What’s in a name? That which we call a rose / by any other name would smell as sweet.
Oh, Juliet, you love-struck young lady. Hear Tchaikovsky’s musical version of Juliet’s lament (and Romeo’s clash with that ribald rogue, Tybalt) at Benaroya Hall this weekend. If you thought Shakespeare’s tale of love and woe was romantic, wait’ll you hear Tchaikovsky. Listen to the sniff-inducing snippet below (that’s P.I. Tchaikovsky, by the way):
And if R & J isn’t enough to make you melt, the Symphony’s adding Rachmaninov’s glorious Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini to the mix, seen below with scenes from Somewhere in Time, starring Jane Seymour and the late Christopher Reeve (you loved that movie, too? What a coincidence!):
You’ve heard ‘em in the concert hall — now hear Seattle Symphony in your home! The Symphony expanded its canon of more than 100 recordings with two new, soon-to-be-classic discs: The Shoe Bird, with narration by Jim Dale (yes, that Jim Dale, of Harry Potter–audiobook fame), and Holiday Classics, Seattle Symphonys first-ever CD of festive tunes and carols.
SHOES ARE FOR THE BIRDS! The Shoe Bird, which the Symphony performed live this month in honor of the CD release, is a confection of symphonic splendor, from its winning story by American writer Eudora Welty, to music composed by Seattle Symphony’s own Composer in Residence Samuel Jones, to performances by Maestro Schwarz, the Northwest Boychoir, the girls of Vocalpoint! Seattle and, of course, the Orchestra. Kids love it. (And ps., grown-ups do, too.)
HAPPY HOLIDAYS…
It’s that time of year, folks — a time for seasonal tunes that run through malls and concert halls in loops. Treat yourself (and everyone you know and love) to a new disc this year — maybe one that doesn’t contain an umpteenth version of “Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer.” For the first time, Seattle Symphony offers a compilation of celebratory songs, from Handel’s Water Music to selections from Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker Suite, and traditional carols, performed (and, for some tracks, arranged!) by Seattle Symphony musicians. It’s a great mix of classics fit for the season. Just add hot cocoa, and you’re set.
The best part? Both discs are available in Symphonica, The Symphony Store, located in Benaroya Hall along Third Avenue.
It’s true: The holidays are just around the corner. In this season of giving — and in this unstable economic climate — we become aware of what means the most to us: friends and family, faith and goodwill.
As we conclude the first half of this spectacular 10th Anniversary season, we know that Seattle Symphony would not be in such strong standing without your generous support of the Annual Fund.
Your gift to this vital fund helps the Orchestra wherever the need is greatest. Whether it’s keeping a full concert schedule at Benaroya Hall, bringing top-notch guest artists to the stage, or introducing youngsters to orchestral performances and instruments, your gift ensures that the oldest and largest cultural institution in the Pacific Northwest remains a staple in this vibrant community.
During this holiday season, we want to sincerely thank all patrons who have given to the Seattle Symphony Annual Fund. If you haven’t given yet, now is an especially good time to do so. Your gift will help performances and programs that are key to our region’s distinctive artistic identity. Every gift, regardless of size, makes a difference. What’s more, once again, you have a special planning opportunity if you are age 70 ½ or older, own an IRA, and intend to make charitable gifts in 2008 or 2009: you can make distributions directly from your IRA to one or more charities without the distributions being included in taxable income and subject to withholding.An additional benefit is that the funds transferred from your IRA to a charity count toward your mandatory withdrawal.
Make your 2008–2009 Annual Fund gift in one of four easy ways:
Herr van Beethoven took a trip with Forrest of Seattle to the American Southwest (Ludwig always struck us as a snowbird). Check him out, communing with Arizona cacti and other desert flora:
And don’t miss the Ying Quartet tonight, our second installment of the Beethoven String Quartets series.
Hear Jim Dale, the voice of the Harry Potter audiobooks and Seattle Symphony’s recent release, The Shoe Bird, with Bob Rivers on KZOK. Jim performs The Shoe Bird live with Seattle Symphony, the Northwest Boychoir and the Girls of Vocalpoint! Seattle tomorrow, November 1, at 10 & 11:30am.
And, if Jim Dale doesn’t convince you that The Shoe Bird is the coolest, check out what kid-listeners Annabel, 8, and Collin, 6, have to say (click the images to enlarge):
How can you miss this?Get tickets. Do it for the kids. And for the birds.
BOO! It’s a Halloween treat from Ludwig to you, courtesy of Sam from Seattle.
And, don’t miss Seattle Symphony’s Halloween treat — a FREE All Hallow’s Eve–themed concert for the whole Seattle community tomorrow, October 30, at 7pm at Garfield High School’s new Quincy Jones Performance Center (named for the former Garfield student who made it big in the jazz world). The concert features spooky selections (Symphonie fantastique, anyone?), plus the stellar students of the Garfield High School Orchestra playing side-by-side with the Symphony.
For a lighthearted Friday: a clip from an old-school Looney Tunes ad, which ran on the Nickelodeon network circa the mid-1980s. Hear anything familiar?
Meet Samuel Jones, Seattle Symphony’s own Composer in Residence, and the mastermind behind The Shoe Bird, a musical fable in the tradition of family favorite Peter and the Wolf.
Based on the story by Eudora Welty, one of America’s greatest short story writers, The Shoe Bird is a classic in the making — and you can meet the man behind the music on Sunday, October 19, at noon in Soundbridge Seattle Symphony Music Discovery Center, in Benaroya Hall at the corner of Second Ave. and Union St. Grab your copy of The Shoe Bird audiobook — narrated by Jim Dale, award-winning narrator of the Harry Potter audiobook series — today for a post-talk CD signing. Available at Symphonica, The Symphony Store, located in Benaroya Hall on Third Ave.
Then, hear The Shoe BirdLIVE! on November 1 at 10 and 11:30am at Benaroya Hall, performed by Seattle Symphony, Northwest Boychoir, the Girls of Vocalpoint! Seattle and Jim Dale, under the baton of Associate Conductor Carolyn Kuan.
Meet the Composer event FREE with Soundbridge membership / Non-members: $5 children 5 to 18; $7 adults.
Seattle Symphony Principal Second Violinist Elisa Barston, who will solo this weekend for the opening concert of our Basically Baroque series — with a Sunday matinee, too! — shares her thoughts on fronting the orchestra, choosing concertos and bowing Baroque.
I am so excited to be performing as soloist with the Seattle Symphony this week at Benaroya Hall! It is always a thrill for me to “step out” from within the Orchestra and into the spotlight; I love the violin concerto repetoire and am grateful for every opportunity I have to showcase it. I am especially excited about this particular week, as I will be performing two concertos new to my repetoire. It is always a joy for me to expand my horizons by learning new pieces, and these Vivaldi concertos have inspired many hours of hard work, creative energy and a tremendous amount of enjoyment and fun.
Last year, Maestro Schwarz gave me the rare and thrilling opportunity to select any two Vivaldi concertos I would like to play for this set of concerts. As Vivaldi wrote more than 240 violin concertos, many of which I had never heard before, I set to work immediately, ordering as many CDs of Vivaldi’s violin concertos as I could get my hands on.
I did know one thing for certain: I wanted to choose some lesser-known, more unusual works, as there are a handful of extremely famous Vivaldi violin concertos out there (the Four Seasons being the most renowned of the bunch), and I really wanted to “discover,” explore and expose some rare gems. Within the first week of searching, I stumbled upon a fabulous CD of five previously unrecorded Vivaldi concertos, played by the magnificent violinist Giuliano Carmignola with the Venice Baroque Orchestra. I immediately fell in love with all five of these works (and with the recording itself!); the hardest part was narrowing the choice down to two! These pieces were everything I was looking for: quirky, dramatic and highly virtuosic in nature.
One of my favorite aspects of the Baroque period is that there is so much opportunity for creativity on the part of the performer, particularly in the beautiful yet relatively bare lines of the slow movements. It was expected that the performer would embellish the music occasionally with trills, grace notes and little cadenzas to give an improvisatory feel to the music.
Creating ornaments for these two Vivaldi concertos was so much fun for me. I spent many happy hours coming up with little decorations to add, trying to find just the right ones to compliment Vivaldi’s exquisite melodies and harmonies while being careful not to overdo it and create “clutter” within the music. I love the idea that I can be — spontaneous with these ornaments — different ornaments for different performances, depending on my mood or the way a particular phrase takes shape that particular night. It keeps me on my toes and keeps the music feeling fresh and alive each time I play it.
I am so looking forward to sharing these wonderful works with you this weekend, and I sincerely hope you will have as much fun listening to them as I have had preparing them!
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