Posts from — August 2008

Tom McCall Waterfront Park at Thursday

Thursday night’s free OSO concert at Tom McCall Waterfront Park was a great success, as you can see from the photo above, courtesy of OSO principal violist Joël Belgique (who has the smallest camera I’ve ever seen!).  It was great to see the music lovers in our community turn out in such numbers!  Thanks for coming!

My OSO colleague Ron Blessinger is also the artistic director of the acclaimed new music ensemble Third Angle, and this September his group and the t:b:a festival (Festival of Time-based Art) are presenting a huge multimedia project devoted to the work of landscape architect Lawrence Halprin and his choreographer wife, Anna within some of his groundbreaking public spaces in downtown Portland, Oregon.

The project has had some incredible energy and collaboration poured into it (as well as a ton of money), and looks to be the major event of the t:b:a festival this year.

Well, the Seattle P-I’s arts critic, Regina Hackett, picked up on a press release and wrote the following in her blog on the P-I’s website:

One of the things I love about Portland, Oregon: You can be anything. If I lived there, my business card would say, “Regina Hackett. Speaker in tongues.”

The subject came up while reading a release from Portland’s “The City Dance of Lawrence and Anna Halprin” with “The Third Angle New Music Ensemble.” At the bottom of the list of choreographers, Randy Gragg gets a credit.

Randy Gragg? He’s an art and urban spaces critic, formerly of The Oregonian and now editor of a fancy lifestyle magazine. It’s way beneath his talents but not his pay grade. (Newspapers are floundering; lifestyle magazines are in the pink.)

Working there makes Gragg a sell-out. The term was an insult during the heyday of the counterculture but became a compliment during the Reagan administration. I’m sure I’d sell out if there were anyone to sell out to.

Is it just me, or is this completely snarky and unprofessional “journalism”?  Why so vitriolic and transparently jealous and spiteful?  I can’t believe that the online editor (if there even is one) allowed this to make it to the web unchallenged.  It’s no wonder that print journalism is going the way of the dinosaur, with such low standards.

If you compare such a screed to what the Oregonian’s David Stabler writes on a regular basis in his blog on classical music, you’d see no relation whatsoever.  David writes professionally at all times - it doesn’t matter that his words are appearing “only” on a computer screen and not on newsprint, he writes as if everyone in the state will be reading his words, not just some on-line cognoscenti looking to see who will be skewered next in some oh-so-clever way.

Well, Ron took out his electronic pen and wrote back - you can see the exchange here.

Photo ©2008 Charles Noble

We did another photo shoot for Fear No Music this evening, and Inés Voglar had found a pile of deserted violins that were about to be recycled from David Kerr Violins, so a pile of cast-off fiddles came to the shoot!

If you come to the free Waterfront concert on Thursday the 28th @ 7:00 p.m. (at Tom McCall Waterfront Park/1020 SW Naito Parkway) - you may notice some new players - here’s a guide to the newest faces at the OSO from my post of last June.

© Charles Noble

This was in today’s Daily Journal of Commerce:

Changes in store for Schnitz, Main Street
New RFP issued by MERC calls for designs of an ‘iconic venue’ next to hall to transform Main Street

POSTED: 04:00 AM PDT Monday, August 25, 2008
BY SAM BENNETT

The Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall is ready for a makeover.

The 80-year-old concert hall, formerly the Paramount Theatre, has a tight lobby when filled with people, cramped seating and a shortage of women’s restrooms, according to Robyn Williams, executive director of the Portland Center for the Performing Arts.

PCPA is part of the Metropolitan Exposition Recreation Commission (MERC), a subsidiary of Metro. MERC oversees the PCPA as well as the Oregon Convention Center and Portland Expo Center.

To address concerns about the concert hall, MERC is planning a two-part project that would fix its inadequacies and also explore developing a structure next to the hall on Southwest Main Street, between Southwest Broadway and Southwest Park Avenue.

A recently released request for proposals, issued by MERC, seeks architects “to design both a significant expansion to the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall and the creation of a new iconic venue transforming Main Street between the concert hall and the Antoinette Hatfield Hall in a cultural center and pedestrian plaza.”

The RFP calls for a facility on Main Street that “could be used to host small classes, seminars and public outreach programs in a cultural arts district setting.”

Williams said the winning architecture firm would “look at what’s possible and what’s not possible” in terms of upgrades to the hall, informally known as the Schnitz, and construction on or over Main Street.

Possibilities for Main Street could include a restaurant or additional performance space, Williams said. “We don’t know if we can close Main Street or build something over it,” she said. “We want to do something that’s in the best interest of the arts.”

The Schnitz is overdue for improvements, according to Williams. MERC wants the winning firm to study possible acoustic improvements and a seismic upgrade to the Schnitz.

She said some of the improvements, such as acoustic changes, would be made to improve the symphony-goer’s experience.

Elaine Calder, president of the Oregon Symphony Association, said the symphony wants to know “what can be accomplished by way of acoustic enhancements and physical improvements to the auditorium.”

“As the major tenant of the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, we are of course vitally interested in the planned improvements,” she said. “Patron amenities are important to us and to our audiences, and so is the actual musical experience.”

The RFP is broken into two phases: in the first phase, MERC will seek qualified architects, and in the second phase MERC will ask three firms to participate in a conceptual design competition “for design of an iconic Main Street venue.”

A 2005 feasibility study, according to the RFP, determined that the Schnitz and the Hatfield Hall would benefit from new construction on Main Street, by providing a new cultural center. The Schnitz would also need renovations and enhancements that would help the overall “building design and public experience,” it states.

The Schnitz was built in 1928 as a venue for vaudeville and showing movies. It remained a movie theater until 1972 and then became a concert hall. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1976 and received a major renovation in 1984. The building was designed by the firm Rapp and Rapp, in the Italian Renaissance style. It seats 2,700.

Williams said the winning design firm will need to explore what can be done with the block-long stretch of Main Street, which currently can be closed off with gates for special events. As for the Schnitz, she said, “We’re looking at how to make this a good, vital home for the arts and how to keep the facility vital for the next 20 years.”

What is most sad about this, to me, is that if Elaine Calder hadn’t been solicited to comment for this article, there would have been no mention of the acoustics of the hall whatsoever.  It’s not the worst hall in the world, but it’s rapidly falling behind the class of the orchestra which it houses.  That having been said (and duly noted, I hope) front of house amenities have been sorely lacking, and some sort of major overhaul is needed.  I hope that plans will soon be underway to figure out where the symphony will perform while this is being done!

Monday was my first day back  (the season began last Thursday, but I was off to wrap up the Sunriver Music Festival) at the OSO.  My first surprise: I now have a spot in the closer parking garage!  I guess I’m now old and decrepit enough to warrant a parking place a block from the hall (there are a limited no. of spaces, and how they’re allocated is a mystery to me - usually only those playing the large instruments such as tuba, double bass, and cello get spots in this garage, and then those musicians who have a physical challenge which requires a shorter walk to the hall).  Since I turn 40 in just over a week, it’s a fitting honor.

We’re rehearsing a dog’s breakfast of pieces for the big waterfront concert at Tom McCall Waterfront Park on Thursday evening.  Included is the ever-popular 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky, but the more interesting pieces are Javelin by Michael Torke, which was written for the Atlanta Olympic games, the White Swan pas de deux from Swan Lake with members of the Oregon Ballet Theater dancing live on a side stage to the music, and an ensemble number from Verdi’s La Traviata with members of the Portland Opera cast singing live on stage.  

It is good to be back, but I had such a good time in Central Oregon that I’m still a bit sad about not being there - especially as the weather is now just about perfect there (we had alternating rain and triple-digit temps during the middle of the festival).

Last night I had the pleasure of going to dinner at Ten-01 with former OSO principal cellist Mark Votapek, who was in town on a rest stop from hiking the complete Pacific Crest Trail!  He started near the California-Mexican border on May 2nd (actually he did the first 110 miles in January), and has averaged about 25 miles of hiking (with an ultra-light 20 pound pack) each and every day, with one 100 mile cycling detour around fire zones which closed the trail in Southern California.  He’ll finish in British Columbia sometime towards the end of September.  Amazing!

We just got back today from the lovely high desert resort community of Sunriver, located in Central Oregon about 15 miles south of Bend.  This was the  Sunriver festival’s 31st year of existence, which is a great thing considering the quick and final (Chapter 7) demise of the Cascade Festival of Music this summer.

This year’s festival was a relaxed and enjoyable affair, with good audiences and wonderful playing by the orchestra and the guest artists.

The season kicked off at the Tower Theater in downtown Bend with a pops concert devised and conducted by principal bassist Frank Diliberto.  Sparkling arrangements by the former OSO pops maestro and conductor laureate Norman Leyden made up most of the program, including some great numbers featuring Portland’s own jazz diva Shirley Nanette.  The program was concluded in fine fashion by Pink Martini front-man Thomas Lauderdale in Gershwin’s ever fresh and exhilarating Rhapsody in Blue.  A great time was had by all, and the musicians had an even better time at the Deschutes Brew Pub afterwards!

The first concert showcased several of our fine string principals as well as our sparkling wind section.  Acting concertmaster Paula Bird played the Mozart Adagio in E, K. 261 with a lovely, full tone and supple phrasing, while later both she and Principal cellist Kari Caldwell (principal cellist of the Tulsa Philharmonic) played the demanding solos from Haydn’s Symphony No. 31 ‘Horn signal’ with virtuosity.  The strings got an extremely unusual reprieve in the second half of the concert with the performance of the sublime Gran Partita wind serenade of Mozart.  

The second concert of the first weekend was the most demanding of the festival.  Prokofiev’s ‘Classical’ Symphony No. 1 put the entire orchestra through its paces, but was more enjoyable in a chamber orchestra setting than with full symphony orchestra string sections.  Quick tempos predominated, with some especially fleet playing by Principal flutist Adam Kuenzel (Principal flute of the Minnesota Orchestra) and second flutist Christine Gangelhoff.  

Then came the commanding piano soloist Kirill Gerstein, who was scheduled to play both of the Mendelssohn Piano Concertos on a single concert.  Instead, a last-minute program change was made, and the Mendelssohn #1 was performed along with the substituted piece: Beethoven’s great ‘Emperor’ concerto.  Gerstein was exceptionally impressive in the seldom-heard Mendelssohn - cascades of notes were tossed off with crystalline sound and clarity and tremendous dynamic range, while the Beethoven was given a refreshingly lean and propulsive performance - it did not sound like a labored war horse in this performance!  Kirill’s performances were the highlight of the festival for me.  

In between the two concerti, the 4th Symphony ‘Tragic’ of Schubert was performed.  It came off quite well, but the last movement has some brutal passage-work for the strings and took some of the edge off of my enjoyment!

The second weekend’s first concert was actually an added performance.  On Thursday evening, in a gesture of goodwill to the patrons of the Cascade Festival of Music, subscription ticket holders were offered a concert at which their tickets would be honored for admission.  The response was very gratifying, with many patrons very thankful to the Sunriver Festival for their generosity and the fine performance.  

The musicians of the orchestra were instrumental in consenting to convert an evening rehearsal to a concert to make this event possible.  It was the least that we at the Festival could do for these ardent classical music supporters who were out several hundred dollars for their CFM tickets.

The first official concert of the second weekend was an operatic extravaganza featuring two alumni of the Festival’s Young Artist Scholarship Program, soprano Courtney Huffman and mezzo-soprano Sarah Mattox.  Favorite selections from the operatic repertoire featured the singers both in duo and solo arias.  The concert was sold-out and the audience response was ecstatic.

The final concert of the festival began with a taut and focused account of the Stravinsky Octet for winds and brass.  The first half was concluded with a bouncing and lilting performance of the Bach Orchestral Suite No. 1.  After intermission, the husband and wife combination of violinist Stefan Milenkovich and cellist Ani Aznavoorian gave a brilliant performance of the Brahms Double Concerto for violin and cello.  

They both played wonderfully, but I’d put my money on Aznavoorian as the one to watch for the brightest future.  As an encore they played a superbly flexible rendition of the Handel/Halvorsen Passacaglia.

Amidst all of this I managed six rides around the local roads, including a climb up to Mt. Bachelor, and trips out to the Cascade Lakes Highway.  The first weekend also featured triple-digit temperatures, which put a damper on outdoor activities for a web-foot such as myself.

Oregon Symphony musicians who took part in this years festival were hornist Mary Grant, trumpeter Jeffrey Work, and double bassists Frank Diliberto and Jeffrey Johnson.

All classical concerts were ably and affably led by the SRMF’s artistic director and conductor (and former OSO music director) Lawrence Leighton Smith.

What do Jeffrey Work, Kirill Gerstein, Thomas Lauderdale, cycling to Mt. Bachelor, and 100 degree heat have in common?

The 2008 Sunriver Music Festival, of course!

Next week I’ll write a full recap of this year’s festival goings-on.  Stay tuned!

portland sunset 2 | Originally uploaded by nobleviola
click photo to enlarge

I’ll be out in central Oregon for the Sunriver Music Festival (whose continued existence I am very grateful for!) - so posting will be even more sparse than it has been lately - see you in two weeks for the opening of the OSO’s 2008 - 2009 season!

I just spent a fine summer’s evening doing some new shots for fEARnoMUSIC’s so-to-be updated website. Portland is so beautiful (and so is fearnomusic!).

I was reading a great collection of diary entries and columns by the great Bob “Bobke” Roll, who had a career racing both road bikes and mountain bikes in the 80’s to the early 90’s.  He was also a training partner for a young upstart Lance Armstrong as he made his comeback from cancer.

As I read these various stories of pain, misery, disappointment, triumph, strangeness and fun, it struck a chord with me in my struggles with my meager rides, and also with my years of struggling with the viola, and other aspects of being a student of the arts. [Read more →]