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The Bakersfield Californian Thursday, April 7, 2011
Eye Street
Index Scott Cox . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 Night of Champions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 Bakersfield Museum of Art exhibit . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Arts Alive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Bryan Adams . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 The Lowdown with Matt Munoz . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 Al Stewart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29-31
Editor Jennifer Self | Phone 395-7434 | e-mail jself@bakersfield.com
Cavalcade of soaring classics Renowned pianist in guest performance BY SUSAN SCAFFIDI Contributing writer
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here are times when orchestral music is just so impressive, both for its emotional impact as well as its virtuosity. Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra conductor and music director John Farrer has chosen a program for this weekend’s concert that demonstrates the enormous range and scope orchestral music can cover. Some musical eras sought to explore the fullest possible emotional range in composition and performance. The Baroque and Romantic periods share that orientation toward music, and so it is particularly fitting that the BSO program contains music from both eras: Leopold Liszt Stokowski’s orchestral transcription of J.S. Bach’s Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor; Franz Liszt’s “Totentanz” (“Dance of Death”) for piano and orchestra; Cesar Franck’s Symphonic Variations for Piano and Orchestra; and the tone poem “Don Juan” by Richard Strauss. Soloist Anton Nel joins the orchestra for both the Liszt and the Franck. Nel came to the attention of the musical world as a 12year-old, when he performed Beethoven’s Piano Concerto in C Major after only two years of study. His prize-winning teen years led to an equally distinguished performing career as an adult, praised for his chamber music performances as much as for his performances of largescale works. He also has enjoyed a stellar academic career. Admitted to the faculty at the University of Texas at Austin in his early 20s, Nel is now the head of the Division of Keyboard Studies there and holds the Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long Endowed Chair in Piano at the university. He also teaches master classes around the world.
It takes a virtuoso to attempt this — and a strong one at that A blend of storytelling and the compositional exercise of variations on a musical theme, Franz Liszt’s “Totentanz” is a daring work
Rare 19th century manuscript unveiled Jerry Kleinsasser, who does the popular preview lectures one hour before every Bakersfield Symphony concert, is excited about an unusual highlight related to Saturday’s program featuring pianist Anton Nel, who will play Franz Liszt’s “Totentanz,” or “Dance of the Dead.” “What makes the event extra special” Kleinsasser said, “is the presence of Liszt’s autographed score for the work — all 30 pages (written) in the composer’s hand.” The rare manuscript was bought at an auction in London by Dr. Matthew Malerich, a local orthopedic surgeon and a member of the symphony’s board of directors. In addition, Liszt scholar Rena Charnin Mueller of New York University, will comment on the work during the Kleinsasser’s preview. Mueller also will discuss the score with Cal State Bakersfield students and other interested people at 11 a.m. Friday in the choral room which is in the music building. For more information, call 323-7928. — Camille Gavin, contributing columnist
notable for its stark contrasts in texture, timbre, emotional coloring and imagery, ranging from the darkly macabre to an ethereal introspection. Liszt’s work explores the musical possibilities of the Medieval Gregorian chant “Dies irae” (“Day of wrath”) from the Roman Catholic Requiem Mass, or Mass for the dead. Liszt was known for his fascination with death, as were many of his fellow Romantics, but not necessarily for the same religious reasons as the people of the Middle Ages. The technical demands on the soloist are extreme, from the sheer strength required to perform the percussive effects of the stormier passages, to the virtuosity needed to perform the impossible-sounding florid passages. On top of that, a level of artistic flair is necessary to bring out the dynamism of Liszt’s work. The orchestra will be tested in much the same way. Originally written for the pipe organ, Leopold Stokowski’s orchestral
PHOTOS COURTESY OF FELIX ADAMO
Jeanne Johnson, right, of the Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra is on piccolo, with Marc Tipton on clarinet.
Bakersfield Symphony Orchestra With guest soloist Anton Nel When: Pre-concert lecture at 7 p.m. in the Potato Room, show at 8 p.m. Saturday Where: Rabobank Theater, 1001 Truxtun Ave. Admission: $32 to $50; students half price. Tickets available at the Rabobank box office. Information: bakersfieldsymphony.org or 323-7928
transcription of the Bach Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor is a texturally dense work in which lines of music act independently instead of working together to support a dominant musical line. Stokowski, probably best known to younger audiences as the conductor featured in the Disney film “Fantasia,” created orchestral versions of more than 200 works, 40 of them by J.S. Bach, a practice that was not always valued during Stokowski’s lifetime but has gained respect over time. Transcribing a work from one medium (pipe organ) to another (orchestra) is an art in itself, as the transcriber or arranger must decide which instruments are best suited to carry particular musical lines. The result can
Maestro John Farrer conducting a March 2010 symphony concert.
either help the listener hear the work in an entirely new way, or fail the music completely.
Orchestra will tell a story with ‘tone-poem’ Richard Strauss’ tone-poem “Don Juan” is known for its extreme technical demands on virtually all the instruments in the orchestra. A tone-poem is a single-movement work for orchestra with a literary inspiration. The orchestra attempts to tell a story in part by using musical themes to represent characters and creating
sound effects with musical instruments. Based on a poem by Nikolaus Lenau, Strauss’ “Don Juan” captures the romantic spirit of the famed lover, or womanizer, in his quest for the perfect woman, only to realize at the end that his life is a waste. Premiered in 1889 when Strauss was only 24 years old, “Don Juan” caused a sensation and earned Strauss the title as the heir to Richard Wagner. CSUB professor Dr. Jerome Kleinsasser will preview the musical selections in a lecture starting at 7 p.m. in the Potato Room.