Music News
Astronomical Pictures in Walnut Creek
For 22 years now, Barry Jekowsky’s California Symphony has surprised and delighted Fans of Underdog Musicians like me, and the story continues. Operating on a fraction of the budget that most big orchestras have, the Walnut Creek pioneers keep coming up with intriguing and attractive programs you only wish for from the heavyweight division.
California Symphony’s 2008-2009 season presents what it (perhaps correctly) claims to be “world’s first live symphony in 3-D,” the Barber Adagio for Strings with Russian acrobats; the West Coast premiere of a new orchestral tribute to the Grateful Dead; and its second premiere by Mason Bates, CSO’s Young American Composer-in-Residence.
Oh, and also more “conventionally”: Rachmaninov’s Piano Concerto No. 3 (with Jon Nakamatsu), Dvořák’s Symphony No. 9, Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite, Brahms’ Symphony No. 4, Copland’s Appalachian Spring, Ravel’s Piano Concerto in G Major (with 13-year-old Conrad Tao), and the Mendelssohn Violin Concerto (with Stefan Jackiw).
But let us return to those novelty items. Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition has been presented in various ways through its history, but the premiere of Astronomical Pictures at an Exhibition, a “video suite” featuring three-dimensional projections, promises to be something new.
Art by José Francisco Salgado
Pictures, in Ravel’s orchestration, follows last season’s video-accompanied performance of Holst’s The Planets, but this time it requires the audience to wear 3-D glasses. They will watch a visual-musical extravaganza, marking the International Year of Astronomy and the 400th anniversary of Galileo’s scientific discoveries.
Jekowsky says the Barber Adagio will have “world-class acrobats Iouri Safranov and Nikolai Melnikov provide a collaboration of music and body sculpture.” Both acrobats have musical performance experience, Safranov in the MGM Casino production of EFX and Melnikov in the cast of the Cirque Du Soleil Mystère.
The Mystère of Barber
Photo by Tomasz Rossa
Lee Johnson’s Dead Symphony pays homage to the Grateful Dead in a 12-movement orchestral work in which he has woven themes from the band’s songs, including St. Stephen and Blues for Allah. Calling his tribute “a musical embrace of American culture,” Johnson says the Grateful Dead “lived in the musical moment in a world of perpetual exploration and endless possibility.” Jekowsky calls Dead Symphony “a unique work — not a piece for rock band and orchestra, but a purely symphonic setting of the songs.”
Symphonic setting for the Dead
Photo by Joel Eisenberg
Salkind Duo Festival
Milton and Peggy Salkind
The second Milton and Peggy Salkind International Piano Duo Festival, to be held over the Fourth of July weekend (July 5-7) at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, will feature the Riga Piano Duo (Latvia/Armenia), Duo Pianistico di Firenze (Italy), Noriko and Yuko Kugimoto (Japan), Pas De Duo (Berkeley), Peery Piano Duo (Mountain View), and Angelo Piano Duo (San Francisco). Besides the festival’s concerts, there will be master classes, and events in the Salkind Junior Festival.
Anthony and Catherine Angelo have spearheaded the Salkind Festival
Mad About Lucia
Opera’s myriad components all must click together to deliver the promise of a performance, but to reach the point of exuberant celebration, you need a great star, a diva or divo who stops the critical mind, even time itself. Natalie Dessay’s San Francisco Opera debut in Lucia di Lammermoor Tuesday night provided such an occasion. (See review.) And, more than that, the performance also marked a return of Diva-Land to the Pacific: David Gockley has struck gold, providing within just 48 hours the triumphant homeys of Susan Graham and Ruth Ann Swenson in Ariodante and then Dessay’s Lucia.
The tiny but athletic French soprano has a fabulous voice, unerring musicality, and a startling stage presence — in a good way. The enormous applause that greeted her Act 1 “Quando rapita in estasi” came not only in proper acknowledgment of the aria, but also as a joyful exclamation of discovery: The diva is in the house. The freely soaring voice, dead-on phrasing, and bright, penetrating sound were all taken for granted after that introduction, and for almost three hours, Dessay never let the audience down. By the Mad Scene, a simple ovation seemed inappropriate, and many listeners just sat, somewhat stunned, and let it all in.
Dessay, Filianoti, and one of the production’s many big tartans
Photos by Terrence McCarthy
Dramatically, Dessay turns the character upside down. In the beginning, she is deliberately awkward, erratic in movement, sort of goofy — not mad, but, well, unusual. By the time her great meltdown comes, this Lucia is as straightforward as other singers take the good times of the first act. Also, however many times Dessay might have sung the role, it was all fresh and real, with a feeling of improvisation.
Another notable debut was that of conductor Jean-Yves Ossonce, in his first American appearance. Starting a bit uncertainly (and handicapped by the men of the Opera Chorus, stretched across the stage, which thinned its voice), Ossonce soon came into his own, propelled an exciting orchestral performance, working well with the Chorus, which soon recovered, allowed great transparency for the voices, and at times (such as during the Act 1 duet), produced a kind of pulsing sound to shape the score. Michael Rado’s harp obbligatos were outstanding.
Gockley’s other new imports were fine, but certainly not in the Dessay Class. The U.S. debut of Gabriele Viviani as Enrico was impressive and in some high points even better than that. Bringing in Cybele-Teresa Gouverneur to sing (so to speak) Alisa was unnecessary — we have a dozen Adler and Merola artists who could have done as good or a better job. Adler Fellow Andrew Bidlack’s Arturo, on the other hand, sounded a bit thin. Oren Gradus’ Raimondo was solid, terrific.
Oren Gradus (Raimondo) and Dessay
And so we come to Giuseppe Filianoti’s San Francisco debut as Edgardo. A singer of fine middle voice, he produces high notes that at times sound almost strangled, only to sob his way back to the score. Filianoti is brave, he hangs 10 repeatedly, but it’s difficult to listen to him without worrying — exactly the opposite of Dessay, to whom you confidently entrust yourself.
The Teatro del Maggio Musicale production is serviceable, Paul Brown’s design and direction by Graham Vick and Marco Gandini all add up to scenes that are viable, thrifty, inoffensive. Walls move up and down, and sideways, not adding to the show, not detracting (much) from it. There is a huge full moon, eventually outlasting its welcome. Much is made of Scottish clan tartan beach blankets or whatever they may be, being spread out, gathered, used, and misused.
None of which matters much. In the beginning, in the middle, and almost to the end, there is Dessay to relish. Almost: Filianoti’s struggle with that unnecessary final scene was anticlimactic after the Mad Scene. Instead, 15 minutes of ovation for Dessay would have made everybody happier.
Ming Music
As part of the Asian Art Museum’s upcoming exhibit of Ming Era art, the oldest known musical instrument will be celebrated as well. On Saturdays and Sundays, from noon to 4 p.m., June 28 through July 27, the living tradition of guqin will be featured by scholar and musician Wang Fei, in residence during that period. Mentions of the zitherlike instrument have been appearing in Chinese writings for some 3,000 years.
Wang Fei
Fei’s demonstrations and concerts will form just part of extensive activities in the museum during the unprecedented exhibit, Power & Glory: Court Arts of China’s Ming Dynasty, opening on June 27 and running through Sept. 21. The $1.3 million show is a first in several ways.
It is the result of unprecedented collaboration between San Francisco, Beijing’s National Palace Museum, the Shanghai Museum, and the Nanjing Municipal Museum. Most of the show’s 240 artworks — porcelain, paintings, textiles, lacquer, jade, jewelry, and more — have never been seen outside China (and, in some cases, not even there). They arrive in The City for the first viewing opportunity in the U.S., before going on to Indianapolis and St. Louis next year.
There is also a timely triangle about the show, held in the museum born of the Avery Brundage Collection, from the former president of the U.S. and International Olympic Committees (for almost half a century, until 1972), and coinciding with the 2008 Olympic Summer Games in Beijing.
Wanli emperor’s court robe, 16th century
Also, for the first time, the hitherto exclusively American-supported museum is receiving a significant contribution from Asia to make the Ming show possible: A major grant from the Hong Kong-based Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation is greeted by a museum official as of “monumental importance.”
This showing of the art of the Han dynasty, in power from 1368 through 1644, serves as the opening round in the tenure of the Asian’s new director, Jay Xu. Preparations began years ago, led by his predecessor, Emily Sano, and headed by He Li, the museum’s Curator of Chinese Art. “The word ‘Ming’ means ‘bright’ in Chinese, and the great artworks included in this exhibition certainly reflect that,” says Xu. “‘Power and Glory’ is the kind of exhibition that the Asian Art Museum is world-renowned for — beautiful art, combined with a fascinating story well told. Visitors will walk away with a better understanding of this important period of Chinese history.”
Among the exhibit’s most intriguing pieces: Lotus Leaf Pulled by a Swimming Fisherman, the largest amber sculpture found in Ming tombs; Two Dragons, a stunning amber-ruby-gold crown ornament; jade-on-gold Fourteen Dragon belt ornaments; numerous Hetian nephrite and rhinoceros horn objects of exquisite beauty.
Two Dragons
Music in the Mountains Succession
After 27 years heading Music in the Mountains, Paul Perry is stepping down from the podium of the organization with headquarters in Nevada City, offering Spring Fest, Summer Fest, Fall Fest, and holiday choral concerts in the Amaral Family Festival Center, Grass Valley. A search committee has selected two finalists from among 116 applicants.
Stephen Prutsman
They are Stephen Prutsman, Artistic Partner with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and Co-Artistic Director of the Cartagena International Music Festival, Colombia; and Gregory Vajda, Resident Conductor of the Oregon Symphony Orchestra, and Principal Conductor of the Ernö Dohnányi Symphony Orchestra in Budapest.
Perry’s final concerts as Artistic Director will be on July 2 and July 3. Pruitsman will guest conduct the Fall Fest, Nov. 7-16; Vajda is scheduled to appear at the Spring Fest, March 27 – April 5, 2009. Selection of the next director is scheduled to be in time for the 2009 Fall Fest.
Gregory Vajda
Janos Gereben (janosg@gmail.com) is a regular contributor to San Francisco Classical Voice.
©2008 By Janos Gereben, all rights reserved.
are the opera simulcasts scheduled to come to eastern massachusetts? if so, when and where?
Posted by brian e. concannon on June 27, 2008 at 7:43 am