Celebrity Series of Boston Blog

Digging Bartók with the Emerson Quartet

The good folks at Carnegie Hall have published a fascinating video (mostly) guide to the string quartets of Bela Bartók. The guide is hosted by members of the Emerson String Quartet and is called, fittingly, The Emerson String Quartet: The Bartók Quartets, A Guide for Performers & Music Lovers.

It's a little like watching a well-produced bit of television on the subject. The Quartet's members are talking heads throughout and, when examples are played, the appropriate section of the score pops up for your viewing pleasure.

All six Bartók quartets get a going over, including No. 3, which the Emerson will play on their Celebrity Series program at Jordan Hall on May 12 with pianist Leon Fleisher (No, Mr. Fleisher hasn't taken up the violin, he'll play Brahms' Piano Quintet in F minor, Opus 34 with the Quartet). The May 12 concert date should give you plenty of lead time to get up to speed on Quartet No. 3...

A mild note of warning: in my experience, the Performance Guide requires a very speedy connection to be viewed adequately. This isn't really Carnegie Hall's fault, of course; but though the developers have included some controls to let you goose the quality/speed ratio a bit, the video and audio were still choppy for this user. I'm sure others will have a better experience.

Planning accidents at Harvard Business School

As good as their articles are, I don't usually think of Harvard Business School's Working Knowledge for Business Leaders as a place to find subjects for this blog, but I found one that I think is worth passing along. Sarah Jane Gilbert conducted this Q & A with Robert Austin, an associate professor in the Technology, Operations and Management unit at HBS, about accidental innovations, the subject of a paper he recently co-wrote. Austin interviewed artists for the paper, querying them about how they more or less "plan" to have "accidents."

Here's a snippet from Austin:

"One artist showed me how one of his important pieces came out of some experiments with unusual tools; he wasn't trying to do a piece of work, he was just trying out the unfamiliar tools, and something interesting happened. Another, a potter, showed me how he would create beautiful pots and then, while they were drying, whack them with a stick. Sometimes they just broke, but other times he'd get an interesting shape that he'd never seen before."

Thanks to the Arts & Business Council of Greater Boston (the link to this article came from their newsletter) and Harvard Business School's Working Knowledge for Business Leaders.

Aaron Richmond, wikipedia subject

Aaron Richmond, our founder, at his converted piano desk

I assembled this biography on Celebrity Series founder Aaron Richmond from the archives. Enjoy!

I guess Holst was right...

Gustav Holst: Little Respect for Pluto, either

For those living under rocks: The International Astronomical Union has redesignated Pluto as a "Dwarf Planet."

"Honk if Pluto is Still a Planet" is a fun bumper sticker gaining popularity. Another good line is on a t-shirt: "Not so Fast Pluto." Links for both with appropriate credits can be found here on Boing Boing (where else?).

And then, as if this story wasn't already rich enough fodder for comedians, a lawsuit was filed on behalf of Pluto. Yup. Read about it in the Washingtonpost.com blog, Bench Conference.

The Sol of Brevity

"For good artists, there are no bad acoustics. For bad artists, there are no good acoustics."
                                                                                  –Sol Hurok

UK Luggage Ban Stops the Show

We have been talking for some time around the Celebrity Series offices about the new carry-on baggage check-in requirements in Britain and what it means for touring musicians (a few years ago it was the problem of touring artist visa waiting times). For those that don't know (although it seems like common knowledge in today's world), musicians that play, say, very old and very expensive violins or cellos, especially those instruments whose value can be measured in millions of dollars, typically buy an extra seat for their instruments or take them into the cabin as carry-on luggage. With that option removed (in Britain, at least) musicians that don't want to check valuable instruments into the luggage compartment are scrambling to find ways to get themselves and their instruments to their concerts without getting on planes; or, as in the case of some musicians interviewed for a story on BBC Radio, they are canceling those concerts altogether. Read Cabin Baggage Ban Hits Musicians from the BBC News web site (from August 11). The article lists comments from musicians and others about their individual plights.

Update: Since I wrote and saved this post, the list of those impacted has been narrowed somewhat. In Baggage Advice for UK Passengers, we learn that some carry-on bags are being allowed on board. Presumably, this will allow some smaller instruments to be carried-on. Cellists, I fear, are out of luck in the UK until further notice.

Look to Jessica Duchen's Classical Music Blog for her posts on the subject: Violin - or out? and Out? Her blog is where I found the BBC links when I went looking for info on the radio story. Jessica is also receiving some good comments on the subject.

New Orleans Rebuilds and Bingo joins Pres Hall

Over the course of the last year (I forget exactly where or when) I saw someone, some talking head on television, prattling on about how America doesn't have any ruins, yet (very debatable, I say). And maybe, he went on, New Orleans would be the first of them. To which I say, "Read this article, please."

The article is primarily about a couple - a family, actually - rebuilding their house and their life in New Orleans just blocks away from where a levy was breached by Hurricane Katrina's flood waters a year ago. Artie Folse and Tonja Osborne decided to reclaim their lives in their old house. It was a year-long building process, requiring Herculean labor under obscenely difficult physical and emotional circumstances. Perhaps this is anniversary journalism, but even so, by putting this article on the front page (above the fold), The Times is doing valuable work keeping us from forgetting about The Crescent City in its hour (year? decade?) of need.

Read A New Orleans Home Is Reborn, With Grit and Persistence (login required). Artie Folse and Tonja Osborne  are remarkable people, optimists with an incredible capacity for hard work in an atmosphere that, even as the flowers bloom in their front yard and the house no longer smells of mold and rot, is still not very encouraging. But they have not given in and they are rebuilding. And others are, too.

Say, aren't you guys having...? YES! We are doing a benefit with The Preservation Hall Jazz Band, special guest Ellis Marsalis and vocalist and mutli-instrumentalist Clint Meadgen and his band Bingo! The show is called "A New Orleans Revue," and it comes to Symphony Hall on October 15.

   
Bingo! at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival

"A New Orleans Revue" will benefit the New Orleans Musicians Hurricane Relief Fund as well as the Celebrity Series' Arts, Education and Community Program. It will be a wild party with great music and great food and you will read more about it here and elsewhere in the coming weeks.

Reuters at AileyCamp Boston

The Reuters news agency recently visited AileyCamp Boston and filed this photo story (slide show format). This year was no exception, they were (and are) a great bunch of kids. Not surprisingly, these are some great shots of them.

"Classical Music, best of times? worst of times?"

I neglected to put this up until now, though it was completed almost a month ago. ArtsJournal.com has uncorked another worthy blog-based discussion, this time it's Classical Music, best of times, worst of times? A Debate (July 22-July 26, 2006).

The participants are/were:

Peter Dobrin, Philadelphia Inquirer
Andrew Druckenbrod, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Janelle Gefland, Cincinnati Enquirer
Klaus Heyman, Naxos
Barbara Jepson, Wall Street Journal
Josh Kosman, San Francisco Chronicle
Allan Kozinn, The New York Times
Lowell Noteboom, St. Paul Chamber Orchestra
Frank J. Oteri, NewMusicBox

Hilary Hahn has an IM chat with The Boston Globe

 
Violinist Hilary Hahn presumably waiting for an electronic instrument delivery

Michael Hardy of The Boston Globe had an AOL IM chat with violinist Hilary Hahn last week in advance of her BSO/Tanglewood appearance. Here's a wee sample:

Hahn: ...Hang on one sec, someone knocked at my door.

Globe: Sure.

Hahn: The hotel just delivered an electronic keyboard! Hooray! I can practice in my room! I'm trying to get back in touch with piano but I like practicing in my room in general. Which is difficult with piano.

I include this clip not so much to inform as to give me the opportunity to ask, "Electronic keyboard? What hotel is she staying in?" Seriously, though, it is a nice chat with an interesting young performer who is on many a radar screen already and will eventually be on everyone's radar screen (assuming they have a radar screen). Hilary will be in recital at Jordan Hall on January 12. I'll have info on the program when it becomes available.

And here's the online journal Hilary talks about in the article.