New Jersey Symphony. Xian Zhang - conductor. December 16, 2022.

 

Richardson Auditorium, Alexander Hall, Princeton, NJ.  (Parterre L2, $90).

Program

Messiah by Handel.

Artists

Ellie Dehn, soprano; Maya Lahyani, mezzo-soprano; Miles Mykkanen, tenor; Nicholas Newton, bass-baritone

Montclair State University Singers, Heather J. Buchanan, director.

The last full Messiah concert we attended was in 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic closed down such performances for the last two years.  When this series by NJ Symphony was announced, I quickly got tickets as the Richardson Auditorium is quite small (capacity less than 1000).  The other possibility was the performances by New York Phil.  We are still in the "avoid NYC" frame of mind, so decided to pass.

Being in Row L means one is very close to the stage (well, the entire main floor is very close to the stage).  Together with being in a small auditorium, sound just carried well.

The tenor got to set the tone.  He voice was beautiful, steady, and firm.  All the qualities you want in an aria that set the tone for the program (Comfort Ye and Every Valley).  One could feel the audience's desire to applaud afterwards, and it is a good thing they thought better of it.  Otherwise the oratorio may be much delayed by all the interruptions!

The other 3 members of the soloist group held their own.  Perhaps it was just me, one got the sense there was a bit of "one upmanship," perhaps all in good fun.

The Montclair choir did very well.  Great articulation, nice voices, and the singers were generally enthusiastic.

The harpsichord and the organ were played by the same artist, and he had to carry the music from one instrument to the other as he moved from one keyboard to the other.  Better than having two copies and getting lost, I guess.  This was also done in other performances I have seen.  Too bad the Program didn't list his name, or the names of the other principal players in the string sections.

All in all, an enjoyable evening.

It was drizzling on our way over, so the driving was a bit difficult.  Things cleared up on our way back.

After Part I.

At the conclusion of the performance, Zhang acknowledged the different players.  Here the trumpet player.

New Jersey Symphony. George Manahan, conductor; Awadagin Pratt, piano. November 20, 2022.

State Theatre New Jersey.  Balcony (Seat F101, $57).

Program

Symphony No. 38 in D Major, K. 504 "Prague" (1786) by Mozart (1756-1791).

Rounds for Piano and String Orchestra (2021-2022) by Montgomery (b. 1981).

Suite from Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, Op. 60 by Strauss (1864-1949).

Program for the afternoon.  Lasted 1:45 hours, with intermission.

As part of its Centennial celebration, NJ Symphony has invited back its past conductors to lead several concerts.  I know Manahan from the days NYC Opera was still a functioning organization.  Turns out he was NJS's interim director for the years 1983-1985, before I began attending NJS concerts regularly.

The Prague symphony was written by Mozart when he was in Vienna.  The Prague audience at that time was a lot more receptive than Mozart's home town, so the Symphony was premiered there, and hence its name.  Symphonies No. 39-41 readily come to mind when one talks about Mozart, but the Prague can hold its own, with its many memorable melodies.  The Adagio opening of the first movement also stands out, with many comparing it to the dramatic opening of Don Giovanni.  If one searches the web for "Mozart's most popular symphonies," No. 38 is often in the top five or ten.  It's always a pleasure to listen to a familiar Mozart piece.

The symphony is also unusual in that it has only three movements: Adagio-Allegro, Andante, and Finale (Presto).

Mozart's Prague Symphony was the first on the program.

Jessie Montgomery must be one of the hottest composers nowadays.  Her work is programmed by many orchestras, national and regional.  A check of her website shows her work being performed by nine different organizations for November (admittedly one of the busier months).

Today's 14-minute work is quite accessible.  She asks the soloist and the orchestra to use some interesting techniques to produce different sounds.  A couple of interesting situations.  The pianist stands up and plugs the strings on the piano on one occasion.  On a couple of other occasions the violins play arpeggios as the background: think Mendelssohn violin concerto, but for the whole section.  The effect didn't quite work out in this instance.  There is a 4-minute cadenza that is partially improvised.

The Program Notes makes this a "brainy" piece.  It's based on T. S. Eliot's poem "Four Quarters," and is in Rondo form.  Today's soloist Pratt collaborated with Montgomery during the composition process.

This was my first encounter with Pratt, and he certainly got the job done.  A recipient of the prestigious Avery-Fisher grant, he has performed with many well-known ensembles.  This work was one of his seven commissions for either piano and string orchestra; or piano, string orchestra, and Roomful of Teeth (which also has as one of its members Caroline Shaw).

An enjoyable piece, but probably requires multiple listenings to appreciate many of the subleties, e.g., there is a rondo within a rondo!

Awadagin Pratt was masterful in the performance of Jessie Montgomery's work.

In the opera Ariadne auf Naxos is incorporated a play.  The original plan was a three-act play, which didn't work out.  A second attempt didn't work either.  Out of that music Strauss extracted nine movements and published them as a suite.  He also incorporated some work of the 17th century composer Jean-Baptiste Lully into the music.  That was 1920, and this suite supposedly became a 20th century classic.  This was my first encounter with it.

The titles of the movements are: Overture to Act I; Minuet; "The Fencing-Master;" "The Entrance and Dance of the Tailors;" "Lully's Minuet;" Courant; "Entrance of Cleonte, after Lully;" Prelude to Act II; and "The Dinner."

It was easy enough (most of the time) to trace the movements in the suite.  The Program Notes describes the piano part as being very difficult, which may well be true.  What the Notes doesn't say is that the Concertmaster also has quite a few difficult passages, bordering on virtuosic.  The suite is compared with the suite from Der Rosenkavalier, although there didn't seem to be as many melodies in the suite we heard today.  (Perhaps my unfamiliarity is a factor.)

Eric Wyrick had some difficult violin solos in Strauss's suite.  I was somewhat surprised at how small the ensemble was.  There were, for instance four violins.

I drove up to New Brunswick at about 1:45 pm, and got a 30% discount senior ticket.  The concert was poorly attended, which was unfortunate.

I am somewhat looking forward to the concerts conducted by former music directors.  The only two I know are Jacque Lacombe and Gemma New.  In the earlier communications Lacombe was scheduled to conduct Faure's Requiem, but he is no longer on the roster.  A report I saw said it is due to a schedule conflict, indeed he has a commitment in Greece.  But I do wonder if the story is a bit more complicated, as I understand these schedules are set years in advance.

New York Philharmonic. Hannu Lintu, conductor; Sergei Babayan & Daniil Trifonov, pianos. November 18, 2022.

David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center.  Orchestra (Seat BB105,  $49).

Program

Symphonies of Wind Instruments (1920; rev. 1945-47) by Stravinsky (1882-1971).

Concerto for Two Pianos, Percussion, and Orchestra, BB 121 (1937/40) by Bartok (1881-1945).

Ciel d'hiver (2013) by Kaija Saariaho (b. 1952).

Symphony No. 7 in C major, Op. 105 (1918-24) by Sibelius (1865-1957).

Percussionists: Christopher S. Lamb, Daniel Druckman, Markus Rhoten.

While I have heard of all the composers on today's program, all the pieces are new to me.  I looked for - not diligently - the New York Philharmonic Program Notes which are usually posted on line, but couldn't find them.  So I feverishly tried to read the Playbill that was handed out at the door.  They provided minimal help, as they talked mostly about the "context" of the pieces, rather than what the pieces were about.  There are a few exceptions, and I found those quite illuminating, but also felt like I was grasping at straws.  Perhaps the music is to be experienced, rather than described?  (Charitable statement to both myself and the commentators.)

Stravinsky wrote the first piece for wind players only.  The Program Notes describes Stravinsky as growing suspicious of how string instruments tend to get "expressive," and he wanted the piece to have an "uninflected sound."  He described the work as "tonal masses ... sculptured in marble ... to be regarded objectively by the ear."  The piece was dedicated to the memory of Debussy, the latter had dedicated a couple of his own compositions to Stravinsky.  Another interesting fact(oid) was that when Stravinsky created the version for today's performance, he had to use other people's "arrangements" of his original work; unusual, but how did it get that way?  I counted 22 musicians on stage for the piece.  New York Phil has always had a great brass and woodwind section.  I thought the NJ Symphony's brass section was comparably competent - Anne didn't think so.

22 players for the Stravinsky piece.

Perhaps it is not possible to talk about the Bartok piece without talking about his declining health at the time, and that he wanted to leave something for his surviving widow to earn money on.  There's always that tinge of sadness when Bartok's later works are discussed.  The piece didn't start that way, it was first written for two pianists and two percussionists, and enjoyed considerable success.  When Bartok was asked to revise the piece to its current form in 1940, he had already moved to the US, and was already suffering from leukemia.

With five soloists playing, and some of them playing multiple percussion instruments, the piece sounded quite complicated.  And the stage looked complicated, with two pianos, two pianists, two page turners, three percussionists and many percussion instruments (per Program Notes: timpani, xylophone, cymbals, suspended cymbal, snare drums played both with and without snares, tam-tam, triangle, and bass drum.)  For good measure a celesta was thrown in the mix.  I do suspect if the percussionists and their instruments were situated in their usual positions in the back, things would sound the same - and I say that with great admiration for the percussionists.

The stars are of course Trifonov and Babayan.  I know little about Babayan, other than he was Trifonov's teacher at some point, and that he is Armenian-American.  This was also the NY Phil debut for the Finnish conductor Hannu Lintu.  With van Zweden leaving in a couple of years, one wonders whether there is any audition elements whenever a new face appears.

The 25-minute piece was quite interesting. I couldn't see the pianists clearly, I could tell they were enjoying the give and take between themselves, with the percussion, and with the orchestra.  The three movements are (i) Assai lento - Allegro molto; (ii) Lento, ma non troppo; and (iii) Allegro non troppo.  Bartok was supposedly very analytical when he composed the music, with the work employing the strict mathematical ratios of the Golden Section and the related Fibonacci and Lucas sequences.  Not that I know what a Lucas sequence is, but I am sure there is no way I can tell.

The five soloists for Bartok: Rhoten, Lamb, Druckman, Trifonov and Babayan.  Notice how far back the concertmaster is.

This was my first in-person encounter with Saariaho.  I did watch (part of) her opera L'amour de lion on TV, performed by the Met, during the pandemic.  Today's Program Notes talks quite extensively about her musical style.  She had composed Orion in 2002, and today's piece (meaning Winter Sky) was arranged from that work's second movement, which has Orion the constellation stuck forever in the sky.  Orion is readily visible this time of the year, and I often look up the night sky to admire it.  I did that this evening, and yes, it is not good to be stuck in the sky for eternity (well, so far only a few billion years).  Betelgeuse, at about 550 light-years away is closest to earth, is a red giant that will "self-destruct" (that is, have a supernova explosion) in about 100,000 years.  So its eternity will eventually come to an end.

There is this E-flat - D - B theme that gets repeated in different ways.  Saariaho wrote different versions of it for different instruments after learning the different sounds from members of the Cleveland Orchestra. It is interesting to listen for that.  How that relates to Orion being frozen, however, is a mystery.

Compared to the three pieces that came before it, Sibelius's seventh symphony, his last, sounded downright simple.  At least the sounds are more traditional, dynamics go pretty much as expected.  The only novel element is that the 21-minute piece is one continuous movement with eleven different tempo markings.  Some analysts try to map them into traditional movements, and I am doing this for efficiency: (I) Adagio - (II) Vivacissimo - Adagio - (III) Allegro molto moderato - Allegro moderato - (IV) Vivace - Presto - Adagio - Largamente molto - ... with a coda consisting of Affettuoso - Tempo I.  In 1918 Sibelius did describe this work as "Joy of life and vitalite with appassionata passages in three movements - the last a 'Hellenic Rondo.'"  Although he allowed that things could change.  While I enjoyed the piece, I also spent considerable energy in trying to relate what I hear to what section I should be hearing, with little success.

The concert ended at 12:45 pm (time stamp for this photo).  This is the full orchestra, with perhaps 16 first violins, and it looks less crowded compared to the old hall - so perhaps there were some significant modifications made.  The music pieces total about 66 minutes, 10 minutes longer than the NJ Symphony Centennial celebration, yet today's concert felt a lot more substantial.

What's the characteristic of this blog entry?  It is quite long, and I might say quite informative as a lot is plagiarized from the Program Notes, yet it doesn't say much about the music itself, or how I experienced it.  Just what I said at the beginning.  This is somewhat like many of my visits to modern art exhibits.  I may have read up on the artists, maybe even a discussion of their work, but then I just walk through the exhibit hall without stopping to examine the displays.  I come out not knowing much more than when I got in, without an experiential appreciation (if there is such a thing) of the objects on display.

Just before the concert began the lights hanging over the stage were raised, reminiscent of what is done at the Met Opera.  Then the lights did a small dance number, which sent a chuckle through the audience.  This is my second visit to the renovated hall, and it felt more like someone just threw on a new coat of paint, with little change to the "bones" of the place.  The sound was okay, but then I didn't have too much trouble with the old hall either (other than complaining that there was no perfect seat in the auditorium).

Sometime in October NY Phil was advertising a 30% discount for subscriptions of three or more concerts, we took advantage of that offer.  We bought only three because of all the uncertainties around our schedule and travel to New York.  The price at the beginning of this blog entry?  Not a typo, and it includes a service charge of $6.  I am typing this paragraph on Saturday morning, and there are still scattered seats available for tonight's concert.  An orchestra seat in the last row (HH) costs $140+$21.50.  Again not a typo.  I just went back to review my credit card charge, it was $322 for six tickets.

We took the train in for this 11 am-start concert, and the trip was quite uneventful.

New Jersey Symphony and New Jersey Ballet. Xian Zhang, conductor; Yo-Yo Ma, cello. November 12, 2022.

NJPAC, Newark, NJ.  Grand Tier (Seat D104, $144).

Program

Herald, Holler and Hallelujah by Wynton Marsalis (b. 1961).

Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104 by Dvorak.

Selections from Four Dances from Estancia by Alberto Ginastera.

100 years ago, 19 musicians started an ensemble in Montclair, which eventually evolved to the current orchestra.  While the 2022/2023 season started a few weeks ago, tonight's concert is the Centennial Gala of such an event.

The Program Notes states that the durations of the three pieces are 6, 40 and 11 minutes, totaling to less than one hour.  While the program didn't start at 7:30 pm, it didn't end until around 9 pm.  Several people spoke congratulatory messages, including Governor Phil Murphy.  I guess that's to be expected.  Not that people would remember much what was said, except perhaps Murphy and Ma knew each other from their college days.  (They both attended Harvard at about the same time, and Murphy evidently was an aspiring musician then.)

The Marsalis piece was co-commissioned by NJ Symphony and was first performed at NJPAC in January.  The Program Notes describes it as "exuberant and celebratory," and that it "floats in and out of marching band, big band, and jazz."  The ensemble consists (coincidentally?) of 19 brass and percussion players.

All good.  While I didn't get the range the Program Notes talks about, I certainly hear Gershwin, Copland, and lots of jazz in the piece.

There are several YouTube videos with Yo-Yo Ma playing the Dvorak concerto.  I saw (parts of) two of them, and they are both great.  My expectations were thus high.  And looking back, one of my previous encounters (two entries in the blog) was a great experience.  Alas, expectations were not met.  A major contribution to the disappointment has to be the acoustics at our seats.  The cello sounded distant, and therefore weak.  The other reason - perhaps - was Ma made this look easy, so there was less appreciation of the degree of difficulty involved.  I had written previously about the background, and the loss expressed in the last movement.  That came through in the recordings I viewed, but not tonight.

For those who think this writer is being too critical, let me say perhaps Ma doesn't have any bad days, but the listener may have a bad day every now and then.  Also, at Gilbert's farewell concert in June, 2017, with NY Phil, Ma joined the cello section after performing as a soloist, I didn't notice him in the orchestra today.

I don't understand how the third piece fits in with the program, especially since I have not noticed much cooperation between NJ Ballet and NJ Symphony in the past.  One could also ask why the Montclair choral ensemble wasn't included in today's celebration, as they have been cooperating with the Symphony for quite a while.

The Brass Section was in First Tier for the Marsalis piece.  The percussionists and the conductor were on the regular stage.

Before the performance of the Dvorak cello concerto.  When I checked earlier in the day, only a few tickets were left.  A typical NJ Symphony concert would have 40% or so empty seats in my experience.

Ma didn't bring out his cello after the performance, meaning there would be no encores.  He did try to whip up the audience to applaud the orchestra.

Ma made it a point to go to the cello section and shake hands with the players.

After the performance of Ginaster's dances.  Time stamp was 8:59 pm.

The other source of puzzlement is why only three of the four dances were included in the last piece.  Be that as it may, the music was accompanied by pairs of ballet dances who were either delivering a story, or simply dancing for dancing's sake.  The lady sitting a few seats away from us kept complaining (too loudly, at times) they should shine more light on the stage.  I agree with that sentiment.

Perhaps I am looking at it all wrong.  As a musical event this wasn't the best of my experiences with NJ Symphony.  One could argue for a celebration this fit the bill.  And the Symphony raised a lot of money from the event ($1M?). My counterargument then is if it's not about musical excellence, then what is it about?  One could go back and forth, but it was what it was.

We left right after the program ended, even though there were rumors of an encore.  Somehow I got the impression Parking Lot C (our usual place) was closed (turns out it wasn't), so we parked in this huge underground Military Park lot, and we didn't want to be stuck in traffic when we leave.  People were handing out these "commemorative" books, and I grabbed one.  It contains some interesting tidbits, including that once Ma, Ax, and Dudley Moore (!) performed with the Symphony.

100-year birthdays, no matter whose, don't come around that often.  I was glad to be at this one.

Opera for All Voices. Chandler Carter's This Little Light of Mine. October 29, 2022.

Lensic Performance Arts Center.  Sante Fe, NM. Balcony (first row, left, $25).

Synopsis.  The opera follows the life of Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977) from a share-cropper to a civil rights activist, emphasizing events that happened during (approximately) the years 1962 to sometime shortly before her death.  See the "official" version in the screenshot below.

Conductor - Jeri Lynne Johnson; Fannie Lou Hamer - Nicole Joy Mitchel, Dorothy Jean Hamer - Kearstin Piper Brown; June Johnson/SNCC Worker - Heather Hill.

Fannie Lou Hamer

We are visiting New Mexico and I came across this event.  The opera featured prominently on the Sante Fe Opera's website, and was commissioned "by the Sante Fe Opera through Opera for All Voices."  My interpretation of this was Sante Fe paid for the composition, but a "community opera" will be performing it.

Lensic Performance Arts Center reminds one of Count Basie and State Theater.  It is in very good condition, so perhaps also renovated recently (indeed completed in 2001).  The theater seats around 800 people, and attendance was 60 to 70% for tonight's performance.  There were very few African American in the audience, perhaps a reflection of Sante Fe's demographics (less than 1%; for the State, 2%).

I didn't know what to expect from the story.  Turns out one didn't have to be too graphic to relate the horrors blacks suffered at that time.  Events that came to mind are: a hysterectomy was performed on Fannie Lou without her knowledge, she was beaten up for standing up for her rights, she was fired soon after her attempt to register to vote, her negotiations with Hubert Humphrey, and her daughter dying young.

The staging was minimal.  The backdrop is a screen with different images and videos projected on it.  The main prop is a platform.  Put some chairs on it, and it is a bus or a church, put a facade in the front and it is a house, project some bars on the screen and it is a jail cell.  Sometimes Fannie Lou would sing as a video of (the real) her is played saying the same words.  The list of orchestra members is short, but produced an adequate sound that balanced well with the vocal lines.

Before the opera started, the composer Chandler Carter came on stage to describe a little bit about the process, and acknowledged the presence of the librettist Diana Solomon-Glover.  Brown, billed as Dorothy Jean, also played many other roles, including a pastor and a white police officer.  There is a warning of "strong language, racial slurs and symbols of violence."

People in the front row: Conductor Jeri Lynne Johnson, Composer Chandler Carter, Librettist Diana Solomon-Glover, Brown, Mitchell, and Hill.

Given the politics of today, one often forgets how necessary the civil rights movement is.  And this also puts the birth of liberation theology in perspective.  It was great that I got a refresher on these issues.

It should be quite easy to get to the venue.  But this was Halloween weekend, so we were caught in traffic - that we missed the entrance didn't help.  We made it to the seats with 10 minutes to spare.

New York Philharmonic. Jaap van Zweden, conductor; Roomful of Teeth, vocal ensemble. October 22, 2022.

David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center.  Orchestra (Seat M104, $42.50).

Program

Prelude a l'apres-midi d'u faune (1892-94) by Debussy (1862-1918).

Microfictions, Vol. 3 (2022) by Caroline Shaw (b. 1982).

Symphony No. 4 in D minor (late 1930s) by Price (1887-1953).

Recently I took advantage of a CYO sale and bought tickets to three concerts for the season.  This was not one of those three, but I decided to take advantage of the $35 "any seat" offer.  Anne and I had to look after the grandchildren in Hoboken while their parents were away for the weekend, so I went to the concert by myself.

Nowadays it seems every concert has a piece by a modern woman composer such as Caroline Shaw or Jesse Montgomery.  Today's program also featured a symphony by Florence Price.

The other noteworthy aspect of this concert is that the New York Philharmonic, after in exile for about two year during the hall's renovation (compounded by COVID), has returned to David Geffen Hall.  I was interested in seeing how the new hall worked.

Shaw's piece was commissioned as part of Project 19 to commemorate the 19th Amendment passed in 1920.  Microfictions Volume 1 was premiered by the Miro Quartet in 2021, Volume 2, a cello solo for Alisa Weilerstein, has not been premiered.  Volume 3 was first performed in Bergen, Norway on July 8, 2022, and this series is the US premiere of the work.  One can conclude from the titles that all three would sound very different, and wonder if there is some sort of uniformity in the musical language used across the pieces.  I heard Shaw's piece Blueprint more than six years ago.

Evidently there is this genre called "microfiction" where stories are limited to 280 characters.  Shaw was trying to paint different micro images with each of the movements, although she took a lot more notes to do the job (or a word is worth a thousand notes?).  Here an ensemble of eight singers would add texture to the music.  Mostly vocalizations, other than a short unintelligible phrase here or there.

What do I think?  The effect sounded interesting, but gets monotonous after a couple of minutes.  It reminds me of Philip Glass, where the overall pace is quite slow as the music slowly changes direction through phrases that change imperceptibly as they get repeated.  At about the 20-minute mark I was wondering how different things could be in the next ten minutes (Program Notes estimated time of 30 minutes).  Things built quickly to a climax and the music ended, somewhat to my relief.

Roomful of Teeth is an octet of which Shaw is an original member.  Shaw participated in the performance.

It is interesting to see if there will be eventually a "Caroline Shaw Sound," as distinct as Glass's.

After the performance of Caroline Shaw's Microfictions, Vol. 3.  Shaw is the third person from the left (dark jacket, bowing).  She was invited onto the podium also.

The young man seated next to me clearly enjoyed it.  He owns the album, loves it, and was excited to see the piece performed live.  I wonder if Shaw's appeal is also a generational thing.

Price certainly could write some very difficult passages for the orchestra.  Her music is quite traditional, so languished in relative obscurity for a while until the current craze (for lack of a better word) to program women composers - especially minority women - into concerts.  Fair or not, one thinks of Stravinsky, Prokofiev, or Shostakovich as the typical twentieth century composer; or more parochially Gershwin, Copland, and Ives.  As a result, the best people can do is date this symphony to the late 1930s, and the piece was premiered in 2018.

Two noteworthy (as far as the Program Notes is concerned) facts.  One is an oboe melody that's surprisingly similar to one in Dvorak's New World.  Melodies of this kind permeated African American soundscape, and I agree (as the Notes implies) that different composers can reference them as they see fit.  The other is the use of the "Juba dance" theme in the scherzo.  The fragment included in the Notes is simple enough, but I frankly didn't catch it.

A musicologist can analyze Price's music for her composition techniques, her ability to organize, her use of different orchestral colors, and how she could weave the motivic material through the movements of her work like a silken thread (all these phrases found in the Program Notes), the fact of the matter is as a 20th century composition one expects something more avant-garde than this, and when compared with more traditional works not quite at the level of a Sibelius or Dvorak.

After performance of Price's Symphony.  It's good to see New York Phil live again.  There were a couple of notable personnel changes in the orchestra.

Unfortunately I didn't make it to Lincoln Center in time to hear the Debussy piece, which should be interesting to hear as the concert hall was newly renovated.  To travel from Hoboken via bus and subway should take about 45 minutes to an hour.  Bus 126 didn't show up at the stop for 15 minutes, Lincoln Tunnel was very congested, and the No. 1 train also took about 15 minutes to show up at the Port Authority Station.  And it didn't stop until the 72 Street station which meant an eight minute additional walk.  Any of these wouldn't have been a problem, but the combination made me miss the Debussy piece, and just barely got seated for the Shaw piece.  (It took me less than an hour for the return trip.)

The young man next to me said the Debussy sounded great, although as a new resident of NYC this was his first concert at Lincoln Center.  The Roomful singers used microphones, and I have nothing to compare the Price symphony with, so while I have no complaints about the acoustics, I am in no position to determine if I like it more.

I noticed the absence of Eileen Moon-Myers, and the return of Liang Wang.  The formed resigned for personal reasons, and the latter after winning an arbitration case.

The common area outside the auditorium has a rather modern look it it.  However, the general color scheme is a bit darker than I'd like.

In the old Avery Fisher Hall there was this slight unease about falling off the (inside) balcony.  The new hall has solved that problem, at least for me.

The blue carpet on the steps (only a little shown in this photo) looks dated already, especially against these bright tiles adorning the walls.

Now one can sit behind the stage.  One can somewhat relate the new layout with the old one.

It used to be simply Avery Fisher Hall.  If the lobby, the theater, and the stage were named for other people, their names were certainly not prominently displayed.  News reports say the theater was name Wu Tsai for a $50M donation, I wonder how much it cost for the lobby and the stage.  In contrast, David Geffen is not seen inside the Hall at all.  May be a case could be made that he gets some of the money back?

Metropolitan Opera. Cherubini's Medea. October 18, 2022.

Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center.  Balcony (Seat D110, $87.50).

Story.  Jason (Giasone) of Gold Fleece and Argo fame married Medea while in Colchis, they had two sons.  After they moved to Corinth, Jason abandoned Medea while taking custody of the children, and was to be married to Glauce, daughter of King Creonte.  As the wedding is celebrated, Medea appears with her maid ("confidante" in the Program Notes).  She is asked by Creonte to leave, but is successful in pleading for an extra day so she can say farewell to her children, whom are brought to her.  She kills the children, and the gifts she gave Glauce (a robe and a diadem) kill Glauce.  She ends up going up in flames inside the temple holding the bodies of her two sons.

Conductor - Carlo Rizzi; Glauce - Janai Brugger, Creonte - Michele Pertusi, Giasone - Matthew Polenzani, Medea - Sondra Radvanovsky, Neris - Olivia Vote.

View of stage from my seat in the Balcony.  The performance was well-attended.

These two photographs on display at the Dress Circle level (I think) depict scenes from Medea.  I took them on 3/28/2023, while I watched Lohengrin.

The story in the opera begins with the preparation for the wedding of Glauce to Jason, and indeed there are many details put in the story (e.g., Medea struggling to decide what to do with her sons).  The neighbors seated next to me both agree the story is straightforward.

The synopsis for the opera describe a powerful portrayal of how one devolves from being a victim to one bent on revenge ("this entire palate of emotion," as described in the Program Notes).  Medea, however, comes across as mostly a sympathetic figure: a woman abandoned and scorned, and finally decided she couldn't take it anymore, killing her children before killing herself.  Radvanovsky's portrayal elicits pity, but not disgust, fear, and dread.  Perhaps that was the intention, or because her voice is just not appropriate for such emotions.  There is a reason why villains are mostly sung by basses.

She can't quite act the part of a villain either.  The only "fear" she elicited was when she first appeared, covered in a net.  That quickly went away after she removed the veil.  The most hatred she can summon is this slightly hunched stance with clenched fists.  Given the right role, she can be an incredible actor: as Queen Elizabeth in Roberto Devereux at the Met, and more recently as Maddelena in Andrea Chenier in Covent Garden.

The set, designed by David McVicar, was simple.  In the center of the stage there is this partition, which can be a wall or a door depending on the scene.  The "inside" can be a wedding venue, a banquet hall, a bedroom, or - for the final scene - the inside of a temple.  A huge slanted mirror in the back helps generate a somewhat eerie effect from relatively spartan sets - and make the sets twice as rich in the process.

The setting is supposed to be Corinth, at around 1200 BC.  While I can't comment on whether people at that time had light stands, or how they were dressed, I am quite sure they didn't wear eyeglasses or carry rifles around.

The well-known Italian opera composers are Rossini, Verdi, and Puccini.  My limited experience with these composers would place Cherubini between Rossini and Verdi, but closer to the latter.  Just to check: Rossini (1792-1868), Verdi (1813-1901), Puccini (1858-1924); the birth year for Cherubini (1760-1842) would put him before Rossini.  So much for my music sense.  The Program Notes says he was admired by his contemporaries Haydn and Beethoven.  The opera was originally written in French, with considerable spoken dialog.  

And how's the music?  Pleasant, and dramatic as needed.  Medea is the opera, and she is called to sing some very demanding and long arias, which Radvanovsky did very well.  The other standout aria was a rather long one sung by Olivia Vote as Neris, made particularly poignant as a duet with the bassoon, with a subdued orchestra in the background.  Two problems for the casual listener, though: the tunes, while pleasant, are not quite hummable; on their own they don't always portray the emotional state of the singer.

This was the sixth (ever) performance of this opera, and this is the first season Met stages the opera.  Some obscure operas are hidden gems, some are not popular for a reason.

The panels slide open and close, and behind them are sets for various scenes.

Close up (as far as I could) of Radvanovsky.

Curtain call, including conductor and choirmaster.

New installation at the landing.

After all the rush tickets (if any) were sold out, these prices are what I saw on the Metopera webpage.  For $1M I am sure they will be happy to arrange a seat for you, including a chair on stage if necessary.  I got a huge discount as my ticket cost only $87.50.

I tried to get a rush ticket for the performance, but forgot I had to be logged on to do that.  By the time I got in, the performance was sold out.  The full price ticket I got is cheaper than the last one (La Traviata), I guess no one planned for inflation when the prices for this season were set.  The house was full.  Masks requirements would be dropped at the end of the month, but they were still strictly adhered to for this performance.

I took the train as I was going by myself.  The experience wasn't bad at all.  They did renovate parts of Penn Station.  I notice most people were against the wall in the subway stations, perhaps a precaution as a result of the recent pushing incidents.  The train going to New York was empty, but quite crowded on the way back.  I made it to Penn Station at 10:19 pm for the 10:20 pm train.

Midtown Concerts - In the Middle of Mozart. Yi-heng Yang, fortepiano; Aisslinn Nosky, violin. October 13, 2022.

Livestreamed.  Free.

Event location: St. Malachy's Church, New York.

Program

Trio a due violini e basso in B-flat Major (arranged for violin and fortepiano) by Maddalena Lombardini Sirmen (1745-1818).  Allegro no tanto - Adagio - Allegro.

Sonata in E-flat Major, KV. 302 by Mozart (1756-1791).  Allegro - Rondo: Andante grazioso.

Sonata for Violin and Piano, Op. 1, No. 2 by Jane Mary Guest (1762-1846).  Allegro - Minuetto Grazioso.

Sonata for piano and violin, Op. 16, No. 3 by J.C. Bach (1735-1782).

Sonata for piano and violin in E minor by Mozart.  Allegro - Tempo di Menuetto.

CS alerted us to this concert, which we enjoyed in the comfort of our living room.

It was a delightful performance of easy-listening pieces, five of them in 45 minutes.  Clearly we had a period instrument in the fortepiano, but I couldn't tell if the violin was a period instrument.  The bow looked modern, the violinist used a moderate amount of vibrato, but she had to tune her instrument often: so either gut strings, or new ones.

This was my first encounter with the early women composers Sirmen and Guest.  And I was happy to "meet them."

The only piece I know well is the last one on the program.  I suspect most violin students would have encountered it in their relatively early student days.  It sounded a bit hurried, and consequently a bit chaotic.  Perhaps the performers were watching the clock?

The Sirmen piece was originally written for 2 violins and a bass.  I wonder who did the arrangement for the piano/violin combination.  There are no doubt many more notes involved in doing the arrangement.

Nosky is the concertmaster of the Boston Handel-Haydn society.  Yang teaches at Julliard.

A recording of this concert is available on YouTube  Above is a screenshot.

One of the benefits of living in the NYC area is access to these intimate events on a regular basis.  This "Midtown Concerts" organization has a weekly program that lasts the good part of a year.  (On good authority) they seem to pay the performers a minimal amount.

Boston Symphony Orchestra. Andris Nelsons, conductor; Jennifer Koh, violin. October 7, 2022.

Symphony Hall, Boston, MA.  Balcony Center (Seat E15, $60.50).

Program

Starling Variations (2022) by Elizabeth Ogonek (b. 1989).

Serenade (after Plato's Symposium), for violin and orchestra (1954) by Bernstein (1918-1990).

Chichester Psalms (1965) by Bernstein.

Symphony No. 3 in E-flat, Op. 20, The First of May (1929) by Shostakovich (1906-1975).

Artists

Tanglewood Festival Chorus, James Burton, conductor.

Linus Schafer-Goulthorpe, boy soprano.

Solo Quartet: Natalia Hubner, soprano; Lena Costello, alto; Stephen Chrzan, tenor; Matthew Christopher, bass.

We were visiting the area for a few days, and had time to take in this concert.  Except for a couple of Princeton Chamber Concerts, this would be the first "full scale" concert we went to since our European trip (last concert on that trip was Andrea Chenier at Deutsche Oper Berlin).

Ogonek came on stage before her piece was performed to talk about her (planned) three sets of variations which she calls a triptych.  The first set is titled Cloudline based on "looking up."  Today's title is self-explanatory: the inspiration is from the murmurations of starlings that one sometimes sees.  A third piece will be performed by the San Francisco Symphony in January, 2023.  These and her other compositions speak well for this young composer.  And she is an assistant professor of composition at Cornell.

The word "variations" in the title is not meant in the traditional sense.  They are just episodes Ogonek composed illustrating different musical moods, again inspired by starling murmurations.  If one conjures up these images in one's mind, and try to imagine music that describes them, what I heard today would be far from it.  The music is interesting, quite accessible even on a first hearing, but without being primed would not make one think of starling flittering about; not in my case, anyway.

Bernstein's serenade was composed on a commission from the Koussevitzky Foundation, but was premiered in Venice, Italy.  Bernstein wrote a commentary on this work the day after he completed the score.  Many references can be found on this, but I note with interest the take by Houston Symphony (Article dated Feb 20, 2018).  The commentator states that Athenians at that time would understand the "love" being spoken in Plato's Symposium would be male homosexual love.  I don't know how well the music can make that point though.  Regardless, it was an interesting piece of music, requiring different skills from the solo violin.  One could do a detailed comparison of Bernstein and Plato, and determine how well Bernstein reflects Plato (as the Houston Symphony article did), or one can simply listen to the music and let it evolve, as I did today.

Janine Jenson was going to be the soloist, but withdrew because of illness.  Koh's violin sounded a bit weak at times, but it had a great sound which Koh used to excellent effect.  It turns out I had listened to this a few years back, with Joshua Bell and the New York Philharmonic.  The five movements are (1) Phaedrus; Pausanias (Lento - Allegro); (2) Aristophanes (Allegretto); (3) Erixymachus (Presto); (4) Agathon (Adagio); and (5) Socrates; Alcibiades (Molto tenuto - Allegro molto vivace).

Jennifer Koh at conclusion of Bernstein's Serenade.

Photo taken while stage was being rearranged for the next piece to be performed.  Why are some chairs black, while most are white?  And I forgot to take a photo when Ogonek was on stage: a bit rusty in my blogging routine.

Chichester Psalms was a commission from the Very Rev. Walter Hussey, Dean of Chichester Cathedral, Sussex, England.  It was first performed by the New York Philharmonic before being performed at Chichester.  The composer envisioned an all-male chorus, with treble parts sung by boys.  Both the first performance and today's used women for the high voices.

The work comprises of three movements, each with texts in Hebrew from one complete Psalm and selected verses from another Psalm.  The Reverend provided further contexts/requests: use of all-male choir, availability of instruments, reference to Psalm 2, and - most interestingly - that he wouldn't mind reference to West Side Story.  Bernstein certainly met the Reverend's expectations, and we hear a few references to the Broadway Show.

The three movements are (1) Psalm 108 (v. 2); Psalm 100 (complete) Maestoso ma energico - Allegro molto; (2) Psalm 23 (complete); Psalm 2 (v. 1-4) Andante con moto, ma tranquillo - Allegro feroce; (3) Psalm 131 (complete); Psalm 133 (v. 1) Prelude - Sostenuto molto - Peacefully flowing.

With some prior knowledge of these psalms, I found the composition speaking well to the different messages in the texts.  The vocal parts were sung well.

At the conclusion of Bernstein's Chichester Psalms.  Note the boy soprano in front.  This photo was time-stamped 3:13 pm, and we still have a full Shostakovich Symphony to go.

Over the years I have heard quite a few of Shostakovich's Symphonies (there are 15 of them).  This was my first encounter with his third.  As far as I could tell, anyway; I don't know any of his symphonies well enough to tell which ones I have heard before.

Shostakovich is well-known for being in and out of the good graces of the Soviet government.  There certainly would be no problems with this one, titled "the First May Day," and including lyrics such as "every May Day is a step towards socialism."  Of course one can read all kinds of sarcasm and parody into the music and the lyrics.  Unfortunately when one tries to decipher the political message one tends to lose sight of the music, which - per the Program Notes - can be quite interesting.  First, Shostakovich claims that not one single theme would be repeated.  In trying to listen to the political message (which, except for the obvious, I didn't get), I didn't pay attention to this aspect.  The second point was this work is very tonal, especially in comparison with the Second Symphony.  It was indeed quite easy to get.  There was this long timpani passage that seemed to go on forever.  It started at about the :20 mark, and went on for about nine pages, with a one measure break.  (From examining this YouTube video.)

There is only one movement.  The markings provided in the Program Notes are Allegretto - Piu mosso - Allegro - Andante - Allegro - Andante - Largo - Moderato, "On the first May Day."  The chorus sang at the end of the piece.

The Symphony isn't very long at a little over 30 minutes.  However, the program had other substantial pieces, so the concert (which started reasonably promptly) didn't end until 3:50 pm.

End of concert.  3:53 pm time stamp on this photo.

We took Uber both ways.  Traffic was already piling up on the way back.  The driver is a painter from New Hampshire, and talked effusively about his craft, and how he learned to do it from watching Bob Ross videos.

Manhattan Chamber Players. July 8, 2022.

Richardson Auditorium, Princeton University.  Balcony (Center, Row 1, free).

Piano Quartet in E flat major, K.493 by Mozart (1756-1791).

Serenade in C Major for string trio, Op. 10 by Ernst von Dohnanyi (1877-1960).

Piano Quartet in E flat Major, Op. 47 by Schumann (1810-1856).

Artists

Brendan Speltz, violin; Luke Fleming, viola; David Fung piano; Brook Speltz, cello.

This is the third concert in the Princeton Summer Chamber Concert Series, and the second one we attended.  The Manhattan Chamber Players (MCP) were formed in 2015 by the current music director Luke Fleming.  On their website MCP lists 23 artists, and for tonight's concert we got to see four of them.

This was my first encounter with all three pieces, from well-known composers.

For me the concert didn't start all that great.  Mozart is usually easy to listen to, fun to analyze, or both.  Only occasional "complaint" I have is how some passages get repeated too often.  My reactions while the concert was going on were: Where are all the repeated notes?  How are the movements structured? Where is the lightness?  The crispness?  And worst of all: When is it going to end?  How do I stay awake?  (I did feel very tired in the afternoon.)

The movements of the Quartet are: Allegro, Larghetto, and Allegretto.

It was a good thing I stayed awake, because I really enjoyed the next two compositions on the program.  In that I have Fleming to thank: he gave a brief description of the MCP group, how the pandemic affected the scheduling of this event, and talked a bit about the Dohnanyi piece, and especially how the third movement is a combination of three virtuosic parts that come together well.

The five movements are: Marcia: Allegro; Romanza: Adagio non troppo; Scherzo: Vivace; Tema con variazioni: Andante con moto; and Rondo (Finale): Allegro vivace.

I made a few remarks to myself during the performance, and have probably forgotten a few by now (writing this entry the following day).  Indeed the piece looked and sounded difficult.  For the third movement, if one focused on a specific instrument, one would appreciate how difficult the part was.  However, the three lines made up a very coherent movement, and it was natural to just listen to the total sound rather than try to pick out the individual lines.  I couldn't make out the theme, and thus not the variations, for the fourth movement; and had similar difficulty with the ABABA form for the Rondo.  No matter, it was a great performance of an interesting composition.

Whenever I see a movement called "Andante cantabile" in a chamber piece, I think of the one in Tchaikovsky's string quartet.  It wasn't Tchaikovsky, but as with the rest of the quartet, a lovely movement nonetheless.  The four movements are: I.  Sostenuto assai - Allegro ma non troppo; II. Scherzo.  Molto vivace - Trio I, Trio II; III. Andante cantabile; IV.  Finale: Vivace.

In addition to David and Vivien, CS and Shirley were also at this concert.  We had a good time reminescing about our long friendship of over 40 years, and enjoyed a simple dinner at Lan Ramen before the concert.

Old friends enjoying dinner at Lan Ramen.

It was raining quite heavily in the Princeton/West Windsor area on our way back, with visibility down to perhaps yards in some stretches.  Too bad the heavy downpour didn't hit our area; we could use the rain.