mozart the great

February 19, 2010
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Today I had two great Mozart experiences, and they were in two very different situations, but they shared similarities despite their different settings.

The first: Mozart’s great Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major.  What a sparkling jewel of perfection this concerto is! And as played by Angela Hewitt, it is polished to its highest luster.  [...]

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imani winds at mississippi studios

February 16, 2010
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Chamber Music Northwest is beginning a new series that will put up and coming classical performers and ensembles in some of Portland’s most interesting non-classical venues, called the Protegé Project.  The first group to appear will be the Imani Winds, this Thursday, February 18 at 8 p.m., in a special live taping of AllClassical.org’s Club [...]

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former PYP conductor named MD of Memphis Symphony

February 15, 2010
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Mei-Ann Chen, currently Assistant conductor of the Baltimore Symphony, has been named the new Music Director of the Memphis Symphony! Congratulations to Mei-Ann!

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imani winds in portland

February 15, 2010
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If you’re looking for something different this weekend, the acclaimed Imani Winds will be playing as part of Chamber Music Northwest’s Encore Series this Saturday night, February 20th at 7:30 at Kaul Auditorium on the Reed College campus.  The program and instrumentation are a definite departure from the usual string-heavy fare that most chamber music [...]

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cello de braccia or world’s largest viola?

February 14, 2010
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worst day

February 14, 2010
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I’ll be spending the early part of Valentine’s Day by taking part in the 2010 Worst Day of the Year Ride here in Portland.

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horny folk?

February 12, 2010
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Something to make you smile.
icanhascheezburger, via mahlerowesmetenbucks

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storm warning

February 12, 2010
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This Friday Saturday we’re doing a one-night-only show with local sensation Storm Large.  I had heard of Storm, but not actually heard her, and I was pleasantly surprised by her vocal prowess in sets largely made up of standards from the Great American Songbook.  Songs by Elvis Costello, Storm Large, and John Lennon also are [...]

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heavy lifting

February 8, 2010
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It’s always an interesting experience, working with guest conductors.  Especially when you’ve had three weeks with your own music director.  The orchestral habits encouraged by your music director are in full force, and if your MD is a clear conductor with a concise beat (as Carlos has), then adjusting to someone with a much vaguer [...]

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poetic review

February 8, 2010
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Peggy Swafford, former violist with the Oregon Symphony and forever a Finn, sent me this poetic review of Sunday night’s performance – enjoy!

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karen gomyo plays prokofiev

February 6, 2010
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This weekend’s set of Classical series concerts at the Oregon Symphony feature the Canadian violinist Karen Gomyo, who I had a chance to hear several times when she was still just on the cusp of a career, most recently when she came to play the Bruch G minor Violin Concerto with the OSO in 2002 [...]

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which of these doesn’t belong?

February 4, 2010
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We in the little ‘viola nook’ behind stage left at our hall have a running joke about one of our frequent trombone subs, Henry Henniger, who looks a lot like our bass trombonist, Charles Reneau, known as ‘Charley’.  It took some of us a long time to get Henry’s name right, so we just called [...]

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joshua bell plays lalo

February 4, 2010
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This YouTube video gives a unique perspective on a recent Bell performance of Lalo’s Symphonie espagnole, which he’ll perform with the Oregon Symphony next season – from the point of view of a seat within the orchestra.  Enjoy.

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amazing beethoven cycle in nyc

February 2, 2010
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Wow, I wish I could go out to New York to see this!  What a lineup of great, young quartets to have play the greatest cycle of chamber music ever written: the complete string quartets of Beethoven.  Very jealous! [link]
And as a bonus, the genius of double bassist Daxun Zhang [link] – the best bassist [...]

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