Classical Music

Video: It’s dark, but it captures a few moments “taking the plunge” and stepping out onto the glass...

Russian composer Lera Auerbach's new string symphony, Memoria de la Luz (“Memory of the Light”), is transformative — a don't miss experience, as indicated in its premiere by NCCO.

"Laurent Naouri’s Sir John is imposingly wide of girth — thanks to an impressive fat-suit — and generously resounding of voice. His authoritative bellow vanquishes complaints from his snivelling underlings; with beguiling tone, he serenades and courts the ladies. There is no doubting his haughty bumptiousness and Naouri emphasises his essential aristocratic dignity. But, at times this Falstaff is overly curmudgeonly, aggrieved that others do not recognise his ‘nobility’ — an anachronistic note in 1950s England — and his irritability and crabbiness do not endear him. Naouri is light on his feet, despite the prodigious abdominal encumbrance, and can neatly execute a dainty flounce. But, while the voice is sweet and enticing, this Falstaff lacks a certain wicked sparkle in the eye and the debonair charm that might win a feminine heart regardless of his physical decrepitude. Falstaff should be both dignified and vulgar, both arrogant and aware of his own coarseness and comic crassness — he should laugh at himself, so that we can laugh with him.""Part of the problem is Jones’ uncharacteristic lack of attention to comic detail and gesture; there are a few neat touches — the faux leave-taking courtesies of Ford and Falstaff, the obsequious pleading for forgiveness of the perfidious Bardolfo and Pistola, the tidal wave which bursts through the Fords’ front window when Falstaff tumbles from the window ledge and belly-flops into the Thames — but most of the audience laughter was prompted by the surtitles rather than the stage action itself...."Read the FULL REVIEW here in Opera Today

This goes up with sadness … Principal Oboe Resume deadline: September 30, 2013 Audition dates: February 23-25, 2014 Audition Process for the San Francisco Symphony A limited number of highly qualified applicants will be invited to these auditions. We can only accept resumes for vacancies with scheduled auditions. The Audition Committee of the San Francisco [...]

Instigated by little more than mood and circumstance, I’d taken a little sabbatical from concert-going—abstaining for the first time in about ten years from live musical stimuli for any extended amount of time. What better way to end the self-imposed drought than to hop down to Salzburg for a day, to catch a performance at the Whitsun Festival. The topic this year was “OPFER/SACRIFICE”, with

My interview with Gabriel Yared, composer of the new mingled orchestral and electronic score for Raven Girl, is up now on the Royal Opera House's website. Raven Girl's world premiere is tonight (I'm going to see it next week) and dance fans are on tenterhooks.More on Raven Girl here:http://jessicamusic.blogspot.co.uk/2013/05/raven-ous-at-ballet.htmlBooking here.Yared has scored such movies as Betty Blue, The English Patient and The Lives of Others, to name but three. Here's the interview: http://www.roh.org.uk/news/raven-girl-composer-gabriel-yared-on-scoring-for-the-stage-rather-than-the-screen

Richard Wagner (1813 - 1883) is not well-known as a song writer and, in fact, the Wesendonck Lieder apart, most people would be hard pressed to think of any other works by the composer in this genre. In fact the Wesendonck Lieder are Wagner's only songs dating from his operatic maturity and their links to Tristan und Isolde make them rather sui generis. But he did write songs earlier in his career, so Nigel Foster and his London Song Festival at their recital on 23 May 2013 at St Paul's Church, Covent Garden, London, enabled us to hear all of Wagner's completed songs, forming a programme which was full, satisfying and rather surprising. Soprano Elisabeth Meister and bass-baritone Matthew Hargreaves were accompanied by Foster, and joined by members of London Voices, giving us a rare chance to hear all of Wagner's songs in one place, giving us an intriguing glance into Wagner before he became Wagner. Wagner completed the first opera in his mature canon, Der fliegende Holländer, in 1843 and his songs generally date from before this period so that, like his early operas, they show us the composer absorbing influences, trying on styles and even flirting with humour. The first group of songs were the Sieben Kompositionen zu Goethe's Faust (Seven pieces from Goethe's Faust) which were written in 1831, before the 18 year old composer had started his composition lessons with Theodor Wenlig. The songs were written for a theatre performance in Leipzig of Goethe's Faust where his sister was playing Gretchen. Wagner set familiar Goethe texts which crop up in a variety of other songs and Faust adaptations: Lied der Soldaten (Song of the Soldiers), Bauern unter der Linde (Yokels under the linden tree), Brander's Lied (Brander's song), Lied des Mephistopheles: Es war einmal ein Konig (Mephistopheles Song: There was once a King), Lied des Mephistopheles: Was machst du mir (Mephistopheles Song: What are you doing), Gretchen am Spinnrade, Melodram Gretchens. The opening two movements are choruses, which were sung with lively enthusiasm by members of London Voices; the first a rather four-square march, the second a charming strophic song with solos for tenor and soprano voices. It was immediately apparent that we were in the world of Weber and Marschner. Matthew Hargreaves sang both Brander's Lied and Mephistopheles' two songs, providing some nicely dramatic and vividly involving singing. Both Hargreaves and Elisabeth Meister sang all the programme from memory. This enormously added to the communicability of the performances but represented a significant amount of work given the rarity of the music. Meister was, of course, Gretchen giving a brilliant account of Gretchen am Spinnrade with Foster providing a very atmospheric piano accompaniment. The final item was even more unusual, Wagner's only example of a melodrama with Meister vividly intense in the spoken passages. All concerned gave vividly dramatic performances, which were highly involving and helped contribute to the success of the work. Certainly this was Wagner aping Weber and Marschner, but doing so very creditably. We don't normally think of Wagner as a particular prodigy as it took some time before he found his full voice, but it is clear that at 18 he could write very interestingly and creditably. And no, if I'd heard the music blind I would never have guessed it was by Wagner. In 1837 (at the age of 24) Wagner was appointed music director of Riga opera house, but in 1839 he and his wife Minna had to flee to Paris because of their debts. In Paris, Wagner had a go at writing songs for financial gain; the idea being to write a song which would be taken up by well known singers in recital and hence be popular when published. Though he did get songs published, none were taken up by the well known singers and Wagner failed to make any money. What the songs do show is the composer trying on other styles and influences such as Meyerbeer and Rossini. Dors mon enfant (S

[The Ballad of Blind Tom, Slave Pianist: America's Lost Musical Genius; Deirdre O’Connell; Overlook Press (2009)] Elton and drummer Jay Bellerose on stage at Capitol Records Studio A – April 11, 2013. (Photo: Joseph Guay) Deirdre O'Connell answered our inquiry about news of the pianist and composer Thomas "Blind Tom" Wiggins (1849-1908) for our birthday post for May 25: Hi Bill, Yes by chance some most interesting news. Elton John's new album The Diving Board is due for release in Sept 2013. It includes a 7 minute piece entitled The Ballad of Blind Tom, a tribute to Blind Tom Wiggins!!! More details here. Also Stephanie Jensen-Moulton's article for American Music Review is not particularly new (2011), but it offers some good insights. http://depthome.brooklyn.cuny.edu/isam/publications/AMR/2011_Spring/article2.html Regards, Deirdre Elton John The next song was Ballad Of Blind Tom, also about an actual person; in this case "Blind Tom" Wiggins: a 19th-century slave whose being an autistic savant and piano prodigy took him off the plantation and made him one of the most popular performers of his time in America. The lyric here shifts from third person in the verses ("His black hands resting on the keys / Hoppin’ like a big old frog / And hissin’ like a train...") to first person in the chorus ("Play me anything you like / I'll play it back to you…") as Motown legend Jack Ashford locks the rhythm down on tambourine. Thomas“Blind Tom” Wiggins (1849-1908) was an African American pianist and composer. He was a blind and autistic slave who nevertheless was a musical genius. He is profiled at AfriClassical.com, which features a complete Works List by Prof. Dominique-René de Lerma, http://www.CasaMusicaledeLerma.com Since 2009, interest in the life and music of Thomas Wiggins has been increased due to the work of Deirdre O'Connell, an Australian writer whose highly readable biography is The Ballad of Blind Tom, Slave Pianist: America's Lost Musical Genius. The book's website is: http://www.blindtom.org/ Performances of piano works composed by Wiggins have become more numerous in recent years. His profile at AfriClassical.com is based primarily on the book Blind Tom, The Black Pianist-Composer: Continually Enslaved, by the late Professor Geneva Handy Southall, who devoted her academic career to Wiggins. She points out that he never really gained his freedom or the control of his own earnings, even after the Civil War.

Music@Menlo's latest release is a luscious grab-bag of chamber music, much of it unfamiliar, nearly all of it performed as well as you're ever likely to hear it.

Rv8 - Aoki Takamasa #mp3 #nowplaying