{"id":14152,"date":"2016-06-29T22:49:26","date_gmt":"2016-06-30T05:49:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/?p=14152"},"modified":"2016-06-29T22:49:26","modified_gmt":"2016-06-30T05:49:26","slug":"oregon-bach-festival-report-part-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2016\/06\/29\/oregon-bach-festival-report-part-one\/","title":{"rendered":"oregon bach festival report – part one"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Tuesday night, the Oregon Bach Festival gave the first concert of\u00a0its\u00a0modern orchestra, the Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra (there might be an additional ‘festival’ missing in there, but it bothers me, so I’m leaving\u00a0it out). It was a special concert, one of two that I can recall during my time at the festival, where a composer was also the conductor, leading the orchestra in works of his own and others. The first such occasion was the Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki. This time,\u00a0our august conductor\/composer was Sir James MacMillan, a Scottish composer of great renown. Those of you who frequent Oregon Symphony concerts will know of him through performances we’ve done in Portland – most recently of his percussion concerto Veni, Veni, Emmanuel<\/em> with soloist Colin Currie (which you can listen to at\u00a0the OSO audio page<\/a>), and a few years back,\u00a0The Confession of Isobel Gowdie<\/em>, a remarkable piece for orchestra, based upon the torture and confession of an accused witch<\/a> in 17th century Scotland.<\/p>\n

The program last night was just about equal parts MacMillan and works of other composers. The common theme was the British Isles. Felix Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture opened the concert with perhaps the only bright moment of the evening. The strings provide the restless waters of the cold North Atlantic, while the winds and brass declaim in stentorian tones the majesty of the unsettled land and seascape. Clarinetists Johnny Teyssier and Todd Kuhns were standouts in their melodic moments. Immediately after the Mendelssohn, the mood turned somber with MacMillan’s\u00a0For Sonny\u00a0<\/em>(2011, rev. 2013) which was commissioned for the remembrance of a friend’s tragic loss of a very young child. Long moments of near silence, punctuated with delicate, almost playful but more melancholic pizzicati created a sense of loss and what might have been. With the next piece, Shostakovich’s\u00a0Chamber Symphony, Op. 110 (arr. Barshai)<\/em> we were brought from death on a small, intimate scale, to death of a massive scale, with all of the psychic ramifications that entails. String quartet arrangements for string orchestra are almost never as effective as the original (in this case, Shostakovich’s 8th quartet), but this particular version may prove the exception. The added weight of multiple players on a part, and the addition of two double basses, make the piece no less unwieldy (in fact, tempos in the two fast movements were rather brisk – much more so that Barshai’s own recording of this arrangement), and simply add to the emotional heft of the work, in my opinion. Standouts last night were principal cellist Nancy Ives and concertmaster Sarah Kwak, with their beautiful and harrowing solos throughout the piece.<\/p>\n

After the intermission, the music of Benjamin Britten was featured via his settings of English folk songs,\u00a0A Time There Was…,\u00a0<\/em>Op. 90. Written in the last two years of his life, there is more of a sense of melancholy and the weight of worries of life imprinted upon these settings. Harpist Jennifer Craig was at her most celestial in The bitter whey.<\/em>\u00a0The woodwinds and percussion\u00a0were delightfully martial in Hankin Booby.\u00a0<\/em>The violins were fierce and virtuosic Celtic fiddlers\u00a0in\u00a0Hunt the Squirrel,\u00a0<\/em>while English hornist Henry Ward was wonderfully plangent in his mournful solos in\u00a0Lord Melbourne<\/em>. I have yet to encounter a work by Britten that I don’t like, and this proved no exception, with that perfectly British combination of wit, melancholy, and a good dose of stiff upper lip.<\/p>\n

MacMillan’s own\u00a0Sinfonietta\u00a0<\/em>(1991) was written just after\u00a0The Confession of Isobel Gowdie<\/em>, which is arguably his break-out work, and just before Veni, Veni, Emmanuel<\/em> (1992) which has proved to be one of his most-performed works (out of some more than 250). It’s a piece that hasn’t been programmed much, and to my knowledge, has only been recorded once (by the Scottish Chamber Orchestra under the direction of the composer). That’s a shame, since it’s a piece that exemplifies much of what MacMillan is about, which is the connection and conflict between the spiritual and the physical worlds. The opening slow section featured stellar work on the soprano saxophone by Timothy McAllister (whom OSO concertgoers may remember from his virtuoso work on John Adams’ City Noir<\/em>), with spot-on intonation and a beautiful, singing tone, even in the uppermost registers that MacMillan gives the performer to contend with. Principal horn Joseph Berger shone in his wickedly difficult calls that essentially went from the highest notes possible to the lowest, one after the other. And the entire percussion and brass sections were rhythmic powerhouses in the crazy march that takes over the middle of the piece.<\/p>\n

It was a wonderful concert to play, with a fair amount of variety and interest for us performers, and it gave the chamber orchestra version of the Festival Orchestra a chance to shine without a star soloist or supporting the amazing Berwick Chorus. Coming up: the world premiere of MacMillan’s \u00a0A European Requiem<\/em> (hopefully Brexit free!) and Bach’s Magnificat<\/em><\/a> under the direction of festival artistic director Matthew Halls.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Tuesday night, the Oregon Bach Festival gave the first concert of\u00a0its\u00a0modern orchestra, the Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra (there might be an additional ‘festival’ missing in there, but it bothers me, so I’m leaving\u00a0it out). It was a special concert, one of two that I can recall during my time at the festival, where a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":14060,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-orchestra-world"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/macmillan_conducts.jpg?fit=270%2C270&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-3Gg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":22489,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2022\/08\/26\/dog-days-of-summer\/","url_meta":{"origin":14152,"position":0},"title":"Dog Days of Summer","author":"Charles Noble","date":"August 26, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Lily enjoys the dog days! It's that time of year, summer is winding down. The summer festival circuit is coming to an end. Orchestras with 52-week seasons are just ending their 21-22 seasons or just about to start their 22-23 seasons. The weather is hot, the greenery is starting to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "chamber music"","block_context":{"text":"chamber music","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/chamber-music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/IMG_1414-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/IMG_1414-scaled.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/IMG_1414-scaled.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/IMG_1414-scaled.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/IMG_1414-scaled.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/IMG_1414-scaled.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14784,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2018\/07\/31\/summer-catch-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":14152,"position":1},"title":"summer catch-up","author":"Charles Noble","date":"July 31, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I can't believe that it's been nearly two months since my last post! Lots of stuff has been happening, musically. In early July I was at the Oregon Bach Festival in Eugene, Oregon. I played three orchestral concerts there, and two chamber music concerts. The orchestral concerts were a mixed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "music"","block_context":{"text":"music","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/IMG_4363-e1533020147432-500x376.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12763,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2013\/07\/07\/obf-passing-the-baton\/","url_meta":{"origin":14152,"position":2},"title":"obf – passing the baton","author":"Charles Noble","date":"July 7, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"It was my final performance at the Oregon Bach Festival for 2013, and it was quite a historical event for the festival. This concert marked the symbolic 'passing of the baton' from founding Artistic Director Helmut Rilling to the Artistic Director Designate Matthew Halls. Rilling conducted a family affair first\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "soloists & recitals"","block_context":{"text":"soloists & recitals","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/soloists-recitals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/1044258_10151705975801162_893702049_n.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/1044258_10151705975801162_893702049_n.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/1044258_10151705975801162_893702049_n.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/1044258_10151705975801162_893702049_n.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":12732,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2013\/06\/26\/oregon-bach-festival-preview\/","url_meta":{"origin":14152,"position":3},"title":"oregon bach festival preview","author":"Charles Noble","date":"June 26, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"We're just had our first rehearsal of the first week of the 2013 Oregon Bach Festival. It's a big year for the organization, with the founding conductor and artistic director Helmuth Rilling stepping into the role of artistic director emeritus with the ascendance of Matthew Halls as the new artistic\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "summer festivals"","block_context":{"text":"summer festivals","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/summer-festivals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Helmut Rilling","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/06\/8894099714_657e769e60.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6644,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2011\/06\/24\/bach-festival-musings\/","url_meta":{"origin":14152,"position":4},"title":"bach festival musings","author":"Charles Noble","date":"June 24, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm just entering my first weekend of the Oregon Bach Festival in Eugene, Oregon, and there's a lot going on at the southern end of the Willamette Valley. The OBF is starting its search for a successor to the festival's co-founder and artistic director for the past 41 years, Helmuth\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "appreciation"","block_context":{"text":"appreciation","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/appreciations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"jeffrey kahane and yo-yo ma at oregon bach festival","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/5864896036_3d439de024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":7734,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2012\/07\/08\/another-july-another-bach-festival\/","url_meta":{"origin":14152,"position":5},"title":"another july, another bach festival","author":"Charles Noble","date":"July 8, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Last night marked the end of this year's Oregon Bach Festival for me, with a remarkable performance of Michael Tippett's oratorio A Child of Our Time, under the direction of the OBF's artistic director designate Matthew Halls. The Tippett was completely unknown to me before these rehearsals and performances, and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "summer festivals"","block_context":{"text":"summer festivals","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/summer-festivals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/07\/0705-13521-480x319.jpeg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14152","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=14152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14152\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14060"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}