On this day: week of January 19, 2015
January 19 Births: 1676 – John Weldon, English organist and composer (d. 1736) 1832 – Ferdinand Laub, Czech violinist and composer (d. 1875) 1893 – Magda Tagliaferro, Brazilian pianist (d. 1986) Studied with Alfred Cortot 1948 – Amanda Holden, English playwright and composer 1955 – Simon Rattle, English conductor. Formerly with the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra (in that amazing concert hall) and now with the Berlin Philharmonic Deaths: 1833 – Ferdinand Hérold, French composer (b. 1791) 1972 – Michael Rabin, American violinist (b. 1936) 2013 – Frank Pooler, American conductor and composer (b. 1926) January 20 Births: 1586 – Johann Schein, German composer (d. 1630) 1703 – Joseph-Hector Fiocco, Flemish violinist and composer (d. 1741) 1761 – Giovanni Domenico … Continue reading On this day: week of January 19, 2015
Concert Review: Taipei Philharmonic 30th Anniversary Concert
台北愛樂管弦樂團 This concert was the day after the previous concert review, the one with Mo. Antoni Wit, and if you look at the two programs, it could also tenuously be called “Paganini Variations Part 2.” I don’t seem to have recalled hearing the Taipei Philharmonic before. For clarification’s sake, the previous day’s ensemble is the Taiwan Philharmonic, but only in English. Their Chinese name (國家交響樂團) translates to English as the National Symphony Orchestra. You can see how that may be confusing, but in any case, they’re different. I expressed in that article my continued and growing adoration for the NSO, … Continue reading Concert Review: Taipei Philharmonic 30th Anniversary Concert
Alfred Reed: Armenian Dances
performed by the Tokyo Kosei Wind Orchestra under … someone, perhaps the composer. And now… for something completely different. We went from a nine-week discussion of some quite heavy German(ic) music, to a brief discussion of some Eastern European music … Continue reading Alfred Reed: Armenian Dances
Concert Review: Treasures from Eastern Europe
or 斯拉夫系列：東歐瑰寶 I have pretty much fallen in love with our biggest symphony orchestra, the National Symphony Orchestra (translated from the Chinese: 國家交響樂團, but more often referred to in English as the Taiwan Philharmonic). I’d heard them in the past, but the real moment was hearing them perform Mahler’s ninth back in September. It was… almost spiritual. Just wonderful, and so I’ve been eager to attend as many of their performances as possible. This performance was the orchestra I’d come to love with a special guest conductor. Just as 呂紹嘉 seemed perfectly at home conducting Mahler and Schoenberg after … Continue reading Concert Review: Treasures from Eastern Europe
On this day: week of January 12, 2015
January 12 Births: 1711 – Gaetano Latilla, Italian composer (d. 1788) 1715 – Jacques Duphly, French organist and composer (d. 1789) 1837 – Adolf Jensen, German pianist and composer (d. 1879) 1876 – Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari, Italian composer (d. 1948) 1916 – William Pleeth, English cellist and educator (d. 1999) 1917 – Walter Hendl, American pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 2007) 1926 – Morton Feldman, American composer (d. 1987) 1944 – Viktoria Postnikova, Russian pianist 1949 – Kentarō Haneda, Japanese composer (d. 2007) Deaths: 1674 – Giacomo Carissimi, Italian composer (b. 1605) 1735 – John Eccles, English composer (b. 1668) 1765 – Johann Melchior Molter, German violinist and composer (b. 1696) 1934 – Paul Kochanski, Polish violinist and composer (b. 1887) 2012 – Rosalind Runcie, … Continue reading On this day: week of January 12, 2015
German(ic) Symphony Series: A wrap up
First, some apologies and honorable mentions. So that’s it. We have, in order: Beethoven’s Symphony no. 2 Brahms’s Symphony no. 2 Bruckner’s Symphony no. 4 Hans Rott’s Symphony in E Mahler’s Symphony no. 3 Weingartner’s Symphony no. 1 Felix Woyrsch’s … Continue reading German(ic) Symphony Series: A wrap up
Paul Hindemith: Symphonic Metamorphosis
…on themes of Carl Maria von Weber in an absolutely phenomenal performance by Herbert Blomstedt and the San Francisco Symphony, here, or below by the Royal Concertgebouw under Riccardo Chailly So again, relative to last week’s sprawling, enormous piece, this … Continue reading Paul Hindemith: Symphonic Metamorphosis
Concert Review: Nieuw Ensemble in Taipei
Sonic Portraits (aka This century part 2: The modern experience) In part two, we’ll be discussing the actual concert that kind of got me to thinking about all this to begin with. I was invited sort of last minute (actually about a week ahead of time) by a friend of my piano teacher’s (who is/will be my music theory/composition teacher) to attend this concert on a Saturday evening. I vaguely remember seeing it listed in December’s program, but it was a two-night thing, and I was unavailable the first night, so I didn’t give it a second look. The main reason, … Continue reading Concert Review: Nieuw Ensemble in Taipei
On this day: week of January 5, 2015
Only about another month of these left before we start repeating ourselves. Don’t know what to do then… Actually, I think I do… January 5 Births: 1640 – Paolo Lorenzani, Italian composer (d. 1713) 1679 – Pietro Filippo Scarlatti, Italian organist and composer (d. 1750) Domenico’s brother 1762 – Constanze Mozart, German wife of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (d. 1842) That counts, right? 1871 – Frederick Converse, American composer (d. 1940) Cool name 1879 – Marcel Tournier, French harp player and composer (d. 1951) 1880 – Nikolai Medtner, Russian pianist and composer (d. 1951) 1904 – Erika Morini, Austrian violinist (d. 1995) 1919 – Severino Gazzelloni, Italian flute player (d. 1992) 1920 – Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, Italian pianist … Continue reading On this day: week of January 5, 2015
Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder (part 2 of 2)
I just got home. And I’m exhausted. So I probably won’t finish this tonight. Gurre-Lieder Gotta give credit where credit is due This was the first time I’ve heard a piece anything like this performed live, and while some little … Continue reading Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder (part 2 of 2)
Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder (one of two)
performed live by the National Symphony Orchestra (aka Taiwan Philharmonic, aka 國家交響樂團) on 12.31.14 and 1.1.15 in Taiwan’s National Concert Hall in the Taiwanese premiere, or as below by lots of people (details in the YouTube page for the video) … Continue reading Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder (one of two)
It’s a new year
… and new things are happening. One of them in just a few hours. My Thursday evening (I’m GMT+8, so 6:30 am for east coast USA or 11:30 am for the UK) will be spent at a concert, the details of which will be posted tomorrow, of a performance of a piece that holds the eighth place in our German(ic) series of symphonies, but this one is different.It’s taking place over two nights (the same concert twice) and I’m attending the second night, but this piece is being performed for the first time in this country. Ever. You could say … Continue reading It’s a new year
On this day: January 1-4, 2015
First post of the new year! Also, check out my other venture at ForeigNative for some really good stuff about language learning. January 1, 2015 Births: 1628 – Christoph Bernhard, German composer (d. 1692) 1892 – Artur Rodziński, Polish-American conductor (d. 1958) 1911 – Roman Totenberg, Polish-American violinist (d. 2012) 1920 – Mahmoud Zoufonoun, Iranian-American violinist (d. 2013) 1932 – Giuseppe Patanè, Italian conductor (d. 1989) Deaths: 1981 – Hephzibah Menuhin, American-Australian pianist (b. 1920) Related to the other Menuhin. 2011 – Marin Constantin, Romanian composer and conductor (b. 1925) January 2 Births: 1732 – František Brixi, Czech composer (d. 1771) 1837 – Mily Balakirev, Russian pianist and composer (d. 1910) 1905 – Michael Tippett, English … Continue reading On this day: January 1-4, 2015
This century Part 1: Modern is relative
Some thoughts that I thought at a very recent concert, the details of which will be shared in part 2 next week What is modern? What is ‘a long time ago’? What is ‘old’?I got to thinking about similar questions a while back in preparation to see Chopin’s piano concertos performed here in Taipei by the sickeningly talented Ingolf Wunder. The first of those two (well, number one, albeit the second to be written) was completed almost 200 years ago. Almost two whole centuries!That was kind of mind blowing to me, because… I think of Chopin as one of … Continue reading This century Part 1: Modern is relative
On this day: December 29-31
This will take us right to the end of the year. January 1-4 will be in the first post of the year. Time does fly. December 29 Births: 1876 – Pablo Casals, Catalan cellist and conductor (d. 1973) 1919 – Roman Vlad, Italian pianist and composer (d. 2013) 1974 – Ryan Shore, Canadian composer and producer; Howard’s nephew Deaths: 1959 – Robin Milford, English composer (b. 1903) 2001 – Takashi Asahina, Japanese conductor (b. 1908) 2013 – Wojciech Kilar, Polish composer (b. 1932) December 30 Births: 1678 – William Croft, English organist and composer (d. 1727) 1853 – André Messager, French pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1929) 1904 – Dmitry Kabalevsky, Russian composer (d. 1987) … Continue reading On this day: December 29-31
Felix Woyrsch: Symphony No. 1 in Cm, op 52
performed by the Hamburg Symphony under Miguel A. Gómez-Martinez Last week’s symphony moved a bit out of the realm of that deep rabbit hole of associations among Mahler and Rott and Bruckner and Brahms that all started with Beethoven. It … Continue reading Felix Woyrsch: Symphony No. 1 in Cm, op 52
Concert Review: TSO’s Passion for Tchaikovsky
Taipei Symphony Orchestra under Gilbert Varga Anna Vinnitskaya, piano November 15, 2014 I shamefully have waited over a month to get around to writing some little bit about this performance. It’s a bit of a break from our Germanic thing we’ve been on for a while, and now it’s been so long that I may not be able to do it justice, but it must be written! It was not at the National Concert Hall, where most performances take place, but was down the road a bit at another venue. I’ve attended there before, and while it doesn’t have the … Continue reading Concert Review: TSO’s Passion for Tchaikovsky
On this day: week of December 22, 2014
It’s the last full week of 2014. December 22 1808 – Ludwig van Beethoven conducts and performs in concert at the Theater an der Wien, Vienna, with the premiere of his Fifth Symphony, Sixth Symphony, Fourth Piano Concerto (performed by Beethoven himself) and Choral Fantasy (with Beethoven at the piano). Hell of a concert…. Births: 1723 – Carl Friedrich Abel, German viol player and composer (d. 1787) 1819 – Franz Abt, German composer and conductor (d. 1870) 1858 – Giacomo Puccini, Italian composer (d. 1924) 1874 – Franz Schmidt, Austrian cellist, pianist, and composer (d. 1939) 1883 – Edgard Varèse, French-American composer (d. 1965) 1901 – Andre Kostelanetz, Russian-American conductor and composer (d. 1980) Deaths: 1992 – Harry Bluestone, English violinist and composer (b. 1907) 2006 … Continue reading On this day: week of December 22, 2014
Felix Weingartner: Symphony No. 1 in G
performed by the Basel Symphony Orchestra under Marko Lentoja So this is (perhaps thankfully) where our saga of the Beethoven quote ends. It’s been with us for around a month now, and it’s time we close that chapter. Mahler 3 … Continue reading Felix Weingartner: Symphony No. 1 in G
The composer and conductor: which comes first?
This is not a piece I’m going to spend lots of time analyzing the history of in preparation for a dissertation on the subject. It was just a passing thought I had based on this week’s music piece for Thursday, and I thought I’d talk about it. It’ll make more sense when you know what that piece is, but for now, it’s at least worth talking about in the context of Mahler.While he seemed to have garnered some praise and recognition in his time for his works, most prominently the eighth symphony, he was known during his lifetime far more … Continue reading The composer and conductor: which comes first?
On this day: week of December 15, 2014
December 15 Births: 1657 – Michel Richard Delalande, French organist and composer (d. 1726) 1686 – Jean-Joseph Fiocco, Flemish composer (d. 1746) 1928 – Ida Haendel, Polish-English violinist. This woman is something… you should watch some of her master classes, like the one here. She seems like a riot. Deaths: 1792 – Joseph Martin Kraus, Swedish pianist, violinist, and composer (b. 1756) December 16 Births: 1775 – François-Adrien Boieldieu, French composer (d. 1834) 1882 – Zoltán Kodály, Hungarian composer, conductor, and musicologist (d. 1967) 1932 – Rodion Shchedrin, Russian pianist and composer 1946 – Trevor Pinnock, English harpsichord player and conductor Deaths: 1783 – Johann Adolph Hasse, German composer and educator (b. 1699) 1921 – Camille Saint-Saëns, French … Continue reading On this day: week of December 15, 2014
Fugue for Thought 