Month: January 2010

Turina surprises and the Trout inspires at SCMS’s Friday concert

Pianist Anna Polonsky. Photo, Shirley Singer.

The Seattle Chamber Music Society, and its stable of talented instrumentalists, continued its winter festival this past Friday.  This year, the winter festival is celebrating the 200th anniversary of Robert Schumann’s birthday. The classical proportioned Second Piano Trio was the Schumann selection on Friday night. On either side of the trio were two pieces — one familiar, the other less so — Franz Schubert’s famous Trout Quintet and Joaquin Turina’s Piano Quartet.

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Seattle Chamber Music Society begins its Winter Festival

By Philippa Kiraly

I’ve never heard a Seattle Chamber Music Society concert more satisfying than this one, perhaps because we don’t have much chamber music on this level in the winter here (with the exception of the UW World Series) nor much in an intimate venue. Thursday’s concert at Nordstrom Recital Hall, the opening of SCMS’ Winter Festival, hit the ear with particular effect.

As pianist Anna Polonsky mentioned to the capacity audience, Nordstrom is where the summer festival relocates to this coming July, and while the charm of the Lakeside School ambience will be gone (anyone going to picnic out among the traffic noises or on the floor of the Nordstrom lobby?), those listening last night were reminded that this is what it will sound like in July as well, and by any standards it was great.

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One from Mozart and one from Mendelssohn

By Gigi Yellen

The CD “Live in the Fiddler’s House,” played in the car as I headed for Benaroya Hall to hear “Reb Itzik” play.

That would be Itzhak Perlman, the wildly famous virtuoso violinist, whose Jan. 28 concert as soloist and conductor was the second in a two-night stand that launched this year’s Seattle Symphony Mainly Mozart Series.

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Happy birthday Mozart! SSO members present a delightful tribute

By Dana Wen

This week marks the 254th anniversary of Mozart’s birth, kicking off commemorative concerts across the globe. Here in Seattle, members of the Seattle Symphony presented a delightful program of the great composer’s chamber music to celebrate the event. The well-attended Tuesday night recital, a day before Mozart’s birthday on January 27, was held in Benaroya Hall’s intimate Nordstrom Recital Hall. It was a pleasant surprise to see the room so full on a cold weeknight. The enthusiasm of the crowd served as a testament to the success of the Seattle Symphony’s small chamber music series. This Mozart tribute proved to be no exception to this rule. The four works on the program did an excellent job of showcasing the symphony’s talent while representing various sides of Mozart’s personality.

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A Toast to Mozart

Celebrating Mozart on his birthday Wednesday in a Town Hall concert, pianist Byron Schenkman and several colleagues enlivened their performances with raffle drawings for an audience already enjoying wine and chocolates. Downstairs at Town Hall was jammed with people skipping the last part of the State of the Union speech to be there and the atmosphere was cheerfully festive.

The performances, of Mozart works mostly from the composer’s late teens and very early twenties, were of generally high level as one would expect from anything Schenkman does, but within that the results were uneven.

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45th Parallel debuts in Portland

By Lorin Wilkerson

Saturday night, January 16th, marked the inaugural concert of a new Portland chamber music group that goes by the name of 45th Parallel.  Its goal is to make a home for chamber music by talented local musicians, to “bring Portland’s rich chamber music culture out of the living room and onto the stage.”  Last night’s concert at the Old Church was rich indeed, featuring a sort of A-list of some of Portland’s finest string players, in this case all members of the Oregon Symphony (and other groups).  The evening featured three works, by de Bériot, Verdi and Tchaikovsky, all of which works were influenced by opera or ballet.

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Quarter notes

The Everett Symphony canceled the remainder of its season for budget reasons. This is bad for a number of reasons, but I am especially disappointed that we won’t be able to hear Mara Gearman play the Walton Viola Concerto now.

And, it now appears, a federal mediator is helping SSO management and musicians hammer out a new contract.  Can they reach a deal before next season is unveiled early next month?

Violin is featured in Bellevue Phil and Seattle Baroque concerts

Ingrid Matthews

You could say the violin is the foundation of classical music.  There are more violins in the modern symphony orchestra than any other instrument.  String quartets use two of them.  Piano trios depend on the instrument’s singing qualities to balance out the piano.  Concerti for the instrument are some of the most famous pieces in the entire classical cannon.  Soloists – from Isaac Stern to Paganini – have used the instrument to dazzle crowds and gather fame.  While much of the chatter among classical music fans has focused on the Seattle Symphony this month, two concerts – both giving prominence to the violin – deserved more attention than they received.

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