Verdi Simon Boccanegra
Conlon, cond
Domingo/Martinez
Los Angeles Opera
Out West Arts: Performance at the end of the world
Opera, music, theater, and art in Los Angeles and beyond
Meanwhile, back in L.A...
March 04, 2012
Friday night was “Casual Friday” at the Los Angeles Philharmonic, which is perhaps why Walt Disney Concert Hall sounded even more than usual like a tubercular ward, a chorus of hacking coughs providing an unwelcome accompaniment to the sounds emanating from the stage. In any event, this being “Casual Friday,” the Philharmonic players were dressed in jeans and flannel. When asked about his experience of participating in a “Casual Friday” concert during a talk-back that followed the truncated program (Beethoven’s “Egmont” overture, to be performed on Saturday and Sunday, was not part of this evening’s bill), the talented young conductor Pablo Heras-Casado who led the orchestra opined that the laid-back nature of the evening made the performance seem to him like a dress rehearsal. Well, exactly. If you’re a business executive and wear a suit and tie to work, you feel like an executive. Similarly, the wearing of formal attire surely abets an orchestra’s performance while giving its concerts a feeling of occasion, a quality that sometimes seemed lacking tonight.
In particular, the opening piece, a new violin concerto by James Matheson that was co-commissioned by the Philharmonic and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, felt slightly under-rehearsed. The concerto itself, however, was a dizzying ride, particularly in the frenetic opening movement (labeled Caprice) –with its swirling musical iterations- and the sprightly closing movement, titled Dance. Linking the outer movements was an intense, heartfelt chaconne that, like the rest of the work, gave the violin soloist a considerable workout (e.g. lots of double stops). The soloist on this occasion was the Philharmonic’s Principle Concertmaster Martin Chalifour, a musician I remain somewhat ambivalent about. His playing is technically adroit, but his tone can sound thin and reedy to me, a problem that besets the orchestra’s violin sections in general in my opinion, although I give consideration to the Philharmonic’s new music director Gustavo Dudamel for trying to summon a richer, deeper, and more burnished sound from the upper strings.
The orchestra has the good fortune, however, to have lured Chicago Symphony violinist Nathan Cole to become its First Associate Concertmaster. Cole’s extended solo in the program’s second offering –Richard Strauss’ “Ein Heldenleben”- was the highlight of the evening. He produces a beautiful, textured, achingly lyrical sound, and one hopes that someday he’ll be given the opportunity to be the featured soloist during one of the orchestra’s concerts. The Strauss also benefitted from the brio of Heras-Casado’s reading of the score. This “Heldenleben” really felt like a hero’s journey, gathering up in a cohesiveness that is sometimes missing from Dudamel’s interpretations of Romantic and late-Romantic period staples.
Joining Heras-Casado in the post-concert talk-back was composer Matheson, soloist Chalifour, and the Philharmonic’s brassy President, Deborah Borda, who moderated the brief, informal discussion. While the participants gave thoughtful and intelligent responses to questions from Ms. Borda and the audience, the moment that I remember most vividly was when Ms. Borda opined that she actually likes the applause that sometimes erupts following individual movements of concerti and symphonies because it indicates to her that the Philharmonic is reaching “new” audiences (“new” I’m guessing being primarily a euphemism for “young”). Never mind that such applause disrupts the continuity of performance or displays a lack of respect for the compositional integrity of the work being performed, but for an orchestra administrator to encourage such behavior rather than seizing the opportunity of a teachable moment in an attempt to thwart it is unbelievably appalling. All I could think of on the way home was this: where is Mr. Peabody’s Wayback Machine when you need it the most?
Labels: LA Philharmonic 12/13
On the (Early) 20th Century
I should start by saying that the playing in and of itself was of the quality that justifies Chicago’s position as the greatest of American orchestras right now. You could listen to those glowing strings and faultless brass alone forever. And hearing them on their home turf is something everyone interested in classical music should do at some point. But they aren’t infallible, and despite all that gorgeous playing Saturday’s show fell just a bit short. This concert featuring the final throws of Romanticism actually started with the Schoenberg concerto written in the composers late Los Angeles years. It’s a dense non-stop 20 minutes of twelve-tone music and its intricacies fly by far too quickly to catch. Aimard gave a powerful, detailed performance that stood in sharp relief against the almost lush playing of the orchestra. There wasn’t the kind of overall crystalline transparency we’ve become accustomed to over the years in L.A. for this kind of material, but who does that these days anymore anyway?
This first half was barely digested before Nott and the orchestra dove into Mahler’s song cycle about life and death. The Chicago players are Mahler masters and the playing from many quarters was at times superb. Mahler’s ersatz Asian elements were given room to breathe. The work was well organized and expertly phrased even if Nott did let the elbows get a little sharp during “Der Abschied”. Some of the entrances there could have been a bit more subdued, but the point got across. The soloists, Michelle DeYoung and tenor Stuart Skelton were well matched for this show. On Saturday, Skelton stayed out in front of the orchestra in some tricky big voices moments, though not consistently. He was quite impressive in the lengthy first song giving off that Heldentenor vibe. I look forward to hearing him sing some of those Wagner roles in the near future. DeYoung was also fully engaged and committed in the performance even if her middle range could get lost in the orchestral sound at times. Her rich turn in “Der Einsame im Herbst” was a highlight of the who night. And despite my misgivings about the sometimes wandering performance of the finale, the tears in her and Skelton’s eyes at the end of the evening were quite real. And that was touching enough.
Labels: Chicago Symphony Orchestra
Waiting on the Robert E. Lee
March 03, 2012
Show Boat, fits into that last category. The landmark musical written by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II premiered on Broadway in 1927 with an ambition and scope that belied its comparatively lower-art point of entry into the world. It changed a lot of things in American musical theater, so that it finds its way onto a traditional opera stage at the Lyric Opera of Chicago over eight decades later would stand to reason. A musical production for an opera company can be viewed as a way of filling houses and bringing in audiences that would never dream of buying a ticket to Aida. And whether or not this was a primary motivation for this current production, which will also travel to San Francisco, Washington, and Houston, it undoubtedly looks like it will be successful in doing so. The company has put together a team both onstage and off that have an excellent track record for just this kind of project. Director Francesca Zambello has brought American musicals to Glimmerglass where she is artistic director and she is no stranger to Show Boat either. She also put together a well-traveled and extremely popular production of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess in a similar vein that has played to sold out houses across the country. Add to her direction the musical skills of John DeMain in the pit, who also conducted a great many of those Porgy and Bess performances, and you’re clearly asking for repeated success.
And folks in Chicago have largely got what they asked for. Show Boat has been just as successful in Chicago as its predecessor due to Zambello’s remarkably unassuming, sincere staging. The material with its once radical and expansive story line about miscegenation now seems melodramatic and overly sentimental. But Zambello approaches the material with straight forward earnestness that, combined with Paul Tazewell’s candy-color costumes and Peter J. Davidson’s theme-park-ready boat and night-club sets, makes you feel like Ava Gardner is about to walk out on stage.
She doesn’t, as it turns out, but those that do have been well cast and consistently deliver performances of the very songs that make this show opera house worthy. Alyson Cambridge plays Julie LaVerne and delivers a version of “Bill” to rival any you’ve heard from Audra MacDonald or Barbara Cook. Of course, there’s “Old Man River” as well, and Morris Robinson and the chorus rescue the number from any sort of kitsch that may be kicking around in your head about it. There was plenty of sniffling in the house over this number both times it appears in the show. Angela Renée Simpson played Queenie and Broadway’s original Mary Poppins, Ashley Brown sang Magnolia both in excellent voice. And among all of this was Nathan Gunn channeling Clark Gable in style if not sound as the riverboat gambler Gaylord Ravenal. He, like the rest of the cast, was amplified for the dialog in the performance, which was subtle and well managed overall. (I know this throws some people into fits, but I’m not one of them if its done well like it is here.)
Whether or not bringing Show Boat to an opera stage is going to increase the size of the opera audience or create huge financial windfalls is debatable. However, it’s hard to complain much about a production done this well. And given the track record of the show and its creators so far, it appears that a lot of people will be seeing it in the coming years. There are four more performances in Chicago through March 17.
Labels: Lyric Opera Chicago 11/12
Into the Fire
March 02, 2012
So while the plot may be convoluted and somewhat opaque at times, all of this provides for some supremely beautiful music from Mussorgsky and in this version, orchestrations that were completed by Shostakovich. The Metropolitan Opera orchestra always sounds great. In this run under Petrenko, they sound even better and its likely the best performance they’ve given this entire season. They are abetted by the enormous Metropolitan Opera chorus who’ve taken a challenging musical text and with the help of director Donald Palumbo nailed the audience to their seats with their big, fluid sound. If there is a testament to Palumbo's work with the orchestra during his tenure at the Met, this is it.
The largely Russian, Georgian, and Ukrainian cast is the kind of who’s who in Russian opera that only the Met can assemble this side of Moscow. There is not a dud among them and each soloist seemed to up the artistic ante of the show on their costars. Olga Borodina has the central female role of Marfa, an old believer who is in love with the younger Khovansky, sung here by Misha Didyk. Her lower range gets a work out in this show and it was admittedly formidable with a rich, burnished sound. And while she is unfortunately costumed like Nicole Sullivan for the last third of the evening, everything about her appearance left under her control was flawless. Marfa’s inspirational guidance comes from the mysterious Dosifei was handled by Met favorite, and Borodina's husband, Ildar Abdrazakov. His Verdi roles are well regarded, but his Russian roles are something else all together. But the wealth of male vocal talent didn’t end there. George Gagnidze was regal as Shaklovity and Anatoli Kotscherga stole several scenes as the elder Khovansky. Vladimir Galouzine represented the nobility as Golitsin and his conflict with Khovansky in Scene 2 bristled with danger.
If it weren't for the staging itself, the evening would have been perfect. Though not as overblown and overdecorated as one of those Zeffirelli travesties, August Everding’s now-stale 1985 production looks its age. The period costumes are lovely and well-preserved, but as a rule of thumb I say if the fabric of your backdrops has begun to wrinkle and pucker to where it can easily be seen by the audience, it’s time for an upgrade. There are a few of those miniature diorama rooms the Met so loved in the 80s and 90s as well, but the immolation scene with the chorus arranged on two levels in a small wooden cabin in the woods still stirs consternation over people willing to take such extreme actions in light of their faith. While Khovanshchina may not engender the controversy of Adams’ The Death of Klinghoffer which is working its way to New York for a future season, its hard to ignore some of the parallels. Mussorgsky's old believers may not be terrorists, but their convictions due have spectacularly disturbing results and what the opera lacks in contemporary urgency, it makes up for in sheer scope and grandeur. Don’t miss this one which has four more performances through March 17th.
Labels: Met opera reviews 11/12
The Secret of NIN
February 28, 2012
Composer Louis Andriessen has amassed quite a following in Los Angeles over the last decade. Just about any ensemble with even a passing interest in contemporary music has programmed his work here and both the Los Angeles Master Chorale and the Los Angeles Philharmonic have lured him out to the west coast before most memorably for performances of his Dante-inspired opera La Commedia in 2010. Tuesday’s “Green Umbrella” program with the Los Angeles Philharmonic new music group brought Andriessen back with long-time collaborator, conductor Reinbert de Leeuw. The evening featured three of his most recent works, all multi-media collaborations with other artists. Andriessen made it clear in pre-concert remarks that he dislikes the “bourgeois” term muse, but these pieces all revolved around other artists who heavily influenced the content and shape of the final product.
Life, the first piece on the bill from 2010, was scored for a small group of six players and according to the composer's own notes was intended as a sort of “Pictures at an Exhibition”. Accompanied by four short films from Marijke van Warmerdam, each of these brief movements represented a collision of what Andriessen described as classical Romantic string playing with American minimalism. Perhaps this is so, but the music was unmistakably his own resulting in a mini-symphony constructed of slowly pulsating rhythms and shifting harmonies. The readily identifiable thematic material that recurs throughout parallels the non-narrative but figurative and natural elements of the film. This was followed by the more expansive, La Girò, a concerto for violin and chamber orchestra from 2011. The piece is named after the moniker of 18th Century contralto and favorite of Vivaldi, Anna Maddalena Teseire. However, in Andriessen’s world, musical references are almost always oblique and there is relatively little that is recognizable in these four movements as growing out of the Italian Baroque. What does come out is a fascinating solo part for violinist Monica Germino who not only plays the violin solo, but sings and narrates the piece at the same time. At first the work sounds somewhat like a traditional concerto, but by the time it reaches the second movement, Germino begins to sing and then pauses the orchestra to narrate a story concerning a young woman increasingly plagued by doubts about her own skills as a violinist. The material grows increasingly dark until it is punctuated with repeated high tones and some stirringly visual dream imagery. Germino oscillates between doubt and fury clearly grabbing the audience by the throat by the work's conclusion.
Both Life and La Girò build on the kind of multi-disciplinary music drama Andriessen has favored in recent years filled with striking dramatic images and abstract narrative elements. The culmination of this work may be his 2010 project, Anaïs Nin which closed the evening with its U.S. Premiere. The performance has been filmed and a sample of an earlier version is featured above. Here material form Nin’s “Incest” volume of her diaries is set as a monodrama for long-time Andriessen favorite, soprano Cristina Zavalloni and a small ensemble. Zavalloni, always a fascinating artist to watch, plunged whole-heartedly into the character of Nin vamping about the stage in her period 1930s loungewear. She starts the piece by pretending to cue up the video that depicts her character speaking into the camera and following around the lovers she sings about later on including Antonin Arthaud, Rene Allendy, Henry Miller, and ultimately, her own father. She is obsessed with herself, often rewinding the tape to locate her face taking in the camera as her paramours look on. The text, which is largely taken from Nin’s diaries, is embroiled in the wide ranging emotional extremes that make up her character. They relate some of the details of her relationships of the period. And some of the material about the relationship with her father is fairly bracing.
But ultimately, it’s also rather humorless, morbid and unsexy in just about every way which seemed to bleed into the music. Andriessen makes direct reference to 1930s musical genres here but not in an arch or paradoxical way. In fact the tone of the piece is unwaveringly serious throughout making the work seem longer than it actually is. Anaïs Nin lacks some of the roguish energy and unpredictability of a work like La Commedia and often bogged down despite itself under the weight of its own internal psycho-sexual drama. And while Zavalloni was thoroughly entertaining and committed to the work giving each line plenty of punch, the whole thing came off rather empty. Of course Andriessen’s missteps are more interesting than other composer’s successes so it is equally fair to say that the evening was never dull. But I could have done with a more fleshed out version of La Girò or even a reprise of La Commedia over some of the drama on offer this particular night.
Labels: LA Philharmonic 11/12
Northern Lights
The evening started out with the only piece not being heard in this country for the first time, 3 songs from Alberto Savinio’s Album 1914. These surrealist miniatures were performed by Ellen Ugelvik on piano and soprano Silje Marie Aker Johnsen whose vocal lines were accompanied by her equally ferocious bass drum wailing. While this was easily the oldest work on the program and unrelated in many ways, it set the tone of surprise and aggressive energy. Norwegian composer Øyvind Torvund’s Neon Forest Spaces followed. A quartet for cello, clarinet, electric guitar and percussion, the seven brief moments of the work were all imbued with pre-recorded elements and amplified instrumentation. The percussion part was filled with the woosh of aerosol cans and the bubbling of air blown into a water bottle. Despite the seeming whimsy of these gestures, though, it was surprisingly effective in bringing the sense of endless forest noises to life.
The first half ended with one of asamisimasa’s signature repertoire works, Simon Steen-Andersen’s on and off and to and fro. The Danish composer revels in being a bit of an enfant terrible, and his trio for clarinet, cello, and vibes travels from unusual to bizzare as its sound world is predominated by the feedback and noise created by three electrical megaphones that are initially used to amplify the sounds of the other instruments, but then move on to create comical and sometimes ear-splitting feedback and siren noises. At the climax of the piece, the feedback from one megaphone is fed into the receiver of another in an unusual chain of processing. Yet there was something relaxed and sly about the piece. Instead of being ponderous and pretentious, the idea is given room to breathe and develop making it more playful than deadly serious. Steen-Andersen’s music has been recorded by the ensemble including this work, so feel free to check it out yourself. You can also hear clips of mos of the music mentioned here on their website.
After the break the players returned for Laurence Crane’s sharply contrasting John White in Berlin a quiet microtonal meditation that glowed and grew outward in a Feldman-like fashion. But the spirit that ruled the finale of the show was that of John Cage, who was just one of the many composers mentioned by name in Trond Reinholdtsen’s Unsichtbare Musik. Reinholdtsen joined the ensemble for the performance lending his vocals to the highly theatrical performance. The work begins with Reinholdtsen repeating a series of musical terms and phrases interrupted by single chords from the players. Soon the structure breaks down in both the text, which moves on to include the names of famous late 20th-century philosophers and composers as well as ideas and other items. The music, too, goes awry in multiple directions at once. Unusual accompaniment from deflating balloons and toys contrast against flights from both cello and clarinet. At times passages are recorded, processed, and played back providing the only “music” at any given moment as the live musicians look on following a transition so seamless it almost goes without notice. Reinholdtsen comes to the front of the stage and mimics an epileptic fit which is then followed by clarinet and soprano equivalents of piano 10 hands with all the other members of the ensemble coming forward to touch and alter the sound of the solo performer in each of these segments. Finally, the piece resolves in a series of faked asides or commentary from Reinholdtsen directed toward the audience. He tells the audience of his doctoral thesis and difficulty deciding on endings. He plays a snippet of “classical music” and asks, “Do you know this?” in a friendly conversational way. There’s a pre-recorded parody of a Grieg song performed in a chipmunk voice and a partially faked recording of Cage performing in Europe in 1958 just for good measure.
What all this means, I can’t tell you. But it was immensely fun to watch and was smarter and far denser than it seemed on its off-hand tongue-in-cheek manner. The enthusiasm was admirable, but it was made even better by a sense of polish from the asamisimasa players. This was serious business, but one that still managed to seem spontaneous and off-handed even when it wasn’t. It was also exciting to see a glimpse of what’s going on farther from these shores among another community of young artists interested on building new things in the world of music. Hurray for Monday Evening Concerts for bringing them to these shores and here’s hoping we don’t have to wait long to hear from them again.
Labels: Monday Evening Concerts
The Elixir of Love
February 26, 2012
Britten’s opera is a small one written for a chamber-size orchestra and an ensemble vocal cast with few showy solo parts. L.A. Opera does well by Britten’s score and gives the show a huge, luxurious production across the board. James Conlon and his players dug into the score at times like it was Wagner. The production is a very cute, colorful affair, directed by the affable Paul Curran, which originated with the Santa Fe Opera in 2010. It achieves the first goal of comedy by producing real laughs in the audience. Curran gets involved and well-timed performances from many in the cast including Ronnia Nicole Miller as Florence Pike and Liam Bonner and Daniela Mack as Albert’s friends Sid and Nancy. And I’d be remiss in not mentioning some of the others in the cast like Janis Kelly who portrays a rather understated Lady Billows. (The role will be taken over for two performances by Christine Brewer later in the run.) Billow’s chorus of town worthies were all quite accomplished including Richard Bernstein, Jonathan Michie, Robert McPherson, and Stacey Tappan.
Of course, too much attention can be a bad thing and the show can sometimes feel a bit overblown. The music and drama tended to flag in the final act without a certain succinctness. Just a bit to much grandeur weighs the proceeding down and the lovely set looked tiny on the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion stage surrounded by an awful lot of dark space around its sliver of British springtime sky. But this Albert Herring retains its humor and good heart for the most part and still manages to charm.
Labels: LA Opera 11/12
Remebrance of Things Past
February 25, 2012
The concept is most viscerally and obviously felt in the genius set design of Mariana Tirantte. The stage for El Pasado consists of a circular platform on a rotating track divided into four equal segments by two perpendicularly placed walls. The stage, and many of the accompanying lights, rotate constantly throughout the two hour performance as the players proceed around the walls from one room to the next. Each change of room moves the narrative between one of the four characters whose lives make up the episodic narrative. These are not necessarily big stories, but small ones told in small pieces. Vicki discovers her elderly father has been living a parallel existence most of his life with two families. Mario dreams of leaving Argentina to become a filmmaker. Laura jumps for one problematic relationship to another, and Pablo discovers a severed hand in his doorway one particular morning.
But while the play makes some reference to the political and historical era in which it is set, these stories are more about the broader themes and obsessions that shape our lives in a broad sense than it is particular cliffhangers or psychologically driven climaxes. For instance the mysterious severed hand that becomes an obsession for Pablo doesn’t destroy everything in his life but becomes a recurrent preoccupation that shapes many things that will happen to him in more subtle ways. Much of the dialog in the play comes in the form of narration where each of the four players take turns moving from room to room describing the mindset, action, and motivations of the others involved in the actual events of each scene. Roles are taken up and abandoned as a hand-held microphone is passed from player to player, narrator to narrator. (The play is entirely in Spanish but there are supertitles on either side of the rotating stage.) The scenes are roughly in chronological order although the overall sequence jumps backward and forward in small increments. And while the rotation alternatively speeds up and slows down, the work never loses the sense of motion and flow.
The play is supremely funny at times. There are some wonderful spoken internal monologues that ignite huge reactions in the audience such as when Pablo is filled with paranoid fears about the morgue worker he questions while gathering information he thinks may be germane to the hand he keeps in the fridge at home. And there are some flashes of insight as well, but most winningly, Pensotti and his cast never give in to sentimentality. There are two brief moments of intersection in these four lives, but those episodes provide more of a sense of symmetry than of psychological insight. El Pasado es un Animal Grotesco is steeped in modern life – a love of media and an awareness of the hyperdetermined, intertextual way that people make up the selves they are. The past here is never absent, and it is never a source of overarching predetermination. However, it glows in the dark, just out of direct sight altering events in an almost imperceptible way yet leaving its certain mark. This is great, engaging theater and if you're interested in such a thing at all, you should see one of the two remaining performances before it is gone. Be advised there were no tickets left to be bought at the window before Friday’s show so get them now.
Labels: REDCAT 11/12
One Night in Weimar
February 24, 2012
Now in their 25th year, the group still stays true to its successful formula: big band favorites of the late 1920s and 30s delivered with a mix of sincerity and ironic humor. Raabe and his players are all dressed in dapper evening wear of the period with most of the songs played in their original German language. There are familiar standards by the likes of Cole Porter alongside novelty tongue-in-cheek hits about asparagus and Salome. And though the staging evokes Weimar culture, the performance on the whole rests squarely in an ironic awareness of the present. The outdated and comparatively tame lyrics of the songs are funny precisely because of their contrast to what the audience knows of the modern world. This is more than nostalgia or kitsch. The commitment and level of musicianship allude to something more than just that.
Raabe and his high tenor are one of the attractions of the group. Over the years, the lightness and ease of some of the top notes has diminished, but his sound overall is still quite pleasant. His halting delivery is still razor sharp with turns of phrase that veer this way and that unexpectedly. And he knows how to deliver a song. His insightful, melancholic version of Nena's "Irgendwie, Irgendwo, Irgendwann" with only piano accompaniment was a highlight of the evening. Of course all of the band members are multi-instrumentalists and everyone gets into the act as a soloist sooner or later. If there was any difference between this outing and the group's 2010 appearance, it was the larger, more often oddly costumed crowd. In Los Angeles, it's can be difficult to tell when people are in costume and when they aren’t. Poor fashion sense is a badge of honor. And there was an explosion of women in flapper dresses with headbands and men who stepped out of Cabaret on Thursday. But no matter. It was still funny, still charming, and still a very good time.
Labels: UCLA Live 11/12
10 Questions for...
Alek Shrader
February 22, 2012
- What role would you most like to perform, but haven't yet?
Before I stop singing, I really want to sing Duca in Rigoletto, even if it's just once (and potentially totally inappropriate for my voice). - What role would you never perform, even if you could?
If that role exists, I don't know what it is. Does "conductor" count? I'd never do that. - You'll soon be making your Los Angeles Opera debut as Britten’s Albert Herring a virginal innocent who like Donizetti’s Nemorino breaks loose with the help of a little unanticipated alcoholic lubrication. Is it more fun to play good guys or bad boys on stage?
Good guys or bad boys, I find the real fun is finding the moments when you can do something unexpected… when the nice pushover finds courage, or when the jerk shows true compassion. I have the most fun as an actor when I'm allowed to enjoy and explore those possibilities. - You’re best known for roles like Mozart’s Tamino and Rossini’s Almaviva. What’s the secret to playing these romantic young lovers?
In a very broad sense, I think it's the sense of discovery. Yes, they're in love, but also the world they used to know and live in has changed forever. Tamino and Almaviva happen to be different forms of nobility, and their discovery (of love, or growing up, or facing opposition) comes as a pretty big shock that requires serious attention, but I think all classes of romantic young lovers get knocked on their butts when they meet their true love. - Which music made you want to sing opera?
I heard Mozart's 'Ich baue ganz' on the radio at somebody's house and was stunned. Then I found a recording of my dad singing 'La danza' and thought I'd like to do that too. - A composer proposes a new opera with a part especially for you. What person or character would you most like to have written for you?
I'm certainly open to any project that comes up, and I'd be especially excited to help create something. I find a special personal pleasure when I can play an average guy, a "normal person", or at least express that side of the character. It's not just princes who have a story to tell. - You've already worked with many major conductors and vocalists in the opera world. Who would you most like to work with that you haven’t yet?
Lawrence Brownlee is a singer I have a ton of respect for. I think on and offstage, he's a shining example of what the modern opera singer should aspire to be. I would love to do a show with him. - What's your current obsession?
Right now, I'm watching Deadwood marathon-style, with an episode or two of Entourage for breakfast. - With which of your operatic roles do you have the most in common?
The trick is to find as much in common as you can with each one… It's easy for me to say Albert Herring at the moment. Like I said before, I'm drawn to the aspects of the common man (if there is such a thing). - What can we look forward to next from Alek Shrader?
After Albert Herring, I'm headed to Bordeaux for Oronte in Handel's Alcina, and then to San Francisco for Tamino in The Magic Flute.
Labels: 10 Questions
Do As I Say
February 21, 2012
There are a few shows this weekend that you might want to consider and may have overlooked I thought I’d point out. First the Philharmonic Society of Orange County is welcoming the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio and Friends to the Irvine Barclay Theater on Thursday the 23rd for a program to include Schubert’s “Trout” Quintet, a Beethoven Trio, and a new Quintet commission from Ellen Zwilich. This is one of the regions ideal spots for chamber music and best of all the Philharmonic Society is currently offering tickets for 10% with use of the code “TROUT10” either online or over the old-fashioned phone lines.
Another show you seriously want to be at if you can is a one-night-only performance of Bach’s Magnificat at the Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena with Jeffrey Kahane and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra. The vocalists will include current and recent L.A. Opera Domingo-Thornton Yong Artists Ben Bliss and Daniel Armstrong among other as well as the collective forces of the USC Thornton Chamber Singers.
Of course this weekend will bring the second spring production from Los Angeles Opera, Britten’s Albert Herring which will run alongside their current excellent production of Verdi’s Simon Boccanegra. The company is making $25 tickets available to most performances of Albert Herring to anyone new to opera. That’s a great deal and little more than what seeing a broadcast in a theater would cost and you get to actually be in the house. I’ve done my part. The rest is up to you.
Going to the Chapel
February 20, 2012
The musicians who became the “lovers” in these musical pairings all had great moments on Sunday. Soprano Mary Wilson was the soloist in both works and sang with a clear, bright, and even tone. She's known to local audiences for her prior performances with the Los Angeles Philharmonic and it was exciting to hear her again in some of the Baroque material that makes up an increasing part of her performance schedule. Her partners in these duets included flautist Stephen Schultz and oboist Gonzalo Ruiz. Ruiz also played in the reconstructed Oboe Concerto in D minor that was included in the program. The dexterity and detail in his performance was thrilling to hear. Bach may have been thinking of many things when he composed, but the need for breath in the oboe player here wasn’t apparently one of them. Ruiz did more than soldier through the rapid-fire ornamentation, and stole much of the afternoon’s thunder away from his fellow musicians. The show started with Bach’s Violin Concerto in A minor with soloist Cynthia Roberts. This piece came off a little punchier and rough hewn than one might expect even from a Baroque ensemble, but this edge softened by the conclusion of the piece and left for plenty of wonderful playing that followed.
Labels: Musica Angelica
Calendar
3/4/12
Handel Rinaldo
Bicket, cond
Daniels/Pisaroni/Pina
Lyric Opera
Chicago, IL
3/4/12
Camino Real
Williams
Goodman Theatre
Chicago, IL
3/6/12
Timboctou
Alejandro Ricano
Martin Acosta, dir.
REDCAT
Los Angeles, CA
3/7/12
Jeffrey Kahane and LACO: a 15th Anniversary Celebration
Kahane, cond.
w/ Batjer, Shulman
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Los Angeles, CA
3/9/12
Copland Orchestral Variations
Harrison Concerto for Organ with Percussion Orchestra
Ives A Concord Symphony
Tilson Thomas, cond.
w/ Jacobs
San Francisco Symphony
Davies Symphony Hall
San Francisco, CA
3/10/12
Foss Phorion
Cowell Piano Concerto
Cage selections from Song books
Ruggles Sun-treader
Tilson Thomas, cond.
w/ La Barbara, Monk, Norman, Denk
San Francisco Symphony
Davies Symphony Hall
San Francisco, CA
3/10/12
Donizetti Don Pasquale
Guidarini, cond.
Del Carlo/De Niese
San Diego Opera
San Diego, CA
3/11/12
Poulenc The Breasts of Tiresias
Martinu Tears of a Knife
Mitisek, cond.
Center Theater
Long Beach, CA
3/17/12
Culture Clash American Night: The Ballad of Juan Jose
Kirk Douglas Theater
Culver City, CA
3/17/12
Dvorak Carnival Overture
Tchaikovsky Lansky's Aria from Eugene Onegin
Shostakovich Cello Concerto No. 1
Shostakovich Symphony No. 5
Piatigorsky International Cello Festival
Jarvi, cond.
w/ Maisky
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Los Angeles, CA
3/18/12
Dvorak Carnival Overture
Tchaikovsky Rococo Variations
Respighi Adagio con Variazoni
Shostakovich Symphony No. 5
Piatigorsky International Cello Festival
Jarvi, cond.
w/ Weilerstein
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Los Angeles, CA
3/23/12
Frances-Marie Uitti
REDCAT
Los Angeles, CA
3/23/12
wild Up Craft
Beyond Baroque
Venice, CA
3/24/12
Strauss Rosenkavalier Suite
Aho Clarinet Concerto
Sibelius Symphony No. 6
Vanska, cond.
w/ Frost
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Los Angeles, CA
3/26/12
Jazz Encounters
Works by Wolpe, Ablinger, and Johnson
Monday Evening Concerts
Zipper Concert Hall
Los Angeles, CA
3/28/12
Copland Fanfare for the Common Man
Tower Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman
Higdon Percussion Concerto
Prokofiev Symp No. 5
Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Alsop, cond.
Segerstrom Concert Hall
Costa Mesa, CA
3/29/12
Ute Lemper
UCLA LIve
Royce Hall
Los Angeles, CA
3/30/12
Animal Crackers
Kaufman & Ryskind/Kalmar & Ruby
Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Angus Bowmer Theatre
Ashland, OR
3/30/12
Zimmerman The White Snake
Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Angus Bowmer Theatre
Ashland, OR
3/31/12
Shakespeare Troilus and Cressida
Oregon Shakespeare Festival
New Theatre
Ashland, OR
3/31/12
Chekhov The Seagull
Oregon Shakespeare Festival
New Theatre
Ashland, OR
3/31/12
Beckett Waiting for Godot
Center Theater Group
Mark Taper Forum
Los Angeles, CA
4/1/12
Bach St. John's Passion
Gershon, cond.
Los Angeles Master Chorale
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Los Angeles, CA
4/5/12
Part Cantus in Memory of Benjamin Britten
Adams Violin Concerto
Glass Symphony No. 9
Adams, cond.
w/ Josefowicz
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Los Angeles, CA
4/6/12
Gloria's Cause
Dayna Hanson
REDCAT
Los Angeles, CA
4/10/12
Stockhausen Tierkreis
Cage Concerto for Prepared Piano
Bettison Livre des Sauvages
Adams, cond.
w/ Cheng
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Los Angeles, CA
4/11/12
Pacifica Quartet
UCLA Live
Royce Hall
Los Angeles, CA
4/12/12
Samsara
KarmetiK Machine Orchestra
REDCAT
Los Angeles, CA
4/13/12
Beethoven Missa Solemnis
Blomstedt, cond.
w/ Ziesak, Romberger, Croft, Muller-Brachmann
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Los Angeles, CA
4/14/12
Truth, Revised Histories, Wishful Thinking, and Flat-Out Lies
John Jasperse Company with ICE
REDCAT
Los Angeles, CA
4/16/12
Schubert Die Schone Mullerin
w/ Goerne, Eschenbach
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Los Angeles, CA
4/17/12
Mendelssohn Symp No. 3
Saariaho Orion
Shostakovich Symp No. 6
Cleveland Orchestra
Welser-Möst, cond.
Segerstrom Concert Hall
Costa Mesa, CA
4/18/12
Schubert Winterreise
w/ Goerne, Eschenbach
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Los Angeles, CA
4/20/12
Schubert Orchestrated Songs
Schubert Symphony No. 9, "Great"
w/ Goerne, Eschenbach
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Los Angeles, CA
4/21/12
Gurira The Convert
Kirk Douglas Theater
Culver City, CA
4/23/12
Helmut Lachenmann Intérieur I
Schwitters Ur Sonata
Clementi Madrigale
Clementi L'orologio di Arcevia
Monday Evening Concerts
Zipper Concert Hall
Los Angeles, CA
4/24/12
Baroque Variations
Concerto Koln
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Los Angeles, CA
4/26/12
Wagner Rheingold
Luisi, cond.
w/ Harmer, Blythe
Metropolitan Opera
Lincoln Center
New York, NY
4/27/12
Janacek The Makropoulos Case
Behlolávek, cond.
w/ Mattila
Metropolitan Opera
Lincoln Center
New York, NY
4/28/12
Wagner Die Walkure
Luisi, cond.
w/ Voigt, Westbroek
Metropolitan Opera
Lincoln Center
New York, NY
4/28/12
Verdi La Traviata
Noseda, cond.
w/ Poplavskaya
Metropolitan Opera
Lincoln Center
New York, NY
4/29/12
Grau and Guinand program
Los Angeles Master Chorale
Gershon, cond.
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Los Angeles, CA
4/29/12
Maurizio Pollini
recital
Carnegie Hall
New York, NY
4/29/12
TR Warszawa Festen (The Celebration)
St. Ann's Warehouse
Brooklyn, NY
4/30/12
Wagner Siegfried
Luisi, cond.
w/ Dalayman, Bardon
Metropolitan Opera
Lincoln Center
New York, NY
5/2/12
GATZ
Elevator Repair Service
Public Theater
New York, NY
5/3/12
Wagner Götterdämmerung
Luisi, cond.
w/ Dalayman, Harmer
Metropolitan Opera
Lincoln Center
New York, NY
5/4/12
Britten Billy Budd
Robertson, cond.
w/ Daszak, Gunn, Morris
Metropolitan Opera
Lincoln Center
New York, NY
5/6/12
Ligeti Atmospheres
Wagner Prelude to Act I of Lohengrin
Mahler Ruckert-Lieder
Bruckner Symphony No. 9
Rattle, cond.
w/ Kozena
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Los Angeles, CA
5/8/12
Akiho Alloy
Pereira Percussion Concerto
Berio Recital for Cathy
Dudamel, cond.
w/ Currie, Duffy, Foundry Steel Pan Ensemble
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Los Angeles, CA
5/9/12
Dvorak Carnival Overture
Lindberg Piano Concerto No. 2
Tchaikovsky Symphony No. 4
New York Philharmonic
Gilbert, cond.
w/ Bronfman
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Los Angeles, CA
5/10/12
Mozart Adagio and Fugue, K. 546
Vasks Distant Light
Mozart Posthorn Serenade, K. 320
Dudamel, cond.
w/ Pogostkina
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Los Angeles, CA
5/12/12
"The Armory"
wild Up
Armory Center for the Arts
Pasadena, CA
5/12/12
Puccini La Boheme
Summers, cond
Perez/Costello
Los Angeles Opera
Dorothy Chandler Pavilion
Los Angeles, CA
5/16/12
Arcane Collective Cold Dream Colour
The Edge/Paul Chavez
REDCAT
Los Angeles, CA
5/18/12
Mozart Don Giovanni
Dudamel, cond.
w/ Kwiecien, Burdette
Los Angeles Philharmonic
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Los Angeles, CA
5/19/12
Elaine Stritch Singin' Sondheim... One Song at a Time
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Los Angeles, CA
5/24/12
Follies
Sondheim/Goldman
Ahmanson Theater
Los Angeles, CA
5/26/12
Formalist Quartet
Beyond Baroque
Venice, CA
5/26/12
Golijov Ainadamar
Center Theater
Long Beach, CA
5/31/12
Adams The Gospel According to the Other Mary
Dudamel, cond.
w/ O'Connor, Mumford, Thomas
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Los Angeles, CA
6/1/12
Adams The Gospel According to the Other Mary
Dudamel, cond.
w/ O'Connor, Mumford, Thomas
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Los Angeles, CA
6/7/12
Adams Inuksuit
Libbey Park
Ojai Music Festival
Ojai, CA
6/7/12
Adams Red Arc/Blue Veil
Shostakovich Six Poems of Marina Tsvetaeva, Op. 143a
Ives Concord Sonata
Libbey Bowl
Ojai Music Festival
Ojai, CA
6/8/12
Janacek String Quartet No. 2 "Intimate Letters"
de Leeuw Im wunderschönen Monat Mai
Libbey Bowl
Ojai Music Festival
Ojai, CA
6/9/12
Buene Langsam und Schmachtend
Wagner Wesendonck Lieder
Berg Four Songs Op. 2
Berg Four Pieces Op. 5
Beethoven Piano Sonata No. 21 in C Major,
Op. 53, Waldstein Sonata
Libbey Bowl
Ojai Music Festival
Ojai, CA
6/9/12
Los Otros
Fitzhugh/LaChiusa
Mark Taper Forum
Los Angeles, CA
6/9/12
Hallgrimsson Poemi, Op. 7
Sorensen Piano Concerto No. 2, “La Mattina”
Hillborg Peacock Tales
Mozart Trio in E flat “Kegelstatt” K. 498
Kurtag Hommage à Robert Schumann
Libbey Bowl
Ojai Music Festival
Ojai, CA
6/10/12
Bartok Contrasts
Grieg Holberg Suite
Bolcom Cabaret Songs (Selections)
Copland Clarinet Concerto
Kurtag Hommage à Robert Schumann
Libbey Bowl
Ojai Music Festival
Ojai, CA
6/10/12
Gorecki program
Los Angeles Master Chorale
Gershon, cond.
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Los Angeles, CA
6/10/12
Debussy Danses sacrée et profane
John Adams Shaker Loops
John Luther Adams Dark Waves
Stravinsky Sacre du Printemps
Libbey Bowl
Ojai Music Festival
Ojai, CA
6/14/12
Partch Bitter Music
REDCAT
Los Angeles, CA
6/15/12
Verdi Attila
Luisotti, cond.
w/ Furlanetto, Garcia, Ramey
San Francisco Opera
Lincoln Center
San Francisco, CA
6/17/12
Adams Nixon in China
Renes, cond.
w/ Mulligan, Kanyova, O'Neill
San Francisco Opera
San Francisco, CA
6/24/12
Nyman The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
Libretto by Oliver Sacks
Center Theater
Long Beach, CA
6/28/12
Mwine A Missionary Position
REDCAT
Los Angeles, CA
8/23/12
Medea/Macbeth/Cinderella
Euripides/Shakespeare/Rodgers & Hammerstein
Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Angus Bowmer Theatre
Ashland, OR
8/24/12
Shakespeare Henry V
Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Elizabethan Stage/Allen Pavilion
Ashland, OR
8/25/12
UNIVERSES Party People
Oregon Shakespeare Festival
New Theatre
Ashland, OR
8/25/12
Carey The Very Merry Wives of Windsor, Iowa
Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Elizabethan Stage
Ashland, OR
8/26/12
Schenkkan All the Way
Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Angus Bowmer Theatre
Ashland, OR
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