Lisa Hirsch's Classical Music Blog.
The iron tongue of midnight hath told twelve. Lovers, to bed; 'tis almost fairy time.
Berce mollement sur ton sein sublime
Ô puissante mer, l’enfant de Dindyme!
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Sigh.
The Pastreich Papers
- A May, 2009 Honolulu Advertiser article
- A 2005 Star-Bulletin article
Friday, May 29, 2009
Pretty Please?
Dawn to Twlight I
Evaluating Judges
Judge Guido Calabresi, a former dean of Yale Law School who taught Ms. Sotomayor there and now sits with her on the Second Circuit, said complaints that she had been unduly caustic had no basis. For a time, Judge Calabresi said, he kept track of the questions posed by Judge Sotomayor and other members of the 12-member court. “Her behavior was identical,” he said.
“Some lawyers just don’t like to be questioned by a woman,” Judge Calabresi added. “It was sexist, plain and simple.”
Thursday, May 28, 2009
SF Opera Press Release Brings Bad News, Good News
A Conflicting Opinion
- Enthusiastic acknowledgement, tapping of bows, applause, smiles at Martha Argerich
- Enthusiastic acknowledgement, tapping of bows, applause, directed at MTT and at the solo chairs - this was just last night, at the first of the Schubert/Berg concerts
- Blank faces and hardly any acknowledgement of Vladimir Ashkenazy
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Split Goddamn It Decision
Saturday, May 23, 2009
The Haunted Manor
Bay Area Composers and New Music Ensembles
Friday, May 22, 2009
San Francisco Renaissance Voices 2009-10 Season
Ducking
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Changes at PBO
Peter Pastreich served as executive director of the San Francisco Symphony during its period of most dramatic growth, from April 1978 to April 1999 – a tenure of 21 years marked by numerous historic accomplishments and working partnerships with music directors Michael Tilson Thomas, Herbert Blomstedt and Edo De Waart. He represented the San Francisco Symphony in the planning and construction of Davies Symphony Hall, which opened in September 1980, and in the successful acoustical and architectural renovation of the hall in 1992. Under his leadership, the orchestra dramatically increased its budget, income from ticket sales and endowment, resulting in an unprecedented sixteen consecutive years of balanced budgets. Highlights of his tenure include the founding of the San Francisco Symphony Youth Orchestra, the launch of the Symphony’s acclaimed Adventures in Music education program, numerous recording contracts and the release of forty recordings, syndicated radio broadcasts on over 450 stations across the country, and a significant touring program throughout the United States, Europe and Asia.What the long quotation above doesn't mention is the nine-week strike that took place toward the end of Pastreich's tenure at SFS.
Here's what Joshua Kosman said about the 1996-97 strike after it finally ended:
Not even Willie Brown could make sense of this dispute -- after two negotiating sessions, the mayor told The Chronicle that he couldn't figure out what the issues were and was washing his hands of the mess.Read the whole thing here. And, if you're not already concerned, a 2005 item in San Francisco Classical Voice details what happened when Pastreich, who was consulting with the troubled Honolulu Symphony, suggested himself as interim president: three board members and the CEO resigned. He wasn't appointed.That's because the health package, the pension payments and all the rest of it were merely symptoms of a deeper problem.
What really caused the strike -- and what will cause another one three years from now if it isn't addressed immediately -- is the atmosphere of distrust and lack of communication that has grown between the musicians and management, particularly Executive Director Peter Pastreich.
Both sides know it, too. Throughout the strike, musicians' spokesman Paul Shinoff repeatedly said that the real story behind the strike wasn't the ostensible contract issues so much as management's lordly attitude toward orchestra members. In a radio commercial during the strike, the musicians compared management's style to that of 17th century aristocrats.
Now, it's not likely that PBO, a much smaller organization than SFS, with a shorter season and different labor arrangements, will run into these kinds of issues. But you never know. I just hope there's no rerun at PBO of what happened at SFS.
San Francisco Opera on the Radio
Sunday, June 7 at 8 p.m. – The Bonesetter’s Daughter (music by Stewart Wallace; libretto by Amy Tan, based on her novel; commissioned by San Francisco Opera)
Sunday, July 5 at 8 p.m. – Donizetti’s The Elixir of Love (apparently L'Elisir d'Amore is too hard to understand)
Sunday, August 2 at 8 p.m. – Mozart’s Idomeneo
Sunday, September 6 at 8 p.m. – Puccini’s Tosca
Sunday, October 4 at 8 p.m. – San Francisco Chronicle Presents San Francisco Opera in the Park
Sunday, November 1 at 8 p.m. – The November San Francisco Opera broadcast will be announced at a later date.
Sunday, December 6 at 8 p.m. – Verdi’s La Traviata ;San Francisco Opera Music Director Donald Runnicles, conductor; Marta Domingo, director.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Nicholas Maw
Tuesday, May 19, 2009
Please Visit the Bay Area. Please.
In New York:
ICE returns to the one-and-only Performance Space 122 this week with Near-Death Experiences & Other Live Acts, featuring world-premiere pieces from four of New York's brilliant young composer-performers. Following new pieces from Nathan Davis, Steve Lehman, and Mario Diaz de León, the sensational composer & vocalist Corey Dargel will join ICE for the world premiere of his art-pop song cycle "Thirteen Near Death Experiences," where symptom checklists and medical diagnoses masquerade as love songs with a mix of humor, tenderness, and pathos. Check out Dargel's blog about the piece's genesis at13neardeathexperiences.com.
Friday, May 22 & Saturday, May 23
8 p.m.
Performance Space 122
Tickets are going fast, so reserve now at the PS 122 website!
In Chicago:
Then on June 4 ICE launches an aural assault on Chicago, as master percussionist and conductor Steve Schick leads fifteen ICE musicians in an animalistic thrash-fest: the music of Iannis Xenakis, which Schick guarantees will "hit you right where it counts."
Xenakis.
ICE.
MCA Chicago.
June 4, 2009
7:30PM
Tickets are going fast: boxoffice.mcachicago.org or 312.397.4010
You'll hear it.
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Tracing Xenakis: A Podcast. A closer look at the life and music of this singular musical figure, featuring interviews with DJ Spooky, Steve Schick, Madame Françoise Xenakis, and many others.
Xi/blog: A forum for all things X. Read posts by ICE members and musical luminaries; explore the life, the music and the politics; share your thoughts... dive in.
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Monday, May 18, 2009
Kay Stern at the Freight
Every Mistake Imaginable
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Found in My In-Box
- The Czech record label Indies Scope Records is home to a number of Central European artists; they're outside my usual area of interest, but maybe not yours. Check out their web site.
- The Canadian group Epyllion has a MySpace page where you can hear its music. High-energy rock music, not quite my thing, but maybe yours.
- More down my alley, check out Classical TV, which has both free and pay-to-view offerings of orchestra, opera, and ballet on the net.
- Composer Eric Lebigot describes his music as contemporary classical, and it can be heard at his station on Last.fm.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Venues
- Location
- Contact information (address, email address, web site, contact person, if any)
- Audience capacity
- Parking capacity
- Nearby public transit routes
- Cost for a performance (and length of time covered by the fee)
- Cost for a rehearsal (and length of time covered by the fee)
- Does the site have an organ? What kind of condition is it in?
- Does the site have a piano? Is it kept tuned?
- How big a chorus can be accommodated
- How much space is there for an orchestra or other instrumental ensemble?
- Whether the site has a green room and whether there's any additional cost for that
- Whether the site has rooms for soloists and whether there's any additional cost for that
- Whether the site has a room for a conductor and whether there's any additional cost for that
Friday, May 15, 2009
St. John's Presbyterian, Berkeley, Organ Series
Sunday, June 7, 4 PM: David Hunsberger
works by Bull, Bach and Mendelssohn
Sunday, Sept. 20, 4 PM: Katie Ann McCarty
All-American program: works by Akerley, Locklair, Paulus, Bolcom, Burkhardt and Ives
Sunday, Nov. 22, 4 PM: Sandra Soderlund
Baroque and neo-Baroque music by Buxtehude, Bach, Hugo Distler
All performances at St. John’s Presbyterian Church, 2727 College Avenue in Berkeley (Free parking available)
TICKETS: $20 gen/ $10 students w/ ID avaiable at the door, online at www.brownpapertickets.com, or at The Musical Offering (2430 Bancroft Way in Berkeley)
MORE INFO: (510)684-7563; www.stjohnsberkeley.org/
San Francisco Opera Summer Season
- Verdi Requiem, one performance only, in celebration of Donald Runnicles's tenure as music director, with Patricia Racette, Stephanie Blythe, Stefano Secco, and Andrea Silvestrelli. Friday, May 29, 8 p.m.
- Tosca, June 2-26; Adrianne Pieczonka, Carlo Ventre, Lado Ataneli; Marco Armiliato
- Porgy and Bess (or, The Gershwins' (R) Porgy and Bess (SM)), June 9-27; Eric Owens, Laquita Mitchell, Lester Lynch, Chauncy Packer, Angel Blue, Eric Greene, Karen Slack, Alteouise deVaughn; John DeMain
- La Traviata, June 13-July 5; Anna Netrebko/Elizabeth Futral/Ailyn Perez, Charles Castronuovo/David Lomeli, Dwayne Croft/Stephen Powell. (My tickets are for Futral/Lomeli/Powell.); Donald Runnicles
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Music at the Gardner
Monday, May 11, 2009
Volti
VOLTI'S EXCITING 30TH ANNIVERSARY SEASON CONTINUES! ECSTATICALLY IMPROMPTU FRIDAY, MAY 15, 8 PM SATURDAY, MAY 16, 8 PM SUNDAY, MAY 17, 4 PM TICKETS |
Turning Points: Rose Art Museum Honors Michael Rush
Reception to Follow
Speakers include:
Margaret Evangeline (artist)
- Jane Farver, Director, MIT List Visual Arts Center
- Margaret Evangeline (artist)
- Steve Miller (artist)
- Ellen Schattschneider (faculty, Anthropology)
- Joe Wardwell (faculty, Fine Arts)
- Mary Baine Campbell (faculty, English)
- Dirck Roosevelt (faculty, Education)
- Andreas Teuber (faculty, Philosophy)
- Mark Auslander (faculty, Anthroplogy)
- Nancy Scott (faculty, Fine Arts)
- Ramie Targoff (faculty, English)
- Pennie Taylor (graduate student, Cultural Production)
- Aly Young, Yael-Rooks Rapport, Sonja Gandert, Aubrey Knox (Rose Interns)
What Were They Thinking?
Saturday, May 09, 2009
Conversation Among Friends
IT: hahah, yeah. I went on at very great length about this a day or two ago.
OT: It is just boggling to watch arts organizations try to embrace "new" technology. I'm always wondering who is in charge of these things!
MC: people who have "meet with consultant to strategize about how to talk to young people (MyBlog? YouTweet?)" on their to-do list
IT: You ARE planning to send some tweets from the stage the next time you're singing, right?
MC: ru kidding, next show there's no singing, only room full of people looking at iphones watching people on stage tweet at each other about what they'd think about if they were singing.
IT: ohgodohgodohgod i am out of luck i have the wrong kind of phone is my android phone good enough i am so uncool it's amazing anyone replies to my email
OT: I'm so entirely pained right now, I can hardly make a coherent sentence.
Friday, May 08, 2009
What Will They Think of Next?
Calling All Ring Rookies!Hmmm, "don't consider yourself a total opera geek" rules me out,
Seattle Opera Wants YOU!
If you are between the ages of 18-30, know a little bit about opera but don’t consider yourself a total opera geek, and have never before seen Wagner’s Ring cycle, then Seattle Opera wants YOU! This summer, Seattle Opera is creating a new video series chronicling the “Confessions of a First-time Operagoer,” and we’re seeking a young adult to star as the host. The selected host will experience Seattle Opera from the inside out, participating in exclusive backstage tours and events and conversations with the artists, crew, and General Director Speight Jenkins, all of which culminates in attending the Mt. Everest of all operas: Richard Wagner’s Ring cycle. If you want an amazing opportunity to peek behind the scenes, meet the cast and crew that make opera happen, and ultimately star in a video series recording your experiences along the way, then apply today!
There's a live casting call, starting at 5 p.m. on Friday, May 15, in McCaw Hall. More details on the whole project at the Confessions web page. Be there or be square? Seriously, this could be pretty funny. I just wish they'd let me take a peek back stage at the Ring.
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Amusement
- Ann Moller Caen
- Bill Leuth (they'll need a special moderator to protect him)
- Edwin Outwater
- yuja, who names as her favorite musician Alfred Cortot. Nice to know that one of today's hottest young pianists has superb taste in the departed.
How Many Social Networks Do You Need?
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
Hello, Arlen, Perhaps It's Time to Say Goodbye
Deborah Solomon: With your departure from the Republican Party, there are no more Jewish Republicans in the Senate. Do you care about that?Personal to Senator Specter: the winner is the candidate with the most votes.
Arlen Specter: I sure do. There’s still time for the Minnesota courts to do justice and declare Norm Coleman the winner.
Morning Miscellany
"It reminds me of something like a Stalinesque show committee," said the chairman of Rose's board of directors, Jonathan Lee. Andspeaking to ARTINFO, Meryl Rose, a member of both the museum board and the family that founded the institution, called it "just a sham."
Sunday, May 03, 2009
Time of the Season
Friday, May 01, 2009
All the English Choral Music You Want
- California Bach Society performs From Tallis to Tavener, May 1, 8 p.m. at St. Gregory of Nyssa, SF; May 2, 8 p.m., at All Saints in Palo Alto; May 3, 4 p.m. at St. Mark's in Berkeley.
- Pacific Collegium and the Pacific Boychoir sing Music of the Anglican Tradition, May 2, 7:00 p.m., St. Paul's Episcopal in Oakland.