New Jersey Symphony. Christopher Konig, conductor; Tony Siqi Yun, piano. February 22, 2025.

Count Basie Theater, Red Bank, NJ.  Balcony (Seat F113, $30).

Yun shaking Wyrick's hand after the performance of the Chopin piano concerto.

Program

Can You See? by Allison Loggins-Hull.

Piano Concerto No. 1 in E Minor, Op. 11 by Chopin.

Symphony No. 1 in C Minor, Op. 68 by Brahms.

As one might suspect, "can you see?" is related to the national anthem.  The description in the Program says the anthem was deconstructed in the composition of this piece.  So I was expecting to hear the music equivalent of a Picasso.  Instead the piece was so deconstructed that I couldn't hear any part of the original song; well, some Picasso paintings are like that, and they leave me equally confused.  Nowadays it would be difficult to guess what a composer can do with the national anthem, this piece isn't grotesque at all, so there is that.

I heard Loggins-Hull's work at a People's Symphony Concert at the end of last year.  My writeup seems to indicate I enjoyed it considerable more than today's piece.

The piece was originally written in 2021 for a small ensemble.  Today's was an expanded version for an orchestra.  There was a passage where the violas hit the strings with a short stick; I suspect a simple "col legno" would have the same effect.  Loggins-Hull is the Symphony's new Resident Artistic Partner, so more of her work will find its way to concert programs.

Yun was a recent graduate of Julliard.  CS, who also attended the concert, mentioned that he had the same teacher as his daughter.  (Anne and I thought he could have been her student!)  The highly romantic piece is easy to like, but I don't know if one can appreciate the performance beyond the nice melodies and demanding techniques. The orchestra was unexpectedly precise, yet it sounded quite mechanical.

For encore Yun and the conductor Konig performed a Chopin's Op. 39/15 Waltz adapted for four hands.  Evidently Chopin wrote the solo piece in A-flat major, while the four-hand piece is in A.  So there was a bit of confusion - and a laugh - when the two began.  (Google returned with an A, quite amazing.)

Many sources consider Brahms's first symphony as Beethoven's Tenth, I never understand the comparison.  One would never mistake this with anything Beethoven wrote, as Brahms's approach to dynamics, melody, form, and harmony was very - shall we say - Brahmsian.  I must admit Symphony No. 1 is not one of my favorite symphonies, although in my experience Brahms's music can grow on you as you get more familiar with it.  The only movement I know well is the fourth, with its two well-known melodies.

After performance of "can you see?" by Loggins-Hull.  I was somewhat surprised that she wasn't in the audience.

A close of of the pianist.

At the conclusion of the concert.  Count Basie suffers from bad lighting.  Attendance tonight was better than usual.

Having attended a New York Philharmonic concert yesterday, I must say New Jersey Symphony isn't quite there yet, at least not today.  My biggest problem was how "mechanical" the ensemble sounded.  CS mentioned the woodwind section was weak.  That may be true, but I thought the trombones did a great job, I appreciated how precise they sounded (as opposed to my experience a day earlier with the New York Philharmonic).  The violinist who subs at New York Phil quite often played today (and I didn't see him in NY yesterday).  The principal bassist, however, was absent today.  She was with NY Phil yesterday.

My past blog entries seem to indicate Konig was a competent conductor.  If I used my adjectives consistently, things have just stayed the same.

Tonight's attendance was quite respectable, at least from what I could see from my seat in the balcony.

New York Philharmonic. Santtu-Matias Rouvali, conductor; Seong-Jin Cho, piano. February 21, 2025.

David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center.  Orchestra (Seat W103, $75).

After the performance of Prokofiev's Piano Concerto.

Program

Selections from Moscow, Cheryomushki Suite (1957-58; arr. 1997) by Shostakovich (1906-75), arr. A. Cornall.

Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Op. 16 (1912-13/1924) by Prokofiev (1891-1953).

Symphony No. 15 in A major, Op. 141 (1971) by Shostakovich.

Today's program was all-Russian.  The conductor is from Finland, the pianist from Korea (and now lives in Germany).  It could be dark and heavy with Finns and Russians, but it wasn't so today.

Up until today I had see only two of Shostakovich's operas: The Nose, and Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk (the latter in concert).  The Nose to me was surreal and inscrutable, and I enjoyed Lady Macbeth when I first saw it about a year ago in Carnegie Hall.  "Moscow, Cheryomushki," which simply means "Moscow, Bird Cherry Tree District," was a "satirical operetta [telling] the story of a group of prospective young tenants seeking places in the newly subsidized housing and of their skirmishes with corrupt bureaucrats."  (Quoting from the Program Notes.)  The Program Notes also contains a description of each of the three movements: A Spin through Moscow; Waltz; and Dances.

Indeed it was a rather comical composition.  On the other hand, the humor somewhat wore off after a while, and I was glad only three movements of the four-movement suite was played.  (The suite was extracted from the original music by Andrew Cornall in 1997.)

The fifteenth was Shostakovich's last symphony.  While I heard it back in 2011, in Hong Kong, I frankly don't remember any of it.  The Program Notes contains a reasonable description of how the work is structured, and the performance followed that "recipe" quite closely.  A few aspects worth noting.  First is the liberal use of the William Tell overture in the first movement (Allegretto): it was repeated multiple times.  The Program Notes describes the second movement (Adagio) as "another of the composer's many pieces haunted by death, beginning with a brass chorale ... and continuing with a series of 12-note melodies for solo cello, juxtaposing the tonal and atonal."  The real thing sounded even more complicated, and I had trouble marking out the different 12-note melodies in the cello, beautifully played by (most probably) the new Associate Principal Christakos.  While the brass chorale had a good sound, it could have sounded a bit more precise.  The third movement (allegretto) contains both the DSCH and BACH themes, I didn't catch either.  It is a rather short scherzo, with the Concertmaster tackling a "devilish violin solo."  The last movement (Adagio: Allegretto) started with the timpani pounding out a line reminiscent of Gotterdammerung, and later the strings played the first three notes of Tristan und Isolde (we caught that); it also referenced other works that we couldn't catch.  The coda of percussion against strings is also supposed to be a reminder of Shostakovich's fourth symphony, suppressed by the Soviet authorities.

All well and good, and the analysis makes listening to the music interesting.  But what is the symphony trying to tell us?  In the past I enjoyed how Shostakovich used these different techniques to bring images to his music, for today I felt he just enjoyed showing off his techniques.  Perhaps I need to get more familiar with this particular composition.  I do have to say while quoting William Tell may compare with Mahler quoting Frere Jacques, the latter did it in his first symphony.  If Mahler continued to quote other tunes in his later symphonies, he did it much more subtly.  And this was Shostakovich's last symphony.

After selections from Shostakovich's suite.

End of concert.  There was no need for the two harps in the symphony.

Prokofiev's second piano concerto was rewritten after the original one was lost in a fire, and there is much speculation how much the reworked version differs from the original.  Prokofiev premiered both, so he was fine with calling them both by the same designation; he did remark that he incorporated a lot of what he learned in the intervening years. The piece is difficult enough that Prokofiev complained about the need to practice, and thought he botched several passages during a 1927 performance.  I suspect only he could tell the performance was not up to his standards, and I felt the same way with Cho's performance tonight.

I did jot down a few notes right after the performance, which I will describe.  First, the four movements are (1) Andantino - Allegretto - Andantino; (2) Scherzo: Vivace; (3) Intermezzo: Allegro moderato; and (4) Finale: Allegro tempestoso.  The first movement lasts about 10 minutes, and half way into it the soloist had to launch into this difficult cadenza, the second movement is clearly a scherzo, and I had a hard time thinking the third movement is an intermezzo (at least in the Brahms sense).  The fourth movement consists of many different segments of different characters, and with a couple of cadenza-like passages thrown in for good measure.

For encore he played "A la maniere de Chabrier, M. 63 No. 2" by Ravel (per Google); there is a YouTube video with Cho playing the same piece.

This is the third time I saw Cho in concert.  I called his Chopin No. 2 with NJ Symphony (in 2018) respectable but not inspiring.  Today I thought of Trifonov during the performance.  The piece is complicated, yet the audience is not at the edge of their seats because they worry, but in admiration.  Was it my perception, or has Cho improved a lot over the last several years.

I am finishing this writeup on the 25th, and had gone to a NJ Symphony concert on Saturday.  (And I will have some thing to say about how the two concerts compare.)  We took the train in.

Benjamin Appl, baritone and Shai Wosner, piano. February 16, 2025.

Town Hall, New York City.  Orchestra (N117, $15).

David Lang

Program - A Tribute to Dietrich Fische-Dieskau.

Leider by Schubert (1797-1828).

Interspersed with Songs from flower, forget me by Lang (b. 1957).

This was another People's Symphony Concert held at New York City's townhall.

Fische-Dieskau made his debut at the Town Hall 70 years ago, this recital was to commemorate that event.  (Not sure out of the many events that happened before or after that event why it was chosen to be remembered.)

Also, David Lang's composition of the suite "flower, forget me" has a story behind it.  It started with him looking over all of Schubert's songs and pulling out the 33 (or so?) references to flower and death.  Lang then translated the German words into English which formed the basis of his suite.  In today's program four of the songs by Lang were sung.

Today's performance was the US debut of these Lang songs, so he came out to talk a bit about his composition process.  He also included a story about "Schone Mullerin" where a miller jumped to his death because of unrequited love.

All said and done, I am not sure how today's program was put together.  That doesn't mean it wasn't an enjoyable concert, because it was.  Appl had this casualness about him that was refreshing, and he certainly has a great voice.  He did all of Schubert's songs from memory, while he needed the music for Lang's songs.  Lang wrote the music in 2022, for Appl.  Or perhaps it's the English text that Appl wasn't sure about?

I didn't realize that the photo (taken with an iPhone 16 Pro Max) was so bad until I got home.

So here is a screen shot from the pscny.org website.  Fischer-Dieskau was born on May 28, 1925.

Two of the Schubert pieces were familiar to me: Standchen (D.957, No. 4) and Heidenroslein (D. 257).

Today was a rainy day, yet the hall was filled per usual.

I left right after the concert concluded, and managed to catch the 4:07 pm train.

Opera Australia. Verdi's La Traviata. January 31, 2025.

Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House.  Circle (Seat L36, A$119).

Flanked by the two ballet dancers are: Annina, Alfredo, Conductor, Violetta, Giorgio, (probably) the Doctor.

Story.  See prior posts.

Conductor - Johannes Fritzsch.  Violetta Valery - Samantha Clarke; Alfredo Germont - Ji-Min Park; Giorgio Germont - Jose Carbo; Flora Bervoix - Angela Hogan; Gastone - Virgilio Marino; Baron Douphol - Richard Anderson; Marquis d'Obigny - Luke Gabbedy; Doctor Grenvil - Shane Lowrencev; Annina - Catherine Bouchier.

This is the last of the three operas for my Sydney visit.  It restored my faith that OA can produce operas at a very high standard, even though there were some aspects of the performance that were uneven.

The sets are simple, yet quite effective.  The stage is divided into three parts, the left (for the audience) is used as Violetta's bedroom and location for "behind the scene" events.  The center stage is - well - the center stage.  It is the ball room, the living room, the ballet stage, and the bedroom as the opera unfolds.  The right stage is also for "off-screen" purposes.  The headings for the four acts are: Violetta's Paris Salon, Violetta's home outside Paris; Party at Flora's home; and Violetta's bedroom.  For the scene where Giorgio tries to talk Violetta into leaving the relationship, a bride (presumably Alfredo's sister) and groom appear in the background, and props such as a tree and flowers are used for different scenes.  The setups are such that a lot of this background is blocked from my view in the Circle, and I am sure for many other sections as well.  They do add some poignancy to what is unfolding on the main stage.

The story is a very familiar one, even though different productions can emphasize different aspects of the plot.  For me the arc is always from a brief moment of bliss to separation, bitterness, despair, reconciliation, and death.  The music did that well enough, but Violetta had a frown on practically from the beginning of the opera.  It was like her fate was sealed from the beginning; while that wouldn't surprise anyone, going from bliss to despair probably would elicit a more powerful emotional response for the audience.

Some operas succeed and fail on the singing of the protagonist: La Traviata, La Boheme, and Carmen come readily to mind.  Samantha Clarke as Violetta did well in that regard.  For the last scene where she is very sick, she just has her make up removed by Annina in the "left room."  Interesting and effective, but not necessarily complimentary.

Singing the role of Alfredo, Ji-Min Park has a voice that carried well into the auditorium.  He had considerable intonation problems when he first started, then things seemed to settle down.  As the performance went on, the intonation problems crept back, usually when he had to sing sustained high notes at volume.

Jose Carbo as Giorgio was a solid performer, although the word "bland" also comes to mind.  Somehow his demands on Violetta sounded a lot more unreasonable tonight.  Was that due to the performance, or the perception of the listener on that day?  Perhaps that's why live performances are interesting, good or bad.

While Baron Duphol (spelled both ways in the Playbill) isn't a major role, the singer Richard Anderson sang in all three operas I saw this week.  He was a last minute substitute in The Barber of Seville.

I know the music of the opera quite well, and really enjoyed how the orchestra added to the opera experience.  Unlike the prior performance (Barber of Seville), it rarely overwhelmed the singers.

Well deserved applause for Samantha Clarke.  This is the happiest she looked the entire evening.

On display are gowns worn by Violetta in different OA productions.

In searching the web I came across several articles that seemed to confirm that the auditorium has a sound enhancement system.  The theater, with about 1500 seats, is on the small side.  Also, today's surtitles were in English only.

At 2 1/2 hours, including an intermission, this isn't a particularly long opera.  If one wants to cut down the duration a bit, may I suggest start with the two ballets that begin Act III?  While the music is nice, and for today the ballet dancers are good, the ballets are not germane to the story.  If they abridge The Magic Flute and Cinderella, why not this opera?

The CEO of OA announced her resignation a couple of days ago, after three years on the job.  Evidently the artistic director left recently also.  On top of that, a director extended an emergency loan to the company.  Trouble brewing somewhere?  Hopefully it doesn't boil over.

I am staying in Forestville, so to get back I walked about 20 minutes to Martin Place to catch M1 to Chatswood, followed by an Uber ride.  It took about 55 minutes.

Opera Australia. Rossini's The Barber of Seville. January 29, 2025.

Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House.  Circle (Seat K36, A$100).

Curtain Call.  To the right of the conductor Matheson are Rosina and Dr. Bartolo; to his left are Figaro, Almaviva, and Don Basilio.  (May have remembered wrong.)

Story.  See previous post.

Tahu Matheson - conductor.  Figaro - Samuel Dale Johnson; Rosina - Serena Malfi; Count Almaviva - John Longmuir; Dr. Bartolo - Andrew Moran; Don Basilio - Richard Anderson.

I got to the Opera House early enough to walk around the building.

This was the second opera of the three that I will attend this week.  Unfortunately, I didn't think it redeemed the disappointment I felt with yesterday's opera.  Which was quite unexpected, as I usually find OA performances enjoyable.

There were two substitutions announced for today: the conductor and the role of Don Basilio.  The conductor was to conduct the same opera later in the season, so perhaps there were some first-time jitters; the role of Don Basilio, though significant, wouldn't make or break the opera.

The problem wasn't with the orchestra, which sounded what the Barber of Seville should sound like: comical, light on its feet, and crisp.

One problem was with the confused story line, which has never worked for me the few times I have seen this opera.  Today things seemed worse.  Also, Rossini asked for many rapid passages.  The singers delivered, but in a couple of instances their voice was overwhelmed by the orchestra, perhaps especially for those sitting in the back.  I found out later that there is sound enhancement in the hall, so perhaps the engineer messed up?

For the first half of the opera, a row of miniature houses was in the background.  The figures of a man and a woman moved about (not sure how they were guided), which was cute.  For the second half, a more traditional two story house was used as the set.  In the lower right hand is this strange room that seems to be a medical office.  I couldn't figure it out.

The name Samuel Dale Johnson sounded a bit familiar.  We saw him as Ping in Turnadot in Germany a few years ago; so he has returned to his home country Australia.  Playbill says there is "a subtle but distinct Australia flavour to the characters" (I even spelled flavor their way); it was subtle alright - I have no idea what flavor the writer meant.

I did learn/relearn a few interesting tidbits about Rossini and the opera, mostly from the Playbill.  This opera was composed in 13 days, which makes the 24 days for Handel's Messiah seem a glacial pace.  The original overture was lost (how can that be?), and Rossini just grabbed another overture somewhere as a replacement.  His music is so generic that I never thought about this; and even knowing it, I still couldn't tell if there were any overlapping melodies (Playbill says none).  Rossini was supposedly quite arrogant: he claimed he could set a laundry list to music; and he wrote the Barber of Seville even though the story had been set to opera earlier by an older composer.  I did know he retired at 40 after having composed many successful operas.  He is called the "Master of the Crescendo," which is obvious once it's pointed out.

That today's and yesterday's operas didn't meet my high expectations of what OA could deliver was slightly concerning.  Comedies are generally difficult to pull off once the audience is familiar with the opera.  In the case of Cinderella, that it is abridged made it even worse.

I was still staying in Mascot, so I was back in my hotel room soon afterwards, after again grabbing a burger at Hungry Jacks.