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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There were two major highlights to last weekend’s classical series concerts with the Oregon Symphony: Joshua Bell and our brass section. Due to changes in his calendar, Bell dropped the Shostakovich First Violin Concerto for the Brahms Violin Concerto. Basically, he was to perform the piece publicly for the first time this season, but several
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Matthew McKay, who just joined the Oregon Symphony percussion section this season, has won a position in the venerable Boston Symphony. He will be joining former OSO cellist Adam Esbensen, who left for the BSO in 2008. Problematic for the Oregon Symphony percussion section is that the runner-up in the audition that Matt won here
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This week marks the first official week of work for our newly-hired principal flutist, Jessica Sindell. She is a wonderful player, and perhaps even better, a sparkling personality whose smile can already be seen lighting up even the most dreary of rehearsals. Jessica is a graduate of the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New
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James Manishen of the Winnipeg Free Post has put up his top ten recordings of classical music for 2011, and the Oregon Symphony’s Music for a Time of War made #3. See the other musical and arts genre lists here. 1. Glenn Gould, On Television: The Complete CBC Broadcasts 1954-1977 This 19-hour, 10 DVD set is
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I hope that the Classical Beaver brings a change of underwear for the Oregon Symphony’s January 14, 15 and 16th concerts, because the ‘rock star’ violinist Joshua Bell will now be playing the great Violin Concerto of Johannes Brahms in place of the previously programmed First Concerto of Dmitri Shostakovich. I’ll bet that principal oboist
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UPDATE (11:50 p.m. 12/3) – Well, the mass of people had been removed from the park when the concert ended, but as of around 11 p.m., the protestors had moved back into the park, presumably to defy the 12 a.m. curfew put in effect by the city. I’m just glad that we and our patrons
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Yes, Pinchas Zukerman, aka P-Zuk (his rapper name), is leading the Oregon Symphony this week – most through his conducting, but also with some timely demonstrations on a surprised Assistant concertmaster Erin Furbee’s violin (I think she may never clean it again!). The Zuk-meister will also be playing one of Haydn’s little-known violin concertos this
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You can see his picks on his blog The Rest Is Noise by clicking here.
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Michael Kaiser, President of the Kennedy Center in D.C., is a regular contributor to the online left-leaning news site The Huffington Post. Turns out his most recent column concerned a certain Portland-based orchestra that has run some recent surpluses – click here for his take on the recent successes of the Oregon Symphony.
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It’s Thanksgiving weekend, which for most orchestras and ballet companies marks the beginning of the onslaught of holiday programming. For the Oregon Symphony, that meant the Von Trapp family singers (the great grandchildren of the captain and Maria Von Trapp) at the Schnitz last night. We head down to Salem for a matinee performance this
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I have a job. I have a job for which I trained for most of my life. I have a job that I love. That Carlos Kalmar is our music director. That Elaine Calder is our president. That we have a terrific staff that breaks their backs for us on a daily basis. That Portland,
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Last night the Oregon Symphony played a concert that is, in many ways, emblematic of the tenure of our current music director Carlos Kalmar. On display were canny programming, a stellar soloist, and a well-known chestnut with an interpretive twist. The work that has most occupied the members of the orchestra in the weeks preceding
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Saturday and Monday nights will see another great set of concerts in this already stellar season. The big surprise for this week? The Britten Piano Concerto. Never heard of it? Well, neither had I, before this season’s repertoire was announced. We had our rehearsals with pianist Stephen Osborne over the last two days, and the
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In case you’re on the fence about this week’s concerts (and why should you be – isn’t the Mozart Jupiter symphony and Strauss’ Don Juan enough of a reason to make it?), here are YouTube videos of the Britten Piano Concerto that is also on the program. The British pianist Stephen Osborne will be the soloist
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