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June 2010

An Interview with Maestro Robert Ainsley

Submitted by operaman on Mon, 06/28/2010 - 11:47

Durham Cathedral"My early life came from a place of deep curiosity fed by material deprivation."
Robert Ainsley

I thought it might be fun over the Summer to interview a number of members of Portland Opera who are responsible for giving us operas of an increasingly high standard, but who you rarely hear from in person. And who better to begin with than Maestro Robert Ainsley, our Associate Music Director and Chorus Master. Rob and I have things in common - both English, went to Cambridge University and have a fondness for cosmos. Talking to him about his youth and early musical life made me realise that, compared to him, I am basically illiterate and have a tin ear. There was so much to talk about with him I have decided to write about him in three installments. Here's the first one. I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed my time chatting with Rob. I should mention that it is compiled from notes I took at the time but which made only little sense when I went back and looked at them.

Operaman: Welcome to the Commodore Gentleman’s Club and Grill Room, Rob. Thank you for joining me. Take a swig of that bloody mary and let’s get right to it. Tell me about your early years and what brought you to music.

"You can imagine how Burgundy hit me like a ton of bricks.."

Submitted by operaman on Mon, 06/21/2010 - 12:07

"You can imagine how Burgundy hit me like a ton of bricks.."

It's not much of a stretch to say that the orchestra of the Metropolitan Opera is the best opera orchestra in the world. And, on its day, may be the best orchestra in America. That's a bit more of a stretch, yes, but an argument could be made. The concert master is a man named David Chan. He secured this job in 2000 when he was the ripe old age of 27. Since then he has led the world's greatest pit band in some ravishing performances night in and night out. Those of you who saw the Met HD transmission of Thais last year will doubtless remember his wonderful rendition of the Méditation that somehow infused new life into what has, let's face it, become something of an old chestnut. That was no mean feat. A couple of days ago I came across a New York Times article about Mr Chan from November 2008 that I had bookmarked and had been meaning to share with you. This shows what Mr Chan does with his spare time and spare cash - he's a wine expert. My kinda guy. Apparently, he is a completist:

    "As a teenager, if I discovered one Mahler symphony, I had to know all of them - one Wagner opera, I had to know them all. You can imagine how Burgundy hit me like a ton of bricks. If I had one producer's Meursault Genevrière one night I had to have the Perrières the next night. Whatever would advance the knowledge."

Thank you Mr Chan. You have provided me with the perfect excuse for the next occasion that I awake to find the previous night's Burgundy has hit me like a ton of bricks. I was just advancing the knowledge, that's all.

 

Anyone can teach the notes!

Submitted by operaman on Mon, 06/14/2010 - 09:28

Nico Muhly"I want to teach voice lessons but only for rests. They can figure out the notes beautifully on their own. The rests not so much."
Composer Nico Muhly on Twitter

I loved this tweet for a whole bunch of reasons. First, because it is just so very true, then because it says so much in so few words and then it is just so darn funny! It made me think of John Cage, It was Cage whose music first made me realise that rests in a music score - the silences where an instrument or instruments do not play, are not just a gap in the music but form an essential part of the music. They may increase musical or emotional tension, may allow us to draw a metaphorical or literal breath or to prepare for the notes that follow. In any event, their contribution to the sound we ultimately hear, is a vital one. Cage made this point in, perhaps, the ultimate way in his piece 4'33". Most commonly the piece is performed by a pianist who sits at the piano, starts a stopwatch and plays not a note for four minutes and thirty-three seconds, during which time the three movements of the piece unfold. He then stops the clock and the piece is over. Needless to say, this 'piece' has come in for a good deal of flack since it was written in 1952. The most commonly heard sniping is said to be the comment "Anyone could have written that!" to which Cage famously replied "Yes - but they didn't!" Cage wrote the piece for any instrument or combination of instruments. I thought you might like to not hear the arrangement for full orchestra.

It's raining. It must be Rose Parade Week!

Submitted by operaman on Mon, 06/07/2010 - 13:16

Some time ago I read a fascinating book entitles Beethoven's Hair which recounted how a doctor had bid for and bought at auction a lock of Beethoven's hair. His purpose, other than to own such a wonderful relic, was to have tests conducted to see whether hints could be gleaned as to the cause of Beethoven's death. Such tests revealed that Beethoven had very elevated levels of lead in his body at the time of his demise and that was probably the main contributing factor to his death. New findings and tests pooh-pooh this theory as reported in this New York Times article. Don't click on the link if you do not want to read about having hot wax poured into your ears.