Steve Smith
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WiFi signal is dire where I am right now, but I want to get something posted quickly in order to get word of tonight's events circulated. I'll come back to this later in the day to flesh out the list. Official business Wednesday, April 2: Unsound Festival New York 2014Issue Project Room; 8pm; $25, members…
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Reinier van Houdt, by Michelle V. Agins for The New York Times Jacob Greenberg and Reinier van Houdt at Spectrum, March 25, 2014The New York Times, March 27, 2014 Two separate recitals by brilliant pianists heard most frequently in group settings: Jacob Greenberg with the International Contemporary Ensemble, and Reinier van Houdt in the Ives…
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Emerson String Quartet at Alice Tully Hall, March 23, 2014The New York Times, March 26, 2014 My first time to see and hear the Emersons with their new cellist, Paul Watkins. Nice to know that it all still works, and that youngblood has lit a new fire in his crew.
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Yesterday, I missed my mark for my weekly Wandelwatching series, due to a combination of conflicting chores, duties and circumstances. I'll get to that post a bit later, but first, an acknowledgement of something that happened yesterday in the social-media realm. A Facebook post I wrote in the afternoon – intended to set the record…
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Colin Stetson and the Brooklyn Youth Chorus, by Hiroyuki Ito for The New York Times Colin Stetson with the Brooklyn Youth Chorus at Merkin Concert Hall, March 22, 2014The New York Times, March 25, 2014 This one came out really, really quickly, despite some hair-splitting fact-checking that ran up to deadline hour. Once I had…
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This week's agenda – delayed due to circumstances beyond my control, and reined-in because of my family's arrival in NYC to meet the newest member of the clan – includes just two events, both tomorrow night. That said, they're unquestionably meaty items. Tuesday, March 25: Jacob GreenbergSpectrum; 7:30pm; $15 Tuesday, March 25: Reinier van HoudtSpectrum;…
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John Zorn: Masada Book 3 at the Town Hall, March 19, 2014The New York Times, March 21, 2014 The biggest surprise about this particular concert was the fact that I was there; I'd originally been scheduled to cover a different event, but a sick colleague prompted a last-minute shuffle, and here we are. Because of…
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Third Coast Percussion, by Saverio Truglia Classical Playlist: George Antheil, Haydn, Sibelius and MoreThe New York Times ArtsBeat, March 19, 2014 My contribution: DAVID T. LITTLE: ‘Haunt of Last Nightfall’ Third Coast Percussion (New Amsterdam) Coming soon: Elliott Carter; Gil Shaham; Jeffrey Mumford; David Bowlin; Henri Dutilleux; Catherine Christer Hennix
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I find the implication that there are “ears” everywhere, at every point in a world, a fascinating concept, even if it is rather hard to imagine. It implies that position might be more important than time in hearing; and that the sounding configuration of a world can be understood (differently) from an infinite number of…
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Zubin Mehta, Diana Damrau and the Vienna Philharmonic, by Hiroyuki Ito for The New York Times Vienna Philharmonic at Carnegie Hall, March 15 & 16, 2014The New York Times, March 17, 2014 The whole time Diana Damrau was cavorting on the Carnegie Hall podium – during a long evening's third and final encore, understand –…
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Alan Gilbert, by Karsten Moran for The New York Times New York Philharmonic at Avery Fisher Hall, March 12, 2014The New York Times, March 14, 2014 In which I describe Carl Nielsen's Symphony No. 4, "The Inextinguishable," like so: "A seamless sequence of vivid episodes, the piece is a craggy MacGuffin that shouldn’t work but…
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BBC Singers, by John Wood Classical Playlist: John Adams, Prokofiev, Harrison Birtwistle and MoreThe New York Times ArtsBeat, March 12, 2014 My contributions: MORTON FELDMAN: ‘For Philip Guston’ John Tilbury, pianist; Carla Rees, flutist; Simon Allen, percussionist (Atopos) HARRISON BIRTWISTLE: ‘The Moth Requiem’ Roderick Williams, baritone; BBC Singers, Nash Ensemble, conducted by Nicholas Kok (Signum)
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Frustrating to be posting an ostensibly timely feature a day late, but life and work sometimes collude to prevent free time. On the other hand, curiously enough, I hadn't made note of any particular events for Monday or Tuesday — go figure. My agenda for The New York Times this week is lively and diverse,…
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The New Silence aims to further specify and articulate the site of an event by manually adjusting the background noise during a performance situation, redefining the threshold of silence, thus revealing the new silence. Sounds from everyday life in the urban surroundings as well as from the building itself are examined and re-contextualized; one hears…
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Trinity Choir, by Tina Fineberg for The New York Times Trinity Choir at Trinity Wall Street, March 9, 2014The New York Times, Mar. 12, 2014 A very impressive new concert series is underway at historic Trinity Church: six concerts (not five, as I erroneously reported at first) running each Sunday afternoon through April 13. You…
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A week of big orchestral concerts ahead for coverage in The New York Times, and, as ever, plenty that I'd like to see were sleeplessness (well, additional sleeplessness) or cloning available options. Wednesday, March 12: New York PhilharmonicAvery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center; 7:30pm; $39–$59 Alan Gilbert and the Phil continue the outstanding cycle of Carl…
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Shared on Facebook by Larry Appelbaum, here's a video I've never seen before: a documentary about Ornette Coleman's 1966 Parisian trek to record the soundtrack for Who's Crazy? with bassist David Izenson and drummer Charles Moffett. Happy 84th birthday, Ornette, with profound thanks for the music and its message.
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We had already agreed in principle that the entire structure of the piece would be derived from Mozart’s 40th Symphony, and that obviously, “White Metal” should carry a variation of the concept “Black Metal” and the term “white noise”.—Miguel Prado Having declared last week in my initial Wandelwatching post that this series of essays is…
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Talea Ensemble at the Austrian Cultural Forum, March 4, 2014The New York Times, March 6, 2014 My report on a Talea Ensemble performance at the Austrian Cultural Forum New York, one of many fruitful intersections between those two important institutions. Since there was no Times photographer on hand, I've chosen an older video of Talea's…
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Nicholas Phillips Classical Playlist: Stephanie Blythe, Eva-Maria Houben, Nicholas Phillips and MoreNew York Times ArtsBeat, March 5, 2014 My contributions: HOUBEN: ‘Lost in Dreams — Works for Piano’ Eva-Maria Houben, pianist (Edition Wandelweiser) ‘AMERICAN VERNACULAR — NEW MUSIC FOR SOLO PIANO’ Nicholas Phillips (New Focus Recordings) CAMPBELL: ‘Things You Already Know’ Christopher Campbell and ensemble…
Night After Night 