Classical,
"H.M.S. Pinafore" is a great escape
There is nothing like a Gilbert and Sullivan getaway to escape reality and H.M.S. Pinafore handily transports an audience. In the world of the G and S operetta, social class conflicts are easily resolved, baby farming is explained without difficulty and the coarse language of everyday is discouraged in favor of refined, elegant dialogue. An audience of just over 1,000 enjoyed the ride on opening night at the Lyric Theater, reveling in the lighter fare of the Lyric's latest production. The dialogue of H.M.S. Pinafore throws (and lands) plenty of verbal punches, yet the grace of Sullivan's music tempers even the most biting satire. Pinafore is so civilized, but there always lurks the intimation of angst and confusion, so there are plenty of surprises throughout.
The Gilbert and Sullivan partnership was fruitful: in 25 years together they completed 14 operas. Sullivan brought to the collaboration his compositional resourcefulness, including the varied orchestrations (he was a conductor, after all) and memorable melodies that had made a name for him by the 1860s. Gilbert adapted for Sullivan's music libretti that boast a keen sense of comedic and dramatic pacing. H.M.S. Pinafore was the team's fourth work, but their first smash hit.
A promisingly brisk overture ushered the audience toward that perfect escape. The opening number introduces a robust bunch of sailors who appropriately clamor about "Little Buttercup" (Deborah Fields) as she makes her arrival. Although Fields seemed to struggle with the transition between head and chest voice, her determined gestures and delicious laugh made her a most loveable character. Jon-Michael Ball made a stunning Lyric Opera debut as Ralph Rackstraw. His "Nightingale" is the show's first lyrical number, and Ball sang effortlessly with an impressive range and an open sound. Ralph, in true operetta fashion, wastes no time in revealing his true self, and Ball reveled in the leisurely romance of the number.
Operettas do not typically feature intense emotional extremes and in this genre a character will never develop into a multi-dimensional personage. In Pinafore, Josephine is the closest an audience gets to a complex, emotional character, and Ava Pine brought a clean, light lyricism to the role. In her first scene with Ralph, though, Pine was not convincing. She waved her fan, she huffed and twirled, but it all seemed contrived. Arguably Pine incorporated the spins to signify her imagined transport from one social class to another, or to work out somehow the difference between who she is perceived to be and who she wonders if she could be. Still, it seemed artificial, and Pine articulated Josephine's emotions better in the musical numbers.
Daniel Belcher is a worthy Captain. He is flighty, silly, and easily swayed, as his character should be. "I am the Captain of the Pinafore" revealed a vivid baritone. Here the sailors moved about him with endearing (and obviously planned) imperfection, their spontaneous movements balanced with tightly choreographed steps for a natural effect. Credit William Theisen's inspired choreography, as he worked toward his desired "theatricality." When the ladies arrived on board "gaily tripping, lightly skipping" in full, fabulous, colorful dresses, Mary Traylor should have gotten an ovation.
In Act Two, the cast and crew evaded the sluggish transitions that plagued Act One. There was a fresh fluidity here, as scene changes sequenced with more momentum and better connections were made as characters traded off dialogue. The scenery remained the same (the quarter-deck of the Pinafore), but now was softened with moonlit ambience. The Captain opened the act with "Fair Moon, to Thee I Sing," but a laugh was always close at hand, and he countered his earnestness with a "profound" inquiry about why everything is either "at sixes or at sevens." The ensuing duet for the Captain and Buttercup ("Things are Seldom What They Seem") was lovely. Josephine executed a recitative-like monologue with "The Hours Creep on Apace" and here Pine was perfectly dramatic.
Robert Gibby Brand was dead on as Sir Joseph. His exceptional attention to detail and sharp diction in "When I was a Lad" shaped a performance from which all singers could learn something. Robert McNichols (as Bill Bobstay) was, as always, a strong presence. Matthew Treviño's Dick Deadeye was a substantial character, and Treviño took advantage of his feature moments to provide a touch of snarly darkness throughout.
Gary Eckhart's stage was appealing and comfortable, but it was how choreographer Theisen (in his first Lyric Opera production) moved the actors about the set that made its design remarkable. Every character worked the boards, making good use of the entire landscape. The creative lighting of designer Michael Baumgarten contributed the appropriate moods with nuanced lighting. The men's and women's choruses add a critical layer to the Pinafore experience, alternately offering sensitive responses or just humorous repetition. These ensembles were clearly well rehearsed, serving up convincingly the veritable word salad of a Gilbert text. Only once did the singers push the tempo of Mark Ferrell's steady orchestra: in the finale of Act One, there were a few measures where the singers and the players were out of sync (but maybe we can just blame a tipping, swaying boat for this).
REVIEW:
Lyric Opera of Kansas City
H.M.S. Pinafore
Friday, November 6 at 8 p.m. (reviewed)
Sunday, November 8 at 2:00 p.m.
Wednesday, November 11 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, November 14 at 8 p.m.
Sunday, November 15 at 2 p.m.
Lyric Theatre
11th and Central, Kansas City, MO
For tickets call (816) 471-7344 or online at www.kcopera.org.
Cover Photo:
Jon-Michael Ball as Ralph Rackstraw, Daniel Belcher as Captain Corcoran, and Matthew Treviño as Dick Deadeye in the 2009 Lyric Opera of Kansas City production of Gilbert & Sullivan's "HMS Pinafore."
KC Events this week and beyond
Check out all the events on the KC Events performing arts calendar.
How do you list your events on KC Events?
As an arts organziation or musician, you now have the ability to add and edit your own events.
KCMetropolis.org's mission is to promote traditional and independent classical music, dance, theatre and independent film. We are very sorry, but we do not cover pop, rock, Christian or country music; we do not cover the visual arts or non-performing arts community events. If you would like to send a press release about an upcoming performing arts event, please send to press@KCMetropolis.org.
KC Events Categories are:
Classical Music
New Classical Music
Dance
Theatre
Jazz
To Submit Information:
- Please go to the KCM front page and click on the login tab located at the top right-hand side of the website.
- Create a login account and then sign-in.
- Read the KC Events Terms of Service before proceeding
- On the left-hand nav is a category called Submit Content
- Click on Submit an Event or Manage Your Events.
- Listings will be approved with 48 hours if it fits the KCMetropolis.org criteria
Classical,
Avner Dorman on "Lost Souls" premiere with KC Symphony
This man writes piano concertos where you can't find the piano player. Why would he do such a thing?
Avner Dorman has done something that nobody has done before - or at least nobody we've ever heard of before: he has written a piano concerto with no pianist on stage to play it. At least, not at first. It would seem sort of odd if the Kansas City Symphony commissioned Avner Dorman to write a piano concerto and there was no pianist.
Apparently there is a piano player. Somewhere, anyway. As a matter of fact, we know there must be a pianist since the Kansas City Symphony has hired one. His name is Alon Goldstein and the Symphony has pasted his name all over their brochures and their web site.
So, now we have established that there is one - but we just won't actually be able to see him. Not at the outset, anyway. Presumably we will be let in on the secret of the lost pianist on November 20 - 22 when the Kansas City Symphony presents the world premier of Avner Dorman's Lost Souls.
David Peironnet of Friends of the Symphony talked with the composer to inquire exactly what is going on here:
DP: Lost Souls begins without a pianist on stage. Where is he? Why? How does he finally get on stage? Or, is that a secret that we'll learn the night of the performance?
Avner Dorman: Yes, it's a secret and yes, the audience will learn it the night of the performance. There is a lot of conflict in the first movement - between the orchestra and the soloist (known as the "soul-oist" because the piece is known as Lost Souls), internally for the pianist, and the struggles of connecting the physical and not so physical realms. A large portion of the conflict has to do with memory (which is an important theme for me). The soul-oist tries to perform pieces he performed in past lives - but he can't quite remember them as they used to be. That's when the music takes strange turns and explores new routes.
I hope that not having the pianist on stage initially will arouse a new curiosity in the audience - its theater - not just music!
DP: Each of the themes which the piano soul-oist performs represents a different ghost or "lost soul." Why are these lost souls seeking to get back before an audience?
Avner Dorman: Inspiration for the piece came because I feel Alon Goldstein is, in some ways, a pianist who was born 100 years too late. He just has this aura. So instead of relating to the soloist only as a physical entity, the orchestra summons the "lost souls" of past pianists through him.
DP: What do you hope that we, as your audience, will learn from these "lost souls?"
Avner Dorman: When I started writing the piece I didn't know why, but just as characters in a book tend to develop beyond the author's initial concepts (many authors say this), I've come to believe that these "souls" need to complete something - perhaps perform for the very last time. There is a message they want to convey.
DP: Those of us who know Pictures at an Exhibition recall how the composer Mussorgsky opens with a dramatic theme which we all recognize. Then, that theme reappears each time we move from one "picture at an exhibition" to another. How is this similar to Lost Souls?
Avner Dorman: It's both different and it's similar. I didn't think of it in that way when I wrote it. My wife (a fellow Kansas Citian) came up with the analogy, because like Pictures at an Exhibition, Lost Souls begins with a motif that recurs almost every time a new scene, so to speak, begins. Unlike Pictures at an Exhibition, don't expect a big trumpet tune. Instead, the motif is a ghostly gesture in the high strings - perhaps the souls' whisper.
DP: You wrote Lost Souls for Alon Goldstein, who will be our guest soloist. How did you happen to get to know Alon Goldstein? What is there about his playing that impressed you so much?
Avner Dorman: We first met in New York City. The irony of this is that we are both from Israel, but we met in New York. I heard him play on the radio in Israel many years before we met and I remember thinking that his playing was energetic and involved, and yet, was very clean and predetermined, which might appear to be contradictory. Alon is very pedantic. He thinks through and prepares his interpretation very thoroughly. Alon Goldstein is the type of performer who tries to figure out the purpose of every single note. What is unique about Alon, is that when it's all put together it still works on an emotional level as well. This is despite all of the intellectual preparation, he maintains his emotional connection with the music. That's a rare combination. It's something I like to do in my music, too.
When I compose a piano concerto or a sonata, I don't write for piano but rather for a pianist. I don't even write for a theoretical pianist who might come along at some future point. I wrote Lost Souls for Alon Goldstein and had his work in mind all along. The piano has so much written for it that I don't want to write just another piano concerto today. Lost Souls was a concept that came from drawing from the pianist. I was looking for something dramatic
DP: Some listeners are almost afraid of "new music." In defense of these concertgoers, a lot of new music reflects the composer's mastery of technique rather than the ability to write music which audiences can comprehend. Your Piano Concerto in A seems to me to be accessible to audiences. What is your own assessment of new music and where do you see yourself as a composer of new compositions?
Avner Dorman: For me, the biggest compliment is when someone says to me that they pushed the "replay" button after hearing a piece for the first time and by the time they get to the tenth hearing they're finding new things in the piece. It doesn't really matter whether the listener likes the piece at first hearing. What is more important is that they want to hear the piece again, that it made them curious.
For me, the real mastery of technique is that it's transparent. When a nonprofessional hears a great Bach piece they don't think "wow, what a mastery of technique." It just touches them on a very deep level. The audience knows the music is good despite their lack of knowledge of musical theory. Of course, as a composer, I'm blown away by Bach's technique, and I study it again and again.
As for the difficulty of listening to a new piece, you just never know before a premiere. Sometimes what a composer has to say is not easy to hear, but I think the audience should not discount a piece of music just because it's not pleasing at first hearing. Sometimes what an artist has to say is not easy to hear.
DP: Lost Souls will be presented for the first time ever in Kansas City. Is there something you hope will come from a Midwestern audience that might be different from people in New York or London or Salzburg?
Avner Dorman: Pretty much the same. That's been my experience. I love the Midwest. My wife is from Kansas City! I don't see any reason why this should be any different.
DP: Now, I'm listening to an excerpt from your Piano Sonata No. 2 which seems to me to have a virtuosic character, much like that of Brahms and composers of his generation. Were you seeking a sound which carried on that classical tradition or were you seeking to give the soloist an opportunity to reveal his "star-power?" Or, both? Or, something completely different?
Avner Dorman: Star power goes there, but that movement was more about freedom of motion and imagination. That movement was inspired by the pianism of Art Tatum who had plenty of both.
DP: The first movement of your composition, Spices, Perfumes, Toxins! seems to have a mix of traditional Jewish music and jazz. I can almost see a few members of the audience getting into the aisles to dance, at least if they had a few glasses of wine before the concert. How does that compare with Lost Souls?
Avner Dorman: It's hard to say before the piece has had some performances. When writing a piece of this size there are so many challenges that I don't really think about how it compares to anything. For example, when I wrote Spices, Perfumes, Toxins! I wanted that piece to sound Israeli. But I can tell you that even though it's a huge hit wherever it's played, people read different things into it. In Israel, people feel it reflects something which is localized in many ways. But in New York or Bangkok or Munich, the associations might be different. You hear Jazz in the piece (and I don't deny I love Jazz), but maybe it has to do also with the fact that you are from Kansas City. In any case, I don't think it matters. If it's good, its good. That's what I really care about.
DP: Did you consciously write it in such a way to make it more popular?
Avner Dorman: If I only knew how to do that. No one knows what makes a popular piece. If you knew in advance, composing would be an easier job. When you do something new, you never know.
There is something about a great piece of music - whether you love it or you don't - but you want to hear it again. You may not even like the piece, but there is something about it that makes you want to hear again to find out about something that might reach out to you. Whether you love it or not, that isn't important. If you want to hear it again, that's the important thing. Too many pieces you hear and three minutes later, you don't care whether you ever hear them again.
Think about Beethoven. Beethoven didn't write in the style of his era. It's the other way around. His era was defined by Beethoven.
Will Kansas City like Lost Souls? I have no idea. I really hope they do. I'm really excited and I firmly believe in it. When the orchestra starts playing, that's when you start hearing the piece as it really is. We'll know then.
INTERVIEW:
Kansas City Symphony
Stern Conducts Sibelious
with Alon Goldstein, piano
Friday, November 20 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, November 21, at 8 p.m.
Lyric Theatre
11th and Central, Kansas City, MO
Sunday, November 22 at 2 p.m.
Carlsen Center at JCCCC
12345 College Blvd, Overland Park, KS
For tickets call 816-471-0400 or online at www.kcsymphony.org
theSTEADY, Jazz,
KcEMA @ Electronic Music Midwest 2009
Kansas City is major center of electronic music composition with many area composers frequently winning international competitions. Most of these composers are members of the Kansas City Electronic Music and Arts Alliance (KcEMA) which was founded in 2007 to develop a community of understanding, appreciation and collaboration of electronic artists, and to support the creation of electronic music and arts. Last Thursday night's first concert of the Electronic Music Midwest 2009 Conference showcased eight composers in their varied sonic palettes and diverse musical styles.
Jacob Gotlib's Slow Splintering for amplified string quartet and electronics began strong with its sounds of twisting timbers and timbres. The most effective moments were the imitative sections between the quartet and the electronics. Gotlib's use of extended techniques and the quartet's execution was admirable and had hints of Lachenmann and Furrer. However, the piece lacked the structural cohesion especially toward the end of the work.
Seventy Thousand: May 12, 2008 by David Olen Baird served as a requiem to those lost in the earthquakes in Sichuan province of China. The piece had a satisfying organic growth in the shifting pads of sounds but there always seemed to be one sound object in the texture that stuck out too prominently.
Clarinetist Mauricio Salguero performed Federico Garcia-Castells Chain Reaction with conviction and impressive technique. The piece progressed from key slaps to dazzling riffs, unfortunately some of the central material for the clarinet was pedantic and most of the interest was contained in the electronic groove.
Also dance-inspired was the audiovisual work, Kaleidoscope, by Katherine Kogl. The video consisted of quadrants, each separated by lines of different colors and angles. I found the music-a high brow Devo-synth meets Aphex Twin jam-more engaging than the video as the colors were too drab for such an energetic piece.
Contrasting Kaleidoscope sunny vibe was Caroline Miller's ironic sunshine. With its whispers of "sunshine," distant wailing woman song, and processed piano, the piece sounded like a dystopian future soundscape longing for sunshine akin to Ray Bradbury's short story "All Summer in a Day."
Soprano Katie Woolf, a rising star in the Kansas City new music scene, sang Scott Blasco's Sustinui Te with devotion and warmth. The live processing of Woolf's voice was incorporated effectively into the palette of handbells and sustained pitches.
Richard Johnson's Gagaku-inspired water meditation on Etenraku had shades of Takemitsu and Saariaho. Through live processing, he blended Rebecca Ashe shakuhachi-influenced flute playing with the pre-recorded sounds of water drops. The piece was serene and atmospheric.
Ending the concert was the aggressive, brutal, and wonderful alto saxophone, tape and video work Promethea. Elizabeth Bunt blazed her way through Christopher Biggs' impressive, well-orchestrated score. Barry Anderson's video of mirrored pulp-icon imagery on top of swirling eddies of black smoke wittily matched Biggs' jittery, stuttering blasts of shrieks and sounds. The low hits were the best use of bass frequencies of the night.
While electronic music may not be for everyone, KcEMA's collaborative initiatives wisely have the potential of larger audiences and exposure for all involved. KcEMA is a vital organization in the already rich artistic landscape of Kansas City. You owe it to yourself to seek out one of their shows.
REVIEW:
Kansas City Electronic Music and Arts Alliance
KcEMA @ Electronic Music Midwest 2009
Thursday, November 5, 2009
Kansas City Kansas Community College, Kansas City, KS
For more information visit http://www.kcema.net and http://www.emmfestival.org
Classical,
VID: What Makes it Rob? Part I
PART 1
Local media maven Laurie Arbore interviews composer, commentator, author and NPR star Rob Kapilow about "What Makes it Great?"
Rob and Laurie converse about his long-lasting engagement in Kansas City with The Friends of Chamber Music, discoveries, his new book and his own compositions.
From an interview in December 2008.
This weekend Kapilow will return to the metropolis for the 15th year of "What Makes it Great?" with guest artists, the Zemlinsky String Quartet.
Video by Mike Strong
Editing by Nathan Granner
The Friends of Chamber Music
Zemlinsky Quartet
Dvorák String Quartet No. 12 in F. Major, Op. 96 "The American.
Saturday, Nov. 14 at 11 a.m.
Country Club Congregational United Church of Christ
205 W. 65th Street, Kansas City, MO 64113
Sunday, Nov. 15 at 2 pm
Paradise Park 1021 NE Colbern Rd Lee's Summit, MO 64086
For tickets or information call 816-561-9999 or online at www.chambermusic.org
Coming in January...
Gilles Vonsattel
Chopin Ballade No. 3 in A-flat Major, Op. 47 and Chopin Ballade No. 4 in F-Minor Op. 52
Saturday, Jan. 16 at11 am
Goppert Theater at Avila University
11901 Wornall Road Kansas City, MO 64145
Sunday, Jan. 17 at 2 pm
Atkins Auditorium Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
4525 Oak Street Kansas City, MO 64111
Classical,
VID: What Makes it Rob? Part II
PART 2
Local media maven Laurie Arbore interviews composer, commentator, author and NPR star Rob Kapilow about "What Makes it Great?"
Rob and Laurie converse about his long-lasting engagement in Kansas City with The Friends of Chamber Music, discoveries, his new book and his own compositions.
From an interview in December 2008
This weekend, Kapilow will return to the metropolis for the 15th year of "What Makes it Great?" with guest artists, the Zemlinsky String Quartet.
Video by Mike Strong
Editing by Nathan Granner
The Friends of Chamber Music
Zemlinsky Quartet
Dvorák String Quartet No. 12 in F. Major, Op. 96 "The American.
Saturday, Nov. 14 at 11 a.m.
Country Club Congregational United Church of Christ
205 W. 65th Street, Kansas City, MO 64113
Sunday, Nov. 15 at 2 pm
Paradise Park 1021 NE Colbern Rd Lee's Summit, MO 64086
For tickets or information call 816-561-9999 or online at www.chambermusic.org
Coming in January...
Gilles Vonsattel
Chopin Ballade No. 3 in A-flat Major, Op. 47 and Chopin Ballade No. 4 in F-Minor Op. 52
Saturday, Jan. 16 at11 am
Goppert Theater at Avila University
11901 Wornall Road Kansas City, MO 64145
Sunday, Jan. 17 at 2 pm
Atkins Auditorium Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
4525 Oak Street Kansas City, MO 64111
Classical,
VID: What Makes it Rob? Part III
PART 3
Local media maven Laurie Arbore interviews composer, commentator, author and NPR star Rob Kapilow about "What Makes it Great?"
Rob and Laurie converse about his long-lasting engagement in Kansas City with The Friends of Chamber Music, discoveries, his new book and his own compositions.
From an interview in December 2008
This weekend, Kapilow will return to the metropolis for the 15th year of "What Makes it Great?" with guest artists, the Zemlinsky String Quartet.
Video by Mike Strong
Editing by Nathan Granner
The Friends of Chamber Music
Zemlinsky Quartet
Dvorák String Quartet No. 12 in F. Major, Op. 96 "The American.
Saturday, Nov. 14 at 11 a.m.
Country Club Congregational United Church of Christ
205 W. 65th Street, Kansas City, MO 64113
Sunday, Nov. 15 at 2 pm
Paradise Park 1021 NE Colbern Rd Lee's Summit, MO 64086
For tickets or information call 816-561-9999 or online at www.chambermusic.org
Coming in January...
Gilles Vonsattel
Chopin Ballade No. 3 in A-flat Major, Op. 47 and Chopin Ballade No. 4 in F-Minor Op. 52
Saturday, Jan. 16 at11 am
Goppert Theater at Avila University
11901 Wornall Road Kansas City, MO 64145
Sunday, Jan. 17 at 2 pm
Atkins Auditorium Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art
4525 Oak Street Kansas City, MO 64111
Classical,
St. Lawrence Quartet: tight ensemble, palpable excitement
Saturday night a 5-alarm fire raged upon the stage of the Folly theatre as the St. Lawrence String Quartet ignited the beauty of three immortal masterpieces by Haydn, Mendelssohn and Beethoven, and then fanned those flames to cosmic perfection. This Quartet snorts the very fire of life into every note it sings.
The SLSQ, comprised of violinists Geoff Nuttall and Scott St. John, violist Lesley Robertson, and cellist Christopher Costanza is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. In residence at Stanford University since 1998, the Quartet enjoys a distinguished pedigree, having been mentored by the Emerson, Juilliard and Tokyo String Quartets.
Their program opened with Haydn's String Quartet in E-flat Major, Op. 9, No. 2 - the first time an Opus 9 Quartet by Haydn has been heard in the 35-year history of The Friends of Chamber Music series, President Cynthia Siebert declared. Its virtuosic first violin part in the hands of Nuttall drove the performance to exude the brilliance of a Paganini concerto. The three accompanying strings stretched their supporting chords in a Viennese agogic that sighed and sang as one instrument. Not a one of them played it safe in this exciting performance - this was Haydn, the revolutionary, declaring once again to the cosmos his irrepressible passion for life.
With the audience's appetite good and whetted for the next work on the program, namely Mendelssohn's String Quartet in F minor, Op. 80, anticipation mounted when they had to wait a bit longer for all the musicians to have the right music on their stands. Quipped Nuttall, as he got up from his chair to go backstage again, "The problem with Henley editions is that they all look identical." In his absence his colleague added, "He doesn't play the first measure - we can start without him." That moment of comic relief aside, the Quartet got down to the serious beauty at hand.
Driving tremolos in the opening led into a fantastically tight and energized first movement, brought to conclusion in electrifying frenzy. Composed after the death of his beloved sister Fanny, Mendelssohn captured the despair of his loss in the pulsating heartbeat motif that emerged in the second and third movements. The second movement began with anguished syncopated heartbeats in the low voices of cello and viola, built up masterfully by the SLSQ, and then wound back into somber sorrow at its end, answered again by the palpitating rhythms of a broken heart. In the third movement, the heartbeats grew into a looming life of their own, relinquished to the dissonance of sorrow, and ended with a sigh. The fourth movement kicked into driving anguish, with the SLSQ delivering big dynamic gradations and trading tightly controlled trills. Superb solos in the cello and second violin spurred the first violinist into an energized tarantella that built dramatically into its roaring conclusion. The genius of Mendelssohn's mature inspiration has been revealed anew by his perfect interpreters, the SLSQ. This reviewer hopes that they will release a CD of the works on this program. Once was not enough.
Beethoven's String Quartet in C-Sharp minor, Op. 131 was revealed in the second half of the program. Its brooding opening was growled in phrases from violin to cello to viola in the timbres of tight tonal sheen, the musical language and sounds of immortal Beethoven at his lonely grumpiest. As if awaking the next morning from a bad night, the SLSQ crafted the ambience of gray breaking light in the second segment in the half-tone higher key of D, and masterfully crafted Beethoven's gradually lifting shift in spirit, that soon soared and scooped. The many sections of the work culminated in the galloping horses rhythm over which ultimately a lyrical line seemed to soar into heaven itself. This was a performance that crackled with electricity, throughout, and brought rousing roars of appreciation from the house.
They were rewarded with the Scherzo of the Ravel Quartet. Pizzicatos volleyed robustly and an extraordinary palette of colors illuminated the superb reading that brought the evening to an electrifying end.
REVIEW:
The Friends of Chamber Music
St. Lawrence Quartet
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Folly Theatre
300 West 12th Street, Kansas City MO
For tickets call 816.561.9999 or online www.chambermusic.org
Classical,
May in November
In hindsight it seems inevitably prophetic that pianist Nathanael May's November 8th recital at the Bell Cultural Events Center occurred on a spectacular "spring" day in early November that felt a lot more like May despite the winter solstice being just six weeks away. The weather humorously obviated May's planned introduction in which he intended to suggest to the audience that they imagine being somewhere warm. This juxtaposition of music and weather allowed recital attendees to enjoy a veritable "May in November."
Dr. Nathanael May is an impressive young man. With degrees in Piano and Pedagogy from Eastman, KU and Wisconsin-Whitewater, he is also the founder and artistic director of the soundSCAPE composition and performance exchange. His impressive curriculum vitae comes deceptively wrapped in a youthfulness that could convincingly pass for a high school senior, making his mature technique and confident stage presence all that the more remarkable.
The program's "fantasy" motif presented Beethoven (Sonata quasi una Fantasia, Op. 27 No. 1), Mendelssohn (Fantasy in F-sharp minor, Op. 28), Alan Hovhaness (excerpts from Fantasy, op. 16) and Brahms (two selections from Fantasien, Op. 116). He had originally intended to include works by George Crumb and Lukas Foss, but May confided that the Hovhaness had become a necessary substitution when his busy schedule kept him from fully preparing the Crumb and Foss to concert standards. In any case, the program maintained its eclectic edge with pieces spanning just over 150 years from Beethoven's 1800-01 work to Hovhaness' 1952-53 contribution. Equally refreshing was the fact that these are pieces rarely heard in the mainstream repertoire.
In keeping with the informative and engaging trend practiced by younger musicians, May introduced each piece prior to its performance.
The Beethoven, he described, was written towards the very beginning of the composer's hearing loss that would eventually leave him almost completely deaf. The work is the companion piece to its more famous cousin sonata, Moonlight (Op. 27, No. 2), which also bears the descriptive "quasi una Fantasia". May's performance was confident and nearly flawless in its execution, except for a slightly thumpy interpretation of the Adagio con espressione movement. Twice however, I heard an awkward buzz in one of the piano's lower strings - frustrating in any scenario, but especially so with an apparently new Steinway.
May described Mendelssohn's F-sharp minor Fantasy, written in 1829, as being a compositional tribute, in the first Con moto agitato movement, to Beethoven, who had died only two years earlier; and, in the second Allegro con moto movement, to Schubert, who had died the previous year. To this reviewer's ears, I could discern no such similarities and the entire piece seemed to me, just as he had described the third Presto movement, "pure Mendelssohn." The selection of this piece seemed youthfully "age-appropriate" given that Mendelssohn was only 20 when he composed the work with May infusing his own youthful charm into the performance.
The Hovhaness Fantasy proved to be the most "fantastic" from a compositional standpoint, requiring May to alternately play the keyboard, use percussion mallets and some finger-plucking on the piano's strings. The piece was said to be Hovhaness' tribute to India where he translated some of that their multi-tonal scales into our limited western 12-tone scale - some parts being more successful than others. The performance was very impressive, both aurally and visually, but paradoxically awkward given that Dr. May was reading from the score. While that is not entirely uncommon with modern music, the page-turning and inter-movement adjustments were distracting. At the very least, a page-turner would have better preserved the performance's coherence. The final note of the work - a sustained, fading chord - was the most impressive part, with May manipulating the damper pedal in such a way as to release the lower strings' harmonics about halfway through, creating a very mystical change in the chord's "personality."
Speaking to Nathanael May after the concert, I was intrigued to learn that Hovhaness indicated no such technique in the score. Rather, it was a discovery made during the practice and preparation of the piece - an interesting anecdote to the flexible nuances of modern music where, in this instance, the manipulation of sound, rather than the notes themselves, created the effect. It was very clever.
The two Brahms Fantasien were quaint, rarely-performed pieces. May solemnly dedicated the Intermezzo in E major to the victims of the Ft. Hood massacre and to Sgt. Amy Krueger, in particular. Sonically and compositionally, this was a very "un-Brahms-like" work. Aptly evocative for the dedication, it had its own modernity that one easily might believe had been written just in the past week especially for the occasion - uniquely reinforcing Brahms' timelessness. The second (Cappriccio in D minor) was a lively burst of energy that I found flawed in only one respect: May stood up while he was still holding the final chord - a major no-no in performance etiquette.
This was a thoughtfully planned program delivered in a relaxed, conversational style that felt part recital, part master class. I found it especially disappointing that less than 40 people attended. The Bell Cultural Center presents excellent quality programs that can hold their own in Kansas City's larger concert arenas. Indeed, anyone attending any performance at this spectacular 540-seat auditorium is likely to return - perhaps with new guests in tow - to what currently seems to be - unintentionally, for sure - a too-well-kept secret. Concertgoers looking for a regular dose of "something different" should consider subscribing to the e-newsletter at bellboxoffice@mnu.edu.
REVIEW:
Bell Cultural Events Center
Nathanael May, piano
Piano Fantasies of Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Crumb and Foss
Sunday, November 8, 2009
MidAmerica Nazarene University
2030 E. College Way, Olathe, KS 66062
For tickets call 913-971-3636 or online at bellboxoffice@mnu.edu
Classical,
"American Currents" explores uneven terrain
Contemporary compositions can exciting - if a little catawampus. And seeing an elaborate collection of pitched percussion on stage is always a thrill for this reviewer. A series of gongs hung above vibraphones and marimbas; congas and crotales mix with brake drums and suspended springs. It is impossible to anticipate what is to come. The under-performed bass clarinet takes center stage. Instruments are pulled, plucked and pressed to create mysterious harmonics. I can even forgive the occasional conceit, like playing an entire movement with left hands only. There is an off balance sense of expectation.
NewEar audiences know that the players are among the very best in the area - and the instrumentation for the chosen pieces pulled from a unique pallet of timbres. On deck for this concert was violin (Chuang Chun Chien) cello (Lawrence Figg) contrabass (Johnny Hamil) piano (Robert Pherigo) percussion (Patrick Alonzo Conway and Mark Lowry) and bass clarinet (Thomas Aber). The music was so demanding that only highly skilled musicians in complete command of their instruments are able to execute it with accuracy. NewEar did exactly that and more Friday night at All Souls Unitarian Church presenting American Currents, a collection of late 20th century pieces curated by composer Stephen Hartke, who was in the audience for a pre-concert lecture and post concert reception.
Opening with Gradus (1999) by Stephen Hartke, the violin drew slow dry lines that chromatically rose and fell like dusty, desert dunes. The vibraphone, like a heat wave, hovered. The composer noted that the title comes from a treatise on counterpoint, but chose to use the Latin meaning of the word instead to move the piece step-wise, as if taking a journey. The over-all effect was modern and fresh, but unfortunately, the vibe was too close to the bass clarinet obscuring the view and drowning out his contribution.
Not to worry, clarinetist Thomas Alber had his chance to shine in Morton Feldman's 1981 piece, Bass Clarinet and Percussion. With music that is challenging and difficult to connect with, a title can become a crutch for the listener, so with a simple statement of instrumentation, Feldman solved the problem. This was my favorite piece on the program. Its genius lay in the way Feldman tuned the ear with three note motifs played across the range of the bass clarinet. The perfectly-tuned percussion softly supported the angular movement of the "melody". Gongs quietly shimmered in unison to the pitch classes. To change the tonal center, the bass clarinet played a series of long notes and the progression was reset. The intervals between instruments was coordinated - reminding me of an abstract painting where the bass clarinet drew the lines, and the percussion filled in the colors.
Scree (1997) by Donald Crockett had a definite Aaron Copeland-like expansiveness. Referring to a type of terrain at the base of a mountain or hill, the work is a journey that the audience takes with the cello. It is rough, rugged and often excruciatingly sad and lonely. It opened with a bright, clean, active sound full of intensity. The second movement reminded me of the Kronos Quartet with sliding cello strings and spunky accompaniment. Percussionist Lowry had the biggest challenge in the fourth movement moving at light speed across his space.
Stephen Hartkes' Night Rubrics (1990) and The Horse with the Lavender Eye (1997) filled out the second half of the program.
Night Rubrics is a two-movement work for solo cello based on the mind's inability to control thoughts during insomnia. It began with a creepy, dry harmonic followed by the cellist using a variety of techniques to depict the agitated mind. One can hear the annoyance and the ticking away of passing time. In one particularly memorable section, an almost rock-and -roll-like jangle broke through the heavy desire for sleep. The second movement, "Envoi," allowed the cellist to play more traditional melodic material - which he did with passion. I hope to hear cellist, Lawrence Figg perform again. The piece was well crafted by the composer.
The Horse with the Lavender Eye (1997) was completely lost on me. Not being familiar with the pop culture references that inspired it, I felt out of the loop. According to the program notes, "The sources for the titles of this trio are quite disparate, ranging from Carlo Goldoni to Japanese court music to the cartoonist R. Crumb as well as the 19th century Brazilian novelist, Macchado de Assis and Looney Tunes." This is an example where over explanation and emphasis on titles can alienate and affect the success of a decent composition. This one was definitely for insiders.
Overall the program was tight and offered listeners the chance to hear new sound combinations in unexpected ways. Being a little off-kilter isn't necessarily a bad thing.
REVIEW:
newEar Contemporary Ensemble
American Currents
Friday November 8, 2009
All Souls Unitarian Church
For more information visit www.newear.org
Dance,
Liz Lerman Dance Exchange upstaged by overwhelming audio
The youngest audience I've ever seen at an evening performance at the Lied Center gathered to witness the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange present Ferocious Beauty: Genome. Long an advocate of innovation and experimentation in dance, Liz Lerman fearlessly challenges our notion of a typical dancer. Including dancers of all ages and abilities, she features a company of human movers able to stretch the limits of our preconceptions. It is her focus on understanding what it means to be physically human and her effort to interpret our condition through kinesthetic movement that makes her work so valuable.
The University of Kansas has been actively striving for more cross disciplinary collaborations, particularly between the arts and sciences. The Spencer Museum of Art and the Lied Center joined forces last year to examine climate change and global warming. Ferocious Beauty: Genome along with the family program Darwin the Dinosaur presented in September, fit nicely into the evolution exhibit at the Natural History Museum and the annual Origin of Species celebration which will kick off next week.
Ferocious Beauty: Genome was a multi-media mix of live dancers and on-screen projections. The projections functioned as animated backdrops, documentary-style interviews with scientists, power point signage, close-ups of dancers and even mini movies. They allowed the audience to see details on stage that might otherwise have been lost. For example, the dancers literally unzipped the genome, represented by dancers wearing white costumes with zippers, and revealed the secrets of life written on the each other's flesh. The oversized projections effectively allowed the audience to read the secrets thereby adding an extra dimension of clarity and interest to the performance. 
The dancers were an eclectic mix of souls striving to embody the human story from sub-atomic particles to death. The writing was well conceived and thought provoking. Among the best bits were when dancers took on characters and delivered monologues that were a mix of performance art and standup comedy. Miss Tata, clad in a black leather ensemble complete with a whip, represented the importance of sex in the genome. The whip was her strand and she cracked it with authority.
Unfortunately, neither the projections nor the efforts of the dancers could distract me from the ear splitting volume of the soundtrack. Just 10 rows from the four foot speaker on stage, I felt like I was at a Rolling Stones concert. After a few minutes I moved to the "bus balcony" where single file seats flank the house. The floor was vibrating so I headed to "the attic" and chose one of the highest seats in the house to avoid the deafening distortion and it was still too loud. Escape was futile. My ears were buzzing all of the way home.
Excessive volume in live performance soundtracks is a health concern for young and old. We only have five senses to experience our world. Losing a percentage of ones hearing at a theater or hall just isn't acceptable. Audiences are silent victims trained not to move from seats during performances. The high volume level detracted from the performance and put me in physical pain - and I'm sure that wasn't Liz Lerman's intention. Is volume setting the responsibility of the artistic director, the production assistant or someone on staff at the Lied center? Whomever IS responsible needs to be aware of the negative effects this can have on our very sensitive sense of hearing. Do us all a favor and turn it down, then we can focus on what is important, the dance.
REVIEW:
Liz Lerman Dance Exchange
Ferocious Beauty: Genome
Saturday, November 7, 2009
The Lied Center at the University of Kansas
www.lied.ku.edu
Top Photo by Kevin Kennefick
Classical,
Kraybill combines artistry and passion in organ's 50th anniversary recital
On Friday, November 6, about 1,000 people made the pilgrimage to the Community of Christ Auditorium in Independence to hear Principal Organist and Director of Music Jan Kraybill perform a recital that was 50 years in the making - and well worth the wait. In echo to the rich array of requiems and remembrances held this week following Halloween and All Souls Day, Dr. Kraybill presented a musical memorial to artist-giants of yesteryear with her re-creation of the inaugural recital given by Catharine Crozier on the legendary Æolian-Skinner organ.
On Friday, November 6, 1959 over 7,000 people jammed into the RLDS Auditorium (re-named Community of Christ Auditorium in 2001) to experience the first sounds of the new organ in its colossal home. The foundation of the immense oval concrete-domed Auditorium was begun in 1926, and completed in 1962, with its construction interrupted during the World War II years. Dr. Kraybill, an internationally renowned concert artist and compelling educator, provided fascinating glimpses into the historic event that inspired Friday's concert in between performing the works on the program.
The Auditorium is outfitted with 5,600 seats, and its opening concert sold out. That indicates that about 1,400 people stood along the vast circumference of the chamber and in its 30 balcony doorways, while others sat in the aisles to hear the concert. Those who couldn't find standing room sat in the basement to hear the sounds that came through the floor. And according to the news story of the event published the next day in the Kansas City Star, hundreds more were turned away. This past Friday night, at least a couple dozen audience members indicated that they had attended the original concert. One of them was overheard to comment that Kraybill gave an even more exciting and perfect performance than that of the great Catharine Crozier, who is remembered as a marvelous technician, and the first of a Who's Who list of guest artists to perform upon the organ - the likes of which include Paul Manz, Maurice Duruflé and Gerre Hancock, to name but three.
From the first antiphonally echoed 'en chamade' solo trumpet tones of the opening Fanfare in C Major by Henry Purcell, a rich variety of tonal effects regaled the senses in a performance that could have blown a Bose sound demo CD under the table. The Opus 1309 Æolian-Skinner organ was the largest free-standing organ in America when it was completed in 1959. It currently boasts nine divisions, 113 ranks, and 6,334 pipes - or as Dr. Kraybill related, "More pipes than there are seats in the Auditorium." And in her 11th year as Principal Organist, Kraybill demonstrated that she knows how to coax the full array of beauty out of every last one of them.
The Auditorium organ has known only three Principal Organists in the 50 years since its inception. The first to hold that esteemed position was Bethel Knoche (1958-1967), who oversaw its installation and voicing, and initiated the series of recitals still given - daily in the summer, and weekly in the winter months - so that visitors to the Auditorium may have the opportunity to hear its majestic breadth. Dr. Kraybill recognized the volunteer Organ Staff present, currently 25 gifted organists who regularly perform for these recitals. The second person to hold the Principal Organist position was internationally acclaimed organist, Dr. John Obetz (1967 - 1998), who initiated the weekly broadcast recitals that ran for over 25 years, allowing listeners all over the world to hear the instrument. This past October 4th, Dr. Obetz presented the opening recital of the 50th anniversary series. Kraybill shared with the audience that the Auditorium organ has always been a significant sound in her life, having listened to Dr. Obetz's weekly radio broadcasts from her childhood home in Colby, Kansas.
Repeating the same concert program as Crozier 50 years ago, Kraybill delivered a compelling interpretation of Johann Sebastian Bach's Passacaglia and Fugue, BWV 582. Its imposing opening eight bar pedal ostinato was stated with well-paced deliberation. Kraybill infused the following 20 variations with excellent variety in tonal timbre and dynamic contrast. She created a terrific build-up to its climax in the 12th variation, and maintained a warm energy that carried through to its final resounding cadence.
Marcel Dupré most likely first improvised his Variations sur un Noël, Op. 20, based upon the 15th century traditional French New Year's carol Noël Nouvelet, while on tour in America and England in 1922, and notated the improvisations during the train trips along the tour route. He gave its premiere in 1923, at the Wanamaker Auditorium in New York. Kraybill shared that each variation was inspired by Dupre's impressions of the great cathedrals and organs in the cities in his tour.
At the time Catharine Crozier performed the inaugural recital of the Auditorium organ in 1959, Dupré enjoyed the reputation of a virtuoso performer, despite painful arthritis, and he was highly sought as an inspirational teacher. Dupré notated meticulously the sounds he wanted in the composition, and Kraybill brought gripping artistry in her realization of his intent. I especially enjoyed the contrast of the Variation 4 pedal tone octaves to the breezy swirling movement of Variation 5 with its sound of wind sailing through bare branches. The accordion waltz of Variation 9 was an unexpected sound, followed by the final variation that ended the work in grandeur, namely a fugue in the style of Bach - on steroids. It brought down the house.
The final piece on the program was the darkly impassioned Sonata on the 94th Psalm by Julius Reubke. The organ work, composed in the style of Liszt, with whom Reubke studied, expresses the daunting psalm which protests injustice and mucks through sorrow before arriving at radiant gratitude. Reubke premiered the piece in 1857, only a year before his death from tuberculosis at the age of 24. So many organists are technically proficient. Kraybill hurdled the technical demands seemingly effortlessly and also expressed its complex range of musical nuance with brilliant command.
The program ended on a high note with the same virtuosic encore piece that Crozier presented namely the Prelude and Fugue in G minor, Op. 7, No. 3, by Marcel Dupré. Kraybill mentioned in her commentary that when Dupré composed the work as a student, the publishers wouldn't publish it for a long time because it was too hard to play. Bravo! to Dr. Kraybill, who not only delivered an artistically stellar interpretation, but who also executed its double pedal tones flawlessly - a technique in which each foot plays two notes at the same time by simultaneously pressing the heel and the toe on different pedals. The audience rewarded the success of her performance with an immediate standing ovation.
Dr. Kraybill's CD recording The Auditorium Organ: Fifty Years of Excellence is available to order at www.jankraybill.com Two more concerts are scheduled in celebration of The Auditorium Organ's Golden Anniversary year: Ken Cowan and Lisa Shihoten, organ and violin duo on Sunday, January 10, at 3 p.m.; and Frederick Swann, retired organist of the Crystal Cathedral in Los Angeles, on Sunday, March 14, at 3 p.m. Both concerts are free. Another noteworthy (and free) concert is Dr. Kraybill's annual Super Bowl Sunday Recital, this year on Sunday, February 7, 2010 at 3 pm. For more information on this and upcoming events on the Dome and Spire Series, visit http://www.cofchrist.org/dome_spire/calendar.asp .
REVIEW
Dome and Spire Series
Jan Kraybill Presents the 50th Anniversary Recital on the Auditorium Organ
Friday, November 6, 2009
The Community of Christ Auditorium
1001 West Walnut Street, Independence MO 64050
For free tickets call 816-833-1000 or visit www.cofchrist.org/dome_spire/ for more information.
Top Photo: Jan Kraybill
Film,
"Coco Before Chanel" is more than a 'Project Runway' episode
You don't have to be a great lover of fashion to appreciate the rags-to-riches story of legendary designer Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel - or to appreciate the wonderful performance of French actress Audrey Tautou as the lead in Coco Before Chanel.
Coco's beginnings are humble to say the least after her widowed father deposits her and her sister, Adrienne, at a dreary Roman Catholic orphanage in Aubazine, France. Six years later, when she turns 18, Coco leaves with Adrienne, and works as a seamstress by day and a bar singer by night.
One fateful night, Coco encounters Etienne Balsan (Benoit Poelvoorde), a rich socialite whose debauchery-filled parties makes one understand why there was a French revolution decades earlier. Coco moves onto his estate where she is treated like a possession by the womanizing Balsan who realizes too late how unique she is.
Balsan's treatment of her opens the door for Coco, who despite her mistrust of men and skepticism towards love, falls for Arthur "Boy" Capel (Alessandro Nivola), an English polo player with business ties to Balsan. A playboy in his own right, the charming Chapel supports Coco's fashion pursuits, but a tragedy ensures that Coco's vow to never marry comes to fruition.
Tautou, whom mainstream American audiences perhaps best know from her role opposite Tom Hanks in The Da Vinci Code, is simply brilliant as Coco. Her performance harkens back to the day when she made her first splash on this side of the pond in Amélie. With an Audrey Hepburn quality, she effortlessly glides across the screen as she fleshes out the emotions of a woman who completely changed fashion in the early 20th century.
Besides Tautou, another brilliant aspect to Coco Before Chanel is how, unlike Amelia, it deftly balances romance while maintaining perspective on who the woman Coco was and what influenced her to become the fashion magnate the world came to know. Now, the film does not delve into Coco's post-1919 life and the questions she later faced involving her activities during World War II, but that's another film for another time.
Brimming with magnificent costumes that accurately represent the period, Coco Before Chanel is well-sewn cinema that may see some Oscar nods.
On a letter grade scale from A being excellent to F for failing, Coco Before Chanel receives an A- .
Coco Before Chanel is rated PG-13 and has a running time of 105 minutes.
Now showing through December 24 @
Tivoli Cinemas
Westport Manor Square, 4050 Pennsylvania, KCMO
Visit www.tivolikc.com or call 913-383-7756 for showtimes.
City Classics,
Music and Dance Previews through November 25
Kansas City Symphony
Stern Conducts Sibelius
Friday, November 20 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, November 21 at 8 p.m.
Lyric Theatre
11th and Central Streets, Kansas City, MO
Sunday, November 22 at 2 p.m.
Carlsen Center at JCCC
12345 College Boulevard, Overland Park, KS
For tickets call 816-471-0400 or online at www.kcsymphony.org.
In addition to its world premiere of the Avner Dorman Piano Concerto in the concerts of November 20-22, the Symphony plays two pieces by composers who are pillars of patriotism: Jean Sibelius (Symphony No. 2) and Bela Bartok (Hungarian Sketches).
Sibelius, the great Finnish composer, wrote his Second Symphony in 1902 during a period of Russian domination of his homeland. More than any other piece of music he wrote, with the possible exception of Finlandia, the Second Symphony evokes the images and colors of his native land. Many have felt that its evocation of Finland's natural beauty and the spirit of its people was a coded message to his fellow nationalists to resist the Russians.
Although Sibelius was greatly influenced by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and especially his beloved Brahms, he retained a distinctive character in his compositions, with a style and idiom uniquely his own. The symphonic historian Charles O'Connell wrote of the Second Symphony that "this is the real Sibelius, terse, powerful, and convincing; devoid of the factitious and the unnecessary, naked and pulsating and enormously vital."
The spirit of Finnish folk music is everywhere in the Second Symphony. The music almost begs us to imagine the many fjords and crags of the land, jutting out into the ever present ocean, and the meadows and fields and small villages of its people.
The patriotism of the work is felt most strongly in the second movement, where the plaintive sounds of the bassoon seem to portray to tragic affliction which the Finnish people sometimes suffer. However, these afflictions are wiped away by a stirring rumbling from the timpani, picked up by the strings in pizzicato and then carried to a stormy climax by the full orchestra.
Patriotism is also present in Bartok's Hungarian Sketches. All of Bartok's music, in fact, is powerfully expressive and utterly unlike almost anything else we hear in the concert hall. A tiny, frail man, Bartok possessed a powerful and distinctive personality which led him to pursue his ideals with force and integrity in every way. He never swerved from his goals, even when it led him to fierce opposition of the Nazis and relocating away from his beloved Hungary. Said the music historian Arnold Schonberg, "he was prepared at all times to stand up to the Establishment in defense of his music and in defense of his liberty."
Bartok had an international reputation for his scholarly researches into folk music, and these idioms almost always find their way into his compositions. The Hungarian Sketches are no different, as the composer transcribed five piano pieces, entitled "Evening in Transylvania," "Bear Dance," "Melody," "A Bit Drunk" and "A Swineherd Dance," using folk elements but restated in his distinctive compositional style. We can hear much of his native Hungary in these pieces, both romantic and humorous in turn. What really comes through, however, is the passion of the composer for his homeland, a theme which revisited him throughout his career.
Sibelius and Bartok, two of the great nationalist early twentieth century composers, make an appropriate pairing in this concert. Bring your Finnish and Hungarian flags, and wave them proudly at this concert.
UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance
Hansel und Gretel
Thursday, November 19 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, November 20 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, November 21 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, November 22 at 2:30 p.m.
White Recital Hall, Performing Arts Center
4949 Cherry, Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-235-6222 or online at www.umkc.edu/conservatory.
Engelbert Humperdinck's tuneful opera Hansel und Gretel may be based upon a Grimm Brothers fairy tale, but it is anything but children's fare, as generations of parents have discovered in the theater to their dismay. Child abuse, torture and cannibalism, anyone? Yet behind this grim (pun intended) story line lay a few eternal lessons (watch out for yourself, never trust anybody else) and much glorious music. Few operatic scores are full of such brilliant tunes and lush orchestration as the score of this Wagner-inspired opera.
It's a perfect piece for young voices, and is an excellent choice for the Conservatory's opera program. Besides, we are getting close to the holidays, and Hansel und Gretel is a perennial Christmastime favorite, although the reasons have always escaped this listener, unless it has something to do with candy and gingerbread houses.
The four performances feature alternating casts of talented student singers, so you may want to go twice just to hear them all!
William Baker Festival Singers
Annual Thanksgiving Benefit
Friday, November 20 at 7:30 p.m.
Broadway United Methodist Church
74th and Wornall, Kansas City, MO
Free admission, but good will offering accepted.
The William Baker Festival Singers is producing a concert to benefit the Bridge of Home foundation as part of a Thanksgiving fund raising effort. Joining the Singers this evening will be the gospel group Keystone. According to publicity, "the one-hour program will include classical gems, but will be focused primarily on the American folk hymns, spirituals and gospel songs that are favorites of Festival Singers audiences. You will clap your hands and celebrate the inspiring stories about how hurting people are gaining new life."
Kansas City Civic Orchestra
Nostalgic Classics
Saturday, November 21 at 7:30 p.m.
Founder's Hall at Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral
13th and Broadway, Kansas City, MO
Free admission.
Under the leadership of Christopher Kelts the Kansas City Civic Orchestra performs fine renditions of classic works with talented musicians from the community. This year the orchestra is celebrating its 50th anniversary.
This opening concert features the music of Henry Purcell, as adapted by modern composer Steven Stucky, and with Faure and Haydn, so the orchestra spares no challenges in assembling its programs.
The Purcell piece should be the most intriguing for classical music fans. Stucky has taken a longstanding Purcell favorite, Funeral Music for Queen Mary, and given it a modern twist. Faure is represented by the ravishing Pelleas et Melisande Suite, one of this listener's favorite scores. For the Haydn, Kelts has chosen one of the late symphonies, Symphony No. 104, otherwise known as the "London" symphony after the city for which it was composed. This is the post-Mozart Haydn, the master having learned much from his onetime pupil, and is one of Haydn's most sophisticated creations.
KCMETROPOLIS News,
Help KCM make the match
KCMetropolis.org - YOUR Online Journal of the Performing Arts - is a nonprofit arts service organization designed to offer critical, quality dialogue about our community's performing arts through new online technologies and social medias. We have been publishing for over a year and feature articles on traditional and independent classical music, dance, theatre, indie films and jazz, and are in the process of launching a new section called theSTEADY that will highlight local hard-working generative performers in the community. We are a true grassroots organization and have 20+ local writers on board - talented and expert voices coming from the musicologists, professional writers, etc within the community.
KCMetropolis.org publishes weekly on Wednesdays and has 600+ articles up on the site stretching back through October 2008. This has allowed us to offer more, and more easily accessible coverage of performing arts events - both small and large - than has ever been offered in one place to the Kansas City community.
In July, KCMetropolis.org debuted a new performing arts calendar - KC Events - that allows arts organizations to add and manage their own events. It is much more than just a listing - click on the link and find an entire page of information on each performance, all with easy links to share, print, send to your mobile, etc. We are partnering with other performing arts organizations, online arts purveyors and tourism-based businesses to make KC Events easily accessible in many locations.
KCMetropolis.org was recently awarded a Missouri Arts Council Capacity Building match grant of $5000 to continue development of crucial coverage for the performing arts in our community. We are the second only online arts organization to receive funding through this government entity.
Please help make us a sustainable voice for the performing arts for many years to come - help us meet the match goal of $5000. Every little bit helps - and any donation will be gratefully accepted and gratefully acknowledged on our website.
It is easy to donate to KCMetropolis.org. Click on donate online via Pay Pal or send your checks to KCMetropolis.org at 814 East 33rd Street, Kansas City, MO 64109. All donations are tax deductible.
Thank you for your continued support of KCMetropolis.org and the performing arts in our community!
KCM Staff and Board of Directors
ArtsJournal.com,
RSS ArtsJournal
Many thanks to ArtsJournal.com's editor, Douglas McLennan
~ Formerly an arts columnist and arts reporter with the Seattle
Post-Intelligencer and the Seattle Weekly. Doug writes on
the arts for a number of publications (in his abundant free time)
and is currently acting director of the National Arts Journalism
Program while it reinvents itself ~
*To sign up for ArtsJournal's content in newsletter form*
please click here