Rough Rhodes to Success
I’ve wanted to write something about classical pianist James Rhodes for a while, but haven’t really known what to write. On one hand I find him a fascinating character; on the other hand his heavily promoted “bad boy” image is pushed enough to make my eyes roll. Yet, his agenda is a hard one to fault – reaching broader audiences, putting a fresh spin on the classical concert experience, and playing “proper classical” without a huge stick up his, ahem, arse (- his words, not mine). Classical world can probably use that right about now.
I’ve watched several of Rhodes’s YouTubes, and while I wouldn’t label him as the definitive interpreter of the composers he plays, his playing is respectful, engaging, and smart. As are his chats with the audience explaining the pieces.
I’d love to hear from someone who has seen him live and get their opinion on him.
Any of my UK readers maybe??
Talking about reaching a broader audience, this teacher, Mr. B (David Bodeman from Mohawk Country Day School in White Plain, NY), is educating a new generation with creativity, and by the looks of it, a ton of fun. He even has his own fan page.
Tiny Tuxes and Pint-Sized Podiums
He’s not tall enough yet for most of the rides at Disneyland, but put him on a podium and he could very well be a giant in the making. You might remember Jonathan from a previous posting here on sonicgypsy. If you’re new to the site, take a few minutes to check out the link. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what you see.
In short, the video shows Jonathan – then 3 years old – conducting the 4th movement of Beethoven’s 5th symphony, with a glee and panache and innate ability that we can only hope is a harbinger of things to come.
Fast forward 1 year. Jonathan is now getting invitations to conduct orchestras. The Chamber Orchestra Kremlin (Moscow), the Chandler Symphony Orchestra (Arizona), Arizona Musicfest, and the St. Petersburg International Music Academy (SPIMA) Orchestra (Connecticut) are among the first to have come calling.
Here’s an outtake of his February 2011 debut with the Chamber Orchestra Kremlin, on tour in California at the time.
To get some of the background scoop on how this opportunity came about, click here.
Lastly, I include this video too just to remind us that despite all the early and rightfully deserved attention, he still has some learning to do. But by gawsh, he’s only 4!
Wow!!
Flying Bach to the Future
I stumbled across this YouTube clip on the weekend. It’s select excerpts from the Red Bull Flying Bach European Tour that has been making its way through Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, and Turkey from August through to end of December. Backed by the energy drink superstar (hey, if Red Bull sponsors something this cool and innovative and grand, I’m glad to give their fine product a shout out), it pairs breakdancing with Bach’s preludes and fugues 1-12 from the Well-Tempered Clavier, Part I.
Here’s the synopsis from the website:
High culture meets urban art: In the clash of cultures Red Bull Flying Bach turns the international classical world upside down. Their creative performance visualizes and revives Johann Sebastian Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier crossing the borders of serious music and youth culture. Note by note. Step by step. With piano, harpsichord, and electronic beats.
Trust the Europeans to pull something like this off – to sold-out crowds and standing ovations no less. Sadly, the tour doesn’t seem to be crossing the water any time soon. Would it even fly with N.American audiences?, or have we grown too musically illiterate to appreciate something like this? What do you think?
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Here’s a longer clip from their Eurovision 2011 performance. Fantastic interpretation. Worth the watch.
Bzzy Bzzy Bzzy… or Not
What started out as a brief pause to pack up my life and move has inadvertently turned into a summer hiatus. My lazy procrastinating fault.
So, to distract you from this glaring character deficiency of mine I give you Yuja Wang playing fast. Really. Really. Fast.
To the Survivors
Like everyone I’ve spoken with today, I’m feeling the numb disbelief over what has happened across the world in Norway within these last 24 hours. You’re never prepared for these kinds of things..
Deepest thoughts and prayers go out to the families and loved ones of those whose lives were so senselessly lost.
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Just Mugging Around
Remember the time Igor Stravinsky went gangsta? Mind you, the guy’s “Rite of Spring” did cause a riot, so maybe the mugshot isn’t that surprising.
But arrested for this?! It’s not even atonal?
Find out the story behind the mugshot.
You can also click here for a choral arrangement.
To all my American friends, happy 4th of July!
Chillin’ Cellos
With all the other stuff that’s been going on around me lately, keeping up with the blogs I follow has mostly fallen into the temporary abyss of yeah-it’s-not-happening. But today has unfolded as one of those lovely, lazy Saturday stay-in-bed mornings where the world stops for you while you soak in the luxury details of life. Which for me has meant catching up on some of my favorite internet haunts.
I copied both these videos from Daniel Stephen Johnson‘s blog. Great blog to check out.
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(Give this one a few minutes for the guy to really get into it.)
Pinky on the Brain
The official concert season is over now, and very soon the glitz and glamour and echoes of another stellar year will begin to fade. Eventually, the musical memories that have carried me through the dismal winter months will be replaced once the sunshine (should it ever arrive in my fair city) lures me out into the mountains again and my musical distractions shift from the concert hall to God’s cathedral.
However, one memory that won’t be disappearing so quickly is the night of my dream concert – an all-star line-up of a small handful of my most favorite pieces, guested by Pinchas Zukerman, a violinist whose performances command respect from audiences and peers no matter where he tightens his bow. I run to get tickets whenever he’s in town.
The program looked like this:
Beethoven’s Egmont Overture, Op. 84, followed by
Beethoven’s Symphony No.7 in A major, Op. 92 , all topped off with
Beethoven’s Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61, performed by Pinchas Zukerman.
These pieces are “home” to me, the musical haunts of my childhood, and are as comforting to me as the lazy Saturday afternoons we used to spend as a family gathered around the radio listening to CBC broadcast live performances of Karajan conducting the Berlin Philharmonic from across the ocean.
And the night of this concert, not even the white star-inducing headache I was battling could compete with the magic being created on stage.
I should confess that my expectations in seeing Pinchas the first time several years ago were pretty low, considering that I was basing my attendance at the concert solely on having heard his name in sentences with other A-list musicians I greatly admire (Jacqueline du Pré, Daniel Barenboim, Itzhak Perlman, Yefim Bronfman, to name a few). I figured, if he was pals with them, how bad could he be – I’d at least get my money’s worth… It never crossed my mind that it might be possible that the guy could play. Like, seriously play!
It’s easy to take excellence for granted when you go to as many concerts as I do, but, every now and then, someone comes along who redefines your previous hallmarks and becomes the new standard. Enter Mr. Zukerman. After an illustrious 45+ year career, you’d think he might allow himself to sit back and let concertizing take a back seat for a bit while he focuses on his work with the National Arts Centre Orchestra (not to mention his long list of other commitments…), or maybe prepare to enjoy his retirement years. Nah, not Pinky. Instead, he still plays over 150 concerts a year around the world. And it’s kept him at the very top of his game, even in the company of artists 2 generations younger.
“Youth sticks with some people… Zukerman seems the forever-young virtuoso: expressively resourceful, infectiously musical, technically impeccable, effortless.” (The Los Angeles Times)
This youthfulness has a few years of experience and swagger under its belt now, and so, when Pinchas walks on stage, he knows he’s earned the right to simply let go and play – the beauty being that he’s no longer held hostage by the technicalities of the music or the media game, but is free to engage in the creative interchange between artist, orchestra, and audience where the voice and experience of each is valued for what they bring to the overall conversation. In a world where the performer gets the glory, the orchestra plays a mere supporting role, and the audience is mostly a passive spectator, this is a rare joy. One that makes for a concert you don’t quickly forget.
Here’s what I’m talking about.
Lang Lang Inspires
This video comes through TYWKIWDBI (“Tai-Wiki-Widbee”), master collector of online oddities and curios.
While listening to a piano recital might not be everyone’s idea of a good time, the Royal Festival Hall in London definitely got an earful last Sunday, May 22, as one hundred pianists between the ages of 5 – 23 gathered together on stage to join international piano sensation Lang Lang (that’s him at the Steinway without a lid) in playing a keyboard adaptation of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony, 4th movement. It’s all part of his Lang Lang Inspires efforts to raise up the next generation of classical music lovers and performers, and promote to music education.
I would have died for an opportunity like this…
The Miracle of Michael Maniaci
There’s something about hearing a guy sing like a girl that tends to catch people off guard – kind of like a Tim Burton movie: it’s strange, surreal, slightly eerie…
You’ll probably need three looks the first time you hear male soprano Michael Maniaci sing. Take one, you’ll realize that, no, it’s not, in fact, a woman singing. Take two, you’ll be busy trying to figure out how sounds that high can come out of the mouth of a dude. And only then will you be over your initial surprise enough to take note of the rare and great voice you’re hearing. One in 6.92 billion kind of a great voice, to be exact.
Safe to say, Barry White he ain’t.
The Fry and the Sell Out
Driving home late last night, I happened to catch the very end of an interview on CBC Radio 1 with British DJ Kissy Sell Out talking about the irrelevance of classical music to today’s youth. He had just finished participating in a debate on the subject at Cambridge University’s Cambridge Union Society with actor, comedian, writer, and avid classical music lover, Stephen Fry, and was giving CBC his run-down on the event.
Not having heard the entire interview, I can’t really comment on it, but to get an idea of where he was coming from you can read this pre-debate article Sell Out wrote for the UK’s “The Independent” newspaper defending his affirmative stance.
Then you can read this (not biased at all in any way) post-debate article from “The Telegraph” newspaper with the *Spoiler Alert* headline: “Cambridge Union declares classical music not irrelevant after all”.
The full debate can be watched on the Cambridge Union Society website.
This wasn’t a tongue-in-cheek joke parading as a debate (I don’t think Greg Sandow would be involved if it was), although I’m sure it didn’t score low on the entertainment scale. How could it with a dj and a comedian headlining? No matter what direction the debate might have swung (although you can probably guess I’m okay with the final outcome), I’m just glad that this is even seen as a viable topic for discussion in a public forum. I’m having an impossible time imagining a similar debate happening here in North America, let alone getting any coverage from mainstream media… Uh, nope, wouldn’t happen. (Cue ominous music as we see our musical crisis looming on the not-so-distant horizon. Can it be averted?? Stay tuned…)
The debate itself will doubtfully do anything to sway people’s opinions as far as relevance vs. irrelevance – you can’t transform the emotional landscape of a person’s musical DNA with an intellectual argument; and relevance ultimately finds its hold in education and understanding – but to engage in this dialogue says to me that classical music is far from going the way of the dinosaurs. If it were, this would be a non-debate and a topic far from the forefront of verbal sparrings. So, hopefully Classical fans everywhere can take heart – it looks like the fat lady is off on vacation and doesn’t plan to do any singing any time soon.
The Grandest of the Grands
My roommates are coming home tomorrow after being gone for 2 months. I should probably be tidying up around here but it’s more fun procrastinating for a couple of hours looking up interesting grand pianos. How much of a dork does that make me?
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Chichi, the rocking piano. A few more details here.
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Before Elton John came Liberace, the original King of Bling. This bedazzled Baldwin was his baby.
I’ve been in the presence of this Steinway & Sons beauty a few times. Hand painted by Haida artist, Jay Simeon, inside and out, it looks as good as it sounds. More pics here.
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A bold design by architect Daniel Libeskind for the Royal Ontario Museum. A bit more here.
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A Schimmel collaboration with artist and sculptor, Otmar Alt.
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The Fazioli “M. Liminal‘s” inspired design.
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The Bösendorfer “Edge”. More here.
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The Bösendorfer “Brüssel“, created by architect Jürgen Felsenstein for the 1958 World’s Fair.
And finally, there’s this little rainbow, guaranteed to give you a migraine if not brighten your listening experience.
Jesu Joy for Man’s Dialing
Another quick gem. This is a cellphone ad… but what a great ad!
Watch the “behind-the-scenes/making-of” video here.
Slam Dunk
A minor deviation from the usual musical fare, but listen to this.
Then listen again.
The Sonicgypsy Not-So-Celebrity Playlist
After posting the Eric Whitacre video the other day, I ended up spending a good chunk of what should have been productive working hours daydreaming about what I would answer if I were ever posed the same question he was: what are my favorite classical videos on YouTube? It’s a tougher question than you think given the big ocean to fish from, but with a gun to my head, these would be my top 5 picks (for now):
1) Elgar Cello Concerto 1st mov. (Jacqueline du Pré, with Daniel Barenboim conducting the Philharmonia Orchestra). It didn’t take long for this performance to become legendary for it’s sheer poetry and emotional quality. You don’t find this kind of magic every day.
2) Goldberg Variations (Glenn Gould). Glenn was a walking oxymoron – intensely private, yet a born showman blessed with a musical gift that maybe comes along once in a lifetime. He’s most famous for his 2 career bookend recordings of J.S.Bach’s Goldberg Variations (1955 and 1981), and while the genius of his playing stands strong next to the genius of Bach’s composition, to see Glenn play, all hunched low over the keyboard, lost in his own world of rhythm and melody, only enhances the auditory experience. (The YouTube posted here is part 4 in a series.)
3) Nico Muhly – It Goes Without Saying. I’m on the fast-track to becoming the queen of Nico’s fan empire. I mean, the sounds that come out of this guy’s brain consistently transport me into my own zing universe of happy. Thanks to some odd quirk of stratospheric talent, it seems Nico only needs to sneeze and *presto!*, there’s another composition on its way out to the world. This video is a great example of how classical music needs to be marketed to the MTV generation. Good art gets noticed. Check out his blog while you’re at it – he’s a ridiculously engaging writer as well (- who said the world was fair??)
4) Karajan – Beethoven: Symphony No.9 (with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra). I almost didn’t include this video on my list since it’s only compiled excerpts of the 9th, and besides, Eric already included the Leonard Bernstein Ode to Joy (final movement) on his list. But I decided to go with it in the end for a host of reasons. a) I remember watching the complete Symphony No.9 performance on TV as a kid, so there’s serious sentimental value attached to this video; b) I don’t think anyone has ever come closer to interpreting Beethoven as perfectly as Karajan with the Berlin Philharmonic – he had the right temperament and the ego needed to pull it off; c) Karajan also had an innate understanding of the power of media and image, and he used it to great advantage (notice the different camera angles and close-ups – Karajan turned regular concert footage into the first classical music videos); and d) I’m with the people that say this is one of the greatest pieces, if not THE greatest piece of music ever written. Add to that that Beethoven had been totally deaf for several years by the time he wrote it… The 9th Symphony is a miracle of sound and statement. This video gives us a taste.
5) And finally, Horowitz plays Schumann’s “Träumerei” in Moscow. A tender offering by a master. This was traditionally the encore Horowitz would leave his audiences with. He had nothing to prove anymore at this point of his long career, and so we’re left with this treasure of effortless grace.
It’s hard to imagine life now without the immediate access YouTube gives us to these kinds of timeless gems. We’ve got history at our fingertips, not to mention the 4 corners of the globe. So, thanks to YOU for making it possible.
According to Eric
This video popped up in the YouTube featureds the other day. It’s taken me a jetlagged weekend to get it up here, but I figured what was a minor delay given my extended silence these past weeks?
And for your convenience, the video description also gives us the links to all of the videos Eric mentions (plus some extras). Expect some shameless self-promotion (although at least he’s got product worth promoting), but he’s picked some good ones. Definitely worth the exploring.
Don’t Let This Happen to You
Judging by the over 1.3 million views, and the 2007 posting date I’d say I’m a bit behind in seeing this one:
(The piece is Georges Bizet’s Overture to Carmen)
PS. David Beckham in no way endorses this post and shares no responsibility for the actions of musicians potentially enraged by a person chatting on their cellphone during a performance. I just couldn’t find another picture for the banner… and since the world can always use a little more Becks… 😉
How Not to Have a Thriving Social Life
Not classical, but too much of a musical curiousity not to post.
Want to geek it out one step further? This coming Monday, March 14 (03.14) is Pi Day.
No joke.
Eugene Fodor
Eugene Fodor, the virtuoso violinist who bad-assed his way across stages back in the 70’s and into the 80’s passed away at the age of 60 last week. He’s got a bit of a story behind him which can be read about here or here, but he’s famously known for having been a student of Jasha Heifetz, and one of the best interpreters of Niccolo Paganini’s music.
Fodor wasn’t a big enough part of my musical upbringing to have had any substantial exposure to him and subsequent stories to tell about how he touched my life in some way, but my dad enjoyed him…
Here he makes a 1981 appearance on the groundbreaking comedy show, SCTV.
Or, for something equally spectacular, but a tad longer…
Or, here he is in a clip from the Today Show playing Paganini’s violin (aka. “The Cannone of Joseph Guarnerius del Gesù”)
Classical App-titude 101
There might be few things more punishing to a pseudo Type-A than having to fill 8 office hours with the appearance of busy-ness when there’s nothing going on in work-ville that would birth paperwork – the painfulness of which is only compounded by a boss who is in a philosophical mood today, and when in such a mood tends to hover & engage in aimless verbal rambles while standing by my cubicle opening. (Don’t get me wrong: I’m crazy about my boss, but this frustrates my patience levels to no end!)
The answer? Subversively write a post in sporadic bursts of frantic typing whenever boss retreats back into his office across the hall. So, sorry ahead of time if it’s a bit disjointed.
Anyway, I got myself a belated Christmas present this year. I’m now the proud parent of an Apple iPod Touch 4G!! Sleek, slim (looks like its mama ;)) and swaddled in a streamlined black case… it’s a joy to behold and has already in its short, yet meaningful life given me new wide-eyed-wonder-ful delight at the world it’s opened up for me. (I can actually download ALL my music and there’s still room for me to feed it more!!!)
Due to my recent overbooked calendar, getting to know this new addition to my life has been a slow process. But now that my iTunes library is satisfactorily organized and updated, I’ve finally gotten around to exploring the app side of things.
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1. Bravo Gustavo (free) – “The Los Angeles Philharmonic presents Bravo Gustavo! Ever wonder what it is like to conduct a world-famous orchestra? Spend some time in the shoes of Gustavo Dudamel, the LA Phil’s new music director, and experience the rush of a maestro. Transform your iPhone or iPod Touch into a conductor’s baton, or set the tempo by tapping the screen. Your audience awaits!” More…
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2. Karajan® Beginner Music & Ear Trainer (free) – “Karajan Beginner is the free version of Karajan, and easy-to-use music and ear training application for the iPhone and iPod Touch. It provides lessons for learning to recognize intervals, chords, scales, pitch, and tempo (bpm) with detailed statistics. Karajan is a great tool for music theory students, whether they are in junior high, high school, or college. It is also very useful for every hobby musician. Karajan beginner has all the features of Karajan, but is limited to one level.
Features: intervals, chords, scales, pitch, tempo (bpm), 5 built-in instruments, detailed statistics function, reverse play, and 4 different play modes.” More…
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3. Composer of the Day (free) – no Apple write-up on this, although it does note it won a “Top 5 Classical Music Apps” award from WQXR (“the most listened-to classical music station in the US”). Imagine one of those tear-the-page-off desk calendars with a short blurb highlighting a different composer each day. Except this one links you to excerpts of their music through iTunes. More…
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4. Classical Music Lite (free) – also no Apple write-up for this app. But this link explains it in full detail.
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I’m getting these apps with my niece and my upcoming 3 weeks overseas in mind. Distance means I’m not often lucky enough to get this kind of undivided time with her, so hopefully by combining the new-fangled fun of my Touch with classical music I’ll be able to further lure her into the dark recesses of this rebel world. Her mind is miiiiiiine!!! (insert evil *mwa-ha-haaaa*)
Now if only someone would come up with an app that would help me figure out my classical music earworms…
On a totally different note, I stopped in at our local Salvation Army store after work yesterday and found Arvo Pärt’s “Miserere” (ECM Records 1991, with the Hilliard Ensemble, and the Orchester der Beethovenhalle Bonn) for $1.99 hidden on the lower shelves of the CD offerings. Jackpot!!
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Update: Feb.11
Want my gut-level response to these apps after having 24 hours to play around with them?
1. Bravo Gustavo – it definitely helps to have some knowledge of the 4 excerpts they give you to conduct, even if just to get the basic starting tempo of the piece; otherwise it easily becomes a fiasco of unbridled tempos. Beyond wishing they had more selections, I also wish the excerpts were longer – they loop in segments that seem far too short to really get any long-lasting excitement out of the app. Have to give a shout-out to the LA Phil though for trying their hand at something like this. The idea behind it is great and offers promise for future games of the sort. Since it’s a free download, I’m keeping it for a while longer, even if just to watch Gustavo’s hair flop around in the accompanying pictures. (The LA Phil also has a guitar-hero-type game on their website that I think is a lot more fun than the app.)
2. Karajan® Beginner Music & Ear Trainer – a lot more technical than I thought it would be. It’s set up like it could be a game, but only for the nerdiest of the nerdy (which is why I think I might actually have some fun with this). The challenge comes in trying to figure out what pitch they’re playing, or how many beats per minute it’s tapping out, or whether the chord is major or minor, etc… basically, it engages the player in your standard beginner ear training excercises. Boring if you make it boring; fun if you make it fun. My niece will get a kick out of this, especially if I bribe her with 30 seconds of hand massage for every answer she gets right. 🙂
3. Composer of the Day – this might actually be my fav of the 4. Every day highlights a new composer born on that date, which, with 365 dates to cover, will take you far outside of the boundaries of the familiar composing superstars. For example, today’s composer is André Ernest Modeste Grétry and up until this app informed me about him, I had no idea he even existed. Yesterday was the American composer, Barbara Kolb; and the day before that was Alban Berg. It offers you endless new territory to get familiar with. The neat thing is that this app links you to samples of their music for further exploration. It’s exactly the kind of stuff that gets my sonicgypsy heart racing.
4. Classical Music Lite – good thing this app was free, cause it’s not going to be sticking around for very long. The expanded Classical Music app is probably worth the $1.99 for its list of 50 pieces (which would make the challenge more fun) vs. the 5 pieces used on this freebie, but the Lite gets old really fast. In essence, this is a fat-free version of the actual main course. And like fat-free anything, there’s just not enough substance to the Lite to make it worthwhile.
sonicgypsy 