Month: June 2011

The Seattle Symphony has finally found a principal cellist. The spot has been vacant for years. Joining the section will be Efe Baltacıgil. Baltacigil comes from the Philadelphia Orchestra where he is the associate principal cellist. This is a good selection for the SSO, and it says much about the optimism many people in the music world have for Morlot at the SSO. But, it also says as much about the current state of disarray, reorganization, and decline of the once great Philadelphia Orchestra.

From the Seattle Symphony’s press release:

Seattle Symphony Music Director Designate Ludovic Morlot commented, “I am honored that Efe Baltacıgil will be joining the Seattle Symphony. Hiring such a talented artist is a very special occasion, and these opportunities are so important in the life of an orchestra. Efe is a superb musician, and his deep passion for everything he tackles is infectious. I am immensely looking forward to our new musical relationship. Welcome, Efe!”

Also in the news, Morlot has been named the chief conductor of Belgium’s La Monnaie. With this appointment, Morlot gets an operatic assignment to round out his orchestral assignment. La Monnaie is at the center of Europe’s opera culture and will cement the conductor’s already strong ties with the continent’s musical scene.

From the press release:

Ludovic Morlot, Seattle Symphony’s new Music Director, has accepted an additional position as Chief Conductor of one of Europe’s leading opera houses — La Monnaie/De Munt — in Brussels, Belgium. The five-year appointment, commencing on January 1, 2012, will allow him to broaden his career as a conductor of opera, and add to his already impressive work with symphony orchestras. During his first full season at La Monnaie, starting in the fall 2012, his programs will include Alfred Bruneau’s Requiem as well as his first performances of Debussy’s Pélleas et Mélisande. La Monnaie’s historic and ongoing commitment to contemporary music means that Morlot will play a key role in commissioning new works. With this important appointment, Morlot will join the ranks of other music directors of American orchestras who also served (or are currently serving) as principal conductors of European opera houses, including Franz Welser-Möst, Daniel Barenboim, Zubin Mehta and Riccardo Muti.

A quick note about the lack of posts on the Gathering Note. Personal and professional obligations have required the site to scale back some. In the life of any endeavor there are always periods of growth and contraction. I hope to resume a more regular blogging schedule in the fall.

By R.M. Campbell

When Gerard Schwarz first came to Seattle, in 1983, he was not going to stay. Music director of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, he was about to launch himself in the world of major orchestras. The Seattle Symphony Orchestra must have seemed like dull pickings. But no other invitations were immediately forthcoming, so he stayed, then stayed even longer, becoming music director two years later. Seattle was a good place to learn repertory one wouldn’t ordinarily learn conducting a chamber orchestra: The city was out of the glare of the major leagues. The eighties drifted into the nineties and the 21st century.
Continue reading Schwarz bids farewell to SSO

Seattle Opera released the details of their next Ring Cycle and Meistersinger, Seattle Opera’s next stand alone Wagner opera. Principal guest conductor Asher Fisch will lead both performances from the pit. Fisch possesses a deep understanding of Wagner’s operas. After guiding a beautifully played Tristan last summer, it is only natural that Fisch be the next conductor to tackle the Ring in Seattle.

Seattle Opera’s critically acclaimed production of the Ring, directed by Stephen Wadsworth and featuring sets by Thomas Lynch, costumes by Martin Pakledinaz, and lighting by Peter Kaczorowski, returns for its fourth incarnation, this time under the baton of Asher Fisch, Principal Guest Conductor of Seattle Opera. Fisch, who has conducted Parsifal, Lohengrin, Der Rosenkavalier, Der Fliegende Holländer, and Tristan und Isolde for Seattle Opera, “ranks among the finest Ring conductors of our time,” according to Opus Magazine. Making their Seattle Opera debuts in this production are Alwyn Mellor as Brünnhilde and Stefan Vinke as Siegfried. Mellor is a Brünnhilde of choice for Den Nye Opera, Oper Leipzig, Longborough Festival Opera, Paris Opera, and Opera North; Vinke has sung Siegfried in Cologne, Leipzig, Berlin, Salzburg, Venice, and Lisbon. Greer Grimsley returns to Seattle Opera for the third time as Wotan, a role for which he won Seattle Opera’s 2005 Artist of the Year award. Other returning artists include Stephanie Blythe as Fricka, Margaret Jane Wray as Sieglinde, Stuart Skelton as Siegmund, Dennis Petersen as Mime, and Richard Paul Fink as Alberich.

When the Meistersinger hits the stage in 2014, it will only be the second time in the company’s history this gargantuan comedic opera has been performed in Seattle.

R.M. Campbell

Goodbye, as they say, is sweet sorrow, particularly in the hands of Pacific Northwest Ballet.

In recent years, the company in June does what it calls a “Season Encore,” which means a single performance dedicated to departing dancers. This season the class was especially large, with eight, possibly a record, including four principals: Ariana Lallone, Olivier Wevers, Jeffrey Stanton and Stanko Milov. The others were Stacy Lowenberg, Chalnessa Eames, Josh Spell and Barry Kerollis. On Sunday the performance at McCaw Hall went on for three hours. The air in the full house was exuberant and grateful for what these dancers had contributed to the company. Everyone was in top form, which made the farewells even more bittersweet. It was a swell evening of dance handsomely mounted. There were all sorts of flowers and kisses and hugs.

Peter Boal, artistic director for the past six years, made introductory remarks on stage in which each dancer was given his, or her, moment in the sun. Kent Stowell and Francia Russell, his predecessors at the company, wrote warmly and well in the lavishly illustrated and handsomely produced program. Stowell and Russell appeared on stage, as well as Patricia Barker, PNB’s prima ballerina until her retirement and now interim artistic director of Grand Rapids Ballet, as part of the flower brigade. Val Caniparoli, who choreographed “Lambarena” talked about Lallone, and a lovingly-made film about her was shown.
Continue reading PNB says goodbye to eight dancers

By Peter A. Klein

On Friday, June 3, the Seattle Symphony presented a “Samuel Jones Celebration” at Benaroya Recital Hall. Jones, who turned 76 last week, is about to end his 14-year tenure as the Symphony’s Composer in Residence.

Jones’ music is part of the American tonalist tradition that outgoing Music Director Gerard Schwarz has championed in performances and recordings. He freely uses modern compositional techniques, but his music is usually rooted in key centers—sometimes more than one simultaneously. Musical architecture and expression walk hand in hand. Seattle audiences have enthusiastically received Jones’ works, including concertos for horn, tuba, trombone and cello.
Continue reading Composer in residence Samuel Jones ends tenure with the Seattle Symphony

By R.M. Campbell

Pacific Northwest Ballet has taken three decades to come to glories of “Giselle,” which it did this weekend at McCaw Hall. Nothing much compares with this ballet, which has iconic status in the canon. It must succeed not through fortissimo gestures but pianissimo ones, those that hold us through subtlety and sheer beauty. Nearly all the great ballerinas of the past 150 years have taken on the title role — the list is astonishing. It represents “a superb chance to captivate, to dazzle, and to touch the heart,” to borrow a description from eminent dance critic Edwin Denby.

While the production — that is, sets and costumes, designed by Peter Farmer, for Houston Ballet — is well-worn, the concept is unique — a variant of the traditional one by virtue of newly employed historical sources. While differences in text and choreography are minimal — they will seem of little consequence to most ballet patrons — the professional dance world is fascinated, enough that the Dance Critics Association is holding its annual meeting in Seattle this week in order to see for themselves. It is this “new” version that makes PNB’s production novel.
Continue reading PNB gives “Giselle” its local premiere this weekend