To celebrate World Piano Day, Deutsche Grammophon is hosting a global virtual concert! See DG label pianists performing live RIGHT NOW at https://youtu.be/GDQZiLx6CzE [Sorry, this link is no longer available].
Monthly Archives: March 2020
A virtual orchestra performance and more great free concerts
Musicians can’t not make music. And when creative people, well, get creative, wonderful things can happen. What does an orchestra do when everyone has to stay home?
Watch the Toronto Symphony Orchestra play Aaron Copland’s Appalachian Spring.
Seeing this video made me think of a comment by artist Janet Cardiff, highlighted in my Virtual Choirs post. She said that visitors to her sound installation would frequently walk directly up to a speaker projecting a singer’s voice, something that you could not do with a live choir. The visitors literally got close to the music, hearing each singer’s voice in a way that you cannot do under normal circumstances. In the Toronto Symphony Orchestra video, you can see, frequently close up, each musician, a view that you cannot get, certainly at live performances, and even in recorded concerts. They are all wearing different clothing, you can see them as individuals. And there is something very warm in that.
I can only hope that the resourcefulness that is now being displayed during this crisis will not be forgotten once the crisis is past, and that we will find new ways to bring more music to more people in more venues, and find ways for musicians to be justly compensated for bringing their music directly to their listeners and viewers.
So, let’s hear some more music!
Here is an article from the CBC providing details on “6 cool classical concerts to watch right now.”
L’Orchestre symphonique de Montreal is streaming concerts from its archives every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 8:00PM ET (GMT -4).
At this link you can see the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra perform Beethoven’s Fourth Piano Concerto and his Sixth Symphony “Pastorale”. It is a top-notch performance.
If you find great performances or live concerts I haven’t discovered, be sure to share them with everyone in the comments. Thanks!
Virtual Choirs
At the moment, choirs cannot sing together. But today, I have for you two examples of virtual choirs.
Composer Eric Whitacre got the idea of a virtual choir “gathering” to sing his composition Luz Aurumque. The result is stunning. Here is the virtual choir singing Lux Aurumque. You can read about the virtual choir here.
Artist Janet Cardiff had a different idea. Cardiff recorded a choir singing Thomas Tallis’s Spem in alium, a motet for 40 voices. You can read more about Spem in alium here. Each singer had their own microphone. She then tuned the result into a sound installation. The voice of each individual singer comes from its own speaker. While no human singers are present in the installation, it is a profoundly human experience. I encourage you to watch this video about the sound installation. Here is an excerpt of Cardiff’s installation.
And because we all need this now (Spem means “hope” in Latin), here is the complete Spem in alium.
More Free Music!
The ranks of musical institutions and performers helping us all get through the current health crisis together are growing. Here’s are my latest finds.
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra has now made its Replay archive of past concerts available for free. Enjoy high-definition recordings with fantastic sound in the comfort of your own home. Visit https://livefromorchestrahall.vhx.tv/browse to access the performances. There, you can set up a free account, but it is not mandatory. You can search the offerings by composer or time period.
Piano fans! Igor Levit is giving nightly live “House Concerts” on Twitter (twitter.com/igorpianist). See his Twitter feed for times and for other performances. Boris Giltburg (https://twitter.com/BorisGiltburg) will also be offering Twitter performances. [Added note: you don’t need a twitter account to see the concerts].
You also might want to check out the YouTube channel of Wigmore Hall, especially their Beethoven 250 Festival recordings.
Opera fans! The Teatro Regio in Turin is offering #operaonthesofa. Check out their website for details, or go to their YouTube channel to check out the playlist. The Vienna State Opera is also opening their archive of performances. To see the archive, you will need to set up a free account. They are also livestreaming a different performance each night. Livestreams begin at 17:00 or 19:00 CET (GMT +1), and those are available for 24 hours.
Also, check out WKAR’s schedule of livestream performances. You can find it at https://www.wkar.org/post/list-live-streaming-concerts#stream/0.
Off topic, but if you need some calm, and something a little different, I’d like to suggest the live cams at the Monterey Bay Aquarium or the National Aquarium. You can watch fish, penguins, birds, jellyfish (oddly mesmerizing—nature’s lava lamp), or just the beautiful bay. You can find a wide variety of animals and natural scenery on livecam at explore.org (I particularly recommend the Zen Cams). Add your own classical soundtrack if you’d like! Nature endures; spring is coming.
Classical Hand Washing Help
Everyone has been advised to wash their hands for at least 20 seconds. A good way to make sure you’re doing it long enough is by singing song lyrics.
I love this hand-washing guide I found on Twitter (you can find the original here and you can make your own here). Below it (and in the link) you will find a video of the music that goes with it, Perotin’s Viderunt omnes (and see why I found it amusing; the page turn just adds to it).
And if you find the header image of a hand mysterious, see my post Beware the Guidonian Hand for an explanation. For more on Perotin, see the 2015 haiku post Christmas 1198.
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Image attribution: https://twitter.com/DrCanonic/status/1237364191763271680, created using https://washyourlyrics.com.
Berlin Philharmonic Archive Free for 30 Days; Livestream Database
The Berlin Philharmonic has an incredible collection of performances on its Digital Concert Hall website. The video resolution is phenomenal and the audio is superb.
You can now access the entire archive of Berlin Philharmonic performances for free for 30 days. Sign up by March, 31, 2020.
Go to this webpage to learn how. You’ll need to set up a free account. It is very easy, and there is no further obligation.
In addition to the concerts (searchable by composer, conductor, epoch, and more), there is a fine collection of films, and insightful interviews with performers, conductors, and producers.
Classical Music Communications has made available a database of live-streamed concerts, complete with dates, times, and links. See the database here.
Wishing you good health and good music!
Free Opera Webcasts from the Met!
The bad news: The Metropolitan Opera has closed due to the health crisis.
The good news: The Metropolitan Opera is providing nightly encore opera performances for free on its website. A different opera every night! The webcasts will continue for the duration of the closure. The performances may also be viewed on all Met Opera on Demand apps.
See the performances here every night at 7:30 PM EDT (GMT-4).
Each performance will be available for 20 hours thereafter. The operas are from the Met’s Live in HD series. Below is the schedule for this week. See this Met website page for more information on the performers and conductors.
Monday, March 16 Bizet: Carmen
Tuesday, March 17 Puccini: La Bohème
Wednesday, March 18 Verdi: Il Trovatore
Thursday, March 19 Verdi: La Traviata
Friday, March 20 Donizetti: La Fille du Régiment
Saturday, March 21 Donizetti: Lucia di Lammermoor
Sunday, March 22 Tchaikovsky: Eugene Onegin
Concert Cancelled? See One in Your Own Home!
Due to the current health crisis, many concerts and other public events are being cancelled. But you can still attend a concert in the comfort of your own home. Casual dress code ok!
Check out the concert library offered by The Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. You’re sure to find a few favorites there: Jeremy Denk playing Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A Minor, Mendelssohn’s Italian Symphony , or Haydn’s Symphony No. 6, Morning, just to name a few. There is also a large selection of audio-only performances for your listening pleasure.
Opera fans will love Operavision’s library of great performances, including Carmen, Tosca, and The Barber of Seville, among others. At the current time, there are plans to broadcast live performances of several of Mozart’s operas this month, though the schedule may change as the current situation evolves. Here’s the current schedule.
March 19, 19:00 CET (GMT +1, 2:00 EDT) Così fan tutte
March 21, 19:30 CET Le nozze di Figaro
March 24, 19:30 CET Don Giovanni
April 3, 19:00 CET La clemenza di Tito
April 10, 19:00 CET Die Entführung aus dem Serail
April 17, 19:00 CET Il sogno di Scipione
In addition to the old standby YouTube, you can also watch performances on Arte, the Gothenburg Symphony, the Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra, and BachTrack.com websites.
These are difficult times. I hope the on-demand performances available at the above sites will add a soothing element to your day.
Be safe out there, folks! Wishing you all health and serenity.
Catapulting into Classical 