Month: June 2010

PNB says multiple goodbyes Sunday

By R.M. Campbell

For some June represents weddings while others it is graduations. At Pacific Northwest Ballet, the month signifies a time to bid farewell to not only dancers but artistic directors and conductors as well. No other arts organization says goodbye quite so well. They are grand affairs with plenty of tears and flowers for everyone. The first in recent history was dedicated to Kent Stowell and Francia Russell, co-artistic directors of the company for more than 25 years. Then came Patricia Barker, one of the greatest talents PNB ever fostered, followed by the beloved Louise Nadeau a couple years later, among others. On Sunday at McCaw Hall, the company bid adieu to Stewart Kershaw, who created the PNB Orchestra 20 years ago, as well as dancers Mara Vinson and Jordan Pacitti.

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Joshua Roman returns to Seattle for world premiere of Dan Visconti’s Americana

Back in the day, when Joshua Roman was the hot-shot, super-talented, ever-modest, principal cellist of the Seattle Symphony the press and younger concertgoers — many who had never set foot in a recital hall before Roman came along — fawned over him. Roman was the closest thing Seattle had to a classical music rebel – the Cameron Carpenter or Nigel Kennedy of the cello. His programs showed musical interests stretching beyond the standard repertory. Steve Reich’s Clapping Music showed up on one recital program as did Roman’s own arrangement of a handful of pop songs. You could count on him to dress down (jeans, casual t-shirt) from to time. We loved it. He loved. And Seattle’s classical music world happily rode the waves Roman created.

I can report (with some personal sadness) that Seattle’s classical music world has returned to the placidity of the pre-Roman days.
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Meet the musicians: Simon Trpceski

Simon Trpceski. Courtesy BSO Musicians

Macedonian pianist Simon Trpceski has got to be one of the busiest musicians I have had the pleasure of talking with. He is in Seattle performing a total of five concerts with the SSO.  Earlier in the week he joined musicians from the SSO in a chamber music concert honoring the 200th birthday of Robert Schumann.  Last night, he started a four concert series (one of the concerts will be played in Olympia tonight) with the orchestra where he plays Saint Saens’ Second Piano Concerto.

People who have followed Trpceski’s career since he made his North American debut in Seattle told me there was plenty to enjoy in his rendition of Schumann’s epic Piano Quintet. Even those people who are cool to Trpceski’s distinctive style told me the Piano Quintet crackled with unexpected velocity, poetry, and interpretive depth.

I ended my chat with a simple question: what piece of music would you like to play that you haven’t? Trpceski launched into a long list of concerti — Chopin, Brahms, Liszt, Stravinsky. With each new concerto, he pointed out concerts where he would have his chance at the piece. Trpceski is also spending time later this year playing chamber music in Chicago with friends. There is also his Carnegie Hall debut. Busy doesn’t begin to describe this pianist’s schedule.

from on .

Trpceski and an all French program take the stage at the SSO this weekend


By R.M. Campbell

Gerard Schwarz has long had an affinity for French music, thus a program like the one that opened Thursday night and continues through Sunday afternoon at Benaroya Hall.

There were many pleasures along the way. Principal among them was the reading of Saint-Saens’ Second Piano Concerto by Simon Trpceski. Now, in full possession of an international career, the Macedonian musician is not a stranger to Seattle. He was introduced to the city via the Seattle Symphony Orchestra when he was still in his 20s (turning 30 last year) and has returned both as a soloist with the orchestra and as a recitalist at Meany Hall. His concerts are typically well-received.
Continue reading Trpceski and an all French program take the stage at the SSO this weekend

Schumann birthday celebration with Simon Trpceski

By Philippa Kiraly

Robert Schumann was born 200 years ago Tuesday, and that night, in this year of 2010, there was a chamber music concert in his honor at Nordstrom Recital Hall with members of the Seattle Symphony and pianist Simon Trpceski (who plays a Saint-Saens concerto at the regular symphony concerts this Thursday, Saturday and Sunday).

It began with several Schumann works we don’t hear so often and ended with the great Piano Quintet in E Flat major. It’s rare to hear public recitals of duets by professional musicians except for those playing piano, violin or cello, not that musicians wouldn’t want to, but because they can’t command a big enough audience to make it financially worth while for the presenters. May the Symphony promote more of these.
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Road report: Twilight of the Gods, LA Ring

Hagen and Alberich. Photo courtesy LA Opera

By Jonathan Caves

On the last night of the first complete Ring Cycle at Los Angeles Opera Symbolism took the lead: from the moment the curtain dissolved and the stage lights came up we were presented with an array of symbols from across the whole cycle. Loge: hanging over the stage foreshadowing the inferno to come. The Tarnhelm: reminding us that no one is exactly as they seem. Nothung: a symbol of power that is ultimately impotent. These symbols remained in place all night as a constant reminder of the grand themes of the Cycle. There was a rising tension and a sense of inevitability about this production of Götterdämmerung – it was thrilling to watch. When Act I of Götterdämmerung flies by you know you are in for a great night at the theatre.

The Norns told their tales with minimal fuss and some great singing – my only issue was the rather strange costumes – if one of them fell they wouldn’t have stopped until they took out the cello section in the pit.
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The 2009/2010 season comes to an end for OSSCS and SMCO

It’s that time of year again. Orchestras, professional and volunteer, are wrapping up their seasons. Two of Seattle’s many community orchestras finished their seasons this weekend. The Seattle Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra – University of Washington conducting student Geoffrey Larson’s creation – closed their inaugural season with a concert titled “Just Dance.” The next day, George Shangrow, Orchestra Seattle, and the Seattle Chamber Singers ended their 2009/2010 series of concerts with a jazz (and Bernstein) inspired program that featured two works by Washington composers and choruses from Leonard Bernstein’s incidental music to the Lark.
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PNB introduces its Coppelia this weekend at McCaw Hall

By R.M. Campbell

Before both “Swan Lakes,” “Romeo and Juliets” and “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” “The Nutcracker,” in Kent Stowell/Maurice Sendak’s production,” “Sleeping Beauty,” Merry Widow” or “Cinderella,” there was the sturdy “Coppelia,” bringing sunlight to everyone in its presence despite its unremarkable qualities. It entered the repertory in 1978 but has been in retirement for a while, waiting for a successor. Now it has one — splendid, engaging, charming and full of all sorts of dancing. Its premiere was this weekend at McCaw Hall.

The work is a masterpiece, even if it doesn’t seem so, and it possesses one of the most amiable scores, by Leo Delibes, in ballet history. Its tunes may not possess the emotional resonance and power of Tchaikovsky, but they are felicitous, melodious and warm.
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Road report: Siegfried; LA Ring

Wotan and Erda; LA Ring. Photo courtesy of the Los Angeles Opera.

By Jonathan Caves

Siegfried is a problem child: the character can be one of the most annoying characters in all of opera and all too often this opera is the weak link in a Ring Cycle. This was definitely the case last night at The Chandler Pavilion. After the excellent production of Die Walküre (the more I reflect on this production the more I like it) I was ready for an equally impressive production of Siegfried. Unfortunately I didn’t get what I was expecting and I am still trying to work out exactly why.
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