In a surprise union of two quintessentially American composers from different eras, one the 1960s mastermind of "Good Vibrations," the other the Jazz Age creator of "Rhapsody in Blue," former Beach Boy Brian Wilson has been authorized by the estate of George Gershwin to complete unfinished songs Gershwin left behind when he died in 1937.
He plans to finish and record at least two such pieces on an album of Gershwin music he hopes to release next year.
The Gershwin-Wilson project may strike some as an odd coupling: one New York musician famous for sophisticated 1920s and '30s pop songs including " 'S Wonderful" and "Someone to Watch Over Me" as well as such expansive, classically minded compositions as "Rhapsody"; the other the driving force behind Southern California beach culture hits such as "Surfin' U.S.A.," "I Get Around" and "California Girls." But their career paths and evolution of their artistry have common threads, noted people involved with the project and some independent scholars, and that gives the proposed collaboration logic.
Todd Gershwin, George's great-nephew and a trustee of the George Gershwin family trusts, said, "George for his time was a visionary. He certainly crossed genres and musical lines, tried things that hadn't been done before and Brian Wilson has done exactly the same thing."
For his part, Wilson, 67, described himself Tuesday as "thrilled to death."
"I'm proud to be able to do it," he said in an interview. "Hopefully I'll be able to do them justice."
Todd Gershwin said a collection of several dozen song fragments, ranging from "a few bars to some almost finished songs and everything in between" had been sitting virtually untouched for more than seven decades. He and other trustees began reaching out in the last year or two to find contemporary artists who might be interested in completing those musical bits and pieces.
Wilson, who says "Rhapsody in Blue" is his earliest musical memory, said the pieces he's working with are very likely to remain as instrumentals, and that they could easily wind up as three-minute pop songs. But he's also holding open the possibility of expanding them to more substantive pieces.
Wilson said many of them aren't easy to evaluate.
"I can't decipher the verse from the chorus from the bridge," he said, "so I'm going to try to insert some new music into them. I might even write some music for an introduction."
The Gershwin project grew out of a proposal to Wilson from Walt Disney Records for a two-album contract.
"I'm a massive Brian Wilson fan," label president David Agnew said. "I'd always wanted to do something with him, and the Gershwin angle was something I had always thought about. In so many interviews he has mentioned Gershwin as a big influence, and if you listen to his music, that influence is obvious."
Meanwhile, the Gershwin estate and Warner/Chappell Music, the Gershwin publisher, had been considering what to do with the many song fragments in their archive. A pianist working from manuscripts left by Gershwin recorded the music at the behest of the estate, according to Brad Rosenberger, senior vice president of catalog development and marketing for Warner/Chappell.
"When we did this, nobody had any idea that an artist like Brian Wilson was even thinking about doing something like this," Rosenberger said.
Todd Gershwin said Wilson is the first to move ahead, but some uncompleted songs also may be used in a Gershwin tribute album that veteran engineer and producer Phil Ramone is putting together with a dozen artists for release in 2010.
Gershwin, who collaborated on most of his hit songs with his lyricist brother, Ira, stretched music of the day far beyond the compact pop song of Tin Pan Alley to more ambitious compositions incorporating elements of jazz and the classics, including "Rhapsody," "An American in Paris" and the opera "Porgy and Bess." He died of a brain tumor in Los Angeles at age 38 while working on a movie musical.
Wilson was one of the prime forces behind the expansion of pop music's boundaries in the mid-'60s, taking the Beach Boys well beyond the frothy songs about surf, cars and girls. That culminated in the group's 1966 album "Pet Sounds" and its planned follow-up, "Smile." But "Smile" was shelved because of dissension within the band and lack of record company support, contributing to a psychological breakdown Wilson suffered in 1967. In 1999, he started on a career renaissance that led to the belated completion of "Smile" in 2004.
" 'Smile' is 'Rhapsody in Blue' circa 2004," Rosenberger said. "It's very experimental, very rich and very melodic and really pushed popular music."
Chris Sampson, associate dean of USC's Thornton School of Music, said a Gershwin-Wilson collaboration is not as far-fetched as it may seem, despite the vastly different musical landscape of the two eras.
"Where they both made their mark was extending the form," he said. "George Gershwin was the only composer of his time to make a mark with the popular style of the time and then successfully cross over to quote-unquote serious music by extending the form beyond the basic [pop song] structure, getting into operatic styles and things of that sort.
"Brian Wilson," Sampson added, "redefined the pop song form . . . . through his orchestrations that took music in an entirely new direction. They're coming from two very different musical styles to end up with what I presume will be something new. That's the exciting interaction I see in this."
Wilson joins some illustrious company in the scope of the Gershwin project. When Mozart died at age 35 in 1791, a consortium of his contemporaries worked to fill in the incomplete portions of his Requiem. J.R.R. Tolkien's son commissioned writer Guy Gavriel Kay to complete the novel "The Silmarillion" that his father hadn't finished when he died.
But even in such unusual cases it's been exceedingly rare that the person finishing the uncompleted work has been as prominent as the artist who left the work behind.
For many of those involved with the project, the prospect of one day seeing songs credited to "George Gershwin-Brian Wilson" borders on the enticingly surreal. "For me personally," Rosenberger said, "it's a weird dream come true."
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Saturday, September 26, 2009
Alicia de Larrocha
MADRID (AP) Spanish pianist Alicia de Larrocha who thrilled music listeners for decades with polished and enthralling interpretations of great classical works, has died aged 86.
Music producer and family friend Gregor Benko says de Larrocha died late Friday in a hospital in her native Barcelona.
Measuring just under 5 feet tall, and with unusually small hands for a piano virtuoso, de Larrocha won listeners over with the richness and robustness of her sound. Critically acclaimed for her polished technique in performing Mozart, Beethoven, Schuman and Rachmaninov, de Larrocha was also unrivaled in her interpretation of Spanish composers such as Manuel de Falla, Enrique Granados and Isaac Albeniz.
De Larrocha retired from public performances in 2003, after 75 years as a pianist.
- From the Associated Press (online at http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jj4yj37U9DWYfLMh8iNpt2MokknAD9AUT0880)
Alicia de Larrocha plays Beethoven piano concerto no.1 with London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Michael Tilson Thomas. This video is the rehearsal and discussion during the recording session, which Dudley Moore introduces.
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Monday, September 21, 2009
Bear Down!
I was all of two years old when the Bears captured their last Super Bowl win--as a result, every Chicago-area kid with the ability to speak was taught the words to "Bear Down, Chicago Bears." Good teams have been few and far between since that time, and our collective memory of the song's complete lyrics seems to have fallen by the wayside. Following last night's Bears victory, the first in the Jay Cutler era, I feel it's time that we relearn the lyrics and history of our beloved fight song.
The song, sung at Soldier Field (and Wrigley Field before it) following each Bears score, was written in 1941 by Jerry Downs--a pseudonym for Al Hoffman, member of the Songwriter's Hall Of Fame.
(He also wrote "If I Knew You Were Coming I'd Have Baked A Cake")
"Bear Down, Chicago Bears" was written to reference the 1940 NFL Championship Game, where the Bears "thrilled the Nation" with their offense's "T Formation," implemented to whomp the Washington Redskins by the score of 73-0; a score which remains the league's widest shutout margin in any game in its history. The game's officials asked the Bears coaching staff to run or pass for their last few PATs as they were running out of footballs since the bears kicked so many into the stands following all those touchdowns. The game was also the last that an NFL player (Bears end Dick Plasman) played without a helmet.
Let's refamiliarize ourselves with the lyrics--you'll want to sing along with the performances posted below:
Bear down, Chicago Bears, Make every play, clear the way to victory! Bear down, Chicago Bears, Put up a fight, with a might so fearlessly!
We'll never forget the way you thrilled the nation With your T formation. Bear down, Chicago Bears, And let them know why you're wearing the crown. You're the pride and joy of Illinois Chicago Bears, Bear down!
The Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus/ Sir Georg Solti
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Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Brahms Double Concerto in A Minor, Op 102
Composed in the summer of 1887, and first performed on 18 October of that year, the Double Concerto in A Minor, Op 102 was Brahms' final work for orchestra. Brahms, approaching the project with anxiety over writing for instruments that were not his own, wrote it for the cellist Robert Hausmann and his old estranged friend, the violinist Joseph Joachim.
Today in the three o'clock hour we have a performance of this epic work by violinist Isaac Stern and cellist Yo Yo Ma, and they're playing it with our home town band, the Chicago Symphony, along with conductor Claudio Abbado.
Thanks to the excellent video archivists at Medici.TV, here is an excerpt David Oistrakh and Mstislav Rostropovitch playing the Brahms Double Concerto, under the baton of Kirill Kondrashine.
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Wednesday, September 2, 2009
The Lark Ascending
This afternoon in the 2 o'clock hour WFMT offers a performance of Ralph Vaughan Williams' romance for violin and orchestra, The Lark Ascending.
For much of his life Vaughan Williams lived near Dorking, Surrey, not far from the poet, George Meredith. The composer expressed Meredith's imagery in music, and in so doing, managed to convey the idyllic mood of England before the first world war.
We've posted the text of Meredith's beautiful poem below.
Enjoy, Louise
~~~
The Lark Ascending
George Meredith (1828?1909)
HE rises and begins to round, He drops the silver chain of sound Of many links without a break, In chirrup, whistle, slur and shake, All intervolv?d and spreading wide, Like water-dimples down a tide Where ripple ripple overcurls And eddy into eddy whirls; A press of hurried notes that run So fleet they scarce are more than one, Yet changingly the trills repeat And linger ringing while they fleet, Sweet to the quick o? the ear, and dear To her beyond the handmaid ear, Who sits beside our inner springs, Too often dry for this he brings, Which seems the very jet of earth At sight of sun, her musci?s mirth, As up he wings the spiral stair, A song of light, and pierces air With fountain ardor, fountain play, To reach the shining tops of day, And drink in everything discern?d An ecstasy to music turn?d, Impell?d by what his happy bill Disperses; drinking, showering still, Unthinking save that he may give His voice the outlet, there to live Renew?d in endless notes of glee, So thirsty of his voice is he, For all to hear and all to know That he is joy, awake, aglow, The tumult of the heart to hear Through pureness filter?d crystal-clear, And know the pleasure sprinkled bright By simple singing of delight, Shrill, irreflective, unrestrain?d, Rapt, ringing, on the jet sustain?d Without a break, without a fall, Sweet-silvery, sheer lyrical, Perennial, quavering up the chord Like myriad dews of sunny sward That trembling into fulness shine, And sparkle dropping argentine; Such wooing as the ear receives From zephyr caught in choric leaves Of aspens when their chattering net Is flush?d to white with shivers wet; And such the water-spirit?s chime On mountain heights in morning?s prime, Too freshly sweet to seem excess, Too animate to need a stress; But wider over many heads The starry voice ascending spreads, Awakening, as it waxes thin, The best in us to him akin; And every face to watch him rais?d, Puts on the light of children prais?d, So rich our human pleasure ripes When sweetness on sincereness pipes, Though nought be promis?d from the seas, But only a soft-ruffling breeze Sweep glittering on a still content, Serenity in ravishment.
For singing till his heaven fills, ?T is love of earth that he instils, And ever winging up and up, Our valley is his golden cup, And he the wine which overflows To lift us with him as he goes: The woods and brooks, the sheep and kine He is, the hills, the human line, The meadows green, the fallows brown, The dreams of labor in the town; He sings the sap, the quicken?d veins; The wedding song of sun and rains He is, the dance of children, thanks Of sowers, shout of primrose-banks, And eye of violets while they breathe; All these the circling song will wreathe, And you shall hear the herb and tree, The better heart of men shall see, Shall feel celestially, as long As you crave nothing save the song. Was never voice of ours could say Our inmost in the sweetest way, Like yonder voice aloft, and link All hearers in the song they drink: Our wisdom speaks from failing blood, Our passion is too full in flood, We want the key of his wild note Of truthful in a tuneful throat, The song seraphically free Of taint of personality, So pure that it salutes the suns The voice of one for millions, In whom the millions rejoice For giving their one spirit voice.
Yet men have we, whom we revere, Now names, and men still housing here, Whose lives, by many a battle-dint Defaced, and grinding wheels on flint, Yield substance, though they sing not, sweet For song our highest heaven to greet: Whom heavenly singing gives us new, Enspheres them brilliant in our blue, From firmest base to farthest leap, Because their love of Earth is deep, And they are warriors in accord With life to serve and pass reward, So touching purest and so heard In the brain?s reflex of yon bird; Wherefore their soul in me, or mine, Through self-forgetfulness divine, In them, that song aloft maintains, To fill the sky and thrill the plains With showerings drawn from human stores, As he to silence nearer soars, Extends the world at wings and dome, More spacious making more our home, Till lost on his aërial rings In light, and then the fancy sings.
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Thursday, August 27, 2009
Violin Partita #2 in d minor, BWV 1004 by Bach
In the 3 o'clock hour today. WFMT broadcasts Christoph Poppen's rendition of the Chaconne movement from the Violin Partita #2 in d minor, BWV 1004 by Bach.
Here is another version featuring Nathan Milstein in a vintage television program.
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Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Pepe Romero discusses Rodrigo's "Concierto para una Fiesta"
In the 2 o'clock hour today, Kerry Frumkin will play a recording of Joaquin Rodrigo's Concierto madrigal in a performance by the fraternal guitar duo, Pepe & Angel Romero along with St Martin's Academy under the direction of Sir Neville Marriner.
Although Rodrigo composed the work in 1966 for the husband-and-wife duo guitarists, Alexandre Lagoya and Ida Presti, it was the Romero brothers who gave the work it's premiere. That first performance took place in 1967 in a concert at the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra conducted by Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos.
In this video, Pepe Romero discusses -- in Spanish -- his interactions with Joaquin Rodrigo, and the development of another composition which Rodrigo composed for the Romero brothers, the Concierto para una Fiesta.
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Wednesday, May 20, 2009
From one ordinary opera goer to another
All this month on WFMT we have been exploring the music and complicated personality of Richard Wagner. As comedic musicologist (or musicological comedian) Anna Russell so often said, Wagner's Ring of the Nibelungs is "a magnificent work, providing you can making any sense out of it."
Here she is, in her farewell concert, explaining the whole story of the Ring "from one ordinary opera goer to another."
After a feast like that, what we really need is a nice dessert. Here is What's Opera Doc? , Chuck Jones' inspired 1957 creation for Merrie Melodies and Warner Brothers.
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The Michael Maltese story features Elmer Fudd chasing Bugs Bunny through a operatic parody Wagner's operas, particularly Der Ring and Tannhäuser.
Enough of these ridiculous entertainments... What are some your favorite sublime performances of Wagner's music? Please add your suggestions to the comments box below. -
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Saturday, May 16, 2009
Happy Birthday, Studs
Last week I met Jack Lane, a fabulous photographer, who kindly shared this wonderful photograph he took of Studs Terkel enjoying a martini at Riccardo's.
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Friday, May 1, 2009
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, PETE SEEGER
Pete Seeger's 90th birthday is on May 3rd.
Pete Seeger helped introduce America to its own musical heritage, devoting his life to using the power of sing as a force for social change. Standing strong for deeply-held beliefs, Seeger went from the top of the pop charts to the top of the blacklist and was banned from American commercial television for more than 17 years. This determined singer songwriter made his voice heard and encouraged the people of the world to sing out along with him. He wrote this song, "Quite Early Morning" in 1969 and sang it just a few years ago for the PBS documentary series AMERICAN MASTERS for the episode, Pete Seeger: The Power of Song. AMERICAN MASTERS is produced for PBS by Thirteen/WNET New York.
Pete Seeger narrates Alan Lomax's 1947 documentary on the evolution and appreciation of American folk music, To Hear Your Banjo Sing. This video includes cameo appearances by Woody Guthrie and Brownie McGhee, and others.
And then there's "Turn Turn Turn" as performed by Judy Collins on Pete Seeger's 1960's TV show, "Rainbow Quest...."
Among my proudest moments at WFMT was the time I talked to Pete Seeger about his old friend, Studs Terkel, on the occasion of Studs' 95th birthday in 2007. Here's what Pete had to say about how they first met.
Also from the "My Favorite Things" department, here is an excerpt from a 1955 Studs Terkel Program in which Pete played selections from his then-new album, The Goofing Off Suite. The yodeling at the end may be the happiest sound I know.
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Thursday, April 23, 2009
It's Shakespeare's birthday and everybody's getting into the act.
Earlier this week, Mayor Richard M. Daley announced that April 23, Shakespeare's 445th Birthday, will be Talk Like Shakespeare Day, an occasion for Chicagoans to bring the spoken words of Shakespeare into their daily lives. "On his 445th birthday, Shakespeare still speaks to the people of Chicago through timeless words and works," said Mayor Daley in his formal city proclamation." On April 23, I encourage citizens to celebrate Shakespeare by vocal acclamation, through his words."
Chicago Shakespeare Theater will mark the occasion as well. "We're asking our artists and audiences to find a moment to bring Shakespeare into their daily discourse-even if it's just asking a coworker to pass 'yonder stapler,'" said Artistic Director Barbara Gaines. "This is someone who literally, single-handedly, introduced at least 2,000 words to the English language that we still use today. We wish him a very happy birthday."
Some of those 2,000 words include some pretty colorful bluster and insults, as documented in great and random detail on this website, no doubt operated by someone with a surplus of time on their hands. For those of you looking for more of a Do-It-Yourself experience, leave it to the folks at MIT to have a Shakespeare Insult Kit.
There seem to be countless renditions of the Bard's creative output out there. Here are just a few examples, from the mirthful and merry to the sublime.
Enjoy, Louise
The Beatles present a version of "Pyramus and Thisbe" from A Midsummer Night's Dream on this 1964 British television program.
Judi Dench is the sleep-walking Lady Macbeth in the 1979 TV version of the Trevor Nunn production by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Denyse Alexander is the Gentlewoman and John Woodnutt is the Doctor.
And here Lady Macbeth is portrayed by Shirley Verrett in this scene from Act 4 of Verdi's opera. This is from the Claudio Abbado and Giorgio Strehler la Scala production from the 1975/76 season.
Dance partners Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn portray Romeo and Juliet to Prokofiev's classic score in this 1965 Royal Opera House presentation.
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Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Steve Reich Wins 2009 Pulitzer Prize for "Double Sextet," a work commissioned by eighth blackbird
Steve Reich's Double Sextet -- commissioned by eighth blackbird and given its first performances by the group last season -- has won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Music. This is the second time an eighth blackbird commission has been nominated (Stephen Hartke's Meanwhile received a nod last year).
Scored for two identical sextets each comprising flute, clarinet, violin, cello, vibraphone, and piano, Double Sextet can either be played by six musicians against a recording of themselves, or by an ensemble of twelve. For both the world premiere, on March 26, 2008 at the University of Richmond, Virginia, and the New York premiere, at Carnegie's Zankel Hall on April 17, 2008, eighth blackbird performed simultaneously live and pre-recorded; a few months later, the Grammy-winning group collaborated with six students from the Oberlin Contemporary Music Ensemble to perform the work completely live at New York's downtown new music venue The Kitchen. The Chicago premiere took place in May 2008 when eighth blackbird performed the Double Sextet at the Harris Theater.
~~~ The following comes from newmusicbox.com, the web Magazine from the American Music Center. The photo of Steve Reich was taken by Jeffrey Herman. ~~~
Steve Reich has been awarded the 2009 Pulitzer Prize in Music for Double Sextet. The award, for distinguished musical composition by an American that has had its first performance or recording in the United States during the previous calendar year, comes with a $10,000 cash prize.
"It was a completely unexpected surprise," exclaimed Reich. "I think Double Sextet is definitely one of my best pieces and I'm glad the Pulitzer committee felt the same way."
Double Sextet, published by Hendon Music/Boosey & Hawkes (BMI), was commissioned by eighth blackbird which premiered it on March 26, 2008 at the University of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia. The 22-minute work, completed in October 2007, is scored alternately for 6-piece ensemble ("Pierrot plus percussion": flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, and percussion) and pre-recorded tape or 12-piece ensemble. The Pulitzer citation describes the piece as "a major work that displays an ability to channel an initial burst of energy into a large-scale musical event, built with masterful control and consistently intriguing to the ear." Click here to see and hear eighth blackbird's first rehearsal of Double Sextet and here to see and hear excerpts from their recent record sessions of the work.
Also nominated as finalists for the 2009 Pulitzer Prize in Music were: Seven Etudes for Solo Piano, by Don Byron (nottuskegeelike music/BMI), premiered on March 15, 2008 at Hallwall's Contemporary Art Center, Buffalo, NY, which the jury has characterized as "a deft set of studies that display rhythmic inventiveness and irresistible energy, charm and wit"; and Brion, by Harold Meltzer (Urban Scrawl Music Company/ASCAP), premiered on April 23, 2008 at Merkin Hall, New York City, a sonic portrait of a cemetery in northern Italy which the jury described as "painted with the touch of a watercolorist and marked by an episodic structure and vivid playfulness that offer a graceful, sensual and contemplative experience."
The jury consisted of: John Schaefer, host, Soundcheck, WNYC Radio, New York, NY (chair); Dwight Andrews, composer and associate professor, music theory and jazz studies, Emory University; Justin Davidson, music critic, New York Magazine; Anthony Davis, composer, University of California-San Diego; and David Lang, composer and co-founder, Bang on a Can, New York, NY.
You are the bread and the knife, the crystal goblet and the wine... - Jacques Crickillon
You are the bread and the knife, the crystal goblet and the wine. You are the dew on the morning grass and the burning wheel of the sun. You are the white apron of the baker, and the marsh birds suddenly in flight.
However, you are not the wind in the orchard, the plums on the counter, or the house of cards. And you are certainly not the pine-scented air. There is just no way that you are the pine-scented air.
It is possible that you are the fish under the bridge, maybe even the pigeon on the general's head, but you are not even close to being the field of cornflowers at dusk.
And a quick look in the mirror will show that you are neither the boots in the corner nor the boat asleep in its boathouse.
It might interest you to know, speaking of the plentiful imagery of the world, that I am the sound of rain on the roof.
I also happen to be the shooting star, the evening paper blowing down an alley and the basket of chestnuts on the kitchen table.
I am also the moon in the trees and the blind woman's tea cup. But don't worry, I'm not the bread and the knife. You are still the bread and the knife. You will always be the bread and the knife, not to mention the crystal goblet and--somehow--the wine.
(Included in Billy Collins' book, Nine Horses.)
And here he narrates Forgetfulness to extraordinary animation by Julian Grey of Headgear.
Forgetfulness
The name of the author is the first to go followed obediently by the title, the plot, the heartbreaking conclusion, the entire novel which suddenly becomes one you have never read, never even heard of,
as if, one by one, the memories you used to harbor decided to retire to the southern hemisphere of the brain, to a little fishing village where there are no phones.
Long ago you kissed the names of the nine Muses goodbye and watched the quadratic equation pack its bag, and even now as you memorize the order of the planets,
something else is slipping away, a state flower perhaps, the address of an uncle, the capital of Paraguay.
Whatever it is you are struggling to remember, it is not poised on the tip of your tongue, not even lurking in some obscure corner of your spleen.
It has floated away down a dark mythological river whose name begins with an L as far as you can recall, well on your own way to oblivion where you will join those who have even forgotten how to swim and how to ride a bicycle.
No wonder you rise in the middle of the night to look up the date of a famous battle in a book on war. No wonder the moon in the window seems to have drifted out of a love poem that you used to know by heart.
(Included in Billy Collins' book, Sailing Around the Room: New and Selected Poems)
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Bryn Terfel's performance saved thanks to the man with the right sized pants!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Article and photograph from: Telegraph.co.uk April 11, 2009 Stephen Adams, Arts Correspondent http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/5140272/Bryn-Terfels-night-at-the-opera-with-no-trousers.html ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was less a case of the wrong trousers and more a case of none at all for Bryn Terfel, the world-renowned opera singer, at a recent concert.
Before leaving his hotel to perform on a warm day in the South Korean capital of Seoul, the Welsh bass-baritone opted to wear a pair of shorts.
But, his mind no doubt on the performance ahead, he unfortunately forgot to pack his trousers.
Arriving at the venue with only minutes before he was due on stage there was no time to return to the hotel, and Terfel was left with the prospect of singing in his shorts.
However, fortune smiled on the singer. When he appealed for help one good-natured Korean opera lover agreed to the odd request of equipping 6ft 4 ins Terfel with an alternative pair.
Speaking to Shân Cothi, a soprano and presenter on the Welsh language television channel S4C, Terfel explained: "One can be a bit forgetful on the day of a concert ? and I forgot my trousers at the hotel.
"But what could I do? Tell the audience 'I'm sorry, but I have to wear my shorts'?" he recalled.
However, he said by a stroke of luck he managed to find someone with almost exactly the same build.
"There was one person there who happened to be the same height and size as me. And if there was ever a pair of trousers that fits like a glove ? that's the one."
Terfel handed back the trousers at the end of the concert, at which nobody noticed anything was awry, and went back to his hotel in his shorts.
The 43-year-old would have been relieved that his trouser donor enabled him to avoid the embarrassment of going on stage half-dressed, or having to postpone or cancel the concert.
In September 2007 he faced severe criticism for deciding to withdraw from performing as Wotan in Wagner's Ring Cycle at the Royal Opera House.
He pulled out after just one day of rehearsals because his youngest son had a broken finger, leading some to question his professionalism.
A professional opera singer for most of his adult life, Terfel was initially regarded as something of a Mozart specialist before branching out into heavier roles, particularly Wagner.
He made his operatic debut as Guglielmo in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte and in the title role of the composer's The Marriage of Figaro, at the Welsh National Opera in 1990.
Just two years later the singer made his Covent Garden debut as Masetto in Don Giovanni.
He was named Male Artist of the Year in 2004 at the Classical Brit Awards and won a Grammy in 2007 for Best Classical Crossover Album.
Terfel has increasingly performed abroad but his busy work schedule has often been at odds with his desire for a quiet home life.
He lives with his wife Lesley and their three sons in a village near Caernarvon in North Wales.
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Monday, April 13, 2009
Thoughts from Abroad
I am back from my vacation of last week which happily included a few days in London. The Tate Modern had a wonderful exhibition of the groundbreaking work of Russian Constructivists, Alexander Rodchenko and Lyubov Popova. The Lyttelton at the National Theater is currently presenting The Pitmen Painters which tells the tale of a group of Ashington miners who, in 1934, hired a professor to teach an art appreciation evening class and ended up becoming painters themselves.
Signs of Spring were everywhere as the entire city was in bloom, and a long walk through Hyde Park yielded this cell phone photo of a dogwood tree in full glory. With Poerty Month continuing throughout the month of April, Robert Browning's poem comes to mind.
Home Thoughts from Abroad Robert Browning (1812?89)
I OH, to be in England now that April's there And whoever wakes in England sees, some morning, unaware, That the lowest boughs and the brushwood sheaf Round the elm-tree bole are in tiny leaf, While the chaffinch sings on the orchard bough In England?now!
II And after April, when Mary follows And the white-throat builds, and all the swallows! Hark, where my blossom'd pear-tree in the hedge Leans to the field and scatters on the clover Blossoms and dewdrops?at the bent spray?s edge? That's the wise thrush: he sings each song twice over Lest you should think he never could re-capture The first fine careless rapture! And, though the fields look rough with hoary dew, All will be gay when noontide wakes anew The buttercups, the little children's dower, Far brighter than this gaudy melon-flower!
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Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Twelfth Night
Run, don't walk, to Chicago Shakespeare Companys' dazzling new production of Twelfth Night!!! My husband and I were lucky enough to attend the opening Sunday aftenoon, and it was maybe the most fun I've had at the theater...EVER. The cast is brilliant. The director is miraculous in creating a delightful, pretty-close-to period production that speaks to today's audiences, taking us along for a really fun ride. The production, which uses lots of water (be careful if you are in the front row), is, to my mind, without fault. And it is hysterically funny. Funny when it should, and occasionally serious and tender when it should be. It's a must see.
Twelfth Night is also a play that is full of music. Shakespeare has texts within the play that are intended to be sung...and the wonderful resident composer of Chicago Shakespeare Company, Rocco Jans, has written terrific stuff, both for instruments (guitar and viola) and for Feste (the Jester or Fool - delightfully played by Ross Lehman) to sing. These texts are very familiar to anyone who has hear English songs or choral music: "O Mistress mine, where are you roaming..." is one of the most well-known and often set.
You'll be able to hear some of this wonderful music here on WFMT on Tuesday, April 14th in the 4 PM hour. I'll be hosting an Impromptu with the two musicians, the actor Ross Lehman and composer Rocco Jans. We'll talk about the play, what it was like to compose for this wonderful work and to interact with the actors and director, and hear a number of the pieces written for this production. I hope you'll tune in.
And, by all means, heigh thee to Navy Pier to see Twelfth Night, running now through June 7th. You'll have a great time!
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Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Thanks, Lois!
The live broadcast from the Lyric Opera on March 14th marked the end of a long and glorious era for WFMT. When the curtain came down at the end of the double bill of Mascagni's "Cavalleria Rusticana" and Leoncavallo's "Pagliacci," it also brought to a close one of the extraordinary careers at WFMT. It was Lois Baum's last stand as a behind the scenes producer, editor, historian, and magician.
Station founder Rita Jacobs hired Lois in 1964. Since that time there's no telling how many shows she's worked on. During the intermission of that last opera broadcast, program hosts Norman Pellegrini and Lisa Flynn spoke with their friend and colleague about her time at WFMT, some of her memories, and above all, to say "thank you" for her years of excellent service. Their conversation was personal, interesting, and very moving. Have a listen...
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Saturday, March 28, 2009
Happy 100th Birthday Nelson Algren
Today is the 100th birthday of author Nelson Algren and so I dedicate this entry to him.
Born in Detroit on March 28, 1909, he moved to Chicago at the age of three when his father, a Swedish convert to Judaism, and his mother, an American Jew, moved the family to a working-class, immigrant neighborhood on the South Side. For a while they lived at 7139 S. South Park Avenue. Then when he was eight they took up residence in an apartment at 4834 N. Troy Street in the Albany Park neighborhood, not far from the auto shop on Kedzie Avenue where his father worked as a mechanic. Until his death in 1981 Algren lived at 1958 W. Evergreen Street. The seamy underbelly of tough life on the urban streets pulsed through almost everything he wrote.
The building on Troy is still there and since it's not too far from where I live I did a drive-by the other evening in homage to this writer who so beautifully recorded the dark side of the city he knew and loved so well.
Studs Terkel loved the man and his work so well that he created a radio play based on Algren's writings. If I've managed to post it correctly, here is a small sample of that program, along with some images of the author and some of his work which I pilfered with gratitude from the internet.
It isn't hard to love a town for its greater and its lesser towers, its pleasant parks or its flashing ballet. Or for its broad and bending boulevards, where the continuous headlights follow, one dark driver after the next, one swift car after another, all night, all night and all night. But you never truly love it till you can love its alleys too. Where the bright and morning faces of old familiar friends now wear the anxious midnight eyes of strangers a long way from home.
--From Nelson Algren's "Chicago: City on the Make"
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Tuesday, March 24, 2009
La Triviata: The WFMT Game Show!
You may have heard that WFMT is debuting it's very own classical music game show (to take place via an April 16th live broadcast at 5:00pm (CST) from Marbles The Brain Store's downtown Chicago location.
It's been a lifelong dream of mine to have my hand in the creation of a game show. I am thrilled and honored to be involved with "La Triviata: The WFMT Game Show!" from the development stage. Really, I'm a game show junkie--my all-time favorites are (click for videos) The 25,000 Pyramid, The Price Is Right, Jeopardy!and an obscure one--Press Your Luck.
Here's where we stand (without spoiling any of the surprises):The assembly of our buzzer system is almost complete and should arrive sometime this week! I'm predicting many challenges in rigging this up and assigning our own buzzer sounds to them. I love me a frustrating, technical challenge!
Carolyn Paulin and I are working out the kinks in the show's formatting. She (and a few other contributors) are working hard to challenge our contestants in writing/creating trivia and music identification questions, among other surprises.
Noel Morris has been an absolute force in creating audio clues--I can't say more about that now, but I am REALLY looking forward to that round of the show.
Peter Whorf has been coming up with some great questions that may be used in some sort of a lightning round...
WFMT's "New Kid in Town," announcer George Preston is excited to host (and we're excited to hear him)!
I'm currently working on preparing theme music, sound effects, and general technical aspects of the show. The debut is only 3 weeks away and there is so much to do to polish this up. It's so exciting to be asked to create something from scratch with virtually no creative boundaries, and I can't wait 'till we go live on the 16th. We hope you'll love what you hear! Feel free to send suggestions our way. You may just hear yours in the show's debut!
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Friday, March 20, 2009
Music for Spring?
Our question of the week has been "What music best accompanies this time of year?" Many of our listeners have shared their inspirations on our web site.
Leona suggested Leonard Bernstein's "Make Our Garden Grow" from Candide, and that inspired me. Here's June Anderson and Jerry Hadley in the finale to Candide, conducted by the composer himself, in London, December 13, 1989.
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Friday, March 13, 2009
DanceWorks Chicago
The other evening Lisa Flynn and I headed over to the Ruth Page Dance Center at Dearborn and Oak to watch two performances called Dance Flights by a relatively new company, DanceWorks Chicago.
The first set included Dance Sport, a whimsical piece created by choreographer Harrison McEldowney for the company in 2008. Irreverent and joyful in the way Peter Schickele once offered color commentary on Beethoven's 5th Symphony, Dance Sport has the dancers dressed in basketball uniforms, dancing to a variety of musical selections and a steady steam of Olympics-style commentary from two announcers. Even the umpire gets involved. You can see a clip of Dance Sport and other DanceWorks Chicago creations on their web site.
The highlight of the evening was a new work called My Witness with choreography by Gina Patterson and live music by the incomparable Chicago folk trio, Sons of the Never Wrong. The work was dedicated to DanceWorks Chicago co-founder, Pam Crutchfield.
It's not an easy time to be a young arts company but these folks seem to be starting off on the right foot.
