VC YOUNG ARTIST | Bassist Xavier Foley, 26 — "Deeply Expressive" & "Dazzling Virtuosity"

June 29, 2021

Xavier was recently described by the Philadelphia Inquirer as "A dazzling player who hears borders between styles as limitations best ignored”.

A graduate of the Curtis Institute of Music, where he studied with Edgar Meyer and Hal Robinson, Xavier is a former first prize winner at the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, Astral National Auditions, and the Sphinx Competition. He was recently recognized on New York WQXR’s “19 for 19” Artists to Watch list and featured on PBS Thirteen’s NYC-ARTs. In 2018, he was awarded a prestigious Avery Fisher Career Grant.

His recent debuts include solo engagements with the Atlanta Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Nashville Symphony, Sphinx Symphony, and Sphinx Virtuosi.

He has also appeared at the Marlboro Music Festival, Tippet Rise Music Festival, Bridgehampton and Skaneateles Festivals, New Asia Chamber Music Society, South Mountain Concerts, and the Wolf Trap Festival.

Also a composer, Foley was co-commissioned by Carnegie Hall, the Sphinx Organization, and New World Symphony to write a new work entitled “For Justice and Peace” for violin, bass, and string orchestra. The piece was recently performed at venues like Carnegie Hall, as part of a program designed to promote social justice.

Xavier will be featured in the upcoming second season of The Violin Channel Vanguard Concerts series.

First published on theviolinchannel.com, June 29, 2021

Conductor Heribert Beissel has Died, Aged 88

The German-born conductor passed away due to an undisclosed cause.

Beissel held positions as chief conductor of the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra, music director of the Philharmonic State Orchestra Halle, and the music director of the Brandenburg State Orchestra Frankfurt / Oder. Additionally, he served as an artistic director and founder of the Bonn Classical Philharmonic Orchestra.

© Klassische Philharmonie Bonn

Beissel received the Federal Cross of Merit on Ribbon due to his work in the field of young musical talent. He founded the “Wiener Klassik” in 1986, made up of graduates from music academies in an attempt to start their careers.

He was known as one of the most important conductors of his generation, due to his work with national and international orchestras and his numerous recordings.

Our condolences are with Heribert Beissel’s family, friends, and colleagues.

First published at theviolinchannel.com June 22, 2021.

Editor's note: I worked with Professor Beissel in July 1987, when he was engaged to conduct the Canberra Symphony Orchestra, with The ANU Opera Workshop, in a performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony at Llewellyn Hall in Canberra. I was in the tenor section of the choir.

Professor Beissel returned two years later in August 1989, conducting Haydn's Symphony in D Major and the Don Quixote Fantastic Variations Op. 35 by Richard Strauss, with soloists Vincent Edwards (viola) and Nelson Cook (cello).

Read about those Canberra performances here.

Tony Magee, July 19 2021

Light plane makes ‘beautiful’ emergency landing on Sydney beach.

Wed 26 May, 2021

The pilot, his wife and their one-year-old son were uninjured when the plane landed on Collaroy beach in Sydney’s north. 

A young family has had a lucky escape after their light plane was forced to make an emergency landing on a Sydney beach. The plane landed at Collaroy on Sydney’s northern beaches about 2pm on Wednesday.

The pilot was flying with his wife and their one-year-old son when the aircraft experienced engine trouble, NSW Ambulance said. All three were uninjured. The plane landed a few hundred metres from people walking on the beach, an eyewitness told 2GB radio. 

“It’s a beautiful, quiet day – not a cloud in the sky – and what happens? This plane just floats past us,” the man said. It was “really close and really low, losing altitude really fast, and landed beautifully on the beach”. 

Insp Dave Stubbs said the trio was extremely lucky to land safely and it was fortunate no one was walking on the stretch of sand that became their makeshift runway. “You always think the worst when a plane is involved but thankfully they were able to land safely on the beach and there were no injuries sustained by those on board,” he said in a statement. 

Recreational Aviation Australia will investigate the incident. 

First published in The Guardian, Wed 26 May, 2021, through Australian Associated Press

Beethoven tops the 2021 Classic 100 with his "Emperor" Piano Concerto

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Classic 100, we asked you about the classical music you can't live without.

The votes have been counted and Ludwig Van Beethoven's "Emperor" Piano Concerto came in at number 1!

A portrait of Ludwig Van Beethoven by Joseph Carl Steiler, 1820

The 20th anniversary countdown was one of the most popular on record, with more than 127,000 votes cast. To celebrate 20 years of the Classic 100, ABC Classic opened voting up to the full history of classical music and asked voters: What's the music you can't live without? This year's countdown was only 415 votes shy of beating the record set by 2019's Classic 100: Composer.

The "Emperor" Concerto's win comes off the back of 2020's Classic 100: Beethoven poll, dedicated solely to the music of Beethoven in the year commemorating the 250th anniversary of his birth. In 2020, Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, featuring the well-loved "Ode to Joy", took out the top spot, with the "Emperor" coming in next place.

The second Classic 100 to take place during the pandemic, perhaps there was a synergy for some, with the Fifth Piano Concerto composed by Beethoven in virtual lockdown. Beethoven started composing the work in 1809, as Napoleon’s armies began their occupation of Vienna. "What a destructive, disorderly life I see around me," Beethoven wrote to his publisher in 1809, "There’s nothing but drums, cannons and human misery in every form." At one point during the premiere in 1811, a French soldier was reported to have called out, "C’est l’Empereur!" and the nickname has stood ever since.

The concerto has appeared in eight previous Classic 100 countdowns, but only once before has placed first, in 2007's Classic 100: Concerto. In 2001's original Classic 100 it came in fourth, and rose to second place in 2010's countdown "10 years on."

Voters around Australia gave many reasons for why this was the music they can't live without. "It contains every element of Beethoven's greatness, the magic of ensemble, individual moments of profound reflection and something of which I have never tired in over 6 decades since first I heard it aged 9," said one voter from Bowral, NSW. Another from Hobart, Tasmania, said:

"It totally and utterly affects me emotionally."

For some the piece brings back memories of loved ones. Others recalled its use in favourite cinematic moments, especially 2010's The King's Speech.

The top ten of this year's Classic 100 features some of the most-loved repertoire in classical music. Beethoven also took out the second spot with his Ninth Symphony and coming in third was Vaughan Williams's "The Lark Ascending".

The Classic 100 countdown takes place annually across two days in June, following voting throughout May. Countdowns are often based around a theme, with previous countdowns dedicated to specific genres and eras of music, particular instruments, or concepts like love and dance. You can view the top 100 and listen to the full 2021 countdown on the ABC Classic website.

First published at abc.net.au, June 13, 2021

Classic Hi-Fi collection goes under the hammer via online auction

by Tony Magee

I am selling my collection of Classic Hi-Fi, through ALLBIDS Canberra.

Bid here: allbids.com.au

This range is varied, much of it collectable and sought-after equipment.

And here it is:

          

Speakers:

Jordan Watts "Jupiter" speakers (Britain)
KEF Cadenza speakers (Britain)
Sansui AA-4900 speakers (Japan)
AVID Model 103 speakers (USA)
JBL AQUARIUS 4 S109 speakers (USA)
Rogers "Studio 1" speakers (Britain)
Richter sub-woofer model N10001

JBL Aquarius 4 S109 in white and walnut

Rogers Studio 1

Turntables:
1. Micro ET 500 direct drive with SME series III tonearm.
2. Technics SL 120 direct drive with SME 3009 tonearm and Shure V 15 type 3 cartridge.

3. Technics SP-10 MK2 direct drive broadcast turntable fitted in polished black base with Micro MA-88 tonearm and TWO HEADSHELLS, one fitted with Supex SD/900 Super II Moving Coil Cartridge, the other fitted with a Jelco MC-9 magnetic cartridge.
4. Harman Kardon ST8 with Rabco linear tracking tonearm, Ortofon 2M Bronze cartridge.
5. ELAC Mirachord 50H.

Technics SL120 with SME 3009 arm

Harman Kardon / Rabco ST8

Cassette Decks:

Nakamichi 700
Technics M23RX with DBX, Dolby B, Dolby C, 2 motor drive system
Akai CS-F110

Nakamicki 700 cassette deck

Reel-to-Reel:
Akai GX-77, 7 inch
Teac / Tascam A-3440 4 channel, 10 inch 
Teac X-700R, 6 head, dual capstan (in black)

Teac / Tascam A-3440

Amps and receivers:
NAD C-730 stereo receiver
Yamaha RX-V595 AV receiver
JEIL Att.Zone amplifier model JPA-1240A
Rotel RA-500 stereo amplifier
JBL MPX300 stereo power amp, 300 watts RMS per channel into 4 ohms

JBL MPX300 Power Amp

CD players:
Sony CDP-101 (world's first CD player - launched October, 1982)
Sony CDP-203ES

Sony CDP-101: World's first CD player, launched in Tokyo, October 1982

Streamer:
Bluesound "Vault 2" streamer with CD ripper (incl original packaging).

Bluesound Vault 2 streamer and CD ripper

 

Complete system:
Professional rack-mounted system comprising Denon DN-2000F twin CD player, matching Denon DN-2000F control unit, Sansui AU-317 pre-amp and twin Crown D-75A power amps, 110 watts per channel RMS each, all rack mounted.

Crown D-75A power amp

Sansui AU-317 pre-amp and integrated power amp

Denon DN-2000F twin CD player and control unit

Complete rack system

 

All items are in excellent condition, lovingly cared for by me. The auction is being handled by AllBids, Fyshwick ACT. Closes Tuesday evening, August 17. On-line only.

Lioness of the piano: Martha Argerich turns 80

June 5, 2021

THE Argentine-born virtuoso is arguably the best pianist in the world today. At 80, she still exudes passion and power when performing.

The piano prodigy has been playing for nearly all her 80 years. Image: Courtesy of Agence Artistique, Jacques Thelen

At the age of 80, Martha Argerich remains an incomparable virtuoso, a performer marked by special charisma and nuanced, agile technique.

She is also regarded as a moody and unpredictable diva. Over the years, her energetic performances and her signature long mane — once dark, now graying — earned her the nickname "lioness" of the piano.

From Buenos Aires to Europe

Argerich was born on June 5, 1941, in Buenos Aires. Her maternal grandparents were Jews who had fled to Argentina to escape the antisemitic pogroms of tsarist Russia in the early 20th century.

She began playing the piano at the age of three. To her mother, Juanita, it was immediately clear that the child was a genius. Argerich was seven when she gave her first public concert. From that moment on, the life of the family started revolving around the career of the incredibly talented daughter.

In 1954, when Argerich was 13, her mother managed to speak to Argentine dictator Juan Peron. Shortly after, she and her husband secured positions at the Argentine Embassy in Austria, giving the family diplomatic status and allowing Martha to study in Vienna.

Argerich soon began studying with renowned pianist Friedrich Gulda, who found his best student "neurotic, weak-willed, spoiled," criticized her dissolute lifestyle and doubted the young woman's potential future career.

Argerich never got up before noon, became a chain smoker and gave birth to her first child at the age of 20; nevertheless, her talent was undeniable and she won one competition after another.

In 1957, she received first prize at the renowned Ferruccio Busoni International Piano Competition in Bolzano, Italy, and in 1965 she won the legendary International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw, Poland. As in her debut as a 7-year-old, Argerich played Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 1. The audience went wild, jury members wiped tears from their faces, journalists lined up for interviews. She had become a star before she had even turned 25.

Martha Argerich was mobbed by the press and fans after winning first prize in the Chopin Competition in Warsaw, Poland, in 1965. Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Dabrowiecki

Daniel Barenboim, the Argentine-born conductor, pianist and childhood friend of Argerich, described the virtuoso's special talent in The Washington Post: "From the beginning, she wasn't … only concerned with dexterity and speed. She mastered those as well, of course, but her fantasy enabled her to create a very unique quantity and quality of sounds on the piano."

Cancelling at short notice

In the following five and a half decades of her career, Argerich experienced many private setbacks but hardly any professional ones. She played brilliantly and with devotion as she honed her incomparable style.

She also seemed to have a special connection to the composers whose works she regularly performed: Frederic Chopin, Robert Schumann, Franz Liszt, Maurice Ravel, Claude Debussy, Sergei Prokofiev, Igor Stravinsky, Peter Tchaikovsky and, of course, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Ludwig van Beethoven. She has been known to say such things as, "Schumann likes me," or "Prokofiev never lets me down."

However, Argerich became infamous for cancelling performances at short notice. The first time took place when she was 17. She cited a finger injury as the reason and deliberately cut her finger to legitimate the story. Later, to avoid cancelling, she simply would not sign a performance contract until the evening of the concert. Promoters and audiences accepted such conditions in order to experience "La Martha" live onstage.

Fleeting loves, lifelong friendships

As much has been written about Argerich's private life as her musical career. She gave birth to three daughters by three men — all musicians. In addition, she had numerous relationships throughout her life, especially with famous conductors and fellow pianists — though her love interests apparently also included violinists and cellists.

In a 2011 biography of Argerich, French journalist Olivier Bellamy — one of few with intimate knowledge of the pianist — attested to her "chaotic lifestyle" but also to her warm, almost motherly way of dealing with people. This rare talent provided Argerich with close lifelong friendships, such as with Barenboim.

The support of friends helped Argerich get through tough times, including a cancer diagnosis in the 1990s. Pianist Stephen Kovacevich, to whom Argerich was briefly married in the 1970s, broke off his world tour and rushed to Los Angeles, where Argerich underwent surgery. The next day, Barenboim and another childhood friend, conductor Zubin Mehta, were also standing in Argerich's hospital room with a bouquet of red roses.

Argentinian piano duo Daniel Barenboim and Martha Argerich have been lifelong friends. Image: picture-alliance/dpa/S. Stache

Another declaration of love is the 2012 documentary film Argerich — Bloody Daughter, in which Stephanie Argerich, the youngest of the pianist's three daughters, paints a tender, humorous portrait of her legendary mother.

Argerich, who lives in Geneva, Switzerland, is celebrating her 80th birthday with her friends, children and grandchildren. Shortly thereafter she will be off to Hamburg, where she will be hosting her own festival at the end of June.

The opening event will feature Argerich performing with Barenboim; however, some of the 12 concerts may have to be rescheduled due to the pandemic.

Nevertheless, she has no plans to stop making music: According to Argerich herself, music is something that she can do rather better than everyone else.

First published by Deutsche Welle (DW.COM), June 5, 2021