Felsenmusick

Sting, Reading, Schumann

2009-12-03T13:56:00.000-08:00

Tonight I'm thrilled to be attending a Screening of Twin Spirits with the film's stars--Sting and Trudie Styler--in attendance. I have more than a soft spot for Mr. Sting, from his years with The Police, his solo records, his forays into early music, hell even his performance in the movie Dune (which yes I know ages me). I saw him in concert in Los Angeles, in New York, in Italy, in London, and I've not forgotten any of it. More to report tomorrow, but looks to be a fascinating film wherein the letters of Robert and Clara Schumann are read accompanied by their music. The greatest love story in Classical music this side of Britten and Pears (tongue both in and out of cheek there, those relationships both being long-standing yet fraught), I'm looking forward to this flimic coceptualization.

More tomorrow. Now I have to figure out the HopStop to WNYC's Jerome L. Greene space--and sister moon will NOT alas be my guide.

Pretender to the Throne (?)

2009-11-18T11:06:00.000-08:00

Fantastic little piece about a very clever fraud (I'm OBSESSED with frauds: art forgers, Tristan Foison, Welles' move F for Fake) who fooled the smart people at the Ojai Festival by impersonating Steve Mackey. Weird. But compelling.

So Much, So Much To Do

2009-11-17T20:03:00.000-08:00

Here's just a few things going on:

Tomorrow night, November 17, I'll be astage at Le Poisson Rouge playing the piano once again as part of John Wesley Harding's final Cabinet of Wonders of 2009 (more to come in 2010, you can be sure!). Which is a mixed blessing because I'll not be able to hear my friend, the astoundingly gifted Jody Redhage perform her show with her band Fire in July that night at Roulette. My loss, though the cabinet promises to be excellent, with a fascinating roster of guests.

The following night, I'll have to miss The Metropolis Ensemble (also at LPR) in order that I might be at Galapagos Art Space for the 21cLiederabend concert with a whole roster of awesome people and excellent composers and ensembles, not least of which are Opera On Tap, Vision Into Art and Ethel.

Friday, lord knows what I'm forgoing to see Don Giovanni at New York City Opera, directed by my friend Christopher Alden. Rave reviews in the Times for this one!

Busy but amazing few days.

Once Again, A Return

2009-11-16T19:30:00.000-08:00

Yes, Felsenreaders, fallen of. Missed me? Given up? Wondered if there was no meaning to your life since, well, where's all the goodies on Felsenmusick? Believe me, I've missed being here, and so, with a few key clicks and a tip of the wireless mouse, I return. Some good things coming up: an opera in the bay area, a sinful concert in Brooklyn, new monodramas with a brilliant playwright, opera-ish things, piano works, a concerto all around the country, performances by not one but two of my favorite ensembles on this G-d's Green Earth, some curatorial responsibilities, a whole new slew of Cabinets of Wonders with John Wesley Harding, those songs that make you go insane because you can't kick them, program notes, liner notes, articles, blogs, tweets, status updates, you NAME it, all coming your way, all duly hawked on Felsenmusick. The Doctor is, again, in.

Auspicious Beginnings

2009-08-23T21:35:00.001-07:00

Summer winds down, the hiatus ends, and its back to composing, teaching, writing, reading and of course blogging. And what better way to start the coming year than with a nice mention by one Alex Ross on the New Yorker's Web site.

I loved Alex's article on fictional composers (being one myself from time to time, as he mentions) and wish I could offer a link, but as its for subscribers only, you'll just have to pick up a copy of this weeks New Yorker or subscribe to read it. Wholly and completely worth it!

Sometime soon, I'll blog about this summer, some cool concerts (Costello and Cohen for starters) some excellent books (Inherent Vice) and a whole heap of Steve Erickson) some upcoming events and some thoughts, but for now I leave you join me in the basking of a Ross namecheck.

Passings

2009-07-27T20:35:00.000-07:00

I want to echo Alex Ross in mourning three passings this weeekend: Robert Hilferty, Michael Steinberg and Merce Cunningham. I could eulogize the latter two (whom I did not know personally) and recount some truly hilarious stories of Robert Hilferty, but I will just let their names stand as the sadness their loss represents. The world is lighter once again.

Another Return

2009-06-23T06:54:00.000-07:00

I'm back. Better than ever. And I have a bit of reverie--for the work of Peter Greenaway. I write because of a nice piece in the Times about his show at the Venice Biennale, which made me think of my happy accident a few years back of being in Amsterdam, in the Rijkmuseum, and stumbling upon his Nightwatching, which was utterly fantastic. His work has drawn a lot of ire over the years (once I recall a roomful of older composers giggling at me when I said I was a fan, in that "doesn't-HE-have-a-lot-to-learn-about-the-world" way, or the lobby of a cinema some years ago featuring very pretentious man discussing loudly how pretentious Mr. Greenaway was) but it is work to which I always return. Basically I think he might be the smartest man on the planet. To say I love most of his films (the day Prospero's Books or Drowning by Numbers finally become available on DVD will be expensive but wonderful) is an understatement. To me these films define what art can and even should do, a touchstone: they have unparalleled depth, seek to explore, go beyond their medium while not expecting to be noteworthy simply because they go beyond their medium, and are as learned and seeking as any work out there. And I love his themes, which include conspiracies (from the water tower to the deaths of composers by mysterious means), the body, sex, death, writing, blood, art, beauty and vomit--to him, there is little difference between these things. His operas with Andriessen are divine and strange (maybe Rosaand Writing to Vermeer will come to DVD on that same glorious day).

I am being general, because I've just not the weeks it would take to be specific.

To return to Nightwatching, it was an amazing "show" wherein the famous painting by Rembrandt was suspended in the middle of the room. The lights dimmed, and for twenty minutes an audio track played which told the story of this great work through illuminating certain bits of it from the front and from behind, turning a staid and unmovable image into a vivid storyboard (about, yes, a conspiracy contained within the work). It was breathtaking--and oddly unfilmable. (Which leads me to the point that Greenaway is always referred to as a filmmaker and yet he's not made a picture in years, focusing instead on installations like these). From what the article seems to say, the show at the Biennale sounds like this experience writ large. Alas, I'll not be there--unless a generous reader would like to fund my expedition!

Needless to say, it's nice to be back.

Allow Me to be the Last

2009-04-20T13:36:00.000-07:00

...to congratulate Steve Reich on a long-overdue Pulitzer Prize. And I am also happy to hear that Harold Meltzer was a runner-up.

Grammar

2009-03-31T09:43:00.000-07:00

I hate to go all Jay Leno, but I have to gawk at the mixed meaning behind this headline (found on Google News):

Iran, in gesture to US, promises help on drugs

I mean, really, think about it...

Music = Brain

2009-03-29T08:11:00.001-07:00

Every so often a study gets released explaining how music has a positive effect on one's mind, especially the complexities of classical music. It makes you smarter, better at math, and some say younger. Its hard to disagree, and it is even harder to disagree with the sprit of these undertakings because, well, since math is the smartest way to be smart in our No Child Left Behind culture because it is the most quickly quantifiable, music must therefore be good for US because it is good for that.

So today in the Times there is an appropriately skeptical piece by Matthew Gurewitsch about prescription music, music written specifically to have a desired effect on a specific brain. Its even handed, well written, and takes on this odd little practice with the right kind of attitude: that of the objective journalist. It ought to be read.

What I found most intriguing--and I mean that last word in its fullest spy-thriller resonance--is the presence of the guardedly anonymous composer in the mix. You go for your study, someone writes you a piece to suit your specific mental needs (apparently we all need Glass or Riley redux?) but the hand is silent; we are never to know. This strikes me as the oddest notion of this entire questionable (but not necessarily wrong) practice: there's someone, or a team of someones, who are writing music to have an effect on your brain and their name(s) is (are) a well-kept secret.

Of course, being a composer myself, I begin to wonder who it might b, which of my colleagues has landed the no-doubt lucrative dayjob of writing music to put troubled minds be at ease? And why, I wonder, is the whole practice intentionally shrouded in a veil of mystery? Do these composers feel they are doing the wrong thing? (They are not.) Do they fear the repercussions of the world knowing that they--gasp--might need to supplement their income? Or is this whole practice a little questionable, and when later it becomes known do these composers want not to be associated with it? I think that alone would be such a distraction, for me, from any possible efficacy of this study.

I say, if you're going to do it, do it: cop to it, and let us know how it works and why. There is nothing to be ashamed of, no need to hide. Hell, I think it would make an interesting companion piece in the Times to send a music journalist to accomplish a piece of derring-do and smoke out just who is behind this particular curtain. Music Therapy's Greatest Composers UNMASKED. Composers working in an underground laboratory somewhere to make the world a better place are revealed for what they are, dramatically and on television. I'd watch it.

Shining Brow Release

2009-02-11T05:44:00.000-08:00

On March 18, this is where I will be. This piece--the seminal work of an amazingly gifted composer (and I am proud to say, friend)--will be available, finally, on a CD (insert usual praise to Naxos, who just sees to it that important things don't go unreleased) and is deserving of a big loud fete for the launch. Make your reservations early. See you there.

Glorious Mayhem

2009-02-08T08:25:00.000-08:00

This Wednesday night, February 11, at 10pm I will be a gleeful participant in the first installment of John Wesley Harding's CABINET OF WONDERS at (where else?) Le Poisson Rouge. This week's lineup is certainly star-studded, including Rick Moody, Jonathan Ames, Eugene Mirman, Ambrosia Parsley, Carla Rhodes, and P.T. Walkley. I'll join JWH onstage to play a few tunes with him at the piano--he's a thoroughly amazing singer-songwriter who is not to be missed. Le Poisson Rouge is located at 158 Bleeker St. You may purchase tickets here.

The other CABINET OF WONDERS shows will be on March 11 and April 15, the latter featuring music composed by me, a piece JWH and I are writing together called Music Doesn't Want Me. Details on that to come, but do save those dates if you are interested. As you'll see below, those shows will also be very special and packed full of amazing people -- you can see all of the specifics for the shows below my signature. I am honored to be part of them.

I will also join Wes to perform on Friday, February 20 on WXPN's Free Noon at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia. Again, details below.

And I am sure I'll be sending out another email alert as some other things get closer, but below is a taste of a few things happening this Spring:

April 30
The PEN World Voices Festival Presents Collaborations/Elaborations, a concert of my music focusing on my work with writers. Joining me onstage will be authors Rick Moody, Wesley Stace (a.k.a. John Wesley Harding) and Mark Z. Danielewski. Performing will be Michael Zegarski, Amy Van Roekel, Jessica Miller-Rauch and Michael Morcotte, and Jody Redhage, with pianists Simone Dinnerstein, Blair McMillen and Charity Wicks. More on this to come, but look forward to world premieres, New York premieres, and very cool readings.

May 21
The always amazing pianist Blair McMillen will play my short but densely packed piece A Dirty Little Secret at the Greenwich Music House as part of the Keys to the Future festival.

May 30
At the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., the world premiere of my oratorio Revolutions of Ruin, performed by the Congressional Chorus joined by the Great Noise Ensemble. The piece is a setting of texts by Mark Z. Danielewski, Rick Moody, Michael Chabon and Tara Bray Smith, for chorus, chamber orchestra and soloists.

Hope to see you at some or all of these concerts!

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ON JOHN WESLEY HARDING

Happy New Year Friends... we're a month into 2009 and really gearing up for a great year.

Before we launch into the news, let's back up just a bit to late 2008. Those of you who have placed orders for Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead cd and/or the t-shirts, dvds, signed print) should have those in hand. If you haven't had a chance to place your order, you can visit www.johnwesleyharding.com and see what's in the store. Order the new cd online and you will be send a free download code so you may begin listening right away. That will be followed up with a copy of the cd and bonus disc. Add-on the other goodies and we'll send those right along.

February 11 - Rick Moody (writer and member of duo "Authros" with JWH) Jonathan Ames (writer) Eugene Mirman (comedian) Shivaree (Ambrosia Parsley - wonderful singer) Carla Rhodes (ventriloquist) P.T.Walkley (musician you're going to love)

March 11 - Colson Whitehead (writer) Colum McCann (writer) Josh Ritter (musician, most recently heard with JWH at The Union Hall) Rosanne Cash (musician) Errollyn Wallen (composer, presenting US premiere of "From Eleanor to Sweet William") Eugene Mirman (comedian)

April 15 - Graham Parker (musician) Daniel Wallace (writer, last seen with JWH doing magic tricks in Chapel Hill) Dan John Miller (actor/musician - once of Goober and The Peas!) Sam Lipsyte (writer) Eugene Mirman (comedian) Daniel Felsenfeld (composer)

But these shows are too much to confine them to NYC. The West Coast is calling, the East Coast is begging. So, alright, if JWH must hit the road, he's taking Eugene Mirman with him and there will be other special guests along the way. The dates outside of New York for "Wes and Eugene's Cabinet of Wonders" are:

March 26 - The Brattle Theater, Cambridge MA (to be confirmed)
April 1 - Tractor Tavern, Seattle WA
April 2 - Mississippi Studios, Portland OR
April 4 - Largo, Los Angeles CA
April 5 - The Independent, San Francisco CA

More dates will be announced as they are confirmed.They will be posted on www.myspace.com/wesleystace.

In the meantime, JWH, in the company of Rick Moody, will be on Soundcheck on WNYC at 2:00 PM Eastern Time next Monday, February 9, performing songs from his new album, and talking about the Cabinet of Wonders:http://www.WNCY.org/shows/soundcheck/. That evening, he and Eugene Mirman will be on The Joey Reynolds Show, doing much the same, at midnight: http://www.wor710.com/.

And on Friday February 20, JWH will be playing live at WXPN's Free at Noon at World Cafe Live in Philadelphia, sharing the bill with M. Ward. That's free. For more information: www.xpn.org/concerts-events/free-at-noon.

Keep an eye on MySpace and the JWH Messageboard for news as it happens!

Today

2009-02-03T12:55:00.000-08:00

I am enjoying reading the fact that, according to many (and especially to Mr Don McClean once upon a time), "the music" died half a century ago on this very day. Long live the music, I suppose.

This Cursed Blog

2009-02-02T06:51:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I lament this blog simply because much of the time it bears the weight of bad news. I did not mention the passing of George Perle because I had gotten sick of writing how much lighter the world felt, but today I write in to lament the loss of Lukas Foss. A friend wrote, apropos of a despairing conversation he and I had been having, via email, about grants etc., wrote me that he had heard from Lukas' son that the great man had left the earth. Allan Kozinn has a respectful piece about it in the Times.

I met him only twice, and found him to be charming and brilliant. I thrilled to his pianism in his performance of Bernstein's Age of Anxiety and loved a lot of his music. More than anything, I liked the idea of him, as someone not hewn to any school of thought but rather a brave and inherently curious mind willing to try out anything for the sheer fun of it. I wish more composers were like that now.

So adieux Lukas and Mr. Perle (whom I never met, save once), the world truly is lighter now.

Klinghoffer

2009-02-01T10:06:00.000-08:00

I want to point everyone to Mark Adamo's excellent and well-reasoned essay on John Adams' difficult opera The Death of Klinghoffer. This piece is always incendiary, for many reasons, and I think Mark (as always!) brilliantly articulates why. Like the piece or not, agree with the politics or not, or even agree or disagree with the particular nimbus of criticism that surrounds that opera, Mark's intelligent and nuanced vivisection considers the work in a wonderfully specific way and ought to be read.

Gone Daddy Gone

2009-01-20T06:18:00.000-08:00

Goodbye to All That

2009-01-18T11:51:00.000-08:00

It has been a complicated week. On the one hand, as I write this, we've less than 48 hours left to witness the dying gasp (and no doubt spate of self-pardons) of this revolutionary putsch that has put America in dire Jeopardy for eight relentless years. Hoo-freakn'-ray to that, right? But as Obama's train makes its way from Philadelphia to what I and the majority of America hope is a new and brighter future, relentless sad news, fallout from the crash, keeps coming. For New Yorkers, this week saw the closing of the Zipper Factory, the Cutting Room, and Amato Opera. Three very different places where a range of very different people got to, for years, do very different--and for my money, extremely important--things. Insert sentence, appropriately, about the vast range of arts available in New York here. It certainly is true. This is of course part of the devastating cull of places and jobs and institutions that one can only hope is the ashes from which some kind of Phoenix rill be forced to rise. The words that keep going through my head as my heart gets broken over and over again: "Necessity is the mother of invention." (And as I am reading Dennis Dutton's pretty fantastic book The Art Instinct, I grow more convinced that what these places did service was not a want, a luxury, but a need.) But in the meantime, patience is, for me, an overtaxed virtue.

On a personal note, last April I was privelaged to be part of a small but mighty show called Opera After Hours at the Zipper Factory. We were the victims of New York Circumstance viz. the press in that our opening night coincided with the opening of Glass' Satyagraha at the Metropolitan Opera, which meant that literally every critic was busy that night. But I and Jennifer Griffith were blessed with a brilliant cast (that included Amy Von Roekel, Michael Zegarski, Constance Hauman and Jessica Miller-Rauch) an extraordinary pianist (Charity Wicks) and the absolute luxury of working with superstar director Chrisopher Alden. He spun our seemingly incompatible pieces--excerpts from an opera of mine based on Bluebeard as told from the heroine's point of view; three songs of mine, settings of poems by Philip Larkin, Djuna Barnes and Kate Gale; and two pieces of Jennifer's, The Dresser and Dream President--into a thoughtful hour of music and theatre that surpassed everyone's expectations as to how it would go off. Part of what made it so special, aside from the amazing personnel, was the space, Zipper's delightfully ramshackle theatre and elegant bar-restaurant (with excellent food). To top it off, the staff was wonderful and responsive, and we felt excellent working there. Sadly, I had plans to do much more there, and alas it is now not an option.

So farewell Zipper, Cutting Room, and Amato. You leave us bereft, and your loss will be felt. New York is simply less interesting without you.

Some Sad Passings

2009-01-12T16:48:00.001-08:00

In finally getting around to scouring some of the music news (I've been composing a lot, too much to spend a lot of time reading the news excessively), I found out two sad passings. The first, of course, the passing of Betty Freeman, whose extraordinary life is documented in a beautiful conversation with Frank Oteri here, mourned in the Times here , and appropriately lamented by Alex Ross here.

But today, also, apparently Amato Opera announced it will close its doors after six decades. This wonderfully quirky little company in the shadow of what was once CBGB (another fallen place now a John Varvatos outlet, sadly) has been a mainstay of the brighter side of New York Concert Life for its entire life. I am sure the sad paeans are to come from the opera community, but a quick summary of the facts can be found here.

As I've said before, our world is much much lighter now.

The First Day of the Rest of the Year

2009-01-12T16:14:00.000-08:00

Hello Felsenreaders!

So it has indeed been a while, but I've been storing it up, ending the year, suffering the letdown and the hangover and all the attendant things that come with a season where the year ends, I officially age another year, and snow begins to fall, the cold settling in. Many concerts to see, this week including City Opera's lone production, Antony and Cleopatra, about which I am very excited, almost breathless (despite the poor quality of my seats).

Other than that, there's much coming up, and now that I am back and blogging and on a tear (of sorts) I will be filling whomever is reading, if anyone is in fact reading, in.

Stay tuned.

Shoe Fly, Bye Bye

2008-12-14T13:59:00.000-08:00

I Am City Opera, I Say "Hip"

2008-12-11T10:13:00.000-08:00

A recent honor: I was interviewed along with a few hundred of my nearest and dearest by the New York City Opera grassroots campaign, titled "I Am City Opera." I am proud that my half hour or so speaking into the camera is distilled to one crucial word in this video. Watch, give.

300th Post

2008-11-25T00:42:00.000-08:00

I am proud to say that this is the 300th post on Felsenmusick. So thanks for reading, and as a reward,something truly remarkable (sent from my friend Jeff Buddle via Andrew Sullivan).

I think old Mozart would be proud.

As The World Unravels

2008-11-19T09:34:00.001-08:00

Spoke in very hushed tones is the impact of the Greatest Financial Crisis to Hit Our Country Since the Great Depression on the as-always dependent-on-the-kindness-of-strangers arts. And yes, daily sad news of our economic downward spiral--this bank closing, this corporation laying off hundreds of people, this Dow Jones somersault or crash--has become the same white noise as casualties in Iraq (never reported). But how will this affect us?

Here's a sad tidbit to give a general indication, from the Argosy Foundation, which is not giving any money out, not any more.

I suspect there will be a lot more to say on this one. Needless to say, in a few years, when those kind souls who usually donate don't feel up to it, who knows where we will all be...

Not Something I Do a Lot, But...

2008-11-18T16:24:00.000-08:00

When I started this blog, I swore off a few things save for only the most excruciating moments: left-wing politics (there are many many many others who do this far better than I), movies, and books, even though these things consume a fair amount of my time. But just having finished all-but one part of Roberto Bolano's newest (and sadly last; he died in 2003) book 2006 I am now not only about to break a rule by discussing, but I am also going to praise heavily a book I've not yet finished.

It looks daunting, weighing in at just under 900 pages, but whoa man does it fly! Borges meets Cormac McCarthy with double acts worthy of Pessoa or Charlie Kaufman. Lit crit, brutal murder, politics, film, all of it mixed into a gorgeous south-of-the-border bouillabaisse and roasted on high heat for just under a thousand pages.

More when I finish it, but for fellow New Yorkers who fear the simply wrist-crushing weight of the hardback, why not instead purchase the conveniently partitioned paperback boxed set?

And FYI, what got me to rush out was Jonathan Lethem's carefully considered and brilliantly written review in the Times.

Bernstein at Harvard

2008-11-15T12:58:00.000-08:00

I am very impressed that the American Scholar published what might be Leonard Bernstein's last speech. More later on its content, but read it here.