Last year I began trying out Internet classical music services. I signed up for Last.FM and Pandora and Live365 and I've had varying levels of satisfaction with them all. Initially I had a hard time getting my mind around how these things worked, so I just gave in and allowed the music to play out as they decided. Subsequently I've tried a few other sites including ShoutCast, imeem.com and musicovery.com. With the exception of Live365's Contemporary-Classical.COM all these stations have a serious drawback for serious classical music listeners -- they seem to only play tracks not complete works of music. In a post on January 15Th in 2008 I complained about how some of Bruckner's symphonies were being broadcast on FM station only as individual movements rather than the entire piece. Time seemed to be the issue on FM, but is there something more to it? Is there some legal issue where the copyright holder is enforcing some claim? Is it the lack of classical music exposure and appreciation that causes the programmers to focus on "tunes" and not art?
The issue has become more personal as I've recently purchased a Chumby internet radio. It's a $200 wireless Linux computer, connected to my home wireless network. It's about the size of a large softball with a touch screen, USB inputs and decent on board speakers. Part alarm clock, part game console, part news ticker and part radio it's replaced my old FM radio. Unfortunately only Pandora and Shoutcast are built in, though there are some poorly documented hacks to enable others Internet broadcasters like my favorite Contemporary-Classical.COM via Live365. Pandora is what I've chosen to listen to each night. The programming, based on my personal targeted "genome" is actually very satisfying -- except for the track limitation. I was listening to Richard Strauss's "Alpine Symphony" the other night. Just as the music "climbed to the top of the mountain" it switched to something else. I'm sorry but I find that annoying and disrespectful to the composer.
Kudos to Contemporary-Classical.COM, though. They seem to play entire pieces, not just tracks. A few week back they broadcast all 20 sections of Olivier Messiaen's 'Vingt Regards su L'Enfant Jesus'. They've exposed me to several new composers and lots of intriguing music. Good for them!
Monday, June 29, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
More on Musical Chills
Late the other night, when I couldn't sleep, I began to think more about the phenomenon "musical chill". In an earlier post I commented on this noting that Alex Ross wrote about this effect in the New Yorker article on Mahler. Apparently this was initially described by a neuroscience investigator, Jaak Panskepp, who has describe the physical reactions ”in which listeners are suddenly overcome by a physical tremor that runs down the body and raises the hairs on the skin." Mine were more like an internal, deep in the chest slowing, where my body seems to flush and my breath stops briefly. Since sleep wasn't coming, I tried to remember other times when I experienced this "musical chill" since that first one in college many years ago. Here are a few:
During a performance of "Rigoletto" in the city auditorium in Boeblingen Germany, I watch an amazing Gilda. I don't know her name. She was with a traveling troupe from Poland in West Germany, before the wall came down. This was in 1984 and she took my breath away and gave me the "chill". I remember thinking that it was too bad she would probably never be heard in the US since travel for the poles was so limited in those days. I wonder what happened to her.
In the late 80's I heard Kurt Moll sing Osmin's aria from "The Abduction from the Seraglio" at the Met. He took all the low notes and even though I was sitting high in the balcony, I could hear every one. It was an electric "chill", followed by another one as audience sprang up cheering.
Since I'm a fan of the low notes, I also recall a similar reaction in the early 90's when a Swedish(?) Baron Ochs (can't remember his name) went beautifully very, very deep at the end of the second act of Der Rosenkavelier at the Santa Fe Opera. I actually heard him sing Ochs twice within a week, but only the first one had the effect.
"Chills" haven't been frequent here in Boulder, but I do remember two:
During Giora Bernstein's tenure as the conductor of the Colorado Music Festival he once conducted Bruckner's 8th symphony. Giora founded and led CMF for some 20 years then moved on. I knew Giora a little and had talked to him about the Bruckner. He pointed me to a recording conducted by Gunter Wand which I used to "rehearse listening". I distinctly remember two "chills": once at the end of the second movement and at the end of the finale. Unfortunately, the CMF web site apparently doesn't have anything anymore about Giora -- not a nice way to treat the founder.
Two years ago the current CMF conductor, Michael Christie, choose to do a stage performance of Osvaldo Golijov's "Ainadamar". As I often do for an unknown piece, I bought a copy of the CD and listened to it many times. Sung in Spanish, the opera is about Lorca and his execution at the 'Fountain of Tears'. Being lazy I never bothered to read the libretto's translation and as a result never got a good feel for the work. Only the beginning and end of "Ainadamar" appealed to me musically, based on the CD. I went to at least one of the rehearsals and still felt the same way. At the CMF performance, however, there were super titles available and, of course, it was played straight through. The role of Lorca is a "trouser role" and was sung by mezzo-soprano Kelley O'Connor. The "chill" occurred when she softly began singing the "confession" prior to the execution. I'm listening to it now and still remember the overall wonderful effect.
Most "chills" happen at live performances, but once, and only once, was I hit by a recording. It wasn't the first time I'd heard the end of the third act of Die Walküre. James Morris was Wotan and sang "Leb wohl". Maybe I was drifting off to sleep at that point, but his singing suddenly jolted me with this rare "musical chill".
So I've come up with a total of seven so far --- hopefully, I'll get another one someday.
During a performance of "Rigoletto" in the city auditorium in Boeblingen Germany, I watch an amazing Gilda. I don't know her name. She was with a traveling troupe from Poland in West Germany, before the wall came down. This was in 1984 and she took my breath away and gave me the "chill". I remember thinking that it was too bad she would probably never be heard in the US since travel for the poles was so limited in those days. I wonder what happened to her.
In the late 80's I heard Kurt Moll sing Osmin's aria from "The Abduction from the Seraglio" at the Met. He took all the low notes and even though I was sitting high in the balcony, I could hear every one. It was an electric "chill", followed by another one as audience sprang up cheering.
Since I'm a fan of the low notes, I also recall a similar reaction in the early 90's when a Swedish(?) Baron Ochs (can't remember his name) went beautifully very, very deep at the end of the second act of Der Rosenkavelier at the Santa Fe Opera. I actually heard him sing Ochs twice within a week, but only the first one had the effect.
"Chills" haven't been frequent here in Boulder, but I do remember two:
During Giora Bernstein's tenure as the conductor of the Colorado Music Festival he once conducted Bruckner's 8th symphony. Giora founded and led CMF for some 20 years then moved on. I knew Giora a little and had talked to him about the Bruckner. He pointed me to a recording conducted by Gunter Wand which I used to "rehearse listening". I distinctly remember two "chills": once at the end of the second movement and at the end of the finale. Unfortunately, the CMF web site apparently doesn't have anything anymore about Giora -- not a nice way to treat the founder.
Two years ago the current CMF conductor, Michael Christie, choose to do a stage performance of Osvaldo Golijov's "Ainadamar". As I often do for an unknown piece, I bought a copy of the CD and listened to it many times. Sung in Spanish, the opera is about Lorca and his execution at the 'Fountain of Tears'. Being lazy I never bothered to read the libretto's translation and as a result never got a good feel for the work. Only the beginning and end of "Ainadamar" appealed to me musically, based on the CD. I went to at least one of the rehearsals and still felt the same way. At the CMF performance, however, there were super titles available and, of course, it was played straight through. The role of Lorca is a "trouser role" and was sung by mezzo-soprano Kelley O'Connor. The "chill" occurred when she softly began singing the "confession" prior to the execution. I'm listening to it now and still remember the overall wonderful effect.
Most "chills" happen at live performances, but once, and only once, was I hit by a recording. It wasn't the first time I'd heard the end of the third act of Die Walküre. James Morris was Wotan and sang "Leb wohl". Maybe I was drifting off to sleep at that point, but his singing suddenly jolted me with this rare "musical chill".
So I've come up with a total of seven so far --- hopefully, I'll get another one someday.
Monday, June 08, 2009
A class and Mahler's "Resurrection"
It was a musical weekend. On Saturday I attended a one-day session at the University of Colorado on Verdi, taught by Erin Smith, a PhD candidate in Musicology. Smith knows her subject and has also mastered the technology (mostly) of switching from a PC to a DVD player. She started with early operatic forms and used musical samples to illustrate her points. All in all it was a good way to spend most of the day. The highlight of the class was a visit and performance by a CU graduate student who will be performing the role of Violetta in Verdi's "La Traviata" this fall at Mackey auditorium. I wrote her name down in my handy-dandy little pocket notebook, which I unfortunately washed over the weekend. Her name was in there, but now it's all mush, sorry. She gave a delightful performance of the final aria from the first act, then answered questions from the class -- an excellent performance.
This is one of two classes she's teaching, both seeming focused on her interests. Surprisingly, the Music Department at Colorado has offered very few classes through adult or continuing education. I believe there has been one taught occasionally, but little selection. That's a shame with all the talent the Music Department has that there isn't more. Faculty and graduate students have plenty on their plates already, but more would be appreciated.
Sunday my wife and I traveled into Denver for the final performance of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra's 2008-2009 season. Maestro Jeffrey Kahane lead an enormous orchestra and around 250 voices of the orchestra's chorus. The "Resurrection" is one of my all-time favorites. In last week's New Yorker magazine article on Mahler performances, Alex Ross commented about "the phenomenon of the Musical Chill -- the ambiguous tremor of otherness that runs through the body when, for whatever reason, a particular sound overwhelms the reasoning mind." I remember my first "musical chill". I was a senior in college and was being exposed to Mahler for the first time. I remember sitting in my darkened dorm room and listening to the 2nd. It was the second time I had played a newly purchased vinyl recording of Otto Klemperer conducting and it hit me. That was a long time ago but I still remember the effect it had on me. Thanks to Alex Ross for leading me to it's name.
Well, Kahane didn't exactly give me a musical chill this time but he did a wonderful job. Mezzo Sasha Cooke was great in "Uhrlich" and soprano Janice Chandler Eteme's crystalline voice rose above everyone at just the right moments. The orchestra was, as always, outstanding, particularly the brass and the percussion session.
One minor detail disappointed me, though. In 2000 I went to another CSO performance of the "Resurrection". I clearly remember the chorus sitting in darkness and, in unison, opening their music as they began to sing "Aufstehen" in the last movement. The visual and music effect that day did give me a "musical chill". I'm pretty sure the CSO chorus was then also directed by Duain Wolfe. The effect just wasn't quite the same this time as the chorus members just leisurely opened their music as they saw fit. Too bad but if not a full "musical chill" at least a good shiver.
This is one of two classes she's teaching, both seeming focused on her interests. Surprisingly, the Music Department at Colorado has offered very few classes through adult or continuing education. I believe there has been one taught occasionally, but little selection. That's a shame with all the talent the Music Department has that there isn't more. Faculty and graduate students have plenty on their plates already, but more would be appreciated.
Sunday my wife and I traveled into Denver for the final performance of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra's 2008-2009 season. Maestro Jeffrey Kahane lead an enormous orchestra and around 250 voices of the orchestra's chorus. The "Resurrection" is one of my all-time favorites. In last week's New Yorker magazine article on Mahler performances, Alex Ross commented about "the phenomenon of the Musical Chill -- the ambiguous tremor of otherness that runs through the body when, for whatever reason, a particular sound overwhelms the reasoning mind." I remember my first "musical chill". I was a senior in college and was being exposed to Mahler for the first time. I remember sitting in my darkened dorm room and listening to the 2nd. It was the second time I had played a newly purchased vinyl recording of Otto Klemperer conducting and it hit me. That was a long time ago but I still remember the effect it had on me. Thanks to Alex Ross for leading me to it's name.
Well, Kahane didn't exactly give me a musical chill this time but he did a wonderful job. Mezzo Sasha Cooke was great in "Uhrlich" and soprano Janice Chandler Eteme's crystalline voice rose above everyone at just the right moments. The orchestra was, as always, outstanding, particularly the brass and the percussion session.
One minor detail disappointed me, though. In 2000 I went to another CSO performance of the "Resurrection". I clearly remember the chorus sitting in darkness and, in unison, opening their music as they began to sing "Aufstehen" in the last movement. The visual and music effect that day did give me a "musical chill". I'm pretty sure the CSO chorus was then also directed by Duain Wolfe. The effect just wasn't quite the same this time as the chorus members just leisurely opened their music as they saw fit. Too bad but if not a full "musical chill" at least a good shiver.
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