(They did the) Mozart Mash

It was a graveyard smash!


A mashup of three different Mozart K 488 recordings, Abbado, Grimaud and Lubin for some fortepiano!

Listen to the mp3 :)

Hélène in Houston

I spoke with piano phenom Hélène Grimaud yesterday afternoon in Houston. We talked about her new Bach album, Brahms and colors in music.

Listen to our conversation: mp3 file

(Photo by Ernie Villareal)

Don't foget our converation at Carnegie Hall, or over the phone in Las Vegas.

Two Bs

I caught the second of Adele Anthony's Bach Sonatas and Partitas last night at Gretna Music in Elizabethtown. It was delightful with the G minor Sonata, B minor Partita and the C major Sonata. Anthony was much more in control than her November performance, and showed talent and musicality beyond her years. Especially dazzling were her tempos in the 1st Partita.
Also, major highlights for me were the fugues in both sonatas, both well thought out and melodic lines clearly and cleanly presented.
I had fun giving the preconcert talk, and laid out the scores for the audience to see across 12 stands at the back of the room - it was nice to see people take a look before, at intermission and after the performance.

Today, I heard the Orchestra of St. Luke's in music by Thomas Ades and Beethoven, with soloist Helene Grimaud and conductor Xian Zhang. It was also a breathtaking concert - with a perfect rendition of Beethoven's Emperor Concerto. Grimaud performs with depth and conviction (and despite a cellphone ring in one of the most sensitive portions of the first movement) with incredible dynamics. I melted with the precision of the last movement, which was not only clean but touching. My friend and coworker Cary who came along said he could barely sit still hearing such awesome playing.
The Ades was disappointing, a tribute to Couperin that was unmoving and quite static. Beethoven's 4th Symphony was put through its paces and showed lots of flair and excitement. Again, a very precise and uptempo take on a true classic.

Another highlight was meeting up with friend and composer Steve Stucky for lunch at a good Thai restaurant beforehand. aLater, Cary and I caught a quick cup of coffee and tiramisu after the concert and had an easy trip home, hearing part of Superbowl XLII on am radio.

A super Sunday indeed.

History

Thanks for visiting! There have been visitors lately from Kansas City (family in Independence- hi there!), Reno (friends - hello!), Las Vegas (more friends - hey hey!), and all over the world, including Spain, Netherlands, UK, and more. Popular still are my Christmas quiz, Chris Thile review, and Janine Jansen interview. I can also recommend my Helene Grimaud interview here.

Here's something very interesting, before Facebook was a social network, the website url was a business, About Face. Here though is their first college site. Wild and wacky. Thank you Wayback Machine!