{"id":1287,"date":"2008-10-17T06:00:49","date_gmt":"2008-10-17T13:00:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/?p=1287"},"modified":"2008-10-17T10:11:08","modified_gmt":"2008-10-17T17:11:08","slug":"thoughts-on-this-weeks-classical-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/10\/17\/thoughts-on-this-weeks-classical-program\/","title":{"rendered":"thoughts on this week’s classical program"},"content":{"rendered":"

We’re three rehearsals into this weeks classical concert (officially known as Classical 2 for those keeping score at home), and it’s an interesting, mixed bag of repertoire, with differing demands on the various parts of the orchestra.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nBandoneon<\/em><\/p>\n

The most interesting work on the program, for me, is Last Round<\/em>, for string orchestra, written in 1996 by the celebrated Argentinian composer Osvaldo Golijov.\u00c2\u00a0 The first movement, entitled\u00c2\u00a0 is a sort of proto-tango, more evocative of the existential angst of the tango than its rhythmic composition.\u00c2\u00a0 Golijov writes far more eloquently about his piece than I ever could – here is what he says about it:<\/p>\n

“Astor Piazzolla, the last great Tango composer, was at the peak of his creativity when a stroke killed him in 1992. He left us, in the words of the old tango, ‘without saying good bye’, and that day the musical face of Buenos Aires was abruptly frozen. The creation of that face had started a hundred years earlier from the unlikely combination of African rhythms underlying gauchos’ couplets, sung in the style of Sicilian canzonettas over an accompanying Andalucian guitar. As the years passed all converged towards the bandoneon: a small accordion-like instrument without keyboard that was invented in Germany in the 19th century to serve as a portable church organ and which, after finding its true home in the bordellos of Buenos Aires’ slums in the 1920’s, went back to Europe to conquer Paris’ high society in the 1930’s. Since then it reigned as the essential instrument for any Tango ensemble.<\/p>\n

“Piazzolla’s bandoneon was able to condense all the symbols of tango. The eroticism of legs and torsos in the dance was reduced to the intricate patterns of his virtuoso fingers (a simple C major scale in the bandoneon zigzags so much as to leave an inexperienced player’s fingers tangled). The melancholy of the singer’s voice was transposed to the breathing of the bandoneon’s continuous opening and closing. The macho attitude of the tangueros was reflected in his pose on stage: standing upright, chest forward, right leg on a stool, the bandoneon on top of it, being by turns raised, battered, caressed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nPhoto: Osvaldo Golijov – \u00c2\u00a9 John Sann\/Deutsche Grammophone 2005<\/em><\/p>\n

The work is in two movements, the second bearing the title “Death of the Angels”, which is as beautiful and moving a piece of music as has been composed in the last century.\u00c2\u00a0 Last year, Third Angle and Fear No Music performed the piece in its nonet version (two string quartets and double bass), and this movement was performed in memory of beloved second flutist Martha Herby, who had died just days before the performance.\u00c2\u00a0 Coming just a week or so after the passing of our Assistant principal bassist Ken Baldwin, it will be an emotional piece for us to play as well.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nAlberto Ginastera<\/em><\/p>\n

Also from Argentina comes a suite of dances from the ballet Estancia<\/em> by Alberto Ginastera, written in 1941.\u00c2\u00a0 Whereas Golijov weaves complex and powerful emotional images with his sophisticated writing, Ginastera goes straight for the jugular with these dances – there is little subltlety to be found here, just pounding rhythms, screaming wind instruments and scuttling strings.<\/p>\n

Completing this Latin American survey, we come to a piece which has no violas or cellos – oh my!\u00c2\u00a0 It’s a work by Mexican composer Sivestre Revueltas, his Homage to Federico Garcia Lorca<\/em> of 1936.\u00c2\u00a0 This is an utterly guileless and charming work, featuring some virtuoso turns by piccolo, trumpet, trombone and tuba along with divided violins and double basses.\u00c2\u00a0 Much of the time it sounds like a cross between silent movie music and the classic Warner Brothers cartoon scoring of Carl Stalling.\u00c2\u00a0 Not to be missed!<\/p>\n

With all of this nationalistic music on display, why not let the Eastern Europeans get into the act, and the honors go to Czech composer (more accurately he was Bohemian) Bedr\u00cc\u2020ich Smetana. His grand tone poem Ma Vlast (My Country) is the ultimate nationalist travelogue, and the most familiar and beloved of its movements is Moldau, which describes the course of the country’s largest river as it flows from its humble source to the sea.\u00c2\u00a0 At the opening the first trickles of the fledling river are described by the two flutes, and you’ll be able to enjoy the mellifluous sound of our new Assistant principal flutist, Alicia DiDonato Paulsen as she seemlessly blends sinuous lines with Principal flutist David Buck.\u00c2\u00a0 You’ll also get to see the viola section all develop tendinitis as we play thousands of sixteenth notes throughout this piece – it’s a chop buster and takes some serious stamina (though not quite as much as the overture to Tannh\u00c3\u00a4user)<\/em> to get through!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nValentina Lisitsa<\/em><\/p>\n

Last (but not last on the program) comes the great Grieg Piano Concerto.\u00c2\u00a0 Let’s just say that Valentina Lisitsa absolutely rips her way through this piece, and you will seldom hear it played with such energy – she will bring down the house with her performance of this piece!\u00c2\u00a0 She’s playing on a gorgeous and powerful B\u00c3\u00b6sendorfer concert grand for these performances (the piano was flown in via cargo jet the morning of today’s rehearsals) – it will be something to see and hear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We’re three rehearsals into this weeks classical concert (officially known as Classical 2 for those keeping score at home), and it’s an interesting, mixed bag of repertoire, with differing demands on the various parts of the orchestra. Bandoneon The most interesting work on the program, for me, is Last Round, for string orchestra, written in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[148,115,135,2],"tags":[3668,396],"class_list":["post-1287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appreciations","category-music","category-soloists-recitals","category-the-orchestra-world","tag-oregon-symphony","tag-valentina-lisitsa"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-kL","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":422,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/08\/24\/back-to-school-quiz\/","url_meta":{"origin":1287,"position":0},"title":"back to school quiz","author":"Charles Noble","date":"August 24, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Soho the Dog has posted his back to school classical music quiz, which I'll reproduce here (and give my own answers).\u00c2\u00a0 Remember, there's no such thing as a dumb answer, just a dumb person! 1. What's the best quotation of a piece of music within another piece of music? Beethoven's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":329,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/05\/21\/an-orchestras-life\/","url_meta":{"origin":1287,"position":1},"title":"an orchestra’s life","author":"Charles Noble","date":"May 21, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Tonight is the last concert of our 2006-2007 classical subscription series (we've got two more after this: the Evelyn Nagel donor concert and a runout to George Fox University in Newberg). It's a fitting culmination to this season in several ways. First, we play Schubert's \"Unfinished\" Symphony. This is a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":21172,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2021\/03\/14\/what-i-would-have-been-playing-this-month-march-2021-edition\/","url_meta":{"origin":1287,"position":2},"title":"what I would have been playing this month – march 2021 edition","author":"Charles Noble","date":"March 14, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"March is often one of the busiest months of the season for the Oregon Symphony (aside from the run up to the Christmas holiday). This month would have brought three Classical series concerts, with some really great repertoire, the return of a favorite guest conductor, and a look at an\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "covid-19"","block_context":{"text":"covid-19","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/covid-19\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1424,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/11\/13\/upcoming-classical-concert-thoughts\/","url_meta":{"origin":1287,"position":3},"title":"upcoming classical concert thoughts","author":"Charles Noble","date":"November 13, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"This weekend comes Classical 4, which features an interesting program: Too Hot Toccata by Aaron Jay Kernis, Concerto in F by George Gershwin, and Rachmaninoff's Third Symphony. It's interesting because each work on the program is a standard form with an individual \"take\" on the form in the eyes of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "appreciation"","block_context":{"text":"appreciation","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/appreciations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7838,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2012\/09\/10\/nytimes-takes-note-of-oregon-symphonys-2013-carnegie-program\/","url_meta":{"origin":1287,"position":4},"title":"nytimes takes note of oregon symphony’s 2013 carnegie program","author":"Charles Noble","date":"September 10, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"From the list of its most anticipated classical music events in today's New York Times: SPRING FOR MUSIC This annual festival of North American orchestras, conceived by top music professionals to encourage and reward adventurous programming, has in its first two seasons effectively filled what it has shown to be\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":554,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/11\/29\/oso-cl-5-imix\/","url_meta":{"origin":1287,"position":5},"title":"OSO CL 5 iMix","author":"Charles Noble","date":"November 29, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's my list of recommended listening sources (at least as available on iTunes) for this weekend's upcoming Classical 6 subscription series. If you're interested in reading the program notes for this concert in the comfortable lighting of your home rather than squinting as the lights dim at the Schnitz, click\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "iMix"","block_context":{"text":"iMix","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/imix\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/11\/spacer2.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1287","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/303"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1287"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1287\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1287"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1287"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1287"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}