This is the first of an occasional series of posts that I’d like to write which concern the torture of playing the viola in a string quartet. Don’t get me wrong: playing the viola in a string quartet is just about the best thing a human being can do! But, because the viola is one
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Of course, no sooner do I declare a composer’s music as ‘original’, than does that same composer get accused of being a musical plagiarist. I claim no responsibility! I’m not sure how much validity there is to the assertions of two Eugene music authorities (writer and critic Tom Manoff and UO trumpet faculty Brian McWhorter)
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Osvaldo Golijov is writing some of the most original and strikingly beautiful music to be found on the concert stage these days. On the Arnica Quartet’s upcoming March 23 concert (click here for more info and tickets), we’re playing Golijov’s dark and evocative piece Tenebrae, in its version for string quartet, which was originally written
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Soprano Renee Fleming’s program for March 13, 2012 has finally been announced. The conductor is Ms. Fleming’s own, Sebastian Lang-Lessing. I’m most excited about two of the selections: Ravel’s Shéhérazade, and Korngold’s Marietta’s Lied from Die Tote Stadt, two of the most beautiful pieces ever written for voice and orchestra. Hector Berlioz Roman Carnival Overture
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This is truly an end of an era. After 34 years (since 1979) with the Emerson Quartet, cellist David Finckel has announced that he is leaving the group at the close of the 2012-1013 season to pursue other artistic endeavors, reports the New York Times. His replacement has been named, British Welsh cellist/conductor Paul Watkins. UPDATE:
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I hate going to concerts. I love going to concerts. Perhaps I was required to read too much Kant and Hegel in my undergraduate senior thesis class. I’ve got a nice, ripe dualism in my psyche. It’s a common dilemma to most performing musicians. We have a night off, and the last thing we want
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There is indeed a new string quartet in town, one that is aiming to perform great classical music in a non-traditional space. That quartet is Mousai Remix, and it’s made up of four players from the Oregon Symphony (Shin-young Kwon and Emily Cole, violins; Jennifer Arnold, viola; and Marilyn de Oliveira). If you don’t think
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I’m revisiting my previous post, in which I somewhat lazily dissected the season announcements of three orchestras (Chicago, Seattle, and Nashville) for 2012-2013, to a look at the soloists that they’ve engaged for the season (plus those slated for the LA Philharmonic as well, to add some more (?) into the mix). Will there be
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February is the month in which most orchestras start their new subscription campaigns with their next-season announcements. I haven’t really paid much attention to what’s being programmed outside of my own orchestra, but I thought that it would be interesting to take a look at the seasons and see if any trends are emerging. Chicago
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I’ve always wondered why conductors do (or don’t do) certain things that seem either idiotic or genius-y in the heat of the moment. Then I read this paragraph in Michael Hovnanian’s blog – I think he’s hit the nail on the head: The problem with making conductorial convulsions the source of all musical inspiration is
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As the old saw goes, writing about music is like dancing about architecture. [for info on the origination of this quote, click here] This is partly true, though I think writing about music, at its best, is often very revealing, and that dancing about architecture could be pretty illuminating, too. Perhaps one day PDX architecture
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This weekend brings yet another stellar violinist to the Oregon Symphony, this time it’s returning soloist Stefan Jackiw (pronounced JACK-eev). He played some superb Mozart on his last visit, and this time he’s playing Max Bruch’s Scottish Fantasy, a work that’s most often heard being butchered by young aspiring contestants at solo and ensemble competitions
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