classical

Herbert Blomstedt speaks on conducting and recounts two entertaining episodes from the life and career of Fritz Reiner.

Herbert Blomstedt: On Conducting and Fritz Reiner

Performers: Civic Orchestra of Chicago (Christy Kim – flute, Gordon Daole-Wellman – bass clarinet, Wai Chi Tang – Percussion, Pei-yeh Tsai – piano, Maria Arrua – violin, and Nicky Swett – cello)

Program Notes:
Kindling is a reflection on the spontaneous, yet repetitive motion of fire. From the outset of the piece, the ricochet bowing of the cello and the steady pulse of the kick drum stoke the flame, while the violin flickers and flares in response. As the piece builds, a flurry of tremolos and natural harmonics are used to express motion that is both active and static. Eventually, the ensemble, led by the piano and strings, conjures a steady orange glow with a series of phrases that quickly appear and dissipate. The rapid alternations between these distinct phrases coalesce to form a continuous, burning texture.

Kindling for pierrot plus percussion

Anne Lovett’s stunning new release for 1631 is a departure from her beautiful previous solo piano album Beyond (and below). Without loosing any of the startling beauty of the preceding album, in The Eleventh Hour, Anne Lovett revels in a new sonic world. Joined by the London Contemporary Orchestra , UK’s most innovative and respected ensemble routinely heard alongside such luminaries as Radiohead or Johnny Greenwood, and later in duo with phenomenal cellist and composer Oliver Coates, Anne Lovett also introduces subtle electronics interwoven carefully alongside layered melodic piano lines.

The main narrative for the album was conceived shortly after a new addition was brought in to Anne’s studio, a plantation chair which sat opposite her Grotrian-Steinweg grand piano. It led to intense hours of rethinking around the instrument itself and more generally about the seismic shifts that were taking place in society. The album is an attempt to reconcile the flaws of time. 

Best described by the Japanese concept of Kintsugi or “broken beauty”, The Eleventh Hour is a heartbreakingly beautiful contribution to the modern “indie” classical genre. The thirteen tracks all meticulously crafted and ringing out with a dark luminosity, like an elegy to our troubled times. 

It will appeal to fans of Dustin O’Halloran, Nils Frahm, Max Richter, Philipp Glass, Jóhann Jóhannson who will find many reasons to love this album .

www.1631recordings.bandcamp.com/album/the-eleventh-hour

The Eleventh Hour

Anne Lovett - The Eleventh Hour

As part of a series of events honoring the 100th anniversary of the World War I Armistice, this concert features works that encourage reflection and inspire hope. Included on the program is the world premiere of Threnos by Bruno Mantovani, Prokofiev’s haunting Third Piano Concerto—performed by Russian superstar Daniil Trifonov—and Copland’s Third Symphony, with its poignant use of the Fanfare for the Common Man theme.

CSO Program Notes: Trifonov Plays Prokofiev

Clara Jumi Kang  "Valse Sentimentale"

Near

Founded in 1891, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra is consistently hailed as one of the greatest orchestras in the world. In collaboration with the best conductors and guest artists on the international music scene, the CSO performs well over one hundred concerts each year at its downtown home, Symphony Center, and at the Ravinia Festival on Chicago’s North Shore, where it is in residency each summer. Music lovers outside Chicago enjoy the sounds of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra through best-selling recordings and frequent sold-out tour performances in the United States and around the globe.

Visit cso.org for tickets and information.

CSO Program Notes: Trifonov Plays Prokofiev

ChicagoSymphony

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