Waves of Passion or Wild Tango Elements?
Evening Music | May 6, 2010
Jim Hiscott says that the arpeggiated figure throughout his “Waves of Passion” suggests waves breaking gently on a shore. Hmmm...what about all those wild tango elements?
George Bizet’s “Carmen Suite” No. 1, drawn from the instrumental preludes and interludes in the opera, is the primary delectation of our first evening music hour, served up by the Malmö Symphony under James DePreist. Everybody’s favorite Aaron Copland work, “Appalachian Spring,” subtitled Ballet for Martha (Graham), is our biggie for hour two, Aaron himself conducting the London Symphony Orchestra. Then, we mark the changing of the seasons: one last glance toward summer, Guy Ropartz’s “Croquis d’été” (Sketches of Summer); two works welcoming the fall, Laurindo Almeida’s “Autumnal Prelude” for flute and guitar, and Edward Grieg’s concert overture, “In Autumn,” Neeme Järvi conducting the Göthenburg Symphony; and a composition looking forward to the cold, Nigel Westlake’s “Winter in the Forgotten Valley,” performed by the ensemble Guitar Trek.
In the second half of the evening, we hear Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 16 in a string orchestra version realized by Leonard Bernstein, who conducts the Vienna Philharmonic Strings. Chicago-born Vivian Fine’s would have celebrated her 90th birthday today (d. 2000). She lives on in her music, and we remember her as we listen to “Canzones y dances,” a work for flute, cello, and guitar that draws on various Spanish literary sources for its inspiration. Then it’s on to those “Waves of Passion,” with composer Jim Hiscott playing the button accordion, Judith Kehler-Seibert on piano, Eric Hansen on double bass, cellist Paul Marleyn giving voice to the central element of this dark and sultry evocation of alternating emotions and states of mind. C.P.E. Bach’s Flute Concerto in A helps to wind the evening down, in a lovely performance by flutist Robert Aitken, Mario Bernardi conducting the CBC Vancouver Orchestra.
George Bizet’s “Carmen Suite” No. 1, drawn from the instrumental preludes and interludes in the opera, is the primary delectation of our first evening music hour, served up by the Malmö Symphony under James DePreist. Everybody’s favorite Aaron Copland work, “Appalachian Spring,” subtitled Ballet for Martha (Graham), is our biggie for hour two, Aaron himself conducting the London Symphony Orchestra. Then, we mark the changing of the seasons: one last glance toward summer, Guy Ropartz’s “Croquis d’été” (Sketches of Summer); two works welcoming the fall, Laurindo Almeida’s “Autumnal Prelude” for flute and guitar, and Edward Grieg’s concert overture, “In Autumn,” Neeme Järvi conducting the Göthenburg Symphony; and a composition looking forward to the cold, Nigel Westlake’s “Winter in the Forgotten Valley,” performed by the ensemble Guitar Trek.
In the second half of the evening, we hear Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 16 in a string orchestra version realized by Leonard Bernstein, who conducts the Vienna Philharmonic Strings. Chicago-born Vivian Fine’s would have celebrated her 90th birthday today (d. 2000). She lives on in her music, and we remember her as we listen to “Canzones y dances,” a work for flute, cello, and guitar that draws on various Spanish literary sources for its inspiration. Then it’s on to those “Waves of Passion,” with composer Jim Hiscott playing the button accordion, Judith Kehler-Seibert on piano, Eric Hansen on double bass, cellist Paul Marleyn giving voice to the central element of this dark and sultry evocation of alternating emotions and states of mind. C.P.E. Bach’s Flute Concerto in A helps to wind the evening down, in a lovely performance by flutist Robert Aitken, Mario Bernardi conducting the CBC Vancouver Orchestra.
