Posted on Facebook 10/2
The Bach Brandenburg #2 was “fast and nimble, but never rushed…lines and phrases were molded with a subtle dynamic nuance” said Michael Anthony in his review in the StarTribune last night.
And “The ensemble was relatively small — 15 or so players. Concertmaster Erin Keefe served as ‘leader,’ meaning conductor in the Baroque use of the term, and she was joined by three other expert soloists: flutist Adam Kuenzel, oboist John Snow and trumpeter Douglas C. Carlsen.”
Read his entire review here: http://www.startribune.com/orchestra-stakes-a-fresh-claim-to-bach/330335241/
Then grab your tickets for tonight’s or tomorrow night’s performance here: http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/buy/tickets/browse-calendar/eventdetail/477/-/vaenskae-strauss-and-mahler#.Vgv2D_lViko
We hope to see you at Orchestra Hall this weekend!
The Bach Brandenburg #2 was “fast and nimble, but never rushed…lines and phrases were molded with a subtle dynamic nuance” said Michael Anthony in his review in the StarTribune last night.
And “The ensemble was relatively small — 15 or so players. Concertmaster Erin Keefe served as ‘leader,’ meaning conductor in the Baroque use of the term, and she was joined by three other expert soloists: flutist Adam Kuenzel, oboist John Snow and trumpeter Douglas C. Carlsen.”
Read his entire review here: http://www.startribune.com/orchestra-stakes-a-fresh-claim-to-bach/330335241/
Then grab your tickets for tonight’s or tomorrow night’s performance here: http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/buy/tickets/browse-calendar/eventdetail/477/-/vaenskae-strauss-and-mahler#.Vgv2D_lViko
We hope to see you at Orchestra Hall this weekend!
Posted on Facebook 10/1
Mahler’s 4th Symphony – a “game of interruptions, resumptions, extensions, reconsiderations and unexpected combinations” – sure to be brilliantly interpreted by Osmo Vänskä and performed by our fabulous MN Orchestra musicians this weekend.
That quote, about a portion of the first movement, is found in the program notes, which are excerpted from the late Michael Steinberg’s “The Symphony: A Listener’s Guide” (Oxford University Press, 1995).
Steinberg says, “The first phrase ends and, while clarinets and bassoons mark the beat, low strings suggest a surprising though charmingly appropriate continuation. A horn interrupts them mid-phrase and itself has the very words taken out of its mouth by the bassoon. At that moment, the cellos and basses assert themselves with a severe “As I was saying” just as the violins chime in with their own upside-down thoughts on the continuation of the opening phrase that the lower strings had suggested. The game of interruptions, resumptions, extensions, reconsiderations and unexpected combinations continues.”
Read the rest of Steinberg’s program note here: http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/showcase/56-vaenskae-strauss-and-mahler
Then pop over to the MN Orchestra website to grab your tickets for this morning’s, Friday evening’s or Saturday evening’s concert (which also includes Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto #2 and Strauss’ “Four Last Songs”). Here’s the link: http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/buy/tickets/browse-calendar/eventdetail/477/-/vaenskae-strauss-and-mahler#.Vgv2D_lViko
We hope to see you at Orchestra Hall this weekend!
Mahler’s 4th Symphony – a “game of interruptions, resumptions, extensions, reconsiderations and unexpected combinations” – sure to be brilliantly interpreted by Osmo Vänskä and performed by our fabulous MN Orchestra musicians this weekend.
That quote, about a portion of the first movement, is found in the program notes, which are excerpted from the late Michael Steinberg’s “The Symphony: A Listener’s Guide” (Oxford University Press, 1995).
Steinberg says, “The first phrase ends and, while clarinets and bassoons mark the beat, low strings suggest a surprising though charmingly appropriate continuation. A horn interrupts them mid-phrase and itself has the very words taken out of its mouth by the bassoon. At that moment, the cellos and basses assert themselves with a severe “As I was saying” just as the violins chime in with their own upside-down thoughts on the continuation of the opening phrase that the lower strings had suggested. The game of interruptions, resumptions, extensions, reconsiderations and unexpected combinations continues.”
Read the rest of Steinberg’s program note here: http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/showcase/56-vaenskae-strauss-and-mahler
Then pop over to the MN Orchestra website to grab your tickets for this morning’s, Friday evening’s or Saturday evening’s concert (which also includes Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto #2 and Strauss’ “Four Last Songs”). Here’s the link: http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/buy/tickets/browse-calendar/eventdetail/477/-/vaenskae-strauss-and-mahler#.Vgv2D_lViko
We hope to see you at Orchestra Hall this weekend!
Posted on Facebook 9/30
You can forget Mel Gibson, but you’ll never forget Strauss’ “Four Last Songs!”
Our friend Sarah Nagle wrote to us with her reflections on this haunting composition and why she is excited to hear it this weekend, performed by soprano Katie Van Kooten and the MN Orchestra under the direction of Osmo Vänskä.
Sarah writes, “In 1982 I went to see the movie ‘The Year of Living Dangerously,’ an atmospheric thriller set in 1960s Indonesia and starring Sigourney Weaver and Mel Gibson. I confess that I was most interested in the exotic setting, the dramatic plot, and Mel Gibson’s new superstar status to pay too much attention to the score.
“Yet I couldn’t help but notice a bittersweet song with German lyrics which was played during some of the film’s more emotional moments – a song half a world away from tropical Indonesia, yet strangely – naturally – fitting. This being the pre-Internet days – heck, it was the pre-beta/VHS days – I stayed through the entire credits to discover that the piece was ‘September’ from ‘Four Last Songs’ by Richard Strauss and sung by the radiant soprano Kiri Te Kanawa.
“It took me several years and much confusion before I learned, along with many others, that the song in the score had been misidentified and was actually ‘Beim Schlafengehen’ (‘Going to Sleep’) and not ‘September.’ But no matter. During the following decades I have heard recordings of several sopranos giving poignant voice to the autumnal simplicity and resolution to Strauss’s penultimate work.
“Thirty years on, I can admit that, while I’ve basically forgotten Mel Gibson, the beauty of ‘Four Last Songs’ remains timeless and unforgettable.
“And now, for the first time, I will hear it sung in person.
“Note: Strauss kept this most intimate of works ‘in the family.’ His beloved wife was a soprano and his father a virtuoso horn player – thus the writing of the songs for soprano voice and major presence of the horn in the orchestral instrumentation.”
Thank you, Sarah! We hope that hearing it in person will be even more memorable for you.
For tickets and more info about this concert (which also includes Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto #2 and Mahler’s Symphony #4), visit the Orchestra website – just click here: http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/buy/tickets/browse-calendar/eventdetail/477/-/vaenskae-strauss-and-mahler#.Vgv2D_lViko
You can forget Mel Gibson, but you’ll never forget Strauss’ “Four Last Songs!”
Our friend Sarah Nagle wrote to us with her reflections on this haunting composition and why she is excited to hear it this weekend, performed by soprano Katie Van Kooten and the MN Orchestra under the direction of Osmo Vänskä.
Sarah writes, “In 1982 I went to see the movie ‘The Year of Living Dangerously,’ an atmospheric thriller set in 1960s Indonesia and starring Sigourney Weaver and Mel Gibson. I confess that I was most interested in the exotic setting, the dramatic plot, and Mel Gibson’s new superstar status to pay too much attention to the score.
“Yet I couldn’t help but notice a bittersweet song with German lyrics which was played during some of the film’s more emotional moments – a song half a world away from tropical Indonesia, yet strangely – naturally – fitting. This being the pre-Internet days – heck, it was the pre-beta/VHS days – I stayed through the entire credits to discover that the piece was ‘September’ from ‘Four Last Songs’ by Richard Strauss and sung by the radiant soprano Kiri Te Kanawa.
“It took me several years and much confusion before I learned, along with many others, that the song in the score had been misidentified and was actually ‘Beim Schlafengehen’ (‘Going to Sleep’) and not ‘September.’ But no matter. During the following decades I have heard recordings of several sopranos giving poignant voice to the autumnal simplicity and resolution to Strauss’s penultimate work.
“Thirty years on, I can admit that, while I’ve basically forgotten Mel Gibson, the beauty of ‘Four Last Songs’ remains timeless and unforgettable.
“And now, for the first time, I will hear it sung in person.
“Note: Strauss kept this most intimate of works ‘in the family.’ His beloved wife was a soprano and his father a virtuoso horn player – thus the writing of the songs for soprano voice and major presence of the horn in the orchestral instrumentation.”
Thank you, Sarah! We hope that hearing it in person will be even more memorable for you.
For tickets and more info about this concert (which also includes Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto #2 and Mahler’s Symphony #4), visit the Orchestra website – just click here: http://www.minnesotaorchestra.org/buy/tickets/browse-calendar/eventdetail/477/-/vaenskae-strauss-and-mahler#.Vgv2D_lViko