Jacqueline Jonée—“All Composers Gay”

Jacqueline Jonée, the Premier Drag Queen Diva, brought her performances to the Library of Performing Arts on Monday evening (there was also a matinée, and I’ve seen at least three earlier iterations). The fourth time was not quite the charm that I expected, though there was fun to be had. Her piano playing was great, as usual, and she had a guest artist this year, pianist Jean-Pierre Lemarié, and of course, the ever-present JouJou Jacquettes Philharmonic Orchestra. There were feathers, there were sequins (and that was some of the boys)!

The hook in “All Composers Gay” was—d’oh! there have been gay composers throughout history. So, we had a bit of a lecture/recital feel, with attendant biographical material and music. Ms. Jonée opened at the keyboard with a Cole Porter medley, Night and Day/Begin the Beguine, with the Jacquettes. Porter was pretty clearly known as being gay, but the next composers included a lot of speculation. G.F. Handel(?), we heard Chaconne in G Major, played well by M. Lemarié. There were many rolled chords and trills, thoroughly in the Baroque style. Schubert(?), we heard Three Concert Pieces, also played by M. Lemarié. The first was very Romantic, with a dramatic flair; the second was gentler, in general, still with some drama of its own; and the third was energetic right from the start and all the way through. What I did learn (and found quite interesting) is that these pieces were never heard in Schubert’s lifetime as they were published posthumously many years later by Brahms.

Ms. Jonée returned in a big, pouffey gown, and sat at the keyboard. With the skirt of the gown all pouffed up, she made a reference to the upcoming gay pride parade—“I’m my own float!” Apropos of the occasion, we next heard a set piece by Bernstein, the America/Nothing’s Gonna Harm You/There’s a Place for Us medley. It’s always effective and was so again.

Percy Grainger was gay? I did not know that. M. Lemarié joined Ms. Jonée for a four-hand version of Country Gardens (yes, you know it, Dum-dum-de-dum-dum, dum-de-dum-de-dum (all together now) “in an English Country Ga-ar-den”). Fortunately there was not a sing-along. After another short music history lesson (Tchaikovsky was gay!), we heard a four-hand version of Waltz of the Flowers from Nutcracker. Four-hand playing is as much fun to watch as it is to hear; shared pedaling, shared page turning; cross-hand techniques involving crossing the other player’s hands, etc. Most enjoyable.

While Ms. Jonée went away for a costume change, M. Lemarié (after leaving the stage because he’d forgotten his score, as he had for the matinée) and the Jacquettes launched into five movements from Saint-Saëns’ (try saying that three times real fast) Carnival of the Animals—The Swan, The Elephant, Turtles, Fossils, and the Finale. First off, I love this score and this was the first time I’ve heard any of it live. During The Swan, Ms. Jonée floated down the side aisle, across the front of the audience, up onto the stage, where she proceeded to die on her piano bench. This was some very funny stuff. After she floated off for yet another costume change, the double bass player was featured in The Elephant, in a nicely played performance. Turtles is truly fun, with Offenbach’s ubiquitous Can-Can theme played at a lugubrious pace. Next was Fossils, with its paraphrase of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, followed by Ms. Jonée back for more four-handed fireworks in the Finale. I totally enjoyed this portion of the show.

As a sort of lagniappe, we heard another little set piece, I Am What I Am/Over the Rainbow, with a tag “O’er the land of the free, and the home of the brave.” While I enjoyed the show a lot, I felt that the biographical sketches were a little balky—when there was some humor injected, it fell a little flat since it was in the ‘serious’ portion of the show. It’s not a bad concept, it just didn’t hit the mark as well as some of her other shows have. Honestly, it’s only a minor quibble, and Carnival of the Animals more than made up for it.

ConcertMeister