Symphony Silicon Valley invited me to conduct an interesting “pasticcio”-program this week at the beautiful California Theater in San Jose, CA.
Two concerts, one on Saturday evening and one on Sunday afternoon start with Mozart’s “way-too-well-known” Serenade in G K.525 nicknamed ‘Eine kleine Nachtmusik’. It is a challenge to do music that is always on the “Your Favorite Classical Music” selection at your local radio station or can be found on a Holiday CD for $2 each at Walmart. The only thing a conductor can do is to read the score with fresh eyes and concentrate purely on the musical information on the sheet music. Knowing and loving Mozart’s genius and work also helps. I spent a long hour rethinking phrasing, articulation, tempi and ornaments for this lively piece of string orchestra music. As always I am having fun with the challenge.
The second piece on the program is Symphony in C (Symphonie en ut as the score says in French) by Igor Stravinsky (or Strawinsky according to Edition Schott). This is a 28 minute long so called “neo-classical” composition written in 1940 for a medium size Beethoven orchestra. I don’t want to go into details here about the intricacies of orchestration, chord-engineering or thematic development. Let me just say one thing. There is no 20th Century composer who can dress up a seemingly simple chord or motive like Stravinsky can. This piece shows great mastery of pretend-simplicity and gives us a captivating musical portrait of the “Key C” in all its glory.
Read the program notes by Phillip Huscher here:
https://cso.org
In the second half of the program I get to be the musical partner of Mayuko Kamio
http://www.dispeker.com
in her colorful and imaginative interpretation of Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto.
Tag Archives: symphony
To The Moaning And The Groaning Of The Bells
Last Friday I conducted the concert version of Puccini’s La Boheme with the Huntsville Symphony, the Community and Children’s Chorus and a wonderful cast at the Von Braun Center. This was the first time ever in my life when I started a dress rehearsal with not all the principals present. Due to an unforeseen illness we needed to hire a replacement Mimi. She drove 4 hours from Atlanta and was just pulling into the parking lot as I started Act One (5 minutes late). She just walked on stage about 10 minutes into the act (Mimi’s first appearance) and did a wonderful job. See names and more read more details in FaceBook posts by Huntsville Symphony and myself. No matter in what format you are doing opera, the usual “operatic excitements” always do occur.
From the happy morning bells of Act 3 in La Boheme I have arrived to some very different bells in Budapest, Hungary. As part of the Hungarian Radio Symphony’s (MR Symphony) 70th Anniversary season concert series I am conducting a concert at the Palace of the Arts (MUPA) this Saturday. On the program:
Andras Szollosy (a great composer, often remembered as “The Great Third Master” with Gyorgy Ligeti and Gyorgy Kurtag): TRASFIGURAZIONI
Stravinsky: SYMPHONY OF PSALMS
Rachmaninov: THE BELLS
Fro the lyrics of the latter composition (a great symphony for orchestra, chorus and solo voices) see the following link
http://www.recmusic.org
I designed the entire concert program around “The Bells” theme. Andras Szollosy (FYI the letter “SZ” next to Bartok’s compositions refers to his name, since he was the one -a composer AND a musicologist- who put together the chronological order of Bela Bartok’s works) was obsessed with the sound of the bells. In this energetic and very much “Rite of Spring”-like piece (16 minutes of music) has a lot of great bell-effects masterfully orchestrated for a group of triple woodwinds, 3 trumpets, 3 trombones, 3 (!) violin sections, violas, celli and basses (note that the lack of percussion instruments including any type of bells here!) Szollosy was a big fan of Igor Stravinsky and his music. Needless to say, that the unmistakable Russian bell sound plays a big part in this unique and captivating composition entitled Symphony of Psalms. Here is the unusual orchestration of this piece:
5 flutes (incl. piccolo), 5 oboes (incl. English Horn), 4 bassoons (incl. Contrabassoon) 4 horns, 5 trumpets (incl. Piccolo Trumpet), 3 trombones, tuba, timpani + percussion, two pianos, celli and basses. Yes, you read it right, while the Szollosy piece has three violin sections this piece has NO violins or violas whatsoever.
The Psalms used by Stravinsky for the three movements are:
Psalm 38, verses 13&14
Psalm 39, verses 2,3 & 4
Psalm 150 (complete)
Here are the words for Psalm 150
1 Praise the Lord.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.
2 Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.
3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,
4 praise him with timbrel and dancing,
praise him with the strings and pipe,
5 praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.
6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord.
Schubertkugel
Mozart, Schubert and once again Mozart.
The Flute and Harp Concerto and Schubert Symphony #9 “The Great” with Grand Rapids Symphony (last week) and today (Sunday) the amazing Gran Partita (Serenade #10) by Mozart.
I am playing the clarinet and conducting tomorrow. This one of a kind serenade (also sound track to Amadeus) is the only piece on the program for Huntsville Symphony’s Casual Classics #1 at the Early Works Museum. We are serving dinner with the music, or music with dinner; just like it used to be done in the days of Mozart.
As for the concerts with Grand Rapids Symphony last week: I rearranged the seating for the Schubert Symphony. I put the woodwinds in the front of the orchestra since they are playing a major and solo role throughout the entire piece. (Also you play and listen differently if put in an unusual set up.) This way I could focus the attention to the chamber music qualities of this indeed lengthy and great symphony. In the first half of the concert we performed another composition in C Major (by Wolfie himself, and another piece from the Amadeus sound-track). Beth Colpean and Chris Kantner played beautifully. Assistant Principal oboe, Alexander Miller composed the candenzas. It was a real home-grown project, also my second (fun-)time with the GR Symphony.
See review and pictures here
I had fun by doing the preconcert talks, called “UpBeat” as well. I showed a picture of Mozart, of Schubert, then a photo of one of my favorite sweets, Mozartkugel. Then I showed the picture of Schubertkugel, which was practically just the blank screen. No Schubertkugel exists. With all his problems and battles to fight, Mozart has always been a bigger commercial success than Franz Schubert. However, I am pretty sure, there is something named after Schubert in the great city of Vienna. Most likely a piece of cake or some melange (coffee+cocoa) with whipped-cream.
One more thing: Salieri was not the villain showed in the movie Amadeus (based on a play). Among other things he was the mentor and teacher of young Schubert himself.
Finnish Depression vs. Hungarian Sadness
Well, it is not really “vs.” rather a nicely balanced program including Bartok: Hungarian Sketches, Sibelius Violin Concerto and Finlandia, and Kodaly: Peacock Variations. I hear it often in the US how Finns and Hungarians are related. I am always asked to tell more about this topic. Indeed there are links between the two (very unique) languages and even some similarities between the cultures. The latter one however I think is the product of history and the turmoil both nations had to go through to become and stay independent. As for the language relation here are some example, first in Finnish, then Hungarian and in English.
menna = megy = go(es)
kasi = kez = hand
kala = hal = fish
There are undeniable similarities here. On the other hand I could only talk to a Finnish person in English. Believe me, I tried.
What about similarities in music? I believe that the program above (my debut concert with the Phoenix Symphony) is a great way to compare three great 20th Century composers, especially these three. Bartok, Kodaly and Sibelius were all influenced by the folk music of their homeland and they all managed to incorporate folk tradition into Western classical music.
When one listens to Sibelius’ powerful Finlandia and the lush melodies of the violin concerto it is easy to understand the “Finnish Soul”. Same thing with Bartok and the way -as we say- “Hungarian are crying as they are partying” (“having fun” in other words). As for “Depression vs. Sadness” goes, it is of course just another catchy title for a blog post. Yet the dark sounds and colors of Sibelius’ music are similar to that of Kodaly’s and Bartok’s. If you know the pieces you know what I am talking about. If you are not familiar with the compositions I am conducting this week, please do check them out!
Here is the website of this week’s violin virtuoso (I had the pleasure to perform Corigliano’s Red Violin Concerto with him a couple of years ago)
Phillipe Quint
http://www.philippequint.com
The Season That Opens Twice
This is the season that opens twice. The first half of the first concert of 2013-14 starts with Brahms: Academic Festival Overture. The second half of the first concert of 2013-14 starts with Brahms: Tragic Overture. Having the longest continuously operating symphony orchestra in the state of Alabama alone calls for celebration. I also think that number 59 is just as nice a number as 60 (yes, we are already getting ready for a great season of celebration!). The concert will end with the mind-blowing piece of Leos Janacek entitled Sinfonietta. 9 extra trumpets (12 all together) and some other additional brass instruments are joining the HSO to finish the concert with a big bang. In the first half the great Robert McDuffie is joining the forces of the string section along with harp and percussion to play Bernstein’s Serenade. It is a real treat an tons of fun to make chamber music with Robert.
Check out his website here:
http://www.robertmcduffie.com
Brahms, Bernstein, Brahms, Janacek
Check out Huntsville Symphony website here:
http://www.hso.org
Listen to WLRH Radio tomorrow (Friday) morning for a pre-recorded interview with Ginney Kennedy about this concert and the upcoming season.
Let “The Season of Personalities” begin!
Season Opening, Gyorgy Ligeti and the Rapper
On Monday I am starting the rehearsals for two big projects with the Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra (MR Symphony). On September 21 the orchestra opens its 70th Anniversary Season at the Palace of the Arts in Budapest with the following program:
Liszt: Les Preludes
Chopin: Piano Concerto #2 [Gergely Boganyi -piano]
Dohnanyi: Symphonic Minutes
Tchaikovsky: Symphony #5
This program is the exact replica of the very first public concert of the orchestra on October 7, 1943 conducted by Ernst von Dohnanyi himself. This concert kicks off our 70th season celebration with many exciting concerts and projects. More info here:
http://mrze.hu
Two concerts are coming up the week after our season opening concert. We’ll be playing 8 brand new compositions in two concerts (chamber orchestra and full orchestra), one at Budapest Music Center (my first time conducting in this amazing new chamber music hall) on Sept 25, the other one a day later at the Palace of the Arts. After the concerts the final committee (including myself) will decide about the prize winner compositions. I got to tell you that it is going to be a difficult decision. The quality of the 8 pieces in the finals are very high and every one of them represent a very unique, personal voice. Just as a teaser: one piece is for “pianist” and orchestra, where the soloist only plays one chord at the end of the piece. Another composition employes a rapper alongside with the symphony orchestra.
This year’s New Hungarian Music Forum competition is dedicated to the great Gyorgy Ligeti. Check out the details here:
http://bmc.hu
All concerts mentioned above can be heard live thanks to the Hungarian Radio. They are also available online live or after the performance for another two weeks at radio.hu
“Z” recordings
In the last couple of days I have been doing two so called “Z” recordings with the MR Symphony (Hungarian Radio Symphony Orchestra) and Chorus. Letter “Z” stands for “Zene” which in English simply means Music. In the good old days they used to mark the tapes with a letter Z (versus radio talk shows and other non-musical recordings) for easier cataloging. In Studio 6 at the historic Hungarian Radio building, downtown Budapest we recorded two compositions. Ernst von Dohnanyi’s lively Symphonic Minutes and a contemporary composition called Requiem, Symphony #3 by young Hungarian composer Peter Zombola. Check out his website here:
http://zombolapeter.uw.hu
Zombola’s Requiem (Symphony #3) was named Classical Contemporary Composition of the Year in 2012 by the Hungarian Copyright Office, Artisjus. As for the Dohnanyi piece we recorded it for a very interesting project. Since my orchestra is celebrating its 70th anniversary season the Hungarian Radio is preparing a series of radio programs to celebrate our work. One of them is a show about how radio recording technology developed since the beginnings. They are using different recordings of Symphonic Minutes made throughout decades to demonstrate the progress. We also made a video spot for the European Broadcasting Union (including an archival news footage of Dohnanyi himself conducting the last movement of Symphonic minutes in the same Studio 6 where we did it!) that will be available on our website soon. Stay tuned!
40 is the new…
No, 40 is not the new 20. 40 is 40. Although I don’t think that #40 is any more important than #39 or #41(I remember doing a concert -being somewhat rebellious and silly at the same time- called “Gregory Vajda is 26 yo”) yet at age 40 I can’t totally escape thinking about what is behind and what is ahead. So to keep this light yet informative and hopefully blog-worthy I decided to list all the orchestras and ensembles I had the pleasure to conduct since I started my conducting career (my first real professional appearance dates back to 1998)
[Planning to write some more posts similar to this in the coming year.]
USA
Atlanta Opera
Baltimore Symphony
Camerata Houston
Charlotte Symphony
City Music Cleveland
Grand Rapids Symphony
Grant Park Orchestra
Houston Symphony
Huntsville Symphony
ICE: International Contemporary Ensemble
Kalamazoo Symphony
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Louisiana Philharmonic
Memphis Symphony
Milwaukee Symphony
Milwaukee Chamber Orchestra
Music in the Mountains Festival Orchestra
Omaha Symphony
Orchestra of St. Luke’s
Oregon Symphony
Philadelphia Orchestra
Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra
Santa Barbara Symphony
Santa Rosa Symphony
Seattle Symphony
Symphony Silicon Valley
Texas Festival Orchestra
Third Angle New Music Ensemble
Toledo Symphony
Vancouver Symphony
CANADA
Calgary Philharmonic
Edmonton Symphony
Kitchener Waterloo Symphony
Les Violons du Roy
Montreal Opera
Montreal Symphony
Orchestre Metropolitain du Grand Montreal
Toronto Symphony
Winnipeg Symphony
THE AMERICAS
Orquesta Sinfonico de Nacional Costa Rica
Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra of Venezuela
EUROPE
Ensemble Intercontemporain
Ensemble Laboratorium
Hungarian State Opera
Hungarian Radio Symphony
Klangforum Wien
MAV Symphony Orchestra
Pannon Philharmonic
Savaria Symphony
UMZE New Music Ensemble
Vienna Philharmonic
AFRICA
Cairo Opera
International Bartok Festival Opening Concert
The last concert of the season for me is coming up at the International Bartok Festival in Szombathely, Hungary.
As a clarinet- and later as a conductor-student I have participated many times at the master courses of this signature new music festival. It was here about 20 years ago when I first met Peter Eotvos.
http://www.eotvospeter.com
I also studied with Gyorgy Kurtag here and listened to lectures of Gyorgy Ligeti.
I was invited as a professor of the conducting master course in 2009 and this summer I am doing the opening concert of the festival with the Savaria Symphony Orchestra as a guest conductor. Live concert broadcast by the Hungarian Radio can be streamed here:
http://www.mr3-bartok.hu
Bartok: Wooden Prince Suite
Ligeti: Mysteries of the Macabre (Bence Horvath -trumpet)
Eotvos: Cello Concerto Grosso (Miklos Perenyi -cello)
Kodaly: Hary Janos Suite
More information about the program of the festival is available here:
http://www.bartokfestival.hu
Music in the Mountains Summer Fest 2013 Second Weekend
“Gregory’s Musical Bookclub” tomorrow at Nevada Theater with great writers, Molly Fisk and Louis B. Jones reading their prose and poems to live music by Gershwin, Carmichael, Leroy Anderson, Bernstein, Copland, John Williams
“One Vision, The Music of Queen” with MIM Festival Orchestra and Jeans ‘n Classics on Saturday
http://www.jeansnclassics.com
Shostakovich Symphony #9 & Beethoven Symphony #9 on Sunday afternoon
Check out this website for details and tickets
http://www.musicinthemountains.org
