Châteauneuf-du-Jean

I moved into my new place at the end of October. Here is a tour of the place!

Launch Party

In this The Office-inspired miniature documentary, The Omniscient Idiot throws a launch party to christen his new apartment. Though hilarity ensues, one guest's absence has a profound affect on the host.

Lemonade

Here is the latest drink video. Though the final product does not have any spirits, you can add gin, vodka, or even subtitute champagne or prosecco for the water or club soda.

Music News from The Onion

Although they misplace Salieri in the 16th century rather than the 18th century, this is pretty funny.

Catfight!

Caught some amazing footage during one of my trips home.

New Additions

I recently added four new additions to my CD library. ArkivMusic has had some things on sale lately that were too good for me to pass up.

I begin with something that was not on sale, but comes at such a reasonable price, especially given the talent involved, that temptation was too great. David Zinman busted on the scene with his cycle of Beethoven symphonies in the late 1990s, recordings that used a new edition of Beethoven's symphonies, and added some refreshing elements, such as some improvised ornamentation, transforming these masterworks from text to art. The same can be said of his collaboration with Christian Tetzlaff performing Beethoven's Violin Concerto. Not only is the interpretation first-rate, but gone is the standard Fritz Kreisler cadenzas. In their place, Tetzlaff transcribed cadenzas from a piano concerto arrangement Beethoven made of his violin concerto. Certainly a refreshing change from the grossly virtuosic cadenzas of Kreisler.

My next purchase was a special re-issue of the complete symphonies of Haydn conducted by Antal Dorati with the Philharmonica Hungarica. This re-issue is limited, and was issued for the 200th anniversary of Haydn's death. With 33 CDs comprising the set, I have not made it through all the symphonies yet, but the ones I have heard so far have been good. It may be some of the recording levels or Dorati's interpretation of the works, but some musical lines are more present than others, and this is a good thing in some cases. Interesting features that often get buried come to the surface.


For some years now, I have wanted Verdi operas performed at La Scala, the famed, legendary Mecca of Italian opera. As Fate would have it, Deutsche Grammophon recently released a 21-CD box set of eight Verdi operas and the Requiem performed at La Scala. The operas included in the set are: Rigoletto, Il Trovatore, La Traviata, Un ballo in maschera, Don Carlos, Macbeth, Simon Boccanegra, and Aida. These are not live recordings, but they are performed at the opera house, and with amazing talent. Legendary names like Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, Mirella Fiorentini, Renata Scotto, Carlo Bergonzi, Mirella Freni, Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras, and Jose van Dam appear in the set. So far I have made it through the first four operas and the first two acts of Don Carlos and have really enjoyed the recordings. Un ballo in maschera, which I saw performed in Cincinnati a couple of summers ago, does not get performed enough. The music is some of Verdi's best during his early career.

My final purchase took over two months from when I ordered it to arrive. I am a fan of Jascha Horenstein's approach to symphonic music, particularly the large-scale works. He is of course a cult hero for Mahlerites, myself included, but his interpretation of Beethoven's Ninth is one of my favorites, especially the third movement. Satisfied with his Mahler and Beethoven interpretations, I decided to buy this CD to hear his interpretation of Dvorak's Ninth Symphony and Leos Janacek's Sinfonietta. The Dvorak is among the best I have come across and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Some aspects of Mahler comes across in this interpretation, such as a few sudden shifts in tempi and some spots where the brass are more prominent than other recordings (but not detracting from the principle material). His interpretation of the Janacek however eludes me, and leaves me somewhat dissappointed. This lies squarely on the tempo of the work as a whole. As I compared the running times of Horenstein with that of Rafael Kubelik, I realised how out of the box Horenstein's approach is. The least time differential between the two conductors comes in the fourth movement, with Horenstein about 30 seconds behind Kubelik. The greatest occurs in the fifth movement with Horenstein 2 minutes behind Kubelik! In summation, Horenstien's interpretation is vastly slower than Kubelik's. Whereas Kubelik's interpretation of the familiar opening movement retains the usual fanfare tempo we come to expect, Horenstein's interpretaion or tempo selection makes the movement sound more like a slow processional. It is interesting, but I still cannot understand the decision for the slow tempos.

19th-century Music Conference post-mortem

This past July, I ventured out to Lawrence, Kansas, home of the University of Kansas (even though they say KU out there). I traveled with Kevin, and this was our second conference to attend together. But UC was also represented by Tom and Jewel, making UC the most represented institution at the conference. This trip with Kevin was much more successful than our last one, which was at Texas Tech (Lubbock, TX). For starters, we were not in a college town situated in a dry county. Furthermore, we felt safe walking the streets of Lawrence without the possibility of being assaulted or shuck and jived.

The conference offered a good selection and variety of papers. The attendees were collegial and offered good questions and suggestions at the end of presentations. By the end of the conference, we made contacts and friends, and look forward to seeing each other at future national conferences.

Turning to my presentation, "Defining the Early 19th-century Grand Symphony," I found myself in unchartered waters preparing for this conference. With much of my attention and focus on my dissertation proposal through late May, I was not able to work as dilligently as I would have liked until the proposal was finished. It passed by the way! One week from when I was scheduled to present, my research was complete, but not one word had been written yet. Trying to organize the information into a coherent and clearly understandable string of arguments proved challenging. I wrote my paper up until the night before I had to fly out. During this process, thoughts of not going passed through my mind, but I am glad I did not give in.

I received some good and helpful comments, and the discussion and interest in my paper continued further outside the recital hall as the day went on, showing it at least provoked some ongoing thought.

All in all, the experience was good, the conference great, and Lawrence was surprisingly cool for early July.

Oh, Hello There

Yes, I do have a blog! It has been a while since I have posted. My apologies.

The Dissertation Chronicle, Op. 8

After a school year's time of work, research, and writing, I finally turned in my dissertation proposal. This was last week. This afternoon I received notice that my proposal passed through the committee. Numerous trials and tribulations presented themselves to me, and my advisor and I were at odds sometimes, but it is good to know that the experience is over and has a happy ending. The proposal process was a long one, but one rich in discovery, lessons along the way, and obstacles confronted and overcome. There were times of doubt, hopelessness, and apathy; but also times of excitement, revelation, accomplishment. The research performed during the entire process has prepared me to begin writing some chapters in the very near future. The proposal process for some is the most difficult part of the entire dissertation process. It is a challenge to choose a topic, xplore what is out ther (and what isn't) pertaining to your topic, and bringing it all together in a way that is clear and makes sense to those not privy of the topic. But all the research definitely sets a path to follow, one that continues towards chapters, and ultimately completion. I will continue to chronicle my dissertation writing experience.

The Wranitzky Project Follow-Up

I just received notice that my first contribution to The Wranitzky Project has been added to the website. You can view it here.

Rising to the Ranks of Contributor

Recently I was graciously accepted to be a contributor to The Wranitzky Project. I am joined with some good company, most notably, Christopher Hogwood. Coming in the near future will be the set of three symphonies published as Opus 33, which I contributed some comments about the set. All the symphonies will be available for listening at the site, and the score to Opus 33, No. 3, my favorite of the three, will be available as a PDF download. I became associated with the site because Paul Wranitzky is one of the symphonic composers I am researching for my dissertation, and the webmaster, Daniel Bernhardsson, has been sharing all the symphonies he has scored to help with my research efforts. As the home page states, "a neglected master."

Fruit Patch in Cincinnati

Last weekend over the Memorial Day weekend, some friends from NYC stopped in Cincinnati on their way to Iowa. It was good to catch up with them and see them. And it was also good to meet the new addition to the family, Ollie. I have followed Ollie on their blog, but it was good to finally meet the little guy. I noticed that his bark sounded eerily like how the martians in Mars Attacks! talk. Check it out for yourself.


Also, Jessica requested, demanded more or less, that I make my famous margaritas. And whenever she and margaritas are involved, things get crazy.


A fun weekend was had by all, and it will be good to see them again, whether it is here or in NYC, or wherever we cross paths again.

Brahms and Tetzlaff

Last night I attended the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra concert, which had a varied program of Kagel, Etude No. 3; Brahms, Concerto for Violin and Orchestra; and Berlioz, Orchestral Music from Romeo et Juliette. The Kagel was interesting, though probably too interesting for most of the attendees. The composer was successful with presenting numerous soundscapes with the orchestra, and the percussion was particularly interesting. Overall, I enjoyed the work, though I would not be clammering to hear it again anytime soon.

The Brahms deserves some special attention. Don't get me wrong, I like the work, but it has its faults. The exposition is too long, and the dramatic modulations in the first movement come across as modulations for modulation sake, or drama for drama sake. Paavo Jarvi, who did not apeear to be drunk at this performance, was able to insert some individual interpretation in the work, but not much. The same cannot be said for the soloist, Christian Tetzlaff. As far as technique and execution are concerned, Tetzlaff gave a wonderful performance. But artistically, as far as bringing his own interpretation to the work, he fell flat. But I do not place the blame squarely on Tetzlaff, but rather Brahms. Brahms composed a flashy and highly technical work that it is difficult for the soloist to bring much originality and individuality to the performance. As I sat and listened to the performance, it sounded like any recording of the work I have heard before. It sounded as if Tetzlaff arrived the night before the first performance and he and Jarvi said to the orchestra, "Okay, let's run through it." The only place where Tetzlaff was able to assert his own artistic license was the cadenza in the first movement. Though I have this beef with the Brahms, it does not take away the masterful lyricism of the second movement. Tetzlaff did perform an encore, the Andante movement from J. S. Bach's Sonata for Solo Violin, BWV 1003. This is when Tetzlaff as an independent artist truly shined.

As for the Berlioz, this is not my favorite selection from his oeuvre. It really is not a good representation of him as a composer to a concert audience, and the orchestral selections are better understood in the original context of the Dramatic Symphony. The work was performed well by the orchestra, and Maestro Jarvi's interpretation was spot on. I beleieve this is not a suitable work to conclude a concert, since much of the inner movements and the finale is at a piano level. Despite these criticisms of the works, and of Brahms, the concert as a whole was interesting, the orchestra performed well, Jarvi was sober, and Tetzlaff was masterful.

Robert Craft's Stravinsky Ballets

Last week, Naxos released The Robert Craft Edition of the complete Stravinsky ballets. Most people probably would not peg me as an admirer of Stravinsky, and they are partially right. I have not been able to get into the whole fascination and awe of Stravinsky as a composer and theorist. But his music does have a certain appeal to me, particularly because of his orchestration. Before purchasing The Robert Craft Edition, I owned five of the ballets, Pulcinella, Danses Concertantes, and the big three, The Firebird, Petrushka, and The Rite of Spring. So far, I have listened to the big threee from The Robert Craft Edition, and find the interpretation to be very close with that of Boulez. I am anxiously awaiting to get through all of the ballets, especially Les Noces, which I have read is a 20th-century must in the repertory. Of note is the World premiere recording of the complete 1910 version of The Firebird, the same version Pierre Boulez recorded with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra on Deutsche Grammaphon. I am also looking forward to revisiting the three Greek ballets: Apollo, Agon, and Orpheus. I had the pleasure of seeing the New York City Ballet perform these ballets two Springs ago. Based on what I have heard so far, the production of the recordings is very good, the interpretation is good, and the liner notes provide good information on the works and the performers.

Pictures? Why not?

I have been blogging about music, musicology, film, television, and miscellaneous events for nearly four years now. I was disappointed not to make the top 100 music blogs this past year. Someone suggested it was because I recently moved my blog during the tallying process. I say rubbish. I existed before my move. A colleague of mine, I will call him Jason, made the list despite hardly posting, and when he does post it is not a music-related subject. So, in a vain attempt to make the list next year, I am fashioning this post after a post that probably won him his spot on the list. So, here are some pictures of azalea's I took while home in Mobile, AL. The azalea is the official flower of Mobile.

Say It Ain't So, Paavo!

Back in mid-March, Paavo Jarvi, the Artistic Director and Conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, was charged with OVI, operating a vehicle while intoxicated, or for my purposes operating-a-radio-in-a-parked-car-while-intoxicated. The full story can be found here. Apparently, Maestro Jarvi attended an event at Blackfinn Restaurant, where he consumed two glasses of wine. While his car was stopped at an intersection for some time, police approached his car and questioned him. He claimed to be listening to music and fell asleep. The officers said his speech was slurred, but the guy is Estonian, and anyone who has heard him speak knows he sounds slurred when not intoxicated. He has pled not guilty. This video was from the cruiser cam was recently released and shows him being questioned for suspicious behavior at an intersection, and then being administered a field sobriety test. I have not been able to determine what he was listening to as the officers approached.

Hip Hop Discussions at Cornell

Recently, Cornell University presented a series of lectures on Hip Hop culture in America. The audio or video lectures can be downloaded on iTunes through the Cornellcast podcast, or they can be viewed on the Cornellcast website. Some how, I don't think James Webster and Neal Zaslaw were at the lectures. Just a wild guess.

Free Weight Fantastique

I recently found a video on YouTube, go figure, of a performance that took place at one of my alma maters, the Whalen School of Music at Ithaca College. It must be a composition recital judging from the creative use of material and presentation. The work uses themes from Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique in a theatrical way that could only be concieved by someone attending Ithaca College. Featured in the video as the wieghtlifter is Mark Radice, professor of musicology at Ithaca College, and soomeone who nurtutred my interest in musicology. The reason why Radice was chosen, if not composed in mind, for this performance is because he regularly works out and supposedly was the winner of Mr. New York one year. During my time at Ithaca, Radice stood 5' 5.5" and weighed 195 lbs., virtually all muscle. Enjoy.

Weighing in on Bale

According to several of my friends, I supposedly have a man-crush on Christian Bale. I wouldn't call it a man-crush, I just think he is an amazing actor who choose very demanding roles and commits himself fully to the characters he plays. Though I would say that this statement does not necessarily apply to The Dark Knight where he was minimized, and in a post on my previous blog I stated my trepidation about him working with McG on Terminator Salvation. Other than these recent decisions, I believe he is able to complete connect a character to the viewer as view can. I am assuming eveyone has heard about his on-set rant at Director of Photography, Shane Hurlbut. Judging from Mr. Hurlbut's experience, Mr Bale may be correct in calling him out for his lack of experience on the set. Then again it may have been a long day on the set. I would post a complete version of Bale's rant on my blog, but I assume everyone has heard all of it or enough of it by now to get the idea. So, I know present some precedence to his rant, and one spoof.

First, the spoof. Here is Michael Cera adding some light-hearted humor to the situation.

Next is Billo, Bill O'Reilly, doing what he does best, rant, raving, andd flipping out over nothing.

The last example eerily parallels Bale's rant. This is Chris Berman, masterful commentator and reporter for Espn, ranting about his unprofessional staff while he is trying to do his job, present sports news. Note the comments about the unprofessionalism of people moving in the background and how distracting this is, the same complaint Bale launch against Hurlbut.

Netrebko Goes Mad

Last weekend I saw the Met simulcast of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor starring the now commonplace pairing of Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon. Netrebko sung the role of Lucia early in her career with the Kirov opera, which is probably why she did as fabulous a job as she did with the role (that and the fact that she is hot and talented). I am not much of a fan of bel canto opera, but Lucia may be one of them I can stand. There are several tings that urk me about bel canto: more diva than character, more recital than drama, and the stalling and stuttering of the text. Nevertheless, Netrebko did a fine job, and obviously held my attention. When it came to the mad scene, she was adorned in a white costume with white hair to make the splattered blood more prominent. To boot, the Met used the glass harmonica, an invention of Benjamin Franklin, there's American ingenuity for you, for the scene. Even though Donizetti was unable to use the glass harmonica in time for the premiere of the opera and had to re-score the scene for flutes, many companies honor his creative intentions. Here is a clip of the mad scene using the glass harmonica, which certainly adds a mystique to the drama.

Digital Archival Research

This is a follow up to my post concerning the Wranitzky website. In that post I mentioned how the webmaster has graciously agreed to send me his scorings of Wranitzky's symphonies, resulting in fewer libraries I will need to visit and easily obtaining the music of one of my composers. Well, he passed along a note to me reporting that the Royal Library in Denmark has made their archives of Wranitzky's published symphonies available online, and for free download in PDF format! These are the actual printed parts you would see in the library or would receive as microfilm if you purchased them. As I said about the Wranitzky website, perhaps this is the next great thing to come in musicological research.

Kansas Bound

I received notification yesterday that my abstract was accepted for a 19th-century music conference taking place 16 July-18 July at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas. This will mark the furthest West I have traveled. I was surprised and relieved to find out about my selection, but now the stress rolls in over preparing my subject matter. The submission was a bit odd in that the abstract was limited to 250 words, and the deadline for submission, for a July conference, was early January. This means a clear and concise abstract was highly desirable, yet you also had to leave some wiggle room in case things develop unexpectedly during the research phase. My topic is on the definition, or lack thereof, of the grande Symphony in the early nineteenth century. My friend and colleague, Der Frauenverkauefer, to use his alias from the previous blog, was also accepted to the conference. We presented at a conference in Texas a few years ago, and it is good to know I will be traveling and rooming with someone I already know. I will provide more details as they become available (I do not even know who the keynote speaker is yet).

Yuri Bashmet All Strung Out

At a recent concert, renowned violist Yuri Bashmet experienced an unfortunate event with his 1758 viola. I guess the tension was too much to bear. Enjoy!

JB

As some of my friends and colleagues have heard this before, I have a working theory, or at least pointing out a big coincidence, regarding the names of fictitious special operatives and spies. Consider the following:

• James Bond - the legendary double-0 operative from MI-6 created by Ian Fleming.
• Jason Bourne - the American special-ops agent who suffers a brain washing and must piece together his past in order to learn who he is and who from his own organization has wronged him.
• Jack Bauer - The American special-ops agent on "24."
  

Apparently, if you have an idea for a movie or television show about espionage or an elite member risking life and limb for their country, and want the project to be successful, the first rule is to name the character with the initials, J. B.

A Winterreise Kind of Day

She's Back!

I had to carry over at least one item from my previous blog!

The Dissertation Chronicle, Opus 7

A couple of weeks ago I turned in the first draft of my dissertation proposal to my advisor. I received some helpful comments and had a lengthy, hour-long discussion with my advisor. I am still in the revision stage of the proposal, but forging ahead to actual intensive analysis of the symphonies I have gathered thus far. Over the past week, I made a significant and helpful contact regarding one of my composers. There is a Swede who is interested in music from this time and created a website devoted to Paul Wranitzky, one of the composers I am look at. The site is great for the information provided about the composer, and the list of contributors include notable names in the field of music history. Though the site master is nt a musician by trade or profession (I believe he is a computer programmer), he does good work. I contacted him, descibed my dissertation topic to him, and he has been emailing me symphonies by Wranitzky I need to look at. This is great for me because this will be about ten fewer scores I will have to track down and request from libraries and/or travel to acquire them on my own. I am examining the three symphonies I have received so far, and look forward to receiving the remaining symphonies. Who knows, perhaps this could lead to a new wave in music research.

An OK Computer Kind of Day

A couple of weekends ago, the temprature was milder than it had been, and this brought in a layer of fog that never burned off during the day. It was one of those days where the weather impacted one's productivity. So I put on Radiohead's OK Computer and enjoyed the fog as it provided a silken, yet sullen, screen from the urban view from my balcony. The album is the perfect accompaniment for days like these. The eclectic "Paranoid Android" does not fit at times,
but the beginning of the second half fits well. Then comes the quintology of "Subterranean Homesick Alien," "Exit Music (For a Film)," "Let Down," "Karma Police," and "Fitter Happier" that really set the mood for the day. The combination of this album and the weather, particularly a rainy day makes for great reflection.