Thursday’s Seattle Symphony concert at Benaroya Hall was beautifully designed. First, a world premiere based on Mozart themes, followed by one of the symphonies and one of the horn concertos, and after intermission, the composer’s last work, his Requiem (which was completed after his death and from his notes by Franz Suessmayr). In execution, the program’s first half was satisfying, the second half less so.
Daniel Brewbaker is one of the composers who received a Gund/Simonyi Farewell (to artistic director Gerard Schwarz) Commission, the balance of works being performed at concerts throughout this final season for the conductor. Brewbaker dedicated his “Be Thou the Voice” for soprano and orchestra to Schwarz. Continue reading A Requiem or a celebration?
The Phiharmonia Quartett Berlin needs no introduction to devotees of chamber music, with more than a quarter century of performances behind it and a reputation as one of the best.
Playing at Meany Theater last night on the UW International Chamber Music Series, it gave performances of Shostakovich, Beethoven and Debussy that were arresting, thought provoking and illuminating.
Why? In Steven Lowe’s admirable program notes, he describes the first two works with words of force in several places, such as, “slashing, commanding chords” (Beethoven), “nightmarish, scratchy” (Shostakovich), and his notes seemed perfectly in tune with what we often expect from both these composers. Continue reading A different concept
This has to be one of Concert Spirituel’s more intriguing titles for a concert. Jeffrey Cohan, the moving spirit behind Concert Spirituel, found an early edition in the National Library of “Trios pour coucher du Roi,” and other contemporary works of similar type, and put together a charming program from them. Louis XIV lived from 1638-1715, at the same time as France nurtured a group of fine composers, of whom Jean-Baptiste Lully, Andre Danican Philidor l‘Aisne, Marin Marais, Michel Richard de la Lande, Pierre Gaultier de Marseille, Robert de Visee, Andre Cheron and Jacques Hotteterre were featured in this program. Continue reading Putting Louis XIV to bed
Most likely Seattle Opera has hit on its hands with Rossini’s ineffable comedy, “Il barbiere di Siviglia,” aka “The Barber of Seville,” which opened this weekend at McCaw Hall. Laughter, sometimes guffaws, sometimes giggling, was omnipresent, and the applause at the end was loud and enthusiastic. Seven more performances are scheduled, a sign the company believes there will be that kind of demand at the box office.
Is it necessary to say, once again, nearly 200 years after its premiere, that the opera is a masterpiece, one of the greatest comic operas ever written and the oldest opera of an Italian composer never to go out of the repertory. Cesare Sterbini’s libretto — based on a play by 18th-century French playwright Pierre-Augustin Caron Beaumarchais — is a model of coherency, well-developed personalities, comic situations and marvelous humor that has not worn out its welcome. It remains fresh, even the old jokes. In a fit of genius, Rossini composed the opera in an astonishing two-three weeks, borrowing when necessary from previous works. The music ripples with memorable tunes — lyrical, original, ironic — uncommon elegance and rhythmic acuity. Continue reading Seattle Opera’s “Barber” Opened a Two-week Run at McCaw Hall This Weekend
In less than two years Geoffrey Larson and the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra (SMCO) have gone from a pick up ensemble of sorts, with an ever changing cast of musicians, to a core ensemble of 29 musicians that made its Benaroya Hall debut on January 15th. SMCO is an exceptionally talented group of musicians, that deserved it’s billing at the Nordstrom Recital Hall. The wind section is top notch, the French horns surprisingly good, and the string section — usually one of the weakest sections in a community orchestra like SMCO — better than average. Larson, although still learning the art of conducting, is an adroit leader who has a good understanding of musical shape, detail, and each piece’s greater message. Continue reading SMCO makes Benaroya debut with concert of German Masterworks
Dean Williamson. Photo credit Bill Mohn Photography.
By Philippa Kiraly
Seattle Opera’s presentation of Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville,” which begins Saturday,
is like old home week for many of the participants. Conductor Dean Williamson, until its untimely suspension last month (temporarily we hope) the Artistic Director of Opera Cleveland, was principal coach and pianist for Seattle Opera for twelve years from the middle 1990s and a major player in Seattle Opera Young Artists Program. He still lives in Bellevue. Continue reading Dean Williamson shares his thoughts on the Barber of Seville
Bach, to my mind, is the only Baroque composer whose music always survives with triumph, whether it’s played on period instruments, modern instruments, steel band, sung by the Swingle Singers, or given a rock beat.
Simone Dinnerstein‘s instrument of choice is the modern grand piano, and her program Wednesday night on the UW President’s Piano Series incorporated one of the composer’s English Suites, No. 3, and three transcriptions of different well-known Chorale Preludes by Bach from well-known pianists of their day: Italy’s Ferrucio Busoni, Germany’s Wilhelm Kempff and England’s Dame Myra Hess. Continue reading Simone Dinnerstein impresses at Meany Theater
Pianist Simone Dinnerstein performs this week at the University of Washington.
Zach Carstensen: Bach figures prominently into your repertoire. You recorded the Goldberg Variations with Telarc and have a new recording of Bach keyboard concertos coming out on Sony. Why do you find yourself drawn to Bach?
Simone Dinnerstein: Bach has been my favorite composer since I was a teenager. For me, his music is the perfect synthesis of the cerebral and the spiritual.
ZC: How does your playing of pieces like the Goldberg Variations change from performance to performance?
SD: Over the years, my interpretation has grown freer. I take more time both within the Variations and between the Variations.
ZC: Is there a right way to play Bach?
SD: Definitely not! I think that is the beautiful thing about music – there are no absolutes.
ZC: Even though Bach’s music is a significant part of your repertoire, you’ve also played Webern, Copland and for your upcoming recital in Seattle you are playing Schubert and Schumann in addition to Bach. Do you every worry about being cast narrowly as just a Bach specialist?
SD: Not really, you’re right that I play music by a wide variety of composers. But if I was going to be associated with one composer – I don’t think Bach is a bad choice!
ZC: Your dad is a visual artist. I am wondering if your playing and how you approach music has a visual component? Are there images particular pieces conjure for you? Do you hope the audience “sees” something too?
SD: When I was growing up, my dad (the painter Simon Dinnerstein) used to talk to me a lot about line in drawing, and sometimes when he would listen to me play he would say, “I don’t hear the line.” It made me think about phrasing in a particular way. I often think about light and dark, and texture in my playing. I don’t think of particular images, but I think of techniques used by artists.
ZC: Are there any pianists active today that you admire?
SD: Yes, of course. Some of today’s pianists that I admire include Awadagin Pratt, Natasha Paremski, Orion Weiss, and Gloria Cheng.
Simone Dinnerstein performs as part of the University of Washington’s Presidents’ Piano Series January 12, 2011 at 8 PM.
January 6th this year was Christmas day in the Julian Calendar, and this is the calendar followed by the Eastern Orthodox churches. So it was perfectly appropriate and not at all tardy for Cappella Romana to give a concert of Russian and Ukrainian Christmas music at St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in Montlake last Saturday night.
The church was nearly full of people, many from Seattle’s Russian community, and many in the intermission spent time looking at the fine mosaics and iconic paintings which adorn it.
The performance was conducted not by Cappella Romana’s music director, Alexander Lingas, but by an equally renowned scholar in Slavic music, this time of the 17th and 18th centuries. Mark Bailey was guest directing for the third time with this group. Continue reading Christmas on the Julian Calendar
This season with the SSO, nearly every week is an adventure in brand new music written especially for this, Gerard Schwarz’s last season as music director. The Gund/Simony commissions are in addition to the new pieces and premieres already scheduled for the season.
This was again the case this past weekend. Two new pieces, one brand new, the other receiving a Seattle debut, were on the program. Bright Sheng’s Shanghai Overture is the second piece in two weeks by the composer performed by the SSO. Sheng’s Prelude to Black Swan — a Gund/Simonyi commission — introduced the annual performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.
Gathering Note 