The Crossroads of the Soul—or “L’Histoire du Soldat” Plus Four

Stravinsky’s “L’Histoire du Soldat” is one of those pieces that I know about—maybe have heard a snippet of—but don’t really know. I do know that this was my first time hearing the entire work; hearing it live was a big plus. Speaking of plus, before we got to “L’Histoire,” we had a four-piece prelude.

The concert started with three brief piano pieces and one piano/violin piece. These were thoroughly connected to each other according to the 32 pages of program notes (that I did not read all of).

The Program

Legenda, No. 6 from Desiat’ P’es, Opus 13 (1913), Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953)
Prelude, from Pour le Piano (1901), Claude Debussy (1862–1918)
Prelude No. 2, from Cinq Preludes, Opus 74, 1915, Alexander Scriabin (1871/2–1915)
Louange à l’immotalité de Jésus, from Quatuor pour la fins du temps (1941), Olivier Messiaen (1908–1992)

L’Histoire du Soldat (1918), Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971) and Charles-Ferdinand Ramuz
(1878–1947)

(whew!)

First, the Prokofiev was a bit subdued (somewhat odd for a concert opener). The Debussy that followed was more fiery and had some characteristic Debussy flourishes—many arpeggios that sounded like a wash of impressionistic sounds (though that was a term that Debussy did not particularly like)—plus some nice sections with block chords; thick sounds that had some heft.

To me, the Scriabin was a bit meandering, and the piece itself was very brief. The Messiaen seemed slightly disjointed—the piano and violin seemed quite independent of each other. And the violin was either playing microtones (just off the pitch) or just off the pitch.

Mary Bopp was the pianist, with Sharon Gunderson as the violinist, who also played in the Stravinsky.

L’Histoire—it was designed as a theater piece for septet, dancers, narrator, and actors. Originally, there were two (or three) actors, narrator, and a principal dancer, plus additional dancers. We got the version with septet and narrator.

The cast: Sharon Gunderson, violin; Wayne Britton, narrator; Lisa Stokes Chin, double bass; Mitch Kriegler, clarinet; Daniel Hane, bassoon; Sandra Coffin, cornet (though it looked like a trumpet to me—must do some research); Mark Broschinsky, trombone; Jay O’Brien, percussion; with John Tarbet conducting.

All played very well and Mr. Tarbet led a very tight ensemble. L’Histoire is probably best described as a morality play, where the protagonist never quite understands the moral. Our soldier makes a deal with the devil, then complains that he didn’t understand the deal. He’d been duped! He gets a second chance and agrees to the new terms. When he breaks the terms of the new contract, he loses all over again. I’m not sure what the moral is, but our soldier definitely loses out.

Stravinsky’s music throughout is very spiky and hard driven rhythmically, just like other ballet scores including Petrouchka and Rite of Spring. The chamber ensemble quality was very interesting—each of the instrumentalists got a chance to shine and there were interesting smaller groupings as well. The percussionist was practically a dancer himself, dealing with shifting rhythms, different drumsticks (including soft-headed sticks) and muffled tambourines plus playing the triangle. Just keeping track of which sticks to use and where they were was a ballet in and of itself.

The narrator did a fine job—including delineated characters—though projecting over the full ensemble was a bit problematic a couple of times. And maybe it was the translation, but it sounded a little Dr. Seuss-y to me at times. I’ll definitely explore a few different recordings. So happy I heard a (for me) first hearing of L’Histoire.

ConcertMeister

The Yeomen of the Guard

This one was a bit bittersweet for me. This operetta (for want of a better word) is one of the lesser-known in the Gilbert & Sullivan canon. I did a production of it many, many years ago, so those memories colored my view of this performance. I saw the New York Gilbert & Sullivan Players at City Center (a beautiful theater) in NYC. I bought a cheap ticket since I was more concerned with hearing the score than seeing and evaluating the entire production.

I was not let down. While my seat had a partially obstructed view, I was able to hear everything just fine.

When I did the show, our “orchestra” was a piano, electric organ, and tympani. This production had a small, but real, orchestra. Our production skipped the overture and substituted an Act II madrigal—“Strange Adventure.” Not a bad trade-off, but hearing the overture live was really great.

The company, while employing quite a few professional actors/singers was a little heavy-handed in the acting category. And I found some of the shift from spoken dialogue into sung sections a little off-putting.

The score doesn’t have any big G&S hits but it did have the requisite trios, ballads, patter songs, double choruses, etc. that you’d expect from a Sullivan score. Hearing them fully orchestrated was a real treat for me. And the vocalists were quite good across the board.

I don’t know the full story behind the NYGASP (as they call themselves) crowd but it seems a bit collegial in that they’re a bunch that have a bit of history, yet a bit of ingrown history, too. Still, the one major set was done quite well, costumes were for the most part executed well (there were a few unfortunate “pumpkin pants” shorts—think Sir Walter Raleigh—that ended up looking a little more like culottes/hot pants on a couple of the male characters), and lighting and sound were done pretty well, too.

All in all, a slightly more expensive concert than is usual for me, but one that I really wanted to experience, and I’m glad that I did.

ConcertMeister

Here's a version of "Strange Adventure": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsOBcnelPVU

From Beethoven to Barber—Sort of

The pianist was Benjamin Bradham, who I have heard before. The program:

Sonata in g minor (K.461), Sonata in B-flat major (K.545), Domenico Scarlatti (1685–1757);
Sonata in d minor, Op. 31, No. 2, Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827), Largo; Allegro – Adagio – Allegretto; Fantasy in f minor, Op. 49, Frédéric Chopin (1810–1849)

Intermission
Reflections in the Water, Ondine, Claude Debussy (1810–1918); Funeral March, Chopin

Which brings us to “Sort of.” The concert was to have ended with the Barber Sonata in e-flat minor. An announcement at the beginning of the program provided a bit of unintended humor—due to Mr. Bradham being a bit under the weather, the Funeral March replaced the Barber.

First, Mr. Bradham played very well throughout. There may have been a few dropped notes in the Chopin pieces (but there are thousands!) but the entire program was well played and well received. Negatives first: there was a specific announcement made to turn off all electronic devices, yet one phone and one beeper (watch timer?) went off during the concert. Turn them off, even after intermission. I feel good about saying this, since I don’t have a cell phone/beeper/electronic device.

Positives: Since the program ran in a chronological format, the Scarlatti pieces were a bit more simple that the rest. The first Sonata had some exploratory phrases followed by more fully realized phrases. My notes for the second Sonata include: more explosive, still mostly two lines, syncopation more fully realized in a very brief composition.

The Beethoven was much more expansive, opening with rolled chords (involving more use of the pedals to sustain the sound). This was followed by rapid passage work that was reminiscent of the Scarlatti—but with more depth of harmonies. The middle movement had chords, with filigree sections and a slightly disjointed compositional style, but with beautiful phrases. The piece finished with arpeggiated, though tuneful, phrases.

Chopin—this is a familiar piece (Google/youtube it—I’m a Yahoo! guy myself). My best friend ever called this the “Itsy-Bitsy-Spider” piece because of a prominent four-phrase segment in the middle. Overall, including “Itsy-Bitsy," there are fireworks passages plus a chorale-like section. (This is one piece where it seemed that a few of Chopin’s thousands of notes might have been dropped.)

The Debussy pieces entailed what I call a wash of sound. As in, the use of the pedal keeps the sounds in the air for a longer period of time. It’s similar to the wash of Impressionist colors in paintings, though the composers claimed not to be Impressionists. The second Debussy piece had many arpeggios plus some more angular/spiky phrases and a few bursts of sound.

The aforementioned Chopin Funeral March was basically in four sections, with the third being the famous “pray… for… the… dead …”, but the other sections were filled with the muscular bombast of Chopin.

All in all, a wonderful program (played entirely from memory) by a very gifted pianist. I am a lucky fellow to hear such great music for free via the New York Public Library system. Go out and explore, folks!

ConcertMeister

Season's Greetings

This will be old hat for some of my readers, but it might be new to a few. First, thank you to any and all readers—this blog is a great joy for me and, indeed, has helped me through a rough spot or two. I urge others to explore what is in your own back yards.

A B C D E F G H I J K M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Here's to more and more concerts!

ConcertMeister

A Seasonal Saturday

New for me was caroling in Greenwich Village, sponsored (?) by the West Village Chorale, with caroling based out of Judson Memorial Church, with ConcertMeister as performer. First, there’s a lot going on at that church—children’s programming, a theater group, etc. Not being sure whether I was in the right place, I walked in the door and a gal in a Santa hat said, “You’re in the right place.”

I asked, “How did you know?”

“I can see your inner child,” she replied.

There were a lot of carolers—I was in Group 5 and there were about 40 to 50 of us. It was almost too large a group but we made it work. They supplied lyrics booklets and a pair of leaders, to start us off on pitch and try to keep us together. It was mostly unison singing (I added some harmony and so did a few others), but the important thing was that we had fun. And got positive feedback from New Yorkers (thunk! sorry, I fainted there for a second)—on the street, in some of the pubs and restaurants, and even from folks who opened their windows, leaned out and listened, and thanked us.

A few people bailed out before we got back to the church (the wind picked up quite a bit, and that made it feel even colder than it was). I didn’t, because I always get lost when I go to the Village, so I needed an anchor point in order to get me back to the subway to get home.

Once I was home and warmed up with a bowl of leftover chili and a slice of supermarket frozen pizza doctored up and heated up, I tuned in to WQXR for a broadcast of their radio play of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. This was recorded live recently and I was really looking forward to it. An actor was hired to play Scrooge, radio broadcasters (from both WQXR and WNYC) played various supporting roles, sound effects were by a Prairie Home Companion guy, and a 10-year-old from Brooklyn played Tiny Tim (plus a few other child roles).

This was a wonderful one-hour (approx.) version of Dickens’ tale, very nicely performed with just the right touch of old-fashioned radio play feeling, almost-amateur-theatricals and, once again, just plain fun.

Seasonal Saturday—check!

ConcertMeister

Two from Last Weekend (12/15 & 12/16)

Bargemusic—this was interesting. Music of Fritz Kreisler, a composer and virtuosic violinist. Our violinist was Mark Peskanov with pianist Doris Stevenson (I hope I get the names right—with Bargemusic, the program is announced from the stage).

We heard nine selections (number six was a trilogy). First up was Praeludium and Allegro, painted in broad strokes with a few embellishments. Next we had a Kreisler arrangement of Rondo (from Hoffman Serenade by W.A. Mozart) which was sunny and brisk; next an original, Syncopation with a jazz-era feel to it (or maybe a gentle ragtime feel?). This was followed by March Miniature, with a light, almost Slavic quality.

Next was a tune (arranged by Kreisler) from a Rimsky-Korsakov opera—this guy Kreisler was esoteric and eclectic! The trilogy included Love’s Joy, with a very familiar tune, Love’s Sorrow, mostly minor with a shift to major for the ending, and Schön Rosemarie, written in Odessa (Mr. Peskanov’s home town), which had a Viennese waltz-hesitation feel to it.

What followed felt like an encore (actually, in the Q&A session after the concert,
Mr. Peskanov agreed that we usually only hear Kreisler pieces as encores). There were a Falla dance, a Viennese Waltz, and Chinese Tambourine. I bet you’d recognize some of them.

Harwood Management Artists—Deck the Halls

This was very similar to last year’s version, with classical/religious pieces in the first half, followed by lighter, secular performances in the second half. Once again, these are performers who are probably new to the New York scene—I think I recognized one or two from last year.

This year’s crop seemed a little less polished. In the classical portion, there were several selections from Handel’s Messiah. Most of the performers added their own ornamentations, with varied success. There was some four-part harmony that was also varied in its success—that may be a result from lack of rehearsal time.

In the secular section, there was a nice blend of humor and staging (though light on vocals). There were the usual “crooner-style” performances from some of the folks we heard in the first half. There was a pair of renditions that showed real flair for just plain ol’ having fun. More of that might have been better.

Okay, there’s honesty and then there’s honesty. One fellow came out to sing Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow! (Are we all singing along yet?) He then announced that he might need help with the lyrics. Polite laughter ensued. He said that he wasn’t kidding—and proceeded to blow the lyrics!

It was still a fun afternoon—just one that I wish had been a little bit better.

ConcertMeister

Delayed, from Last Weekend (12/8 & 9)

Two very different types of performances. On Saturday, I attended a lecture with music—The Musical Parlor of Emily Dickinson. Sunday brought the 39th annual version of Tuba Christmas!

I know very little about Emily Dickinson or her poetry. The lecture I attended, curated by George Boziwick (of the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts) with the Red Skies Music Ensemble and Elise Toscano was interesting. And I mean interesting in a good way.

The focus was on the music book—an actual compilation of purchased sheet music—of Emily Dickinson. It gave us insight into what might have been the “sing around the piano” life of Emily and her family. For the record, the songs/music included “Long Long Ago” (strophic, very folk-song–like), “Oh the Merry Days When We Were Young” (1840), “There’s a Good Time Coming” (1846), “The Girl I Left Behind Me” (c. 1830), “The Blue Juniata” (1844), etc. Additionally, there were Irish tunes and minstrel songs (vestiges of Ms. Dickinson’s family’s Irish and black servants—still, it’s to her credit that she included those pieces in the music book that was sent away and bound for posterity).

Mr. Boziwick was pretty darn credible as a presenter (and harmonica player!); Ms. Toscano
acted her readings of Ms. Dickinson’s diary entries a little better than her sung versions
of the songs. It could be that her rather plain singing style was meant to intimate
Ms. Dickinson’s—it seemed a little too plain to my ears.

Red Skies (piano, percussion, guitar, mandolin, harmonica, banjo, fiddle and bass) added great support. From the program notes, it seems that this presentation will be repeated at a couple of Dickinson events later in 2013. I might suggest (and I know that this is venue related) grouping the instrumentalists separate from Ms Toscano. I especially liked her exit from the stage ahead of the lecture/presentation portion that included the death and funeral references to Ms. Dickinson.

Tuba Christmas! I stumbled upon this two years ago (in my “anything to get me out of the apartment” phase). But what fun. It is a large group of tubas—actually, Sousaphones, bass tubas, baritones and euphoniums—playing Christmas carols/music. The bells of the Sousaphones had covers spelling out TUBA CHRISTMA 2012, along with wreaths, lights, etc.

I didn’t go last year (bitterly cold) but I braved the damp (and rain) this year. {{channeling Sophia Petrillo}} Picture it. Rockefeller Center. Huge Christmas tree. Four-hundred-and-sixty tubas!!! Yep, the usual suspects—O Come All Ye Faithful, Silent Night, We Wish You …, Jingle Bells and others. But performed by four-hundred-and-sixty tubas!!!

Oh, yeah, I’ve got the Christmas spirit!

ConcertMeister