Geoffrey Norris of The Telegraph just reviewed a new recording of piano works performed by David Greilsammer.  The concept for the album was a set of works that were connected, but led the composers in different paths.  Included were Alexandre Tansman’s Second Piano Concert (1927), Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, and Nadia Boulanger’s Fantaisie for piano and orchestra – which Norris refers to as the “biggest surprise” of the recording.

The work, which was premiered in 1913, is a rather conservative, and in that way a disappointment to Norris who was anticipating a progressive piece akin to the works of Boulanger’s most famous pupils.  Norris states that:

While at time overblown and structurally loose-knit, it is well worth a listen.

Adding:

It might also give a clue as to why Boulanger felt her main talent lay in teaching.

I recommend having a listen and deciding for yourself – the work is available as a download from Amazon.com.

In what was reportedly a “controversial” decision, Russian born Yulianna Avdeyeva has become the first woman in 45 years to win the Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, Poland.

The competition, which is held every five years, is for young pianists and is reportedly one of the most prestigious competitions in the world.  The last woman to win the prize, Martha Argerich, was on the panel of judges and told reporters:

I am extremely happy about Yulianna, and particularly because she is the first woman after 45 years.  After me there was no lady, so I am very happy.

The controversy apparently lay in the final votes, from an expert panel as well as a public vote.  The public was pulling for Ingolf Wunder, who was awarded second place.  Again, I think that there is something still to be said for the visibility of performers in competitions – had the gender of the performers not been revealed to the audience, would it have impacted their interpretation of the performance?

You can read more about the story here.

Allan Kozinn’s recent New York Times article stated that,

If you want to understand the ways that a modern orchestra must be all things to all people if it hopes to maintain a devoted audience, look at the New York Philharmonic’s schedule for the week just ended.

Yes, the orchestra did premiere a new work by Magnus Lindberg and included Debussy, Sibelius, Brahms, and Webern.  However, I can hardly count several works by dead (or almost all dead) white men to be “all things to all people”.

In fact, the New York Philharmonic has one of the worst records for including works by women composers.  (I, unfortunately, do not have accurate information about the inclusion of other composers that don’t fit the “dead-white-male” category.)  According to the repertoire report available through the League of American Orchestras, the New York Philharmonic has not programmed any works by women composers in at least two years.

Thankfully, that trend seems to be ending, as Sofia Gubaidulina’s Two Paths, which was commissioned by Kurt Masur and premiered in 1999, is programmed for April 2011 and will feature Cynthia Phelps and Rebecca Young on viola.

Here is a video of the maestro speaking about the work:

I will be hopeful that this work, which is subtitled “A Dedication to Mary and Martha” and takes inspiration from biblical characters, will be the first of many more works by women composers heard in the near future by the New York Phil.  As it stands, this ensemble’s lack of diverse programming is anything but “all things” to my ears or interests.

In celebration of their fortieth year, the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra established Project 440 to commission four separate works from four contemporary composers.  Working together with WQXR 105.9 FM in New York they invited listeners to become an active part of the selection process.  After a panel of “artists and industry experts” nominated a group of 60 candidates listeners were invited to explore composer biographies and audio samples, leaving comments and their attempts to sway the selection committee.

Of the four final composers was one woman, Cynthia Wong.  She was one of three women to make it to the second round of finalists – included with her were Yu-Hui Chang and Paola Prestini.

Other women that were part of the original 60 include Amy Kirsten, Wang Jie, Paula Matthusen, Missy Mazzoli, Polina Nazaykinskaya, Laura Andel, Gabriella Smith, Beata Moon, Ann Millikan, and Zibuokle Martinaityte.

In total, 13 women composers were included in the first round – not quite half, which is a positive sign.  I am curious about the selection process as a whole and the transparency of it all.  It seems as if the selection committee made a very conscious effort to be inclusive with candidates in the first round – of gender, nationality, and race.  However, I still feel that the time when instituting blind auditions as a radical new step in ensuring fair evaluation of performance was not that long ago.  Though we certainly have come a long way from that first step, I don’t think we are “there” yet.  Not to suggest that this process was inherently biased in some way – I will just offer that it would have been interesting to see what the results would look like if after the initial selections were made the composer’s identity was not revealed in conjunction with their works.  After all, from an incredibly diverse selection of sixty composers the winners were three white men and a Chinese-American woman.

I feel that judging artist merit is inherently an incredibly difficult process and entirely subjective.  Congratulations to all the composers that were nominated, and especially to those that will be composing for Orpheus, and who will premiere their works in the 2011-12 season.

No one can deny that significant changes are afoot when it comes to the performance and reception of western classical music.  Though I in no way believe that classical music is dying, I believe that it is important to acknowledge that for classical music to thrive in the future we need to reevaluate the place of classical music in society and how to make it as relevant and meaningful, and as incorporated into daily society as it once was.

For example, the Kronos Quartet recently gave a concert at a Bleecker Street nightclub in New York City.  Le Poisson Rouge, which has been open for two years, has always endeavored to include “adventurous music” in their scheduling.  It would seem that the Kronos Quartet, with their own history of adventurous programming, is well suited for the space.

The New York Times recently reviewed two concerts that the Kronos Quartet gave at Le Poisson Rouge over last weekend, and which included several works by women composers.  Among the works heard were Missy Mazzoli’s “Harp and Alter”, the premiere of Aleksandra Vrebalov’s “spell No. 4, for a changing world”, “Flow” by Laurie Anderson, and the first New York performance of String Quartet No. 1 by Maria Schneider.  In Saturday’s concert, the quartet also collaborated with Judith Berkson, singer, keyboardist, composer and cantor.  Included in the performance were two arrangements of works by Schubert by Berkson (“Die Krähe” from “Winterreise” and “Psalm 92”), and an original work by Berkson entitled “Ur Song” from her opera-in-progress.

I am delighted to know of so much under-heard music being performed, particularly by an ensemble whose name carries so much weight.  Certainly, there is appeal to the Kronos Quartet, and their audiences, to new works that might not seem well suited to a traditional concert hall – Missy Mazzoli and Laurie Anderson’s work often includes electronic elements that might make the most typical classical music enthusiasts uneasy.

But the Kronos Quartet does have a history of including works by women composers.  In fact, two of the four winners of their Under 30 Project winners have been women.  Alexandra du Bois’s String Quartet: Oculus Pro Oculo Totum Orbem Terrae Caecat was commission in 2003 and Moscow-born Aviya Kopelman was selected in 2007 to compose a work for the ensemble, which was entitled “Widows & Lovers”.

However, apart from the incorporation of more music by women composers, I am interested in the space that it was heard.  Just as more composers, like Missy Mazzoli, are creating ensembles to write for (thereby assuring that their works get performed), perhaps more ensembles should seek less traditional venues for their performances.  I feel that in some ways these alternate performance spaces could be seen as another way to “other” this music – keeping it out of the concert halls that are meant for “serious” music.  However, can it also be seen as a way to reach a new and enthusiastic audience.  Professional musicians are performing classical music in bars in Cleveland – including Mozart, Britten, Corigliano, Piazzolla, and Bolcom.  Perhaps a more intimate setting with a new audience is just the place to introduce more of the less-known works and attract interest and enthusiasm to the continued performance of this art form?  Perhaps nightclubs and bars are the new parlors for classical music – space to engage with music intimately and stir conversation and enthusiasm, which is never a bad thing.

I will be interested to see how these trends develop, or don’t develop, in the coming months and years.  It bears repeating that change is not only inevitable but necessary for classical music to not only exist but thrive in a meaningful way in contemporary society.  This could be just the ticket.

And for anyone in New York City, you can head to Le Poisson Rouge on October 17 to hear The Chiara String Quartet perform the New York premiere of Gabriela Lena Frank’s “Milagros”.

It was just announced that the Institute of European Studies in Vienna named Nancy Van de Vate as composer in residence.

Van de Vate, who was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, is a prolific composer and educator, as well as an active performer.  Her works are frequently performed internationally, and she frequently guest lectures in Austria, Germany, and the United States.  Van de Vate also has the honor of being one of the most recorded composers of orchestral music in the world, and Schwann Opus and Bielefelder catalogs call her the most recorded woman composer in the world.  Two of her operas, All Quiet on the Western Front and Where the Cross is Made, have been nominated for the Pultizer Prize.

One of her most significant contributions to the larger music community, however, was the founding of the International League of Women Composers in 1975.  This is second only to her active role in recording the works of women composers under the Vienna Modern Masters label, which she co-founded in 1990.

Nancy Van de Vate’s contributions to the music community have already been tremendous, and I can only hope and imagine that she will continue on to even more success as she continues to work to recognize the accomplishments and music of historic and contemporary women composers.

As I mentioned during her Feast Day, Hildegard of Bingen is clearly one of the most extraordinary women in history, if not the most extraordinary.  Her achievements, including standing up to and even actively challenging The Church, and recording her visions and music, would be remarkable for any person of her time, let alone a woman.  Thankfully, her contributions are readily being recognized – composers have actively re-set her texts, and her chants have been recorded by a contemporary Swedish electronic ensemble (check out Garmarna – they have clips on their website).

Last year German filmmaker Margarethe von Trotta released a new film about Hildegard’s life.  Vision: From the Life of Hildegard von Bingen was only available in Germany, until now!

The film is opening in New York City on October 13, in Philadelphia on October 22, Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago and Minneapolis on November 5, and San Francisco and Washington DC on November 12.  You can see more dates on the film website.

I am very anxious to see this film and how it portrays the amazing life and work of my favorite historical figure.  Though I’m sure that there will be at least a few conflicts in historical accuracy, and how could there not be, I will be thrilled if only to see the medieval cloisters that they used to film movie and recognize the effort of Margarethe von Trotta in returning to her original writings and church documents to convey the truth of the events that unfolded in Hildegard’s life.  I’m also envisioning the inherent camaraderie that will be present among the fellow theater-goers!

The film’s website has far more information about the movie, including a detailed history of Hildegard’s life, with a timeline, as well as why this topic was of such importance to the filmmaker.