JUNE 30, 2015 @ 7:30 PM
Ensemble LPR
Simone Dinnerstein, piano
John Adams, (1947-), Shaker Loops, 1983
I. Shaking and Trembling
II. Hymning Slews
III. Loops and Verses
IV. A Final Shaking
W. A. Mozart, (1756-91), Piano Concerto No 23 in A, K488 (1786)
I. Allegro
II. Adagio
III. Allegro assiai
(Simone Dinnerstein, piano)
INTERMISSION
Arnold Schoenberg, (1874-1951), Verklarte Nacht (Transfigured Night), Op. 4 [1899 revised 1943]
I. Sehr langsam
II. Etwas bewegter
III. Schwer betont
IV. Sehr breit und langsam
V. Sehr ruhig
David Handler, (1980), Solstice [World Premiere]
WQXR HOST: Elliott Forrest
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Musical Notes:
Solstice is written for a divided or double string orchestra and explores the polarity and ultimately the congruity of light and dark, sacred and profane. Pastoral dance, hard work and ethereal stasis are ideas represented in distinct musical material that are recurring and assigned almost without exception to the same instruments with each iteration.
The incongruity of these ideas is accentuated early in the piece. After a convergence and build to the piece’s only unified effort by the total ensemble, the ideas are reintroduced one by one, not as disparate items as they once were but as complementary parts to a greater and triumphant whole.
Derived from the Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still), the solstice is the moment when the seasonal movement of the Sun’s path comes to a stop before reversing direction. This is experienced on most of earth as the longest (in summer) and shortest (in winter) days of the year. The idea of this momentary stasis and the perceived extremes that result was a way of understanding the death of a dear relative, whose life and passing were the genesis of the piece.
Ensemble LPR
Born out of the acclaimed New York City venue, Le Poisson Rouge, Ensemble LPR is an assemblage of New York’s finest musicians personifying the venue’s commitment to aesthetic
diversity, artistic excellence and true musical ambassadorship. Ensemble LPR performs an eclectic spectrum of music – from works by the finest living composers, to compelling interpretations of the standard repertoire and collaborations with distinguished artists from classical as well as non-classical backgrounds. The Ensemble has partnered with such extraordinary artists as Timo Andres, San Fermin, Daniel Hope, Taka Kigawa, Jennifer Koh, Mica Levi, David Longstreth (of Dirty Projectors), John Lurie, Ursula Oppens, Max Richter, André de Ridder, Christopher Rountree, and Fred Sherry.
In January of this year Ensemble LPR made its recording debut on Deutsche Grammophon, with Follow Poet. The album features the music of Mohammed Fairouz and the words of Seamus Heaney and John F. Kennedy.
In 2008 Le Poisson Rouge changed the classical music landscape, creating a new environment
in which to experience art music. In doing so, Le Poisson Rouge expanded the classical music listenership and pushed the popular palette in all directions. The New York Times heralds Le
Poisson Rouge as “[a] forward-thinking venue that seeks to showcase disparate musical styles under one roof…artistically planned eclecticism” and “[the] coolest place to hear contemporary music.” The Los Angeles Times raves “[the] place isn’t merely cool…the venue is a downright musical marvel.” With Ensemble LPR, Founding Executive & Artistic Director David Handler brings this same ethos to the creative forefront, channeling the venue’s curatorial daring and merit to the group’s own artistry.
Simone Dinnerstein
American pianist Simone Dinnerstein is a searching and inventive artist who is motivated by a desire to find the musical core of every work she approaches. NPR reports, “She compels the listener to follow her in a journey of discovery filled with unscheduled detours . . . She’s actively listening to every note she plays, and the result is a wonderfully expressive interpretation.” The New York-based pianist gained an international following because of the remarkable success of
her recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations, which she raised the funds to record. Released in 2007 on Telarc, it ranked No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard Classical Chart in its first week of sales and was named to many “Best of 2007” lists including those of The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, and The New Yorker.
The four solo albums Dinnerstein has released since then – The Berlin Concert (Telarc), Bach: A Strange Beauty (Sony), Something Almost Being Said (Sony), and Bach: Inventions & Sinfonias (Sony) – have also topped the classical charts. Dinnerstein was the bestselling instrumentalist of 2011 on the U.S. Billboard Classical Chart and was included in NPR’s 2011 100 Favorite Songs from all genres. In spring 2013, Simone Dinnerstein and singer-songwriter Tift Merritt released an
album together on Sony called Night, a unique collaboration uniting classical, folk, and rock worlds, exploring common terrain and uncovering new musical landscapes. Dinnerstein was among the top ten bestselling artists of 2014 on the Billboard Classical Chart.
In February 2015, Sony Classical released Dinnerstein’s newest album Broadway-Lafayette, which celebrates the time-honored transatlantic link between France and America and includes
Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major, Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue and Philip Lasser’s The Circle and the Child: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, written for Dinnerstein. The album was
recorded with conductor Kristjan Järvi and the MDR Leipzig Radio Symphony Orchestra by Grammy-winning producer Adam Abeshouse.
Dinnerstein’s performance schedule has taken her around the world since her triumphant New York recital debut at Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall in 2005 to venues including the Kennedy
Center for the Performing Arts, Vienna Konzerthaus, Berlin Philharmonie, Metropolitan Museum of Art, and London’s Wigmore Hall; festivals that include the Lincoln Center Mostly Mozart Festival, the Aspen, Verbier, and Ravinia festivals, and the Stuttgart Bach Festival; and performances with the Frankfurt Radio Symphony Orchestra, Vienna Symphony Orchestra, Dresden Philharmonic, Staatskapelle Berlin, Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Czech Philharmonic, New York Philharmonic, Minnesota Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony, Baltimore Symphony, Orchestra of St. Luke’s, Kristjan Järvi’s Absolute Ensemble, Montreal Symphony Orchestra, Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra, Danish National Symphony Orchestra, and the Tokyo Symphony.
Dinnerstein has played concerts throughout the U.S. for the Piatigorsky Foundation, an organization dedicated to bringing classical music to non-traditional venues. She gave the first
classical music performance in the Louisiana state prison system when she played at the Avoyelles Correctional Center, and performed at the Maryland Correctional Institution for Women in a concert organized by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. Dedicated to her community, in 2009 Dinnerstein founded Neighborhood Classics, a concert series open to the public hosted by New York public schools which raises funds for the schools.
Dinnerstein is a graduate of The Juilliard School where she was a student of Peter Serkin. She also studied with Solomon Mikowsky at the Manhattan School of Music and in London with Maria Curcio. Simone Dinnerstein lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband and son. She is managed by Ekonomisk Mgmt and is a Sony Classical artist.
John Adams began composing relatively early; at ten he started composing, and by 14 he had heard his works performed. Entering Harvard University in 1965, Adams became the conductor for the Bach Society Orchestra. At Walter Piston’s Clarinet Concerto world premiere, Adams performed on the clarinet as the soloist. He moved to San Francisco in 1972 to teach at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music until 1984.
While at the conservatory, Adams worked in an electronic music studio and was the conductor of the New Music Ensemble. It was in San Francisco that he heard the minimalist works of Philip Glass, Steve Reich and Terry Riley for the first time, and was immediately drawn to its sound. However, he soon felt that although minimalism was “the most important stylistic development in Western art music since the Fifties”, the genre had its limits, since repetition was its foundation.
Adams coined the term “post-minimalism” starting with his piece for string septet Shaker Loops (1978). This style is characterized by greater dynamic contrasts and a more fluid and layered sound. The completion and premiere of Harmonium in 1981 was well-received by critics and the public, establishing Adams as a major American composer. In 1987, he made yet another impact on the music scene with his opera Nixon in China. Another major opera work followed in 1991, titled The Death of Klinghoffer, which, like Nixon in China, detailed a historic event.
At the turn of the century, Adams composed El Niño (2000), an oratorio based on the Christmas story of Jesus Christ. With the tragic events that transpired on September 11, 2001, Adams was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic and Lincoln Center’s Great Performers to compose a piece in memory of the victims. The result, On the Transmigration of Souls (2002), is a work for orchestra, chorus and children’s choir on pre-recorded tape, earning Adams a 2003 Pulitzer Prize.
John Adams continues to compose to this day, with his most recent work being The Gospel According to the Other Mary (Oratorio for Chorus, Orchestra and Soloists) in 2013.
David Handler is a composer of acoustic and electronic music. His work has been described by The New York Times as “eerie” and “superbly wrought,” and has been characterized by its use of familiar, often tonal relics within a narrative structure and polytonal language that seek to explore the notions of incongruity and deconstruction.
Commissions include the transcription and orchestration of Riceboy Sleeps by Alex Somers & Jónsi Birgisson of Sigur Rós, commissioned by Lincoln Center in 2011, and premieres by The
Ossia Symphony and The Manhattan School of Music Symphony. Prominent performances include a Composer Portrait curated by Orange Mountain Music’s Richard Guérin at Barbez, the 2013 21c Liederabend festival at BAM, and the world premiere of Celtic Verses at the launch of Ensemble LPR’s Follow Poet, release on Deutsche Grammophon earlier this year.
Handler began studying the violin at age three and attended the Manhattan School of Music as both a violin and composition major. As a violinist and violist, Handler collaborates regularly with Horacio Gutiérrez and has played under the baton of Kurt Masur, Zdeněk Mácal, and Jerzy Semkow, with whom he studied conducting.
Handler is the co-founder of (Le) Poisson Rouge and the Founding Executive & Artistic Director of Ensemble LPR. The venue’s mission is to revive the symbiotic relationship between art and revelry, thus invigorating the musical landscape for artists and audiences alike. In its six years of operation the venue has received numerous awards and accolades, from ASCAP, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Rolling Stone and The New Yorker.
Speaking Engagements include: The North American Critics Alliance at Lincoln Center, University of Missouri – Kansas City, New York University, Syracuse University, Hunter College, The New School, and The Manhattan School of Music.
Handler sits on the advisory boards of CavanKerry Press, The David Lynch Foundation, and The Mount Sinai Department of Psychiatry. He lives in New York City with his wife Marlene May
Handler.