Dark Fairy's Kiss

Image for score of Dark Fairy's Kiss,
notice the soul she has stolen hanging at her side

I was recently playing side-by-side in the Thousand Oaks Philharmonic orchestra with

Allison Allport 

Allison Allport, a really sweet person, beautiful harpist, and fine teacher at the Idyllwild Summer Arts Summer Program. We were performing some of Respighi's Ancient Airs and Dances, I on synthesized harpsichord (using a Roland XV88 with expansion.) By the way the clavicord part on these "ditties" is no walk in the park! It goes by at breakneck speed with filled in tenths jumping around and ripping scales in thirds, for starters.

During a break in the action, she told me about a group she teaches in the summer for FOUR HARPS. I told her of my interest in writing for harp, some of the stories of learning from Floraleda, and I made the bold offer to write a piece for her group. She didn't exactly roll her eyes, but something told me she'd heard that one before.

Well as I'm known for writing quickly, I had a five minute work ready to go the following week and surprised her with the mock up and score. To my delight, she loved it and said they would read through it to see how hard it was. I had tried to be very clever and put each harp in a different key, and managed to avoid all pedal changes that way, hoping this would make it easier. Little did I realize this would also make it perfect for lever harps too (thanks again Allison for getting me a clue!)

Harpists are very much used to dealing with composers and arrangers who don't understand the harp. They change things, move, remove notes pretty much at will, to make things sound right. Allison is a master at this! Within a few run throughs, she had redistributed a few difficult moments, and viola the piece was working great!


Next thing I know I'm invited out to "the ranch", the Idyllwild Inn's "theme room the "Old West" room complete with HD TV showing the 2012 Olympic swim meets! I'm going to come to some rehearsals and attend the WORLD Premiere! Yee haw!

I pushed them really hard to play faster, and threw last minute changes at all of them. They handled it like PROs!!

Watch the performance below, as long as ustream keeps it on their servers!!

Video streaming by Ustream

Roberto Prosseda

During a few days away from Lake Como this summer, my long time friend Roberto Prosseda and I performed a concert in Artena. Artena is near the Valmontone train station, a town in the foothills southeast of Roma. 





The event was held at the palazzo of Niké Arrighi Borghese. I'll write about that kind, generous and fun soul later.


Roberto has just released two recordings, one on Decca...  Robert Schumann.

This beautiful recording shows
Rob as one of the new breed 
of artists. 


He is an interpreter of the 
great composers...channeling 
the music through his own 
ethos and producing a 
magnificent collaboration.


I've often marveled at Rob's 

sensitivity to harmonies, 
layering, melodic skills, sense 
of rubato. As a pianist and 
composer, I really appreciate 
having him perform my music, 

because he thinks of truly excellent things to bring to the music that I 
wouldn't or couldn't have done as a performer.

As we watch a play in the theater, and listen to the spoken lines brought to life
from the page, watch the actor's body and face, do we think... she can act, or 
she is so believable? Yes. Do we think... "she is not saying it the way the 
playwright  would have said it, or would have wanted it?" I don't think we do. 
We just let the collaboration of the actor and the author wash over us and we 
react... thinking and feeling in response... open to the experience. I hope 
people will listen to interpreters of my music that way.

Check the iTunes samples from his recording of "Lyricism", including my first 
book of Songs Without Words:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/album/williams-lyricism-songs-without/id256311952


The way he embraces the melody with the accompaniment in SWoW no. 1, and the way he enfolds it from above and below in SWoW no. 2... Ah! Sublime.


So I was thrilled to get to perform with him! He played Schumann first, and the audience was breathless.


Then he gave us all a great surprise... by having his daughter Miriam (three years old) perform for us. Miriam sat in Papa's lap at the piano, and guided by his hands, performed Traumerei!


You can see Miriam's first public piano performance here, at 9 months!





I will write more about Roberto, about his Mendelssohn association, his national charity, and other projects, coming soon.

Villa D'Este

While composing at Lake Como this summer, my host Floraleda Sacchi was performing a concert, which gave me a little time to explore Villa D'Este. What you say, Villa D'Este is not at Lake Como, it is in Tivoli:

Fountains of Villa D'Este, Tivoli

Or if you are from Floral Park New York, you might say it is on Jericho Turnpike and serves an awesome steak:

Here's the beef

And although you would both be right, there is indeed a splendid, no, magnificent Villa at Lago di Como, the glorious Villa D'Este:

Villa D'Este, Lago di Como

So to set the record straight, Franz Liszt did not actually compose Années de Pèlerinage, Troisième Année: Les Jeux d'Eaux à la Villa d'Este at Lake Como in 1887, rather in Tivoli. Here it is played beautifully by Claudio Arrau:



However, F.L. did indeed spend months at Lake Como, filled with feelings of romance and inspiration, and awaiting the birth of Cosima.  According to Alan Walker's "Franz Liszt: The virtuoso years, 1811-1847" FL and his lady Marie often went out on the lake in the evenings, fishing by torchlight!

So it was not hard to have a drink in front of the Villa, imagining the great composer, then to wander those magnificent colinas behind, up to the top of the property. There was the vista, the glistening water, the boats gliding across the surface, the tall trees. They all sang melodies to me.

Martin Munch (continuing stories from Composer in Residence Lake Como Festival 2010

I want to share with you a bit about a wonderful, crazy, Type A+ polyglot composer/pianist who was featured in the Lake Como Festival as well. His name, is Martin Munch. Here he is in typical unassuming fashion:

Martin Munch

Can you see the wry grin lurking below his moustache? The raised eyebrow, just hinting that maybe there is something you don't know, and he does? The 5th finger curled towards his mouth, as if he is just about to become "Dr. Evil" from the famous shagadelic movie series Austin Powers?

Alter ego?

Yes Martin is all of this and more. But however much fun I poke with him, he is unquestionably a rockstar talent of a composer, whose music is ecstatic, joyful, and virtuosic. I urge you to seek out some of his music and experience it. Well, you can start with a Google search for Martin Munch. However, you won't find much there! The problem we Americans face is, we are so two - dimensional when it comes to the alphabet. With think there is only one 'u'. In reality there are a plethora of 'u's out there, and because the web wasn't originally designed to handle that, poor artists like Martin must spell their names phonetically.  For some fun bedtime reading about this, check out info on Internationalized Domain Names . I point you to Wiki instead of to Vint Cerf's IETF and other work on this, because Vint hasn't returned my calls in a while. Anyway, I will save you some trouble, start looking here for Martin Munch What's that you say, you don't read Deutsch? A problem for you perhaps, but not for Martin. He speaks Italian, English, Arabic, Greek, Spanish, Russian, French, and oh yes, Deutsch. (Martin did I leave any out?!) Basically, wherever there is the possibility to find great art or beautiful women, Martin can converse.

Villa Vigoni

I attended his thrilling recital (here is the program) at the heart-stoppingly beautful Villa Vigoni, a center for Italian-German excellence of cooperation in Europe. This picture isn't much, and the real view is facing the other way, from the terrace, where we all drank sparkling water waiting for Martin to begin, and for the sun to set over the hillsides. Sigh.

Martin performed music inspired by Scriabin from his youth, that just blew me away. He intermingled his own works with Chopin as channeled through his sensibility. Listen here to what he does:



Even I, who believe heart and soul that the performer should do what they feel, was amazed by what Martin feels! And it felt somehow quite true. I mean, what was Chopin thinking when he put "strict tempo" on that first waltz anyway? How can you play in strict time with a broken heart after the first three notes?

I hope this has intrigued you enough to go and find Martin's original music and join in his ecstasy for a few minutes.

Elda Sacchi (continuing stories from Composer in Residence Lake Como Festival 2010

Today, I have to talk about Elda Sacchi. In addition to being very kind and sensitive about my lack of Italian, and being full of energy to take me on walks around Como or the lakes, she is "la dea della cucina." Providing meals at lunch (colazione) and dinner (cena) that were so simple yet so delicious, I found it impossible to stop after one modest serving. Why she prepared enough for two extra people each time, I can never know, but in hindsight, cannot complain about either.

Elda showing off a zucchini grown in her garden,
where the herbs, lettuce and many
vegetables come from each day

I urged Elda to create a cookbook of her recipes, using the help of Sabrina D'Alessandro, a graphic artist and  friend who is currently writing a most fascinating book about words that have fallen out of usage.

Sabrina's spot for GEO. Her portfolio is at
http://sabrinadalessandro.carbonmade.com/

Also by "la forze del destino" the Sacchis do not use milk products, so my being lactose intolerant was uneventfully accomodated! Wonderful savory sugo (something like this one http://www.italianmade.com/recipes/recipe252.cfm ), over farro colla soia instead of latte. Strangely, there is a movie called Soy faro which has nothing to do with a creamy grain pudding, but instead is about, well a lighthouse, sort of.

 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0324031/)

Without Elda, I would have been often late, and always hungry wherever I went. But the most important thing about her is that you should never tell her what you like most, because you will surely get it! I am hopelessly addicted to Ameretti di Saronno, and a big fan of the sweet liqueur Amaretto di Saronno too.

Elda created a homemade gelato  made from Amaretto with added crushed amaretti. OMG! Unfortunately she wouldn't come home with me, so I have to wait until I visit again to kiss her feet and hope she will make more.

Giorgio Sacchi (stories from Composer in Residence Lake Como Festival 2010)

The Sacchi Family were my hosts as compositore-ospite di Lago Como Festival. They are a wonderful, generous, fascinating, talented set of individuals. I want to relate to you first about the great father of the family for a few minutes. Giorgio shared with me some of his deep interests and knowledge of art history, including American painters unknown to me. His deep knowledge springs from 30+ years teaching art history. His "taxi service" driving me from concert to concert came replete with detailed narratives of the ancient churches, villas, towns, roads and geography as we passed through Como, Cadenabbia, Menaggio, Lecco, and other hamlets on the way to my concerts in Varenna, Gravedonna and Cadenabbia.

Giorgio at Villa Carlotta July 2010

His interest in plants has led to a lifelong pursuit of a botanist's knowledge, especially focused on succulents, cactus and palms. His knowledge, all self-taught, is vast. I enjoyed an afternoon with him at Villa Carlotta. Giorgio could easily be the curator for the museum as well as the enormous gardens there. He has written for journals and hobbyist magazines and produced gorgeous art books about palms and Batik.

Bombshell Jane Mansfield, typical variety of the Bobshellus species favored by Giorgio

He also has an abiding love for some of the early American female bombshell stars of the WW II era,  neo-classic architecture, and of course harp music (his daughter Floraleda, is one of the world's greatest harpists.)

I will be composing a suite of pieces about cactuses using Giorgio's own characterization of the plants, and his hand drawn artwork of them, as inspiration.