Take a chance on Arrival!
By Matthew Heil
Marketing & Public Relations Manager
Marketing & Public Relations Manager
Hello symphony-goers!
This posting is a little different than most, with our orchestra members all on a pre-scheduled (and much deserved) vacation week. With our musicians elsewhere, the Symphony needed to find another group to perform for our patrons. Through a little sleuthing and a few good tips, we came upon Arrival, the British answer to all things ABBA.
Apparently there are still quite a few of you ABBA fans out there, as we're doing a brisk business on the internet and over the phones! For those of you unfamiliar (which I was until recently) : you'll be treated to a fully-costumed performance, as well as swinging renditions of all the tunes you loved in your disco days, including Waterloo, Super Trooper and Mamma Mia. It's what all the cool cats are doing!
For those of you who aren't as easily enticed by platforms or groovy tunes, check out the equally groovy review of this past weekend's concerts by Arizona Republic reviewer Richard Nilsen. He praised Zukerman's conducting and playing. For those of you who missed it, keep an eye out for our "Out to the Ballgame" concert next week on April 12...a more pop-sy return to our classical performing! I hope to see you there!
6 Comments:
Sonny,
Did you read in the LA Times that Salonen is stepping down?
A meme has been going around that a number of music bloggers have been sharing. Here are the questions:
1. Name an opera you love for the libretto, even though you don't particularly like the music.
2. Name a piece you wish Glenn Gould had played.
3. If you had to choose: Charles Ives or Carl Ruggles?
4. Name a piece you're glad Glenn Gould never played.
5. What's your favorite unlikely solo passage in the repertoire?
6. What's a Euro-trash high-concept opera production you'd love to see? (No Mortier-haters get to duck this one, either?be creative.)
7. Name an instance of non-standard concert dress you wish you hadn't seen.
8. What aging rock-and-roll star do you wish had tried composing large-scale chorus and orchestra works instead of Paul McCartney?
9. If you had to choose: Carl Nielsen or Jean Sibelius?
10. If it was scientifically proven that Beethoven's 9th Symphony caused irreversible brain damage, would you still listen to it?
According to Mark Swed, LA Times Staff Writer:
After helping make the Los Angeles Philharmonic one of the world's most adventurous and versatile orchestras, Esa-Pekka Salonen has decided to step down as music director at the end of the 2008-09 season. His successor, the Philharmonic will announce Monday, will be Gustavo Dudamel, a charismatic 26-year-old conductor from Venezuela. Salonen, who will still live in Los Angeles, intends to concentrate on composing, although he plans to continue
to conduct the Philharmonic and other orchestras.
Sonny is anxious, yet excited about this news from our neighbor. First it was the announcement that Salonen would take on the Principal Conductor position with London's Philharmonia Orchestra. Now this shocking news! I have been making trips to LA for years and have enjoyed some of my greatest musical experiences. Salonen's Rite of Spring and Mahler Second Symphony stand out. But, I have also been enthralled by his compositions. He has taken extensive sabbatical for his composing activities in the past.
"I'm very happy to be a California artist; it suits me very well," he said. And he contended that he would continue to find projects locally, such as his well-attended Stravinsky and Ligeti festivals with the Philharmonic. "I know that as long as I'm able to function as a musician in any capacity, I'll be working with the L.A. Philharmonic in some capacity."
Our Maestro Christie will finally be off the hook as the youngest music director of a major orchestra. Age 26: What's this world coming to?
This comes from Henry Fogel's Blog:
In a recent column, Norman Lebrecht wrote: "The average age in U.S. podia, Cleveland apart, is pushing 70. The American orchestra is in dire need of a wake-up call."
While I do not wish to comment on Mr. Lebrecht's opinions, I do think it is appropriate to expect factual accuracy in print. Of the 19 largest U.S. orchestras that have music directors currently under contract, the average age of those music directors, Cleveland apart, is 55.6. There is one age 70 or older, and six age 60 or older. Specifically, here is an alphabetical list of those 19, which includes Cleveland (though they are omitted from the averaging):
Atlanta, Robert Spano , 45
Baltimore, Marin Alsop, 50
Boston, James Levine, 63
Cincinnati, Paavo Järvi, 43
Cleveland, Franz Welser-Möst, 46
Houston, Hans Graf, 56
Indianapolis, Mario Venzago, 58
Los Angeles, Esa-Pekka Salonen, 48
Milwaukee, Andreas Delfs, 48
Minnesota, Osmo Vänska, 53
National, Leonard Slatkin, 62
New Jersey, Neeme Järvi, 69
New York, Lorin Maazel, 76
Philadelphia, Christoph Eschenbach, 66
Oregon, Carlos Kalmar, 48
Saint Louis, David Robertson, 48
San Francisco, Michael Tilson Thomas, 61
Seattle, Gerard Schwarz, 59
Utah, Keith Lockhart, 47
I saw the Arrival show and I thought it was incredible. These guys really pulled out all the stops. I saw Abba when they visited Phoenix back in the 70s and since then I have been to a lot of tribute shows but the Arrival show was the closest I have seen to the real thing.
I for one am hoping that this show is on again next year.
But Lance, what does ABBA or ARRIVAL have anything to do with promoting classical music or at least orchestral music? NOTHING! It's not like The Phoenix Symphony owns Symphony Hall and needs to fill the house everyday to raise money for the construction or maintenance fund.
If the administration wants to sell out the hall, I would vote for heavy metalist "Marilyn Manson." Okay, to be more in line with my own criteria, how about the "Moody Blues" with the Phoenix Symphony as their back-up band?
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