Handel

All that stands between acoustic and electric is time

And to think – nothing separates Handel and some sweet guitar licks but the centuries.

In which the king of kings shows up out of nowhere

Oh, hey! It’s Christmas Eve, and you know what that means – trained vocalists could converge upon you and start belting out Handel AT ANY MOMENT. Be ready!

Incidentally, I’ll be taking tomorrow off, but don’t forget to stop by on Wednesday to help me celebrate National Letdown Day. Merry Christmas to everybody who celebrates it, and Merry Random Day Off to everyone else!

The Concert Roundupcracker

• ‘Tis the season for yet more of Tchaikovsky‘s The Nutcracker! The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra unites with dancers at the Baltimore School for the Arts to bring you a full production of the classic and dare I say mandatory holiday ballet. December 21 &22 at the Lyric (which is right down the street from the Meyerhoff). [ See it! ]
• Speaking of classic and dare I say mandatory holiday things, this week’s National Symphony Orchestra offering is Handel‘s Messiah oratorio. December 20 – 23. [ See it! ]
• This week at Strathmore: TONS of holiday productions, although only some classic and dare I say mandatory. The Washington Chorus has a Christmas production; Charm City Klezmer keeps the Hannukah magic going, gypsy jazz versions of holiday favorites, and, yes, the National Philharmonic busts out two more Messiahs. [ See the calendar! ]

If you’d like your concert included in next week’s roundup, leave a comment or drop me a line.

Unto Us a Concert Roundup Is Given

• OH, UNTO US A CHILD IS BORN! Yes, my friends, the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra presents us with the first Handel‘s Messiah of the season, because it it illegal to schedule an orchestra concert series without including it. But hey, it’s not like the holidays would feel right without the “Hallelujah” chorus, no? December 7 at the Meyerhoff. [ See it! ]
• Or, if you have small children and you’d like to catch a matinee, the BSO is also offering an abbreviated version of Tchaikovsky‘s equally required Nutcracker, with narration and dancers from the Baltimore School for the Arts. December 8 at the Meyerhoff. [ See it! ]
• If, on the other hand, you’re trying to escape the holiday season as long as humanly possible, the National Symphony Orchestra offers a program devoid of the holly jolly – with Lutoslawski, Chopin, and Tchaikovsky‘s third symphony, which is 100% sugarplum free. Yuja Wang on the piano, bee tee dubs. December 6 – 8. [ See it! ]
• This week at Strathmore: Canadian-Celtic fiddler Natalie MacMaster, another Messiah from the National Philharmonic, a holiday school choir, klezmer music. [ See the calendar! ]

If you’d like your concert included in next week’s roundup, leave a comment or drop me a line.

Early Concert Roundup Consort

Edited to add that I really should’ve edited this intro before I published. Oh well. Hi!

• A nifty lineup this week at the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra – Tchaikovsky‘s fourth symphony, Bartok‘s third piano concerto, and selections from Dvorak‘s Slavonic Dances. Really can’t argue with any of that (unfortunately; I’m so much wittier in opposition). October 19 & 21 at the Meyerhoff; October 20 at Strathmore. [ See it! ]
• Speaking of the BSO, they’re still looking for people to sign on to their Ambassador program, wherein you receive points for sharing BSO-related content on your social networks; these points can then be turned in for prizes. [ Learn more! ]
• No National Symphony Orchestra concert this week.
• The Bach Sinfonia starts of the season with everyone’s favorite Music for the Royal Fireworks by Handel, plus works by Avison, Boyce, and Bond. October 21. [ See it! ]
• This week at Strathmore: late Renaissance and early Baroque music with Guido’s Ear, the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain, D.C.-area songwriters. [ See the calendar! ]

If you’d like your concert included in next week’s roundup, leave a comment or drop me a line.

In which it is proven that I am an innovator

I just want to point out that I got there three years ago.

Composer Cagematch!: THE WINNER

Oh, guys. It’s been such a fun journey. Thirty-two composers (edited to add: +2 play-ins) stepped into the ring, and over the year we have slowly whittled it down to two. Before we crown our winner, let’s take a look back over composers past, shall we?

* denotes the winner of the match

ROUND ONE

1. Prokofiev vs. Stravinsky*
2. Debussy* vs. Ravel
3. Dvorak vs. Copland*
4. Britten* vs. Holst
5. Rimsky-Korsakov* vs. Mussourgsky
6. Grieg* vs. Sibelius
7. Schumann vs. Brahms*
8. Tchaikovsky* vs. Rachmaninoff
9. Mahler* vs. Wagner
10. Monteverdi vs. Verdi*
11. Schoenberg* vs. Berg
12. Bernstein vs. Gershwin*
13. Handel* vs. Haydn
14. Chopin* vs. Liszt
15. Bartok* vs. Shostakovich
16. Saint-Saens* vs. Khachaturian

ROUND TWO

1. Stravinsky* vs. Debussy
2. Copland* vs. Britten
3. Tchaikovsky* vs. Rimsky-Korsakov
4. Bartok* vs. Schoenberg
5. Saint-Saens vs. Grieg*
6. Brahms* vs. Mahler
7. Verdi* vs. Handel
8. Gershwin* vs. Chopin

ROUND THREE

1. Stravinsky* vs. Bartok
2. Copland vs. Tchaikovsky*
3. Verdi vs. Gershwin*
4. Grieg vs. Brahms*

ROUND FOUR

1. Brahms* vs. Stravinsky
2. Gershwin vs. Tchaikovsky*

ROUND FIVE (PLAY-IN ROUND)

1. Tchaikovsky vs. Mozart*
2. Beethoven* vs. Brahms

ROUND SIX

Mozart vs. Beethoven

And so we arrive here, at the end. I think we all know whose t-shirt I was wearing, but it wasn’t a question of my sartorial decisions; it all came down to the best man taking the Composer Cagematch! crown. Are you ready? And the winner is…

Continue reading »

A typo I can get behind

Someone found this in the bowels of Strathmore. Swear to God.

Telling criminals to give it a rest

But wait — doesn’t a bit of the old Ludwig Van cause violence?

see more So Much Pun

The Best

Two weeks ago I made a list of composers I considered to be the greatest, in terms of talent, innovation, and output. I tried to make this as objective as possible while still noting that my own preferences and the limits of my knowledge base must unavoidably come into play.

This week? IT’S SUBJECTIVE TIME. Which, indeed, is kind of like Miller Time — alcohol free, yes, but with just as much opportunity to shout your opinions while gesticulating wildly and possibly falling out of your chair.

All of this is just to say that here I would like to present my list not of the greatest composers of all time but the ones I like BEST. Basically the idea here is a collection of the composers that, when the radio deejay says, “next is a piece by ________”, make me say “YAY!!!” Here goes:

1. BEETHOVEN (duh)
2. Bach
3. Khachaturian (and I stand by my decision)
4. Stravinsky
5. Schubert
6. Holst
7. Prokofiev
8. Shostakovich
9. Ravel
10. Tchaikovsky

There is of course a fair amount of overlap, but I bet some of them surprise you. Before you pull out your extra-sharp pitchfork, rest assured — I’m not suggesting Khachaturian ranks above Stravinsky in… well, in ANY category, really. Stravinsky is definitely the better composer. But Khachaturian makes me super happy! So high up the list he stays. Ya get me?

The nice thing about this list is, it’s even more changeable than a best-of list, undulating and evolving with your changing moods and interests; I expect Handel could sneak on to mine any moment now.

Now about you — who are you feeling right now?