The bassoon is often associated with humor and whether that is just or unjust doesn’t matter, because even bassoonists seem to revel in the comical aspects of their chosen instrument. So, several bassoon pieces in the second half of the Chamber Music Northwest concert (July 21) at Catlin Gabel caused lots of chuckles. But the tongue-in-cheek quality of the bassoon music did not obscure the virtuosic performances by the bassoonists involved. Led by globe-trotting bassoon soloist Milan Turkovic, the bassoon numbers in Tuesday evening’s concert had an ample amount of buffoonery and were performed superbly. Continue reading Bassoon buffoonery balances out Haydn and Bach
Last night’s Lakeside concert was preceded by a recital by pianist Jeremy Denk. Denk tossed off three of Gyorgy Ligeti’s Book One etudes — Cordes a vide, Fanfares, and Arc-en-ciel. To help with the etudes, Denk also programmed Debussy and Liszt. Liszt’s “Rhapsodie espagnole” was a raucous affair, but for me, there was plenty of razzle-dazzle in the etudes — especially in Fanfares, the fourth Book One etude. J, my frequent concert companion, preferred Arc-en-ciel for its Debussy-like qualities. The beauty of the Ligeti etudes is how they synthesize Lisztian knuckle-busting difficulty with impressionistic color.
There are a handful of recordings of the Book One and Book Two etudes and at least one complete recording of the complete Book Three etudes. Pierre Laurent-Aimard’s recording on Sony is probably the best. Idil Biret’s Naxos recording is good — technically — but antiseptic. Aimard’s effort is technically very good, but also he seems to understand the composer better. Perhaps that’s why Aimard was Ligeti’s pianist of choice for the Sony recording.
If you didn’t see the recital or hear it on KING-FM I’m sorry.
Ligeti was one of the true masters of the last century and continued to influence composition up until he died in 2006. There aren’t too many pianists carrying Ligeti’s etudes around with them or even willing to tackle them.
If you want a taste of what you missed check out the following video of Aimard performing a selection of Ligeti’s etudes.
Last week, Seattle Opera announced that the company’s 2008/09 Artists of the Year awards went to mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe for performing the role of Amneris in Verdi’s “Aida” in August 2008, and to François Racine for his stage direction of Seattle Opera’s double bill of Bartók’s “Bluebeard’s Castle” with Schoenberg’s “Erwartung” in February and March, 2009. Seattle Opera has selected an artist of the year since 1991, and in 2004 it decided to give the award to two types of artists: the singer and the other a conductor, director, or designer.
For an interesting interview with Stephanie Blythe, click here.
Wednesday’s concert of the Seattle Chamber Music Festival at Lakeside School sold out more than a month ago, with a line of people waiting at the box office hoping for a returned ticket or two. A number of concerts this season, as in previous summers, have sold-out, but four weeks ahead is unusual.
One has to believe the reason is in the repertory. In this case that means Mendelssohn’s First Piano Quartet, Beethoven’s Violin Sonata in G and Shostakovich’s Piano Trio in E Minor. The Mendelssohn has only been played twice in previous seasons, once at Lakeside and once at the winter festival, and the Beethoven, four times at Lakeside and once at Overlake. It is the Shostakovich that has had so many performances: six at Lakeside and one at the winter festival.
At the beginning of each Seattle Chamber Music Concert a disembodied voice instructs audience members to not record or photograph the performance and asks people to turn down their hearing aids. For a variety of reasons it’s a request I find humorous. On the one hand I remember bearing witness to plenty of embarrassing episodes where grandparents cranked up the sensitivity of their hearing aid to hear something on the television only to have the hearing aid’s high-pitched buzz agitate every dog in the neighborhood. What harm could a hearing aid do? Is it really necessary to ask people to turn down their hearing aid? Turns out, it is.
Wednesday’s Seattle Chamber Music Society concert was marked by steady playing from the musicians, average repertory, and a hearing aid run amok during Beethoven’s Ghost Trio.
If you ever have the pleasure of attending a Greg Anderson and Elizabeth Joy Roe concert, be sure to sit on stage. That’s where I took a seat during Sunday afternoon’s concert at the World Forestry Center where Anderson and Roe held forth just few feet away from me. They gave an electrifying performance that swept the audience into a cheering mass of humanity, making a strong case that playing piano is the most fun thing that two people could ever do together.
Jeremy Denk gave the concert of a lifetime on Saturday evening (July 18) as part of the recital series offered at the World Forestry Center as part of the Portland Piano International Summer Festival. This was a one of those rare performances that made this listener feel more alive, more aware, and more appreciative of everything in the world. And Denk accomplished this with a very demanding program (that he changed earlier in the week) that consisted of Ives’s Sonata No. and Bach “Goldberg Variations” (BWV 988). Continue reading Ives and Bach receive transcendent treatment from Denk
The lawn was packed Friday night at Lakeside School, as people took advantage of yet another hot summer night to listen for free under the stars to the sixth Summer Festival concert of Seattle Chamber Music Society. There have been years when more nights were cool and wet than dry and warm, but not this year.
Inside St. Nicholas Hall, it was as packed, but thankfully cooler as the performance got under way with Haydn’s Trio in E Flat major from 1785 with violinist Augustin Hadelich, celllist Edward Arron and pianist Craig Sheppard. The first two are new to the festival this year, Hadelich, 26, being one of this year’s winners of an Avery Fisher award, one of the most prestigious prizes for young musicians (many of those winners play in the SCMS festival, which has one of the most dazzling line ups of young musicians in the country).
Chamber Music Northwest went all out for its Baroque Concerto Night program on Thursday (July 17), presenting five concertos for viola, two cellos, harpsichord, oboe d’amore, and flute. A very full house at Kaul Auditorium absorbed a full dose of music by Telemann, Vivaldi, Handel, and Bach by a variety of ensembles, which drew from a pool of ten top-notch musicians. Continue reading Baroque concertos gone wild at Chamber Music Northwest
There is plenty going on classical music-wise in Seattle these days. There is, of course, the Seattle Chamber Music Society’s Lakeside School festival which is heading into its third week. Some of the highlights next week include:
Richard Strauss’s Piano Quartet on Monday
Jeremy Denk playing Ligeti etudes in a free recital on Wednesday
And, Sergei Taneyev’s Piano Quartet Op. 20 on Friday
If you can’t get to a concert, you can always check out the personal websites of festival musicians. Jeremy Denk’s website and blog is readable and interesting. Who knew this was the life of a classical pianist?
Also, cellist Robert deMaine launched a new website.
Also, this weekend, the Northwest Mahler Festival reconvenes for a concert this Sunday featuring the Sixth Symphony, music from “Gotterdammerung,” and the Dance of the Seven Veils from Strauss’s opera “Salome”
If websites aren’t your thing, check out these two You Tube videos. The first is a video of Valery Gergeiv conducting Mahler’s 6th Symphony with the LSO and the second video is chamber festival violinist Augustin Hadelich playing the last movement of Bela Bartok’s Violin Sonata.
Gathering Note 