So I picked up some CD’s at Amoeba a few days ago:
Bellini: Norma (Callas 1961: Conducting La Traviata is pulling me deeper into bel canto. Can we think up some modern version of this kind of singing?)
Dirty Projectors: Bitte Orca (yes yes they are amazing and melismaTASTIC)
Sonic Youth: Goo (apparently I’m supposed to like them, and I’m giving it another shot. I already like this better than Daydream Nation)
Fennesz: Endless Summer (not as good as the movie, but nice nice atmospheric electronica)
Pet Shop Boys: Very and Alternative (only $4.99 each! and Alternative is a 2-CD set! Very comes in a rubbery orange case with NUBS. Sample lyric: ”I’m gonna take off all my clothes / And dance to the Rite of Spring / I don’t normally do that kind of thing” These should be much more expensive. Clever fun and DANCEABLE!)
I’m getting to the end of our La Traviata run at San Francisco Opera. For a conductor who mainly does symphony work, it has been refreshing and revelatory working on this score. I can see why Stravinsky gushes about him so much in his Poetics of Music. There’s something pure about his music: perfectly distilled sounds, perfectly distilled emotion and expression. But more importantly, there is the beauty and sensuality of the sound itself. Human emotions and foibles and mistakes and failures are transfigured into something glorious and profound.
It’s also amazing to actually conduct a seasoned and accomplished opera orchestra. I love the feeling of each and every one of them listening along with me, ready to go any direction at any time.
And singers, well, it’s just sexy to work with a great singer.
Beyond this, it’s refreshing to see how much is done in opera that’s not written in the score. Of course this is the result of tradition, and some tradition is bad. But we don’t run into as much musical literalism here. A 16th note is not necessarily a 16th note; what is written is not exactly what the singer sings. Everyone knows this. I’ve never been a fan of musical fundamentalism: the idea the the written text means literally what it signifies. There are many musicians who are musical fundamentalists, which is infuriating. They can’t see beyond the written page, like some religious folks can’t see beyond what is written in the Bible, or some legal scholars can’t see beyond what is written in the Constitution. This can make Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony sound very bad, for example.
One of the greatest challenges in performing classical music now is getting an orchestra to go beyond the notation, because that’s where the expression really is.
Hi! I’m writing from San Francisco — tomorrow is the dress for La Traviata. Lots of fun with Anna Netrebko and company. More on that soon.
Right now, I want to mention that the Kitchener-Waterloo Symphony is in the midst of a matching challenge. Every new and increased donation will be doubled up to $129,000.
I don’t want this blog to become a fundraising site, but I think once a year or so won’t be too bad. Our orchestra, and every orchestra, is worth supporting. And I think the main reason is that we provide inspiration to people. It’s a hard thing to quantify, but if you think back, the things that define the positive aspects of our lives are inspiring moments. It could be a class, a conversation, a relationship, a novel, a meal … or a performance. I’ll never forget the first time I heard an orchestra live, my first Beethoven, my first Mahler, my first Verdi opera (happening right now!). Great music has changed the way I see the world, and the part I play in it. I can’t imagine life without it.
We need to continue to transmit the messages of Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, and all the new artists who love the orchestra. We need to keep kids close to sounds that are profoundly beautiful. We need to unite our communities through music.
It’s not easy. I think of the arts as a delicate flower in an indifferent environment. It can be knocked over easily by cynicism and indifference. It has to be cared for and nurtured, not sporadically, but constantly. If it stays alive and beautiful, people will walk across the desert to see it, it might even become a garden someday.
Won’t you add just a drop of water to the musical garden we are growing? You don’t have to be Canadian! Everything helps, everything counts. You’ll be supporting truth, beauty, and inspiration.
Hmm, it seems like the design has disappeared from my sight. I’m aware of the hack and am working to make the site pretty again! Thanks for your concern!
UPDATE: Esther Wheaton at OBOE COMICS, has put together a great blogroll of the event (she’s also responsible for the video below). There’s also a twitter thread if you’re interested (#openears). It’s nice to see the responses to the festival.
So the open ears festival is over, and at the last minute I was recruited to be one of the performers in Gordon Monahan’s “Speaker Swing.” It happened at the festival’s finale (in a way), Blue Dot, an all night warehouse things with the usual DJ stuff in industrial settings plus …
I did this for 25 minutes straight (I’m the guy to the left, in the red). It was tiring, but mostly on the hands and feet. You really can’t move once those things get going, or else you’ll fall right off. Especially when the strobe lights start going off. Maybe there will be some footage of that up soon …
OPEN EARS started last night. You should be sad if you’re not here with us, you really should. Buy a ticket to Kitchener-Waterloo now!
We started with an orchestral concert which began with a tribute to David Byrne and Stop Making Sense. I stood alone onstage for about 15 minutes while a powerpoint flashed over my head alternating words about classical music and the natural landscape. “Viola” “Cloud” “Crescendo” “Lake” etc. etc. The concert was about the Romantic Landscape in music and featured Mendelssohn’s HebridesOverture, Frank Bridge’s The Sea, and R. Murray Schafer’s The Darkly Splendid Earth: The Lonely Traveler, a violin concerto played by our amazing concertmaster, Stephen Sitarski. In the lobby before the show, students from Wilfrid Laurier University did a lively performance of In C. We also performed 4′33″ which I had never done before. It was amazing to hear people settle into the silence after a while, when their nervousness about the piece faded.
This festival is about sound and environment. Yes I mean THE environment (oceans, trees, and so on), but also the environments in which music can take place (concert hall, jazz club, lobby, forest, factory, bathtub). I think in the world of symphony orchestras, environment is key. We’re taking a good, fun look at this.
There’s still some YouTube symphony press floating around. Particularly amusing is MEASHA BRUEGGERGOSMAN’S ACCOUNT of preparing John Cage’s Aria, which was performed simultaneously with the same composer’s piece Renga. She also mentions my musical integrity and hair in the same sentence. Which is so Measha.
A blogger and “industry professional” WHO TOTALLY LOSES IT… sample quotes: “And really, I think I’ll stop now, because I’m feeling more than a little cruel right now, even though (to be perfectly honest), I’ve pulled a few punches in what I’ve just said, no matter how critical I might have seemed.” and “During intermission, I talked to some orchestra professionals I know, and none of them were happy. Two even left, one out of boredom, the other with a sense (I think it’s right to put it this way) of faint disgust.”
I love the idea of “orchestra professionals” walking out of the building with “faint disgust.” What would they do if they were “deeply disgusted” at a concert? Maybe someday all “orchestral professionals” will unite and save classical music. Oh yeah, they’re already in charge. (just kidding, some of my best friends are “orchestra professionals” haha).
So how was the MUSIC? I think generally what was written was true: not fully refined, but enthusiastic. Some of it was even quite rough at times, like the Harrison piece I conducted. But it all sounded way better than when we started it a day or two earlier. All of my colleagues who were helping to prepare this concert were impressed and moved by the process, even if it didn’t meet the highest technical standards. We all knew it wasn’t going to be perfect, and that was an unusual and liberating feeling. For those of us involved, meeting these intrepid musicians was inspiring — and it was a privilege to help them get their orchestra rolling. There was deep joy in the process.
I think that’s what we all were so excited about. It was a moment in history, a bold experiment, well-funded (for once). The fact that it came together as it did on the musical, technical (meaning stage-changes, lights, video), personal, and audience level was exhilarating. I’ve never seen an undertaking that complex come together so fast, and so well.
Finally, the orchestra itself had a special quality, different than, say, some of the other brilliant young orchestras at conservatories and music festivals around the world. It think what set these musicians apart is that they actually took the time (and had the nerve) to audition on YouTube. To me, that implies a certain sense of adventure, lack of cynicism, and desire to have fun. I wonder if I would have done it? If I hadn’t, it probably would have been for cynical reasons.
So yes I was moved, inspired, energized, and more. I’m so glad I was a part of it, even if it was far from perfect. Looking at the faces of the orchestra and my musician colleagues, I don’t think I was alone. It was fun. And in classical music, believe me, we need more fun.
It seems to me that music-making in the classical world is a struggle between joy and perfection. That’s because those rare peak performances are instances of joyous perfection (maybe that’s because Bach has been such a huge influence on all of us). But what about those moments when we don’t reach the top? They usually fall into one of two sub-categories: “rough and joyful” or “perfect and lifeless.” I’m afraid “perfect and lifeless” is the more common category of the two, because it’s safer, and implies hard work. The YouTube Symphony made a case for more “rough and joyful,” music making I think. And that’s a good thing.
PS check out Jeremy Denk’s YouTube Symphony VLOGS. They capture the vibe really well. Plus I’m in them! making quips. I’ve included part one below.
