Boston Ballet. Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker." Conductor: Mischa Santora. November 26, 2023.

Citizens Bank Opera House, Boston.  Mezzanine Center Left (Seat C115, $154).

Choreography - Mikko Nissinen; Set and Costume Design - Robert Perdziola; Assistant Scenic Design - Micholas Kostner; Lighting Design - Mikki Kunttu.

Dancers.  The Nutcracker Prince - Jeffrey Cirio; Sugar Plum Fairy - Ji Young Chae; Drosselmeier - Lasha Khozashvili; Clara - Sophie Hatton.

We saw the same program back in 2005, my recollection was the experience was generally forgettable.  What stood out in my memory was the orchestra's sound was such that it sounded as if it came from two speakers on recording; that was my first use of "tinny" to describe the sound of an orchestra.  I certainly didn't remember if it was a live orchestra or not.  Going over the blog, I concluded the orchestra was live, and my complaint was limited to the orchestra - I had a lot of admiration for the ballet company.

This is 18 years later, I am still not sure about the orchestra.  May be preconception dictates one's perception, the orchestra sound, while richer, was still on the tinny (second use) side.  There was an artificiality to the sound that came and went.  Not what a good performance of say the Nutcracker Suite would sound like.  On the positive side, there were quite a few well-played movements.

The set was very different from the 2005 one (or what I remember of it, anyway).  Certainly the Christmas tree was more impressive, and the mouse scene was choreographed very differently.  Tonight the fights didn't happen in the dark.  What was missing was this loud cannon shot that ended the fight; it was more of a "puff" today.  Also there were more comic elements incorporated: a dancing bear, and a sheep that kept falling behind are two examples.

There is a lot of leg shaking - for lack of a better word - in the choreography.  Yes, it looked as awkward as it sounded.

People who went in Joe's car got there early.  DD wasn't in the picture as he and I were taking the T.

At first I thought it was a new Artistic Director, turns out Mikko Nissinen has been in the post since 2001.  Today's performance is Mikko Nissinen's The Nutcracker, so perhaps this is new choreography he composed (designed?) after 2005.

Many who attend a Nutcracker performance are young children, so some noise during the performance is probably inevitable.  While none rose to the level of "disruptive" (and parents are asked to take the children to the lobby), some were out of control, with behavior encouraged by their parents.  The program booklet also says "no photography," but the insert limits the prohibition to "during the performance."

DD and I walked to the Assembly Square station to catch the T to Downtown Crossing, and the opera house is a three-minute walk away.  Joe parked his car nearby, so it took no time to get back afterwards.  We did stop by Assembly to pick up some take-out for dinner.

Handel and Haydn Society. Jonathan Cohen, conductor. November 25, 2023.

Symphony Hall, Boston.  Center Balcony (Seat F10, $79.75)

End of concert.  One can see the baroque horns being used.  In the front: John Holiday, Joelle Harvey, Jonathan Cohen, Stuart Jackson, Jose Coco Loza.

Program: Handel's Messiah

Artists: Joelle Harvey, soprano;  John Holiday countertenor; Stuart Jackson, tenor; Jose Coca Loza, bass-baritone.

Handel and Haydn Society Orchestra and Chorus

The chorus roster lists 31 singers, 30 were on stage.  I am recording this so I can compare with how many will be singing with the New York Philharmonic in December.

We had bought tickets to NJ Symphony's performance of Messiah at Alexander Hall in Princeton, but had to return them because of conflict with a trip to Boston in mid-December.  Separately, we decided to come up to Boston after Thanksgiving since we had not seen Joe's family since the summer.  When I asked if there were any Messiah programs, I was told the H+H Society puts out a series every year, and it will coincide with our visit.

We head heard H+H chorus at a New York Philharmonic Messiah performance, back in December 2019, and enjoyed that concert.  The chorus will again be in NY this year, we have tickets, so I am quite curious to see how they do in their elements.

Bottom line.  They were okay, but did far below my expectations.  At intermission Anne and I both shook our heads, albeit at different aspects.

My assessment was the performance was technically great, but lacked exuberance.  There are no fatal flaws - this group first performed music from Messiah in 1815, after all.  After making this statement, I read in the Program Notes someone's critique of a 1784 performance at Westminster Abbey: ... the effect resembled a clock-work in everything, but want of feeling and expression.  Better wordsmithing, same sentiment.

The chorus was surprising small, 30 people altogether (the roster shows 31).  For the 2019 NY Phil performance I counted 44 chorus members, and I wonder how many will be there next month.  The volume relative to the orchestra and soloists was good, but overall the sound was weak.  I thought they did the high notes very well, and the 16th note runs were crisp.

The orchestra uses period instruments, they had to be tuned several times during the performance.  I notice all the violinists and violists are women (roster has one or two men).  The trumpets used were period (perhaps what's called baroque trumpets), noticeable by the lack of valves, and long pipes.  One of the two players had his mask on all the time; I didn't think that was possible.  It did seem difficult to play precisely in tune, perhaps due to forced harmonics produced by the unmovable parts.  There were two harpsichords used, one by the conductor, and a small organ (or a harmonium).  One complaint is that I can't find a list of instruments used.  There are year-over-year variations in how NY Philharmonic puts together the instrument ensemble, I imagine that's true of H+H also.  The concertmaster Aisslinn Nosky was in a recital with Yi-Heng last year, which I saw on line.

I heard Joelle Harvey before, in a Messiah performance 10 years ago.  She was the standout among the soloists.  The countertenor had a voice closest to a female's - not sure if that's the objective - but sounded saccharine perhaps because of it.  The two male voices are on the weak side, especially that of the bass-baritone; I had to cup my ears to hear him properly.

One note after I posted the blog entry just now.  Many Program Notes for Messiah discuss why audience members stand during the Hallelujah Chorus, and that it is up to the individual to decide.  My first thoughts were Boston is where the tea party happened, so why would people here want to honor a tradition a British monarch may or may not have started.  To my surprise, nearly everyone stood.  Being the conformists/cowards that we are, we also stood.

There were a few empty seats in the auditorium, and quite a few left at the break.  Boston audiences are less concerned about disturbing others.  A few people were taking photos or videos during the performance, and the father/daughter in front of us kept whispering to one another.  I was hushed in New York for turning the page too loudly.  The noticeably younger audience did not cough as much, so that was good.

The auditorium was reasonably full as the performance was about to begin.  Quite a few people left at intermission.

This is Jonathan Cohen's first year as the director, and this is the first Messiah performance, so perhaps there were some opening concert jitters?  I couldn't tell, but here's hoping he will do better.

The chorus must be invited to various venues during the Messiah season, so the members have a busy schedule ahead of them.  They should be admired for bring great music to people across the country.

Joe dropped us off.  The Orange Line has a station a couple of blocks away.  When we asked the station agent whether we could simply swipe our credit cards for the gates, she simply opened a gate for us and invited us to walk through.  The trains are quite new, and we got off at Assembly Square to have dinner with Joe's family.

New York Philharmonic. Paavo Jarvi, conductor; Alena Baeva, violin. November 18, 2023.

David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center.  Orchestra 3 (Seat V103, $83).

Alena Baeva and Paavo Jarvi after performing the Britten violin concerto.

Program

Overture No. 2 (1958-59) by Tormis (1930-2017).

Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 15 (1938-39, last rev. 1965) by Britten (1913-76).

Symphony No. 6 in E-flat minor, Op. 111 (1945-47) by Prokofiev (1891-1953).

After the concert the first thought that came to mind was how rare it was nowadays that I hear three pieces I hadn't heard before.  Indeed this was my first encounter with Tormis.  But a review of my blog entries returns one Prokofiev (12/2017, NJ Symphony) and multiple instances of Britten (and twice in 11/2018, NJ Symphony and NY Philharmonic).  This blog entry should be read with that in mind.

Writing on Tuesday, 3 days after the concert, I have already forgotten about how the Tormis overture sounded like, and whether it has any distinguishing characteristics.  But fear not, I did jot down a few phrases, including "quite enjoyable."  One reason I attribute to its likeability because while the approach is clearly modern, there are enough classical (or psudo-classical, if there is such a term) elements to the work that may it quite accessible.  That the Program Notes has a "The Work at a Glance" byline helps tremendously in following the music.  To quote the last section: This time, more-prominent brass and military drumrolls ratchet up the sense of urgency - perhaps even the imminent doom of a march to the gallows - as Tormis closes dramatically with three final, stark shots across the bow.  That description certainly announced the end of the piece; or one can look at one's watch and tell when 11 minutes have lapsed.

After the Tormis piece.  Many sections were headed by the associate/assistant principals for this concert.

In my defence, I heard the Britten concerto last in 2018, a full five years ago.  Still, how could I forget the vehemence with which the violin is attacked, and all the technical demands on the soloist from double and triple stops to left hand pizzicatos, and double harmonics.  And to string together the phrases to provide a narrative (for the musical soul, since I am not sure Britten was trying to describe anything).  The Kyrgystan-born Baeva was up to the task.  She plays a Guarnerius (ex-William Kroll of 1738) with a tone quality and brilliance that rival a Strad (meant as a compliment) for the first two movements.  The violin was overwhelmed often during the third movement; I wonder if the concerto asks a lot of the performer.

With a piece so technically challenging, one would expect issues in the performance.  For tonight it was mostly intonation and uncertain harmonics.  I don't need to wonder how a more technically accomplished performance would sound like: one of the 11/2018 performances was by Hadelich, who came through better than tonight's, if what I wrote for that day is any indication.

For any encore we heard a movement of a concerto that was more of the same: a showcase for technical prowess, in this instance with a lot of flying arpeggios.  It would have been nice to hear a more lyrical piece.

For most of the 20th century Russian composers had to go with the political wind.  Shostakovich is the prime example, but Prokofiev was subject to the same praise and criticism by the "culture department" of the government.  (What I can never understand is why Prokofiev chose to return to Russia; perhaps thinking 'this time it will be different?'.)  The Program Notes describes how the sixth was praised by critics when it first came out in October 1947, and Prokofiev was named People's Artist of Russia, and then denounced in January 1948 with the symphony censured.  It didn't return to a Russian hall until the 1960s; in the meantime it received international acclaim.

Prokofiev's original description of the symphony is succinct (quoting the Program Notes again): The first movement is of a restless nature, at times lyrical and at times stern; the second movement is more tranquil and songful; the finale, fast and buoyant, would resemble in nature my Fifth Symphony but for the stern echoes of the first movement.  To get that, I will need to listen to the symphony multiple times; and this was my second time.  A few more to go, then.

We had babysitting duties in Hoboken this afternoon.  It was quite easy to take Bus 126 in.

Hoboken Children's Theater. Finding Nemo Kids. November 10, 2023.

Hoboken Children's Theater.  Stalls ($5).

Maisie had a role in this production, so Anne and I attended the second of the two performances.  They had 8 practice sessions.

HCT is putting out multiple version of the show: a one-hour long program for 5th/6th graders, 35 minutes for grades 3 and 4, and shorter versions for younger children.  A lot of work for the teachers.

The theater is small, the music was taped, and there was no sound system, so the dialog was sometimes difficult to get.

And there were quite a few costume changes, which the production team managed brilliantly.

As grandparents we were happy to go along for the ride.

I dropped Anne off at the Theater, parked at Ellie's, and then walked to the Theater.  They started when I got to my seat, 2 minutes late.  (Quite possible they waited for the straggler.)

We walked back afterwards, late fall was in the air.

New York Philharmonic. Susanna Malkki, conductor; Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano; Jeno Lisztes, cimbalom. November 3, 2023.

David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center.  Orchestra 1 (Seat Y105, $90).

Aimard and Malkki after the Ligeti piano concerto.  The orchestra did not seem particularly large, but there were a lot of instruments involved.

Program

Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C-sharp minor, S.244/2H (1847; arr. 2017) by Liszt (1811-86), arr. Listztes (b. 1986).

Romanian Folk Dances, BB 76 (1915; orch. 1917) by Bartok (1881-1945).

Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1985-86/1988) by Ligeti (1923-2006).

Pictures at an Exhibition (1874; arr. 1922) by Musorgsky (1839-81), arr. Ravel (1875-1937).

This is an eclectic program.  It begins with two short pieces based on Hungarian and Romani tunes, followed by a piano concert by Ligeti.  The second half was Russian music orchestrated by a French composer, but remains undoubtedly Russian in character.  The audience was also treated to the cimbalom, a Hungarian variation of the hammered dulcimer.  Individual pieces have their merits, but I can't see how the pieces constitute a coherent concert program.

Jeno Lisztes is a Budapest-born musician.  He adapted the Liszt piece for the cimbalom, which he performed today.  Some tunes in the rhapsody are famous: Cat Concerto famous, in this case.  Any musical instrument performed well is impressive, and it is impressive how two hammers can produce such complex sounds from the instrument.  While the experience was enjoyable, and perhaps memorable, it was nonetheless little more than a "sing-along" experience, at least as far as this concert-goer is concerned.  The Program Notes says this piece is about 7 minutes, it was quite a bit longer than that.  (Time stamp of applause at 2:16 pm, and the concert started quite promptly, at say 2:05.)

Jeno Lisztes performed his arrangement of Liszt's Rhapsody.

An image of the Cimbalom downloaded from the web.  The Chinese have a similar hammered dulcimer called the Yanquin.

Bartok managed to squeeze in seven (some would say six) movements into 7 minutes.  And these were quite enjoyable.  The movements are Stick Dance, Sash Dance, In One Spot, Horn Dance, Romanian Polka, and Fast Dance (one or two).  The tempo markings (see Program) were easy enough to discern (one might argue the line between Andante and Moderato), but the feel of each dance had little to do with the title of the movement.  I looked at the score and the description of the Stick Dance in the Program Notes just now: "young men's solo dance ... consists of kicking the room's ceiling."  One would think that would be done with fanfare and difficulty, but the score doesn't read that way, neither did the performance.

A relatively small ensemble used for Bartok's piece.

This is the 100th year of Ligeti's birth, and many orchestras - including the New York Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony - celebrate by putting out tributes.  The piano concerto was first a 3-movement work, and later expanded by the composer to five.  Here is how the Program Notes quotes Ligeti on the fourth movement: "Its formal process is fractal in time: reiterating the same formula, the same succession always in different shapes, using simultaneous augmentation and diminution of the same models ... focusing on smaller and smaller details."  That I don't understand what he was saying is inconsequential, Ligeti won many prizes and accolades because of this work (even before it was expanded).  The Annotator offered brief descriptions of each of the movements, and offers up the observation that after the fourth movement's uproar, the "concluding Presto luminoso seems more a coda than an emphatic sort of finale."  In my view it was a fitting - and hefty - finale.

As to how Aimard did it.  The Program Notes contains a review of his performance in 2019, the last paragraph of which is "Aimard rose superbly to the technical challenges of the piece, but more impressive still was his command of Ligeti's ironies and ambiguities of tone - no sweetly inviting, now dry and sardonic."  I am not about to argue with that assessment.  The only surprising thing was he needed the score in front of him.

The piece involves a large number of instruments, including 23 "percussion" instruments.  Some of them I classify as "percussion" only because they were played by the percussionists.  Examples are bird whistle and Hohner harmonica.  What can't these versatile folks do?

Musorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition was based on an exhibit in memory of Musorgsky's close friend Viktor Hartmann, an architect and designer.  Not all of the movements can be associated with specific items at the exhibit, but the overall structure of moving from one room to the other is clear.

I recall the Promenade as being more prevalent than today's performance, where it showed up four times.  A piano score I looked at just now had the Promenade appear five times, so my recollection was off.  The piece is easy to listen to, and easy to like.  Today's performance was no exception.  One can try to associate what one hears with the title of the movement, but that is not necessary.  Some complain that Ravel's orchestration could be more "Russian," but it was clear Russian for me.  In any case, there is no way a piano can duplicate the grandiosity of a full orchestra.  Listening to parts of piece played by a pianist just now, I can confirm it cannot.

A good performance of Musorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition is always enjoyable.

Before the second half began, the Orchestra played a movement from Elgar's Enigma Variations (Nimrod) in memory of a colleague (a stage manager) who recently passed away.  It was a great tribute.  Done without a conductor, it makes one wonder how much a conductor adds to the performance: we recently heard it performed by the NJ Symphony.

This concert started at 2 pm.