What's your summer playlist?

I enjoyed Bobbie Barabas's ode to summer on yesterday's  "Classical with Bobbie Barabas" on 88.9 WCVE.  She included the obligatory "Summertime" from Gershwin's  Porgy and Bess, but left off the chestnut Summer from Vivaldi's The Four Seasons.

Here is a link to her playlist.  

I was so happy to hear Joseph Suk's "A Summer Tale," which I had never heard before.  It was luscious--really sort of eye-opening.  It is such a pleasure to hear something on the radio that re-invigorates your interest, your hope in finding "something you haven't heard before," especially something that sounds new and fresh to your ears. 

Summersings - Rutter's "Requiem", tonight 7:30 pm

The lament goes, "there is not enough music in Richmond during the summertime."  A few organizations are trying to change that.  I especially appreciate groups trying to prod ordinary folks to create music, rather than just sitting passively, admiring, critiquing, and worshipping at the altar of professional music institutions.  Summersings! is a great idea.  The Richmond Choral Society presents two opportunities for singers to explore gorgeous chorale masterworks in a low-stress way.  The first Summersings! happens tonight, with a reading of the gorgeous Rutter Requiem.

Pick Your Poison: Equal Temperament

It's Offenbach's birthday:
No one escapes high school band or orchestra without slogging through his Cancan (the actual title is "Galop" from his operetta "Orpehus on the Underworld").  I think I learned the meaning of the derogation 'oomp-pah' from playing the cello part to this piece, which has appeared in myriad good, bad, and indifferent arrangements for young musicians.  But this composer wrote many operettas which merit a listen.  Played with sparkle and verve, his best work is like champagne, and his melodies are tender and charming.  He was also a cello virtusoso and jammed with Mendelssohn, Liszt, and Anton Rubinstein. 
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Saw this tweet from goth-chick violinist Rachel Barton Pine yesterday:

@RBPviolinistRachel Barton Pine

Geeking out on "How Equal Temperament Ruined Harmony (and Why You Should Care)" by Ross W. Duffin.

3 hours ago via txt

For a review of the aforementioned book and a decent crash course in what this all means, read "The Wolf at Our Heels: The Centuries-old struggle to play in tune" by Jan Swafford (and the 90-plus comments that follow):

Richmond Boys Choir tonight at Dogwood Dell

The Richmond Boys Choir performs tonight at 7 pm as part of the 2011 Dogwood Dell Festival of Arts (raindate-same time tomorrow) .  In this clip from a 2008 performance at the White House (above), they show off their tight, tight harmonies--exquisite, actually.

You can view the entire Festival of Arts schedule here.

Tessellated blooms with the voids at their centers...

Today I have to teach a lesson to a very smart young piano player, and then I hope to see The Richmond Philharmonic concert today at 6 pm, which is free...and outdoors.  Hoping the weather holds out. ("Just for Fun: A Free Summer Family Concert" - The Gardens at Sunday Park in Brandermill, 4602 Millridge Parkway Midlothian, VA).  The saxophone player in the E-Street Band has died, and too young--sad.


I am furiously updating my concert calendar, which I hope will be a useful resource to Richmond-area music lovers and students.  But as the curator of yet another calendar of the arts, I am forced back on the same old question--what is classical?  The Modlin series has an eclectic mix of genre-defying performers.  For example, writer, songsmith, guitarist and all-around genius Josh Ritter is coming to Modlin this fall.  I know very little about him, so I listened to his song "Remnant" which is posted on the Modlin website.  
I'll admit--I'm under-impressed by the music itself.  It is spare and reminds me of the "White Stripes," (whose disbanding broke my heart), but doesn't strike me as startlingly original.  
Ritter's lyric-making, however, is a splash of cold water in the face.  If Cormac McCarthy wrote songs, they would sound like this:

All the Right Notes

I enjoyed this article about pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim's "lack of perfection."  In "Is pianistic perfection all that it's cracked up to be?" The Guardian's classical music writer Tom Service discusses the perils of expecting perfection from musicians.  Because of the living in the age of electronica, "we actually have an incredibly narrow calculus of perfection when it comes to judging musical performances."  

And of course, performers are aware of this, often--quite often--putting down their instruments permanently because audiences (& conductors, friends, teachers) expect superhuman, robot-like execution.  

Richmond Philharmonic Concert this weekend-FREE!

Please God, give us back Stravinksy--we'll give you Miley Cyrus and Justin Bieber in return!*




It's Stravinsky's birthday!  This Russian composer is regarded as one of the most significant musicians of all time--Time magazine included him on their list of the 100 most influential people of the 20th century, and NY Times critic Anthony Tommasini recently anointed him one of the top ten composers of all time.


We often think of the bombastic, crackling, riot-causing Rite of Spring, which changed the course of music history, like an earthquake changes the course of a river.  But I also enjoy Stravinsky's rapturous melody-making.  


Above we see Igor conducting the Finale to The Firebird Suite (you can see him conduct the full Firebird here--the applause never...stops....).  Be patient for the start of this video.  It takes a while to begin for some reason.  

Thank you, Igor!!

* attribution - anonymous comment on youtube


Below the jump, I've posted a video of the gorgeous segment from Fantasia 2000 using Stravinksy's music and my musings on the only movie I know of covering Stravinsky.

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The Richmond Philharmonic will hold its much-beloved annual "Just for Fun" summer concert this Sunday, June 19th at 6 pm.  The concert will be conducted by guest conductor Paul Kim.  Robert Mirakian takes the helm again this fall.  The orchestra will play light classics and popular swing tunes, as well as the obligatory but appropriate patriotic charts.

Details (from their website):

Just for Fun - A Free Summer Family Concert

Sunday, June 19, 2011 - 6:00 p.m.
Free Outdoor Concert
(Bring chairs or blankets for seating, and have a lawn picnic if you like. Limited seating is available inside the pavilion.)
The Gardens at Sunday Park in Brandermill

4602 Millridge Parkway
Midlothian, Virginia