While Rachmaninoff’s legacy lives in the rich, dark melodies he inscribed into a lifetime of compositions, knowledge of his prowess as a performer still remains limited to historical accounts and crackly recordings. Recording technology was just beginning to bud during his career, and so the sound quality of even remastered recordings is passable at best. But because there is an inexorable authenticity to his performances, and because these remaining vestiges of his pianism prove that Rachmaninoff’s big hands were contrarily delicate, these recordings remain among my favorites despite their dustiness.
Until recently, the closest modern listeners could come to hearing Rachmaninoff perform was by listening to a recording of a piano roll performance. While Rachmaninoff himself was impressed with the accuracy a piano roll contained in reproducing dynamics, rubato, and other musical elements, he only created 35 in his lifetime. It is reported that upon hearing one for the first time, he exclaimed “Gentlemen — I, Sergei Rachmaninoff, have just heard myself play!”
But with the advent of Zenph Studios’ “re-performance” technology, computer software can analyze old recordings and translate them into “high definition MIDI” data. View Full Article »
Archive for the ‘Features’ Category
Rachmaninoff Plays Rachmaninoff
Does Not Cause Blindness
Exclusive Interview With Bridgid Bibbens
Here We Go Again
WOW! What a fun interview. I have got to say that it was truly a blast to shoot this one! As soon as I walked into the Wood Violin workshop and saw Bridgid sporting a Whitesnake t-shirt, and a spiked belt with a Viper axe under her arm, I knew this was going to be a trip.
In this Sound Post exclusive interview, “Go-To-Girl” of Wood Violins, Bridgid Bibbens, sits down with Ian to talk about how she transformed from being a school strings teacher to violin-rockstar and spokesperson for the Electrify Your Strings program. EYS is a string education initiative founded by Mark Wood, and it is quickly sweeping the nation.
Bridgid also details the process of making one of Mark Wood’s famous Viper instruments (and then proceeds to rock out with a familiar tune from Liverpool, England).
View Full Article »
Mark O’Connor Releases New String Method Books
Suzuki teachers can come out from hiding, it's safe
Famed American fiddler Mark O’Connor has just released the first two installments of his new string method entitled The Mark O’Connor Violin Method. Savvy teachers will quickly find many similarities with the popular Suzuki Method.
Progressive repertoire, heavy emphasis on listening, and the sequential introduction of new techniques are all pedagogical practices which were first brought into mainstream string education by Dr. Shinichi Suzuki. His method’s followers will be happy to see that O’Connor’s system has been largely based upon these principles. During an interview with Laurie Niles, editor of Violinist.com, O’Connor acknowledges the similarities between Suzuki’s method and his own:
“I patterned my method after some of the great methods out there, especially Suzuki, because they introduced very young people to a sequence of tunes. That’s something that is also inherent in folk music learning, too.”
View Full Article »
Exclusive: Interview with Susan Waterbury
I had the pleasure of sitting down today with Susan Waterbury, Associate Professor of Violin at Ithaca College. In this Sound Post exclusive interview, Ms. Waterbury talks about the inspiration for her upcoming recital, the experience of collaborating with Jeffery Meyer, and the importance of musicians reaching out into their communities to spread their talent.
Susan Waterbury is Associate Professor of Violin at Ithaca College and a former member of the renowned Cavani Quartet. Waterbury has given masterclasses and recitals in major conservatories both in the US and abroad. She studied with Donald Weilerstein.
Check out her recital on Sunday November 1 at 4pm in Hockett Recital Hall at Ithaca College. Video after the link.
View Full Article »
Exclusive Interview: August Kleinzahler on Music I-LXXIV
Here it is! My exclusive interview with August Kleinzahler. If you aren’t familiar with this man, you soon will be.
Fighting jet lag from his recent trip to Birmingham, England, Augie sat down with The Sound Post for a midnight interview about his latest book, Music I-LXXIV. A collection of essays from his weekly column in the San Diego Reader and other publications, the New York Times praises the book, “The battered, roomy, intellectual charm of his poetry floods these music pieces; they’re offhanded and penetrating at the same time.”
In this Sound Post exclusive interview he discusses everything from the day he cut study hall and first tried his hand at poetry, to his hatred of iPods. This lighthearted interview really captures the man behind the words.
View Full Article »
A Night At The Met: Verdict – They Still Got It
And Renée Flemming is still beautiful
Most news coming from the Metropolitan Opera these days has not been uplifting. From the boos toward director Luc Bondy after Tosca, to the similar signs of vexation shown to maestro Daniele Gatti after Aida, this native New Yorker is a tad worried that we are developing a penchant for being hard impossible to please. Could this reputation possibly prevent performers from coming to New York? Probably not, since New York is “where dreams are made,” after all. However, I’m afraid we may yet become known as a city full of critics—not the art lovers and appreciators we are. Because I had not yet visited my favorite opera house this season, I splurged and purchased tickets for myself and a musician-colleague to Friday night’s performance of Der Rosenkavalier featuring Renée Fleming.
Perhaps it was the mediocre review given by the New York Times on Tuesday’s opening night, the flowing negativity for the other two productions currently at the venue, or the absence of James Levine, but let’s just say that I was hesitant to purchase last-minute-tickets for the sold out show (thanks to allshows.com for the tickets, but damn you for the 200% inflation without even delivering them to will-call). Upon arriving and immediately ordering champagne with the last of my cash, I took my seat.
View Full Article »
Guest Article: Just Press “Enter”: Technology and the Percussionist
Written by Daniel Cathey
I walk into my office to a large stack of music on my desk, and my stomach turns over as I anticipate a collection of outlandish instrument requests by the composer. I can’t help but chuckle as I read down the list: propeller engine, guillotine sound, the bay of a Central American burro (alright, I made the last one up). Composers’ demands are getting stranger and stranger.
It comes with the job. Finding these instruments—or at the very least, a way to imitate the required sound—should be a challenge. These days, with all the wonderful technology available, it can be as simple as finding the correct sound effect or synthesized instrument on the Internet and playing it through a computer hooked up to an amp (this strategy proves useful when playing Harry Partch’s music). It’s a quick fix, but does it too often take some of the artistry out of what we do?
View Full Article »
Exclusive: Interview With Conductor Jeffery Meyer
Johannes Approves
Today’s interview is with Dr. Jeffery Meyer. He is the Director of Orchestras at Ithaca College, Artistic Director of the St. Petersburg Chamber Philharmonic, and Artistic Director of the Water City Chamber Orchestra. Meyer will lead the opening performance of Ithaca College’s 09-10 season tomorrow night, Saturday October 3rd. One of the works on the program is Jeu de Timbres by Steven Stucky, who we interviewed yesterday (see his interview here).
Also scheduled is Ravel’s Ma Mère l’Oye (Mother Goose Suite), and Berlioz’s Symphony Fantastique, op. 14. The concert takes place tomorrow night, Saturday October 3rd, at 8:15pm in Ford Hall, Ithaca College.
Please click on through for the video interview and full written transcript.
View Full Article »
Exclusive: Interview With Steven Stucky
The Sound Post Welcomes Ian Salmon
Our very own Ian Salmon conducted an exclusive interview with composer Steven Stucky regarding the performance of his work, Jeu de Timbres. The piece will be performed by the Ithaca College Symphony Orchestra this Saturday, October 3rd, 2009 in Ford Hall at Ithaca College under the direction of Dr. Jeff Meyer. Click to the full article for the video and transcript of the interview.
This is the premier of our video blog series, and will be followed by another interview tomorrow, October 2nd, 2009, with Ithaca College Director of Orchestras Jeff Meyer. So stay tuned, and keep an eye on our new videos page.
View Full Article »
Gilbert Leads NY Phil as Music Director
Mother probably proud
Alan Gilbert reigned over the New York Philharmonic tonight for the first time as music director. Hosted by actor Alec Baldwin, the televised broadcast “Live from Lincoln Center” allowed millions to watch not only the NY Phil’s opening night, but its venture into a new era of leadership. Gilbert is not only the youngest-appointed music director, but also the first native New Yorker to hold the position.
The program began with the world premier of EXPO by Magnus Lindberg, the Phil’s composer-in-residence until 2011. Lindberg wrote the work knowing it would open the milestone season—the Phil’s 50th at Avery Fisher Hall.
EXPO was followed by Songs pour Mi—a song cycle by Olivier Messiaen. Sung by Renée Fleming, the song cycle is a portrait of Messiaen’s love for his wife, Claire Delbos, who he nicknamed Mi. Those watching the televised broadcast saw Fleming introduce the cycle with a pre-recorded speech, which outlined Messiaen’s relationship from his marriage to Delbos at 27 years old, to her institutionalization due to mental illness after the end of World War II.
Finally, the headlining work of the night was Symphony No. 1—or the Fantastic Symphony—by Hector Berlioz. Written only three years after Beethoven’s death, the work facilitated the exodus into Romanticism, as it’s massive orchestration and lush expression brought unrestricted emotive composition into the musical world. The work is programmatic—that is, it possesses a narrative—with notes written by Berlioz himself. Each of the five movements has a descriptive title, including the famous March to the Scaffold and Dream of a Witch’s Sabbath. As described by Berlioz, the piece tells the story of “an artist gifted with a lively imagination” who has “poisoned himself with opium” in the “depths of despair” out of “hopeless love.”