Glendalys Sosa, vocals; Joe Sherman, clarinet and saxophone; John Austria, piano
Hmm, how best to describe this? It was sort of like the background music you might hear at a wedding reception. It wasn’t fine music making but it was fun music making. Ms. Sosa had a pleasant enough voice. Surprisingly, the clarinet and saxophone almost overpowered the performance space (an auditorium at the Bronx Library Center). Mr. Austria provided the perfect amount of support—at one point, I realized that he was playing really well but it was so unobtrusive that it didn’t register as really good playing.
There was no printed program. The songs were so recognizable, though, that I think I jotted them all down. In order, we heard All of Me, You Make Me Feel So Young, and That Old Feeling, all with piano, vocals, and sax. With a switch to clarinet, we heard I’ll Never Smile Again and You Do Something to Me before switching back to the sax for I’ve Got You Under My Skin, You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To, and You’d Be So Easy to Love, as a mini-Cole Porter set.
In some ways, this program was a labor of love on the part of Mr. Sherman, as he was the source of all of the Sinatra memorabilia (several record sleeves) and related back stories to some of the songs. From Sinatra’s Come Dance with Me LP, we heard a jazzed up version of I Could Have Danced All Night, with a phrase of Come Dance with Me inserted in the middle.
In a Count Basie arrangement, we heard Fly Me to the Moon. And along the way, we heard The Days of Wine and Roses and The Summer Wind, the latter sung by Mr. Sherman with Ms. Sosa as his ‘doo-be-doo-be-doo’ backup singer. Next up was a Billy May arrangement of Come Fly with Me, followed by a Jimmy Van Heusen/Sammy Cahn ballad All the Way.
Rounding out the afternoon were Witchcraft and Young at Heart. The very appreciative audience of about fifty people also heard They Can’t Take That Away from Me as a well deserved encore. A fun afternoon in the Bronx.
ConcertMeister
Tuesday, August 28, 2018
Friday, August 24, 2018
Shakespeare in the Park (8/19/18)
Yes, the famous one. I finally decided to do the full-on Shakespeare in the Park experience, so I got to Central Park around 8:20am on Sunday. The line was not too long, so I plopped myself down under the overhang at the Delacorte Theater (a good thing, because it was drizzly and rainy) and took out my book to read. (Tickets are distributed beginning at noon and I came prepared with book, snacks, and water.) Some of the folks in line seemed to be regulars, and at one point someone mentioned that they were glad they weren’t in the other line. “Other line?” Oops, I actually asked it out loud. Apparently I was in the seniors line. Being a savvy New Yorker, I inquired as to what the Public Theater considered a senior. The answer was sixty-five and up, and they checked ID. Drat. Even though it was my birthday, I was only turning sixty-four. So after spending close to forty-five minutes in the wrong line, I joined the much longer ‘regular folks’ line. Long (really long) story short, I was in the select group that did get tickets, and I was out of the park by a little before 1pm.
I returned in the evening for my third al fresco Twelfth Night of this summer. Entering the amphitheater, I noticed a big crowd onstage already. And then I saw audience members joining them. It was closing night of the production so I thought maybe this was something special but I learned that this happened at every performance.
It seems that this Twelfth Night was a musical adaptation that had been presented a while back as part of the Public Works program that uses local community actors, dancers, and singers as parts of a very large ensemble. It’s a worthy project but I didn’t know about that aspect of this adaptation ahead of time.
And quite an adaptation it was. Most of the dialogue was Shakespeare’s but the music was all new, with lyrics that were decidedly not Shakespeare’s. Duke Orsino’s ‘If music be the food of love’ became an all-singing, all-dancing opening number. It was nice but it seemed out of place to me. All of the principals did a good job—although, oddly, the twins (Viola/Cesario and Sebastian) were nowhere near the same height. You’d think Olivia, or some of the others, might notice something like that when seeing ‘Sebastian’ a couple of times in quick succession. Malvolio had two or three nice music hall/vaudeville songs that were the hit of the evening, as far as I was concerned. Alas, the Playbill did not include a list of musical numbers, so I can’t give you any titles.
The plot was fairly clear, even with the addition of large crowd scenes, but the juxtaposition of Shakespeare versus non-Shakespeare sections was jarring pretty much every time. That and the lack of the iconic ending—‘That’s all one, our play is done’—were my most unhappy quibbles. However, my inaugural Shakespeare in the Park experience was a good one and I’ll most likely do it again in the future.
That’s all one, my post is done / and I’ll strive to please you every day! (Well, every post, at least.)
ConcertMeister
I returned in the evening for my third al fresco Twelfth Night of this summer. Entering the amphitheater, I noticed a big crowd onstage already. And then I saw audience members joining them. It was closing night of the production so I thought maybe this was something special but I learned that this happened at every performance.
It seems that this Twelfth Night was a musical adaptation that had been presented a while back as part of the Public Works program that uses local community actors, dancers, and singers as parts of a very large ensemble. It’s a worthy project but I didn’t know about that aspect of this adaptation ahead of time.
And quite an adaptation it was. Most of the dialogue was Shakespeare’s but the music was all new, with lyrics that were decidedly not Shakespeare’s. Duke Orsino’s ‘If music be the food of love’ became an all-singing, all-dancing opening number. It was nice but it seemed out of place to me. All of the principals did a good job—although, oddly, the twins (Viola/Cesario and Sebastian) were nowhere near the same height. You’d think Olivia, or some of the others, might notice something like that when seeing ‘Sebastian’ a couple of times in quick succession. Malvolio had two or three nice music hall/vaudeville songs that were the hit of the evening, as far as I was concerned. Alas, the Playbill did not include a list of musical numbers, so I can’t give you any titles.
The plot was fairly clear, even with the addition of large crowd scenes, but the juxtaposition of Shakespeare versus non-Shakespeare sections was jarring pretty much every time. That and the lack of the iconic ending—‘That’s all one, our play is done’—were my most unhappy quibbles. However, my inaugural Shakespeare in the Park experience was a good one and I’ll most likely do it again in the future.
That’s all one, my post is done / and I’ll strive to please you every day! (Well, every post, at least.)
ConcertMeister
Tuesday, August 21, 2018
Rite of Summer Music Festival (8/18/18)
Collaborative Arts Ensemble
Jocelyn Zhu, violin; Matthew Maimone, piano; Thomas West, baritone, piano; Jasminn Johnson, vocals, dance
Letters from the American South
Shenandoah – Traditional
Excursions, Op. 20, No. 1 (Un Poco Allegro) – Samuel Barber (1910–1981)
Four Souvenirs: For Violin and Piano – Movement I: Samba – Paul Schoenfield (b. 1947)
Memories (Part 1) – Charles Ives (1874–1954)
Grief – William Grant Still (1895–1978)
Orange Blossom Special – Johnny Cash (1932–2003)
Daybreak in Alabama – Ricky Ian Gordon (b. 1956)
American Lullaby – Gladys Rich (1904–1994)
Georgia on My Mind – Hoagy Carmichael (1899–1981)
Hard Times Come Again No More – Stephen Foster (1826–1864)
Texts for readings: Emma Lazarus (1849–1887); Harper Lee (1926–2016); Maya Angelou (1928–2014); Richard Grant (b. 1956); Brené Brown (b. 1956); Jasminn Johnson (b. 1993)
Collaborative Arts Ensemble (a new organization established in 2017) has a mission of involving text, music, and physical movement into an expansion of the typical concert. For the most part, it worked. As seen above, the musical selections were quite eclectic. The readings, while also eclectic, were not actually listed in the printed program, so we didn’t know whose words were being used or where, which was a little disappointing for me. The texts ranged from commentary about the obvious and still present racism in the south, with references to slavery, but also about the inherent ‘good neighbor’ feeling that also exists in the south. And the readings were sometimes solo affairs and sometimes group efforts, which proved a bit clunky at times.
With ten musical entries, I’ll hit the ones that were highlights for me. If you have any questions about others that I don’t get to here, feel free to contact me and I’ll expand. Shenandoah began with solo violin (Ms. Zhu) that was then joined by piano (Mr. Maimone). Pleasant enough, it eventually served as underscoring for a spoken introduction by Mr. West and Ms. Johnson that laid out the quest for the scope of the afternoon.
Excursions (for solo piano) was rapid, modern, very interesting, and intriguing, with jazzy rhythms. Some of the most enjoyable Barber I’ve heard in a long time. The Samba movement that followed a reading was also very modern, once again with driving rhythms, and hints of dance forms—hello! it’s called Samba!
Mr. West acquitted himself quite well with Memories, a sort of fun patter-like song that he sang while embedded in the audience. Orange Blossom Special was a little touch of country, very fast, almost (but not quite) making it into foot-stomping territory.
The rest of the second half of the program seemed to lack a bit of focus, and while a brief a cappella section of Hard Times Come Again No More was effective, the piece didn’t quite make it as a concert ender. One of the nice things about the Rite of Summer concerts, performed on Governors Island, is that the 1pm performance is repeated at 3pm. I considered sticking around for round two but ended up deciding on the 2:30pm ferry back to Manhattan. And a rain shower hit right around that time. I hope the performers had a successful second iteration of the program. This was the last of the Rite of Summer concerts for this season—alas, the only one I made it to this year. I’ll have to be more on the ball with scheduling next summer.
ConcertMeister
Jocelyn Zhu, violin; Matthew Maimone, piano; Thomas West, baritone, piano; Jasminn Johnson, vocals, dance
Letters from the American South
Shenandoah – Traditional
Excursions, Op. 20, No. 1 (Un Poco Allegro) – Samuel Barber (1910–1981)
Four Souvenirs: For Violin and Piano – Movement I: Samba – Paul Schoenfield (b. 1947)
Memories (Part 1) – Charles Ives (1874–1954)
Grief – William Grant Still (1895–1978)
Orange Blossom Special – Johnny Cash (1932–2003)
Daybreak in Alabama – Ricky Ian Gordon (b. 1956)
American Lullaby – Gladys Rich (1904–1994)
Georgia on My Mind – Hoagy Carmichael (1899–1981)
Hard Times Come Again No More – Stephen Foster (1826–1864)
Texts for readings: Emma Lazarus (1849–1887); Harper Lee (1926–2016); Maya Angelou (1928–2014); Richard Grant (b. 1956); Brené Brown (b. 1956); Jasminn Johnson (b. 1993)
Collaborative Arts Ensemble (a new organization established in 2017) has a mission of involving text, music, and physical movement into an expansion of the typical concert. For the most part, it worked. As seen above, the musical selections were quite eclectic. The readings, while also eclectic, were not actually listed in the printed program, so we didn’t know whose words were being used or where, which was a little disappointing for me. The texts ranged from commentary about the obvious and still present racism in the south, with references to slavery, but also about the inherent ‘good neighbor’ feeling that also exists in the south. And the readings were sometimes solo affairs and sometimes group efforts, which proved a bit clunky at times.
With ten musical entries, I’ll hit the ones that were highlights for me. If you have any questions about others that I don’t get to here, feel free to contact me and I’ll expand. Shenandoah began with solo violin (Ms. Zhu) that was then joined by piano (Mr. Maimone). Pleasant enough, it eventually served as underscoring for a spoken introduction by Mr. West and Ms. Johnson that laid out the quest for the scope of the afternoon.
Excursions (for solo piano) was rapid, modern, very interesting, and intriguing, with jazzy rhythms. Some of the most enjoyable Barber I’ve heard in a long time. The Samba movement that followed a reading was also very modern, once again with driving rhythms, and hints of dance forms—hello! it’s called Samba!
Mr. West acquitted himself quite well with Memories, a sort of fun patter-like song that he sang while embedded in the audience. Orange Blossom Special was a little touch of country, very fast, almost (but not quite) making it into foot-stomping territory.
The rest of the second half of the program seemed to lack a bit of focus, and while a brief a cappella section of Hard Times Come Again No More was effective, the piece didn’t quite make it as a concert ender. One of the nice things about the Rite of Summer concerts, performed on Governors Island, is that the 1pm performance is repeated at 3pm. I considered sticking around for round two but ended up deciding on the 2:30pm ferry back to Manhattan. And a rain shower hit right around that time. I hope the performers had a successful second iteration of the program. This was the last of the Rite of Summer concerts for this season—alas, the only one I made it to this year. I’ll have to be more on the ball with scheduling next summer.
ConcertMeister
Tuesday, August 14, 2018
Silents Are Golden … Sort Of (8/11/18)
The Bond (1918) – Charlie Chaplin
The Circus (1928) – Charlie Chaplin
The Silent Clowns Film Series
The Bond is a propaganda film short that was made to help sell US Liberty Bonds, in support of World War I. In a first, and only, for Chaplin, the set was all black and had minimal props and furniture that were all white. There were four vignettes describing the bond of friendship, romance, marriage, and patriotic support. At first, Chaplin shares some good times with a friend (Albert Austin), but the friend keeps pulling Charlie back to jawbone some more. In the second, Charlie meets his love (Edna Purviance), and marries her in the third. In the fourth, Charlie urges regular everyday Americans to buy Liberty Bonds in order to knock out the Kaiser (Sydney Chaplin). Charlie knocks out the Kaiser more than one time, for good measure. This short was filmed in a brief amount of time while Chaplin and company were working on another film, and it was distributed to movie theaters for free. It was one of many bond efforts entered into by stars of stage and screen. A fun movie for a worthy cause.
The Circus is a very funny movie that has lots of history associated with it. The 1928 film was never re-released until 1968, due to Chaplin holding on to it for a variety of reasons. When it was re-released, it had a score written by Chaplin, in which he also recorded the vocals to the song that played over the title credits and conducted the orchestra. And he insisted that the film only be shown with that score. An interesting side note is that Chaplin’s original idea was to hire a local, well-known singer for the title credits song for each venue. Oona Chaplin convinced/coerced Charlie into recording a ‘demo’ for the score, and it stuck.
But the film itself! Charlie’s Little Tramp character joins a circus as a clown, though his audition is abysmal. It seems that he can only be funny when he’s not trying. And in those instances he is very funny. At one point, he enters a hall of mirrors (think of those three angled mirrors in a fitting room) that reflects him over and over again, to the point where he can’t tell which is the real him and which is only a reflection. It was laugh-out-loud funny. In another scene, he inadvertently exposes all of the tricks behind the magician’s act, to the utter delight of the circus audience (and us too) and he manages to make a humorous routine by the regular circus clowns even funnier. The mirrors make a return appearance when the Tramp is being hounded by a policeman who follows him into one more of the other clowns’ routine. This time around, the Tramp has a better handle on what’s real, which puts the policeman at a distinct disadvantage. It’s funny all over again.
OK, now for the plot. The Tramp falls for the daughter of the ringmaster but she eventually falls for a newer circus employee, a wirewalker. The Tramp decides to learn and mimic the new fellow’s act and, indeed, has to go on for him as a pseudo-understudy. He bribes a stagehand to rig him up with an invisible harness, so he feels safe, even though he really doesn’t know the ins and outs of the entire routine. The harness works wonders, and he delights the crowd. However, a few monkeys come out and monkey around with him on the high wire and unhitch the harness—but the Tramp is unaware of it. When he learns what’s really going on, he cuts to the chase and ends the routine. There’s some really funny stuff here.
The love triangle and the ringmaster’s cruel treatment of his daughter lead to the Tramp being fired. The daughter runs away from the circus—and that gets a laugh when her ‘dialogue’ frame of the film pops up—but the Tramp knows that he can never assume responsibility nor provide for her. He goes back to the circus, explains it all to the wirewalker, convinces him to marry the daughter, and all three return and confront the ringmaster, who threatens the girl again. The wirewalker informs him that he has married her and will not tolerate that behavior anymore. The ringmaster acquiesces, all three are back with the circus, and as it heads out of town to the next engagement, the Tramp decides to stay behind. He makes his jaunty walk away from us as the film shrinks down to that ever-smaller circle and fades to black. It is very poignant yet also uplifting.
The ‘Sort Of’ referred to in the blog title is because there were some mechanical problems with the beginning of the second reel, where sound and sight were out of sync (or stopped altogether) and the reel had to be rethreaded and started all over. But the projector operator was a trouper and all was right, eventually. What a treat to see this relatively unknown comic masterpiece.
The regular kudos go to Ben Model (playing piano accompaniment for The Bond), Bruce Lawton (for extensive notes about The Circus), and Steve Massa (for program notes on The Bond).
This was the most laughter I’ve heard in a movie theater in a long, long time.
ConcertMeister
The Circus (1928) – Charlie Chaplin
The Silent Clowns Film Series
The Bond is a propaganda film short that was made to help sell US Liberty Bonds, in support of World War I. In a first, and only, for Chaplin, the set was all black and had minimal props and furniture that were all white. There were four vignettes describing the bond of friendship, romance, marriage, and patriotic support. At first, Chaplin shares some good times with a friend (Albert Austin), but the friend keeps pulling Charlie back to jawbone some more. In the second, Charlie meets his love (Edna Purviance), and marries her in the third. In the fourth, Charlie urges regular everyday Americans to buy Liberty Bonds in order to knock out the Kaiser (Sydney Chaplin). Charlie knocks out the Kaiser more than one time, for good measure. This short was filmed in a brief amount of time while Chaplin and company were working on another film, and it was distributed to movie theaters for free. It was one of many bond efforts entered into by stars of stage and screen. A fun movie for a worthy cause.
The Circus is a very funny movie that has lots of history associated with it. The 1928 film was never re-released until 1968, due to Chaplin holding on to it for a variety of reasons. When it was re-released, it had a score written by Chaplin, in which he also recorded the vocals to the song that played over the title credits and conducted the orchestra. And he insisted that the film only be shown with that score. An interesting side note is that Chaplin’s original idea was to hire a local, well-known singer for the title credits song for each venue. Oona Chaplin convinced/coerced Charlie into recording a ‘demo’ for the score, and it stuck.
But the film itself! Charlie’s Little Tramp character joins a circus as a clown, though his audition is abysmal. It seems that he can only be funny when he’s not trying. And in those instances he is very funny. At one point, he enters a hall of mirrors (think of those three angled mirrors in a fitting room) that reflects him over and over again, to the point where he can’t tell which is the real him and which is only a reflection. It was laugh-out-loud funny. In another scene, he inadvertently exposes all of the tricks behind the magician’s act, to the utter delight of the circus audience (and us too) and he manages to make a humorous routine by the regular circus clowns even funnier. The mirrors make a return appearance when the Tramp is being hounded by a policeman who follows him into one more of the other clowns’ routine. This time around, the Tramp has a better handle on what’s real, which puts the policeman at a distinct disadvantage. It’s funny all over again.
OK, now for the plot. The Tramp falls for the daughter of the ringmaster but she eventually falls for a newer circus employee, a wirewalker. The Tramp decides to learn and mimic the new fellow’s act and, indeed, has to go on for him as a pseudo-understudy. He bribes a stagehand to rig him up with an invisible harness, so he feels safe, even though he really doesn’t know the ins and outs of the entire routine. The harness works wonders, and he delights the crowd. However, a few monkeys come out and monkey around with him on the high wire and unhitch the harness—but the Tramp is unaware of it. When he learns what’s really going on, he cuts to the chase and ends the routine. There’s some really funny stuff here.
The love triangle and the ringmaster’s cruel treatment of his daughter lead to the Tramp being fired. The daughter runs away from the circus—and that gets a laugh when her ‘dialogue’ frame of the film pops up—but the Tramp knows that he can never assume responsibility nor provide for her. He goes back to the circus, explains it all to the wirewalker, convinces him to marry the daughter, and all three return and confront the ringmaster, who threatens the girl again. The wirewalker informs him that he has married her and will not tolerate that behavior anymore. The ringmaster acquiesces, all three are back with the circus, and as it heads out of town to the next engagement, the Tramp decides to stay behind. He makes his jaunty walk away from us as the film shrinks down to that ever-smaller circle and fades to black. It is very poignant yet also uplifting.
The ‘Sort Of’ referred to in the blog title is because there were some mechanical problems with the beginning of the second reel, where sound and sight were out of sync (or stopped altogether) and the reel had to be rethreaded and started all over. But the projector operator was a trouper and all was right, eventually. What a treat to see this relatively unknown comic masterpiece.
The regular kudos go to Ben Model (playing piano accompaniment for The Bond), Bruce Lawton (for extensive notes about The Circus), and Steve Massa (for program notes on The Bond).
This was the most laughter I’ve heard in a movie theater in a long, long time.
ConcertMeister
Wednesday, August 8, 2018
Naumburg Orchestral Concerts (7/31/18)
Orchestra of St. Luke’s
Concerto for Strings in C Major, RV 117 (1720/24) – I. Allegro alla Francese; II. Largo; III. Allegro – Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741)
“In Furore Iustissimae Irae,” RV 626 – I. Allegro “In furore iustissimae irae”; II. Recitativo “Miserationem Pater piissime”; III. Largo “Tunc meus fletus evadet laetus”; IV. Allegro “Alleluia”, Sherezade Panthaki, soprano – Vivaldi
Four Seasons (1721–25), Concerto for Violin in E Major (“Spring”); G minor (“Summer”); F Major (“Autumn”); F minor (“Winter”), Krista Bennion Feeney, violin – Vivaldi
This final concert of the Naumburg Concerts series was an all-strings affair, with a harpsichord added for a couple of the pieces, on an all-Vivaldi program. The first movement of the opening piece was gentle and lilting and had some nice harpsichord touches. The second movement was slower but still retained the delicate, gentle feel, and was surprisingly brief. The third was much quicker and bright, without being overpowering. The entire piece was a pleasant opener for the concert.
The second work was described from the stage as a motet, but it seemed to me as though it was a solo cantata for soprano and strings. The first movement had characteristic Vivaldi rhythms and sounds, including the rapid bowing of strings to create rhythmic excitement and energy. There was a good balance between the conductor-less orchestra and the vocal soloist. It was a straightforward structure with an ‘A’ section followed by a contrasting ‘B’ section and then a return to ‘A’. The vocal writing had a lot of tricky runs and melismas—many notes and phrases on a single vowel sound. The second was calmer, with a simpler setting of text. A ringing phone at the end of the second movement was a distraction for some audience members though it did not seem to affect the performers. The third movement was also very calm, with the text laid out clearly and cleanly. I took a few moments to put my head back and just watch cotton-puff clouds float by overhead. There was a little more embellishment in the middle section while the repeat of the first section included added flashy touches. The final movement was very brisk and celebratory and contained a great many runs and melismas that Ms. Panthaki tossed off quite easily and beautifully.
The second half of the concert was a presentation of all four of Vivaldi’s Seasons. In a sort of nod to Peter and the Wolf, or a Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, the WQXR host, Terrance McKnight, had the soloist play some of the individual themes of each piece and give a description of a sort of ‘program’ associated with each of the four. It worked pretty well. Some of the movements would probably seem very familiar to many of you, but it was nice to hear each three-movement piece fully realized and played straight through. The concertmaster (not Meister—and in this case, the master was female) played all of the solos in all four of the individual Concertos and did a great job. I just sat back and enjoyed all four.
It was a fitting way to end a summer season of concerts, and I fully plan to be in attendance next summer for Naumburg’s 114th season.
ConcertMeister
Concerto for Strings in C Major, RV 117 (1720/24) – I. Allegro alla Francese; II. Largo; III. Allegro – Antonio Vivaldi (1678–1741)
“In Furore Iustissimae Irae,” RV 626 – I. Allegro “In furore iustissimae irae”; II. Recitativo “Miserationem Pater piissime”; III. Largo “Tunc meus fletus evadet laetus”; IV. Allegro “Alleluia”, Sherezade Panthaki, soprano – Vivaldi
Four Seasons (1721–25), Concerto for Violin in E Major (“Spring”); G minor (“Summer”); F Major (“Autumn”); F minor (“Winter”), Krista Bennion Feeney, violin – Vivaldi
This final concert of the Naumburg Concerts series was an all-strings affair, with a harpsichord added for a couple of the pieces, on an all-Vivaldi program. The first movement of the opening piece was gentle and lilting and had some nice harpsichord touches. The second movement was slower but still retained the delicate, gentle feel, and was surprisingly brief. The third was much quicker and bright, without being overpowering. The entire piece was a pleasant opener for the concert.
The second work was described from the stage as a motet, but it seemed to me as though it was a solo cantata for soprano and strings. The first movement had characteristic Vivaldi rhythms and sounds, including the rapid bowing of strings to create rhythmic excitement and energy. There was a good balance between the conductor-less orchestra and the vocal soloist. It was a straightforward structure with an ‘A’ section followed by a contrasting ‘B’ section and then a return to ‘A’. The vocal writing had a lot of tricky runs and melismas—many notes and phrases on a single vowel sound. The second was calmer, with a simpler setting of text. A ringing phone at the end of the second movement was a distraction for some audience members though it did not seem to affect the performers. The third movement was also very calm, with the text laid out clearly and cleanly. I took a few moments to put my head back and just watch cotton-puff clouds float by overhead. There was a little more embellishment in the middle section while the repeat of the first section included added flashy touches. The final movement was very brisk and celebratory and contained a great many runs and melismas that Ms. Panthaki tossed off quite easily and beautifully.
The second half of the concert was a presentation of all four of Vivaldi’s Seasons. In a sort of nod to Peter and the Wolf, or a Young Person’s Guide to the Orchestra, the WQXR host, Terrance McKnight, had the soloist play some of the individual themes of each piece and give a description of a sort of ‘program’ associated with each of the four. It worked pretty well. Some of the movements would probably seem very familiar to many of you, but it was nice to hear each three-movement piece fully realized and played straight through. The concertmaster (not Meister—and in this case, the master was female) played all of the solos in all four of the individual Concertos and did a great job. I just sat back and enjoyed all four.
It was a fitting way to end a summer season of concerts, and I fully plan to be in attendance next summer for Naumburg’s 114th season.
ConcertMeister
Wednesday, August 1, 2018
Shakespeare in the Park (7/29/18)
No, not the famous one. Twelfth Night (sans subtitle—hey, I go with the printed program).
This was presented in Bryant Park by The Drilling Company. Presented for a larger audience than the last one I saw in Central Park, this one had more elaborate sound design, staging, and costume design than the previous one. Still, free is free!
How do I compare thee to a free Shakespeare in the Park production? This one was just as funny, featured fewer Actors' Equity performers (but got the apostrophe right), and made me remember why I came to NYC those oh-so-many years ago. There are good non-Equity actors out there. They love performing. In good productions. Yes, it's hit or miss, but that's theater.
Once again presented intermisionless, we were told that if we needed to move about, not to worry. I did, to avoid the lack of shade from time to time. The plot was very easy to follow and fun to laugh at. The open-air setting made audience laughter a little bit difficult, since the audience was spread out across the lawn and periodically seeking shade.
Still, the love duo, triangle, and double duo played out well, and Feste's "that's all one, our play is done" played out pretty well. But the Boomerang Theater wins that round (see 7/7/18 post).
For the record, I still may try to see the famous Central Park one—which is Twelfth Night!
PlayMeister
p.s. The Drilling Company will be presenting the "Scottish" play weekends in August. Check out their website or the Bryant Park website. (Nope, I'm not going to do all of your work for you.)
This was presented in Bryant Park by The Drilling Company. Presented for a larger audience than the last one I saw in Central Park, this one had more elaborate sound design, staging, and costume design than the previous one. Still, free is free!
How do I compare thee to a free Shakespeare in the Park production? This one was just as funny, featured fewer Actors' Equity performers (but got the apostrophe right), and made me remember why I came to NYC those oh-so-many years ago. There are good non-Equity actors out there. They love performing. In good productions. Yes, it's hit or miss, but that's theater.
Once again presented intermisionless, we were told that if we needed to move about, not to worry. I did, to avoid the lack of shade from time to time. The plot was very easy to follow and fun to laugh at. The open-air setting made audience laughter a little bit difficult, since the audience was spread out across the lawn and periodically seeking shade.
Still, the love duo, triangle, and double duo played out well, and Feste's "that's all one, our play is done" played out pretty well. But the Boomerang Theater wins that round (see 7/7/18 post).
For the record, I still may try to see the famous Central Park one—which is Twelfth Night!
PlayMeister
p.s. The Drilling Company will be presenting the "Scottish" play weekends in August. Check out their website or the Bryant Park website. (Nope, I'm not going to do all of your work for you.)
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