In Thursday’s (1/6) Bay Area Jewish newspaper J Weekly , Dan Pine writes, “War, seduction, murder, betrayal: all in 15 minutes, and you can tap your toes to it. That’s ‘Uriah, the Man the King Wanted Dead,’ a muscular new work for orchestra by Avner Dorman. The piece receives its world premiere Jan. 26 with the San Francisco Symphony, conducted by David Robertson. It will be presented in three performances from Jan. 26 to 28. Alternately stormy and sublime, ‘Uriah’ is a retelling of the biblical tale of King David and Uriah, the Hittite general who served him. … Bible stories are familiar to Dorman, a native Israeli steeped in biblical lore. At 35, he is also an award-winning composer, with dozens of commissions to his name. … Adding the San Francisco Symphony to his résumé is more than a feather in his cap. It’s a dream come true. … In some ways, the new piece is more conventional than many of his others. One of Dorman’s piano concerto scores includes instructions to dim the hall lights before the soloist appears. His saxophone concerto instructs the soloist to wander off the stage blowing jazz licks.”
Posted January 7, 2011
