Composers
The world got really small last weekend.
Event One: After Chicago a cappella's Thursday concert at Fourth Pres downtown, we had a coffee-and-cookie reception. One of the songs on our concert was the now-famous Spanish carol, "Riu riu chiu." One of our sopranos, Kathryn Kamp, had been speaking at our reception with one of the people in the audience. She came over and told me that he was from Sweden. I bopped over and greeted him with my limited Swedish, which perked him right up. Imagine my surprise when . . .
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Several years ago there was what
could be deemed breaking news in the classical world, news that probably sent
shivers up many enthusiasts’ and music-history buffs’ spines. Good shivers,
that is. It was the unearthing of 200-plus phonograph cylinder recordings in an
old archive in Russia.
With low volume and heavy amounts of surface noise, the cylinders hold a brief
but invaluable glimpse into the early days of recording and how classical music
was performed throughout the years. Some of these cylinders carry the earliest
known recordings of works by Bach, Verdi and Schumann, to name just a few.
A
selection of the recordings ranging from 1890 to 1923 will be released this
month on the Marston label. An article I came across a couple weeks ago
discusses the discovery of many of the recordings at auctions and in old
archives, and how the plan for their creation and allusions to their lingering
existence was discovered in the correspondence between a music-loving
businessman, Julius H. Block, and Thomas Edison himself. It is a fascinating
article. If you are a fan of juicy tidbits of musical history, give this
article a read and perhaps pick up the recording—you just might hear a
whistling Tchaikovsky in the background.
Read the original article here: Classical Ghosts, Audible Once Again
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Well, we're in that interesting zone where I'm trying to get all interested parties on board (no pun intended) to support, financially and energetically, a commission for a pretty big new piece for next season. A composer with a good track record, whose pieces Chicago a cappella has done often in years past, came to me with an idea for a very cool compilation of music, which would serve as the scaffolding on which I could create a concert program.
I can't tell you who it is, since we have not finished the process, but you might be interested in the process.
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Today's guest blog is written by Stefan Lano who will conduct the Chicago Sinfonietta during the upcoming performances of the opera Margaret Garner at the Auditorium Theater beginning November 1st.
As we prepare for the production of Margaret Garner at the Auditorium Theater, I am pleased to share some thoughts with you about this important opera.
Although, the commissioning venues of Michigan Opera Theater, the Cincinnati Opera and The Opera Company of Philadelphia were most generous in alotting ample time and funding for workshops prior to the world premiere here in Detroit, both hindsight and the experience gained through repeated performances will inevitably color subsequent re- visitations to this score. That this is now the case, became evident at our first rehearsals and run-throughs of the
opera this past week. The goals and priorities set by production teams of most any opera, play or film are pretty
much the same: 1. tell the story clearly and with dramatic efficiency; 2. entertain the public while, hopefully, simultaneously edifying them; 3. try to achieve a sense of closure at evening's end such that the public feels that they have been 'taken somewhere.'
An example of point number 3, would be the ambience in the public when the reprise of the Aria is reached in Bach's Goldberg Variations; or the sense of tragic inevitability at the end of Verdi's Otello as opposed to the comic inevitabiltiy at the end of his Falstaff. Point number 2 is a bit more subtle. In some opera, such as Mozart's Magic Flute, the moral of a given scene is presented as an aside in the form of the ensembles where the characters address the public more directly rather than each other. In an opera such as Margaret Garner, the message of Toni Morrison is, as one would expect from a literary national treasure, inherent in her story. Thus do we arrive at the conundrum articulated by Madeleine in the final scene of Richard Strauss' Capriccio: do the words or the music take precedence?
Rather than argue for one or the other, I have always found that if the notion of effective theater is well-served, then both words and music are better clarified. In the case of this run of Margaret Garner, this notion dictates our modus operandi perhaps moreso than the first time around. The care taken in the preparation of any first performance is, more often than not, devoted to 'getting it right', especially when composer and librettist may be present. There is, however, more to theater than merely getting it right. One can get the words and the notes right while missing their element of dramatic marriage. From the resonance of the opening productions of Margaret Garner, it seems that most would agree that we 'got it right.'
It bespeaks the vision of David Di Chiera in his mounting a reprise of Margaret Garner relatively soon after the premier. His decision is now the more felicitous as we approach an historic Presidential election in which an African-American could well become our next President. That our country evolve as to embrace change.
In the spirit of opera being an art form in perpetual evolution, Kenny Leon and I intend to greatly expand upon that which we presented some years ago and are especially thrilled that we will do so in the architectural landmark of the Roosevelt Theatre about which one can only echo George Ballanchine's comment: 'Why don't they build them like this any more...?" Amen.
All best wishes to you,
Stefan Lano
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Submitted by Jim Hirsch on Fri, 07/18/2008 - 12:10pm.
This morning my Google alert for Chicago classical music included a link to a blog with the title, Baroque jams: you’re new iPod playlist. This caught my eye for a number of reasons. First, my wife and son spent seven hours in line
last week waiting to buy the new Apple iPhone that incorporates all of the iPod functions with too many other things to list. I confess that I am interested in just about all things Apple-related.
But when posts combine my interest in technology and classical music, I tend to really pay attention.
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Today's guest blogger is Brett Batterson, Executive Director of the Auditorium Theatre. This is the first in a series of postings about their November 2008 production of the opera, Margaret Garner.
"NEW AMERICAN OPERA BY TONI MORRISON AND RICHARD DANIELPOUR STARRING DENYCE GRAVES MAKES CHICAGO DEBUT!"
"AUDITORIUM THEATRE CONTINUES TO FIND NEW, EXCITING WORKS THAT RESONATE WITH CHICAGO!"
The headlines to this, the first entry in a series of blog posts about the Auditorium Theatre’s upcoming production of Margaret Garner that ChicagoClassicalMusic.org is graciously hosting, could go on forever. There is just too much to be excited about with the Chicago premiere of this great American work this November: the story, the music, the performers, the collaborators, the educational programs... like I said, the list goes on and on.
How, you might ask, did this come to be? Why is the Auditorium the location for Margaret Garner’s Chicago debut? The answer actually goes back to when Toni Morrison and Richard Danielpour were writing the opera for Denyce Graves. They were also looking for an opera company to commission and produce it.
How, you might ask, did this come to be?
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I've been mulling over, for months now, writing a piece of music to this fantastic sonnet I came across last fall.
It's finally taking shape. I mostly composed it this evening after I got home from work. I am much relieved that it's finally here.
The composing process isn't particularly magic or mysterious, or at least it doesn't seem that way to me now. It used to -- that was before I started composing!
(Slight digression: I first wrote "composting" just now, which is funny because composing is almost like composting... when I write choral music, I have to chew and chew and work my way around a text, almost like digesting it the way worms do newspaper -- and only after the words have lived inside me for a while does the musical part take shape. My wife and I gave my mom one of those worm-composting bins for Christmas last year, and it does work.)
The poem in question is by Mark Jarman, a fabulous poet who lives and works in Nashville at Vanderbilt. About ten years ago he published a poetry collection called "Questions for Ecclesiastes," and in that book is a collection of 20 "Unholy Sonnets." The one that really struck me has the first line as follows: "Half asleep in prayer I said the right thing" -- and because of copyright law you'll have to buy the poetry book to see the whole piece, until you come to the Chicago a cappella "Abundance" concert in February 2009 and hear it, by which time the poem will be in the program notes!
What I love about the poem is the way it evokes the almost accidental nature of grace. I say "almost accidental" because I do believe that you can cultivate your soul to a place where grace is more possible -- or at least more palpable -- than when your soul is anxious or angry or out of whack, in which case grace is difficult to come by. So at some point there is not so much of an accident involved, but those special moments do come as a very pleasant surprise, which is what this poem seems to be attempting to describe.
The music itself is mostly chordal, declamatory, getting all the words out at the same time. However, I did put in some imitative passages when that seemed called for. This piece has more key changes than most of my works; this time I composed at the piano, which I don't usually do. I decided it was worth a try, since the one other time I composed at the piano I got the piece published!
Once the rhythm of the words starts to take hold, the rest follows. I don't think I'm the world's greatest tunesmith -- my pieces are known for their "whole package" nature, and I do think I write lines that fit the voice well -- but you won't hear people humming my songs very often. That's okay with me.
I don't have formal degrees in composing, but that's not stopping me, fortunately. Watch this space for more when the piece is done.
Have a good week.
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Submitted by Jim Hirsch on Tue, 03/18/2008 - 4:10pm.
I was driving to work one morning a few weeks ago and NPR ran a story about violinist Tasmin Little. The story was about a 
series of recordings she has made that feature solo, or naked violin, if you will, that she is offering as free downloads on her website. Check out the NPR broadcast and then hit Tasmin’s site for some wonderful music – at no charge!
Speaking of wonderful music made by talented women, the Sinfonietta’s March 30-31 concerts are dedicated to music made, conducted, and composed by women. Chicagoclassicalmusic.org has a “hot deal” listed for this concert that you can access if you are a registered user of this site.
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Submitted by Jim Hirsch on Thu, 03/06/2008 - 11:10am.
I have a favor to ask of you. In November 2008 The Chicago Sinfonietta will partner with the Chicago Humanities Festival in musically exploring the year’s Festival theme, “THINK BIG”. We invite you to help us realize our 'big idea" for a concert by joining us in selecting the most transformative classical music compositions ever written -- works from various eras that truly changed the rules and affected everything that came after. We will perform two of the selections at Chicago's Symphony Center on Monday, November 10th at 7:30 p.m. And to "change the game" even more, we hope to either present a live streaming broadcast that evening (so you can hear the winning selections regardless of where you are) or post the performance as a downloadable video file on our website.
Let your voice be heard! A panel of experts has shared its ideas for “game-changing” nominees and you can vote right now at the
Chicago Sinfonietta’s website. Make your selection from the experts' list, or if you disagree, feel free to write in your own.
Thanks for voting – and please pass this link on to others!
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This week, the CSO is performing
Osvaldo Golijov’s Ainadamar for the first time. It was such a mind-blowing experience that it motivated me to begin blogging about “Classical” music in Chicago here at CCM.
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