Following hard on the the heels of works by KORPIJAAKKO, there is another Finnish Guitar Concerto recording – in fact, world première recordings of two Guitar Concertos: one by Kimmo Hakola and the other by Toshio Hosokawa. These are performed by Timo Korhonen – the guitarist for whom the concertos were written – and the Oulu Symphony Orchestra conducted by Santtu-Matias Rouvali.
“Parsifal, the hero’s path to compassion and understanding can be a metaphor for the church. ”
This is another post with more than a whiff of the ecclesiastical.
Pope Francis is the second Pope in recent times with an interest in classical music (see below).
Unfortunately His Holiness doesn’t mention whether he listens to smaller scale works than Wagner’s Ring or the Bach St.Matthew Passion, although I’m sure he would appreciate Barrios’ La Catedral.
In fact, when he visited Brazil, he did play the guitar, more than in a metaphorical way – a papal aide says “In 2007, Benedict came and played the standard classical nocturne that he was famous for, and his devotees loved it. Francis came and played the guitar in his very accessible style and the crowds went wild,” We have to remember the Holy Father is Argentinian, although i suspect Piazzolla isn’t one of the composers he plays.
Berta Rojas‘ new album “Salsa Roja” was released last month, paying tribute to her beloved Latin America. But what makes this collection of music extra special is the collaboration with the Recycled Instruments Orchestra of Cateura — or Landfill Harmonic Orchestra — a 19-member ensemble comprised of children from Asunción, Paraguay who perform using instruments they have built from recycled trash. Berta is also working to design what she hopes will be the Cateura Music School, the town’s very first music school with real instruments.
In case you didn’t catch it, this heartwarming video is a backstage look at the project she was involved in, in her native Paraguay, with composer and conductor Edín Solís and the children of Loma San Jerónimo. Continue reading
“Korpijaakko is clearly at home with the musical possibilities of the guitar with the solo guitar sonata Kimberley (2006), a standout as one of the most remarkable works of recent years for solo guitar composed in Finland.”
So writes a critic in FMQ, Finnish Music Quarterly.
Intriguing, no?
Here is a CD of guitar music by the Finnish guitarist and composer Paavo Korpijaakko performed Petri Kumela by which I think deserves to be better known
Continue reading
In the interview that follows, The Jellyfish Brothers talk about rehearsing as a duo while each lives in a different country, writing music for silent movies and life as travelling musicians away from their families, ending with a reflection on playing in the shed.
It was a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with Randy, whose CD Puerto Viejo, I admired so much, and to listen to Ben’s compositions and talk about music with him again.
Les Freres Meduses
I had the privilege of hearing Les Frères Méduses (aka The Jellyfish Brothers) for the second time this year. The first time was in Louisville at the GFA and this second time the dynamic duo of Benoît Albert and Randall Avers played in the shed.
In a veritable fluther of jellyfish activity, we were treated to duets by Machado, Bogdanovic, Ivanovic, Laborde, Rami Vamos as well as music by the duo off their latest album “Modern Guitar Duets” and some of their live music for films by Georges Méliès (of “Hugo” fame), “Mekanisk”.
The playing was stunning as well as playful – this was remarkable as Randy had just arrived from Norway and Ben from France a few hours before playing.
Like everything else they do, the ensemble is beautifully precise yet thoroughly musical. There repertoire comes from a less familiar branch of modern guitar music, namely Balkan rhythms with jazz and folk idioms thrown in.
featuring
The Tippett String Quartet
John Williams (guitar)
Maggie Cole (harpsichord)
Richard Harvey (recorder)
Anna Noakes (flute)
Gillian Tingay (harp)
Zone 6 Brass Quintet
Roger Chase (viola)
Benedict Cruft (violin)
Brian Gulland (bassoon)
Tom Ellis (guitar)
and more… subject to availability
The Tippett String Quartet, who have recorded all nine of Stephen Dodgson’s quartets, and John Williams, who has played his music for 57 years, lead this wide-ranging celebration of his life and work.
When Carl Maria von Weber died in 1826, amongst his belongings was a manuscript which came to be known as “Weber’s Last Waltz” although it was actually by Carl Gottlieb Reißiger an ex-student of Salieri who succeeded Weber as Kappellmeister at the court of Dresden.
This waltz became extremely popular amongst pianists, and is primarily of interest to guitarists because it was the favourite piece of the eponymous Roderick Usher of Poe’s “Fall of the House of Usher”
“his heart is a suspended lute, as soon as it is touched, it resounds” -quote from “Le Refus” (1831) by the French songwriter Pierre-Jean de Béranger (1780–1857)
Just in case anyone missed it
So, posting these breakages on the internet has some effect, however small or deluded – that was a pretty quick response.
Any publicity might be good for an airline, but good publicity is probably better!
So don’t give up! Sign the petition.
Just announced special guests: Melody Moore (operatic soprano) and GRAMMY-award winning guitarist / the one and only father of Clarice: Sergio Assad
“Clarice Assad is quite simply a phenomenon who has streaked across the world’s musical landscape like one of those comets that appears just once in a lifetime” LATIN JAZZ NETWORK
Here is a preview and family portrait with Sergio accompanying his piece, Angela:
Sir John Eliot Gardiner’s new biography of JS Bach Music in the Castle of Heaven shows a different world to the distant, sanitised one we are often presented with when we hear about the composer.
Archival sources, including school inspector reports, reveal that Bach’s education was troubled by gang warfare and bullying, sadism and sodomy – as well as his own extensive truancy.