Gabriela Montero

Here is a video of Gabriela Montero's performance.
http://bit.ly/m0XCwy

Spontaneous Beauty

It is an odd time to start my new blog talking about classical music when the regular performance season is coming to an end in Toronto. Yesterday (June 1) the soloist at the Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Venezuelan pianist Gabriela Montero, delivered such a rare display of spontaneous virtuosity and beauty that she inspired me to think about a much discussed question this music season in North America - the future of classical music orchestra.

Ms. Montero played Rachmaninoff's Variations on a theme by Paganini, an all-time audience favourite. The audiences responded enthusiastically enough after her performance. However it was Ms. Montero's encore that truly brought the house down. 

She told the audience that improvisation is her specialty and it's a pity that it's almost a lost art in the classical music world. She invited the audience to name a tune for her "playground" meaning the piano in front of her. Summertime was named and within a few bars she managed to turn a sultry, jazzy broadway number into a Bach-like fugue. Then the "Hockey Night" opening tune was called out and she turned these few bars of TV music into a fiery tango dance sending the audience to jump on our feet.

Judging from the enthusiasm of the audience last night, live classical music is alive and kicking but musicians have to give their audiences a reason to come, to listen to them performing live. Improvisation is probably as good a reason as I can imagine because literally no two performances would be alike. Of course no one can expect an orchestra to improvise constantly or deliver an entire program on improvisation. However, it is important to let loose and embrace a sense of spontaneity to give the music some freshness.

Ironically, the Rachmaninoff Rhapsody last night seemed restrictive compared to Ms. Montero's solo improvisation.

You can catch Ms. Montero's improvisation on YouTube. The clip I added here is very similar to the experience I had at the Roy Thomson Hall, home to the TSO, last night. 

http://bit.ly/m0XCwy

My summer reading - fiction

I try to compile a reading list for the summer months every year, often for pleasure, but sometimes for work as well. For my fiction list, here are my choices:

Netherlands - Joseph O'Neil
Shanghai Girls - Lisa See
Commencement - J. Courtney Sullivan
A Short History of Women - Kate Walbert
Suite Francaise - Irene Nemirovsky (carried over from last year's list)

What are your recommendations?

New music is alive and kicking

I attended the last night of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra's New Creations Festival. Of the three pieces performed tonight, my favorite was Jennifer Higdon's Violin Concerto performed by Hilary Hahn.

The composer met Hahn when the violinist was a student at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. No doubt Higdon had immense confidence in Hahn's virtuosity, stamina and musical prowess to write such a demanding and beautiful concerto for her. The first moment started as a dialogue between the soloist, the first violinist and the orchestra. The rhythm was devilishly tricky with a cadenza not for the fainthearted.

The second movement reminded me a little of the pastoral romantic English music in early 20th century but the movement slowly progressed to this quasi-tonal/atonal modern feel towards the end. The piece finished with a breakneck speed movement titled "Fly Forward" and Higdon described her vision with Hahn crossing the finishing line in triumph.

What is even more amazing about this concert was the attendance. The house was almost packed and filled with young people. I'm sure the orchestra's TSOundcheck program and Facebook efforts account for some of the success in bringing in young people. Yet, clearly many of the audiences were there not because they were seeking cheap entertainment but they were serious about music by living composers. I even saw Chinese families bringing young children to the show and everyone had a good time.

Tonight's success shows orchestras and their leaders who are willing to take risks and to educate the public about contemporary music will be rewarded.

Next year at the New Creations Festival, the orchestra is featuring music by Osvaldo Golijov. You bet I'll be there.

Wynton Marsalis on integrity

Came across the excerpt below in Alex Ross' blog: The Rest is Noise

Wynton Marsalis: "At the root of our current national dilemmas is an accepted lack of integrity. We are assaulted on all sides by corruption of such magnitude that it's hard to fathom. Almost everything and everyone seems to be for sale. Value is assessed solely in terms of dollars. Quality is sacrificed to commerce and truthful communication is supplanted by marketing. The type of gamesmanship that separates races, genders and ages by 'preferences' is a most cynical brand. The integrity and dedication shown by American artists throughout our history provides a most needed and unequivocal counterstatement. On the eve of Dr. Martin Luther King's birthday, let's recognize the pernicious effects of separating people by generic categories."

Exciting day at the Canadian Opera Company

The Canadian Opera Company (COC) named Johannes Debus as its new music director and unveiled its new line up for 2009/2010 today.

I saw Debus last year when he conducted the COC in Prokofiev's War and Peace last October. The show was a co-production between COC and the English National Opera and I saw it for the first time at the ENO. What impressed me with the COC show was how all of a sudden the music, the plot and the direction all made intellectual sense. I finally understood why the music was written the way it was.

The rich sound from the orchestra and the chorus was filled with colours and nuances while maintaining absolute clarity. Debus somehow managed to let the music do the work for him and all he did was to channel his musicians' energy the way he wanted it.

Debus's appointment seemed swift but the new general manager Alexander Neef explained that he just knew Debus was the guy for the job after the War and Peace run in Toronto. I would agree with him.

The new maestro will conduct the Flying Dutchman in his debut season. Other shows that I can't wait to see include:
An Aix-en-Provence production of Stravinsky's Le Rossignol;
Paul Curran returning to direct Othello with Scott Hendricks singing Iago. Those who saw Hendricks' performance as Rodrigue in Don Carlos would understand why I'm excited.
Conductor Harry Bicket is returning to do Mozart's Idomaneo.
Eric Cutler will sing Roberto in Donizetti's Maria Stuarda. I saw him in Chicago last October in Pearl Fisher and he brought the house down.

Expressive voices

As a chorister I spend more time singing than attending other choir concerts. I was therefore delighted to discover this all male A Capella group Clerestory yesterday in San Francisco during my short visit this weekend.

The nine fine singers presented a mix of French, German and English Christmas music. All pieces were divided into the typical SATB four part voices and they even managed to subdivide In dulci jubilo into eight parts for double choirs.

The male sopranos and counter tenors produce an incredible pure sound, blending beautifully with the head tone of the tenors and the bass.

The most unusual item in the program is Britten's A Ceremony of Carols, a piece written for boys and typically now sung by women choirs. Last night's presentation was accompanied by a harp. I was at first taken a little bit by surprise by the effect of all male voices for this piece, thinking it's a bit like watching Matthew Bourne's all male Swan Lake. The overall singing was impeccable. My only quibble was the blend of the lightness of the harp with the richness of the male voices. In some of the fast passages, the harp made the voices sound a little too heavy and difficult to dance with the music.

Clerestory sensibly puts its previous performances online for anyone interested. You can listen to this concert on their web site later this month.