Friday April 27, 2007 
The collected occasional commentary by Peter Korn, Accessibility Architect at Sun Microsystems, Inc.
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Peter Korn's Weblog The collected occasional commentary by Peter Korn, Accessibility Architect at Sun Microsystems, Inc. |
Friday April 27, 2007 Slava died todayThe world lost a great man today. Mstislav Rostropovich died today in Moscow. The New York Times has a warm and loving obituary (assuming you have a free login to read it). I re-joined the San Francisco Symphony Chorus in large part to sing with Slava - his widely used nickname - performing Babi Yar, a piece written by his teacher & mentor Dmitri Shostakovich. Not only was Slava a great conductor, and a tremendous cellist, but he was also a world citizen who suffered the consequences of criticizing his mother Russia (whilst defending the writer & dissident Aleksander Solzhenitsyn). When the Berlin Wall fell, Slava flew there immediately, and gave an impromptu solo recital. It was a tremendous honor to sing under his baton, and I will miss him greatly. (2007-04-27 08:01:41.0) Permalink Comments [1]
Tuesday June 20, 2006 From Italian Latin to High Elvish (and Orcish, and...)Not only do we sing in a lot of languages in the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, but also in various language dialects (this year alone we had German-Latin [Carmina burana, Mahler 8, Oedipus Rex] and Italian-Latin [Verdi Requiem], Old-Middle-German [Carmina burana], plain-old-normal German [Mahler 8, Haydn The Storm, Mozart Coronation Mass], Russian [Babi Yar], French [The Nightingale], and of course English [Handel Messiah] - not to mention the smattering of languages in the Chorus Concert). But with our upcoming performance of The Lord of the Rings Symphony we add a few new languages to repertoire: High Elvish, Orcish (and perhaps a few others; I'll find out tonight when we being our first rehearsals). From the San Francisco Symphony concert blurb:
Relive the award-winning soundtrack of The Lord of the Rings, composed by Howard Shore. Original illustrations and storyboard sketches by renowned Tolkien artists Alan Lee and John Howe projected onto a screen above the orchestra create a unique multimedia experience. Played by the full orchestra, this concert proves once again that digital surround sound in the movie theater is no match for the real thing.
This should be a hoot! As a fan of Tolkien, I'm looking forward to being part of this. But first we have a few more Verdi Requiem performances to finish... (2006-06-20 11:00:51.0) Permalink
Wednesday June 14, 2006 Requiem AeternamThe choral season of the San Francisco Symphony comes to a close with performances this week and next of the Verdi Reqiuem. Requiem Aeternam - Rest Eternal. To perform this piece, and the Mahler 8, and the Shostakovich Babi Yar, and Carmina burana - all under the leadership of chorus director Vance George is why I returned to the San Francisco Symphony Chorus this season after a 7 year absence. I was delighted to perform in the rest of the choral program as well. But those four pieces, and most especially the Requiem, are why I've at times twisted my travel schedule (and at times even that of the OASIS ODF Accessibility Subcommittee). This is Vance George's last year with the Symphony Chorus. After 23 years leading our chorus, he is retiring. I first met Vance when he was guest preparing the U.C. Berkeley Chorus in what was my first performance of the Beethovan Ninth Symphony. When I graduated from Berkeley, I immediately joined the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, under Vance George. This Verdi Requiem we perform this week and next is the last one Vance is preparing. This is our, my, goodbye to him. Two of the choral pieces this year hold another, special meaning for me. Shostakovich' Symphony No. 13, Babi Yar is a setting of several poems by Russian poet Yevtushenko, the first of which tells the story of the murder of 100,000 Ukranian Jews in the Babi Yar ravine in World War II. By the end of our performances (and by the end of most of the rehearsals) I was quietly weeping through my singing. And it is the same for me with the Verdi. During World War II Teresienstadt was the "Red Cross show-off camp", a concentration camp that was presented by the Nazis to the outside world as a model Jewish settlement (and that the Red Cross were allowed to visit). In reality it was where many Czech Jews - especially those who were culturally known - were housed en-route to the death camps like Auschwitz. Some of the many fine musicians among those in Teresianstadt took to organizaing musical and cutural activities - notably Karel Schwenk and Rafael Schaechter - using occasionally smuggled instruments and of course voice. In September 1943, after some months of preparation Rafael Schaechter put on a performance of the Verdi Requiem, with a chorus of 150 voices, the 4 soloists Marion Podolier, Hilde Aronson-Lindt, David Gruenfeld, and Karen Berman, and piano accompaniment. A second performance by this group wasn't realized - a transport train to the East wiped out most of the chorus. But another chorus was assembled of similar size, and again the Requiem performed. And again the another transport demolished the ensemble. And again, Schaechter assembled another chorus. In all, Schaechter put on around fifteen performances of the Verdi Requiem. One of these was a command performance for the Committee of the International Red Cross, hosted by Adolf Eichmann, during one of their visits to Teresienstadt. My mom never heard any of these performances. Schaechter was gone by the time she had arrived. But she was enriched by the bits of culture he and others had started there. Libera me - Deliver me. (2006-06-14 23:18:04.0) Permalink
Monday June 05, 2006 Symphonly of not quite 500Last week the amassed forces of the San Francisco Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony Chorus, the Pacific Boychoir, the San Francisco Girls Chorus, soprano Marisol Montalvo, soprano Elza van den Heever, soprano Jennifer Welch-Babidge, mezzo-soprano Stephanie Blythe, mezzo-soprano Elena Manistina, tenor Anthony Dean Griffey, baritone James Johnson, and bass Raymond Aceto, under the baton of Maestro Michael Tilson Thomas, performed Mahler Symphony No. 8. Called the Symphony of a thousand (which truly had over 1,000 performers on stage at the American premier), last Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday we performed it with 223 adult chorus members, 36 boys, 45 girls, 8 soloists, the 106 members of the symphony (augmented by an additional harp, an additioal bassoon, 7 antiphonal horns, glockenspiel, harmonium, organ, and mandolin), and a single conductor to keep us all together. The Contra Costa Times has a review in which they count 404 on stage (my count puts us at 420), and called the event "ONE OF THE BAY AREA'S most remarkable, ecstatic, emotionally draining, almost unbelievably thrilling and spectacular (you fill in the adjective) ongoing cultural events of the past several years". Joshua Kosman of the San Francisco Chronicle had high praise for the chorus, which he said was "singing with hushed intensity and superb balances". He also felt that the "children's choruses were splendidly delivered by Pacific Boychoir and the San Francisco Girls Chorus." Michael Steinberg's program notes from the printed program provide a wonderful introduction to the piece. Speaking for myself, this is one of my favorite pieces to perform, especially with the San Francisco Symphony & Chorus. From the Chorus Mysticus (a nearly a capella section which the our chorus began singing facing inward, away from the audience), to the thundering finale, there is no other piece with as great a range of dynamics, vocal range, or intensity. And the feeling of singing in finale, with the incredible mass of sound all around you, is amazing and indescribable. (2006-06-05 09:47:55.0) Permalink
Friday January 27, 2006 What can happen when chorus rehearsal is in a garage...The fun folks at Honda UK put together an ad for the new Civic that, along with the Carlton Draught Big Ad, is in the running for most innovative use of chorus in advertising. See a cached copy here. (2006-01-27 13:04:33.0) Permalink
Wednesday January 18, 2006 Veni Creator Spiritus!Rehearsals have begun for the 2nd half of the 2005/2006 San Francisco Symphony Chorus program. Last night we began rehearsing Mahler's 8th symphony, which opens with the Latin text "Come Creator Spirit". Dedicated to "Meiner lieben Frau Alma Maria", the 8th symphony is one of the more challenging choral works. Like Mahler's 2nd symphony, he demands an incredible vocal range (the basses go from B below the bass clef to G above middle C - nearly three octaves!), and does so across a huge dynamic range (ppp through fff, and every step in between). Thankfully when we're down the gravelly parts of our range (the low B) its ppp - the most sound we could possibly make down there anyway, and likewise the high G is ff (since we couldn't do that quietly no matter how good our falsetto). I've performed Mahler's 8th symphony with the San Francisco Symphony Chorus on two previous occasions, so last night felt like renewing an acquaintance with an old friend. Another old friend I'm looking forward to a renewed acquaintance with is the Verdi Requiem, which we perform in June. If you are interested in attending any of these performances, now is a great time to get tickets! Today through Tuesday evening January 24th the Symphony Box Office is running a sale - all seats that cost less than $50 are available for $25, and everything else is available for $50 (including their very best, $107 seats). Details available here. (2006-01-18 14:48:51.0) Permalink
Thursday December 08, 2005 Act I: The NightingaleWe just finished the first of three nights performing Stravinsky's The Nightingale and Oedipus Rex (see my previous blog entry for details). If Americans singing a Greek tragedy in Latin weren't odd enough, how about a Russian debut of a story about a Chinese court, with Japanese courtiers, sung in French? That's the first half of our performance, only done in San Francisco. And perhaps inspired by the Cirque du Soleil performance of Corteo which is playing in San Francisco through January 8th, we had 3 contortionists joining the performance, playing the part of the mechanical bird delivered by the Japanese emissaries to the court (and part of the reason why our hero, The Nightingale, departs the court). For more of the story, you should read the program notes as printed by the San Francisco Symphony for the program. It's great being back with the Symphony Chorus! (2005-12-08 23:11:20.0) Permalink
Wednesday December 07, 2005 A Greek tragedy, semi-staged and sung in Latin...We are in a true "dress" rehersal for the San Francisco Symphony and Chorus (and soloists and dancers!) performance of Stravinsky's The Nightingale and Oedipus Rex. Unlike typical SF Symphony performances, this one is semi-staged. Everyone in the chorus wears a mask for the Oedipus performance (and a lucky few of us get to wear a second mask, which comes out at a strategic moment...). Yesterday they gave us more wardrobe - a red glove which makes an appearance at a pivotal moment. We have a stage within a stage, on stage with us. It causes some challenges for some of the chorus. But with strategically located monitors showing us the maestro on camera, we can at least see when we are to come in (even if the audience may not be able to see us). The Symphnony is doing a few new things this year. In addition to a semi-staged performance, they've also started their "6.5" series on a few Friday nights (concert starts at 6:30, with a live accompanied lecture about the subject). The Nightingale and Oedipus Rex will be performed tomorrow night Thursday December 8th, through Saturday December 10th. Well, time to head back to rehersal... (2005-12-07 18:57:50.0) Permalink
Saturday November 12, 2005 O Fortuna!It is always a blast to sing Carmina burana with the San Francisco Symphony & Chorus. We just finished 4 nights of this under the baton of visiting conductor David Robertson (Music Director of the Saint Louis Symphony and Principal Guest Conductor of London's BBC Symphony). Soloists were soprano Patrica Petibon from France, baritone Christopher Maltman of England, and tenor/swan Richard Troxell of Maryland. We were joined by members of the San Francisco Girls Chorus and the Pacific Boychoir (who we will see again this season in the Mahler 8 performances in May & June). This set of performances felt very fresh to me, with Maestro Robertson setting different tempi almost every night - and a lot more changes in tempo than I'm used to. Keeps you on your toes! Another new thing was the first of the new 6.5 series - a set of Friday evening concerts that start at 6:30pm instead of the usual 8pm, and include a live 'pre-concert lecture' with conductor, orchestra, and in this case chorus. We started the 'lecture' by singing the opening number, which Maestro Robertson then dissected a bit in various different ways, illustrating all of the complex things that Orff has the orchestra doing. He then had us sing and play a few excerpts and entire numbers - the orchestral "Tanz", verse 1 of "Chramer, gip die varwe mir", baritone Christopher Maltman's "Estuans interius", verse 1 of "Olim lacus colueram" (where we meet tenor Richard Troxell but before his goose gets cooked), the children's chorus with soprano Patrica Petibon singing "Amor volat undique", everyone together on "Tempus et iocundum", and again in "Ave formosissima" which the Maestro also dissected a bit. With a piece like Carmina burana that we've sung so many times (and done well enough with to win a Grammy in 1993!), we were all comfortable enough with it to have a little fun. So first as a surprise for Chorus Director Vance George, and then again in our first rehersal with Maestro Robertson, we substitued the words to O Fortuna with those from the Carlton Draught "Big Ad" commercial. For a while we thought the Maestro would ask us to reprise that for the 'lecture', but instead he only made reference to it. Program notes for the concert are now available - for both Carmina burana, and also for Revueltas' La noche de los Mayas which was on the first half of the program. (2005-11-12 21:00:00.0) Permalink
Thursday July 21, 2005 [Re]Joining the San Francisco Symphony ChorusAfter a hiatus of some years, I am thrilled to be rejoining the San Francisco Symphony Chorus. The Chorus is attached to the San Francisco Symphony, and is ably led by Vance George (to the tune of three Grammy awards!). This professional chorus has a very demanding rehersal and performance schedule. In the upcoming season the Chorus is performing in 9 separate programs, with each program presented over 3 to 6 evenings - for a total of 34 concerts (so nearly 10% of the time we're performing!). In this upcoming season the Chorus is part of the following programs/performances:
It is going to be a great season, and I'm really looking forward to being back with the Chorus. Some of the pieces have become old friends (Carmina burana, Messiah, Mahler 8, and the Verdi Reqiuem). Others will be new to me. The Russian in the Stravinsky and Shostakovich will be a particularly fun challenge (I fondly remember my in first season with the San Francisco Symphony Chorus in 1990, when we performed Alexander Nevsky by Sergi Prokofiev, conducted by Kurt Masur. He was a guest conductor visiting from the about-to-longer-be-East-Germany Stadtkapelle Orchestra & Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra, where he almost single handedly convinced Erich Honecker to call off the police from stopping a pro-democracy march and thereby preventing a lot of bloodshed as the Communist East German government collapsed). For tickets, contact the San Francisco Symphony Box Office at (415) 864-6000 Monday through Friday 10am to 6pm, and Saturday noon to 6pm. (2005-07-21 15:29:15.0) Permalink |
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