Northwest Reverb
Northwest Reverb - Reflections by James Bash and others about classical music in the Pacific Northwest and beyond - not written by A.I.
Thursday, October 17, 2024
Today's Birthdays
Shinichi Suzuki (1898-1998)
Rolando Panerai (1924-2019)
Reiner Goldberg (1939-2023)
Stephen Kovacevich (1940)
and
Georg Büchner (1813-1837)
Nathanael West (1903-1940)
Arthur Miller (1915-2005)
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1978, President Jimmy Carter presents the Congressional Medal of Honor to singer Marian Anderson.
and from The Writer's Almanac:
It was on this day in 1933 that Albert Einstein officially moved to the United States to teach at Princeton University. He had been in California working as a visiting professor when Hitler took over as chancellor of Germany. Einstein’s apartment in Berlin and his summer cottage in the country were raided, his papers confiscated, and his bank accounts closed. He returned to Europe and handed in his German passport, renouncing his citizenship. He considered offers from all over the world, including Paris, Turkey, and Oxford. Einstein eventually decided on Princeton, which offered him an attractive package teaching at its Institute for Advanced Study — but he had his hesitations about the university. For one thing, it had a clandestine quota system in place that only allowed a small percentage of the incoming class to be Jewish. The Institute’s director, Abraham Flexner, was worried that Einstein would be too directly involved in Jewish refugee causes, so he micromanaged Einstein’s public appearances, keeping him out of the public eye when possible. He even declined an invitation for Einstein to see President Roosevelt at the White House without telling the scientist. When Einstein found out, he personally called Eleanor Roosevelt and arranged for a visit anyway, and then complained about the incident in a letter to a rabbi friend of his, giving the return address as “Concentration Camp, Princeton.” In 1938, incoming freshmen at Princeton ranked Einstein as the second-greatest living person; first place went to Adolf Hitler.
Wednesday, October 16, 2024
Today's Birthdays
Franz [Ferenc] Doppler (1821-1883)
James Lockhart (1930)
Derek Bourgeois (1941-2017)
Marin Alsop (1956)
Erkki-Sven Tüür (1959)
Dmitri Hvorostovsky (1962-2017)
and
Noah Webster (1758-1843)
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)
Eugene O'Neill (1888-1953)
Günter Grass (1927-2015)
Thomas Lynch (1948)
And from the Writer's Almanac:
In 1882, during a tour across the US, Oscar Wilde lectured to coal miners in Leadville, Colorado, where he saw a sign on a saloon that said, "Please do not shoot the pianist. He is doing his best," and called it "the only rational method of art criticism I have ever come across."
Tuesday, October 15, 2024
Preview of Israeli-Palestinian piano duo in Portland Piano International concert
My preview of the upcoming Portland Piano International recital, featuring Duo Amal is now published in Oregonlive here. It will be in the print edition of The Oregonian this coming Friday.
Today's Birthdays
Zdeněk Fibich (1850-1900)
Dag Wirén (1905-1985)
Harold Blumenfeld (1923-2014)
Karl Richter (1926-1981)
Barry McGuire (1935)
Suzanne Murphy (1941)
Peter Phillips (1953)
and
Virgil (70 B.C.E.- 19 B.C.E.)
Helen Hunt Jackson (1830-1885)
Friedrich Nietzsche, (1844-1900
P. G. Wodehouse (1881-1975)
Varian Fry (1907-1967)
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908-2006)
Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (1917-2007)
Italo Calvino (1923-1985)
Michel Foucault (1926-1984)
Monday, October 14, 2024
Review: Portland Opera's "Shizue" - a heartfelt journey of perseverance of Japanese Americans during WWII
Final scene of "Shizue" with Jietong Fu, Chihiro Asano, Edward Tavalin, and Lindsey Nakatani. |Photo credit: Chris Kim |
The plight of Japanese American who were incarcerated during WWII was conveyed with intensity and dignity in the world premiere of “Shizue: An American Story.” What could have been an evening accusation and resentment was instead an educational and uplifting experience based on the true story of Shizue Iwatsuki, who with her husband ran an orchard in Hood River. With music by Kenji Oh and a libretto by Dmae Lo Roberts, Portland Opera’s one-hour production (October 4) at the Brunish Theatre offered a story of perseverance and hope that prevailed over despair.
Shizue was nineteen years old when she married Kamegoro and moved to Hood River, Oregon in 1916. Life was tough, but the Iwatsukis grew apples and strawberries, experiencing modest success before losing everything after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941 when the U.S. government enacted laws to incarcerate all Japanese Americans. With just two suitcases each, Shizue and Kamegoro were transported by train to a sequence of three different camps that were situated in the barren, desert landscapes in California and Idaho. They signed loyalty oaths twice but were not released until after the war ended. Despite hostility from Oregonians, they returned to Hood River and started again with another orchard. After Kamegoro became paralyzed from a farming accident, Shizue stepped up to run the business, became a local leader in the community, taught Japanese flower arranging, and wrote poetry. In 1954, her poems won a prestigious award in Japan, besting 32,000 other entries, and Hood River honored her as woman of the year. A huge granite boulder at the Japanese-American Memorial Plaza in Portland and a marble column at the Hood River Museum are etched with her poems.
The role of Shizue was divided between soprano Lindsey Nakatani as Young Shizue and mezzo-soprano Chihiro Asano as the Elder Shizue. Both conveyed the emotional resilience of Shizue with terrific conviction. Tenor Jietong Fu passionately expressed the hopeful idealism of Kamegoro. Baritone Edward Tavalin was all business and to the letter of the law as an American soldier and other people who were against the Japanese.
Inspired by Japanese folk songs and children’s songs, Oh exercised a light, yet very expressive touch in his score, accompanying the singers with piano and prepared cello. The arias, duets, and ensemble pieces were poignant, and the accompaniment (pianist Gyan Singh and cellist Casey Johnson) never overwhelmed the singers. There was some spoken text, which functioned as recitative to move the passage of time along more efficiently. All-in-all, the opera was quite a remarkable achievement for Oh, who has only one other opera, “The Emissary,” to his credit.
Jon Kashiwabara and rhiza A+D created evocative scenery with four large, colorful banners that depicted Mt. Hood, orchards, and the Columbia River. The banners were turned to reveal in muted black and white the internment camps. Another large banner displayed Executive Order 9066, which ordered the imprisonment of Japanese Americans. A huge suitcase opened to become an interior room. Straightforward choreography by Michelle Fujii and Toru Watanabe kept the story at a steady pace. The only confusing part was distinguishing between the Young Shizue and Elder Shizue because Asano didn’t look all that much older than Nakatani and both of their characters wove in and out of the storyline. Fortunately, Roberts’ libretto presented the events in a direct fashion that was easy to follow. The text had poetic moments and the concept of gaman (perseverance in the face of many troubles) and hope for a peaceful future as Americans acquired depth that added to the satisfying ending.
“Shizue” will receive 50 performances at high schools, community centers, and other venues around the state as part of Portland Opera to Go. So, the portability of the production is a key factor, because the singers will have to set up the production at each performance. One of the beauties of POGO is that small towns and remote areas of Oregon will experience real opera. That takes grit and gaman. “Shizue” presents a awful slice of Oregon history that a lot of us would rather ignore. It is also a heartfelt reminder of the injustices endured by immigrants who are often vilified. Its message will help us to understand our neighbors and our community.
Today's Birthdays
Sunday, October 13, 2024
Deanna Tham takes over artistic reigns of the Portland Chamber Orchestra
Congratulations to Deanna Tham upon her new appointment with the Portland Chamber Orchestra. She has done terrific work on the podium with the Oregon Symphony, OrpheusPDX, and the Siletz Bay Music Festival. Here's a note from the PCO website:
Powerfully compelling, Deanna Tham delivers unrestrained, visceral performances that infuse the classical cannon with modern vibrancy. With a penchant for embracing the gritty and earthly sides of music in addition to its sublime beauty, Tham’s style reflects a tenacious and free-spirited approach, both on and off the podium.
Of her Associate Conductor role with the Oregon Symphony during the 2023-24 season, Oregon ArtsWatch wrote: “Deanna Tham made a jaw-dropping, spectacular concert hall debut… It was as if she put her hands in a wall socket and electrified the hall!” In addition to her role with the Oregon Symphony, Tham is the Music Director of the Union Symphony Orchestra. She has recently appeared in Paris' prestigious La Maestra Conducting Competition (2024 semi-finalist), in Royal Albert Hall as part of The Proms, Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, and Seiji Ozawa Hall at the Tanglewood Music Center working with Maestros James Ross, Joseph Young, and Sir Antonio Pappano, as well as renowned artists Isobel Leonard and Joyce DiDonato. Her previous engagements include serving as the Assistant Conductor of the Omaha Symphony, Assistant Conductor of the Jacksonville Symphony, Assistant Conductor of the Chicago Sinfonietta with Maestro Mei-Ann Chen, and Assistant Conductor of the National Youth Orchestra. Tham is a cover conductor for the San Francisco Symphony and has additionally appeared with the Victoria Symphony, Spokane Symphony, Ballet Idaho, Opera Idaho, Orpheus PDX, 45th Parallel Universe, and Present Music Milwaukee. Her work with the National Music Festival featured on National Public Radio as well as American Public Media. Tham holds a Professional Studies Certificate from the Cleveland Institute of Music in Orchestral Conducting studying with Maestro Carl Topilow; a Master of Music degree in conducting from Northwestern University studying with Dr. Mallory Thompson; and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in horn performance from Carnegie Mellon University.
Today's Birthdays
Hugo Weisgall (1912-1997)
Gustav Winckler (1925-1979)
Paul Simon (1941)
Leona Mitchell (1949)
Kristine Ciesinski (1950)
Melvyn Tan (1956)
Mark Applebaum (1967)
and
Conrad Richter (1890-1968)
Arna Bontemps (1902-1973)
Saturday, October 12, 2024
James Shields and Emily Cole making radio waves at All Classical
Congratulations are in order for James Shields and Emily Cole with their new roles at All Classical Radio. The announcement was made earlier this week, and the press release follows below, but if you might want to read my profile of them in Oregon ArtsWatch here.
Today's Birthdays
Johann Ludwig Krebs (1713-1780)
Arthur Nikisch (1855-1922)
Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872-1958)
Healey Willan (1880-1968)
Carlos López Buchardo (1881-1948)
Gilda Dalla Rizza (1892-1975)
Erich Gruenberg (1924-2020)
Pilar Lorengar (1938-1996)
Luciano Pavarotti (1935-2007)
Daryl Runswick (1946)
Penelope Walker (1956)
Chris Botti (1962)
and
Robert Fitzgerald (1910-1985)
Alice Childress (1916-1994)
Robert Coles (1929)
Friday, October 11, 2024
Today's Birthdays
Fernando De Lucia (1860-1925)
R. Nathaniel Dett (1882-1943)
Albert Stoessel (1894-1943)
Eugene Weigel (1910-1998)
Art Blakey (1919-1990)
David Rendall (1948)
and
Mason Locke Weems (1759-1825)
Eleanor Roosevelt (1883-1962)
Elmore Leonard (1925-2013)
Thich Nhat Hanh (1926-2022)