Classical Music

Ida Haendel's Stringed Saga

Wed, 01 May 2013 09:27:00 -0700

Image: Courtesy Ida Haendel London

Image: Courtesy Ida Haendel London

1928: Born in Chelm, Poland
1932: Starts playing sister’s violin

1933: Wins prestigious Warsaw Conservatory Gold Medal

1939: Moves to London just in time to avoid Nazi invasion of Poland
1940–45: Now a UK citizen, she frequently plays to entertain wounded Allied troops in London hospitals.

Image: Courtesy Shutterstock

1946: Becomes first soloist to perform with the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra

1946: Plays at Carnegie Hall in New York, her first US performance
1952: Moves to Montreal with her parents and continues touring worldwide
1973: Joins the London Philharmonic Orchestra for tour of People’s Republic of China, the first Western orchestra to appear there since the Cultural Revolution

1991: Appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (one step below knighthood) by Queen Elizabeth II


2006: Performs for Pope Benedict XVI at the former concentration camp Auschwitz
May 23, 2013: Scheduled to perform with the Portland Chamber Music Ensemble 45th Parallel at the Old Church, 7:30 p.m. 45thparallelpdx.org

Portland Opera Vet Sings the Part of Leno

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 10:28:00 -0700

If you thought you recognized the rich tenor streaming forth from Jay Leno’s mouth last night while he and Jimmy Fallon sang a duet addressing the rumors about the future of The Tonight Show (a funny and almost touching spoof of "Tonight" from the Broadway musical West Side Story), it’s not because Leno’s been serenading you in your late night half dreams.

It’s because his part was sung by Richard Troxell, a regular on the Portland Opera stage. Troxell has appeared as elder Galileo in Galileo Galilei (2012), the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto (2009), Alfredo in La Traviata (2008), Don Jose in Carmen (2007), Macduff in Macbeth (2006), Pinkerton in Madame Butterfly (2005) and the title role in Candide (2005). And now he’s played the part of Leno’s vocal chords:

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Review: Portland Opera’s "Rinaldo"

Sun, 17 Mar 2013 15:37:00 -0700

Soprano Lindsay Ohse steals the show with her vindictive prom queen take on the evil sorceress Armida. Photo by Cory Weaver.

Portland Opera’s whimsical new production of Handel’s Rinaldoopens with our heroes dressed in three-piece military suits literally cut from the same rococo cloth as the giant drape hanging askew on the stage. Rinaldo sports a curly mustache and a formidable pompadour. Our evil sorceress wears a bustled Marie Antoinette dress, a sleeve of golden armor, and at one point a ship woven into her enormous updo. And the set, strewn with old trunks and candelabras, is manipulated by three scrawny bald children, looking all the world like underfed munchkins alternately dressed as genies or sailors with pink sleeves.

In other words, it’s like Terry Gilliam got hold of Handel’s masterpiece to create The Adventures of Rinaldo Munchausen. And the result is utterly charming. Backed by the expert playing of the Portland Baroque Orchestra in the intimate Newmark Theatre, it is very likely the standout show of the opera’s season.

Of course, Rinaldo is a story that lends itself to—if not outright requires—fantastical, Gilliam-esque treatment. Written by Handel in 1711 with the purpose of introducing England to the trends of Italian opera, including elaborate sets and special effects, it tells the story of a knight templar whose betrothed is kidnapped by an evil sorceress, who happens to be the lover of Rinaldo’s enemy, the King of Jerusalem (which doesn't stop her from falling for Rinaldo). Rinaldo, of course, undertakes a great quest involving demons, mermaids, and witchcraft to win his love back—although for the most part it involves a lot of posturing and poor decisions with no sword play whatsoever.

Rinaldo
Portland Opera
Newmark Theatre
March 15, 17, 19, 21 & 23

It’s the kind of tale that could easily kill the budget, but set and costume designer Jacob Climer tackles it with endless creativity. The backdrop is a giant tiled wall with openings at multiple levels, allowing it to transform from a palace to the ocean to a mountain with the help of a few imaginative props like a miniature castle or a puppet ship (in said wig). The attention to detail in the costumes, from the Ouija Board tattoo on the chest of the Christian sorcerer to the three-piece suits (tailored by local Duchess Clothier), is also playfully meticulous.

Not to be outdone, stage director Chas Rader-Shieber brings the space to shimmering, campy life with energetic blocking and choreography that’s equal parts silent film melodrama and ‘80s glam music video (I half expected Prince to emerge for a steamy harpsichord solo). The final scene, consisting of one of the the best art direction jokes I've seen (spoiler alert: the sea battle is instead a giant game of Battleship), shows that a little ingenuity can go a long way in creating a fully realized, engaging world.

The production is so imaginative, in fact, that it could easily overshadow the performances, if they too were not strong. Sopranos Sharin Apostolou and resident artist Lindsay Ohse steal the show. Apostolou plays Rinaldo’s beloved, Almirena, as an earnest yet saucy princess, her winks and hard-to-get antics winning many a laugh. But she just as easily captures the pain and sorrow of her abduction: during the classic aria “Let Me Weep,” the notes of the violins and theorbo (an ancestor of the guitar) seem to fall from her crystalline vocal heights like tears. Ohse’s Armida, on the other hand, is the preening, vindictive prom queen whose ego can’t handle rejection, and whose singing is sly, soaring, and gorgeous. Resident artists Matthew Grills and André Chiang also give strong performances as the rival Christian captain and King of Jerusalem.

If there is a weakness, it lies in the casting of Rinaldo and his fellow soldier, Eustazio. Originally written for a castrato, the role of Rinaldo has become a de facto breeches role (a woman, generally a mezzo soprano, playing a man), although artistic director Christopher Mattaliano told me during intermission that the casting choice was simply the matter of wanting to give a leading role to exiting resident artist Caitlin Mathes. While Mathis’s pompadour can’t compete with Almirena’s and Armida’s heels (both comically tower over her), her acting, strutting around like a drag king peacock, is up to snuff (if coming down on the campy side). But her voice, while lovely, doesn’t have the volume and ferocity to capture Rinaldo in his moments of rage and loss, and it muddies some in her duets with the sopranos. Hannah Penn as Eustazio seems to struggle even more in hitting her low notes.

But those are small complaints. While I can imagine opera stalwarts grumbling about the anachronistic, almost Clueless-style characterizations of the female characters, I found the show overall to be a magnificent mishmash of styles and periods that balances contemporary-infused humor with Baroque beauty to create a magical fairy tale capable of entertaining both opera veterans and neophytes alike.

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March Music Moderne's Shows To Know

Wed, 06 Mar 2013 08:57:00 -0800

Image: Chris Leck

March Music Moderne artistic director Bob Priest pumps some iron in anticipation of 32 concerts on tap this month.

Everyone loves a smorgasbord—even curators of contemporary classical music. This month brings the third annual installment of March Music Moderne, 32 loosely affiliated concerts happening all over the Portland area, Mar 7–23. Artistic director Bob Priest was kind enough, in his own words, to give us the heads-up on a half-dozen shows that should not be missed. Bonus! Some of them are free!

Ears Wide Open
Mar 7 at 7, Free
Polish Hall

"I always try to encourage people to come opening night, not only because it’s opening night but because I think it’s a dynamite evening. For example … cellist Diane Chaplin … is going to play [Finnish composer] Esa-Pekka Salonen’s solo cello piece to get things underway, which is probably the most intense virtuosic piece in the entire cello repertoire. It’s just going to pin people to the wall right off the bat—it’s incredible."

Free Marz String Trio
Mar 8 at 8, Free
Community Music Center

"To celebrate the 100^th anniversary of [Stravinsky's] Rite of Spring, I picked 10 Portland composers, … scattered all over Global Village PDX, from the jazz community to people like David Schiff over at Reed, to composers with Cascadia Composers, and I said, 'OK folks, we’re gonna celebrate the Rite of Spring and I would like to ask all of you to take any single aspect that you like from the Rite of Spring—be it a melodic fragment, a harmonic progression, a rhythmic figure, an orchestrational device, a gesture, anything you want—but you have to write it in a march form, it can’t be longer than one minute, and it’s for string trio."

24 Preludes & Fugues for Painters
Mar 14 at 6:30, Free
Muse Art and Design

"Muse Art and Design is a fabulously well-appointed art supply store, very high-end paints, canvases and such over on [4220 SE] Hawthorne. And the owner, Peter Rossing, has a background as a pianist, he has a bachelor’s degree in piano accompaniment. So I said, 'Hey Peter, any way that you could bring your two words together over there?'"

"We have a big Shostakovich thread throughout the festival, the Friends of Chamber Music are bringing in the Jerusalem String Quartet to play all 15 Shostakovich string quartets over four nights during March Music Moderne. So he, with an absolute stroke of genius in my opinion, said, 'Hey Bob, Shostakovich has 24 Fugues and Preludes for Piano that he wrote as a tribute to Bach. What if I get 24 different local painters to each interpret one of the preludes and fugues, as a painting, as a diptych?' So they all have the same size canvas and they divide the canvas in two, and one part of it is a prelude and the other is a fugue. So it’s a trans-genre collaboration I guess you could say. He’ll have all 24 of these new paintings in his space and there’ll be a reception that night with all the artists, some Shostakovich music playing, and a goodly bit of drinking."

Tessa Brinckman & Mitsuki Dazai
Mar 16 at 4, $15
Hipbone Studio

"Tessa Brinckman and Mitsuki Dazai … they’re doing a very unusual program of music for flutes and koto [traditional Japanese string instrument]. It’s still contemporary classical and some jazz—they’re doing some Chick Corea, some piano music actually, his children’s songs, for flute and koto. Now just think about that for a minute, that’s really an unusual sound and I think it’s going to be magical with those pieces that Chick wrote. And then she’ll be playing a work by Esa-Pekka Salonen for alto flute that is a killer piece with a lot of heavy breathing, and gasping for air and all. And then some other new music by traditional Japanese composer Toshio Hosokawa and Elizabeth Brown."

Gordon Lee
Mar 20 at 7:30, $15
The Old Church

"Ah, yes, Gordon Lee, he’s played piano around here for a long, long time, he’s sort of a Portland icon. So I asked Gordon, I said, 'Hey look, not a lot of people realize you write really excellent contemporary classical music in addition to being one of the top jazzers in town, playing with Mel Brown and others. Why don’t you put on a retrospective evening at the Old Church that shows the two sides of your work?' So he’s going to bring in the Mel Brown Septet and they’re going to blow some new charts that he’s written for them; we’re going to have a new piece he’s written for four cellos, which is really different; and then he’s going to play some of his solo piano music, so that’s going to be a wide-ranging program, a really worthwhile retrospective evening of Lee's varied output."

Northwest New Music Ensemble
Mar 23 at 7:30, $25
Community Music Center

"Northwest New Music, is the last event, one of the absolutely most vibrant and virtuosic, relatively new music groups in town. They‘re co-directed by Diane Chaplin, cellist, and Florian Conzetti percussionist, and they adhere more to the modernist leanings of contemporary classic music, as you’ll see Esa-Pekka Salonen in there, Luciano Berio, Franco Donatoni, and they are absolute virtuoso players. It's a core of six virtuosi and for this particular concert they’re also bringing in a guest woodwind quintet, the City Of Tomorrow Woodwind Quintet, a first-rate group. So that’s gonna be a bang-up closer to be sure."

Roundup: Valentine's Day

Wed, 06 Feb 2013 16:28:00 -0800

Valentine's Day—ugh, right? It's become practically cliche to point out that Hallmark has turned the holiday into a consumerist farce, and people with dates resent the day for its attendant high expectations almost as much as those without dates resent it for its attendant Love Actually re-viewing. But it doesn't have to be that way! This February 14 (or thereabouts), Portland's event calendar offers something for everyone, from daunted date-planners to bitter boycotters.

Roberta Flack

Roberta Flack with the Oregon Symphony
Feb 14 at 7:30 R&B singer Roberta Flack had a string of hits in the ’70s, no small number of which had to do with amour: “The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face,” “Killing Me Softly with His Song,” “Where Is the Love.” In her paean to St. Valentine with the symphony, it’s these mushy-gushy selections from her catalog Flack will focus on. $32–128

It's Not Me, It's You: Stories from the Dark Side of Dating
Feb 12 at 7 Local lit luminaries including writer Michael Heald, Back Fence PDX producer B. Frayn Masters, and Sex Diaries Project author Arianne Cohen celebrate the holiday by telling bad-date stories for this Planned Parenthood Advocates of Oregon benefit. $18–20

Kiss & Tell
Feb 14 at 8 Portland Story Theater presents its annual Valentine’s Day show, an evening of amorous and amusing storytelling by some of the company’s most masterly narrative artists. Eric Stern, the theatrical front man of local cabaret ensemble Vagabond Opera, emcees. $18–36.

Mortified

Mortified's "Doomed Valentine's" Show
Feb 12–13 at 8 Mortified, the live-storytelling event where people read selections from their teenage diaries and other "childhood artifacts," presents two evenings of presentations on the shudder-inducing theme of "doomed Valentine's." $12–15.

I Heart Improv
Feb 14 at 7:30 The improvisational-comedy vets of Brody Theater, prompted by call-outs from the audience, perform sketches around the theme of dating and romance—the good, the bad, and the ugly. $15

Wild at Heart
Feb 14 at 8 Here's a sure way to creep out your date (or please your creepy date): Hollywood Theatre is screening David Lynch's 1990 thriller/romance about a young outcast couple, Sailor Ripley (Nicolas Cage) and Lula Pace Fortune (Laura Dern) who run away from Fortune's overbearing mom but wind up pursued by the mafia. For $25, the theater will kick in champagne and chocolates. $7

Now that you've got one half of dinner and a show covered, head over to Culturephile's cousin blog, Eat Beat, for a bevy of recommendations on your pre- or post-show meal. Eat Beat also has a roundup of Valentine's events in wine country, while another member of our blog fam, Tripster, goes further afield with a daydream-inducing slideshow of the Northwest's most romantic retreats.

Q&A: Tosca's Tosca

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 15:33:00 -0800

Kara Shay Thomson has leapt to her death a number of times. She has been extorted from repeatedly. World-historical events have frequently served as a dramatic backdrop for her love life. But the Cincinnati-based soprano, whose turn as the title character in Portland Opera’s Tosca will be her third since last summer, says she’s not bored yet. “As I keep growing into her,” Thomson says, “I just keep discovering new things.”

In Puccini’s masterpiece, Tosca is a beautiful, tempestuous opera singer who is being blackmailed for her love by Rome’s police chief—with Napoleon’s troops marching on the Eternal City all the while. We talked with Thomson about why not just any opera singer can play this opera singer; how Portland Opera’s traditional staging is actually, among recent productions, nontraditional; and the gasping, picture-taking, and Pok Pok–sampling she’s been doing around Portland.

Image: Portland Opera/Cory Weaver

Kara Shay Thomson

Tosca marks your first time performing with the Portland Opera. What’s different about this company?
I have not one bad thing to say—not that I would in an interview anyway, but a lot of times, singers talk among themselves and say, “Oh my gosh, wait ‘til you get there, make sure you do this or don’t do this.” And I have to say, everyone is so friendly—even the security guy! It’s obvious that everyone just really digs opera, that it’s not just everybody’s job.

What have you been doing during your time in Portland? I went to the coast and did 101. It was cold, but it was beautiful! The last day off, my colleague and I did the “Fruit Loop”—they call it the Fruit Loop because it goes up through Hood River and through all of the vineyards. I’ve done a lot of gasping and picture-taking; it’s quite beautiful. Yesterday, we went antiquing around to vintage stores and getting the feel for different areas of Portland. Oh, and I went to Pok Pok. It was hot! I was like, “Wow, this is spicy!” But it was really, really good.

What kinds of things do you do to take care of your voice?
Probably the most important thing is, make sure I get enough sleep, because sleep is healing as well as restorative. And, especially with the flu scare that’s happening, I wash my hands…I don’t know how many times a day! That, and not being around a lot of people. It’s not a great idea to go to a big movie theater and be around a bunch of people. People think that we’re very social, kind of bigger-than-life personalities, and in some ways we are, because that’s what it takes to be on stage, but in your daily life, you kind of have to work against that and be protective.

This is not your first time playing Tosca—in fact, you’re on something of a Tosca streak, performing the role here as well as in Santa Fe, Kentucky, and Pensacola.
I have three more that I can’t list because the contracts aren’t executed completely! There are a handful of us right now that [play Tosca] all over the United States, and I’ll be like, “Oh, is Jill doing that one?” You kind of know who the Toscas are. The role requires you to jump at the end, and I don’t know if everybody is into that. At the end, Tosca jumps to her death—that’s the spoiler. I think this jump is six feet onto a crash pad at the back. I think what happens is you become known and reliable in the role, which is difficult and requires a certain skill set—just as if you were the kicker for a football team.

What, besides the jump, does the role demand?
I mean, there are six high C’s in it, and it sits in the middle voice, and Act Two requires a pretty powerhouse, as well as lyrical, sound. In the first act, the sound and color of the voice needs to be very young- and playful-sounding, and then in the second and third act, the color needs to change and be much more dramatic. That’s something that I personally love about the role, is that she requires you to not just be kind of a black-and-white character. I have to say, I feel like Tosca shows off all the things that I think I do really well—like long legato lines, and soaring high notes, and dramatic inflections. I think all of that is a part of me, and then I get to put it into Tosca.

Well, good thing you’re playing her, like, five times. Be honest, though: Are you sick of the story by now? I love it. It was the first full role I ever learned and covered as a young artist, and I have not gotten tired of it yet. You know why? Because every time you show up, you have a new conductor, you have new colleagues. Each situation is different, and you get a chance to grow. And this time, the conductor [Joseph Colaneri] and I have explored more things that I can do with [the role]. As I keep growing into her, I just keep discovering new things.”

Being so familiar with Tosca, what stands out to you as different about Portland Opera’s staging? It’s very traditional. I’ve done a lot of them where people wanted to put their own twist on the show. Puccini was very clear in his score about what he wanted, not only in the written instructions, but also in the music. But a lot of people want to try and update it, make it more contemporary, or not follow those [instructions] and go against it because that creates tension. It’s really refreshing to get to do it traditional. Both David [Kneuss], the director, and Joe, the conductor, are seasoned veterans of the Met, so they’ve seen many, many, many productions of Tosca, and it’s been really great to have them pipe up and tell stories about people who’d sung it, and what happened, and furniture flying, and then bringing it back and saying, let’s make it ours within the traditional guidelines of what was originally meant for the piece. This is like, old-school, traditional grand opera. It doesn’t get any more old school than this—in a really great way. I think it’s a great balance for Portland to do this within their season.

Tosca runs February 1–9. Let’s say I’ve never been to the opera. Tell me why Tosca should be my first.
I could tell you, on one hand, the operas I think should be your first, and Tosca is on my list. I just think it’s so great because it’s very traditional. The acts are not long. It’s all just long enough for your attention span. The costuming and the set, it’s all very luscious and big and very showy, and it’s in period costume, so you can see it as it was envisioned by Puccini. It’s also a very small cast to keep track of. Mozart always has multiple subplots going on, but there’s one plot here, and three main characters. It’s a verisimo opera, so it’s very much like real life. I think it’s kind of like watching a great show on HBO. And the music is so beautiful. Even if you close your eyes, you should come. But I’d rather you watch me!

Portland Cello Project Releases Beck-Interpretations Record

Thu, 03 Jan 2013 12:09:00 -0800

Since the infinitely inventive artist Beck Hansen (better known as, simply, Beck) released his new “record,” Song Reader, in sheet-music form last month, scores of musicians have taken the bait and recorded their own interpretations of the album’s songs.

Now, add Portland Cello Project to the count. After performing Song Reader at three sold-out shows at the Aladdin Theater last month, the local cello collective recorded the music from the album-as-songbook for a digital-only record, Portland Cello Project Play Beck Hansen’s Song Reader. It’s available for download today, streaming free on Soundcloud, and already getting press from NPR. (Portland Cello Project will also promote the new album on a Western-states tour starting later this month.)

The Song Reader project is a perfect fit for the highly collaborative, genre-crossing Portland Cello Project, which is best known for its decidedly nonclassical covers of the likes of Kanye West, Pantera, and Britney Spears. For the new album, the ensemble of cellophiles invited a raft of guest artists to record with them, including singer-songwriter Jolie Holland (of the Be Good Tanyas), bassist/cellist Nate Query (of the Decemberists), vocalists Lizzy Ellison and Patti King (of Radiation City), and singer Chanticleer Tru (of local soul group Magic Mouth).

To listen to Portland Cello Project Play Beck Hansen’s Song Reader, visit the Portland Cello Project’s Soundcloud page.

Holiday Shows Not to Miss

Thu, 20 Dec 2012 10:58:00 -0800

THEATER

A Tuna Christmas

Thru Dec 23 The family-friendly holiday comedy, starring Jeffrey Jason Gilpin and Alan King as all 22 residents of the fictional third-smallest town in Texas, is back by popular demand. It’s like A Prairie Home Companion, if Garrison Keillor played all of Lake Wobegon’s townspeople and the idyllic Minnesota community were a cracked-up Texas backwoods. For showtimes, see calendar entry. $28.25–52. Dolores Winningstad Theatre, PCPA, 1111 SW Broadway. 503-248-4335. pcpa.com

REVIEWED The Farndale Avenue Housing Estate Townswomen’s Guild Dramatic Society’s Production of A Christmas Carol
Thru Dec 23 In this Bag & Baggage–produced play-within-a-play, the well-born, ill-bred women of Farndale Avenue’s Dramatic Society (played by men in drag) stage a performance of A Christmas Carol that’s as much of a train wreck as its title—to so-bad-it’s-good effect. Read our review. Wed–Sat at 7:30; Sun at 2. $15–28. Venetian Theatre, 253 E Main St, Hillsboro. 503-345-9590. bagnbaggage.org

The Santaland Diaries

REVIEWED The Santaland Diaries
Thru Dec 30 Though it’s been 20 years since Sedaris first read it on NPR’s Morning Edition (launching his career), the humor writer’s tale of working as Crumpet the Elf at Macy’s still holds up as an uproarious, antimaterialist Christmas classic. For this year’s production of Joe Mantello’s one-man adaptation, actor Darius Pierce steps into David’s/Crumpet’s elfin booties for the first time (for more about the show but not the actor, see our review of last year's production with Jim Lichtscheidl). Tue–Sun at 7:30; Sat–Sun at 2. $44–59. Ellyn Bye Studio at the Armory, 128 NW 11th Ave. 503-445-3700. pcs.org

REVIEWED Sherlock Holmes and the Case of the Christmas Carol
Thru Dec 30 Artists Repertory Theatre reprises its 2011 holiday show (read last year's review), a mash-up of sorts of A Christmas Carol and the Sherlock Holmes stories. The play, written by Seattleite John Longenbaugh and directed by Jon Kretzu, visits ghosts past, present, and future upon a retired Holmes to spook the detective-extraordinaire back into the mystery-solving biz. Wed–Sun at 7:30; Sun at 2. For ticket prices, call 503-241-1278 or visit artistsrep.org. Artists Repertory Theatre, 1515 SW Morrison St

Christmas on Broadway

Thru Dec 23 The conceit of this new holiday musical revue from Broadway Rose is actually rather believable, for once: a quartet of would-be actors is snowed in at a Broadway theater on Christmas Eve with only costumes, props, and set pieces. What to do but make the best of it by performing seasonal standards from Broadway shows? Portland Center Stage’s musical director, Rick Lewis, directs. For showtimes, see calendar entry. $25–40. New Stage Auditorium, 12850 SW Grant Ave, Tigard. 503-620-5262. broadwayrose.org

It’s a Wonderful Life
Thru Dec 23 Stumptown Stages adds some tinsel to the beloved 1946 film and Christmastime staple by adapting it as a musical for the first time in Bedford Falls history. The world-premiere score was co-composed by prominent Portland pianist and songwriter Michael Allen Harrison. Thu–Sat at 7:30; Sun at 2. $15–30. Brunish Theatre, Portland Center for the Performing Arts, 1111 SW Broadway. 503-248-4335. stumptownstages.com

A Very Joan Crawford Christmas
Thru Dec 23 Triangle Productions presents a funny, fearsome Yuletide evening with Joan Crawford. A pencil-eyebrowed, vodka-soaked Kam Sisco plays Mommie Dearest, while James Sharinghousen portrays her gentleman companion. For showtimes, see calendar entry. $15–35. The Sanctuary at Sandy Plaza, 1785 NE Sandy Blvd. 503-239-5919. tripro.org

CLASSICAL MUSIC

NEW Classical Revolution PDX

Dec 26 at 9 For the British Commonwealth, Boxing Day—December 26—has been a tradition for hundreds of years, beginning as the designated time at which masters bestowed gifts upon their servants before evolving into a day of charity and goodwill. For Portlanders, Bachxing Day is a time to unwind after the stress of the holidays with booze and Bach. Classical Revolution PDX will be performing interpretations of their Bach favorites, and encouraging audience members to do so as well, remembering the three rules: "Any Bach. Any Instrumentation. Any Interpretation." Suggested donation of $5–20. Someday Lounge, 125 NW 5th Ave. 503-248-1030. classicalrevolutionpdx.org

NEW Oregon Symphony

Christmas with Johnny Mathis

Dec 22 at 7:30 Christmas with Johnny Mathis Mathis was perhaps the last of the great pre-rock crooners to gain popularity before Fender electrified pop music forever—but “Chances Are” you already know him. For this special holiday concert, Mathis, with the symphony as his backing band, sings the seasonal standards. $35–200. Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway. 503-228-1353. orsymphony.org

DANCE

The Nutcracker
Thru Dec 23 Oregon Ballet Theatre brings the visions of sugarplums dancing in our heads—yours, too!?—to life through its annual performance of Tchaikovsky’s beloved ballet. Some 27,000 people turned out last season to see the flowers waltz, the fairy dance, and the Nutcracker/Prince defeat the Mouse King, making this one of Oregon’s most popular holiday events. For showtimes, see calendar entry. For ticket prices, call 503-222-5538 or visit opb.org. Keller Auditorium, 222 SW Clay St

FILM

The Big Lebowski

NEW The Big Lebowski
Dec 21–27 Take a night off from the holiday spirit for a, well, different sort of tradition: Clinton Street Theater’s yearly screening of the Coen brothers’ classic. Jeff Bridges plays “the Dude,” a slacker par excellence who, after being mistaken for the title character, is spooled into a web of intrigue featuring porno kingpins, feminist artists, and German nihilists. Patrons are encouraged to wear pajamas. 6:50 & 9:20. $6. Clinton Street Theater, 2522 SE Clinton St. 503-238-5588. clintonsttheater.com

NEW Charles Dickens
Thru Dec 23 The Northwest Film Center screens three cinematic adaptations of Dickensian works, in celebration of both the great Victorian novelist’s 200th birthday and the season. (Even putting aside A Christmas Carol, there’s a certain Yuletide feel to all of Dickens’s wintry, moralistic tales, isn’t there?) In addition to Brian Desmond Hurst’s essential 1951 version of Christmas Carol, NWFC is showing David Lean’s Oscar-winning 1946 Great Expectations and an Alberto Cavalcanti–directed 1947 film noir rendition of Nicholas Nickleby. For showtimes, see calendar entries. $9. Whitsell Auditorium, 1219 SW Park Ave

CONCERTS

Wanderlust Circus' White Album Christmas

NEW Wanderlust Circus’ White Album Christmas

Dec 21–23 The city’s top circus-arts troupe teams up with the Nowhere Band—made up of members of MarchFourth Marching Band, Trashcan Joe, and others—in a stomping holiday celebration for those fed up with the same ol’ holiday fare. For the fifth year running, they cover the decidedly un-Christmas White Album in its entirety with decidedly un–Sugar Plum Fairy circus spectacles, without surrendering any of the seasonal cheer. Fri–Sat at 9; Sun at 8. $25. Alberta Rose Theatre, 3000 NE Alberta St. 503-719-6055. albertarosetheatre.com

SPECIAL EVENTS

The Grotto’s Christmas Festival of Lights
Thru Dec 30 The Grotto’s Catholic shrine and botanical garden are unusual and beautiful enough the rest of the year, but during the sanctuary’s holiday-season light display and choral festival, it is truly a sight to see. More than 500,000 lights deck the 62-acre, cliff-straddling grounds; performances by area choral groups—170 in total—take place nightly; and hot chocolate is as abundant as Christmas spirit. Daily 5–9:30; closed Christmas Day. $9. The Grotto, 8840 NE Skidmore St. 503-254-7371. thegrotto.org

FAMILY

The Peppermint Bear Show: Who Needs Sneeds?
Thru Dec 22 Rise and shine for a continental breakfast and to cheer on Peppermint Bear and Santa’s elves as they fight to save Christmas from the Grinchlike Sneed siblings. Lakewood Theatre Company is staging Peppermint Bear for the first time in the 35-odd years since it premiered (as The Cinnamon Bear Show) at the old Lipman’s department store. Sat at 9 and 11. $12. Lakewood Center for the Arts, 368 S State St, Lake Oswego. 503-635-3901. lakewood-center.org

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Symphony Gets Two Grammy Nominations

Thu, 06 Dec 2012 14:01:00 -0800

Hats off and a hearty round of applause to the Oregon Symphony players and conductor Carlos Kalmar for earning two Grammy nominations in the categories of Best Orchestral Performance and Best Engineered Album, Classical.

Both nominations are for the symphony's 2011 recording, Music for a Time of War, which features works by 20th-century composers Benjamin Britten, John Adams, Charles Ives, and Ralph Vaughn Williams. It was recorded live at the Schnitz in May 2011 by Boston-based recording and mastering company Soundmirror.

Album producer Blanton Alspaugh also was awarded a nomination for Producer of the Year, Classical.

While it would be totally cool to see Kalmar run on stage and get handed a statue by Taylor Swift and Keith Richards on national television, it seems a remote possibility given the less-than-stellar status of classical music in the recording industry.

Interview with Oregon Symphony’s Sarah Kwak

Wed, 21 Nov 2012 17:36:00 -0800

Image: Photograph Courtesy The Minnesota Orchestra

You just moved from Minnesota to become the symphony’s new concertmaster. What is that? I lead the string section. Beyond that, I am kind of the right hand to Carlos Kalmar, the conductor. I make sure his ideas are getting through to the strings and the rest of the orchestra. I need to be physically demonstrative to show the others how to play.

You were a prominent player in Minneapolis, one of Portland’s arch frenemies. What’s different? Professionally, it’s definitely a step up. I was the second violin chair there, and I would step in a lot to fill this role. But being on the job all the time is much, much different. I’m one of the faces of the orchestra—meeting patrons, meeting the public. In general, the food scene here is so much better. My husband and I used to go to New York pretty regularly specifically for the food, but since we’ve been here, we’ve haven’t missed New York.

You and your husband both applied for the concertmaster’s job. You got it. He got hired as a section violinist. How did that, um, play out? We figured it gave us better odds, and we figured that if one of us got the job, the other one could sub for the orchestra or ... do something. We were so lucky that we both got full-time jobs. That is very rare.

How does Kalmar compare to other conductors? He knows exactly what he wants, and he can achieve it. It’s hard to describe. He lives and breathes music—that’s something I connected with right away.

What do you do to prepare for a show? I tend to start working three or four weeks ahead of the performance, figuring out the bowings. All the violin bows are supposed to be synchronized: down or up, all at the same time. That doesn’t just happen naturally. People might hear that we work 20 hours a week, but that’s just rehearsal and performance. It doesn’t count the individual practice time. This morning, I played on my own from 8:30 to noon, and I’ll probably go back and do some more from 4 p.m. to 7.

You must not get out much. I still don’t quite know how to get to Target without checking my phone.

The Oregon Symphony performs Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto no. 2, Dec 1–3.