Thielemann Conducts Bruckner's Fifth Symphony

Just a few weeks ago I posted some other videos featuring German conductor Christian Thielemann. But I thought LSM readers and viewers would also be interested in another recent Thielemann performance notable for its tremendous authority and power. Bruckner's Symphony No. 5 is one of the composer's greatest creations, and its last movement is remarkable for its complexity and cumulative effect. Not many conductors and orchestras can put it all together with more than partial success. Thielemann and the Munich Philharmonic give a performance that is technically magnificent and spiritually profound.

Paul E. Robinson

The Amazing Jessye Norman in Amazing Grace

Last evening, I attended an extraordinary event—the return of the great Jessye Norman to Toronto in a program of Broadway/Jazz standards, with tribute to Nina Simone, Lena Horne, Odetta, Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington.  The re-invented opera diva is now an authentic jazz stylist.  She sang two encores; the last was "Amazing Grace," accompanying herself (in the first part) on the piano, then walking around the stage urging the audience to join in.  It was a magical moment.  Here is her singing this spiritual in Berlin in 2009.  In the review of the CD issued live from this event, English critic Edward Seckerson tore it to pieces.  I'll let you decide.

- Joseph K. So

Tughan Sokhiev with the Berlin Philharmonic and Helene Grimaud

Tughan Sokhiev has a lot in common with Valery Gergiev. Both were raised in Ossetia in Russia and both studied with the legendary Ilya Musin. Sokhiev is a much younger man - he was born in 1977 - but he shows every indication that he is on his way to becoming a major conductor. He currently heads the Orchestre national du Capitole de Toulouse and beginning next year he will become principal conductor of the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Kent Nagano's former orchestra. He has made several recordings with his French orchestra including a fine reading of Rachmaninov's Symphonic Dances (Naive V 5256).

In this recent video he leads the Berlin Philharmonic in part of the final movement from the Ravel Piano Concerto in G major with Helene Grimaud as soloist.

Paul E. Robinson

Barry Tuckwell Discusses and Demonstrates the History of the French Horn

Barry Tuckwell was one of the finest horn players of his generation. For 13 years during the late 1950s and 1960s he was the heart and soul of the London Symphony Orchestra. Some of his best work can be heard on LSO recordings from the period with Pierre Monteux, Josef Krips, Istvan Kertesz – all the Dvorak symphonies – and Andre Previn. He left the LSO to devote himself exclusively to solo playing. He recorded all the major horn concertos and later took up conducting.

It is hard to believe that earlier this year Tuckwell celebrated his 80^th birthday. Although he has retired from public performance he remains active as a teacher. He heads the Barry Tuckwell Institute in Colorado which holds sessions every summer. For more information visit the website at www.barrytuckwellinstitute.com. Although he was not known as a period instrument specialist, in this video he discusses and demonstrates various types of natural horns.

Paul E. Robinson

2011 Cardiff Singer of the World Winner Valentina Nafornita Sings "Regnava del silenzio" from Lucia di Lammermoor

Last weekend was the grand finals of the 2011 edition of the prestigious Cardiff Singer of the World Competition. Soprano Valentina Nafornita from Moldova, at 24 the youngest competitor, walked away with the top prize as well as the audience prize.  As usual, the level of the competition was extremely high. The jury panel included Dame Kiri Te kanawa, conductor Alexander Polianichko, Teatro Massimo (Palermo) artistic director Lorenzo Mariani, mezzo Marilyn Horne, tenor Dennis O'Neill and baritone Hakan Hagegard.  Nafornita's win was somewhat of a surprise, as the pundits (commentators that included former Cardiff winner soprano Nicole Cabell and pianist Iain Burnside) thought it would go to Ukrainian baritone Andrei Bondarenko.  But Valentina won the day.  Her voice is rich and dark-hued, with a secure top, a bit reminiscent of Anna Netrebko. Here is Nafornita singing the big aria from Lucia di Lammermoor. 

- Joseph K. So

Player Pianos, Reproducing Pianos and the Men Who Believe in Them: Paul Robinson in Conversation With Rex Lawson and Denis Hall

Imagine, if you can, what life was like for music-lovers around 1900. There was lots of live music, as there is today, in the concert hall, in the opera house, and in the home. But there was no recorded music. Anyone who wanted to hear music had to go out to a live performance or make music at home, most often on the piano.

Within a few years the first acoustical recordings were made and they caused a sensation. And yet, people with some sense of what music ought to sound like knew that these recordings were mostly awful. It wasn’t until the mid-1920s with the development of the electrical microphone that recordings began to resemble the real thing.

But during the acoustical era, from about 1906 to 1924 there were other options developed for recorded music. The electrical recordings eventually won out but for a period of about 20 years there were some very interesting alternatives. The best of them was the player piano. The idea was to have a pianist record his or her work using a complicated mechanical device, on perforated paper. The resulting “piano rolls” could then be played back on an upright or grand piano equipped with the proper mechanism. These piano rolls themselves had no sound; only instructions for sound. The music was supplied as it would have been in a live performance, by a real piano. At their best piano rolls and reproducing pianos provided excellent performances and then and now were considered far superior to the acoustical recordings of the period.

As a contribution to the history of music and performance, the piano rolls were invaluable. They captured performances by some of the greatest pianists and composers of the period including Debussy, Granados, Grieg, Stravinsky, Rachmaninov and Paderewski.

It should be emphasized that some player players were designed not as automatic reproducing instruments but as interactive devices. That is to say, the piano rolls for such instruments were simply the basic elements of a performance and the "interpretation" was left to the "pianolist". The pianolist would operate a system of levers and pedals to control tempo and volume. Rex Lawson is the best-known pianolist in the world today and has often appeared in concert with leading orchestras.

I recently had the opportunity to discuss these matters with two of the world’s foremost experts on the subject: the afore-mentioned Rex Lawson and Denis Hall. They were visiting Austin, Texas, and I spoke with them at the home of Ken Caswell, a local authority on player pianos. This video includes the first part of our conversation. The music heard at the beginning of the interview is Grieg's Wedding Day at Troldhaugen played by the composer on a piano roll made in 1906.

The rest of my interview with Lawson and Hall will be posted at a later date on the La Scena Musicale website. Some fine examples of Denis Hall's work can be found on a CD titled Ignace Jan Paderewski in Recital (Aeolia 2002). To learn more about player pianos visit www.pianola.org.

Paul E. Robinson

Stokowski Conducts Bach in the Big Broadcast of 1937

After spending decades building the Philadelphia Orchestra into one of the world's great ensembles Leopold Stokowski stunned the music world in 1936 by announcing his resignation. Stokowski was tired of fighting with the board and eager to try something new. He headed to Hollywood to broaden the audience for classical music and to become even more famous than he was already.

His first film was The Big Broadcast of 1937 which featured radio stars of that era. Stokowski conducted Bach's Little Fugue in G minor in his own orchestration. As you will see, Stokowski was obviously in love with his own image at the time. Nonetheless, the film was far ahead of its time in attempting to find new ways to present an orchestra and its conductor on the screen. The shots of Stokowski's hands and the dramatic lighting for individual musicians were highly innovative. These techniques were to be developed even further in the Stokowski-Walt Disney collaboration on Fantasia a few years later.

Incidentally, Stokowski's interests in Hollywood were by no means confined to film-making. During the making of The Big Broadcast of 1937 Stokowski met Greta Garbo and they soon began an intense relationship. The gossip columnists went crazy trying to keep up with their latest exploits. Battalions of reporters and photographers pursued the couple all around Europe in 1938. The relationship broke up Stokowski's marriage but he never married Garbo.

- Paul E. Robinson

Elly Ameling Sings "Solveig's Song" from Edvard Grieg's Incidental Music for Peer Gynt (1876)

(vocal version with soprano Elly Ameling)

(Orchestral version)

by Joseph K. So

Today is the birthday of the great Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg (15 June 1843 - 4 September 1907)  He is best known for his Piano Concerto in A minor, and other piano pieces the Holberg Suite, and many songs, of which the most famous is the "Solveig's Song" from his incidental music to Henrik Ibsen's play Peer Gynt. Grieg incorporated extensively Norwegian folk tunes into his own compositions - a good example is Wedding at Troldhaugen, and his songs are strongly evocative of the magnificent Norwegian landscape.  There are many versions of "Solveig's Song,"  and I've chosen one recorded by Dutch soprano Elly Ameling in 1984, with fellow countryman Edo de Waart conducting the San Francisco Symphony.  The limpid tone of Ameling is absolutely perfect. That said, I can't help but include a purely orchestral version, a recording on Naxos with the Slovak Philharmonic.   The images in the accompanying video are incredibly beautiful.

Thielemann and the VPO Play Beethoven

Thielemann and the Vienna Philharmonic have recently recorded all the Beethoven symphonies. Here is the last movement from the Symphony No. 2. As a Beethoven interpreter Thielemann is a traditionalist. Simon Rattle recorded a Beethoven cycle with the same orchestra in 2002 and the differences are striking. The orchestra is the same but Rattle, while not a authentic performance specialist, reflects a serious study of period performance. Rattle tries to approximate Beethoven's metronome markings and asks his players to use vibrato sparingly. Much of the phrasing is modelled after the period practice used by conductors such as Gardiner, Norrington and Harnoncourt. The timpanist uses hard sticks.

Thielemann does not appear to have learned anything from the period performance research of the past 30 years. Perhaps he has no interest in it. Rattle is music director of an orchestra playing on modern instruments - the Berlin Philharmonic - but he has an abiding curiosity about Eighteenth Century performance practice. He also has a genuine interest in all kinds of contemporary music. Thielemann, by comparison, seems a man of the past rather a man of the present or future.

On the other hand, one must admit that Thielemann is nonetheless a first-rate conductor who gets compelling performances especially in the music of Wagner, Bruckner and Richard Strauss. Please note that my companion video features Thielemann in conversation about his experiences as Karajan's assistant.

Paul E. Robinson

Christian Thielemann Talks About Working With Karajan

In recent years the 52-year-old German conductor Christian Thielemann has emerged as one of the foremost conductors of his generation. He is "music advisor" of the Bayreuth Festival - in effect, the festival's music director - and next year he will begin his appointment as chief conductor of the illustrious Dresden Staatskapelle. He can be heard conducting the Ring cycle in a set of DVDs from Bayreuth and more recently he has recorded all the Beethoven symphonies with the Vienna Philharmonic (See my companion video this week for an excerpt).

But he is controversial. He has left most of his previous posts after arguments with management and he has the reputation of being what might be called an "Old School" dictator on the podium. But this video reveals a much more likeable Thielemann. It helps that he speaks very good English, and seems almost self-deprecating as he tells stories about his days as an assistant to Karajan.

Paul E. Robinson

Poking Fun At Cecilia

The great Italian mezzo Cecilia Bartoli is today's foremost exponent of the florid music from the baroque repertoire. She possesses a very flexible voice with a phenomenal technique and an exceptional upper extension that allow her to assay some soprano roles. Anyone who has seen her can't help but be struck by the generosity of spirit in her music making - she oozes the joy of singing.  Given her distinctive style, Bartoli and her rather idiosyncratic mannerisms have generated lots of discussions and parodies in the music world. Here is an example of the Italian diva singing "Agitata da due venti" the castrati showstopper from Vivaldi's Griselda, taken from her Viva Vivaldi album recorded in 2000.  A Korean countertenor Justin Kim has recently made a hilarious parody of Bartoli in the same aria. He has amazing technique that allows him to make a credible facsimile of the Bartoli style. According to Mr. Kim who claims to be a big Bartoli fan, it was done with love and admiration for the Italian mezzo.

- Joseph K. So

Violinist Dan Zhu and Eschenbach Play Schumann

Christoph Eschenbach spent his early years in the Schleswig-Holstein region of Germany and retains a strong affection for it. He is a former music director of the Hamburg-based NDR Symphony and one of its annual guest conductors. He is also music director of the Schleswig-Holstein Festival Orchestra each summer. This is an elite ensemble of young musicians from all over the world that gives a number of concerts at the festival and tours widely.

The soloist in the Schumann Violin Concerto is Dan Zhu, a Beijing-born violinist who now lives in New York. He plays superbly in this performance with impeccable technique and great expressiveness.

This piece is problematic for both soloists and conductors. It huffs and puffs in the tuttis and meanders incessantly. The violin part seems to get hopelessly stuck in the middle register of the instrument. Yet like so many Schumann works it has moments of great beauty and tenderness. Eschenbach has recorded it with Thomas Zehetmair and recently he and Gidon Kremer played it many times on tour with the Dresden Staatskapelle.

Eschenbach is something of an authority on Schumann's music, having played most of the works for piano solo, the song cycles with the likes of Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Peter Schreier and Matthias Goerne, and all the orchestral music. Notice how in this performance he controls the performance with absolutely minimal gestures. Given the amount of rubato in the solo part and the aforementioned preponderance of middle register playing, this is a difficult concerto to accompany. The orchestra must be very disciplined in its soft playing and listen carefully for the frequent tempo changes. From this perspective the Schumann Violin Concerto makes an ideal choice for training an orchestra of young musicians, and Eschenbach is an ideal conductor for this repertoire.

This video includes the first and second movements of the concerto and the beginning of the third. The rest of the piece is also available on YouTube.

Paul E. Robinson

Peter Gelb of the Met in Tokyo

Following Japan's  recent enormous loss of life and devastation from the earthquake and tsunami, The Metropolitan Opera had to decide whether in the wake of this catastrophe it was an appropriate time to go ahead with its Japanese tour. The decision was finally made to go ahead but several leading members of the company - among the most prominent were Anna Netrebko and Jonas Kaufmann - made their own decisions not to go. Music Director James Levine had already cancelled due to his ongoing health issues. Here is General Manager Peter Gelb speaking from Tokyo a few weeks ago and offering words of reassurance.

- Paul E. Robinson

Remembering Shirley Verrett (May 31, 1931 - Nov. 5, 2010)

by Joseph K. So

Yesterday was the birthday of the great American mezzo Shirley Verrett, who passed away last November.  She was born in New Orleans and studied at the Juilliard School, made her operatic debut in Britten's Rape of Lucrezia in 1958 and reached the Met as Carmen in 1968.  Possessing a warm, flexible mezzo with an excellent upper extension, Verrett sang both stand mezzo roles (Dalila, Azucena, Amneris, Eboli etc.) and selected soprano roles (Desdemona, Madame Lidoine, Tosca, Lady Macbeth). A beautiful woman, Verrett combined a beautiful voice with an alluring stage presence. After she retired in the early 1990s, she became a noted voice teacher at the University of Michigan, and was active as an adjudicator in vocal competitions.  Here is a lengthy excerpt from a documentary made in the mid 1980s. Verrett speaks about her family background and her career. The video also has a clip of her singing Dalila's "Mon coeur" opposite the Samson of Jon Vickers, and extended selections of the mezzo singing rhythm and blues.  Anyone interested in Verrett should take a look at her autobiography, I Never Walked Alone.