Quarter Notes

Quarter notes: farewell

August 25, 2010

I had been wondering when the Seattle Symphony would announce some big, audacious, splashy farewell for Gerard Schwarz’s final season. There was a two concert Hovhaness festival and the season finale is Mahler’s Resurrection Symphony, but neither seemed a big enough way to say good bye to a conductor who oversaw the growth of the [...]

Read the full article →

Quarter notes: Shangrow remembered

August 10, 2010

It’s been more than a week since we learned of George Shangrow’s untimely death. In that time the tributes for this Seattle original have been growing with each day. Orchestra Seattle’s website has been turned into a rolling memorial. My favorite is from Kerry Fowler who wrote: “I was a bit nervous the night before [...]

Read the full article →

Quarter notes: summer edition

July 21, 2010

Summer is finally in full swing. Seattle is warming up. We are in the thick of the summer chamber festival. And, the new symphony seasons are still a few months away. Even though the number of classical performances have thinned out, it doesn’t mean there aren’t events worth mentioning or worth seeking out. The biggest [...]

Read the full article →

Quarter notes: happy birthday Mahler

July 11, 2010

I’m a few days late (Mahler was born on July 7th), but 2010 is the 150th birthday for Gustav Mahler. Complete Mahler cycles have been popping up in abundance over the last few months. Both Universal Classics and EMI have released “complete” box sets. But, from Universal Classics, comes one of the most creative ways [...]

Read the full article →

Quarter notes: YNS edition

June 15, 2010

By now most people have heard the Philadelphia Orchestra has found a new music director. Yannick Nezet-Seguin – YNS for short. He is a predictable choice given the youth movement afoot these days. Chicago bucked the trend by appointing Ricardo Muti. They are the only orchestra which ignored the orchestra group think these days (does [...]

Read the full article →

Quarter notes

June 9, 2010

Video snippets from the New York Philharmonic’s performance of Le Grand Macabre.

Read the full article →

Quarter notes: mission vs. vision

June 3, 2010

Two interesting articles courtesy of Arts Journal. Robert Spano (who was here in April) talks about cultivating contemporary music with the Atlanta Symphony. The four composers Spano has championed – Jennifer Higdon, Osvaldo Golijov, Michael Gandolfi, and Christopher Theofanidis — have been dubbed the “Atlanta School,” and all have seen their profiles rise as a [...]

Read the full article →

Quarter notes: Decoration Day edition

May 31, 2010

Stephen Rogers Radcliffe is adding the Thalia Symphony to his orchestra responsibilities. Radcliffe is currently music director for the Seattle Youth Symphony. Perhaps you remember his fine Mahler 2 from last weekend? Radcliffe takes over for Eric Hanson who will conduct a final concert with the Thalia June 3, 2010 at the First Free Methodist [...]

Read the full article →

Quarter notes

May 24, 2010

The local Odeonquartet departs for Russia today for two concerts, one of which will include the Russian premiere of Phillip Glass’ Fifth String Quartet. Heather Bentley, the group’s violist, will be blogging from the tour. Check back for Heather’s road report. Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic have found critics outside of LA less generous [...]

Read the full article →

Quarter notes

May 20, 2010

My write up of last week’s Music of Remembrance concert and the premiere of Vedem is up at the City Arts Blog.  I’ve generally liked the Music of Remembrance concerts I’ve attended.  This one didn’t do it for me. A couple of events this weekend to check out: the American String Project and the Seattle [...]

Read the full article →

Quarter notes

May 14, 2010

The LA Ring sounds like a health hazard. Meanwhile, The Met’s new Ring gets the trailer treatment. Robert LePage’s ideas look promising. Will Levine be healthy enough to conduct? Can this production cement Gelb’s reputation as an innovator with the right vision for the Met? The NY Phil has unveiled a new (and even funny) video campaign [...]

Read the full article →

Quarter notes: Le Grand

May 8, 2010

Gyorgy Ligeti supposedly spent the last years of his life worried that when he died no one would remember him or his music. His worries weren’t entirely unjustified. The work of many, many composers has slipped into obscurity. For Ligeti, an artist on the fringes of the musical mainstream, the possibility of anonymity is even [...]

Read the full article →

Quarter notes

May 6, 2010

Anne Midgette likes Jake Heggie’s Moby Dick.  What will the press say about our own local world premiere? We’ll start to find out this weekend. Stephane Deneve will replace Roger Norrington at the Stuttgart Radio Symphony (SWR). He also received with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra — his original post. There were a handful of [...]

Read the full article →

Quarter Notes: Alan Rich

April 24, 2010

Alan Rich passed away Friday. I didn’t know Mr. Rich personally; we never shared conversation over a drink, or wondered about musical subjects together. But, I did know Rich’s writing. His contribution to arts journalism will be missed. Rich’s words can be found throughout the classical music world. His handiwork is on display in Szell [...]

Read the full article →

Quarter notes: Gergiev, Holst, and Pro Musica

April 20, 2010

V. Gergiev talks with the Wall Street Journal about conducting, his schedule, and Russia. Seattle Pro Musica is a semi-finalist for the American prize and the group’s conductor, Karen Thomas, is also a semi-finalist in the conducting category.  Congrats Karen and Pro Musica! Gustav Holst and Hans Graf team up with NASA. Amelia is coming [...]

Read the full article →

Quarter notes

April 7, 2010

The Boston Symphony contemplates dumping James Levine for calling in sick to work. The Atlanta Symphony names a new Executive Director, and he doesn’t have orchestra biz experience. Courtesy of Charles Noble, the Oregon Symphony’s Carlos Kalmar gets called up to fill in for E.P. Salonen in Chicago next week. What will Kalmer conduct while [...]

Read the full article →

Quarter notes: video edition

April 6, 2010

Nico Muhly talks about his piece for the upcoming NY Phil CONTACT! concert. Here’s a more formal discussion of his piece

Read the full article →

Quarter notes: upcoming

December 2, 2009

December is here and the holiday concert season has begun. Tomorrow Christopher Seaman leads the Seattle Symphony in a concert which resembles a prolonged encore. Glinka, Tchaikovsky, Rimsky Korsakov, Dukas, and Humperdink are all represented on the program. On Friday, Renee Fleming performs a recital at Benaroya Hall. Fleming is one of opera’s reigning divas. [...]

Read the full article →

Quarter notes: upcoming

November 19, 2009

The Seattle Symphony is performing Tchaikovsky’s Sixth Symphony this weekend with guest conductor Arild Remmereit.  Remmereit and I had a good conversation about Tchaikovsky and Mozart a week ago Friday.  The musicians I spoke with are excited to work with him again, remembering his successful concert with the orchestra three years ago.  Be sure to [...]

Read the full article →

Quarter notes: upcoming

November 12, 2009

Lots and lots of music this weekend.  Some of the highlights include David Popper playing cello a number of fine, local instrumentalists playing David Popper’s Hungarian Rhapsody for Cello and Dvorak’s Dumky trio as part of Music Northwest’s concert series.  Schwarz and the SSO play Carl Orff’s much loved Carmina Burana.  The Onyx Chamber Players [...]

Read the full article →

← Previous Entries