5 Things about the Lark Quartet

The Lark Quartet played a smashing concert of new music Sunday night (with lots of composers present!) at Merkin Hall in NYC.

They premiered DBR's Fifth Quartet (in memory of Rosa Parks), and a new version of Paul Moravec's Atmosphera a Villa Aurelia.


1. Who knew Paul Moravec could get an audience to sing the 40s hit "I'll be seeing you..." the same night DBR got the audience to lay down a beat clapping their hands (handz) while discussing their pieces on stage (at different times mind you.)


2. Stanley Silverman's arrangements of Gershwin songs are as skillful as they are charming - so in the hands of the Lark Quartet, they were in a word, perfect.

Kathryn (the violist) and Paul

3. The Lark Quartet plays music like their lives depend on it. They throw everything into their music making, and it shows, both in their interpretation and in their technique. The quartet is amazing well balanced; often you find a quartet with a few sparkling members and a few less so - not with the Lark Quartet. They are all consumate musicians and they also just happen to all be drop dead gorgeous.


4. First violinist Maria Bachmann very aptly mentioned during the course of the evening how hard Paul Moravec's music is to play technically, yet the examples heard on the concert were a tad more mellow. You can sample a bit of here (his Ariel Fantasy for violin and piano). Bachmann knows, because she's premiered so many of his works - I thought it was sweet, sorta funny and very perseptive for her to mention it. (The two works by Moravec on the program were sublime and very well received. No one, not even the performers wanted to break the magic of the notes after the Atmosphera.)


5. DBR is the future of music. He blends classical with hip hop and good taste. His music is not only thoughtful but catchy. Kudos for the Lark Quartet in premiering AND recording this work.

[Klap UR Handz by the Lark Quartet is one of my top ten gifts for your holiday list this year. Read more.]

Author with the stunning Kathryn

Jammin'

Lots of fun and caffeine as predicted last night at St. Thomas Roasters in Linglestown. Paul, Hank and I had some fun, playing some old favorites and playing new pieces together.
[slightly fuzzy picture of Hank by yours truly]
Off to NYC now...

Ready for my closeup?

Caught Casino Royale yesterday afternoon, just after I got off the air. Stunning, truly the best Bond in a while - no stupid video game effects, and a certain grittiness true to Ian Fleming's writing. Daniel Craig was just right - who cares about an actor's hair color when they deliver lines and scenes with real talent?
I came home and nursed a cold that was trying to catch me - hahaha flu. Yeay fruit juices, tylenol and sleep!
This morning I also watched an amazing film, Elliott Carter: A Labyrinth of Time by Frank Scheffer. It not only is moving, and beautifully filmed, it allows you to get to know a stellar composer. Rent it or get your copy today and watch it - a couple of times. The world would be a better place if it got to know Elliott Carter and his music.

Top Ten Classical Albums - I

This season, give a loved one some great music. Here are my favorites from this last year to put under the tree!

Enjoy...

10. Joyce DiDonato "Deepest Desire" (Eloquentia)
9. "Great Film Fantasties" Erich Kunzel Cincinnati Pops (Telarc)
8. Shostakovich Symphonies 1 & 14 Rattle Berlin PO Mattila Quasthoff (EMI) 7. Augusta Read Thomas Gathering Paradise NY Phil (New World)
6. Martha Argerich & Friends Lugano Festival 2005 (EMI)

Top Ten Classical Albums - Continued

5. Lark Quartet Klap Ur Handz (Endeavour Classics)4. John Adams My Father knew Charles Ives BBC SO (Nonesuch)3. Paul Moravec Time Gallery eighth blackbird (Naxos)2. Helene Grimaud Reflection (DG) and the number one classical album to give this year...
1. Joyce DiDonato Wigmore Recital (Wigmore)

Update for an interview

Swing over to WITF New Releases blog to see and hear my latest interview with composer and conductor John Rutter.

Link to interview

Enjoy and keep an eye for the John Rutter episode on Composing Thoughts!

Top Ten Violin Albums - I

For those fiddle players or music lovers on your Christmas list this year...here are my recommendations for the 10 best cds released this year of Violinists.

Happy Holidays!

10. Merry - A Holiday Journey with Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg & Friends. (NSS Music)
9. Leila Josefowitz plays Shostakovich (Concerto #1 and Sonata #1) (Warner Bros)
8. Julia Fischer plays Mozart Concerti (1,2 & 5) (PentaTone) 7. Tracy Silverman in John Adams' The Dharma At Big Sur. (Nonesuch)6. Portraits by violinist Jennifer Koh, playing Bartok, Szymanowski and Martinu. (Cedille)

Top Ten Violin Albums - Continued

5. Voice of the Violin - Joshua Bell with the Orchestra of St. Luke's (Sony)
4. Nicola Benedetti's Mendelssohn Violin Concerto (with MacMillan and Mozart) and the ASMF (DG)

3. Grazyna Bacewicz violin music with violinist Piotr Plawner and Pianist Ewa Kupiec. (Hanssler Classics)
2. Anne-Sophie Mutter playing the Mozart Violin Sonatas with Lambert Orkis. (DG) and the number one violin album for a gift
1. Hilary Hahn plays Paganini and Spohr. (DG)

Blues 'n Beans

Come out and hear us play Saturday night in Linglestown at St. Thomas Roasters! Paul Zavinsky, Hank Imhof and yours truly will jam from 8 to 10pm. Dig some killer blues and sip some yummy caffeine!
Perhaps you remember hearing them in Hummelstown?
And reading about it here.

Interview with Helene Grimaud

While looking through some of my past archived interviews, I saw this and thought I'd share it with you - recorded with Helene Grimaud in 2004. These are some clips of her just after she recorded Credo on the DG label.

Introduction [mp3]

Playing Part [mp3]

Playing the Choral Fantasy [mp3]

Inspirations [mp3]

Playing at Carnegie [mp3]

Thanks [mp3]

5 Things about the York Symphony

I was the emcee for "From Russia with Love" Saturday with the York Symphony Orchestra.

1. The concert was well attended and the audience quite friendly.

2. Leonid Kuzmin played a wonderful Rachmaninoff Second Concerto and his encore, Liszt's transcription of Schubert's Serenade was spot on.

3. Robert Hart Baker switched the movements of Tchaikovsky's Sixth Symphony - making the third movement march the finale movement - different to say the least.

4. All the violinists were very friendly to me, it was great making some connections with fellow fiddlers!

5. I met a radio board member I didn't know, and met Dominick Argento's brother, who really appreciated the Composing Thoughts show I did with him.


I'll definitely be back to the Strand Capitol Theater, to see Paula Poundstone and then the YSO again when they premiere Chris Whittaker's new work. You should catch it too!

Opera Commerce

Well, well, well. There's been talk this week about broken hearts, opera, and "selling out." Why not do all three? hahaha
Take a look at OperaModa's new calendar.
No I haven't ordered my copy - yet!

Poetic Justice?

I just read this story from Friday about Walmart:
Appliances join toys and electronics in Wal-Mart holiday price cuts

BENTONVILLE, Ark. (AP) _ Their sales were disappointing last month, but it's looking more and more like Wal-Mart is determined not to let that happen again.
The world's largest retailer is cutting prices on dozens of small appliances. Reductions of between seven and 17 percent are taking effect immediately on everything from coffee makers to microwaves.
This is Wal-Mart's third round of price slashing in time for the holiday season. It already lowered the tags on hundreds of toys and electronics.
Along with October's unsettling results, the company's outlook for this month is the weakest in a decade. Wal-Mart officials say they want to refocus on cutting prices and selling basic items, after going too far in stocking trendy things.


Could it be that the public is tired of Wal-Mart treating it's employees poorly? I'm sick about Wal-Mart's business practices - and hope they take a staggering decline to help change their policies. Ugh.

Emcee (M.C. Clare)

Yo York! Shout out to my orchestra peeps. Yeah, I'm a violin playa!

[pictured left: a well dressed John out on the town]


Uhm, okay, seriously. I'm Saturday night's emcee for the York Symphony Orchestra's "From Russia with Love" concert at the Strand Capitol Performing Arts Center. The performance is at 8pm and includes Rachmaninoff's Second Piano Concerto with soloist Leonid Kuzmin; Mussorgsky's Night on Bald Mountain; and Tchaikovsky's Symphony #6 "Pathetique." Maestro Bob Baker will direct.

So come on out and have some fun - I'll be onstage, I hope you'll be in the audience.

Dazzling Debut

I'm a bit tired this morning, and my heart can't take many more concerts like last night. Helene Grimaud is an artist of immense musicianship and beauty. Her music making is outstanding and I could have listened to even more Rachmaninoff (she gave some charming etude tableaux as encores!), Chopin, Brahms or Bach. So why can't my heart take more? I'm a sucker for talent and charm - I think I'll die if I experience something of this stellar level again from such a high calibur artist.
For the record, last night was the Helene's Carnegie Hall RECITAL debut.

5 Things about St. Luke's Concert

Carl Iba, Regina Barrett and the Ravel Trio played Haydn, Bruch, Martinu and Schubert Sunday afternoon in Schaefferstown, PA.

1. It's fascinating to see a musician use technology in live music! Dan from the Ravel Trio used an electronic score for the Haydn - I wish I could have asked him about it.

2. Double Bass transcriptions work so well, and it's nice to hear them played with such grace and musicality. (I think violists should steal Bass repertoire!)

3. The real gem for me was hearing the outstanding musicmaking between Carl Iba and Simon (SEE-moan) Maurer in the Martinu.

4. Hearing the Trout Quintet always makes me think of two pieces - Beethoven's Kreutzer Sonata and Brahms' Second Symphony: Surely Schubert knew the Beethoven and surely Brahms knew the Trout...there are passages in each work that my ear always seems to perk up to certain passages.

5. Almost every audience member was a fan of Carl's; and they all let him know it - I've never seen so many well wishes and hugs for a performer after a concert. A real warm feeling on a chilly fall afternoon! Bravo!

Composing Thoughts Philly edition

Nice chat with Jennifer Higdon yesterday in Philadelphia. We taped now since she'll be away quite a bit over the season, and the episode will actually air in May 2007. It's also very cool that she was teh very first COmposing Thoughts episode a few years ago, and we're revisiting her music!

Her schedule is very busy - which is awesome to hear. Her music is sublime and it's great knowing so many orchestras and groups are playing it. If you see her name on a program, give a listen, you'll be glad you did!

{photo of John & Jennifer by Andrew Gena}

Audio/Video

Do you enjoy modern classical music? Not sure?
Take a look at this new video! (http://www.classicallyhip.com/ct/ctvideo.WMV)

The fine folks at WITF-TV and WITF-FM collaborated on this video for Composing Thoughts, a weekly radio show (Sunday nights at 7 p.m. eastern) where you can learn more about composers and their music.

I hope you'll enjoy this new video sampler and then tune in (on your radio, or on the web!)

Of note

I've started working on an indepth feature about music director searches - in general - and from all sides possible. I'll post some previews here of course.
As I was surfing and reading blogs recently I was quite interested in reading this from Seattle: Schmaltz Uber Alles. I thought you might enjoy it too!
You might also enjoy hearing young conductor Keri Lynn Wilson in an interview segment with me as well!

Stuck

Do you ever listen to a piece of music (any genre) over and over?

Does a melody catch you and you just have to hear it again and again?

That's one of the reasons I started (and rarely update - sorry!) a separate blog called Music in a Moment. (see my prolife.)

Lately I have had two pieces of music that I put on repeat: (composer pictured left) Eric Ewazen's Diamond World, played by the Ahn Trio; and (composer pictured right) Ennio Morricone's Ecstasy of Gold from the Good the Bad and the Ugly played by Yo-Yo Ma.
I'll post them soon, but had to let you in on the hooks that had caught my ear lately. Back to my mp3 player...

A treat!

Enjoy this latest edition of writing and prose from a talented friend in Las Vegas:
Danse Macabre
It's the second in the series, and he's threatening a music issue next. You're reading this blog, why not send him a music entry for the next one? I'm thinking about it myself. It can be fiction, fact or even funny.

Ain't Opera Grand?

(or a VERY scary Halloween posting! Trick? or Treat? You decide!)

It seems I will make my operatic stage debut in Pergolesi's La Serva Padrona next spring with Gretna Music. Details to come, but for now, mark Saturday, February 10th down in your calendars.

Here's a little more about the opera: (from here)
La serva padrona (The Servant as Mistress) played an important part in the operatic quarrels in Paris between supporters of the traditional French opera of Lully and Rameau and those who supported the simpler more modern art of Italy, exemplified in Pergolesi's opera, when it was staged in Paris, not for the first time, in 1752. The disagreement, the so-called Querelle des Bouffons (Quarrel of the Actors) continued for the next two years, with Rousseau a keen supporter of the Italian against the French. Pergolesi's opera is modest in its proportions, both vocally and instrumentally. As an intermezzo its two parts were intended for performance between the acts of a more serious work. It makes use of three of the stock characters of the Italian commedia dell'arte.

Guess which of the three characters I am going to be:
1) Uberto, an elderly gentleman, Bass voice
2) Serpina, his servant, soprano voice
3) Vespone, another servant, silent role

If you guessed #3 Vespone, give yourself a pat on the back and 10 points!

Maybe this will lead to me appearing in a future production of Strauss' Die Fledermaus as the jailer Frosch in Act Three!!!

Boo!

Enjoy a special treat this Halloween - 8 hours of spooky stories from the PRX archive available for a limited time as a continuous stream of mp3s in a pop-up flash player. Grab a bowl of popcorn and turn off the lights; you may want to grab a wooden stake and a couple of silver bullets.
The player will remain up until noon on Wednesday November 1st .

Click here for a fright:

From Friday

Here's Paul Z playing "Blackbird" at Eckel's Drug Store in Mechanicsburg.

Open House

at the PA Academy of Music, last Tuesday evening. It's a great resource for the midstate! Don't hesitate to contact them if you have a young one that is interested in music!
Kim Kelly demonstrating the Bassoon (above)
violinist Michael Jamanis conducting the string orchestra.

Pictures by John Clare

Coming up

Don't miss alot of tunes and alot of fun tomorrow night in Mechanicsburg, PA. Paul Zavinsky and I are playing at Eckel's Drug Store from 8 to 10pm. Have some coffee or ice cream and maybe even do some dancing!
Eckel's is where some scenes from Girl, Interrupted were filmed back in 1999. No word yet if Angelina or Wynona can make it or not.

As for Saturday, there are a lot of things going on in Central PA. I'll be giving a pre-concert talk at Gretna Music before the Boston Brass play. The talk is at 6:30pm and the concert at 7:30pm. You can also sign up and have dinner beforehand!

In Harrisburg that evening as well is the second concert of the season with Concertante. They'll play Beethoven, Bruckner and Mendelssohn. Should be a great show - tell 'em John sent you!

- - - - - -
In putting the "ewww" in news, have you heard about Rick Soule? Las Vegas readers will no doubt recognize the name, and flautists may as well. So sad.

Cinema Pair-o-dice-o

I saw The Illusionist this weekend - quite awesome - it was in a little arts theater in Philly, very charming and quite comfortable, and not a bad walk from Center City even!
I also recently watched a dvd of Lucky # Slevin and despite the gore, enjoyed the writing and the acting.
So, you think you're a fan of films? Take a look at the poet and obsessive collector Adam's collection online: http://adamsmanymovies.blogspot.com/
He also has a ton of movie posters and soundtracks...

5 Things about the Curtis Symphony Orchestra

And soloist Hilary Hahn, Sunday night at the Kimmel Center:
1. The concert was spectacular with a charming rendition of the Star Spangle Banner - why can't other orchestras bring something this original and thoughtful out, instead of the same old bland version?
2. Overheard at intermission: "Oh I just love this so much more than the Symphony." I knew what they meant (in many ways - but she meant compared to the Philadelphia Orchestra), but I also thought, okay this is a stereotypical program of overture, concerto (with superstar) and symphony - what is so different about that?!
3. *Hilary Hahn was gorgeous in a gold dress and maroon lace.* (Sorry, had to parody the typical classical reviewers and say what she wore!) Seriously, her playing was just like every other performance I've heard her in: perfect. This time, the Curtis Orchestra allowed her lots of freedom and never covered her playing, despite big brass and percussion in the orchestration. From the excitement of her double stops and the brilliance of the high passages, the Britten Concerto made the program well worth the trip to Philly (you could actually get $5 tickets - so I won't say it was well worth the ticket, rather it was a bargain!)
4. Otto Werner Muller kept the pace with the Prokofiev (Symphony #5) and began the second movement almost attaca, maybe a second in between letting the reverberation settle and then onwards! For an eighty-year-old, he kept the students and audience in firm control. I was also reminded how much I adore Prokofiev's writing for the violin, there are passages of this very high harmonies that are similiar to the Romeo & Juliet music in the 3rd movement. The Curtis Orchestra's first violins were excellent.
5. The cynic in me asked what benefits does H.H. signing autographs and selling cds after every performance - in some ways, okay, most ways, it's great...part of me says is this just marketing? I mean does it really impact if people come to a concert? I hope it does - and kudos for her to wait around after performances to do that. Also, how mondo cool for her to play part of an Ysaye sonata (second movement of #2, with a quote of Dies Irae!) as an encore!

Dinner

I so enjoyed eating out, as much as I DO love to cook, this weekend in Philadelphia. I took in everything from philly cheesesteaks to filet mignon. (I know we need some of Copland's Hoedown from Rodeo playing, you know the "Beef, it's what's for dinner!" music playing in the background.)

Five Things about Jennifer Koh's recital

On the first Fresh Ink 2006-2007 concert at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia:
1. There were 5 pieces on the modern program, 2 of them having 5 movements!
2. Delightful talkback or "artist chat" afterwards with the performers and composer Jennifer Higdon. Sweet question from a youngster about how long does Jenny Koh practice (depends but roughly 3 hours a day.)
3. This concert was recorded by WRTI and will hopefully be available for streaming - I'll keep an eye out - if you see something about it, let me know - it deserves another hearing...go see Jennifer in concert and keep an eye out next year for a cd of it!
4. I think Jennifer Higdon's String Poetic is just awesome and was played with great aplomb. I might have had the piano on the short stick for the entire concert, and I might be tempted to rearrange the piece, switching the third and fourth movements so that the contrasts are heard between the lyrical and quick movements. Nonetheless, Higdon writes beautifully for the violin and piano, letting each shine. There is also a great amount of joy, depth and passion to String Poetic - I expect every violinist worth their salt (rosin, hahaha) will be adding it to their repertoire.
5. Koh spoke briefly on stage between pieces and was entirely off the cuff, at least it didn't seem part of a schtick - she made honest music and certainly let her playing speak for itself: top notch!

Sunday update

Quick post from the ING Cafe in Philadelphia...awesome concert last night at the Kimmel Center in their "Fresh Ink" series with violinist Jennifer Koh. The world premiere of Jennifer Higdon's String Poetic was just one of the highlights. Koh is a wonderful artist, and if she plays in your neck of the woods, go hear her. She plays her Strad with grace and taste, and more often than not, it's a modern work. :)
Audiences in Philly still amaze me with their bad manners; needless to say, I have my "SHHHHHHH! Please be quiet" sign in my suitcoat pocket for this evening's concert of the Curtis (or "Girdle" - ask me about it) Orchestra with Hilary Hahn.

Great brunch this morning at Rouge, include dark chocolate ship pancakes, coffee and sage sausage. I was tempted by the open faced scrapple sandwich - maybe another time.

Welcome

Check out a new and informative blog from the musicians of the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra: http://orpheusnyc.blogspot.com/
They're one of my favorite groups and if you get a chance to hear them live, check it out, you won't regret it!