Sequenza21/The Contemporary Classical Music Weekly

Slow New York

So, what rhymes with "pitch?" David Thomas has some thoughts.

posted by Jerry Bowles 1/28/2006

Friday, January 27, 2006

Mozart, Schmotzart

Today's the big day...my 41st wedding anniversary. Or, as I like to say to my wife, "two of the happiest years of my life." (I jest. I jest.) When you reach a certain age you realize that the most important thing you've done in life is successfully lived with another human being who knows everything there is to know about you and loves you anyway.

Oh, yes, it's also Mozart's 250th birthday. Lawrence Dillon has some reflections on the boy wonder...Meira Warshauer checks in from Bratislava...Everette Minchew has rediscovered the value of silence,

posted by Jerry Bowles 1/27/2006

Thursday, January 26, 2006

New and Now--Focus! Festival at Juilliard

The Juilliard School�s 22nd annual FOCUS! Festival, New and Now, directed by festival founder Joel Sachs, gets underway tomorrow night and will run through Friday, February 3. To mark its 2005-2006 centennial, Juilliard commissioned 47 new works--six of which will have their world premieres during the week-long festival.

They are: Franghiz Ali-Zadech�s Khazar, for piano quintet; Juilliard faculty member Milton Babbitt�s More Melismata, for cello solo; Juilliard alumnus Mason Bates� Digital Loom; Mario Davidovsky�s Quartetto No. 4, for clarinet and string trio; Paul Schoenfield�s Gospel Oratorio No. 2 (Channah) for soloists, chorus and orchestra; and Roberto Sierra�s Bongo+, a concerto for chamber orchestra and bongos.

Joel Sachs' comments on the festival are here; ticket and directions, here.

Now Playing: Black Cadillac Rosanne Cash. Capitol. Shattering.

posted by Jerry Bowles 1/26/2006

Philadelphia Sounds: Mozart Reloads

Just as Philadelphia finishes up celebrating Ben Franklin�s 300th birthday, along comes Mozart�s 250th, and Philadelphia continues the celebrations with Mozart: Reloaded, a �revisioning and revisiting� of Mozart�s music in a variety of styles and media, at the Kimmel Center as part of the Fresh Ink Series.

Jazz Pianist Uri Caine is known for his improvisations on classical compositions, and he does it again here, improvising madly to every other phrase of the Piano Sonata in C Major. Maddening, because I would have preferred hearing the theme first and then variations, but with styles and tempi varied, it was clever, and the audience was amused, as one can be with such familiar material. In fact, the improvisations settled down for a serene and graceful second movement, and a raucous and highly syncopated stride finale.

Tony Miceli is a whiz on the vibes and jazz, and with his quartet and vocalist Joanne Pascal presented Ridente la calma and Voi che sapete from Marriage of Figaro. Slow scat intro accompanied only by string bass sets up the theme for the instrumental improvisations, which were more interesting than the vocals. It�s not the first time an operatic aria has been turned into a pop song.

Create an entirely new opera, why don�t you, and that�s just what Gloria Justen does. She wrote, narrates and plays three tracks of electric violin, and acts the lead in Foxy Lady and the Magic Box, about a fox who finds a plan to build a magic box. The accompanying music is intricate, interesting and involving, as are the soprano and bass vocal parts. It�s not quite The Magic Flute, but more akin to Peter and the Wolf, and would make a charming animated feature.

During a stage equipment reorganization, Lydia Kaminska translated two of Mozart�s organ pieces into accordion works, with delicacy and finesse.

Group Motion dance theater presented a multi-media work to music and videos by Peter Price in a variation on The Magic Flute, An Unveiling, with choreography by Manfred Fischback, in which dancers revise the story in modern and surrealistic ways.

A quartet of world premieres of piano based on Papageno�s Birdcatcher theme were performed by Charles Abramovic to open the second half: Sebastian Chang�s On the Road, Jan Krzywicki�s Vogelf�nger, Evan Solot�s No Flutes Allowed, and Robert Maggio�s love�bird. Inversion and fugue is Chang�s take in a thoroughly modern mode. Krzywicki uses the trill motif in several variations as the basis for his birdsong in a dreamy setting with great delicacy. Trumpeter Solot emphasizes the bass range for his motif and keeps it there as a ground for his new-agey version with both minimalist and jazzy touches. Maggio�s love�bird starts out majestic and covers the whole keyboard dramatically and intensely.

Steel drums always have a warm bubbly sound and signal fun, and Delaware Steel played Harvey Price�s arrangement of the overture to The Magic Flute to close the program. (Reposted from Penn Sounds 1/25/06)

posted by Deborah Kravetz 1/26/2006

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Beaut� et la Mer

My favorite mermaid Alex Shapiro has a new personal blog called Notes From the Kelp.

"I call it a "pixelsonic" blog, in which I pair snapshots I take on my
daily walks here by the sea, with audio clips of fitting pieces of my music," she writes. "My contribution to virtual tourism. Plus, it's a great pet project for me because just like having a dog to walk, it ensures that I get off my backside and go outdoors."

I could use some of that myself but my cat hates being walked almost as much as I hate walking.

William Grim has some fresh reviews on the CD Reviews page.

Now Playing: String Quartet (1979) Morton Feldman, The Group for Contemporary Music. Naxos. Easy listening for intellectuals.

Update: Just found out that we have a convert from the CMA session on blogging. Nancy Knowles of the splendid Duo LiveOak is now blogging her poetry, photos and singing.

posted by Jerry Bowles 1/25/2006

He plays the piano like Mike Tyson boxes

Young (in his late twenties) pianist Alpin Hong recently completed a week-long residency in San Diego, courtesy of the La Jolla Music Society. He did five days of outreach in local schools, master classes, etc. He concluded his stay with a concert, which I reviewed:

If you were in the vicinity of La Jolla Mesa on Sunday afternoon, you may have heard a frighteningly loud din. What was that fiendish cacophony?

Was it the sound of a 13-car pile-up? An oil well drill bit grinding through a battleship�s bulwark? Ten cement mixers tumbling an assortment of pots, pans, cans, and large ball bearings?

No, it was just Alpin Hong playing Prokofiev�s Seventh Sonata at the Neurosciences Institute.

You can read the rest of the review here.

posted by Christian Hertzog 1/25/2006

Tuesday, January 24, 2006

The View From Spillville

Meira Warshauer is off to Slovokia tomorrow to record several of her major pieces and she is keeping a blog for us. See her first entry here....Jennifer Higdon met with Lawrence Dillon's composition class and he has a report.

posted by Jerry Bowles 1/24/2006

Monday, January 23, 2006

The Horror. The Horror.

Steven Stucky's Three Motets followed by It Might As Well Be Spring. Jay C. Batzner has the grim details...Jeffrey Biegel is hot on the trail of a piece by a student of Chopin you never heard of...Daniel Gilliam has some career advice in the Composers Forum.

posted by Jerry Bowles 1/23/2006

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Dispatch from Greenwich, CT

If you love the Classical section at Tower Records Lincoln Center (and who doesn�t?), you have three people to thank: Bryan Hester, Jim Devin, and Richard Schneider. Bryan�s the head honcho, but all three are �buyers:� folks who decide what CDs (and how many) Tower�s classical section will stock.

Richard, however, is also a veteran tuba player. He studied at Northwestern with Arnold Jacobs and has served as principal tuba in the Greenwich Symphony for almost thirty years. He also gave me my favorite quote about Brahms: �Brahms always tells the truth and he never bullsh*ts!� Love that. Last night, an old Classical clerk pal of mine from Tower and I made the trek up to Greenwich to hear Richard give the �professional premiere� of David Gilbert�s �Ballade Concertante� for Tuba and Orchestra. Tuba players don�t get many opportunities to take center stage, and it was wonderful to hear Gilbert, who also conducts the orchestra, give an old pro an elegant and colorful piece in which to shine. Bravos all around!

posted by David Salvage 1/22/2006