Eugene Weekly : Oregon Bach Festival : 6.17.2010

 

OBF2010
Oregon Bach Festival sked & highlights!

BB Denotes a Best of Bach top recommendation from the EW faithful

Wednesday 6|23

6:30 pm Live Broadcast: Trio Voronezh, KLCC Studios

Thursday 6|24

1 pm On the House: “German Masters: A Prelude to Bach” w/Cascade Consort (Eugene Library)

10 pm Bach Remix 5 w/Beta Collide, F.A.M.E., DJs Celcius & Connah Jay (Cowfish, 62 W. Broadway)  

Friday 6|25

6:30 pm  Inside Line: Intro to Verdi Requiem with Barbara Corrado Pope (Soreng Theater, Hult Center)

6:45 pm Opening Ceremonies (Hult Center Lobby)

BB 7:30 pm Verdi Requiem — Eugene (Silva Concert Hall, Hult Center)

The opening night outfits, the binoculars for looking at your favorite chorus members, the notes you’ll take to tell your companions at intermission about which of the soloists you like better this year, the nodding to people who look familiar from OBF’s past … and of course the majestic, glorious performance of this demanding, intense piece.

Saturday 6|26

11 am  OBF Kids: The Bernstein Beat (Silva)

1 pm On the House: PICCFEST Choir (Hult Lobby)

BB 8 pm Pink Martini (Silva)

We think it’s obvious: We put them on our cover because we luff Pink Martini. The multilingual delights of the newest album, Splendor in the Grass, thrill us just as much as that first song from Sympathetique, and they’re bringing along the talented concertmaster of the Oregon Symphony and his equally talented wife as well. This, we predict, will be an evening of bliss for Eugene fans who have been deprived of the Portland superstars for too long.

Sunday 6|27

3 pm Verdi Requiem — Portland (Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall)

7:30 pm  PICCFEST Gala (Silva)

Monday 6|28

BB Noon  Let’s Talk: Meet Jamie Bernstein (Hult Lobby)

Hosted by Fred Crafts, this talk with Leonard Bernstein’s daughter should be a lively, fun program.

BB 4:30 pm  Discovery Series: B Minor Mass Pt. 1 (Beall Hall, UO)

Let us count the ways we love this: 1. It’s the Discovery Series! That means the performers wear casual clothes and Maestro Rilling conducts in polo shirts. 2. The parade of master class conducting students always presents a variety of tempi and conducting styles. We develop our favorites as the Discovery Series continues. 3. The Discovery Series in Beall Hall at the UO is an invitation to fall in love with sound. 4. The B Minor Mass! Deconstructed by the man who knows it better than almost anyone else in the world. See all of them if you can.

7:30 pm Bernstein on Broadway (Silva)

Tuesday 6|29

Noon  Oregon Interlude: ElRay Stewart-Cook (Central Lutheran Church, 1857 Potter St.)

7:30 pm Bach & Brahms (Beall)

Wednesday 6|30

Noon Let’s Talk: Meet Thomas Quasthoff (Hult Lobby)

BB 4:30 pm Discovery Series: B Minor Mass Pt. 2 (Beall)

BB 7:30 pm Kleiner on Keyboards (Beall)

BORIS! That’s all that longtime OBF fans need to know. For newbies, let us tell you that Boris Kleiner has for years been a joy to watch during the Discovery Series  as Maestro Rilling talks to, sometimes teases and usually praises him. The Ahrend organ at Beall couldn’t be put to better use than Boris Does Bach.

Thursday 7|1

Noon Hinkle Lectures: Robert Levin, “Theology, Cosmology and Intellectual Rigor: Bach’s Musical World View: (Soreng)

6:30 pm Inside Line: Intro to Die Schone Mullerin (Soreng)

BB 7:30 pm Thomas Quasthoff and Jeffrey Kahane: Die Schone Mullerin (Silva)

Yes, please. Yes, yes, yes we want to hear Schubert sung by Quasthoff and played by Kahane. We hope the OBF will be selling packets of Kleenex at the store for this performance. We’re ready.

Friday 7|2

1 pm Open House: SFYCA Soloists (Hult Lobby)

BB 4:30 pm Discovery Series: B Minor Mass Pt.  3 (Beall)

BB 7:30 pm Chuang-Levin Duo (Beall) 

Ah, the older ladies of the OBF audience sometimes swoon over Robert Levin, so won’t they (and their partners) find the duo of Ya-Fei Chuang and Levin just so romantic? And Romantic too, with a program of Schumann and Brahms. All aboard for a  pretty, sparkling night in Beall.

Saturday 7|3

1 pm On the House: “German Masters: A Prelude to Bach” w/Cascade Consort (Hult Lobby)

BB 8 pm 40th Anniversary Gala Concert (Silva)

Quasthoff and McFerrin jam! Kahane, Armstrong and Rilling take turns at the conductor’s podium! The OBF Chorus and Orchestra shine! This is going to be one hell of a party. Happy anniversary, OBF!

Sunday  7/4

9 pm Trio Voronezh at Art & the Vineyard (Alton Baker Park)

Only about 16,000 people came out to Alton Baker to hear the Stangeland Family Youth Choral Academy perform and Jeffrey Kahane play and conduct “Rhapsody in Blue” last year, so, you know. You maybe missed out. But come this year for some fine Russian performances just before that most American of traditions: 4th of July fireworks!

Monday 7|5

Noon  Let’s Talk: Meet Bobby McFerrin (Hult Lobby)

4:30 pm Discovery Series: Bach Suite No. 4 Jeffrey Kahane conducts/lectures. (Beall)

BB 7:30 pm Bobby McFerrin & the Stangeland Family Youth Choral Academy (Silva)

Unadulterated musical genius, sweet-voiced young ones and a heck of a lot of fun to boot. 

Tuesday 7|6

Noon Hinkle Lectures: Bach & the Brain (Soreng)

4:30 pm InChoir sing-along rehearsal of Elijah (Beall)

6:30 pm Inside Line: Intro to the Schumanns w/Barbara Corrado Pope, (163 School of Music)

7:30 pm At Home with the Schumanns (Beall)

Wednesday 7|7

Noon Organ Interlude: Julia Brown (Central Lutheran Church)

BB 4:30 pm Discovery Series: B Minor Mass Pt. 4 (Beall)

7:30 pm Jeffrey Kahane in Recital (Beall)

7:30 pm Portland Baroque Orchestra: Bach’s Suites Rediscovered—Bend (Tower Theatre)

Thursday 7|8

Noon Let’s Talk: Meet OBF Founders Rilling & Saltzman (Hult Lobby)

BB 7:30 pm Portland Baroque Orchestra: Bach’s Suites Rediscovered (Beall)

This will be one of the great musical events of a festival filled to the brim with glorious music. The PBO’s genius leader, Monica Huggett, garnered a Grammy nomination for her CD of the reconstructed Orchestral Suites, and whether you agree with her research or not, you’ll hear the Suites in a new, surprising way.

Friday 7|9

1pm  On the House: Jessie Marquez Hult Lobby)

4:30 pm Discovery Series: Bach Suite No. 1 Monica Huggett conducts/lectures (Beall)

7:30 pm Elijah — Portland (Schnitzer)

Saturday 7|10

11 am Tiempo Libre for Kids (Hilton Hotel)

8 pm Tiempo Libre Dance Concert (Hilton Hotel)

Sunday 7|11 

2 pm  Intro to Elijah (Soreng)

BB 3 pm Elijah—Eugene (Silva)

The OBF Orchestra, the OBF Chorus, Maestro Rilling and superstar Quasthoff conclude the festival in style with the Mendelssohn oratorio about the fiery prophet. Don’t miss this concluding concert, sure to strike a chord or 10 with its passion, grief and beauty.