The Decorated Madrigal (11/7/24)

Richard Pittsinger ~ tenor; Rafa Prendergast ~ violin; Kevin C. Devine ~ harpsichord; Luce Burrell ~ theorbo

Diminutions on Ancor che col partire – Giovanni Battista Bovicelli (1550–1594)
Ancor che col partire – Cipriani de Rore (ca. 1515/1516–1564)
Diminutions per sonar con ogni sorte d'instrmenti – Riccardo Rognoni ( ca. 1550–1620)
Passacaglia della vita (Bisogna Morire) –Stefano Landi (1587–1639)
Canzone detta Susanne un Jour – Andrea Ga ah, fuhgeddabout it—ask if you're interested ...

OK, I'm going to comment on the music, not the titles and dates.

I bet you're asking 'What are diminutions'? I had never heard of them either. Apparently, they are similar to variations on a theme. But drawn down. I did not experience that.

The tenor sang wonderfully. The violinist contributed a lot. The theorbist (and hers was shorter than most I have seen) was a solid, grounding, rhythmic support, while the harpsichord offered solid support throughout. 

The diminutions took the pieces (or themes from them) and re-imagined them. Sometimes I heard that. Most times I did not.

All in all, I enjoyed the performance, if not the overall concert.

ConcertMeister

The Orchestra Now (10/27/24)

Zachary Schwartzman, Conductor

Scherzo No. 1 (NY Premiere) – Herman Whitfield III (1982–2022)
Nocturnes – Claude Debussy (1862–1918)
Nuages (Clouds); Fêtes (Festivals); Sirènes (Sirens)
Romeo & Juliet Suite – Sergei Prokofiev (1891–1953)

Herman Whitfield III's parents were at this performance, the NY premiere of their son's piece. Alas, young Mr. Whitfield died at the hands of police in 2022. The scherzo had tons of energy and was received well by the audience. Written when he was only 18 (he died at 39), we can only guess at what else he might have achieved.

I was familiar (via radio) with the three movements of the Debussy. This was my first live hearing of them. The English descriptions of the French movements are quite effective. Aye, though, there's the rub. While all three had aural washes of color, similar to Impressionism in painting, Debussy was never keen on using Impressionism to describe his compositions. That said, the description fit all three movements very well. And it was wonderful to hear two harps in the orchestra. My listening companion and I enjoyed the first half of the concert a lot, and discussed all four pieces during the intermission.

The Prokofiev was a mixed bag, as the composer of the ballet wrote three separate suites of music from the ballet. The eight movements we heard were culled from all three suites, so there was no cohesive programming that I could follow. My listening companion agreed with me. The first movement was very familiar to both of us—The Montagues and the Capulets. BUM-ba-dum-ba-DUM-ba-dum-ba. IYKYK. If not, search for it on YouTube. I bet you'll recognize it, too. The others were just too difficult to follow and suss out. That said, the playing was great, the concert was great, and we're looking forward to the spring concert.

A note about the orchestra—and you may remember this from other ConcertMeister posts—this is a training orchestra based at Bard college, that trains musicians in how to transition from college to actual working orchestras. Obviously, future auditions will feature heavily, but this gives them more hands-on training/experience than just playing in a college orchestra does. They learn about home space programming, but they also learn about playing in other major venues—Symphony Space, Carnegie Hall, etc.—something that I never learned in college.

All in all, a great concert.

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The Soul Awaits (10/31/24)

This was part of the Gotham Early Music Scene's weekly programs.

Rita Lilly ~ Soprano, Cléa Galhano ~ Recorder, Peter Sykes ~ Harpsichord

Seele deine Spezereien, from Easter Oratorio, BWV 249 – J.S. Bach (1685–1750)
Höchster, was im habe, from Brich dem Hungrigen dein Brot, BWV 39 – J.S. Bach
Sonata 1 in G minor from Sonata Metodiche, TWV 41:g3 – G.P. Telemann (1681–1767)
   Adagio ~ Vivace ~ Grave ~ Allegro
The Plaint from The Fairy Queen, Z.269 – Henry Purcell (1659–1695)
Prelude, Fugue & Allegro in E-flat Major, BWV 998 – J.S. Bach
Seele, lerne dich erkennen, TWV 1:1258 – G.P. Telemann
   Andante, Recitative, Vivace

Full disclosure—I have no idea what the numbers and letters mean after the names of the pieces; I just go by the printed (or online) program.

The first Bach piece had a recorder and harpsichord introduction before the soprano joined in. It was essentially a recorder/soprano duet with minimal support from the harpsichord.

The second piece, also Bach, was livelier than the first, thus a little more interesting to me.

The first movement of the Telemann sonata, for recorder and harpsichord, was slow but not particularly gentle. The second was bright and energetic, while the third was slower and, this time, gentle, though it still had some fast fingering for the recordist, including numerous trills. The final movement was brisk, with a bit of a playful feel.

The Plaint was, well, plaintive. The recorder and harpsichord introduced the piece but then it turned into a soprano/recorder duet, trading phrases back and forth. That is, they did not perform together until the very end.

The next Bach piece was a solo harpsichord piece (I had assumed the Telemann Sonata was a solo harpsichord piece). The Prelude was gentle, and it stretched the rhythm a bit, including a dramatic pause, while the fugue was pretty easy to follow and then, attacca* into the Allegro which was pretty much perpetual motion, though there were a few rhythmic pauses.

The first movement of the final Telemann piece had a harpsichord/recorder introduction, then the soprano joined in. It was a long movement, including a repeat of the first part of the movement. The Recitative was pretty much that—a recitation by the soprano and harpsichordist. Storytelling, without runs or melismas (many notes on one syllable). It was speech in song. The Vivace was, indeed, brisk. It included all three performers, and the runs/melismas were back in play. The third movement had a repeat, just as the first movement had. I could have done without the repeats in the first and third movements, but it was probably true to form for the baroque era.

*Do we all remember attacca?—moving from one movement to the next, with no discernible pause?

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Open House New York Organ Concert (10/20/24)

I attended an Open House New York organ concert played by Michael T.C. Hey at Marble Collegiate Church. It was wonderful. 

Scherzo Symphonique – Pierre Cochereau (1924–1984) – transcribed/arranged by Jeremy Filsell
Cortège et Litanie, Op. 19, No. 2 – Marcel Dupré (1886–1971)
Passacaglia and Fugue in C minor, BWV 582 – Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
Lay My Burden Down – Iaian Farrington (b. 1977)
  IV. Steal Away
  V. Every Time I Feel the Spirit
Pageant – Leo Sowerby (1895–1968)

The organ case and keyboard were in the balcony at the back of the church (the pipes, 6,000+, were scattered throughout the building). There was an organ cam – we could see Mr. Hey on a big screen near the altar. There was also a picture-in-picture pedal cam, so that we could see his fleet footwork. His black-and-white-striped socks reminded me of the Wicked Witch of the West, but I digress.

The Cochereau opened with a blast of sound (probably a good start) with a brisk tempo. Scherzo means joke—and this piece had serious humor. I believe Mr. Hey played from memory.

The Dupré began with an intro, then a theme and variations. (Playing from a tablet score?) It was calmer and softer than the previous Scherzo, and included an orchestral chime stop—a pipe designed to sound like an orchestral chime (see 6,000+ pipes, above). Because we had an organ cam, we could see that the theme moved from place to place on the keyboard, even moving to the left hand at one point.

The Bach used an old-fashioned paper score—very wide. I am quite familiar with these, as I lived with an organist for 31 years and was often the designated page-turner. The theme was introduced in the pedals and then moved to many places elsewhere. Mr. Hey turned his own pages and only had one minor mishap.

Iaian Farrington is a British composer who made/took American spirituals and made them his own—and ours. The first was ethereal and mysterious, with modern harmonies at times, especially at the ending. The second movement was almost a jazz arrangement, quite playful. Hmm, a modern scherzo!

Pageant was designed as a tour de force for the pedals. It had a Tin Pan Alley–esque theme, then variations introduced by the pedals. The pedals were featured predominantly throughout, including at least two featured pedal cams, striped socks and all.

Can you tell I had a great time?

ConcertMeister

Open House New York 2024

Open House New York 2024 is in the books. This year, I explored the outer boroughs, and didn't try to cram too many events into the weekend.

Friday was a Hindu Temple in Queens (including a light, inexpensive, vegetarian lunch in their canteen) and the New York Sign Museum in Brooklyn. Both were very enjoyable.

Saturday started with a tour of Town Hall, followed by UMBAU (Irving Place, associated with the Goethe-Institut). It was a sort of throwback to architecture, which was a much stronger focus in years past, for OHNY. Next was Minetta Lane Townhouse (16 Minetta Lane), which was hugely popular. (I waited in line over an hour—quite a few people gave up.) It was fascinating to see how others live in this city. I ended Saturday at Bar Hugo Rooftop—supporting Chemo Comfort's Cocktails for Comfort fundraiser. My, cocktails have gotten very expensive! But it was for a good cause.

Sunday began with the Castle Garden Emigrant Depot Tour (Battery Park/Castle Clinton), a fascinating tour of the emigrant experience prior to Ellis Island. The Park Ranger leading the tour was excellent.The day ended (after an inexpensive slice of pretty good pizza) at Marble Collegiate for an organ concert (most likely its own ConcertMeister post in the future).Hmm, moderation worked out pretty well this year.

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Songs of Love, from Court to Country (10/10/24)

Bud Roach, tenor and theorbo
Gotham Early Music Scene

First question, class. Do we all remember what a theorbo is? Yes! A lute on steroids. It is plucked/strummed like a lute but has a much longer neck with much longer strings.

Now, on to the music. There were seventeen pieces—no, I'm not naming them all. I'm not even naming all of the composers. Ah, the composers. They were born between 1567 (Claudio Monteverdi) and fl. 1695 (William Thomson). What's fl. you ask? I had to look it up, too. It denotes a date or period during which a person was known to be alive or active (flourished). Other composers were Maurizio Cazzati, Girolamo Frescobaldi, Henry Purcell, John Blow, William Lawes, et al.

OK, we've all learned something. The end. 

I'm kidding.

Here's the thing. The first half of the program was sung entirely in Italian, though translations of the texts were provided. The second half was sung in English, with texts provided, though one had a strong Scottish flair to it. I really did learn some new things, as I only recognized the names of two of the Italian composers and four of the English composers.

OK, finally, now on to the music. It was all very much the same. Songs of lamented love. There were a (very) few tempo changes. There was one piece that was strophic with a repeated refrain. At least the repeated refrain was an anchor we could recognize and cling to (the refrain, not the anchor).

Two were dialogues, which made them more effective. In the Merry Month of May (John Wilson (1595–1674)) gave us the story of Phillida and Corydon. In Johnny and Nelly (William Thomson (fl. 1695–1753)), we had Johnny and Nelly trading dialogue with that distinct Scottish flair—"To fields where cannons rair, thou need nae grieve thee", etc.

Mr. Roach sang with a clear sound (little to no vibrato), and the theorbo accompaniments were simple yet effective. And that's the closest I'll get to an actual review, which is not my intent of writing these blogposts. 

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 Concordian Dawn (9/19/24)

Le Roman de Fauvel

Amber Evans ~ soprano & percussion; Thomas McCargar ~ baritone; Niccolo Seligmann ~ vielle & percussion; Christopher Preston Thompson ~ director, tenor & harp

Le Roman de Fauvel is a fourteenth-century mish-mash of story telling and music—a precursor, I guess, to opera. What we got was a diluted mish-mash. As explained from the stage, we were to get a storyline from start to finish of Fauvel. The ending, at least, worked.

This scaled-down version gave us eighteen pieces. We got printed English translations, in modern-day English, of the French. We also got English commentary between some of the eighteen pieces—not necessarily helpful.

All of the performers were stellar. And there were solos (unaccompanied), small group performances (tenor, vielle, baritone, tambourine), soprano and vielle—oh, what's that, you ask? It's a stringed instrument that seems to bridge the gap between a viola and a cello, played upright like a cello, but smaller—oh, and it can also be strummed like a guitar. Hmm, I guess that wasn't too helpful. Go to your rabbit holes now. And there was at least one movement that included all four performers.

The harpist (it was a relatively small, hand-held instrument) also sang while playing, sometimes.

We got to the meat of this interpretation of the sprawling work in movement ten. A duet between Fortune (female) and Fauvel* (male). It doesn't work out well for him. We were told from the beginning that the piece would be performed straight through but that we could applaud at any time we wanted to. We waited until the end. There was humor, there was drama, and there was farce. The percussion included the aforementioned tambourine and what I think was a hand-held cymbal (single-level seating made it difficult for me to see) and maybe a triangle. Oh, and the final piece ended with "This song needs to drink." I'll drink to that.

This was a great beginning to an early music concert series. I'm not sure I'll attend every week, but I have the first half listings, so I can pick and choose.

*Fauvel is described as an orange-hued half-donkey/half-human whose contentious rise to power unsettles a nation, serving as an allegory ... I'll just let this sit here.

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