JACK Quartet and ACO Premiere New Alex Mincek Concerto

by Ted Gordon on Oct. 13, 2015, 11:13 a.m.

On October 16, 2015, Alex Mincek's new concerto for string quartet and orchestra will be premeired by the legendary JACK Quartet, alongside the American Composers Orchestra. A continuation of his String Quartet No. 3, also composed for and premiered by the JACK Quartet, this new composition, "Continuo", has a double meaning: it is both an extension of the previous work, and also references the baroque concept of continuo, accompaniment provided for a group of soloists. Mincek writes,

"I try to fluidly connect various harmonic processes that are typically considered incompatible (by some). Namely, modal organization, tonal organization, organization by abstract intervallic relationships (symmetry, proximity, etc...), and organization pertaining to acoustic phenomena (Just Intonation, harmonic spectra, non-harmonic spectra, etc...). I'm traversing and combining these approaches not merely for the variety of their sensual qualities (surfaces), but for their structural properties relative to specific musical functions/goals."

For an idea of these disparate sound-worlds that Mincek is interested in combining, check out his String Quartet No. 3: 

The concert kicks off 2015's SONiC Festival, and will be broadcast as a part of New Sounds Live, hosted by John Shaefer. 

Rufus Wainwright's "Prima Donna" on Deutsche Grammophon

by Leif Larson on Oct. 7, 2015, 4 a.m.

Deutsche Grammophon has released the debut recording of Grammy-award winning songwriter and composer Rufus Wainwright's premiere opera, Prima Donna. The album features soprano Janis Kelly, who originated the title role at the opera's premiere at the Manchester International Festival. Praised as a “singing actress of near genius” (Sunday Times), Kelly’s experience with operatic repertoire of the past and present is fitting for Wainwright’s operatic ambition and ideals.

Prima Donna tells the story of an opera singer at the end of her celebrated career as she reminisces and muses about what may come afterward. Wainwright explains that for years he had been searching for a suitable story:

[One] that wasn't a saga involving a chorus and insane costumes... [Suddenly] a story fell into my lap, after watching an interview with Maria Callas. The opera is not about her, but it is about the persona of an opera star; it is a day in the life of an opera singer...the subtle shifts of a woman's heart; the grave consequences of little actions...

Though Wainwright's inspiration and musical language draws heavily from grand romantic opera, particularly recalling the grandiose elements of stage works by Richard Strauss, his lyrical flair and dramatic pacing is distinctly his own. The recording prominently features lush and energetic playing by the BBC Symphony Orchestra. The winds are heard in playful passages as well as soaring lyrical moments, and the flute has a noticeable presence recalling familiar usage in Mozart and Verdi’s operatic works. The writing for the strings is highly effective, with exquisite emotional phrasing and color that enhance the opera's throttling moments and embellish the drama in ways recalling Wagner. The final interlude in Prima Donna is a beautiful melodramatic feast of strings with a striking violin solo that crystalizes the opera's potent emotional elements.

Alongside soprano Janis Kelly, the two-disc release features soprano Kathryn Guthrie, tenor Antonio Figueroa and baritone Richard Morrison with Jayce Ogren leading the BBC Symphony Orchestra. Copies of the full score as well as the vocal score (for both the full and concert versions of the work) are available from PSNY.

New Works by Timo Andres on PSNY

by Ted Gordon on Oct. 6, 2015, 12:30 p.m.

Timo Andres: modern troubadour. No, he doesn't wander the French countryside singing Occitan poetry. But like a troubadour, Andres has been performing and composing across the country, commissioned by modern patrons such as Carnegie Hall and the Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival for fellow performers such as yMusic, eighth blackbird, and pianists Bruce Levingston and Kristin Elgersma. We're proud to offer a batch of Andres' latest works for direct download on PSNY. 

To begin, consider two new works for solo piano: Clear and Cold, and Heavy Sleep. Both highlight Timo's nuanced take on composers of the past—Ravel and Chopin, respectively—and offer new interpretations on the terrors and pleasures of melancholy and somnambulation. Check out this excerpt from Heavy Sleep: 

Andres' new works for chamber ensembles expand his palette to include many more hands and instruments than his own two at the piano. Andres describes Safe Travels, composed for yMusic, as "a short, peripatetic piece built on a constantly-shifting harmonic pattern"; these shifts remind the listener of the experience of travel, with its endless, shifting patterns, traversing the gamut of harmonic possibilities.

Checkered Shade, written for eighth blackbird, takes the pen-and-ink drawings of Astrid Bowlby as its metaphorical inspiration. The piece mirrors the experience of seeing Bowlby's work: an intense attention to detail, slowly followed by the realization that the small pattern also constitutes a much more complex whole.