Musical America Blogs

By: Edna Landau

Early one morning, a few weeks ago, I was listening to radio station WQXR, when I heard the following:  “All of the artists you hear on WQXR play with heart, but not all of them play by heart.” It was the intro to an announcement of the Chiara String Quartet’s upcoming performance in WQXR’s Jerome L. Greene Performance Space. The announcement really caught my attention. What was this all about? I have always thought of the Chiara as one of the most prominent and innovative quartets of their generation. Was this a gimmick to differentiate them from the pack?

Unable to attend the Quartet’s live performance, I made sure to view it via the link on WQXR’s home page. The audience was clearly energized by the excitement flowing from the group and responded with hearty and prolonged applause to their performances of works by Ravel and Brahms. During the interview portion, I learned how the Chiara arrived at the decision to perform most of their concerts and record their newest Brahms CD by memory. It resulted in large measure from an eight year process of recording the complete Brahms quartets, only to conclude that the product didn’t meet their own standards. In a quest to go deeper into the music and internalize what the composer wrote on the page, they invested the time in memorizing the music (individual parts and the totality) and began to rehearse by memory. Their new Brahms recording on the Azica label, which also includes the String Quintet No. 2 with violist Roger Tapping, is called “Brahms by Heart”.

The Chiara Quartet is not unique in playing by memory. The Kolisch Quartet, an early 20^th century European ensemble, were renowned for playing by heart. Other quartets who have performed at times by memory include the Zehetmair Quartett , the Parker Quartet and the Ariel Quartet. However, the Chiara’s commitment to this idea seems considerably more far-reaching. I spoke to two members of the group: violinist Rebecca Fischer and violist Jonah Sirota. Still a bit skeptical about what WQXR referred to on their website as “a feat” and “scaling a very different artistic Everest”, I wanted to ask them directly about the motivation behind making a commitment that undoubtedly requires many extra hours of learning on their part. In calling their latest album “Brahms by Heart”, I couldn’t help but feel that they were playing on the novelty of this approach. They told me that the title had additional meaning for them because they feel it reflects the closeness they feel to the music as a result of having committed it to memory. I asked whether presenters were marketing them on the basis of this aspect of their performances and they said no. I also asked whether the number of works they have been performing  by memory (including Ravel, four Bartok quartets, Haydn Opus 20 #2, Schubert’s “Death and the Maiden”, and the complete Brahms) were an indication that all future performances would be by memory. I was especially curious about new music, in light of their Grammy nominated recording (2011) of Jefferson Friedman’s String Quartet #3. They confirmed that their intention is to offer some new works by memory but explained that there is a tendency for newly commissioned works to be finished very close to deadline, which can create a challenge with regard to memorization. In addition, the decision to commit a new work to memory might be influenced by the number of opportunities to perform the work. Jonah and Rebecca told me that they will limit the amount of repertoire they offer by heart and that all four players must feel equally comfortable in all instances. At present, they seem almost euphoric about the sense of release and freedom that they feel when they are no longer tied to a printed page. They spoke of the galvanizing effect it has had on them, changing both their dynamic and their sound. They have also been gratified by the enthusiastic response from audiences who welcome the absence of music stands, which they view as a barrier between them and the musicians.

I am not in a position to comment on the before and after of the Chiara’s transformation. I have never been privileged to hear them live in concert and much of what is currently on YouTube is performed by memory. In these video clips, as well as in the broadcast from the Greene Space, the group plays with infectious ebullience, technical assurance, stylistic cohesion and a rich sound that emanate from a warm and confident dynamic between the players.  Recognizing that they have been Blodgett Artists-in-Residence at Harvard University over the past six years, I decided to contact a professor in Harvard’s Music Department, Anne Shreffler, who was happy to speak to me. She is very impressed with the artistic growth of the Quartet during their tenure at Harvard, independent of their new initiative to memorize their concert repertoire. However, she does believe that this new approach has enhanced their sound, their blend, and their artistic collaboration.

It is very common today for students at music schools and conservatories to be strongly encouraged to focus on their “vision statement” and “branding”.  I personally do not embrace that exact approach because I find it vague and overly corporate.  However, with such a crowded field of extraordinarily talented musicians and less opportunities for securing management and performance slots on established concert series, I do encourage young artists to try to identify their strongest skills and attributes, as well as their greatest passions, in hopes that this process will help to define them and allow them to build a profile that presenters, managers and the media might find compelling. At the same time, I always try to emphasize to them that this self-reflection process can only be productive if the level of their performances is as high as it can be. Recognition that is not rooted in significant musical accomplishment will not prove to be lasting. I commend the Chiara Quartet for identifying an approach that has elevated their performance level and brought audiences an extra measure of involvement and appreciation. I am not convinced that other ensembles are prevented from performing  with the same freedom and meaningful communication by having their music stands in front of them but I am convinced that the Chiara did not embark on this journey as a marketing ploy. While audiences may grow to speak about them as “the quartet who perform by heart”, thus helping them stand out among many gifted colleagues, I know they understand that it will always be the quality of their playing that truly defines them and that will be central to their ongoing success.

© Edna Landau 2014

By: Edna Landau

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About a month ago, I attended a panel discussion at Chamber Music America’s 35^th annual conference in New York during which one of the panelists, pianist Simone Dinnerstein, spoke of her quest to make her concerts as personal, intimate and warm as possible. Reinforced by the atmosphere at a Leonard Cohen performance at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn (seating capacity of approximately 18,000), which made her feel as though she were in his living room, she has set out to experiment with special lighting to warm up the feel of her concerts. Where possible, presenters may be asked to use special gels that may complement a motif in her concert attire. Alternatively, she may ask for a lamp with a lamp shade near the piano, as well as a piece of carpeting under the piano. In some instances, Ms. Dinnerstein has prepared a mixed tape to be played in the hall from the time the doors open, that is related to the program she will perform and that is designed to help the audience put their cares behind them and to welcome them into the concert experience even before she plays a note. Such a compilation might include selections as diverse as songs sung by Joni Mitchell and the late countertenor, Alfred Deller. In a program called “Night”, based on her soon to be released album by that name with singer-songwriter Tift Merritt, the two came out and started performing on a dark stage. As the lights gradually came up, the audience was already engrossed in what they were hearing, spared the applause that traditionally accompanies the artists’ coming out on stage and that can be a rather harsh entry point into a captivating musical experience.

A darkened stage is not a unique or new phenomenon in the concert hall. CMA panelist Eric Edberg, artistic director of the Greencastle Sumer Music Festival, related how he presented Messiaen’s Quartet for the End of Time on a dark stage with only stand lights. Conductor Paul Haas, founder and visionary Artistic Director of Sympho (which was launched with a revelatory and highly acclaimed multi-media concert in 2006 called “Rewind”) will present a concert at the Church of the Ascension in New York this May with the title “Ascending Darkness”. The following description appears on Sympho’s website: “In this concert, Sympho will explore what happens to the orchestral concert experience when the lights go out, when the audience is invited to listen to the music without visual distractions, allowing the sense of hearing to be heightened. World premieres and pre-composed classics collide in varying degrees of light and darkness in the resonant space of Manhattan’s famed Church of the Ascension. Musicians are placed in unexpected configurations and locations, enveloping the audience in various musical textures. No programs to fumble with or tall concertgoers to peek around. Instead, this concert invites you to sit and focus on what you came to hear in the first place: glorious music.” Like Simone Dinnerstein, Mr. Haas is not exploring new forms of concert presentation because he thinks the music doesn’t stand convincingly on its own. Rather, he feels the concert experience for audience members can be significantly enhanced if they can immerse themselves in the music in as complete a way as possible.

A presenter who has come to many of the same conclusions is Laura Kaminsky, Artistic Director of New York’s Symphony Space. She spoke to me of the acoustical challenge of presenting chamber music and jazz in their smaller theatre, the Thalia, which was built as a screening house and has a low ceiling. The acoustics in the hall are much brighter when the screen is lowered and she thought to create visual backdrops for the music on stage by using lighting, gobos and gels to match the mood of the music being performed. Colors and images are chosen to illuminate and enhance the audience’s musical experience. During a recent contemporary music marathon, the lighting changed throughout the eight hour period, which they felt helped to give each piece its own special world and kept the audience alert and engaged.  In the annual Wall to Wall marathons which take place in the larger 800-seat theatre and which run for twelve continuous hours, she and her staff have created special tableaux that are projected to coordinate with what is happening on stage and that illustrate the changing theme of the Wall to Wall each year. They also feel strongly about setting the tone of a performance from the moment the audience enters the hall, both through lighting and music that create a suitable atmosphere and relate to the program that the audience is about to hear. Ms. Kaminsky elaborated on this to me, as follows: “When you go to a restaurant, you’re going for the culinary experience , but part of what makes it special is the lighting, the ambience, and perhaps the beautifully set table. You don’t go to simply fortify your body with calories. Similarly, a concert is a sensory, aesthetic and cultural experience which should be enjoyed to the fullest.”

While I still regularly attend concerts and feel uplifted by a stimulating program beautifully performed, without the benefit of special lighting or any other unusual sensory stimulation, I am excited at the thought that colleagues whom I hold in high regard are exploring new ways to make audience members feel more comfortable, engaged and connected to what they are hearing and seeing on stage. This can only be a positive development as we continue our efforts to introduce new, younger audiences to centuries of great musical masterpieces.

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© Edna Landau 2013

By: Edna Landau

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

One of the questions I am asked most frequently when I meet with students at music schools and conservatories is: How important is it to have a website? I increasingly tell them that it is very important. The challenge for a musician who is still a student is to generate enough information to fill a website, especially if they have only a few, or even no reviews, and their performance calendar is very sparse. Recently, I had the pleasure of meeting with performance psychologist Dr. Noa Kageyama’s Performance Enhancement class at the Juilliard School. The students are all Masters students. In preparation for the class, I asked Dr. Kageyama to give me their names so that I could get to know them a little online before meeting them in person. Only four out of eighteen had websites but one really stood out from the rest. It was created by double bassist Corey Schutzer, whose performance experience to date is largely as a collaborative bassist. He does not yet have a very busy performance schedule and there are no reviews on the website, yet he does have some impressive quotes on the home page, a very interesting and unusual performance sample on the Media page, and a sincerely written page entitled “Teaching Philosophy”, which should help him find new students. He generously lists links to resources that other bassists might find helpful. Most importantly, he succeeds in achieving a warm, personal style of communication and he impressed this reader with his expressions of gratitude to all those who have helped him reach this point in his career. I particularly liked how this was reflected in his bio on the About page, written in the first person. (He was wise, however, to add a more traditional short bio, suitable for downloading by presenters.) I also admired the overall design and the varied and high quality photos (by a violinist and Juilliard graduate, Arthur Moeller). Corey subsequently told me that he used a Wix.com template for the website, which he didn’t find too challenging, but that he spent considerable time composing the content and getting it all organized on the site. The most interesting thing for me was learning from Corey that going through the exercise of creating the website was a major step forward for him, as it reaffirmed the positive things about his career to date, and the process of expressing himself in writing also served to build his overall confidence in representing himself to others.

All of this got me thinking that anyone who interacts with artists, emerging as well as established, wants to hear that artist’s inner voice. We want to know what they are really like, what inspires them, and in the case of their concert performances, why they chose the program they offered. Since I was captivated by Corey’s first person bio, I spoke to a few presenters to see if they would ever print such a bio. The answer was negative, largely because they felt that their audience wants to read something more objective and it is hard for an artist to write objectively about themselves. I concur that it becomes increasingly difficult as an artist amasses more accolades and their writing may come across as bragging. However, what I did hear from presenters is that they are extremely interested in reflecting in their programs the thought behind the chosen program and that they welcome receiving this input in the artist’s own words. At Carnegie Hall, this may appear in the section of the program entitled At a Glance. It is even possible that a bit of biographical information might be included if it is relevant to the choice of program. Hanna Arie-Gaifman, Director of the 92^nd Street Y’s Tisch Center for the Arts, told me that she has sometimes interviewed artists prior to their performance and printed a short introduction to them in the program, if she felt that the audience would benefit from knowing more about them. Clark Morris, Executive and Artistic Director of the Harriman-Jewell Series in Kansas City, told me that they encourage artists to contribute their thoughts about the chosen program and even write program notes, if they so desire. They regularly do a question and answer session on stage after the concert to further familiarize the audience with the performers and gain insight into the program they just performed. He also told me that he has been speaking with artist managers about producing short video clips for their artists in advance of a tour that would explain what the music means to them. He envisions something simple and authentic, not slick or overly produced. He would then post the video clips on his website, to complement the informative notes he already has there.

The message here seems very clear. In addition to practicing and honing their performance skills to the highest levels possible, artists (especially young ones) need to reflect about themselves and their artistic choices, and become comfortable sharing with others who they are and what drove them to make those choices. If they devote proper time to helping audiences get to know them, they will be successful in building a dedicated and ever larger following.

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© Edna Landau 2012

By: Edna Landau

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

For those who live along the eastern seaboard of the United States, this past week was filled with overwhelming challenges, including displacement from homes, freezing temperatures, loss of electrical power, extensive property damage and financial loss. Many of us have read about the telethon organized by NBC, featuring performers including Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi, Billy Joel, Sting, and Christina Aguilera, which raised $23 million in donations to the American Red Cross for Hurricane Sandy relief. A note I received on this blog following the storm inspired me to pay tribute this week to less heralded performers who gave generously of themselves to make this trying experience more bearable. Marianne Schmocker, director of Marianne Schmocker Artists, wrote as follows:

I do not have a question, but thought you might be interested to read this. One of the groups that I represent, the Hugo Wolf Quartet, performed an afternoon concert in New York on Sunday, October 28, and headed out to the airport to return to Vienna at the start of Hurricane Sandy, only to be turned away. They found one of the last taxis to leave for Manhattan. The director of the Austrian Cultural Forum, Andreas Stadler, who had presented the quartet a few days earlier, invited them to stay in the ACF building where he also lives. However, there was not enough space for all four musicians. Two of them had to sleep on the concert stage. After the storm on Monday, they gave a free concert at the ACF which was attended by seven people. When they heard that concerts were canceled everywhere in Manhattan, they gave another free concert on Thursday, November 1. This time, the hall was packed, after an announcement appeared on the ACF’s website and word spread via Facebook and Twitter. Even though the quartet had to live together in a very small place away from their families who were very worried about them, they still had the energy to play music for others. As their manager, I discovered the Hugo Wolf Quartet anew. I am proud to work with them.

In speaking with Ms. Schmocker, I learned that the Hugo Wolf Quartet offered different programs each time they played, trying to present music that was as uplifting as possible for the special circumstances. For the final concert on November 1, they wanted to offer Felix Mendelssohn’s String Quartet #2 but they had a small problem – they didn’t have the music. So they went to Starbucks, joined the large numbers of people who were already signed on to their WiFi, downloaded the music onto their computers and printed it out at the Austrian Cultural Forum.

Before leaving the country, the quartet’s cellist, Florian Berner, joined by Mr. Stadler, did an interview for WWFM in Princeton. Mr. Stadler explained how the November 1 concert came about. As he and the quartet had been sharing accommodations and meals for several days, they discussed what would be important to New York after the storm. They felt that the answer was a message of reconstruction and good spirit, something for which music is the perfect vehicle. Mr. Berner reported that the atmosphere was so exceptional during the concert that they were reminded how important art and music are when we encounter moments in life which we don’t know how to handle. A number of audience members thanked him and the Quartet for giving them a two hour reprieve from watching great devastation on television and lifting their depressed spirits.

It is particularly touching when artists from abroad seize the opportunity to share the healing power of great music with us in our time of need. I am sure they were not alone. Bravo to all the other performers who spontaneously responded in similar fashion. Please feel free to use the comments feature on this blog to share your stories. I’d love to hear from you!

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© Edna Landau 2012

By: Edna Landau

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

On Monday, October 15, while reading the Arts section of The New York Times, I was struck by the fact that more than half of one page was taken up by two reviews of concerts that had very small audiences and that were performed by artists without major name recognition. Anthony Tommasini reviewed a performance by the Mivos Quartet at the DiMenna Center’s Benzaquen Hall, where he reported that chairs were set up for just 50 people. The review of the quartet was accompanied by a performance photo which measured 6 x 9 inches.  Vivien Schweitzer reviewed a concert by the Danish String Quartet in the Victor Borge Hall of Scandinavia House, which has a seating capacity of 168. I can well remember a time when only concerts performed in New York’s biggest halls, or debut concerts performed in one or two venues, stood a chance of being reviewed.

It would seem that it matters far less where today’s performers share their music with us than what they choose to program. I find this change wonderfully refreshing and welcome. The Mivos Quartet’s program, which Mr. Tommasini called “thoughtful”, consisted of Helmut Lachenmann’s String Quartet No. 3 (“Grido,” 2002), Wolfgang Rihm’s “Quartettstudie” (2004) and John Cage’s String Quartet in Four Parts (1950). The Danish String Quartet performed Beethoven’s String Quartet in A minor (Op. 132), which Ms. Schweitzer called “one of the most powerful performances of Opus 132 I’ve heard live or on disc.” The rest of the program consisted of Hugo Wolf’s “Italian Serenade” and Janacek’s String Quartet No. 1 (“Kreutzer”). Ms. Schweitzer’s quote and very enthusiastic review will undoubtedly be beneficial to the quartet as they continue to build their career and it will not matter at all that they didn’t play in one of New York City’s premier concert halls.

While pondering this topic, I decided to call my esteemed colleague, the preeminent publicist Mary Lou Falcone, to see if she thought that my observation was accurate. Ms. Falcone is one of the founding directors of Spring for Music, a festival that has brought orchestras to New York’s Carnegie Hall in May of the past two years, chosen solely by the distinctiveness and adventurousness of their programs.  Ms. Falcone also teaches a Vocal Arts Seminar at the Juilliard School in which she stresses the increasing importance of connecting with one’s audience through thoughtful programming and direct personal communication. She concurred with my observation and we shared our excitement at the thought that in choosing from a broader and more imaginative variety of venues, artists need not concern themselves so much with the chances for media coverage. A call to Welz Kauffman, President and CEO of the Ravinia Festival, confirmed that in Chicago, even tiny venues may be covered by the press, especially if new work is involved or the venue is unusual and interesting. I know for a fact that Mark Swed, Chief Music Critic for the Los Angeles Times (who visited my class while I was teaching at the Colburn School), has long been drawn to concerts with unusual programs in interesting venues. Clearly, the entire country is moving in the same direction.

While it is likely that concert presenters may still be reluctant to present a large number of concerts in small, intimate venues, due to their legitimate concern about box office income and covering their expenses, it is heartening to note that they still may opt for them if they feel they are most appropriate for a particular program. Earlier this week, The New York Times featured the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s “Cozy Celebration of Britten’s Centenary” which took place in the Rose Rehearsal Studio at Lincoln Center. The Escher Quartet’s fascinating and interconnected program of works by Britten, Beethoven, Purcell and Gesualdo (arranged for the ensemble by the quartet’s violist) was enjoyed by a small audience seated in circles around the quartet – close enough, said Wu Han, one of the Society’s artistic directors “to breathe in the rosin dust released from the performers’ bows and to become participants in the music making.” How wonderful that the Society opted for the Rehearsal Studio, rather than the much larger Alice Tully Hall.

Can performers conclude that they no longer have to contemplate raising a huge sum of money to rent one of the most prestigious concert halls in hopes of gaining attention? This might be true, but only if they do not lose sight of the importance of offering a program that will be distinctive and enlightening. It does not need to be a program of all-contemporary music, but it might be especially attractive if the pieces relate to one another in some way. It is always a plus to introduce a new or relatively unknown work to an audience, or even to offer an interesting transcription that speaks to the artists’ strengths. The performers should feel that they have something very special to say about the music and they should have lived with it and performed it sufficient times to thoroughly share their passion for the music with their audience. The crowning touch will be to choose a venue that will allow them to accomplish this in the most direct way, so that their audience can get swept up by their excitement and cherish the experience long after the concert is over.

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© Edna Landau 2012

By Edna Landau

To ask a question, please write Ask Edna.

This week, I am deviating slightly from my usual format and answering the one question I have been asked repeatedly throughout my career: How can you tell if someone has the potential to be great? Although there is no response that fits all situations, I hope that the experience related below will reveal some of the answers. 

It is Saturday night, March 26, 2011. I am sitting in a small chair, almost elbow to elbow with the person next to me at New York City’s Metropolitan Room. The place is packed and there is much anticipation in the air. Finally, the lights dim and a highly attractive 26-year old Juilliard-trained soprano in an elegant green gown takes the stage. She lifts the microphone and begins to sing Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein’s “All the Things You Are”. I get the goose bumps during this very first song, always a sign that something special is happening. At the conclusion of the song, she thanks everyone who made her show possible and tells us how lucky she feels to be sharing her favorite music from the Great American Songbook with us. I, in turn, feel lucky to be there. Everything I read in Stephen Holden’s very enthusiastic New York Times review has come to life within a very few minutes. Jennifer Sheehan has won my heart with her gracious, unpretentious welcome and warm, comfortable stage presence. The spell is never broken over the course of the next one and a half hours. 

I ask myself afterwards: How did this happen? How did she totally distract me from my aggravation over the astronomical sum of money I had just committed to paying when I parked my car in a garage across the street? First and foremost, it was her joy in performing, but that wouldn’t have gripped me for long had it not been coupled with a beautifully thought-out program, interspersed with personal vignettes about her career and the meaning that many of the songs held for her. She shared her awe about sitting on the same stage as Audra McDonald and Stephen Sondheim on the day she graduated from Juilliard. (Ms. McDonald gave the commencement address and Mr. Sondheim received an honorary degree.) She then proceeded to sing two Sondheim songs that captured how she felt on that day. A delightful song called “Do You Miss Me” gave Ms. Sheehan the opportunity to share her first experience hearing Andrea Marcovicci as a teenager in her native St. Louis. Little did she know when she purchased Ms. Marcovicci’s cd (which included that song) following the concert that she would later become a significant mentor in her career. She introduced her rendition of “I’ll be Seeing You” by relating how she once performed it in a nursing home for Alzheimer’s patients and midway through the song, heard them humming along and saw some of them reaching for their neighbor’s hand. One got the impression that her various appearances at nursing homes were among her most memorable. None of this sounded calculated or artificial. Ms. Sheehan was subtly transmitting to me why I should care about hearing this music at this particular time. 

It was a long and demanding program. Ninety minutes of singing and talking without a break. Her voice never faltered. Her Juilliard training, combined with an obvious flair for acting and a musical gift that was repeatedly displayed in her perfect intonation and exquisite phrasing, was always in evidence. She coupled disparate songs in unexpected ways, choosing to have us reflect on the timeless beauty of “Some Enchanted Evening” through the lens of Adam Guettel’s “Fable” from “The Light in the Piazza”, which immediately followed. (Adam Guettel is Richard Rodgers’ grandson.) I felt enriched by the introduction to two songs by Susan Werner, whose music I had never heard before. I found myself whooping and cheering along with everyone else at the conclusion of an irresistible and virtuosic “If You Hadn’t But You Did” and wishing that the program wouldn’t come to an end. When it did, Ms. Sheehan barely paused long enough to take a drink of water and immediately dashed out to the venue’s main exit (where her sister was selling cd’s) so that she could be sure to greet her appreciative audience and personally thank them for coming. I was one of the first to add my name to her mailing list. It’s not that I need to receive more e-mails or Facebook invitations. I just want to be sure to know the next time she is performing within 100 miles of my home. 

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© Edna Landau 2011