Princeton Festival 2018 – Puccini’s Madama Butterfly. June 24, 2018.

Matthews Theatre, Princeton, NJ.  Balcony (Seat GG106, $61).

Story. See previous post.

Credits

Conductor – Richard Tang Yuk; Madama Butterfly – Yulia Lysenko, Suzuki – Janara Kellerman, B. F. Pinkerton – Matthew White, Sharpless – Paul La Rosa, Goro – Anthony Webb.

Due to various reasons, we have not been able to attend too many concerts during this year’s Princeton Festival.  Indeed this particular opera will probably be the only one we end up attending.  (I am typing this on 6/27 while in Boston, and the Festival ends early July.)  Even this one was a “touch-and-go” as we decided on it the day before.

If I characterize this as a “near-professional” production, then it was a pretty good “near-professional” production.  Not sure if that was an insult, or a compliment.

Being in a small auditorium helped.  Given how expectedly loud some of the instruments and many of the voices sounded, I suspect there was a sound enhancement system.  When I went to the Silk Road Ensemble at the same venue recently, the instruments didn’t sound as loud, and that was with loudspeakers in front of every musician.  What I couldn’t explain was how Lysenko as Butterfly had a much stronger voice than other cast members.

Here again Butterfly made or broke the show, and Lysenko did her job well.  I could complain she could use a softer and more resigned take every now and then, but the Butterfly she portrayed was rather original compared to the others I have seen.  The rendition of “One Fine Day” was simply heartbreaking.

The same set was used in all three acts.  I suppose the artistic crew had a limited budget to work with, they nonetheless did a credible job.  Several scenes (e.g., Butterfly killing herself) were done as silhouettes.

Yuk flanked by Lysenko and White at curtain call.

Yuk (or is it Tang Yuk?) did a great job of leading the orchestra and the singers, with the caveat that there may have been some electronics help.  He is also the Artistic Director of the Festival, and last season I saw him help selling tickets at the door, certainly a very hands-on person.

There were quite a few empty seats this afternoon.  Which also a bit discouraging.

Anne and I drove to Princeton after church, stopping to get some coffee along the way.  On the way back we grabbed something to eat at Panera Bread.

New Jersey Symphony – Xian Zhang, conductor; Gil Shaham, violin. June 7, 2018.

Prudential Hall at NJPAC, Newark. Orchestra (Seat C106, $38).

Program

Overture to Candide (1955-56) by Bernstein (1918-1990).

Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 77 (1878) by Brahms (1833-1897).

Symphony No. 1 in D Major (1884-88; rev. 1893-96, 1906) by Mahler (1860-1911).

The pieces on the program are all well-known.

Candide is one of Bernstein’s most famous compositions, and this year many ensembles perform Bernstein’s work as he was born 100 years ago.  Indeed in April the Monmouth Civic Chorus had an all-Bernstein program as a commemoration.  The overture contains some of the most memorable melodies in the oper(ett)a, and most who hear it would silently hum or tap along.  That does not make it an easy piece, with some of the quick runs testing the precision of the orchestra.  Despite a muddled phrase here or there, the orchestra put in an exciting performance, with a huge range in dynamics, and didn’t shy away from the fast tempo needed.

Brahms’s violin concerto is often compared to that of Beethoven’s (fairly or not), although it sounds (and is) more difficult and complex than Beethoven’s, also in D Major.  There was no reason to doubt Shaham’s ability to pull it off with clarity and aplomb; our seat in the front of the orchestra gave us a great vantage point (not the third row, the rows go inexplicably AA-FF, followed by A).  One comment I have always made is “Shaham needs a lot of space” as he moves from close to the conductor’s podium to close to being on top of the violins; and he often has this grin while the soloist has his silent moments.  The concerto is difficult, requiring precision figuring and bowing.  Even though Shaham was all business when he was playing, and seemed to take great care especially during the many double stop passages, he had to be familiar enough with the piece that every now and then there was the impression that it was just a day at the office for him.  Consequently I felt less excitement about the piece than I normally do.

Shaham and Zhang at conclusion of Brahms's violin concerto.

After many years of listening to Mahler and Bruckner, I can appreciate the differences in style between the two composers.  Mahler’s first symphony, however, is very different from his later ones.  One thing I didn’t know (or forgot) about Mahler was he also revised his composition extensively over long periods of time.  Per today’s Program Notes, he did it with the first symphony for 22 years.  Despite all that, the first three movements remain quite different from his subsequent works.  I don’t know how many times I have heard this symphony, but these movements all sounded quite familiar (Langsam Schleppend, Kraftig bewegt, and Feierlich und gemessen, ohne zu schleppen).  They are all characterized as bright and happy.  The last movement (Sturmisch bewegt) is of a completely different character and is more in line with the majority of his work – wandering, painful to the degree of screaming.  The piece lasts 53 minutes (per Program Notes) and I enjoyed nearly every minute of it.

The Program Notes had two statements about this symphony that I take issue with.  First was that the third movement begins with “the best-known string bass solo in the orchestra repertoire.”  It is true in the sense that this is the only solo I know of (and there can’t be that many.)  However, the melody is short as others soon join in, simple, and not all that memorable by itself.  The other statement is that the fourth movement’s duration is “nearly as long as the three prior movements combined.”  True only if one thinks 23 minutes is as long as 30 minutes (roughly).  Nothing wrong with the statements, except they raised unmet expectations.

While the “headline” for the concert is “Shaham plays Brahms,” the concerto also could be considered a bold statement by the NJSO and their Music Director Zhang that the organization can do a credible job with a challenging program.  While I heard better performances of each of the pieces (notably by the orchestra across the Hudson), I am glad they pulled it off.

We were in Hoboken last night so it was easy to get to Newark for this 1:30 pm concert.