Author: Zach Carstensen

St. James brings in 2011

St. James Cathedral

By R.M. Campbell

There was much celebration on First Hill New Year’s Eve, but no tin horns, merry pranks or silly hats. It was a concert at St. James Cathedral one of many notable traditions of the church. It was filled, as always, to the brim well before curtain time at 11 with people anxious to bring in the nbew year with something more powerful than the usual partying.

Programs vary from to year, always utilizing the impressive musical forces of the cathedral. I am not quite sure how they manage a concert of this complexity, with multiple masses on Christmas Eve and Christmas day, also to full houses. Although those services are religious celebrations, they are filled with music, both instrumental and vocal. The church itself is an inspiration of harmonious beauty, especially at Christmas with its dozens of scarlet poinsettias outlining the central altar, along with white roses and paperwhites, handsome tall and erect, and, of course, greenery, as well as the organ loft at the back of the church. The handsome gold-like sculpture hanging from the dome, scattering light in wonderfully random ways, and slim red banners on various columns are curiously reassuring and interesting.
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Off the shelf: favorite albums of 2010


Charles Ives Piano Sonatas; Jeremy Denk (Think Denk Media)
Along with Michael Tilson Thomas, Jeremy Denk is one of the few musicians fervently promoting Charles Ives in concert today. Through his regular appearances at the Seattle Chamber Music Society summer festival, Seattleites have come to appreciate Ives in large part because of Denk’s enthusiasm. With this album, the rest of the world is now be able to experience Denk’s insights into this neglected American iconoclast, abundant musicianship, and sharp musical wit. It can be downloaded from iTunes, purchased at the Seattle Chamber Music Society winter festival, or special ordered from Silver Platters.


William Schuman Symphonies; Seattle Symphony (Naxos)
Gerard Schwarz’s cycle of William Schuman’s published symphonies reached completion in February and quickly appeared as a box set. The cycle is a welcome addition to the catalog of American classical music recordings. This set wins as one of the best of 2010 because of the insight Schwarz and the orchestra bring to each piece as well as the virtuosic playing of the SSO.

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Seattle’s memorable concerts of 2010

Andrew Wan

With 2010 nearly over it is time for my annual list of the ten most memorable concerts of the year. In no particular order here are my favorite concerts from 2010.

Seattle Youth Symphony and Mahler’s Second
The Seattle Youth Symphony’s viscerally powerful performance of Mahler’s Second Symphony would have been in the top ten. Stephen Radcliffe and his orchestra of young musicians played with more conviction than orchestras with more stature and more seasoned veteran musicians. This concert, was hands down one of the best concerts of the year.

Seattle Opera: Daron Hagen’s Amelia
Last spring Seattle Opera marked another milestone by premiering Amelia: a new opera from the pen of Daron Hagen, the first commissioned by the company. New opera’s aren’t exactly commonplace, but in 2010 a bumper crop of new operas found their way to the stage. Hagen’s scoring, a poetic libretto by Gardner McFall, and convincing stage direction from Seattle Opera veteran Stephen Wadsworth combined to create an unforgettable series of performances at McCaw Hall.

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Messiah plays to sold-out houses

By R. M. Campbell

The Seattle Symphony Orchestra does a slew of concerts during the holiday season, appealing to a range of interests. Most of them are pretty easy on the brain and popular.

Themes come and go, but one remains a constant: Handel’s “Messiah.” It has been performed just about everywhere in the city — not to mention the world. At one time there seemed to be dozens of performances, all claiming one virtue or another. The number is much reduced now, but the symphony continues to present the proud profile of Handel’s piece in multiple performances. Of course, the great work should be performed at Easter: it concludes with the Resurrection of Christ, not his birth. But the tradition of “Messiah” at Christmas is a powerful one, and it is better to hear the oratorio at Christmas then not at all. The “Messiah” is not the only holiday offering among the performing arts, but it is the gravest. Tchaikovsky’s score for “The Nutcracker” is also a work of genius but of a quite different nature.
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Kelley O’Connor sings Lieberson’s Neruda Songs this weekend with the SSO

Kelley O’Connor talks about Peter Lieberson’s Neruda Songs with TGN from gatheringnote on Vimeo.

Mezzo-soprano Kelley O’Connor sings Peter Lieberson’s Neruda Songs with the Seattle Symphony this week. Lieberson’s song cycle — drawn from five poems by Pablo Neruda — were originally written for his wife Lorraine Hunt Lieberson. Each of the five songs meditates on love. Hunt-Lieberson only sang the songs a few times in public before cancer took her life. O’Connor has taken up the challenge of Neruda Songs, singing them with thirteen different orchestras and even receiving Peter Lieberson’s approval.

Deneve returns to Benaroya Hall

By R.M. Campbell

When Stephane Deneve made his Seattle Symphony Orchestra debut a few years ago, he was immediately recognized for the talent he was. His return to the SSO podium Thursday night at Benaroya did nothing to change that impression.

His program had multiple virtues: two works because they were little known or not known and one work which was very familiar but sounded freshly minted. Such was Deneve’s vision and talent.
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Week in classical music: Alexander Bishop, Michael Nicolella, and Monteverdi

Stephen Stubbs. Photo courtesy Pacific Musicworks.

It’s been a busy week for Cornish College, the college’s faculty, and one of the school’s talented soon to be graduates. A new president was unveiled — a violist — Nancy Uscher. That evening student composer Alexander Bishop’s music for viola was the focus at Poncho Hall. Toward the end of the week — innovative guitarist and Cornish faculty member Michael Nicolella took to the Nordstrom Recital Hall stage as part of the Seattle Classical Guitar Series. Up the hill at St. James Cathedral, Steven Stubbs (who has been tasked with building an early music program at Cornish) led the first historically accurate performance of Monteverdi’s path blazing 1610 Vespers.
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Lara Downes’ American program kicks off 2010/2011 President’s Piano series

Lara Downes

By Philippa Kiraly

Young American musician Lara Downes opened UW’s President’s Piano Series Wednesday night with an enlightening program of 20th century American music. All the composers but one are well known: Roy Harris, Samuel Barber, Aaron Copland, George Gershwin, plus Florence Price, and all were born close together around the turn of the century, with Barber the youngest, born 1910, and Price the oldest, born 1888.

Price was a rarity at that time, a recognized woman composer with a large body of works under her belt, and even rarer, a black woman composer. She attended the New England Conservatory of Music, became head of the music department at Clark University and won first prize in the Wanamaker Competition and a performance of her first symphony by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra.
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