Johann Adolph Hasse (1699-1783)
Arturo Toscanini (1867-1957)
Béla Bartók (1881-1945)
Haydn Wood (1882-1959)
Magda Olivero (1910-2014)
Cecil Taylor (1929)
Sir Elton John (1947)
and
Flannery O'Connor (1925-1964)
Gloria Steinem (1934)
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1949, Shostakovich (accompanied by KGB "handlers")
arrives in New York for his first visit to America, for the Cultural and
Scientific Conference for World Peace, held at the Waldorf-Astoria
Hotel. His anti-Western statements and criticism of Igor Stravinsky
embarrassed his American sponsors, including Aaron Copland, and later
provided political fodder for the notorious Red-hunter, Senator Joseph
McCarthy.
Sunday, March 25, 2018
Saturday, March 24, 2018
Today's Birthdays
John Antes (1740-1811)
Maria Malibran (1808-1836)
Fanny Crosby (1820-1915)
Christiane Eda-Pierre (1932)
Benjamin Luxon (1937)
and
Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990)
Dwight Macdonald (1906-1982)
Lawrence Ferlinghetti (1919)
Dario Fo (1926-2016)
Ian Hamilton (1938-2001)
Martin Walser (1927)
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1721, J.S. Bach dedicates his six "Brandenburg" Concertos to Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg, whose orchestra apparently never performed them.
Maria Malibran (1808-1836)
Fanny Crosby (1820-1915)
Christiane Eda-Pierre (1932)
Benjamin Luxon (1937)
and
Malcolm Muggeridge (1903-1990)
Dwight Macdonald (1906-1982)
Lawrence Ferlinghetti (1919)
Dario Fo (1926-2016)
Ian Hamilton (1938-2001)
Martin Walser (1927)
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1721, J.S. Bach dedicates his six "Brandenburg" Concertos to Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg, whose orchestra apparently never performed them.
Friday, March 23, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Léon Minkus (1826-1917)
Eugène Gigout (1844-1925)
Franz Schreker (1878-1934)
Josef Locke (1917-1999)
Norman Bailey (1933)
Boris Tishchenko (1939-2010)
Michael Nyman (1944)
David Grisman (1945)
and
Roger Martin du Gard (1881-1958)
Louis Adamic (1898-1951)
Erich Fromm (1900-1980)
Kim Stanley Robinson (1952)
Gary Joseph Whitehead (1965)
Eugène Gigout (1844-1925)
Franz Schreker (1878-1934)
Josef Locke (1917-1999)
Norman Bailey (1933)
Boris Tishchenko (1939-2010)
Michael Nyman (1944)
David Grisman (1945)
and
Roger Martin du Gard (1881-1958)
Louis Adamic (1898-1951)
Erich Fromm (1900-1980)
Kim Stanley Robinson (1952)
Gary Joseph Whitehead (1965)
Thursday, March 22, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Carl Rosa (1842-1889)
Hamisch MacCunn (1868-1916)
Joseph Samson (1888-1957)
Martha Mödl (1912-2001)
Fanny Waterman (1920)
Arthur Grumiaux (1921-1986)
Stephen Sondheim (1930)
Joseph Schwantner (1943)
George Benson (1943)
Alan Opie (1945)
Rivka Golani (1946)
Andrew Lloyd Webber (1948)
Edmund Barham (1950-2008)
and
Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641)
Louis L'Amour (1908-1988)
Edith Grossman (1936)
James Patterson (1940)
Billy Collins (1941)
James McManus (1951)
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1687, Italian-born French composer Jean Baptiste Lully, age 54, in Paris, following an inadvertent self-inflicted injury to his foot (by a staff with which he would beat time for his musicians) which developed gangrene.
Hamisch MacCunn (1868-1916)
Joseph Samson (1888-1957)
Martha Mödl (1912-2001)
Fanny Waterman (1920)
Arthur Grumiaux (1921-1986)
Stephen Sondheim (1930)
Joseph Schwantner (1943)
George Benson (1943)
Alan Opie (1945)
Rivka Golani (1946)
Andrew Lloyd Webber (1948)
Edmund Barham (1950-2008)
and
Anthony van Dyck (1599-1641)
Louis L'Amour (1908-1988)
Edith Grossman (1936)
James Patterson (1940)
Billy Collins (1941)
James McManus (1951)
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1687, Italian-born French composer Jean Baptiste Lully, age 54, in Paris, following an inadvertent self-inflicted injury to his foot (by a staff with which he would beat time for his musicians) which developed gangrene.
Wednesday, March 21, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)
Modeste Moussorgsky (1839-1881)
Eddie James "Son" House (1902-1988)
Nikos Skalkottas (1904-1949)
Paul Tortelier (1914-1990)
Nigel Rogers (1935)
Owain Arwel Hughes (1942)
Elena Firsova (1950)
Ann MacKay (1956)
and
Phyllis McGinley (1905-1978)
Nizar Qabbani (1923-1998)
Ved Mehta (1934)
From the New Music Box:
On March 21, 1771, the Massachusetts Gazette published an announcement for a musical program including "select pieces on the forte piano and guitar." It is the earliest known reference to the piano in America.
Modeste Moussorgsky (1839-1881)
Eddie James "Son" House (1902-1988)
Nikos Skalkottas (1904-1949)
Paul Tortelier (1914-1990)
Nigel Rogers (1935)
Owain Arwel Hughes (1942)
Elena Firsova (1950)
Ann MacKay (1956)
and
Phyllis McGinley (1905-1978)
Nizar Qabbani (1923-1998)
Ved Mehta (1934)
From the New Music Box:
On March 21, 1771, the Massachusetts Gazette published an announcement for a musical program including "select pieces on the forte piano and guitar." It is the earliest known reference to the piano in America.
Tuesday, March 20, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Beniamino Gigli (1890-1957)
Lauritz Melchoir (1890-1973)
Sviatoslav Richter (1915-1997)
Dame Vera Lynn (1917)
Bernd Alois Zimmermann (1918-1970)
Marian McPartland (1918-2013)
Henry Mollicone (1946)
and
Ovid (43 BC - AD 17)
Ned Buntline (1823-1886)
Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906)
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1928, the New York Symphony and the New York Philharmonic Society united to form the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York - now known as simply "The New York Philharmonic."
Lauritz Melchoir (1890-1973)
Sviatoslav Richter (1915-1997)
Dame Vera Lynn (1917)
Bernd Alois Zimmermann (1918-1970)
Marian McPartland (1918-2013)
Henry Mollicone (1946)
and
Ovid (43 BC - AD 17)
Ned Buntline (1823-1886)
Henrik Ibsen (1828-1906)
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1928, the New York Symphony and the New York Philharmonic Society united to form the Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra of New York - now known as simply "The New York Philharmonic."
Monday, March 19, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Max Reger (1873-1916)
Elizabeth Maconchy (1907-1994)
Nancy Evans (1915-2000)
Dinu Lipatti (1917-1950)
Robert Muczynski (1929-2010)
Ornette Coleman (1930-2015)
Myung-Wha Chung (1944)
Carolyn Watkinson (1949)
Mathew Rosenblum (1954)
and
Tobias Smollett (1721-1771)
Nikolay Gogol (1809-1852)
Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890)
Philip Roth (1933)
Elizabeth Maconchy (1907-1994)
Nancy Evans (1915-2000)
Dinu Lipatti (1917-1950)
Robert Muczynski (1929-2010)
Ornette Coleman (1930-2015)
Myung-Wha Chung (1944)
Carolyn Watkinson (1949)
Mathew Rosenblum (1954)
and
Tobias Smollett (1721-1771)
Nikolay Gogol (1809-1852)
Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890)
Philip Roth (1933)
Sunday, March 18, 2018
Fantastic performance of Verdi's "Requiem" by Oregon Symphony, soloists, and choirs
Verdi’s “Requiem” received a stellar performance by the Oregon Symphony and forces at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall on Saturday, March 10. The combined effort of soloists, choirs, and orchestra under the baton of Music Director Carlos Kalmar unleashed a tremendously emotional experience that superbly embodied the meaning and power of the music. Even though the projected titles did not appear and no printed text was available in the program, the nearly packed house relished the committed and thoroughly engrossing performance that will remain etched in the memories of listeners.
Soprano Amber Wagner, mezzo-soprano Dana Beth Miller, tenor Dimitri Pittas, and bass Raymond Aceto went above and beyond with voices that soared – even over and beyond the triple fortissimos of the combined forces layered behind them. Yet they maintained a beautiful sound throughout with vibratos that stayed inbounds, and they added to the dramatic effect by stepping forward and singing a number of arias from memory.
Each soloist excelled individually but also in ensemble numbers, which was quite remarkable with the resonant yet emotive qualities of Wagner, Miller, Pittas, and Aceto balancing consistently throughout the evening. Considering the Schnitzer’s acoustical challenges for voices in the lower range, Miller, in particular poured out enough tonal beauty and volume to equal her colleagues, creating stunning moments, such as in the “Liber scriptus proferetur” (A written book will be brought forth”). Wagner, it should be noted, held a note so long, during the Offertoiro, that one began to worry that she might never inhale again. Yet, she made it look easy peasy. Pittas exuded a marvelous tenor line and Aceto laid out a resonating bass that could be felt in the last row of the upper balcony.
The Portland Symphonic Choir and University of Puget sound Adelphian Concert Choir, expertly prepared by Steven Zopfi, delivered an awesome performance. The diction and balance of the combined choruses was impressive right from the start with the words “Requiem aeternam dona eis Domine” (“Grant them eternal rest, O Lord”) and especially crystal clear in the a cappella passages, such as the “Te decet hymnus, Deus, in Sion” (“A hymn in Zion befits you, O God”). The singers also left everyone on the stage floor with a devastatingly volcanic “Dies irae” (“Day of wrath”) and “Rex tremendae majestatis” (“King of dreadful majesty”) that could have been heard in Clackamas County. And, wow, the “Sanctus” sparkled like angles flying about.
The orchestra, urged on by Kalmar, accompanied the vocal forces expertly, giving everyone goosebumps with the passages that spiraled downward or upward, evoking flames, judgement on the last day, angels, devils, triumph, and agony in unrelenting sonic waves. The trumpets on stage and in the balcony, along with the magnificent brass, including the exotic-looking cimbasso played by JáTik Clark, threatened to shake the rafters. During the most demonstrative moments the bass drum in the percussion battery was pummeled so hard that it looked as if it would bounce onto the stage. Yet there were quiet moments, such as during the “Quid sum miser tunc dicturus?” (“What can a wretch like me say?”) when the bassoon of Evan Kuhlmann created a plaintive lament.
Kalmar usually wields a conducting style that is animated and inspired, but in the performance, he seemed take things to a higher level. It was as if he were conducting as if his life depended on it, and that got everyone to perform as if their lives depended on the outcome as well. The cutoffs that he signaled were breathtakingly effective. No one in the hall coughed or dared to breathe after a cutoff took place. It was as if the entire hall was transfixed in a mind meld. That might sound frightening, but at the conclusion of the concert, it became a life-enhancing experience.
Soprano Amber Wagner, mezzo-soprano Dana Beth Miller, tenor Dimitri Pittas, and bass Raymond Aceto went above and beyond with voices that soared – even over and beyond the triple fortissimos of the combined forces layered behind them. Yet they maintained a beautiful sound throughout with vibratos that stayed inbounds, and they added to the dramatic effect by stepping forward and singing a number of arias from memory.
Each soloist excelled individually but also in ensemble numbers, which was quite remarkable with the resonant yet emotive qualities of Wagner, Miller, Pittas, and Aceto balancing consistently throughout the evening. Considering the Schnitzer’s acoustical challenges for voices in the lower range, Miller, in particular poured out enough tonal beauty and volume to equal her colleagues, creating stunning moments, such as in the “Liber scriptus proferetur” (A written book will be brought forth”). Wagner, it should be noted, held a note so long, during the Offertoiro, that one began to worry that she might never inhale again. Yet, she made it look easy peasy. Pittas exuded a marvelous tenor line and Aceto laid out a resonating bass that could be felt in the last row of the upper balcony.
The Portland Symphonic Choir and University of Puget sound Adelphian Concert Choir, expertly prepared by Steven Zopfi, delivered an awesome performance. The diction and balance of the combined choruses was impressive right from the start with the words “Requiem aeternam dona eis Domine” (“Grant them eternal rest, O Lord”) and especially crystal clear in the a cappella passages, such as the “Te decet hymnus, Deus, in Sion” (“A hymn in Zion befits you, O God”). The singers also left everyone on the stage floor with a devastatingly volcanic “Dies irae” (“Day of wrath”) and “Rex tremendae majestatis” (“King of dreadful majesty”) that could have been heard in Clackamas County. And, wow, the “Sanctus” sparkled like angles flying about.
The orchestra, urged on by Kalmar, accompanied the vocal forces expertly, giving everyone goosebumps with the passages that spiraled downward or upward, evoking flames, judgement on the last day, angels, devils, triumph, and agony in unrelenting sonic waves. The trumpets on stage and in the balcony, along with the magnificent brass, including the exotic-looking cimbasso played by JáTik Clark, threatened to shake the rafters. During the most demonstrative moments the bass drum in the percussion battery was pummeled so hard that it looked as if it would bounce onto the stage. Yet there were quiet moments, such as during the “Quid sum miser tunc dicturus?” (“What can a wretch like me say?”) when the bassoon of Evan Kuhlmann created a plaintive lament.
Kalmar usually wields a conducting style that is animated and inspired, but in the performance, he seemed take things to a higher level. It was as if he were conducting as if his life depended on it, and that got everyone to perform as if their lives depended on the outcome as well. The cutoffs that he signaled were breathtakingly effective. No one in the hall coughed or dared to breathe after a cutoff took place. It was as if the entire hall was transfixed in a mind meld. That might sound frightening, but at the conclusion of the concert, it became a life-enhancing experience.
Today's Birthdays
Johann Christoph Vogel (1756-1788)
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908)
Paul Le Flem (1881-1984)
Gian Francesco Malipiero (1882-1973)
Willem van Hoogstraten (1884-1964)
Nobuko Imai (1943)
James Conlon (1950)
Jan-Hendrik Rootering (1950)
Courtney Pine (1964)
and
Stéphane Mallarmé (1842-1898)
Wilfred Owen (1893-1918)
Manly Hall (1901-1990)
George Plimpton (1927-2003)
Christa Wolf (1929-2011)
John Updike (1932-2009)
Franz Wright (1953-2015)
Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908)
Paul Le Flem (1881-1984)
Gian Francesco Malipiero (1882-1973)
Willem van Hoogstraten (1884-1964)
Nobuko Imai (1943)
James Conlon (1950)
Jan-Hendrik Rootering (1950)
Courtney Pine (1964)
and
Stéphane Mallarmé (1842-1898)
Wilfred Owen (1893-1918)
Manly Hall (1901-1990)
George Plimpton (1927-2003)
Christa Wolf (1929-2011)
John Updike (1932-2009)
Franz Wright (1953-2015)
Saturday, March 17, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Élisabeth Jacquet de la Guerre (1665-1729)
Manuel García II (1805-1906)
Joseph Rheinberger (1839-1901)
Giuseppe Borgatti (1871-1950)
Brian Boydell (1917-2000)
Nat "King" Cole (1917-1965)
John LaMontaine (1920-2013)
Stephen Dodgson (1924-2013)
Betty Allen (1927-2009)
John Lill (1944)
Michael Finnissy (1946)
Patrick Burgan (1960)
and
Edmund Kean (1787-1833)
Frank B. Gilbreth (1911-2001)
Penelope Lively (1933)
Manuel García II (1805-1906)
Joseph Rheinberger (1839-1901)
Giuseppe Borgatti (1871-1950)
Brian Boydell (1917-2000)
Nat "King" Cole (1917-1965)
John LaMontaine (1920-2013)
Stephen Dodgson (1924-2013)
Betty Allen (1927-2009)
John Lill (1944)
Michael Finnissy (1946)
Patrick Burgan (1960)
and
Edmund Kean (1787-1833)
Frank B. Gilbreth (1911-2001)
Penelope Lively (1933)
Friday, March 16, 2018
Preview of Vancouver USA Singers concert in The Columbian
Today's edition of The Columbian newspaper featured by preview of Brahms' German Requiem,which the Vancouver USA Singers will perform with orchestra this weekend. You can read the article here.
After the preview appeared in the paper this morning, I was notified (by the editor) of a nice letter from a reader:
Dear Mr. Bash,
As a 36 year member of the Vancouver USA Singers ( I was a member under the direction of the founder, Bill Slocum) I want to thank you for your excellent article in the Life section of today's Columbian. Your summary and primer of the work, the composer's motivation and his understanding of the universality of what he had written, were outstanding. I think the Columbian is fortunate to have you writing for them.
Thank you for your contributions to Vancouver, to the arts, and for highlighting our rapidly evolving choir and it's place in the Portland area performing arts community. As regards the choir, I think the best is yet to come.
Warm regards,
Russ Freeland
Baritone
After the preview appeared in the paper this morning, I was notified (by the editor) of a nice letter from a reader:
Dear Mr. Bash,
As a 36 year member of the Vancouver USA Singers ( I was a member under the direction of the founder, Bill Slocum) I want to thank you for your excellent article in the Life section of today's Columbian. Your summary and primer of the work, the composer's motivation and his understanding of the universality of what he had written, were outstanding. I think the Columbian is fortunate to have you writing for them.
Thank you for your contributions to Vancouver, to the arts, and for highlighting our rapidly evolving choir and it's place in the Portland area performing arts community. As regards the choir, I think the best is yet to come.
Warm regards,
Russ Freeland
Baritone
Today's Birthdays
Enrico Tamberlik (1820-1889)
Henny Youngman (1906-1998)
Christa Ludwig (1928)
Sir Roger Norrington (1934)
Teresa Berganza (1935)
David Del Tredici (1937)
Claus Peter Flor (1953)
and
James Madison (1751-1836)
Maxim Gorky (1868-1936)
César Vallejo (1892-1938)
Sid Fleischman (1920-2010)
Alice Hoffman (1952)
Henny Youngman (1906-1998)
Christa Ludwig (1928)
Sir Roger Norrington (1934)
Teresa Berganza (1935)
David Del Tredici (1937)
Claus Peter Flor (1953)
and
James Madison (1751-1836)
Maxim Gorky (1868-1936)
César Vallejo (1892-1938)
Sid Fleischman (1920-2010)
Alice Hoffman (1952)
Thursday, March 15, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Eduard Strauss (1835-1916)
Johan Halvorsen (1864-1935)
Colin McPhee (1900-1964)
Lightnin' Hopkins (1912-1982)
Ben Johnston (1926)
Nicolas Flagello (1928-1994)
Jean Rudolphe Kars (1947)
Isabel Buchanan (1954)
and
Richard Ellmann (1918-1987)
Ben Okri (1959)
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1985, Italian tenor Enrico Caruso, age 22, makes his operatic debut at the Teatro Nuovo in Naples, singing the lead tenor role in Domenico Morelli's comic opera "L'Amico Francesco."
Johan Halvorsen (1864-1935)
Colin McPhee (1900-1964)
Lightnin' Hopkins (1912-1982)
Ben Johnston (1926)
Nicolas Flagello (1928-1994)
Jean Rudolphe Kars (1947)
Isabel Buchanan (1954)
and
Richard Ellmann (1918-1987)
Ben Okri (1959)
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1985, Italian tenor Enrico Caruso, age 22, makes his operatic debut at the Teatro Nuovo in Naples, singing the lead tenor role in Domenico Morelli's comic opera "L'Amico Francesco."
Wednesday, March 14, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Georg Philipp Telemann (1681-1767)
Johann Gottlieb Goldberg (1727-1756)
Pierre-Louis Couperin (1755-1789)
Johann Strauss Sr. (1804-1849)
Lawrance Collingwood (1887-1982)
Witold Rudziński (1913-2004)
Quincy Jones (1933)
Phillip Joll (1954)
and
Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
Sylvia Beach (1887-1962)
Max Shulman (1919-1988)
Diane Arbus (1923-1871)
Johann Gottlieb Goldberg (1727-1756)
Pierre-Louis Couperin (1755-1789)
Johann Strauss Sr. (1804-1849)
Lawrance Collingwood (1887-1982)
Witold Rudziński (1913-2004)
Quincy Jones (1933)
Phillip Joll (1954)
and
Albert Einstein (1879-1955)
Sylvia Beach (1887-1962)
Max Shulman (1919-1988)
Diane Arbus (1923-1871)
Tuesday, March 13, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Michael Blavet (1700-1768)
Hugo Wolf (1860-1903)
Alec Rowley (1892-1958)
Irène Joachim (1913-2001)
Jane Rhodes (1929-2011)
Alberto Ponce (1935)
Lionel Friend (1945)
Julia Migenes (1949
Wolfgang Rihm (1952)
Anthony Powers (1953)
Moses Hogan (1957-2003)
Terence Blanchard (1962)
and
Janet Flanner (1892-1978)
George Seferis (1900-1971)
Hugo Wolf (1860-1903)
Alec Rowley (1892-1958)
Irène Joachim (1913-2001)
Jane Rhodes (1929-2011)
Alberto Ponce (1935)
Lionel Friend (1945)
Julia Migenes (1949
Wolfgang Rihm (1952)
Anthony Powers (1953)
Moses Hogan (1957-2003)
Terence Blanchard (1962)
and
Janet Flanner (1892-1978)
George Seferis (1900-1971)
Monday, March 12, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Thomas Arne (1710-1778)
Alexandre Guilmant (1837-1911)
Hans Knappertsbusch (1888-1965)
Ralph Shapey (1921-2002)
Norbert Brainin (1923-2005)
Philip Jones (1928-2000)
Helga Pilarczyk (1935-2011)
Liza Minnelli (1946)
James Taylor (1948)
and
George Berkeley (1685-1753)
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (1830-1916)
Vaslav Nijinsky (1889-1950)
Edward Albee (1928)
Jack Kerouac (1922-1969)
Virginia Hamilton (1934-2002)
Naomi Shihab Nye (1952)
Carl Hiaasen (1953)
David Eggers (1970)
Alexandre Guilmant (1837-1911)
Hans Knappertsbusch (1888-1965)
Ralph Shapey (1921-2002)
Norbert Brainin (1923-2005)
Philip Jones (1928-2000)
Helga Pilarczyk (1935-2011)
Liza Minnelli (1946)
James Taylor (1948)
and
George Berkeley (1685-1753)
Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (1830-1916)
Vaslav Nijinsky (1889-1950)
Edward Albee (1928)
Jack Kerouac (1922-1969)
Virginia Hamilton (1934-2002)
Naomi Shihab Nye (1952)
Carl Hiaasen (1953)
David Eggers (1970)
Sunday, March 11, 2018
Article on March Music Moderne posted on Oregonlive Arts
My article on the upcoming March Music Moderne festival was posted on Oregonlive Arts yesterday. The printed version will appear later this week. This year's edition of MMM offers another fascinating program; so I hope that you enjoy the article and can attend the festival, which is free!
Today's Birthdays
Carl Ruggles (1876-1971)
Henry Cowell (1897-1965)
Xavier Montsalvage (1912-2002)
Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992)
Sarah Walker (1943)
Tristan Murail (1947)
Bobby McFerrin (1950)
Katia Labèque (1950)
and
Torquato Tasso (1544-1495)
Ezra Jack Keats (1916-1983)
Douglas Adams (1952-2001)
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1829, Mendelssohn conducts a revival performance of J.S. Bach's "St. Matthew Passion" in Berlin.
Henry Cowell (1897-1965)
Xavier Montsalvage (1912-2002)
Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992)
Sarah Walker (1943)
Tristan Murail (1947)
Bobby McFerrin (1950)
Katia Labèque (1950)
and
Torquato Tasso (1544-1495)
Ezra Jack Keats (1916-1983)
Douglas Adams (1952-2001)
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1829, Mendelssohn conducts a revival performance of J.S. Bach's "St. Matthew Passion" in Berlin.
Saturday, March 10, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Lorenzo Da Ponte (1749-1838)
Dudley Buck (1839-1909)
Pablo de Sarasate (1844-1908)
Arthur Honnegger (1892-1955)
Dame Eva Turner (1892-1990)
Bix Biederbecke (1903-1931)
Sir Charles Groves (1915-1992)
William Blezard (1921-2003)
Andrew Parrott (1947)
Stephen Oliver (1950-1992)
and
Henry Watson Fowler (1858-1933)
Zelda Fitzgerald (1900-1948)
Heywood Hale Broun (1918-2001)
David Rabe (1940)
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this date in 1937, Frank Capra's film "The Lost Horizon" opens at the Four Stars Theater in Los Angeles, featuring a classic film score composed by Dmitri Tiomkin (and conducted by Max Steiner).
Dudley Buck (1839-1909)
Pablo de Sarasate (1844-1908)
Arthur Honnegger (1892-1955)
Dame Eva Turner (1892-1990)
Bix Biederbecke (1903-1931)
Sir Charles Groves (1915-1992)
William Blezard (1921-2003)
Andrew Parrott (1947)
Stephen Oliver (1950-1992)
and
Henry Watson Fowler (1858-1933)
Zelda Fitzgerald (1900-1948)
Heywood Hale Broun (1918-2001)
David Rabe (1940)
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this date in 1937, Frank Capra's film "The Lost Horizon" opens at the Four Stars Theater in Los Angeles, featuring a classic film score composed by Dmitri Tiomkin (and conducted by Max Steiner).
Friday, March 9, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Josef Mysliveczek (1737-1781)
Archie Camden (1888-1979)
Dame Isobel Baillie (1895-1983)
Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
Ornette Coleman (1930-2015)
David Matthews (1943)
Kalevi Aho (1949)
Howard Shelley (1950)
and
Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512)
Vita Sackville-West (1892-1962)
Mickey Spillane (1918-2006)
David Pogue (1963)
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1831, Italian violin virtuoso Nicolo Paganini makes his Parisian debut a the Opéra. Composers in the audience include Meyerbeer, Cherubini, Halvéy. and Franz Liszt (who transcribes Pagnini's showpiece "La Campanella" for piano). Also in attendance are the many famous novelists and poets, including George Sand, Victor Hugo, Alfred de Mussset and Heinrich Heine.
Archie Camden (1888-1979)
Dame Isobel Baillie (1895-1983)
Samuel Barber (1910-1981)
Ornette Coleman (1930-2015)
David Matthews (1943)
Kalevi Aho (1949)
Howard Shelley (1950)
and
Amerigo Vespucci (1454-1512)
Vita Sackville-West (1892-1962)
Mickey Spillane (1918-2006)
David Pogue (1963)
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1831, Italian violin virtuoso Nicolo Paganini makes his Parisian debut a the Opéra. Composers in the audience include Meyerbeer, Cherubini, Halvéy. and Franz Liszt (who transcribes Pagnini's showpiece "La Campanella" for piano). Also in attendance are the many famous novelists and poets, including George Sand, Victor Hugo, Alfred de Mussset and Heinrich Heine.
Thursday, March 8, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Carlo Gesualdo (1566-1613)
Carl Philip Emanuel Bach (1714-1788)
Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000)
Dick Hyman (1927)
Christian Wolff (1934)
Robert Tear (1939-2011)
Barthold Kuijken (1949)
Simon Halsey (1958)
and
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (1841-1935)
Kenneth Grahame (1859-1932)
Leslie Fiedler (1917-2003)
Neil Postman (1931-2003)
John McPhee (1933)
Leslie A. Fiedler (1948)
Jeffrey Eugenides (1960)
Carl Philip Emanuel Bach (1714-1788)
Alan Hovhaness (1911-2000)
Dick Hyman (1927)
Christian Wolff (1934)
Robert Tear (1939-2011)
Barthold Kuijken (1949)
Simon Halsey (1958)
and
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. (1841-1935)
Kenneth Grahame (1859-1932)
Leslie Fiedler (1917-2003)
Neil Postman (1931-2003)
John McPhee (1933)
Leslie A. Fiedler (1948)
Jeffrey Eugenides (1960)
Wednesday, March 7, 2018
Today's Birthdays
John Wilbye (1574-1638)
Tomaso Antonio Vitali (1663-1745)
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Heino Eller (1887-1970)
Christopher Seaman (1942)
Uri Segal (1944)
Townes Van Zandt (1944-1997)
Nicholas Kraemer (1945)
Clive Gillinson (1946)
Okko Kamu (1946)
Montserrat Figueras (1948-2011)
Michael Chance (1955)
and
William York Tindall (1903-1981)
William Boyd (1952)
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1897, Johannes Brahms attends his last concerts and hears his Symphony No. 4 conducted by Hans Richter.
Tomaso Antonio Vitali (1663-1745)
Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)
Heino Eller (1887-1970)
Christopher Seaman (1942)
Uri Segal (1944)
Townes Van Zandt (1944-1997)
Nicholas Kraemer (1945)
Clive Gillinson (1946)
Okko Kamu (1946)
Montserrat Figueras (1948-2011)
Michael Chance (1955)
and
William York Tindall (1903-1981)
William Boyd (1952)
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1897, Johannes Brahms attends his last concerts and hears his Symphony No. 4 conducted by Hans Richter.
Tuesday, March 6, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Oscar Straus (1870-1954)
Julius Rudel (1921-2014)
Sarah Caldwell (1924-2006)
Wes Montgomery (1925-1968)
Ronald Stevenson (1928-2015)
Lorin Maazel (1930-2014)
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa (1944)
Stephen Schwartz (1948)
Marielle Labèque (1952)
Mark Gresham (1956)
Yannick Nézet-Séguin (1975)
and
Michelangelo (1475-1564)
Cyrano de Bergerac (1619-1655)
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)
Ring Lardner (1885-1933)
Gabriel García Márquez (1928-2014)
Willie Mays (1931)
Dick Fosbury (1947)
Julius Rudel (1921-2014)
Sarah Caldwell (1924-2006)
Wes Montgomery (1925-1968)
Ronald Stevenson (1928-2015)
Lorin Maazel (1930-2014)
Dame Kiri Te Kanawa (1944)
Stephen Schwartz (1948)
Marielle Labèque (1952)
Mark Gresham (1956)
Yannick Nézet-Séguin (1975)
and
Michelangelo (1475-1564)
Cyrano de Bergerac (1619-1655)
Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806-1861)
Ring Lardner (1885-1933)
Gabriel García Márquez (1928-2014)
Willie Mays (1931)
Dick Fosbury (1947)
Monday, March 5, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Alphonse Hasselmans (1845-1912)
Arthur Foote (1853-1937)
Pauline Donalda (1882-1970)
Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)
Anthony Hedges (1931)
Barry Tuckwell (1931)
Sheila Nelson (1936)
Richard Hickox (1948)
and
Gerardus Mercator (1512-1594)
Frank Norris (1870-1902)
Leslie Marmon Silko (1948)
From The Writer's Almanac:
It was on this day in 1750 that the first Shakespearean play was presented in America. Richard III was performed by the actors of Walter Murray and William Kean’s troupe from Philadelphia. Theater was still new in the colonies. And though it was popular in Philadelphia, that city still preferred to pride itself on its scientific and literary achievements, so Murray and Kean set out for New York City.
Through the 1700s, New York’s primary form of entertainment was drinking. By the time Murray and Kean arrived in February of 1750, there were 10,000 city residents and over 150 taverns. Murray and Kean set up shop in a two-story wooden structure on Nassau Street, slightly east of Broadway.
Arthur Foote (1853-1937)
Pauline Donalda (1882-1970)
Heitor Villa-Lobos (1887-1959)
Anthony Hedges (1931)
Barry Tuckwell (1931)
Sheila Nelson (1936)
Richard Hickox (1948)
and
Gerardus Mercator (1512-1594)
Frank Norris (1870-1902)
Leslie Marmon Silko (1948)
From The Writer's Almanac:
It was on this day in 1750 that the first Shakespearean play was presented in America. Richard III was performed by the actors of Walter Murray and William Kean’s troupe from Philadelphia. Theater was still new in the colonies. And though it was popular in Philadelphia, that city still preferred to pride itself on its scientific and literary achievements, so Murray and Kean set out for New York City.
Through the 1700s, New York’s primary form of entertainment was drinking. By the time Murray and Kean arrived in February of 1750, there were 10,000 city residents and over 150 taverns. Murray and Kean set up shop in a two-story wooden structure on Nassau Street, slightly east of Broadway.
Sunday, March 4, 2018
Barry Douglas delights OSO audiences with a surprise Beethoven Concerto
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| Barry Douglas |
Opening with Samuel Barber's Second Essay for Orchestra, the OSO played this incredibly lush and inviting work well, changing from somber and beautiful to frenetic chasing, spritely and light, with a sure and deft hand.
The orchestral interpretation that associate conductor Norman Huynh chose for the Beethoven was a bit too polite and reserved, but Douglas was in fine form. His opening was dry, exposed and intimate, almost intentionally self-conscious it seemed, and he showed a deft, singing baritone that cut through the orchestral texture without being too pronounced. One could feel the true delight in his playing, which was almost dreamy at times. The Largo was sleepy and yet his arpeggios were somehow quietly thunderous, gentle and yet full of character. The finale allowed Douglas to display show off his fireworks in the lightning chromatic motives. This was a performance marked by true understanding, and emotional as well as physical dexterity.
The marvelous, lengthy crescendo in the first movement of the Sibelius was built on spectral trumpet echoes and fierce tremolando from the strings, and the bassoon played a sad, baleful melody behind. There were balance issues during the fortissimos; it seemed impossible to restrain the crashing brass, and strings were at times completely subsumed though they were pounding away with all fury. Huynh however did a good job at bringing out a vague sense of menace, which could easily have been glossed over. The Andante mosso was as pastoral as one could want, with different textures exploding from the depths of a dense sound-sea. The work closed with a grandiose blend from the brass, eliciting every ounce of emotion from the august swan theme.
Today's Birthdays
Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741)
Carlos Surinach (1915-1997)
Cecil Aronowitz (1916-1978)
Samuel Adler (1928)
Bernard Haitink (1929)
Aribert Reimann (1936)
Ralph Kirshbaum (1946)
Leanna Primiani (1968)
and
Khaled Hosseini (1965)
and
And from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1801,the U.S. Marine Band performed for Thomas Jefferson's inaugural. Jefferson, an avid music lover and amateur violinist, gave the Marine Band the title "The President's Own." Since that time, the band has played for every presidential inaugural.
Carlos Surinach (1915-1997)
Cecil Aronowitz (1916-1978)
Samuel Adler (1928)
Bernard Haitink (1929)
Aribert Reimann (1936)
Ralph Kirshbaum (1946)
Leanna Primiani (1968)
and
Khaled Hosseini (1965)
and
And from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1801,the U.S. Marine Band performed for Thomas Jefferson's inaugural. Jefferson, an avid music lover and amateur violinist, gave the Marine Band the title "The President's Own." Since that time, the band has played for every presidential inaugural.
Saturday, March 3, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Eugen d'Albert (1864-1932)
Henry Wood (1869-1944)
Federico Moreno Torroba (1891-1982)
Margaret Bonds (1913-1972)
Frank Wigglesworth (1918-1996)
Doc Watson (1923-2012)
Martin Lovett (1927)
Florence Quivar (1944)
Roberta Alexander (1949)
Katia Labèque (1950)
and
James Merrill (1926-1995)
Ira Glass (1959)
From the Writer's Almanac:
Beethoven’s “Moonlight” Sonata was published on this date in 1802. Its real name is the slightly less evocative “Piano Sonata No. 14 in C Sharp Minor, Opus 27, No. 2,” and its Italian subtitle is translated as “almost a fantasy.” In 1832, five years after Beethoven’s death, a German critic compared the sonata to the effect of moonlight shining on Lake Lucerne, and the interpretation became so popular that, by the end of the century, the piece was universally known as the “Moonlight Sonata.” Beethoven himself had attributed the emotion of the piece to sitting at the bedside of a friend who had suffered an untimely death.
It was on this day in 1875 that the opera Carmen appeared on stage for the first time at the Opéra-Comique in France. When it premiered, the audience was shocked by the characters of Carmen, a gypsy girl, and her lover, Don José. The opera ran for 37 performances even though it came out late in the season, and it came back the next season, too.
Nietzsche heard Carmen 20 different times, and thought of it as a musical masterpiece. Tchaikovsky first heard Carmen in 1880. Bizet died of a heart attack just three months after the opera's debut.
It was on this day in 1931 that "The Star-Spangled Banner" became the official national anthem of the United States.
The lyrics come from a poem written by Francis Scott Key more than a century before, "Defence of Fort McHenry." He'd spent a night toward the end of the War of 1812 hearing the British navy bombard Baltimore, Maryland. The bombardment lasted 25 hours — and in the dawn's early light, Francis Scott Key emerged to see the U.S. flag still waving over Fort McHenry. He jotted the poem "Defence of Fort McHenry" on the back of an envelope. Then he went to his hotel and made another copy, which was printed in the Baltimore American a week later.
The tune for the Star-Spangled Banner comes from an old British drinking song called "To Anacreon in Heaven," which was very popular at men's social clubs in London during the 1700s. Francis Scott Key himself did the pairing of the tune to his poem. It was a big hit.
For the next century, a few different anthems were used at official U.S. ceremonies, including "My Country Tis of Thee" and "Hail Columbia." The U.S. Navy adopted "The Star-Spangled Banner" for its officialdom in 1889, and the presidency did in 1916. But it wasn't until this day in 1931 — just 80 years ago — that Congress passed a resolution and Hoover signed into law the decree that "The Star-Spangled Banner" was the official national anthem of the United States of America.
Henry Wood (1869-1944)
Federico Moreno Torroba (1891-1982)
Margaret Bonds (1913-1972)
Frank Wigglesworth (1918-1996)
Doc Watson (1923-2012)
Martin Lovett (1927)
Florence Quivar (1944)
Roberta Alexander (1949)
Katia Labèque (1950)
and
James Merrill (1926-1995)
Ira Glass (1959)
From the Writer's Almanac:
Beethoven’s “Moonlight” Sonata was published on this date in 1802. Its real name is the slightly less evocative “Piano Sonata No. 14 in C Sharp Minor, Opus 27, No. 2,” and its Italian subtitle is translated as “almost a fantasy.” In 1832, five years after Beethoven’s death, a German critic compared the sonata to the effect of moonlight shining on Lake Lucerne, and the interpretation became so popular that, by the end of the century, the piece was universally known as the “Moonlight Sonata.” Beethoven himself had attributed the emotion of the piece to sitting at the bedside of a friend who had suffered an untimely death.
It was on this day in 1875 that the opera Carmen appeared on stage for the first time at the Opéra-Comique in France. When it premiered, the audience was shocked by the characters of Carmen, a gypsy girl, and her lover, Don José. The opera ran for 37 performances even though it came out late in the season, and it came back the next season, too.
Nietzsche heard Carmen 20 different times, and thought of it as a musical masterpiece. Tchaikovsky first heard Carmen in 1880. Bizet died of a heart attack just three months after the opera's debut.
It was on this day in 1931 that "The Star-Spangled Banner" became the official national anthem of the United States.
The lyrics come from a poem written by Francis Scott Key more than a century before, "Defence of Fort McHenry." He'd spent a night toward the end of the War of 1812 hearing the British navy bombard Baltimore, Maryland. The bombardment lasted 25 hours — and in the dawn's early light, Francis Scott Key emerged to see the U.S. flag still waving over Fort McHenry. He jotted the poem "Defence of Fort McHenry" on the back of an envelope. Then he went to his hotel and made another copy, which was printed in the Baltimore American a week later.
The tune for the Star-Spangled Banner comes from an old British drinking song called "To Anacreon in Heaven," which was very popular at men's social clubs in London during the 1700s. Francis Scott Key himself did the pairing of the tune to his poem. It was a big hit.
For the next century, a few different anthems were used at official U.S. ceremonies, including "My Country Tis of Thee" and "Hail Columbia." The U.S. Navy adopted "The Star-Spangled Banner" for its officialdom in 1889, and the presidency did in 1916. But it wasn't until this day in 1931 — just 80 years ago — that Congress passed a resolution and Hoover signed into law the decree that "The Star-Spangled Banner" was the official national anthem of the United States of America.
Friday, March 2, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Bedřich Smetana (1824-1884)
Tom Burke (1890-1969)
Kurt Weill (1900-1950)
Marc Blitzstein (1905-1965)
John Gardner (1917-2011)
Robert Simpson (1921-1997)
Bernard Rands (1934)
Robert Lloyd (1940)
Lou Reed (1942)
and
Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss) (1904-1991)
Mikhail S Gorbachev (1931)
Tom Wolfe (1931)
John Irving (1942)
and from the Composers Datebook:
Starting on this day in 1967 and continuing over the next two weeks, Russian cellist Mstsilav Rostropovich performed 26 works for cello and orchestra at 8 concerts with the London Symphony at Carnegie Hall in New York City -- including some world premieres!
Tom Burke (1890-1969)
Kurt Weill (1900-1950)
Marc Blitzstein (1905-1965)
John Gardner (1917-2011)
Robert Simpson (1921-1997)
Bernard Rands (1934)
Robert Lloyd (1940)
Lou Reed (1942)
and
Theodor Geisel (Dr. Seuss) (1904-1991)
Mikhail S Gorbachev (1931)
Tom Wolfe (1931)
John Irving (1942)
and from the Composers Datebook:
Starting on this day in 1967 and continuing over the next two weeks, Russian cellist Mstsilav Rostropovich performed 26 works for cello and orchestra at 8 concerts with the London Symphony at Carnegie Hall in New York City -- including some world premieres!
Thursday, March 1, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Frédéric Chopin (1810-1849)
Dimitri Mitropoulos (1896-1960)
Glenn Miller (1904-1944)
Leo Brouwer (1939)
Moray Welsh (1947)
Lorraine Hunt-Lieberson (1954-2006)
Galina Gorchakova (1962)
Thomas Adès (1971)
and
Oskar Kokoschka (1866-1980)
Ralph Ellison (1913-1994)
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)
Richard Wilbur (1921-2017)
Dimitri Mitropoulos (1896-1960)
Glenn Miller (1904-1944)
Leo Brouwer (1939)
Moray Welsh (1947)
Lorraine Hunt-Lieberson (1954-2006)
Galina Gorchakova (1962)
Thomas Adès (1971)
and
Oskar Kokoschka (1866-1980)
Ralph Ellison (1913-1994)
Robert Lowell (1917-1977)
Richard Wilbur (1921-2017)
Wednesday, February 28, 2018
Incredible performance by soloist in Brotons concerto highlights VSO program
An off-the-charts fantastic performance by guest artist David Rejano highlighted the Vancouver Symphony’s concert on Saturday afternoon (February 24) at Skyview Concert Hall. Rejano, the principal trombonist of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, took center stage to play the “Concerto for Trombone and Orchestra” by Salvador Brotons, the orchestra’s music director who also happens to be a terrific composer.
Written in 1995 (while he taught at Portland State University), Broton’s Trombone Concerto requires a trombonist who can handle the challenge of playing over a full orchestra while negotiating all sorts of tricky and virtuosic techniques. Rejano’sability to create a multitude of fascinating sounds was just stunning. Scattershot tones, basement rattling blasts, high-wire arches, slippery glissandos, and raspy interludes were just easily delivered by Rejano. He also played some super-rapid passages that showed terrific control and articulation. At one point, he elicited two (or maybe more) tones at the same time by playing and singing into the mouthpiece at the same time. That was sort of spooky and weird. He used mutes to sound as if far away and countered that with mellifluous lovely passages.
After the tour-de-force performance, Rejano responded to the extended applause with a beautiful encore, the “Méditation” from the opera “Thais” by composer Jules Massenet. Needless to say, Rejano played the mellifluous piece, accompanied by a few strings, with great sensitivity. His performance, in essence, was a dream.
Beethoven’s Third Symphony received a solid performance by the orchestra, conveying the heroic force of the piece with passion and verve. The strings, led by concertmaster Stephen Shepherd, propelled straight away in the first movement with a sense of purpose. Ends of phrases were well-shaped, often tapering off with a slightly softer sound. The musicians nobly expressed the funeral march of the second movement with the spotlight resting on the expressive playing of principal oboist Karen Strand, principal flutist Rachel Rencher, and principal bassoonist Margaret McShea. The French horns, woodwinds, and trumpets accented the themes with striking clarity. The third and fourth movements overcame a couple of dragging moments to drive homeward and finish the dramatic arc of the piece gusto.
Much like Beethoven’s Third, Brahms “Tragic Overture” also began with forceful blows, followed by a statement that allowed a lot of dynamic contrast. Urged on by Brotons, the musicians created a tapestry that constantly changed between the lush and rhapsodic to stormy and charged to quiet and almost serene. Some passages could have been crisper and more well-defined, but, overall, the ensemble ably conveyed the struggle between a triumphant spirit and one that was defeated.
Written in 1995 (while he taught at Portland State University), Broton’s Trombone Concerto requires a trombonist who can handle the challenge of playing over a full orchestra while negotiating all sorts of tricky and virtuosic techniques. Rejano’sability to create a multitude of fascinating sounds was just stunning. Scattershot tones, basement rattling blasts, high-wire arches, slippery glissandos, and raspy interludes were just easily delivered by Rejano. He also played some super-rapid passages that showed terrific control and articulation. At one point, he elicited two (or maybe more) tones at the same time by playing and singing into the mouthpiece at the same time. That was sort of spooky and weird. He used mutes to sound as if far away and countered that with mellifluous lovely passages.
After the tour-de-force performance, Rejano responded to the extended applause with a beautiful encore, the “Méditation” from the opera “Thais” by composer Jules Massenet. Needless to say, Rejano played the mellifluous piece, accompanied by a few strings, with great sensitivity. His performance, in essence, was a dream.
Beethoven’s Third Symphony received a solid performance by the orchestra, conveying the heroic force of the piece with passion and verve. The strings, led by concertmaster Stephen Shepherd, propelled straight away in the first movement with a sense of purpose. Ends of phrases were well-shaped, often tapering off with a slightly softer sound. The musicians nobly expressed the funeral march of the second movement with the spotlight resting on the expressive playing of principal oboist Karen Strand, principal flutist Rachel Rencher, and principal bassoonist Margaret McShea. The French horns, woodwinds, and trumpets accented the themes with striking clarity. The third and fourth movements overcame a couple of dragging moments to drive homeward and finish the dramatic arc of the piece gusto.
Much like Beethoven’s Third, Brahms “Tragic Overture” also began with forceful blows, followed by a statement that allowed a lot of dynamic contrast. Urged on by Brotons, the musicians created a tapestry that constantly changed between the lush and rhapsodic to stormy and charged to quiet and almost serene. Some passages could have been crisper and more well-defined, but, overall, the ensemble ably conveyed the struggle between a triumphant spirit and one that was defeated.
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)
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.
Sergueï Bortkiewicz (1877-1952)
Guiomar Novaes (1895-1979)
Geraldine Farrar (1882-1967)
Roman Maciejewski (1910-1998)
George Malcolm (1917-1997)
Joseph Rouleau (1929)
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.
Tuesday, February 27, 2018
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)
Morten Lauridsen (1943)
Gidon Kremer (1947)
Frank-Peter Zimmermann (1956)
and
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
John Steinbeck (1902-1968)
Lawrence Durrell (1912-1990)
Ralph Nadar (1934)
N. Scott Momaday (1934)
Lotte Lehmann (1888-1976)
Marian Anderson (1897-1993)
Elizabeth Welch (1904-2003)
Viktor Kalabis (1923-2006)
Mirella Freni (1935)
Morten Lauridsen (1943)
Gidon Kremer (1947)
Frank-Peter Zimmermann (1956)
and
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
John Steinbeck (1902-1968)
Lawrence Durrell (1912-1990)
Ralph Nadar (1934)
N. Scott Momaday (1934)
Monday, February 26, 2018
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)
Lazar Berman (1930-2005)
Johnny Cash (1932-2005)
David Thomas (1943)
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)
Alfred Bachelet (1864-1944)
Emmy Destinn (1878-1930)
Frank Bridge (1879-1941)
Witold Rowicki (1914-1989)
Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino (1928)
Lazar Berman (1930-2005)
Johnny Cash (1932-2005)
David Thomas (1943)
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)
Sunday, February 25, 2018
Paremski and Oregon Symphony deliver spectacular Prokofiev
Natasha Paremski’s playing of Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 2 took everyone’s breath away at the Oregon Symphony concert on February 10th. She captured the quirky nature of the piece marvelously, bringing a sense of lyricism and whimsy to the rhapsodic passages and fearlessly letting her fingers fly across the rapid portions (such as the second movement), and driving to the finale with room to spare. Paremski demonstrated superb control from beginning to end, bringing out emphatic fortes one moment and then shifting to ultra-soft pianissimos the next. The intoxicating blend of sheer pianism came to a head in the helter skelter fourth movement with its willy-nilly combinations of dynamic twists and turns. The virtuosic candenza in the finale – with its knuckle-crunching sections paired against tender and poignant ones – was brilliantly played by Paremski. To think that she learned the piece in a few months after being asked by Carlos Kalmar, the orchestra’s music director, and then played it so brilliantly from memory is astonishing. The nearly full house at the Arlene Schnizter Concert Hall erupted with applause and cheers.
While Paremski’s memorable performance was tremendously impressive, it was equaled by the orchestra’s scintillating performance of Walter Piston’s Symphony No. 7. Piston won his second Pulitzer Prize (in 1961) with the three-movement work. The orchestra handled the entire piece incisively from its thick and complex opening statement to the powerfully sharp ending with its three decisive blows. The second movement (“Adagio pastorale”) offered lovely solos by principal oboist Martin Hébert and principal flutist Martha Long as well as intriguing pairings with their colleagues in the woodwind section. Lyrical string passages clashed wonderfully against the brass before ending quietly. In the third movement (“Allegro festevole”), the orchestra roared back to life with a section that was like a fast sonic stutter step before gradually building to an emphatic conclusion.
The other large-scale work on program was Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony (“Pathétique”), which received an awesome performance from the orchestra. The musicians dug into each passage, each phrase with terrific passion and sensitivity. They explored the depths of despair; they created moments of joy that were tinged with nostalgia; they marched enthusiastically uphill, downhill, and into oblivion; they plumbed every nook and cranny and found a way to make the music exciting and relevant even though probably everyone in the hall had heard the piece a thousand times. It was a mind-melding performance with the orchestra, urged on by Kalmar, delivering all of the goods and then some.
Impeccable playing by all sections of the orchestra contributed to make the performance emotionally fulfilling. Still the French horns played like all stars as did principal timpanist Sergio Carreno. It was mesmerizing to watch the speed and accuracy of mallets as he pummeled the drums.
Overall, this was one of the best concerts of the 2017-2018 season, and many in the audience were left to wonder when Paremski will return and what she will play.
While Paremski’s memorable performance was tremendously impressive, it was equaled by the orchestra’s scintillating performance of Walter Piston’s Symphony No. 7. Piston won his second Pulitzer Prize (in 1961) with the three-movement work. The orchestra handled the entire piece incisively from its thick and complex opening statement to the powerfully sharp ending with its three decisive blows. The second movement (“Adagio pastorale”) offered lovely solos by principal oboist Martin Hébert and principal flutist Martha Long as well as intriguing pairings with their colleagues in the woodwind section. Lyrical string passages clashed wonderfully against the brass before ending quietly. In the third movement (“Allegro festevole”), the orchestra roared back to life with a section that was like a fast sonic stutter step before gradually building to an emphatic conclusion.
The other large-scale work on program was Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony (“Pathétique”), which received an awesome performance from the orchestra. The musicians dug into each passage, each phrase with terrific passion and sensitivity. They explored the depths of despair; they created moments of joy that were tinged with nostalgia; they marched enthusiastically uphill, downhill, and into oblivion; they plumbed every nook and cranny and found a way to make the music exciting and relevant even though probably everyone in the hall had heard the piece a thousand times. It was a mind-melding performance with the orchestra, urged on by Kalmar, delivering all of the goods and then some.
Impeccable playing by all sections of the orchestra contributed to make the performance emotionally fulfilling. Still the French horns played like all stars as did principal timpanist Sergio Carreno. It was mesmerizing to watch the speed and accuracy of mallets as he pummeled the drums.
Overall, this was one of the best concerts of the 2017-2018 season, and many in the audience were left to wonder when Paremski will return and what she will play.
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.
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.
Saturday, February 24, 2018
Article on retiring Club Mod radio host Robert McBride
This morning, the Oregonian published my interview/article with Robert McBride, longtime radio announcer, who is retiring from the airwaves at All Classical (KQAC FM) with his last Club Mod show on March 3rd. Here is a link to the article.
Today's Birthdays
Antoine Boësset (1587-1643)
Samuel Wesley (1766-1837)
Arrigo Boito (1842-1918)
Luigi Denza (1846-1922)
Arnold Dolmetsch (1858-1940)
Michel Legrand (1932)
Renato Scotto (1934)
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.
Samuel Wesley (1766-1837)
Arrigo Boito (1842-1918)
Luigi Denza (1846-1922)
Arnold Dolmetsch (1858-1940)
Michel Legrand (1932)
Renato Scotto (1934)
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.
Preview of Vancouver Symphony concert in The Columbian
Yesterday's edition of The Columbian newspaper published my preview of the Vancouver Symphony concerts that will take place this weekend. Here is the link to the article.
Friday, February 23, 2018
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 (1944)
Tidbit from the New York Times obit: In the early 1930s, 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.
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 (1944)
Tidbit from the New York Times obit: In the early 1930s, 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.
Thursday, February 22, 2018
Video competes with music in Portland Opera’s “Winterreise”
With a stage papered snow-white and a singer clad in all-white garb, Portland Opera’s presentation of Schubert’s “Winterreise” had an edginess that could be felt throughout the Gregory K. and Mary Chomenko Hinckley Studio Theatre. But the production on opening night (February 9) would have made more of a lasting impression if it were not for a surfeit of video projections that competed with the superb singing of David Adam Moore. Yet Moore, a New York-based baritone who is also a multimedia artist, designed the video projections, which often overwhelmed the music.
Schubert’s song cycle does have operatic elements that are heightened by the evocative text from the poems of Wilhelm Müller. So the monochromatic projections that Moore and his colleagues at GLMMR (Giving Light Motion + Memory + Relevance) developed were an attempt to go deeper, as demonstrated with the flow of ice cubes that were matched with the “Gefrorne Tränen” (“Frozen Tears”) and the tombstones that were paired with “Das Wirtshaus” (“The Inn”). With the exception of the relatively static images in the final song “Der Leiermann” (“The Hurdy-Gurdy Man”), most of the images were in constant motion, including the comical one of a smart phone that was shot, hammered, and set on fire while Moore sang “Die Post” (“The Post”).
Moore’s singing was top notch from beginning to end. He used little vibrato and created wonderfully soft tones on the highest and lowest notes, which added to the forlornness of several songs. He also had plenty vocal heft to express anger and frustration, such as in “De Wetterfahne” (“The Weathervane”) and “Der Stürmische Morgen” (“The Stormy Morning”). Whether he was squatting, lying supine, or lunging forward, Moore terrifically conveyed a man who wandered outdoors into the indoors of his soul.
Pianist Nicholas Fox, who is also Portland Opera’s assistant conductor and chorus master, accompanied Moore impeccably, helping him to shape the mood and guide listeners along the introspective journey. Towards the end of the piece, the sound of the piano became more and more seductive, drawing the listeners into an almost hallucinogenic experience.
The all-white stage and costume(right down to the tennis shoes), designed by Victoria “Vita” Tzykun, provided a blankly cold canvas. Yet it would have been more effective with slower-moving video projections.
Schubert’s song cycle does have operatic elements that are heightened by the evocative text from the poems of Wilhelm Müller. So the monochromatic projections that Moore and his colleagues at GLMMR (Giving Light Motion + Memory + Relevance) developed were an attempt to go deeper, as demonstrated with the flow of ice cubes that were matched with the “Gefrorne Tränen” (“Frozen Tears”) and the tombstones that were paired with “Das Wirtshaus” (“The Inn”). With the exception of the relatively static images in the final song “Der Leiermann” (“The Hurdy-Gurdy Man”), most of the images were in constant motion, including the comical one of a smart phone that was shot, hammered, and set on fire while Moore sang “Die Post” (“The Post”).
Moore’s singing was top notch from beginning to end. He used little vibrato and created wonderfully soft tones on the highest and lowest notes, which added to the forlornness of several songs. He also had plenty vocal heft to express anger and frustration, such as in “De Wetterfahne” (“The Weathervane”) and “Der Stürmische Morgen” (“The Stormy Morning”). Whether he was squatting, lying supine, or lunging forward, Moore terrifically conveyed a man who wandered outdoors into the indoors of his soul.
Pianist Nicholas Fox, who is also Portland Opera’s assistant conductor and chorus master, accompanied Moore impeccably, helping him to shape the mood and guide listeners along the introspective journey. Towards the end of the piece, the sound of the piano became more and more seductive, drawing the listeners into an almost hallucinogenic experience.
The all-white stage and costume(right down to the tennis shoes), designed by Victoria “Vita” Tzykun, provided a blankly cold canvas. Yet it would have been more effective with slower-moving video projections.
Today's Birthdays
Niels Wilhelm Gade (1817-1890)
York Bowen (1884-1961)
Benno Moiseiwitsch (1890-1963)
Joseph Kerman (1924-2014)
George Zukerman (1927)
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)
Ishmael Reed (1938)
Terry Eagleton (1943)
York Bowen (1884-1961)
Benno Moiseiwitsch (1890-1963)
Joseph Kerman (1924-2014)
George Zukerman (1927)
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)
Ishmael Reed (1938)
Terry Eagleton (1943)
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Carl Czerny (1791-1857)
Leo Delibes (1836-1891)
Charles Marie Widor (1844-1945)
Kenneth Alford (1881-1945)
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)
Leo Delibes (1836-1891)
Charles Marie Widor (1844-1945)
Kenneth Alford (1881-1945)
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)
Tuesday, February 20, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Johann Peter Salomon (1749-1815)
Charles‑Auguste de Bériot (1802-1870)
Mary Garden (1874-1967)
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)
Charles‑Auguste de Bériot (1802-1870)
Mary Garden (1874-1967)
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)
Monday, February 19, 2018
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)
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)
Sunday, February 18, 2018
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)
George Pelecanos (1957)
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)
George Pelecanos (1957)
Saturday, February 17, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Arcangelo Corelli (1653-1713)
Henri Vieuxtemps (1820-1881)
Sr. Edward German (1862-1936)
Leevi Madetoja (1887-1947)
Andres Segovia (1893-1987)
Marian Anderson (1893-1993)
Paul Fetler (1920)
Ron Goodwin (1925-2003)
Fredrich Cerha (1926)
Lee Hoiby (1926-2011)
Anner Bylsma (1944)
Karl Jenkins (1944)
and
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.
Henri Vieuxtemps (1820-1881)
Sr. Edward German (1862-1936)
Leevi Madetoja (1887-1947)
Andres Segovia (1893-1987)
Marian Anderson (1893-1993)
Paul Fetler (1920)
Ron Goodwin (1925-2003)
Fredrich Cerha (1926)
Lee Hoiby (1926-2011)
Anner Bylsma (1944)
Karl Jenkins (1944)
and
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.
Friday, February 16, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Charles Avison (1709-1770)
Willem Kes (1856-1934)
Selim Palmgren (1878-1951)
Maria Korchinska (1895-1979)
Alec Wilder (1907-1980)
Machito (1908-1984)
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)
Willem Kes (1856-1934)
Selim Palmgren (1878-1951)
Maria Korchinska (1895-1979)
Alec Wilder (1907-1980)
Machito (1908-1984)
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)
Thursday, February 15, 2018
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)
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)
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
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.
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.
Tuesday, February 13, 2018
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.
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.
Monday, February 12, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Thomas Campion (1567-1620)
Jan Ladislav Dussek (1760-1812)
Roy Harris (1898-1979)
Franco Zeffirelli (1923)
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.
Jan Ladislav Dussek (1760-1812)
Roy Harris (1898-1979)
Franco Zeffirelli (1923)
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.
Sunday, February 11, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Rudolf Firkušný (1912-1994)
Sir Alexander Gibson (1926-1995)
Michel Sénéchal (1927)
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.
Sir Alexander Gibson (1926-1995)
Michel Sénéchal (1927)
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.
Saturday, February 10, 2018
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)
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.
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)
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.
Friday, February 9, 2018
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)
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.
Franz Xaver Witt (1834-1888)
Alban Berg (1885-1935)
Harald Genzmer (1909-2007)
Hildegard Behrens (1937-2009)
Ryland Davies (1943)
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.
Thursday, February 8, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Jacob Praetorius (1586-1651)
André Grétry (1741-1813)
Osian Ellis (1928)
John Williams (1932)
Elly Ameling (1933)
Gundula Janowitz (1937)
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)
André Grétry (1741-1813)
Osian Ellis (1928)
John Williams (1932)
Elly Ameling (1933)
Gundula Janowitz (1937)
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)
Wednesday, February 7, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Wilhelm Stenhammar (1871-1927)
Ossip Gabrilovich (1878-1936)
Eubie Blake (1883-1983)
Claudia Muzio (1889-1936)
Quincy Porter (1897-1966)
Lord Harewood (1923-2011)
Maruis Constant (1925-2004)
Stuart Burrows (1933)
Wolfgang van Schweintz (1953)
and
Charles Dickens (1812-1870)
Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957
Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951)
Gay Talese (1932)
Ossip Gabrilovich (1878-1936)
Eubie Blake (1883-1983)
Claudia Muzio (1889-1936)
Quincy Porter (1897-1966)
Lord Harewood (1923-2011)
Maruis Constant (1925-2004)
Stuart Burrows (1933)
Wolfgang van Schweintz (1953)
and
Charles Dickens (1812-1870)
Laura Ingalls Wilder (1867-1957
Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951)
Gay Talese (1932)
Tuesday, February 6, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Henry Litolff (1818-1891)
Karl Weigl (1881-1949)
Andre Marchal (1894-1980)
Claudio Arrau (1903-1991)
Stephen Albert (1941-1992)
Paul Esswood (1942)
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)
Karl Weigl (1881-1949)
Andre Marchal (1894-1980)
Claudio Arrau (1903-1991)
Stephen Albert (1941-1992)
Paul Esswood (1942)
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)
Monday, February 5, 2018
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)
Ivan Tcherepnin (1943-1998)
Josef Protschka (1944)
Phylis Bryn-Julson (1945)
and
Henry Louis "Hank" Aaron (1934)
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).
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)
Ivan Tcherepnin (1943-1998)
Josef Protschka (1944)
Phylis Bryn-Julson (1945)
and
Henry Louis "Hank" Aaron (1934)
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).
Sunday, February 4, 2018
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)
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)
Saturday, February 3, 2018
Review of Van Cliburn winner in Piano International magazine
Back in October, I wrote a review of Yekwon Sunwoo's recital that was presented by Portland International Piano. That review finally appeared in the January/February issue of Piano International magazine.
Here is a copy of the review. You should be able to enlarge it in order to read it.
Here is a copy of the review. You should be able to enlarge it in order to read it.
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.
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.
Friday, February 2, 2018
Vancouver Symphony goes full tilt with New World Symphony
The Vancouver Symphony gave one of their best-ever concerts on Sunday evening (January 28th), at Skyview Concert Hall. The orchestra, led by its music director, Salvador Brotons delivered a vibrant performance of Antonín Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9 (“From the New World”) and an enchanting and witty rendition of Joseph Haydn’s Symphony No. 45 (“Farewell”).
Dvořák’s “New World” symphony is one of the most beloved works in the repertoire; so there might be a temptation to play it in a lackadaisical manner, but the musicians of the VSO, urged on by Brotons, were more than up to the challenge, and created a wonderfully fresh and evocative performance. From the gentle and languorous opening to the fast and loud passages, the musicians of the orchestra fearlessly traversed the heights and depths of the piece with thrilling crescendos and decrescendos. Now and then the brass got a little overpowering, but their sound was exciting none the less.
The plaintive sound of the English horn (Kris Klavik) was a highlight of the performance. Other memorable moments included numerous contributions by the flutes (Rachel Rencher and Corrie Cook) , and the woodwinds in general. The French horns glowed, and the brass (trumpets, trombone, and tuba) rocked out. The strings expertly delivered a rich, lovely bouquet that included tight pizzicato passages. Brotons, conducting from memory, was animated to the point of bouncing across the podium – an infectious style that conveyed a marvelous energy that made the music resonate with the musicians and audience.
There’s nothing in the repertoire quite like Haydn’s “Farewell” symphony, because the music stands alone as a serious piece, yet it has the theatrical element in which the musicians walk off the stage during the latter part of the final movement. From the musical side of the ledger, the orchestral strings played with an excellent ensemble sound. The echoing passages (loud then soft), tender sections, and sudden dynamic shifts were done expertly. Several fleet runs in the fourth movement flew by with ease. There were some quibbles here and there regarding intonation in strings, and some bobbles in the horns, but none that got in the way.
On the theatrical side, the musicians must exit (it’s in the score)one by one during the last movement, and they did so quietly, turning off the light attached to their music stands. When Brotons left, he made a gesture as if saying, “Well, there’s nothing more for me to do,” and that caused a few good-natured chuckles from the audience. Finally there was only the concertmaster Eva Richey and principal second violinist Tracie Andrusko to carry on, and they did so gracefully playing the final notes on an almost pitch-black stage. The audience enjoyed it all and gave the musicians a hearty round of applause when they returned to take their bows.
Before the concert began, Kathy McDonald, VSO Board Chair, made some introductory statements that included how panicked she became on Friday morning after she read the headline to my concert preview piece, because the headline: “Vancouver Symphony Orchestra opens 2018 season with ‘Farewell.’” My apologies to McDonald but that title was too good to resist.
Dvořák’s “New World” symphony is one of the most beloved works in the repertoire; so there might be a temptation to play it in a lackadaisical manner, but the musicians of the VSO, urged on by Brotons, were more than up to the challenge, and created a wonderfully fresh and evocative performance. From the gentle and languorous opening to the fast and loud passages, the musicians of the orchestra fearlessly traversed the heights and depths of the piece with thrilling crescendos and decrescendos. Now and then the brass got a little overpowering, but their sound was exciting none the less.
The plaintive sound of the English horn (Kris Klavik) was a highlight of the performance. Other memorable moments included numerous contributions by the flutes (Rachel Rencher and Corrie Cook) , and the woodwinds in general. The French horns glowed, and the brass (trumpets, trombone, and tuba) rocked out. The strings expertly delivered a rich, lovely bouquet that included tight pizzicato passages. Brotons, conducting from memory, was animated to the point of bouncing across the podium – an infectious style that conveyed a marvelous energy that made the music resonate with the musicians and audience.
There’s nothing in the repertoire quite like Haydn’s “Farewell” symphony, because the music stands alone as a serious piece, yet it has the theatrical element in which the musicians walk off the stage during the latter part of the final movement. From the musical side of the ledger, the orchestral strings played with an excellent ensemble sound. The echoing passages (loud then soft), tender sections, and sudden dynamic shifts were done expertly. Several fleet runs in the fourth movement flew by with ease. There were some quibbles here and there regarding intonation in strings, and some bobbles in the horns, but none that got in the way.
On the theatrical side, the musicians must exit (it’s in the score)one by one during the last movement, and they did so quietly, turning off the light attached to their music stands. When Brotons left, he made a gesture as if saying, “Well, there’s nothing more for me to do,” and that caused a few good-natured chuckles from the audience. Finally there was only the concertmaster Eva Richey and principal second violinist Tracie Andrusko to carry on, and they did so gracefully playing the final notes on an almost pitch-black stage. The audience enjoyed it all and gave the musicians a hearty round of applause when they returned to take their bows.
Before the concert began, Kathy McDonald, VSO Board Chair, made some introductory statements that included how panicked she became on Friday morning after she read the headline to my concert preview piece, because the headline: “Vancouver Symphony Orchestra opens 2018 season with ‘Farewell.’” My apologies to McDonald but that title was too good to resist.
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)
Also
James Joyce (1882-1941)
James Dickey (1923-1997)
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)
Also
James Joyce (1882-1941)
James Dickey (1923-1997)
Thursday, February 1, 2018
Fire destroys Chamber Music Northwest's administrative offices
I've just received the shocking and sad news that a four-alarm fire burnt down the building that held Chamber Music Northwest's administrative offices in John's Landing. Yet, for CMNW, the show must go on! Here's a link to a brief notice on the CMNW website.
Guest conductor Danzmayr rushes orchestra through Brahms
The Symphony No. 1 by Brahms is usually a shoe-in for the Oregon Symphony, but the rendition I heard on Saturday evening (January 27) at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall was really off-putting because guest conductor David Danzmayr rushed through the piece for some inexplicable reason. It’s not that the symphony must be taken at a leisurely pace, but Danzmayr never let the music breathe. He just pushed the tempos and didn’t let any fermata firm up. On top of that, a lot of the phrases lacked shape and the volume was often mezzo-forte to forte. That resulted in numerous passages in which you could barely hear small groups of instruments or solo instruments when they had the main theme. For example, the French horns belted the famous lines that cascade down in the fourth movement, yet their sound could barely be heard.
It seemed that Danzmayr got carried away by the music or he just didn’t care and decided to let everyone play out as loudly as possible. Maybe he quaffed too many espressos during intermission. Whatever the reason, the piece verged on going out of bounds, yet the musicians made the most of it – to their great credit. Concertmaster Sarah Kwak, principal clarinetist James Shields, and principal oboist Martin Hébert were able to distinguish themselves in spite of it all. The audience, which filled most of the hall, still loved the performance and gave the conductor and orchestra a loud and boisterous standing ovation.
In stark contrast to the Brahms, was an excellent performance of Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 4 (“Turkish”). It was elegantly played by guest violinist Benjamin Beilman, who warmed up with his orchestral colleagues through the introduction before embarking on the solo passages. He generated a sweet and secure sound that perfectly embraced Mozart’s music in a way that was elegant yet never stuffy. All of the cadenzas sparkled – even the lovely, unhurried ones. Beilman has a wonderful way of making the most difficult phrases look completely natural and effortless. The orchestra supported him with understated grace, and together, they drew applause after the closing of each movement. After finishing the piece, the audience rewarded him with sustained appreciation, and he returned the favor with an encore, the poignant Largo from Bach’s C Major Sonata.
The concert opened with a short blast from the brass with “Concertgeblaas” (“Concert Blaring”) by German composer Detlev Glanert. The ensemble of horns, trumpets, trombones, tuba, and percussion (bass drum, cymbals, and snare drum) delivered an entertainingly jazzy riff that started with extended passages for muted instruments. The tamped-down sound swerved to an unmuted and unbridled big-band, show-tune-like sound and a final clashing jazz chord that sent out a smile across the hall to the listeners.
It seemed that Danzmayr got carried away by the music or he just didn’t care and decided to let everyone play out as loudly as possible. Maybe he quaffed too many espressos during intermission. Whatever the reason, the piece verged on going out of bounds, yet the musicians made the most of it – to their great credit. Concertmaster Sarah Kwak, principal clarinetist James Shields, and principal oboist Martin Hébert were able to distinguish themselves in spite of it all. The audience, which filled most of the hall, still loved the performance and gave the conductor and orchestra a loud and boisterous standing ovation.
In stark contrast to the Brahms, was an excellent performance of Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 4 (“Turkish”). It was elegantly played by guest violinist Benjamin Beilman, who warmed up with his orchestral colleagues through the introduction before embarking on the solo passages. He generated a sweet and secure sound that perfectly embraced Mozart’s music in a way that was elegant yet never stuffy. All of the cadenzas sparkled – even the lovely, unhurried ones. Beilman has a wonderful way of making the most difficult phrases look completely natural and effortless. The orchestra supported him with understated grace, and together, they drew applause after the closing of each movement. After finishing the piece, the audience rewarded him with sustained appreciation, and he returned the favor with an encore, the poignant Largo from Bach’s C Major Sonata.
The concert opened with a short blast from the brass with “Concertgeblaas” (“Concert Blaring”) by German composer Detlev Glanert. The ensemble of horns, trumpets, trombones, tuba, and percussion (bass drum, cymbals, and snare drum) delivered an entertainingly jazzy riff that started with extended passages for muted instruments. The tamped-down sound swerved to an unmuted and unbridled big-band, show-tune-like sound and a final clashing jazz chord that sent out a smile across the hall to the listeners.
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)
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)
Wednesday, January 31, 2018
Today's Birthdays
François Devienne (1759-1803)
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Caroline Miolan‑Carvalho (1827-1895)
Ernest John Moeran (1894-1950)
Silvestre Revueltas (1899-1940)
Nathan Milstein (1904-1992)
Benjamin Frankel (1906-1973)
Alan Lomax (1915-2002)
Jaap Schröder (1925)
Odetta (1930-2008)
Philip Glass (1937)
Stephen Cleobury (1948)
Donna Summer (1948-2012)
George Benjamin (1960)
Jennifer Higdon (1962)
and
Henri Matisse (1869-1954)
Zane Grey (1872-1939)
John O'Hara (1905-1970)
Thomas Merton (1915-1968)
Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
Caroline Miolan‑Carvalho (1827-1895)
Ernest John Moeran (1894-1950)
Silvestre Revueltas (1899-1940)
Nathan Milstein (1904-1992)
Benjamin Frankel (1906-1973)
Alan Lomax (1915-2002)
Jaap Schröder (1925)
Odetta (1930-2008)
Philip Glass (1937)
Stephen Cleobury (1948)
Donna Summer (1948-2012)
George Benjamin (1960)
Jennifer Higdon (1962)
and
Henri Matisse (1869-1954)
Zane Grey (1872-1939)
John O'Hara (1905-1970)
Thomas Merton (1915-1968)
Tuesday, January 30, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Johann Joachim Quantz (1697-1773)
Charles Martin Loeffler (1861-1935)
Mitch Leigh (1928-2014)
Walter Damrosch (1862-1950)
Lynn Harrell (1944)
Silvia Marcovici (1952)
Gerald Finley (1960)
and
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945)
Barbara Tuchman (1912-1989)
Shirley Hazzard (1931-2016)
Richard Brautigan (1935-1984)
Charles Martin Loeffler (1861-1935)
Mitch Leigh (1928-2014)
Walter Damrosch (1862-1950)
Lynn Harrell (1944)
Silvia Marcovici (1952)
Gerald Finley (1960)
and
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945)
Barbara Tuchman (1912-1989)
Shirley Hazzard (1931-2016)
Richard Brautigan (1935-1984)
Monday, January 29, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Georg Christoph Wagenseil (1715-1777)
Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (1782-1871)
Frederic Hymen Cowen (1852-1935)
Frederick Delius (1862-1934)
Havergal Brian (1876-1972)
Blanche Selva (1884-1942
Luigi Nono (1924-1990)
Myer Fredman (1932-2014)
Malcolm Binns (1936)
Cho-Liang Lin (1960)
and
W. C. Fields (1880-1946)
Thomas Paine (1737-1809)
Anton Chekhov (1860-1904)
Edward Abbey (1927-1989)
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1826 was the premiere of Schubert's String Quartet in D minor, "Death and the Maiden," as a unrehearsed reading at the Vienna home of Karl and Franz Hacker, two amateur musicians. Schubert, who usually played viola on such occasions, could not perform since he was busy copying out the parts and making last-minute corrections.
Daniel-François-Esprit Auber (1782-1871)
Frederic Hymen Cowen (1852-1935)
Frederick Delius (1862-1934)
Havergal Brian (1876-1972)
Blanche Selva (1884-1942
Luigi Nono (1924-1990)
Myer Fredman (1932-2014)
Malcolm Binns (1936)
Cho-Liang Lin (1960)
and
W. C. Fields (1880-1946)
Thomas Paine (1737-1809)
Anton Chekhov (1860-1904)
Edward Abbey (1927-1989)
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1826 was the premiere of Schubert's String Quartet in D minor, "Death and the Maiden," as a unrehearsed reading at the Vienna home of Karl and Franz Hacker, two amateur musicians. Schubert, who usually played viola on such occasions, could not perform since he was busy copying out the parts and making last-minute corrections.
Sunday, January 28, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Antonio Bartolomeo Bruni (1757-1821)
Ferdinand Herold (1791-1833)
Alexander Mackenzie (1822-1892)
Arthur Rubinstein (1887-1982)
Vittorio Rieti (1898-1994)
Michael Head (1900-1976)
Ronnie Scott (1927-1996)
Acker Bilk (1929-2014)
Sir John Tavener (1944-2013)
Richard Danielpour (1956)
and
Colette (1873-1954)
Jackson Pollock (1912-1956)
Claes Oldenburg (1929)
David Lodge (1935)
Ferdinand Herold (1791-1833)
Alexander Mackenzie (1822-1892)
Arthur Rubinstein (1887-1982)
Vittorio Rieti (1898-1994)
Michael Head (1900-1976)
Ronnie Scott (1927-1996)
Acker Bilk (1929-2014)
Sir John Tavener (1944-2013)
Richard Danielpour (1956)
and
Colette (1873-1954)
Jackson Pollock (1912-1956)
Claes Oldenburg (1929)
David Lodge (1935)
Saturday, January 27, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791)
Juan Crisostomo Arriage (1806-1826)
Edouard Lalo (1823-1892)
Jerome Kern (1885-1945)
Jack Brymer (1915-2003)
Skitch Henderson (1918-2005)
Helmut Zacharias (1920-2002)
Fritz Spiegl (1926-2003)
John Ogdon (1937-1989)
Jean-Philippe Collard (1948)
Emanuel Pahud (1970)
James Ehnes (1976)
and
Dmitry Mandeleyev (1834-1907)
Mikhail Baryshnikov (1948)
Lewis Carroll (1832-1898)
Juan Crisostomo Arriage (1806-1826)
Edouard Lalo (1823-1892)
Jerome Kern (1885-1945)
Jack Brymer (1915-2003)
Skitch Henderson (1918-2005)
Helmut Zacharias (1920-2002)
Fritz Spiegl (1926-2003)
John Ogdon (1937-1989)
Jean-Philippe Collard (1948)
Emanuel Pahud (1970)
James Ehnes (1976)
and
Dmitry Mandeleyev (1834-1907)
Mikhail Baryshnikov (1948)
Lewis Carroll (1832-1898)
Friday, January 26, 2018
Vancouver Symphony preview in today's Columbian newspaper
My preview of this weekend's concerts by the Vancouver Symphony appeared in today's issue of The Columbian here.
Today's Birthdays
Johann Christoph Friedrich Bach (1732-1795)
Maria Augusta von Trapp (1905-1987)
Stéphane Grappelli (1908-1997)
Jimmy Van Heusen (1913-1990)
Warren Benson (1924-2005)
Jacqueline du Pré (1945-1987)
Frédéric Lodéon (1952)
Mikel Rouse (1957)
Gustavo Dudamel (1981)
and
Mary Mapes Dodge (1831-1905)
Seán MacBride (1904-1988)
Jules Feiffer (1929)
Christopher Hampton (1946)
Ellen DeGeneres (1958)
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1790, Mozart's opera, "Così fan tutte," was premiered in Vienna at the Burgtheater.
Maria Augusta von Trapp (1905-1987)
Stéphane Grappelli (1908-1997)
Jimmy Van Heusen (1913-1990)
Warren Benson (1924-2005)
Jacqueline du Pré (1945-1987)
Frédéric Lodéon (1952)
Mikel Rouse (1957)
Gustavo Dudamel (1981)
and
Mary Mapes Dodge (1831-1905)
Seán MacBride (1904-1988)
Jules Feiffer (1929)
Christopher Hampton (1946)
Ellen DeGeneres (1958)
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1790, Mozart's opera, "Così fan tutte," was premiered in Vienna at the Burgtheater.
Thursday, January 25, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Jan Blockx (1851-1912)
Wilhelm Furtwängler (1886-1954)
Julia Smith (1905-1989)
Witold Lutoslawski (1913-1994)
Alfred Reed (1921-2005)
Etta James (1938-2012)
Russell Peck (1945-2009)
and
Robert Burns (1759-1796)
W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965)
Virginia Woolf (1882-1941)
Wilhelm Furtwängler (1886-1954)
Julia Smith (1905-1989)
Witold Lutoslawski (1913-1994)
Alfred Reed (1921-2005)
Etta James (1938-2012)
Russell Peck (1945-2009)
and
Robert Burns (1759-1796)
W. Somerset Maugham (1874-1965)
Virginia Woolf (1882-1941)
Wednesday, January 24, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Farinelli (Carlo Maria Broschi) (1705-1782)
Frederick II the Great (1712-1786)
Muzio Clementi (1752-1832)
E. T. A. Hoffmann (1776-1822)
Evelyn Barbirolli (1911-2008)
Norman Dello Joio (1913-2008)
Gottfried von Einem (1918-1996)
Leon Kirchner (1919-2009)
Neil Diamond (1941)
Yuri Bashmet (1953)
Warren Zevon (1947-2003)
and
William Congreve (1670-1729)
Edith Wharton (1862-1937)
Desmond Morris (1928)
Frederick II the Great (1712-1786)
Muzio Clementi (1752-1832)
E. T. A. Hoffmann (1776-1822)
Evelyn Barbirolli (1911-2008)
Norman Dello Joio (1913-2008)
Gottfried von Einem (1918-1996)
Leon Kirchner (1919-2009)
Neil Diamond (1941)
Yuri Bashmet (1953)
Warren Zevon (1947-2003)
and
William Congreve (1670-1729)
Edith Wharton (1862-1937)
Desmond Morris (1928)
Tuesday, January 23, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Muzio Clementi (1752-1832)
Rutland Boughton (1878-1960)
Django Reinhardt (1910-1953)
Milton Adolphus (1913-1988)
Eli Goren (1923-2000)
Cécile Ousset (1936)
Teresa Zylis-Gara (1936)
John Luther Adams (1953)
Mason Bates (1977)
and
Stendhal (1783-1842)
Edouard Manet (1832-1883)
Derek Walcott (1930-2017)
And from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 2894, Czech composer Antonin Dvorák presents a concert of African-American choral music at Madison Square Concert Hall in New York, using an all-black choir, comprised chiefly of members of the St. Philip's Colored Choir. On the program was the premiere performance of Dvorák's own arrangement of Stephen Foster's "Old Folks at Home," which featured vocal soloists Sissierette Jones and Harry T. Burleigh.
Rutland Boughton (1878-1960)
Django Reinhardt (1910-1953)
Milton Adolphus (1913-1988)
Eli Goren (1923-2000)
Cécile Ousset (1936)
Teresa Zylis-Gara (1936)
John Luther Adams (1953)
Mason Bates (1977)
and
Stendhal (1783-1842)
Edouard Manet (1832-1883)
Derek Walcott (1930-2017)
And from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 2894, Czech composer Antonin Dvorák presents a concert of African-American choral music at Madison Square Concert Hall in New York, using an all-black choir, comprised chiefly of members of the St. Philip's Colored Choir. On the program was the premiere performance of Dvorák's own arrangement of Stephen Foster's "Old Folks at Home," which featured vocal soloists Sissierette Jones and Harry T. Burleigh.
Monday, January 22, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Claude-Bénigne Balbastre (1727-1799)
Charles Tournemire (1870-1939)
Hans Erich Apostel (1901-1972)
Robin Milford (1903-1959)
Rosa Ponselle (1897-1981)
Henri Dutilleux (1916-2013)
William Warfield (1920-2002)
Leslie Bassett (1923-2016)
James Louis ("J.J.") Johnson (1924-2001)
Aurèle Nicolet (1926-2016))
Uto Ughi (1944)
Myung-whun Chung (1953)
and
Francis Bacon (1561–1626)
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781)
Lord Byron (1788-1824)
August Strindberg (1849-1912)
Sergei Eisenstein (1898-1948)
Howard Moss (1922-1987)
Joseph Wambaugh (1937)
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this day, in 1907, the Metropolitan Opera production of R. Strauss' opera "Salome," with soprano Olive Fremstad in the title role, creates a scandal. The opera is dropped after a single performance, and not staged at the Met again until the 1930s.
Charles Tournemire (1870-1939)
Hans Erich Apostel (1901-1972)
Robin Milford (1903-1959)
Rosa Ponselle (1897-1981)
Henri Dutilleux (1916-2013)
William Warfield (1920-2002)
Leslie Bassett (1923-2016)
James Louis ("J.J.") Johnson (1924-2001)
Aurèle Nicolet (1926-2016))
Uto Ughi (1944)
Myung-whun Chung (1953)
and
Francis Bacon (1561–1626)
Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (1729-1781)
Lord Byron (1788-1824)
August Strindberg (1849-1912)
Sergei Eisenstein (1898-1948)
Howard Moss (1922-1987)
Joseph Wambaugh (1937)
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this day, in 1907, the Metropolitan Opera production of R. Strauss' opera "Salome," with soprano Olive Fremstad in the title role, creates a scandal. The opera is dropped after a single performance, and not staged at the Met again until the 1930s.
Sunday, January 21, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Henri Duparc (1848-1933)
Alexander Tcherepnin (1899-1977)
Webster Booth (1902-1984)
Placido Domingo (1941)
Richie Havens (1941-2013)
Edwin Starr (1942-2003)
Suzanne Mentzer (1957)
Frank Ticheli (1958)
and
Louis Menand (1952)
Alexander Tcherepnin (1899-1977)
Webster Booth (1902-1984)
Placido Domingo (1941)
Richie Havens (1941-2013)
Edwin Starr (1942-2003)
Suzanne Mentzer (1957)
Frank Ticheli (1958)
and
Louis Menand (1952)
Saturday, January 20, 2018
Fantastic images, personal interpretations mark Oregon Symphony's 'Rite of Spring'
 |
| Elina Vähälä |
One of the hallmarks of the evening seemed to be personal interpretations; Maestro Kalmar, whose natural charisma and vast knowledge alway make for engaging and edifying remarks, seemed even more intimate in his speaking and conducting. The incredible personal touches from violinist Elina Vähälä and the visuals by multimedia experience designer Matthew Haber added to this in that all the images he used were from Oregon, and so personal to our state. In keeping with that spirit I shall be incorporating a few personal touches in the form of memories and observations to this review.
The opening piece was Haydn's Symphony No. 70 in D Major, one reason for its choosing being that it is not one of the better-known chestnuts from this voluminous oeuvre. Its opening was spritely and almost terpsichorean; clean, bright and balanced. A surprisingly bold attack on the menuet in the third movement was refreshing, and the Allegro con brio finale contained a crisply executed contrapuntal section. This fugue served as a reminder of the incredible transitional period that was the span of Haydn's life (1732-1809)--as a young man, his early compositions were written when old Master Bach and other great maestros of the high baroque were still composing, and he lived through the gallant and Viennese classical on through to the first whisperings of the Romantic, some of which can be heard in his last works.
The second work of the first half was a titanic violin concerto, Bartók's Violin Concerto No. 2. Vähälä opened with a full frontal assault--almost transgressive in her chordal attack. Kalmar expertly brought the orchestal dynamic down when they began to overshadow Vähälä's pianissimo trills. There followed a loud, almost vulgar tremolo from winds and strings and a saucy glissando from the soloist. Vähälä leaned heavily on a melodic minor motif which produced an incredible effect of maximum dissonance. The soloist opened the theme and variations of the second movement began with a very sere exposition, a sort of poco mezzo saltando that was affecting and delicious. The strings had some great slapping, snapping pizzicato fun, and Vähälä delivered a haunting siren song seemingly out of nowhere with sorcerous ability, and closed the work with bacchanalian fervor.
The usual backdrop behind the stage at the Schnitz was a stylized, mountainous series of screens covering the dingy old choir loft, the self-same loft where I have spent many an hour over the years as a bass waiting for the fourth movement of the Beethoven 9 to begin. 'The long sit,' I've always called it. Leading to the bad old joke about how the choir occupies its time while waiting--'it's the bottom of the 9th and the basses are loaded.' But tonight the space was being used for something much different.
As Stravinsky's seminal Rite of Spring began, scenes of flowers budding and seedlings sprouting accompanied the delightful woodwind cacophony. Haber's images were kaleidoscopic--distracting from the music at first it seemed but maybe only to a reviewer trying to take notes? At any rate it soon seemed to mesh more smoothly. The images changed to cityscapes as the music grew bolder. Ephemeral wisps of smoke devolved into human, plant and animal shapes before quickly dissolving. The OSO played this difficult piece high and tight as one would expect from this group, displaying incredible subtlety and cocksure boldness in equal measures. Infectious, beautiful and arrestingly violent, the music then began accompanying disturbing images of fungal spores waving and bobbing like heads in a crowd. With weeping slime molds and spores blossoming in an uncomfortable reminiscence of mushroom clouds, the work finished showing the magic of decay.
Today's Birthdays
Johann Hermann Schein (1586-1630)
Ernest Chausson (1855-1899)
Julius Conus (1869-1942)
Józef Hofmann (1876-1957)
Huddie William Ledbetter (Lead Belly) (1889-1949)
Walter Piston (1894-1976)
Eva Jessye (1895-1992)
Yvonne Loriod (1924-2010)
David Tudor (1926-1996)
Antonio de Almeida (1928-1997)
Iván Fischer (1951)
and
George Burns (1896-1996)
Alexandra Danilova (1903-1997)
Federico Fellini (1920-1993)
Edward Hirsch (1950)
Tami Hoag (1959)
Ernest Chausson (1855-1899)
Julius Conus (1869-1942)
Józef Hofmann (1876-1957)
Huddie William Ledbetter (Lead Belly) (1889-1949)
Walter Piston (1894-1976)
Eva Jessye (1895-1992)
Yvonne Loriod (1924-2010)
David Tudor (1926-1996)
Antonio de Almeida (1928-1997)
Iván Fischer (1951)
and
George Burns (1896-1996)
Alexandra Danilova (1903-1997)
Federico Fellini (1920-1993)
Edward Hirsch (1950)
Tami Hoag (1959)
Friday, January 19, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Louis‑Nicolas Clérambault (1676-1749)
George Frederick Bristow (1825-1898)
Fritz Reiner (1885-1963)
Paul Dessau (1894-1979)
Edith Piaf (1915-1963)
Dalton Baldwin (1931)
Phil Ochs (1940-1976)
William Christie (1944)
Marianne Faithfull (1946)
Olaf Bär (1957)
Steven Esserlis (1958)
Rebecca Saunders (1967)
and
Italo Svevo (1861-1928)
Constance Garnett (1861-1946)
George Frederick Bristow (1825-1898)
Fritz Reiner (1885-1963)
Paul Dessau (1894-1979)
Edith Piaf (1915-1963)
Dalton Baldwin (1931)
Phil Ochs (1940-1976)
William Christie (1944)
Marianne Faithfull (1946)
Olaf Bär (1957)
Steven Esserlis (1958)
Rebecca Saunders (1967)
and
Italo Svevo (1861-1928)
Constance Garnett (1861-1946)
Thursday, January 18, 2018
Today's Birthdays
César Cui (1835-1918)
Emmanuel Chabrier (1841-1894)
John Laurence Seymour (1893-1986)
Berthold Goldschmidt (1903-1996)
Anthony Galla-Rini (1904-2006)
John O'Conor (1947)
Anthony Pople (1955-2003)
Christoph Prégardien (1956)
and
Peter Mark Roget (1779-1869)
Rubén Darío (1867-1916)
A. A. Milne (1882-1956)
Oliver Hardy (1892-1957)
FYI: Roget's "Thesaurus" has never been out of print since it was first published in 1852.
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1958, "What Does Music Mean?", broadcast, the first of a series of televised New York Philharmonic "Young People's Concerts" on CBS-TV hosted by Leonard Bernstein. The series continued until 1972, with 53 different programs hosted by Bernstein.
Emmanuel Chabrier (1841-1894)
John Laurence Seymour (1893-1986)
Berthold Goldschmidt (1903-1996)
Anthony Galla-Rini (1904-2006)
John O'Conor (1947)
Anthony Pople (1955-2003)
Christoph Prégardien (1956)
and
Peter Mark Roget (1779-1869)
Rubén Darío (1867-1916)
A. A. Milne (1882-1956)
Oliver Hardy (1892-1957)
FYI: Roget's "Thesaurus" has never been out of print since it was first published in 1852.
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1958, "What Does Music Mean?", broadcast, the first of a series of televised New York Philharmonic "Young People's Concerts" on CBS-TV hosted by Leonard Bernstein. The series continued until 1972, with 53 different programs hosted by Bernstein.
Wednesday, January 17, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
John Stanley (1712-1786)
Johann Gottfried Müthel (1728-1788)
François‑Joseph Gossec (1734-1829)
Henk Badings (1907-1987)
Oscar Morawetz (1917-2007)
Annie Delorie (1925-2009)
Donald Erb (1927- 2008)
Jean Barraqué (1928-1973)
Sydney Hodkinson (1934)
Dame Gillian Weir (1941)
Anne Queffélec (1948)
Augustin Dumay (1949)
Nancy Argenta (1957)
Gérard Pesson (1958)
and
Anne Brontë 1820-1849)
William Stafford (1914-1993)
Luis López Nieves (1950)
Sebastian Junger (1962)
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1919, Polish composer and pianist Ignaz Jan Paderewski becomes premiere of Poland.
John Stanley (1712-1786)
Johann Gottfried Müthel (1728-1788)
François‑Joseph Gossec (1734-1829)
Henk Badings (1907-1987)
Oscar Morawetz (1917-2007)
Annie Delorie (1925-2009)
Donald Erb (1927- 2008)
Jean Barraqué (1928-1973)
Sydney Hodkinson (1934)
Dame Gillian Weir (1941)
Anne Queffélec (1948)
Augustin Dumay (1949)
Nancy Argenta (1957)
Gérard Pesson (1958)
and
Anne Brontë 1820-1849)
William Stafford (1914-1993)
Luis López Nieves (1950)
Sebastian Junger (1962)
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1919, Polish composer and pianist Ignaz Jan Paderewski becomes premiere of Poland.
Tuesday, January 16, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Niccoló Piccinni (1728-1800)
Daisy Kennedy (1893-1981)
Ernesto Halffter (1905-1989)
Roger Wagner (1914-1992)
Ernesto Bonino (1922-2008)
Pilar Lorengar (1928-1996)
Marilyn Horne (1934)
Richard Wernick (1934)
Gavin Bryars (1943)
Brian Ferneyhough (1943)
Katia Ricciarelli (1946)
and
Robert Service (1874-1958)
Anthony Hecht (1923-2004)
William Kennedy (1928)
Susan Sontag (1933-2004)
Mary Karr (1955)
Lin-Manuel Miranda (1980)
Daisy Kennedy (1893-1981)
Ernesto Halffter (1905-1989)
Roger Wagner (1914-1992)
Ernesto Bonino (1922-2008)
Pilar Lorengar (1928-1996)
Marilyn Horne (1934)
Richard Wernick (1934)
Gavin Bryars (1943)
Brian Ferneyhough (1943)
Katia Ricciarelli (1946)
and
Robert Service (1874-1958)
Anthony Hecht (1923-2004)
William Kennedy (1928)
Susan Sontag (1933-2004)
Mary Karr (1955)
Lin-Manuel Miranda (1980)
Monday, January 15, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Ivor Novello (1893-1951)
Elie Siegmeister (1909-1991)
Malcolm Frager (1935-1991)
Don "Captain Beefheart" Van Vliet (1941-2010)
Aaron Jay Kernis (1960)
and
Molière (1622-1673)
Franz Grillparzer (1791-1872)
Andreas William Heinesen (1900-1991)
Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1941 Messiaen's "Quartet for the End of Time" was premiered at Stalag VIII-A, a German prisoner of war camp in Görlitz (Silesia), with the composer at the piano and fellow-prisoners Jean Le Boulaure (violin), Henri Akoka (clarinet) and Etienne Pasquier (cello).
Elie Siegmeister (1909-1991)
Malcolm Frager (1935-1991)
Don "Captain Beefheart" Van Vliet (1941-2010)
Aaron Jay Kernis (1960)
and
Molière (1622-1673)
Franz Grillparzer (1791-1872)
Andreas William Heinesen (1900-1991)
Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1941 Messiaen's "Quartet for the End of Time" was premiered at Stalag VIII-A, a German prisoner of war camp in Görlitz (Silesia), with the composer at the piano and fellow-prisoners Jean Le Boulaure (violin), Henri Akoka (clarinet) and Etienne Pasquier (cello).
Sunday, January 14, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Ludwig von Köchel (1800-1877)
Jean de Reszke (1850-1925)
Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965)
Louis Quilico (1925-2000)
Zuzana Ruzickova (1927-2017)
Siegmund Nimsgern (1940)
Mariss Jansons (1943)
Kees Bakels (1945)
Nicholas McGegan (1950)
Ben Heppner (1956)
Andrew Manze (1965)
and
John Dos Passos (1896-1970
Emily Hahn (1905-1997)
Maureen Dowd (1952)
Jean de Reszke (1850-1925)
Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965)
Louis Quilico (1925-2000)
Zuzana Ruzickova (1927-2017)
Siegmund Nimsgern (1940)
Mariss Jansons (1943)
Kees Bakels (1945)
Nicholas McGegan (1950)
Ben Heppner (1956)
Andrew Manze (1965)
and
John Dos Passos (1896-1970
Emily Hahn (1905-1997)
Maureen Dowd (1952)
Saturday, January 13, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Christoph Graupner (1683-1760)
Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel (1690-1749)
Vassili Kalinnikov (1866-1901)
Richard Addinsell (1904-1977)
Daniil Shafran (1923-1997)
Renato Bruson (1936)
Paavo Heininen (1938)
William Duckworth (1943-2012)
Richard Blackford (1954)
Wayne Marshall (1961)
Juan Diego Flórez (1973)
and
Horatio Alger (1832-1899)
Lorrie Moore (1957)
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1944 took place the premiers of Stravinsky's "Circus Polka" (concert version) and "Four Norwegian Moods" in Cambridge at the Garden Theatre with the Boston Symphony conducted by the composer.
Gottfried Heinrich Stölzel (1690-1749)
Vassili Kalinnikov (1866-1901)
Richard Addinsell (1904-1977)
Daniil Shafran (1923-1997)
Renato Bruson (1936)
Paavo Heininen (1938)
William Duckworth (1943-2012)
Richard Blackford (1954)
Wayne Marshall (1961)
Juan Diego Flórez (1973)
and
Horatio Alger (1832-1899)
Lorrie Moore (1957)
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1944 took place the premiers of Stravinsky's "Circus Polka" (concert version) and "Four Norwegian Moods" in Cambridge at the Garden Theatre with the Boston Symphony conducted by the composer.
Friday, January 12, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Reinhard Keiser (1674-1739)
Jacques Duphly (1715-1789)
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (1876-1948)
Pierre Bernac (1899-1979)
William Pleeth (1916-1999)
Leo Smit (1921-1999)
Morton Feldman (1926-1987)
Salvatore Martirano (1927-1995)
Anne Howells (1941)
Viktoria Postnikova (1944)
Lori Laitman (1955)
and
Edmund Burke (1729-1797)
John Singer Sargent (1856-1925)
Jack London (1876-1916)
Haruki Murakami (1949)
Jacques Duphly (1715-1789)
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (1876-1948)
Pierre Bernac (1899-1979)
William Pleeth (1916-1999)
Leo Smit (1921-1999)
Morton Feldman (1926-1987)
Salvatore Martirano (1927-1995)
Anne Howells (1941)
Viktoria Postnikova (1944)
Lori Laitman (1955)
and
Edmund Burke (1729-1797)
John Singer Sargent (1856-1925)
Jack London (1876-1916)
Haruki Murakami (1949)
Thursday, January 11, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Christian Sinding (1856-1941)
Reihold Glière (1875-1956)
Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986)
Mark DeVoto (1940)
York Höller (1944)
Drew Minter (1955)
Alex Shapiro (1962)
and
William James (1842-1910)
Aldo Leopold (1887-1948)
Alan Paton (1903-1988)
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1925, Copland's Symphony for Organ and Orchestra was premiered at Aeolian Hall in New York City by the New York Symphony conducted by Walter Damrosch, with Nadia Boulanger the soloist.
Reihold Glière (1875-1956)
Maurice Duruflé (1902-1986)
Mark DeVoto (1940)
York Höller (1944)
Drew Minter (1955)
Alex Shapiro (1962)
and
William James (1842-1910)
Aldo Leopold (1887-1948)
Alan Paton (1903-1988)
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1925, Copland's Symphony for Organ and Orchestra was premiered at Aeolian Hall in New York City by the New York Symphony conducted by Walter Damrosch, with Nadia Boulanger the soloist.
Wednesday, January 10, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Jean Martinon (1910-1976)
Sidney Griller (1911-1993)
Dean Dixon (1915-1976)
Milton Babbitt (1916-2011)
Max Roach (1924-2007)
Sherrill Milnes (1935)
Rod Stewart (1945)
James Morris (1947)
Mischa Maisky (1948)
Rockwell Blake (1951)
Charles Norman Mason (1955)
Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg (1961)
and
Robinson Jeffers (1887-1962)
Philip Levine (1928-2015)
Stephen E. Ambrose (1936-2002)
Sidney Griller (1911-1993)
Dean Dixon (1915-1976)
Milton Babbitt (1916-2011)
Max Roach (1924-2007)
Sherrill Milnes (1935)
Rod Stewart (1945)
James Morris (1947)
Mischa Maisky (1948)
Rockwell Blake (1951)
Charles Norman Mason (1955)
Nadja Salerno-Sonnenberg (1961)
and
Robinson Jeffers (1887-1962)
Philip Levine (1928-2015)
Stephen E. Ambrose (1936-2002)
Tuesday, January 9, 2018
Today's Birthdays
John Knowles Paine (1839-1906))
Rudolf Bing (1902-1997)
Herva Nelli (1909-1994)
Henriette Puig‑Roget (1910-1992)
Pierre Pierlot (1921-2007)
Joan Baez (1941)
Scott Walker (1944)
Jimmy Page (1944)
Waltraud Meier (1956)
Hillevi Martinpelto (1958)
Nicholas Daniel (1962)
and
Karel Čapek (1890-1938)
Kurt Tucholsky (1890-1935)
Richard Halliburton (1901-1939)
Brian Friel (1929-2015)
Michiko Kakutani (1955)
Rudolf Bing (1902-1997)
Herva Nelli (1909-1994)
Henriette Puig‑Roget (1910-1992)
Pierre Pierlot (1921-2007)
Joan Baez (1941)
Scott Walker (1944)
Jimmy Page (1944)
Waltraud Meier (1956)
Hillevi Martinpelto (1958)
Nicholas Daniel (1962)
and
Karel Čapek (1890-1938)
Kurt Tucholsky (1890-1935)
Richard Halliburton (1901-1939)
Brian Friel (1929-2015)
Michiko Kakutani (1955)
Monday, January 8, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Jean Gilles (1668-1705)
Lowell Mason (1792-1872)
Sigismond Thalberg (1812-1871)
Hans von Bülow (1830-1894)
Jaromir Weinberger (1896-1967)
Giacinto Scelsi (1905-1988)
Giorgio Tozzi (1923-2011)
Robert Starer (1924-2001)
Benjamin Lees (1924-2010)
Elvis Presley (1935-1977)
Zdeněk Mácal (1936)
Robert Moran (1937)
Evgeny Nesterenko (1938)
Elijah Moshinsky (1946)
Paul Dresher (1951)
Vladimir Feltsman (1952)
and
Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913)
Bronislava Nijinska (1891-1972)
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1923, the first broadcast in England of an opera direct from a concert hall took place, Mozart's "The Magic Flute" via the BBC from London.
Lowell Mason (1792-1872)
Sigismond Thalberg (1812-1871)
Hans von Bülow (1830-1894)
Jaromir Weinberger (1896-1967)
Giacinto Scelsi (1905-1988)
Giorgio Tozzi (1923-2011)
Robert Starer (1924-2001)
Benjamin Lees (1924-2010)
Elvis Presley (1935-1977)
Zdeněk Mácal (1936)
Robert Moran (1937)
Evgeny Nesterenko (1938)
Elijah Moshinsky (1946)
Paul Dresher (1951)
Vladimir Feltsman (1952)
and
Alfred Russel Wallace (1823-1913)
Bronislava Nijinska (1891-1972)
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1923, the first broadcast in England of an opera direct from a concert hall took place, Mozart's "The Magic Flute" via the BBC from London.
Sunday, January 7, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Clara Haskil (1895-1960)
Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)
John Brownlee (1900-1969)
Nicanor Zabaleta (1907-1993)
Günter Wand (1912-2002)
Ulysses Kay (1917-1995)
John Lanigan (1921-1996)
Jean-Pierre Rampal (1922-2000)
Tommy Johnson (1935-2006)
Iona Brown (1941-2004)
Richard Armstrong (1943)
and
Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960)
Hugh Kenner (1923-2003)
Nicholson Baker (1957)
And from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1955, Marian Anderson made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Ulrica in Verdi's "Un Ballo in Mascera" (A Masked Ball). She was the first African-American singer to perform as an opera soloist on the Met stage. Subsequent distinguished African-American singers who performed as members of the Met company included Robert McFerrin, Sr. (Bobby McFerrin Jr.’s father), Leontyne Price, Martina Arroyo, Kahtleen Battle and Jessye Norman.
Francis Poulenc (1899-1963)
John Brownlee (1900-1969)
Nicanor Zabaleta (1907-1993)
Günter Wand (1912-2002)
Ulysses Kay (1917-1995)
John Lanigan (1921-1996)
Jean-Pierre Rampal (1922-2000)
Tommy Johnson (1935-2006)
Iona Brown (1941-2004)
Richard Armstrong (1943)
and
Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960)
Hugh Kenner (1923-2003)
Nicholson Baker (1957)
And from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1955, Marian Anderson made her Metropolitan Opera debut as Ulrica in Verdi's "Un Ballo in Mascera" (A Masked Ball). She was the first African-American singer to perform as an opera soloist on the Met stage. Subsequent distinguished African-American singers who performed as members of the Met company included Robert McFerrin, Sr. (Bobby McFerrin Jr.’s father), Leontyne Price, Martina Arroyo, Kahtleen Battle and Jessye Norman.
Saturday, January 6, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Max Bruch (1838-1920)
Xaver Scharwenka (1850-1924)
Georges Martin Witkowski (1867-1943)
Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915)
Karl Straube (1873-1950)
Earl Kim (1920-1998)
David Bernstein (1942)
Alexander Baillie (1956)
and
Carl Sandburg (1878-1967)
Khalil Gibran (1883-1931)
Wright Morris (1910-1998)
E. L. Doctorow (1931-1915)
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1733, this notice appears in the Leipzig newspaper Nachtricht auch Frag u. Anzeiger: "Tonight at 8 o'clock there will be a Bach Concert at the Zimmermann Coffeehouse on Catharine Street". This presumably featured secular vocal works, chamber music and concertos performed by the Leipzig Collegium, an ensemble directed by J.S. Bach.
Xaver Scharwenka (1850-1924)
Georges Martin Witkowski (1867-1943)
Alexander Scriabin (1872-1915)
Karl Straube (1873-1950)
Earl Kim (1920-1998)
David Bernstein (1942)
Alexander Baillie (1956)
and
Carl Sandburg (1878-1967)
Khalil Gibran (1883-1931)
Wright Morris (1910-1998)
E. L. Doctorow (1931-1915)
and from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1733, this notice appears in the Leipzig newspaper Nachtricht auch Frag u. Anzeiger: "Tonight at 8 o'clock there will be a Bach Concert at the Zimmermann Coffeehouse on Catharine Street". This presumably featured secular vocal works, chamber music and concertos performed by the Leipzig Collegium, an ensemble directed by J.S. Bach.
Friday, January 5, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Johann Georg Pisendel (1687-1755)
Constanza Mozart (1762-1842)
Peter Wolle (1792-1871)
Frederick Converse (1871-1940)
Nikolai Medtner (1880-1951)
Nicolai Roslavets (1881-1944)
Reginald Smith-Brindle (1917-2003)
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (1920-1995)
Laszlo Heltay (1930)
Alfred Brendel (1931)
Maurizio Pollini (1942)
and
Stella Gibbons(1902-1989)
Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921-1990)
W. D. Snodgrass (1926-2009)
Umberto Eco (1932-2016)
Ngugi wa Thiong'o (1938)
Charlie Rose (1942)
Constanza Mozart (1762-1842)
Peter Wolle (1792-1871)
Frederick Converse (1871-1940)
Nikolai Medtner (1880-1951)
Nicolai Roslavets (1881-1944)
Reginald Smith-Brindle (1917-2003)
Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli (1920-1995)
Laszlo Heltay (1930)
Alfred Brendel (1931)
Maurizio Pollini (1942)
and
Stella Gibbons(1902-1989)
Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921-1990)
W. D. Snodgrass (1926-2009)
Umberto Eco (1932-2016)
Ngugi wa Thiong'o (1938)
Charlie Rose (1942)
Thursday, January 4, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Giovanni Pergolesi (1710-1736)
Johann Friedrich Agricola (1720-1774)
Josef Suk (1874-1935)
Frank Wess (1922-2013)
Grace Bumbry (1937)
Joseph Turrin (1947)
Margaret Marshall (1949)
Ronald Corp (1951)
Peter Seiffert (1954)
Boris Berezovsky (1969)
and
Sir Issac Newton (1642-1727)
Jacob Grimm (1785-1863)
Louis Braille (1809-1852)
Augustus John (1878-1961)
Doris Kearns Goodwin (1943)
And from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1950, RCA announces it will produce long play records as Columbia did two years earlier (RCA had unsuccessfully attempted to compete with Columbia's new 33.3-rpm LPs by issuing some of their classical catalog as multiple disc 45-rpm sets).
Johann Friedrich Agricola (1720-1774)
Josef Suk (1874-1935)
Frank Wess (1922-2013)
Grace Bumbry (1937)
Joseph Turrin (1947)
Margaret Marshall (1949)
Ronald Corp (1951)
Peter Seiffert (1954)
Boris Berezovsky (1969)
and
Sir Issac Newton (1642-1727)
Jacob Grimm (1785-1863)
Louis Braille (1809-1852)
Augustus John (1878-1961)
Doris Kearns Goodwin (1943)
And from the Composers Datebook:
On this day in 1950, RCA announces it will produce long play records as Columbia did two years earlier (RCA had unsuccessfully attempted to compete with Columbia's new 33.3-rpm LPs by issuing some of their classical catalog as multiple disc 45-rpm sets).
Wednesday, January 3, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Victor Borge (1909-2000)
Ronald Smith (1922-2004)
Sir George Martin (1926-2016)
H. K. Gruber (1943)
David Atherton (1944)
and
J. R. R. Tolkien (1892-1973)
and from the Composers Datebook:
O this date in the year 1843 in Paris, the comic opera “Don Pasquale” by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti received its first performance.
also:
On this day in 1925, German conductor and composer Wilhelm Furtwängler made his American debut, conducting the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall.
Ronald Smith (1922-2004)
Sir George Martin (1926-2016)
H. K. Gruber (1943)
David Atherton (1944)
and
J. R. R. Tolkien (1892-1973)
and from the Composers Datebook:
O this date in the year 1843 in Paris, the comic opera “Don Pasquale” by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti received its first performance.
also:
On this day in 1925, German conductor and composer Wilhelm Furtwängler made his American debut, conducting the New York Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall.
Tuesday, January 2, 2018
Recommended concerts in The Oregonian
The Oregonian published my article on recommended concerts during the winter season. You can read the article online here, and it will be in the printed version this weekend.
Monday, January 1, 2018
Today's Birthdays
Frantisek Xaver Brixi (1732-1771)
Mily Balakirev (1837-1910)
Michael Tippett (1905-1998)
Barbara Pentland (1912-2000)
Gardner Read (1913-2005)
Irina Arkhipova (1925-2010)
Alberto Zedda (1928-2017)
Peter Eötvös (1944)
Janet Hilton (1945)
Vladimir Ovchinnikov (1958)
Tzimon Barto (1963)
Robert Fertitta (1970)
Eric Whitacre (1970)
and
Isaac Asimov (1920-1992)
Christopher Durang (1949)
Lynda Barry (1956)
and from the Composer's Datebook:
On today’s date in 1843, Richard Wagner’s opera “The Flying Dutchman” had its premiere performance in Dresden.
Mily Balakirev (1837-1910)
Michael Tippett (1905-1998)
Barbara Pentland (1912-2000)
Gardner Read (1913-2005)
Irina Arkhipova (1925-2010)
Alberto Zedda (1928-2017)
Peter Eötvös (1944)
Janet Hilton (1945)
Vladimir Ovchinnikov (1958)
Tzimon Barto (1963)
Robert Fertitta (1970)
Eric Whitacre (1970)
and
Isaac Asimov (1920-1992)
Christopher Durang (1949)
Lynda Barry (1956)
and from the Composer's Datebook:
On today’s date in 1843, Richard Wagner’s opera “The Flying Dutchman” had its premiere performance in Dresden.
Today's Birthdays
Charles Racquet (1598 - 1664)
Frederick William Gaisberg (1873-1951)
Edwin Franko Goldman (1878-1956)
Artur Rodzinski (1892-1958)
Erich Schmid (1907-2001)
Trude Rittmann (1908-2005)
Milt Jackson (1923-1999)
Richard Verreau (1926-2005)
Maurice Béjart (1927-2007)
Bernard Greenhouse (1916-2011)
Alberto Portugheis (1941)
and
E. M. Forster (1879-1970)
J. D. Salinger (1919-2010)
From the Composer's Datebook:
On this day in 1908, Gustav Mahler made his conducting debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, leading a performance of Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde."
Frederick William Gaisberg (1873-1951)
Edwin Franko Goldman (1878-1956)
Artur Rodzinski (1892-1958)
Erich Schmid (1907-2001)
Trude Rittmann (1908-2005)
Milt Jackson (1923-1999)
Richard Verreau (1926-2005)
Maurice Béjart (1927-2007)
Bernard Greenhouse (1916-2011)
Alberto Portugheis (1941)
and
E. M. Forster (1879-1970)
J. D. Salinger (1919-2010)
From the Composer's Datebook:
On this day in 1908, Gustav Mahler made his conducting debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, leading a performance of Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde."
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