Inside Perspective

First impressions from the PSO Book Club - Yonca Karakilic

A few days before the season opening at the Pittsburgh Symphony, we held the first meeting of our Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra Book Club at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh in Oakland.

First, a few words about the book club. Over the summer, we invited bookworms in the orchestra to nominate books that relate to the programs and themes of our 2009-2010 season. The first book in the series, Vivaldi’s Virgins by Barbara Quick, was selected by contrabassoonist Jim Rodgers to go with Vivaldi’s Four Seasons on the opening weekend’s program. You can check out the other book selections here. We will be using this space to continue the discussion – so, do pick up a copy of the next book and join the conversation!

Back to Vivaldi’s Virgins and the first meeting. If you’re not familiar with the novel, it is set in seventeenth century-Venice and centers on the story of Anna Maria dal Violin. Anna Maria is an orphan (or, so we think!) and among the most talented of the figlie di coro, the young musicians raised at the famed orphanage Ospedale della Pieta. Her desperate search for her roots and passion for music is intertwined with the story of Vivaldi, who was the violin master there and composed extensively for the young musicians of the Pieta. We follow the story through Anna Maria’s eyes and the letters she writes to her mother, without really knowing if she reads them, or, if she exists at all.

The exciting thing about group discussions for me is to hear different perspectives, as words in a book come alive and resonate with our individual lives and experiences. It seems that there are certain themes, passages or images that capture us (and no one else) in very special ways.  Then and there, we enter into a private conversation with the book (or, for that matter, any work of art), and “new vistas are opened,” as the great Maxine Greene would say. It was such a treat to hear everyone else’s thoughts and the things we each noticed. We managed to keep the conversation without giving away the identity of Anna Maria’s mother – the central mystery of the book. I am guessing those of us who hadn't quite finished the book were highly encouraged to do so!

I, personally, was drawn into Quick’s vivid portrayal of the cloistered life of the foundlings of the Pieta and their devotion to music. I found echoes of their lives in my own experience at a boarding high school for the arts back in Istanbul. Our yearning for master teachers’ attention, strong camaraderie and occasional jealousies and even escapades into colorful city nights came back from where they were buried in my mind for more than ten years. As a musician, Jim Rodgers almost literally felt Anna Maria’s pain at being barred from playing the violin and banished to the lower quarters where she was forced to stir boiling soap in a large cauldron! Others in the group were drawn to the issues faced by women as artists at the time, which the author dwells on at length.

Well, I think I saved the best part to the last: Thanks to technology, Barbara Quick, the author herself, happily joined in the conversation from her home in the Wine Country. Jim (the contrabassoonist, of course) was well-prepared and took the opportunity to advocate for a role for his instrument in future novels. Along with the rest of us, Barbara was treated to a wonderful excerpt from Vivaldi’s Bassoon Concerto in A minor, RV 498 over the phone.

Now, not knowing the inspiration behind a particular scene certainly does not take away from my enjoyment of a book, yet hearing about what goes into writing a historical novel and especially Barbara’s colorful experiences in Venice as she researched for the book was in itself a revelation.

One of the poignant moments of the discussion was to hear Barbara talk of the saving grace of writing in her life. Challenges of a childhood in a split home seemed to seep into her novel. Asked about “la Befana,” a palpably evil character, Barbara explained: “Suffering can make people sour,” but added that optimism, imagination and the power of art could “save” a person. Writing had done that for her.

That, I think, is one of the key things that draw us to the arts. So, here, I invite you to think of your experiences - a favorite piece of music, a book you keep returning to, or perhaps writing a little here and there. Think of those special moments, sitting in the audience, looking at an inspiring painting and reflect on the ways it’s touched you, and share with us if you feel like it.

Looking forward to meeting more music lovers and stirring discussions in the upcoming sessions!

The Concert Halls - Nicole Philipp

I want to return to the topic of concert halls for a minute.  There are so many beautiful things about The Egg and the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center, that I wanted to make sure I posted pictures.

Here is violist Meng Wang standing in the outer lobby of The Egg, prior to rehearsal.

 

If you look closely behind him, you'll notice a portion of the roof is wood and another portion is glass.  Here is the concert hall from the outside:

  

Where Meng is standing is where the two materials of the building meet.  As I've mentioned before, this venue is HUGE.  Andrew Druckenbrod from the Post-Gazette compared it to two Mellon Arenas.  Here's a photo of the ATM like machine that I mentioned in my previous post.  The machine helps to guide you from one point to another within the venue.

 

The venue in Shanghai is comprised of five areas.  It is said that the concert hall was built to resemble an orchid or a butterfly - depends on who you ask.  Each of the five round areas of the venue hold a different concert hall.  Like The Egg, there's a hall for chamber music, one for opera, and so on. 

 

The concert in Shanghai was unbelievable!  The audience loved it so much, they wouldn't stop applauding until Honeck and the Orchestra performed a third encore! 

Tonight is the rehearsal for the program in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.  The Orchestra arrived Monday evening from Shanghai.  The venue in Kaohsiung, as I've mentioned before, is brand new.  Built for the 2009 World Games which begin here in July, the Orchestra will inaugurate the new stadium.  The World Games are very important to the city of Kaohsiung, with a number of posters and signs announcing the PSO's concert.  I've seen a number of commercials since I arrived as well.  The venue holds 40,000 seats, and the Orchestra will perform in the center of the field, much like a rock concert. 

Maestro Honeck, PSO President Larry Tamburri and the soloists all took part in a press conference here in Kaohsiung to discuss the concert, and the excitement surrounding it.

 

On the far left is just one of the many promotional posters I mentioned.  These posters are everywhere - from a university campus we drove by in a taxi, to the elevators in the hotel. 

For more photos, make sure to take a look at Stephanie Tretick and Chuck Lirette's photo blog!

As promised: Interesting Treats - Nicole Philipp

I've been holding off on posting this until I was able to fix my technical issues.  This is one blog post that NEEDS photos.  While in Beijing, many people in the tour party went exploring.  What did we come across?  Delicious treats, of course!  In addition to foods like Peking Duck and dim sum, there was this:

 

Yes, the picture above is scorpions on a stick!  I obviously had read about this in the various tour books I perused prior to the trip, but, like most things, this was quite the experience in person. 

In addition to scorpions, there were millipedes, silk worms, starfish and grasshoppers.

 

I'm sorry to say, even though I'm willing to try most foods, I wasn't adventurous enough to try the grasshoppers and scorpions.  Overall though, the food has been delicious, and I think many of us can say we've added new foods to our favorites lists.

Beijing - Nicole Philipp

The National Center for the Performing Arts is pretty spectacular. The architecture alone is something to marvel, with its clean lines and beautiful earth tones.  (You'd think I was writing for Architectural Digest here, but it really is beautiful.)

It took awhile, but I was finally able to venture into the front of house.  As impressed as I was by the concert hall, I was that much more impressed by the main lobby.  By my count, there were at least four stories of various rooms, shops, collections of art, and concert halls.  Not to mention the number of floors beneath the halls that hold dressing rooms and practice spaces. There are four concert halls total.  Nearest to the hall where the PSO is performing is the opera hall. 

When we arrived for the first concert in Beijing, there was a production taking place within the opera hall.  There are a number of flat screen television monitors around the backstage area.  These monitors allowed us to watch portions of the opera with it's brightly colored sets and costumes. The backstage area between the two halls is so large, that even though there were many opera performers, there was very little, if any, overlap between our two groups. I saw one or two singers, but mostly as they were standing in a shared hallway.  I mention this because I don't know that I can quite convey the size of The Egg without literally taking a video camera, and walking room by room.  I'm sure you can imagine that with all this space, and a language barrier, if you venture too far, it's easy to get lost.  One thing that does help, however, is an ATM like machine that sits in the hallway backstage.  The touch screen has both Chinese characters and English.

Both concerts at The Egg were well received, with Honeck leading the Orchestra in two encores both nights.  Orion Weiss also played an encore after his performance of Beethoven's Piano Concert No. 5 during the second concert.  Today, we landed in Shanghai.  The first major difference is the weather.  Shanghai, at least today, is much warmer and far more humid.  Tonight's concert, and the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center is SOLD OUT and has been for two weeks! 

So, I've been experiencing some technical difficulties, which is why there haven't been photos in the last few posts.  I'm hoping to get this issue sorted out tonight, and have photos of both concert halls, the "ATM" I mention earlier, and some other fun shots posted soon.

A note from a Beijing patron - Nicole Philipp

Below is a lovely email PSO President Larry Tamburri received following the first tour concert in Beijing.  (I'll be posting a blog soon with an update on the first two tour concerts, and some interesting treats.)  Anyway, I wanted to share the email - with permission of course - because it's always nice to hear from the locals while we're on tour.

Ms. Koo writes:

As an American ex pat living in Beijing, I want to tell you how much I enjoyed the performance at the NCPA here. My NY roots and long standing residency in CA have afforded me many opportunities to hear first class orchestras, however this concert will always hold a special place in my memories. If it were up to the ticketholders, we would still be there.

It was a privilege to be at the egg for a wonderful program and extraordinary musicians.

In watching the faces of the local people around me, I know they also appreciated the magic of the evening.

Sandy Koo

Thank you for the wonderful email, and please know you're always welcome in Pittsburgh!

Goodness, Gracious, Great Wall of China - Nicole Philipp

We came.  We saw.  We climbed the Great Wall.  And let me tell you, they don’t call it the Great Wall for nothing.  More on that later.

First, we should discuss the Forbidden City.  Quick history lesson:  the Forbidden City was the imperial palace during the Ming and Qing Dynasties.  This 7.8 million square foot area is literally from where the entire country was run for nearly 5 centuries.  The name comes from the fact that no one could enter or exit the city without the emperor’s permission.  Overall, the city housed 24 emperors, ending with the last emperor of China, Puyi, in 1912 (although Puyi continued to live on the property until 1924). 

To say the Forbidden City is magnificent is a complete understatement.  Everything from the ceilings of the various buildings to the drainage system is amazing.  The picture below is just one of the ornate ceilings.  The dome is completely covered in brightly painted tiles depicting dragons, phoenixes and wildlife. 

We then met up with a larger group of musicians and staff for an hour bus ride to the Great Wall.  Personally, every picture I’ve seen of people on the Great Wall is beautiful.  The photos are full of happy people smiling away while standing on top of one of the world’s most amazing wonders.  I now know why they’re smiling – they’ve finished the climb.  The wall is a marvel, built over a number of centuries and spanning 4,000 miles.  The climb begins with a very steep “staircase.”  (By very steep, I seriously mean steep)  Once you reach the top, however, the view is worth being out of breath.  

This is the view from the top of the section I climbed.

Below is photo I took after we had made our decent.  Yes, those are all stairs.  (The picture isn't very crisp due to the haziness of the day)

Tomorrow, the Orchestra will rehearse and perform the first concert on the tour.  The program includes Rouse's Rapture, Strauss' Death and Transfiguration, and Beethoven's Symphony No. 7.  I cannot wait to see the inside of The Egg.  More pictures to come!

We've arrived! - Nicole Philipp

Just a quick, everyone arrived safely, post.  After a 13 hour flight, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra arrived in Beijing late in the afternoon of May 12.  After clearing customs and collecting our luggage, we were on our way to the hotel.  Following check-in, many musicians and the staff took the opportunity to settle in quickly and head out in search of dinner. 

Following a good night’s sleep, Wednesday will be spent getting accustomed to the time difference, practicing, and a little sight seeing.  Currently, plans are in the works for many to travel to the Forbidden City in the morning, before a large group departs for the Great Wall in the afternoon.

More later!

Our bags are packed! - Nicole Philipp

In less than 24 hours, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra embarks on a 10-day tour of China and Taiwan, with Music Director Manfred Honeck.  This trip is the first time the PSO will perform internationally with Honeck - he has led the Orchestra in two tour concerts domestically, however.  The first was in 2005 at the Kimmel Center in Philadelphia.  The second was just this past week, with the PSO and Honeck performing at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.  (Click here for the review)

The PSO's long history of international touring began in 1947 with a trip to Mexico under then music director, Fritz Reiner.  Since then, the PSO has made seven trips to the Far East, 32 to Europe, and two to South America.  Highlights include a 1964 State Department tour, which lasted three months, and included stops in Tehran, Iran and Beirut, Lebanon, among others.  Amazingly, there are only two continents where the PSO has not performed, Antarctica and Africa.

On this tour, the PSO will perform two concerts in Beijing, China (both at "The Egg"), one concert in Shanghai, China (at the Shanghai Oriental Arts Center), and a final concert in Kaohsiung, Taiwan held at the Main Stadium, built for the 2009 World Games which begin in July.

On to Beijing!

Catch Manfred and the PSO before they leave for China! – Matt Campbell

Manfred Honeck and the PSO soon embark on an exciting May tour to China, their first tour together, and only the PSO’s second visit to China, the previous tour being more than 20 years ago, in 1987.

Honeck and the orchestra will perform Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 and Richard Strauss’ tone poem, Death and Transfiguration, among others in China. But before the orchestra sets off on this fascinating journey, they’ll perform those two works this weekend at Heinz Hall for their home audience.

I’m very excited for this weekend’s concert, and I expect something very extraordinary from Honeck. He must have a special connection with those works since he has decided they were the works he wanted to present to the world. I’ve not heard much Strauss, but this concert should be a fine introduction.

I like the selection of Beethoven’s seventh symphony, as it’s an uplifting work that I believe will easily cross cultural boundaries.

Also, I’m sure the pressure of an upcoming tour will drive the PSO musicians to an even higher level of playing than usual.

This weekend also sees Yefim Bronfman’s annual PSO performance. We’re used to him playing the big showpieces, the finger-breaking Prokofiev, so it will be interesting to hear him in Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24 in C minor. Mozart concertos aren’t the most technically demanding works, but they require you to consider millions of tiny details and there’s a very fine gradation of interpretation.

Before heading to China and Taiwan, the PSO will play May 4 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. They’ll be gone for most of May, not returning until June 4-6, when Honeck conducts Beethoven’s Violin Concerto with Frank Peter Zimmermann.

Pittsburgh Youth Symphony premieres new work by John Harbison - Matt Campbell

This weekend, Pittsburghers will see the world premiere of a work by a major American composer. Unfortunately, it’s not a surprise work by Composer of the Year John Adams on a PSO program. Rather, the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra (PYSO) will premiere John Harbison’s Mary Lou: Symphonic Memories of Mary Lou Williams.

Harbison, an MIT professor, Pulitzer Prize winner and MacArthur Foundation “genius” grant recipient, will be in Pittsburgh this weekend for the concert, this Sunday, May 3 at 3pm at Heinz Hall. Harbison has an important history with Pittsburgh: His work Abraham was premiered by the PSO in 2004 when the orchestra famously performed for Pope John Paul II. That program also included Mahler’s Symphony No. 2 “Resurrection,” which closes the 2008-2009 PSO season this June.

The Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra has been around since 1946, and it showcases the best student talent, ages 14 to 21, from dozens of area high schools and even the universities. 

Daniel Meyer, resident conductor of the PSO, conducts the orchestra, and PSO musicians coach the fledgling musicians. In a reversal of the relationship, however, when the PSO goes on tour to China this year, they’ll be asking their pupils for tips on the Far East: the youth orchestra already toured China, last summer.

Youth orchestras are popular around the world. One such group is the Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra, founded in 1986 by Claudio Abbado, past music director of the Berlin Philharmonic. The Mahler orchestra has an extensive library of recordings and draws top professional talent with conductors such as Franz Welser-Most (music director of the Cleveland Orchestra) and Pierre Boulez.

Aside from Harbison’s new piece, Sunday’s PYSO program includes Hindemith’s exciting and inventive Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Carl Maria von Weber, Ravel’s Introduction and Allegro featuring a harp soloist, and Richard Strauss’ Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks.

It’s always fascinating hearing student performances. Sometimes, you can’t tell the difference between a student ensemble and a professional orchestra, but Symphonic Metamorphosis is a challenging tour de force for orchestras and it’s a showpiece. But even if the orchestra makes a few mistakes, the piece should benefit from the youthful energy and manic energy. And, hearing a work in progress imparts a different kind of knowledge than just seeing a finished product. It’ll also make you appreciate just how good the professionals are.

So, make sure you catch the Pittsburgh Youth Symphony Orchestra this Sunday. Tickets are free! Visit http://www.pittsburghyouthsymphony.org/index.html for information.

Thoughts on Rach Festival Finale - Matt Campbell

The Rediscovering Rachmaninoff Festival finishes up this weekend, when Leonard Slatkin leads the PSO in Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances, Vocalise and Piano Concerto No. 3 with Denis Matsuev, Friday through Sunday.

Piano Concerto No. 3
Rachmaninoff’s third piano concerto is one of my favorite pieces of Rachmaninoff’s, and it’s full of haunting passages that to me are very psychological. This is one argument I would make to put Rachmaninoff as a 20th-century composer, rather than an anachronistic representative of the bygone Romantic era. An example of what I mean is passages where the pianist is playing chords that steadily creep up, but happening simultaneously are quick chromatic runs that drag the pianist in the other direction. So, you’ve got the steady creeping up battling the insane notes skittering down into the abyss. This up versus down tension is an incredibly simple yet powerful idea and composers have always used it to great effect. There are also many quick passages where the piano or a solo instrument plays a melody that quickly fades into silence; this piece is full of utterances. In the third movement, there’s a melody fraught with tritones, giving an eerie veneer to an otherwise positive melody.

The cadenzas (solo parts that really showcase the pianist) are incredible in the concerto, and feature giant crashing chords that careen crazily. There are two versions of the cadenza, and I do not know which Matsuev will perform, but they’re both great.

The concerto is wildly difficult, and there is a lot for the pianist to do. However, unlike many concertos, the difficulty’s not just for show; it always serves an expressive purpose. Complicated, arpeggiated textures aren’t there for to impress, they’re there to roil and leave you unsettled. Other times, those figures are just there for beauty and to accompany solo instruments. And, while this is a piano concerto, there are plenty of wonderful parts for the orchestra. And, the orchestra is an important player in this concerto. In a lot of recordings of this concerto, I’ve felt the conductor has been too passive in allowing the pianist to take over. Leonard Slatkin, however, always gives very detailed, thoughtful performances, and so I expect we’ll hear a piece of music with arguments and emotion, rather than simply a showcase of Denis Matsuev (as if that would be a bad thing!).

Another thing I find interesting and “psychological” is the fact that the opening theme on the piano comes back so many times. That in itself isn’t interesting — it’s standard operating procedure — but it’s interesting that the first movement ends with that theme, but it hasn’t been transformed. After 15 or so minutes, you’re back at where you started, and all of the argument and angry chords haven’t solved anything. The first movement ends somewhat abruptly, with a question mark. That theme comes back, again unchanged from the very beginning of the concerto, several minutes into the third movement, which starts out triumphantly.

Symphonic Dances
This work, another of my favorite Rachmaninoff works, is very poignant, and it is a valedictory work. Rachmaninoff’s music was popular with audiences during his lifetime, though critics thought it was outdated. Rachmaninoff tried unsuccessfully to change his style with the obscure fourth piano concerto, but in Symphonic Dances he wrote what he wanted to write, and wrote how he had always written, despite what critics would say.

This rhythmic work is full of excitement but it also has the characteristic beautiful, slow moments we would expect. The final movement is permeated with the dreaded “Dies irae” theme present in so much of Rachmaninoff’s music, and it’s fascinating to see how Rachmaninoff treated that theme in his final work. (If you don’t know the theme, listen to it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fMHms5Cvsw).

So, don't miss the finale of the Rediscovering Rachmaninoff Festival, and hopefully you’ve enjoyed revisiting and reevaluating this composer as much as I have.
 

 

High school students get to plan PSO concert, Classical Crossroads, Tuesday April 21 - Matt Campbell

I only recently found out about the PSO’s Audience of the Future program, which gives area high school students the opportunity to plan and promote their very own PSO concert.  And just what kind of concert a bunch of students would plan piques my curiosity not just as a listener, but as someone in the arts management field, too.  You can find out for yourself what a bunch of high school students decided to do with one of the world’s greatest orchestras at their disposal next week, when the PSO unveils Classical Crossroads on Tuesday the 21st at 7:30pm. 

The theme of the concert is travel, and the concert features short pieces or excerpts of works from by composers from all over the world.

Though I am no programming expert, I was very interested to see what they came up with, and I’ll share here what I read into their choices.  First, their program is widely varied and full of contrasts.  You may have a flamenco dance from Spain one moment, and some Americana a few minutes later. What that means though is that you don’t stay in one place too long — perhaps it’s a reflection of our short attention spans.  Or, if that offends, I’ll phrase it another way: we have difficulty focusing because there’s so much demanding our attention, and we are so connected to everybody and everything else through mobile phones and iPods.

Given that, it makes sense young people wouldn’t program a Bruckner symphony that runs for 80 minutes.  So why do we wonder when young people skip the Bruckner?  That’s not to say we should cave to inattention, we shouldn’t, but it’s a problem we have to address somehow.

Another interesting feature of the program is the mix of composers.  The familiars like Tchaikovsky and Sibelius are there, but who on earth is Dorothy Chang, Carlos Chavez or Louis Herold?  Where did these kids find that music?  A lot of this music will be new to listeners, and that’s a good thing.  At age 21, I already gravitate toward new music on programs, or music I’ve not heard before.  I don’t want to pass up a piece I’m not likely to hear live again for quite a while, and I know if I skip Dvorak’s “New World” symphony this season, I’ll likely catch it again soon.  And when you don’t have the resources to attend every concert in a season, you’ve got to go the John Adams concerts, the Turangalila-Symphonies, the Dvorak Sevenths.

I also think it’s really neat that high school students get to plan a concert and experience arts management.  Without Audience of the Future, how would any of these students, who are getting ready for college, have found out they wanted to study arts management?  I didn’t have any opportunity in high school to work with an orchestra, yet that’s where I have ended up presently.

Lastly, ticket sales benefit either the Audience of the Future program or the participating students’ high schools.  It’s very smart of the PSO to donate its services to raise money for the schools’ music programs, programs that are hardly a priority.  Young students need to hear and play classical music in school, they need to be given a chance early on to discover they like classical music. Without those holes being filled by the PSO and other arts organizations, those early experiences of art wouldn’t happen, and we wouldn’t be around.  That’s why education and outreach is so important, and why every orchestra has staff in those areas.

Click here for more information on Classical Crossroads and how you can buy tickets for an entertaining concert, and contribute to education at the same time. 

2008-2009 Participating Schools:
Charleroi High School, Upper St. Clair High School, Beaver Falls High School, Knoch High School, Moon Area High School, CAPA High School, Sharpsville Area High School, Shaler Area High School, Wilkinsburg High School, Bethel Park High School, Lincoln Park Performing Arts School, Fox Chapel High School.

Festival shines light on other Rachmaninoff masterpieces - Matt Campbell

The Rachmaninoff Festival is here! For Rachmaninoff zealots, the festival is a dream come true. The festival gives us the opportunity to hear tons of Rachmaninoff live. The PSO performs two concerts of Rachmaninoff: April 3-5: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Symphony No. 1, Spring Cantata and April 17-19: Vocalise, Symphonic Dances, Piano Concerto No. 3. There are also recitals of chamber music (including the sublime Piano Sonata No. 2, the elegiac piano trios written in response to the death of Tchaikovsky, Rachmaninoff’s idol, the nostalgic Cello Sonata, and much more) around Pittsburgh. Visit www.pittsburghsymphony.org/rachmaninoff for a full schedule of events, times, locations, etc.

 

experiencing the raw power of nature in Sibelius' sixth symphony - Matt Campbell

I am admittedly a latecomer to Sibelius' symphonies, and I'm thankful that John Adams programmed the sixth symphony in the weekend's PSO concerts, giving me an opportunity to get to know the sixth.

The sixth symphony is a strange introduction to Sibelius' set. Like Mahler's seventh symphony, Sibelius' sixth is the outcast of the family that conductors, audiences, and even die-hard fans of those composers avoid.

I feel the work is a cold and frigid, and for me it evokes imagery of a fast-flowing river full of melted snow traveling through rocky terrain with ice-coated pine trees in some arctic landscape. Those are the kinds of landscapes I love, so the work suited me perfectly.

I feel like Sibelius' symphony is driven by nature, whose logic and reasoning is very often hidden from us. But that doesn't put me off. Rather, it's quite liberating. Sibelius gives us in music the cascading, raw power of a river. Forget the harmony-driven machinations and excruciating intellect of Beethoven, Sibelius' symphony is just unbridled, natural power that sweeps all before it. Sibelius ends the movements of this symphony somewhat abruptly, but he's just giving us episodes, peeks into nature - the river continues its rapid flow.

I was excited to hear Adam's Dharma at Big Sur, but actually it was a bit of a disappointment for me. Adams routinely mixes styles in all of his works, but in Dharma, I just felt Adams' instinct for rhythm was incongruent with the meditative Hindu/laid-back West Coast attitude he was trying to project. Hindu music has plenty of rhythm, but it's the static harmony and constant rhythm that gives the music the meditative, eternal feel. I always felt like Adams wanted to grow, develop, build, intensify - all counter to that laid-back attitude.

I'm not sure what Adams was trying to do with the Indian/Pacific/Javanese influences. I wasn't sure if he wanted to adapt them for his own purposes, recreate them from anthropological curiosity, or mimic them, or just borrow it because it sounds cool. Messiaen discovered the methods of that music, and created a new style of his own. Colin McPhee wrote touristy-sounding music that borrowed from Gamelan music. Adams' purpose, at least to me, was unclear.

This was Adams' last concert with the PSO this season. Despite my disappointment with the Dharma at Big Sur, it was a wonderful season, and I'll surely be bragging years from now that I heard John Adams conduct this work, On the Transmigration of Souls, and the others the PSO performed this year. Adams is a great American composer, and it was great that Pittsburgh had the opportunity to spend time with him, and that he engaged the city so thoroughly through lectures, visits to the universities, audience talkbacks, podcasts, and, of course, through music.

 

the most frequently performed classical piece? -- thoughts on this weekend's concert of Grieg, Ravel, Sibelius, and Dukas - Matt Cambell

Each year, the League of American Orchestras compiles a list of the most frequently performed works and composers. For last season, 333 orchestras submitted their seasons to the list. So, after all of the numbers have been compiled, what pieces and which composers do you think topped the list?

The most frequently performed piece of last season was, not surprisingly, Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C minor. It was performed nearly 100 times! Overall, Beethoven dominated the list: he accounted for seven of the 25 most frequenlty performed pieces; his other works included the seventh symphony (at no. 2), the ninth symphony, and several concertos. Beethoven was also the overall most frequently played composer.

For this weekend's concert, the program includes Grieg's Piano Concerto, Sibelius' tone poem The Swan of Tuonela, Ravel's Trio (orchestrated by Tortelier), and Dukas' The Sorcerer's Apprentice. So, which of those composers and which of those pieces made the list, you ask?

Grieg's concerto, while definitely a favorite among audiences and pianists, failed to make the list. All student pianists love the opening A minor chords and the fantastic gesture that is essentially Grieg kicking the pianist down the side of a mountain with the tumbling chords that end at the extreme bottom range of the piano. Concertos ahead of it though included Rachmaninoff's romantic second, Beethoven's fifth (the "Emperor"), and Chopin's second.

Sibelius didn't have a single piece on the top-25 list, but he was the 12th most-performed composer with 284 performances. This phenomenon of not having a single piece in the top 25 but being very frequently performed isn't resigned to Sibelius, however: Mozart was the second most-heard composer, but no specific piece made it on the list. That's probably because Mozart has so many great pieces: over two dozen piano concertos and 41 symphonies! Sibelius has lots of great pieces, too, and this weekend we'll hear The Swan of Tuonela. Later in the season, there's more Sibelius: the PSO will perform his sixth symphony when John Adams, composer of the year, returns to conduct this work and his own electric violin concerto with Leila Josefowicz.

Sibelius had been one composer I overlooked in my musical life so far, but I started listening to his music a bit in preparation for this season. His music is really evocative of nature, and the sixth is truly beautiful. Sibelius was Finnish, and his music has an icy, clear, crisp quality. What most fascinated me about Sibelius though was sort of what drives his music. Many composers, like Beethoven and Mozart, built music arguments based on harmony and the tonic-dominant tension. But Sibelius' sixth symphony is wonderful in that it more driven by natural phenomena: the string melody courses like a deep-blue, freezing river traveling at high speed through rocky terrain. It's just melting, and swelling, and the raw power of nature. It's wonderfully liberating.

Ravel, whose music appears on this weekend's program, was the sixth most-performed composer, with 367 performances. I'm sure Yan Pascal Tortelier, this weekend's conductor, is responsible for a bunch of those. I have many Tortelier recordings, and he always brings wonderful color and flair to French music, his native music. He's also recorded most of Ravel's music, and no one does it better than he does. Tortelier has guest conducted the PSO numerous times in the last several years, and he always connects with the orchestra.

Dukas is another wonderful composer, and his Sorcerer's Apprentice was used brilliantly in Disney's Fantasia. YouTube houses a video of that segment, so if you're running low on Disney magic, visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LD8HDta7Z_4 and watch Mickey get himself into loads of trouble.

Dukas is an interesting composer, but he doesn't appear on either of the League's lists for frequency of performance. That's probably because Dukas was a perfectionist, and destroyed many of his own pieces! The body of work he was confident enough to spare the furnace is tiny!

If you're curious what other pieces and composers made the most-frequent lists, check them out for yourself at http://www.americanorchestras.org/knowledge_research_and_innovation/orr_current.html.