Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra – Louis Langree, conductor; Joshua Bell, violin. August 6, 2019.

David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center.  Orchestra (Seat V7, $52.50).

Pre-Concert Recital

Alla Tarantella, from Five Pieces for String Quartet (1923) by Schulhoff (1894-1942).

Lento, from Cypresses (1865) by Dvorak.

Doina Oltului, Traditional Romanian (arr. Ljova, after Dinicu).

Budget Bulgar (2005) by Ljova (b. 1978).

Brooklyn Rider Quartet: Johnny Gandelsman, violin; Colin Jacobsen, violin; Nicholas Cords, viola; Michael Nicolas, cello.

Program

Symphony No. 38 in D major (“Prague”) (1786) by Mozart (1756-1791).

Dances of Galanta (1933) by Kodaly (1882-1967).

Violin Concerto in A minor (1879) by Dvorak (1841-1904).

As critical as I was about the last concert I attended, I wanted to heap a lot of praise on tonight’s concert.  Not only was the program well-performed, it was also a lot more exciting.

While Mozart’s Prague Symphony is popular, it is not as well-known as the Jupiter, which I heard on Sunday.  Tonight’s performance was head-and-shoulder better, a conclusion I drew a few measures into the piece.  The crispness was there, the contrast was there, the lightness was there; and – above all – the coherence was there.  I was happily following along as the orchestra went about its journey.  Langree was as energetic as Fischer, but managed to elicit a much better response from the orchestra.

The Orchestra had a delightful performance of Mozart's Prague Symphony.

One of the observations I have is concert pieces come in and out of vogue.  Dvorak’s violin concerto is a case in point.  I had not heard one for so long that I didn’t remember how it sounded (not that I was trying hard to remember it).  A search of this blog indicated that the one time I heard was performed by Sarah Chang, in 2005.

It came back to me rather quickly as soon as the piece started.  I was simply in awe of how the whole piece sounded.  This is a very difficult piece to play, it requires superb technical skills from the soloist, and there are very few breaks for him (in this case) during the entire concerto; on top of that, there is no emotional pause – in Bell’s telling tonight it was anger nearly the whole time.  Now Bell did have a slip up here or there, I was impressed with how he managed all that, and he didn’t even miss the high notes, which in the past he had problems with.  He now produces such a sweet and lovely sound few others can match; of course, he has a great Strad at his disposal, but many others do also.

Joshua Bell acknowledging the audience enthusiasm after an exhilarating performance of Dvorak's Violin Concerto.

As encore he and the orchestra played an adaptation of Chopin’s Op. 9 Nocturne (No. 2?) which offered a contrast to the Dvorak concerto.  It was gentle, inward looking, and had a dose of virtuoso elements.  Chopin didn’t write any music for the violin, and I thought if he had done so, it would sound like the piece we heard tonight.

Sandwiched between the two pieces were five dances by Kodaly (Lento; Allegretto moderato; Allegro con moto, grazioso; Allegro; and Allegro Vivace).  Kodaly and Bartok traversed the Hungarian countryside collecting folk music (I didn’t know they did it together), and the dances certainly sounded very Hungarian.  Kodaly did live in Galanta, a town about 35 miles east of Bratislava, for a few years.  Gypsy music (not sure if it is an acceptable nowadays) is nice to listen to, but by the end of the 17 or so minute program I thought we have had enough.

The pre-concert group Brooklyn Rider is by most measures a string quartet.  It claims to “offer eclectic repertoire in gripping performances that continue to attract legions of fans and draw rave reviews from classical, rock, and world music critics alike.”  Quite a statement, and I am not sure why they didn’t call themselves brooklyn rider (lower case) to sound even hipper.

Brooklyn Rider.

While they didn’t quite live up to that description, the very short program was quite interesting.  And the pieces did add to the Eastern Europe feel of the evening.  Erwin Schulhooff’s Alla Tarantella was one of five moments (the others are “alla” tango, Viennese waltz, serenade, and Czeca).  Dvorak’s Lento is arranged from his Cypress song cycle, and may be a tribute to his unrequited lover Josefina, who had already died.  Ljova is the pen name of Lev Zhurbin, and the two pieces are in the styles of Romanian music and klezmer (I had to look this up, it means Middle Ages Jewish folk music).  Certain the Romanian piece reminded me of Zigeunerweisen, and contributed to my feeling there was too much Gypsy this evening.

When we looked at the orchestra listing in the Playbill, we found Laura Frautschi listed as the concertmaster, and couldn’t find Allifranchini in the violin section.  So we concluded something definitely happened.  This Friday’s concert, however, had he and Frautschi playing together a piece by Schnittke.  To add to the puzzlement, who walked out as the concertmaster?  Allifranchini, of course.

Members of the MMFO as listed in tonight's Playbill.  Allifranchini's name was nowhere to be found.  But look at the first photo in this blog entry, who was in the concertmaster's seat?

Driving up was not a problem, and we found free parking of 65^th.  Dinner was takeout from Great Wall.  We got home at around 10:20 pm.

Budapest Festival Orchestra – Ivan Fischer, conductor; Jeanine De Bique, soprano. August 4, 2019.

David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center.  Orchestra (Seat M13, $52.50).

Program

Symphony No. 88 in G major (1787) by Haydn (1732-1809).

Arias by Handel (1685-1759).

Symphony No. 41 in C major (“Jupiter”) (1788) by Mozart (1756-1791).

Handel Arias

Disserratevi, o porte d’Averno, from La ressurezione (1708).

Ritorna, oh caro e dolce mio Tesoro from Rodelinda (1725).

Da tempeste il legno infranto, from Giulio Cesare in Egitto (1724).

This is considered one of the events in the Mostly Mozart Festival.  One may question why the Budapest Festival Orchestra would have a role in it, but at least it had one of Mozart’s best-known works in it.

The Program Notes describes the Haydn symphony as one of his best known.  Hadyn wrote over 100 symphonies, I doubt this is in his top 20.  Over the years I must have heard quite a few of Haydn’s symphonies, and I don’t recall ever hearing this one, neither could I find any entry in this blog.  Another “giveaway” is that if this is indeed a popular symphony someone would have given it a name or nickname already.  (This last point probably is somewhat controversial.)

On the other hand, it is noteworthy that Haydn didn’t write this on a commission from some nobility, and that the orchestra he wrote for had some virtuoso musicians.  The piece sounded complex enough, but I must say it wasn’t a memorable experience in that I have forgotten it, after one day.  The four movements are Adagio-Allegro, Largo, Menuet: Trio, and Finale: Allegro con spirito.

Mozart’s Jupiter Symphony is a delightful composition that showed Mozart’s genius without sounding too difficult.  Perhaps the best-known part is how at the end of the fourth movement Mozart wove together 5 or 6 melodies which (according to the Program Notes) “cannot readily be comprehended by the listener, only recognized as something transcendent and awe-inspiring.”

It was a disappointment, especially against my expectations of this orchestra.  Muddled is the word that came to mind the most.  Fischer brought out a lot of dynamics from the orchestra, but with no particular story to tell.  I like to think I have “broken the code” on the 5-melody fugue, and it was not done well at all.  Instead of clean, parallel lines, what I heard was one line overwhelming the other, which eventually descended into chaos (well, a bit of exaggeration here.)

Ivan Fischer and the Budapest Festival Orchestra at the conclusion of the concert.

The highlight of this otherwise mediocre concert was the young Trinidadian soprano De Bique.  She thrilled the audience with the three Handel arias she sang.  I am not a singer, so I can’t describe the vocal techniques she brought to bear to make her high notes exquisite, fast runs clean, and diction clear.  I sensed a bit of nervousness at the beginning, but she just “let it rip” when she realized how appreciative the audience was.

Jeanine De Bique has a delightful voice and an engaging stage presence.

While De Bique certainly has the technique and personality to go far in her singing career, there is still some ways to go, in my opinion.  All three songs sounded like vocal exercises.  The titles of the three songs, translated into English, are (i) Unlock yourselves, o gates of Hell! (ii) Return, oh my dear, sweet treasure. (iii) A storm-battered vessel.  One can imagine the emotions are very different in the three songs, but she could have done them in any order and I wouldn’t have known.  That’s not helped by my inability to follow her words along in the program.  My Italian is rudimentary, but not so bad that I couldn’t even catch a sentence here or there?

It is not surprising that the Orchestra comprised mostly of Caucasians, what is surprising was the concertmaster, Yoonshin Song, is a Korean woman.  A search of the internet indicates that she has just been named Houston Symphony’s concertmaster (vacated by Frank Huang three years ago), and was with Detroit Symphony from 2012.  Which makes it more intriguing: who is the regular BFO concertmaster?

The day after I bought the tickets to event Anne found out she would have a conflict, so I went by myself.  The train schedule was such that I had more than an hour between arrival at Penn Station and the 5 pm start of the concert.  I walked up quite a sweat, even though I did it slowly. 

Overall it was still a good experience.

Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra – Gianandrea Noseda, conductor; Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano. August 2, 2019.

David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center.  Orchestra (Seat S112, $52.50).

Pre-Concert Recital – programmed announced from the stage

Selected Dances by Schubert (D.365, D.179, D.146, D.145, D.734. D790).

Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano.

Program

Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major (1804-06) by Beethoven (1770-1827).

Symphony No. 9 in C major (“Great”) (c. 1825-28) by Schubert (1797-1828).

It would be difficult to associate either of the two pieces on tonight’s program with Mozart, which may or may not be disappointing.  However, both pieces should be interesting, at least on paper.

No doubt the Beethoven piece was inspiring, especially as performed tonight by Aimard.  I had seen him on a couple of occasions and liked his playing.  At the risk of sounding a bit hyperbolic, tonight Aimard made the concerto sound as “heroic” as the Emperor concerto.  The notes were clear, the lines superb; an overall coherent and imaginative telling of a story.  Undoubtedly one of the best performances of this work.

Aimard also did the pre-concert recital.  If I understood him correctly, he talked about this contrast between the romanticism of Beethoven and the lyricism of Schubert, and that people usually fall into one camp or another.  (Not I, since I didn’t even realize there were camps to fall into.)  Tonight’s program would be a nice contrast between the two composers.  For the recital he chose 20 or so of Schubert’s dances to illustrate Schubert’s lyricism; and, to allay the audience’s fear it would be interminably long, he reassured us the pieces averaged a minute each.  It was a delightful collection that are within reach of many pianists.  Aimard had this interesting gesture of seeming to be chewing on something as he played.

Noseda holding hands of Frautschi and Aimard after the Beethoven concerto.

The moniker for Schubert’s Ninth Symphony was “Great” to distinguish it from the “Little” Symphony (No. 6, also in C major).  Nowadays many take it to reference the majesty of the symphony.  At 58 minutes (per Program Notes), and the way the MMFO played it, I would call it “Long.”  It was just a disappointment, and certainly didn’t live up to the lyricism that Aimard referred to during his Pre-Concert chat.

Noseda, who was quite animated in his conducting, managed to draw out a lot of contrast from the orchestra.  However, the orchestra sounded – and often looked – disorganized, and muddled through many of the fast passages.  The one surprise for me was how fast the second movement was: I thought it was a scherzo initially.  The four movements are: (i) Andante – Allegro ma non troppo – Piu moto; (ii) Andante con moto; (iii) Scherzo: Allegro vivace – Trio; and (iv) Finale: Allegro vivace.

More observation on personnel changes.  Frautschi was again the concertmaster.  We saw the one listed in the program (Ruggero Allifranchini) sitting in the last seat of the first violins, and concluded he didn’t lead the orchestra during the first two concerts.  Also, the regular second flutist was replaced by a gentleman.  While the latter change can be attributed to scheduling reasons, I do wonder why Allifranchini moved from first to last.  He seemed cheerful enough in his new position, though.

Noseda acknowledging different sections of the orchestra after the Schubert Symphony.  One can see the listed concertmaster seated in the first violin section.

There was this gentleman who was enthusiastically applauding Aimard after the Beethoven concert, and then we discovered it was Kam L from church.  We chatted a bit during intermission.

Today was the last day of VBS, our children stayed with us during the week to attend.  We took them back to Hoboken.  Getting to Lincoln Center (by bus and subway) was easy enough.  On our way back we got something to eat in Hoboken before driving our car back to South Amboy.

Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra – Louis Langree, conductor; Martin Helmchen, piano. July 30, 2019.

David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center.  Orchestra (Seat U5, $52.50).

Pre-Concert Recital

Fantasia in D minor, K. 397 (1782) by Mozart.

Traumerei, Op. 15, No. 7 (1838) by Robert Schumann.

Nocturne in F major, Op. 6, No. 2 (1836) by Clara Schumann.

Intermezzo in A minor, Op. 118, No. 1; Romanze in F major, No. 5 (1893) by Brahms.

Ko-Eun Yi, piano.

Program

Overture to Don Giovanni (1787) by Mozart.

Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K.466 (1785) by Mozart.

Symphony No. 3 in F major (1883) by Brahms.

This was our third Mostly Mozart concert, and our first encounter with Mozart.  It won’t surprise me if they change the name of this festival in the near future.

Let us first dispense with the pre-concert.  A different pianist and a different program were on tap.  Mozart’s Fantasia was nice, but I was hoping for something a bit more substantial in our first encounter with the composer for which the festival is named.

The other surprise was between Robert and Clara Schumann, the wife’s composition was the more virtuoso one.  During the last several years we have encountered more of Clara Schumann’s music (perhaps a herd mentality at work here?), and tonight’s piece was more substantial than ever.

The program concluded with two movements from Brahms’s Op. 118.  It probably takes someone who appreciates piano playing a lot more than I to tell what kind of a pianist Yi is; she did handle the more difficult pieces with ease.  Compared to other pre-concert recitals, this wasn’t a particularly memorable experience.

Ko-Eun Yi is a Korean pianist trained in the United States.

The first surprise in the main concert was that the usual concertmaster was sitting in the assistant’s seat, and Laura Frautschi, the former (?) second violin principal, led the orchestra for the evening.  We noticed last week the concertmaster (still listed as such in the program) had lost a lot of weight; not sure whether that had anything to do with the new arrangement.  To add to my confusion, last week the second violin section was all-women, tonight there were several men in it.

The second surprise was that Langree spent a few minutes to talk about the program, particularly how the three pieces belonged together.  He mentioned Mozart was the first “freelance” composer in that he didn’t work for any royal court, and that Brahms’s symphony starts with a statement “free but happy.”  Mozart wrote the piano concerto and Don Giovanni at about the same time (although for Mozart two years was a long time), and there are “quotes” of one in the other (my take).  What I didn’t know was that Brahms had a lot to do with popularizing Mozart, and that he encouraged Clara Schumann to add Mozart to her repertoire.  Also, Brahms’s third symphony was “infused with the spirit of Mozart” in its compactness, structure, and intimacy (also quoting from the Program Notes).

We saw Don Giovanni during our European trip in May, so the overture sounded quite familiar.  What I didn’t hear was the dramatic ending of the opera when Don Giovanni was dragged off to hell: it was supposed to be there at the very beginning.

This was our second encounter with Helmchen, who performed another Mozart concerto two years ago.  Tonight’s piece wasn’t Mozart’s most popular, so it brought with it a certain degree of freshness.  One could indeed argue it contains some of the dark ideas Mozart used in Don Giovanni.  Overall I enjoyed it: Helmchen’s playing had a lot to do with it.  The cadenzas were written by Clara Schumann.  She was born 200 years ago.

Helmchen and Langree after the Mozart concerto.

In both the overture and the concerto, the orchestra didn’t sound as crisp as I thought Mozart should be.

A rather large ensemble was used for the Brahms symphony: 10 first violins and 5 French horns.  Here the orchestra did a good job, and the different sections sounded great when they had the solo parts.  Musicologists can debate whether Mozart or Beethoven had more influence on Brahms – and I suppose one can make either/both cases – this was simply nice music to listen to.  Some make a great deal out of the beginning three notes (F-A flat-F) as Brahms’s statement of “free but happy,” they are not the most memorable of the different tunes heard in the symphony.

For Mostly Mozart this is a very large orchestra.

We again drove into the city and had street food.  We stopped by the new Turnpike rest area near Exit 11 on our way home, but ended up not eating there as the line was long.

Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra – Andrew Manze, conductor; Pekka Kuusisto, violin, Knut Erik Sundquist, bass. July 26, 2019.

David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center.  Orchestra (Seat N12, $50).

Pre-Concert Recital

Four Seasons of Buenos Aires (1965-70) by Piazzolla (1921-1992, arr. Bragato).

Neave Trio: Anna Williams, violin; Mikhail Veselov, cello; Eri Nakamura, piano.

Program

Romanian Folk Dances for string orchestra (1915-17) by Bartok (1881-1945, arr. Willner).

Le quattro Stagioni (“The Four Seasons”) by Vivaldi (1678-1741).

The program certainly looked promising: a pairing of the Four Seasons by Vivaldi and Piazzolla.  We last heard this combination in 2016 with the New York Philharmonic; on that occasion two of the seasons were performed by Frank Huang, who also did the entire Vivaldi composition.

Piazzolla’s Cuattro Estaciones Portenas started off as tangos, and have been arranged by various musicians for different combinations of instruments.  Today’s arrangement was made by Jose Bragato – who was a member of the Piazzolla quintet - for a trio of violin, cello, and piano.  For the record, in Spanish the seasons are Verano (summer), Otono, Invierno, and Primavera – notice the work starts with summer.

I vaguely recall reading in some Program Note or web entry that there are a few references to Vivaldi in the Piazzolla piece, but I didn’t hear any.  This arrangement gave equal prominence to the three instruments, asking quite a bit from the players.  Vivaldi provided a text to go along with his Four Seasons (more on that later), Piazzolla did not.  The annotator David Wright writes one could hear crickets in the summer and fall, produced by the violin’s being played behind-the-bridge.  Otherwise one has to use one’s imagination to hear what Piazzolla’s describing.  Fair enough, and I am sure different people will conjure up different images.

The trio, evidently all graduates of Bard College, put in an impressive performance.

The Neave Trio.

When Manze first came on stage, he remarked to the audience that conductors usually know what would happen during the concert, but that for tonight that wouldn’t be the case as the two soloists would be adding various passages, some “improvised,” during the program.  The Program Notes describes the Finnish violinist Kuusisto as being “renowned for his fresh approach … a gifted improvisor.”  Sundquist is a Norwegian bassist who now teaches at University of Tromso (and we have been there!).  Let me first say there is no doubt that Kuusisto is a great violinist; the solo bass had mostly an accompanist’s role, and my view of Sundquist was blocked by Manze.

He also invited the audience to clap when they felt like it, and it would be okay if the cell phones rang – as long as they were in the right key.  He also jokingly pointed to the exit doors in the back if people wanted to leave early (I saw only one person doing that).  It was going to be that kind of an evening, although by all measures this was still a reserved audience – the only thing usual was the clapping that occurred now and then.

Bartok is generally regarded as one of the earliest ethnomusicologists, although composers like Janacek, Sibelius, and Dvorak also incorporated folk tunes in many of their works.  There were six dances listed in the Program, and they lasted – together with some improvisation – less than 15 minutes.  The titles are (i) Joc cu bata (Stick Dance); (ii) Braul (Sash Dance); (iii) Pe loc (Stamping Dance); (iv) Buciumeana (Dance of Buchum); (v) Poarga Romaneasca (Romanian Polka); and (vi) Maruntel (Fast Dance): L’istesso tempo – Allegro vivace.

The dances sounded folk enough.  Not being familiar with them, I couldn’t tell where Bartok ended and the improvisation began.  Pleasant enough, and a musicologist probably can get a lot more out of it than I did.

My disappointment lies with the Four Seasons, and some of that could be attributed to my wrong expectations.  It would be natural to assume an evening with Vivaldi’s and Piazzolla’s “versions” of the Four Seasons presents an opportunity to compare and contrast the two.  Instead we were asked to enjoy a performance with various improvisations – which may or may not be Vivaldi-like – thrown in.  A little of that could be interesting, but the copious amount we got detracted from the whole experience.  Perhaps one could make the case that the additions were cadenzas (or recaps) for the various movements, but I couldn’t find any rhyme or theme in the additions, some were simply too long, and monotonous to boot – well, one could have extended heat waves and cold fronts, I guess.

There is an English translation of Vivaldi’s poems accompanying the music (I don’t recall ever having seen it), and the music supposedly traces the program quite well.  The added music was more like a distraction in this exercise.  Each poem consists of four stanzas, but each concerto has only three movements.  I would like to understand that mystery.

Only the string sections were used tonight, so all others got the weekend off.  We also have yet to encounter Mozart in this Mostly Mozart Festival, which is okay (and Mozart will be on the program we attend next Tuesday).

Kuusisto and Manze at the end of the concert.  Was it Sundquist on the bass in the back?

At 4 pm Google Maps already showed a delay of over 30 minutes to Lincoln Center, so we decided to take the train in.  I brought along some food, Anne bought a snack at a kiosk in David Geffen Hall.  We had sometime before the 9:37 pm train, so we got something to eat at Wasabi at Penn Station.

Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra – Andrew Manze, conductor; Vilde Frang, violin. July 23, 2019.

David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center.  Orchestra (Seat R15, $50).

Pre-Concert Recital

Fantasy in C major, D. 760 (“Wanderefantasie”) (1822) by Schubert (1797-1828).

Drew Petersen, piano.

Program: All-Beethoven

Violin Concerto in D major (1806).

Symphony No. 3 in E-flat major (“Eroica”) (1803).

It had been a while since we last attended a concert, so I was somewhat looking forward to this event.  I was pleased to have gone.  We had a busy summer so far, with our daughter and our son’s families staying with us on and off since mid-June, and we also spent a week in Hawaii with our son’s family.  By no means a complaint, but the quiet was nonetheless refreshing after our son’s family left this (Tuesday) morning.  [Turns out we ran into a bit of a problem with our boat right after that, and had to get the problem resolved.  Again, not complaining.]

This was our first encounter with the young Norwegian violinist Vilde Frang (born 1986), so I didn’t know what to expect.

Both my and Anne’s first remarks after the concert were that she came away way too soft; indeed Anne cupped her ears quite a bit during her performance to hear better.  From what I could hear, however, it could have been a great performance – the enthusiastic applause of the audience was also an indication of that.  There were slight intonation problems here and there, which was to be expected for a live performance.  It is interesting to see what the soloists do during the many long orchestral passages in this concerto, especially during the first movement.  In Frang’s case it was staring into empty space most of the time.

Frang and Manze after the Beethoven Violin Concerto.

The Eroica symphony was written a few years before the violin concerto, during Beethoven’s so-called “heroic” period.  At 47 minutes it is considered a long symphony, but is only 5 minutes longer than the violin concerto.  It also has one additional movement (Allegro con brio; Marcia funebre: Adagio assai; Scherzo: Allegro vivace; Finale: Allegro molto).

This is one of the first works I “studied” in music class while in college, especially how the opening theme was used in the first movement.  Memory is an interesting thing, as the first movement the second movement came back to me, and the third came towards the end of the second. On the other hand, the fourth movement always eludes me (I can’t remember it this very moment).

A testament to the quality of the orchestra is that I now have high expectations for them.  By and large they did well, although there were times they wandered a bit.  And they did manage to sound like a much larger orchestra.  It was interesting to see how the different section principals tackled their solo passages: how the flutist’s fingers fly all over her instrument, and how long the oboist could hold her breath.  And the second violin section is all women.

After performing Beethoven's Eroica Sympohony.

Andrew Manze directed with a lot of movement.  He will be on again later this week.

Schubert’s Fantasy in C major grew out of a song he composed in 1816 called “Der Wanderer.”  Some of the words are “Here the sun seems so cold/the blossom faded, life old/and men’s words mere empty noise/I am a stranger everywhere.”  This became the Adagio section of this one-movement work. (This from the Program Notes.) All I could tell was there was a recurring theme (actually a couple of them) in this virtuosic piece of piano music, which Drew Petersen dispensed with methodically in the pre-recital in a most enjoyable manner.

The lighting during the pre-recital made iPhone photos difficult to shoot.  But this is Petersen after doing a fantastic job with Schubert's Fantasy.

We decided to drive in, and didn’t encounter too much traffic.  We had not eaten street food for a while, and discovered the menu had changed somewhat, but prices have gone up quite a bit!  We got a snack at Wok City after the concert.

NY Brass Arts Trio. July 2, 2019.

Richardson Auditorium, Princeton, NJ.  Balcony (Front Center, free).

Program

Three Sinfonias by Bach (1685-1750) (arr. Jolley).

Trio in C Major, Op. 87 by Beethoven (1770-1827) (arr. Avitsur).

Till Eulenspiegel by Strauss (1864-1949) (arr. Jolley).

Selections from Pulcinella Suite by Stravinsky (1882-1971) (arr. Jolley).

Three Children’s Songs by Chick Corea (b. 1941) (arr. Burgstaller).

Selections from Porgy and Bess by Gershwin (1898-1937).

Libertango by Piazzolla (1921-1992) (arr. Burgstaller).

Artists

Joe Burgstaller, trumpet; David Jolley, French horn; Haim Avitsur, trombone.

The Princeton University Summer Chamber Concerts puts out four events in early summer, our schedule this year allowed us to attend only this concert.

Evidently the three gentlemen are world-class artists in their respective instruments, and all teach at various schools at at least the “associate professor” level (Peabody, Mannes School of music, University of Hartford, and others).  They also said a few words about each of the pieces, and threw in some humor that might or might not work.

The unfortunate fact is the repertoire for this combination of instruments is very limited.  As jotted down in the “Program” section of this entry, many of the pieces performed tonight were arranged by the Trio members themselves.  The majority of them didn’t quite work musically, at least in my way of understanding music.

The program started with three sinfonias by Bach (Allegro, Andante molto expressivo, and Allegro).  When I listen to Bach I go for his counterpoints and architectural constructions.  His sinfonias are 3-part contrapuntal pieces, so one would think the effect could be simulated with three brass instruments.  Alas, I heard little counterpoint in the three selections played this evening.

Beethoven’s Emperor Concerto is listed as Op. 73 and was composed in 1809.  His trio for two oboes and English horn, Op. 87, was written in 1795 – go figure.  I don’t know how each of the original instruments map into tonight’s arrangement, but things again didn’t sound as harmonious as I would expect, especially from an early Beethoven work. The movements are Allegro, Adagio, Menuetto, and Finale.

The fully fledged Till Eulenspiegel is performed by a large symphonic orchestra.  My blog entry indicates that I enjoyed it in 2015, even though I have little recollection of it.  If I remember correctly, Strauss had extracted a shorter version of the composition, and that was adapted for tonight.  It should be relatively easy for three brass instruments to mimic the pranks and chaos the music describes, and they did fine.  I do appreciate (was it) Jolley pointing out the Till theme.

In between his early sensations such as The Firebird and his adoption of the 12-tone scale starting in the 1950s, Stravinsky underwent a neo-classical period.  The selections from the Pulcinella Suite were easy enough to grasp and reminded me of what a brass ensemble should sound like.

A couple of the musicians turned into piano accompanists for Corea’s “Three Children Songs.”

Despite the entry in the program, there was one selection from Porgy and Bess: Summertime.  We heard this played by the NJSO in their outdoor concert a few days ago, and the NJSO put in a more enjoyable performance, bad sound system notwithstanding.

The program concluded with Piazzolla’s Libertango.  Wikipedia describes this work as marking Piazzolla’s break from classical tango.  If I recall correctly, the piece we heard from the NJSO was also in this Nuevo genre – or it was the same piece.  In any case, as David remarked to me, Piazzolla certainly seemed to be in vogue these days.  Or there is a herd mentality at work.

Curtain Call.  There were altogether three trumpets used for this concert.

I am amazed at how long this write-up is, and it is a tribute to the interesting remarks by the musicians.  That my enjoyment of the actual concert wasn’t at the same level, is perhaps a tribute to their skill as teachers.  That’s a charitable way of putting it.  The standard remark is … those who can’t, teach.

Our friends David and Vivien came back from Leipzig a few days ago, after attending the Bach Festival in that city.  We spent time at Panera Bread before the concert, although Vivien went to Richardson Auditorium to make sure we have good seats.  It was good to be able to catch up.

New Jersey Symphony Orchestra - Jose Luis Dominguez, conductor. June 30, 2019.

Marine Park, Red Bank.  Outdoors Concert (Free).

Program (as announced from the stage)

National Anthem

Overture to West Side Story by Bernstein

Dance Song No. 2 by Arturo Marquez

Variations on a Shaker Melody by Copland

Ragtime Jazz by Florence Price

Huapanga by Jose Pablo Moncayo

Rodeo by Copland

Conga del Fuego Nuevo by Marquez

Medley by Duke Ellington

Tango/Jazz by Astor Piazzolla

Summertime from Porgy and Bess by Gershwin

American Salute by Morton Gould

Armed Services Salute

At the end of each season NJSO puts out several outdoor free concerts, the one in Red Bank is most convenient for us.

The conductor Dominguez for this series of outdoor concerts did the same chores last year (I wasn’t sure who it was when I wrote the blog then.)  He explained (in somewhat accented English) that the concert would comprise of pieces from the Americas, and announced the pieces before they were performed.  I didn’t capture all the details, but the list above was quite accurate.  The nature of the program was generally jazzier than what we heard last year.

For tonight the sound system was particularly tinny, but we were not here for high fidelity music, so it was okay.

The crowd was pretty good-sized, comparable to last year’s.

The temperature was in the 70s, and there was a light breeze, making for a pleasant evening.

At intermission some friends came onto our boat.  Anne stayed on the boat afterwards, so she missed the second half.

A nice occasion, even though we were a bit rushed after the Princeton opera.  And the temperature was moderate, not nearly as hot as last year.  There were no mockingbirds to mimic the melodies though.

Princeton Festival 2019 – Adams’s Nixon in China. June 30, 2019.

Matthews Theatre, Princeton, NJ.  Balcony (Seat CC3, $75).

Story.  President Nixon and Pat Nixon flies to Peking on Monday February 21, 1972 and is met by Premier Chou En-Lai.  They then go and meet Chairman Mao and have a discussion.  This is followed by a banquet.  The next day, Mrs. Nixon is presented with a glass elephant before she visits the Ming tombs.  The evening is spent attending a performance of a revolutionary ballet devised by Mao’s wife Chiang Ch’ing.  The last Act, described as “The last evening in Peking” by the librettist Alice Goodman finds Mao and Nixon reminiscing on their respective pasts.

Conductor – Richard Tang Yuk; Richard Nixon – Sean Anderson, Pat Nixon – Rainelle Krause, Chairman Mao – Cameron Schutza, Madame Mao – Teresa Castillo, Henry Kissinger – Joseph Barron, Premier Chou – John Viscardi.

The performers were miked up per the composer's instructions.

In the past couple of years we attended several Princeton Festival events, this opera was the only event which we managed to go to this season.  I first purchased tickets for the 6/23 performance but then there was a schedule conflict, it was good that I could exchange the tickets, for free.

Overall the three-hour opera (including a 20-minute intermission) was a disappointment.  I still remember this as being a momentous occasion in Sino American relationship, and it was dubbed “Ping Pong diplomacy” at that point.

The opera told the opera in a straightforward sort of way.  First it was Nixon singing a long “aria,” followed by Chou, then it was Mao’s turn.  While there had to be dialogs in between, I don’t remember much (or any) of it.  And the content of the monologs was not particularly memorable, either.  Act 3 was the most puzzling.  Reading of the synopsis would lead one to think it would be over quickly (that idea/wish was reinforced by the note that the program ends at about 5:45 pm), instead it took about 30 minutes.  I called it streams of consciousness bothering on the surreal, Anne’s thought it was the two disparate leaders sharing a common war experience.  Both of us wanted it to end.  Indeed this was one of the few music events that I thought about leaving early.

The set was understandably simple.  The main stage had a few risers populated with chairs where the masses sat.  They could be at a banquet, or they could be the audience of the ballet, depending on when they were in the program.  In the back were some screens on which images would be projected: such the Spirit of America (Air Force One) or war scenes.  The snow fall was pathetically done with falling confetti.

That made the singing that much more critical to the success of the opera.  I discussed how I felt about the libretto already; the music wasn’t that much better.  If this opera is any indication, Adams is a minimalist aspirant who fails to make his music interesting.  Most of the music is of limited range, with large intervals thrown in every now and then, but they just manage to add some grittiness to the music.  Going over my blog, I realized I have seen quite a few of Adams’s works, including the Chairman’s Dances based on this opera, and the opera The Death of Klinghoffer.  The most common adjectives I used are “monotonous” and “forgettable.”

A few interesting points.  the opera began and ended with Mao’s body in center stage (Mao’s body actually is on display in Tian An Men Square) with Chou looking on; there were these three ladies that echo what Chiang was singing, sometimes to good effect, I must say; and the composer specifically requests that the principal singers get miked up.

From left: Kissinger, Mao, Pat Nixon, Richard Nixon, Chou, Chiang, and the three secretaries.

Attendance was okay – not great – if the empty seats in the balcony was any indication.  Perhaps the Festival organizers overestimated the level of sophistication of the attendees?

There are very few classical concerts wherein I would say the following at its conclusion: those were three hours I would never get back.  Unfortunately that’s how I felt right afterwards, although with the passage of a few days (the opera was Sunday, today is Thursday) I am a bit more charitable, but not enough to say “I am glad we went.”

We grabbed something to eat at the Princeton Station WaWa and then drove to Marine Park in Red Bank for a New Jersey Symphony outdoors concert.

Boublil & Schonberg’s Miss Saigon. June 22, 2019.

Citizens Bank Opera House, Boston, MA.  Mezzanine (Seat MEZZRC J-120, $75).

Story.  American soldier Chris visits a bar in Saigon and falls in love with the bargirl Kim.  They get married in a Vietnamese ceremony.  During the last days before the Fall of Saigon, Chris and Kim try without success to look for one another.  Chris is forced to leave Saigon in a helicopter; Kim, after murdering a communist commissar who wanted to kill her young son, flees Saigon with the bar owner The Engineer to Bangkok.  Chris is helped in his resettlement in the United States by Ellen, and marries her.  Meanwhile, Chris’s fellow soldier John now works for an organization helping to locate children in Vietnam born of American fathers, and locates Kim and her son.  Chris and Ellen go with John to Bangkok, their intention is to provide Kim with money so she can raise her son.  Kim meets Ellen by accident, and realizes the only way she can help her son is to commit suicide.

Director – Laurence Connor; The Engineer – Red Concepcion, Kim – Emily Bautista, Chris – Anthony Festa, John – J. Daughtry; Ellen – Stacie Bono.

Joe Jr bought the tickets for us, so we borrowed his cell phone.  I didn't want to install the Ticketmaster App on my iPhone which would allow the tickets be transferred to my account.

We saw this show when it first came out, on Broadway, about 30 years ago (it opened at the Broadway Theater in 1991).  The story line follows pretty much that of Madama Butterfly, although there were some major differences, such as there is no equivalent of Suzuki in Miss Saigon.

I am quite sure the opening scene 30 years ago was not as risqué as what we saw today, with simulated sex acts (fully clothed, more or less) and cuss words flying all over the place.  Just this side of an R, if I were to give it a rating; the show is recommended for audience aged 12 and over.  30 years ago Les Miz with its sh*t was probably the worst offender, and I don’t recall the Miss Saigon then as being any more gritty than Les Miz.

Renee Fleming, who does Broadway every now and then, says the mic is the singer’s best friend.  That’s certainly the case here.  One aspect of Broadway I always admired – and enjoyed – was how easy it was to get the words.  That alas wasn’t the case tonight.  Was it the acoustics of the hall, or were the performers not quite up to the task?  In the singers defense, I complained about the acoustics of the hall when I saw The Nutcracker at the same location many years ago.

If one sits through the entire Madama Butterfly to hear “One Fine Day,” one might also sit through Miss Saigon for the helicopter scene – and it was worth the wait.  Both the prop and the sound were impressive, and better than how I remembered it.  The way they flip the fence to do the chaotic scenes inside and outside the US Embassy was also quite ingenious.

Having been on the periphery of a musical before, I know there is tweaking as the production ages.  I wonder if what we saw today was much different from what we saw 30 years ago.  Regardless, I can say the show portray realistically what could have happened (I am sure many aspects indeed happened) during the Vietnam war and its aftermath, that many people’s lives were destroyed.  I wonder for the younger generation (e.g., our children) how the show would come across.

Despite all the misgivings, I thought it was a good experience.  For a couple of years Anne and I went to quite a few musicals, but we have lost interest in the genre.  This has not revived it, but I won’t mind going to another one if opportunity arises.

Curtain Call.  From left: The Commissar, Ellen, Chris, The Engineer, Kim's son, Kim, John, and Gigi.

The Boston Opera House was built in 1928, about the same time as St. George Theater in Staten Island, which we visited recently.  It was ornately decorated, and more tastefully – in my judgment – than the St. George.  It hosts no (or close to it) operas, and the opera scene is Boston has quite a bit to be designed, with the “flagship” Boston Lyric Opera putting out four productions a year.

The Opera House sits about 2600 people.  Many seats in the Mezzanine section were empty, we in fact moved up a few rows after the intermission.  The hallways were crowded enough at the end of the show, so there was at least a respectable number of people.

We took the T from Assembly to the Chinatown stop, and had something to eat before the show.  Joe Jr picked us up after the show concluded at around 11 pm.

New York Philharmonic – Free Indoor Concert in Staten Island. June 16, 2019.

St. George Theatre, Staten Island.  Front Mezzanine A (Free).

Program

Artists

Philip Smith – Conductor/Host/Trumpet; Christopher Martin – Trumpet, Ethan Bensdorf – Trumpet, Thomas Smith – Trumpet, Kenneth DeCarlo – Trumpet, R. Allen Sanjer – Horn, Chad Yarbrough – Horn, David Finlayson – Trombone, Paul Belino – Trombone, Kyle Mendiguchia – Bass Trombone, Philip Broome – Euphonium Alan Baer – Tuba, Daniel Druckman – Percussion, James Saporito – Percussion.

Evidently it’s a musical organization’s civic duty to give a series of free concerts (usually “in the park”) at the end of the regular season.  The Met does them at locations that are difficult to get to.  The New York Phil usually has one in Staten Island, and in a week or so we may go to the one at Marine Park, Red Bank, by the New Jersey Symphony.

This was our first encounter with the St. George Theatre, built in the 1920s.  It is definitely in the ornate rococo style.  I couldn’t help comparing it with Count Basie.  St. George has perhaps twice the seating (2700 vs 1500?), better acoustics, and felt more decrepit than Count Basie.  One thing that came through was “loud and clear.”  Even though sound from brass and percussion instruments tends to travel well, I was still amazed at how they traveled up to the upper reaches of the auditorium.

The program for the first half would be characterized as “traditional” – for lack of a better word.  Many of the composers were well -known, even though the pieces have been adapted for brass and percussion.

As Phil Smith indicated, the second half was more “American, jazzy, and patriotic.”

There are some pieces that showcase how harmonious a group of brass instruments can sound like.  We heard that in Germany from a street group.  Too bad not enough of that was showcased this afternoon.

A word about Phil Smith.  He used to be the Principal Trumpet at New York Philharmonic, but retired a few years ago to join the faculty at the University of Georgia.  He provided some interesting commentary to the pieces that were performed today.

It must be thrilling to have your work performed by the New York Philharmonic in public, especially if you are only a teenager (actual Hu is only 11).  To learn how to write for different instruments in an orchestral setting is no easy feat.

We drove up to Staten Island after church, and didn’t stay for the encore as Ellie and family are visiting.

New Jersey Symphony. Xian Zhang, conductor. June 8, 2019.

Count Basie Center, Red Bank.  Balcony (Seat K113, $25).

Program – All-Orchestral Season Finale

Selections from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Op. 21 (1826, 1843) by Mendelssohn (1809-1847).

Symphony No. 2 in E minor, Op. 27 (1906-07) by Rachmaninoff (1873-1943).

The Program Notes actually titles this concert “Blockbuster All-Orchestra Season Finale.”  Somewhat of an exaggeration, but mostly true.

The two pieces offered interesting contrasts: Mendelssohn’s was “easy-going and light-hearted” (doesn’t mean it was not difficult to perform), and Rachmaninoff’s was emotional and romantic; Mendelssohn’s called for a “basic” set of orchestral instruments – the only non-conventional one is the bass tuba, Rachmaninoff included additional woodwinds and lots of percussion.

Who doesn’t know about A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a famous play by Shakespeare?  I don’t (embarrassment emoji).  I haven’t seen the actual play, but have seen adaptations of the story for ballet and opera several times.  In skimming over my blog entries on my prior encounters, all I know is it involves two pairs of lovers confused by some potion some fairies put on them.  And I remember how impressed I was with how well Puck danced in the ballet; that was in 2012, so some performers do leave a lasting impression.  Of course both the Overture and the Wedding March are standard entries in the classical repertoire.  The Program Annotator Laurie Shulman went into details of each of the movements, and they were of considerable help in my appreciation of the piece.  For the record, the intervening movements are Scherzo, Intermezzo, and Nocturne.

It is well-known that Rachmaninoff suffered from “writer’s block” for many years after the disastrous reception of his first symphony.  We have his psychiatrist to thank for getting him out of that state.  The best-known movement of the symphony is of course the third, it’s melody is simply ravishing.  What I didn’t know (or had forgotten) was that there was a hint of it in the first movement, and a repetition of it in the last.  In tonight’s performance, this movement was simply a highlight of the entire symphony, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  The tempo markings for the four movements are Largo – Allegro moderato, Allegro molto, Adagio, and Allegro vivace.

My seat was in the middle section of the balcony.  I had a good view of the stage, and the acoustics was good.  I do wish I had brought along my binoculars so I could see the soloists better.  What was unmistakable was that Zhang was more energetic than usual, for the entire concert, and that the orchestra musicians were equally engaged.

Curtain Call. Notice the new players (timpani and principal bass) and Fein in the percussion section.

I also notice a new person (Asian woman as far as I could tell) in the Principal Bass position, a new timpanist, and David Fein – who is listed as the Acting Principal for Timpani – at his “regular” post as the Percussion Principal, doing the triangle and the bass drum.

This was the last series of the season, which began equally ambitiously with a program with Beethoven’s Choral Symphony.  Impressive bookends of which the organization should be proud of.  I attended about ten NJSO concerts this season, a couple were still in the mediocre category, but I must say the trajectory is up.

Anne and I had to babysit this weekend.  I attended the concert by myself, taking the train home earlier this afternoon, and driving to Red Bank for the concert.

Monmouth Civic Chorus. James Brandau, artistic director. June 2, 2019.

St. Mary’s Church, Colts Neck, NJ.  Preferred Seating ($30).

Program – A Night at the Oper(ett)a.

Accompanist – Jason Wirth.

Monmouth Civic Chorus.  This was taken after the first half of the program.

The program consisted mostly of songs from operettas written by Gilbert & Sullivan, and the opera Dido and Aeneas by Purcell.  For good measure the Hebrew Chorus from Nabucco and The Humming Chorus from Madama Butterfly, as well as The Flower Duet from Lakme were thrown in the mix.

We just heard the Hebrew Chorus about a week ago, in Leipzig.  While I enjoyed it very much, I thought their volume could be a bit louder.  The song sounds simple enough, and the voices often sang in unison.  Given what I heard this afternoon, I realized that perhaps it wasn’t that simple.  I find this Verdi aria to be always compelling, but do wish the delivery to be more “professional,” for lack of a better word.  I thought the pianist did a good job imitating an orchestra.

The other song that was clearly out of the musicians’ league was the Flower Duet.  When performed well (or engineered well, since all I have heard are recordings), the song has this sublime quality to it, in this case we just have two ladies struggling to get to the notes, as well as get the French right.

The third well-known piece was the Humming Chorus from Butterfly.  Generally well-done, except perhaps the tempo was a bit too fast.  We are talking about Butterfly and Suzuki spending the night waiting for Pinkerton and the unfolding of the subsequent tragic events.

Giving credit where it is due, I really enjoyed the tongue-twisting “Modern Major-General” from “The Pirates of Penzance.”  It was expertly delivered, with the syllables coming out cleanly.

As far as I could tell, “regular” MCC members were used for the solo and ensemble parts, and I was quite impressed with the depth of talent on display this afternoon.

The by-line of MCC is “Close to Perfect, Close to Home.”  Not that far from the truth, but I think it perhaps should be changed to “Close to Close to Perfect, Close to Home.”  Given not even the professional organizations are perfect, there is no shame in that.

We again went with the Homs, and had dinner at Sichuan Cottage in Marlboro afterwards.