“Symphony of Meditations” premiered in SSO season finale

The Seattle Symphony subscription season ended Thursday and Friday night much as it began, with a large-scale choral symphony. In September, the piece Schwarz and the orchestra put on display for Seattle was Mahler’s 8th Symphony. Thursday and Friday, the SSO took on a brand new piece by the American composer Aaron Jay Kernis.

A few years ago the Seattle Symphony and Lara and Jeff Sanderson commissioned Kernis to compose a compact, new piece of music for chorus and orchestra. Originally the work was scheduled for the 2007/2008 season. However, as Kernis was writing the piece, the size and scope of the piece grew and the premiere was delayed so Kernis could put the finish touches on what would become his 3rd Symphony — “Symphony of Meditations.” Like the 8th Symphony, vocal music is at the core of Kernis’s new piece. “Symphony of Meditations” debuted Thursday night alongside Gustav Holst’s popular orchestral suite “the Planets.”

Continue reading “Symphony of Meditations” premiered in SSO season finale

Chamber Music Northwest opens with robust Haydn and Mendelssohn

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Haydn and Mendelssohn have been dead for a very long time, but their presence is felt every time their music is played by virtuosic musicians like the ones who took the stage on Tuesday  (June 23) at Chamber Music Northwest’s opening concert series. I attended the concert at Catlin Gabel School and found the each  performance inspiring, because the performers got inside the music. Continue reading Chamber Music Northwest opens with robust Haydn and Mendelssohn

Oregon Symphony wrestles with finances

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Music critic David Stabler of The Oregonian has a full report on the financial problems at the Oregon Symphony online here. It’s a tough time for arts organizations everywhere, and the orchestra’s president Elaine Calder says that she will scrutinize every nook and cranny in its budget and operations. Calder was in Chicago a week ago for the 64th National Conference of the League of American Orchestra, and I’m sure that fund raising and budgets were among the issues most discussed.

Chicago is where Oregon Symphony conductor Carlos Kalmar is leading the Grant Park Orchestra. Here’s a very positive review of Kalmar and the orchestra in the Chicago Tribune. I don’t know how long the link will be available, so I’ll excerpt a quote from the article by the Tribune’s classical music critic, John von Rhein:

Just as the festival is observing a major milestone, so is Carlos Kalmar, who’s celebrating his 10th season as music director. The orchestra is playing better than ever under his vigorous leadership, a fact that was evident in the two Russian war horses that made up the program, Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto and Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at an Exhibition,” heard in the Ravel orchestration.

Here’s a link to a positive review in the Chicago Classical Review of another Kalmar-led concert at Grant Park.

All in all, the Oregon Symphony is not the only orchestra that has made great strides under Kalmar.

TGN’s Zach Carstensen talks with Aaron Jay Kernis

Gerard Schwarz and the Seattle Symphony premiere Aaron Jay Kernis’s 3rd Symphony this week.  The composer shares his thoughts about the piece and his relationship with Seattle and the Seattle Symphony.

Zach Carstensen: Your Symphony Nr.3, “Symphony of Meditations”, is a number of years in the making.  I may be wrong about this, but initially, the piece was not intended to be a symphony.  When you first put pen to paper, what were you thinking this commission would be?

Aaron Jay Kernis: Initially I was asked by Seattle Symphony to write a large piece for orchestra of about 25-30 minutes. As my ideas for the work took shape, I could tell I wanted most to write a piece that voices as well. During the year that it was originally to be premiered, the SSO chorus was not available, I asked to work with a group of 12 solo singers, but once I began setting the text it was clear that I really needed a large choir and 2 solo singers, so the premiere was moved to this season, when the choir was available.The piece is about an hour long, so it grew quite a bit in size and scope.

Continue reading TGN’s Zach Carstensen talks with Aaron Jay Kernis

Midori Returns to Seattle and the Seattle Symphony this week at Benaroya Hall

Midori, the Japanese violinist who goes by only her first name, comes to Seattle on a fairly regular basis, sometime in recital and sometimes with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra. She played the first of four concerts Thursday night at Benaroya Hall.

The program was a curious one in that the violinist played three works with a much reduced orchestra in the first half, then abandoned the stage in order for the orchestra and its music director Gerard Schwarz to tackle the formidable Fifth Symphony of Prokofiev in the second half. I doubt if many would complain. There was Bach to begin — his Second Violin Concerto — and Schubert’s charming and fluent Rondo in A to conclude. In the middle was Schnittke’s First Violin Sonata arranged for violin and chamber orchestra.

Continue reading Midori Returns to Seattle and the Seattle Symphony this week at Benaroya Hall

Chamber Music Northwest blasts off next week

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Chamber Music Northwest opens its 39th summer season next week, offering five weeks (June 22 – July 26) of great music with top tier musicians from all over the nation. This summer’s programming celebrates the 200th anniversaries of Felix Mendelssohn (who was born in 1809) and Joseph Haydn (who died in 1809), and the music of many other greats in the classical field will be performed as well: Beethoven, Brahms, Mozart, Bach, Schumann, Vivaldi, and Tchaikovsky. Several concerts will blend pieces from Telemann, Marcello, Schoenberg, Bartok, Bloch, Korngold, Kernis, Adams, Schubert, and others to keep your ears tuned up. Also consider the following: Continue reading Chamber Music Northwest blasts off next week

Pacific Northwest Ballet closed its season Saturday with day and night performances by its school

For 28 years, Pacific Northwest Ballet has presented its school at the end of the season, from the very youngest to the professional division, at its performance home, first the Opera House and now McCaw Hall. This year was not any different, with performances Saturday afternoon and evening. The format changes somewhat from year to year to offer variety and a chance for the hundreds of students in the Seattle Center and Bellevue facilities to be on stage. Always the program begins with the youngest and continues chronologically.

Continue reading Pacific Northwest Ballet closed its season Saturday with day and night performances by its school

Off the shelf

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Gerard Schwarz, Seattle Symphony; Mahler: Symphony Nr. 8 “Symphony of a Thousand” (Self Release)

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Mahler’s Symphony Nr. 8 is an oversized piece of music.  This is apparent to anyone who hears a recording of this symphony.  Even more so when you see the piece performed live.  Hundreds (not thousands) of musicians, soloists, and singers are crammed onto a stage.  Whoever the unlikely person is conducting the piece is more often than not feverishly trying to balance the bloated orchestra, soloists, and multiple choruses.  The conductor is spinning plates more or less.  Keeping everything from crashing to the floor.  Because of the difficulties in staging the “Symphony of a Thousand” the piece is seldom performed.

The Seattle Symphony took up the work last September, opening their 2008/2009 season while also simultaneously celebrating the tenth anniversary of Benaroya Hall.  With the help of Martin Selig, the Seattle Symphony was able to record and release the September 2008 performance on a limited edition recording that also includes original album art from local artist Dale Chihuly.

Continue reading Off the shelf

TGN’s Zach Carstensen talks with Midori

Photo courtesy Lois Greenfield
Photo courtesy Lois Greenfield

Zach Carstensen : How were you introduced to the violin?

ZC: Your professional career began at a young age – you were 12 when you performed with the New York Philharmonic – what was it like being a classical music star while you are also entering your formative, teenage years?

M: When a youngster is under scrutiny from the media, they can fall into the trap of starting to believe what is said about them (whether the stories are true or not). Feeling the gaze of others is especially tough on any naturally self-conscious teenager as he or she finds their place in the world. Strong relationships with family and friends kept me from ever losing sight of my true self; they kept my ego in check while also providing support and encouragement during the challenging times.

Continue reading TGN’s Zach Carstensen talks with Midori

Unsilenced

Long time readers of The Gathering Note know that Music of Remembrance is one of our favorite music organizations in the Northwest. If you don’t know – MOR, as it is known in these parts – is dedicated to unearthing, restoring, preserving, and performing Holocaust-era serious music and music inspired by the Holocaust. MOR also actively commissions new pieces as well. Because of them music from people like Erwin Schulhoff live on and new works by composers like Paul Schoenfield are composed.

MOR has chronicled their first decade in a brand new documentary that will be premiered June 14, 2009 at 6:00 pm at MOHAI.