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Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

Kansas City Ballet
The Nutcracker
Wednesday December 16 through Friday, December 18 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, December 19 at 2:00 and 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, December 20 at 1:00 and 5:00 p.m.
Tuesday, December 22 at 7:30 p.m.
Wednesday, December 23 at 2:00 and 7:00 p.m.
(Runs through December 27)
Music Hall
13^th and Broadway, Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-931-2232 or online at www.kcballet.org.

Let's face it, Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker is such a perennial feature of holiday celebrations throughout the world that we all must be sick and tired of it, right?  No way!  One of the secrets to the enduring popularity of this piece is its charming story, one of everlasting hope and optimism, and the delightful whimsy featured in both the music and in the dancing.  A better combination of music and dance is not to be found, and one of the pleasures of the Christmas season is the opportunity to hear and see it again.

The Kansas City Ballet's production, designed by the late, great Todd Bolender, longtime director of the Ballet, is a delight to behold, and features all 25 of the company's dancers, and over 200 young people from the Ballet School as well, in scenes from the timeless Christmas story based upon the fantasy tale by E.T.A. Hoffmann.

Made up of a series of short vignettes, tied together through the overall story of the young girl Clara and her Christmas Eve dreams, the Nutcracker offers a company's dancers the opportunity to be both graceful and athletic in turn.  The Kansas City forces have never failed to shine, and current artistic director William Whitener has done a marvelous job of preserving the essence of Bolender's stirring design while keeping a few things fresh and challenging for the company.

And as for the music?  Well, Tchaikovsky himself underestimated the power of his score.  He found it "detestable."  Well, Mr. Tchaikovsky, we have news for you.  Your "detestable" music has become among the most popular iconic pieces of Western civilization, so perhaps your judgment of your own music is not to be trusted.  Many listeners have found the variety and melodic invention in the Nutcracker to be among the finest in Western music.  The many and varied musical numbers, intended for dancing by various characters in Clara's dream, including live versions of the toys under her Christmas tree, are perfectly calculated.  In these performances musicians from the Kansas City Symphony will perform the score live.

One of this listener's favorite stories concerns the composer's use of the celesta in the "Dance of the Sugar-Plum Fairy." The celesta was a new musical instrument which had just been created by Auguste Mustel.  Tchaikovsky had discovered the instrument just before departing on a trip for the United States, and was captivated by its "divinely beautiful tone."' He arranged to have one sent to Russia secretly, because he was "afraid Rimsky-Korsakov and Glazunov may get hold of it and use the unusual effect before me."  Its use in the Nutcracker was kept a secret until the opening night, and when the celesta was first heard by the opening night audience it was met with rapturous applause.

The rapture still continues.

(Note: Some of the above listed performances may be sold out.)

 Westport Center for the Arts
St. Michael's Baroque Ensemble
Friday, December 18 at 12:00 noon
Westport Presbyterian Church
201 Westport Road, Kansas City, MO
Free admissions, donations accepted.

For years Westport Presbyterian Church has sponsored its free noontime concert series on occasional Friday noons, and many of the performances have been outstanding.  This Friday the series is featuring the St. Michael's Baroque Ensemble with Mark Cohick and Charles Wines, woodwinds, Ken Walker, harpsichord, and Benjamin Humphrey, cello, along with Charles Everson, tenor.  Grab a sack lunch, put a few dollars in the basket, and enjoy some classical music away from the hustle and bustle of the holiday season.

 Harriman Jewell Series
As it Fell on a Holie Eve - Parthenia
Saturday, December 19 at 8:00 p.m.
Folly Theater
12^th and Central, Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-415-5025 or online at www.harriman-jewell.org.

Early music super group Parthenia teams up with soprano Julianne Baird to present a holiday concert featuring Renaissance Christmas favorites.

Parthenia, making its Harriman Jewell series debut, explores music written for viols "from Tudor England to the court of Versailles and beyond."  The ensemble, which regularly performs at Corpus Christi Church in New York City, frequently collaborates with the world's foremost early music specialists and has been featured on radio and television and in many different festivals and series.  The group has been hailed by the New Yorker as "one of the brightest lights in New York's early music scene."

Julianne Beard is a frequent collaborator with symphony orchestras including the New York Philharmonic and Cleveland Symphony, and specializes in the works of Bach, Handel and other early composers.  With more than 100 recordings to her credit, she is currently a distinguished professor at Rutgers University.

Kansas City Young Symphony
Winter Concert
Sunday, December 20 at 8:00 p.m.
Park University Chapel
8700 N.W. Riverpark Drive, Parkville, Missouri
Free admission.

 The Kansas City Youth Symphony, conducted by Steven Davis, performs its annual winter concert on Sunday evening.  No information is available as to the programming for this concert.

The concert will be preceded earlier in the afternoon with a performance by the String Orchestra and Academy Orchestra at 2:00 p.m. and a Symphonette and Philharmonic Orchestra performance at 5:00 p.m., at the same location.

This year is the 50^th anniversary of the Kansas City Youth Symphony.

By Don Dagenais

City Classics Music and Dance Columnist; Classical Contributor

A lifelong classical music fan, Don Dagenais is a frequent preview speaker for the Lyric Opera of Kansas City and has taught classical music and opera courses at several Kansas City venues. He has served on the boards of directors of a number of performing arts organizations including the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, the Lyric Opera Guild, UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance, Opera Volunteers International, the Civic Opera Theater of Kansas City, Inspiration Point Fine Arts Colony, Octarium, and the Friends of the Symphony.  He has been the past president of most of these organizations and is current the president of the Friends of the Symphony. 

Dagenais co-authored a history of the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, published on the occasion of its 50th anniversary (2007) and has written books on the histories of both the Lyric Opera Guild and Opera Volunteers International, as well as an introductory book for opera novices (Your Passport to the Opera).  He has received several local and national awards for outstanding volunteer work for the arts, including a lifetime achievement award from The Coterie Theatre in 2000, the Kansas City Musical Club's annual award in 2001, a Partners in Excellence Award from Opera Volunteers International in 2002, a Bravo Award from Opera Volunteers International in 2004 and a community service award from the Daughter of the American Revolution in 2008 honoring him for his community service to the arts.

In addition to his music interests, Don is president of the board of directors for the Metropolitan Ensemble Theater and has served on the boards of The Coterie Theatre and the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, serving as president of each organization.  He publishes newsletters for seven arts organizations.  When not involved in the performing arts, Don is a senior real estate attorney with Lathrop & Gage LLP in Kansas City, Missouri, where he has practiced law since 1976 after graduating from the Cornell Law School.