When Lansing's theater community was all atwitter earlier in the summer because Boarshead Theater let popular artistic director Kristine Thatcher go, a little noticed event was occurring in Grand Rapids.
On June 17th, Opera Grand Rapids broke ground for a $2 million opera center. The new building will sport 14,000 sq ft. for rehearsals, practice rooms, costume shops and storage facilities. It will be named the Betty Van Andel Opera Center.
Boarshead decision makers have taken the brunt of much criticism for the Thatcher decision, demonstrated by the many letters-to-the-editor sent to the Lansing State Journal as well as the City Pulse. Irate long time subscribers have shown their pique by refusing to re up for the 2009-10 season. John Dale Smith, executive director, has unfairly been singled out as the bad guy by many.
In speaking to board members, it appears that the release of Thatcher from her contract was a financial decision only. With benefits, she cost the theater company approximately $77,000 per year, a princely sum for an arts organization under sever financial pressure.
The issue at Boarshead is not Thatcher, but Lansing's difficulty in supporting its arts organizations. And the outcry over Thatcher's dismissal was more emotional than objective.
We remember Kristie Thatcher as the cute ingenue who starred in musicals, comedies, and dramas throughout Lansing. As a young adult she left for Chicago and continued her acting career and become a playwright of note. To our delight, Kristie decided to come back to her home town to be the artistic director at Boarshead. Everyone was thrilled.
Although cutting Thatcher loose was probably the correct financial decision to make, the board obviously did not understand the strong support and affection the charismatic personalty has in Lansing.
Now back to our western Michigan neighbors: The Van Andels gave $1 million as the lead gift for the Grand Rapids opera building (Lansing doesn't have a local opera) and the community responded by raising the other $4 million and surpassed its goal by $75,000.
Sadly, Lansing has no sugar daddies who can cough up million dollar gifts like the Van Andels - although Lansing always manages to find money for a baseball stadium, a new city market and other developments. Michigan's capitol city has no performing arts center or a suitable building for its only professional theater. Midland, a much smaller city, has had a lovely arts facility for several decades.
In contrast, Boarshead sits on a lonely corner on the south end of downtown Lansing, across from the bus station and the State Journal. There are no restaurants , coffee shops or gathering places nearby for patrons to socialize after the plays. Boarshead's building used to be a car dealership and was purchased by the city in hopes that it could become a parking lot some day.
Clearly, downtown Lansing is not a friendly place for the arts. The Lansing Symphony performs on the MSU campus in East Lansing, and the Lansing Concert Band plays in various venues throughout Ingham county (as well as Dart Auditorium at LCC) but without a more substantial arts presence in Lansing it seems like the award-winning Boarshead will always be fighting for survival. Lansing remains the only state capitol I am aware of that does not have a performing arts center near downtown.
The Boarshead Thatcher problem is not a Boarshead problem, it's a Lansing arts problem. If Mayor Virg Bernero wants to build a world class capitol city, he must see the importance of an arts center downtown with two performance spaces - a theater, and a 1000-1200 seat auditorium.
Ironically, to attract new students in the era of "schools of choice", area high schools are adding beautiful auditoria throughout the Lansing area. If high schools can build these impressive houses of music and art, why can't the city of Lansing?
Comments on the arts scene in and around Lansing, Michigan and beyond
Monday, August 31, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Chamber Heaven
We don't have enough chamber music in Lansing
The only two outlets for small instrumental ensembles seem to be the Lansing Symphony Chamber Concerts and Michigan State University School of Music's faculty and student concerts.
Maybe because of chamber music's infrequency here is why March 20th's concert at the music school's auditorium seemed like such a miraculous gift.
The program was part of the 12th annual Cello Plus weekend, organized by MSU cello professor Suren Bagratuni.
There were concerts on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, but regretfully I only attended
Friday's concert. On this particular evening, Bagratuni only programmed two chamber works: the rarely heard String Quintet Op 111 in G major by Brahms and the famous Souvenir de Florence, a string sextet, but Tchaikovsky.
We must begin by talking about the extraordinary musicians - none of whom were born in the US. Sitting in the first violin chair throughout evening was Ilya Kaler, a brilliant Russian who has been compared to Heifitz both in style and perfection and I must that that the comparison is apt.
Literally on second fiddle was a 27-year-old graduate student (Walter Verdehr, teacher), Carlota Amargos Rubio, a strong impressive violinist who kept up this crowd of strong, dominant players. Two superb violists were Yizhak Schotten, viola professor at U of M and MSU's new plum in the string faculty, violist Yuri Gandelsman who served as principal viola in the Israel Philharmonic. Rounding out the group was Suren Bagratuni, virtuoso cellist and his student, Victor Coo (Tchaikovsky only).
The Brahms is a forceful and heavy piece that challenges the mind and the heart. These strong players displayed wondrous technique and musicianship. With just one more instrument than a string quartet (a viola), it was amazing how the music sounded so totally different, almost like a full orchestra. The orchestration was dense and although they played superbly, the ensemble was sometimes overly gruff and aggressive. It was almost like the world-class string players were trying to out-do one another.
But everything came together in the ravishing Souvenir de Florence. This beautifully romantic work was played with spectacular technique but also with great warmth and delicacy. Violist Gandelsman stunned the audience with his full and sensuous tone. Kaler, who was impressive through the concert, was astounding in this piece. Often, The Souvenir can sound sugary and sweet, but in the hands of these musicians, the music transcended the slurpy factor. The true, dark Russian soul of the Tchaikovsky came through.
The ensemble playing was masterful The melodic lines were passed from one play to next with playfulness and sensitivity. The audience sprang to its feet when the music ended and would not let the musicians leave the stage. They were brought back for five or six ovations. Everyone in the auditorium knew that they had hears something very special that night.
The only two outlets for small instrumental ensembles seem to be the Lansing Symphony Chamber Concerts and Michigan State University School of Music's faculty and student concerts.
Maybe because of chamber music's infrequency here is why March 20th's concert at the music school's auditorium seemed like such a miraculous gift.
The program was part of the 12th annual Cello Plus weekend, organized by MSU cello professor Suren Bagratuni.
There were concerts on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday, but regretfully I only attended
Friday's concert. On this particular evening, Bagratuni only programmed two chamber works: the rarely heard String Quintet Op 111 in G major by Brahms and the famous Souvenir de Florence, a string sextet, but Tchaikovsky.
We must begin by talking about the extraordinary musicians - none of whom were born in the US. Sitting in the first violin chair throughout evening was Ilya Kaler, a brilliant Russian who has been compared to Heifitz both in style and perfection and I must that that the comparison is apt.
Literally on second fiddle was a 27-year-old graduate student (Walter Verdehr, teacher), Carlota Amargos Rubio, a strong impressive violinist who kept up this crowd of strong, dominant players. Two superb violists were Yizhak Schotten, viola professor at U of M and MSU's new plum in the string faculty, violist Yuri Gandelsman who served as principal viola in the Israel Philharmonic. Rounding out the group was Suren Bagratuni, virtuoso cellist and his student, Victor Coo (Tchaikovsky only).
The Brahms is a forceful and heavy piece that challenges the mind and the heart. These strong players displayed wondrous technique and musicianship. With just one more instrument than a string quartet (a viola), it was amazing how the music sounded so totally different, almost like a full orchestra. The orchestration was dense and although they played superbly, the ensemble was sometimes overly gruff and aggressive. It was almost like the world-class string players were trying to out-do one another.
But everything came together in the ravishing Souvenir de Florence. This beautifully romantic work was played with spectacular technique but also with great warmth and delicacy. Violist Gandelsman stunned the audience with his full and sensuous tone. Kaler, who was impressive through the concert, was astounding in this piece. Often, The Souvenir can sound sugary and sweet, but in the hands of these musicians, the music transcended the slurpy factor. The true, dark Russian soul of the Tchaikovsky came through.
The ensemble playing was masterful The melodic lines were passed from one play to next with playfulness and sensitivity. The audience sprang to its feet when the music ended and would not let the musicians leave the stage. They were brought back for five or six ovations. Everyone in the auditorium knew that they had hears something very special that night.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Musicals, etc.
MAMMA MIA
Movies come from a myriad of different sources: plays, novels, TV shows, even comic books – each one requiring a careful melding of style and venue. But the most difficult transformation seems to be from the Broadway musical to the silver screen. Especially today. With modern technology, audiences expect to see total reality on the screen. Musicals are steeped in fantasy, not reality.
The latest attempt of that renovation is “Mamma Mia”, a pastiche of a musical with a story slapped together from the songs of the 70’s musical sensation, ABBA. The stage show is phenomenally successful, so they made a movie starring Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgard and others.
ABBA’s music is fun, danceable and utterly joyful. But as the kids would say, “It’s SOOO 70’s”. Before you hand over your money to see “Mamma Mia”, you should be somewhat aware of ABBA’s music and be prepared for its simplicity and predictability.
That said, the "Mamma Mia" movie will likely delight you. The setting is a gloriously beautiful Greek Island and has a goofily funny plot. A 20-year-old woman (Amanda Seyfield) is getting married and she invites three men, any of whom COULD be her father. Her mom (Meryl Streep) owns a small inn on the island and was a free-wheeling hippy 21 years before.
The movie is fun, fun, fun and totally mindless. Meryl Streep, that actress who wowed us in “Kramer vs. Kramer”, “Sophie’s Choice”, “The Devil Wears Prada” and dozens of others, shows here that she has no limits. Meryl Streep takes over her role and the entire film. Her voice, which teased us in “Postcards From the Edge” and “Prairie Home Companion” is terrific and her acting puts everyone else to shame.
Pierce Brosnan is a fine actor and proves those skills here, but his singing is average at best. Seyfield, is lovely to look at and her voice has warmth and emotion. The other folks who round out this excellent cast is Julie Walters (remember “Educating Rita”?) and Christine Baranski who team up with Streep to be the three amigos. The three middle-age women sing and dance up a storm and have great chemistry.
The dancing is unremarkable and unsophisticated but suits the setting fine and jumps forth with good humor. They often use chunky island women to dance in the chorus which gives the entire affair a realistic look. The music is mixed well and doesn’t sound overly loud, as some movie musicals do.
However, it is Meryl Streep’s movie (along with the breathtaking views of the Mediterranean). She’s marvelous and displays, once again, that she’s the greatest actress on the planet.
PANHANDLE SLIM & THE OKLAHOMA KID
The Purple Rose Theater in Chelsea has a giant hit on its hands, with the newest Jeff Daniel’s offering: “Panhandle Slim & The Oklahoma Kid”. It’s been extended to the middle of September.
But I’m not sure what the fuss is all about. The play takes place in 1894. We see a man drag another man on stage, hog tied and bleeding profusely from a stomach shotgun wound. This poor guy’s about to die. He’s Panhandle Slim (Tom Whalen).
Then, in gallops The Oklahoma Kid (John Seibert) – all smiles, happy and bubbly. Oh yes, his horse is invisible. One more thing. He doesn’t wear a gun, but travels everywhere with a guitar.
Mr. Slim is the definition of a slime ball. He has lived a horrible life of killing people senselessly and robbing banks and has no regrets.
What ensues is a musical morality tale, with Mr. Kid convincing Mr. Slim that love and goodness lead to a happy life and after-life. What makes the play interesting and unique is that it is almost a musical.
The Kid takes his guitar everywhere and sings six songs to the rascal, Slim (and sometimes with Slim). The songs are written by Daniels and they are good – cowboy-type songs with clever lyrics and sung with very nice voices.
This 90-minute play, about life, death and love, could have been written by Mitch Albom, a man who makes his living writing plays and books about such topics.
The acting in PS/OK is superb and it’s hard to believe how Whalen can act the entire play tied up in that awful, impossible position. And he sings quite well, too.
Director Guy Sanville does an excellent job of pulling so much from such limited material. Dennis Crawley’s set of a desert landscape is amazingly effective, and Daniels’ direction of the musical numbers adds much to the play.
In fact, one could say that Daniels’ message here is how important the curative power of music is to living a happy, love-filled life.
Movies come from a myriad of different sources: plays, novels, TV shows, even comic books – each one requiring a careful melding of style and venue. But the most difficult transformation seems to be from the Broadway musical to the silver screen. Especially today. With modern technology, audiences expect to see total reality on the screen. Musicals are steeped in fantasy, not reality.
The latest attempt of that renovation is “Mamma Mia”, a pastiche of a musical with a story slapped together from the songs of the 70’s musical sensation, ABBA. The stage show is phenomenally successful, so they made a movie starring Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Stellan Skarsgard and others.
ABBA’s music is fun, danceable and utterly joyful. But as the kids would say, “It’s SOOO 70’s”. Before you hand over your money to see “Mamma Mia”, you should be somewhat aware of ABBA’s music and be prepared for its simplicity and predictability.
That said, the "Mamma Mia" movie will likely delight you. The setting is a gloriously beautiful Greek Island and has a goofily funny plot. A 20-year-old woman (Amanda Seyfield) is getting married and she invites three men, any of whom COULD be her father. Her mom (Meryl Streep) owns a small inn on the island and was a free-wheeling hippy 21 years before.
The movie is fun, fun, fun and totally mindless. Meryl Streep, that actress who wowed us in “Kramer vs. Kramer”, “Sophie’s Choice”, “The Devil Wears Prada” and dozens of others, shows here that she has no limits. Meryl Streep takes over her role and the entire film. Her voice, which teased us in “Postcards From the Edge” and “Prairie Home Companion” is terrific and her acting puts everyone else to shame.
Pierce Brosnan is a fine actor and proves those skills here, but his singing is average at best. Seyfield, is lovely to look at and her voice has warmth and emotion. The other folks who round out this excellent cast is Julie Walters (remember “Educating Rita”?) and Christine Baranski who team up with Streep to be the three amigos. The three middle-age women sing and dance up a storm and have great chemistry.
The dancing is unremarkable and unsophisticated but suits the setting fine and jumps forth with good humor. They often use chunky island women to dance in the chorus which gives the entire affair a realistic look. The music is mixed well and doesn’t sound overly loud, as some movie musicals do.
However, it is Meryl Streep’s movie (along with the breathtaking views of the Mediterranean). She’s marvelous and displays, once again, that she’s the greatest actress on the planet.
PANHANDLE SLIM & THE OKLAHOMA KID
The Purple Rose Theater in Chelsea has a giant hit on its hands, with the newest Jeff Daniel’s offering: “Panhandle Slim & The Oklahoma Kid”. It’s been extended to the middle of September.
But I’m not sure what the fuss is all about. The play takes place in 1894. We see a man drag another man on stage, hog tied and bleeding profusely from a stomach shotgun wound. This poor guy’s about to die. He’s Panhandle Slim (Tom Whalen).
Then, in gallops The Oklahoma Kid (John Seibert) – all smiles, happy and bubbly. Oh yes, his horse is invisible. One more thing. He doesn’t wear a gun, but travels everywhere with a guitar.
Mr. Slim is the definition of a slime ball. He has lived a horrible life of killing people senselessly and robbing banks and has no regrets.
What ensues is a musical morality tale, with Mr. Kid convincing Mr. Slim that love and goodness lead to a happy life and after-life. What makes the play interesting and unique is that it is almost a musical.
The Kid takes his guitar everywhere and sings six songs to the rascal, Slim (and sometimes with Slim). The songs are written by Daniels and they are good – cowboy-type songs with clever lyrics and sung with very nice voices.
This 90-minute play, about life, death and love, could have been written by Mitch Albom, a man who makes his living writing plays and books about such topics.
The acting in PS/OK is superb and it’s hard to believe how Whalen can act the entire play tied up in that awful, impossible position. And he sings quite well, too.
Director Guy Sanville does an excellent job of pulling so much from such limited material. Dennis Crawley’s set of a desert landscape is amazingly effective, and Daniels’ direction of the musical numbers adds much to the play.
In fact, one could say that Daniels’ message here is how important the curative power of music is to living a happy, love-filled life.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
MOT's "Traviata" at Wharton
Lansing is blessed with a wonderful symphony orchestra, several fine choirs, a host of excellent theater companies (professional and amateur), ballet and even community bands. But what the city has struggled with over the years is creating and maintaining an opera company.
Under Melanie Helton’s leadership, Michigan State University has grown a fine opera department which presents very good student opera performances, but the Lansing community has never been able to put the money together along with resources and talent to sustain a company of its own.
Lansing opera lovers have had to listen to the FM radio on Saturday afternoon, drive to Detroit or Chicago, or take a chance with the traveling shows that came to Wharton Center – with uneven quality.
But for the last couple of years, Wharton’s Executive Director Mike Brand, tried to fill the void. He has brought in Detroit’s Michigan Opera Theater to the Great Hall for a one-show-only production each season. The MOT is a superb company that is housed in an extraordinary, new (well, ten years old) opera house across from Comerica Park.
The Lansing productions are not “road shows”, then, but rather the complete opera (soloists, chorus, full orchestra and sets) that was just performed on the Detroit Opera House stage. They tear down the set and rebuild it on the Wharton stage. The addition of the MOT/Wharton shows has been a welcome success in Lansing.
This year (5/22/08), the MOT brought one of the opera world’s most beloved works, Verdi’s “La Traviata”, to town. Just having seen two sumptuous NY MET operas on the movie screen (“Daughter of the Regiment” and “La Boheme” – see previous posting) I was interested to see if an old fashioned stage opera still holds up.
My answer is an unequivocal, “Yes”. The movie screen operas, a new innovation in the opera world, have great sound, acting, voices, sets and backstage goodies, but nothing compares to the real thing.
As in all theater productions, one must see the entire stage at one time to understand the drama of the story – even though “La Traviata” admittedly does not have much stage action. To hear real unamplified voices blending with a real orchestra is a magical experience.
The Lansing MOT production had its minor flaws, but overall was ravishing and beautifully sung.
When we first met Erin Wall as Violetta, the courtesan and toast of Paris night life, her voice as a bit harsh and lacked subtlety. But as the opera continued, Ms. Wall got better and more confident. By the end of the evening, the audience was taken away by her huge, rich sound that also had darkness, depth and beauty. Her low range was slightly weak, but her coloratura flourishes as well as her lyrical passages were stunning and exciting.
Mark Panuccio, as Alfredo, had a lovely tenor voice, but didn’t quite have the ease and phrasing as Ms. Wall. His acting was natural and believable as the destroyed lover of Violetta.
One of the most interesting characters in “Traviata” is Germont, Alfredo’s father. Because of Violetta’s low status in society, he finds it imperative to convince her to leave Alfredo, but is conflicted and torn by this decision. As Germont, Luis Ledesma adds little depth to this tragic person. His diction was difficult to understand and his acting stiff.
But these blemishes did not take away from MOT’s by and large superlative production. The opera had a lovely flow to it, the orchestra was a joy to hear, and of course Verdi’s sensuous, flowing and lush melodies make for some of the most beautiful music ever composed.
One hopes that the San Francisco and Metropolitan opera company’s movie-house operas, as excellent as they are, will not detract from appreciating real singers, on a real stage, singing their hearts out for you.
Thank you Wharton and MOT for bringing real opera to Lansing.
Under Melanie Helton’s leadership, Michigan State University has grown a fine opera department which presents very good student opera performances, but the Lansing community has never been able to put the money together along with resources and talent to sustain a company of its own.
Lansing opera lovers have had to listen to the FM radio on Saturday afternoon, drive to Detroit or Chicago, or take a chance with the traveling shows that came to Wharton Center – with uneven quality.
But for the last couple of years, Wharton’s Executive Director Mike Brand, tried to fill the void. He has brought in Detroit’s Michigan Opera Theater to the Great Hall for a one-show-only production each season. The MOT is a superb company that is housed in an extraordinary, new (well, ten years old) opera house across from Comerica Park.
The Lansing productions are not “road shows”, then, but rather the complete opera (soloists, chorus, full orchestra and sets) that was just performed on the Detroit Opera House stage. They tear down the set and rebuild it on the Wharton stage. The addition of the MOT/Wharton shows has been a welcome success in Lansing.
This year (5/22/08), the MOT brought one of the opera world’s most beloved works, Verdi’s “La Traviata”, to town. Just having seen two sumptuous NY MET operas on the movie screen (“Daughter of the Regiment” and “La Boheme” – see previous posting) I was interested to see if an old fashioned stage opera still holds up.
My answer is an unequivocal, “Yes”. The movie screen operas, a new innovation in the opera world, have great sound, acting, voices, sets and backstage goodies, but nothing compares to the real thing.
As in all theater productions, one must see the entire stage at one time to understand the drama of the story – even though “La Traviata” admittedly does not have much stage action. To hear real unamplified voices blending with a real orchestra is a magical experience.
The Lansing MOT production had its minor flaws, but overall was ravishing and beautifully sung.
When we first met Erin Wall as Violetta, the courtesan and toast of Paris night life, her voice as a bit harsh and lacked subtlety. But as the opera continued, Ms. Wall got better and more confident. By the end of the evening, the audience was taken away by her huge, rich sound that also had darkness, depth and beauty. Her low range was slightly weak, but her coloratura flourishes as well as her lyrical passages were stunning and exciting.
Mark Panuccio, as Alfredo, had a lovely tenor voice, but didn’t quite have the ease and phrasing as Ms. Wall. His acting was natural and believable as the destroyed lover of Violetta.
One of the most interesting characters in “Traviata” is Germont, Alfredo’s father. Because of Violetta’s low status in society, he finds it imperative to convince her to leave Alfredo, but is conflicted and torn by this decision. As Germont, Luis Ledesma adds little depth to this tragic person. His diction was difficult to understand and his acting stiff.
But these blemishes did not take away from MOT’s by and large superlative production. The opera had a lovely flow to it, the orchestra was a joy to hear, and of course Verdi’s sensuous, flowing and lush melodies make for some of the most beautiful music ever composed.
One hopes that the San Francisco and Metropolitan opera company’s movie-house operas, as excellent as they are, will not detract from appreciating real singers, on a real stage, singing their hearts out for you.
Thank you Wharton and MOT for bringing real opera to Lansing.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Muffit's Surprise
For the Lansing Symphony’s final offering of the 07-08 season, music director Timothy Muffitt programmed a concert that had some unexpected surprises.
Since most orchestra concert goers have a great fear of “modern” music, conductors usually sandwich the dreaded work between two beloved favorites, so season subscribers can’t escape the concert hall. During the intermission, the bemused listeners will say that the new piece was “interesting” or maybe even “lively”. Certainly by the end of the concert most folks will have forgotten it completely – which is OK because it’s likely they’ll never hear it again anyway.
But Maestro Muffitt did something different this time. He placed the new work, David Maslanka’s “In Lonely Fields” at the very beginning. Gutsy move, I’d say.
But in reality it was a well calculated move. Muffitt knew he had a winner here.
Maslanka, a man who has a special affinity for the breadth of sound of percussion instruments, surrounded the abbreviated orchestra with seven percussionists. A marimba player and vibraphone player were in the front of the ensemble, and five other players with various mallets, African and traditional percussion instruments spread across the back of the stage.
What resulted was a positively wonderful work of dazzling beauty, deep emotion and evocative sounds of the earth. Graciously, Muffitt had all seven drummers come out to the front of the stage at the beginning of the work for a bow, as if they were piano soloists. In fact, watching them make their magic with literally dozens of shakers, bangers and such was a delight. But the real joy was hearing the lovely blending of the orchestra with the percussion instruments.
Maslanka wrote the work in memory of a Central Michigan University percussionist who died from an auto accident at age 24. His parents commissioned the work and Maslanka gave them the most heartfelt memorial one can image.
After the Maslanka, the LSO played one of the most popular and familiar pieces in the classical repertoire, Incidental Music to “Peer Gynt” by Edvard Grieg. And here was the surprise.
Although we all know the Grieg from music appreciation classes to Saturday morning cartoons, it sounded hopelessly simple and uninteresting next to the invigorating Maslanka. As I sat listening to the movie-music sounding “Peer Gynt”, my mind kept on going back to the new and refreshing piece before. So, during the intermission, instead of discussing the hackneyed “Peer Gynt” most people were talking about the exciting Maslanka, a work I’d love to hear it again.
Muffitt concluded the evening with the ravishing Sibelius Symphony No. 2, his most popular symphony. Muffitt gave the work his rapt attention to detail and intensity – two elements of his conducting style that he has displayed to the Lansing audiences amply since he took over the helm of the orchestra last year.
The symphony is one with great heroic themes and sounds that bring out the vast Finnish landscape. Sibelius makes the most of pairing the low brass with the low strings to produce deep grandiose chords. The orchestra came up to Muffitt’s demands, for the most part. All the soloists were excellent, but at times I would have wanted to hear a violin section that was twice as large to give those Sibelius chords the heft they required.
All in all, Muffitt and his musicians brought forth a sincere and passionate reading of this work which seems to straddle the 19th and 20th century.
Since most orchestra concert goers have a great fear of “modern” music, conductors usually sandwich the dreaded work between two beloved favorites, so season subscribers can’t escape the concert hall. During the intermission, the bemused listeners will say that the new piece was “interesting” or maybe even “lively”. Certainly by the end of the concert most folks will have forgotten it completely – which is OK because it’s likely they’ll never hear it again anyway.
But Maestro Muffitt did something different this time. He placed the new work, David Maslanka’s “In Lonely Fields” at the very beginning. Gutsy move, I’d say.
But in reality it was a well calculated move. Muffitt knew he had a winner here.
Maslanka, a man who has a special affinity for the breadth of sound of percussion instruments, surrounded the abbreviated orchestra with seven percussionists. A marimba player and vibraphone player were in the front of the ensemble, and five other players with various mallets, African and traditional percussion instruments spread across the back of the stage.
What resulted was a positively wonderful work of dazzling beauty, deep emotion and evocative sounds of the earth. Graciously, Muffitt had all seven drummers come out to the front of the stage at the beginning of the work for a bow, as if they were piano soloists. In fact, watching them make their magic with literally dozens of shakers, bangers and such was a delight. But the real joy was hearing the lovely blending of the orchestra with the percussion instruments.
Maslanka wrote the work in memory of a Central Michigan University percussionist who died from an auto accident at age 24. His parents commissioned the work and Maslanka gave them the most heartfelt memorial one can image.
After the Maslanka, the LSO played one of the most popular and familiar pieces in the classical repertoire, Incidental Music to “Peer Gynt” by Edvard Grieg. And here was the surprise.
Although we all know the Grieg from music appreciation classes to Saturday morning cartoons, it sounded hopelessly simple and uninteresting next to the invigorating Maslanka. As I sat listening to the movie-music sounding “Peer Gynt”, my mind kept on going back to the new and refreshing piece before. So, during the intermission, instead of discussing the hackneyed “Peer Gynt” most people were talking about the exciting Maslanka, a work I’d love to hear it again.
Muffitt concluded the evening with the ravishing Sibelius Symphony No. 2, his most popular symphony. Muffitt gave the work his rapt attention to detail and intensity – two elements of his conducting style that he has displayed to the Lansing audiences amply since he took over the helm of the orchestra last year.
The symphony is one with great heroic themes and sounds that bring out the vast Finnish landscape. Sibelius makes the most of pairing the low brass with the low strings to produce deep grandiose chords. The orchestra came up to Muffitt’s demands, for the most part. All the soloists were excellent, but at times I would have wanted to hear a violin section that was twice as large to give those Sibelius chords the heft they required.
All in all, Muffitt and his musicians brought forth a sincere and passionate reading of this work which seems to straddle the 19th and 20th century.
Monday, April 28, 2008
Opera Revolution
Last Saturday afternoon I witnessed an opera revolution. Actually I was late. The revolution began last season, when the Metropolitan Opera began sending out live HD transmissions of selected operas to movie theaters throughout the country.
Although I knew this was happening, I didn’t really take notice until La Boheme was broadcast April 5. I began receiving calls and emails from friends everywhere. They raved about the sumptuous Franco Zeffirelli production and the voice of soprano superstar Angela Gheoghiu.
Because of their excitement, I saw the April 26th transmission – Donizetti’s wonderfully entertaining La Fille du Regiment (The Daughter of the Regiment).
It was strange to go to a movie theater in the middle of a sunny Saturday afternoon and see live opera (tickets: $22). In California, the show starts at 10:30 AM. In a movie theater we are supposed to see movies that were filmed and edited months before. This was live, immediate, and transforming.
Opera diva Renee Fleming was the host and she was engaging and of course very knowledgeable. Backstage we watched the stage manager cue maestro Marco Armiliato to take his place in the pit, and cameras were down with the orchestra with perfectly timed close-ups of the musicians.
The picture is sharp and clear, and the surround sound is everything you’d expect. As the opera continued on, it became clear the grandness of opera had finally found its place – on the movie screen. Operas on TV, no matter how well done, never captured the full spectacle of this unique theater/music blend.
Technically, the entire presentation was dazzling. Close-ups, interesting angles, large stage shots, plus great footage of backstage people and interviews was all thrilling to watch.
But for this production, it would have all been for naught, had it not been for the stunning performances of Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Florez and the creative a fast moving new production by director Laurent Pelley.
Dessay, a skinny bit of a thing, sang with beauty and superb technique. But, the surprising thing was that Ms. Dessay acts with all the spunk, energy and personality of a comic actress. We’re not used to seeing that in opera.
Whether Dessay was ironing, peeling potatoes, lying down on the stage, being held horizontally by her soldier “pappas”, she managed to sing flawlessly and shamelessly mug to the audience. This French superstar was delightful from beginning to end.
Despite her knock-out performance, many people thought she was outdone by her co-star, tenor Juan Diego Florez. This Peruvian with movie star good-looks sang the difficult tenor role like he was singing with his buddies at a party. In the aria that gave Pavarotti the “King of the High C’s” moniker, Florez came forth with such perfection on opening night, the Met audience demanded that he sing the aria “one mo’ time” - almost unprecedented on the Met stage. For the matinee that I saw, the applause was long and appreciative. Florez is indeed, the tenor we will hear about for decades to come.
To hear Florez and Dessay and the entire Met ensemble sing their beautiful music on a huge screen with surround sound was a special treat indeed. Special enough, that I wonder what this new technological wonder will do for regional opera companies around the world.
Seeing the world’s greatest opera stars in the most lavish productions up close and personal for a ticket of $22 (and free parking) may take the wind out of the sails of local companies. Actually, it can also make opera so accessible and so enjoyable, that live opera will become more popular.
We’ll have to wait a few years to see what happens, but make no mistake about it: This is new HD transmission direct from the Met stage is an Opera Revolution.
Instead of listing times and days of performances, check out www.metopera.com for more info.
Although I knew this was happening, I didn’t really take notice until La Boheme was broadcast April 5. I began receiving calls and emails from friends everywhere. They raved about the sumptuous Franco Zeffirelli production and the voice of soprano superstar Angela Gheoghiu.
Because of their excitement, I saw the April 26th transmission – Donizetti’s wonderfully entertaining La Fille du Regiment (The Daughter of the Regiment).
It was strange to go to a movie theater in the middle of a sunny Saturday afternoon and see live opera (tickets: $22). In California, the show starts at 10:30 AM. In a movie theater we are supposed to see movies that were filmed and edited months before. This was live, immediate, and transforming.
Opera diva Renee Fleming was the host and she was engaging and of course very knowledgeable. Backstage we watched the stage manager cue maestro Marco Armiliato to take his place in the pit, and cameras were down with the orchestra with perfectly timed close-ups of the musicians.
The picture is sharp and clear, and the surround sound is everything you’d expect. As the opera continued on, it became clear the grandness of opera had finally found its place – on the movie screen. Operas on TV, no matter how well done, never captured the full spectacle of this unique theater/music blend.
Technically, the entire presentation was dazzling. Close-ups, interesting angles, large stage shots, plus great footage of backstage people and interviews was all thrilling to watch.
But for this production, it would have all been for naught, had it not been for the stunning performances of Natalie Dessay and Juan Diego Florez and the creative a fast moving new production by director Laurent Pelley.
Dessay, a skinny bit of a thing, sang with beauty and superb technique. But, the surprising thing was that Ms. Dessay acts with all the spunk, energy and personality of a comic actress. We’re not used to seeing that in opera.
Whether Dessay was ironing, peeling potatoes, lying down on the stage, being held horizontally by her soldier “pappas”, she managed to sing flawlessly and shamelessly mug to the audience. This French superstar was delightful from beginning to end.
Despite her knock-out performance, many people thought she was outdone by her co-star, tenor Juan Diego Florez. This Peruvian with movie star good-looks sang the difficult tenor role like he was singing with his buddies at a party. In the aria that gave Pavarotti the “King of the High C’s” moniker, Florez came forth with such perfection on opening night, the Met audience demanded that he sing the aria “one mo’ time” - almost unprecedented on the Met stage. For the matinee that I saw, the applause was long and appreciative. Florez is indeed, the tenor we will hear about for decades to come.
To hear Florez and Dessay and the entire Met ensemble sing their beautiful music on a huge screen with surround sound was a special treat indeed. Special enough, that I wonder what this new technological wonder will do for regional opera companies around the world.
Seeing the world’s greatest opera stars in the most lavish productions up close and personal for a ticket of $22 (and free parking) may take the wind out of the sails of local companies. Actually, it can also make opera so accessible and so enjoyable, that live opera will become more popular.
We’ll have to wait a few years to see what happens, but make no mistake about it: This is new HD transmission direct from the Met stage is an Opera Revolution.
Instead of listing times and days of performances, check out www.metopera.com for more info.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Sensitive and Important: "Miss Evers" Boys" @ Riverwalk
Ken Beachler’s current play (opened 2/22/08) at Riverwalk Theater, Miss Evers’ Boys, takes the audience to rural Alabama ,1932. It’s a time when most blacks in the South could not read, the nation was in fear of the plague of syphilis, and modern medicine was just starting to emerge.
The play is a fictional rendering of one of most heinous programs our federal government was ever involved in. Our leaders in Washington decided to use several hundred syphilis-afflicted rural blacks in a medical experiment (The Tuskegee Study). Doctors and nurses followed the progression of the disease, never treating it, but merely examining how it affected the body and to study whether it was different in blacks than whites. Over the years they literally watched these men die a horrible death.
The fact that most people know about this experiment undermines the dramatic impact of the play. But despite that fact, the fine acting and sensitive directing brings forth a strong emotional statement.
The action opens on a stunning set. Craig Mitchell Smith designed an open-raftered church/schoolhouse building complete with a cupola and bell. The structure is a powerful image throughout the production and Richard Chapman makes the most of it with lighting angles that produce dramatic shadows of the rafters.
We meet the four engaging young rural black men who represent the hundreds of others who will be the government’s guinea pigs: Caleb (Guy Stockard), a charismatic, fast talking, would-be preacher man; Hodman (Bruce Wade), a man who believes in folk medicine and black magic more than he does science; Ben (Ralph Sims), a slow, amiable and agreeable farmer; and Willie Johnson (Markitwia Jackson), a bright-eyed entertainer who tap dances like a champ. And we also meet the heart of the show, Nurse Eunice Evers (Monica Sanders), a woman who believes in nursing and believes in her people.
It is heartbreaking to watch these ignorant rural men give up their future and their life to get suckered into this infamous experiment. They did it for free medical care and for $50 in burial money. As a gift, the government also gave them a whopping $14 after undergoing fourteen years in the study.
The most tragic character in the play is Nurse Evers, played beautifully by Sanders. She brings to the character all of confusion and ambivalence she has throughout the experience. She wants to help her “boys” but she also wants to be a nurse involved in an important study. As the play continues, she begins to understand the enormity of the lies she must tell to her four subjects. The pathos she brings to the role, focuses the entire audience to the core of play.
Another stand-out is Jackson who displays stunning tap dancing technique and a sparkling stage personality. The scene he shares with Dr. Douglas (J.D. De La Ossa), the white doctor who heads up the project is one of the best of the evening. Thinking that he has nothing in common with white men, Douglas tells Johnson about attending the Cotton Club and The Apollo Theater in Harlem, and describes the dance steps used in those hallowed halls.
The audience watches his slick dance steps destroyed by the onslaught of syphilis.
The four black men create a wonderful ensemble, playing off each other’s personalities and styles perfectly. And their affection for Miss Evers, and hers for them, is the centerpiece of the story.
Despite the appealing and interesting characters, and touching story , the play suffers somewhat from a slow pace and by the inevitability of the ending. Everyone knows how it will continue and how it will end. But still, Beachler molds his cast to produce an emotional and important piece of theater.
The play is a fictional rendering of one of most heinous programs our federal government was ever involved in. Our leaders in Washington decided to use several hundred syphilis-afflicted rural blacks in a medical experiment (The Tuskegee Study). Doctors and nurses followed the progression of the disease, never treating it, but merely examining how it affected the body and to study whether it was different in blacks than whites. Over the years they literally watched these men die a horrible death.
The fact that most people know about this experiment undermines the dramatic impact of the play. But despite that fact, the fine acting and sensitive directing brings forth a strong emotional statement.
The action opens on a stunning set. Craig Mitchell Smith designed an open-raftered church/schoolhouse building complete with a cupola and bell. The structure is a powerful image throughout the production and Richard Chapman makes the most of it with lighting angles that produce dramatic shadows of the rafters.
We meet the four engaging young rural black men who represent the hundreds of others who will be the government’s guinea pigs: Caleb (Guy Stockard), a charismatic, fast talking, would-be preacher man; Hodman (Bruce Wade), a man who believes in folk medicine and black magic more than he does science; Ben (Ralph Sims), a slow, amiable and agreeable farmer; and Willie Johnson (Markitwia Jackson), a bright-eyed entertainer who tap dances like a champ. And we also meet the heart of the show, Nurse Eunice Evers (Monica Sanders), a woman who believes in nursing and believes in her people.
It is heartbreaking to watch these ignorant rural men give up their future and their life to get suckered into this infamous experiment. They did it for free medical care and for $50 in burial money. As a gift, the government also gave them a whopping $14 after undergoing fourteen years in the study.
The most tragic character in the play is Nurse Evers, played beautifully by Sanders. She brings to the character all of confusion and ambivalence she has throughout the experience. She wants to help her “boys” but she also wants to be a nurse involved in an important study. As the play continues, she begins to understand the enormity of the lies she must tell to her four subjects. The pathos she brings to the role, focuses the entire audience to the core of play.
Another stand-out is Jackson who displays stunning tap dancing technique and a sparkling stage personality. The scene he shares with Dr. Douglas (J.D. De La Ossa), the white doctor who heads up the project is one of the best of the evening. Thinking that he has nothing in common with white men, Douglas tells Johnson about attending the Cotton Club and The Apollo Theater in Harlem, and describes the dance steps used in those hallowed halls.
The audience watches his slick dance steps destroyed by the onslaught of syphilis.
The four black men create a wonderful ensemble, playing off each other’s personalities and styles perfectly. And their affection for Miss Evers, and hers for them, is the centerpiece of the story.
Despite the appealing and interesting characters, and touching story , the play suffers somewhat from a slow pace and by the inevitability of the ending. Everyone knows how it will continue and how it will end. But still, Beachler molds his cast to produce an emotional and important piece of theater.
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Zukerman and the Brits: A Transcendent Evening
Any concert by a world class orchestra at MSU's Wharton Center is a special event, but Tuesday's (1/15/08) program by the Royal Philharmonic with violinist Pinchas Zukerman was a sublime delight.
I knew I had to attend when I heard that Pinchas Zukerman, the world's greatest violinist (in my humble opinion), was scheduled to play the grand dame of violin concertos, the Beethoven Violin Concerto. Also on this all-Beethoven program was the legendary 5th Symphony.
Zukerman, now a dapper white-haired 60-year-old, walked out on stage to reveal that he was not only soloing on this devilishly difficult concerto, but conducting it as well. He stood in front of the orchestra - violin in one hand, conducting with the other.
As the virtuoso began to play his opening notes, we knew that this would be a rare musical evening. Zukerman's tone was warm and sweet and shimmering with transcendent beauty. Some soloists rip through this work with great bravado, showing off their technique. Instead, Zukerman took his time with each phrase, adding nuance, beauty and elegant musical touches. He played with a gracious rubato give and take, as a great opera singer would.
Miraculously, Zukerman did a 360 when he wasn't playing, to conduct the orchestra to compliment his playing style. How a violinist who is playing one of the most challenging concertos, seperate his brain to also conduct the orchestra, is beyond me. Sometimes the orchestra played with robust force, while at others it sounded like a small chamber group playing is someone's drawing room. The melting together of orchestra and soloist created musical magic.
Zukerman has never been one to pander or be over-demonstrative with an audience. He plays with understated artistry. He's there for the music and only the music. When the treacherous cadenza's came up, with double stops (playing two strings at once) flying up and down the fingerboard, Zukerman was totally unfazed. He simply navigated the rapids, thinking only about how beautiful he could make it sound.
His glorious tone had a presence that floated across the Great Hall audience, even when he was playing pianissimo. The orchestra must have been communicating with him by radio waves, because individual musicians entered in the most delicate, exposed passages with no visible cue from the conductor/soloist. Again, it was magic.
Throughout the entire performance, I was in another world, entranced by the glorious music making of this great artist at the top of his game.
After intermission (called the "Interval" in the UK), Zukerman traded the fiddle for a baton and conducted the triumphant Fifth Symphony.
Although the Israeli-born musician has been conducting for many years, now, he looked like a novice on the podium. His motions were broad, flowing and vague and I tried to imagine myself playing under him and guessing whre his beat was. But, no matter, the orchestra sounded great - which is the only thing that matters.
He appeared to have a terrific rapport with the players, molding the music to fit his vision. The entire wind section was superb, but the first flutist (Paul Edmund Davies) and oboist (John Anderson) played together like two birds on a branch of a flowering tree on a spring day.
Zukerman was able to extract the sounds of each individual section of the orchestra. We heard robust cello and bass playing, but also strong and raucous brass playing.
For the encore, Zukerman led his Londoners in a ravishing reading of a movement of fellow Englishman Edward Elgar's masterpiece, The Enigma Variations. It was lush, romantic and heartfelt.
All in all, this concert by absoulte world class musicians was one of the finest I have ever heard in East Lansing. Zukerman the consumate artst and combined with a responsive and virtuosic ensemble made this evening a true gift from Wharton Center to the people of East Lansing.
I knew I had to attend when I heard that Pinchas Zukerman, the world's greatest violinist (in my humble opinion), was scheduled to play the grand dame of violin concertos, the Beethoven Violin Concerto. Also on this all-Beethoven program was the legendary 5th Symphony.
Zukerman, now a dapper white-haired 60-year-old, walked out on stage to reveal that he was not only soloing on this devilishly difficult concerto, but conducting it as well. He stood in front of the orchestra - violin in one hand, conducting with the other.
As the virtuoso began to play his opening notes, we knew that this would be a rare musical evening. Zukerman's tone was warm and sweet and shimmering with transcendent beauty. Some soloists rip through this work with great bravado, showing off their technique. Instead, Zukerman took his time with each phrase, adding nuance, beauty and elegant musical touches. He played with a gracious rubato give and take, as a great opera singer would.
Miraculously, Zukerman did a 360 when he wasn't playing, to conduct the orchestra to compliment his playing style. How a violinist who is playing one of the most challenging concertos, seperate his brain to also conduct the orchestra, is beyond me. Sometimes the orchestra played with robust force, while at others it sounded like a small chamber group playing is someone's drawing room. The melting together of orchestra and soloist created musical magic.
Zukerman has never been one to pander or be over-demonstrative with an audience. He plays with understated artistry. He's there for the music and only the music. When the treacherous cadenza's came up, with double stops (playing two strings at once) flying up and down the fingerboard, Zukerman was totally unfazed. He simply navigated the rapids, thinking only about how beautiful he could make it sound.
His glorious tone had a presence that floated across the Great Hall audience, even when he was playing pianissimo. The orchestra must have been communicating with him by radio waves, because individual musicians entered in the most delicate, exposed passages with no visible cue from the conductor/soloist. Again, it was magic.
Throughout the entire performance, I was in another world, entranced by the glorious music making of this great artist at the top of his game.
After intermission (called the "Interval" in the UK), Zukerman traded the fiddle for a baton and conducted the triumphant Fifth Symphony.
Although the Israeli-born musician has been conducting for many years, now, he looked like a novice on the podium. His motions were broad, flowing and vague and I tried to imagine myself playing under him and guessing whre his beat was. But, no matter, the orchestra sounded great - which is the only thing that matters.
He appeared to have a terrific rapport with the players, molding the music to fit his vision. The entire wind section was superb, but the first flutist (Paul Edmund Davies) and oboist (John Anderson) played together like two birds on a branch of a flowering tree on a spring day.
Zukerman was able to extract the sounds of each individual section of the orchestra. We heard robust cello and bass playing, but also strong and raucous brass playing.
For the encore, Zukerman led his Londoners in a ravishing reading of a movement of fellow Englishman Edward Elgar's masterpiece, The Enigma Variations. It was lush, romantic and heartfelt.
All in all, this concert by absoulte world class musicians was one of the finest I have ever heard in East Lansing. Zukerman the consumate artst and combined with a responsive and virtuosic ensemble made this evening a true gift from Wharton Center to the people of East Lansing.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Lansing Great Entertainment Bargain and MSU's Wind Symphony
Clearly, the greatest entertainment bargain in Lansing is the series of concerts presented by the Michigan State University School of Music. Throughout the year (yes, during the summer too) the school of music presents concerts by its talented student body in solo recitals, and in ensembles such as orchestras, choirs, bands, operas, new music groups and various jazz ensembles. Also, the school’s world class faculty presents many solo recitals and chamber ensemble concerts – and many of these folks perform solo gigs with orchestras and ensembles throughout the world for big-ticket prices.
Tickets for these concerts are a steal. Students get in for free, and general admission prices are $9 for regular concerts, and $18 for special events. A bargain indeed!
**** **** **** **** **** ****
I attended one the school’s finest large ensemble concerts recently, the Wind Symphony conducted by newcomer Kevin Sedatole. This is Sedatole’s second year as Director of Bands and Conductor of the Wind Ensemble at MSU, succeeding the retirement of the superb John Whitwell.
Many classical music lovers bypass band concerts – a big mistake. They usually line up for tickets for concerts by orchestras, operas, choirs and ballets but wrongly believe that band concerts will be loud, boisterous, and made up mostly of Sousa marches.
In fact, a concert by a highly skilled band (fancy alternative names are symphony band, wind ensemble, etc) will usually delight the listener with music that has great energy, beauty and freshness. Today’s top-rated college bands, along with the great service bands, will astound you with their technical facility and musical subtly.
But the best surprise from attending a band concert is hearing excellent and exciting music written IN OUR LIFETIME.
Orchestra concerts rarely feature current music. One of the most recently composed pieces to find its way into the basic orchestral repertoire is the Bartok Concerto For Orchestra and that was written some 60 years ago.
The Wind Symphony concert I attended (December 2, 2007), featured eight works, seven of which were composed by living composers.
Instead of sitting down to hear music that I’ve heard dozens of times (as I would in an orchestra concert), all this music was new, fresh and intellectually challenging.
Sedatole is a compact man who conducts with great intensity and focus. He attends to every detail in the music, and his young musicians are fixed on his every movement.
He began the program with a piece written in 2004 by Carter Penn called Slalom. Perfectly named, the piece seems to slide down the snowy hill with fury and fire. The woodwinds were brilliant and the energy of the music was exhilarating.
Another piece that demanded much from the listener, but even more from the performer was the Concert Suite for Alto Saxophone and Band by Pulitzer Prize winning Ann Arbor composer, William Bolcom. Joseph Lulloff, MSU professor of saxophone played this frightfully difficult piece with apparent ease. Each of the four movements was totally impendent from the others, giving the listener great variety of style and expression.
Lulloff, a world renowned saxophone soloist, demonstrated the full spectrum of the instrument. In the first movement, his fingers were a blur as he flew through bunches of notes ranging from the very top to the bottom of the instrument. However, in the sublime second movement Lulloff played with a sensitivy and nuance that you hear from the greatest violinist. With Lulloff’s artistry, the sax’s tone emerges from somewhere in the clouds and swells into a robust lyricism that fills the heart.
Another standout performance in this concert was the singing of tenor Richard Fracker, chair of MSU’s voice faculty and featured singer with New York’s Metropolitan Opera. Fracker sang The Heart of the Morn by MSU composition professor, H Owen Reed. It was a lush and romantic interpretation of the tapestry Michigan’s beauty.
Sedatole, graciously, invited several guest conductors to the podium: Jim Barry, retired director of bands at Okemos High School, soon-to-retire director of bands at Grand Ledge High school Mike Kaufman, MSU graduate student Isaiah Odajima and assistant director of MSU bands, John Madden. Although they all did excellent work, the band sounded like a completely different, more responsive ensemble under Sedatole’s baton.
An interesting aspect to the concert: One of the pieces performed was Trauersinfonie by Richard Wagner - probably written about 1880 or so. Compared to the sparkling, rhythmic music of our current age that makes full use of modern woodwinds, percussion, and brass, the Wagner was really old school. A friend who came to the concert with me whispered in my ear, “It sounds so last millennium”. I couldn’t agree more.
One suggestion to the School Music: do a better job with the programs for these concerts. It would be more interesting and educational if some notes would be included about the soloists, guest conductors and the music itself.
Tickets for these concerts are a steal. Students get in for free, and general admission prices are $9 for regular concerts, and $18 for special events. A bargain indeed!
**** **** **** **** **** ****
I attended one the school’s finest large ensemble concerts recently, the Wind Symphony conducted by newcomer Kevin Sedatole. This is Sedatole’s second year as Director of Bands and Conductor of the Wind Ensemble at MSU, succeeding the retirement of the superb John Whitwell.
Many classical music lovers bypass band concerts – a big mistake. They usually line up for tickets for concerts by orchestras, operas, choirs and ballets but wrongly believe that band concerts will be loud, boisterous, and made up mostly of Sousa marches.
In fact, a concert by a highly skilled band (fancy alternative names are symphony band, wind ensemble, etc) will usually delight the listener with music that has great energy, beauty and freshness. Today’s top-rated college bands, along with the great service bands, will astound you with their technical facility and musical subtly.
But the best surprise from attending a band concert is hearing excellent and exciting music written IN OUR LIFETIME.
Orchestra concerts rarely feature current music. One of the most recently composed pieces to find its way into the basic orchestral repertoire is the Bartok Concerto For Orchestra and that was written some 60 years ago.
The Wind Symphony concert I attended (December 2, 2007), featured eight works, seven of which were composed by living composers.
Instead of sitting down to hear music that I’ve heard dozens of times (as I would in an orchestra concert), all this music was new, fresh and intellectually challenging.
Sedatole is a compact man who conducts with great intensity and focus. He attends to every detail in the music, and his young musicians are fixed on his every movement.
He began the program with a piece written in 2004 by Carter Penn called Slalom. Perfectly named, the piece seems to slide down the snowy hill with fury and fire. The woodwinds were brilliant and the energy of the music was exhilarating.
Another piece that demanded much from the listener, but even more from the performer was the Concert Suite for Alto Saxophone and Band by Pulitzer Prize winning Ann Arbor composer, William Bolcom. Joseph Lulloff, MSU professor of saxophone played this frightfully difficult piece with apparent ease. Each of the four movements was totally impendent from the others, giving the listener great variety of style and expression.
Lulloff, a world renowned saxophone soloist, demonstrated the full spectrum of the instrument. In the first movement, his fingers were a blur as he flew through bunches of notes ranging from the very top to the bottom of the instrument. However, in the sublime second movement Lulloff played with a sensitivy and nuance that you hear from the greatest violinist. With Lulloff’s artistry, the sax’s tone emerges from somewhere in the clouds and swells into a robust lyricism that fills the heart.
Another standout performance in this concert was the singing of tenor Richard Fracker, chair of MSU’s voice faculty and featured singer with New York’s Metropolitan Opera. Fracker sang The Heart of the Morn by MSU composition professor, H Owen Reed. It was a lush and romantic interpretation of the tapestry Michigan’s beauty.
Sedatole, graciously, invited several guest conductors to the podium: Jim Barry, retired director of bands at Okemos High School, soon-to-retire director of bands at Grand Ledge High school Mike Kaufman, MSU graduate student Isaiah Odajima and assistant director of MSU bands, John Madden. Although they all did excellent work, the band sounded like a completely different, more responsive ensemble under Sedatole’s baton.
An interesting aspect to the concert: One of the pieces performed was Trauersinfonie by Richard Wagner - probably written about 1880 or so. Compared to the sparkling, rhythmic music of our current age that makes full use of modern woodwinds, percussion, and brass, the Wagner was really old school. A friend who came to the concert with me whispered in my ear, “It sounds so last millennium”. I couldn’t agree more.
One suggestion to the School Music: do a better job with the programs for these concerts. It would be more interesting and educational if some notes would be included about the soloists, guest conductors and the music itself.
Saturday, February 3, 2007
Chamber Music In The Great Hall?
When Wharton Center was built back in 1982, a third theater was planned - a nice thousand seat hall. It would have been perfect for small operas and chamber music.
Sadly, budgets were cut (ah, if they only played basketball at Wharton it would have been different) and we are left with small 600 seat hall (Pasant) with brittle acoustics, and a very large 2500 seat hall (Great Hall) that is cavernous. Neither place seems to lend itself to chamber music.
Wharton's Mike Brand wants to bring small ensembles to Wharton but it never seems to work very well. This year MSU cello prof Suren Bagratuni has put together a new chamber series featuring MSU musicians and many other world class artists. He calls it the Michigan Chamber Music Society.
I have seen one of these concerts - the Bach program that took place Sunday January 28th in the Great Hall. There were about 300-400 audience members huddled together on the main floor Great Hall.
Bagratuni selected music that is familiar to all music lovers: three Brandenbureg concerti and the Concerto for Two Pianos in c minor. It was an excellent concert, absent the first work.
The opening piece was the interesting Brandenburg No 6, that features no violins, simply violas, cellos, bass and harpsichord. The ensemble lacked cohesion and Hsin-Yun Huang as principal viola played as if she were the soloist. That's too bad since the second violist, Randolph Kelly is the lead violist with the Pittsburgh Symphony and has had a distinguished career. Maybe some more rehearsing together would have produced better results.
After the lackluster first piece, Deborah Moriarty and fellow MSU faculty member George Vatchnadze soloed in an exciting reading of the Bach Concerto for Two pianos. The soloists sat in the back of the orchestra, which was odd at first but then seemed to improve the ensemble feeling of the entire work. Moriarty is always a wonderful performer, and she didn't disappoint. The orchestra was billed as "The MSU String Ensemble" but there was no listing telling us who the players were.
Things continued to look up during the second half of the program. The ensemble performed the very popular Bradenburg No4 featuring U of M violin prof Aaron Berofsky (and Ralph Votapek's son-in-law) along with flutists Richard Sherman and Lorna McGhee.
Almost immediately the audience realized that this was going to be a very special performance. Sherman and McGhee played some of the finest flute duets I have every heard. They blended perfectly and matched their style with the wonderful Berofsky to make a stunning performance. Not to be overlooked, harpsichordist Charlotte Mattax was also superb. She accompanied the ensemble with subtlety, but surprised the Wharton audience with spectacular, and very difficult solos when the opportunity arose.
Mattax's outstanding playing continued in the final piece of the afternoon, the Brandenburg No 5. But, alas, she was overshadowed by the gorgeous and musical flute playing of Lorna McGhee. She was heard in the previous work with Sherman, but here McGhee got to shine on her own, and shine she did. Her tone was full, rich, and lush and her phrasing was eloquent. McGhee displayed a talent that places here at the very highest level of flute players in the world. It was a genuine pleasure to hear her.
Chamber music at Wharton Center? It's not the perfect venue, but great musicians will make the music come alive no matter where it's played.
Sadly, budgets were cut (ah, if they only played basketball at Wharton it would have been different) and we are left with small 600 seat hall (Pasant) with brittle acoustics, and a very large 2500 seat hall (Great Hall) that is cavernous. Neither place seems to lend itself to chamber music.
Wharton's Mike Brand wants to bring small ensembles to Wharton but it never seems to work very well. This year MSU cello prof Suren Bagratuni has put together a new chamber series featuring MSU musicians and many other world class artists. He calls it the Michigan Chamber Music Society.
I have seen one of these concerts - the Bach program that took place Sunday January 28th in the Great Hall. There were about 300-400 audience members huddled together on the main floor Great Hall.
Bagratuni selected music that is familiar to all music lovers: three Brandenbureg concerti and the Concerto for Two Pianos in c minor. It was an excellent concert, absent the first work.
The opening piece was the interesting Brandenburg No 6, that features no violins, simply violas, cellos, bass and harpsichord. The ensemble lacked cohesion and Hsin-Yun Huang as principal viola played as if she were the soloist. That's too bad since the second violist, Randolph Kelly is the lead violist with the Pittsburgh Symphony and has had a distinguished career. Maybe some more rehearsing together would have produced better results.
After the lackluster first piece, Deborah Moriarty and fellow MSU faculty member George Vatchnadze soloed in an exciting reading of the Bach Concerto for Two pianos. The soloists sat in the back of the orchestra, which was odd at first but then seemed to improve the ensemble feeling of the entire work. Moriarty is always a wonderful performer, and she didn't disappoint. The orchestra was billed as "The MSU String Ensemble" but there was no listing telling us who the players were.
Things continued to look up during the second half of the program. The ensemble performed the very popular Bradenburg No4 featuring U of M violin prof Aaron Berofsky (and Ralph Votapek's son-in-law) along with flutists Richard Sherman and Lorna McGhee.
Almost immediately the audience realized that this was going to be a very special performance. Sherman and McGhee played some of the finest flute duets I have every heard. They blended perfectly and matched their style with the wonderful Berofsky to make a stunning performance. Not to be overlooked, harpsichordist Charlotte Mattax was also superb. She accompanied the ensemble with subtlety, but surprised the Wharton audience with spectacular, and very difficult solos when the opportunity arose.
Mattax's outstanding playing continued in the final piece of the afternoon, the Brandenburg No 5. But, alas, she was overshadowed by the gorgeous and musical flute playing of Lorna McGhee. She was heard in the previous work with Sherman, but here McGhee got to shine on her own, and shine she did. Her tone was full, rich, and lush and her phrasing was eloquent. McGhee displayed a talent that places here at the very highest level of flute players in the world. It was a genuine pleasure to hear her.
Chamber music at Wharton Center? It's not the perfect venue, but great musicians will make the music come alive no matter where it's played.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Muffit and the LSO: Getting to Know Each Other
January 27th was the third concert that Timothy Muffitt has led the Lansing Symphony as their Music Director, and it's clear that they are getting to know each other.
For each concert, Muffitt seems to be stretching the ensemble to embrace new repertoire and to feel comfortable with more difficult music.
For this concert. Muffit programmed three pieces - all very different from each other. But put together in one concert, Faure (French), Prokofiev (Russian) and Schubert (Viennese) made for a wonderful mix of music.
The contrast of the music was not only because of the nationality of the composers. The first two works, "Suite from Pelleas et Melisande" and "Suite from Lieutanant Kije" were relatively short (18-20 minutes) and had many short movements: four for the Faure and five for the Prokofiev. The music was theatrical, programmatic and filled the stage with many instruments and sounds.
With all those short, snappy movements, it's almost like Muffitt was preparing his audience to sit through the grandiosely long (55 minutes) Schubert Great C Major symphony with a limited romantic orchestra (more about that later).
The Faure was lush and sensuous, with lovely solos by flutist Richard Sherman in the second movement and bassoonist Michael Kroth in the third. These extended solos are some of the most famous in the repertoire and they were both superb. Muffitt brought a ravishing sound from his strings, which has been developing throughout his short tenure with the LSO.
The joyful Prokofiev uses the orchestral pallet to it fullest. The stage is filled with a full orchestra plus tenor saxophone, off-stage trumpet, piano, celesta, harp and a plethora of percussion instruments. It all made for music that sounded like a Russian celebration. The star of Kije was the consistantly beautiful trumpet playing by Richard Illman. I think Muffitt had him take three bows.
This was a particularly difficult concert, and there were moments in both of these works in which inner details of the ensemble were missing - low string sections, woodwind clarity and the correct balances between woodwinds and strings. However the overall impression of these two works was pure enjoyment.
But after all this delightful music, the orchestra then performed on the great symphonies ever written, the Schubert C major, No 9. Some people feel that the piece is too long and too repetitive, but it has always been very dear to my heart. For sure, it is one of the most difficult violin parts ever written. After the treacherous fourth movement, many violinists were seen stretching and getting their hands out of a cramping position.
All in all, Muffitt and his new ensemble played this masterpiece with the respect it deserved. It has been many years since the LSO played the Schubert, and it was clearly not "under their fingers". Muffittt was working hard, pulling the music out of them. But the orchestra response to his urgings was positive. Musicians and conductor appear to have great respect for each other.
Although the Schubert is a big sprawling work, it is interesting that the instrumentation is quite small - almost like an orchestra of the classical era. The orchestra included only a timpanist in the percussion section, a section of two horns (usually four), 2 trumpets - but a full section of three trombones. And the trombones played a significant role with beautiful chords backing up the strings and woodwinds.
After the long and gracious first movement, Muffitt changed the mood totally with a second movement that was elegant, crisp with terrific oboe solos by Jan Eberle. The third movement was the weakest with an uneven tempo and missing harmonies in the brass, overbalanced by other instruments.
By the fourth movement, it was clear that the orchestra was waning. But they came up to the challenge. The repetitive violin vamp was effective, clean and light. Muffitt paid close attention to the cellos and they responded with big luscious chords.
The audience gave the Lansing musicians warm applause, appreciating the variety of music they heard that night and the new energy the orchestra is producing.
For each concert, Muffitt seems to be stretching the ensemble to embrace new repertoire and to feel comfortable with more difficult music.
For this concert. Muffit programmed three pieces - all very different from each other. But put together in one concert, Faure (French), Prokofiev (Russian) and Schubert (Viennese) made for a wonderful mix of music.
The contrast of the music was not only because of the nationality of the composers. The first two works, "Suite from Pelleas et Melisande" and "Suite from Lieutanant Kije" were relatively short (18-20 minutes) and had many short movements: four for the Faure and five for the Prokofiev. The music was theatrical, programmatic and filled the stage with many instruments and sounds.
With all those short, snappy movements, it's almost like Muffitt was preparing his audience to sit through the grandiosely long (55 minutes) Schubert Great C Major symphony with a limited romantic orchestra (more about that later).
The Faure was lush and sensuous, with lovely solos by flutist Richard Sherman in the second movement and bassoonist Michael Kroth in the third. These extended solos are some of the most famous in the repertoire and they were both superb. Muffitt brought a ravishing sound from his strings, which has been developing throughout his short tenure with the LSO.
The joyful Prokofiev uses the orchestral pallet to it fullest. The stage is filled with a full orchestra plus tenor saxophone, off-stage trumpet, piano, celesta, harp and a plethora of percussion instruments. It all made for music that sounded like a Russian celebration. The star of Kije was the consistantly beautiful trumpet playing by Richard Illman. I think Muffitt had him take three bows.
This was a particularly difficult concert, and there were moments in both of these works in which inner details of the ensemble were missing - low string sections, woodwind clarity and the correct balances between woodwinds and strings. However the overall impression of these two works was pure enjoyment.
But after all this delightful music, the orchestra then performed on the great symphonies ever written, the Schubert C major, No 9. Some people feel that the piece is too long and too repetitive, but it has always been very dear to my heart. For sure, it is one of the most difficult violin parts ever written. After the treacherous fourth movement, many violinists were seen stretching and getting their hands out of a cramping position.
All in all, Muffitt and his new ensemble played this masterpiece with the respect it deserved. It has been many years since the LSO played the Schubert, and it was clearly not "under their fingers". Muffittt was working hard, pulling the music out of them. But the orchestra response to his urgings was positive. Musicians and conductor appear to have great respect for each other.
Although the Schubert is a big sprawling work, it is interesting that the instrumentation is quite small - almost like an orchestra of the classical era. The orchestra included only a timpanist in the percussion section, a section of two horns (usually four), 2 trumpets - but a full section of three trombones. And the trombones played a significant role with beautiful chords backing up the strings and woodwinds.
After the long and gracious first movement, Muffitt changed the mood totally with a second movement that was elegant, crisp with terrific oboe solos by Jan Eberle. The third movement was the weakest with an uneven tempo and missing harmonies in the brass, overbalanced by other instruments.
By the fourth movement, it was clear that the orchestra was waning. But they came up to the challenge. The repetitive violin vamp was effective, clean and light. Muffitt paid close attention to the cellos and they responded with big luscious chords.
The audience gave the Lansing musicians warm applause, appreciating the variety of music they heard that night and the new energy the orchestra is producing.
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