By R.M. Campbell
The Puget Sound region has an abundance of choral groups, from very small ensembles to large masses of singers. While they vary in quality, most are more than respectable and some first-class. They cover the repertory in astonishing breadth and depth.
Continue reading Cappella Romana devotes an evening to Serbian Orthodox music
Sony’s new release of Mendelssohn’s piano trios is the first time the trio of Yo Yo Ma, Emanuel Ax, and Itzhak Perlman have recorded together. Courtesy of Sony, TGN is able to give away a brand new copy of this CD to one of its readers.
There are two ways you can win this new CD.
Continue reading Win the new Mendelssohn CD from Ma, Ax, and Perlman
It isn’t surprising Erwin Stein picked Mahler’s Fourth Symphony to reduce for chamber ensemble for performance in Schoenberg’s Society of Private Musical Performance. The symphony is Mahler’s smallest in scope even if the impetus is other-worldly. As with all of Mahler’s symphonies, the composer sought to encompass themes larger than himself even if they are somewhat obscured. On the one hand, there are moments of childlike innocence suggesting naive love. This is the approach embraced by the Northwest Sinfonietta’s music director Christoph Chagnard. An alternative view, is that the symphony reveals the infinite pleasures of heaven, exemplified by the fourth movement — a setting of “the Heavenly Life” for soprano from the Youth’s Magic Horn.
Continue reading Chamber sized Mahler is part of “Romancing the Muse”
R.M. Campbell
There weren’t many people at Bernaroya Hall Thursday night (alas): The music deserved better.
The two highlights were Stefan Jackiw in Barber’s Violin Concerto and Arnold Schoenberg’s orchestral transcription of Brahms’ G Minor Piano Quartet.
Continue reading Barber and Brahms are the program this weekend at Benaroya
By R. M. Campbell
Garrick Ohlsson’s first of two concerts devoted solely to Chopin — to celebrate the 200th anniversary of his birth and Olhsson’s 40th anniversary of winning the prestigious Chopin competition in Warsaw — was a brilliant affair, what one has come to expect from this pianist in his long and distinguished career. His second concert Tuesday night at Meany Hall was even more remarkable.
Continue reading Ohlsson plays the second of his two all-Chopin concerts
By Peter A. Klein
Everyone in Seattle who loves classical music must have breathed a collective sigh of relief when the Seattle Symphony musicians and management announced they had come to a tentative contract agreement. I know I did.
During the troubled negotiations, I was reminded of an old science fiction story called “The Tunesmith,” by the late Lloyd Biggle, Jr. Science fiction is often a good predictor of what is to come, and this particular story serves as a cautionary tale for classical music.
Busoni, Schumann and Strauss was the line-up of composers on this week’s SSO subscription concert. Ferruccio Busoni’s Turandot Suite opened the program followed by Richard Strauss’ youthful Violin Concerto. James Ehnes was the guest soloist. The night closed with Robert Schumann’s 3rd Symphony “Rhenish.” For most of the audience, the pieces chosen — with the exception of Schumann’s symphony — were probably unfamiliar. While unfamiliarity can yield surprises and new discoveries, this wasn’t the case with the recent batch of SSO concerts.
By R.M. Campbell
Baroque Northwest is one of those small ensembles in Seattle that lives a little below the public radar but sustains itself with evocative programs, good music-making and a faithful audience.
By Lorin Wilkerson
In a concert entitled ‘The Ancestors of the Guitar,” Portland lutenist/guitarist Hideki Yamaya presented an insightful look into three early instruments on Friday night, January 29th at the Little Church in NE Portland. Despite a delayed start as the artist waited for latecomers (there was a mistake in The Oregonian directing listeners to the Old Church downtown), the small hall was nearly full as Yamaya played several sets, first on the vihuela, then on a Renaissance lute, and finally a Baroque guitar. Throughout the performance Yamaya put the intimate setting to good use, taking time to set the works in their historical and social contexts, frequently interpolating vignettes on the evolution of the guitar and other plucked string instruments.
By R.M. Campbell
Pacific Northwest Ballet waited nearly three decades before mounting “Sleeping Beauty.” “Nutcracker,” “Swan Lake,” “Coppelia,” A Midsummer Night’s Dream” all preceded it. There was wisdom in waiting. If “Swan Lake,” in 1981, was a stretch for the company, “Sleeping Beauty” would have been a disaster. There is no challenge like this monumental ballet with its many roles scattered over three hours. Depth and breadth are mandatory.
Gathering Note 