Monotonous Forest

Dutch tweet

Marc van Bree, a public relations specialist, is compiling a list of classical music  types (individuals and organizations) on Twitter.  They're listed on his blog Dutch Perspective, which is here.

[Photo: tennis ball benches designed by Tejo Remy and René Veenhuizen for the Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam, via Inhabitat]

Humor and passion at the Roger Smith Hotel

The Talea Ensemble and iO Quartet tackle Aperghis and Janáček.  MusicWeb International, October 20, 2009

In the article I neglected to include the link to Roger Smith Arts, the offspring of a very enlightened hotel.  Perhaps I'll drop a line to the Waldorf, recommending they host an Elliott Carter series.

This week's TV tip

On Wednesday night at 8 (as they say, check your local listings), Great Performances on PBS will feature Gustavo Dudamel and the Los Angeles Philharmonic in their opening night concert, taped on October 8 at Walt Disney Concert Hall.  The program includes a new piece by John Adams, City Noir, and Mahler's First Symphony.

I have already spoken with a number of people who were in the Los Angeles audience that night, and in the wake of their overwhelming enthusiasm I'd say, don't miss it.

[Photo: Gustavo Dudamel in Venezuela, mid-1980s, by Frank Di Polo and Nohely Oliveros]

Good evening, Vietnam

 
Music Director Alan Gilbert and the New York Philharmonic stand to acknowledge the audience’s ovation at the end of their Vietnam debut at the Hanoi Opera House, October 16, 2009. [Photo: Chris Lee]

Rising fast

Points of Contact - A Tribute to Karlheinz Stockhausen.  MusicWeb International, October 6, 2009

I've been wanting to write about the Talea Ensemble for months, ever since their concert at The Players Theatre last spring.  On an unseasonably warm evening, this group founded by Anthony Cheung and Alex Lipowski gave a sensational concert of music rarely (or never) heard in New York, including the United States premiere of Pierluigi Billone's Mani.De Leonardis (2004) for automobile springs and glass.  (An excerpt is here.)  In an equally compelling evening a few months later, Lipowski presented a new piece by Billone, Mani.Mano (2008) for spring drum, a cylindrical instrument with a long, skinny metal coil that can be dragged across other surfaces or shaken to create an eerie warbling effect.  See for yourself here. 

More reports to come, on their remarkable concert with the International Contemporary Ensemble of music by Mario Diaz de León, and their amusing afternoon at the Roger Smith Hotel.

[Photo: automobile springs from Herod Mattress, Zhejiang, China] 

An aural look at Kandinsky

The Blue Rider in Performance at the Miller Theatre, Columbia University.  artcritical.com, October 4, 2009

Eastern origins, Western forms

The Yin and Yang of Modern Chinese Music.  The Juilliard Journal, October 2009

Four quartets from Toshio Hosokawa

Next Thursday, Oct. 8, I'll be at the Austrian Cultural Forum interviewing Tokyo-based composer Toshio Hosokawa, whose work will be played by the terrific Jack Quartet.  (One of last year's most striking concerts was at (Le) Poisson Rouge, where they did all four quartets by Xenakis.)  Hosokawa studied with Isang Yun and Helmut Lachenmann, and this will be the first major presentation of his work in the United States.  Tickets for the ACF's intimate hall (just 75 seats) are free but must be reserved, either by phone or online here. 

[Photo: Toshio Hosokawa by Schott Promotion / Peter Andersen]