Now Playing

I've been listening to a new recording of David Macbride's works for solo piano played by the composer on the Albany label. The first two tracks are sonatas written "after Scarlatti," and they manage to combine the vibrancy and energy of Scarlatti sonatas infused with a modern, jazzy edge. I remember attending a private performance at the composer's home in Hartford soon after these pieces were completed (about eight years ago). Prof. Macbride performed his new works alongside Scarlatti's (although I've forgotten now exactly which sonatas he chose), underscoring his use of the Baroque works as pivot points for his own compositions.

The sonatas are followed by a more introspective work, Still Night Thoughts. For Watson Morrison is a short piece written for a former teacher of mine and captures his personality (optimism tinged with sadness) beautifully. I only studied with Dr. Morrison for one year, yet I often find myself repeating his many caveats to my students ("Five minutes of performance are worth five hours of practice" is one of my favorites). For Wen-Chao Macbride is dedicated to the composer's mother, and assuming her picture is the one gracing the CD's cover, she was quite striking (sort of a Chinese Elizabeth Taylor).

The disc closes with Chartres, a large-scale work in three movements. Maybe I've been exposed to too much Lachenmann lately, but I did notice some similarities, particularly in "Mazes." The recording is available on Naxos' music library site, however you must be a member to listen.

SICPP 2008

For various reasons (injuries, gigs, time constraints, general loss of sanity, etc.) I was not able to participate in Sick Puppy this year. I was so disappointed to not be performing that I almost avoided the festival altogether, but at the last minute, I decided to drop by NEC for the last few days. It turned out to be a good decision- I reconnected with many friends and acquaintances (who all looked exhausted- I was no longer so envious of the festival participants) and heard some fantastic performances.
Although I unfortunately missed the masterclass and recital of guest pianist Aki Takahashi earlier in the week, I was able familiarize myself with guest composer Jo Kondo's music in the remaining days of SICPP. I had previously been unfamiliar with his work but appreciated many of the pieces I was introduced to. He presided over the final masterclass on Friday, which concluded with a question and answer session in which Kondo shared his history as a composer, his quest to create an "ambiguously ambiguous" music, and the perceived relationship between his compositions and Japanese folk traditions. One of my favorite pieces was his Strands II. Scored for three pianists in unison, Kondo was inspired by formal Japanese dances performed simultaneously by several people, and talked about the spatial implications of one sound or movement performed by many at the same time.
I managed to catch a large portion of the traditional "Iditarod"- the marathon concert that closes the festival each year. The inclusion of fewer solo pieces in favor of chamber works was a noticeable variation from past years, something the performers seemed to enjoy. The majority of the composers represented at the concert were participants in the compositional component of SICPP, and of course, six pieces by Jo Kondo were performed.
For more on the entire week, see Classical Drone.

Countdown

My lack of posting is due to sheer exhaustion. I'm counting the days until the end of my teaching and playing responsibilities for this academic year, which has seemed about 3 times longer than usual. I'm looking forward to hours of uninterrupted practice time this summer. In the meantime, I've been sorting through some older recordings, some of which I've posted on my Myspace page. More to come soon.



Now playing: eighth blackbird's CD of the music of Frederic Rzewski's music, Fred. I've heard some of the usual gripes with their typical "arranging" of the pieces. To me, the overall effect of works like Les Moutons des Panurge is still impressive.

Gmin7

I'm just beginning to emerge from the funk that somehow manages to overtake me every year during this season. I'm with whomever wrote the song - spring can really hang you up the most.

My improvement in mood has been helped by preparations for upcoming gigs. The inevitable end-of-year accompanying jobs have actually proved to be somewhat interesting this time. I've particularly enjoyed learning Boris Blacher's Divertimento for Trumpet, Trombone and Piano (although I haven't actually rehearsed with any brass players yet, so my thoughts on the piece might yet change). I had never even heard of the composer, but now I'm curious about his other chamber works and solo piano music. The part is tonal and fairly sparse with some jazzy quirks. It's a bit like Hindemith without all the pesky counterpoint. The sixth of seven movements is written for piano solo, with a left hand ostinato of quarter note thirds that step up and back down, separated by beats of rest. The extremely slow tempo makes it the work's longest movement (still only around 2 minutes). I've concentrated on making the ostinato completely regular, like a traffic light blinking intermittently over an empty intersection in an imaginary Hopper painting.

Streets of Philadelphia

A photo from this weekend's quick sojourn to Philly. I didn't see any ladies in bonnets (except for those working at the Pennsylvania Dutch bakeries), but this is just one example remnant of the city's former glory. I discovered many leftovers from its days of high society, including a 1780s pianoforte from London (with all the original ivories!) in the historical home of Dr. Physick, inventor of soda.

Now playing: Music by Philadelphia composer (and R. Serkin grandson) David Ludwig from instant encore.

Now eating: Leftover cha-soba from last night's dinner at Morimoto (the original...and it's purportedly better than the Chelsea location). I also had a lovely experience at another Stephen Starr restaurant, Alma de Cuba.

Day of Berio

Last weekend in NY was packed with opportunities to hear new music: Crumb at the Miller, Corigliano in Brooklyn, and the NY Phil's Day of Berio.

I chose to attend the 4 hour marathon concert of complete Sequenzas on Saturday afternoon at the Rose Theater. The Phil presented an entire day of Berio's music, beginning with the screening of a documentary on the composer followed by a panel discussion with experts including his last wife. The Sequenzas matinee was then followed by the orchestra's performance of Sinfonia in the evening.

Theoretically it sounded like a fantastic idea: an all-day symposium encompassing the composer's greatest chamber and orchestral works. However, I was immediately suspicious of the Phil's motives. The day seemed like a way to appease critics that accuse the orchestra of being stodgy in their lack of new music presentations without having much affect on regular season performances. To be fair, the orchestra's tribute will continue with performances of his Folk Songs (featuring Dawn Upshaw as on the Golijov Ayre CD) and Renderings later this season. The afternoon concert seemed quite well-attended.

I'm not sure how many die-hard Berio fans made it to the Rose by 11 am for the documentary, but I was not among them. By the more reasonable hour of 2 pm, attendance for the Sequenzas concert was surprisingly ample. The 14 pieces were grouped into "mini-concerts" of 4 or 5 works between intermissions. The highlights for me were the performances of bassoonist Martin Kuuskmann, pianist Amy Briggs Dissanayake and trombonist Shacar Israel's over-the-top theatrical rendition of the trombone Sequenza that went above and beyond the composer's instructions. I also thought Stanley Drucker had a beautiful sound until my resident clarinet expert filled me in on his divergences from the score.

It was an exciting event and fantastic opportunity to hear Berio's solo contributitions to the repertoire of each instrument in one sitting. However, I realized about 2 hours in that it's possible to have too much of a good thing and OD on Berio. I may have stepped out to spend a few minutes browsing in Montmartre and J.Crew downstairs, or I may not have. I'll never tell.

You'd Better Work

I've been fascinated by the intersection between music and fashion for nearly my entire life. The musician and model connection is fairly obvious (Iman and David Bowie, Christie Brinkley and Billy Joel [for a while, anyway], Heidi Klum and Seal, etc.), but the relationship between contemporary classical music and fashion is a bit more obscure. I see a lot of black clothing, hipster glasses and corduroy jackets in my line of work. One Boston ensemble insists on playing their concerts in jeans and white shirts- and we're not talking J Brand or Rock & Republic either- sadly, it's closer to Wrangler.

Fellow blogger Clownsilly (via Alex Ross) demonstrated his similar interests in a recent post on Boulez's hair. Perhaps someday he'll follow the example of a former presidential candidate and finally lose the combover. The Newsweek cover shot of the composer wearing what appears to be an orange onesie is also brilliant.

In other fashion news, I recently discovered that Carmen Webber from Project Runway works at ABC Carpet & Home (the one on the east side of Broadway). She seemed much happier to be there than she ever looked on the show.

All Hail The Queen

Of American contemporary pianists, that is.

Amidst preparations for my own performance, I haven't had a chance to write about Ursula Oppens's recital of the complete piano works of Elliott Carter at Symphony Space. The audience was practically a who's who of musicians, a score-toting bunch that included many familiar faces, some that I hadn't seen in years. [An aside about the scores: why? I understand that the details of Carter are not easily grasped without a map, even when played by someone with the amazing precision of touch and rhythm Ms. Oppens possesses; but one audience member nearly ruined my concertgoing experience with the sheer volume of his page turning. Why not just buy a recording rather than spend the entire evening with your nose buried in a score?]

I was completely inspired by Ms. Oppens's total control of the instrument, particularly in Carter's pianistic tour de force, Night Fantasies. Her performance of the early jazz-inspired Piano Sonata was also exhilarating. Mr. Carter was in attendance, and although I couldn't actually see him, a swarm of admirers near the stage assured me of his presence. A video of Retrouvailles, a delicious morsel written for Boulez's birthday using themes from the Esprit Rude/Esprit Doux pieces, appeared on YouTube remarkably quickly after the concert. This was the first in what looks to be a season of Carter celebrations leading up to his 100th birthday this December. As I expected, Ms. Oppens has set the bar incredibly high.

Masters of the Keyboard

After watching Rob Kapilow's lecture about Verklärte Nacht on PBS last week, I wandered over to the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center's web page. There I discovered several other installments in the series available for viewing including Bach's Italian Concerto featuring harpsichordist Bradley Brookshire. I highly recommend it for both dilettantes and musicians (although professionals may want to skip ahead to the performance following the lecture if you're pressed for time).

I'm very excited to hear Ursula Oppens negotiate the complete solo works of Carter at Symphony Space this Thursday. Check back for the rundown.

Gerald Barry at Columbia

Friday's concert at the Miller Theatre featuring works of Gerald Barry was my introduction to the Irishman's music. His relative anonymity in the States evidently kept the audience away, as the hall was only half full, even with a last-ditch effort to offer 2-for-1 tickets. Unfortunately those who weren't in attendance missed some spectacular performances.

By the end of the evening, I had become a fan of the composer's intriguing and unique style. I found his onstage conversation with George Steel particularly interesting. Refreshingly awkward about discussing his own works, Barry nonetheless managed to provide entertaining insights into the pieces on the program and his compositional style in general. When asked about his penchant for incorporating "found materials" into his works, i.e., music previously composed by others and himself, Barry was candid about his belief that everything can be considered raw material, no matter how seemingly banal. He even compared his use of these scraps to a highly evolved version of dumpster diving - one person's trash is another's treasure.

Pianist Molly Morkoski, the artistic director of the event, did a superb job throughout. The highlight was her world premiere of a new work, Los Angeles, commissioned by Betty Freeman. Paul Griffiths, in the accompanying program notes, asserted that the piece has little or nothing to do with its namesake. However, the composer disputed this claim during the interview portion of the evening, calling the work a "hymn to Hollywood" and describing images of crackling celluloid as his inspiration. The pianist becomes a singer for an extended portion of the piece, a setting of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star," including the seldom heard second and third verses. The work's beautiful closing section seemed a distant cousin to the Minuet from Bach's G Major Partita.

The piece that opened the concert's second half, "_______ (straight line)" was also made infinitely more accessible by Barry's discussion of two muses seemingly at odds with each other: the starkness of Rothko's paintings on one hand, and the elaborate scalar passages of Tchaikovsky on the other. Both inspirations were evident in the piece, which included an extended pppp duet showcasing the considerable talents of clarinetist Carol McGonnell.

The evening concluded with Barry's Piano Quartet No. 2. Like many of his works, it featured quick shifts in mood and texture (which to me seemed an extreme version of Stravinsky's rapid cross-cutting style) with frequent doubling of parts. To safely negotiate the extensive forearm clusters required in the opening piano solo, Morkoski donned protective black striped arm warmers, the perfect intersection of fashion and function.

Baited Breath

I know you're all expecting a recap of SICPP. But as my mom always says, if you can't say anything nice...
This is probably why I turned out to be a generally quiet person.
I have no derogatory comments whatsoever about the festival itself, and only the highest praise for its director Steve Drury and his wife Yukiko Tagaki, both of whom are my pianistic idols. Unfortunately it's difficult to know before sitting down to make music with someone what the result will be. In the past I've loved playing with people I detested and hated playing with people I loved. It's rather like dating. You shop around for a person with whom you work well; and when you finally find them, it's better if they don't suffer from halitosis.

I Think I'll Go to Boston...

Cosmic forces seem to be uniting in an attempt to prevent me from traveling. Barring any further catastrophes, I'll soon be on my way to the Summer Institute for Contemporary Performance (SICPP, or "Sick Puppy"...an accurate description of myself today). I'll do my best to update my blog if I can locate a wireless connection. The week will be extremely busy but I'm looking forward to a luxury I've been craving intensely: uninterrupted practice hours free from the encroachments of reality. And of course, the original Filene's Basement.

Pendulum Music

"I don't think it is the function of art to be pleasing. Art is not democratic. It is not for the people." - Richard Serra

Turmoil, Carnage, Necessary Voodoo

Björk: Volta
The word on the street is that this latest release from the Icelandic queen of experimental pop is not her most inspired work. While I would agree that the album is quite uneven, it contains sparks of greatness: the collaborations with Timbaland on “Earth Intruders” and “Innocence” (I half expect to hear Nelly Furtado and JT pop out of the mix on that track every time) and the reminiscences of 1995's Post on “I See Who You Are” and “Wanderlust”. Overall, there are too many bland moments and droning horns, recalling the dull sepia world of Dancer in the Dark prior to the musical factory scene where Björk and Catherine Deneuve dance around like Laverne and Shirley. That said, I must admit that I’ve listened to “Earth Intruders” approximately 572 times and hope Björkestra plans to add it to their repertoire.

Weaving Japanese Sounds

Pianist Sachiko Kato organized a concert of "new and newer" music last night at the Tenri Cultural Institute. Familiar names like Ichiyanagi and Satoh represented the older generation of Japanese composers, while more recent works by Moto Osada and Dai Fujikura rounded out the program.

Osada's piece Take the Six for marimba and electronics was a musical portrait of New York City, opening with street sounds and progressing to a percussive contest between man and machine "representing humans' fight in keeping up with ever-evolving technology." Although Greg Giannascoli made an impressive effort navigating the very difficult marimba part, I think it's safe to say that technology ultimately triumphed. The unrelenting perpetual motion of the electronics was similar to the music of street percussionists who perform underground, calling to mind a crowded subway station full of sweaty commuters on a sultry summer day.

I've been enamored with Somei Satoh's compositions for quite some time after having been introduced to them though Margaret Leng Tan's recordings. I was looking forward to hearing his Toki no Mon for violin, piano and percussion. Unfortunately the violinist Airi Yoshioka was not up to the task of providing the shimmering tone this extremely static music requires. Her playing was much better suited to the last piece on the program, Dai Fujikura's Unaccountable Espressivo for piano trio.

Although I found the first of Mari Takano's Two Chansons to be a bit grating, I enjoyed the touches of ironic humor she employed in the second song (complete with tongue-clicking sounds from both soprano and pianist). Koto virtuoso Masayo Ishigure performed, along with percussionist Matthew Gold, a relatively new work for a very ancient instrument by Akira Nishimura. My favorite piece of the evening was Ichiyanagi's Two Existences for two pianos. The work is full of conversational echo effects, which Kato and Blair McMillen handled beautifully while playing on instruments of incongruent lengths and tone qualities.

Favorite pre-concert activity: peeking in the windows of the doggy-gym next door to the Tenri.
Favorite post-concert activity: pinky mimosas at Spice.

Zorn-athon

In recognition of John Zorn's collection of yet another award (enough already! we know he's a genius), the Miller Theatre programmed a marathon concert of his works last Thursday. And they meant marathon. Seriously.

I had heard the man himself on previous occasions, but several of his compositions on the program were new to me. The concert opened with some klezmer-inspired selections from Masada Book Two: Music from the Book of Angels. The Masada String Trio performed first, followed by arrangements for rock trio. Although completely different, both versions were captivating, and the drummer for second group (Rashanim) was spectacular.

The middle set commenced with Sortilege for two bass clarinets, which I'm sure involved many technical complexities completely beyond my comprehension. It sounded quite tricky. For me, the highlight of the evening was hearing Steve Drury play Carny live. The piece is a quilt-like pastiche that uses a cut-and-paste technique to juxtapose bits of original material side by side with quotes from existing works, in varying styles ranging from Mozart to boogie-woogie piano riffs. You can listen to Drury's extraordinary recording, as well as music by hundreds of other American composers, here at Art of the States.

Maybe it was the fact that by the time Zorn's string quartet Necronomicon was performed, the temperature inside the hall had reached approximately 108 tropical degrees, but the piece didn't strike me as fascinating. My impression was that it was expertly handled by the group. In keeping with the diverse mix of personnel featured throughout the evening, the quartet included players of varied ages and backgrounds.

The marathon closed with several rounds of the improvisational game piece Cobra. I still don't fully understand the rules, but it was very entertaining to watch, particularly when Drury and Sylvie Courvoisier began trading tongue-in-cheek quotes from Bach and Debussy.

Harajuku Girls

(L-R: Composer Tamami Aburakawa, Yayoi Sakaki, me, composer Yumi Hara Cawkwell)

After plenty of drama, especially the day of the performance, our Women's History Month concert was ultimately a great success. We had a moderately-sized yet extremely appreciative crowd, but for me, the most exciting part was having two of the composers featured on the program in attendance. The US premiere of Yumi's piece went well, the audience loved it, and I hope to play more of her amazing music in the future. I was lucky enough to spend some time with her after the performance and the following day, and she is definitely one of my new favorite people. See you soon in London, Yumi!

You can listen to an excerpt of the piece Groove Study XL (in its incarnation for six pianos, Groove Study Mega Mix) on the composer's Myspace page.