Celebrating Corigliano at 75

Celebrating John Corigliano's 75th birthday and his life.

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Corigliano is a composer of sophisticated means but admirably clear-cut message.

London Times, April 13, 1992 on the British premiere of Symphony No. 1

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Romanticism ruined the 20th century as far as I’m concerned and we have to get rid of it in the 21st. What it did was it gave us is the egocentric idea of the artist-god and the audience-worshipper — the non-communication that that means — and bathed us in this until finally the audience was alienated by this and left like they leave churches. Now we want to win them back.

NewMusicBox interview, 2005

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In case you missed John Corigliano’s 75th Birthday Concert on April 30th at LPR in New York, the people at the new music online radio station, Q2 Music (part of Classical 105.9 WQXR) bring you a recording of the concert. Performances by Matt Haimovitz, cello; Stephen Gosling, piano; Blair McMillen, piano; Lara St. John, violin; Ursula Oppens, piano; and others with John Schaefer as host.

www.lepoissonrouge.com/john-coriglianos-75th-birthday-concert

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Just released - a new recording of Three Irish Folk Song Settings on the album, “The Hours Begin To Sing” with soprano Lisa Delan. Also on the disc are works by Jake Heggie, David Garner, Gordon Getty, Luna Pearl Woolf, and William Bolcom. Check out the behind-the-scenes video with remarks by the composers, including John.

More information: http://www.arkivmusic.com/classical/album.jsp?album_id=922481.

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Corigliano 7.5: The Birthday Concert Monday, April 29, 2013, 7:30pm (le) poisson rouge New York, New York On Monday, Soprano Hila Plitmann, cellist Matt Haimovitz, violinist Laura St. John, pianists Stephen Gosling, Blair McMillen, Ursula Oppens, and the Ensemble Meme conducted by Glen Cortese come together to celebrate John’s 75th birthday at (le) poisson rouge. Included on the program is Mr. Tambourine Man and Stomp, among other works. www.lepoissonrouge.com/lpr_events/corigliano-7-5-the-birthday-concert-april-29th-2013

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This coming week (Monday, April 22nd – Thursday, April 25th) Chicago honors Corigliano’s birthday with four city-wide concert celebrations! Happy Birthday John Monday, April 22, 2013, 6:30pm Panel discussion, 7:30pm Concert Gaudete Brass Quintet Ganz Hall, Roosevelt University Chicago, Illinois www.gaudetebrass.com/performances Altered States - Movie Score Concert Tuesday, April 23, 2013, 7:00pm Fulcrum Point Harris Theatre for Music and Dance Chicago, Illinois www.fulcrumpoint.org/event-schedule/current-season.html#Altered%20States Composer Perspectives with John Corigliano Wednesday, April 24, 2013, 6:45pm Pre-concert discussion, 7:30pm Concert The Chicago Chamber Musicians Ganz Hall, Roosevelt University Chicago, Illinois www.chicagochambermusic.org/tickets/2012-13ComposerPerspectives.htm Ursula Oppens & Winston Choi, Pianos Thursday, April 25, 2013, 7:30pm Curtiss Hall Chicago, Illinois www.pianofortefoundation.org/concert/oppens-choi

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After nearly three decades, on December 19, 1991, the Metropolitan Opera premiered a new commission, The Ghosts of Versailles with music by Corigliano and the libretto by William H. Hoffman. The idea for the opera generated in 1979 - over dinner with John, soprano Renata Scotto, and music director James Levine - from a concert piece based on Seneca’s “Medea” to a grand opera buffa in which the ghosts of the court of Louis XVI and the infamous characters from the “Marriage of Figaro” and “The Barber of Seville” would continue their dramas in the afterlife.

At first, Corigliano was hesitant due to the poor reception of Barber’s “Anthony and Cleopatra” 1966 Met production and dissuasion from Aaron Copland, but he accepted the commission anyway and the opera was received to great critical acclaim. It has since gone on to receive numerous performances under various guises and arrangements, from fully staged productions to concert renditions.

Pictured above is the set design from the original Metropolitan Opera production in 1991. Photo by Winnie Klotz.

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In 1987, Corigliano became the Chicago Symphony Orchestra’s first Composer-in-Residence having served for two years. Here he is pictured with then Music Director Designate Daniel Barenboim studying the score to Symphony No. 1 (1988). It was commissioned by the orchestra to honor its 100th Anniversary and written in response to the AIDS epidemic.

 Photo: Terry's Photography

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Christopher Rouse and John Corigliano backstage at Avery Fisher Hall, December 30, 1992.

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Another picture from Corigliano's personal photo collection, this time pictured with the "Dean of American Composers," Aaron Copland.

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His third symphony, Circus Maximus (2004) is a sonorous and visceral work that includes three ensembles: one full symphonic band on stage, a smaller wind ensemble surrounding the audience, and a marching band. It takes inspiration from the Roman arena of the same name where 300,000 spectators gathered for chariot races, hunts, battles, and other amusement. The overall shape of the symphony was made to symbolize the “massive and glamorous barbarity” of the Roman Circus Maximus and of entertainment in our own time. It was commissioned by the The University of Texas at Austin School of Music and premiered on February 16, 2005 by the U.T. Wind Ensemble at Austin with Jerry F. Junkin, conducting at Bass Concert Hall in Austin, Texas. It has gone on to receive numerous other performances. Below is a performance, with a talk by Corigliano, by the Northwestern University Symphonic Wind Ensemble with Mallory Thompson conducting at Pick-Staiger Concert Hall in Evanston, Illinois on May 14, 2010. "Circus Maximus" talk by Corigliano, Part 1 of 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_GDdV3Dwns "Circus Maximus" performance, Part 2 of 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rxkZDGjTml4 "Circus Maximus" performance, Part 3 of 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkpEQv_sMQg "Circus Maximus" performance, Part 4 of 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNhS1osvpcI

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Since 1973, Corigliano has been teaching at Lehman College which is part of The City University of New York and later became a Distinguished Professor of Music in 1984. Here he is pictured with his students at Lehman.

“I love teaching at Lehman College as well as at Juilliard, and I don’t think of them as opposites in talent. I think of them as different worlds in the way they operate. The students at Lehman will either go into education or they’ll go into commercial work. We have a lot of fun and we get along so well. I have a kind of world experience that they want to hear about, and they do too.”

- From an interview with Frank J. Oteri, "The Gospel According to John Corigliano," NewMusicBox

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With flutist James Galway and Tootsie at John’s country home in upstate New York, in the fall of 1983.

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Here is a masterclass that Corigliano gave at Loyola University discussing the compositional planning and thought process of his Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra, along with sound excerpts. The concerto was written in 1977 and premiered on December 6th of that year, in New York, with soloist Stanley Drucker and the New York Philharmonic under the direction of Leonard Bernstein. The piece was another one of Corigliano's early successes that helped change his art and career.

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Joan Tower and John in 1998.

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In 1995, Corigliano wrote his first string quartet for the Cleveland Quartet's farewell concert tour. The following year it won a Grammy for Best Contemporary Classical Composition and the Cleveland Quartet's recording of it won a Grammy for Best Chamber Music Performance. Also in 1996, the Corigliano Quartet was founded making John one of the only living composers to have such an honor. Listen to a clip of String Quartet No. 1.