A Cool Breeze....

Yesterday was exceedingly hot- near 100 degrees F.  It was one of those days that made going outside unpleasant.  Even getting in the car was unbearable, since the air conditioning could barely handle the heat.  But I persevered and drove to beautiful and historic Madison, GA.  This pretty little town is about an hour and fifteen minutes from where I live.  So why did I go?  Well, I wanted to attend the "Music of Passion and Fire Encore" or the Madison Chamber Music Festival.  The concert was held in Town 222, a very nice restaurant with a small gallery with space for maybe five tables.  I was lucky enough to have one of them, with a perfect view of the small stage.  I had a great meal before the music started.  The concert was made up virtuosic showpieces for chamber ensembles and soloists (see the program above).  Artistic Director Christopher Rex from the Atlanta Symphony selected a light collection of bonbons that perfectly suited the hot weather. 

   

The Piazzolla works were just enough to help me appreciate his tango-inspired music, without fatiguing me with the composer's sometimes slavishness to the form.  It's also interesting to note that three pieces were inspired by music of the gypsies or Roma (the Monti, Sarasate, and Ravel pieces).  It is interesting that a group of people who have endure so much prejudice and scorn have be the inspiration for many great composers. The Liszt piece is from his series of transcriptions of famous operas.  These were done so that those who did not have access to operatic performances could hear the music locally.  A standout work on the program was the Poeme of Ysaye. Eugène Ysaÿe ; 16 July 1858 – 12 May 1931) was a  Belgian violinist, composer and conductor born in Liège. He was regarded as "The King of the Violin", or, as Nathan Milstein put it, the "tzar". His brother was pianist and composer Théo Ysaÿe (1865–1918), and his great-grandson is Marc Ysaÿe, drummer of rock band Machiavel.  While admired in his lifetime, his music is heard infrequently today.  This particular Poeme is lush and romantic.  It is almost an elegy and it soars at times to great and heartfelt ecstasy.  The program concluded with the fourth movement of the Schumann piano quintet. This is a beautiful work from a composer who, for me, was better at composing chamber music than symphonic music. 

Each performer was outstanding.  Kudos again to Rex for assembling them.  Four of the players were from the Linden Quartet (McElravy, violin; Umansky, cello; Cosbey, violin; and Wong, viola).  Individually each is on outstanding technician.  Ms. McElravy played with a warm and burnished tone.  Mr. Wong was an outstanding performer who has mastered his instrument.  He also has a nice stage presence and handled the horn of a passing time with humor.  Ms. Cosbey's performance of the  Ysaye was flawless.  She handled the retuning of the G String to D with considerable skill.  A solo violinist, Ms. Park, played the Kreisler and Ravel.  The former is full of double-stops that she played beautifully.  She also showed that she did not lack technical skill in the devilishly difficult Tzigane.  Playing the piano was Elizabeth Pridgen who is familiar to patrons of the Georgian Chamber Players.  She is a solid performer who attends to dynamics of a piece and is masterful at working with others in terms of volume and tempo.  Christopher Rex is always a total professional, full of passion and technical skill. 

The Monti piece, Csardas, was interesting because Mr. Rex had arranged for an ASO performance where he played the piece with Yo Yo Ma as an encore.   This was the only piece on the program that didn't seem up to the level of the others.  Both cellist seemed to have intonation and bowing problems.

This concert was an example of having a performance setting that was relaxed and "starch-less."  Seating was comfortable and there is something nice about having an iced tea while listening to wonderful music.  This should be done more often.  This was a great contrast to the somewhat stodgy setting of the North Georgia Festival, i.e., a dark, rather old university recital hall. Also, as the darkness approached, the LED lights on the music stands became increasingly visible.  They looked like fireflies circling the music.  It was a nice, if slight, touch. 

The Atlanta area is fortunate to have two chamber music festivals within easy driving distance.  Both help bridge the gap between the traditional fall and spring classical music seasons.

It occurs to me that those of us who are patrons of these events should be grateful to those who provide support to make it all possible.  As a result, I have included a list of the sponsors of this Chamber Music Festival.  Special thanks should also to Nancy and Steve Mauro for their support of the evening.  

The next concert of this series is on July 1 at the Conservatory at the Historic Burge Plantation.  I understand that is it sold out.  To see the website of the festival, go to www.mmc-arts.org.

John Cage Knock, Knock joke...

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Philip Glass knock knock joke...

Knock, knock.
Who's there?

Knock, knock.
Who's there?

Knock, knock.
Who's there?

Knock, knock.
Who's there?

Knock, knock.
Who's there?


Knock, knock.
Who's there?

Brahms at his best

The North Georgia Chamber Music Festival presented the last of its inaugural season concerts, which included:

Stravinsky- Suite italienne for cello and piano

Brahms- Piano Quintet, Op. 34

This concert took place at North Georgia College and State University in beautiful Dahlonega, GA.

William Ransom, piano, and Charae Krueger performed the Stravinsky.  I have a great deal of respect for each artist.  This was not Ms. Krueger's best performance and I will focus my comments on the Brahms.

The Piano Quintet was played by Kenn Wagner, violin; Olga Shpitko, violin; Yang-Yoon Kim, viola; Ms. Krueger, cello; and Mr. Ransom, piano.  This is a masterpiece of the chamber music literature.  It is big, bold, lyrical, and demonstrates Brahms' mastery of musical development.  The second movement is so beautiful and loving.  In a pre-performance talk, Mr. Ransom expressed his belief that this movement uses Clara Schumann's name as the basis for the main theme.  And so it seems and that interpretation makes the music all the more moving.  The third movement is big and very symphonic-like.  The same is true of the fourth movement.  Sunday's performance was stunning.  The musicians seemed to love playing it and with each other, particularly Mr. Wagner and Ms. Krueger.  They were animated and often smiled while joyfully playing the work.  Ms. Shpitko is always strong; she is a regular at Atlanta's Music on the Hill series, and has always been a solid musician.  William Ransom is a wonderful pianist and played boldly.  Finally, Ms. Kim was similarly gifted in this performance.  All of these fine players deserve a great deal of credit for what they achieved.

Mr. Wagner, a violinist with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, may be an underappreciated musician.  Hs playing was technically strong, and his tone was absolutely wonderful.  I hope that in the future he has more opportunities to display his talents. 

Congratulations to Cecylia Arzewski for the this new chamber series.  Based on what I heard, it is an auspicious inaugural season. 

WabiSabi

The Atlanta Ballet presented "WabiSabi" as part of the Atlanta Botanical Gardens Cocktails in the Garden.  From the ballet website:

Created by Atlanta Ballet veteran company dancer John Welker in 2011, Wabi Sabi seeks to push the boundaries of ballet through the creation of new works by the next generation of choreographic talent.  Wabi Sabi allows Atlanta Ballet to embark on presenting new work that enhances the scope of the existing repertory, while offering new artistic challenges to its company members.  ...Wabi Sabi takes its name from a Japanese worldview that finds beauty in the sincerity, simplicity, and integrity of the natural world.  As one of the newest dance initiatives in Atlanta, Wabi Sabi combines our city's own emerging choreographers with beautiful and engaging venues for amazing outdoor performances that bring art to the people. Wabi Sabi is sponsored by the Corps de Ballet.

I like being outdoors as much as the next guy, so that part I really enjoyed, save the damp lawn and bugs.  I won't review each piece, although I really liked "Mind Myself" choreographed by Tara Lee and "Whispers" choreographed by Peng-Yu Chen.  Here are a few random observations:

·        Being so close to the dancers takes away some of the mystique that what they do is effortless.  Close-up, it is apparent that they are working very hard.

·        Dancing on a lawn must be very difficult because of the potential for sliding and the lack of marks.  It's not pretty seeing dancers warm-up.  Better they should do it out of sight.

·        Dancers are not really as tall as they appear on stage.  Wearing brown pleated pants made the men seem short.  They should have worn jeans, at least for appearance.

·        It's not good to see dancers break character as they walk off the dance floor. That's what the stage wings were designed for, and what you don't have in an outdoor area.

·        When dancers perform in a circle created by an audience, the audience can be an intrusive background. 

·        Seeing young children have fun at this kind of event is great.

·        Outdoors and cocktails help the ballet attract many younger and "hipper" patrons.

·        Too often it was apparent that the dancers were setting up  their next move.  Seeing them on stage tends to make this less visible.

·        It would be nice if the choreographers took into account the outdoor quality and the lack of a stage.  Some interaction with the audience would be nice, but I am not sure how that would be accomplished.

Jesse Tyler is a very, very talented dancer (he also has great hair) and he dances as if the moves were coming straight out of his soul.   His moves seem to be of his creation- not that of a choreographer.  His body "owns the moves."  He is a joy to watch.

Jesse Tyler

Generation of sounds....

Georgia Tech's resident new music ensemble Sonic Generator presented a concert that included:

Dodge- Viola Elegy (1987) with Charles Dodge, viola

Vogt, Goudarzi, Holdrich- Chirping Stars (2012)

Reich- Piano Phase (1967) with Stuart Gerber and Charles Settle, marimbas

Berger- Doubles (2004) Helen Kim and Adelaide Federici, violins, William Johnston, viola, and Brad Ritchie, cello

The concert was held in the beautiful Academy of Medicine building at Georgia Tech. 

Sonic Generator is one of the best musical ensembles in Atlanta.  It presents challenging, cutting-edge music that reflects the best in new music evolution.  Last year's day-long marathon at the Woodruff Atrium was as good as it gets. This concert was considerably shorter, but no less interesting. 

Charles Dodge is best known for his electronic and computer music composition.  I found this on the Web about the piece:

The following note is an excerpt from "Some Personal Reflections on the Music of Charles Dodge" written by Ingram Marshall to accompany a CD anthology of pieces by Charles Dodge on the New Albion label (NA043 CD).

Viola Elegy is, perhaps, Charles Dodge's most lyrical and beautiful composition to date. It was composed using an algorithm based on principles of Benoit Mandelbrot's fractal geometry. The tape part was composed and realized first. Then the viola part was made by selectively doubling lines on the tape part until it takes over completely and ends the work with a solo cadenza. To anyone familiar with Morton Feldman's viola pieces (The Viola in My Life, Rothko Chapel), the kinship and homage will be apparent. It was written as an elegy for Feldman, but there is a universal quality in that it bespeaks of a wider lament, for whom or what I can't say.  (oops- I just noticed that this quote is also in the program notes)

The Viola Elegy, other than being elegiac (duh), may best be described as a rhapsody where the viola plays along with an pre-recorded electronic score. Its seems like a difficult piece to perform, given that it has no strong rhythmic base and the electronic music has no discernible beat, at least to me.  The music rarely strayed from being rather heavy and dark.  Dodge did a remarkable job.  The viola did not seem to occupy the same acoustical space as the electronically generated music and was a bit disconcerting for me.  I am not sure if it was a stereo recording, but it not, it might have improved the integration of the viola and accompaniment.

Chirping Stars is "a tape piece made of the sonification of social media data,"  according to the program notes.  Alrighty then... this piece may have been interesting based upon how it was derived, but it did not engaged me.  It reminded me of the sound from overlapping AM radio stations. 

(from YouTube in the original piano version)


The Reich piece is wonderful.  Originally written for the piano it was played here by marimbas. From the programs notes "the piece begins with two pianos playing an identical melodic phrase consisting of twelve notes.  After playing in unison for a bit, one player begins to play slightly faster than the other.  Eventually, the players settle back into the same tempos with one player one note ahead of the other, in the melodic pattern." I find the repeated patterns in the music of Reich, Glass, Adams, Paart, and Riley (among others) to be compelling and hypnotic.  It drags me into the moment so that all I experience is the music.  A fascinating part of this music is that eventually the two marimbas, slightly askew, create a third line, that has its own rhythm and melody.  This line also changes over time.  It's a great work and an enjoyable exploration of our perception. 

Berger's piece, written for the St. Lawrence String Quartet, is quite beautiful.  here is what the composer said about the music:

Doubles recalls songs of peace, freedom and resistance that were influential in my youth. Some of the references are readily identifiable, others  obscured. The title 'Doubles' refers to the seventeenth century practice of pairing a short piece with a highly embellished version of itself. The doubles in the quartet consist of three pairs of ornamental variations. In each double a new theme emerges. This theme is itself ornamented in the subsequent section, thus creating two simultaneous shifted sets of doubles.

The piece provides a range of music, from exquisite melodies to strong emotional confrontation.  It was performed beautifully by the string quartet.  In addition to my excerpts, a full recording of Doubles can be streamed at: http://saintpaulsunday.publicradio.org/wmcontent/580.asx. 

Just a side note.  Cellist Brad Ritchie has to be the hardest working musician in Atlanta.  He performs with many groups and has a wide repertoire. He also plays very well. 

The next performance for Sonic Generator will be at the goat Farm in West Midtown on July 27, 2012.  It will feature Reich's Drumming.

Everyone is a critic.....

Greatness....

Here is a link to an article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer about what makes an orchestra great: http://www.cleveland.com/musicdance/index.ssf/2012/06/cleveland_orchestra_why_is_it.html .  Its a thoughtful piece, but seems weighted toward those factors that would appear to make the hometown orchestra "great."  Certainly the Cleveland Orchestra is among the country's best, there is no dispute about that.  But there are some considerations that are given short-shrift in the article.  For example, community response is an important factor and it can include financial support, attendance, and audience satisfaction.  To me, the last factor of audience satisfaction is very important.  Are the orchestra's performances perceived by patrons to be of high quality, musically satisfying, and of high value?  What may be a wonderful performance for the local community may not be perceived by outsiders as all that.  But do the outsiders' views really matter that much?  For example, Atlanta Symphony audiences are indiscriminate in giving standing ovations after nearly every soloist has performed. They love every choral work.  They are highly complimentary of what they hear.  Whether these performances are worthy of such adoration probably doesn't matter a lot if the hometown crowd in pleased.  It is important, however, that a satisfied audience results in attendance and donations.  Yet no matter local satisfaction, another mark of greatness might be if  an orchestra in demand elsewhere.  In other words, the outsiders' view can affect if an orchestra will tour (it also assumes that a very expensive tour can be financed).  Touring can bring glory to an orchestra, and it can bring important attention to its host city.  Whether a symphony's local audience cares much about touring is debatable, but they probably like to be associated with an organization that is in demand elsewhere and garners great reviews in other cities. Here is an interesting article from the Washington Post about the possible benefits of a National Symphony Orchestra tour of South America: http://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/music/what-the-national-symphony-orchestra-gets-out-of-its-tour-of-south-america/2012/06/07/gJQAPM1AOV_story_1.html.  I am not sure the article makes a good case for touring but it does highlight some hoped-for benefits, e.g., partnering with industry, better playing upon return, but those are not necessarily compelling arguments.  Its also noteworthy that only a few of  this country's major orchestras regularly tour internationally, e.g., Philadelphia, New York, Los Angeles, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Boston, Chicago, and San Francisco.  Finally recordings used to be a mark of great orchestras.  Decades ago when many orchestras recorded, there were reviews that heap praise or scorn on orchestras and their leaders.  This was a way to ferret out the good from the great. Today, few American orchestras record because of prohibitive costs.  Its much cheaper to record the Icelandic Symphony than the Cleveland Orchestra, for example.  What was once a revenue stream for orchestras no longer is available.  Atlanta has set up its own record label after the demise of Telarc.  Pittsburgh records for audiophile labels, such as Exton, that charge upwards of $30 for one compact disk.  Finally there are the orchestra rankings done by The Gramophone magazine in the UK.  The list has a decided  European bent, but the with only the Chicago Symphony is rated as the best in the US. A vote on greatness?  If you like that sort of thing. finally, the reputation of the music director can influence views of an orchestra. Some are good, some are no-so- good.  The not-so-good can have a really deleterious effect on an orchestra over time.   The best can inspire great playing.  This, of course, raises the question of how to determine the relative greatness of a music director.  Like beauty, it may be in the eye of the beholder.

So there is no easy answer to "great."  There are different ways to approach the issue of which orchestra is great, but for me, audience reaction may be the best measure.  No applause, no curtain calls- probably not great.  The listener should choose their own measure or simply conclude that it doesn't matter because "I know what I like and I know it when I hear it."

Another unexpected performance in Omaha.....

The Omaha Chamber Music Society, as part of its Summer Concert Series, presented a program that included:

Beach: Pastorale for Woodwind Quintet (1942)

Francaix- Wind Quintet No. 1 (1948)

Poulenc- Sextet for Piano and Winds (1932)

The program only lists the musicians' names rather than a group name.

The OCMS deserves great credit for programming music written rather recently, at least in terms of the history of classical music.  And in spite of that, there were roughly 200-250 patrons in the audience. 

Amy Beach was the foremost woman composer in America during her lifetime.  Her "Pastorale" is beautiful, easily evoking a simpler more beautiful place.  It is too bad that her music is not programmed more frequently.  While Amazon lists a fair number of recordings of Beach's music, she seems not to appear on many symphonic schedules.  It is time to correct this error.

The Francaix is a frothy confection.  It seems overly mannered and polite.  It is humorous but seems more French-elegant that substantial. 

The Poulenc also suffers a bit from glimmer and gloss.  It doesn't seem to plunge great depths, but then great music is not required to.  In some sections of this work, Poulenc seems to foreshadow the repetitive figures and themes of the minimalist composers, but he uses this repetition sparingly so that it does not have the same hypnotic effect.

This performance was preceded by a brief discussion of the music led by flautist Maria Harding.  She was informative and charming.  While playing Ms. Harding, who is Principal flute of the Omaha Symphony, coaxes a golden mellow sound from her instrument.  This is in contrast to the sometimes too metallic sound that can be heard in many orchestras. 

Ryan Heseltine was the horn player.  His playing was outstanding.  His intonation was right on and he did not slide into the notes.  He performed impressively with a muted horn.  Mr. Heseltine performs on French horn with the Brass in Blue brass ensemble, Concert Band and Ceremonial Band of the United States Air Force Heartland of America Band, Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska.  He would be a catch for a major orchestra like the Atlanta Symphony (see some of my other reviews for background).

James Compton played the bassoon and made his instrument sing.  Carmelo Galante played the clarinet, and also was outstanding.  Jason Sudduth was on oboe.  All three musicians were stellar.

Finally Yulia Kalahnilova played the piano in the Poulenc.  She was strong, with a good sense of nuance and passion.

Overall this was a very rewarding concert.  It was a bit expensive ($18) for an hour and a half performance, but the Omaha Chamber Music Society mostly lives off of ticket sales, so the expense was worth it. 

I came away from the concert reflecting on the high quality of the performers and the performance.  There is much musical talent across the country and Omaha is fortunate to have some highly skilled musicians.  I hope that the OCMS has a long and prosperous life bringing great music to the heartlands. 

A beautiful couple- I mean recital

The Omaha-based Tuesday Musical Concert Series presented a recital by brother-sister team of Kirill and Alexandra Troussov. The presentation lasted for about two and a half hours so it was well worth the price of admission, which happened to be free.  The highlight of the performance was just looking at these two.  They are genetically blessed in the appearance department and in the music-making department.  Alexandra was stunning and has just a touch of playfulness while performing on the keyboard.  But I guess I should talk about the music, but first, did I mention they are very attractive people?

The program began with the Suite in the Old Style by Schnittke.  I recently heard this played in Atlanta’s Music on the Hill Chamber series. It is pleasant music written by a composer who could write in nearly any musical style, from classical to modern. This piece is beautiful if not particularly profound.  The duo played admirably. 

Next was Schumann’s Etudes Symphoniques played by Ms. Troussova.  These pieces are a set of études for solo piano, which were composed beginning in 1834 as a theme and sixteen variations on a theme by Baron von Fricken, plus a further variation on an entirely different theme by Heinrich Marschner. This is wonderful music to get lost in.  It encourages the listener to focus only on itself rather than the outside world.  It was played with nuance and with great attention to dynamics.  Ms. Troussova is a powerhouse when she needs to be. 

The duo next played “Valse-Scherzo” by Tchaikovsky. This was followed by Prokofiev’s Sonata No. 2 in D for Violin and Piano.  This piece is beautiful and displays well the composer’s facility with melody. 

Ms. Troussova played the “Hungarian Rhapsody” No. 2.    All I can say is that something went terribly wrong about three quarters of the way through this piece.  Either she forgot where she was or she simply had her hand in the wrong place, but it was not a pretty sound.  I give Ms. Troussova credit for charging on through. 

Next was a beautiful rendition of Rachmaninov’s “Vocalise.”  Mr. Troussov managed some wonderful warm sounds from his instrument.  Liszt’s “Grand Galop Chromatique” was performed by Ms. Troussova and the recital was topped off by “La Ronde des Lutins” by Bazzini.  This was a spectacular showcase of the violin and Mr. Troussov demonstrated his technical mastery by plucking one string while playing another.  It was quite a nice ending. 

After a deserved standing ovation, the pair provided two encores.  One was Kreisler’s “Leibesfrued.” There was not a dry eye in the house.  This was followed by Paganini’s “Carnival of Venice.” Wow and Wow.  These two pieces cleared up any doubt, if there was any, of Mr. Troussov’s mastery of the violin. 

This brother and sister obviously are proud of each other and enjoy working together.  Ms. Troussova enjoys being on stage and, from time to time, will make a face to punctuate a humorous passage.  She can be funny, without being tasteless. 

This recital was held in the Witherspoon concert hall of the Joslyn Art museum in Omaha.  It is a perfectly preserved Art Deco masterpiece.  It is a marble covered beauty and its sound has been softened by luxurious red velvet curtains and sound dampers.  It is a bit sonically dry, but perfect for a chamber recital.  It has the most beautiful chandeliers I have seen recently.  Again, they are perfectly preserved and difficult to photograph with a camera phone.  I will post my photographic efforts shortly.

And you thought your dreams have been shattered.....

The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra did not select a winner from its recently held online soloist competition.  Read more: http://blogs.pittsburghsymphony.org/2012/06/pso-concerto-competition-concludes-without-a-winner/

Some Questions....

The following video is a bit tedious with too many talking heads, but  the tour is nice.

The Omaha Symphony, under Music Director Thomas Wilkins, presented a program including:

Liszt (arr. Franz Doppler)-  Hungarian Rhapsody No. 1 in F major

Beethoven- Symphony No. 8 in F major

Bartok- Concerto for Orchestra

I have many questions, keeping in mind that the Omaha Symphony is not one of the “majors”:

1. Why does the OS have such a wonderful performing space in the Holland Center?  How can a modern shoe-box concert hall have such warmth and stunning reverb time with no smearing?

2.  Why does the Holland Performing Arts Center have such grand, albeit somewhat bleak, public spaces?

3.  Why does the OS have a horn section that plays without pitchiness and without sliding into notes?

4.  Why does the timpanist work so hard?  Does it really add to his performance?

5.  How did they attract such a wonderful English horn player?

6.  Why were the bassoons so impressive?

4.  Why did the cellos and basses sound so integrated together and why did they complement the rest of the orchestra so well?

5.  Why did the brass section in general sound good without drowning out the rest of the orchestra?

These were competent performances. I have a few quibbles.  The Liszt began out quite sloppily, which I will attribute to warming up.  Overall it was played well, with no rhythmic slowdowns to accommodate less skilled players.  The Beethoven was also effective. My only complaint was a slowing down of the tempo to accommodate the French horns in their key solos.  This is a very minor issue. The Bartok was really good.  Everything was played well, without exaggeration.  It could possibly have been played with a bit more tension and ferocity, but Maestro Wilkins does not seem to be a whirlwind of a conductor.  See my review of earlier this year when he conducted in Atlanta. 

Unfortunately the house was not well sold.  Maybe that’s because there was a street fair occurring concurrently in Omaha or maybe because it is June or maybe it’s because of lack of demand, as is being seen all over the country.  Wilkins is a competent conductor, but his bowing to the audience with his Buddha-like prayer hands clasping the baton is a bit much.  He did address the audience about the Bartok.  I appreciated that and think that maybe conductors should do a bit more of that- it not only imparts knowledge, but it may break down some of the barriers between the Maestro and the audience. 

As you may have guessed, the Holland Performing Arts Center is an acoustical masterpiece.  I think it can make the second-rate sound first-rate, bathing the performance in a golden glow, yet without muddling the sound.  I don’t quite understand why Wilkins chooses to have the violins on the left hand of the stage, with the cellos, basses and brass on crowded on the right.  Only the winds seem centrally located.  This seating arrangement gives the percussion plenty of space, but tends to make the orchestra look and sound a bit lopsided.

Omaha is very fortunate to have this wonderful facility and orchestra.  Let’s hope the lack of patronage doesn’t hamper their survival.  By the way, Omaha has another performing arts venue, the restored Orpheum Theater, a once-legendary movie palace.  To some degree this is an embarrassment of riches. 

I have one final note.  Omaha is an often overlooked US city, part of the “fly-over” region.  Yet it has a beautiful modern city core that has broad streets, hills, and a great riverside development.  It also some of the most well-preserved art deco buildings to be found, i.e., the Durham Museum, the Joslyn Museum and the Hotel Deco.  The Old Market also adds a touch of the old.  It’s a city worth a visit. 

Conductors I'd Like to See and Hear in Atlanta

In no particular order....
Manfred Honeck (from Pittsburgh and Europe)
Gianandrea Noseda (from Pittsburgh and Europe- probably unlikely)
Jap Van Zweden (again)
Vasily Petrenko (again)
Michael Christie (with some good music the next time)
Marin Alsop (from Baltimore)
Franz Welser Most (from Cleveland- not likely)
Yannick Nezet-Seguin (from Philadelphia, but it won't happen)
Lorin Maazel (formerly of New York and Pittsburgh)
Gustavo Dudamel (from Los Angeles, but won't happen)
Osmo Vanska (from Minneapolis)
Christop Eschenbach (formerly of Philadelphia- want to see his temperament displayed)
Maris Jansons (the proclaimed "greatest conductor in the world", formerly of Pittsburgh and now in Europe only, a guaranteed "it won't happen.")
Valery Gergiev- (won't happen, but one of the best)
Sir Simon Rattle (won't ever happen)
Michael Tilson Thomas (likely will never happen)

Here's an interesting article concerning the relationship between conductors and orchestras:http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/jun/01/mystery-maestros-what-are-conductors-for.

A surprisingly tasteless cartoon from the ASO.....

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra published a cartoon as part of its Friday humor series that shows a piano teaching threatening a student to use heated stove burners to train staccato finger movements.  Really?  Couldn't they have found something really funny and a bit more socially responsible? 

For me, a major disappointment.......

(I am not sure how to attribute this.  Its from YouTube)

The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, under music director Robert Spano, presented an opera-in-the-concert-hall performance of John Adams’ “A Flowering Tree.”  The soloists were Jessica Rivera, soprano; Russell Thomas, tenor; and Eric Owens, Bass-baritone.  The Atlanta Symphony Chorus, under the direction of Norman Mackenzie, also was featured.  The performance was staged by James Alexander.

John Adams, along with Philip Glass, is one of my favorite modern composers.  Both have their roots in the “Minimalist” style, a label that Adams does not particularly like.  Minimalism derives some of its style from Indian ragas, as performed by masters like Ravi Shankar.  As a brief review, here is a description of minimalism from Wikipedia:  “Prominent features of the style include consonant harmony, steady pulse (if not immobile drones), stasis or gradual transformation, and often reiteration of musical phrases or smaller units such as figures, motifs, and cells. It may include features such as additive process and phase shifting.“  One of the earliest pieces I heard in this style was Terry Riley’s “A Rainbow in Curved Air,” which was a ground breaking work using amplified instruments.  I find that the hypnotic nature of minimalist music to be relaxing, enabling me to become centered, focusing only the sound, and not my thoughts.  For me, this musical style can be harsh and aggressive, especially when amplified, but it can also be lush and melodic.  I heard the Vienna State Opera Orchestra play several of Philip Glass’ pieces recently, and it was nothing short of gorgeous. 

As a result of my love of minimalism I was looking forward to Adams’ opera with great anticipation.  The performance was beautifully staged, with a rear scrim upon which were projected shadow puppets and videos, reflecting the story.  Particularly clever was the projection of the lead female Kumudha as she transformed into a tree.  The story is based on a folk tale focusing on the redemptive power of love.  A key feature of the narrative is Kumudha’s transformation, which goes terribly wrong as a result of the spiteful interference of another woman. Initially I was put off by the somewhat fantastical storyline only to reflect that I had really liked “Snow White and the Huntsman,” which I had seen the day before.  I concluded that fantasy is, well, fantasy. 

The singers were certainly competent and the chorus was up to its usually excellent standard.  I found of the movements the chorus were assigned were distracting.  They would turn their back to the audience, hold their scores in front of their faces, wiggle their fingers over their heads, and randomly turn around.  I wasn’t sure how these movements aided the story, but I will leave the interpretation to those less concrete than me. But as always, I found the chorus to be too large and too loud.  It was also unidiomatic.  Check out the YouTube piece above.  It very different than the ASO performance, but sounds much more like Indian- influenced music and singing.  It is as if it is not even the same music.  

Adams apparently likes to have the human voice amplified.  I found that the voices overwhelmed the often delicate and diaphanous orchestrations in this performance.  Adams music was more often piano than forte so protecting the small orchestral voice seemed desirable.  But that was not the case here.  It may have been Symphony Hall’s problematic acoustics (I was in the Loge), an overly aggressive sound engineer, or Spano’s intent.  But, I missed hearing most of the orchestra.  I also felt that the western operatic voice did not suit the story.  Composing to reflect the delicacy of Indian singing (and its music in general) would seem to have been a better choice, but then Adams didn’t seek my consultation while he was writing. Also, I didn’t hear any minimalist homage to Indian ragas.  They could have been drowned out by the singing, but I don’t think so.  That would also have been a nice touch.  Take notes Mr. Adams. For me, it was like hearing a soundtrack that accompanies a film- you know it is there  but it is never intrusive enough to actually register..

So for me, this finale to the season deserves high marks for the boldness of the programming of this work, but lower marks for the music itself, as well as the balance problems that I heard.  Sometimes an event can fall short of our expectations simply because of expectations were too high.  This may have been at work here for me.  I can say that, for example, I had high expectation for the performance of the Brahms Double Concerto earlier in the season, but it also disappointed for the lack of agreement between the soloists with regard to the aggressiveness of the performance.  But as they say, today’s expectation is tomorrow’s disappointment.  Maybe I set myself up to not enjoying the Adams work simply because I hoped for so much. 

Better than Christina Aguilera

Noah Bendix-Balgley, concert master of the Pittsburgh Symphony,  plays at a Pittsburgh Pirates game. Its in tune, has no memory lapse or screaming..... He is the youngest concertmaster of a major symphony in the US>.