G.Dudamel and the LA Phil. in London

このLondon, The Guardian 紙のReview は，Gustavo Dudamel has been controversial of late.　とLosangels Philharmonic のMusic Director に華々しく迎えられてから一定の期間が過ぎて，さまざまに評価が分かれてきたと書き起こしています．He has long been a star, and rightly so, thanks to his association with the tremendous impact made by the Simón Bólivar Youth Orchestra from his native Venezuela. Yet away from the Bólivars, things have been more equivocal.

彼は2012年までスエーデンのthe Gothenburg Symphony のprincipal conductorですが，彼の指揮への賞賛は聴かれなくなっているそうですし，ロスフィルでthe so-called "Dudamania" と呼ばれた熱烈なフアンもdied down したそうです．

そして，アメリカで，Dudamel が誇大宣伝された指揮者の評価に答えられるかどうかに疑問が提起されているといわれます．

ロスフィルは，signed up as Barbican international associates,の契約を結んだそうですから，London では彼の指揮を聴く機会がこれから増えることになります．そのOpen ninaruコンサートには文化大臣culture secretary Jeremy Hunt も聴衆に加わったそうです．

プログラムは，　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Adams's Slonimsky's Earbox, 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Bernstein's First Symphony 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　and Beethoven's Seventh 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　だったそうです．

Adams の曲は，Stravinsky のPetrushka に近い響きを持っていたそうですが，it showcases the LAP's dexterity and precision, and nicely emphasises their sound's innate glamour – warmer than some US orchestras, 　とアメリカのオケとしてユニイークで優れた音響を響かせていたといいます．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Dernstein の曲は第2次大戦中の1942年に書かれ，"Jeremiah" とタイトル曲で，a dark meditation on Jewish spirituality at a time of threat　という背景を持った曲だそうですが，Dudamel は，賢明にも，centred the work　in its scherzo, with its collisions between mockery and violence. Kelley O'Connor, tall and hieratic, was the alto soloist, intoning the final lament with sepulchral beauty　となかなかの好演を示したようです．

Deethoven 7thは，素晴しい演奏だったようで，the Beethoven was electrifying. Dudamel used almost unfashionably large forces by UK standards, but controlled them superbly throughout. Textural complexity was balanced by tremendous grace of phrasing and the instrumental solos were often exquisitely played. The slow movement, opening in a mood of profound sadness, gradually acquired a relentless momentum as it progressed that took it into troubling, curiously disconsolate emotional territory. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Dudamel took the finale so swiftly that occasional details vanished in the exaltation of it all. It was impossible not to be swept away. That visceral quality that made him so famous with the Bólivars was present in his Beethoven in spades.
といかにもDudamel らしさを存分に発揮した好演だったようです．

あとは，ご自由にご渉猟下さい．

 

Gustavo Dudamel and the LA Philharmonic – review

The Barbican, London

4

 

• 
• • Tim Ashley
  • The Guardian, Friday 28 January 2011

                       

Gustavo Dudamel conducts the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Barbican in London Photograph: Tristram Kenton

Gustavo Dudamel has been controversial of late. He has long been a star, and rightly so, thanks to his association with the tremendous impact made by the Simón Bólivar Youth Orchestra from his native Venezuela. Yet away from the Bólivars, things have been more equivocal. Responses to his performances with the Gothenburg Symphony – he is their principal conductor until 2012 – have been, on occasion, muted. And once the so-called "Dudamania" over his musical directorship of the Los Angeles Philharmonic died down, questions began to be asked in the US both about his musicianship and if any conductor, even of the highest calibre, could live up to the hype surrounding him.

The LAP, however, have now signed up as Barbican international associates, so we are going to have plenty of opportunity to assess Dudamel's ongoing relationship with them and his development as an interpreter. And on this showing, the auspices are good, by and large making those dissenting voices seem querulous and tetchy. The opening concert, attended by luminaries from the arts world including culture secretary Jeremy Hunt, was an almost self-consciously grand occasion.

Its programme consisted of three works – Adams's Slonimsky's Earbox, Bernstein's First Symphony and Beethoven's Seventh – that are rooted in tense rhythmic complexities and dynamic extremes. This is the sort of thing Dudamel has always done well.

Slonimsky's Earbox peers back towards minimalism's roots in Stravinsky with the result that some of it sounds too like Petrushka for its own good. But it showcases the LAP's dexterity and precision, and nicely emphasises their sound's innate glamour – warmer than some US orchestras, albeit with a slight glare in the brass. Bernstein's First, meanwhile, subtitled "Jeremiah" and written in 1942, is a dark meditation on Jewish spirituality at a time of threat. The gaunt, thudding opening soon headed implacably towards climaxes that oppressed through sheer force of decibels. Dudamel centred the work, however, in its scherzo, with its collisions between mockery and violence. Kelley O'Connor, tall and hieratic, was the alto soloist, intoning the final lament with sepulchral beauty, if occasional unsteadiness.

But the Beethoven was electrifying. Dudamel used almost unfashionably large forces by UK standards, but controlled them superbly throughout. Textural complexity was balanced by tremendous grace of phrasing and the instrumental solos were often exquisitely played. The slow movement, opening in a mood of profound sadness, gradually acquired a relentless momentum as it progressed that took it into troubling, curiously disconsolate emotional territory. Some might have preferred more differentiation between the contrasting speeds of the scherzo and trio, and Dudamel took the finale so swiftly that occasional details vanished in the exaltation of it all. It was impossible not to be swept away. That visceral quality that made him so famous with the Bólivars was present in his Beethoven in spades.

 

武蔵野文化小ホール： キャサリン・ジェイコブソン・ピアノ・リサイタル

1月25日，昨日に続いて，武蔵野文化小ホールへ，ピアノのキャサリン・ジェイコブソンを聴きに行ってきました．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　昨夜，ロシア出身の素晴しい若手ピアニストを聴いたのですが，今夜は，なぜ武蔵野がこの人を招聘したのだろうといささか疑問を感じました．

少し調べましたら，そもそもは大阪フィルハーモニーが，レオン・フライシャー指揮の演奏会を開いたところ，フライシャーが夫人をソリストとして連れてきたのだそうです．それを機会にというか便乗してというか，武蔵野文化小ホールがその夫人にリサイタルを依頼したということのようです．

プログラムは，　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　シューベルト：　　４つの即興曲集　Op.90 Ⅰ～Ⅳ　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　スクリアービン： ピアノ・ソナタ 第3番　嬰ハ短調　Op.23　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　            ※※※※※※※※                                                                       　　　　　　　　　　　　　　モーツアルト：　ロンド　イ短調　K.511                                                       　　　　　　　　　　　シューマン：　　ウイーンの謝肉祭の道化芝居　「幻想的情景」　Op.26                          　　　でした．

とにかく最初のシューベルトがいただけませんでした．私はブレンデルのCD でOp.90 & Op142　を毎週のように聴いているモノですから，ジェイコブソンの硬いピアノ・タッチが最初から気になってしまって，この4曲ですっかり悪い印象を持ってしまいました．

スクリアビンは硬いタッチでもまだ聴けましたが，後半のモーツアルトのロンドでも柔らかさが見られず，何となく一本調子でした．音の表情に豊かさが表れないのです．

シューマンはちょっと聴いた記憶のない曲でしたが，5楽章構成が淡々と弾かれました．

武蔵野文化会館は昨年まであった1000円という価格帯を1500円に上げたのですから，それを機会に東京はいくらだけど武蔵野はいくらといった宣伝，あるいは日本でただ1回のリサイタルといったcatch phraseばかりを喧伝するのはやめて，もっと演奏者のプロフィールを詳しく紹介するようにして貰いたいと強く要望します．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　今夜の場合，英語はプログラムの表紙でも3枚目のプロフィールでも Katherine Jacobson--Fleisher と明記されていたのに，日本語はあくまでキャサリン・ジェイコブソンだけだったのです．これはあまりに酷すぎませんか？

 

 

 

クラシックの崩壊；Classic Collapse

アメリカのクラシック音楽界は，この10年ほど低落しており，崩壊の道を辿っています．　　　　　　　　　　The music industry has been charting the decline of classical market in the United States for at least a decade, attributing it to aging audiences, crashing CD sales and shrinking private subsidies. Music lovers beware: there are signs now of an accelerating downward trend. 

問題の根源は，a plague of pirated Internet downloads and a spreading anti-intellectual climate in the U.S. music world　と厳しい味方をしています．それに経済的情況 the current economic squeeze.が加わっているのです．Detroit, Philadelphia, Cleveland and Pittsburgh orchestras are in dire financial difficulty, and Louisville last month filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.　ルイズヴィルは既に破産の申し立てをしましたし，ホノルルはそれ以前に倒産しました．

音楽人口の多いNew York でも，多くの2番手オーケストラが困難に陥り，the Brooklyn Philharmonic and Long Island Philharmonic have stopped performing and others are downsizing, curtailing their season and asking players to take salary cuts.と演奏を stop したもの，サイズを縮減したり，シーズンを短縮したり，サラリー・カットを求めています．

熟達した音楽家達も，仕事の機会が失われており，そこに Chinese, Korean and Japanese virtuosos from the top U.S. conservatories が音楽大学を出て競争に加わっているのです．

only the major orchestras in New York, Boston, Chicago and a few other cities. が未だ健全ですが，they see an end of an era coming.　という見方が広がっています．

The New York Times has called it the Classical Music Recession. This time, however, the recovery may come too late for city-based orchestras and players throughout the country.

デトロイトのストライキについて，ある市民は，"I don't need an orchestra in town and apparently I am not alone, otherwise enough paying customers would attend. The DSO loses money. It is not a compelling value proposition in the competition for the entertainment dollar of enough metro Detroiters to justify its survival. Take the pay cut, or shut it down. Simple as that."　と手厳しい批判を寄せています．

ヨーロッパの例を挙げています．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　France and Germany have largely avoided U.S. problems, supporting their leading orchestras mainly through government subsidies. In Italy, however, opera companies and orchestras are both suffering. In Britain, subsidies are under pressure by cutbacks in government spending but an innovative economic model helps them survive.

London, arguably the music capital of the world, "is doing pretty well," says leading British music critic and writer Jessica Duchen, partly by "paying their players one heck of a lot less than the Americans do -- possibly a quarter as much." The most successful orchestras -- the London Symphony, London Philharmonic and Philharmonia -- do not give full-time salaries. Players are paid on a freelance basis.　とアメリカのように年俸せいではなく，freelance basis だというのです．

音楽家の副業としてのmusic lesson も減っているようです．また大きいのは，the once-ubiquitous CD, which started losing market share about ten years ago, continues to fall in all categories. "The demand that everything on the Internet be free has meant that the vast majority of music downloads are illegal, thus depriving performers and composers of their deserved income,"

中国だけが例外ではないかと挙げています．Only in Asia is the classical music industry in ascendancy. China has built modern concert halls across the country and implemented an aggressive music-education program in schools. An estimated 20 million young Chinese have been hand-picked to study classical piano. U.S. conservatories such as Juilliard and Curtis are training the best of them.　

日本は挙っていませんが，少子高齢化の経済へのマイナス効果は，近い将来，日本の音楽家にも大きなマイナスになるのではないでしょうか．

 

 

Classic Collapse

By Michael Johnson on 1.24.11 @ 6:07AM

The music industry has been charting the decline of classical market in the United States for at least a decade, attributing it to aging audiences, crashing CD sales and shrinking private subsidies. Music lovers beware: there are signs now of an accelerating downward trend. 

The root of the problem, musicians tell me, is a plague of pirated Internet downloads and a spreading anti-intellectual climate in the U.S. music world, especially among the young. Further pressure, as if any were needed, comes from the current economic squeeze.

Several of the nation's leading symphonies are wholly dependent on private donations. As the recession has taken hold, Detroit, Philadelphia, Cleveland and Pittsburgh orchestras are in dire financial difficulty, and Louisville last month filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The Honolulu Symphony, the oldest orchestra west of the Rockies, went broke and shut down in December. In music-mad New York, many second-tier orchestras, including the Brooklyn Philharmonic and Long Island Philharmonic have stopped performing and others are downsizing, curtailing their season and asking players to take salary cuts.

Highly trained instrumentalists complain that the demand for their services is eroding year by year as job opportunities evaporate. Moreover, the arrival of Chinese, Korean and Japanese virtuosos from the top U.S. conservatories has heated up the competition both for permanent and freelance work.

It looks like a perfect storm has hit the business of serious music, so far sparing only the major orchestras in New York, Boston, Chicago and a few other cities.  Some say they see an end of an era coming.

"It's a tough time for great music," says Melinda Bargreen, a composer and former Seattle Times critic who was recently sacked in a cost-cutting campaign at the newspaper.

The New York Times has called it the Classical Music Recession. This time, however, the recovery may come too late for city-based orchestras and players throughout the country.

It is already too late for some. A typical case is a professional cellist in New York who has seen his income plunge by two-thirds, forcing him to sell his home to feed his family and stay solvent. Another musician, a New York percussionist, has gone public with his plight, calling his once-busy life now haunted with "long stretches of quiet."

Even light-hearted classical concerts such as Peter Schickele's P.D.Q. Bach have stopped, not for quality reasons but because dumbed-down audiences miss his wisecracks due to poor musical knowledge.

A pianist friend, Ivan Ilic, says the pervasive public ignorance of serious music has been a major factor in the current crisis. "It is naive to pretend that people will spontaneously flock to concerts because, say, the harmonic progressions are worked out in more detail in a Schubert symphony than those is a song by Lady Gaga." 

People need context to understand the music, he believes, "and the older the music the richer the context."

Reaction from residents of the cities worst affected has sparked emotional debates on the Internet over how much subsidy makes sense when audiences and benefactors are turning away. Many residents favor market forces as the main indicator in deciding whether an orchestra deserves to survive. In Detroit, where a crippling strike over wages has shut down the orchestra since last October, one local reader wrote to the Free Press website:

"Given the high (too high, actually) ticket prices for the DSO and those high salaries for what basically is part-of-the-year work, I have almost zero sympathy for a symphony that has more or less struck itself out of a job."

Wrote another reader:

"I don't need an orchestra in town and apparently I am not alone, otherwise enough paying customers would attend. The DSO loses money. It is not a compelling value proposition in the competition for the entertainment dollar of enough metro Detroiters to justify its survival. Take the pay cut, or shut it down. Simple as that."

In Louisville, a Courier-Journal reader commented: 

"Either community support exists or it doesn't. In this case, clearly the community support for an orchestra of this size doesn't exist and the LO should reorganize into a sustainable entity."

As bloggers continued opting for a shutdown, one reader asked, "Tell me dear sir, what is the color of your neck?" 

France and Germany have largely avoided U.S. problems, supporting their leading orchestras mainly through government subsidies. In Italy, however, opera companies and orchestras are both suffering. In Britain, subsidies are under pressure by cutbacks in government spending but an innovative economic model helps them survive.

London, arguably the music capital of the world, "is doing pretty well," says leading British music critic and writer Jessica Duchen, partly by "paying their players one heck of a lot less than the Americans do -- possibly a quarter as much." The most successful orchestras -- the London Symphony, London Philharmonic and Philharmonia -- do not give full-time salaries. Players are paid on a freelance basis.

Ms. Bargreen laments the disappearance of the music critic from many U.S. newspapers. "What was lost was not only the continued vigilance and critical attention to this field," she told me, "but also the ability of classical performers to get their story out in a way that got more considered attention than the millions of tiny voices shouting into cyberspace."

The survival of orchestras has hit players' private finances in other ways, too. Demand for private lessons, which normally supplement their incomes, is dropping off as schools cut back music education and the entertainment industry floods the young with other options. One classically trained music teacher in Britain told me he has been forced to learn, and teach, the electric guitar to keep his job. Youngsters are not opting for his music appreciation courses.

Music lessons in British schools are expected to be chopped further as the government seeks to privatize this side of education.  "It's as if, rather than just pruning the tree at sensible points of the branches, they want to pull it up by the roots," says Ms. Duchen.

And finally, the once-ubiquitous CD, which started losing market share about ten years ago, continues to fall in all categories. "The demand that everything on the Internet be free has meant that the vast majority of music downloads are illegal, thus depriving performers and composers of their deserved income," says composer-critic Bargreen.

Only in Asia is the classical music industry in ascendancy. China has built modern concert halls across the country and implemented an aggressive music-education program in schools. An estimated 20 million young Chinese have been hand-picked to study classical piano. U.S. conservatories such as Juilliard and Curtis are training the best of them.

Many of these young players are technically brilliant but critics are waiting for signs of deeper interpretations. Chinese-born Lang Lang, known by critics as Bang Bang, may be the first of many to grow into this role, and in the process to help pick up the slack in the Western classical tradition.

Mr. Johnson served nine years on the board of the London International Piano Competition.

武蔵野文化小ホール：スドピン・ピアの・リサイタル

1月24日，武蔵野文化小ホールに，エフゲニー・スドピンのピアノ・リサイタルを聴きに行ってきました．1980年サンクトペテルブルグ生まれだそうですが，87年にサンクトペテルブルグ音楽院入学，90年からはベルリンで研鑽を積み，97年からロンドンに居住してエルトンに師事し，各地のアカデミーに参加した経歴の持ち主です．06年から欧米ツアーを行って好評を得て，幅広いリサイタルやオーケストラとの協演を重ねている逸材です．スカルラッティのソナタ集を皮切りに，CD でも高い評価を得ているといいます．

プログラムは，　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　スカルラッティ：　ソナタ　ヘ長調　K.466　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　                   ソナタ  ト長調　K.455　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　                   ソナタ  ロ短調 K.27　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　ショスタコーヴィチ：　前奏曲　第2番　イ短調　Op.34-2　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　                         同     第6番　ロ短調　Op.34-6　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　                         同     第17番　変イ長調　Op.34-17                                　　　　　　　　　　　　　　                         同     第24番　ニ短調　Op.34-24　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　ショパン：　　　　　バラード　第3番　変イ長調　Op.47　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　                    バラード 第4番　ヘ短調　Op.52　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　                      　　           ※※※※※※※※                                                                        　　　　　　　　　　リスト：　　　　　　　超絶技巧練習曲　第11番　「夕べの調べ」　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　ラベル：　　　　　　 夜のガスパール　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　と多彩でした．

スカルラッティは，イタリア生まれで，教え子の王女の結婚についてイベリア半島に渡り，約600曲の鍵盤曲を残したといわれます．ここではテンポや調性を変えた曲が並べて演奏されましたが，出だしから綺麗なピアノ・タッチで，3曲をくっきりと浮かび上がらせてくれました．

ショスタコーヴィチの前奏曲4曲は，雰囲気はがらっと変わり，気分の異なる曲が，浅いタッチで見事に演奏されました．

ショパンのバラードは，完璧なピアノ演奏でしたが，ショパン特有の叙情性，即興性は，やや抑制された感じでした．

リストの超絶技巧練習曲11番は，曲集のなかでは最も叙情性に富んだ曲といわれますが，ただただその速い指運びや両手の交差などに見とれて聴いて，演奏に圧倒されました．

ラヴェル「夜のガスパール」の3曲，「オンディーヌ」「絞首台」「スカルポ」は，オーケストラ曲をピアノ曲にしてみたかったのだそうですが，その故かかなりの技巧を要求する曲でしたが，3曲をいとも簡単にあっさりと弾いてくれました．

プログラミングの意図がよくわかりませんでしたが，演奏のレベルはなかなか高度で，今年30歳ですが，これからまだまだ成長を続けるピアニストだという印象を受けました．　

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

The Greatest 10 Composers

The New York Times のMusic critic の主筆格の　 ANTHONY TOMMASINI　が，2011年に入って，過去から現在までの作曲家から現存者は除いて，そのうちのTop 10 を選ぶとして，2週間ほどの間，いくつかの論説を書いてきましたが，多くの読者からの反応も得て，その集大成として，最終的に自分の考える Top 10 を公表しています．

1. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750)， 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　2. Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　3. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 — 91)， 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　4. Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828)，　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 5. Claude Achille Debussy (1862 — 1918), 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　6. Igor Stravinsky (1882 — 1971), 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　7. Johannes Brahms (1833 — 97), 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　8. Giuseppe Verdi (1813 — 1901), 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　9. Richard Wagner (1813 — 83), 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　10. Bela Bartok (1881 — 1945).　　　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　                                                                                                                                   という順序です．

判断の理由は原文を参照戴きたいのですが，the title essay in “Listen to This,” a collection of astute, lively writings Alex Ross, the music critic for The New Yorker, which was published last year (Farrar, Straus & Giroux). In this essay he argues that the very term “classical music” makes this vibrant art form seem dead. Indeed, as he writes, “greatness” and “seriousness” are not classical music’s defining characteristics; it can also “be stupid, vulgar and insane.”
と，classical music が批判的に論じられていることは承知の上の選択をしています．

また，多くの読者から，Monteverdi，Mahler．Berg， Ligeti, Albinoni，Liszt, Rachmaninoff, Bruckner などが外れたことに，多くの疑問が提起されたそうです． 
Mozart が3位で2位に　Beethoven を入れた理由は，I’m going with Beethoven for the second slot. Beethoven’s technique was not as facile as Mozart’s. He struggled to compose, and you can sometimes hear that struggle in the music. But however hard wrought, Beethoven’s works are so audacious and indestructible that they survive even poor performances. と説明されています．

（39歳で亡くなったChopin が落ちて）31歳で夭折したShubert が4位になった理由について，その歌曲集の偉大さを挙げ，また，「未完成」とSchubert の9番Symphonyについて，それらがBruckner やMahler に道を開いたことを挙げています．また，最晩年の３つのピアノ・ソナタについて，引用で，その偉大さを挙げています．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　For his hundreds of songs alone — including the haunting cycle “Winterreise,” which will never release its tenacious hold on singers and audiences — Schubert is central to our concert life. The baritone Sanford Sylvan once told me that hearing the superb pianist Stephen Drury give searching accounts of the three late Schubert sonatas on a single program was one of the most transcendent musical experiences of his life. Schubert’s first few symphonies may be works in progress. But the “Unfinished” and especially the Ninth Symphony are astonishing. The Ninth paves the way for Bruckner and prefigures Mahler.

あとはそれほど強い異論はないでしょうが，本文を，どうぞご自由にご渉猟下さい．

 

 

 

The Greatest

By ANTHONY TOMMASINI

Published: January 21, 2011

Thomas Fuchs

 

The Top 10 Composers

Anthony Tommasini explores the qualities that make a classical composer great, maybe even the best of all time.

Left, 1. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750). From top left, 2. Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827), 3. Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756 — 91). 4. Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828). From middle left, 5. Claude Achille Debussy (1862 — 1918), 6. Igor Stravinsky (1882 — 1971), 7. Johannes Brahms (1833 — 97). From bottom left, 8. Giuseppe Verdi (1813 — 1901), 9. Richard Wagner (1813 — 83), 10. Bela Bartok (1881 — 1945).

I am about to reveal my list, though as those who have been with me on this quest already know, I’ve dropped hints along the way. And the winner, the all-time great, is ... Bach!

To step back for a moment, I began this project with bravado, partly as an intellectual game but also as a real attempt to clarify — for myself, as much as for anyone else — what exactly about the master composers makes them so astonishing. However preposterous the exercise may seem, when I found myself debating whether to push Brahms or Haydn off the list to make a place for Bartok or Monteverdi, it made me think hard about their achievements and greatness.

Ah, greatness. Early on I received a friendly challenge from a reader (“Scott”) who questioned the whole notion of greatness in music. He cited the title essay in “Listen to This,” a collection of astute, lively writings by Alex Ross, the music critic for The New Yorker and my good friend, which was published last year (Farrar, Straus & Giroux). In this essay he argues that the very term “classical music” makes this vibrant art form seem dead. Indeed, as he writes, “greatness” and “seriousness” are not classical music’s defining characteristics; it can also “be stupid, vulgar and insane.”

All true. Yet what came through in the comments from readers and, I hope, my articles and videos is that for most of us these composers are not monumental idols but living, compelling presences. Just as we organize our lives by keeping those we love in a network of support, we do something similar with the composers we rely on.

I was moved by how many readers could not wait to share their lists of favorite composers, whom, naturally, they also considered the greats. Even many of those who dismissed the exercise jumped right in: “This is absurd, of course. But here’s my list. And don’t you dare leave out Mahler.” Or Berg. Or Ligeti. Or, from one Baroque music enthusiast, Albinoni!

As a longtime champion of contemporary music, I was gratified to receive so many objections to my decision to eliminate living composers from consideration. Still, for me there was no other way. We are too close to living composers to have perspective. Besides, assessing greatness is the last thing on your mind when you are listening to an involving, exciting or baffling new piece.

So humbled by the discerning music lovers who wrote in, I now offer my own list. And remember: my editors gave the go-ahead for this project on condition that I go all the way and rank my 10 in order.

My top spot goes to Bach, for his matchless combination of masterly musical engineering (as one reader put it) and profound expressivity. Since writing about Bach in the first article of this series I have been thinking more about the perception that he was considered old-fashioned in his day. Haydn was 18 when Bach died, in 1750, and Classicism was stirring. Bach was surely aware of the new trends. Yet he reacted by digging deeper into his way of doing things. In his austerely beautiful “Art of Fugue,” left incomplete at his death, Bach reduced complex counterpoint to its bare essentials, not even indicating the instrument (or instruments) for which these works were composed.

On his own terms he could be plenty modern. Though Bach never wrote an opera, he demonstrated visceral flair for drama in his sacred choral works, as in the crowd scenes in the Passions where people cry out with chilling vehemence for Jesus to be crucified. In keyboard works like the Chromatic Fantasy and Fugue, Bach anticipated the rhapsodic Romantic fervor of Liszt, even Rachmaninoff. And as I tried to show in the first video for this project, through his chorales alone Bach explored the far reaches of tonal harmony.

The obvious candidates for the second and third slots are Mozart and Beethoven. If you were to compare just Mozart’s orchestral and instrumental music to Beethoven’s, that would be a pretty even match. But Mozart had a whole second career as a path-breaking opera composer. Such incredible range should give him the edge.

Still, I’m going with Beethoven for the second slot. Beethoven’s technique was not as facile as Mozart’s. He struggled to compose, and you can sometimes hear that struggle in the music. But however hard wrought, Beethoven’s works are so audacious and indestructible that they survive even poor performances.

I had an epiphany about Beethoven during the early 1980s when I heard the composer Leon Kirchner conduct the Harvard Chamber Orchestra. He began with a Piston symphony, a fresh, inventive Neo-Classical piece from the 1950s. “La Mer” by Debussy came next, and Kirchner, who had studied with Schoenberg and had a Germanic orientation, brought weighty, Wagnerian intensity to this landmark score, completed in 1905. The Debussy came across as more modern than the Piston.

After intermission Peter Serkin joined Kirchner for a performance of Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto that brought out the mysticism, poetic reverie and wildness of the music. The Beethoven sounded like the most radical work in the program by far: unfathomable and amazing. I’m giving Beethoven the second slot, and Mozart No. 3.

Four? Schubert. You have to love the guy, who died at 31, ill, impoverished and neglected except by a circle of friends who were in awe of his genius. For his hundreds of songs alone — including the haunting cycle “Winterreise,” which will never release its tenacious hold on singers and audiences — Schubert is central to our concert life. The baritone Sanford Sylvan once told me that hearing the superb pianist Stephen Drury give searching accounts of the three late Schubert sonatas on a single program was one of the most transcendent musical experiences of his life. Schubert’s first few symphonies may be works in progress. But the “Unfinished” and especially the Ninth Symphony are astonishing. The Ninth paves the way for Bruckner and prefigures Mahler.

The Greatest

Published: January 21, 2011

• Recommend
• Twitter
• comments (706)
• Sign In to E-Mail
• Print
• Single Page
• Reprints
• ShareClose
  • Linkedin
  • Digg
  • Mixx
  • MySpace
  • Yahoo! Buzz
  • Permalink

(Page 2 of 2)

 

 

Debussy, who after hundreds of years of pulsating Germanic music proved that there could be tension in timelessness, is my No. 5. With his pioneering harmonic language, the sensual beauty of his sound and his uncanny, Freudian instincts for tapping the unconscious, Debussy was the bridge over which music passed into the tumultuous 20th century.

The Top 10 Composers

Anthony Tommasini explores the qualities that make a classical composer great, maybe even the best of all time.

• Videos | Vote for Your Greatest
• Arts & Leisure: The Greatest Part I
• Blog Posts and Reader Comments

Blog

ArtsBeat

The latest on the arts, coverage of live events, critical reviews, multimedia extravaganzas and much more. Join the discussion.

• More Arts News

Readers' Comments

Share your thoughts.

• Post a Comment »
• Read All Comments (706) »

One who later walked that bridge was Stravinsky, my No. 6. During the years when “The Firebird” and “The Rite of Spring” were shaking up Paris, Stravinsky was swapping ideas with his friend Debussy, who was 20 years older. Yet Stravinsky was still around in the 1960s, writing serial works that set the field of contemporary music abuzz. One morning in 1971 I arrived at the door of the music building at Yale, on which someone had posted an index card with this simple news: “Igor Stravinsky died today.” It felt as if the floor had dropped out from under the musical world I inhabited. Stravinsky had been like a Beethoven among us.

I’m running out of slots. In some ways, as I wrote to one reader, either a list of 5 or a list of 20 would have been much easier. By keeping it to 10, you are forced to look for reasons to push out, say, Handel or Shostakovich to make a place for someone else.

Some musicians I respect have no trouble finding shortcomings in Brahms. He did sometimes become entangled in an attempt to extend the Classical heritage while simultaneously taking progressive strides into new territory. But at his best (the symphonies, the piano concertos, the violin concerto, the chamber works with piano, the solo piano pieces, especially the late intermezzos and capriccios that point the way to Schoenberg) Brahms has the thrilling grandeur and strangeness of Beethoven. Brahms is my No. 7.

In an earlier installment of this series I tried to weasel out of picking Romantic composers other than Brahms by arguing that the era fostered originality and personal expression above all. To a genius like Chopin, having a distinctive voice and giving vent to his inspirations were more important than achieving some level of quantifiable greatness.

But the dynamic duo of 19th-century opera, Verdi and Wagner, aimed high. As I already let slip, they both make my list. That a new production of a Verdi opera, like Willy Decker’s spare, boldly reimagined staging of “La Traviata” at the Metropolitan Opera, can provoke such heated passions among audiences is testimony to the enduring richness of Verdi’s works. A production of Wagner’s “Ring” cycle has become the entry card for any opera company that wants to be considered big time. The last 20 minutes of “Die Walküre” may be the most sadly beautiful music ever written.

But who ranks higher? They may be tied as composers but not as people. Though Verdi had an ornery side, he was a decent man, an Italian patriot and the founder of a retirement home for musicians still in operation in Milan. Wagner was an anti-Semitic, egomaniacal jerk who transcended himself in his art. So Verdi is No. 8 and Wagner No. 9.

One slot left. May Haydn forgive me, but one of the Vienna Four just had to go, and Haydn’s great legacy was carried out by his friend Mozart, his student Beethoven and the entire Classical movement. My apologies to Mahler devotees, so impressively committed to this visionary composer. Would that I could include my beloved Puccini.

I was heartened by the hundreds of readers who championed 20th-century composers like Ligeti, Messiaen, Shostakovich, Ives, Schoenberg, Prokofiev and Copland, all of whom are central to my musical life. Then there is Berg, who wrote arguably the two greatest operas of the 20th century. His Violin Concerto, as I explained in my first video, would make my list of top 10 pieces. I was disappointed that an insignificant number of readers made a case for Britten. I have some advocacy work to do.

I received the most forceful challenges from readers who thought that pre-Bach composers simply had to be included, especially Monteverdi. Though Monteverdi did not invent opera, he took one look at what was going in Florence around 1600 and figured out how this opera thing should really be done. In 1607 he wrote “Orfeo,” the first great opera. His books of madrigals brought the art of combining words and music to new heights. The Monteverdi contingent is probably right.

But forced to pick only one more composer, I’m going with Bartok. In an earlier piece I made my case for Bartok, as an ethnomusicologist whose work has empowered generations of subsequent composers to incorporate folk music and classical traditions from whatever culture into their works, and as a formidable modernist who in the face of Schoenberg’s breathtaking formulations showed another way, forging a language that was an amalgam of tonality, unorthodox scales and atonal wanderings.

So that’s my list.

And now, in an act of contrition, I am beginning a personal project to listen nonstop to recordings of Britten, Haydn, Chopin, Monteverdi, Ligeti and those composers whom I could not squeeze in but whose music carries me through my days.

オーチャードホール：第16回ショパン・コンクール入賞者ガラ・コンサート

1月22日，オーチャードホールに第16回ショパン国際ピアノ・コンクール入賞者ガラ・コンサートを聴きに行って来ました．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　このガラ・コンサートに疑問を感じたのですが，　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　第1に，14時開演で終演は17時過ぎでした．それは，　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　第2に，入賞者が1位1人，2位2人，3位1人に加えて，5位が1人加わっていたからです．　　　　　　ユリアンナ・アヴデーエワ(第1位 ロシア)、　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　ルーカス・ゲニューシャス(第2位 ロシア/リトアニア)、　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　インゴルフ・ヴンダー (第2位 オーストリア)、　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　ダニール・トリフォノフ(第3位 ロシア)、　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　フランソワ・デュモン(第5位 フランス)
つまり5位までをガラ・コンサートに呼んで開かれたのです．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　第3に，日本にもこの程度のレベルのオーケストラはいくつもあるのに，わざわざ指揮：アントニ・ヴィット；管弦楽：ワルシャワ国立フィルハーモニー管弦楽団を連れてきたことです．この管弦楽団は仙台，福岡，大阪，東京2回，名古屋，札幌と巡演しますが，このオケガ弾くのは，ショパンのピアノ協奏曲第1番だけで，同じ曲を合計12回も協演するのです．

東京ではオーチャードホールで2日にわたって開かれ，両日とも Sold out ですから，興行的には成り立ったのかもしれません．後援者のヤマハ・ピアノで演奏したピアニストがいましたから，それなりの宣伝成果は挙ったかも知れません．しかし，チェケット代がS・¥12,000　A・¥10,000　　　　　　B・¥8,000　C・¥6,000　D・¥4,000　というのはいかにも高過ぎたと思います．

現に優勝者のユリアンナ・アヴデーエワは，既に昨年12月のNHK交響楽団定期公演に，シャルル・デュトワの指揮で今日弾いたのと同じピアノ協奏曲第1番を２日にわたって協奏していたのです．そのTV放送がつい昨日，１月２１日のN響アワー（午前10：00～11時30分）で放映されたのを私は鑑賞したばかりだったのです．ユリアンナ・アヴデーエワはかつてのマルタ・アルゲリッチ以来の女性優勝者だそうですが，シャルル・デュトワの最初の夫人は，そのマルタ・アルゲリッチだったということがあります．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　また，このN響出演の機会を利用して，彼女は，昨年12月8日には，　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　【ユリアンナ・アヴデーエワ　ピアノ・リサイタル】
日時： 2010年12月8日（水）19:00開演
会場： 東京オペラシティ　コンサートホール
主催： KAJIMOTO
後援： ポーランド共和国大使館、ロシア連邦大使館
曲目：　-ショパン・プログラム-
　　　　　4つのマズルカ op.30
　　　　　2つの夜想曲 op.27
　　　　　ピアノ・ソナタ第2番 変ロ短調 op.35
　　　　　幻想曲 ヘ短調 op.49
　　　　　スケルツォ第4番 ホ長調 op.54
　　　　　夜想曲 ロ長調 op.62-1
　　　　　ポロネーズ第7番 変イ長調 op.61 「幻想ポロネーズ」
チケット： Ｓ席7000円／Ａ席6000円　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　を既にやっていたのです．

さらにいえば，彼女はNew York Philharmonic とも，そのEuropean Tour で　Warsaw　で協演し，この1月初旬には，New York で協演したのです．

¶ When the Philharmonic season was announced, the orchestra committed to a New York performance with the winner of the 16th International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, which Yulianna Avdeeva, a young Russian pianist, won in October.

¶ Competitions are often derided for their scorecard mentality, but they offer aspiring musicians a coveted chance to perform with major orchestras. Ms. Avdeeva made her debut with the Philharmonic during its recent European tour, performing the E minor Concerto in Warsaw. She is the first woman to have won the competition, held every five years, since Martha Argerich’s victory in 1965. Other storied winners include Garrick Ohlsson, Krystian Zimerman and Maurizio Pollini, all now much admired Chopin interpreters.

¶ Ms. Avdeeva, who looked stylish in a black tuxedo and heels, performed with the requisite technique here, blending a muscular approach with an ability to tease out Chopin’s singing lines expressively. Yet there was nothing distinctive or probing about her playing.

¶ Almost all of Chopin’s music is for piano, and his genius seems to have been directed entirely toward the keyboard. The orchestral writing in his two piano concertos is mostly stolid and uninspired. Apart from the orchestral introductions the ensemble is merely a dutiful accompanist throughout, although Mr. Gilbert notes in a blog for Musical America that “playing the orchestral accompaniment in Chopin’s concertos is far from straightforward.”

¶ He led a nuanced rendition, with the orchestra a thoughtful partner for Ms. Avdeeva. As an encore, she offered a finely crafted interpretation of Chopin’s Mazurka in A minor, Opus 67 No. 4.

このように，権威あるChopin Competition の優勝者には，New York Philharmonic も　NHK交響楽団もそれぞれ debut の機会を予め用意していたのです．また，前に紹介しましたが，London ではRecital の機会が提供されました．

それに較べて，今日のガラ・コンサーとはいったい何が目的だったのでしょう．ワルシャワからわざわざそこそこのオーケストラを連れてきて，しかも1位から5位までの5人も連れてきて，それぞれに時間を割り振ってコンサートをやられたのでは，Chopin Ompetition のWinner,2位，3位，5位にはそんなに差がなかったとでもいいたいのかと思ってしまいます．それではCompetition の自己否定になってしまうでしょう．もっとも今年はソナタ賞，ポロネーズ賞，幻想ポロネーズ賞？協奏曲賞，マズルカ賞などと賞が安売りされていましたが．．．

強いて憶測を述べますと，ここ最近の過去3回の日本人参加者は，4位2人，5位1人，6位1人でしたから，昨年最多17人の参加者を送った日本人が誰かは入賞すると想定して，日本側の希望で低位入賞者も拾うことにしたのでしょうか．もしそうだとしたら，日本人17人は今回すべて第2次予選までで落ちてしまった経験を次に生かすべきでしょう．

演奏への私の感想を述べますと，優勝者の25歳のYulianna Avdeeva は，上に挙げただけでもAlan Gilbert 指揮のNew York Philharmonic とシャルル・デュトワ指揮のNHK交響楽団とのそれぞれ複数回の協演で一段と成長したと感じられました．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　彼女は，ゆとりを持って，正確なピアノ・タッチで，メロディーを美しく響かせていたと思います．まだそれほど個性的な演奏ではありませんでしたが，演奏の幅が広がって，今日の断トツのできばえを見せていました．アンコールにワルツを1曲弾いてくれましたが，これは，なかなか個性的な表現力豊かな演奏だったと思います．

2位以下については，コメントする気持が湧かなかったので，ご了承下さい．

意見としては，せいぜい1，2位と過去の優勝者（日本在住者もいるはず）のガラ・コンサート，1位と2位にはショパンの第1番，第2番のピアノ協奏曲を，過去の優勝者は，ソナタの1曲，そして新しい経験を積ませる意味で，日本の指揮者とオーケストラ（できれば開催場所ごとの）との協演にぜひ是正して欲しいモノだと思います．それだけでも，チケット代は3割以上安くできるでしょう．

　　　　　　　　　　　　　

 

 

 

Lang Lang, classical music's superstar

Lang Lang, classical music's superstar は定期的にVancoover に来演しているそうですが，この記事は Interview 形式で書かれています．

Superstar の演奏会，Any Lang Lang concert is an occasion, but his recital of music by Beethoven, Albéniz and Prokofiev will demonstrate a complex balance between artistry and publicity, between marketing and musical inspiration.　　　　と書きだしています．

Lang Lang, 28, is a phenomenally gifted man. His technical facility alone is staggering.　The Chinese pianist has evolved a special relationship with Vancouver audiences: He first played here in his teens, and has since performed for the Vancouver Recital Society and the Vancouver Symphony on a regular basis.

日本でも，来月，大都市で比較的廉価なサイタルが予定され，チケットは完売になっています．私は買い損ないました．

Is Lang Lang still developing as an artist? Emphatically, yes.と太鼓判を押しています．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Since his overarching goal is to go for balance amid diversity, he has no concerns that his fan base might balk at an evening of two Classical period works, another from post-Impressionist Spain, and a tough example of Soviet Modernism f　rom Prokofiev.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　と多様なクラシック音楽の間のバランスを重視しているようです．“I always try for a different range of repertoire,” he said. “These are rather serious, and, in the case of the Prokofiev, challenging works.”　in the Vancouver program we go from Germany south to Spain and then north again to Russia.”

Lang Lang’s superstar status also underlines another important sea-change in the classical music world, the astonishing popularity of “Western” classical music in new Asian heartlands. Lang Lang is by no means the first important pianist to emerge from China, an honour that probably goes to Fou Ts’ong, who began playing regular concerts in the 1950s.

この点はたいへん重要な点だと思います．これからのクラシック音楽人口を握っているのは中国だといえるからです．なお，Fou Ts'ong はイギリスで1950年代から活躍したピアニストで，有名なヴァイオリニストだったメニューヒンの娘婿になった人です．

Lang Lang extolled the “incredible” youth music programs in China: “Currently there are 40 million kids learning piano and 90 million kids learning other instruments. And we have so many student orchestras. In terms of classical music, China is coming fast.”

“When you are in Asia, particularly in China, Japan, or Korea, parents pursue this ambitious kind of education. They expect you to enter competitions, and if you’re No. 1, you’re great,”　“When I came to America, my teacher Gary Graffman told me to forget about these stupid rankings and just focus on working hard on the music.

Lang Lang はしたがって，クラシック音楽は死に絶えるといわれたのに反して，これから中国中心に拡大すると楽観的に見ています．“A generation ago people used to worry that classical music would eventually die out, but now we know this is definitely not the case. The tradition has been invigorated by Asian performers, and now there are audiences all over that thrive on classical music. I see it as a win-win situation.”

世界第2位の経済大国になった中国は，これから1人っ子政策の影響で急速に高齢化に向かうでしょうが，クラシック音楽人口の急増はそれを上回って進むことでしょう．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　アメリカもヨーロッパもアジア諸国も，今後，有能な中国人音楽家にどんどん参入されると考えるべきでしょう．それはクラシック音楽のレベル向上に大いに貢献するに違いないでしょう．

 

 

Lang Lang, classical music's superstar, wows Vancouver

By David Gordon Duke,                                                                          Vancouver Sun January 19, 2011  

                                             

 

Lang Lang. Photograph by: Handout, Files

Presented by The Vancouver Recital Society                                                                    Orpheum Theatre   Friday, 8 p.m.

Tickets: $99-$219

 

VANCOUVER — The latest love-in between Lang Lang, the most brilliant of today’s classical pianist superstars, and his enormous local fan base will take place Friday night at the Orpheum.

Any Lang Lang concert is an occasion, but his recital of music by Beethoven, Albéniz and Prokofiev will demonstrate a complex balance between artistry and publicity, between marketing and musical inspiration.

Lang Lang, 28, is a phenomenally gifted man. His technical facility alone is staggering. Yet technique isn’t everything in classical music; such artists as Leon Fleisher and Rudolf Serkin (or, in the new generation, Inon Barnatan), express a healthy disdain for the flashy stock in trade of the touring virtuoso.

The Chinese pianist has evolved a special relationship with Vancouver audiences: He first played here in his teens, and has since performed for the Vancouver Recital Society and the Vancouver Symphony on a regular basis. Vancouver has watched him grow up.

Is Lang Lang still developing as an artist? Emphatically, yes. His program for his last Vancouver appearance unsettled some of his fans by including Schubert’s long, long A major Sonata D. 959, a late, dark masterwork that is anything but a virtuoso showpiece. Friday’s program will make a similar point about breadth and depth.

During an interview on a cold afternoon in San Antonio, Tex., a brief respite from his schedule jetting here, there and everywhere, Lang Lang said he was “glad to be coming back to Vancouver, which I love.”

Since his overarching goal is to go for balance amid diversity, he has no concerns that his fan base might balk at an evening of two Classical period works, another from post-Impressionist Spain, and a tough example of Soviet Modernism from Prokofiev.

“I always try for a different range of repertoire,” he said. “These are rather serious, and, in the case of the Prokofiev, challenging works.”

He said the second half of the recital complements the “very Germanic” first half. “The Spanish repertoire is very different. These days I’m doing more French and Spanish repertoire; I’ve also played the Goyescas by Enrico Granados. So in the Vancouver program we go from Germany south to Spain and then north again to Russia.”

The Vancouver Recital Society’s Leila Getz recalled her reaction when she first presented Lang Lang to a Vancouver audience back in the 1990s.

“His first performance here was absolutely, astoundingly wonderful. For reasons I still don’t understand, we had a full house for a completely unknown artist. As soon as he began to play, you could sense the electricity running through an audience that had no prior expectation. That was his Canadian debut, at the Playhouse, when he was still on his student visa. He was very much still a student, a warm, generous, really lovely young person, with a passion for gelato.

“By the time he returned in 2001, to the Chan Centre, it was quite obvious he was absolutely determined to go straight to the top, and to play in bigger halls. He’s always been completely open about where he intends to go and how he intends to go about it.”

Lang Lang’s superstar status also underlines another important sea-change in the classical music world, the astonishing popularity of “Western” classical music in new Asian heartlands. Lang Lang is by no means the first important pianist to emerge from China, an honour that probably goes to Fou Ts’ong, who began playing regular concerts in the 1950s. Half a century later, the roster of new artists from the east is perhaps the single most invigorating development in the classical world.

In a 2009 interview with Jonathan Lennie of Time Out, Lang Lang extolled the “incredible” youth music programs in China: “Currently there are 40 million kids learning piano and 90 million kids learning other instruments. And we have so many student orchestras. In terms of classical music, China is coming fast.”

But on other occasions he has emphasized the downside of competitive, over-focused educational styles. “When you are in Asia, particularly in China, Japan, or Korea, parents pursue this ambitious kind of education. They expect you to enter competitions, and if you’re No. 1, you’re great,” he told a pair of German interviewers. “This is built into the Chinese mindset. Be No. 1 in this, No. 1 in that, No. 1 pianist, No. 1 scientist.”

“I don’t say it’s a waste of time to compare yourself with others,” he said, before adding, “When I came to America, my teacher Gary Graffman told me to forget about these stupid rankings and just focus on working hard on the music. I totally agree. There is no ranking between masters.”

Getz also has her reservations about the cult of the No. 1 pianist, though as a concert organizer she well understands the power of the superstar.

“Lang Lang is beyond a superstar, he is a celebrity. I put him in the category of a Miley Cyrus. Young people today worship celebrities, and I wouldn’t be surprised if half the audience on Friday night aren’t there just because they want to be in the presence of a celebrity. There’s nothing wrong with that. If he gets through to five or 10 of them, and turns them on to classical music, he’s done something worthwhile.”

Lang Lang agrees that classical music continues to have an impact.

“A generation ago people used to worry that classical music would eventually die out, but now we know this is definitely not the case. The tradition has been invigorated by Asian performers, and now there are audiences all over that thrive on classical music. I see it as a win-win situation.”

As for the responsibilities of being a superstar and the toll his jet-set lifestyle takes, Lang Lang said he makes sure he gets a modicum of rest and study (“A month in the summer, and in February”), but the sheer joy and exhilaration of playing concerts is still a thrill, although he doesn’t like having to do so much flying.

As for payback: “The Lang Lang International Foundation is geared toward looking at classical music education for kids, in the schools.

“My biggest passion is still playing on the stage, but I see it as my responsibility to support education, out of gratitude for those who helped me when I was young.”

Special to The Sun

© Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun

JTアートホール：河村尚子の室内楽

1月19日，ＪＴアートホールに「河村尚子の室内楽」を聴きに行ってきました．先にチケットを買っていたのはトッパンホールのジャンーギアン・ケラスだったのですが，河村尚子に惹かれてＪＴアートホールに回ってしまったのです．ただ，今はちょっと後悔しています．

今夜のプログラムは，出演者と併せて，　
フィールド：ピアノ五重奏曲　変イ長調H.34 河村尚子，米本響子，佐藤俊介，鈴木康浩，
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　山本裕康　　　　
グリンカ： 大六重奏曲　変ホ長調　河村尚子，米本響子，佐藤俊介，鈴木康浩，
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　        山本裕廉，吉田秀 
         ※※※※※※※※   
シューベルト：ピアノ五重奏曲イ長調「ます」Op.114,D.667 河村尚子，佐藤俊介，
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　鈴木康浩, 山本裕泰，吉田秀　
でした．

全体の感想として，前半はヴァイオリンが2人入っていて割と良い弦とピアノのバランスが取れていたのですが，後半，今夜のプログラムの目玉「ます」では，ヴァイオリンが1人になってしまって，どうにも4弦のバランス，ピアノとのバランスが急に悪く聴こえてしまったのです．「ます」で作曲者が quartet 形式ではなくヴァイオリンを削ってさらに低弦を加えたのは，それでもヴァイオリンあってのバランスを考えていた筈だと考えるからです．

河村さんは読響の時から日本に帰っていましたが，ヴァイオリンの2人は帰国の時季がずれて，全体を通したリハーサルが十分ではなかったのではないでしょうか．特にビオラ，チェロ，コントラバスが名手揃いでしたから，外国勢が弦楽器に優れた日本に帰っても，それで気を許しては，上手くいかないと思います．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
とりわけ佐藤さんは，近年，バロックに関心を強め，ヴァイオリンをノン・ビブラートにも適合する21世紀製に持ち替えられたそうですから，他の弦楽器3人がもう少しシューベルト時代のあり方に配慮されると良かったのでしょうが．．．

「ます」があまりにも有名な曲だけに，これを手軽に見ないで，もっと重視して準備して欲しかったと思います．前半のグリンカなどなかなかの名演奏だっただけに，後半が惜しまれます．

細かなことは抜きにして，ともかく次の機会に期待したいと思います．

               

The Diotima Quartet New York Debut

少なくとも私は聴いたことがなかったフランスのQuartet，The Diotima Quartet が，結成以来10数年ぶりに，これまで避けてきたNew York Debut を飾ったそうです．それがアメリカで繁茂している並みのQuartet とはひと味もふた味も違った感銘を聴衆に与えたといいます．

its members were not long out of the conservatory and plays with the energy and passion of a newly minted ensemble. But it has been building its reputation for the last dozen years, largely through its new-music performances and an eclectic discography. といいます．

the quartet made up for that with a two-pronged debut, performing at the Frick Collection on Sunday afternoon and at the Austrian Cultural Forum on Monday evening.

the Frisk Collection では，1834 work by George Onslow                              Janacek’s “Intimate Letters.” 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　the Ravel Quartet　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Roger Reynolds’s “Elliott” (2008)

the Austrian Cultural Forum では，　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　String Quartet No. 6 (2010) by the Scottish composer James Dillon　　　　　　　　Webern’s Five Movements (1909)　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Thomas Larcher’s spacious, five-movement “Madhares” (2007)　　　　　　　　　　　　　がそれぞれ演奏されたそうです．

長文なので，Frick Collection の演奏会評を紹介しますと，

At the Frick the Diotima offered works from around the edges of the standard repertory．George Onslow, a 19th-century French composer of English descent, is one of the group’s specialties．Onslow was called the French Beethoven, and on balance, this 1834 work sounds more Germanic than French. Actually, Beethoven’s influence is less striking here than Mendelssohn’s, particularly in the brisk, cheerful finale.

The players — Naaman Sluchin and Yun-Peng Zhao, violinists; Franck Chevalier, violist; and Pierre Morlet, cellist — rendered Onslow’s rich textures with an attractive but never prettified sound: this was an earthy, lively Romanticism. That sensibility also suffused Janacek’s “Intimate Letters.” The quartet captured the composer’s continual shifts between ecstasy and anguish with a sound that embraced reverie and tumult, lushness and abrasiveness, melodic richness and stark angularity.

The Frick performance closed with a supercharged, tightly unified account of the Ravel Quartet, but as driven and dazzling as the outer movements were, the reading’s most memorable moments were in the slow movement. The haunting juxtaposition of a dark-hued theme and its tremolando accompaniment was perfectly balanced, and muted passages played with a vibratoless, almost organlike tone were especially affecting.  

原文のままの紹介ですが，とにかく賞賛しているのがお分かりいただけると思います．　　　　　　　　at the Austrian Cultural Forum の演奏会については，これ以上原文を並べるより，ご自由なご渉猟にお任せしたいと思います．

ともかく，フランスから第1級の素敵なQuartet が急速に成長してきたことを歓迎し，今後，早い機会の来日を大いに期待したいと思います．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

 

Music Review

Capturing Shifts Between Ecstasy and Anguish

Hiroyuki Ito for The New York Times

Members of the Diotima Quartet at the Frick: from left, Naaman Sluchin, Yun-Peng Zhao, Franck Chevalier and Pierre Morlet.

By ALLAN KOZINN

Published: January 18, 2011

The Diotima Quartet, based in Paris, looks as if its members were not long out of the conservatory and plays with the energy and passion of a newly minted ensemble. But it has been building its reputation for the last dozen years, largely through its new-music performances and an eclectic discography.

Its touring itinerary has bypassed New York until now, but the quartet made up for that with a two-pronged debut, performing at the Frick Collection on Sunday afternoon and at the Austrian Cultural Forum on Monday evening.

At the Frick the Diotima offered works from around the edges of the standard repertory. George Onslow, a 19th-century French composer of English descent, is one of the group’s specialties: its latest CD (on Naïve) offers 3 of his 36 quartets, and the group made a strong case for him with a balanced, at times sumptuous, account of the Quartet No. 30 in C (Op. 56). Onslow was called the French Beethoven, and on balance, this 1834 work sounds more Germanic than French. Actually, Beethoven’s influence is less striking here than Mendelssohn’s, particularly in the brisk, cheerful finale.

The players — Naaman Sluchin and Yun-Peng Zhao, violinists; Franck Chevalier, violist; and Pierre Morlet, cellist — rendered Onslow’s rich textures with an attractive but never prettified sound: this was an earthy, lively Romanticism. That sensibility also suffused Janacek’s “Intimate Letters.” The quartet captured the composer’s continual shifts between ecstasy and anguish with a sound that embraced reverie and tumult, lushness and abrasiveness, melodic richness and stark angularity.

The Frick performance closed with a supercharged, tightly unified account of the Ravel Quartet, but as driven and dazzling as the outer movements were, the reading’s most memorable moments were in the slow movement. The haunting juxtaposition of a dark-hued theme and its tremolando accompaniment was perfectly balanced, and muted passages played with a vibratoless, almost organlike tone were especially affecting.

At the Austrian Cultural Forum the quartet put its modernist side on display. The ability to switch gears quickly and fluidly, as it did in the Janacek, served it particularly well here, and that talent was tested immediately in the restlessly assertive String Quartet No. 6 (2010) by the Scottish composer James Dillon. Mr. Dillon’s sound world is variegated and changeable: sudden crescendos evaporate in pianissimo chords; quiet pizzicato passages unfold into sequences of descending slides that evoke whining, at times, and exoticism elsewhere.

After the Dillon, Webern’s Five Movements (1909) sounded like an antiquity. It was not that the players underemphasized Webern’s free use of dissonance and spare, often eerie timbres; they reveled in them. But they also made the most of occasional backward glances that, even where they last only a bar or two, offer what in this reading seemed a wistful memory of a vanishing world.

Roger Reynolds’s “Elliott” (2008) opens with an exquisite soliloquy for violin — given a virtuosic reading by Mr. Zhao (the two violinists alternate in the first chair) — and expands into a concise but intense meditation that has elements in common with the Dillon score.

The quartet closed its program with Thomas Larcher’s spacious, five-movement “Madhares” (2007), a work it recorded for an ECM compilation of Mr. Larcher’s music, released last year. It is an extraordinary piece: like the Dillon, it is rich in effects, and its language can be abstruse, even terrifying.

One section seemed to combine the avian swarm of Hitchcock’s “Birds” with the violin stabs in Bernard Hermann’s “Psycho” score. Yet these tense sections often melt into something entirely different — modal, folksy melodies, refracted through lightly dissonant harmonies, for example, or unabashedly shimmering Romanticism.

The score, inspired by the White Mountains of Crete, was both familiar and otherworldly, and left a listener eager to hear it again.

サントリーホール：都響定期，日本人作曲家競演

1月18日，サントリーホールに東京都交響楽団のB定期公演を聴きに行ってきました．指揮はロサンゼルス出身のヨナタン・シュトックハンマー，ピアノ・ソロに多彩な美術家としても知られた向井山朋子，チェロ・ソロに古川展生でした．

プログラムは，　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　プーランク：　組曲「牝鹿」　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　ダルバヴィ： ヤナーチェクの作品によるオーケストラ変奏曲　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　            ※※※※※※※※                                                                         　　　　権代敦彦：　ゼロ---ピアノとオーケストラのための　作品95　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　田中カレン： アーバン・フレイヤー---チェロとオーケストラのための（日本初演）　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　でした．期せずして，日本人作曲家の現代曲競演になっていました．

プーランクはバレー曲『牝鹿』から作られた組曲で，第1曲「ロンドー」，第2曲「アダージェット」，第3曲「ラグ・マズルカ」，第4曲「アンダンティーノ」，第5曲「フィナーレ」が，時に軽快に，時に憂愁を帯びて，さらにはブルースを取り入れて滑らかに演奏されました．

ファルバヴィは，ヤナーチェクのピアノ曲から，管弦楽で変奏曲を作曲したモノですがですが，原曲の下降音形が多用されて，中間に大きな盛り上がりを作り，第2変奏でヤナーチェクの原曲が現われて終わります．2006年にサントリーホールの委嘱で作曲され，作曲者自身の指揮で東京フィルハーモニーによって日本初演されたそうです．

後半の権代敦彦は，先日，Carnegie Hall Japan/NYC に委嘱作品《デカセクシス》が演奏された作曲家ですが，今夜の作品「ゼロ」は，作曲者によれば，ピアノ音楽の極限を外側に拡大したものだそうです．ピアノの音は点つまり 0 ですが，その集合で時間に楔を打ち込み，エクスタシーに至る装置，そしてエクスタシーの果てのその先を見る通路として「ゼロ」があるといっています．　　　　　　　実体のない音楽，装置，通路の先に，”0” があるといいたいのだと思われます．　　　　　　　　　　　しかし，0時，消失点，グラウンド・ゼロ，∞（無限大）の5楽章構成ですが，曲はあまりよく分りませんでした．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　ピアノはもっぱら中央部分と両端を強調するのですが，それとオーケストラの音の連結が不明瞭なのです．不明瞭を不可思議に増幅したのは，主役のピアノと同じような音形を奏でるピアノがもう1台オケの左端にあったことです．＜ピアノとオーケストラのための＞というのですから，ピアノを2台並べて，4手でやればもう少し分りよかったのではないでしょうか．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　作曲は2006年で，東京で本名徹次指揮，ピアノは今夜と同じ向井山朋子で初演されたモノです．

権代よりはるかに分りよかったのはロサンゼルス在住の田中カレンの「アーバン・プレイヤー」でした．こちらは「チェロとオーケストラのための」となっていて，チェロ・ソロに都響首席の古川展生が出演して好演していました．3楽章構成で，第1楽章では，喧噪とした5拍子のオーケストラの間をチェロが縫うように祈りを歌い込み，叫び，呑み込まれ，重なり，前面に出てオケをリードする，第2楽章は瞑想で弦楽オーケストラとアルト・フルートの静寂空間にチェロが魂の祈りを奏する，第3楽章では，2台（オケのチェロ首席を加えて）のチェロによるエレジーに始まり，次第に希望に向けて変化していく，現代に生きるわれわれの祈りが希望へつながることを願って．．．と作曲者が書いています．　　たいへん共感できる温和な曲調の作品でした．なおこの曲の初演はケント・ナガノによって2004年に行われていますが，今日が本邦初演でした．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　この曲が演奏会の締めくくりということもあって，一段と拍手が高まっていたように感じられました． 　この曲は是非もう一度聴いてみたい思いです．

なお，余談に渡りますが，権代敦彦も田中カレンもいずれも演奏後ステージに上がったのですが，権代が朱色の上着でステージに上がったのには驚きました．誰よりも目立ったからですし，アンコールの度に指揮者，ソリストと並んで出てきました．そこへいくと田中カレンさんは地味な服装でステージに上がり，2度目以降はステージに現われませんでした．

 

サントリーホール：H.グリモー充実の名演

1月17日，サントリーホールに Helene Grimaud のリサイタルを聴きに行ってきました．ネット上にいわゆる即チケの宣伝が出ていましたから，少し心配していましたが，即チケの効果もあったのか，90％程度の席は埋まっていました．

しかし，空席がいかにも勿体ないと思わせるほど，今夜の演奏はまことに高度で，凄みを感じさせる滅多に聴けないような名演でした．フランスでは，マルグリット・ロンないしコルトー以来といってよいほど素晴しいピアニストが現われたことを喜びたいと思います．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　  もっとも，現在はオオカミの研究中心に New York 在住で，ピアノではフランス作品よりドイツ，東欧系の作品を多く弾いているようです．

今回の来日公演も，昨年録音したCD 曲をそのままプログラム化して，必ず1日以上の間隔をおいて東京，横浜，名古屋，神戸で5回のリサイタルという慎重な日程でしたから，きっと毎回本領を発揮できたのではないかと思います．

プログラムは，　
モーツアルト：ピアノ・ソナタ第８番 イ短調　K.310  
ベルク：　　　 ピアノ・ソナタ　Op.1   
            ※※※※※※※※  
リスト：　　　　ピアノ・ソナタ  ロ短調     
バルトーク：　ルーマニア民族舞曲　
　　　　　   1．網を使った踊り，　2．飾り帯の踊り，　3．足踏みの踊り，　４．ブチュム人の踊り，　
　　　　　      5．フーマニア風のポルカ，　6. 速い踊り　
でした．

彼女のピアニストとしての優れた特質は，モーツアルトで既に全開されていました．彼女の特徴は綺麗な弱音を実に巧みに使って，強い音をピアノを叩かないでも十分に大きな音と実感させる演奏のダイナミック・レンジの広さにあります．少しも無理な強打鍵がありませんから，構成が充実したこの曲全体が非常に美しく形作られたのです．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　モーツアルトのこの名曲を，本当に身体がゾクゾクするほど，１音，１音を大事に，メロディーにも十分な目配りをして弾いてくれました．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　       この曲はパリで書かれたといいますし，母親の死に直面した後に書かれたもので，緊迫感を持った主題と哀感を籠めた主題が繰り返す感じですが，第１楽章では前者が前面に出て，第２楽章で，後者が際立ちます．第３楽章は複雑な感情を入り混ぜた緊張感あるれる楽章で，ロンド主題が多様に変奏されてコーダを迎えます．実に見事な名演でした．

ベルクは，卒業制作だった曲ですが，第１楽章の予定がそのまま完成品にされた単一楽章のソナタ形式の曲です．提示部，展開部，再現部から構成されていますが，第１主題の音程，リズムが変奏され，第2主題で音程が拡大されて終わります．短い曲ですがグリモーは見事にこの優れた秀作を内容豊かに演奏してくれました．

リストがこの日の白眉だったと思いますが，これも単一楽章の曲で，ひとつの主題が全体を統一しており，荘重さを持って現われた第1主題が，情熱的に変化したり，展開部では叙情性で彩られて現われたり，再現部では躍動した後，沈静して曲を閉じます．
これは十分な長さを持って充実したソナタで，グリモーの多彩な演奏が光りました．

バルトークは，一時ハンガリー領だったルーマニアの民族舞曲を綴った曲ですが，プログラムに書いた6曲のそれぞれ特色ある舞曲が，節目を露わにして演奏され，フィナーレを飾るに相応しい曲の名演でした．

この演奏全体の素晴らしさにアンコールが続き，グルック:精霊の踊り，ショパン：3つの新しい練習曲へ長調と新たに2人の名曲が披露されました．

再来日が待たれる名ピアニストです．

String Quartet Goes Digital

Borromeo String Quartet は，前にトリトンで演奏した時，2階の右側で通路側最前列に座っていた私の横の通路にvideo camera を置いていたので，文句をいった記憶がありますが，アメリカでも，料金の高いホール，Carnegie Hall とか Alice Tally Hall は別としてほとんどの所で席料を払って？やっているそうですが，それが嵩じて，Quartet の総譜をスキャンして保存し，譜面台を補強してそこにLaptop を乗せ，各パート譜ではなく総譜を画面上に表示し，その譜面を足踏みでめくれるようにしたそうです．

そのことを巡って4人の中でも，交替した新人the second violinist Kristopher Tong は最後まで反対したそうですが，何とか同意を得て，Laptop 譜めくりを始めたそうです．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　そのことのメリットは，4人が合わせながら議論を重ねて quartet の練習をしていたのが，皆が総譜を見ながら練習すれば，まとまりが早いというのです．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　また，やろうと思えば，総譜をステージ上部に投影して聴衆に見せながら演奏できるということです．これも確かトリトンで試していったことがあったと思います．

この Borromeo 方式を模倣しようというquartet は今のところないそうですが，Emerson Quartet のmember は，その将来性について一定の可能性は認めているようです． 　　　　　　　　A string quartet is the ultimate in musical refinement, four exquisitely blending instruments capable of infinite nuance — two violins, viola and cello that have essentially been unchanged for more than 400 years. Absorbing the technology did not come easily for these players. Longstanding professional string quartets are delicate organisms, in which egos must be balanced, personalities meshed and artistic compromises reached.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　という考えが根強く生きているのです．

私などは，いっそのこと総譜とvideo 録画を同時に digital 投影できるようにすれば，Borromeo　Quartet は来日して貰わなくとも，いつでもパソコン画面から見聞できるようになって，かなり便利で安上がりになるのではないかと思いますが，どうでしょう？　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　現実に，orchestra や opera の世界では，Berlin Philharmonic などが劇場同時上映を始めています．Borromeo では劇場は埋まらないでしょうが，Digital Music は顕著に進展しており，CDに取って代わる勢いですから，思い切って Digital Music 化すれば，事は簡単なのではないでしょうか．

Laptop 方式発案者のKichen は旧来方式のメリットを認めつつも，新方式をbetter と主張しています．Mr. Kitchen acknowledged that playing from traditional parts had its advantages. “Your ears are forced to feel the other parts without seeing them,” he said. “That’s also something that we don’t want to lose sight of.”

At the same time, he added, “as a group we decided that that sense of confidence, of kind of being empowered by this richer information, was something that made our group perform better.”

 

 

Bytes and Beethoven

Erik Jacobs for The New York Times

From left, Nicholas Kitchen and Yeesun Kim practice with the Borromeo String Quartet rehearsal at the New England Conservatory.

By DANIEL J. WAKIN

Published: January 14, 2011

 

A Quartet Goes Digital

                                                                                                   

WITH a slight blue glow bathing their faces, the four musicians tapped their feet. It was not to keep time but to send pages of music flying by electronically on their stands.

The Borromeo String Quartet was rehearsing Beethoven’s Quartet in C (Op. 59, No. 3) last week. But instead of reading parts perched on music stands, they followed Beethoven’s notes, in his own handwriting, from the screens of MacBooks. A projector attached to a laptop beamed the manuscript onto a screen behind them.

“It’s an incredible experience, watching the handwriting of Beethoven as it passes by you,” said Nicholas Kitchen, the group’s first violinist.

The digital tide washing over society is lapping at the shores of classical music. The Borromeo players have embraced it in their daily musical lives like no other major chamber music group. They record nearly all of their concerts. They have forsaken paper musical parts in favor of MacBooks nestled on special music stands, paging forward and back with foot pedals. They have replaced old-fashioned tuning devices and metronomes with programs on their laptops.

The Borromeo provides an example of how technology is shaping the production and creation of classical music, a bastion of traditional acoustic sound and repository of centuries-old masterpieces. Operas and concerts are being projected live in movie theaters; music has been written for cellphone ringers and laptops; concert audiences are seeing more and more multimedia presentations; orchestras use text messages to stay in touch with audiences; long-distance musical instruction through high speed Internet2 is common; YouTube videos are used for auditions. Many orchestras now present programs with sophisticated, high-definition video images accompanying the music.

With the Borromeo the contrast is all the more striking. A string quartet is the ultimate in musical refinement, four exquisitely blending instruments capable of infinite nuance — two violins, viola and cello that have essentially been unchanged for more than 400 years. Absorbing the technology did not come easily for these players. Longstanding professional string quartets are delicate organisms, in which egos must be balanced, personalities meshed and artistic compromises reached. The push for blanket recording and laptop stands caused tensions. Several members were slow to embrace the practices. At least one felt pressured to do so. But now, they said, the methods have become second nature, merely handmaidens in service to basic music making.

The Borromeo began selling its live concert recordings in an October 2003 performance at the Tenri Cultural Center in Manhattan, where it was scheduled to return on Friday. Also on Friday the quartet was to open a homemade Web store, livingarchive.org, to sell its performances online, as downloads or in hard copy. The Tenri program is to include the Beethoven quartet; the Canzona movement from Gunther Schuller’s Quartet No. 3; the premiere of a quartet by Mohammed Fairouz, “Chorale Fantasy”; and a version of Bach’s Passacaglia and Fugue (BWV 582) modified for electric string quartet by Mr. Kitchen.

The Borromeo had its origins in the late 1980s at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, where Mr. Kitchen; Yeesun Kim, the cellist; and the other two original members were students. Mr. Kitchen and Ms. Kim met there at 16, began playing music together and within a year became a couple. (They are now married and have a 7-year-old son who often travels with them.) On leaving Curtis the quartet moved to the New England Conservatory of Music to study as a group for an artist’s diploma. The other two current members are the violist Mai Motobuchi and the second violinist Kristopher Tong.

They took their name from the Borromean Islands in Lake Maggiore in Italy, near where they played their first concerts. Accolades followed. They joined the New England Conservatory faculty, won a Young Concert Artists Award in 1991 and a Cleveland Quartet Award in 1998, played as part of the Chamber Music Society Two of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and received an Avery Fisher Career Grant in 2007. They have grown into a much respected ensemble.

In 2002 Mr. Kitchen, who talks with the meticulousness of a born techie, began preserving every performance he could, slowly educating himself about microphones, digital recorders and video cameras. (He does not record at halls with particularly high fees, like Carnegie and Alice Tully.)

“I realized it was such a pity for so many of them not to be recorded,” he said.

Part of the motivation, quartet members said, is the powerful urge to grab onto and preserve those fleeting moments of great performances before a live audience. “For audience members it means a lot to have that memory of what they enjoyed so much,”

By now the quartet has more than 800 concerts in its archive. “I have a mountain of hard drives,” Mr. Kitchen said. They are piled in an extra apartment the couple maintain in their condominium complex here in Jamaica Plain. Mr. Kitchen lugs around a 40-pound backpack of equipment for each performance. It takes about an hour to set up for a concert.

In the early years quartet members divided the labor of taking and shipping orders. The work, they said, became overwhelming, and they decided to sell selected performances through the Web site.

But that was not the only reason for cutting back. At least one member — Ms. Motobuchi — began feeling that the warts-and-all approach of total access was a bad idea. “Stupid mistakes do happen,” Ms. Motobuchi said. The quartet decided to hold back some concerts “for the sake of our pride.”

The quartet also uses recordings to teach and to prepare for concerts. Musicians have listened to themselves since recording became possible, but the Borromeo players take it to an extreme. Before every concert they run through a program and immediately listen to it, “with the rule that nobody should talk while they’re listening,” just like an audience member, Mr. Kitchen said.

“Along the way you notice hundreds and hundreds of details that you want to fix,” he added. “Then next time you play it, it’s transformed.”

The quartet’s other pioneering work lies in its use of laptops as music readers. The technology has been around for a while. Several pianists, including Christopher O’Riley, the host of the public radio program “From the Top,” are regular practitioners. But the Borromeo is a rare ensemble that has adopted the laptop stands.

Members of other prominent quartets expressed admiration for the Borromeo’s method but had no immediate plans to follow in their footsteps.

“I don’t see us changing,” Eugene Drucker, a violinist of the Emerson String Quartet, said. But he called the Borromeo members pioneers. “I know they’re not the type of people to get swept up in the technology and forget to make music,” he added. “Probably more and more groups will be doing this as we go along.”

At the Beethoven rehearsal, in Pierce Hall at the New England Conservatory, the discussion was traditional. Mr. Tong questioned the color of sound in a quiet section after a loud passage. Mr. Kitchen suggested a more even-sounding series of bow strokes. Ms. Kim, who often plays with the half-smile of someone enjoying a subtle joke, worried about the others’ covering a low-voiced cello passage.

The Borromeo permitted this amateur-clarinet-playing journalist to try a test run on the laptop. A reading of the first movement of Mozart’s Clarinet Quintet was unnerving. One foot tap came too late, causing a page turn delay. An aging eye, already squinting at the tiny notes, sometimes had trouble finding its place. Watching the score and listening to the quartet’s beautiful playing during rests proved distracting enough to lead to a late entrance. Marking the part with the Acrobat tool was cumbersome. All these difficulties, the musicians said, are quickly overcome.

For the Borromeo the use of laptops grew out of a nontechnological impulse. Mr. Kitchen decided he wanted to read his music from a full score — all four lines of the quartet together — rather than from his individual part. That requires many more page turns and makes the use of printed scores impractical.

So, inspired by the example of a pianist friend, Mr. Kitchen scanned scores into his laptop, which he placed on a portable stand that came with a foot pedal attachable through a USB (Footime, about $80). He started using the system for rehearsing, and one day in December 2007, for the performance of an unfamiliar piece, his colleagues suggested he take it onstage.

Now the members obtain scores from Web sites offering free editions, like imslp.org, PDF files provided by composers who write music with programs like Sibelius, and their own scanning. They bought advanced versions of Adobe Acrobat that allow annotations.

The quartet, fearful of battery failure, plugs the computers into power sources, covering the wires with a patterned Thai blanket. The players also carry hard copies of their parts as backup but say they have not experienced a computer crash yet. They use 15- or 17-inch MacBook Pros. The setup often draws curious inquiries from audience members new to the Borromeo.

Having the whole score in front of them is an immense help in playing new works. Complicated passages are immediately comprehensible. There are no long discussions in rehearsal that start, “What do you have there?”

Seeing the score as they play also deepens understanding of composers’ intentions. “The parts are our convenience,” Ms. Motobuchi said. The score “is exactly the direct picture they had in their mind.”

Mr. Kitchen, 44, the first to adopt the laptop system, kept pushing for it. “We had arguments and aggravated conversations about the issue,” said Ms. Kim, 43, who had little hesitation. Ms. Motobuchi, 35, said she took about six months to get used to it.

Mr. Tong — at 29, the youngest and newest member of the group — resisted the most. He still sounds not completely happy with the situation.

Seeing the music of his colleagues on the page can detract from the magic of chamber-music-making, of communicating through hearing, he said. “When first learning a piece,” Mr. Tong said, “it’s a constant battle to open up the ears. For a long time I felt that the more I was seeing, the less I was hearing.”

Mr. Tong held out, at least in more traditional repertory, until early last season. “I definitely felt like I was being pushed in a direction,” he said, “which I resented.” But in the tradition of healthy quartets, the members hashed out their differences during a long rehearsal. Mr. Tong came aboard and, he said, now sees the merits.

“Reading off the laptops,” he added, “that was not part of the contract, but I’ve come around. I actually have had the experience of feeling much freer, because you are able to take a leap of faith and not gum up the works.”

Mr. Kitchen acknowledged that playing from traditional parts had its advantages. “Your ears are forced to feel the other parts without seeing them,” he said. “That’s also something that we don’t want to lose sight of.”

At the same time, he added, “as a group we decided that that sense of confidence, of kind of being empowered by this richer information, was something that made our group perform better.”

Chicago Symphonyで指揮者キャンセルを救ったCapucon

Chicago Symphonyは，期待の新音楽監督 Muti がシーズン開幕公演をキャンセルして，その時は Vaiolinist, Anne-Sophie Mutter の弾き振りで助けられたのですが，新年早々，今度はやっと決まった期待のPhiladelphia Orchestraの音楽監督予定者，Yannick Nezet-Seguin の登場で期待されたコンサートが，直前になって，最近にわかに多忙になったSeguin がLondon 公演に支障が生ずる心配があって，Chicago を理由も告げずにキャンセルしたそうです．

かねてSeguin の品定めを予定していた The New York Times のMusic Critic が強引にPhiladelphia Orchestra に理由を問いただした結果，時間がなくなったから，という回答だったといいます．しかし，London 公演は19日からの予定だったのです．

慌てた Chicago Symphony の奔走でやっと見つかった指揮者，スペインのthe middling Basque conductor Juanjo Mena （来シーズンからBBC Symphony of Wales のPrincipal Conductor 就任予定）が，Programは予定通りで引き受けてくれ，Vaiolin Solist, Renaud Capucon も debut concert をMena の指揮で予定通りやることを快諾してくれて，注目度が高くってチケットが売り切れていたコンサートがやっと成立したのだそうです．

Program は， 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Ravel’s orchestral version of his “Valses nobles et sentimentales” 　　　　　　　　Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s D Major Violin Concerto　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　＆Tchaikovsky’s much-played Symphony No. 6, “Pathetique　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　だったようです．　

それが，なんといっても，Chicago debut になった Renaud Capucon が， his former teacher Isaac Stern の使っていた楽器， 1737 Guarneri del Gesu をスイス銀行の好意で貸与されていて，その名器を駆使してたいへんな名演奏を聴かせたことで，1月13日の演奏会は大成功に終わったそうです．Playing Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s 1945 D Major Violin Concerto, premiered and popularized by Jascha Heifetz and revived in our day by Gil Shaham, he brought a refined sensibility to a melody-rich work drawn from popular film scores by the Viennese refugee composer. This is a work one doesn’t need to hear more than once a decade or so, but Capucon is the man to hear it from.

アンコールにはFritz Kreisler’s transcription of the “Melodie” from Gluck’s “Orfeo ed Euridice.” がえんそうされたそうです．

それにしても，この音楽評が，Ravel’s orchestral version of his “Valses nobles et sentimentales” benefits greatly from the control of a Pierre Boulez, and Tchaikovsky’s much-played Symphony No. 6, “Pathetique,” is aided by the depth of a Barenboim or Muti. It’s no insult to Mena to say that he is not on the level of these three megastars, but he did not crash or burn Thursday.　と書いているのは．この時期にあえて代役を引き受けてくれた Juanjo Mena にいかにも失礼な話だと思います．ここでは Renaud Capucon だけがdebut を飾って，Mena の指揮debut は軽視されてしまったようです．

 

 

French violinist rescues CSO program

BY ANDREW PATNER 　　Jan 15, 2011 02:37AM

 

Classical music, like any other form of art and entertainment, has its stars and stars in the making. Charismatic conductors and soloists sell tickets and can produce a genuine and even healthy sense of excitement.

In the case of orchestral music, things are a bit different; as with an ensemble at the level of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, the group itself can be the point of attraction. Still, it’s better to have a great music director than an indifferent one, and it’s always interesting to check out a potential Next Big Thing.

Quebecois conductor Yannick Nezet-Seguin is said today to be that NBT. Just 35, he already has been named to be the next head of the esteemed Philadelphia Orchestra. His scheduled CSO debut set for this week was marked on many calendars and triggered a bump in ticket sales. But then the busy maestro-in-the-making canceled with short notice a few weeks ago. He offered no explanation until a New York Times critic pressed Philadelphia’s management (while preparing a review of a Nezet-Seguin concert there): He just had no time for Chicago, it seemed.

CSO management was forced to scramble and found that the middling Basque conductor Juanjo Mena had some time and was willing to pick up the existing program without changes. More significantly, the announced soloist, Nezet-Seguin’s good friend and contemporary Renaud Capucon, said he’d make good on his debut contract.

Thank goodness for that. For the unalloyed success of the concert Thursday night at Orchestra Hall came from Capucon. Small in stature, the French violinist has a beautiful and rich sound, aided, in part, by his having the coveted instrument of his former teacher Isaac Stern at his disposal, thanks to a Swiss bank that purchased the 1737 Guarneri del Gesu as an investment.

Playing Erich Wolfgang Korngold’s 1945 D Major Violin Concerto, premiered and popularized by Jascha Heifetz and revived in our day by Gil Shaham, he brought a refined sensibility to a melody-rich work drawn from popular film scores by the Viennese refugee composer. This is a work one doesn’t need to hear more than once a decade or so, but Capucon is the man to hear it from.

Numerous curtain calls brought an equally personal and non-syrupy encore of Fritz Kreisler’s transcription of the “Melodie” from Gluck’s “Orfeo ed Euridice.” Let’s hope that this was the first of many Chicago appearances by this gifted artist.

Ravel’s own 1915 orchestral version of his “Valses nobles et sentimentales” benefits greatly from the control of a Pierre Boulez, and Tchaikovsky’s much-played Symphony No. 6, “Pathetique,” is aided by the depth of a Barenboim or Muti. It’s no insult to Mena to say that he is not on the level of these three megastars, but he did not crash or burn Thursday. And he’s not yet had chances to lead many major U.S. orchestras. But his fussiness often stood in the way of strong work from the CSO players, including flute Mathieu Dufour, the horn section led by Daniel Gingrich, bassoon William Buchman and in the Tchaikovsky, oboe Eugene Izotov.

東京文化会館小ホール：高木綾子レクチャーコンサート

1月14日，上野の東京文化会館小オールに，高木綾子のレクチャーコンサートを聴きに行ってきました．season 20102011は「祖国への愛」シリーズで，今夜が4回目「故郷への讃歌」でしたが，高木さんが一番この総合テーマに忠実にレクチャーコンサートされたと思います．

今夜のプログラムは，　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　ドップラー：　愛の歌　Op.20                                                                　　　　　　　　　バルトーク： ハンガリー農民組曲　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　カゼッラ：　　シシリエンヌとブルレスケ　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　           ※※※※※※※※　　                                                                  　　　　　　　　　　　　　イサン・ユン：歌楽　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　福島和夫：　 冥　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　コープランド：デュオ　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　でした．

ここでは，ハンガリー，イタリア，韓国，日本，アメリカを取り上げて，広く「祖国への愛」を追っています．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　昨年は「ショパン」年で，フランス人の父親とポーランド人の母親のもとに生まれ，祖国が列強に分割支配されて地図上からポーランドが消滅して，宗主国ウイーンを経て，父の祖国フランスへ渡り，フランス人と事実婚関係を作ったショパンとの関わりで祖国愛が強調されるのに，そこはかとない違和感を感じたのですが，ここに取り上げられた6人は，間違いなく「祖国への愛」と関わる曲を書いた人達です．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

何よりもここまで自由自在によくも見事にと思わせるほど，高木綾子さんのフルートは絶品でした．　余談ですが，私が彼女を聞いたのは，いつだったか思い出せないのですが，NHK交響楽団の首席に代役で座っていた時でした．N響のプログラムに何も書いてないので，あれだけの人を代役に迎えているのなら，プログラムに折り込みを入れるべきだとN響にモノ申したのを覚えています．

ドップラーは，今夜アンコールで前半部が演奏された「ハンガリー田園幻想曲」がたいへんフルートの名曲として有名ですが，今夜の「愛の歌」も，ドップラーならではの変奏曲で，たいへん華麗な曲でした．

バルトークの曲は1914~18年頃に書かれたピアノ曲集ですが，民謡に収集に熱心だった彼らしく民族性豊かな曲集で，後に彼の弟子のパウル・アルマによってピアノとフルート用に編曲されたモノだそうで，オリジナルな15曲が14曲として編曲されたものです．いかにも民族性豊かな曲集でした．

カゼッラのシシリエンヌとブルレスケは，現代音楽の基礎になったイタリア音楽の発展を反映した曲で，1914年の作品，前半はシチリアーノはメランコリックなメロディ，ブルレスケは軽快で激しい音楽でした．

プログラム後半のイサン・ユンは，日本の植民地であった朝鮮に生まれ，日本で作曲を学んだ後，朝鮮に帰りますが，反日運動の嫌疑で逮捕され，第2次大戦，朝鮮戦争を経て，1956年韓国からパリに留学，翌年ドイツに移りますが，韓国版CIAによって韓国に拉致され（東ベルリン事件として知られる），その後ベルリンに戻って作曲家，教師として活動した異例の人物です．1963年に作曲されたGARAK は韓国の伝統音楽と20世紀的前衛手法を織り交ぜたモノで，現代フルートにノン・ビブラート的対応を求めた技術的難曲ですが．高木さんは息の吹き方の工夫で対応していました．

福島和夫は，武満徹と交流のあった現代作曲家ですが，彼はフルートに尺八的な音を期待しており，これも高木さんは息の量を調節して尺八的な音を生み出していました．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　いずれも祖国への愛に裏付けられたモノというべきでしょう．

コープランドの曲の場合，アメリカのジャズ的なモノがふんだんに取り入れられた曲でした．最近，クロス・オーバーという言葉でアメリカ・クラシックの変容を表現されますが，この1971年の作品はその先駆けともいえる曲でした．

先にも書いたアンコールとして演奏されたドップラーの「ハンガリー田園幻想曲」の前半部分は，フルートの力をフルに活用，発揮した見事な名演でした．

高木さんの語りは，頭の良い人らしく，実によどみない，しかし決して焦点を外さない名調子でした．この5回シリーズの4回目でしたが，一番強く印象に残りました．

 

 

JTアートホール：2011音楽家からの年賀状

1月13日，ＪＴアートホールへ「音楽家からの年賀状」コンサートを聴きに行ってきました．休憩時間にお志として，ワイン，ジュースが全員に配布されました．

プログラム，出演者はなかなか多士済々でした．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　バッハ：無伴奏ヴァイオリン・パルティータ 第2番ニ短調 BWV.1004より「シャコンヌ」　徳永二男　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　ベートーヴェン：弦楽四重奏曲第4番ハ短調Ｏｐ．18-4　第1楽章　漆原啓子，徳永二男，
                川崎雅夫，藤森亮一　
ベートーヴェン：ピアノ三重奏曲第4番変ロ長調「街の歌」Ｏｐ．11　第3楽章　練木繁夫，
                漆原啓子，向山佳絵子　
メンデルスゾーン：「夕べの鐘」　練木繁夫，吉野直子　
ホフマン：ハープ五重奏曲ハ短調 第2，3楽章　吉野直子，徳永二男，漆原啓子，
                川崎和憲，向山佳絵子　
シューマン：幻想小曲集 Op.73 　練木繁夫，，三界秀実　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　           ※※※※※※※※  
ブラームス：弦楽六重奏曲第2番ト長調 Op.36 徳永二男，漆原啓子，川崎雅夫，
               川崎和憲，向山佳絵子，藤森亮一　
でした．

お正月明けからこれだけ錚々たる顔ぶれがみっちり練習されたようで，どの曲も好演されていました．ただ，全曲をまとめて聴きたいという感じは残りましたが，最後のブラームス全楽章の好演がそれを補ったといえます．

徳永さんの挨拶で，この演奏会がＪＴアートホールでの15年間300回目の公演になるそうですが，その間の出演者は延べではなく実人員で600人に達するそうです．ということはこのホールが日本の室内楽界に非常に大きな貢献をしてきたことを表しているのだと思います．

なお，プログラムに曲ごとの出演者は記載されていませんでしたから，私のウロ覚えで演奏者を書きました．間違いがあるかも知れませんが，どうぞご容赦下さい．元ハレー弦楽四重奏団から2人出演していたのが懐かしく感じられました．

Juilliard School 学生の冬休みの過ごし方

Students Seeking Meaning Crack the Shell of Technique　という難しい表題をかかげていますが，日本の音楽大学でこうした期待をかけても大丈夫でしょうか．

Juilliard School はこの長い冬期休暇に，a useful way to keep its music students busy and focused during the winter break　を達成する方法として，the players who sign up for ChamberFest spend the weeks rehearsing and coaching in preparation for a week of free public concerts.  というのです．

それも　67 full-time Juilliard students, along with three from the precollege division and a number of visitors from the Paris Conservatory and the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna,　とパリ，ウイーンの学生の参加を得て，20 ensembles を結成し，今週，8回の無料コンサートをやるというのですから，日本ではほとんど例を聞かない，たいへんな勉強ぶりですよね．

初日10日には，　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　1．Bartok’s “Contrasts.” Liam Burke, a clarinetist; Avigail Bushakevitz, a violinist; and Yale Work, a pianist,　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　2．Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor (Op. 67) — Lavinia Pavlish, violinist; Colin Stokes, cellist; and Nathaniel LaNasa, pianist —　　　
3．Brahms Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor (Op. 25),  Daniel Baer played the piano  and the string players — Nikita Morozov, violinist; Megan Griffin, violist; and Kristen Wojcik, cellist — 　　　　
の3曲が演奏されたそうで，それぞれに批評が付いていますが，表題とかかわる核心部分だけ紹介しますと，優れた演奏として3番目の曲を挙げ，This was a virtuosic performance, but it achieved the often elusive, typically Brahmsian goal of putting virtuosity at the service of bigger ideas, rather than celebrating it for its own sake. 　
とあります．

私は日本の芸術大学にはほとんど絶望していて，もっぱら，出来るだけ早い機会にヨーローッパに留学して研鑽するように奨めているのです．　
最近活躍の著しい河村尚子も小菅優も庄司紗矢香も神尾真由子も，皆，海外在住，海外留学歴の長い人達です．もっと先輩を挙げれば，内田光子や五島みどりもそれぞれLondon, New York にほとんど永住していますね．

 

Music Review

Students Seeking Meaning Crack the Shell of Technique

Matthew Dine for The New York Times

Nikita Morozov on violin, Kristen Wojcik on cello, Daniel Baer on piano and Megan Griffin on viola, performing on Monday.

By ALLAN KOZINN

Published: January 11, 2011

                                                                                                           The Juilliard School has found a useful way to keep its music students busy and focused during the winter break. Instead of taking a breather after exams, the players who sign up for ChamberFest spend the weeks rehearsing and coaching in preparation for a week of free public concerts.

This year 67 full-time Juilliard students, along with three from the precollege division and a number of visitors from the Paris Conservatory and the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, have been configured as 20 ensembles and are offering eight concerts this week. The repertory runs from Schubert and Brahms to Messiaen and Ligeti, and if the opener on Monday evening was any indication, it should be a hot ticket, as the Juilliard School’s free concerts usually are. Paul Hall was packed well before curtain time, with would-be concertgoers cruising the aisles in search of seats.

                                                                                                              The program opened with a beautifully played but interpretively frustrating account of Bartok’s “Contrasts.” Liam Burke, a clarinetist; Avigail Bushakevitz, a violinist; and Yale Work, a pianist, played gracefully and fastidiously, and Mr. Burke’s phrasing embraced the bent notes and other jazz touches that Benny Goodman, for whom Bartok wrote the part, brought to the first performances. But fastidiousness is not really the order of the day here: you want the admirable textural transparency that these musicians brought to the score, but this music also needs a touch of on-the-edge brashness.

That said, an attraction of ChamberFest is hearing finely trained young players coming to terms with music that requires them to sacrifice polish for something deeper. The ensemble for the Bartok began to accomplish that in the work’s finale. And the group that played Shostakovich’s Piano Trio No. 2 in E minor (Op. 67) — Lavinia Pavlish, violinist; Colin Stokes, cellist; and Nathaniel LaNasa, pianist — also had to make adjustments along the way. Peculiar balances at the start were quickly sorted out, and though parts of the opening movement seemed prim and polite, the players quickly got in touch with the pained intensity that drives the piece.

The best and most consistent performance of the evening was the account of the Brahms Piano Quartet No. 1 in G minor (Op. 25), which closed the program. Daniel Baer played the piano line with fluidity, warmth and sparkle, and the string players — Nikita Morozov, violinist; Megan Griffin, violist; and Kristen Wojcik, cellist — matched the richness and depth of his reading. This was a virtuosic performance, but it achieved the often elusive, typically Brahmsian goal of putting virtuosity at the service of bigger ideas, rather than celebrating it for its own sake.

Haochen Zhang dazzles with KC Symphony

The combination of youthful exuberance and mature mastery suited the Kansas City Symphony quite well Friday at the Lyric Theatre. とまず好意的総評をしています．

前にも書いたことがありますが，Haochen Zhang は2009年Van Cliburn　Piano Comppetition　で最年少で日本人と金賞を分け合った人ですが，日本ではNHKが日本人単独優勝説を流して，その人は日本で一躍売れっ子になりましたが，アメリカではこの日本人の金賞タイに強い反論が起こり，Pianists　の間で署名活動が始まったほどだったことがあり，その後の日本人のアメリカ公演の不評もあって，多くのmusic critics が今では，この記事のように，若い中国人（今年20歳）の単独優勝だった如き扱いをするようになっています．

そのZhang は着実にアメリカで地歩を固めつつあり，ここでは Kansas City Symphony と競演してまた好評を博したようです．かねてから，Music Director,Michael Stern が自分の母校，the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia　の後輩から優秀な soloist を探していたところへZhang　が選ばれて出演し，その若さとMichael Stern の熟達した指揮が相俟って，

Zhang joined the ensemble for Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major, and the result was, in a word, thrilling. ひと言で言えばスリリングだったそうです．続けて，各楽章について．　

From the opening movement, the music displayed a sense of bipolarity — at times lyrical, at times turbulent. Zhang entered with a marvelous sense of touch and color. He played the complex virtuosic passages near the end of the movement with precision, confidence and panache.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　The central movement began with a sense of restrained lyricism, somewhat tongue in cheek considering the complexity that soon followed. Stern ably controlled the challenging tempo changes, and the end of the movement featured a remarkably rich sound from the strings.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Zhang and the orchestra provided a compelling finale, featuring a breathtaking combination of romantic passion and modern rhythmic intensity. Despite a couple of brief slips in intonation, this served as one of the most exciting orchestral performances in recent memory.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　とまさに絶賛しています．

その夜は，The concert opened with a delightful performance of Paul Dukas’ popular The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Richard Strauss’ tone poem “Also Sprach Zarathustra” brought the evening to an end. While audiences love the opening “Sunrise,” well known from the film “　2001: A Space Odyssey,”　と馴染みのある時季に適した選曲もあって，聴衆にはたいへん楽しい一夜だったようです．

ニュアンスのある英文を日本語に直すと原文から離れてしまうので，ほとんど原文のままにしましたが，うまや西洋音楽面でも大国化してきた，隣国の若き俊才 pianist の活躍記事をご紹介しました．

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

  

CLASSICAL MUSIC REVIEW

Haochen Zhang dazzles with KC Symphony

By TIMOTHY McDONALD

Special to The Star

 

File photo

Haochen Zhang won the 2009 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

The combination of youthful exuberance and mature mastery suited the Kansas City Symphony quite well Friday at the Lyric Theatre.

For several years, symphony director Michael Stern has invited young and promising talent from his alma mater, the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, to perform with the orchestra. This year’s rising star has a dual set of credentials. Young Chinese pianist Haochen Zhang also happens to be the winner of the 2009 Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

Zhang joined the ensemble for Sergei Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major, and the result was, in a word, thrilling.

From the opening movement, the music displayed a sense of bipolarity — at times lyrical, at times turbulent. Zhang entered with a marvelous sense of touch and color. He played the complex virtuosic passages near the end of the movement with precision, confidence and panache.

The central movement began with a sense of restrained lyricism, somewhat tongue in cheek considering the complexity that soon followed. Stern ably controlled the challenging tempo changes, and the end of the movement featured a remarkably rich sound from the strings.

Zhang and the orchestra provided a compelling finale, featuring a breathtaking combination of romantic passion and modern rhythmic intensity. Despite a couple of brief slips in intonation, this served as one of the most exciting orchestral performances in recent memory.

The rest of the evening was similarly congenial, partly because the program was designed to brighten the winter doldrums. The concert opened with a delightful performance of Paul Dukas’ popular The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.

Richard Strauss’ tone poem “Also Sprach Zarathustra” brought the evening to an end. While audiences love the opening “Sunrise,” well known from the film “2001: A Space Odyssey,” many more glorious moments follow. My favorite was the luxuriant string playing a few moments after the sunrise.

US: 忘れられた音楽家達＆Small Orchestraｓ

アメリカの有名なMusic critic, Anne Midgette ならではの記事が目に留まりましたからご紹介します．大変含蓄のある長文なのですが，ここではごく簡潔に要点だけご説明します．

Chee-Yun is a Korean-born violinist who has won an Avery Fisher career grant, has played with the world's leading orchestras and gave a solo recital at the Kennedy Center in October. This week, she's coming to an orchestra - or two - near you. と書き始めています．韓国生まれの有名Violinist Chee-Yen　はAvery Fisher career grant を獲得して，世界の leading orchestras と協演し，10月にはKennedy Center　でリサイタルを開催した売れっ子Violinist なのですが，今週Washington D.C.近辺の1つないし2つのOrchestra と協演するというのです．

not the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, but the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra,　not the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, but the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra,　　といずれも小規模な地域orchestra と協演するのです．

この2つのorchestras は，年間予算が順に$2 million and $1.2 million で，National Symphony の $30 million とは比べものにならないのですが，それでもWashington 周辺のprofessional からamaeture community group にわたる約25 団体の中では大きい方なのです．

"I think we're sort of the forgotten musicians sometimes," says Adrienne Sommerville, a violist who plays with the National Philharmonic, the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, the Maryland Symphony and, at times, the BSO, among others. といろいろな　orchestra を転々として演奏している violist は，自分たちをしばしば「忘れられた音楽家」と表現するのです．

ここで　Midgette は，Small orchestras are a key part of classical music's ecosystem.　と断定的に論じています．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　その比重についていいますと，A full 80 percent of the membership of the League of American Orchestras, the national service organization, are groups with budgets of $2 million or less. They don't play nearly as many concerts as their larger brethren - that 80 percent represents only 20 percent of League members' performances - and no one would claim they're as good as, say, the NSO (though you'd be surprised how many have a few of the same players). But they face many of the same challenges: declining audiences, financial difficulties, a desire to help train young musicians and win new audiences for classical music.つまり予算が$2 million or less　のorchestra で作っているLeague の80%は大きな団体に匹敵するほどの数の演奏会をやっている訳ではない，その80％は演奏数では20％にしかならない，質的に例えばNSO に匹敵するなどとはいわないが，NSO のメンバーのどれだけがこの80％と同じ演奏者かを聞くと驚くでしょう！そして，大小なく，同じ問題，聴衆の減少，経営困難，新しい聴衆の獲得問題に直面している，といいます．

freelancers who play in the professional ones tell of less work and lower pay scales. Musicians, says Sommerville, are "negotiating pay cuts and pay freezes so these groups can stay above water." For one, they represent amateurism in the original sense of the word: a genuine love of making music.            　　　　　仕事が減り，賃金が下がっても，彼らはoriginal な意味で　amateurism を体現しているというのです．actually more serious than the professional musicians about music,"　　　　　とamateurism の長所を認めますが，amateur orchestra にも大から小まであって，一般化は出来ないとして1例をあげます．

The NOVA Manassas Symphony Orchestra is one amateur group that has come through the recession relatively unscathed. Indeed, its budget has risen from $10,000 to $60,000 in six years, mainly because it was readying itself for higher fees charged by the Hylton Performing Arts Center, its new performance home. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　The new hall is a mixed blessing. the echoes in Grace United Methodist Church in Manassas, where the group used to perform, better hid mistakes. But the hall does enable the orchestra to seat twice as many - from a few hundred to more than a thousand - and attendance has soared at the group's first two concerts there. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　これは大きな成果を上げた例といえます．

half of the 14 orchestras on the League's advisory committee "were reporting positive results this year; some had surpluses, record attendance goals, and others were almost at death's door." と現状はさまざまです．
音楽の質もさまざまで，Variable, too, is the quality. There are top-notch small orchestras around Washington - the Eclipse Chamber Orchestra, founded and conducted by NSO horn player Sylvia Alimena, is made up of NSO players interested in varying their musical diet. A community orchestra like NOVA Manassas, by contrast, is mainly of interest to the neighborhood. 　　　　        pro 楽団のsub-group としての室内楽団と較べれば，上述のNOVA Manassas はそのcommunity に貢献しているのです．

経済危機が結論的には質的レベルを押し上げた面があります，With fewer and fewer permanent orchestra jobs available, more talented instrumentalists are becoming freelancers - or opting to pursue another career and play in a community orchestra on the side.
と才能あるplayer が地域に降りてきているからです．

Musicians in community orchestras have day jobs, meet once a week to rehearse and convene for an extra rehearsal the day before a concert. But for professional freelancers - rehearsing three or four times the week before a concert with one group, then moving on to the next - piecing together a living isn't easy.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　As area choruses rely less on orchestral accompaniment, and the Washington Ballet has cut out live music, there are fewer performance opportunities．

さらなる問題として，music directors also need to cater to the more conservative tastes of their audiences. Piotr Gajewski says the National Philharmonic gets 60 percent of its revenue from ticket sales - for many orchestras, that figure is only 15 or 20 percent - and his audiences won't buy tickets for unfamiliar work.

tickets to the National Philharmonic are more expensive. The orchestra offers 36 concerts a year instead of the four or five presented by most of these smaller groups, and this weekend's highest ticket price is $79. Fairfax's highest price for next weekend is $55. But most small orchestras cost far less: You can hear the Eclipse Chamber Orchestra on March 6 for $25; and the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic, since 2008, has offered its concerts free. People are more willing to take a chance on unknown repertory if it's not costing them a lot of money.

新しい曲でまだ著作権が有効な場合，それはお金がかかるのです．　New music offers other challenges for a small orchestra. First, you may not be able to afford it: It's more expensive to rent music still under copyright. "It's a major event fiscally to do [Strauss's] 'Four Last Songs' and the Shostakovich First Cello Concerto with the Symphony of the Potomac,"　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　また，your musicians might not be able to play it; and if they work hard enough at it to learn it, it may be at the expense of the other pieces on the program. "If a major orchestra does an extremely complicated work," Lazar says, "they can do Tchaikovsky" on the same program - "they have it in their fingers," so it needs relatively little rehearsal.　といった余裕が弱小orchestra にはないのです．

In 1986, the conductor Dingwall Fleary, who founded the McLean Orchestra in 1971, had a run-in with the board about making the orchestra more professional and quit - followed by nearly all of the musicians. Fleary reconstituted his group as the all-volunteer McLean Symphony; the board found new musicians to continue the McLean Orchestra, which is now semi-professional.

"Everything is on the table," says Adrien Finlay, the executive director of the Alexandria Symphony, even a name change: The group will soon be known as Symphonica Nova. It will thus join the ranks of small orchestras moving away from local branding, following the Montgomery Chamber Orchestra-cum-National Philharmonic and the former Mount Vernon Symphony Orchestra, now the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic. These groups may be local, but it helps, evidently, to sound as big as possible.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Rebranding may be a way to mask the fact that in their actual makeup, there's not that much difference between one orchestra and another, as many of them draw on the same pool of freelancers.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　小澤征爾，サイトウキネンが，20年やっても広く国際的に認知されないとして，指揮者！，オーケストラはそのままに，今頃になって，名称変更しようとしているのもまったく似たようなモノですね！（この点についてご関心の方は，私の2010-12-12 22:01付けのブログの追記をご参照下さい．）

Soloists, too, are solicitous of smaller orchestras as an important part of the world they move in. At the National Philharmonic, which is searching for a concertmaster, Nurit Bar-Josef, the NSO concertmaster, has been filling in at some concerts, supporting a local organization and her new husband, Erich Heckscher, who is the orchestra's principal bassoonist.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　       と　soloist　も orchestra を喧伝するのに絶好の手段ですが，concertmaster の交流も意味があるでしょう．

The star violinist Midori has started a residencies program to work with smaller orchestras and youth orchestras with combined budgets of under $4.5 million; she'll be coming to the Alexandria Symphony, or rather Symphonica Nova, in 2012. と地域の Small Orchestra の助成にのりだすそうです．

そして初めの話に戻って，Chee-Yun's double appearances this week, therefore, may be a sign of the times. Fairfax's Zimmerman, for one, isn't too bothered about the overlap; in his view, it simply spotlights the different profiles of the two orchestras, as the violinist plays a warhorse with the National Philharmonic and a less familiar work with Fairfax. The orchestras both get a big name; the artist gets wider exposure, and everybody wins.
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　"Hurray（万歳） for us," says Elizabeth Murphy, the Fairfax Symphony's executive director, "that we both got her." というFairfax Symphony　関係者の喜びの声で，全文を締めくくっています．（簡潔に要点をが長くなってしまいました．お詫びしますが，たいへん内容豊かな評論ですから，是非，ご参照下さい．）

 

They are 'the forgotten musicians'

AMBITIOUS: "I can say happily ... that there's nothing I wouldn't program," says Christopher Zimmerman of the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra. (Dayna Smith)

By Anne Midgette

Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, January 9, 2011

 

Chee-Yun is a Korean-born violinist who has won an Avery Fisher career grant, has played with the world's leading orchestras and gave a solo recital at the Kennedy Center in October. This week, she's coming to an orchestra - or two - near you.

Not the National Symphony Orchestra, but the smaller National Philharmonic, with which she is playing Vivaldi's "Four Seasons" at Strathmore this weekend (the last concert is Sunday at 3 p.m.). And not the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra, but the Fairfax Symphony Orchestra, with which she will play Walton's Violin Concerto on Saturday at George Mason University, just 23 miles from Strathmore.

These orchestras - with annual operating budgets of $2 million and $1.2 million respectively, as opposed to the NSO's $30 million - are the largest of some 25 small orchestras in the Washington region, ranging from professional ensembles to amateur community groups.

"I think we're sort of the forgotten musicians sometimes," says Adrienne Sommerville, a violist who plays with the National Philharmonic, the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, the Maryland Symphony and, at times, the BSO, among others.

Small orchestras are a key part of classical music's ecosystem. A full 80 percent of the membership of the League of American Orchestras, the national service organization, are groups with budgets of $2 million or less. They don't play nearly as many concerts as their larger brethren - that 80 percent represents only 20 percent of League members' performances - and no one would claim they're as good as, say, the NSO (though you'd be surprised how many have a few of the same players). But they face many of the same challenges: declining audiences, financial difficulties, a desire to help train young musicians and win new audiences for classical music.

These days, small orchestras have a lot of traits that larger orchestras are increasingly trying to emulate. In 2003, the Knight Foundation issued a sobering report outlining radical changes that orchestras might have to undergo to survive in the 21st century: playing a range of different music in different venues; focusing on community relations; working on educational strategies - all things that many small orchestras already have.

This certainly doesn't mean that small orchestras are better equipped than large ones to weather the current financial climate. Many are struggling, a couple have folded, and freelancers who play in the professional ones tell of less work and lower pay scales. Musicians, says Sommerville, are "negotiating pay cuts and pay freezes so these groups can stay above water." For one National Philharmonic concert last spring, some players donated their services.

But small orchestras do have one thing going for them. They represent amateurism in the original sense of the word: a genuine love of making music.

"I feel like the amateur players in McLean are actually more serious than the professional musicians about music," says violinist Regino Madrid, a professional who plays with the Marine Chamber Orchestra and is also the concertmaster of the semi-professional McLean Orchestra.

And that genuine enjoyment is sometimes reflected in performances, even if they're not technically as perfect as those of larger orchestras.

"I go to the NSO and it's fine," said Pat Edwards, a board member of the Annapolis Symphony, a $1.2 million professional orchestra that will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2011-12. "I go to the Annapolis Symphony, and it's fun."

It's hard to generalize about small orchestras. Amateur orchestras aren't necessarily smaller than professional ones: The Prince George's Philharmonic in Maryland, a community orchestra, has a bigger operating budget ($150,000) than the all-professional Virginia Chamber Orchestra ($100,000). And amateur orchestras aren't necessarily safer from financial duress: The Prince George's Philharmonic had to make staff cuts last season.

The NOVA Manassas Symphony Orchestra is one amateur group that has come through the recession relatively unscathed. Indeed, its budget has risen from $10,000 to $60,000 in six years, mainly because it was readying itself for higher fees charged by the Hylton Performing Arts Center, its new performance home.

The new hall is a mixed blessing. Andy Loerch, the orchestra's principal bassoonist and publicity committee chair (by day an engineering professor at George Mason University) wryly observes that the echoes in Grace United Methodist Church in Manassas, where the group used to perform, better hid mistakes. But the hall does enable the orchestra to seat twice as many - from a few hundred to more than a thousand - and attendance has soared at the group's first two concerts there.

This inequity between Prince George's and NOVA Manassas seems to be the national norm. According to League spokeswoman Judith Kurnick, half of the 14 orchestras on the League's advisory committee "were reporting positive results this year; some had surpluses, record attendance goals, and others were almost at death's door."

Variable, too, is the quality. There are top-notch small orchestras around Washington - the Eclipse Chamber Orchestra, founded and conducted by NSO horn player Sylvia Alimena, is made up of NSO players interested in varying their musical diet. A community orchestra like NOVA Manassas, by contrast, is mainly of interest to the neighborhood.

Financial crisis, though, has helped raise quality, in a way. With fewer and fewer permanent orchestra jobs available, more talented instrumentalists are becoming freelancers - or opting to pursue another career and play in a community orchestra on the side.

Today, "even community orchestras," says A. Scott Wood, who conducts the professional Amadeus Orchestra and Arlington Philharmonic, as well as a couple of community orchestras, "sometimes rise to a level that would have made the NSO proud when they started."

Musicians in community orchestras have day jobs, meet once a week to rehearse and convene for an extra rehearsal the day before a concert. But for professional freelancers - rehearsing three or four times the week before a concert with one group, then moving on to the next - piecing together a living isn't easy. Musicians get $75 to $100 for a service, sometimes less for a rehearsal, and salaries are falling. As area choruses rely less on orchestral accompaniment, and the Washington Ballet has cut out live music, there are fewer performance opportunities.

The NOVA Manassas Symphony Orchestra is one amateur group that has come through the recession relatively unscathed. Indeed, its budget has risen from $10,000 to $60,000 in six years, mainly because it was readying itself for higher fees charged by the Hylton Performing Arts Center, its new performance home.

The new hall is a mixed blessing. Andy Loerch, the orchestra's principal bassoonist and publicity committee chair (by day an engineering professor at George Mason University) wryly observes that the echoes in Grace United Methodist Church in Manassas, where the group used to perform, better hid mistakes. But the hall does enable the orchestra to seat twice as many - from a few hundred to more than a thousand - and attendance has soared at the group's first two concerts there.

This inequity between Prince George's and NOVA Manassas seems to be the national norm. According to League spokeswoman Judith Kurnick, half of the 14 orchestras on the League's advisory committee "were reporting positive results this year; some had surpluses, record attendance goals, and others were almost at death's door."

Variable, too, is the quality. There are top-notch small orchestras around Washington - the Eclipse Chamber Orchestra, founded and conducted by NSO horn player Sylvia Alimena, is made up of NSO players interested in varying their musical diet. A community orchestra like NOVA Manassas, by contrast, is mainly of interest to the neighborhood.

Financial crisis, though, has helped raise quality, in a way. With fewer and fewer permanent orchestra jobs available, more talented instrumentalists are becoming freelancers - or opting to pursue another career and play in a community orchestra on the side.

Today, "even community orchestras," says A. Scott Wood, who conducts the professional Amadeus Orchestra and Arlington Philharmonic, as well as a couple of community orchestras, "sometimes rise to a level that would have made the NSO proud when they started."

Musicians in community orchestras have day jobs, meet once a week to rehearse and convene for an extra rehearsal the day before a concert. But for professional freelancers - rehearsing three or four times the week before a concert with one group, then moving on to the next - piecing together a living isn't easy. Musicians get $75 to $100 for a service, sometimes less for a rehearsal, and salaries are falling. As area choruses rely less on orchestral accompaniment, and the Washington Ballet has cut out live music, there are fewer performance opportunities.

The NOVA Manassas Symphony Orchestra is one amateur group that has come through the recession relatively unscathed. Indeed, its budget has risen from $10,000 to $60,000 in six years, mainly because it was readying itself for higher fees charged by the Hylton Performing Arts Center, its new performance home.

The new hall is a mixed blessing. Andy Loerch, the orchestra's principal bassoonist and publicity committee chair (by day an engineering professor at George Mason University) wryly observes that the echoes in Grace United Methodist Church in Manassas, where the group used to perform, better hid mistakes. But the hall does enable the orchestra to seat twice as many - from a few hundred to more than a thousand - and attendance has soared at the group's first two concerts there.

This inequity between Prince George's and NOVA Manassas seems to be the national norm. According to League spokeswoman Judith Kurnick, half of the 14 orchestras on the League's advisory committee "were reporting positive results this year; some had surpluses, record attendance goals, and others were almost at death's door."

Variable, too, is the quality. There are top-notch small orchestras around Washington - the Eclipse Chamber Orchestra, founded and conducted by NSO horn player Sylvia Alimena, is made up of NSO players interested in varying their musical diet. A community orchestra like NOVA Manassas, by contrast, is mainly of interest to the neighborhood.

Financial crisis, though, has helped raise quality, in a way. With fewer and fewer permanent orchestra jobs available, more talented instrumentalists are becoming freelancers - or opting to pursue another career and play in a community orchestra on the side.

Today, "even community orchestras," says A. Scott Wood, who conducts the professional Amadeus Orchestra and Arlington Philharmonic, as well as a couple of community orchestras, "sometimes rise to a level that would have made the NSO proud when they started."

Musicians in community orchestras have day jobs, meet once a week to rehearse and convene for an extra rehearsal the day before a concert. But for professional freelancers - rehearsing three or four times the week before a concert with one group, then moving on to the next - piecing together a living isn't easy. Musicians get $75 to $100 for a service, sometimes less for a rehearsal, and salaries are falling. As area choruses rely less on orchestral accompaniment, and the Washington Ballet has cut out live music, there are fewer performance opportunities.

Yet these days, even a steady orchestra job is no guarantee of job security. "Of course it would be nice to land a big gig," says Ed Malaga, a double-bass player with the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, who sometimes plays with the NSO, the BSO, the National Philharmonic and other groups. But "when I think of some of the places I was considering, and see that they're in trouble, like Columbus . . . " - the Columbus Symphony recently cut its players' salaries by 27 percent - "maybe the stability comes from not having stability," Malaga says. "If I'm part of 10 groups, which I am or have been, then if one has difficulty, there's another group that will be able to get me through."

Malaga and his wife, a cellist, are both freelancers. They are raising two children, and making it work.

Yet music directors also need to cater to the more conservative tastes of their audiences. Piotr Gajewski says the National Philharmonic gets 60 percent of its revenue from ticket sales - for many orchestras, that figure is only 15 or 20 percent - and his audiences won't buy tickets for unfamiliar work. Joel Lazar, another conductor, says the suburban audience's conception of the standard repertory cuts off about 40 years earlier than that in a major urban center.

When Gajewski programs less-known things, he has to find a marketing angle. Next year's performance of Debussy's "Le Martyre de Saint Sebastien" will be offered in the context of a small Debussy festival marketed through the French Embassy and to the Catholic community.

Gajewski may have a harder time because tickets to the National Philharmonic are more expensive. The orchestra offers 36 concerts a year instead of the four or five presented by most of these smaller groups, and this weekend's highest ticket price is $79. Fairfax's highest price for next weekend is $55. But most small orchestras cost far less: You can hear the Eclipse Chamber Orchestra on March 6 for $25; and the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic, since 2008, has offered its concerts free. People are more willing to take a chance on unknown repertory if it's not costing them a lot of money.

In any case, not every conductor is as wary as Gajewski of the less-known. "I can say happily, and I hope not recklessly, that there's nothing I wouldn't program," says Christopher Zimmerman, music director of the Fairfax Symphony, who is offering Webern's Six Pieces for Orchestra, a spare, atonal work, alongside Beethoven and Sibelius at his next concert on March 19.

New music offers other challenges for a small orchestra. First, you may not be able to afford it: It's more expensive to rent music still under copyright. "It's a major event fiscally to do [Strauss's] 'Four Last Songs' and the Shostakovich First Cello Concerto with the Symphony of the Potomac," says Lazar, who has led that all-volunteer orchestra, formerly the JCC Symphony Orchestra, for many years and who conducts the newer Washington Sinfonietta and Ars Nova Chamber Orchestra.

Second, your musicians might not be able to play it; and if they work hard enough at it to learn it, it may be at the expense of the other pieces on the program. "If a major orchestra does an extremely complicated work," Lazar says, "they can do Tchaikovsky" on the same program - "they have it in their fingers," so it needs relatively little rehearsal. "We don't have that routine," Lazar adds. "You're ensemble-building constantly. . . . You're having to invent the wheel to a certain extent all the time."

Historically, new music hasn't always been foreign to Washington's smaller orchestras. The National Gallery of Art Orchestra, established in 1943, gave the first-ever performance of Charles Ives's First Symphony some 10 years later.

The orchestras themselves aren't new at all. The Alexandria and Fairfax Symphonies were founded in 1954 and 1957, respectively; the string ensemble of Washington's Friday Morning Music Club has been going strong since 1943. While new groups are always springing up - Ars Nova, the Washington Sinfonietta and CounterPoint have started since 2006 - the majority were founded before 1990.

They have been home to some dynamic musical personalities. Barry Tuckwell, the internationally known horn player, founded the Maryland Symphony in 1982 and led it until 1998 (it's now under the baton of Elizabeth Schulze, a former associate conductor at the NSO). Leon Fleisher, the famous pianist, was music director of the Annapolis Symphony for 12 seasons.

There have also been dramatic schisms. In 1986, the conductor Dingwall Fleary, who founded the McLean Orchestra in 1971, had a run-in with the board about making the orchestra more professional and quit - followed by nearly all of the musicians. Fleary reconstituted his group as the all-volunteer McLean Symphony; the board found new musicians to continue the McLean Orchestra, which is now semi-professional.

That orchestra reached new heights under Eclipse's Alimena, who also served as McLean's music director for seven seasons, but in 2010 she and the cash-strapped board were unable to reach terms over her contract renewal, and the orchestra is looking for a new music director. Its administrative leader is John Huling, a former trombonist with the NSO who has been through his own life drama: His performing career was cut short when his son accidentally batted a baseball into his mouth.

Small orchestras, just like big ones, are trying to reinvent themselves. Both the Fairfax Symphony and the Alexandria Symphony are planning long-range change: different kinds of concerts, new venues, the addition of chamber ensembles.

"Everything is on the table," says Adrien Finlay, the executive director of the Alexandria Symphony, even a name change: The group will soon be known as Symphonica Nova. It will thus join the ranks of small orchestras moving away from local branding, following the Montgomery Chamber Orchestra-cum-National Philharmonic and the former Mount Vernon Symphony Orchestra, now the Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic. These groups may be local, but it helps, evidently, to sound as big as possible. Even the NOVA Manassas Symphony Orchestra, Loerch says, experienced a big jump in interest and membership after it changed its name from NOVA Manassas Community Orchestra.

Rebranding may be a way to mask the fact that in their actual makeup, there's not that much difference between one orchestra and another, as many of them draw on the same pool of freelancers. "Whether you're going to the Post-Classical Ensemble or [the] Fairfax [Symphony] or the Alexandria Symphony or the National Philharmonic," says Malaga, the bass player, "you see a lot of the same people show up."

And indeed, many of the groups are eager to collaborate with other institutions. Given the high cost of advertising, such collaboration is a cost-effective way to get your name in front of a wider public. Last season, the Amadeus Orchestra was planning a performance of Karl Jenkins's "Mass for Peace" with a consortium of local choirs. Then Wood, the conductor, learned that the Vienna Choral Society had scheduled the same work for the preceding day.

"I called up the music director," Wood says, "and said, 'We should think of doing something together.' " The groups joined forces and offered two performances, one at each venue, with orchestra and double choir.

Soloists, too, are solicitous of smaller orchestras as an important part of the world they move in. At the National Philharmonic, which is searching for a concertmaster, Nurit Bar-Josef, the NSO concertmaster, has been filling in at some concerts, supporting a local organization and her new husband, Erich Heckscher, who is the orchestra's principal bassoonist.

The star violinist Midori has started a residencies program to work with smaller orchestras and youth orchestras with combined budgets of under $4.5 million; she'll be coming to the Alexandria Symphony, or rather Symphonica Nova, in 2012.

Chee-Yun's double appearances this week, therefore, may be a sign of the times. Fairfax's Zimmerman, for one, isn't too bothered about the overlap; in his view, it simply spotlights the different profiles of the two orchestras, as the violinist plays a warhorse with the National Philharmonic and a less familiar work with Fairfax. The orchestras both get a big name; the artist gets wider exposure, and everybody wins.

"Hurray for us," says Elizabeth Murphy, the Fairfax Symphony's executive director, "that we both got her."

 

芸術劇場：読売日響マチネー・シリーズ；カルマー指揮，河村尚子

河村尚子のフアンになってしまって，東京芸術劇場へ読売日本交響楽団のマチネー・シリーズを聴きに行ってきました．指揮はオーストリアのカルロス・カルマー，ピアノ・ソロにドイツから一時帰国した河村尚子でした，　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
昨日のサンサーンスなどのかなり重たい演奏と違って，実に楽しく聴き応えのある演奏会でした．　

プログラムは，このオーケストラの名曲シリーズと同じ内容で，　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　スメタナ：交響詩《モルダウ》（連作交響詩《わが祖国》から）　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　グリーグ：ピアノ協奏曲　イ短調　作品16   
         ※※※※※※※※※※                                                      　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　ドヴォルザーク：交響曲第9番《新世界から》　ホ短調　作品95　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　でした．

名曲揃いで曲の説明は要しないでしょうが，カルマー指揮下の読売交響楽団は素晴しい澄んだ弦の響きと五弦のバランスを維持して，かつ管楽器が確かな音で朗々と音を響かせて，五弦とまことによいバランスを保っていました．

カルマーは，南米生まれのオーストリア人で，基本的にはオーストリアで勉んだ人で，実に的確で見事な指揮振りでした．モルダウの演奏からそれは発揮されて，全く久しぶりに聴くゆったりした名演でした．

グリーグは，河村尚子がまったく自由に指揮の上に乗って，まことに見事な演奏を展開していました．特に印象的だったのは，オーケストラはピアノが入っても音を遠慮しないのですが，河村尚子も自己主張する部分は別として，あとは楽々とオーケストラに溶け込んで弾いていたことです．　　　　　ピアノ協奏曲はもともとそれでよいのだと実感しました．

名曲コンサートの定番の「新世界」がまた鮮やかな抑揚が付けられて，まことに格調高い名演奏を聴かせてくれました．オーボエ・セクション，とりわけイングリッシュ・ホルンの響きがまことに見事でした．なお，program note では，「家路」として親しまれている美しいメロディは，最近の研究で，実はロングフェローの詩に基づくオペラの下書きからとられたもので，実際は「花嫁の死」の場面の音楽なのだそうです．

とにかく改めて読売日響のレベルの高さに感心しました．来月も神尾真由子目当てに2度アルブレヒト指揮の読響を聴きに行く予定ですが，今から楽しみが増しています．

第8回東京音楽コンクール優勝者演奏会

昨年，ピアノとヴァイオリンの本選会に行きましたが，ピアノの審査内容への不満，審査結果のネット上への公表のとんでもない遅延に，このコンクールに不信を抱かせる部分があって，もう来年は優勝者コンサートにもコンクールにも行かないと書いていましたが，ヴィオリンの優勝者には期待があったので，今日の午後，優勝者演奏会に行ってきました．

出演順に曲を挙げますと，
金管部門第1位，トランペット：多田将太郎，
  　　　      マルセル．ケンツビッチ：トランペット協奏曲　　　
ピアノ部門第1位，ピアノ:安部マリア　
             サン＝サーンス:ピアノ協奏曲第5番 ヘ長調 Op.103 「エジプト風」
声楽部門第1位，ソプラノ：上田純子  
　　　　      モーツアルト:「イドメネオ」K.366より”お父様，お兄様，さようなら”　
　　　　      ラフマニノフ:「ﾌﾗﾝﾁｪｽｶ･ﾀﾞ･ﾘﾐﾆ」Op.25より’泣かないで下さい，パオロ”
    　　      ドヴォルジャーク:「ルサルカ」Op.114,B203 より”月に寄せる歌”　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
　　　　      グノー:「ファウスト」より”トゥーレの王～宝石の歌”　　　　　　　　　
弦楽部門第1位，ヴァイオリン：二瓶真悠　　　　　　
　　　　      バルトーク:ヴァイオリン協奏曲　第2番　
でした．

私は金管部門，声楽部門はいずれも本選会を聴いていないので，今夜は私が本選会を聴いたピアノとヴァイオリンだけをコメントしたいと思います．

ピアノ部門第1位の安部まりやさんは，私が聴くのは3度目でした．最初は2009年の日本音楽コンクール本選会で，ラフマニノフの「パガニーニの主題による狂詩曲」を弾いて入選に終わった時です．昨年の東京音楽コンクールでも，私はプロコフィエフのピアノ協奏曲第3番を弾いた彼女の1位は想定しませんでした．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　その彼女が，今日はサン＝サーンス:ピアノ協奏曲第5番 ヘ長調 Op.103 「エジプト風」を弾いたのですが，今ひとつ素晴しいとは思えませんでした．第1楽章 アレグロ・アニマートはソナタ形式で書かれていながら，提示部に出てくる楽想が多彩なのですが，それをほぼ同じ音色で弾いていて，やや単調でした．第2楽章は3部形式をとっており，第1部 アンダンテはエキゾティックな情緒が濃く，第1楽章とのコントラストが鮮明なのですが，相変わらず音色が単調だったため，コントラストがそれほど鮮やかには描かれませんでした．第2部，第3部もそれにつれて異国情緒を描き切れていたとは思えませんでした．休みなく次の第３楽章モルト・アレグロに入りますが，ソナタ形式で書かれていて，清々しさしさに富んだサン＝サーンスの特色が強く現れた楽章で，3楽章中、最も優れた部分ですが，それが十分鮮明に反映されたとは思えませんでした．
先入観に支配されてしまったところがあったかと思いますが，以上が私の率直な感想です．

ヴァイオリンの二瓶真悠さんは，バルトーク:ヴァイオリン協奏曲　第2番をオーソドックスに弾ききって好演していました．昨年より一段と自信を付けて登場した印象を持てました．　　　　　　　　　　　　自身がピアニストだったバルトークですが，民俗音楽収集やヴァイオリニストの友人たちを通してヴァイオリン技法には精通していたといわれており、この曲にも民族舞曲調の即興性から伝統的なパッセージや名人芸までが詰め込まれており，オーケストラにもかなり比重が傾けられて、色彩豊かな管弦楽の響きも特徴的です．この曲はバルトークの唯一のヴァイオリン協奏曲と考えられていましたが，彼の死後，もうひとつの協奏曲が発見され，この曲が第2番となった経緯があります．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　3楽章構成をとり，第1楽章　Allegro non troppo はソナタ形式によっており，独奏ヴァイオリンが弾きはじめる第1主題は五音音階風ですが，次第に音が増えて、第2主題では12半音階の音がすべて出てきますが，彼女はその変化を見事に表現していました．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　第2楽章　Andante tranquillo　は変奏曲形式で6つの変奏で構成されていますが，豊かな音量で，変奏を着実に表現していました．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　第3楽章　Allegro moltoもソナタ形式で、俗舞曲的な疾走感が強い楽章ですが，第1楽章の素材に基づく主題が多用され，新しい主題も加えて、バルトークの好んだアーチ形式が形成されていますが，オーケストラの好バックを得て，彼女は着実に弾ききっていました．

是非，早い機会にヨーロッパに留学していっそう研鑽を積まれ，大きく成長されることを期待したいと思います．

序でにいいますと，国際コンクールを制覇した新人がまず演奏に招かれるのは，名曲コンサート，プロムナード・コンサートなどだと思いますから，優勝者演奏会もいわばフィギャー・スケートのエギジビジョンと同様に考えて，もっと楽しめる選曲にされることを奨めたいと思います．　　　　　　　　　　　　その点では，私の次のブログもご参照下さい．

　　　

Scotland; clouds over cｌassical nusic in 2011

イギリスのスコットランドは，イギリスのほぼ北半分を占め，美しい湖水地域を含む地域ですし，北海油田で資源の少ないイギリスを潤してきました．そのお蔭もあって，最近，スコットランドのクラシック音楽界は人材に恵まれてひとつの花盛りを迎えていました．

しかしイギリスが厳しい緊縮財政を強いられる中で，スコットランドのクラシック音楽界は大きく揺れています．それを10の疑問として提起している記事に出会いました．

１．スコットランド音楽の中心的な位置を占めてきたのが　the Royal Scottish National Orchestra＝RSNO だったのですが，その楽団長を務めてきた中心人物Woodsが，大西洋とアメリカ大陸を横断して，シアトル（野球でいえばマリナーズの本拠地で，イチローで有名です）の the Seattle Symphony Orchestra の楽団長に移ることが，昨年の11月に決まりました． 

彼は，たいへん有能な経営者で，経営を安定させ，国際的名声を勝ち取り，定期演奏会の聴衆を増大させたのです．特に Edingburgh の聴衆増大は非常に顕著でした．

Woods は，あとに大変魅力的なポストを残したことになりますから，後任希望者には事欠かないでしょうが，本当にそのアナを埋められるかには懸念が残ります．

2．併せて指揮者Stéphane Denève が2012年に楽団を去ることを表明していますが，その後任も大きな問題です．彼のフランス風の指揮やprogramming は，楽団員には十分に受け容れられませんでしたが，聴衆には好評だったのです．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　その後任も問題ですが，ひとつの可能性は，かつてCity of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra の後任に名乗りをあげていた Osmo Vanska で，昨年のLondon Proms でも　the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra を率いて大好評だった Vanska が，イギリスでもオーケストラを持ちたいと考えていることが知られており，声を掛けるだけの価値はあるでしょう．アメリカでMinnesota 管を世界トップ・クラスへ短時間で押し上げた実力は大きな魅力です．

3．スコットランドのオーケストラが財政削減に耐えられるでしょうか？　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　経費削減は数百万ポンドの予算を要するオーケストラには大きな問題で，その前兆は昨年の助成金が2％から半減されたことで既に感じているところです．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　同時に，Cuts are one thing, but a radical review of orchestral provision is another.で，問題はスコットランドにオーケストラはいくつが望ましいかという問題になります．　　　イギリスにはBBC という独立した経営体と，Art Council からの助成に依存しているオーケストラがあるのですが，BBC は既に16%の予算削減を求められていますから，BBC Scotland をArt Council の傘下に譲ろうとするかもしれません．そうした再編はたいへん懸念されることです．

4．Scottish Opera．はどうなるのでしょう．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Scotish Opera は既に full-time musicians を持たないのです．With the orchestra forced into part-time existence, the chorus long disbanded, and major prodctions in limited supply, there is no going back to the halcyon days of wall-to-wall opera. で収まっているのです．

5.What are the unmissable events of 2011?　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　既に予定されている events は是非実現したいものです．musical gold heading our way over the coming months. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Scottish Opera's imminent annual get-together with the RSAMD sees a welcome resurrection of David Pountney's 1980s fairy-tale production of Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　the big RSNO treat comes in a spectacular season finale in May, with the coupling of On The Transmigration of Souls, John Adams' musical response to 9/11, with Beethoven's Ninth Symphony.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Donald Runnicles, the SSO and Edinburgh Festival Chorus get together in February for a performance of Brahms' German Requiem.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　などはいずれも見逃せない大作です．

The SCO was to end its season in May with Sir Charles Mackerras conducting an all-Mozart programme, including the glorious unfinished Requiem. That seems all too ironic now following Mackerras's death last summer. His place will be filled by the young American conductor, James Gaffigan, 　

6．And what will be missing?　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
The SCO was to end its season in May with Sir Charles Mackerras conducting an all-Mozart programme, including the glorious unfinished Requiem. That seems all too ironic now following Mackerras's death last summer. His place will be filled by the young American conductor, James Gaffigan．

7. Any word on the new seasons?
スコットランドの新シーズンは2011年10月からなので，基本的にまだ予測困難としています．

8. Will the RSAMD change its name?
音楽学校の名称を
The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama plans to change its name in August to the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. に変更することについて，賛否があり，Music が消えてしまうことに反対があるようです．

9 Can the St Magnus Festival withstand change?　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
new artistic director Alasdair Nicolson　is a composer, so the festival's unstinting championship of new music should be in good hands.とFestival のartistic director が変わっても，作曲家が続いているので，現代曲への注力はかわらないと予測しています．

10 Will Nicola Benedetti stay solo or get hitched?

日本でも有名な若き俊才 violinist Nicola Benedetti （23歳）が広い世界ツアーを終えたのですが，彼女の新しい演奏スタイルとしてトリオが生まれており，しかもその1人は学友だった人で事実婚関係にあるようですから，今後は室内楽を主体にするのだろうか？とこの俊才の将来を懸念しています．

 

 

The Arts in 2011: on classical music

Published Date: 06 January 2011

By Kenneth Walton

1 Who will take over at the RSNO?

Simon Woods shocked us in November with the announcement that he is leaving his post as chief executive of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. In three months' time he heads across the Atlantic to take control of the Seattle Symphony Orchestra.

Woods will be a hard act to follow. The former EMI record producer, who came to Scotland five years ago, has done for the RSNO what few of his immediate predecessors achieved: give the orchestra a sense of managerial stability, international artistic credibility and, most importantly, increased audiences at its regular subscription series, especially in Edinburgh where audience growth has been extraordinary.

The director of the influential Association of British Orchestras, Mark Pemberton, confirmed last month that "Woods leaves behind a very attractive vacancy" that will "attract interest from very qualified people".

Woods even seems to have instilled a smiling countenance on a bunch of musicians notorious for once visibly yawning through a piece of contemporary music. May the smiles continue in the hands of his successor, whoever he or she may be.

2 And who will be Stéphane Denève's successor?

Woods' unexpected departure leaves the lingering question mark over a possible successor to the RSNO's musical director Stéphane Denève, who intimated last year he would be departing in 2012. While Denève's uncompromising and determined personality has never been entirely popular with the players, he has wooed audiences with his French-flavoured repartee, imaginative programming and many exceptional performances. Woods is unlikely to be party to announcing a replacement, leaving that up to his successor. The feelers will already be out, of course, and as with Woods' own position, an orchestra in rude health will certainly be more attractive to worthy candidates.

So who might they approach? Finnish conductor Sakari Oramo (who made his name as Simon Rattle's successor at Birmingham's CBSO, and was in brilliant form with the Finnish Radio Symphony Orchestra at last year's Edinburgh International Festival) revealed to one interviewer recently that he is keen to get his hands again on a British orchestra. It's maybe a long shot, but there's no harm in asking.

3 Will orchestras survive the cuts?

Every arts body in Scotland is bracing itself for inevitable cuts in funding this year, not least the orchestras operating on budgets of several million, who got a taste of things to come last year when their expected two per cent increases were halved.

Cuts are one thing, but a radical review of orchestral provision is another. How much, for instance, should we read into the alarming statement to MPs last month by BBC director general Mark Thompson, who said his organisation would be willing to enter discussions about closer co-operation between the licence-funded BBC orchestras and those funded by the Arts Council? The logical implications are that the BBC – itself facing overall cuts of 16 per cent – might be open to deals that could potentially merge BBC orchestras with those that are Arts Council-funded. There's a long-standing precedent in the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. And while the catalyst for Thompson's recent comments were the impending predicaments of certain English orchestras, who's to say the BBC – which funds its own Scottish orchestra – does not see the debate being equally relevant to Scotland? A frightening thought.

4 What about Scottish Opera?

Scottish Opera starts 2011 (the year before its 50th anniversary) with no full-time performing musicians in its employ. With the orchestra forced into part-time existence, the chorus long disbanded, and major productions in limited supply, there is no going back to the halcyon days of wall-to-wall opera. The debate is dead. We have what we have – balanced books and the coat radically cut to suit Scottish Opera's modest cloth. Benign though it is, the politicians are happy.

5 What are the unmissable events of 2011?

Despite difficult times, there are real nuggets of musical gold heading our way over the coming months. Scottish Opera's imminent annual get-together with the RSAMD sees a welcome resurrection of David Pountney's 1980s fairy-tale production (originally for the joint purposes of Scottish Opera and Welsh National Opera) of Janacek's The Cunning Little Vixen. Watch out for such timely special effects as the instantly disappearing snow (assuming it remains in Elaine Tyler-Hall's re-direction).

The Scottish Chamber Orchestra launches straight in to a mini-series focusing on Stravinsky's ballet scores, and the big RSNO treat comes in a spectacular season finale in May, with the coupling of On The Transmigration of Souls, John Adams' musical response to 9/11, with Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. Donald Runnicles, the SSO and Edinburgh Festival Chorus get together in February for a performance of Brahms' German Requiem.

6 And what will be missing?

The SCO was to end its season in May with Sir Charles Mackerras conducting an all-Mozart programme, including the glorious unfinished Requiem. That seems all too ironic now following Mackerras's death last summer. His place will be filled by the young American conductor, James Gaffigan, who worked with Mackerras on last year's Glyndebourne Festival production of Mozart's Così Fan Tutte. So all is not lost.

7 Any word on the new seasons?

The problem with crystal ball gazing of the calendar year is that most concert seasons run from October, so little more than crumbs of information filter out at this early point in the year. There's interesting news from the RSNO, however, that it will feature Scottish composers, past and present, during Denève's final 2011-12 season, music by the likes of Greenock-born William Wallace. Just another sign of the orchestra's new-found confidence.

8 Will the RSAMD change its name?

The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama plans to change its name in August to the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. The consultation process ended last month, and doubters' views vary from "it sounds like a glorified greenhouse" to "that tells us everything and nothing about the place". Call the Academy what you will, but the only thing that really matters is the quality of its teaching. That's what attracts the best students and forges its reputation. Rebranding is an expensive exercise. Could the money be better spent?

9 Can the St Magnus Festival withstand change?

After almost two decades under the directorship of Glenys Hughes, this year's St Magnus Festival is the first under new artistic director Alasdair Nicolson. Like the founder, Sir Peter Maxwell Davies, Nicolson is a composer, so the festival's unstinting championship of new music should be in good hands. The SCO under Thierry Fischer feature in his inaugural line-up.

10 Will Nicola Benedetti stay solo or get hitched?

Back in October, violinist Nicola Benedetti ended her epic Fantasie Tour at the Usher Hall in Edinburgh. It revealed a completely new side to her musicianship, playing in a chamber music line-up with two musical friends, including German cellist Leonard Elschenbroich, a former school colleague who was later revealed as being her long-term boyfriend. Two questions worth asking: will 2011 see 23-year-old Benedetti develop her chamber music activity more (really worth considering); and – now it's out in the open - will she upstage Willy and Kate with a personal match of her own

New York Phil＆Lang Lang のSylvester Concert

New York Times のreview で，New York Philharmonic の年末Sylvester Concert について，まだ何をやったらよいのかhit & miss を続けていると書き出しています．

今年のprogram は，All Tchaikovsky で the Polonaise from the opera “Eugene Onegin”; the Piano Concerto No. 1, a specialty of Mr. Lang’s; and the complete Act II from the ballet “The Nutcracker.”　で solist に有名なスーパースター Lang Lang を持ってきていたのが，まるで Gala Concert だと評しています． 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Lang Lang, the Chinese piano superstar, and “Auld Lang Syne,” the inevitable sing-along encore, equaled a full house.

ちなみに，Berlin Philharmonic は，Vienna Symphony のNew Year Concert に対抗するのは諦めて，かねてからSylvester Concert をやっています．しかし，今年はこれも超人気指揮者の Gustavo Dudamel を指揮者に持ってきていました．

Berliner Philharmoniker, Gustavo Dudamel, Elīna Garanča

Wed  29. December 2010  8 pm
Thu  30. December 2010  8 pm
Fri  31. December 2010  5:15 pm
Philharmonie

 

Berliner Philharmoniker 
Gustavo Dudamel  Conductor
Elīna Garanča  Mezzo-Soprano

Hector Berlioz
Le Carnaval romain, Ouverture caractéristique op. 9 
Hector Berlioz
»D'Amour l'ardente flamme« from La Damnation de Faust 
Camille Saint-Saëns
»Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix« (2nd Act) from Samson et Dalila 
Camille Saint-Saëns
Bacchanale (3rd Act) from Samson et Dalila 
Georges Bizet
Selections from Carmen 
Manuel de Falla
Excerpts from the ballet El sombrero de tres picos 

とBerlioz，Saint-Saëns，Bizet，de Fallaという，いわば軽めのprogramでした．

もっともBerlin では，別に，New Year's Eve Concert が29日にあって，

Berlin Sinfonietta 
Rimma Sushanskaya  Conductor
Michael Barenboim  Violin

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major 
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Symphony No. 29 in A major 
Antonín Dvořák
Serenade for strings in E major 
Johann Strauß (son)
Pizzicato-Polka plus further polkas, waltzes and marches 

と，後半の後半がJohann Strauß (son)となっていて，かなりVienna の New Year の前奏のようなことをやっています．

あとは，New York Times をご自由にご渉猟されて，わが国ではいわゆるジルベスターの他に，オール・ベートーヴェンなどという演奏者にはもちろん聴衆にも強行軍になるイベントが恒例化していますが，その辺のあり方についてご一考いただく上で，なにがしかのプラスになれば幸いです．

 

 

Music Review

Need a Gala? Tchaikovsky Is a Go-To Guy

Hiroyuki Ito for The New York Times

Lang Lang performing Tchaikovsky’s first piano concerto on New Year’s Eve at Avery Fisher Hall.

By STEVE SMITH

Published: January 2, 2011

For much of the music world the new year arrives to the opulent sounds of Johann Strauss, whose perfectly formed Viennese dance elaborations fuse nostalgia with a vibrancy and optimism suited to forging ahead. You could search long and hard without finding music better suited to the occasion; for proof look to the New York Philharmonic, where a restless shuffling of the New Year’s Eve playlist in recent seasons has offered its share of hits and misses but still hasn’t yielded a better alternative.

                                                              Hiroyuki Ito for The New York Times

Alan Gilbert leading the New York Philharmonic.

Granted, this probably mattered not at all to concertgoers at Avery Fisher Hall on Friday night or to the much larger audience that tuned in for a live telecast on PBS. Here the equation for success was simple: Lang Lang, the Chinese piano superstar, and “Auld Lang Syne,” the inevitable sing-along encore, equaled a full house.

With those elements in place, the orchestra and its music director, Alan Gilbert, probably could have performed pretty much anything. What they offered was a program of staple works by Tchaikovsky: the Polonaise from the opera “Eugene Onegin”; the Piano Concerto No. 1, a specialty of Mr. Lang’s; and the complete Act II from the ballet “The Nutcracker.”

If that last selection made the event seem better suited to Christmas than to New Year’s Eve, complaining seemed petty in the face of playing so robust, accomplished and stylish. From the opening bars of the Polonaise you were confronted with the Philharmonic that Mr. Gilbert has worked toward since his start: a brilliant organization in which individual virtuosity and ensemble unanimity are a given, resulting in music enlivened without need for excess or distortion.

At first it seemed as if Mr. Gilbert’s philosophy had rubbed off on Mr. Lang, whose excitable calisthenics have overshadowed his undeniable intelligence and skill. The grandiose opening of the Tchaikovsky concerto is ripe for overemphatic clangor; instead Mr. Lang played with an almost prim decorum and restraint. But you knew it couldn’t last. By the first of several unaccompanied spots in the movement Mr. Lang was dramatizing notes stabbed by his right hand with left-hand fist pumps. Gentler passages were adorned with fluttering gestures more suited for teaching a butterfly how to land on a petal.

Such mannerisms could be forgiven so long as the music didn’t suffer; mostly it didn’t, though Mr. Lang’s Gatling-gun octaves verged on overkill. (The audience’s roar at the end of the movement indicated that this was a minority view.)

“Because I can,” Mr. Lang’s playing said during the second movement’s brisk Prestissimo, and you had to agree: he could. However you felt about what came before, you were swept up in the finale’s exultant brio.

The concert’s second half brought some of Tchaikovsky’s most familiar and beloved creations. And no matter how often you might have heard “The Nutcracker” before, even recently, you could marvel anew at Tchaikovsky’s ingenious orchestration and generous heart in a lithe, vibrant account that never threatened to grow cloying.

UK;The best classical music for 2011

London の The Guardian紙が，前向きに2011年の　The best classical music を記事にしていました．日本では，音楽団体も音楽雑誌も乱立していますし，新聞社は海外から招聘するオーケストラの共催者になることもあって，こうした記事を目にすることは少ないと思います．

まず挙げているのが作曲家だというのも珍しいですね． 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

Peter Maxwell Davies　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　は　In 1999, Peter Maxwell Davies completed his theatre piece Mr Emmet Takes a Walk – and he made it known that it would be his last foray into the world of opera and musical theatre.　と公言して，concentrating particularly on chamber music, and especially on the series of 10 Naxos Quartets that occupied him between 2001 and 2007．　だったそうですが，　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　the Royal Academy of Music in London and the Juilliard School in New York came up with the idea of a joint commission for a theatre piece that would be performed in both cities, with casts made up of students from each establishment.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　という委嘱を受けて，それに乗り出したのだそうです．それは，
"fellow students". In a work expressly intended for students to perform, Pountney has created a dramatic structure that interlocks three stories of 20th-century student political action: from Nazi Germany, from China during the Cultural Revolution, and from the US during the civil rights movement of the 1960s. All three stories are brought together in the final scenes.　　
と今から興味深く感ずる制作目標です．

The Pollini Project　
これもわれわれにも深い関心のあるProject ですね．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

In a series of five recitals, the great Maurizio Pollini charts the history of keyboard music across three centuries, beginning with Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier and ending with Stockhausen's Piano Pieces – and including, en route, recitals devoted to sonatas by Beethoven and Schubert.　　
東京で数年前にやったシリーズを思い起こさせますが，including, en route, recitals devoted to sonatas by Beethoven and Schubert.　とあります．

Royal Festival Hall, London SE1 ; southbankcentre.co.uk), 28 January; 15 and 26 February; 29 April; 25 May.

Anna Nicole

The premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage's new opera, with a libretto by Richard Thomas, based on the life of American model and sex symbol Anna Nicole Smith who died in 2007. Richard Jones's staging promises sex, extreme language, drug abuse and a troupe of pole dancers.　　
超現代的な新作オペラですね．

Royal Opera House, London WC2 , 17 February – 4 March.

Simon Rattle

After strictly rationing his British appearances for a decade, Simon Rattle is everywhere in 2011. He brings the Berlin Philharmonic to London for four concerts; conducts the LSO in Bruckner and Messiaen; returns to the CBSO for Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde; and renews his partnership with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in Haydn and Mozart.　　　　　　　　　　
滅多にイギリスに来ないSimon Rattle が久しぶりにイギリスに　Berlin Philharmony　を連れてくるほか，古巣のCBSO (City of Bermingham Symphony Orchestra)とthe Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenmentも振るそうです．

With the Berlin Philharmonic at the Barbican, London EC2 and Southbank Centre, London SE1 , 20-23 February. With the LSO at the Barbican on 7 March. With the CBSO at the Symphony Hall, Birmingham on 12 June. With the OAE at the Royal Festival Hall, London,

Intermezzo

Scottish Opera mounts a rare British production of Richard Strauss's most autobiographical stage work, with its music director Francesco Corti conducting a production by Wolfgang Quetes, and Roland Wood and Anita Bader as the warring conductor Robert Storch and his wife Christine.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Scotish Opera が大胆にRichard Strauss's most autobiographical stage work を上演するそうです．

Theatre Royal, Glasgow , 26 March, 30 March and 2 April; Festival theatre Edinburgh, 7 and 9 April.

Seven Angels

Luke Bedford and Glyn Maxwell's chamber opera reinterprets Milton's Paradise Lost as a contemporary ecological parable. It's a joint production between the Opera Company and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, directed by John Fulljames and conducted by Nicholas Collon.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　
これも新作オペラのようですが，Milton's Paradise Lost を現代の環境問題に置き換えて上演するようです．

CBSO Centre, Birmingham , 17 and 18 June.

Die Walküre

Mark Elder may one of the few great Wagner conductors of our time still to conduct a Ring cycle, but he is gradually working his way through the tetralogy in concerts with the Hallé. After starting with Götterdämmerung in 2009, he's going back to the second opera, dividing it across two evenings, and prefacing the first act with a specially commissioned prologue.　
これはWagner の The Ring の第2夜　Walkure を2夜に分け，第1夜を特に委嘱した　Prologue を第1幕の前に持ってくるのだそうです．

Bridgewater Hall, Manchester , 15 and 16 July

Beethoven's Triple Concerto

The BBC Proms always like to keep everyone guessing until the season is announced, but thanks to the website of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, one of the 2011's highlights is known already. The first of the orchestra's two concerts includes Beethoven's Triple Concerto with a mouthwatering trio of soloists: Renaud and Gautier Capucon, with Martha Argerich as the pianist.　とBBC Proms の最初の夜に，Beethoven's Triple Concerto を豪華メンバーでやるそうです．

Royal Albert Hall, London SW7 , 18 July. Full details tbc.

Lucerne Festival Orchestra

Claudio Abbado last brought his great, hand-picked orchestra to London in 2007, so their return in autumn will be eagerly awaited. Full details have yet to be finalised, but Bruckner's Fifth Symphony is the main work in both concerts.　2007年以来久しぶりにClaudio Abbado　がLucerne Festival Orchestra を連れてLondonで2回演奏会を開くようです．

Royal Festival Hall, London , 10 and 11 October.

Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra

The world's oldest orchestra and its music director Riccardo Chailly have become regular visitors to London's Barbican, and clock in for their longest stay yet with a complete cycle of the Beethoven symphonies in five concerts.　　　　   
The world's oldest orchestra and its music director Riccardo Chailly　が Deethoven cycles をやり，5夜で交響曲9曲をやるそうです．

Barbican, London SE1 , 25 October - 3 November.

日本でも同程度のことが出来るとは思いますが，新作オペラを含めてこれだけ揃えてとなるとなかなか大変だろうとおもわれます．

　　　

 

The best classical music for 2011

From Simon Rattle's ubiquitous performances to a sneak preview of the BBC Proms, Andrew Clements looks forward to a year of classical treats

Andrew Clements

The Guardian, Monday 3 January 2011

　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Peter Maxwell Davies rehearsing with the BBC Philharmonic. Photograph: Christopher Thomond

Peter Maxwell Davies

In 1999, Peter Maxwell Davies completed his theatre piece Mr Emmet Takes a Walk – and he made it known that it would be his last foray into the world of opera and musical theatre. For almost a decade afterwards, he kept to that promise, composing as feverishly as ever, but concentrating particularly on chamber music, and especially on the series of 10 Naxos Quartets that occupied him between 2001 and 2007.

But with that project out of the way, the Royal Academy of Music in London and the Juilliard School in New York came up with the idea of a joint commission for a theatre piece that would be performed in both cities, with casts made up of students from each establishment. For Davies, who has made a point of writing music for young performers throughout his career, right back to the early 1960s when he taught music at Cirencester Grammar School, it was an offer he couldn't refuse. The work he has come up with, Kommilitonen!, will be presented first at the RAM, before travelling to the Juilliard in November.

David Pountney (who wrote the libretto for and directed Mr Emmet, as well as Davies's earlier full-length work for Welsh National Opera, The Doctor of Myddfai) has again provided the text and will direct both stagings. Though Young Blood is given as the official alternative to the German title, Kommilitonen actually translates more accurately as "fellow students". In a work expressly intended for students to perform, Pountney has created a dramatic structure that interlocks three stories of 20th-century student political action: from Nazi Germany, from China during the Cultural Revolution, and from the US during the civil rights movement of the 1960s. All three stories are brought together in the final scenes.

The German narrative follows the story of the Die Weisse Rose (already the subject of a successful opera, by German composer Udo Zimmermann), a group of students at the University of Munich during the early 1940s, led by Sophie and Hans Scholl, who organised non-violent protests against the Third Reich until they were convicted of high treason and guillotined in 1943.

The Chinese element concerns two characters, Wu and Zhou, who found themselves on opposite sides of the Cultural Revolution; while the US strand isthe celebrated story of James Meredith, who fought against segregation and racial prejudice to become the first black student to enrol at the university of Missouri, an event that proved to be a turning point in the civil rights struggle.

Royal Academy of Music, London (020-7873 7300; www.ram.ac.uk; booking opens 17 January), 18-25 March.

The Pollini Project

In a series of five recitals, the great Maurizio Pollini charts the history of keyboard music across three centuries, beginning with Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier and ending with Stockhausen's Piano Pieces – and including, en route, recitals devoted to sonatas by Beethoven and Schubert.

Royal Festival Hall, London SE1 (0844 875 0073; southbankcentre.co.uk), 28 January; 15 and 26 February; 29 April; 25 May.

Anna Nicole

The premiere of Mark-Anthony Turnage's new opera, with a libretto by Richard Thomas, based on the life of American model and sex symbol Anna Nicole Smith who died in 2007. Richard Jones's staging promises sex, extreme language, drug abuse and a troupe of pole dancers.

Royal Opera House, London WC2 (020-7304 4000; roh.org.uk), 17 February – 4 March.

Simon Rattle

After strictly rationing his British appearances for a decade, Simon Rattle is everywhere in 2011. He brings the Berlin Philharmonic to London for four concerts; conducts the LSO in Bruckner and Messiaen; returns to the CBSO for Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde; and renews his partnership with the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment in Haydn and Mozart.

With the Berlin Philharmonic at the Barbican, London EC2 (020-7638 8891; barbican.org.uk) and Southbank Centre, London SE1 (0844 875 0073; southbankcentre.co.uk), 20-23 February. With the LSO at the Barbican on 7 March. With the CBSO at the Symphony Hall, Birmingham (0121 780 3333; thsh.co.uk) on 12 June. With the OAE at the Royal Festival Hall, London, 21 June.

Intermezzo

Scottish Opera mounts a rare British production of Richard Strauss's most autobiographical stage work, with its music director Francesco Corti conducting a production by Wolfgang Quetes, and Roland Wood and Anita Bader as the warring conductor Robert Storch and his wife Christine.

Theatre Royal, Glasgow (0844 871 7647), 26 March, 30 March and 2 April; Festival theatre Edinburgh (0131-529 6000), 7 and 9 April.

Seven Angels

Luke Bedford and Glyn Maxwell's chamber opera reinterprets Milton's Paradise Lost as a contemporary ecological parable. It's a joint production between the Opera Company and Birmingham Contemporary Music Group, directed by John Fulljames and conducted by Nicholas Collon.　

CBSO Centre, Birmingham (0121-767 4050), 17 and 18 June.

Die Walküre

Mark Elder may one of the few great Wagner conductors of our time still to conduct a Ring cycle, but he is gradually working his way through the tetralogy in concerts with the Hallé. After starting with Götterdämmerung in 2009, he's going back to the second opera, dividing it across two evenings, and prefacing the first act with a specially commissioned prologue.　

Bridgewater Hall, Manchester (0161-907 9000; mif.co.uk), 15 and 16 July.

Beethoven's Triple Concerto

The BBC Proms always like to keep everyone guessing until the season is announced, but thanks to the website of the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, one of the 2011's highlights is known already. The first of the orchestra's two concerts includes Beethoven's Triple Concerto with a mouthwatering trio of soloists: Renaud and Gautier Capucon, with Martha Argerich as the pianist.　

Royal Albert Hall, London SW7 (0845 401 5040), 18 July. Full details tbc.

Lucerne Festival Orchestra

Claudio Abbado last brought his great, hand-picked orchestra to London in 2007, so their return in autumn will be eagerly awaited. Full details have yet to be finalised, but Bruckner's Fifth Symphony is the main work in both concerts.　Royal Festival Hall, London , 10 and 11 October.

Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra

The world's oldest orchestra and its music director Riccardo Chailly have become regular visitors to London's Barbican, and clock in for their longest stay yet with a complete cycle of the Beethoven symphonies in five concerts.　　　　

Barbican, London SE1 (020-7638 8891; barbican.org.uk), 25 October - 3 November.

UK;The Independent 紙のBest Five of the Year

イギリスのThe Independent 紙がBest Five of the Year を上げていましたので，ご紹介しておきます．前に The Guardian が The Observer を紹介しているのをブログにしましたが，今度は The Independent 直接の review です．

いずれもごく短くって分りやすい注釈付きです．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　まず，Lodon, Royal Festival Hall で行われた優れた女流指揮者 Marin Alsop 指揮の　Bernstein Mass　です．　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　未だ評価が定着していない曲ですが，two terrific performances of what has to be the composer's masterpiece. It still divides opinions, but it's a rich celebration of music's power to heal divisions – social, political, and religious.  という音楽の意義に踏み込んだ注釈に惹かれました．

次はGlyndebourne 歌劇場のBilly Budd ですが，　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　Michael Grandage's operatic debut was a triumph, thrillingly conducted by Mark Elder and boasting a touching performance in the title role from rising star Jacques Imbrailo. とたいへんお気に入りだったようです．

3番目は BBC Proms における イギリスの若手Pianist,Paul Lewis が　Beethoven Piano Concertos 5曲を Daniel Barenboim と渡り合って好演したことを，Few understand better than he the delicate balance between Beethoven the classicist and Beethoven the visionary. という視点から称賛しています．

4，5番目は，London Philharmonic Orchestra の優れた演奏会で，まず，Jurowski's inspirational account of Mahler's pantheistic 3rd Symphony was awesome in the truest sense of the word,　そして Petrenko's debut with the orchestra took the roof off with Shostakovich's great revolutionary 11th Symphony "The Year 1905".  を上げています．I'm still reeling from both.というほど，強い印象を受けたようです．

イギリスの音楽事情も，たいへん羨むべきモノがあると強く感じさせます．

 

 

The Year in Review: Best classical & opera of 2010

By Edward Seckerson

Friday, 24 December 2010

 

Vasily Petrenko's debut with the London Philharmonic Orchestra took the roof off with Shostakovich's great revolutionary 11th Symphony 'TheYear 1905'

 

Bernstein Mass/Marin Alsop

Royal Festival Hall, London

The South Bank's Leonard Bernstein Project culminated in two terrific performances of what has to be the composer's masterpiece. It still divides opinions, but it's a rich celebration of music's power to heal divisions – social, political, and religious.

 

Billy Budd

Glyndebourne

Michael Grandage's operatic debut was a triumph, thrillingly conducted by Mark Elder and boasting a touching performance in the title role from rising star Jacques Imbrailo.

 

Beethoven Piano Concertos/ Paul Lewis

BBC Proms

The young British pianist Paul Lewis went head to head this year with the great Daniel Barenboim and made an indelible impression with his poised and insightful Proms performances of all five Beethoven Concertos. Few understand better than he the delicate balance between Beethoven the classicist and Beethoven the visionary.

 

London Philharmonic Orchestra/Vladimir Jurowski/Vasily Petrenko

There's nothing to separate my two outstanding symphonic performances of the year, both featuring the LPO at the top of its game. Jurowski's inspirational account of Mahler's pantheistic 3rd Symphony was awesome in the truest sense of the word, while Petrenko's debut with the orchestra took the roof off with Shostakovich's great revolutionary 11th Symphony "The Year 1905". I'm still reeling from both.