Naumburg Concerts—Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center (8/21/13)

Well, that’s the good news and the bad news. CMS is a great organization. Chamber music out of doors is not such a great idea, in my opinion. Here’s the program:

Quartet in D Major for Flute, Violin, Viola, and Cello, K. 285 (1778),
1. Allegro, 2. Adagio, 3. Rondo, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–91); Serenade in D Major for Flute, Violin, and Viola, Op. 25 (1801), 1. Entrata: Allegro, 2. Tempo ordinario d’un menuetto, 3. Allegro molto, 4. Andante con variazioni, 5. Allegro scherzando e vivace, 6. Adagio—Allegro vivace e disinvolto, Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827); and Quintet in A Major for Piano, Two Violins, Viola, and Cello, B. 155, Op. 81 (1887), 1. Allegro, ma non tanto, 2. Dumka: Andante con moto, 3. Scherzo: Furiant, molto vivace, Finale: Allegro, Antonín Dvorák (1841–1904).

The players were Wu Han, piano; Kristin Lee, violin; Sean Lee, violin; Daniel Phillips, viola; David Finckel, cello; and Tara Helen O’Connor, flute. For those of you keeping score, it was announced from the stage that Ms. Han and Mr. Finckel are married to each other, Ms. O’Connor and Mr. Phillips are married to each other, and Ms. Lee and Mr. Lee are not married to each other. Whew!

The Mozart began with pleasant banter back and forth, with certain phrases repeated. The second movement featured the flute line playing against pizzicato (plucked) strings from the violin and viola. The ending movement was fuller in sound, with a quicker tempo. It was typical Mozart, to my ears—almost the equivalent of Classical easy-listening music. I acknowledge Mozart’s genius; I’m just not convinced that every note is genius.

The Beethoven began with a jaunty flavor, with the second movement feeling like a gentle dance, punctuated every once in a while with percussive phrases, then back to the dance. The third movement was very brief, with a driving rhythm, though not frantic. The fourth movement was calm, with brighter tempos for the variations—and each player got a chance to shine. The fifth movement was very brief, but very bright. The last movement finished very strongly.

After intermission, jotting down anything was impossible in the dark. From memory, the Dvorák was richer, fuller, and really worthwhile to be hearing. The fact that that there was piano plus four stringed instruments really helped with volume, in terms of chamber music being played out of doors. On the good side, we learned from the stage that there will be five Naumburg concerts next year. The Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center will be part of the series for the next three years. My suggestion would be for quintets or larger groups—trios and quartets are a little thin, from an audience standpoint.

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Bargemusic Again (8/17/13)

On Saturday, I attended a Bargemusic concert of solo piano music played by
Olga Vinokur. As always, the program was announced from the stage. Ms. Vinokur is rather soft spoken, so I may have missed, or misheard, some of the works. She began with a Sonata in D Major, by Domenico Scarlatti, which was followed by three pieces by Frédéric Chopin—a Nocturne, an Impromptu, and a Mazurka. Or was it a Fantaisie? I’m just not sure. Next up were movements #3 and #4 from Sergei Rachmaninoff’s Moments Musicaux and his Etude in g minor. Rounding out the program were Earl Wild’s transcriptions of Gershwin’s The Man I Love and I Got Rhythm.

I have heard Ms. Vinokur on several occasions and it is always a pleasure to hear her perform. The Scarlatti sonata was bright and charming, with clean lines and clean, crisp playing. Chopin’s Nocturne, while gentle, still had some build to it in terms of both volume and intensity. The Impromptu featured flying fingers, but with a controlled energy. There was a contrasting section, as well, that still featured very busy fingerwork. The Mazurka (Fantaisie?) had a bit of a martial feel to it. With all of the filigree musical lines, it was definitely Chopin, and it was more extensive than the first two of his pieces.

Rachmaninoff’s Moments Musicaux had thicker, denser chords with a darker mood for the opening, followed by a marching bass line. There was a feeling of expansive expression that made me think of angst, or maybe ardor? There were darkly pretty musical lines and ideas conveyed through the musical lines. Moment #4 was energized but still with an undertone of bleakness, almost. Maybe a sense of loss? This was a very moving composition and performance. The Etude continued in a dark manner but it made me think more of a sense of longing.

The Earl Wild transcriptions of Gershwin were, if I’m remembering correctly, improvisations that he was well known for—dazzling, in the style of Liszt—that he would play as entertainments. Once again, if I’m remembering correctly, he was urged to write them down, and he eventually did. It’s not quite jazz, though it certainly has jazz elements. It’s not really parody, since it’s an intriguing, classical-flavored metamorphosis of the familiar Gershwin tunes. It’s fun music, and it capped off a great afternoon of piano performance at Bargemusic once again.

This might have been my first August concert at the Barge, as I’m usually too tuckered out after volunteering for Summer Streets*. I did volunteer for full shifts the first two Saturdays this year, but only for the morning shift on the 17th. The concert attendance was higher than others I’ve been to at tha Barge. It’s a great freebie in NYC—one that I’m glad to attend whenever I can.

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*Just ask.

The Knights (7/30/13)

Here is the program for the third concert in the Naumburg Orchestral Concerts series in Central Park. Sinfonia in C Major, Wq. 182, No. 3 (1773), Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714–1788); Concerto in D (1946), 1. Vivace, 2. Arioso: Andantino, 3. Rondo: Allegro, Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971); Concerto for Oboe & Violin in C minor, BWV 1060 (1733), 1. Allegro, 2. Adagio, 3. Allegro, Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750); Serenade for Tenor, Horn and Strings (1943), Benjamin Britten
(1913–1976); and Chaconne (World Premiere) 2013), The Knights. As you can see, this was a very varied program.

The program was celebrating the concerto grosso form—a soloist (or small group) contrasted with a larger group of players—according to an announcement from the stage. This was certainly the case for the J. S. Bach and the Britten but I didn’t see it as much in the C. P. E. Bach or the Stravinsky. And Chaconne was its own format altogether.

The C. P. E. Bach, played without a conductor (the only piece with a conductor (Eric Jacobsen) was the Britten), had a lively opening, a contrasting calm section, a dance-like section with variations, and a somewhat abrupt ending. The Stravinsky had spiky rhythms but they weren’t over the top. There was a sweetness to the musical lines and, toward the end, a rocking chair–type rhythm. All in all, extremely accessible Stravinsky. Papa Bach’s concerto had a nicely played first movement that includes a very familiar opening.

http://tinyurl.com/lhkoyz3 (Well, phooey. Link doesn't work. Yahoo/Google it on your own.)

The soloists, Adam Hollander, oboe, and Johnny Gandelsman, violin, were showcased quite well as they opened the second movement, which was perfect for the sylvan setting of the park. The third movement had a forward-moving rhythm and a quite brisk tempo. Almost as an exclamation point, as the concerto came to an end, the streetlamps in the park popped on.

Britten’s Serenade, with Nicholas Phan, tenor, and Michael P. Atkinson, French horn, began the second half of the concert. This was a slightly odd choice for such an open air setting, but it worked pretty well. Mr. Phan sang well and his diction was very good but the texts (including poetry by Tennyson, Blake, Keats, and Jonson) are a little hard follow. I had an advantage, as I had studied this work in college. There are some fiendish intervals written for the horn; even when they’re played well, the ear goes, “Huh?” There were, alas, a few bobbles. For me, the highlight of the piece was the “Dirge,” a four line repetitive stanza that builds in intensity from quiet to forceful to quiet again. The arc built by the two soloists and the orchestra was exactly what was called for.

The idea behind Chaconne, also called The Ground Beneath My Feet if I jotted that down correctly when it was announced from the stage, took a chaconne rhythm and was then built on by several members of the orchestra, all compiled into one piece. As a result, there were various styles juxtaposed rather incoherently. At one point, there was a Latin flair followed by a pseudo folk song-cum-hoedown where the audience was encouraged to clap along. That was just a little too much kitsch, even at a somewhat informal concert. Maybe it was just me.

At any rate, I’m awfully glad I got a second live hearing of the Britten on a perfect evening in New York City. (The previous Naumburg concert ended mid-concert due to a huge downpour.) One more concert to go in the series—let’s hope for good weather on August 21.

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Young Dancemakers Company (7/27/13)

This was a performance of choreography by and for teen dancers. The 18 dancers (well, 17 actually, one young lady was injured, but her choreography was still part of the show) were introduced via a Prologue performed to live percussion. Percussion featured strongly in the music for the other 11 pieces, as well.

The pieces were contemporary dance, with nods to classical ballet but with more emphasis on theater/street/hip-hop dance. All of the teens performed well, with high energy and a sense of style throughout the entire afternoon. There were several small group dances—two, three, or four dancers—with a couple of larger ensemble pieces, and the final work (excerpts from the Doug Elkins Repertory Project’s Scott Queen of Marys) used all 17 to round out the program.

A couple of the early works were somewhat predictable. Flow (to water sounds) had three dancers, well, flowing onto and off of the stage. And The Chase had three couples chasing each other, with (if I’m remembering correctly) the couples separating and morphing into different couples in the chase.

I especially liked The Kitchen Drawer, where a young lady straightened out a jumble of six dancers and got them lined up as two forks, two spoons, and two knives. Of course, they were quite happy to jumble themselves again and taunt and thwart her from time to time. Very enjoyable.

On a slightly more somber note, Justice Dream, in the printed program, but announced from the stage as Waiting for Change, recounted the death of Trayvon Martin. When the lights came up again after a brief blackout, there were five or six teens all wearing red hoodies. As the hoodies were removed one by one, we saw a fellow in jacket and tie, a couple of girls in nice, sensible dresses, another fellow in casual but nice clothes, and finally a teen in a T-shirt that read STUDENT BODY LEADER. These teens raised Trayvon and carried him offstage and this was followed by a keening duet representing, at least to me, Trayvon’s parents. It was an effective piece.

This five-week, intensive enrichment program for NYC high school students produced a fun afternoon of high-energy choreography and performances. All told, there have been and will be nine performances (I’m not sure if all performances have all the works that I saw), including a Gala Final Concert and Reception at Ailey Citigroup Theater on Saturday evening, Aug. 3. Congratulations to all!

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Brecht in the Park (7/21/13) – A Brief Report

Free theater in Central Park! Even though it was a hot day, I decided to take in Elephant Run District’s presentation of three Bertolt Brecht one act plays – The Elephant Calf (1926), In Search of Justice (1938), and The Exception and the Rule (1929).

The outdoor staging had a playful quality to it, including limited use of masks and puppetry. From the little reading I did about Brecht after seeing the production, the director included hallmark devices such as adding snippets of songs, addressing the audience directly, and so forth. The thrust of all three one acts was slightly political as well as slightly absurd.

All six in the cast were effective in their characterizations and their realizations of the texts. As I see it, this was not great drama but a nice summer divertissement, a little on the quirky side. And the price was right. For any New York readers, there are two more performances, July 27 and 28.

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The Silent Clowns, Again (7/20/13)

Saturday’s selection of silents featured Edward Everett Horton in a short, Horse Shy (1928) and the feature, Helen’s Babies (1924). Oddly, I preferred the short over the feature.

In Horse Shy, Horton plays a hapless fellow invited to a fox hunt. We first meet him struggling to squeeze into his riding boots. Once he’s booted up, he realizes that his jodhpurs are on backwards. And his main problem? He really dislikes horses. In a bit of a running gag, horses seem to sense this and snap at him, chase him, and generally make his life miserable. On top of that, the daughter (Nita Cavalier) of the Colonel (who owns the estate where the hunt will take place) takes a shine to Horton. Then on top of that, a prankster has told her that Horton is quite the accomplished rider, so he is assigned Keno, the most spirited horse in the stable.

The horns are sounded and they’re off! Mayhem ensues—Keno is off like a rocket, Horton is thrown, he ends up remounted backwards, at one point he vaults over a wall only to land on a donkey going the other way, etc. A lot of the sight gags were truly laugh-out-loud funny. In the happy ending department, he gets the girl but not the fox. In fact he gets a skunk!

The program notes for Helen’s Babies point out that Horton had two famous leading ladies in this film—Baby Peggy, at the peak of her career, and Clara Bow, rapidly rising to stardom. The plot? Helen and her husband have the two best children in the world. Helen’s brother, a bachelor who doesn’t even like children (Horton), has written a very successful book on how to raise children. He’s coming for a visit, so Helen and her husband decide to take a brief getaway, knowing that their wonderful children will be in the capable hands of Horton.

Well, these kids are kids. They “help” their uncle by unpacking his suitcase and making a shambles of it. Shirt collars are mashed, straw hats are squashed, etc. He really has his hands full. Humorous bits. But some were more disturbing. At one point, after shaving, Horton gets distracted. Baby Peggy, wanting to be just like uncle, climbs on a stool, lathers her face, proceeds to unfold the straight razor, falls off of the stool and ends up with the razor perilously close to her face. I found this a little less than humorous. A neighbor (Ms. Bow) happens by, helps out with the two little girls, takes a shining to Horton and invites them to Sunday dinner. After a faux pas involving giving Ms. Bow a doll baby instead of flowers (Baby Peggy strikes again), everyone prepares to go in to dinner. Oops. The girls get distracted by a doggie, chase it down the lane, eventually ending up on railroad tracks—with a train approaching! When Horton and Bow realize the girls are gone, they set off in hot pursuit.

The little girls are rescued just in time and reunited with their parents who, as fate would have it, happened to be on the train. Helen is furious, but calms down when the little girls show how much they love their uncle. And Horton gets the girl! I didn’t find the gags all that funny in this one, and the plot seemed convoluted and not all that interesting to me.

As usual, the program notes, by Steve Massa, were nicely done and very interesting. The second of the curators, Bruce Lawton, ended up being the projectionist, and Ben Model, providing superb piano accompaniment, was a true joy. There are two more programs in the summer series.

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Bargemusic (7/13/13)

 Saturday afternoon’s concert was a flute, viola, harp trio—Brandon Patrick George, Andy Lin, and Meredith Clark, respectively. The concert opened with a Rondo-Menuet from Partita #3 by J.S. Bach for solo violin played, and very well played, by Mark Peskanov, Bargemusic’s Executive Director. These free Saturday concerts are family concerts, and there were quite a few children there, so the noise level in the audience was higher than usual.

The program, announced from the stage, was Elegiac Trio (1916), Sir Arnold Bax (1883–1953); Sonata for flute, viola and harp (1915), Claude Debussy (1862–1918); and Triolet (1989), Samuel Adler (1928–). All in all, three very different works.

Sir Arnold Bax was an English composer, and his work was gentle and graceful, with a touch of added strength, especially from the harp—a reminder that it can be quite percussive. It was nice, though it had a slightly rambling quality toward the end. Debussy’s sonata – Pastorale, Minuet, Allegro Moderato – began with shifting moods and somewhat more fragmented and short-ish lines and phrases. It was hard for me to sense the Minuet in the second movement. Debussy was stretching form, as well as tonality, too much. The final movement had an ostinato-like figure (a repeated rhythmic and musical phrase) from the harp, pizzicato (plucked) strings from the viola, and then a much spikier sound from all three instruments. Overall, it seemed to me that Debussy set out to be deliberately modern, presenting his music in a new and distinct style. It was a nice piece but I’m not sure I would seek out a second hearing. These were two very different trios from the same era.

If Debussy was aiming for modern, the Adler trio upped the ante. This music was truly modern, including dissonances and, at times, even disjointed phrases. All three artists played very well and seemed to approach the three different styles head on.

There was a fun Q&A at the end that included a demonstration of the three positions for each of the seven pedals on the harp. As Ms. Clark said, “Sometimes it seems like you’re tap dancing as well as using both hands on the strings!”

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