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CD & LIVE CONCERT REVIEWS
New York City Opera – David H. Koch Theater – Lincoln Center Friday April 8, 2011 – 8 P.M. Monodramas Conductor – George Manahan Director and Set Design – Michael Counts Choreography – Ken Roht John Zorn - La Machine De L’etre Arnold Schoenberg – Erwartung – (Libretto – Marie
Pappenheim) Morton Feldman – Neither – (text) Samuel Beckett) John Zorn’s ten minute contribution was a well balanced exercise of wordless vocalizing coupled with brilliant orchestral coloration and finely rendered acting (but to what I’m not sure) by Ms. Komsi and proved to be the highlight of the evening’s three uneven presentations. Ms. Komsi sang with conviction and a firm tone albeit inaudibly at times, but exhibited an evenness of line and ingratiating timbre. Mr. Zorn’s use of the orchestra was as full of daring and energy as his non-classical compositions and Mr. Manahan led the orchestra securely and with tautness. The visuals for all three works were loosely tied together by Mr. Counts “direction” and robotically choreographed by Mr. Roht. The evening begins with two dancers posing dispassionately and with smug self regard in front of the curtain. During Mr. Zorn’s piece they prowled the stage like two errant “voguers” wandering in from a Madonna or Lady Gaga concert, and began removing burkas from chador clad figures and disrobing some other dancers to reveal Western wear. Ms. Komsi herself proved to be one of the revealed figures. None of it made any common sense so one had to eventually close one’s eyes and simply revel in the concise musical points of the score. Arnold Schoenberg’s Erwartung is a piece I’ve always admired more than thoroughly enjoyed and is a showcase for the right soprano voice. Ms. Thomson possesses just that right voice to render this piece, which strikes me generally as Wagner light, sublime. She is the owner of a rich voice which has not only beauteous tone and amplitude but the right ping and space at the top to push its way effortlessly through whatever the orchestra is pumping out. The orchestra supported Ms. Thomason capably under Mr. Manahan’s unexceptional conducting. He failed to provide the lushness (yes even atonal music can have color and juiciness) to underscore the passion and vibrancy that Ms. Thomson exhibited. The less said about the choreography the better. It was the acting and singing of Ms. Thomson that best and most appropriately conveyed the near contrast between reality and dreamlike madness. Mr. Feldman’s nearly hour long opus proved to be a grueling affair to me. It could have been and should have been a stand-alone instrumental work that left the poor soprano busy to perform some other worthier vocal project. It was easily one of the worst pieces of vocal writing I have ever encountered. There were bravos ringing out at the end and I wonder if they were for the horrible endurance test inflicted upon Ms. Sieden if nothing else. Mr. Feldman’s vocal writing showed no understanding or sympathy for the art of the voice. He could have scored this work for fingernails being scratched across a blackboard or better yet a theremin. Without the aid of super titles one would be clueless as to what Ms. Sieden was “singing.” I have no idea what her vocal instrument sounds like, nor what she is truly capable of producing in the way of line, tone, color, nuance, or richness. Having to sing virtually for one hour in a monotone at the top of her extension was torture. In general I find very little satisfaction in the vast majority of modern operatic or classical song composers who I do not believe know how to write for the voice and/or have no regard for the vocal art or true consideration of it. Mr. Feldman’s piece is just the most extreme example of the plummeting degradation of the art of operatic composition. The choreography for this piece bordered on the inane to the outright ridiculous. Mirrored boxes? Suspended people? A man furtively moving about the stage? An alternately dominating and frightened female figure? What did it all mean and why should we care? Ultimately, I didn’t but the audience apparently did, or got something sorely lacking in me. There were multiple bravos at the end but to my ears and mind they were only deserving for Mr. Zorn’s short piece and the luxuriant vocalizing and passion of Ms. Thomson. I applaud and support the vision of George Steel and what he is doing at NYCO. He is pushing boundaries and actively striving to reach new audiences. What he has embarked upon is a venturesome balancing act between bringing in new faces while keeping established patrons happy. He has certainly shaken things up. It will be highly interesting to see what concoction comes pouring out of the mixer. John Hammel – Mozart to Motorhead Radio Show – www.homegrownradionj.com
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Rubin Museum of Tibetan Art - April 1, 2011 - 7 P.M. Fred Hersch – Solo Piano Mr. Hersch is simply one of the most elegantly nuanced and beautiful practitioners of the piano working in jazz right now. He may be simply the best period. I know of no other artist who employs such a wide array of color, nuance, dynamic control, cantilena, and disciplined freedom within a musical structure than Fred Hersch. He overwhelms you with his understatement and taste. I was enraptured from his opening single note sostenuto plinking that slowly morphed into dazzlingly beautiful lyrical phrases, subsequently revealing the melody from Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz’s You and the Night and Music. He also utilized slightly disjunct block chords in making his artistic point and ended the piece with gentle ostinatos in the left hand while his right hand roulades complemented and balanced the entire work and tucked it in to bed. I could have gone home completely satisfied after the first work on the program but that would have been to deny myself further artistic endeavors of the highest order. This concert was the culmination of a week of intense concert going and reviewing in which I saw ensembles of all varying number and configurations. Yet it is this concert of one man sitting calmly in front of one instrument and commanding your total attention both physically and emotionally that will stay with me for, hopefully, a long, long time. Mr. Hersch performed ten pieces in entirety over the course of the evening including an encore, and each piece seemed to unfold like the petals of a gigantic flower to reveal oceanic depths of meaning. Whirl which is the title track of his most recent trio cd, and dedicated to the former NYC Ballet prima donna Suzanne Farrell, became in Mr. Hersch’s capable hands an exemplar of fully exquisite terpsichorean glory telling its story in rich detail and dazzling color. Two other distinct highlights in an evening of highlights was an improvisation based on a photograph from one of the museum’s galleries depicting a monk apparently ringing a small cupped bell chime. Mr. Hersch using the same type of chime to begin and end his improvisation brought a fully meditative quality to the music most notably with his left hand tintinnabulations and keen articulations in his right hand. One had the sense of enjoying a quasi-religious experience. The other highlight for me was Mr. Hersch’s extraordinary reading of Lerner and Lowe’s If Ever I Would Leave You. From his harmonic improvisation opening the piece and his succinct use of pedaling to control the mood and structure, Mr. Hersch proved yet again that in an era where everyone else feels compelled to beat you over the head and shake you by the collar to get your attention, he just wants to whisper sweet something’s in your ear. Mr. Hersch’s music making and artistry are all about beauty and melody and love and kindness. My God, isn’t that something the world needs more of right now? John Hammel – Mozart to Motorhead Radio Show – www.homegrownradionj.com
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