Orchestra Ring

A Distasteful Choice of Song

2008-10-30T10:31:00.000-07:00

Wednesday night, the opening symphony performance in CAMA's season was the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Leon Botstein. The program included Sternberg's Twelve Tribes of Israel, Bernstein's Serenade, and Copland's Symphony No. 3. The soloist for the Bernstein piece was Robert McDuffie. Whatever merit the performance of these pieces might have had was overshadowed by the choice of an additional opening piece.

The orchestra began the concert by standing and playing the American national anthem. What person in his or her right mind could possibly think that now is a good time for the public performance of a nationalist, military march? Apparently, I'm in the minority because the audience went all gooey. By the way, they also played it badly, sort of like the prom queen singing it at the start of a football game. They followed this piece with a performance of the Israeli national anthem, which at least, was played with some emotion.

I left at the interval.

Anderszewski at CAMA: A Little Bit of Tureck and a Whole Lotta Hair

2008-10-21T10:07:00.000-07:00

Keyboard phenom, Piotr Anderszewski, opened the season for the Community Music Arts Association in Santa Barbara, Thursday evening, October 16. The program was a thrill for me as it included two Bach partitas (1 and 2), Mozart's sonata in C minor (no. 14), and Beethoven's sonata in A-flat (no. 31). The program thus gave us a history lesson, and one really saw how the sonata form developed over time.

Anderszewski was one of the most unusual pianists that I have ever heard. When he begins a piece, a lopes out on stage like he is trying to catch a bus and then starts to play before his behind makes it onto the bench. His playing has the same interesting dynamic range. He played the Bach slow movements with a delicacy reminiscent of Rosalyn Tureck. The bright, soft notes of these movements gave them tenderness without a maudlin sweetness. The same was true of the slow movements in the Mozart and Beethoven. At the same time, Anderszewski played the faster, forte movements with vigor but always coloring the bass line with dark tones and overlaying it with a bright melody line that seemed to lurch forward rather than sweetly float over the top as one might have expected. I enjoyed the concert, but I also felt it had a strange schizophrenic quality.

Anderszewski's exits from the stage were as unique as his entrances. He rocketed off the bench and bolted at the end of a piece and came back as quickly for a couple of short, staccato bows. He is now wearing his hair long and combed over his forehead and down his eyes. He was overdressed for the perennially hot Lobero Theater, but he never perspired. At times, I felt that I was eavesdropping and that he might be more content to play without an audience, or perhaps, he didn't notice us at all.

Melodrama Is Women's Work

2008-10-06T12:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I saw Madame Butterfly at the LA Opera with Liping Zhang singing the title role ably despite being indisposed. She was a little difficult to hear when she sang upstage, but when she let it rip in the big numbers, her voice soared. Since she obviously had power and clarity of tone, I hesitate to attribute the softness of her singing simply to being farther away and ill. Instead, it may have been due to the little girl voice with which many sing the 15-year old, Cio-Cio San.

Cio-Cio San's story left me questioning my usual assumptions about tragedy. We generally think that tragedies are those narratives in which a superior human (not a super human) is subjected to divine or human law. In this process, the free life is limited, and the hero must leave behind some delusion or false consciousness (see Northrop Frye). Traditionalists do not regard Cio-Cio San's story as a tragedy. Critics and musicians alike will dismissively refer to it as a "melodrama." But why should this be the case? Cio-Cio San is subjected to human law, the custom that made it possible for male imperialists to exploit the women of non-Western lands. She does, in the end, throw off her false faith in Pinkerton's love. One might argue that she does not throw off her false view of herself as the faithful woman in love. One could say that because she does not, there is no significant revelation of the kind required by a tragic resolution.

If this is not the case, however, we must look further. Does Puccini treat her as a tragic figure? No, he does not. The music while often beautiful is sweet and lyrical. Puccini does not allow us to see the ugly emotions of false consciousness. So, at least, he probably didn't think he was writing a tragedy. The story, however, is or could have been just as tragic as Otello. Instead, it is put by Puccini and modern audiences in the same category as Dallas, One Life to Live, and celebrity gossip magazine copy. I think it is because we are loathe to universalize a woman's life and see it as a revelatory tragedy that may speak to every man. How many tragedies do we know that bring a female character low or use a typical woman's experience as the material of transcendence?

Opera Starts Again in LA with Il Trittico

2008-09-16T13:29:00.000-07:00

Sunday was my first time to see the three operas of Il Trittico on stage. To my surprise, the real hit of the afternoon was Suor Angelica. Who could have guessed that I would cry over a Puccini opera and, moreover, one in which a fallen woman (you have to accept all that goes with that to feel sympathy for her) offs herself only to be redeemed by the Virgin Mary, who descends from the rafters like a wooden idol and gestures like Dickens's Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come? Sondra Radvanovsky made the whole thing work with the simplicity and clarity of her singing. The Gianni Schicchi, directed by Woody Allen, was hilarious. The best part was the fake movie credits highlighting the work of people with names like Proscuitto, Melane, and Fellatio. Allen did the set and costumes in shades of grey to make the opera have the look of a black and white film, and the entire effect was perfect for the familial melodrama.

As I was milling about between operas, I enjoyed a little people watching, always a fun sport in Los Angeles. I realized that the audience at a Sunday matinee can be broken down into two groups. In the first, there are people who are appropriately (if less than originally) dressed. I am one of them. We supernumerary types try to look respectful without calling attention to ourselves. The other group consists of the freakishly dressed and the under-dressed. The latter includes the jeans and gym shoe crowd. Are they opera diehards or do they not know better? The former includes the Latin American gentleman behind me at the drink counter wearing a lovely pale blue linen suit but with shorts instead of trousers and saddle oxfords and Harry Potter glasses. The F.D. set also includes the women over 60 in jump-me, 4-inch heels, hot pants, and form-fitting, low cut metallic sweaters. I would love to know what their inner monologues tell them as they are dressing. Mine says something like, "That will do--God, I'm getting older; is this too frump or too young?"

Well, the LA opera season has many gems on the schedule and look forward to them all.

Two Satisfying Violin Styles at MAW's Chamber Concert

2008-07-18T09:17:00.000-07:00

Tuesday night's chamber concert put on by Music Academy of the West presented a delightful contrast of two violin playing styles. MAW regular Kathleen Winkler joined fellow faculty members and the 19 year-old John Stoltz in Mozart's Quintet for Two Violin, Two Violas, and Cello in C Minor, and Takacs Quartet member Edward Dusinberre played Bach's Chaconne from Partita in D Minor for Solo Violin and a Brahms Sonata for Violin and Piano No. 2 in A Major with Margaret McDonald. While the pieces were from different musical eras and different combinations of instruments, the audience had the opportunity to hear two masterful violinists with different yet equally satisfying approaches to the music.

Ms. Winkler has a beautiful tone and seems to float a delicate line over a solid foundation of sound. Her playing is lyrical and has a clear direction without being square or stuffy. When one hears her play, there is a strong sense of movement in the piece. In contrast, Mr. Dusinberre plays with a relentless kind of technical mastery. He plays more within himself, but one has the distinct feeling that there is always some great energy barely held in check.

I truly enjoyed both approaches, and it is one of the delights of hearing an evening of chamber music with different players. One can achieve this at home by listening to different CDs, but there is nothing like comparing styles when one is listening live.

I wish I could find a decent image of Ms. Winkler, but the only one available doesn't look like her at all.

Taylor Wowed the Audience with Messiaen's Spiritual Ordeal

2008-07-12T13:34:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, July 9, pianist Christopher Taylor mesmerized the audience in Music Academy of the West's Hahn Hall. He played Olivier Messiaen's Vingt Regards sur l'Enfant-Jesus, a demanding two plus hours of solo piano. Messiaen composed the work during 1943 and 1944 in occupied Paris, and it confronts the audience with a series of spiritual states that Taylor brought alive in a true artistic experience.

While almost every view uses some of a small collection of leitmotifs, they are quite insular and discrete in the spiritual experiences they present. The views move from atonal, rhythmic order to rapturous ugliness. The tempo is entirely foreign to the stately church music familiar to me. Instead, Messiaen really captures the fervent madness of religious exaltation, and Taylor made the most of them.

The small audience in this beautiful hall was with the performer the entire evening, and the four curtain calls were genuinely demanded. The newly renovated Hahn Hall is now my favorite venue in Santa Barbara. It is well designed and comfortable, and the architectural elements have a restrained grace that is ideal for the recitals and chamber music that will be performed here. The Met's HD broadcasts will also air here next season, and I look forward to going to this wonderful space as well as avoiding the trek down to Ventura.

Music Academy of the West Makes Our Summer

2008-07-05T15:35:00.000-07:00

I attended my first Music Academy of the West chamber performance on Tuesday, July 1. The MAW provides our summer musical fare in Santa Barbara, and the chamber performances are particularly intimate since the performers are faculty members and many students are in the audience (http://www.musicacademy.org/festival).

Tuesday's performance included William Bolcom "Graceful Ghost Rag" (Kathleen Winkler violin, Jonathan Feldman piano), Messiaen "Le Loriot" (Jerome Lowenthal) and "Theme et Variations" (Jeff Thayer violin, Margaret McDonald piano) Ravel "Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano in A Minor" (Winkler, Alan Stepansky cello, Feldman), Elliott Carter "Woodwind Quintet" (Timothy Day flute, David Weiss oboe, Richie Hawley clarinet, Dennis Michel bassoon, David Jolley horn), Bach "Trio Sonata for Flute, Violin and Continuo in G Major" (Day, Thayer, Nico Abondolo double bass, Natasha Kislenko harpsichord). Another Carter piece was scheduled, but the pianist, Jerome Lowenthal, substituted Ravel's "Toccata" much to the relief of a few in the audience.

Most memorable were Bolcom, Messiaen's "Theme et Variations," and the Bach. I am not a ragtime fan, but Bolcom gave the genre polish. This produced a light, lyrical, almost bittersweet piece. Winkler's tone was right on for this piece. The Messiaen piece sounded like strange musical lines looping back and across one another. This created a slightly exotic and pleasing atmosphere. I adore Bach, and it was a real treat to hear a chamber work that included a harpsichord.

The audience was warm and familiar with the players since they are, for the most part, regulars at MAW. During the interval, I bumped into a fellow audience member who explained that he wasn't being "forward" when he ran his hand over my thigh. He just wanted to find out if my loud trousers also had an interesting texture. To his credit, somehow he didn't come off as a creep. This may take the cake in terms of firsts for me at a classical music concert.

Summer Reading for Opera Lovers

2008-06-13T16:07:00.000-07:00

As the prospects for opera diminish (at least anywhere near Santa Barbara), one's mind naturally turns to summer reading. For the start of the extracurricular reading season, I cannot recommend Daniel Handler's Watch Your Mouth enthusiastically enough.

Watch Your Mouth is a novel in which the narrator, Joe, relates the plot of his life as an opera. The tragi-comedy of his relationship with Cyn (a.k.a. Cynthia) after his junoir year in college is followed by his description of the 12-step program that he adopts to free himself from the damage. Both Joe's experience as the lead tenor in a darkly comic tragedy and his efforts to move through the 12-step recovery process are uproariously funny and thick with references to literary, operatic, and personal growth traditions.

Handler's prose is scintillating. He manages to weave seamlessly the self-consciousness of operatic drama with the self-consciousness of the narrator's search for escape from his theatrical fate. This skillful storytelling even includes directions for the orchestra and vocalists, choreography, stage design and direction, and leitmotifs. It will warm the hearts of opera lovers, and it shows us that opera itself is a wonderful vehicle for depicting the trials of a dysfunctinal family (which we probably knew anyway--thank you, Wagner).

Give Handler a try, although beware, Gentle Reader--it is opera with the taboo sex and not just the suggestion of it.

Tosca in L.A. or Hello Dolly in Rome

2008-06-10T14:29:00.000-07:00

I attended Tosca at the Los Angeles Opera on Sunday, June 8. Adrianne Pieczonka did a lovely job with Tosca, and Juan Pons played supremely evil Scarpia well. In this opera, I find Cavaradossi to be a bit uninteresting, and while Neil Shicoff did a nice job, I thought Scarpia and Tosca were the emotional center of the piece.

Unfortunately, the staging of the work did not live up to the fine singing. The set and costumes were distinctly American, sort of Hello Dolly meets Early Whorehouse in Rome. The costumes were early 20th century or late 19th, and the visual theme was carried by the red floor, which seemed out of place in the church and at the prison (Acts I and III). I suppose it was supposed to be highly associated with Scarpia and convey his menace, but its turn-of-the-century American flavor made it unthreatening. In addition, the failure to follow Puccini's stage direction ended up confusing the moral quality of the action. Tosca did not seek to absolve her sin by washing her hands after the murder, and her change from a white costume to the a black costume for the killing was heavy handed and blunted the emotional complexity of her character. In the final act, she did not jump off the parapet (or otherwise off herself), and the opera ended with her going out the back door of the prison yard. In the end, she came off frivolous rather than wrecked.

There was an unusual amount of furtive eating out of cellophane bags and chatting during Acts II and III. I was sitting in the gods, and this may be the norm up there on a Sunday afternoon. It's not my usual spot. This was my last Los Angeles Opera for the season, and I look forward to Wagner especially next season.

Dudamel Conducting Berlioz Now on iTunes

2008-06-02T15:55:00.000-07:00

Gustavo Dudamel's recording of Berlioz's "Symphonie Fantastique" can now be downloaded from iTunes. It is amazing! Even the recording will make your heart beat faster. He is so wonderful. Every nuance of this symphony comes alive--love, joy, tenderness, despair, shame, dread, terror--it's all there. The whole orchestra is so articulate here, and the soloists shine in perfect balance. This is a really really super conductor. Holy cow! I love this guy!

I submit this post in poor imitation of Score Desk. Only she could possibly do justice to how great this guy is.

Weird Folk

2008-06-01T11:44:00.000-07:00

Last night's performance at the L.A. Philharmonic included several of Debussy's "Preludes," Stravinky's "Les Noces," and Salonen's "Piano Concerto." The highlight of the performance was the Stravinsky work re-arranged to replace the four pianos with a full orchestra. The work adapts some peasant poems that address mundane wedding rituals, and while the text was impossible to discern amid the clang and clatter of the Asian-influenced music, the voices and orchestra did evoke the sense of loss and excitement surrounding the event. Moreover, it brought to life the warm, jangling sound of Russian church bells, which if you haven't heard them, are an exciting and exotic relief from the long, pure peals of the Western variety. Susan Narucki, the soprano soloist, did a fine job; her clear and rather piercing voice punched through the orchestral sound well. It was very difficult to hear Kelley O'Connor (mezzo) and the male soloists, Gordon Gietz (tenor) and Kyle Ketelson (bass-baritone).

Debussy's musical impressions had the usual (at least for me) brief moments of sublimity, and Salonen's self-proclaimed piece for cybernetic organisms was unintelligible. For example, in the second movement, a violist stands for some virtuoso playing. The sea of computer inspired noise, however, made it impossible to hear her. I had been watching the percussionists, and all of a sudden, I realized that the violist was standing and playing enthusiastically. I thought, "Wow, how exciting! What's going on with that?" But, I never could figure it out.

Stravinsky developed his work from folk sources, and Salonen claims that his piece is a folk work for a post-biological future (to which I have to say: there won't be any music then--so isn't this a sort of pseudo-contextualization of a non-event?). Folk? Well, it's not my bag, so my lukewarm response should not deter you if you really feel up to the challenge.

For another review of this performance, check out Out West Arts' more sympathetic take on Salonen.

Opera, Musical Play, Non-Musical Play...Where We Go

2008-05-24T19:01:00.000-07:00

According to the U.S. National Endowment for the Arts' "Attendance rates for various arts activities," 3% of men and 4% of women attended an opera in 2002. In fact, the rates of attendance for various arts activities from museum visit to non-musical play (isn't that a "play?") to musical play (isn't that an "opera?"... well, I guess it might include Broadway) were roughly equal for men and women. As expected, however, jazz performance is slightly more macho than classical, and plays of any kind tend to be less macho. The big gap was apparent in attendance for arts and crafts fairs: 39% of women, 27% of men.

Even more interesting is that 8% of grade schoolers attended an arts and crafts fair in 2002 while 49% of college graduates and 52% of master's and Ph.D.'s went to an arts and crafts fair. Someone has to explain why a college graduate is more likely to attend an arts and crafts fair than a grade schooler. Isn't grade school itself an arts and crafts fair?

Design in the Federal Government

2008-05-16T08:39:00.000-07:00

This is a little off topic, but since it concerns our artistic culture, I thought it deserved inclusion here.The new British coins pictured here are the work of a 26-year old graphic designer named Matthew Dent. Out of over 4,000 entries, Mr. Dent's was the winner of the Royal Mint's competition for the new currency design.
The new five dollar bill was created by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. The agency is 147 years old, employs 2,500 people, and has an annual budget of $525 million. The agency's daring design choice was the addition of the big, purple 5 in Helvetica, the font familiar to readers of public signs across Europe and the U.S.

Dudamel View

2008-05-14T14:38:00.000-07:00

Telephone conversation with Jean at the Los Angeles Philharmonic box office April 2008
Jean I can help you with your subscription. Do you know where you would like to sit?
Me I want the Orchestra View on the left, but I can’t afford that, so I’ll take the Terrace View left. Do you have seats there?
Jean (Sighing sympathetically) A woman after my own heart, let’s see what we have.... I think we can accommodate you there. They really are the best seats.
Me Yes, I want to be able to see the conductor.
Jean You’ve got that right (sexy sound). I sat there for Dudamel’s chamber performance.
Me Oh, I was at his Berlioz symphony. Wow, he was amazing!
Jean Do you know how many times he tucked his hair behind his ears?!
Me Snicker
Jean After the first movement, I just thought, “Give it up, honey.”
Me Oh, yeah, and I love it when he stops conducting and stands there digging the music!
Jean Me too, and in the Terrace View, you can even see him singing along.
Me Really!?
Jean Let’s see what we’ve got for a single ticket for his performance with the Israel Philharmonic this November. I think you’ll need a ticket to that too.
Jean really understands me.

Jessye Norman singing "Dove Sono"

2008-05-05T21:18:00.000-07:00

Only One?

2008-04-25T17:54:00.000-07:00

Telephone conversation with the Met Opera box office in Jan. 2007
Me I’d like to get a ticket to Traviata in April.
MET Yes, which section would you like?
Me I would like to be in the orchestra.
MET Excellent, Ms. Walling, and how many seats will you need?
Me Just the one, thanks.
MET Very good. We have an excellent seat for you in row M. The ticket will be available for you at will call. Enjoy the performance.
Telephone conversation with the Lobero box office in Feb. 2008
Me Hello, I’d like to get a ticket for Jordi Savall on the 14th?
LOB Yes, we still have tickets for that. Where would you like to sit?
Me I would like to be on a left side aisle. Do you have any tickets there?
LOB How many tickets will you need?
Me Just the one, thanks.
LOB Only One!??
Me Yes, it will be just me.
Me (to self) I’m not hideous.
LOB Okay, yes, Ms. Walling, we can seat you there. I will hold your single ticket for you at the box office.

The Arlington

2008-04-23T17:26:00.000-07:00

CAMA is winding down its long tenancy at the Arlington this season. While most everyone is apparently thrilled, I will miss the un-self-consciously fake Wild West border town facades and the peeling paint. CAMA performances for the 2008-09 season will be in the Granada Theater.

I’ve been in the newly renovated Granada. I had seats in the third row of the balcony (there’s only one) to see a taping of Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me…. I felt like I was going to be sick the entire time. It’s like looking down a mine shaft, and I can’t imagine what the music is going to sound like (although I don’t know a thing about acoustics). I’ll find out on May 3 when the L.A. Philharmonic comes to town.

Moreover, the Granada is a wedding cake, homage to the Spanish Renaissance. It’s encrusted with every geometric shape you’ve tried not to imagine simultaneously. Now, don’t get me wrong. The Spanish Renaissance was a wonderful and often neglected flowering of culture. Just listen to a master play the vihuela. But, really, Santa Barbara has about as much connection to the Spanish Renaissance as I have to the establishment of common law in England, a phenomenon that was occurring while my ancestors were fighting over who was going to get to eat the offal for dinner.

In short, the Granada is self-consciously grand, and I’m going to try not to look at it.

Yuja Wang in Santa Barbara and Gustavo Dudamel in Los Angeles

2008-04-23T17:25:00.000-07:00

I intend to aim high in the coming musical season and, at least, make my editorial comments in a timely manner. For now, I’ll sum up.

On March 26, Sir Neville Mariner conducted the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields at the Arlington Theater in Santa Barbara. The Academy of SMIF put on a terrific show, and its performance of Haydn’s London Symphony was full of feeling (despite what the Haydn haters say).

The highlight of the evening though was Yuja Wang. Female virtuosos are often praised for their “commanding stage presences,” which essentially means “she’s hot,” but Ms. Wang had the mother of all stage presences. Ms. Wang entered the stage in a strapless, royal blue ball gown with a full skirt of stiff, shimmering taffeta, which seemed to hold up the delicately small, 20 year-old pianist, rather than the other way around. Her jet black hair was cut in long, adolescent layers that hung loose and shook marvelously when she played. She looked as if she were ready to go to the prom, which gave her a girl-next-door allure and made the audience heave a parental sigh. She received a standing ovation for her Mozart Concerto in C minor with a sheepish, hair-bobbing pleasure as she handed the enormous flower arrangement to Sir Neville. She then played Mozart’s Turkish March for an encore with the energy of a Superball on steroids so that when it was only half over, we were all in stitches. It was the musical equivalent of a spanking.

More youth was in evidence at the L.A. Philharmonic on March 30 when Gustavo Dudamel conducted Berlioz’s Symphonie Fantastique. What more can one say about him? He looks like a hair commercial; he’s musically amazing (which deserves repeating)—he’s a blast.