A 'DEAD' CONCERT? OJAI MUSIC FESTIVAL BRINGS 'LAST BEST' WORKS TO LIFE.Byline: Fred Shuster Music Writer One of the most popular dismissals of classical music is that it's ``music by dead old men,'' as if creations by live young men were somehow superior. Ridiculous? Certainly, but that's exactly the sort of preposterous notion classical programmers must at least subtly acknowledge when putting together eclectic events like this weekend's Ojai Music Festival The Ojai Music Festival is an annual classical music festival in the United States. Held in Ojai, California, the festival presents music, emphasizing both contemporary composers and the discovery or rediscovery of rare or little known works by past masters. . As Ernest Fleischmann, Ojai's artistic director, points out, Mozart was just 36 when he died, and Schubert was 31 - and each wrote some of his greatest and most original music near the end of his short life. Then, there are composers like Beethoven, Wagner, Verdi and Stravinsky, whose later works represent the absolute height of their powers. This year's Ojai Festival provides further refutation ref·u·ta·tion also re·fut·al n. 1. The act of refuting. 2. Something, such as an argument, that refutes someone or something. Noun 1. to that ``dead old men'' theory. One of the world's great string quartets, the Emersons, will focus on the last quartets of Beethoven and Shostakovich in concerts tonight through Sunday. Italian pianist Marino Formenti, who on Wednesday opened the five-day festival - which is subtitled ``Last and Latest Thoughts: Music From Beethoven to the 21st Century'' - with Schubert's last sonata and later works by Beethoven, plays 21st-century piano compositions by Luciano Berio A list of works by the Italian composer Luciano Berio.
Also Sunday, chanteuse chan·teuse n. A woman singer, especially a nightclub singer. [French, feminine of chanteur, singer, from chanter, to sing; see chant.] Ute Lemper Ute Lemper (born July 4, 1963) is a German chanteuse and actress. Born in Münster, she graduated from the Dance Academy in Cologne and the Max Reinhardt Seminary Drama School in Vienna. At age 16, she joined the punk music group the Panama Drive Band. and guitarist Eliot Fisk Eliot Fisk (born August 10, 1954 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American classical guitarist. Biography Fisk was the last direct pupil of Andrés Segovia and is the holder of all reproduction rights to Segovia's music, given to him by Segovia's wife, Emilia. will perform some of the last cabaret songs heard in Berlin just before the Nazis banned the music of Kurt Weill and Friedrich Hollaender Friedrich Hollaender (October 18 1896- January 18 1976) was a German composer born in London. He was the son of composer Victor Hollander. The family returned to Germany and Frederick was educated at the Berlin Conservatory. . ``It's always in my mind that I want to show the extremely lively and relevant music being composed today,'' Fleischmann said. ``So, having the theme of last and latest thoughts gives the performances so much unity. I tried to imagine what music represents the best examples of our theme.'' Formenti, whose performance of ``Hommage a Ligeti'' by G.F. Haas on Saturday requires him to play two Steinway pianos at once, admits certain contemporary pieces appear overly intellectual and emotionally cold. ``But at the same time, much modern music can be very involving and exciting for the audience,'' said Formenti, who worked as assistant conductor to primary conductor Kent Nagano
The 56th Ojai Festival's main venue is the Libbey Bowl, an outdoor amphitheater in the center of the tiny Ventura County community (population 7,860). Along with concerts, the festival offers lectures, a children's concert (10:30 a.m. Saturday) and various seminars on the festival's theme. ``This is an event where the music and locale go hand in hand,'' Fleischmann said. ``Ojai is simply an ideal environment.'' In keeping with Ojai tradition, concertgoers can expect a number of premieres: the unveiling of a work, commissioned for the festival, by Hanspeter Kyburz Hanspeter Kyburz (born 1960) is a contemporary Swiss composer of chamber music, known for applying electronic music techniques to his productions. Kyburz was born in 1960 in Lagos, Nigeria to Swiss parents. In 1980, he began studying music composition, first in Graz with A. , the buzzed-about Swiss composer; the West Coast premieres of music by the Italian composer Salvatore Sciarrino and Berio; and the program for children (and their parents) consisting entirely of contemporary music. ``Our thinking is that unspoiled young ears will be far more open to the sounds of new music than ears that for many years have been conditioned by the traditional classical music most frequently heard in our concert halls and ... classical music radio,'' Fleischmann said. And it is those young listeners as well as the older ones who are aware of the ``dead old men'' myth that Formenti hopes to reach with a pianistic pi·a·nis·tic adj. 1. Of or relating to the piano. 2. Well adapted to the piano. pi approach that underscores his belief that often the most artistic works of a given period don't survive the ravages rav·age v. rav·aged, rav·ag·ing, rav·ages v.tr. 1. To bring heavy destruction on; devastate: A tornado ravaged the town. 2. of time and memory. ``Everything changes, and it is merely a matter of chance if something survives,'' he said. ``But I'm not depressed. The human spirit doesn't die. That's the only thing that doesn't disappear.'' OJAI MUSIC FESTIVAL 2002 Where: Libbey Bowl, Ojai Avenue, Ojai. When: 8:15 tonight and various times Saturday and Sunday. Tickets: $15 to $55. Call (805) 646-2094 or visit www.ojaifestival.org. Ojai, and welcome If you plan to visit Ojai this weekend for the music festival, you might want to consider other events taking place at the same time in the peaceful little town. At Libbey Park, the music fair's primary venue, there will be an Art in the Park exhibit featuring California artists from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Info: (805) 646-0117. Also, the pottery studio of Otto Heino will be open to visitors from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. today through Sunday. The studio is located at 971 McAndrew Road. Info: (805) 646-3393. Ojai is 90 minutes from downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area. The sprawling, multi-centered megacity is such that its downtown core is often considered just another district like Hollywood or and is ringed by mountains and rolling citrus orchards. - F.S. CAPTION(S): 4 photos, box Photo: (1) Marino Formenti (2) The Emerson Quartet (3) Ute Lemper (4) Eliot Fisk Box: Ojai, and welcome (see text) |
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