Tag Archives: music

Symphony Chorus again

Posted on by

I’m back in the Symphony Chorus! My reaudition was a bit harrowing, but I guess it worked out ok. I’m currently slated to sing:

  • A Mozart Journey (Michael Tilson Thomas [conductor], Jeremy Denk [piano])

    Steve Reich : Variations for Orchestra (Thursday, Saturday only)
    W.A. Mozart : A Mozart Journey (all-Mozart program)

  • John Adams’ A Flowering Tree [world premiere] (John Adams [conductor],
    Russell Thomas [tenor], Eric Owens [bass])

    John Adams : A Flowering Tree (SFS co-commission, US premiere)

    • Thursday, Mar. 1 at 8pm
    • Friday, Mar. 2 at 8pm
    • Saturday, Mar. 3 at 8pm

  • MTT and Richard Stoltzman (Michael Tilson Thomas [conductor],
    Richard Stolzman [clarinet])

    Stravinsky : Symphonies of Wind Instruments
    Stravinsky : Apollon musagète
    Takemitsu : Fantasma Cantos
    Stravinsky : Symphony of Psalms

    • Wednesday, April 11 at 8pm
    • Friday, April 13 at 8pm
    • Saturday, April 14 at 8pm

tracks : raising a ruckus with bears!

Posted on by

This is for an old friend with whom I’ve fallen out of touch. Hopefully they’ll like it.

  1. It’s Oh So Quiet — Björk
  2. Karmacoma — Massive Attack
  3. Cafe “La Humidad” — Roberto Goyeneche
  4. The Upward March — The Bell Orchestre
  5. Sappho — Dave Douglas
  6. Hey-Hee-Hi-Ho — Medeski, Martin, and Wood
  7. Sister Kate — The Ditty Bops
  8. Mission to Moscow — The Hot Club of Cowtown
  9. Back In The USSR — The Beatles
  10. She Turns Me On — Jim’s Big Ego
  11. I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight — Bob Dylan
  12. The Two Women — Paul Kotheimer
  13. “Uh-Oh, Chango!”/White History Month — Don Byron
  14. Too Late — Talib Kweli and Hi-Tek feat. RES
  15. Raga Tilak Kamod – Shruti Sadolikar Katkar
  16. The Wind That Shakes The Barley — Dead Can Dance
  17. Hora Ca la Ursari — Taraf de Haïdouks
  18. Stay Loose (Lyrics Born remix) — Jimmy Smith
  19. Rebels of the Sacred Heart — Flogging Molly

voice lessons

Posted on by

I had my first voice lesson in a long time today. I have a ton of stuff to work on, but the good news is that I can sing A-flats with few problems. It’s just that my larynx and diaphragm and everything else mostly refuse to cooperate. Hopefully I’ll have enough time to practice and improve in the next week around all of the Verdi Requiem rehearsals and concerts.

Mahler 8 : favorite moments

Posted on by

We just finished 4 performances of Mahler’s 8th Symphony, the “Symphony of a Thousand.” It’s the end of the subscriber season, and what a way to go out. Although the review was not as favorable as I had hoped, but you can’t please everyone. I think that this is one of those pieces that most audience members experience, especially those who haven’t looked at the score before heading to the concert hall. Here are some of my favorite moments from the piece:

  • The opening, naturally.
  • The violin (and later also viola) solos on “infirma nostri corporis” and “uns bleibt ein Erdenrest.” They’re so independent of everything else and just plain bizarre that I instantly fell in love with them.
  • The tenor line on “ductore dic te praevio,” which is completely buried in the texture. No matter how hard we sing, nobody will really hear us. It’s depressing and fun at the same time, like tilting at windmills.
  • The choral opening of the second movement on “Waldung, sie schwankt heran.” Again, one of those creepy, almost musically alienating moments.
  • The women’s chorus on “Jener Rosen.” It’s just so pretty, like the Knaben Wunderhorn songs.
  • The Mulier Samaritana solo. I heart Stephanie Blythe. That plagal cadence at the beginning is so… resonant.
  • The Mater Gloriosa solo. I don’t know what the effect on the audience is, but she was right behind us and it was great.

Next up : Verdi’s Requiem. I’ll always remember this Mahler though — what a trip.

tracks [a night in the life]

Posted on by

This is a mix for my dear friend Sin. It’s a little more episodic than the other two. Again, a mix of old standbys and some newer things.

Wrath, Ire, Fury
1. Dies Irae (Sir Georg Solti and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chorus/G. Verdi)
2. Misery Is A Butterfly (Blonde Redhead)
3. How Fucking Romantic (The Magnetic Fields)
Preparation
4. Angel With An Attitude (The Ditty Bops)
5. Just One Of Those Things (Ella Fitzgerald/Cole Porter)
6. He’s Funny That Way (Billie Holiday)
Transit
7. Dodi (Don Byron)
8. Skokiaan (Louis Armstrong)
9. Ibid, Désmarches, Ibid (DJ Spooky)
10. Tancas serradas a muru (Dawn Upshaw/Osvaldo Golijov)
Clubs?
11. Sous Le Soleil De Bodega (Les Negresses Vertes)
12. Fame (David Bowie)
13. Obsolete (MC Solaar)
14. Remind Me (Röyksopp)
Nightcap
15. In The Waiting Line (Zero 7)
16. Shiki No Uta (Minmi & Nujabes)
17. One For My Baby (And One More For The Road) (Harold Arlen/Johnny Mercer)
Reflections
18. Auch Kleine Dinge (Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau/Hugo Wolf)
19. Autopsicografia (Antonio Carlos Jobim)
20. Desafinado (Ryuichi Sakamoto and Paula Morelenbaum/Jobim)

tracks [Rhode to Cincy]

Posted on by

This is for a Rhode trip to Cincinnati. I tried to branch out on this one a little bit more in terms of artists. I haven’t given it a test drive yet, but I’m sure someone will give me feedback on it.

1. Start Wearing Purple (Gogol Bordello)
2. The Purple People Eater (Sheb Wooley)
3. Inflammatory Writ (Joanna Newsom)
4. Stone Cold Dead In The Market (Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jordan)
5. Old Car Blues (Paul Kotheimer)
6. Are You Gonna Be My Girl (Jet)
7. Moon Over The Freeway (The Ditty Bops)
8. A Summer Song (Chad & Jeremy)
9. Kaze Wo Atsumete (Happy End)
10. Prelude in E Major [WTC Book I] (Glenn Gould/J.S. Bach)
11. Fugue in E Major [WTC Book I] (Glenn Gould/J.S. Back)
12. Azerbaijan Love Song (Dawn Upshaw/Luciano Berio)
13. Tank! (Yoko Kanno)
14. Qui Veut (Ol’Kainry)
15. Dancing In The Street (David Bowie and Mick Jagger)
16. Saturday Night Fish Fry (Buddy Guy)
17. She Caught The Katy (The Blues Brothers)
18. Misty Mountain Hop (Led Zeppelin)
19. I Walk The Line (Johnny Cash)
20. I’ll Follow The Sun (Don Byron/The Beatles)

tracks [traveling thither and yon]

Posted on by

One of three compilations on which I’m working, and the first to be finished. This is for Deb — a fanciful voyage thither and yon, since she can’t seem to stay in one place for more than a year. Pretty standard stuff — I always pick the same few artists over and over again.

1. Mona Liao Announcement (Michael Ouellette/Carolyn Chen)
2. Get Out Of Town (Ella Fitzgerald/Cole Porter)
3. Positively 4th Street (Bob Dylan)
4. Downtown Train (Tom Waits)
5. Come Back From San Francisco (Magnetic Fields)
6. Road To Nowhere (Talking Heads)
7. Alabama-Song (Ute Lemper/Kurt Weill)
8. Take Me Home Country Roads (John Denver)
9. Take The A Train (Duke Ellington)
10. Yellow Submarine (The Beatles)
11. A Foggy Day (Dakota Staton)
12. Le Bateau Ivre (Charlie Hunter Quintet)
13. Siberian Sleighride (Raymond Scott)
14. Thousands Are Sailing (The Pogues)
15. Fujiyama (Dave Brubeck)
16. Fly Me To The Moon (Frank Sinatra)
17. World Weary (Noël Coward)