Off to London to hear a re-discovered masterpiece.

I listened to BBC Radio 4 this morning as a fascinating story was told involving a lot of people important and dear to me. Next Saturday, July 4 ,I will be sitting in Saint Paul's Knightsbridge, listening to Guirne Creith's Violin Concerto, and trying to take in the amazing history behind this performance. While a student at the RAM in London in 1959, I lived for a year in the home of Baroness Van Zuylen, a pianist, singer, and all around fine musician. She had two sons, Robin and Jeremy, and they were a few years younger than me.Robin was busy with his first job, and Jeremy was at Stowe during the week, but often home on weekends. Altho known to me as Guirne Van Zuylen, she also had various other names that became apparent over the years...Gladys Cohen, Guirne Hunter-Coddington, Guirne Creith, Guirne Van Zuylen, and lastly Guirne Siddons(?). There was indeed a lot of mystery about her, and portions of her life were not discussed, or just veiled over.I think, as a young musician with a vivid imagination, that none of this bothered me at the time, as I already knew enough about the world of creativity to allow for many personality types, and Guirne was endlessly fascinating! Mr. Hunter-Coddington was the father of her two sons, but they were divorced after a few years. Although Guirne never told me she was a composer, she did talk alot about the art of orchestration, and I just surmised that she must have written some works. There was a bookcase in an unused room, and while looking for something Guirne had sent me in search of, I noticed a bundle of music manuscripts on the bottom shelf. I just assumed they were some of her work, but I never actually looked at them closely.

About two years ago, I re-established contact with the family, after a silence of almost 45 years. Amazingly enough, my email arrived almost to the day of what would have been her 100th birthday, although she passed away in the mid-1990's. In her honor, her sons had established a website, telling what they knew of her life's story, and inviting friends and contacts to share their memories. Shortly there came the unusual news that a manuscript of a violin concerto by Guirne Creith had been discovered in a second hand piano shop that was going out of business. In a box marked "all contents 2 pounds" was the manuscript. It was purchased by an individual, curious enough to search for information until he was led to her son, Robin Hunter-Coddington. Robin verified her handwriting, at the same time hardly believing what he was looking at. He began his own search for information, never having known that his mother composed anything. Through research at the RAM and BBC, he finally learned that she had won important prizes while a student, and had written several ballets, piano sonatas, songs and orchestral works. Robin's hard work has resulted in this first performance since the 1930's, which will be presented by the Kensington Orchestra.

The work has already been recorded in a splendid performance by the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, produced by Epoch Records. For most in the audience, this will be their initial introduction to Guirne Creith. More ...after the concert.

Southeastern Piano Festival June 2009

The second week in June saw the annual Southeastern Piano Festival for high school students at the University of South Carolina School of Music, with its monumental parade of talent from all over the world. This year was our seventh season, and we have grown in statue and size. Overall, this was the strongest field of young pianists so far. Of course, the main body of competitors come from Southern states and the East Coast but we also had contestants from the rest of the country, the winner this year hailing from Chicago. I taught five students this year, four girls and one boy. Last year it was four boys and 1 girl. Amazing the difference in dynamics this makes!! Four of my students were Asian descent, and one was from Eastern Europe. Among the concerti I coached was the Tschaikowsky, Prokofief 3rd, Rachmaninoff Rhapsody, Chopin No. 1, and Beethoven 3rd. These are cumbersome to work with in that, since the pianists have strict rehearsal rules with their appointed accompanists, we must avert going straight through the work, as if we were rehearsing. This perplexed me until I came to the conclusion that there is just a small amount one can accomplish in four lessons, and the contestants are more or less "set" in their preparation by the time they get here. So I divide the works into large chunks, find a few spots where I think they can improve in a short time, and keep coming back to those. This worked brilliantly this summer. The girl doing the Chopin was able to add a lot more color and variety of sound, the Beethoven gathered much more style, and the Tschaikowsky cadenza gainned more integration into the whole. In the Rachmaninoff Rhapsody we concentrated on the long build up to the BIG THEME, and especially the very ending of the theme, where there is a long coda like section with a lot of orchestral color. In general I find young pianists rarely look at the orchestral score, mostly concentrating on the piano part (and hoping they can get the notes). The young girl doing the Prokoview was only 15, and she was very polished...so we only had one session. In addition, they each have a solo piece. The boy who did Tschaikowsky picked the Beethoven "Appassionata"...with its long and dark first movement. It was a poor choice I felt, as it didn't add enough contrast in his repertoire. But he came a miracle mile in stylistic concept, and the quality of sound required. The Prokovief girl chose Ravel's "Jeux d'eau" and she also moved forward in the ability to make a "whole" out of a piece with alot of detours into cadenzas and impressionistic effects. She was thriled with what we accomplished, and won honorable mention in the finals. She was my only winner this year, as opposed to last year when my students won First and Second.

We have professional artists play envening recitals, and the one I enjoyed the most was by Christopher Taylor. He played a monumental program of Rzewski's The People United will never be Defeated, and the Bach "Goldberg". He is a fine pianist with a broad range of temperment.

This year's winner was Shawn Yeh, who played a movingly stark yet virtuoso performance of Ravel's Concerto "a main gauche", and also the Liszt Etude "Mazeppa".

Bouncing Back

It seems impossible I have ignored Windrushnotes since January. But, there were reasons, primarily a long spell when a pesky cold would not go away, and ending up with weeks of coughing and breathing with my mouth open. That must be the most uncomforable thing in the world, especially as it is so disruptive to proper rest. But I managed to "carry on" as the Brits say, although it meant the cancellation of plans and projects. It is difficult to do everything for oneself when ill, and I guess getting older has taught me that one can have the priviledge of just folding up and just plain being sick! I did manage to keep practicing, although some days for a very brief spell. And, my only student, a 15 year old, managed to have all his lessons, and won a 1++ in his first competition in March, and an Outstanding two weeks ago in another one. That pleased me tremendously.

Now it is total Spring here in South Carolina, and the flowers are their most magnificent this week. If you ever watch The Masters from Augusta, then you have an idea of what a Southern Spring looks like. This year it has been quite cool, and thus things have stayed fresher longer than normal.

It is interesting to me how much can be accomplished in small doses. I have made it through the Eroica Variations of Beethoven, working very slowly, never in a hurry. The technique of this work is different in that there is a residue left over from the Eroica Symphony that makes the approach rather orchestral, and hence, not always so pianistic. But, there again, Beethoven is rarely conventional, and more often than not you have to invent a way to play him. A student recently observed that one rarely finds a scale in Beethoven in the fashion we normally practice them. So, endless scale practice might lead to strong fingers, but it doesn't solve the way he actually employs them. That might sound like a flippant remark, but it has to do with his creative genius, and the lengths he went to be original at all costs. I hope to perform this work next year as a PowerPoint presentation.

The other looming Everest is the 200th Anniversary of the births of Chopin and Schumann. I have Piano Portraits of both composers, completed over 30 years ago, and performed all over the world. Now it is time to recreate them with PowerPoint technology, which means transferring dozens of old fashioned slides to disc, so they can be computerized. Then again, choosing the right repetoire is a great challenge, as what one may have played easily in earlier times is not so easy at present. Age!!
But I am pleased to say, I am able to satisfy myself that what I do choose to play will be on a level that will satisfy me....my most important critic!!

So, if one seeks, one finds. Learning new works at this time of life is so gratifying, as the hard won experieces one has gainned over the years make each phrase a new adventure in learning.

A Detour in the Schedule

February has brought some very cold weather to South Carolina, and I am the victim again of a nagging head cold that refuses to move on. To have two such adventures this winter has been a big surprise. Perhaps when I was teaching dozens of students I built up a much stronger resistance to germs and hence rarely had a cold. But, just as sure as you tell someone you are feeling low, the response is always the same..i.e.its a lot worse over their way, and the feeling is that you are lucky not to be as bad off as they are. Well, being bad off for me is to have my ears stuffed to the gills and sound distorted in all sorts of odd ways. It is painful to practice the piano, and only slightly worse to hear someone else play it. But one does muddle on, and hopes for the moment when it all lifts and floats away.

There is a lesson in this, as there is always a lesson in life when one's routine is interrupted. It makes you appreciate your norm, how wedded you are to routine, and how routine can bring great accomplishment and rewards. But it goes alot furthur for me. It brings home the reality that many people in this world only have the routine of waking up each morning to a world that is worse than the day before. Yes, we are suffering from an economic nightmare, but what if we were suffering the way people are in parts of Africa at this moment. Is there anything worse in the world than starvation? Is there any thing worse than being tormented by people whose only desire is your property, and if geting it means murder in cold blood, then that is the result? The power of the gun is looming over our heads every day of our lives.

I have noticed while flipping through television channels when bored, how many guns flash by, how many murders in cold blood, and how many people being tortured for the thrill of it. We seem to be besotted with guns, and just as besotted with the desire for revenge. So it is just entertainment you say. Perhaps the real truth is how victimized we are by television producers, and how easily we accept it as entertainment. Hence, I rent Netflik and try to avoid the TV except when something sane comes along.

A Visit to Kansas City

I was lucky with my visit to my hometown in that the weather was great, and one only needed a top coat and hat, but no gloves. Being use to the mild winter climate of South Carolina, it felt about the same. Kansas City, Missouri, Kansas City, Kansas, Overland Park, Kansas and North Kansas City, Missouri all run together to form a huge metro area. The state line between Missouri and Kansas is a street that runs down the middle of a huge residential area, so you really hardly notice what state you are in. But that doesn't mean Kansas people consider themselves from Kansas City, Missouri, and vice-versa. The distictions are there, and can be very subtle or very overt. When it comes to sports and the arts, its really a metro area experience. All the big concerts are in downtown Kansas City, Missouri.Kansas City Mo. has long been a mecca for touring groups. When I was growing up there in the 1950's there were several big arts series, and in a season it was not unusual to hear five or six of the greatest pianists, either in solo recitals, or with the Kansas City Symphony. It was a great theater town as well, as being half way between New York City and Los Angeles/San Francisco, we usually were the second stop for road companies coming out of New York. I saw many musicals with top casts, including "South Pacific", "Kiss Me, Kate", "Oklahoma", "Carousel", "Annie Get Your Gun" and "Brigadoon". I remember some of the stars, including Mary Martin, Alfred Drake, Janet Blair, Pamela Britton, Jean Arthur....all top flight productions.

With this in mind it was fun to hear Joyce DiDonato give a hometown concert at the Folly Theater in downtown Kansas City. On tour with her Handel program entitled "Furore" along with a wonderful baroque orchestra from Paris.."Les Talents Lyriques". Singing all Mad Scenes from operas by Handel (known and unknown) she gave a virtuoso performance that left a home town audience enthralled. Obviously, she is the darling of Kanss City. Two nights later she repeated the performance at Zankel Hall in Carnegie Hall, and then managed to return two days later to Carnegie and sing Mozart with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra with conductor James Levine. She is a pro in every sense of the word, and to see her reach the top has been a wonderful experience.

Kansas City is booming, and the old warehouse district behind the glorious Union Station is the scene or a renovation marathon. I visited Lidia's wonderful Italian restaurant and had a wonderful meal, had lunch at the old Walker School, a turn of the century treasure filled with superb architectural features, and then toured Quality Hill, the oldest downtown neighborhood, with its grand vista looking over the Kansas and Missouri Rivers.

Overland Park, Kansas has new neighborhoods of luxury homes that go on for miles. Everything reminds me of the Prarie Style, so beloved in the area. Shopping is great, and restaurants in endless supply. But I miss the "Mix" of my semi-rural area where millionaires rub shoulders with everyday folks like me.

Returning home I realized I have a free calendar for most of the Spring. There is something to be said about grouping my concerts and events into a special period of time. But several students are currently coaching with me, and I have my "Eroica" project to finish. This summer I will teach at the Southeastern Young Artist Festival here in Columbia...more about this later... and spend time in London, to hear a special concert in memory of a longtime friend. More about all this soon.

Music Highlights for 2008...

Its that time of year when everyone seems to have a list of something to display. Here's mine fot the past musical year....in the USA and Europe.

1. Joyce DiDonato at Rose Hall, Lincoln Center
This was my first chance to hear this amazing American mezzo-soprano live.
This is a stunning voice..supple,beautiful mid-range, and glorious top...one almost feels she is a lyric soprano at times. But the darker side of her voice keeps her firmly in the mezzo range, even if it is hard to believe the bravura that she dispatches coloratura passages in Rossini. Her Rosina in "The Barber of Seville" is unsurpassed today, and her Octavian in "Der Rosenkavalier" is no less exciting. On the Web I also heard a superb Donna Elvira from "Don Giovanni" at Covent Garden. Her career is based more in Europe than America, but that is changing rapidly with an appearance with James Levine and the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra in Carnegie Hall, a tour de force concert of Handel mad scenes ... "Furore" ..again at Carnegie, and an appearance with the New York Philharmonic all upcoming in the first part of 2009.
Perhaps I am just prejudiced, but she is a hometown girl, growing up in Kansas City in the same neighborhood I lived in from age 13 on. In any case, a major American artist in her prime.

2. Karita Matila as "Salome" from the Met (Theatercast)
This was possibly the most direct portrait of depravity I will ever experienced. The white heat of the Richard Strauss score met its match in this performance. It is hard to call it that...it was in truth a complete identification with the role. Not only was it vocally superb, it was an acting triumph. The sheer physicality of her interpretation left one stunned and drained. She dominated the stage, covering every square inch of it with her athletic movements...seeming at times like a demented tiger on the loose. After being presented with the head of John The Baptist, she ended up in a crazy ecstasy, lying flat on her back with her head hanging into the orchestra pit. At the close everyone sat frozen in their seats, unable to get up.

3. Berlin Philharmonic "Scharoun Ensemble" at the Zermatt Festival, Switzerland
Two performances stood out this August at the Zermatt Festival. First was the Schbert Octet for Strings and Winds, a work that I heard many years ago at the Aspen Festival, and had not heard since. Written in 1824, this is a huge six movement work of enormous emotional range. Some feel it was a preparation work for his Symphony in C Major "The Great" which he began shortly after composing this octet. It was full of the long lines and varied harmonic questings that dominant his style in his late works. What struck me in this performance was the sheer joy in the work, and how closely the Berlin Philharmonic players identify with Schubert's style. The second performance was Schoenberg's "Verklarte Nacht" in its original version for small chamber ensemble. The sheer intensity of the writing was virtually laid bare, and the beauty of the individual lines came through with a completely different aspect than in the big orchestral version. In this case, less was much, much more.

4. Martha Argerich performing Beethoven Concerto No.1 from Lugano Festival.
Heard in live performance over NPR, Argerich amazed with the freshness, directness, and sheer musicality she brought to this often neglected work, more in the student's domain today then the artist's. This tempermental artist, who often cancels at the last minute, is completely at home at her own piano festival each June in Lugano, Switzerland. What strikes me about a performance such as this is how immediately the attention is focused, and how the energy never flags. She seemed to relish what others often neglect: the constant need for surprising dynamics, the eveness of finger passage work, and the courage to make it into a really big work, with an amazing cadenza at the close of the first movement. It is startling to realize that someone you heard at the start of their career in the late 1950's, is now a matronly woman with long gray hair!

5. Tchaikowsky "Fourth Symphony" with New York Philharmonic conduced by Lorin Maazel, London Proms. BBC
Always controversial, Maazel has lead some superb performances during his final days with the NY Phil. Although the English critics hated this performance, I was galvanized by the vituosity of the orchestra, and how Maazel drove them to a frenzy. Thats always a problem between the USA and the UK. The English get very uncomfortable with such vigor and unabashed emotion. Maazel let them have it between the eyes, even though their eyebrows had long since fallen off by the last movement.
A stunning performance of "Die Walkure" from the Met Opera, which drew lavish praise from the critics, confirmed the fact that Maazel was overlooked for two decades there, and could have been of much greater use. Very sad, and rather typical when you become controversial.

"Thais" From The Met...via Theatercast

Some years ago while attending the French Piano Institute in Paris I heard Renee Fleming at the Bastille Opera in "Manon". I thought at the time she had the perfect voice for Massenet..creamy middle voice...an extension into coloratura..and always elegant musicianship. Having never heard "Thais", I was eager to see how I would react to this production. As far as sets and staging it was very conventional, and at times was rather uninspired, expecially the palace in the second act. It took forever to change the sets and that took away from the fluidity of sequence. Nothing remotely resembled an Egyptian setting, but at least they avoided the pitfall of making it all resemble a church pageant, (although some stray palm trees almost went in that direction). What was impressive was Fleming's emotional and direct "Thais", sung will all of the above, but some years later with an added maturity and insight. This is a great role for her, and she conquered the exotic vocal color, projected in a really difficult vocal line that requires nerves of steel to accomplish the quick chages of register, and also the high tessitura of the last scene. If you share the stage with Fleming at this point in her career, you had better have your shots in order. Thomas Hampson was ardent in expression and commanding in figure. What was lacking was real vocal beauty. I have always felt he is more of a lieder singer, and some of this quality came through. But I rarely felt swept up in sheer vocal opulence. The opera as a whole was quite wonderful, and one felt Massenet's sense of theater in the way the whole affair built towards the final scene. He was the composer par excellence for divas of the day, and no one mixed sex and the Bible to better effect. Renee Fleming is surely at her peak, and its exciting to hear her any chance you get.