A-One, A-Two, A-Three (1/28–30/17)

Nope, not Lawrence Welk. Three concerts in three days — Pierre Bernac’s Library, A Tribute to Francis Poulenc; JACK Quartet; and Arts and Artists of Tomorrow (also known as Songbook).

The Bernac Tribute was a bit odd. As it turns out, Pierre Bernac was a baritone who premiered quite a few of Poulenc’s songs, and he left his papers (including many Poulenc manuscripts) to the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts. Unfortunately, that was not printed anywhere; it had to be gleaned from announcements from the stage. Awkward packaging, at best.

Katherine Whyte (soprano), James Danner (tenor), Michael Kelly (baritone), and Alexander Tall (baritone) presented a varied afternoon concert of Poulenc’s songs, all more than ably accompanied by Matthew Odell (piano). Clocking in at fifty-two songs in eleven different sets, obviously not everything can be covered here. While I don’t normally offer reviews, per se, I did enjoy Mr. Kelly’s offerings more than the others. I think that's partially because, at least in this exposure to Poulenc’s song oeuvre, the baritones fared better than the higher voices. Mr. Kelly was smooth and engaging throughout the afternoon, while
Mr. Tall was very expressive, and connected with the audience a little better.
Mr. Danner acquitted himself well but Ms. Whyte suffered a bit from the extreme ranges and spikiness of Poulenc’s writing. That said, hearing fifty-two Poulenc art songs in one afternoon was a wonderful treat. Unfortunately, the printed program listed Poulenc’s dates (twice!) as 1899–1863. Yes, he was decomposing before our eyes. (He died in 1963.)

JACK Quartet (Christopher Otto, violin; Austin Wulliman, violin; John Pickford Richards, viola; Jay Campbell, cello) played at the Brooklyn Public Library’s Central Library as part of the Carnegie Hall Neighborhood Concerts series. Hmmm, the initials of their first names no longer spell JACK, but I digress. Part of JACK’s mission is to share “the thrills of new music with audiences,” and that was certainly on display Sunday afternoon.

String Quartet (1931) – Rubato assai, Leggiero, Andante, Allegro possible –
Ruth Crawford Seeger (1901–1953)
Intonations (2016) – Harmonica, Hymn/Homily, Hustle – Derek Bermel
(b. 1967)
Early that summer (1993) – Julia Wolfe (b. 1958)
ST/4-1,080262 (1962) – Iannis Xenakis (1922–2001)

My notes will be from memory, as JACK plays with the house lights completely darkened, and I’m not one of those audience members who use electronic devices during concerts—no cell phone flashlight function for me, thank you. The Seeger was very modern in terms of musical styling. There was lots of dissonance and not much in the way of distinguishable tunes. The four movements were fairly distinct, so at least we knew when to applaud at the end. I don’t know the history of this composer or piece, but I’m pretty sure I would not seek it out again.

The Bermel was much more representative—the quartet imitated harmonica playing beautifully—and was quite humorous at times. Hymn/Homily and Hustle weren’t quite as representative but they were both enjoyable to listen to. In addition to hearing living composers on the program, Mr. Bermel was in the audience, and spoke briefly about his piece before it was played. (If I’m remembering correctly, the piece was written for JACK.) The Wolfe and Xenakis were not nearly as enjoyable for me. The Wolfe, in fact, was of the scratchy, repetitive, Philip Glass–esque variety that almost put me to sleep at times. The Xenakis wasn’t quite as grating, but it also wasn’t something that I would choose to listen to again, though I would probably give JACK another try again (I know I’ve heard them at least once before).

January’s Songbook presented a very good sampling of the music and lyrics of Michael Finke. There were fourteen selections on display, all presented by gung-ho performers—some just breaking in to the business, some seasoned performers, and some current and recent Broadway performers—all volunteering their time and talent. That goes for Nils-Petter Ankarblom, the music director (piano) and his small band made up of bass (electric), guitar (electric), cello, violin and drums. (Apologies for not mentioning the names of every performer.) A stand-alone song, Me and My Cartoon Friends, was a kid’s-eye view of a Saturday morning. I liked it a lot, but the style of composition, as well as the orchestration and the sheer volume, led to lyrics getting lost. It’s based on the true story of a Chinese boy cutting a workman’s rope one Saturday morning because the noise was interfering with his cartoons on TV!

Two songs from Caroline and George were very well composed, very well thought out, and very well performed. In Flying around the Room, George IV of England is dealing with Parliament by just, well, getting high (sniffing cocaine?) and being figuratively above it all. In A Man Named George, George’s mistresses (both he and Caroline, his wife, are philanderers) are preparing to spread the dirt about the dastardly George when it is learned that he is trying to enact a law that would let him divorce her. It turns out that a lot of their husbands are also in Parliament with George. From hearing these two songs, this sounds like a show that I would be interested in seeing. While Mr. Finke’s writing that was on display throughout the evening was enjoyable, these were two of the strongest examples, in my opinion.

Mr. Finke draws a lot of his material from true events, and this held with two songs from Reporting Live, a musical based on Christine Chubbuck, who staged her own suicide on live TV. Swim Forever was sung by the reporter’s mother, who never got to say her goodbye but who also fiercely loved her daughter. Hold Me Closer, the finale of the musical, was also the finale of Monday evening’s performance. With its strong sentiments that happiness is always available/attainable and the refrain of “I can breathe,” this was both powerful and effective.

Three songs from Hurricane, a musical about a group of people and how they get through waiting out the storm, were interesting. Described as a sung-through show, it’s hard for me to tell how effective the whole thing would be. But it wasn’t all disasters—America’s Next Top 20-Something, that opened the show, was very amusing and very real. And A Walk by the River, with its classic singer/
songwriter feel, was nicely played and sung from the piano by Mr. Finke. This was a strong Songbook.

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Brahms Encounters – Romantic Spirit (1/21/17)

Siwoo Kim (violin), Rachel Kudo (piano), Paul Won Jin Cho (clarinet), Julian Schwartz (cello)

Scherzo in C minor, F-A-E Sonata – Johannes Brahms (1833–1897)
Clarinet Trio in A minor, Op. 114 – Allegro, Adagio, Andante grazioso, Allegro – Brahms
Piano Trio No. 2 in C Major, Op 87 – Allegro, Andante con moto, Scherzo, Presto, Finale, Allegro giocoso – Brahms

I have mixed feelings about this Brahms Encounters series. It’s interesting in that a staff member from the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts has some conversation with the players during the concert. Sometimes it works, sometimes (like Saturday afternoon) it seems a little forced and a little flat. I did like starting off the concert with a single movement from a larger work. The scherzo from the Violin Sonata was brisk and pleasant and, at times, fairly familiar to me. There was really beautiful playing from both musicians.

The Clarinet Trio began with solo cello, soon joined by the clarinet and piano. It was oddly sedate for an allegro, perhaps shaded by its minor key, although that also lent a depth of feeling. The adagio was very calm yet still very pretty, without seeming to be too much of a downer. Throughout, there was good interplay between all three collaborators. Including strumming the cello, almost like a lute, the andante had a gentle, dance-like feeling—even in the louder, fuller sections, there was a certain gentility. The finale was more boisterous, but still restrained and refined, until it finally did bust loose.

The somewhat misnamed Piano Trio—throughout, the piano was a support, but equal-if-less-than-featured—also started off with a subdued opening. It, too, featured the lute-like strumming of the cello strings and had lots of unison/octave writing that would figure in all four movements. After retuning, the andante had octaves again, and the forward motion of the ‘con moto’ was very evident. There was more of a Romantic feel, especially in the piano writing, although overall, andante was more of an inherent musical sense rather than just tempo. The movement had a lovely and haunting ending. The third movement was a bright, brisk, energetic scherzo that then relaxed a bit. After periodically featuring octaves again, it had a slightly abrupt ending. There was a broad, full and positive feel to the final movement. I wanted to say sunny, but cheerful seemed to fit better.

There was beautiful playing all afternoon and, excepting the slightly clunky conversation portion, a well-planned concert experience. Don’t get me wrong—sometimes the conversation portion works just fine. This one didn’t seem to click.

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Hunter (1/12/2017)

What the heck is Hunter? Well, it’s sort of a ‘concept’ jazz group. Philip Yaeger, trombone and composition, put together a sextet with some of his favorite players—Martin Eberle, trumpet; Andreas Broger, saxophone, clarinet; David Cinquegrana, guitar; Nathan Peck, bass; and Yonadav Halevy, drums. If some of those names don't quite seem to go together, there’s a reason for that.

Mr. Yaeger is American but has lived in Vienna for the past ten or so years. Messrs. Eberle and Broger are Austrian, and Messrs. Cinquegrana, Peck, and Halevy are American of varied backgrounds. That said, they all know their jazz. The concert was sponsored by that Austrian Cultural Forum New York and took place in their nifty concert hall on East 52nd Street. On top of that, this concert was their world premiere performance. They spent the five days before the concert getting to know each other, practicing, and recording a CD for release later this year. Busy fellows.

All of the pieces were announced from the stage. The titles, though, didn’t really mean a lot to me—Spindrift, In Three, [unnamed] ballad, and Spindrift II. Oh, and they just happened to have an encore, Kingdom Come, handy. Their playing was fine but I found the compositions themselves to be a little strange. The first was slightly mesmerizing, with layered sounds above an ostinato rhythm loop for the guitar. Also, it was very loud. Really, really loud. In Three featured the bass player and was okay, but I didn’t get a sense of three at all. Some of Mr. Yaeger’s composing techniques were quite good, if a bit transparent and obvious. They just didn’t seem to jell into something that I found very enjoyable.

I liked the ballad better, mostly because it was quieter and a little more structured—at least a structure that I found more enjoyable. It began with a sort of traditional chorale feel, then morphed into a breakout bridge section, and then ended up raucous. In fact, raucous is the word that best describes the entire evening. Spindrift II was a lot like Spindrift.

Good techniques, good musicians, not a great concert experience for me. Once again, I’m glad that I went and expanded my musical horizons a little bit, but I wish I had enjoyed it better. Live and learn.

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p.s. For those of you wondering, I’ve been ’Meistering now since October 1, 2011.

Midday Masterpieces (1/4/17)

Happy New Year! Midday Masterpieces is a concert series sponsored by WQXR (NYC’s classical music radio station) in partnership with the Juilliard School of Music. This version was a solo pianist, Drew Peterson, who (I believe) is in the graduate program. One of my least favorite aspects of this series is that there is not a printed program. My notes for the first work were, Invention? Suite? Nope.

J.S. Bach – Toccata in F-sharp minor, BWV 910
Schumann – Humoreske in B-flat major, Op. 20
Liszt – La Leggierezza, S. 144/2
Liszt – Mazeppa, S. 139/4

OK, I was close. The Bach had some nice contrapuntal lines weaving in and out and back and forth, but they weren’t cohesive, like one of the suites or even one of the inventions. Still the piece had pleasant contrasts and held my interest very well.

Schumann’s Humoreske also seemed steeped in the vignette. I haven’t explored on line yet, but it seemed to me as though there were five or six mini-movements. I may report back later. Or I may not. [UPDATE: Once again, I was darned close. I pegged at six movements. In reality, there are seven.] The opening was very gentle, definitely in the Romantic style, yet still subdued, followed by brisk and happy variations. (This piece was new to my ears, but judging by the head nods and fingers moving on thighs and knees, the piece and certain audience members seemed to be old friends.) A couple of the movements had expressive, song-like qualities. The next to last movement, a presto, almost caused an audience faux pas—applause almost broke out—until the pianist finished it and the final movement. This was clearly the showcase presentation of the concert.

After a phone chime {{ahem!}}, we heard the first of the Liszt études, La Leggierezza. From Liszt’s own program notes, we learned that it was designed to be a study in ‘light and airy’—though it also incorporated the requisite Liszt pyrotechnics.

Mazeppa was far more dramatic, and Mr. Peterson’s description (very Jeff Spurgeon-like) included the fact(s?) that it might be based on Turkish folklore. Or Polish. And that Mazeppa (the man, not the composition, or the stripper) was lauded by the Turks (or Poles) for surviving a harrowing ride through the desert (which may or may not have happened). But I digress. The work was a fine example of Liszt’s craft and even hearkened back to the song-like structures of Schumann.

As it turned out, we were an appreciative audience experiencing a very fine concert performance. This is an ongoing series, and I’m already booked to attend the Feb. 1 iteration (first Wednesday of each month, through June). Very much worth a midday day off, to attend a performance of a masterwork or two.

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