The Sound Post » New York Times

Soprano Renée Fleming to Release Alt Rock Cover Album

Colin — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 02:32:58 +0000

Knock-out soprano Renée Fleming will release her new pop album, Dark Hope, on June 8 in the United States. Already out in Europe, the album represents the underside of Fleming’s newest leaf: popular music.

Her classical credits bud with acclaimed performances in the world’s best opera houses, multiple solo albums, and the moniker of “America’s Favorite Soprano.” None of this, however, receives a mention in the liner notes of her new release. Instead, Fleming wants to earn her alt-rock plaudits with a breathy, alto-range timbre that reflects little of her previous professional exploits. That tone, though antithetical to her pure, operatic upper register, is a tool she carefully crafted to convey an authentic pop feeling. Fleming and her producers have consistently asserted that the album is not a “crossover” but a purebred rock/pop release. The difference, they stress, is that a crossover album is classically styled performances of popular songs. Fleming’s recording is pop covers of pop songs.

The approach seems similar to the classical tradition in that Fleming plays the role of performing artist. She embraces the popular works of current artists and interprets them through her own musical lens, much like an artist performing a piece by a venerated composer. The single “Endlessly,” by Muse, is currently the only song on Dark Hope that has been released in the United States. It is available via iTunes.

The performance is reminiscent of the original in all the right ways: tempo, style, and yearning are all there. However Fleming’s own take on the song is evident in her phrasing. Through her choice of emphasis, she tells a different story than does Muse’s Matt Bellamy. Her female artistry contrasts with Bellamy’s and contributes to her reboot of “Endlessly.”

The only fault I found was with the instrumentation. Muse uses a delicate balance of drum set, piano, and synth to propel the otherwise andante threnody. But Fleming’s iteration, while not lethargic, is more subdued. The strings are effective but synthesized, and therefore cannot provide the same rich, varied sounds as a live instrument. Muse’s original does use heavy synth, but the sounds are overtly electronic as opposed to instrumental representations. Simply put, synth instruments cannot adequately complement a voice like Fleming’s. I do look forward to hearing the rest of the album, given the incredible talent and musicality that is evident on this single.

Related Articles:
New York Times review by Anthony Tommasini
New York Times review by Jon Pareles

Dudamel and LA Phil Come to East Coast

Colin — Mon, 24 May 2010 02:57:45 +0000

Last Thursday and Friday, Gustavo Dudamel gave tri-staters the opportunity to see him conduct for the first time since his inauguration as music director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. At Avery Fisher Hall on Thursday, Dudamel and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet performed Leonard Bernstein’s Symphony No. 2 “The Age of Anxiety.” Times critic Anthony Tommasini called the performance “arresting” and said the work “if sometimes wild and brassy, was basically wonderful.” However, he was not as enamored with the LA rendition of Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 6 “Pathetique.”

Tommasini felt that technical faults in the performance hinted at under-preparation despite Dudamel’s emotive and carefully executed direction. While the lush, expressive lyricism lent itself to a poignant interpretation from the maestro, The NY Times thought the orchestra’s inability to deliver resulted in a performance that was “rough and unfocused.”

But on Friday, The Sound Post was able to see Dudamel continue his east coast performances with a similar program in Prudential Hall at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center. Dudamel and Thibaudet began the performance by repeating the same pristine execution of Bernstein’s 2nd Symphony “The Age of Anxiety” from the night before. Thibaudet’s sensitivity and thoughtfulness at the piano denied any personal anxieties and were matched by the orchestra’s care and attention throughout all six segments. After intermission, Dudamel returned with one of his specialties: Mahler’s Symphony No. 1 “Titan.”

Brimming with expressive and eloquent gesture, Dudamel stimulated the LA Phil into an energized performance of the Mahler after a brief warm up in the first movement. Perhaps an over-familiarity with the work made the opening seem too comfortable, but a playful emphasis of the dance-like elements in the second movement demanded the attention of both orchestra and audience and set the tone for rest of the piece.

As the orchestra drifted between the folk and klezmer duality of the third movement, Dudamel guided the music through each color of the opposing themes. Finally, the gloves came off, and the orchestra shined in the explosive fourth movement—its intimacy with Mahler was evident in the fiery, finger-and-embouchure-crushing passages that riddle the movement. Complete with a standing horn section in the finale, the performance exuded the majesty and prowess of the “Titan” and brought the crowd to its feet moments after Mahler’s powerful full-stop ending.

Levine Returns to BSO After Spinal Surgery

Colin — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 17:34:30 +0000

James Levine led the Boston Symphony Orchestra last week for the first time since his back surgery in the Fall. While Levine has been in New York for assorted performances at Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Opera, his leadership at the BSO was absent for most of the season’s Fall performances. He presented his returning program, featuring works by Berlioz, Ravel, and Carter, in both Boston and New York. Perhaps fortuitously, the night before the BSO’s Carnegie Hall performance, Levine and the BSO won a Grammy for their recording of Ravel’s “Daphnis et Chloé.” For a complete review of the performance and a clip of the Grammy winning recording, see the NYT article here.

Baldwin Dedicated to Classical Music

Colin — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 02:18:35 +0000

Alec Baldwin loves classical music. According to the NY Times, Baldwin is not only invested in his role as announcer for the New York Philharmonic’s weekly radio broadcasts, but he is also a die-hard classical music fan. Daniel Wakin writes that Baldwin was offered the position after the Phil took notice of his patronage. The NY Phil regularly keeps tabs on its celebrity concert-goers, offering them tickets in exchange for publicity.

The Phil first booked Baldwin as narrator for an “Inside the Music” series in 2008—a program where a work is first explained and then performed. Then, after Baldwin joked that he’d like to quit acting and become a classical music radio presenter, the Phil pounced on his apparent interest and made an offer.

Now, as Baldwin records radio announcements between acting commitments like this winter’s “It’s Complicated” and NBC’s “30 Rock,” he sets his schedule around musical events he refuses to miss. Last May, he contracted time off to see Daniel Barenboim conduct Mahler’s ninth symphony. Baldwin’s interest in classical music began on a soap opera set when he was 24, when a staging director chided him for not recognizing Berlioz’s “March to the Scaffold” from Symphony Fantastique. Now, Baldwin listens to classical everywhere from his home to his car, and has a constantly expanding library of works.

Baldwin prefers mostly romantic composers; he says he likes more “emotive” kinds of music. Some of his favorites include Mahler and Tchaikovsky, having earned his preference by his own standard: music he wants played at his funeral.

Read the full story here.

Classical Newcomer Writes Book On Bach Cello Suites

Colin — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 03:47:41 +0000

Eric Siblin, a pop music critic whose classical education is wanting at best, shares his take on Bach’s six cello suites in his book “The Cello Suites: J.S. Bach, Pablo Casals, and the Search for a Baroque Masterpiece.” The book is the result of Siblin’s pseudo-obsessive exploration into the six suites, despite an overall unfamiliarity with Bach and classical music in general.

Siblin was inspired by the same Casals recording that brought the suites into the spotlight of cello literature, and he begins the book with an attempt to shed light on what NY Times writer Janet Maslin identifies as the suites’ “elusiveness.” Bach’s intentions are still murky, as the alternate tuning required by some movements suggests the works may not have been written for cello. Or if they were, that the outliers among the suites do not belong in the same collection that modern musicians have come to accept as an indisputable volume.

Delving into the histories of both Bach and Casals, Siblin applies the musicians’ respective political and social environments to his analysis of the cello suites. Still, Siblin’s research was incomplete until he attempted to play the cello himself. While he didn’t acquire the prowess necessary for Bach, Maslin found his writing “entertaining if not exactly new.”

Check out Janet Maslin’s Book Review over at the NY Times.

WQXR Makes Debut Broadcast on 105.9

Colin — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 02:09:59 +0000

Fans who tuned into WQXR at its new address, 105.9, at 8:00pm today were greeted by a message recorded over 70 years ago by WQXR co-founder Elliott M. Sanger. The recording expressed WQXR’s commitment to bring classical music to a widespread audience, and to maintain its listeners’ satisfaction. WQXR and its new parent company, WNYC, wished to reaffirm that mission, and have already made good on their promise by broadcasting the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra live from Carnegie Hall.

To recap briefly: WNYC, a member of National Public Radio, bought the rights to WQXR from the New York Times Company, and has transplanted the station to 105.9FM from 96.3FM. The new ownership brings new programming and a new website. The site (which seems to be down currently) has information about WQXR, as well as access to four different internet radio streams. 93.9 (NPR), their AM classical station, 105.9 (now WQXR), and Q2. Q2 is the new internet-only radio stream that will broadcast music geared toward a more niche oriented listener base. This includes contemporary music, and some chamber and vocal music. Read up on the details on our previous articles. Otherwise click ahead for info about tonight’s performance.

The concert, supported by a campaign spearheaded by Emanuel Ax and supplemented by a $5 million matched donation by the Jerome Green Foundation, featured the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra playing Stravinsky’s Concerto in E-flat Major “Dumbarton Oaks,” Webern’s Fuga (Ricercare) a 6 voci from Bach’s Musical Offering, BWV 1079, the New York premier of Kernis’s Concerto with Echoes, and violinist Henning Kraggerud playing Beethoven’s famous violin concerto.

The concert was hosted by WNYC’s David Garland and WQXRs Midge Woolsey—two voices listeners can expect to hear on WQXR in the future. So remember to change your dials to 105.9 in the NYC area, or point your browser to http://www.wqxr.org, which will hopefully be online very shortly.

The New WQXR: More Music, Less Variety

Colin — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 17:26:56 +0000

As WQXR prepares to move from 96.3FM to 105.9FM this Thursday, October 8, at 8:00pm, its new parent company, WNYC, has announced some of the changes that will occur.

One benefit will be a reduction in commercials. The NYT article says “underwriting announcements” will only take up about 4 minutes per hour, compared to almost 12 minutes per hour of commercials currently.

In addition, many of WQXR’s broadcasts will remain. The station will continue to broadcast from the Met, the New York Phil, and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center. The article does not mention the fate of Exploring Music with Bill McGlaughlin.

Read on for changes to expect.

What will change however, is the list of works deemed radio worthy. The move will include the creation of a new internet radio stream called Q2, which will program new and modern works too edgy for radio listeners. The surprise however, is that works like Beethoven’s late piano sonatas and string quartets will be relegated to Q2, along with Mahler’s entire portfolio.

WQXR will also be cutting large choral works and all religious programming—the latter is banned by National Public Radio.

The station’s white list, which includes Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn, Mozart, Schubert, and Wagner, will serve as a guide for programming. Other composers included are Copland, Janacek, Gershwin, Satie, Sibelius and Vivaldi. While this is certainly not a comprehensive list, absences such as Dvorak, Tchaikovsky, Schumann, and Rachmaninoff create unsettling uncertainties.

Finally, listeners seeking a familiar voice can expect to hear those of Jeff Spurgeon, Midge Woolsey and Elliott Forrest, who will be rejoining WQXR as hosts. Source: NY Times Arts

Alan Gilbert Opens NY Phil on Wednesday

Colin — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 01:31:59 +0000

On Wednesday night, conductor Alan Gilbert will put on his music director’s shoes as he takes the podium in Avery Fisher Hall—a step up which marks a new era in the New York Philharmonic. The maestro will lead a performance of ~~Mahler’s third symphony~~ EXPO by Magnus Lindberg, Songs Pour Mi by Oliver Messiaen, and Berlioz’s Symphony Fantastique. While great expectations lie on Mr. Gilbert’s baton, one hopes the orchestra will take the opportunity to embrace its new leader, a fresh outlook, and renewed vigor.

Here is a great interview with Gilbert by Martin Steinberg (AP).

WQXR Moves to 105.9 on October 8

Colin — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 04:41:30 +0000

With Live Broadcast at 8pm

WQXR, New York’s classical station, announced that its move from 96.3FM to 105.9FM will take place on October 8th, 2009 at 8:00PM EST. This frequency transplant comes as part of an FCC-approved three-way deal between New York Times Co., Univision, and WNYC—the nation’s largest public radio station. After 65 years of ownership, NYT Co. sold WQXR’s rights and namesake to WNYC, and the station’s spot at 96.3FM to Univision.

The new WQXR will launch with a live broadcast from Carnegie Hall on October 8th at 8pm. The performance by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra will feature the world premier of Concerto With Echoes by Aaron Jay Kernis, as well as works by Stravinsky, Webern, and Beethoven’s Violin Concerto played by Janine Jansen. The performance will be simulcast on 93.9FM, another station owned by WNYC.

WQXR will remain a 24/7 classical music station, but is to become fully listener-supported. The initial purchase is being supported by The Campaign to Preserve Classical Music Radio in New York City—a $15 million campaign co-chaired by Emanuel Ax. So far, the campaign has raised $7.2 million.

Click for the official WNYC press release.

NY Times Sells WQXR; NY’s Classical Station to Exchange Places with Spanish Radio

Colin — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 16:19:07 +0000

The Deal

WQXR 96.3FM, New York’s long standing classical radio station, will be sold by the New York Times Company pending FCC approval. The rights to the WQXR name will be sold to WNYC Public Radio, and its 96.3 spot on the dial, including broadcasting equipment, will go to Univision. Univision plans to transition its Spanish-language programming to 96.3 from 105.9, which in turn is also being purchased by WNYC for use as WQXR’s new frequency. The sale comes during an economic slump that has taken its toll on an already struggling newspaper industry. Check the link for the good and bad news.

The Good News

As part of the deal, WQXR will remain a classical only station, though it will exchange places on the FM band with WCAA 105.9—a large Spanish-language station. Its new owners—WNYC public radio—purchased the 105.9 broadcasting equipment and license, as well as the rights to WQXR’s letters, for a grand total of $11.5 million. WNYC says that it intends to keep a classical program, and will likely ramp-up musical content for the new WQXR while reducing music programming on its regular NPR station. All things considered, it looks like WQXR is simply moving down the block.

The Bad News

But with that move comes a smaller apartment. When Univision bought 96.3’s equipment and license for $33.5 million, they upgraded from WCAA’s current 600 watt broadcasting equipment to WQXR’s 6,000 watt equipment. While the performance difference is not literally tenfold, the move to 105.9 will cause WQXR’s signal to lose approximately 12 miles from its effective broadcasting radius, leaving it with 105.9’s current radius of about 30 miles from the antenna.

And unfortunately, my comic sub-headline is in fact not very comical—all WQXR employees will need to apply for their own jobs—this time under WNYC. However, WNYC has started a campaign to raise $15 million to cover the purchase of WQXR as well as some operating costs. And already $5 million deep thanks to the Jerome L. Greene Foundation, the campaign is well underway.