Topic: Classical Music Blogs or Personal Webpages

[danielstahl]

https://soundmining.wordpress.com/

It is a blog about classical music. Both my own and also writings about classical music that interests me.

[jlaurson]

Fresh from Forbes:




JAN 5, 2015
National Symphony Orchestra's New Conductor Ideal
-- But Audience Quality Has To Match Him

...Word on the street was that Deborah Rutter, the Kennedy Center’s president and previously
president of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, thought there was no ceiling as to who the
NSO could get as its music director. This was very worrying, because while it is good to be
ambitious, it is also unhelpful to be deluded. To strive for name recognition above all is a
great recipe for orchestral regression… as any big name who might come wouldn’t likely be
in it with his heart. The NSO is an upper-tier, middling orchestra; as per 2012 the sixth best
paid American orchestra, but never in its history the sixth best orchestra in the country. Not
a bad orchestra (incidentally the orchestra of my musical-coming-of-age, and I feel deeply
about it), but in brutal-sounding truth an ambitious B-orchestra with a C-audience and kept
relevant only by its location in the capital and having had a big-name conductor in Eschenbach
for the last seven years. It is less than its name, better than its reputation, but in any case not
a sexy position for any big-shot conductor wanting to make a glamorous career. And even
Christoph Eschenbach (who had previously been music director with the Tonhalle-Orchestra
Zurich, Houston Symphony, Orchestre de Paris, and Philadelphia Orchestra) could only be
lured to the NSO in 2010 by having made him artistic director of the whole Kennedy Center,
which was a salary-inflating bunny Deborah Rutter’s predecessor Michael Kaiser pulled out
of his hat....



http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenslaurson/2016/01/05/national-symphony-orchestra-new-conductor-ideal-but-audience-quality-has-to-match-him/

[jlaurson]

Fresh from Forbes:




JAN 5, 2015
Washington's National Symphony And Lang Lang In Vienna

...In such proximity to the Super Bowl, a football analogy will have to fit the bill: The National Symphony
Orchestra is to American orchestras what the...

...BA-Dam!! Christopher Rouse rips the score of his 1986 8- or 9-minute symphonic overture open with a loud,
butts-from-seats-jolting chord before plinking and plonging away, harp-supported, and moving on with great
gaiety in the woodwind section. The tuba engages in sounds that would make juveniles giggle; the neglected
strings are allowed a word in, edgewise, here and there. Eventually the music works up an appetite and goes
through more notes than the Cookie Monster through Oreos. Me want demisemiquaver!...

...And the antics? Even trying to look away, the occasional glance at the pianist is impossible and whenever it
occurs, it is met by the spectacle of a young man looking like a self-satisfied juvenile hamster who does the slow
face-pan to the audience – ecstatic stop – very-moved head-swivel – slow semi-circle back to the music – briefly
arrested movement along with transfixed-by-beauty-of-his-own-playing stare. Lang Lang’s gestures and
mimicking during a concert would make for primo live-blogging, if mobile phones weren’t so taboo during
classical concerts...


(Image courtesy [= stolen from] American Ambassador to Austria, Alexa Wesner)

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenslaurson/2016/02/10/washingtons-national-symphony-and-lang-lang-in-vienna/#149124a71520

[jlaurson]

Latest on Forbes.com:
Classical CD Of The Week: Liszt Inspections

Liszt Inspections, Marino Formenti (piano), Kairos

A gentle small-scale giant of music who doesn’t distinguish between “contemporary” and established, Marino Formenti has the preternatural ability to make any music sound weird.


http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenslaurson/2016/03/02/classical-cd-of-the-week-liszt-inspections-2/#2202ad6627f0

[jlaurson]

Latest on Forbes.com:
Classical CD Of The Week: Mozart Sonatas for Fortepiano

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Keyboard Sonatas vol.8 & 9, Kristian Bezuidenhout (fortepiano), (Harmonia Mundi)

There have been fortepianists before Ronald Brautigam and Kristian Bezuidenhout upon whose shoulders those two might be said to stand. But none had managed to so convincingly bring the fortepiano into the mainstream.


http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenslaurson/2016/03/09/classical-cd-of-the-week-mozart-sonatas-for-fortepiano/

[Que]

Latest on Forbes.com:
Classical CD Of The Week: Liszt Inspections

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Keyboard Sonatas vol.8 & 9, Kristian Bezuidenhout (fortepiano), (Harmonia Mundi)

There have been fortepianists before Ronald Brautigam and Kristian Bezuidenhout upon whose shoulders those two might be said to stand. But none had managed to so convincingly bring the fortepiano into the mainstream.


http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenslaurson/2016/03/09/classical-cd-of-the-week-mozart-sonatas-for-fortepiano/

One of the reasons you are so taken by Brautigam is the fact he uses a fortepiano built by McNulty…. So..I was wondering what instrument Bezuidenhout was playing on this recording?
(hint: when reviewing a period performance - please mention the specifics of the instrument) Result after some googling: a copy of an 1805 Walter instrument by Paul McNulty.
I guess no surprise. But seriously: I agree that Bezuidenhout is one of the most gifted forte pianists around.

Q

[jlaurson]

One of the reasons you are so taken by Brautigam is the fact he uses a fortepiano built by McNulty…. So..I was wondering what instrument Bezuidenhout was playing on this recording?
(hint: when reviewing a period performance - please mention the specifics of the instrument) Result after some googling: a copy of an 1805 Walter instrument by Paul McNulty.
I guess no surprise. But seriously: I agree that Bezuidenhout is one of the most gifted forte pianists around.

Q

I'm sorry, but isn't it mentioned right there: "The instrument used is a copy of an 1805 Watler & Son", fourth paragraph?  (I'll fix that to "Walter, of course)

[Que]

I'm sorry, but isn't it mentioned right there: "The instrument used is a copy of an 1805 Watler & Son", fourth paragraph?  (I'll fix that to "Walter, of course)

I overlooked .... I guess I wasn't quite awake yet - sorry about that! 

Anyway, my point here is that you quite like the sound produced by McNulty, the builder.
McNulty produces instruments that sound quite bold and robust.

Q

[jlaurson]

I overlooked .... I guess I wasn't quite awake yet - sorry about that! 

Anyway, my point here is that you quite like the sound produced by McNulty, the builder.
McNulty produces instruments that sound quite bold and robust.

Q

Well, I've heard Bezuidenhout on non-McNulty fortepianos and (ditto Brautigam) on Steinways... and he's pretty much a fab artist no matter what set of keys you put in front of him. That's *also* my point. But you are quite right, I think McNulty is the bee's knees in fortepiano-building and even an OK-McNulty will sound better than most original instruments. The newness is probably part of the robustness. And it's more authentic, to boot (if one cared for that), because Mozart & Co. were also playing quite new instruments, with fresh wood, rather than crisp 200-year old dried up mummies. 

[jlaurson]

Latest on Forbes.com:
Classical CD Of The Week: Mendelssohn String Quartets

Felix Mendelssohn-B., String Quartets Nos.2 & 3, Escher String Quartet, BIS

The reverb on the last thunderously struck notes hovers in the air and you can almost smell a whiff of burnt resin as the Escher Quartet puts their smoking bows back into their scabbards. Ripping stuff!


http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenslaurson/2016/03/16/classical-cd-of-the-week-mendelssohn-string-quartets/

[jlaurson]

Latest on Forbes.com:
Classical CD Of The Week: Bach for Solo Soprano

Johann Sebastian Bach, Cantatas for Solo-Soprano, Dorothee Mields / L’Orfeo Baroque Orchestra / Michi Gaigg, Carus

...This is arguably the weaker part of the recording at hand (Suzuki presents all 12 strophes, which even Carolyn Sampson, a rare singer I cherish just as much as Mields, can only just about make bearable), but in a way that speaks to the disc’s strength rather than any weakness...


http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenslaurson/2016/03/23/classical-cd-of-the-week-bach-for-solo-soprano/#120b34ce6c50

[jlaurson]

Latest on Forbes.com:

Music For The Easter Weekend: From Dresden Schütz to Elgar in Dresden

Anton Bruckner: Symphony No.2 | Edward Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius | Heinrich Schütz, Resurrection Historia | Gottfried August Homilius, St. Mark Passion | George Philipp Telemann, Brockes-Passion

...What soundtrack to the Passion of the Christ, Pesach, or the Easter bunny? Bach wrote eight cantatas for Easter that survived, the Easter-Oratorio, and the two Passions. That’s standard stuff and glorious and worthy any occasion but it’s been written about plenty. Including in last year’s post about Music for Easter on Forbes: “Bach And Beyond: Music For The Easter Weekend”. (Nods were also given to Dieterich Buxtehude (Membra Jesu Nostri) and Wagner’s Parsifal, and the less well known Carl Heinrich Graun and his Easter Oratorio.)...


http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenslaurson/2016/03/24/music-for-the-easter-weekend-from-dresden-schutz-to-elgar-in-dresden/#393a2abc66d6






Classical CD Of The Week: Charles Ives Down Under

Charles Ives, Orchestral Works v.2, Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis (conductor), Chandos SACD

...This disc, nominally the second volume in the Melbourne Orchestra’s cycle of Charles Ives orchestral works, contains three of his major goodies (Central Park in the Dark, Three Places in New England, and The Unanswered Question) and one of his less performed, perhaps underappreciated works in the most phenomenal performance I have heard: The New England Holidays Symphony. This combination makes the release a perfect starting place for this series and indeed a perfect starting place for your Ives-adventure...


http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenslaurson/2016/03/30/classical-cd-of-the-week-charles-ives-down-under/#20229fe06ede

[jlaurson]

Latest on Forbes.com:


Classical CD Of The Week: Croatian Romantic Discovery

Dora Pejačević, Piano Concerto, Orchestral Songs, Overture op.49, Brandenburg State Orchestra Frankfurt/Oder, Howard Griffith (conductor), cpo

...There are those who might wish to make a point of Dora Pejačevič being a composer of the female persuasion, but I would consider that possibly sexist; certainly faux-feminist posturing. She’s simply a good composer from a time where few women ardently pursued that kind of career. The music deserves credit on account of its beauty, not on account of Pejačevič’s chromosome-makeup....


http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenslaurson/2016/04/06/classical-cd-of-the-week-croatian-romantic-discovery/
[/quote]

[jlaurson]

Latest on Forbes.com:


Gergiev Starts Into Second Season In Munich

...On the subject of live-streaming concerts (a concept about which slight confusion seems to reign, when a live-stream of a concert from a few days ago was being promised) there came the comment, almost an aside, that because Gergiev’s a star, there were plenty of streaming requests coming forth. It was a blink-or-you-miss-it moment. But Woha! I’ll explain in a second....


http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenslaurson/2016/04/09/gergiev-starts-into-second-season-in-munich/#2a6df96c34b7

[jlaurson]

Latest on Forbes.com:


In Search Of A Home, Abroad: The Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra In North America

Forbes: The Bavarian RSO hits N.America today, starting @kencen & finishing @carnegiehall


http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenslaurson/2016/04/12/in-search-of-a-home-abroad-the-bavarian-radio-symphony-orchestra-in-north-america/

[jlaurson]

Latest on Forbes.com:


Classical CD Of The Week:
Danish Schumann With A Punch

Until not so long ago, Wolfgang Sawallisch’s set of Schumann Symphonies was
the universal consensus reference-recording which conveniently meant that
thinking about new recordings wasn’t necessary – nor listening...


http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenslaurson/2016/04/13/classical-cd-of-the-week-danish-schumann-with-a-punch/

[jlaurson]

latest on ionarts... or actually just dusting off of a post that has languished for almost ten years after WETA dumped their blog including the Mahler survey I wrote for them. Here is, at nearly-last (Symphony 4 has yet to be restored), the Introduction:

Gustav Mahler – A Brief Introduction



http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2016/04/gustav-mahler-brief-introduction.html

[jlaurson]

Latest on Forbes.com:
Bach At Home In Japan / Review of the
Konzerthaus Concert in Vienna

Where resides the best Bach Orchestra and Chorus in the world? Leipzig? Berlin?
Germany at least? Amsterdam – where the great Bach tradition still lives on vibrantly?
London, where the early music movement attained its first heights? Maybe, but for
my money try Kobe, Japan[1]. Forgive for a second the hyperbole of “best”: there
are other really, really fine ensembles that do Bach extremely proud. But the Bach
Collegium Japan (BCJ) and its founding director Masaaki Suzuki are are part of the
exclusive high-end of interpreters of the Leipzig’s Master and need yield to no one in
the quality of their Bach performances....


http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenslaurson/2016/04/17/bach-at-home-in-japan

[jlaurson]

Latest on Forbes.com:
Classical CD Of The Week: Living History Mozart

Paul Badura-Skoda seems like a pianist from another era – t’is almost surprising he
is still alive and busily recording! But he certainly is – and the wealth of his musical
knowledge shows in this latest of his recent Mozart solo-recordings on a 1790s
Anton Weller instrument....


http://www.forbes.com/sites/jenslaurson/2016/04/20/classical-cd-of-the-week-living-history-mozart/

[jlaurson]

Latest on ionarts:
Ionarts-at-Large: The Vienna Symphony's B Minor Mass: Bach to Snooze To

The Vienna Symphony Orchestra under Philippe Jordan has taken on the sensible, laudable,
wonderful mission of adding Bach to its regularish fare. Last year they performed the St.
Matthew Passion.[1] Next season it will be the St. John Passion. And on March 19th, it was
the Mass in B minor at the Vienna Konzerthaus – part of the now defunct “Osterklang”
Festival of secular music associated with the Theater an der Wien (or rather: its Intendant,
Roland Geyer).

In short, this Karl Richter memorial performance was...


http://ionarts.blogspot.com/2016/04/ionarts-at-large-vienna-symphonys-b.html