National Symphony Orchestra, Leila Josefowicz, Hannu Lintu - January 14, 2012

After a long hiatus, I am back blogging about music. I am going to try keeping up with all of my musical adventures for 2012, at least until the Mayan calendar runs out. I am calling this post "Megabus new music tour part 2" (perhaps I will go back and write about part one later). Pittsburgh, being a Megabus hub, is situated in an excellent spot to travel for next to nothing ($2.50 if you are quick about booking) and experience the wonders of new classical music in the eastern and upper mid U.S.

This trip included a visit with my robust friend Adam and his family (Eileen and little Sam). Adam being a ready partner for new music made this extra fun.

The National Symphony opened their show with Debussy Preludes, orchestrated from their piano origins by Colin Matthews. By an interesting coincidence, I know of Colin Matthews only through the Violin Concerto he wrote for this evening's soloist, Leila Josefowicz. I know the original piano versions of the Preludes though not particularly well. I was struck by the way in which they sounded like Debussy (though I guess they should, shouldn't they?). I assume that has do do with Matthew's study of Debussy and his own orchestrations of his own work. I enjoyed the performances without being terribly drawn in by them. Hannu Lintu, a tall thin Finnish conductor, was clean and concise with his movements.

The second piece in the first half of the program was the Steven Mackey's Violin Concerto "Beautiful Passing". This was played by Leila Josefowicz, for whom the piece was written. This was NOT a premiere performance other than it being a first in Washington and with the NSO. One of the things that is great about Leila Josefowicz is that she truly supports the contemporary pieces she takes up. She has already played the piece at Princeton (where Mackey teaches), in Los Angeles, London and Saint Louis. The Beautiful Passing title came from his dying mother's request to her son to "Tell everyone I had a beautiful passing."

The naming and story going with this piece has gotten me thinking about how extra musical things enter into the experience of musical and instrumental pieces. This was once rare for concertos but now has become quite common. The Berg Violin concerto being about Mannon Gropius' untimely death. Rihm and Gubaidulina have each named their two Violin Concertos but not numbered them. In this case we have a name and a specific real life event for the composer. A story that goes with a piece can also become part of the experience, such as the famous and largely erroneous story about the Barber concerto, for example. In addition, Leila Josefowicz did the now perfunctory explaining of the new music before performing it. I do like this and in this case she connected particular passages with actual events. Specifically, certain solo violin passages mimicking Mackey's mother's labored breathing. All of this definitely changes the way I experienced the piece. It is also clearly part of the marketing (and I do not mean that in a pejorative manner as I do hope for classical music to connect with people).

The concerto itself is one movement of about 22 to 23 minutes. A cadenza in the middle divides the piece roughly in half. The solo violin starts with long sustained notes, not really allowing for any virtuosity. The orchestra starts loudly and violently, then moves variously with and against the long lines of the soloist. An interlude, about 7 to 8 minutes in has the soloist playing high shimmery notes, the orchestra again moving with then against the soloist. The cadenza again does not really do what a normal cadenza would do in the sense of virtuoso showing off. It does explore the long lines and high shimmery notes and ends with high fast notes. The orchestra opens, post cadenza, with intense low notes, quite dramatic. This last part of the piece is more accessible than the first half. Interesting from a rhythmic perspective, lots of contributions from a prominent solo piano and with lush orchestrations. I enjoyed the playfulness that shifted the mood briefly in what is a mostly somber and melancholy piece. So was the passing (ending) of the piece beautiful? Yes I would say and ethereal. A nice addition to the repertoire.

The Sibelius Fifth Symphony comprised the second half the the concert. This is a favorite of mine, a piece with which I am quite familiar. I thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Lintu's reading of the piece. Not as grand as some but he moved it along well, holding together all of the fragments that Sibelius assembled. He built the climaxes well through the piece, the end of the first movement and the various climaxes in the last movement. The Sibelius Fifth symphony does have the weirdest ending of any symphony I know. Lintu brought this off well, not hurrying through the strange pauses.

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Hilary Hahn, Manfred Honeck, - Friday May 7, 2010

The top photo is the ubiquitous one that was plastered about town, sent in the mail to us subscribers and placed in the program. I assume it is the publicity photo of choice for this year. This had a couple of my friends ask if she was a Goth violinist (no, that would be Emilie Autumn, see earlier post). The second photo is not from this weekend but is similar to her look on stage on Friday. What I know from web interviews and chatting with her a couple of times after shows, a Goth projection on to her is rather hilarious (no pun intended). I do wonder about marketing classical music and music in general. Does a certain photo get more seats filled? I wonder who decides, Hilary, her publicist, Deutche Gramaphone, the PSO? She has been marketed well, sells relatively many records for these dismal record selling times, has won a Grammy or two, is one of the most recognizable classical musicians around (though that doesn't mean much these days). My youth was the end of that time when classical music still had some hold on popular culture and most people knew who Heifetz, Horowitz, Bernstein, Toscanini and Stokowski were.

I digress too much perhaps so let me address the concerto at hand. The show had but two pieces on the program (or so we thought). Hilary opened with the Sibelius Violin Concerto. I have spent countless hours listening to different recordings of this piece, which is rich in interpretive possibilities. While it is a conventional concerto in many ways with three movements, a long first one, slow second movement and virtuosic third movement, it has always struck me as an odd and interesting piece of music, Sibelius at his most romantic. Whoever decides on the marketing, it seems that Hilary was deciding on the interpretation here and Manfred Honeck and the PSO did their best to make it so. Hilary plays the first movement slower than any other violinist that I know. It does not actually come across as slow due to the intensity and incisiveness of the attacks from Hilary and the orchestra. The slowness gave it a more brooding quality, supported by Hilary's big sound. Played with precision and passion, brilliant runs and deep feeling. The big finish was perfectly coordinated, soloist, conductor and orchestra. Honeck had the dynamics of the orchestra such that the solo violin work was never lost (Sibelius does deserve some credit here as well). The middle movement was presented at a fairly normal tempo, in line with all violinists not named Heifetz or Kavakos. Again, brilliant passage work, clean and clear support from the orchestra brought things off well. Where Hilary played quietly, Honeck and the orchestra fully supported her. The quiet ending set up the fast and furious finale quite well. The orchestra opens and must set the pace. This was done with a lightness and bounce that is not typical of other performances. Hilary played the finale at Heifetz speed. Classical music experts know this as "very, very fast". Sibelius' writing and Hilary's playing at these speeds are "wow" inducing. Sometimes this movement can sound a bit clumsy or awkward if not done properly. Here it was lightness and power when needed, synced up with the soloist, Honeck and the orchestra were fabulous. The crowd was quite appreciative and Hilary gave us an encore that I did not know but believe to be a Bach piece. It may be off of her new Bach recording. This performance confirmed what I have thought for some time now about this seemingly mild mannered, erudite and soft spoken violinist. Hilary Hahn is an extremist. I could site numerous examples but won't here. I do not know why that does not seem readily apparent to others who write about her. Perhaps it is the mild manner and sweet even disposition, but do not be fooled. Of course, this extremism is in support of incredible music making and has my full support. I hope the PSO will bring her back soon, and while I am hoping, how about the Schoenberg Concerto that sold so well last year...please.

I actually was equally looking forward to the second piece on the program, Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony. It is a favorite of mine, was performed here briliantly by a true Shostakovich expert, our former music director, Mariss Jansons, and has a great back story. Shostakovich was the hottest young composer in the USSR in the 1930's. His opera, Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk was playing to big crowds. The story is that Stalin then attended a performance and was appalled. Articles denouncing Shostakovich's music followed, decadent, formalist (never have been sure what that means when criticizing music), the articles written at Stalin's direction or maybe by the man himself. Perhaps this is the totalitarian version of Clinton's Sister Souljah moment. A scary time as less prominent artists were arrested, imprisoned, killed. Shostakovich did lower his profile and made overt amends. He put his Fourth Symphony in a drawer and started work on his Fifth. Just before the premier, a newpaper article atributed to Shostakovich called the symphony "a Soviet artist’s creative response to justified criticism". It is a big symphony, conventional in many respects, four movements, big opening movement, second movement scherzo, a long slow third movement and a big loud finale. The work was officially seen as an act of contrition and Shostakovich was off the hit list, at least for awhile. The question about this piece is raised by a friend of Shostakovich who published a memoir that claimed to be Dmitri's actual thoughts about this work and others. In it, Shostakovich calls this symphony and the last movement in particular, a parody of a celebratory symphony, forced rejoicing. Perhaps this does not matter, seventy years later though Jansons, who knew Shostakovich, was overtly in the parody camp when he performed this piece here. I am unable to not think on this when listening to this piece.

So what happened? Honeck performed the piece much as he has other big symphonies here. He stretched the dynamics of the piece about as far as it could go. There are great loud and soft passages so this provides great possibilities. His tempos were generally brisk in relation to other performances I know, and I think faster than Jansons here. The orchestra followed him every step of the way. The first movement had some nice touches, subtle pauses for emphasis, the violins presenting the main theme with great starkness and emotion. The climax, two thirds through was quite intense, setting up the quiet finish. That in turn set up the vulgar, over the top second movement, Andres Cardenes sweetly playing the solo violin parts. Shostakovich's slow movements are always my favorites and the slow, painful third movement was so here. The strings were quite expressive. Honek taking his time to allow the music to unfold. The climax again comes about 2/3 of the way through the movement, allowing the quiet ending to contrast with what comes next. The last movement opened big and loud and somewhat stately, then Honek put the pedal to the metal and sped up tremendously. i don't know if it is in the score but I don't recall other performances doing this. I loved it. Does this help place the Maestro in the parody camp? I expect that it does. I would like to know if he thinks it does. Again, Honek's use of dynamics and the orchestra's ability to bring it off added dimension to an already intense experience. In the midst of this loud finale are some beautifully quiet moments. Things did get loud again, with the brass and timpani making powerful statements and then we were done but for the clapping.

Or so we thought. While a soloist such as Hilary Hahn performs encores routinely, the orchestra does not. While returning for yet another bow, Manfred stepped up on the podium with a mischievous look, whirled around and started in on Khachaturian's Masquerade, a silly little bouncy bit of brilliance. This really was great fun, perhaps another reference to Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony masking his meanings? You can take this too far, I suppose but it is something to consider.

Another great night with Manfred and the orchestra. Next up, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, first weekend in June, be there!!!

Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic Orchestra, Cyrus Forough, Ronald Zollman - Thursday April 29, 2010

This concert is just the kind of show that I love. Two twentieth century pieces that are known but not often played (at least not here) and a gem for violin and orchestra from the late twentieth century that may never be played by the PSO. My friend, Herr Heine, asserts that an orchestra made up of talented undergrad and grad students, with lots of rehearsal time, can rival Americas better orchestras (though perhaps not our best). I will not argue the point as this show was a great example of what he was going on about.

Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem opened the program. Written for the 2600th anniversary of the Japanese empire by a 26 year old Britten, it was rejected by the Japanese government, ostensibly due to the use of Christian mass names for the three movements. They might also have rejected it on musical grounds as it is neither a celebratory piece nor a comforting requiem. Britten was a pacifist (even in WWII) and must have had strange feelings about writing a piece for the Japanese government that had invaded and ravaged much of Asia. The "Lacrymosa" movement, literally meaning weeping, opens with these loud, intense, abrupt, drum beats, indicating a searing pain rather than any sense of gentle weeping. The music is low in register, plodding in it's beat, producing a feeling of relentlessness, inevitability. The "Dies Irae" or Day of Wrath is a fast, intense Scherzo that becomes frenzied at moments. It is playful in a sense, with a darkness to it. The third and last movement, "Requiem Aeternum" or eternal rest, tries to reconcile the pain and wrath of the first two movements. It is slow and conciliatory, certainly not triumphant. The CMU Philharmonic presented this well. The trumpet player on this piece stood out in particular.

Witold Lutoslawski's Chain 2 for violin and orchestra came second in this program. This is the piece that I HAD to see and hear. While i have seen both of the other two pieces on this program and will likely have more opportunities in the future, the same cannot be said of Lutoslawski's masterpiece. That is a shame as I have enjoyed this piece since buying Anne-Sophie Mutter's first recording of it about twenty years ago. The piece is in four movements, composed using a technique where Lutoslawski links together successive bits, linking soloist to other instruments then back to the soloist. In parts of the piece, the conductor does not keep time but cues the start of a new bit, allowing the soloist and orchestra to sync up with some freedom. Perhaps this technical stuff does not matter. The music is quite engaging while not following typical violin concerto conventions. Cyrus Forough, a violin professor at CMU, was the soloist. He brought an intensity to this piece that is not present in the two recordings I know. This worked quite well here. He also brought off the unusual parts calling for unconventional bowing (harmonics?) techniques. The orchestra played with passion in dialogue with their professor. I was fully satisfied that I had heard a great performance of this piece. Now if Cyrus would just perform the Saariaho concerto here next year...well I can dream, can't I?

Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms is yet another masterpiece, finishing the program. Written for the Boston Symphony in 1930, it is a setting of three Psalms for chorus, sung in Latin, and an unusual instrumental ensemble. The strings consist only of the cellos and basses. This gives the piece a dark quality. Two pianos play a prominent role as the percussive instruments they are. There are woodwinds and brass though no clarinets. The instruments were set up symmetrically on stage. The music is nominally in three movements, one for each Psalm, but performed without break. The music throughout does not reflect a pristine unambivalent relationship to ourselves or our God. Unusual rhythms, strange harmonies, dark instrumentation for me captures the Old Testament person and God relationship, visceral, awesome, scary at times. Did this bunch of amateurs reveal this in the piece. I was satisfied that they did so. Robert Page prepared the chorus and they sang like you would expect, beautifully with texture and power and economy of movement.

These were thoroughly enjoyable performances. The only downer was how few people were in the audience. But we few, we lucky few were treated to a great show.

Moe Seager, Point Brugge Restaurant, Pittsburgh - Monday April 26, 2010

When I first met Moe a few years ago, I remember thinking, that is a poet. Funny given my strident anti-essentialist stance in most things. I think that means that poetry flows from him even when you're just hangin' out. Moe has been doing Jazz poetry shows in Paris for awhile and i have enjoyed some of his recordings, but this was my first chance to experience it in the flesh.

A pick-up jazz trio accompanied Moe: Hill Jordan on tenor and soprano trombones; Dave Pellow on stand up bass; Spider Rondinelli on drums. Hill and Dave did most of the soloing, with the Soprano trombone being a new instrument for me, punchy and clean. Moe performed his poems in a rhythmic sprechtstimme showing great sense of timing with these skilled musicians.



The video is fragment from a Paris performance of "Jazz Is" which Moe did perform here. Variously funny, sensual, political, spiritual - sometimes all at the same time. The loose spontaneity was great fun. Local singer/blues jazz violinist Lydia joined the guys for a few numbers, sliding right in and adding some great textures to the sound. Also joining in the free flow of music and words was Johnny Alston, former Pittsburgher now from New Mexico playing a Native American flute that had a beautiful ethereal quality. For a pick up band, they worked well together to the appreciation of the small but enraptured crowd. I felt like I was transported back in time to some kind of alternative beat universe when the beat poets and jazz musicians helped shock our country out of the horrors of the fifties.

Viva Monsieur Seager

Adrian Belew - Club Cafe, Pittsburgh - Friday April 23, 2010

This is a picture of Adrian with his custom Parker guitar. His show at the intimate Club Cafe was billed as a one man electric show "Painting with Guitar". Adrian's Elephant blog entry explains this:
http://elephant-blog.blogspot.com/2010/04/about-painting-with-guitar.html
I explain it by saying "Boys and their toys". What great toys and what great music he produces with them. He has been downsizing his setup but with new technology, he has more options with this sleek setup. This show really was like hanging with Adrian, very casual and loose. He stopped twice to take questions and chat with the standing room audience.

Adrian opens with a Bears' song "Doodle". Poppy with some fiendish guitar. With a pained look, he stated that he wished he had never written the next song, because it is so hard to play. Nailed it. "Walk Around the World" is from his album Side One. He called the next song "Variation of Wave Pressure" from an Einstein quote. At one point he looped a complicated guitar figure and sang the Subway 5 dollar footlong jingle over it, claiming they stole it from him. One long instrumental included a long "within You, Without You" section, showing off his Sitar effect setting. He shared that Jeff Beck is his favorite guitarist, which makes sense given their similar staccato, fragmentary, disjointed styles. he met Jeff Beck after a King Crimson show that Beck had attended. When they went to shake hands, Beck instead rubbed his forearm against Adrian's (wanting that skill to rub off). Adrian played about 11 songs, one just written a few days ago called "Eurrail Pass" about his travels in Europe years ago. Stories about gear, Zappa and his paintings were interesting. And the guitar playing is as good as it gets.

In updating us on his three bands, Adrian shared that the Bears will do music as he and the guys have enough music to put out an album. Given that the other Bears have real jobs, they will stay mostly a studio band. The Power Trio (go see them if you haven't, if you have, you will want to see them again) will tour Europe later this year and the states again next year. King crimson is on a break but Belew expressed confidant hope that they will play again, just waiting on Robert. Adrian and Robert have always seemed like such an odd pair to make such phenomenal music together, Adrian being so engaging with the audience while Robert minimizes his presence to just the music. Perhaps that difference helps bring them together (and the musical sensibilities).

I am looking forward to my next encounter with Adrian as he is just starting to figure out his new toys as a new and more complex palette can only be a good thing for this restless genius.

Wilco - Carnegie Music Hall, Oakland - April 11, 2010

I had given up on going to this show after having snoozed when the tickets went on sale. I then looked up some of the set lists earlier in the tour and was amazed at these crazy, long shows they were doing. So I persisted and found tickets just days before the show. And I am glad I did.

Sometimes I give a song by song account but 37 songs (not a typo) are too many to discuss. Wilco (the song) from Wilco (the album) was the opening song by Wilco (the band) after the theme music from the Price is Right accompanied the band's entrance. Yes humor does belong at this show. Great song and a prototype for the show. Catchy tunes, accessible with lots of flourishes, little and big from Nels Cline. I first saw Wilco at the 3 Rivers Arts Festival at a free show in 2003 (I have a magnificent live recording of the show made by the great local taper, Alex Heard, let me know if you would like a copy). When they returned to the 3 Rivers Arts Fest the next year, I believe it was their first show after frontman Jeff Tweedy finished rehab and the first live show with Nels. I remember thinking that Tweedy is a great guitarist in his own right and wondered why they needed this new guy. Well, it turns out that Nels is outstanding, famous in his own right among guitar afficianados and perhaps the most economical guitarist around. What I mean by that is, within the confines of these short, 3 to 7 minute songs, Nels adds little runs throughout and solos, some concise and some luxurious and magnificent like in "Impossible Germany". Cline can play clean and conventional solos as well as seriously dissonant feedback flourishes. The rest of the band are not pikers either. John Stirratt plays a solid, mostly underneath bass. Glen Kotchie plays some complicated drum parts, showing of particularly on "I am Trying to Break Your Heart" with it's loose percussive opening. Pat Sansone is the multi-instrumentalist that adds versatility to the band, including at times a Sonic Youth like guitar fuzz wall of sound. Mikail Jorgenson plays some great keyboards, stepping out front with regularity with a bluesy and rock'n'roll style (though I believe he slipped a little melotron in there as well).

They mixed up the songs well representing their entire history. They ran through 14 songs including mixing in a lot of new material with familiar songs including "Handshake Drugs", "California Stars" and "Impossible Germany" back to back to back. As song 14 was winding down in a dissonant wall of sound, the melancholy "Poor Places", the crew invaded the stage with lamps, a pared down drum kit, a simple keyboard setup and acoustic guitars. Spiders(Kidsmoke) emerged from this transformation. This and the next seven songs were performed from this front of stage setup. The audience was not necessarily in sync with the band. Jeff Tweedy stated the obvious after Spiders, that this is a quieter part of the show, adding that that means "we can hear you talking". He dedicated the next song "More Like the Moon" to people in the audience (like me) who don't have 50 bucks to throw away by not paying attention. "War on War" and "Forget the Flowers" were highlights of the intimate set. The stage was transformed back during "Passenger Side" and "Airline to Heaven", the third song with Woody Guthrie lyrics that they performed this night. Another 12 songs followed before the encores. This included the "Jesus Etc." singalong, a raucous "Heavy Metal Drummer" and the dinner coupon giveaway. There really were too many highlights to highlight all of the. Suffice it to say, they moved from pinnacle to peak. A rocking "Casino Queen" was the first encore, yes Wilco can rock pretty hard when they decide to. "Outtasite (Outta Mind)" and "I'm a Wheel" finished things off in satisfying fashion. Thirty seven songs, about three hours of music and high-jinks.

This was my fourth Wilco show, all have been excellent, this one the best yet.

Outstanding!!!

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Stephen Hough, Yan Pascal Tortelier- April 9, 2010

Two familiar composers wrote the two pieces on this program. One piece, Tchaikovsky's Second Piano Concerto, is a major piece of music written by a perennially popular composer that has NEVER been played by the PSO. Tchaikovsky's first Piano Concerto has been wildly popular since it's premier over 135 years ago. It was savagely criticized by Nikolai Rubinstein, powerful Russian pianist and conservatory director. Then he began playing it when it became extremely popular. Tchaikovsky wanted him to play the second one (capitalizing on guilt?) but he died before that happened. However, he did render some mild criticism, that it was over long and episodic. I did this long winded intro because what interests me is that the second one seems more obviously open to stinging critique while the first is so obviously enjoyable.

The kicker here is that this long neglected piece, which is a mess, a wild, unbalanced, out of control, thoroughly enjoyable mess, was thoroughly enjoyed by the audience. And the audience was caught up in it enough they applauded after the first movement (shocking, I know). They gave it a huge ovation at the end of the piece. A big part of this is certainly that Stephen Hough brought it off with intensity, brilliance and flair. So why did it take 135 years to play this here. Other composers have written more than one piano concertos where one is wildly popular and still had the others played at least a bit. Ah the mysteries of show biz.

Another Russian, Sergei Prokofiev, wrote the piece on the second half of the program. Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony is one of seven and probably the best regarded. He is quoted as saying that it is "a symphony about the grandeur of the human spirit". It's hard to know what to say about something like that. The first movement opens quietly, builds, ebbs and flows and is a great example of the smooth, lyrical flowing Prokofiev. At least, for Prokofiev, the human spirit has some variety and lightness to it. Tortelier played with this variety well, building to a big climax by the end of the movement, the brass parts big, full and grand (the audience applauded again, twice in one evening, are the times changing?). The second movement, fleet, interwoven with lots of delicate touches. I love the clarinet parts as well as the prominent piano bits. This movement does remind me of the ballet composer Prokofiev without quoting himself directly. I don't know if this has been choreographed but I can picture the dancers in my head. While grandeur is not the word I would use for this movement, I am fine with the human spirit part. The long adagio third movement again places dancers in my head, now it is either Juliet or Cinderella in their thoughtful, wistful moments. The last movement starts with a quiet prelude that gives way to the opening theme which will also closes the movement. This theme is busy and propulsive. Lyricism returns in the middle of the movement though the frenetic figure is never far away. Among the many choices to make here, I was thinking about Tortelier's decision to emphasize intensity and the frenetic brilliance of the end of this movement. At one point, this repetitive figure takes over powerfully then most of the orchestra falls away until just a few instruments continue frantically. The orchestra wells up again for the big finish. It is an odd and distinctive end to the symphony. Tortelier and the orchestra brought this off with brilliance and intensity, quite impressive.

Prokofiev did write seven symphonies which makes him a serious 20th century symphonist. I especially like 1 and 5 through 7. However, I think of Prokofiev at his best in his ballet music and his concertos. I have long thought that he had not ever figured out symphonies despite his persistence. However, in discussing this with Herr Heine after the show, his take was that this was about Prokofiev's ambivalence about the form rather than a lack of skill. I like that.