Chris Thile's Mandolin Concerto

[YouOverThere]

I thought that I'd mention the performance of a new mandolin concerto by a mandolin player named Chris Thiles, since it is apparently going to be performed in 6 other cities (including Los Angeles - by the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra - and Portland) during the 2009-10 season. The Colorado Symphony premiered it, with the composer as the soloist, during an all-American program (which featured a very intense performance of Copland's Billy the Kid - do any dance companies ever perform it any more?). This was yet another case in which the critics and I totally disagreed. The concerto got great reviews - The Denver Post critic even called it "astounding" and dared to mention the composer in the same breath as Mozart. I found it painfully tedious, just a series of ultra-fast mandolin riffs while the orchestra impersonated a mellotron. I was briefly surprised when I looked at my program after the concert and saw that there were 3 movements; then I remembered that there had been 2 pauses. I hadn't noticed any differences. But the critics assured the readers that there were, one even stating that "What was impressive was that this movement showed the depth of understanding of what a symphony orchestra is capable of". It's hard to believe that we were listening to the same piece of music!

[Helene]

Oh, dear. It's always an experience when you read a review and wonder if you were in an alternate universe.

[dirac]

It is strange when that happens, isn't it?

Thank you for telling us about the event, YouOverThere. I'm afraid it never occurred to me that there was such a thing as a mandolin concerto. (I tend to think of the mandolin as the instrument that Lorelei Lee used to study back in Little Rock. No offense intended toward anyone who plays it. ) Are there other and better ones out there?

[Anthony_NYC]

While I never have much hope for these crossover things--they're pretty much always terrible--I might go just to hear him play. Chris Thile first came to prominence at about age 12 as a mandolin prodigy (who knew there was such a thing), and is really supposed to be something to hear. I thought he was primarily a bluegrass player who was trying to branch out into jazz, but now I guess he's giving classical a whirl. Heck, he's very young, so I wish him all the luck.

dirac, Vivaldi wrote mandolin concertos. Knowing him, there are probably about 23,142 of them, all in the same key. Will Thile's concerto sound any different, I wonder?

[dirac]

Thanks for the background information, Anthony.

[YouOverThere]

While I never have much hope for these crossover things--they're pretty much always terrible--I might go just to hear him play. Chris Thile first came to prominence at about age 12 as a mandolin prodigy (who knew there was such a thing), and is really supposed to be something to hear. I thought he was primarily a bluegrass player who was trying to branch out into jazz, but now I guess he's giving classical a whirl. Heck, he's very young, so I wish him all the luck.

He certainly can play incredibly fast. The concerto really isn't a typical "crossover" work. There isn't anything overtly bluegrass in it. It was more a case of a musician who wanted to try his hand at a different genre. I imagine the concerto will eventually show up on NPR (Colorado Public Radio frequently re-plays parts of Colorado Symphony Orchestra concerts, so it would have been recorded).

dirac, Vivaldi wrote mandolin concertos. Knowing him, there are probably about 23,142 of them, all in the same key. Will Thile's concerto sound any different, I wonder?

This piece would not be classified as "neo-baroque", so I'm guessing that there would be lots of difference.

[bart]

The Denver Post critic even called it "astounding" and dared to mention the composer in the same breath as Mozart.

The same breath as Bartok, too, apparently. (See the review: second link below).

This was a really intriguing post, YouOverThere. I found the promo article in the Denver Post:

http://www.denverpost.com/entertainment/ci_13351897

... Thile's "Mandolin Concerto (Ad astra per alia porci)," is no vanity project. He wants it to be taken seriously as a viable, substantial piece of classical music.

And music director Jeffrey Kahane, who will lead Thile and the Colorado Symphony in the debut, believes the 28-year-old Brooklyn composer has pulled it off.

"This is not a bluegrass musician who is dabbling in classical music," said Kahane, who insists it is not hyperbole to describe him as Mozartean in terms of his musical abilities.

"This is a great musician — one of the really towering musical minds."

Thile (pronounced THEE-lee) won the National Mandolin Championship at age 12. He is best known for his 15 years with Nickel Creek. The bluegrass band sold 2 million records and in 2002 won a Grammy Award.

And the actual performance review. In note that Nonesuch is already quoting it online. (The mills of the gods may grind slowly, but publicity departments grind stuff out very rapidly indeed.)

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_13364136?source=bb

I learn so much on this Board! Who would have imagined that we in the U.S. actually have a "National Mandolin Championship." (My father was a rather good amateur mandolinist, which may explain my delight at this discovery.)

[dirac]

I

imagine the concerto will eventually show up on NPR (Colorado Public Radio frequently re-plays parts of Colorado Symphony Orchestra concerts, so it would have been recorded).

You are lucky, YouOverThere. The NPR station in my neck of the woods plays very little classical music any more.

[YouOverThere]

I

imagine the concerto will eventually show up on NPR (Colorado Public Radio frequently re-plays parts of Colorado Symphony Orchestra concerts, so it would have been recorded).

You are lucky, YouOverThere. The NPR station in my neck of the woods plays very little classical music any more.

I can't vouch for what they do the other 166.5 hours of the week.

[YouOverThere]

And the actual performance review. In note that Nonesuch is already quoting it online. (The mills of the gods may grind slowly, but publicity departments grind stuff out very rapidly indeed.)

http://www.denverpost.com/ci_13364136?source=bb

I learn so much on this Board! Who would have imagined that we in the U.S. actually have a "National Mandolin Championship." (My father was a rather good amateur mandolinist, which may explain my delight at this discovery.)

Hopefully, you will get a chance to hear the concerto sometime. I'd be interested in your take. I've only gotten one other opinion, from the girlfriend of the guy who organizes our hiking club trips to the symphony (hey, it's a long walk from the parking garage to the concert hall, and then there's all those steps to climb...), and I asked her because I was pretty sure what she would say.

[dirac]

Yes please, if anyone at BT listens to the concerto, please report back in this space.