Commencements: Exciting stuff!!

Performing music is an activity full of romance, emotion and excitement.  But sometimes, playing music can serve a more utilitarian purpose.  For example, anyone who has played in amateur bands and orchestras have undoubtedly provided music for commencement ceremonies.

Some musicians view this function as an obligation thick with drudgery: slogging through endless repetitions of Elgar’s “Pomp and Circumstance” and listening to the endless reciting of hundreds of names of graduates.

But to me – and I’ve played hundreds of commencements – I view the entire affair to be dramatic, unpredictable and often very moving.

New Wharton Season: Broadway and Little Else

Over the years, Wharton Center has transformed itself into a Broadway house.  It’s an all-purpose hall, but we all know that it’s too big for chamber music and small-intimate shows.  So, Broadway has become its thing.  Now, it is the busiest Broadway venue in the State of Michigan.

So, when a new season is announced, everyone talks about the shows, and this year has good stuff and old stuff.  Executive Director Mike Brand admits that putting together an exciting season after “the year of Hamilton” was a challenge.  But he did the best he could with the “products” that are available.

Hear This: Classical Artists Can Be Performers, too.

This week, Wharton Center will announce its eagerly anticipated 2019-2020 season and, as has been the case for several years, there will be few classical music concerts.  Although local music lovers complain bitterly, most classical offerings get sparse audiences. 

A concert that took place in the Great Hall earlier in the month may supply clues as to why this is.

Yefim Bronfman is one of the greatest pianists in the world.  So, when he comes to Wharton Center to play a concert, we expect first and foremost, wonderful music making.

Harmonies Times Two

What an inspired match up!

Two of the most celebrated vocal groups ever,” The Manhattan Transfer” and “Take Six”, combine their formidable vocal skills together for a concert called “The Summit”.  Between the two of them, they’ve been awarded 20 Grammy awards.

Janis Siegel, one of the founders of ManTran (as they’re often referred), “We didn’t want to do separate shows.  So, this is real a collaborate effort.  Most often, we have 10 voices on the stage at one time”.

A capella singing is all the rage these days, but Siegel wanted to make it clear than Manhattan Transfer is not an a capella group.  “We’ve always had a trio (piano, bass and drums) backing us up. We’re harmony singers. We’re singing charts but we do allow for improvisation.”

“Take Six”, is an a capella group with no instrumental accompaniments. And thanks to “Pitch Perfect” movies, “The Voice” and “Pentatonix”, a capella singing has found a new audience. Siegel says, “Pitch Perfect has ignited harmony singing.”

But for Siegel, there isn’t much different between the two styles.  She has always had a great amount of respect for “Take Six”.  “They have a gospel sound, but they’re pretty jazzy.  It’s like Gene Puerling (vocal arranger from the Hi-Los and other groups) goes to church.  They’re inspiring, and I’m inspired every minute we’re on stage together.”

For Siegel, who has been singing professionally since she was 12 with a girlfriend, the key to joy and happiness is singing harmony.  She listened to Motown groups such the Four Tops, Supremes, Temptations as well as the folk singers of the day.  Before long, the girls had a manager and were making records.  

“The skill of a harmony singer is consistency.  It’s not like the personal expression of a solo singer.  The harmony singer has to know his or her part and how it fits into the chord, the harmonic structure and how to blend.  The thrill of singing harmony is like no other.”

She founded ManTran with Tim Hauser back in 1972 and the group has been going strong ever since.  Their signature close and tight harmonies along with a driving jazz style created a unique sound that has never been duplicated. 

This concert will feature some of their famous tunes like “Killer Joe,” “Birdland”, “Straighten Up and Fly Right”, and “A Nightingale Sang in Barkley Square.”  They will also be adding a song by Bernstein in honor of the composer’s 100 anniversary of his birth.

ManTran and Take Six have been doing this show for about two years.  “I love doing it, but the process is a logistical nightmare.  Everyone lives a different place, and the charts are hard enough that we need vocal rehearsals as well as staging.  But in the end. It all works.”

               The Summit: The Manhattan Transfer Meets Take 6

               Wednesday, April 10, 2019 at 7:30

   Wharton Center, Great Hall

   Tickets from $40.  Purchase from Wharton Center .com, 

   517.432,2000 or 1 800  WHARTON.

LSO MasterWork 6 - The Modern and the Powerful   April 1, 2019

As I was entering Wharton Center for a Lansing Symphony Orchestra concert on Saturday night, a friend said, “I’m looking forward to the Tchaikovsky, but it looks like I’ll have to sit through a modern piece first.”

It’s true that most people go to a symphony concert and want to hear the music that is most familiar to them, and if not familiar certainly tuneful and harmonic.

But Maestro Timothy Muffitt enjoys contemporary music and somehow manages to find works that any audience can enjoy. As it turns out, “Visions and Miracles” by Christopher Theofanidis was a wonderful work in three movements for string orchestra.  Adapted from a string quartet, the work sounded a bit like Barber’s “Adagio for Strings” at times.

Muffitt has changed the seating of the orchestra recently, placing the cellos near the center of the orchestra with the second violins opposite the first violins.  I prefer this arrangement, as we hear the four voices - violin 1, violin 2, viola and cello – more distinctly.  Certainly, it worked very well for the fugal style in which this piece was written.

A few more instruments were added for the following work on the program: the Schumann Cello concerto (woodwinds and an abbreviated brass section) featuring the young gifted soloist, Nicholas Canellakis.

The Schuman is not as popular as many other showstopper cello concertos, but it is a very poignant, heartfelt piece.  Canellakis has a strong, intense sound and played the concerto with deep expression.

As usual, Muffitt is a sensitive accompanist, and he and Canellakis clearly enjoyed making music together.  Although the work has three movements, they were played with no interruption. 

The big work for the evening, and the reason most people were in the Great Hall that night, was the powerful Symphony No. 6 “Pathetique” by Tchaikovsky.

The dark, somber work, for me, is Tchaikovsky’s finest.  It was first performed nine days before Tchaikovsky’s death.

My Russian friends tell me that Tchaikovsky’s music is not romantic, it’s melancholy.  I’m not sure if that’s true, but I do think it fits the mood of the sixth.

For this work, we hear the complete Lansing Symphony, as the trombones, tuba, and the full horn section joined the orchestra.  And they were all needed to stretch out the full breadth of the massive chords.

When those chords were especially lush, as they were at the end of the first movement, I am sure Muffitt would have appreciated a larger string section to match the woodwinds and brass.

Some key section leaders were filled by substitute players on Saturday, and a certain soloistic quality was missing at times.

Tchaikovsky seemed to see the future with this work, meshing instruments together in creative ways.  But the clearest evidence of that modernism is the tantalizing second movement.

It is here that the Russian composer has the audacity to write a waltz in 5/4 time, rather the traditional 3/4. Interestingly, the melody is so lilting and beautiful that few realize that it is a strange meter for a waltz.  The music just flows along, and the audience members bob their heads in the swing of it all.

As he often does now, Muffitt conducted the Tchaikovsky without the benefit of a score (it was on his stand, but closed shut) which seemed to give him a closer communication with the orchestra.

This symphony is a serious work and demands much of the musicians.  Muffitt and the LSO were up to the challenge.

Williamston Theatre Wins With a Classic.  3/29/2019

Williamston Theatre has delighted us over 13 years with fresh plays, funny plays, new plays and heartwarming plays. 

This time they are digging into the trove of classic theater to present the Pulitzer Prize winner, “The Gin Game”.  First opening in 1977, it became the star vehicle for Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronin. 

The story is simple but powerful at the same time.  It takes place on the patio of a not-very-fancy retirement home.  It’s visitor’s day, but Weller Martin (Hugh Maguire) doesn’t have any visitors.  And neither does Fonsia Dorsey (Ruth Crawford) who finds him shuffling cards on the patio card table.

They approach each other carefully, like two cats.  They are both smart, sharp tongued, and eager for companionship.

The audience at once realizes that Crawford and Maguire are true professionals at their craft.   Directing them is another professional and actor, Williamston’s Executive Director and frequent star, John Lepard.

At first, I marveled at the absolutely natural and realistic way the dialogue was created by playwright D.L. Coburn. I felt that this play was written so well that it couldn’t fail, even in the hands of average actors. 

But I was wrong.  Yes, the flow of the words, as Fonsia and Weller reveal their lives to each other, was seamless, the acting of Crawford and Maguire was filled with subtly, nuance and perfect timing. And it was that brilliant acting that made this such a memorable production.

When the two first meet, the arrogant Weller goes about “mansplaining” the game of gin rummy to Fonsia.  She had never played gin before and Weller was ready to give her the ins and outs of the game.

But almost from the beginning, Fonsia understands the game perfectly and sets forth to trounce Weller in almost every match.

Fonsia comes across as a delightful, sweet, and principled Presbyterian lady.  But we soon find out that there is far more to her than what we first see.

Even though “Gin Game” is 42 years old, there is nothing in the subject matter that makes it dated.  And Crawford and Maguire create two characters with absolute believability.  Their timing, humor, and reacting to each other make the conversations and relationship true.

The play is not all sweetness and light, as the retirees continue to play cards and talk.  There is anger, swearing, vindictiveness and even violence.  In fact, the explosions of anger and violence are important climaxes of the play and are superbly acted by Maguire.

Adding to the effectiveness of this production is the detailed set by Gabriella Csapo. The retirement home looks properly dilapidated and old (a bit like the residents).

Frankly speaking, I saw “Gin Game” decades ago, but now that I am closer to the age of these characters, the more real it becomes. But it’s OK, youngins’ will enjoy the play, too.

Performances through April 20, 2019

Yefim Bronfman at Wharton.  “A Monster Pianist”

In recent years, the classical offerings at Wharton Center have been sparse.  And the presence of a single solo artist playing a recital has almost been non-existent.

Which makes the appearance on Tuesday, April 2, 2019, of piano virtuoso Yefim Bronfman a special event for Wharton.

In this day of highly produced shows - lights, projections, amplification, moving stages - a solo classical artist may seem like a minimalist throwback.

Bronfman will perform on the Great Hall stage by himself with a Steinway Grand piano only. He will likely not speak, there will be no microphones - just spectacular music to engage your mind and brain.

Lansing’s resident piano superstar Ralph Votapek has a great regard for Bronfman.  “He’s a monster pianist – huge technique. I would put him in with the half-dozen or so greatest pianists in the world”.

Bronfman is a man of the world.  He was born in the Uzbekistan region of Russia. His parents are from Poland and the Ukraine, he moved to Israel when his was 14 and four years later came to the US to study at Julliard and has lived here ever since.

He tells me, “When I was first in New York – in the late 70s and early 80s – it was a great time for music.  Bernstein was active, as well as Isaac Stern and there was a very high level of quality in the orchestras”.

Today he plays about 125 concerts per year, worldwide.  The Wharton concert will be the same program he will perform the following weekend at Carnegie Hall (I bet the tickets will be cheaper here).  “I play in Carnegie Hall 2-3 times a year.  It’s a wonderful stage.  But, really, there are great stages throughout this country.”

Bronfman is a very humble person, low key and self-effacing. As many pianists have faded from the public eye over the past 20 years or so, Bronfman’s career has gained strength.  “I’ve had a lot of lucky breaks”, he says.

Certainly, one reason for his success is hard work.  “I’m working harder than I ever have.  I play much more for myself. I’ve worked harder in the last 20 years than I did my first 20 years.  Maybe I wasn’t as smart then as I am now.  Now, I always want to be in top form. Somehow the music seems more important to me now than it did then.

“There’s lots of rules in life, there aren’t any for how many hours of practice it takes to be a great musician.  Everyone has different hands and different bone structures; different body and different mind.”

Bronfman has chosen a program which is not showy, just beautiful and meaningful.  Votapek says of the music - The Debussy Suite Bergamasque (which includes Claire de lune), Schumann’s Humoreske and Schubert’s Piano Sonata No 19 - “These are works of great maturity and depth but not bombast and flourish.”  

INFO:  Yefim Bronfman, piano

Wharton Center Great Hall

Tuesday, April 2, 7:30 PM

Tickets: from $25

MSU Opera Double Header Sweep   3/26/2019

The Michigan State University Opera Theatre swept a double header last week with its presentation of two short operas, Rossini’s “La Scala di Seta” (The Silken Ladder) and Puccini’s “Gianni Schicchi”.  These two operas are rarely performed together, but it resulted in a lovely pairing of musical styles and wacky story lines.

The MSU opera theatre is one of the great success stories in the mid-Michigan music landscape.  Under Melanie Helton, the company presents classic grand operas, American operas, contemporary operas, and operettas.  The program has grown so large, that the twice-a-year performances use double casts to give more students a chance on the stage.

Of all the operas I’ve seen at MSU, this is one of the finest. The cast was relatively small, with all members having a singing role. One well-designed set (Alexander von Blommestein) served both operas nicely.

Although Rossini is a well-known opera composer (The Barber of Seville) “La Scala di Seta” is known mostly for its wonderous overture.  The entire opera (only about 75 minutes long) is hardly ever performed.

Conductor Steven Mosteller set the stage beautifully with a superb rendition of the overture.  Lots of sparkling woodwind parts and energy gave us a preview of what the entire opera was going to be.

The silly romantic plot was fun and the cast was committed to the site gags.  In the show I saw, Shannon Crowley was Giulia, a young woman who lives in her tutor’s home. Her soprano voice was shimmering as she negotiated the difficult Rossini arias, but she also had a vibrant personality and stage presence.  I understand that she is a Freshman which means she has a bright future ahead of her.

She dominated the operas, but Eric Frost, John Henrickson, Cole Harvey, Savanaah Hegyi and Ben Reisinger also were excellent in their supporting roles.  The trios and other vocal ensemble movements were very well sung – voices were balanced with matched music phrasing.

After intermission, it was refreshing to go from the Mozart-sounding Rossini score to the familiar romantic sound of Puccini.

“Schicchi” had a larger cast but, but it wasn’t a chorus per se.  Each character had a name and identity and had a solo line or so to sing. 

Here the female roles were subservient to the male roles.  The plot was clever – a wealthy man has just died, and his sleazy family want all of his inheritance.  They finally find his will which designates all of his money to go to the Church.  In comes everyone’s shady friend, Gianni Schicchi who will make things better. 

Jadrian Tarver as Schicchi had a robust baritone voice and plenty of charisma to spread around.  He was the perfect Schicchi.  He mugged the audience, had a few dance steps and generally had loads of fun with the part.  At the end of the opera, he even jumped up and kicked his heels – not a common move in opera.

One more factor that makes MSU operas so enjoyable, is the recently refurbished Fairchild Theater. The intimate theater seems to be a perfect venue for a small opera.  The acoustics produce a  warm and natural sound which enables the audience to hear the singers without amplification – the way opera should be.

MISS SAIGON - 2019 National Tour, March 20

When Miss Saigon first hit the Broadway stage back in 1989 it was a huge hit for a few reasons: The show, now playing through Sunday at Wharton Center, came on the heels of the crazy success of Les Misérables (written by the same team), filled the stage to overflow with huge spectacle, and the politics and emotions of the Viet Nam war were still raw.

 As we view the current national touring production, the history seems as old as the Civil War, but the story remains strong and poignant. It’s a tragic love story using the story line of Madam Butterfly. In the last moments of the Viet Nam war Kim, the lovely and naive country girl, is snagged by a sleazy pimp to work at a bar/brothel in Saigon. She promptly falls in love with a US soldier.

 When the show opens the audience is assaulted with the decadence and debauchery of a Saigon bar that caters to American soldiers. The busy stage vibrates with neon lights, gyrating bar girls and naughty language. Not a show for kids.

As "Saigon" continues, the stage is miraculously transformed, seemingly within seconds, from bars, to helicopter pads, to village huts, to communist rallies, to a fancy hotel room and so on. It’s a struggle to take it all in. And yes, he famous helicopter landing scene is still there – and still jaw dropping.

The music (orchestrated by MSU alum, William David Brohn) is a scintillating combination of American rhythms and Asian melodies with wooden flutes. Fans of Les Miz will be able to hear many of those harmonies as well. The difficult score is played by a traveling pit band, rather than local contractors.

Although it’s really Kim’s story, the star of play is The Engineer (Red Concepcion) who is the epitome of the money-loving opportunist and survivor, only out for himself and dreams of living the high life in the U.S .of A. Concepcion seems to revel in this part, prancing around in garish outfits and treating everyone with equal disdain. He clearly has the star power to pull off this demanding role, but previous actors have displayed more subtly and better dancing.

In general, the entire cast is excellent. They are required to perform great feats of singing, dancing, militaristic marching and acrobatics. Emily Bautista as Kim does a lovely job of creating empathy for her character. Her voice could have been stronger, but electronics helped it along. Her acting bought us all in with her.

Maybe the most impressive actor on stage was J. Daughtry as John, the buddy of Kim’s lover, Chris (Anthony Festa). In many ways he is the heart and soul of the show and his performance was real and powerful. His character was an important element of the drama and his superb acting made it believable.

For opening night, Miss Saigon was a full house, and I predict that this will be the biggest hit of the current Wharton Season, after Hamilton, of course.

Critics are Spoiled

Critics are spoiled. Whenever they go to see a play or concert they sit in the best seats in the house. They hear perfect sound, see every grimaced facial expression the actors can muster and feel like they’re actually part of the action. So, when YOU are sitting in a drafty seat in the back of the hall behind a post, not hearing or seeing a thing, don’t blame the critic when you read the rave review in the paper the next day (“Were we at the same play??”). Now I know what it’s like. When I attended East Lansing’s Wharton Center’s current run of the hit musical Billy Elliot, I was surprised to be shown my seats in the Grand Tier. First, you must understand that Wharton’s Grand Tier is higher off the floor than most other venues (you actually have to take a ski lift to get there) because the architects wanted to keep good acoustics for the main floor seats underneath. Wharton’s Grand Tier is truly a bird’s eye view. I was really looking forward to seeing this award-winning musical but sitting up in the Grand Tier made me feel strangely detached from it all. Yes I heard OK and there was no post in front of me but I couldn’t see the actor’s’ faces and some of the dialogue was garbled. So I feel somewhat hampered in reviewing the show in those less than optimum conditions. But – I’ll take a stab at it. Billy Elliot is a poignant story of a tragic coal miners’ strike in northern England in the early eighties. While the blokes are on strike, one of the rough and tumble miners sends his 12-year old son (actually 15-year-old Ben Cook) for boxing lessons at the community center. The boy has little interest in socking his friends in the face, but he notices a ballet class going on in the next room and it’s love a first sight. His dad is none too happy by the turn of events. The story of acceptance, following your dreams, layered over an economic tragedy is eloquently told. Cook is a stunningly good dancer and performer and the supporting cast makes his pain and the pain of the entire town achingly real. Billy Elliot’s teacher, Janet Dickson, is a sassy, blustery and funny actress who sees the boy’s talent immediately. Elton John’s music is enjoyable but forgettable. The choreography, script, and scenic design, however, flowed together perfectly to make the story strong and touching. Although sitting that fa away limited my emotional connection with the stage, I’m sure it was no different than any other auditorium's balcony. In fact, for orchestra concerts I prefer sitting in the Grand Tier. But now I know why house seats are in the center of the hall, five rows from the stage. Everything just looks and sounds better there.

An Elegant Copland

Some folks wonder why they should waste their time and money going to a concert when they have all the music they want on their iPod, CD player, or other device.

Timothy Muffitt and his Lansing Symphony musicians showed us why there’s nothing like listening to live music at Saturday night’s (2/24/12) Masterwork Four concert.

The concert began with one of the most over-played pieces of music on any classical radio music station, Copland’s Appalachian Spring. Nothing is new in Appalachian Spring – everyone’s heard it before. But watching Muffitt conduct the LSO from my vantage point in Wharton Center’s Grand Tier (a fancy word for balcony), was like watching a painter carefully applying his colors on the canvas.

I watched the music as well as heard it. Not only did I hear the music created with utmost care and delicacy to make the genius of Copland come alive, but I also watched each instrument meld with another and marveled at the orchestration. Here, the Brooklyn-born composer used trumpets and harp to create a lovely and unusual sonority, and there he used muted trombones, bassoons and horns together. Amazing, carefully chosen colors.

Muffitt approached each chord with loving care to produce an artful sonic tapestry. I have never heard Appalachian Spring played with such sensitivity. Originally written for chamber orchestra, Muffitt kept the chamber quality for his full orchestra. And when the beloved theme, “Simple Gifts” was introduced by clarinetist Emmanuel Toledo, everything came together perfectly.

Sorry people, you won’t be able to get the experience I had in listening to this Copland masterpiece with two tiny speakers stuffed in your ears.

In delightful contrast, Muffitt then programmed a tuba concerto of all things. Phil Sinder, tuba prof at Michigan State University took center stage with the short but vibrant Tuba Concerto by Bruce Boughton. Sinder had a gorgeous, expressive tone, and in the final movement, shocked the audience with the agility of the huge brass instrument he commanded. He played with a beautiful lyricism and clean precision.

Yes, the ear usually seeks out the higher registers in instruments and voices, but in this case it was worth stretching our hearing comfort to dig deep and revel in the basso profundo.

For an encore Sinder delighted everyone with a jazzy version of the Beetles’ tune, Blackbird. Sinder proved that the tuba can, in fact, swing.

Decades ago, the Franck Symphony in D was standard concert fare, but in recent years is has slipped out of favor. For this concert, if provided a nice complement to the other selections. Lots of dark chords (my ear was now sensitized to the tuba range), featuring English horn, bass clarinet, violas and low brass. It was certainly beautiful, romantic and familiar music and the orchestra did itself proud.

But at the end of the concert, I was still remembering the transcendent reading of Appalachian Spring, one of the finest performances I have ever heard from the LSO.