Composing Thoughts Heggie

A talk with Jake Heggie and host John Clare.

Don't miss a chance to hear Jake's amazing music:
Apr 30, May 2-16
Dallas Opera presents the world premiere of Moby-Dick, a new opera by composer Jake Heggie and librettist Gene Scheer. The cast features Ben Heppner (Ahab), Stephen Costello (Greenhorn), Morgan Smith (Starbuck), Jonathan Lemalu (Queequeg), Talise Trevigne (Pip), Robert Orth (Stubb), Allan Glassman (Flask), and Jonathan Beyer (Captain Gardiner). Patrick Summers conducts and Leonard Foglia directs. Production design is by Robert Brill with lighting by Donald Holder and costumes by Jane Greenwood. Co-commissioned by Dallas Opera, San Francisco Opera, San Diego Opera, State Opera of South Australia and Calgary Opera.

And also in May 2010:
May 8-16
Chicago Opera Theater presents Three Decembers by Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer. Frederica von Stade stars as Madeline Mitchell with Sara Jukubiak (Beatrice) and Matthew Worth (Charlie); conducted by Stephen Hargreaves, production by Leonard Foglia.

New film music?

Martin Scorsese's new film Shutter Island (Paramount Pictures) debuts in theatres on today (February 19) and features the music of composers Krzysztof Penderecki and György Ligeti on an immense and haunting soundtrack produced by Robbie Robertson of The Band. Based on the novel by Dennis Lehane, the film features music from Penderecki's Symphony No. 3 and Fluorescences as well as Ligeti's Lontano and Two Etudes for Organ. Each of these monolithic scores plays a vital role in the ominous, sinister world that Scorsese creates in this film about a US Marshall investigating the disappearance of a patient from a hospital for the criminally insane off the coast of Massachusetts. The soundtrack to Scorsese's film is already available on the commercial recording Shutter Island: Music from the Motion Picture, released by Rhino on February 2. Produced by Robbie Robertson, the soundtrack features a number of modern classics, in addition to the Ligeti and Penderecki works, performed by the San Francisco Symphony, the National Polish Radio Symphony, the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic and other leading orchestras and ensembles.

Composing Thoughts Hagen

Daron Hagen recently visited San Antonio for the world premiere of his Northern Lights. He spoke with John Clare about this new work:


Hear Northern Lights with the YOSA Philharmonic and Troy Peters:


You might also enjoy these podcasts of previous interviews with Daron in preparation of Northern Lights for YOSA players:

YOSA Podcast: Daron Hagen 4 from Classical Spotlight on Vimeo.

YOSA Podcast: Daron Hagen 3 from Classical Spotlight on Vimeo.

YOSA Podcast: Daron Hagen 2 from Classical Spotlight on Vimeo.

YOSA Podcast: Daron Hagen 1 from Classical Spotlight on Vimeo.

CT Vienna

Composing Thoughts Vienna from John Clare on Vimeo.

CT Danielpour

Richard Danielpour - Souvenirs from John Clare on Vimeo.

CT Live: Puts & Cypress 4tet

Composing Thoughts LIVE: Kevin Puts from John Clare on Vimeo.

CT Welcher

Composer Interview: Dan Welcher from John Clare on Vimeo.

CT Prokofiev's Grandson

Artist Interview: Gabriel Prokofiev from John Clare on Vimeo.

CT SOLI & Rodriguez

Spotlight on SOLI from John Clare on Vimeo.

Letters, music & Deathmask!

We now have materials we will be displaying in the lobby before and during the April 3 concert from the Beethoven Center and Library of Congress finalized, and it is a really interesting list.

Here are some of the items to look for--you can read about these and the rest of the items we will display on our website in the Exhibit Guide before coming to see the exhibit!

By and about Mendelssohn from the Library of Congress:


•The first page of a letter and a drawing from Mendelssoh to his collaborator/friend Edward Devrient
•A portrait of Mendelssohn
•The first page of the Octet manuscript
By and about Beethoven from the Beethoven Center at San Jose State University:

•A replica of Beethoven's death mask
•The first edition of the score of Beethoven's Quartet Opus 135 (which will be performed on April 3 by the Cypress)
•Two original manuscript letters from Beethoven to his publishers
•Ivory tokens used as tickets to the Beethoven Quartet Society, which was established in 1845
Make sure you buy your tickets early for the concert on April 3 at the Herbst Theatre, and see the exhibit before it or during the intermission!

Preparing

I'm so excited for all of these upcoming events. As the "host" and "preconcert lecturer" I thought I'd share some insight to how I prepare for these things.
There are some things that I don't have to do, which one might start their prep work - and that's to get to know the ensemble and composer. Luckily I've heard the Cypress play quite a bit, both live and recordings. This is a major help, to sort of gauge their style and approach. If you don't know them or haven't heard them, that's okay, but I can really recommend that you pick up a recording of theirs if you come to the concert, or have been debating buying one of their cds off of the site or your local music store. One of my all time favorites is the Jennifer Higdon quartet called Impressions. I never get tired of hearing it!
They also have several other recordings which you would like, say Suk or Haydn? But again, you don't have to be an expert to come and enjoy Call and Response 2009...
As for the second part, I would normally go and find recordings/examples of the composer's music - but again, I really enjoy Kevin's music and have been listening to his stuff since 2004, so again, I sort of have his "style" in my ear.
I did ask for a reference copy of the score and recording of Lento Assai, so that I could delve deeper into the music before these concerts, and maybe ask something of Kevin or the quartet that might help you dear listener.
This I will enjoy this weekend, when I have some absolute quiet time and can just concentrate on the music. I will listen to the piece first, and then listen again with the score. I'll then make some notes and let it sit with me for a bit.
Next up is another listen and more questions, maybe an email or two to them about the piece, and we'll go from there.
There's lots of steps to go through, but these are the first basic ones...what would you do?

Celebrate 10 years!

Friday April 3rd, 2009
Call & Response 2009
10th Anniversary
Herbst Theater
Mendelssohn Quartet Op. 13
Kevin Puts Lento Assai
Beethoven Quartet Op. 135
San Francisco, CA

Sunday April 5th, 2009
3 PM Montalvo Arts Center
Kevin Puts Quartet
Saratoga, CA