What Makes it Great?

The second in my week of TSO evenings was What Makes it Great?  Beethoven Symphony 1.  Part of the Exposed Concert series, the concert takes a piece of music, dissects it in the first half by taking the audience inside the music, and then the orchestra performs the full piece in the second half.  The whole idea I think is incredible, there's always so much going on in music that I wonder what I'm missing.  This idea is obviously something that guest conductor Rob Kapilow believes in, and his enthusiasm is infectious.  Interestingly enough, the latest (March 29, 2011) NACOcast interview is with him!  I'm an avid follower of the NACOcast, although a bit behind at the moment.  When I first saw that a new episode was posted, the name of the interviewee didn't mean anything.  However, when I saw it again today, it clicked and I listened right away.  His insights and ability to throw out quotations is impressive.

As for the concert, things were somewhat different as soon as you walked into the hall.  The usual conductors podium was a larger platform with a keyboard set up off to the side.  The orchestra was also noticeably smaller than Wednesday night, given that Beethoven didn't have as much to work with.  The only percussion used is the timpani and since trumpets didn't have valves when Symphony 1 was written their note range was limited, so they are used sparingly.

www.robkapilow.com

Mr. Kapilow (having listened to the NACOcast, he doesn't like the title "maestro"), walked out on stage to standard applause and quickly began an introduction to himself and Beethoven.  He has a rapid fire way of speaking, and the difficulty of keeping up with note taking were I a student in his lecture hall struck me.  He never slowed down and everything he demonstrated had meaning.  One quotation (courtesy of his former composition teacher Nadia Boulanger) that would be repeated multiple times throughout the evening was, "A genius can not help but be original.  Therefore a genius need only attempt to imitate to be original."  Given that this was Beethoven's first symphony, there's some throw back to Haydn tendencies that audiences of 1800 would have recognized.  But in Beethoven's genius, he can't help but be original through the imitation.

Beethoven was about what an idea could become, rather than what it currently was and his ideas and developments are laid out on top of the music, not hidden.  Mr. Kapilow described this as Beethoven's music "becoming, not being".   He explained the history of what audiences would have expected to hear at the debut of the symphony by incorporating his own "boring" segments of music for the purpose of counteracting the surprises in what Beethoven actually wrote.  He made everything completely understandable and easy to follow for a general audience, while not alienating those with more musical background.  Quite honestly, I don't think I stopped smiling the entire evening.

The decomposition started with the third movement, technically a scherzo given the tempo, but called a Minuet and Trio in homage to the Haydn and Mozart symphonies which came before.  He took the first few bars, a theme of 4 notes (hmm, seems like a theme with Beethoven, opening of Symphony 5 anyone?), and demonstrated how Beethoven condensed it naming the rhythms "short long, short long, short short short short long" so everyone totally "got it".

Another example of condensation, is in the second movement; the second violins start with fugue type theme, then cellos take over with 6 notes, followed by the basses playing only the first 4 notes.  But now it's determined to not be a fugue but has developed to a full theme.

The evening was not without humour either.  The first movement begins with two chords (not in C major, the key of the piece, incidentally) which sounds like an ending.  Indeed the orchestra played the 2 chords, stood up and bowed :)  The start of the fourth movement has the strings playing a scale, adding an extra note each time which Mr. Kapilow explained as them searching for the right note but not being able to find it.  The cellos (ok, technically celli) then try to "help" in the search.

These are just small demonstrations that I recall, hopefully correctly.  As enthralled as I was with the presentation, most examples have slipped through the recesses of my mind already.  Too much information...I should have taken notes :)

To close, I leave you with this thought from Mr. Kapilow, there's a great difference between hearing and listening.  To make classical music exciting, "all you have to do listen".

Mozart @ 255

Since at least 2005 the Toronto Symphony has been celebrating the month of Mozart's birthday with a Mozart festival, numbered based on what would have been his age.  This year I attended the last show of the series on Jan. 30 entitled Mozart's World.  The orchestra was set up differently from the usual layout.  The first violins were in the usual place, but the seconds sat on the opposite side of the stage facing them.  Beside the 1st's were the cellos, and then the violas beside the 2nd's with the basses behind the cellos.  I'm guessing with was the typical layout in Mozart's day?  Bassoons, clarinets, horns, minimal brass and percussion rounded out the rest of the orchestra, coming and going as called for by the pieces.

The concert opened with the overture to Les Horaces, an opera by Salieri!  Certainly part of Mozart's world, although as it turns out not as detrimental to Mozart as things like the movie Amadeus would have one believe.  For some great back story on Mozart and Salieri check out the Jan. 17, 2011 NACOcast episode.  As conductor Peter Oundjian said at the end of the overture "so you've now heard a public performance of music by Salieri.  It's really quite good.  The rest of the opera wasn't so we stopped here".

The afternoon also included one of Mozart's most famous pieces "Eine Kleine Nechtmusik", the "D major Concerto for Double Bass" by Johann Baptist Vanhal performed by principal double bassist Jeffrey Beecher, and Mozart's "Concerto in C major for Oboe", performed by principal oboist Sarah Jeffrey.  The performance concluded with Haydn's Symphony 8, "Le Soir".   I really enjoyed hearing the other 3 movements to "Eine Kleine", the opening Allegro is so familiar that it's easy to forget there's a Romance, Menuetto and Rondo which follow.

courtesy Silk Road Project site

The double bass concerto was awesome!  The music was very relaxing yet not sleep inducing.  Being in a lower range it didn't carry the way a flute can soar over the orchestra but the balance was well executed in that the orchestra didn't over power the solo and let Jeffrey shine.  Who knew the bass had the range that it did?  At times it seemed more in the range of the cello, and even higher when he was playing at the very end of the finger board.  I believe there was a cadenza at the end of each movement and he really demonstrated what an excellent bass player can do with the instrument.  It's a shame it's not used virtuosically (if that's even a word) more often.

William Littler, a journalist with the Toronto Star, hosted an intermission chat with Jeffrey in the lobby.  Peter Oundjian had mentioned he, as a violinist, looked at the bass like driving a city bus around a Formula 1 track.  Jeffrey modified this to how he thought of it more as a Hummer.  When asked why these bass pieces aren't performed more often, he slightly insulted previous bass players by saying perhaps they didn't gain as much skill as they could have on the instrument to be able to perform some of the concertos written.  Of which I think he said there are only three; two by Vanhal and one by someone else.  His bass is from 1690 and the owners can be traced all the way back to its origins.  If he has to travel, he drives with the bass or it gets its own seat on the airplane.  Understandably, something that valuable does not get put in checked luggage.  Since the TSO just returned from touring Florida, I wonder if he borrowed an instrument or took his?  I always enjoy seeing musicians outside of the stage lights, and Jeffrey demonstrated his amiable nature while discussing his work with YoYo Ma's Silk Road Ensemble and his teaching job.  Thanks to him for taking the time to share with the audience more about himself and bass playing.

courtesy TSO

After intermission Sarah Jeffrey showed off her beauty as well as that of the oboe.  She looked very pretty in a long black dress.  One would never know she had a 3 month old baby (she's married to a French horn player) unless Peter Oundjian had mentioned it.  I've often considered the difference between the oboe and clarinet to be the more nasal sound of the oboe compared to the hollowness of the clarinet.  However, in higher ranges and in the hands of a real professional the nasal goes away and it can have a more flute like quality.  Her cadenzas were also impressive.

I don't recall hearing a full Haydn symphony before.  In fact all I know about Haydn was that he wrote a ton of them and a friend of mine did a project on him in grade 9 music.  She actually attended this concert with me, but couldn't remember much about Haydn either.  I enjoyed "Le Soir" and need to look up the other symphonies Peter mentioned, "Le Matin" and "Le Midi".  Again the balance between the orchestra was well executed.  There were violin (1st and 2nd), cello, and bass solos at various points, and all could be heard clearly.  The final movement, "The Storm", really sounded like one.  I'm glad it stayed in the hall and we didn't walk out to thunder, lightning or snow!

Looking forward to Mozart@256!

Concordia's Spring Season

Tonight marked the second concert of Concordia Pops spring season. The music is a nice mix, although I am partial to the lighter stuff of the second half which includes Highlights from The Sound of Music and My Fair Lady, a nice Jerome Kern medley, and Belle of the Ball by Leroy Anderson (composer of Sleigh Ride). Belle of the Ball needs a bit more work, but it's being pulled out of the performance list, so reprieve!

The first half starts with John William's Olympic Fanfare written for the Los Angeles Games in 1984. The first clarinet part matches the trumpet fanfare line and is fun to play. Alas, it doesn't come close to the version played at the Vancouver closing ceremonies, we take it a bit slower. By the way, anyone know if that was the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra that played at the opening and closing ceremonies?

The pieces then move into a few dances, specifically Slavonic by Dvorak, and Norwegian by Grieg. These make me sweat as there's some exposed clarinet parts, but my confidence is growing with each performance. I've discovered swabbing at the midpoint of the concert though really helps get the gurgle out. Sleeper's Wake by Bach is one of those flowing really pretty songs that doesn't require staccato articulation. Since I'm still working on getting that aspect cleaner, this is a good thing. Other than some fingerings that need conversion to autopilot (great analogy put forth in a recent NACOcast "Practice Makes Perfect" between flight and practicing), it gets played fairly well. Except when I miss my cues (sorry Mr. Conductor!).

Week off next week since it's March Break, but must not lose motivation to practice or the autopilot will never be engaged!