Glenn Reeves - former principal violist of the Oregon Symphony for 50 years passes

The Oregonian reported today the passing of Glenn Reeves, who was the principal violist of the Oregon Symphony for 50 years. He died on September 17th, at the age of 99. I interviewed Reeves about 10 years ago at his home in Tacoma and have the interview on a mini-cassette tape. I haven't listened to the interview in a while, but I recall that he said that he played for every music director of the Oregon Symphony (formerly the Portland Symphony) from Carl Denton through James DePreist. He explained that he didn't play for Carl Denton when Denton was at the helm of the orchestra, but he did play for Denton when Denton led high school orchestras, because after Denton was forced from his position at the orchestra, he taught music at Lincoln High School and led orchestra concerts that involved the area's students. Reeves told me that he auditioned  for the Portland Symphony when he was just 17 years old, and that the audition took place in Hoogstraten's hotel room. So, I'm going to have to listen to that tape again in the near future.

Portland Opera releases Galileo Galilei

Earlier this week, Portland Opera released its recording of Philip Glass's opera "Galileo Galilei" under the Orange Mountain Music label. This is such a new recording that it has not been listed in Amazon or on the Orange Mountain Music website. So, it looks like you have to call Portland Opera or go to its HQ to purchase a copy. Here are the particulars about the recording from the company's press release:

PORTLAND OPERA RELEASES A COMMERCIAL RECORDING OF THEIR
“ROCKING” 2011 PRODUCTION OF PHILIP GLASS’ GALILEO GALILEI

(Portland, OR) – Portland Opera is pleased to release the first commercial recording of Philip Glass’ Galileo Galilei, available September 25, 2013 under the Orange Mountain Music Label. Recorded live at the Newmark Theater in March 2012, this West Coast premiere was the Company’s first production of a 21st century opera. Galileo Galilei will be Portland Opera’s second commercial recording of a Philip Glass work, following the success of their 2009 recording of Orphée, which was voted among the “Ten Best of the Year” by Opera News.

“The productions and commercial recordings of Galileo Galilei and Orphée have been tremendous experiences for this company,” said General Director Christopher Mattaliano, “exploring a contemporary work by a living composer on the stage and then making the music readily available to a world wide audience is a great source of pride for us. This is also a landmark event for our Resident Artist Program and annual chamber opera, both of which have become keystones in our Company’s mission.”

Composed in 2002, Galileo Galilei is Philip Glass’ 18th opera, a chamber work in one act for nine singers and fifteen instrumentalists. The opera is based on the life of the Italian astronomer, Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), with a libretto by the noted American playwright and director Mary Zimmerman. Portland Opera’s production at the Newmark Theater, directed by Kevin Newbury, was praised by Opera News as “a production that was fluid and playful in the scenes of discovery,” and also for its, “ecstatic vocalise over a rocking, percussive orchestra.”

“We were delighted to have ANNE MANSON back for our second Glass recording,” said Director of Artistic Operations Clare Burovac. “She has an extraordinary feeling for the work of Philip Glass.” In a review of the Orphée recording in 2009, The New York Times declared, “the vibrant Ms. Manson works effectively to bring transparency and balance to the orchestra, without the loss of plush colors and harmonic intensity.” She was equally successful in Galileo Galilei, and Opera News agreed, saying “conductor Anne Manson held everything together, as central and as solid as gravity.”

The Galileo Galilei cast was primarily made up of the members Portland Opera’s 2011/12 Resident Artist Program. The company developed this program in 2005 to serve as a bridge between the conservatory and professional worlds, and a highlight is the Company’s annual chamber opera, which features these emerging artists in leading roles. Resident baritone ANDRÉ CHIANG sang the role of Younger Galileo with a “bold and resonant voice” (Portland Mercury), and bass NICHOLAS NELSON “sang with gravitas” (Opera) as Pope Urban VIII, Cardinal Barberini, and Simplicio. Seattle’s online news site Crosscut.com said “Young soprano LINDSAY OHSE presides over one of the opera’s loveliest scenes in the vocally soaring role of Galileo’s beloved daughter, Maria Celeste,” and Resident Artist “CAITLIN MATHES contributed an elegant mezzo” (Opera News). Former Resident Artist JOSÉ RUBIO contributed his “strong baritone” to the roles of Priest and Cardinal 3 (Opera News).

Filling out the critically acclaimed cast was countertenor JOHN HOLIDAY, who “sang with remarkably pure tone” (Opera), and Portland Opera veteran tenor RICHARD TROXELL who was praised by Opera for creating “a sympathetic elderly Galileo, recalling his life with a voice filled with anguish.” Mr. Troxell, Mr. Rubio, and Mr. Holiday all reprised their roles in the July 2013 production of Galileo Galilei at Cincinnati Opera.

“We are delighted to have the cooperation from all of the unions involved in this project, including the American Federation of Musicians, the American Guild of Musical Artists, and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees” said Mr. Mattaliano. “This recording would not have been possible without them and we are truly grateful for their participation,” he added. Michael Riesman, music director and principal keyboardist of the Philip Glass Ensemble produced both Orphée and Galileo Galilei for Orange Mountain Music. Orange Mountain Music’s mission is to archive all of Philip Glass’ music so that as many of his compositions as possible are available commercially. The commercial recording of Portland Opera’s Galileo Galilei will be released complete with libretto and production photographs. Orange Mountain Music is distributed by harmonia mundi USA.

The commercial recording of Galileo Galilei features the following artistic cast:

ANNE MANSON - Conductor
RICHARD TROXELL -  Older Galileo
LINDSAY OHSE+ - Maria Celeste, Duchess Christina
CAITLIN MATHES+  - Maria Maddalena, A Scribe
ANDRÉ CHIANG +  - Younger Galileo, Salviati
NICHOLAS NELSON+ -  Pope Urban VIII, Cardinal Barberini, Simplicio
JOSÉ RUBIO+  - Cardinal 3, Priest
JOHN HOLIDAY*  - Cardinal 1, Oracle 1
MATTHEW HAYWARD -  Cardinal 2, Servant, Oracle 2
ANNE MCKEE REED  - Sagredo, Marie de’ Medici, Eos

+ Former Portland Opera Resident Artist
* Portland Opera debut

Portland Opera singers are members of the American Guild of Musical Artists (AFL-CIO) the labor union representing professional singers, dancers and staging personnel in the United States. This recording was produced with the generous support of Tremaine and Gail Arkley, Jeannine B. Cowles, Greg and Mary Hinckley, Louis and Judy McCraw, and Mrs. Philip H. Miller; as well as the National Endowment for the Arts and the Opera fund of OPERA America.

From the Oregon Symphony flows what you call music

Tōru Takemitsu

On Saturday evening (September 21) at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, the Oregon Symphony provided two distinct paths for concertgoers to lose themselves in music. One path led listeners into the meditative interior monologue of Tōru Takemitsu’s “From Me Flows What You Call Time.” The other path took the audience into the exterior, story-driven music of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s beloved “Scheherazade.” This unusual pairing was highlighted in the BBC Music Magazine as one of the very best concerts to attend this fall in North America. The orchestra, led by music director Carlos Kalmar, did not disappoint, giving an intensely calm interpretation of Takemitsu’s piece and a passionately dynamic version of Rimsky-Korsakov’s.

Completed in 1990, “From Me Flows What You Call Time” was commissioned by Carnegie Hall for the Boston Symphony Orchestra and its music director Seiji Ozawa, and chosen for the Oregon Symphony program in order to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Portland Japanese Garden, which sponsored the concert. Besides the orchestral ensemble, this piece required a huge percussion battery that involved glockenspiel, vibraphone, steel drums, cymbals, bells, gongs (including water gongs), crotales (small tuned disks), bowls, anklung (tuned bamboo rattles), darabuka (Arabic or Turkish drum), bells, almglocken, tuned log drums, tom-toms, marimbaphone, and five percussion soloists: Sergio Carreno, Niel DePonte, Jonathan Greeney, Luanne Warner Katz, and Michael Roberts. They moved very carefully among the arrangement of instruments and with an understanding of the highly symbolic nature of this work, which was inspired by Tibetan Buddhism. So there was a bit of choreography as Carreno, DePonte, Greeney, Katz, and Roberts slowly entered the stage from different corners of the hall after principal flutist Jessica Sindell beautifully intoned a five-note motive that was passed along to the orchestra. It was visually arresting to watch all of this slowly unfold. The percussion soloists sported Asian-styled jackets, which were similar in color to the ribbons extended above the heads of the audience. The ribbons, representing the five natural phenomena of water (blue), fire (red), earth (yellow), wind (green), and sky (white), evoked the concept of “Wind Horse” which links the elements and the human spirit to well-being or good fortune. The ribbons also were attached to a group of bells that were softly rung a few times later in the piece.

Much of “From Me Flows What You Call Time” seemed to involve a conversation of sorts between the orchestra and the percussion soloists, with the orchestra providing a light tonal foundation and then backing off. The shimmery sounds from the steel drums, the swirling tones from various cymbals, the delicate bells, and feathery gongs accented the quiet, introspective nature of this piece. The pace of the piece slowed down and seemed to lose a bit of momentum at near the end of a series of improvised solos, but perhaps that was the intent of Takemistu, who is quoted to have said, “I would like to achieve a sound as intense as silence.”

After intermission, the orchestra returned to familiar territory and delivered a thrilling performance of “Scheherazade.” Kalmar encouraged a full dynamic range, and his forces responded with stellar playing with silky strings, stirring brass, lush harp, and woodwinds that could set a scene that was smoky and faraway or jumping up and down right in front of your face. Concertmaster Sarah Kwak created sweet and evocative tones in her many solos, making it easy to let your imagination flow. The principal players of the orchestra, including cellist Nancy Ives, oboist Martin Hebert, clarinetist Yoshinori Nakao, bassoonist Carin Miller Packwood, flustist Jessica Sindell, harpist Jennifer Craig, trombonist Aaron LaVere, trumpeter Jeffrey Work, and hornist John Cox, also had many shining moments. The tempo in the last movement was very fast and loud, and it even caused a brief waggle in Cox’s sound. Work’s impeccable double- and triple-tonguing helped to propel the sonic story until it all crashed into sea foam at the end, topped off with the thrilling high notes from Zachariah Galatis’s piccolo. Kwak got the very last word with her serene high notes that vanished into the distance.

Kwak and Lewis team up for dynamic concert at the Old Church

Violinist Sarah Kwak and pianist Cary Lewis put their considerable artistic prowess on display on Sunday evening (September 15), delivering an incisive performance of works by Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Prokofiev, Francis Poulenc, and Richard Strauss to a very engaged audience at the Old Church. The level of difficulty of the pieces in the program was on the high side of the Richter scale, and both performers held nothing back, which made this concert a terrific way to start the fall season. In particular, the concert offered an opportunity to see Kwak, concertmaster of the Oregon Symphony, work her magic up close, and she mesmerized everyone.

The concert, sponsored by 45th Parallel and All Classical Portland (KQAC), started with Igor Stravinsky’s “Suite Italienne,” whose six movements are based on his ballet, “Pulcinella.” Kwak and Lewis seemed to enjoy the way that the music shifted from Baroque to Romantic and the quirky turns of phrase that is unique to Stravinsky, including some really odd passages for the piano in the sixth movement.

Kwak and Lewis followed the Stravinsky with Prokofiev’s “Five Melodies for Violin and Piano.” Kwak imbued the long, extended lines with this piece with a golden, rich tone. Other highlights from Kwak included trills in the lower register, double-stops, a ghostly-toned segment, playfully lyric lines, and whistling high notes – all impeccably done. Lewis supported her with lively accompaniment, especially when he played tantalizing lush passages that was juxtaposed with the vibrant sound of the violin.

Lewis introduced Poulenc’s “Sonata for Violin and Piano” with a few words that described the piece as moving between Stravinsky-inflected passages and lounge lizard passages. Although it was an apt description, both he and Kwak succeeded in elevating the music so that it did reveal the emotions of the composer, who dedicated the piece to the famous Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca. Some of the best moments occurred in the middle movement when violinist and pianist created a seesaw of turbulence that turned later into a haunting atmosphere of closely linked phrases and finally an upwards glissando that turned everything into a question mark.

The final piece on the program was Strauss’s “Violin Sonata in E-flat,” an unabashedly Romantic piece that the composer wrote when he fell under the spell of soprano Pauline de Ahna, who later became his wife. The passionate lyricism of Kwak’s playing served the music incredibly well. She created a variety of moods that shifted all over the place: stormy, wistful, restful, heroic and grand. Her singing tone made it all gorgeous to the ears.

The audience rewarded Kwak and Lewis with a standing ovation and were treated to an encore, a lovely rendition of Edward Elgar’s “Salut d'amour.” The next time these two perform, it would be great if more violin and piano students were in the audience. That would've made the concert even better.

Lang Lang and Oregon Symphony play Prokfiev

Lang Lang. Photo by Philip Glaser.

Thursday night, September 12 saw Lang Lang, perhaps the world's premier concert pianist, join forces with the Oregon Symphony under Carlos Kalmar to play Prokofiev's Concerto No. 3 for Piano and Orchestra at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.

The orchestra opened with Copland's El Salon Mexico, a sort of tone-poem that established Copland's signature style. There were some fun moments; a drunken-sounding trumpet artfully played over purposely sloppy discordance painted a delightful mental picture. However there were hiccups in the infectious rhythms demanded by this work, and the orchestra sometimes felt sluggish reacting to the maestro. Everything was there...just not always at the exact right time. By the time it was done, one almost wished they could have just started the whole short work over from the beginning and played it one more time and it would've been perfect.

Fortunately, since the next work was Copland's Suite from Billy the Kid, the desired mulligan effect was pretty much there. From the hypnotically persistent ostinato at the beginning the OSO really hit its stride. This very programmatic piece was redolent with its images: the slow, ponderous, irresistible ambling across the vast oceans of grass, a card game in which one could almost see the expressions on the faces of the gamblers, a night under the brilliant prairie stars...By this time the OSO had warmed into the precise syncopations for which Copland is so famous. There were moments of unison between piccolo and xylophone that were genuinely exquisite, and when they nabbed young Bill Bonney, you could tell this was a crowd itching for a hangin'...

Lang Lang took the stage for the Prokofiev in the second half with his customary ease, projecting an air of quiet self confidence that soon gave way to his gesticulatory showmanship, and from a physical, from an attitudinal standpoint it is certainly clear why he is so popular.  However from a strictly musical standpoint, while the solo passages were smooth and wonderful to hear, he often feels too polite...he is too deferential to the orchestra. While certainly a brilliant pianist, he's not a 'natural born' concerto soloist, so to speak, in the way that say Van Cliburn was,  nor does he display the same seemingly limitless technical wizardry and natural feel for a concerto as Yuja Wang for instance. It would be quite something to hear him give a solo or chamber music performance.

That said, there was a lot to enjoy from his performance. In the first movement it was great fun to watch his left hand, like some manic bird pecking back and forth around his right as it rumbled up and down the keyboard. His physicality is a strength in live performance...he revels in his 'rock-star' status, and rightly so. In the second movement he played with delicacy and grace at a breathtakingly fast pace, executing the most complex, keyboard-spanning arpeggiation with a style that sounded like an effortless roulade. In the finale he certainly showed his technical chops, but like always, more was wanted...more forcefulness and musical presence.

The orchestra closed with the delightful Capriccio Italien by Tchaikovsky, appropriately bombastic and festive as this chestnut should be.

San Francisco Opera conjures powerful Mefistofele

San Francisco Opera’s production of Arrigo Boito’s "Mefistofele" is one that shouldn’t be missed. It’s a stunning production that tells the story of Faust and his bargain with the devil Mefistofele, broadly paralleling Goethe’s "Faust." The "Mefistofele" presented at the War Memorial Opera House featured the formidable Ildar Abdrazakov in the title role and international stars Ramón Vargas as Faust and Patricia Racette as Margherita. Although the three principals sang superbly in the opening night performance (Friday, September 6), it was the company’s opera chorus that carried the evening with stellar contributions from top to bottom.

Because Boito’s "Mefistofele" has so many big choral numbers, the chorus, prepared by Ian Robertson, plays a much larger role than in most other operas. The volume of 90 voices opened and closed the opera impressively as a massive heavenly choir, bedecked with golden crowns that twinkled in the galaxy. They were augmented with 30 children choristers, whose voices Mefestofele found most annoying. A colorfully resplendent chorus dominated the Easter Sunday scene and their bodies, in varying states of nakedness, stamped a lasting impression of gleeful decadence during the Walpurgis Night scene. (Please note that no children were involved in that scene.)

Preened to the max in red, Abdrazakov’s Mefestofele brimmed with confidence and swagger, which gave credence to his wager with God that he could win the soul of Faust. He almost sneered when he declaimed that the task was hardly worth the effort because mankind was such a feeble entity (“I can hardly bear to tempt them to evil”), and he lost no time signing up Faust and introducing him to Margherita.

As the disillusioned old scholar who becomes rejuvenated in body and spirit, Vargas sang brilliantly, especially when he expressed fear for Margherita’s wellbeing during the Walpurgis revels and also when he tried to get her to leave prison. Racette created a Margherita that convincingly changed from a girl smitten with the love for a dashing gentleman to a woman who was distraught and on the verge of a mental collapse. Her Elena was also wonderful, although the character – representing the legendary Greek beauty – has no real warmth.

The production, co-owned by San Francisco Opera and the Metropolitan Opera, was conceived by Robert Carson and premiered by San Francisco Opera in 1989 and presented again in 1994. Under revival director Laurie Feldman, it still packs a punch and makes the episodic nature of the story unfold in a fresh way. The red flames of hell, the sky blue of heaven, the super-sized telescope, the merry-go-round garden, the cat-walk-of-a-party-table at Walpurgis Night, and the theater boxes were some of the many visual delights. Perhaps the nudity wasn’t needed, but Walpurgis Night was supposed to have a bacchanalian quality; so it did work well. Plus, Mefestofele conducted the revelers from the front of the stage, whipping them into a state of exhaustion. The orchestra, led by music director Nicola Luisotti, played with intensity. Luisotti, in fact, had no problem with his musical forces. He did have a problem with the audience. Since it was gala night, there was a lot of chatter, and after the pause in Act II, Luisotti signaled the patrons to be quiet, but they ignored him. That caused him to turn around and say, “Please be quiet.” After a lot of “shhing” throughout the hall, the music finally got underway.

Since operagoers had just ponied up a lot of money for the gala, they were probably not going to be kicked out of the opera house. Most of them weren’t in their seats when the opera General Director David Gockley and two members of the board appeared on the stage to give their opening remarks at 8:05. Consequently, the first downbeat didn’t happen until around the 8:20 mark and the curtain went down on the final scene just a few minutes before midnight. At the beginning of Act IV (where Faust travels to ancient Greece), I saw a lot of empty seats. Perhaps they didn’t want to see the Epilogue where Mefestofele protested God’s pardon as Faust got hauled into heaven with the glorious sound of the chorus shimmering about him. It was spectacular.

Agnieszka Laska Dancers to take Rite of Spring to Chicago

The Chicago Philharmonic has invited Portland-based Agnieszka Laska Dancers to perform Stravinsky's "The Rite of Spring" (reviewed here) at its season opener on September 29 at at Pick-Staiger Hall in Evanston, Illinois. ALD was chosen from 30 different dance companies to perform with the Chicago Philharmonic, which is resident orchestra of the Joffrey Ballet. While in Chicago the ALD will also perform The Chopin Project with Polish pianist Igor Lipinski at Copernicus Center.

The total cost for the trip is $10,000, and most of it will be covered by the Chicago Philharmonic and the Copernicus Center. But ALD still needs $2,000 to pull it off. Ergo, ALD has started a Kickstarter campaign, which has raised $826 so far. Hopefully, the troupe will find some more donors to make their quest a reality. The two performances in Chicago are a terrific tribute to the talent of the company and its artistic director and choreographer Agnieszka Laska.

Musica Maestrale's Second Season: A Chat with Artistic Director Hideki Yamaya

On a delightfully sanguine late-August evening in my back yard about two weeks ago, I sat down over drinks with my friend Hideki Yamaya, an early music plucked strings expert and Musica Maestrale's Artistic Director. We had an informal chat about his group's upcoming second season, which premiers this Saturday night September 14th at 8 pm at the Community Music Center (3350 SE Francis St.) Tickets are $16 general admission or $14 for students/seniors, and can be bought here online or at the door. They will be playing with members of the Early Music Guild of Oregon

Musica Maestrale is an early music collective that specializes in small-ensemble chamber music from before 1800. For an in-depth look at their goals, make-up and perspective, as well as video and audio links to some performances, check out this article I wrote at Oregon Music News after talking with Hideki last year.

LW: Talking with Hideki Yamaya, the Artistic Director for Musica Maestrale

HY: That’s me

LW: That’s him. So there are some big changes this year…big developments as far as...

HY: I don’t know if it’s big. We have more board members…however we are looking for a new Executive Director. In the interim I’m filling that role, doing the administrative aspect of MM. What’s exciting is going to be the first concert of this season. It is a joint project with the Early Music Guild of Oregon, run by Phil and Gail Newman, whom you may know as the leaders of the Oregon Renaissance Band, of which I am also a part. This first project that we’re doing is a concert of ‘broken consort’ music.

LW: Broken Consort? What is that?

HY: That refers to the fact that this music is instrumental ensemble music, but it’s a consort made up of different instrumental families. So when you think about a consort, you usually think about a consort of recorders or a consort of viols…instruments all belonging to the same family. This [broken consort] ensemble is made up of instruments from different groups, different families.. This is also called a ‘consort of six’ because it requires six instruments, and it is also called an English consort.

LW: Now ‘English consort…’ does that suggest certain instruments when you use this term?

HY: Yes. It is almost always the same instrument makeup. It consists of either the treble viol or violin, recorder or renaissance flute, bass viol, lute, cittern and bandora. Now the cittern and the bandora are rarest of these instruments. The cittern is a plucked wire-strung instrument of four courses and it’s related to the mandolin family but the tuning is very peculiar, and you play it with a quill plectrum. The bandora is…kind of similar to a lute but it is wire-strung and it has six courses and it’s tuning is closer to that of the guitar. So those two instruments add that ‘twang’ to the whole sound. So you have this interesting combination of sustained melodic instruments and plucked, strummy instruments.

LW: This adds a percussive effect?

HY: Exactly. It’s a very unique sound.

LW: And this is all in the first concert?

HY: That’s right.

LW: So which composers are you playing in this first concert?

HY: Well, we are doing a whole bunch of stuff from two sources for this consort music. There’s [John] Dowland, good old Dowland, and [Thomas] Morley, and Richard Allison…those are the main composers. And we’re doing a couple sets of pieces by Matthew Locke, who is a little bit later, but he called some of his pieces broken consorts even though they require fewer instruments.

LW: So…heavy on the Englishmen?

HY: Yep, it’s an all English program. I think this might be the first time some of these pieces are going to be played with a full broken consort makeup. It’s rarely done, as you can imagine, because of the difficulty of getting all these instruments and players together.

LW: Well that sounds pretty exciting. Now that’s September 14th?

HY: That’s right. And then in December we’re going to do a fundraiser event which…

LW: Details to follow?

HY: [Laughing] Yeah. It will be a holiday themed food-and-music kind of event. And then the second concert is in January, and we’re doing yet another joint project, [this time] with The Ensemble.

LW: The Ensemble?

HY:  Yes, which is…do you know about them?

LW: It seems like I should, but…refresh my memory.[laughing]

HY: [It’s] Patrick McDonough’s thing, and he’s [doing] vocal music…I think he’s focusing on early music and contemporary music. Nothing in the middle. I heard them do Haydn’s…I forgot what it was…Stabat Mater, or some such sacred piece last year, and they did a really great job. Of course you know the choral singers in Portland, they are in all the groups [laughing] but he hand-picks them…people who can really do solo work. And so we’re doing a joint project with them which is going to be a part of the Celebration Works series at First Pres[byterian], and we’re doing a concert of Monteverdi madrigals.

LW: [Me salivating] Ohhh…do you know any of the ones you are doing?

HY: Yes…all the pieces are set already.

LW: Anything you can think of off the top of your head?

HY: Oh yes. The biggest piece we’re doing is Sestina. Sestina is a poetic form. The subtitle of it is…oh I forget. I’ll tell you later. But if you look up Sestina Monteverdi it’ll pop right up. [NOTE: I did, and the subtitle is Lagrime d’Amante al Sepolcro dell’Amata {Tears of a lover at the tomb of his beloved}. ] It’s a piece that’s about 17 minutes long, and it’s in four or…five parts maybe.

LW: Is that one of the dramatic madrigals…let’s say along the lines of Tancredi e Clorinda or something like that?

HY: It’s not, and it’s not staged. It’s all five voices throughout with optional continuo which…I’ll take that option. It’s better…more dramatic with instruments. It’s an incredibly beautiful piece.

LW: Does it tell a continuous story?

HY: It’s the lamentations of a lover at the grave of the beloved. Pretty dark…

LW: One of those light-hearted 17th-century…

HY: [Laughing] Yes. All the singers should be great. Mel Downie Robinson will be singing, and she’s great…so I’m looking forward to that. It should be a good project. That piece comes from book six of the Madrigals…I think the bulk of it [the concert] comes from books six and seven, and then some other pieces here and there. The third concert is going to be me and John Lenti who plays a lot with Portland Baroque Orchestra. It’s going to be lute duets and theorbo duets…it’s going to be a pluckfest. Good stuff.

LW: So the lute enthusiasts had better turn out for that one.

HY: Yeah…they'd better. [Laughing.] Everyone should. Again, these are going to be pieces that you will rarely hear [live] because of the instruments involved.

LW: Well that’s always the fun of baroque music, because there’s just so much variety as far as instrumentation.

HY: Exactly.

LW: I mean, you don’t want to call them undiscovered, because someone knows they’re out there, but there's just a treasure trove of largely untapped compositions that’s almost bottomless at this point. It’s not the stuff that people have been playing and recording for the last hundred years, and you’re like ‘oh, I’ve got four CDs of that in my collection…’

HY: Exactly. It’s not Vivaldi’s Four Seasons in this program [laughing.] And that’s going to be in February. Now the last two concerts have not been set yet.

LW: Ahah! TBAs?

HY: Yeah. One of the things I was thinking about fell through so…I still have to come up with those. But it will be decided very soon. I’m still looking forward to doing a full season of five concerts. Just have to keep it going…keep us in people’s consciousness.

 [We chatted for a while about the first season, as well as some of the goals/needs of the second season, including his desire to develop a larger audience of around a hundred or so on a regular basis.]

LW: It takes some time to develop that groundswell, even when the quality is good and the music is good…I think that’s one of the problems inherent in living in such an arts-saturated town like Portland. People have so many choices so that even when it’s something that’s pretty unique like MM it’s still…not to call it ‘clutter,’ but it’s just that people have so many excellent options from which to choose that a new ‘start-up’ can get lost.

HY: Exactly. And since we don’t really have money yet we can’t really spend money on advertising or fancier programs or posters and things. We’re going to start applying for grants. Since we have one season under our belts we feel like we’re in that position now. And we’ve also got to find someone who wants to take on the job of being Executive Director.

LW: What is MM looking for in an ED?

HY: I’m hoping this organization will grow, but I don’t see it becoming a full-time position for anyone.

LW: So it’s a volunteer position?

HY: Not exactly…it might start out that way but we’re hoping to soon move into a position where we can pay someone, just like I want to be paid for the work I do [laughing.] But you know it’s something where if someone were to do administrative work for a few organizations like this, it could be a full-time job.

LW: What kind of duties are involved with being an ED?

HY: Someone who is in charge of all the logistics…getting a venue, getting all the programs printed, flyers printed, all the e-mailing, maintaining the website, publicity…someone who’s good at talking up what we’re doing and asking for money.

LW: Someone who knows what they’re talking about…someone who knows how to gab about the right things? Not necessarily someone who has a PhD in 16th Century music but…

HY: They would have to be knowledgeable to a certain extent, but I could take over when it comes to talking specifics about the music. Someone with good organizational skills. Of course that ED doesn’t have to do all that him or herself…they can delegate. We have a board of four right now….we might like to have one more person on the board right now and I think I know who that might be.

LW: Well thanks for talking with me Hideki, and I’m genuinely excited about MM’s second season.

HY: Me too . Thanks!

Superb Renaissance recorder concert by The Royal Wind Music ensemble at Boston Early Music Festival

The Royal Wind Music at Jordan Hall

One of the very best concerts I heard at the Boston Early Music Festival a couple of months ago was given by The Royal Wind Music, a European ensemble that plays a panoply of Renaissance recorders. By panoply, I mean that the concert featured recorders that ranged from a 12-inch sopranino to a 10-foot plus sub-contrabass.There were at least 30 different kinds of Renaissance recorders on the stage of Jordan Hall (New England Conservatory) played at the concert on Sunday afternoon, June 16th. Some pieces featured all 13 musicians of the ensemble, while other selections required fewer performers. When everyone played the full range of recorders (as in the photo above), they sounded like a soft pipe organ. Only the tallest players could handle the sub-contrabass, which also required a lot of breath-output. The speed, accuracy, and delight with which the musicians played the shorter and higher-sounding recorders reminded me of virtuosity of Michala Petri, except that I was witnessing a whole fleet of Michala Petris! The musicians come from eight different countries, but they all studied at the Amsterdam Conservatoire, and they are led by the Paul Leenhouts, who founded The Royal Wind Music and is currently Professor of Music Director of Early Music Program at the University of North Texas .

The Royal Wind Music ensemble specializes in music written between 1520 and 1640. The group's program at the Boston Early Music Festival, entitled "Angeli, Zingare e Pastori: Symbols and Allegories in Italian Renaissance Music", featured works by composers, most of whom I probably haven't heard before: Alessandro Orlogio, Innocentio Alberti, Simone Molinaro, Vincenzo Ruffo, Girolamo Cavazzoni, Tarquino Merula, Gioseffo Guami, Jacopo Corfini, Paolo Agostini, Ascanio Trombetti, Giovanni de Macque, Girolamo Frescobaldi, Orazio Vecchi, Salomone Rossi, and Giovanni Maria Trabaci. The only two familiar names were Andrea Gabrieli and Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina. All of the pieces were memorized and sometimes Leenhouts played an instrument rather than direct. Many of the pieces were originally written for voices, but have been arranged by Leenhouts. Some of the works had a more prayerful or angelic (Angeli) sound, others were more playful and dance-like, which suggested the shepherds (Pastori). I don't recall any piece that suggested gypsy (Zingare), but it must have been in the program. Overall, I was elevated by the perfection of music-making and the music of this ensemble. It would be really terrific, if they could visit Portland some day.

Oregonian, EM Lewis, named Resident Artist in new Composer Librettist Development Program

EM Lewis, who is best known as a playwright has been named a Resident Artist in the new Composer Librettist Development Program that is part of American Lyric Theater and funded by the Andrew Mellon Foundation. Lewis has been writing in Princeton for the past three years, and has returned to her home-base in rural Monitor, Oregon (just a few miles east of Woodburn).

Here are the particulars from the American Lyric Theater press release about this unique program, followed by more information about Lewis:

Lawrence Edelson, Producing Artistic Director of American Lyric Theater (ALT), announced today that the company has been awarded a $150,000 grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to support capacity building and the national expansion of the company's Composer Librettist Development Program (CLDP), the only full-time professional mentorship initiative for emerging operatic writers in the country.

The new grant will allow ALT to expand the CLDP from a 10-month program offered annually, to a comprehensive three-year artist mentorship cycle through which artists will not only receive personalized mentorship, but also be commissioned to write new operas. In addition, newly acquired HD videoconferencing equipment will increase the geographic scope of the program, allowing gifted emerging artists with an interest in writing for the opera stage to participate regardless of where they live. Previously, the CLDP was only able to serve artists living in the metropolitan New York City area. 8 new Resident Artists have been selected to join the CLDP beginning in September, selected from a national pool of applicants: 4 from the New York City area and 4 from cities across the nation.

The 8 new Residents Artists who have been invited to join the CLDP this season are composers Clarice Assad (New York, NY), Elizabeth Lim (New York, NY), Evan Meier (Silver Spring, MD), and Kamala Sankaram (Brooklyn, NY); and librettists Rob Handel (Pittsburgh, PA), EM Lewis (Woodburn, OR), Jerome Parker (New York, NY), and Niloufar Talebi (San Francisco, CA). Biographies of the new Resident Artists can be found at:

http://www.altnyc.org/composer-librettist-development-program/resident-artists/

The new Resident Artists will be introduced to the public during a salon featuring their work at the National Opera Center, located at 330 7th Avenue in New York City, on Wednesday, September 18, 2013.   The evening will begin at 7:00 pm with a wine a cheese reception and an opportunity for the public to meet the artists, followed at 7:30 pm by a short performance.

Founded in 2007, the CLDP is a tuition-free program that includes a core curriculum of classroom training and hands-on workshops with some of the country's leading working artists and has been regularly recognized for artistic excellence by the National Endowment for the Arts. The principal faculty for the 2013-2014 CLDP includes composer/librettist Mark Adamo, composer Paul Moravec, librettists Mark Campbell and Michael Korie, stage directors Lawrence Edelson and Rhoda Levine, and dramaturg Cori Ellison. Recent guest teachers and lecturers have included composers Kaija Saariaho, Anthony Davis, Ricky Ian Gordon, Nico Muhly, Stewart Wallace, Christopher Theofanidis, and John Musto, and librettists Stephen Karam, Donna DiNovelli, and Gene Scheer. Biographies of ALT's mentorship team and faculty may be found at:

http://www.altnyc.org/composer-librettist-development-program/faculty-and-mentorship-team/  

In addition to ongoing classes and workshops, composers and librettists in the program have the opportunity to take part in residency observerships at The Metropolitan Opera. Additional networking and membership resources are provided through ALT's partnership with OPERA America.

---

EM Lewis received the 2012 Fellowship in Playwriting from the New Jersey State Council for the Arts, the 2010‐2011 Hodder Fellowship at Princeton University, and both the Steinberg/ATCA New Play Award for Song of Extinction and the Primus Prize for Heads from the American Theater Critics Association. Her plays have been produced around the world, and published by Samuel French.  She is the Dramatists Guild representative for New Jersey.  Recent productions include Song of Extinction at the Guthrie and Hostos College; Heads at Missouri Valley College; Talking to Westfield at Premiere Stages; and the world premiere of Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday at HotCity Theater.  Upcoming productions include Heads at the Pittsburgh Playhouse, Reading to Vegetables at University of Washington, and the world premiere of True Story at Passage Theater in New Jersey.  Current projects include an epic Antarctic adventure story called Magellanica: A New and Accurate Map of the World, an intimate two-person play called The Stone Languages, and The Gun Show.  Lewis was born and raised in rural Oregon, lived in Los Angeles for quite a while, and most recently was writing full-time in Princeton for the last three years.  She currently lives on her family’s farm in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Residence: Monitor, OR.

Idaho forest fire causes cancellation of concerts at end of Sun Valley Summer Symphony season

Forest fires have caused the Sun Valley Summer Symphony to cancel the last four concerts of its season, according to the orchestra's web site. The Sun Valley Summer Symphony is the nation's largest privately-funded series of free concerts. This year was its 29th season with concerts that included tenor Nicolas Phan, pianists Orion Weiss, Joyce Yang and Orli Shaham, violinist Midori, and narrator John Glenn

 According to this OPB report, the Beaver Creek Fire has already cost $11 million to subdue.

Das Lied von der Erde receives new recording in chamber version by the Martingale Ensemble

In the autumn of 1918, at the end of the First World War, Arnold Schoenberg founded the Society for Private Music Performances (Verein für musikalische Privataufführungen) in Vienna, Austria, with the purpose of performing contemporary music for an audience that was firmly committed to hearing new work. Over the next three years, until 1921, the Society gave 117 concerts of works by composers, such as Stravinsky, Bartók, Debussy, Ravel, Webern, Berg, Scriabin, Suk, and Mahler. Many performances featured orchestral works that had been distilled into versions for chamber orchestra. One of these was an arrangement by Schoenberg of “Das Lied von der Erde” (“The Song of the Earth”), which Mahler had finished 1909. Schoenberg began his arrangement in 1920, but he apparently abandoned it in 1922 when the Society went bankrupt. German composer Rainer Riehn took up Schoenberg’s sketches and completed the arrangement in 1983, and it is this version for 14 musicians and two singers that the Martingale Ensemble under the direction of Ken Selden recorded last year. Featuring tenor Robert Breault and baritone Richard Zeller, the album, on the MSR Classics label, has just been released, and it’s a revelation to hear the breadth of Mahler’s angst-ridden music in this reduced yet elegant version.

Mahler wrote “Das lied von der Erde” at a time in his life when he experienced a lot of disappointment. In 1907, anti-Semitism forced him to resign from the artistic leadership of the Vienna Court Opera, that summer his eldest daughter died at age of 5, and Mahler himself was diagnosed as having a serious heart defect. In the midst of this turmoil, Mahler became inspired by Chinese poetry that had been adapted by Hans Bethge and set six poems to music in a form that has been described as a hybrid symphonic song-cycle. Much of the text is dark and filled with anxiety.

It is fascinating to hear how a spare group of instrumentalists evoke the main orchestral themes. Schoenberg/Riehn use all sorts of unique combinations to create the  some of the same kind of sounds that larger forces make in Mahler’s original, for example, the first song “Das Trinklied vom Jammer der Erde” (“Drinking Song of Earth’s Sorrows”) ends with low notes from the piano and a few other instruments rather than with the low brass. Of course, the lushness of a full orchestral sound is missing, but the bare, exposed lines in the chamber version can drill just as far into the heart. The musicians, consisting of members from the Oregon Symphony, Third Angle New Music Ensemble, the Florestan Trio, Northwest New Music, and 45^th Parallel find just enough Viennese schmaltz to make the music ring true.

Breault fills the drinking songs with gusto and bravado of a man who feels that life is futile. His tone is slightly reedy, but the passion of his delivery imbues the music with a firm sense of conviction.

The most unique feature of this recording is use of a baritone instead of the traditional mezzo-soprano for three of the songs. This is the first recording I have found that has tried such a combination, and it works well because of the warmth of Zeller’s voice. When he sings of beautiful maiden who yearns for the handsome young man in “Von der Schöenheit” (“Of Beauty”), he delivers the text gorgeously.  And he sings the last words of the piece “ewig… ewig” (“forever… forever”) in a haunting way that lasts and lasts.

Ken Selden sets excellent tempos throughout and shows extra attention to dynamic details.  This recording is the second one in which Selden has mined a gem from Schoenberg’s Society for Private Musical Performances. The first one, released in 2011, was a chamber music rendition of Mahler’s Fourth Symphony and of Debussy’s “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun” with the Martingale Ensemble (reviewed here). Both recordings are available on Amazon.

Oregon Symphony adds concert to celebrate Portland Japanese Garden's big 5-0

Toru Takemitsu

Details:

Saturday, September 21, 2013 | 7:30 pm
Monday, September 23, 2013 | 8 pm

Carlos Kalmar, conductor

• Sergio Carreno, percussion

• Niel DePonte, percussion

• Jonathan Greeney, percussion

• Luanne Warner Katz, percussion

• Michael Roberts, percussion

 

• Takemitsu: From me flows what you call Time (percussion concerto)

Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade

From the OSO Press Release:

  THE OREGON SYMPHONY TO ADD A MUSICAL BOW

ON THE PORTLAND JAPANESE GARDEN’S 50^th BIRTHDAY PRESENT

 

(PORTLAND, Ore.) –  The Oregon Symphony and the Portland Japanese Garden are teaming up to help make the Garden’s 50^th birthday as big as it deserves to be.

 

To honor the Portland Japanese Garden’s 50^th Anniversary, the Oregon Symphony and Music Director Carlos Kalmar programmed a very special concert to open the 2013/14 Classical Concert season.  The concert features a percussion concerto, From me flows what you call Time, by Japanese composer Toru Takemitsu, as well as Rimsky-Korsakov’s Scheherazade based on Eastern-inspired tales from One Thousand and One Nights.

 

Unlike the explosive sound often associated with a percussion concerto, Takemitsu’s piece is delicate and quiet, much like a walk in the Garden itself.  The Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall will also look a little different with colorful ribbons extended from the stage into the upper seating areas where they are connected to chimes activated by one of the five percussion artists on stage.

 

Portland Japanese Garden CEO Stephen Bloom voiced his appreciation of the musical celebration:  “We sincerely appreciate the Symphony’s recognition of this important milestone.  We thank them, and we look forward to doing a bit of cross-pollination of our mutual audiences.”

 

The Portland Japanese Garden, founded in 1963, is the most authentic Japanese garden outside of Japan. Situated on 5.5 acres in the scenic West Hills of Portland, and featuring five traditional garden styles, the Portland Japanese Garden is open year-round to nearly 250,000 visitors per year. The purpose of the Portland Japanese Garden is to create, maintain, improve, and administer an authentic, world-class Japanese garden in the city of Portland and to offer compatible educational, cultural, artistic, horticultural, environmental, and charitable activities. For more information, visit japanesegarden.com.

Götterdämerung brings the world, Ring Cycle to a close

Alwyn Mellor (Brünnhilde) and Stephanie Blythe (Waltraute).

  © Alan Alabastro photo

The apocalyptic finale of the first of three performances of Wagner's Ring cycle took place on Friday, August 9 by the Seattle Opera at McCaw Hall as the curtain raised on Götterdämerung.   Sparks flew, relationships crumble and worlds ended, yet somehow the sensation was not as satisfying as I expected.

There were certainly some fine performances; Stefan Vinke's Siegfried was as carefree and naive as ever, and Lori Phillips' Brűnnhilde gave an excellent example of the old 'hell hath no fury' saw, though vocally at times she had difficulty cutting through the dense orchestration. Stephanie Blythe did double duty as the second Norn and a spectacular Waltraute. Daniel Sumegi was a suitably spiteful as Hagen. Markus Brűck as Gunther and Wendy Bryn Harmer as Gutrune were less convincing; vocally Bruck was not as powerful as one would like, and the portrayal at times fell flat. Perhaps it is the nature of the characters, but Gutrune and Gunther were the least emotionally engaging.

 Jennifer Zetlan (Woglinde), Cecelia Hall (Wellgunde), 

Renée Tatum (Flosshilde), and Stefan Vinke (Siegfried).

© Elise Bakketun photo

Some highlights included the delightful idyll wherein the Rhine Daughters almost convince Siegfried to return the ring to them. Jennifer Zetlan, Renee Tatum and Cecelia Hall displayed a spectacular unanimity of timbre and as perfect a blend of sound as one could want. They seemed to be a wilder sort of creature than the other gods and quasi-gods; more akin to Erda or Loge in character, as befits their stature as incarnations of nature. Brűnnhilde's wrath at Siegfried's unwitting betrayal was as frightful in its way as Alberich's or Wotan's imprecations from earlier in the cycle.

It was nice to hear a chorus, and it was particularly well-done; the crowd of soldiers seemed to grow onstage organically as Hagen summoned them, and by the time the large, lusty chorus was there it was great fun to hear them go at it.  Some of the other blocking at times was distracting; Hagen did an awful lot of standing around or slowly walking back and forth without any seeming purpose.

It was difficult to suss out whether it was the performers who were tired, though those who had been onstage for several nights still felt largely energetic, or whether the emotional highpoint of the drama seemed to have been reached in Siegfried; while there is some great music in the final installment of the tetralogy, from a dramatic standpoint it seemed in large part to exist to tie up the loose ends. Since this is my first Ring cycle it is difficult to say with surety wherein the letdown lay but I can say that Götterdämerung was far and away my least favorite of the four.  At the end, it ultimately seemed that the gods got what they deserved. The immolation was cleverly portrayed, and the sets again deserve high praise; Gunther's magnificently carven halls were a beautiful contrast with the rest of the sets, and served well to illuminate the final conflagration.

It has been a spectacular experience, and somewhat emotionally exhausting. There is a curious sort of post-Ring depression; by the time Sunday night rolled around it seemed odd not to have four or five hours of incredible musical drama to attend. One thing that is certain: this first Ring will definitely not be my last.

Stephen Paulus - composer in a coma for the past month

Musical America (subscription only) reported that American composer Stephen Paulus has been in a coma for the past month. Paulus, age 63, suffered a massive stroke on July 4th. He has composed over 500 works and is known primarily for his operas and choral pieces. He achieved much acclaim for his 1982 opera "The Postman Always Rings Twice," which is one of several operas he has written for the Opera Theatre of St. Louis. Paulus's website notes that scheduled concerts of Paulus's music are moving forward with a "premiere of “A Refined Reflection”, commissioned by organist Caron Farmer to be a lyrical second movement for Baronian Suite, which was named in honor of Pipedreams® host Michael Barone. She is scheduled to perform the work at a recital in Michigan on August 14th."

Wotan boulder in Northern California

A week ago, my wife and I visited the Lava Beds National Monument in Northern California (about 45 miles south of Kalamath Falls, Oregon) when we saw this boulder. The image of Wotan, complete with eye-patch, is remarkable!

Stefan Vinke: truly heroic in Seattle Opera's 'Siegfried'

Wagner’s Siegfried; Dennis Petersen (Mime), Stefan Vinke (Siegfried). © Elise Bakketun photo

The indomitable hero Siegfried may not know the meaning of fear, but the opening of Seattle Opera's Siegfried had one critic huddled in his seat, shivering with apprehension before the curtain was ever drawn. Rumbling sinuously out from the depths of the world it seemed, Fafner the Dragon's leitmotif on the contrabass tuba began this the third installment of Wagner's Der Ring Des Nibelungen.

Stefan Vinke, in his SO debut in the title role, was actually a little hard to like at first. So hard, in fact, that I didn't realize it was by design until later. This boorish, ignorant young man, besotted by the hubris of youth, rattled along in quasi-parlando fashion at first, braying about his hatred for his guardian Mime (Dennis Petersen), the only other person he has ever known. As he brings The Bear (JC Casiano) onstage to bully the hapless dwarf in hilarious fashion, again there was a bit of schadenfreude in the laughter, making it all the more enjoyable. Why do we laugh so to see poor Mime tormented, wretch though he is, in Das Rheingold and now in this?

Wagner’s Siegfried; Dennis Petersen (Mime).© Elise Bakketun photo

Petersen's portrayal of Mime, and the duality of the relationship with Siegfried, was fascinating to behold. Not only was Petersen's voice marvelous, his diction impeccable and precise, but, despite the fact that he is ultimately planning to kill Siegfried, and the fact that Siegfried himself wouldn't cry to see Mime go the way of the dodo, he and Vinke show that there is a curious intimacy between them, for all of Siegfried's berating and bullying. These two men as actors show that, though their characters can't stand one another, damned if they aren't (for the time being) stuck with one another, and that has forged a curious bond, an unwanted yet at times adorable tenderness in spite of both their ultimate intentions.   Greer Grimsley returns in Wotan's disguise of The Wanderer to further his ambitions as to his progeny; there is a palpable,  rising tension in his and Mime's exchange of riddles that culminates in the gnome's being let off the hook. Of special note too in this act was the duet-like connection between Mime and the bassoon; delicious to hear. When Siegfried forges Nothung again Vinke sings this with such effortless power, such vivacity and ease that it was electrifying, positively riveting. An absolutely incredible display of musicality and vocal prowess; his rave reviews from last year's Covent Garden Ring were no fluke.

The creeping sense of dread that accompanies Fafner's leitmotif returned in even stronger fashion as the second act opened...such a visceral, visually evocative sensation long before we ever see the dragon. Richard Paul Fink returned as Alberich and he and Grimsley engaged in a duet filled with believable tension and hatred as they spoke of their competing claims as to the outcome of Siegfried's coming confrontation with Fafner, though we are left wondering why the Wanderer is (seemingly) so unconcerned as to what happens if Alberich gains control of the Ring and makes good on his promise to storm Valhalla with the armies of Hella.

Wagner’s Siegfried; Stefan Vinke (Siegfried) and Fafner. © Alan Alabastro photo

Siegfried's attempt to convince the dizzyingly coloratura Forest Bird (Jennifer Zetlan) to speak to him again was again one of the many moments of levity sprinkled throughout, and we are tempted to forget for a moment (as does Siegfried) the lurking menace of the dragon so near, which reminds us again that, though Siegfried is fearless, we are not.  As the gruesome beast finally rears its head in a beautiful piece of stagecraft, an impressive and draconian image with sprawling leathern wings, hoary head and snake-like coils, there is still a sense of humanity there--Fafner (Daniel Sumegi) is somehow visible through the Tarnhelm's disguise. After he kills the beast, and Mime shortly afterward, Siegfried's strange tenderness toward both his slain foes shows that he does in fact know something of love, though he is not aware of it. By this point the brash youth has surely won our affection.

Wagner’s Siegfried; Lucille Beer (Erda), Greer Grimsley (Wotan).© Alan Alabastro photo

Lucille Beer as Erda is summoned by The Wanderer, and sings her role in a mellifluous, incredibly resonant contralto. She and  Grimsley engage in a slow, strange dance, elegant though dilatory like the ponderous movement of techtonic plates, and the feeling is heightened by the ruddy hue of the ancient setting in which they dance. Beer displays without questions Erda's qualities, having all the bearing of a deeper and older spirit than even Wotan himself. When Wotan is defied and ultimately overcome by Siegfried, The Wanderer's strangely calm acceptance of the eventual outcome reveals that, ultimately, none of this is much of a surprise to him.

Lori Phillips, no stranger to SO audiences, covered the role of Brünnhilde as Alwyn Mellor was ill. But as soon as she opened her mouth for 'Heil dir, Sonne!' it was clear that there would be nothing wanting from her vocal performance. The closing moments as Siegfried convinces the reluctant once-goddess that she must indeed love him as he does her are compelling; is she afraid in a sort of Oedipus-by-proxy complex as his aunt, or is it awakening to the newfound realities of her mortality that frightens her so? Phillips doesn't answer that, but the dawning reality of her love for Siegfried makes the question moot.

Two-buck CD sale at Michael Karman's

Many people know Michael Karman. He's the quiet, unassuming fellow who helps Michael Parsons (Mr. Opus 99) sell recordings at concert venues like the Schnitz and Kaul Auditorium. What people might not know is that Karman is an expert on new music and is the mastermind by Asymmetry Music Magazine and that he often travels to Europe in order to cover new music concert. Because of his all-consuming passion to attend even more concerts in Europe, Karman plans to move to Spain in September where he will set up his base of operations. In preparation for this move, Karman is offering a lot of his CDs for sale - at $2 for each CD. That means, for example, that an opera that has 3 discs goes for a mere $6. I purchased a short stack of recordings and there are plenty more left. The photo above shows only a sample of what Karman has. If you are interested, you can contact him via email at michaelkarman@gmail.com or give him a ring at 347-863-2954. Maybe you can put a dent in his collection. Even if he can sell everything that he would like to sell, Karman still intends to take 2,000 CDs with him to Spain. Ole!

The Drama continues with Seattle Opera’s epic Die Walküre

Wagner’s Die Walküre, Greer Grimsley (Wotan).
DOWNLOAD © Alan Alabastro photo

The murmuring ebb and flow, the ceaseless  foreboding suppuration of the orchestra held the audience riveted and hinted at the sea, but it was not the earthly sea--it was the sea of events set in motion by Wotan's terrible will as the curtain raised for Seattle Opera's Die Walküre, the second chapter of Wagner's great tetralogy being performed on Monday August 5 at the McCaw Hall in Seattle.

A word must be said about Thomas Lynch's fantastic set design.  The primeval forest in which Sieglinde and Hunding's hut is set immediately impels the viewer into the universe unfolding before them...the titanic tree branching through the dwelling like Yggdrasil, the ancient, darkling woods into which the stage recesses...without exception Lynch's sets have been key to creating the suspension of disbelief necessary to become engrossed in this apocalyptic story.

Wagner’s Die Walküre, Alwyn Mellor (Brünnhilde), Greer Grimsley (Wotan).
DOWNLOAD © Elise Bakketun photo

Stuart Skelton's feisty, fiercely intent  Siegmund was well met by Margaret Jane Wray's trembling though brave Sieglinde. There is never any doubt for a second, from the moment she lays eyes on his sleeping form at the hearth, that theirs is an unbreakably magnetic attraction--indeed it is something far beyond their control. Skelton's and Wray's interactions are completely convincing. And vocally they are spectacular...as Siegmund cries out his father's name "Wälse!",  his note was held for so long, with such heldentenor power, purity and surety that my breath caught and everything else was forgotten but this incredible moment of sound and myth.  Of special note was Wray's lower register--incredible and magisterial, imminently audible no matter the volume of the orchestra. Andrea Silvestrelli's basso, something I remarked upon as he sang Fasolt in Rheingold, was if anything in even finer form as the bestial Hunding; so rolling, thunderous and penetrating at these Stygian depths that it was frankly astonishing.

Peter Kaczorowski's lighting was key to making the spring love scene between Sieglinde and Siegmund so believable--as the blessed sun thunders into the hut and their love begins to bloom, it is a striking and deeply symbolic contrast between the dim, gloomy depths of despair in which Sieglinde exists with Hunding, and as the light slowly dawns so does their love, and their realization of their kinship.

Wagner’s Die Walküre, Stuart Skelton (Siegmund), Greer Grimsley (Wotan).
DOWNLOAD © Elise Bakketun photo

Grimsley's Wotan reveals himself to be many things in Die Walküre,  and at first is an earthly approachability, convincing us that he is merely a husband being subject to a wife's wroth.  But Fricka is unlike an earthly wife. Stephanie Blythe's peregrination from rage to sorrow, pleading to iron and undefiable sternness is the only thing that allows one to make sense of Wotan's decision to send his own spider web of plans into wrack and ruin...it is less for love of Fricka than in deference to her implacable certitude. Grimsley makes us truly sad for Wotan---such lyricism and softness as he tries to convince himself and Fricka of the necessity of following through with the path that has been set, though it seems he knows even to himself that his pleas will be fruitless. When he finally invokes his own curse, praying for his own death, we understand why.

Wagner’s Die Walküre, Luretta Bybee (Schwertleite), Sarah Heltzel (Siegrune), Jessica Klein (Helmwige), Margaret Jane Wray (Sieglinde), Alwyn Mellor (Brünnhilde).

Wray's portrayal of Sieglinde's anguish is so believable as to almost be uncomfortable to behold as she tries to persuade Siegmund to leave her.  Alwyn Mellor, in her SO debut as Brünnhilde, is compelling as an actress, and as she wrestles with deciding whether or not to defy Wotan her volume becomes so low at points that there was positively no sound in the hall...everything hung upon her every note. The final duel between Siegmund and Hunding was a bit underwhelming when it arrived--not terribly convincing, and the "lightning flashes" throughout seemed unfortunately more like strobes than lightning, minor asides that distracted somewhat from the overall verisimilitude.

The epic ride of the Valkyries too, while musically spectacular, left something to be desired from a set standpoint. Given all the grace and aerobatics granted the Rhine Daughters in Das Rheingold, it seems like something more could be had from this set in the way of blocking. Still the monolith upon which these lusty sisters congregated was magnificent and imposing, and the laugh-out-loud merriment and mirth with which they transported the corpses (and parts of corpses) of the fallen warriors to Valhalla was great fun to watch.

The final sorrow between  the defiant Brünnhilde and her anguished father showcased the spectacular upper registers of Grimsley's baritone, and revealed a sometimes too-quiet lower range from Mellor--her voice was entirely swallowed by the orchestra at key moments. As she further exposes Wotan's fallacious reasoning,  in a sense continuing the castigation that Fricka began in the first scene, Grimsley shows Wotan's dimming furor and growing anguish and Mellor's performance forces us to beg the question: is Wotan really caught in a web of his own design, or does he ultimately choose to be there?  The fiery mountain was beautiful and ominous to watch as this chapter came to a close.