Mostly Classical

Note: "Mostly Classical" Has Moved!

2009-07-30T11:23:00.003-04:00

For reasons both technical and boring, I have moved my classical music posts to a new blog: Classical Journal (http://classicaljournal.wordpress.com/). You may want to change your bookmarks to the new site.

This site will remain intact for now should anyone need to read the older articles.

Thanks…I hope you'll enjoy Classical Journal.

Mahler and More

2009-05-21T13:33:00.004-04:00

Read my review of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra's final concert of the season, "Richmond Conducts Mahler," in this week's Metro Pulse.

The next opportunity to hear the KSO comes in the idyllic setting of Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park as part of the 75th anniversary celebration of the founding of the park. The concert will take place on Saturday, June 13th at 3 pm. Due to limitations in the amount of parking available at the concert site, the event will be restricted to those having purchased a vehicle pass in advance. Vehicle passes may be purchased by calling the KSO Box Office at 865-291-3310; only two passes will be issued per person. The cost of the event is $25 for vehicles with up to a 15-passenger capacity and $50 for vehicles with a capacity greater than 15 passengers. Concert-goers are encouraged to carpool and bring chairs and/or blankets. NOTE: The deadline for purchasing passes is June 3rd!

The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of Music Director Lucas Richman, will be joined by U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander who will perform as piano soloist. The concert will consist of pop and light classical pieces including The Star Spangled Banner, Williams’ Overture to The Cowboys, Foster’s Beautiful Dreamer, Ungar’s Ashokan Farewell, America the Beautiful, selections from Rodgers’ Sound of Music and more. Additionally, the orchestra will also perform the world premiere of local composer James Carlson’s Off Trail In The Smokies, commissioned by the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra specifically for this concert. Soprano Katy Wolfe Zahn will be performing with the orchestra.

A Midsummer Night's Dream?

2009-05-13T10:06:00.005-04:00

Sometimes, it only takes one little nudge…one moment of excitement, one step forward, one intriguing event…and everything changes. Is Knoxville ready for a summer music series of some kind? Yes, and it is long overdue.

Of course, when the weather starts turning warm and thoughts turn to a summer music series or festival, it is already too late for that year. Design, planning, venue selection, and scheduling need long lead-times, not to mention the time it takes to find a marketing scheme that takes a music program beyond the ho-hum to the why-didn’t-we-think-of-this-sooner. But properly planned, a summer music festival could become a significant attraction for the city as well--events that add positive economics to the entertainment picture.

Are there challenges and difficulties in creating a summer music series? You bet. Turning regular-season momentum into an equally exciting summer event schedule is no easy task. Pulling people out of their warm weather ennui might take some doing. But it can be done—there are plenty of examples all over the country, and in communities much smaller than Knoxville.

Let’s put our heads together and see what we can come up with. It’s too late for this summer, but summer of 2010 awaits.

REVIEW: "The Audition"

2009-04-20T10:49:00.007-04:00

The Metropolitan Opera's HD series presented a different kind of opera experience this past Sunday—a screening of a documentary film titled The Audition. The film, directed by documentary filmmaker Susan Fromke and produced by the Met's Peter Gelb, told the story of the final days of competition of the 2007 Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions. The film picks up the story as the eleven semi-finalists are being chosen for the last week of preparation in New York before the final competition with full audience and orchestra on the Met stage. She follows most of the singers through rehearsals and personal moments, much of it in walk-and-talk segments as they thread their way through the metaphorical labyrinthine backstage of the Met.

Although the film does not cover it, the competition process begins with well over a thousand aspiring singers across the country; this number is whittled down to twenty or so regional winners through local and regional auditions. From that twenty, eleven become semi-finalists; and from that eleven, five or six are chosen as finalists. It goes without saying that to emerge as one of those five or six puts a singer on a favored path (no guarantees, though) toward an opera career, not only at the Met, but in major opera houses around the world.

My fear going in had been that the film might go for the shallow side and gloss over the inevitable un-pleasantries or personal agonies that arise in a competition with so much at stake. It is to Ms. Fromke’s credit that she kept an intriguing, equitable balance; she revealed just enough of the singer’s personalities and the brutal facts of judging to keep it interesting. Any more and the film would have been called “The Singers”; any less and it would have been just another pleasant promotional film for the Met.

It is clear that Fromke’s editing choices came not from a total objectivity, but was structured by her knowledge of who had won. Most of her finished film is spent following three tenors who do, in fact, emerge victorious. Alek Shrader is a 25-year-old tenor with boyish good looks, and the ability to pull off the high C’s in “Ah! mes amis,” from Donizetti’s Fille du Régiment. Michael Fabiano, on the other hand, is a brooding, serious young man with a fabulous voice who looks much older than his 22 years. He implies in his on-camera speeches, that the pleasantries among the singers are hypocritical as everyone is self-interested. His voice will open doors; hopefully, his personality won’t close them.

The third tenor’s story is heartbreaking, to say the least. Ryan Smith was a thirty-year old genial, yet overweight, singer whose road there had been filled with obstacles of all sorts. His performance was nothing less than brilliant, and he emerged one of the six finalists. In a sad postlude, the film revealed that Mr. Smith, after making a Met debut in Verdi’s Ernani and who had begun working with the Chicago Lyric Opera, died last November of lymphoma.

Obviously, to get to this point in the process, all of the singers had significant talents. Yet, the message here is that it must go much farther and much deeper than that. As Fromke herself explained: "The film is really about whether these young singers have what it takes to transcend their fears, walk on stage and face their futures.”

Knoxville Opera's Rossini Festival

2009-04-14T08:45:00.010-04:00

One of the awaited events of the spring music season is less than two weeks away. The Knoxville Opera Rossini Festival hits downtown's Gay Street April 23–April 26. Among the events will be:

Knoxville Opera production of Leoncavallo's Pagliacci.

Saturday, April 25, 6:00 p.m.

Sunday, April 26, 2:30 p.m.

at the Tennessee Theatre, 604 S. Gay Street.

For tickets, call Knoxville Opera at (865) 524-0795, or click here.

UT Opera Theatre production of Mozart's Don Giovanni

Thursday, April 23,

Friday, April 24, 8:00 p.m.

Saturday, April 25, 2:00 p.m.

Sunday, April 26, 8:00 p.m.
at the Bijou Theatre, 803 S Gay St.

Tickets are general admission at $15, $10 for seniors 60+, $5 for students with ID. For tickets, visit or call the Tennessee Theatre box office at 865-684-1200; or Tickets Unlimited at 865.656.4444, knoxvilletickets.com or visit the UT Central Ticket Office. Service fees may apply.

Rossini Festival Italian Street Fair

Saturday, April 25th, from noon to 9 pm, FREE

"Downtown Knoxville's Gay Street is transformed from a busy thoroughfare to a colorful European festival with three stages featuring a range of entertainment options, an upscale Artisan's Market, the smells and tastes of authentic Mediterranean foods and beverages, and a special children's area on Market Square with entertainment, fun and games."

The street fair is an event that should not be missed under any circumstances!

--------------------------------

In conjunction with the Rossini Festival, Part III of The Messiah by George Frederic Handel will be presented at First Presbyterian Church on State Street on Sunday, April 26th at 11 am.

In most performances today, Part III contains:
No. 45 "I know that my Redeemer liveth"
No. 46 (41) - "Since by man came death"
No. 47 (42)- "Behold I tell you"
No. 48 (43) - "The trumpet shall sound"
No. 49-50 (44) - "Then shall be brought to pass" (recit.) & "O death" (duet)
No. 51 (45)- "But thanks be to God"
No. 52 (46)- "If God be for us"
No. 53 (47)- "Worthy is the Lamb"
No. 54 - "Amen"

If it's not one thing, it's another…

2009-04-06T16:38:00.004-04:00

Beset on all sides by difficulty, New York City Opera at last announced its 2009-2010 season — a conservative five productions — but covering the gamut that City Opera is known for. There's a Baroque work, Handel's Partenope; a familiar friend, Puccini's Madama Butterfly; a new production of Don Giovanni; an unfamiliar work, Étoile by Chabrier; and a modern offering, Esther by Hugo Weisgall.

However, even that will turn out to be difficult since many involved can't seem to take si for an answer. Alan Gordon, executive director of the American Guild of Musical Artists, which represents principal singers, the chorus, and stage managers, indicated the probability of a strike over an attempt by management to void their contract which does not expire until 2011. In addition, the orchestra's contract ends next month leading to speculation that that negotiation will determine what happens with AGMA. Stay tuned for the next episode.

JacobTV This Week…and it's free!

2009-04-01T12:46:00.004-04:00

Who is Jacob ter Veldhuis?
That question will be answered in the next few days as the Dutch avant-something composer appears in Knoxville for a week-long residency and festival, MARCH 30-APRIL 4, 2009, under the sponsorship of the University of Tennessee School of Music and UT's Ready for the World program.

The director of the festival is Dr. Connie Frigo, Assistant Professor of Saxophone in the UT School of Music.

Popularly known in the Netherlands as JacobTV, he has become a frequently performed composer in Europe by orchestras such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Russian State Academy Orchestra and the Düsseldorf Symfoniker. Soloists who have gravitated to his works include Branford Marsalis, James Galway, Arno Bornkamp, Claude Delangle, Margaret Lancaster, Andrew Russo, Kathy Supové, Kevin Gallagher and Evelyn Glennie. What is remarkable is that classical, contemporary, jazz and rock musicians all find themselves keenly interested in his music--and audiences in Europe certainly do.

A three day JacobTV Festival entitled “Grab It! The Music of JacobTV” took place at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York in May 2007. The New York Times' Anne Midgette had this to say about the first evening's concert.

In his “boombox" works, soloists or ensembles perform the scores to intricately structured audio collages that incorporate sound bytes from political speeches, commercials, interviews, talk shows, TV evangelists, and more. These are works that challenge the listener on one level, while simultaneously amusing and delighting them on another.

Some of these boombox works will be featured in a free concert on Friday, April 3rd – 8pm, in the Cox Auditorium on the UT campus. The concert will feature a wide array of performers including guest soloists from around the country, the New Century Saxophone Quartet, UT music faculty, and UT music students.

On Thursday at 8 pm in the Cox Auditorium, Tallahatchie Concerto US Premiere
Connie Frigo, alto sax
The University of Tennessee Wind Ensemble Gary Sousa, conductor

Shakespeare and Music

2009-03-25T14:21:00.009-04:00

Be not afeard; the isle is full of noises,
Sounds and sweet airs, that give delight and hurt not.
Sometimes a thousand twangling instruments
Will hum about mine ears, and sometime voices…

--The Tempest, William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare stands alone among playwrights, not just for his own work, but also for the creations he has inspired in others. In music alone, we have ballets, operas, incidental music, tone poems…by composers too numerous to mention. I suppose we could mention just a few: Purcell, Mendelssohn, Korngold, Prokofiev, and Carlson. Carlson—that would be Knoxville composer James Carlson, who has organized Sounds & Sweet Airs: Shakespeare & Music, an evening of music, theatre, and dance inspired by the Bard, including scenes from A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest, Romeo and Juliet, and Macbeth.

Among the local artists performing on the program will be:
The Wild Thyme Players directed by Brandon Daughtry Slocum; Shake, Rattle & Role Stage Combat; Momentum Dance Lab; Lorraine DiSimone, mezzo-soprano; Patrick Harvey, piano; Hillary Herndon, viola; Rebekkah Hilgraves, soprano; Mark Hook, piano; Greg Horne, guitar/vocals; Julia Lawson, soprano; Lucie Novoveska, violin; Maria Rist, soprano; Thomas Tallent, lute; Daniel Stipe, organ; and Mary Weaver, alto.

That, if I then had waked after long sleep,
Will make me sleep again: and then, in dreaming,
The clouds methought would open and show riches
Ready to drop upon me that, when I waked,
I cried to dream again.

Sleep not lest you miss this intriguing concert at the Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church on Saturday, March 28th at 7:30pm.

Sounds & Sweet Airs: Shakespeare & Music
Tennessee Valley Unitarian Universalist Church
2931 Kingston Pike
Knoxville
Tickets available at the door.

KSO 2009-2010 Season: A Feast!

2009-03-11T11:18:00.002-04:00

The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra recently released the schedule of concerts for its 2009-2010 season, and it really looks interesting. Every concert seems to have intriguing elements—there are a lot of works here that I have been dying to hear but don’t get a chance to as often as I’d like. You are probably going to want to catch as many concerts as possible. Just for fun, though, here are a couple of highlights that jumped off the page at me.

In October, don’t miss Stravinsky’s Petrushka (I assume the concert suite); on the same bill is Dvorak’s Golden Spinning Wheel.

On the November Chamber Classics concert at the Bijou, KSO Resident Conductor James Fellenbaum takes the podium for three different Serenades for Strings by Elgar, Josef Suk, and Tchaikovsky.

In January, violinist Rachel Barton Pine returns to Knoxville to perform the Brahms Violin Concerto. Also on that program is Beethoven’s Symphony No. 4. Then at the Chamber Classics concert…Ah, some Haydn at last! That concert will include Haydn’s Symphony No. 16 in B-flat Major. And UT faculty pianist David Northington will be performing a Mozart piano concerto, although which one was not mentioned.

The February Masterworks concert will feature Felix Mendelssohn’s incidental music to A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

I really adore the J.S. Bach secular cantatas—and the March Chamber Classics concert will include the charming Coffee Cantata of Bach as well as a virtually unheard and underplayed work, Pachelbel’s Canon. On the other hand, you may have never heard it performed live… outside of weddings and funerals, that is. The March Masterworks concert should be a real treat—the Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto No. 3 with pianist Adam Golka, and the Symphony No. 1 from the young Dmitri Shostakovich.

In April, the Mozart Requiem with the Knoxville Choral Society and some great local soloists—what else needs to be said? To conclude the season’s feast, the May Masterworks is a real treat: the Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 2 (with Rachel Lee, violin) and Respighi’s Fountains of Rome and Pines of Rome.

However, a word of advice…once you get your KSO schedule brochure for 2009-2010, please try not to drool over the page, as that will make marking off your favorites more difficult.

Who is Jacob ter Veldhuis?

2009-03-03T09:09:00.020-05:00

Who is Jacob ter Veldhuis?
That question will be answered in a few weeks as the Dutch avant-something composer appears in Knoxville for a week-long residency and festival, MARCH 30-APRIL 4, 2009, under the sponsorship of the University of Tennessee School of Music and UT's Ready for the World program.

The director of the festival is Dr. Connie Frigo, Assistant Professor of Saxophone in the UT School of Music.

Popularly known in the Netherlands as JacobTV, he has become a frequently performed composer in Europe by orchestras such as the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, the Russian State Academy Orchestra and the Düsseldorf Symfoniker. Soloists who have gravitated to his works include Branford Marsalis, James Galway, Arno Bornkamp, Claude Delangle, Margaret Lancaster, Andrew Russo, Kathy Supové, Kevin Gallagher and Evelyn Glennie. What is remarkable is that classical, contemporary, jazz and rock musicians all find themselves keenly interested in his music--and audiences in Europe certainly do.

A three day JacobTV Festival entitled “Grab It! The Music of JacobTV” took place at the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York in May 2007. The New York Times' Anne Midgette had this to say about the first evening's concert.

In his “boombox" works, soloists or ensembles perform the scores to recorded audio collages that incorporate sound bytes from political speeches, commercials, interviews, talk shows, TV evangelists, and more. These are works that challenge the listener on one level, while simultaneously amusing and delighting them on another.

Some of these “boombox” works will be featured in a free concert on Friday, April 3rd – 8pm, in the Cox Auditorium on the UT campus. The concert will feature a wide array of performers including guest soloists from around the country, the New Century Saxophone Quartet, UT music faculty, and UT music students.

JacobTV’s Festival and Residency coincides with the UT Saxophone Project. More details are available on this UT Music information site. I will have more to say on Jacob ter Veldhuis in the coming days.

KSO to Premiere Work by W.M. Harrell

2009-02-25T16:27:00.003-05:00

The Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Masterworks concert this February 26th and 27th will feature two works by Johannes Brahms and a world premiere of Time Like An Ever Flowing Stream by Knoxville composer M.W. Harrell. You can read my profile of Harrell in this week's Metro Pulse or online here.

The two works by Brahms are the Symphony No. 2 and the Liebeslieder Waltzes.

REVIEW: Pianist Konstantin Soukhovetski

2009-02-23T13:08:00.003-05:00

Russian-born pianist Konstantin Soukhovetski is quite the storyteller. In fact, his performance style draws one along in much the same way a master storyteller is able to use dynamic extremes and subtleties, construction of images, pacing, anticipation, and …surprises.

On Sunday afternoon, Soukhovestski appeared as the second pianist in a series of three concerts under the auspices of the Evelyn Miller Young Pianist Series. His program selections followed a noticeable arc -- Schubert, Strauss, Liszt, Chopin, Tchaikovsky, and Prokofiev--although describing exactly what the gradation was would be difficult. I single out two pieces in particular for special note. First-- an arrangement by Percy Grainger of Richard Strauss' Last Love Duet from his opera Der Rosenkavalier ( entitled The Ramble on the Last Love Duet from "Der Rosenkavalier"). Soukhovestski rendered the emotion and drama of the scene with extremes of dynamic subtlety that was thrilling. Second-- the Sonata No. 4 in C Minor, op. 29 of Sergei Prokofiev, written in 1917, is a workout and a test of extremes, probably best not left till last on a program. On the other hand, it ends so exuberantly, it is practically impossible not to feel hopeful, if not optimistic.

Drop in for a bite at Classical Café

2009-02-20T12:54:00.006-05:00

No need for wailing, hand wringing, or gnashing of teeth…Mostly Classical will continue unabated, usually with longer previews and reviews.
But classical commentary is also now available from yours truly in the blog section of the MetroPulse.com site as Classical Cafe. Use that link or navigate to it from the Blog menu on the main page.

Please drop in for a bite.

Young Pianist Series

2009-02-19T15:55:00.001-05:00

The Evelyn Miller Young Pianist Series has been around since 1980, presenting in concert exciting young pianists who are the beginning of their careers. The second pianist in this year's series of three performers in concert will be Konstantin Soukhovetski, who will perform this Sunday, February 22nd at 2:30 pm. This year's concerts are held at Central Baptist of Bearden, 6300 Deane Hill Drive.

Mr. Soukhovetski is a graduate of the Juilliard School of Music and was a top winner of the UNISA International Piano Competition, the Cleveland International Piano Competition, the Walter W. Naumburg International Piano Competition, and the Hilton Head International Piano Competition. Information at 865-984-6732.

Seems Like Only Yesterday

2009-02-17T16:27:00.007-05:00

1809—two hundred years ago—was obviously a very special year. I seriously doubt that the moon was in the Seventh House or that Jupiter aligned with Mars since the world was not in peace, but in its usual state of war, turmoil and intrigue. England and France were at war, as were Sweden and Russia.

1809 did give birth, though, to an abundance of notable persons who made important contributions to human civilization. In the United States, Abraham Lincoln was born in Kentucky in 1809 as was Kit Carson. Edgar Allan Poe was born in Massachusetts in 1809 as was poet Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. Added to that list of Americans are Europeans Charles Darwin, Louis Braille, Alfred Tennyson, Nikolai Gogol…and Felix Mendelssohn.

Although all of these men contributed significantly to the world, I single out two for special acclaim: Darwin and Mendelssohn…Darwin because he caused great angst among creationists for almost that many years…and Mendelssohn because he was a musical genius whose work ended much too early at the age of 38. The mind boggles at what we might have heard.

We can look forward to a little more Mendelssohn in the next few weeks. The KSO Chamber Series will feature Mendelssohn’s Overture to The Fair Melusina and a reprise of his “Italian” Symphony, the Symphony No. 4. (My review of the “Italian” precedes this post.) Also on the concert will be Brahms’ Liebeslieder Waltzes. There is one performance: Sunday afternoon at 2:30pm, March 1, at the Bijou.

It recently struck me that while Mozart was certainly composing at age 17, his maturity came a few years later. At age 17, Mendelssohn had given the music world the Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream. For Mendelssohn fans, the KSO will offer the complete incidental music to A Midsummer Night’s Dream in February of next year.

REVIEW: Bach, Mozart, and Mendelssohn

2009-01-21T17:24:00.009-05:00

Bach, Mozart, and Mendelssohn

With icy breaths and a stamping of feet in the bone-chilling cold of last weekend, Knoxville Symphony concertgoers hurried inside the Tennessee Theatre lured with promises of a work that has been described by music writers over the years as “sunny and warm”, “cheerful,” and “energetic.” Thankfully, the KSO’s performance of Felix Mendelssohn’s Symphony No. 4 in A Major (“Italian”) was all that, and more.

It is said that an elderly Goethe suggested to Mendelssohn the idea of a tour of Europe—Mendelssohn began his “grand tour” in May of 1830. While visiting various locales in Italy, he began work on his “Italian” Symphony, and finished it for an 1833 premiere in London. It is a bit puzzling that Mendelssohn was openly not satisfied with the symphony, and made revision attempts, withholding the publication of it in his lifetime. Fortunately, audiences have generally not shared those misgivings.

Maestro Lucas Richman, who seems to have quite an affinity for the early Romantic composers, warmed the concertgoers with his energetic interpretation—brisk, but solid and tight, and seemingly perfectly balanced. The first movement, a joyfully ebullient Allegro vivace, opens with the familiar theme in the strings, crisply played by the KSO violins. The second movement, a processional-esque Andante con moto, seems to have been inspired by a religious procession Mendelssohn witnessed in Naples. However, it is only the finale movement that is truly based on an Italian music form: the saltarello. The movement is nothing if not exuberant, and enchanting if for no other reason than its thematic reminders, first introduced by the flute, of Mendelssohn’s Incidental Music to A Midsummer Night's Dream.

The concert opened with Johann Sebastian Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major for Strings and Continuo, BWV 1048. The work is scored in a polyphonic manner for three violins, three violas, three cellos, and continuo of harpsichord and double bass. In this staging, the KSO performed the work conductor-less in the early 18th century style with the violins and violas standing, one instrument to a part: Mark Zelmanovich, Edward Pulgar, and Sean Claire—violins; Kathryn Gawne, Eunsoon Lee-Corliss, and Jennifer Bloch—violas; Andy Bryenton, Ihsan Kartal, and Ildar Khuziakhmetov—cellos; Steve Benne—bass; and Carol Zinavage, harpsichord.

The group played with a spirited energy, and certainly did not shy away from a respectable tempo. However, it was perhaps a matter of staging that was an issue, as can be the case when performing a work such as this in a large hall. The group had been brought out beyond the proscenium onto the stage apron to accommodate the harpsichord and the standing position of the players. This had the effect of removing them from the sound reflecting surfaces of the acoustic shell—in essence, leaving them in the middle of a very large room. Added to this is the fact that Bach wrote for the strings (particularly the violins) in a muddier part of their range. The acoustic result was a bit of hollowness--a sound that lacked emphasis and delineation-- negating the players’ genuine efforts at articulation. Acoustics aside, though, it was a true joy to hear ensemble Baroque in the Tennessee Theatre. This work will be repeated in the Chamber Series Concert of January 25th in the more intimate acoustic environment of the Bijou.

Richman concluded the first half of the program with Mozart’s Concerto for Piano and Orchestra No. 24 in C Minor, K. 491, with guest pianist, Navah Perlman. In the Friday evening performance, Ms. Perlman's vivid red gown stood out boldly against the black and white of the orchestra, somewhat in contrast to her delicate and detailed interpretation. Technical lapses aside, a bit more boldness, strength, and drama were needed for the Mozart, as waning energy tends to take the audience along.

Although I do not know if Richman had intended such a comparison, the beautiful slow second movement, a Larghetto, has, amid its tranquility, moments of contrapuntal richness that recall hints of Bach’s polyphony in the previously played Brandenburg. The perfectly balanced KSO flute, oboe, clarinet, and bassoon wove in and out with the solo piano in a really delightful interplay of melodies and rich textures.

The concluding Allegretto is a theme-and-variations. Mozart’s theme is a remarkably intriguing one, while the variations run the gamut of dramatic contrasts from amusing to serious, with enticing, yet simple, phrases for both for the piano and the winds. The concerto is certainly one of Mozart’s most distinctive, and with its construction that is nothing short of sublime, one of the most satisfying for audiences.

Unfortunate Conflicts

2009-01-18T21:03:00.006-05:00

Let's be honest…Knoxville is not so large a city that it can't avoid unfortunate arts scheduling. While an ice hockey game, a club band appearance, and a popular film can easily co-exist on the same night, two events that draw from the same audience pool end up benefiting neither one. While there may be circumstances that make these conflicts unavoidable, one would hope that audiences would not be forced to choose.

For example, January and February already contain some unfortunate situations that may confront concertgoers with having to make uncomfortable choices. First, the brilliant and famous St. Olaf Choir was scheduled for a once-only concert at the University of Tennessee on February 13th--the same evening as the opening performance of Knoxville Opera's production of Rigoletto. The KOC schedule has been known since last spring; wasn't this avoidable? Second, the January recital of the Evelyn Miller Young Pianist series was programmed in direct conflict with the Knoxville Symphony Chamber Orchestra concert "Basically Bach" on Sunday, January 25th. Similarly, the KSO schedules are known a year in advance.

While the audience for classical music events continues to be strong, there is no reason to divide that audience with unfortunate programming decisions.

Take the A(ny) Train

2009-01-09T12:43:00.027-05:00

Not too long ago, if you had advocated using, or expanding, the passenger rail network in the United States, your comments would probably have been greeted with a rolling of eyes or an incredulous stare. Or possibly, you might have noticed people edging farther away in case you decided to do something really crazy. However, rising fuel prices, a falling economy, airline absurdities, and airport inconveniences have certainly put an end to that.

As a child, I sadly witnessed the end of locally available passenger service. But despite being a frequent air traveler as an adult, I, like many others, have held onto that fascination with travel by rail. And if you have ever traveled and experienced the efficiency of the rail network in Europe, you wonder why anyone would want to do anything else for short trips.

Although frequent rail service exists in the northeast corridor (Washington-New York-Boston) and as commuter service around the larger cities, most of the United States is without convenient access. Not to be deterred, I recently decided to experience the current rail situation in the United States—I took the train to New York City for a long-awaited infusion of music and theatre.

You’re probably saying, “Wait a dang minute…there is no rail service from here!” And you would be correct. The closest route to Knoxville is Amtrak’s Crescent, which operates daily from New Orleans to New York City. The route north goes through Atlanta and points in South Carolina and North Carolina, before navigating through Virginia into the northeast corridor in Washington, D.C. I chose to drive to Charlotte, the closest station that offered the lowest combination of driving mileage/rail fare, parking, and baggage check.

Although the journey was every bit an experiment, it was an enjoyable adventure which I recommend to anyone who is willing to try something different. Although you can probably guess the current rail travel vs. air travel disadvantages, there are substantial and pleasant advantages. Here are the Pros and Cons.

Pros
1) Cost. A substantial savings over airfares, particularly when you factor in peripheral factors, such as the cost of getting to and from airports, not to mention airport parking fees. Parking at the Charlotte station was free.
2) Choice. On the long distance trains that run overnight, one has a choice of coach seating or a sleeping compartment. The sleepers offer a bit of privacy and your own toilet.
3) Coach seating legroom. I found I could stretch my legs straight out, yet barely touch the seat in front of me. Oh, frabjous day! Sadly, masochists will have to search out pain elsewhere...no rude flight attendants ramming your elbows with a metal cart...no squashed knees when the seat in front suddenly tilts back.
4) Food. The long distance trains offer both a lounge car for drinks and snacks and a dining car with waiter service and excellent food. Dining car meals are included in the price of a sleeper.
5) Convenience and Speed. Despite the fact that only the Washington-New York segment of the Crescent route is on track improved for higher-speeds (elimination of curves and grade crossings), the train is definitely not pokey. Charlotte to New York is 600 track miles; total travel time with station stops (including 30 minutes in DC to change from a diesel engine to electric), was a little over 11 hours—an average of 55 mph. Unlike airports, train stations are generally located near midtown—so those $30-$50 airport taxi rides are unnecessary. In the Northeast corridor, door-to-door travel time compares very favorably with air travel, due to airport distances and typical flight delays. The trains I boarded left exactly on time.
6) Baggage. Free! Each passenger can check up to three bags, each being 50 lbs. or less. Plus carry-on.
7) Security. Although there are security personnel present in the stations and on the trains, passengers are not subjected to the tedious and time-consuming inconvenience of carry-on screening and personal searches. Your shoes remain where they belong--on your feet.
8) Scenery. You actually get to see some.
9) Human beings. You actually get to meet some…and talk to interesting people if you want, or be left alone. Quite surprisingly, I met a train conductor who was writing a book on Basque etymology. You won't get any vacuous “buh byes” from train personnel.
Cons
1) Time. Except for short intercity distances, particularly in the Northeast corridor, it’s going to take you longer. High-speed rail, such as the TGV in France or Japan's Shinkansen, would go a long way toward addressing this issue, but that's another discussion.
2) Just like airlines, you need to make advance reservations, particularly for the long-distance trains, and to get the lowest fare. Over the holidays, the Crescent was fully booked.
3) Availability of routes. For now, you’ll have to travel a bit to get to a station.
4) Current schedules. The Crescent has once-a-day service. The northbound train leaves Charlotte at 2am. Yes, that is an ouch.

The bottom line is this. America needs to support and expand its passenger rail service, especially into high-speed rail and for those under-200 mile intercity distances. California has already taken a major step toward implementing a high-speed system, and several states/regions have ongoing preliminary studies. Since Tennessee has few intercity airline flights, the state could really use a service like The Tennessean used to offer. The airline and airport negatives are now outweighing the positives for trips under 600 miles. However, it will take federal shoving to get the disparate efforts working together. All this aside, train travel is one of the most energy efficient modes of travel. Hopefully, though, it won’t require a return to last summer’s soaring gasoline prices to make that point clearly understood. All aboard!

A Note on the Nutcracker

2008-12-19T15:05:00.004-05:00

Although music and ballet lovers today may find it difficult to believe, Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker is a relative newcomer to the American holiday tradition. Although it had its premiere in St. Petersburg in December of 1892, its first American performance did not occur until 1944, when a wartime San Francisco Ballet staged a production choreographed by William Christensen. Ten years later in 1954, George Balanchine choreographed his historic New York City Ballet version that is still performed. A version for the American Ballet Theatre by Mikhail Baryshnikov premiered in 1976, and was subsequently filmed with Gelsey Kirkland as Clara.

While I have attended the New York City Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre productions in years past, not to mention several Nutcrackers by regional companies, there is no finer interpretation, performance, and staging than the current San Francisco Ballet production choreographed by SF Ballet Artistic Director Helgi Tomasson. This production was taped last December by KQED and aired on PBS on December 18th. See pbs.org for future air dates.

There are a couple of reasons for the success of this production in my view. First, the sets by Michael Yeargan, and the costumes by Martin Pakledinaz are stunning, theatrical, and entertaining. Yeargan used the San Francisco 1915 Panama Pacific International Exhibition as his visual model and it works beautifully. However, what I found most intriguing was its theatrically logical scenario—unlike the Balanchine and Baryshnikov versions, Clara remains a little girl instead of the casting of a major ballerina costumed in a child’s dress. Also, Clara re-awakens at the end of Act II back in her living room, believing it to be just a dream…but not quite sure. The New York City Ballet version never returns her to her home; Act II ends with Clara exiting on a magical sleigh—an interpretation that always left me cold.

The San Francisco Ballet Orchestra, conducted by Martin West, is excellent. Try to view this one if you can.

This Week: KSO Holiday Concerts

2008-12-15T14:24:00.007-05:00

My preview of the KSO Holiday Concert appears in the December 18th issue of Metro Pulse.
And…the review of the concert is online here.

Thanks for reading, and Happy Holidays!

UT Holiday Choral Concert: No Room in the Inn

2008-12-03T11:19:00.009-05:00

If you managed to find a seat in the Cox Auditorium for the University of Tennessee Holiday Choral Concert on Tuesday evening, you were one of the lucky ones. But more on that later.

Four UT music ensembles took part in the concert: the Women’s Chorale, the Men’s Chorale, the Chamber Singers, and the Concert Choir. Although the very entertaining concert covered a broad range of holiday music—traditional carols to P.D.Q. Bach—I will mention a few of the highlights. Frank La Rocca’s 2003 work, O magnum mysterium, was beautifully sung by the Chamber Singers under Angela Batey. The most interesting piece of the evening was an intriguing arrangement of Silent Night performed with the addition of sign language by the Concert Choir. After the familiar verse was established with a solo by Cody Boling, the choir dispersed across the risers and the stage. The arrangement then turned into the appearance of random polyphony, still with each choir member continuing the signing of their own part. Hard to describe, really.

It was obvious as attendees arrived for the concert, that there was not enough room in the Cox Auditorium to accommodate both the choir members (who must sit in the audience prior to their time to perform) and the audience of students and the vast number of non-student visitors. Prior to starting, Dr. Batey, noting the unexpected turnout, had to encourage the audience to free-up untaken seats so that some of the standees could find seats. The key word here is expectations.

While academic performance programs will continue whether ten people show up—or hundreds—there are obvious benefits to achieving as large a following as possible. Obviously, it motivates the performers. But of equal importance, it expands the sense of the vitality of the local cultural scene. If properly positioned, UT Music with its quality performances, should have no reason not to expect substantial audiences from now on.

More on Gerard Mortier

2008-11-28T10:15:00.005-05:00

I previously wrote on Flemish impresario Gerard Mortier backing out of his deal to run New York City Opera.
Then, this story appeared in Opera News Online concerning his acceptance of a position at Madrid's Teatro Real.

Hard Times?

2008-11-26T10:40:00.002-05:00

Yesterday’s announcement from the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera that they would be suspending their 2009-2010 opera season was a local reminder of the general turmoil swirling around arts organizations everywhere on a far too regular basis as of late.

Of obvious mention is the case of the New York City Opera. Gerard Mortier, the Flemish general director of the Opéra National de Paris, was to take over as General Director of the New York City Opera. There had been grand promises of revolutionizing New York’s opera scene, not the least of which was the final shove to get long-desired renovations underway of the acoustic black hole that is the New York State Theatre in Lincoln Center. With the theatre closed, the company was relegated to biding their time this season with concerts scattered around New York City and a concert performance of Samuel Barber's Antony and Cleopatra at Carnegie Hall.

Such a move, although unquestionably necessary, irrevocably diluted the company’s physical and financial inertia that was shaky at best. Promises of $60 million for the first year of productions dissolved with the announcement that fundraising had fallen drastically short. And with only as much as $36 million being available, Mortier announced that he could not operate under those financial constraints. While the situation is somewhat more complex—it was discovered that Mortier and Nike Wagner, Richard Wagner's great-granddaughter, had put forward plans to run the Bayreuth Festival—this leaves New York City Opera in the worst of all positions and makes impossible their dream of competing with the Met across the plaza.

While Mortier’s lack of true commitment is now painfully obvious, adventurous opera-goers were sighing about what could have been. Mortier had already commissioned for the company an opera by Charles Wuorinen based on Brokeback Mountain and one by Philip Glass on Walt Disney. In addition, Mortier was pushing a revival of Glass’s Einstein on the Beach and a first-ever staging of Messiaen's St. Francois d'Assise.

The disappointments had begun to pile up. Opera Pacific’s board of directors cancelled the remainder of its 2008-2009 season (Ricky Ian Gordon’s The Grapes of Wrath and Salome) citing “the downturn in contributions to the organization that is a direct reflection of the challenging financial times the world is facing.”

Hopefully, the opera and music world can ride out the storm without the wolves taking any more victims.

Knoxville Symphony Orchestra Bloggers Night

2008-11-25T20:31:00.010-05:00

The KSO is offering a pair of free tickets for the January 15, 2009 Masterworks concert to the first 50 bloggers who respond by January 14, 2009 and agree to blog about their KSO concert experience. The KSO will also be hosting a reception for the bloggers following the concert.

Anyone interested in this intriguing offer should email Stephanie S. Burdette, KSO Director of Communications, or telephone her at 865-521-2317.

The January Masterworks concert will feature Bach's Brandenburg Concerto No. 3; Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 24 with pianist Navah Perlman; and Felix Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4 ("Italian").

Ouch in Chattanooga

2008-11-25T10:32:00.006-05:00

This story on the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera suspension of opera production appeared in the Chattanooga Times Free Press. Times are hard all over.

Here is the news release from the Chattanooga Symphony and Opera website—"CSO Board Votes to Suspend 2009-2010 Opera Season."

Review: UT Opera's STREET SCENE

2008-11-17T12:40:00.005-05:00

This review can now be found in the November 20th issue of Metro Pulse or click here for the online page.
Thanks for reading!

The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace

2008-11-16T11:58:00.001-05:00

In all the performances I have attended by the Knoxville Choral Society, I have never been disappointed by their choral prowess. This excellent group full of marvelous and dedicated ensemble singers under the direction of Eric Thorson, have what every choral group aspires to—balanced sections with rich sonorities across the range of voices, that intangible quality of ensemble togetherness, and a precise control of diction combined with both vocal power and vocal subtlety.

Their performance of Karl Jenkins’ The Armed Man: A Mass for Peace was no exception. The Jenkins instrumental score—minimalist at times, almost classical at others—was engaging and intriguing in its variety of instrumental tone combinations. The choral performance was crisp and powerful; the soloists excellent—Barbara Metzger’s beautiful treble solo in the Kyrie, Shauntina Phillips, and the quartet of Jennifer Bruce, Nancy Middlemas, Keith Wheeler, and David Smith.

Despite the excellent performances and the emotional importance of the piece’s premise, it distresses me to report that the evening was anything but emotional. In fact, the word "clinical" comes to mind. How can a performance be so competent, on a piece so intriguing, and yet end up so unfulfilling?

Had this been just me, I might have written off my unfortunate vision as Scrooge tried to do to “a crumb of cheese, a fragment of an underdone potato.” But audience members, young and old, to my left and right were nodding off. A lady in front of me was quite asleep, head drooped, only to be painfully jerked awake by a percussion crash.

What was lacking for the audience in the evening’s performance was not choral excellence, but drama… and, dare I say it, theatricality. Success of The Armed Man not only needs dramatic ambiance, it cries out for it. Although I am sure there were substantial reasons that the Lecture Hall was chosen for the event, it was quite unsuitable for this production. Because of the seating area’s shallow rake, stage visibility was impaired. While the acoustics of the room were adequate, it lacked rich resonance to support a great choral ensemble. Most importantly, the hall’s design, obviously unintended for such performances, lacked the necessary controlled lighting to provide highlights and focus for the audience's eyes. The entire room found itself in a slightly-dimmed, enervating muddle of even illumination that made it virtually impossible to build (or for the audience to feel) dramatic tension and apprehension.

The use of projected war-related imagery, which has been an important feature of other productions of the work, seemed almost an amateur afterthought. The room’s projection screen at the rear of the stage was partially obscured by the riser-ed chorus, diminishing the hoped-for impact of the visuals.

While it was disappointing that the full emotional potential of the Jenkins work was not realized due to factors of venue and production, the KCS event was still a magical choral performance of a statement that needs to be made—and often.

The KSO Principal Quartet

2008-11-12T09:55:00.000-05:00

Small ensembles that come into existence because the members are part of a larger group are inherently at a disadvantage, it seems. Although all may be excellent musicians—although all may be willing participants—that participation almost always appears a little forced. This can manifest itself in many ways, from a slight unease to a palpable tension, or even to a visible hostility on stage. These symptoms almost always foretell bad music making, and isn’t really surprising. Independent ensembles choose themselves—orchestra ensembles do not.

For these reasons, it is all the more remarkable when an orchestra ensemble actually coalesces into a musically viable group. Such was the case in last Sunday’s concert of the KSO’s Principal Quartet—Edward Pulgar and Sean Claire, violins; Kathryn Gawne, viola; and Andy Bryenton, cello. If one uses the definition of a successful quartet as four voices speaking with one mind, then they have arrived beautifully and with distinction. However, this praise comes with a few comments and qualifications.

The concert opened with Giacomo Puccini’s I Crisantemi (Chrysanthemums). This is a lovely and delightful piece of music full of sweet sadness. Puccini apparently thought so too, for he reused some of the melodies in his opera Manon Lescaut. Searching distant memory of a far away place, I am almost certain I have heard this piece played in an orchestral version. This wouldn’t be surprising as the piece is as much of a tone piece for four string sections as it is a string quartet. That isn’t necessarily a negative—it just is what it is.

As far as the other works on the program, the Mozart Quartet in D Major for Strings, K. 499, and the Smetana Quartet No. 1 in E Minor…
while the performance was not without flaws, what was not lacking was the sense of true and dedicated ensemble playing—playing with a restrained energy that lurked just below the musical surface, ready to burst forth into the open, which it did at just the right moments. Technical mistakes can always be corrected by good players. Mismatched personnel, as we have seen in the past, cannot.

KSO All-Tchaikovsky

2008-10-25T18:24:00.009-04:00

This review, All Tchaikovsky, All The Time is available online at MetroPulse.com.

One or Two Things About the Fifth

2008-09-24T10:47:00.000-04:00

There were several important things that came through loud and clear at last Sunday’s UT Symphony performance of Beethoven’s Symphony No. 5 in C minor and Brahms’ Academic Festival Overture.

The first of these is how critical, if not absolutely essential, a fearless interpretation of dynamics is to performances of Beethoven. Too often, Beethoven symphonies just end up sounding ponderous and heavy without the presence of a rational, calming influence. Conductor James Fellenbaum had his orchestra moving brilliantly with the ebb and flow of the symphony in ways that were, at times, surprising in their subtlety, and then, refreshing in their strength. I was particularly impressed with how Fellenbaum had not sacrificed demanding dynamic shifts or subtlety of details just for the sake of getting through a first-of-the-year concert. An example of this detail would be the solid performance from the woodwinds who constantly surprised me with their attention to nuances of tone color. Volume can mask a lot of things, but rapid dynamic shifts—fortissimo to piano, for example—can just as quickly reveal them. The violins in the Beethoven may have learned a valuable lesson in this regard by the fourth movement. The few bobbles aside, the orchestra really showed this listener their definite professional abilities.

Secondly, I was impressed at how the passion and enthusiasm of an excellent conductor and teacher can be absorbed by orchestra members who are being motivated to achieve more than just adequacy. And in an orchestra that has the natural year-to-year personnel turnover issue of a university ensemble, this is even more meaningful.

The UT Symphony’s next concert will be Sunday, October 19, and will feature guest violinist Alexander Kerr in a performance of the Beethoven Violin Concerto. Tchaikovsky’s Capriccio Italien is also on the program.

Review: Faculty Recital of Clarinetist Gary Sperl

2008-09-07T13:57:00.000-04:00

As a preface to my comments on the recital, I would like to weigh in on the viability of the Music Hall Auditorium as a proper recital space. In short, it’s not.

This is not a new revelation. I have long thought, time after time, that this hall has its own brand of acoustic muddiness, particularly the unfortunate and peculiar ability to smear treble ranges into an indiscernible mass. This means that any hope of a clear brilliance of tone combined with rich resonance is virtually impossible, no matter the performer, instrument, or ensemble. In addition, (and I have no scientific data to support this) the hall seems to have the ability to suck the life out of even the most energetic of performances, vocal or instrumental, even to the point of destroying intangible qualities like musicality. It is irritating to be held hostage in this way—hostage to the mental adjustments one must make to compensate for what one knows one should be hearing, particularly from soloists and small ensembles. I have no idea whether the future re-building plan is to include a new performance space, but…it should—for everyone’s sake.

When Mr. Sperl introduced the last work on his recital, Divertimento (for 3 clarinets and bass clarinet) by the Viennese composer Alfred Uhl, he related the story of a performance of the piece he did in Milwaukee some years ago. A writer reviewed the performance, according to Sperl, and stated that the Divertimento was, in his opinion, just as good as any string quartet. Excellent praise, but it led me to think—what qualities make up a good quartet?

In general, a good quartet possesses the ability to speak as one mind, but with four distinct voices. And this applies not only to the quartet as a musical work, but also to the quartet as four musicians. In this regard, both Uhl’s Divertimento and Mr. Sperl and his colleagues (Erin Bray and Christine Thomas, clarinets; Benjamin Gessel, bass clarinet) succeeded tremendously. However, (recalling my opening remarks about the hall) I would have preferred to feel more confident that the musicians were actually four distinct voices speaking with one mind. There seemed to be an excess of tone blending, even for a clarinet ensemble. That said, the Uhl piece is laden with charm and filled with diverse little entertaining moments which the quartet accomplished with obvious attention to careful phrasing and the impact of tempo changes.

Johannes Brahms had all but announced his retirement from composition when he was captivated by the playing of Richard Mühlfeld, principal clarinetist with the orchestra at the Court of the Duke of Saxe-Meiningen…captivated enough to write four chamber works for clarinet, the Trio and the Quintet, followed by the two Clarinet Sonatas a few years later. It was with the first of the two sonatas, the Opus 120, No. 1 in F minor, that Mr. Sperl opened his recital.

Mr. Sperl moved brilliantly through the arc of the sonata from the austerity of the opening Allegro through the peaceful Andante to the exuberance of the closing Vivace, keeping richness of tone and vibrant dynamic control throughout. My one complaint with this performance was that the pianist, Judith Bible, seemed to be relegated to the role of accommodation rather than supplying a creative collaborative voice as Brahms history with the instrument would tend to indicate.

-------------------------
In Part II of this post:
Sonata for Clarinet and Harp – Jean Michele Damase
Sholem-alekhem, rov Feidman – Kovács
Hora Stacatto – Dinicu-Heifetz

Something for Everybody

2008-09-05T17:33:00.000-04:00

Check out the September 4th issue of Metro Pulse for my article Music for the Masses, a subjective look at some highlights of the upcoming 2008-2009 KSO season.

Time To Travel

2008-08-25T09:24:00.000-04:00

Arriving in the mailbox last week was an attractive brochure for this season’s UT Music Department Faculty Chamber Music Series—Time to Travel. The series will consist of three concerts—September 14, November 2, and February 8—all in the James R. Cox Auditorium on the UT campus at 4pm. The concerts are free.

To be featured in the September concert, “Far Away Places,” will be an eclectic mix of works performed by an equally eclectic mix of faculty performers: Variations on an Original Theme for Organ Duet by Barrie Cabena; Benjamin Britten’s Canticle II: Abraham and Isaac; Ballade Carnavalesque by Charles Loeffler; and Libby Larsen’s The Astonishing Flight of the Gump.

This appears to be a solid offering of works that one doesn’t get the opportunity to hear very often, if at all—and certainly not live. The website for the series is--
http://www.music.utk.edu/chamberseries.html

On the Road to the New World

2008-07-14T10:52:00.000-04:00

At this point in the summer, unless you live in one of the major cities, you may be jonesing for some classical music about now. While New York City may drip with perspiration in July and August, it also drips with opportunities for music listeners. This summer there’s the Mostly Mozart Festival, the New York Philharmonic in the parks, the Lincoln Center Festival in the recently restored Park Avenue Armory, the River to River Festival, the Summergarden at MOMA—just to name a few—as well as a host of others a short train ride away. Chicago has its Grant Park Music Festival; San Francisco has its Summer in the City. The Boston Symphony’s summer home is the delightful Tanglewood. And of course, Los Angeles has its Los Angeles Philharmonic summer concerts at the Hollywood Bowl.

In between the coasts one can satisfy their cravings at New Mexico’s Santa Fe Opera; Colorado’s Central City Opera, Aspen Music Festival, and Crested Butte Music Festival; and the long-running Ravinia Festival in Highland Park, Illinois. So much to see and hear, and unfortunately, so far to go.

In an attempt to satisfy my own cravings, I ventured the two-and-a-half hours to Brevard, North Carolina, home of the Brevard Music Center and its Summer Institute and Festival. I picked a performance by the Transylvania Symphony of Dvorak’s “New World” Symphony, Prokofiev’s Suite from Lieutenant Kijé, and Copland’s Suite from Billy the Kid. What I didn’t know was that the Music Center had instituted the practice of naming the various orchestras and ensembles with rather non-descriptive titles. Along with the Transylvania Symphony, the Music Center offers the “Brevard Sinfonia”, “BMC Orchestra,” “Chamber Winds,” and the “Brevard Brass.”

First, the bad news. Consciously omitted from the Music Center’s season brochure was the information that the “Transylvania Symphony” was actually the high school age students attending the Summer Music Institute.

Now the good news—they were really very good. In fact, the young orchestra was at least as good or better than many of the regional orchestras I have heard recently. This is not to say that there weren’t a few bobbles, tentative entrances, and mysterious tempos. But overall, the performances were excellent, especially considering the 14–18 age group. I was particularly struck by the excellence of the string sections. Of note, too, was a nicely played english horn in the Largo of the Dvorak, although the tempo was far from largo--altogether too fast and somewhat mechanical. The conductor was Steven Smith, the Director of Orchestral Activities.

For those interested in a de-mystification of the different ensemble names at Brevard, the “BMC Orchestra” is comprised of Music Center’s instrumental faculty filled out with advanced students and led by Keith Lockhart or by special guest conductors. The “Brevard Sinfonia” is comprised of the Music Center’s advanced students, college age and older.

A point here is this. Cities like Knoxville would benefit from some kind of summer music series, if for no other reason than to avoid the loss of inertia and continuity won over the course of a regular season. While some local orchestra members play elsewhere for the summer (see The Italian Job in Metro Pulse), the majority of the players would probably welcome the opportunity. And the city would benefit as well.

The Italian Job

2008-07-03T13:12:00.000-04:00

You can read my summer profile of KSO principal clarinetist Gary Sperl in the July 3rd issue of Metro Pulse. It is also online-- The Italian Job at MetroPulse.com.

A Fiddle and a Riddle

2008-05-28T18:13:00.000-04:00

You can read my review of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra's final concert of the 2007-2008 season in the May 29th issue of Metro Pulse, or in the newly-designed online version of Metro Pulse. The concert featured Nicoló Paganini's Concerto No. 1 in D Major for Violin and Orchestra and Edward Elgar's Enigma Variations.

An Afternoon with the KSCO

2008-05-08T10:10:00.000-04:00

Although last Sunday’s concert by the Knoxville Symphony Chamber Orchestra was titled Songs of Stephen Foster, it was the other four works on the afternoon’s program that perhaps shared a broad stylistic theme. And, of the five works on the bill, only one wasn’t a KSO premiere—Sergei Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 1 in D Major (“Classical”). More on the Prokofiev a bit later.

Performing the featured works, "Eight Songs by Stephen Foster", were two young yet very talented singers: soprano Teresa Alzadon and tenor Josh Phelps. Ms. Alzadon is a current member of the Knoxville Opera Studio and was recently heard as Violetta in La Traviata and the Governess in The Turn of the Screw, both UT Opera Theatre productions. Mr. Phelps is a recent Vocal Performance graduate of UT. While Mr. Phelps and Ms. Alzadon each have their own intriguing style and approach, both captured and held the listener’s rapt attention, an essential quality for successful song performance. The song selection mixed the familiar (Mr. Phelps’ “Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair”) and the unfamiliar (Ms. Alzadon’s “Was My Brother in the Battle?”) in a way that gave a fresh view of the now iconic American songwriter.

The program opened with Façade Suite No. 2 for Orchestra by William Walton. This suite was excerpted from Walton’s own Façade, a work for a “reciter” and six instruments, which received its first performances in 1922–23, performed with the poet, Edith Sitwell. The Suite No. 2 (1938), arranged by Walton for small orchestra, has six movements that are marked by a whimsical, bouncy, jazzy style full of percussion effects and interesting little phrases for woodwinds. Its small-orchestra feel permits individual instrumental color—particularly woodwinds and trumpet—to stand out and shine. The one unpleasant area was a rough and raspy bassoon tone.

I freely confess to being a big admirer of Prokofiev’s “Classical” symphony, the Symphony No. 1 in D Major. I must also confess, then, that I was quite disappointed with this performance of it. Richman’s tempos were not excessive, nor did he appear to spring any surprises. Despite that, the orchestra seemed ill prepared throughout, but particularly in the Finale movement. Admittedly, the movement is quite the workout. The violins, perhaps rushing to keep up, began to lose intonation; the bassoon was not blending with the ensemble. This is a little sad for me, since the KSO may not get back to this piece for some time.

Maestro Lucas Richman’s own Salutation No. 5, written to honor KSO contributor Elizabeth Margriet Koester, opened the second half of the program. This was a really pleasant piece, full of intriguing contrasts. The program closed with the extremely entertaining Café Neon: Fantasy on Greek Songs and Dances by Steven Karidoyanes, which turned out to be a showcase for the considerable talents of principal clarinetist Gary Sperl.

Berlioz Requiem

2008-05-01T08:22:00.000-04:00

You can read my review of the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra & Knoxville Choral Society performance of Hector Berlioz' Requiem in the May 1st issue of Metro Pulse or in the online Metro Pulse. Thanks for reading.

The Four Faces of Violetta

2008-04-22T17:33:00.000-04:00

One could almost feel the crackle of energy in the Bijou Theatre from the UT Opera Theatre’s production of Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata. There was so much energy and life that one could almost forget that Verdi’s classic heroine, Violetta, was dying of consumption. Whether this is good or bad depends largely on which side of the curtain you are on.

The story of La Traviata, based on the novel La Dame aux Camélias by Alexandre Dumas, fils, revolves around the hypocrisy of mid-19th century European society where “courtesans” like Violetta were privately embraced by the wealthy, while at the same time publicly shunned by polite society.

In this production, directed by UT Opera Theatre Artistic Director Carroll Freeman, the roles of Violetta and her lover, Alfredo, were taken by a split cast of student singers. In the performance I attended, in an almost Buñuel-esque fashion, a different Violetta sang each of the four acts: Catherine Greer, Micke Rickert, Katherine Cardin, and Leslee Poole-Adams. While the real intention of splitting the role was to give opportunities to more singers, the effect of different vocal qualities, physical appearance, and personalities added surreal overtones to otherwise straightforward theatre. Appearing as Violetta’s lover, Alfredo, was the excellent tenor Jonathan Subia. His father, Germont, was sung by the fine solid baritone, John Arnold.

The ensemble of party-goers in Acts I and III sparkled with life, but the parties themselves seemed a bit jumbled and confusing. Individual characters at the parties -- Baron Douphol, Gastone, and the Marquis, for example – were mostly indiscernible amidst the frenetic stage business. Although the singers seemed willing to step out, they always managed to get lost in the crowd. Unfortunately, this may also have been a function of the multi-leveled stepped-platform set which dictated how the crowd could be staged and how they could move. Anything-but-confusing, however, was Mr. Freeman’s intriguing choice to place Act III’s Violetta and Alfredo in the extreme downstage right and left, separating them and their thoughts from the center stage crowd of party-goers.

The value of playing a four act, three hour opera cannot be over-stated for James Fellenbaum’s excellent UT Opera Orchestra. Chock full of talented players, the orchestra learned the importance of “pit stamina,” that quality of mental and physical focus that allows one to play for 3-plus hours without falling prey to fatigue. In the amazing acoustics of the Bijou, pit orchestra volume and balance can be real issues, especially for the balcony audience. Mr. Fellenbaum did an excellent job keeping that in his control.

There was so much to enjoy in this La Traviata, that one can’t help feeling unashamedly optimistic for the future of the UT Opera Theatre program. I, for one, am certainly looking forward to next year’s fare.

Tosca: A Not-So-Shabby Shocker

2008-04-22T12:06:00.000-04:00

In the grand tradition of melodrama, the villain was booed (and loudly bravoed) at the curtain call of last weekend’s Knoxville Opera Company production of Giacomo Puccini’s Tosca. Such is one measure of success in theatre -- the audience having been seduced, they happily surrender their inhibitions and enter that world that has been created for them.

Tosca, that “shabby little shocker,” continues to delight audiences, and there was much in this production to delight. While some aspects of the staging and physical production could have diminished the opera’s impact, they were overcome by solid musical performances, by Puccini’s musical eloquence, and by Maestro Brian Salesky’s tight musical direction.

Taking the role of the beautiful, but jealous, Floria Tosca, was soprano Jennifer Harris. Ms. Harris assumed the role when the previously cast Rosemary Musoleno had to withdraw due to illness. Ms. Harris, who is at the beginning of what should be a wonderfully successful career, has a marvelous voice. She possesses vocal strength, range, and that quality that is difficult to teach -- the potential to act with her voice. Her Act II aria “Vissi d’arte” was an example of this ability. She did seem to gloss over diction in some of her extreme high phrases, but time remedies all.

Perhaps one of the best performances of the villainous Scarpia that this reviewer has seen came from bass-baritone Daniel Sumegi, who was making his KOC debut. Mr. Sumegi was quite dominating in both dramatic and vocal performance. His stage presence is so strong that he doesn’t really have to act with his voice, but he is a special force to be reckoned with when he does. For that reason, it would be interesting to hear Mr. Sumegi in Strauss or Wagner.

Tenor Thomas Studebaker was an excellent and sympathetic Cavaradossi. His chemistry with Ms. Harris gave the love affair substance and believability. Two Act I roles of note were Daniel Berry as the prison escapee Angelotti and Michael Wanko as the Sacristan. Mr. Berry is, of course, well known to the classical radio listeners of WUOT, where he is program director and morning host. Opera seems to be full of bumbling church characters; Mr. Wanko gave his Sacristan a very nice blend of comedic religious obligation and disapproval backed up with a really fine bass voice.

It is the physical production that puts theatre into opera. Unfortunately, there were some aspects of Tosca's visual and dramatic components that were disappointing. The stage direction of David Bamberger, while serviceable, was somewhat wooden in terms of stage movement and arrangement. This seemed to leave the performers to their own devices. While this may work for the stage veterans, a young performer, such as Ms. Harris, could have used more help in movement and in dramatically motivating and constructing the role. I lay this responsibility squarely on the stage director, who also seemed content to plant Tosca and Cavaradossi concert-style for some of their duets. As another oddity, staging the Act III Shepherd Boy (Lyndon England) in front of a cloud projected scrim was puzzling to many audience members, as well as this reviewer.

Opera, being musical theatre, has special needs in terms of dramatic support for the characters – and lighting design is an absolutely essential part of that support. The lighting by John Horner, while effective at establishing the brief curtain-rise mood for the scenes, fell short in terms of overall dramatic support. Perhaps preferring safe to sorry, Mr. Horner felt obligated to overlight the characters and the acting space for the bulk of the scenes. In the Act II study of Baron Scarpia in particular, this seriously diminished both the ominous atmosphere and the dramatic tension. Had the scene been more appropriately sculpted and motivated, it would have been much more terrifying and shocking than it was.

Tosca's main themes of abuse of political power and sexual violence were hauntingly present in this production thanks mainly to Mr. Sumegi’s Scarpia. But it is the drama (dare I say melodrama) of Puccini’s far-from-shabby vocal and orchestral score that sends the audience into the night with an experience that doesn’t easily fade.

UT Music: All-Handel

2008-04-14T13:14:00.000-04:00

George Frideric Handel can be deceptively difficult. I say this as one who, in past choral days, was tortured mercilessly by Zadok the Priest. An all-Handel concert, then, can be an indicator of the performance level for a university music program, both in orchestral playing and choral performance. An April Sunday afternoon concert by the University of Tennessee Chamber Orchestra and combined choirs of the UT Chamber Singers and UT Concert Choir proved to be just that.

Conducted by retiring director of choral activities, David Stutzenberger, the forces took on Handel’s Coronation Anthem No. 4 (My Heart is Inditing); the Concerto Grosso in B Minor, Op. 6, No. 12; and the Dettingen Te Deum, HWV 283. The problem in commenting on a concert such as this is where to set the performance bar. For indeed, that bar has gone up nicely in the last few years.

My Heart is Inditing, one of four anthems written for the Coronation of King George II and the Queen consort Caroline in 1727, was performed late in the service at the point of the crowning of the Queen. Probably for that reason, it opens with a genteel Andante, rather than a ceremonially pompous fanfare. As befitting a delicate and refined quality, it opens with soloists, or in this concert, a group of singers on each part before the full choir enters. The second and third sections are interesting for the choir in that they employ rhythms (and require good choral diction) to the words “King’s daughters” and “and the King shall have pleasure…in thy beauty.” The brisk closing Allegro begins with a workout for the strings, followed by the chorus, and then – at last! – the trumpets, nicely played, with the expected pomp to close a ceremonial anthem.

The anthem was followed by the last of Handel’s Concerti Grossi of Opus 6, No. 12 in B Minor. The concertino soloists were Peter Aguilar and Rachel Grubb, violins, and Deborah Shields, cello. The concerto, conductor-less, was played solidly at a manageable, but not overly brisk, tempo. Tempo can be an issue with Baroque concerti such as this one – too slow a tempo and they become leaden and heavy – too fast and … well, you know.

The second half of the concert was devoted to Handel’s Dettingen Te Deum. While not a Te Deum in the religious sense, the work was written to commemorate the British and Austrian victory over the French at Dettingen in 1743. It consists of 18 solos and choruses, the soloists being altos, baritones, and basses. The chorus and orchestra did an excellent job, but again, tempo is important, particularly in the longer choral works such as this.

It is my feeling that there is a bit of the theatrical Handel in everything he wrote, even his religious and ceremonial works. It is this theatrical spark – Handel’s stylistic pulse -- in tempo, in phrasing, in general orchestral balance – that defines Handel’s style and makes his works exciting for contemporary audiences.

Lukas, Lucas, and Wolfgang

2008-04-01T09:04:00.000-04:00

Despite the presence of one of the most brilliant and classic symphonies of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart on the bill for last weekend’s Knoxville Symphony Orchestra concerts, all audience eyes and ears seemed to be focused on a work by KSO Music Director and Conductor Lucas Richman. Richman’s Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra (subtitled The Clearing ) was commissioned by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 2004 to thank him for his service as a staff conductor and to showcase the considerable talents of its principal oboist, Cynthia DeAlmeida.

This was the first Knoxville performance of Richman’s concerto by the KSO and featured Ms. DeAlmeida as guest soloist. The work is structured programmatically around the Hebrew text of Psalm 23, with the lilting cadences becoming the basis for the oboe’s solo voice. There was no doubt that Richman’s time with the PSO gave him the knowledge of DeAlmeida’s strengths – strengths that include an articulated, yet luminous and gorgeous tone – to use as that solo voice of the concerto.

However beautiful the voice, the test of programmatic music comes in how extensively the audience must be “pre-informed” in order to completely believe the composer’s intention. I must admit to feeling rather disconnected during the orchestra-only sections, somewhat like experiencing a film blindfolded. While it was certainly possible to enjoy the orchestral sections in the absolute sense, it was the beautiful oboe voice, the centerpiece, that prevented the concerto from drifting slightly toward the esoteric.

Maestro Richman opened the concert with the Salomon Rossi Suite by contemporary German-born American composer Lukas Foss. Foss used themes by Salomon Rossi, a 17th century Mantuan particularly known for his Hebrew liturgical works. This piece, in six short movements, is a contemporary orchestral impression of Rossi’s Renaissance sound. While short in length, the suite gave many different KSO orchestral players some visibility – antiphonal passages for the brass; an impression of the Renaissance lute and drum using the modern harp and pedaled tympani; a beautiful Lento for strings; and a cheerful and driving Renaissance-like fugue for the finale.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Symphony No. 41 in C Major, K. 551 (“Jupiter”) concluded the evening. The symphony’s nickname, “Jupiter,” while not Mozart’s inscription but probably from a music publisher, does imply a grand, god-like connection. Admittedly, it is grander and more open than his previous symphonies. But the symphony’s reputation rests on its brilliant construction that builds to an amazing contrapuntal finale.

One problem surrounding its stature is that because this symphony has been so extensively performed and recorded over the years it is almost impossible not to have stubborn ideas of how it should sound in terms of tempo and phrasing. However, performance styles are not absolute. They have evolved in several phases: as orchestras became larger, as 19th century romanticism took hold, and eventually, as sound recording impacted the concert hall. My own impression was that this performance lacked crispness in phrasing that could have been solved with a brisker tempo.

Keeping that in mind, the KSO will offer a repeat performance of the “Jupiter” at this Sunday’s Chamber Music Series Concert at the Bijou. In this case, the string sections will decrease in size and the orchestra as a whole will appear more like an 18th century orchestra. If size unconsciously impacts tempo, it will be interesting to judge the differences.

Also on that same Chamber Series program will be Mozart’s Quartet in G Minor for Piano and Strings, K. 478. Maestro Richman will himself be at the piano. Completing the quartet is violinist and KSO concertmaster Mark Zelmanovich; Kathryn Gawne, violist; and Andy Bryenton, cellist. This quartet is one of contrasts that can test the emotional flexibility of its players. The key of G minor places the quartet in a dark and somber place, but one that, hopefully, has warmth and a lyrical quality. In contrast to the dark opening Allegro, the concluding Rondo movement is delightfully playful and optimistic.

Tristan In A Box

2008-03-24T10:43:00.000-04:00

The Metropolitan Opera has had quite a go with this spring’s run of Richard Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde. The original pairing, Ben Heppner and Deborah Voigt, never materialized. Heppner was forced to cancel at least four of the six performances; at this time, he is still scheduled for the final two. Mr. Heppner’s original replacement, John Mac Master, disappointed critics and audiences alike, reportedly being booed by the audience after the first performance. For the next performance, the one of March 14, the Met rounded up Gary Lehman. Apparently Mr. Lehman did well, only to lose his Isolde, Ms. Voigt, in the second act to a stomach ailment. The remainder of that performance was sung by Ms. Voigt’s replacement, Janice Baird. Mr. Lehman returned for the following performance, but an Act III stage mechanism accident dragged him on his back headfirst into the prompter’s box. Mr. Lehman was shaken, but not seriously injured, although the curtain did have to be brought down for a few minutes while everyone regained their composure and took a breath.

Last Saturday’s matinee performance, however, was seen by a few more people than fit into the Metropolitan Opera seats -- it was one of the scheduled performances broadcast in Hi-Def to movie theaters around the world. The Met announced last Wednesday that Saturday’s Tristan would be sung by American tenor Robert Dean Smith, making his Metropolitan Opera debut. Mr. Smith is one of those American singers who has chosen to build his reputation in Europe, having sung Tristan, Walther von Stolzing from Die Meistersinger, and Lohengrin at Bayreuth. For those in the broadcast audience, he seemed to be the ideal in terms of Wagnerian tenors: appearance, voice, and stamina.

Aside from Mr. Smith’s Tristan and Ms. Voigt’s Isolde, a unique and notable effect came not from the stage, but from the HD broadcast’s video director. To solve the tricky issue of tiny faces lost in the vast sea that is the abstract set in this production by Dieter Dorn and designer Jürgen Rose, director Barbara Willis Sweete judiciously used the video switcher technique of inset boxes that both isolated characters and gave a whole-stage view simultaneously. At first, the effect was disconcerting and probably uncomfortable to some viewers. But then the realization came that the isolation camera technique was giving an experience that no other audience member could possibly have. The inset boxes sized and re-sized, grouped and re-grouped, to reinforce the stage arrangement. While this technique would not be necessary, and indeed undesired, for most productions, it certainly made its mark in this broadcast of Tristan und Isolde.

Second-Guessing the Maestro

2008-03-20T12:14:00.000-04:00

Writing about classical music has its advantages. Writers don’t have to sell a ticket or please a patron. Unburdened by the business of music, one is free to advocate for interesting, yet seldom-programmed pieces, or even controversial ones. So, when word came down that Music Director Lucas Richman and the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra would be announcing the works for their 2008/2009 Symphony season, I began sharpening my proverbial knives, ready to eviscerate the same old same old. After all, I just wasn’t going to be satisfied if the orchestra started rounding up the usual suspects … the old war-horses … the too-often played hits on the classical jukebox. But with schedule in hand, I blinked.

Yes, a pleasant surprise. With a couple of exceptions which will be noted later, the lineup seemed to be a good mix of solid favorites, some seldom heard, but interesting pieces from known composers, and some really adventuresome choices. This might be really interesting after all.

As has been the custom, the KSO’s season will open in September with a concert of music from American composers. Jennifer Higdon’s six-minute Fanfare Ritmico will open a concert that will feature George Gershwin’s Piano Concerto in F and two works by Leonard Bernstein: Symphonic Dances from West Side Story and the Candide Overture. Appearing as the piano soloist in the Gershwin will be Spencer Meyer, who dazzled a Knoxville audience last January with his appearance at the Evelyn Miller Young Pianist Series.

Skipping on to November, Richman has continued the pattern of a Beethoven symphony each year, this season’s selection being the Seventh. More interesting perhaps are the other works on the bill, Puccini’s Preludio Sinfonico and Max Bruch’s Violin Concerto No. 1. The non-operatic works from composers known for opera (Wagner, Bizet, among others) have always been intriguing, and I am looking forward to the Puccini. Max Bruch wrote three violin concertos, yet Nos. 2 & 3 are almost never performed, the No. 1 being immensely popular. That could have been a real opportunity for the orchestra and concertgoers.

If you just can’t get enough Johann Sebastian Bach, then January 2009 is your month. Between the Chamber Series and the Masterworks Series, Bach will be represented by his Viola Concerto, his Concerto for Two Violins, and the Brandenberg Concerto No. 3. The Masterworks concert will also feature Mozart’s Piano Concerto No. 24 with pianist Navah Perlman, daughter of acclaimed violinist Itzhak Perlman.

February’s Masterworks concert will open with the premier of a work commissioned by the KSO, Time Like An Ever Flowing Stream, by Knoxville composer and KSO member, Mark Harrell. Two works by Brahms will fill out the evening.

The very popular (and possibly over-performed) Bolero of Maurice Ravel, scheduled for March, represents a real conflict for me. Like Orff’s Carmina Burana, Bolero attracts concertgoers who are not symphony regulars. For that reason, it is hard to be negative about the programming. Recordings do not do it justice – you have to hear it live. The March program will open with a bold choice, Rainbow Body by contemporary American composer Christopher Theofanidis. Also on the program is the interesting Sibelius Violin Concerto, its revised version first conducted by Richard Strauss. Strauss is also represented on the program by his tone poem Til Eulenspiegel’s Merry Pranks.

April 2009 will be a month for the adventuresome concertgoer. The Masterworks concert will open with Messiaen’s Les Offrandes Oubliées followed by Jean Sibelius’s final symphony, the intriguing and original Symphony No. 7. The Knoxville Choral Society will then join the KSO for Igor Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms and Borodin’s Polovtsian Dances. Listeners will, of course, recognize the Borodin as the basis for the 1953 Broadway musical Kismet, that includes the song “Stranger in Paradise.”

Frankly, there is precious little to complain about in the 2008/2009 KSO schedule. Maestro Richman has obviously tried to include a lot of musical territory, and Knoxville concertgoers will benefit. One point of contention might be the all-Tchaikovsky concert in October. While I admit to being ambivalent on the Russian composer, I do recognize that he is a favorite of many. Some off-the-beaten paths might have included Carl Nielsen, for example. We should be hearing more Robert Schumann, particularly his later works for violin and orchestra. Or perhaps, a strategic pairing of something from the vast under-performed Baroque catalog with a work from the 1890-1918 period. And we seem to hear the same three or four Mozart symphonies and piano concertos time and again. I believe Haydn wrote a few symphonies, too.

Welcome to Mostly Classical

2008-02-23T11:30:00.000-05:00

Thank you for stumbling onto Mostly Classical, a place for commentary on music and the arts. Currently, you can read my classical music commentary in the alternative weekly Metro Pulse.
( online at http://www.metropulse.com )

Thanks for reading!