It was probably Professor Peter Schickele (a.k.a. PDQ Bach) who first composed a musical work that actually set different musicians at each other’s throats (the Concerto for Two Pianos vs. Orchestra), although one wonders if it hadn’t been done before — the way some composers have orchestrated their works as if the instrumental sections were in a bear-baiting pit (yes, I’m looking at you, Richard Wagner).
At any rate, Jeff Curnow, the former principal trumpet of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, tears the lid off the simmering warfare going on between the brass section and the woodwinds in this helpful, animated commercial (”Penetrating sonic target barriers”) for a line of weapons-grade mouthpieces.
We all know that Anthony Hopkins is a great actor (an Oscar and three other nominations ought to prove that). But what kind of composer is he? You can find out Oct. 17 when he comes to Dallas for the world premiere of his original compositions, played by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. And you can possibly attend for free by e-mailing clayton@landmarktheatres.com with the subject line “Anthony Hopkins” plus your name and mailing address in the body of the message. Winners will be notified by e-mail on Monday.
And if you do win, please let us know how the performance was.
On a side note, I think I should be commended for not working any cannibal jokes into this post. Just know that it took great restraint.
And the answer to Stephen’s question (see below) about who the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts would get to make their opening-day announcement is really quite simple.
Just get the Greatest Voice for Announcing Anything in the World.
– who promptly gave the dignitaries and million-dollar arts patrons assembled at the Belo Mansion a little sampler (Jacques’ Seven Ages of Man speech from As You Like It, some reminiscences of playing Of Mice and Men at SMU, Fences on Broadway and The Great White Hope on stage and film — funny, there was nothing about this guy, though). And then Jones didn’t even announce the one (the only) new fact. The official opening date of the DCPA. That was left for John Eagle, head of the opening ceremony committee.
He’s coming in as a replacement for guest conductor Riccardo Chailly to perform Bruckner’s Fifth:
Little known outside the Netherlands until last year when he was named music director of the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, the Juilliard-trained violinist turned conductor has been stirring up a remarkable degree of buzz in the symphonic world. And the buzz is only getting louder. . .
Question: What have been your initial impressions as music director of the Dallas Symphony? Are the conditions in place for you to achieve the level of musicmaking you hope to achieve?
Answer: Absolutely. I have already observed a big difference from the music we made the first time I conducted them and the music we are making now. The difference is in how they react to me. You know, making music is nothing more than developing a relationship [with the musicians] onstage. This relationship has already blossomed so beautifully in Dallas. To be honest, it is [succeeding] well beyond my expectations!
This is an era of what could be called the “visual intellectual.” Students on college campuses and members of the general public flock to hear - and see - addresses by filmmakers, artists, and performers. Cultural attention, and cultural primacy, have shifted to encompass art installations, the moving image, technology, and performance. Phrases like “visual literacy,” “aural literacy,” “digital literacy,” and “media literacy” are increasingly common.
But although artists and performers are highly prized as visitors to colleges and universities, the kind of work they do has not reached a comparable importance in the curriculum.
Art and higher education might seem a natural fit in many ways, but they have a long and uneasy relationship. The arts are often still consigned to a secondary role within universities, sometimes viewed as not intrinsically intellectual, or not intrinsically academic. Even when a university invests significantly in the creative arts, and offers an array of courses in painting, sculpture, creative writing, and performance, many scholars and academic administrators remain unconvinced: Arts do not seem to lend themselves easily to the “tenurable” standards of other university subjects.
“A little more rallentando from you apples, please. Pears, that’s an eighth note at the start there … “
Just how many weeks Jaap van Sweden will spend in Dallas was a matter of discussion when he was hired to run the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Actually, the 12 (and then, later 15) weeks he’ll spend with the DSO are a pretty good run in these days of multiple posts for conductors all over the world. As Scott Cantrell wrote in the Dallas Morning News when van Sweden was appointed:
In addition to the DSO, he’ll continue his appointment with the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, and he’s due to become principal conductor of the Royal Flanders Philharmonic Orchestra in Antwerp, Belgium, in 2008.His initial DSO contract calls for him to conduct 12 weeks in the 2008-2009 season, and then 15 weeks in each of the next three seasons. His contract with the Dutch orchestra is for 14 to 17 weeks per season; the Belgian orchestra involves just seven weeks….
Once the norm, truly resident music directors, such as Mr. Litton, have become much rarer in today’s jet-set world. The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra recently hired Austrian conductor Manfred Honeck to lead a mere 10 weeks per season. Mr. van Zweden’s 15-week commitment to Dallas is virtually unheard of these days.
But in his Artsjournal blog,on the record,Henry Vogel, president of the League of American Orchestras, asks, just how much time should be expected? What about the conductor’s presence in the community? His commitment to it, his ‘feel’ for it?
Sometimes search committee members like to say, “It is important for people to see our conductor at the supermarket.” Well… I’ve seen no evidence in music director successes or failures that the “supermarket factor” was a critical one. So they’ll shop once a week and run into two or three people who might recognize them. That isn’t where a conductor makes a community impact.
But he also makes this surprising suggestion: Conductors should –
– give half-again, or nearly half-again, as many weeks as they are required to be on the podium. So if a conductor is required to be there for eight conducting weeks, another three or four weeks is a reasonable expectation (and they don’t need to be consecutive seven-day weeks–let’s call them 20 to 30 additional days). It is frankly unfair to expect a conductor to spend much more time than that in town and not conducting. Everyone must remember that conductors conduct. That’s what they do–and unlike instrumentalists, who can take their instrument home and play alone, or get two friends together and make chamber music, conductors can only conduct standing on a podium in front of an orchestra. Doing that is what they need to do. …
But, and this is the important part, it is the quality of that time in the community, both during the conducting and non-conducting weeks, that can make the impact.
Yesterday, it was a $3 million gift to the Dallas Center for the Performing Arts — an additional $3 million gift from Diane and Hal Brierley — but today, it’s a still-mysterious $6 million gift. The DCPA folks aren’t saying who, yet. But that makes 129 gifts of $1 million or more into the center’s $333 million kitty.
With their latest gift, the Brierleys have boosted their total donation to the DCPA to $8 million. The money is going to the Diane and Hal Brierley Esplanade, which will run from the Wyly Theater through the Elaine D. and Charles A. Sammons Park. And then there’s the Brierley Encore Suite in the Winspear Opera House, kind of a fancy green room for receptions and the like.
If you’re in the mood for a night of guitar, Bass Performance Hall has a special deal for students and educators.
For $10, anyone with a valid school ID can see Australian guitar whiz Tommy Emmanuel (most famous for playing with all 10 fingers), Monte Montgomery and Rhett Butler tonight at 7:30. Tickets can be reserved by visiting Bass Hall’s Web site. Tickets will be available at will call, but be sure to bring that ID with you — you’ll need it to pick them up.
As a bonus, the show is part of World Music Days, a monthlong event dedicated to using, “the universal language of music to spread a message of hope and unity across cultural divides.” The driving force behind the even is Judea Pearl, father of slain Wall Street Journal reported Daniel Pearl.
Those who enjoy the art and excitement of piano competitions should turn their attention to Plano and Richardson this weekend. The Viardo International Piano Competition will bring together talented young people Friday through Sunday.
The competition is open to two age groups: 12 to 17 and 18-up. Entrants have been selected through audio CD auditions. The semifinal round, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 8 a.m. Friday and Saturday at Custer Road United Methodist Church at 6601 Custer Road in Plano. The final round (tickets are $15 to $25) will begin at 6 p.m. Sunday at Eisemann Center in Richardson. The Plano Symphony Orchestra will accompany concerto performances.
Judges are Vladimir Viardo, Jean Fassina, Liu Shi Kun, Daniel Pollack and Marian Rybicki.
The competition has been organized by Viardo, who won the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 1973 as well as the Marguerite Long - Jacques Thibaud Competition in Paris in 1971. The former Soviet virtuoso is an artist-in-residence at the University of North Texas in Denton.
