Ludovic Morlot, Music Director of the Barcelona Symphony Orchestra and Conductor Emeritus of Seattle Symphony, joins host Michael Schell to talk about conducting John Adams, John Luther Adams and Beethoven, seeing the movies Maestro and Tár, and assessing the conductorial legacies of Bernstein, Boulez and others. The proceedings are illustrated with highlights from the premiere recording of Adams’ opera Girls of the Golden West, which we contrast to his earlier, more purely minimalist composition Harmonium. We also celebrate drums with a new duet album by Adam Rudolph and Tyshawn Sorey; and trombones with notable works by Grisey and Rzewski as well as a new album from the Cologne-based improvisor Janning Trumann. Works by the late Frederic Rzewski and Emma Lou Diemer rounds out the program. Creative and improvised music from the Northwest and around the world, originally aired June 9, 2024.
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Flotation Device 2024-06-09: Annotated playlist by host Michael Schell
Intro and SET 1: Adams the minimalist [0:00]
1. [1:45] John Adams: Two Fanfares for Orchestra - 1. Tromba Lontana. From The Chairman Dances (Nonesuch, 1987) with Glenn Fischthal, Laurie McGaw (trumpets), San Francisco Symphony, Edo de Waart (conductor), John Newton (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 1986
2. [5:57] John Adams: Harmonium - 3. Wild Nights. From Harmonium/The Klinghoffer Choruses (2000, Nonesuch) with San Francisco Symphony and Chorus, John Adams (conductor), John Newton (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 1980–81
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SET 2: Adams and Morlot in Seattle [17:23]
1. [19:18] Ludovic Morlot in conversation with Michael Schell. NOTE: Video of the interview is at https://tinyurl.com/MorlotInterview
2. [42:12] John Adams: Girls of the Golden West (excerpts). From Girls of the Golden West (Nonesuch, 2024) with Dame Shirley: Julia Bullock (soprano), Joe Cannon: Paul Appleby (tenor), Ned Peters: Davóne Tines (baritone), Clarence King: Ryan McKinny (baritone), Ah Sing: Hye Jung Lee (coloratura soprano), Josefa Segovia: Daniela Mack (mezzo-soprano), Ramón: Elliot Madore (baritone), Los Angeles Master Chorale, Los Angeles Philharmonic, John Adams (conductor), Dmitriy Lipay (recording engineer)
3. [1:00:40] John Adams: Lola Montez Does the Spider Dance. From City Noir (Naxos, 2024) with ORF Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Marin Alsop (conductor), Christian Gorz (recording engineer). NOTE: Composed 2016 for the opera Girls of the Golden West, revised 2020. First recording
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SET 3: Trombones [1:06:28]
1. [1:09:13] Janning Trumann: Watt. From Echo (Tangible, 2024) with Brandon Seabrook (guitar), Janning Trumann 4: Janning Trumann (trombone), Lucas Leidinger (piano, synthesizer), Florian Herzog (electric bass, synthesizer), Thomas Sauerborn (drums), Stefan Deistler (recording engineer)
2. [1:14:36] Gérard Grisey: Périodes. From Les Espaces Acoustiques (Kairos, 2005) with Asko Ensemble: Jeannette Landré (flute), Hans Cartigny (oboe), Frank van den Brink (clarinet), Toon van Ulsen (trombone), Liesbeth Steffens (viola), Doris Hochscheid (cello), Pieter Smithuijsen (bass), Guido Tichelman (recording engineer, Tritonus Audioproduktion). NOTE: Composed 1974, premiered June 11, 1974 in Rome
3. [1:30:21] Frederic Rzewski: Moonrise with Memories - Part II. Performed June 2008 at Music08, Cincinnati by Asterisk: C. Neil Parsons (bass trombone), Zara Lawler (flutes, voice), Meaghan Heinrich (oboe, voice), Bonnie Whiting (percussion, voice). NOTE: Composed 1977, text by Langston Hughes
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SET 4: Drums [1:35:34]
1. [1:38:32] Adam Rudolph, Tyshawn Sorey: Archaisms I - Side A (excerpt). From Archaisms (Meta/Yeros7/Defkaz, 2024) with Adam Rudolph (hand percussion), Tyshawn Sorey (drum kit, percussion), Mas Yamagata (recording engineer)
2. [1:45:51] Adam Rudolph, Tyshawn Sorey: Archaisms II - Side B (excerpt). From Archaisms (as above) with Tyshawn Sorey (conductor), Adam Rudolph (piano, hand percussion), Sae Hashimoto, Russell Greenberg, Levy Lorenzo (percussion), Teerapat Parmongkol, Andrea Schiavelli (recording engineers)
3. [1:54:50] Outro with Emma Lou Diemer: A Little Drumming and Fantasy
Photo credits: Gérard Grisey by Jackie Carson, Ludovic Morlot with John Adams and John Luther Adams by James Holt/Seattle Symphony, Adam Rudolph and Tyshawn Sorey by Roulette Intermedium, Brandon Seabrook with Janning Trumann 4 (JT, Florian Herzog, Lucas Leidinger, Thomas Sauerborn) by Patrick Essex, trial scene from Girls of the Golden West by San Francisco Opera, Frederic Rzewski by Françoise Walot, Emma Lou Diemer via Santa Barbara Music Club