Thursday, January 23, 2014

Practice, Practice, Practice

Why, yes, I was at Carnegie Hall this past weekend. Through a ticket giveaway (and some luck), I attended two choral concerts under the auspices of Distinguished Concerts International New York. Without delving into all of the ramifications, choirs are assembled with members from various musical groups around the world. Sunday afternoon’s concert had choristers from Minnesota, Illinois, Idaho, Indiana, Alberta (Canada), Georgia, Florida, Massachusetts, Mississippi, and North Carolina. Whew! The Of Life and Liberty program:

The Gettysburg Address, Matt Hayes, (world premiere for men’s chorus); The Testament of Freedom, Randall Thompson; and Requiem for the Living, Dan Forrest (New York premiere).

Setting historical texts of Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson (the Thompson work) presents certain difficulties in that, in order to not blur the texts, they almost have to be presented as incantations. Mr. Hayes’ composition was pleasant, if a bit too much of a wash of choral sound, for my taste. By contrast, Mr. Thompson’s work, also for men’s chorus, was a more well-rounded and varied composition. Perhaps this is because the Jefferson texts were taken from more than one writing, indeed, even from two different time periods (1774/1775 and 1821). The four movements, The God who gave us life, We have counted the cost, We fight not for glory, and I shall not die without a hope, were nicely varied, including quite a bit of martial music (snare drums, brass fanfares, etc.). On a personal note, I’m pretty sure I performed this work in high school—if not the entire work, at least one or two movements. Ah, memories.

Mr. Forrest’s Requiem, Introit—Kyrie, Vanitas Vanitatum, Agnus Dei, Sanctus, and Lux Aeterna, played free and easy with the usual layout of a requiem mass. The opening movement began quietly, and then built in intensity. The second movement was rather ominous and very rhythmic. A “Pie Jesu” text went sailing above in the sopranos, and a harp provided a mood change in the “Lacrimosa” section. Overall, this movement had a film score quality (not in a bad way). Agnus Dei featured a mezzo-soprano soloist, then with the choir added, in a gently rocking setting. Sanctus had harp arpeggios (xylophone, as well) with a calm choral opening that gave way to a broad wash of sound from the orchestra and choir, building to an up tempo section with driving rhythms in the percussion. Lux Aeterna led off with the choir, joined by the mezzo with the choir. In the middle there was a step-out tenor solo (I’m not sure whether it was a student or a faculty member). The joined forces at the end slightly overpowered the mezzo soloist, but throughout, all choirs, soloists, and orchestra personnel performed quite well.

Monday evening was The Music of Karl Jenkins, 70th Birthday Celebration, featuring The Bards of Wales (U.S. premiere), “Benedictus” from The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace, and Stabat Mater. As previously noted two years(!) ago, Mr. Jenkins’ compositional style is a little on the lite, modern side for my taste. The eight-movement Bards of Wales was no exception. An amassed choir (similar to the previous concert, but this time with much more of an international scope) sang well, as did four vocal soloists. I was a little surprised that the vocal soloists were amplified. Maybe that was part of the problem, but I felt that balance was pretty difficult to pull off here. And partially due to that, some of the texts were totally covered up and unintelligible. The same held for the 12-movement Stabat Mater, although that did provide my first exposure to a Turkish wind instrument called a ‘mey’, which is used to bend pitches lending a middle eastern flavor to some of the Stabat Mater movements. The tenth movement, a setting of Ave Verum, could possibly be a stand-alone piece, while the seventh movement, a repetitive setting of a vocal phrase, reminded me of a vocal version of “Bolero.” And not in a good way.

“Benedictus” came just before intermission and is a very nice (if somewhat easy-listening) movement taken from Mr. Jenkins’ Mass. I had recently heard a recording of it on the radio, and it was nice to then hear it live.

These two concerts are not exactly the type of music I would seek out in the future, but it’s good to be exposed to differing styles and performances.

ConcertMeister

Sunday, January 12, 2014

Concert á la Carte (1/11/14)

The Mirror Visions Ensemble, Music Inspired by Food. Vira Slywotzky, soprano; Scott Murphree, tenor; Jesse Blumberg, baritone; Richard Pearson Thomas, composer and pianist; with guest artisits Harumi Rhodes, violin; and Alberto Parrini, cello.

Come to the Supermarket in Old Peking, Cole Porter; The Heavenly Banquet from Hermit Songs, Samuel Barber; Man Eating from Briefly it Enters, William Bolcom; Carrot Jingle, Christopher Berg; Bread from The Baker’s Wife, Stephen Schwartz; Tango du Dessert*, Christopher Culpo; La Bonne Cuisine, Leonard Bernstein; Les gourmandises* from Portrait en miniature de Madame de Sévigné, Christopher Berg; Daliah’s Soup, Martin Hennessy; Tuna Supreme* from Fish ’n Chicks, Richard Pearson Thomas; Clean Plates Don’t Lie*, Richard Pearson Thomas. (*Mirror Visions Ensemble commission.) Do we see a theme here? With so much on the plate, I’ll try to hit the highlights.

The overall quality of the singing and playing was great. As to the singers, all three had very good diction, though Ms. Slywotzky was at a slight disadvantage—composers really want to send a soprano into the stratosphere, and that (plus the setting of some texts) made it a little more difficult to understand some of her words.

The Porter, seemingly a stand-alone song, was very witty, sung by the trio of vocalists. (Mr. Thomas was at the piano throughout, a thoroughly wonderful accompanist/partner.) The Barber, sung by the soprano, got us into the spirit with references to beer. Barber’s setting, as mentioned above, was a little difficult to understand. The Bolcom, for baritone, was interesting and nicely performed. I liked Carrot Jingle a lot, sung by the tenor, especially the matinee/gratiné rhyme.

Schwartz’ Bread, for trio once again, provided my favorite rhyme of the day—“What is as luscious as a brioche is?” Tango du Dessert, also a trio, took us more into the realm of menu as lyrics. They ranged from Abricots (apricots) to Pamplemousse rose (pink grapefruit). This also took us into our French section. The Bernstein was in four movements (soprano, tenor, baritone, and trio) and was interesting, though the soprano suffered again from the setting of the texts. (An aside—a cell phone rang in the audience during this work; need I say more?) Back into English, Hennessy’s Daliah’s Soup has text by a New York City schoolchild, and was a bluesy novelty piece. Tuna Supreme was an actual recipe set to music, though I listened closely and the text said (twice) to bake at 300° while the printed lyrics had 350°. Hey, I notice these things.

Mr. Thomas’ Clean Plates Don’t Lie was certainly the entrée here, at 13 movements. As a cantata, this was very smoothly composed. The violin and cello were added, creating a true chamber music feel. Texts were taken from writings about a restaurant, Blue Hill at Stone Barns, as well as menu ingredients and writings of its chef, Dan Barber. (I hope I got all of that correct!) I was a little apprehensive, but the cantata was well served.

There was an Invocation (Know Thy Farmer) that segued beautifully into a Greenhouse chorus. All of the movements flowed beautifully. While the entire work was a complete success, as far as I’m concerned, Passacaglia and Chorale: Pasture and Madrigal: Sustainable were my favorites. Even the movements that were essentially menu ingredients were very witty and very interesting. When we got to the Fugue and Finale: Clean Plates Don’t Lie, I kept waiting for a big ending. I was not disappointed—for emphasis, it finished with Clean … plates … donot … lie. It was esoteric, but I was fully satiated.

ConcertMeister

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Recital (1/4/2014)

The recital consisted of Ayako Yonetani, violin, with Evan Solomon, piano. Saturday afternoon began with Sonata for Violin and Piano in D major, Op. 5 No. 1, Arcangelo Corelli (1653–1713), Grave-Allegro, Allegro, Allegro, Adagio, Allegro; followed by Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 7 in c minor, Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827), Allegro con brio, Adagio cantabile, Scherzo: Allegro, Finale: Allegro, Presto; Suite from the Incidental music for Violin and Piano, Much Ado About Nothing, Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897–1957), Scene in the Garden; and Sonata for Violin and Piano in A Major, César Franck (1822–1890), Allegretto ben moderato, Allegro, Ben moderato: Recitative-Fantasia, Allegretto poco mosso.

A brief announcement from the stage informed us that the Corelli was the kickoff of the repertory. The first movement was an extended introduction, the second and third were more open and transparent, and the fourth worked better, in my opinion, because of the slower tempo and the way that the melody was nicely presented. The final movement began with solo violin that was then joined by the piano—mirroring the layout of the second movement. Overall, I enjoyed the work though there was some dry, patchy playing from the violinist.

The Beethoven had a fairly dramatic opening and was more of a violin and piano partnership, a much more solid composition that finished strongly. The second movement had a piano introduction that was then joined by the violin, outlining the opening phrases. As it was somewhat predictable, it didn’t really engage my interest. The third movement had very segmented, repetitive phrases, while the fourth ended briskly and brightly.

Korngold is known to me mostly as a composer of film scores, and this work had a cinematic arc to it—very tuneful, with a sense of forward motion, on an even keel. My notes include: set out to be pretty, and succeeded, including a sweet interlude.

Franck’s violin sonata is very Romantic in nature, though not cloying. Here, as throughout the afternoon, the pianist was a very attentive partner. The second movement, especially, had a roiling accompaniment supporting lyrical violin phrases, creating a sense of yearning (at least to me). An expansive section followed—almost like flight—returning to a gentle state and then finishing with a frantic burst. The third movement had introductory phrases “lying in wait”—lightly touched upon—and also included a return to some of the earlier yearning themes. The last movement had a sunny and joyous theme followed by brief interludes, but that theme keeps returning. Then the piano joins in, as well, with the repeated theme, and finally all of the main themes put in an appearance. I know that I’ve included an audio link of this last movement in the past. At any rate, I urge you to explore the internet and search it out for yourselves.

This wasn’t the most polished recital I’ve heard, but once again, the fact that interesting music is available free of charge in NYC is a true joy. It’s making for a happy new year already!

ConcertMeister