Chatham Baroque in the studio again

Chatham Baroque is finished up a four-day recording session for its next CD last night at the Carnegie Music Hall in Carnegie, Pa.

After years of working with Dorian Recordings, CB will self-produce this one, which consists of music by Giovanni Kapsberger (1580-1651). The Venetian who worked in Rome is the baby of Scott Pauley and the producer/engineer is David Walters. I look forward to hearing this disc. I have yet to be disappointed by CB on disc (or live, for that matter!).

Mendelssohn's autograph score to the 'Octet'

I am not one for saying you should've been there, but last night's concert of the Mendelssohn Octet by the Pacifica and Miro Quartets was stratospherically good, as I wrote in today's paper and online.

The Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society should be proud of the entire "Mendelssohn Project" events. I still can't believe this was written by a 16-year-old. I mean, when I was 16 I, like most teens, thought I knew it all, but Mendelssohn in this case actually did. You could make the argument that the Octet has no work of chamber music ahead of it. It has equals, like the late Beethoven quartets, Schubert's Quintet and other great pieces, but Mendelssohn's opus doesn't take a back seat to anything.

In any case, if you didn't make the concert  -- and it was not well attended, alas -- you still can have a very special experience with it. 

The Library of Congress happens to own the autograph score of the Octet, and it has wonderfully scanned every page for online viewing. All you have to do is to visit its "Pageturner" site for the Octet, put your favorite recording of the Octet in your CD player or iPod (or go to the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh and listen to it for free through the Naxos Music Library) and click on each page as you go and you will get a feel for the music like never before by seeing Mendelssohn's own handwriting!

I love how careful he is with the notes, but then the vertical bar lines are so sloppy! Also, you can clearly see the letters "L. e. g. G" (German, for "Lass es geling, Gott" or "Let it succeed, God!") on the title page, as I wrote about in my advance of the Pacifica Quartet concerts this weekend.

And if you really want to try to re-live this weekend, pick up the Pacifica Quartet's amazing Mendelssohn quartets box set on the Cedille label and listen to it when you view the Octet manuscript. The PQ set is simply amazing, even bumping out my beloved Melos Quartet set.

PSO dedication in last weekend's concerts

In my haste to make deadline this past weekend, I neglected to mention in my review of the Friday concert that the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra dedicated the performance of Rachmaninoff's "Vocalese" to the slain three Pittsburgh Police officers. It was a perfect piece for the occasion. Conductor Leonard Slatkin announced if from the stage, asking for a moment of silence afterwards (there was silence immediately after, but eventually the audience clapped).

Happy Trails, David Stock

Here's a virtual glass raised to Duquesne University composer David Stock as he conducts his last concert of the Duquesne Contemporary Ensemble tonight on campus.

He is retiring from the University this year, but not from composing. His presence will be missed at DU, but let's hope for a new bout of compositional creativity for this Pittsburgh icon who has already given us much vibrant and touching music.

Repertoire for PSO Asia tour released

I will be repeating this in print when I advance the tour in a few weeks, but I wanted to get this out. The biggest news is that pianist Garrick Ohlsson has been replaced by Orion Weiss (performing in National Centre for the Performing Arts, Beijing, left) The other news I wanted to pass on is that the Post-Gazette (that is, me) will be covering the tour on location! More on that later, but I will have reports and reviews in the print paper and online. Note the last concert. This is an intriguing one that is part of the opening ceremonies for the World Games 2009 and will be in a stadium.

Computer jazz jams at CMU

I am not an expert in jazz, but I know an important innovative developement when I hear of one. I am simply going to pass on this press release in toto, as yet again another sign of Carnegie Mellon University's spectacular experiementing with technology in the arts and of composer Roger Dannenberg's creativity.

PITTSBURGH— On Sunday, April 19 at 3 p.m., the Jazz Ensemble will take the stage in Carnegie Library of Homestead’s Music Hall in what will be a performance first for the School of Music.
Carnegie Mellon's Jazz Ensemble, led by Director of Jazz Studies David Pellow, will perform a newly arranged work by faculty member John Wilson for jazz band, soloists and digital string orchestra. The "orchestra" is comprised of five Carnegie Mellon music students who have recorded 20 digital tracks that will be time-stretched to synchronize with the live band.

A member of the Jazz Ensemble will tap a custom-made foot pedal, which will allow the computer to sense the tempo and other cues in different parts of the music. This computer accompaniment stems from a project by School of Computer Science Professor Roger Dannenberg. His research on this subject has been sponsored by Microsoft through the Computational Thinking Center.

There will be additional "digital jazz" with electronic performances by Tomas Henriques on a digital valve instrument controller, and Professor Dannenberg on trumpet with computer processing. Herniques is a visiting scientist in the School of Computer Science. This event, which is sponsored by WDUQ-FM 90.5, is free and open to the public.

Pittsburgh Symphony patron letter

Last week, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra pulled in media to talk about its letter to patrons about the impact of the financial crisis on the orchestra, but today the letter went out to patrons and donors.

Even though I am not convinced media needed to report on it, It is a great idea to send this letter. From the outside, with staff members being let go, the chamber orchestra series cancellation, even concertmaster Andres Cardenes leaving, there's plenty that needs to be addressed by the leadership at the PSO to make sure people know things are OK. People like supporting a group in need, but if it looks like donations would be just throwing money away, then they tend to stay away. The latter is not the case with the PSO, and sending out this letter sets them up well for donor confidence.

Furthermore, in general, the orchestra has done a adequate at best job of getting information out to the media, let alone its audience, about its inner dealings (something I hope you don't notice because I report around or through that as much as I can), so this letter is a VERY positive move that I hope signals a new era of being transparent. People can only help if they know something is wrong.

Here is the letter:

A REPORT TO OUR PATRONS:

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and the present economic crisis


We are writing to you to share important information about the PSO’s financial status. This information was recently discussed with our Trustees at their meeting on April 6. You, our patrons, are valued stakeholders, and we want to be completely open with you about the PSO’s fiscal status in these troubled times.

RECENT SUCCESSES
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra has enjoyed steady growth in our core subscription series, BNY Mellon Grand Classics and PNC Pops, for 5 consecutive years. We are “bucking the trend” in our industry in achieving these remarkable statistics. Our Strategic Plan, adopted in 2005, is based on maintaining the artistic excellence of our orchestra and cultivating life-long relationships with you, our patrons. We are committed to providing optimum levels of customer service to each and every one of you. During this period of subscription growth, we have also increased annual fundraising and launched the Commitment to Excellence, an $80 million special campaign inspired by the R. P. Simmons Family lead gift.

Much of this success is attributed to you, our generous subscribers and donors. You steadfastly embrace the Orchestra and have welcomed our new Music Director, Manfred Honeck, with unbridled enthusiasm. I am sure you will agree that our artistic product is stellar, on the stage at Heinz Hall, throughout our community and around the world. Our commitment to superlative community service, through our many education and community engagement programs, has never wavered.

HOW THE PITTSBURGH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
HAS BEEN IMPACTED BY THE ECONOMIC DOWNTURN


The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s endowment is its financial “backbone”. Begun in 1965 with seed money from several local and national private foundations, the endowment grew through subsequent campaigns and superior investment performance to a high of $132 million by October, 2007. In 2008, the extraordinary market decline reduced our Endowment value by 29.7%. The Endowment market value today is at a level that has not been seen since 1997. Our employee Pension Fund, like many others, has been hit equally hard by the market decline.

Operating revenues are also impacted. In fund raising, the PSO is significantly behind in the number of households contributing versus expectations and, while possibly a timing issue, this could represent a very serious shortfall.


ACTIONS TAKEN BY THE PSO IN RESPONSE TO THE ECONOMIC CRISIS


Cost Cutting

We know that it will take time for our economy to rebound. For the immediate future, however, even deeper cuts to an already lean budget were necessary.

So far, we have eliminated 11 full-time administrative staff positions. All senior staff has accepted a wage freeze. There is a moratorium on non-essential travel and other expenses.

The guest artists and guest conductors we are engaging are faced with these economic realities around the globe. Many are volunteering to reduce their fees and make donations. Professional firms that provide legal, financial, and marketing services to the PSO are reducing fees or donating their time.

Fund Raising

April is Patron Appreciation Month at the PSO. At every concert, we will ask subscribers and donors to stand and be recognized and thanked by the Orchestra. This year, it is necessary to couple our expressed appreciation with an urgent request for annual fund contributions. Who can we turn to if not our “nearest and dearest,” our subscribers? Surprisingly, out of the 7,078 subscriber households for both the classical and pops series, 2,951 are donors at any level, which means 4,127 households are not. Our written communication, including a letter from Manfred Honeck, will state the case for our subscribers’ help to close the growing financial gap. Just think how much stronger we would be if every subscriber gave to the Annual Fund! Every gift IS instrumental!

If you are not a regular attendee, please think about the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s role in the community. For over 50 years, our Tiny Tots concerts for pre-school age children, and our School Time Concerts for 2nd, 4th and 6th grade students, have been offered free-of-charge. Over the decades, we have served as Pittsburgh’s cultural ambassador to the world, reinforcing the reputation of our region as an exemplary place to live and work. Our economic impact on the community is formidable. Most of all, our status as a “world class orchestra” is a source of enormous pride for everyone in our City.

CONCLUSION

Cost-cutting alone cannot solve this financial dilemma. We need you to be part of the solution, by giving as generously as you possibly can. With your help, the Orchestra will survive this downturn and emerge even stronger in the years ahead. Thank you very much.

Sincerely,
Richard P. Simmons Lawrence J. Tamburri
Chairman, Board of Trustees President, Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra

HEINZ HALL, 600 PENN AVENUE, PITTSBURGH, PA 15222 | 412.392.4900
WWW.PITTSBURGHSYMPHONY.ORG

MANFRED HONECK, MUSIC DIRECTOR | RICHARD P. SIMMONS, BOARD CHAIRMAN | LAWRENCE TAMBURRI, PRESIDENT & CEO
LEONARD SLATKIN, PRINCIPAL GUEST CONDUCTOR | MAREK JANOWSKI, OTTO KLEMPERER GUEST CONDUCTOR CHAIR
MARVIN HAMLISCH, PRINCIPAL POPS CONDUCTOR

'The Audition': inside the Metropolitan Opera's national competition for young singers

By Robert Croan

“How do I get to Carnegie Hall?” The old joke says, “Practice.”

“How do I get to the Met?” That’s even harder. One route for aspiring singers is the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. Every year, thousands of young Americans begin at the district level. By the final week there are only 10 or 11, who will compete on the Met stage for the highest honors. Over the years many have come from the Pittsburgh area, which always holds district auditions and intermittently regional ones.

“The Audition,” produced and directed by Susan Froemke, is a fascinating documentary based on the 2007 Met auditions, to be aired 3 p.m. Saturday, April 19, as part of the popular series of  high-definition opera telecasts, showing locally in theaters at Pittsburgh Mills and Robinson Town Center.

It begins with 22-year-old tenor Michael Fabiano in his teacher’s studio, firming up a technical point and making final decisions in repertory. Then we go to the Met, where coaching sessions and rehearsals are rigorous in advance of the final concert.

Even more arduous, however, is the psychological strain and interpersonal relationships among the finalists. These 11 singers – variously high-strung, immature, overconfident, and in some cases admirably balanced and sensible – having been thrown together into a tense situation. They are superficially friends, but they are also fierce rivals in pursuit of a prize that can mean do-or-die for their careers. And for the most part it is the ones who want it most who succeed.

They’re all quite good. They have to be to have gone this far in the process, and the total package must include not only a good voice but also intangible communicative abilities. It should be noted that Pittsburgh Opera general director Christopher Hahn may be seen among the judges.

Outstanding among the six winners is soprano Angela Meade, a young dramatic soprano who quickly went on to make an unexpected Met debut replacing Sandra Radvanowsky on short notice in Verdi’s “Ernani.” And it’s quite thrilling to watch Alek Shrader – then 25, beaming with confidence, movie-star handsome and dangerously charming – toss off and “nail” the nine high Cs in the aria from Donizetti’s “Daughter of the Regiment” that brought fame and fortune to older tenors Luciano Pavarotti and Juan Diego Florez. Now only two years later, Shrader has a two-page spread in the May 2009 issue of Opera News.

Just for fun, Classical Idol on WQED-FM

I know sometimes I come across as overly serious and always talking about spiritual and profound elements of music. But at the end of the day, I do see music as fun, and a recent project will prove that I do indeed have a sense of humor about music.

Our local classical music station, WQED-FM asked me to participate in a series of goofy promotional spots, and I dove into it. In a quasi American Idol style, I will appear in spots as one of several local classical-music 'experts' who are judging which great composers are 'better' than the others and which will move on in the 'competition.' They recorded me saying some silly stuff that played off the composers' bios and their compositional hallmarks -- such as Haydn's wit or Brahms' fear of Beethoven.

I hope you tune in to hear them, just don't take this  seriously yourself; it's all in fun to help raise $ for the station.

Pittsburgh Symphony musicians play at Pittsburgh officers memorial service

In our coverage of the memorial service last week for the three Pittsburgh police officers killed in the line of duty, we mentioned that a string quartet from the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra performed. They played for several hours at the service at the Petersen Events Center in Oakland on Thursday. But I wanted to get the names out to give credit to the musicians who played:

Mark Huggins (violin), Lou Lev (violin), Penny Brill (viola) and Gail Czajkowski (cello).

Thanks to them, and to America's police forces, including the three officers who gave their life in service.