Elliott Carter, 1908-2012

[Guido]

The 1st reviewer on the Rosen cd, gives mostly 5 stars to all his reviews. Not too selective if you ask me.

I almost always give five on my reviews, because I only write reviews for CDs that I love. Occasionally I will write one for one that I think is particularly bad

[Joe Barron]

I almost always give five on my reviews, because I only write reviews for CDs that I love. Occasionally I will write one for one that I think is particularly bad

I usally give four or five stars. For recordings I really like, I give four. I reserve five stars for those CDs I regard as life altering.

[Guido]

What do people think of the new Naxos release of the first and fifth quartets?

Oddly if you try and download it from itunes it has recordings of Tchaikovsky's first piano concerto among other things...

[Joe Barron]

What do people think of the new Naxos release of the first and fifth quartets?

Oddly if you try and download it from itunes it has recordings of Tchaikovsky's first piano concerto among other things...

I haven't heard it yet, though I do have it on preorder at Amazon. I don't download iTunes, and I don't subscribe to Naxos online, so I'll just have to wait until February. But I've got a lot of Carter to listen to between now and then, and I've learned to be patient about these things --- within limits.

paulb: There's ton of new Carter works that haven't been recorded commercially yet: Of Rewaking, In the Distances of Sleep, Soundings, Three Illusions, the Horn Concerto, Inteventions, the Clarinet Quintet, and probably some of the short pieces, though at the moment I can't recall which ones. I guess we are going to have to wait a while for them to be released, but I hope it won't be eight to ten years. The scheduling decisions of record-company exectuives elude me.

[Joe Barron]

Bruce Hodges and I got together last night in NYC for the first concert in Juilliard's Focus Festival dedicated to Elliott Carter. I won't go into too much detai, but Bruce and I agreed it was exhilarating and memorable. In a word, great. Boulez conducted members of the New Juilliard Ensemble and the Lucerne Festival Academy Ensemble in lucid performmances of Carter's Triple Duo, Penthode and Clarinet Concerto. To put the music in context, the program also included Integrales by Varese, Stravinsky's Concertino for Twelve Instruments, and Boulez' own Derive I, which was very pretty. (Bruce called it an extension of Debussy, and I saw no reason to argue.)

Ismail Lumanovski was the soloist in the concerto, and he was astonishing.  There's no other word for it. Irrespective of the music, he was exciting to watch and he jerked his body to the music and his fingers fluttered over the instrument. Wow.

I had a brief encounter during intermission. I was in the corridor, having emerged from the men's room, when James Levine stepped out of a side door and asked me how long the intermission would be. Maybe it was because I was the only person near him, or maybe he thought I was an usher. I don't know. I also didn't know how long the intermission was supposed to be, but I was eager to please, so I winged it. Looking at my fifteen-dollar digital watch, I told him he should have another ten minutes or so. He thanked me and went back into the side door, presumably to return downstairs and speak to Carter. Bruce, who had been standing a few feet away, was goggling at me as though I had just met the ghost of Lincoln.

Turns out I wasn't too far wrong about the ten minutes, which was a relief. I had visions of Levine speaking to me afterward to express his disappointment.
   

[bhodges]

Bruce, who had been standing a few feet away, was goggling at me as though I had just met the ghost of Lincoln.

I don't have much to add to Joe's comments, other than to reiterate that the concert was very exciting, all of it.  The place was packed: the Sharp Theater seats 933 people and every seat was taken.  The seating was general admission and we snagged two on the first row of the balcony in the center, perfect for seeing everyone onstage (and the sound is excellent up there). 

The Clarinet Concerto was undoubtedly the hit of the evening, and Lumanovski was just incredible to watch.  It's hard to believe that someone so young can have the measure of a piece this complex, but he made it look quite easy.  Reading the program notes later, I realized I'd heard him in 2006 in Guus Janssen's Concerto for 3 Clarinets and Ensemble (also with the New Juilliard Ensemble), and was impressed with his playing even then.  All three players were excellent but Lumanovski stood out--great tone, phrasing, everything.

Great evening, all around, and we have an entire week of Carter to go, with lots of his chamber music.  I hope to make several of these before the closing night next Saturday, when Levine will do Ives's Three Places in New England, followed by Carter's Cello Concerto and Symphonia: sum fluxae pretieum spei, all with the Juilliard Orchestra.  It's going to be a blockbuster of a concert.

--Bruce

[Guido]

Thanks for the reviews guys - I wish more was going on here!

I can;t imagine a more stimulating or exciting concert than this:

Great evening, all around, and we have an entire week of Carter to go, with lots of his chamber music.  I hope to make several of these before the closing night next Saturday, when Levine will do Ives's Three Places in New England, followed by Carter's Cello Concerto and Symphonia: sum fluxae pretieum spei, all with the Juilliard Orchestra.  It's going to be a blockbuster of a concert.

--Bruce

[paulb]

Thanks for the reviews guys - I wish more was going on here!

I can;t imagine a more stimulating or exciting concert than this:

yeah i wonder how often Carter is on program outside NYC. I know Levine dida   all Carter program in Boston, which Karl wrote a  revealing review on 2 yrs ago. But of course Boston being NYC's sister city of sorts, thats still in the same region of the country. has Carter been on program in Boston since that concert 2 YEARS AGO?
i see NYC has a series devoted to Carter which is quite remarkable. i mean its a  old time Jamboree for Carter , a  real Carter Festival, nice!
But what are the chances of Carter making program in Chicago, Los Angeles, ..lets see where else would there be a  modern/avant garde camp willing to sell out a  1000 seat auditorium for Carter...ahh New Orleans, hippest place in the country. Why even Jolie and Brad are now most often choosing  their New orleans french quater home over other mansions.
Come on Joe, pull some strings there in NYC and get us some Carter shows down here.   

[Joe Barron]

Come on Joe, pull some strings there in NYC and get us some Carter shows down here.   

Yeah, I'll call my good buddy James Levine. I told him the time once.

[greg]

Bruce Hodges and I got together last night in NYC for the first concert in Juilliard's Focus Festival dedicated to Elliott Carter. I won't go into too much detai, but Bruce and I agreed it was exhilarating and memorable. In a word, great. Boulez conducted members of the New Juilliard Ensemble and the Lucerne Festival Academy Ensemble in lucid performmances of Carter's Triple Duo, Penthode and Clarinet Concerto. To put the music in context, the program also included Integrales by Varese, Stravinsky's Concertino for Twelve Instruments, and Boulez' own Derive I, which was very pretty. (Bruce called it an extension of Debussy, and I saw no reason to argue.)

Ismail Lumanovski was the soloist in the concerto, and he was astonishing.  There's no other word for it. Irrespective of the music, he was exciting to watch and he jerked his body to the music and his fingers fluttered over the instrument. Wow.

I had a brief encounter during intermission. I was in the corridor, having emerged from the men's room, when James Levine stepped out of a side door and asked me how long the intermission would be. Maybe it was because I was the only person near him, or maybe he thought I was an usher. I don't know. I also didn't know how long the intermission was supposed to be, but I was eager to please, so I winged it. Looking at my fifteen-dollar digital watch, I told him he should have another ten minutes or so. He thanked me and went back into the side door, presumably to return downstairs and speak to Carter. Bruce, who had been standing a few feet away, was goggling at me as though I had just met the ghost of Lincoln.

Turns out I wasn't too far wrong about the ten minutes, which was a relief. I had visions of Levine speaking to me afterward to express his disappointment.
   

whoaaaaaaa man i wish i was there!

Yeah, I'll call my good buddy James Levine. I told him the time once.

you'll be saying that the rest of your life, i bet
i had a friend once who kept on mentioning the time he talked to Tiger Woods, and he said something like, "you're going to become something some day"

[Joe Barron]

i had a friend once who kept on mentioning the time he talked to Tiger Woods, and he said something like, "you're going to become something some day"

I interviewed John Updike for the paper once, and it was days before people in the office realized his middle name wasn't f***ing ...

[greg]

I interviewed John Updike for the paper once, and it was days before people in the office realized his middle name wasn't f***ing ...

lol, i wonder what he'd think about that.

[karlhenning]

Bruce, who had been standing a few feet away, was goggling at me as though I had just met the ghost of Lincoln.

Aghast, no doubt, at your cool-as-dammit fib 

[Joe Barron]

Nice review of the concert in today's Times. I like that Mr. Tomassini calls Boulez a contemporary Ravel, since Bruce pointed that out Friday, though he used the name Debussy. Nice going, Bruce!

[bhodges]

Nice review of the concert in today's Times. I like that Mr. Tomassini calls Boulez a contemporary Ravel, since Bruce pointed that out Friday, though he used the name Debussy. Nice going, Bruce!

I've often thought that some of Boulez's work (also Répons, for example) feels directly linked to those composers (either will do).  Anyone who can't get inside his thornier pieces might really respond to these.

--Bruce

[not edward]

Nice review of the concert in today's Times. I like that Mr. Tomassini calls Boulez a contemporary Ravel, since Bruce pointed that out Friday, though he used the name Debussy. Nice going, Bruce!

I think Bruce is more accurate than Tomassini.

Tomorrow is C-Day in Canada: the first of the Pacifica recordings should arrive in shops on Tuesday!

[johnQpublic]

Tomorrow is C-Day in Canada: the first of the Pacifica recordings should arrive in shops on Tuesday!

LOOK!! The lines outside Barnes & Noble have already formed!!!

[Joe Barron]

LOOK!! The lines outside Barnes & Noble have already formed!!!

Amazon said they've already shipped my copy. I'm expecting it at any time. They probaby timed it so it would arrive the same day it hits the stores.

[Joe Barron]

From the Associated Press (real this time  ):

On Dec. 11, the day of Carter's 100th birthday, the Boston Symphony Orchestra, music director James Levine and pianist Daniel Barenboim will play the New York premiere of Carter's "Interventions for Piano and Orchestra," a co-commission of Carnegie Hall, the BSO and the Staatskapelle Berlin. The following day, an all-Carter program of chamber music will be presented in Zankel Hall, below the main auditorium.

Next season at Carnegie Hall has just been announced. The Dec. 11 program will also include Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 3 and Le Sacre.

The chamber concert Dec. 12 is as follows:

Canon for 4 
Enchanted Preludes 
Gra 
Duo for Violin and Piano 
Con leggerezza pensosa 
Esprit Rude/Esprit Doux 
Mosaic (US Premiere) 

[Joe Barron]

Well, today I got my Pacifica's recording of Carter's First and Fifth Quartets on Naxos. Tonioght I listened to the Fifth, twice. It's a crisp, full-throated reading, very enjoyable. I'd say it's worth the price of admission. I'll get back to you again when I've listened to the First.