I heard the Vox Humana concert of SOLI Chamber Ensemble Tuesday night in San Antonio at Trinity University's Ruth Taylor Recital Hall.
1. The ensemble and guest performer Allison Garza gave a pre-concert talk with lots of depth, humor and musical examples. Carolyn True led the discussion with grace and blue collar charm never talking over anyone's head but made brilliant points.
2. Augusta Read Thomas' Toft Serenade was the newest work on the program (2006) and started the concert, featuring Ertan Torgul and True. Its in two sections, and is a good opener. Playful and thorny at times, it allows both parts to take on lines and shine.
3. Next, SOLI continued their Elliott Carter 100th Birthday tribute with Esprit Rude/Espirt Doux for flute and clarinet. Garza was joined by Stephanie Key in a very charming and well crafted duo written for Boulez' 75th birthday. Again, equal parts in both lyric and melodic lines were performed extremely well.
4. Michael Torke's Telephone Book was the fluff for the evening - the three movements (yellow, blue and white pages) allowed all the performers (SOLI + Garza) to collaborate. It is toe tapping and easy on the ears (except a slight ensemble flub in the finale which noone really noticed) - a perfect light work to end the first half. During intermission, whale songs on a video played while they set up for the 2nd half - I hope they can do that again Thursday - and look into more multimedia addons to both performances and their website!
5. The entire second half was George Crumb's 1971 masterpiece Vox Balaenae (Voice of the Whale), the oldest piece on the program, yet still spoke as if it were brand new! It's the third time I've had the chance to hear it live, although I love recordings, it is an ideal piece to experience live. And believe me, the third time is a charm with Garza, True and David Mollenauer. Blue lighting adorned the dark stage, they were all in black with black masks, and the players embraced the score and all the extended techniques that Crumb requires. They did it with panache, no fear and completely held the audience in their hands. I go to too many concerts where there are standing ovations, but I didn't hesitate on bit to be on my feet for this landmark concert. If you go to one concert this season, go hear SOLI's Vox Humana!
The program is presented again at Blue Star Thursday night 7:30pm with another pre-talk with the ensemble at 7pm. Hear an interview with members of the group AND also George Crumb at the TPR website here and another interview with Allison Garza Thursday afternoon at 2pm on Classical Spotlight.
Showing posts with label Elliott Carter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Elliott Carter. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Friday, December 12, 2008
Monday, December 08, 2008
Carter and Carols
Listen this week on KPAC and KTXI for great Christmas carols, sounds of the season, and a celebration of Elliott Carter, who turns 100 years old this Thursday. There is a countdown clock on the right hand side of this blog, and you can copy it if you liek to share with your friends!
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Monday night a played a recital in Madison, WI and started with an improv for Elliott Carter's 100th birthday next month.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Latest Carter
It was a stellar night in NYC with the world premiere of Elliott Carter's Clarinet Quintet with Charles Neidich and the Juilliard Quartet.Each member also played a solo work by the 99 year old composer, with MVP awards to Ronald Copes and Samuel Rhoads who especially shone in their spotlight moments.
After intermission, Carter joined the players on stage with Juilliard Dean and Provost Ara Guzelimian for a discussion of the new quintet - and you would have never believed Carter was in his 90s, with wit, humor, expression and gestures of a 50 year old, but the wisdom only he could convey.
My favorite quote from Carter comes from mentioning a recurring effect throughout the 20 minute work, a snap pizzicato. "The pizzicato you hear in the cello and then throughout the work is unrelated to the intervals and notes in this quintet - I put it in there like a splash of color in a painting."It was a delight to hear the work twice in the evening.
Dr. Dick's entry is here on his blog. Read about hearing all five String Quartets last January here and about "Ten for Carter" here.
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Five Things about Ten for Carter
Network for New Music presented Ten for Carter Sunday afternoon in Philadelphia.1. Composers were commissioned for piano works ni honor of Elliott Carter's upcoming 100th birthday in December 2008. They included Milton Babbitt, Uri Caine, Jeffery Cotton, Alvin Curran, Jennifer Higdon, Jeffrey Mumford, Augusta Read Thomas, Maurice Wright, Ellen Taaffe Zwilich and Jeremy Gill. Babbitt's was not completed and instead pianist Marilyn Nonken included Carter's Retrouvailles from 2000.
2. Most striking was Bells by Augusta Read Thomas, played by pianist Steven Gosling and inside the piano by Marilyn Nonken. The work was colorful and inventive, truly capturing the spirit of Carter.
3. Mumford's a celebration of Elliott was brilliant, with stellar and facile playing from Gosling.
4. Higdon's Mr. Carter's Notes and Zwilich's A Poem for Elliott were entertaining and fitting, with care and panache from Nonken's musical playing.
5. Thomas Kraines was passionate in his reading of Carter's Figment #2, and was joined by other members of Network for Con Leggerezza Pensosa (from 1990 - the oldest work on the program!) and played it not once, but twice, before intermission and at the end of the program.Afterwards, a reception followed with a q&a with the pianists and composers. The concert was also played Friday night in NYC. Hear an interview with Jeremy Gill here about his Eliot Fragments.
Friday, February 01, 2008
Five Things about Elliott Carter String Quartets
I heard Carter's Five String Quartets Wednesday night in New York City.
1. I was very excited to hear all five quartets on one program, although I wondered how it would be to focus on one genre by one composer...I have twice heard all the Bartoks on a program - once with the Pro Arte Quartet that included a dinner and talk in between two concerts, and once with the Colorado Quartet back to back on a Saturday night/Sunday afternoon; so I was certainly open to hearing a composer's work on a single program. (Funny, the Carter Quartets remind me of how much the music can evolve from Bartok's time, and yet keep a hold in tradition.) Turns out, I was delighted by the program, with two well placed intermissions, that allowed discussion, and a chance to get water, bathroom, or an autograph (as you can see below.)
2. The Pacifica Quartet has several delightful recordings, which I knew, including their just released Carter Quartets #1 and #5, but this was my first chance to hear them live. It was magnificent. They are a group who bring new breath and humanity to Carter's masterpieces. While it is a cliche that they make it look easy, they were truly at ease with each other, the audience and the music.
3. Our seats (Dick Strawser my friend and coworker joined me) were on the mezzanine, center, which turns out was about five rows from where Elliott Carter was sitting. He came in while we were talking in the lobby with another friend, Dan Guss (pictured right with Dick in the lobby), who we had met for dinner at Ollie's just before the concert. As we had guessed Maestro Carter who be wisked in from backstage into the hall perhaps moments before the concert, it turns out, he arrived about 30 minutes before the show would start and was waiting as their tickets were delievered and he sat just feet from where we were conversing. A few folks noticed and talked to him before they went in, but we thought we'd honor his privacy and let him be.
4. During the first intermission, several wellwishers, friends and fans met Elliott, although we had heard beforehand from someone with the hall management that Carter would not be available to sign autographs afterwards, but that the quartet would after the concert (and they did!) The 2nd and 3rd quartets seemed to fly by and the 2nd intermission was upon us. I decided I would go down and introduce myself - I have been corresponding with Mr. Carter's assistant for over a year now, trying to get an interview for Composing Thoughts.
So, I may have been the first down, and asked for an autograph, and said I hoped he would consider being on my radio show, and mentioned my name and show. Virgil was pleased to meet me and I believe (after the the completion of his new Flute Concerto) we'll be able to find a good time to sit down and talk. It was sweet to meet Elliott, who seemed concerned the audience was not going to stay for the 4th and 5th quartets. They did stay - it was just another break and a chance to stretch legs...
5. The concert was well received, with 3 or 4 curtain calls with a standing ovation for the quartet, the music and the composer. It was one of the events of my lifetime, and will be able to say I heard the quartets with the composer that night in January 2008. Not something easily forgotten and I believe a historic event, like being able to say you were at the Rite of Spring premiere or Ballet Mechanique.
Read Dr. Dick's account of the evening here.
1. I was very excited to hear all five quartets on one program, although I wondered how it would be to focus on one genre by one composer...I have twice heard all the Bartoks on a program - once with the Pro Arte Quartet that included a dinner and talk in between two concerts, and once with the Colorado Quartet back to back on a Saturday night/Sunday afternoon; so I was certainly open to hearing a composer's work on a single program. (Funny, the Carter Quartets remind me of how much the music can evolve from Bartok's time, and yet keep a hold in tradition.) Turns out, I was delighted by the program, with two well placed intermissions, that allowed discussion, and a chance to get water, bathroom, or an autograph (as you can see below.)2. The Pacifica Quartet has several delightful recordings, which I knew, including their just released Carter Quartets #1 and #5, but this was my first chance to hear them live. It was magnificent. They are a group who bring new breath and humanity to Carter's masterpieces. While it is a cliche that they make it look easy, they were truly at ease with each other, the audience and the music.
3. Our seats (Dick Strawser my friend and coworker joined me) were on the mezzanine, center, which turns out was about five rows from where Elliott Carter was sitting. He came in while we were talking in the lobby with another friend, Dan Guss (pictured right with Dick in the lobby), who we had met for dinner at Ollie's just before the concert. As we had guessed Maestro Carter who be wisked in from backstage into the hall perhaps moments before the concert, it turns out, he arrived about 30 minutes before the show would start and was waiting as their tickets were delievered and he sat just feet from where we were conversing. A few folks noticed and talked to him before they went in, but we thought we'd honor his privacy and let him be.4. During the first intermission, several wellwishers, friends and fans met Elliott, although we had heard beforehand from someone with the hall management that Carter would not be available to sign autographs afterwards, but that the quartet would after the concert (and they did!) The 2nd and 3rd quartets seemed to fly by and the 2nd intermission was upon us. I decided I would go down and introduce myself - I have been corresponding with Mr. Carter's assistant for over a year now, trying to get an interview for Composing Thoughts.
So, I may have been the first down, and asked for an autograph, and said I hoped he would consider being on my radio show, and mentioned my name and show. Virgil was pleased to meet me and I believe (after the the completion of his new Flute Concerto) we'll be able to find a good time to sit down and talk. It was sweet to meet Elliott, who seemed concerned the audience was not going to stay for the 4th and 5th quartets. They did stay - it was just another break and a chance to stretch legs...5. The concert was well received, with 3 or 4 curtain calls with a standing ovation for the quartet, the music and the composer. It was one of the events of my lifetime, and will be able to say I heard the quartets with the composer that night in January 2008. Not something easily forgotten and I believe a historic event, like being able to say you were at the Rite of Spring premiere or Ballet Mechanique.
Read Dr. Dick's account of the evening here.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Get Carter
What a great discussion going on over at Classical Notes! There is also another posting at New Music Box.
This is my response to Don Lee's post:
Don and his non-broadcasting friend bring up an interesting point, that a "concert performance engaged him in a way that a radio broadcast of the piece would not have done."
There are several questions to about why this was more engaging...is it the visual side to music making or seeing the performer? Is it sitting in a wonderful hall with fine acoustics? Is it knowing you're one of many audience members enjoying the music?
Also, how often do you "put down the op-ed pages, turn up the radio and just listen?" with any radio broadcast: music or news?
Is radio meant to be background or foreground? Is it art or business?
Let's take a piece from the early 20th Century not as challenging as the Messiaen or Carter, Poulenc's Concerto for Two Pianos as an example. If you listen to it on the radio or from your cd/ipod/musical device, you'll hear the notes played by performers X & Y with Z orchestra. Yet you won't see the interaction of the brilliant orchestration of Poulenc when pianist X plays with the violins on the right side of the stage and pianist Y play with the cellos on the left side of the stage. It really is stunning to see, besides hearing it. So should you only enjoy the Poulenc in a live performance and not a recording? You may not be as engaged by it.
Violinist Joshua Bell is currently on tour with a recital, and soon to be playing on tour with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. He is a performer who communicates brilliantly on his recordings, yet seeing him play live is another level. His recital partner on the current tour, Jeremy Denk is someone who is constantly communicating with Bell on stage. Yet both shouldn't be missed on recording or the radio, or in the hall.
I truly believe if radio stations played Carter as much as they play Stamitz, Mozart and Vivaldi that it would not be the case that a 14 minute piano & orchestra work by Elliott would be more engaging in the concert hall, or while reading the business ads of the Star Tribune. Engaging music is engaging music.
We should always ask ourselves why. Why is live music engaging on Performance Today? Why is the programming engaging from the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra? Why is a break engaing on Classical 24? Why interview a composer for Composing Thoughts? If it is not engaging, why isn't it? Perhaps it is not the music. I'll take Carter anyday over Vivaldi.
[pictured above right, Poulenc; pictured above left, Carter]
This is my response to Don Lee's post:
Don and his non-broadcasting friend bring up an interesting point, that a "concert performance engaged him in a way that a radio broadcast of the piece would not have done."
There are several questions to about why this was more engaging...is it the visual side to music making or seeing the performer? Is it sitting in a wonderful hall with fine acoustics? Is it knowing you're one of many audience members enjoying the music?
Also, how often do you "put down the op-ed pages, turn up the radio and just listen?" with any radio broadcast: music or news?
Is radio meant to be background or foreground? Is it art or business?
Let's take a piece from the early 20th Century not as challenging as the Messiaen or Carter, Poulenc's Concerto for Two Pianos as an example. If you listen to it on the radio or from your cd/ipod/musical device, you'll hear the notes played by performers X & Y with Z orchestra. Yet you won't see the interaction of the brilliant orchestration of Poulenc when pianist X plays with the violins on the right side of the stage and pianist Y play with the cellos on the left side of the stage. It really is stunning to see, besides hearing it. So should you only enjoy the Poulenc in a live performance and not a recording? You may not be as engaged by it.
Violinist Joshua Bell is currently on tour with a recital, and soon to be playing on tour with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. He is a performer who communicates brilliantly on his recordings, yet seeing him play live is another level. His recital partner on the current tour, Jeremy Denk is someone who is constantly communicating with Bell on stage. Yet both shouldn't be missed on recording or the radio, or in the hall.
I truly believe if radio stations played Carter as much as they play Stamitz, Mozart and Vivaldi that it would not be the case that a 14 minute piano & orchestra work by Elliott would be more engaging in the concert hall, or while reading the business ads of the Star Tribune. Engaging music is engaging music.We should always ask ourselves why. Why is live music engaging on Performance Today? Why is the programming engaging from the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra? Why is a break engaing on Classical 24? Why interview a composer for Composing Thoughts? If it is not engaging, why isn't it? Perhaps it is not the music. I'll take Carter anyday over Vivaldi.
[pictured above right, Poulenc; pictured above left, Carter]
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