Author: BFC

“Though the week after Christmas is usually a slow period for classical music, the New York Philharmonic has a worthy program,” writes Anthony Tommasini in Wednesday’s (12/21) New York Times. “On Wednesday, Dec. 28, Alan Gilbert conducts the combined forces of the Philharmonic and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra in the world premiere of Wynton Marsalis’s ‘The Jungle’ (Symphony No. 4), a Philharmonic commission. The concert also offers William Bolcom’s Trombone Concerto, a lively, inventive piece that Mr. Gilbert and the orchestra introduced in June; it’s written for Joseph Alessi, the orchestra’s principal trombone, who is again the soloist. The program opens with Copland’s ‘Quiet City.’ ” In 2010, the Philharmonic performed Marsalis’s Symphony No. 3 (“Swing Symphony”) together with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra; that score was a co-commission among the Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, London Symphony Orchestra, and Los Angeles Philharmonic.

Posted December 22, 2016

“A concert with the Hong Kong Sinfonietta seems vastly different than that of its internationally better-known counterpart, the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra,” writes Joyce Lau in Wednesday’s (12/21) New York Times. “It starts with its music director, Yip Wing-sie, stepping onto an empty stage in a black suit … and chatting with the audience in English and Cantonese…. Yip, 56 and a ‘Hong Kong girl,’ as she calls herself, is a well-loved figure after almost 15 years leading the Sinfonietta…. Ms. Yip … received her master’s from Indiana University at Bloomington. ‘In my class, in 1983, there were no female orchestral conductors, and just two choral conductors,’ she said…. ‘It is very rare to have a music director who is female … After all, this woman is not just a musician. She’s the boss, standing on a podium.’ … When [Yip] took over as the music director of the Sinfonietta, it had turned professional only three years before.… Today, the Sinfonietta’s players are full-time paid professionals…. Her next goal is to push the Sinfonietta to even greater heights, with more overseas tours, more commissioned contemporary works and more ambitious programming.”

Posted December 22, 2016

“A Christmas wish was granted Monday night when a young Grande Prairie boy stood in front of the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra,” writes Jackie Dunham on Wednesday (12/21) at CTV News (Canada). On Monday, seven-year-old Jordan Cartwright “had the opportunity to realize his rather unique dream: to conduct an orchestra. Jordan has been battling leukemia since March, and has been in and out of Edmonton’s Stollery Children’s Hospital and the Ronald McDonald House for the past year. According to his father, Scott Cartwright, Jordan developed an appreciation for classical music while he was undergoing aggressive chemotherapy. Cartwright [said] that a music therapist introduced his son to classical music and they even wrote a song together. In conjunction with the Ronald McDonald House charity, the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra invited Jordan to conduct the national anthem during a performance [at] Winspear Centre…. Outfitted in a pint-sized tuxedo, complete with a red bowtie and armed with his very own baton, Jordan led the orchestra through the anthem without a hitch.” Said Jordan, “It was good. I was kind of shy and excited.” The article includes a brief video of Jordan Cartwright conducting the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra at the Winspear Centre in Edmonton on Monday.

Posted December 22, 2016

“A growing number of consumers … whose closets are already stuffed with last year’s barely used, must-have blender and piles of neglected sweaters are asking for and giving more experience-based holiday gifts such as tickets to a concert, sporting event or a play,” reports Kavita Kumar in Thursday’s (12/22) Star Tribune (Minneapolis). “The trend has been especially pronounced among millennials who often place as much if not more importance on Instagram-worthy experiences—such as traveling to far-off locales or attending music festivals—as having the latest fashions. It’s one of the many reasons why mall-based specialty retailers have been struggling and why categories such as board games, which facilitate socializing with friends, are in the midst of a big upswing. Travel and entertainment rose to the No. 2 spot, up from No. 6 last year, on the University of St. Thomas’ annual holiday spending survey of Twin Cities consumers.… The Minnesota Orchestra has seen a 43 percent increase in sales of holiday-related gift packages and promotions this year over last year. It’s hard to know if all of them are being bought as gifts or for personal use, but most are marketed with a holiday-giving message, said spokeswoman Gwen Pappas.”

Posted December 22, 2016

“For hundreds of years, the best violin players have almost unanimously said they prefer a Stradivari or a Guarneri instrument,” writes Steph Yin in Wednesday’s (12/21) New York Times. “Why nobody has been able to replicate that sound remains one of the most enduring mysteries of instrument building. A new study, published … in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, suggests that answers may lie in the wood: Mineral treatments, followed by centuries of aging and transformation from playing… ‘If you compare Stradivari’s maple with modern, high-quality maple wood that is almost the same, the two woods are very different,’ said Hwan-Ching Tai, a professor of chemistry at National Taiwan University and an author of the paper.…  Dr. Tai and his colleagues … found evidence of chemical treatments containing aluminum, calcium, copper and other elements—a practice lost to later generations of violin makers…. Researchers also discovered that one-third of a wood component known as hemicellulose had decomposed.… The instruments had about 25 percent less water in them than more recent models…. When they heated the wood shavings of the [Stradivari] violins, [Dr. Tai’s team] found an extra peak in oxidation [which] may give the instruments greater expressiveness.”

Posted December 22, 2016

Stradivarius violin photo by Stefan Elf

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra has released Jonathan Leshnoff’s Zohar and Symphony No. 2 (“Inner Space”) on its own ASO Media label. Boston Modern Orchestra Project has released recordings of David Rakowski’s Stolen Moments and Virgil Thomson’s Four Saints in Three Acts on its BMOP/sound label. Musicians from New York’s Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival and the Kronos Quartet are among featured performers on A Palace Upon the Ruins—Selected Works, a new recording featuring concert works by film composer Howard Shore. The Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra has released Concertos for Orchestra, featuring the inaugural recordings of Zhou Tian’s Concerto for Orchestra, Thierry Escaich’s Psalmos, and Sebastian Currier’s FLEX. Musicians of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra are featured on a new recording of two works by Margaret Brouwer: the Concerto for Viola and Concerto for Violin and Chamber Orchestra (with soloists Ellen Rose and Gary Levinson on viola and violin, respectively). Boston’s Handel and Haydn Society is featured on a new all-Haydn recording of Symphony Nos. 7 and 83, plus the Violin Concerto, on the Coro label. Naxos has released Mohammed Fairouz’s oratorio Zabur, featuring the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, Indianapolis Symphony Choir, Indianapolis Children’s Choir, and vocal soloists. Mantra Percussion’s live performance of Michael Gordon’s Timber Remixed, recorded at the 2014 Bang on a Can Marathon, has been released as a two-CD set and on vinyl. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s Strauss: Elektra/Rosenkavalier recording, featuring suites from those Richard Strauss operas, was released on Reference Recordings in November. The San Francisco Symphony has released Debussy’s Images, Jeux, and La plus que lente on its own SFS Media label.

Boxed sets and TV: Sony Classical has released Mozart in the Jungle Season 3, which includes featured performers from the TV series, including Joshua Bell, Yo-Yo Ma, and singers Plácido Domingo and Ana Maria Martínez. The 24-CD set Philip Glass—The Complete Sony Recordings was released in November. The Inaugural Season: Extraordinary Met Performances From 1996-67, a 22-CD boxed set marking the Metropolitan Opera’s fiftieth anniversary at Lincoln Center, has been released on Warner Classics. Sony Masterworks has released Nikolaus Harnoncourt: The Complete Sony Recordings, a set of 61 CDs, 3 DVDs, and hardcover book. Sony Classical has released the 86-CD set Charles Munch: The Complete RCA Album Collection of recordings Munch led with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, and Philadelphia Orchestra.

Posted December 21, 2016

“Conductor Lahav Shani’s life is significantly different from that of most people his age,” writes Amir Mandel in Monday’s (12/19) Haaretz (Israel). “ ‘Usually you ask people about their plans for the next six months. At the moment I have plans until 2023, and I hope to carry them out,’ the 27-year-old says. In October 2013, Shani conducted the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra’s opening concert of that season, after he was asked to substitute for another conductor…. [This month] Shani is performing as a guest conductor, but with an impressive day job already lined up: The Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra named him as its chief conductor, starting in September 2018. Lahav’s career has advanced rapidly. He first played with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra as a piano soloist at age 18. In 2009, he started to study conducting and, a year later, music director Zubin Mehta invited him to join an IPO tour abroad as both pianist and assistant conductor…. He won the prestigious Gustav Mahler Conducting Competition in 2013…. He has conducted many of the world’s leading orchestras…. This year, another acclaimed orchestra gambled on Shani: the Rotterdam Philharmonic, which, after just one performance, chose him as its next chief conductor.”

Posted December 21, 2016

“When audiences see ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,’ they’ll encounter actor Dermot Mulroney—just not on screen. He’s playing cello on the soundtrack,” writes Tim Greiving in Monday’s (12/19) Los Angeles Times. “Mulroney met ‘Rogue One’ composer Michael Giacchino in 2005 at the premiere for the romcom ‘The Family Stone,’ which Mulroney starred in and Giacchino scored. The actor told Giacchino that he played the cello…. Mulroney … has played on nearly every Giacchino film score since, including ‘Star Trek’ and ‘Jurassic World.’ … This is no mere stunt. Mulroney, 53, began playing cello before he entered the fourth grade.… He played cello in the school orchestra and took private lessons from Loran Stephenson, a cellist in the nearby National Symphony Orchestra…. As a student at Northwestern University, he performed in a college orchestra all four years and continued with private lessons while also acting in plays. He was on the precipice of a life in classical music but chose to step back…. In his recent guest spots on Amazon’s ‘Mozart in the Jungle,’ Mulroney introduced his musician character by playing the prelude to the Lalo concerto.”

Posted December 21, 2016

“Marc Huber is eager to share the strengths of Carmel Symphony Orchestra. ‘Some really exciting things are happening at Carmel Symphony Orchestra right now, and I look forward to helping the organization continue to grow,’ Huber said,” writes Mark Ambrogi in Tuesday’s (12/20) Current in Carmel (Carmel, Indiana). “Huber recently became the CSO development director…. Huber, a Fishers resident, previously served at Indiana University–Purdue University Indianapolis Library in a similar capacity. Prior to that, his experience includes being assistant director of development at the American Library Association; director of major gifts and planned giving at the American Academy of Pediatrics; and as annual giving officer at the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International. ‘He has a huge amount of experience in fundraising in the nonprofit world,’ CSO President Alan Davis said. ‘We’re very lucky to have him.’ … Huber’s position with CSO is part-time…. In November, he published his first book, ‘The Fundraising Co-Pilot,’ which he hopes will be a helpful resource for volunteer fundraisers and board members.” The Carmel Symphony is resident orchestra at the Palladium in Carmel, Indiana. Founded in 1975 as a volunteer community orchestra, the orchestra has 85 professional and volunteer musicians.

Posted December 21, 2016