Beyond the Score is a gem of a program series the Seattle Symphony has been importing from the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, which creates it. In each one, the orchestra, plus pianists, actors and narrators deconstruct a single work, describing the history of its genesis, its composition and orchestration with many instrumental samples, photographs and other illustrations portrayed on a big screen. And then after intermission, the orchestra performs the entire piece.
In the second of three this season, performed Sunday afternoon, the work in question was Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, which lends itself to this kind of analysis. Narrator Steve Reeder, with actor Galen Joseph Osier, pianist Anastasiya Popova and the Seattle Symphony, brought to life Mussorgsky’s close friendship with designer/illustrator Victor Hartmann, his devastation at his death, and his determination to create something in commemoration, using Hartmann’s own exhibited work as a jumping off point.
But also, they brought out Mussorgsky’s disorganized life and the total mess his papers and compositions were in after he died at the young age of 42 (brought on by alcoholic seizures).
They spent much of the first part of the concert showing, with enlightening samples from the orchestra, how various composers had tried to orchestrate his Pictures (which Mussorgsky had written for solo piano) but none had managed to transmit the composer’s originality to an orchestral realization until Ravel. Hearing the blandness of Rimsky-Korsakov’s attempt and that of Leopold Stokowski, showed in contrast how imaginative Ravel’s instrumental choices were and how true to the emotions of the original.
It made sense that most of the concert’s first half was spent on just one part of the work, Mussorgsky’s “Promenade,” in which he imagines with a specific melody the viewer walking from painting to painting through the exhibition, but including his feelings about the work he has just seen.
Perhaps though, what showed most clearly Ravel’s brilliant orchestration was how he portrayed the two Jews, one wealthy and established, the other poor and desperate, in “Samuel Goldenberg and Schmuyle.” Mussorgsky’s music for the former, Reeder pointed out, was based on religious chant, that of the poor man on klezmer music. Ravel chose low ponderous instrumentation for the first, and high, whiny trumpets for the latter, a marvelous contrast.
During the first half, Popova played brief excerpts on piano, her hands shown on screen, and she was often followed by the same excerpt in the orchestra, conducted by the orchestra’s associate conductor Stilian Kirov.
After intermission, Kirov conducted the entire work in Ravel’s orchestration, giving a now enlightened audience a chance to hear the full work with all its colorful, vigorous and descriptive glory in an excellent performance.
While the 2014-2015 season has a plethora of concerts guaranteed to attract many listeners, it’s a shame that Beyond the Score has been downgraded to just one concert next year. Certainly Sunday’s big and enthusiastic audience made clear its delight.
Stilian Kirov conducts Gabriel Prokofiev’s Concerto for Turntables and Orchestra, featuring DJ Darek Mazzone
A buzzing crowd packed Benaroya Hall’s Grand Lobby on Friday night for the first concert in the Seattle Symphony‘s new [untitled] concert series. These late-night, casual concerts present 20th century and contemporary classical music in a salon-style format complete with drinks, floor cushions, and mingling with the musicians. It’s difficult to imagine that many people would choose an edgy program of esoteric, rarely-performed classical music over the myriad of competing arts events this past weekend. (City Arts Fest, anyone?) Yet tickets for Friday’s performance sold out, filling the Grand Lobby’s floor and balconies with an audience that included white-haired symphony fans, bearded hipsters, and young couples.
Friday’s concert focused on 1962, featuring small-ensemble works composed in that year. 20th century greats John Cage, Giacinto Scelsi, Earle Brown, Iannis Xenakis, Morton Feldman, and György Ligeti were represented, making the program a veritable who’s-who of modern classical music. For the uninitiated, this provided an excellent overview of 20th century composers and compositional styles. There was plenty for the experienced listener as well, including a riveting performance of Scelsi’s challenging ensemble piece Khoom and an opportunity to experience the spectacle of Ligeti’s Poème symphonique for 100 Metronomes.
Seattle Symphony Music Director Ludovic Morlot served as emcee for the evening, and conducted most of the works on the program. He was joined by a host of musicians, including the Symphony’s new Assistant Conductor Stilian Kirov, local soprano Maria Mannisto, and members of the New York-based International Contemporary Ensemble (ICE). Gabriel Prokofiev, grandson of the legendary Sergei Prokofiev, was on hand for a pre-concert performance of his Concerto for Turntables and Orchestra, featuring local DJ Darek Mazzone.
A sizable crowd gathered in the Grand Lobby to experience Prokofiev’s piece, which bridged the hour-long gap between the Symphony’s regular evening performance and the late-night [untitled] program. A mind-blowing visual and auditory spectacle, the work is written in standard classical concerto form with the DJ and turntables taking over the role of the instrumental soloist. Similar to a traditional concerto, the piece demonstrates the virtuosity and versatility of the soloist. In this case, Prokofiev’s writing shows off the DJ’s prowess at generating complex beats, scratches, melodies, and layers of sound. A camera next to the turntables broadcasted the action onto screens around the auditorium.
Soprano Maria Mannisto
Unlike acoustic instruments, the turntables possess the ability to record and remix. The highlights of the performance involved remixing on the fly, especially sections where Mazzone recorded the full orchestra playing a passage, remixed it, and replayed it as accompaniment for the ensemble. Written in 2007, Prokofiev’s thoroughly contemporary piece didn’t mesh with the 1962 theme of the rest of the evening, but it should have been included as part of the regular concert program. I suspect many [untitled] ticketholders didn’t know about the pre-performance and missed out on this spectacular 21st century work.
Despite the evening’s casual atmosphere, the 1962 program was filled with examples of masterful technique and musicality. Acclaimed local soprano Maria Mannisto joined the ensemble for a performance of Scelsi’s Khoom, written for string quartet, French horn, soprano voice, and percussion. This seven-movement work features challenging, nuanced writing, especially for voice and horn. Mannisto’s performance was spellbinding, particularly in a powerful duet with ICE horn player David Byrd-Marrow. In this movement, horn and voice blended and echoed each other, generating sounds that simultaneously evoked primitive and futuristic themes.
Another standout moment of the evening was the performance of Xenakis’ Atrées. Xenakis’ mathematical approach to composition often generated works that resemble giant musical Katamari balls, with random sounds sticking out here and there. Atrées is no exception. This blob of discrete sounds brilliantly manages to adhere together into a coherent work, often with the help of prominent glissandos in the cello and trombone. These were performed with great aplomb at Friday’s performance by Symphony principals Efe Baltacıgil and Ko-ichiro Yamamoto.
Also on the program was Feldman’s For Franz Kline, a somber homage to the abstract expressionist painter, who died in 1962. Composed for soprano, violin, cello, French horn, chimes, and piano, this meditative piece doesn’t have a defined length. Instead, each musician plays through the score at his or her own pace. For Friday’s performance, the musicians made clever use of the massive vertical space of the Benaroya Hall. Mannisto sung her part from the third tier balcony, while the rest of the musicians were situated four stories down on the lobby floor. It was a true surround-sound experience. From my perch on a lower balcony, I could hear Mannisto’s voice drifting down from above while the haunting blend of chimes, piano, horn, and strings bubbled up from below.
The rest of the evening was devoted to exploring major compositional movements of the 20th century. Cage’s Variations III provided a light-hearted introduction to indeterminate music, with a score that’s created on the spot by drawing colored lines through a scattered collection of circles. Aleatoric (chance) music was represented by Brown’s Novara. In this work, each musician in the ensemble receives a set of numbered musical passages. The conductor dictates which passage is to be played by holding up the appropriate number of fingers.
The many metronomes of the Seattle Symphony (Photo: Seattle Symphony)
The event ended on a fun note, with Ligeti’s Poème symphonique for 100 Metronomes. For this performance, Morlot walked over to two tables covered with pyramid-shaped metronomes, lined up in orderly rows, and explained the simple premise of the piece: Simultaneously release the metronome pendulums, and let each of them tick until the mechanism stops. He invited the crowd to help him begin the piece. Soon, the clicking of 100 metronomes echoed through the lobby, a sound that is strangely similar to a pot of popcorn. Onlookers gathered around the tables, watching with fascination as one by one, the metronomes slowed to a stop. Musicians and audience members alike were completely engrossed, taking video with their cellphones and making predictions on which metronome would remain ticking the longest.
Friday’s sold-out crowd of four hundred is proof that there is a growing audience for 20th century and contemporary music in Seattle. Since modern composers and their works are not universally-known legends like Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven, events that focus on new music usually include an educational component. The [untitled] performance integrated this well, especially the programming, which emphasized shorter works so that a wide variety of composers could be featured. Morlot’s introductions gave enough context for newcomers to understand and appreciate each piece, but mostly the music was allowed to speak for itself.
In recent years, local ensembles like The Esoterics, The Box is Empty, and the Seattle Modern Orchestra have successfully championed 2oth century and contemporary music in this city, hosting innovative events that enable audiences to explore new music in an engaging, fun setting. It’s a huge endorsement of this mission when a major ensemble like the Seattle Symphony jumps on board and produces a high-profile event that draws crowds. After observing the excitement at Benaroya Hall on Friday, it looks like the [untitled] concert series will make a big splash this season. Could this be the beginning of a modern music renaissance in Seattle?
Classical music fans now have a Bumbershoot event of their very own, thanks to a partnership with the Seattle Symphony. This is the second year that the Symphony has presented an event at Seattle’s largest arts festival. Last year’s “Symphony Untuxed” recital brought members of the Symphony to Bumbershoot for a fun and light-hearted program of chamber music and solo pieces. The concert was so popular that Bumbershoot decided to bring it back this year. After a dearth of classical music events at Bumbershoot in recent years, it’s encouraging to see the festival reaching out to Seattle’s vibrant classical music community.
This year’s “Symphony Untuxed” was one of the first events of the afternoon on Sunday, the second day of the festival. Despite the early hour and gorgeous weather, a diverse crowd filled the Bagley Wright Theatre for the performance. The Symphony’s new Assistant Conductor Stilian Kirov served as MC for the concert. Although it was only his second day on the job, Kirov’s enthusiasm was apparent in his sense of humor and interactions with the audience. If this is any indication, he’ll get along well with Music Director Ludovic Morlot, whose seemingly boundless energy is bringing many transformative changes to the Symphony.
True to its name, the performers in “Symphony Untuxed” eschewed typical concert formalwear in favor of casual summer clothing. A safari hat made the rounds from performer to performer throughout the concert. Oboist Ben Hausmann represented Seattle well, performing a J.S. Bach oboe concerto while wearing a pair of trail running shoes — the kind that look like toe socks, with individual pockets for each toe. It’s likely that this marks the first time in history that an oboist has performed a Bach concerto while wearing footwear made by Vibram FiveFingers. (Perhaps a sponsorship is in order?)
The program began with Timeless, a contemporary work for piccolo and piano by Ken Benshoof. Seattle Symphony flutist and piccolo player Zartouhi Dombourian-Eby was joined onstage by the composer, who accompanied her on the piano. Benshoof explained that the work was commissioned in 1999 by a friend who wanted a romantic piece to present to his wife as an anniversary gift. Based on the melody of George Gershwin’s beloved song “Embraceable You”, the work interlaces Gershwin’s tune with charming harmonies and a slightly “crooked” waltz interlude.
From there, the program wound its way through centuries and continents. Big-name favorites like J.S. Bach and Shostakovich were well-represented, but there was also a refreshing emphasis on living composers and new music. Particularly enjoyable was Flowering Jasmine, a concerto for violin, vibraphone, and strings by Latvian composer Georgs Pelēcis.
Violinist Mikhail Shmidt’s performance of Michel van der Aa’s Memo — a piece written for violin and portable cassette recorder — was a pleasant surprise. Born in the Netherlands, Van der Aa is known for his innovative, experimental works that often blend technology and multimedia with traditional elements of classical music. In Memo, the violinist must play passages in the score while simultaneously recording and rewinding the tape recorder. The result is layered blend of sounds that becomes increasingly jumbled and complex before dwindling to nothingness.
The recital concluded with a rousing performance of two tango pieces by the great Argentinian composer Ástor Piazzolla, Fuga y Misterio and Primavera Porteña (Buenos Aires Spring). Primavera Porteña was an apt choice to conclude such a diverse program. It’s from Piazzolla’s suite Estaciones Porteñas (The Four Seasons of Buenos Aires), which is a tango-infused nod to the Baroque Era and Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. Violinist Artur Girsky gave a fiery performance as soloist.
The informal, relaxed atmosphere of the performances was fun and engaging. Despite the length of the concert (nearly ninety minutes of music with no intermission), the vast majority of the audience stayed until the end of the show to give the musicians a standing ovation. The only aspect of the concert that was less than stellar was the fact that the stage was not reset between pieces, leaving performers stranded without chairs and stands in the proper configuration.
If the popularity of this year’s “Symphony Untuxed” is any indication, the event will be back at next year’s Bumbershoot. Let’s hope that this collaboration between the Seattle Symphony and the city’s largest arts festival opens the doors for a larger classical music presence at Bumbershoot in years to come.
