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Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

Kansas City Symphony
Gil Shaham Plays Barber and Prokofiev
Friday, January 22 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, January 23 at 8 p.m.
Sunday, January 24 at 2 p.m.
Lyric Theatre
11^th and Central, Kansas City, MO
For tickets, call 816-471-0400 or online at www.kcsymphony.org

This spring the Kansas City Symphony is inviting three outstanding violinists to its stage to perform some of the classics of the violin concerto repertoire, and this weekend marks the first of these concerts. The American-born but Israeli-trained Gil Shaham, one of the most highly praised young violinists today, joins the Symphony at the Lyric Theatre for one of this listener's favorite concertos of all time, the Violin Concerto of Samuel Barber, the great American composer.

The Barber concerto, composed for the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1941, has been seen by some observers as marking a dividing line between Barber's traditional melodic composition and a later more modern, challenging style. As the writer Steven Schwartz says, "the first two movements sing sweetly and intently; the last movement burns the barn down with complex meters and new dissonances."

Some, in fact, have found the first two movements and the last one almost unrelated. It was this concern that led the originally intended violinist, Iso Briselli, to reject the work, a decision he later may have regretted, as Barber's concerto became one of the most popular 20^th century works for violin.

In addition to the Barber, Shaham also will perform the Prokofiev Violin Concerto No. 2, another landmark of 20^th century composition. Barbara Heninger, program annotator for the Redwood Symphony in California, has written that the work expresses a "singing lyricism coupled with virtuoso passagework." She calls it "meditative at the beginning, more explosive at the end. There are echoes of both the romantic melodies and the brash peasant dance tunes from the composer's Romeo and Juliet, written around the same time."

Also on the program is a suite from Pulcinella, a sparkling and meltingly beautiful early ballet score of Igor Stravinsky. It is one of the comparatively few ballet scores that stands on its own as an orchestral piece without the benefit of dancers. If you are unfamiliar with the Pulcinella score, be prepared to enjoy one of the bon bons of ballet music. Its delightfully playful tones will bring pleasure to your ears.

And if all of that weren't enough, the Symphony will also perform the Shostakovich Symphony No. 1, a piece not often heard on orchestral programs.

(The other two violinists who are set for Symphony appearances later this spring, by the way, are Jennifer Koh and Karen Gomyo. More about them in future issues.)

Lied Center
Sasha Cook, Mezzo Soprano
Sunday, January 24 at 2 p.m.
Lied Center at University of Kansas
1600 Stewart Drive, Lawrence, KS
For tickets call 785-864-2787 or online at www.lied.ku.edu

Sasha Cook is a young Juilliard-trained singer with an impressive array of engagements to her credit, although her career is still young. She has sung with the opera companies of Seattle, Central City, Wolf Trap and with the Israeli Opera. Her most prominent operatic appearance to date was her Metropolitan Opera debut in the role of Kitty Oppenheimer in John Adams' Doctor Atomic, which you may have seen simulcast in movie theaters last season. She reprised the role with the English National Opera in her European debut.

Cook is also establishing quite a reputation as a symphonic performer, singing with the Hong Kong Philharmonic and the symphony orchestras of San Francisco, Milwaukee, Colorado, Seattle, Modesto, Kansas City, San Diego and Chicago. She has also appeared with the Aspen Festival Orchestra under the direction of David Zinman.

This recital is part of a nationwide tour and will feature songs by Rossini, Berlioz, Mozart, Sondheim and Weill. She is also taking the recital to New York, Washington and California, among other venues this winter.

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.