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New concert hall in Puerto Rico

September 15, 2009

A new concert hall is scheduled to open next month in Puerto Rico as the home of the Symphony Orchestra of Puerto Rico. The new 1,300-seat Sala Sinfonica Pablo Casals will host a variety of musical performances, serving a range of symphonic, chamber, and popular music styles. Architect Rodolfo Fernández designed the hall, which is [...]

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Sacred music can dance

December 18, 2007

Claudio Monteverdi, as the story goes, conceived and wrote the Vespro della Beata Vergine (1610 Vespers) as a musical resume. His relationship with his employer at the time, the Gonzaga family of Mantua, was going sour. The areas around Mantua were fighting off pestilence. And, like all good parents, he was worried about having enough [...]

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Chicago’s Search Continues…

December 17, 2007

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is continuing its search for a more permanent principal conductor. Don’t get me wrong, Bernard Haitink has been doing an amazing job at keeping the orchestra in wonderful shape and challenging them at every turn. My most recent experience of Haitink was with the training orchestra of the CSO, and the [...]

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Baroque Band on the Move!

December 13, 2007

Today was the second concert in the Baroque Band‘s inaugural season, and while the first was a rather underwhelming experience for me, this concert was quite superb. Titled, Handel’s in a Rage, the concert featured works by Handel, mostly from his Italianate period. It featured the overtures to his Xerxes and Semele operas, along with [...]

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Audiophiles, Cover Your Eyes!

December 6, 2007

Since my co-blogger has seen it fit to write about the move that many of us classical fans are making to digital, going on at length about the convenience and versatility of the iPod and its associated management software, iTunes, I thought it might be a worthy companion piece to talk about sites that would [...]

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Wagnerian, Fluorescent Strauss

November 28, 2007

Well, there have been many additions to the Lyric Opera website regarding this opera. Firstly, there is an in-depth article on the Lyric production of the opera that is interesting. Secondly, there is a link to a dress rehearsal that shows you the set in action and the fantastic divas at work. Thirdly, pictures have [...]

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The Best or the Worst?

November 27, 2007

Today, I attended a Lyric Opera performance of Richard Strauss’s Die Frau ohne Schatten, led by famed soprano Deborah Voigt as the Empress. The evening was a stunning four hours in length, and cramming that in after a full day’s work can be quite a challenge, especially when you’re dealing with this opera in this [...]

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Upcoming events

November 25, 2007

Chiara String Quartet: Like cellist Matt Haimovitz, this quartet will be coming to town, stopping at Ballard’s Tractor Tavern on Wednesday.  Before the Tractor, they will be performing at the University of Washington as part of the International Chamber Music Series.  On the program: Bartok’s second string quartet and Golijov’s Yiddishbuk. Yefim Bronfman: The pianist [...]

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Make Way for the Rest

November 22, 2007

Apparently, Alfred Brendel has just announced his retirement. After his 2008 season of endless concerts, he will be off to do other things. Good for him. His career has been illustrious and I myself have an untold number of recordings that attest to his fame and musical intelligence and sensibility . Of course, many of [...]

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Haitink and Mahler's 3rd

November 21, 2007

Because of the slow holiday week here is a clip of B. Haitink conducting my favorite movement of Mahler’s breathtaking third symphony. 

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Podium prospects

November 20, 2007

The Philadelphia Inquirer has an interesting article about the impending search for a music director to replace the venerable Christoph Eschenbach.  You might remember Eschenbach had differences of opinion with the orchestra.  The equally venerable Charles Dutoit will be filling in for four years while the search ensues.  The predicament in Philadelphia has me wondering [...]

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The triumph of the human spirit: Saint Saens, Sibelius, Prokofiev, but not Beethoven

November 18, 2007

Prokofiev and Shostakovich resumed their friendly rivalry Saturday night with dueling concerts. While the Seattle Symphony was reprising Shostakovich’s 11th Symphony, a titanic work most recently heard last year when the Kirov Orchestra came to town. A few blocks east , Alan Shen and the plucky Puget Sound Symphony Orchestra performed Prokofiev’s fifth symphony, a [...]

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Glimpses

November 17, 2007

Understanding Messiaen’s music has always been problematic for me. Part of the challenge lies with his musical language. The composer’s own Modes of Limited Transposition, experimentation with total serialism, and his non-western musical influences create a complex sound environment. The other challenging element is the composer’s extra-musical ideas. Messiaen was unshakeably religious. His Catholicism permeates [...]

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Puget Sound Symphony Orchestra

November 16, 2007

Because YouTube is such a ubiquitous and pervasive part of culture these days, I am pleased to bring you this clip of the Puget Sound Symphony rehersing Howard Hanson’s 2nd Symphony.  The orchestra was started by Alan Shen, a Microsoft manager.  The members volunteer their time and are involved in the programing and artistic development [...]

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Upcoming Events

November 15, 2007

Gregory Partain : a University of Washington graduate is in town to perform a recital featuring a movement from Charles Ives’ Concord Sonata. Arguably, Ives was experimenting with new sounds long before it became popular to do so in Europe.  In fact, some of Ives’ material for the Concord Sonata dates from around 1904.  Other examples [...]

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Good deal

November 15, 2007

At the cd store today I stumbled on a remarkable deal… 22 cd’s worth of Stravinsky.

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Belated

October 28, 2007

If I were more disciplined I would have put something up earlier about Alex Ross’ visit to the Northwest and his reading at the UW Bookstore.  Instead, I am getting to it a few days late.  A respectable crowd showed up to hear Ross and Dave Beck have a conversation about music in the 20th Century.  Ross [...]

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Beethoven, Hagen and Shostakovich find voice in the able hands of the Finisterra Trio

October 27, 2007

Shame on you if you missed the Finisterra Trio’s recital at Benaroya Hall.  Though the trio has only been together for a few years, individually and  collectively they showed a remarkable sense of one another.  Its no wonder music luminaries like Bill McLaughlin, Ned Rorem (who someone once told me was the most important American composer living today), [...]

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The Finisterra Trio

October 26, 2007

A day ago I hinted that I would be talking more about the Finisterra Trio and their upcoming recital at Benaroya Hall. As is usually the case, the good stuff always happens by chance. Early last Saturday I was puttering around in my car when I heard an advertisement for a recital where the Trio [...]

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Coming up

October 24, 2007

In the coming days I am going to be covering the Finisterra Trio’s recital this Friday.  The trio is a local ensemble.  In their recital, they will be performing music by Shostakovich and Daron Hagen.

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