Today's Birthdays

Harold Darke (1888-1976)
Vivian Ellis (1904-1996)
Václav Neumann (1920-1995)
Jon Vickers (1926)
James Dillon (1950)
Lee Actor (1952)
James Primosch (1956)

and

James Boswell (1740-1795)
David Remnick (1958)

Portland Symphonic Choir to perform Brahms Requiem

Steven Zopfi directs the Portland Symphonic Choir in a performance of Brahms Requiem at 3 pm on November 15th at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. The concert includes the Portland Sinfonietta with featured soloists: Georgia Jarman, soprano and Richard Zeller, baritone. Zeller is a an Oregon native who is on the roster at the Met in New York City. Jarman is an up-and-coming talent who is singing this month with the Portland Opera in its production Orphée.

The performance of Brahms Requiem will be in German with English supertitles.

Grant Park Music Festival gets new executive director

According to this report in the Chicago Tribune, Elizabeth Hurley, a dynamo administrator at Metropolitan Opera is now the new executive director of the Grant Park Music Festival. Carlos Kalmar, the Oregon Symphony's music director is also the music man at Grant Park, so he's got a new colleague in Chicago.

Today's Birthdays

Howard Hanson (1896-1981)
Dame Cleo Laine (1927)
Carl Davis (1936)
Howard Blake (1938)
Kenneth Montgomery (1943)
Naida Cole (1974)

and

Evelyn Waugh (1903-1966)
John Harold Hewitt (1907-1987)
Francis Bacon (1909-1992)

Bach Cantata Choir concert this Sunday

This season, both Northwest Reverbers (Lorin and myself) are singing with the Bach Cantata Choir, and the ensemble has its first concert coming up this Sunday (November 1st).

Here's all the essential information about this concert from the BCC's press release:

The Bach Cantata Choir of Portland will open its 5th concert season with a concert featuring works by Georg Friedrich Handel (1685-1759) and Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) on Sunday, November 1 from 2:00pm-3:15pm at Rose City Park Presbyterian Church, 1907 NE 45th Ave in Portland, Oregon. The concert, under the direction of conductor Ralph Nelson, will feature a performance of Handel’s stirring Chandos Anthem #9, “O Praise the Lord with One Consent” and Bach’s Cantata #147, “Herz und Mut und Tat und Leben.” Both works contain themes well known to most audiences – the Handel is based on the familiar hymn tune “O God, Our Help in Ages Past”, and the Bach contains “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring”. The concert is free and open to the public. A free-will offering will be taken. Doors open at 1:30pm. A silent auction, whose proceeds benefit the operations of the choir, will immediately follow the concert in the parlor adjacent to the sanctuary.

Featured in Handel’s Chandos Anthem #9 will be soprano Nan Haemer, countertenor Tim Galloway, tenor Byron Wright and bass-baritone Jacob Herbert. In Bach’s Cantata #147 the soloists will be soprano Gina Osborne, alto Irene Weldon, tenor Byron Wright and bass-baritone Jacob Herbert. The works will be accompanied by a small chamber orchestra. John Vergin will provide the organ continuo. This concert features the Bach Cantata Choir – a choir of 55 professional or semi-professional voices, drawn from many of Portland’s finest choirs.

Today's Birthdays

Niccolò Paganini (1782-1840)
Helmut Walcha (1907-1991)
Conlon Nancarrow (1912-1997)
Dominick Argento (1927)
Julius Eastman (1940-1990)
Håkan Hardenberger (1961)
Vanessa-Mae (1978)

and

Lee Krasner (1908-1994)
Dylan Thomas (1914-1953)
Roy Lichtenstein (1923-1997)
Sylvia Plath (1932-1963)

Portland Baroque Orchestra celebrates youthful works of Mendelssohn

The sound of a loud pop greeted the audience at the Portland Baroque Orchestra concert on Saturday evening (October 24) at Kaul Auditorium. It also surprised violin virtuoso Monica Huggett, because she just broke her E string about five seconds after beginning the first piece. After halting the orchestra, Huggett excused herself for a few minutes in order to attach a new string, and the audience got a chance to take a quick breather and reflect on the informal freshness of such a thing. Perhaps even Felix Mendelssohn, who was noted as a super straight-laced kind of guy, would’ve relaxed. In any case, after returning to the stage, Huggett and her ensemble whipped up some froth in a program that featured Mendelssohn’s music, all from during his early years.

The orchestra started out with Mendelssohn’s String Symphony No. 6 in E major, which he wrote at the age of 12 as an exercise for his composition teacher Carl Friederich Zelter. The ensemble conveyed the cheerful nature of this work with incredible agility, crisp phrasing, and pinpoint stops. The instrumentalists also increased the tension in the final measures, which added a lot to the dynamic shape of the piece and made it satisfying to hear.

The orchestra played the concerto for violin, piano, and strings in D minor, which Mendelssohn created at the age of 14. Performing on a piano built in Vienna in 1841, guest artist Eric Zivian collaborated extremely well with Huggett, who played the solo violin parts. They got the utmost in color and expression from their instruments, especially in the slow second movement with its delicate and elegant sentiment. I also enjoyed the vigorous conducting by Huggett and the demonstrative sweep of the entire ensemble in the last movement.

After intermission came the Octet in E major (Op. 20), which Mendelssohn composed after he turned 20 years old. At the outset, the middle voices of the ensemble were not as strong as those on the edges, but the ensemble adjusted itself and played their hearts out. I wanted even more dynamic thrust from these players, but I have to admit that my ears have been tempered to performances by modern instruments. The Baroque sound was lighter and less accented. Plus, in the last movement, the ensemble increased the volume too quickly and didn’t have anywhere to go. Still, this was an exciting performance of a brilliant piece of music, and the audience rewarded it with thunderous applause.

Oregon Music News

Today is the first real day for Oregon Music News, an online music magazine that will cover almost the goings on in all most all music genres. I'm the classical music guy for OMN and have an interview with composer Tomas Svoboda as one of my first postings.

I intend to keep things going here at Northwest Reverb... well as long as I can get to a fresh cup of strong coffee.

Today's Birthdays

Hans Leo Hassler (1564-1612)
Domenico Scarlatti (1685-1757)
Mahalia Jackson (1911-1972)
György Pauk (1936)
Christine Brewer (1955)
Sakari Oramo (1965)

Third Angle brings the newest of sounds from China in stellar concert

There’s a huge landscape for new music in China, and the Third Angle New Music Ensemble explored a bit of that territory in an exciting concert on Friday evening (October 24) at the Fields Ballroom in the Portland Art Museum. That landscape (both external and internal) is being discovered and given a voice by Chinese composers who are fusing sounds from the East and West in exciting ways. Third Angle found a way into the heart of these sounds and delivered intriguing performances of music by Chen Yi, Jia Daqun, and Ye Xiaogang. To make the concert even more special, Xiaogang was present, as was special guest soloist, the zheng virtuoso Haiquiong Deng.

The first piece on the program was Chen Yi’s “Yangko,” which begins with rhythmic and percussive vocalizations by three performers: violinist Ron Blessinger and percussionists Niel DePonte and Jeffrey Peyton. A free-spirited passages for violin gradually takes over and becomes interwoven with sounds from hand-sized cymbals, castanets, drums, and, and gongs. It all evoked the Yangko, a major folk dance form from northern China, and it was easy to picture the dancers as the wended their way through the countryside.

The next piece was “San Die” (“Three Variations”) by Ye Xiaogang for flute and zheng. The zheng is a 21- or 26-string plucked instrument with moveable bridges for each string. From a distance, it looked like a dulcimer gone wild, but in the hands and fingers of Haiquiong Deng it was poetry.

The piece started slowly with flutist GeorgeAnne Ries playing a vaguely melodic line that was interrupted by notes from the zheng. The piece had lots of variety, but the zheng with its range from twangy to spiky was fascinating to hear. The quiet swirls between the flute and zheng were arresting and the piece ended with a positive upswing that put a smile on everyone’s face.

Next came “Colorful Sutra Banner, which Xiaogang wrote after visiting Tibet and becoming inspired by the banners he saw. This piece had a lot of playful exchanges between violinist Blessinger, cellist Cheifetz, and pianist Susan Smith. The delicate and tender sections at the beginning gave way to sturdier and march-like music that culminated with loud, percussive pluck.

The first half of the concert concluded with “Flavor of Bashu” by Jia Daqun, a work that creates the excitement of music from Chinese opera. This piece featured violinists Blessinger and Daniel Feng, percussionists DePonte, Peyton, and Brian Gardiner, and pianist Smith. The music was thrilling, chilling, and spilling that made me want to see some performers leap about the stage. The second part (called “Veins in rock”) featured some extremely furious sawing from the violins (both amplified) and at one point sounded like riders on horseback fading into the sunset.

After intermission Deng performed a traditional solo for zheng entitled “River Frolic in the Wintry Water.” With amazing dexterity Deng created a wonder palette of sounds. Some were quick and trickling and others were feathery light. Some slid from tone to tone and others wiggled. The fast sections were mesmerizing.

Ries, Blessinger, Cheifetz, and Smith played Xiaogang’s “Datura,” a piece that changed moods sharply from contemplative to dramatic and intense before ending quietly. The program notes explained that Datura is common houseplant in southern China that “can be used as a hallucinogen, usually with unpleasant results.” So the music may have directly reflected the affects and effects of this plant in a very broad sense.

Deng returned to play “Springs in the Forest” by Xiaogang. This virtuosic work for the zheng flitted about from elegant, melodic lines to short and long phrases with raspy or zingy qualities. The ending was wild and filled with a positive, uplifting spirit..

The concert ended with “Sparkle” by Yi for eight instrumentalists (Ries, Blessinger, Cheifetz, Smith, Peyton, Gardiner, clarinetist Todd Kuhns, and bassist Jason Schooler) who were directed by DePonte. The meter in this piece seemed to change constantly and DePonte was busy cuing throughout. I enjoyed the short glissandos from the bass, the tension in the piece, the melodic snippet for clarinet, the punctuations by the piano, the vigorous passages in which all of the instrumentalists seemed to be chasing each other sonically, and the dramatic ending with a brief tag from the flute. This was a great way to bring the concert to a close, and the audience seemed to be abuzz with all of the new sounds.

Today's Birthdays

Johann Strauss II (1825-1899)
Georges Bizet (1838-1875)
Galina Vishnevskaya (1926)
Peter Lieberson (1946)
Diana Burrell (1948)
Colin Carr (1957)
Midori (1971)

and

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)
John Berryman (1914-1972)
Anne Tyler (1941)

Today's Birthdays

Ferdinand Hiller (1811-1885)
Conrad Leonard (1898-2003)
Paul Csonka (1905-1995)
Tito Gobbi (1913-1984)
Luciano Berio (1925-2003)
George Crumb (1929)
Sofia Gubaidulina (1931)
Malcolm Bilson (1935)
Bill Wyman (1936)
George Tsontakis (1951)
Cheryl Studer (1955)

and

Moss Hart (1904-1961)
Norman Rush (1933)

Nancy Ives to play cello with the Vancouver Symphony (WA)

In today's Columbian, I have an article about this weekend's Vancouver Symphony Concert, and it contains an interview that I did with Nancy Ives, who will play the Dvorak Cello Concerto.

OTO lets it all hang out in 'The Beggar's Opera'

Opera Theater Oregon opened their 2009-2010 season Thursday the 22nd at the Someday Lounge with a fresh re-telling of John Gay’s 1728 Beggar’s Opera, a farce based on the operatic traditions of the day that lampooned London personages and featured low-life characters involved in seedy plots. All of these core elements were kept, but the scene was updated to modern day Portland in this work featuring the talents of librettist/director Stephen Marc Beaudoin and composer/arranger Michael Herrman.

The show began even before the ‘curtain,’ with a group of shoddily dressed performers wandering through the audience and arguing loudly, so that at first it was difficult to tell if it was real or some sort of clever gimmick. The performance began with on-stage vocalises by the ensemble that turned into a wailing cacophony and then morphed into a declamatory air sung by the whole ensemble that directly addressed the audience and explained the purpose of the opera.

The opening scene was set in a pornography store called Peachums-n-Cream. One of the principals, Mrs. Peachum, a sadistic proprietress who wielded a riding crop against virtually everyone in the course of the evening, was sung by Beth Madsen Bradford. She put her comedic talents to good use, often dropping ghastly French phrases spoken in phonetic English, and her opening aria ‘God bless these tools of lust’ was sung with the utmost sincerity and lascivious intent in her full, glorious mezzo. The role of the groping pervert Felch (Peachum’s husband) was sung by Arne Hartmann who also got great laughs throughout the evening.

Soprano Leah Yorkston sang the role of Polly Peachum, their ingenue daughter who, thanks to her parents, discovers in the first scene that her beau, up-and-coming PDX indie rocker Mack the Guitar (sung by tenor Scot Crandal), has been moonlighting in gay porn films. Yorkston was convincing in the role of the poor, confused girl who tries through the course of the evening to figure out what to do with her boyfriend, and showed a fine voice in her aria ‘Mackie my love–I’m shocked he’d do this on film.’ Scot Crandal carried much of the burden of advancing the drama, as it becomes clear that many people are plotting against him and trying to take advantage of his success. His singing was spot-on and well-suited to the role, but the acting was sometimes lacking in conviction. Emily Zahniser played the role of Lucy Lockit, a corrupt cop’s daugher, doing a gratifying send-up of Portland personality Storm Large. Her best singing was as a rocker in the Herrman original tune ‘Lucy’s Song.’ Gigi Urban also deserves mention for her beautiful aria ‘There was a time when life open’d just like a perfect flower.’

Musically the production was a great success. (See the interview with the composer and librettist here for more information on the musical structure.) Herrman wrote a number of original tunes, the most compelling of which were ‘Little Sparrow’ and ‘Song of Redemption.’ It was somewhat incongruous to hear these modern tunes interspersed with other songs from Gay’s opera that retained much of their centuries-old structure (but for the most part with new lyrics by Beaudoin). The incongruity was fun though; it helped to update the ‘attitude’ of the piece, and made for a nice change from the old tunes.

There is very limited staging space at the Someday Lounge, so the cast took the interesting step of just hanging out in the cramped space on stage in full view whenever they weren’t part of the action. The costuming was original, and it was interesting to watch the clever costume changes right on stage. From a staging perspective, the opera was a brilliant case of maximizing the small space and limited set in order to focus most of the attention on the story itself. There were stretches, however, especially in the second half, where the pacing seemed a bit slow for this type of story.

There was lots of good stuff for Portlanders who are in the know as far as local happenings, scandals, personalities and politicians, so its freshness was very effective. With the scenes being set in a porn shop, a strip club, a jail and under the Burnside Bridge, the down-to-earth (yet still intelligent) humor came off smartly for the most part. There were so many coarse one-liners that when one didn’t go over, it didn’t really matter because there was another one right around the corner. This was an ambitious project, and for those who like more than a dash of daring in their opera, who enjoy beautiful music coupled with bawdy humor, it should prove a very enjoyable outing indeed.

Today's Birthdays

Albert Lortzing (1801-1851)
Ned Rorem (1923)
Lawrence Foster (1941)
Toshio Hosokawa (1955)
"Weird Al" Yankovic (1959)
Brett Dean (1961)

Upcoming concerts

Third Angle Ensemble - China Music Now

This concert features the music of Jia Daqun, Chen Yi, and Professor Ye Xiaogang, the Beijing Olympics composer who will be present. Also guest zheng virtuoso Haiqiong Deng will perform.

October 22 and October 23
7:30 pm at the Fields Ballroom of the Mark Building - Portland Art Museum

Opera Theater of Oregon - The Beggar's Opera

Based on John Gay's landmark 18th century ballad opera of the same name, OTO's "Beggar's Opera" is written by Portland performer and writer Stephen Marc Beaudoin (script/lyrics) and Buoy LaRue's Michael Herrman (music).

October 22-25
7:00 pm at Someday Lounge (21+)

Portland Baroque Orchestra - Mendelssohn Celebration

Monica Huggett directs a mini-festival celebrating the 200th year of Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847), including a rarely heard concerto and his famous octet.

October 23 and 24
7:30 pm at Reed College, Kaul Auditorium

Portland Baroque Orchestra - Mendelssohn Chamber Music

Monica Huggett performs chamber music by Mendelssohn with PBO principal violoncellist Tanya Tamkins, and Eric Zivian, piano soloist.

October 25
7:30 at Reed College, Kaul Auditorium

Portland Chamber Orchestra - Renaissance Redux

This concert presents the music of Lukas Foss, including his “Renaissance Concerto” with flutist Carol Wincenc. Also on the program are works by Giovanni Gabrieli, Peter Warlock, and Ottorino Respighi.

October 24
7:00 at Venetian Theater in Hillsboro
October 25
3:00 pm at Kaul Auditorium, Reed College

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra Season Opener

The orchestra performs Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition," "Requiebro Andaluz" by Montes, and Dvorák's Cello Concerto with soloist Nancy Ives, principal cellist with the Oregon Symphony.

October 24
3 pm at Skyview Concert Hall in Vancouver
October 25
7 pm at Skyview Concert Hall in Vancouver

Choral Arts Ensemble - A Celtic Céilí

This concert is a musical journey to the Celtic lands with traditional Irish musical guests Cary Novotny and friends.

October 24
7:30 pm at First Unitarian Church
October 25
3 pm at First Unitarian Church

Stephen Price and Friends Annual Concert

Oregon Symphony violist Stephen Price will be joined by pianist Janet Coleman and Tim Scott on viola da gamba at this free concert (held annually since 1972).

October 24
8 pm at The Old Church, Portland

Celebration Works - The 'O' Instruments

Organist Jon Stuber and oboist Ann van Bever perform music popular in 1854 with flutist Janet Bebb and soprano Anita Lundgren.

October 25
2pm at First Presbyterian Church

Sunnyside Symphony Orchestra - Susan Chan plays Mozart

Pianist Susan Chan perform Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 (K488) with the Sunnyside Symphony Orchestra. The orchestra will also play Mendelssohn's Fingal's Cave and Brahms Symphony No. 4. This concert is free.

October 25
4 pm
Sunnyside Adventist Church, Portland

Today's Birthdays

Franz Liszt (1811-1886)
Sir Donald McIntyre (1934)
Elizabeth Connell (1946)

and

John Reed (1887-1920)
Doris Lessing (1919)

Oregon Symphony receives $1.45 million!

Woo Hoo! Four foundations have awarded the Oregon Symphony $1.45 million to support its budget. Kudos go to the James. F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation, the Meyer Memorial Trust of Portland, The Collins Foundation, and the William Randolph Hearst Foundation. This calls for a major fanfare! Congratulations to the orchestra and its administrative staff. (Note: Charles Noble had mentioned some of these grants earlier in his blog here.)

Here's the details from the orchestra's press release:

The Oregon Symphony, Portland’s largest performing-arts organization, announced today that it has been awarded new grants totaling $1.45 million by four foundations in support of its ongoing activities. The grants include:

· $1 million in operating support for the 2009/10 season from the James F. and Marion L. Miller Foundation.

· $300,000 in operating support from the Meyer Memorial Trust of Portland ($150,000 each for the 2009/10 and 2010/11 seasons)

· $100,000 in operating support from The Collins Foundation in Oregon.

· $50,000 to support education programs in 2009/10 from the William Randolph Hearst Foundation of San Francisco.

The new grants mark a significant step forward in the orchestra’s efforts to achieve financial sustainability because three of the four come from foundations that have not supported the Oregon Symphony in recent years. Before these awards, the orchestra had most recently received grant support from The Collins Foundation in 2005, the Hearst Foundation in 2004 and the Meyer Memorial Trust in 2001.

“In addition to these significant grant awards, it’s encouraging to have the support of these foundations,” said Oregon Symphony Association president Elaine Calder. “They serve our entire community and are understandably prudent in their choice of recipients. These grants signal their recognition of the role the Oregon Symphony plays in our community and of our efforts over the past several years to create a stable platform of financial and operational support for the orchestra.”

Increased foundation support is a key element of the Oregon Symphony’s multi-year effort to balance its budget and stabilize its finances. During the 2007/08 season, the most recent year for which audited figures are available, the orchestra received a total of $1.69 million in foundation grants. Overall, contributed income from all sources – including individuals, foundations, government and businesses – accounts for about 50 percent of the Oregon Symphony’s budget each year.

At its annual meeting earlier in October, Calder also announced additional progress toward the organization’s goal of sustainability, including:

* The use of $7.2 million from the orchestra’s unrestricted funds to eliminate its long-term bank debt.
* An extension of its contract with the union representing orchestra musicians that contains significant financial concessions expected to save the organization $1.4 million over the two-year length of the agreement. (Oregon Symphony players are represented by Local 99 of the American Federation of Musicians.)
* A board-approved balanced budget for the current season.

Board Chair Walter E. Weyler announced at the Oct. 2 meeting that the organization finished its 2008/09 season with an operating deficit of $519,000 – down from $590,000 the prior year – and total box office revenue of $6.61 million. He said the latter figure represents a 35 percent increase over the past two seasons, which he called “a stunning improvement.”

At the same meeting, Oregon Symphony Association members elected five new directors to seats on the organization’s board. They are:

· Labor lawyer Nelson D. Atkin II, a partner with the firm of Barran Liebman LLP in Portland (Atkin had previously served on the board from 1992 to 1999);

· Former businesswoman Jillian Cain;

· Philanthropist Mary Clark, a longtime Oregon Symphony supporter;

· Robyn Johnson, a partner with Vernier Software & Technology in Beaverton, OR, and 2009/10 president of the Friends of the Oregon Symphony; and

· Thomas M. Lauderdale, founder and leader of the Portland’s internationally known touring band Pink Martini.

And finally, all I've got to say is "To Hell with a Six-Concert Season!"

Today's Birthdays

Joseph Canteloube (1879-1957)
Howard Ferguson (1908-1999)
Alexander Schneider (1908-1993)
Sir Georg Solti (1912-1997)
Dizzy (John Birks) Gillespie (1917-1993)
Sir Malcom Arnold (1921-2006)
Hugh Wolff (1953)

and

Alfred Nobel (1833-1896)
Ursula K. Le Guin (1929)

Young Canadian becomes conductor of the New Jersey Symphony

According to this report in the New Jersey Star-Ledger, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra just named Jacques Lacombe to succeed Neemi Jarvi (who actually departed last spring) as its new music director. Lacombe is 46 years old and conducts the Orchestre Symphonique de Trois-Rivieres in Quebec. I'm sure that there is a vast difference in the amount that the orchestra will pay Lacombe, a relatively unknown conductor, as compared to what they paid the internationally known Jarvi.

FYI: The budget for the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra has been fairly similar to that of the Oregon Symphony.