Ecstatic Living Room

One of my favorite musical rituals involves the Winter Solstice, the first day of the winter season and the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere.  At the heart of this ritual is listening to Tchaikovsky’s First Symphony, which bears the nickname “Winter Dreams.”  I discovered the piece in college when I was studying overseas in Vienna, Austria.  In the midst of a night-time snowstorm I took my Walkman and left my dorm with Tchaikovsky’s First – in a performance featuring Herbert von Karajan conducting the Berlin Philharmonic on DG – and made my way around town, which at that point was completely new to me.  The mix of hearing the symphony for the first time and getting lost in the city gave me a thrilling sense of adventure that I continue to associate with this piece.

Over the years I’ve had many “Winter Solstice” parties, some entirely by myself, some with many friends, most with copious amounts of chilled vodka.  Probably the biggest of these parties occurred at the downtown loft of my pal and Ecstatic Living Room partner, Glenn Petry.  I bet there were 75 people  there, and after a few hours of drinking and eating I remember giving a brief spoken introduction to the piece and then letting it rip over Glenn’s stereo as everyone listened intently and went along with the ride.  When the piece roared to its conclusion the crowd gave a huge ovation as if we were listening to a live orchestra.  Glenn’s apartment had been transformed into an Ecstatic Living Room.

The first movement bears the heading “Dreams of the Winter Journey,” and it’s flickering strings and mysterious air conveys the feeling of a night-time sleighride through a vast, snow-covered expanse.  The second movement, “Land of Gloom, Land of Mists,” is an achingly beautiful and sweepingly romantic slow movement.  Its centerpiece is a gorgeous horn solo, which eventually leads the massed strings to a huge climax.  After a strange, ghostly scherzo, Tchaikovsky regroups for a what becomes a rousing and celebratory finale, which you can sample here:

Once winter has fully arrived, one of the other great symphonies that I can hardly wait to blast on my stereo is Vaughan Williams’ Sinfonia Antarctica, the British composer’s Seventh Symphony.  I’m listening to it tonight, an icy night (6 degrees Fahrenheit and dropping) in upstate New York.

Quite remarkably, Vaughan Williams was in his 80s when he tackled this truly awe-inspiring work. His experience writing the score to the film Scott of the Antarctic (1947) was so compelling that the composer decided to explore the subject further in a symphonic treatment of the story. Vaughan Williams captures not only the forbidding, unfathomable beauty of the frozen landscape but also the heroism of the intrepid yet tragically doomed explorer Robert Falcon Scott (1868-1912), who perished with members of his team just short of the South Pole (the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen was the first to reach this “Last Place on Earth” just days earlier). Vaughan Williams provides short snippets from various literary sources at the headings of each movement to underline the spiritual meaning behind Scott’s quest, none more telling than Scott’s last journal entry at the head of the final movement: “I do not regret this journey; we took risks, we knew we took them, things have come out against us; therefore we have no cause for complaint.”

Vaughan Williams’ Sinfonia Antarctica is what I affectionately call an “IMAX in sound,” brilliantly scored to evoke the majesty, desolation and mystery of the Ice Continent. A wind machine helps whip up blizzard conditions, and a combination of harps, vibraphone, deep bells, and celesta (a piano-like instrument whose hammers hit metal plates instead of strings) – with a wordless women’s chorus and solo soprano – casts a decidedly otherworldly spell (something that likely influenced Danny Elfman in his various film scores, especially for the Tim Burton films, and Bernard Hermann in his music for Hitchcock films, especially the famous Dali-designed dream sequence in Spellbound).

The shattering climax of the piece is a truly thunderous entry by the organ in the third movement “Landscape,” which conjures up vast slabs of ice shearing from the cliffs and plunging into the frigid seas (you’ll hear it at around the three minute mark in this YouTube video clip). There’s nothing that I know in all of music that conveys the menacing power of winter more than this.

And in case you’re interested, here are a few recommended recordings of these pieces:

The dynamic young Russian conductor Vladimir Jurowski delivers a potent Tchaikovsky First in a new recording with the London Philharmonic.

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There are several great recordings of VW's "Antarctica" including this powerful one led by Dutch conductor Bernard Haitink.

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I also enjoy this Naxos recording by Kees Bakels and the Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra. And for $8.99, it's the most afordable way to get to Antartica.

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For as long as I can remember my family has been spending the Christmas/New Year’s holiday together on a Caribbean vacation.  For years I was the odd man out, believing somehow that Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas unless I was in a cold and snowy place, which meant that I never traveled with my family for their annual pilgrimage to places like Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic.

But the past two years have been different, and thanks to the generosity of my family I’ve spent two consecutive Christmases in the Dominican Republic.   I could go on and on about how fun my family is to spend time with, and how incredibly funny and loving they all are.  They really understand that life is about having a good time and enjoying each other’s company.  That’s not a very difficult thing to do at a place like the Sanctuary resort in Cap Cana, where our daily regimen consisted of a lavish breakfast buffet, hours lying in the sun on a beachside lounge, lunch and afternoon drinks by the pool, a brief pre-dinner cocktail party, and then a big family meal either at one of the restaurants at the resort or at the nearby beach club or marina.  The Cap Cana area is one of the “up and coming” resort areas of the D.R., and the resort itself is breathtaking in every way.  The landscaping was impeccable and lavish, the buildings meant to capture high colonial Spanish style.  And of course, there’s the beach itself and that brilliant, shimmering blue of the Caribbean Sea.  The picture here can only hint at the overwhelming sensation of warmth that envelops you as you look out over the water to the horizon.

The view from the beach at the Sanctuary in the Dominican Republic

In the old days I would always travel with a bag of CDs or even cassettes (yes, I’m THAT old) because having the right music around when you’re on the road is crucial to setting the mood.  You really can’t fully comprehend the eloquence of Elgar until you hear the finale of his mighty First Symphony blazing in your ears as you stand at the center of a buzzing Trafalgar Square.  But oh, the iPod – how did we live without it?  After loading a few special Christmas selections beforehand, I was fully ready this time for a week on a tropical island.  Along with jazz classics like Getz/Gilberto, I had a handful of classical titles on my playlist, which I list here for those either lucky enough to be heading to a beach in the coming weeks, or cold enough to be looking for a little (and virtual) escape to a tropical paradise.

Debussy: La Mer and Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun (Bernard Haitink with the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra on Philips Classics)

La Mer is the most beautiful musical depiction of the sea ever written. The light reflecting on the water, the wind whipping up the surf, the awesome power of the ocean – all of this comes to life in this three-movement masterpiece.  And if there’s a more relaxing way to spend ten minutes than listening to the Prelude of a Faun under a gently swaying palm tree I would like to know what it is!

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And here is something to whet your appetite (this is from a performance of by Valery Gergiev and the London Symphony Orchestra).

Ravel:  Daphnis et Chloé (Myung-Whun Chung conducting on DG)

This “ballet for orchestra” is Ravel’s most lavish score, a love story between a Shephard (Daphnis) and a Shephardess (Chloé) set in the Greek Isles, complete with a  kidnapping by Pirates, an appeal to the God Pan, and a final ecstatic dance of celebration.  The stunning “Daybreak,” featuring chirping birds and glistening waterfalls, is one of the most glorious and rapturous moments in all of music.

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Rimsky-Korsakov: Sheherazade (Charles Mackerras conducting the London Symphony Orchestra on Telarc)

This five-movement symphonic suite is a musical magic carpet ride to Arabia and the world of the 1001 Nights.  It’s a dazzling score with beguiling Oriental flavorings, depicting episodes from the tales of adventure related by Sherharazade,as she uses her master story-telling skills to save her life from the the bitter Persian King whom she beguiles and ultimately marries.

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It started out almost as a joke when Albert and I were planning to unwind after a day of work with a martini and some music.    Albert suggested we listen to an advance recording of the new naïve classique release of conductor and in this case harpsichordist Christophe Rousset playing transcriptions of Rameau’s second opera, Les Indes Galantes.

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Here is one of the tracks from the album, titled “Air Pour Les Guerriers”:

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I sensed the bit of jest in Albert’s question, because perhaps the idea of us two guys listening to harpsichord music to unwind might seem a bit, well, fey.   Not that we have anything against fey, of course, but more because we had had a long history of unwinding with drinks to classical music.   In fact, the idea of the Ecstatic Living Room was launched, right where we were sitting, in Albert’s living room, many years ago where we would convene regularly to relax and explore music….though typically more muscular stuff.    We spent hundreds of hours listening to classical music, but in our 20s and 30s we seemed to gravitate to the music of Shostakovich, Beethoven, Mahler and new music that had, at least for me, supplanted much of the rock music I had been listening to.

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The charismatic French soprano Natalie Dessay is one of the most exciting opera singers on the stage today, equally celebrated for both her incandescent singing and her superb acting.  She originally sought a career as an actress, but discovered her talent for singing while taking acting classes.  She dropped the “h” in the original spelling of her name in tribute to the actress Natalie Wood.

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The French harpsichordist and conductor Christophe Rousset has long been one of the bright lights of the early music and period instruments scene. At twenty-two he won the prestigious First Prize, as well as the Public Prize, in the Seventh Bruges Harpsichord Competition (1983).He performed with Les Arts Florissants and then Il Seminario Musicale before embarking on a career as a music director, which led him to form his own ensemble, Les Talens Lyriques, in 1991. (more…)

Memorial Day has something of a split personality, especially on the kind of gorgeous day we had today in Upstate New York.  Despite the parades, the holiday itself has a somber character and purpose, paying tribute to those who have served and died while serving in the armed forces.  But with the picnics and barbecues, not to mention all the usual commercialization, it’s taken on new qualities if not a completely different identity.  It’s now pushed as the official beginning of the summer, not to mention the Hollywood blockbuster season, and my inbox today received no less than 20 special Memorial Day sale offers to buy everything from sneakers and workout gear to outdoor furniture and cars.

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Xuefei Yang is an internationally acclaimed classical guitarist, performing for audiences across the globe. Her talent was recognized early – at the age of 14 she made her Spanish debut in Madrid, with the composer Joaquin Rodrigo attending her concert. She is the first Chinese guitarist to become a professional musician on the international music scene. She performs in the world’s major concert halls, plays concertos with the world’s leading orchestras and has an exclusive recording contract with EMI Classics. Her first EMI CD, Romance De Amor achieved a gold disc, and her second, 40 Degrees North, was recognized in China as the best classical CD of 2009, and CD of the month in Gramophone.

Xuefei has appeared on numerous TV and radio programs, including a successful performance at the BBC Proms, and an interview for “Woman’s Hour” on BBC Radio 4. In 2009 Xuefei performed at the Brit Awards at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Xuefei was the subject of a documentary by CCTV in China.

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A few days ago, I almost flew off the treadmill running at full-sprint speed – that is, I was going at more than 10 miles per hour! Everyone in the gym threw a look my way, some gasping, as my running shoe made a loud, squeaking sound as it hit the part of the belt that DOESN’T move and I lurched forward like a game animal that had been hit with a tranquilizing dart. I pretended that there was something wrong with the machine, turned bright red from embarrassment, and told people that I was okay and that they should return to their workouts. But the real reason I almost flew off the device is that I was air conducting the finale of Brahms’s First Symphony and with a particularly bold downbeat I had lost my balance. I just missed a total wipeout, which would have been a very ugly (and bloody) scene indeed!

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Italian-born Giuseppe Filianoti has won acclaim around the world for his superb performances in the Bel Canto repertoire. The well-read family man appears May 12-25 as Nemorino (opposite Diana Damrau) in Laurent Pelly’s staging of L’Elisir d’Amoreat Covent Garden.
His beautifully sonorous voice has been heard on all the great opera stages including New York’s Metropolitan Opera, Milan’s La Scala and London’s Royal Opera House. Describing his performance in January 2009 in Verdi’s Rigoletto at the Met, the New York Times praised his “virile, bright voice with Italianate ping in his upper range” and “limber and youthful appearance.”

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Cabell – who shot to fame after winning the 2005 BBC Singer of the World Competition in Cardiff – graces the Met stage as Adina inL’Elisir d’Amore through April 22. She is the latest to donate her time and musings to our Q&A.
After her stint in the Donizetti classic, the soprano heads to Europe for concerts in Prague and Copenhagen. She returns to the U.S. later this spring for a jazz cabaret series at the Orange County Performing Arts Center, and a role debut with Cincinnati Opera as the Countess in Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro.

Cabell has a successful and critically acclaimed solo CD, Soprano – on the Decca label – and her Musetta was recently singled out for praise in the Robert Dornhelm film, now on DVD, of La bohème, with Anna Netrebko and Rolando Villazon.

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