Classical Cafe

Recital: Lo and Baldwin on Thursday

By

Alan Sherrod

on February 8, 2010 12:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Behold, I just know this will be a great recital.

Cellist Wesley Baldwin and pianist Bernadette Lo will perform a Faculty and Guest Artist Recital this Thursday evening, February 11 at 6:00 p.m. at the Music Hall of the University of Tennessee School of Music.

Free.

KSO Offers "Coffee" in March

By

Alan Sherrod

on February 5, 2010 6:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I'll have more on this concert in the coming weeks, but a little planning in advance won't hurt if you are a Baroque music fan. The Knoxville Symphony Chamber Orchestra will offer a program of all Baroque music in its Sunday, March 7th concert at the Bijou Theatre. And it includes a particular favorite of mine, J.S. Bach's Cantata No. 211, Schweigt stille, plaudert nicht ("Coffee Cantata"). This secular cantata is really a mini-opera, featuring three singers and chamber orchestra. In the early 18th century, coffee drinking, especially among ladies, was considered a bad habit, but still quite liberally indulged in. In this piece, a father tries everything to dissuade his daughter from the vice. It is really charming.

The program will also include new KSO Principal Bassoon Ellen Connors as soloist in Antonio Vivaldi's Bassoon Concerto in A minor, RV 498.

The program details:

Handel: Theodora Overture

Vivaldi: Concerto for Bassoon in A minor, RV 498 with Ellen Connors, bassoon

Pachelbel: Canon and Gigue

J.S. Bach: Cantata No. 211 "Coffee" with Daniel Berry, baritone; Rebekkah Hilgraves, soprano; and Jonathan Subia, tenor.

Knoxville Opera at First Friday

By

Alan Sherrod

on February 4, 2010 8:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Word has it that Knoxville Opera is having a little cocktail party as part of this week's First Friday in the S&W Grand from 6 to 9 p.m. I've also heard they are calling it Opera After Hours at First Friday. And, I wouldn't be a bit surprised if members of the Knoxville Opera Studio were there to entertain those that drop in on the downstairs bar area.

There is also a fairly well established rumor that Knoxville Opera has a production opening next week, Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor with Rachele Gilmore starring as Lucia. Read my profile of Ms. Gilmore in this week's METRO PULSE or online here.

Sunday: UT Faculty Chamber Series, "An Age of Enlightenment"

By

Alan Sherrod

on February 2, 2010 8:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The final concert in the series Music of the Ages, "An Age of Enlightenment," can be heard this Sunday in the James R. Cox Auditorium in the Alumni Memorial Building on the UT Campus at 4 p.m. It's the third of three concerts this season in the University of Tennessee School of Music Faculty Chamber Music series. A pre-concert reception with the performers, open to the public, begins at 3 p.m. in the lobby. The concert is FREE.

The expected program is:

Brahms: 2 Songs, op. 91
W.M. Harrell: The Stainless Banner, Intermezzo-Scene on the Batt'rey
Puccini: Chrysanthemums
Arnold: Quintet

Among the faculty performers are Lorraine di Simone, mezzo soprano; Hillary Herndon, viola; Kevin Class, piano; Fay Adams, piano; Miroslav Hristov, violin; Mark Zelmanovich, violin; Phylis Secrist, oboe; Calvin Smith, horn; Wesley Baldwin, cello; and the Brasswind Quintet consisting of Cathy Leach and T.J. Perry, trumpets; Calvin Smith, horn; Daniel Cloutier, trombone; and Sande MacMorran, tuba.

Jennifer Higdon Wins Grammy

By

Alan Sherrod

on February 1, 2010 9:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Composer Jennifer Higdon, who grew up in Blount County, won a Grammy for Best Classical Contemporary Composition at last Sunday night's awards ceremony. The award was for her Percussion Concerto on a recording of Marin Alsop leading the London Philharmonic Orchestra.

A complete list of the Classical Grammy winners can be found here.

Some Events Coming Up This Week

By

Alan Sherrod

on January 31, 2010 5:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Monday, February 1

Soprano Valerie Haber in a Graduate Vocal Recital, UT School of Music

Performance Hall 32, Alumni Memorial Building, UT Campus

8 p.m.

Tuesday, February 2

Faculty Recital, UT School of Music

Kevin Class, piano; Lorraine de Simone, Mezzo soprano; and Marjorie Bennett Stephens, soprano

Performance Hall 32, Alumni Memorial Building, UT Campus

8 p.m.

Saturday, February 6

Live Metropolitan Opera Hi-Def Broadcast of Verdi's Simon Boccanegra with Placido Domingo

James Levine, conducting

Regal West Town Theaters

1 p.m.

Sunday, February 7

"Music of the Ages - An Age of Enlightenment"

UT Faculty Chamber Series concert featuring works by Brahms, Puccini, Mark Harrell, and Malcolm Arnold

James R. Cox Auditorium, Alumni Memorial Building, UT Campus

4 p.m. (pre-concert reception with performers at 3 p.m.)

Sunday: Pianist Alexander Ghindin

By

Alan Sherrod

on January 28, 2010 10:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Don't let a few snow flakes or slushy streets keep you from hearing this outstanding pianist.

Pianist Alexander Ghindin opens the Evelyn Miller Young Pianist Series recitals with a program this Sunday, January 31st. The recital takes place at Central Baptist of Bearden, 6300 Deane Hill Drive (corner of Kingston Pike) at 2:30 p.m.

There is more information on the recital in the calendar section of METRO PULSE or online here.

This Saturday: OR Symphony Showcases Movie Music

By

Alan Sherrod

on January 27, 2010 11:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

The Oak Ridge Symphony Orchestra offers "A Night At the Movies," a program of music from motion pictures, this Saturday evening, January 30th, 8 p.m.

The orchestra, under the baton of Cornelia Kodkani-Laemmli, will open with the beginning from Richard Strauss' tone poem Also Sprach Zarathustra that was featured in Stanley Kubrick's classic 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Also on the program are themes from other well-known movies: Titanic, music by James Horner; Star Wars, music by John Williams; Forrest Gump, music by Alan Silvestri; Lord of the Rings (medley composed by A.R. Rahman and Christopher Nightingale) and The Little Mermaid, music by Alan Menken.

ORSO will also play "A Tribute to Henry Mancini" featuring "Moon River" from the film Breakfast At Tiffany's.

The concert venue is the Oak Ridge High School Performing Arts Center. Information at 865-483-5569 or the ORCMA website.

Pianist Daniel Stipe at TVUUC on Saturday

By

Alan Sherrod

on January 25, 2010 4:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Pianist Daniel Stipe will be the next performer in the Performing Arts and Lecture Series (PALS) at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church this Saturday.

Stipe, the Assistant University Organist at the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee, will perform two collections of piano music--Songs Without Words by Felix Mendelssohn and Tales by the little known Russian composer Nicolai Medtner.

From the PALS description:

"A friend and contemporary of Rachmaninoff, Medtner was and is little known and vastly underappreciated as a composer and pianist. The Tales, like Songs Without Words, is a sprawling collection comprising more than twenty pieces and two hours of music, written bit by bit over the composer's lifetime. Presented in juxtaposition, these two collections written more than a century apart contrast and complement each other..."

Sounds really intriguing. The performance is this Saturday, January 30, 7:30 p.m., at the church, 2931 Kingston Pike in Knoxville. Tickets at the door.

Classical Music Choices This Weekend

By

Alan Sherrod

on January 21, 2010 3:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Decisions, decisions...

This weekend offers a number of interesting things, depending somewhat on where you are or whether you like to drive.

Friday, January 22

The Mercury Trio, consisting of Harvey Thurmer, violin; Natasha Farny, cello; and Gary Hammond, piano; will give a recital on the UT Campus--Performance Hall 32 in the Alumni Memorial Bldg at 8 p.m. They are scheduled to perform works of Franz Schubert, Maurice Ravel, and Johannes Brahms.

Saturday, January 23

Soprano Jessica Cates, an up-and-coming singer seen regularly in UT Opera Theatre productions, will offer her graduate vocal recital at the UT Music Building at 8 p.m.

Sunday, January 24

The Knoxville Symphony Chamber Orchestra will be joined by pianist David Northington for Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 9. For commentary on why I'm now calling this the "Jenamy" concerto, read my post here. Also on the concert is Beethoven's Symphony No. 4 and Haydn's Symphony No. 16. The concert is at the Bijou Theatre at 2:30 p.m.

If you are in Oak Ridge, or don't mind the drive, the Knoxville Opera Company will present a free Community Concert that should not be missed. The concert will feature a treasure-trove of great voices and operatic works from upcoming productions--but the intriguing draw is Rachele Gilmore, who will be singing Lucia in Knoxville Opera's production of Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor next month. Read my post on her appearance last month at the Metropolitan Opera or "The Highest Note Sung At the Met?". The concert venue is the beautiful Oak Ridge High School Performing Arts Center at 3 p.m.

Monday, January 25

Pianist Kevin Class and violinist Miroslav Hristov will offer a faculty recital in Performance Hall 32 in the Alumni Memorial Building on the UT Campus at 8 p.m. They will be performing two Sonatas for piano and violin by Robert Schumann.