Tuesday (11/10) on the Atlanta arts blog artscriticATL.com, Pierre Ruhe writes, “For the third time, the world premiere of Wynton Marsalis’ ‘Blues Symphony’ has been postponed. Booked by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra for summer 2008, then fall 2008, then for Nov. 19, 2009, the completed work’s debut has now been pushed to January. Marsalis apparently can’t finish writing it, and keeps missing his deadline. Two of the planned seven movements are completed and playable. Two more are in rough draft form. The rest is still in Marsalis’ head. For the Nov. 19-22 concerts, the ASO will perform the two polished movements, a Ragtime (movement 3) and a Danzón (movement 6). Musically related, they are both in D-flat. And if the two draft movements can be orchestrated and copied in time for the ASO to rehearse, then they will be performed, too. … The new date for the completed work is now penciled in as January 14, 2010, part of the ASO’s ‘A King Celebration’ concert at Morehouse College, the annual commemoration of Martin Luther King Jr.”
Posted November 12, 2009
