Saturday night I saw Rick Miller's Bigger Than Jesus at the Zellerbach Playhouse on the Berkeley Campus. It's a set of performance art pieces about the cult of Jesus, explicitly structured around the parts of the Catholic mass. Not being a Christian myself, I was not much interested in the content of the show. Really I just wanted the chance to see Rick Miller do something again, after I enjoyed his MacHomer so much.
Rick Miller is a very appealing performer, especially when he is in motion, as when he plays the charistmatic evangelist in the "gloria" section. Otherwise, the most impressive thing about the show is its use of live video projections.
Sunday, June 25, 2006
Friday, June 23, 2006
Liszt's Dante Symphony
Friday night I went back to the Symphony to hear Conlon conduct Lizst's Dante Symphony, which I'd never heard before. This performance claims to recreate Liszt's original conception, which was to project a magic lantern show along with the music. While the music played, we saw sketches & paintings that were commissioned for the piece. The images were projected onto a pair of screens flanking the orchestra. Along with the images were inter-titles that narrated the program of the symphony. The inter-titles were helpful, I suppose, but Conlon's pre-concert lecture explained the program pretty thoroughly already. In the end I found myself focusing on the music & not the images.
The piece engaged my attention the whole time. It did a good job following the broad emotional arc of The Divine Comedy. The resembance to Wagner was very evident. The middle section kept sounding like it was about to turn into Parsifal. In the Paolo & Francesca section, there was a passage with 2 clarinets playing parallel intervals that reminded me of the 3rd act of Siegfried. Supposedly there is even a Tristan chord in there among the strangely shifting harmonies, but I must have missed it this time around.
I like Conlon's conducting. He is always comfortably ahead of the orchestra, & has a good sense of proportion. All the sections flowed smoothly from one to another. Most importantly, he made sure that everything was phrased & that expressive points were being made. Conlon made a great case for the music, even if I wasn't sold on the multimedia aspect of the performance.
There was a beautiful, very soft bass clarinet solo in the middle section. The boys choirs made a surprising, mystical entrance by singing from the back of the loge section. A solo voice came from another location of the hall, but I wasn't sure from where. No matter, the effect was appropriately ethereal.
As at the end of this Verdi Requiem, Conlon again sustained a pianissimo ending & held the hall in silence with his upraised left hand for several long seconds after the last notes faded away. He really communicates with this audience.
This concert is part of 6.5 Fridy series. The event begins at 6:30 with a lecture by Conlon. This lasts 40 minutes. Then there is a 20 minute intermission, followed by the symphony, which is 50 minutes in duration. The musicians wear jackets & ties instead of tuxedoes. We were out of the hall by 8:30. Before the performance, I kept worrying about getting hungry during the performance, so I ate a power bar during the intermission. I don't get the purpose of this format.
The piece engaged my attention the whole time. It did a good job following the broad emotional arc of The Divine Comedy. The resembance to Wagner was very evident. The middle section kept sounding like it was about to turn into Parsifal. In the Paolo & Francesca section, there was a passage with 2 clarinets playing parallel intervals that reminded me of the 3rd act of Siegfried. Supposedly there is even a Tristan chord in there among the strangely shifting harmonies, but I must have missed it this time around.
I like Conlon's conducting. He is always comfortably ahead of the orchestra, & has a good sense of proportion. All the sections flowed smoothly from one to another. Most importantly, he made sure that everything was phrased & that expressive points were being made. Conlon made a great case for the music, even if I wasn't sold on the multimedia aspect of the performance.
There was a beautiful, very soft bass clarinet solo in the middle section. The boys choirs made a surprising, mystical entrance by singing from the back of the loge section. A solo voice came from another location of the hall, but I wasn't sure from where. No matter, the effect was appropriately ethereal.
As at the end of this Verdi Requiem, Conlon again sustained a pianissimo ending & held the hall in silence with his upraised left hand for several long seconds after the last notes faded away. He really communicates with this audience.
This concert is part of 6.5 Fridy series. The event begins at 6:30 with a lecture by Conlon. This lasts 40 minutes. Then there is a 20 minute intermission, followed by the symphony, which is 50 minutes in duration. The musicians wear jackets & ties instead of tuxedoes. We were out of the hall by 8:30. Before the performance, I kept worrying about getting hungry during the performance, so I ate a power bar during the intermission. I don't get the purpose of this format.
Monday, June 19, 2006
James Conlon Leads the Verdi Requiem
I've never been a big fan of Verdi, but this past Saturday I heard the performance of the Verdi Requiem that I'd always been waiting for. Impressively, James Conlon conducted the 90 minute concert from memory, firmly in control. That opening pianissimo was done with the unity of purpose that allows 200 musicians to make a softer sound than one person alone could ever achieve.
Besides the always impressive San Francisco Symphony Chorus, we had a powerful quartet of soloists who lifted the level of the performance whenever they sang. The soprano & mezzo were huge-voiced & Wagnerian. The tenor & baritone were commandingly Verdian.
Conlon never let one's attention stray. All the sections were connected & flowed seamlessly together, except for the necessary pause after the Dies Irae. The orchestral textures were always clear, even during the huge climaxes, resulting in a very colorful performance. The approach was more symphonic than operatic, but no less imploring, frightening & thrilling for being so well-proportioned.
At the end of the piece Conlon demonstrated the audience's level of involvement by sustaining our silence with his outstretched left hand for close to a minute. When his arm finally came down, we responded with an immediate standing ovation.
Besides the always impressive San Francisco Symphony Chorus, we had a powerful quartet of soloists who lifted the level of the performance whenever they sang. The soprano & mezzo were huge-voiced & Wagnerian. The tenor & baritone were commandingly Verdian.
Conlon never let one's attention stray. All the sections were connected & flowed seamlessly together, except for the necessary pause after the Dies Irae. The orchestral textures were always clear, even during the huge climaxes, resulting in a very colorful performance. The approach was more symphonic than operatic, but no less imploring, frightening & thrilling for being so well-proportioned.
At the end of the piece Conlon demonstrated the audience's level of involvement by sustaining our silence with his outstretched left hand for close to a minute. When his arm finally came down, we responded with an immediate standing ovation.
Saturday, June 10, 2006
The Maid of Orleans
Went to Friday night's performance of Tchaikovsky's The Maid of Orleans at SFO. David Gockley made his presence known before the start of the performance when his disembodied voice made the turn-off-your-cell-phones announcement & invited us to "enjoy the show."
"The Show" is a vehicle for a powerhouse mezzo, & Dolora Zajick delivers. Her voice is strong & loud & especially thrilling when she's belting out the low notes. This is good old-fashion grand opera & has many lyrical moment as well as a very exciting act III ensemble for the soloists & chorus. There's even a mini-immolation scene at the end, when Joan is burned at the stake to the musical depiction of rapidly flickering flames. In fact it was so stolidly 19th century that I found myself wondering why we are still devoting so much of our attention to these works. The audience just laughs at the romantic cliches.
The staging was somewhat post-modern, but for no apparent reason. The chorus is on stage the whole time dressed as a "Modern-day French audience", witnessing the story of the opera played out on a bare stage-within-a-stage. In the final moments, Joan, tied to the stake, is engulfed by a huge plume of stage smoke. When the smoke clears, she has been replaced by a little girl who walks downstage & raises her arms to the heavens. It's a completely unprepared for moment & is rather eerie.
The supporting cast was even & very good. I enjoyed hearing tenor Sean Pannikar as Joan's rejected suitor. His sound is bright & clear & fluid. It was hard to understand why Joan had no interest in him.
"The Show" is a vehicle for a powerhouse mezzo, & Dolora Zajick delivers. Her voice is strong & loud & especially thrilling when she's belting out the low notes. This is good old-fashion grand opera & has many lyrical moment as well as a very exciting act III ensemble for the soloists & chorus. There's even a mini-immolation scene at the end, when Joan is burned at the stake to the musical depiction of rapidly flickering flames. In fact it was so stolidly 19th century that I found myself wondering why we are still devoting so much of our attention to these works. The audience just laughs at the romantic cliches.
The staging was somewhat post-modern, but for no apparent reason. The chorus is on stage the whole time dressed as a "Modern-day French audience", witnessing the story of the opera played out on a bare stage-within-a-stage. In the final moments, Joan, tied to the stake, is engulfed by a huge plume of stage smoke. When the smoke clears, she has been replaced by a little girl who walks downstage & raises her arms to the heavens. It's a completely unprepared for moment & is rather eerie.
The supporting cast was even & very good. I enjoyed hearing tenor Sean Pannikar as Joan's rejected suitor. His sound is bright & clear & fluid. It was hard to understand why Joan had no interest in him.
Thursday, June 08, 2006
Douglas Coupland at Booksmith
I showed up at Booksmith on Haight Street this evening to see if Douglas Coupland would have anything interesting to say. I bought his latest novel, JPod, last month but only read the 1st 60 pages before deciding to put it down for a while. It just seemed like a rehash of Microserfs. Anyway, his appearance this evening was a total bust. There was an SRO crowd, & things got started late. Mr. Coupland showed up clutching a big box of kleenex with his name drawn on it in fancy letters. He was visibly suffering from a very bad cold & admitted to be "flying high as a kite" on cold medication. So he didn't read, & just 4 people asked questions, which elicited only brief, uninformative answers from him. In less than 10 minutes they moved right on to the signing. One of the people who asked a question received the decorated box of kleenex from Mr. Coupland. I used to be a big fan of Mr. Coupland, but his appearance & the new book are both disappointing.
Sunday, May 28, 2006
SF Opera Simulcast
I went by Civic Center last night to see how they were going to do the San Francisco Opera live simulcast of Madama Butterfly. Very high-tech screen setup against the backdrop of City Hall. Lots of people showed up with lawn chairs & warm clothing, but it was way too cold for me to stay for it. Gockley took advantage of the PR event to appear on-stage before the performance to make announcements & thank sponsers. I think this is a great idea, & I admire the hardiness of the people who showed up, but it's just too cold in San Francisco for this!
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Drawings at the Legion of Honor
After my morning at the Metreon, I hiked up to the Legion of Honor to see the exhibit of drawings from the Collection of Joseph and Deborah Goldyne. Although the exhibit is divided into genres, like portraits, nature, etc., it is really a collection of individual masterpieces. It was easiest for me to enjoy each drawing on its own without considering how it might fit into some over-all scheme. What impresses me most are the Italian Renaissance drawings. They are so accurate & yet so fluid. How did they learn to draw like that? Can people still draw like that today?
I liked the gesture drawings of Tiepolo & Rembrandt. It's amazing how much character they can record in relatively few, very loose, lines.
I was also impressed by the Corot drawing of the back of heavily clothed peasant woman. This would seem to be an uninteresting view of an uninteresting subject, but he makes you feel that it deserves a lot of attention.
There is a very striking contour drawing of a chrysanthemum by Mucha. His line is precise & delicate. You get a sense of his sustained observation. I suppose that's something that just about all the drawings have in common: this very sustained sense of focus. & this focus can be completely abstract, as in Bruce Connor's crazy doodle-like drawing.
I liked the gesture drawings of Tiepolo & Rembrandt. It's amazing how much character they can record in relatively few, very loose, lines.
I was also impressed by the Corot drawing of the back of heavily clothed peasant woman. This would seem to be an uninteresting view of an uninteresting subject, but he makes you feel that it deserves a lot of attention.
There is a very striking contour drawing of a chrysanthemum by Mucha. His line is precise & delicate. You get a sense of his sustained observation. I suppose that's something that just about all the drawings have in common: this very sustained sense of focus. & this focus can be completely abstract, as in Bruce Connor's crazy doodle-like drawing.
IMAX Deep Sea 3D
Last Saturday I was actually organized enough to get out of the apartment & get to the Metreon in time to catch a 10:30am showing of this 3D movie. I love visual spectacles like this. Completely thin on content but so much fun to watch. Whoever filmed it must have an obsession about eating, because it was all about sea creatures eating other sea creatures.
And I learned something too. I didn't know that squids could flash different colors or that corals all spawned on the same night each year. I wish there were more of these movies.
And I learned something too. I didn't know that squids could flash different colors or that corals all spawned on the same night each year. I wish there were more of these movies.
Friday, May 19, 2006
Transamerica
Finally saw this last week. It comes highly recommended, but I didn't think it was that good. It's a road movie, & the whole story was both predictable & yet had many implausible & unconvincing moments. I really didn't like its stereotypically negative depiction of gay men as predatory & abusive pederasts.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Gruber's Frankenstein!!
Went to the SF Symphony this Wednesday evening. The conductor was Edwin Outwater, who I haven't heard before. The program started with Danses Sacrée et Profane by Debussy, which turns out to be a short piece for harp & string orchestra. French music doesn't always make much of an impression on me, which was the case here. Outwater seems to conduct with a very clear beat that is easy to follow.
This was followed by Living Toys by Adès. Before the piece, Outwater addressed the audience & explained that the general theme of the next 3 pieces was childhood. He interpreted the abrupt, startling ending of the Adès piece as the intrusion of thoughts of mortality upon the playfulness of youth.
I thought this was the most interesting piece of the evening. There were only 17 players, & everyone was often challenged to play extremely high pitches. In the manner of a lot of modern music, it's very dense. The middle of the piece features a virtuosic trumpet solo with lots of notes & special effects. Sometimes the players performed short passages of rhythmic hand-clapping. The 1st cellist seemed especially good a this.
After more shuffling of chairs on stage for this long 1st half, we heard Bizet's Petit Suite. This was a short series of light, encore-style pieces. I liked the slow movement featuring a duet between the violin & cello.
After intermission came Gruber's Frankenstein!! It's a series of short, sardonic poems about monsters & superheroes performed by the composer himself, micked & sitting on a stool in front of the orchestra. He doesn't really sing. Instead he does a kind of sprechstimme using different voices & vocal effects. Sometimes he just makes non-verbal, non-musical sounds. He spoke the poems in English, though his accent was so heavy he may just as well have done it in German.
Gruber did some acting as well, though he avoided going into a full-blown dramatic perfomance. When he came to the line "this is the long finger", he made a fist & stuck out his middle finger to demonstrate, & I almost wasn't sure whether or not he knew the meaning of this gesture to an American audience.
The music is a pastiche of modern styles, often atonal & reminiscent of Berg & Weill. The orchestra at times plays toy instruments like kazoos, slide whistles & plastic tubes that make a low humming sound when twirled rapidly overhead. At the beginning of the piece, the timpanist blew up & popped 5 paper bags, crumbling each one & tossing it in a different direction. These antics provided fitting accompaniment to the poems & got laughs from the audience.
The piece was a little over half an hour, & I don't think it could have sustained itself for any longer. After it was over, I felt like I wouldn't really care to hear it again. I think that one of the things the piece does is satirize the way monster stories & super hero stories patronize & infantilze their audience. So at one level the piece itself insults us, its audience.
It was not a well-attended concert. I had a seat in the back in the 1st tier, & after the 1st piece I moved to the front row of the section. The only other people in the row were 2 ladies who didn't come back after intermission.
This was followed by Living Toys by Adès. Before the piece, Outwater addressed the audience & explained that the general theme of the next 3 pieces was childhood. He interpreted the abrupt, startling ending of the Adès piece as the intrusion of thoughts of mortality upon the playfulness of youth.
I thought this was the most interesting piece of the evening. There were only 17 players, & everyone was often challenged to play extremely high pitches. In the manner of a lot of modern music, it's very dense. The middle of the piece features a virtuosic trumpet solo with lots of notes & special effects. Sometimes the players performed short passages of rhythmic hand-clapping. The 1st cellist seemed especially good a this.
After more shuffling of chairs on stage for this long 1st half, we heard Bizet's Petit Suite. This was a short series of light, encore-style pieces. I liked the slow movement featuring a duet between the violin & cello.
After intermission came Gruber's Frankenstein!! It's a series of short, sardonic poems about monsters & superheroes performed by the composer himself, micked & sitting on a stool in front of the orchestra. He doesn't really sing. Instead he does a kind of sprechstimme using different voices & vocal effects. Sometimes he just makes non-verbal, non-musical sounds. He spoke the poems in English, though his accent was so heavy he may just as well have done it in German.
Gruber did some acting as well, though he avoided going into a full-blown dramatic perfomance. When he came to the line "this is the long finger", he made a fist & stuck out his middle finger to demonstrate, & I almost wasn't sure whether or not he knew the meaning of this gesture to an American audience.
The music is a pastiche of modern styles, often atonal & reminiscent of Berg & Weill. The orchestra at times plays toy instruments like kazoos, slide whistles & plastic tubes that make a low humming sound when twirled rapidly overhead. At the beginning of the piece, the timpanist blew up & popped 5 paper bags, crumbling each one & tossing it in a different direction. These antics provided fitting accompaniment to the poems & got laughs from the audience.
The piece was a little over half an hour, & I don't think it could have sustained itself for any longer. After it was over, I felt like I wouldn't really care to hear it again. I think that one of the things the piece does is satirize the way monster stories & super hero stories patronize & infantilze their audience. So at one level the piece itself insults us, its audience.
It was not a well-attended concert. I had a seat in the back in the 1st tier, & after the 1st piece I moved to the front row of the section. The only other people in the row were 2 ladies who didn't come back after intermission.
Sunday, May 07, 2006
A Number at ACT
This afternoon I attended the matinee performance of Caryl Churchill's A Number at ACT. This is a two-hander that lasts less than 55 minutes & uses the concept of human cloning to explore parenting, sibling rivalry & nature vs. nuture. The play consists of 5 short scenes which are interviews between a father & his cloned sons. The story is told very efficiently, & each scene ends with an abrubt black-out.
In this production, the action plays out in a very small room that seems to be a den or an office & that floats in darkness in the middle of the stage. Our view of the room shows three walls but no windows or doors. As I was looking at this set before the show started, I already started to wonder how the actors were going to get on stage, but this mystery was revealed only at the final curtain call. Between scenes the room itself is plunged in total darkness while light show with scary music plays around the perimeters.
The play is also a showcase for the actor Josh Charles who plays the troubled son & his 2 clones. This production did a very good job differentiating the 3 identical sons by dress, mannerisms, speech & positioning in the room. At the beginning of each scene it was immediately clear which clone we were watching.
I was very engaged by the ideas of the play, its cleverness, its tightness, & its mixture of the sinister with the humorous. Although no violence occurs on stage or is even described, I think it is a very cruel & violent story. One way to summarize it is to say that it is a story about how technology allows a bad father to be even worse. It reminds me of Edward Albee's The Goat in that you immediately want to discuss it after you've seen it.
I stayed for the "informal discussion" following the performance. It was a question-and-answer session, though I wasn't clear on who the guy leading it was. During the discussion he had to explain the plot 3 different times to 3 different people.
In this production, the action plays out in a very small room that seems to be a den or an office & that floats in darkness in the middle of the stage. Our view of the room shows three walls but no windows or doors. As I was looking at this set before the show started, I already started to wonder how the actors were going to get on stage, but this mystery was revealed only at the final curtain call. Between scenes the room itself is plunged in total darkness while light show with scary music plays around the perimeters.
The play is also a showcase for the actor Josh Charles who plays the troubled son & his 2 clones. This production did a very good job differentiating the 3 identical sons by dress, mannerisms, speech & positioning in the room. At the beginning of each scene it was immediately clear which clone we were watching.
I was very engaged by the ideas of the play, its cleverness, its tightness, & its mixture of the sinister with the humorous. Although no violence occurs on stage or is even described, I think it is a very cruel & violent story. One way to summarize it is to say that it is a story about how technology allows a bad father to be even worse. It reminds me of Edward Albee's The Goat in that you immediately want to discuss it after you've seen it.
I stayed for the "informal discussion" following the performance. It was a question-and-answer session, though I wasn't clear on who the guy leading it was. During the discussion he had to explain the plot 3 different times to 3 different people.
Friday, April 28, 2006
Cars in flames in the Castro
Last night a car ran a red light, ploughed into another car & set a row of cars on fire. These pictures on flickr are even better than the ones in the paper:
http://flickr.com/photos/globalx/136184399/
http://flickr.com/photos/globalx/136184399/
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Midori Plays Modern
Heard Midori & Robert McDonald give a recital at Herbst of all contemporary composers. A strong performer doing a demanding program. I think Midori is a really special performer in her ability to communicate with an audience. I didn't know any of the pieces, but she made sure I understood them. One of the pieces consisted mostly of the violin playing open-string double-stops really softly, & she even made that sound expressive!
I thought the most interesting piece was an anguished sonata by a Korean composer called Isang Yun. It moves from a piercing climax to an ending played with a mute that fades into silence.
Despite being brought back for 3 curtain calls at the end, Midori did not present an encore.
I thought the most interesting piece was an anguished sonata by a Korean composer called Isang Yun. It moves from a piercing climax to an ending played with a mute that fades into silence.
Despite being brought back for 3 curtain calls at the end, Midori did not present an encore.
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Stephen McCauley
Went to a book signing by Stephen McCauley at Borders this evening. There were about a dozen people there, & he seemed to know all of them already. He read from the beginning of his new book, then people started asking the standard author questions. I didn't stick around after that, but the book does sound like it's a fun read.
OK, the real reason I ended up there was that I was home sick on Monday & happened to hear him being interviewed on NPR's Fresh Air. He sounded like a very gentle soul, so I thought I'd check him out for myself. He's a somewhat small, very boyish looking 40-something, & does indeed seem like a very sweet guy. He looks like he does a lot of yoga.
OK, the real reason I ended up there was that I was home sick on Monday & happened to hear him being interviewed on NPR's Fresh Air. He sounded like a very gentle soul, so I thought I'd check him out for myself. He's a somewhat small, very boyish looking 40-something, & does indeed seem like a very sweet guy. He looks like he does a lot of yoga.
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Monteverdi Vespers at St. Ignatius
The Monteverdi Vespers is one of my favorite pieces of music. I'm always happy to have the opportunity to hear it, so on Saturday night I showed up at St. Ignatius to get a ticket for this performance featuring the San Francisco Choral Society. There was a bit of chaos at the door, as they were late in opening the doors to start seating people. I also couldn't help noticing the long & slow-moving line for the women's rest room. I guess churches don't necessarily have ample facilities.
There was a large chorus of about 150, which probably is not historically accurate. The orchestra, on the other hand, had 1 player to a part, which probably is historically accurate. Authentic numbers or not, the balance came out fine. Before the performance, one of the musicians gave a brief explanation of the Baroque instruments being played. Somehow this seemed both instructive & unnecessary.
I really liked hearing this piece with such a large chorus. The chorus didn't sound particularly loud, perhaps because of the size of the venue. The conductor, Robert Geary, did a good job of cueing & keeping things together, but overall the sound was a bit blurry. I think the chorus could have made a much bigger impression simply by singing with more dynamic range than they did.
The conductor mainly focused on traffic management for the chorus & then left the smaller ensemble numbers to the individual performers. Sometimes he didn't even conduct these numbers at all. The orchestra & the soloists were all very capable, so this didn't seem like a bad decision, but I think overall the performance would have benefitted from a little more rhythmic incisiveness.
There were 8 soloists, & the tenor Brian Staufenbiel seemed to get the most work. He looked like the happiest singer you could meet. He was all smiles whenever he wasn't actually singing. By the end of performance I was feeling like he was my best buddy.
The singers who stood out for me were the soprano, Shawnette Sulker, & another tenor, Brian Thorsett. Sulker has a solid, almost steely, voice. Thorsett has a clear, high voice, & he could also summon a big sound when he wanted. His duets with Staufenbiel were great. Monteverdi has the voices singing so close that the effect is quite sensual.
A well-rehearsed children's chorus of 30 performed the soprano line in the Sancta Maria from memory. They dispatched their part with such confidence & accuracy that you could tell this was a group of old pros. After their number, I heard a man nearby me cheer in a whisper, "Yeah!"
The performance had an intermission, which seems to be the usual practise, but I'm not sure that I approve. I also did not approve of the audience's cool response at the end. The soloists only came out for 1 curtain call, which didn't seem enough.
There was a large chorus of about 150, which probably is not historically accurate. The orchestra, on the other hand, had 1 player to a part, which probably is historically accurate. Authentic numbers or not, the balance came out fine. Before the performance, one of the musicians gave a brief explanation of the Baroque instruments being played. Somehow this seemed both instructive & unnecessary.
I really liked hearing this piece with such a large chorus. The chorus didn't sound particularly loud, perhaps because of the size of the venue. The conductor, Robert Geary, did a good job of cueing & keeping things together, but overall the sound was a bit blurry. I think the chorus could have made a much bigger impression simply by singing with more dynamic range than they did.
The conductor mainly focused on traffic management for the chorus & then left the smaller ensemble numbers to the individual performers. Sometimes he didn't even conduct these numbers at all. The orchestra & the soloists were all very capable, so this didn't seem like a bad decision, but I think overall the performance would have benefitted from a little more rhythmic incisiveness.
There were 8 soloists, & the tenor Brian Staufenbiel seemed to get the most work. He looked like the happiest singer you could meet. He was all smiles whenever he wasn't actually singing. By the end of performance I was feeling like he was my best buddy.
The singers who stood out for me were the soprano, Shawnette Sulker, & another tenor, Brian Thorsett. Sulker has a solid, almost steely, voice. Thorsett has a clear, high voice, & he could also summon a big sound when he wanted. His duets with Staufenbiel were great. Monteverdi has the voices singing so close that the effect is quite sensual.
A well-rehearsed children's chorus of 30 performed the soprano line in the Sancta Maria from memory. They dispatched their part with such confidence & accuracy that you could tell this was a group of old pros. After their number, I heard a man nearby me cheer in a whisper, "Yeah!"
The performance had an intermission, which seems to be the usual practise, but I'm not sure that I approve. I also did not approve of the audience's cool response at the end. The soloists only came out for 1 curtain call, which didn't seem enough.
Monday, April 10, 2006
APE Show
On Saturday I went to the Alternate Press Expo at the Concourse Exhibition Center. There were a lot of exhibitors, & it was really crowded. My favorite discovery was a collection of precious & whimsical paper constructions from "Boxer Press". One item is a paper house that comes with a slot in the roof & a match. Every time you have a regret, you write it on a piece of paper & deposit it in the house. Then at the end of the year you use the match to burn the collected regrets!
The show has its own programming room now. I checked out Justin Hall's panel on Queer Cartoonists. Justin did a good job of giving everyone equal attention & trying to elicit responses that would make the panelists seem interesting.
Since the exhibitors are usually there to show personal projects, they are always really fun to talk to. & they really want to talk to you! Sometimes they come across like puppy dogs, eager to show off & get some attention.
The show has its own programming room now. I checked out Justin Hall's panel on Queer Cartoonists. Justin did a good job of giving everyone equal attention & trying to elicit responses that would make the panelists seem interesting.
Since the exhibitors are usually there to show personal projects, they are always really fun to talk to. & they really want to talk to you! Sometimes they come across like puppy dogs, eager to show off & get some attention.
Monday, April 03, 2006
Rostropovich leads SF Symphony 2
I went back to the SF Symphony to hear Rostropovich's 2nd Shostakovich program on March 30th. I was in the 1st tier center section again. These concerts have been close to sold-out, but for some reason this section likes me.
The program opened with the 1st Jazz Suite. They had the small ensemble grouped on the left side of the stage, which looked a little odd, since the conductor ended up at an angle to the audience. They got the humor of the piece. The audience even laughed after the 2nd movement & after the Hawaiian guitar solo in the 3rd movement. The ensemble playing was excellent. The scoring might be a little fragmented, so that the performers probably do need to make an effort to sustain a line through each movement. The last movement sounded appropriately vampish. It reflected Rostropovich's preference for heavy, sustained playing.
This was followed by the 2nd Violin Concert with the concert master Alexander Barantschik. I really liked his playing. His bow arm is really smooth. He has an unbroken sound which makes it seem like he has an endless bow. He can do really fast bow speed changes. He had music in front of him, which I usually don't like to see for a concerto. He's not a flashy player, & executes even the technically challenging passages in an undemonstrative way. The orchestra was very supportive & never covered him. The string sections played especially uniformly. It wasn't an emotionally wrought performance, but it was well played & sincerely played & all of a piece with the orchestra. Barantschik got a very warm ovation from the audience & came back for 2 bows & scattered standing ovations.
The 2nd half of the program was the exhausting 13th Symphony. Like in the previous program, Rostropoich did a good job builing up to loud & gritty climaxes. His tempos were very generous, & he did a good job of sustaining the often oppressive mood, but somehow I didn't feel like he was so successful in this large piece. The soloist was a young, tall & lanky bass with a very strong, sustained voice but not much variety in his singing. As usual the chorus did a fine job. Their singing is very uniform & has a lot of variety.
The symphony ends very quietly, & Rostropovich worked hard to create an ending that moved imperceptibly to silence, but someone started applauding during the last chord, so the effect was completely destroyed. I hate when that happens. I felt like we needed to hear the last movement again without the applause, just so we could get the full effect of that final decrescendo.
The program opened with the 1st Jazz Suite. They had the small ensemble grouped on the left side of the stage, which looked a little odd, since the conductor ended up at an angle to the audience. They got the humor of the piece. The audience even laughed after the 2nd movement & after the Hawaiian guitar solo in the 3rd movement. The ensemble playing was excellent. The scoring might be a little fragmented, so that the performers probably do need to make an effort to sustain a line through each movement. The last movement sounded appropriately vampish. It reflected Rostropovich's preference for heavy, sustained playing.
This was followed by the 2nd Violin Concert with the concert master Alexander Barantschik. I really liked his playing. His bow arm is really smooth. He has an unbroken sound which makes it seem like he has an endless bow. He can do really fast bow speed changes. He had music in front of him, which I usually don't like to see for a concerto. He's not a flashy player, & executes even the technically challenging passages in an undemonstrative way. The orchestra was very supportive & never covered him. The string sections played especially uniformly. It wasn't an emotionally wrought performance, but it was well played & sincerely played & all of a piece with the orchestra. Barantschik got a very warm ovation from the audience & came back for 2 bows & scattered standing ovations.
The 2nd half of the program was the exhausting 13th Symphony. Like in the previous program, Rostropoich did a good job builing up to loud & gritty climaxes. His tempos were very generous, & he did a good job of sustaining the often oppressive mood, but somehow I didn't feel like he was so successful in this large piece. The soloist was a young, tall & lanky bass with a very strong, sustained voice but not much variety in his singing. As usual the chorus did a fine job. Their singing is very uniform & has a lot of variety.
The symphony ends very quietly, & Rostropovich worked hard to create an ending that moved imperceptibly to silence, but someone started applauding during the last chord, so the effect was completely destroyed. I hate when that happens. I felt like we needed to hear the last movement again without the applause, just so we could get the full effect of that final decrescendo.
Friday, March 31, 2006
Rostropovich leads SF Symphony 1
On Friday 24th I went to the hear Rostropovich conduct his 1st of 2 Shostakovich programs with the SF symphony. I sat in the center section of the 1st tier.
The program opened with the Festive Overture, which was very loud & very fun. Almost too loud & too fun, which maybe is the point. Rostropovich likes lots of sound. He often let the brasses just play out, which covered everything else. It was evident that the orchestra was going to play very nicely for him. The ensemble was much cleaner than for any of the other programs I've heard this season. This first piece also put me at ease regarding the conductor's age. Rostropovich must be at least 80, but he walked on & off stage really fast & seemed to have no physical limitations on the podium.
Yefim Bronfman performed the 1st Piano Concerto. I liked his aggressive, almost crazed, approach. He has a really strong left hand & can play very fast & very clear. At every opportunity he just attacked the music. My favorite moment was when he actually stood up to play the chord that punctuates the long trumpet solo in the middle of the 3rd movement. He definitely got the extra sound by doing this!
The 2nd half of the program was the 5th Symphony. I don't think that Rostropovich is a great conductor, but at least he has a musical personality & was shaping the music. He created truly soft pianissimos that left the audience hushed. He can build up to a climax that is heavy, loud & gritty. Rostropovich was at least communicating some ideas about the music. None of the other conductors I've heard this season have managed to do just that.
At the end of the symphony Rostropovich received a huge ovation. When he came back for a bow, he made a point of shaking hands warmly with the leaders of each section. After his 3rd curtain call, he grabbed the concert master & pulled them off stage with him in order to end the evening.
The program opened with the Festive Overture, which was very loud & very fun. Almost too loud & too fun, which maybe is the point. Rostropovich likes lots of sound. He often let the brasses just play out, which covered everything else. It was evident that the orchestra was going to play very nicely for him. The ensemble was much cleaner than for any of the other programs I've heard this season. This first piece also put me at ease regarding the conductor's age. Rostropovich must be at least 80, but he walked on & off stage really fast & seemed to have no physical limitations on the podium.
Yefim Bronfman performed the 1st Piano Concerto. I liked his aggressive, almost crazed, approach. He has a really strong left hand & can play very fast & very clear. At every opportunity he just attacked the music. My favorite moment was when he actually stood up to play the chord that punctuates the long trumpet solo in the middle of the 3rd movement. He definitely got the extra sound by doing this!
The 2nd half of the program was the 5th Symphony. I don't think that Rostropovich is a great conductor, but at least he has a musical personality & was shaping the music. He created truly soft pianissimos that left the audience hushed. He can build up to a climax that is heavy, loud & gritty. Rostropovich was at least communicating some ideas about the music. None of the other conductors I've heard this season have managed to do just that.
At the end of the symphony Rostropovich received a huge ovation. When he came back for a bow, he made a point of shaking hands warmly with the leaders of each section. After his 3rd curtain call, he grabbed the concert master & pulled them off stage with him in order to end the evening.
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake
I have wanted to see his show ever since I first read about it several years ago. So when I found out it was to be passing through San Francisco on a 10th anniversary tour, I got myself a front row seat for opening night, which was last Wednesday 22nd. I went to the show full of anticipation but also fearing that it wouldn't be good as I was expecting.
Now that I've seen it, I think that I must have spent a good portion of the evening staring up at that stage with my mouth half open. It was more theatrical & emotional than I had expected.
Matthew Bourne starts with the same general dramatic situations as the original ballet, but he tells a much richer story. The dancers all have to be very strong actors as well. It's almost like watching a play instead of a ballet. There were moments, like the confrontation between the prince & his mother after the night at the ballet, when you almost imagine you hear dialog.
From the opening nightmare vision of the swan to the final death scene, the show moves "from strength to strength." I was often kept very busy trying to keep track of all the individual little stories occuring on the stage. The bar scene alone was a miniature play, with each dancer having a very specific character with his or her own story arc.
The now famous male swans really are an amazing sight. When the swan appears in act 2, it's not a stick-skinny girl in a tutu. Instead, the swan is a massive, bare-chested man. There is nothing effeminate or coy about these swans. They are beautiful & powerful. But they are also frightening, aggressive & convincingly non-human. The encounter between the prince & the swan expressed mutual fear & fascination. It was animalistic.
Even though the choreography is completely reimagined, it still references the original, as when the swans enter in a single line that weaves its way down stage boustrophedon-like, or when 4 swans trot on stage for a parody of the Dance of the Cygnets.
& still the production keeps building. In the 3rd act party scene, the tension is palpable when the stranger appears & starts flirting with every woman in sight, at the same time casting stares at the prince. When the prince suddenly replaces the queen as the stranger's dance partner, a 3rd of the audience gasped, a 3rd laughed & a 3rd applauded.
& still the tension builds. I found this 2nd extended encounter between the 2 male dancers extremely wrenching. It alternates between gestures of tenderness & violence, & the situation becomes more & more humiliating for the prince. At one point the prince is cringing on the floor in a fetal position while the party guests point & laugh at him. It was such an unbearable moment that I wanted to shout at them, "Just stop it!" Things keep accelerating until people are pointing guns at one another & finally someone is shot.
& still the show keeps building. When the next scene revealed that the prince was in an asylum, I was already dismayed. Then when I realized that all the nurses were identical clones of the queen, I was as scared & horrified as the prince.
The final scene really brings home the cruelty & beastliness of the story's world. There turns out to be no safe haven even in the fantasy of the swans. The show still has stunning moments to present to us, such as the swan suddenly bursting forth from the bed, as if being born. & then the final tableux, which mirrors the opening scene. We realize that everything leads up to this moment, which is so moving & yet so cruel.
I can't really judge the technical aspects of the dancing. My impression is that the dancing is much looser & less technical than in a traditional ballet, though I was very impressed by all the moves the swans did on one leg. I've tried some of these poses in my yoga class, & they aren't easy!
Music for the production was provided by a minimal pit orchestra that was miked. It didn't sound too bad from where I was, right next to the pit, but I wonder how it was for the rest of the theatre. I heard this same type of miked ensemble when I saw Matthew Bourne's Nutcracker at Sadler's Wells, & I thought it sounded terrible there.
The orchestra played well, & I liked the conductor. His tempos weren't too fast, & he knew where all the climaxes were. There were a few forgivable trumpet bloopers. The principal violinist did a good job with the solos.
It's a stunning show & great theater. I'm so glad I finally caught it. I kept thinking about it days later, & the show became darker & darker in my mind. Sometimes I would look at people & start thinking that we're all just a bunch of cruel animals.
Now that I've seen it, I think that I must have spent a good portion of the evening staring up at that stage with my mouth half open. It was more theatrical & emotional than I had expected.
Matthew Bourne starts with the same general dramatic situations as the original ballet, but he tells a much richer story. The dancers all have to be very strong actors as well. It's almost like watching a play instead of a ballet. There were moments, like the confrontation between the prince & his mother after the night at the ballet, when you almost imagine you hear dialog.
From the opening nightmare vision of the swan to the final death scene, the show moves "from strength to strength." I was often kept very busy trying to keep track of all the individual little stories occuring on the stage. The bar scene alone was a miniature play, with each dancer having a very specific character with his or her own story arc.
The now famous male swans really are an amazing sight. When the swan appears in act 2, it's not a stick-skinny girl in a tutu. Instead, the swan is a massive, bare-chested man. There is nothing effeminate or coy about these swans. They are beautiful & powerful. But they are also frightening, aggressive & convincingly non-human. The encounter between the prince & the swan expressed mutual fear & fascination. It was animalistic.
Even though the choreography is completely reimagined, it still references the original, as when the swans enter in a single line that weaves its way down stage boustrophedon-like, or when 4 swans trot on stage for a parody of the Dance of the Cygnets.
& still the production keeps building. In the 3rd act party scene, the tension is palpable when the stranger appears & starts flirting with every woman in sight, at the same time casting stares at the prince. When the prince suddenly replaces the queen as the stranger's dance partner, a 3rd of the audience gasped, a 3rd laughed & a 3rd applauded.
& still the tension builds. I found this 2nd extended encounter between the 2 male dancers extremely wrenching. It alternates between gestures of tenderness & violence, & the situation becomes more & more humiliating for the prince. At one point the prince is cringing on the floor in a fetal position while the party guests point & laugh at him. It was such an unbearable moment that I wanted to shout at them, "Just stop it!" Things keep accelerating until people are pointing guns at one another & finally someone is shot.
& still the show keeps building. When the next scene revealed that the prince was in an asylum, I was already dismayed. Then when I realized that all the nurses were identical clones of the queen, I was as scared & horrified as the prince.
The final scene really brings home the cruelty & beastliness of the story's world. There turns out to be no safe haven even in the fantasy of the swans. The show still has stunning moments to present to us, such as the swan suddenly bursting forth from the bed, as if being born. & then the final tableux, which mirrors the opening scene. We realize that everything leads up to this moment, which is so moving & yet so cruel.
I can't really judge the technical aspects of the dancing. My impression is that the dancing is much looser & less technical than in a traditional ballet, though I was very impressed by all the moves the swans did on one leg. I've tried some of these poses in my yoga class, & they aren't easy!
Music for the production was provided by a minimal pit orchestra that was miked. It didn't sound too bad from where I was, right next to the pit, but I wonder how it was for the rest of the theatre. I heard this same type of miked ensemble when I saw Matthew Bourne's Nutcracker at Sadler's Wells, & I thought it sounded terrible there.
The orchestra played well, & I liked the conductor. His tempos weren't too fast, & he knew where all the climaxes were. There were a few forgivable trumpet bloopers. The principal violinist did a good job with the solos.
It's a stunning show & great theater. I'm so glad I finally caught it. I kept thinking about it days later, & the show became darker & darker in my mind. Sometimes I would look at people & start thinking that we're all just a bunch of cruel animals.
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Haydn & Mozart's Coronation Mass
This past Wednesday I went to the symphony again, because I wanted to hear the Mozart Coronation Mass. The conductor was Martin Haselböck, who I have never heard before. I bought my ticket 90 minutes before the performance, I got a very good seat front & center in the 1st tier.
Program opened with a Haydn choral work called The Storm. I was confused by the program notes as to what version of this work we were hearing. There seem to be versions in English, German & for chorus & for 4 soloists?
I almost always enjoy the SF Symphony chorus, but for some reason I found them not very interesting in this piece. Or maybe I just didn't think the piece was interesting, or the conductor didn't do much with it. I was already worried about the Mozart, because Haselböck was starting out as one of those deadly Mozart conductors who has an unvarying beat.
Next came an operatic scene for soprana, Scena di Berenice. It was an extended dramatic recitative rather than an aria. In fact, I kept waiting for the singer to launch into an aria, but it never happened. The soprano Christine Brandes gamely emoted through the whole thing. She had a strong voice & communicated the different emotions clearly.
To end the 1st part, Haselböck conducted Hadyn's Symphony No. 96. He was turning out to be not very interesting. There's no rubato in his conducting at all &, like Metzmacher last week, he doesn't balance the orchestra. He also seems to be giving no musical instructions to the orchestra. I thought he was just randomly gesturing to different sections, with no effect on the playing.
The one bright spot in the Haydn was Bill Bennet's high, strong solos in the 3rd movement.
After intermission was the Mozart Coronation Mass. This is the piece I came to hear, but I was having a hard time finding anything interesting to listen to in this performance. The soprano was back as one of the quartet of soloists, & she sounded very operatic, as did the tenor, Steve Davislim, who had a lyrical, bright voice. The mezzo & bass didn't have as much to do.
There was was sloppiness in the orchestra & even the chorus's basses at times were not making a uniform sound. The one big bonus was that Haselböck interpolated the Ave Verum Corpus right before the last movement. I thought the tempo was a hair to fast, but the chorus did a great job sustaining a soft sound throughout. There was an approriately appreciate silence from the audience after this number.
So this past 2 weeks of symphony concerts haven't been very good for me. But now I'm thinking of coming back in a couple of weeks for Rostrapovich's Shostakovich concerts.
Program opened with a Haydn choral work called The Storm. I was confused by the program notes as to what version of this work we were hearing. There seem to be versions in English, German & for chorus & for 4 soloists?
I almost always enjoy the SF Symphony chorus, but for some reason I found them not very interesting in this piece. Or maybe I just didn't think the piece was interesting, or the conductor didn't do much with it. I was already worried about the Mozart, because Haselböck was starting out as one of those deadly Mozart conductors who has an unvarying beat.
Next came an operatic scene for soprana, Scena di Berenice. It was an extended dramatic recitative rather than an aria. In fact, I kept waiting for the singer to launch into an aria, but it never happened. The soprano Christine Brandes gamely emoted through the whole thing. She had a strong voice & communicated the different emotions clearly.
To end the 1st part, Haselböck conducted Hadyn's Symphony No. 96. He was turning out to be not very interesting. There's no rubato in his conducting at all &, like Metzmacher last week, he doesn't balance the orchestra. He also seems to be giving no musical instructions to the orchestra. I thought he was just randomly gesturing to different sections, with no effect on the playing.
The one bright spot in the Haydn was Bill Bennet's high, strong solos in the 3rd movement.
After intermission was the Mozart Coronation Mass. This is the piece I came to hear, but I was having a hard time finding anything interesting to listen to in this performance. The soprano was back as one of the quartet of soloists, & she sounded very operatic, as did the tenor, Steve Davislim, who had a lyrical, bright voice. The mezzo & bass didn't have as much to do.
There was was sloppiness in the orchestra & even the chorus's basses at times were not making a uniform sound. The one big bonus was that Haselböck interpolated the Ave Verum Corpus right before the last movement. I thought the tempo was a hair to fast, but the chorus did a great job sustaining a soft sound throughout. There was an approriately appreciate silence from the audience after this number.
So this past 2 weeks of symphony concerts haven't been very good for me. But now I'm thinking of coming back in a couple of weeks for Rostrapovich's Shostakovich concerts.
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