Author Archives: Leslie

International Dance Festival-Silicon Valley Wins Praise

Dancers who have participated in IDF-SV continue to praise their great experiences. Vanessa Nudd danced in Full Day of Dance© in the first season and came back to do the Mon-Fri workshops, in 2013. She wrote these comments to Leslie Friedman, director and founder of the Festival. Leslie taught Tech, Rep, and Comp/Improv, 2013.

“You are an inspiring teacher– I learned a HUGE amount in our time together. Thanks so much for putting on this amazing event each year and inspiring new ( or dormant ) dancers to get off their butts!”

Vanessa has already signed up for the Festival. If you are a dancer who wants to dance, this is the Festival for you. Stretch your technique, try something new, perform for a real audience in a professional, public concert. Contact The Lively Foundation today. livelyfoundation@sbcglobal.net

pictures: Vanessa Nudd working on her site specific improv project, IDF-SV, 2013.

Voices of Music: Fantastic & Fun

Voices of Music is an ensemble of gifted musicians specializing in early music. Early here means that the most recent they performed was from the 18th century, except for the fascinating world premiere by Hanneke van Proosdij, a master of recorders. Their program, The Art of the Recorder, performed in Palo Alto, February 13, 2014, will be repeated tonight, St. Valentine’s Day, at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, Belvedere; Feb. 15th at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, San Francisco; and Feb. 16th at the Fellowship of Unitarian Universalists, Berkeley. I’m listing those events here at the beginning of this brief review so that anyone reading right now can get in a boat to Belvedere or get tickets for SF or Berkeley. It’s possible that some music lovers are not truly appreciative of early music or have never taken time to go to a first rate performance. If you are one of that group, you are missing a lot of fun. The selections on this program were varied, interesting, and beautiful. They are often peppy and have what seemed to this listener to be exceptionally unusual time signatures. The program confided that the meter for Bucimis, “a raucous Bulgarian folk tune and dance,” is in the meter of 15/16. No, I have not figured out how to tap that out, but it was very cool to listen to. The ensemble included Cheryl Ann Fulton, historical harps; Rodney Gehrke, baroque organ; Peter Maund, percussion; Carla Moore, baroque violin; Elisabeth Reed, viola da gamba; David Tayler, archlute & baroque guitar. Mr. Tayler is co-director with Ms van Proosdij. Ms van Proosdij played 8 different recorders. There were selections in which only two of the instruments played or in which one or two of the instruments sat out. The music is rhythmic and lively, occasionally hauntingly lyrical. An anonymous piece from 13thc. Paris and one from c.1400, found in the British Museum, demonstrate that music has changed but that does not mean it has always gotten better. Ms van Proosdij is also principal early keyboard player with Philharmonia Baroque and Festspiel Orchester Goettingen, and has performed internationally with many ensembles. One of the benefits of attending this concert is that the instruments themselves are beautiful, so there is a visual pleasure to crown the experience. The world premiere was performed by Ms van Proosdij and percussionist, Peter Maund. Zephyrus lived up to its name by evoking the mystery of winds both through the recorder and a large flat drum that seemed to be filled with sand. Mr Maund moved it in ways to sound like shifting winds and tides. Voices of Music was the first American Early Music Ensemble to broadcast concert highlights in HD video. They have an audience of 10,000 listeners a day, around the world. Concerts, April 10-13, will be Alessandro Scarlatti’s The Lamentations of Jeremiah, Kirsten Blaise, Soprano, and a 9 person ensemble.pictures: top, Voices of Music; Hanneke van Proosdij and David Tayler.

Guittard Chocolate, Thank you!

Guittard Chocolate, thank you! Hats off to the makers of the most marvelous chocolate. The Guittard Company benefits our community not only by making the great chocolate, but also by helping The Lively Foundation. In 2013 and 2014, Guittard donated both a 10 lb. block of the finest chocolate and a giant box filled with gift bags of delectable chocolate morsels and mints to our auction at the Meet Us at Ming’s luncheon. Funds raised at our New Year’s lunch go to support our educational programs for Bay Area school children. It is so appropriate that Guittard is involved. Its founder, Etienne Guittard, came to California from France during the Gold Rush. He thought he would trade chocolate for mining tools but quickly learned which object had the greater and more lasting value. Named for its founder, Guittard is one of only 4 ( or is it only 3?) companies which are still operating in the San Francisco area since that time. The Guittard family’s success, now in its 5th generation, has brought happiness to us all! When The Lively Foundation asks friends to support our supporters, it is a very easy thing to do! Eat more Guittard Chocolate! Support The Lively Foundation! Picture: L to R, Leslie Friedman, Lively’s Artistic Director and Eva Marshment, Guittard’s Executive Secretary, at Guittard headquarters

Helene Grimaud & San Francisco Symphony

The astonishing Helene Grimaud performed Brahms’ Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op 15 (1858), with the SFSymphony, Feb. 6, 2014, at Davies Symphony Hall. Ms Grimaud’s performance was powerful, expressive of the deep emotions in the great work. She is a pianist whose affinity for Brahms has offered both wonderful performances and recordings. Listening to the concerto is an intense experience. Brahms never dodges the emotions and does not mind calling on the audience to pay heed to the interworkings of piano and orchestra, changes of rhythm, a lyricism which is not soothing. In fact, Brahms does not seem to mind if one is not comfortable.This is edge of your seat music.. The music can swirl like a rip tide in deep water. It has a force which could sweep one away. It brings to mind images for which one might have yearned but never reached. Writers often find autobiographical detail in this concerto. Brahms’ friend and champion, Robert Schumann, had tried to drown himself in the Rhine in 1854. Schumann was sent to an asylum where he died, in 1856. Schumann and his wife, Clara, had 7 children. Brahms spent time visiting Schuman, helping Clara, helping with the children. Brahms and Clara: who knows? Seeing them through 21st century eyes is not so helpful. Yet their devotion to each other and to Schumann was total. So, is it a game to identify which movement is Robert Schumann and which is Clara Schumann and which is Brahms’ sense of loss? Oh, please, let’s not go there! Johannes Brahms was a great, earth-shakingly great composer. He worked with music and invented music. If he wanted to write a play, he could have done that instead. The concerto is about the music. If memories, images, emotions are called into being by it, that is its life. The concerto embraces the intertwining of music, love, and life. Sadness is there because it is real, and Brahms is always real. Ms Grimaud played with feeling completely in tune with Brahms. She spent herself entirely in service of the music. It was an extraordinary performance by Symphony and soloist.

LBringuier

The SF Symphony offered Metaboles, by Henri Dutilleux, and La Valse, by Maurice Ravel, after intermission. The SFS was an exuberant, well-tuned instrument as conducted by Lionel Bringuier. Metaboles, though a little intimidating to read about, was a poetic and interesting piece. The composer was concerned with finding the correct form for each of the five movements. For example, Obsessionnel: Scherzando and Torpide: Andantino. It was fascinating music played with precision that did not take away from the rhythmic and melodic pleasure of the piece. La Valse is dramatic and threatening. Ravel’s affection for Johann Strauss had moved him to write a waltz tribute; World War I intervened. La Valse is imbued with the harsh sounds of irony. Couples may be dancing together, but they are out of step and off center, like a chandelier about to crash on a party. The music gets faster and –perhaps Maestro Bringuier was excited–extremely loud (as occasionally happened in the concerto). It is not the charming waltz of days gone by but the future’s dance of terror. Pictures: top, Helene Grimaud; L to Rt: Brahms, H.Grimaud, Lionel Bringuier, Maurice Ravel

Festival Dancers Praise the International Dance Festival-Silicon Valley

Dancers from the first two Festival seasons have written to praise the Festival and their experiences. Here’s a quote from Chelsea Zawadski, dancer from Boston:

I will never forget my experience at the festival. I got to meet so many friendly and talented people during the festival throughout a week packed of full of dance classes, rehearsals, and performing. It was an experience I gained so much from and will never forget!

Best wishes for all you do in 2014! Chelsea”

Come to IDF-SV, III, this summer and have a great dancing experience like Chelsea’s.

Picture: Village Dances, Part I, Festival Concert, 2012. Chelsea is the dancer on the left.

KREMERATA BALTICA: Violins, Part III

Violinist Gidon Kremer’s art has been celebrated since he first entered the Riga Music School at age 7. Winning the highest prizes in Latvia, among his rewards was his trip to the USSR to spend two years studying in Moscow with their most eminent violinist, David Oistrakh. Kremer went on to win more distinction, including 1st Prize in the Tchaikowsky International Competition, in 1970, at age 23. His performance on Feb. 2, 2014, in San Francisco, showed that there is even more depth and humanity to him than being one of the world’s great musicians. He performed as leader and soloist with the Kremerata Baltica, a chamber orchestra which he founded in 1997. It is composed of young musicians from the Baltic nations (Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia). The musicians, younger than Mr.Kremer, not children, are exquisite players. They are “together” in every sense of the word, creating a strong and flexible sound that suits the most lyrical and the harshest music their program asked of them. It was a stunning performance of challenging music, new to this listener and, it appeared, to most of the audience. In addition to championing musicians from the Baltics, Mr. Kremer is the champion of music by modern composers like Britten and Shostakovich, and less well known Eastern European composers such as Mieczyslaw (Moisey) Weinberg. They performed Violin Sonata Op.134, by Shostakovich; Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge, Op.10, by Britten; Symphony #10, by Weinberg; Concertino for Violin and Strings, Op. 42, by Weinberg. This was an opportunity for Britten’s music to be the light-hearted item on a program. It introduces a theme and proceeds through ten variations such as March, Wiener Walzer, Moto perpetuo. Thoroughly interesting and enjoyable, it was a tribute by Britten to the gifts of his teacher as he demonstrates his own. Shostakovich’s Violin Sonata seems to have been composed by the composer reaching into his chest and pulling on the arteries of his heart. It was composed for David Oistrakh. Mr. Kremer’s performance contained all the emotion of the music as well as exquisite technical achievement. The piece was composed in 1968, the year that the USSR sent tanks into the Prague Spring. Shostakovich knew well the surprise that could come at night like the crack of the bow on the cello. He knew the horror that cartoon ghouls, unaware of being self-satires, could wreak. He knew there was a mysterious beauty that sounds like stars coming out at night. The strings pluck; the terror is understated. The music sighs and wonders. It was a great piece by a great composer played with great soul. Shostakovich considered Weinberg a great composer and friend; Weinberg said that meeting Shostakovich, “was as if I had been born anew.” The Concertino, written in 1948, was not performed in that time. It has a sound of evanescence which wafts a lovely, but sometimes painful sensibility. The final movement sounds a warning in the midst of a waltz. Weinberg’s Symphony #10 expanded our introduction to this complex composer. It opens with a festive, delicate sound. There is interplay between the violins and deeper strings, a conversation trading dancing rhythms. The music evokes a feeling of anxiety and then replaces it with gliding lyricism. One hopes to hear more of this composer. POST SCRIPT: Weinberg’s 10th Symphony was added to the program to replace Shostakovich’s Anti-Formalist Gallery which was to be sung in Russian by Alexei Mochalov. Mr. Mochalov’s wife died suddenly, and he could not appear. The satirical, musical play, printed in the program, reflects Shostakovich’s bitter awareness of the bureaucrats allowed to play fatal games with the lives of artists and their work. The Musical Functionaries: “Yes, yes, yes, yes,/Inside, inside,/To labor camps we’ll send them all!” It was fair to choose another Weinberg piece for fill in for Shostakovich. Weinberg’s life had all too many interactions with the hounds of the state. Born in Poland, he was chosen to study piano in the US. When World War II broke out, getting to the US was not easy. He went to the USSR. His father-in-law was murdered by Stalin the year the Concertino was written. Weinberg was arrested, in 1953, charged with “Jewish bourgeois nationalism.” This was the year that Stalin murdered doctors allegedly for plotting against his state. Weinberg’s one bit of luck: he was imprisoned and would have been killed if it had not been for Shostakovich’s intervention. The composer had that good fortune that he was to be killed at a time when Shostakovich was in the thugs’ good graces. For such an extraordinary soloist, Mr. Kremer has done much to widen the world of music. In addition to Kremerata, he has founded and directed music festivals in Lockenhaus, Austria, Gstaad and Basel, Switzerland, and Munich. Look for his recordings: The Berlin Recital with Martha Argerich, EMI; Mozart’s Violin Concertos with the Kremerata, on Nonesuch.

STARBUCKS in MOUNTAIN VIEW: THANK YOU!

Here is Ashley Whitlock, the manager of Starbucks on Castro St., in Mountain View. Please stand and cheer for Ms Whitlock! She donated coffee, cream, cups, sugars (and non-sugars), napkins, stir sticks to The Lively Foundation for the International Dance Festival-Silicon Valley in 2012 and 2013, and for the Festival of Lights, Dec. 2013. Ms Whitlock is a musician in addition to be a manager. She says she loves to help Lively help the arts. Support our supporters! It will be such a pleasure to do: visit Starbucks on Castro, enjoy a latte, a bear claw, a sandwich, and join us in giving thanks for Ashley Whitlock. The dancers at IDF-SV and our audience in Dec. benefitted from her generosity and Starbucks coffee.

Pinchas Zukerman, Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, Beethoven: Violins Part II

DownloadedFile The headline tells it all; the writer will elaborate briefly for readers who have not heard Pinchas Zukerman play or who wonder about Beethoven and the violin. However, the available superlatives all fall away in remembering this musical experience. On January 26, 2014, Pinchas Zukerman was both the conductor and the solo violinist for London’s Royal Philharmonic performing three works by Beethoven: Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus; Violin Concerto in D maj; Symphony No. 5. One could say it was a celestial experience if it were not that Beethoven insists upon being an earthling. The music rips right into whatever it means to be human, the myriad things it means to be human, and celebrates life here on earth. The people wanting to build that foul pipeline of tar sands oil across American lands could never have heard Beethoven. Oddly enough, Beethoven’s music somehow encompasses even them. Mr. Zukerman’s low key approach to conducting is deceptive. Those who have witnessed famous adults and highly skilled ten year olds dramatically waving their violin bows in order to tell their audience when they are playing something important and when they are ready for an ovation might find the absence of dramatics disappointing, but his style allows the music to be the only focal point. Mr. Zukerman’s playing is masterful, a joy. In the lengthy concerto it ranged from exquisite simplicity to complex, virtuosic performance that left one breathless. The concerto’s last movement is a delightful dance. The theme sounds like fun, but it is able to be playful because it dances on top of such musical complexity and Beethovenian energy. One moment in Mr. Zukerman’s performance particularly revealed how thoroughly he lives in the music. His back to the audience, he conducted with spare movements and played. He then turned toward the audience, lifted violin to chin, bow to violin, and began to play his solo part. The time between is what fascinated me. He knew physically exactly how long he had to make that 180 turn and begin to play. No rush. Mr. Zukerman would be great at the most challenging jump rope routines. Everyone has heard the 5th Symphony or at least knows how it begins. It was the theme for the Huntley/Brinkley news decades ago. It was the Victory symphony in World War II. The problem with something that we all think we know is that we often forget to listen to it. The Royal Philharmonic and Pinchas Zukerman’s performance of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony transmitted the greatness of Beethoven’s sense of life. It is possible to hear it telling the tale of human being, alone and together. The music stretches the reach of what we want to think of as Western Civilization, of Culture with the largest Capital C, of human potential good and bad. At the end, when the clowns, chimpanzees, whales, toddlers, miners, mothers, trees, lilies, and weeds, are all in the music, exuberant with life moving in every cell, the listener is elevated to thrill in being. This listener levitated above the crowded staircase out the symphony through the traffic to find her car had been smashed and robbed. This listener, reminding herself that even that was included in the 5th Symphony, even those who want to build the pipeline, was thankful to have heard it.

Barantschik, Zukerman, Kremer: Great Violinists in San Francisco, Part I

Part I: Music lovers in San Francisco had a festival of great violinists from late January to Groundhog’s Day. It was easy to forget the inevitable post-holiday let down when in the presence of artistry that lifted the spirit while demanding an open heart and mind. Alexander Barantschik, San Francisco Symphony’s Concertmaster, was leader and soloist on Jan. 22, 2014, when members of the SFSymphony joined him in works by Mozart, Mendelssohn, Britten, and Piazzola. With the exception of Piazzola’s works, each composer wrote the selections when very young. Very young: Mozart was 16 when he wrote Divertimento in F maj.; Mendelssohn was 13 when he wrote Concerto in D min. for Violin and String Orchestra; Britten was 10-13 when he wrote the themes, songs, and tunes which he made into Simple Symphony when he was 20. The words charming, delightful, beautiful are the ones which instantly come to mind for the Mozart Divertimento. The second movement Andante has a delicious lyrical, nearly seductive style. It ends with a Rondo which is bright and exciting. The players did so well capturing the light-on-water brilliance. Barantschik’s playing in the Mendelssohn Concerto had all the virtuosic abilities the piece deserves. He is an appropriate inheritor of the piece which was written for Eduard Rietz, the violinist to whom Mendelssohn dedicated important works and who was Concertmaster when Mendelssohn revived Bach’s Saint Matthew Passion. Before joining the SFS, Barantschik served as concertmaster of the London Symphony Orchestra. San Franciscans are fortunate to hear his performances with the orchestra and in chamber performances. The Concerto is full of energy and musical invention. Mendelssohn demonstrates his ability to see the many different dimensions in which the music can be arranged, altering the order of phrases and finding new combinations for them. Never more devoted to chess playing than to music making, the young genius gives us music that thrills the audience. Britten’s Simple Symphony was a surprise to audience members who know Britten only through “heavy” music like operas Turn of the Screw. This was fun and tuneful. The four movements, Boisterous Bourree, Playful Pizzicato, Sentimental Saraband, Frolicsome Finale, live up to their titles to create a frolicsome suite. The musicians played with relish. I first heard Piazzola’s music when a friend played tapes he had brought back from Argentina many years ago. It is tango, but it is more than “just tango,” and also shows how complex and rich tango can be. Barantschik was accompanied by soloist Seth Asarnow on bandoneon and the SFSymphony players. At the risk of robbing the music of its fascination, it’s worthwhile to assert that it is serious music. It is music that grew in a composer whose consciousness included jazz and Stravinsky (and Stravinsky was a composer whose consciousness had said hello to jazz as well). Tango is popular music which might prevent some music writers from taking it seriously; not this one. After all, the tango is famous, and infamous, for being about sex, a very mysterious and serious source of art.pictures: top: a bandoneon; above, L to R: Alexander Barantschik, Felix Mendelssohn; below, Astor Piazzola, Benjamin Britten.

Gung Hay Fat Choy! Happy New Year!

It’s the Year of the Horse. Come celebrate with Lively friends at the Meet Us at Ming’s luncheon/banquet. It will be an amazing event. The food, veg and non-veg, is so delicious. The attendees are all good looking, intelligent, and witty–just like you! It is difficult to make a seating arrangement. Everyone is interesting. However, they may also be calculating how to win the auction items of their choice. Guittard Chocolate is one of the great prizes in the silent auction. It’s so appropriate that the Guittard Chocolate Co. is part of this event with their generous donation. Guittard is one of very few businesses started in the Gold Rush which is still around and successful today. Since the Ming’s event is meant to support our educational programs, like The Gold Rush! This is a perfect match. It is very easy to fall in love with Guittard. After picking up the 10 lb block of chocolate and another box of chocolate treats, my car smelled like heaven. Come to Ming’s Feb.1st, tomorrow, at noon. Support the Lively Foundation. Supporting a supporter of our programs like Guittard Chocolate is a pleasure. Indulge in the best chocolate and know that by doing it you help education in your community! Wow! Lively wants you to be happy. 2013 Pictures: Students in San Mateo with Leslie Friedman; Jeanne Watson, L. Friedman, Godfrey Watson; Vicky Kwoh Ching