New York Philharmonic – Leonard Slatkin, conductor; Lang Lang, piano. April 12, 2008.

Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, Orchestra 1 (Seat G111, $59).

Program

Piano Concerto by Tan Dun.

The Firebird (Complete, 1909-10) by Stravinsky (1882-1971).

We didn't know what to expect with the concert. Tan Dun is known for two works: the soundtrack to the movie “Crouching Tigers and Hidden Dragons” and the opera “The First Emperor”. The former is a kung-fu movie, the latter is based on the story of Emperor Qin. I saw the movie, and caught glimpses of the opera (both on TV), and wasn't particularly impressed. However, we booked this concert because we were curious, and Lang Lang was going to be the soloist.

There was a “Hear and Now” session before the concert. This was the first such event we attended, so I didn't know what to expect. The concert hall (reasonably full) was darkened and a spot light was trained on the stage. Basically the soloist (XXX, principal percussionist of the orchestra) played with water using his hands and various implements. A bit novel, yet quite monotonous. I found out later this was a concerto written by Tan Dun about 10 years ago. Following that, Robert Stucky conducted an interview with Leonard Slatkin which was informative – but I have forgotten it after two weeks.

The concert began with a short video of an interview of Tan Dun, he talked about how he wanted to have this collaboration with Lang Lang, and that the concerto is based on the martial arts movements of pointing with fingers, flipping with fingers, chopping with an open hand, and pressing with the forearm. I am not knowledgeable about martial arts so am in no position to argue.

The concerto actually turned out to be quite exciting. It is in three movements: Lento, Adagio melancholia [attaca], and Allegretto. We were seated in the sixth row, so had a good view of the soloist and the orchestra (at least those in the front anyway). Since we were on the right side of the hall, we didn't get to see his fingers. Nonetheless, one could tell indeed these motions were used in the concerto. There is enough interplay and structure to the music to keep one's attention focused and interest going. Every now and then the repetition of notes reminds one of the pi-pa. To this listener, the concerto is well-knitted, showcases what it is supposed to (martial arts and artist), even there are intervals of wandering every now and then. A page turner was on stage to help with the music, and Lang Lang sometimes had to count, so the piece is not one easily committed to memory.

Neither Glenn Dicterow nor Sheryl Maples was playing tonight, so it fell to Michelle Kim to lead the orchestra. The principal violist Cynthia Phelps wasn't there either, and the lead had a broken foot that had to be propped up.

The program says the Firebird Suite was last played on February 19, 2005. I am sure I saw it quite recently, indeed my notes indicate we did so on September 16, 2006. Perhaps they were referring to the complete work? Although I thought we listened to the suite its entirety then. In any case, the program describes the Suite as follows: First Tableau: Kaschchei's Enchanted Garden; Appearance of the Firebird, pursued by Prince Ivan; Dance of the Firebird,;Capture of the Firebird by Prince Ivan, Supplications of the Firebird – Appearance of Thireteen Enchanted Princesses; The Princesses' Game with Golden Apples (Scherzo); Sudden Appearance of Prince Ivan; Khorovod (Round-Dance) of the Princesses; Daybreak – Prince Ivan Sneaks into Kaschchei's Palace; The Magical Carillon, Appearance of Kaschei's Guardian-Monsters and the Capture of Prince Ivan – Arrival of Kaschei the Immortal – Dialogue between Kaschei and Prince Ivan – Intercession of the Princesses – Appearance of the Firebird; Dance of Kaschei's Retinue, under the Firebird's Spell; Infernal Dance of All Kaschei's Subjects – Lullaby (The Firebird) – Kaschei's Awakening – The Death of Kaschei – Deep Shadows. Second Tableau: Disappearance of the Palace and of Kaschei's Sorcery, Bringing to Life of the Petrified Warriors, General Happiness.

As described above, the story of the Firebird is quite simple. The movements run on, I managed to get quite lost even with the descriptive titles. We know only a couple of tunes, despite the fact the work is well known.

I think this is the first time we saw Slatkin conduct. I can't comment on how he did with the Tan Dun piece, but am not particularly impressed with the Firebird, which was a bit flat (perhaps in comparison to the piano concerto?) In any case, I notice Lang Lang has never appeared with Lorin Maazel, the four or five times I have seen him were all with guest conductors. And he won't be appearing with Maazel next year either.

What I find amazing, though, was that the work of Stravinsky was tame in comparison to that of Tan Dun's. Perhaps music evolves after all. On the other hand, I am sure many contemporary work considered great by today's critics will fall by the wayside eventually. Stravinsky had his contemporaries, and most of them are forgotten today.

We have tickets to “The First Emperor” in May, I somewhat look forward to seeing it.

See the New York Times review.

New York City Opera – Verdi's Falstaff, April 5, 2008.

New York State Theater at Lincoln Center – Orchestra, Seat M107 ($96).

Conductor – George Manahan; Dr. Caius – Joel Sorensen, Sir John Falstaff – Jan Opalach, Bardolfo – Jeffrey Halili, Pistola – Eric Jordan, Meg Page – Heather Johnson, Alice Ford – Pamela Armstrong, Dame Quickly – Ursula Ferri – Nannetta, Anna Skibinsky, Fenton – John Tessier, Ford – Timothy Mix.

Story. Falstaff writes identical love letter to Meg Page and Alice Ford, and asks his friends Bardolfo and Pistola to deliver, which they refuse to do. The ladies realize what Falstaff is up to, and cook up a plan to humiliate him. Dame Quickly is sent to see Falstaff and invites him to meet Alice at her house. When Falstaff shows up, Mr. Ford shows up and Falstaff hides in the laundry and subsequently gets tossed into the Thames, to the amusement of all. Dame Quickly then invites Falstaff to the park which is known to be haunted. Children disguised as gremlins torment him when he shows up, until he promises to change his ways. Meanwhile, Nannetta and Fenton trick Mr. Ford into blessing their marriage. Dr. Caius, whom Ford favors, is instead paired up with Bardolfo! At the end, everyone agrees that “all the world's a jest.”

The opera was Verdi's last, written when he was 76 years old. Verdi wrote three operas based on Shakespeare's plays, and by happenstance we saw all of them this season (Macbeth and Otello are the other two).

I am not a great fan of comedy, but did find this opera quite amusing. Our tickets were 20% off list (although one can probably get them cheaper on the day of the show), and we got very good seats.

The sets are typical New York City Opera – simple, and functional. Anne is quite sure the sets had been used in other NYC operas, I don't remember that. When I was searching the web for information on this opera, I saw much more elaborate sets (e.g., by the Chicago Lyric Opera). The sets seem to affect the projection of the voices quite a bit though. In the relatively confined setting of a room in the inn, the voices projected very well, but in the more open garden setting, the singing was a bit weak.

The artists generally acquitted themselves well. We especially enjoyed Nannetta's singing. The acting was quite good also. Comedy is very dependent on timing (or so I hear), and the timing was generally good.

For us, a disappointment is there are not too many singable tunes in this opera. This is actually true of all three Shakespeare-play-based operas by Verdi. Macbeth and Otello, however, are captivating dramas in which one is easily engrossed. For a comedic opera, I would have enjoyed more singable tunes. The applauses during the acts were not that frequent as a result.

The famous line “he who laughs last, laughs best” concludes this comic opera. This is delivered as a complex fugue involving as many as eight soloists.

See the generally favorable New York Times review of this production.

Washington National Opera – Wagner's The Flying Dutchman, March 30, 2008.

Kennedy Center Opera House – Premium Orchestra, Seat Z118 ($190).

Conductor – Heinz Fricke; Daland – Gidon Saks, Steersman – Andreas Conrad, The Dutchman – Alan Held, Senta – Jennifer Wilson, Erik – Ian Storey.

Story. Daland meets up with the Dutchman and finds out he is rich and is looking for a wife. Daland invites the Dutchman home and offers his daughter Senta for marriage. The Dutchman is condemned by the devil to sail the seas forever; every seven years he gets to look for redemption by marrying someone who is faithful until death. Senta, meanwhile, is fascinated by the legend and believes she is the woman to save the Dutchman. When her boyfriend Erik finds out, he plead with Senta to marry him. This is taken as betrayal by the Dutchman, so he sets sail again. After unsuccessfully pleading her case, Senta jumps into the ocean after him. The spirits of Senta and the Dutchman are joined.

I have heard the opera a couple of times (on CD), and heard the overture once performed by the New York Philharmonic. So when I found out this was being performed in Washington DC when we were visiting, we bought tickets for the concert. David and Ruby joined us also. The tickets were a bit expensive at $190 each, though.

Placido Domingo is the General Director of the National Opera; he continues to be the general director at the Los Angeles Opera, and I am still puzzled why there isn't enough talent to go around that people have to take multiple appointments.

The concert hall is smaller than I expected, with a capacity of around 2,000. The seats were quite comfortable, with quite a bit of leg room. The performance was quite well attended, although there were visible stretches of empty seats. The audience tended to be a bit better dressed than the New York crowd. We were at the Kennedy Center the previous evening (attending part of a free Flamenco concert), and were worried at how well-dressed the crowd for the evening concerts were; luckily the afternoon crowd wasn't that fastidious.

The sets were not very elaborate. Somewhat on par with NYC Opera – wait, the program notes actually say “Production from New York City Opera.” The ocean is represented by a projection of icebergs in the background. The tilted “squares” were used for multiple purposes (tilted ships, rooms). The moving boats were these riggings you see on these old sailing ships, the one of the Dutchman being in red. I was wondering what the final scene would look like, and was disappointed it was simply images of two seagulls.

The performance was okay. To me the overture has to have elements of ocean waves in it; by this measure the orchestra didn't quite meet my expectations. The voices were all quite strong. The acting was a bit contrived and disjoint, though. I didn't expect to see all these ghosts (scantily dressed women, were they former lovers of the Dutchman?); a bit eerie when they first appeared, but then they became superfluous. The conductor Fricke is surprising short, and Senta is a bit on the heavy side. (Not germane to the review, but obvious observations nonetheless.)

Seeing these other operas make one more appreciative of what the Met manages to do day-in and day-out for a busy season. To be fair, the performance was captivating enough that the entire opera went by quite quickly (no intermissions at that). See the Washington Post review of an earlier performance.

New York Philharmonic – Kurt Mazur, conductor. March 22, 2008.

Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, Orchestra 1 (Seat P7, $59).

Program

The Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ According to the Evangelist Matthew, BWV 244 (ca. 1724-42) by J.S Bach (1750)

Matthia Goerne, baritone, as Jesus; James Taylor, tenor, as the Evangelist; Christiane Libor, soprano; Anna Larsson, alto; Dietmar Kerschbaum, tenor; Jason Grant, bass-baritone, as Judas, Peter, and High Priest II; Westminster Choir, Joe Miller, director; The American Boychoir, Fernando Malvar-Ruiz, director.

We did not book this concert when we did our subscription, oratorios not being something I particularly enjoy. We switched to this concert because we couldn't make the one originally planned.

We got to NYC early, so we bought ticket sto the pre-concert talk. The session sold out soon after we got ours; a first for us. I forget the name of the speaker ... It was actually a rather informative talk where we learned how Bach used different solo voices to interject meditations into the narrative, that James Taylor is well-known for singing the role of the Evangelist, how the accompaniments are different for the Evangelist and Jesus (dry vs accompanied recitatives, e.g.), and the different forms. Also, the work contained the worship elements of memory (scripture), understanding (aria), and will (chorale). And the chorales were well-known to the audience of the time; the famous one "O Sacred Head now Wounded" actually appeared several times. I was shocked to learn that the oratorio would last three hours (it was close to that). The speaker oversold it a bit though, saying the impact on the listener would be enormous; it was good, but not quite up to the expectations he set.

Kurt Mazur was the conductor of the Philharmonic before being replaced by Lorin Maazel. I was surprised to learn he is 81 years old. And the last time the orchestra played this piece was about 10 years ago, he was also the conductor. For an 81-year old person, he certainly managed to summon the requisite energy for the occasion, impressively, I might add. I am quite sure he is suffering from Parkinson's disease as his hands (left one especially) kept shaking when at rest. There is this inevitable tinge of sadness when you see how time catches up with everyone.

The Evangelist (Matthew) role is well performed by Taylor. The range is quite impressive, and all (as far as I could tell) recitatives. The other soloists were good also; Goerne did all his parts without referring to the music. He also didn't wear any neckwear. I wonder why.

The choirs were good also. They have several people who sang some short solo passages (witnesses, e.g.); they did well.

One final interesting aspect. The original orchestra was divided into two separate orchestras, seated on opposite parts of the stage. I am not sure I understand why it was necessary.

All in all, a good concert. See also the New York Times review.

Metropolitan Opera – Verdi's Otello, February 22, 2008.

Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center – Grand Tier, Seat E28 ($140).

Conductor – Semyon Bychkov; Cassio – Garrett Sorenson, Iago – Carlo Guelfi, Roderigo – Ronald Naldi, Otello – Johan Botha, Desdemona – Renee Fleming, Emiliar – Wendy White.

Story. Iago is bent on revenge after the Moor Otello promotes Cassio instead of him. Cassio gets into a fight and is demoted by Otello, and asks Desdemona to help with getting his job back. Iago uses this to stoke the jealousy in Otello by making this into a case of infidelity. Otello is convinced of Desdemona's guilt because she cannot produce a handkerchief he gave her. As Desdemona prepares to go to bed, Otello strangulates her. Iago's plot is revealed and Otello stabs himself and dies next to Desdemona.

The plot, exploring the dark yet powerful human emotion of jealousy, is a great one. My son, who majored in English at Cornell, says this is his favorite Shakespeare play. We saw another Verdi/Shakespeare opera, Macbeth, recently, and that explores hunger for power. These human emotions are timeless. Another lesson: get out of a relationship as soon as it becomes abusive. In this opera it starts with a slap and ends with murder.

We took the train up because there was fear of more snow that evening. Turned out there was no snow. On our way up, our train was stuck behind a disabled one for an hour, so we missed the first act. We did see part of it in a theater, without subtitles we didn't understand anything (and I didn't read up on the story before we went), except people were fighting with swords.

Our seats were okay, with an unobstructed view of the stage. The sets were quite impressive, with these giant paintings as backdrops for the castle scenes. The lighting was certainly “adequate” most of the time.

As with Macbeth, there were not that many singable tunes in the opera, which is mostly carried along by the plot. The fact that it was a compelling performance would mean the lyrics (or translation thereof) and the acting were good.

Desdemona didn't get to sing much during the first 3 acts, and we thought Fleming was a bit weak in some of the arias. She really shone during Act 4 singing the Willow Song and Ave Maria. High notes, soft voice, and she still managed to soar above the orchestra and captivate the audience. I found the combination of the two songs a bit much, though. You only want to hold the audience's attention for so long in one sitting, and the work might be better served by having Desdemona sing the two arias in two different scenes.

I wonder if there are more Shakespeare plays turned into operas. I saw Hamlet in London a few years back, and it was also enjoyable.

The New York Times review is mixed on Botha, partially attributing the lack of dramatic depth to his weight. The reviewer had reservations about the conductor also.

Opera Australia – Bizet's Carmen, February 7, 2008.

Opera Theatre, Sydney Opera House – Seat Stalls S33 (A$ 195).

Richard Hickox – conductor; Kirstin Chavez – Carmen, Don Jose – Rosario La Spina, Escamillo – Michael Todd Simpson, Micaela – Sarah Crane.

Story. See previous blog.

I have seen this opera quite a few times already, but went again as this was the only show that worked out with our schedule during this trip. This also must be the 3^rd or 4^th opera I have seen at the Opera House, and I never realized that it was so small, seating perhaps (by my estimation) 1500. The seats are quite comfortable, though. We had quite a crowd: Anne, Steven, Ruth, Tim, Alyson, and me.

Carmen is always enjoyable. This was no exception. The staging is not quite as elaborate as the Met production we saw, but was quite substantial nonetheless.

The best singing was put out by Don Jose. He was quite heavy and I worried with all the falling down whether he would have trouble getting up. Turns out he must have practiced quite a bit as he had no trouble at all.

Carmen's voice was not as rich as some other mezzo-sopranos I have heard. And she tended to take things a bit too slowly for my taste. I always wonder if that's the conductor or the singer.

Micaela did quite well though. I think Bizet put in the part to contrast her moral character with those of the other actors. I have never felt that click, and this is no exception.

Escamillo is very athletic, jumping onto and off tables with ease. His entrance was on a (real) horse and his singing was weak and a bit out of tune. I initially attributed it to the fear of animals (who wouldn't be, having to stand on the stirrups.) Eventually I decided his athleticism isn't matched by his singing ability, which is too bad as the toreador's song is one of the best tunes around.

All in all, this was enjoyable, although not as good as it could be. See the Sydney Morning Herald review for a different take on the opera – they are much kinder than me.

Metropolitan Opera – Wagner's Die Walkure, February 2, 2008.

Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center – Grand Tier, Seat Box 30-5 ($115).

Conductor – Lorin Maazel; Sigmund – Clifton Forbis, Sieglinde – Deborah Voight, Hunding - Mikhail Petrenko, Woten – James Morris, Brunnhilde – Lisa Gasteen, Fricka – Michelle DeYoung.

Story. Sigmund falls in love with Sieglinde, who is married to Hunding. Hunding challenges Sigmund to a duel. Woten sends Brunnhilde to help Sigmund, but is later forbidden by his wife Fricka to do so. Sigmund is killed and Brunnhilde is punished by Woten for disobeying him. Woten nonetheless puts a wall of fire around Brunnhilde to protect her.

This opera is the second in Wagner's famous Ring Cycle, and the story is quite a bit more complicated. Among other things, Sigmund and Sieglinde are twins, and yet they get married and Sieglinde is pregnant. (She later gives birth to Siegfried who marries Brunnhilde, which complicates things even further: but that is another opera.) Woten seems to be the father of everyone, including the two protagonists and all the “Hildas”. Yet his wife defends the sanctity of marriage.

This is a rather long opera at 4 hours 45 minutes, yet Loren Maazel, who can seem lethargic when conducting the New York Philharmonic, was very energetic. While he used the score, but he was undoubtedly very familiar with the music. We could see him cuing and singing along with the soloists. Alas, there is only one familiar tune: The Rides of the Valkyries.

The singing was excellent. I can understand why people say Voight is a great Wagnerian soprano as her voice indeed soared above the orchestra. Since I didn't have a good view of the stage, I can't comment on the acting. The staging was okay, the fire scene was not as spectacular as I expected, but they should turn on more lights so we could see better.

Maazel had an interview in one of the magazines (probably New York, but I am not sure) which talked about his return to conducting the Met. He made the observation that Wagner, who wrote his own lyrics, wasn't that good a lyricist. Since I have forgotten all my German from my college days, and I depended on the subtitles to understand what was going on, I couldn't tell.

In any case, this was all-in-all an impressive performance. Some people still found reason to boo during the curtain call, though.

See the New York Times article on the return of Maazel to the Met podium. The review is kinder than usual, bordering on a rave.

New York Philharmonic – Riccardo Muti, conductor; Radu Lupu, Piano. January 26, 2008.

Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, Orchestra 1 (Seat G8, $59).

Program

Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54 (1841-45) by Schumann (1810-56).

Symphony No. 6 in A major (1879-91) by Bruckner (1824-96)

Just a few remarks about tonight's concert. We are seated in the seventh row from the front, on the right side. So we had a great view of the viola section, including the guy who played with great gusto. Seldom do I hear the violas that well ...

I am not familiar with the (supposed popular) Schuman concerto. It is about 30 minutes long, in three movements (Allegro affettuoso; Intermezzo: Andante grazioso; Allegro vivace). It is a pleasant piece, and the audience's applause was enthusiastic afterwards. The program notes talk about Schumann characterizing his dual musical personality as fiery Florestan and dreamy Eusebius, and this piece is more on the dreamy side, which (supposedly) was quite unusual for music of that period as composers tended to write for the virtuoso. I think back on what Joshua Bell said about virtuoso versus “deep” music during the New Year's New York Philharmonic concert (parts of which we saw on TV): the distinction is artificial, and both kinds of music should be treated with respect.

The Bruckner Symphony is rather long at about 60 minutes (it was certainly longer than the 53 minutes listed in the program notes). The program notes made a big deal about this being the L. Nowak 1952 edition. I suspect if I listen to this many times, I'd care. And how many in tonight's audience had listened to this symphony (or any Bruckner symphony, for that matter) enough times to care? Sometimes the pretentiousness of the program annotator (in this case James M Keller) is a bit much. The four movements are (i) Majestoso; (ii) Adagio: Very solemn; (iii) Scherzo: Not fast – Trio: Slow; and (iv) Finale: Moving, but not too fast. I also wonder why Bruckner would state his tempo in Latin and English :)

Muti is a well-known conductor, and we have seen him a couple of times. He looks younger than I would have thought. He seldom (if ever) laughs, but I assume he enjoys the music.

See the New York Times review. I am not sure what the reviewer is saying about the Bruckner sympony.

London Philharmonic Orchestra – Roberto Minczuk, conductor; John Lil, piano. January 19, 2008.

Royal Festival Hall at Southbank Centre, London. Seat Balcony D11 (GP 21)

Program

Beethoven Piano Concerto No. 1

Rachmaninoff Symphony No. 2

This concert hall was built soon after WWII and was refurbished recently. It is the home to both the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Philharmonia Orchestra. For all its years of existence, and the many trips we have made to London, this was the first time we went inside. The concert hall is pretty big, the stage is tiered so the audience has a good view of the performers. The acoustics are quite good also, perhaps it was the refurbishment? The seats are also quite comfortable.

Today's pieces are staple fare for the orchestra. I say that afterward as I wasn't sure how Rachmaninoff's Second Symphony would sound like. The Adagio movement is a very melodic one and many people are familiar with it.

Beethoven's first piano concerto sounds very Mozartian to me. Especially the last movement. I say that in no small part due to the many repeated notes in the melody, especially the last movement. To that end I find the performance a bit disappointing. There was simply too much use of the pedal which muddies up the music quite a bit. The balance between the soloist and the orchestra is quite good though; I never thought one part drowned out the other.

The Rachmaninoff was quite enjoyable, rousing at times. In general the precision is a bit lacking. The audience was quite enthusiastic in its reception.

Again, without a program (we were a bit late so didn't even look for them), I know little about the conductor, orchestra, or the soloist.

Belmont Ensemble of London – Peter G. Dyson, conductor. January 18, 2008.

Church of St. Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square, London. Seat N9 (GP 18).

Program

Mozart – Eine kleine Nachtmusik

Vivaldi – Spring from Four Seasons

Pachelbel – Canon

Mozart – Salzburg Symphony No. 3

Handel – Arrival of the Queen of Sheba

Vivaldi - Sinfonia 'Alla Rustica'

Purcell – 'Abdelazer' Suuite

Purcell - Chaconne

This is a very interesting church. It has been around for a very long time, and is well known for an orchestra (Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields). After several visits to London, I found out it also has a strong social program for the homeless (helps 6000 or so a year), and it holds both a Mandarin and a Cantonese service every week.

Today's program consisted of 10 pieces, some very short. A program would cost GP1.50. Again as a matter of principle I didn't buy one. The lighting was dim, so I couldn't quite make out the copy of the person sitting in front of me. I know some of the pieces (like Vivaldi's Four Seasons) but by-and-large was a bit lost. I continue to think the artists should protest this practice as many would not know who they are.

In any case, this was a so-so performance. There are about 10 plays plus a conductor. Some pieces called for a quartet, and the conductor would stay on. I am not sure that is necessary.

The soloist who was on the program couldn't play today, so a substitute was playing the Spring Season. She did okay, given the short notice, but not better than okay.

The church's acoustics are quite good. A bit too much resonance, though. Unfortunately the players were seated on the same level as the main sanctuary, so I didn't have a good view of them at all.

New York City Ballet – Prokofiev's Romeo and Juliet, January 13. 2008.

New York State Theater at Lincoln Center – Orchestra, Seat Q103 ($86).

Conductor – Faycal Karoui; Juliet – Erica Pereira, Romeo – Allen Peiffer, Mercutio – Adam Hendrickson, Benvolio – Antonio Carmena, Tybalt – Giovanni Villalobos, Nurse – Gwyneth Muller, Lady Capulet – Darci Kistler, Lord Capulet – Jock Soto, Paris – Christian Tworzyanski.

Story: The Montagues and Capulets are involved in a feud with people on both sides killed in fights. Romeo Montague and Juliet Capulet, however, fall in love and are secretly married. After Romeo is exiled for killing Tybalt, Juliet's parents try to force her to marry Paris. Juliet drinks a sleeping potion given to her by her priest which makes her appear to be dead. Romeo, not having gotten the priest's message, thinks Juliet is dead and visits her tomb. He finds Paris there, kills him, and drinks a vial of (real) poison and dies. Juliet awakes and stabs herself, dying by Romeo's side.

Ballet is an art form I still yet to have to learn to enjoy. Prior to this, I had seen a couple of performances of The Nutcracker at Christmas time. At Anne's “urging”, we went to this “can't miss” one. Prokofiev's R&J is considered the heir apparent to Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty. I am familiar with only a couple of the numbers, vaguely at that. The conductor did his job with great energy.

The performance was quite enjoyable. A couple of the scenes were actually moving. I don't know if it was the dancers, the music, or the fact that the story was well known, so one could guess what is happening even without a “blow-by-blow” account of the choreography – and the program notes did a good job of that. The staging was a bit disappointing, although there was clever use of curtains and moving parts.

The dancers all seem quite young. Anne heard while waiting in line for the ladies' room that this is the “trademark” of the chief choreographer (Martins). I couldn't even find Erica Periera (Juliet) listed under the principal dancers section. There is no reference to the conductor anywhere I could find either (which brings to my mind the question: how much is the conductor of a ballet involved with the actual stage acting and choreography?). Periera is quite young looking; and her small size probably made Romeo's job easier, although you could still see quite a bit of sweat on his forehead. There wasn't any of this precision group movement associated with group ballet, and I don't know enough to appreciate the techniques or levels of difficulties involved.

While some of the dances were elegant, I can't help but wonder if the performance would be equally gripping if the dancers actually just mimed the play. This is more a remark about my lack of appreciation of ballet as an art form than the art form itself. The nurse actually had real shoes with heels on. Her character is quite comical and enjoyable. The young mandolin dancers provided additional comic relief, and I am sure one of them tripped (but recovered). They didn't share in the curtain call, though.

The ballet is quite long at a bit over 2 hours, with a rather short 15 or so minute intermission. I had thought, what with all the running around, that the dancers would have needed more rest. It was also amazing how soft the dancers landings sounded. These must be great athletes.

Our seats were quite close to the stage and had a good view of it, but we couldn't see much of the orchestra in the pit. Also, if a tall person sits in front of you (as in this case), then you get only a partial view that can be remedied sometimes with moving your head from side to side.

I am not sure I will start scouring the calendars to see what other ballets are on, but won't mind seeing another one if it is interesting enough.

Lately we have quite a bit of Prokofiev (War & Peace and this ballet) and Shakespeare (Macbeth and this ballet). More happenstance than planning, we enjoyed them, though.

The New York Times review of the ballet is quite brutal. It also laments the frequent change of dancers for this season's performances.

Metropolitan Opera – Verdi's Macbeth, January 12, 2008.

Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center – Grand Tier, Seat Box 30-4 ($115).

Conductor – James Levine; Macbeth – Ziljko Lucic; Banquo – John Relyea; Lady Macbeth – Maria Guleghina; Macduff – Dimitri Pittas.

Story: Macbeth and Banquo are told by a group of witches that Macbeth is going to become first the Thane of Cawdor and then King of Scotland, and that Banquo's descendants will be the father of kings. After Macbeth is made Thane, he, at his wife's urging, assassinates King Duncan and assumes the throne. To prevent Banquo's children from taking over, Macbeth tries to have Banquo and his son Fleance killed; Banquo is killed, but his son escapes. Macbeth visits the witches again and is told “no man of woman born” can harm him and he will be invincible until Birnam Wood marches on his castle. Meanwhile, both Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are haunted by their deeds, and Lay Macbeth eventually dies. Macduff, who has fled Scotland because of his disgust with what happened in Scotland, comes back with English soldiers camouflaged with branches from Birnam Wood, and tells Macbeth that he had a Caesarean birth before killing Macbeth and installing as King Malcolm, son of Duncan.

Shakespeare's Macbeth is based loosely on the historical Mac Bethad mac Findlaich, king of Alba from 1040 to 1058. I had not read nor seen the play, but the story as told in the opera was quite easy to follow. Macbeth's role was supposed to be sung by Lado Ataneli, the “substitute” Lucic is also singing the role in this season's production, not an understudy.

Our seats had only a partial view (left side) of the stage, and I had to stand to get a reasonably good view. The subtitle panel is on the left (away from the stage); it was much easier to read Anne's panel. The seat really should be charged as an SRO seat. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the opera tremendously with only a few minor quibbles.

I had seen Levine conduct a few times before (a couple of Mozart operas and Donizetti's Lucia), and was not all that impressed despite his reputation. We had a good view of the pit (and least the left side) and I could see the lines in the score with binoculars. Levine conducted with great energy and excitement today; he did have to sit on a high chair though.

The program notes says “The score of Macbeth features very little of the melodic abundance that made Verdi famous.” That was probably true. However, the drama is so gripping that everything seemed to fit together very well. On the one hand, I don't think there is one single aria that is “hummable”; on the other hand, having just seen Prokofiev's War and Peace a couple of weeks ago, I suspect most operas would have sounded quite melodic to us. I always have trouble when staging is “freshened up” (in this case to post-WWII Scotland.) So we now have guns and a Jeep rather than bows and arrows and whatever transportation they used in the 1000's. The killings were still done with knives and swords, though. Also, the opera ends with people singing praises to the triumphant return of Malcolm. I don't know how the play ends, but a more dramatic end could have been when Macbeth is killed. I also thought the “crystal ball” showing the apparitions was a bit amateurish; Banquo's ghost roaming the grounds is more effective, and reminds one of the young lady in Lucia.

The singers all did a great job. Lady Macbeth's role is particularly difficult; she had to start Act 1/Scene 2 without accompaniment, I was worried (needlessly) of course, that she would miss her pitch. However, she did seem to have trouble reaching the high note (D flat) in the sleep walking scene; and it wasn't done with the “thread of voice” called for by Verdi. Actually, she shouted most of the time. Nonetheless, her depiction of Lady Macbeth was evil enough. Also, the actors had to do a lot of falling down, which they managed without hurting themselves.

The performance we saw was broadcast live on WQXR. The commentators kept referring to the play as “The Scottish Play”, saying it is considered bad luck to name the play by name. I wonder why.

Anne forgot to turn off her cell phone. And sure enough it rang, and caused great commotion, when Ellie tried to call. The upshot of that was we were quite embarrassed, but had home-cooked Lasagna for dinner at Ellie's place that evening.

I am going to London later this week and may visit Stratford-upon-Avon. Too bad they don't have a production of Macbeth, it would have been interesting to see how the play compares with the opera.

See the New York Times review. It is quite informative on the production and has a good analysis of the Met performance.

Metropolitan Opera – Prokofiev's War and Peace, December 28, 2007.

Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center – Grand Tier Rear, Seat G25 ($140).

Conductor – Gianandrea Noseda; Andrei – Vasili Ladyuk, Natasha – Irina Mataeva, Sonya – Elkterina Semenchuk, Pierre – Alexei Steblianko, Anatol – Vladimir Grishko, Helene – Ekaterina Gubanova, Dolokhov – Alexander Morozov, and many others.

Story: Andrei falls in love with Natasha and they are eventually engaged to be married. However, Andrei's father does not like Natasha, so he sends his son away. Natasha eventually meets Anatol who gives her a love letter written by Dolokhov. Natasha and Anatol plan to elope but are thwarted. Natasha then overhears Andrei's good friend Pierre saying Anatol is already married. Pierre, who is married to Anatol's sister Helene, is also in love with Natasha. Natasha tries to commit suicide, but is unsuccesful. Meanwhile, Napoleon is preparing to invade Russia, and the Russians are defiant. The war begins and the Russians flee Moscow to protect other parts of the country, torching the city as they do so. Pierre is caught with others for arson and narrowly escapes execution. Andrei also fights in the war, is wounded, and is cared for by Natasha, to whom he declares his love again before he dies. Pierre is freed by Russian soldiers, and learns Andrei has died, and that Natasha is still alive. Meanwhile the Russians repel the French and the opera concludes with a victory celebration.

Tolstoy's War and Peace is 1500 pages long, and the story in the opera (more coherent than the synopsis I put together) focuses on the lives of Natasha, those that love her, and the unsuccessful invasion of Russia by the French. Prokofiev's work was censored by the government, so I suspect it is much more sympathetic to the Russians than the book is. Indeed all the back-and-forth on what is acceptable delayed the final work so much that Prokofiev didn't live to see the opera performed in its final form.

To say this is a Met performance is a bit of a stretch. While Noseda is on the Met's roster, this is the only opera he is conducting for them. Most of the soloists are from Russian (predominantly Mariinsky Theater, which the program acknowledges as a co-producer). The advertisements probably oversell the opera a bit, saying it has 60 plus solo roles, for instance. Perhaps there are that many, and the list in the program is very long. However, many of the soloists have one or two lines, and (thankfully) only fifteen or so of them were there for the stage call.

Prokofiev managed the 4 hour 30 minute (with only one intermission) opera without one “singable” tune, quite a feat. Despite that, the drama is compelling enough that it didn't feel long at all. (Similar experience with the Cantonese opera we saw recently.) I suspect, as with my experience with other Prokofiev pieces, the music will grow on you – but who is willing to sit through multiple productions of this opera, and it isn't easy to find one performed in your area! They certainly used a lot of singers, actors, dancers, and extras. Many scenes called for crowds, some of them running. There was this scene describing the wounded and oppressed where a poor guy was carried strung up on a pole. The by-and-large spartan staging is a bit disappointing. Most of the scene changes (13 scenes and a choral epigraph, in the two acts) were done with the aid of a rotating platform and props dropped from the ceiling. I find the one where Napoleon was standing above a pile of dead bodies (mannequins, no doubt) particularly macabre, perhaps that was the idea. I find the staging in Magic Flute much more impressive. Then again, the Magic Flute performance I saw in November was the 385^th production, and this was the 17^th.

Just a few remarks on the performance. Valery Gergiev is the conductor most associated with the “revival” of this opera and conducted some performances, I wonder what it would be like to see him. Noseda conducted with great energy, though. The New York Times reviewer talks glowingly of the soprano in Natasha's role, however she didn't sing in the performance we saw: in that case, I thought Sonya (mezzo soprano) did better.

It is quite unlikely I will see this opera again. But I am glad I saw it.

See also the New York Times review. The headline says “52 soloists and 1 horse,” and the text says there are 68 roles. I disagree with the assessment that “the opera was conceived as a series of telling scenes for an audience who knew the novel thoroughly.” I had no trouble following the story; granted, the episodes may be more compelling in the context of the entire novel. It was an informative review, but a bit short on critique and assessment. According to the reviewer, the rotating set is a bit dangerous and people and props have been known to fall off (into a safety net).

Hong Kong China Philharmonic Orchestra – Lim Kek-han, Conductor/Violinist. December 8, 2007.

Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall. Seat Front Stall D24 (HK$180).

Program

Overture to Rosamnude by Schubert

Violin Concerto in D, Op. 77 by Brahms

1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky

Yellow River Cantata by Xian Xinghai

This was the fourth concert we attended this week. We again found out about it in the newspaper we read on the way over from Los Angeles. David and Ruby also came along; they got into town the evening before. We had a quick bite at the Macau Restaurant beforehand.

The best way to describe this concert was that it was an unmitigated disaster; this is particularly true of the first half. Exactly as David predicted. David said he listened to the conductor play the violin a few years back, and said he wasn't quite up to job then. I was joking he had had that many years to practice, so must have improved a lot. Was I wrong!

Now, how was it a disaster? Let me count the ways.

Tuning. Usually after the cacophony of the different instrument trying to line up with the A from the oboe, there is this sweet harmonious sound that comes from the orchestra. You could definitely the some instruments were not quite there, but then the players set their instruments down. There is no clock that makes it necessary for the orchestra ready by a certain time. Now with this group, you may need another 15 minutes. This problem plaques the soloist as well. After the first movement (of the Brahms Concerto), we were quite sure his violin was out of tune, and he was struggling with his intonation already. He didn't see the need to retune his violin, to our utter disbelief.

Technical ability. The music was beyond the technical ability of many of the players. This starts with the soloist who had difficulty with many of the passages, and completely butchered the double stops. Now Brahms isn't an easy piece, but at least one should be able to do the second movement with some semblance of artistry. He should have gone for Mozart or Vivaldi instead. Since the Principal Conductor (Lin) was the soloist, the concertmaster conducted the orchestra. He conducted to the extent that he kept the beat, but the orchestra was certainly confused. During the 1812 Overture the triangle player managed to come in just a fraction late (which would mean she was reacting rather than anticipating). The funny thing was her colleague then worked with her by teaching her how to rock to the rhythm – amazingly, it worked. Anne knows this “teacher” from her company's Hong Kong office.

Precision. I suspect they did not work on this at all. When your players can't even count properly, it would be difficult to ask them to be precise. A glaring example was the last note of Schubert's overture where the concertmaster played it short while everyone else played it long. Also, during the 1812, there was great confusion for a couple of measures where a couple of section were a half measure or so off. They eventually fixed it.

“Yellow River” is a well known piece among the Chinese. It was written in the early 1900s but has been adopted (some might say hijacked) by left-leaning folks as a patriotic song. In my college days it was associated with Communist China and was quite popular during the days students were protesting against Japan on the ownership of Spratly Islands. After these many years, the political associated is greatly diminished. The cantata nonetheless is still quite popular – it is an enjoyable piece. The performance was okay, the soloists (except one) projected reasonably well. I had never listened to the entire piece, so was glad to be able to do it.

At the end of the program, the orchestra and chorus played a couple of encores. The conductor bowed and then launched into them. They repeated one of the songs (No. 6) in “Yellow River” and played a (I'm sure) Sousa piece. We suspected the conductor was afraid if he went backstage everyone would get up and leave.

The question I have is: Do they know they are bad? I look back on my high school and university orchestra days, and wonder if we were that bad. No, we couldn't have been this bad!

Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra – David Atherton, Conductor; Viviane Hagner, Violin. December 7, 2007.

Hong Kong Cultural Centre Concert Hall, Seat Stalls F5 (HK$240).

Program – Pure Sibelius (1865 - 1957)

Karelia Suite, Op. 11 (1893)

Violin Concerto in D minor, Op. 47

Symphony No. 6 in D minor, Op. 104

Finlandia, Op. 26 (1900)

This turned out to be the third of the four concerts Anne & I attended during our week or so in Hong Kong. We again discovered the event late, and were surprised that tickets were available. The auditorium is on the small side, and it was about 80% full (not counting the sections that were left empty). We went with my sister Ling and her husband Wally.

Our seats were in the sixth row, a bit to the left. So we had a good view of the soloist, the conductor, and the orchestra (at least the first violins). Seating upfront actually gives you a limited view of the entire orchestra, but it is also fun to see clearly how the artists approached the performance.

One would expect a pure Sibelius event to be quite depressing, given the reputation of the composer. It wasn't the case this evening, though. Some of that was the programming, and some of that, alas, was how the conductor chose to interpret the music (incorrectly, in my opinion).

Sibelius composed eight pieces based on the Kalevala legends for a pageant; he subsequently destroyed four of the eight pieces, and published three of the pieces as the Karelia Suite, so named for the region where the legends mostly came from. The three pieces are: Intermezzo, Ballade, and Alla Marcia. We have heard other works by Sibelius based on that region also. I couldn't hear the timpani at first, although the balance seemed to improve as the performance went on. Nonetheless, I thought in general the performance didn't sound “Sibelian” enough and didn't quite depict what was described in the program notes. (E.g., there wasn't much bombardment coming across in the Alla Marcia movement.)

Much has been written about Sibelius as a violinist, and today's program notes mentioned that he actually was rejected by the Vienna Philharmonic as a violinist.

Hagner looked much younger than the photos shown in the program. I had never heard of her, and didn't know what to expect. In general, she acquitted herself very well. Technically she was superb, despite the initial jitters. The first movement was a bit disjoint and unfocused, but the third movement was very well done. Her face at times showed more pain than the music, though. She will be playing with the New York Philharmonic and the Boston Symphony next year.

The symphony was surprisingly upbeat and relatively simple in structure; there wasn't this continuous moving forward that I have come to expect of Sibelius's work. The four movements are: Allegro molto moderato; Allegretto moderato; Poco vivace; and Allegro molto. The first three were quite short and ended unexpectedly; the fourth movement did have more of a “fanfare” feel to it.

Finlandia is always a crowd pleaser. one of the melodies has been adopted as the tune for the hymn “Be Still my Soul.” Given the sentiment of patriotism the original composition is supposed to incite, one wonders if it is appropriate to adopt the tune that particular way. In any case, it was an exciting conclusion for the evening.

Atherton has an impressive resume, but I didn't find his conducting tonight particularly inspiring. The Hong Kong Philharmonic is adequate, but there is still much to be desired, especially in the area of precision. It may be interesting to put out a “Pure Sibelius” program, but the notes should explain a bit how the different pieces hang together as, say, a representation of the different stages of Sibelius's work.

Yeung Ming Cantonese Opera – Dream of the Red Chamber. December 4, 2007.

Hong Kong Ko Shan Theatre, Seat Stalls L44 (HK$280).

Music Director – Tsang Kin Man; Jia Bo Yuk – Lau Wai Ming, Lin Dai Yuk – Wen Fei Yen, Mother Jia – Lin Bo Shen, Shue Bo Chai – Chan Ming Ying.

Story: Lin Dai Yuk, orphaned at a young age, is raised by the Jia family. She and Jia Bo Yuk grow up together and fall in love with one another. However, the Jia family wants Jai Bo Yuk to marry Shue instead, and they conspire to lie to Jia Bo Yuk with a "bait and switch". When Lin Dai Yuk finds out, she dies of a broken heart. During the wedding ceremony, Jia Bo Yuk finds out about the switch, and that Lin has died. He comes to Lin Dai Yuk's altar and dreams of her (thus the title of the play). When he awakes, he throws away the family heirloom and leaves home.

Despite having grown up in Hong Kong, I actually know very little about Cantonese Operas. I vaguely recall going to a “Grand Opera” as a small child, probably during the Chinese New Year, with my parents. These festival performances were long drawn out affairs and people went to see parts of the opera rather than sit through the entire work. Of course I know of the famous ones like “The Butterfly Lovers”.

Tonight's performance was quite an experience. A few thoughts come immediately to mind. It was long at over four hours, comprising a dozen or so scenes with short breaks in between (for scenery changes) and a 15-minute break two-thirds of the way. People felt free to talk during the show, sometimes rather loudly. The traditionally heavy makeup made it difficult to tell the different actors apart (especially the women). The lead man's role was played by a woman. A man played the role of the grandmother. I don't know much about Chinese music, so I found the accompaniment repeating after the singer a bit strange. The orchestra was quite small at 10 or so instruments, but produced a reasonably rich sound.

The singing was okay. I do not know what constitutes virtuoso singing in this genre, but the audience did applaud quite enthusiastically after certain renditions. However, it appeared the singers had to take lots of breaths. The two main characters actually appeared on stage at lot, so they had to be tired after four hours of singing, even with the help of a rather good audio system.

The book on which the play is based is very well known. I have to admit I haven't read it, so do not know how much of the original story was kept. What I saw, however, was a very simple plot; easy to follow, but leaves one wondering if there can be more. Given the plot of the opera, a lot can be edited out to make it quite a bit shorter. Editing out unnecessary passages after they have been written is a difficult task. And the writers here didn't do a good job of it. All this, however, may be applying a different set of rules and expectations to the genre. I do think the enjoyment of the opera can be greatly enhanced if the words (and an English translation) were available as subtitles. But that would greatly increase the expenses involved.

There wasn't much of a chorus in the opera. The one exception was during the dream sequence. Eight women (angels or fairies) were singing and dancing. The choreography was quite bad, unfortunately.

I guess about 30 million or so people speak Cantonese, and wonder how the genre got started and how well accepted it is in today's environment where Western culture seems to find its way deeper into the Chinese society. Indeed tonight's attendees were dominated by women of middle age or higher (and I am being charitable). Quite a few appeared to be enthusiastic fans of the genre and the actors. Some brought along flashing signs with the name of the principal actress (who was playing Jia Bo Yuk). Nonetheless, there was only one performance of this opera, and one can imagine the time and effort put in by the artists.

I rather enjoyed the show, and at times was moved by the plot. I can't say I have become a fan of the genre, though.

Fou Ts'ong Piano Recital – December 2, 2007.

Hong Kong City Hall Concert Hall, Seat Stalls V24 (HK$400).

Program

Berceuse Heroique (1914) by Claude Debussy (1862-1918).

Sonata No. 33 in C minor, Hob XVI: 20 (ca. 1765) by Joseph Haydn (1732-1809)

--- Moderato

--- Andante con moto

--- Allegro

Three Mazurkas, Op. 59 by Frederic Chopin (1810-1849).

--- No. 1 Mazurka in A minor: Moderato

--- No. 2 Mazurka in A-flat: Allegretto

--- No. 3 Mazurka in F-sharp minor: Vivace

Barcarolle in F-sharp, Op. 60 (1846) by Chopin

Sonata in B-flat, D960 (1828) by Franz Schubert (1797-1828).

--- Molto moderato

--- Andante sostenuto

--- Scherzo: Allegro vivace con delicatessa – Trio

--- Allegro ma non troppo

Most students of music in Hong Kong in the 60s knew about Fou Ts'ong. He was one of the few Chinese artists known worldwide during that period. I don't remember much about him except he was well regarded for his interpretation of Chopin. He performed in Hong Kong quite a few times when I was a high school student, but I never got a chance to hear him, and do not have any of his records.

We read about his recital in Hong Kong on the plane from LA to Hong Kong. Since we were landing the day before the event, we were sure no tickets would be available. Surprisingly, when we called the next morning, we were told tickets were available in all price categories. We arranged to have an early dinner with Anne's brothers, and managed to make the concert.

I seldom go to piano recitals, the last one I remember was a performance by Mitsuko Uchida at Carnegie Hall, several years ago. I vaguely recall her playing a couple of pieces by Chopin also, and, thinking back, that performance makes for an interesting comparison with Fou Ts'ong's performance tonight.

When Fou walked on stage, the first impression, unfortunately, was that he is old. Well, he was born in 1934, so he has every excuse to appear and act old. One of the reasons I don't like recitals is the loneliness projected by the artist (I'm sure that's not how they feel). In tonight's case, there was more melancholy than usual. He actually needed to support himself on the piano before he sat down, slowly.

His demeanor changed, drastically, once he started playing. The sound of the piano seemed just right, and he appeared absorbed in it. Well, I was so absorbed in it that Anne had to give me a nudge because I was “soundly” falling asleep. (Thankfully, it was only a short snort.) Now I was fighting both the jet lag and a severe bout of coughing, which I managed to suppress rather successfully, at great personal discomfort.

I am quite sure all the pieces are virtuosic compositions. He seemed to get through them with the greatest of ease, getting the notes out in their own good time, at the right tempo, without any hint of having to struggle. This contrasts considerably with Uchida's playing, my recollection of which was the pieces were barely within her grasp.

On the other hand, however, both the Chopin pieces seemed to lack the passion one would expect of the composer's works. Fou's analytical approach to music is further exemplified by the program notes provided by him. They give a good but analytical description of the works, but are short on background and the story the composers were trying to tell. The reader (and listener, if he listens while following the description) gets a good appreciation of the structure of the piece, but is left wondering if the composers are trying to say anything. To again contrast with Uchida, there was great urgency and passion to her rendition.

It's only during the third movement of the Schubert sonata that I began to feel some emotion in the playing. Surely, Fou's program notes reflect this. Schubert died shortly after completing this sonata, and “One can sense and feel the spiritual resignation and acceptance and perhaps sublimation of all earthly struggles in this work.”

So I have mixed feelings about this concert. I am glad I got to see Fou Ts'ong, probably not in his peak form, but still demonstrating how a master approaches a concert. And the concert hall was quite full, with quite a few young people in the audience: I am glad people still remember and respect him in these days where Chinese superstars like Lang Lang and Li Yunde sell out concert after concert, all over the world.

Metropolitan Opera – Mozart's Die Zauberflote, November 17, 2007.

Metropolitan Opera at Lincoln Center – Dress Circle, Seat D2 ($125).

Conductor – Kirill Petrenko; Tamino – Joseph Kaiser, Papageno – Stephane Degout, Queen of the Night – Anna-Kristiina Kaappola, Pamina – Diana Damrau, Sarastro – Reinhard Hagen

Story: Three ladies kill the serpent that was chasing after prince Tamino. They tell Tamino they are followers of the Queen of the Night. Tamino eventually finds out the Queen of the Night is evil. He seeks after Pamina who is captured by the Queen. After passing the three trials, Tamino and Pamina are married.

Well, the story is much more complicated than that. For starters, there are Papageno and Papagena. The bird catcher Papageno has a lot of face time in the opera, although his is a secondary character. Papagena, on the other hand, speaks – with a squeaky voice - most of the time, and has only a couple of arias to her credit. And there is the good King Sarastro and his staff. However, one doesn't go to this opera for the story, but for the production and the songs.

This was an enjoyable concert. No so much for the story, which is a bit too complicated and a bit loose at the same time, but for the funny scenes and the enjoyable music. The most notable aria is the one sung by the Queen of the Night. It is only from reading the program notes that I realized the highest pitch was a C. I didn't know people could reach that high!

The many changes in scenes are a technical challenge, which the stage crew pulled off without a hitch. The Program Notes listed 10 scenes for Act 2, although it was more like a continuously changing scene. The use of people to animate the different animals (birds, lions – which I thought were bears) was also ingenious.

This is an opera one attends to have an enjoyable time but not to be moved by the story or gripped by the drama. It's worth the time, though. And one has to give the artists and production crew great credit as it is not a simple feat to pull off; which the Met did flawlessly.

This opera was of the last ones completed by Mozart, and he died soon after its premiere. I have seen quite a few (at least 4) of Mozart's operas, I have yet learn how to enjoy them as a complete work of art. I always find something wanting. In this case, there is not much of a story, even for a comedy.

A couple of additional remarks. The use of trios (as in three ladies, three spirits) and the many triangles is interesting, but best left to musicologists and Free Mason experts to decipher. Mozart's operas tend to be questionable in today's PC climate (treatment of women in particular). Somehow I have not heard people protesting loudly about this.

We moved across the street the day before the concert, and in the process misplaced the tickets. Since I bought them as a subscriber, all it took was a phone call to the box office and duplicates were waiting for us when we got into New York. Quite convenient.

See also the New York Times review of a later performance - here Damrau actually sang the role of the Queen. I was wondering why she would consent to do the role of Pamina, which while rich, is a bit sparse. Little did I know she would do both. She also retired her role as the Queen, so I won't get to hear her doing the crazy tune, that's too bad.

New York Philharmonic – Xian Zhang, Conductor; Vadim Repin, Violin. November 10, 2007.

Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, First Tier Center (Seat CC14, $59).

Program

Fanfare and Announcement from Three Pieces for Orchestra (1998, 2000) by Huang Ruo (b. 1976).

Symphonie espangnole for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 21 (1874) by Lalo (1823-92).

Symphony No. 7 in A major, Op. 92 (1811-12) by Beethoven (1770-1827).

The piece by Huang (I'm sure that's his last name) was 12 minutes long, with a clear demarcation between the fanfare and the announcement. The fanfare was reasonably easy to follow and, perhaps, to enjoy. The announcement, however, got to be a bit too out there for me. The composer evidently is highly regarded; he is now a doctoral student at Julliard and teaches composition at SUNY-Purchase. Let's hope he doesn't unleash hundreds like him onto the music world – one of him is plenty. I quote from the Program Notes the composer's words, “Everything has an end, and the end is a new beginning. It is true that these two pieces for orchestra are completed, but in an incomplete way. What is before, after, and beyond, is left to the listeners.” I am as puzzled today as when I first read this. The orchestration is quite interesting, though. There is this thing that made a wind-like noise when twirled (it would be the “rain stick”).

I didn't know Lalo was French, although I know the piece very well. In my defense, he was descended from a Spanish family; his ancestors were in France as early as the 16^th century, though. Most people who listen to this would call this a violin concerto, especially since it is considered a virtuoso violin piece. It's structure is not classically concerto-like as it has five moments of about equal length. The movements are: Allegro non troppo; Scherzando: Allegro molto; Intermezzo: Allegretto non troppo; Andandate; and Rondo: Allegro. Repin played the piece well, his Guarnerius violin soared above the orchestra. Curiously there is no clear cadenza in the piece that I could discern, although there were many challenging passages. My overall impression with this piece, however, is that it is not trying to go anywhere except to show off the violinist and provide many enjoyable tunes. These are not bad qualities for a piece to have; but not quite satisfying in this instance.

I got to really like Beethoven's 7^th symphony from listening to the slow movement in the Dearly Beloved soundtrack. It is a great and moving movement. The rest of the symphony is equally enjoyable. The four movements are: Poco sostenuto - Vivace; Allegretto; Presto; and Allegro con brio.

Zhang is surprisingly energetic. Most of the time she had full movements of her arms, and jumped around quite a bit. I am sure she will calm down as she matures – otherwise it would be difficult to still be conducting at age 75 (a good 40 years away, maybe?) She is quite short, even in heels, standing on the podium, she is still shorter than Repin. I wonder if that would affect how far she can go in her career. I do want to root for her, though.

See also the New York Times Review on the program.

A Tale of Two Cities ... the musical. November 6, 2007.

Asolo Repertory Theatre, Sarasota, Florida – Mezzanine, Seat D17 ($56).

Book, music & lyrics - Jill Santoriello; Director - Michael Donald Edwards; Sydney Carton – James Barbour, Charles Darnay – Derek Keeling, Miss Pross – Katherine McGrath; Lucie Manette – Jessica Rush, Madame Therese Defarge – Natalie Toro, John Barsad – Nick Wyman.

Story. Dr. Alexander Manette is released from the Bastille after a 17-year imprisonment and returns to London with his daughter Lucie and faithful banker Mr. Lorry. The young man Charles Darnay they meet is arrested as a spy on the word of Barsad; Darnay is however cleared by the brilliant defense put up by Sydney Carton. Both Darnay and Carton fall in love with Lucie but Darnay eventually marries Lucie while Carton remains a friend of the family. Darnay has to return to Paris to save a friend, but is arrested, again on the word of Barsad, who has changed his name after faking his own death. Darnay is condemned to the guillotine when Madame Defarge shows the crowd Dr. Manette's letter hidden in the Bastille, revealing Darnay as the nephew of the hated Marquis Evremonde. Carton gets Barsad to arrange a switch (of Carton) with Darnay in prison, and goes to the guillotine in his stead.

One reason we came to Sarasota this week was to see the world premiere of the musical “A Tale of Two Cities.” I have heard about this Dickens' book since I was a school kid but had never read it, and didn't know much about the story. I looked for the book when I was in Hong Kong and managed to buy an abridged version. The original is very long (it's Dickens, after all), so I am glad a digested version exists. The disappointment is the shortened version doesn't begin with the famous line “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.” It does contain Carton's famous last thoughts, though.

The show is going to be at the Asolo Theater for about four weeks. It has sold most of the tickets (17,000 total), ranging in price from $16 to $56. We noticed some companies were making this an event where employees and guests get to enjoy cocktails before the show. The local marketing people are doing a great job.

Including the 20 minute break, the show lasted 2 hours 50 minutes, which is a bit long. Act I was quite long at about 85 minutes, good thing the theater has adequate restroom facilities.

The company of actors numbered about 40, which is a bit large for the 500 seat auditorium. Similarly the sound system and attendant audio effects were a bit overwhelming. Since the Sarasota run is a preparation for (hopefully) a Broadway engagement, I can see the production staff agonizing over these issues.

The sets were more appropriate for the Asolo Theater, but the 2-story frames still managed to fill the entire stage. The design is generally elegant, at times ingenious. They need to be spiffied up considerably for Broadway, in my opinion. Comparisons with Les Miserables are inevitable, and the Tale pales in this instance.

Madame Defarge and Sydney Carton both put out impressive performances. Other actors/singers were okay, though not spectacular. Musical actors use mikes, this is the first time I see these small mikes protruding from the hairlines, quite interesting.

The story, especially at the beginning, appeared a bit disjoint from scene to scene. This may be due to how it was written, or how it was performed – I'm not sure. The storyline is remarkably close to the book, much to the writer Jill Santoriello's credit.

There are a few quibbles with the show, though. The most memorable song of the show “Out of sight, out of mind” is quite moving and done very well by Madame Defarge. However, to have the antagonist sing your best song is unfortunate. The typical theater-goer would like to walk away humming an uplifting song rather than how the rich enjoy not knowing the poor suffer. The only instance I can think of where this comes to close to working is Delilah singing “Mon coeur s'ouvre a ta voix” in Mendelssohn's Samson and Delilah, and it is a love song (even though the singer is insincere). The character of Sydney Carton could be developed a bit more. He has a lot of singing parts, but the transformation of the character is not well defined in the show.

It is beyond my literary capacity to compare Dickens with Hugo. Both stories involve social injustice, revolutions, love triangles, redemption, sacrifice, the list goes on. There is even the Tale's Little Gaspard to Les Miserables's Gavroche. In most, if not all, instances, the Musical Les Miz develops the character more fully; and the Tale certainly has enough running time to do so. Similarly, Valjean quickly becomes a sympathetic character; I believe the audience feels for Carton only towards the end. Les Miz also took more advantage of its catchy tunes, reusing them quite often.

It is clear the production staff is tuning the show. I actually went to a practice session in New York where they were rehearsing the Christmas song “Round and Round”. It is a nice tune, but it was deleted from the show we saw. Anne remarked the grave robber's song “No Honest Way”, while funny, wasn't necessary either. She also said there were some instances of humor that were incongruent with the mood.

Now to be as successful as Les Miz may be asking for too much. Even in its present form, I think the Tale ranks up there as one of the great musicals I have seen (and I have seen quite a few).