A Parade of Music and Support Mark My First Week at All Classical

During my first week at All Classical Portland, I was able to experience multiple aspects of how the station functions, especially during one of its major fundraisers. Putting faces to the voices I heard during many late nights of studying was a great way to start off my summer at the station.

Sitting in while Jack Allen and Christa Wessel were on air during the fundraiser was especially engaging in seeing how they both coordinated and contributed to one another’s energy, which was audible for listeners. The stunning panoramic view from the second floor of the Hampton Opera Building greatly connects hosts to the city and all that is going on each day. Jack and Christa’s charisma with one other gave volunteers in the adjacent conference room a boost of energy as the phones continued to ring throughout the day. Sharing stories and getting to know those who volunteered during the fundraiser was a great way for me to see how deeply passionate and committed to classical music the community is, as many of the volunteers spent hours answering calls from donors.

Hearing classical music and the voices of on air radio hosts played throughout the office made apparent the connectivity between what listeners are hearing and the staff that creates it.

Meeting Andrea Murray and discussing her show (Northwest Previews), interviewing, audio editing and production were all good starts to my summer of what is sure to be full of great experiences and discussions.

Replying to listener questions during my first day at the station was gratifying since many of them replied back and found the provided information helpful to them. I was also able to learn a lot about The Score, its Facebook page and website as well as Club Mod, which will be invaluable for me throughout the rest of the summer.

Getting my picture taken at the Rose Festival Parade with Governor Kate Brown along with other members of the station was a major highlight of my first week at All Classical Portland.

It was exciting to see how many people knew about the station and recognized their favorite radio hosts. Hearing shouts of “Edmund Stone I love your show!” and “I love All Classical!” were many of the comments heard from a diverse range of excited spectators.

The classic cars and throng of energetic supporters heightened All Classical Portland’s presence in the parade and was noticed by many in attendance, especially many of the parade’s announcers who knew the station and its hosts.

The station’s participation in the parade also represented a post-modern example that there doesn’t have to be a distinction between “high art” and pop culture: people can enjoy and experience both.

Marching to the familiar cinematic tunes of “Indiana Jones,” “Star Wars,” and other popular, well known classical pieces reinforced the notion that classical music is fun and should be enjoyed by all.

Overall, my first week at All Classical Portland was a great one and I look forward to many more this summer.

Crystal Records: 49 years of music in our midst

I recently interviewed Peter Christ, founder of Crystal Records, based north of Camas, WA. With him, Oregon Symphony’s Principal Horn, John Cox, who has participated in two recent recordings. Mr. Christ founded Crystal in Los Angeles in 1966, at a time when instrumental music, of the sort that Peter enjoyed, wasn’t covered much by the major labels. 49 years, and a move to the Columbia Gorge later, and Peter is still going strong, releasing probably about a dozen recordings in the last year alone. I’ve interviewed Peter before, but have never had the chance for him to tell “his story”, about the label, and the people he’s met over the years. Mr. Cox is a recent addition, lending more than three decades of Symphony performance, and a love of the chance to do chamber music, to a charming suite called “Rainbow Sundae” by Martin Scott Kosins.

Most recently, Mr. Cox is featured on a CD with Mr. Christ and others of the Westwood Wind Quintet of some major works for that complement of instruments. In the course of my conversation with my guests, John relates how Alvin Etler, an American composer, wrote music during the Cold War years, when there was as much a competition in music and the arts as there was in nuclear arms. There’s something of that tense age that comes through in Etler’s Woodwind Quintets 1 & 2. Etler’s successor in this area, Dan Welcher, also contributed a piece to the CD.

It’s my pleasure to share my conversation with these two musicians who have contributed so much our cultural life here in the Pacific Northwest, through the Oregon Symphony and Crystal Records.

Crystal Records: Fate and Fire
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Introducing violinist Itamar Zorman

Until now, all of the “audio blogs” that I’ve posted have been either about CDs by established artists and ensembles, or interviews with established musicians on their latest recording. In this case, it’s a review of a new CD, and an introduction of a bright new talent on the classical music scene: Itamar Zorman. Born in Tel-Aviv in 1985, Itamar knew from before he was a teenager that he wanted to be a concert violinist. That was in spite of a brief divergence in sports as a 14 year old: Itamar knew that his future lay not on the basketball court, but on the concert stage. Now 28, and holding a master’s degree and Artist Diploma from Juilliard, Mr. Zorman has since won several prestigious prizes. First was the 2011 Tchaikovsky competition, followed in 2013 as winner of the Avery Fisher Career Grant, the Borletti-Buitoni, and most recently the Warner Music Prize. These accomplishments helped pave the way to this debut disc which is the “portrait” of this artist’s wide-ranging interests and of his talent and performing style. I was delighted to discover a “Northwest” connection, as Mr. Zorman, in 2011, performed the Alban Berg concerto with the late maestro, James DePreist.

Joined by pianist Kwan Yi, whom Zorman met while at Juilliard, Itamar has assemble a program of pieces that dives into the deep end of the musical pool with the Theme and Variations by Olivier Messiaen, which I found appealing to listen to, and which Itamar says is quite challenging to the violinist and pianist. There’s the dramatic and tuneful Rondo in b minor by Schubert; Chausson’s Poeme, which has a story behind it which Itamar shares that I was unaware of; Hindemith’s Sonata for solo violin is the sort of work that really exposes the soloist’s technique, and which Mr. Zorman handles deftly and with great expression; and rounding out is the final violin sonata by Brahms, a surprisingly dark and angst-filled work, considering it’s one of those he wrote on the sunny shores of an Austrian lake in summertime. Give a listen to my conversation with Itamar Zorman; I think you’ll agree that this is a young violinist who’s on the right path.

Hilary Hahn pairs Mozart and Vieuxtemps

On the heels of her Grammy-winning “In 27 Pieces: The Hilary Hahn Encores”, the American violinist releases her first orchestral CD in five years with “Mozart 5/Vieuxtemps 4”. Ms. Hahn, who has been dazzling audiences with her artistry since she was a teenager, has been playing these works since she was 10 years old. The Vieuxtemps was the last piece she studied with her first teacher, Klara Berkovich, while the Mozart was the first she studied with Jascha Brodsky. These two concertos naturally have strong personal meaning for the violinist, both of them works she’s played now for about 25 years.

Hahn is well-known for her creative pairings of violin concertos, and says in her conversation with me that this is a very natural thing for her to do. This latest disc is no exception. While the contrast isn’t as startling as when she paired Brahms with Stravinsky, or Sibelius with Schoenberg, the classicism of Mozart and the Romanticism of Vieuxtemps stand in relief. However, the wealth of melodies and the assured structure of both works help make both works appealingly compatible. My audio blog helps to illustrate the differences and similarities of these two composers who were well-acquainted with the violin’s possibilities

Mozart 5, Vieuxtemps 4 – Violin Concertos
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Thoughts on Cuba

Our trip to Cuba with Earthbound Expeditions was a success. The only complaint that I heard was that we were overfed. I have heard worse.

Of course, Cuba is not like Puerto Rico or St. Martin, or any other island in the Caribbean. It is fraught, as much a symbol as a place. Our history with Cuba is tortuous, from the sinking of the Maine in 1898, to the Castro revolution and its aftermath, the Bay of Pigs, the Missile Crisis of 1962, the Mariel boatlift, and Guantanamo.

Whatever your opinion of Cuba, and its government, the island and its people exist in a separate plane from the politics. Cuba is a Third World nation. It is poor. The government is not open and democratic. The people on the street, and I admit that this is a small and unscientific sample, live their lives. They shop, they eat ice cream, they do what jobs they can find.

I believe that they are better off now than when Cuba was ruled by Fulgencio Batista, a vile dictator who was a puppet of the Carlos Marcello Mafia family. The people were not free then, either. Nostalgia for those times is misplaced. When Castro threw Batista out, the tyrant fled to Spain with an estimated $70 million, first to the Dominican Republic and his pal, Rafael Trujillo, then to Portugal and Antonio Salazar, finally to Spain and Francisco Franco. Birds of a feather, and all.

I understand that the Castro government is not what we would wish for the Cuban people. The embargo we set on Cuba, first by presidential decree in 1962, and then by the Helms-Burton Act of 1996, is cheerfully ignored by most of the world. It isolates us more than Cuba.

If we imposed the same standards across the range of our diplomatic relations with all other countries, we would have to embargo a great many of our “friends.”

Fidel is old, and not well. Raul is old, but has shown a flexibility beyond anything his brother demonstrated. I have no idea who is waiting in the wings to succeed the Castros. I do know that the small opening of recent US policy is important. Remember that there are many in Cuba who are as firm in their mistrust of the US as there are Americans who cast a wary eye on Cuba.

I hope that, soon, Cuba joins the nations whose governments we don’t love, but with whom we trade and have diplomatic relations. We once felt this way about China, and Russia and Viet Nam. The current policy has produced nothing but mutual animosity and distrust. Let’s see what a few-hundred-thousand American tourists and businesses can do.

Flowers of the Field

This Naxos release (Nov. 2014) appeared very near the centennial of the beginning of World War I, or “The Great War” as it is known in Britain, from where the composers of this compelling recordings hailed. All of the composers – Ralph Vaughan Williams, George Butterworth, Ivor Gurney and Gerald Finzi – had their lives impacted by the conflict. Vaughan Williams served as a medic; Butterworth fought at the Front, and died in1916; Ivor Gurney was injured by gas attacks, and 19 years later died in an asylum. Gerald Finzi was a teenager who fled Zeppelin attacks, became a pupil of Gerald Farrar. Farrar went to France and was killed on his way to the front, just days after leaving England.

After the war, Finzi composed a requiem in tribute to Farrar which quotes Butterworth’s “A Shropshire Lad”. Butterworth’s music predates the war, but seems to predict the coming storm. Ivor Gurney’s “The Trumpet”, based on a poem written in 1916 by Edward Thomas. And Vaughan Williams’ An Oxford Elegy, finished in 1949, is a tribute to those who fought in the Second World War, but also memorializes his friend, George Butterworth, from three decades before.

There is an elegiac quality to the music, naturally, and these composers, who were all touched by the war in different ways, respond in their own voices. There are moments of wistfulness, the loss of innocence, and even anger. But you’ll also find in this music a sense of hope. The stories told here are not unique to events of a century ago, but resonate with the experiences of our own time.

Flowers of the Field
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Together: Yolanda Kondonassis and Jason Vieaux

He recently won the Grammy for “Play” as Best Instrumental Solo, and was also in Portland in the fall for a solo recital with Portland Classic Guitar. She has a Grammy-nominated CD titled “Air”, and next season, will perform Alberto Ginastera’s Harp Concerto with the Oregon Symphony. Now, harpist Yolanda Kondonassis and guitarist Jason Vieaux have released a gorgeous and adventurous first CD that pairs these two extraordinary American musical talents. “Together” is the apt title of this first collaboration by these two performers, who both teach at the Cleveland Institute of Music, and in this CD have crafted a diverse but at the same time, cohesive grouping of works for their instruments, many of which are by living composers (Maximo Diego Puhol, Gary Schocker and Keith Fitch), but also by such greats as the Catalan composer Xavier Montsavatge and American Alan Hovhaness.

I had an enjoyable time recently with Mr. Vieaux and Ms. Kondonassis, learning how these two just recently started playing together, and how their collaborations culminated in this new CD that has music that fully explores the possibilities of harp and guitar, both as a duo and individually. You’ll hear a selection from each of the pieces on their new disc, and hear about their approach to this repertoire, which they say presents some special challenges as well as rewards.

Kondonassis & Vieaux: Together
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Avi Avital, Vivaldi and Venice

Last summer, we introduced you to Avi Avital with “Between Worlds”, Mr. Avital’s second CD for Deutsche Grammophon, where the Israeli-born mandolinist sought to bridge classical and folk genres, and effortlessly navigated between those “worlds”. Now making Berlin his home, Avi is embarking on a tour with Venice Baroque Orchestra, playing works by that city’s most famous son, Antonio Vivaldi, including what is arguably the most famous concerto written for Avi’s instrument. This recording is the result of his collaboration with this remarkably versatile and ambitious orchestra, and Mr. Avital matches them note for note in intensity and creative expression. He told me in my audio blog that he asked himself “how can I offer the listeners an opportunity to hear it for the first time… again?”

Along the way, Avi reunites with one of the current leading harpsichordists, the Iranian-born Mahan Esfahani (in Vivaldi’s C major trio), and Metropolitan Opera star, Juan Diego Florez, bridging the music of the concert hall with that heard in the canals of Venice. Listen closely, toward the end of my conversation with Avi, to how I painted a picture in sound for you with the traditional Venetian song performed by Mr. Florez.

Avi Avital was a pleasure to speak with: he’s an enthusiastic advocate for an instrument that continues to bridge worlds and break down walls between many genres of music. I think you’ll enjoy the time spent listening to our chat.

Vivaldi / Avi Avital
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Broadway & Lafayette: Simone Dinnerstein in New York and Paris

Pianist Simone Dinnerstein first gained notice with her recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, a recording which she funded herself, and which launched her international career. Not long after, Ms. Dinnerstein recorded other works of Bach, the contemporary composer Philip Lasser, Schubert and Beethoven. On her newest CD, she’s created a musical bridge between France and the United States, exploring a relationship that shares ideas across the Atlantic, from Broadway and Lafayette streets in New York, to the avenues of Paris. Philip Lasser is back, too, himself part French, and has written for Ms. Dinnerstein a piano concerto based on a Bach chorale. Ravel and Gershwin met (Simone explains more in my audio blog), both in Paris and New York, and the influence of each on the other is particularly noticeable. Dinnerstein brings out the “Ravelian” qualities in the Gershwin, and vice versa. Lasser’s “The Circle and the Child” is a well-constructed three-movement work with many appealing moments built on Bach’s Ihr Gestirn, ihr hohlen Lüfte (Your star, her high air and thou bright firmament), and completes the circle of old and new music, and the Old and the New worlds.

Simone Dinnerstein: Broadway & Lafayette (Ravel, Lasser & Gershwin)
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Taking the “Middle” road: Cypress Quartet plays Beethoven

When I think of Beethoven’s 15 string quartets, which are works that represent the whole of the composer’s adult life, I liken them to taking a long trek up a mountain. If Opus 18 is the trailhead and the first few miles, the “middle period” quartets of Opp. 59, 74 and 95 are when the trail starts a steeper incline, and the “late period” works lead us to the summit. As a group that formed nearly 20 years ago, the San Francisco-based Cypress String Quartet decided to go straight for the higher altitude, and recorded the final quartets first. With their new 3-CD set, cellist Jennifer Kloetzel explains why in my audio blog about their newest CD of Beethoven’s “Razumovsky” works, and violinist Tom Stone delves into the meanings of this music for their group throughout their career.

Beethoven: The Middle String Quartets/Cypress String Quartet (Avie Classics)
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