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Jeremy Denk Headlines “Ives Project,” Makes Chicago Symphony Debut, Returns to Carnegie Hall, and More |
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Jeremy Denk Headlines “Ives Project,” Makes Chicago Symphony Debut, Returns to Carnegie Hall, and More
“Denk, clearly, is a pianist you want to hear no matter what he performs, in whatever combination — both for his penetrating intellectual engagement with the music and for the generosity of his playing.” — New York Times
When Jeremy Denk paired Charles Ives’s “Concord” Sonata with Beethoven’s “Hammerklavier” Sonata for a sold-out recital at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall, Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times was awed to find that “he played these daunting scores, each about 45 minutes, from memory, bringing a rare combination of command and spontaneity to his dynamic performances.” Now the pianist reprises this same formidable pairing for the “Ives Project” at the Music Center at Strathmore (MD) on a program that incorporates readings from the iconic New England literary figures – Emerson, Hawthorne, Thoreau, and the Alcotts – to whom the four movements of Ives’s monumental sonata are dedicated (Nov 4). Beethoven also features in Denk’s next major solo recital of the season, when he couples the Op. 111 C-minor Sonata and the “Eroica” Variations with music by Brahms and Ligeti at New York’s 92nd Street Y (Dec 3). Denk showcases Beethoven again in two key orchestral appearances, playing the Third Concerto in his Chicago Symphony Orchestra debut with Michael Tilson Thomas (Dec 8–10) and the First Concerto at Carnegie Hall with the Orchestra of St Luke’s under Sir Roger Norrington (Feb 16). Upcoming season highlights also find the versatile pianist returning to the 92nd Street Y to resume his ongoing collaboration with cellist Steven Isserlis for the latest in a series of family concerts, introducing the life and music of Mozart (March 4).
If there is one composer in whose works Denk has inspired universal and heartfelt praise, it is thorny American experimentalist Charles Ives, and it is with the notorious Sonata No. 2, “Concord, Mass., 1840-1860” (c.1915), comprising philosophical portraits of Ives’s four famous New England transcendentalist friends, that Denk established himself as a leading exponent of the composer’s work. Released last fall on his own Think Denk Media label, Denk’s debut solo album – Jeremy Denk Plays Ives – was afforded a rapturously warm welcome. The pioneering composer’s music has traditionally been considered challenging by all but the most die-hard of new-music lovers. Yet in Denk’s hands, Ives’s two piano sonatas were rendered “downright seductive” (Washington Post), winning a place on end-of-year top-ten lists and holiday gift guides from the nation’s most trusted and influential media, including the New Yorker, New York Times, Boston Globe, and Washington Post. According to New York magazine, in which the disc was the only recording to make the “Year in Classical Music” top-ten list, “Denk’s balance of passion and precision makes [the “Concord” Sonata’s] strange beauty come suddenly clear, without losing any of its improvisational radicalism.”
In tribute to Ives’s lifelong admiration for Beethoven – whose symphonies he called “perfect truths” and whose Fifth Symphony is quoted in the “Concord” Sonata – the Music Center at Strathmore program concludes with Beethoven’s “Hammerklavier” Sonata. Also featuring readings by William Sharp, this November 4 concert serves as the centerpiece of the “Ives Project,” a three-day exploration and celebration of the composer, to which Denk also contributes an already sold-out master class on November 3, before participating in a chamber concert that evening.
This engagement is the first of numerous solo recitals in the pianist’s current lineup, which includes a December 3 appearance at the prestigious 92nd Street Y, with a program boasting two signature works for which he has consistently won praise. His account of Beethoven’s mystical final C-minor Sonata at Lincoln Center’s Mostly Mozart Festival was “alive to every suggestion and nuance in the score…an absolute joy to witness,” while after his rendition of Ligeti’s Études at Zankel Hall, MusicWeb International observed: “This was a monumental performance. Mr. Denk clearly set a benchmark for the Ligeti.” For his December 3 recital, these works will follow two sets of variations: Brahms’s Variations on a Theme by Schumann and Beethoven’s “Eroica” Variations, which take as their basis the same theme from the famous Third Symphony.
Beethoven also features in Denk’s orchestral programming this season. For his hotly-anticipated debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Denk undertakes Beethoven’s Third Piano Concerto – the composer’s first in a minor key and the one that marked his break with the Classical style – for three performances on December 8–10, under the direction of guest conductor Michael Tilson Thomas. It was with Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto that Denk made his Los Angeles Philharmonic debut this past March, stepping in at the eleventh hour to replace Martha Argerich, under conductor Gustavo Dudamel. The Los Angeles Times found his performance “riveting”; afterwards, “the audience erupted in applause and wouldn’t let Denk go” (Huffington Post). Likewise, the Detroit Free Press found his to be “the most viscerally exciting, emotionally absorbing, and intellectually rich account of Beethoven’s First Piano Concerto that [the reviewer had] ever heard in concert.” The pianist reprises the work for his return to Carnegie Hall’s main stage with the Orchestra of St. Luke’s on February 16, 2012, led by famed British conductor Sir Roger Norrington.
In addition to his work as recital and orchestral soloist, Denk looks forward to resuming two of his long-term chamber partnerships. First he joins violinist Joshua Bell for duo recitals in Boston and on a European tour; he then returns to the 92nd Street Y for a sixth season of Family Music with Steven Isserlis. Denk has previously collaborated with the British cellist on many family chamber concerts, each of which offers an introduction to the life and music of one of the great composers; in last December’s “Hardboiled Genius,” he served as guest artistic director to introduce the life and work of Stravinsky. On March 4, supported by violinists Daniel Philips and Pamela Frank and narration by Judy Kuhn, Denk and Isserlis join forces to present “The Prodigy and the Ponytail: The Life and Music of Mozart”: a family-friendly introduction to the astonishing child prodigy who is among the most beloved composers of all time.
A list of Denk’s upcoming engagements follows below, and much additional information is available at his web site: www.jeremydenk.net. The site includes the versatile pianist’s blog, Think Denk, which has earned plaudits among the cognoscenti; the New Yorker’s Alex Ross calls Denk “one of the most interesting writers I know.”
Jeremy Denk’s 2011-12 engagements
Music Center at Strathmore
Master Class / Chamber Concert
Music Center at Strathmore
With William Sharp, reader
Ives: Piano Sonata No. 2, “Concord, Mass., 1840-1860”
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 29 in B flat, Op. 106, “Hammerklavier”
Virginia G. Piper Theater – Scottsdale Center for the Performing Arts
Beethoven: 15 Variations and Fugue on an Original Theme, Op. 35, “Eroica”
Brahms: Klavierstücke, Op. 119
Beethoven: Piano Sonata No. 28 in A, Op. 101
St. Paul Chamber Orchestra / Douglas Boyd
Brett Dean: Pastoral Symphony
Brahms: Serenade No. 2 in A, Op. 16
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 1 in C, Op. 15
Memorial Chapel – Union College
Brahms: Variations on a Theme by Schumann, Op. 9
Beethoven: 15 Variations and Fugue on an Original Theme, Op. 35, “Eroica”
Beethoven: Sonata No. 32 in C minor, Op. 111
Chicago Symphony Orchestra / Michael Tilson Thomas
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor, Op. 37
Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum Concerts with Joshua Bell
Bach: Partita No. 5 in G, BWV 829
Grieg: Violin Sonata No. 3 in C minor, Op. 45
Oberlin Conservatory of Music
Performance / Master Class
Performance / master class
Perelman Theater – Kimmel Center
Philadelphia Chamber Music Society
Orchestra of St. Luke’s / Sir Roger Norrington
Beethoven: Piano Concerto No. 1 in C, Op. 15
Community Concerts at Lackawanna College
Memorial Chapel – Union College
Family Program: “The Prodigy With The Ponytail”: The Life and Music of Mozart
Chamber music with members of the San Francisco Symphony
San Francisco Symphony / Michael Tilson Thomas
Members of the San Francisco Symphony
Music Room at SPCO Center
Kagel: Morceau de Concours for two trumpets
Ives: Largo for violin, clarinet and piano
Music Room at SPCO Center
Elgar: Piano Quintet in A minor, Op. 84
European recital tour with Joshua Bell
Washington Performing Arts Society
Chicago Symphony presents “The Collaborative Pianist”
San Francisco Symphony Orchestra / Michael Tilson Thomas
Liszt: Piano Concerto No. 1 in E flat
jeremydenk.net
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Guitar Frets: Environmental Enforcement Leaves Musicians in Fear |
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Guitar Frets: Environmental Enforcement Leaves Musicians in Fear
By ERIC FELTEN
Federal agents swooped in on Gibson Guitar Wednesday, raiding factories and offices in Memphis and Nashville, seizing several pallets of wood, electronic files and guitars. The Feds are keeping mum, but in a statement yesterday Gibson's chairman and CEO, Henry Juszkiewicz, defended his company's manufacturing policies, accusing the Justice Department of bullying the company. "The wood the government seized Wednesday is from a Forest Stewardship Council certified supplier," he said, suggesting the Feds are using the aggressive enforcement of overly broad laws to make the company cry uncle.
It isn't the first time that agents of the Fish and Wildlife Service have come knocking at the storied maker of such iconic instruments as the Les Paul electric guitar, the J-160E acoustic-electric John Lennon played, and essential jazz-boxes such as Charlie Christian's ES-150. In 2009 the Feds seized several guitars and pallets of wood from a Gibson factory, and both sides have been wrangling over the goods in a case with the delightful name "United States of America v. Ebony Wood in Various Forms."
The question in the first raid seemed to be whether Gibson had been buying illegally harvested hardwoods from protected forests, such as the Madagascar ebony that makes for such lovely fretboards. And if Gibson did knowingly import illegally harvested ebony from Madagascar, that wouldn't be a negligible offense. Peter Lowry, ebony and rosewood expert at the Missouri Botanical Garden, calls the Madagascar wood trade the "equivalent of Africa's blood diamonds." But with the new raid, the government seems to be questioning whether some wood sourced from India met every regulatory jot and tittle.
It isn't just Gibson that is sweating. Musicians who play vintage guitars and other instruments made of environmentally protected materials are worried the authorities may be coming for them next.
If you are the lucky owner of a 1920s Martin guitar, it may well be made, in part, of Brazilian rosewood. Cross an international border with an instrument made of that now-restricted wood, and you better have correct and complete documentation proving the age of the instrument. Otherwise, you could lose it to a zealous customs agent—not to mention face fines and prosecution.
John Thomas, a law professor at Quinnipiac University and a blues and ragtime guitarist, says "there's a lot of anxiety, and it's well justified." Once upon a time, he would have taken one of his vintage guitars on his travels. Now, "I don't go out of the country with a wooden guitar."
The tangled intersection of international laws is enforced through a thicket of paperwork. Recent revisions to 1900's Lacey Act require that anyone crossing the U.S. border declare every bit of flora or fauna being brought into the country. One is under "strict liability" to fill out the paperwork—and without any mistakes.
It's not enough to know that the body of your old guitar is made of spruce and maple: What's the bridge made of? If it's ebony, do you have the paperwork to show when and where that wood was harvested and when and where it was made into a bridge? Is the nut holding the strings at the guitar's headstock bone, or could it be ivory? "Even if you have no knowledge—despite Herculean efforts to obtain it—that some piece of your guitar, no matter how small, was obtained illegally, you lose your guitar forever," Prof. Thomas has written. "Oh, and you'll be fined $250 for that false (or missing) information in your Lacey Act Import Declaration."
Consider the recent experience of Pascal Vieillard, whose Atlanta-area company, A-440 Pianos, imported several antique Bösendorfers. Mr. Vieillard asked officials at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species how to fill out the correct paperwork—which simply encouraged them to alert U.S. Customs to give his shipment added scrutiny.
There was never any question that the instruments were old enough to have grandfathered ivory keys. But Mr. Vieillard didn't have his paperwork straight when two-dozen federal agents came calling.
Facing criminal charges that might have put him in prison for years, Mr. Vieillard pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of violating the Lacey Act, and was handed a $17,500 fine and three years probation.
Given the risks, why don't musicians just settle for the safety of carbon fiber? Some do—when concert pianist Jeffrey Sharkey moved to England two decades ago, he had Steinway replace the ivories on his piano with plastic.
Still, musicians cling to the old materials. Last year, Dick Boak, director of artist relations for C.F. Martin & Co., complained to Mother Nature News about the difficulty of getting elite guitarists to switch to instruments made from sustainable materials. "Surprisingly, musicians, who represent some of the most savvy, ecologically minded people around, are resistant to anything about changing the tone of their guitars," he said.
You could mark that up to hypocrisy—artsy do-gooders only too eager to tell others what kind of light bulbs they have to buy won't make sacrifices when it comes to their own passions. Then again, maybe it isn't hypocrisy to recognize that art makes claims significant enough to compete with environmentalists' agendas.
—Write to me at
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Copyright 2011 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. |
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New York Philomusica Chamber Ensemble concert - May 5th 2011 |
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New York Philomusica Chamber Ensemble’s last concert of the season!!
Joseph Haydn: Divertimento in D, Hob. IV:11 for flute or violin, violin, 2 violas & ’cello
Felix Mendelssohn: Quintet in B-flat, Op. 87 for 2 violins, 2 violas & ’cello
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Quintet in D, K. 593
Featuring
Naoko Tanaka, Kyu Young Kim, Cyrus Beroukhim, violins;
Helena Baillie and Daniel Panner, violas; and Gerry Appleman, ’cello
Artistic Director A. Robert Johnson will host a free Meet-the-Artists interview preceding the concert at 7:30 p.m. A reception for audience and musicians will follow the performance.
Tickets $30 ($25 seniors, $10 students). For information or tickets, call New York Philomusica at (212) 580-9933, or visit www.nyphilomusica.org |
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Lost in Love...and sometimes Lust! – Czech Russian Salon/Italian Salon |
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Who: Off Centre Music Salon
What: Lost in Love...and sometimes Lust! – Czech Russian Salon/Italian Salon
When: Sunday, May 8, 2011
2:00 p.m.
Where: Glenn Gould Studio
250 Front Street West
Admission: $50.00 Seniors/Students
$60.00 Adults
The first 50 ticket orders will receive an additional complimentary ticket.
To purchase advance tickets call 416-466-1870 or log on to www.offcentremusic.com
Off Centre Music Salon presents Lost in Love… and sometimes Lust!, a special Mother’s Day concert at Glenn Gould Studio on Sunday, May 8, 2011, at 2:00 p.m. This Czech Russian and Italian Salon features the work of Czech composer Leoš Janáček, including his celebrated song-cycle The Diary of One Who Disappeared, considered to be one of the composer’s most sensual – even perverse compositions.
This song cycle is based on a setting of the poems of Ozef Kalda, a railway official who had a knack for fiction writing – detailing a young farm boy’s infactuation with a gypsy girl. It is also inspired by Janáček’s own passion-filled relationship with the young wife of an antique dealer.
This recital, conveying tips on love, longing and lust features performances by tenor Colin Ainsworth, baritone Peter McGillivray, and sopranos Rachel Cleland-Ainsworth and Lucia Cesaroni, together with pianists and artistic directors Inna Perks and Boris Zarankin.
Since its foundation in 1994, Off Centre has been creating holistic musical and artistic experiences - chances to hear and play vocal, chamber and solo repertoire in an atmosphere that evokes a 19th century European salon. Enter a musical experience that will transport you to an era when music was a form of intimate conversation as well as entertainment.
For more information on this and other concerts, please visit www.offcentremusic.com
For media information contact:
Ciarlo Communications
Tel: 416-763-3783
Cell: 416-458-5090
Email:
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