Doppelgängers: Matthias & Stanley

Conductor Matthias Bamert (L) and actor Stanley Tucci

I mean c'mon, don't you think? At least a little bit? Maybe with a chin job?

Hmmmm.

Snapshot: John Corigliano

John Corigliano, Sr. (L) with his brother Peter, taken in their Greenwich Village apartment circa 1909; from the collection of John Corigliano

When the commission came to composer John Corigliano for a brief chamber piece, to be based on a personal photograph of his choosing, he knew immediately where he would go for his inspiration:

"The picture has never ceased to move me. My father looked about eight years old, wearing knickers and earnestly bowing his violin, while my uncle, then a teenager, held a guitar in an aristocratic position and stared at the camera."

Earlier this week, Corigliano was in town with three of his fellow composers, all celebrating their 70th birthdays this year, and all in residence at the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival. Part of the festivities included a series of master classes with each composer setting one of their works with young professional musicians. Below, Corigliano works with violinists Isaac Allen and Bram Goldstein of the Hausmann Quartet. (At the table are composers William Bolcom and Joan Tower)


Corigliano describes his Snapshot: Circa 1909:

"In the short quartet inspired by the photo, the second violin plays a nostalgic melody, while the other strings pluck their instruments in a guitar-like manner. This solo is obviously the boy violinist singing through his instrument.

"After the melody is completed, however, the first violin enters, muted, in the very highest register. In my mind, he was playing the dream that my eight-year-old father must have had — of performing roulades and high, virtuosic, musing passages that were still impossible for him to master.

"This young violinist grew into a great soloist — my father, John Corigliano, concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic for over a quarter century. He, as an adult, performed the concerti and solos that as a child he could only imagine.

"The two violins, boy and dream, join together at the end as the guitar sounds play on."

John Corigliano's master class with the Hausmann Quartet featuring Snapshot: Circa 1909 will be broadcast in the noon hour (EDT) this Friday on The Well-Tempered Wireless, WRCJ-FM, 90.9, streaming worldwide via www.wrcjfm.org.

Class Picture

Standing, L-R: Cellist Paul Katz, pianist James Tocco, John Corigliano; Seated: John Harbison, William Bolcom, Joan Tower

Attacking the Invisible Wall

The final 8 Days in June standing O (one among many) for maestro Peter Oundjian and the ladies and gentlemen of the Detroit Symphony

It was Peter Oundjian who brought it up. He was on the stage of Orchestra Hall just prior to the final concert of the DSO's 8 Days in June extravaganza. He and Tom Allen were talking over the sophomore year of 8 Days, when Peter pointed out how crucial it was to break down the invisible wall between the performers and the audience.

Then Tom actually leapt through that wall, taking a microphone into the pre-concert crowd like a latter day Phil Donahue, and we were off. Here was the real payoff of 8 Days.

More than the music, though the performances I heard were uniformly thrilling.

More than the programming, though there was plenty of adventure in that department (Glass, Messiaen and Cage? In the same week?).

More even than the deliciously casual, free-flowing atmosphere filled with newcomers of all ages, which has been discussed elsewhere on this blog.

More than all of that, it was this deliberate thrust to consistently and directly engage the audience that puts this festival into a very special category indeed.

Case Study No 1: Schnittke Happens

On Saturday night's program, following Mendelssohn's brilliant Overture to a Midsummer Night's Dream, up comes a quirky modern piece called (Not) a Midsummer Night's Dream by Alfred Schnittke. In a pre-8 Days world, hearing this kind of thing cold turkey would empty large sections of Orchestra Hall. Not this time.

Out come Tom and Peter, not with a lecture on atonality and the influences of the Second Viennese School, but with the simple statement that we should expect "a lot of wrong notes." It makes all the difference. The thing is a spoof. Now that we're all in on the joke, instead of uncomfortable fidgeting once the music starts to go off the rails, the audience actually laughs out loud. We get it. And a load of bricks are dislodged from that invisible wall.

Case Study No. 2: Cage Match

Last April Fool's Day, Tom Allen on his CBC morning show held a Cage Match of competing performances of 4'33" by John Cage, a notorious piece wherein the musician is totally silent. Well, on Day 6 Tom got the chance to participate in a real contest when the festival presented Cage's Lecture on the Weather, a typically unconventional composition featuring overlapping excerpts of texts by Henry David Thoreau. True to form, the element of chance underlies the composition by design, so that no two performances are alike.

At intermission there is a spirited discussion over what was heard including a couple of patrons who "just didn't like it at all." And then they performed it again. The whole piece. And sure enough it came out differently. This time our disappointed patrons actually liked the piece. And another load of bricks fell out of the wall.

Now the point here is not that anyone was "converted" to modern music. The real gem of this incident, and the festival's gold standard of success, is that here was an audience that felt comfortable enough (and safe enough) to actually say out loud that they didn't like something. In front of the people who played it.

That's why when I asked Tom for some of his post festival impressions, he told me without hesitation that the real star of 8 Days In June was the community of listeners that emerged around the concerts:

"Every night there were more interesting and insightful comments, every concert brought the ideas, the musicians and the people listening a little closer together.



"The lines that have traditionally kept great music at a distance from the people who love it are growing fainter and fainter, and the wonderful 8 Days audience is telling us to keep going further in that direction. That means bright things ahead!"

And the wall came a tumblin' down.

Amen.

Related Stories:

8 Days in June fest a chaotic success, by Mark Stryker; Detroit Free Press; June 23, 2008

Orchestra's '8 Days' festival a mix of fun, insight, by Lawrence B. Johnson; Detroit News; June 23, 2008

A Gaggle of Composers

It was the summer of 1745. That year three of Europe's greatest composers, Johann Sebastian Bach, George Friedrich Handel and Domenico Scarlatti, would mark their 60th birthday. In celebration, a major music festival was planned in London in which all three would participate. Now that would have been something to see.

OK, so I made up the part about the festival, but it is true that all three of those composers did indeed turn 60 in 1745.

And tonight four American composers, each celebrating their 70th birthday this year, are in fact coming together, in person, for the 15th Annual Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival at The Temple Beth El Chapel on Telegraph Road in Bloomfield Hills.

The stars must have been in an extraordinary alignment in 1938, the year that brought us:

William Bolcom: Named 2007 "Composer of the Year" by Musical America and honored with multiple Grammy Awards for his ground-breaking setting of Blake’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience, he is a composer of cabaret songs, concertos, sonatas, operas, symphonies, and much more.

John Corigliano: Among his many honors, one will find included all of the most important music awards: several Grammys, a Pulitzer Prize, a Grawemeyer, and an Academy Award. His work has been performed by some of the most visible orchestras, soloists and chamber musicians in the world.

John Harbison: Among his principal work are four string quartets, five symphonies, the cantata The Flight Into Egypt , which earned him a Pulitzer Prize in 1987, and three operas, including The Great Gatsby , commissioned by The Metropolitan Opera and premiered to great acclaim in December 1999.

Joan Tower: Hailed as "one of the most successful woman composers of all time" in The New Yorker, she was the first woman to receive the Grawemeyer Award in Composition in 1990. She was inducted in 1998 into the prestigious American Academy of Arts and Letters, and into the Academy of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University in the fall of 2004.

The Great Lakes Chamber Festival website has a complete breakdown on all the events, which continue through June 29. Ticket information is available at (248) 559-2097.

Hope to see you there.

Related Story:

Celebrated composers embraced scores of influences, by Mark Stryker; Detroit Free Press; June 22, 2008

But Will They Get a Parade?

Breaking news from our friends at the Plymouth Canton Symphony:


PLYMOUTH, MI.— The Plymouth Canton Symphony Orchestra was recently awarded national honors by the League of American Orchestras at the LAO National Convention in Denver last week. The PCSS was recognized with the Adventuresome Programming Award by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). This is the 4th ASCAP award received by the Plymouth Canton Symphony Orchestra.

Musical Director and Conductor, Nan Harrison Washburn, who begins her 10th season with the PCSS, has made it a hallmark of the orchestra to support living composers and great American music during her tenure and this is the 17th such award she has received.

"We're thrilled," Washburn says. "We believe premiering and highlighting the work of new American composers as a regular part of concert programming is a wonderful way to introduce our audiences to new and beautiful music. To be honored by ASCAP and the League of American Orchestras, which co-presents the award, is a great validation of what we do."

The Plymouth Canton Symphony Orchestra is one of 26 orchestras around the country to be recognized this year, and the only one in Michigan placing second in the category of orchestras with annual operating expenses of $470,000 or less. Placing first was the San Jose Chamber Orchestra and third place went to Orchestra 2001 of Philadelphia.

Entering its 63rd season, the Plymouth Canton Symphony will continue to feature new compositions by American composers next season with a new work by Alexis Aldrich and a world premiere by Michigan composer James Aikman of his new work, Tempus Fugit.

For more information on the Plymouth Canton Symphony please click here.

Bravo! (oops, never mind)

And now a few words about applause between movements.

One of the more appealing aspects of the 8 Days in June festival is the dilution of many of the pretensions that fuel the classical elitist stereotype. At 8 Days, you're encouraged to dress comfortably, pick a seat wherever you like, and as festival host Tom Allen points out, "if you like the music, clap!"

This business of refraining from applause between the movements in a classical composition is a relatively recent 20th-century phenomenon, that ironically would have appalled the same composers so revered by many of those who adhere to the practice. Personally, I think it became popular in part because it was a way for elitists to look down their noses at newcomers, but no matter. The fact is, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Mozart and the rest actually expected the audience to register their approval at the end of a rousing finish, whenever it occurred.

It was interesting to note the audience's reaction during the DSO's performance of The Planets last week after Tom opened the doors to spontaneous applause. Everyone was keyed on Peter Oundjian, the conductor. When he relaxed, we applauded. When it was clear he was getting ready to continue, we kept quiet. Simplicity itself. With nary a misstep. Far from heralding a descent into the abyss, it is exactly the kind of thing one hopes will spill over into the regular subscription concerts.

Thankfully, a movement to return to a less pretentious code of concert etiquette is gathering steam, thanks in no small part to some very eloquent and influential advocates. In a fine article on the subject by Andrew Druckenbrod for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, we find this quote from pianist Emanuel Ax:

"All of us love applause ... it means that the listener LIKES us!

"I really hope we can go back to the feeling that applause should be an emotional response to the music rather than a regulated social duty."

And the new music director of the Detroit Symphony, Leonard Slatkin himself, weighed in on the subject saying:

"It is just fine to express yourself at a concert. If you are moved by the performance or work, feel free to show the performers how you feel. Just be sincere in your appreciation. Those of us on the stage will know if you really mean it and we will be appreciative of your response.

"Just don’t overdo it with lengthy outbursts that last well into the night. We all need to get to the restaurants before they close."

So there you have it. Was there a nice, rousing finish to that first movement? Then by all means, applaud.

You first.

Related Content:

Applauding the relaxing of rules of clapping in classical concerts; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; February, 2007

To Clap or Not To Clap? – Leonard Slatkin Poses the Question; Classicalsource.com; September, 2006

1 Day in June

Friday, June 13, 2008. Opening night of the Detroit Symphony's 8 Days in June festival. It was a blast last year. Would the magic be back tonight?

Initial indications were promising. For people-watching, it was a target rich environment. From club wear to polo shirts over jeans, from Saville Row suits to Hawaiian shirts and Birkenstocks and just about everything in between, it all contributed to the pre-concert buzz in the atrium of the Max Fisher Music Center. At the box office a line of ticket seekers grew until it snaked onto Woodward Avenue. So far, so good.

As you enter Orchestra Hall, you're welcomed by beaming t-shirt clad ushers who, like the musicians warming up on stage, have ditched the formal wear. Casual Friday returns to the Max. Another good sign.

Now the music begins and it's time for the promise to be kept. Could lightning strike again?

Long before the end of Mozart's Jupiter symphony, I had my answer. As that miraculous fugal finale unwound in front of me, the adrenalin coming off the stage was seeping into the audience, culminating in a roar of appreciation as we headed to intermission. In the second half, Holst's The Planets was dazzling, a tour de force for a great orchestra in a great hall.


Following another thunderous ovation, a glowing crowd poured into the atrium to keep the party going to the infectious world music rhythms filling the Max Fisher Music Center.

The reviews in The Detroit News and Free Press, while giving generally high marks for the DSO's performance, took issue with how successfully the "Power of Change" theme of the festival was working. Perhaps it is a bit of a stretch, but for me that's not important.

What I saw in a packed Orchestra Hall Friday night, taking up most of the row in front of me, was a group of 20-somethings decked out for a fun night coming to hear Mozart.

I heard one mature couple behind me making conversation with another that "hadn't come down here in years." Maybe now there won't be as much time between visits.

I saw a pre-teen red-headed boy who could have stepped out of a Norman Rockwell painting pick two seats right in the front row, where he and his younger brother stared in rapt attention at every move maestro Oundjian made, for the entire concert.

To all those concerned about the future of classical music in this country, these are powerful signs that it is alive and well in Detroit.

There are 7 Days in June left. Come as you are. Sit where you like. But whatever you do, don't miss it.

A Scenic Diversion

One of my favorite spots to decompress: Kensington Metropark overlooking Kent Lake, Milford, MI.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled blog.

Getting Jiggy with the DSO

Seems like the modern symphony orchestra has always been grappling with the challenge of attracting younger concertgoers without alienating their loyal but aging core audience. Sometimes these attempts show promise, sometimes not so much. But in today's Detroit Free Press, music critic Mark Stryker called the Detroit Symphony Orchestra's 8 Days in June festival

" . . . that rare example of an orchestra trying to be hip and mostly pulling it off with natural flair and true adventure."

And pull it off they sure did. Last year's inaugural festival was extraordinary. Adventurous programming was a big part of it, but for me at least as important was a host of welcome changes that seemed to blow untold decades of cobwebs out the roof of Orchestra Hall.

The orchestra had ditched the penguin suits for tasteful (and I'm sure more comfortable) black shirts and slacks. The attendees in the audience were a stimulating mix of hip-hop, Gen X, and urban funk mingling with the regular clientele. Seating was more open, allowing groups to gather spontaneously as they met.

As festival host Tom Allen took the stage to contextualize the music, the atmosphere was giddy with excitement and anticipation.

What followed blew the lid off the place.

Led by maestro Peter Oundjian, the concerts were electrifying. The crowds were fully engaged and the whole experience was so totally vibrant it made me fervently hope it could spill over into the rest of the season. This is what concertgoing was meant to be. Not a reverent homage to a dusty, long-gone past, but a living exaltation of the human creative spirit.

And it's coming back, starting Friday. Fantastic!

One Mighty Lute

English lutenist Nigel North brandishing his "axe"

I've always thought of the lute as kind of a quaint, arcane instrument, something suited to Elizabethan drawing rooms and troubadors, that sort of thing. This afternoon a recording of lute transcriptions of J.S. Bach's Cello Suites turned up on the broadcast version of The Well-Tempered Wireless and I was curious.

Then I saw the photo of Nigel North toting this behemoth instrument on his shoulder (just count the pegs), and I knew we were in for much more than quaint.

Now of course, it was never Mr. North's intention to upstage the cello, but simply to add some appealing repertoire to the lute catalog. The recording is on Linn Records, and as Nigel points out in his notes, all he wanted to do was:

" . . . to take the works for unaccompanied violin or cello and make them into new works for lute, keeping (as much as possible) to the original text, musical intention, phrasing and articulation, yet transforming them in a way particular to the lute so that they are satisfying to play and to hear."

They are indeed.

(But gadzooks, man; what must it take to tune that thing?)

A Canine Diversion

Action shot of Fred the Fearless Beagle (retired)

He's the most laid back dog I've ever seen in my life, as you might infer from the unretouched photo above. Even a good thunderstorm generates barely a yawn from good ol' Fred.

Interestingly, one of his other haunts is under the piano (shades of George Sand). He seems to like Cole Porter.

Or maybe my playing reminds him of a vacuum cleaner.

Star Struck

Paul Yee (L) of the DSO shooting the breeze last month with Maestro Ashkenazy at the Max Fisher Music Center.

It must have been some 30 years ago, I'd guess. Vladimir Ashkenazy was coming to town to play a solo recital, one night only, in Detroit's Ford Auditorium. I knew the Fair Margaret Anne and I would just have to be there, but one thing led to another, and by the time I got around to ordering tickets I was sure the only thing left would be something in the nose-bleed section of the balcony, if that.

No matter, we just wanted to be there. The call went something like this:

"Ford Auditorium Box Office."

"Uh, hello. I know it's probably way too late, but I was just calling to see if you had any tickets left for Vladimir Ashkenazy this week."

"One moment. Hmm, sir, it looks like everything's sold out on the main floor . . .

(Damn, I knew it!)

" . . . but they just decided to add chairs on the stage."

(ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?)

"Would you like a pair, sir?"

"YES!!, um, I mean, sure that would be nice."

And that's how one unforgettable night the Fair Margaret Anne and I were seated no more than 25 feet from Vladimir Ashkenazy, appearing with him on the stage of Ford Auditorium, with some 2,200 music lovers arrayed behind him (from our perspective).

Now some three decades later, we met in person as Maestro Ashkenazy returned to Detroit's Orchestra Hall to conduct the DSO. I got to interview him on the radio and for a few minutes we were best buds.

I still can't believe it.

Opus One

Well, here I am orbiting the blogosphere, joining the gazillions of would-be hipsters presuming they have something to say of interest to various trolling cybernauts.

We'll see.