The New York City-based chamber orchestra Parlando aims to bridge the gap between audience and performer.

That may sound a bit self-evident — doesn’t every artist and ensemble want to connect with listeners?

But for Parlando and its founder and music director Ian Niederhoffer, “bridging the gap” means something special: truly direct communication, and engagement in creative and fun ways.

Niederhoffer engages with the audience before each concert, explicating the theme of the program. The selections vary widely, but each concert’s theme connects standard works with new or underrepresented music. The upcoming “Odysseys” concert, October 4 at Merkin Hall, brings together two contemporary pieces, Jimmy Lopez’s Guardian of the Horizon and Joey Roukens’s Visions at Sea, with Tchaikovsky’s Souvenir de Florence.

Just as he does with audiences, Niederhoffer was happy to speak with us about Parlando and how he pursues the orchestra’s goal “to make all classical music feel familiar to the audience, no matter the composer, era, or style.”

WESTERLY — Ian Niederhoffer, a young conductor widely praised for "his elegance and dynamism on the podium," was on the telephone Tuesday morning explaining how a 1929 silent film, a famous Russian composer and a contemporary chamber orchestra will all merge Saturday for an unusual program called "Silent Film with Live Orchestra: Parlando" at the United Theatre.

The event, which will include a screening of the 1929 Soviet film, "The New Babylon," will be accompanied by a live performance of Dmitri Shostakovich’s "The New Babylon," by Parlando, a New York City-based chamber orchestra founded by Niederhoffer.

"The real star is Shostakovich and his brilliant, vibrant, vivacious score," said Niederhoffer, a 2019 Yale graduate who has been spending summers in Watch Hill and Weekapaug with his family since he was a 5-year-old.

Niederhoffer said he got the idea for Saturday's program soon after a conversation he had last summer with Carly Callahan, the United's executive director.

The conductor and music director of Parlando, known for bringing intimate and accessible orchestral experiences to wider audiences, Niederhoffer said his philosophy — and that of Parlando — is that "every concert tells a story."

"When Carly told me the history of the United," Niederhoffer said, and how it began as a Vaudeville place then became a movie house, ideas for the program — which ties together the United's past with its future plans as a "a multimedia communal space" with live music and film — began to take shape.

"I thought what better way [to tell a story] than with the movie-music combination of 'The New Babylon,' and Shostakovich’s vibrant score," Niederhoffer said.

Niederhoffer said he plans to talk briefly before the program begins, just to explain what the film and the Paris Commune are all about.

"It's really a love story," he said, "a love story about a revolutionary shopkeeper and a soldier," two lovers caught in the throes of political upheaval in 19th century Paris.

The shopkeeper ends up being the brave character while the soldier "chickens out," he said with a chuckle.

"It actually holds up pretty well for a Russian propaganda film," he added. "It's very contemporary as far as gender roles."

"The story is a little opaque, and a little self-serious," said the conductor with a laugh. "The score brings it all to life. It brings a sparkle."

Niederhoffer, who won three prizes at the 2021 Khachaturian International Conducting Competition, will be returning to conduct the Armenian State Symphony Orchestra during the upcoming season as winner of the Audience Prize. Recent engagements include appearances with Onsite Opera, Music Talks, Gramercy Opera, and cover conducting for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra.

In 2019, Niederhoffer made his European operatic debut conducting two world premiere chamber operas at the Wiener Kammeroper with the Vienna Summer Music Festival. In 2017, he made his U.S. professional debut with the Vermont Mozart Festival and was invited back as conductor of their 2018 season, leading the Festival Orchestra in several concerts across northern Vermont. Later that year, he appeared as guest conductor with the Salomé Chamber Orchestra at Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall.

A participant in both the 2019 and 2022 Järvi Conducting Academies, where he conducted in master classes with Paavo Järvi, Neeme Järvi, Kristjan Järvi, and Leonid Grin, Niederhoffer began his conducting studies at the age of 15. In 2021, he was named Artist of Promise at the Conducting Academy of the Verbier Festival where he assistant conducted for Lahav Shani, Daniel Harding, Antonio Pappano, and Gábor Takacs-Nágy.

Dedicated to the audience experience, Niederhoffer "seeks to make classical music engaging while preserving the integrity of the music."

He has become known as a charismatic, engaging pre-concert speaker, with an anecdotal style that puts the audience at ease. Inventor of the “chili pepper system,” where each note represents a level of listening difficulty, like chili peppers at a Thai restaurant, Niederhoffer is committed to making the concert experience engaging and comprehensible for all audiences.

While studying at Yale College, he founded and served as music director for the Yale Undergraduate Chamber Orchestra, commissioning six world premieres over his three-year tenure. He also served as assistant conductor of the Yale Symphony Orchestra and music director of the Opera Theater of Yale College.

Niederhoffer graduated with distinction with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Music and was awarded both the Wrexham Prize and the Joseph Lentilhon Selden Memorial Award by Yale University for his “verve, idealism, and constructive interest in music.”

The New Babylon

August 26, 2023 7:30 PM

United Theatre -- Westerly, RI

Dmitri Shostakovich – The New Babylon

On August 26th, 2023 at 7:30 PM the United Theatre in Westerly, RI, Parlando will present a live-music screening of The New Babylon. Parlando’s presentation of The New Babylon ties together the history of the United Theatre, from its birthplace as a movie palace to its future as a multimedia communal space. Harkening back to early cinema’s tradition of live music accompanying silent films, this event would also highlight the importance and history of film being a communal experience.

The event consists of a screening with live orchestral music of the 1929 Soviet film, The New Babylon. The score, written by Dmitri Shostakovich is witty, satirical, and compelling, highlighting the pioneering cinematography and acting techniques of this early work depicting the days of the Paris Commune. Shostakovich’s first job was serving as a live piano accompanist to silent movies, and he was a great admirer of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton -- The New Babylon is his only full-length accompaniment to a silent film.

Before the screening, conductor Ian Niederhoffer will speak briefly about the story and history behind the movie and the Paris Commune and give some context as to what makes this work so special.

———

Odysseys

October 4, 2023, 7:30 PM

Merkin Hall at the Kaufman Center – New York, NY

 

Joey Roukens -- Visions at Sea

Jimmy López Bellido -- Guardian of the Horizon

Ade Williams, Violin

Gabriel Cabezas, Cello

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky -- Souvenir de Florence

Every journey has obstacles and leaves the traveler changed upon returning. How is this journey and transfiguration expressed through music?

Works include Joey Roukens’s sea-shanty-infused Visions at Sea, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s lush Souvenir de Florence, and Jimmy Lopez’s transcendental Guardian of the Horizon, performed by Adé Williams and Gabriel Cabezas, who premiered the work with the Sphinx Virtuosi in 2017.

——— 

Melodrama

December 3, 2023, 3 PM

Merkin Hall at the Kaufman Center – New York, NY

 

Darius Milhaud -- Le Bœuf sur le toit

Kaija Saariaho -- Graal théatre

Geneva Lewis, Violin

Erich Korngold -- Much Ado About Nothing Suite

What is the relationship between music and the theatre? From folk theatre to Shakespeare to the very conventions of the concert hall, come explore what exactly makes a piece of music theatrical. 

Featuring violinist Geneva Lewis performing Graal Théâtre, Kaija Saariaho’s enchanting violin concerto, the concert also includes Darius Milhaud’s Charlie Chaplain-esque Le Bœuf sur le toit, and Erich Korngold’s delightful Much Ado about Nothing Suite.

 ———

Transient Voices

February 25, 2024, 3 PM

Merkin Hall at the Kaufman Center – New York, NY

 

Aida Shirazi -- Umbra

Dmitri Shostakovich -- Symphony No. 14

Irina Rindzuner, Soprano

Mikhail Svetlov, Bass

How can music grab on to something as it slips away? Join Parlando as it explores how music captures the ephemeral, from the memory of home, to nature, or to life itself.

Works include Aida Shirazi’s mystical Umbra and Dmitri Shostakovich’s deeply evocative Symphony No. 14, featuring Irina Rindzuner and Mikhail Svetlov.

 ———

The Other Mozart Effect

May 1, 2024, 7:30 PM

Merkin Hall at the Kaufman Center – New York, NY

 

Reynaldo Hahn -- Mozart Overture

Alfred Schnittke -- Moz-Art à la Haydn

Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov -- Mozart and Salieri

Joseph Parrish, Bass-Baritone

Daniel McGrew, Tenor

Young composers have been hailed as "the next Mozart" for generations, but how did composers interpret Mozart’s legacy? Join Parlando as it explores Mozart’s impact on classical music, culminating in Rimsky-Korsakov’s Mozart and Salieri, the precursor to the Oscar-winning film Amadeus. 

The program includes Reynaldo Hahn’s charming Mozart Overture and Alfred Schnittke’s witty tribute to the 18th century, Moz-Art à la Haydn, before concluding with Rimsky Korsakov’s one-act opera, Mozart and Salieri, featuring Joseph Parrish as Salieri and Daniel McGrew as Mozart.

The institutionalization of classical music has been a double-edged sword. One side of the blade has carved a space in which the music of the past is preserved through performing venues, ensembles, and the conservatory training of new musicians and composers. The opposite edge has cut away most connections with the larger world of music and listeners, leaving classical music culture to ponder how to get people to come and experience their preservation efforts.

It doesn’t have to be this way, as Ian Niederhoffer’s Parlando chamber ensemble showed, again, Sunday afternoon at Merkin Hall in their season finale. Parlando belongs in the company with Death of Classical, organizations that make the classical world appealing to a broad audience while also honoring the listener’s intelligence and curiosity. 

Parlando does this mainly through Niederhoffer’s programming concepts and his remarks from the stage before each work (the cutesy labeling of each piece in the program with the musical equivalent of the chili pepper symbols seen on Thai restaurant menus is superfluous). Sunday, the program was “Requiem for a Polka,” a thoughtful and entertaining concert of danceable classical music.

Well, not quite danceable. Via Jacques Ibert’s Divertissement, Henryk Górecki’s Kleine Requiem für eine Polka, and the Concerto for Cello and Wind Orchestra, by Friedrich Gulda there were polkas and other dance flavors. But the larger point Niederhoffer made was that European classical music once was closely connected to popular music. This was true from before the idea of classical music even existed, even before the song “L’ homme armée” became the foundation for much Renaissance liturgical music.

Niederhoffer hinted at how the development of audio recording and reproduction technology cemented the idea of genres and indirectly separated the idea of entertainment from classical music. Parlando’s lively performance put on display the sense of basic fun and pleasure in music, regardless of genre, and how musicians held onto it even if classical music culture didn’t.

Entertainment is the purpose of Ibert’s Divertissement—music literally meant to occupy the time between scenes at the theater, and keep the audience attentive and energized. The music has moments of slow sensuality, but mostly dances and leaps with energy and agility, full of jokes and fun. It’s an ideal mix of Debussy’s colors and Stravinsky’s neo-classicism. The only drawback in the playing is that the ensemble feels like it’s outgrown Merkin, with too much strength for the confines of the hall..

Górecki’s Requiem is a fascinating piece, capturing his ambivalent regret about the dissolution of quasi-universal European culture after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the reemergence of splintered nationalism at the crossroads of Germany, Poland, and the then Czechoslovakia. The vehicle is the polka, abstracted here, a musical lingua franca that cemented countries and also musical styles. This was a concentrated, measured performance, controlled and confident, with the strange obsessive quiet and stillness, alternating with mania, that Górecki picked up from Shostakovich. One was impressed with how Parlando switched with ease between those two feelings, all without sentimentality.

Henry Shapard, principal cellist at the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, was the guest soloist for Gulda’s wild concerto. Gulda was a singular and incredible musician, arguably the finest Beethoven and Mozart pianist of the 20th century, and also a terrific jazz and rock musician. He saw no separation between the importance of these genres and did what he wanted in music, following nothing other than his personal imperatives. 

The concerto juxtaposes a Mozartian wind ensemble—given some impressively stylish music—and a jazz-rock group with brass, built around a guitar, bass, and drums. Until the finale of this five-movement work the two groups alternate, one reaching a cadence that the other picks up in a hilariously apposite, and skillful style. It’s all serious fun, extroverted and charismatic while full of real feeling and love for all music.

Shapard clearly had a hell of a lot of fun playing this, and seemed as serious and entertained about the notes as Gulda was. His sound and rhythmic sharpness carried both the rock and classical styles, and his playing of the middle cadenza was terrific, with a real sense of finding his way spontaneously through the music. 

The one minor flaw in the performance had to do with that double-edged sword again—except for percussionist Andrew Beall at the drum kit, the rock group couldn’t play convincing rhythms. But in the end, the point was that for Parlando, it didn’t matter what you called the music, as long as you dug it.

Parlando, one of NYC’s most exciting chamber orchestras, presented a program in Merkin Hall on Sunday devoted to music from the Cold War era.  

As is Parlando’s usual practice, in lieu of written program notes, founder and music director Ian Niederhoffer addressed commentary to  the audience before each selection.  

Aaron Copland’s Nonet for Strings was written in 1960. It is an exploratory work that combines elements from his lyric, populist style with new explorations in the 12-tone milieu. And while audiences of his day may have been unsettled by its chromaticism, the Nonet’s combination of learned, joyful and searching qualities are today quite appealing.  

The Nonet deserves broader appreciation, and the kind of eloquent, engaged performances that Niederhoffer and his players gave it would undoubtedly bring this work many new friends.

Mieczyslaw Weinberg escaped the Holocaust in his native Poland by fleeing in the only direction open to him—east, to Moscow. As an educated Jewish foreigner, he came under severe and constant scrutiny from Stalin’s counter-intelligence machine.  

Despite the harassing surveillance, Weinberg’s 1948 Concertino for Violin and String Orchestra is a varied, highly creative, energetic work that has an optimistic charm amid darker, somber episodes. Aubree Oliverson played the Concertino for all it is worth, capturing its varied moods with passion, fire, tenderness and sorrow. Her collaboration with Niederhoffer and the Parlando musicians was natural and dedicated. 

Subsequently Oliverson treated the audience with a charming encore performance of Arches, a work for unaccompanied violin by contemporary American composer Kevin Puts. The work is essentially an exercise in arpeggiation, yet this approachable work in the virtuosic hands of Oliverson, was a joy to experience.

The second half of the concert was devoted to Edvard Mirzayan’s Symphony for Timpani and Strings, dating from 1962. An ethnic Armenian, Mirzayan was born in Turkey not long after the Armenian Massacre. As a child, he moved to the Soviet Union in the aftermath of a massive earthquake that destroyed his home town, an episode not dissimilar to the current geologic tragedy occurring in Turkey and Syria. After receiving thorough musical training under Soviet supervision, Mirzayan moved to Armenia, where his music was largely rejected as being devoid of Armenian elements. Mirzayen worked strenuously to recapture his cultural heritage, creating works that emphasized Armenian qualities.  

One of his great triumphs was this Symphony.  The work follows the traditional symphonic structure of four varied movements. Opening in a style that reflects elements of Armenian liturgical music, the Symphony progresses to  a movement tied to folk melody, followed by a lament that Niederhoffer related to the Armenian Massacre, before arriving at a triumphant concluding movement.  

Niederhoffer and his musicians gave a heartfelt, well-focussed performance of this engaging masterwork. Special praise goes to timpanist Andrew Beall for his brilliance, especially in the opening movement.

Conductor Ian Niederhoffer likes to ignore convention. Over the last few years, his chamber orchestra Parlando has established itself as a serious player on the New York classical scene through its presentations of lesser-known, and modern(ish) pieces. The conductor and founder of Parlando, Niederhoffer has displayed a knack for cultivating and curating unique and fascinating programs. This week's concert at Merkin Hall (on Marathon Sunday!) was entitled "Heroines and Heretics" and featured pieces that focused on some of musical history's most important women: 11th century, German Benedictine abbess (and polymath, writer, composer, philosopher, mystic, visionary, yada, yada, yada...) Hildegard von Bingen; the patron saint of France, the Maid of Orléans, Joan of Arc (who has been the subject of over 500 musical compositions); and the most popular bad girl in the operatic repertoire: Carmen.

As is his tradition, Maestro Niederhoffer began the concert with brief details regarding the featured pieces. His audience has come to expect and look forward to the delightful elucidations about the pieces, as Niederhoffer possesses a relaxed, natural, story-telling gift that puts the audience at ease. He does not expound, delivering methodical, detailed, scholarly explanations, but rather straight-forward, comprehensible and entertaining, almost anecdotal insights. It is an extremely wise and useful convention on his part, as his programs often include some very challenging pieces. (Parlando!)

And this program was no exception.

On the surface, Bingen, Joan of Arc, and Carmen might seem to have little in common, but Niederhoffer neatly tied them together explaining that their uniqueness and exceptionalism resulted in each of their different struggles and the corresponding hostility (misogyny) they faced - Hildgard and Joan in life, Carmen in art.

Hildegard von Bingen's "Rex noster promptus est" began the program. Usually heard in vocal arrangement, the Parlando version was a stunning, austere, string arrangement that produced an almost immediate hypnotic effect. The piece was written as a Responsory for the Feast of the Holy Innocents, a Christian feast in remembrance of the massacre of newborn children in Bethlehem by King Herod, in his attempt to kill the infant Jesus. The slain children were regarded by the early church as the first martyrs, hence the somber, contemplative nature of the work.

When performed by strings (as opposed to voices) the work possesses less of a "religious chant" feeling and a more secular quality. The work begins with a droning note below the melody that immediately invokes an almost middle eastern flavor. One by one, a cello, then a second cello then a double bass join, passing the melody and deepening the texture and resonance. This reviewer had never heard this particular arrangement and reached out to Maestro Niederhoffer to ask the province of the arrangement and not surprisingly the conductor provided a pithy response: "the original arrangement was by Marianne Richert Pfau, but we flipped some of the octaves and instrumentation ourselves. We actually experimented a bit in rehearsals to see what would be most effective for the bass drones. For some of the repetitions we did harmonics, and others we played with open strings or different octaves."

And Parlando made it their own. Under Niederhoffer's supple but languid hand, the piece took on a transcendental, evocative and soul-stirring quality.

The second piece in the program was a composition by African-American composer Julius Eastman. The score for the piece was lost after the composer's repeated battles with drug addiction left him homeless and his estate in chaos. Cellist Clarice Jensen painstakingly re-constructed a transcription of the work from an archival video of the work's only live performance in 1981. In the original format, composer Eastman delivered a maniacal, sermon-like intro to the music (composed for 10 cellos). The prelude was reportedly a complete improvisation, featuring the names of the saints (and Archangel Michael) whom Joan of Arc invoked during her trial. Whether or not it was actually intended as a note-for-note melodic composition is not clear. Nonetheless, all subsequent performances have included the prelude as the composer initially delivered it.

"When they question you, speak boldly," St. Joan claimed they told her, and tenor Aaron Crouch did just that. His powerful and passionate rendition of the prelude gave gravitas to the composers somewhat haphazard lyrics (full disclosure: this reviewer had heard the prelude only once before and hoped never to hear it again). However, it was clear that in a live listening, the piece is indeed far more impactfull and impressive than on recording, Through sheer will and a great deal of repetition, the composer condensed St. Joan's legendary trial, of which hundreds of pages of documentation exist, into just a few lines. Mr. Crouch delivered the prelude with great reverence and solemnity and his clarion clear tenor rang out triumphantly.

The prelude typically dissolves into the cello section it proceeds, but Maestro Niederhoffer cleverly went directly into the final work of the concert Rodion Shchedrin's Carmen Suite. Had the prelude been a more well-known work, the extremely cool juxtaposition of the two pieces would have been more apparent to the audience (but it was a fairly ingenious decision nonetheless!).

The Shchedrin Carmen Suite was composed as ballet music for his wife prima ballerina Maya Plisetskaya (who, as Niederhoffer explained, had first asked Dimitri Shostakovich then Arman Khachaturian, only to have both tell her to use her husband!). Of all the Carmen Suites (and there are many) this is by far the most original, in scoring and audacity.

The composer brilliantly "suggests" rather that directly states musical themes throughout the score. Bits and pieces of the famed arias are heard and then disappear, allowing the listeners' brains to fill in the gaps or continue the melody lines in their own imaginations. Often, the underscoring is presented without the melodic line, giving the listener just a hint of something and making them sit up and listen - and THINK. Notably, Shchedrin uses a great deal of percussion and focuses on the rhythmic elements of the score more so than the famous melodies. This requires the composer to maintain a very clear pulse and Maestro Niederhoffer was up to the challenge - as was his especially fine percussion ensemble. The listener is treated to most of the big melodies albeit usually in truncated forms, but certainly enough to have them humming along.

Yes, there were a few nitpicks of intonation and a few moments where pizzicatos were not the most crisp, but the blemishes were too small and inconsequential to dwell on. Maestro Niederhoffer has once again shown his impressive and powerful command of his forces in another challenging program. We look forward with great anticipation to Parlando's next offering.

Peter Danish

Parlando continued its exploration of new, underrepresented, and standard works in a fascinating program entitled “Heroines and Heretics” that featured music composed or inspired by Hildegard von Bingen, Joan d’Arc and Carmen. 

The connection between the three women—two of whom were actual saints and the third fictional, and anything but pure—may seem tenuous, but conductor Ian Niederhoffer provided the link. The concert, presented Sunday at Merkin Concert Hall, was intended to be a celebration of women who lived in societies that were hostile to them for simply being exceptional.

The three composers, the twelfth-century mystic Hildegard von Bingen, the twentieth-century African-American composer Julius Eastman, and his near contemporary, the Soviet/Russian composer Rodion Shchedrin, lived in completely different social environments, which is reflected in their music. What came as a surprise, however, was that although separated by centuries and countless other factors, the music of Hildegard von Bingen and Eastman seemed to spring forth from the same deep spiritual source. 

There are more surviving chants by Hildegard von Bingen than any other composer from the Middle Ages. Celebrated as a composer, poet and mystic, she lived most of her long life in sequestered religious communities. The music that she wrote was intended to be sung by nuns during religious services, but resonates today with those seeking solace, or perhaps just beautiful, otherworldly sounds.

Parlando performed a string arrangement of Hildegard von Bingen’s “Rex noster promptus est,” a Responsory for the Feast of the Holy Innocents. Although minimalism was a concept unknown to Hildegard von Bingen, the music she wrote is simple and in this wordless version of the hymn repetitive. Listening to Parlando’s strings play this heavenly music made it easy to discern a thread that links Hildegard to contemporary Holy Minimalists such as Henryk Górecki, Arvo Pärt, and John Tavener.

The melody of “Rex noster promptus est” was first heard played by a solo cello accompanied by a drone. It was then taken up by another cello and eventually the entire section with the addition of one double bass. Even though the musical texture and sonorities increased in depth, the mesmerizing sense of quietude was consistent. 

The hymn served as a prelude to a far more dramatic and intense spiritual journey depicted in Eastman’s Prelude to The Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc. Eastman composed the Prelude for unaccompanied, solo tenor voice in 1981, as the introduction to The Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc, a chamber piece scored for ten cellos. Stylistically, it is Eastman’s take on minimalism, but a departure from that of Steve Reich, Philip Glass, and John Adams. 

A gay activist and social provocateur, Eastman found strength in meditating on the name of the pious peasant girl who led the French army to victory over the English and was burned at the stake when captured by the enemy. Eastman set the incantations by Saints Michael, Margaret, and Catherine, who were her patron saints, which she received in visions before her trial for heresy that culminate with the demand, “When they question you, speak boldly.” 

Tenor and activist Aaron Crouch gave voice to the saints’ admonition, which in Eastman’s setting consists of only a dozen or so words. Exploiting the full range of his voice, Crouch did so with confidence and power. His demeanor was probing and calm, rather than defiant however, as if he was approaching the mystical with awe and reverence. 

The final piece on the program was Rodion Shchedrin’s Carmen Suite. Shchedrin created the one-movement work in 1967 as a ballet for his wife, the Bolshoi prima ballerina Maya Plisetskaya. Scored for string, timpani and four percussionists, the suite is as humorous and iconoclastic, as it is dramatic. It is Shchedrin’s use of percussion, both as solo instruments and accompaniment, that is its most remarkable feature. 

The drama is inherent in Bizet’s opera, but the humor is totally Shchedrin’s doing. Apart from the musical surprises that he sprinkles generously through the score, the fun comes from the occasional absence of a familiar melody, which the mind supplies in an instant. Shchedrin’s suite begs for dancers and you can almost imagine the choreography in a performance as lively and brilliant as this one. 

As they had in the prior two works, given a melody or even a snappy accompaniment, the strings, apart from some messy pizzicati in the violins, played exceptionally well. Shchedrin was at his most creative and daring, however, in assigning melodies to instruments such as the marimba, vibraphone, glockenspiel and bells. Parlando’s percussionists reveled in the opportunity to shine in such virtuosic flights of fancy.

Shchedrin built applause into the work, so it would have been impossible for Niederhoffer to reign in the audience’s enthusiasm in that regard. Nonetheless, he maintained musical and dramatic cohesion in spite of the interruptions. For all of the thought that Niederhoffer puts into constructing a program, he isn’t afraid to have some fun. 

Conductor Ian Niederhoffer has accomplished two impressive feats by the age of 25. First, he has established, Parlando, a chamber orchestra, and secondly, he has found an audience. 

Merkin Hall was filled to capacity for its opening concert of the season titled “Between Sacred and Profane.” The latter of the two proved the most impressive and proof that his talent and entrepreneurship are on par with his ambition.

There were no printed program notes for the concert. Rather, Niederhoffer provided insights into the broad arc of the themes that inspired the concert—the sacred and the profane —as well as background information on each of the works. He is handsome, charismatic, enthusiastic and articulate, which together with his undeniable skills as a musician, makes for a winning combination.

In exploring the tension between the sacred and the profane in the context of classical music, Niederhoffer turned to less doctrinaire meanings of the two words. Noting that Western classical music developed out of the music of the Church, he put the term into a broader context to incorporate all things that we as a society hold dear, not just the religious. Likewise, he looked to an earlier meaning of profane, which meant anything that was not religious, without the connotations of blasphemous or sordid we associate with the word today.

Reena Esmail’s Teen Murta was the first work on the program. Currently, artist-in-residence with the Los Angeles Master Chorale, the Los Angeles-based composer was the Seattle Symphony’s 2020-21 composer-in-residence. Her works straddle the worlds of Indian and Western classical music.

Teen Murti Bhavani is the name of the former New Delhi residence of the first prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru, which now houses a library, museum and planetarium. It is named for the three statues that stand in front of the complex. Esmail’s composition is not based on the sculptures, but takes its structure from them. Each of three musical tableaux are rooted in a specific raag, which is a melodic framework for improvisation.

The structure of Teen Murta, which Esmail compares to that of Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, was inspired by concerts which she attended by Hindustani musicians when she was in India. At the beginning of the concert, the performer would announce the raag to be sung or performed and immediately audience members would begin humming it, thus creating a drone to accompany the music being performed.

For being music inspired by the profane, Esmail composed a work that is highly spiritual and very beautiful. Niederhoffer led a performance in which shimmering string sound created a mystical atmosphere. The introduction and the interludes began as soft drowns in which solo violin, viola and cello began to play bits of melody, engaging in a dialogue of sorts. In the tableaux, the solos soared, at times blooming gloriously into flights of ecstatic lyricism.

There was no need for Niederhoffer to provide at thematic link to the program with the next work, as the title says is all. Debussy’s Danse sacrée et danse profane was commissioned by the Paris firm of Pleyel to promote the chromatic harp, which had been invented by Gustave Lyon in 1894. The work proved to be a success, but alas not the chromatic harp. Perhaps anticipating the instrument’s future, Debussy included that the solo harp part could be played on the pedal harp, which has become the norm and was the case here with the exciting harpist Parker Ramsay as soloist.

Parker is an engaging speaker, as well as superb harpist. In discussing the differences between the chromatic and pedal harps, he also provided a personal link to the work. His mother is also a harpist who comes from a line of harpists originating with Lucile Wurmser-Delcourt—who premiered the Debussy work at the Châtelet Theatre in Paris in 1904. Originally scored for harp and string quartet, the arrangement by the renowned French harp virtuoso Carlos Salzedo was performed.

Parker’s playing transfixed the audience with its compelling mix of delicacy and vigor. Niederhoffer maintained a perfect balance through the contrasting two parts of the work, which Debussy described as having the contrasting qualities of gravity and grace. There were moments of pure bliss throughout in which the arabesques of the harp seemed to float above gentle waves of string sound.

The final two works on the program were by Beethoven, string arrangements of the Cavatina from String Quartet No. 13 Op. 130 and the Grosse Fuge Op. 133. Niederhoffer told the audience that for many, the Beethoven string quartets are almost sacred for their place at the summit in the canon of Western classical music. Niederhoffer introduced the profane into the two works by performing them in arrangements for string orchestra, something at which purists, he added, would most certainly bristle. 

Niederhoffer led a performance of the Cavatina that was beautiful, tender, and flowing. As a conductor, his style is primarily marked by economy of gesture and elegance. The Grosse Fuge brought out his more dynamic and dramatic qualities, as he sliced through the air with his arms compelling the orchestra to play ever more fiercely. The structure of the work was ever present, but it was the emotion that ruled in this performance of one of the most musically and technically challenging works in the canon. 

For an encore, Parlando performed Massenet’s Le Dernier Sommeil de la Vierge. Soft, sentimental and luminous, this was music that for many is of one with the sacred.

Parlando presents “Heroines and Heretics” featuring the music of Julius Eastman, Hildegard von Bingen, and Rodion Shchedrin November 6 at Merkin Concert Hall. kaufmanmusiccenter.org 

The Chamber Orchestra will return to Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center, with performances on September 22, November 6, February 26 and April 23.

Programs include performances of music by Reena Esmail, Julius Eastman, Friedrich Gulda, and Hildegard von Bingen, as well as works by Henryk Górecki, Mieczysław Weinberg, Aaron Copland, Rodion Shchedrin, Claude Debussy, Jacques Ibert, and Ludwig van Beethoven. Featured Soloists include Parker Ramsay, Henry Shapard, Aubree Oliverson, and Aaron Crouch.

All performances incorporate commentary with historical and musical context to create a uniquely intimate and educational listening experience.

Parlando will return to Merkin Hall at Kaufman Music Center this season, with a series of three programs incorporating its signature blend of performance, commentary, and historical and musical context, in order to create a uniquely intimate and educational listening experience.

The season kicks off Thursday, September 22 at 8 PM with Between Sacred and Profane. The program explores how composers grapple with the tension between the spiritual and the sacrilegious both in their music and in their personal lives. Featuring harpist Parker Ramsay performing Claude Debussy’s Danse sacrée et danse profane, the concert continues with Reena Esmail’s Teen Murti and Ludwig van Beethoven’s Cavatina and Grosse Fuge op. 130/133.

On Sunday, November 6 at 2 PM, Parlando presents Heroines and Heretics, exploring (colorful? Vibrant?) the varied portrayals of legendary women across musical eras. Featuring tenor Aaron Crouch performing Julius Eastman’s Prelude to the Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc, the program also includes Hildegard von Bingen’s Rex noster promptus est and Rodion Shchedrin’s Carmen Suite (after Bizet’s Opera).  

The season continues Sunday, February 26 at 2 PM with Cold War, a program highlighting the sonic worlds on both sides of the defining conflict of the last 75 years. Featuring violinist Aubree Oliverson performing Mieczysław Weinberg’s Concertino for Violin and String Orchestra, the program continues with Aaron Copland’s Nonet for Strings and Edvard Mirzoyan’s Symphony for String Orchestra and Timpani.

On Sunday, April 23 at 2 PM, Parlando’s season concludes with Requiem for a Polka, an exploration of popular genres of the past that have faded into obscurity. Featuring cellist Henry Shapard performing Friedrich Gulda’s uproarious Concerto for Cello and Wind Orchestra, the concert also includes Henryk Górecki’s Kleines Requiem für eine Polka and Jacques Ibert’s Divertissement.

Parlando was founded in 2019 by conductor Ian Niederhoffer with the goal of providing the musical and historical context to prepare every audience member for the music they are about to hear. Through short introductions to each piece, Parlando bridges the gap between audience and performer, creating an intimate, personal orchestral experience.

All performances will be at Merkin Concert Hall at the Kaufman Center, 129 West 67th Street between Broadway and Amsterdam, renowned for its excellent acoustics and intimate setting. Premium tickets are $35, regular tickets are $25, and both are available for purchase at kaufmanmusiccenter.org.

Calendar Listings:

September 22, 2022 at 8:00 PM

Parlando: Between Sacred and Profane

Ian Niederhoffer, Conductor

REENA ESMAIL – Teen Murti
CLAUDE DEBUSSY – Danse sacrée et danse profane Parker Ramsay, Harp
LUDWIG VAN BEETHOVEN – Cavatina and Grosse Fuge Op. 130/133

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November 6, 2022 at 2:00 PM

Parlando: Heroines and Heretics

Ian Niederhoffer, Conductor

HILDEGARD VON BINGEN – Rex noster promptus est
JULIUS EASTMAN – Prelude to the Holy Presence of Joan d’Arc, Aaron Crouch, Tenor
RODION SHCHEDRIN – Carmen Suite (after Bizet’s Opera)

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February 26, 2023 at 2:00 PM

Parlando: Cold War

Ian Niederhoffer, Conductor

AARON COPLAND – Nonet for Strings
MIECZYSŁAW WEINBERG – Concertino for Violin and String Orchestra, Aubree Oliverson, Violin
EDVARD MIRZOYAN – Symphony for String Orchestra and Timpani

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April 23, 2023 at 2:00 PM

Parlando: Requiem for a Polka

Ian Niederhoffer, Conductor

JACQUES IBERT – Divertissement
HENRYK GÓRECKI – Kleines Requiem für eine Polka
FRIEDRICH GULDA – Concerto for Cello and Wind Orchestra, Henry Shapard, Cello

MERKIN HALL AT KAUFMAN MUSIC CENTER 129 West 67th Street, New York, New York (kaufmanmusiccenter.org)

Tickets: Premium $35, Regular $25, available at kaufmanmusiccenter.org parlandonyc.com

In musical scores, the Italian term “parlando” (speaking) indicates a passage whose rhythm and inflection mimic human speech. A concert by the chamber orchestra named Parlando doesn’t just mimic speech, it features the real thing, in the form of verbal introductions to each piece delivered by music director Ian Niederhoffer from the podium.

In Parlando’s program of music by American composers on Sunday at Merkin Concert Hall, the twenty-something conductor not only offered the kind of crisp and colorful performances one has come to expect from this group, but upped his game as a verbal communicator. Besides the approachable manner of an eager grad student, and his willingness to share a laugh with listeners when something struck them as funny, he came prepared with cogent historical points and details in each piece that got a lot across in only a couple of minutes of chat before he gave the downbeat.

If classical music doesn’t speak to you, maybe what you need is the performers speaking to you before they play.

That’s the idea behind the chamber orchestra Parlando, the new enterprise of Ian Niederhoffer, the 25-year-old Yale graduate and emerging conductor who introduced each selection, then led well-played performances of music by Webern, Ted Hearne, and Shostakovich at Merkin Hall Sunday afternoon. The last composer’s Piano Concerto No. 1 got an extra lift from dazzling solos by pianist Maxim Lando and trumpeter David Krauss.

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We are thrilled to announce the Parlando 2021-2022 season! Come join us at Merkin Concert Hall for three exciting programs. Tickets available here.

Dialogues

November 14, 2021 at 2:00 PM

ANTON WEBERN – Langsamer Satz

TED HEARNE – Law of Mosaics

DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH – Piano Concerto No. 1 in C Minor

Maxim Lando, Piano

David Krauss, Trumpet 

Cinema vs. the Concert Hall

February 27, 2022 at 2:00 PM

MICHAEL ABELS – Delights and Dances

BERNARD HERRMANN – Psycho (A Narrative for String Orchestra)

LEONARD BERNSTEIN – Serenade after Plato’s “Symposium”

Tai Murray, Violin

Spring Forward

April 24, 2022 at 2:00 PM

INTI FIGGIS-VIZUETA – Premiere

JEROD IMPICHCHAACHAAHA’ TATE – Premiere

ANNA ROBERTS-GEVALT – Premiere

MASON BYNES – Premiere

AARON COPLAND – Appalachian Spring Suite for 13 Instruments

“The concert showed that Parlando is a fine ensemble, and this kind of user-friendly presentation is more than welcome in the classical world…

Everything built on the music-making, and Parlando hit the mark. They have a bright sound, full of texture and colors. Their playing of Schreker’s lovely Intermezzo was expressive and songful, they handled all the rhythmic and stylistic challenges Frank’s hybrid of classical and folk music threw at them, and Verklärte Nacht was full of passion for the music.”

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“Auspicious debuts seem to be in the air in NYC this fall. Last month the new Athens Philharmonic blew the roof off Carnegie Hall with an extraordinary Mahler 2 in its debut, and this month a new ensemble called Parlando did the same at Merkin Hall - in a vastly different kind of program.

Parlando is the brainchild of conductor Ian Niederhoffer, a young star on the rise. The mantra of Parlando seems to be: "go big or go home" and that philosophy informed the three eclectic choices on the program for their inaugural concert.”

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It's always exciting to witness the birth of a new musical ensemble. BroadwayWorldClassical speaks to PARLANDO founder and conductor Ian Niederhoffer about his inaugural concert at Merkin Hall, November 6th.