Alex Ross's Blog, page 249

Facebook as Rheingold

At the New Yorker Festival last night, I saw The Social Network, aka the Facebook Movie. It's a mesmerizing, acutely unsettling film, one that makes you want to wind back time. Maybe I have Wagner on the brain, but about fifteen minutes in I said to myself, "It's Rheingold." A social outsider, spurned in love, purloins from the beautiful people and forges a device that casts a spell on millions and gives its creator unimaginable wealth. Except that in this case Alberich is not so bad-looking and gets to keep his ring, if not his true heart's desire. Justin Timberlake is Loge, siding with the dwarves rather than the gods.

No headline required

The first page of Leonard Bernstein's score of Mahler's Sixth Symphony, from the NY Phil Tumblr. My sticker hangs over a Bob Dylan poster in my office.

Junkyard Philharmonic

The New York Philharmonic is giving the East Coast premiere of Magnus Lindberg's spectacular noise symphony Kraft next week. In preparation, the composer recently joined members of the Philharmonic percussion section for a visit to Edkins Auto Scrap, on Staten Island, collecting suitably percussive junk-metal parts. For more, see the Philharmonic on Tumblr.

Previously: Kriikku's Kraft.

Fanny Hensel at Juilliard

When I wrote about the Mendelssohn anniversary last year, I commented on the music of Fanny Hensel, Mendelssohn's sister, who showed great talent in her youth but suffered from the usual bias against female composers. "Music will perhaps become [Felix's] profession," her father wrote to her, "whilst for you it can and must only be an ornament, never the ground bass of your being and doing." Happily, over the next few days the Juilliard School will be correcting the injustice and giving attention to Hensel's work. The series is curated by Larry Todd, who wrote the definitive English-language life of Mendelssohn and recently produced a Hensel biography, from which I quote above. Tonight in Paul Hall, the Avenue 9 Trio will perform Hensel's Piano Trio in D Minor, which is the technical equal of her brother's chamber music and is in some ways more emotionally unrestrained. As Todd says, "There is the spark of genius in this music, marking her as a composer we should now recognize and celebrate." Here's an excerpt from the Atlantis Trio's recording of the Trio:

Fanny Hensel Trio

Somebody scream

Without giving away anything from my forthcoming New Yorker review of Rheingold at the Met, I'd like to join the chorus of praise for the bass-baritone Eric Owens, who, on Monday night, gave a tremendous performance as Alberich, lord of the dwarves. So, how does a man unwind after forging the dread ring that masters the world and enslaves its wearer? The video above tells all. (Via Amanda Ameer, Mr. Owens's publicist.)

Chacona, Lamento: The Video

Here's a little explanatory video that my publisher and I made in support of the new book. It contains quick musical excerpts from Dowland, Monteverdi, and Purcell, in somewhat offbeat arrangements for voice, piano, and electric guitar. I sought out musicians with links to jazz, classical, and rock worlds to suggest the interconnectedness of the various genres. I'm hugely, deeply grateful to Ethan Iverson, Rebecca Ringle, Tyondai Braxton, and Geoff Nuttall for lending their time and skill. (If you happen to be in Macau, China, Oct. 15-17, Rebecca will be singing Dido and Aeneas there.) Daniel Perry did the filming, and Ryan Chapman guided the production. We had fun making it — I hope you enjoy it! I'll cover similar ground in my chacona talk.

Another book

My long-awaited second book, Boozehound, is now in stores. No, wait, mine is Listen to This. Today is the official release date, and I will celebrate, as is my long-standing custom, by placing a signed copy of the book in a little handmade boat in the shape of a swan and setting it loose in the waters of the Hudson River. Actually, I have never done any such thing, and am unlikely to do so now, but I like the image. I'm pleased to be featured today on Largehearted Boy. On Sunday I give my chacona talk, and next week I appear at Labyrinth Books in Princeton (Oct. 5) and 192 Books in Chelsea (Oct. 7). A series of West Coast events begins on Oct. 12, in Seattle.

A MacArthur for Sebastian Ruth

I'm incredibly pleased to see that Sebastian Ruth, whose project Community MusicWorks I wrote about in 2006, has been named a MacArthur Fellow. My article on music education and Ruth's initiative is reprinted in Listen to This.

John Cage

Searching for Silence. The New Yorker, Oct. 4, 2010.

The magazine is making its official iPad debut this week, and in the iPad version of the piece we've inserted a multimedia excerpt—an excerpt from the film of Cage's Variations VII. There are more Cage extras on the New Yorker blog.

Milwaukee by night

I'm on a brief tour of lakeside orchestras — Muti and the Chicago, Edo de Waart and the Milwaukee. I'll report the week after next. Coming on Monday, a long-brewing essay on Cage.