While The 13% Of The World Population Naturally Optimistic May Now Feel In The Dumps, The Rest of Us Can Join Them Or

We Can Sing For Hope!!

CARE

U.N. Human Development Index

UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Thailand

Photo credit: (c) Baan Kingkaew Wiboolsanti Orphanage Foundation, Chiang Mai, Thailand 2010.


*

Happy long weekend ahead to my faithful readers. See you in June.

And thank you to Google for hosting Renaissance Research these past five years.

What Dreams May Come

"Please note: Due to immigration/visa delays for the vocal ensemble EXAUDI, the San Francisco Symphony will replace Stravinsky’s choral work Threni, Lamentations of Jeremiah, with Stravinsky’s Ode (Triptychon for Orchestra) and Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms at performances May 19, 20, 21, and 23 in Davies Symphony Hall. Threni, Lamentations of Jeremiah will be rescheduled in a future season.

A concert where sacred and secular intertwine: Stravinsky’s neo-classical Ode is a solemn epitaph that evokes subjects from antiquity. Ravel’s music for the ballet Daphnis et Chloé conjures the world of Greek mythology in the language of Impressionism. Bernstein’s Chichester Psalms is raucous and reverent, epic and intimate, a spiritual testament that culminates in a plea for peace."

Image credit: Copyright controlled.

Tonight Grawemeyer Award-Winning American Composer Chinary Ung To Help Open Major Khmer Sacred Art Exhibition In Nation's Capital

Chinary Ung will be on hand for this full evening of his unusual music. Born in Cambodia, he is the first American composer to win the prestigious Grawemeyer Award.

His most recent works include Rising Light, a large work for double choruses, piano, soloists and orchestra and commissioned by the International Festival-Institute at Round Top, Texas, Radiant Samadhi, a choral work for the Tokyo Philharmonic Chorus, and SPIRAL XII "Space Between Heaven and Earth" premiered by The Los Angeles Master Chorale at Walt Disney Concert Hall.

Thursday, May 20, 2010, 7:30 pm
Da Capo Chamber Players with guests Soprano Lucy Shelton and others
Freer Gallery - Meyer Auditorium, Smithsonian
First come, first seated for remaining tickets
Pre-concert gallery tour, East Meets West. 6:45 pm

Gods of Angkor: Bronzes from the National Museum of Cambodia

Photo credit: Copyright controlled.

In Memorium, Yvonne Loriod

Merci Pour Tout ... And for bearing with my only fair French in the Fall Of 1971 in Berkeley and in the Spring Of 1972 in Washington, D.C.

Obituary by Paul Griffiths in the New York Times

Photo credit: (c) The Olivier Messiaen Page 2010. Copyright controlled.

In Honor Of International Museum Day 2010 And Culture Workers World-wide

Pinzel Museum and Lviv History Museum, Lviv, Ukraine, Future European Union.

[Click on images for enlargements.]

International Museum Day 2010

Photo credits: Copyright controlled.

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra To Offer Summer Tributes To Michael Jackson, Frank Zappa, And Philip Glass

"The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is internationally recognized as having achieved a preeminent place among the world's most important orchestras. Acclaimed for its uncompromising pursuit of artistic excellence, the Baltimore Symphony has attracted a devoted national and international following while maintaining deep bonds throughout the Maryland community."

"On July 15, join the BSO, conductor Brent Havens and Jackson-esque vocalists for an evening filled with fabulous music spanning 40 years of Michael Jackson's influential and celebrated career."

Photo credits: Copyright controlled.

More Pesky Forecasts To Keep One From Sleeping Well At Night

"The world’s budget deficit as a percentage of gross domestic product now stands at 6 percent, up from just 0.3 percent before the financial crisis. If public debt is not lowered back to precrisis levels, the I.M.F. report said [on Friday], growth in advanced economies could decline by half a percentage point annually."

Image credit: (c) American Museum of Natural History 2010

The 57 Varieties Of Advanced And Emerging 'Economies' According To The International Monetary Fund, Washington, D.C., May 2010

Advanced Economies (29) - Column A/ Emerging Economies (27) - Column B

Australia/ Argentina
Austria/ Brazil
Belgium/ Bulgaria
Canada/ Chile
Czech Republic/ China
Denmark/ Colombia
Finland/ Estonia
France/ Hungary
Germany/ India
Greece/ Indonesia
Hong Kong SAR/ Kenya
Iceland/ Latvia
Ireland/ Lithuania
Israel/ Malaysia
Italy/ Mexico
Japan/ Nigeria
Korea/ Pakistan
Netherlands/ Peru
New Zealand/ Philippines
Norway/ Poland
Portugal/ Romania
Singapore/ Russia
Slovak Republic/ Saudi Arabia
Slovenia/ South Africa
Spain/ Thailand
Sweden/ Turkey
Switzerland/ Ukraine
United Kingdom
United States

Advanced G-20/ Emerging G-20

Australia/ Argentina
Canada/ Brazil
France/ China
Germany/ India
Italy/ Indonesia
Japan/ Mexico
Korea/ Russia
United Kingdom/ Saudi Arabia
United States/ South Africa
Euro Area/ Turkey

Source: International Monetary Fund Fiscal Monitor May 14, 2010

Image credit: Pooled frog eggs in Slovenia, Present day European Union, at North 46°18'1.21", East 13°53'9.72".
(c) Andreas Neumann 2006. Copyright controlled.

Did The MET Take Ideas For Its New RING Cycle From The Beijing Olympics Closing Ceremony At The Bird's Nest?

Trailer for Robert Lepage's new MET Ring cycle.

Image credit: (c) Copyright controlled 2008.

While Classical WETA FM Attempts To Locate Recording Of Birtwistle Mask Of Orpheus, Gluck's Armide, From Kennedy Center, To Be Broadcast Saturday At 1

Opera Lafayette
Armide
May 15, 2010, 1:00 pm
Classical WETA-FM, Washington, D.C. region

Composer: Christoph Willibald Gluck
Librettist: Philippe Quinault in French language, based on Gerusalemme Liberata by Torquato Tasso.
Conductor: Ryan Brown
Setting: Damascus, 1099 CE
First performance: Paris, Académie Royale de Musique, September 23, 1777.

Cast:
Dominique Labelle (Armide)
William Burden (Renaud)
Stephanie Houtzeel (La Haine)
Judith van Wanroij (Sidonie, Lucinde, Un Plaisir)
Nathalie Paulin (Phénice, Mélisse, Une Bergère)
Robert Getchell (Artémidore, Le Chevalier Danois)
William Sharp (Hidraot)
Darren Perry (Aronte, Ubalde)
Adria McCulloch (La Naïade)
Stacey Mastrian, Barbara Hollinshead, Adam Hall, Eric Christopher Black (Les Coryphées)
Opera Lafayette Orchestra and Chorus

Synopsis

Photo credit: (c) Louis Forget 2010. Copyright controlled.

More Musical Moments: Now Let Us Take Time To Consider And Praise Grazyna Bacewicz, Henryk Mikolaj Gorecki, John Adams -- And Frederic Chopin

Royal String Quartet with Pianist Eugen Indjic

Grazyna Bacewicz and Henryk Mikolaj Gorecki String Quartets

Frederic Chopin's "Piano Concert in F minor" in a quintet version

Sunday, May 16, 2010 4 PM

Concert included in Phillips Collection museum admission; free for members.

*
National Symphony Orchestra members and Kennedy Center Conservatory Project Chamber Ensemble conducted by John Adams

John Adams Shaker Loops and Chamber Symphony

Monday, May 17, 2010 6 PM

Kennedy Center Terrace Theater -- FREE

Members of the 2010 Kennedy Center Conservatory Project Chamber Ensemble:

Sasha Launer, Flute, San Francisco Conservatory of Music
Daniel Rios, Oboe, Cleveland Institute of Music
Liam Burke, Clarinet, The Juilliard School
Brandon Cherwin, Clarinet & Bass Clarinet, Oberlin Conservatory of Music
Thomas K. DeWitt, Bassoon, Shepherd School of Music at Rice University
Scott Switzer, Bassoon & Contrabassoon, Yale School of Music
Anne Rainwater, Synthesizer, Manhattan School of Music
Brian Jordan, Percussion, Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University
Michael Alexander, French Horn, Eastman School of Music
Christopher Van Leeuwen, Trumpet, Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University
Ross Holcombe, Trombone, New England Conservatory of Music
Ada Pasternak, Violin, Berklee College of Music
Hoi Yue Ng, Viola, University of Michigan School of Music
Sarah Rommel, Cello, Curtis Institute of Music
John Coker, Contrabass, The Peabody Institute
Teddy Abrams, Conductor

Desperately Awaiting Threni

San Francisco Symphony Contemporary Music Program Notes September 10, 2008 to May 15, 2010

Stravinsky Threni May 19-21, 2010

Image credit: (c) Boosey and Hawkes 2010. Copyright controlled.

"The Trouble With Happiness For String Quartet"

Leading European Composer Portrait Concert with José Luis Greco at the Phillips Collection, Washington, D.C., Thursday, May 13, at 6 PM

$15 for Phillips Collection Museum non-members, free for Phillips Collection members.

Program:

Mudas for mezzo-soprano and string quartet, on poems by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, Antonio Machado and Federico García Lorca

The Trouble with Happiness for string quartet

Celosías for mezzo-soprano and string quartet, based on 6 of the Spanish Popular Songs collected and harmonized by Federico García Lorca

*

Unemployment in Greece, the IMF projected, will rise sharply -- from around 10 percent this year to near 15 percent in 2011, where it is expected to remain for several years. Unemployment in Spain is currently about 20 percent.

Unemployment in Poland is currently estimated at about 13 percent. Unemployment in Ukraine is currently estimated by the CIA at about 5 percent, but excludes a large numbers of unregistered or underemployed workers. Poverty in Ukraine is estimated at 35 percent.

*

Photo credit: Copyright controlled. Via the Phillips Collection.

Exit Poll: Should We Be Worrying That Greek Riots And The Global Stock Market Correction Signal An End To Western Civilization And Classical Music?

Tomorrow And Saturday, Washington National Cathedral Flower Mart To Celebrate Ukraine, Future European Union

[Click on images for enlargements.]

Opening Ceremonies, Friday, May 7, at 10 am.

"The first Flower Mart, held in 1939, was a handful of booths with jaunty green and white striped awnings lining the Pilgrim steps. It is said that Mrs. Woodrow Wilson was in one of those booths selling fruits and vegetables. Since then, eight "First Ladies" have opened or attended Flower Mart. In 1954, the first Embassy was asked to be a "Theme Country" for the Mart adding the fun and experience that another country's culture and food can bring to the festival.

And, as always the proceeds from the two days, benefit the 59 remarkable gardens and grounds of Washington National Cathedral."

Ukraine, Future European Union

Russian Federation, Future European Union

History of Washington National Cathedral Flower Mart

Photo credits: Top photo from Kyiv, Ukraine (c) D. Sheppard via Wikipedia; and lower photo from Washington, D.C. (c) Washington National Cathedral. All rights reserved.

*



English: Donbass Arena, Ukraine
Українська: Донбас Арена
Русский: Донбасс Арена

Photo credit: (c) Elparadiso19 2009 via Wikipedia Commons. Some rights reserved.

Workers May Protest And Stock Markets May Sink, But Music Will Aways Arise -- Mihkel Poll In Free Piano Recital Next Monday At Corcoran Gallery, D.C.

Mihkel Poll will be performing works by Ravel, Shostakovich, Arvo Pärt, Lepo Sumera, and Urmas Sisask at the Corcoran Gallery, Washington, D.C. next Monday, in a free concert sponsored by the Embassy of Estonia.

Call (202) 639-1770 to 'pre-register' for the free concert.

*

Next Monday's post -- if I remember -- "The Trouble with Happiness for string quartet": Leading European Composer Portrait Concert with José Luis Greco at the Phillips Collection, next Thursday, May 13, at 6 PM [$15 for Museum non-members, free for members.]