tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-42785367717001625802024-03-14T00:50:29.054-04:00Sonic LabyrinthBlog for the Eternally Cool in Classical MusicJeffrey Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08877911938789999559noreply@blogger.comBlogger269125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4278536771700162580.post-87011242492465260472015-06-15T07:06:00.000-04:002018-02-13T15:14:29.232-05:00I Have Joined Radio Station WMNR as a regular Broadcaster<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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I am proud to have joined the radio station WMNR as a
regular host and broadcaster. I will be on every Sunday morning from 9:00am to 12:00pm Eastern Standard Time. Each program can be streamed live online, and is also archived on the website for one week.</div>
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WMNR is one of the few predominantly classical music stations
in which hosts still select the music that they play. The personality of each
host is distinctive. I have been a long-time listener, and I’m honored to
become a part of the team. </div>
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Hope you can tune in!</div>
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Jeffrey Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08877911938789999559noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4278536771700162580.post-51121615315179418262014-12-11T08:33:00.000-05:002014-12-11T08:33:38.044-05:00Harford Chorale Impresses with Messiah<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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‘Tis the season for performances of Handel’s <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Messiah</i>. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Of all the possibilities over
the next few weeks, I chose to attend the performance by The Hartford Chorale,
featuring musicians from the Hartford Symphony Orchestra in the Mortensen Hall,
at the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts. I was not alone in this
decision. In spite of a cold and rainy spell in the region, a huge audience was
on hand. </div>
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The event, conducted by Music Director Richard
Coffey, presented most of the massive score written by Handel. Don’t take this
for granted…many performances cut the score to ribbons. The narrative of each
of the Oratorio’s three parts was clear in this performance.</div>
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The Hartford Chorale astonished. They articulated the tricky
English texts with great clarity. The words could always be understood without referring to
the program. “And the glory of the Lord” was sung with wave upon wave of sound,
and in this music about “revealing” the Chorale revealed colors and textures
that often remain hidden.</div>
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Coffey is a conductor who can teach through sound itself,
and this was a detailed and thoughtful performance. As an example, conductors often
focus too much on the presence of subjects in vocal fugues. Occurrences of fugue
subjects become highlighted like sentences in a freshman’s textbook. Coffey
kept the subjects working within the larger contrapuntal framework, so that we
could also hear all the voices around them. The contrapuntal music sounded fresh.</div>
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The first significant arrival in <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Messiah</i> is the chorus “Glory to God.” It is the first time the
trumpets play, and Coffey placed the trumpets in the balcony so that we were
surrounded by sound. It was a thrilling and memorable moment.</div>
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The pacing and dance-like tempos of the movements helped
articulate larger patterns in the music, and that is what made the closing of
each major section of the work sound so satisfying. Given the complex compositional
engineering of this work, every connection needs to be plugged in for the lights
to glow. Following tradition, the entire audience stood during the Halleluiah
Chorus. It is wonderful to hear an audience spontaneously join in and sing this iconic music, and for a
second time during the evening we were enclosed in sound from all directions. People
were beaming.</div>
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The soloists, soprano Meechot Marrero, mezzo-soprano Kathleen
Reveille, tenor Ting Li, and bass-baritone Brad Walker, are from the Yale
Opera Program, and these young voices all impressed by filling the hall with <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>sound. Their musical fluency and vocal
presence was uplifting in itself. Walker was particularly impressive during “The
trumpet shall sound,” where he brought resonant vocal power and strong conviction
to the moment. </div>
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But the crowd favorite was Marrero. She sang elegant lines
in warm colors and always seemed to edge the right words at the right time. Her
coloratura was clean and pitched in the center of each note. She was always convincing.
Be on the lookout for opportunities to hear her sing.</div>
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The most famous musical moments of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Messiah</i> seem ever-present at this time of year. This was the kind
of performance that reminds us that the familiar beautiful within our lives can
still sparkle.</div>
Jeffrey Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08877911938789999559noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4278536771700162580.post-25829364114566039982014-09-10T06:50:00.000-04:002014-09-10T06:50:07.961-04:00A Review of "Horn Discoveries" by Sarah Willis<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]--> <span style="font-size: xx-small;">Sarah Willis, Kotowa Machida, and Philip Mayers </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><br /></span></div>
A <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/horn-discoveries-bonus-track/id905426301" target="_blank">new recording</a> by Sarah Willis is a welcome occasion.
Willis has developed a powerful presence on the classical music scene for her innovative and charismatic interviews, commentaries, live chats, and
other televisionary productions. But she is a musician first, and her new
recording called “Horn Discoveries,” is a worthy addition to her discography.
<br />
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<br /></div>
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It is no simple matter to program newly written works. One
has little ability to predict the final shape, complexity, quirks, or
ultimately the personality of the music one requests. How can one be certain of
the way they will share space on a recording? Willis worked with close
colleagues and friends and was comfortable enough with each person to make very
specific requests and/or alterations. The end result is a recording that has a
pleasing shape, centered on the horn trio medium but spiced with works for horn
and piano, and for two horns. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div>
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The most exciting work was saved for last. <a href="http://www.masonbates.com/" target="_blank">Mason Bates</a> is a
composer on the rise. His works, often featuring electronica and unusual
percussion parts, are beginning to making the rounds. I reviewed his work “Alternative
Energy” as performed by the <a href="http://www.courant.com/entertainment/music/hc-hso-bolero-review-20140606,0,1271776.story" target="_blank">Hartford Symphony</a> last spring. </div>
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The opening movement of the Bates work on this recording, called “Mainframe Topics,” was woven from colorful
rhythmic threads pulled tight in ideas that develop fluently into refreshing
and often surprising directions. The first movement connects directly into a
lyrical interlude called “Marine Snow” in which the interplay of lyrical lines is
entrancing and the high horn writing (and playing) is quite lovely. The transformation
of ideas in the final movement is successful and entertaining. This is a
significant work, like others by this composer, and is a solid addition to the
horn trio literature.</div>
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I was also fond of the five short works written for two
horns by Klaus Wallendorf. <a href="http://www.berliner-philharmoniker.de/en/orchestra/musician/klaus-wallendorf/" target="_blank">Wallendorf</a> is a longtime member of the horn section
of the Berliner Philharmoniker, and a gifted composer and arranger. He speaks
numerous languages and is clever and funny in all of them. Like his verbal virtuosity,
these five short pieces for horn duet move in and out of idioms fluently. Behind
the references and puns is an almost hidden planning and sophistication. They
are each built well. To listen carefully is to smile. </div>
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The recording includes six arrangements of famous short works,
each rethought for horn trio by David Riniker. <a href="http://www.berliner-philharmoniker.de/en/orchestra/musician/david-riniker/" target="_blank">Riniker</a> is a Swiss cellist who been
a member of the cello section of the Berlin Philharmonic since 1995. </div>
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Often the most familiar tunes are taken for granted. So are
arrangements of them. But Riniker has arranged each with imagination. The
famous “Melodie” by Tchaikovsky is the final movement of his <i>Souvenir d'un
lieu cher</i><span class="st"> (Memory of a place beloved), written during a
two-week stay at a residence of his patroness </span>Nadezhda von Meck. She was
not there. The two loved the dance of suggestion and anticipation. They never
met.</div>
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The transcription is set in the same key as the original for
violin and piano. The horn sings the opening melodic phrase, then the violin
takes over, but the interplay between the original and the adaptation is effective.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Tchaikovsky’s Nocturne, Op.19 No. 4 that follows is
transposed to D minor. There is a short cadenza prior to the tempo I, and the
closing moments are thinned. Listen for the piano line, it sounds fresh and
surprising because the role of the piano was submerged to give the horn room.</div>
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<br /></div>
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The Dvořák “Humoreske” Op. 101 No. 7, was transposed up a
half-step to G major.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The interlude is
rich and lovely in arrangement, and the performance is joyful. The horn solo at
the più lento is strong and bold. The final presentation of the famous tune is tasty.<span class="st"></span></div>
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The arrangement of the “Romance de Nadir” from the Bizet’s
opera “Les pêcheurs des perles” is an opportunity to hear how the horn can
produce long lyrical lines filled with vocal expression. Willis plays the line
simply and allows its energy to unfold slowly the way the best singers would. </div>
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<br /></div>
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The arrangement of “Clair de lune” by Debussy is a great
example of how the piece should be performed in its original piano solo
version. Debussy notated stretched time into the score, so very little needs to
be stretched beyond it. Listen and learn.</div>
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In the final arrangement of <i>L'Abeille</i> (The Bee) from
the Op. 13 collection for violin and piano by François (not Franz!!) Schubert.
Willis proves that the horn can “bee” with the best of them.</div>
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The recording opens with “Song of a New World” by Richard
Bissill, who was Principal Horn of the London Philharmonic Orchestra from
1984-2009 and is now Principal Horn of the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House,
Covent Garden.</div>
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The construction of the work seems flawed. The music returns
too predictably to a motive that is over exposed. The music emerges out of extended soliloquy, but then only a few minutes later a second extended soliloquy stops
the unfolding. But there are effective moments, and the final section is supercharged and worth the wait. </div>
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This is a recording that holds up to repeated listenings. It
has a nice recorded presence. The placements and balances were logical.
Cheers to pianist Philip Mayers who supports much more than it might appear on
first listening. Mayers can make the background sing, then effortlessly glide
into the spotlight, disappearing again before you realize how great he sounded.
Violinist Kotowa Machida brought the virtuosity of blending into perfect focus.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Willis has harmonized a recording of diverse ensembles,
composers and musicians. This is a recording that would be a welcome gift for a
good friend. </div>
Jeffrey Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08877911938789999559noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4278536771700162580.post-79353474579181335262014-08-04T08:51:00.000-04:002014-08-04T08:51:36.208-04:00La bohème by Opera Theater of Connecticut in Clinton<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5cNOFHiKPk3UAInqFeUFeSgflr2JYyhxZf-X765PFd2kHFrQm0Al7NvSRUP90FMZ0NVYTRb3OBPP6tryLw9cPS5wB1oPM3GWbJsUViF6Eg2mJQkRwFU9U_3b4Chkj2rgyWHgj3Pdww7tf/s1600/Quartet_01.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5cNOFHiKPk3UAInqFeUFeSgflr2JYyhxZf-X765PFd2kHFrQm0Al7NvSRUP90FMZ0NVYTRb3OBPP6tryLw9cPS5wB1oPM3GWbJsUViF6Eg2mJQkRwFU9U_3b4Chkj2rgyWHgj3Pdww7tf/s1600/Quartet_01.jpg" height="214" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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</xml><![endif]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Maksim Ivanov as Marcello, Lisa Williamson as
Musetta, </span></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Shannon Kessler Dooley as Mimi, and Joshua Kohl as Rodolfo</span></span></span></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">p<span style="font-family: inherit;">hoto b</span>y Alan Casavant<span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></span></div>
<br />
Nothing is more refreshing than snow in August--even when that snow is made by machine during Act III of La bohème. The opportunity to hear this ever-popular Puccini masterpiece given by a trustworthy local opera company is at hand for all within commuting distance of Clinton, Connecticut this week. The opera will be given on Tuesday, August 5, Thursday, August 7 and Saturday, August 9 at 7:30pm and Sunday, August 10 at 6pm at the Andrews Memorial Theater on 54 East Main Street.<br />
<br />
I had the opportunity to hear the dress rehearsal on Sunday evening. It was a pleasure to attend this event, where so much came together and where refinements were made on the fly. One cannot review a dress rehearsal because there is still time for changes prior to opening night. But a few words will serve in anticipation. <br />
<br />
General Director Kate Ford, and Opera Theater of Connecticut’s artistic team of Production Director Alan Mann and Music Director Kyle Swann have put together a very effective cast ensemble, and they are on display in an extremely fluid second act. The chorus and children's chorus were both impressive and well-balanced, and the stage action was detailed and entertaining throughout the entire act. <br />
<br />
Lisa Williamson impressed as Musetta. She delivered lines with rhythmically precise diction and created a wide range of expression within the part. Shannon Kessler Dooley as Mimì, and Joshua Kohl as Rodolfo both had big voices that could soar over the orchestra and were at their best when they were able to plant and let their sound resonate. Their duet at the close of Act I was amazing. <br />
<br />
The cast also featured Maksìm Ivanov as Marcello, Ryan Burns as Schaunard, and Aaron Sorensen as Colline who sang a darkly warm "Vecchia zimarra." Laurentiu Rotaru was clever and entertaining in both roles he covered: Benoît the landlord and Alcindoro the unfortunate lover of Musetta who gets stuck with the bill for act II.<br />
<br />
Conductor Kyle Swann had the orchestra sounding quite good, and this production is sure to please on opening night. <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<![endif]-->Jeffrey Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08877911938789999559noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4278536771700162580.post-65587140968420902162014-06-23T13:02:00.000-04:002014-06-23T13:02:51.088-04:00Oboist Albrecht Mayer appears on Prelude & Food <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Sarah Willis, Albrecht Mayer, and Markus Becker playing Herzogenberg</span></div>
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The latest episode of "<a href="http://www.preludeandfood.com/">Prelude & Food</a>" hosted by Sarah Willis has just been released for viewing on the finkernagel & lück medienproduktion website. This episode is centered on oboist <a href="http://www.berliner-philharmoniker.de/en/orchestra/musician/albrecht-mayer/" target="_blank">Albrecht Mayer</a> who teaches the way toward a delicious looking Lamb ragôut while also giving us fascinating, and at times quite powerful insights, into this musician who contributes so much to the sound of the modern Berliner Philharmoniker. <br />
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The concept of this series is clever. Standard interview contexts often produce standard interview dialog. Cooking with a small group of friends is a chamber music of its own, and Willis can listen, interact, and respond with great spontaneity while never losing focus on the larger progressions.<br />
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As you watch this episode (which lasts about an hour) notice how the pacing shifts, and how the feeling of relaxed intimacy develops. Mayer has a complex high-energy personality, and its richness opens throughout the episode.<br />
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While the food appeared to be good, the musical selections were particularly tasty. At [40:00] listen for the excerpt from the second movement presto of the Horn Trio in D major, Op. 61 written in 1889 by Heinrich von Herzogenberg. Herzogenberg was connected to Brahms, but was better known as a champion of the music of Bach.<br />
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At [52:50] Mayer and Becker play the "Liebesruf eines Faun" for English horn & Piano by Hans Steinmetz (1901-1975). Both musical works appear on Mayer's 2012 Decca CD called "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Song-Reeds-Albrecht-Mayer/dp/B007BY1J26/ref=sr_1_2_bnp_1_mus?ie=UTF8&qid=1403536428&sr=8-2&keywords=Albrecht+Mayer" target="_blank">Song of the Reeds</a>."<br />
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But the most touching moment is Mayer's confession that he considers himself an "insecure person." If you watch the scene unfold from [42:00] you will discover how the conversation developed. As a child he stuttered [45:37] and found that by channeling his energy through the oboe that he was able to overcome this significant challenge. His ability to communicate, both verbally and musical, is so fluent that one would never imagine that he had these particular challenges. That he felt comfortable enough to share this kind of information reveals inner strength and its own kind of confidence.<br />
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Of the four episodes currently available for viewing this one is my favorite. Please share information about this series and let's hope that there are many more episodes to follow!Jeffrey Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08877911938789999559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4278536771700162580.post-35498663676901019162014-06-08T06:50:00.000-04:002014-06-08T07:05:09.185-04:00Variations on Knightly Character with Bychkov in the Digital Concert Hall<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Delepelaire taking cue from Bychkov</span></div>
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"Fantastic Variation on a Theme of Knightly Character." This elaborate subtitle was a way for Richard Strauss to indicate that there was more going on in his tone poem called <i>Don Quixote</i> than an ear-movie based on Cervantes.<br />
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He could have subtitled the work "a really challenging piece for cello soloist." But that would not seem to hold true for the amazing young cellist Bruno Delepelaire, who joined the Berliner Philharmoniker as a resident cello soloist last November. Delepelaire made it look easy. But more importantly made the music sound graceful, charming, and believable. In a part filled with color and interaction with all corners of the orchestra, Delepelaire sought and found a meditative element in this depiction of a doomed idealist. Máté Szűcs impressed with the viola solo which he played while also leading the viola section. Szűcs resonated the wit and humor of his lines and blazed with the fluidity of his passagework. <br />
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Commentators often talk about plot concept in this work, but the personality of motives and lines as they combine and transform are even more vivid. In the Berliner Philharmoniker, the musical personality of each soloist is so distinct that when Albrect Mayer play the G major "Dulcinea" line, or when Andreas Ottensamer leaned on the highest notes of the cadential gesture led by the clarinet, it sounded as authentic personality articulating authentic personality.<br />
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Conductor Semyon Bychkov inspired a "concerto for orchestra" concept.The interplay between chamber music intimacy and large ensemble sound was effective and insightful in this performance. A great place to study this elaborate layering was the music in F-sharp major in variation 3, where the orchestral weight suddenly leaned to reveal entwined lines played by solo cello and oboe. During this variation there was also a carefully placed camera angle that caught the tambourine trill.<br />
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There are many colorful nuances in this score: places where only two desks of violins play divided. We could have used some additional wide-angle camera shots to help us contextualize these moments. The wide-angle camera views during Variation 7 and 10 were effective in this regard. <br />
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If you are new to this work, you cannot do better than to listen to the interval talk with Sarah Willis interviewing Delepelaire and Szűcs. Willis focused important details of the work while keeping things relaxed. In this work about personality we learned something of the personality of these musicians.<br />
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Don Quixote has one of the great quiet endings in the orchestral literature. Bychkov held onto the silence after the final notes had dimmed. The Don dies at the close of the work, and the peaceful sense of the music should make us wonder. Bychkov is great at articulating strangeness in music, and he caught this one perfectly. <br />
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It was a sense of strangeness that most stood out in this performance of Schubert's Great Symphony in C major. The terrifying moment when the second movement comes unhinged was also given a long pause by Bychkov. The pause made the cello line that followed seem like a Don Quixote moment of realization in Schubert.<br />
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Bychkov framed this central crisis by emphasizing the final gesture of the second theme group on either side of it. The hovering quality of these passages resonated and connected.<br />
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To listen for when this performance comes into the archive: Bychkov chose very clever tempo relationships not only within the first movement in the shift from the andante into the allegro non troppo, but also between movements. The entire symphony seemed made from variations developed from a root tempo. Jeffrey Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08877911938789999559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4278536771700162580.post-56934668996826695282014-03-16T07:33:00.000-04:002014-03-16T07:33:08.125-04:00Regrets from the Met; an Explanation of Yesterday's SilenceAccording to a statement posted on the <a href="http://www.metoperafamily.org/metopera/news/press/Werther-Audio">Met website</a>, the audio outage in yesterday's transmission of Werther was caused by "a technical problem with the satellite carrying the audio feed." The problem impacted "the majority of U. S. Theaters."<br />
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They have posted the <a href="http://www.metoperafamily.org/video/watch/werther-live-in-hd-final-scene/3345177377001#play">final scene</a> so that viewers who were short-changed yesterday can at least hear what they missed. But this final scene needs to be felt in the immediate context of what came before. This offering only reheats yesterday's meal.<br />
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I don't think the Met owes us anything. Yes, the drama of placement was about as extreme as one can imagine, but this was the first widespread problem during a live transmission of the HD series. We need to be patient with challenges in return for the amazing insights that the series gives us on a regular basis.<br />
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The Met does owe more than a simple apology to its theaters. This blip was the kind of mistake that can happen in an individual theater, especially in multiplex operations where operators have their hands full. The theater in which I watch HD ruined Rusalka by trying to stretch the image. They could not fix it and there was no way to watch it.<br />
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Many people in my cinema, and several who wrote to me yesterday thought that the problem was local at the time that it happened. The Met should be prepared with "technical difficulty" messages to inform us if anything like this happens again in the future. <br />
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Quicker response times are important. Imagine trying to appease angered opera fans when no real explanation can be offered. The Met's regrets were directed toward us, but should have been offered to the venues.<br />
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<br />Jeffrey Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08877911938789999559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4278536771700162580.post-28853891140498930572014-03-15T17:43:00.000-04:002014-03-15T17:43:00.473-04:00Sex, Death, and Unplanned Silence; Met Werther Live in HDDid your sound disappear during the last five minutes of the transmission of Werther Live in HD? I watched in Milford Connecticut and the sound onscreen disappeared during the G minor passage that culminated the final five minutes of the opera. The sound returned again suddenly for curtain calls.<br />
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Audiences accept random moments of mishap during performance; a clipped entrance, incorrect words, a tweak of intonation. Why? Because they are very human kinds of mistakes. What about when the mistakes are not human but technological? <br />
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In the Eyre production of Werther, it was the Wagnerian join of sex and death that made the deepest impression. Throughout the final scene Kaufman (as Werther) and Koch (as Charlotte) became intimate as the scene progressed toward the death of Werther. As the curtain came down it appeared that Charlotte might join Werther with a bullet from the other pistol in the dueling case.<br />
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Finally the repressed and denied emotions we had followed all afternoon had burst through to the surface. Then silence.<br />
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The video feed was normal, so we saw Kaufman and Koch who suddenly looked like fish as the music (that we could not hear) became quieter. <br />
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Since I know this opera I was able to run sound in my mind, but the experience was unforgettable. The final moments of the opera seemed violently repressed by the silence, as if censored. John Cage taught us to hear silence as part of the experience, as part of the music, and in this transmission it seemed very loud.<br />
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I have always pointed out the unique advantages that hearing live concert and opera transmissions. But there are also idiomatic challenges. Most often these are localized; bad focus, thin sound, not or simply turning on aisle lights during intermission. This challenge seemed bigger in scope, and it made an impression on the way we heard the opera. Are we less patient because the cause was technological?<br />
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Where did you hear the transmission? Did you lose sound? Were you able to continue to follow, or were you one of the enraged?Jeffrey Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08877911938789999559noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4278536771700162580.post-83134037336525412562014-03-02T10:21:00.001-05:002014-03-02T10:21:32.185-05:00Escaping from one's Self; Prince Igor Live-In-HD<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Folk tales testify that our life flashes before our eyes as we teeter on the edge of death. In the Met's new production of Prince Igor it was not so much life as it was Act One.<br />
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Dimitri Tcherniakov and Gianandrea Noseda presented a revisionist Prince Igor in which filmed close-ups of Igor's bleeding face were projected across the stage in black and white to punctuate the first act and interpret the music as dream and fantasy.<br />
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The desire to connect the fragmentary tableaux that comprise the music actually written by Borodin is understandable, and both Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazunov contributed to the version of this opera we often hear. This production stripped away the music not written by Borodin, but added another interpretation in its place.<br />
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The Tcherniakov and Noseda conception was often fascinating. We were asked to understand the strange actions of the first act as the wish of a general who had just fallen on the battlefield. This allowed the ballet of Polovtsian dancers and the interaction with a kind and benevolent enemy, cast in a field of poppies, to assume an Oz-like meaning. The action represents what life as a prisoner would be like in fantasy. Since Borodin's music for Act One was set in an exotic style deliberately different from the rest of the opera, there was musical justification for this concept.<br />
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The triumphant music of the closing act is seldom convincing in other productions, but here it took on ironic shades as Igor was a portrayed as a living victim of war who was only a broken shell of the person he was when he departed.<br />
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An alternative ending was appended onto the score as Igor began the process of rebuilding (both himself and his city). The music that closed the opera was "The River Don Floods," written by Borodin for an opera-ballet called Mlada. Yes, this was music written by Borodin, but without any intention for being used in this opera. The greater reinterpretation of the grand ending had already successfully taken place in this production. This appended music became a layer of "help" similar to that given by Rimsky and Glazunov that the opera did not need. We were escaping from Igor's self, not Borodin's.<br />
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Host Eric Owens reminded us that this was the 75th transmission in the Live-in-HD series. The series has developed, and this was apparent during the outstanding camera work during Yaroslavna's lament in Act Three. The camera was kind to Oksana Dyka. The close-up of her expression gave insight into that critical emotional moment in this opera. The color of her singing and the sound of the clarinet that wove through the texture was powerful.<br />
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Mikhail Petrenko also gave a detailed account of Galitsky in aggressive and menacing vocal sound. He made this hateable character vivid. Ildar Abdrazakov was a constant presence as Igor. His acting focused the intensity and deep vulnerability of this elusive character. His singing was detailed with phrasings possible only for those with super-human breath support. The Met orchestra sounded great throughout, and the energy of their sound was a significant part of the narrative.<br />
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Prior to the opening of the Prologue a motto was projected: "To unleash a war is the surest way to escape from one's self." This production mused on the ways in which inner wars are as devastating as military wars. Jeffrey Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08877911938789999559noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4278536771700162580.post-53308624625870578182013-12-31T16:11:00.001-05:002013-12-31T16:11:56.840-05:00Sonic Champagne from Berliner Philharmoniker on New Year's Eve<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Pop! The cork flew from the bottle with the opening phrase of the Dvořák Symphonic Dance in G minor, Op. 46 no. 8. This concert of The Berliner Philharmoniker, conducted by Simon Rattle and transmitted live in the Digital Concert Hall, seemed like a gift. It was not announced when the season was originally posted, but appeared a few weeks ago on their listing of scheduled live events.<br />
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The concert was titled Das Silvesterkonzert, and it had a formal but yet relaxed feel. The audience was even highlighted in soft bluish light. Annette Gerlach moderated the concert, saying a few words before each segment of music.<br />
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The event gave us a chance to hear pianist Lang Lang perform the Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 3 with Rattle and the BP. This work is one of the two concerti on the <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Bartok-Concerto-Prokofiev-Deluxe-Edition/dp/B00DV9QHB8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1388518469&sr=8-1&keywords=rattle+lang+lang">disc</a> recently released by the orchestra with Lang as soloist. Surrounded as it was by energized dance music, Lang had the perfect opportunity to bring out the playful edges of the Prokofiev third.<br />
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His technical machinery is remarkable. But what pleased most in this performance was his extremely quiet and tender sound in places like the nocturnal fourth variation of the second movement. The dotted rhythm octave-calls followed by whisper quiet figuration was haunting. Lang made the piano seem orchestral in its own right, but he also listened carefully to the orchestra, matching articulations and shadings throughout.<br />
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There is a passage in the lyrical central tableau of the third movement where many live performances lose fizzle. It begins with the passage for solo piano in D minor. But Lang played with the precision of a clock escapement, and kept the energy of the work leaning forward.<br />
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The live filming of this concert was also quite musical. Several angles showed close-up shots of Lang's fingerings, and the crisp energy of his articulations. There was a very clean shot of castinet playing in the first movement, and a very good balance between soloist and orchestra, which was useful in this concerto where the orchestra had such an important role in the narrative.<br />
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There was no intermission, but it nevertheless took several minutes for the mechanical lifts to swallow the piano into the stomach of the hall and to restore the stage for the remainder of the event.<br />
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A set of three more Dvořák Slavonic dances followed, this time from Op. 72. The orchestra performed No. 1, the Odzemek in B major, the slow and elegant No. 2 in E minor, and closed with No. 7 in C major. One always listens for the gear changes in this style. It is informative to hear how good orchestras anticipate and shape them. We got to see Rattle enjoy the two six-bar phrases in the middle of the C major trio in No. 2. His smile was all that was needed to communicate the lovely strangeness of these two phrases awash in a sea of longing set in four-bar phrases.<br />
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I'm not sure that the third movement of the Hindemith Symphonic Dances fit into this program, but it is rarely heard and was enjoyable for that reason alone.<br />
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A Khachaturian set followed with four movements from the Gayane suite, including the Sabre Dance, Dance of the Young Kurds, the adagio Gayane used by Kubrick, and closing with the wonderfully rustic Lezginka.<br />
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As an encore, Rattle played two works by Brahms, the Hungarian Dance No. 3 in F, and closed with the Hungarian Dance No. 1 in G minor.<br />
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Goodbye 2013, you have been (mostly) good to us. <br />
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Jeffrey Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08877911938789999559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4278536771700162580.post-19470787480716392782013-12-28T17:53:00.000-05:002013-12-28T17:53:22.823-05:00Kaufmann and Harteros Impress on Bayerische Staatsoper.tv <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Tézier and Kaufmann at the end of Act III</span></div>
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Thanks to Bayerische <a href="http://www.staatsopertv.de/">Staatsoper.tv</a> for an HD broadcast of La Forza del Destino from Munich that was part of their second season of live streams.<br />
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This performance was centered on Jonas Kaufmann who impressed in the challenging role of Alvaro, but also in a memorable effort by German soprano Anja Harteros (known to Met-goers from her 2003 Countess in Figaro, Donna Anna in 2004, and Violetta in 2008). Ludovic Tézier (Enrico in the Met's 2011 Live-in-HD Lucia) also excelled in the often overlooked role of Carlo.<br />
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The modernized staging seemed promising at first. A family prayed around a table, and as the overture moved through its sonic tableaux the actions onstage darkened and developed. Throughout the first act the drama intensified, and the infamous drop of the gun that led to the accidental death of the Marchese was done effectively, without appearing as operatic parody.<br />
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The first scene of the second act took place around the same table near which the Marchese was shot, and his body remained in place on the floor. The music was like a nightmare hallucination.<br />
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But things took a turn in the second scene of Act II, which was too brightly lit. The Verdi style at the time of La Forza experimented with ways of injecting humor into otherwise serious operas. The humor in this production was too often set as sarcasm. For example, Melitone was never funny. The scene felt long, and the music, as evidenced in passages like the rising sequences after the violin solo in B minor during the finale, lacked the edge that Met fans have come to expect from the Levine sound. The Escher-like set of Act III was distracting. <br />
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But accompaniments improved after intermission, with strong support in Act III (though there were several cuts that were distracting) and stunning sound throughout the second scene of Act IV.<br />
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Vitalij Kowaljow was double cast as both the Marchese and Padre Guardiano. This was effective because the shock of seeing him in Act II scene 2 (after his "first character" had been shot) added to the ghostly nightmare impact, but it also put him onstage during the close of the opera, where his double role helped tie together both the guilt of murder (as a ghost of the dead father) and the hope of redemption (as the padre).<br />
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Things came together in the final scene. A stage filled with leaning white crosses made a visually striking impact, and Kaufmann and Harteros lit it large.<br />
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The camera work was effective and one could opt to watch this transmission with English subtitles. It was an amazing gift to see this broadcast for free. The rest of the season includes six more <a href="http://www.bayerische.staatsoper.de/866-ZmxhZz0xJmw9ZW4-~Staatsoper~bso_aktuell~aktuelles.html">live transmissions</a>. I will be tuning in to each of them, and am already looking forward to Clemenza in February and especially to Die Soldaten in May!Jeffrey Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08877911938789999559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4278536771700162580.post-6143096156240983002013-12-14T04:07:00.000-05:002013-12-14T04:07:33.557-05:00December in Good Cheer; A Family Concert in The Digital Concert HallIn December we are drawn inward as daylight hours decrease and cold weather challenges us. It is hard to believe, looking out at our favorite trees and our sleeping gardens, that they could ever return to those rich colors we remember.<br />
Inward is good. But to balance, we often feel need to celebrate in various ways during this season, to have some chuckles and to be entertained.<br />
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Two good opportunities:<br />
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The Strings and Percussionists of The Berliner Philharmoniker will present a Family Concert called "Stringle Bells" in the <a href="http://www.digitalconcerthall.com/en/live" target="_blank">Digital Concert Hall</a> (4pm Berlin time, which is 10am on the East Coast of the US). This event, hosted by presenter <a href="http://www.sarah-willis.com/about/" target="_blank">Sarah Willis</a>, is sure to please.<br />
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After the concert you may be in the mood for a snack. There is no better musical snack than the show <a href="http://www.preludeandfood.com/" target="_blank">Prelude & Food</a>, also hosted by Willis, which I have written about <a href="http://soniclabyrinth.blogspot.com/2013/07/prelude-and-fugue-no-prelude-food-new.html" target="_blank">here</a>. The series combines cooking with musical conversation, impromptu performances and cheer, and has just released a new episode featuring conductor <a href="http://www.donaldrunnicles.org/" target="_blank">Donald Runnicles</a>.<br />
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More thoughts on the wonders of <a href="http://soniclabyrinth.blogspot.com/2010/12/thinking-december-with-tchaikovsky.html" target="_blank">December</a> from this blog featuring music by Tchaikovsky and observations by the English writer Nicholas Breton (1545-1626).<br />
Jeffrey Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08877911938789999559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4278536771700162580.post-41104645466759207642013-11-30T10:16:00.003-05:002013-11-30T10:16:44.765-05:00Chailly conducts Berliner Philharmoniker in a concert of the Unbeschreibliche<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Riccardo Chailly</span></td></tr>
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</style> <![endif]-->"Das Unbeschreibliche," sang Austrian tenor Nikolai Schukoff, "hier ist es getan." [The indescribable, here is accomplished]. These famous words are from the "chorus mysticus" that closes the second part of Goethe's Faust. But Franz Liszt was also a master of the Unbeschreibliche, and his Faust Symphony, in which these words appear, was an early essay in personality psychology.<br />
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Guest conductor Riccardo Chailly led the Berliner Philharmoniker in a concert transmitted live in the Digital Concert Hall that centered on the Faust Symphony, but opened with Wagner's Faust Overture.<br />
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Both of these works aspire to share the personality and attitude of characters from the play but not to unfold imaginary scenes. They are psychological. Where they differ was in approach.<br />
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Wagner cast his "solitary Faust" in very clear sonata form with themes derived from a murky introduction. Chailly leaned into the strong cadences that marked the close of each section and heightened the collision that happened when the second theme group emerged suddenly from its punctuated cadence, without transition, in the recapitulation. He cast a look of surprise to set the mood of the woodwind fanfare that centered the development, and took time as this wonderful music later disintegrated. The orchestra played brilliantly articulate figures throughout the overture with lively physicality and crunchy dotted rhythms.<br />
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Commentators have long argued details of the form in the first movement of Liszt's Faust Symphony. But what is most important is that its music represents both restless and heroic intentions.<br />
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There were significant meditations given in bassoon soliloquies. The camera angles of the production clarified these moments, and helped us focus on hearing the Allegro impetuoso as a parallelism that makes it a third paragraph of the introduction. These reflective moments marked most important closings in the movement.<br />
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When the Allegro agitato returned in C# minor, a half-step higher than in the exposition, it represents a higher-level confusion in the central character it represents. Chailly got an almost panicked sound from the orchestra, and when the music froze on an A-flat, the return of the augmented chords from the introduction felt as if we had moved back in time. It didn't matter where the development actually started. It was music for a character who had become unstuck from time.<br />
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The gentle but surprisingly agile gestures that opened the second movement were played like intimate chamber music in the wind section. Most impressive were connections made in the central panel of this movement to the corresponding themes as played in the first movement. The structure could not have been made more transparent.<br />
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Liszt did not give Mephistopheles a unique personality. Instead the devil is expressed as a distortion and parody of music associated with Faust. This music only works if it is played with more humor than sarcasm. Again the music suddenly froze on an A-flat. In Liszt's view of Mephistopheles, even the devil could not mess with Gretchen, and her theme was presented in D-flat major with a wonderful horn solo accompanied by harp.<br />
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And it was this key, D-flat major, in which the tenor Nikolai Schukoff addressed us. He was able to float the high lyric lines of this passage with a warm sound and very convincing musicality. <br />
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This was a program of careful listening. It was filled with detail, ideas, and great energy. Jeffrey Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08877911938789999559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4278536771700162580.post-31954567507283373962013-11-19T18:36:00.002-05:002013-11-19T18:36:22.319-05:00Sarah Willis to Interview Helseth and Neunecker <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="http://www.tinethinghelseth.com/" target="_blank">Tine Thing Helseth</a> is a young trumpet soloist with an identifiable sound. A celebratory lyrical tone is quickly established during the Ibert impromptu on her most recent <a href="http://www.tinethinghelseth.com/listen/" target="_blank">EMI disc</a>, and her selection of repertoire builds like a novel that culminates in the Hindemith sonata. She is also articulate. She should be the perfect interview for Sarah Willis, and will take part in a <a href="http://www.sarah-willis.com/live/" target="_blank">live horn hang out</a> on November 22nd at 2pm Berlin time (which is 8am here on the East Coast).<br />
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On November 25th at 2pm Berlin Time, Willis interviews hornplayer Marie Luise Neunecker. Neunecker is well known as the person to whom Ligeti dedicated the Hamburg Concerto. My favorite disc of her playing is the "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Russian-Horn-Concertos-Neunecker/dp/B000001STL/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1384902727&sr=8-1&keywords=Neunecker" target="_blank">Russian Horn Concertos</a>" CD on Koch.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtJ-VLfOl4tIbhOs8GUqnkADmvSJs3vn175vpHmspmqNlXLBuGWkoxsTzB3XKoR7Ho6za8xaJFOZZ78ihtvajLRAJgLBQLHK6G_ihv9INwqaZSkl24nbpuVJNLs19YljLVVMz89oWS9ibb/s1600/Horn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtJ-VLfOl4tIbhOs8GUqnkADmvSJs3vn175vpHmspmqNlXLBuGWkoxsTzB3XKoR7Ho6za8xaJFOZZ78ihtvajLRAJgLBQLHK6G_ihv9INwqaZSkl24nbpuVJNLs19YljLVVMz89oWS9ibb/s1600/Horn.jpg" /></a></div>
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I am looking forward to these interviews and will tune into both of them. If you have not yet visited a horn hangout, please join the growing audience. The topics are frequently of interest to those of us who are outside the horn community, and you will be hard pressed to find a friendlier group of folks.Jeffrey Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08877911938789999559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4278536771700162580.post-13532342873237981802013-10-27T22:22:00.000-04:002013-10-28T05:04:55.195-04:00Doves, Ghosts, Defiance and Longing; Gurre-lieder Succeeds in Berlin <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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</xml><![endif]-->"Weit flog ich," sang mezzo-soprano Karen Cargill as the wood dove. "Klage sucht' ich, fand gar viel! (Far did I fly, and seeking grief have found much!)" This refrain from the close of Part I of Arnold Schoenberg's massive Gurre-lieder remained in the ear, in an impressive performance by the Berliner Philharmoniker that was transmitted over the Digital Concert Hall.<br />
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Simon Rattle, whose 2002 recording of this work is already a classic, led a detailed accounting of this elemental early work by Schoenberg that will become a jewel in concert archive associated with the digital concert hall.<br />
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Rattle was assisted by a solid collection of vocalists led by the American tenor Stephen Gould as Waldemar, who navigated the extremes within this part but also lingered over pleasing colors and shades. He worked well with soprano Soile Isokoski as Tove, and even though the two never sang at the same time there seemed to be a believable connection between them.<br />
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The complexities within this orchestral score are legendary. The presentation given by the cameras favored the vocalists, but often provided important angles that helped clarify unusual orchestral textures. The one place we could have used a better look was during that evocative high B written for piccolo in the "Sommerwindes wilde Jagd." Schoenberg wanted that sound to be pianissimo and it almost never can be. The sound in this performance was fabulous! It seemed like a specially constructed whistle of some sort, and it held interest throughout the passage and somehow blended with each of the other instruments that spoke during that scene.<br />
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This is a work that begins in the haze of late romanticism, but transitions within itself to end leaning into modernism. This performance made the shifting styles sensible. "Herr Gänsefuß, Frau Gänsekraut" was a significant moment in this transition. The great Thomas Quasthoff was engaging in this melodramatic role. He articulated its rhythms with clarity and found an engaging middle ground between singing and speaking. Several times he created thrilling moments in sustained voice.<br />
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If you missed the live transmission, make sure you see the sunrise music. The orchestra has been celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the construction of the concert hall, and here is an opportunity to see how well the hall holds and focuses massive forces. But beyond that, it was a celebration of the process by which a concert of music this rare and delicious can be shared, live, to a global audience.<br /><br />Jeffrey Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08877911938789999559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4278536771700162580.post-15319162176957049442013-10-06T07:27:00.000-04:002013-10-06T07:27:09.532-04:00Two Kisses and a Shake; a review of Eugene Onegin from Met Live in HD<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Scene from Act III</span></div>
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Unexpectedly the music stopped. We were only nine measures from the final curtain of the performance. But the music stopped. Anna Netrebko, who was Tatiana, had started to leave the stage. But like the music, she also stopped. She returned, moving quickly toward Mariusz Kwiecien as Onegin. She planted an extended, passionate kiss with a sexual energy rarely expressed in operatic kisses.<br />
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Let’s just say it was a most memorable inverted augmented sixth.<br />
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Kwiecien sang a C major triad unaccompanied and the music resolved into E minor as the curtain fell. The chord was not the only thing that was inverted. The kiss itself was an inversion of a kiss that Onegin gave, just as unexpectedly, to Tatiana in Act I scene 3 (which is often called the “sermon” scene).<br />
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This new production by Deborah Warner and directed by Fiona Shaw gathered momentum as it progressed.<br />
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It was described as “among the roster of also-rans,” and also as “drab,” and “dingy” by <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/25/arts/music/love-and-conflict-in-the-19th-century-and-the-21st.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0" target="_blank">Tommasini</a> on opening night. The set did not seem that way in HD. But nonetheless, I had a hard time connecting with the first scene.<br />
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Secondary roles and seemingly insignificant moments take on a primary importance in scene, and the secondary vocal roles were bland at best. Elena Zaremba wobbled too much in pitch as Madame Larina, and Oksana Volkova made little impression as Olga. The “Chorus and Dance of the Peasants” was contrived and acrobatic and it distracted from the rustic attraction that this music can generate.<br />
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I was pleasantly surprised by Netrebko. She turned all of her energy inward, and her Tatiana seemed preoccupied by art and by the world of the imagination and not simply shy. The letter scene became an externalization of this quality and did not seem like a contradiction in personality.<br />
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The HD camera work was effective, but did delay in going to “wide-shot” at the Onegin’s exit in Act I scene III, and we missed the infamous “apple bite” that has become the subject of commentary from Margaret Juntwait on recent Sirius FM Met broadcasts. Apparently, the attitude with which he took a bite from an apple in making his exit<br />
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Piotr Beczala's Lenski also took some time to make its mark. His character never seemed believable as a poet, but his singing was always of interest. In his Act II scene 2 aria everything came together. (The forest set was evocative-- and we watched the fallen tree get assembled during the scene break). Like Tatiana, Lenski's energy was also inward, and the similarity in these two characters was articulated very directly. <br />
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Onegin and Lenski shook hands in this production before the duel began. It was a gesture that was given a close up on the HD cameras. The shake was a symbol of friendship gone wrong. <br />
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While it took longer to gather its forces than the 1997 Carsen production, this new production did have insights and was very worth hearing.<br />
<br />Jeffrey Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08877911938789999559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4278536771700162580.post-27276724187882624362013-09-08T17:08:00.001-04:002013-09-08T17:08:50.699-04:00Rattle and Berliner Philharmoniker; Concert in Answer to a Finch<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In the second song of the "Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen," the merry finch calls out to the singer; "Wird's nicht eine schöne Welt?" Simon Rattle returned to the digital concert hall conducting a program with the Berliner Philharmoniker that was a significant effort and came across with thrilling energy. Each work on the program gave its own distinct answer to that Finch.<br /><br />
The program began with the Symphony No. 2 by Witold Lutosławski. Too often orchestras go into auto-pilot when they play works that require ad libitum playing. The Berliner Philharmoniker brought out beautiful detail in the succession of textures that comprise this work. <br />
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The first movement, marked "Hésitant," is built from a succession of episodes and refrains. Each refrain is scored for a trio of double reeds, and the succession if intervallic profiles in these sections was as audible and organized as the sequence of timbral colors in its schematic form. Rattle gave a quick and powerful cue for the fifth episode, which set the proper attitude for this passage scored for piano harp and celesta. These details helped shape the flow of the work.<br />
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There is a central moment close to the end of the second movement when the conductor is asked, for the first time in the symphony, to beat time in the traditional manner. The cameras missed the opportunity to showcase this moment during the five-and-a-half measures of string playing that marks the onset of this new motion, but caught the motion in its second occurrence. Rattle and the orchestra made the pulsing impact of this coordinated music feel devastating. It sounded like all possible dances happening at once.<br />
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Baritone Christian Gerhaher joined the orchestra as soloist in Mahler's "Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen." The sound of this work after Lutosławski was a bittersweet re-entry into the world of the 19th century. Gerhaher sang the work with highly personal, direct and heart breaking expression. the music glowed from the heat generated earlier on the program, and seemed an unspoken undercurrent of the symphony.<br />
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After intermission, soloists Luba Orgonášová, Mihoko Fujimura, and Stuart Skelton, joined Gerhaher who returned to sing the bass solo, the wonderful Czech Philharmonic Choir of Brno, and organist Christian Schmitt, joined the orchestra for the Glagolitic Mass by Janáček.<br />
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Still thinking about the opening of the Lutosławski symphony, I was awaiting the connection to it made by the trumpet music that starts the Úvod. I am aware of the research that places an Intrada derived from the Exodus before the Úvod in order to create a symmetrical structure. The Intrada does not connect in the way I had hoped.<br />
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Still, the sense of symmetry within the Mass that it created was convincing, especially in the extended symphonic interlude in the Credo movement. The interaction of the clarinet trio with the cello/viola line was memorable. The extensive brass and timpani writing were played with groove. It was a celebration in bright pastels. Jeffrey Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08877911938789999559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4278536771700162580.post-26650161668483426082013-09-08T08:10:00.000-04:002013-09-08T08:16:19.228-04:00Shilkloper and Wallendorf open a new season of Horn Hangouts<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This month marks the one-year anniversary of Horn Hangouts!<br />
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<a href="http://www.sarah-willis.com/about/" target="_blank">Sarah Willis</a> has succeeded in making these live chats a forum and educational opportunity for the horn community, but also a welcoming and engaging place for musicians and music lovers with broader interests.<br />
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Sarah's <a href="http://www.sarah-willis.com/live/" target="_blank">website</a> lists 21 musicians who are scheduled for this season, with an amazing roster of brass players, but also including many other musicians, like esteemed baritone Thomas Hampson, and conductors Daniel Harding and Paavo Järvi.<br />
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On Monday the new season opens by "hanging out" with <a href="http://www.shilkloper.com/" target="_blank">Arkady Shilkloper</a>. The event begins at 3pm EST (9pm Berlin, and 5am on the 10th for the dedicated Australian following this series has won).<br />
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Shilkloper has a pioneer spirit. You are only a few searches away from hearing him improvise with jazzers, or play alphorn for an amazed gathering in Australia. In this clip from Russian television called "Duet for One," he hums a theme while playing fast figural variations at the same time. <br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/vWg2Uh0nae4" width="560"></iframe><br />
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On Tuesday, Sarah will interview her colleague <a href="http://www.berliner-philharmoniker.de/en/orchestra/musician/klaus-wallendorf" target="_blank">Klaus Wallendorf</a>. Wallendorf is articulate and witty. He has a unique and lively personality, and is also a brilliant musician and gifted composer and arranger. It is almost unfair. Here is a very representative clip of Sarah and him:<br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/eUwkwK2mUmo" width="560"></iframe> <br />
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I have never tried chess without dice but wonder if it is anything like craps without rooks.<br />
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Don't miss Wallendorf. The interview will be 9am EST (3pm Berlin, and 11pm in Australia).Jeffrey Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08877911938789999559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4278536771700162580.post-70220648927436400762013-08-31T19:52:00.001-04:002013-08-31T19:52:28.287-04:00Pittsburgh in Berlin; The PSO plays in the Digital Concert Hall<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">Manfred Honeck and Anne-Sophie Mutter</span></div>
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra began its European Festivals Tour this weekend, and after performing in the Grafenegg Festival on Thursday and Friday they played the opening concert of the Musikfest Berlin 2013 earlier today, in an event transmitted free on the Digital Concert Hall.<br />
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PSO Music Director and Conductor Manfred Honeck led the orchestra in a colorful and engaging program that began with strings only. The infrequently heard "Suite for String Orchestra" by Léoš Janáček opened with a "Moderato" that balanced dramatic and delicate ideas with music that brightened and darkened with surprising rapidity. It was a challenging quality to capture at the opening of a concert, and the connecting phrases did not always click into place.<br />
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But with the muted trio for violins and violas that comprises the second movement the orchestra found its voice. They played the third movement "Andante con moto" like a Pennsylvania Barn Dance, and took the fourth movement presto at breathtaking speed.<br />
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Honeck conducted the fifth movement adagio without baton and with the help of lovely solo cello playing, this troubled hymn became the expressive centerpiece for the work.<br />
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Violinist Anne-Sophie Mutter joined the orchestra as soloist in "Chain II. Dialogue for violin and orchestra" by Witold Lutosławski. This work was written for her in the 1980s, and she brings out dimensions of it that younger players often miss. The work depends upon making "ad libitum" passages sound improvisational--not like notated music, then contrasting this sound with the precision and intensity of clockwork. Mutter brought out the chaotic potential of the ad libitum music, and the lyrical side of the notated music. In the third movement there was a wonderful moment after the drums, and just before the piano entered, where the orchestral strings played a fabulous dialog with her. This kind of careful listening is all too often missing from this style of music.<br />
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After intermission the orchestra played Ein Heldenleben. Concertmaster Noah Bendix-Balgley played the famous violin solo with wit and precision, and the horn solo and dialog with the concertmaster that closed the work was unusually tender and dolce.<br />
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There were two encores. The first was Max Reger's transcription of "Litanei auf das Fest Aller Seelen 'Am Tage Aller Seelen,'" D343 by Schubert, and this was followed by the last waltz from the Rosenkavalier suite.Jeffrey Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08877911938789999559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4278536771700162580.post-76590606613450263552013-08-23T16:02:00.000-04:002013-08-23T16:02:03.553-04:00Rattle Conducts Mozart in the Digital Concert Hall<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<![endif]-->It is common in orchestral concerts to hear one of the last three symphonies that Mozart wrote. It is less common to hear all three on the same program. Simon Rattle inaugurated a new season of live concerts by the Berliner Philharmoniker transmitted in the Digital Concert Hall with a program of these last three symphonies, written within a span of six weeks in the summer of 1788.<br />
<br />
When hearing the symphonies in succession the differences in orchestration and in the particular color of sound in which each of them is cast seems worlds apart. The timpani sound in the E-flat major symphony that opened the event was played with a hard mallet that brought a military drum feel to its presence.<br />
<br />
Rattle conducted on the floor of the stage, without a podium, without baton, and without scores. When he concluded the first symphony, he barely left the stage for applause before he returned to begin the great G minor.<br />
<br />
We don’t normally hear the absence of sound, but because of the close juxtaposition of these symphonies, and the unusual color they had in the E-flat symphony, we were especially aware of the absence of timpani in the G minor symphony. The addition of oboes (which were not present in the symphony No. 39) made an impression and led to differing insights during the symphony No. 40.<br />
<br />
Rattle seemed to extend the sudden silences that appear within the first two movements of Symphony No. 39 and he darkened its melancholy passages. This made the G minor symphony seem to develop ideas that were already hinted, or suggested, in earlier passages.<br />
<br />
After intermission, the “Jupiter” symphony connected back by its use of timpani, and completed the amplification of double reed sound with the absence of clarinets. Mozart thought of sonic transformations like these in his operas, perhaps these connections were not simply chance.<br />
<br />
It is a “new year” for the Berliner Philharmoniker, and those of us who teach are thinking about new students, new classes and new opportunities. What better way to celebrate the “new year” than with a concert of the last three Mozart symphonies in the digital concert hall?Jeffrey Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08877911938789999559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4278536771700162580.post-59722653537791797962013-08-07T09:28:00.000-04:002013-08-07T09:28:49.245-04:00Refreshing Rigoletto in Clinton<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span lang="en-US"><span style="color: black; font-family: Tahoma;"><span dir="ltr"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman,serif;"><span>Alok Kumar, Amanda Hall, and Galen Scott Bower</span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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</xml><![endif]--> Clinton, August 6—It was soooo refreshing, after an over-hyped <a href="http://soniclabyrinth.blogspot.com/2013/02/rigoletto-live-in-hd-live-from-vegas.html" target="_blank">Met production</a> based in Vegas, to hear Rigoletto set in Mantua. Verdi’s opera was given a compelling performance by the Opera Theater of Connecticut, now in its 28th season, in the intimate setting of the Andrews Memorial Theater.<br />
<br />
Production Director Alan Mann often subtly shifted our expectation to alter the web of connections. For example, when the Duke declared to Gilda that “Love is the sunshine and spark of creation,” in the second act he did so by singing these words from Gilda’s diary, making the tune an articulation of her thoughts instead of his. This was a performance that systematically gathered intensities to culminate in an effective quartet and a thrilling trio that launched us toward the riveting ending.<br />
<br />
This opera has several significant secondary and small roles, but seldom are any as memorable as the performances given by Nicholas Masters as Sparafucile and mezzo-soprano Jennifer Feinstein as Maddalena.<br />
<br />
Masters channeled grim-reaper energy when he entered in the second scene of Act I and was able to bring out the complex shades of this professional killer in the third act. Sparafucile will kill anyone for the right price, but don’t call him a thief. Masters was aggressive enough to be believable but also thoughtful enough to be particular about his character’s role in life.<br />
<br />
Feinstein entered with a fresh voice in the third act and immediately drew attention. She sings with charisma and her deep, rich voice never got lost in ensembles.<br />
<br />
The chorus was also excellent and contributed clean diction that made their Italian understandable without supertitles. They also produced a wonderfully spooky sound during their off-stage singing in the final act.<br />
<br />
Among the principals, baritone Galen Scott Bower was impressive as Rigoletto. He shaped the brooding, bitter, icy qualities of this role, but his love for his daughter Gilda was believable.<br />
<br />
Tenor Alok Kumar slightly ornamented his line “di che il fato ne infiora la vita (they make my life so exciting)” from “questo o quella” and this kind of enthusiastic detail gave the character an air of confidence that made his seductive art believable. Several times during the evening his powerful and effortless high register blew us away.<br />
<br />
Soprano Amanda Hall sang Gilda with beautiful colors and many enchanting technical ideas. Her “Caro nome” was elegant and filled with graceful connected lines. But there was much more room for the character arc of Gilda to develop, from restless naivety to nobly conceived suicide, than happened in this particular performance.<br />
<br />
The orchestra was too loud during much of the first scene and sometimes covered the singers. This allowed us to discover the voices later than would typically be the case in this opera, but many of the subtleties of that wonderful scene were lost. After this first scene, everything worked.<br />
<br />
This production was an opportunity, increasingly rare, to hear this opera in our own backyard. It was a chance to discover how impressive this opera is in a cozy hall among friends.<br />
<br />
Performances of this production will continue on Thursday, August 8, and Saturday, August 10 at 7:30 pm and Sunday, August 11 at 6 pm at the Andrews Memorial Theater, 54 East Main Street, Clinton.Jeffrey Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08877911938789999559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4278536771700162580.post-83211622803944265462013-07-24T08:46:00.003-04:002013-07-24T12:00:40.736-04:00A Review of “Portraits” by Andreas Ottensamer <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaJI8t9txHqD16w3pWyMeXjQ2vyarkgNMWWsVh1HeviRODhfPGtcqYhyMgnFp3C1EgW0N3_eVNdQziwW4wdKHM9XhOwNcUOMAAShZH5SkSYUQolmHjheOMvlD-sT5j2vCDuYFyirEz7q4H/s1600/Andreas_Ottensamer_2012_Promo2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="245" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaJI8t9txHqD16w3pWyMeXjQ2vyarkgNMWWsVh1HeviRODhfPGtcqYhyMgnFp3C1EgW0N3_eVNdQziwW4wdKHM9XhOwNcUOMAAShZH5SkSYUQolmHjheOMvlD-sT5j2vCDuYFyirEz7q4H/s320/Andreas_Ottensamer_2012_Promo2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: "Courier New";"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Andreas
Ottensamer is a clarinetist with a distinctive sound. His lines have a strongly
vocal inflection, and a controlled sense of lyrical articulation with an
unforgettable ease in legato is characteristic of his playing. His new
recording, “Portraits; The Clarinet Album,” released on Mercury Classics label
in partnership with Deutsche Grammophon is a showcase for his sound.</span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The disc opens
with a charismatic performance of the first Gershwin Prelude arranged for
clarinet and orchestra. Ottensamer speaks American music without an accent.
Conductor Yannick Nezet-Seguin and the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra also
contribute to the wit and humor of this sparkling beginning. The sound of the
recording is big and spacious.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Moving directly to the Copland Clarinet Concerto from Gershwin makes the opening of the
Copland sound too much like a second movement, thereby diminishing some of its uniqueness. But the performance of the Copland is
pleasing, especially the engaging balance between melancholy tenderness and
fierce expressive outbursts. Listen also for the full-bodied sound even at the
quietest dynamics, as for instance in the restatement at [1:46] where the
orchestra is listening and the violins enter ghostly quiet.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Three movements
on this disc, including the Gershwin Prelude and “La fille aux cheveux de lin”
from Debussy’s Préludes Book 1, were arranged for clarinet and orchestra by
Stephan Koncz, who is a cellist and colleague of Ottensamer in the Berliner
Philharmoniker. These arrangements are musical, often imaginative, and are a
welcome addition to the disc.</span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">“La fille aux
cheveux de lin” is transposed a half-step down from Gb to F (so she is not the
“girl” you knew from childhood), but once you become used to the new key the
color proves resonant and richly vibrant in the orchestra.</span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The greatest
surprise on this disc is the Cimarosa Concerto for Clarinet and Strings which
was “freely arranged” from keyboard works by Arthur Benjamin made in 1942.
Benjamin’s fabulous transcription of this work was written for either oboe or
clarinet as the solo instrument. The work is well known and often recorded as
an oboe concerto, but Ottensamer makes a convincing case for hearing the work
as a clarinet concerto.</span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">One can never
have enough Beach, and the arrangement of Amy Beach's “Berceuse,” the central movement
of the “Three Works for Violin and Piano Op. 40 No. 2” makes for a very
effective sonic sorbet as palette cleanser between concerti. The dialog between
clarinet and orchestral strings in the performance is enchanting.</span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The disc closes
with the Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra No.?1 in C minor op. 26 by Louis
Spohr [1784–1859]. “Several times in this concerto,” said Ottensamer in the
well-written program booklet, “a long build-up in the melody is followed by a
technically challenging passage with no space to breathe. There are certainly
ways of taking a breath somewhere in between, but here – when it supports the
musical line – circular breathing can be very useful.” Long, fluid lines that
defy gravity are something of his trademark and the detail in passage work made
possible by his breath support continues to amaze, even on repeated listenings.</span></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The Spohr
requires a particular musical intelligence and both conductor and soloist
tracked and disentangled the contours its form in order to bring clarity. When
the music first finds its way to E-flat major [2:25] there is a preface that is
like a musical parenthesis; like an emcee who arrives to announce that the
second theme group will begin momentarily. Most performances grab for this
mirage and land like it was a matter of survival. Ottensamer and Nezet-Seguin
knew that the music must first move into the colorful key of G-flat major
[2:36] before finding the real second theme group [3:18]. Listen for the way
they focus all parameters of the score to mark the occasion. They make it worth
the wait.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoPlainText">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I am happy to add
this disc to my collection. Ottensamer is known for his work as clarinetist
with the Berliner Philharmoniker, and his sound is well-documented in the
Digital Concert Hall.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This disc provides
an opportunity to hear how his playing can sparkle in an extended narrative as
soloist.</span></div>
<br />Jeffrey Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08877911938789999559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4278536771700162580.post-32695547459886796122013-07-09T15:59:00.001-04:002013-07-17T07:11:38.333-04:00Prelude and Fugue? No... Prelude & Food; a new show hosted by Sarah Willis <!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container"><tbody>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Sarah Willis with actor Christian Berkel; in episode to be released July 19</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
She has become a significant presence in the classical music world, and a new series featuring Sarah Willis that is called “Prelude & Food” is worthy of your attention.<br />
<br />
Willis is a member of the horn section of the Berliner Philharmoniker, the iconic orchestra that has successfully expanded its audience with a collection of high quality live concert broadcasts in the <a href="http://www.digitalconcerthall.com/en/?gclid=CMvd3ZP1orgCFVCf4Aodgk0AJg">Digital Concert Hall</a>.<br />
<br />
Live broadcasts in the Digital Concert Hall often include specially created “interval talks” that play during intermission. These conversations almost always feature a member of the orchestra who interviews the conductor and/or soloist of the evening. The conversations range over practical topics and often give insights about the music and those who perform it. <br />
<br />
Willis has become a popular interval host. She has a journalistic flair, and also has a distinctive kind of charisma that puts the people she interviews at ease. Ideas flow naturally. <br />
<br />
Alexander Lück and Daniel Finkernagel from <a href="http://www.finkernagel-lueck.de/" target="_blank">finkernagel & lück medienproduktion</a> met Willis through their work on the broadcast team of the Digital Concert Hall. They conceived of the original concept for “Prelude & Food,” and as they worked with Willis they became convinced she would be the perfect host. <br />
<br />
Taped in German with English subtitles, Prelude & Food is not a cooking show in the tradition of Julia Child. Instead, each episode is centered on a guest who arrives with a grocery bag of food to cook. Other friends of the guest are already assembled, and the group begins to cook a dish at various times and in various combinations. <br />
<br />
One might not catch all the steps necessary to reconstruct the meal at your own home, but that result is not the central focus of the show. Instead, we see the process of working together; of sharing the joy of communication in a chamber music of chopping and mixing. <br />
<br />
Camera shots cut away from discussions from time-to-time to show interactions among the friends in another part of an adjacent dining room. The camera positions move slightly during conversations to create energy and unusual angles help shape our connection and make us feel involved. <br />
<br />
While food is simmering, baking, or boiling there are opportunities for short musical works that are like sonic hors d'oeuvres. These works can be light-hearted and fun or can be surprisingly gorgeous, but they are an important link to the awesome talents and skills that these musicians have developed to the point where even casual playing is graceful and entrancing.<br />
<br />
<br />
The process of preparing a dish becomes the narrative around which conversations, surprise guests, and musical interludes intersect. It is a clever format for revealing the charm of creative people, and its energy is youthful and fresh. <br />
<br />
Willis is the perfect host for this kind of semi-indeterminate network of conversations. She directs, persuades, and develops a special kind of conversational polyphony. <br />
<br />
In the <a href="http://www.preludeandfood.com/" target="_blank">first episode</a> the guest is singer Anna Prohaska, who has appeared in the digital concert hall twice; once as a soloist in <a href="http://www.digitalconcerthall.com/en/concert/2448/rattle-rundfunkchor%20berlin-mdr%20rundfunkchor%20leipzig-knaben%20des%20staats-%20und%20domchors%20berlin-lotti-tallis-mahler" target="_blank">Mahler 8</a> and in an <a href="http://www.digitalconcerthall.com/en/concert/1642/abbado-prohaska-pollini-mozart-berg-mahler" target="_blank">engaging concert</a> in 2011 singing Mozart and Berg.<br />
<br />
Prohaska explains that singers must be very careful of their health and must be aware of every change in their voices, so she shows us how to make her own special version of chicken soup. Her secret is in not using too much water, so that the taste is stronger, and she puts spices into a newly fashioned tea bag so that it can hold juniper berries and other spices. <br />
<br />
Christoph Schneider (the drummer in Rammstein) is the surprise guest for the first episode. Like several classical musicians, Prohaska has a metal side and like many rockers, Schneider seems happy to hang out with classical musicians. <br />
<br />
The second episode of “Prelude & Food” will be available on July 25. Cellist <a href="http://www.albangerhardt.com/english/" target="_blank">Alban Gerhardt</a> is the featured guest, and he will show us how to make Moussaka. Gerhardt's friends on the show are the actor Christian Berkel, and manager <a href="http://www.orlob.net/" target="_blank">Boris Orlob</a>. <br />
<br />
Two other episodes are in the process of being edited and will appear soon. <br />
<br />
Episode three will feature the conductor <a href="http://www.donaldrunnicles.org/" target="_blank">Donald Runnicles</a> as a main guest, with mezzo-soprano <a href="http://www.intermusica.co.uk/smirnova" target="_blank">Anna Smirnova</a>, and tenor <a href="http://www.massimogiordano.com/" target="_blank">Massimo Giordano.</a> Episode four will feature oboist <a href="http://www.albrechtmayer.com/" target="_blank">Albrecht Mayer</a> as main guest, along with pianist Markus Becker and woodwind instrument repair guru <a href="http://www.frankundmeyer.de/home.html?L=1" target="_blank">Ludwig Frank</a>.<br />
<br />
We have become accustomed to thinking about audience development for
classical music as consisting of concerts in the Bernstein tradition
given to children. But this show is audience development for people who
can become immediate subscribers; for folks in their 20s and 30s who
will discover that people who are devoted to classical music are people
who are basically like them (and maybe even just a little bit cooler). Jeffrey Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08877911938789999559noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4278536771700162580.post-5792592303386062072013-07-01T00:00:00.000-04:002013-06-30T17:25:43.364-04:00Some thoughts on "July" from the Tchaikovsky "Seasons"The Russian magazine "Nouvellist" commissioned Tchaikovsky to write twelve short piano pieces inspired by the each of the twelve months. The corresponding music appeared in each publication in 1876.<br />
<br />
The editor chose the subtitles that set the mood for each month. July was inspired by the "song of the reaper." An additional epigraph was given based on a phrase from a poem by Aleksey Koltsov:<br />
<br />
"Move the shoulders, shake the arms!<br />
And the noon wind breathes in the face!" <object height="364" width="445"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/d4cr5yxZ0aE&hl=en_US&fs=1?rel=0&border=1"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/d4cr5yxZ0aE&hl=en_US&fs=1?rel=0&border=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="445" height="364"></embed></object><br />
<br />
Tchaikovsky wrote dance music built on a collision between formal and informal movement.<br />
<br />
There is an elegant and restrained quality in the opening 7-bar phrases. The music is almost processional. Metric groupings shift to keep one off-balance: [3+2+2], [3+2+2]. The opening 3-patterns of both phrases are expanded by attaching a one-measure "bow" [0:04, and [0:20] to an otherwise two-bar metric pattern.<br />
<br />
Pletnev takes a great deal of time [0:27-0:30] between sections in this
live performance to create more space for transition between musical
ideas. This delay eliminates collision and normalizes the music: too
bad.<br />
<br />
The music shifts suddenly into C minor [0:31] and sports a backbeat. This is music of diabolical fun with rustic figuration in the bass. Three fanfares culminate this section [0:42, 0:49, and 0:55]. Each fanfare is followed by a solistic break--the middle one in rising contour and the outer ones falling.<br />
<br />
The return [1:06] introduces a curious triplet figuration in the tenor that becomes a parody of the formality of the opening section. There is a brief codetta [1:31] that allows the triplets to extend into ever-higher registers to create a closing for this first part of the piece.<br />
<br />
"Now doe the Reapers try their backs and their armes," wrote English writer Nicholas Breton (1545-1626) about July, "and the lusty Youthes pitch the sheafes into the Cart."<br />
<br />
His entry, from "The Twelve Moneths," shares the sense of contrasts in July that caught Tchaikovsky: "The Souldier now hath a hot march, and the Lawyer sweats in his lyned Gowne...In summe, I thus conclude of it, I hold it a profitable season, the Labourers gaine, and the rich mans wealth. Farewell."Jeffrey Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08877911938789999559noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4278536771700162580.post-64573708031407172432013-06-30T14:26:00.000-04:002013-06-30T17:25:07.997-04:00Dvořák Symphony No. 8 Allegretto grazioso – Molto vivace; A waltz of concerns that closes in a smileThe third movement of Antonín Dvořák's 8th symphony is a waltz of concerns.<br />
<br />
Against a bed of quiet triplets, played by the clarinet and flutes and a rich figuration of double reeds, plucked strings, and a viola drone, the first violins dance. The opening passage is marked forte for the first violins but piano everywhere else.<br />
<br />
Listen to the sweep of line as the strings dance a phrase of 4 measures then stretch to 6. One feels the lightness of motion at this higher level of articulation. In embellished figuration [0:12] the line echos 4 then 7 measures, but the gesture quiets. It expresses concern:<br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/CHaKWHT1HoA" width="420"></iframe><br />
<br />
There is a disintegration [0:24]. Five four-bar phrases uncoil chromatic gestures in the rhythm of snare drums as the sense of dancing drains. The music becomes almost motionless.<br />
<br />
Its motion resumes in advance of the connection to a written-out repeat [0:48] where the dance begins again; this time scored for flutes and oboe, with clarinet joining afterward. The parallelism is exact until the cadence [1:32] where the phrasing 4+3 brings the larger section to an articulate close.<br />
<br />
The trio turns rustic, in the tonic major [1:40] and celebrates the memory of innocence. The phrasing(4+4)(4+6)(6,6,2) develops the stretched phrase lengths of the minuet with a sophisticated design. As with the minuet this stanza is restated [2:18] in a different scoring.<br />
<br />
There is a third statement of the main theme of the trio [2:57] identical to the others during its first half but altered to close the section over a pause. This third statement overbalances the minuet and will lead to a surprising moment at the close of the movement.<br />
<br />
The minuet returns [3:37] and so does its echo [4:26].<br />
<br />
G major returns [5:18] in a molto vivace codetta. The phrase structure rocks between 4 and 5-bar phrases:<br />
<br />
(4+5)(4+5)(4+4)<br />
(4+5)(4+5)(2+3+...)<br />
<br />
The movement closes with a sudden and surprising sonic smile.Jeffrey Johnsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08877911938789999559noreply@blogger.com0