Monmouth Civic Chorus. Ryan James Brandau, conductor. November 11, 2018.

Triumphant Life Church, Oceanport, NJ.  Patron Seating.

Program.  Dona Nobis Pacem: A Salute to Veterans

The Star-Spangled Banner by Smith, arr. Brandau

Adagio for Strings by Barber.

Songs of Love and War (1997) by Moravec (b. 1957).

[Dona Nobis Pacem by Williams.]

We had complimentary tickets to this concert as we are subscribes for the upcoming MCC season.  In commemoration of Veteran’s Day, this concert was dedicated to those who fought in the wars.  Veterans and families were invited to stand as the audience applauded them for the sacrifices they made.  And the concert started with a spirited rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner.

We had to leave after the intermission as we had a wedding reception to go to, so we missed the piece by Ralph Vaugh Williams, who served as a medic in WWI, so the composition was informed by his own war experience.

I recently heard Samuel Barber’s Adagio for String as background music in a Japanese version of Macbeth, and together with Faure’s Requiem, it sounded very powerful.    The piece was voted at some point “the saddest music ever written,” I doubt very much this afternoon’s performance would qualify.

Paul Moravec was born in 1957.  This work saw its New Jersey premiere (by MCC) in 2002.  The lyrics are actual letters written to and from American troops during different wars:

Don’t Ask (Vietnam War, PFC George Jay Robinson, 1966).  Read by Jacqueline Schreiber; sung by James J. Green, baritone.

Dearest Rowland (WWII, Majorie, March 7, 1944).  Read by Jenni Bluementhal.

Here Hard by the Lonely Grave (WWI, Sol Segal, at the front, June 26, 1918).  Read by Marshall Gorman.

Always, Always (Civil War, Camp Clark, Washington, July 14, 1861).  Read by Daniel Ford; sung by Kenneth Wasser, baritone.

The soloists – all members of MCC – and the chorus did  a credible job.

Brandau acknowleging the artists at the conclusion of the first half of the program.

We would have stayed if the program had been performed without intermission.  The dinner reception started a bit late, so we could have stayed.  Can’t win them all …

The venue used to be the Army Chapel located in Fort Monmouth.  They closed the base down a few years ago.  While this chapel seems to have been repurposed, most of the buildings on the sizeable campus are still vacant.  I wonder if it was economics or politics that led to the relocation of the facility to Maryland.

Metropolitan Opera – Boito’s Mefistofele. November 8, 2018.

Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center.  Balcony (Seat A115, $92.50.)

Story.  Mefistofele makes the claim to God that all humans are degenerate, he is asked if he knows Faust.  Mefistofele boasts that he can ensnare the aging, fanatical scholar.  Mefistofele approaches Faust and offers his services on the condition that their positions are reversed after Faust’s death.  Faust agrees to a contract with the stipulation that he finds true happiness with the words, “Stay, for you are beautiful.”  The rejuvenated Faust, calling himself Enrico, courts the village maiden Margherita.  When Margherita says her mother would object, Faust gives her a sleeping potion provided by Mefistofele.  Mefistofele then leads Faust to witness the Witches’ Sabbath where Mefistofele is declared their king.  Faust also sees a vision of a woman with a ring of blood around her neck that reminds him of Faust.  Faust goes back to the village where Margherita is imprisoned for killing her mother and drowning the baby she has with Faust. She refuses to leave her prison as she cannot bear living a life of remorse, and when she renounces Faust, a celestial choir proclaims her salvation. Faust is then transported to ancient Greece where he meet with Helen of Troy, and they eventually pledge their love.  Mefistofele is somehow uncomfortable with the situation.  In the epilogue, Faust reflects on his love of a real person bringing suffering, and of a goddess an illusion.  Towards the end, Faust is enraptured in his own vision of bliss, utters the fateful sentence and dies, but redeemed.  Mefistofele exists in defiance.

Conductor – Carlo Ricci. Mefistofele – Christian van Horn, Faust – Michael Fabiano, Margherita – Angela Meade, Elena – Jennifer Check.

First a few words about the story.  What I wrote was the best I could do from the synopsis in the Playbill and my own recollection of the opera.  It doesn’t quite hang together, and neither does the story as it unfolded on stage this evening.  Evidently one can tell the story in different ways, with different events, and different outcomes.  One salient feature of today’s story is the emphasis on the devil; not quite told from his point of view, but with him as the title character.  In Berlioz’s and Gounod’s versions Margherita either kills her mother or baby, but she kills both in Boito’s version.  The Helen of Troy component is new, and that Faust finds redemption is also new.

Those who lament the state of American singers can also take heed that all four principal characters are born in the US, two of them in NJ, and one in NY.  Christian van Horn is a recent winner of the Richard Tucker competition, and we had seen him a few times before, most recently as Colline in La Boheme.  He did a credible job as the devil, although I would like him to be a bit more sinister.  His singing was strong most of the time, except when he was in the back of the rather large stage, there his voice didn’t project that well. There were many scenes where he appeared bare-chested, and he had to jump onto a long table at one point.  Maybe he had on a tight body suit, and maybe the table was slanted so the step wasn’t not as high, but he still managed to pull it off.  In looking over my blog, I discovered I had seen Fabiano a couple of times before, with one of the time as Faust in Opera Australia’s production of the Gounod version, and I enjoyed his singing very much.  In the larger auditorium his voice was not nearly as impressive, but still quite effective.  There is no question Angela Meade can sing well, while she wasn’t quite credible as the young village girl, she was great when Margherita’s innocence turned into despair as she sat in prison.  She was on stage for only limited time though.

Both the first and second parts started with the raising of a couple of curtains.  One was flames licking at the curtain – reasonably enough; the other was a screen with singers sitting or standing behind it.  At the maximum there were about 100 of them, and they all wore this mask, but I am sure it was a mixed and a children’s chorus.  They don’t look particularly tormented, so I wasn’t sure if they were in hell.  Also, on the two balconies there were these people sitting throughout the opera.

A couple of noteworthy sets.  One is the scene at Witches’ Sabbath.  Here we have van Horn directly a motley crew of witches and warlocks, some nude, some scantily dressed (all with body suits, no doubt,) singing praises to him.  The other was where the aforementioned long table where Mefistofele danced with a balloon that was supposed to represent the earth, which he eventually popped.  For an instant there was this woman in the back that was supposed to be a vision of Margherita.

Arrigo Boito wrote many lyrics for operas, including Verdi’s Otello and Falstaff.  For this opera he wrote both the lyrics and the music.  While the songs are tonal, they are not lyrical.  I don’t think I have come across any of them in the past.

I didn’t look into the specifics of this opera when I booked it as part of our subscription, but I didn’t quite expect a traditional opera that is on such a grand scale (at least as far as the large chorus is concerned.)  Anne describes the whole experience as a bit “busy” as one could absorb only so much.  It’s too bad that I will have to give it a thumbs down based on this one encounter.  While the singing was good, it was not good enough to overcome the somewhat incoherent story and the paucity of hummable melodies.

 The applause by the audience for Donald Palumbo (all dark suit) showed its appreciation of how well the chorus sang.

The New York Times review has good and bad things to say about the performance.  The reviewer characterizes the opera as lavish but flawed, and saying someone’s performance may improve in the future is not necessarily praise.

It was good that attendance was reasonably good.  The lady next to me had trouble turning off her cell phone in the beginning, and a gentleman a few seats over stood and yelled at her – completely unnecessary.

We drove in, and again had Chinese takeout in the car.

Julliard Pre-College Orchestra – Robert Spano, conductor; Emanuel Ax, piano. November 5, 2018.

Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center  Orchestra (Seat Q135, $0).

Program

Overture to Candide by Bernstein (1918-90).

Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat major, Op. 73 (“Emperor”) by Beethoven (1770-1827).

“Dream With Me” from Peter Pan by Bernstein.

Navarra, for Two Violins and Piano, Op. 33 by Sarasate (1844-1908).

Catenaires by Carter (1908-2012).

Take What You Need by Esmail (b. 1983).

Capriccio espagnol, Op. 34 by Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908).

Take a group of gifted, precocious and dedicated children, with families that are willing to back them up (time and financial commitments, emotional support), and you get the Julliard Pre-College division.  Tonight was a “Centennial Gala” in celebration of the long history of the pre-college, and on the program are students, former students, and mentors.

The Overture to Candide immediately put me on notice that this was going to be a great concert.  It is a fast-paced piece of music, and the orchestra did very well with it: great dynamics, impeccable precision.

After the program several people came on the stage to talk about the program and to thank its supporters.  In fact our tickets were given to someone who made a sizable donation to the program.  And somewhere the number $1.5M was bandied about as the amount raised at this gala event.

The most well-known artist in the group was Emanuel Ax, Pre-college ’66.  It’s always a pleasure to hear Ax play and enjoy the narrative he tells with the music, and today was no exception.  However, the weakness of the orchestra was evident as it seemed to be overwhelmed by the soloist.  Not necessary the sound volume (even though at times that was the case,) but that it was relegated to an accompanist instead of being an equal partner.  And did I hear a synchronization problem here and there?

Emanuel Ax played Beethoven's Emperor Concerto.

Shereen Pimental, who was a third-year college student, sang beautifully Bernstein’s song.

Then the young people took over.  Fionna (11) and Hina (14) Khuong-Huu played this incredible Sarasate piece that was just incredible.  And the Elliot Carter piece played by 12-year old Harmony Zhu was described by the composer as “… a fast one-line piece with no chords … a continuous chain of notes using different spacings, accents, and colorings to produce a wide variety of expression.”  Clearly these young girls have tremendous talent, I do wonder if their level of talent is – by Julliard Pre-College standards – typical or exceptional.  If “typical,” then “wow,” if “exceptional,” then I wonder how much Julliard has added to their artistic growth.

The Khuong-Huu sisters.

Vijay Gupta, now with LA Philharmonic, talked about his being rejected by the Pre-college when he was six (six!).  He recently won the McArthur prize for his work with the homeless and the incarcerated through his Street Symphony charity.  The piece he performed was composed by the Julliard alumna Reena Esmail, arranged for the solo violin.  It was short, somewhat difficult (lots of harmonics.)  And what a nice sound his violin produced.

Vijay Gupta, a recent MacArthur Prize winner.

The program ended with another spirited number: Rimsky-Korsakov’s Capriccio Espagnol. It was a performance worthy of any professional orchestra, my only wish is some generous patron endow a violin to the Pre-College.  The concertmaster Annalisa Welinder did very well with the several difficult solo passages, but the violin sound was just a bit weak.

Robert Spano shaking hands with Concertmaster Annalisa Welinder.

Chung-Shu and I were probably the worst-dressed in this gala event.  Many were in the evening finest.  I took the train in.

New Jersey Symphony – Christoph Koenig, conductor; Augustin Hadelich, violin. November 3, 2018.

Basie Center, Red Bank, NJ.  Balcony (Seat J110, $36.)

Program

Don Juan, Op. 20 (1888) by Strauss (1864-1949).

Violin Concerto, Op. 15 (1939) by Britten (1913-1976).

Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, “Rhenish,” Op. 97 (1850) by Schumann (1810-1856).

The heading for this concert, “Augustin Hadelich Returns,” was the main reason I bought tickets for this event.  We had seen Hadelich a few times before, and were always impressed with the way he played.

For those not familiar with the violin repertoire (such as I), the Britten and Barber violin concertos must sound somewhat interchangeable.  Indeed they were both written around 1940.

Nothing can be further from the truth.  While there are difficult passages in Barber (which we heard Frank Huang perform with the NY Phil a couple of days ago,) there is quite a bit of lyricism in that composition.  The tunes in tonight’s piece are not as readily hummable, and the entire work has a very different feel to it, structurally and harmonically.  From the very beginning of the first movement (Moderato con moto) we heard this rhythm da-dot-dot-da-da (long shortx2 long long) which stayed throughout the movement and provided the surreal quality to the work.  It reminds me of the theme in Shostakovich’s cello concerto.  The soloist would soon launch into these triple stops and fast double stops that would give pause to most violin students.  (I remember the dread I felt when as part of an exam I had to play an etude of triple stops.)

It gets more difficult from there.  Quoting the Program Notes on the second movement: “The perpetual motion of the Scherzo [vivace] requires extraordinary technique.  The solo part abouts in harmonics, glissandi, scales in thirds, sixths, octaves and 10ths (10ths!), demanding great virtuosity.”  The words are difficult, the execution of the music is even more difficult.  While not flawless (mostly intonation problems during the slow passages,) Hadelich impressed with how he seemed to breeze through the music.

The third movement [Passacaglia: Andante lento (un poco meno mosso)] follows a cadenza.  This movement ends on a trill on the violin that doesn’t try to resolve anything (“leaves us feeling uncertain and searching,” per the Program Notes.)  The piece is performed without pause, although it was easy to tell what movement was being performed.

Hadelich’s 1723 “Ex-Kiesewetter” Strad rose above the orchestra; and we are talking about a large complement of musicians, including the tuba and multiple percussion instruments.  I was surprised that the violin sounded a bit harsh at times, though.

Augustin Hadelich at the end of the Britten violin concerto.

I was disappointed that there was no encore.  I was ready to listen to another Paganini caprice.

Don Juan was one of the ten tone poems Strauss composed, telling a rather familiar – though abridged – story.  It was easy enough to follow the different sections and correlate them with the chapters in Don Juan’s life, including love scenes (by the violin and the oboe.)  The Program Notes noted that the piece is demanding on the French horns, and they came through.

One of the characteristics of Schumann’s Rhenish Symphony is that it has five movements.  The movement markings are: Lebhaft, Scherzo: Sehr massig, Nicht schnell, Feierlich, and Lebhaft.  The Feierlich (solemn) movement was initially titled “in the style of an accompaniment to a solemn ceremony,” probably the result of his trip to Cologne where they saw the installation of a Cardinal at the town’s cathedral.  Even though Schumann withdrew these descriptions prior to publication, the name “Cathedral Scene” has stuck.  It was easy to imagine the Rhine in the background as the symphony is performed.

Koenig used every available gesture to lead the orchestra, including crouching down at several moments.  Whatever his method, the orchestra responded well with a precise and nuanced rendition of the music.

Anne and I met up in Red Bank since we were occupied with different things during the day.  (I attended long-time friend and colleague Brian’s memorial service in Randolph.) The balcony was quite empty, and we moved up two rows after Don Juan – it made quite a difference.

 Also, the marquee at the venue is now "Hackensack Meridian Health Theatre."

New York Philharmonic – Juraj Valcuha, conductor; Frank Huang, violin. November 1, 2018.

David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center.  Orchestra (Seat Y103, $39.50.)

Program

Much Ado About Nothing Suite, Op. 11 (1918-19) by Korngold (1897-1957).

Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 14 (1939-40/1948) by Barber (1910-81).

Symphonic Dances, Op. 45 (1940) by Rachmaninoff (1873-1943).

Recently I made the comment “small world, small repertoire” in my posting about how much overlap NY Phil had with HK Phil.  Today I can probably add “small programming ideas” to it.  A bit awkward, what I meant to say was for tonight we also had the concertmaster performing a concerto with the orchestra.

Tonight’s concerto by Barber is not nearly as popular as Brahms’ I heard at the HK Phil concert, but overall it was an enjoyable experience.  At 21 minutes in duration, it was relatively short, and consists of three movements: Allegro, Andante, and Presto in moto perpetuo.  The Program Notes cites the comments made by Barber, which described the first movement as having a structure akin to a sonata, the second movement is introduced by an extended oboe solo, and the last movement as a perpetual motion exploiting the more brilliant and virtuoso characteristics of the violin.  He also used slightly more complicated tempo markings in those comments.

The most noticeable characteristic for the third movement was speed, in keeping with “presto in moto perpetuo.”  I didn’t notice a lot of other challenging techniques such as left hand pizzicatos, harmonics, or double/triple stops.  Huang certainly had no problems with those.  I was surprised there were some intonation problems in the lyrical passages. Also surprising was that he had the music in front of him.  A rather large orchestra was used, and it often overwhelmed the soloist.

Huang and Valcuha at the end of the Barber Violin Concerto.

Korngold wrote “incidental” music for the Shakespeare play which premiered in Vienna in 1920.  He also extracted several works from that music, including the one heard tonight; he actually had it completed three months before the play’s premiere.  The movements of the suite are: (i) Overture; (ii) Maidens in the Bridal Chamber; (iii) Dogberry and Verges; (iv) Intermezzo: Garden Scene; and (v) Hornpipe.  While it was easy enough to picture the scenes suggested by the movement headings while the music was performed, I wish I had some knowledge of the story.

I found the Symphonic Dances a bit difficult to follow.  Not that I couldn’t catch the tunes, or the numerous references to Dies Irae in the last movement, they were straightforward enough.  It was more the music was just wandering about without purpose.

Then I checked my blog, and came across the NJ Symphony performance of the same piece in January, 2018 (yes, we are talking about the same year.)  The conductor gave a short description of what the dances were depicting, and I could follow the program quite well.  He even made sense of why there was this passage for the saxophone!  I wish I had reread my blog before this concert, and wonder why today’s Program Notes didn’t include any of the “program” in its notes.

Overall, not the best effort by the New York Philharmonic.  The January NJSO program is titled “America, Inspiring;” today’s program contained pieces by composers associated with America (I think Korngold’s piece was written when he was still living in Austria.)  Unfortunately, there was no effort to link the pieces together in a coherent way.

We did buy these tickets at a discounted price.  It was good that attendance was quite good tonight.  A testament to NY Phil’s efficiency is that my name in tonight’s Subscribers’ List.

We drove in, and ate Chinese take-out in our car.

Metropolitan Opera – Muhly’s Marnie. October 27, 2018.

Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center.  Balcony (Seat D106, $79.)

Story. Marnie is a thief who goes about stealing from her employers using different identities.  She works at the accounting firm Crombie & Strutt where customer and widower Mark Rutland is attracted to her.  After she leaves the accounting firm she goes to Halcyon Printing, owned by Mark.  Mark doesn’t seem to recognize her.  Mark’s brother Terry also works at the firm and makes a pass at Marnie.  Mark catches Marnie in the act of breaking into the company safe, and threatens to turn her in unless she marries him.  When she refuses sex with Mark on their honeymoon, he assaults her, causing her to slash her wrist.  To get Marnie to see an analyst, Mark agrees to stable her beloved horse Forio on his property.  They go on a fox hunt, Marnie is thrown from the horse and Mark is hurt trying to help.  Forio is injured and has to be shot.  Even though there is a connection with Mark, Marnie still steals the keys but finds herself unable to take anything from the safe due to her feelings for Mark.  She tries to visit her mother, but finds out she has died.  At the cemetery, Marnie is finally told the truth: she has grown up thinking she killed her brother when he was born, but the murder was actually committed to committed by her mother.  The police finally catch up with Marnie, and she says “I’m free” as she is taken away.

Conductor – Robert Spano.  Marnie – Isabel Leonard, Mark Rutland – Christopher Maltman, Little Boy – Gabriel Gurevich, Marnie’s mother  - Denyce Graves, Terry Rutland – Iestyn Daves, Mrs. Rutland – Janis Kelly.

The story is based on the 1961 novel by Winston Graham.  It is made famous because Alfred Hitchcock adapted it into a novel in 1964, although with substantial deviations from the original plot.  This work was commissioned by the Met.  Nico Muhly (b. 1981) is the composer.  Per the “In Focus” article, the music is “simultaneously rooted in lyric tonality and highly innovative techniques.”  It calls for “18 soloists, a prominent role for the chorus, and large orchestral forces.”  Marnie’s role is sung by a mezzo-soprano, and Mark by a baritone.  There are also four Shadow Marnies who appear as her psyche.  The composer also made Marnie’s vocal intervals reflect her internal state, moving from very disjointed in the beginning to more lyrical as she discovers herself.

Given all that, I was quite looking forward to see the opera.  I came away quite disappointed.

When you think Hitchcock and suppressed childhood memories, you think thriller (at least that is what I think.)  Yes, Marnie took on a life of crime because she mistakenly thought she had murdered her baby brother.  But she wasn’t a serial killer who murdered her husbands, she didn’t even rob, but “merely” burglarized from company safes when no one was present.  I don’t think you need a traumatized childhood for that.  Intentionally or not, there were more comedic moments in the story, if the audience reaction was any indication.

The only tender moment was the horse scene where Marnie showed some emotion for Mark.  Which some may argue points to what her psyche was.  However, for most of the rest of the opera she was just bland, as opposed to cold.  The audience didn’t empathize with her, nor did it dislike her.  That she utters “I’m free” at the end would lead one to think that she had not been able to get out from under whatever was governing her behavior, but we had no idea what that was – not even in hindsight.

The singing was generally okay, except for that of Marnie.  Since other voices came across clearly, it wasn’t a problem of the acoustics at our seats.  Turns out I had seen Isabel Leonard in the Carmelite Nuns before, as Blanche, a main character. I looked at the blog, her singing left zero impression for me during that performance – I didn’t mention her at all.  She is playing three major roles this season at the Met, that tells you how much I know.

The staging was okay, not surreal, not modern, just functional.  I was hoping for a real fox-hunting scene, naturally I was disappointed in that count also.

I suspect Terry is quite germane to the story as he appears in quite a few scenes in this opera, including being suspected of buying out Halcyon.  The story (as I outlined it above) still hangs together without any mention of him, or the Rutlands’ mother, who was the person trying to buy the company, for that matter.  If they are characters used to “explain” or illustrate Marnie’s psyche, I didn’t get that at all.

Since the entire performance, including the intermission, was about 2 ½ hours, I didn’t find it unbearable.  However, about 30 minutes in I already thought to myself: interesting, but please, not another 90 minutes of this.

Curtain Call.  The shot is too bright, but I think both Mulhy and Spano were in this photo.

The New York Times review is uncharacteristically long, and somewhat unfocused (inevitably, perhaps).  The reviewer says a lot of positive and negative things, and I am not sure exactly where he stands.  The headline is “Marnie stays in the shadows,” but the last line in the second to last paragraph (about Robert Spano) is “where has he been?” 

We drove up, and had a simple meal at a pizzeria.

New York Philharmonic – Tugan Sokhiev, conductor; Gil Shaham, violin. October 25, 2018.

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

Program

In the Steppes of Central Asia, Op. 7 (1880) by Borodin (1833-87).

Violin Concerto No. 1 in D major, Op. 19 (1917) by Prokofiev (1891-1953).

Symphony No. 4 in F minor, Op. 36 (1877-78) by Tchaikovsky (1840-93).

This was an all-Russian program of familiar pieces, conducted by the Russian maestro Sohkiev.

The Steppes of Central Asia was written by Borodin in celebration of Tsar Alexander II’s silver anniversary as Russia’s ruler.  I hadn’t heard the piece in its entirety in recent years (no reference in the blog, for instance,) if ever, but knew many of the delightful tunes contained in it.  It was a nice piece to start the program.

Prokofiev’s violin concerto was based on a violin concertino Prokofiev worked on (but didn’t complete) in 1915, and thus retained an opus number from that time period.  I would characterize the piece as ephemeral (at 21 minutes) and ethereal.  I still remember how Midori played it, quite a few years ago; that was 2005, some concerts do stick with you.

Again, Shaham was very good technically, and he was certainly into the piece.  I may be prejudiced from the last concert, today it was again “a day at the office” for him.  To put a positive spin on it, the way he played gave me a chance to “analyze” the piece rather than simply being mesmerized by it.

He played a short encore, notable for all the harmonics in it.

Shaham and Sohkiev after the Prokofiev violin concerto.  Quite a sizable orchestra, and Shaham's violin came through clearly.

One thought that I had when I saw Tchaikovsky’s symphony in the program was: small world, small repertoire.  I heard this symphony by the New York Phil in November 2016, conducted by van Zweden; by Hong Kong Philharmonic earlier this month, conducted by van Zweden; and again by the New York Phil tonight, led by a guest conductor.  I remarked that the HK Phil program was one of the best I had heard, than qualified it by saying “against expectations.”  Tonight’s performance was enjoyable, but at an expected level.  For instance, the horns did well on an absolute scale, but I found the unsteadiness at the beginning a bit unexpected.  Also, the second movement wasn’t as dark as what I heard in Hong Kong.  The pizzicatos of the third movement were done well, as were the intervening arabesques.  We got the same wild ride for the fourth movement.

A huge orchestra for the Tchaikovsky.  We noticed quite a few young musicians in the mix. Also, a couple of familiar faces were missing, result of disciplinary actions.

This was our first encounter with Sokhiev, he seemed to be very much in his element, and the orchestra responded well.

I couldn't find a New York Times review.  Here is one review I found on the web.

Interesting question: how would van Zweden compare the two performances?  (I doubt very much he heard this performance as he is scheduled in Europe and Hong Kong.)

It is a testament to the excitement of the program that I was fully awake for all the pieces, despite my having returned from Hong Kong the previous day.  Dinner was at East Szechuan Garden.

Stile Antico. October 22, 2018.

Concert Hall at Hong Kong City Hall. Front  Stall (Seat  G10, HK$150.)

Program

I was by myself some evenings during this trip, so I looked at the Urbtix website and found this concert which was somewhat interesting.

This is an ensemble of 12, from the UK, and Hong Kong is the last leg of their Asia tour.

Their specialty is Renaissance polyphonic music, and for tonight all their numbers were a cappella (not sure if that’s the term used with this period.) Someone in the group probably had perfect pitch as one could hear notes hummed before each song.

The songs were all composed during the 16^th century, except for one that was recent (but still somewhat in this period style.)  In any case, the lines and the harmony were easy to follow along, and they sounded nice.  There are period instruments and period techniques (for example, not much vibrato in the strings,) I wonder if there are period singing techniques.

Not all 12 singers were needed for some numbers, so they got rotated out to rest their voices.  Still, it has to be taxing to perform more than 1:30 hours of music, without amplification.  But they did as well at the end as they did at the beginning.

An all-Renaissance program (if that’s what it’s called) to me is like an all-Mozart or all-Baroque program: a bit much.  Not that I didn’t enjoy the music, but it ceases to be novel after 30 minutes, and then it begins to sound the same.  To be fair, that there are stories in the lyrics make things a bit more interesting.

The songs were in Latin, English, and French.  A couple of them were part of a work by William Byrd who worked for a Protestant king but was secretly a Catholic, so he used the lyrics to express his opposition.  The Huw Watkins lyrics were from a Shakespeare play, where the word “turtle” meant a turtledove.

The concert is produced by Premiere Performances, which also produced the Hong Kong International Chamber Concert series every January.  We attended one concert this year.  The series has since been renamed.

Hong Kong Philharmonic – Jaap van Zweden, conductor; Jing Wang, violin. October 19, 2018.

HK Cultural Center Concert Hall.  Stall 1 (Seat H52, HK$240.)

Program

Violin Concerto in D, op. 77 by Brahms.

Symphony no. 4 in F minor, op. 36 by Tchaikovsky.

Wang is the concertmaster of the Hong Kong Philharmonic.  He was appointed by van Zweden in 2013.  The two evidently knew each other from their Dallas days: Wang was the concertmaster for Dallas Opera, and van Zweden music director of Dallas Symphony.  Wang was born in China, grew up in Canada, and went to Julliard.  He is now in his early 30s.  He performs on the 1760 G. B. Guadagnini violin on loan to him.

He did a great job with the Brahms concerto.  The last time I heard this in concert was Gil Shaham with the New Jersey Symphony.  I described Shaham’s playing as technically sound, but the performance ultimately felt like “a day at the office.”  There was a lot more passion tonight, and Wang also rose to the technical challenge, for the most part.  There were hints of intonation problems every now and then, and some of the arpeggios could be cleaner; but they did not hinder how well the music spoke.  Brahms seemed to have a fondness for double stops, and there were many in this piece, Wang did very well with them.

The Program Notes described how Joseph Joachim’s suggestions to Brahms were mostly ignored initially.  The premiere was by Joachim and Brahms, and was not a success.  Brahms then incorporated some of Joachim’s ideas, and the rest is history.

Jing Wang, with Jaap van Zweden looking on, thanking his colleagues after the Brahms violin concerto.

The Tchaikovsky symphony was simply a treat.  When done well, it is easy to like, and it was done well tonight.  As an example, Tchaikovsky reused the first theme of the second movement multiple times.  Some performances caused me to wonder: will this ever end?  Tonight, the repetitions just took the music to a darker and darker place, close to depressing at the end.  The fourth movement was wild, and the orchestra picked up its pace and galloped along.

I characterized this in my Facebook blurb as one of the best concerts I have attended, world-wide.  Looking back, I also enjoyed the many times the same symphony was performed by New York Phil, including a recent one with van Zweden conducting.  So it may be a case of expectations: the high one for NY Phil was met, and the (slightly) lower one for HK Phil was exceeded.

The applause at the end of the Tchaikovsky was as enthusiastic as I have seen.  It was well deserved.  Too bad there were quite a few empty seats in the balcony sections.

The horn section did very well.  For instance, it produced a firm and steady sound at the start of Tchaikovsky; I suppose having all four horns (and the bassoons) playing together helped.  The oboe, on the other hand, didn’t sound as well as I expected, especially in the “duet” it had with the violin in the second movement.

Being a frequent visitor to Hong Kong this year (this is my fourth trip), and given that van Zweden is now also the music director of the New York Philharmonic, it seems I cannot avoid running into him everywhere. As long as the music great, I am fine with it.

I had a late afternoon snack today, and a bowl of wontons from Mak’s noodle after the concert.

New Jersey Symphony – Otto Tausk, conductor; Seong-Jin Cho, piano. October 13, 2018.

Prudential Hall at NJPAC.  Tier G (Seat C5, $38.)

Program

Concert Romanesc (Romanian Concerto) (1951) by Ligeti (1923-2006).

Piano Concerto No. 2 in F Minor, Op. 21 (1829-30) by Chopin (1810-1849).

Symphony No. 7 in D Minor, Op. 70 (1884-1885) by Dvorak (1841-1904).

This was the second concert for the day.  I was surprisingly alert for it, considering we started in the morning driving into New York City.

It didn’t take long for us to realize there were a lot of Asians in attendance tonight (I will further venture to guess Korean.)  The soloist Cho gets billed as a 20-something phenomenon who now lives in Berlin. Justifiably so, as the Korean-born Cho won the Chopin Competition in Warsaw in 2015.

Bottom line: it was a respectable but not inspiring performance.  Not like Tsujii (playing Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto with Orpheus) whom I considered inspiring at many levels, or Trifinov, whom I first heard in 2012, who both inspired and instilled confidence.  Cho was well-prepared, but little of the emotion came through the 30-plus minute performance.  In any case, the applause was very enthusiastic and he performed an encore.  The movements are Maestoso, Larghetto, and Allegro vivace.

Tausk and Cho after the Chopin Piano Concerto.

Dvorak’s Seventh Symphony is described in the Program Notes as modeled after Brahms’s Third and not overly infused with Czech flaver.  Despite its credentials (for instant, “one of the symphony’s strengths is the power of inner movements”,) the symphony is not nearly as popular as his Ninth or Eighth, and I am embarrassed to say this is the fourth entry about this symphony in this blog, and it still felt foreign to me.  And I had looked at the score on YouTube before the concert!

The piece by Gyorgy Ligeti was most interesting by comparison.  It is relatively short at 12 minutes, and consists of four movements played without pause: Andantino, Allegro vivace, Adagio ma non troppo, and Molto vivace.  It is often considered a concerto for the orchestra as the different sections (and sometimes the section principals) got to be highlighted.  The solo passages were all performed beautifully by the musicians.

Actually the orchestra sections and players all played well.  It is unfortunate that these well-performed segments were not strung together into compelling stories.  Tonight the standout was the horn, it was steady the whole time.

Tausk was very businesslike in his approach.  The orchestra gave a mostly precise reading of the pieces as a result.  I do wish the violins would be a bit more together at the starts of their phrases.

Line of folks buying Cho's CDs and waiting for him to sign them.  Several left after the intermission and came back for this event.  Quite a few fans.

The concert lasted about 2 hours, and we got home at around 10:45 pm.  We left the house at around 10:30 am in the morning, and had dinner at Ellie’s.

Metropolitan Opera – Saint-Saens’ Samson et Dalila. October 13, 2018.

Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center.  Balcony (Seat B105, $133.)

Story.  See previous post.

Conductor – Sir Mark Elder.  Samson – Roberto Alagna, Abimelech – Elchin Azizov, High Priest – Laurent Naouri, Old Hebrew – Dmitry Belosselskiy, Dalila – Elina Garanca.

 

This opera was staged in Vienna during our European trip in May, but the tickets were sold out the day they became available (about 2 months in advance,) so we couldn’t see it, not even at 240 euros per ticket.  In perusing the Met schedule, I found out the same headliners would be performing, and tickets were about half what they would cost (of course we are talking about different auditoria and different seats.)

This was a new production.  The word that came to mind was “mesh,” starting with the curtain with a large circle.  To Anne that immediately spoke of a trap, which I agree.  The other characteristic of the set design is the symmetry, broken by different placements of the balconies on the two sides in Act I, for instance.

The Curtain for the opera is dominated by this circle.  The photograph shows the hands more clearly than viewed in real life.  There are on a mesh which Anne though denoted a trap.

Most voices in the opera were male.  I found the “supporting cast” especially impressive, they were clear and strong.  Alagna also did well as Samson.  He had quite a bit of singing, but most of the arias were not that singable.  He played a credible Samson.

Elina Garanca’s name has been popping up all over the place.  Given my previous encounters where she sang – I once called her voice “simply heavenly” - it was well deserved.  However, for me her performance tonight didn’t quite measure up, especially against the strong ones put in by her counterparts.  Even though the costume designer did a great job overall, some of Delilah’s costumes weren’t that great.

Today’s Program Notes mentions the three arias sung by Delilah, and I am glad I caught the other two (“Printemps qui commence” and “Amour! Viens aider ma faiblesse”) in addition to the familiar “Mon Coeur s’ouvre a ta voix” which Garanca did well with.  The Note also described how the opera moved from oratoria-like in Act I, to a classic opera style with three soloists in Act II, and back to oratio for the beginning of Act III.

The most note-worthy staging was the Dagon Temple.  We have a (meshed) head split in the middle as the center piece, and different effects (perspectives) were achieved with changes in the lighting. During the Bacchanale scantily garbed dancers came on stage and performed a well-choreographed number, including climbing up the face of the statue.  I expressed disappointment at the feeble collapse of the temple when I saw this last time; we didn’t even have that tonight, all we got was a bright flash before the opera concluded.

Curtain Call in front of the statue inside the Dagon Temple.  The Philistines were dressed in a bright red. Conductor Elder is in front.

The New York Times review is rather unflattering, saving what little praise the reviewer had on the chorus.  He views the “mesh” as “Islamic trellis design.”  It was also unclear to him if Delilah was deceptive throughout, or whether she was tormented by her love of Samson.  The article has some nice photos from the opera.

Curiosity drove me to this review of the Vienna State Opera performance that we couldn't get tickets for.  It was equally brutal.  Here the reviewer went into great details of how the singers did on individual notes.

Anne and I drove in and had street food.  The weather dried up in time for us to eat it outdoors.  We had another concert at NJPAC this evening, so we stopped by Hoboken for dinner afterwards.

Metropolitan Opera – Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West. October 8, 2018.

Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center  Orchestra (Seat AA11, $25).

Story.  See previous post.

Conductor – Marco Armiliato.  Jack Rance – Zeljko Lucic, Minnie – Maria Westbroek, Dick Johnson (Ramerrez) – Yusif Eyvazov.

I started this blog in April 2005, and my first entry was a review of this opera, performed by NYC Opera.  In the meantime, I have written about 586 different (mostly) concerts and operas, and this is the second time I saw this opera.  Not sure if any conclusions can be drawn; for now, just some interesting statistics. I do know there was more insight in my last review, though.

I remarked in 2005 that the NYCO set was more elaborate than the ones I had seen prior.  I still remember a windmill, and the sunrise (I had thought it was a sunset) Minnie and Dick walked into at the end of the show.  Tonight’s staging was a lot more complicated, which may explain why the two intermissions took so long (40 to 45 minutes) as the crew probably had to work at putting the sets together.

For Act 1 we have Minnie’s tavern.  It was huge: high ceiling with rafters and joists.  I don’t know what the backstage mechanism is at the Met, but can imagine how complex it must be to move the props on and off stage.  Minnie’s cabin in the mountains is depicted in Act 2, and there is this constant snow fall outside.  It is a wonder that none of the heavy snowfall spills into the orchestra.  Act 3 is “main street” with two rows of houses and a few gallows.  The noose looked real enough that I worried about an accident happening.  (I do hope they rehearse these scenes well.)

Despite the impressive staging, I don’t think I enjoyed it as much as the 2005 NYCO performance.  One could attribute this to my being a bit jaded after so many operas, but there were things I jotted down for that performance that I didn’t find as compelling tonight.

The scene that stood out for me was the card game played by Minnie and Jack Rance, with Dick Johnson’s life at stake.  Minnie cheated to win, but it was not as funny tonight.  I still (vaguely) remember how the cello’s sound enhanced the mood, but tonight the cello just sounded weak.  (I think the description “… pizzicatos in the lower strings suspend time …” is wrong.)  The other one was how Minnie appealed for Johnson’s life in Act 3. It was a gripping moment in 2005, tonight it didn’t particularly stand out.  Since I knew Minnie would make an entrance, so I looked for it, and tonight I got it.

For Act 1 I sat in my ticketed seat AA11 in the orchestra.  Generally this area has good acoustics, but I found the voices quite weak, perhaps due to the cavernous tavern on stage.  I took AA1 after the first intermission, it was better; the smaller cabin may have contributed to the improvement.  Chung Shu, Felicia, and John were sitting in the Grand Circle (free tickets provided by CS’s daughter), and there were empty seats around them.  For Act 3 I had a good seat in that section (center, row D.)  There was no walking into the sunrise (or sunset, for that matter) at the end of the story.

The cast is nearly all men.  The only women are Minnie and Wowkle.

A couple more unrelated remarks.  One, I remembered this Lady M mentioned several times in the opera, but forget again her name after a couple of days.  Two, it is a bit strange to see an American “western” sung in Italian.

The New York Times review is generally positive, but not effusive.  The reviewer wants an updated staging to reflect today’s values; on that point, I am not sure I agree.  Wowkle is described as "the squaw of a Red Indian" in Wikipedia, perhaps one reason why the reviewer calls the opera "awash with ... casual racism."

I had the evening free and decided to get a rush ticket for this opera.  Anne didn’t want to go, so I went by myself.  I drove in as the train schedule would mean arrival at home after 1 am.  Dinner was a sandwich in the Rubenstein Atrium.  It took about 90 minutes to get into town, and I had to take Holland Tunnel back home as the usual entrance to Lincoln Tunnel was closed due to construction.

New Jersey Symphony – Xian Zhang, conductor. October 6, 2018.

State Theatre in New Brunswick, NJ.  Orchestra (Seat F104, $51.)

Program

Speak Out (2016) by Whitley (b. 1989).

Lyric for Strings (1946) by Walker (1922-2018).

Symphony No. 9 in D Minor, “Choral,” Op. 125 (1822-24) by Beethoven (1770-1827).

Artists

Mary Elizabeth Williams, soprano; Elizabeth Bishop, mezzo-soprano; Lorenzo DeCaro – tenor; Reginald Smith Jr, baritone.

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

New Jersey Youth Chorus – Trish Joyce, artistic director

My first reaction to today’s program was “isn’t Beethoven’s Ninth enough for a concert already?”  Not only is the length (a bit over an hour) enough, the story it tells is also compelling, and needs no embellishment.

I may still harbor that sentiment, but I am glad I got to hear the first two pieces on the program.  Kate Whitley’s piece saw its US (and NJSO) premiere at these concerts, and Walker’s piece was last performed by the NJSO in 1989.

“Speak Out” is based on Nobel Peace Prize’s winner Malala Yousafzai’s speech to the UN Youth Assembly in 2013.  Malala’s being shot on her way from school in 2012 became a rallying cry for girls’ education, and she was awarded the Nobel in 2014.  Part of her text was incorporated in this composition, including the words “Today is the day of every woman, every man, every boy and every girl.  Today is the day we speak out.”  Whitley is a British composer, and Xian Zhang conducted the premiere of this work in Cardiff, Wales.  The Youth Chorus makes a beautiful sound, but it is relatively weak when up against a full orchestra.

George Walker was trained as a pianist, and held many firsts as an African-American: admitted to the Curtis Institute, chair of the Rutgers music department, and to win a Music Pulitzer Price.  Despite all that, his work is rarely performed, leading him to make the remark about winning the Pulitzer Price: “… it materialized in nothing.” “Lyric for Strings” is an orchestration of the slow movement of his String Quartet No. 1.  It was beautifully played (and written), my only observation is it doesn’t conform with the idea of “contemporary music.”  The composer passed away early this year, in August.  No doubt he was still alive when the program was finalized.

I have made many remarks about Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony before; however, I want to make some that are specific to tonight’s performance.

While familiar with most of the symphony, I do find the third movement less familiar.  One reason I have is I usually lose my attention (or even doze off) after the second movement, and pick things up again at the last.  Tonight I was fully awake during the whole performance, which is a tribute to the performance, especially given my somewhat jet-lagged state.

It is probably difficult to book soloists for this work as there is not a lot of singing for those voices.  I am sure our seats being in the sixth row contributed to it, but tonight’s four were impressive, starting with the booming voice of the baritone.  And the singers seemed to enjoy belting out the lines.

From left: Reginald Smith, Jr; Lorenzo DeCaro; Mary Elizabeth Williams; Elizabeth Bishop; and Heather J. Buchanan.

The orchestra in its enthusiasm sounded a bit sloppy at times.  It was still a thrilling performance, and the applause afterwards was one of the most sustained I have seen at a NJSO concert.

This was our first NJSO concert of the season.  I was waiting for discounted offers on the Red Bank Series, which never came, so I have been buying individual tickets for concerts I want to attend.  I have two more in my calendar, and will buy more if the price and timing are right.