Gotham Early Music Scene (4/13/23)

Cantos y Suspiros: Songs & Dances of 17th Century Spain

Camila Parias ~ soprano; Christa Patton ~ Baroque harp; Hideki Yamaya ~ Baroque guitar

Pajarillo que bien cantas ausente – Cristóbal Galán (1625–1684)

Passacalle de Proporzion por Octabo Tono (1702) – Diego Fernández de Huete (1657–1722)
Corazón que en prisión – José Marin (1619–1699)

Cumbees – Santiago de Murcia (1673–1739)
No te embarques, pensamiento – Juan del Vado (1615–1691)

Tiento (1557) – Anonymous
Rompa el aire en suspiros – Juan Hidalgo (1614–1685)

Folias Gallegas – Santiago de Murcia
La Borrachita de Amor – Sebastian Durón (1660–1716)

¡Al sarao, que el Amor...! – Anonymous
Canzona Francesa – Anonymous (arr. Christa Patton)

Otros Canarios – Santiago de Murcia
Canarios – Diego Fernández de Huete
Canario bona de rufa y fa/Canarios (1704) – Anonymous
Canarios (1674) – Gaspar Sans (1640–1710)

As you can see, there were many pieces on the program, so this will be more like a survey than information on each piece. Many composers were represented, though Anonymous made a pretty strong showing. All three performers were great. I’ve had the good fortune to have worked with Christa Patton, the harpist, in my days performing with New York’s Ensemble for Early Music (since renamed at least one time, if not more). The baroque harp is a smaller version of the harp you’re thinking of, though it is not hand-held and it does not have any pedals. The baroque guitar is lighter in sound and texture than modern guitars, though it did pack a wallop in one work. The soprano also contributed with a few light, hand-held percussion ornamentations.

Let’s start with the last grouping. It’s the only one that had a tune that I recognized, and it was a medley of four works played through as one composition. It opened with solo guitar, rhythmic and dance-like, then solo harp joined by guitar, joined by soprano. Next there was a section alternating back and forth between all three. In addition to me recognizing a tune, this was where the guitar was forceful and fun. It was a great way to end a concert.

The concert opened with all three performers in a lively, rhythmic, enjoyable strophic song. Verse, three mini-verses, repeat of the opening verse.

The third grouping was all instrumental with the guitar at the forefront, added harp, and light percussion (claves—round wooden boards tapped against each other).

The sixth grouping began with guitar and recorder (the harpist, switching gears) then the soprano alternating singing and playing the tambourine. Yes, they multitasked very well. The second of the two works in the grouping was lively though not harsh at all. You may be wondering about the groupings. It is a great way to indicate to the audience where appropriate applause could/would/should occur. I think it worked quite nicely.

ConcertMeister

Gotham Early Music Scene (3/30/23)

La Serenissima: Music from the Republic of Venice (697–1797)

ALBA Consort – Margo Andrea ~ mezzo-soprano, vielle & zills; Carlo Valte ~ oud; Rex Benincasa ~ percussion, tenor & psaltery; Jason Priset ~ lute, guitar & vihuela

Si dolce e’l tormento – Claudio Monteverdi (1567–1643)
Ch’amor sia nudo – Francesca Caccini (1587– ca. 1645)
Vella de vos, Villancicos de diversos Autores – Mateo Flecha? (1481–1553)
Dime Robadora, aka Cancionero de Uppsala – Anonymous, Cancionero de Venecia (pub. Venice, 1556)
Bashraf Huseyni – Sultan Korkut of Anatolia (1467–1513)
Cypriot Ballad #64: S’on veult d’Amours – Anonymous, Turino Manuscript (Cyprus, 14th c.)
Bashraf Nawa – Emir iHaj (Egypt, 16th c.)
Se mai per maraveglia (laude) – Anonymous, pub. Franciscus Bossinensis (fl. 1509–1511)
Ostinato vo seguire (pub. Venice, 1511) – Bartoleomeo Tromboncino (1470–1535) with Ricercar by Francesco da Milano (1497–1535)
Dunulá – Sephardic Traditional, Greece

First things, first. The date 697, above, refers to Venice, not the music on this concert. Instruments that may seem weird or new to you include: vielle, which is very similar (to my eye and ear) to a viola; zills that seemed to be a heavyweight version of finger cymbals, not so much ringing as clapping; the oud looked to me like a lute but with a larger sounding chamber and possibly two different ways of plucking/strumming the strings; psaltery which was neither a book nor a piece of furniture, but a fretboard-less box zither, played lying flat across the musician’s thighs; while the vihuela is a 15th-century plucked instrument, similar to a guitar. That said, I did not detect any differences in sound between those specialized instruments and the ones they were/are similar to. Go figure.

With ten pieces on the program, I’ll be commenting on only a few.

The concert opened with a slow piece that had an intro of plucked (as opposed to strummed) strings. Then the mezzo joined and sang three strophic verses that had vocal ornamentation in the third. 

After a quicker second piece with mezzo and instruments, the third was totally instrumental, slower, but it also included light percussion in the form of a single hand-held drum. It was calm without being somber. 

In looking at my notes, the rest of the concert followed along those lines, so I’ll skip to the end. The last work had an instrumental opening, then the tenor entered, followed by the mezzo. There was a very energetic back-and-forth duet leading to a whirling dervish ending. 

Overall, the playing and singing were lots of fun and very interesting. I had a really good time.

ConcertMeister

Gotham Early Music Scene (3/16/23)

The Medieval Miracle: Melodies into Harmony
Pomerium – Alexander Blachly, Director

Kristina Boerger & Michèle Eaton, sopranos; Garrett Eucker, Michael Steinberger & Christopher Preston Thompson, tenors; Thomas McCargar & Peter Stewart, baritones 

This was an a cappella concert—vocals with no instrumental accompaniment. It was also pretty much a survey course on a cappella; we learned a little bit about several different things. There were sixteen individual pieces, so there will not be a detailed discussion about every piece. 

True to the title of the program, it began with a plainsong chant (sung by the three tenors). Melody only. The version presented was based on Hec Dies, a 15th-century Liturgy. That said, the next grouping of four pieces, all from the 13th century, was based on the tune we heard previously. One had the chant in a two-voice version for men (harmony) and one had a countermelody added by the women (three-part harmony). But not like the Andrews Sisters. This three-part harmony was very basic, and included lots of open chords (do and sol—one and five in the scale—with few, if any, mi the third of a chord that you’re used to hearing). 

As the concert proceeded, both the harmonies and rhythms grew more intricate as we moved into the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. Fuller sound, more like a choir than just a few people singing together. The latest date listed in the program was ca. 1452 and had all seven voices singing in fuller harmony than any of the other preceding pieces during the concert. 

Name dropping, now (though many of them will probably not mean a lot to many of you). Composers whose names I recognized included Adam de la Halle, [Guillaume de] Machaut, Johannes Ockeghem, and Thomas Tallis (whose Te Lucis ante terminum was definitely composed after 1452, but the date was not in my printed program). 

For me, it was a terrific program, and I’m really glad I went. It was also very well attended and enthusiastically received. 

ConcertMeister

Broadway Backwards (3/13/23) 

OK, here’s the deal. This was neither free nor low-cost. My ticket price benefited both Broadway Cares/ Equity Fights AIDS and The Center (LGBT Community Center), so I’m glad to have spent the bucks that I did. 

What is Broadway Backwards? It’s numbers from Broadway musicals with reversed genders. 

For instance, Mein Herr, from Cabaret, was sung and danced by Corbin Bleu and a male ensemble. Maria, from West Side Story, was sung by Bonnie Millegan. So, you get my drift? 

By far, the production numbers were hits, in my opinion. Mein Herr (Cabaret), All ’Er Nothin’ (Oklahoma, A.J. Shively/Kyle Scatliffe), and The Right Girl (Follies, performed by Dormeshia). The latter had tap choreography by Susan Stroman (who I’ve worked with!) re-created by Tony Yazbeck, who she set it on). A night to remember. 

I’ve seen YouTube clips of Robbie Fairchild from previous iterations of Broadway Backwards, and he was onstage here, as well. He did not disappoint. My Heart Belongs to Daddy (Leave It to Me) with an ensemble backing him up was a real highlight. 

Both anthems, ending Act One and Act Two, were very effective. One Day More (Act One, from Les Misérables) and Love Who You Love (Act Two, from A Man of No Importance) both hit the spot. 

A spoken tribute from F. Murray Abraham was also a highlight. While I loved seeing Len Cariou performing Something Wonderful (King and I), I wish I’d heard him earlier in his career, though his acting chops were on full display. 

I also heard/saw Anthony Rapp, Beth Leavel, Paulo Szot, Ali Stroker, and Lea Salonga. 

Oh, and the evening raised $750,000+ for the two beneficiaries. I’m very glad I went.

ConcertMeister

It’s Tru! 3/12/23

Tru is a one-person show. I have never seen it on stage. I have seen the next best thing.

A Facebook friend of mine spent a couple of years with extended family on the west coast during the pandemic. During that time, he was in two productions of Tru, a one-man show based on a specific section of Truman Capote’s life. One of those (performed in Oregon) was preserved on film. A showing of that film was presented on the lower East Side on Sunday, March 12, 2023. I was one of the lucky attendees.

The showing of the film was stunning. What was more important was the closeness of the audience with the performer. And the director. And their dog. (I’m not making this up, you know.) 

The audience was close friends and a couple of not-so-close friends, of which I was one (I only knew him via Facebook). When I introduced myself to Charles Michel as Uncke David (I had included my real name in a separate email), he said, “You look exactly the way you write.” I took that as great praise. 

The performance of the theater piece was extraordinary. 

I also met Eric Millegan (the director) and Mrs. Malloy (the dog). Ask if you’re interested.

 ConcertMeister

New York Classical Players (3/11/23)

Alice Chenyang Xu, piano; Abi Fayette, violin; Maren Rothfritz, viola; Madeline Fayette, cello 

The All Beethoven Program
Piano Trio in B-flat major, Op. 97, “Archduke”
Viola and Cello Duet in E flat major, WoO 32, “Eyeglasses Duo”
Piano Trio in D major, Op. 70 No. 1, “Ghost”
(Please note, I have re-created the punctuation from the printed program.) 

A spokesperson (uncredited) from the Library for the Performing Arts, shared with us that LPA has some sketches from the first work on the program in its archives, and showed some on a screen. They were wild. Major chicken scratches. We were told that they meant something to the mind of Beethoven. We were also told that the work was composed in 1811. There was no listing of movements, so I did some searching. It was in four movements, with the second being a scherzo (quick/joke), and the third being a slower movement, before the finale. TMI? I liked the work, though I found the very beginning a little disjointed (writing? playing?). Once it settled in, it was quite enjoyable. 

On to the second work. What the heck is WoO? Well, I learned that it is nomenclature for Beethoven works (and some other composers) for “Works without Opus” numbers. Why the duet is WoO 32 is beyond my ken. AnyhoO, the one-movement piece for viola and cello, though it suffered from a little disconnect as in the first work, was slightly jaunty and a little playful, including a false ending. 

The “Ghost” trio (and once again, no one really knows where the nickname came from) had a boisterous first movement opening, with fuller writing (to me) than the “Archduke.” A very brisk tempo, a lovely contrasting section, and a boisterous ending rounded out the movement. The second movement was calm—almost eerie (ghost-like?). The third movement was bright and cheerful, with full sound, and full writing which was a little more formulaic, but I liked that. 

All in all, a wonderful afternoon of chamber music.

ConcertMeister

Silent Clowns Film Series (2/11/23)

 Fatty’s Plucky Pup (1915)
Tramp, Tramp Tramp (1926)

 Fatty’s Plucky Pup was … interesting. Fatty Arbuckle did the usual slapstick schtick. Oddly, the pup (Luke) didn’t enter the film until about halfway through. Interestingly, the writer of the Notes, Steve Massa, mentioned a few famous silent film dogs in his opening remarks, including Teddy, the Great Dane. Per Wikipedia: Teddy the Dog or Keystone Teddy (1910/11 – May 17, 1925) was the most famous animal actor associated with the Mack Sennett studios. The Great Dane was one of only three (with Mabel Normand and Roscoe Arbuckle) of the studio's stars whose name appeared in the title of a film (Teddy at the Throttle). 

Also mentioned was Pete the Pup. And, from Wikipedia: Pete the Pup (original, 1924 – June 1930; second Pete, September 9, 1929 – January 28, 1946) was a character in Hal Roach's Our Gang comedies (later known as The Little Rascals) during the 1930s, otherwise known as "Pete, the dog with the ring around his eye", or simply "Petey". 

Per Wikiwanda (who knew?): Luke the Dog (1913–1926) was a Staffordshire Terrier that performed as a recurring character in American silent comedy shorts between 1914 and 1920. He was also the personal pet of actress Minta Durfee and her husband, the comedian and director Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. 

The film was fun. The dog was great. 

I had never heard of Harry Langdon before attending this double bill. He was funny, but in a subdued way. Tramp, Tramp … referred to a walking contest/race from the East Coast to the West Coast. There were many holes in the plot, including the final two competitors running to the finish line. Of a walking race. Need I say more? Yes! The female love interest was Joan Crawford. 

I may watch other Harry Langdon films, but I’m not sure I’ll seek them out.

As always, Ben Model provided stellar (and lengthy!) live piano accompaniment.

ConcertMeister