The Northwest Sinfonietta’s February program “Mozartiana” featured a world premiere—the Clarinet Concerto “Freedom,” by Alissa Firsova, written for Seattle Symphony clarinetist Laura DeLuca. The concert was heard Friday night, February 11 at Benaroya Recital Hall, with performances on Saturday and Sunday at Tacoma’s Rialto Theater and in Puyallup.
Firsova was born in Moscow in 1986. Her parents are the noted Russian composers Elena Firsova and Dmitri Smirnov. The family emigrated to England in 1991, where Alissa completed her musical education. She is both a composer and an accomplished pianist. A sampling of her music can be found on YouTube. Continue reading Alissa Firsova Clarinet Concerto, “Freedom”
This season with the SSO, nearly every week is an adventure in brand new music written especially for this, Gerard Schwarz’s last season as music director. The Gund/Simony commissions are in addition to the new pieces and premieres already scheduled for the season.
This was again the case this past weekend. Two new pieces, one brand new, the other receiving a Seattle debut, were on the program. Bright Sheng’s Shanghai Overture is the second piece in two weeks by the composer performed by the SSO. Sheng’s Prelude to Black Swan — a Gund/Simonyi commission — introduced the annual performance of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.
Composer Alexander Bishop’s music came into wider awareness last spring when SSO violist Mara Gearman played two of his works as part of Paul Taub’s May Day, May Day festival. Gearman was looking for a couple of new pieces of music to play for the festival, and Bishop was seeking a violist to to play two short pieces he wrote for Viola. Bishop and Gearman are taking their partnership one step further on December 1st with a an all Bishop recital featuring two brand new works: a viola sonata and a string quartet. Composer and violist sat down with me last Saturday to talk about the recital, their creative partnership, and even the possibility of new Bishop compositions for the viola (a viola concerto perhaps?)
For your Thanksgiving and Black Friday viewing pleasure!
To hear pianist David White tell the story of one of the most famous clove triangles in the history of music, Johannes Brahms and Robert Schumann’s music wouldn’t exist as we know it without the presence of Clara Schumann — friend to Johannes, wife of Robert, accomplished pianist, and gifted composer. it is hard to disagree with this sentiment. Robert tended to be at his best with Clara as his muse, and the durability of Brahms music today — especially his piano music — depends to some degree on Clara’s advocacy.
In honor of the 200th anniversary of Robert Schumann’s birth, the Onyx Chamber Players presented a two night mini-festival of music by these three 19th Century icons. I was only able to make it to Sunday evening’s performance of C. Schumann’s Piano Trio, Brahm’s Op. 101 Piano Trio, and R. Schumann’s Piano Quintet.
Due to a mistake by the Seattle Times, Sunday’s performance was delayed by 30 minutes. A preview which ran in the Times noted an incorrect start time of 7:30 pm — instead of 7 pm. When I make a mistake like this, I get carping emails from publicists. When the Seattle Times messes up, concert start times get moved. Oh well. A few people straggled in between when the concert was supposed to start and when it actually did. Not enough to warrant a change though. Continue reading The weekend in classical music: Schumann, Stravinsky, and Hagen
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, bright. It is over seemingly moments after it starts. If ever a piece was a curtaion-raiser, this is one. Kernis writes in the program that the piece was inspired by words of the 18th-century philospher and scientist Johann Heinrich Lambert: “I take on wings of light and soar through all spaces of the heavens. I never come far enough and the desire always grows in me to go farther.” Perhaps, but I got little sense of wings of light and soaring through the heavens. Rather the work is more like blasting your way to any destination. There may be little poetry or subtlety, but it was fun to be along for the ride. Continue reading World premiere plus Dvorak’s 7th from SSO
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 dollars every fall for the orchestra, was dedicated to Schwarz. The first piece, “The Human Spirit,” was written by him, and the second, a cello concerto written by the SSO composer-in-residence Samuel Jones, was performed by Schwarz’ son Julian. The closing work, a suite taken from Strauss’ opera “Der Rosenkavalier,” was arranged by Schwarz. The only piece on the program which did not bear any involvement with Schwarz, except as a conductor, was Mahler’s song cycle “Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen.” Continue reading Schwarz opened his farewell season Saturday night
Local composer Nat Evans has embarked on a project that fuses nature, music, community, and subjectivity of experience. Sunrise September 18, 2010 is a completely new piece of music written by Evans. It is a site specific, time specific, event specific work experienced differently by everyone who participates in the premiere. Listeners will gather at before 6:30 am on the 18th at Kite Hill in Magnuson Park. This is also the location which inspired the work and will be the vantage point for the sunrise and the premiere.
At exactly 6:30 am (the time the sun will rise up over the Cascades) Evans will give the cue and everyone will press play on their iPod, Zune, Walkman, CD player, or any other device people choose. Participants will be hearing Sunrise, while watching the sun rise. Sunrise will be recorded before the 18th and distributed to people who let the composer know they want to participate. All participants have to do is download the music, load it onto their favorite media player, and show up on the 18th at Kite Hill.
The idea for this new work originated from the composer’s experience with Zen and how the tradition treats natural cycles like sunrise and sunset. Just as important Evans says, is how individuals experience these cycles. “Over the years I became interested in how we interact with these cycles,” Evans remarked. He elaborated further, “there is also the tradition in Indian classical music that certain pieces are to be played at specific times of the day, even specific times of the year.” Evans took these ideas, put pen to paper, and wrote Sunrise.
Evans is one of Seattle’s talented, up and coming composers. I had the good fortune of introducing a piece of his at the May Day, May Day festival. The concept behind Sunrise is so interesting to me, I asked Evans if he would want to participate in The Five. He obliged. His answers follow the jump.
Oh, and if you want to hear Sunrise, email Evans at NathanielFEvans@gmail.com and he’ll send you a link for the download. See you at Kite Hill on the 18th!
Evans’ responses to my five questions are after the jump.
Back in the day, when Joshua Roman was the hot-shot, super-talented, ever-modest, principal cellist of the Seattle Symphony the press and younger concertgoers — many who had never set foot in a recital hall before Roman came along — fawned over him. Roman was the closest thing Seattle had to a classical music rebel – the Cameron Carpenter or Nigel Kennedy of the cello. His programs showed musical interests stretching beyond the standard repertory. Steve Reich’s Clapping Music showed up on one recital program as did Roman’s own arrangement of a handful of pop songs. You could count on him to dress down (jeans, casual t-shirt) from to time. We loved it. He loved. And Seattle’s classical music world happily rode the waves Roman created.
It’s that time of year again. Orchestras, professional and volunteer, are wrapping up their seasons. Two of Seattle’s many community orchestras finished their seasons this weekend. The Seattle Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra – University of Washington conducting student Geoffrey Larson’s creation – closed their inaugural season with a concert titled “Just Dance.” The next day, George Shangrow, Orchestra Seattle, and the Seattle Chamber Singers ended their 2009/2010 series of concerts with a jazz (and Bernstein) inspired program that featured two works by Washington composers and choruses from Leonard Bernstein’s incidental music to the Lark. Continue reading The 2009/2010 season comes to an end for OSSCS and SMCO
The poetry of teenaged Jewish boys imprisoned in the Terezín concentration camp will be given new life in the oratorio “Vedem,” by composer Lori Laitman and librettist David Mason. “Vedem” will receive its world premiere at Music of Remembrance’s spring concert on Monday evening, May 10 at 8:00 PM in Benaroya Recital Hall.
Terezín (aka Theresienstadt) is an old Czech fortress town which the Nazis turned into a transit camp during the Holocaust. 144,000 Jews were sent to Terezín, including many from the arts and letters. One-quarter of the prisoners died there, and two-thirds were later killed in the death camps. Yet they created an astounding cultural life in Terezín, which existed right alongside starvation, cold, overcrowding, disease, and death. Continue reading MOR commissions Vedem; receives world premiere next week
Gathering Note 