New CD Released!

I am excited to announce the release of Odyssey: 11 American Premieres for Flute and Piano, my 2-CD set with pianist Charles Abramovic on Innova Recordings.

This project has truly been an odyssey - a journey of musical discovery. Charlie and I recorded 11 works by a brilliant lineup of composers who present a diverse panorama of musical styles and backgrounds.

The composers are Mason Bates, Benjamin C.S. Boyle, Richard Danielpour, Michael Djupstrom, Katherine Hoover, Daniel Kellogg, Gerald Levinson, David Ludwig, Andrew Rudin, David Bennett Thomas, and Zhou Tian. It was a thrill to work with these great musicians and bring their flute works out to the listening public.

To read more and buy the CD, visit our Artist Page at Innova:

http://www.innova.mu/artist1.asp?skuID=469

Holocaust musicology

I had a fascinating meeting with Bret Werb, the musicologist at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. I sought him out for guidance in planning and preparing for our Dolce Suono Ensemble's upcoming concert commemorating the Holocaust. "A Place and a Name: Remembering the Holocaust" will feature music by composers who were murdered in the Holocaust - Gideon Klein, Erwin Schulhoff, Viktor Ullmann, Ilse Weber, and composers who reflect on the Holocaust in their music - Tzvi Avni and André Previn, who escaped Germany as children, and Shulamit Ran, our 2011-2012 Composer-in-Residence and Artistic Co-Curator. Lucy Shelton, soprano will join us as guest artist.

Bret's knowledge of his field is extensive. As I sat with him in his office, he pulled books and recordings off the shelves, grabbed copies of archival material from files, and extemporized on dozens of composers, works, and historical information. There are very interesting Soviet composers who are not very well known in the West. I left excited about new musical areas to research and repertoire to perform.

I'm always attracted to artistic communities or milieux, where artists of different disciplines - music, visual art, theater, dance - inspire each other in their creative endeavors. That's why my curiosity was particularly aroused when Bret told me about the circle of Mieczysław Weinberg, who was one of the most important Soviet era composers. A Jew born in Warsaw, he managed to escape to the Soviet Union at the beginning of World War II, but the rest of his family perished at the hands of the Nazis. Weinberg married the daughter of Solomon Mikhoels, a Jewish actor and director of the Moscow State Jewish Theater. Marc Chagall designed costumes and sets for the theater before he emigrated to Paris and joined another rich artistic community. Stalin had Mikhoels murdered in his purges of intellectuals and Jews after the war. In addition to the great talents of these artists, it is inspiring how they pursued their art despite the oppression they faced.

Earthquake!

This afternoon, we were at a meeting at First Baptist Church in Philadelphia to plan our performance of Menotti's "Amahl and the Night Visitors." Suddenly there was a loud crackling sound like all the pews and stained glass were rattling against each other. There were two bursts of activity. Alan Morrison jumped up and said we should move into his office. At the time, he thought the cause was work being done in the basement and thought we should not be under the dome of the church. I didn't see anything shaking around us, and it was over very fast. At the time we had no idea it was an earthquake. The thought didn't even occur to me. By the time we were out on the street after the meeting everyone had found out. Pretty amazing! A man we spoke with said he was on the 16th floor of his office building, which was shaking a lot so it was pretty scary. Hope everyone is safe! Certainly don't expect earthquakes in Philadelphia.

Baroque and Brazilian

I had a tremendously energizing musical day on Saturday. I went to NYC for a Baroque session with distinguished harpsichordist Anthony Newman. I had the pleasure of performing with him when we performed for the Young Concert Artists 50th anniversary marathon concert at Symphony Space this past season. We played J.S. Bach, Handel, Vivaldi, and C.P.E. Bach, and Tony's insights on ornamentation, rhythm, articulation, and character were revelatory. I read his book, Bach and the Baroque, which is a valuable resource.

It was really fun to hear Tony improvise ornaments for each composer's style and copy them to play them myself! In addition, the approach to meter and tempo and specifically how the feel of each movement, Largo, Adagio, Allegro, etc. is related to tactus or pulse is one of the most striking differences between modern and period practice. Another very important point is about the influences on Bach and Handel from French and Italian musical thought, regarding the accent or release on certain beats; note values to be played shorter than full length; and the most radical of all: that the score provided the basis for the musician to embellish and interpret in a uniquely personal and virtuosic way. This approach is so different from the later conception that the score is a finished, comprehensive text to be followed literally. I learned a lot and had a great time applying new ideas to the music. Tony and I are coming up with some concert plans to perform together.

My next musical experience of the afternoon was an impromptu jam session on Brazilian chôros with my friend the composer, pianist, and recording entrepreneur David Chesky. I went to visit him and his family, and discovered that among his many musical endeavors is playing Brazilian music. This multi-talented guy also writes his own chôros. I love chôros and perform them regularly with my duo pianist Charles Abramovic, and Charlie has made flute/cello/piano arrangements for our trio. David does authentic Brazilian playing so it was great fun for me to imbibe the style. The chôros have a rhythmic groove as distinctive in its own way as the different Baroque styles I had just explored with Tony.

Julius Baker and David Soyer Perform Villa-Lobos

I was excited to come across the following video on YouTube - Julius Baker, flute and David Soyer, cello performing Heitor Villa-Lobos's The Jet Whistle in a live television broadcast from the 1960s. It's a great performance by two giants - legendary flutist Baker was principal flute of the New York Philharmonic and several other major orchestras, and as a teacher for over 60 years he taught many prominent flutists. I feel fortunate to have had him as my teacher and mentor. He brought me to study with him at the Curtis Institute of Music when I was twelve, and he took me under his wing in a nurturing and grandfatherly way. Since he passed away in 2003 I am glad to find new recordings and videos of my beloved teacher. They are testaments to the magnificent artistry of Julius Baker, and I feel he lives on in his music.
What is particularly poignant for me about this video is that David Soyer, distinguished cellist of the Guarneri Quartet and important pedagogue, was the teacher of several of my dear friends and colleagues who are fellow Curtis alumni. For me and Yumi Kendall, my Dolce Suono Trio partner and Assistant Principal Cello of The Philadelphia Orchestra, it is meaningful to see our two teachers play together.

Villa-Lobos's The Jet Whistle, written in 1950, is standard repertoire today, but when this performance was broadcast it was still relatively new!

I'm impressed by the high cultural level in the early years of television.

Osteria, Philadelphia - Beet and goat cheese plin

The laurels reaped by Osteria are well deserved: chef Jeff Michaud won the James Beard Foundation's Best Chef Mid-Atlantic 2010, the restaurant was nominated for Best New Restaurant 2008, and best pizza in Philadelphia according to Philadelphia Magazine 2011. Osteria is part of lauded chef and entrepreneur Marc Vetri's restaurant group Vetri Family, which includes his flagship restaurant Vetri, along with Amis, Alla Spina, and a children's charity foundation.

The setting is an industrial space converted into a large, airy eatery reminiscent of a Tuscan country house, with exposed wood tables, an open kitchen with brick oven and salumeria meats on display, and a lovely greenhouse-like dining room enclosed in glass. The feel is relaxed and rustic.

One of the standouts at Osteria was the beet and goat cheese plin with tarragon. This was my first time eating plin, which are Piemontese "pinched" ravioli. Plin are oblong pasta pouches narrower than typical square or circular ravioli. The plate arrived looking like a watercolor - the pink of the beets muted through glossy pasta, a few dark green strips of tarragon throughout - with a dusting of snowy grated cheese on top.

The Plin were delicious, and a perfect match of taste, texture, and color - the sweetness from the beets tempered by a hint of sharpness in the cheese, the texture creamy but with a little bite in the al dente pasta. The fun part was biting or cutting into one of the plin and revealing the hot pink beet mixture inside.

I tend to associate ravioli with winter - especially traditional cheese or spinach ravioli - so the beet version was a bright, summery twist on this ultimate comfort food.

http://www.osteriaphilly.com/

Cheers,

Mimi

Dress of the Day - Trench Coat

Dress of the Day: Humphrey Bogart in trench coat, Casablanca (1942). This is a classic look from a classic film. Bogey in his trench, together with fedora and cigarette, is one of the iconic images of this coat. The trench coat is ubiquitous in 1940s Hollywood - worn by private eyes and gangsters alike in films noir and by both Allies and Nazis in war films.

The trench coat had a long history by the time Rick told Ilsa they'd always have Paris. Two British firms claim they invented the trench coat first - Aquascutum and Burberry. In the 1850s, Aquascutum developed a water repellent wool fabric which was used in a forerunner of the trench as a raincoat in the Crimean War. By 1901, Thomas Burberry had created wool gabardine and proposed a raincoat design to the British War Office. The coats became an optional item for officers in World War I, where they helped in the miserable conditions in the trenches, hence getting their name. Officers bought their own trench coats, and other ranks were not allowed to use them. Some of the straps and rings were used to carry equipment. After the war trenches became widespread for civilians, and remain a classic style to this day.