season review back and forth May 29, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : appreciation/criticism, music, the orchestra world, 5commentsI opened my in box yesterday to find the following response to my post about the 2007-2008 season from OSO music director Carlos Kalmar. He has allowed me to print it in it’s entirety. I think it’s a thoughtful response, and one that might prove informative and illuminating. I’ve included my response to his email as well. There has also been a healthy discourse with OSO resident conductor Gregory Vajda in the comments section of that post as well. (more…)
tired and sore April 27, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : appreciation/criticism, music, the orchestra world, add a commentThat’s how I feel this morning. If you’ve played Mahler’s Ninth twice the previous day, plus ridden the 9 miles to work and 9 miles back home before and after the rehearsal - it leads to a healthy sense of fatigue!
The performance last night was memorable - this orchestra has truly come of age. We’re finally realizing our untapped potential, and playing concerts of some of the most demanding music at a seriously high level. It feels good.
Now, let’s do it two more times, o.k.?
If you haven’t yet had a chance to read my thumbnail sketches of the four movements that comprise the Ninth Symphony of Gustav Mahler, here’s a helpful set of links so you can do so. I also hope that you make the trip down to Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall tonight or tomorrow night - it’s a concert that you’ll be glad you attended.
instrument petting zoo April 25, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : education, music, the orchestra world, video, youth orchestras, add a commentAs part of our partnership with different communities each year, our education department includes what is called the instrument petting zoo. No, it’s not a bunch of instruments in a fenced in area, with children walking around them petting them with timid hands.
What it is in actuality is a chance for kids to get their hands on an instrument and be taught or guided in how to make some sort of elementary sound on it. The theory is, if they get a small taste of creating new sounds on an instrument they’ve never seen or heard, they’ll want more, and might even want to take up an instrument in school or at home.
Here’s a YouTube movie I found of a youngster named Soren getting his first taste of the violin, with OSO violist Stephen Price giving him a hand with fingering the notes:
Here’s another video of OSO music director Carlos Kalmar giving the Portland Metropolitan Youth Symphony a workout in Beethoven’s Egmont Overture.
kalmar, prokofiev earthshaking April 19, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : News, appreciation/criticism, music, the orchestra world, add a commentThis past Friday, the St. Louis area was awakened by the shaking of a 5.2 magnitude earthquake. That evening the St. Louis Symphony was led by OSO music director Carlos Kalmar in a performance that included the Fifth Symphony of Sergei Prokofiev. According to this review and other accounts, this may have been an aftershock of its own.
Friday in St. Louis began with the tremors and aftershocks of an earthquake, and ended with an incandescent performance that shook the stage of Powell Symphony Hall.
The first half of Friday night’s concert by guest conductor Carlos Kalmar and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra was fine. The second half was remarkable: What a difference the right repertoire in the right hands can make to a concert.
That second half consisted of an incandescent performance of Serge Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5 in B-flat major, op. 100. Written during the waning days of World War II, the Symphony No. 5 is a symphonic masterpiece. This score has it all, from moments of big, sweeping grandeur to light humor, from passages of savage jeering to outright lyricism.
Kalmar and the orchestra invested it with a sense of excitement beyond that inherent in the score. Kalmar was fun to watch, with a leonine head of hair that moved dramatically as he danced around the podium, and angular body language perfectly matched to Prokofiev’s rhythmic world.
Read the complete review here.
Carlos Kalmar signed to four-year contract extension April 10, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : News, conducting, music, the orchestra world, add a comment
OSO Board Chairman Walt Wyler came to the podium at the beginning of this morning’s rehearsal to announce the news that music director Carlos Kalmar has been offered, and has accepted, a four-year contract extension that will bring his tenure through the 2012-2013 season.
It’s good news for the orchestra because it will ensure artistic stability, and in the words of Walt Wyler, will enable Calmar and our new president, Elaine Calder, to bring their collaboration to full fruition over the next four years.
The other factor in this extension is that is also gives the orchestra time to deepen connections with past or future guest conductors who might be considered to succeed Kalmar in the future.
Given the dearth of high quality conductors in this country, it pays to have time to do proper research and build relationships, so that when Carlos moves on up the ladder to a bigger orchestra, we’ll have several candidates in hand and who are familiar both to the organization and audiences, that might either step in in an advisory capacity or be hired as a music director designate.
It’s very good news for the OSO - we’re lucky to have Carlos, and with all of the financial instability that we face over the next few years, having a steady hand at the artistic reins will be vital.
kalmar featured TAFTO contributer for 2008 April 1, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : bloggers, conducting, music, the orchestra world, add a commentOSO music director Carlos Kalmar is one of the contributors for Drew McManus’ Take A Friend To the Orchestra 2008 essay project.
Kalmar’s essay will appear on Monday, April 7, 2008.
You can find the list of contributors and other articles at adaptistration.com.
big program hangover February 17, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : appreciation/criticism, music, the orchestra world, add a commentLast night we played the first of four concerts of the latest Classical Series (3 shows here in Portland, and one run-out to Salem). It’s a big program. Usually we start at 7:30 on Saturday evenings, and I pretty much expect to be walking in my front door around 10:00 p.m. Last night I was getting in my car around 9:50 - the concert was a solid 2 hours plus. It’s a pretty demanding program for all parts of the orchestra (except for the percussion section, who after the MacMillan a few weeks ago get a reprieve). (more…)
carlos kalmar interview January 17, 2008
Posted by Charles Noble in : music, the orchestra world, add a commentJames Bash interviews OSO music director Carlos Kalmar and gets the low-down on the rest of this season’s highlights - click here to check it out.
