Conductor Elim Chan has had remarkable success since being named the first woman to win the Donatella Flick Conducting competition ten years ago. This month Chan is realizing two big dreams: to open the classical music season at the Hollywood Bowl and to conduct the First Night of the Proms in London at Royal Albert Hall. Not too bad for a young girl who years ago was inspired by Mickey Mouse in Fantasia.

The July 9th concert at the Hollywood Bowl finds Chan conducting the same piece that led to her winning the Donatella Flick LSO Conducting Competition: Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade. The July 19th First Night of the Proms concert will open with Handel’s Music for the Royal Fireworks Overture and close with Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5.

Earlier this week I spoke with Chan about these two concerts and what they mean to her, her evolving relationship with Scheherazade and what new dreams she has as she moves forward with her career.

What follows are excerpts from our conversation that have been edited for length and clarity. To see the full interview with Chan, please go to our YouTube channel.

Q: Could the young girl who responded so passionately to the image of Mickey Mouse conducting in Fantasia have ever imagined these two big concerts for herself?

Absolutely not. Even though as a young girl I think I had quite a crazy imagination. Of course I have dreams. But this kind of dream, the Hollywood Bowl, it’s already very cool. And to think I’m going to start the classical season! Then the Proms is basically like a unicorn. To conduct the Proms on the first night – the biggest summer festival in the UK and famous one in the world? It’s more than a dream come true.

What was your first experience conducting the Proms, and how do you think this one will be different? 

The first time that I conducted the Proms was an amazing experience because the Royal Albert Hall, it’s a very different concert hall. You really feel that you’re in sort of like a stadium. You have the audience standing at your feet and you can literally touch them or they can touch you. The feeling of how the audience cheered for you and they really are so involved. That’s really quite something I never experienced anywhere else. That was such a huge honor. I felt like a rock star.

To know that this concert was like one of the first ones to be sold out; the tickets were gone the moment it went out there. I don’t know, I’m going to just stay open and let this just be a surprise.

We often hear about how conductors think about music. What do you think is unique about the way you hear music – whether you’re reading a score or when you’re conducting an orchestra? 

I think that’s a very interesting question. Conducting is so cool in the sense that I have this concept in my head, this story, a narrative or some sort of sound soundscape the moment I start opening a score. It starts. I can hear it. I can play it on the piano and then it builds this world that I’m hearing or envisioning.

When I’m on stage with the orchestra, I have to compare what I’m hearing with this vision in my head and then have to bring it closer. Sometimes, actually, what I’m hearing is nicer than what I thought. It’s like a constant synergy of both worlds. It’s, in a way, like a tango, right? Of course, I’m the conductor and I want to mold it in the end that we arrive at the vision that we’re all happy about.

I interviewed conductor Simone Young four years ago, and she told me that, “Everything comes from the written page. I spend hours and hours studying scores, but also studying manuscripts. References. I want to get as much info about the thought process and the work process.” Do you think there can be a definitive understanding of a composer’s thought process? Or will it always be open to interpretation?

I think the second. I also do the same. I want to really put myself back in the time, in the context. This is really, I feel, like investigative work. There’s like a crime scene. Something happened. Okay, what really happened? You can collect evidence. You can talk to people who think they saw the thing happened. But each perspective is different. Then collecting all these things and then I try to build an interpretation of what exactly happened because no one actually really knows. And I think this is so cool. That’s the beauty of it, that there’s really not one right way. We’re all interpreters in that sense.

At the Proms, you’re going to be conducting probably one of the top five best known compositions in the history of the world: Beethoven’s Fifth. With a work so familiar to audiences and so familiar to the musicians, how do you think your approach to it might be the only one that you, as an individual, could have imagined? 

Well, there’s only one Elim, right? In that sense. It will be my interpretation of it. One thing that came out from this whole crazy time, and we’re still in some crazy times, is that I really want to give this life experience to everyone who is there. That you need to be there to experience that because it only happens once.

Beethoven Five is so familiar. And the audience thinks they know, too. The world is so messed up with wars happening everywhere and we get to make music and to celebrate first night of the Proms. The beginning of Beethoven Five is like a moment to really express something that fuels it to become a Beethoven Five that is fresh and happening now.

How often do you surprise yourself in the middle of a concert?

A lot. I laugh actually when mistakes happen because that shocks everyone. I love those very raw like a minute or two and everyone is like, wait, what? Oh no. And everyone’s awareness is insane, right? I love these waking up moments.

That sounds like a jazz musician, not a classical musician. Because a jazz musician moves past the mistakes and who knows where it leads them? I bring that up because I was very surprised to see a list of the five most important works for you and Bill Evans is on your list. What inspires you most about Bill Evans and do you see a way in which the way Bill Evans created and performed music that inspires the way you create and perform music?

He’s such an immense pianist and musician and it’s not ever the same. This is something I really want to take into a Beethoven Five or a Clara Schumann or Handel, Bruckner. I’m going to just take this opportunity and just really bring in that spirit. I think we can learn so much from all the other genres.

Note: First Night of the Proms includes performances of Clara Schumann’s Piano Concerto by Isata Kanneh-Mason and Bruckner’s Psalm.

You’ll be leading the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl. Music director Gustavo Dudamel is set to leave soon. if the L.A. Philharmonic came to you and asked if you would like to be the next music director, what would be the first thing that you would think? 

That’s another unicorn. And then I’ll start doing a happy dance. I will probably be like, unbelievable. You know what? If that happens…thank you and let’s get to work. I want to be as ready as possible They are one of the most adventurous, curious, orchestras institutions in the world. They take chances, they take risks, and they can afford to do it. So yeah. Let’s see.

At the Hollywood Bowl you will be revisiting Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade. How was your relationship to this particular composition evolved in the ten years since your winning the Donatella Flick Conducting Competition?

The piece has a very special place in my heart. It’s the piece that jump started my career. Ten years ago I was the first woman to win the competition in London. And now ten years later, I’m still the only woman to have done that. And I’m like, hey girls, where are you guys?

Talking about the piece itself, it’s literally about a woman having to stand up for herself every night telling stories, and if she doesn’t tell a good story, she gets killed. I’ve done this piece again and again and I really feel very like I identify myself with her – Scheherazade. Each time I do the piece I get more brave. I’m more convinced that we really need to be strong. My interpretation is like a steady slow cook. It takes more flavor. Every time I go back to it, I still see something new and I want to try something new so I can tell the story in different ways. I really love the fact that this piece lends itself for that. 

Rimsky-Korsakov is quoted as having said, “I had no idea of the historical evolution of the civilized world’s music, and had not realized that all modern music owes everything to Bach.” Do you agree that all modern music, even today, owes everything to Bach? 

Wow, what a statement! I think a lot of it, yes. I always believe that we all need to actually understand what happened in the past, especially Bach as such a master. To really understand what the traditions [were] that came before. Then you can decide to keep it or break it. All the greats follow Bach. If you look back, Brahms, Beethoven, everyone basically comes from there.

We started the conversation by my asking you if you could have imagined opening the classical season at the Hollywood Bowl and then opening the BBC Proms in London. That seems like a dream come true. But everybody has to have new dreams as well. What dreams do you have beyond what this July is going to offer you?

My dream is to find an orchestra, a place where we can do some crazy things and grow together, fly together. Another dream of mine actually will come true is that I finally can do some opera. I came from voice choirs and so I love theater, I love drama. So what’s better than actually opera to have all these elements coming together? This is like in two years. There are crazy dreams to conduct the Berlin Philharmonic, the Vienna Philharmonic, all this stuff. Sometimes I put a dream and then things like the First Night of the Proms comes in. So in a way, I’m like, life – come on, surprise me.

To view the full interview with Elim Chan, please go here.

All Photos: Elim Chan (Photo ©Simon Pauly/Courtesy for artists)

The post Maestra Elim Chan and Her Big July appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Mariño begins a series of concerts on Thursday, May 11th with the chamber music ensemble Camerata Pacifica. In their four concerts in Santa Barbara, Ventura, San Marino and Los Angeles, Mariño will perform Bach’s Non sa che sia dolore, BWV 209 and Pergolesi’s Salve Regina in C Minor.

Male sopranos are not common. You might be familiar with counter tenors like Anthony Roth Costanzo and Iestyn Davies. Perhaps you’ve seen the 1994 film Farinelli or Mark Rylance on stage in Farinelli and the King. Both told stories revolving around famed Italian castrato Carlo Broschi.

A true male soprano uses his chest voice, not his falsetto, to achieve the high vocal range required to be a soprano. Mariño’s voice only partially broke during puberty leaving him with a heavenly voice that led to a recording contract with Decca Classics and last year’s release of Sopranista.

I recently spoke with the Venezuela-born Mariño who was in Europe where he lives. We discussed the nature of his voice, the teacher who helped him find that voice and how much he brings to each and every performance. What follows are excerpts from our conversation that have been edited for length and clarity. To watch the full interview, please go to our YouTube channel.

Almost a year ago when Sopranista was coming out, you said on your Instagram account, “‘All my dreams will shine.’ A perfect line to describe how I feel as my album is being so joyously welcomed by each one of you.” What are the dreams that you have for yourself in the short term and in the long term? And I already know that you want to sing Lucia in Donizetti’s Lucia di Lammermoor. So let’s see what else you have up your sleeve.

Honestly my most sincere dream is to continue to give joy to the people. I really like to give joy to the people. That’s my goal in everything. I just want to entertain the people and I want to give something back, you know. I got so many things in my life. I have been very lucky. Of course, it’s a lot of hard work, but look at me. I come from Venezuela. I flew to France looking for a dream. I had €1,000 in my pocket and that’s all. Look at where I am today. So I have been very fortunate. I’m very lucky. And I feel like I just want to give something back. That’s my main dream and that’s what I want to do right now.

It’s great to give back, but you must also take care of yourself. How does music allow you to do that? 

Music is like an instrument for me to heal myself and also to heal others. Music really transports me to maybe other dimensions. It’s very difficult for me to describe this, like places where I am floating, where I am flying, where I feel so many different things when I sing and when I even listen to music. I just want to bring the audience with me. Fly with me! Let’s go to all the places!

Or they take me also to those places with them. Because sometimes it’s not only myself to take them to travel. I suppose I travel with them even if I’m singing the same aria or something like that. I want the reaction of the people and taking it to another level. Especially when there is big silence after I finish something. They don’t clap. They don’t do anything, just staying silent. That’s quite a magical experience.

Your first album, Care pupille, was on Orfeo Records in 2020. You have Sopranista on Decca Classics. Have you had a homecoming concert in Venezuela? 

Yes. Just before COVID I had two concerts in Venezuela. I was so nervous: it’s my home country, it’s my culture, it’s my people. Even if I moved very early to France – I have been living in Europe for ten years already – I cannot lie to them. I just cannot pretend anything. I just have to be myself. And I was so nervous. Really.

How did you feel at the end of the concert?

I felt empty, to be honest. I feel quite empty after every concert. But this one, I feel very empty emotionally because it gives me so many emotions. The audience were very happy that I was there. But after you have all this applause and sometimes all these people, I have all these music, all these notes. Then you come back home with, I don’t know, your partner or often alone. I come back to my hotel room and have all this energy, all this adrenaline. It’s just very difficult to come down.

The press release that Decca Classics put out at the time of your signing and announcing the album, they said “Mariño has been contacted by a number of musicologists eager for him to try his hands at arias written for male sopranos that had been neglected for centuries.” Has that process continued? What, if any, discoveries have you made about this forgotten material?

It is a very difficult process because very often the castrati arias have been tailored for the castrati. Like high up and low. The composer really takes advantage of every single capacity of the singer. I don’t have this capacity very often. Actually, I don’t have this capacity. So I just have to transform the aria into myself. I do have to put the music to Samuel Mariño, tailor the music to it for me. I’m not an easy job. Sometimes even I will say not healthy.

I say not healthy because sometimes it’s very often this repertoire of things go super high; no breathing. When you look at Cecilia Bartoli’s career, she released her first album dedicated to the Castrati [when] she was like 38, something like that. You need a solid technique to sing this kind of music. When I go to discover and people tell me, “Oh, let’s make this kind of thing,” I look at it very carefully because I have to keep my voice healthy. I would like to keep my instrument healthy. To sing carefully, even if castrato, is the main thing for me.

In the performances you’re going to be doing with Camerata Pacifica you’ll be doing works by Bach and Pergolesi – both baroque composers. That period of music showcased a lot of writing for male soprano. What did they know that you wish composers who followed them or even contemporary composers would know about what it is to write for a male soprano?

They just like write to the boys. I would like to work with a composer someday. I am very text person. I like to know what I am saying. That’s what I like about this Bach cantata because a lot of text is beautiful. The cantata is one of the few ones that he wrote in Italian. It’s beautiful, it’s super operatic and speaks very well. My voice is my personality. That’s what I would like to work with a composer. Something that can feed our personality and change our art together.

Countertenors seem to be embraced now in a way that they weren’t even 20 years ago in works by Nico Muhly and John Corigliano as just two examples. What do you think will need to happen for contemporary composers to start considering the male soprano? 

I think that they will like it because we have all this expansion. We are not that many today. I mean it’s quite rare. I was actually in an opera, but it was canceled during COVID in Paris. It was called Madame White Snake, written for male soprano Michael Maniaci.

[Note: Madame White Snake, composed by Zhou Long with a libretto by Celine Lims Jacobs, was awarded the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Music.]

How much of how you present yourself through fashion, hair and makeup is stuff that you are part of creating?

I do everything myself. Really. It’s really important for me because I don’t have this background, like many classical musicians, like my parents are musicians, so they play cello. My mother is a violin player. I don’t have that. I grew up listening Britney Spears and pop music and I was so amazed by it. When I look at these kind of shows, these pop artists still doing it today, Lady Gaga, for example, I get inspired by it. Why not bring that to opera? Of course, it’s a lot of work. Especially when it comes from one person.

People will never imagine all the work I have to do: looking online, being in contact with designers as well as working myself. I design, I draw myself my own outfits as well. Plus learning the music, traveling with the dog. But it’s an art form. As I said before, I like to give joy to the people and people have fun, look into my outfits and get excited about it. Classical audiences want to have the full show.

You grew up with all this pop music and then you got introduced to American lyric soprano Barbara Bonney, who I know was very important in your life. She told Bruce Duffie in a 1989 interview, when asked what advice she had for younger singers coming along, “Be really careful about your voice teachers.” What made her the right voice teacher for you and what did you learn from her that has most resonated with you and will guide you through the rest of your career?

I remember the first exercise that Barbara made me do. When I read to her it was like just singing and speaking. So I was like, [he demonstrates this vocally which can be seen in the video] “My name is Samuel and I like to drink earl grey with milk.” That’s how you start everything, just using my natural voice. After we listen to the real things of the voice, we can make your voice unique. Big singers [have] wonderful careers are great because they have a unique voice. 

Someone like Renée Fleming, you hear romance, you hear jazzy background. Cecilia Bartolil you hear immediately silver color in her voice. Barbara really [taught] me how to find my own color because you have to be sellable. If you sing like everyone else you will be just like everyone else. She was right. 

As a friend, as my musical mother, she also reminds me singing pays your bills. Even if it’s your passion, it pays your bills. So have a life, take care of constructing your own life and take care of your life. This is our passion. But we have to remember that it is our job as well.

Journalist Alexandra Coghlan in her review of Sopranista for Gramophone Magazine said “If Mariño is to have the mold-breaking career he clearly wants, then it has to be in the service of emotion and drama.” Last December you wrote on your Instagram account, “Pain is the hardest part of being a singer, apart from the technique, music, etc. It is very hard to come back to reality after the rollercoaster of emotions.” What role does your own life experience play in getting to where you need or want to be emotionally when you are performing and how much do you feel you have to learn to fully accomplish everything you want to with your performances?

That’s a very good question. You know, I believe there are two Samuels. There is that Samuel that you can see on a stage that maybe dresses fancy and everything. And there is a Samuel that is, at home, very shy. Super, super shy. Both Samuels have lived very deep experiences in their lives. So I 100% bring these emotions to stage.

I also live in the society. I am part of what is happening today in the world. I am aware of climate changes. I am conscious of climate changes. I am, like my millennial generation, suffering with anxiety because of climate change and these kind of things. So I don’t live in a bubble.

It is impossible for me to say something and not relate it to when I am living today or whatever I have lived in my past. My past is what I am today. I am what I am here. I am Samuel. You want to talk with me because of what happened before to me? Good and bad? I have a wonderful memory. That’s a good thing and a bad thing. I remember every single detail.

I bring that to the stage. It is not easy. It is very risky. I take a lot of risks because, as I say in that post, it’s very difficult to come back and say, that was part of your past. It’s very intense. But I want to do that because, well, first of all, I cannot do it another way. This is the only way I can do this. I have to be honest. And second of all, I want to make the audience feel with me. To have the pain or the joy with me. I want to make them accompany me. Like I am their friend. That I am with them now. That we are together because I am not the only one who lives in this kind of things. I am just like everyone. And I want to say to them we are together. We are living this together. 

To see the full interview with Samuel Mariño, please go here.

Main Photo: Samuel Mariño (Courtesy Samuel Mariño and Camerata Pacifica)

The post Bo23: Samuel Mariño Pushes Boundaries appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Camerata Pacifica is making many of these videos easy to watch at home. So for all you chamber music fans wondering how to pass time at home during our present crisis, these offerings are the cultural equivalent of a fine dining menu. You’ve got Bach, Beethoven, Brahms and Mozart. But you also get Golijov, Ives, Reich, Shaw and more from which to choose.

Take a look and have a listen. And don’t blame us if you find that hours have passed once you get started exploring.

Auerbach: F Major and D minor Preludes for Cello and Piano (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaXA_j65yXY&feature=youtu.be)

Bach: Fugue from BWV 1001, Ji Hye at SpeakEasy
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIbiTwS1cTg&feature=youtu.be)

Bach: Goldberg Variations for String Trio, arr. Sitkovetsky
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eb3UbxdLvfk&feature=youtu.be)

Barber: Molto Adagio, from String Quartet, Op. 11
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EuKxdBD05z8&feature=youtu.be)

Bax: Quintet for Oboe and Strings
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P3unP7LDOpI&feature=youtu.be)

Beethoven: “Archduke” Piano Trio in B-flat Major, Op. 97
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezRNLXBbB8Q&feature=youtu.be)

Beethoven: “Archduke” Trio, Op. 97 (Excerpt)
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n2xfFlPRgIU&feature=youtu.be)

Beethoven: Clarinet Trio in B-flat Major, Op. 11
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1QU3rOR4ek&feature=youtu.be)

Beethoven: Quintet for Piano & Winds, Op. 16, 2nd Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2IKEhUpR9X0&feature=youtu.be)

Beethoven: Septet in E-flat Major, Op. 20
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRMn03R-Q1E&feature=youtu.be)

Beethoven: String Trio in G Major, Op. 9, No. 1
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-M8TrkXFyc&feature=youtu.be)

Beethoven: String Trio, Op. 9, No. 3, 2nd Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kcpev0cvIgE&feature=youtu.be)

Beethoven: Violin Sonata in C minor, Op. 30, No. 2
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvzBD5JaRy0&feature=youtu.be)

Beethoven: Violin Sonata in G Major, Op. 96, 1st Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjsvXPDxwLo&feature=youtu.be)

Bennett: After Syrinx II
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kgTNje8Fmio&feature=youtu.be)

Brahms: Cello Sonata in E minor, Op. 38, 1st Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACrT2qsrFZs&feature=youtu.be)

Brahms: Clarinet Quintet, Op. 115, Adagio
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJwVbkBeAjk&feature=youtu.be)

Brahms: Piano Quartet in A Major, Op. 26 (excerpt)
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfhlFJel5NU&feature=youtu.be)

Brahms: Piano Trio in B Major, Op. 8, 3rd Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBxRosvVsOk&feature=youtu.be)

Brahms: Piano Trio in B Major, Op. 8, 4th Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPxa8_O3svc&feature=youtu.be)

Brahms: String Quintet No. 3 in G Major, Op. 111, 1st Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8-MpbX7aX8&feature=youtu.be)

Britten: Suite for Violin and Piano, Op. 6
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlxmyPzrYe8&feature=youtu.be)

Bruce: The Consolation of Rain
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to0tDlSIgHo&feature=youtu.be)

Bruce: Steampunk
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVowWXGXqrE&feature=youtu.be)

Caplet: Conte fantastique
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn9XidhQ8r0&feature=youtu.be)

Clarke: Viola sonata, 1st Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_vWlCsV0eg&feature=youtu.be)

Deane: Mourning Dove Sonnet
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O74R5Qe65QE&feature=youtu.be)

Debussy, Bennet, Xenakis, Takemitsu
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RiZjrUXgFE8&feature=youtu.be)

Debussy: Violin Sonata
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rfnXyyJxgM&feature=youtu.be)

Destenay: Trio in B minor for Piano, Oboe, and Clarinet, Op. 27
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEguxmzEBGo&feature=youtu.be)

Dring: Trio for Flute, Oboe, and Piano, 1st Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAgu-E-jDnE&feature=youtu.be)

D’Rivera: Bandoneon
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3vYTo-Dxxk&feature=youtu.be)

Dvořák: F Minor Piano Trio, Op. 65, 1st Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A46GxwPu8Ho&feature=youtu.be)

Franck: Piano Quintet in F minor, 1st Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRwoatWsrdM&feature=youtu.be)

Ginastera: Sonata para Piano No. 1, Op. 22
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5awsOew-RZg&feature=youtu.be)

Golijov: “Mariel”
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0tLcieXiH4&feature=youtu.be)

Gounod: Petite Symphonie
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFLaYc2_wKc&feature=youtu.be)

Grieg: Violin Sonata in C minor, Op. 45, 1st Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cO4oK3fFx4&feature=youtu.be)

Haas: Suite for Oboe and Piano, Op. 17
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9L79GJE4jk&feature=youtu.be)

Harbison: Songs America Loves to Sing
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Icd047CxPak&feature=youtu.be)

Harbison: String Trio, 1st Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItX_ks3lyiA&feature=youtu.be)

Harbison: String Trio, World Premiere
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnNnhlSSQ0w&feature=youtu.be)

Harbison: Wind Quintet, Movements 2 & 3
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OB0-Y5LlXAY&feature=youtu.be)

Haydn: G Major Trio, 1st Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJczu0kWakg&feature=youtu.be)

Howell: Oboe Sonata
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzexHEVus7k&feature=youtu.be)

Ives: Piano Sonata No.2
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgMSSktwnEg&feature=youtu.be)

Janacek: Violin Sonata, 2nd Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TB7YTH2VQlo&feature=youtu.be)

Kraft: Encounters V, “In the Morning of the Winter Sea”
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r7aIPSNGBwA&feature=youtu.be)

Liszt: Transcendental Etude No. 1
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dNQ7I3yfZM&feature=youtu.be)

Liszt: Transcendental Etudes
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykmURwwchy8&feature=youtu.be)

Loeffler: 2 Rhapsodies
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gJCSle5UyQ&feature=youtu.be)

Loeffler: 4 Poems for Voice, Viola, and Piano
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yQ00n2rthw&feature=youtu.be)

Loeffler: Rhapsody, “L’Etang”
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxBHoblKsCs&feature=youtu.be)

Louys: “Bilitis”
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jo89ELziZ38&feature=youtu.be)

Messiaen: Appel Interstellaire
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QN8lZpBrIQ8&feature=youtu.be)

Mozart: Adagio for Cor Anglais and Strings, K 580a
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5L-cydVU50&feature=youtu.be)

Mozart: Divertimento in E-flat Major, K 563, 2nd Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TlDd3j5RJc&feature=youtu.be)

Mozart: Divertimento in E-flat Major, K 563, 4th Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvJp2n9GVSI&feature=youtu.be)

Mozart: Duo for Violin and Viola in G Major, K. 423
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JdVBULKACg)

Mozart: “Kegelstatt” Trio
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvMwYKyo5IM&feature=youtu.be)

Mozart: Oboe Quartet
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAg_wJGqCZQ&feature=youtu.be)

Mozart: Serenade in C minor, K 388
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6iSGBNdqSw&feature=youtu.be(

Mozart: Violin Sonata in A, K. 526, 2nd Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nz11qNjzPQ&feature=youtu.be)

Novacek: Four Rags for Two Jons
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmJ0PXgLUOY&feature=youtu.be)

Puts: And Legions Will Rise
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S72yr47IaRM&feature=youtu.be)

Rabl: Four Songs, Op. 5
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7t7vXfEoSjw&feature=youtu.be)

Reich: Sextet
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6zKgf3H5-Bo&feature=youtu.be)

Reinecke: Flute Sonata, “Undine”
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TtJHBWtsLg&feature=youtu.be)

Richards: de Stamparare
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrbC0ou_8mI&feature=youtu.be)

Rubinstein: Sonata for Viola and Piano, Op. 49, 2nd Movement, Andante
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7sZC-SXBM38&feature=youtu.be)

Ruo: To the 4 Corners, Scene 1
()

Ruo: To the 4 Corners, Scene 2 Pt. 1
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8d_p7b84f08&feature=youtu.be)

Ruo: To the 4 Corners, Scene 2 Pt. 2
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc5XLEM21tI&feature=youtu.be)

Saint-Saens: Fantasie for Violin and Harp, Op. 124
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JdVBULKACg&feature=youtu.be)

Sarasate: Romanza Andaluza
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJXrpjlC-Qo&feature=youtu.be)

Schubert: Divertimento
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZO5wCp4eAc&feature=youtu.be)

Schubert: E-flat Major Piano Trio, D929, 2nd Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqxzhRTCnJA&feature=youtu.be)

Shaw: “Boris Kerner”
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iicAvn6oVls&feature=youtu.be)

Sheng: “Hot Pepper”
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Y7Sp1G4IMk&feature=youtu.be)

Stanford: 3 Intermezzi, Op. 13
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nE49Swkyt38&feature=youtu.be)

Turina: Piano Quartet in A minor, Op. 67, 1st Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMeKVr6nXNg&feature=youtu.be)

Turina: Piano Quartet in A minor, Op. 67, 2nd Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_kuyoPBCYo&feature=youtu.be)

Turina: Piano Quartet in A minor, Op. 67, 3rd Movement
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K3jcdQjegj4&feature=youtu.be)

Vine: Inner World
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAO5nkNRvy8&feature=youtu.be)

Wiegold: “Earth, Receive an Honoured Guest”
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVtN1SG8zHg&feature=youtu.be)

Wilson: Dreamgarden
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rheRF2zeQ4&feature=youtu.be)

Wilson: Spilliaert’s Beach
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s6OXTfTEAEI&feature=youtu.be)

Wolfgang: Vine Street Express
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTv1_uZJDqI&feature=youtu.be)

Ysaÿe: Solo Violin Sonata No. 3 in D minor, Op. 27 “Georges Enescu”
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJV__jdxI74&feature=youtu.be)

Zemlinksy: Lied for Cello and Piano
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13fcG8CH0_o&feature=youtu.be)

So what’s on your playlist?

Photo: Camerata Pacifica – Krisitin Lee, Jason Uyeyama, Ani Aznavoorian, Richard Yongjae O’Neill & Jose Franch-Ballester 3/9/18 MAW Hahn Hall (Courtesy of Camerata Pacifica)

The post Are You Missing Chamber Music? appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Marshall returns to Los Angeles this weekend to perform a solo recital on the massive concert organ at Walt Disney Concert Hall on Sunday evening. The program finds him performing works Marcel Dupré, Olivier Messiaen and he’ll open and close the performance with improvisations he will do on the fly.

It was the topic of improvisation that lead my conversation with Marshall when we spoke via Skype two weeks ago. Here are edited excerpts from that conversation.

I don’t think most people associate improvisation with classical organ music as much as they do for the organ within jazz or rock music. What do these improvisations allow you to do that not only inspires you but challenges an audience to think differently about the possibilities with this instrument?

Improvisation is very essential to organ playing, particularly the French and German tradition. Liturgically French organists have to improvise. Germany also and in the United Kingdom to a certain extent. It’s not as out there as it is in France. Coming from a liturgical background, as I do, this stems from that.

In concert, because I have such wide experience playing jazz and listening to a lot of different music. I don’t try to improvise like other people. Pierre Cochereau was probably the world’s finest organ improviser. What he did was very unique and you’ll find that organists try to copy that. What I try to bring to it is something more personal. I hope my improvisations are more tonal than atonal. I’m improvising themes Beethoven used and I’ll start and we’ll just see. There’s no preparation for improvisation. What you hear will not be pre-planned. The actual form will be created right there.

Composer Nico Muhly told me nearly two years ago that one of the things that inspired him to write an organ concerto is that there isn’t much new music being written for the organ today. What’s your view of the contemporary repertoire?

There’s a lot of music. I’m not sure a lot of it is any good. That’s the problem. I have my favorite composers. Let’s talk about the last century. Messiaen was the last of the truly great writers because he had a voice that was so unique. I always say there’s a lot of music. This is not true just with organ music, but there is a lot of music you hear first, last and never again. That music I don’t want to go down that path. It’s a big question what you asked. What I’m trying to say is because I improvise I tend to avoid learning a lot of new works.

Johann Sebastian Bach, who wrote considerable works for the organ, said, “There is nothing to playing the organ. You only have to hit the right notes at the right time and the instrument plays itself.” I assume you would disagree with him.

A bit. [He lets out quite a laugh.] I’m a pianist. I couldn’t play the organ the way I do if I wasn’t a pianist. My keyboard education started with the piano.

Speaking of Bach, when I look you up on Spotify, Bach’s Toccata and Fugue in D Minor and your performance of it, has vast more plays that anything else. Does that reflect the popularity of that piece or a limited appreciation of either the repertoire itself or what can be played on the organ?

It could be a question of both. The piece is very popular and very idiomatic of Bach. There are certain key pieces they associate with the organ, but there is a lot of repertoire out there. My job is to entertain an audience, bring them together and I always assume there are 10-15 people who have never been to an organ recital before.

American music, particularly Gershwin and Bernstein, inspire you. What did these two composers do that you think sets them apart from other composers?

What’s so special about George’s music? I imagine the score [to Rhapsody in Blue] wasn’t even written down properly and he played it and wrote it afterwards [at the work’s premiere.] It’s important to think about that. The Dupre symphony [Symphony-Passione Op.23 which Marshall plays at this recital] he improved the symphony on the four things he was given. He went back to sketch the ideas that he played in the concert without using pen and paper. It’s important to think about these things, to think about Rhapsody in Blue and Symphony-Passione, and make it a spontaneous thing without thinking about the written note as confining you. To capture that moment of spontaneity is very important.

You’re playing Charles Marie Widor’s Organ Symphony No. 6 in G minor. Widow said, “Organ playing is the manifestation of a will filled with the vision of eternity.” What is organ playing a manifestation of for you?

Playing the organ is a bit like having an orchestra at one’s fingertips. One can be really gripped by the sound of an organ; the majesty, the power. It’s a very philosophical question. I love to play the organ. I’m very fortunate that I’ve had a lot of encouragement over the years.  

The organ is a big orchestral instrument played by two hands and two feet. You have to make this particular instrument sound great. When people say, “We never knew it could that.” Well, it’s all here. You have to be adventurous. You have to use the instrument. It’s there. Use it.

Photo of Wayne Marshall by Charles Best Photography/Courtesy of the Los Angeles Philharmonic

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The program is the same at both concerts. These all-Bach recitals include: Chaconne from Partita No 2. in D minor, BWV 1004 (arr. Brahms); Prelude, Gavotte and Gigue from Partita No. 3 in E Major, BWV 1006 (arr. Rachmaninoff); Fantasia and Fugue in G minor, BWV 542 (arr. Liszt) and The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080.

When I heard Trifonov perform the Tchaikovsky in December, I realized there are still discoveries destined to be made about classical music and artists that want to make them. Trifonov is that artist.

You might be thinking, what’s going to be so special about a performance of these works by Bach? Forget those thoughts. I can assure you no one plays with the same degree of curiosity and passion as Trifonov.

I would recommend that any opportunity to see Daniil Trifonov to perform is one worth taking advantage of.

For tickets, please contact the venues by phone. The websites do not show tickets available online. That may indicate that these two performances are already sold out.

Photo of Daniil Trifonov courtesy of the artist’s website.

The post Daniil Trifonov All Bach Program appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

Carolin Widmann is the soloist for this nearly 30-minute concerto. Weill did not construct this in a traditional sense.  There is an opening movement Andante con moto. This is followed by a three-part second movement:  Notturno: Allegro un poco tent, Cadenza: Moderato and Serenata: Allegretto. The final movement is Allegro motto, un poco agitato.

As a composer Weill combined deeply held political opinions with a rather sardonic sense of humor. That is apparent in this concerto.

Opening the program of all German compositions is Paul Hindemith’s Rag Time (on a Theme by J.S. Bach). The Weill concerto follows.

The second half of the program has two of Bach’s works arranged by Schoenberg: Schmücke dich, o liebe Selle and Komm, Gott Schöpfer, heilger Geist. The concert concludes with Hindemith’s 25-mninute Symphony: Mathis de Maler.

The latter work was originally going to be an opera. But the events of World War II and the rise of the Nazi Party (coupled with Hindemith’s absolute detestation of the Nazis) meant this work was given its premiere in 1934 as a symphonic work.

For tickets on Friday night go here.

For tickets on Saturday night go here.

For tickets on Sunday afternoon go here.

Photo of violinist Carolin Widmann by Lennard Ruehle/Courtesy of the artist

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The concerts, lead by conductor Emmanuelle Haïm, begin with two short violin concerti. The first is by Bach – the Violin Concerto in G Minor. Though you won’t necessarily know this by name, you’ll certainly recognize the second movement.

The second concerto is by Telemann – the Violin Concerto in A (The Frogs). The soloist for both concerti is Martin Chalifour, Principal Concertmaster of the LA Philharmonic.

The highlight, however, was Apollo and Daphne. Imagine the story as written by Ovid mixed with Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew. That give you a good idea what goes on in this 50-minute work that features a soprano as Daphne and a baritone as Apollo.

French soprano Sandrine Piau gorgeously sings the role of Daphne. Her tones are so pure and round and her antagonism towards Apollo, who is desperately trying to woo her, is palpable.

Baritone Jarrett Ott sings the role of Apollo. He starts as a cocky man who can’t imagine why any woman wouldn’t just throw herself on him. When he is ultimately spurned, his tone radically changes and the heartbreak gives way to a level of emotional singing I haven’t heard in quite some time.

Piau and Ott make this concert – even for someone who was dreading going – a great start to the New Year. If you love amazing singing, you owe it to yourself to cancel your plans and go see this concert tonight.

LA Opera – start making plans for Ott and Piau for upcoming productions!

For tickets go here.

Photo of Jarrett Ott by Dario Acosta Photography/Courtesy of Jarrettott.com

Photo of Sandrine Piau by Sandrina Expilly/Courtesy of IMG Artists

The post Handel’s “Apollo and Daphne” appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

I was speaking by phone with Chen shortly after his arrival in Los Angeles prior to Thursday’s concert with the Los Angeles Philharmonic where he will be performing Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. The Play With Ray component found violinists from around the world submitting a video of them playing in order to secure the chance to perform the Vivace movement from Bach’s Concerto in D Minor for Two Violins with Chen and the LA Philharmonic.

For those unfamiliar with Chen’s off-stage life, he has creatively and aggressively used social media in a way many other classical musicians have not. Or did not until he found great success in mixing the rigors of classical music performance with humor. As an Australian might say, taking the piss out of it all. Chen, who was born in Taipei, spent his formative years in Australia.

If you aren’t Australian, you wouldn’t necessarily know that Chen truly has an Australian accent. That’s because he has a chameleon-like ability to take on the accent of the person with whom he’s speaking. As he did in our conversation sounding completely American. That prompted me to ask if doing so allows him to remain somewhat enigmatic with the media?

“Speaking with Americans I do adopt the accent you are hearing now,” he says. “That’s what you’ll see of me in the videos – this version of me. When I speak with Australians back home…” and with that he immediately switches to what one would assume is his normal speaking voice. “People freak out. They say ‘who are you?'”

He proceeds to talk about having Germany as his home base for the past four years and mentions that while employing a German accent. But why?

“I think it’s just a desire to be closer to the person. There’s less of a barrier between us. Let’s say I speak with an Australian accent, they are more focused on the accent than what I have to say.”

When he speaks with the violin or about the music he plays, Chen is truly at his best. Since he is playing Bach I asked him about his thoughts on the composer’s view of music. Bach said, “The aim and final reason of all music should be none else but the glory of God and refreshing the soul. Where this is not observed there will be no music, but only a devilish hubbub.”

He pondered the quote for a minute before responding. “Whether or not you are religious, music is, when done correctly, refreshing for the soul. That can have many different takes on what that means. Refreshing as a cleansing way which often happens with Bach’s music. Let’s contrast that with Paganini, a devilish composer and violinist and the opposite end of the spectrum. Yet when you hear his music done right, it’s also cleansing and refreshing to hear. That’s why we have art. Art done well is refreshing for the soul. It makes you view things differently and from a different perspective.”

Chen has carefully considered the perspective audiences have of classical music. He also has strong opinions about the role of the artist in not just maintaining that audience, but expanding it.

“This is a really interesting topic I’ve thought about a lot,” he reveals. “I think that too many artists have ridden on the cloud of classical music. Either the musician should expand audiences by doing whatever they can – social media is my path – or expanding the repertoire of classical music. So often they don’t do either of those. That’s causing the problem. Those people who only play the big five violin concertos [Beethoven, Brahms, Bruch, Mendelssohn and Tchaikovsky], there are too many of those people. There have to be people who are pushing the boundaries. If you are going to be comfortable you stop becoming an artist because you stop creating.”

Given Chen’s passion for social media, I wanted to conclude our conversation with a quote by Leonard Bernstein who said, “The joy of music should never be interrupted by a commercial.” Of course, Bernstein wasn’t around to see Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. But perhaps he would say the same thing today and be even more emphatic about it.

“I think the joy of music has many facets to it. Think about going to a concert and then the experience that comes with the concert itself. But also what you did during the day; what lead up to the concert; how you were feeling in that week. The joy of the concert is something that is intertwined with the rest of your life. It is the concert itself, but it’s everything that surrounds it. That’s why as a classical music lover you come back again and again. I think that if I were not a violinist, I’d be one of those who comes back and then listens to other things.”

Then, as should be expected from someone who has mastered social media the way Chen has, he gives a contemporary spin on it.

“I started creating content in 2014. That was just five years ago. Back then there were hardly any organizations doing that. People were using Facebook. To think about how so much has changed in five years. Back then I was slightly concerned that I might be criticized for showing a different side. But now people see that’s the right way. ‘He’s gone ahead and still maintained that high level and put music first.’ That’s the most important thing. Everything else is a bonus. It only serves to help our art.”

For tickets to Thursday’s concert go here.

Ray Chen will perform a recital at Walt Disney Concert Hall on November 6th with pianist Julio Elizalde. For more information and to purchase tickets go here.

Photos of Ray Chen by John Mac/Courtesy of the LA Philharmonic Association

The post Violinist Ray Chen Pushes Boundaries appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

As you’ll learn in our interview with Ray Chen later this week, Play with Ray was his idea. Submissions from violinists around the world came pouring in for the chance to perform the Vivace movement with Chen on stage at the Hollywood Bowl.

From those submissions three finalists were named: 13-year-old Adriana Bec from San Antonio, Texas; 22-year-old Youngji Kim of Daegu, South Korea and 17-year-old Laura Kukkonen of Helsinki. All three finalists will perform live early in the week and the performer will be picked for Thursday night’s concert.

The Vivace movement is the first movement of the Bach concerto.

29-year-old Ben Gurnon, the Principal Guest Conductor of the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, will lead the LA Philharmonic in a performance of Mendelssohn’s Symphony Number 1 in C Minor to open the concert. That will be followed by Play with Ray.

After the intermission, Chen will return to perform The Four Seasons. Vivaldi wrote this work in 1723. It is one of the most popular pieces of classical music of all time.  His work has been featured in countless films and television shows including I, Tonya and 11 episodes of The Simpsons.

Composer Max Richter recomposed the work. For those who are curious, you can listen to a re-worked version of The Four Seasons here.

For tickets go here.

Photo of Ray Chen by John Mac/Courtesy of CAMI Music

The post Play with Ray at the Hollywood Bowl appeared first on Cultural Attaché.

When reviewing a separate 2012 recital Zachary Woolfe, also of the New York Times, began his review by saying “Going to live performances beats sitting at home and listening to recordings any day.”

He is indeed correct about that. As this video of Barnatan playing music by Ravel can attest.

The announced program for Saturday night’s recital involves a combination of material not just from these two reviewed recitals, but others as well making for a truly fascinating concert.

Here is the line-up:

Johann Sebastian Bach: Toccata in E minor, BWV914
George Frideric Handel: Allemande from Suite in E Major, HWV430
Jean-Philippe Rameau: Courante from Suite in A minor
François Couperin: L’Atalante
Maurice Ravel: ‘Rigaudon’ from Le tombeau de Couperin
Thomas Adès: Blanca Variations
György Ligeti: Musica Ricercata Nos. 11 and 10
Samuel Barber: Fugue from Sonata in E-flat minor
Intermission
Johannes Brahms: Variations & Fugue on a Theme by Handel

Barnatan has been awarded the 2009 Avery Fisher Career Grant and also Lincoln Center’s 2015 Martin E. Segal Award. The latter is given to “young artists of exceptional accomplishment.”

He began his tenure as the Music Director of the La Jolla Music Society Summerfest this year. That program is well worth reviewing as there is a fascinating range of music being performed and artists to do it including Conrad Tao, Cécile McLorin Salvant and The Brentano Quartet, programming cultivated by composer David Lang, a conversation about Beethoven by Alex Ross, and, of course, performances by Barnatan on both piano and harpsichord.

He’s a phenomenally talented musician with interesting ideas of programming, for both himself and the Summerfest. It won’t be too much longer before he’s exclusively playing venues like the Hollywood Bowl and you’ll regret having missed this opportunity to see him in the relative intimacy of The Wallis.

For tickets go here.

Main photo of Inon Barnatan by Marco Borggreve/Courtesy of The Wallis

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