In Wednesday’s (9/29) Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Ilona Oltuski writes about a sneak preview of Israeli composer Avner Dorman’s latest work, Azerbaijani Dance. “Based on a piano sonata which is already part of a 2006 three-piano recording by Naxos, featuring pianist Eliran Avni, Dorman’s latest composition will have its world premiere this October, with the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra under Zubin Mehta in Tel Aviv. This event will also ignite a season celebrating the legendary Maestro’s upcoming 50th Anniversary of his conducting debut. … His second percussion concerto, ‘Frozen in Time,’ had its premiere in Hamburg/Germany, featuring Martin Grubinger and the Hamburg Philharmonic Orchestra. The event commanded standing ovations; Grubinger and the Kansas City Symphony under Michael Stern will be premiering the concerto in the U.S. in 2011. When I ask the successful young composer how to best describe his music, he offers: ‘Music director Michael Stern once described my music as being rhythmic and percussive, with a non-western flavor. In a way, this sums it up pretty well. ‘Percussive’ needs perhaps a bit of explanation. Maybe it is best described as bearing an effect of immediacy, not a slow approach from a distance, but an urgent attack, commanding attention.’ ”
Posted September 30, 2010
