Looking Back:

• For those who didn’t get to attend the Glens Falls Symphony concert last Sunday with violinist Elizabeth Pitcairn … here’s a review.

• If you are a hometown fan of the Albany Symphony Orchestra and attended the ASO’s recent Carnegie Hall concert, you might be interested in Greg Sandow’s musings regarding who “really” is the audience of the Spring for Music Festival. Perhaps more well known as a critic, Sandow now focuses on the future of classical music—defining classical music’s problems, and finding solutions for them—through his artsjournal blog.

•  And speaking of the Albany Symphony, here’s the Times Union review of Saturday night’s concert at The Troy Savings Bank Music Hall featuring guest violinist Aisslinn Nosky in a performance of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons.

Looking Forward:  

• While the weather may be a little slow to show the season, signs of spring and summer are the upcoming Tannery Pond and Windham Chamber Music Festival concerts.

• For those of us who follow Joseph Dalton’s previews, reviews, and insights, be sure to check out his take on Daniel Klein’s The Jewish Jester, A Fable with Music playing at the Unicorn Theatre in Stockbridge through May 25th.  I’ve heard it’s lots of fun and includes incidental music and a few original songs written by the young Berkshire composer Jesse Putnam.

• While attending the ASO’s concert Saturday night at The Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, one couldn’t miss the signs for savings for the Troy Chromatic Concerts 2013-2014 season. Looks like you’ll see some savings if you book your subscription tickets early … by June 15th. The season lineup includes, The Knights, Estonian National Symphony Orchestra, Trio Solisti, and Hilary Hahn. Check it out here!

On The Very Distant Horizon ….

Interested in Baroque music or how the art and music worlds connect?

As opera has hit the big screen, apparently so has the art world. Of note, The Spectrum will be hosting two screenings of Vermeer and Music:  the Art of Love and Leisure at the end of October.

Vermeer painted little more than 30 works that still exist. London’s National Gallery is offering a major exhibition on one of the most startling and fascinating artists of all-time Johannes Vermeer, painter of the Girl with a Pearl Earring. In this film the National Gallery’s brings focus on Vermeer’s work through a relation to music. It should provide an intriguing look into the middle Baroque as music was one of the most popular themes of Dutch painting and revealed an enormous amount about the sitter and the society.

Many of you know I’m fascinated with the use of music in film.  I’ll leave you with Arvo Pärt’s Fratres. It was used quite skillfully in The Place Beyond The Pines, which you are probably aware has numerous connections to the Capital Region….

Until next time … enjoy the music wherever you may find it!

6:00 pm • Saturday, May 18th 2013
Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center • Great Barrington, MA

The Piano Trio.  It is one of the most common forms found in classical chamber music.

Using the piano trio as the centerpiece, Close Encounters With Music celebrate the works of the great masters of the German tradition—Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven—and the man who challenged their aesthetic, Maurice Ravel.

Saturday’s program begins with Mozart’s Trio in B Flat Major and continues with Beethoven’s Violin Sonata No. 5 in F Major, Opus 24, also known as the “Spring Sonata.” The second half of the program is devoted to Ravel’s groundbreaking Piano Trio in A minor, brimming with ardor and his signature astringent ecstasy (as in “Bolero”!). When it was introduced in 1915, it blazed with new sonorities and contemporary rhythms based on archaic Mediterranean and Basque dances and continues to retain its freshness and exoticism 100 years later.

For the music and film buffs, the first movement of the Ravel was used extensively as the soundtrack for the 1992 French film Un coeur en hiver (A Heart in Winter). The film tells the story of the beautiful violin virtuoso Camille. She has two obsessions: the music of Ravel and a friend of her husband’s who crafts violins and whose heart seems to be as cold as her playing is passionate …. oops, getting off track.

The performers in Saturday’s Close Encounters With Music concert at the Mahaiwe are:

• Itamar Zorman, violin
• Yehuda Hanani, cello
• Roman Rabinovich, piano

Go and enjoy a night of great chamber music, in this national chamber music month of May!

]]> http://www.hudsonsounds.org/close-encounters-with-music-celebrate-a-trio-of-grand-piano-trios/feed/ 0 http://www.hudsonsounds.org/on-the-horizon-2/ http://www.hudsonsounds.org/on-the-horizon-2/#comments Mon, 13 May 2013 16:15:53 +0000 Liz Friedman http://www.hudsonsounds.org/?p=9867 more »]]>

Looking Back:

The Great Gatsby was certainly in the air last week. While the soundtrack for the Baz Luhrmann film is really not of any note, last week’s Albany Symphony Orchestra second performance for the Spring for Music Festival at Carnegie Hall brought a much more exciting Gatsby to life with John Harbison’s Suite from his operatic version of the F. Scott Fitzgerald story.

In case you were not able to attend, you can catch the ASO’s Carnegie Hall concert here via the WQXR archives (see audio link below). Nice interviews with ASO Music Director David Alan Miller and pianist Kevin Cole and an intro by Morton Gould.

The May 7th 2013 Albany Symphony at Carnegie Hall Program:

David Alan Miller, conductor
Kevin Cole, piano

• John Harbison: Suite from The Great Gatsby
 (NYC premiere)
• Georg Gershwin: Second Rhapsody for piano and orchestra piano
• Morton Gould: Symphony No. 3 (New York premiere of original version)

And, if you missed the Albany Pro Musica’s concert at The Troy Savings Bank Music Hall, you can get a glimpse through Joseph Dalton’s review.

Looking Ahead:

HudsonSounds continues the celebration of National Chamber Music Month. You can find the listing of the regional upcoming chamber music concerts here. Of particular note, we want to bring to your attention the deBlasiis Chamber Music Series’ concert with the duo of flutist Yvonne Chavez Hansbrough and pianist Young Kim on Monday, May 20th at the Hyde Collection in Glens Falls.

Meanwhile, grab that cup of joe, and sit back for a listen of the ASO’s concert at Carnegie Hall ….

4 pm • Sunday, May 12th 2013
Glens Falls High School • Glens Falls (NY)

Given that Sunday is Mother’s Day, we should give a shout out to Sergey Rachmaninoff’s mother (as well as our own!). Included on the Glens Falls Symphony concert program on Sunday is Rachmaninoff’s Symphony No. 2, a piece similar to an epic romantic novel that is an expansive emotional narrative full of drama and pathos. Good family “stuff!”

Originally, the plan for Rachmaninoff and his brothers was for them to attend a prestigious military school. But when Rachmaninoff’s father squandered away the family fortune and walked away from the family, Sergey’s mother took efforts to place him at the Moscow Conservatory.

Sergey, while blessed with virtuosic talent, wasn’t particularly interested in practicing and spent more time at the skating rink than the piano. His mother had no idea her son was failing all his classes until a teacher mentioned it … as Rachmaninoff had been doctoring his report card. Upon this discovery and some consultation with a relative, Sergey’s mother put him under the the care of the best piano teacher in Russia, Nikolai Zverev. Ultimately a move that has given us the gifts of Rachmaninoff’s compositional works such as his Symphony No. 2. *

The final concert in the Glens Falls Symphony’s 2012-2013 season, “The Year of the Violin,” also features Elizabeth Pitcairn performing Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1 on the infamous “Red Violin.”

Awesome!

While Pitcairn is known locally, both as a performer and as the musical director of the Luzerne Music Center that she first attended as a teenager in 1988, she is performing with the Glens Falls Symphony for the first time.

The program:

• Dimitry Kabalevsky:  Overture to Colas Breugnon, Op. 24
• Serge Prokofiev:  Violin Concerto No. 1 with Elizabeth Pitcairn
• Sergey Rachmaninoff:  Symphony No. 2

Concert ticket holders are invited to a pre-concert talk with Maestro Charles Peltz at 3:15 pm.

* Source:  Elizabeth Lunday’s Secret Lives of Great Composers

]]> http://www.hudsonsounds.org/glens-falls-symphonys-violin-season-closes-with-rachmaninoff-and-pitcairn-performing-prokofiev/feed/ 0 http://www.hudsonsounds.org/albany-pro-musica-haydns-mass-for-troubled-times-at-the-troy-savings-bank-music-hall/ http://www.hudsonsounds.org/albany-pro-musica-haydns-mass-for-troubled-times-at-the-troy-savings-bank-music-hall/#comments Thu, 09 May 2013 02:55:40 +0000 FeaturedEvent http://www.hudsonsounds.org/?p=9775 more »]]> 7:30 pm • Saturday, May 11th 2013 at 7:30 pm
Troy Savings Bank Music Hall • Troy (NY)

Missa in Angustils, or “Mass for Troubled Times” or more popularly known as “The Lord Nelson Mass.” One of Haydn’s greatest works. One of several pieces being performed by Albany Pro Musica under the direction of guest conductor Timothy Newton and with the Pro Musica Orchestra. With recent events, in many ways, this work couldn’t be more appropriate.

The featured soloists are:

• Kristen Watson, soprano
• Kara Cornell, alto
• David Tayloe, tenor
• Woodrow Bynum, baritone

The concert also includes works by Eric Whitacre, Morten Lauridsen, Franz Biebl, Eliza Gilkyson, as well as Peteris Vasks‘ haunting Dona nobis pacem, which undoubtedly will be superb with the acoustics of The Troy Savings Bank Music Hall.

The audience is invited to join Maestro Newton and Concert Master Ann-Marie Barker Schwartz for a pre-show discussion about the music in the Music Hall at 6:30 pm.

The program:

• Lux Aurumque – Eric Whitacre (1970)
• O Magnum Mysterium – Morten Lauridsen (1943)
• Requiem – Eliza Glikyson (1950) / Craig Hella Johnson (arr)
• Ave Maria – Franz Biebl (1906-2001)
• Dona nobis pacem – Peteris Vasks (1946-)
• Missa in Angustiis (Mass For Troubled Times) – Haydn (1732-1809)

Down River:  If you haven’t heard yet, the Albany Symphony Orchestra will be traveling to New York City on Tuesday to perform at Carnegie Hall as part of the “Spring for Music” Festival, a week-long series of celebrating innovative and creative programming by North American orchestras. Although it’s a young festival, begun in 2011, the Albany Symphony is the first orchestra that has been selected to make its second appearance at the Festival, And that’s including the 2014 Festival selections,  which were announced earlier this year. Bravo ASO!

Do you have friends, colleagues, or relatives in the greater NYC area? Let them know as tickets are still available and are really reasonable at $25 each. Check it out!

Up River:  This coming Sunday, the Glens Falls Symphony Orchestra features American violin virtuoso Elizabeth Pitcairn performing with the legendary “Red Mendelssohn” Stradivarius violin of 1720 with a performance of Prokovfev’s Violin Concerto No. 1. This is the violin that is said to have inspired the film The Red Violin. You can view the full program here.

Meanwhile enjoy the short documentary interview video, The Auction Block, about Elizabeth Pitcairn, the power of the “Red Mendelssohn,” and the movie The Red Violin.

3:00 pm • Sunday, May 5th 2013
Kinderhook Reformed Church • Kinderhook, NY

by Liz Friedman—Some families seem to be loaded with the talent … The Bach family clearly highlights this. If you love the music of Bach, well this is your weekend!

On Saturday evening in Great Barrington, the Berkshire Bach Society is presenting TENET, one of New York’s preeminent vocal ensembles. The program, entitled Bach and His Predecessors,  includes vocal selections of Buxtehude, Schütz and Capricornus along with an instrumental selection by Muffat prior to presenting J.S. Bach’s motet “Lobet den Herrn” and his Cantata 150 “Nach dir Herr”.

On Sunday afternoon in Kinderhook, you can get a glimpse of how the music continues from the Baroque to Classical in a concert presented by Concerts in the Village. This concert is devoted to the musical genes of two of Johann Sebastian’s four talented sons, Carl Philipp Emanuel and Johann Christian, in particular.

Johann Christian was only 15 years old at the time of his father’s death in 1750. He was soon sent to Hamburg for study with his famous step-brother C.P.E. Bach, quite a reputable composer and teacher in his time.  J.C., the youngest son, was the only one of Bach’s 20 children to leave the German-speaking world where he found real celebrity and even commercial success, first in Italy and then in England.

Enticed to move to London by none other than England’s Queen Charlotte, J.C.’s popularity and assimilation was so successful that he became known as “John Bach” and the “London Bach.” And, probably how he got his portrait painted by Thomas Gainsborough (above).

His importance was enough to inspire another talented family’s travels. Mozart’s father packed their bags and brought his  talented son Wolfgang Amadeus to London for study with “John Bach.”

Under the direction of David Smith, the Concerts in the Village has brought together the talents of the Columbia-based Broad Street Chorale will feature soprano Amanda Boyd and tenor Vincent Festa in J.C.’s charming and clever secular cantata Endimione. The program also includes the American premiere of  J.C. Bach’s Miserere of 1757. The band draws upon some of the finest players in eastern New York, including Graham Schultz, Lloyd E Cast Organ Fellow at the Cathedral of All Saints.

The full program can be viewed here.

As the brothers Wayne and Garth would say, Excellent!

by Liz Friedman—While May has been designated as National Chamber Music Month, we know that there is an abundance of chamber music to be had in New York’s Capital Region and along the extended shores of the Hudson River. Oddly enough, perhaps because May tends to be a “transition” month for the area due to the number of education institutions in the area that play host or present chamber music, there isn’t as much chamber music in May as other times of the year. Hmmmm … opportunity?

Regardless … HudsonSounds takes it’s hat off to the Chamber Music America (CMA) initiative to raise public awareness of the many styles of small-ensemble music performed and presented in every region of the United States.

What is chamber music anyway?  No different than anything else, music evolves as cultures, society, and technology change. No longer is the chamber music setting limited to the room in the palace or to the string quartet configuration. It takes place in town halls, parks, homes, concert halls, churches, art galleries, cafes, clubs, and any other nook and cranny that people can gather to share the community and intimacy of great music.

CMA defines chamber music as music composed for small ensembles, with one musician per part, generally performed without a conductor. And, the term once referred only to Western classical music for small ensembles, such as string quartets and trios. Today, however,  chamber music encompasses myriad forms, including contemporary and traditional jazz, classical, and world genres.

I whole-heartedly embrace this description. I am also curious to know what the region’s classical presenters and audiences think about this broad definition … e-mail us. We’ll compile some thoughts and share in a later post then open it up for further discussion.

As the focus of HudsonSounds is classical music, we’ll give a round of applause to all of the chamber music presenters and sponsors in the region and a standing ovation to all the chamber composers and performers who make their home along the Hudson and are passionate about sharing their talents with us.  Thank you!!!

And as you look at your May event calendar, be sure to make special note and mark the dates for these upcoming chamber music concerts:

Berkshire Bach Society: TENET Performs Bach & His Predecessors
First Congregational Church, Great Barrington, MA
Saturday, May 4th 2013 at 8:00 pm

Baroque to Classical: A Musical Journey with the Bach Family
Kinderhook Reformed Church, Kinderhook, NY
Sunday, May 5th 2013 at 3:00 pm

Lilac 94:  Harp Duo Performs Andres, Gershwin and Ravel
Center Brunswick United Methodist Church, Troy, NY
Thursday, May 9th 2013 at 7:30 pm

ClaverackLanding: Arnold Steinhardt, violin and Lincoln Mayorga, piano
Club Helsinki, Hudson, NY
Saturday, May 18th 2013 at 6:00 pm

Close Encounters with Music: Piano Trios of Mozart, Beethoven and Ravel
Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center, Great Barrington, MA
Saturday, May 18th 2013 at 6:00 pm

deBlasiis Chamber Music: Yvonne Chavez Hansbrough & Young Kim
Hyde Collection, Glens Falls, NY
Tuesday, May 28th 2013 at 7:30 pm*

* Please Take Note …. this concert has been rescheduled to this date (May 28th)

Tannery Pond: Cellist Matt Haimovitz and Pianist Christopher O’Riley
Tannery Pond, Mount Lebanon, NY
Saturday, May 25th 2013 at 6:00 pm

ASO’s American Music Festival: Dogs of Desire
EMPAC, RPI, Troy, NY
Friday, May 31st 2013 at 7:30 pm

Note: Our apologies if we have missed or overlooked listing your chamber music event.  Please submit your event here to bring it to our attention.

8 pm • Tuesday, April 30th 2013
Brooks-Rogers Recital Hall at Williams College • Williamstown (MA)

Take Sara out to the ball game … Sara Davis Buechner is not just an avid fan, but a proud honorary member of the Hanshin Tigers baseball team of Osaka, Japan.

Sara also, by the way, enjoys a vibrant international performance and recording career as a musician of “intelligence, integrity and all-encompassing technical prowess” (New York Times) and “thoughtful artistry in the full service of music”(Washington Post).

Ms. Buechner comes to Williams College on Tuesday for a piano recital and to share her knowledge and experience with students in a master class that is also open to the public. As is the concert, there is no charge to attend the master class.

In addition to featuring Yukiko Nishimura’s Ten New Etudes for Piano, Buechner will perform George Gershiwin’s original arrangement of Rhapsody in Blue.

The program:

• W.A. Mozart:  Sonata in E Flat Major, KV 332
•                            Sonata in B Flat Major, KV 579
•                            Sonata in F Major, KV 332
• Yukiko Nishimura: Ten New Etudes for Piano
• George Gershwin: Rhapsody in Blue

3:00 pm • Sunday, April 28th 2013
Union College Memorial Chapel • Schenectady, NY

Union College Concert Series
presents
Emerson String Quartet
Eugene Drucker, violin
Philip Setzer, violin
Lawrence Dutton, viola
David Finckel, cello

Time Magazine has called the Emerson “America’s greatest quartet.” The Emerson has also been referred to as, “The one indispensable quartet.”

2013 seems to be a year where musical chairs is the theme in the chamber music world. With the Tokyo String Quartet exiting the stage and the Emerson String Quartet bidding a fond farewell to David Finckel and welcoming cellist Paul Watkins. Unlike the dramatic stories portrayed on stage and in the movies, however, these seem to be the natural progression in the various artists’ careers.

Finckel announced over a year ago he would be leaving the Emerson to pursue an increasing number of performing and educational projects worldwide allowing him the opportunity to broaden himself musically in the cello literature and beyond. His final concert with the ensemble will be presented by The Smithsonian Chamber Music Society on May 11th (2013) in Washington, DC:

Emerson String Quartet
Eugene Drucker, violin
Philip Setzer, violin
Lawrence Dutton, viola
David Finckel, cello
Paul Watkins, cello (starting May 11)

To mark Finckel’s departure from and Paul Watkins’s debut with the Emerson Quartet, all five gentlemen will perform together for the first time on May 11th at the Smithsonian Museum. Paul Watkins will join Finckel and the quartet for the final selection on the concert, which will be Franz Schubert’s String Quartet in C Major, D 956.

If all of this is of particular interest to you, head on over to The Huffington Post feature in a series of blog posts individually written by the Emerson.

As the Emerson has been a staple on the Union College Concert Series, you’ll get the opportunity to be introduced to the “new” Emerson String Quartet in November. No doubt, David Finckel will be back as well.

Meanwhile, to learn more about this Sunday’s concert at Union College, check out B.A. Nilsson’s piece, David Finckel’s Lyric Goodbye.

The Emerson String Quartet’s concert program on Sunday:

• Mozart:  Quartet in D Major, K. 499 “Hoffmeister
• Berg:  Lyric Suite
• Dvorák:  Quartet in D Minor, Op. 34

after the fact:  To read Joseph Dalton’s review of the concert, click here.

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