classical music insights

Thanks to Joël Belgique and Inés Voglar for furnishing the photos.

If you’re interested in hearing the late show from Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles, here’s the link from NPR, who broadcast the concert live on its Toast of the Nation show.  Enjoy!

Most bloggers took a look back at 2008, but I’d like to look forward, instead.  I’ll take some chances and make a few predictions of what I think will happen in 2009, and also talk about some things that I’d like to happen in 2009 as well.

First, my predictions:

1. The Oregon Symphony will finish its 2009 fiscal year stronger and in better shape than we’ve seen for at least five years.  This will be a result of Portland weathering the recession a bit better than other cities, and because of strong efforts to get people in to the hall to see the orchestra through programming and marketing strategies.

2. A critical mass in performers and presenters of new and contemporary music will start to take shape, resulting in a golden age of new kinds of interdisciplinary collaboration between organizations representing all of the arts.  Unfortunately, this will be a small ensemble phenomenon for now, so don’t look for the Portland Art Museum, Oregon Ballet Theater, Oregon Symphony, or Portland Opera to jump on the bandwagon just yet.

I’m pretty lame at predicting things, so I’ll leave my prognostication to those two areas, and cut my potential losses.

Now, my wish list:

1. For the Oregon Symphony to make a recording in an affordable fashion, distributed via 21st century methods, of the concerts featuring Thomas Svoboda’s new commission for the OSO, Vortex, as well as Brahms’ Third Symphony and Prokofiev’s Third Piano Concerto with Freddy Kempf and Carlos Kalmar.  It would be a great way to get the OSO out into the national and international eye with great repertoire, a great guest artist and conductor, and a brilliant premiere by a local composer.

2. A locally organized chamber music series featuring top local musicians in an acoustically friendly hall.

3. That people, when they find out I’m a musician in the OSO, don’t ask if it’s a full-time job, and how to I really make my living.

I’m sure that I could come up with a lot more stuff to wish for, but those are my top concerns for now.  Let me hear about your wish lists for the year ahead, musically speaking, and get the comment thread buzzing!

photo: © Charles Noble

This year Heather and I will be ringing in the new year with Pink Martini at Walt Disney Concert Hall in Los Angeles, presented by the LA Philharmonic.  We’ll be part of the Harvey Rosencranz Orchestra, the extra complement of strings that Pink sometimes hauls out of Portland for big shows.

photo: Adam Levy

The last HRO gig I did out of town was playing two Carnegie Hall shows and taping the David Letterman Show in NYC.  This year’s travelling show should be fun as well.

I’ll post pictures and a summary of the day’s events upon my return.  See you next year!

Ilkka Talvi

Ilkka Talvi, former concertmaster of the Seattle Symphony, writes a nice blog (Of Music & Men) as well as doing a lot of high level teaching in the Seattle area.  He recently signed up for the new Berlin Philharmonic Digital Concert Hall series of concerts, and here’s what he writes about the experience:

Inspired by the success of the Metropolitan Opera’s broadcasts to movie theaters worldwide, the Berlin Philharmonic recently decided to start broadcasting their concerts live via the Internet, for a fee of course. First such concert will take place in about a week. I decided to give my wife and myself a delayed holiday present and for about $130 get to listen and watch in High Definition the rest of the season, plus all the archived concerts from this fall. So far, we only had time for the First Symphony of Brahms and No. 92, the “Oxford”, by Haydn. The latter was played with a small chamber orchestra, usually a disaster when such attempts are made with players from large symphony orchestras. Not this one: the first and second violins played immaculately together in spite of being seated on opposite sides of the stage. Of course one must remember that the Berlin Philharmonic Hall has its stage close to the middle of the audience, and the lack of corners amplifying percussion and the brass instruments, such as the horns, take away the dangerous echo-chamber effect. These musicians play as if they are enjoying chamber music. Sir Rattle didn’t have to micro-manage his players, in fact much of the time he was just smiling and making motions that didn’t resemble a metronome’s beat but rather an inspiration to the musicians. The Brahms was just as exquisite: it is hard to imagine any other orchestra feeling and performing the piece just right. For that the cello and viola sections traded places. The double basses were behind the second violins, the principals in the middle of the section. The cameras are all remote controlled and completely unobtrusive, even difficult to see.

Just listening to and watching the principal flautist of the evening Emmanuel Pahud would have been worth the entire year’s subscription fee. What an incredible musician he is! In the Haydn the fastest runs were like child’s play. Most of the time Mr. Pahud played with little or no vibrato, with the cleanest sound and intonation, just the way I picture a great flute player doing. Yet in the Brahms in an exposed melody the sweetest vibrato appeared, almost bringing tears to my eyes, and I thought I didn’t even like orchestra music! It was interesting to see rotary-valve trumpets being used. Mr. Yasunaga’s violin solo was pristine and the audience gave him a well-deserved applause. What a pleasure to look at violinists who all use the same part of the bow and who don’t make any unnecessary motions, their leader least of them all. None of the ladies acted like exhibitionists or “eye candy”. With some many audience members seeing his face, Mr. Rattle couldn’t give dirty looks but neither was there any need for them. At the of the Brahms, the orchestra just stood up, without feeling the need to face the audience with a forced smile. These were all music loving people, not local Madoff-type donors expecting to be bowed down to. What a different experience this was! I can hardly wait to see the orchestra again on my 24-inch hi-def monitor and good sound system. We have the best seats in the house, even when concerts are sold out as they often are, and get to listen to great soloists who don’t want to bother with our Homeland Security’s ridiculous visa rules and thus often remain unknown to us.

Like our President John F. Kennedy did 45 years ago, I want to stand up and proclaim: “Ich bin ein Berliner”.

Our newest cat Figgy on Christmas Eve…

moar funny pictures

I’ll be posting after the new year - hope you and yours have a safe and happy holiday season!