibliOdyssey today: drawings and this photo reconstruction (the original was destroyed in a fire in 1854) of Wolfgang von Kempelen's automatic chess player, which (I guess I can't say "who") was exploited to the fullest by Johann Mälzel, the friend of Beethoven's who got the patent on the metronome (he stole the idea from Dietrich Nokolaus Winkel). This machine played against Benjamin Franklin and Napoleon Bonaparte, and was one of the greatest hoaxes of the 19th century.
Originally from Musical Assumptions, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 02:05 AM | Comments (0)
The top 51 Classical Music Blogs - Technorati version
Here are the top 52 Classical Blogs, as ranked by the number of unique blogs linking to said blog (the Technorati Authority number). Unlike last time, I used only the larger Technorati Authority (TA) number if a blog had two addresses, no adding. There are several surprises, some significant moves in the list, including a new #1. The largest mover upwards was Hucbald, who rose 48 spots from June's ranking. Close behind were Today's Opera News (42) and the CSO Bass Blog (41). I had a TA of 79 three weeks ago, but that dropped down sharply, probably as all of the links from my June list timed out. Technorati only counts links from the last six months, and I actually did the June list in May. Thus I continue my slow descent in the ranks. But then I did take many breaks these last six months, and didn't do much spreading of link love to encourage higher links back to me. Commence the complaints about your own rank.The list shows the rank, the blog, the TA, the author(s), and the category: C = composer, Crit = critic, O = opera, A = academic, L = listener, AD = arts director, and the rest are self explanatory.
Update: I've made a few corrections.
Update II: One more correction. Sorry for the error, Steve. And thanks to Marc for catching my mistakes.
1 Sequenza21: 783 Jerry Bowles (C)
2 The Rest is Noise: 650 Alex Ross (Crit)
3 About Last Night: 314 Terry Teachout (Crit)
4 Opera Chic: 181 (O)
5 Violinist.com Diaries: 158 (violin)
6 On an Overgrown Path: 144 Bob Shingleton (producer)
7 Ionarts: 133 Charles T. Downey (A)
8 PostClassic: 129 Kyle Gann (C)
9 Night after Night: 122 Steve Smith (Crit)
10 Soho the Dog: 120 Matthew Guerreri (C)
11 Jason Heath's Double Bass Blog: 112 (bass)
12 Sandow: 107 Greg Sandow (Crit)
13 Think Denk: 106 Jeremy Denk (piano)
14 La Cieca: 103 James Jorden (O)
15 Jessica Duchen: 93 (Crit)
16 Dial “M” for Musicology: 79 Phil Ford and Jonathan Bellman (A)
16 Sounds Like Now: 79 Brian Sacawa (saxophone)
18 Sounds and Fury: 76 AC Douglas (L)
19 Deceptively Simple: 74 Marc Geelhoed (Crit)
20 The Concert: 71 Anne-Carolyn Bird (voice)
21 Adaptistration: 68 Drew McManus (orchestra management)
22 The Standing Room: 65 Monsieur C (L and voice?)
23 The Iron Tongue of Midnight: 64 Lisa Hirsch (Crit)
24 Musical Perceptions: 62 Me (A)
25 The Rambler: 60 Tim Rutherford-Johnson (A)
26 Oboeinsight: 58 Patty Mitchell (oboe)
27 Collaborative Piano: 55 Chris Foley (piano)
28 CSO Bass Blog: 49 (bass)
29 Roger Bourland: 47 Roger Bourland (C)
30 A Singer's Life: 44 Michelle Bennett (voice) [stopped posting in September]
31 My Favorite Intermissions: 42 Maury D’annato (O)
32 Classical Life: 41 Timothy Mangan (Crit)
33 ANABlog: 40 Analog Arts Ensemble
34 Aworks: 40 Robert Gable (L)
35 Sieglinde’s Diaries: 39 Leon Dominguez (O)
35 Renewable Music: 38 Daniel Wolf (C)
36 Chicago Classical Music: 36 (L)
37 A Monk's Musical Musings: 35 Hucbald (guitar)
37 Musical Assumptions: 35 Elaine Fine (C and viola)
39 Brian Dickie: 33 (AD)
40 Catalysts & Connections: 31 Evan Tobias (education)
40 Listen: 31 Steve Hicken (C and Crit)
43 Mad Musings of Me: 30 Gertsamtkunstwerk (O)
43 Vilaine fille: 30 (Crit)
45 Terminaldegree: 29 (kazoo)
46 Wellsung: 29 Alex and Jonathan (O)
47 Thirteen Ways: 28 eighth blackbird (ensemble)
47 Wolf Trap Opera: 28 (O)
49 Today's Opera News: 27 Alan Foust (O)
49 The Well-Tempered Blog: 27 Bart Collins (piano)
51 A View from the Podium: 26 Kenneth Woods (conductor)
51 Classical Music: 26 Janelle Gelfand (Crit)
Originally from Musical Perceptions, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 02:04 AM | Comments (0)
The Top 50 Classical Music Blogs - Google Version
Using the number of Google links gives a different result than Technorati links, since Google counts links from non-blog sites, and has a more complicated algorithm for determining whether to count a particular link or not. I've heard some explanations of this, but I'm not sure I have the total picture. Also different from Technorati, Google counts all active links, regardless of how old they are. Thus this ranking has a bias for older blogs that have had more time to accumulate links. Here is the ranking based on the number of Google links (listed after the blog name), as determined by typing link:URL in Google.1 About Last Night: 8840 Terry Teachout (Crit)
2 The Rest is Noise: 6560 Alex Ross (Crit)
3 PostClassic: 2790 Kyle Gann (C)
4 On an Overgrown Path: 2580 Bob Shingleton (producer)
5 Sandow: 2560 Greg Sandow (Crit)
6 Adaptistration: 1890 Drew McManus (orchestra management)
7 Ionarts: 1880 Charles T. Downey (A)
8 Jessica Duchen: 1620 (Crit)
9 Sequenza21: 1560 Jerry Bowles (C)
10 Night after Night: 1410 Steve Smith (Crit)
11 Sounds and Fury: 1320 AC Douglas (L)
12 The Iron Tongue of Midnight: 1130 Lisa Hirsch (Crit)
13 Musical Perceptions: 1090 Me (A)
14 Mad Musings of Me: 1070 Gertsamtkunstwerk (O)
15 Classical Music: 1030 Janelle Gelfand (Crit)
16 Soho the Dog: 1020 Matthew Guerreri (C)
17 Think Denk: 919 Jeremy Denk (piano)
18 Oboeinsight: 864 Patty Mitchell (oboe)
19 Deceptively Simple: 851 Marc Geelhoed (Crit)
20 The Standing Room: 776 Monsieur C (L and voice?)
21 The Concert: 762 Anne-Carolyn Bird (voice)
22 Listen: 733 Steve Hicken (C and Crit)
23 Aworks: 722 Robert Gable (L)
24 Twang Twang Twang: 714 Helen Radice (harp)
25 La Cieca: 705 James Jorden (O)
26 Vilaine fille: 691 (Crit)
27 The Rambler: 654 Tim Rutherford-Johnson (A)
28 Wellsung: 622 Alex and Jonathan (O)
29 Violinist.com Diaries: 620 (violin)
30 The Well-Tempered Blog: 615 Bart Collins (piano)
31 Sieglinde’s Diaries: 614 Leon Dominguez (O)
32 Meanwhile, here in France: 603 Ruth (cello)
33 Jason Heath's Double Bass Blog: 563 (bass)
34Prima La Musica, poi le parole: 543 Sarah Noble (O)
35 An Unamplified Voice: 512 JSU (O)
36 Dial “M” for Musicology: 492 Phil Ford and Jonathan Bellman (A)
37 Felsenmusick: 470 Daniel Felsenfield (C)
38 Café Aman: 458 Anastasia Tsioulcas (Crit)
39 Roger Bourland: 447 Roger Bourland (C)
40 Daily Observations: 438 Charles Noble (viola)
41 Trrill: 426 Nick Scholl (O)
42 Renewable Music: 396 Daniel Wolf (C)
43 Chicago Classical Music: 363 (L)
44 Sound and Mind: 331 Kris Shaffer (A)
45 Loose Poodle: 329 Peter (the other) Kaye (C)
46 ANABlog: 310 Analog Arts Ensemble
47 Sounds Like Now: 309 Brian Sacawa (saxophone)
48 A View from the Podium: 307 Kenneth Woods (conductor)
48 NY Opera Fanatic: 307 Roy Wood (O)
50 In the Wings: 296 Heather Heise (piano)
Originally from Musical Perceptions, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 02:04 AM | Comments (0)
8bb on the rise
In his round-up of what was hot in Chicago during 2007, Andrew Patner mentions eighth blackbird, with Pacifica Quartet and the ICE ensemble, as being “on the rise”.
Beginning with “It was a year for the yea-sayers in classical music”, Patner identifies a number of positive indicators for the health of Chicago’s classical music community, both artistic and financial.
Good onya Chicago! We look forward to an even better 2008.
Originally posted by Tim from thirteen ways, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 02:03 AM | Comments (0)
you know you teach middle school band when...
...your baritone saxophone player, the only bass instrument in your band, gets fouled in the face during a basketball game - 2 hours before a concert.Originally from the search for artistry, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 02:00 AM | Comments (0)
my blog-title-approproate holiday greeting
Observe the wonders as they occur around you. Don't claim them. Feel the artistry moving through and be silent.- Rumi
May you be at peace with the world, and see the world around you with such clarity that you achieve everything you set out to do. That you can strive to be the person you wish to be and treat others without judgement. That you might follow Rumi's words and feel artistry in every part of life.
Originally from the search for artistry, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 02:00 AM | Comments (0)
Time
My take on Dutilleux's Le temps l'horloge is long overdue.
The piece is phenomenal, even if it is incomplete. With Dutilleux in
attendance, the premiere felt like a happening, and was easily the
highlight of an all-French program in Boston on Nov. 29th.
The major reviewers have given mostly praise. Kozinn in the New York Times
is complimentary, though inaccurate, describing the piece as performed
in a contiguous outing at Carnegie Hall as: "a spare setting of three
poems by Jean Tardieu, as economical in texture as it is in length."
Perhaps it's nitpicky to note that the final of the three poems in the
current version, "Le Dernier Poème" is by Robert Desnos, but perhaps it
isn't. For what it's worth, the Boston Herald's Keith Powers
doesn't know which poem is by whom either: "“Le Temps l’Horloge,” a
setting of poems by Baudelaire and Jean Tardieu" (the Baudelaire
setting which will eventually close the cycle is as yet unfinished). Poor
Desnos...His poem is completely different than the two that proceed it,
and Dutilleux sets it distinctly. It is the most substantial of the three settings, and is extremely powerful.
I largely agree with Of the Kosmos' review of the concert as a whole: "The program was too long. At the first concert, I noted that there were
some magical moments in the Berlioz , but it was just too long for a program whose raison d'etre
was the American premiere of a new work by a revered composer..." 100% spot-on (although I loved the mermaid-like sage Dior dress). Berlioz's love scene is a snooze, sorry to say, even when the oboe solo is played as tastefully as it was. What I did like was the juxtaposition of the Queen Mab scherzo with the first of Dutilleux's settings (the eponymous "Time and the Clock"), which seemed to pick up where the Berlioz scherzo left off, albeit through a temporal prism. Both the Berlioz and this opening Dutilleux song seemingly evaporate at their conclusions. That said, I think the program would have been better balanced with just a Berlioz overture instead of the three excerpts that were given (still yawning just thinking about it....).
I'm hoping this cycle doesn't end up actually being what it sounded like to me--a valedictory sum-uppance of Dutilleux's works since the second symphony. The songs seemed extremely self-referential to me. "Le temps l'horloge" was a distorted, fun-house mirror reflection of the opening of "The Shadows of Time"; "Le masque" evoked Les citations and the "Obsessionel" section of Métaboles; "Le Dernier Poème" is otherworldly and includes the magic string sonorities of Ainsi la nuit and the two lyrical interludes of Sur le même accord--Fleming's voice becoming a more human version of Mutter's violin just as the accordion provides a musical analogue for the poem's recurrent "ombres", becoming an ethereal timbral reinterpretation of the orchestral strings.
Dutilleux has said he wishes to revisit the string quartet genre, and we would all be richer if he did. I hope it comes true before, to evoke Tardieu, Dutilleux's eternal soul echoes far away in the limpid night.
Originally posted by Marcus Maroney from Marcus Maroney - Sounds Like New, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 01:59 AM | Comments (0)
Musicians on Music
Roger Bourland writes about composers' musings on their music and the music of others, both in prose and out loud. He warns us to take what they say with a grain of salt, and to turn on the purple prose filter. AC Douglas agrees. I offer up a short list of books written by composers about music (their own and others') that I find to be excellent. I'm assuming that these two educated gentleman have read most (if not all) of them before arriving at their conclusion.
- Ernst Toch, The Shaping Force in M usic
- Steven Stucky, Lutoslawski and His Music
- Aaron Copland, What to Listen for in Music
- Igor Stravinsky, Poetics of Music
- Olivier Messiaen, Technique of My Musical Language
- Andrzej Panufnik, Composing Myself
- Louis Andriessen, The Apollonian Clockwork: On Stravinsky
- Pierre Boulez, Orientations
- Michael Nyman, Experimental Music: Cage and Beyond
- Frank Martin, L'univers d'un compositeur
Incidentally, the same two blogs mention Charles Rosen's recent New York Times piece on Elliott Carter. Having used Rosen's Sonata Forms in teaching one of my courses this past semester, I find it odd that he would single out for critique a solo violin piece (real or imagined...?) consisting of a single pitch to be held for over an hour, perhaps citing it as evidence of his claim that "most contemporary music, like most of the music of any other period of history, is of little interest."
I enjoy reading Rosen's writings but find it more necessary to weed out the purple prose from his writings than from any of the above. Firstly, why not just name the composer and the piece instead of being vaguely referential? Secondly, there simply HAD to be more to the violin piece than just that, since it would be physically impossible for a violinist to hold a pitch that long without some sort of change. How often did they change bows? At what dynamic level was the pitch held? Thirdly, examples in Sonata Forms (and Rosen's other texts) make his musical tastes seem esoteric at best (for example, such passages for illustration as Dussek's Piano Sonata in A Major, Op. 43, a piece that is obviously of much interest to performers and listeners alike, cropping up on so many recital programs as it does...).
Clearly, it depends upon the source whether the prose will be worthwhile. Some writers, performers and composers can say extremely interesting things about music (sometimes more interesting than the music itself). Bourland's advice, to "ALWAYS take whatever composers say about their music, with a grain of salt" seems overly simple to me. What's odd is that he then goes on to write about his own compositional process. Why bother? While he humbly admits that he is "not ready to ape Stravinsky and tell you that I am but the vessel through which it passes to be given to the world" (perhaps after Mr. Bourland writes a work of equal importance to The Rite of Spring he'll be ready to make such a claim), why would he essentially say that such information is, for all intents and purposes, of no worth to the listener/reader and then go on to give such information...?
Originally posted by Marcus Maroney from Marcus Maroney - Sounds Like New, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 01:59 AM | Comments (0)
Evolution of jazz highlight of new releases - The Daily News
Evolution of jazz highlight of new releases The Daily News, Canada - ... given the weird mix of influences that Davis and his crew of younger players were drawing on; influences like James Brown, Karlheinz Stockhausen, ... |
Originally from lutoslawski OR xenakis OR boulez OR Dutilleux OR ligeti OR "elliott carter" OR stockhausen OR "steve reich" AND music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 01:59 AM | Comments (0)
French pianist to perform - Bangkok Post
French pianist to perform Bangkok Post, Thailand - Cassard studied with Dominique Merlet and Genevieve Joy-Dutilleux at the Conservatoire National Supe{aac}rieur de Musique de Paris, where he was awarded ... |
Originally from lutoslawski OR xenakis OR boulez OR Dutilleux OR ligeti OR "elliott carter" OR stockhausen OR "steve reich" AND music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 01:59 AM | Comments (0)
Music: RSNO Christmas Concert, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall - The Herald
Music: RSNO Christmas Concert, Glasgow Royal Concert Hall The Herald, UK - ... with its flawless singing of traditional and lesser-known fare, including Lutoslawski's clever and sensitive setting of Polish Christmas carols, ... |
Originally from lutoslawski OR xenakis OR boulez OR Dutilleux OR ligeti OR "elliott carter" OR stockhausen OR "steve reich" AND music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 01:59 AM | Comments (0)
Xmas alternatives
Impending Xmas always causes a few ripples in musical spheres, mainly lousy 'Messiah' performances. Some of us batten down the hatches even if we love the thing, or the inescapable Nutcracker, or Cinderella ('Italian style' as the ROH bills its current Rossini). Anyway, I promised some alternatives, so for starters here are a few things to do.Read, in The Independent, about Barenboim's plea for proper musical education;
Read this fascinating article from The Times by Dan Rosenberg, searching out Christmas music traditions from rural Sweden to Venezuela;
Also in The Times, experience Richard Morrison in a bad mood at Cecilia Bartoli's Barbican gig and Hilary Finch telling it like it is re Emmenuelle Haim's conducting of Bach and Handel (The One Where Dessay Fails To Show Up).
Tune into a roster of broadcasts of ballet and opera from Covent Garden on the BBC. We are promised:
Romeo and Juliet with Tamara Rojo and Carlos Acosta, BBC2, Xmas Day, 4.25pm (I was there at the show. It's glorious! Set your video if you haven't finished your turkey in time.)
Carmen starring Anna-Caterina Antonacci and Jonas Kaufmann - BBC2, Boxing Day, 1.45pm;
La fille du regiment, Pelly production with Dessay and Florez, BBC4, 30 December, 7.30pm. Still the best thing I saw all year.
And, if it floats your boat, The Tales of Beatrix Potter, with the Royal Ballet in animal masks, BBC1, New Year's Eve, 1.15pm.
Or come to Paris to see Tannhauser tomorrow (the strike is over). But what has Tannhauser to do with Christmas, you may ask? Nothing! Hooray!
Originally from Jessica Duchen's classical music blog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 01:58 AM | Comments (0)
Joyeux noel!
Merry Xmas & happy everything to everyone,
lots of love from me & Tom & Solti.
Back soon.
xxxxxxx
Originally from Jessica Duchen's classical music blog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 01:58 AM | Comments (0)
In Brief: Rorate Caeli
Here is your regular Sunday selection of links to good things in Blogville and Beyond.- Ionarts has raved about the past chamber opera productions of the Châteauville Foundation, Britten's The Rape of Lucretia (2007) and The Turn of the Screw (2006). Its next production, just announced as John Gay's The Beggar's Opera, will reunite the production team of Rape of Lucretia. Christmas comes early to Ionarts: the chance to see a staged production of this classic ballad opera! [William Kerley]
- Jonathan Jones has a great piece on a favorite in the history of religious art, the Isenheim Altarpiece. [The Guardian]
- I pledge allegiance to my language. Creepy but real. [Languagehat]
- Matthew Guerrieri has a first-rate piece on interplanetary Zen Master, the late Karlheinz Stockhausen. [Slate]
- The Cloisters was always a favorite place, especially after it became the site of my proposal of marriage to Mrs. Ionarts. Holland Carter has a nice tribute to a complicated but ultimately glorious museum. [New York Times]
- A meme from Blogville: list the first sentence you posted each month of this year. The Ionarts Year in Review is below (not all the first month posts are mine: there is one by Jens Laurson and one by Sonya Harway). [James Tata]
- January: Thank You for Smoking, an adaptation by Jason Reitman of the Christopher Buckley novel of the same name, was nominated for a Golden Globe this year in the category of Best Film, Comedy or Musical.
- February: Benjamin Britten composed Gloriana in honor of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953, when it was generally considered a failure.
- March: When Yundi Li won First Prize at the 2000 International Chopin Competition in Warsaw, no one had received the top honor in 15 years.
- April: Here is your regular Sunday dosage of interesting items, from Blogville and beyond: Leon Dominguez wrote a great post about why the David Fielding production of Strauss's Die Ägyptische Helena failed.
- May: For the conclusion of their 2006-2007 season, the Washington Concert Opera performed Rossini's Otello on Sunday night at GW’s Lisner Auditorium.
- June: Classical Month in Washington is a monthly feature.
- July: The Munich Philharmonic is better known for its Bruckner than its Mahler - Sergiu Celibidache and Günter Wand, the two conductors that shaped the recent history of the Munich Philharmonic most, rarely, if ever, touched the neurotic, restless music of Mahler and preferred the structure and spiritual conservatism of Bruckner.
- August: Classical Month in Washington is a monthly feature.
- September: I hope Teach will accept late work!
- October: Violinists have enough excellent music written by Bach for their instrument that they should not have to plunder the piano repertory.
- November: Emmanuel Pahud, one of the leading flutists of the younger generation (b. 1970), has made some spectacular recordings (we have reviewed him only tangentially, playing the flute part on Pierre-Laurent Aimard's recording of the Ives Concord Sonata) and played with the Berlin Philharmonic before embarking on a solo career.
- December: Pierre Boulez is 82 years old.
- January: Thank You for Smoking, an adaptation by Jason Reitman of the Christopher Buckley novel of the same name, was nominated for a Golden Globe this year in the category of Best Film, Comedy or Musical.
(Introit, Fourth Sunday of Advent)
Drop dew, O heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain down the Just One:
Let the earth be opened and sprout forth the Savior.
Originally from ionarts, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 01:58 AM | Comments (0)
miscellanea
2. As I've said multiple times before, iBlog is probably toast. A new version has been in the works for something like two years now, and it seems to have been derailed due to some major issues with Leopard. I'm writing this in iBlog 1, and while it works fine, I've long wanted a new and improved version that would deal with several limitations inherent in the current application. Development has been on again, off again for months, and while it now might be "on again," I'm not holding my breath. I've seen this sort of thing with open-source applications (such as Camino) that had very limited development support, but this is a commercial product, not OSS. It's a bummer, and I'll continue using iBlog 1 for now. But eventually, I'll probably have to bite the bullet and go to WordPress or something like it. I've looked at the possibility of exporting my 539 blog entries to WP, but it ain't pretty...
3. Been listening to a lot of Stockhausen's music lately, not surprisingly, given his recent death. I'm saddened by any composer's death, and am glad to see all the outpourings of positive comments, even bordering on canonization on the Web. Indeed, there are many people whose musical outlooks were transformed by Stockhausen's experiments. However, with no disrespect intended, I'm going to confess that I never much had the same transformational experience with his music, albeit with a few exceptions. I like Stimmung, although it's a bit similar to music by Meredith Monk and a few other downtown composers (I have two different recordings, including the latest one by Paul Hillier and the Theatre of Voices). I used to really like to follow the score of Kontra-punkte when I was young, and would love to hear it again, except that it is almost nowhere to be found except through Stockhausen's site and perhaps a few other sources, and is prohibitively expensive (Stockhausen's page charges $18 just to place an order). No question that Stockhausen was a very important composer. But I'd be less than honest if I didn't say that I'm in agreement with those who raised questions about his work being taken too seriously. I've listened to Gesang der Jünglinge multiple times, and while it's interesting, I don't agree with those who have expressed the opinion that it is the greatest work of electronic music ever. It doesn't do anything for me in the way that, say, Pauline Oliveros's I of IV or Reich's It's Gonna Rain do. Or any of a number of other pieces. Same with Stockhausen's other works like Mantra or Hymnen, although there are parts of Mantra that are very compelling. Klavierstücke IX is a takeoff of La Monte Young's X for Henry Flynt, for example. It's a nice piece, but I don't find it as original. So while Stockhausen is an important composer, my opinion of Stockhausen's music is closer to that of Feldman's. I'm sure there are going to be some out there (among the five people who actually read this blog) who will accuse me of new music heresy. But I think the point of writing a blog is to be honest, even if the opinions expressed aren't going to fly with many others. And I do listen to Stockhausen's music, so he fares better in my iTunes collection than, say, Carter or Babbitt.
4. Just finished Israel's Secret Wars by Ian Black and the Israeli revisionist historian Benny Morris. It's out of date by now, but still is fascinating reading. What amazes me is how all these governments really do repeat their past mistakes. The section on the 1982 Lebanon incursion reads just like the 2006 Lebanese War---same mistakes, same problems, etc.
5. Staying home for the holidays, and hopefully will have some time to get more work done on a new work for violin and piano. I'm trying to dump the sequencer file from Reason 4 into notation via Finale, which unfortunately is a painstaking process, but it's coming along little by little.
6. I've come to prefer the Reason 4 version of darfur pogrommen compared with the (at times stuttering) realization through Finale and my KS-32 synthesizer. I've posted the MIDI file, so anyone can create their own realization---it's an open instrumentation piece, so there are a multiplicity of possible versions.
Originally from david's waste of bandwidth..., ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 01:57 AM | Comments (0)
String musician charged with wire fraud in U.S.
Victoria Times Colonist, 12/23/2007Originally from Classical Music News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 01:56 AM | Comments (0)
Classical world had plenty of weirdness in 2007
Melinda Bargreen, Seattle Times, 12/23/2007Originally from Classical Music News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 01:56 AM | Comments (0)
Charlotte Symphony Orchestra with speakers doesn't sound realisti
Charlotte Observer, 12/23/2007Originally from Classical Music News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 01:56 AM | Comments (0)
32 Orchestra Musicians Resign Over New Director
Nick Miroff, Washington Post, 12/23/2007Originally from Classical Music News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 24, 2007 at 01:56 AM | Comments (0)
December 23, 2007
Jed Speare - Sound Works 1982-1987
Family Vineyard FV52 Judging from his CV, Jed Speare has led a long and extremely active career since the mid 70s around the Boston area. Nonetheless, this was my first encounter with his music though as a half-decade snapshot,...Originally from Bagatellen, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 23, 2007 at 08:11 PM | Comments (0)
The Madonna of Stalingrad
"I spent Christmas evening with the other doctors and the sick. The Commanding Officer had presented the letter with his last bottle of champagne. We raised our mugs and drank to those we love, but before we had had a chance to taste the wine we had to throw ourselves flat on the ground as a stick of bombs fell outside. I seized my doctor's bag and ran to the scene of the explosions, where there were dead and wounded. My shelter with its lovely Christmas decorations became a dressing station. One of the dying men had been hit in the head and there was nothing more I could do for him. He had been with us at our celebration, and had only that moment left to go on duty, but before he went he had said: "I'll finish the carol first, O du fröhliche!" A few moments later he was dead. There was plenty of hard and sad work to do in our Christmas shelter. It is late now, but it is Christmas night still. And so much sadness everywhere."
The German army was trapped outside Stalingrad during the bitterly cold Christmas of 1942. Among the German troops was Kurt Reuber, a clergyman and doctor. Drawing on the back of map of Russian (the folds can be seen on the reproduction above) he used a stick of charcoal to portray Mary holding the baby Jesus in her arms, and shielding Him with her arms. The words above are taken from Kurt Reuber's last letter before he was captured by the Russians. He perished in a Soviet prisoner-of-war camp.
His family chose the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin to display the Madonna of Stalingrad, and to pass on the message of light, love, and a sense of protection contained in this moving drawing. A message particularly appropriate at this Christmas time.
Two copies of the Madonna have been sent from Berlin as symbols of hope and reconciliation. One is in Coventry Cathedral which was destroyed by German bombs in 1940, and reconsecrated in 1962 with the first performance of Britten's War Requiem. The other is in the Russian Orthodox Church in Volgograd (formerly Stalingrad).
For more on the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church take An Overgrown Path to Music rises from the ruins in Berlin
The full story of Kurt Reuber and the Madonna, from which the quotation above was taken, can be read here. Image credit: Scanned from reproduction purchased in the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church in Berlin. Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and other errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk
Originally from On An Overgrown Path, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 23, 2007 at 08:10 PM | Comments (0)
How Does One Attract a Non-Feline Readership, Anyway?
I interrupt the ongoing aesthetics marathon to bring you breaking news of David McIntire's cat Rassia, the latest cat to...Originally from PostClassic, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 23, 2007 at 08:10 PM | Comments (0)
[no title]
Lieberson album gets top ratingThe late Lorraine Hunt Lieberson's album, "Songs by Mahler, Handel and Lieberson" has been rated the best classical album of the year by The Week magazine, which cited reviews from a variety of sources. The album includes songs from her husband, modern composer Peter Lieberson, so this is a nice nod for modern music, although admittedly most of the album consists of Handel and Mahler. Alex Ross' book, THE REST OF NOISE, is rated one of the top nonfiction books of the year by the same magazine. Ross wrote earlier this year that the Lieberson album is "is almost certainly better than anything else you might be thinking of buying right now." The album is available cheap on Emusic.
Originally from Modernclassical, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 23, 2007 at 05:10 PM | Comments (0)
Sometimes a Concert Is Just a Concert:
* Teachout takes the political bait.* The year in weird.
* RIP, Lydia Mendoza.
* Blackhawks fans want more organ music.
* Solomon Burke's eulogy: "Ike's got a better gig, and he took it."
Originally posted by jodru from ANABlog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 23, 2007 at 04:35 PM | Comments (0)
Meet the Band: The Dan DeChellis Trio - PennLive.com
Meet the Band: The Dan DeChellis Trio PennLive.com, PA - "I'm also heavily influenced by very contemporary classical music," he adds. "There are a handful of pianists. Roy Bitton (pianist for Bruce Springsteen's E ... |
Originally from "contemporary classical" | "avant garde" music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 23, 2007 at 04:10 PM | Comments (0)
The Sound of the New Is Heard All Over - New York Times
New York Times | The Sound of the New Is Heard All Over New York Times, United States - And at Galapagos last month the series Darmstadt: Classics of the Avant-Garde celebrated its third anniversary with an invigorating reading of Terry Riley’s ... |
Originally from "contemporary classical" | "avant garde" music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 23, 2007 at 04:10 PM | Comments (0)
A hit list in praise of albums - Chicago Sun-Times
A hit list in praise of albums Chicago Sun-Times, United States - BY JIM DeROGATIS Pop Music Critic Lists, lists, lists -- as evidenced by homeboy John Cusack in the enduringly charming "High Fidelity," pop-music ... |
Originally from "contemporary classical" | "avant garde" music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 23, 2007 at 04:10 PM | Comments (0)
Zappa and Jazz - All About Jazz
 All About Jazz | Zappa and Jazz All About Jazz, PA - A more apt comparison would be to say that what Edgard Varèse (avant garde classical composer who Zappa adored) was to Frank Zappa, Frank Zappa is to me. ... |
Originally from "contemporary classical" | "avant garde" music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 23, 2007 at 04:10 PM | Comments (0)
File Under ? Alt-Pop Stocking Stuffers
‘Tis the season - to be stumped while shopping! If you’re looking for music that’s off the beaten path, alternative in approach, and popular in appeal, consider the following recent releases.
Steel Train
Trampoline
Drive Thru Records
At their best, New Jersey’s Steel Train shares several of the qualities of fellow Garden State ensembles. Songs such as “I Feel Weird” and “Diamonds in the Sky” capture the buoyant grooves and high-octane performance energy of the E Street Band. “Kill Monsters in the Rain” and “Dakota” examine a similarly quirky indie rock approach to that of Fountains of Wayne.
Occasionally, the band goes overboard; for instance, “Alone on the Sea” takes the group’s penchant for stadium-sized riffs over the line into bombast. That said, Steel Train demonstrates considerable potential here.
Thao Nguyen
We Brave Bee Stings and All
Kill Rock Stars
DC indie pop songstress Thao Nguyen’s sophomore album We Brave Bee Stings and All features both polished production values and persuasive songs. Her usual backing band, the Get Down Stay Down, is supported by cameos from such stalwarts Laura Veirs and organist Wayne Horvitz. Nguyen allows an air of mystery in her lyrics; but songs such as “Fear and Convenience” and the breezily quirky “Bag of Hammers,” with their funk-inflected rhythms and artful horn charts, provide her enigmatic compositions lush adornment. “Big Kid Table” and “Geography” identify with childhood anxieties while never seeming overly sentimental. We Brave Bee Stings and All is simultaneously sensitive, accessible, and musically engaging - a rare treat.
Coheed and Cambria
No World for Tomorrow
Columbia Records
The final portion of a multi-album storyline, No World for Tomorrow is the most ambitious effort yet by prog metal band Coheed and Cambria. Make no mistake; this is a band that’s not shy about demonstrating its influences. Claudio Sanchez channels Geddy Lee in his ebullient vocal histrionics and the rest of the band references everything from hair metal to Marillion. In today’s pop marketplace, many bands avoid assaying anything “epic” - never mind prog or metal - but there’s no denying C&C’s earnest intentions and impressive musicality.
“Feathers” is an excellent power ballad, while the title track pits machine gun riffs against dramatic vocals and mathy syncopations. What could serve as a more fitting climax to the CD than a five-movement suite, “The End Complete,” which features leitmotifs from the entire recorded saga. The listener doesn’t need to be aware of the complex of musical relationships, but they should be ready to revel in head-banging done up right.
Labradford
Prazision LP
Kranky Records
Kranky’s inaugural 1993 release, Labradford’s Prazision LP, has just been reissued with bonus tracks. Labradford, the duo of Carter Brown and Mark Nelson, remained a force to be reckoned with on the avant electronica scene until just after the turn of the century, and it’s fascinating to hear their first collaborations.
Most often, Labradford’s works evolve slowly, with a tip of the hat to minimal and drone-based music. Unlike some avant-garde artists, their sound world has often tended towards the lush and lovely, with sepulchral bass textures and luxuriant, slowcore influenced structures. Prazision shows these tendencies in full flowering even at the group’s inception; but it also balances aural loveliness with a bit of bite on tracks such as “Sliding Glass” and “Experience the Gated Oscillator.” Other artifacts such as vocoder harmonies and blats of noise muddy the waters, creating an ominous yet compelling atmosphere far too complex to be considered merely ambient listening.
-Christian Carey
Originally posted by Christian Carey from Sequenza21/, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 23, 2007 at 08:13 AM | Comments (0)
Good Grief, We’re Number One
Thanks, Scott. And a special thanks to all of you who come around faithfully to contribute the entertaining thoughts and comments that make this the liveliest venue for new music conversation on the web. I love you all, even the cranky ones.
Originally posted by Jerry Bowles from Sequenza21/, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 23, 2007 at 08:13 AM | Comments (0)
Electric Possible
t edition of Jeff Bagato's ongoing series presented three projects operating in free improv territory: Matt Weston/Tone Ghosting Duo, The Blue Prostitutes, and Brazen Robbers. The evening kicked off with Brazen Robbers, who started off on a promising note. A sudden burst of uncontrolled feedback early on seemed to knock the ensemble off kilter. They spent the rest of their set trying to regroup. At times they almost found their groove. They show promise but apparently this was their farewell show. Luckily they kept their set short.
Matt Weston and Tone Ghosting were next. Unlike their set from at 2006's Sonic Circuit Festival, this time they went through s series of short pieces, a format I think they handled quite well and at times it worked nicely. Towards the end it seemed Matt was sensing his muse wasn't smiling upon him, but Tone Ghosting, ever the trooper, wanted to forge on.
Blue Prostitutes on paper looked promising. Sam Lohman (36/Cash Slave Clique) on drums, Aaron Moore (Volcano the Bear) on drums and stuff, J. Reeve on electronics, Jason LaFarge (bass), and Vinnie Paternostro (Temple of Bon Matin) on sax and effects. Having seen the lineup in other permutations I had high hopes...and they almost delivered this time. I think the sax was low in the mix, but when the levels were ok things started to launch. Not bad, but not awe inspiring. Methinks that the stuffy nature of the room that night restricted the the group from taking us into the stratosphere. Still some interesting planets were visited.
Originally from District of Noise, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 23, 2007 at 04:11 AM | Comments (0)
Happy ELPmas!
"Nutrocker"
Originally posted by jodru from ANABlog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 23, 2007 at 04:10 AM | Comments (0)
December 22, 2007
X Factor Is What So Many Wish Were Missing:
* "It may be hard for youngsters now to believe but huge numbers of us used to convene in pubs to argue about what would and should be top of the hit parade on Christmas Day."* "Like a hydrologist charting a river or an economist tracking the movement of money through society, Imbrie had a keen awareness of what makes music behave as it does".
* BBC chooses Guto Puw.
* The competition for the classical Christmas no. 1 gets ugly.
* The year in digital music services.
Originally posted by jodru from ANABlog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 22, 2007 at 11:38 PM | Comments (0)
The English concert.
The most striking thing I've read about Canadian band The Musical Box is that Peter Gabriel (pictured left) once took his children to see the group, so that they would understand what daddy did back when he was a lanky young man with an inverse mohawk shaved into his shaggy hair.
For some years now, the Musical Box has visited New York City every December, playing a pair of shows at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center. I wrote a brief preview piece for a recent issue of TONY. And I'd long been curious to witness the group in action; last night, accompanied by Dr. LP and my TONY prog pal Josh Rothkopf, I finally managed to do so.
Since 1993, the members of the Musical Box -- both the performers and a raft of offstage designers and technicians -- have devoted themselves with a single-minded fervor to recreating in exacting detail the shows that Genesis performed in support of its early albums Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot, Selling England by the Pound and The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. The specific show we saw last night was the one dubbed the "Black Show," employed during Genesis's 1974 North American tour.
Setlist: Watcher of the Skies / Dancing with the Moonlit Knight / Cinema Show / I Know What I Like / Firth of Fifth / The Musical Box / Horizon / The Battle of Epping Forest / Supper's Ready / Encore: The Knife
With the rise of prog-friendly modern acts like Radiohead, Porcupine Tree and the Mars Volta, Gabriel-era Genesis has been re-evaluated lately. And while it's the yacht-rock Genesis of the ’80s that most people reflexively think of nowadays, it's fair to say that between 1973 and 1975, few rock acts were as consistently innovative as Genesis.
On stage, the players ably recreated florid Baroque studio concoctions such as "The Musical Box," "Cinema Show" and the epic "Supper's Ready." But what really set Genesis apart from the crowd during those early years was the spectacle of its stage show. With regard to lighting, sets and props, Genesis was nearly peerless; only Alice Cooper devoted as much energy to making a rock show into a true multimedia theatrical event.
Just as critical were the contributions of Gabriel himself. Anyone who came in with "Shock the Monkey" or especially "In Your Eyes" might be shocked to see just how fundamentally bizarre and unsettling Gabriel was during his Genesis days. Adorned in eerie makeup and outlandish costumes, Gabriel pranced, leaped and stalked the stage. He crammed black humor, social concern and a mysticism straight out of Blake into his lyrics, and filled the spaces between songs with chimerical monologues: bizarre, unsettling fairy tales delivered in a deadpan, and punctuated with hysterical cackles.
Courtesy of YouTube, here's Genesis playing "Watcher of the Skies" on the Midnight Special in 1973:
devoted phenomenal attention to recreating those early Genesis shows, spending untold hours not just learning the notes and studying the moves, but also building the props and sets, duplicating the costumes, procuring and reconditioning the original instruments, and even transcribing the monologues. The result is nothing like a typical cover band, where some rock-star wanna-be prances around and pretends to be Jim Morrison, Axl Rose or Morrissey for a while. It's more like a cross between a repertory theater company and a period-instrument Baroque ensemble. Same abiding fervor, same attention to detail.
In this pursuit, the Musical Box has been aided repeatedly by Genesis itself: Tony Banks allowed the group to hear the original master tapes separated into their component tracks, so specific parts could be learned more precisely. And for several years, the Musical Box had not just an exclusive license to perform The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway live, but also the thousand-plus slides used in the original 1975 stage presentations.
That license has since expired, and rumors continue to swirl that the Gabriel-era Genesis lineup -- Gabriel, Banks, Steve Hackett, Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins -- will actually reunite next year to coincide with a boxed set of remastered CDs. I've even heard tell that the idea is for the original players to re-stage and film Lamb themselves. That might be well worth seeing, but I can't imagine that Gabriel, Collins et al could do a better job at recreating vintage Genesis than the Musical Box currently does.
Two things prompted me to finally see the Musical Box last night. The first was news that Gregg Bendian -- an estimable avant-garde composer and free-jazz drummer, founder of the Mahavishnu Project and a longtime friendly acquaintance -- had taken on the role of Phil Collins. Bendian replaced Martin Levac, who departed, ironically or not, to front Turn It On Again, an ’80s-era Genesis tribute band due to play the Tribeca Performing Arts Center in March.
The other compelling reason was that Denis Gagné (pictured left), an absolutely uncanny Peter Gabriel, will be taking next year off, as the rest of the group soldiers onward with a recreation of A Trick of the Tail, the first post-Gabriel Genesis album. (As I noted in my TONY preview, apparently those who do know history are also doomed to repeat it.)
Lead guitarist François Gagnon executed Steve Hackett's intricate parts even more precisely than Hackett himself played them originally. Bassist-guitarist Sébastian Lamothe, founder of the Musical Box, and keyboardist David Myers filled their respective roles superbly.
In the days building up to the concert, Josh and I were all abuzz over the notion that this would be our first time hearing an actual Mellotron played live, and we were fairly awestruck with the authenticity of the sound last night. That said, the Wikipedia entry on the Mellotron states that the Musical Box actually tours with a digitally sampled version rather than the real instrument. If that's true, all I can say is that its samples were startlingly good, and far more authentic than those used by the King Crimson alumni group 21st Century Schizoid Band.
I still don't find the notion of tribute bands very appealing, but the Musical Box is a thing apart: a faithfully executed replication of a historical body of work, enacted with surpassing skill and infectious passion by a large cadre of talented devotees. And most of all, the group genuinely rocks: I can't say that I ever appreciated just how hard Banks, Rutherford and Collins played back in the early ’70s until I saw Myers, Lamothe and Bendian dig in last night.
Once again from YouTube, here's the Musical Box (with Levac, not Bendian) playing "Watcher of the Skies" in Turin, in 2004:
Originally posted by NightAfterNight from Night After Night, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 22, 2007 at 11:10 PM | Comments (0)
Far Out
On Karlheinz Stockhausen.Slate magazine, December 21, 2007.
Originally from Soho the Dog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 22, 2007 at 05:41 PM | Comments (0)
Hans Werner Henze, "Essay on Pigs, V"
"tired starting up and end for thetime being"
the deceased na'ive one
can be approached by visitors
surrounded by a legend
the s-bahn goes on
into our images
[S-Babn: Berlin city railway, owned
by the East, but running in East
and West Berlin]
relaxed arrogance
vivid promises
monotony
berlin romantic
who has arranged it
it is becoming apparent
the whole thing was just an interval
between two moves of a game
from which you did not escape
there remains
an unknown store of energy
but as for love
it remains
within a space of time
which in every case is announced
beforehand
a sad noise
and the living together
nothing but the hollow mould of
actions
which we left behind
faultless sex determination
is guaranteed
between our solitude
and our dreams
a final quarrel has broken out
both have been and are
useful points of reference
but are hushed up
by hope
now the plan must be discussed
accurately and carefully
at last the obligation must be made
clear
reasonable solutions
can also hurt
uncertain have you become
of satisfactory experiences
and hope is
for long stages
merely a postponement
who can parachute
jump off
jump off
finished with moving trains
stop them
stop them
THEN l STOOD UP
and said
l surrender
that's all
but then I fired
according to the command
Originally posted by jodru from ANABlog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 22, 2007 at 09:28 AM | Comments (0)
Tomoyasu Hotei, "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)"
Originally posted by jodru from ANABlog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 22, 2007 at 09:28 AM | Comments (0)
Must Be Why They Call It the Pit
“A Harvard Business School study looked at job satisfaction. Orchestra players came just below prison guards. Chamber musicians came in at number 1. What’s the difference? The presence of a conductor.”
Boston Philharmonic Conductor Ben Zander, speaking at Leaders in London 2007
Originally posted by Jerry Bowles from Sequenza21/, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 22, 2007 at 05:11 AM | Comments (0)
Daniel Levin - Blurry
hatOLOGY 653 Cellist Daniel Levin is an improviser acutely aware of the inherent intangibility of music: you cant touch it, but it can touch you. The pieces on his second hatOLOGY project deal in the porous spaces between notes...Originally from Bagatellen, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 22, 2007 at 02:11 AM | Comments (0)
December 21, 2007
Samuel, Truth, and Me
I'll get back to cats later. First, Samuel Vriezen has responded to my last post on Arthur Danto so thoughtfully...Originally from PostClassic, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 21, 2007 at 11:10 PM | Comments (0)
Not Deliverable by Christmas, Sadly
A copy of my new CD on the New Albion label, Private Dances, has just been handed to me. The...Originally from PostClassic, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 21, 2007 at 11:10 PM | Comments (0)
SXSW Music Announces Keynote Speaker and Featured Speakers - Top40-Charts.com
SXSW Music Announces Keynote Speaker and Featured Speakers Top40-Charts.com, NY - Steve Reich and Thurston Moore are confirmed for a SXSW Interview. Steve Reich has been called "...America's greatest living composer. ... |
Originally from lutoslawski OR xenakis OR boulez OR Dutilleux OR ligeti OR "elliott carter" OR stockhausen OR "steve reich" AND music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 21, 2007 at 09:46 PM | Comments (0)
Synergy at the Brecht Forum December 29, 8:30PM - All About Jazz
Synergy at the Brecht Forum December 29, 8:30PM All About Jazz, PA - Dave Ross attended Berklee College of music in 1991 and was a founding member of the avant garde Quantum Trio in Boston Mass. In 1993 he won a Boston music ... |
Originally from "contemporary classical" | "avant garde" music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 21, 2007 at 09:45 PM | Comments (0)
Mystery play.
Master drummer Billy Hart is leading his killer quartet with pianist Ethan Iverson, saxophonist Mark Turner and bassist Ben Street (L-R in Jim Eigo's photo, above) through Sunday night at Iridium in midtown Manhattan. I reviewed this group at the Village Vanguard in April 2006 (go here, scroll down), and caught it again in the last night's late set.
Once more I was struck by the variety, complexity, personality and power of this group's playing. Turner uncorks fragmented narratives with unflappable poise and a master's patience. Iverson tosses off some of the knottiest harmonies you'll find in a more-or-less mainstream setting, not to show off but to provide his bandmates with limitless choices. (One solo culminated with a line that tumbled down to the bottom of the keyboard; Iverson let the momentum carry him still further, right off the stage.) Street is the band's center of gravity; Hart pushes, stretches, fragments and shifts the time while never losing the thread.
When you go, pay special attention to Hart's spoken introductions. At first, I thought these gnomic pronouncements were some sort of random performance poetry. After a while, I realized that he was providing clues. For instance: "What in the world would the world do without Wayne Shorter?" was the introduction to Shorter's "Dance Cadaverous," while "So it could have been a fairy tale… but it's a country" prefaced the smoking set closer, "Airegin." (Read the title backward if it's unfamiliar.)
I'm still scratching my head, I confess, over a reference to Santa Claus before the set's second tune, and I can't decipher the introduction to the fourth tune ("She was the daughter of the dutchess"), either. Someone, probably Iverson, will e-mail me the solutions to these puzzles, I'm sure. Meanwhile, if Hart ever gets tired of playing -- hopefully never -- I think he might just have a bright future with the New York Times crossword puzzle.
Playlist:
Eliane Radigue - Chry-ptus (Schoolmap)
Sachiko M - Salon de Sachiko (Hitorri/Improvised Music from Japan)
Genesis - Live, Seconds Out and Three Sides Live (Atlantic)
Napalm Death - Death by Manipulation (Earache)
Lamb of God - As the Palaces Burn (Prosthetic)
Radiohead - Kid A and Amnesiac (Capitol)
Eliane Radigue - Chry-ptus (Archive.org stream -- part of a 1980 interview with Radigue broadcast by KPFA-FM; props to Give Me Take You for pointing it out.)
Originally posted by NightAfterNight from Night After Night, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 21, 2007 at 08:10 PM | Comments (0)
Merry, Merry
To experience all the light and sparkle and warmth of the holiday season musically...Originally posted by Eddie Silva from SLSO Blog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 21, 2007 at 07:50 PM | Comments (0)
Peace On Earth And In The Cosmos -- Goodwill Toward Mankind, Animals, And Plants
Photo credits:
Originally from Renaissance Research, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 21, 2007 at 07:50 PM | Comments (0)
FriPod: Top 10
Here are the 10 most played tunes on my iTunes for the year (10 and 11 tied for the same number of plays).1. "Creep" by Radiohead, performed by the Edward Welles Quartet.
2. "Hope and Memory" by Howard Shore, from the Lord of the Rings, Return of the King soundtrack.
3. "Luna" from Ayre by Osvaldo Golijov, performed by Dawn Upshaw.
4. "God Only Knows" by Brian Wilson, performed by Petra Haden.
5. "Ich Klag Mein Not, O Herr Mein Gott" a 5, by Anonymous, performed by the Copenhagen Cornetts & Sackbutts and Ars Nova.
6. "Down to the River to Pray" performed by Alison Krauss on the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack.
7. "Twilight and Shadow" by Howard Shore on the Lord of the Rings, Return of the King soundtrack.
8. "Sueltate las cintas" from Ayre by Osvaldo Golijov, performed by Dawn Upshaw.
9. Saltarello detto del Naldi by Giralamo Fantini, performed by The Parley of Instruments.
10. "I am a Man of Constant Sorrow" performed by The Soggy Bottom Boys on the O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack.
11. "Jesus Christus Nostra Salus" a 8, by Heinrich Fink, performed by the Copenhagen Cornetts & Sackbutts and Ars Nova.
Originally from Musical Perceptions, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 21, 2007 at 07:50 PM | Comments (0)
Happy Birthdays to MTT and FZ
Happy Birthday today to Michael Tilson Thomas, who according to today's paper, is just now 63. Remembering what a splash he was already making in the 1970's (a life-changing...for me... public TV broadcast of Les Noces comes to mind) one is reminded that MTT was Gustavo Dudamel before there was a Gustavo Dudamel.And a Happy Birthday to Frank Zappa, who would have been 67 today, and who has been gone an astonishing 14 years already. In tribute, we link to this YouTube excerpt of a 1974 TV performance of "Inca Roads." This is in my opinion the greatest lineup of all the Mothers bands, and though the video is grainy and most of the performance is backdrop to some pretty freaky claymation (what TV station or network put this on air, I wonder?), you still get healthy doses of the magnificent George Duke surrounded by enough keyboards to launch an Apollo mission, and the midriff-baring percussion wonder Ruth Underwood.
If you want to hear the uninterrupted version of "Inca Roads" (with a brilliant guitar solo by FZ interpolated from a Helsinki performance), I recommend buying the entire album "One Size Fits All" which IMHO is second only to the double live album "Roxy and Elsewhere" as the greatest Zappa recording of all time.
Originally posted by Phillip from Mostly Music in the Midlands, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 21, 2007 at 07:48 PM | Comments (0)
An Amazing Experience!
On Thursday, December 13th, Long Island City High School’s journalism class and opera class went on a field trip to the Met. The purpose of the trip was to interview Anna Netrebko and Peter Gelb. We all went backstage through the whole Met and we were all able to meet Salvatore Licitra and saw him perform during his rehearsal of Verdis’ Un Ballo in Maschera. We learned some insightful things—like that everything being used in the operas, from the wardrobe to even the very last board on the floors, is made inside the Met. It’s one of those amazing once-in-a-lifetime experiences that you’d just wish you could do over and over again, it was just so intriguing. Once I saw the outcome of all the hard work and labor put into all of the productions (including Romeo and Juliet), I learned to appreciate the live HD opera event that took place at my school this last Saturday on December 15th. I can’t wait to see Hansel and Gretel. If you haven’t passed by and taken a glance at the amazing artwork that has been placed in the art gallery on the first floor, than you should really stop by and check it out. This whole week has been a learning experience, and I hope to encounter myself sharing my fun-filled learning experience with my peers live at the Met. I’m looking forward to buying tickets and watching Hansel and Gretel. Romeo and Juliet is a must see experience for audiences of all ages!
Originally posted by Petra Ovalles from MetBlog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 21, 2007 at 07:48 PM | Comments (0)
Patrick Wolf - The Magic Position - I Like Music
 I Like Music | Patrick Wolf - The Magic Position I Like Music, UK - London youngster Patrick Wolf, makes dark and twisted avant-garde electro-folk. Brimming with emotional passion, sinister story-telling and mythological ... |
Originally from "contemporary classical" | "avant garde" music - Google News, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 21, 2007 at 07:47 PM | Comments (0)
The Friday Informer: Not a Creature Was Orchestrating...
Except the cat, who smelled a certain music history book under the tree and therefore couldn't get to sleep.Originally from NewMusicBox, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 21, 2007 at 07:38 PM | Comments (0)
Taize chants to celebrate Christmas
Taizé chants start my musical celebration of Christmas on Future Radio this Sunday, December 23rd. If you have not heard the music of Taizé before you are in for a very special experience. This is Gregorian Chant updated to the 21st century, it is music written for communal celebration, and it is the perfect way to start Christmas. My header photo shows the Church of Reconciliation in Taizé which we visited again this September. The second half of my programme is drawn from the arrangement of the Christmas Vespers by Rudolf Mauersberger that is sung every year by the Kreuzchor in the historic city of Dresden.
The programme is broadcast at 5.00pm UK time on Sunday, December 23rd. Convert to local time here, and launch the audio stream here. Read more about the music of Taizé here, and the Dresden Christmas Vespers here.
Now visit the green hill faraway called Taizé.
Hear my Christmas programme on Future Radio on Sunday December 23 at 5.00pm UK time (convert to local time zones here). Listen by launching the Radeo internet player from the right side-bar, or via the audio stream. Convert time to your local time zone using this link. Windows Media Player doesn't like the audio stream very much and takes ages to buffer. WinAmp or iTunes handle it best. Unfortunately the royalty license doesn't permit on-demand replay, so you have to listen in real time. If you are in the Norwich, UK area tune to 96.9FM. Any copyrighted material on these pages is included as "fair use", for the purpose of study, review or critical analysis only, and will be removed at the request of copyright owner(s). Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk
Originally from On An Overgrown Path, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 21, 2007 at 05:12 PM | Comments (0)
Move Over John Williams:
* Giorgio Moroder is trying out for the Olympics.* "The weight of the 19th century has been lifted off ('Messiah's') shoulders."
* The Year in Russian Music.
* Barbie's classical odyssey continues.
* Remember when South By Southwest didn't use to be a drag?
* We'll take Chicago's indie scene over Williamsburg's any day, but best in the country...?
Originally posted by jodru from ANABlog, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 21, 2007 at 05:11 PM | Comments (0)
Playing respect.
The New York Philharmonic Messiah at Avery Fisher Hall
The New York Times, December 21, 2007
Originally posted by NightAfterNight from Night After Night, ReBlogged by newmusicrebloggers on Dec 21, 2007 at 05:10 PM | Comments (0)
A short post from Berlin
Another hour and I’ll be inside Berlin’s totally bloody gorgeous Konzerthaus, awaiting an all-star Christmas Oratorio performance. But a few notes.
The Rambler linked to an amazing article in the Australian newspaper, reporting a huge injection of funds into the arts by the Carpenter government in Western Australia - unbelievable, but fabulous news nonetheless. Mr Rutherford-Johnson also seemed shocked by my description of the London tube system as clean and efficient, “(?)”, but forgets that I’ve been struggling with Chicago’s CTA system for a year and a half.
I heard the Kammerphilharmonie Bremen give a scorchingly good all-Beethoven program last night in the Kammermusiksaal at the Philharmonie. There was rage and fury, but also some silky smooth playing, and despite what some might see as HP-influenced micromanagement, everything had a powerful sense of line and direction. I almost passed out during Coriolan, had to wipe away tears in the last movement of the Pastoral, and am seriously “crushing on” Viktoria Mullova, the gaunt, strikingly beautiful (in a dress covered in what looked like purple streamers) soloist who gave a restrained but never po-faced performance of the Violin Concerto. A-bloody-plus.
On the recommendation of a friend, I went on a free (+tip) and bloody freezing English-language walking tour of Berlin this afternoon. Out of 25 folks there were around 15 Aussies, and, sure enough, they asked all the worst questions. “Frederick the Great? Why didn’t they just call him ‘Frederick the Awesome’?”.
Tomorrow, hanging out with a couple of friends, then wall-to-wall museums and some serious, Berlin-style gift shopping (including the amazing-sounding KaDeWe, which apparently has the “best food court in Europe”). I definitely didn’t pack enough warm clothes; it is goddamn freezing here, but the cold is improved by drinking lots of Glühwein!
Then on Thursday it’s off to visit the town musicians of Bremen…
More photos when I actually have enough time with my laptop to upload them all.