Category: Seattle

The Rachmaninov piano (and Zenph Studios) plays Rachmaninov

Sony is set to release a Sergei Rachmaninov re-performance recording. This is the third re-performance album made possible because of the partnership Zenph Studios and Sony.

Zenph Studios’s technology examines historic performances, reproduces them, and turns them into digital files that are then sent to a player piano. In the case of the upcoming Rachmaninov release, a 1909 Steinway D Grand Piano. The Steinway D Grand is a piano Rachmaninov favored.

The re-performance is identical to the original Rachmaninov performances, except for greatly improved sound. If you have ever imagined what a Rachmaninov played recital might sound like with the benefit of state-of-the-art digital sound, this recording could be the answer.

Listen for yourself.

Quarter notes: Anton Batagov, Jun Iwasaki, and the Seattle Symphony

Pianist and composer Anton Batagov.

Pianist and composer Anton Batagov.

After a lengthy Ring hangover, the new classical music season is upon us and I am back to blogging. The Seattle Symphony kicked off their season this weekend with a gala celebration, before that they paired three mini-concerts with wine tasting. The orchestra’s subscription season gets underway in earnest next week, with Gerard Schwarz leading the orchestra in Mozart’s Concerto for Two Pianos with Orli Shaham and Jon Kimura Parker. The evening ends with Brahms’s evergreen First Symphony.

The Pacific Northwest Ballet also begins a run of Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet the same weekend Orli Shaham and Jon Kimura Parker are dazzling Benaroya audiences.

On September 29th the acclaimed Russian pianist and composer Anton Batagov makes his Seattle debut and will give his first public performance in twelve years. Batagov’s recital will happen at the Chapel Performance Space in the Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford. Batagov has been described as a Russian Terry Riley. Batagov has written extensively for Russian film and television. The recital program will include film and television music as well as some of his non-soundtrack compositions for piano.

Seattle Symphony season opens with gala and warhorses

This year’s gala performance by the Seattle Symphony Saturday night celebrated the opening of music director Gerard Schwarz’s 25th season with a brief graceful speech in his praise from board president Leslie Chihuly. She also noted this was the orchestra’s 106th opening night concert, and in his reply, Schwarz also praised the orchestra and asked those players who had been there all 25 years to indicate themselves. Many couldn’t hear him as only a few waved their bows or hands, but after counting, it’s clear there are around 40 members who have stayed since the beginning of his tenure. Given the current dissatisfaction of the musicians with their leadership, this is a remarkable affirmation of the solidity of this orchestra over the years.

It’s fair to say that the orchestra has grown immeasurably under Schwarz, from a regional orchestra to one well-regarded countrywide and firmly ensconced in the tier of orchestras just under the top cream of the cream (New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Cleveland and Chicago). It has attracted fine performers to replace those leaving, while some have left to take prestigious positions with other orchestras (oboist Nathan Hughes’ move to the principal oboe position with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra is the most recent). It draws first rank soloists and visiting conductors (Kurt Masur visits this year). Not least is the accomplishment of Benaroya Hall itself with its excellent acoustics in the main auditorium.

Continue reading Seattle Symphony season opens with gala and warhorses

Review: Beethoven and Wine Festival

It’s a fine idea to begin this Seattle Symphony season with three concerts specifically geared to the sophisticated but not-so-wealthy, need-an-evening-out crowd. The Beethoven and Wine Festival began last night, Wednesday, and continues the next couple of nights with different, shorter (less hours to pay baby-sitters) programs each night at a starting price of $9, and starting with a happy hour of four ‘pours’ of wine for $5. A good deal.

It certainly drew in a large crowd Wednesday, though there should have been more bartenders. Lines were long to the moment the concert began. Beginning his 25th season with the Seattle Symphony, music director Gerard Schwarz chose Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto and Seventh Symphony, both warm and appealing works. The only soloist of the three nights was Sara Davis Buechner, a pianist I’d never heard of before (she changed her name some years ago and I hadn’t heard of her under her previous one either), and it’s my loss.

Continue reading Review: Beethoven and Wine Festival

SSO musician contract extended through end of the year

Good news, of sorts, came out of the Seattle Symphony offices today. In a press release, the SSO announced the musician’s contract is extended through December 31, 2009. The current contract was set to expire on August 31, 2009. Musicians also agreed to donate their time for Gerard Schwarz’s Silver Gala on September 12, 2009.

Nailing down a contract extension is good news for the orchestra. The 2009/2010 season begins in a few weeks and the extension helps avoid messy labor issues when the intended focus is supposed to be on Gerard Schwarz’s silver anniversary as music director. It also gives management and the union time to forge a contract that works for the musicians and the health of the orchestra given the tough economic climate of the nation.

“Because we deal with multi-year contracts, it’s important that we get it right, which takes thoughtful consideration and careful work. With the coming transition in artistic leadership, we can work together to create a new long-term plan to look ahead to future opportunities.” Thomas Philion the Seattle Symphony’s Executive said in the press release.

On the other hand, the extension only buys the musicians union and management a few months to hammer out a long-term contract that will carry forward beyond 2009. A number of factors could emerge that might make a new contract harder to achieve – namely, what is being done to find Schwarz’s replacement. Schwarz’s contract runs out at the end of 2011.  I understand from musicians, they felt impelled to take a more generous approach with Schwarz because of his decision not to seek a contract extension.  If musicians feel the process isn’t moving quickly enough or isn’t being responsive to the concerns of musicians, it is possible this generosity could disappear quickly.

Malcolm Rivers’ thirty-five years of Alberich

Rivers as Alberich. Photo courtesy Seattle Opera and Chris Bennion Photo.
Rivers as Alberich. Photo courtesy Seattle Opera and Chris Bennion Photo.

Glynn Ross founded Seattle Opera in 1963, and twelve years later realized his ambitious plan to mount the entire cycle of Wagner’s “Der Ring des Nibelungen” in a week, in fact two cycles, one German and one English, back to back.

This idea was unheard of in the U.S. No one had done it like this here, indeed it wasn’t commonly performed this way anywhere apart from Bayreuth. For a then somewhat backwater town on the U.S. West Coast it was an extraordinarily presumptuous undertaking.

Ross went to Europe to find his singers, among whom was English bass-baritone Malcolm Rivers, chosen for Alberich.

Continue reading Malcolm Rivers’ thirty-five years of Alberich

Quarter notes: upcoming

As the summer festival season winds down there are two notable concerts this weekend. The first is a benefit concert this Saturday at Green Lake Methodist Church. The program starts at 7 pm and highlights chamber music by Brahms, Schumann, and features the world premiere of a new piano quartet by local composer Anthony DiLorenzo.

DiLorenzo is both an accomplished trumpeter and composer. As a soloist he has played with the Boston Symphony and New York Philharmonic to name a few. His compositions have earned him an Emmy Award. DiLorenzo’s compositions have been played by the San Francisco Symphony, Colorado Symphony, Utah Symphony, and the New World Symphony.

All of the proceeds from this concert will benefit youth at risk scholarships in memory of Daniel Gilbert who was murdered a few years ago. More information on the concert can be found here.

On the other side of Lake Washington, Lyric Opera Northwest is bringing in Eduardo Villa for a performance of “Cavalleria Rusticana” and “Pagliacci.” Villa, a Los Angeles native, is one of the most sought after tenors singing today and performs regularly with the Metropolitan Opera. Villa’s career in opera came later than most. For a time he did stand-up comedy, sang in a synagogue, and even performed in commercials. It wasn’t until he was a finalist in the Metropolitan Opera Auditions in 1982 that he decided to pursue an opera career.

With the Ring wrapping up on Sunday, the “Cav” and “Pag” double billing are a perfect palate cleanser and a good prelude for the Seattle Opera’s upcoming Verdi heavy season.

You can find more information and buy tickets here.

Flying high in the Ring

In the current naturalistic production of Wagner’s “Ring” cycle going on in Seattle, it was necessary to have the three Rhinemaidens swimming underwater as per Wagner’s instructions.

So this production starts with a scene in which the Rhinemaidens are apparently swimming in a watery environment up to thirty feet above the stage. Brilliant work by stage director, set and costume and lighting designers, not to mention the six stage hands and busy stage manager who for 20 minutes have to keep all three women in mid-air moving constantly without running into one another and spinning uncontrollably.

What do the Rhinemaidens feel about it?

Continue reading Flying high in the Ring

My Ring journey: Twilight and beyond

It’s been more than a week since Janice Baird immolated the world in the Seattle Opera’s first Ring cycle of 2009. Since her debut as Brunhilde earlier in the cycle, More than a few people familiar with the role, doubted the wisdom of casting Janice Baird as Brunhilde which demands so much from her voice and interpretative abilities.

Yet, when Twilight of the Gods wrapped up there was no doubt Baird was the right choice. Baird replaced Jane Eaglen, who was Brunhilde in 2005 and in the first run of the “green” Ring in 2001. Eaglen’s voice is rock solid. She was one of the finest Brunhilde’s of the last half of the 20th Century. But, Speight Jenkins was looking to take the role and the production in a new direction. Was it ultimately Eaglen’s size? The quality of her voice? Who knows. At this point the reasons for Jenkins’s decision are irrelevant.

Continue reading My Ring journey: Twilight and beyond

Second Ring Cycle: Götterdämmerung triumphs with Baird’s Brünnhilde leading the way

(Rozarii Lynch photo)
(Rozarii Lynch photo)

Janice Baird’s Brünnhilde made Seattle Opera’s “Götterdämmerung” a triumph at the performance I heard on Saturday, August 22nd. Baird captivated the audience with her soaring voice and committed acting. She showered sparks all over the stage when Brünnhilde vainly tried to prove that she was Siegfried’s wife. During those moments Baird’s soprano had an edge that cut through the orchestra and connected almost viscerally with the audience. Continue reading Second Ring Cycle: Götterdämmerung triumphs with Baird’s Brünnhilde leading the way