Silly Link

A friend sent me this link, and I had to share also:
What Alban Berg piece are you?

In a related link, recently the BBC featured all of the music of Anton Webern, another of the Second Viennese School.

PS- Turns out "I am Berg's final and perhaps greatest masterpiece, his opera "Lulu", unfinished at his death at 50 from an insect bite. I am dirty, sexual, amoral and free to do as I please. I carry several diseases."

New Bio

Needed a bio for an upcoming talk at the Frederickson Library (two talks on Russian Music - should be a blast!) So I decided to update it, and what the hay, post it here.

John Clare is a classical music enthusiast. A broadcaster for National Public Radio, Voice of America, the Canadian Broadcast Corporation and stations in Kansas, Nevada, California and Pennsylvania, programs and interviews by John have been heard around the world. In 2004 Mr. Clare received the Electronic Media Award for Best Radio Show in Las Vegas, and the same evening, the award for Best OnAir Talent. This year, John is a finalist for Best Radio Show and for Radio Manager of the Year.
He has played the violin for twenty seven years, from New York to Nevada, including performances with tenors Luciano Pavarotti and Andrea Bocelli. He has also been a member of the Nevada Chamber Symphony, Southern Nevada Musical Arts Society, Glen Willow Symphony Orchestra, Shreveport Symphony, Abilene Philharmonic and Wichita Symphony Orchestra. An avid chamber music lover, John founded the Las Vegas Chamber Music Society in 2004.
John is a Polish Music Scholar and also a webmaster for musicians including ClassicallyHip.com, HalWeller.com, WalterMays.com and the Las Vegas Chamber Music Society website (lvcms.org).
When he is not smoking a cigar, watching hockey or women's tennis, drinking bordeaux or aged cognac, John loves to travel or catch a concert.

Bar lines

Lovely concert last night with the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra. Wonderful audience reaction for Chris Theofanidis' Rainbow Body, and the composer was present. The orchestra played it well and also shone in the Symphonie Fantastique by Hector Berlioz. In between pianist Stewart Goodyear played a charming Gershwin Concerto in F. The star of the evening was no doubt Stuart Malina, the energetic conductor who was not flashy but delivered a nice program. Kudos!
Afterwards I opted to not drink with the orchestra, but went back to the place I went Friday after the Concertante concert...and ran into some coworkers - a great time! I think Vegas changed me a bit with bar scenes...perhaps confidence and a healthy happy life take part in that too, but I'm certainly looking forward to hanging out more, and if the flirting/smiles/dancing stays the same, who knows, I may not even have as much time to blog!
More to report in the future, I'm sure.

Spot on

I saw Concertante last evening at the Whitaker Center in Harrisburg.
It was certainly one of the great concerts I've heard.

Lou Harrison's String Trio kicked things off, a short work from the 60s, and while it was interesting, it was too short (which I shared in the discussion afterwards they had with the audience.)
Next was Frank Bridge's String Sextet. I hadn't heard this piece, and was glad I was introduced to it. A stellar performance of a well crafted and charming work. I need to explore more Bridge.
After intermission, Brahms' Opus 18, the First String Sextet, made the night perfect. I am a sucker for the 2nd movement, dark and yet brilliant variations, extremely well played.
I probably could have heard the scherzo as an encore instead of the concert "discussion" afterwards. Or perhaps talk in between works (the evening started with Rachel Shapiro talking on and on about the Harrison, it could have been much more focused...as the discussion afterwards.) Maybe that is part of the broadcaster in me, get to the point and make it compelling.
Another point of focus should be marketing. The attendance with maybe 50 folks in the theater, especially for the high quality of music making, is sad.
Don't get me wrong, Concertante made some of the best music I know, with stellar interpretations, fabulous phrasing, and the right amount of excitement.
I'll be at their other performances here in Harrisburg, and tell friends in NYC to catch them if they can!

Bloggin'

I adore NewMusicBox. These folks do great stuff:
http://www.newmusicbox.org/chatter.nmbx
In fact, I oftern try to add something to the discussion. To wit:
Frank-
You raise a delightful topic (as per usual). Not to overly simply things, to me it is "does the end justify the means?" The basic question arises, though, is the thought of being revolutionary the genius or when it is revised, the end product make the piece revolutionary? And how about the compositional journey that the composer comes to to get there. Verklarte Nacht is still a masterpiece even though later Schoenberg wrote his Piano Pieces, Opus 11 - and if he would have revised either, would that change them in your eyes?
Then there are all the ancedotes about Brahms changing a note here and there, very slowly, and it is well crafted. Does the end (of The Rite of Spring) justify the means? By the way, I think we should start planning now for the 100th anniversary of the Rite, with an "original instruments" performance - authentic with a crowd yelling and riot, recorded digitally!!!
Anyway, back to the topic, if a composer "admits" to the later revision, doesn't the cloud of revolution disapate?
I've had an interesting conversation with Alvin Singleton about composers basically working on a single piece their entire career, always trying to find "that" solution...

I finally met Frank Oteri this last February at a radio conference...and hope to knock around ideas again as I make my way to Manhattan much more frequently.

PS-Be sure and look at their "Ask the internet" discussion, I haven't laughed so hard at a graphic in years!

Virtuoso Violin

I recently heard a recording of a violinist playing a concerto. And I have to say I wasn't impressed. It was out of tune and sounded like a bad case of nerves. We all have bad days, and I know, ye who casts the first stone. But it just wasn't that good. The recording quality was alright, it wasn't the mic placement, and I have to say the orchestra sounded alright. I have to say all of my teachers wouldn't have accepted this level of playing...and again, I'm not saying that I am at a higher level. But then again, I don't claim to be god's gift to violin either (ignore the great eskimo violinist tag at the title of this blog!) ;)
I will continue to go and hear this violinist. But I won't be running to the concerts, as I might for say, Gil Shaham or Hilary Hahn (who I think are the world greatest living violinists!)

Anyway, it made me go back to the origins of violin virtuosi - Nicolo Paganini.
Every era has great violinists, and there are many ways to figure out and decide who is the best. Of course, there is no right answer. But there are plenty of wrong ones! See folks like the former concertmaster of the Seattle Symphony - they have plenty of opinions of who is suitable and who is not. So I encourage you to look into the great violinist of his time, and probably all time!
Paganini Website (http://www.paganini.com/nicolo/nicindex.htm)

Quote-Unquote

"Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, a charm to sadness, gaiety and life to everything. It is the essence of order and lends to all that is good and just and beautiful." -- Plato

Useful Links

I check these daily for classical music news:
http://www.artsjournal.com/music/
http://www.andante.com/article/articleList.cfm?type=1
http://www.gramophone.co.uk/newsListTemplate.asp?newssectionID=1
http://www.newmusicbox.org/index.nmbx

For humor:
http://www.comics.com/comics/getfuzzy/index.html
http://www.pvponline.com/
http://www.dilbert.com/

The list

Folks I'd like to interview (for radio, my website, etc):
[in no particular order)

Anne-Sophie Mutter
Rachael Ray
Carmen Elektra
Jennifer Garner
Michael Chabon
Oscar Goodman
Peter Maxwell Davies
Ricardo Muti
Rachel Podger
Christoph Eschenbach
Dick Wolf
James Levine
Itzahk Perlman
Janine Jansen
Brett Hull
Joe Sakic
Patrick Roy
Matt Groening

Those are off the top of my head, I'm sure there are more. And who knows, maybe one day I will get to meet them/interview them.

Concerts

No doubt, I'm a classical music fan. And when it is live, I really think it's at its best. Since seeing Itzahk Perlman at an early age and picking up the violin, I'm been a fan of live classical music, even before being a member of AFM. (Last year I got to tell Perlman's daughter that he was responsible for my playing/love of music. A sweet girl, but she's no Itzahk on the piano. And I did give her some slack for 1.playing Chopin's 2nd Concerto - fluff! and 2. for being rather pregnant!) While I've heard Itzahk live since, I haven't interviewed him yet - one on my list (that's another blog! Musicians/personalities to interview...) BTW, have you heard his first album? It was released last year by RCA, it had been held back for a flashier concerto release, but has him in fine shape! These days Perlman is a better conductor I think, but still, what a sound!
Anyway, it shouldn't be a surprise that Friday night and Saturday evening you'll find me at the Whitaker Center and at the Forum hearing Concertante and the Harrisburg Symphony Orchestra, enjoying live classical music.

So why live music? I can hear all the works that these groups are doing at home, on my stereo. Why go out?

Well, first of all, it's supporting the groups. While ticket sales aren't always the bottom line, it doesn't hurt.
Moral support. A good thing - who wants to play for empty seats?
The excitement. Why go to a sporting event when you can watch it on tv? Same sorta concept - the environment, seeing others who enjoy the performance... Watching performers can be highly interesting!
The sound. While cd players and various sound systems reproduce music, it's not the exact same thing - really! Reproduced music is not the same EXACT sound as being there. (another topic should be making the sound and hearing it as the performer!)
The visual aspect of the music performance. By that I mean, how music is conveyed visually - literally. Take Poulenc's Concerto for Two Pianos...the first time I saw it performed (I had heard it with a score several times [another topic - listening to music with a score!] before seeing it live) you get the idea that Poulenc was having fun with the violins playing with the 1st soloist (all on the right side of the stage) and the cellos playing with the 2nd soloist (both on the left hand side of the stage) Visually and musically its stunning. Composers sometimes also include things like this in a score - if trumpets are off stage, or how they should be positioned. (another topic, the visual aspect of scores!)

Well, take my word and advice. See and hear classical music live. And you may even bump into me!

Live life

What a great morning - and productive to boot!
I put together the ArtBeat for this Friday on WITF, it's a preview for the HSO's concert this weekend. Stuart Malina is a real gem and I'm looking forward to hearing the orchestra.

Just before completing that, I interviewed my friend Ernesto Tamayo - who is performing in Lancaster (pronounced LINK-kister around here!) on Friday, September 30th. More on that later!

Been looking more into concerts I want to attend in Philly and NYC. Invited coworkers to join me for Hilary Hahn's concert in November at the Kimmel Center. So many good things to see and hear.

Music, music and more music!

Friday I experienced for the very first time, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich's Violin Concerto. It's from 1998 and I'm sorry I haven't heard it before! I'll definitely be getting a score - the new recording with Pamela Frank on Naxos is adorable. It is one of the real gems of recent violin concerti, and get this, it's based on Bach's Chacconne! It's a piece I won't be forgetting anytime soon.

Yesterday I made it to the St. Luke's Lutheran Church in Schaefferstown for the opening of their chamber music series, run by Carl Iba. It was charming and in a delightful setting. The church was founded in 1730 and this church built in 1765! Bach was good, the Rebecca Clarke charming, the Honegger Viola sonata different, and the Mozart Sinfonia Concertante alright. Star of the afternoon was Randy Day, the accompanist, who also I'm told plays violin. I was skeptical about hearing the Mozart with piano accompaniment, but Randy really brought it life and charm.

Today is International Talk like a Pirate Day. Really! I had no clue, until last week, when the WITF staff made a promo and passed along the idea/website about it. So in the 2pm I'll be joined by Polly Tonal, a wisecracking Parrot (his favorite conductor? Andrew Parrott of course! his favorite restaurant? Arrrrrrrbys! his favorite WITF program? Arrrrrrrtbeat!) Silliness will ensue. Or we'll walk the PRANK!
;)

Music and thoughts...a good memory.

I just played a recording of David Golub - a charming pianist playing Rachmaninoff. The cover of the disc, Humoresque, has him in a b&w photo lighting a cigarette ala the old movie.

I met David when he came to play with the Wichita Symphony. I interviewed him on a Friday night for KMUW-FM and afterwards mentioned having a cigar. He had said something about doing taxes and lots of forms...he'd also recently just recorded a Handel opera, and felt tired.

The riverfront had a new hotel and in it, a grand smoking room where I would often go and enjoy a cigar with a tasty tidbit and drink. So I invited him, heck I even had cigars on me, proudly showing off the Padron Anniversarios in my leather case.
David said he would meet me there, but the cigars would be on him.

Well, was I in for a treat. I called another friend, who's family was visiting from Seattle - his Dad smoked cigars too, and joined us.
David Golub brought Cuban cigars, ones he got in Italy, where he lived. We talked and laughed, had a great time, me not worrying about whatever girl I was chasing or job at the time; David relaxing from the aforementioned taxes, performance with the WSO and life. Craig and his dad could say they hung out with the symphony soloist the night before (I think we all went the next night, to tell the truth I can't remember what he played!)


But I was sadden a few years later when David died (perhaps not surprisingly of Lung Cancer.) He was such a joy to talk with and what a musician.
I often think about that night and the fun it was. Especially when I see or hear one of David's recordings.

It's bittersweet, but a good memory.

Blair Bombs, Tindall Dull

Well, finished Mozart in the Jungle by Blair Tindall. It was somewhat entertaining if smutty. Imagine an open book of your sexlife with some name dropping and facts about the music industry added in the most clunky manner imaginable. Blair Tindall writes some good stories but they are interupted with facts. Now mind you, I am interested in the music business and to some degree with sex, but if you're going to mix the two with a book on music, far more finesse is required.
I know, by reading and looking at this blog, who am I to talk?
I'm just sharing that there are very few transitions in the writing, and if hearing about affairs and sexual encounters bother you, this isn't the book for you.
Then again, it's her first book and maybe after more writing she'll improve. But I wasn't impressed - nor do I think it deserved all the press it got. Kudos on that!
*note I did read this quickly - not as fast as Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince - but want to pass it along to some coworkers!



Now I can recommend another musical book, and I really think is some great writing too!

Tony Faber's Stradivari's Genius is not only a bit of history of violin making and of instruments, it's a nice story with facts and assumptions. I'd like to think I'm fairly knowledgable about violins and have to say I learned quite a bit reading this. Again it is a first novel, but it's night and day compared to Tindall's book. We don't hear who Tony slept with (or Stradivari either really!) as Blair wrote in her life story, but there is drama, fact, and charming transitions.

It's kinda like listening to an orchestra - their interpretation of a Brahms Symphony can be elegant, or they can screw up the transitions. It's still good music. Same with Mozart in the Jungle...good story, lousy interpretation. Faber's book is a well played masterpiece, that is a gem for collectors and for anyone.
Mozart in the Jungle is the LaserLight $2 disc you see at outlets - of the book world that is.


So, if you're into musical books, or just looking for something worthwhile to read, I'd go with the fiddle than with the oboe. (If you need both, put on Hilary Hahn's recording of Bach's Concerto in c minor with Allan Vogel!)

Soundtrack of my life or Music you can't get out of your head or...

I listen to a lot of music. It's my job, and it's my passion.
I even compose.
But I thought I'd share two tunes lately that I've been listening to over and over again.
Really!
Maybe it all started when I got into a minimalist kick on Monday, with two pieces by Philip Glass and one by John Adams. But I've been sampling these two tunes for a while now, and find myself drawn to them again and again, literally over and over.
Here's Let it die by Feist.
And the March with Ethel.
What do you think of them?
(They're mp3 files - I ripped them from my discs quickly fairly low grade, no point in any lawsuits!)

A.L. & R.

Art, love and reading. (No, not the town in Pennsylvania, but the verb, like a book!)
No, I haven't fallen off the bike, smoked too many cigars, or died. Just been busy.
Quickly, I adored the 17th annual Gallery Walk this last Sunday. Fell in love at first sight with a young lady, now if I can just meet her. I feel like Charlie Brown with the "little redhead girl." More on both of these later.
AND I'm reading Blair Tindall's new "Mozart in the Jungle." And trying to do so and pass it along to coworkers.
So I'll do some more writing as I can, but wanted to post something, because there is something to post! but just not in great length at the moment.
:)

Weekend

Been a lovely weekend around here. About to get ready for the 17th Annual ArtsWalk in downtown Harrisburg, should be sweet. Anxious to see local artists and galleries.
Got my digital cable & internet yesterday. Yowser! Nice to have a speedy connection at home. Even did some work, downloading 252 tracks (about 13 classical cds) of new releases from Universal classics. I did that in about an hour, whereas the previous attempt to download a single 4 minute track of Magdalena Kozena took 45 minutes alone.
Updated Walter Mays' website and bookmarked several sites I hadn't been to in awhile. Plan to add some of those to this one, where you can see where I keep up to date with the classical world.
Did some cooking, experimented with chicken garlic and rosemary - nothing too crazy with rice - even some leftovers for tonight or tomorrow.
Listened to Arvo Part's Mirror in Mirror and Ralph Vaughan-Williams' The Lark Ascending - now have to figure out the rest of the program. Perhaps Mozart's Adagio, KV 260 and Andrzej Panufnik's Hommage a Chopin. Rachmaninoff's Vocalise is a real contender too. Oh, and John Corigliano's Red Violin caprices.
More on all of this later!

Some broadcast news

Well, you may remember last year (2004) was a great success at the Electronic Media Awards. It was a delight to win Best Radio Show and Best OnAir Talent in Las Vegas.

*pictured right - a celebratory cigar and both 2004 EMAs!*
Yesterday afternoon I received confirmation that this year (2005) I am a finalist for Best Radio Show and for Radio Manager of the Year.

The awards are October 21st, 2005 and we'll hear the outcome then - not sure that I can make it back to Las Vegas for it - but friends say they'll accept for me!

Cigar smoking

I've tried two new cigars, one last evening and one the night before that. Both were enjoyed with a tumbler of cognac. Wow. Nice, spicy and strong cigars. One brand I knew of and its maker, Rocky Patel, so I bought three of the same size - I'll smoke the other two soon, this time with port, and the other without a drink.

The other brand, Africa, I didn't know much about so I just bought a churchill and robusto, to try. Now I'll go back and get a few more, and also see if they have a torpedo size.
There's such an art of cigars, and a real relaxation to it. I love being on the back porch and just thinking, smoking and relaxing.

Midweek

One of those days that seems to breeze through easily - do you know the feeling?
Arrived to work early. Got my own bills/mail done, then LVCMS work done before I finished my first cup of coffee (and before I would normally BE at work!)
Then proceeded to get cds and playlists organized, discs pulled for shifts. Even time for a little joke for this afternoon's staff meeting.
Also on tap today Franck's Piano Quintet. Now that would have been a killer cool piece on the Gretna program last Sunday (see post below)
Looking forward to this weekend already - Saturday I get my digital cable and internet (woohoo - 90s technology - that fact pointed out by my PD) and Sunday is the Gallery Walk in Harrisburg down, mid and uptown. They're mailing me a map.