Spanish conductor Juanjo Mena led the Curtis Symphony Orchestra in a program featuring Berlioz’s epic Symphonie Fantastique, and a bold rendition of Strauss’s Don Quixote with Curtis students as soloists. Relive the concert through our Facebook album recapping the weekend’s events!
Month: October 2017
Bernstein: Conducting as a Conductor Conducts
When Dimitri Mitropoulos said to the 21-year-old Leonard Bernstein, “You must be a conductor…go see Fritz Reiner in Philadelphia,” it was the first time Bernstein had considered conducting as a career. Until this point, he had only conducted with the mindset of a composer and instrumentalist. But how to conduct as a conductor? This he would learn from Fritz Reiner, the great Hungarian maestro who had joined the Curtis faculty in 1931.
Born in Budapest, Reiner had graduated from the National Academy of Music and studied law at the University of Budapest. Among his first conducting engagements were Budapest’s Opera Comique and the National Theater in Laibach, Yugoslavia. He arrived in the United States in 1922, taking a position with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. He later moved on to the Philadelphia Grand Opera Company, the Pittsburgh Symphony, and eventually the Chicago Symphony. In his decade at Curtis he served as head of the opera department, directed the symphony orchestra, and taught classes in conducting.
Reiner was a brilliant technician with the highest musical standards. He taught his students that a conductor had to earn the “right” to step up to the podium through intensive knowledge of the score. In a 1936 interview for The Etude magazine, Reiner provided some answers to the question of how to conduct as a true conductor; one must understand both the composer and the musician:
“Even if a conductor never creates a musical work of his own, he should be as familiar with the craftmanship of composition as any composer. Only in this way will he be able to see clearly into the meaning of the works before him… He must above all start out with a clear idea of what music is. How would you define music[?]…from the viewpoint of the professional musician.”
Reiner would also evaluate a student’s power to effectively lead other people in a positive way. This was the final component, and if he believed a student did not have the requisite leadership skills and personality, Reiner would not allow them to continue in the program. From the same interview:
“It is well, then, for the ambitious young conductor to take careful note of his personal powers, before venturing into a profession where just these personal powers- or lack of them- may be responsible for his future success or failure.”
Despite Reiner’s reported severity, he and his young American charge worked well together. Bernstein possessed the three major elements of Reiner’s model student: skill in composition, virtuosity, and—as American orchestras would soon discover—charisma.
—Barbara Benedett, digital archivist, Curtis Archives
For more information on Curtis history, visit the Curtis Archives.
Meet Curtis Symphony Orchestra soloists Hae Sue Lee and Oliver Herbert
Don Quixote, one of Richard Strauss’s epic tone poems, includes extensive solo parts for viola and cello representing characters in the plot of the classic Cervantes novel. When professional orchestras program Don Quixote, the principal violist and principal cellist are often featured, but student orchestras commonly engage solo artists for these roles, which require virtuosic and sensitive playing on the level of any major concerto. So when it was announced at Curtis that auditions would be held to select soloists from among the student body for the October 29 performance of Don Quixote, it was a resounding statement of trust in the maturity of the potential soloists in the cello and viola studios. At the September auditions, violist Hae Sue Lee and cellist Oliver Herbert were named as the soloists.
If you’ve seen Curtis advertisements and billboards around Philadelphia promoting the current season, you may recognize Oliver, a third-year student from San Francisco who is currently the de facto “face of Curtis.” Already a veteran of such celebrated music festivals as Verbier, Ravinia, and Caramoor, he’s also appeared as a soloist with major orchestras, recently making his solo debut with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra. When he performs Don Quixote’s cello solo on October 29, he’ll represent the eponymous hero in his surreal quest to revive chivalry. Look for more from Oliver on Instagram, where he’ll soon begin sharing a first-hand view of the student experience as a Curtis ambassador.
The equally extensive part for solo viola represents Don Quixote’s loyal squire Sancho Panza. While Don Quixote serves as the protagonist in Cervantes’s story, Sancho Panza is no less important. He’s a relatable, distinctly middle-aged “everyman” figure, often tasked with interpreting Don Quixote’s misunderstandings and balancing his heavy-handed speeches on chivalry with a broad, earthy sense of humor. At first glance, Hae Sue Lee might seem an unlikely choice for the part—and at 17, she’ll surely be one of the youngest violists ever to perform the role. She rose to the top in the auditions after carefully studying the approach of one of her two teachers—Curtis president Roberto Díaz, renowned for his interpretation of the Sancho Panza role. “I listened to recordings of Mr. Diaz’s performances and also worked with him,” Hae Sue says. Mr. Díaz related his experiences playing the work in their lessons and passed along valuable tips, “like how to be clear when leading a section or in ensembles, since I’m not always playing alone.”
“He taught me to really enjoy playing this character.”
For tickets or more information, visit www.curtis.edu/Orchestra.
Curtis 20/21 Ensemble Presents Ecotone: Selected Works for Solo Instruments on October 31
PHILADELPHIA—October 19, 2017—The Curtis 20/21 Ensemble presents Ecotone: Selected Works for Solo Instruments, the first of four programs in the 2017–18 season, on Tuesday, October 31 at 8 p.m. in Gould Rehearsal Hall. A preconcert discussion will begin at 7:30 p.m. The program and discussion will also be streamed live at Curtis.edu/YouTube. Using highly theatrical performances, this concert explores the Edge Effect, Curtis’s latest all-school project, by focusing on the concept of the ecotone, an area of transition between two environments.
The performance includes works for solo instruments and voice that combine virtuosic technique with theatricality. Luciano Berio’s Sequenza V for trombone pays homage to the composer’s childhood memories of a conflicted clown and Aaron Jay Kernis’s Superstar Etude No. 1 recalls the highly physical playing of Jerry Lee Lewis. The program also features works by Amy Beth Kirsten, R. Murray Schafer, and Gabriella Smith, each transforming the solo musician into a dramatic and dynamic character on stage.
This concert is free and no tickets or reservations are required. Seating in Gould Rehearsal Hall is first-come, first-served. The concert will be streamed live at 8 p.m. EST on YouTube and Facebook Live.
The Curtis Institute of Music’s all-school projects are interdepartmental, educational, and cultural extravaganzas characterized by a simultaneous, intensive examination of a specific composition, genre, or era across the academic curriculum, performance studies, and extracurriculum. This year’s project, “The Edge Effect,” is inspired by an ecological phenomenon wherein two ecosystems meet, resulting in the greatest diversity of life. Curtis students will explore this “edge effect” as it relates to music. On stage and in the classroom, students will focus on the results of external influences on musicians as they have manifested over centuries in the creation and performance of concert music.
Flexible in size and scope, the Curtis 20/21 Ensemble performs a wide range of music from the 20th and 21st centuries, including works by Curtis students, faculty, and alumni. The ensemble has appeared at major U.S. venues such as the Kennedy Center and Carnegie Hall, and has presented concert portraits of iconic composers in residence John Corigliano, George Crumb, Krzysztof Penderecki, and Steven Stucky, among others. Of the ensemble’s Joan Tower portrait program, the New York Times wrote, “Ms. Tower could hardly have hoped for more passionate performances.”
CURTIS 20/21 ENSEMBLE: Ecotone: Selected Works for Solo Instruments
Tuesday, October 31 at 8 p.m.
Gould Rehearsal Hall, Lenfest Hall, 1616 Locust Street
Preconcert discussion at 7:30 p.m.
Program to include
BERIO Sequenza V
Matthew Vaughn, trombone
KERNIS Superstar Etude No. 1
Jia Cheng Xiong, piano
KIRSTEN Pirouette on a Moon Sliver
Emma Resmini, flute
SCHAFER The Crown of Ariadne
Helen Gerhold, harp
SMITH The heaventree of stars hung with humid nightblue fruit
Jordan Dodson, guitar (’13)
Chloe Perkes, dancer
Free; no tickets or advance reservations required.
Streamed live on YouTube and Facebook Live at 8 p.m. EST.
Generous support for the Curtis 20/21 Ensemble is provided by the Daniel W. Dietrich II Foundation.
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Student Recital Series Returns Friday October 20!
On Friday, October 20, the Student Recital Series returns for the 2017–18 season! The Student Recital Series provides a platform for exceptional young musicians—and more than 100 free opportunities for audiences to indulge in a season-long showcase of artistry. Since Curtis was founded in 1924, some of history’s most important musicians have appeared on the stage of Field Concert Hall, and today the Student Recital Series continues this celebrated legacy.
Recitals take place most Monday, Wednesday, and Friday evenings at 8 p.m., with additional performances on some weekends and weeknights. Continuing one of Curtis’s newest traditions, all Friday recitals will also be streamed live on YouTube and Facebook Live.
The first student recital will feature a variety of showstopping performances, including solo works by Paganini, Wieniawski, Mozart, and more, and a special preview of music from Curtis Opera Theatre’s upcoming performance of Eugene Onegin. Join us in Field Concert Hall, or join the conversation on social media, where fans and friends listen together and engage in friendly discussion during the performance.
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For more information and recital dates for the full season, visit curtis.edu/Recitals.