Five Things about Orchestra of St. Luke's

I heard the Orchestra of St. Luke's with Roberto Abbado and violinist Joshua Bell Sunday afternoon at Carnegie Hall.

1. The program began with a new reworking of Joan Tower's String Quartet, In Memory for string orchestra. It certainly plays on the strengths of St. Luke's, with plenty of delicate passages along with powerful lines, all played musically in this new setting. If history repeats itself, Joan will win the Pulitzer Prize for Music with it, ala John Corigliano's Second Symphony/String Quartet. In Memory is certainly deserving!

2. Josh Bell then played a rousing Barber Violin Concerto. It was just right, not too fast, not too slow, nice balances and beautifully phrased.

3. After intermission came the world premiere of Jay Greenberg's Violin Concerto. It's a one movement work that has brilliant orchestra colors. In fact, the orchestral part is far more engaging than the violin part. Greenberg, a fifteen year old composer, has made great levels of improvement from his Fifth Symphony and String Quintet. The Violin Concerto is much more of an individual voice and has much promise, I've heard rumors of more orchestral and concerti commissions - hear hear!

4. The program finished on a high note, Haydn's Symphony #93. This "London" Symphony also showed off the OSL to it's musical strengths: long, well crafted phrases, spot on ensemble and good humor (kudos to the bassoons and timpani!) Hearing Haydn with the Orchestra of St. Luke's is a hallmark of Western Civilization. In a word, divine.

5. I must point out what a joy Roberto Abbado is on the podium. He gives his all for the music. And it was evident in every piece, how much he loved the music, and the result was wonderful. As the World Series names an MVP, Sunday afternoon would have surely named Abbado for OSL.

OSL will be back @ Carnegie with Helene Grimaud with music by Beethoven and Ades - don't miss it!

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]

Five Things about Joshua Bell

I heard the phenomenal violinist Joshua Bell on tour last night in Philadelphia at the Kimmel Center.
1. Josh was joined by pianist Jeremy Denk who was a wonderful match to collaborate with this program. The two were at ease with each other and have similar styles, both musically and technically.
2. The first half consisted of two romantic sonatas - close enough to be comparable and different enough to be contrasting. Both Schumann's first and Beethoven's last sonatas were played with passion and panache, not as if they were written two hundred years ago, but as if the ink was still fresh.
3. The ink was still fresh on Edgar Meyer's Concert Piece, but you wouldn't have guessed it from the stellar performance and interpretation - you'd guess it was an old friend that Bell and Denk could pull out anytime and just play, like the rest of the program which was "tba".
The inner movements of Meyer's piece were especially well crafted and exciting - looking forward to hearing this recorded soon. I also mentioned to a friend that I thought the Meyer stood up well against the Schumann and Beethoven. She mentioned another hearing would be awesome.
4. Bell and Denk then charmed the audience with Rachmaninoff's Vocalise, Ponce's Estrellita, and Sarasate's Introduction and Taratella. After a standing ovation, they came back for an encore - playing Tchaikovsky's None but the Weary Heart.
5. I've heard Josh many times live, and usually find something I adore about his playing. This performance it was his vibrato that captivated me. It was varied, sometimes used sparingly - I felt I had a lesson, from a narrow and quick arm vibrato to a more unique wrist motion, his sound is stellar.

Josh is touring with this recital and soon with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields. Check his website for more information, he's in great form.
You can also hear an interview I did with Bell before the tour here.