CGF Newsletter 1: Here we go!
An Oregon bar for classical hipsters; Placido Domingo's walk of shame; Cate Blanchett takes the baton
Name That Tune
This week’s Name That Tune was submitted by Listener Jeremy.
Joey’s hint of the week: This work is one of only two that the composer wrote for this exact instrumentation. The other was featured in a very popular animated film set to classical masterworks. No Googling!
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.
Check this space next week for the results.
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!
Portland Opens a Classical-Themed Bar
Leave it to Portland, Oregon, my former home town / the closest approximation of an urbanist paradise in the continental U.S. to support a classical-music themed bar! Even as a teetotaler, I’m excited to pay a visit to this watering hole and enjoy live music (and perhaps even participate in a bit of operaoke.
It’s worth mentioning that this is not Portland’s first dance with classically-themed gathering places. Back when I lived there, there was a slightly derelict institution called Rimsky-Korsakoffee House, which combined a spooky-ooky vibe with nods to classical music and served viennoiseries. One time when friend of the podcast Caitlin Doughty was in Portland for a book signing, I took her there since it sat perfectly in the overlapping portion of our Venn Diagram of Vibes.
—Will
Unfinished: The Domingo Sh*tshow continues
Um… wow. This definitely goes in the category of “dumpster fires you can’t take your eyes off of.” I’m generally a little allergic to gawking/gossip of this kind, but let me just note that usually when an orchestra refuses to stand with its conductor it’s a gesture of magnanimity to acknowledge a guest conductor’s work with them that week (and usually comes after at least one curtain call in which the orchestra has stood when beckoned). But anyway, this is remarkable because apparently this was not a one-time dumpster fire but apparently one that was allowed to burn through a series of performances at the Arena di Verona specifically curated to honor Domingo’s work. This explains a lot of why organizers would have not been willing to pull the plug and why the most striking protest had to come from the musicians themselves.
It also speaks to a trend we know well in the classical music world, which is performers overstaying their welcome. At 81 years old he’s clearly not in his prime anymore. Laying aside his apparent mafia ties and the rampant accusations of sexual misconduct (which the Arena has apparently chosen to ignore), this probably wouldn’t be an issue if all he wanted to do was sing. But he continues to insist on leading from the podium, and as an administrator, and that’s just insulting when you can’t get the job done because you are impacting the artistic product of probably a hundred other people on stage. And of course, his final request in his apology is a plea for them not to take from him the privilege of leading NEXT year’s centenary celebration at the Arena. I mean, I understand not wanting to go out on a sour note but there’s just not any evidence here that next year’s note will be LESS sour than this one! Yeesh.
—Tiffany
Movie Trailer: TÁR, Starring Cate Blanchett (Will)
Now here’s something that could not be more up my alley: a movie starring Cate Blanchett as a composer-conductor protégée of Leonard Bernstein who sets out to destroy the Berlin Philharmonic. This thing looks weird, slow, seductive, and diabolical — basically everything I desire from a film.
And it would seem that I’m not the only one! The film just debuted at the Venice Film Festival and according to the Hollywood Reporter it “is lengths ahead of the festival pack. The bracing drama, a portrait of a driven, tyrannical classical composer and conductor who gets caught up in a #MeToo scandal — played by Cate Blanchett with a ferocious intensity that already has handicappers whispering “Oscar” — the film wowed critics and the Venice audience in equal measure.”
David Ehrlich’s review in IndieWire goes even further:
“TÁR” will probably gross all of $57 at the box office (give or take), but everyone who buys a ticket will be inspired to destroy their own German orchestra from the inside out, or at least write a thinkpiece about why. Let’s not hold that against one of the boldest and most exciting new American movies I’ve seen in years.
—Will
Classical Mixtape
Henry Purcell, “A symphony of pipes imitating the chirping of birds” from Timon of Athens
This may look like a Classical Mixtape suggestion from Will, and in a sense, he is always recommending the music of Henry Purcell. I recently did a listening deep dive on his music and have come to agree that it is generally of the highest quality. This curtain music from a 1694 semi-opera is the very definition of English Baroque jauntiness, and is waiting for its incorporation into the rugged opening sequence of a period film about ruffians and highwaymen.
—Joey
Honored to have been chosen for the first Name That Tune submission of the newsletter. I will say, I did not know of the animated film connection when I submitted this.
Also, the Rimsky-Korsakoffee House brings back memories. Hope Mendelssohn's is successful.
Alright I'm going to get the ball rolling with name that tune. Obviously, the feint is that it's a super-Baroquey piece but it includes CLARINETS (the Listener Jeremy special) or chalumeaux or whatever these things are, which would be anachronistic with the time period.
Stylistically, this strikes me as Handelian, but I think my guess is going to be Vivaldi, partially because of our discussion on last week's podcast about “Vivaldi's Women”. The “Nisi dominus” included a movement that had some wonky old pre-clarinet.
Vivaldi concerto grosso for two oboes and two clarinets? Joey's hint was of no help to me whatsoever.