Top 10 Classical Performances of 2011

Originally appeared in New York written by Justin Davidson, I just thought it was worthy of taking note of some of these pieces, and if possible hunting down some new food for thought. 1. The Cunning Little Vixen The Philharmonic has never seemed cheerier than it did performing Janácek’s charmer of an opera—and not just because of the kids in frog costumes or even because Isabel Bayrakdarian sang such a beguiling fox. In this sublime silliness, the orchestra rediscovered its mission: making live music that’s necessary and irreproducible. 2. Otello The high priest of the podium, Riccardo Muti, led the Chicago Symphony in a Carnegie Hall performance of Verdi’s opera so overpoweringly nuanced that the singers hardly mattered. Muti made opera without sets and costumes seem less compromise than Platonic ideal. 3. Tempus Praesens Sofia Gubaidulina is among the most seductively saturnine composers to emerge from the wreckage of the Soviet Union. Her violin concerto, written for Anne-Sophie Mutter, is a lesson in the intricate variety of pain, and Mutter gave a performance of scorching intensity. Only in music can desolation be so exciting. 4. Concentric Paths Thomas Adès has grown from a London whiz kid into a 40-year-old of phenomenal originality, and his violin concerto tours the boundaries of madness, with ecstatic babblings, orchestral cataclysms, stammering brass, and limping dinosaur treads. New Yorkers had to wait six years for its concert premiere, a crystalline performance by Leila Josefowicz and the St. Louis Symphony. 5. Russian Cartoon Music The Brooklyn Philharmonic, priced out of BAM, made for Brighton Beach, where it catered to a bemused Russian audience’s nostalgia for Soviet cartoons and their startlingly sophisticated scores. The shaggy, spirited performance, run by Alan Pierson, showed that a fine orchestra can come down off the acropolis without losing its soul. 6. Huelgas Ensemble at the White Light Festival Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival hit its stride as an ecumenical gathering of sacred music, and in a church on Central Park West, the Huelgas Ensemble unfurled the brocaded vocal textures of Renaissance polyphony. Singers encircled the director, Paul Van Nevel, haloing him in glimmering choral harmonies from England, Burgundy, and Venice. 7. Inuksuit On a summer afternoon, battalions of percussionists peacefully occupied Morningside Park for John Luther Adams’s drum-in. Now thunderous, now hushed, the sound changed with the vantage point, and one could find players lurking in the bushes, stationed like rams on rocks, or camped out on the lawn. 8. Faust Des McAnuff’s Met production was silly yet grim, with a supermax-prison look and hints of mad science. But it couldn’t mar the tapestry of liquid threads woven by Jonas Kaufmann, René Pape, and Marina Poplavskaya, and conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. McAnuff, despite himself, enabled great music. 9. Dan Deacon and So Percussion, Ghostbuster Cook: Origin of the Riddler During the Ecstatic Music Festival, So Percussion teamed up with the swami of dance-party electronica, Dan Deacon. Ghostbuster turned out to be a loose, ornate symphony for soda bottles, marimbas, and one loud laptop. The piece does for the rave what Bartók did for Hungarian folk music: sublimate the urge to dance into a visceral concert experience. 10. Schubert Trios, the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center Chamber music depends on intimate glances and familiar nods. Cellist David Finckel teamed up with his wife, pianist Wu Han, and his Emerson String Quartet partner, violinist Philip Setzer, for a program of Schubert’s piano trios that marinated for decades in the players’ relationships. The interpretations, like the scores, were tender and monumental, steamy and chiseled in stone. Honorable mention: Hungarian Echoes, the New York Philharmonic’s undeclared tribute to György Ligeti, which packaged three of his marvels with the works of two forerunners, Haydn and Bartók.

Last minute Christmas B.S.

Well kiddies, another December 25 is rolling around and while I still am running around trying to make it as perfect a Christmas for my little offspring as I possibly can, I still haven't gotten anywhere near all my shopping done.

The house looks as good as I can get it to look without a government grant -- I mean we are literally aglow here at my own little piece o' paradise/bunker/house on the mountain.

I have neglected to make all the purchases I SHOULD have made in doing my part to 'stimulate the economy' this holiday season but I believe that my loving wife and minion number one -- Ms. Schizoid (Ms. -- pronounced Mizzz), has done enough of that during this past fiscal quarter to justify my lapse a bit. My DAY job (which I don't talk much about due to the sensitive security clearance issue the government has imposed upon me) has been an incredible hassle lately but I imagine that will lighten up as we enter into the new year --

the truth is , there are big changes coming on the horizon and HOPEFULLY that will mean more time to devote to music/sound creation, and of course, more time for all of you (my minions!) who have kept me going in this quest to create strange interesting things and share them with you all.

I don't want you to think I have forgotten about you all, things are going to get back on track soon and I'm looking forward to spending time with you again (if not in person, at least in a virtual sense through music or words.)

I hope you get everything you wanted this year and if not -- enjoy what you've got -- it isn't really about GETTING things -- its about the things we already have that we should (but probably don't, ) appreciate in this mixed-up, fast track world.

Happy B-Day Frank!

Anyone who has known me for more than a week knows what a huge fan of Frank Zappa's work I am. Ignoring the fact that he was as cool as the cat's pajamas, the catalog of songs that he has left us is more than most musicians can even begin to dissect in one lifetime.

One thing that was really amazing is the diversity and eclectic nature of his music-- it really did come from a little bit of everything and I am sure that there *is* a song for everyone somewhere within his 65 record career (with new material STILL surfacing from the vault every now and then) And, if a portion of his tunes are a bit dated -- the outstanding majority are absolutely timeless. Even though I never got a chance to meet him, I miss him. There is always that feeling of I wonder what else he might have done.

Watch him on Crossfire.


He truly was a one and only.

A nother update

Ok... here we are at the end of a 'year' which is entirely subjective really -- if you think about the idea of time and it being based on earth rotations and cycles broken down into years or days and then THAT being broken down into minutes and then seconds.. with THAT AGAIN being broken down into nanoseconds and ultimately breaking down into unrecorded units that are too small for us to measure... the WHOLE idea of recorded time is ultimately BS.

We are here ...NOW.

That's it.

Plan all you want for the future... The future I just wrote about is already now , now.

And NOW even that's the past already... in case you just missed it.

I've never been that great of a planner and my album(which HAS already been delayed a bit) will most likely be done by the end of NEXT month -- due to unforeseen real life events (primarily too much MONEY making work) my project of love and sweat had to go on the back-burner -- since this IS the debut 'Schizoid' album I want it to be as good as I can muster up -- the emotion, compositional density and production value all should be at the best level I can afford to give it...

All while trying not to take it all SO seriously .

Ya feel me?

January is the first month I can see that I will have time to dedicate to polish and last minute writing that is necessary for this project to finally be completed and that,as they say, is that... unless something ELSE happens to throw things off we are looking at a 'sometime in January' date and possibly first week in February if things don't come together as easily as I think they should.

Thanks for the patience and listening, if you aren't TOO afraid of the strange, you'll definitely find something worth listening to here!

This World of Idiots due out in late January... See you then!

Black Page arr Jonathan Haas

You have to wait for the full group version before leaving this page... Takes a while to 'put the eyebrows on it' but it's tight and gets there eventually... I only wish the recording quality was a little better.

fRANK gAM-f'ING-bALE Jazz Improv SHRED fest

I thought I'd be a little creative with the title -- maybe I got carried away a bit -- but I remember seeing this guys chop-builder video back when I was in college and a guitar player/virtuoso friend of mine recommended it, My bud was one of the 3 finalists for the Ozzy lineup at the time and was beaten out by Vai who did a track or two with the Oz man for a minute,

anyway this is a great video to watch for inspiration whether you play jazz metal or whatever .. these guys are TIGHT.

Enjoy!

Saturday Morning Cartoons: The Land of the Lost, & Mikey Likes it

The Land of the Lost part 1

Mikey

And now the exciting conclusion! Land of the Lost Part 2

Laziness or Procrastination?

Which will prevail? I'm betting on laziness... That's all for now.

Why George Takei is irreplaceable...

A kinder gentler Broadcast:

Being the geek / nerd that I am, I grew up watching the Star Trek OS (that's original series to those not in the know) and learned a lot about life, (including watching dancing green women who made me feel tingly in ways I didn't yet understand.)

There were real morals to the stories: and not EVERY moral was so blatant that it was like a ballpeen hammer to the cranium. Sometimes things were delivered subtly and in an offhand 'by the way' kind of way. Thats why the show still stands up after all these years, its a lot more in depth in a human way than a lot of sci-fi that comes out these days which are entirely based on effects or nifty gadgets to try and propel the 'geek interest' in watching.

Takei is often overlooked, but the guy is funny as all get out. For anyone who has found him doing one of his public appearances, or Howard Stern, or just found him online, you can't help but crack up (or maybe even become a little enlightened) at some of the pictures he finds and shares... Here are a couple recent ones I liked:

The Takei quote for this one : "My goodness but this is funny. Had a good hard chuckle!"

How can you NOT like this guy?

Everyone should learn the ways of Takei... on Facebook, and on Twitter

There, my good deed for the day is done.

One more Zoe Keating

Tetrishead

Unrelated fact -- by the way -- love the name Zoe --

Who else likes the cello?

Just happened on this one and I have to say that I like it a lot ... Had to share it with my friends around the globe. Avant-garde Cellist Zoe Keating

Zappa -- King Kong GREAT (& Insane!) performance

Videos like this make me wish the 70's/ 80's were forever.

Lets (kinda) Rock with Tom Jones

Not your typical rock tune but I was never a typical guy -- love this tune (finger clicks and all).

& another version with Sammy Davis Jr.