Today's Birthdays

John Alden Carpenter (1876-1951)
Sergueï Bortkiewicz (1877-1952
Guiomar Novaes (1895-1979)
Geraldine Farrar (1882-1967)
Roman Maciejewski (1910-1998)
George Malcolm (1917-1997)
Joseph Rouleau (1929-2019)
Osmo Vänskä (1953)
Markus Stenz (1965)

and

Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592)
Linus Pauling (1901-1994)
Stephen Spender (1909-1995)
Zero Mostel (1915-1977)
Frank Gehry (1929)
John Fahey (1939-2001)
Stephen Chatman (1950)
Colum McCann (1965)
Daniel Handler (1970)

and from the Composers Datebook

On this date in 1882, the Royal College of Music is founded in London.

Today's Birthdays

Sir Hubert Parry (1848-1918)
Lotte Lehmann (1888-1976)
Marian Anderson (1897-1993)
Elizabeth Welch (1904-2003)
Viktor Kalabis (1923-2006)
Mirella Freni (1935-2020)
Morten Lauridsen (1943)
Gidon Kremer (1947)
Frank-Peter Zimmermann (1956)

and

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
John Steinbeck (1902-1968)
Lawrence Durrell (1912-1990)
N. Scott Momaday (1934-2024)
Ralph Nadar (1934)

Review: Vancouver Symphony balances Mozart and Berlioz in all-orchestral concert

The spotlight fell squarely on the Vancouver Symphony at its most recent concert, an all-orchestral affair at Skyview Concert Hall (February 22). Music Director Salvador Brotons led the orchestra in solid performances of Mozart’s “Prague Symphony” and Berlioz’s “Symphony fantastique” The pairing of these great works was a full meal deal for the audience, which left the hall very satisfied.

Mozart’s “Prague Symphony,” a moniker for his “Symphony No. 38,” was one of his last symphonic pieces, and it has a rightful place as one of his best. Urged by Brotons, who conducted the piece impressively from memory, the ensemble aptly conveyed the spirit of Mozart’s music with panache.

The slow introduction of the first movement (Adagio-Allegro) combined plenty of tension and grace to create high drama with the violins leading the way, although there were a few intonation issues. A highlight was the expertly contributions of Principal Oboist Alan Juza in several exposed passages.

The second movement (Andante) offered a sequence of well-shaped episodes, and the third (Presto) upped the pace with the violins deftly executing several florid runs. The effervescence of Mozart’s music gleamed, and Brotons acknowledged the playing of the woodwinds and horns during the robust applause from the audience.

Brotons, in his introduction to Berlioz’s “Symphony fantastique” noted the unusual love story that helped to create the piece, and mentioned the remarkable sonic effects of the music, which Berlioz uncorked just a few years after the death of Beethoven. The highly Romantic and programmatic work was a terrific vehicle for Brotons and his forces to perform. Over the course of its five movements or parts, all of the musicians got a chance to shine.

The first part (Reveries–Passions) presented the idée fixe (theme of obsession) with good attention to dynamics so that it ebbed and flowed passionately. The second part (A Ball) waltzed delightfully – with the idée fixe interrupting the gaiety now and then.

In the third part (Scene in the Country), the exchange of shepherds’ calls – supported vigorously by the violas – between Juza, whose offstage appearance was nicely captured on camera, and English hornist Karen Strand, went flawlessly. The lower strings also conveyed the theme of obsession with elan, and the playing of Principal Clarinetist Igor Shakhman evoked a delicious mixture of poignancy and mystery.

The fourth part (March to the Scaffold) featured excellent drumming on four timpani by the percussion section. Strand and Principal Bassoonist Margaret McShea excelled with their expressive passages.

The mocking derision of the fifth part (Witches’ Sabbath) came through dramatically – with the dies irae theme throwing a haymaker in the midst of the chaos. Although the skeletal sound of the violins tapping their instruments didn’t really gel, the orchestral exclamations of otherworldly monsters emphatically combined to elicit the horror experienced by the main character at his own funeral.

The audience responded to final, glorious chords with a standing ovation as Brotons signaled the fine efforts of the musicians. Although attendance at the concert was light (in comparison to the other concerts of the 2024-2025 season), many listeners enjoyed the music and make positive comments as they exited the building.

Today's Birthdays

Anton (Antoine) Reicha (1770-1836)
Alfred Bachelet (1864-1944)
Emmy Destinn (1878-1930)
Frank Bridge (1879-1941)
Witold Rowicki (1914-1989)
Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino (1928-2017)
Lazar Berman (1930-2005)
Johnny Cash (1932-2005)
Guy Klucevsek (1947)
Emma Kirkby (1949)
Richard Wargo (1957)
Carlos Kalmar (1958)

and

Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593)
Victor Hugo (1802-1885)
John George Nicolay (1832-1901)
Elisabeth George (1949)

Today's Birthdays

Armand-Louis Couperin (1727-1789)
Antoine Reicha (1770-1836)
Enrico Caruso (1873-1921)
Dame Myra Hess (1890-1965)
Victor Silvester (1900-1978)
Davide Wilde (1935)
Jesús López-Cobos (1940)
George Harrison (1943-2001)
Lucy Shelton (1944)
Denis O'Neill (1948)
Melinda Wagner (1957)

and

Carlo Goldoni (1707-1793)
Pierre-Auguste Renoir (1841–1919)
Karl Friedrich May (1842–1874)
Anthony Burgess (1917-1993)
John C. Farrar (1896-1974)

And from the New Music Box:

On February 25, 1924, the first issue of the League of Composers Review was published. Under the editorial leadership of Minna Lederman, this publication—which soon thereafter changed its name to Modern Music (in April 1925)—was the leading journalistic voice for contemporary music in America for over 20 years and featured frequent contributions from important composers of the day including Aaron Copland, Elliott Carter, John Cage, Marc Blitzstein, Henry Cowell, Lehman Engel, and Marion Bauer. Its final issue appeared in the Fall of 1946.

And from the Composers Datebook:

On this day in 1682, Italian composer Alessandro Stradella, age 37, is murdered in Genoa, apparently in retaliation for running off with a Venetian nobleman's mistress.

Preview of Cappella Romana's Canon of Racial Reconciliation in The Oregonian

 My preview of the very unusual Cappella Romana concert this weekend has been published in Oregonlive here. It is available only to subscribers at the moment. It will be in the print edition of the paper later this week.

Today's Birthdays

Antoine Boësset (1587-1643)
Samuel Wesley (1766-1837)
Johann Baptist Cramer (1771-1858)
Arrigo Boito (1842-1918)
Luigi Denza (1846-1922)
Arnold Dolmetsch (1858-1940)
Michel Legrand (1932-2019)
Renato Scotto (1934-2023)
Jiří Bělohlávek (1946

and

Wilhelm (Carl) Grimm (1786-1859)
Winslow Homer (1836-1910)
George Augustus Moore (1852-1933)
Mary Ellen Chase (1887-1973)
Weldon Kees (1914-1955)
Jane Hirshfield (1953)
Judith Butler (1956)

and from the Composers Datebook:

On this day in 1955, Carlisle Floyd's opera "Susannah" received its premiere at Florida State University in Tallahassee. According to Opera America, this is one of the most frequently-produced American operas during the past decade.

Today's Birthdays

John Blow (1649-1708)
George Frideric Handel (1685-1759)
Sir Hugh Roberton (1874-1952)
Albert Sammons (1886-1957)
Dave Apollon (1897-1972)
Elinor Remick Warren (1905-1991)
Martindale Sidwell (1916-1998)
Hall Overton (1920-1972)
Régine Crespin (1927-2007)

and

Samuel Pepys (1633-1703) - blogger of the 17th Century
W. E B. Du Bois (1868-1963)
Karl Jaspers (1883-1969)
William L. Shirer (1904-1993)
John Camp (John Sanford) (1944)

Tidbit from the New York Times obit: In the early 1930s, William Shirer and his wife shared a house with the guitarist Andres Segovia.

From The Writer's Almanac:

It was on this day in 1940 that Woody Guthrie wrote the lyrics to “This Land Is Your Land."

The melody is to an old Baptist hymn. Guthrie wrote the song in response to the grandiose “God Bless America,” written by Irving Berlin and sung by Kate Smith. Guthrie didn’t think that the anthem represented his own or many other Americans’ experience with America. So he wrote a folk song as a response to Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America,” a song that was often accompanied by an orchestra. At first, Guthrie titled his own song “God Blessed America” — past tense. Later, he changed the title to “This Land Is Your Land,” which is the first line of the song.

Today's Birthdays

Niels Wilhelm Gade (1817-1890)
York Bowen (1884-1961)
Benno Moiseiwitsch (1890-1963)
Joseph Kerman (1924-2014)
George Zukerman (1927-2023)
Steven Lubin (1942)
Lowell Liebermann (1961)
Rolando Villazón (1972)

and

George Washington (1732-1799)
Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)
Edna St. Vincent Millay (1892-1950)
Edward Gorey (1925-2000)
Gerald Stern (1925-2022)
Ishmael Reed (1938)
Terry Eagleton (1943)

Vancouver Symphony preview: All-orchestral concert pairs Mozart and Berlioz symphonies

It’s customary for orchestras to fashion their programs with at least one concerto in which the spotlight falls on the amazing talents of the featured soloist. But every now and then orchestras widen the spotlight a bit – well, sometimes a lot – so that it reaches across the stage and from side to side and from front to back to embrace the entire orchestra. That’s the idea behind this weekend’s concerts with the Vancouver Symphony. The focus of its program will highlight the local band under Music Director Salvador Brotons to perform a famous symphonic work by Mozart and another by Berlioz.

It seems incomprehensible that Mozart’s adopted hometown of Vienna would get tired of his music, but that actually happened. In the mid-1880s, as Mozart turned 30 years old, and he had a finished a symphonic. So he accepted an invitation from musicians and patrons in Prague to visit that city, and that’s where his Symphony No. 38 in D Major was first performed. Hence, it became known as the “Prague Symphony.”

The “Prague Symphony” contains lots of drama and many exposed sections for the woodwinds. The musicians have to work together as a nimble unit¸ yet convey emotion.

“Performing Mozart is always a big challenge,” noted Brotons in an email exchange. “The ‘Prague Symphony’ is a very delicate work. I will use a smaller orchestra. In Mozart everything must be perfect. All imperfections are noticeable.”

Up to the time that Mozart wrote the ‘Prague Symphony,’ such works had a structure that was very familiar to listeners in Vienna, but Mozart changed that.

“Symphonies were always fast–slow–minuet–fast in Vienna,” explained Brotons, “But this symphony does not have a minuet. Sometimes classical minuets are a little all the same. This one has just three movements, which is more in the Italian style. It’s a perfect symphony from the beginning to the end. I love it and have conducted it several times... the last time in Israel.”

With Berlioz’s “Symphonie Fantastique” the drama in the music goes up several notches, which reflected the composer’s own life. When he was 24 years old, he fell obsessively in love with Irish Shakespearean actress Harriet Smithson even though he could not understand English. He proposed marriage to her, but she never replied and left Paris.

The fervor of unrequited love drove Berlioz to write the “Symphonie Fantastique,” an hour-long is an hour-long rollercoaster of a piece. In five-movements, Berlioz unveils a sequence of events that is pierced by a principal theme, symbolizing the beloved, which he called the idée fixe, or ‘fixed idea.’ There’s a wild party, a pastoral scene, and a drug-induced dream in which he thinksthat he has killed his beloved. That leads to a march to the scaffold and a witches’ sabbath where all sorts of specters mock him at his funeral.

“Berlioz wrote this symphony in 1829, just two years after Beethoven’s death,” noted Brotons. “It is a big programmatic piece that is truly innovative and in the Romantic vein. Berlioz wanted to impress listener; so it if full of surprises.”

Brotons often likes to conduct by memory, but the “Symphonie Fantastique” has many challenges.

“It has irregular measure phrasing, which makes it difficult to memorize the score,” wrote Brotons. “I did it from memory in the past. I do not know if I will have enough time to do it this week. I have done it in Vancouver once. That was about 15 years ago, I believe. I remember I did also in Everett, Washington after the Vancouver performance.”

Looking ahead, the orchestra recently announced a stellar lineup for this summer’s Vancouver USA Arts & Music Festival (August 1 - 3). Brotons and Gerard Schwarz will conduct the Vancouver Symphony with soprano Renée Fleming, bluegrass violinists Mark and Maggie O’Connor, and guitarist Sharon Isbin as the featured artists. Wow!

Today's Birthdays

Carl Czerny (1791-1857)
Leo Delibes (1836-1891)
Charles Marie Widor (1844-1945)
Kenneth Alford (1881-1945)
Andres Segovia (1893-1987)
Nina Simone (1933-2003)
Elena Duran (1949)
Simon Holt (1948)

and

Anaïs Nin (1903-1977)
W. H. Auden (1907-1973)
Erma Bombeck (1927-1996)
Ha Jin (1956)
Chuck Palahniuk (1962)
David Foster Wallace (1962-2008)

Review of Portland Chamber Orchestra's concert-lecture about music, love, and the brain

 

My report about this unusual, educational event was published earlier today on Oregon ArtsWatch here.

Today's Birthdays

Johann Peter Salomon (1749-1815)
Charles‑Auguste de Bériot (1802-187)
Mary Garden (1874-1967)
Vasyl Oleksandrovych Barvinsky (1888-1963
Robert McBride (1911-2007)
Ruth Gipps (1921-1999)
Toshiro Mayuzumi (1929-1997)
Christoph Eschenbach (1940)
Barry Wordsworth (1948)
Cindy McTee (1953)
Riccardo Chailly (1953)
Chris Thile (1981)

and

Russel Crouse (1893-1966)
Louis Kahn (1901-1974)
Ansel Adams (1902-1984)
Robert Altman (1925-2006)
Richard Matheson (1926-2013)

Today's Birthdays

Luigi Boccherini (1743-1805)
Louis Aubert (1877-1968)
Arthur Shepherd (1880-1958)
Grace Williams (1906-1977)
Stan Kenton (1912-1979
Timothy Moore (1922-2003)
George Guest (1924-2002)
György Kurtág (1926)
Michael Kennedy (1926-2014)
Jean-Pierre Ponnelle (1932-1988)
Smokey Robinson (1940)
Penelope Walmsley-Clark (1949)
Darryl Kubian (1966)

and

André Breton (1896-1966)
Carson McCullers (1917-1967)
Amy Tan (1952)
Siri Hustvedt (1955)
Jonathan Lethem (1964)

Today's Birthdays

Giovanni Battista Vitali (1632-1692)
Pietro Giovanni Guarneri (1655-1720)
Gustave Schirmer, Jr. (1864-1907)
Marchel Landowski (1915-1999)
Rolande Falcinelli (1920-2006)
Rita Gorr (1926-2012)
Yoko Ono (1933)
Marek Janowski (1939)
Marlos Nobre (1939)
Donald Crockett (1951)

and

Sholem Aleichem (1859-1916)
Nikos Kazantzakis (1883-1957)
Wallace Stegner (1909-1993)
Jack Gilbert (1925-2012)
Len Deighton (1929)
Toni Morrison (1931-2019)
George Pelecanos (1957)

Today's Birthdays

Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713)
Henri Vieuxtemps (1820-1881)
Sr. Edward German (1862-1936)
Leevi Madetoja (1887-1947)
Paul Fetler (1920-2018)
Ron Goodwin (1925-2003)
Fredrich Cerha (1926-2023)
Lee Hoiby (1926-2011)
Anner Bylsma (1944)
Karl Jenkins (1944)

and

Isabelle Eberhardt (1877-1904)
Ronald Knox (1888-1957)
Jack Gilbert (1925-2012)
Chaim Potok (1929-2002)
Ruth Rendell (1930-2015)
Mo Yan (1955)

From the New Music Box:

On February 17, 1927, a sold-out audience attends the world premiere of The King's Henchman. an opera with music by composer, music critic and future radio commentator Deems Taylor and libretto by poet Edna St. Villay Millay, at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York City. The New York Times review by Olin Downes on the front page the next morning hailed it as the "best American opera." The opera closed with a profit of $45,000 and ran for three consecutive seasons. It has not been revived since and has yet to be recorded commercially.

Today's Birthdays

Charles Avison (1709-1770)
Willem Kes (1856-1934)
Selim Palmgren (1878-1951)
Maria Korchinska (1895-1979)
Alec Wilder (1907-1980)
Sir Geraint Evans (1922-1992)
Eliahu Inbal (1936)
John Corigliano (1938)
Sigiswald Kuiljken (1944)

and

Nikolai Leskov (1831-1895)
Henry Brooks Adams (1838-1918)
Van Wyck Brooks (1886-1963)
Richard Ford (1944)

Today's Birthdays

Michael Praetorius (1571-1621)
Jean‑François Lesueur (1760-1837)
Friedrich Ernst Fesca (1789-1826)
Heinrich Engelhard Steinway (1797-1871)
Robert Fuchs (1847-1927)
Marcella Sembrich (1858-1935)
Walter Donaldson (1893-1947)
Georges Auric (1899-1983)
Harold Arlen (1905-1986)
Jean Langlais (1907-1991)
Norma Procter (1928-2017)
John Adams (1947)
Christopher Rouse (1949)
Kathryn Harries (1951)
Christian Lindberg (1958)

and

Galileo Galilei (1564-1642)
Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832)
Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906)
Alfred North Whitehead (1861-1947)
Art Spiegelman (1948)
Matt Groening (1954)

Review: Kwak brings out the best of Bruch - Oregon Symphony excels with Brahms and Nielsen under Kluxen

Sarah Kwak, Christian Kluxen, and the Oregon Symphony | from OSO's FB page

Exquisite playing by violinist Sarah Kwak and top-notch directing from guest conductor Christian Kluxen highlighted the Oregon Symphony concert (February 8) at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. It was a well-balanced concert that accented the highlands of Scottland in Max Bruch’s “Scottish Fantasy for Violin and Orchestra,” the stormy shores of Denmark in Carl Nielsen’s “Symphony No. 2,” and the Brahms’ throwback to the classical style in his “Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn.” Danish conductor Christian Kluxen led the program with great style and poetic verve.

Kwak, who is in her thirteenth season as the concertmaster of the orchestra, gave an exquisite performance of the Bruch. Its graceful melodies and playful dances were conveyed by Kwak with beautiful phrasing – as if her violin were singing. Kwak also played the fast and technically challenging passages of the final movement impeccably and with elan.

The orchestra, guided expertly by Kluxen supported her perfectly. The harp, centered just behind the strings and played by Matthew Trusky, sounded heavenly.

Receiving its first-ever performance by the orchestra, Nielsen’s “Symphony No. 2” (“The Four Temperaments”) offered quite an array of sonic diversity. Based on the ancient theory that each human’s personality comes from four different bodily fluids, Nielsen’s symphony expressed the Choleric (impetuous and angry), the Phlegmatic (calm and carefree), the Melancholic (wistful and sad), and the Sanguine (cheerful and positive).

The orchestra delved into each fluid/movement with gusto. The first exhibited stormy bursts, sharp attacks, sforzandos, fanfares, and a crisp ending. The second slowed the pace a bit and bordered on contemplative with a couple of lovely passages before ending quietly. The third slowed down further, exhibiting a dark, sorrowful quality that was heightened with a lovely plaintive solo by Assistant Principal oboist Karen Wagner. The fourth featured expansive sounds from the horns, ponderous brass, and playfully vigorous passages from the entire ensemble

Kluxen shaped the piece very artistically with evocative gestures that elicited a superb performance from the orchestra. Sometimes he dropped his arms to his side and used his face and shoulders to get what he wanted. It was a consummate performance that exuded warmth and made the Nielsen shine.

The “Variations on a Theme by Joseph Haydn” opened the concert with Brahms appealing inventiveness. The eight variations were expressed with dynamic nuances that kept each one fresh so that the piece sparkled with verve. My favorite is Variation IV: Grazioso, which has gently lilting melodic line that is filled with summery, bucolic vibrations. What impressed me a lot was how the musicians listened to each other while playing – as if they were an intimate chamber ensemble.

The only downside to the concert was that it was poorly attended. Lots of folks missed an outstanding concert that featured the artistic wizardry of Kwak and terrific conducting by Kluxen. There didn’t seem to be a particular reason for the smaller crowd. Weather and the Super Bowl (scheduled for the next day) didn’t factor into the equation. Perhaps it was just a general malaise that afflicted Portlanders. Whatever the case, it would behoove my fellow residents to get to the Schnitz to hear this fantastic hometown band.

Today's Birthdays

Pietro Francesco Cavalli (1602-1676)
Alexander Dargomizhsky (1813-1869)
Ignaz Friedman (1882-1948)
Jack Benny (1894-1974)
Wyn Morris (1929-2010)
Steven Mackey (1956)
Renée Fleming (1959)

and

Frederick Douglass (1814-1895)
Carl Bernstein (1944)

and

On this day in 1895, Oscar Wilde’s play The Importance of Being Earnest opened in London. He wrote the first draft in just 21 days, the fastest he’d ever written anything.

Today's Birthdays

Fernando Sor (1778-1839)
Leopold Godowsky (1870-1938)
Feodor Chaliapin (1873-1938)
Tennessee Ernie Ford (1919-1991)
Eileen Farrell (1920-2002)
Yfrah Neaman (1923-2003)
Colin Matthews (1946)
Peter Gabriel (1950)
Raymond Wojcik (1957-2014)
Philippe Jaroussky (1978)

and

William Roughead (1870–1952)
Ricardo Güiraldes (1886-1927)
Grant Wood (1891-1942)
Georges Simenon (1903-1989)
Elaine Pagels (1943)

and from the Composers Datebook:

On this day in 1914, ASCAP (The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers) is formally organized in New York City, with composer Victor Herbert as its first director.

Today's Birthdays

Thomas Campion (1567-1620)
Jan Ladislav Dussek (1760-1812)
Roy Harris (1898-1979)
Franco Zeffirelli (1923-2019)
Mel Powell (1923-1998)
Paata Burchuladze (1951)

and

Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865)
Charles Darwin (1809-1882)
Max Beckmann (1884-1950)
Judy Bloom (1938)

And courtesy of the New Music Box:

On February 12, 1924 at New York's Aeolian Hall, self-named 'King of Jazz' Paul Whiteman presented An Experiment in Modern Music, a concert combining "high art" and "hot jazz." The concert featured newly commissioned works from Victor Herbert, Jerome Kern, Edward MacDowell, Irving Berlin, Ferde Grofé, and Rudolf Friml, but the highlight of the program was the world premiere performance of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.

Article about the Jefferson Baroque Orchestra published in Early Music America

 My story about the Jefferson Baroque Orchestra, which performs in the Medford-Ashland-Grants Pass area, has been published in Early Music America here.

Today's Birthdays

Rudolf Firkušný (1912-1994)
Sir Alexander Gibson (1926-1995)
Michel Sénéchal (1927-2018)
Cristopher Dearnley (1930-2000)
Jerome Lowenthal (1932)
Gene Vincent (1935-1971)
Edith Mathis (1938)
Alberto Lysy (1935-2009)
Christine Cairns (1959)

and

Thomas Edison (1847-1931)
Philip Dunne (1908-1992)
Joseph L. Mankiewicz (1909-1993)
Pico Iyer (1957)

and from the Composers Datebook:

On this day in 1841, was given the first documented American performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 at the New York's Broadway Tabernacle, by the German Society of New York, Uri Corelli Hill conducting.

Today's Birthdays

Johann Melchior Molter (1696-1765)
Adelina Patti (1843-1919)
Jean Coulthard (1908-2000)
Joyce Grenfell (1914-2001)
Cesare Siepi (1923-2010)
Leontyne Price (1927)
Jerry Goldsmith (1929-2004)
Roberta Flack (1937)
Barbara Kolb (1939)
Yuja Wang (1987)

and

Charles Lamb (1775-1834)
Boris Pasternak (1890-1960)
Bertolt Brecht (1898-1956)
Åsne Seierstad (1970)

and from the Composers Datebook:

On this day in 1921, Charles Ives hears Igor Stravinsky's "The Firebird" Ballet Suite at an all-Russian program by the New York Symphony at Carnegie Hall. Also on the program were works of Glinka, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov and Rachmaninoff (with Rachmaninoff as piano soloist). Walter Damrosch conducted.

Today's Birthdays

Ferdinando Carulli (1770-1841)
Franz Xaver Witt (1834-1888)
Alban Berg (1885-1935)
Harald Genzmer (1909-2007)
Hildegard Behrens (1937-2009)
Ryland Davies (1943-2023)
Paul Hillier (1949)
Jay Reise (1950)
Marilyn Hill Smith (1952)
Amanda Roocroft (1966)

and

Amy Lowell (1874-1925)
James Stephens (1882-1950)
Brendan Behan (1923-1964)
J.M. (John Maxwell) Coetzee (1940)
Alice Walker (1944)

and from the Composers Datebook:

On this day in 1893, Verdi's opera, "Falstaff," was first performed in Milan at the Teatro alla Scala. This was Verdi's last opera.

Review: Oregon Symphony travels East and West in concert of music by Jiping, Huỳnh, and Rachmaninoff

Wu Man | Photo credit Stephen Kahn

Extending its sonic palette East and West, the Oregon Symphony delivered a fascinating concert (February 1) at the Arlene Concert Hal that tied Asia-inspired works with one of Rachmaninoff’s gems. Zhao Jiping’s “Pipa Concerto No. 2” brought the unique sound of the pipa, a Chinese lute, which was played by virtuoso Wu Man. Oswald Huỳnh’s “Gia Đình” elicited a panoply of sounds to evoke his Vietnamese heritage. Rachmaninoff’s “Symphonic Dances” brought a distinct Russian vibe to the evening. The entire program was led by the orchestra’s Associate Conductor, Deanna Tham, who grew up in San Jose has ethnic Chinese roots.

Considered the John Williams of China for his popular film scores (“Farewell My Concubine” and “Raise the Red Lantern”) Zhao Jiping has been acclaimed for his scores that blend sounds from Asia within the structures of European music. He wrote the “Pipa Concerto No. 2” for Wu Man, whose international reputation for her prowess on the pipa is off the charts. It was inspired by folk songs, storytelling and the cultural ambiance of Hangzhou, China, where Man grew up.

The thing about Jiping’s “Second Pipa Concerto” was that listeners didn’t have to know anything about the cultural backstory to enjoy the music. Just watching Man’s fingers fly over the strings and frets of the pearl-shaped instrument was spellbinding. The light twang of the pipa grew more and more charming as the piece progressed. Whether strumming, plucking, or pitch bending, Man created an enchanting atmosphere that effortlessly shifted between contemplative, playful, and humorous. Moments of dialog with the orchestra, including a few isolated duets, were seamlessly woven into the piece. The orchestra generated a tapestry of sounds that swelled and receded with the feeling of movie music, providing an excellent background to the virtuosic artistry that Man displayed with the pipa.

The audience responded to the concerto with a vociferous standing ovation, and Man graciously acknowledged the acclamation with an encore – a springy folk-song-like number that had got faster and faster but also included little squibs of sound – like humorous interjections. Wow!

Oswald Huỳnh is a Vietnamese-American composer whose works have been getting international acclaim for a unique sonicscape noted for “intricate contrasts of timbre and interweaving textures that are rooted in narrative, culture, and memory.” He has a Bachelor’s degree from Lewis & Clark College and a Master of Music from the University of Missouri.

In his introductory remarks from the stage, Huynh mentioned that Portland is his hometown. He also noted that the Vietnamese people refer to the Vietnam War as the American War, and he mentioned the Boat People who fled Vietnam after the war.

In “Gia Đình” (Family), Huỳnh expressed elements of the Vietnam culture with lots of original sounds that sometimes wafted and erupted from the orchestra in a spontaneous way. Slip-sliding glissandos, breathy sounds from the flute, little bells permeated the first movement (Like father, like child). Big blasts from the timpani, tremolos from the clarinet, growling trombones, slinky glissandos accented the second movement (There is nothing like rice with fish, there is nothing like mother with child). The tempo quickened in the third movement (Blood is thicker than water), which gelled at one point into a delicious cacophony, followed by snappy, wild passages and blocky chords from the entire orchestra – all of which dissolved into a restful ending with breathy sound from the bass and words whispered by the entire orchestra.

Gia Đình generated sequence after sequence of unusual sounds that were flat-out mesmerizing. I strongly advocate for the Oregon Symphony to commission a work from Huỳnh if they haven’t done so already.

The second half of the concert returned to the West with Rachmaninoff’s “Symphonic Dances.” The forceful theme in the first movement pranced with verve. Also impressive were the calls back and forth between the woodwinds and the saxophone’s mellow reflection. The waltz of the second movement wistfully evoked a bygone era. The third movement dished up waves of enticing melodies before marching to a crisp finale.

With her precise and artistic conducting, Tham elicited an outstanding performance of the “Symphonic Dances” that captured concertgoers’ attention from beginning to end. That was the perfect topping for a concert that really expanded this reviewer’s ears and helped to make the evening memorable.

Today's Birthdays

Jacob Praetorius (1586-1651)
André Grétry (1741-1813)
Osian Ellis (1928-2021)
John Williams (1932)
Elly Ameling (1933)
Margaret Brouwer (1940)
Stephen Roberts (1948)
Irvine Arditti (1953)

and

Jules Verne (1828-1905)
Kate Chopin (1850-1904)
Elizabeth Bishop (1911-1979)
Neal Cassady (1926-1968)
John Grisham (1955)

and from the Composers Datebook:

1880 - German opera composer Richard Wagner writes a letter to his American dentist, Dr. Newell Still Jenkins, stating "I do no regard it as impossible that I decide to emigrate forever to America with my latest work ["Parsifal"] and my entire family" if the Americans would subsidize him to the tune of one million dollars.

Today's Birthdays

Wilhelm Stenhammar (1871-1927)
Ossip Gabrilovich (1878-1936)
Eubie Blake (1883-1983)
Claudia Muzio (1889-1936)
Quincy Porter (1897-1966)
Edmond De Luca (1909-2004)
Lord Harewood (1923-2011)
Maruis Constant (1925-2004)
Stuart Burrows (1933)
Wolfgang van Schweintz (1953)
Andy Akiho (1979)

and

Charles Dickens (1812-1870)
Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957)
Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951)
Gay Talese (1932)

Today's Birthdays

Henry Litolff (1818-1891)
Karl Weigl (1881-1949)
Andre Marchal (1894-1980)
Claudio Arrau (1903-1991)
Stephen Albert (1941-1992)
Bob Marley (1945-1981)
Bruce J. Taub (1948)
Matthew Best (1957)
Sean Hickey (1970)

and

Christopher Marlowe (1564-1593)
Eric Partridge (1894-1979)
George Herman "Babe" Ruth (1895-1948)
Mary Douglas Leakey (1913-1996)
Deborah Digges (1950-2009)
Michael Pollan (1955)

Today's Birthdays

Ole Bull (1810-1880)
Christian Gottlob Neefe (1748-1798)
Ricardo Viñes (1875-1943)
Grazyna Bacewicz (1909-1969)
Jussi Björling (1911-1960)
Sir John Pritchard (1921-1989)
Luc Ferrari (1929-2005)
John Poole (1934-2020)
Ivan Tcherepnin (1943-1998)
Josef Protschka (1944)
Phylis Bryn-Julson (1945)

and

Martin Marty (1928)
Henry Louis "Hank" Aaron (1934-2021)
John Guare (1938)
William S. Burroughs (1914-1997)
Christopher Guest (1948)

and from the Composers Datebook:

On this day in 1887, Verd's: opera "Otello" premiered in Milan at the Teatro all Scala, with the composer conducting (and cellist Arturo Toscanini in the orchestra).

Today's Birthdays

Eustache du Caurroy (1549-1609)
Carl Michael Bellman (1740-1795)
Aristide Cavaillé‑Coll (1811-1899)
Yrjo Kilpinen (1892-1952)
Bernard Rogers (1893-1968)
Erich Leinsdorf (1912-1993)
Jutta Hipp (1925-2003)
Martti Talvela (1935-1989)
François Dumeaux (1978)

and also

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945)
Gavin Ewart (1916-1995)
Betty Friedan (1921-2006)
Robert Coover (1932-2024)

Today's Birthdays

Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (1525-1594)
Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1809-1847)
Sidney Lanier (1842-1881)
Priaulx Rainier (1903-1986)
Luigi Dallapiccola (1904-1975)
Blas Galindo Dimas (1910-1993)
Jehan Alain (1911-1940)
Helga Dernesch (1939)

and

Gertrude Stein (1874-1946)
Georg Trakl (1887-1914)
Norman Rockwell (1894-1978)
Alvar Aalto (1898-1978)
James Michener (1907-1997)
Simone Weil (1909-1943)
Richard Yates (1926-1992)
Paul Auster (1947)

and from the Composers Datebook:

On this day in 1844, Berlioz's "Roman Carnival" Overture, in Paris was premiered at the Salle Herz, with the composer conducting.

Today's Birthdays

Louis Marchand (1669-1732)
Leo Fall (1873-1925)
Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962)
Jascha Heifetz (1901-1987)
Stan Getz (1927-1991)
Skip Battin (1934-2003)
Martina Arroyo (1937)
Sir Andrew Davis (1944)
Ursula Oppens (1944)
Eliane Aberdam (1964)

And

James Joyce (1882-1941)
James Dickey (1923-1997)
Tom Smothers (1937-2023)

Review of 45th Parallel Universe concert - Akiho, Glass, Reich, and Wohl

My review of 45th Parallel's concert at The Reser has been published in Classical Voice North America here.

Today's Birthdays

Francesco Stradivari (1671-1743)
Francesco Maria Veracini (1690-1768)
Johan Joachim Agrell (1701-1765)
Victor Herbert (1859-1924)
Julius Conus (1869-1942)
Clara Butt (1872-1936)
Sándor Veress (1907-1999)
Mozart Camargo Guarnieri (1907-1993)
Renata Tebaldi (1922-2004)
Ursula Mamlok (1928-2016)
Michael G. Shapiro (1951)

and

Langston Hughes (1902-1967)
S. J. Perelman (1904-1979)
Muriel Spark (1918- 2006)
Galway Kinnell (1927-2014)