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Tag: Violin Concerto

Philip Glass Birthday Arpeggios & More

From the arpeggione to arpeggios! Not only is today the anniversary of the birth of Franz Schubert, it’s also the 85th birthday of Philip Glass. Regardless of what you may think of Glass’ music, you’ve got to hand it to a composer who’s managed to stay relevant for the past half century or so. Here are some links to a few of my favorites.

String Quartet No. 5

Violin Concerto (now the Violin Concerto No. 1)

“Modern Love Waltz,” arranged by Robert Moran, who enlisted Glass to join “The Waltz Project,” which culminated in an album for Nonesuch Records.

The two composers also collaborated on an opera, “The Juniper Tree,” after the Brothers Grimm

Glass’ “Akhnaten” at the Met, with Princeton University graduate Anthony Roth Costanzo – and jugglers!

“Composing Myself: Philip Glass”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uqJ10fkznv4

A conversation with Philip Glass

January 31, 2022
Dan Zhu Respighi & WPRB Memories

Here’s a souvenir from my days at WPRB 103.3 FM. Dan Zhu, a superb violinist, dropped by the studio for a chat, prior to his Princeton appearance as soloist in Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with West Windsor’s Bravura Philharmonic Orchestra in 2018.

If you’re interested in rewarding, off-the-beaten path, post-Romantic music, check out Dan’s recording of the Violin Concerto by Croatian composer Boris Papandopulo, on the CPO label. Here’s the first movement:

The night after our conversation, Dan was off to Shanghai to perform music by Bright Sheng (a figure now much in the news), under the composer’s direction. Dan’s recorded several of Sheng’s works for release on the Naxos label, including this one:

I mention all this as preamble to a link Dan was kind enough to forward of his performance of the rarely-heard Violin Sonata by Ottorino Respighi, which took place only a few weeks ago. The work was composed in 1917, making it contemporaneous with the composer’s much better-known “Fountains of Rome.” Respighi was about 38 years-old.

The recital was filmed in the Palazzo Tornabuoni’s Sala delle Muse in Florence, the site of the premiere of the world’s first opera, Jacopo Peri’s “Dafne,” in 1598. The pianist is Julien Quentin, performing on an instrument once owned by Maria Tipo! You can watch it here:

I helmed that morning air shift at WPRB from 2015 to 2018. For a time, I was on three stations at once (WPRB, WRTI, and WWFM), prompting one listener to describe me as “the hardest-working DJ in classical radio.” I don’t know if that’s true, but I sure didn’t sleep very much.

November 3, 2021
Samuel Barber Birthday Tribute & Music

Since last March, when Covid broke across New Jersey, the only Barber I’ve visited is Samuel Barber. The composer of the ubiquitous “Adagio for Strings” was born in West Chester, Pa., on this date in 1910.

My favorite Barber pieces? The Violin Concerto. The Symphony No. 1. The Second Essay for Orchestra. “Souvenirs” (in the version for piano four hands). Okay, and the Adagio.

If its passionate, elegiac character seems out of step with such a lovely day, here’s something with a lighter, carefree disposition, from his set of piano pieces titled “Excursions.”

Also, one of his most charming songs, “The Monk and His Cat.”

Here’s a real gem: an interview with Barber in his NYC apartment, to celebrate his 67th birthday. Barber plays the piano, displays his conversational wit, and shares his recording of “Dover Beach,” on which he appears as baritone. Stay tuned for the birthday cake at the end!

His music may do nothing for the length of my beard, but it keeps my soul limber.

Happy birthday, Sam.

PHOTO: Barber, dressed like Sky Masterson, conducting his Second Symphony. Ironically, Barber disliked the work. He disliked it so much, he tried to destroy it. In 1984, three years after his death, the symphony was revived when a set of parts turned up in an English warehouse.

Hear Barber rehearse the work here:

March 9, 2021
Alban Berg’s Romantic Revolution

Had your fill of snow? Make an appointment today to sweat it out in the fin de siècle hothouse of Alban Berg.

Berg has always been regarded as the Romantic among serialists – one critic described him as “the Puccini of twelve-tone music” – so it’s hardly surprising to find a shimmering, unresolved longing in much of his music, linking him to the more traditional-minded among his Viennese contemporaries.

Berg’s operas, “Wozzeck” and “Lulu,” are in the standard repertoire. His “Lyric Suite” and Chamber Concerto are played with frequency. But it is his Violin Concerto of 1935 that has really entered people’s hearts.

In this work – a response to the death of Manon Gropius, the 18-year-old daughter of Alma Mahler and Walter Gropius – Berg processes loss and grief with the kind of humanity that seems have eluded Arnold Schoenberg, his teacher, in his own dogmatic dodecaphony. Furthermore, Berg’s masterpiece offers identifiable signposts for the uninitiated, with allusions to a chorale melody employed by Johann Sebastian Bach and a Carinthian folk song.

The concerto is a fine example of a talented artist bending the rules of a particular system to achieve his own expressive ends. Berg dedicated the piece “To the memory of an angel.” Work on the concerto proved to be a cathartic experience for the composer. He confessed in a letter to violinist Louis Krasner, who commissioned the piece, that it had actually brought him joy.

Berg himself died of a blood poisoning, the result of an insect sting, later that year. He was 50 years-old. His output may be comparatively small, but he continues to stand tall as one of the most important musical voices of the early 20th century. He is certainly the most readily approachable of composers of the Second Viennese School.

Happy birthday, Alban Berg.

Lulu Suite

Violin Concerto

Seven Early Songs

PHOTO: Alban Berg, captured on canvas, if not in spirit, by Arnold Schoenberg

February 9, 2021
Sibelius Day 5 Wicks & Porra Concertos

EIGHT DAYS OF SIBELIUS – DAY 5

Two concertos today.

The first is Sibelius’ lone violin concerto. As a young man, it had been the composer’s ambition to become a virtuoso violinist. Fate – and limited ability – had other plans. Fortunately, he was able to channel that creative impulse into amassing an impressive body of original music.

This recording is by the American violinist Camilla Wicks. Wicks, who was of Norwegian descent, mastered a broad range of repertoire. She enjoyed particular popularity in the Scandinavian countries for championing works by lesser-known Nordic composers.

She was one of the first female violinists to establish a major international career. Isaac Stern called her “the greatest violinist.” When questioned if he meant the greatest female violinist, he clarified, “No. The greatest.”

She also drew particular praise from Sibelius, who singled her out as his favorite interpreter of his concerto.

Wicks died on November 25, at the age of 92.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgr6zgZYviU

The second concerto is by Sibelius’ great-grandson, Lauri Porra. Porra, who trained as a cellist, plays bass guitar with the Finnish metal band Stratovarius. Get a load of this awesome electric guitar concerto.

http://www.classiclive.com/porra-entropia-full-video

December 5, 2020

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