GREEK REVIEW, 2012 CAGE
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Described as "a piano devil... diving deep in the secrets of the art and the instrument", Stephen Drury returns from Europe with a rave review written by Haris Simvoulides, who describes the concert as one of "the most important concert performances of the current year [in Athens]". Having just performed with Frederic Rzewski at the Festival d'Automne in Paris, Drury arrived in Athens on November 21st to perform Cage and Ives to "overbooked festivals" and otherwise full houses. "In the Etudes Australes we had the opportunity to admire how Drury was mastering an extremely difficult piece - for both the interpreter and the listener. For the interpreter the movements required for the execution of the piece are mostly those of an acrobat than of a pianist: Cage, by composing this piece, searched the impossible, producing notes and chords based on austral maps of the southern hemisphere firmament." As far as the Ives, Simvoulides described Drury's performance as "stunning in all four parts... in a piece with very many diversified demands on execution and emotional level... Drury's performance shone...". Read the full review in Greek here.
Looking ahead to 2012, Stephen Drury will perform at the Ludwig van Beethoven Institute in Vienna, Austria this coming February, where he will provide numerous Cage treats for audiences there: lectures, masterclasses, and a culminating recital of the music of John Cage (marking just the beginning of a Cage-filled Centennial). And to close 2011 with some exciting news: the John Luther Adams CD release, Four Thousand Holes, has been listed as one of the top 10 "Best Classical Music Recordings of 2011" in the New Yorker as recommended by music critic Alex Ross. Happy Solstice & holidays to all!
(photo by Aigli Drakou)
CAGE IN PARIS, ATHENS
This Saturday, November 19th, Stephen Drury performs John Cage's Etudes australes with Frederic Rzewski at the Festival d'Automne a Paris in Paris, France. Composed in 1974-1975, the piece (a total of 32 Etudes, organized into 4 books, each book having 8 Etudes) consists of single tones and combinations derived from star charts of the Atlas Australis. Though notated on conventional staves, there are no dynamic markings nor pedal instructions, and the player is free to interpret the notes given.
"Etudes australes (almost four hours) is a tribute to the final Paris performance of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. A duo for two independent hands, it has them struggle with complex chords. Elements were set according to stars in the southern skies and the I Ching, then defined as a computer program. The pianist decides on speed and dynamics. Diabolical virtuosity is proof of and just reward for effort." -- (festival-automne.com)
On Monday, November 21st, Drury heads to Athens, Greece where he performs a solo recital of Cage'sEtudes Australes alongside Charles Ives's Concord Sonata, as part of the Pianoscapes series curated by Lorenda Ramou at the ABOUT: Cultural Venue. More information can be found here.
PRAISE FOR BARTOK WITH NEW ENGLAND PHILHARMONIC
From the Boston Musical Intelligencer: "Stephen Drury was the admirable soloist, whose playing of this last work penned by Bartok was pellucid, accurate, wonderfully nuanced, fiery and atmospheric... Often cited as the most accessible of the composer's three piano concertos, it is nonetheless filled with abundant demands of the pianist's virtuosity and imagination. Bartok's great interest in Hungarian folk music is audible in the work's first and third movements, and Drury played those moments with great dash and elan. The second movement is notable for its inward direction, its chorale-like writing reflecting the composer's "Andante religioso"; here, as elsewhere, Drury and the orchestra were hand-in-glove in their exposition of the score... These and all of the pure Bartokian measures were sparklingly essayed by Drury, who surely made as strong a case for this wonderful music as one could imagine."
Read the complete review here.
2012 CAGE CENTENNIAL
After a majorly successful Sick Puppy this year, here's hoping Stephen Drury took some time off for rest and relaxation (he's currently coaching, teaching, and performing at the Tanglewood Music Center in the beautiful Berkshires, where he's been now for the past few summers).
Here's a quick look of what's in store for the 2011-2012 season -- Drury will kick off the fall with Bartok Piano Concerto No. 3 together with the New England Philharmonic, and later on he'll perform at ISSUE Project Room in Brooklyn NY, at the Gardner Museum in Boston, and also at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., where he'll be reunited with Irvine Arditti in a concert of John Cage's Two(4). 2012 marks the Cage Centennial -- much more Cage coming your way!
SICPP: SICK PUPPY 2011 WITH MURAIL, OPPENS
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Stephen Drury leads the Callithumpian Consort and nearly 70 selected participants for the annual SICPP (aka "Sick Puppy") festival, hosted at New England Conservatory in Boston every summer. The festival takes place June 18 - 25, 2011, with daily afternoon (1pm) and evening (8pm) concerts running June 20th through 25th, culminating in the infamous Iditarod, a six-hour-plus marathon, on Saturday the 25th. The 2011 composer-in-residence is Tristan Murail, who will be at the festival throughout the week, giving master classes, lessons, and coachings. Callithumpian Consort will be giving the world premiere of commissioned work by Murail, Lachrymae, for string quartet, bass, and flute. Other highlights include the world premiere of John Luther Adams's Four Thousand Holes, a piece commissioned by Stephen Drury and performed by him and percussionist Scott Deal, which was recently released on Cold Blue Records. Guest artist Ursula Oppens will also be in residence throughout the week and will perform a solo concert as part of the SICPP evening concert series.
SICPP is a week-long, intensive performance seminar fully dedicated to performing music of the 20th and 21st centuries, with non-stop master classes, lessons, rehearsals, and free concerts. An invaluable experience for new music instrumentalists, vocalists, and composers, SICPP is a unique avant-garde music festival with specialized faculty who can impart first-hand information about this music from direct experience working with Cage, Reich, Wolff, Harvey, Czernowin and more. For more information on SICPP, please visit the official website.
(photo of Tristan Murail by Elisabeth Schneider)
SPECTRAL SUMMER, JUNE 2-5, FINEBERG PREMIERE
Coming up: Stephen Drury teams up with spectral composer Joshua Fineberg in a unique Spectral Summmer Professional Performance Workshop, to be held at Boston University's CFA School of Music from June 2 - 5. Drury will be leading the Callithumpian Consort in performances of Tristan Murail, Gerard Grisey, and Fabien Levy, and the workshop will culminate in the world premiere of Counterfactual, a new work by composer-in-residence Joshua Fineberg, commissioned by the Consort. The concert will be on Sunday, June 5, 2011 at 8 p.m. at the CFA Concert Hall; admission is free. More details can be read here.
Spectral Summer Professional Performance Workshop will be an exciting precursor to what's in store for SICPP 2011, when we welcome spectralist legend Tristan Murail to Boston for a week-long festival of spectral and avant-garde music.
CALLITHUMPIAN ON YOUTUBE
New videos are up! Check out our MANTRA/MARTEAU concert back in March. Video and audio recorded live in Jordan Hall.