Interchanging Idioms

On October 30 in North America Decca will release the debut album of American cellist Alisa Weilerstein. The album features the Edward Elgar and Elliott Carter Cello Concertos, and Max Bruch’s Kol Nidrei performed with conductor Daniel Barenboim and the Berlin Staatskapelle. Ms. Weilerstein signed an exclusive recording contract with Decca in October 2010 and is the first cellist to sign with the record label in over thirty years. Ms. Weilerstein said, “It has been a thrill to work with Decca Classics. Performing and recording the Elgar Concerto with Maestro Barenboim has immeasurably deepened my relationship with the work, and it has been an honor to record Elliott Carter's Concerto. The Staatskapelle Berlin has been an outstanding musical partner, and I can't say enough about my producers Andrew Keener and Friedemann Engelbrecht. I am so excited to finally share with the world what has been, for me, an unforgettable experience in every way.” Ms. Weilerstein gave a speci...

by Chris McGovern Natalie Zhu, the longtime recital partner of Hilary Hahn is coming back to play with her for a few shows in South America in September this season--That unto itself is a blessing, but even better is that I got to do this interview with her! While she's been away from Hilary, Natalie has keeping busy with her family, continuing to play piano (She has recorded a solo piano CD titled Images which can be purchased online--I highly recommend it!), and becoming involved with The Kingston Chamber Music Festival , of which she is the Artistic Director.

It has already been a red-letter season for cellist Matt Haimovitz, who recently made the news with a world premiere (Philip Glass’s Cello Concerto No. 2 “ Naqoyqatsi ”), a nationwide recital tour (with pianist Christopher O’Riley), a hit recording (his double album with O’Riley, Shuffle.Play.Listen ), and more. Now May and June see the cellist offering a characteristically diverse and challenging lineup. He performs Saint-Saëns’s Cello Concerto No. 1 in Illinois (May 4–6); gives a “Beyond Bach” solo recital at Boston’s Gardner Museum (May 17); tours with his all-cello ensemble, Uccello, playing concerts in Toronto (June 6), Buffalo (June 7), Ithaca (June 8–9), and at New York’s Bargemusic (June 10); and makes a star turn as soloist with the Trinity Choir in Du Yun’s San, Laura Elise Schwendinger’s Six Choral Settings and Luna Pearl Woolf’s concerto for cello and a cappella choir, Après moi, le deluge , at Carnegie’s Zankel Hall (May 31). In an interview below, composer Luna Pearl Wo...

Composers are always up against what's possible vs what's playable. In an audition there is some quest to know/find out the limits of the players involved. It seems I wrote a fiendishly difficult piece for the strings audition. The section in question shifts rapidly between arco and pizz . The tempo is a quarter note = 100 or 100 quarter notes a minute. Composers are musicians and like all musicians, sometimes make mistakes. Is this section of the audition one of those mistakes? I thought a lot about this section before I wrote it. The movement of the bow before the pizz is up, so the hand is closest to the strings in preparation for the pizz , and then a down bow following the pizz . My goal was to write something that challenged the players, really showed what they could do. I didn't go to the level of "new complexity" in style, but there is that sense of reaching beyond a player's limits - seeing what choices they make. Looking at other pieces of mu...

Ms. Weilerstein to perform Barber’s Cello Concerto with the New York Philharmonic & David Zinman in New York City & New Jersey March 8, 9, 10 &13 Ms. Weilerstein to perform Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations & Respighi’s Adagio con Variazioni with the Los Angeles Philharmonic & Neeme Järvi, and in recital as part of the inaugural Piatigorsky International Cello Festival March 18 Performance schedule also includes a recital with composer and pianist Lera Auerbach in San Francisco on March 14 Cellist Alisa Weilerstein will perform Samuel Barber’s challenging Cello Concerto in four concerts with the New York Philharmonic and conductor David Zinman in March, including three concerts at Avery Fisher Hall (March 8, 10 & 13) and one at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (March 9). Later in the month she will take part in the first Piatigorsky International Cello Festival performing Tchaikovsky’s Rococo Variations and Respighi’s Adagio con Variazioni with the Los A...

“One of the finest among the astonishing gallery of young virtuoso cellists” (Gramophone) On January 31, 2012, Hänssler Classic releases the latest album from the charismatic young virtuoso, Johannes Moser. Following his extraordinary recording of concertos by Martinů, Hindemith and Honegger released in May of 2011, Moser returns with a stunning new release featuring two distinguished cello concertos of the mid-20th century: Dimitri Shostakovich's Cello Concerto No. 1 from 1959 and Benjamin Britten’s Cello Symphony premiered in 1964. Both works were originally composed for the great Mstislav Rostropovich who was the teacher of Moser’s own teacher David Geringas. “The Shostakovich is very precious to me,” Moser says, “so in a way, I feel like I am continuing the family line. The Shostakovich Concerto has been my most important musical companion since my teenage years. I played it at most of the defining, often competitive moments in my early career.” Those moments included the ...

Internationally acclaimed cello virtuoso Maya Beiser and Scottish percussionist extraordinaire Dame Evelyn Glennie return to UCLA Live in a rare combined appearance that will feature inspiring sets from each artist and a joint performance of a short as-yet-untitled new work from Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang. As two of the most eclectic and innovative musicians on the scene today Glennie and Beiser constantly redefine the goals and expectations of their instruments, creating performances of such vitality that they almost constitute a new genre altogether. For more details ...

Although he is best known for his vast work of violin concertos, Antonio Vivaldi also wrote at least twenty-seven concertos for cello. These date from the time when he was working as composer of instrumental music for the orchestra of the girls' orphanage Ospedale della Pietà in Venice. Argentinean cellist Sol Gabetta already recorded five of Vivaldi's cello concertos in 2007. Her latest CD, Il Progetto Vivaldi 2 , features three more, played on a valuable instrument built in Naples in 1781 by Ferdinando Gagliano. She is accompanied by the Cappella Gabetta, which she founded together with her brother, violinist and conductor Andres Gabetta. The Baroque ensemble consists of hand-picked Early Music specialists she is friends with, taken from groups like the Basel Chamber Orchestra, the Orchestre Baroque de Limoges and Il Giardino Armonico. In addition to a sonata from the pen of "the red-haired priest", as Vivaldi was known, the new release also contains two concertos ...

Cellist Alisa Weilerstein was today named a 2011 MacArthur Foundation Fellow. The prestigious award carries a prize of $500,000 of “no strings attached” support over the next five years and has been dubbed the “Genius Award”. In a letter advising her of the honor, the MacArthur Foundation outlined that the fellowships are given in recognition of the recipient’s “originality, creativity, self-direction, and capacity to contribute importantly to society through your work.” New York-based Ms. Weilerstein, 29, was performing in Jerusalem when she received the news about being made a MacArthur Fellow: “This is an incredible and unexpected honor and completely overwhelming. My first response was an expression of total shock and amazement and I still cannot believe it.” Ms. Weilerstein has attracted widespread attention worldwide for playing that combines a natural virtuosic command and technical precision with impassioned musicianship. She has appeared with all of the major orchest...

Discovered Via YouTube For Their Fresh And Unique Covers of Hit Rock And Pop Songs Recreated On Their Cellos Living in a small town in Croatia, 24-year-old music students, Luka Sulic and Stjepan Hauser, are living a dream come true – and quickly! After posting a self-made music video of them performing Michael Jackson's “Smooth Criminal” on their cellos, the longtime friends received more attention than they ever expected. Within days, the video became a viral sensation and received millions of views. It got the attention of Sony Masterworks who signed them to a record deal. Concurrently, they received a phone call from legend Elton John who invited them to join him on his European tour this Summer and Fall. They recently made their U.S. TV debut on The Ellen DeGeneres Show where they performed “Smooth Criminal.” (see my post here for the video) “I feel so blessed that all of this is happening – a record deal with Sony Masterworks and a tour with Elton John – who would ha...

“One of the finest among the astonishing gallery of young virtuoso cellists.” Gramophone On May 13th, Hänssler Classic released an album of cello concertos performed by the enormously gifted young German-Canadian cellist Johannes Moser, who continues to thrill audiences around the world with stunning virtuosity and creative programming. The album includes rarely heard works for cello and orchestra by 20th century composers Bohuslav Martinů, Paul Hindemith and Arthur Honegger. Conductor Christoph Poppen and the Deutsche Radio-Philharmonie perfectly capture the essence of these colorful, demanding scores – from Martinů’s jazzy syncopations to Hindemith’s intricate counterpoint, to Honegger’s one movement work that combines both. All three composers had the misfortune of creating their highly individual, yet tonal scores, while Schoenberg, Stravinsky and Bartók were taking music in radical new directions. Of the programming on this disc, Moser was “quite especially fascinated by thes...

In March, cellist Maya Beiser had the privilege of appearing at the prestigious TED conference in Long Beach, California, which brings leading artists and thinkers together to exchange "ideas worth spreading." Other presenters included Bill Gates, Bobby McFerrin, Julie Taymor, Morgan Spurlock, Gen. Stanley McChrystal, and Roger Ebert. Maya's presentation consisted of two pieces for multi-tracked cello and video: Steve Reich's Cello Counterpoint with video by Bill Morrison and David Lang's World to Come with video by Irit Batsry, with remarks by Maya in between the works. Her performance was captured in a stunning three-camera video produced by TED, which was streamed live to conference attendees around the world. It's by far the handsomest and most sophisticated video document of Maya in concert to date. I hope you'll take a few moments to watch, and post it to your site or feed. FYI, the above image and others from her performance are available on requ...

The Cellist’s first recording for Decca will include the Elgar Cello Concerto with Daniel Barenboim conducting Decca Classics has signed an exclusive recording contract with cellist Alisa Weilerstein, whose natural virtuosic command, technical precision and impassioned musicianship led New York magazine to describe her as “arguably Yo-Yo Ma’s heiress apparent”. Paul Moseley, Managing Director of Decca Classics, says: “We are delighted to welcome Alisa as our first cellist signing in over 30 years. She shows astonishing maturity, virtuosity and passionate commitment in a wide range of repertoire, coupled with a distinctive musical voice which marks out only the greatest players. We look forward to many exciting projects, both in concerto and recital, with this exceptional young artist.” Alisa Weilerstein (29) says: “I am honored and excited to be joining Decca Classics. As an artist, it is always your goal to share your music with as many people as possible and joining this presti...

The season opened auspiciously for Johannes Moser , “one of the finest among the astonishing gallery of young virtuoso cellists” ( Gramophone ), when his Hänssler CLASSIC album of sonatas by Britten, Bridge and Bax was named “Recording of the Month” by MusicWeb International , which advised, simply: “Don’t miss this.” Now the German-Canadian cellist turns to the instrument’s orchestral repertoire, undertaking two of the finest examples with North American orchestras. First he performs Dvorák’s B-minor Concerto for his debut with the Pittsburgh Symphony (Nov 26 & 28), as well as with Ottawa’s National Arts Centre Orchestra (Nov 18 & 19) and LA’s American Youth Symphony (Nov 21), before tackling Schumann’s Cello Concerto with the Vancouver Symphony (Dec 4). Dvorák was initially reluctant to even attempt his Cello Concerto in B minor (1894-95), believing that “as a solo instrument” the cello was too quiet in its middle register to be “much good.” However, his solution – savin...

Hailed by Gramophone magazine as “one of the finest among the astonishing gallery of young virtuoso cellists,” Johannes Moser been recognized as “young, gifted, and intense…a major talent” ( St. Louis Dispatch ). This week sees the release of the Tchaikovsky Competition-winner’s sixth album on the Hänssler Classics label. A recital disc with Moser’s regular duo partner Paul Rivinius, the new issue features cello sonatas by three great British composers of the 20th-century, Frank Bridge, Benjamin Britten, and Arnold Bax; these three works aren’t collected together on any other recording. According to NDR Kultur (North German Broadcasting), “These British cello sonatas reveal Moser to be a versatile and very sensitive musician, who not only applies his gifts to the mainstream cello repertoire, but also introduces his listeners to lesser-known works. These are exemplary performances that will please both the heart and mind.” Two of Moser’s previous recordings with Rivinius – Brahms...

This month cellist Joshua Roman is getting a jump on the Fourth of July, with both the world premiere in Seattle and the New York City premiere of a piece composed for him by fellow Cleveland Institute of Music graduate Dan Visconti. The five-movement composition, entitled "Americana," is based on lines of texts from patriotic folk songs, combining elements from American hymns, sea shanties, civil rights marches, and even Led Zeppelin and Jimi Hendrix. "It's refreshing to see somebody who is able to present such a new, yet familiar side of what classical music can be," said Roman. "Visconti captures folk themes in a very traditional manner, without it being too hokey. It's a great celebration!"

Principal Conductor Vladimir Jurowski offers a rare opportunity to hear Myaskovsky's Symphony 6, a moving choral work of Mahlerian proportions, which alludes to the distressing circumstances surrounding the death of his aunt. Myaskovksy was great friends with Prokofiev throughout his life, and it is the latter composer's Symphony-Concerto, a large scale work for cello and orchestra, that opens the evening concert. Wednesday 28 April 2010 | Royal Festival Hall | 7.30pm Prokofiev Symphony-Concerto Myaskovsky Symphony 6 Vladimir Jurowski conductor Danjulo Ishizaka cello London Philharmonic Choir

Cellist Alisa Weilerstein’s Debut With The Berliner Philharmoniker And Daniel Barenboim Tuesday, April 27 Webcast Live Through The Digital Concert Hall Cellist Alisa Weilerstein’s debut with the Berliner Philharmoniker and conductor Daniel Barenboim on Tuesday, April 27 will be webcast live through the Orchestra’s Digital Concert Hall enabling audiences worldwide to watch her debut performance. Ms. Weilerstein will perform Elgar’s Cello Concerto in E minor at the Berlin Philharmonie. The sold-out concert will also include the Prelude to Act 3 of Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg and Brahms’s Symphony No. 1 in C minor. Tickets to watch the concert live online cost 9.90 EUR (approximately $14) and are available from www.berliner-philharmoniker.de/dch . The concert begins at 8 p.m. in Berlin , which will be 2 p.m. EDT/1 p.m. CDT/11 a.m PDT. A few days after the concert, it will also become available in the video archive of the Digital Concert Hall. On Saturday, May 1s...

Principal Guest Conductor Douglas Boyd was on the podium tonight with the Colorado Symphony. His command of the rich romantic language from Sibelius to Dvořák treated audiences to extreme worlds of the quixotic heart – that of the depths of darkness and the triumphant hero. The concert opened with selections from Pelléas et Mélisande by Jean Sibelius. In his delightfully soft Scottish burr, Boyd offered a brief telling of the dark tale of these tragic lovers from the original play by Maurice Maeterlinck, for which the music was composed. This was the premier performance for the Colorado Symphony Orchestra of this very dark music. Using a much smaller orchestra than Sibelius uses in his symphonies, the music still has plenty of depth. It opens with bold gestures to bring us to the gates of Golaud’s castle. Boyd played the role of sorcerer, conjuring various elements from the orchestra creating an array of menacing musical moods until the castle gates open with a triumphant tim...

Matt Haimovitz brings his FIGMENT program for solo cello to the west coast with performances in Seattle, Portland and Eugene (Jan 20-22), based on his newest CD, which has been called “spellbinding” ( Time Out Chicago), “a sound voyage that constantly surprises with its sonic landscapes and its playfulness ... monstrously inventive” ( Valley Advocate ) and was one of the Boston Herald’s Top Ten CDs of the 2009. The West Coast Figment dates will also integrate the groundbreaking Seven Ricercare for Violoncello Solo by Domenico Gabrielli (1651-1690). These precursors to the Bach Cello Suites will be interwoven with the modern works by Elliott Carter, Ana Sokolovic, Luna Pearl Woolf, Gilles Tremblay and Steven Stucky. Haimovitz returns to New York to celebrate the 150th birthday of popular composer Victor Herbert with the Little Orchestra Society on February 1 at Alice Tully Hall. He performs Herbert’s Cello Concerto No.2. The next day, Matt Haimovitz arrives in Cleveland where he is ...