Where’s John Borstlap?

Where’s John Borstlap?

Orchestras

norman lebrecht

November 18, 2022

The former regular Slippedisc commentator has a major event tonight.

His second violin concerto, Dreamscape Voyage, is receiving its World Première by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra with Jing Wang as soloist and Jaap van Zweden conducting.

Programme note:

How does the voice of a solo violin, both fragile and intense, relate to the ‘crowd’ of the symphony orchestra? In this violin concerto, it is the voice of the individual amidst a landscape made of other voices, now in harmony, then in contrast; during the unfolding of the voyage in time, everything changes and yet, everything is related. The voice of the solo violin travels through the narrative like a bird in those Chinese silk landscape paintings, where perspectives are not quite real but yet specific, and far away and nearby mingle in a harmonious whole.

‘Dreamscape Voyage’, a shared commission by the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra and the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra, was inspired by traditional Chinese silk painting and the nature poetry of Wei Yingwu and Li Bai (8th century AD), great poets from the Tang Dynasty who combine the clear familiar with the harmoniously-elusive, psychologically comparable to these landscape paintings.

The music of this concerto, in one movement, does not attempt at ‘Chinese style’ but tries to capture something of the fleeting but precise nature of Chinese art and poetry in a Western musical language. The focus is not on virtuosity but on the expressive and lyrical qualities of the violin – this instrument closest to the human voice – in relation to the many colours of the symphony orchestra.

Comments

  • Ich bin Ereignis says:

    Please let us know if it becomes available online, would love to hear it.

  • alan says:

    Why is he a former contributor to this site – did I miss a major fallout, or did Mr Borstlap simply take a extended leave of absence to write the concerto and, one presumes, the accompanying note? I may not have agreed with all his comments, but they made for entertaining and often thought-provoking reading. Congratulations on the concerto premiere! Would be good to hear it one day.

  • I beg your pardon says:

    Yes, where has John gone? He used to comment regularly on this blog. Has he been banned or something?

  • Petros Linardos says:

    The programme note is very evocative.

    In this space I am sure I am not alone in wishing John Borstlap a lot of success.

  • PHF says:

    Congrats, John! May the music be better than your average comments.

  • Jimmy Herf says:

    On the road to nowhere

  • Jeffrey Biegel says:

    Good luck, John!!

  • Ms.Melody says:

    I have missed his intelligent, articulate, witty, insightful comments.
    Please Mr.Borstlap, if you read this, do come back.

    • Sue Sonata Form says:

      Totally agree. He swam against the tide and that takes guts. He has these in abundance.

      And good luck to him. Those who can, DO; those who can’t, CRITICIZE.

  • anmarie says:

    What lovely news! I hope to hear it one day, and look forward to the return of his– and Sally’s–comments. Have a wonderful premiere!

    • John Borstlap says:

      I forbade him to waste his time any longer on this site full of uninformed comments, threatening to quit if he sneaked behind the computer. Fortunately his browser can’t enter the section any longer, so he has more time to compose and admire my professional dedication!

      Sally

  • Not a Borstlap fan says:

    From Borstlap’s tiresome and one-note commenting here, where he took even sombre death notices as an invitation to pontificate, I have always assumed he’s so on the spectrum that he is barely functional socially. It therefore puzzles me how he has managed to convince a few real orchestras to perform his music.

  • trumpetherald says:

    Thanks,but no,thanks….

  • Realllyyy? says:

    Wait, that was his real name? With all those negative and myopic comments? Weird!

    Good luck on the performance.

  • David K. Nelson says:

    Congratulations to John Borstlap. I hope it all goes splendidly.

  • Bone says:

    Why former? He should come back to guest a little update soon – miss his stoicism and dry wit. Such a voice can really lighten the mood.

  • Anthony Sayer says:

    Good for him. I like his music.

  • Prof says:

    I wonder if the concerto uses only one note. His commentary is quite one-note.

  • Peter San Diego says:

    From the musical excerpts I’ve heard (on his website and youtube), John Borstlap’s music is always well-crafted, and some works are inspired. As for his commentary, my major difference with him is that he has a rather narrow (he would say strict) definition of what constitutes (proper) music. Although most of what he deplores as Klangkunst is not my favorite cup of tea, either, I find some works to be quite worthwhile, and not nihilistic (as he seems to find them).

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