The Saint Louis Symphony has joined a growing number of U.S. orchestras that are releasing content for download over the internet.

The first release is a live recording of John Adams’ Harmonielehre, a massive 50 minute work which thrust the composer out of the world of minimalism and into his current eclectic mix of new and old forms and tonal languages.

The next release, due out in September of 2008, will be Stravinsky’s Symphony in C.

Music director David Robertson will conduct on both recordings.

The following US and Canadian orchestras either are currently releasing live concert recordings in downloadable format, or are planning to in the near future:

Baltimore Symphony - [iTunes link]

Chicago Symphony - [iTunes link]

Indianapolis Symphony - [InstantEncore link]

Los Angeles Philharmonic - [iTunes link]

Milwaukee Symphony - [iTunes link]

Minnesota Orchestra - [iTunes link]

Philadelphia Orchestra - [proprietary website]

Toronto Symphony - [iTunes link]

Yesterday my quartet (the Arnica Quartet) played an early Mozart quartet (the G major, K. 157) and the great second string quartet of Leos Janacek, subtitled Intimate Letters. The concert was on a series presented by the OHSU Foundation, and took place in the acoustically and visually lovely OHSU Auditorium up on Marquam Hill.

The concert went very well, and was also well received (which is not always a guaranteed combination). It was also a fun concert to play.

While it might come as a surprise to many non-musicians, performing often not fun for a majority of the time for many of us. [Read more →]