Alex Ross's Blog, page 248

Final Kraft

A gong is suspended from the ceiling of Avery Fisher Hall. Several rows of seats have been removed to make room for a liquid-nitrogen canister and other unconventional percussion. Magnus Lindberg's Kraft — a glorious sonic assault inspired variously by Stockhausen, Xenakis, Boulez, and Einstürzende Neubauten — has the last of three performances on Tuesday night at the New York Philharmonic; a few dozen seats remain available. The orchestra reports that it has received a very irate letter from a longtime subscriber who attended the Philharmonic last Wednesday night and was upset to find that Kraft did not appear on the program.

Rheingold at the Met

The Depths. The New Yorker, Oct. 18, 2010.

An excerpt:

The chief glory of the Metropolitan Opera's new production of "Rheingold"—the first installment of a multi-year enactment of the "Ring"—is Eric Owens's performance as Alberich, which announces the emergence of a major Wagner singer. I mention Owens ahead of the director, Robert Lepage, because in this age of director-dominated opera it's good to focus first on the singers, and because Owens's portrayal
is so richly layered that it may become part of the history of the opera. The last time I was so transfixed by a Wagner performance was in 1999, when René Pape, the charismatic German bass, sang King Marke in "Tristan und Isolde" and took over the opera midstream. Owens, similarly, assumed command of an uneven "Rheingold": the opera became, in essence, the story of his character.

By the way, Wagner made another appearance yesterday on the op-ed pages of the New York Times: the Rheingold / Facebook analogy that I noted last week also struck Maureen Dowd.

Miscellany: Detroit, etc.

The special edition of ECM's famous Arvo Pärt recording Tabula Rasa — a 200-page bound volume containing facsimiles of the original manuscripts of the title work and of Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten — is a thing of beauty. It's out now in the UK and elsewhere in Europe, and will come to America next month. Pärt's seventy-fifth birthday fell on September 11th.... Good stuff at Deceptive Cadence, Tom Huizenga's new classical blog on the NPR site.... What is really going on at the Detroit Symphony, which went on strike this week? Mark Stryker lays it out.... Lindberg's Kraft has descended on the New York Philharmonic. Zachary Woolfe reports on last night's show; I'm going tonight.... Andrew Patner on the new regime at the Chicago Symphony's MusicNOW series and on Muti's illness.

Film note

If I may speak in my occasional capacity as co-producer, I'm intensely happy about the continued success of Gayby, a short film by my husband, Jonathan Lisecki. It plays at the Hamptons Film Festival this weekend and is also on the shortlist for the Iris Prize, in Wales. A slightly risqué trailer is here.

Out-of-town agenda

Bookish travels will cause me to miss several significant events in the next couple of weeks. One such is an excellent-looking American Composers Orchestra program on Oct. 15: Claude Vivier's Lonely Child, Alvin Singleton's BluesKonzert, Jacob Druckman's Nor Spell Nor Charm, John Luther Adams's The Light Within (world premiere of the orchestral version), and Wang Jie's From the Other Sky. George Manahan, the new director of the ACO, is showing a real flair for programming. I'm also sad to miss, among other things, Harry Bicket and the English Concert at Carnegie's Weill Hall, with Alice Coote and Rachel Podger; Evan Ziporyn's House in Bali, at BAM Oct. 14-16; the awesome sound of Stile Antico at St. Mary the Virgin on Oct. 16 (Zachary Woolfe previews the show here); and an ICE survey of music by Matthias Pintscher at Miller Theatre on Oct. 21. And I can't see John Cage's Song Books and Lecture on Nothing tonight at Issue Project Room because I'll be at 192 Books. I'll stop yammering about this new book soon enough, but the time is not yet nigh.

Audiobook playlist

"Reading my own book aloud—what fun!" I naïvely said to myself when I volunteered to record the audiobook version of Listen to This. In fact, as Woody Allen amusingly recounted in an interview last summer, recording an audiobook is a peculiarly arduous experience. Nonetheless, I'm happy I did it, since the more personal sections of the book may benefit from being heard in my own voice. There's music interwoven throughout: I assembled, with the generous permission of various record labels, a playlist of some thirty items. Unfortunately, right issues made it impossible to include the more mainstream pop artists; I could also see no easy way to obtain rights for an enhanced e-book. But I hope these audio samples add something to the listening experience. The credits are below. In addition to the music named, there are various short piano demonstrations.

Chapter 1

The opening of Beethoven's "Eroica" Symphony; Osmo Vänskä conducting the Minnesota Orchestra; BIS 1616.

Blatz, "Fuk Shit Up"; Alternative Tentacles virus385.

[Jesse Townley, the former lead singer of Blatz, is up for re-election as the commissioner of the Berkeley Rent Stabilization Board. Vote for him on Nov. 2!]

Chapter 2

"Misero Apollo," from Cavalli's Gli amori d'Apollo e di Dafne; Mario Zeffiri, tenor, with Alberto Zedda conducting the Galician Youth Symphony Orchestra; Naxos 8660187.

Part of "When I am laid in earth" from Purcell's Dido and Aeneas; Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, mezzo-soprano, with Nicholas McGegan conducting the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra; Harmonia Mundi 907110.

From Bach's Ciaccona in D Minor; Gidon Kremer, violin; ECM 506502.

From the "Crucifixus" of Bach's Mass in B Minor; Philippe Herreweghe conducting the chorus and orchestra of the Collegium Vocale Gent; Harmonia Mundi 5901614.15.

Chapter 3

Enrico Caruso singing "Vesti la giubba" from Pagliacci, on a 1902 Victor recording.

Brahms playing his First Hungarian Dance on an 1889 Edison cylinder.

Caruso, again on Victor, singing "Una furtiva lagrima," from L'elisir d'amore.

Chapter 4

From the Andante of Mozart's Sinfonia Concertante for violin and viola; Lara St. John, Scott St. John, and The Knights; Ancalagon Records.

The opening of the Sinfonia of Mozart's Don Giovanni; René Jacobs conducting the Freiburg Baroque Orchestra; Harmonia Mundi 901964.66.

Chapter 6

From the first movement of John Adams's Naive and Sentimental Music; Esa-Pekka Salonen conducting the Los Angeles Philharmonic; Nonesuch 79636.

Chapter 7

The opening of Schubert's Quartet No. 15 in G Major; Melos Quartet; Harmonia Mundi 1951409.

The opening of Schubert's Piano Sonata in B-flat Major, D. 960; Richard Goode, piano; Nonesuch 79124.

Chapter 9

Yan Jun, recording of a "moment of silence" in Tiananmen Square, in honor of the Sichuan earthquake of 2008.

Music recorded on the paths of the Temple of Heaven.

Chapter 10

From John Luther Adams's Dark Waves, in a live recording of the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Jaap van Zweden, at the Saturday Matinee concert series at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam on December 15, 2007. Courtesy of the composer and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic.

Chapter 11

Verdi, "D'amor sull'ali rosee" from Il trovatore; Sondra Radvanovsky, soprano, with Constantine Orbelian conducting the Philharmonia of Russia; Delos 3404.

Chapter 12

From the Adagio of Dvořák's String Quartet No. 13 in G, Op. 106; St Lawrence String Quartet; ArtistShare recording.

Chapter 15

Marian Anderson singing "My Country 'Tis of Thee" at the Lincoln Memorial in 1939, in a recording from the National Archives.

Chapter 16

From the Andante of Schubert's Piano Trio in E-flat; recording made live at Marlboro on July 13, 2008, with Mitsuko Uchida, Soovin Kim, and David Soyer. Courtesy of Marlboro Music.

Chapter 18

Part of "Schlummert ein, ihr matten Augen," from Bach's Cantata No. 82, "Ich habe genug"; Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, mezzo-soprano, with Craig Smith leading the orchestra of Emmanuel Music; Nonesuch 79692.

Chapter 19

Brahms, Symphony No. 2, opening; Charles Mackerras conducting the Scottish Chamber Orchestra; Telarc 80522.

Brahms, Intermezzo Opus 117 No. 1; unknown pianist.

Brahms, Symphony No. 4, beginning of finale; Charles Mackerras conducting the Scottish Chamber Orchestra; Telarc 80465.

Princeton Symphony

I'd like to thank associates of the Princeton Symphony who came out to see my reading last night at Labyrinth Books, in Princeton NJ. I haven't heard the orchestra, but David Stearns reported positively on their season-opening concert last Sunday. Here, happily, is a relatively small-scale orchestra that doesn't feel the need to offer the most obvious top-40 fare: almost every program this season contains a new piece, with particular attention given to composers with local connections (Steven Mackey, Derek Bermel). Rossen Milanov, the music director, also leads the praiseworthy Symphony in C in Camden.

Party like it's 1899

Patrick Swanson saw my post on "Mahler Grooves" and drew attention to the Prince song "Good Love":

    Technicolor children in Piccadilly Square
    Whisper words, erotica, when you kiss me there
    Gustav Mahler No. 3 is jamming on the box
    I'll have another glass of you, this time on the rocks

The song was written for the movie Bright Lights, Big City. In the video, which makes me feel ancient, the Mahler reference happens to coincide with a cinematic reimagining of the New Yorker fact-checking department.

Chacona playlist

By popular demand — well, one person, at least — here is the playlist from my Chacona talk at the New Yorker Festival. It's not as long as it looks: I play only brief fragments from most of these pieces. I will give a revised version of the talk at Town Hall Seattle, on Oct. 12; Berkeley's Cal Performances, on Oct. 14; Sacramento's California Lectures, on Oct. 18; the Los Angeles Public Library, on Oct. 19; UCSB Arts & Lectures, on Oct. 20; and the Cleveland Museum of Art, on Oct. 29.

— Juan Arañés, "Un sarao de la chacona"; Jordi Savall leading Hespèrion XXI and La Capella Reial de Catalunya

— Bach, Ciaccona in D Minor, from Partita No. 2 for solo violin; Gidon Kremer, violin

— Bizet, "L'Amour est un oiseau rebelle," from Carmen; Victoria de los Ángeles, soprano, with Thomas Beecham conducting the French National Radio Orchestra

— Led Zeppelin, "Stairway to Heaven"

— Bach, "Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen," from Cantata No. 150, "Nach dir, Herr"; Masaaki Suzuki conducting the Bach Collegium Japan

— Maulina, "Meow"

— Bocet: "Lament for Dead Mother"; Folk Music of Romania

— "Jaj, mit vétöttem a nagy Uristennek"; Folk Music of the Hungarians

— Mangkïstaw Kazakh lament; Kazakh Folksongs

— "Siempre por los rincones"; Manuel Torres, singer, El Hijo de Salvador, guitar

— Ockeghem, Fors Seulement; Edward Wickham conducting the Clerks' Group

— Lassus, "Domine, ne in furore tuo arguas me," from Penitential Psalms; Philippe Herreweghe conducting the Collegium Vocale Gent

— Dowland, "Forlorn Hope Fancy"; Jakob Lindberg, lute

— Dowland, "Flow my tears": Andreas Scholl, countertenor, Andreas Martin, lute

— Frescobaldi, Partite sopra Ciaccona; Colin Tilney, harpsichord

— Monteverdi, Zefiro torna; Jean-Paul Fouchécourt and Mark Padmore, tenors, with William Christie leading Les Arts Florissants

— Monteverdi, Lamento della ninfa; Bernarda Fink, mezzo-soprano, with René Jacobs leading the Concerto Vocale

— Cavalli, "Misero Apollo" from Gli amori d'Apollo e di Dafne; Mario Zeffiri, tenor, with Alberto Zedda conducting the Galician Youth Symphony

— Cavalli, "Tremulo spirito" from Didone; Marie-Clarie Lemieux, contralto, with Emmanuelle Haïm leading Le Concert d'Astrée

— Louis Couperin, Chaconne in G Minor; Jovanka Marville, harpsichord

— Lully, "Chaconne des Maures" from Ballet d'Alcidiane et Polexandre; Kevin Mallon conducting the Arcadia Baroque Ensemble

— Purcell, "Plung'd in the confines of despair"; Paul McCreesh conducting the Gabrieli Consort & Players

— Purcell, "O I'm sick of life"; McCreesh conducting the Gabrieli Consort & Players

— Purcell, "When I am laid in earth," from Dido and Aeneas; Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, mezzo-soprano, with Nicholas McGegan conducting the Phliharmonia Baroque

— Bach, Toccata in E Minor; Andreas Staier, harpsichord

— Bach, Passacaglia in C Minor; Paul Jacob, organ

— Bach, "Meine Tage in den Leiden"; Masaaki Suzuki conducting the Bach Collegium Japan

— Bach, Ciaccona in D Minor; Gidon Kremer, violin

— Bach, Ciaccona in D Minor; Andrés Segovia, guitar

— Bach, "Crucifixus" from the Mass in B Minor; Philippe Herreweghe conducting the Collegium Vocale Gent

— Mozart, Klavierstück in G Minor; Lera Auerbach, piano

— Mozart, Sinfonia from Don Giovanni; Carlo Maria Giulini conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra

— Mozart, "Don Giovanni, a cenar teco," from Don Giovanni; Gottlob Frick, bass, with Giulini conducting the Philharmonia

— Beethoven, Symphony No. 9; Claudio Abbado conducting the Berlin Philharmonic

— Schubert, String Quartet No. 15 in G; Takács Quartet

— Tchaikovsky, Symphony No. 6; Valery Gergiev conducting Kirov Orchestra

— Brahms, Symphony No. 4; Carlos Kleiber conducting the Vienna Philharmonic

— Ligeti, Horn Trio; Saschko Gawriloff, violin; Marie-Luise Neunecker, horn; Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano

— Mamie Smith singing Perry Bradford's "Crazy Blues"

— Bessie Smith singing WC Handy's "St. Louis Blues," with Louis Armstrong on trumpet

— Willie Brown, "Future Blues"

— Skip James, "Devil Got My Woman"

— Robert Johnson, "Walkin' Blues"

— Duke Ellington, "It Don't Mean A Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)"

— Ray Charles, "Hit the Road Jack"

— Frank Sinatra singing Richard Rodgers's "My Funny Valentine"

— Tom Jobim, "Corcovado," from Getz / Gilberto

— Dick Van Dyke singing Robert and Richard Sherman's "Chim Chim Cher-ee," from Mary Poppins

— the Beatles, "Michelle"

— the Eagles, "Hotel California"

— Bob Dylan, "Ballad of a Thin Man," live at the Manchester Free Trade Hall, 1966

— Nina Simone singing Lewis Allan's "Strange Fruit"

— Led Zeppelin, "Dazed and Confused," live at the LA Forum, 1972

— Dylan, "Simple Twist of Fate"

— Purcell, "When I am laid in earth"; Lorraine Hunt Lieberson

Muti in Chicago

The Muti Effect. The New Yorker, Oct. 11, 2010.

The sad news is that over the weekend Muti fell ill and canceled his remaining October concerts. Andrew Patner reports.