Midtown Concerts – Gotham Early Music Scene (1/4/2024)

Angelica Women’s Chamber Choir – A Battle of the Sexes: Italian Composers from 1300 to 1800

Well, that’s quite a mouth full. And Marie Caruso led twelve female vocalists (three of whom also played recorders, with one recordist also being a finger cymbalist, and one vocalist also playing the viola da gamba—I’m not making this up, you know!). The guest artist was Richard Kolb, playing the theorbo. 

Pop quiz. Raise your hand if you remember what a theorbo is. I know I’ve mentioned it two or three times in the past. Ask, if you need a reminder.

There were fifteen pieces on the program, so I’m not listing all fifteen, just as I’m not listing all twelve vocalists—we’d be here all day. Re. the Battle of the Sexes, there was no real battle. But there were female composers. Early music female composers. Let that sink in. Maddalena Casulana (ca.1540–ca.1590); Claudia Francesca Rusca (1593–1676)—but you’re not here for a history lesson, right? 

All of the music was sung beautifully. The theorbo added a bit of a continuo (accompaniment) feel, as did the recorders and viola da gamba, though they were more often used as intervals between the sung portions of some of the pieces. 

The printed program ran to eight pages because it included texts/translations for all fifteen pieces. I will also not include them all here, but I will include one. Fammi una canzonetta capriciosa. This was vocals with theorbo accompaniment. Here’s the translation: 

  Write me a capricious little song,
  such that no one, or only few,
  are able to sing it,
  and to a danceable tune.

  Don’t mind tuning or rules,
  for this is the best you can do.

  Do it as your fancy offers it,
  and embellish it by pretty runs. 

How cool is that? Capricious, indeed! 

Some of the pieces were calm, while some were more energetic. Some were strophic—verse, verse, verse. Some were for two voices, while some were for five. This is slightly misleading because a piece for five voices and a piece for two voices merely meant the number of vocal lines. All twelve vocalists sang all of the pieces, except for when they were playing recorder or viola da gamba. In a nod to early music gender fluidity, one piece (Magi videntes stellam, by Agostino Agarazzi (1580–1642)) was written for three tenor voices. Obviously, it was sung here by sopranos and altos. And it worked just fine. 

All in all, this was a wonderful reintroduction to this enjoyable series of concerts. I look forward to the rest of winter and to the spring, as well.

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Wreath Inspirations 2023 (12/28/23)

This is an annual installation at the Arsenal (64th? and Fifth Avenue, just inside Central Park). Annual, but with new wreaths every year. I have visited in years past, then I heard about on NY1 this year, and decided it was worth another go. I’m so glad I went. 

Here’s the gist. Artists (public, private, park employees) create wreaths with a combination of chosen materials and found materials. There were thirty wreaths on display this time. Most were round—some were, er, oblong. Materials varied wildly. 

I wrote down a few titles (one of which I’ve already posted on FB). I hope to try to link photos to my blogpost, as well. 

My favorite title was: The Wurst Wreath Ever Made: You Never Sausage a Terrible Wreath. (I’m not making this up, you know!) Others were Tacky Ouroboros, Dealer’s Choice, and Insomnia: Dream. 

Tacky Ouroboros was made almost entirely of tacks, and was a snake eating its own tail. A clever wreath. Dealer’s Choice had lots and lots and lots of playing cards, in order, creating a wreath. Alas, my tablet photo skills could not do it justice. Insomnia: Dream had a main character wearing glasses surrounded by a lot (and I mean a lot!) of googly eyes. It was very effective. Actually, they all were—the four I mentioned and the other 26, too. 

Some were for sale, though most were not. The price range was $100–$6,000. What price, art? 

Will I go in 2024? Yes! Hopefully earlier. The exhibition closed today, 1/4/24.

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(Alas, it looks like photos are a no-go here.)

A Tale of Two Boroughs (12/9/23 and 12/16/23)

Caroling, caroling through no snow …

Saturday, 12/9, found me at Judson Memorial Church for their annual caroling sponsored by the West Village Chorale. This has been a hit or miss event over the past few years, and this year was no different. Organization inside the church hall was done pretty well. Outside, in Washington Square Park, not so much. My group had two leaders. When we got into the park, the first question was, “What do you want to sing?” Um, you’re the leaders. You should have a plan. They also tried to join another group who didn’t seem to want us. It was awkward. That was the minus. The plus was that on one of our (very few) stops, there was a little girl singing along with us. The group leaders invited her to join us. She did, and had a great time. Another little girl was invited to join us, as well. Hopefully we made a few Christmas memories for those little ones.

Saturday, 12/16, found me in Brooklyn. A caroling group associated with the Brooklyn Conservatory of Music. Who knew they even existed? I didn’t, but now I do. Approximately 200(!) carolers broke up into four groups. The organizers said that turnout was so large probably because of the good weather. (No, this will not turn into a climate change rant, but …) My group was a small, four-part harmony group, though most of the singers were unison singers. Not a biggie. But when I attempted harmony, the unison singers seemed to lack confidence, so I stuck with unison for the most part. At our last stop of the afternoon, the owner of the place we were in front of brought out hot chocolate for us. A well-received bonus.

Will I try both again next year? Probably. Because I know going in that it’s hit or miss. And even if it’s a bit of a miss, I still get to go caroling in NYC again.

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The Orchestra Now (11/19/23)

Woefully Late Again 

In my defense, I went to the airport at the butt-crack of dawn on 11/20/23 to spend a wonderful Thanksgiving week in Ohio with my extended family. That said, here’s my report about this great concert I heard. 

The School for Scandal Overture (1931) – Samuel Barber (1910–1981)
Death and Transfiguration (1890) – Richard Strauss (1864–1949)
Symphony No. 4* (1853*) – Robert Schumann (1810–1856)

The Barber, at eight minutes, was a wonderful curtain-raiser (though there is no curtain at Symphony Space, where the concert was performed). I mostly know Barber from his edgy/modern works, but this was written when he was 21, so it was pretty much an early student work. It was tuneful and effective.

The Strauss was also an early work (he was in his mid to late 20s). This tone poem certainly hinted at some of his darker works that would appear later—though he could also sparkle, as he did in Der Rosenkavalier. It was interesting to hear this early work, with its weightiness.

The Schumann was a real piece of work on many levels. My concert mate asked me whether we had heard this orchestra play this piece before (we had not but we had heard a Schumann piece at a previous The Orchestra Now concert).

Here’s the deal about Schumann’s fourth symphony. It was really his second symphony*1841, but the critics pretty much skewered it. He removed it from publication and then reworked it as his fourth symphony*1853, which was much better received. My concert-mate and I agreed that we knew many of the themes and motifs of the reworked symphony. And we had a swell time at the concert.

A little late but worth the wait, I hope.

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Open House New York (10/20/23–10/22/23)

Yes, I know I’m woefully late. Anyhoo, it was a pretty good weekend, even though the weather was less than helpful. Open House New York is a weekend when buildings that are usually not open to the general public are open, or are having special events. The latter was the case with my volunteer experience.

On Friday morning (10/20/23), I volunteered at the Brooklyn Central Library. They were hosting two tours of the exhibit The Book of HOV, celebrating Jay-Z and the fiftieth anniversary of hip-hop. It took me a long time to figure out that title. Ah, it’s named after Jay-Z’s other nickname, HOV (short for J-Hova). Who knew? Now I do. Now you do, too. I did not actually go on the tour—as a volunteer, I was there to check in the folks who were on the registered list of attendees. Of course, there were folks who just trailed along with the tour, but that was not really my concern.

After my volunteer stint, I traveled (through rain showers) to a Brooklyn Makerspace. Interesting. It’s sort of like a co-op where creatives can share space and some tools to work on their non-professional likes/loves, such as woodworking, metalworking, etc. As I said, interesting, but I did not spend a lot of time there. I ditched stop number three (a whiskey distillery) due to the weather and the logistics of getting there (i.e., I was not walking a mile in the rain, and the directions for a bus to get there were a bit convoluted).

Saturday took me to Spanish Harlem and a studio for Manhattan Neighborhood Network. It was also a co-op style venture where people can go and learn the ins and outs of creating content that can then be presented on cable TV. I had the option of sitting in on a training session, but I decided against it.

Next was the Chapin School in my neck of the woods—100 E. End Avenue (85th Street). Two floors were available to visit. The 11th was a gymnasium on the top floor of the school. The gym was a gym, but the floor-to-ceiling windows looking east and west provided stunning views of Queens (east) and Manhattan (west). The fifth floor was a sort of mini-workspace, similar to the Brooklyn one. This was not quite a co-op space, since it seemed to be available to all of the students. I saw teen-agers working on set pieces for an upcoming play production as well as younger students in more of the exploratory sections of the workspace. Intriguing.

Saturday afternoon took me to a non-OHNY event, a showing of the biopic Chevalier sponsored by the Gateways Music Festival, promoting classical music presented by performers of African descent. Joseph Bologne, a contemporary of Mozart, was a violinist, composer, fencing expert, and highly respected dancer who was also christened Chevalier de Saint George by Marie Antoinette. He also fought in the French Revolution, partially because of the inequality thrust upon him as a black man. Liberté, Egalité, Fraternité indeed!

But I digress. Back to OHNY and Brooklyn. Sunday took me to the Brooklyn Grange, an amazing rooftop garden on top of a huge building. Tons of growing spaces. A building for classes/teaching. A building as an event space. What’s not to love? My NYC peeps, I believe you can visit year-round at 850 Third Ave., Brooklyn 11232. You heard it here first!

25 Kent Street in Brooklyn (I swear, I spent more time in Brooklyn in one weekend than I did in the last year!) had two spots available to visit in two different buildings. Gorgeous NYC views. One was another makerspace/workspace and one was an open floor awaiting move-ins.

My last trek was also more in my neighborhood. The Frick Museum at Fifth Ave. 70th St. is undergoing renovations, so OHNY included the Frick on Madison (75th St.) (formerly the Whitney, which is now downtown on the west side—is anyone else confused yet?). I spent a lovely afternoon perusing famous artwork. Alas, without a cell phone, I couldn’t hear/read much about the works on display. I was encouraged to scan a QR code, but that was not happening.

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Gotham Early Music Scene (10/5/23)

Vox Fidelis

Byrd 400 – Mass for Five Voices

Timothy Smith ~ director and tenor; Marisa Curcio & Carey Hackett ~ sopranos; Candice Helfand-Rogers & Gloria Kierniesky ~ altos; Sam Denler ~ tenor; Les Anders & Erik Potteiger ~ basses

O Lord, Make Thy Servant Elizabeth – William Byrd (ca. 1543–1623)
Mass for Five Voices – Kyrie; Gloria; Credo; Sanctus & Benedictus; Agnus Dei – William Byrd

I went into this concert thinking ‘oh, an old favorite; I’m looking forward to this.’ Whoops! I didn’t recognize it at all. I’m guessing now that I got it confuzzled with Byrd’s Mass for Four Voices. That said, I had a hard time discerning five voices. Maybe the sopranos were split? Maybe others?

Anyhow, I really enjoyed the concert. The opening introductory was pleasant, if a bit fawning (obeisance to royalty). 

The mass was fairly standard. The Gloria and Credo each had an incipit (a sung introduction of the first line of text). In this case, it was by one of the basses—I’m used to it being sung by a tenor. (Usually me.) 

The mass was pretty straightforward and progressed without applause between movements. In fact, even though this was a concert, it seemed a bit odd applauding at the end, since it was the end of what was essentially a church service. In a church. But applaud we did. My only drawback was that with only eight voices, the move toward louder dynamics seemed a bit forced. A minor drawback.

Would I hear these eight voices again? In a New York minute. Oh, the 400 reference is that this year is the 400th anniversary of William Byrd’s. death. Weird, I know, but there you are.

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Found in a Flea Market (9/21/23)

Midtown Concerts sponsored by Gotham Early Music Scene

Music from the Carlo G Manuscript
Audrey Fernandez-Fraser ~ soprano; Gwendolyn Toth ~ harpsichord

Confiteor Deo – Carlo G (?–?) (see below)
Iste est qui ante Deum
Panis Angelicus

Keyboard Intabulation of Vidi Speciosam by Alessandro Grandi (1583–1630)
(in the style of Carlo G by Gwendolyn Toth)

Sub umbra illis
Quam dilecta

From the Castell’ Arquato manuscript – (anon. ca. 1550)
  Pavana – Saltarello – Ripresa ~ Ciel turchin ~ Non ti partir de me ~ Al carmoonese ~ Zorso

Benedictus Deus – Carlo G 

Apparently, this folio of music (c.1600–1620) was actually found in a flea market about fifteen years ago. By now you’re probably asking, “Who the heck is Carlo G? The great-great … grandfather of Kenny G?” I just don’t know. The program notes gave no explanation. Of course, I dove down the rabbit hole and found this – Most of the pieces in the manuscript are by Carlo G.; his name appears fully on the first page of the manuscript, but unfortunately a dark stain hides his last name. In the rest of the manuscript  only his initials are used: C. G. 

Well, that clears things up, right? Anyhow, the music was very interesting, even if there was a sameness from piece to piece. 

Overall, the concert was very enjoyable. Within the sameness of the pieces there were tempo and dynamic variations. The texts were a little hard to follow, since the vocal writing involved a lot of melisma (one vowel stretched over many notes) and poetic license (the text not always following the written lyrics). 

The harpsichord piece of dances in the middle was also a little hard to follow as well, since one dance seemed to blend into the next. [phone! really?!?] But all of the dances were very interesting, with nice variations of tempos and rhythms. 

The final Benedictus was indeed a blessing, with hope for the future included.

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