This week the New Jersey Symphony is set to perform Gustav Mahler’s mighty Symphony #2 in C minor. The NJSO will be joined by the formidable Westminster Symphonic Choir. The New Jersey Symphony music director Neemi Jarvi is on the podium. There are two soprano soloists that are on the bill. Twyla Robinson is the soprano soloist and the mezzo soprano will be Nancy Maultsby.
I look forward to playing this concert very much. Playing Mahler Symphonies are a very interesting and unique experience. Mahler was also a conductor, as well as being a prolific composer. The detail in the work is just incredible. While visiting the State Opera House in Vienna, I was able to take a tour and see his office. It is now a museum and they have his scores out for display. They are so many colored pencils, music notes, German words written all over the music. You can really see how a conductor was composing music. Mahler conducted a lot of opera as well and even served a term as director of the Metropolitan Opera. At the same time, Toscanini was conducting the New York Philharmonic. Just imagine being in NYC back then and hearing these concerts. They were known to switch from time to time. Mahler to the Philharmonic and Toscanini to the Met. Pretty Awesome. Here is a great page to study this momentous work click here.
For concert and ticket information on these performances visit the website of the New Jersey Symphony by clicking here.
I have also added an amazing video of Claudio Abbado conducting the finale of this amazing work. Click on the video below to listen to this great recording.
This week the Pennsylvania Ballet returns to New York City Center for the first time in twenty years with two dynamic programs. The first features live orchestra in a riveting new Carmina Burana, deemed a “triumph” by The Philadelphia Inquirer and choreographed by the Company’s own Matthew Neenan. The second program features works by Balanchine, Neenan, and Val Caniparoli’s vibrant Lambarena, a celebration of African music, Classical music and dance.
I look forward to playing this tour very much. Since so much of the Broadway theater business is shut down this week due to strikes, I hope people hear about this event and substitute their plans for this exciting opportunity. It is always thrilling to be on tour with an arts group and play in a different city. I think this brings the company to a new level. When an arts group plays for a completely new audience, it forces the presenting company to be the best that they can be. It is in this elevated state of artistic awareness that the performers achieve new heights.
For more information about the Pennsylvania Ballet click here. Additional information about this weeks concerts at the New York City Center can be obtained by visiting their website here.
Fee! Fie! Foe! Fum! A very interesting combination of fairy tale and double bass is on the docket in the foreseeable future. I smell the blood of an Englishman. Harold Robinson, Principal Bassist of the Philadelphia Orchestra, is scheduled to perform this week as a featured soloist with the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra. On the evening of November 10th at 8:00, he will be playing the double bass concerto “Jack and the Beanstalk” composed by fellow bassist Jon Deak. Be he ‘live, or be he dead, This will be a very engaging and exciting experience for bassists and non-bassists alike. I’ll grind his bones to make my bread.
It has been said that double bassists are very rarely soloists and the repertory for concerto appearances is basically non-existent. Leave it to Mr. Robinson to debunk these myths. This concert will be his second concerto appearance in less than a year. Last January, he performed John Harbison’s “Concerto for Bass Viol” with the Philadelphia Orchestra. I was fortunate to be able to hear one of these concerts and I enjoyed it very much. Harold has also performed “Jack and the Beanstalk” with the National Symphony Orchestra in Washington D.C. He was formally the principal bass of the National Symphony Orchestra, before he moved to Philadelphia for his current position.
Double bassist and composer Jon Deak has written several pieces for double bass. For example, some frequently performed works are B. B. Wolf, The Ugly Duckling, and The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, just to name a few. Jon Deak is the associate principal bass of the New York Philharmonic. For more information about Mr. Deak click here.
In addition to his playing responsibilities, Harold Robinson is an avid and very sought after teacher. He is the double bass instructor at the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia. In addition, he is a frequent guest clinician at music festivals and universities worldwide. For more information about Harold Robinson click here.
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About John Grillo
John started playing Double Bass at the age of 11. He attended The Julliard School during high school and was a scholarship student at Indiana University School of Music in Bloomington, Indiana where he studied with Lawrence Hurst. After graduating from IU, he attended the Manhattan School of Music completing his Masters Degree. (more)
