he Serving Baltimore/Washington/Annapolis . J January/February 2003 Circulation: 27,000 Johns Hopkins News Russian pianist The- Baltimore Alexander Shtarkman solp with the Shostakovich's in Hail Peabody Lady Macbeth of Dedication Mtsensk >age 3 Orchestra guest conducted by Leon Fleisher -jf V V**5. Yuri Temirkanov programs Russian composer with the Baltimon Symphon S B U R G A city-wide celebration Lori Hultgrei* with Peabody Symphony Orchestra Page 7 Peabodv Chamber Opera presents Berlin/Munich double bill Page 8 Young Dance classes at Preparatory Page 16 2 Peabody News January/February 2003 [ERNO N CULTURAL DISTRICT * MOUNT VERNON CULTURAL DISTRICT • MOUNT VERNON CULTURAL DISTRICT * MOUNi #19 FIND YOUR KNIGHT IN SHINING ARMOR jf *" For 99 other fun things to do, visit www.mvcd.org i MOUNT VERNON CULTURAL DISTRICT NEIGHBORHOOD Baltimore School for the Arts * Basilica of the Assumption * Center Stage * Contemporary Museum * Garrett Jacobs Mansion 100 * Enoch Pratt Free Library * Eubie Blake National Jazz Institute and Cultural Center * The George Peabody Library * Maryland •THINGS TO DO! I Historical Society * The Peabody Institute * The Walters Art Museum January/February 2003 Peabody News 3 1 John. Js * Hopkins : Peabody News lifts I The Award Winning wamm Newspaper of the Baltimore/ Washington Cultural Corridor Published by the Peabody Richard Goode awarded Conservatory of Music, George Peabody Medal Baltimore. First he played a magical recital. Then at the end of his October 29 program, Richard Goode was presented with the Circulation: 27,000 George Peabody Medal for Outstanding Contributions to Music in America. The citation affirmed that this artist Editor: > has "exemplified the highest level of per­ Anne Garside formance and teaching and thus inspired and guided a new generation of gifted musicians." Some members of that new Left to right: Eric Zuber, Inna Faliks, Douglas Goodwin, Hilda Goodwin, Vitaly Briskin and Bob Sirota Assistant Editor and Designer: generation were able to experience the Kirsten Lavin inspiration first hand when Richard Goode gave a master class at Peabody the following morning. This New York native can claim a spe­ Publishers cial connection to Peabody. In his Representative: remarks following the presentation, he Network Publications, Inc. told the audience how pleased he was to Crest Ridge Corporate Center be performing in the Miriam Friedberg 10155 York Road, Suite 205 Concert Hall. It was Miriam Friedberg, Hunt Valley, MD 21030 and her husband Sidney, who had spon­ Tel. 410/628-0390 sored Goode as a young teenager in the Fax 41(^628-0398 New Town Concert Series inaugurated by the Friedbergs in Hagerstown. It was Portfolio Manager: " one of his first professional engagements. Since then, Goode has occupied a Carrie Hartin special niche in American musical life. 410/628-5758 His recording of the complete Beethoven cycle in 1995, the first ever by an Ameri- Printed by: Goodwin Hall. Homestead Publishing Co. can pianist, won a Grammy nomination. enabled the renovation of the hall which, As Co-Artistic Director with Mitsuko as Peabody Director Robert Sirota noted Uchida of the Marlboro Music School and in his remarks, "once borrowed its name Peabody News is published bi­ Festival in Vermont, he is also a revered from the building in which it is tucked monthly for September/October; teacher. away, waiting to be re-discovered" and November/December; January/Feb­ has now been transformed, "a small The Dedication of Goodwin jewel restored to its original luster." The ruary; March/April; and May/June. ,h Each issue mails out at least 10 days Recital Hall smaller of Peabody's two l6 -century Flemish tapestries has been hung on one before the first month of the issue On Sunday, November 17, a dedica­ wall, to give an accent of glowing color date. tion event took place at Peabody that had more the feel of a family affair as and Renaissance opulence. more than a hundred family members Three Peabody students with whom Edited for Peabody/Hopkins faculty, the Goodwins have had a special rela­ executive staff, alumni, donors and and friends gathered to honor Hilda and Douglas Goodwin on the occasion of the tionship over the years - pianists Inna friends and Baltimore/Washington dedication of the Hilda and Douglas Faliks and Eric Zuber, who study at the concertgoers. Goodwin Recital Hall. Conservatory; and violinist Vitaly Briskin, Richard Goode receives the Medal from who studies at the Preparatory - per­ Peabody director Robert Sirota. A generous gift from the Goodwins Articles, news items and display ads formed a program of works by Rach- are accepted at the Editor's discre­ maninov, Ysaye, Chopin and Shchedrin. tion. For editorial information con­ After the program, guests joined the Goodwins for a reception in Bank of tact: America Lounge. Anne Garside Director of Public Information The Peabody Conservatory of Music One East Mount Vernon Place Baltimore, Maryland 21202 TeL 410/659-8100, ext 1190 Fax 410/783-8576 E-mail: [email protected] FRONT COVER: TOP: Goncharova's "Peasant Woman" from Russian Avant-Garde exhibit at the Wal­ ters. BOTTOM: Leon Bakst's costume design for The Prince. Photo courtesy of Evergreen Former concert pianist Edith Hall Friedheim, wife of Peabody donor Eric Friedheim who At a post-concert reception, Goode had a House from their upcoming exhibit on endowed the Arthur Friedheim Music Library at Peabody, traveled down from New York for chance to chat with Laura Friedberg Bur­ Bakst's winter in Baltimore. the Goode recital. rows Jackson. Peabody News January/February 2003 A Roaring Ovation for composer Nicholas Maw at world premiere of Sophie's Choice at Royal Opera House Covent Garden, London, on December 7, 2002 A deluge of advance publicity from major media on both sides of the Atlantic made the world premiere of Nicholas Maw's opera Sophie's Choice one of the most eagerly anticipated musi­ cal events of the decade. Sir Simon Rattle, Music Director of the Berlin Philharmonic, who con­ ducted the premiere, was quoted as saying this was "the most important opera written in the last fifty years..." Over 230 affiliates of the Johns Hopkins Uni­ versity showed up to support one of our own. Nicholas Maw is a member of the composition faculty at Peabody. The Hopkins contingent joined the cast for a euphoric post-premiere party that lasted until close to 2 a.m. the next morning. The demand for press seats for the premiere was unprecedented. The Royal Opera House man­ aged to accommodate about fifty press on open­ Top: Nicholas and Maija ing night and another forty at the second night's Maw performance which was due to be broadcast live over BBC radio. The BBC will do a television Right: William Styron broadcast of the opera at a later date. Reviews that appeared immediately after the premiere ranged from absolutely glowing to viciously vitu­ perative (the latter almost inevitable given the controversial subject matter.) A few brief sample Angelika Kirchschlager as Sophie. quotes are given here. Reviews will continue to come in for weeks and months to come and "Mr Maw's opera is an utterly admirable, affectingly ".... The opera has magnificent music, fervently deliv­ conceived and beautifully realized work. The Covent Peabody News will follow the evolving coverage. ered by the Royal Opera House Orchestra under Simon Garden audience awarded him and the cast with a pro­ Rattle's white-hot direction.. ..Maw conjures beguilingly longed standing ovation... .From the opening moments sensuous or exuberantly high-spirited ensembles.. ..But it of the score, as the strings played subdued, luminous, is the searing orchestral interludes towards the end that tenderly tonal sustained chords, like some angelic bitter­ really hit the spot... .Maw's opera has a bigness of sonori­ sweet chorale, Mr. Maw's reverence for this material was ty, passion, ambition and spirituality that sends it soaring palpable....In many scenes Mr. Maw's music is haunting- above the work of his contemporaries." ly beautiful and dramatically apt. When a chorus of hud­ dled prisoners, including Sophie and her two children, Richard Morrison, The Times (of London), are crammed into the boxcars of a train en route to Monday, December 9, 2002 Auschwitz, they sing, soft, moaning utterances, as the strings play shimmering, parallel modal harmonies...." "... .the book.. .has now been transformed.. .into an uncompromising, involving, disturbing, often achingly Anthony Tommasini, The New York Times, beautiful opera Ovations were loud and long when Monday, December 9, 2002 the final curtain fell.. .Maw's setting of that Dickinson poem (Ample make this bed/Make this bed with ".. .an absorbing work by one of the world's most awe).. .are among the opera's most inspired and indeli­ esteemed classical composers... .Last night's opening ble moments. Another is the scene on the train bound demonstrated that this is a grand opera in every sense- for Auschwitz—the chorus sings a haunting, wordless in the ambition of its theme in the lushness of its post- refrain, punctuated by the ominous taps of a snare romantic idiom and in its sheer dimensions: four acts drum.... Throughout, Maw's orchestration is a marvel of and 17 scenes totaling four hours. Sophie's Choice is transparency and color.. .Maw avoids the obvious in his masterful and simply one of the most compelling operas music, just as his own libretto avoids caricature, stereo­ I have ever seen... .Maw's sense of dramatic pacing is felt type and blatancy; it is clear that he appreciates the com­ at every moment and he outstrips every other composer plex layers of good, evil, innocence and guilt in each of working today. His dialogue is easily understood, yet Styron's characters. This helps to give the opera its remains profound.