Monday, 14 May 2012 11:37

Written by Andrew Druckenbrod

@pghsymphony

Detroit Symphony Orchestra music director Leonard Slatkin's joint concert with Kid Rock to support the DSO was a smash, according to all accounts. Here's a few reviews: Detroit News and Detroit Free Press.

Slatkin's programming at the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra as principal guest conductor has been diverse, but nothing like combining with Kid Rock. Apparetnly it raised $1 Million! So good to hear that the DSO is on the way up.

User Rating: / 1
PoorBest 

Friday, 11 May 2012 18:25

Written by Andrew Druckenbrod

PSO maestro Manfred Honeck was Paul Guggenheimer's guest on Essential Pittsburgh, the new 90.5 (formerly WDUQ now an NPR station) yesterday. Here is a link to it if you didn't get a chance to hear it. thank-fully, Honeck didn't tell the host that he was "asking questions you wouldn't ask a sick dog!"

User Rating: / 1
PoorBest 

Wednesday, 09 May 2012 15:22

Written by Andrew Druckenbrod

@LAPhil

Maybe "Gospel According to the Other Mary" will be controversial. Not that I neccesarily want it to, but sometimes I wish classical music would get heat with its new creations, even the petty aspects that can come with that. At least it would show that art music is relevant to greater society.

Can you imagine the response to a film like this? Well, at least we can be reasonable sure this will be excellent. It is, after all, John Adams.

John Adams: World Premiere of
The Gospel According to the Other Mary

LOS ANGELES PHILHARMONIC PRESENTS PREMIERE IN CONCERT, MAY 2012; INTERNATIONAL PERFORMANCES OF STAGED VERSION IN MARCH 2013

The latest large-scale work by John Adams, a full-evening oratorio for orchestra, chorus and soloists titled The Gospel According to the Other Mary, will be premiered by the Los Angeles Philharmonic this Spring. The first performances of The Gospel According to the Other Mary will take place in concert version, May 31–June 3, 2012, led by Gustavo Dudamel at Walt Disney Concert Hall featuring six soloists and the Los Angeles Master Chorale. The staged production of the oratorio takes place in March 2013 in Los Angeles, followed by an international tour. 

This new work tells the story of Mary Magdalene, and places the Biblical story in contemporary times, using elements of recent history and contemporary verse, similar to the use of materials the composer pioneered so successfully in El Niño (1999–2000). The libretto was compiled by Peter Sellars based on the New Testament stories of Lazarus and Jesus' Passion, combined with contemporary poems and texts by Dorothy Day, Louise Erdrich, Primo Levi, Rosario Castellanos, June Jordan, Hildegard von Bingen, and Rubén Darío. Three countertenors narrate through the story, joining a cast featuring a mezzo-soprano, contralto, and tenor, in addition to the orchestra and full chorus. Similar to the nativity oratorio El Niño, The Gospel According to the Other Maryis intended to co-exist as a work for the concert hall and stage. Sellars, Adams's long-time collaborator, will direct the staged production performances next season. Full performance dates are listed below. 

Adams's new work is the second piece to be premiered by the Los Angeles Philharmonic during his tenure as Creative Chair, following City Noir in 2009. The Gospel According to the Other Mary is commissioned by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, Barbican Centre, Lincoln Center, Lucerne Festival, Zaterdag Matinee at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, and Cité de la musique in Paris.