]]> tag:weblogs.baltimoresun.com,2009:/entertainment/classicalmusic//330.220182 2009-11-05T15:46:28Z 2009-11-05T22:22:58Z

Our presidents typically don't have a lot of interest in classical music. Sure, our Chief Executives -- more likely, their First Ladies -- will attend the occasional performance in a concert hall or opera house (especially when there's not much choice, as when they're on state visits to other countries), and there will be periodic appearances by classical artists at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. But we're not talking a real high priority for most administrations.

So Wednesday's focus on classical music at the White House, attended by 120 school kids during the day and a crowd of cultural and political types in the evening, was a welcome gesture.

I'm not expecting a massive trickle-down effect that, given the personal popularity of the Obamas and whatever press exposure the day generated, will translate magically into increased music education and attendance at classical music events around the country.

But this classical music day had considerable significance. As pianist Awadagin Pratt said to me after the midday concert for the students, "to have the office of the President support this -- you can't beat that."

Unfortunately, the press did not have access to the workshops/master classes that were given throughout the White House for the students by Pratt, violinist Joshua Bell, cellist Alisa Weilerstein and guitarist Sharon Isbin.

But we got to hear the day's two performances in the East Room. I reported earlier on the afternoon one, introduced and attended by Michelle Obama.

Her husband was back from a trip to Wisconsin that day in time to join her and their daughters for the evening performance. The audience included some notable classical music figures. Baltimore Symphony music director Marin Alsop was accompanied by the orchestra's president/CEO Paul Meecham.

Violinist Daniel Heifetz, who runs the excellent Heifetz International Music Institute each summer (it used to be in Annapolis and relocated to New Hampshire several years ago), was there with his wife Janne. I also spotted Kennedy Center president Michael Kaiser. And from the acting world, Edward Norton.

The President's senior advisor David Axelrod was up front, chatting before the concert with Sen. Bayh. In his introductory remarks, President Obama welcomed "the many members of Congress who've joined us tonight -- despite what you may have heard, they are actually a civilized bunch."

After describing "a busy day of classical music here at the White House," the president had some kindly advice that drew several laughs. "If any of you in the audience are newcomers to classical music, and aren’t sure when to applaud,

]]> don’t be nervous. Apparently, President Kennedy had the same problem. He and Jackie held several classical music events here, and more than once he started applauding when he wasn’t supposed to. So the social secretary worked out a system where she’d signal him ... Now, fortunately, I have Michelle to tell me when to applaud. The rest of you are on your own."

As it turned out, there were no multi-movement pieces on the program, so the issue of applause never really arose. That program, a mix of styles and sounds, didn't quite add up to a cohesive statement about classical music or its rewards, but there was consistent warmth to the music-making (if not truly outstanding playing from any of the evening's stars).

Isbin started things off with a gently shaded account of Albeniz's "Asturias." Pratt seemed determined to prove President Obama's observation, in the opening remarks, that classical music involves "precision, of course; but there’s also great feeling and improvisation. There’s structure; but there’s also creativity." The pianist certainly played with great feeling, and there was even a sense of the improvisatory as he tore into his own arrangement of Bach's C minor Passacaglia, which took a fanciful turn near the end when Pratt threw in references to other pieces, drawing chuckles with a snippet of "Hail to the Chief."

The day's earlier focus on music students resonated in this concert when Weilerstein repeated her collaborations from the afternoon concert with two very promising young players. Sujari Britt, 8, again revealed delightful technical assurance and warm phrasing in a bit of Boccherini. And Jason Yoder again backed Weilerstein's plangent cello solo in Saint-Saens' "The Swan" with beautifully articulated accompaniment on the marimba. Those two duos earned standing ovations, led by the First Family. On her own, Weilerstein tackled the over-long finale to Kodaly's Sonata for unaccompanied cello with technical and expressive power.

Bell got a chance to make up for his flub in the afternoon during Paganini's "Cantabile," playing it effortlessly and charmingly with Isbin accompanying. The violinist also turned in a typically colorful performance of Ravel's "Tzigane," with Pratt providing mostly smooth work at the keyboard. Bell, Weilerstein and Pratt provided a passionate close to the evening, generating quite a few sparks in the finale of Mendelssohn's D minor Trio. (The whole concert will be broadcast on Sirius XM Satellite Radio at 6 p.m. Friday.)

At the beginning of the evening, President Obama talked about the long history of music in the East Room, mentioning that the first formal concert to be held there was during the administration of Chester Arthur (an operatic program). He made a telling point of noting that, while the audience Wednesday night in the East Room was enjoying the proceedings, "all across America, in community centers and concert halls, in homes and in schools, the sounds of classical music are lifting hearts and spurring imagination, just as they always have. And it’s easy to understand why ... It’s music that defies simple definition even as it speaks to a common, universal language."

It's a message I hope we hear more often, and even more loudly, from the White House.

PHOTOS OF GUITARIST SHARON ISBIN, CELLISTS SUJARI BRITT/ALISA WEILERSTEIN AND ACTOR EDWARD NORTON BY AFP/GETTY; PHOTO OF MRS. OBAMA SHAKING HANDS AS SHE LEAVES THE EAST ROOM TAKEN BY YOUR HUMBLE BLOGGER

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Slatkin, 65, was treated for "heart problems" and has canceled several concerts, but expects to be back on the podium in Detroit in a few weeks.

Previous entries in this White House initiative, aimed at drawing increased attention to the need for arts education, have featured jazz, country and Latin music.

Unlike any number of other prodigies, Midori developed steadily and deeply as a musician. Today, at 38, she remains in a class by herself. Her remarkable artistic maturity was reaffirmed Sunday evening in her thoroughly arresting Shriver Hall Concert Series debut.

She opened her program with the rather elusive Hindemith's E-flat major Sonata (Op. 11, No. 1), and proceeded to limn its subtle expressive power eloquently, supported ably by pianist Robert McDonald. Midori's pinpoint intonation, subtly controlled vibrato and poetic phrasing proved equally telling in Brahms' G major Sonata -- just the gentle way the violinist entered the musical dialog was in itself remarkably beautiful and affecting. I would have liked to hear more tonal richness and personality from McDonald in the Brahms work (and elsewhere in the program, for that matter), but the smoothness and clarity of his partnering held its own rewards.

The violinist produced a wealth of atmospheric coloring in

But the summit in this recital of Alpine peaks came when when she had the stage to her herself (along with the overflow from the sold-out house sitting there) for Bach's unaccompanied G minor Sonata. Here, Midori cast quite a spell with her blend of sterling virtuosity and vividly poetic phrasing. Even coughing and other assorted distractions in the audience could not distract from such intensely soulful music-making. (This wasn't the finest hour for the Shriver crowd. In addition -- Midori and McDonald had to wait for a persistent cell phone to be silenced before even starting the recital).

For an encore, the duo offered a delectable account of Kreisler's "Syncopation," a piece that sounds like a cross-pollination of Johann Strauss and Scott Joplin.

PHOTO BY TIMOTHY GREENFIELD-SANDERS COURTESY OF KATHRYN KING MEDIA

The program had a curious start. The Peabody Concert Orchestra assembled in front of the altar to play the short Overture to "Die Fledermaus" by Johann Strauss. A splash of Viennese operetta is just about the last thing I'd expect to hear on a grand occasion in a cathedral. Maybe the approach of Halloween had something to do with it -- the operetta's English title, after all, is "The Bat." Maybe somebody simply wanted a brief, ear-grabbing piece to get things rolling.

Mind you, the Strauss wouldn't have seemed so out of place had it been followed by music at least remotely in the same vein. Instead, the evening continued with

If there had to be an orchestral kick-off, I might have gone for Beethoven's "Fidelio" Overture, or maybe a colorful orchestral arrangement of something by Bach. Then again, given the considerable length of Twynham's work, I would have skipped the orchestral lead-in -- or turned to the other Strauss, Richard, and settled for his two-minute intro to "Also Sprach Zarathustra," which would have provided one more use for the cathedral's organ.

As for the brush with "Fledermaus," it would have been more enjoyable in a less reverberant space; many a detail in the scoring disappeared in the acoustical haze. But conductor Hajime Teri Murai was in typically energetic mode, and he drew spirited playing from the ensemble, which then filed off to await the Saint-Saens assignment on the second half of the concert.

Twynham's "Magnificat" resonates with several stylistic influences, among them Durufle, and does not quite add up to a totally individualistic statement. But the writing for voices and the organ is colorful, and such moments as the descending harmonies in the "Quia Respixit" movement and the lilting rhythmic motion of "Suscepit Israel" are particularly effective. Some intonation slips aside, the Cathedral Choir, directed by Daniel J. Sansone, sang well; Katherine H. Hunt was the solid organist. The audience rewarded the composer with a sustained ovation.

The Saint-Saens symphony had to fight the same acoustical battle as the overture; cathedrals just aren't kind to orchestras. But Murai conveyed the dramatic parts of the music with considerable power and allowed the slow movement to unfold spaciously. Sansone brought a combination of sensitivity and panache to the organ solos, letting the instrument really rip in the finale. 

She's in Baltimore rehearsing for Friday's premiere of "Songspiel," a show built around Kurt Weill songs and created for her by the American Opera Theater.

Here's a fun video clip of McNair demonstrating her transition from opera to cabaret:

Now you know not to trust me about anything. Except my impeccable judgment and good taste, that is.

Anyway, my review, if you still care (and even if you don't), is in Saturday's paper. To reiterate, the combination of Spano and the BSO really was notable Thursday night, and I am sure Saturday's Off the Cuff concert focusing on "Scheherazade" will be well worth catching (Spano will chat about the work before leading a complete performance).

What impressed me greatly Thursday was

I also should note again how powerful Leila Josefowicz was in the Adams Violin Concerto, one of the most substantive additions to the repertoire of the past few decades. It's a fascinating work, with so many things packed into it, a journey propelled by darkly beautiful harmonies and often arresting rhythmic motion. It was great to hear such challenging -- and rewarding -- music so vividly performed.

No one I know of has ever slowed down just before the coda to punch out each of the chords, for example (around 5:50 on this audio clip). There are many other distinctive touches, too, including his shaping of the great, arcing melodic line that rises and falls in the strings early on in the overture (starting at 1:43); Mitropoulos has the strings accent the descending notes of the theme in such a way as to bring out an extra layer of inner torment.

This is not just a live recording, but a fully alive performance, and a demonstration of inspired conducting.

For comparison purposes, I've followed the Mitropoulos clip with a recording by the legendary Arturo Toscanini, which has its own considerable appeal -- you won't ever hear me knocking Toscanini -- and provides a faithful account of the printed score. Note the smoother descending string line at 1:32 and the normal steady push of the pre-coda chords at 5:35.

I don't expect everyone to agree with me that Mitropoulous is supreme in the "Forza" Overture, but I hope you'll grant that this is one mighty blast from the past: 1:32 on Toscanini)]]>

]]> tag:weblogs.baltimoresun.com,2009:/entertainment/classicalmusic//330.219352 2009-10-30T11:31:35Z 2009-10-30T14:57:00Z

Not long after I arrived in Baltimore in 2000 (you thought you'd been suffering from me for a lot longer than nine years, didn't you?), I started asking why certain music and certain musicians didn't seem to turn up at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. I often got shrugs or vague answers from some of the folks who were running the show over there at the time.

One name I remember asking about was Robert Spano, the conductor who had hit the radar big-time in New York for his adventurous programming as music director of the Brooklyn Philharmonic and who was tapped by the Atlanta Symphony in 2001. It seemed to me back then that Baltimore should be hearing what the fuss was all about. I'm happy to report that we have that opportunity this week. (UPDATE: Just learned that Spano first led the BSO out at Oregon Ridge in 1991 and returned in 1999 to conduct a program at Meyerhoff. I'm surprised it took a decade before he was got back.) 

Spano is here leading

]]> a colorful program that surrounds a major contemporary work -- the Violin Concerto by John Adams -- with two war horses, Rimsky-Korsakov's "Scheherazade" and Stravinsky's "Firebird" Suite. If you know what's good for you, you won't miss it.

Thursday night's performance at the Meyerhoff found Spano generating music-making of exceptional beauty and power in those two standard scores (concertmaster Jonathan Carney outdid himself in the "Scheherazade" solos), and providing supple support for brilliant violinist Leila Josefowicz in the concerto. I'll be writing a more detailed and maybe even cogent review later on today, but I wanted to get the word out early.

The full program repeats Friday night; the Adams and Stravinsky pieces will be played at the Casual Concert Saturday morning; "Scheherazade" is the focus of Saturday night's Off-the-Cuff concert.

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But none of that seems to have stuck. Besides, I think everyone agrees that Rattle has done wonders in the area of educational and community outreach with the Philharmonic (including on tour), and that's exceptionally valuable. There's obviously a lot of potential left in the relationship between one of the world's most gifted conductors and one of the world most sensational orchestras.

To salute the new contract, here's a taste of Rattle and the Philharmonic in action. First, the conclusion of "Brigg Fair: An English Rhapsody" by Frederick Delius -- a composer, I suspect, the Berliners had little or no experience with until Rattle arrived. (We could use more exposure to Delius around here, too, but that's another story.) And then, as a reminder that Rattle and his ensemble can make beautiful German music together, too, the sublime "Liebestod" from Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde": ]]>

]]> tag:weblogs.baltimoresun.com,2009:/entertainment/classicalmusic//330.219141 2009-10-28T21:48:04Z 2009-10-28T22:09:41Z

According the the AP, Pochinki "was talking to the organizers of the Las Vegas premiere of Michael Jackson's film 'This Is It' when she was arrested at a swank Manhattan restaurant for yelling into her cell phone."

The opera singer was being invited by Jackson's family to sing at the Las Vegas premiere of the movie when she talked so loudly that restaurant employees complained. She didn't even notice their requests for her to tone it down, so they did the only sensible thing.

"They ... noticed that I was an opera singer and they applauded, they relaxed a bit," she told the AP. "When I was leaving, they asked me to sing one more song ... It was the nicest thing."

The soprano ultimately had praise for the justice system in this country, calling it "good" and "correct."