CGF 49: Passing the Baton
A countertenor’s plea; A new era for an old institution; Will heads across the pond
Name That Tune
This week’s Name That Tune is a Joey special. Here’s your hint: This composer is almost exclusively known for a different genre than what you’re about to listen to.
As always, your goal is to provide as much accurate analysis as possible. First try to get the nationality, year, and genre, then make educated guesses about the composer and — if possible— the piece. If you know the piece immediately, send us an email at classicalgabfest@gmail.com instead of commenting so the rest of us can have fun guessing.
Last Week’s Results
CGF Newsletter 48
Ferruccio Busoni, Clarinet Concertino
I pegged this as Prokofiev immediately, and I was so sure of my guess that I threw in Shostakovich and Honegger as afterthoughts. Listener Kevin was the only other person to weigh in, and he did so with Hindemith.
The unifying theme here is that we heard this as a modernist or neo-classical work, and I’ll admit that neither of those are qualities I associate with Busoni. I guess Busoni gets listed as a “modernist” sometimes, but in that Italian way where it’s actually just Romanticism writ in immense proportions, sort of like Berlioz.
This piece comes from 1918, so it’s right in that Prokofiev era; Busoni lived until 1924. I suppose it’s time to update my priors regarding this composer!
Think you can stump your fellow Listeners? Go ahead and try!
Head to our Google Form to upload a 30-second clip of an unidentified piece of classical music for us to try to identify.
NEWS!
Famed countertenor David Daniels and his husband have pled guilty to sexually assaulting a young singer in Houston in 2010. According to the New York Times:
Mr. Daniels pleaded guilty to a charge of sexual assault of an adult, a second-degree felony. He will face eight years of probation, a lifetime requirement to register as a sex offender and an order that he refrain from contact with the singer he assaulted, Samuel Schultz. He avoided a more serious charge of aggravated sexual assault, a first-degree felony, which carries harsher penalties. Mr. Walters, who was facing the same charges, pleaded guilty under similar terms. The case will be transferred to Georgia, where the couple lives.
Mr. Daniels, who appeared on some of the world’s leading stages, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the Royal Opera in London, is one of the most prominent classical stars to face criminal charges during the national #MeToo reckoning. His performing career has suffered since his arrest in 2019, and he was fired from his position as a tenured professor of voice at the University of Michigan in 2020.
Mr. Schultz had accused the two men of assaulting him in May 2010 after he went to hear Mr. Daniels in Handel’s “Xerxes” at Houston Grand Opera. Mr. Schultz said he was introduced to Mr. Daniels and Mr. Walters by a friend. After attending the performance and cast party, Mr. Schultz has said he was invited to Mr. Daniels and Mr. Walters’s apartment. There, he said, he was given a drink that caused him to lose consciousness. He has said that he awoke alone, naked and bleeding from the rectum.
Out With the Old, In With the Lu
The Pierre Monteux School has appointed Classical Gabfest co-host Tiffany Lu as the school’s new music director!
The Monteux School & Music Festival in Hancock, Maine, is proud to announce that, following an extensive, year-long search which included input from alumni/ae and students, it has appointed Dr. Tiffany Lu as its Music Director, effective immediately.
“I am deeply touched by the committee, School, and Monteux community's faith and confidence in me. After ten years of summers in Maine it means the world to be able to commit to making the School an even greater place. You all honor me with your trust and I can't wait to see and shape what lies ahead.” - Dr. Tiffany Lu
For those who don’t know, the Pierre Monteux School is a summer training program for orchestral conductors and musicians that was founded by the great French conductor Pierre Monteux in 1943. What the school lacks in cachet (it’s never had the star power of an Aspen or a Tanglewood) it more than makes up for in dedicated, patient, focused teaching motivated by a concern for developing genuine, honest musicianship in its students.
At least, that’s what it’s done for the past 80 years. The remarkable thing about that timespan is that the school has only had three music directors up till now: Pierre Monteux, Charles Bruck, and Michael Jinbo, an unbroken educational chain of teachers and students.
And so the tradition continues with a leader of a new generation. Anyone who listened to our podcast knows just how sharp Tiffany is; she doesn’t take any guff and she has a crystal clear vision of the role art, music, and education should play in our lives.
If the Monteux School has had a fault in recent decades, it's been a tendency for across-the-board conservatism. Tiffany understands what’s worth preserving and what’s worth changing, and that’s why I’m so excited for the Lu era.
London Calling
I’m heading to the UK for the next couple weeks on a performance tour with the choir I sing in as a side gig. We’re appearing in London and Durham, but beyond that I’ll be visiting Edinburgh, Glasgow, and Manchester. While there I’ll get to attend at least three Proms concerts (Budapest Festival Orchestra, Boston Symphony, and LSO) and three performances at the Edinburgh Festival (Rite of Spring ballet and two Oslo Phil concerts.)
Along the way, I’ll get to visit old friends, meet with internet friends in person for the first time, and reconnect with former students (ever the greatest delight.) If there are any British Gabfest Listeners, please do reach out. I’d love to meet!
Joey’s got two fantastic editions of the newsletter lined up in my absence. Speaking of whom...
Classical Mixtape
Pierre Sancan, Mouvement pour piano
I (Joey) just heard this encore at a recital at Aspen, and it was my favorite part of the whole recital! French piano heavyweight Jean-Efflam Bavouzet (who also plays it in this recording) had plenty of physical antics and gimmicks to accompany this humorous piece, which looked dastardly difficult to pull off from a technical standpoint. To introduce the encore, Bavouzet explained that Sancan was his teacher, and he wishes that his music were better known outside of France.
The Classical Gabfest Newsletter is a spin-off of the now-defunct Classical Gabfest Podcast. It is a co-production of William White, Joseph Vaz, and the Listeners (i.e. you.)
The NTT sounds very familiar. This isn't the Verdi string quartet is it? I'm about to get on a 12-hour flight, so my brain is too tired to suss out more!
Congratulations, Tiffany!!!
Love the piano encore, Joey. What fun.
NTT: Yet another excerpt in a long string of "Haven't a Clue" weeks for me. But have been enjoying the newsletter.