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Arts & Entertainment, Music

What We’re Hearing This Month: Classical Music Picks for October

Welcome to October! This month is jam-packed with classical music events in the Seattle area, enough to have our critics scrambling from concert to concert every week. There’s plenty for everyone to enjoy, from early music to new music. Here are a few of our top picks for the month ahead, though this only scratches the surface of this month’s cornucopia of offerings.

Seattle Symphony Principal Cellist Efe Baltacıgil (Photo: Mainly Mozart)

Oct. 4, 6 -7 — Seattle Symphony Principal Cellist Efe Baltacıgil celebrates the start of his second season in Seattle with a performance as featured soloist in Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme. Also on the program is Mussorgsky’s A Night on Bald Mountainand Sibelius’ Symphony No. 1.

Oct. 4 – 6  — Modern dance masters from the Paul Taylor Dance Company will be joined by the Seattle Modern Orchestra for three performances of The Uncommitted, a dance piece featuring the music of Estonian composer Arvo Pärt. Also on the program are two other pieces choreographed by Taylor. The performance is part of the University of Washington’s World Dance Series and will be held at the UW’s Meany Hall.

Oct. 5 – 7 — Thanks to the Northwest Sinfonietta, American and Cuban orchestras will perform together in the U.S. for the first time since the Cuban Revolution in 1959. The NW Sinfonietta will be joined by members of Cuba’s Orquesta de Cámara Concierto Sur for a three concert series. For this historic event, they’ll perform works by Cuban composer Ernesto Lecuona as well as Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

Oct. 13 – 27 — Seattle Opera presents Fidelio, Beethoven’s only opera. This atmospheric work tells the tale of Lenore, a woman who disguises herself as a man to free her husband from a political prison.

Oct. 19 — Seattle Symphony kicks off its new “Untitled” concert series with “1962”, a program of works by 20th century masters Cage, Scelsi, Feldman, Xenakis, and Ligeti. The International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE) will join members of the Symphony for this late-night performance in the Benaroya Hall Grand Lobby. The action begins at 9:00 pm with a performance of Gabriel Prokofiev’s Concerto for Turntables and the Orchestra.

Oct. 20 — Early music ensemble Pacific Musicworks performs Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610 at St. James Cathedral. This is a great opportunity to hear one of the composer’s most cherished works in one of Seattle’s most glorious sacred spaces.

La Catrina Quartet (Photo: UW World Series)

Oct. 22 — The chamber music mavericks at Classical Revolution are back! This time, they’ll be taking over The Royal Room in Columbia City for their monthly chamber music jam. This month’s event centers around chamber music for the piano, taking full advantage of The Royal Room’s Steinway B instrument.

Oct. 25 — Legendary composer Philip Glass returns to Kirkland Performance Center for an evening of music with Foday Musa Suso, a master of the African Kora.

Oct. 27 — Seattle Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra kicks off the 2012-13 season with a performance of Vaughan Williams’ Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis. Violinist Denise Dillenbeck joins the orchestra for Prokofiev’s Violin Concerto No. 1. Also on the program are works by Tchaikovsky and Massenet.

Oct. 30 — La Catrina Quartet brings their signature blend of Latin American and standard repertoire to the University of Washington’s Meany Hall. They’ll perform works by Haydn, Revueltas, Ponce, Frank, and Dvorák.

Arts & Entertainment, Music

2012-13 Season Preview: The Year Ahead in Seattle Classical Music

Fall has arrived. Summer vacations are coming to an end, and it’s time to head back to school and work. For classical musicians, it’s back to the concert hall for the start of a new season. Now that autumn’s here, Seattle’s classical music ensembles have been announcing their performance schedules for the upcoming year. It looks like we have a fantastic season of concerts in store!

Here are few highlights from the major local ensembles, a list of notable events, and tips on groups to watch in the coming year.

Seattle Symphony Music Director Ludovic Morlot (Photo: Michael DiVito)

Seattle Symphony

  • The usual roster of visiting luminaries returns to Benaroya Hall this year, including Joshua Bell, Itzhak Perlman, Andras Schiff, Hilary Hahn, Emanuel Ax, Garrick Ohlsson, Gil Shaham, Yefim Bronfman, and Anne-Sophie Mutter.
  • (Untitled), the Symphony’s exciting new concert series, provides a much-needed space for 20th century and contemporary classical music at Benaroya Hall.
  • Sonic Evolution returns for a second year. This popular fall concert features new symphonic works inspired by icons of the Seattle pop and rock scenes. This year’s Sonic Evolution includes local alt-country favorites Star Anna and the Laughing Dogs.
  • Hear all four of Rachmaninoff’s piano concertos at Rach Fest, in early January. Four up-and-coming young pianists will perform the concertos in two concerts with the Symphony.
  • The Symphony presents their premiere performance of Messiaen’s Turangalîla Symphony in January. This important 20th century work features the ondes Martenot, an electronic musical instrument similar to the theremin.

Seattle Opera

  • Seattle Opera‘s season began last month with a gorgeous production of Turandot and continues with Beethoven’s Fidelio in October. Other upcoming productions include Rossini’s Cinderella, Puccini’s La Boheme, and a double-bill featuring Poulenc’s La Voix Humaine and Puccini’s Suor Angelica.

Pacific Northwest Ballet

  • PNB has a fantastic collection of audience favorites in store this season. Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake is likely to draw crowds, as well as productions of two Prokofiev ballets: Romeo & Juliet and Cinderella.

    Pianist Hélène Grimaud (Photo: Mat Hennek / DG)

UW World Series

  • The President’s Piano Series brings another crop of all-star pianists to UW’s Meany Theater, including Hélène Grimaud, Christopher O’Riley (host of NPR’s From the Top radio program), and Jon Kimura Parker, who will perform his own transcription of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring.
  • Prepare for an impressive line-up of chamber music concerts this season with the International Chamber Music Series. Seattle audiences will be treated to performances by the Emerson String Quartet, Juilliard String Quartet, Tafelmusik, Tokyo String Quartet, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
  • This season’s World Dance Series includes two exciting collaborations between international dance companies and local classical music ensembles. In November, the Paul Taylor Dance Company will team up with Seattle Modern Orchestra for a piece featuring music by Arvo Pärt. Then, in January, Compagnie Marie Chouinard will be joined by the UW Symphony Orchestra for a performance of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring.

Early Music Guild & Seattle Baroque Orchestra

  • The Early Music Guild’s International Series presents a prestigious list of visiting ensembles this season, including Musica Ficta, Hesperion XXI, the Baltimore Consort, the King’s Singers, and Tafelmusik. Also on the calendar is a special performance of the epic poem Beowulf by harpist and bard Benjamin Bagby.
  • Bach fans will be pleased to hear that the Seattle Baroque Orchestra is planning two concerts of Johann Sebastian’s music this season. In addition, soprano Ellen Hargis returns to Seattle for a program of arias from Italian Baroque operas.

TownMusic

  • TownMusic artistic director Joshua Roman kicked off Town Hall’s classical music series this week with a concert of piano trios. The series continues with performances from the musical comedy duo Ingudesman & Joo (of “Rachmaninoff Had Big Hands” fame), the Talea Ensemble, JACK Quartet, and violinist Jennifer Koh.

    Portland Cello Project (Photo: Jason Quigley)

Ensembles to Watch

  • The Seattle Metropolitan Chamber Orchestra may be a new orchestra on the block, but they have an exciting fourth season in store. Their season opener features Vaughan Williams’ beloved Fantasia on a Theme of Thomas Tallis.
  • Lutenist Stephen Stubbs’ early music ensemble Pacific Musicworks is back with another season of ambitious programming, including Monteverdi’s Vespers of 1610, a collaboration with the Seattle Dance Project, and a performance of Handel’s newly-discovered cantata Gloria.
  • Tacoma’s Broadway Center for the Performing Arts get my vote for “venue to watch” this year. This season they’ll present the Fireworks Ensemble, experimental cellist Zoe Keating, the Portland Cello Project, and violinist Mark O’Connor.

Exciting Events

  • Philip Glass shuns Seattle in favor of the Eastside for the second year in a row. The renowned composer returns to Kirkland Performance Center in late October for a performance with Foday Musa Suso, a master of the African Kora.
  • Celebrate the John Cage centennial with the Seattle Modern Orchestra. Their John Cage Festival in early November features a documentary about the composer’s life as well as performances of some of his most famous works.
  • Known for their orchestral arrangements of Radiohead, Queen, and the Arcade Fire, the ever-popular Seattle Rock Orchestra rings in the new year with a concert of new works for orchestra.
  • Chicago-based contemporary music ensemble eighth blackbird pays a visit to Kirkland Performance Center in January. This GRAMMY-winning ensemble is a must-see for new music fans.
  • Choreographer Donald Byrd and the edgy, experimental dancers of Spectrum Dance Theater present their take on Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana in April.
Arts & Entertainment, Music

Pacific MusicWorks gives a Triumphal “Il Trionfo del Tempo”

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Daniels Recital Hall (the sanctuary of the old Methodist Church at 5th and Marion) is not yet a convenient or acoustically excellent concert space, but Pacific MusicWorks triumphed over an inadequate stage with an unsuitable shape for an orchestra, plus far too much carpeting throughout, to produce a superb concert version of Handel’s Il Trionfo del Tempo (The Triumph of Time) Friday night (it’s repeated just once more, tonight, March 31; tickets: $20-$40).

The other triumph is Handel’s. He composed Il Trionfo in Rome in 1707, at the age of 22. It was his first oratorio, and it contains 24 arias, two duets, and two quartets, each one more gorgeous than the last, some coruscating with florid runs and ornaments, others slower and exquisite, and running the gamut of expression. As Roger Downey put it in his excellent notes, Handel “slips in jigs, lullabies, and calls to battle, seductions, laments, glees and prayers, each with a distinctive instrumental accompaniment….”

These are what liven up the stilted libretto written by Handel’s patron, Cardinal Pamphili, essentially a discussion between Beauty, Pleasure, Truth (or Wise Counsel), and Time, on which lasts longest. Beauty is the protagonist the others seek to convince prior to Pamphili’s foregone and puritanical conclusion. In other hands it could have been dull. In Handel’s it’s a rainbow array of sparkling beauty.

Daniels is hardly the venue deserved by performers of the caliber of Pacific MusicWorks instrumentalists and singers, but it’s a pleasure to hear them in such intimate quarters.

Soprano Amanda Forsythe as Beauty, soprano/mezzo-soprano Dominique Labelle as Pleasure, and countertenor Lawrence Zazzo as Truth have all been in demand worldwide, not just for Baroque performance, while tenor Ross Hauck as Time has chosen to base his career here, but had no problem living up to the quality of the other three.

While this was a concert performance, both women embodied their characters, in appearance and demeanor. While Labelle was the mature, sophisticated, worldly woman, dressed in chic designer black flounces over pantaloons with a voluminous gold stole and hefty crystal necklace; Forsythe, vivacious, seductive, fun-loving and young, took the breath away in a simple gold-threaded black dress over one shoulder only, her dark hair caught up at the top of her head and falling in a long ringlet over the bare shoulder and held with a slim gold band. The two guys in rumpled black suits, black shirts, and no ties, couldn’t compete in looks.

In voice, however, all four were a joy to hear for their timbral qualities and technical artistry. Not only could they sing Handel’s exciting, demanding arias with dazzling aplomb and embroider the even more demanding repeats, their expressiveness embodied the words: Forsythe’s beguiling, pouting, conflicted, and finally accepting self; Labelle’s flattery and wiles, tenderness, outrage, and sense of abandonment at the end; Time’s intensity and unpalatable truths; Truth’s urgency and plain honesty, though some of these are more difficult to portray. The gentle duet between Time and Truth near the end was one of the loveliest and a highlight. Zazzo’s countertenor has a huge range, and Hauck amazed some who had no idea he had such strong low notes, almost down to baritone level

Among the Baroque musicians, violinist Tekla Cunningham, cellist Joanna Blendulf, viola da gambist Margriet Tindemans, harpist Maxine Eilander, organist Joseph Adam, and oboists Kathryn Montoya and Owen Watkins all had prominent roles, led from the harpsichord and lute by Stephen Stubbs, who is also music director of Pacific MusicWorks and the prime mover behind the effort to bring top class Baroque opera performance to Seattle. However, thanks to the awkward stage shape, the oboists at first had some difficulty being heard and being together with the soloists.

It’s worth taking notice of Pacific MusicWorks announcements and making sure to get to its performances, including those now being hosted by Cornish College of the Arts. Each time it performs, the result is something rare, in the music itself, in performers, in style.

Arts & Entertainment, Music

What We’re Hearing This Month: Classical Music Picks for March

March is upon us, but it’s still blustery, rainy, and cold outside. Luckily, Seattle’s got plenty of live classical music to keep you warm while we all hunker down and wait for spring to arrive. Our picks for the month range from epic choral works to 20th century piano pieces. Experience chamber music in a cafe or hear a jazz trio perform Stravinsky. There’s something for everyone!

The Bad Plus (Photo: The Durham Herald-Sun)

Mar. 1 – 3 — Welcome the month of March with some modern dance. Limón Dance Company performs works by Latin American choreographers at University of Washington’s Meany Hall.

Mar. 9 — Head over the pond to Bellevue to Cafe Cesura, where members of the Parnassus Project and Classical Revolution present a free evening of French chamber music. Relax with a cup of coffee and enjoy live classical music in a casual setting.

Mar. 10  — Experience The Rite of Spring in an entirely new way. Experimental jazz trio The Bad Plus performs the score for Stravinsky’s revolutionary ballet at Tacoma’s Pantages Theater.

Mar. 10 — Four brand-new choral works by composers Mason Bates, Ted Hearne, Paul Crabtree, and The Esoterics‘ own Eric Banks at St. Joseph’s on Capitol Hill, featuring Bates’ Sirens (2009), a six-movement piece commissioned by Chanticleer that explores the seductive, mythical creatures from a variety of cultures.

Mar. 10 – 11 — St. James Cathedral provides a spectacular setting for Seattle Pro Musica‘s performance of  J. S. Bach’s masterpiece, the St. John Passion.

Mar. 14 — Support local composers! Choral Arts performs Pietá, a work by Seattle composer John Muehleisen, at St. Mark’s Cathedral.

Mar. 17 – 18 — Seattle Pianist Collective presents “End Times”, a program of piano works by Olivier Messiaen. The March 17 concert is at the Chapel Performance Space at the Good Shepherd Center. March 18’s performance is at the Seattle Asian Art Museum.

Stephen Stubbs, director of Pacific Musicworks (Photo: Berkshire Fine Arts)

Mar. 30 – 31 — Head to Daniels Recital Hall downtown for Pacific Musicworks‘ performance of Handel’s Il Triomfo del Tempo (“The Triumph of Time”), featuring four vocal soloists and a full Baroque orchestra.

Mar. 31 — Music Northwest celebrates Debussy’s birthday with a concert of the composer’s most celebrated chamber music works, held at Olympic Recital Hall on the South Seattle Community College campus.

Mar. 31 – Apr. 7 — Witness the talented cast of Seattle Opera Young Artists perform Donizetti’s Don Pasquale at University of Washington’s Meany Hall.

Arts & Entertainment, Music

What We’re Hearing This Month: Classical Music Picks for January 2012

2012 is only a week old, but Seattle’s classical music scene is off to a fantastic start for the year with dozens of events around the city. Classical music critics Phillippa Kiraly and Dana Wen weigh in with their picks for this month.

Jan. 13 & 14 – Pacific Musicworks presents a semi-staged performance of Carissimi’s opera The Prophets at St. James Cathedral. This is a rare chance to hear a rare work with a stellar cast.

Jan. 14 – 28 — Seattle Opera performs Verdi’s Attila at McCaw Hall, with the great bass John Relyea in the title role. Experience a modern staging of one of Verdi’s early operas.

Ingrid Matthews and Byron Schenkman

Jan. 20 – Who doesn’t love Latin music? Viva la Música at Benaroya Hall features pianist Arnaldo Cohen and the Seattle Symphony performing works by Latin American composers.

Jan. 26 & 28 — Pianist Marc-André Hamelin joins the Seattle Symphony for Chopin’s Second Piano Concerto. Also on the  program is Schubert’s “Unfinished” Symphony and a world premiere of a work by Nico Muhly.

Jan. 27 — Marc-André Hamelin and members the Seattle Symphony present a program of Russian quintets at Nordstrom Recital Hall. This is a chance to hear pianist Hamelin performing chamber music.

Jan. 27 — Now in its second season, Seattle Modern Orchestra explores the theme “Layers of Time” at Cornish College of the Arts’ PONCHO Concert Hall.

Jan. 28 — Seattle Baroque Orchestra presents Common Ground at Town Hall, featuring Ingrid Matthews and Byron Schenkman, two  of Seattle’s best early music performers. The duo will play a program of inventive 17th century music with repeating bass lines.

Jan. 29 — Innovative string quartet Brooklyn Rider returns to Town Hall with works by Beethoven, Philip Glass, and John Zorn.

Arts & Entertainment, Music

Pacific MusicWorks & Les Voix Baroques Introduce a “New” Concert Hall

Saturday night saw the debuts of two old-and-new players on Seattle’s music scene: a new old hall, visited by a contemporary voice for early music.

(Photo: Daniels Recital Hall)

The First United Methodist Church at Fifth and Marion was built in 1907, serving the community there until it moved in 2008-09 to Belltown. Now the old church, having escaped demolition thanks to enlightened developer Kevin Daniels, has reopened its sanctuary as a concert venue: Daniels Recital Hall.

Saturday saw its first use for an early music performance, coming full circle from the 1980s and early ’90s when this was where the Early Music Guild presented its regular concert series.

Many of the those same concertgoers were on hand to hear the first in a new series from Pacific MusicWorks. Led by lutenist Stephen Stubbs, Pacific MusicWorks intends to bring early instruments and voices together for its performances, and also to incorporate later music up to the present day where it fits the premise of the concert. (Pacific MusicWorks’ next concert will be a theatrical staging of Carissimi’s Prophets at St. James Cathedral, January 13-14.)

Canticum Canticorum, The Song of Songs, included 17th-century settings of incomparable poetry from the Song of Solomon but with a couple of works each from the 16th and from the 20th  (Willan and Walton), sung by Canada’s Les Voix Baroques with a group of mostly Seattle-based instrumentalists.

Les Voix Baroques

Hearing these works by de Lassus, Schuetz, Monteverdi, Buxtehude, Mazzocchi, Johann Christoph Bach (an older cousin of Johann Sebastian), Charpentier, and Purcell from a few hundred years ago brings the realization that while the words could be extraordinarily descriptive love poetry, in a carnal sense, in these settings, it is more about a pure, religious passion. The music is not erotic at all.

Only in Schuetz’ Adjuro vos Filia Jerusalem–“…If ye find my beloved, …tell him That I am sick of love,” which was more emotional–and then in Monteverdi’s Nigra Sum, where there was more of a sense of yearning and anticipation, did a little human passion shine through.

The music is beautiful, the words even more, but in general the performance by this stellar group didn’t really live up to expectation. Words were only partly audible, expressivity didn’t come across. I felt I should have been carried away by the performance and I wasn’t. Perhaps they were having an off night, or perhaps it was the hall itself.

The old sanctuary of Daniels Hall is an arched, soaring space admirable for a concert hall, with good lighting, good sight lines, about 1500 seats (and easy parking!). No one is too far from the stage, which will be at least doubled in size

At the moment, the stage, the steps and the auditorium floor are carpeted, and I believe this will be taken out.

The audience included a who’s who of Seattle’s top early musicians and presenters. The opinions of the hall amongst a half dozen of them them varied from a lack of vocal blending, too immediate an arrival of sound with no arcing, no bloom, and an inability to hear clearly; but also a sense that we have to wait until the hall’s renovation is complete before passing further judgement, and also that we, as audience, have to get used to the hall as well. Though I had no chance to ask the musicians, it seemed that they had some difficulty hearing each other, particularly the two groups of players on opposite sides of the stage.

It’s to be hoped that Les Voix Baroques will return so that we may hear them again, perhaps when the hall is finished. Singers Shannon Mercer, Meg Bragle, Jacques-Olivier Chartier, Sumner Thompson, and Douglas Williams–joined here by Clara Rottsolk replacing an indisposed Catherine Webster–were accompanied by violinists Tekla Cunningham and Emma McGrath, violist Laurel Wells, viola da gambist Margaret Little, harpist Maxine Eilander, and organist Joseph Adam, with Stubbs directing from his lutenist chair.