Tag Archives: beethoven

the write stuff

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image: istockphoto.com

I just turned in my first set of program notes for the Oregon Symphony! I was asked to write notes that were a bit off the beaten path of program notes (which are normally all written for the Oregon Symphony by the excellent Elizabeth Schwartz), and it was fun and interesting to do. The notes are for the October 30-31 program featuring Karen Gomyo in Beethoven’s Violin Concerto, Copland’s brief and nostalgic Letter from Home, and Nielsen’s monumental Fourth Symphony “Inextinguishable”. I’ll be adding some links for the online versions of the notes, so even if you’re not able to be at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall for the show, you can still enjoy the fruits of my labors.

Just a quick update to say that I’m not writing *all* of the program notes for this year, just three separate concerts scattered across this season.

moore does britten & weill

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Dudley Moore

What a genius Dudley Moore was, and what a shame that we lost him much too soon. A friend pointed me to this classic video of Moore doing two parodies of Britten and Weill,

and then I discovered a brilliant version of Schubert’s Erlkönig, too…

and then this parody of a Beethoven piano sonata, that uses “The Bridge Over the River Kwai” tune as its theme:

what a weekend!

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Oregon Symphony - Photo: Oregon Symphony

The first two of our three concerts here in Portland are done, and they’ve gone very well, indeed. (Salem residents, you get your chance on Tuesday night at Smith Auditorium at Willamette University.)

I have to say, playing the Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1 with Canadian violinist James Ehnes has been a supreme pleasure. He’s an amazing violinist and musician, and seems to be just a very kind and wonderful person as well. I’m not a huge fan of the Bruch, but the way he plays it, especially the slow movement, is beautiful beyond words, and he brings out the most the piece can offer, brushing away the cobwebs of hearing way too many mediocre performances, making the piece shine. That’s all any artist can hope for, and Ehnes delivers.

The Walton Partita for Orchestra was written as a piece to demonstrate the prowess of the Cleveland Orchestra under George Szell for their 50th anniversary, and it is quite the showpiece, indeed! It is one of those works that keep your head in the music every second – if you lose focus for even the slightest amount of time, you’ll “fall off” and have a tough time getting back on. However, the orchestra has been sounding great so far, and it’s like riding in a powerful 12-cylinder race car, being both in control and on the edge at the same time. It’s terribly exciting, and the audiences have seemed to find the same to be true as well.

Finally, there’s Beethoven’s Third Symphony “Eroica”. Beethoven is clearly in the heart of Carlos’ wheelhouse, and he has had a clear vision of the piece from the moment of our first rehearsal. This is not our first time in this piece with Carlos, but his ideas have changed over time, and though we didn’t do extensive rehearsals (much time was spent on the Walton) like we would if we were encountering the piece for the first time together, the synergy has been there. Especially enjoyable from the performer’s point of view is the fact that there were subtle but clear differences in how the energy of the piece went on Sunday night vs. Saturday night. Carlos is clearly reacting to our energy and vice versa, and it’s a wonderful time of music-making for all of us, I suspect.

All in all, the Oregon Symphony is playing very close to its best right now, and we’re peaking just in time for our debut at Carnegie Hall on May 12th. This really is the height of a golden age for the OSO – and it’s a blast.

love’s labours

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A daunting sight for any string quartet!

Phew. This weekend is over. It seemed, on Thursday afternoon, that Monday would never, ever come. It’s been such a busy time for me over this past week, especially considering that it was the spring break week for the Oregon Symphony. But, as time during the season is relatively scant for doing outside musical projects (though we all do it, with pretty predictable effects upon both our minds and bodies), any open spaces are often pounced upon to provide time for other pursuits. In my case, and three of my colleagues, we were preparing for two major concerts this past weekend.

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grosse fugue

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The Arnica Quartet is going to tackle Beethoven’s Grosse Fugue this season, and I was made aware of two cool youtube clips concerning this greatest and wildest of late Beethoven quartet movements.  The first (thanks to Elaine Fine at Musical Assumptions) is a visual representation of the fugue:

The second is a clip from a biopic about Beethoven, with – wait for it – Ed Harris playing Beethoven. It concerns the copying of the fugue with dramatic music, etc.:

And finally, the Alban Berg Quartet playing the whole shebang (in two parts, due to YouTube’s length restrictions):