Monotonous Forest

Best reason to skip the Super Bowl

This weekend the great Hungarian composer György Kurtág, who turns 83 next month, is making his first visit to the United States.  On Sunday he will be at the piano with his wife, Márta, on a concert with violinist Hiromi Kikuchi.

Ah, live performance

Last night's fascinating evening of music by Peter Eötvös at Zankel Hall had some unanticipated "extras," beginning with a particularly startling cell phone going off right before Encore, a brief string quartet written for György Kurtág's 80th birthday.  The woman answered the call.  As the musicians waited, the violist tried his best, grinning, "Anyone else?"  By this time an usher was glaring at the offender, who apparently didn't know how to turn off the device.  After it beeped the third time, the exasperated staffer finally grabbed it, shook a finger at the woman and left, accompanied by more than a few bursts of applause. 

 

Then during a quiet moment in Octet plus, some commotion at the back entrance caused some of us to turn around as a woman tromped heavily down the aisle (in loud shoes on wood floors) while a number of people went "Shh!" as she walked by.  I'm sure I wasn't the only one who couldn't believe it when she walked all the way down to the front row and jostled her way past people to sit right smack in the middle.  When the ensemble took its well-deserved curtain call, she immediately stood up and faced the audience, extending her hands and bowing along with them.  At intermission, police escorted her out.

 

Update: Rashomon, indeed.  Since I was near the back of the hall during all the ruckus, here's another account, via Dan Johnson.  (Thanks, Alex!)

Why we love strings and piano

Modern Trios and Romantic Duos.  The Juilliard Journal, February 2009

On classical music in the White House

Just for the record, on December 7, 2008, when (then President-elect) Obama appeared on NBC's Meet the Press, Tom Brokaw asked, "Who are the kinds of artists that you would like to bring to the White House?" and I offer part of Obama's response below (bold, my emphasis):

"Oh, well, you know, we have thought about this because part of what we want to do is to open up the White House and, and remind people this is, this is the people's house.  There is an incredible bully pulpit to be used when it comes to, for example, education.  Yes, we're going to have an education policy.  Yes, we're going to be putting more money into school construction.  But, ultimately, we want to talk about parents reading to their kids.  We want to invite kids from local schools into the White House.  When it comes to science, elevating science once again, and having lectures in the White House where people are talking about traveling to the stars or breaking down atoms, inspiring our youth to get a sense of what discovery is all about.  Thinking about the diversity of our culture and, and inviting jazz musicians and classical musicians and poetry readings in the White House so that, once again, we appreciate this incredible tapestry that's America."

[Source: Meet the Press transcript, Dec. 7, 2008, on MSNBC]

Now that we are 3

Last Sunday, when Monotonous Forest marked its third year, I was headed toward Washington, DC on the BoltBus (arranged at the eleventh hour, and highly recommended).  It makes me very proud to devote the first posts afterward to the Inauguration, an experience I will never forget, but rest assured that music will return soon. 

Time out for history

I am writing from Washington, DC, where (briefly setting aside new music), on Tuesday I will be a part of the vast crowd assembled on the Mall to witness one of our country's great turning points.  And thanks to friends of my hosts, I will be watching the Inaugural parade from a prime viewing spot overlooking Pennsylvania Avenue, just a few blocks from the White House. 

Anyone wanting to get in or out of the city will have a tough time at this point.  Many bridges and streets are closed, lines of police cars are everywhere, finding parking is next to impossible.  Restaurants and bars, especially near the center of town, are mobbed.  More details to come.

How to raise the temperature

Walking out of Avery Fisher Hall on this frigid morning, after Gustavo Dudamel's triumphant reading of Mahler's Fifth Symphony with the New York Philharmonic, I spoke briefly with a guy who had also heard the concert on Wednesday night.  He went back on Thursday.  Then he added, "And it's getting better each time." 

If I weren't going to be in Washington on Tuesday for the inauguration, I would go back myself.  As Alex Ross notes, there are still tickets left.  Try to nab one.

Shout-out to Indiana

Thanks to Scott Spiegelberg, Associate Professor of Music at DePauw University, for this post on his blog, Musical Perceptions.  In addition to showcasing his many interests, Scott's site lists a huge number of music blogs, one of the most comprehensive compilations available.

Part archivist, part lab technician

At the New York Philharmonic's press conference yesterday, conductor-designate Alan Gilbert unveiled plans for his first season, and boy, is it a heady mix of pleasures.  Among Gilbert's many quotable moments: seeing the orchestra as "museum and laboratory," and his secret agenda, "Schoenberg is beautiful."  Opening night signals his new direction like a meteor, with a world premiere by Magnus Lindberg (the orchestra's new composer-in-residence), soprano Renée Fleming in Messiaen's Poèmes pour Mi and Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique.  Gilbert added that he thought the last time a world premiere appeared on a Philharmonic opening night was in 1962, when Leonard Bernstein conducted Aaron Copland's Connotations, in Lincoln Center's very first concert.

Contemporary music fans have much to anticipate, including works by Matthias Pintscher (the New York premiere of towards Osiris), George Benjamin (Antara), Christopher Rouse (Zhizn, a Philharmonic commission) and two concerts by the newly created New York Philharmonic New Music Ensemble in a series called Contact. But perhaps the biggest Gilbert prize is presenting the New York premiere of György Ligeti's opera, Le Grand Macabre, directed by Douglas Fitch, who will be calling on a host of puppets and video projections to transform Avery Fisher Hall.

Steve Smith has much more about the season here, as well as a follow-up post with more details on the press conference itself.  (Also useful if you want a glimpse of him, journalist Karissa Krenz, and your blogger, onstage.)  The entire 90+ minutes, webcast live on Monday, is available for viewing.  The Internet: ain't it grand.

Update: Russell Platt weighs in as well.

[Photo: Alan Gilbert conducting in Central Park on July 17, 2008 by litrat007 on Flickr]

Words to live by

"I don't hear Beethoven and Cage differently. I listen to both. I just simply listen. All the analysis comes after the listening." 

    -- Betty Freeman (1921-2009)