Symphony/Chorale Concert: A review

Very positive review of Thursday's performance, I'm proud to report. It's not too late to get tickets online for tonight's or tomorrow afternoon's concerts. 

Read review

Cultural Resources: Ravel, Rachmaninov, Faure at Benaroya Hall

One of the reasons people choose to live in Bainbridge Island is its easy access to Seattle's cultural venues. Benaroya Hall is an easy ten-minute stroll from the ferry terminal.

 Thursday night I'll be singing from the front row of the bass section in the Seattle Symphony performance of the Faure Requiem. I guarantee that you'll never forget this music. See you there!

Seattle resources: Seattle Symphony at Benaroya Hall

A ten-minute walk from the ferry terminal, Benaroya Hall is a world-class venue for the Seattle Symphony.

Next week plan to attend Handel's Messiah, a Seattle Symphony tradition. I can guarantee your enjoyment. I'll see you from the stage!

Seattle resources: Benaroya Hall 10th Anniversary Block Party

Seattle Symphony Orchestra
Sunday, September 14
Benaroya Hall Events
Day of Music and Art: Block Party

Celebrate good times at Benaroya Hall's 10th Anniversary! The day features free performances and activities for the whole family with Seattle Symphony, Soundbridge, Seattle Art Museum and The Triple Door. Tenth Anniversary attendees also receive free admission to SAM's permanent collection. It's a block party not to be missed! FREE Admission.


SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

S. Mark Taper Foundation Auditorium
11am Cascade Symphony
12pm Northwest Mahler Orchestra Festival
1pm Seattle Choral Company (Fauré Requiem featuring the Watjen Concert Organ)
2 & 3:15pm Seattle Symphony
4:15pm Seattle Men’s Chorus, Seattle Women’s Chorus
5:15pm Seattle Symphony’s Pacific Northwest Community Orchestra Plays Mahler

Illsley Ball Nordstrom Recital Hall
11:15am Members of the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras
12pm Wesito & Friends: Wes Dyring's Classic Latin Music
12:45pm Greenwood Concert Band
1:30pm Seattle Classic Guitar Society
2:15pm The Dave Mesler Trio (musical tribute to Benaroya Hall)
3:15pm Bokréta Hungarian Dance Ensemble
4pm Northwest Sound Men’s Chorus
4:45pm Juliana and Pava (Ancient Russian Song Vocal Ensemble)
5:30pm Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra

Garden of Remembrance
10am Seattle Seahawks Blue Thunder Drumline
10:45am Orchestra Zarabanda (Hot Cuban salsa!)
11:30am Beverly Graham (guitar)
12:15pm Neil Hubbard (bagpipe)
1pm Bonnie Whiting Smith (percussion)
1:45pm Mariachi Juvenil- Voces de Mexico
2:30pm The Miho and Diego Duo (marimba and Andean flute)
3:15pm New Age Flamenco (guitar trio)
4pm Shumba Youth Marimba Ensemble
4:45pm JUBILEE (indie garden jazz)

Soundbridge
10:30am Kindermusik Demo Class
11:30am Percussion Explosion!
12:30pm Let’s Write a Song! (with David Mesler)
1:30pm Sin Fronteras: Live and Listen without Borders
2:30pm Russian Folk For Kids
3:30pm American Minimalism (intended for older audiences)
4:30pm Seattle International Film Festival (intended for older audiences)

Seattle Art Museum South Hall
12pm The Raggedy Anns (stripped down acoustic skiffle)
1pm Andre Feriante (guitar)
2pm Red Eye Flight (Experimental music)
3pm Das Vibenbass (crushing the borders of jazz)

The Triple Door Musicquarium
4pm Tor Dietrichson/ Paul Benoit Duo (roots rock & more)
5pm James Baumgart (contemporary jazz guitar)
6pm The Jelly Rollers (blues/Americana)
7pm The Boogilistics (nu-soul/funk)
9pm Salsa Dancing

*All programs and artists subject to change.

KIDS WELCOME!
Visit the Samuel and Althea Stroum Grand Lobby in Benaroya Hall between 11am and 5pm for a host of activities for the whole family. Grab your library card and check out books with the Seattle Public Library, put your artistic side to work coloring with SAM, explore instruments with KING FM, Music Center of the Northwest and Hammond Ashley Violins, create crafts with ParentMap and stick around for performances by local student musicians!

Visit Soundbridge between 10am and 6pm to try out instruments and learn fun facts about symphonic music. Also, pick up your scavenger hunt list anytime and find clues throughout the day to win great prizes!

FAMILY ACTIVITIES AT BENAROYA HALL
Outdoor Activities at the Maestro Gerard Schwarz Artists Entrance at Benaroya Hall
10am Make Your Own Marching Band
10am-4pm Artist Autographs
11:15am Musical Games
12:30pm Animal Imperssions with Musical Instruments
3pm Northwest Opera in the Schools: Meet an Opera Singer
3:45pm Musical Games

FAMILY ACTIVITIES AT SEATTLE ART MUSEUM
12-1:30pm Hip Hop Kids (WaMu Open Studio Mezzanine)
DJ B-Girl gets you moving and grooving with the five element of hip hop. Spaces are limited, so come early!
12-4pm Seattle International Film Festival Family Shorts (Knudsen Family Room, 3rd Floor)
Check out SIFF's fantastic kid-inspired film shorts and explore the Family Room

DAY OF MUSIC & ART IS GENEROUSLY SUPPORTED BY:
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
The Mayor's Office of Arts & Cultural Affairs

MEDIA SUPPORTED BY:
CLASSICAL KING FM 98.1

COMMUNITY PARTNERS AND IN-KIND SUPPORT
Northwest Opera in the Schools
Mills Music
ParentMap
Starbucks Coffee Company
Seattle Public Library
The Miho and Diego Duo
The Piano Students of Diane Chattin, Bethany Man and Cynthia Dillard
Clement J. Zipp, Jr.
Hammond Ashley Violins
Harried&Hungry
Wright Runstad
Wolfgang Puck Catering & Events
West Edge
10:00 AM

First to respond wins

The Seattle Symphony at Benaroya Hall is one of the jewels in Seattle's crown. I am proud to be associated as a member of the chorale. The first subscriber to email me with a request for them will win two tickets to Saturday night's opening gala.

It’s a grand night with Maestro Schwarz and opera superstars Frederica von Stade and Samuel Ramey with a program of favorite music from opera, the Broadway stage, and even the silver screen. Your concert tickets will also include post-concert dancing with Theresa Carnovale & City Life!

Music: Bach B-Minor Mass at Benaroya

If you love the classics, do not miss the Seattle Symphony/Chorale performance of one of Bach's greatest works. Because it demands so much, it's not performed every year. Performances are March 20-22. What follows is a trailer from a German performance. I can promise you SSO/C will surpass this one.

If you plan to attend, let me know--maybe we can meet after the show.

Reviews: Messiah at Benaroya

Both Seattle papers had great things to say about the Symphony Chorale. I like that.

'Messiah' brings out the best in SSO (Seattle P-I)

By R.M. Campbell, P-I Music Critic

The Seattle Symphony Orchestra has long performed "Messiah" but not always well. That changed dramatically Thursday night at Benaroya Hall. Even in the most routine of performances, the music is so dramatic and telling it sells itself. But when it is charged with energy, filled with intelligence and played with precision and nuance, "Messiah" becomes electrifying. This is how it was at Benaroya.

Instead of the usual 90 or so musicians in the orchestra, there were no more than 30, if my count is accurate: probably 22 strings and a few scattered winds and timpani. The chorus was the Seattle Symphony Chorale, which has slowly emerged from its years in the desert into an ensemble of fine singers, led by George Fiore and then Joseph Crnko, who succeeded him in September.

Christian Knapp, SSO assistant/associate conductor from 2004 to 2006, was the man on the podium. He is a musician of bright lights and keen insights. He has spirit and verve and conviction. Everything about his reading of the "Messiah" pointed to his gift for bringing out the best in the band and chorus. He captured the robust nature of the oratorio, but that did not mean it was simply loud and fast. Knapp managed to make the work lithe and quicksilver without any loss of depth. There was rejoicing as well as grief.

While the orchestra was informed by period style in terms of its small size, the chorus -- 125 are listed in the roster -- was not. What was remarkable is that it did not sound heavy-handed and ponderous. When the score calls for the singers to move quickly, which it does often, these singers did just that. You could hear the individual notes in fast-moving passages instead of the usual sludge. This is not an easy feat for so many singers. The sound was handsomely balanced, with dramatic fortes and focused pianos.

The soloists were more varied. Celena Shafter's soprano was clear and emphatic, and she had no difficulty negotiating the coloratura writing in her part. However, she emoted rather extravagantly. Charlotte Hellekant's mezzo-soprano was more problematic. I liked the depth of her voice, but it was stiff and awkward and could not move with any alacrity. The tenor of David Ossenfort is big and round and attractive. He can sing softly, but he did not use that gift often enough. Harold Wilson, the bass, was able.

Kudos should go to another soloist, this one, trumpet player Richard Pressley, who did fine service in the aria "The Trumpet Shall Sound."

P-I music critic R.M. Campbell can be reached at 206-448-8396 or rmcampbell@seattlepi.com.

Sure hand at helm of triumphant "Messiah" (Seattle Times)

By Melinda Bargreen, Seattle Times music critic

Despite its familiarity, Handel's "Messiah" is a potential minefield of tricky stops and starts, technical challenges, and other opportunities to run amok. Seldom have all these pitfalls been so smoothly negotiated as in the Seattle Symphony's current "Messiah" production, which is a thorough triumph for conductor Christian Knapp from start to finish.

Knapp, who looked positively delighted to be there, was considerably more than just a traffic cop, directing players and singers this way and that. His clean, concise conducting underscored the oratorio's innate drama, urging all the forces onward with a commendable attention to both detail and meaning. At times — as in the chorus "He trusted in God" — Knapp cued the Seattle Symphony Chorale into a near-frenzy of excited intensity. The results were breathtaking.

The conductor also opted for measures that made this "Messiah" a taut, forward-moving show. He took unusually brisk tempi in several of the choruses; he also eliminated awkward pauses by having soloists and chorus stand and sit early, so the flow of the music was unimpeded.

The Chorale, prepared by new director Joseph Crnko, acquitted itself well, sounding alert, focused and completely committed to the performance. The four vocal soloists were Celena Shafer (soprano), Charlotte Hellekant (mezzo-soprano), David Ossenfort (a mellifluous tenor) and Harold Wilson (a resonant bass). Shafer's operatic gestures and expressions might have been a bit overdone, but she nailed the difficult passagework and sang with extraordinary clarity. Trumpeter Rick Pressley did a fine job with his solos; the violins sounded great under the leadership of concertmaster Frank Almond. In sum, it was a great "welcome home" for Knapp, formerly associate conductor here, and obviously a guy on the way up.
Melinda Bargreen: mbargreen@seattletimes.com

Holiday Music: Messiah at Benaroya Hall

Seattle Symphony and Seattle Symphony Chorale with Christian Knapp, Conductor, and soloists perform Handel's Messiah next week. I'll be in the front row looking for you. Don't miss--it's packed every year!

Many in the audience will have traveled some distance--from as far as San Francisco and Seattle. We're lucky--just a ferry ride and a short walk.

Seattle resources: Seattle Symphony

A ten-minute walk from the ferry terminal, Benaroya Hall is a world-class venue for the Seattle Symphony.
Seattle Symphony Chorale in this clip--click the play icon twice to start.