Chicago Tribune: Shanghai Symphony Brings 140-Year Tradition to America
When the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra makes its Chicago-area debut Aug. 16 at the Ravinia Festival, no one will be prouder of the occasion than its music director, Long Yu.
Chicago Tribune
Howard Reich
When the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra makes its Chicago-area debut Aug. 16 at the Ravinia Festival, no one will be prouder of the occasion than its music director, Long Yu.
For to him, the Shanghai ensemble will be more than just a visitor from the other side of the world – it will be bringing with it a legacy stretching back to 1879, when it was established under a previous name.
“This is the first orchestra not only in China, but in the Far East,” says Yu, speaking by phone from Hong Kong.
“A lot of work was premiered in Asia by the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra. For example, Beethoven’s Ninth (Symphony), (Stravinsky’s) ‘Firebird’ – all those pieces premiered in Shanghai.”
In effect, adds Yu, this orchestra “introduced most of the classical music to China and to Asia.”
That in itself is significant, but all the more considering the dramatic growth of classical music in China and elsewhere in Asia. We may lament the shrinking and aging of the classical audience in the United States, with only the most celebrated soloists and ensembles able to fill large concert halls and festivals that routinely sold out in the mid-20th century. But in China and environs, the music seems to be on a perpetual rise.
Read more here.
Gramophone: The Listening Room – Haochen Zhang
A terrific new recording of Prokofiev’s Second Piano Concerto comes from 2009 Van Cliburn Competition winner Haochen Zhang - quite a feather in BIS’s cap as they’ve also this year's Tchaikovsky Competition winner Alexandre Kantorow on their books.
Gramophone
James Jolly
A terrific new recording of Prokofiev’s Second Piano Concerto comes from 2009 Van Cliburn Competition winner Haochen Zhang - quite a feather in BIS’s cap as they’ve also this year's Tchaikovsky Competition winner Alexandre Kantorow on their books.
Read more here.
Financial Times: Mahan Esfahani – Bach: Toccatas – free and spontaneous performances
As the outstanding harpsichordist of the younger generation, Esfahani naturally plays the toccatas on a harpsichord… Esfahani’s playing feels free and spontaneous without losing the underlying pulse of the music. The toccatas display their brilliance proudly. One can imagine the young Bach showing off his prowess just like this.
Financial Times
Richard Fairman
As the outstanding harpsichordist of the younger generation, Esfahani naturally plays the toccatas on a harpsichord… Esfahani’s playing feels free and spontaneous without losing the underlying pulse of the music. The toccatas display their brilliance proudly. One can imagine the young Bach showing off his prowess just like this.
Read more here.
Clef Notes: Q&A with Celebrated Violinist Anne Akiko Meyers
One of the most gifted violinists of her generation, Anne Akiko Meyers embodies what a virtuoso violinist should be as a powerful interpreter of beloved repertoire that spans centuries and yet poised to open that same repertoire to new music, serving as a vanguard in what has traditionally been a guarded space.
Clef Notes
One of the most gifted violinists of her generation, Anne Akiko Meyers embodies what a virtuoso violinist should be as a powerful interpreter of beloved repertoire that spans centuries and yet poised to open that same repertoire to new music, serving as a vanguard in what has traditionally been a guarded space. Of course, only time will tell what new music survives to take its place alongside classic works of the cannon, but Meyers is a truly nimble artist open to the idea of breaking musical boundaries that remain only because those before her hesitated to breach them.
With ground-breaking collaborations with top artists from electro-pop to jazz, Meyers refuses to rest on her laurels, sated by her own dominance of the violin repertoire. Marshaling the potency of her storied career, she broadens the scope of the cannon she interprets and the scope of her own experience at the same time.
This summer, I had an opportunity to pose a few questions to the one-time wunderkind and gained a little more insight into just why today she is simply a wonder, not only in her mastery of the repertoire, but also in her advocacy for it.
Q: As a young violin student studying in Southern California, did you ever imagine the kind of career for yourself you now enjoy?
A: I dreamed of becoming a concert violinist at age 7 after hearing Tchaikovsky at the Hollywood Bowl. Little did I know what an incredible journey I would go on. I am so grateful to all the teachers I studied with, the amazing musicians and collaborators I have worked with, and my family, for their unconditional support. It takes one heck of a village, luck, patience and perseverance to accomplish one’s dream.
Read more here.
BBC Music: August Live Choice – Grand Teton Music Festival
Russian pianist Denis Kozhukhin joins the Festival Orchestra and conductor Donald Runnicles for Shostakovich ‘s buoyant Second Piano Concerto. Anna Clyne’s This Midnight Hour, Britten’s Young Person’s Guide, and Debussy’s Preludes, arranged for orchestra, complete the eclectic programme.
BBC Music Magazine
Brian Wise
Grand Teton Music Festival
Teton Village, Wyoming
August 2-3, 2019
Russian pianist Denis Kozhukhin joins the Festival Orchestra and conductor Donald Runnicles for Shostakovich ‘s buoyant Second Piano Concerto. Anna Clyne’s This Midnight Hour, Britten’s Young Person’s Guide, and Debussy’s Preludes, arranged for orchestra, complete the eclectic programme.
Read more of the August Live Choices in BBC Music’s August issue, available here.
Gramophone: Video of the day – Mahan Esfahani on Bach's Toccatas
In the August issue of Gramophone, Richard Bratby speaks to Mahan Esfahani about Bach's seven keyboard toccatas (BWV910-916) and they discuss how he has approached recording these seven pieces for which no complete manuscript survives.
Gramophone
In the August issue of Gramophone, Richard Bratby speaks to Mahan Esfahani about Bach's seven keyboard toccatas (BWV910-916) and they discuss how he has approached recording these seven pieces for which no complete manuscript survives.
Esfahani's new recording of the toccatas will be released by Hyperion Records on August 2, and in the video below Esfahani shines a light on the recording process and the debt that he owes to the recording's producer Sébastien Chonion and engineer David Hinitt.
Classical Post: Shanghai Orchestra Academy Celebrates Fifth Anniversary With Commencement Ceremony
Shanghai Orchestra Academy (SOA) celebrated its fifth anniversary with the commencement of 10 graduates on July 1. SOA is a collaboration between the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra (SSO), New York Philharmonic, and Shanghai Conservatory of Music. It provides a new approach in China to train fresh graduates from music conservatories to become professional orchestra musicians through a two-year program and international partnership.
Classical Post
Shanghai Orchestra Academy (SOA) celebrated its fifth anniversary with the commencement of 10 graduates on July 1. SOA is a collaboration between the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra (SSO), New York Philharmonic, and Shanghai Conservatory of Music. It provides a new approach in China to train fresh graduates from music conservatories to become professional orchestra musicians through a two-year program and international partnership.
“The greatest thing about this academy is that we have explored a new standardized system in China to bridge between music graduates and orchestra musicians to provide high-quality professional musicians for China and even for the world,” said Long Yu, the SSO’s music director and the SOA’s founding president.
The academy’s curriculum includes vast amounts of practice and performances, and also provides courses like career planning, performance mental health, and how to best avoid fatigue.
In addition to working with academy faculty, the students are also taught by musicians from top orchestras around the world and provided with opportunities to play with them. For example, the New York Philharmonic sends musicians to Shanghai four times per year for master classes, coaching, mock auditions, and seminars.
Deborah Borda, New York Philharmonic’s President and CEO, considers SOA a “very important project and partnership.” She believes that the New York Philharmonic can also learn from the young academy musicians, such as exploring new ways in the digital era to communicate classical music.
The Shanghai Orchestra Academy resumes classes and performances in September.
History
The academy was founded after Long Yu became concerned about the lack of professional classical music performers in 2011, when he saw the classical music scene in China expanding rapidly and in urgent need of more musicians. He entered a discussion with the New York Philharmonic for a long-term partnership, and they both agreed to make the education project a priority and were later joined by the Shanghai Conservatory of Music.
Shanghai Orchestra Academy began recruiting in September 2014 and has since recruited 75 young musicians. Approximately 90 percent of the graduates have gone straight to orchestras around China and some abroad.
For more information, visit the Shanghai Orchestra Academy’s website.
Classical Post: Grand Teton Music Festival Celebrates Nature In 58th Season
The majestic foothills of the Teton Mountain Range promise a sublime, serene backdrop for the Grand Teton Music Festival’s 58th season, July 3 to August 17. Offering inspiration, rejuvenation, and wonderment for all, the Festival honors the natural environment it calls home and those composers and works that draw inspiration from nature. The Festival’s 2019 lineup includes more than 60 events over seven weeks.
Classical Post
The majestic foothills of the Teton Mountain Range promise a sublime, serene backdrop for the Grand Teton Music Festival’s 58th season, July 3 to August 17. Offering inspiration, rejuvenation, and wonderment for all, the Festival honors the natural environment it calls home and those composers and works that draw inspiration from nature. The Festival’s 2019 lineup includes more than 60 events over seven weeks.
The heart of the Grand Teton Music Festival is the Festival Orchestra, which is led by Music Director Donald Runnicles. Performing Friday and Saturday nights, the Festival Orchestra welcomes world-famous soloists including pianists Yefim Bronfman (July 12-13) and Denis Kozhukhin (August 2-3), violinists Hilary Hahn (July 26-27) and Augustin Hadelich (August 16-17), cellist Alisa Weilerstein (July 19-20), and saxophonist Branford Marsalis (August 9-10). Nature-inspired works run throughout the seven weeks, including Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring (August 9-10), Anna Clyne’s This Midnight Hour (August 2-3), Sibelius’ En Saga (July 12-13), and Lyadov’s Enchanted Lake (August 16-17).
Also appearing with the Festival Orchestra will be esteemed guest conductors Rafael Payare, the incoming Music Director of the San Diego Symphony (July 19-20), and Cincinnati Symphony Music Director Louis Langrée (August 16-17).
Pianist, vocalist, and nine-time Grammy Award winner Norah Jones will perform a special one-night-only concert July 21, co-presented with Live Nation. The event sold out online in five minutes. Jones’s appearance is part of the GTMF Presents lineup of showcase events that expand the Festival’s programming.
Other GTMF Presents artists include the Takács Quartet (July 31), the Los Angeles Guitar Quartet (July 17), pianist Stephen Hough (July 10), and piano duo Anderson and Roe (August 17). Broadway star Kristin Chenoweth (August 15) and singer-pianist Michael Feinstein (July 3) will bring the world of theater and cabaret to the mountains.
On July 5, the annual Fundraising Gala will feature Maestro Runnicles and the Festival Orchestra in two performances of Carl Orff’s Carmina Burana with the Utah Symphony Chorus, the Madeleine Choir School Chorus, and soloists Meechot Marrero, Thomas Lehman, and Sunnyboy Dladla.
Read more here.
WGN: The Juilliard String Quartet
The Juilliard String Quartet plays live on WGN’s Morning News in Chicago.
WGN Morning News
Juilliard String Quartet is widely considered America's most important string quartet. With unparalleled artistry and enduring vigor, the Juilliard String Quartet continues to inspire audiences around the world. They were founded in 1946 and hailed by the Boston Globe as “the most important American quartet in history." The Juilliard draws on a deep and vital engagement to the classics while embracing the mission of championing new works. Each performance of the Juilliard Quartet is a unique experience, bringing together the four members’ profound understanding, total commitment and unceasing curiosity in sharing the wonders of the string quartet literature.
Watch them live in WGN’s studios here.
National Review: A Maestro-Ambassador, Gerard Schwarz
Gerard Schwarz is an exemplary musician. He was a hotshot trumpeter — one of the best in the world. Then he became a leading conductor. For many years, he led the Seattle Symphony, and also the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York. He has led other institutions too. Now he is going to the Palm Beach Symphony. I joke that this is a “hardship post.”
National Review
Jay Nordlinger
Gerard Schwarz is an exemplary musician. He was a hotshot trumpeter — one of the best in the world. Then he became a leading conductor. For many years, he led the Seattle Symphony, and also the Mostly Mozart Festival in New York. He has led other institutions too. Now he is going to the Palm Beach Symphony. I joke that this is a “hardship post.”
In addition to being a superb player and conductor, he is an outstanding — really good — talker about music, and teacher of music. There is more than a little Bernstein in him. (He knew the late maestro and played under him in the New York Philharmonic.)
Listen to the Q&A session between Maestro Gerard Schwarz and Jay Nordlinger here.