Violin/Piano Duo (10/23/14)

I spent another very nice evening at the Austrian Cultural Forum New York, with performances by Shkëlzen Doli, violin, and Gottlieb Wallisch, piano, playing music by Mozart, Kreisler, Brahms, and Strauss. Mr. Doli’s bio focused on his training in the Russian school of violin, and that was evident to me in the muscularity of his playing. He was certainly capable of quiet playing as well, but there was a muscular quality throughout.

Sonata for Piano and Violin in B flat, K. 454 – W. A. Mozart
Präludium & Allegro – Fritz Kreisler
Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 3 in D minor, Op. 108 – Johannes Brahms
Rosen aus dem Süden (‘Roses from the South’), Op. 388, and Wiener Blut (‘Viennese Spirit’), Op. 354 – Johann Strauss

The first movement of the Mozart (Largo – Allegro) began with a muscular strength and tone, followed, in the Allegro, with more of the filigree that I associate with Mozart. The second movement (Andante) had very pretty melodies that were also very strong compositionally, as demonstrated in the playing of both artists. The final movement (Allegretto) was closer to the predictable Mozart I’m used to (sometimes described by me as ‘bibbity-bobbity-boo-in-B-flat’) but was still saved by the strength of the writing (ideas) and the execution. This time around, I liked Mozart more than I usually do.

Fritz Kreisler was a brilliant violinist and composer. Präludium & Allegro demonstrated the latter, and Mr. Doli was quite brilliant himself. (Mr. Wallisch was no slouch, either, throughout the entire evening.) Over block chords in the piano, we heard a marching violin melody of equal-length notes that seemed to end up being an introduction plus an introduction before launching into the fireworks of the Allegro. Those fireworks were moderate to begin with, building in speed, intensity, and virtuosity, leading to a nice pedal point in the piano with flying fingers above, in the string playing, ending with a solid major chord.

After intermission, the Allegro of Brahms’ sonata opened with a sweeter tone from the violin, continuing into more flowing tunes and lines for both players, also with more varied dynamics. The sections struck me as though they were shifting emotions. The Adagio was song-like, with a hint of a somber hymn. This movement, especially, showed the excellent rapport between the two players, even matching the sense of moods. The third movement, Un poco presto e con sentiment, was brisker and brighter—almost playful—but still with a serious undertone. The Finale: Presto agitato had a very strong opening and demonstrated technically difficult writing for both instruments, incredibly well executed.

The Strauss waltzes were played straight, including pauses in the waltz rhythms and a playful sense, though never veering into kitsch or camp. The ‘Roses’ just put a smile on my face. And if the ‘Viennese Spirit’ tempted me to clap along as if it were New Year’s Day, I was able to resist, precisely because they played it straight. After well-deserved applause, there was an encore—Meditation, from Thaïs (Massenet).

Thank you, ACFNY, Mr. Doli, and Mr. Wallisch!

ConcertMeister

More and More (9/18/14)

Actually, the entire title is “The More You Love Music, the More Music You Love” with William Lewis, Pianist/Singer. It was quite an ambitious program of 20 songs (many of which were combinations of more than one song). Some of them worked well, others not so much. First off, Pianist/Singer is the correct description; though he sang a lot, his singing is not the greatest, and he even said as much from the stage. And that was my main difficulty with the afternoon.

In the guise of a classical cabaret performer, he gave serious thought to the five different sets, ranging from Dreams, and Classical, to the Gay Nineties in the first half, and Irish, closing with Other Songs that Don’t Fit into Categories.

First You Dream (from Steel Pier), Libestraum, and On the Seashore of Endless Worlds (from Gitanjali) got the afternoon off on the right foot, especially his piano accompaniments and Liszt’s Libestraum. An Italian aria, Nel cor piu non mi sento (from Paisiello’s L’Amor contrasto), fared poorly in the vocals department but Beethoven’s Six Variations on ‘Nel cor piu non mi sento’ were right on the money. Some film score music followed, pairing a Francesco Durante setting of a prayer to the Virgin with the main theme from The Godfather, written by Nino Rota. This sort of worked, but not as well as the Paisiello/Beethoven. Two pieces from The Legend of 1900, scored by Ennio Morricone, were next—they didn’t make a strong impression on me. From the Gay Nineties we had She Is More to Be Pitied than Censured, nicely done; And the Golden Hair Was Hanging Down Her Back, okay; In the Baggage Coach Ahead, a mournfully moving ballad; and K-K-K-Katy/You’d Be Surprised, a delightful mash-up of novelty numbers (the latter by Irving Berlin).

After intermission (and there were quite a few fewer people in attendance for the second act), the Irish set began with two traditional songs, though neither was familiar to me. Manx Lullaby was a sweet take on a traditional song while A Young Maid Stood in Her Father’s Garden was rather touching. They were followed by what seemed to me to be a modern take on traditional songs; they didn’t really resonate with me.

The Others set began with a Spanish song that was sad yet powerful and had a terrific piano interlude. Mr. Lewis’ playing was superb throughout the afternoon. A triple mash-up of It’s a Lazy Afternoon, Feeling Good, and Hotel (a French art song) was the least successful combination in that it seemed slightly forced. Where is the Tribe for me? (from Bajour) was a tour de force composition that was given a bang-up performance. Literally. Between playing the piano, singing, slapping tsetse flies, imitating animals, and dodging poison darts, Mr. Lewis managed to dislodge his eyeglasses (they went flying off behind him), making for a really humorous search for lyrics on the pretty-much-unseen-by-him page. But he gamely carried on and it was well worth it. If I Sing (from Closer than Ever) was a touching tribute to the performer’s mother, and a fitting way to end the concert.

So, pianistically, it was a great success; less so vocally. And some of the musical ideas worked really, really well, with others not quite cutting it. But it was programmed and planned quite well. I’m not sure I’d take in future concerts, though I might be intrigued enough to give another try.

ConcertMeister

Harlem Garden Tour Update

So, I decided to check out the cotton, planted near the Harriet Tubman statue. I actually did some shopping on West 116th Street and then decided to walk up to West 122nd. My West Side geography is a bit sketchy, but I thought I was near where I wanted to be, walking up Adam Clayton Powell Blvd..

On the way, I stopped to look at a community garden that I thought I recognized. Indeed, it was the garden where the Girl Scouts plant sunflowers every year..

An "Auntie," (meant in a very nice way for an elderly black woman) saw me and told me that it was a great community garden. I pointed out the flyer on the fence about this past August's Garden Tour and told her that I was there, for the second year in a row, and that she should check it out next summer. She thanked me for teaching her about her neighborhood!

Anyhoo, I made it up to 122nd Street and saw the cotton plants. Some blossoms were spent, some were still tightly closed, but some were in full bloom! One blossom had fallen to the ground, so I harvested it to take to work to show to others whom I had already told about the tour. Win, win!

ConcertMeister

Open House New York (10/11–12/2014)

What fun I had this past weekend! Open House New York is a weekend where different buildings, and types of buildings, are open to the public. There are two types of events—freebies and $5.00-a-pop, reservation-only events. I opted for the freebies.

On Saturday, I visited eight spots and then another four on Sunday. I started in Brooklyn, with the BRIC Arts | Media House, followed by the Church of St. Luke and St. Matthew. Both were very interesting, and the church had printed material that allowed a self-guided tour. A big plus, as far as I’m concerned.

On to Manhattan and two architecture firms in Chelsea—EOA / Elmslie Osler Architect, and parallel design (their choice of all lower case letters). EOA has designed several Anthologie stores, as well as some high-end residences (e.g., the Hamptons). Ali Tayar was the architect-in-residence at parallel, and I had a one-on-one, as he demonstrated some of his designs.

My next stop was one I was bound and determined to do this year, as I missed out on it last year. The Jefferson Market Library on West 10th Street has a 149-step circular staircase up into the tower. Some of you may have seen this iconic building—it looks like a little castle in the heart of Greenwich Village. The staircase is so narrow that it’s one-way only. As a result, it’s somewhat time consuming if you have to wait for other folks to come down (or go up). But it was worth it. The views are fun; it’s something that I’d recommend to anyone at future OHNYs.

Next on my list was the Rubin Museum of Art, which was free for the day if you mentioned OHNY. I did, of course. The exhibition currently on display is Himalayan art—not necessarily my favorite—however, the design of the building was a real treat to experience. I followed this with a walk of the full length of the High Line, which was not really an OHNY event, but I wanted to see the new extension up to 34th Street. It’s a lot of fun; the trail eases gently down to street level, with no stairs to navigate.

My final Saturday stop was the Bronx Library Center, a building I have been to before for a concert. It was a bit of a bust on Saturday, as I had missed the tours earlier on in the day. Whew!

Starting over on Sunday, I went down to the Lower East Side and caught a really cool experience at the Bullet Space (ask about the name some time). The building is one of the only ten left where the squatters who moved in during the ’70s and ’80s are still (legally) running the building. The ground floor is an art gallery and there are artifacts on display down in the basement. The gal giving us the tour was a blast, and she added a lot of in-the-know information. Unfortunately, when I got to General Theological Seminary I was greeted by a sign that said they were not able to participate this year. It goes on the list for 2015, I guess.

The (rather crowded) tour of the Frick Art Reference Library more than made up for missing out on the seminary. The tour guide was very knowledgeable, and provided a great deal of information on the architects involved and the history of the building, including info on its symbiotic relationship with the Frick Museum. A beautiful place to visit (and it’s free and open to the public year ’round), and we got a special treat by visiting the penthouse and the outdoor terrace, areas not usually open to the public, with beautiful views of Central Park and the West Side.

Upper Manhattan beckoned for the last two sites that I went to. Highbridge Park and Recreation Center had the design work of high school students on display—they designed new changing areas for an outdoor pool (built originally as part of the WPA in the ’30s). The indoor space that was reclaimed was turned into a computer lab and a mixed-use room for the students. This was followed by a Solar Roofpod visit as part of the Architecture department of City University of New York. As part of a design competition, the college students designed and built an 800-square-foot, solar-powered area that includes a resting space (a Murphy Bed®), a compact mechanical room, an open kitchen, and a living room. The unit was designed and built in NYC, then dismantled and shipped to Washington, DC, mantled there (opposite of dismantled doncha know!), then reversed back to NYC. Very interesting, indeed.

As was Open House New York, which will be on my watch list for 2015 and beyond.

ArchitectureMeister

NYCB (10/3/14)

Friday evening found me at Lincoln Center courtesy of WQXR—I managed to win a giveaway to an all-Stravinsky/Balanchine program by New York City Ballet. Maybe a wee too much Stravinsky and Balanchine, but more on that later. 

Apollo, Monumentum pro Gesualdo, Movements for Piano and Orchestra, Duo Concertant, and Agon were the ballets on display, and all were danced quite well as seen by this semi-trained eye. And the orchestra (and instrumental soloists) played very well. From a musical standpoint, I really enjoyed hearing music from the pit without the pit being mostly covered, as is the case with opera and theater performances. While the Stravinsky scores were varied, there was less variation in the Balanchine choreography. This is not to say that the choreography was unvaried, just that the choreographic language developed by Mr. B (as he is known in-house—and I hope I’m not being too presumptuous here) lends itself to more observable repetition than Stravinsky’s compositional styles. And there was certainly variation in the makeup of the casts of the separate ballets.

Apollo was for one male and three females. There were minimal props used (lute, lyre, mask, etc.), and I’m not a big fan of that because the dancers need to set them down on the stage and, to me, they pull too much focus. It’s not that they were in the way of the dancers, they just looked somewhat out of place.

After intermission the next three ballets were performed as a group, with a pause between each. Monumentum had a lead couple plus a corps of six females and six males while Movements had a (different) lead couple and a corps of six (different) females. A note from the program informed me that though these two ballets were composed/choreographed separately, Balanchine paired them at one point, and they have been performed that way since 1966. The piano soloist for Movements was
Alan Moverman. Duo Concertant rounded out this section of the performance, with Arturo Delmoni (violin), Nancy McDill (piano), and Ashley Bouder and Robert Fairchild all sharing the stage and, at times, interacting with each other.

After the second intermission, Agon was presented, with four couples (one featured in the Pas de Deux) and four additional females forming a corps. As noted in the program, there were variations for Four Boys; Eight Girls; Eight Girls, Four Boys; as well as a pair of Pas de Trois movements; the aforementioned Pas de Deux; and finishing with Four Duos, Four Trios, and Four Boys (as a Coda, mirroring the Four Boys from the beginning of the work).

So while there was a variety of groupings, it was the choreographic language that, while unifying, became slightly repetitive. The music for Apollo and Monumentum was fairly mild for Stravinsky; we got the more angular and rhythmic Stravinsky beginning with Movements and Duo Concertant.

As with opera curtain calls, ballet curtain calls have a hierarchy of their own. The assembled company for each ballet bows as the curtain is lowered. Then there’s usually one more company bow, followed by the curtain being pulled back for solo (in this case, mostly duos and small ensemble) bows, *lather, rinse, repeat*. I understand the formality of it; it goes on too long in my opinion. Hey, my blog, my opinion!

It was a very enjoyable evening at the ballet. Thank you, NYCB and WQXR.

ConcertMeister

Songbook, September 2014 (9/29/14)

As a reminder, Songbook is a series of performances of music written by up and coming Broadway/theater composers and lyricists. Monday evening was the opening concert of its 24th season. I’ve only been aware of it for the last five or six years; it is a series that I try to keep my eye on, however.

The songs of Douglas Lyons and Ethan Pakchar were on display here. Compositionally, I liked what I heard, with a few caveats. The musical ideas I found very appealing. Not so much the vocal writing/performing style. It was heavily jazz/rock/R&B tinged which, to me, leads to a lot of distortion of the texts. And if the texts aren’t coming through loud and clear, the message is not making it. Some of this could just be me, as the audience ate up the entire concert.

Mr. Lyons, a musical actor, is currently in Beautiful: The Carole King Musical; Mr. Pakchar is, I believe, currently a pit musician (guitar), but I’m not sure of which show. Mr. Lyons writes both music and lyrics while Mr. Pakchar crafts the music and orchestrations, though I’d bet there’s more teamwork than those brief descriptions let on.

Monday night we heard songs from their debut CD #Love (Live), Unexpected Bliss (a musical currently being worked on), and Five Points (also a musical currently being worked on).

I started by taking notes on each song but then just gave over to listening. Not Meant to Be in Love, from Unexpected Bliss, had a Latin rhythm and was almost patter song–like in style. There were a lot of words crammed in there. Also from Unexpected Bliss, Gold seemed totally original to me, beginning as a slow tempo jazz ballad and then building.

Two songs from #Love (Live) were next, with Let Go having, according to my notes, really good music. The Sexy Song reminded me of a coffee house cum jazz lounge feel and included real backup harmonies.

Favorite Song, from Five Points, purposely had a Billie Holiday/Eartha Kitt style. Beginning with the sixth song I was beginning to lose more and more lyrics, and that seemed to hold true throughout the rest of the show. One more song from Five Points had “the Bordellas” as a Greek chorus behind a Madame from a bordello—a cute idea that worked well. And that’s really the extent of my note taking.

The duo rounded up a great deal of talent for the performances of their songs, including Lillias White, Christine Dwyer, Ashley Blanchet, and others currently on the boards, or recently involved in other theater projects. There was a lot of talent—writing, playing, singing—I just wish I could have heard, understood, and, well, ‘gotten’ more of it.

But as I said, the audience thoroughly enjoyed it, especially because of the powerhouse performances. You’ll be hearing more about Songbook from me in the new season.

ConcertMeister

A Real Twofer (9/27/14)

Thanks to the Smithsonian Institution’s Free Museum Day, I spent a very enjoyable few hours at the Museum of Arts and Design on Saturday morning/afternoon, in the Columbus Circle area. This was my first visit, and it was a real pleasure. I lucked into a docent tour, so I got a good overview of the space and the exhibitions, and then I spent some time revisiting certain areas on my own for more in-depth viewing.

Currently on display are NYC Makers – The MAD Biennial; Maryland to Murano – Neckpieces and Sculptures by Joyce J. Scott; and What Would Mrs. Webb Do? – A Founder’s Vision. The first, NYC Makers, specifically refers to artists as makers, since their creations include functional items as well as pieces designed for display. Makers from all five boroughs are represented. An added bonus gleaned from the docent tour is that some of the displays—the way the pieces are actually laid out—are designed for specific pieces, or are site specific for the Biennial.

The neckpieces display includes beaded items, glass and metals, feathers, etc. There are display cases as well as a multitude of pullout drawers, where additional items are on view.

Mrs. Webb, Aileen Osborn Webb, focused on craftsmanship—she founded the American Craft Council, the School of American Craftsmen, and the World Craft Council. The exhibition also focuses on collected oral histories of American craftsmen (and, of course, women are implied/included in all of these titles) and gold medal award-winning pieces from juried competitions across the years.

One of the things I liked about the museum is its use of light and space. There are also performance venues as well as (and I’m not making this up, you know!) red, green, and blue scratch ’n’ sniff decal-like decorations in the stairwells.

After a quick bite to eat, my next stop was at one of my mainstays, the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts. In the Bruno Walter auditorium I heard a program titled The Sylvan Winds Celebrate Georges Barrère. The base quintet—flute, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, and French horn—was augmented with an additional flute, clarinet, bassoon, and oboe.

Georges Barrère was a French flutist who came to New York, played with the New York Symphony Orchestra (later merged with the New York Philharmonic), and was an influential teacher here in America. He was represented on the program as the arranger of the first piece presented, Suite Miniature, by Poldowski (1879–1932). Poldowski, it seems, was the pseudonym of Belgian-born composer Régine Wieniawski.

The rest of the program included many composers and works that were new to me, but then, wind ensembles are not my strong point. The pieces: Second Suite for wind octet – Theodore Dubois (1837–1924); Fantasia con Fuga, Op. 28 (1908) for flute, oboe, English horn, clarinet, 2 bassoons & horn – Edouard Flament (1880–1958); Miniatures – William Grant Still (1895–1978); Suite for wind quintet (1933) – Henry Cowell (1897–1965); a trio, announced from the stage; and Second Suite for winds, Op. 122 – Charles-Édouard Lefebvre (1843–1917).

The general level of playing was fine, with only one bit of out of tune sustained octaves between the flute and horn—a note here, as I’ve mentioned before, the horn in a wind quintet is a French horn; the English horn referred to above is actually a woodwind with a timbre slightly darker than an oboe, though it is very closely related.

The program went on a bit too long, especially as the last piece had a more formidable structure with larger, longer movements. All in all, though, a nice concert as the end of a real twofer.

ConcertMeister