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

Ye Olde Annual Candlelight Tree Lighting and Caroling (12/2/12)

This was my second visit to this annual event. Fortunately, the weather was very cooperative. There were the usual suspects—families, children, dogs, Cantori New York, Orbital Brass, Carl Schurz Park Conservancy representatives, and various (actually a few too many for my taste) local politicians.

Cantori started things off (after the aforementioned Conservancy reps and politicians) with “Caroling, Caroling,” “Ding Dong Merrily on High,” “Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming,” and a couple of others. I enjoyed their performance more this year than last, partly because they had adjusted the outdoor sound system. There were still imbalances but there was a better representation of their inherent choral sound.

After the countdown and lights! community caroling followed. There was a pretty good mix of sacred and secular, and the crowd joined in fairly enthusiastically. Some of the slower-tempo carols (e.g., Silent Night) didn’t carry as well as some of the brighter songs. Jingle Bells was well sung by all. Yours truly took the suggestion from the leader of Cantori, Mark Shapiro, and jingled his apartment keys during the refrain. It even garnered a couple of smiles from the grown-ups.

I’m glad that I went, but there was a sameness to it that I wish had been shaken up a little. Maybe I’ll skip the tree lighting in December 2013 and give it another try in 2014. For this season, however, I’m thinking of trying a few more caroling events. My pipes are rusty—but they still work!

ConcertMeister

Haul Out the Holly–Presented by the PhilHallmonics

A great time was had by all, including me and the rest of the audience. Phil Hall (pianist and arranger) put together a great holiday program. (Dec. 1 is a bit early, but BabyBro and I came to this date as OK for listening to holiday music completely independent of each other.) The cast was 12 dames (and I think they’d approve of that term), one male as assistant, and Phil, a bassist, and a reed player. All were directed by Sharon Halley (disclaimer, Ms. Halley choreographed a production I did many, many years ago).

There were pluses and minuses, and I’d like to get the minuses out of the way early. Tech—when three (or four) ladies are using hand-held microphones, the gain should at least be lowered. Balance between the three or four microphones was also a problem. And a couple of the ladies who were featured as soloists were a little on the weak side, to these ears.

Now, on to the pluses. With 34 songs listed in the program, I can only hit the highlights.

The opening was It’s Christmas in New York, with real harmony—a very nice, and encouraging, touch. There were traditional songs—Caroling, Caroling; Sleigh Ride; Let it Snow!; Do You Hear What I Hear?; Silver Bells; Winter Wonderland; etc.

There was country/rockabilly—All I Want for Christmas Is You and River. And there were novelty (new?) items, including Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy (a really very funny duet) and Vodka (which went on a lit-tle too long for my taste).

O Holy Night and the Coventry Carol grounded us in the “Christ in Christmas” vein and there were a couple of pop rock–anthems, including I Hear Bells, and Christmas Lullaby. Even Do You Hear What I Hear? to some extent.

The staging, direction and choreography were much better integrated into this program than the last PhilHallmonics presentation I saw and blogged about. Mister Santa made great use of what looked like Santa potholders. All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth gave us the ladies in their ’jammies—then they came into the audience and the aisles for an audience sing-a-long—Frosty, Santa Claus Is Coming to Town and Rudolph. Fun!

Have Yourself a Merry Christmas and The Christmas Song did their “pull-at-your-heartstrings” best.

Special mention must be given to Martin Samuel, who was a gallant Cavalier in Once Upon a December—a music-box of a number whose singer created her very own music box magic.
Mr. Samuel also appeared as Santa toward the end of the concert.

I hope I’m not revealing too much {wink}, but in Mr. Hall’s A Swingin’ Christmas (composed for this Lincoln Center Library performance), Mr. Samuel’s Santa suit turned out to be a not-quite-full-monty breakaway. This Santa did not have a belly like a bowl full of jelly. The dames seemed to approve!

ConcertMeister

Pre-Thanksgiving Piano Concert (11/17/12)

The pianist was Raj Bhimani, and I must say that he is one of the best pianists I’ve heard at the Library of Performing Arts concerts. This is not to downplay any other performers—this was just great playing. The program (it’s long and thorough, sorry):

Sonata in C Minor, Op. 13 (Pathétique) (1798–99), Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827): Grave, Allegro di molto e con brio; Adagio cantabile (I bet you’d recognize it!); Rondo: Allegro.

Piano Pieces, Op. 119 (1892), Johannes Brahms (1833–1897): Intermezzo in B Minor, E Minor, C major, and Rhapsody in E-flat Major.

Intermission (and very few people left)

Three Preludes for Piano (2008), Thérèse Brenet (1935–): Vibrance (Vibration), Le Chant d’un monde lointain (The Song of a Faraway World), and La Lumière et le cri (The Light and the Scream).

Miroirs (1905), Maurice Ravel (1875–1937): Noctuelles (Night Moths), Oiseaux tristes (Sad Birds), Une Barque sur l’océan (A Boat on the Ocean), Alborada del gracioso (The Comedian’s Aubade), and La Vallée des cloches (The Valley of the Bells).

Whew! The Beethoven had very familiar themes but was also played extremely well. My notes for the Brahms included calm opening, cerebral comes to mind; fuller, reminded me of the intensity of Brahms; more rhythmic writing with repetitive rhythms; and hitting with Brahms bombast (and that’s not a bad thing).

After intermission, the Brenet was presented (a little less well received than the rest of the program). My notes for the three movements include: Debussy influence? brief; dreamscape quality; and forceful, if a bit too literal.

Literal was the watchword for the Ravel pieces, as well. I really wanted to like these pieces better than I did. I felt that each movement was a bit too insistent in its example (sound-wise) of the movement title. And almost every one dragged on just a little too long. Once again, they were played beautifully but the pieces themselves did not really speak to me.

Of note, with the exception of the Brenet works, all the rest were played from memory, sans score—and I didn’t notice any lapses.

ConcertMeister

Cello Fire from Iceland (11/15/12)

I did not make this title up. Personally, I would not choose this title.

Okay, now that that’s out of the way, I attended a concert at the American-Scandinavian Foundation (thank you, WQXR for the free tickets!). I have been in the building before for an art exhibit, but this was my first visit to the Victor Borge auditorium—and, no, there was no humor involved.

The players: Meena Bhasin (viola); Owen Dalby (violin); Saeunn Thorsteindottir (cello) (and, no, I’m not attempting the diacriticals!); and Per Tengstrand (piano).

All of that said, this was a lovely program played very well. The program was String trio in B flat Major D. 471 Allegro (Franz Schubert: 1797–1828); Fantasy Pieces for cello and piano Op. 73 (Robert Schumann: 1810–1856); and Piano Quartet in g Minor op. 25 (Johannes Brahms: 1833–1897).

All three pieces were played very well in a concert that was formal—but with little informalities throughout.

The opening trio was a little bit on the quiet side—almost thin writing, but that was appropriate. The Schumann was definitely more in the Romantic style, with the piano and cello being truly equal partners. The harmonies were a bit more developed and a bit more lush.

The Brahms had a lengthy Allegro with a fiery coda; an Intermezzo that opened with string trio but then advanced to full quartet writing; an Andante that opened with a chorale-like sequence; and a Presto (Rondo) that brought everything back into the fold.

This was a lovely evening of Romantic era music played by a very enthusiastic group of young musicians. Just the right thing for me. Thanks again to WQXR—I’ll enter another giveaway after one month has elapsed.

ConcertMeister

Organ Recital—November 11, 2012

Dr. Andrew E. Henderson played a well-performed recital this past Sunday on the Temple Emanu-El organ. Since the organ is hidden, we saw Dr. Henderson via organ cam, which was interesting because we got to see the transitions from one to the other (three!) keyboards. Plus a somewhat murky look at the pedal “key”board. OK, organists are acrobats. But their pistons (some of which link one keyboard to another) give them a little bit of extra magic up their sleeves. Well, enough technical talk.

The program consisted of Präludium in D major, Wq 70/7 and Adagio (from Sonata in G minor, Wq 70/6), Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (a son) (1714–1788); Fugue in G major “Jig,” BWV 577, J.S. Bach (papa) (1695–1750); Rhapsody in D-flat major, Op. 17, No. 1, Herbert Howells (1892–1983); Sonata No. 5 in D major, Op. 65, Felix Mendelssohn (1809–1847); From Seven Sketches on Verses of the Psalms (1934), (two only), Percy Whitlock (1903–1946); Scherzo-Pastorale (1913), Gottfried H. Federlein (1883–1952); and Nimrod (from “Enigma” Variations, Op. 36) and Imperial March, Op. 32, Edward Elgar (1857–1934).

Whew! Where to begin? All three Bach pieces were crisp, with clean lines, and the almost mathematical precision one associates with Bach(s). Or, at least, this one. All three were clear, precise, and musical. That is the genius of Bach. The Howells took us into not-quite-romantic writing but more dense harmonies. The Mendelssohn did take us into Romanticism, and it was a lovely journey. The Whitlock stretched us once again into hearing and listening in a different way. I wasn’t sold on a new sound but I was willing to listen. The Federlein (he was organist at Temple Emanu-El from 1915–1945, which included the new building and organ on Fifth Avenue (1929)) was definitely a concert piece (though Dr. Henderson played it as a postlude recently at Madison Avenue Presbyterian Church—I asked; he told me!). It could possibly have been incorporated into a silent film score, to my mind. The Elgar pieces were arrangements of orchestral works, which merely goes to show how the pipe organ is the “almost-equivalent” of an orchestra.

The “organ cam” gave us great insight into the logistics—still, Dr. Henderson made it look easy-peasy. And it is not.

I know.*

ConcertMeister
*Ask, if you’re interested.

Silent Clowns—Farewell, 2012

This is a great silent film series, as regulars will recall. Saturday’s (11/10/12) two films were both from 1925 and both were circus themed, in part because the Big Apple Circus is currently in residence at the Lincoln Center plaza. The film series takes place at the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts. Alas, this is their last installment until March 2013.

So on to the films. The short was Remember When? followed by The Live Wire. Both were very funny, and (as usual) Ben Model did one heck of a job with the live piano accompaniment. Remember When? begins with young Harry (Harry Langdon—well, as the grown-up Harry) bidding a fond farewell to Rosemary (Natalie Kingston—well, the grown-up Rosemary), since Rosemary’s mom is moving them away. But Rosemary’s mom gives Harry a locket with Rosemary’s photo in it. Harry is an orphan, who decides that there’s no reason to stick around the orphanage. He packs up his little bundle of stuff, ties it to a stick and heads off into the great big world. When we next see Harry, he’s had many miles under his feet. Yep, he’s a hobo.

He hooks up with other hobos who really want nothing to do with him. He becomes a chicken thief (Harry getting the chickens to jump into his coat is some pretty funny stuff), and (after being caught) manages to lose his hobo bundle and mistakenly acquire a beehive on his hobo stick. Mayhem ensues, including Harry doing wild gymnastics as a result of bee stings and being hired by a traveling circus. In trying to fit in with the other roustabouts, Harry (aided by Anna May, the elephant) end up moving trunks (get it?) to where the bearded lady is preparing. She’s wistful, since she realizes that the circus is playing right across from Harry’s old orphanage. (Psst! She’s Rosemary!) Curious, she sends a note, via Harry, to the orphanage. He, being already smitten with her, does not deliver it, but returns with a note saying that he is Harry. The bearded lady is revealed as Rosemary, realizes that Harry is Harry, and THE END.

In The Live Wire, Johnny Hines plays a specialized performer, whose “act” is sliding down a wire upside down, on his head (with the use of a cap designed just for that purpose). While playing a certain city, he is smitten with a girl in the audience (played by Flora Finch) who gives him a souvenir balloon with the name of the city on it. Alas, he’s unable to continue the act due to a nagging neck injury, so he and his sidekick, “Sawdust,” hit the roads. Well actually the rails, hobo style. Meanwhile, the “girl” and a guy who wants to be her beau (in order to take control of her father’s electric company—boo, hiss!) come to an agreement about wiring up an amusement park with electric lights. Papa gives daughter one half of the stock certificates (to keep control in the family) which doesn’t please the beau. So the beau begins sabotaging the electric works for the grand opening of the amusement park.

At this point, our hero and “Sawdust” show up in town, our hero remembers the name because he still has the balloon, recognizes the girl, finds out about the nefarious doings of the beau and organizes his old circus friends to make sure that all of the electrics can be fully functioning. (Did everyone follow that?!?) Our hero sets up a signal that on his first whistle, the lights will go on. At the second whistle, they’ll go off. Of course, the only way to ensure that the lights even can go on is our hero strapping on his old circus hat and once more sliding down the wire to complete the circuitry. He does! He whistles! Lights go on! She finally realizes who he is! He whistles! They kiss! Afterwards, our hero is offered some of Papa’s stock certificates. In order to keep control in the family, he proposes, she accepts and all (except the nefarious beau) are set for happily ever after!

ConcertMeister

The Quest: Don Quixote and Other Wanderers

Carnegie Neighborhood Concert

This is a very worthwhile endeavor, bringing free concerts to all five boroughs. This one was also a part of the Marilyn Horne legacy at Carnegie Hall.

Andrew Garland, baritone, with Warren Jones, piano, presented a very well thought out song recital on Saturday. The program was:

Songs of Travel, Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958); Der Wanderer (D. 489), An Schwager Kronos (D. 369), and Der Musensohn (D. 764), Franz Schubert (1797–1828); Selections from Cantos di Cifar y del mar dulce, Gabriela Lena Frank (b. 1972); Don Quichotte à Dulcinée, Maurice Ravel (1875–1937); Selections from American Folk Set, Steven Mark Kohn (b. 1957); and The Impossible Dream, from Man of La Mancha, Mitch Leigh (b. 1928).

Songs of Travel is a cycle of nine songs. After the first, The Vagabond, Mr. Garland wisely halted applause. His nicely modulated voice served this cycle very well. The second song in the cycle had an arpeggiated accompaniment while the third had a more lied-like accompaniment à la Schubert. I have often heard individual songs from this cycle but this was my first hearing of the cycle in its entirety and it was most enjoyable.

The Schubert set was well performed, though I found the tempo for the third song to be almost too brisk. My opinion could possibly be colored by well-loved recordings that I’ve listened to over and over.

Intermission. At the end of the intermission, it was announced that Ms. Horne was in attendance. There was an audible gasp. Ms. Horne, gracious as always, joked that—yes, she was still alive. It’s obvious that the song recital is near and dear to her heart.

Of the three Gabriela Lena Frank songs presented (ostensibly part of a larger cycle to be completed at a later date), two were commissioned by the Horne Foundation. The first presented individual phrases that sounded almost medieval in nature and also included spoken words in pitched phrases. The three were quasi-operatic in nature and Mr. Garland successfully altered his tone and vocal presence for these three—with less obvious vocal technique and more straight-ahead singing.

Ravel brought us back to a concert/song recital technique, with nicely varied tempos and presentations.

The Kohn folk set presented folk songs and tunes in new settings, reminiscent of Aaron Copland. Once again, Mr. Garland switched gears vocally and gave us a less formal sound, well suited to these folk settings. With “The Impossible Dream,” we essentially had the consummate “wanderer” song, but to my ear it was a little bit too clipped and a little bit too hurried. Yes, I know, interpretations can vary—that’s just my take on this interpretation.

Throughout, Mr. Jones was an impressive collaborator. Did he actually compose the encore—Way out West on Westin Avenue? Mr. Garland sang it with an appropriate twang—and then I realized that the same twang had been used in the folk song set. Perhaps a little bit of variation is in order. Still, overall this was a fine song recital performed extremely well.

ConcertMeister

What’s Love Got to Do with It?

Good question. Leslie Fornino gave a stab at an answer on Sunday afternoon. She was ably assisted by Richard Danley (piano), Saadi Zain (bass), and Mike Campenni (percussion).

This was pretty much a club/cabaret act in a concert hall setting. A cocktail or two would have been nice. Ms Fornino opened with the title song and afterwards assured us that she was not Tina Turner. She performed with a standard belting style, and sang well throughout. I take a bit of an issue with belters pushing their range higher and higher, but I’ve heard enough of it now to know that it is pretty much the standard musical theater technique. Still, it’s not my favorite.

There were sixteen songs performed (more, really, since one was a medley of shows/roles she had not been cast in), so we’ll hear about some, not all, of them. The songs ranged from Irving Berlin (Lost in His Arms – Annie Get Your Gun) to Sondheim (Take Me to the World – Evening Primrose) with stops along the way in the Heartbreak Hotel, Wherever He Ain’t (Mack and Mabel), Colored Lights (The Rink), I Hate Men (Kiss Me Kate), and You Could Drive a Person Crazy (dedicated to her husband, no less!).

A cute novelty number, I Like Them Bald followed People and Love on the Rocks (gotta love a good prop!). The “non-cast-in” medley included Worst Pies in London (Sweeney Todd),
A Boy Like That (West Side Story), Shall We Dance? (King and I), Just in Time (Bells Are Ringing), and Wonderful Guy (South Pacific).

So we heard about love, learned about love, learned how not to love, and learned that love has everything to do with it. A great lesson learned on an enjoyable Sunday afternoon (even with Sandy-monium* looming over our collective heads).

ConcertMeister
*Thanks, BabyBro

L’après midi en France (10/27/12)

This was a very entertaining Saturday afternoon of flute (Megan Emigh) and piano (Riko Higuma) music with a varied French program:

Romance for Flute and Piano, Op. 37 (1871) – Camille Saint-Saëns

Sonata for flute and piano (1957) – Francis Poulenc 
  1. Allegretto malincolio
  2. Cantilena: Assez lent
  3. Presto giocoso

Suite for Flute and Piano, Op. 34 (1877) – Charles-Marie Widor

Sonata for flute and harpsichord – Jean-Marie Leclair  No. 8 in G major, book 4, No. 7 (1723)

Sonatine for Flute and Piano (1946) – Pierre Boulez

First, both performers were top notch all afternoon long. I found that the opening piece lacked a little bit of oomph, but in respect of the rest of the program, it was the right spot for it. It was played well, just a little too calm for my taste as an opener.

I really enjoyed the Poulenc a great deal, and the Presto giocoso provided a lot of bravura playing from both performers. Throughout, I felt that the flute was more prominent (in the writing) but the piano was a strong, if not quite equal, partner. Both of these young ladies (Ms. Emigh’s bio listed her age as 23, Ms. Higumas’s did not list her age) are well-polished performers with varied international experience. Their playing was nuanced and clear.

The Widor was less successful, as a composition. Widor was primarily an organist/composer and while this piece fulfilled its aims, those aims were not quite on the same level as the Poulenc, to my ears.

The Leclair was a nice change of pace. As explained from the stage, movements one and three were composed in a French style (almost as dance movements) while movements two and four were in the Italian style (more energetic). All four movements were brief and well composed with clear phrasing and musical statements. This was straightforward music played very cleanly.

Also as explained from the stage, the Boulez was an early piece, written when he was a first-year student at the Paris Conservatoire. It explored his new-found knowledge of 12-tone music and it had glimpses of the Boulez rhythm and drive that I associate with this composer. But it was, indeed, an early work with almost an “everything-but-the-kitchen-sink” approach to composing. Still, while not my favorite piece on the program, it was dispatched in a thoroughly professional manner.

As to a professional manner, I would urge both performers to take ownership of their audience acknowledgments and curtain calls. Indecision in this aspect tends to slightly undo the enjoyment of what we had just heard. Take a bow. Take a second one if the applause seems to dictate it. Don’t hesitate – just do it!

ConcertMeister

A Song Recital

It’s been a long time since I have heard one. Maybe back in college, or a recent Carnegie Community Concert? Wendy Brown has a pleasing voice, very good intonation and very clear diction. Her phrasing was a bit lacking, and she did have a couple of vocal bobbles.

She opened with a Bach solo cantata, Vergnügte Ruh, beliebte Seelenlust, which seemed a bit too much on the gentle side for my taste for an opener. This was followed by two Clara Schumann songs—what a delight to hear her compositions. Liebst du um schönheit was very sweet, and Er ist gekommen had quite a rolling accompaniment (the pianist was David Holkeboer). Next was Frauenliebe und Leben by Robert Schumann. I’m a bit of a purist and I would have preferred it if there was not applause after each of the eight songs in the cycle.

Most of the eight were dispatched fairly well, although there were two in which
Ms. Brown’s technique faltered a bit. This is a lovely cycle and I know it only from recordings, so I was very happy to hear it live. I hope to hear it live again.

After intermission, we had Charlotte’s letter scene (from Massenet’s Werther), which had virtuosic accompaniment. Three Debussy songs followed (in a classic song recital style)—Le Flûte de Pan (gentle), La Chevelure (more dramatic in build and flow), and Le Tombeau de Naïades. All three had signature Debussy trés French accompaniments and style.

What a Movie, from Bernstein’s Trouble in Tahiti followed, in a very nice performance. Throughout, Ms. Brown’s diction was very clear—something that is sometimes lacking when singing in English. Whether her German and French diction would have pleased native speakers, I’ll leave for others to comment on.

We finished with three Kurt Weill songs—Der Abschiedsbrief* (with prop), Saga of Jenny, and My Ship. The prop in the first was a letter, which was used to just moderate success. In Saga of Jenny, I found myself wishing that Ms. Brown had been a little more relaxed. Here, the tempo and the diction seemed a bit forced. My Ship was touching, though it and Saga of Jenny were marred by a few memory lapses.

*For Der Abschiedsbrief, the program notes read, “Set as a slightly smarmy English waltz in E Major …” I didn’t get English or smarmy. All the more reason to take program notes with a grain of salt, as I mentioned to the two young ladies sitting next to me. (They were taking more notes than I was—theirs were for a Music History class at Fordham, and apparently Music History classes are still bright and early in the early part of the week, just as mine were, oh-so-many years ago!)

Other misinformation from the program notes said that Ms. Brown “was a member of the Metropolitan Opera’s Extra Chorus from 2002–1009.” And that Johannes Brahms met Clara and Robert Schumann in 1953!

Still, a classic song recital, spanning eras and languages is a plus in my blog.

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Global Rhythms with Alexander A. Wu (Piano)

Wow. Where to begin? I know that I’ve blogged about Alex Wu  before. The 10/13/12 concert was not quite a lecture/concert performance, although Mr. Wu did speak about most of the pieces, and that added quite a bit of depth to the afternoon and to the performances. There were 17 pieces on the program—while I made notes for all, they might not all get full development here.

Global? Yes. USA, Dominican Republic, Canada, Brazil, China, Mexico, Japan, Italy, and France. Rhythm? Yes. Jazz, Tango, Samba, Ragtime.

We started out with a pleasant, light, almost “easy listening pop” Valentine by Fred Hersh (USA). My next favorite was Malgré Tout, (Mexico, Manuel Ponce). This piece (“after all” or “all the same”) was composed for left hand only, in honor of the sculptor who, one-handed, created a sculpture by the same name. I learn so much exploring NYC.

Argentina—Piazzolla—nuevo tango—Libertango. This was a transcription for piano of the landmark Piazzolla composition. Throughout, Mr. Wu’s technique and musicality were just great. A Brazilian three-fer gave us a Choro (very showy technique), a generation-defining tune (La Garota de Ipanema), and a Samba with very lush, dense writing.

My notes for the Choro include “SC”. To me this was music that I can imagine hearing (or imagine seeing others listening to, in old black and white films) in fancy supper clubs. The type of music that is in the background but is oh, so much more important than just being background music. Others in the SC category included two Earl Wild transcriptions of George Gershwin songs—Somebody Loves Me and a wicked version of Fascinatin’ Rhythm (this one garnered an SC+).

In a mini-Far East set, there were two Tan Dun works, Herdboy’s Song and Sunrain from his Opus 1. The first was an evocation of a folk tune while the second seemed to be a Western-music take on a folk tune. Hey, it was Opus 1—an early work. These were followed by a feathery arrangement of Sakora, a traditional Japanese folk song that took me back to the fourth grade. This tune was in our school music book and it was (to my fourth-grader’s ears) the most exotic thing I’d ever heard. That’s the power of folk songs.

Along the way, we heard nods to new age, minimalism, and blues. Truly global. While the Fascinatin’ Rhythm was a tour de force, the closing piece—Blue Rondo a la Turk (Dave Brubeck)—was classic(al) jazz.

Mr. Wu’s playing, and his clear and concise explanations, turned this into a wonderful afternoon of truly global rhythms.

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The Silent Clowns—Sort of (10/6/12)

The second program in the new series threw us a curve ball, as in, instead of a short followed by a feature, we had the feature followed by the short. And the feature was preceded by a “Coming Attraction” trailer for the feature next in the series. Are you still with me? Here’s the method behind the madness—and there was madness and mayhem!

In addition to the topsy-turvy programming, the feature wasn’t even a comedy. Saturday’s bill was Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1920) starring John Barrymore. The short was a comedy—Dr. Pyckle and Mr. Pryde (1925) starring Stan Laurel.

The Barrymore version was very interesting and very well acted. The print we were viewing had some odd tints to it, which made the viewing a little difficult. But it was really a very moving portrayal of the macabre Robert Louis Stevenson story. Apparently Barrymore insisted on “doing the first transformation scene in one long, unbroken take sans special effects,” per the program notes, and very effective it was.

In contrast, and according to the onstage program notes—yes, the co-producers actually speak and explain things to the audience before the films are shown—the short was a travesty (not parody) of the feature. Well, any program notes that send me to the dictionary are A-OK in my book. Travesty: (n) a composition that imitates or misrepresents somebody's style, usually in a humorous way. I’m thinking that the difference is that the Laurel short didn’t rewrite the original, but told the original story (and used some of the specific visual styles of the original) in a humorous way. And, boy, was it humorous! As Dr. Pyckle, Laurel was a round-bespectacled, milquetoast sort of fellow. When transformed to Mr. Pryde, we saw the characteristic goofy grin we came to know and love in the Laurel and Hardy comedies. (It reminded me a great deal of a Dick Van Dyke imitation of Stan Laurel.)

And while the transformations of John Barrymore were played to fine dramatic effect, Laurel’s transformations—and the speed at which they took place—were pure comedy.

As always, the films were presented beautifully and the hard-working team putting it all together did a great job. And, as always, I will single out Ben Model for his unflagging, enthusiastic piano accompaniments to these silent films that I’m so lucky to be able to see.

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p.s. There will be some bona fide concert posts in the near future.

Shhh! The Silent Clowns Have Returned (9/22/12)

A new season has started at the Library for the Performing Arts. The kickoff of the series of silent films brought us Just a Husband (1927) and Steamboat Bill, Jr. (1928). Here’s a shout out to the team of Bruce Lawton, Steve Massa and Ben Model.

Just a Husband was a slight two-reeler that had some nice slapstick moments. I was rather fond of the title slides that read, “The road to Marriage is paved with good intentions,” and (regarding the ex-husband of the divorcée getting married) “They wanted him to be the Best Man—he just wanted to give the bride away!” After the ceremony, the happy couple head off to the desert for their honeymoon. Falling rocks and a screwball sign reversal end up with them being stranded in Death Valley with no food or water, paired up with three ne’er-do-wells, and then threatened by four other fellows (the real bad guys). Who knew the desert was so well populated? After the bad guys steal the new bride, the other four find, attack, and drive off the four bad guys. Then the three ne’er-do-wells and the happy couple celebrate with GROCERIES. Did I mention that this was a slapstick comedy?

Steamboat Bill, Jr. is a true Buster Keaton classic. Buster is a Boston boy sent out to the Mississippi to join his father, the captain of the Stonewall Jackson. But there’s a new riverboat in town, the King, sponsored by Mr. Rich Guy, by the name of King. Mr. King’s young daughter is also on the scene—and she and Bill, Jr. (Keaton) know and love each other. Of course, both fathers are dead set against the kids getting together. Stormy weather causes all kinds of problems (and all kinds of cinematic slapstick). One of my favorite scenes involved Keaton taking bread to his father who is in jail. Of course, all sorts of tools were baked in, which then fall out and get Bill, Jr. in trouble, as well. During the storm, many buildings are destroyed or fall over, including a famous scene where a wall falls on our hero, but the open window on the second story miraculously falls right where our hero is standing, so he remains unscathed. In the end, Bill, Jr. saves the girl, saves his dad (by piloting the Stonewall Jackson through the floating away jail), then jumps back into the river and saves the girl’s father, too. Everybody is happy! So why does Bill, Jr. jump into the river one more time? To rescue a parson so that our two youngsters can get married! Did I mention that this was a slapstick comedy?

Once again, Mr. Model at the keyboard added a great amount of enjoyment to the afternoon.

It’s good that a great series is back. Also, autumn brings the return of other performance series. And a new season that I am definitely looking forward to.

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Moving Sounds—JACK Is Back (9/15/12)

Boy, I really wanted to like this better than I did. Too much of a downer?

So this was my second hearing of the JACK Quartet and my second concert of the Moving Sounds festival. There were two pieces on the program—String Quartet No. 5 (2007), Georg Friedrich Haas; and häuten: Paramyth (String Quartet No. 1) (2012) (World Premiere), Clemens Gadenstätter. (I’m not making this up, you know.)

In the first piece, the quartet members were spread throughout the hall—two on stage (violin and cello), one in the back of the house (violin), and one in the balcony (viola—I know, because I was there, too). From the program notes: “The listeners find themselves inside the sound, inside overtone chords …” OK, I heard overtones; in fact there was a lengthy overtone section. But once I experienced it, I didn’t need to be listening to it again and again and … well, you get my drift. The opening was a long glissando (slow) that led into the lengthy overtone section. Next, a tune (a snippet) was actually introduced, but it didn’t last long. I actually saw a man in the front row covering his ears. I’m glad I was in the balcony. There was, once again, no discernible movement format.

Moving on to häuten: Paramyth. It had an explosive opening leading into tone bending, biting bow strokes, quite a few screeching, scratching sounds and aggressive bowing, exploring sound for sound’s sake not (to my ear) music for music’s sake. Every once in a while, there was a “meow-like” sound from individual instruments. Really, that’s the entirety of my notes. Oh, wait. Both the cellist and violist had horsehair(?) dangling from their bows—the violist from both ends of his bow. The cellist pulled horsehair(?) off three times. The violist never did. As stated earlier, I really wanted to like this more.

In fact, I think I’d like to hear JACK play some mainstream string quartet repertoire. Maybe Mivos quartet, too.

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Moving Sounds—Mivos Quartet (9/13/12)

Moving Sounds is a festival sponsored by the Austrian Cultural Forum NYC. In this case, it was a series of concerts, lectures, and performances over a three-day period. On Thursday, after work, I wended my way to the German Consulate General, near the UN, to hear the Mivos Quartet (Olivia de Prato and Joshua Modney, violins; Victor Lowrie, viola; Mariel Roberts, cello) play works of Reiko Fueting and Carl Christian Bettendorf. Not exactly household names, though perhaps they will be, eventually.

Moving Sounds is giving us contemporary—as in up-to-the-minute—classical music. The pieces were, in order, Il y a l’Océan for string quartet (2005, rev. 2007), Bettendorf; tanz.tanz for solo violin (2010), Fueting; Souvenir for viola and live electronics (2012), Bettendorf; and “…und ich bin Dein Spiegel” after Mechtild von Magdeburg for soprano and string quartet (2000), Fueting.

As this was “new” music, there are few noticeable (to me) forms, so my notes on the pieces and playing are also pretty much free-form. The first piece opened with all of the players playing at the same time and usually together. The first section was quiet, with unisons/octaves and a bit of pitch bending. This was followed by a louder, more forceful section—a lot of rapid bowing (a lot like the rapid portions of Vivaldi string writing), and then a return to a quiet section, but with a little more tonal variation.

The second piece was played by Ms. De Prato. The score was spread across three music stands. From the program notes, the general form is based on an analysis of a Bach Chaconne. What we got were fairly small snippets of phrases that were linked together. The piece used pretty much the full range of the violin, and had a repetition of phrases with subtle differences. Toward the end, a mute was added, which sort of “dulled” the string sound. The overarching form of the piece was the violinist slowly moving down the length of the score. When she got to the end, the piece ended.

After a brief panel discussion with both composers, we returned to the music.

The third piece, for viola and live electronics (Nina Young, offstage), contained some of the same types of electronic sounds I experienced at the last Rite of Summer concert—a looping/echo repetition of part of the phrase that had just been played by the violist. And then there were some other electronic sounds introduced that complemented the viola phrases. (I think I even heard part of the theme song from the “Twilight Zone” —doo-dee-doo-doo, doo-dee-doo-doo.) And sometimes the electronic echo sounded “beefier” or more “amped up” than the original. Speaking of original, apparently there was a first version of this piece for solo viola. I think I wouldn’t mind hearing that version.

The last piece, for soprano (Nani Fueting) and string quartet had, from my notes again, small segments strung together, including some spiky vocal intervals. There was also an extended sequence of dramatic/loud/angry(?) phrases for all four strings. The vocals were secure throughout, including spoken and whispered portions.

So, my take? The playing was quite good throughout, but I found the compositions just a little disjointed. There were many small phrases and segments but very few through lines (with the exception of the violinist in tanz.tanz). However, compared with some of the other avant garde music I’ve heard along the way, this was quite a bit more enjoyable.

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2012 Rite of Summer Music Festival (9/3/2012)

Kudos to the artistic directors for this second annual series. I stumbled on the inaugural season on Governors Island last year, and I’m pleased to report that I attended all three concerts this summer season. I didn’t necessarily embrace all of the music I heard but at least I expanded my aural horizons. This included the Labor Day Monday concert—Todd Reynolds and Friends. Those friends were Mathias Kunzli, drums/percussion; Michael O’Brian (sp? his name was not in the program), bass; Johnny Rodgers, glass/electronics/mandolin(?); Jordan Tice, guitar; and of course, Mr. Reynolds, violin.

I guess the overall description would be bluegrass/newgrass/electronics/eclectic. I wish I could claim ownership of newgrass but it was unashamedly stolen from Mr. Tice’s bio.
Mr. Tice and Mr. Rodgers were also the bulk of our composers for the one-hour concert. I caught the 1:00 p.m. performance but didn’t feel compelled to stick around for the 3:00 p.m. rendition.

Well, what  can I say? Bluegrass/newgrass pretty much sums it up. The percussionist had a nice variety of instruments at his disposal. Mr. Rodgers and his tuned wine glasses (per bio—not seen) had some of the more interesting sounds. He also included electronics, in that he would lay out a glass-tune phrase, then you were suddenly aware that it was looping. He’d add keyboard and/or vocals, and then they were looping as well, at rhythmically interesting intervals. I’m not a huge electronics fan, but this was very effective.

Some of the bluegrass/newgrass was also effective, though I preferred the bluegrass. Some of the other was a bit too New Age–ish for my taste. That said, the eight pieces I heard were relatively varied, the performances were uniformly good, and I’m glad I went. The musical offerings might have been a bit too experimental for some, as I saw more than a few folks leave during the set. Maybe they were just headed to other excitements on Governors Island. Maybe. I don’t think so.

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Bryant Park After Work (8/29/12)

Fortunately, I made it to this concert, the last in a 13-week series. I had planned on attending at least two others, but 6:00 p.m. in summer in NYC is always iffy weather-wise, and the weather, indeed, put the kibosh on my earlier attempts. This concert, the John Farnsworth Quintet, was a great way to cap off the series.

Many years ago, I penned my first online profile which stated that I like classical music and “not-too-frantic” jazz. When the quintet—John Farnsworth, tenor sax; Freddie Hendrix, trumpet; Harold Mabern, piano; Paul Gill, bass; and Peppe Merolla, drums—began, I was a little bit afraid that it just might be too frantic. The first piece featured really driving rhythms and the volume was up there. So I moved farther away from the speakers (and I think they made some sound system adjustments), and the next piece, “Junior,” was gentler but still powerful, with more of a discernible tune. I was safe from “too frantic.”
The first piece was composed by Mr. Mabern while the second was composed by
Mr. Farnsworth.

This was followed by “Unchain My Heart”(?)—the tunes were announced on the fly, so my notes can be a bit faulty—which had more of a Latin beat. Next we heard a boogie-woogie piano solo, composed by Mr. Mabern. There were two more pieces on the program that were pretty much in the same vein as the others. In general, while the playing was heavy on unison sax/trumpet lines, each player—really all five of them—got a chance to shine (both the sax and trumpet would occasionally step out to let the others be featured), and the overall playing was quite good. And when the sax and trumpet separated and gave us some additional harmony, I liked it even better.

This was really good playing to round out a series that I hope to see more of in the future.

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Bargemusic (8/18/12)

OK, so I took my birthday (week) off from posting. Saturday’s concert was piano/violin/cello music, with Olga Vinokur, Mark Peskanov, and Eugene Osadchy, respectively. As always, the program was announced from the stage and it began with the first movement of the Piano Trio in C Major, K. 548 by Mozart. Because it was so well received, the trio played the two movements that completed the work.

Next was the first movement of Tchaikovsky’s Piano Trio in A minor, Op. 50, with the Schubert “Rondeau Brilliant” (in B minor, D. 895) rounding out the program.

As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not a huge Mozart Fan but this piece had enough heft and variability from movement to movement to make it interesting without the cloying sweetness and sentimentality that I sometimes experience with Mozart. There were many repeats, as usual, but the second movement had some legato (smooth, gentler) lines while the third movement was bright and dance-like—but my notes also included bouncy. Bouncy, yet not frivolous sounding.

My notes are almost nonexistent for the Tchaikovsky, but I remember it as being well balanced and full of themes that (we were told) would be expanded on in the movements we weren’t going to hear.

The Schubert, for piano and violin, was firmly steeped in the Romantic tradition—rich harmonies, many phrases that didn’t end quite where or when I thought they would, and a few false endings, harmonically.

One minor quibble—a page turner for the pianist would have been nice. There were a couple of loud “thwaps” that were a bit disconcerting.

This was almost a dress rehearsal, since these three works were on the regular schedule for Saturday night at 8pm and Sunday afternoon at 2pm. Who knows, maybe there was a page turner for those concerts. Also as usual, there was a brief Q&A session after the concert and one question was about how often the performers practice scales. The general consensus was that with so much music to practice for performance, strict scales were not high on the list. That said, I spoke up and said that any time I’ve been at the “Barge,” Mr. Peskanov is never without his fiddle in his hands—whether he’s on that afternoon’s program or not. He’s always running his fingers and bow over the strings.

Thanks, Brooklyn. I’ll be back at Bargemusic from time to time.

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Nuevo Tango—Very Delayed (8/7/12)

I waffled back and forth on this, and then finally decided to post. This was the fourth (and final—and I actually attended all four this year) Naumburg Orchestral Concert; Pablo Ziegler (piano) and Lara St. John (violin) with Andrew Roitstein (bass), Claudio Ragazzi (guitar) & Héctor Del Curto (bandoneón). Of special interest was the fact that six of the twelve pieces on the program had been played by Astor Piazzolla (1921–1992) at a Naumburg concert in 1987. In addition to those six Piazzolla pieces, there were four more Piazzolla and two pieces by Pablo Ziegler.

And therein lies the problem for me. Once I’ve heard the fast version of the Nuevo Tango (a fusion of tango, jazz, and classical) and then the slow version, the other ten pieces on the program are variations on the first two, without enough variation (for me) to be totally enjoyable. On top of that, the two Ziegler pieces were very similar to all of the Piazzolla pieces.

All of the artists played extremely well, and seemed very committed to the music—the individual pieces and Nuevo Tango, in general.

For the record, the six pieces Piazzolla played in 1978 and included in the 2012 concert were: Michelangelo, Muerte del Angel, Tanguedia (La Camorra), Mumuki, Adios Nonino (which I think I’ve heard once before), and Lunfardo. Mr. Ziegler’s (1944–) works were: Milonga del Adios (a piano/violin duo) and Muchacha de Boedo.

That said, the Naumburg organization is by far one of the classiest in the business, and it was a treat for New Yorkers (and beyond) that all four concerts in the series were broadcast live by WQXR (105.9 FM, wqxr.org). The host, Midge Woolsey, was a great MC for all four concerts, as well—dealing with the live audience and with performers from each concert being included addressing the radio audience. I’m glad I heard Nuevo Tango—I just need it in smaller doses.

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August 4, 2012, You Don’t Know JACK ...

… JACK Quartet, that is.

I had heard of them but had never heard them until Saturday afternoon’s Rite of Summer concert on Governors Island. It was quite a full day for me, as I had already done a six-and-a-half-hour volunteer shift at Summer Streets. But hearing this quartet was worth it.

They are a string quartet that brings an energetic edge to both their playing and their repertoire. The outdoor concert opened with “Mantle Eruption” by Brian Baumbusch. The piece opened with explosive strokes passing from player to player, followed by explosive themes being developed. I liked this piece and it was a good opener (apparently the quartet adjusted their order of the program for this, the second concert of the afternoon). I was without a pen for taking notes, so I may report a few things out of order since the performance didn’t follow the printed program.

I particularly liked the next piece—the second movement of “Three Pieces” by Guillaume de Machaut (arr. Ari Streisfeld, one of the quartet’s violinists). As explained from the stage, this piece was written to explore the similarities between the medieval Machaut stretching the boundaries of harmony and form and the current crop of composers doing the exact same thing. The themes resonated with me—I have a real affinity for, and enjoyment of, medieval music. This was a very positive musical experience.

The second movement of Charles Ives’ “String Quartet #2” followed, showing us the early 20th-century version of these explorations. It seems somewhat tame these days, but I bet there was a great hew and cry upon first hearings of the piece.

The other three pieces on the program were: Selections from “Thaw,” Ken Thomson; Quartet version of “Lifeboat No. 6 Tongue in Trees,” Payton MacDonald; and “The Open Road,” David Crowell. One of the composers (and I forget which) was in the audience, as was Mr. Baumbusch. It’s great to be able to hear new works by living composers. All three of the last works were written for JACK. One of them gave me the feeling of Middle Eastern sounds and rhythms, but that might have been just my take. The MacDonald was interesting; having heard that it was originally composed as a quintet with Mr. MacDonald playing the marimba made me wish that I could hear the original version.

The playing throughout was excellent, even taking into account the amplification due to the outdoor setting. I hope to have more opportunities to hear this quartet—I enjoyed this concert that much. And kudos to the promoters for a Rite of Summer concert series. I stumbled upon them last year (their maiden voyage) and I’m glad I’ve been able to hear the concerts of season two.

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Naumburg Orchestral Concerts Presents: The Knights

And what a night it was on Tuesday in Central Park. Truly beautiful weather and a wonderful orchestral concert (also broadcast live on WQXR–105.9FM).

The program:
Duet (1993), Steve Reich (1936–); Airs and Dances, Henry Purcell (1659–1695); Concerto Grosso (2012), Matt Herskowitz; La Création du Monde, Op. 81a (1922–23), Darius Milhaud (1892–1974).

After intermission, we heard:
Quiet City (1941), Aaron Copland (1900–1990) and Symphony No. 8, “Le Soir” (1761), Joseph Haydn (1732–1809).

The program was certainly eclectic! The Reich was pretty much what I expected—repetitive short figures in the two solo violin parts above some drone-like playing from the other strings. It was like accompaniment from all strings with some very pretty sounds. I didn’t particularly get a strong feeling of the overall structure. Airs and Dances had a bit more structure yet was still fairly segmented. Of note, this was an outdoor concert, so it was interesting, if a little disconcerting, to see the long, clothespin-like devices used to hold the sheets of the score in place. It was also interesting to see the musicians who weren’t playing at particular times assisting those who were. This orchestra is a major team effort.

Mr. Herskowitz’ work was a world premiere, commissioned for these concerts. Scored for string quartet, flute, French horn and piano, this was a true chamber work (though premiered in a very large chamber) of four through-composed movements filled with jazz riffs and everyone getting a chance to “wail” (in the composer’s parlance). All of the solos, except for Mr. Herskowitz’ at the piano, were written out; his was improvised. This was an effective work, and it’s not very often that I get to say I heard a world premiere. The first half finished with La Création du Monde. Unfortunately, with the amount of time setting up for the piece and the fact that it opens so quietly, it took a while for the audience to settle in and listen. I’m listening and thinking, “I’ve heard this before.” Indeed! See below*. This version was scored for string quartet and piano*; as a result, the similarities between the jazz touches and George Gershwin’s “French” jazz writing were very apparent.

Ah, the Copland. It began with that open, transparent sound that you just know is Copland. After adding the solo trumpet, the writing becomes a bit fuller. We still have that Copland sound with solo English horn and more solo trumpet writing. Both soloists were admirable (with just a touch of a trumpet bobble). Still, it’s a joy to hear a piece like this live, after knowing it only from the radio or a CD.

The Haydn was unabashedly classical. Four movements—Allegro molto, Andante in C major, Menuetto & Trio, La tempesta: Presto. The first was lively, with some very impressive flute writing and playing. Opening theme, repeat, exposition, sort of repeat, opening theme, repeat. It’s called classical for a reason.

The Andante was slower and incorporated the classical forms again. The Menuetto was, indeed, dance-like with a 3/4 rhythm; the contrasting trio section seemed to me to be stretching the boundaries of the classical style, as it highlighted the string bass quite a bit in the entire section; this was followed by a repeat of the Menuetto themes. The last movement was likened to an evening storm, when the piece was introduced to us. It was more like a summer shower (that we avoided, fortunately), and ended the evening with a flourish.

A very enjoyable concert on a truly enjoyable evening.

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*This piece sounded familiar to me because I heard it earlier in the season at the Wall to Wall Gertrude Stein’s Paris extravaganza. Here’s a repeat of my ConcertMeister post re. La Création du Monde.

The Milhaud orchestra was composed of a string quartet, saxophone, two flutes, clarinet, oboe, bassoon, two trumpets, trombone, piano and two percussionists. [Quite different from the string quartet and piano version I heard 7/24/12.]

The Silent Clowns, 7/21

This was another in the series of silent films presented at the Bruno Walter auditorium. This double bill—Dog Shy and Hands Up!—were both from 1926. And they were both very, very funny! LOL funny (even before LOL existed). Dog Shy had Charley Chase as a frightened-of-dog fellow who ended up being hired as a butler at the home of a girl he wanted to prevent from marrying a “swell,” that her parents were intent on. (Don’t ask) At any rate, after much bathtub mayhem, involving the household dog, we got to three (three, mind you!) couples using “howl at midnight” as a signal. So we had a dog thrown out the window, a suitcase thrown out the window, and a safe thrown out the window, all onto our hero, Mr. Chase!—did I mention that this was a slapstick comedy?

Our hero returns the dog and the safe and gets the girl.

About the dog. This film was sort of in tribute to The Artist (which I have not seen), so our program notes were dog related. Buddy was our named character. I learned lots more about dogs in cinema*.

The feature was Hands Up!—a film starring Raymond Griffith. The plot was all over the place with Civil War agents and spies and a gold mine owner and his daughters and Lincoln and Brigham Young—well, you get the idea. Once again, laugh out loud situations (including a painting of a supposed firing squad victim—I’m not making this up, you know!).

The silent film personnel—Bruce Lawton, Steve Massa, and Ben Model (the indefatigable accompanist) provided great insights, information, and pianistic wonderfulness. There’s one more in the series on August 4, but I think I'll have to miss it, as I really want to hear the JACK quartet. More on that later.

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*Info available on request.

Isn’t It Romantic?

The Knights – A “new” chamber orchestra conducted by Eric Jacobsen, Naumburg Orchestral Concerts.

Okay, I don’t know how new they are, but they’re younger than me. Here’s Tuesday night’s program:

Siegfried Idyll (1870), Richard Wagner (1813–1883)
Cello Concerto in A minor, Op. 129 (1850), Robert Schumann (1810–1856)

Intermission

Prélude à l’après-midi d’un faune (1894), Claude Debussy (1862–1918)
Three Studies from Couperin (2006), Thomas Adès (1971–)
Ascending Bird (2010), Colin Jacobsen/Siamak Aghaei

The first two pieces are solidly in the Romantic era; the Wagner was actually written as a birthday present for his wife and premiered on the stairs leading to the bedroom, on the day after her 33rd birthday! It starts out quietly with the strings, then builds with the winds and then we get some of the sweeping Wagner phrases. A great concert opener (conductor-less, à la Orpheus chamber orchestra) followed by a most impressive cello concerto.

The soloist was Julia MacMillan and she played beautifully. There were the tiniest of fingering mishaps, but that could have been part of the amplification process (microphones on stage and “blended” sound, plus it was being broadcast live via WQXR). Still, beautiful playing. The three movements were practically through-composed; there were soulful, rich solo cello lines partnered with great ensemble writing. The cello was featured, but the orchestra was not just a supporting player. I’d put it at 60:40, cello:orchestra.

“Afternoon of a Faun” is near and dear to my heart. I danced the Jerome Robbins choreography in my pre-New York days, and Mikey and I used it as our “Now we’re on vacation!” music. This was the first time I’ve ever heard it live—I loved it. Central Park, l’heure bleu, what’s not to love? Debussy’s orchestral flourishes were just what I expected; harp, flute—check!—great memories and great music.

The Adès was interesting. It was described ahead of time as “listening to Couperin (1688–1733) underwater in a coral reef, as a fish.” Valid. Still it was a well-thought-out piece starting out with a relatively tame Couperin-esque feeling (with a current spin), followed by a more upbeat dance-like movement, finishing with a slower movement that still had a “dignified dance” feeling. Sorry, that’s the best that I can do.

Mr. Jacobsen’s piece is based on an Iranian folk song. Not my favorite genre, but this had more classical flourishes than last weekend’s klezmer-fest. There were interesting shapings of phrases, but it was still a little bit “new-age”-ish for me.

Two more Naumburg concerts this summer. Note to self: Get there earlier next time!

ConcertMeister

Ljova and the Kontraband

They bill themselves as embracing “Eastern-European and Gypsy melodies, Latin rhythms, Jazz-inspired improvisations, and deeply rooted Classical forms.” Yep, I heard all of that on Saturday at the Rite of Summer Music Festival on Governors Island. The best thing about the day was the fact that it was about fifteen degrees cooler there than in Manhattan. That said, the group included Ljova (viola), Patrick Farrell (accordion), Mike Savino (bass and banjo) and Satoshi Takeishi (percussion). Mr. Takeishi was sitting in for the regular percussionist; I never heard the banjo (maybe it appeared at the second concert of the afternoon).

Though the first three numbers were played without any introduction, we did get bits of information after the fact. The first piece sounded very New-age-ish to me, with lots of repetitions of phrases. Apparently it was based on a theme from Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring,” (get it? as a prelude to the Rite of Summer festival?)—it wasn’t apparent to me. The second piece, called Blaine Game, had more hints of gypsy/klezmer music. It was episodic and more of an up-tempo piece. The third was a gypsy waltz, opening with viola and accordion, then the bass and percussion joining in a little bit later. This piece had more structure, with a real beginning, middle, and end.

A set of folk songs followed, sung by Inna Barmash. There was a Yiddish folk song, a children’s song (Mr. Rabbit—new to me), a song telling the story of a bitter bride, and a song/aria from a Stravinsky opera (Mavra, also new to me—http://tinyurl.com/89md4ho)*. Ms. Barmash (after some sound/microphone problems) displayed a clear, pleasant voice, well suited to the material. She played with phrasing, bending pitches from time to time, and adding distinctive touches to the vocals.

The set that followed included a Lullaby (which also included some pitch bending from the viola), A Pretty Penny, written as part of a film score for Penny Dreadful, though it didn’t make the cut, and a mountain/country folk song described as “meeting Bobby Brown soul.”

While this blend of musical styles did not really appeal to me, it was fun to sit on a beach towel in the shade of a huge tree, eating a picnic lunch, and beating the heat on a heat-wave Saturday afternoon. There are two more concerts in the series. I’m definitely going, weather permitting, to the JACK Quartet in August. We’ll see about Todd Reynolds on Labor Day weekend.

ConcertMeister*Sorry about the lack of a link—I'll explore more later.