Archive for April, 2010

Despite twists of fate, Seattle Symphony delivers

By Philippa Kiraly, Special to TGN

It’s the hall mark of a professional orchestra that when unexpected obstacles threaten to overcome a concert, musicians rise above them and achieve a high level of performance anyway. This week the Seattle Symphony rose to the challenge and triumphed.

I’ve been at a performance elsewhere where the lights went out and the orchestra performed in the pitch dark—music it knew well, granted. I’ve heard firsthand about a travel performance where the musicians’ trunks didn’t arrive, and they played borrowed instruments in borrowed clothes (Moscow), and another where the stagehands didn’t like Americans and made the musicians dress and warm up on the loading dock (Paris).

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Morlot, un chef ordonné

Claude Gingras

Ludovic Morlot a fait grande impression lors de ses débuts à l’Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal hier soir. En simple complet de ville (alors que les musiciens sont en queue de pie), le nouveau venu de 36 ans, de petite taille, sautillant même à l’occasion, dirige d’une façon à la fois très dynamique et très contrôlée.

Ouvrant le programme, Nuages et Fêtes – les deux premiers des trois Nocturnes de Debussy – découvrent une mise en place orchestrale inhabituellement ordonnée. Les groupes de cordes, de bois et de cuivres, aux dessins mélodiques souvent identiques, se répondent comme sur trois paliers distincts, au lieu de se confondre selon la «bonne» tradition debussyste.

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Morlot Replaces Roberto Abbado on Podium Due to Schedule Change

Cellist Xavier Phillips to Perform Dutilleux’s Cello Concerto

Seattle Symphony announces that, due to a schedule change, French conductor Ludovic Morlot will replace Roberto Abbado in upcoming Masterworks season performances on April 22, 24 and 25. Morlot will lead Seattle Symphony in Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony and Dutilleux’s Cello Concerto, featuring guest cellist Xavier Phillips. The overture to Verdi’s opera La forza del destino will replace Berlioz’s Roman Carnival Overture to start the program. Performances will take place on Thursday, April 22, at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday, April 24, at 8 p.m.

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