The Fiddler Expanding Tradition (4/25/19)

Kelly Hall-Tompkins in concert
With Joshua Camp, Stephen Benson, and Michael Blanco

First off, a little backstory. Ms. Hall-Tompkins was concertmaster of the 2015 production of Fiddler on the Roof, directed by Bartlett Sher, so she was essentially the Fiddler, and it had a profound effect on her. What we saw Thursday night was a performance of a concert piece developed by Ms. Hall-Tompkins, Oran Eldor (arranger) and Ted Sperling (conductor/orchestrator). This particular performance also made use of some archival artifacts from the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts’ extensive collections.

The music: Fiddler Rhapsody; Matchmaker; Miracle of Miracles; The Dream; Wedding Dance; Do You Love Me?; If I Were a Rich Man; Sabbath Prayer; Chavaleh; Anatevka; Mordcha’s Dance

The Rhapsody began with solo violin (Ms. Hall-Tompkins), joined in order by accordion (Mr. Camp), bass (Mr. Blanco), and guitar (Mr. Benson). Specifically, for the violin, it was a virtuosic rendition of some of the themes/songs from the show, akin to an overture but with more pizazz.

From the stage, Matchmaker was described as, “Fritz Kreisler meets Gene Kelly,” and that pretty much summed it up. (Fritz Kreisler was a violin virtuoso known for his explosive bursts of technique.) Miracle of Miracles was very energetic, but stylized, almost as if it were part of a nightclub or cabaret act.

The Dream captured the humor of the piece as well as a mix of a variety of voices, and it ended softly. Wedding Dance started out with an up tempo klezmer feel (Mr. Benson switched to mandolin here, for a newer, brighter color). The middle section was (as described from the stage) a slow-jam arrangement of the bottle dance segment. This was followed by a return to up tempo, almost bordering on frantic, that finished with a button ending.

There was a solo guitar introduction to Do You Love Me? before the bass entered, as Tevye, answered by the violin, as Golde. The arrangement truly captured the love, in a jazz-ballad style, and was absolutely poignant.

After listening to an audio clip from the Library’s archive (Jerry Bock riffing on the If I Were a Rich Man tune, with just nonsense syllables), Ms. Hall-Tompkins’ introduction stated that this was a concert piece, not really a song. And it was true. It was just the violinist and more Fritz Kreisler–style touches.

The Sabbath Prayer arrangement included themes from other prayer settings, in order to create a fuller piece that also incorporated the Fiddler themes. Chavaleh was both dramatic and incredibly sad, rendered beautifully here. Anatevka also captured the gravity of the situation, and also was extremely beautiful.

If I’m remembering this correctly, Mordcha’s Dance was composed by Mr. Eldor either for the 2015/2016 run of Fiddler, or for this Expanding Tradition project. Whichever is correct, it was brisk, bright, and had a feeling of hope, while also incorporating some of the other Fiddler themes. It was an apt ending to the project and this concert because, really, you can’t end with Chavaleh and Anatevka, even as beautiful as they are.

I had a terrific time hearing this wonderful work while listening to heartfelt memories from Ms. Hall Tompkins. It wasn’t exactly a sing-along, but I’m sure that a lot of folks were singing along in their heads.

ConcertMeister