Gathering Note
Notes from the concert hall
Tag: Review
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Uncertainty faces at least two of Seattle’s community orchestras this season. The untimely passing of George Shangrow has left Orchestra Seattle hanging on. In spite of the fine music making by the group, Orchestra Seattle was always driven by George’s personality and his own vision for the group. He founded the orchestra. Philharmonia Northwest is…
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A last minute decision at the Seattle Symphony transformed this week’s subscription concert from ordinary to extraordinary. The program, which features competing halves, was initially arranged with the crowd favorites (Copland’s Appalachian Spring and Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue) falling first, while the lesser known pieces (Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements and Ravel’s Concerto for Left…
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By R.M. Campbell The Seattle Symphony premiered another work, this time by Aaron Jay Kernis, in the Gund/Simonyi set of commissioned works to celebrate the final year of Gerard Schwarz’s directorship of the orchestra, Thursday night at Benaroya Hall. Unlike some of its predecessors in the series, Kernis’ “On Wings of Light” is bombastic, urgent,…
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By Philippa Kiraly As a rule we expect Cappella Romana to enlighten and enthrall us with music of the Greek and Russian Orthodox churches from the Middle Ages to the present day. For its first concert of this season, it turned to the English church choral tradition of the Renaissance in a fascinating, moving performance…
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By R.M. Campbell After nearly three decades of association with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra, Gerard Schwarz is saying goodbye. This season will be his last as music director, although he will return to the SSO podium in subsequent seasons as conductor laureate. The annual gala Saturday night at Benaroya Hall, which raises several hundred thousand…
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Beethoven and wine; wine and Beethoven, the Seattle Symphony kicked off the 2010/2011 season with three shorter all-Beethoven concerts preceded by an hour of wine tasting. The Beethoven and Wine festival isn’t new. Last season was its inagueral season. It’s a disappointing world we live in. These days it takes putting “wine” in the title…
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By Philippa Kiraly The Seattle Symphony began its Beethoven and Wine series and its annual season at Benaroya Hall on a high note, with the Seattle Symphony debut of violinist Augustin Hadelich playing Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, and the world premiere of a fine little work by Augusta Read Thomas. Her composition was the first to…
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By Philippa Kiraly The fall concert season starts with a flurry this year, seemingly in a hurry to get going immediately after Labor Day. The Seattle Symphony has three Beethoven and Wine concerts this week and a gala on Saturday, Cappella Romana gives its first season performance Saturday, and the Early Music Guild got in…
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By Philippa Kiraly Time was, maybe 17 years ago, when Seattle Chamber Music Society’s Summer Festival was full of well known classics. We could confidently expect to hear Brahms, Beethoven, and Schumann, Mozart and Haydn, Tchaikovsky and Dvorak. Sure there was, is, plenty to choose from among much-loved works. Some amongst us grew restless, wanting…
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By R.M. Campbell Memories can be short and distorted, but it seems to me, as the Seattle Chamber Music Festival enters its final week of the summer, this season has been if not the best than one of the best in its nearly 30-year history. Two things are certain. The move from the dull acoustics…