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.
ConcertMeister
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