Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra – Louis Langree, conductor; Haydn’s The Creation. August 21, 2015.

Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, Orchestra (Seat T105, $53.50.)

Program

The Creation (1796-98) by Haydn (1732-1809).

Artists

Sarah Tynan, soprano; Thomas Cooley, tenor; John Relyea, bass.

Concert Chorale of New York, James Bagwell, director.

Given our being away so much so far this summer, that we were able to attend the sixth (if the opera “Written on Skin” is included) concert of the 49^th Mostly Mozart Festival was quite a feat.  Perhaps because this was also the conclusion of the Festival, there was this intangible excitement and buzz in the air that I thought was quite fitting.  I continue to admire the ability of this group of musicians to put forward a large number of programs in a few short weeks, and many of the pieces are technically quite challenging.

The oratorio is divided into three parts that follow an orchestral introduction called “The Representation of Chaos” describing the progression from the inchoate cosmos to the first appearance of light.  Part I describes the first four days where the heavens, the earth, and the plants were created.  Part II depicts the fifth and sixth days, in which sentient life (including animals and, of course, humans) was created.  In Part III Adam and Eve surveyed the creation and joined with the angels in praising the Creator.

The libretto, likely originally prepared for Handel, was about 50 years old when it was handed to Haydn during his second visit to England; it was amended by Gottfried van Swieten, who also prepared a German translation that preserved the prosody of the original

The male soloists were substitutes for the originally programmed Andrew Staples (tenor) and Brindley Sherratt (bass.)  Since I do not know either of them, I don’t know if it was an “upgrade” or a “downgrade.”  We have seen Relyea several times before in operas.  In Parts I and II the voices represented angels: Raphael – bass, Uriel – tenor, and Gabriel – soprano.  The bass and the soprano became Adam and Eve in Part III; Uriel had a couple of recitatives.  A member of the chorale (Erin Kemp, alto) was added to form a quartet at the end.

Our seats were reasonably close to the stage, so all the sounds came across quite well.  It didn’t start all that auspiciously, as the orchestra was a bit uneven (e.g., the upbow notes in the violins.)  That might have been an intentional way to depict chaos, although I doubt Haydn would have constructed his music that way.  The orchestra eventually settled down, and put in a good performance.  There were quite a few passage where only a few instruments (flute, clarinet, etc.) were used to accompany the singer, and those were pleasantly executed.  The continuo of cello and fortepiano also had some great moments.

The singers did a marvelous job, projecting their voices well.  They didn’t need to show a huge range of emotions as the mood of the entire oratorio is positive (we never got to Satan tempting Eve with an “apple”.)  I don’t know how much warning they had about the need for substitutes, but other than the occasional glance at the scores, there was little indication that these gentlemen were last-minute stand-ins (perhaps they weren’t.)  I did feel the tenor’s voice showed some strain towards the end; let’s hope he recovers for the second performance.

The Chorale sang the part of angels, and sang well.  The only issue I would haggle over is perhaps better diction.  We saw the same group last year, and they also had men and women in “mixed” formation; it was even more pronounced today.

The annotator (Peter Hoyt) for this program put in a succinct and clear Snapshot, but was exasperating in his main commentary.  I was close to sneering when he started to argue the music was part of the Enlightenment movement as it puts reason in a prominent position, and really shook my head when he then describes this as a likely “Counter-Enlightenment” composition that advocates the proper use of reason (to praise God.)  What’s wrong with taking words written by someone and setting it to great music?  Do we need to decipher if Haydn had a deeper message to convey, especially since we don’t/won’t know what that message is?  And is it necessary to use such big words as “inchoate” and “prosody?” (Words I stole earlier.)

I couldn’t find a review of the performance (too early,) but did see a glowing review of a performance in the 2009 Festival.  They wore white jackets then!

[Note added on 8/31: Here is the NY Times review of the concert.  The reviewer is "intrigued" by Hoyt's analysis.]

Anne and I both recall having heard The Creation in New Haven some years before, during the years we visited our daughter quite often while she was a student.  She graduated in 2005, and I couldn’t find any reference to the performance in this blog that started in April of that year – so it was at least ten years ago that we heard it.  We aren’t sure whether it was at the Yale auditorium or some other venue.  Of course I don’t remember much about that performance, but I do remember thinking that it was a complex composition at that time.  Not so today.

We spent a little time in Jersey City this afternoon, and took the PATH into the city after a quick dinner.  Today things worked well as travel in either direction took about 50 minutes.  Of course we needed to drive to and from Jersey City.

Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra – Cristian Macelaru, conductor; Lars Vogt, piano. August 14, 2015.

Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, Orchestra (Seat O10, $40.)

Pre-Concert Recital: Jon Manasse, clarinet; Ilya Finkelshteyn, cello; Jon Nakamatsu, piano.

Clarinet Trio in A minor, Op. 114 (1891) by Brahms (1833-1897).

Program

Symphony No. 39 in E-flat major, K.543 (1788) by Mozart (1756-1791).

Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58 (1804-07) by Beethoven (1770-1827).

This was our third concert in three days, and I felt surprisingly eager for it.  Anticipating traffic congestion along the way, we left a bit after 4 pm on this Friday afternoon.  And traffic was bad.  With traffic reports saying both the Lincoln Tunnel and the Westside Highway were congested, we took a detour via GW Bridge, going an extra 12 miles.  It actually worked, the trip took about 1:30 hours.  We had dinner at Amber.  It had moved to a much smaller place across the street from where it used to be.

Jon Manasse used to be the principal clarinet for the Metropolitan Opera.  Ilya Finkelshteyn is the principal cello of Cincinnati Symphony.  They both belong to the MM Festival Orchestra.  Nakamatsu was a Gold Medalist at the 1997 Van Cliburn Competition, which is no small feat.

Brahms had declared his retirement in 1890, but jumped back into music writing.  Even thought this was the first time I heard the piece, I enjoyed it.  As with much of Brahms’ chamber music work, this was on the introspective side, with elegant phrases and much give-and-take among the instruments.  I am sure with additional listenings and analysis I will enjoy the composition even more.  The four movements are Allegro, Adagio, Andante grazioso, and Allegro.

The main program is a bit on the short side, with each piece lasting about 30 minutes.  Mozart’s 39^th is in the group of three he wrote in quick succession in 1788.  We heard the 40^th a few days earlier, conducted by Louis Langree  This one certain is very different in character, much more playful after its solemn start.  It was a good performance, with the orchestra delivering crisp and energetic lines.  The movements are Adagio - Allegretto, Andante con moto, Menuetto: Allegro, and Finale: Allegro.

Beethoven’s fourth piano concerto is characterized very much by the great contrasts, with some commentators attributing it to his struggles with going deaf.  The cadenzas looked and sounded virtuosic.  This was the first time we saw Lar Vogt, a German pianist in his 40s.  He certainly proved my point that one could do great music without putting one’s nose close to the keyboard, as this was a very enjoyable performance – my only complaint is sometimes things sounded a bit muddled with too much pedaling.  Vogt looked serious during the light movements, and downright pained when the music got intense, and it got intense quite often.  After some enthusiastic applause, he (and the orchestra) played a slow movement from one of Mozart’s concertos.  The movements are Allegro moderato, Andante con moto, and Rondo: vivace.

The bio on Macelaru in the Playbill is certainly impressive, if “Sir Georg Solti Conducting Award” and “Philadelphia Orchestra Subscription” mean anything.  A check of the web indicates that Romanian-born Macelaru is in his mid-30s.  I wonder if he will break through as one of the leading conductors for his generation soon.

The New YorkTimes review characterized Vogt’s playing as “muscular,” and the reviewer heaped considerable praise on him, especially in his late evening performance of several piano sonatas (which we didn’t attend.)  Her assessment of the symphony performance was less than “hefty.”

Mahler Chamber Orchestra. Benjamin’s Written on Skin. August 13, 2015.

David H. Koch Theater at Lincoln Center.  Four Tier (Seat H107, $66.)

Story.  Agnes is married to Protector, who considers her his property.  Protector asks the Boy to make an illustrated book about the family (hence the title, since books were written on parchment then.)  Boy then begins an affair with Agnes.  When Protector finds out, he kills Boy and feeds his heart to Agnes.  Agnes commits suicide before the protector can kill her.

Conductor – Alan Gilbert.  The Protector – Christopher Purves, Agnes – Barbara Hannigan, Angel 1/Boy – Tim Mead, Angel 2/Marie – Victoria Simmonds, Angel 3/John – Robert Murray.

For reasons that are tenuous at best, this opera is part of the current Mostly Mozart Festival season.  It is presented in collaboration with the New York Philharmonic as part of the Lincoln Center-New York Philharmonic Opera Initiative, per the Playbill.  Perhaps there is a financial angle to it that I am not aware of.

Anne and I debated till the last minute if we wanted to see this opera, since that would mean driving into the city on three consecutive days. At about 2 pm in the afternoon I went to the MM website to buy the tickets, and discovered that only fourth tier seats were available.  It turns out there were quite a few empty seats in that level, so there was massive movement of people from the lower-priced seats to our neighborhood.

MM sent quite a few emails to promote this opera, so I couldn’t help but see the praise heaped onto the opera, such as Washington Post’s “the cultural event of the NY summer season.”  Well, I would call it “a cultural event,” since I assume not too many operas, especially modern ones, are being programmed in NYC during the summer months.  And, to be fair, there are some interesting aspects to this event.

First a few words about the staging.  The stage is divided into two levels.  For two of the three parts the the upper left level is a modern studio, upper right level depicts the woods, lower left is the wardrobe for the opera (modern), lower center is the main stage (bedroom, dining room, etc.) and lower right is the garden.  Not much happens in the upper and lower right portions of the stage.  Things are usually in slow motion in the upper and lower left portions.  For Part 3 a brightly lit staircase is on the right.  Not much (if any) changes between parts, so only a small pause is needed.  Sometimes people dressed in black will move the props around.

Curtain call.  Stage used in Part 3 of the opera.

All this makes for an interesting spectacle, although after a while things get a bit “old.”

The “modern” aspect of the opera is not limited to the staging and costume.  Some of the dialog refers to shopping malls and eight-lane highways.  It sounds funny, but I am not sure that’s the intended effect here.

The music is definitely different.  Of all the modern(ish) operas I have seen, the closest this comes to is that of Philip Glass’s.  Not as minimalist, but certainly the dramatic elements come and go incrementally, not suddenly (unlike Beethoven, for instance.)  As to the music itself, to me it is more like spoken dialog in a play, done with rising and lowering pitch.  When the characters sang, they often referred to themselves in the third person while narrating the action.  For example, you would have Protector singing “now the Protector is trying to put on his shoes.” (This phrase did not actually appear in the opera.)  As our seats are quite far from the stage, this technique – perhaps unwittingly – helped.

The word “chamber” in the name of the orchestra is a misnomer, because the orchestra is huge.  From the fourth tier we didn’t have a full view of the pit, but I could clearly see two rows of woodwind and brass players, and counted at least 24 of them.  However, the roster shows eight first violins and six second violins, on par with the MM Festival Orchestra.  It draws members from all over the world; for instance, only two of the fourteen listed violin players are from the US.

The sound from the orchestra was good.  Unfortunately, I used most of my bandwidth to try to follow the story and the action on stage, and thus couldn’t concentrate on the orchestra music.  The vocal singing was also good, no doubt helped by the sound system of the theater.  There was enough drama in the lines to keep the audience’s attention.  Countertenor Tim Mead sang the role of Boy, and this is one of the few instances I thought the voice worked very well.

For the last several weeks Anne and I spent a lot of time helping out with baby H, including some “night shifts” for me while the mother tried to get some rest.  When H fussed, I would pick him up and make up songs to try to calm them down; the music in this opera reminded me of that.  H’s older sister M is 2 ½ years old and talks incessantly, oftentimes offering a running commentary on what she is doing.  Not quite grasping the concept between her name “M” and the first person “I”, she would say something “M is now feeding the rabbit some soup.”  A lot of the dialog in the opera is of this nature.  Anne chuckled when I told her about these parallels.

The New YorkTimes review is positive, and contains additional information about the composition, George Benjamin and the librettist Martin Crimp.  The Washington Post review isn’t as sanguine; while the reviewer is generally positive with this opera, she also laments how low the expectations are when it comes to contemporary operas.

We couldn't see Gilbert from where we sat, but I assume he enjoyed himself given how well the orchestra sounded.  Benjamin also came out at curtain call.

Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra – Louis Langree, conductor; Matthias Goerne, baritone. August 12, 2015.

Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, Orchestra (Seat E15, $40.)

Pre-Concert Recital: Charlie Albright, piano.

Sonata No. 14 in C-sharp minor, Op. 27, No. 2 (“Moonlight”) (1801) by Beethoven (1770-1827).

Four Etudes, Op. 25 (1835-37) by Chopin (1810-1849).

Program

Symphony No. 25 in G minor, K. 183 (1773) by Mozart (1756-1791).

Ich habe genug, Cantata WV 82 (1727) by Bach (1685-1750).

Three Songs (1815-1826) by Schubert (1797-1828).

Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550 (1788) by Mozart.

We left the Boston area at around 1 pm after lunch with Joe and Jess (and baby H), and managed to get to New York a little bit after 5 pm.  There was ample parking on Columbus Avenue; we had dinner at Legend on 72^nd before going down to Avery Fisher Hall to collect our tickets, and early enough to attend the pre-concert recital.  All that was achieved by having multiple GPS systems running (the one in the car, Waze, and Anne using Google maps) and making multiple adjustments to the route along the way.

When Charlie Albright walked out, he looked familiar.  I realized that we heard him before, with BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Keith Lockhart.  He played Ravel’s Concerto in G, which I thought was okay, attributing some of the problems to the acoustics at our seat.  Meanwhile, he added an Avery Fisher career grant to his biography.

The Moonlight sonata must be one of the most well-known pieces in the piano repertoire, and as such the listener probably has some expectations of how it should be played.  That was certainly true in my case, and Albright broke many of those conventions.  That doesn’t mean it wasn’t played well; indeed I enjoyed it a lot, although I thought some passages could be taken at a slightly faster pace.  The movements are Adagio sostenuto, Allegretto, and Presto agitato.

Chopin’s etudes are also in the standard recital repertoire.  The ones listed in the program are No. 1 in A-flat major (“Aeolian Harp”), No. 7 in C-sharp minor, No. 11 in A minor (“Winter Wind”), and No. 12 in C minor (“Ocean”).  The Program Notes has a story assigned to each of the pieces.  Before he started playing, Albright announced that to put some Mozart in Mostly Mozart, he was substituting one of the etudes with someone’s adaptation of Rondo alla Turca (didn’t get either the switched out etude - probably No. 11 - or the adaptor’s name.)  Chopin’s etudes were difficult enough, the Rondo just made my jaw drop.  He had a lot of fun playing it, and the audience showed their appreciation with very enthusiastic applause afterwards.  I was impressed, my only misgiving was he didn’t need the oftentimes exaggerated body movements – his music playing spoke loud and clear.

During the break between the recital and the main concert, Anne saw him wandering around the Green Room on the second floor by himself.  A little unexpected, given how many fans he seems to have (many of them wrote on his Facebook page in Korean.)  She got an autograph from him, only after providing him with a pen; he didn’t have any on him.

Both of Mozart’s symphonies written in the minor key were on the program tonight.  The two were written 15 years apart, with No. 25 written when the composer was 17 years old.  Yet the two bear quite a bit of similarity, one of the most noticeable being the use of syncopation.  The other would be how sunny both sounded even though they were in minor keys.  The orchestra did a good job (it’s MM Festival Orchestra, after all.)  Our seats were in the fourth row, on the far left, so if we strained to our right we had a good view of Langree conducting.  He conducted with so much energy that I wonder how he looked doing Beethoven. The movements of Symphony No. 25 are Allegro con brio, Andante, Menuetto and Trio, and Allegro.  Those of No. 40 are Molto allegro, Andante, Menuetto: Allegretto, and Allegro assai.

Sandwiched between the two symphonies were the Bach cantata and three songs by Schubert.  I knew of Ich habe genug (it is enough) from one of the Bach Festivals I went to in Bethlehem, PA, but didn’t know it was based on what Simeon said when he saw baby Jesus (Luke 2:22-32: Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation …).  A reduced sized orchestra was used, e.g., there were five first violins instead of the usual eight.  The 20 minute cantata consists of (i) aria (Ich habe genug); (ii) recitative; (iii) aria (Schlummert ein, ihr matten Augen); (iv) recitative (Mein Gott! Wenn kommt das schone: Nun!) and (v) aria (Ich freue mich auf meinen Tod.)  It was composed in 1727 for the feast of the Purification of the Virgin Mary.

We have heard the baritone Matthias Goerne before, although I didn’t remember what he looked like (never sat this close before.)  He has a beautiful and sweet voice which I thought worked very well with this cantata, except for the low notes which didn’t come across too well.  Being in the fourth row, I could hear him very well, but wondered what he would sound like to those sitting further back.

To my relief, when he came back from intermission, Goerne raised his overall volume for the Schubert lieders against a full orchestra.  I really appreciated how he conveyed the sentiments expressed in the lyrics, as if he was reading a poem: melancholic, funny, wistful, puzzled, macabre, and unexpected.

The first song “An Silvia” was based on Shakespeare’s The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and is basically a tribute to a woman.  “Alinde,” written by Johann Friedrich Rochlitz, describes a long search for Alinda, who eventually appeared by the seeker’s side.  “Erlkonig” was written by Johann Wolfgang Goethe, it describes how a father tries to keep his son calm as he rides through the forest, pursued by Erlking, only to find the boy dead when he gets home.  Schubert wrote the pieces for voice and piano, the scores for tonight were orchestrated by Alexander Schmalcz (born 1969, An Silvia and Alinde) and Max Reger (1873-1916, Erlkonig.)  I enjoyed the orchestra music, they added a lot of "mood" to the songs.

Either the performance level has improved, or after three performances I finally found myself in a festive mood: I quite enjoyed the evening.  We bought some food from a street vendor and a couple of small cakes from Magnolia before we went home.

The New York Times review is positive.  The reviewer enjoyed both symphonies, and noted that there was a lot of Mozart in this program.  He thought Randall Ellis did an excellent job playing the oboe in the Bach cantata, I thought he was a bit weak.  The reviewer also identified the Rondo was adapted by Arcadi Volodo.

The next program we have tickets for is for Friday.  I am writing this Thursday night, after seeing the opera “Written on Skin,” which we decided on doing the last minute.  So we will have gone to three separate concerts this week.

Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra – Cornelius Meister, conductor; Sol Gabetta, cello. August 5, 2015.

Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, Orchestra (Seat T12, $40.)

Program

Overture to Le nozze di Figaro (1786) by Mozart (1756-1791).

Cello Concerto in C major (c. 1761-65) by Haydn (1732-1809).

Symphony No. 4 in B-flat major, Op. 60 (1806) by Beethoven (1770-1827).

This is the second of the five MM concerts we will be attending this summer.  I am writing this a week later, so I only remember a few things about the concert.  (That’s the reason why I blog, just having written something about an event makes it stay in my memory for a long time.)

The short but delightful overture is what summer music festivals are about, as least for me.  One could sit there and simply enjoy the music; and if one is in the mood, there is a lot to learn about this particular overture, and how Mozart made it interesting (e.g., by using a 7-measure theme.)

Haydn’s cello concerto was discovered about two centuries after its composition, in a Prague museum, and was heard for the first time in May 1962.  I have some level of familiarity with Haydn’s music (mostly his string quartets,) and wouldn’t have guessed this was written by him. I wonder if musicologists did a “number” on the discovered parts, because the piece – particularly the cadenza - looked much more difficult than I thought Haydn would write.  The 25 or so minute long program has three movements: Moderato, Adagio, and Finale: Allegro molto.

It was delightfully performed.  I saw Gabetta in Hong Kong several years ago playing Dvorak’s concerto (my memory probably was helped by having written about that concert,) and thought she did an overall good job. Tonight she was great, even though the cello came across a bit weak.

She played an encore that was modern sounding, and at some point sang some notes as part of the music.  I went back to my 2011 blog entry and noticed that she did the same thing (this I didn’t remember!)  My remarks were not the kindest (“keep her day job.”) Tonight her voice sounded much better.  Of course I am not sure it’s the same piece of music.

The program concluded with Beethoven’s Fourth Symphony.  Anne and I are sure we have heard this before, but neither of us thought it sounded any familiar.  Did the orchestra butcher the performance, or are we so forgetful?  The four movements are Adagio – Allegro vivace, Adagio, Allegro vivace, and Allegro ma non troppo.

As I was watching the musicians at work, it suddenly occurred to me my prior thought that the concertmaster was too energetic compared to the rest of the section might have the problem pinned on the wrong party: perhaps the rest of the section (and may be the entire orchestra) could use some of the enthusiasm he shows at these concerts.

Cornelius Meister looks very young, and he was dressed to the nines for this debut event.  I enjoyed how he led the concert.

I was surprised to find a New York Times review on this concert.  The reviewer raved about multiple aspects, heaping considerable praise on Gabetta and Meister.  He also named the encore piece (Dolcissimo movement by Latvian composer Peteris Vasks) which was written partly at Gabetta’s request. The reviewer also said “she is, no question, a better cellist than a vocalist.”

This morning (day of concert, not of writing) we drove back to New Jersey from the Poconos after spending a couple of days with Ellie and family.  Tomorrow (day of writing) we will drive down to New York from Boston to attend our third MM concert.

Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra – Louis Langree, conductor; Jeremy Denk, Piano. July 31, 2015.

Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, Orchestra (Seat V16, $40).

Pre-Concert Recital – Orion Weiss, Piano.

Klavierstucke, Op. 118 (1893) by Brahms (1833-1897).

Program

Chaconne in D minor for piano left hand (1720/1877) by Bach (1685-1750) (trans.Brahms).

Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, K.466 (1785) by Mozart (1756-1791).

Symphony No. 4 in E minor (1884-85) by Brahms.

Today’s program is more properly titled “Mostly Brahms.”  The entire program, including the pre-concert, lasted about 110 minutes.   Brahms was involved with every single work, while Mozart’s own contribution was less than 30 minutes.  In case one’s is wondering, the first movement cadenza in the Mozart concerto was by Brahms.  The annotator (Paul Schiavo) pointed out other rationale for how the program hangs together, such as the frequent use of minor keys, or how the pieces progress from one for a solo piano to piano/orchestra and finally for a full orchestra.

We heard the Chaconne piece played by Leon Fleisher in Toronto a few years back.  If I were to go back to my notes, I probably would have said something like “transcriptions from one instrument to another usually doesn’t usually work well as different instruments have different characteristics.”  Going back to my notes, I said “… it didn’t sound as good or natural compared to being played on a violin.”  If I were to make a comparison, I thought it worked much better today as the different lines were very well delineated.  Of course the percussive nature of the piano made some passages sound a bit disjoint.  It was overall quite enjoyable.

Of the many concertos Mozart wrote (close to thirty) only two are in the minor key.  Of course one can make the minor key sound sunny, and there are quite a few passages in this concerto that sounded that way.  Overall, though, it is more on the moody side, beginning with the orchestral statement at the start.

This orchestra introduction is my first encounter with the MMFO this season.  I went in with a rooting for them attitude, but was frankly disappointed.  Tentative, imprecise, uninspired were some of the adjectives that came to mind.  During the early moments when the pianist was having an ongoing dialog with the orchestra, I actually felt bad for the pianist as he tried to take the performance to a higher level.

The good news is that eventually he did.  Denk put in a well-structured and dynamic presentation.  Aided by the Program Notes, I rode along the ups and downs expressed by the composer and eventually let the music carry me along.

Denk played an encore that I would have guessed Bach as the lines were clear and the harmony traditional, except for the many rubatos.  Anne overheard someone saying it might have been composed by Faure.  Let’s just say one of us is very off.  In any case, I like Denk’s playing.  The Playbill writeup on him said he had performed with the New York Philharmonic before, but this was the first time I heard/heard of him.

I am quite familiar with the Brahms symphony, so have in my mind a “proper” way to deliver it.  Tonight I needed to make quite a bit of adjustments, including how small the orchestra is for such a big hall, but overall enjoyed it.  I was surprised how unfamiliar the fourth movement sounded, and attributed that to my always falling asleep after three movements.

The pre-concert was an intimate piece by Brahms (Intermezzo in A minor, Intermezzo in A major, Ballade in G minor, Intermezzo in F minor, Romanze in F major, and Intermesso in E-flat minor.)  The appreciation of the piece was greatly helped by the notes in the Program.

On the way home, we put on the Mozart concerto, performed by Malcolm Bilson on period instruments.  It sounded downright sunny.

We spent most of July in the Boston area.  We left Boston at around 10:30 am this morning and got to the Lincoln Center area around 4:30 pm, managing to find off-street free parking on a Friday afternoon.  We had time for coffee and a simple dinner before heading to the pre-concert.  The box office had some problem with locating my “will-call” ticket (misfiled, they said,) but things got squared away eventually.  Attendance was quite good (third tier was closed off,) but I wonder how many got discounted tickets like I did.

The Cleveland Orchestra – Strauss’s Daphne. Franz Welser-Most, conductor. July 18, 2015.

Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center.  Orchestra (Seat K112, $40.)

Story.  During the summer Festival of Dionysos, Daphne’s childhood friend Leukippos reminisces with her about the past.  While he tries to show his love, Daphne rejects him. When Daphne rejects the special clothes for the occasion, Leukippos is persuaded to put them on by two maidens.  Apollo arrives disguised as a cowherd and is welcomed by Daphne; he is drawn to her.  The celebration begins, and the disguised Leukippos offers Daphne wine which she accepts. Apollo is jealous and forces Leukippos to reveal his true identity, killing him in the ensuing argument.  Daphne acknowledges her responsibility for the tragedy.  Apollo also asks for forgiveness and asking to love Daphne in the form of a laurel tree.  This “bucolic tragedy,” as Strauss calls it, ends with Daphne singing off-stage among the shimmering sound of the orchestra.

Daphne – Regine Hangler, Leukippos – Norbert Ernst, Apollo, Andreas Schager, Peneios (Daphne’s father) – Ain Anger, Gaea (wife of Peneios) – Nancy Maultsby.

Concert Chorale of New York, James Bassi, music director.

I of course know many people with the given name of Daphne, but never did try to find out the story behind that name.  A couple of years ago, while visiting Rome, we stopped by the Borghese Museum, and saw this statue of Apollo and Daphne (by Bernini, 1620s); the story there was Daphne tried to evade Apollo’s advance by turning into a laurel tree.  Evidently with these ancient Greek myths many versions of the same story exist, and it is probably futile to try to determine what the original says.  On paper the synopsis provided does not make a lot of sense, but I had no problems with the story as the work was performed – perhaps the story is only a part of it in an opera.

We visited Rome's Galleria Borghese where a Bernini sculpture of Apollo and Daphne was on exhibit.

One of the more notable differences is the role of Leukippos.  Many versions have him as a god who disguised as a woman to be near Daphne, and was forced to reveal himself when Apollo got everyone to go take a swim at a river.  The way it is told in the opera works too.

My seat is designated row K, but is in the eight row as they had to extend the stage to accommodate the large number of musicians.  In mid-June we saw another opera in concert performed by New York Philharmonic, and it didn’t prepare me at all for this group of singers.  With the exception of the mezzo-soprano (Maultsby as Gaea, and she was no slouch,) every soloist had a booming voice.  And it was really amazing that they could keep it up for the entire 1:40-hour one-act opera, one considered highly demanding of the singers per Playbill.  Apollo and Daphne are the main characters, and neither faded during the performance.  Indeed Schager sounded fresh when he sang the aria “Jeden heiligen Morgen” towards the end of the opera.  I sometimes wished the singers would soften things a bit, both to preserve their voices and to get some of the emotions across, but mostly sat there in awe of how well they did.  In many ways the large orchestra was no match for the singers.  In many instances the singers were accompanied by only single instruments or small ensembles, and most of the time I could only barely make out the instruments.  Many of the singers are said to be well-known Wagnerian singers, and given what I heard today, I wonder why they are not better known in the US; I do wonder how they would fare in roles such as Brunnhilde, Siegfried, and Parsifal.  Doing it for 90 minutes is not the same as doing it for four hours.

Overall, the orchestra put in a great performance, starting with the overture.  This is one of Strauss’s later operas, but the Playbill speaks of “an entirely different harmonic language … Daphne’s warbling melodies are written mostly in the pentatonic scale, … Other passages deal mainly in the familiar major and minor (‘diatonic’) scales and chords.  Richard Strauss, known earlier as a chord-smasher and wielder of hair-raising dissonances, has left the building, replaced by a humorous and occasionally extravagant painter of pastoral scenes.” All I can say is, “it’s all relative.”  I listened to Daphne closely, and must say if there were any pentatonic passages, they must be “local” and were only a few notes long.  And I distinctly heard the subdominant and leading notes used over and over again.  However, I am sure one can point that out in the music score, it’s just that our eyes are wired differently from our ears (at least mine are.)

This opera was performed with the singers in front of music stands, although they do enter and exit the stage as their lines come on and end.  And it is “choreographed” in such a way that there are at most three soloists at the front of the stage at any given time.  I do wish they put at least some limited action into the performance, as it was I had to fill in many blanks by referring again and again to the synopsis.  For example, a toga (or whatever the Greek gods wore) would add a lot to the scene where Leukippos dressed up as a woman, or he could act “dead” after Apollo shot an arrow through him.  I can imagine some scenes being acted out during some music-only passages, but imagination could take me only so far.

I joined in the thunderous applause afterwards, standing up in appreciation of the great performance, and also to take a few photos with my iPhone.

Curtain Call with Welser-Most on the left.  To his left are Regine Hangler (Daphne), Andreas Schager (Apollo), Norbert Ernst (Leukippos), Nancy Maultsby (Gaea), and Ain Anger (Peneios.) The two ladies in white sang the role of maids.

The New YorkTimes review is very positive, yet the reviewer does find something here and there to critique.  The most brutal is reserved for the opera itself, with the reviewer calling it “not top-tier Strauss.”  Of course I can’t tell; and that is not what the Playbill description would have one to believe.  Also, the reviewer complained that the orchestra was sometimes too loud.  Maybe he had a different seat, my experience was entirely different; or the singers decided to give it their all after reading the review.

I wrote glowingly of the orchestra yesterday, and today’s experience just added to my admiration of the organization.  While I probably won’t move to Cleveland, I am tempted to visit Severance Hall.

I stopped by Ellie’s for a quick dinner, left my car in Jersey City, and left at 6 pm to take PATH into the city.  A series of unfortunate delays (and wrong choice of routes) meant I didn’t get into my seat until 7:29 pm for a 7:30 pm curtain (well, it didn’t start until around 7:40.)  That means I didn’t have time to visit the washroom before the performance, and I had left my house a bit after 4 pm!  Either the opera was mesmerizing, or I was very dehydrated from the heat, I sat through the whole thing without any problems.  It was about 11:30 pm that I got home.

The Cleveland Orchestra – Franz Welser-Most, conductor. July 17, 2015.

Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, Orchestra (Seat GG101, $40.)

Program

Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68 (“Pastoral”) (1806-08) by Beethoven (1770-1827).

Symphonia domestica, Op. 53 (1902-03) by Strauss (1864-1949).

Due to the birth of our third grandchild, Anne and I are spending most of July in the Boston area.  I came back by myself for a long weekend to take care of various chores at home. Earlier this week I found out from a Goldstar mailing that half-price tickets were on sale for this series of concerts, and bought tickets to two events: Friday and Saturday.  I took the train.

This would be my first exposure to the orchestra and the conductor.  The Cleveland Orchestra has been around for a while (since 1918, says the web) and it’s one of the “Big Five” in the US; before Welser-Most, its conductors were Szell, Boulez, Maazel, and von Dohnanyi.  For me the one known fact about Welser-Most was he recently resigned from the Vienna State Opera due to “artistic differences”; I was surprised that he has been with the Cleveland Orchestra since 2002.

Today’s program is quite interesting.  Beethoven’s was written at the start of the 19^th Century, and Strauss’s 20^th.  Both can be considered program music, with the composers providing some level of description for what stories the music was trying to tell.  For the five movements of Beethoven’s sixth we have (I) Awakening of cheerful feelings upon arriving in the country: Allegro ma non troppo; (II) Scene by the brookside: Andante molto mosso; (III) Jolly gathering of country folk: Allegro; (IV) Thunderstorm, Tempest: Allegro; and (V) Shepherd’s Song: Gladsome and thankful feelings after the storm: Allegretto.  Strauss withdrew most of his commentary from the score, possibly due to the embarrassment it may cause.  It was included in today’s Playbill: (I) Introduction and Development of the Main Themes - (i) The husband’s themes: easy-going, dreamy, fiery; (ii) The wife’s themes: lively and free-spirited, grazioso; (iii) The child’s theme: tranquil.  (II) Scherzo – (i) Happiness of the parents, (ii) Childish games, (iii) Cradle song (lullaby), (iv) The clock strikes seven in the evening.  (III) Adagio – (i) Doing and thinking; (ii) Love scene; (iii) Dreams and worries; (iv) The clock strikes seven in the morning.  (IV) Finale – (i) Awakening and merry dispute (double fugue); (ii) Joyous confusion.

Much music has been written about nature and outdoor scenes: for example, many of Debussy’s works (la mer, children’s corner) and Wagner’s (Overture to Flying Dutchman), and of course, Beethoven’s (moonlight sonata, although he didn’t call it by that name.)  This tone poem (I guess Symphonia domestica falls into that category) is unusual in that it describes a day in the life of the composer.  Strauss is not known for his modesty, having written Ein Heldenleben as a tribute to himself at the age of 34; here the music depicts just an ordinary day.

The Pastoral Symphony in and of itself is lovely, and I assume any competent orchestra can make it enjoyable.  However, this one felt definitely different after 20 or so notes (the first phrase has 13 by my count.)  The sound was just gorgeous – we are talking about Avery Fisher without the best acoustics, and a statement was clearly being made.  And the rest of the performance lived up to the promise.  The walk was scenic, the dances were happy, the storms were severe but over quickly, and the birds sang beautifully.  It was by no means a flawless reading, and every now and then some chaos crept in.  I am reminded of Emmanuel Ax’s playing, a slip every now and then does not detract from the overall interpretation of the composition.  During intermission I posted on my Facebook page: odd for a walk in the woods – moving.

A performance that would have made Beethoven proud.

This is the third time I heard Symphonia Domestica.  The description in the Playbill certainly helped, especially illuminating was the description of the three note sequences that denote Strauss and his wife Pauline.  It also paints a rather unflattering picture of her – boisterous, shrewd, whatever, however we don’t need to worry too much as the couple were married for over 50 years.

It is embarrassing that even with all this help, I still couldn’t quite follow the music closely.  Most notably I missed the first time the clocked chimed “seven.”  However, I am sure I got more out of this listening than my previous two.  Not only were the two “themes” (if one could call three-note fragments that) very helping in deciding who was being talked about, many of the melodies, such as they are, came across clearly.  The notes in the Taipei program from last October talks about aunts and uncles, no mention of them here.

This is a large orchestra (I counted nine basses, and New York Philharmonic has eight), and could produce a commensurate volume of sound.  I hope it wasn’t nearly as boisterous in the Strauss household as tonight’s performance would suggest.  However, as an abstract piece of music the loud sound made it enjoyable.

Welser-Most doesn’t seem to believe in the economy of motion.  His arms were carving giant curves all through the program.  Yet he could elicit a soft voice from the orchestra when necessary.  Even though the fourth tier of the auditorium was closed off, and the third tier only had few people sitting in it, the applause afterwards was certainly as enthusiastic as any I have seen.  And when Welser-Most asked the woodwind and brass sections to stand up, perhaps as many as 40 people did.

Curtain call, The Cleveland Orchestra with Franz Welser-Most.

The Program Notes in the Playbill is among the best I have seen.  Without using too many words, the annotator Hugh McDonald added a lot of insight into the music and the program.  Indeed if this blog entry is uncharacteristically insightful, it is becauseI borrowed a lot of his ideas.  And, as they say, the “verboseness is all mine.”

It was about 11:30 pm when I got back home.

New York Philharmonic – Honegger’s Joan of Arc at the Stake. Alan Gilbert, conductor. June 11, 2015.

Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center.  Orchestra (Seat R113, $64.50).

Program

Jeanne d’Arc au bucher (1935, prologue 1944) by Arthur Honegger (1892-1955).

Come de Bellescize, director.

Cast.  Joan – Marion Cotillard, Brother Dominuqe – Eric Genovese, Narrator and other roles – Christian Gonon; Erin Morley, Simone Osborne, Faith Sherman, Thomas Blondelle, Steven Humes, Charlotte Knutsen, Dashel Grossman, Thijs Beuming.

New York Choral Artists, Joseph Flummerfelt, director

Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Dianne Berkun-Menaker, director

Pierre Vallet, chorus master

Story.  Joan of Arc is handed over to the English after being captured by the Burgundians in battle.  She is tried and convicted as a heretic and is burnt at the stake in Rouen.  Facing her execution, Joan thinks back through her life with the help of a book brought in by Brother Dominique.  The flames rise to consume her as her book is closed.  The work is divided into a Prologue and eleven scenes: The Voices of Heaven, The Book, The Voices of Earth, Joan Given Up to the Beasts, Joan at the Stake, The Kings (or The Invention of the Game of Cards), Catherine and Marguerite, The King Sets Out for Rheims, THe Sword of Joan, Trimazo, and The Burning of Joan of Arc.

While we were in France last week we visited Chinon, Loire.  In town there stands a bronze statue of Joan of Arc in armor riding on a horse, and there are various institutions (such as a clinic) called J d’Arc in the area.  A peasant girl who was illiterate, she led France in many successful battles against the English in the 15th Century, but was eventually captured and burned at the stake, at the age of 19.

In front of the Jeanne d'Arc Statue in Chinon, France.

Tonight’s event is not easily categorized.  A staged opera is probably the closest descriptive term.  There is a set alright, but it consists of only one item: the stake.  The rest of the set is basically a walkway around the stage.  The cast and the singers have costumes, of an indeterminate period.  The NY Choral Artists (women only) are in white robes – angels?  The Youth Chorus members are dressed as peasants.  The Program Notes describes Marion Cotillard as a famous French actress who won an Oscar, so I said to Anne, “and she evidently could also sing.”  Turns out the three main characters (Joan, Brother Dominique, and the Narrator) didn’t sing at all.  The only exception was Joan singing a simple children’s song towards the end.  In that regard one can be excused as calling this a play.  With the help of overhead subtitles, I could readily follow the drama of the dialog (written by Paul Claudel, in a few days per the Playbill.)

Before the performance began, members of the orchestra, all dressed in black, seated themselves in the made up pit, which consists of the first rows of the auditorium surrounded by the aforementioned “stage.”  As a result, our Row R seats were actually about 10 rows from the stage.  What was unexpected was that Gilbert was already seated in the front, he simply stood up to get things going.

Turns out we had heard Honegger before; once, performed by the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.  Looking back over my blog, I wasn’t particularly impressed with him then.  With a story, and writing for a much larger ensemble, I found his music in turn dramatic, irreverent, and poignant.  The Playbill talks about how imaginative his orchestration is, such as the use of animals to portray the kangaroo court that convicts Joan.  This was also the first time I came across the instrument “ondes martinot.”

The orchestra put in a delightful performance, either on their own or in support the action on stage as well as the vocalists.  The singers did very well also.  In any case, Gilbert seemed to be enjoying himself tremendously.  The performance was well appreciated, if the applause at curtain call was any indication.

Curtain call after the performance.

The logistics required to put this together must be quite daunting, and all participants must be congratulated for pulling it off, with flying colors.  The sound system has to turned on for the dialog, I can imagine the sound control folks having a busy time.  In the Playbill we read that rehearsals were at the New 42^nd Street Studios.

The entire program was slightly over an hour.  We managed to get home a few minutes after 10 pm.

The New YorkTimes reviewer didn’t spare any word in praising the concert.  He even went so far as to ask the question “Will Mr. Gilber’ts successor bring such a clear artistic and intellectual mission to the Philharmonic?”  Well, if he had spoken up more often perhaps things would be different?  The review was beautifully written, but I do take some issue with the title “In ‘Joan of Arc at the Stake,’ Beasts With Burden of Judging.”

New Jersey Symphony Orchestra – Jacques Lacombe, conductor; Marc-Andre Hamelin, piano. June 7, 2015.

Prudential Hall at NJPAC.  Tier G (Seat C106, $37.)

Program – All Beethoven

Corialan Overture, Op. 62 (1807).

Piano Concerto No. 5 in E-flat Major, “Emperor,” Op. 73 (1809).

Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67 (1807-08).

Per the Program Notes, the piano concerto is the inspiration for today’s concert.  The overture and the symphony were both written around the same time, and also related key-wise as they are both in C minor.  On this point only people with perfect pitch can appreciate; I am not one of them.  Nonetheless both the concerto and the symphony are well-loved pieces, that we also have an overture in the program is a bonus.

The source of the overture is a drama by Heinrich von Collin, based on the same story as Shakespeare’s play.  It speaks of indecision and suicide, and the hero is destroyed at the end.  While I may not get the end result of “a tad depressing, but it is powerful in its finality,” I certainly enjoyed this relatively long (at 9 minutes) and not-often-performed music.

Of Beethoven’s five piano concertos and nine symphonies, the fifth in each category must be the most popular of the two genres.  They are probably the reasons this afternoon’s concert was nearly sold out.

The orchestra and the soloist gave competent renditions of both works, which were perhaps more formulaic than inspirational.  For the piano concerto, Hamelin just sat there and pounded out the notes with ease.  This is by no means an easy piece, but he made it look easy.  Our seats were quite close to the stage, and it appeared that he didn’t even break a sweat.  The orchestra was an equal partner with the soloist, providing support and contrast as necessary.

On a recent Jeopardy episode, no one could identify the Morse code …- as the theme from Beethoven’s fifth symphony, which was a bit surprising.  For today the notes that followed just came naturally, and rapidly.  For the next 30-some minutes the familiar sounds of the four movements (Allegro con brio; Andante con moto; Scherzo: Allegro; and Allegro) just flowed effortlessly in the auditorium.

We enjoyed the afternoon, as did the audience, if their applause was any indication.  Perhaps it is my growing respect for Lacombe and the Orchestra that made me wish for a more inspirational performance.

One other note, the General Manager (or CEO) of the Symphony came on stage at the beginning and acknowledged the service of members who have been with the organization for 25 years or more.  I was quite surprised at the large number of musicians in that category.

Opera National de Paris Ballet de l’Opera – Martinez’s Les Enfants du Paradis. June 4, 2015.

Palais Garnier, Paris, France.  Balcony (Seat 15, E130.)

Story. Garance is a lovely woman who refuses to settle down with one man.  She is courted by many men, including Frederick and Baptiste.  When Baptiste expresses his love for her, Garance is not ready to commit to the relationship, so Baptiste leaves.  Later, she is accused (falsely) of taking part in a robbery and is bailed out by the rich Count, and she stays with him for several years.  Meanwhile, Baptiste gets married and has a child.  He also becomes a successful mime.  Garance goes to the theatre regularly in secret to watch his performance.  When they finally meet again, they reconnect.  After Baptiste’s wife makes a plea that he stay with the family, Garance leaves.

Conductor – Jean=Francois Verdier.  Garance – Laetitia Pujol, Baptiste – Mathieu Ganio, Frederick – Karl Paquette, Lacenaire – Vincent Chaillet, Nathalie – Muriel Zusperreguy, Madame Hermine – Stephane Romberg, Le Comte – Benjamin Pech.

Musicians.  Thibault Vieux, Violin; Michel Dietlin, Piano; Simon Delfin, Bass; Paul Lepicard, Trumpet; Anthony Millet – Accordion; Stephane Chauveau, Percussions.

We really wanted to see an Opera at the most famous opera house in the world, the Palais Garnier.  However, with nearly all operas now performed at Bastille (actually any time I check,) this is not to be.  So we would settle on a ballet instead.  The only show that worked for us was tonight’s show, a work I had never heard before, by someone I didn’t know.

When I went to the box office for tickets in the afternoon, I was told only the most expensive and the cheapest seats were available.  I decided to spend E260 for two tickets instead of E24, figuring the better seats would give us a better experience.

First a bit about the story.  Figuring I won’t spend the money for a Program I don’t understand anyway, I decided to read up a little from the web.  Les Enfants in Paradis (Children in Paradise) is a 1945 film set in 1830-era Paris.  “Paradis” refers to the cheap seats in a theatre, and the main characters in the story are performers.  The main story is about the love interests of Garance and the unrequited love between her and Baptiste, which is confusing enough.  On top of that are several side stories that add to the complexity.  I could only find a listing of the Acts (2) and Scenes (12) on the web and the handout which are not that informative.  The story as told in the ballet is also different.  So I was left with the music, the dancing, and stitching the story together the best I could.  Which kept me quite busy, it turns out.

Given the enormous size of the palais, we were surprised at how small the auditorium is (seats fewer than 2000).  It dates back to around 1875, and shows its age.  However, it is easy to see how opulent it was during its prime.  On the ceiling is a painting by Marc Chagall (installed in 1964), depicting scenes from ballets and operas such as “Swan Lake” and “The Magic Flute.”  Our seats were indeed good, in the balcony but about only 20 rows from the stage.  We don’t have a full view of the orchestra though.

Jose Martinez used to be a dancer at the Opera Ballet, and this was his invention.  He danced this as his farewell performance at the Ballet a few years ago.  The original music was written by Marc-Olivier Dupin.  But there was a lot of familiar music incorporated into the 2 hour or so program, including some I would characterize as “Ocktoberfest” music.  For some scenes individual musicians would be on stage for the performance.  I enjoy particularly the playing of the solo violinist, so much so that I sometimes ignored what the dancers were doing.  The orchestra was small, but produced a great sound.

Much of the dancing is not what I would consider traditional ballet; sometimes I even wondered if they were doing pantomines.  There are some exceptions such as the ballroom scene and the beginning of Act 2.  As expected, Garance is called on to do a lot of the heavy lifting as the story is mostly about her, and she got the story across well.

Anne read that Palais Garnier was designed in such a way that the audience can interact with the cast.  There was certainly some of that.  As we entered there was juggling and drumming going on.  During the intermission the solo violinist was playing in the atrium and jugglers were out and about.  There were instances the dancers would come to the audience.  When Garance departed for the last time, she was lowered from the stage to the orchestra pit, then carried across to walk away from the auditorium.  The most interesting aspect was during the intermission there were students on stage rehearsing Othello, and the action eventually morphed into the ballet scene I mentioned above.

Curtain call was a lengthy affair.  Ballet de corps, followed by the soloists, then the principals.  Next came the conductor, the choreographer (I assume), and the violin soloist.  Repeat.  Then more applause as bouquets were thrown onto the stage for one of the ballerinas.  We are guessing this was her farewell performance – too bad we couldn’t tell which role she played.

Paris being at the latitude it is, there was still light when we left.

Opera National de Paris – Chausson’s Le Roi Arthus. June 2, 2015.

Opera Bastille, Paris, France.  Premier Balcony (Seat K9-2, E100).

Story.  After celebrating the defeat of the Saxons by King Arthur and his knights of the Round Table, Lancelot meets Arthur’s wife Guinevere for a tryst, an act witnessed by Mordred, Arthur’s cousin and a pretender to the throne.  Lancelot fights Mordred and wounds him.  Fleeing with Guinevere to his castle, Lancelot learns that Mordred has survived and has revealed the truth to Arthur.  Arthur consults Merlin who foretells the downfall of the Round Table.  After unsuccessfully pleading with Lancelot to deny their affair, Guinevere strangles herself with her own hair. Meanwhile, Lancelot goes to battle and is mortally wounded.  Before he dies, Arthur tells him that he is forgiven.  Arthur subsequently dies also.

Conductor – Philippe Jordan.  Genievre – Sophie Koch, Arthus – Thomas Hampson, Lancelot – Roberto Alagna, Mordred – Alexandre Duhamel, Lyonnel (Lancelot’s aide) – Stanislas de Barbeyrac, Merlin – Peter Sidhom.

We are in Paris for a few days to conclude our France trip with Ellie, Kuau, and Reid.  We had a choice between this opera and the Magic Flute.  For various reasons including scheduling, we decided to attend this one.  Right after we settled in our Airbnb apartment, I went to Opera Bastille to purchase these tickets.  Our row at the back of the Premier Balcony section was quite empty, but otherwise attendance seemed to be quite good in this 2700-seat auditorium.

The story perhaps should be titled “The Last Days of King Arthur” as it talks about the deaths of his wife, his best friend, and himself.  I do not know much about Arthur beyond the Ex-Caliber and the Round Table, and this aspect of his life was certainly not familiar.  Since Arthur is a fictional character, I assume different story lines can be attributed to him.

The “story” I wrote above is mostly from the wiki article on the opera, augmented by what I actually saw during the performance.  Anne and I were resigned to sit through a lot of singing that we could not understand, comforted by the fact that the story line is simple enough so we should be able to construct it as it progresses.  We were very pleased, and relieved, as the overhead projection asking people to turn off their cell phones in three languages (French, English, and German) turned into surtitles in two languages (French and English.)

As a violin student, the only work by Ernest Chausson I knew about was his “poeme” for violin and orchestra (turns out other arrangements exist.)  He evidently was born into a very rich family, trained as a lawyer, and died in 1899 at age 44 when he hit a brick wall while riding a bicycle.  His only opera was completed in 1895, but wasn’t premiered until 1903.

I enjoyed the opera from the get go: an enthusiastic overture that led to the raising of the curtain.  To the extent I managed to pay attention to the orchestra, particular at the start of the three acts and during the scenery changes, it did a superb job.  We picked the seats in the balcony over the orchestra for the reason that we could have a good look at the orchestra, and it was the right decision.  Philippe Jordan conducted with great enthusiasm, responded in kind by the players.

The singing by the principals was uniformly good.  I would only quibble a bit with Hampson’s mid-range which was on the weak side.  We saw Sophie Koch a while ago as Charlotte in Werther, opposite Jonas Kaufman.  There I thought she did a great job, but could use a “soft” in her volume setting.  That was uniformly the case this evening: everyone was trying to belt out their lyrics, admittedly a better alternative than not being heard.  There are many documents in the web debating if Opera Bastille utilizes a sound enhancement system.  I can’t tell, but can be convinced that they do given how strong everyone sounded.  The chorus had only a couple of short passages, but was quite impressive.

There are quite a few duets between Lancelot and Guinevere.  The first of which was a love song in Scene 2 of Act 1.  I don’t know French, but have always enjoyed French love songs.  I must say while the individual singing was good, the two voices didn’t blend well together at all.  If I were a musicologist, I might offer the opinion that this was by design to foretell the trouble that would come later.  Or I can be like most critics and simply say that it is bad music (more on that later.)

Opera Bastille was completed in 1990, and one of its features is the ability to accommodate complicated sets.  That wasn’t necessary today as the set would even fit the budget of (the now-defunct) New York City Opera.  One basically has as the backdrop a painting of a hill and a tower (must be of some significance in Arthurian lore,) a circle staked out by swords, two walls of a house, and this ubiquitous red sofa.  Two thirds of the sofa was ablaze in Act 3, the flames were so high that I wondered if the sprinklers would go off (and worried that they didn’t.)

We didn’t buy a program both for its cost (E12) and the fact that it is in French.  I did look up a few web articles on the opera, most of the writers were down on the opera.  Evidently Chausson wanted to write like a French Wagner (my words), particularly in the style of Tristan and Isolde and Parsifal, and most critics thought he failed miserably.  Evidently Tristan and Isolde found their re-incarnations as Lancelot and Guinevere, and Erda as Merlin.  Indeed one can find parallels to both Wagner operas if one chooses to do so, with one exception to Chausson’s advantage: this opera is much shorter at about 2:45 hours actual performance time.  While the long passages must be difficult, they must be easy compared to the demands of Wagner.

I found several scenes rather compelling.  One was Guinevere’s suicide: she complained to her dark hair that it wasn’t beautiful enough to help her keep Lancelot’s love, but asked it to end her life (Guinevere in this opera had either blonde or brown hair.)  The solo viola accompanying her singing was simply exquisite.  Guinevere started as a selfish control freak at the beginning of the opera, and manages to morph into a sympathetic figure, which is quite a feat. The other was Arthur telling Lancelot that his honor depends on himself, and not on others.  The actual words were more poignant than this.

I did find the last part of the opera puzzling.  As Arthur faces death, the dead soldiers around him (including Lancelot who was sitting in this – what else – red sofa) began to rise and walk off the stage.

It’s a pity that this opera probably won’t get staged very often.  I am glad we got a chance to see it.

New York Philharmonic – Susanna Malkki, conductor; Kirill Gerstein, piano. May 21, 2015.

Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center, First Tier Center (Seat CC10, $64.50.)

Program

Variations on a Theme by Haydn, Op. 56a (1873) by Brahms (1833-97).

Tranquil Abiding (1998) by Jonathan Harvey (1939-2012).

Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor, Op. 15 (1858) by Brahms.

Nathan and Sharon are in town, so we decided to make an evening of it by having dinner followed by a concert.  Even though I thought I left in time, early summer traffic, on a Thursday before the long Memorial Day weekend, proved to be quite heavy.  We were a bit late getting to dinner at Atlantic Grill. The place was packed and service was slower than the last time I visited, so it was eat, ask for the check, pay, and walk quickly to Lincoln Center.  Anne had to leave earlier to pick up the concert tickets, I moved a couple of our concerts to get four tickets.  Even though the concert was nearly sold out, I still managed rather good seats in the First Tier.

There is quite a bit of discussion in the Playbill about how well designed the Variations are, including how wonderful it is that the 5-measure theme manages to sound balanced.  The theme (Chorale St. Antoni) is familiar, and the variations delightful.  They are different from some other variations (say, Rachmaninoff’s variations on a theme by Paganini) in that it was relatively easy to relate the different movements to one another.  Brahms liked to collect old works, and had copied the theme in 1870 (still a teenager.) This work has made the Haydn theme very well-known, thus it is quite ironic that most musicologists now believe Haydn didn’t write the tune.  Brahms also published the same work (Op. 56b) for two pianos.

As a listener the 19 or so minute piece is light-hearted and easy-listening.  I would need the score, and a lot of time, to appreciate the subtleties of the work.  In addition to the theme (Andante) and the Finale (Andante), there are eight variations: poco piu animato, piu vivace, con moto, andante con moto, vivace, vivace, grazioso, and presto non troppo.

Of the two Brahms’ piano concertos, I usually prefer the more serene and subtle No. 2.  I didn’t realize this was written when Brahms was only about 25, that he was the soloist at its premiere, and that it took a lot of persuasion by Joachim before Brahms would publish the work.  Today’s performance was certainly majestic and enjoyable.  The balance was uniformly great (for our seats), and both the piano and the orchestra held their own as equal partners.  Actually right at this moment I can’t recall the tunes in Concerto No. 2.  (I am inside BA8004 EWR-Paris Orly as I type this; and I did find the second concerto in my iPhone.)

I believe this is the first time we heard Gerstein, and he is certainly impressive.  For someone as careful as Brahms, it certainly took a long time to say what he wanted to say (about fifty minutes, with three movements Maestoso, Adagio, and Rondo – Allegro non troppo.  I did find the second movement a bit too slow, but was surprised to find that it was quite long at more than fifteen minutes – it felt much shorter than that, makes me wonder if they edited some parts out.

Jonathan Harvey was a British composer who died in 2012 from motor neuron disease.  His daily routine was a “Buddhist inspired meditation” although he claimed not be a Buddhist.  Having written work relating to other religions (Hinduism, for instance,) this piece suggests a Buddhist concept.  The Playbill quotes the composer “It’s for music to articulate the true nature of man in his blissful, enlightened forms.  No less than that should be demanded.  It’s a way of charm and simplicity which no verbal concepts, least of all mine, can ever encapsulate.”  With remarks like that, I can imagine being inside a monastery, with the percussion (including bamboo clusters and bells) providing the requisite sounds.  Sharon summed it up best: very zen.

I think both the orchestra and the audience need to be tuned to this “zen” for the music to be effective.  In my case, I tried to analyze the piece, catch the structure as outlined in the Playbill, and watch the different percussion instruments at work.  This resulted in my not able to listen to the music and to put myself in it.

We saw Susanna Malkki in a Mostly Mozart concert a couple of years ago, and she’s quite competent.  She seemed too mechanical in how she led the Harvey piece, although I certainly couldn’t blame her for that, and in the Brahms’ piece I didn’t find the great inspiration I associate with a great conductor.  But I will go to another of his concerts.

Afterwards we said our goodbyes to Nathan and Sharon, and drove back to NJ. 

New Jersey Symphony Orchestra – Peter Bay, conductor; Andre Watts, piano. May 15, 2015.

Prudential Hall at NJPAC.  Tier 1 (Seat D17, $49.)

Program

Overture to Cosi fan tutte, K. 588 by Mozart (1756-1791).

Concerto No. 4 in G Major for Piano, Op. 58 by Beethoven (1770-1827).

Four Norwegian Moods by Stravinsky (1882-1971).

Concerto in A minor for Piano by Grieg (1843-1907).

Today’s program is Andre Watts, pure and simple.  Any one of the two concertos would have been sufficient for a respectable program, but today we have two.

Beethoven wrote his fourth concerto knowing his hearing was quickly deteriorating, and he was both the soloist and the conductor at its premiere.  In typical Beethoven fashion, this is a piece of contrasts, from one passage to the other, and between the soloist and the orchestra.  Delight is the word to describe the performance.

Grieg wrote the piano concerto when he was 25, and it has been a popular piece in the piano repertoire since it was premiered in 1869.  There is this story in the Program Notes about how Grieg met Liszt and the latter sight-read the piece flawlessly.  No doubt Liszt was a great pianist, but it is still amazing for him to do so, considering how difficult the piece sounded.  Incidentally, the Notes has a good description of the structure of both pieces, which added a lot to my appreciation of the music.

The Beethoven Concerto has three movements: Allegro moderato, Andante con moto, and Rondo: Vivace.  The Grieg Concerto’s three movements were not listed in the program.  They are (i) Allegro molto moderato; (ii) Adagio; (iii) Allegro moderato molto e marcato – Quasi presto – Andante maestoso.

The second movement of Grieg calls for a lot of horn, and the horn came through nicely.  The player was asked to take a well-deserved bow.

At about 70 – he was born in 1946 – Watts still could pound them out nicely.  I have only seen him in concert a few times, and keep wondering how exciting it must have been to hear him during his more youthful days.  He sometimes plays in a posture that reminds me of Linus (as did Trifonov), and doesn’t need exaggerated body movements or staring into the distance to get the mood across.

The audience broke into an enthusiastic and sustained applause and ovation at the conclusion of the concert.

The Mozart overture was an easy-listening piece of music that served as a great lead in to the concert.  Crisp and light, the way I like it.

The Four Norwegian Moods is a short piece, described as “humble” in the Program Notes.  It was intended for a film, but instead of making changes requested by the studio, Stravinsky withdrew the composition.  It resurfaced the following year in its current form.  The music is quite easy to grasp for the first time listener, especially when guided by the Notes.  Stravinsky insisted that the music is not an “impression” or a “state of mind,” and shouldn’t be assumed to have any “ethnological authenticity.”  Be that as it may, I certainly could hear a little folk (perhaps even Norwegian folk) in the four movements: Intrada, Song, Wedding Dance, and Cortege.

The piece was well enough received when premiered at Harvard’s Sanders Theatre by the Boston Symphony. However, when introduced in Paris in 1945 it was met with boo’s led by a young Pierre Boulez.  When the Rite of Spring was premiered (1913) it was considered a novelty, here the students were complaining about this neoclassical work as banal and insipid.  Be that as it may, I suspect nowadays the neoclassical Stravinsky gets heard a lot more than Boulez.

This was our first encounter with Peter Bay.  He looked quite young and was energetic.  (He can't be that young as he won a Young Conductor award in 1980.)   He has been the music director of the Austin Symphony for 16 years.  I thought he did a great job with the orchestra, and led a great dialog with Watts in the concertos.

Our seats in the first tier were good, a bargain at $49 (bought from Amazon Local.)  However, the acoustics isn’t the best.  We could hear the different parts, but they all sounded distant.

On our way to NJPAC we took the Turnpike to Exit 15E and then followed Raymond Blvd.  It was an easy drive.  We tried to do the reverse, but didn’t realize we couldn’t get to Exit 15E because of the Pulaski Skyway project.  Luckily the detours to get back were not too bad.

New York Philharmonic – Alan Gilbert, conductor; Anne Sofie von Otter, mezzo-soprano, Russell Braun, baritone. May 8, 2015.

Avery Fisher Hall at Lincoln Center.  Tier 1 (Seat CC7, $64.50).

Program

Symphony in B minor, D.759, Unfinished (1822) by Schubert (1797-1828).

Senza sangue (2014; rev. 2015) by Peter Eotvos (b. 1944).

We had tickets for the performance on Saturday.  Since we were planning to be in Jersey City Friday afternoon, we wanted to exchange the tickets to a day earlier.  Turns out the New York Philharmonic website was down for several days (first time in memory this ever happened), so I had to call their customer service to make the request. It worked out okay at the end.

Perhaps a harbinger of summer traffic, it took us close to 1 ½ hours to go from Jersey City to Lincoln Center.  As I waited for a parking space, Anne went ahead to order food from Europan.  Alas, it is closed for a 2-month renovation!  Let’s hope it will reopen as advertised.  In its stead we had street-vendor food.

Despite all that, it was still a lovely afternoon for a concert.  In the Playbill Gilbert talked extensively about the Senza sangue piece.  It had its world premiere in Cologne last week during the New York Philharmonic European tour, and tonight was the US premiere.  The work was a result of Henri Dutilleux’s decision to share the Marie-Josee Kravis Price for New Music with several younger composers.  The work is based on the novella of the same title (meaning “Without Blood”) written in Italian by Alessandro Baricco that was published in 2002.  The setting is unknown; the story is simple.  During a civil war three men kill the family of a young girl.  One of the men, Pedro Cantos, discovers a young girl hiding out but decides to spare her life.  The girl, Nina, spends many years tracking and killing the men responsible for the murders.  After 52 years she comes face to face with Cantos, and the opera describes the encounter between the two.  The surprise ending is the two fall in love at the end and head towards a hotel together.

As a tribute to Henri Dutilleux, who died in 2013, the opera begins with two calm notes B, D (which are spelling H, D in Hungarian and German.)  The Program Notes contains quite a bit of background and description on the composer and the music, and I will not repeat them here. The composer does mention what he aims for here are sharp contrasts, and shades of black, grey, and white.  I may understand what he meant if I had heard his previous 9 operas (where he strove for a “colorful palette of sound,”) but I seriously doubt that.

The opera actually was quite enjoyable, and at times moving, as the two exchange what happened over 50 years ago.  The ending was a bit abrupt and absurd, an opinion shared by many others, if what I overheard what people were saying after the concert was any indication.

Our seats in the first tier gave us good acoustics for the orchestra, but the voices didn’t come through.  I have always maintained a full orchestra on the same stage as singers don’t work as well when the orchestra is in a pit.  The libretto (English translation) was projected onto the overhang above the stage, which helped tremendously in my ability to follow the story.

Eotvos came on stage at curtain call.  “Younger” doesn’t mean young; he was born in 1944.

On the top of the program was Schubert’s Unfinished Symphony.  It is delightful as usual.  I learned a few more things about the work.  For instance, it wasn’t “unfinished” because Schubert died in the midst of composing it; he put it away six years before his death: a plausible explanation is he found out he had syphilis that year, and the disease was fatal at that time.

This article in The Guardian talks about the program and describes Von Otter’s take on the music.  The New York Times has an extensive article on Eotvos and Senza Sangue.