Planet Carlos

On the Road Again

By the time Music Director Carlos Calmar is back on his home podium at the Schnitz to lead the Jan. 17-19 Classical concerts with double-bass wizard Edgar Meyer, he’ll already have had a hectic start to the new year.

First up on his calendar: three performances of a Viennese New Year concert (and who better to conduct them? we’d ask) with the highly regarded City of Birmingham Symphony in England Jan. 2 and 3.

Then he touches down in Orange County, CA, for three performances Jan. 8-10 with the Pacific Symphony. On the program: Mozart, Janacek, Liszt and Enesco with the way-too-brilliant-for-his-age pianist Freddy Kempf (who’ll reconnect with Kalmar again in March for three Oregon Symphony performances right here).

Those who remember our report in last month’s program about Kalmar’s recent performances with the Malaysian Philharmonic in their concert hall at the base of the Petronas Twin Towers in Kuala Lumpur may also be interested to discover that the Pacific Symphony performs in the brand-spanking-new Renée and Henry Segerstrom Concert Hall (pictured here). Like the Petronas Towers, the Orange County venue is the work of “starchitect” Cesar Pelli.

We’re not sure how many other Pelli-designed concert halls are left in the world, but we note for the record that Kalmar is burning through them at quite a clip.

From the CD Front

And the kudos just keep pouring in for Kalmar’s two most recent CDs with his Grant Park Orchestra on the Chicago-based indie Cedille label:

His newest, Symphony in Waves (featuring works of contemporary American composer Aaron Jay Kernis), is currently ranked No. 6 on Amazon.com’s list of the 25 best classical instrumental recordings of 2008.

And the CD before that, Royal Mezzo (an album of vocal works performed with Jennifer Larmore, pictured here) earned a glowing review from Opera Canada magazine, whose critic writes:
“Larmore is in great form throughout. … Sharing the success is the Grant Park Orchestra and its principal conductor, Carlos Kalmar. I wasn’t familiar with either the ensemble or its conductor before receiving this disc, but I’d like to hear more of them now. Just listen to the gorgeous sound and lovely interplay between Larmore and the orchestra in the Ravel song cycle to hear how much this fascinating program owes to the sympathetic relationship between vocalist and instrumental ensemble. … Highly recommended on all counts.”