Open House New York Organ Concert (10/17/26)

Second Presbyterian Church of New York
Eunjung Ahn – Minister of Music, Organist

Organ Symphony No. 6 G Minor OP. 42, NO. 2 I. Allegro – Charles-Marie Widor (1884–1937)
Andante für Eine Orgelwalze KV 616 – W.A. Mozart (1756–1791)
Toccata and Fugue in D Minor BWV 565 – J.S. Bach (1685–1750)
Loch Lomond – Scottish Folksong – Arrangement
Hymn Arrangement on Sine Nomine – John Weaver (1937–2021)
Blue Prelude – Harold Stover (b. 1946)
Phantasie über den Choral on Ein Feste Burg ist unser Gott – Max Reger (1873–1916)

The Widor opened bold and strong, and when the second theme began, the quickly running notes made it a true Allegro. Being in a minor key added a note of seriousness to it. The Mozart was lighter and almost jewel-like. There was a cute waltz section though it also had a bit of a calliope feel about it. The piece ended up being rather lengthy and repetitive, which is a Mozart tendency (in my opinion). 

Next up was the Bach. Everybody sing along! I'm kidding. But it's nice to hear an old warhorse once in a while. It had just the right amount of bombast. The Loch Lomond was a pleasant folksong arrangement with the tune bouncing around on the different keyboards, including the pedals. It was mostly on the sweet side, then got jazzed up a bit both in tempo and in mood. 

John Weaver's arrangement of Sine Nomine (For All the Saints) had a definite jazz feel. Also, When the Saints Go Marching In made an appearance. A riff in the pedals amped up to full organ, ending with an old-fashioned button. Fun fact—John Weaver was Director of Music at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church where Michael worked as Communications Director, and I also jobbed in a few times to sing with Mr. Weaver. Small world, isn't it? 

The Harold Stover work was sort of modern and had mostly softer sounds to begin with, and it wandered for the most part. According to the description in the program, it also featured a special Stover flute stop in the collection of stops but I couldn't really discern it. 

The Reger opened strongly; a mighty fortress, indeed! I was aware of the tune woven into the piece. There was lots of bombast in this one, though there were some softer moments interspersed. But bombast clearly won out. 

It's been a long time since I've heard an organ concert. This one, especially as part of Open House New York, celebrating the church's 270th anniversary, was a real treat. 

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The New York Baroque Dance Company ~ Catherine Turocy, director – (10/22/26)

Curious, Comic, and Sublime
Dancers: Julia Bengtsson, Kaede Hibara, Samuel Humphreys & Patrick Pride
Music: Paul Shipper, recorder, guitar, and music direction & Dongmyung Ahn, violin

A Chacoon for a Harlequin – Marc-Antoine Charpentier (1643–1704)
The Blindfolded Juggler – Gregorio Lambranzi (ca. 1700–ca. 1750)
The Passepied with Harlequin and the Rustic – Nicolas Bernier (1664–1734)
Musette and Musette Minuet – Bernier
Scaramouche – Lambranzi
The Magician and the Gypsy – Lambranzi
The Three-Legged Dance – Lambranzi

Performed to violin and guitar, a solo Harlequin character used stylized movements to discover her lost hat. (For some reason, "Does anyone still wear a hat?" popped into my head.) It was enjoyable and mildly humorous. A note on the stylized movements; they were exaggerated steps, small leaps and minimal turns/pirouettes—sort of ballet precursors. 

The Blindfolded Juggler was a duet. She was masked on her face and the back of her head. He was masked on his face. They tossed light, airy scarves back and forth, and then she actually juggled three of them. As the dance was ending, she exited while he bowed with many flourishes, sort of playing to the audience to milk it for increased applause. 

The third work (Passepied) was also a duet. The Harlequin and the Rustic danced with props this time around. A goblet and a small platter for each, that were used for sound effects such as clinking and tapping as percussion devices. The Rustic got pretty tipsy right away, making for a bit of humor. It was performed to guitar, violin, and phone (really people?!?). 

The Musette Minuet was performed to recorder and violin (violin as a drone); both dancers here, a shepherdess and a shepherd, were unmasked. It was nice to see unmasked faces. She began the work and he admired her from a distance before joining in the dance. They danced mostly separately, circling around each other before eventually joining hands. It was all very bucolic and pleasant.

Scaramouche was essentially a solo for a masked male dancer who was introduced to the audience by a second male dancer. This dance, performed to solo recorder, was a bit of a tour de force, involving a lot of tip-toe dancing, more twirling than in any of the other pieces, mime-style pulling himself up from the floor, and a rather lengthy balancing section.

The Magician and the Gypsy was a very humorous piece that included using the actual dance steps as percussion in an otherwise quiet work, i.e., no musical accompaniment. There were also light humming vocals, but I'm not certain whether they came from the dancers or the violinist and guitarist.  

The Three-Legged Dance was also a quite funny male solo, and I'm not sure how he pulled it off. It really looked like he had three legs. The afternoon ended with a nicely choreographed finale for all four dancers and a well-planned curtain call including the two instrumentalists and the founder/choreographer, Catherine Turocy. I really enjoyed myself, as did the audience.

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These Are The Days (9/19/26)

Remembrance of Shirley Perle
A Celebration of Shirley Xenia Gabis Rhoads Perle

There were spoken tributes. There were references to her husband George Perle's papers being archived at the Library for the Performing Arts, where this tribute took place. Shirley was a pianist, teacher, vocalist, and composer. George was also a composer. Musical interludes were included, and I'll focus on the music.

“Largo,” from Violin Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1005 – Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1770)
Leila Josefowicz

“Allegro molto,” from Sonata for Violin and Piano in A Major, K. 526 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791)
Julian Kuerti, violin; Michael Stephen Brown, piano 

“For Shirley Gabis Rhoads Perle,” from Thirteen Anniversaries – Leonard Bernstein (1918–1990) 
“For Shirley Rhoads,” from Barcarolles – Ned Rorem (1923–2022)
A Little “Perlude” for Shirley’s Birthday, 1994 – Oliver Knussen (1952–2018)
Michael Boriskin, piano 

“For Leonard Bernstein,” from Six Celebratory Inventions – George Perle (1915–2009)
100 Chords for Shirley [World Premiere] – Michael Stephen Brown (b. 1987) 
“Postlude,” from Lyric Intermezzo – George Perle
Michael Stephen Brown, piano 

Two Rilke Songs
Du meine heilige Einsamkeit • Der Bach hat leise Melodien – George Perle 
A Shirley Surprise! – Shirley Xenia Gabis Rhoads Perle (1924–2024)
Lucy Shelton, soprano; Michael Boriskin, piano 

Valses nobles et sentimentales – Maurice Ravel
Shirley Gabis Rhoads, piano – 1950 recording 

“Andante Sostenuto,” from Piano Sonata in B-Flat Major, D. 960 – Franz Schubert (1797–1828) Richard Goode, piano 

My take. The solo violin was calm and absolutely appropriate for beginning the afternoon. The Mozart was bright and lovely. The violinist here would play it with Shirley sometimes. As for the Bernstein, it was slightly modern/atonal without being harsh, and the Rorem was very pretty while still being in a modern style—quite songlike. The Knussen (and, no, "Perlude" was not a typo) was also modern with jewel-like tones. 

The music of George Perle had lots of staccato energy. 100 Chords was lyrical and lovely, specially written with Shirley in mind. Mr. Brown said that while writing it, her heard Shirley’s voice in his head. Apparently she said, “It needs two more chords.” So he added two more and called it finished. 

The second G. Perle piece was modern but gentler than the first of his that we heard earlier. The Two Rilke Songs were extremely modern—both piano and vocals—and were not my cup of tea. And Shirley Surprise! had three short movements, lyrical but still not my favorite style; a little more interesting (and I liked it better); and a vocal waltz that was both nice and a bit clever. 

The 1950 tape of Shirley playing Ravel was a real treat, as was the Schubert that followed, which was slightly dark to begin then lyrical and pleasant—just the right touch and mood. Uplifting. 

All in all, I really enjoyed the afternoon and learned a lot about American music from that time frame. And I heard several composers for the first time. I like learning new things.  

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The Orchestra Now (9/27/26)

Fate: Love and Death
Zachary Schwartzman conductor

La forza del destino Overture – Giuseppe Verdi (1813–1901)
Totenfeier (Funeral Rite) – Gustav Mahler (1860–1911)
Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde – Richard Wagner (1813–1883)
Francesca da Rimini – Pyotr Il'yich Tchaikovsky (1840–1893)

The Verdi was quite dramatic (actually, all four pieces were) and was a good curtain-raiser. There were brief remarks about the first two pieces on the program from the harp player of the afternoon. As a result, I made an effort to keep my ear out for her, and I wasn't disappointed. 

Mahler's piece was gentler than I expected, though it still offered the requisite drama. Well, all four pieces were from operas, just with no words included. It clocked in at 24 minutes, but I was never bored in the least. 

The Wagner was as beautiful as you would expect it to be, and it avoided the bombast that is sometimes associated with him. As the spoken intro, by the concert's bass trombonist, to these two pieces told us, the Prelude has lots of unresolved chords which go on for about four hours in the opera, but we skipped the bulk of them, and went right to the Liebestod, which offered a perfectly satisfying resolution—at least musically. Tristan would probably not agree. 

Tchaikovsky had the bombast that Wagner had skipped over. In fact, the low brass players provided a lot of that bombast, as we learned from the bass trombonist earlier. Tons of drama in this work as well. 

These paragraphs are a little leaner than I usually write, but the darkened auditorium made taking notes an impossibility. Also, the spoken introductions are a nice touch, as they give the players a better interaction with the audience. That's important, as The Orchestra Now is a teaching orchestra. These players are learning the ins and outs of what it is to be a contributing professional orchestra member. I think I've captured the flavor of the afternoon, though. Alas, there was no seating in the balcony, which is my usual hangout.

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Violas! A Rose by any other Name (9/17/26)

Dan McCarthy, viola d’amore, tenor viola, viola & Nicola Canzano, harpsichord 

This was the first concert of Gotham Early Music Scene's new fall season. Sonata No. 4 from Recueil de pièces – Attilo Ariosti (1666–1729) Pozato; Andante; Corrente; Air en Rondeau

Sonata in G Major, BWV 1027 – Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750) Adagio; Allegro ma non tanto; Andante; Allegro Moderato

Passacaglia from The Mystery Sonatas – Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber (1644–1704)

First, a word about the viola d'amore. It is larger than the viola you usually see, has six bowed strings, and six sympathetic strings (unbowed, but they amplify the sounds of the bowed strings). The first movement of the Ariosti sonata was straightforward and pleasant. The second was slower but not dowdy and had a rich sound. After some retuning, the third movement was definitely dance-like in a subdued way while the fourth was graceful and included odd starts and stops that were almost unsettling before a rather abrupt ending. 

The Bach was played on the tenor viola which is slightly larger than the viola you're used to seeing. Its first movement had a rich, full sound and was fairly stately. The second had a brief harpsichord intro and was a bit more lively as the viola joined in while the third had the harpsichord intro, then added the viola, and was slower and serious, with the two instruments contributing as equal partners. The fourth was also harpsichord then viola and was brisk but still in a serious vein. 

The von Biber was for solo viola and was played on the alto viola, the one you're probably used to. The work had a repetitive line in the lowest string with more intricate lines played on the upper strings. It was a very interesting and enjoyable piece, though it sort of wore out its welcome toward the end. 

Now a couple of notes about the composers. Ariosti was totally new to me; Bach and I are good buddies; and von Biber is a name I knew, but I think this was my first time hearing his music live. It seems that you can teach an old 'Meister new tricks.  ConcertMeister

Orchestra of St. Luke's at Bella Abzug Park (9/9/26)

This is a fun day where small groups of OSL players present themselves in an open-air setting. Having remembered from last year that there was no printed program, I emailed ahead of time to see if they could email me the information so that I could print it out ahead of time. Nope. As of the day before the performances, the schedule had not been finalized. So I had to wing it. 

I got there early and scoped out the two different performance spaces. I could see a brass quintet setting up, so that's where I stayed. A standard brass quintet is two trumpets, one trombone, one French horn, and one tuba. I specified French horn, as both trumpeters also played the flugelhorn at one time or another. It's an interesting-looking instrument. You should do an internet search and take a look. 

They opened with the fanfare section of La Peri composed by Paul Dukas. It was appropriately fanfare-ish, bright and (dare I say it?) brassy. Portions of Saint Saëns' Carnival of the Animals followed—Lion, a march; Elephant, featuring the tuba; Fossils, so named because it quoted parts of old songs; and Finale, which was quite rousing. It was very interesting to hear an orchestral piece scaled down to a quintet. 

A pair of '20s/'30s songs followed. Puttin' on the Ritz is a delightful arrangement that I remembered from last year and was as much fun as I remembered. Tiger Rag was next with its nice jazz riffs leading into the growling "Hold that tiger! Hold that tiger!" 

A trio of songs from West Side Story was next—Maria, Tonight, and I Feel Pretty. Maria was lovely; Tonight included the slightly mellower sounds of the two flugelhorns; while the tuba featured nicely in the "I feel charming" section of I Feel Pretty. 

The set ended with Sousa's Washington Post March, my second hearing of it this summer. Do we all remember Sousapalooza from Make Music Day in June? Once again, it was interesting hearing it scaled down. 

Here's where the afternoon got dicey. It was announced that the brass quintet would do one more set and then the youth orchestra would set up at 5:00pm. I took it upon myself to go to the second performance space where a woodwind quintet was already in full swing. Only one work was announced from the stage, so I don't really know what pieces I heard. (Gosh, a printed program would have been nice.) This woodwind quintet was flute, oboe, bassoon, horn, and clarinet. One sedate and pleasant work opened with a clarinet/bassoon pairing with the horn added briefly, followed by a flute/oboe pairing before we got all five playing together. The one piece announced was the Juba Dance from Florence Price's Symphony #1. It was lively and included the hornist playing muted. Florence Price is an interesting character. You might want to look her up too sometime. 

At 5pm, the youth orchestra was setting up in the space where the wind players had been, completely at odds with what had been announced earlier. I may skip next year and decide later about 2028. But Puttin' on the Ritz ...

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Bargemusic (9/6/26)

David Shohl 13 Preludes and Fugues, dedicated to David Del Tredici  World Premiere Marc Peloquin, piano 

This was my first visit to the new Bargemusic, which is no longer on a barge. As a result, finding the new venue took longer than expected, so I got into the concert just as it was beginning. Seating was difficult but I did manage to get one. I did not get a copy of the printed program and I can't find a breakdown of the thirteen movements on line. I did take a peek at a neighbor's program, and as far as I could tell, the titles didn't seem to match up with what I was hearing. The music was very modern, quite angular, jangling at times, with lots of driving, chordal rhythms. Most of the movements were relatively short. I liked some of the softer ones better than the bombastics. One movement was similar to an impressionistic color wash, just with more of the driving rhythms. And it was difficult to tell when each movement ended. 

There were some pretty sounds, but they were few and far between; the incessant rhythms were much more prominent. It was definitely not my cup of tea. Still, I'm glad I went. Oh, the composer was in the audience for the world premiere, which is always fun. 

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