A short week can be especially hectic. Take some time to listen.

David Tudor performing 4'33" by John Cage, via The Rest is Noise

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TorQ Ensemble performing "Sleep" by EricWhitacre

Lots of concerts as music students head back to school and new concert seasons begin! Let me know what is missing!

Sept. 2: Richard Kosowski, tenor; Russell Young (WVU Guest Artist Recital)

Sept. 5: Wheeling Symphony Music Under the Stars, with Chris Tedesco, trumpet

Sept. 5: WV Symphony at the Greenbrier

Sept. 5: WV Symphony with Ryan Hardiman and Randall Reid-Smith (Schoenbaum Stage, Charleston)

Sept. 6: WV Symphony (Beckley)

Sept. 7: Kim Goodman, flute (WVU Guest Artist Recital)

Sept. 10-11: West Virginia Symphony: Opening Night with David Kim and Carter Brey

Sept. 10: Divine Melodies: Dale Capehart, baritone (MUsic Alive)

Sept. 14: Tuesday with Fran (Carnegie Hall, Lewisburg) (interview)

Sept 15: Greg Partain, piano (WVU Guest Artist Recital)

Sept. 16: The Music of Gil Trythall (WVU)

Sept. 19: Michael Stroeher, trombone (Marshall University Faculty Recital)

Sept. 22: Alderson-Broaddus Afternoon Recital

Sept. 23: WVU Symphony Orchestra

Sept. 24: Wheeling Symphony with William Wolfram, piano

Sept. 24-26: Hansel and Gretel (Shepherd University Opera Workshop)

Sept. 25: WV Symphony (Chuck Mathena Center, Princeton)

Sept. 25: La Catrina String Quartet (CCMS)

Sept. 26: Appalachian Choral Invitational Concert (Alderson-Broaddus)

Sept. 26: Joint Marshall University Faculty Recital

Sept. 26: WV Symphony (Forrest Burdette Memorial United Methodist Church, Hurricane)

Sept. 27: WVU Faculty Chamber Music Recital

Sept. 30: Martin Saunders, trumpet (Marshall University Faculty Recital)

Sept. 30-Oct. 2: Opera Scenes (WVU)

Something missing? Let me know!

Pop the popcorn and make room on the couch, PBS’s line-up for this Wednesday night (September 1st) has me hooked.

8:00pm: Renée Fleming & Dmitri Hvorostovsky: A Musical Odyssey in St. Petersburg 

Fans of the human voice take note – soprano Renee Fleming and baritone Dmitri Hvorostovsky will be singing together on Great Performances. I will fully admit to swooning over their performance in Eugene Onegin.  Here’s another one of my favorites:

9:30pm: A Surprise in Texas: The Thirteenth Van Cliburn International Piano Competition

The Van Cliburn International Competition is a prestigious and challenging piano competition held every four years in Fort Worth, Texas. It’s named for Texan pianist Van Cliburn, who made quite a splash with Tchaikovsky in Moscow in 1958 (winning the International Tchaikovsky Piano Competition in Moscow).

I spent last summer immersed in Cliburn-mania. I have no good explanation for it – I’m not a pianist and I hadn’t particularly followed competitions before. Perhaps it was the live webcast that got me hooked. Even though my favorites didn’t win, I still look forward to revisiting the competition and the music through this documentary.  

Since most people I know didn’t spend their summer watching piano competitions online, I was happy to recently meet pianist Gerald Lee, who in addition to being a wonderful recitalist and a professor at West Liberty University, also was hooked on following the Cliburn broadcasts online. I hope to interview him about all things piano and post our conversation online here sometime soon.

* View the WV PBS Schedule here

* Find your local station listings
     - Fleming & Hvorostovsky
     - A Surprise in Texas

Over the Labor Day weekend, the West Virginia Symphony will be playing free concerts in Charleston and Beckley. They start the weekend with a Saturday performance at the Greenbrier (which is not free).

Vocalist Ryan Hardiman is one of the featured soloists. He was voted “Symphony Idol” in 2008, and he was also one of first guests on the Classically Speaking blog. You can hear two interviews with Ryan Hardiman by clicking the links below: 

* On being the Symphony Idol
* Something Old, Something New: Rent & La Boheme

Then head on over to our Facebook page, where you can win a free pair of tickets to the WV Symphony’s opening night concert, featuring David Kim (interview) of the Philadelphia Orchestra and Carter Brey of the New York Philharmonic.

WV Symphony Labor Day Schedule 2010:
* Saturday at the Greenbrier (ticket information)
* Sunday, 7pm, Schoenbaum Stage on the Levee (free)
* Monday, 7pm, Woodrow Wilson Auditorium, Beckley (free) – with members of the New River Youth Symphony

New Dawn, in this case, is not a Twilight sequel. It's the celebration of a new school year Davis & Elkins College. D&E is also celebrating a new artist in residence, pianist Jack Gibbons. He first visited West Virginia in May as the featured performer and teacher for a three-day Gershwin Gala at the school.

Now he’s returning as artist in residence, and will kick off the school year with a free concert on Sunday evening. 

Get to know this new arrival to West Virginia by listening to our interview from May: Interview with Jack Gibbons

Related links:
* Pianist Returns as artist in residence (August 2010)
* Gershwin Gala in Elkins features pianist Jack Gibbons (May 2010)
* Jack Gibbons and Gershwin in Elkins (interview)

The year’s first Christmas album arrived today.

The Cherry Tree by Anonymous 4

Four months before Christmas! Do the craft stores even have their holiday stuff out yet? I wish I could resent it more, but the singing is very pretty.

Previously: Christmas music…too soon? and New Old-Fashioned Christmas Music

West Virginia PBS broadcasts a lot of excellent concerts, plays, operas, and dance programs, all stuff that I love. And I’m always missing them. I’m playing a rehearsal, teaching class, out at a concert, or I just plain forget.*

I’m happy that we now have a system set up where you can watch many PBS programs online, through the WV Public Broadcasting website. Check it out here.

For those who love music and always wish that they could know more about it, I highly recommend the Keeping Score series with Michael Tilson Thomas. These “behind the music” specials are engaging introductions to classical composers and their work, including Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique, Beethoven’s Eroica, The Rite of Spring and Igor Stravinsky, Charles Ives and his Holidays Symphony, Copland and the American Sound, and Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5.  You can now watch them all for free on our site.

There are just a few Great Performances videos so far, but I expect it to grow. I’m looking forward to catching up with Leonard Bernstein tribute at Carnegie Hall and a concert by the Los Angeles Philharmonic conducted by Gustavo Dudamel. I would also bet that Sir Ian McKellan is rather good in King Lear.

A lot of other PBS favorites are online, including Masterpiece, Antiques Roadshow, History Detectives, Julia Child, Austin City Limits, and the National Parks documentary series by Ken Burns. Check them all out here on the new WV PBS Video site. It might be slow at first, but the load rates are supposed to improve when the site is used more (which sounds backwards, but cool). They also promise to add new programs every week.  

Find something that you like?  Anything missing that you wish we would add?  Leave a comment to let us know. 

* Okay, and sometimes I’m watching Project Runway.

 Read any good music books lately?  

Right now, I’m re-reading Doo-Dah!: Stephen Foster and the Rise of American Popular Culture for a class that I’m teaching this fall. I highly recommend it as not just a way to learn about Stephen Foster, but also as a portrait of nineteenth-century American music and culture. It’s actually more engaging than some of my "fun" summer reading, which included a pretty silly musical thriller, The Chopin Manuscript. Check out my review of The Chopin Manuscript over on the West Virginia Book Festival blog.  

If historical fiction is more your style, here’s another light read: The Four Seasons (A Novel of Vivaldi’s Venice).This book is more fiction than history, but it tells an engaging story and has some pretty descriptions. Plus, it wins points in my book for paying attention to Vivaldi’s operas, in addition to all those concertos.

Be sure to check out the posts below, where Jim Lange and I have interviewed several authors who are worth your time and attention:

* Christopher Wilkinson, “Richard Strauss’s Visit to the kleines Stadchen of Morgantown, West Virginia”
* Glenn Kurtz, Practicing: A Return to Music
* Larry Todd, Fanny Hensel, the Other Mendelssohn
* Lloyd Bone, Guide to the Euphonium Repertoire

Any other reading suggestions?

After you've caught up with the archive (the comic started in February), be sure to visit MastroGear.com for conducting gear recommendations from Dirk Stent.

Lloyd Bone plays the euphonium in ensembles and as a soloist around the world. He teaches music at Glenville State College, where he’s also chairperson of the department of fine arts. He teaches applied brass, music history and literature, brass methods, survey of music, conducts brass ensembles, and is the marching band, pep band, and concert band director.

Bone also wrote the book about euphonium. 

For more information about the favorite he mentions, here are links to their pages: Martin Ellerby and James Curnow.

This summer, the Glenville State Tuba and Euphonium Ensemble performed by invitation at the International Tuba and Euphonium Conference (ITEC), held this year in Arizona. Bone discussed the ensemble and their experiences as the only group of this kind from the state to perform at the international conferences: 

Wondering if the euphonium is for you? Bone took a couple minutes to share why he thinks it’s the right choice, including the beauty of the sound and that it’s easy to start playing!

Glenville State College is also known for their percussion ensemble (I want to visit for one of their concerts!) and a variety of other ensembles and programs. Bone concluded our interview an overview of music opportunities at Glenville State. 

Related Links:

* Lloyd Bone bio
* Department of Fine Arts at Glenville State College
* Guide to the Euphonium Repertoire: The Euphonium Source Book

Good morning! Here’s something fun to start your week – a young ensemble playing a mix of Lady Gaga (Bad Romance), Katy Perry (I Kissed a Girl), and Coldplay (Viva la Vida). This creative arrangement is by Clay Gonzalez, a trombone player from Lexington, Kentucky.

Chamber music’s tradition of innovation continues! :)

Speaking of Lady Gaga, I was disappointed to read in an article about pop personae at music blog The Record that she has not done an interview with NPR: "Gaga does a lot of interviews (though she declined NPR's request for one)..."

As you may have seen, Lady Gaga has a few fans at NPR:

It’s always nice to find some new music, and I'm happy to share two pieces with West Virginia connections that you can listen to online.

Aubrey Foard is principal tuba player with the WV Symphony, and he recently recorded the premiere of a Tuba Concerto by Mark Petering. Here's how the composer summarizes this music:   

Concerto for Tuba and Orchestra reflects the composer's interest in the intersection of eastern and western cultures as evident in the emphasis on pitched percussion and various contrapuntal techniques, particularly in the outer movements.  Baroque performance practices (strong beat, terraced dynamics) are to be observed. 

More specifically, the concerto utilizes a cinematic perspective, beckoning the listener to reflect on tragedy and then revealing two past moments that led to the Lament.  In addition, the tuba can be considered to play the role of sage.

You can find out more about the music and listen online on Foard’s site. While you're there, check out his blog about handling traveling as a musician.

Minnesota Public Radio is offering free downloads of concerts from Music@Menlo – including Music for a Summer Evening by George Crumb. Check out the Music@Menlo podcast here.

If you’re looking for more classical music online, you can also tune into West Virginia Public Radio online, where I’m spinning the hits (old and new) this week from 11am to 3pm. If you have favorite things you’ve heard recently, share your suggestions in the comments.

Happy belated centenary to American composer William Schuman (1910-1992), born on August 4th, 100 years ago.

Tim Smith of The Baltimore Sun has an excellent post about William Schuman and this overlooked anniversary, including a video of Schuman on "What's My Line?": "William Schuman's Centennial a Reminder of Music We're Missing"

I discovered Schuman's music as a violist in the New Jersey All State Orchestra in high school, where we played the New England Triptych. It has remained one of my favorite pieces, both for the chirpy variations on "Chester" and the beautiful opening bassoon and oboe duet of the middle movement.

I hadn't heard any of his other pieces until I came here to West Virginia Public Radio, when a listener wrote in to request more Schuman -- his American Festival Overture and the Symphony No. 10 "American Muse."

Yesterday on the radio, we featured Schuman's Song of Orpheus for cello and orchestra, and today, I'm starting the program with the New England Triptych and his Third Symphony. I hadn't known until recently about Schuman's work for arts organizations, including being the president of Lincoln Center. Maybe I can add one more book to my summer reading?

More information about Schuman celebrations can be found here on a site by the William Schuman Music Trust. He also is featured on the program "Composer's Datebook" this week.

During the dog days of summer, it looks like there aren't too many concerts. I suppose everyone’s getting ready for the fall. Here are the concerts that I’ve found. Let me know if you know of any others that I should add to this list.

August 11: Memorial Organ Recital for LaVonne Beeson, featuring guest soloist Dr. Krista Shinew (Suncrest United Methodist Church, Morgantown)

August 15: AGO Interdenominational Hymn Festival (Spruce Street United Methodist Church, Morgantown)

August 19: Jusiel-Smith Duo (Chuck Mathena Center, Princeton)

August 21: Huntington Symphony, Picnic with the Pops “All American Beach Party”

August 24: Peter Amstutz and Hooi Yin Boey (Piano Duet Recital, WVU)

August 29: "The New Dawn Concert: An Evening With Jack Gibbons" (Davis and Elkins) (Jack Gibbons interview)

In honor of the “dog days” of summer, I recently posted a list of canine-themed classical music. Even though we lack a season named for cats, it seems only fair to focus on some catty classics as well. 

Gato y Malambo (Hector Ayala)

“El Gato” (The Cat) is an Argentine dance. Several composers have written music suited for this dance, including Hector Ayala.  Guitarist David Russell recorded this “Gato” on his album Sonidas Latinas. You can hear him play and discuss this music in an interview from April on NPR.

“I Bought Me a Cat” – from Old American Songs (Aaron Copland)

This folk song, set by Aaron Copland, starts with a cat, but soon moves on to other forms of life – a goose, a hen, and a wife. Copland also wrote “Cat and Mouse,” which is a favorite of many young piano students.  Here’s a recording with the composer at the piano: 

The Cat’s Lullabies (Igor Stravinsky)

Stravinsky wrote these pieces, for voice and three clarinets, for the cats that he kept during his years in California. Stravinsky’s cats were named Pancho, Vassily Vassilyevitch Lechin (Vaska, for short), and Celeste. I’ve also read that he kept many other animals besides cats, including chickens, cockatoos, lovebirds, and a parrot.

In Memory of Two Cats and Mandoodles (John Tavener)

John Tavener, composer of many mystic choral pieces, has written several piano miniatures dedicated to the memory of his cats. The title Mandoodles is derived from one cat’s name, “Mandu.” 

Duetto buffo di due gatti [Comic Duet for Two Cats] (Giacchino Rossini)

Rossini’s operas were so successful that he was able to retire early from composing. He spent the rest of his life living (and eating) well. He did write some music during his retirement, which he referred to as the sins of his old age. One of these was supposedly a duet for two women singing as cats (the attribution of this duet is not certain). You can hear an orchestrated version of this song in the video below: 

That’s all I can think of right now, except for a “Chopin for Cats” CD that Radio Chopin found in their recent Chopin Shopping spree, but it seems unlikely that Chopin wrote his preludes to “stimulate your pet’s senses.”

Do you have anything to add to this list? I'd love to hear from you in the comments.   

How are the dog days of summer treating you? 

In honor of this part of the season, here are some dog-eared classics to enjoy. If you’re looking for summery music recommendations, without the dogs, check out these suggestions from Jim Lange and from NPR Music. 

I’ll Sail upon the Dog-Star (Henry Purcell)

This song is the most appropriate selection for this list; the “dog days” of summer are named after Sirius, also known as the Dog Star, which rises at the same time as the sun during this period (at least it did during ancient Greek times – I’m not sure how much it has changed since then). 

“I’ll Sail Upon the Dog Star” is a mad song by 17^th century English composer Henry Purcell – well, we all go a little mad sometimes. Haven’t you?  

Mundus Canis [A Dog’s World] (George Crumb)

This is a light-hearted and brilliant little set of pieces for percussion and guitar. I’ve seen the composer perform it twice with guitarist David Starobin (once in Princeton and then again in Indiana). Each movement conveys the character of a different dog owned by Crumb. Here’s an interview with George Crumb, from when he was inducted into the West Virginia Music Hall of Fame:

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Enigma Variations: Variation XI (Edward Elgar)

Elgar dedicated his Enigma Variations “To My Friends Pictured Within.” Not all those pictured are human. The eleventh variation (G.R.S.) is dedicated to George Sinclair, though it is Sinclair’s dog, Dan, that is portrayed in the music; you can hear Dan falling into a river and (dog)paddling in the water.

Promenade (Walking the Dog) (George Gershwin)

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Dog Breath Variations (Frank Zappa)

Frank Zappa created several orchestrations of the Dog Breath Variations, based on his song “Dog Breath, in the Year of the Plague” (both the song  & a short set of variations originally appeared on the album Uncle Meat.)   Different versions have been recorded by the Ensemble Modern, the Omnibus Wind Ensemble, and the Cincinnati Wind Symphony.

Any other canine musical selections to suggest? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Happy belated 88th birthday to the Hollywood Bowl! 

From Charleston’s Schoenbaum Stage to the Levitt Shell at Overton Park in Memphis, I’ve been enjoying outdoor concert stages recently. I would love to go to the Hollywood Bowl sometime, but for now I’ll just have to settle for watching a movie about it. 

The documentary The Hollywood Bowl: Music Under the Stars is available free online, and it’s completely distracted me from whatever else I was trying to do before leaving for the weekend. You can watch it here.

 (via The Allmusic Blog)

Since we started this blog in 2008, we’ve interviewed many people connected to classical music, some who live in or are from West Virginia; others have visited to make music here or just were heard here on the radio. Performers, composers, conductors, teachers, authors, producers…it’s been wonderful to speak with them all and to have the opportunity to share these conversations with you. 

These interviews are scattered throughout the blog archives, so I’ve always been frustrated that they might not always be easy to find. I've finally created a directory to guide you to these interviews; you can find links to all of our classical music interviews all on one page: the Classically Speaking Interview Index.     

Check it out!  Find a favorite interview, or browse to find something new. 

I’ll be sure to keep it updated as we publish more interviews, and I welcome any suggestions for improving usability.

Enjoy, and have a great weekend! :)

“Hey guys, watch this…”

I mean, ahem, DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. 

I had asked one of the trumpet players involved in this experiment to write up a how-to, but I’ve changed my mind. You don’t need to know how to do this trick, because you’re not going to try this at home – right?

The first flare-up is just about 15 seconds into the video. The other highlights can be found at: 2:30, 4:50, and 7:20.

Ah, summer. My favorite comment from when this video posted on Facebook came from their teacher. He suggested that this experiment was a sign that he needed to assign them more etudes to practice.

You can also find other videos of these guys playing trumpet and trying other experiments with fire.

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The World Cup is over, but the sounds of the Vuvuzela live on! 

My favorite result of Vuvuzela-mania is this video of music by Brahms and Ravel played on the Vuvuzela. Thanks to tuba player Aubrey Foard (of the WVSO) for bringing this to my attention.  

Here’s a more familiar instrument, but used in a not-quite-standard way.  Behold, the Viola-Matic:

Thank you to violinist Rachel Feldhaus from WVU for sending this our way. Even though I love the viola dearly, I can’t help laughing. 

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Looking for more to watch, perhaps leaning towards full movies rather than just fun YouTube clips? 

Composer and pianist (and Classically Speaking guest blogger) Evan Mack recently pointed me to this article in Opera News about composer biopics.  It’s a nice overview of the genre, and I’m looking forward to checking out some of their suggestions. Anything that catches your eye? 

I’ve just recently watched The Music Lovers, which the article describes perfectly (“the poor man's horror merges with the rocking of the train compartment the newlyweds are sharing into a gaudy image of erotic nausea”).  

I also have a copy of the Strauss family mini-series that I’ve been planning to watch, but with recent 150th birthday celebrations, perhaps it’s time to find a copy of Ken Russell’s Mahler.  If you’re an early-music buff, you might like a film that was left out of the article – Tous les Matins du Monde, about viola da gamba players and composers Marin Maris and Saint-Colombe, starring Gérard Depardieu and with a nice soundtrack by Jordi Savall.

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If the movies aren’t your style, be sure to check out all the new recordings that we’ve been featuring on the radio. My favorite recent discoveries have been Twilight of the Romantics (premiere recordings of romantic chamber music for clarinet, strings, and piano; performed by the Orion Ensemble) and Takemitsu’s I Hear the Water Dreaming (my new antidote to 100-degree heat).

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How about you? What have you been listening to, watching, or reading?

One of my all-time favorite opera experiences was seeing Tchaikovsky’s Eugene Onegin broadcast live from the Metropolitan Opera at a movie theater in Indianapolis about three years ago. I was just swept away by the music, the singing, the acting, and the staging. So much about this opera, and this production, was beautiful.

I’m not the only one who felt this way. Count Garrison Keillor in the fan club; he wrote a article about it for Salon magazine in 2007: “Heaven is Renee Fleming’s Bare Shoulder.”  It was also popular enough to one of the few productions to be part of the Met’s encore series this summer. It will be showing in Barboursville and  Morgantown tomorrow (Wednesday) evening!

I’ve been making plans with some friends for to go see the broadcast at the Huntington Mall. If you have some time on Wednesday evening, I highly recommend that you find a theater near you and go see this production of Eugene Onegin.  I’m a touch nervous that it won’t be quite as magical as I remember it, but mostly I’m very happy to get to see it again and to share it with my friends.

(If you aren’t able to get out to see it in the theater, you can also find it on DVD.)

Here's a guide to what's happening with classical music this month in West Virginia. There are several free July 4^th concerts to check out and four of the Met Opera encore HD broadcasts at the movies. A few new things have been added that we've discovered since writing the summer guide to classical music in West Virginia.

If I'm missing anything, please let me know.

July 2, 7:30pm: Wheeling Symphony (Fort Nutter, Clarksburg)

July 3, 3pm: Wheeling Symphony (Canaan Valley)

July 4, 8pm: WV Symphony (Schoenbaum Stage, Haddad Park, Charleston)

July 4, 8pm: Ohio Valley Symphony with Mark McVey (Gallipolis City Park)

July 4, 7:30pm: Wheeling Symphony (Wheeling Heritage Port)

July 5, 7:30pm: Wheeling Symphony (Weirton High School)

July 7: Met Opera HD Encore: Eugene Onegin (Barboursville, Morgantown, Ashland)

July 11: Summer Fun Day (Clay Center, Charleston)

July 14, 7pm: Russian Bells & Music of Arvo Pärt Presentation (First Presbyterian in Waynesburg, PA)

July 21: Met Opera HD Encore: Turandot (Barboursville, Morgantown, Ashland)

July 24: Huntington Symphony Orchestra Picnic with the Pops

July 24: Pedals, Pipes, & Pizza: Intro to the Organ (WVU Community Arts)

July 25-28: WVU Double Reed Camp

July 28: Met Opera HD Encore: Carmen  (Barboursville, Morgantown, Ashland)

Something missing? Leave a comment or send me an email! 

The final day of FestivALL was intensely, overwhelmingly hot. That Sunday afternoon, as thunder rolled through the valley, a group of singers gathered at Christ Church United Methodist in Charleston to sing Mozart's Requiem. 

Some had rehearsed and performed this music before; others of us were just reading along and trying it out.

First, David Castleberry introduced the Requiem and its history, clearing many of the misconceptions that started with Mozart's wife Constanze and have been perpetuated by other musicians and writers, and carried even further by the play and the movie Amadeus.  And then, we sang.

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Do you know of similar events in other cities? I had a lot of fun participating, and I wonder what we're going to sing next summer!

Thank you to Chris "Brewhead" Morris of Music In Motion Promotions for sharing these photos from FestivALL.

Previously: 

* FestivALL Summer Sing! by Carole Carter

and I'm looking forward to sharing their music through West Virginia Public Radio, getting to know them better, and featuring them here on Classically Speaking.

These new acquaintances include flutist Lindsey Goodman, soprano Elisabeth Baer, and clarinetists Jeanne Frieben and John Weigand. 

They all participated in the “Moveable Feast” concert series during FestivALL.

Yesterday, FestivALL concluded with another fun event connected to classical music – the Mozart Requiem Summer Sing.  I joined in the alto section, where I had a lot of fun singing and managed not to get too lost!  I’ll hopefully have some photos from that event to post for you here soon. 

How’s your summer been so far?

At the end of my show on the radio today, a serious storm rolled through the area. On the radio -- Symphony No. 2 by Jean Sibelius.  As surge protectors beeped, people gathered at windows and doors to look outside and thunder shook parts of the building. I stopped everything else and listened to the finale.

Here's my recording of choice.

I haven't posted here in what feels like forever, but we'll be back with some new interviews and other posts over the next few weeks. I have just returned from a little vacation, and since I've been home, I've been on the radio during the day and participating in FestivALL every evening, especially with "A Moveable Feast," a little chamber music series in Charleston this week. You can read about it on the WV Gazette FestivALL blog in the post Aperetif Chamber Music.

Do you have a favorite stormy classic?

A Classically Speaking reader has come to my rescue!  In response to my guilt-laden Symphony Sunday post, photographer Michael Keller has shared some of his photos to post here.

Enjoy the sites of Symphony Sunday -- fireworks, music and musicians, picnicking, the view towards the river, and Maestro Cooper’s Oz-inspired jacket.

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Thank you, Michael! 

It’s really nice to share these pictures with you. I’ll try to take some of my own this summer, and perhaps if you are out and about at other events (Huntington Symphony’s Picnic with the Pops, the Wheeling Symphony’s July 4th tour, the WVSO at the new Haddad Park stage, the Mozart Summer Sing, etc.), we can share your pictures and stories here too. Let's talk.

Related links:

* Michael Keller Photography
* The Reality Tourist blog
* West Virginia Symphony Orchestra
* Any Given (Symphony) Sunday
* Classical Music in WV, Summer 2010

Zuill Bailey recently played an impromptu concert at NPR Music's Washington, D.C., headquarters, just behind All Songs Considered host Bob Boilen's desk.

You can watch this mini-concert on NPR Music’s site here (Zuill Bailey: Tiny Desk Concert)

I do so admire Zuill Bailey.

His tone is rich, his playing fluid and his new recording of the Bach Cello Suites is wonderful. Talented and handsome, you might imagine such an artist a bit selfish, but in Bailey's case, you would be wrong. In my interview with him, you can feel his passionate commitment to his teaching at the University of Texas at El Paso. Such lucky students.

Related links:

* Zuill Bailey and the Wheeling Symphony (interview)
* Zuill Bailey: Tiny Desk Concert
* Bach Cello Suites / Zuill Bailey

Bless me, for I have sinned.

Dear Internet: I’m wracked with guilt, and I need your help with my penance. 

I had planned to go to Symphony Sunday this past weekend. I was going to take pictures, borrow a camera and try to record videos, listen to the music, and certainly make sure to eat a Symphony Sundae.  

At the previous two Symphony Sundays, I had played viola with the Neophonic Orchestra. Those years included nauseating heat interspersed with terrible thunderstorms, yet it still managed to be a pretty good time. That orchestra is on hiatus, so this year, I could go just for fun, with no obligation to dress up and chase flying pieces of sheet music off a stage.

Instead, I went on a trip with some friends, reassuring myself that I needed some time away, and that maybe I’d be back in time to hear the WV Symphony and see the fireworks. I had a wonderful day out of town (full of adventures and good company that I’d be hard pressed to trade for anything). 

It was late when we got home, and as we drove back into Charleston, giddy and tired, I was suddenly overwhelmed with regret about missing Symphony Sunday.  I hadn't planned on admitting all this here on the blog, but I've heard that confession is good for the soul (although I have also heard that guilt is its own reward). 

My punishment so far:

I’ve heard that Symphony Sunday was especially fun this year – the rain cleared, so it was sunny, cool, pleasant, and not humid at all. The music was good, the food excellent, and everyone loved it. Facebook has made sure to continue to let me know what I missed.

Here is where I need your help to make it worse:

Were you at Symphony Sunday? What music did you enjoy the most? What Wizard of Oz costumes were the cutest? Did you race to beat Beethoven? What food did you get to sample?

Tell me your stories and share your pictures (I can link to them here, or if you’re willing to give permission, we can post them), let me know more about what I missed. You can post comments below, or you can send me an email.

I will be reproached with what I missed, and Classically Speaking readers can enjoy the stories and sights of Symphony Sunday.  Perhaps then I’ll have fulfilled my penance, and I will be able to move on, hopefully to sin no more.

And if you are kicking yourself, as I am, for missing a fun, free day of food and music with the WV Symphony, let’s make a date. We’ll meet on the University of Charleston lawn next June for Symphony Sunday. 

Related links:

* Classical Music in WV, Summer 2010
* Musical Pirates (Symphony Sunday 2009)

Chad Winkler is a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra trumpet section.  He is a native of Morgantown, West Virginia, and he received his Bachelor of Music degree from West Virginia University. He kept a journal while traveling through Europe with the Pittsburgh Symphony, and emailed stories back to us whenever he could!  You can read his previous posts here: first - second  - third.

One of the things I’ve always wanted to do is visit the grave of Gustav Mahler. Mahler has always been a hero to brass players for writing challenging and inspiring music, especially for us. For just about every audition for any brass instrument, there is at least one excerpt from a Mahler symphony.  

When I had heard several months ago that the orchestra would be visiting Vienna, I made plans to go to the grave site. Together, with PSO trombonist Jim Nova, we made the 30-minute trip. We were a little concerned about the weather, since it had rained all morning. But, when we arrived at the grave site, the skies cleared for a beautiful afternoon.

It was such a great experience visiting the site, and certainly a moving one at that. We had decided that we would bring our instruments and play something. Jim played an excerpt from Mahler’s 3rd symphony, and I played the posthorn solo from the same piece. You can hear the PSO play the entire symphony in a few weeks, back at home in Heinz Hall.

It was so wonderful to pay our respects to a great composer — a composer that is constantly challenging us brass players to play our best. I’m so thankful that I had this opportunity! 

After 18 days, and 12 concerts in 10 cities, today we head back home to Pittsburgh! It’s been a very good tour, with very appreciative audiences. What a privilege it is to play great music with great colleagues!

I hope you’ve enjoyed these blog posts. We will be home in about 20 hours!

 
Previously:
* Have Trumpet, Will Travel: Meet Chad Winkler 
* Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Tour, Pt 2
* Finding Food on the PSO Tour

Calling All Choristers!

OK – here’s the problem: Choirs typically don’t rehearse over the summer, so many people miss singing in a chorus. Some want to improve their sight-reading skills. Others just love to sing some of the most beautiful music ever written.

Q. What’s a chorister to do?

A. Join the FestivALL Summer Sing for the Mozart Requiem! Sunday, June 27 at 4 pm at Christ Church United Methodist – piano accompaniment.

Never sung it? That’s OK. There will be 2 rehearsals: Tuesdays, June 15 & 22 at Christ Church at 7 pm.

Bring your own score – Peters, Kalmus or Schirmer – or pick one up at a rehearsal.

Mozart died before he could finish the work in 1791, so his student Süssmayr, did.

(If you saw the movie Amadeus, you’ll remember all this.)

Let’s just say Süssmayr, didn’t have Mozart’s muse. Then again, Süssmayr wasn’t facing death as Mozart was either.

If two rehearsals are not enough, there are some helpful Internet sites as well.

You can catch performances of each of the movements on YouTube. 

There are 12 movements, but don’t panic. Three of them are solo quartets –and some are pretty short.

Perhaps you want to work on your part separately. No problem. There are MIDI files of each part you can download to listen to..

Maybe you don’t speak fluid Latin. (Like, anybody does?!) There are pronunciations and translations online as well.

Emily Capece of womanSong is organizing the event. There will be several directors: Emily, David Donathan, Truman Dalton. David Castleberry, and Dirk Johnson. Most of them will also be soloists, joined by Mariel Van Dalsum-Boggs and Bob Morris.

But says Emily, “we are going to open solos up to choristers as well, if anyone wants to sing a movement.”

This is a grand experiment. It should be fun. Meet & greet at the reception following.

Want more details? Contact Emily Capece or leave a comment here and we’ll check it out for you.

The previous post is a guide to classical music in West Virginia throughout the summer, and we'll also continue to keep you up to date each month with these calendars.  Enjoy!

June 4: River Cities Symphony Orchestra (Marietta, OH) 

June 5: Bert Lams, Tom Griesgraber, and Phil Washington (Charleston) 

June 6: Symphony Sunday (WV Symphony, Charleston) 

June 11: Wheeling Brass Quintet 

June 12: Huntington Symphony “Picnic with the Pops” 

June 14-19: WVU Flute Seminar 

June 16: Metropolitan Opera HD Encore: Aida (Barboursville, Morgantown) 

June 17: Opera in Cinema: Falstaff (Charleston, Beckley) 
 
June 20: Opera in Cinema: Falstaff (Charleston, Beckley) 

June 21: Fete de la Musique (FestivALL Moveable Feast)

June 22:  Wheeling Brass Quintet 
 
June 22: Timber Flute Festival Concert (Randolph County Community Arts Center, Elkins) 

June 22: "Worldly Souvenirs," with Evan Mack, piano (interview) (FestivALL Moveable Feast)

June 23: "Journeys of Love," with Elisabeth Baer, soprano (FestivALL Moveable Feast)

June 23: Metropolitan Opera HD Encore: Romeo and Juliet (Barboursville, Morgantown) 

June 24: Contemporary Canapes with Lindsay Goodman, flute  (FestivALL Moveable Feast)

June 25: "Neapolitan Noodling," featuring clarinets of the WVSO  (FestivALL Moveable Feast)

June 27: Mozart Requiem Summer Sing  (FestivALL)

June 27: Wheeling Brass and Percussion 

Something missing?  Please let me know!

The latest issue of the magazine Symphony promised me, “an overview summer musical meccas.”

I excitedly flipped to the “W” section of their alphabetized listing, only to find a gap between Washington and Wisconsin. 

Similar disappointment greeted me in the summer issue of Listen magazine and Gramophone’s summer newsletter .

Even though West Virginia doesn’t have something on the scale of Aspen, Tanglewood, or Spoleto (yet!), summer here is full of music, including classical music.  We’ll just have to assemble our own guide.

Here it is: Classically Speaking’s Guide to Classical Music in West Virginia, Summer 2010.  (If I’ve missed anything, be sure to let me know.)
 

In Charleston, the West Virginia Symphony Orchestra brings us Symphony Sunday, which has expanded to a weekend full of events – open rehearsals, the “Beat Beethoven” 5k walk/run, free performances by community and student music groups, rehearsal dinners, brunch, a costume party, a dog parade, and more. 
 
The weekend concludes with a concert by the WV Symphony Orchestra, Sunday night at 8pm on the University of Charleston lawn. Details for all these events can be found here.
 
The WV Symphony will also be playing a July 4th concert under the new canopy at Haddad Riverfront Park in Charleston.

Charleston’s FestivALL  is helping “a city become a work of art” for its sixth year, including a mini-festival of chamber music June 21-25, called “A Moveable Feast.” (disclosure: I'm involved with organizing these concerts!) Events include: an evening of free music on Capitol Street, a flute concert, a vocal recital, a clarinet ensemble from the WVSO, and a piano recital (by Classically Speaking contributor Evan Mack).

During FestivALL, you can also join a choir for the Mozart Requiem Summer Sing on June 27.  Music is provided, and there are two rehearsals before the performance. Carole Carter and I will be singing along, and we’ll be sure to update the blog as we learn the music. Carole will have some details and helpful hints as well, so watch for her blog next week

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The Huntington Symphony is in party mode with this year’s “Picnic with the Pops.”  They are playing three concerts at Harris Riverfront Park in Huntington this summer: “The Disco Party Cruise” (June 12), July 24 “The Big Kahuna” (July 24), and an “All American Beach Party” (August 21).  

Encores of popular Metropolitan Opera HD broadcasts will be shown on Wednesday evenings at the Huntington Mall movie theater (in Barboursville). Details and showtimes can be found here.
 
Marshall University Professor Wendell Dobbs (interview) will lead the fourth annual Timber Flute Festival in Elkins at the Randolph County Community Arts Center June 20-25.  According to Dr. Dobbs, "This Festival presents a unique crossing of the line between classical and traditional flute music."  It is for musicians who would like to explore the history, practice, and creation of wooden flutes.

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West Virginia University will host a flute seminar from June 14-19 with guest artist Julia Bogorad-Kogan.  Morgantown will also welcome groups of student musicians to several camps hosted by WVU’s Music Division this summer  – a high school flute camp, double reed camp, and the Mountaineer Music Camp. 

Encores of popular Metropolitan Opera HD broadcasts will also be shown on Wednesday evenings throughout the summer in Morgantown. You can find details, including the list of showtimes, here.

Several chamber groups from the Wheeling Symphony have been performing a series of concerts called "Music in Our Neighborhoods"  throughout the year, and they continue through part of the summer. The woodwind quintet will perform at the Stifel Fine Arts Center on June 11, the brass quintet will play a free concert at Grand View Park June 22 at 7pm, and on June 27 at 7pm, brass and percussion ensembles will join together for a free concert at Oglebay Park. 

I’m pretty sure that the full Wheeling Symphony is playing a few summer concerts; I’ll let you know the details as soon as I find out. The Wheeling Symphony will be touring with vocalist Margaret Carlson to present some free concerts around the state in early July:

July 2, 7:30pm: Fort Nutter, Clarksburg
July 3, 3pm: Canaan Valley
July 4, 7:30pm: Wheeling Heritage Port
July 5, 7:30pm: Weirton High School

The Wheeling Symphony then returns at the end of the summer with two free concerts of "Music Under the Stars," September 5th at Anne Kuchinka Memorial Ampitheater at Oglebay Park, and September 6th at Hazel Ruby McQuain in Morgantown.

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There are also a few nice concerts just over the Ohio border:
 
In Marietta, the River Cities Symphony Orchestra will perform on June 4th at 8pm, at the Lafayette Hotel.  Featured soloists include violinist Taylor Giorgio and violist Emily Peden, who are members of the West Virginia Youth Symphony.

In Gallopolis, the Ohio Valley Symphony will be joined by Broadway star (and West Virginia native) Mark McVey (interviews), for a free July 4^th concert.

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That's what I know so far.  As always, if you're hip to anything that I've missed, be sure to let me know.

This concept may not seem novel, but it is a bit rare in the opera world. The struggle of Dorothy's people is still happening. For example, I got to announce the conviction of the mastermind of Sr. Dorothy's murder before the first notes were played. Regivaldo Galvo, the “John Gotti” of Para, was convicted for her murder. Angel of the Amazon reminded the crowd of 200 that more work needs to be done.

So my goal for this work has shifted from “page to stage” to using opera to get people involved, to act, to do something about a struggle that is still happening. I write this today, 19 days after the performance, as the news broke that the released Regivaldo Galvo on his own accord until the retrial. This will give him plenty of time to “knock off” or “buy out” witnesses. The reality of the Brazilian justice system corrupts Dorothy's message (or possibly reinforces it in death).

I look forward to the NYC read through and staging of this opera. I will continue tell you all about the process as it unfolds.

In the meantime, you can help here.

Previously:

* From Idea to Opera: Part I
* From Idea to Opera: Part II, Building the Story
* From Idea to Opera: Part III, Character Studies 
* From Idea to Opera: Part IV, Off the Page, Onto the Stage 
* From Idea to Opera: Part V, New York Recital 

Stephen Ballou is busy most of the year playing cello in the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra. He started his summer "vacation" by playing a recital this at the Landes Arts Center in Petersburg. He performed music by J.S. Bach, George Crumb, Zoltan Kodaly, and Domenico Gabrieli. I spoke with Ballou on Friday, and selections from our interview were featured on the radio this morning. You hear an extended version of interview right here:

Related links: 

* Landes Arts Center 
* Metropolitan Opera Orchestra 
* "Classical Concerts Bring Soloists to West Virginia" (radio story) 

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Today we travel to Luxembourg for two concerts, tonight and tomorrow. And you can bet that I'll be curious to find out what fellow travelers recommend on Trip Advisor!
 

Previously:
* Have Trumpet, Will Travel: Meet Chad Winkler 
* Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Tour, Pt 2 

Chad Winkler is a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra trumpet section.  He is a native of Morgantown, West Virginia, and he received his Bachelor of Music degree from West Virginia University. He’s been keeping a journal while traveling through Europe with the Pittsburgh Symphony, and emailing it back to us when he can!  You can find the first part of his adventure here.

May 16 -- 

After a few days in Basel, we are headed in a few hours across the border to Germany for a concert tonight in Stuttgart. Last night's concert was very well received and a great way to kick off the tour! I'm spending the last few minutes -- before the long bus ride -- enjoying a coffee (and free internet!) at Starbucks.

I found this sign outside a shoe store yesterday while walking around Basel! Winkler's are everywhere!

Seven days down and twelve more to go! What a privilege it has been to perform for packed houses and enthusiastic audiences.

Before Frankfurt, we spent about 18 hours in Paris -- and I got to do a small amount of sight-seeing, including the majestic Eiffel Tower! (sorry about the lighting -- the sun was in and out of the clouds!)

Thank you all for reading! I hope you've enjoyed getting a small taste of what we've been up to!
 

Last night, a friend and I went to the mall to catch an opera -- the HD broadcast of Armida by Rossini from the Metropolitan Opera.

The singing was beautiful, and the sets and costumes were imaginative. I don’t think I could ask for many things better than listening to Renee Fleming and her regiment of tenors (chief of whom was Lawrence Brownlee) singing all night.  I will not dwell, therefore, on how this serious side of Rossini is not my favorite corner of the opera world.

During one of the intermissions, I promised some fellow opera fans at the movie theater that I would post the schedule for the operas that will be shown at movie theaters this summer. The Met is presenting what a friend has dubbed “encores of encores” – rebroadcasts of several favorites from the past few years.

These operas will be shown at movie theaters in West Virginia in Barboursville (Huntington Mall) and Morgantown. You can also find broadcasts in Ashland (Kentucky) and Pittsburgh. 
 

The Met: Live in HD Summer Encore Series 2010

AIDA (Verdi)
Wednesday, June 16, 6:30 PM local time
4 hours approx.
Original HD broadcast: October 24, 2009
Gatti; Urmana, Zajick, Botha, Guelfi, Scandiuzzi, Kocán

ROMÉO ET JULIETTE (Gounod)
Wednesday, June 23, 6:30 PM local time
3 hours approx.
Original HD broadcast: December 15, 2007
Domingo; Netrebko, Alagna, Gunn, Lloyd

EUGENE ONEGIN (Tchaikovsky)
Wednesday, July 7, 6:30 PM local time
3 hours approx.
Original HD broadcast: February 24, 2007
Gergiev; Fleming, Vargas, Hvorostovsky, Aleksashkin

LA BOHÈME (Puccini)
Wednesday, July 14, 6:30 PM local time
2.5 hours approx.
Original HD broadcast: April 5, 2008
Luisotti; Gheorghiu, Arteta, Vargas, Tézier

TURANDOT (Puccini)
Wednesday, July 21, 6:30 PM local time
3.5 hours approx.
Original HD broadcast: November 7, 2009
Nelsons; Guleghina, Poplavskaya, Giordani, Ramey

CARMEN (Bizet)
 Wednesday, July 28, 6:30 PM local time
3.5 hours approx.
Original HD broadcast: January 16, 2010
Nézet-Séguin; Frittoli, Garanča, Alagna, Kwiecien

You can also now find this schedule here on the Metropolitan Opera website.

Be sure to keep in touch through Facebook. Closer to the shows, I will have a few tickets to give away. You can also look ahead to the fall with the schedule of the eleven operas that will be broadcast next season.

“I don’t remember a time when I didn’t play … I’ve just always loved the keyboard.
 
I love the opportunity to have an orchestra at my fingertips, and I love the black and white keys. I love the way the piano feels. I love the resonance of the grand piano and all the opportunity for expression.”  -Teresa Walters

Teresa Walters has played the piano for as long as she can remember, and she is passionate about sharing the music she loves through her performances and recordings. This weekend, she will perform and teach in Clarksburg.

Walters will play a recital of music by Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Lili Boulanger, and Bach (as arranged by Feruccio Busoni), this Friday at 7pm at First United Methodist Church in Clarksburg. She will then coach area piano students in a masterclass on Saturday morning, which the public is invited to observe. Admission is free to both the recital and the masterclass.  

Here’s a chance to briefly meet Teresa Walters and learn more about this music before the concert, in a 10-minute interview:

Related links:

* Teresa Walters 
* "Highland Fund to Bring Renowned Pianist to Clarksburg" (NCWV Foundation Newsletter)
* WV Classical Calendar -- May 

This Friday, the Wheeling Symphony performs the final concert of its 80th season.

The Wheeling Symphony is joined by pianist Angela Cheng (interview) to play Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 21 (familiar to some as the “Elvira Madigan”).  The concert features  the Adagio for Strings and Medea’s Meditation and Dance of Vengeance by American composer Samuel Barber, in celebration of the 100^th anniversary of his birth, and the evening concludes with Rachmaninov’s Second Symphony. 

Maestro Andre Raphel Smith, music director of the Wheeling Symphony, spoke with me at the beginning of the season about each of the concerts.  Here is our discussion of the music for this concert:

Previously:

* Angela Cheng interview (September 2008)
 
* Previous Wheeling Symphony concerts from the 2009-2010 season:
      - Wheeling Symphony and Zuill Bailey 
      - Dancing with the Wheeling Symphony
      - Baroque Jewels in Wheeling

* Wheeling Symphony 2010-11 Season Preview 

Greetings all, and welcome to my first Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra tour blog post! I'm very excited to be a part of the blogging team, and very much looking forward to traveling in Europe and performing in great halls with my fabulous colleagues.

In the days to come, I'll be blogging and hopefully, posting a few pics for you to peruse. I hope that you will be able to get an inside look into what goes on "behind the scenes.”

For now, it's off to Basel, Switzerland for me!

Chad Winkler is a member of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra trumpet section.  He is a native of Morgantown, West Virginia, and he received his Bachelor of Music degree from West Virginia University. He then earned his Master of Music degree from Duquesne University, where he studied with PSO Principal Trumpet, George Vosburgh.

Chad will be sending dispatches to Classically Speaking as he travels through Europe with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra on their BNY Mellon 2010 European Tour.  You can read more about Chad Winkler and about the tour on the PSO website.

On the off chance that you're spending any time indoors during this lovely spring, here are some fun classical distractions that have caught my attention recently.  Hope you enjoy!

* NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts, especially the recent performance by guitarist David Russell
 

* Classics in Concert: Classical concerts streamed by NPR Music (as they happen, and then archived).  I really enjoyed hearing the Emerson Quartet performing at (le) Poisson Rouge

* Composer John Adams is blogging up a storm, with posts both witty and wise, at Hell Mouth

 
* Jeremy Denk muses on Brahms, sun spots, and really good muffins in “Whose Brahms?” 

 
* Some recent favorite albums:
   - Telemann: The Baroque Gypsies by Ensemble Caprice
   - Songs of Debussy and Mozart (Juliane Banse, András Schiff) 

 * Finally catching up on #operaplot (just reading, I didn’t enter this year)

 
* And for an encore: "2 Guys 1 Flute" (sent by Maestro Antonio in Wheeling. Grazie mille!):

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This Friday in Elkins, pianist Jack Gibbons plays "An Evening with Gershwin." It's part of a three-day Gershwin Gala in Elkins, presented by Davis & Elkins College. Other events this week include a masterclass on Wednesday (which is open to the public) and a concert for school children on Thursday. 
 
You can check out my radio story about the concert Wednesday on WV Morning (and now online here).  If you're interested in hearing more about Gershwin and Gibbons, as well as a bit about Charles Alkan, you can listen here to my full interview with Gibbons: 

Related links:
* Gershwin Gala in Elkins 
* Piano Master Class Info 
* Jack Gibbons website 
* Gershwin recordings by Gibbons 

May snuck up on me this weekend!  I apologize for not having this post here sooner, and I now present our calendar of classical music concerts in West Virginia this May (am I missing something?  Let me know!)

May 1: WVU Community Music Department Recital 

May 1: Met Opera HD: Armida (Morgantown, Barboursville, Ashland)

May 1-2: Brahms, Ein Deutches Requiem (Shepherd University) 

May 2: John Weigand, clarinet; James Miltenberger, piano (WVU Faculty Recital) 

May 2: WVU Community Arts Orchestra 

May 2: Charleston Civic Chorus Spring Concert 

May 2: WV Youth Symphony 60th Anniversary Concert (interviews)

May 4: WV State University Choir 

May 5: Fairmont State University Collegiate Singers 

May 5: Shepherd University Preparatory Orchestra Concert 

May 5-7: Gershwin Gala, featuring pianist Jack Gibbons (interview) (radio story)

May 6: Fairmont State University Wind Ensemble and Percussion Ensemble 
 
May 7: Montclaire String Quartet (Sutton Baptist Church) 

May 8: Fairmont State University Choro Band 
 
May 8: Voices of Spring (Ohio Valley Symphony and Ohio University Choir) 

May 9: Montclaire String Quartet “Golden Highlights” 
 
May 9: Greenbrier Valley Chorale and Carnegie Children's Chorus (Carnegie Hall, Lewisburg)

May 11: Tuesdays with Fran (Carnegie Hall, Lewisburg)

May 14: Wheeling Symphony “A Grand Finale,” with pianist Angela Cheng (interview)

May 16: Evensong (St. John's Episcopal Church, Charleston) 
 
May 16: Choral Concert: Morton Lauridsen's  Lux Aeterna (St. Francis de Sales Church, Morgantown)
 
May 18: Carnegie Children's Choir Concert (7pm, Carnegie Hall, Lewisburg)

May 19: Met Opera HD Encore: Armida (Morgantown, Barboursville, Ashland)

May 20: Opera in Cinema: L'Orfeo (Charleston, Beckley)

May 21: Teresa Walters, piano (First United Methodist, Clarksburg) 

May 21: Stephen Ballou - Cello Workshop and Lecture (Landes Arts Center, Petersburg)

May 22: Stephen Ballou - Cello Concert (Landes Arts Center, Petersburg)

May 22: Organ Dedication Recital (First Presbyterian Church, Buckhannon, 7pm)

May 23: Opera in Cinema: L'Orfeo (Charleston, Beckley) 

May 23: Tammy Western, piano (Landes Arts Center, Petersburg)

May 23: OPUS Chorale Spring Concert (7:30pm, Christ Church United Methodist, Charleston)

This Sunday, the West Virginia Youth Symphony presents its 60^th Anniversary Celebration Concert.  The concert takes place at 3pm on Sunday at the Clay Center for Arts & Sciences in Charleston, and it will include all of the WV Youth Symphony’s current ensembles, as well as the Alderson-Broaddus Brass Choir.

Concerto Competition winner Julia Dombek will be featured as a soloist in the concert. Dombek plays the French Horn, and she is a senior at George Washington High School in Charleston. On Sunday's concert, she will perform the first movement from the Horn Concerto No. 1 by Richard Strauss. 

We talked about her musical experiences and her future plans:

The concert will also feature the world premiere of the Epic Overture by Matthew Jackfert, a WV Youth Symphony alum who currently studies music composition at West Virginia University. 

Jackfert spoke with me about the Epic Overture and his approach to writing music:

WV Youth Symphony alumni have been invited to bring their instrument and play on stage for the finale (Respighi’s Pines of Rome).  To find out more about the concert, visit the West Virginia Youth Symphony website .

Related links:
 
* WV Youth Symphony Alumni Search 
* WV Youth Symphony, Sean Burdette and Bob Turizziani
* Meet the Composer: David Williams  (WVYS Wind Ensemble conductor)
* Meet the Composer: John Beall  (Composition teacher at WVU)

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Editor's Note: These pictures were sent to WV Public Radio by Gus Johnson, a listener from Swanton, Maryland.  Thank you to Gus Johnson for these adorable illustrations and to our colleague Bill Acker for his assistance with scanning the drawings.   

Eric Whitacre's Virtual Choir brings together musicians from around the world to perform his "Lux Aurumque."
 

Together, we can make a difference.  Support Classically Speaking and classical music on West Virginia Public Radio.

Composer Fanny Hensel (née Mendlessohn) may have received extra attention in March because of Women’s History Month, but her music makes for good listening all year round.

R. Larry Todd, Arts and Sciences Professor at Duke University, has written an excellent, engaging biography of Fanny Hensel (Mendelssohn) – Fanny Hensel: The Other Mendelssohn.  I recommend reading this book to learn more about Fanny Hensel’s music, her life, the time in which she lived, and her relationship with her brother, composer Felix Mendelssohn. 

You can also get an introduction by listening to my interview with the author, Professor Larry Todd:

Related links:

* Fanny Hensel: The Other Mendelssohn  (on Amazon)
* Companion website for the book 

WVU alum James Valenti recently debuted at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, in the starring role of Alfredo in Verdi’s opera La Traviata. He also has just received the Richard Tucker Award.
 
Valenti around the world on the Metropolitan Opera radio broadcast this weekend, which can be heard West Virginia Public Radio, Saturday at 1pm.

Listen below to our full interview, where Valenti discusses music, his experience at WVU, singing at the Met, and his thoughts on the future of opera:

Related Links:

* James Valenti 
* WVU Grad Starring at Met Opera (radio story)
* Voice & Looks: A Perfect Tenor (NY Post) 
* Metropolitan Opera International Radio Broadcasts 
* WVU School of Music 

 
Check out Valenti singing "Che gelida manina" from Puccini's La Boheme.  You can also find more videos of his singing on his site.

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Beethoven’s beloved Symphony No. 9 (the “Ode to Joy”) will be performed several times in West Virginia this month – in Charleston, Morgantown, and Parkersburg.  It’s one of those pieces that you definitely should go out and experience live.

This Friday and Saturday in Charleston, the WV Symphony Orchestra and the WV Symphony Chorus, with singers from WVU and Marshall will perform Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, led by Maestro Grant Cooper. They will also present this program on Sunday in Parkersburg.

Then next week, the WVU Symphony and WVU Symphony Chorus will feature Beethoven’s Ninth on their April 22nd concert in Morgantown, led by Maestro Mitchell Arnold. 

No two performances are alike.  And it’s the conductor who makes many of the decisions that affect how each performance sounds.  To find out more about Beethoven’s music and how it will be interpreted here in West Virginia, I went to the two conductors that will be leading their ensembles in Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9. 

Spend a half hour in good company with these due maestri -- Grant Cooper and Mitchell Arnold -- discussing Beethoven and his music.  You can stream the audio below, or download it as a podcast. 

* WV Symphony Orchestra 
* WVU Music Division 
* Meet the Maestro: Mitchell Arnold (interview) 
* Interviews with Grant Cooper on Classically Speaking:
      - Love and Loss at the Symphony 
      - Music for All Seasons 
 

“Music is my life, my joy, it’s my passion…it brings us to a different place, it allows us to find another world than the one that we are in this current moment.  It’s a very powerful thing, and I feel fortunate to work in the field of music.”  -- Sylvia Alimena
 

Today, the National Symphony Orchestra is heading home to Washington DC after their eight-day residency in West Virginia. The orchestra took up residence in Wheeling, Morgantown, Glenville, Huntington, Charleston, and Princeton, and from these cities, the musicians traveled to towns throughout the state, where they shared music through a variety of classes and concerts.

Monday afternoon, just a few hours before the NSO played an excellent concert at the Clay Center in Charleston, horn player Sylvia Alimena stopped by WV Public Radio for an interview. She had already played two concerts earlier in the day!

Alimena has played horn with the NSO for 25 years. She also conducts the Eclipse Chamber Orchestra, a smaller ensemble made up of members of the National Symphony Orchestra. The Eclipse Chamber Orchestra has two recent recordings – one of comic opera overtures by 18th-century composer Florian Leopold Gassmann and one of music by contemporary composer Mark Adamo. They are currently working on the third recording in this set, featuring music by Truman Harris. Alimena's other projects include conducting the McLean Orchestra and directing the youth program Brass of Peace.
 
You can download our interview as a podcast, or listen to it as a web stream, right here on this page. 
 
Note: If you have trouble viewing the player below, try this link.

Related links:

* Sylvia Alimena bio 
* National Symphony Orchestra Scrapbook 
* Here Comes the NSO! 
* Eclipse Chamber Orchestra 
* McLean Orchestra 
* Brass of Peace 
* National Symphony Orchestra 

Congratulations to Jennifer Higdon!  She has just been awarded the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in Music, for her Violin Concerto. 

Here's some of what she wrote about this music:

"I believe that one of the most rewarding aspects of life is exploring and discovering the magic and mysteries held within our universe. For a composer this thrill often takes place in the writing of a concerto … it is the exploration of an instrument’s world, a journey of the imagination, confronting and stretching an instrument’s limits, and discovering a particular performer’s gifts."

She also has a West Virginia connection: The Wheeling Symphony has featured music by Higdon on its concerts, including her "Concerto 4-3," which the Wheeling Symphony co-commissioned with the Pittsburgh Symphony and the Philadelphia Orchestra. 

Read more about Jennifer Higdon and the Pulitzer Prize here. (Sorry to run, but I have an interview with a horn player in three minutes!)

The National Symphony Orchestra has been touring West Virginia for the past week (they play in Charleston Monday night).  They've played orchestra and chamber concerts, taught master classes, given talks, presented at schools ... I've heard that they've been part of at least 60 different events this past week! 
 
You can check out the rest of their schedule here, read more about residency in the The Washington Post, and take a look at some pictures from the National Symphony Orchestra's classes and concerts in Morgantown:

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Thank you to Charlene Lattea and the WVU School of Music for sharing these pictures.  

This afternoon, I'll be interviewing Sylvia Alimena, a horn player with the NSO, and I'm looking forward to hearing their performance tonight at the Clay Center. I'll try to to have the interview posted as soon as possible!
 
Related Links:

* National Symphony Orchestra in West Virginia 
* WV Classical Calendar -- April 
* "National Symphony Orchestra Treks to W.Va. to Serve Up Classical Music" by Anne Midgette, The Washington Post 
* National Symphony Orchestra 
* WVU School of Music 

This Saturday in Morgantown, pianist Stephen Hough  will play Tchaikovsky’s Second Piano Concerto with the Pittsburgh Symphony, led by conductor Yan Pascal Tortelier (they will also play this concert in Pittsburgh on Friday and Sunday). 

Tchaikovsky’s Second Piano Concerto is less often heard than the first, but Hough recommends it as having “beautiful melodies,” as well as being “touching, exciting, and full of pianistic fireworks.”

Hough has, “intensely passionate convictions about this music.” It comes through in his discussion of this concerto and of Tchaikovsky’s music. Listen below to hear him discuss this music, as well as his other performances, recordings, writing, and compositions.

Related links:

* Concert info 
* WV Classical Calendar – April 
* Favorite Things (2009) (including Stephen Hough’s In Recital album)
* Pittsburgh Symphony 
* Stephen Hough’s Web site
* Stephen Hough: Tchaikovsky Concertos recording 

I struggle with a problem that seems all too common in the United States today. This struggle can be summed up in a simple question: what is my heritage? Or, perhaps, where are my roots? 

My grandmother’s parents came over on a boat from Hungary around the turn of the 20th century. Unfortunately, my mother’s parents passed away before I ever had the chance to get to know them.

All I know of this heritage is what my Mom has passed on to me -- she does make some really amazing cabbage rolls!  But there are times when I long for a greater connection to my roots.

My great uncle (my grandmother’s brother) was the first child of the family to be born in America. He just passed away in 2007. I enjoyed a good relationship through the years with him, but never really got to sit down and have good long heart-to-heart discussions about our ‘motherland.’

From my mother, I have gained a love and appreciation of history. She has always been passionate about these memories from her own past and the romanticism of times and places before her own time.

Such appreciations have no doubt fostered my love of classical music, and in time they led me to Brahms’s Hungarian Dances. I have learned through the years of these pieces and how some of them can be traced back to old Hungarian folk songs. It’s kind of humorous to me in a way that all these pieces were written by a German, but nevertheless; these tunes have in years past been some of my favorite music ever.

Which brings me to the point: what makes these pieces so special to me?  Is it a longing for another place and time - that is mine, though not quite my own?  I read in some articles that the Hungarian Dances are some of Brahms’s most beloved pieces, which makes me think that maybe my experience of this music is not quite as singular and unique as I originally thought. I don’t like to think that way. I would rather try to hang on to any scrap of history that I might have! 

Below is a choice performance of Hungarian Dance No. 7, performed by the duet of Jascha Heifetz (violin) and Emmanuel Bay (piano). Bravo!  Asked about his own life, Heifetz said:

"Born in Russia, first lesson at three, debut at seven, debut in America at 17. That's all there really is."

Aran Jenkins is a recent graduate of WV State University.  He plays piano and guitar, writes for the Charleston Gazette, and is working on a novel.

Previous posts by Aran Jenkins:

As an avid music lover, I can think of several composers, bands, songs, albums, compositions, that if asked, I would claim as my favorite in whatever category we would discuss. I love talking about music to be sure!

But in the course of my own casual listening, I always find pieces and composers that I seem to ‘forget’ about. Unfortunately, Johannes Brahms is one of those composers in my life. I always love his music when I hear it, but so often, I’m not listening to his compositions and time marches on.

The following is a great video of one of my favorite compositions attributed to Brahms. This video is a duet of Yehudi Menuhin, one of the greatest violin virtuosos of the 20th century, with pianist Adolph Baller, playing “Hungarian Dance No. 5.

Composer Johannes Brahms was born in Hamburg Germany May 7, 1833. The series of “Hungarian Dances” written by Brahms, 21 pieces in all, are among my favorite compositions ever, even though I often fail to mention them among my favorites.

Brahms completed the Hungarian Dances in 1869. Check out this site with Brahms' life in pictures, featuring great candid photos of Johannes Brahms himself.

 
Aran Jenkins is a recent graduate of WV State University.  He plays piano and guitar, writes for the Charleston Gazette, and is working on a novel.

Previous posts by Aran Jenkins:

“Blessed are they that mourn:
for they shall be comforted.”
 
      -Brahms Requiem (Matthew 5:4)

In times of sadness and loss, do you turn to music?  What music comforts you? Or do you look for music that distracts you?

Today on the radio, we featured music that I hope provides some comfort -- music of mourning, but also of hope (the list of music that was on the radio today can be found here). 

Some of the pieces are so powerful and so sad that they can be overwhelming, while also consoling and connecting us: The Unanswered Question by Charles Ives, Brahms’ Requiem (and those by Mozart, Fauré, and others), Barber’s Adagio for Strings…

There are many other pieces, perhaps including some music that is particularly special for you.  If you have music that is meaningful to you that you think might also comfort others, please share your thoughts in the comments.
  

Here's some music that I've been drawn to:

The National Symphony Orchestra is visiting West Virginia this week, from April 5-13.  They will be playing concerts, teaching, and more, all as part of their West Virginia residency.

This residency is a very special chance to meet and hear musicians from the National Symphony Orchestra, whether you attend one of the full symphonic concerts, catch one of the chamber groups (string, wind, brass, and percussion ensembles), attend an arts lecture, or observe them teaching and coaching musicians. 

It’s also a great experience to connect our state through classical music – friends and family from Huntington, Wheeling, Charleston, Princeton, Morgantown, etc. can share similar concert experiences and compare notes. Here’s a guide to catching the National Symphony when they come to your part of the state:
 

Beckley

April 10, 1pm: Conducting Workshop, with Iván Fischer (Woodrow Wilson High School)

April 11, 7pm: Chamber Music (String Quintet) Concert (Tamarack)

April 12: School performance
 

Charleston

April 11, 10:45am: St. Paul’s Lutheran Church (church service)

April 12: School performances and coaching

April 12, 10am: Young People’s Concert, Emil de Cou, conductor “Sounds Historic” (Clay Center)

April 12, 8pm: National Symphony Orchestra Concert, Ivan Fischer, conductor (Clay Center)
               BERNSTEIN: Three Dance Episodes from On the Town
               MOZART: Symphony No. 38 in D Major "Prague"      
               DVOŘÁK: Symphony No.8 in G Major, Op. 88
 

Clarksburg

April 8, noon: Advocacy Talk: Emil de Cou, Associate Conductor (YWCA)

April 8, 7pm: Chamber Music Concert (Waldmore Library)

April 12: School performances and coaching

April 12: School performance

April 8: School performance

Fairmont

April 8, noon: Lecture/Demonstration for Music Education Students (Fairmont State University)

April 8, 4pm: Talk about Life in the Arts: Emil de Cou, Associate Conductor (Caperton Center at Fairmont State)           

April 8, 8pm: Chamber Music Concert (Wallman Hall Theater, Fairmont State University)

 Glenville

April 9, 3pm: Clinics and Master Classes (Glenville State College)

April 9, 6pm: Meet the Performers Panel (Gallery of Fine Arts Building, Glenville State College)
 
April 9, 7pm: National Symphony Orchestra Concert, Ivan Fischer, conductor (GSC Fine Arts Auditorium)
              BERNSTEIN: Three Dance Episodes from On the Town
              MOZART: Symphony No. 38 in D Major, "Prague"      
              DVOŘÁK: Symphony No.8 in G Major, Op. 88

Huntington

April 10, 1pm: Teddy Bear Concert (Huntington Museum of Art)

April 10, 2pm: Chamber Music (String Quartet) Performance (The Barnett Center)
 
April 10, 3:30pm: Clinics and Master Classes (Marshall University)
 
April 10, 5pm: Arts Education Talk (Keith Albee Theater)

April 10, 8pm: National Symphony Orchestra Concert, Ivan Fischer, conductor (Keith Albee Theater/Marshall University Artist Series)
               BERNSTEIN: Three Dance Episodes from On the Town
               MOZART: Symphony No. 38 in D Major, "Prague"      
               DVOŘÁK: Symphony No.8 in G Major, Op. 88

April 7-8: School and Nursing home performances

Marlinton

 Mill Creek

April 8: School performance
 

Morgantown

April 5, 7pm: Flute Master Class and Bassoon Master Class (WVU)

April 5, 7:30pm: Chamber Music Concert (Wind Quintet) at Arts Monongahela

April 6, 10am: Workshop for Singers (WVU)

April 6-9: Hospital and School Performances

April 7, noon: Arts Advocacy Talk: Rita Shapiro, Executive Director (Arts Monongahela)

April 7, 1pm: Violin Master Class (WVU)

April 7, 2pm: Piano Master Class (WVU)

April 7, 3pm: Percussion (Timpani) Master Class (WVU)

April 7, 7:30pm: National Symphony Orchestra Concert, Ivan Fischer, conductor (Lyell B. Clay Concert Theatre, WVU)
              BERNSTEIN: Three Dance Episodes from On the Town
              MOZART: Symphony No. 38 in D Major, "Prague"      
              DVOŘÁK: Symphony No.8 in G Major, Op. 88
 
April 8, 7pm: Clarinet Master Class and Trombone Master Class (WVU)

Mount Gay

April 10, 1:30pm: Chamber Music (Brass Quintet) Concert (Southern WV Community College)

Philippi

 April 9: School performances

Princeton

April 11, 3pm: National Symphony Orchestra Concert, Ivan Fischer, conductor (Chuck Mathena Center)
              BERNSTEIN: Three Dance Episodes from On the Town
              MOZART: Symphony No. 38 in D Major, "Prague"      
              DVOŘÁK: Symphony No.8 in G Major, Op. 88

April 11, 7pm: Artistic Exchange (RiffRaff Arts Collective)

April 13: School performances

Rowlesburg

April 5, 7:30pm: Chamber Music Concert (Brass Quintet) at Szilagyi Center
 

West Liberty

April 6, 3:30pm: Master Classes (West Liberty University)
 

Wheeling

April 6, noon: Arts Advocacy Talk: Rita Shapiro, Executive Director (Wes Banco Arena)

April 6, 7:30pm: National Symphony Orchestra Concert, Ivan Fischer, conductor (Capitol Theatre, Wheeling)
              BERNSTEIN: Three Dance Episodes from On the Town
              MOZART: Symphony No. 38 in D Major, "Prague"      
              DVOŘÁK: Symphony No.8 in G Major, Op. 88

Messiah on the radio, chocolate bunnies at the store – hey, is Easter this weekend?  I have enjoyed hearing music by Handel, Bach, Gesualdo for the holiday, and I’ve also been taking some extra time to listen to newer music –  La Pasión segun San Marcos by Osvaldo Golijov.

Golijov’s Pasión was premiered ten years ago – Alex Ross wrote about it in The New Yorker in 2001, NPR included a previous concert recording as one of the most important classical albums of the past decade.  I must have been living under a rock, because I only discovered this music recently, through a listening guide that I received as a preview of the new recording. It’s beautiful. 

Check out the listening guide here – you can stream the audio online to hear selections from La Pasión segun San Marcos, interwoven with the composer talking about the music.

The whole listening guide is 40 minutes long, and it’s broken up into tracks that are each just a few minutes long. Listen.

You can also get a small sample of this music from this video preview:

If you want hear more music by Osvaldo Golijov, I recommend his song cycle Ayre (my personal favorite). His Web site has more information about his works.

What do you think of Golijov’s music and La Pasión segun San Marcos?  Do you have favorite Easter classics?  Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Related Links:

* Osvaldo Golijov, Official Site 
* La Pasión segun San Marcos Listening Guide 
* La Pasión segun San Marcos (on Amazon) 
* “Resurrection: Golijov's Pasión” by Alex Ross (The New Yorker, 2001) 
* Osvaldo Golijov on WBUR’s On Point 
* The Decade in Classical Recordings (NPR) 

April 1: Marshall University Horn Studio Recital 

April 5-13: National Symphony Orchestra Residency -- see here for details.

April 6: National Symphony Orchestra  (Capitol Theater, Wheeling)

April 7: The Allianz Quartet (Kanawha Forum, Charleston) 
 
April 7: National Symphony Orchestra  (Lyell B. Clay Concert Theatre, Morgantown)

April 8: Alderson-Broaddus Chamber Music Concert 

April 8: Marshall University Percussion Ensemble 

April 8: WVU World Music Concert 

April 9: Nevelson Duo (MUsic Alive Series, Huntington)

April 9: Shepherd University Choral Concert 

April 9: National Symphony Orchestra  (Glenville State College)

April 9-10: Opera Scenes at WVU 

April 10: Enso String Quartet  (Charleston Chamber Music Society)
 
April 10: Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, with Stephen Hough, piano (WVU/Morgantown) 

April 10: Marshall University Tuba & Euphonium Day 
 
April 10: National Symphony Orchestra Quintet (Southern WV Community and Technical College Savas-Kostas Theatre) 

April 10: National Symphony Orchestra  (Marshall Artists Series)

April 11: Marshall University Chamber Choir and University Chorus 

April 11: Fairmont State University Community Orchestra Concert 

April 11: Marshall University Trombone Choir Concert 

April 11: National Symphony Orchestra  (Chuck Mathena Center, Princeton)

April 12: NSO Young People’s Concert  (Clay Center, Charleston)

April 12: National Symphony Orchestra  (Clay Center, Charleston)

April 13: WVU Wind Symphony 
 
April 15: Glenville State College Choir Concert 

April 16: Shepherd University Wind Ensemble 

April 16-17: WV Symphony and WVSO Chorus “Ode to Joy” 

April 17: Marshall University Chamber Choir Invitational 

April 18: ETA 3 (Fairmont Chamber Music Society)

April 18: WV Symphony and WVSO Chorus “Ode to Joy” (Parkersburg) 

April 18: The Works of Louis Andriessen (Marshall University Faculty Recital) 

April 18: Shepherd University Percussion Ensemble and Gamelan 

April 18: Alderson-Broaddus Brass Choir and WV Youth Symphony Brass (Kanawha Presbyterian, Charleston)

April 18: Triple Organ Recital, Kanawha A.G.O. (3pm, starts at Charleston Baptist Temple)

April 19: Julio Alves, guitar (Marshall University Faculty Recital)

April 19: Ashu  (Concord University Guest Artist)

April 20: WVU Symphonic Band and Concert Band 

April 20-22: WV Symphony Young People’s Concerts “Stories and Legends” 

April 21: Fairmont State University Percussion Ensemble Concert 

April 22: Fairmont State University Chamber Music Recital 

April 22: WVU Symphony Orchestra & Choir  

April 22: Marshall University Wind Symphony 

April 22: Alderson-Broaddus Concert Choir and Chapel Choir 

April 22: Marshall University African Drum and Dance Ensemble 

April 23: Wheeling Symphony, Music of Champions 

April 24-25: Marshall University Choral Union 

April 25: Alderson-Broaddus Brass in the Grass 

April 26: Shepherd University Composition Recital 

April 26: Concord University Band 

April 27: Marshall University Orchestra 

April 27: Concord University Percussion Ensemble  

April 27: Shepherd University Small Ensembles 

April 29: Marshall University Symphonic Band 

April 29: Concord University Chorus 

April 30-May 1: WV Symphony; Irish Delight  with Eileen Ivers 

Anything missing? Let me know! 

I’d never seen Ambroise Thomas’ Hamlet, nor was I acquainted with the music, so you could say I started with a clean slate. I liked it.

Now, if you’re a raging Anglophile and/or don’t like anyone messing with your Shakespeare, don’t bother with this. I think it’s closer to the Dumas version of the story. Let’s just say, Thomas and the librettists took “liberties” with the plot and characters. This may explain why the opera didn’t inspire much interest early on – like for a century!

If the goal was to pare down the cast and eliminate the Bard’s web of plots however, this is a successful tale. The music was pleasant enough, although not memorable. I didn’t come out humming any melodies.

The production was spare and somber. The sets were high, dark curving walls that moved to provide a plethora of backdrops, often leaving the stage almost barren. This did allow for some effective lighting, throwing huge shadows on the walls. It probably played better on the screen than live on stage at the Met.

The chorus costumes were dark hues: black, grey, brown. Only the principals wore any color, and that was effective. While you usually don’t see stark white on stage, both the ghost of Hamlet’s father and Ophelia were dressed so. Of course, it made perfect sense for the ghost. Ophelia looked as if she was ready to be wed at a moment’s notice, which she was. And it showed up the blood really well. Oh yes, she doesn’t drown in the lake. She stabs herself. Several times. And of course, she negotiates quite an extended coloratura ‘mad scene’ at the same time.

One of the best qualities of the production was the acting and singing of the British baritone Simon Keenlyside as Hamlet. He was especially effective in this HD version which allows for those magnificent close-ups. He’s an astonishing presence on stage.

The coloratura Marlis Petersen was brought in after the original Ophelia canceled because of illness. The German soprano finished a run of Medea in Vienna and hopped a plane for New York with barely a week’s notice. She made for a very fragile and introspective Ophelia, but perhaps not as “mad” as expected from Natalie Dessay.

I particularly enjoyed the performance of mezzo-soprano Jennifer Larmore as Gertrude. She’s Claudius’ accomplice in this version (as is Polonius by the way). Her blood red, and mustard green/brown costumes were richly conspiratorial. She’s a scene stealer.
 
Toby Spence’s Laertes was a tenor relief in a sea of baritones and basses.
 

I understand this HD experiment has drawn great audiences. Even the Huntington Cinemark audience has grown, perhaps doubled in attendance since the first offering I saw last fall. One of the strong attractions is the cinematic quality, but it also has its drawbacks.

You see the singers in close-up, something that would never happen in the opera house. However, the voices are transmitted through audio equipment, and thus always heard and always in balance. You see only the director’s focus, rather than the expanse of stage of a full production. So in a sense these HD offerings are not totally “live.”

These qualities are particularly welcomed by younger audience members, accustomed to the wonders of cinematography. This may or may not result in a new audience for live opera however. It might also divert attention and funding from local productions. Only time will tell.

But don't take my word for it. See for yourself. There's an encore presentation Wednesday, April 14 at 6:30 pm.. The final offering of this season is Renée Fleming starring in Rossini's Armida - another unknown to me. Check 'em out! 

This just in: The Charleston Daily Mail posted a fabulous video!

In recent posts, I’ve talked about personnel arriving from Casavant Frères to “voice” the organ.
 
So exactly what does it mean to “voice” the organ?

I’ve been doing a little research on the subject, and thought I’d share some of my new-found knowledge.

Voicing is a lot more complicated than simply tuning the instrument. This process has to do with giving the organ its own unique sound and making sure it fits in its new home.

The art of voicing requires our two voicers, Jean-Sébastien DuFour and Daniel Fortin, to adjust the pipes for brightness and volume in our sanctuary.

Each stop (control knob) may manipulate a number of pipes (rank) and they must make all those pipes sound right together.

Then they must take the placement of the instrument and the acoustics of the room into consideration to create a “musically cohesive ensemble.”  (Casavant Frères Web site)

An organ is actually a hybrid instrument, a combination of wind and keyboard instruments.

The sound is created by air vibrating in the pipes: the longer the pipe, the lower the pitch. Of course, the shorter pipes result in higher pitches. The organ sits on a wind chest.

Our organ (specs) uses an electric slider mechanism to force air steadily into the wind chest, and then into the bottom of the pipes themselves.

The keyboards and pedalboard are used to tell a system of valves which pipes to open and close, allowing the air in or shutting it out.

Confused yet? Well, that’s the basics. There’s more, but I’ll leave that to those of you who want to delve deeper. (See links below)

Jean-Sébastien and Daniel do all those complicated adjustments. As a matter of fact, they finish voicing our organ today.

Of course, one day early in their visit, I found Jean-Sébastien seated on the floor, taking a long-handled brush to a bunch of the smaller pipes, cleaning them out.

Links:
The Art of Voicing  by George Ashdown Audsley
NPR interview with Miles Hoffman and excerpt from The NPR Classical Music Companion 

Next installment: audio, I hope!

Previous posts:
 
Part 1: Delivering the baby 

Part 2: Some assembly required

Part 3: More assembly required 

The Wheeling Symphony has announced its 2010-11 season.  I spoke with Maestro Andre Raphel Smith about the music they’ll be playing.

Parts of that interview were featured in short stories on the radio
(you can now listen to them online: one and two.) 

Here’s more of our discussion:

The season listing can be downloaded as a Word document on Wheeling Symphony Web site.  Here’s a summary:

Masterworks I “SENSATIONAL TCHAIKOVSKY” September 24, 2010

Prokofieff: Romeo and Juliet (selections)    
Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 2 in A Major (William Wolfram, piano)    
Tchaikovsky: Symphony No. 5  

Masterworks II “GUITAR MAGIC AND WV ARTISTS” November 5, 2010

Ravel: Ma Mere l’Oye Suite (Mother Goose Suite)   
John Beall: Raven Rock (WV Composer; Faculty, West Virginia University)
Rodrigo:  Concierto de Aranjuez    (Eliot Fisk, guitar)    
Saint-Saens: Symphony No. 3 “Organ Symphony”  (Robert Troeger, organ)

Masterworks III “SEASONS OF AN AMERICAN LIFE” – A WSO Festival on Nature and Folk Music. February 18, 2011

Beethoven: Coriolan Overture
O’Connor:  The American Seasons (Seasons of an American Life) (Mark O’Connor, violin)
Beethoven: Symphony No. 6 (Pastorale)  

Masterworks IV “MAGNIFICENT MAHLER”- 150^thAnniversary Season of Mahler’s birth, 100^th week anniversary of Mahler’s death.  May 20, 2011

Sibelius: The Swan of Tuonela 
Strauss: Vier Letzte Lieder (Four Last Songs) (Lianne Coble, soprano)
Mahler: Symphony No. 1  

Earlier this month, the WV Symphony announced its season.  You can read (and listen) to more about that here.

I have often considered William Shakespeare to be the greatest writer of all time. Having studied acting technique for several years at West Virginia University, digesting the writing of Shakespeare in my spare time as well as scholastically, I found his expressive powers seemed to be limitless. 

As an actor, I always longed for roles in Shakespeare’s plays; pretty much every actor dreams of playing Hamlet.  Alas, actors and actresses playing Shakespeare also make the mistake of trying to add drama to the text, which does not “hold the mirror up to nature.” Such interpretations can have a cheapening effect on performances and veer dangerously in the direction of melodrama.

Performing in productions from Shakespeare’s oeuvre was my highest and most challenging theatrical ambition. To dissect the words of Shakespeare was daunting to say the least!

That brings me to the man of the month of March: Frederic Chopin! If Shakespeare is truly the greatest writer of the English language, then surely Chopin was the Shakespeare of the piano. Chopin’s grasp of the language of music was equally unrivaled. He was by all accounts an innovator that stretched the common conceptions of the instrument beyond anyone of his day, even inventing forms such as the ballade. 

This is what Franz Liszt said of his friend Chopin,

"Music was his language, the divine tongue through which he expressed a whole realm of sentiments that only the select few can appreciate ... The muse of his homeland dictates his songs, and the anguished cries of Poland lend to his art a mysterious, indefinable poetry which, for all those who have truly experienced it, cannot be compared to anything else ... The piano alone was not sufficient to reveal all that lies within him. In short he is a most remarkable individual who commands our highest degree of devotion."

Having been learning to play the piano on my own for several years, I feel much of the same sense of helplessness and ineptitude in approaching Chopin’s works now as I felt in my younger years of reading the works of Shakespeare. My experience and vocabulary on the instrument is far too limited to truly interpret his masterpieces. 

I imagine his work has the same effect on many players regardless of skill level. To approach his artistic height, one needs not only to have virtuosic chops, but also, a complete vocabulary, or else one can butcher the beauty by seeking to add drama to the already charged notes.

I have an experience of my own to share (not too proudly I might add), from my last piano class in college, one of several electives in an attempt to learn how to play better. My final was an excerpt of a transcription of a Chopin Etude, and some of my first attempts in playing the piece through were melodramatic. It is a common mistake of young artists to get caught up in ‘seeing themselves in roles’ rather than seeing the role itself. The only thing my playing communicated at first was “look at what I’m playing!” 

What my technical proficiency has yet to master, my heart has always understood. Chopin’s music has always been very dear to me even from my earliest childhood introductions to classical music. There has always been a kinship that I have felt toward his music, of course helped greatly by my love of the piano, specifically. His voice was very unique among composers, in its seamless blend of technique and lyricism.

My greatest appreciation of Chopin’s music comes from his melodies and his melodies within his melodies. So often, in his pieces the main melodies are augmented by staggeringly beautiful melodies underneath; one of my favorite examples can be found in Chopin’s Scherzo No. 2 in B flat minor Op 31. Below is a great rendition by Krystian Zimerman.

March 1, 2010 marked the 200^th anniversary of Frederic Chopin’s birth. He was so much more than just a pianist and his music was so much more than merely the piano. 

Here’s the best site I’ve found to date that is devoted to Chopin:  http://www.ourchopin.com, and here is one of my favorite Chopin pieces:

Garrick Ohlsson, the pianist in this video, was featured on Performance Today earlier this month, when he got the distinction of playing a piano recital in the very house that Chopin was born in, on a piano that Chopin had played in his lifetime. Ohlsson, who won the 1970 International Chopin Competition, can be seen touring around the world.

You can download Ohlsson's recital from Chopin's birthplace for free from Performance Today, and you can hear more from Garrick Ohlsson on NPR.

Aran Jenkins is a recent graduate of WV State University.  He plays piano and guitar, writes for the Charleston Gazette, and is working on a novel.

Previous posts by Aran Jenkins:

* The Master Segovia
* Rachmaninoff Plays Rachmaninoff
* Finding Connections
* B is for Beautiful? 
* The Passion of Julian Bream
* Ana Vidovic and Antonio Lauro
* Pianist Noboyuki Tsujii 

Fun facts about John Philip Sousa:

* This noted composer & and conductor of band music was a violin player who nearly ran away to join the circus

* Sousa conducted the first performances of several of Ottorini Respighi’s tone poems in the United States 

* He performed with his band in Charleston, West Virginia six different times! 

* His band had the top-selling records in America (second only to Enrico Caruso), but he testified to Congress against recording technology 

 

You can learn much more about Sousa from Keith Brion, conductor and Sousa expert. He’ll be leading the West Virginia Symphony in a program called “Sousa at the Symphony” this weekend. They will be recreating some of what Sousa’s concerts would have been like, with lots of short pieces including light classics, opera arias, and other music, along with marches by Sousa.   

Related links: 

* Sousa at the Symphony, with the WV Symphony 
* Forward, March! (WV Symphony Family Concert with Keith Brion) 
* Keith Brion and the New Sousa Band 
* WV Classical Calendar -- March 

Pianist John O’Conor grew up in Dublin listening to traditional Irish music, but that's not what he was playing in his piano lessons.  Instead, he focused on music by Beethoven and other Classic and early Romantic composers.

He left Dublin to study in Vienna, where he won the Beethoven International Piano Competition in 1973. He has since performed and taught all over the world. He’s also recorded Beethoven’s complete piano sonatas and piano concertos for Telarc Records. 

O’Conor has maintained his ties to Ireland and Irish music. He has moved back to Dublin, and in 1990, he convinced Telarc to let him record an album of nocturnes by Irish composer John Field, whose works influenced Chopin. That album was a hit -- it spent several weeks on Billboard classical charts and has introduced Field’s music to many new listeners.  

O'Conor has now combined his classical piano experience with the traditional Irish music of his youth, in a new album called Irish Classics. The album features old Irish songs and dances arranged for piano and orchestra. Performing this lighter style of classical music is new territory for O’Conor, and he has taken to it quite well.
 
During my recent interview with O'Conor, we spoke about the Irish Classics album, changes in classical music in Ireland, his partnership with Shenandoah University in Virginia, traditional Irish music, John Field’s nocturnes, and the Chieftans – all in just under ten minutes! Take a listen; you can stream or podcast this interview:

Related links:

* John O’Conor 
* Irish Classics 
* Interview with Barry Douglas (who studied with John O'Conor)
* Playlist for St. Pat (from last year) 
* Crossover Media site (including a sample from the album)

February 22, they delivered the “baby” Casavant to First Presbyterian Church-Charleston.

Then the assembly commenced, but more was required.

By March, the organ is really beginning to take shape quickly.

The magnificent Casavant pipe organ is ready for the "voicers" who are due to arrive today, Tuesday, March 16. Robert and Sasha gave the organ a rough tuning, but there are a few pipes left to install and the organ needs to be tuned to the room - a domed and vaulted sanctuary with its special acoustics.

This process doesn't lend itself to visuals, so I've got to see if I can secure some audio assistance for the next step in the process,

Part 1: Delivering the baby 

Part 2: Some assembly required 

Editor’s note: You may have noticed that Jim Lange has a new blog that is keeping him busy these days.  I’m only able to forgive him for spending less time in this corner of our site because of how much I like reading his posts on this new EclecTopia blog. 
 
Classical music is part of the wide (and wild) mix of music that Jim spins on EclecTopia, and his blog recently featured a review of a Stravinsky documentary.

“Anyone who appreciates Igor Stravinsky should watch Once at a Border - a DVD which is loaded with not only biographical, but personal insights into the man who launched the 20^th century."

[… ]

"Many times during the film, I felt like I was seeing something so rare and incredible: Stravinsky walking about the room where he wrote the Rite of Spring or out in his garden at his Hollywood residence. Those seemed to me like having a film with Beethoven talking about his ninth symphony. Simply magic."

[…]

"Mrs. Vera Stravinsky makes an all-too-brief appearance near the end of the film, looking a bit sad and lost. Perhaps she declined to be interviewed extensively, but it makes me wonder why she wasn’t more a part of the film? Imagine the insights.”

For more insights, read the whole review here.

In my first post , you saw some 1700 pipes and even more parts being unloaded from a semi into the sanctuary of First Presbyterian Church-Charleston.

Robert Hiller & Sasha Achpemichuk from Casavant  have been busy little beavers  working 6-7 days a week to assemble our new organ in the front gallery.

The first obstacle: get a bigger winch. The original would not handle the weight of the console or some of the pipes. A company in Kentucky answered our call.

Since this tale is most effectively told in pictures, here’s the progression of pix I took every 2-3 days during the assembly process:

Next installment: More assembly required

Part 1 - Pipe organ: Delivering the baby 

Professor John Beall is the composer-in-residence and teaches music composition at West Virginia University, and his music has been performed by orchestras and chamber ensembles all over the country. 

You can read his bio, including major compositions, performances, and awards on WVU’s Web site. 

As informative as that is, I think it's so much nicer to hear him tell his own story and offer a more personal perspective. 

Listen to Dr. Beall describe his musical background, what inspired him, and the path he followed to becoming a composer:

We’ve featured several of Dr. Beall’s recordings on WV Public Radio, including his Vandalia Suite for piano, the Double Concerto for Violin and Contrabass, and Variations on Wondrous Love for viola and piano. Listen to the rest of the interview below, where Beall discusses several of his pieces and his approach to the music:

Previously, we’ve featured interviews with two composers that studied with Dr. Beall. Check them out: 

* Meet the Composer: David Williams
* Meet the Composer: Timothy Cooper

I found Encompass New Opera Theatre in Brooklyn, New York, an organization that has been developing American opera for the last 35 years. I submitted my listening companion and CD for Angel of Amazon to them. They really enjoyed the opera and chose it for development and production in 2010.

So, on February 28^th I was invited to Gramercy Park in NYC for Encompass’ Season Kick-Off event. Artistic director Nancy Rhodes invited patrons of the arts, members from the Catholic community, and people from rainforest coalitions to get a preview of Angel of the Amazon.

The program consisted of me performing some piano music by American composers, a few arias from other American operas, a guest speech from Sr. Dorothy Stang’s biographer, and three arias from Angel of the Amazon.

The venue was this large, castle-like home of a Hungarian art dealer. Portraits and works of art filled every inch of the walls. The crowd was huge.

All of the excerpts were well-received by the crowd and many were willing to donate and spread the word to get more seed money. They were even more excited to realize that the opera was completed and simply needs backing to get it off the ground.

The next steps for production: more seed money, a full in-concert reading, and then a full staging in New York. Once the opera is produced, the goal is to get enough funds to take the opera to cities across the country.

I will keep you all posted as things unfold in real time. Stay tuned for April, when another group performs the opera in San Francisco.

You can find out more about the opera's progress and get involved by following Angel of the Amazon on Facebook and by checking out the Web sites for Encompass New Opera Theatre and Angel of the Amazon. 
 
Here are some more pictures from the performance in New York:

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The National Symphony Orchestra and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., in association with the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, announce the commissioning of a chamber work by a resident West Virginia composer.

A resident West Virginia composer will be commissioned to write a work of approximately 10-15 minutes duration for chamber forces.

The commission award is $5,000 + travel expenses associated with the premiere. Music copying, commissioning fees, and composer’s travel expenses are included in this amount.

Submissions must be made to the Appalachian Education Initiative which is serving as the state coordinator, and include all elements listed under Submission Requirements, below.

A panel convened by the West Virginia Division of Culture & History and the Appalachian Education Initiative will narrow the applications to three finalists.

A National Symphony Orchestra jury — overseen by Principal Conductor Iván Fischer — will make the final selection of a West Virginia composer for this commission.

The deadline is March 13.  The application, with additional information on submissions, will be available online soon at www.aeiarts.org.  You can also download the application here.

The National Symphony Orchestra will be performing, teaching, and leading workshops throughout West Virginia in April.  We'll have more information and stories about their visit here on Classically Speaking over the next two months.

The West Virginia Symphony has just announced their next season. It includes Mark O'Connor (interview), Valentina Lisitsa, David Kim (interview), Carter Brey, Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde, Beethoven 6, Brahms 4, Carnival of the Animals, a bit of Broadway, and even some ABBA. 

Plus, they're talking about going to Carnegie Hall (not this fine hall, the one in New York) during the 2013-14 season. 

You can listen online to the radio story that was broadcast on WV Morning.  You can also find more details on the WV Symphony site, and if you want to hear the whole story, here's the (very) raw audio of Wednesday afternoon's press conference to stream or podcast.

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All this month, radio program Performance Today (heard weekdays on WV Public Radio, 9-11am) is celebrating Chopin’s 200th birthday, and you are invited to be part of the celebration. 

Record yourself, your friends and family, or your group's version of a copyright-free or public-domain Chopin piece. Then share your audio or video with Performance Today for others to see and hear on their Web site (you can check out the ones that have already been posted, by a music student and a choir accompanist).

Do you have some old Chopin music sitting in the piano bench that you’ve been meaning to dust off one of these days?  Now is the time!

Music students, church pianists, choir accompanists, piano teachers, amateurs and professionals, young and old, here is your chance to join together with others around the world who love Chopin’s music.

I’d really like to see and hear some West Virginians represented in this Chopin celebration.  If you submit a video to them, be sure to let me know (in the comments or by emailing feedback@wvpubcast.org)

I wonder if they’ll take submissions of arrangements. Are there any brass quintets, string quartets, or even rock bands out there playing new versions of Chopin?

Find more details, including technical information, at My Performance Today.

Even if you don't play music by Chopin, I'd love to also hear your Chopin stories -- favorite pieces, memories of listening, or what you like (or don't) about his music.  Leave a comment below!

March 1: WVU Chamber Winds 

March 1: Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, with Marvin Hamlisch (WVU) 

March 2: Young People’s Concert (Marshall University) 

March 4-6: WV Symphony “Virtuosity Unleashed,” with violinist Ilya Kaler ( Fairmont, Charleston) 
 
March 5-6: Les Sylphides, ballet with music by Chopin (WVU Dance Ensemble) 

March 6: Shepherd University Trombone Day 

March 7: Andres Saborio, guitar (Marshall University Guest Artist Recital)

March 7: WV Youth Symphony Chamber Ensemble Concert 

March 7: Air Force Band (WV Wesleyan)

March 9: Tuesdays with Fran: Fran Belin, piano  (interview) (Carnegie Hall, Lewisburg)

March 9: Laureate Wind Quintet (West Virginia University)

March 10: Ian Jesse, violin; Vicki Cavendish, piano (Kanawha Forum, Charleston) 

March 11: Marshall University Woodwinds Ensembles Concert 

March 11: Fairmont University Wind Ensemble

March 12: African Ensemble Concert (West Virginia University) 

March 12: Marlayna Maynard, voice (Marshall University Guest Artist Recital)  

March 13: Edward Bingham (Marshall University Faculty Recital) 

March 13: Gerald Lee, piano  (Charleston Chamber Music Society)
 
March 13: Gerald Lee masterclass (Cavendish Hall) 

March 13: Ohio Valley Symphony  “Love Songs,” with tenor Eric Ashcroft 

March 13: Two Rivers Chamber Orchestra (Shepherd University Friends of Music)  

March 14: West Virginia University Flute Choir Concert 

March 15: Don Giovanni (Marshall Artists Series) 

March 15: Marshall University Guitar Ensemble Concert

March 17: Marshall University Faculty Brass Quintet 

March 17: Daniel King, tenor; Ron Neal, piano (Kanawha Forum, Charleston)

March 17: Harvard Glee Club (Baptist Temple, Charleston) 

March 18: Alisha Atkins (voice) and Will Cosby (trumpet) (Alderson-Broaddus Alumni Recital)

March 18: West Virginia University Faculty Chamber Recital 

March 18: Opera in Cinema: Carmen (Huntington, South Charleston, Beckley)  

March 19: WV Symphony Children’s Concert “Forward, March!” 

March 19: Wheeling Symphony Pops, featuring The Lettermen  

March 19-20: WV Symphony “Sousa at the Symphony,” with Keith Brion 

March 20: Huntington Symphony “Russian Rhapsody,”  with Alexander Tutunov, piano

March 20: West Virginia Festival of Trumpets (Marshall University) 

March 20: Marshall University Day of Percussion 
 
March 21: Huntington Chapter AGO: Members/Friends/Students Recital (3pm, Trinity Episcopal Church) CANCELLED

March 21: Opera in Cinema: Carmen (Huntington, South Charleston, Beckley) 

March 23: WVU Wind Symphony and Symphonic Band

March 24: Andrea DiGregorio, cello; Bernard DiGregorio, guitar (Kanawha Forum, Charleston)  

March 25: Ballet in Cinema: Stravinsky & The Ballet Russes (Huntington, South Charleston, Beckley)

March 25:WVU Symphony Orchestra Young Artists

March 26: Chopin Celebration (Shepherd University Friends of Music)

March 26: Alderson-Broaddus Concert Choir 

March 26-28: WV Symphony “Tribute to Amadeus,” with Corey Cerovsek  (interview) (Hurricane, Beckley, Phillipi)

March 26-27: Charleston Ballet "Classic Couples" (with music by Poulenc and Tchaikovsky) 

March 27: Corey Cerovsek masterclass (Cavendish Hall) 

March 27: Met Opera in HD: Hamlet (Barboursville, Morgantown, Ashland) 

March 28: Patricia van der Sloot, violin and Catherine Crotty, piano (West Liberty University Guest Artist Recital)

March 28: Ballet in Cinema: Stravinsky & The Ballet Russes (Huntington, South Charleston, Beckley) 

March 31: Rebel  (Shepherd University Friends of Music)

March 31: Phyllis Sadd, vocalist; John Ellison, piano (Kanawha Forum, Charleston) 

Something missing?  Let me know! 

A series of blog posts about choosing, installing, voicing, debuting a new pipe organ

It's here! The huge pipe organ built by Casavant Frères of Quebec for First Presbyterian Church-Charleston (FPC) has arrived by semi in thousands of pieces!

Of course, this was not actually Day 1. The impetus for this project came from church members John and Ruth McGee. It’s seems they have quite an affinity for pipe organs. The McGee Foundation donated the funds for the organ itself.

The project began nearly two years ago when Rev. Bill McCoy invited a handful of people to undertake the selection of a new antiphonal pipe organ to be placed in the front gallery. I was elected chair of the committee and the work began.

We researched. We sought out the counsel of trusted friends. We invited three builders to ”pitch” their company. We sent our organist and music director to listen to instruments previously built by the front-runners. We discussed and settled upon Casavant Frères.

Then of course, we had to get estimates on the total project cost – the expenses of preparing the space to accept the organ (really the weight of it) and all the associated costs of readying our front gallery for use by the various church choirs.

John McGee enlisted some friends to accomplish this funding hurdle. Apparently Chuck Avampato of the Clay Foundation also has a “history” with organs. The final piece of the financial puzzle came later when church members Bob and Nancy Douglas agreed to fund the other needs such as risers for choirs, tables for bells, audio and visual equipment, etc.

Once the contract was signed, the work began in earnest in Quebec in early 2009. About a month ago, our music director and an organist friend traveled to Quebec to inspect the instrument in the Casavant workshop. They were thrilled!So, here we are. A crew from Casavant will begin assembling this “King of Instruments” in the front gallery with cranes, scaffolding and manpower.

 Now – this is not to diminish the fame and reputation of the fabulous Fisk tracker organ which occupies our rear gallery.

Lest you doubt, the 2006 search committee for our current music director received resumes from all over the world – nearly half from organists who wanted to lay their hands on our Fisk. It will remain in service, and services at FPC.

 
Since pipe organs generally last 100-150 years (longer if you really take care of them!), the acquisition of a new one is a monumental task in many respects.

NOTE: And why "Delivering the baby"? That's my personal take on it. The Fisk is about 30 years old, so this instrument is definitely the "baby." I've nicknamed it Cassie - for Casavant.  It's designed to be more flexible and sensitive, so I figure it's a girl. Call it profiling.

Next: Some assembly required

This Thursday, the West Virginia University Symphony Orchestra will play a concert featuring Béla Bartók’s Viola Concerto and Sergei Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 5.

The viola soloist is Maggie Snyder.  We last spoke right before her Carnegie Hall debut last year in May.  We caught up briefly today to talk about the music she'll be playing at this week’s concert. 

Take a few minutes to listen to her thoughts on Bartók's Viola Concerto (and whether the viola is really killing composers):

The concert will be conducted by Dr. Mitchell Arnold, Director of Orchestral Activities at WVU.  Here’s how he describes Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony: “Some composers strive to write symphonies that capture all the joy, grief, tragedy and comedy of life. Few succeed as well as Prokofiev. No wonder this is one of the most popular works written in the 20th century.” 

You can hear more of Maestro Arnold’s thoughts on music in our interview from November 2009. 

Related links:

* More info about Thursday’s WVU Symphony Orchestra concert
* WVU Prof at Carnegie Hall (New York) – interview with Maggie Snyder 
* Meet the Maestro: Mitchell Arnold
* February WV Classical Calendar 

To most, Teller is the silent half of the skeptical magic duo Penn & Teller. Offstage, he is as articulate as Penn Jillette is verbose, and is as charming a conversationalist as I've met. 

Also, he is an amateur keyboardist who finally bought a really nice harpsichord.

"As exquisite as St. Matthew's Passion or the Mass in B Minor might be-- and they are -- I don't like music that asserts itself before it justifies itself. Firepower doesn't impress me. I'm much fonder of the small work. You're engaged by the net of counterpoint, then the emotional aspect of it is overwhelming, because you're so much closer to it in a smaller, more personal way, and that's powerful for me.  Much more so, in fact."
 
This is interesting talk coming from a guy whose professional life includes dumping a bunny into a woodchipper, but a second look at Teller's signature onstage moments brings it clearer. The cups and balls, sophisticated revamps of ancient card tricks, the shadow play with the rose -- these are small moments done with virtuosity and with a beautiful eccentricity that would -- to a Bach fan -- suggest Glenn Gould. And Teller is quite the fan of Glenn Gould.

"With Gould, there's the sense that either he has the best idea or the weirdest. His recordings of the partitas are my favorite, just for the way he unlocked the rhythmic power of that work. Certainly he understood what a jig is.

"[Gould] was himself a showman about himself as much as he was for much of the music he played, certainly, and there's an always an aspect of him that comes from 'This is Glenn Gould plays this work' as much as the work itself.  Which can certainly result in some performances that don't work so well, and one either loves or hates that about him. Gould is certainly the central fact of anything he plays."

(Don't be shocked that he knows this stuff.  I have an email correspondence with Teller where we discussed Art of the Fugue for a few weeks, and his assessment of the work and what Bach's intent for it was would make for a small and very lively, insightful book.)
 
If there is a North Star in Teller's Bach Heaven, it is Wanda Landowska. Her recording of the Well-Tempered Clavier (Book I cut for RCA Red Seal in 1951, Book II three years later) remains one of the benchmarks of baroque music, and the depth and vitality of her playing did much -- worlds, even -- to restore Bach's popularity as history's greatest composer. Her importance to Bach -- along with Pablo Casals'-- cannot possibly be overstated.

I asked Teller if he grew up with her records. His hometown is Philadelphia, a city with a long and very amazing orchestral tradition.  His parents were artists, and they lived walking distance from the Academy of Music.

"No. I discovered Landowska in college, actually, at Amherst.

"I wasn't a good student. I was always behind in everything, and I had a final on the Iliad, in Greek. The night before the test, I just decided to plow through [the book] as much as I could, and I was exhausted and restless.

"I heard this music down the hall, coming from the room of my friend David Corcoran, and it was Landowska's recording of the WTC.  So I went to his room, and studied the Greek with Landowska in the background, until 4 a.m., at which point I was of course completely exhausted, and then I went back to my room, where for the next three hours, I would wake to this dream -- I was traumatized -- where Greek text was rolling past my eyes as Wanda played."

I forgot to ask if he passed. But the contrapuntal music switch was thrown.

"I absolutely pursued Landowska, of course, and -- at the same time -- it opened the Dangerous Door to Bach.

"Deep in my Landowska phase, I was a first year schoolteacher in a suburb of Trenton, NJ, and I read that there was going to be a harpsichord festival in Princeton, which was very close by. There were performers, films, including interviews with Landowska. I was thrilled that this was happening so close to home.

"I went, and Ralph Kirkpatrick was there, and he was very good. But Igor Kipnis blew me away.

"He had his Rutkowski & Robinette harpsichord, which was of course not period precise. The harpsichord of Bach's day was smaller and lighter. It wasn't designed to be shipped to recitals. Kipnis' harpsichord had a metal frame so it could withstand travel, and it had two manuals. Kipnis came out dressed in a red and purple velvet jacket, which wasn't exactly traditional concert dress, but it was his version of it, or at least his nod to it.

"He played two of the little pieces from [Bach's] Anna Magdalena notebooks, just clearly as a warmup, but it was ... These were beginner pieces, but he invested them with something that was just inspired.

"Then he spoke to the audience about the Goldberg Variations, which he was about to play, and he was articulate, and he had some jokes even, and I loved it and him for it, because he presented himself as a human being. As he was concluding his introduction of the work, he sat down, remarked on the virtuosity of the harpsichordist for whom it was named [Johann Gottlieb Goldberg], then turned to the audience with impeccable comic timing and said, 'And the snot was only fifteen!'

"Then he proceeded to play the Goldberg's so... Well, there's an old story about a competition of improvisers in Bach's day, and a theme is handed to each contestant and each contestant is to improvise a fugue. And the last contestant improvises his fugue, and the judge says, 'Either that was an angel from heaven, or it is JS Bach himself!', and that was Kipnis that day. He was transporting. At the end of it, the audience leaped to our feet because we had no choice.

"For an encore, he played the C minor prelude from Book I of the WTC, and he improvised a cadenza that was ... It was one of those evenings of music that becomes the standard you hold.  The only other performance up to that point that had that effect on me was a concert I saw at Amherst in 1969 by (percussionist) Olatunji."

Years after this performance, Teller and Kipnis became friends.

Also, Penn & Teller became, well, Penn & Teller.

Teller has a funny habit of depersonalizing any mention of his own wealth or fame. He never refers to "I" or "me" in this situation, but rather "one", and when I ask him how he came to acquire his new harpsichord, he says as follows:

"When one decides one has enough disposable income, one Googles 'Pleyel.'"

The provenance for the harpsichord he finally bought last year is impressive. It was built in 1937 by Pleyel for pianist Arthur Shattuck.

"He'd loaned it to Wanda Landowska around 1942 until about 1945. She used it as a teaching instrument, apparently. Wanda was just a bully,” he laughs, "and suggested he 'donate' the instrument to her."

(The instrument is described as being in Landowska's apartment in Our Two Lives, Halina Rodzinski's memoir of her life with husband, conductor Artur Rodzinski.)

According to both the provenance and a few conversations with Landowska's life partner Denise Restout, Landowska was fond of this harpsichord and tried to reacquire the instrument more than once, and actually kept close tabs on it up until the end of her life. She never got it.  Shattuck donated it to the Appleton Conservatory in Appleton, WI.

Teller acquired it in February of  '09. I saw him a few months later, and he told me of his purchase all the glee of a high school baseball fan who had just acquired a Reggie Jackson game ball. I asked him how hard it was to care for the instrument in the desert heat.

"A harpsichord meets the Nevada desert with a mighty boom," he said with giddy gravity.

After several attempts to keep the studio room in his home adequately humid -- "I almost suffocated trying to keep the air sufficiently moist" -- he settled on a Dampp-Chaser instrumental humidifier system, which attaches to the underside of the soundboard.

"It keeps the humidity at the desired level with a system of pads that soak and evaporate. Daniel Enet, who tunes all the Penn and Teller keyboard instruments once a month, takes care of the more sensitive aspects of the instrument's care and feeding. He is an artist as very few are."

So what do you play on your new Pleyel?

"I've got the Kalmus books of the Two- and Three-Part Inventions and the WTC. I have the Vertag edition of the Anna Magdalena notebooks. I have one called Easier Piano Pieces. I prefer any edition that doesn't require I turn a page."

He laughs again, but he speaks with awe and reverence for the instrument itself.

"It's a substantial instrument, more than any I've ever even sat at before. It has seven pedals, and it's all so confusing to me that I actually made labels with the label gun to keep it straight.

"The sound it makes is so much more satisfying than any keyboard instrument I've ever played before. It has a huge, masculine voice, and to play it and hear it come back at you is like plucking your own nerves. I've been playing -- slowly, of course, not sight reading anything at tempo, mind you -- through some of the three-part inventions, which I've never really tried to play through before, and it's like the skies opening up, every time I get through something.

"I feel like I'm cheating. This instrument is ... I'm starting with materials that are so rich. I'm not making anything from scratch. Even my atonal improvised noodling sounds amazing on this instrument."

Around this point, our conversation moves into a whole other phase, and we're soon enough discussing the Smothers Brothers with deep admiration. Then computers. It's the broad conversation we've had for years now. 

His acquisition of the Pleyel means that he'll have something new on which to report, whether it's the care and feeding of this incredible instrument, or even that he can play one of the Goldberg Variations at tempo. Then, of course, we'll debate as to what that would be, as Bach didn't leave much in the way of tempo markings....
 

Skip Heller is mostly a country singer, but is sometimes a jazz, guitarist, film/cartoon composer, music journalist, or chamber music composer.  His most recent release, The Long Way Home, will be available in March on the Tallulah label.

Clarinetist Larry Combs of South Charleston was this year’s inductee from the world of classical music.  In the program, he performs selections from Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet, along with the Montclaire String Quartet.

The other inductees featured during the program are:  Nat Reese, the Bailes Brothers, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Frank DeVol, Doc and Chickie Williams, and Don Redman.

So tune in (or set your TiVos/DVRs) and check out all of this great music, Friday night on WV PBS. Here's a preview:

Related posts:

* Combs Named to WV Music Hall of Fame 
* George Crumb 
* Phyllis Curtin inducted into WV Music Hall of Fame
* Phyllis Curtin--extended interview
* Eleanor Steber (she deserves to be next!)

The West Virginia Youth Symphony is celebrating its 60^th birthday this season. 

They plan to celebrate this spring with a concert and gala reception May 2, 2010 at 3:00 pm at the Clay Center.

Before then, they are trying to reach all former members of the West Virginia Youth Symphony or the Kanawha Valley Youth Orchestra in order to invite them to the celebration.

They’ve heard from some alumni dating back the orchestra’s first year, and they are looking to reach as many others as possible.

If you played in the West Virginia Youth Symphony or the Kanawha Valley Youth Orchestra, email wvyouthsymphony@gmail.com  or call (304) 561-3542 to get back in touch.

If you know someone else who was in the orchestra, be sure to share this info with them!

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This Friday, the Wheeling Symphony continues to celebrate its 80^th season, with a concert featuring soloists from the orchestra.  Violinist Rachel Stegman, oboe player Robert Driscoll, Jr., and harpist Fran Duffy will be leaving their customary seats and step out in front of the orchestra to play music by Handel and Bach, Friday at the Capitol Theater in Wheeling.

Take just a couple minutes to listen to Maestro Andre Raphel Smith talk about the concert: 

In addition to these “Baroque jewels” by Bach and Handel, the orchestra will offer some romantic and classical music – Valse Triste by Sibelius and Mozart’s Symphony No. 41 (“Jupiter”). 

Links:
* Program Notes for "Baroque Jewels" 
* The Wheeling Symphony 
* Baroque Basics 
* More about Bach and Handel 

Previously this season: 
* Wheeling Symphony & Zuill Bailey 
* Dancing with the Wheeling Symphony 

Long gone are the days in which a composer hands over a score or sheet music and says, “I wrote an opera, are you interested?” It takes too much effort on the part of these opera companies. Also, I have discovered that many artistic directors do not read music, so a score is superfluous. I made the decision to “produce my opera in order to get it produced.”

Now, I don’t have the money to actually produce an opera. I realized I needed to create a packaged product, that I could send to opera companies. I knew I had to make it as informative about the the project without the the time, money, and energy that goes into staging a new work.

So in February 2009, I created a highlights CD for voice and piano and a Listening Companion, as a guide to the music in the opera. It was a compromise between sending an opera company a full libretto and a MIDI CD and producing the entire opera on a CD.

You see, technology in music can help and hurt you. It is easier today to get a good quality recording of live voices than it was 5 years ago. Many of the professional companies look at MIDI recordings as a rough draft and are often suspect, because MIDI can play back anything, even beyond the capabilities of a human voice. Therefore, they are not always convinced that the music is playable.

I had grant money, (about $2000) from the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur to record the works. There are also grants available from the state and federal government, and they are more likely to give you money if you have a structure set up, i.e hall space, performer, an estimate from the sound engineer.  I had enough for a few singers, but I couldn't afford a full choir.

I paid singers from the College-Conservatory of Music to sing the three lead roles and a slightly lower fee to a soprano, alto, tenor, and bass to be utilized in the chorus. I invited music directors to share the news about the project with their choirs and asked for volunteers.

As a results, there were 45 choir members from eleven different churches. I rehearsed with the paid singers on a Thursday morning, and the choir on a Thursday night. We rehearsed together on a Friday, in which I placed the four singers to lead each voice section. We recorded on Saturday.
 
It was a whirlwind, but it was done...I now had a product in which I could send off to opera companies and other groups.

Here's a selection from that recording session.  Check back next week for more, in the fifth installment of "From Idea to Opera."