200th Birthday of Franz Liszt

Liszt, Louis Lortie, and Beethoven

2011 is the 200th birthday of Franz Liszt. Last year belonged to Chopin and Schumann and I felt I must give Mr. Liszt his due. As extensive as his compositions are, we felt that it was the piano that gave him his opportunity for greatness; therefore, we have invited Louis Lortie to perform the composer’s most monumental work—Années de Pèlerinage (Years of Pilgrimage). This giant task takes two recitals and a massive brain and heart to remember it all and perform it brilliantly. Louis Lortie is the man for the job. You will recall when he substituted last season for the ailing Yuja Wang, he dazzled us with the complete Chopin Etudes. I love to tell this story. Chairman of the Board Sabra Bordas, my wife Kaly and I were having a quite a good lunch at Il Barone Ristorante, when my cell phone rang. Jeff Mistri, our artistic administrator, was on the other end telling me that Yuja was cancelling the next night and asked what did I think of having Louis Lortie take her place. What was astounding is how he managed to have Louis tracked down at the Newark Airport awaiting a flight home to Berlin (a flight that was not going to happen because of that volcano problem, you remember). Things have a way of working out, often during a very pleasant lunch.

I have already told you about our project of late Beethoven works to be scheduled over the next two seasons, inspired by the play “33 Variations” which opens at the Ahmanson Theatre at the end of this month. We are providing a bus to the 2pm performance on February 5th. More about that on my next blog. There is a very interesting Liszt connection. As a ten-year-old, the young composer was able to have his first work published in Anton Diabelli’s Vaterländischer Künstlerverein (Fatherland Artist Society), a collection of 83 variations on a “waltz” composed by the publisher himself—50 variations by a variety of composers, including Liszt, and 33 by Beethoven (who was asked only to write a single variation), which are of course known as his Diabelli Variations. The little composer was probably not on Diabelli’s original invite list. Franz’s teacher Carl Czerny was and probably got him added to it. Czerny, being a student of Beethoven, was the first composer Diabelli approached and he decided to write the last variation, sort of an epigram.

As we all know, the 19th century was an extraordinary period for music. Then as now, it seemed that all the musicians and composers knew one another. Liszt’s Années de Pèlerinage was written while he was having an affair with Marie d’Agoult while they were travelling through Switzerland and Italy. They produced three illegitimate children. The middle one, Cosima, married Hans von Bülow and later Richard Wagner, which is another can of worms. Their story must have inspired the creation of Desperate Housewives.

A Happy New Year! Please enjoy!

Vienna Philharmonic: New Ladies' Uniform

The Vienna Philharmonic is in the news again.  The ladies of the orchestra now have new concert attire – pinstriped pants and a long black blazer over a white blouse and gray gilet.  According to the Associated Press, the outfit was designed by Markus Binder, a 22-year-old fashion student.  There are plans to come up with something similar for the males.  You can see the new outfits on television on the annual New Year’s concert.  There will be four women in the orchestra.  Progress is slow and steady, but progress none the less.  I would certainly expect that we can see them in person with the new outfits here when the Vienna Philharmonic comes to the Rénee and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall on March 3, 2011.

The Christmas Can-Can

Philip Glass

It is always a wonderful treat to be connected to contemporary composers.  Back in November, Philip Glass paid us a visit when we presented Bobby McDuffie and the Venice Baroque Orchestra in the West Coast premiere of his new violin concerto.  This picture was shot by an audience member catching a program page with Glass’s picture and him seated in front.  Nice shot. 

 The concerto was terrific, especially the beautiful second movement.

Kronos comes this April with a new piece by Steve Reich, part of a co-commissioning project that we are a part of.  We hope Steve will be here.   Kronos has appeared with us somewhat regularly over the last 16 years.  They did the West Premiere of Henryk Gorecki’s Third String Quartet for us several years ago, a dark but beautiful piece.  Gorecki passed away last month.

Cool new stuff is coming next season.  We have another Ellen Taaffe Zwillich commission to look forward to next season.  It will be a sextet with piano performed by the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, violist Michael Tree and bass Harold Robinson in February 2012   Also the same month, Riccardo Muti and the Chicago Symphony are doing a new Mason Bates piece.  In March 2012, Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony are performing a new percussion concerto by Jennifer Higdon featuring Colin Curry, percussionist.  Kaiji Saariaho’s new piece “Orion” will be performed by Franz Welser-Mőst and the Cleveland Orchestra in April 2012.  There is a lot coming up.  Subscriptions for next season go on sale next month.

Daddy Long Legs

One of the delights of the holiday season is the proliferation of performances of music, dance and theater.  We were very happy with a new musical at the Laguna Playhouse which runs through Christmas Eve.  It is “Daddy Long Legs,” book by John Caird and music/lyrics by Paul Gordon.  It has a cast of two with Megan McGinnis and Robert Adelman Hancock, a pair of wonderful actors singers with impeccable pitch.  This is a perfect date night or the thing if your spirits need a lift.  I highly recommend it.

Marjorie Rawlins

A couple of weeks ago, we attended a reception and concert at the Barclay which was a tribute Marjorie Rawlins.  Marge passed away May 2009.  She was a major benefactor of the UCI School of Music and the Philharmonic Society.  She was a great music lover.  I miss our many conversations about music, especially string and chamber music.  Many a confit de canard passed her lips (and mine as well) at Pascal’s.  Her passing marked the end of an era, the departure of a great friend of music and a lovely human being while, I’m sure, producing a sigh of relief from dozens of local ducks.  She is terribly missed. 

The Barclay concert featured music from Humperdinck’s opera Hansel and Gretel.  The soloists, UCI Symphony Orchestra and choruses were splendid. UCI Arts Department has some great stuff going on.  Contact them at arts.uci.edu/events.  Please enjoy!

Speaking of Hansel and Gretel, the UCI Symphony Orchestra and UCI Choirs will present Humperdinck's classic fairy tale opera Hansel and Gretel on December 3-5 in the Claire Trevor Theatre. For more information, visit the event page.

Having a cosy Sunday afternoon, staying out of the rain and warm by the fire.  JC Bach Symphonies (all of them one after the other) are playing on the stereo, and duck is on tonight's menu.  Kaly is stuffing the breast with garlic, crushed fennel seeds, fresh chopped rosemary, grated Parmesan, olive oil, salt and Tellicherry pepper.  Later, it will be pan seared and finished in the oven.  She will then confit the legs, thighs and wings for a future winter supper.  I will produce a stock from the carcass and a duck liver pâté with cognac for which I would be willing to share recipe (the recipe and the cognac for the matter.)  We have a great friend from New York showing up for dinner and a night stay.  We are completely out of Pinot Noir and I am not going to the store in the rain.  I guess it is time for another Pinot gathering trip to Santa Barbara Wine Country.   Cabernets are a bit too powerful.  I have rummaged through the wine pile and found a bottle of Tesoro 2006, mostly Merlot with some Cabernet from the Esterhazy Estate in Eisenstadt, Austria.  I have been saving it for a special occasion, so I guess this is it.  I should change the Symphonies on the stereo to Haydn.  I will when I open the bottle.