Issues

Issue #73, Page Two

Virginia Arts Festival and Old Dominion University's Diehn Composers Room together hosted the fifth annual John Duffy Composers Institute. The opening reception on Tuesday, May 19, 2009 was held in the Diehn Composers Room with a display of film music media on view. After brief remarks, Virginia Arts Festival director Rob Cross introduced John Duffy who introduced Libby Larsen. With eighteen operas, many art songs, choral chamber and orchestra pieces in her resume, Ms. Larsen is a leading U.S. composer. In brief remarks but with deep insight, she spoke of opera as boundless in the imagination of the composer. She stressed her desire to communicate the exuberance of being a composer and the uniqueness of the institute which brings together young composers and those with successful careers to share their skill and enthusiasm for their craft in a non-competitive setting.

She told us "the challenge is to create operas of who we are as a people, not repeat the operas of the past who spoke to who we thought we were." From geniuses of the past - Willa Cather, Mary Cassatt, Georgia O'Keefe, Chuck Berry (her favorite) and many others, we are inspired to reach ever deeper to find our truly American voice. There are many parts of the American story that have not been told, for example the women who were recruited from the East by men of the West seeking their civilizing effect on rough frontier life.

She spoke of her new opera Picnic from a play by William Inge (1913 - 1973). "I was inspired to go out on a musical limb after my experience here last year. The musical idiom that belongs to this play is jazz. The trio working together has to learn to improvise the music. The themes of loneliness and improvisation are expressed by the full orchestra and jazz combo who must learn to trust each other - trust that each performance will work. All part of avoiding clichéd solutions of how to set text. Where else can you find a group where we finish each other's sentences?"

The food was great, a finger food supper that was both delicious and plentiful set a convivial mood for the networking between composers, performers, librarians, this listener and others.

On May 20, 2009 interested listeners gathered at Chandler Recital Hall to experience a bold, enlightening evening of art songs by composer Libby Larsen with three most talented singers: Shelly Milan, Kerry Jennings and Charles Stanton with superb pianist Oksana Lutsyshyn.

Karen Hoy, devoted voice teacher and performer was host for the evening. She had asked Ms. Larsen to do the class, arranged to use the hall and hired the pianist. Ms. Hoy described Ms. Larsen as having a profound mind tuned into our culture.

Ms. Larsen began with "This is my favorite thing to do." She volunteered her time in what she described as a laboratory for art song. She introduced the song Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day (Shakespeare) used in her most recent opera, Picnic. Allen, who has just graduated from college, comes home and is expected to marry the most beautiful girl in town and sings to her. Tenor Kerry Jennings' beautiful voice, great diction and uncanny sense of style and phrasing brought the song alive. Ms. Larsen commented on how computer generated scores limit the composer's communication. Non -standard slants of notes and thicknesses of stems cannot be used to communicate the composer's intention. She suggested that Kerry was free to loosen up the meter of the lines - to dismiss the bar lines. The text can be even more emotionally provocative by building intensity as one image piles on top of the next. "Push the feeling a little more until we need our handkerchiefs. Make it more lyrical, dazzle us with your singing. After all, we are engaged in building American art song repertory."

After enthusiastic applause for singer and composer, Karen Hoy introduced Charles Stanton who sang The Apple's Song, written as a birthday gift to be sung for tenor Paul Sperry by a baritone. The song is about sensuality and lust. The apple sings "hold me, sniff me, peel me, crunch me with your mouth." Charles' rich baritone became the voice of the apple's desire to be eaten by the housewife. Ms. Larsen decided to experiment with the tempo - "faster, like a dance, or slower like Steal Me, Sweet Thief. Pet every single word; slow gives you much more time to make music. It is permission to be lustful." No wonder Adam took a bite of Eve's apple, if her voice were as seductive as our baritone's! The ending is mournful - the apple still sits in the bowl, unconsummated - as our friend, singer Rita Addict-Cohen pointed out.

Charles Stanton then sang Aria for Baritone from Larsen's opera Everyman's Jack accompanied by Oksana Lutsyshyn who was seeing the music for the first time as she played it. The story is of a five year old Jack London who tastes his daddy's beer because he is thirsty and gulps it down as he holds his nose. Formal singing of text versus spoken-sung and how each functions in communicating meaning was thoroughly explored. "Make us feel the hot day using more talk, less pitch. Create the stagger with face and voice." Charles transformed before our eyes into a benign, drunk five year old and received the accolade from Ms. Larsen - "It's a privilege to be in a situation of such passion, such openness." Work between composer and pianist made it all the richer.

The last singer, though listed first on the program (yes, there was a program - a rare treat for master class listeners) was the beautiful, blond soprano Shelly Milan from Ms. Hoy's studio. She gave us three selections from Songs from Letters: Calamity Jane to her Daughter Janey. A male friend was raising Calamity Jane's daughter Janey back East. She saw her mother, who visited from time to time but was kept from knowing her true identity. Janey was left a diary, written as letters and discovered in 1941. Calamity Jane was a free spirit who used rough/tough words to describe her life to her daughter. She was a working woman - midwife, gambler, raised orphans and was a living legend for her skill at riding and shooting, especially in the Black Hills of South Dakota where she teamed up with U.S. Marshall Wild Bill Hickock. She said that he was Janey's father. The song cycle is an opera of Calamity Jane's life. So Like Your Father is her response to seeing her daughter's picture. He Never Misses is a heroic tale of her warning Wild Bill of an outlaw ambush; he kills them all. There is sadness at how her exciting life has faded but joy and pride at seeing her daughter's picture and remembering her lover years after he was killed.

Ms.Larsen suggested that Ms. Milan slow the tempo and sing without body movement as she sang of crawling to warn Hickock. She asked Ms. Milan who she was singing to and if she was writing the letter and reading it to us or just telling us the story. She prompted her to clarify where Calamity Jane was in the arc of her life in each song. The third selection from the five song cycle, A Man Can Love Two Women warns her daughter to avoid jealousy - it can kill love.

Presented as works in progress, this master class was a delight for art song lovers. The performances were excellent to begin with and grew in depth as Ms. Larsen helped the singers to develop even greater understanding of the text and music. Ms.Larsen's probing intelligence and high enthusiasm made this one of the most satisfying master classes we have attended.

Alan Fischer raised an interesting question prompted by his graduating Governor's School senior Katie Grant, a great admirer of Larsen's music. He asked if the Calamity Jane cycle is sung from the mother's perspective or from the daughter's, reading it as an adult. Some years ago we heard two performances of the cycle within a short time. Karen Scott (now Hoy) was the reflective, aging mother looking back over her life while Lisa Edwards-Burrs was the daughter focusing on the fun, joy and adventure. As Libby Larsen said, music once written no longer belongs to the composer; music has a life of its own.

On Friday evening, April 17, 2009 the James Piano Quartet, founded by violist Joseph J. Nigro came to Hofheimer Theater to give a recital of music by Mozart, Honegger and Taneyev. Currently in residence at Sweetbriar College, the group has a repertory of popular chamber works, lesser known works and new works they commission. The group will collaborate with New York composer Noelle Wallach in 2009-2010 performing music written for them.

Violinist Jana Ross joined Mr. Nigro in the first selection Duo in G K. 423, mostly written in Salzburg in the summer of 1783 by W.A. Mozart (1756-1791). The two independent musical lines meld playfully. The instrumental tones are sweet and the communication between the players was excellent. The beautifully open sound of the violin went on its way, though a dissonance is sometimes created by the viola in the allegro first movement of this sunny, elegant music. The adagio that follows begins with a somber mood but soon, as if the sun came out, the joy comes flooding into this short movement. The rondo, circle of recurrence, movement is of brilliant instrumental sound that remains as the tempo accelerates. There is a momentary pause and the theme recurs with a sweet embrace of lines and eye-to-eye communication from our happy, committed performers.

After the applause died down, Mr. Nigro waved the pianist Nicholas Ross onto the floor, while Mrs. Ross took a seat with the audience. Sonata for Violin and Piano #28 by Arthur Honegger (1892-1955), a Swiss born French composer and a member of Les Six, was written in 1920. By way of introduction, Mr. Nigro told us that the quartet is working on a recording of Honegger's complete chamber music. Though challenging for the players, the audience will hear only pleasant melodies. If you take piano music by Satie, slow it down, add a large measure of sadness in an angular solo line interspersed with phrases on the viola, you will have an idea of how Honegger sounds. In the andante vivace movement a fractured duet follows. His musical language is very French but Impressionism has given way to the pain of life post World War I. The allegro moderato section has a somber piano solo that gives way to joy. The viola calls us back into gloom. The ending just dies away. The allegro non troppo is a duet tune that marches along. Dynamic viola phrases blend with continuing piano - a dance of sorts but the heaviness never completely goes away.

Sergei Taneyev (1856-1915) was Tchaikovsky's favorite composition student at the Moscow Conservatory (1866-1875) and a noteworthy pianist who gave the first performance of all of Tchaikovsky's works for piano and orchestra. Taneyev is best remembered for his monumental book on counterpoint. Invertible Counterpoint in the Strict Style was published in English in 1962. At age 29 he reluctantly accepted the post of director of the Moscow Conservatory. Four years later he resigned. It distracted him from composing, though he did continue teaching his counterpoint classes.

We heard Piano Quartet in E, Op. 20 composed in 1908 with cellist Andrew Gabbert joining in to complete the quartet. Nick Ross, who is originally from England, found what is perhaps the last copy of the Taneyev quartet in a London shop. From the brilliant Romantic opening, the sound is rich and full. As the instrumentalists broke into individual lines they created a display of colors, a kaleidoscope of shifting moods ranging from somber to playful. Think of a bee flying quickly form one flower to another in a garden of hot reds, sunny yellows, chaste white, cool blues and even deep purples, all with a mid day clarity and you will get the feeling of the Allegro brilliante movement.

Adagio piu tosto largo is reflective in mood and meltingly beautiful. Passionate piano playing leads us into an intense, driven main theme that may have been the inspiration for any number of popular love songs from the 1940s and 50s - think Vaughan Monroe or your favorite crooner. The theme appears in many variations, all interesting and all beautiful. After all, Taneyev wrote the book on counterpoint.

The allegro molto finale is a fury demanding virtuoso playing and receiving it from each player. There is a brief, solo piano passage that briefly shifts the mood to calm, only to plunge once again into an inferno of intensity. Only occasionally did I find it emotionally overwhelming. In such a short time we are tumbled head-over-heals into a maelstrom of musical ideas. As this subsides like a carousel winding down, he returns to the love song from the second movement but again the intensity builds as if he must squeeze in one more variation before he releases us from ecstatic surrender.

The quartet is outstanding. The communication among them as they create the music is superior and the relaxed, open, communication in word and playing effectively draws the listener into the experience. My only regret is that they are not local! They will be performing at the 2009 Wintergreen Summer Music Festival and Academy in Wintergreen, Virginia, which runs from July 6 to August 2. Visit www.wintergreenperformingarts.org

Having the program projected on a screen above the players rather than on a printed handout made extra work for this writer but otherwise worked well. I could get used to this way of saving paper and ink. Engaging the audience visually in this way heightened my focus and I heard no complaints from friends in the audience.

Continuing a busy season of vocal performances, we experienced a most charming concert version of Mozart's Cosi fan tutte at Old Dominion University's Chandler Hall April 30 (repeated May 2nd), sung by six students who stood at music stands and acted and sang the roles in place but exited the stage and returned as the story demanded.

A white structure of three arches stood before a scrim decorated with what appeared to be a patio with potted flowers over looking Lago Maggiore in Italy. Hidden in the right corner was Bobbi Kesler-Corletto at the piano. In the aisle in front of her a few rows back was Charles Stanton conducting. All of this in the acoustically responsive Chandler Hall. Charles continually encouraged quieter singing delivery from voices trained to fill an opera house. Six characters, two young men in love with two sisters, the sisters' maid and the boys' cynical, handsome friend make up the cast. Having the recitatives delivered in English with the arias in the original Italian worked well and made the plot clear. The short, concise program notes filled in any gaps. The friend, Don Alphonso, was sung by baritone Travis Thon. He bets his friends that he can prove that their lovers are fickle in 24 hours if they do everything he asks. Ferrando, created by tenor Orson Van Gay II and Guglielmo, created by baritone Adam Piper, take the bet - they are absolutely sure of the sisters' committed love. All six singers are voice students of Kerry Jennings.

The sisters, Fiordiligi, sung by Ann Scott Davis and Dorabella, sung by mezzo-soprano Brittany Cannon, are greatly overwrought when the boys are called away to fight in the war - a ruse created so they can return as Albanians in folk costumes, romantically pursuing each other's girlfriend. Despina, sung by Jennifer Serafino, has a "love the one your're with" philosophy and encourages the sisters to go for the new guys! The younger, more impressionable sister wavers, the other is steadfastly waiting for her lover's return. Their pity for the Albanians, who fake suicide, leads to their eventually giving in to marriage performed by a notary (Despina in disguise). A military march signals the soldiers' return. Confessions and forgiveness follow. Recently, some productions have emphasized the darker side of the story but this exuberant young cast gave us the playful joy inherent in this madcap melodrama of young lovers.

Ms. Davis gave us Fiordiligi's two arias with a polished vocal sheen. The second aria is usually not sung because the tessitura is lower than the rest of the role. In duets with Ms. Cannon there was vocal contrast that highlighted the difference of personality of the two sisters. Ms. Cannon has a powerful voice with spinto or possibly dramatic potential while Ms. Davis' voice is lighter with more warmth. Mr. Van Gay's beautiful, ringing tenor voice has that rare vocal quality known as squillo which creates urgency in his delivery. Mr. Piper, only nineteen years old, sang with a sure clarity. Ms. Serafino, a masters degree student, captured the mischief making, comedic Despina in a most accessible performance. Mr. Thon switched from Engineering to Vocal Music two years ago. He created his character with naturalness and fine singing. The duets, trios, quartets and especially the sextets that carry the story kept the energy high throughout.

What's new with Symphonicity? A free pops concert added at the end of their usual classical series. It is official, next season's subscribers will be offered a fifth concert, free. Musical Director and Conductor David Kunkel announced that there will be no increase in subscription cost but there will be an extra pops concert to cap the season.

The program Glitter and Be-Jeweled at the Sandler Center in Virginia Beach on April 5 featured the beautiful singing actress Kimberly Markham in arias by Handel: Faghe perle from Agrippina; Gounod: Jewel Song from Faust. With a makeup table and chair she created a vignette of an enticing woman, her natural beauty enhanced by jewelry. From Bernstein Candide she plucked the modern coloratura masterpiece Glitter and Be Gay and gave a smashing performance. Each time she came on stage she was wearing a different, always elegant gown. Eight selections were listed on the program but the list ended with "And a few surprises." In a red, floor length gown with microphone in hand Ms.Markham sang a knowing Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend, always an antidote to market downturns. Marilyn Monroe would have felt honored by this classic performance.

With a few string players there was a look back at the bygone era of Ladies Musical Afternoons with a recital of an innocent young woman who admits to being a good girl, not even knowing how to kiss. But being honest she admits that her life is not much fun. The song was!

Between vocal selections we were treated to Lehar Gold and Silver Waltz, Offenbach La Vie Parisienne, Auber Crown Diamonds Overture and Lane/Bennett Finian's Rainbow Selections (Old Devil Moon among them). Speaking of Bennett, that is Robert Russell Bennett, born in Kansas City in 1894. Composer and conductor, he orchestrated some 300 Broadway musicals, for everyone from Cole Porter to Richard Rodgers. Later the orchestra played Tribute to Charles Strouse. Strouse (b.1928) wrote Bye, Bye Birdie, Golden Boy, Annie and other musicals dealing with contemporary American society.

This high energy, engaging concert closed with an encore by Ms. Markham with the full orchestra in The Mom Song (words by Anita Renfroe) describing the perils of being a modern mother set to the "Lone Ranger" theme from Rossini's William Tell Overture.

A fund-raising raffle for the painting donated by Alexander Anufriev, husband of cellist and composer Tanya Anisimova was held. Awards for outstanding instrumentalist from local high schools were given out by Maestro Kunkel and a drawing for a jewel given by Baker's Jewelry was held. The orchestra was in fine form. All together, a glittering afternoon to wrap a fine Symphonicity season.

All reviews by John Campbell unless otherwise noted.