Salt Lake Tribune | 2001-10-28 | Page 57

The Salt Lake Tribune ARTS Sunday, October 28, 2001 D3 ‘Utah Symphony’s Flute-and-Harp Soirée Has a French Twist BY CATHERINE REESE NEWTON @ Abravanel Hall ‘THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE The Utah Symphony showcases The Utah Symphony and Chorus, with harpist Louise © oneof its most recognizable veterans © andoneof its newest members in this week’s concerts. Principal flutist Erich Graf will solo in the Ibert Flute Concerto, and principal harpist Lou- Vickerman,flutist Erich Graf, conductor Keith Lockhart, soprano Kathleen Brett and baritone Michael Chipman, will perform Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. in Abravanel Hall, 123 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City. Tickets are $16 to $43. ise Vickerman will play Saint-Saens’ Morceau de Concert for Harp and Orchestra. Graf is celebrating his 25th season with the A Michigan native, he arrived during the tenure of legendary music director Maurice Abravanel. “T look back on these 25 years as time well spent,” said Graf, 53. “The orchestra has grown in stature,it’s grown artistically, the repertoire has grown and the audiences have grown.” Personal highlights include playing a duo concerto with his former bigger than I was, and myparents had concerns about the decibel level of drumsaroundthe house,”he said. Longtime Philadelphia Orchestra principal flutist William Kincaid, a frequentguest in the family’s Ann Arbor home, encouraged him to study the flute, and he discovered he “felt very different than with the piano. I teacher Jean-Pierre Rampal, collabo- immediately loved the sound and en- rating with Julius Baker (also a mentor) and James Galway, and playing a duet with Beverly Sills. Frequentforays into chamber music, as well as his leadership of Local 104 of the American Federation of Musicians and his advocacy of Best joyed practicingthe flute. It developed Friends Animal Sanctuary in Kanab, make Graf one of the Utah Symphony’s more visible members. There also were low points, such as the time when the orchestra stood to take a bow andhesethis 14-karat goldflute on thelip ofhis music stand . . . and thelip was not there. “The sound of that instrument bouncingon the floor wasone of the into a passionI still have today.” Graf has performed the Ibert concerto before, but not with the Utah Symphony. “It is among the few great 20th-century flute concerti,”he said of the piece, written in 1934.“It reflects a real elan andjoie de vivre,a lot of humor. . . . It’sa very different concept of expression than,let’s say, Ravel and Debussy. Ravel and Debussy were more into describing their emotions in their music. . . . Ibert and Poulenc were writingjust for good fun.” She HasPluck: Vickerman will be performing hersolo piece, the Saint- Francisco Kjolseth/The Salt Lake Tribune Utah Symphonyflutist Erich Graf and harpist Louise Vickermanwill solo in concerts on Friday and Saturday. very Saint-Saensy,” Vickerman said. Vickerman becamefascinated with the clarsach, a small Gaelic folk harp, when she was 4. She saw the instrumentin a gallery in her native Glasgow, Scotland, and “made my mum Saens Morceau de Concert, for the first time. She remembers it as one of the last works herfirst teacher, Sanchia Pielou, played with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Pielou died after Vickerman came to the after school,” she said. “I persisted in wantinglessons and bugging myparents for a clarsach. They gave in when the piano at age 8 but “did not com- United States to study at the Eastman because both parents could always School of Music in Rochester, N.Y. “It’s kind of nice playing it in “Louise wasthe secondhire I made mune with the keyboard,” probably playbetter, he said. memory ofher,” Vickerman said. mosthorrifying things, a musician’s ultimate nightmare,” Graf said. (Salt Lake artisan Bob Joffs repaired the flute.) _,. and percussion. “The trombone was ; Graf began musical studies with A musical aptitude test at school pointed him toward flute, trombone The singlemovement _miniconcertois “pretty idiomatic for harp, take methere to look at it every day I wasabout6, andI started lessons at here,after [principal clarinetist] Tad Caleara, and I have to say, patting myself on the back, it was a great hire,” said music director Keith Lockhart, who will conduct this week's concerts.. 2 For her part, Vickerman, 28, said shefinds Utah’sclimate much more to her liking than Florida and Texas, whereshe played with Miami-1 New World Symphony and the San Antonio Symphony. “Tmissed the mountains,” she said. She has taken up skiing, a sport she learned asa childin Scotland. She also enjoys gardening and yoga. Vickermanalso claims to be “probably the only harpist in the country who doesn’t drive a station wagon”to tote the 93-pound instrumentfrom concert to concert. “That'sa benefit of being a symphonyharpist . . . they carry the harp in the truck.” Vickerman noted that this will be the first time she has shared solo billing with a flutist and not performed the Mozart Flute and Harp. Concerto (and vice versa, Graf reted). “I thought about going there,” Lockhart confessed, “but that was such an obvious wayto go.” Instead, the Ibert and Saint-Saens concertos are part of an all-French program that opens with Dukas’ Fanfare from “La Peri” and the Faure Requiem.Joining the orchestra and Utah Symphony Chorus in the Faure are Canadian soprano Kathleen Brett and Salt Lake-born baritone Michael Chipman. Westminster Cathedral Choir to Open Madeleine Concert Series Westminster connection. “T had the opportunity to observe BY CELIA R. BAKER THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE the practice at Westminster for a The ensemble that was muse and modelfor the choirs of the Cathedral of the Madeleine and the Madeleine Choir School performstonight in the cathedral. numberof monthsin 1992 as we were preparing to open the choir school here in Salt Lake City,” Glenn said. The Grammy Award-winning Men and Boys Choir of Westminster Cathedral gives its debut performance in Salt Lake City as the season-openerfor “We're very inspired by whatthey do. minutes away, and is only about 100 years old. It was built as the main Ro- Weseek to do our best in Salt Lake man Catholic Cathedral for the United City to emulate the wonderful work they do in London.” Martin Baker, master of music at Kingdom, andis the seat of the cardi- Westminster and conductor for tonight’s performance, was organist at the 12th annual Choir ofthe Cathedral of the Madeleine Concert Series. Westminster Abbey before taking his Utahns are developing a taste for position at Westminster Cathedral, angelic-sounding church music sung bychoirs that combine adult and chil- where heis attracting worldwide acclaim as a choral conductor and organ improvisationist. While at the Abbey, Baker performed for the largest live audience in world history as organist dren’s voices. Gregory Glenn deserves someofthe credit. Glenn,the revolutionizing director of music at Cathedral of the Madeleine, founded the Madeleine's choir school, one of the fewofits type in the United States. The school is a resounding success, and concerts by Madeleine choirs have a large community following. Glenn is happy to acknowledge his Reformation it became a collegiate church in the Church of England.It belongsto the queen,and has been the site of various coronations. “Westminster Cathedral is about10 nal archbishop of Westminster. The style of music and the liturgy there differ greatly from Westminster Abbey.” The clear-voiced choirs at Westminster Cathedral began drawing notice as soon as the building was in use, for reviving choral worksnot heard in centuries and adding newly commissioned works to the repertoire of church music. Ralph Vaughan Wil- for the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales. For confused non-Brits, Baker clarifies the distinction between the two famous Westminsters: “Westminster Abbey is a kind of national monument, founded in 1065 choirs on the Westminster Choir be- as a Benedictine monastery. After the cause “they represent perhaps the liams, Benjamin Britten, Gustav Holst and Herbert Howells are among those who composed specifically for the choir. Glennsays he chose to model his City performance will feature sacred music from plainsongandPalestrina, to a mass written recently by Scottish @ Sacred Music ‘THe Men and Boys Choir of Westminster Cathedral of London performstonight at 8 p.m. at Cathedral of the Madeleine, 331 E. South Temple St., Salt Lake City. Reserved seating passes are $10 to $20. Call [phone]. composer James. MacMillan. Baker says the choir is “taking a slight step to one side of Roman Catholicism” to sing a motet by J.S. Bach. Hepromises his choirboyswill sing with a zest he misses in some English choirs. He is not a fan of the classic “English sound” in choral music, which is characterized by a light, straighttone. The effect of such singing is a best Catholic choir in the world. The historic character of the occasion of having them here is wonderful. What they dofor preserving the heritage of Catholic music is a phenomenal work.” “Ourmain focusis on Renaissance music,” says Baker, “but we are also very keen to commission, promote and sing new music, especially if composed for the new liturgy of the church.” The Westminster Choir’s Salt Lake i innocence and sweetness, but with emotional detachment. “There is a certain basic style in English choral music, and many variations ofit, but we don’t have that style,” says Baker. “People used to the King’s College Choir at Cambridge would be quite shocked by our open, uninhibited, very free style. Our boys are very expressive. We're interested in a soundthat harnesses their love of kicking a football around the playground, and showsthat they are happy to be alive.” . Mormon Tabernacle Choir and Orchestra at Temple Square present it CANALI with Special Guest PAL‘GRUPPO ZILERI. FORALL BarrYBrICKEN BOSS HUGO BOSS COLE -HAAN Ermenegildo Zegna ARNOLD BRANT Zanella BERNARDZINS JHANEBARNES sort Bahan, ROBERTES}TALBOTT PARIS 25 Years of Style! “Grand Theatre FOOTHILL VILLAGE 1354 FOOTHILL DRIVE @ SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH 84108 [phone] ‘GATEWA\v 70 SOUTH RIO GRANDE STREET @ SALI LAKE CITY, UTAH 84101 [phone]