From James Garlick’s recital a week ago, here is a recording of him and Judith Cohen playing Charles Ives’s Second Sonata for Violin and Piano. I even include Garlick’s introduction to the piece.
Tag: Chamber Music
Garlick and Cohen, two of Seattle’s newest Ivesiacs
When a musician is hard working and hungry for success there isn’t much they can’t accomplish. That includes convincing a music writer to turn down a chance to hear Renee Fleming and come to their recital instead. A few weeks ago, over espresso at Fuel in Wallingofrd, that is exactly what James Garlick did. Regular readers of the Gathering Note know Garlick is a bright, talented local musician who has one of the busier calendars in Seattle. He plays with the Cascade Symphony, Northwest Sinfonietta, Seattle Baroque, Onyx Chamber Players, and collaborates with a number of other musicians on a variety of chamber projects.
That morning at Fuel, Garlick ran through a lengthy list of projects he is working on. We spent most of our time talking about his concert at the Good Shepherd Center and the pieces he chose for the event. From the very beginning, Garlick was trying to get me to come hear him play. When I told him I was thinking of hearing Renee Fleming sing instead, he admitted, sheepishly, that she was stiff competition. He launched, undeterred, into an explanation of the program and the pieces: Bartok, Debussy, Bach, Corigliano, and Ives. We spent some time talking about Bela Bartok’s solo Violin Sonata and recordings we liked. At almost exactly the same time, we both muttered Christian Tetzlaff’s recording on Virgin as one of our favorites. This was the moment I decided to go hear Garlick play. I couldn’t say no to someone who liked Christian Tetzlaff’s Bartok as much as me.
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Music of Remembrance: “Unconquered!”
By: Peter A. Klein
In addition to their two mainstage concerts each year at Benaroya Hall, Music of Remembrance also does a series of four free outreach concerts each year. The programs are typically drawn from past performances at Benaroya, performed for the community in a less formal setting.
I took in one of these concerts this afternoon, in the sun-drenched Italianate performance space at Good Shepherd Center in Wallingford. If you missed it, the same program can be heard tomorrow evening, Sunday, December 6, 2009, at The Congregational Church on Mercer Island, 4545 Island Crest Way, at 7:00 PM. Donations will be accepted at the door, and the performance space will be transformed into a cabaret, with refreshments served.
Amelia Trio highlights early works by Beethoven, Shostakovich, and Chopin
The 2009/2010 UW World Series is well underway, bringing the best of dance, solo piano, and chamber music to Seattle audiences and the University of Washington community. Some have observed, this season’s line-up is less star-studded than in previous seasons. While this season might feature fewer marquis names, that doesn’t mean fewer marquis talents. Wednesday night’s visit by the Amelia Trio proved this all to well.
The Amelia Trio visited Meany Hall with a program of early compositions by three of classical music’s most popular composers: Shostakovich, Beethoven, and Chopin. None of the three composers are known primarily for their early piano trios. Shostakovich’s reputation rests primarily on the genius of his symphonies and string quartets. Chopin’s fame comes from his elegant to fiery music for solo piano. Beethoven’s legacy spans the entirety of his output because of his ever developing style. After all was said and done, the Amelia Trio’s warm, generous sound and their like-minded purpose proved the value of these three composers’ early piano trios.
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MOR resurrects, recreates, and remembers
As a general rule, Music of Remembrance concerts leave me with mixed feelings. We gather on these evenings to hear the works of composers silenced by the wretched events of the Holocaust, cut down by the Nazis in an attempt to erase their very existence from the pages of history. With such an event weighed down and defined by one of the most despicable events of modern times, I’m left ultimately puzzled how I should respond as these musical works of Holocaust victims are played. How can I applaud for Laszlo Weiner’s music when I know he was murdered in a labor camp? How can I not clap? Weiner’s music has survived, despite the Third Reich’s best efforts. These conflicting thoughts swirled around my head as I sat in the lobby of Benaroya Hall, sipping mint tea, reading an essay by Larry Rothe thirty minutes before Music of Remembrance’s fall concert.
Gathering Note 