Remember when I posted about catching the lovely, talented young violinist Janine Jansen performing Benjamin Britten's Violin Concerto with Neeme Järvi and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra in Newark last December? Sure you do. (But if you don't, the original post is here.) I bring this up tonight because I just found out that the concert I heard is going to be broadcast Thursday, May 18 [date corrected] at 9pm EST on WQXR-FM 96.3 in New York City. Tune it in or set a timer on your recorder if you're in earshot; check out the live stream on the station's website if you're not. Cantus in memory of Benjamin Britten, the Arvo Pärt piece that opened the concert, was quite good, as was the Beethoven Symphony No. 7 that closed it. But that Britten concerto was something else entirely, and the reason was Jansen's gorgeous tone and horsehair-shredding passion.
Pulling up that old essay, by the way, reminds me that John Beck tagged it a few weeks ago with a comment that bears repeating. I mentioned in the earlier post that Jansen has regularly taken on music of the 20th century with Spectrum Concerts Berlin, which has recorded works by John Harbison and Robert Helps for Naxos. Turns out the ensemble, Jansen included, will be performing at Zankel Hall in New York on Friday, November 3 and Sunday, November 5. The repertoire will include Helps's Nocturne for string quartet, Brahms's Clarinet Quintet, Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht, Penderecki's String Sextet and Schubert's String Quintet in C. (The Schulhoff, Brahms, Helps and Schoenberg make up the group's upcoming June 14 concert at the Philharmonie in Berlin, so perhaps we can assume that will be one of the programs here, as well.)
Since these aren't Carnegie Hall presentations, you won't currently find them on the venue's website, and advance tickets aren't yet available. But these concerts are pencilled in on my calendar already. My thanks to Mr. Beck for the detailed information.
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The blogroll keeps growing...Per ACD, I, too, would like to welcome Timothy Mangan of the Orange County Register to the blogosphere. Mangan's Classical Life apparently got underway when he accompanied his local Pacific Symphony Orchestra to Munich. It was Mangan, you might recall, who caught Pinchas Zukerman waxing splenetic about period-instrument ensembles and music critics back in January, in the interview that touched off my rant here.
Playlist:
Thursday - A City by the Light Divided (Island)
Balún - Something Comes Our Way (Brilliante)
Matmos - The Rose Has Teeth in the Mouth of a Beast (Matador)
Ludwig van Beethoven - Leonore Overture No. 2; Witold Lutosławski - Symphony No. 4; Ludwig van Beethoven - Symphony No. 5 - Los Angeles Philharmonic / Esa-Pekka Salonen (Deutsche Grammophon download)
Camille Saint-Saëns - Piano Trios Nos. 1 & 2 - Florestan Trio (Hyperion)
Plainchant - Pange lingua; Josquin des Pres - Missa Pange lingua; Missa La sol fa re mi; Praeter rerum seriem; Ave Maria; Anonymous chanson - L'homme armé; Josquin des Pres - Missa L'homme armé Super voces musicales; Missa L'homme armé Sexti toni - Tallis Scholars (Gimell)
Hi Steve. I love your blog. I wonder if you'd be willing to add your thumbs up/down next to some of your play list CDs. I often wonder: So, is he playing it in pain, or actually recommending it? However you decide to go, many thanks for your blog. Be well, Doug
Posted by: Doug Gary | May 11, 2006 at 05:50 PM