I am really blown away by how good Elina Vähälä’s Vivaldi Four Seasons interpretation is – plenty of tasteful and imaginative ornaments, brisk tempos, beautiful sound and phrasing. It’s a very mature and probing look at such a familiar set of pieces – if you are at all on the fence about this concert, get
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Here’s my list of recommended listening sources (at least as available on iTunes) for this weekend’s upcoming Classical 6 subscription series.
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Postings this week might be a bit spotty because of a recent loss in our family. Our youngest of two cats, Gizmo, was stricken late Sunday Monday night by a catastrophic blood clot which within the space of about 10 seconds caused him to lose the use of his hind legs.
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Douglas McLennan has written a very interesting blog entry about his take on the state of the fine arts in this country, which might include the fact that classical music and/or the fine arts might be the next mass cultural phenomenon. Far fetched? Maybe, but his decidedly non “the sky is falling” approach to the
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An interesting article by Anthony Tommasini from this Sunday’s New York Times, which talks about the relatively inferior sound quality of the typical mp3 player (i.e., iPod) compared to a top-end audiophile quality hi-fi stereo system. It would seem to be the triumph of wi-fi over hi-fi. It’s true.
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Just read this article about the Nashville Symphony. Discuss.
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I just ran across this story from the Salt Lake Tribune about the possible succession of Keith Lockhart as music director of the Utah Symphony by their former principal conductor Pavel Kogan. Kogan was also a candidate for music director here in Oregon, but Carlos Kalmar was chosen instead.
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Drew McManus continues his excellent reporting on the ongoing lockout in Jacksonville, Florida. Find the complete update here. Essentially the rhetoric is starting to heat up now – here is what the musicians’ lawyer is saying: “What [the board] are really saying is it is too much trouble to raise more money,” said Leibowitz. “So
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Have a great day of feasting and family, if that’s what you’re doing today, or just a day of quiet reflection on the good things that have happened in your life this year. There have been a lot of losses for us this year, but in spite of that, we are thankful to have known
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I almost rethought my title to today’s post, because if you remove the “i” from “recital”, you’ll get a decidedly different impression of what I’m writing about… I’m getting ready to start the long, arduous road towards giving another recital this year, and this time around I think that it will largely be a solo
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Sunday afternoon I braved the rain and wind to go hear the contemporary music ensemble fEARnoMUSIC present its first concert of the 2007-2008 season. They gave a great concert centered around the theme of folk music, presented nearly continuously and without intermission. It was great to see a wide variety of musical styles presented, and
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Just got this email forwarded from the OSO marketing team: $10 Friends and Family offer High-Wire High Jinks with the Oregon Symphony Saturday, Nov 24 at 7:30 p.m.; Sunday, Nov 25 at 3 p.m.; Monday, Nov 26 at 7:30 p.m. Jeff Tyzik, conductor MarchFourth Marching Band Safety Last, the classic silent movie with Harold Lloyd
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UPDATE: Oregonian music critic David Stabler gives his expanded list of Poets/Scientist conductors here. Last night we played our second of four iterations of the Classical 6 program (three in Portland and a run-out to Salem on Tuesday night) under the direction of Finnish guest conductor Hannu Lintu. I was recently reading another blog which
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The Jacksonville Symphony has locked out their musicians as a result of a negotiating impasse. You can take a look at the musicians’ website here. I feel for the musicians – they’re one of the lower paid orchestras in ICSOM, and they’ve been having difficulties for the past several years, at least. Whatever and whoever
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