Image from Wallin's Manyworlds The 2012-13 season kicks off with an extraordinary array of exciting premieres, collaborations, and innovations. Exemplified by a growing appreciation for multimedia productions and the trend for a more intimate and versatile model for opera, our audiences are getting up close and personal!
At the top of our “must-see” list this fall is the Oslo Philharmonic Orchestra’s performance of Rolf Wallin’s Manyworlds on September 14. Part of the Ultima Contemporary Music Festival, this unique production features the premiere of 3D video art created by Boya Bøckman to perfectly synchronize with Wallin’s intricate and powerful score. Inspired by the Many-world theory of quantum physics, Wallin offers an auditory window into the mind-boggling hypothesis which suggests infinite and simultaneous realities. Tackling the philosophical conundrum that naturally exists when all is possible – what makes one decision any better than any other? – Wallin composed in Manyworlds “many ‘parallel musics’ where every music contains the seed of all the other musics.” Bøckmann has created moving sculptures to interact with Wallin’s ‘sound sculptures’ and the audience will be enveloped in the work by wearing 3D glasses.This highly-acclaimed piece has received a number of performances in its two-year history, but the addition of Bøckman’s video art is sure to enhance the impact of Wallin’s gripping and provocative score.
Philip Glass’ seminal opera Einstein on the Beach is largely regarded as one of the greatest musical achievements of the 20th century. This year marks Glass’ 75th birthday, and a comprehensive international tour of Einstein on the Beach is clearly one of the celebratory highlights. Upcoming dates include September performances in Brooklyn, NY; October performances in Berkeley, CA; November dates in Mexico City; and January dates in Amsterdam. For tour details, visit the Nonesuch website.
Up next is the unmissable world premiere of André Previn’s Concerto for Violin and String Orchestra, with Anne-Sophie Mutter and the Trondheim Soloists in Norway on September 19. Given the beauty and depth of Previn and Mutter’s personal and professional relationship, the concerto will certainly showcase this violin virtuosa in Previn’s neo-romantic style at its most lush and heart-wrenching.
Leading Danish composer Per Nørgård turns 80 this year and his much anticipated Symphony No. 8, commissioned by the Helsinki Philharmonic Orchestra, will receive its world premiere on September 19 at the Helsinki Music Centre under the baton of conductor John Storgårds. Country premieres in Sweden and Denmark will follow in November.
On September 26, the St. Paul’s Cathedral Choir and conductor Andrew Carwood will premiere Peter Maxwell Davies’ The Whispering Gallery. Created specifically to showcase the extraordinary acoustics at St. Paul’s, the piece is dedicated to Her Majesty The Queen, in celebration of her Diamond Jubilee. Subsequently, in October and November the English Touring Opera will give performances of Davies’ thriller The Lighthouse throughout the UK. For specific performance dates and locations, visit the ETO website.
Gabriela Lena Frank adds to her rich and varied oeuvre with two new premieres this fall. The Claremont Trio will perform a new piano trio on September 30 in the stunning new Calderwood Hall at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. On October 25, the Philadelphia Orchestra will perform a new concert-opener, and knowing Frank, it’s sure to be exhilarating!
ACO2 Drawing inspiration from traditional Algerian music, Tarik O’Regan has written a new string orchestra piece for the Australian Chamber Orchestra entitled Chaâbi. This piece premieres on October 10 and will receive seven performances as ACO2 takes the work on its Tasmanian Tour.
On October 11 at Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, the BBC Concert Orchestra and Keith Lockhart perform a program of music by Julia Wolfe, including the world premiere of her exciting new percussion concerto riSE and fLY, featuring the trailblazing percussionist Colin Currie. In this piece, Wolfe employs body percussion, chain gang tunes, and a battery of street percussion to create a dramatically rhythmic yet emotional work. The performance also includes Wolfe’s Cruel Sister, a beautifully hypnotic musical rendering of the old English ballad depicting greed and sibling rivalry. Tell Me Everything and LAD round out the concert. For more information visit the BBC website.
Bright Sheng’s The Blazing Mirage for cello and strings will premiere on October 26 with riveting soloist Trey Lee and the Munich Chamber Orchestra as part of the New Vision Arts Festival of Hong Kong. Sheng drew his inspiration from the Dunhuang Caves which house the world’s most beloved Buddhist art frescos and manuscripts dating from the fourth century. The work opens with a cello recitative based on a Mukam, a Central Asian classical music form, then the string orchestra introduces a well-known folk song from northern Shanxi. The two disparate elements gradually weave together to create a nuanced and beautiful melding of cultural idioms.
Frozen in Time, Avner Dorman’s thrillingly energetic percussion concerto, will tour this fall with dates in the UK and Germany Oct. 31 - Nov. 7. Soloist Martin Grubinger stars in these performances with the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra and conductor Kirill Karabits.
On November 9, conductor Michael Schønwandt will present the musical riches of his Danish homeland with the brilliant Swedish clarinetist Martin Frost and the Radio Chamber Philharmonic performing the world premiere of Bent Sørensen’s clarinet concerto, entitled Serenidad. Built on the foundations of Danish romanticism, Sørensen creates a beautiful sound-world marked with Scandinavian color and gesture.
Additional chamber music premieres include the world premiere of Mark Adamo’s August Music for flutists Randy Bowman and Nina Perlove as part of the Constella Festival opening concert on September 30, and a new piece for the American Brass Quintet by the young and talented composer Jay Greenberg on October 22 at The Juilliard School.
On October 9, tenor Grant Knox, violinist Tatiana Berman, violist Joanne Wojtowicz and students from Northern Kentucky University’s Department of Music will join Nico Muhly onstage as he performs a program of his own music. The concert features acoustic instruments and voices, pre-recorded electronics and dazzling visuals that engulf the audience in a multi-sensory experience. The program is made possible by Northern Kentucky University’s newest electronic marvel, The Digitorium, the region’s most electronically advanced performance hall.
Intimate performances through score reduction are becoming more and more popular with organizations and audiences alike. On August 16, the Aspen Music Festival will present John Harbison’s wonderfully rich opera The Great Gatsby in its reduced version. Later this fall, the Salzberg Camerata will perform a reduced version of Avner Dorman’s exotic Spices, Perfumes, Toxins! featuring solo percussionists Martin Grubinger and Manuel Hofstätter (November 25 at the Haus für Mozart.)
We hope you enjoy learning about these new additions to the Music Sales catalogue. As always, feel free to contact us for more information or perusal materials.
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