Monthly Archives: September 2014

WESTMINSTER CONCERT SERIES’ NEW SEASON FEATURES BROAD SPECTRUM OF WORKS

Posted on by
Reply

The Westminster Concert Series’ new season, which begins Monday, promises its audiences another set of concerts with broad appeal. The programs stretch over several centuries and should have something for every taste.

One of the things Karlyn Bond wants to focus on with this series is getting students to attend concerts. “One of my goals as a teacher and director of the series is to seduce students into classical music,” she told Reichel Recommends. “We’re trying to build a young audience with this series, and this is a great venue for that. We’re rooted in an academic setting, it’s a small hall and, for the students, a very accessible hall, and the series features primarily faculty members.”

Karlyn Bond

And with its diverse programming the series has a lot going for it. “The overarching comment I would make about his season is that we have wonderful players performing well known and lesser known works,” Bond said. “There is nothing particularly adventurous stylistically, but there is a huge amount of variety and all works are interesting.”

Monday’s concert will be an all-20th century affair. But before anyone decides to stay home and not attend, Bond pointed out that the music that will be played is not strictly avant-garde. “The most audaciously modern work on the program is a piece by George Crumb,” she said. “The program embraces everything from modern, in the purest sense of the term, to jazz.”

There will be music by six composers from four countries on the program. Besides Crumb, the other American composers are Samuel Barber and Frank Proto; they share the spotlight with Englishman Benjamin Britten, Frenchman Francis Poulenc and Czech Bohuslav Martinu.

Performing will be Utah Symphony members Yuki MacQueen, violin; Julie Edwards, viola; Pegsoon Whang, cello; Ted Merritt, bass; Lee Livengood, clarinet; Jennifer Rhodes, bassoon; and Steve Proser, horn. They will be joined by Sally Humphreys, flute; Susan Swidnicki, oboe; and Kimi Kawashima and Karlyn Bond, piano.

Looking ahead, the next concert, in October, will feature music by Beethoven, Schubert and Brahms — all well known and beloved composers. “It’s a mix of romantic and classical, and definitely Viennese,” Bond said, since all three composers lived and worked in the Austrian capital.

Bond described the following concert, in January, as a “violin nerd concert,” since all six of Eugène Ysaÿe’s solo violin sonatas will be performed, divided up among Utah Symphony colleagues Yuki MacQueen, Alex Martin and David Porter. “It sounds long and boring, but the pieces are not that long, and they appeal to everyone, not just to violinists.”

In February, Utopia Early Music founders Christopher LeCluyse and Emily Nelson join Westminster vocal faculty members Michael Chipman and Aubrey Adams-McMillan for an evening of love songs. “The program covers a vast spectrum of styles, from early music to today,” Bond said.

The concert the following month will be devoted to French romantic music, with works by Saint-Saëns, Franck and Fauré.

An all-Brahms program ends the series in April. “Any series needs an evening of Brahms,” Bond said. “Musicians view his chamber works as the pinnacle of chamber music. I would go so far as to say that he represents the pinnacle of Western classical music.” On the program will be three trios: the Clarinet Trio, op. 114; the Horn Trio, op. 40; and the Piano Trio in C minor.

Below is more detailed concert information. All concerts start at 7:30 p.m. and take place in Vieve Gore Concert Hall on the Westminster College campus. Tickets are $15 for general admission; students and Westminster faculty and staff will be admitted free with I.D. To purchase tickets log on to www.westminstercollege.edu/culturalevents. For more information call 801-832-2457.

  • Sept. 29 — “Bohuslav Martinu’s Nonet — and More.” Program: Works by Frank Proto, Francis Poulenc, Samuel Barber, Benjamin Britten, George Crumb and Bohuslav Martinu. Performers: Yuki MacQueen, violin; Julie Edwards, viola; Pegsoon Whang, cello; Ted Merritt, bass; Sally Humphreys, flute; Susan Swidnicki, oboe; Lee Livengood, clarinet; Jennifer Rhodes, bassoon; Steve Proser, horn; and Kimi Kawashima and Karlyn Bond, piano.
  • Oct. 27 — “An Evening in Vienna.” Program: Beethoven, Sonata for Cello and Piano in A major op. 69; Schubert, Fantasy in F minor for Piano Four Hands; and Brahms, Sonata for Violin and Piano in D minor.
  • Jan. 26, 2015 — “Ysaÿe Violin Sonatas.” Program: The six sonatas for solo violin. Performers: Yuki MacQueen, Alex Martin and David Porter, violin.
  • Feb. 23, 2015 — “The Dance of Love.” Program: Love songs through the ages, including Brahms’ Liebeslieder Waltzes and Schubert’s part songs. Performers: Emily Nelson, soprano; Aubrey Adams-McMillan, mezzo-soprano; Christopher LeCluyse, tenor; Michael Chipman, baritone; and David Walker, lute.
  • March 23, 2015 — “An Evening of French Romanticism.” Program: Saint-Saëns, Piano Trio in F; Franck, Sonata for Violin and Piano; and Fauré, Piano Quartet in G minor. Performers: Alex Martin and Claude Halter, violin; Joel Gibbs, viola; Anne Lee, cello; and Karlyn Bond, piano.
  • April 20, 2015 — “Trio of Trios.” Program: Brahms, Clarinet Trio, op. 114; Horn Trio, op. 40; and Piano Trio in C minor. Performers: Yuki MacQueen, violin; John Eckstein, cello; Lee Livengood, clarinet; Ron Beitel, horn; and Karlyn Bond, piano.

SHOSTAKOVICH’S 10TH SYMPHONY CELEBRATES ROBERT BALDWIN’S 10 YEARS WITH SALT LAKE SYMPHONY

Posted on by
Reply

Ever since Robert Baldwin was appointed music director of the Salt Lake Symphony, he hasn’t shied away from programming works that challenge his orchestra. “They want to play great repertoire,” he told Reichel Recommendsrecently in a phone interview. “How good is a community orchestra? I don’t know, but I do know we keep growing [musically] and getting better.”

Robert Baldwin

For his 10th season opener Saturday with what is without question one of the top community orchestras in the state, Baldwin has chosen a work that will certainly test the mettle of his players: Dmitri Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 10 in E minor. “It’s very demanding,” he said. “On our first read through it seemed nearly impossible.” But as rehearsals progressed, it began to make sense. “Once you realize there are the same kinds of repetitions you find among other Russian composers, like Tchaikovsky or Rimsky-Korsakov, then you see there is a cohesiveness to it.”

Baldwin is a big fan of Shostakovich’s music. What attracts him to it is the personal element that’s attached to these works. “You find that almost all of his works are autobiographical. They detail his struggle, and his ultimate triumph. The Tenth ends much like Beethoven’s Fifth, but [the Tenth] has a much more festive final movement.”

One of Shostakovich’s favorite devices is to fashion melodies out of the musical letters of his last name: D, S (E flat), C and H (B). “I’m a sucker for that,” Baldwin confessed, adding that the manner in which the composer uses this theme in the Tenth is much more powerful than its appearances in other works. “It’s done more forcefully here. It’s much more effective.”

Dmitri Shostakovich

Shostakovich had always had a tenuous relationship with Josef Stalin and the Communist Party. He and his works had been condemned twice by the Politburo, once in the 1930s and again a decade later. If one is to believe what has been said and written about the genesis of the Tenth, the work deals with the Soviet dictator, who died about six months before it was premiered in 1953. Shostakovich also admitted as much, and one can indeed hear the composer’s struggles with the Soviet establishment. And the fourth movement can certainly be taken to represent the individual’s triumph over conformity. But whatever the basis was for this symphony one thing is certain, as Baldwin pointed out: “The great thing about Shostakovich’s music is that you don’t need to know the story behind the works to enjoy them. You can appreciate his music right from the first hearing. You can enjoy it for what it is: good music that is well written.”

Opening the concert will be an audience favorite that is as far removed from Shostakovich’s anguished world as one can get: the overture to Leonard Bernstein’s Candide. “The Shostakovich is so dark I wanted to open with something peppy,” Baldwin said. “And it’s a piece that the orchestra has requested for years.”

Looking over his decade-long tenure as music director, Baldwin said there have been many highlights. “One of the great things we have done is collaborating with a number of soloists. That’s really elevated our playing.” Among the guests who have played with the orchestra that Baldwin mentioned are Monica Jalili and her Persian Ensemble; and the Utah Symphony’s John Eckstein playing the Elgar Cello Concerto and Ron Beitel playing Mozart’s Horn Concerto No. 2. “After he played the concerto, Ron joined the orchestra’s horn section. That meant a lot to everybody.”

Below is a schedule for the Salt Lake Symphony’s 2014-15 season. All concerts begin at 7:30 p.m. and take place in Libby Gardner Concert Hall on the University of Utah campus, unless otherwise noted. For more information log on to www.saltlakesymphony.org.

  • Sept. 27 — “Celebrating Ten Years.” Music by Bernstein and Shostakovich.
  • Nov. 15 — “Cultural Roots.” Music by Beethoven, John Williams and Dvorák; featuring Ryan van Liere, bassoon.
  • Dec. 6, 2 p.m and 7:30 p.m. — “Christmas Eve Magic.” Music by Tchaikovsky.
  • Jan. 17, 2015, 2 p.m. — “Music, the Final Frontier.” Family Concert.
  • Jan. 24, 2015 — “SummerArts Piano Competition Winners Concert.”
  • Feb. 14, 2015, 8 p.m. (Olpin Union Ballroom). “Vienna Ball.”
  • March 21, 2015 — “Fire and Ice!” Music by Sibelius, Stravinsky and Vaughan Williams.
  • April 25, 2015 — “Utah Talent Spotlight.” Music by John Costa, Beethoven and Mendelssohn; featuring Shenae Anderson, violin, with Barbara Scowcroft, guest conductor.
  • May 30, 2015 — “Let There Be Light!” Music by Haydn; featuring Utah Voices.

 

  • CONCERT DETAILS
  • What: Salt Lake Symphony, Robert Baldwin, conductor
  • Venue: Libby Gardner Concert Hall, University of Utah
  • Time and Date: 7:30 p.m. Sept. 27 (Please note: There is a University of Utah home football game that evening; plan on arriving in enough time to find parking.)
  • Tickets: $10 general, $5 seniors/students, at the door
  • Phone: 801-531-7501
  • Web: www.satlakesymphony.org