New York Philharmonic. Jaap van Zweden, conductor; Joseph Alessi, trombone. March 21, 2024.

David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center.  Orchestra (Seat AA118, $70).

At the conclusion of the concert.  Notice only "traditional" instruments were used in the Scottish Symphony - not even a harp.

Program

To See the Sky: an exegesis for orchestra (2023) by Joel Thompson (b. 1988).

Trombone Concerto: Three Muses in Video Game (2021) by Tan Dun (b. 1957).

Symphony No. 3 in A minor, Op. 56, Scottish (1840-42) by Mendelssohn (1809-47).

I don't know who "estimates" how long a concert is, but 1:30 minutes is way off the mark.  The three pieces along add to 80 minutes, throw in a 20- to 30-minute intermission and we are close to two hours.  The concert concluded at 9:24 pm.

It is difficult to understand how these three pieces fit together as a program.  Joel Thompson is in his 30s, still in school (getting a doctorate at Yale).  And I suppose he is known among a lot of people in the music composition world, but not much beyond that.  Tan, on the other hand, became internationally known with the music for the movie "Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon," that was 2000.  His history of composition started way before that.  Mendelssohn, on the other hand, was from the early nineteenth century, and his two "Scottish" compositions are part of the standard repertoire in the classical music world.

So, per my new way of thinking about performances, this concert had little chance of being a great one (again, I can name only a handful great concerts I have witnessed).  That said, the overall experience was tremendously satisfying.

With modern composers I have to use my left brain, as their compositions usually call for analysis rather than enjoyment.  The satisfaction is being able to "understand" the work in some way.  Joel Thompson certainly didn't make it easy by naming the work after a line in a song "Sometimes you have to gaze into a well to see the sky."  The logic of this escapes me, but he further explains his desire to expand beyond trauma as a Black man in this country (paraphrasing him, correctly, I hope).  Whether this work is a reflection of that, I am not sure, but he used "rhythms of his youth" with the conviction that it doesn't make the music Jazz (again a paraphrase).  I would agree that was indeed the case, and would opine that his music was accessible.  I can't quite put a label on it, but I am still puzzled how the movements can be described as I. Sometimes ... II ... you have to gaze into a well ... III ... to see the sky.

Tan's Trombone Concerto is similarly mysteriously titled.  The Program Notes contains a description of what he meant by a "muse" in a video game.  His intention in writing this was to attract young people to this genre, and he claims "through this piece I reached a lot of young people."  The three muses are muse of bili, muse of xiqin, and muse of sheng, three ancient Chinese musical instruments depicted in some Dunhuang cave paintings.  One could argue if the sounds were anything like these instruments, but I am hard pressed to associate what I heard with a video game.  My experience with video games is very limited, of course.

In all that discussion, one may forget this is a trombone concerto.  We heard Alessi recently, and this concerto also asked the trombonist to do amazing things.  One of those days I will learn about the trombone and its capabilities, but tonight's performance seemed to use only a limited number of techniques.  Yes, it is amazing such a bulky instrument can sound so agile, and how much practice it takes to get the intonation just right, at such a high speed, but that seemed to be it.  I do wonder how often a trombonist gets to be a soloist twice in a year.

The bottom line is that - to my surprise - I found the Thompson piece more enjoyable than Tan's.

Mendelssohn wrote the Fingal Cave Overture soon after he visited Scotland, and the Scottish Symphony about 10 years later.  At 40 minutes it is quite long, and one wonders occasionally if all those repeats are needed.  Overall, however, it is a delightful piece to listen to, especially when performed by a competent orchestra.  While it probably is not program music, one can easily associate with what one might expect to feel while visiting Scotland (stretching a bit here).  Scotland has its dark and stormy days, I thought there was not enough of that.  The four movements are (I) Andante con moto - Allegro un poco agitato; (II) Vivace non troppo; (III) Adagio; and (IV) Allegro vivacissimo - Allegro maestoso assai.  The program says the movements are played without pause, but there were clear pauses in today's performance.  I don't think it mattered one way or another.

Since the concert lasted about two hours, we missed the 9:38 pm train by a few minutes, and intead took the 10:23 pm train home.

Joel Thompson at the conclusion of his piece.

Joseph Alessi after performing Tan Dun's Trombone concerto.

Hoboken Children's Theater. Jungle Book Kids. March 10, 2024.

Hoboken Children's Theater.  Stalls ($5).

Anne and I drove up to see this performance.  Afterwards we spent some time in Bloomfield Street.

NYO-USA All-Stars. Yannick Nezet-Sequin, conductor; Daniil Trifonov, piano. March 14, 2024.

Isaac Stern Auditorium, Carnegie Hall.  Balcony.  (Seat H121, $44).

Nezet-Seguin and Trifonov after Gershwin's Concerto in F.

Program

Piano Concerto in F by George Gershwin (1898-1937).

Symphony No. 7 in C Major, Op. 60, "Leningrad" by Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975).

Artists: Alumni of the National Youth Orchestra of the United States of America

I have not had time to do a lot of research on NYO, and the description in the Playbill is quite sketchy.  It has been in existence for a little over a decade, the ensemble goes through an intensive practice during the summer, and then does a Carnegie Hall performance and an international tour.  For the current year the conductor will be Marin Alsop.  Tonight's orchestra consisted of about 100 of the alumni.  Many are now members of professional orchestras, some are associated with universities and conservatories, and several are free lance musicians.

Both the conductor and the solo pianists are of course superstars in the classical music world.  This concert would be in high demand.

Yet I got an email a couple of weeks ago saying there were still seats available, and when I checked a few days prior to the concert, sections of the balcony were completely empty.  By the time of the performance, the auditorium was pretty filled up, except for the upper balcony.

I didn't have a chance to look at the program carefully, and erroneously thought the piano concerto would be Ravel's F major.  It was only after the starting few measures that I realized it wasn't Ravel.  Gershwin of course sounded very different from Ravel, and his music has a definite American feel to it.  Scattered among the three movements were passages requiring the highest level of virtuosity, which as usual Trifonov dispatched with ease.  Most of the time it was easy to pick out the piano, but there were instances the piano was drowned out by the large orchestra.  The three movements are Allegro; Adagio - Andante con moto; and Allegro agitato.

A substantial orchestra was deployed for the piano concerto, drowning out the piano at times.

For encore Trifonov played a piece based on the popular song "When I Fall in Love."  [Note added 3/19.  Carnegie Hall now lists the encores on their webpage, indeed it was YOUNG / HEYMAN "When I Fall in Love" (arr. Bill Evans).

I heard Shostakovich's Leningrad symphony before, in 2018, performed by the NY Phil, conducted by van Zweden.  There I expressed the feeling (or tried to) that the description of the piece made it sound intriguing, but the actual music was much less so.  Tonight I got a similar feeling.  Many different interpretations of the piece were offered, mostly about whether Shostakovich was being sincere or cynical when he composed the music.  The Annotator Jack Sullivan even allowed that the current interpretation is affected by today's culture.  Which is well and good, but I have to ask how would a different culture - mainland Chinese, for instance - interpret it?  

For me the more basic question is, what did Shostakovich have in mind when he wrote this?  I find the following quote in the Program Notes, attributed to Shostakovich, puzzling: "I have nothing against calling the Seventh the 'Leningrad' Symphony, but it's not about Leningrad under siege, it's about the Leningrad Stalin destroyed and Hitler merely finished off."  Did I get the chronology wrong?  I thought Stalin was after the Nazi's.

Perhaps more encounters with this piece would make me appreciate it more.  From tonight I got to appreciate how the "invasion theme" was built up at the beginning of the movement, and how the repeated snare drum pattern reminded me of Ravel's Bolero.  The movements of the symphony are: Allegretto, Moderato (Poco allegretto), Adagio, and Allegro non troppo.

An even larger orchestra was used for the Shostakovich symphony.  Notice the much larger brass section (orchestra's rear right).  If one looks carefully, the concertmaster is switched.  As far as I could tell, the one who led the Gershwin was now sitting in the back of the second violin section.  Seating for other members were changed also.  Nezet-Seguin's shoes had soles with sequins, making a strong reflection that at times looked like small light bulbs.

Nezet-Sequin gave his all when conducting this music, I could even hear his shout at some point.  And from the balcony the orchestra movements looked quite interesting at times.

The Gershwin piece was about 30 minutes, the Leningrad 75, so with a late start and an encore the concert didn't end until 10:35 pm or so.  The 11:18 pm train got me to South Amboy after midnight; Anne picked me up.

New Jersey Symphony. Xian Zhang, conductor; Tom Borrow, piano. March 14, 2024.

NJPAC, Newark, NJ.  Orchestra (Seat H101, $46).

At the conclusion of the concert.  Notice on the far right the regular principal bass.

Program

NightVision (2001, rev. 2002) by Ludwig (b. 1974).

Piano Concerto No. 24 (1786) in C Minor, K. 491 by Mozart (1756-1791).

Symphony No. 5 in E Minor, Op. 64 by Tchaikovsky.

It was a nice spring day.  The cherry blossoms are in bloom.

The Program Notes contains much praise for the two "classical" pieces for this after (concert start 1:30 pm).  And its description of NightVision is quite interesting also.  My first thoughts were the concert had the potential of being "great," but would the NJ Symphony be able to deliver?

Ludwig's name is David Serkin Ludwig.  He is Peter Serkin's nephew, and Rudolf Serkin's grandson.  So quite a musical heritage.  He is no slouch either, as he is Dean of Music at Julliard.  (The others Deans head up dance and drama.)  This 7-minute piece was commissioned and premiered by NJ Symphony in 2001, over 20 years ago.  Per the Program Notes, the piece has quasi-minimalist, Coplandesque, Straussian, and Hollywood cinematic elements, but demonstrates Ludwig's eclectic personal musical language.  One could argue all that is true.

During the brief on-stage dialog with Zhang, Ludwig joked that he was a Julliard dropout, and he still made it as a dean at the school.  He also had the sense of humor to say something is wrong if the interview is longer than the piece itself.

As the piece was his first orchestral composition, I do question if it truly represents his musical language.  In any case, having listened to his music for all of seven minutes, I cannot tell what his language is, anyway.  The piece did not leave me scratching my head, so that's something.

Zhang and Ludwig had a brief dialog before his piece was performed.

After the performance of NightVision.

Mozart's 24th piano concerto is not that familiar to me, so it took me on a ride in directions that I didn't expect.  The Israel-born Borrow put in an excellent performance.

The Program Notes describes the opinion of a musicologist who thinks the C Minor compositions written by Mozart suggest that Mozart was severely depressed during that period.  Frankly I have my doubts.  Yes, one can convince oneself music in minor keys tends to be sad, introspective, or melancholic, the 24th certainly fits that bill, but to use that (and other pieces, I know) to make such a diagnosis is really stretching it.  If one assumes Mozart also wrote music in major keys, are we then to diagnose him with another kind of psychiatric problem?

As encore Burrow played Rachmaninoff's Prelude Op. 32, No. 2 in G sharp minor.  Probably to show off his virtuoso side.  He didn't announce the piece, so how did I find out?  I surreptitiously used the Google "Song" function.  I am impressed, both by the pianist, and by what Google can do.

Israel-born Tom Borrow was born in 2000.

The Tchaikovsky Fifth Symphony is a war horse for orchestras.  For me the notable characteristic is the use of the same opening theme in all the four movements, a practice not common among composers or in their compositions. It was many many years ago, but I still consider among the live performances I heard the one Blomstedt did with the NY Phil in 2012 is the best one I have heard. With passage of time, the specifics that I enjoyed - apart from the notes I took - have faded.  The one characteristic that still stands out was Blomstedt allowing the orchestra to let loose; instead of sounding chaotic, the music felt like horses galloping forward with abandon.  Will Zhang execute a controlled performance, or will she let the orchestra run on its own.  We are talking about the NJ Symphony, so I do worry what would happen if the members are given the "fire at will" command.  It turned out to be a controlled, but also enjoyable, performance.

While the concert didn't turn out to be "great," but it was memorable.  And how many "great" concerts can one expect to encounter anyway.  (Right now Mehta's performances of the Bruckner and Mahler Symphonies, and the Blomstedt one discussed here, are the three that readily come to mind.)

NJPAC really needs to get its act together.  Last time, with Joshua Bell, getting the audience seated took a long time.  It was a full house, so may be understandable (still not excusable).  Today's turnout was reasonable, but it wasn't until 1:40 pm that the audience began to settle down.  Some suggestions: start the process earlier, print the door number on the ticket, or make it easier to move from one aisle to the other.  Also, the customer sometimes can be right.  There was this lady whose seat is in the middle, perhaps one or two seats closer to the other door.  The usher insisted she go back, and enter through the "proper" door.  There was perhaps one person in that row, so it would be easy enough.  The lady just ignored the usher and took her seat.  All that time people were waiting to have the usher make sure they "belong."

Rosamunde String Quartet. Bejamin Hochman, piano. March 10, 2024.

Town Hall, NYC.  Auditorium.  (Seat N117, $15.45)

Program

String Quartet in C Major, Op. 20, No. 2 (1772) by Haydn (1792-1809).

String Quartet No. 3 (1927) by Bartok (1881-1945).

Piano Quintet in E-flat Major, Op. 44 (1842) by R. Schumann (1810-1856).

At the end of the concert.  Bendix-Balgley, Hochman, Yao, Vickery and Li.

Quartet: Noah Bendix-Balgley and Shanshan Yao, violins; Teng Li, viola; Nathan Vickery, cello.

This is another concert in the PSC series that I subscribed to for the season.  Even in my jag-lagged state (I returned from a 3+ week trip to Australia and Asia the day before), it had to be one of the more enjoyable and well-performed concerts I have attended.

As I have stated many times before, I am not a chamber music person.  It's counterintuitive that four or five lines of music are more difficult to follow than the many sections in a symphony orchestra.  My brain and my ears are just not tuned that way.

Today, however, the lines were clear, the interplay easy to appreciate, and the overall effect was simply magnificent (getting carried away there a bit).

For the Haydn piece Yao had the first violin, and for Bartok it was Bendix-Balgley.  As Bendix-Balgley explained after the first piece, the Haydn piece is a delight, the Bartok piece runs the gamut of folk music to (close to) rock and roll, and Schumann's composed during his chamber music period, and is a prime example of music from the Romantic period.  I didn't need more description than that today.

All the musicians play (or played) in world-renown orchestras.  Bendix-Balgley is a first concertmaster at Berlin Philharmonic, Teng Li the principal violist at LA Phil, and Vickery the youngest cellist hired by NY Phil.  (And what is the difference between a concertmaster and a first concertmaster?)

My usual complaint about not being able to hear the viola wasn't a problem today.  Perhaps there were fewest lines to follow, or perhaps Li simply projected well.  Indeed, sometimes I thought the viola was too loud.  For the Schumann piece I wish the piano was louder, as it was it sounded like it was background oftentimes.  Make no mistake though: today's was a great concert.

As usual, I sat in the back (Row R) so I could make a quick getaway at the end to catch the 4:07 pm train home.

The train timetables are such I got into NY before 1 pm, so I decided to take walk (all the way to 3rd Avenue) to get my steps in.  I was surprised how much homelessness I encountered along the way.

Opera Australia. Mozart's The Magic Flute. February 14, 2024.

Joan Sutherland Theatre, Sydney Opera House.  Circle (Seat J35, A$193.95).

At curtain call.  There was no costume change except for the last scene, so I can't tell them apart.  My attempt: From left: the three spirits, Papageno, Papagena, Pamina, Conductor, Tamino, Sarastro, Queen, three ladies, two priests.  Note also very few people had shoes on.

They used to just distribute one sheet with the synopsis, and would not specify beyond their names who the singers are.  Today something close to pamphlets were handed out.

Story.  See previous post.  I must say the story is still a bit confusing after having seen this opera a few times already.  But I am getting there.

Conductor - Tahu Matheson.  Pamina - Stacey Alleaume; Tamino - Michael Smallwood; Papageno - Ben Mingay; Queen of the Night - Giuseppina Grech; Sarastro/Speaker - David Parkin; Papagena - Jennifer Black; Monostatos - Kanen Breen.

If I had paid more attention, I probably would have known the opera would be sung in English.  Since I didn't, that was the first surprise.  The second surprise was something close to a program was handed out.  In the past there were these one sheet handouts with the synopsis being the useful information.  There were no listing of the cast (I believe their names were mentioned), orchestra, and other production members.  In today's program all their names were listed, together with short descriptions.  There were a few advertisements, and appeals for donations, which are to be expected.

The sets (or rather "set") were surprisingly simple.  The best way I could explain it would be it's a general purpose "room" with three doors.  Curtains of some sort are strung across the room at different times to denote different scenes.  For someone without a general understanding of the different scenes it would be impossible to guess what was being depicted.  I frankly couldn't tell what was what.  Someone running across to set up these sheets of streamers as backdrops may be cute at first, but gets old very quickly.  Often flashlights were used to cast images onto the screens (the dragon at the beginning, and the birds for Papageno).  And why were so many people running around in their bare feet?  Sandals would have worked just fine.

So, the story is confusing, the sets are "low budget."  How about the music?

The singing was generally good.  The overtures were done superbly, and most singers did well.  Some of them were weak at times, a but surprising as that usually wasn't an issue in this auditorium.  I thought they recently renovated the entire Sydney Opera House; acoustics evidently wasn't a big part of the project, "better machinery" and additional restrooms got top billings in the article I read.  Too bad this production doesn't need a lot of fancy machinery, so we didn't get to see the improvements in action.

While there were many great arias in this opera, the headline grabbers are the two sung by the Queen of the Night.  Giuseppina Grech was mostly up to the task, although the delivery was somewhat mechanical.  One could also quibble with how good her intonation was, and if her voice could be a bit stronger, but at least she looked effortless in delivering the high Fs.

Until Anne reminded me, I had forgotten that we saw this opera in Sydney a while back.  She remembered the Queen as missing the high note(s).  I searched this blog and, indeed, we saw it in January 2009, 15 years ago.  I don't have much recollection of the event, but my blog entry seems to indicate the sets were more elaborate.  In that production the arias were done in German, while the dialog was in English.  I also complained about how difficult it was to hear the dialog.  Today the dialog was not nearly as challenging.  I was in seat J22 for the 2009 performance, so same row, but closer to the center.  Also, the cost of that ticket was A$140, versus A$185 today (the cost at the beginning of this entry includes the service charge).

The full opera lasts about 2 hours 35 minutes.  Today's was about 20 minutes shorter, so there was some editing.  Surprisingly the story isn't easier to follow when sung in English.  Some liberty was taken by the translator, as Tamino (or Papageno?) lamented that he was neither Clark Gable or Tarzan. Was that necessary?

Nowadays perhaps one has to make some statements to show relevance of everything to modern-day issues.  In the Director's Notes issues such as climate change, pandemic, and how we are co-dependent with the world were mentioned.  That may all be true.  However, to say the opera's message is about "a journey through dark and light to a harmony with nature; with our own natures and the power of forgiveness, play and music" is too much of a stretch for me.  For most people to make that connection would require a lot more than referencing Clark Gable and Tarzan.

Nearly every singer was born in Australia.  One notable exception is Papagena (Jennifer Black) who was born in California.  Someone else was scheduled to conduct tonight's performance, the "substitute" was going to take over in a few days anyway.

As a "show" the performance was good.  After all, I got in this morning after a long flight and spent the day running around the city, and managed to stay alert the entire time.  However, as a statement on how we can do better it fell irrelevant.

I was staying in a Mascot hotel, so it was easy to get to the Opera House.

Rutgers Symphony Orchestra. Ching-Chun Lai, conductor; Diana Kim, violin. February 10, 2024.

Nicholas Music Center, Mason Gross PAC, New Brunswick, NJ.  Open seating ($12.50).

There is supposedly "no video recording or photography" inside the music center, at all times.  I have no idea how strictly the policy is enforced.  I managed to snap this shot of Kim and Lai leaving the stage.

Program

subito con forza (2020 by Unsuk Chin (b. 1961).

Symphony No. 2, H. 295 (1943) by Bohuslav Martinu (1890-1959).

Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 61 (1806) by Ludwig van Beethoven (1770-1827).

After attending one of their events, I get bombarded with Rutgers advertisements.  Not that there is anything wrong with it (except the tremendous waste of paper and other resources), and that's how I found out about tonight's performance by the RSO, with Beethoven's violin concerto on the program.  At a cost of $10 (for seniors, plus handling fee), nothing can possibly go wrong.

And nothing did.  Indeed I loved the Beethoven violin concerto.  Kim did a great job with the piece, and she was impeccable in technique and intonation.  The occasional (rare, at that) missed note didn't detract from a well thought-out rendition of the rather long piece.  Her violin has a great tone, but a times it sounded too soft against the orchestra.  A name to be watched.  I say that having seen Hadelich play not that long ago.

The concert didn't start that auspiciously.  Neither piece before Intermission was performed at the level of "wow, I am glad to have heard it."  The Chin piece required quite a few percussionists, and they generally did quite well.  To the extent I understand Martinu's music, there should be a propulsive feel to how the music progresses.  I think this symphony calls for that, but I didn't feel that was brought out well.

After the first piece many percussion instruments were removed from the stage, including two marimbas (I think).  It took a while.  Strangely the piano was left on stage for the Beethoven concerto.

Per the Program Notes the orchestra is training ground for music majors for an orchestral career.  Today's college orchestras generally play at a much higher level than when I was a college student; nonetheless, being able to join an orchestra is a daunting proposition.  Rutgers has produced some great musicians, and has many members of NJ Symphony on its teaching staff, that may help.

The Program Notes says the RSO's season consists of six symphonic programs, one opera, and two popular programs.  I can't find that many on their website.

Lai is the director of orchestras at Rutgers.  She reminds one of Xian Zhang, albeit a younger, skinnier, and less energetic version.  Interestingly, engineering appears to be her first degree; she holds a doctorate degree from Wisconsin.

The auditorium seats about 700 people, my generous guess is about 400 were in the audience.

Zlata Chochieva piano. February 4, 2024.

The Town Hall.  Front Orchestra Center (N117, $15.45).

Program

Waldsezenen, Op. 82 (1848-49) by R. Schumann (1810-1856).

Etudes D'execution Transcendante, S. 139 (1852) by F. Liszt (1811-1886).

Piano Sonata No. 2 in G-sharp minor "Sonata Fantasy," Op. 19 (1898) by A. Scriabin (1872-1915).

Rothe Blatter Fallen From Daemmerungstraume, Op. 14 (1882-83) by F. Draeseke (1835-1913).

Miroirs (1904-1905) by M. Ravel (1875-1937).

Concert Arabesque on Themes of "On the Beautiful Blue Danube" (1904) by R. Struss (1864-1949)/A. Schulz-Evler (1852-1905).

I sat in the back (third row from last) for the concert.  The seat had a good view of the stage and the pianist.

Frankly most of the pieces were unfamiliar to me, the exceptions being one of the Ravel movements (IV. Alborada del gracioso) and the Blue Danube themes.  The piano repertoire is huge, and my knowledge of it is quite narrow.

To be able to let the concert flow over you can be enjoyable.  One also notices the sound insulation isn't good enough to stop the noise from the hallway, or the sirens of the emergency vehicles on the street.

As far as I could tell, there was no break between the Draeseke and Ravel pieces, which generated some confusion for me.

What is unforgivable is letting people in while the musician is playing.  That to me is disrespectful.  There are enough breaks in the program that late comers can be seated without having to wait too long.

I left as soon as the program ends to catch the 4:07 pm train back to New Jersey.

New York Philharmonic. Gianandrea Noseda, conductor; Golda Schultz, soprano; Francesco Piemontesi, piano. February 2, 2024.

David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center.  Tier 1 (Seat BB101, $93).

Program

Ch'io mi scordi di te? ... Non terner, amato bene, Scene and Rondo, K.505 (1786) by Mozart (1756-91).

Piano Concerto No. 25 in C major, K. 503 (1786) by Mozart.

Symphony No. 4 (1892 and 1899-1901, rev. 1901-11) by Mahler (1860-1911).

This concert wasn't part of my original subscription, it didn't make it to the top of the list of 13 or so concerts I got tickets for.  Seats were still available when we realized that we wouldn't be able to make the 2/22 concert (with Emanuel Ax on the program) as I will be away.  I can't predict how the two programs compare, but this was quite a concert, though.

The anchor for the afternoon (concert started at 2 pm) was the Mahler piece.  At over an hour it was 20 minutes longer than the first half.  Relatively short for a Mahler symphony, and the time went by rather quickly as the performance was very enjoyable.

Mahler had already completed the last movement and was planning to use it in the already very long third symphony.  That song (Das himmlische Leben) eventually became the last movement of the fourth symphony.  Musicologists (including the Program Annotator James M. Keller) discuss how the first three movements were composed with this destination in mind.

The "point" behind this symphony is fluid in that it can be interpreted in different ways, both by the musicians and the audience.  Overall, however, the idea is behind this glorious music there is a lot of cynicism.  That is evident right from the beginning phrases.  The music can be soaring and lofty, yet there is always this feeling things are not that pleasant if one looks deeper.

That absurd feeling is brought home in the fourth movement.  The heavenly life on the surface is ideal, but it comes at a cost.  The song has five stanzas, it is illustrative to go through them.  The first stanza describes how great the pleasures of heaven are, peaceful, happy, people dancing and singing.  The second stanza talks about a patient lamb being killed by Herod the butcher, and how Luke slaughters the ox, all enjoyed with wine and bread.  The third and fourth stanzas talk about how great the vegetables are, and the abundance of animals for food; on a fasting day fish come willingly to provide the alternative.  The last stanza repeats how everyone rejoices.  One can debate the theology behind the lyrics, but no doubt Mahler (most probably an atheist, although he converted to Christianity) is questioning what kind of heaven this is.

The instructions Mahler provided were to sing the song in a simple voice.  Schultz did do it as if she is enjoying heaven as described, although I would say there are many way to deliver the music that would convey the absurdity Mahler is trying to describe.  She came onto the stage at the beginning of the third movement, so had to sit up front for a good fifteen minutes before she started singing.  That didn't seem to be a problem.

On a prior blog entry someone commented on the second violin used by the concertmaster to deliver some of the solo lines: it was tuned higher to deliver a sharper tone.  Again a subtlety grasped only by those with an intimate knowledge of the music.

The concert began with two compositions by Mozart.  The recitative (You ask that I forget you?) and aria (Fear nothing, my beloved) were composed as a "concert aria," one of 50 some Mozart composed for various occasions and reasons.  The piano plays an important role in the music, together with the orchestra.

The Mozart piano concerto was a delight, and was delivered gracefully by Piemontesi (his NY Phil debut).  The Program Notes mentioned how one might think there is a "French connection" to "Marseillaise" of French revolution fame.  I hadn't made the connection, but now I have to work to get that out of my head.

Schultz, Piemontesi and Noseda after Mozart's Concert Aria.

It was a delightful performance, but overshadowed by the Mahler 4 that was to come.

For a Mahler concerto this wasn't a large orchestra.  There were 9 double basses.

Schultz is from South Africa, had her Met debut a few years ago, but today was the first time I saw her in concert.  Her voice was clear and her elocution precise (even though I speak little Italian or German).  This was our first time sitting in Tier 1 after the renovation; I wonder if the clarity of the sound is a result of the new acoustics.

We made the 4:27 pm train back to NJ because it was running late.  Turned out it was late by about 30 minutes, but there was still light when we go home.  Earlier today the groundhogs predicted it would be a short winter.

Boston Symphony Orchestra. Andris Nelsons, music director. January 30, 2024.

Isaac Stern Auditorium, Carnegie Hall.  Balcony (Seat B14, $28).

The concert ended at 10:35 pm.

Program

Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Opera in Four Acts and Nine Scenes, Op. 29 (1930-1932) by Shostakovich (1906-1975).

Cast

Katerina Ezmailova - Kristine Opolais, Boris Izmailov/Ghost of Boris - Gunther Groissbock, Zinovy Izmailkov - Peter Hoare, Sergei - Brenden Gunnell.

Story.  Katerina is in a loveless marriage to Zinovy.  When Zinovy goes on a business trip, she is reminded by her father-in-law Boris that she must remain faithful.  The new worker Sergei - a well-known womanizer - comes to town, challenges Katerian to a wrestling match, and the two eventually have an affair.  Boris catches Sergei, beats him, and locks him up in the storeroom.  Katerina puts poison in the mushroom dish she prepares for Boris, and he dies.  When Zinovy returns, he suspects Katerina's having an affair, and beats her.  In their struggle, Katerina and Sergei kill Zinovy and puts the body in the cellar.  On her wedding day of Katerina and Zinovy, a drunken guest discovers Zinovy's body and reports that to the police.  The police arrive before Katerina and Sergei can escape, and she confesses her guilt.  After being convicted, Katerina and Sergei are being shipped to Siberia.  Along the way, Sergei asks Katerina for her stockings to give to his new lover Sonyetka.  Katerina throws Sonyetka into the Volga and jumps in herself.

I knew very little about this opera before the concert.  My prior encounter with Shostakovich's opera was "The Nose," a surreal composition which I didn't understand at all.  That was the only other opera Shostakovich wrote.  This is a completely different composition, the characters are well-defined, the story line is quite straightforward, and the music follows (or leads) the arc of the story tightly.

Shostakovich composed many film scores (34 per Wikipedia), and one might conclude he used many of the same techniques to compose the music for this opera.  There is a film Katerina Izmailova, of which Shostakovich was a part of, and for which he wrote the musical score, I do wonder if that music resembles what we hear today.

Opolais - at one point married to Nelsons - was the clear star in the production.  She was on stage for most of the time, and probably did as much singing as the other soloists combined.  Her voice remained strong throughout.  The only time she was drowned out was when the orchestra was playing at its loudest.  (From where I sat I wasn't even sure she was singing.)  I may have remarked on her inability to act in prior reviews, but that wasn't an issue for today's opera in concert.  Hoare as Sergei generally did well, although his voice would drop off every now and then.  Many other soloists did very well, although their roles tended to be brief.

The BSO has a great sound, although for this opera not much subtlety is required.  The set up makes it feel a lot more like an orchestral concert than an opera.  I wonder how different the experience would be if this is a staged opera, with the orchestra in the pit.  Groissbock as Boris ghost sang for a few minutes from the second tier.  It was interest that a conductor was right next to him, conducting quite vigorously.

The synopsis has Katerina pushing her rival into the river, and then jumping in after her.  In the actual performance the reference is to a lake.  There were three screams, so I don't know who screamed twice (it was done off-stage).  Opolais was on stage during the last scene, which contribution to my confusion, and (I am sure) she didn't do any screaming.

One can imagine a staged opera can be quite lurid, and may add some additional dimensions to the experience.  Without the distraction of the props and costumes, one's attention is more focused on the music, which isn't a bad thing.

The program notes has the duration at 3 hours, including an intermission.  In reality it went from 7:10 pm to 10:35 pm.  One could argue some scenes can be shortened or cut out completely (e.g., Scene 7, the police station).

At the end of Act 2.

James Burton (back to audience) is the conductor of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus.

Opolais deserved the extended applause she got from the audience.

It was a great evening.  I do wonder why the play is called Lady Macbeth of Mtensk, though.

New Jersey Symphony. Xian Zhang, conductor; Augustin Hadelich, violin. January 13, 2024.

Count Basie Center, Red Bank, NJ.  Orchestra (Seat H-104,  $68).

Augustin Hadelich and Xian Zhang after the Beethoven Violin Concerto.

Program

I am a white person who __ Black people by Daniel Bernard Roumain

Violin Concerto in D Major, Op. 61 by Beethoven.

Pictures at an Exhibition by Mussorgsky/Ravel.

The main draw for the program is of course Hadelich performing the Beethoven violin concerto.  Indeed that's the headline on the Program Notes handed out at the concert.  For me the Mussorgsky/Ravel piece is also interesting on two fronts: the music itself is very enjoyable; and, having listened to it at a NY Phil concert a couple of months prior, I wonder how NJS would compare.

Roumain (DBR) is NJ Symphony's "Resident Artistic Catalyst."  No idea what the job description is, but seeing his work on the program would not surprise anyone.  He did come on the stage to talk a bit about the work.  It was composed for the NJ Symphony's 2020-21 virtual season, at a time of great racial tension in the country.  DBR was unexpectedly conciliatory, acknowledging that much progress has been made.  Not being "white" or "Black" (note the difference in capitalization), and being an immigrant, I must admit a lot of the issues are beyond my comprehension; DBR's words indicate things are at least moving the the right direction.

The downside of this, of course, is the piece loses its sting (if it was meant to carry a sting) somewhat.  The piece was originally written for strings and percussion due to pandemic restrictions, for the current program DBR reorchestrated with instruments used in the Beethoven violin concerto.  Even though I did see the original version, on line, the differences escape me.  However, Beethoven used only the timpani in his work, whereas I heard other percussion instruments (confirmed by Program Notes).

DBR after performance of his composition.

There are several violinists I will go to great lengths to see, and Hadelich is definitely one of them.  Given the relatively good attendance tonight, that holds true for many others as well.  He didn't disappoint.  If one looks at the score, the violinist finds a lot of scales, arpeggios, and double stops in front of him, technically challenging, but certainly doable.  What makes for a good performance is how these are strung together into a story.  And it was beautifully done today.

Hadelich plays a Guarneri violin, which worked very well in today's setting, Count Basie being a mid-sized auditorium.  His playing reminds me of how Buchbinder did it with Beethoven's piano concerts (No. 5 and 4) - effortless, in great partnership with the orchestra.  In this case one can add how clear the violin sounded, and how great the intonation was.  If there were any problems with intonation, they would be in the single-digit (hertz-wise) category; and that would depend on how one thinks of pitch (the piano term is "equal temperament").

For an encore Hadelich played a piece with a "blue grass" feel to it.

I don't think it is controversial to say that the NJ Symphony doesn't have the same quality "sound" as the New York Philharmonic.  That puts them at a disadvantage if one were to compare the two orchestras.  Naturally the NY Phil is no slouch when it comes to interpretation, either.

But, sometimes there are exceptions.  The Mussorgsky Pictures is one (well, he's called Musorgsky by NY).  My initial reaction was the sounded wasn't as pristine, but as the piece progressed I began to appreciate how well the "picture" (pun intended) was being painted.  For the NY performance I said "no need to know where one is in the music," and it turns out one can follow the program along and have a better experience.

It was a very enjoyable performance of Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition.

The principal bass performs with the NY Phil quite often.  I notice one of the violinist also bears great resemblance to a NY Phil player.  I wonder how they compare the two performances.  For me, this was an entirely memorable concert.

New York Philharmonic. Jaap van Zweden, conductor; Rudolf Buchbinder, piano. January 5, 2023.

David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center.  Orchestra (Seat U5, $80).

Van Zweden and Buchbinder at the conclusion of the Beethoven Concerto.

Program

Prelude to Act I of the Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg (1862-67) by Wagner (1813-83).

Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58 (1806) by Beethoven (1770-1827).

Symphony No. 4 in E minor, Op. 98 (1884-85) by Brahms (1833-97).

The first thing I noticed about the program is it consists of well-known, traditional pieces, with nothing from a contemporary composer.  A left-brain program, as I call it.  Worked for me, and - from the NY Times reviewer's headline - worked for some critics as well.

Beethoven's piano concerto was the one that was of most interest.  I saw the van Zweden/Buchbinder combination in Hong Kong back in September, 2023.  It was Beethoven's Emperor Concerto, and I had a lot of good things to say about it.  While the 4th may be less "substantial," it was still a formidable piece of music.  The same remarks I made about the Hong Kong performance hold true today also: effortless, great cooperation.  Of course one has to take the "whole package" and not the individual components, but I do wonder if the performance(s) could be more agitated, and how that would come across - Nobuyuki Tsujii performing with Orpheus Chamber comes to mind.

If the conclusion is that the HK Phil performance was as good as today's, that would not be wrong in my book.

The Program Notes mentions some musicologists feel Beethoven might have had Orpheus in mind when he wrote this concerto.  Fascinating, but I couldn't tell.

Brahms' fourth starts with these well-known themes that he worked over multiple times, expanding, inverting, transposing (and other terms).  As with my other reviews of the piece, the fourth movement still sounded unfamiliar, except for a couple of melodies.  I shall find the time to listen to it a few times.  The Program Notes says it's 32 variations on a theme by Bach.

The prelude of Wagner was written between his Ring operas.  The harp was used in this work, but for only a short episode - I didn't see it played at all.  The harpist shows up for all these concerts, and plays for (say) a minute.  Of course she is then free to leave.

In any case, I don't know what to make of overtures.  Some are enjoyable, some not so much.  Today's was somewhere in between.

The harp was used in the Prelude by Wagner.

At the conclusion of the concert.  The harp was removed during intermission, it still stuck around during the Beethoven concerto (although not used).

I walked up from the Penn Station to Lincoln Center.  Anne took the subway.  Since the 1 line had disruptive service, she had to get off at the Columbus Station.  To return we had to walk to that station, and we got on a downtown train with a stop at Greely Square (instead of 8th/33rd), so we didn't make the 4:27 pm train.  The next train was 5:01, so we didn't have to wait long.

New York Philharmonic. Fabio Biondi, conductor. December 12, 2023.

David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center.  Orchestra (Seat R103, $90.25).

End of concert.  At 9:30 pm.  Note the two trumpeters on the left.

Program

Messiah (1741) by Handel (1685-1759).

Artists

Hera Hyesang Park, soprano; Hannah Ludwig, alto; John Matthew Myers, tenor; Joshua Conyers, baritone.

Handel and Haydn Society Chorus

Let me start off by saying this was an enjoyable concert.  A group of highly competent musicians put together a traditional program to celebrate the holiday season; and one could argue a lot of good will was in the air as a near-capacity audience listened to great music, or got reminded what the Messiah was about by Handel's masterpiece.

Having said that, there are some aspects of this performance I wanted to record for future reference.

One can start with the conductor, who evidently is also a concert violinist.  The best way to describe the result of Biondi's direction is Handel was brought forward by 100 years, to the romantic period.  Different, but not necessarily better.  The orchestra by-and-large responded very well to his style.  I don't remember any prior performance of the oratorio where the conductor did his job with so much gusto.

The chorus didn't miss a beat either.  Although it seemed to put in more of a buffer when it came to following the conductor's cues.  Which worked out okay.  And they did the quarter note runs very well.

Both the male voices did quite well.  Handel's music (and baroque in general, I believe) calls for many runs of quarter notes, there was a tendency for both men to slur their notes rather than to enunciate each note clearly.  Not okay with a chorus - things would have sounded very sloppy - and not ideal with soloists, in my opinion.

The women soloists were somewhat of a disappointment.  They approached the arias as if they were from an opera rather than an oratorio.  So things got over dramatic (remember, they brought the music up by a century?), and sometimes diction and clarity suffered as a result.

That was particularly true of the soprano Park.  I remarked to myself that I hoped she would redeem herself when she was to sing "I know that my redeemer liveth."  Which to her credit she did somewhat.  Also, she didn't do any singing during Part II.  The recitative "He was cut off" and the aria "But Thou didst not leave His soul in hell" are marked for the soprano, but were sung by the tenor.  I wonder if that was planned, or a last minute decision.  It seemed the quality of the performance improved after the intermission, so perhaps the latter happened.  Similarly remarks can be made of Ludwig's singing.

If one compares the movements in tonight's performance with what we heard in Boston back in November, there are some noticeable differences.  One example was the first movement in Part II tonight it was the air "He was despised" while in Boston it was the chorus "Behold the Lamb of God."  And in Part III both the Alto recitative "Then shall be brought to pass" and Alto and Tenor duet "O Death, Where is Thy Sting" are missing in the Boston production.  I wonder if there are standard variations to Messiah, or the conductor makes the decisions on how a particular performance is put together.  The Wikipedia article on the oratorio has a complete listing of all the movements.

Intermission at 7:55 pm.  For tonight's performance it happened after completion of Part I, about 50 minutes in duraction.  Parts II and III add up to about 75 minutes.  Most programs have breaks in the middle of Part II.  Better continuity with the earlier intermission.

The poinsettias are in the middle of the stage.

The H+H Society Chorus members must be credited on how versatile they are both in terms of the texts, and interpretations thereof, are modified from location to location.  

I was surprised at the small number of chorus members at the Boston performance: 31 of them.  For tonight there were 36.  10 each for the high voices, and 8 each for the low ones.  Three of the alto voices were countertenors.  Wondering how these things work, I looked at the H+H website and the programs for the Boston and New York listings of participants.  Well, I looked at the listings for sopranos.  On the H+H website there are 15 sopranos.  Five of them were at tonight's concert, 2 were not present in Boston, and 3 were not on the roster (making them temps?); and 6 who sang in Boston didn't show up.  It makes one wonder if there are not multiple (as many as three) H+H choruses touring the world.  I also found out Jonathan Cohen conducted the oratorio with the New York Phil, with the Westminster Choir as the chorus.

The NY Phil doesn't bother with being "period" correct, and the trumpet passages in Part III were done with a modern instrument.  That didn't bother me.  Actually I enjoyed the sound of the trumpet.  I wonder where one draws the line.  Messiah was first performed at the Fishamble Street Music Hall in Dublin, with a capacity of 700.  It is not practical to use an orchestra or a chorus that approximate the size at premiere is not practical in a hall with close to four times (2600)  the seating capacity, in my opinion.

There was a pause after the first few movements, presumably to let late comers to be seated.  Probably due to miscommunication with the usher staff, no one did.  Quite a few came in after the next number, while the musicians were playing and singing.  So logistics issues are not limited to NJ Symphony.

It was a cold evening (by the mild NJ standards), appropriate for the season.