It’s about 3:00 p.m. on Friday afternoon, and at this morning’s rehearsal we in the orchestra were given the brochures for the 2008-2009 season of the Oregon Symphony.
Here are my first impressions, literally written on the spot with little or no forethought (just like usual, I know…):
The design of the brochure seems cleaner than in previous seasons. The layout of the various series is also much clearer than in years past. All of Classical A is on one page, all of Classical B on the next. Very nice – because any moment of confusion might cost some ticket sales. People don’t want to think, especially if it’s an impulse buy (I know, I know, for most of us plunking down a minimum of $224 for both the A + B classical series is far from an impulse purchase, but it IS give giving time – symphony subscriptions make great Valentine’s Day gifts – and for a good number of our patrons, $250 isn’t a huge amount of money to spend for a whole season of symphonic goodness).
The promotion for the Itzhak Perlman concerts is brilliant – if you buy both series in subscription, you get a free ticket or tickets to the Perlman concerts (presumably with the same seat choice). Plus, if you only want A or B, you can add the Perlman on to the existing roster of concerts. Good move.
It’s a very minor quibble, but the photos of the orchestra include some close-ups of people who are either no longer in the orchestra, or were one-year substitutes. It’s not that we don’t love them, but I think that, whenever possible, the photos of the members of the orchestra should be up-to-date.
Ok, enough of that – here are some of what I think will be the highlights of the next season:
To make it a bit more concise, I’ll lump in comments by either soloists’ instrument(s) or by composer.
Violinists
We’ve got some great violinists coming next season: Jennifer Koh, Itzhak Perlman, Joshua Bell, Baiba Skribe, and our own concertmaster Jun Iwasaki.
I’m really looking forward to Jennifer Koh’s Brahms Violin Concerto since it’s one of my favorite violin concertos, and she’s a terrific young fiddle player.
Joshua Bell hasn’t been here for some time, and he’s playing another great concerto which I’ve never heard him play, either live or on recording, the Mendelssohn violin concerto. That will be great fun.
Baiba Skribe is far from a household name here in America, but she’s making waves in Europe already. I heard her play on a radio broadcast of the Shostakovich 2nd Violin Concerto on KBPS-FM, and it was amazing! To hear her play the Tchaikovsky violin concerto (also not done here recently) will be a great treat, I’m sure.
And Itzhak Perlman will perform the 1st concerto of J.S. Bach as well as conduct a full program – more on that later.
Pianists
The coming season brings Stephen Hough, Freddy Kempf, Garrick Ohlsson, Valentina Lisitsa, Thomas Lauderdale, and Horacio Gutiérrez. What a line-up!
I’m particularly looking forward to the return of audience and orchestra favorite Stephen Hough, who, as usual brings unusual repertoire – this time the Tchaikovsky Second Concerto (has anyone ever heard other than the First concerto?).
I’m also looking forward to hearing Valentina Lisitsa play the Grieg Concerto at a concert she’s actually been booked to play, rather than filling in at the last moment – she’s a great pianist who sounds better and better each time she visits.
Freddy Kempf electrified the audience and the orchestra with his virtuosity in Prokofiev’s Second Concerto (which he learned specially for the occasion) a few seasons ago, now he returns with the beloved Prokofiev Third Concerto – that will be loads of fun.
Thomas Lauderdale is best known as the frontman/pianist for the local phenomenon Pink Martini, but he’s also a very, very good classically-trained pianist. He has long had a special affinity for the Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue – in my opinion he offers one of the most compelling interpretations of this great standard that I’ve ever heard – so his performance of the Concerto in F should also be exceptional.
Last, and certainly not least, the pianist/rock star Lang Lang will open our next season with the Rachmaninoff Second Concerto – this guy is currently the reigning enfant terrible of the classical music world, and truly has the capricious ways of a pop idol – Schnitzer Hall will definitely be the place to be for classical music lovers in the know that night – I can’t wait to experience the Lang Lang phenomenon.
Vocal Works
We’ve got some vocal works to look forward to as well. Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony will open the season, along with the Vaughan Williams Serenade to Music, which is for a large ensemble of solo singers – both will definitely test and show off our own Portland Symphonic Choir. Two of my favorite pieces which feature soprano will also be performed: Barber’s Knoxville, Summer of 1915 and Mahler’s Fourth Symphony.
Orchestral Works
Here’s my list of what made my ears perk up: Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 3, Dvorak Symphony No. 6, Strauss Dance of the Seven Veils, Mozart Symphonies Nos. 36 and 40, Bruckner Symphony No. 7, and Sibelius Symphony No. 1.
“Contemporary” Works
As for new or newish pieces – I’m really looking forward to the Stravinsky Symphony in C, which is one of the jewels of his neo-classical period. The Chairman Dances of John Adams is also a welcome return visitor to our stage. Aaron Jay Kernis’s Too Hot Toccata should entertain audiences while simultaneously making the orchestra sweat and pant. Hugely popular (and critically acclaimed) composer Oswaldo Golijov finally has a work performed by the OSO: Last Round – it’s about time! A world premiere by Thomas Svoboda – Vortex for Orchestra, is a welcome and much-needed addition to a largely conservative season – I wish we did more major premieres.
So, that’s that – my initial responses to the 2008-2009 season, I was literally flipping through the brochure as I was typing this – from my brain to your eyes with no filter in sight.
In my next post I’ll cover the remainder of the series (Pops, Specials, Kids, and Inside the Score).