November 27, 2024

By Nancy Plum

It would be hard to choose who was the greater teenaged composer — Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart or Felix Mendelssohn. The prodigious musical childhood of Mozart has long been documented, but the works of the young Mendelssohn were no less remarkable. The New York City-based Renaissance String Quartet brought one of Mendelssohn’s early works to life in a concert last Thursday night at McCarter Theatre Center’s Matthews Theatre. Violinists Randall Goosby and Jeremiah Blacklow, violist Jameel Martin, and cellist Daniel Hass played Mendelssohn’s youthful String Quartet No. 1 in E-flat Major in an evening beginning with the early 19th century and ending with a composer born almost at the turn of the 21st century.

The Renaissance Quartet’s inventive approach to chamber music was evident from the moment the musicians came onstage. The Quartet began Mendelssohn’s first published work —emphasizing a sadness in the opening “Adagio” — with expressive motivic gestures which may have been meant as a tribute to the recently deceased Beethoven. The Quartet musicians kept chipper passages bright, with violist Martin bringing out lush melodic lines. The second movement “Canzonetta” reflected Mendelssohn’s ballet A Midsummer Night’s Dream, with an elfin middle section abounding with fluttering fairies in the violins. The Quartet showed its playful side in this music, but never lost the required rhythmic precision.  more

November 20, 2024

By Nancy Plum

The glee club tradition dates back to late 18th-century London, with musical groups informally gathering to perform short compositions and popular songs. Named after the Baroque-era English “glee” part song, these ensembles were until the mid-20th century comprised of male voices, with countertenors taking the upper parts. While late 19th-century glee clubs in London were superseded by large choral societies, they became very popular in U.S. high schools and universities, and more so after opening their ranks to women. A number of local collegiate institutions have glee clubs dating back to the mid-1800s, and Princeton University is no exception. The Princeton University Glee Club, founded in 1874, has grown far beyond the “short song” repertoire to become the largest choral organization in the University’s campus, with a commitment to complex works and commissioning new music.

The University Glee Club, currently under the direction of Gabriel Crouch, celebrated its 150th anniversary this past weekend with three days of concerts, rehearsals, and alumni reunions. Continuing its long-standing commitment to collaborating with world-class musical organizations, the Glee Club opened last weekend’s festivities with a join concert with The King’s Singers. Considered the “gold standard” of a cappella singing, the six-member all-male ensemble has been a pillar of choral excellence for the past 55 years. Glee Club conductor Crouch was a member of the chorus for eight years, and since then has built a solid partnership between the University choral program and the renowned vocal sextet.  more

“EURYDICE”: Theatre Intime has staged “Eurydice.” Written by Sarah Ruhl and directed by Lucy Shea, the play was presented November 15-17 at the Hamilton Murray Theater. Above: After a fatal accident, Eurydice (Melanie Garcia, right) arrives in the underworld and encounters her Father (Martin Brennan, left), who predeceased her. (Photo by Elena Milliken)

By Donald H. Sanborn III

According to the Greek myth, Eurydice — a nymph and, according to some versions, the daughter of Apollo — fell in love with Orpheus, who was said to be the son of the muse Calliope. Orpheus “was gifted with such extraordinary musical skills that even trees and rocks danced,” notes Britannica.com.

Fleeing to avoid the unwanted advances of Aristaeus, Eurydice was fatally bitten by a snake. Orpheus traveled to the underworld and charmed Hades with his music. Hades agreed to release Eurydice on one condition: “Orpheus and Eurydice were forbidden to look back while they were in the land of the dead.” Orpheus was unable to resist looking to see if Eurydice was following him, and she returned to the underworld forever. more

November 13, 2024

By Nancy Plum

Certain musical pieces are tailor-made for specific ensembles. Princeton Pro Musica, now celebrating its fourth decade of music-making, has long excelled at choral/orchestral works requiring precision, block sound and expert counterpoint. Eighteenth-century Austrian composer Franz Joseph Haydn composed numerous sacred masses combining chorus, soloists, and orchestra, but fewer oratorios. The first of these was Die Schöpfung (The Creation), Haydn’s musical interpretation of the creation of the Earth, the animal world, and man. Premiered in 1798, The Creation was an immediate hit in Vienna, receiving instant acclaim and becoming an unofficial anthem of Vienna until falling into obscurity toward the end of the 19th century. Revived in the mid-20th century, The Creation is now a staple of choral societies worldwide and an audience favorite.

Led by Artistic Director Ryan J. Brandau, Princeton Pro Musica presented Haydn’s illustrative oratorio Sunday afternoon at Richardson Auditorium. Together with a chamber orchestra and three vocal soloists, the 100-member chorus performed Haydn’s uplifting music showing solid preparation and command of the music. Conductor Brandau began the long orchestral introduction with restraint, as the earth slowly came into being. The string sections demonstrated an ability to play very quietly, with wind solos depicting life forms emerging amid the murky chaos. Clearly rooted in the oratorio tradition of George Frideric Handel, The Creation also showed the influence of Mozart in lyrical arias and poignant duets.  more

“A LIFE WORTH LIVING”: Performances are underway for “A Life Worth Living.” Presented by the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University, and directed by Chesney Snow (assisted by Ava Adelaja), the musical runs through November 16 at the Lewis Arts complex’s Wallace Theater. Above, from left: Cecilia (Kailani Melvin), a therapist at a mental health facility, attempts to help Gavin (portrayed by writer and composer Jeffrey Chen) heal from a traumatic past. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski/Lewis Center for the Arts)

By Donald H. Sanborn III

The Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University is presenting A Life Worth Living. The new musical has a book, music, and lyrics by Jeffrey Chen, a senior who is majoring in neuroscience, with a minor in musical theater.

A Life Worth Living is described by the Lewis Center’s website as a “dramatic-comedy musical.” Its plot centers on Gavin, a teenager who is involuntarily sent to a residential mental health treatment facility. He reluctantly but steadily forms bonds with the other residents, as the staff works to uncover the past experiences leading to the incident that necessitates his treatment. more

November 6, 2024

By Nancy Plum

It is not easy to find a connection among composers from Mexico, Austria and Russia, but New Jersey Symphony brought these three cultures together this past weekend with its opening concert of the 2024-25 Princeton series. Led by Music Director Xian Zhang, the Symphony successfully wound a musical thread through the works of contemporary Mexican composer Gabriela Ortiz, 18th-century Austrian Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and 19th-century Russian Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.

The key to the three pieces performed Friday night in Richardson Auditorium seemed to be the composers’ use of winds for innovative orchestral color. In Ortiz’s Kauyumari, wind solos reflected the diverse musical influences which surrounded Ortiz in her native Mexico. The one-movement Kauyumari, commissioned in 2021 by the Los Angeles Philharmonic, depicts the ancient “blue deer” rite of Mexico which allows the Huichol people to communicate with ancestors and reaffirm their role as guardians of the planet. Channeling the sounds of Latin America into a classical work, Ortiz created a piece to capture both the blue deer, with its power to “enter the world of the intangible,” and the reopening of live music following the pandemic.  more

Students perform Anon(ymous) by Naomi Iizuka during the final dress rehearsal in the Berlind Theatre at McCarter Theatre Center on Oct. 31, 2024. Photo by Larry Levanti

“ANON(YMOUS)”: Performances are underway for “Anon(ymous).” Presented by the Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University; and directed by Bi Jean Ngo (assisted by Matthew Cooperberg), the play runs through November 9 at McCarter’s Berlind Theatre. Above: Anon (Aabid Ismail, left) journeys in search of his family, accompanied by a variety of characters, including the streetwise Pascal (Oriana Nelson, right), a West African refugee. (Photo by Larry Levanti / Lewis Center for the Arts)

By Donald H. Sanborn III

The Lewis Center for the Arts at Princeton University is presenting Anon(ymous) at McCarter. Playwright Naomi Iizuka’s contemporary, stylized retelling of The Odyssey centers on two refugees in the U.S. — Anon and Nemasani — each of whom has been separated from a family member.

Iizuka’s script embraces and offers ample scope for multiple forms: drama, modern dance, and performance art — in short, much of what live theater offers. Bi Jean Ngo, director of the Lewis Center production (assisted by Matthew Cooperberg), takes full advantage of this; the polished staging makes use of often dazzling production values while ensuring that the performances are the primary focus. more

October 23, 2024

By Nancy Plum

The works performed by Princeton Symphony Orchestra this past weekend may not have all been from the Baroque and Classical periods, but they were all tied in some way to the 18th and early 19th-centuries. The trio of pieces by Michael Abels, Sergei Prokofiev, and Ludwig van Beethoven demonstrated to the audience at Richardson Auditorium how music from these earlier eras has stood the test of time in a concert also showcasing two of the Orchestra’s own members.

Music Director Rossen Milanov and the Orchestra began Saturday night’s performance (the concert was repeated Sunday afternoon) with a compositional new twist on an old favorite. Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Michael Abels has been commended for his “unique ability to blend diverse elements.” In his 1999 More Seasons, the “elements” blended were themes from Antonio Vivaldi’s popular The Four Seasons, with Abels using motives from the “Spring” and “Summer” movements to create what he has called “Vivaldi in a Mixmaster.”  more

“JEKYLL & HYDE”: Performances are underway for “Jekyll & Hyde.” Presented by Kelsey Theatre and Off-Centre Stages, and directed by Genevieve Estanislau, the musical runs through October 27 at Kelsey Theatre. Above: Dr. Henry Jekyll (William Kamps) struggles to regain control over a rather dangerous experiment. (Photo by Abigail Acolia Photography)

By Donald H. Sanborn III

Kelsey Theatre is presenting Off-Centre Stages’ production of Jekyll & Hyde. The popular musical continues Kelsey’s “Season of Transformations” by portraying one of the most famous literary metamorphoses: doctor into murderer.

Loosely adapted from Robert Louis Stevenson’s novella Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1886), Jekyll & Hyde is conceived for the stage by Steve Cuden and Frank Wildhorn. The book is by Leslie Bricusse, who also is credited with the lyrics, though a few of the songs have words by all three writers. Using the novella as a point of departure, the musical adds a romantic element, as well as themes of class tension, ambition, and autonomy versus community.  more

October 16, 2024

By Nancy Plum

Princeton University Concerts combined the 16th century with the very contemporary world last week with a presentation by a jazz singer who draws inspiration from all periods of history and all forms of music. French singer, composer, and visual artist Cécile McLorin Salvant first appeared on the University Concerts series in 2023 with a program commissioned to create a work inspired by the writings of Princeton University Professor Toni Morrison. Salvant brought her diverse talents back to Richardson Auditorium last Wednesday night as part of this year’s series to demonstrate her unique fusion of vaudeville, blues, theater, jazz and the baroque era, with a particularly new take on a traditional vocal form.

English Renaissance composer and lutenist John Dowland initially published Book of Ayres in 1597. Clearly very popular, this collection of “lute songs” for solo voice was reprinted several times in his lifetime. In Wednesday night’s performance, Salvant brought the expected harpsichord, lute and theorbo to sing her version of “Book of Ayres,” but Dowland surely would never have expected his delicate madrigals and love songs to be complemented by a 20th century synthesizer and percussion.  more

“ALMA”: Performances are underway for “Alma.” Written by Benjamin Benne; and directed by AZ Espinoza, the play runs through October 20 at Passage Theatre. Above, the confrontational relationship between Angel (Diana Maldonado), left, and her mother, undocumented immigrant Alma (Jessy Gruver), masks — and partially stems from — desperate motives held by both characters. (Photo by Habiyb Shu’Aib)

By Donald H. Sanborn III

Passage Theatre is celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month by opening its 40th anniversary season with Alma. Benjamin Benne’s powerful play is by turns poignant, angry, funny, and tender — but throughout it is poetic and compelling.

The story depicts the lives of Alma and Angel. Alma (portrayed with deliberate precision by Jessy Gruver) is a Mexican undocumented immigrant who works as a single mother to support her (deceptively) stereotypically rebellious teenage daughter, Angel (played by Diana Maldonado, in an apt foil to Gruver’s performance as the title character).  more

October 9, 2024

By Nancy Plum

The Princeton University Orchestra launched its 2024-25 season this past weekend with a unique combination of works from Ukraine, the U.S., and Russia, demonstrating that music knows no political boundaries. Led by conductor Michael Pratt, the more than 100-member Orchestra showed in the annual concerts honoring former faculty member Peter Westergaard what could be accomplished in the few short weeks since the University semester started.

Sunday afternoon’s performance in Richardson Auditorium (the concert was also presented Saturday night) began with the American premiere of a piece with a University connection. Princeton graduate Hobart Earle has achieved great success conducting Ukraine’s Odesa Philharmonic Orchestra, leading the ensemble through the sounds of artillery in the background and against incredible odds. In 2023, Earle and the Philharmonic commissioned noted Ukrainian composer Evgeni Orkin, and the resulting Elegy in the Memory of the Victims in Odessa captures the horrors of war both in mournful darkness and hopeful light.  more

September 25, 2024

“GROUNDHOG DAY”: Performances are underway for “Groundhog Day.” Presented by Kelsey Theatre and Playful Theatre Productions, and directed by Frank Ferrara, the musical runs through September 29 at Kelsey Theatre. Above: Condescending and aloof TV meteorologist Phil Connors (John Fischer, front row, fifth from left) finds himself trapped in a small town whose residents are, for him, gratingly cheerful and enthused about the titular celebration. (Photo by John M. Maurer)

By Donald H. Sanborn III

Kelsey Theatre is presenting Groundhog Day. Adapted from the 1993 fantasy romantic comedy film starring Bill Murray, the musical portrays a big-city TV meteorologist who finds himself forced to relive the same day, apparently in perpetuity, in a small town that to him is gratingly good-natured.

Groundhog Day opens Kelsey’s “Season of Transformations,” which will include revivals of Jekyll & Hyde, Beauty and the Beast, and 1776. A brochure promises, “Transformations abound in this season — from the transformation of man into monster, and beast into prince, to the transformation of the colonies into the United States of America!” more

September 18, 2024

By Nancy Plum

Princeton Symphony Orchestra opened its 2024-25 classical series this past weekend with two performances at Richardson Auditorium. Led by Orchestra Music Director Rossen Milanov, the ensemble presented music of two 19th-century compositional giants, as well as a contemporary piece with a Princeton connection.

Saturday night’s performance (the concert was repeated Sunday afternoon) opened with an unusual work by New Zealand composer Gemma Peacocke, currently a Ph.D. fellow in composition at Princeton University. Peacocke has been commissioned by ensembles worldwide, including New Zealand’s Orchestra Wellington and Arohanui Strings. These two organizations commissioned Peacocke in 2023 to create the one-movement Manta, a musical description of the oceanic manta rays which migrate to the seas around Peacocke’s native Aotearoa region. Perceived as solitary creatures, manta rays are in reality quite active, demonstrating acrobatic movements which would translate well to musical composition.  more

“EMPIRE RECORDS: THE MUSICAL”: Performances are underway for “Empire Records: The Musical.” Presented by McCarter Theatre Center, by special arrangement with Bill Weiner, and directed by Trip Cullman, the musical runs through October 6 at McCarter’s Berlind Theatre. Above: Temporarily unaware of the record store’s financial problems, the employees relish the relaxed atmosphere that their workplace offers. (Photo by Daniel Rader)

By Donald H. Sanborn III

McCarter Theatre is presenting the world premiere of Empire Records: The Musical. Directed by Trip Cullman, the exuberant production begins with a high energy level that it steadily maintains, even as it breathes to allow for character development that is by turns comic and poignant.

Adapted from the 1995 coming-of-age comedy film, the show follows the exploits of the titular record store’s idiosyncratic but fiercely loyal employees, who form a tightly knit community. The employees’ determination to preserve their community leads them to take extreme, at times comically ill-conceived and dangerous, steps to prevent the store from entering into a franchise agreement with a corporation. more

September 11, 2024

“EMPIRE RECORDS: THE MUSICAL”: McCarter Theatre Center is presenting “Empire Records: The Musical.” Written by librettist Carol Heikkinen in collaboration with composer and lyricist Zoe Sarnak, and directed by Trip Cullman, the musical will run through October 6 at McCarter’s Berlind Theatre. Above: Liam Pearce and Lorna Courtney. (Photo by Daniel Rader)

By Donald H. Sanborn III

McCarter Theatre is presenting the world premiere of Empire Records: The Musical. Adapted from the 1995 coming-of-age comedy film, the show has a book by Carol Heikkinen, the film’s screenwriter; and a score by composer and lyricist Zoe Sarnak.

Performances run through October 6. more

July 31, 2024

“EMERGENCY”: Performances are underway for Princeton Summer Theater’s production of “Emergency.” Written by Daniel Beaty and directed by PST Artistic Director Layla J. Williams, the one-man show runs through August 3 at Princeton University’s Hamilton Murray Theater. Above: Destine Harrison-Williams portrays a variety of characters, including a reporter and a poet, who react to the sudden appearance of a slave ship in front of modern-day Liberty Island. (Photo by Layla J. Williams)

By Donald H. Sanborn III

Emergency is a one-man show that imagines a slave ship appearing in front of the Statue of Liberty — in the present day.

Written by Daniel Beaty, the play uses this provocative concept to probe numerous issues, particularly ways in which our culture, especially the media, reacts to significant and devastating events. The monologue is an unsparingly candid, yet often wryly humorous, meditation — from multiple viewpoints — on America’s history of racial injustice, from slavery to police brutality.

Beaty is an award-winning actor, singer, motivational speaker, and playwright whose works include Through the Night; Mr. Joy; and The Tallest Tree in the Forest (a play that examines Paul Robeson). He is the founder of I DREAM, an initiative that uses storytelling to help individuals and communities heal trauma. The biography on Beaty’s website describes him as a “social entrepreneur who lives at the intersection of art, spirit, and social change.” more

July 24, 2024

By Nancy Plum

On the 55th anniversary of man landing on the moon, it was fitting that New Jersey Symphony showed Princeton the future of musical composition. As part of its commitment to contemporary works, the Symphony sponsored its annual, weeklong, tuition-free Institute devoted to “enhancing the careers of four emerging composers” who, through in-depth coaching and rehearsals with the Symphony, were able to hone their craft and “move the ball forward” with orchestral music. This year’s culminating Edward T. Cone Composition Institute concert was held last Saturday night at Richardson Auditorium, featuring new pieces exploring a wide range of ideas. Conducted by Christopher Rountree, the performance brought well-deserved attention to four distinctive individuals with clear futures in the performing arts.

Composer Leigha Amick believes that music has the potential to “reflect on both the current and the timeless human experience, to provide grounds for intellectual fascination, and to quench the need for emotional expression.” Her extensive repertory, for both instrumental and vocal ensembles as well as electronics, has been performed nationwide. Amick’s Cascade, inspired by a composition by American Carl Stone for electronics, bagpipes and organ, was built around an altered passacaglia in which the character changed with each of a series of harmonic cycles.  more

July 17, 2024

“THE LAST FIVE YEARS”: Performances are underway for Princeton Summer Theater’s production of “The Last Five Years.” Written and composed by Jason Robert Brown and directed by Eliyana Abraham, the musical runs through July 21 at Princeton University’s Hamilton Murray Theater. Above: Events leading to the estrangement between Cathy Hiatt (Kate Short) and Jamie Wellerstein (Julien Alam) are told from dual perspectives — Jamie’s story is told in chronological order, while Cathy’s tale moves backward in time. (Photo by John Venegas Juarez)

By Donald H. Sanborn III

The Last Five Years is an intimate, poignant musical that depicts a married couple’s gradual estrangement.

The story, songs, and script for the mostly sung-through musical are by Jason Robert Brown. The story is inspired by Brown’s first marriage. Brown carefully describes the subject matter of The Last Five Years (2001) as “personal” (rather than “autobiographical”).

A unique narrative device is employed. For the husband, a successful author, events are seen in chronological order, starting just after the couple meets. For the wife, a struggling actress, the story begins after the breakup, moving backward in time.

This concept recalls Merrily We Roll Along, a musical (adapted from a play) that portrays three friends who grow apart, telling their story in reverse chronological order. The Last Five Years takes the idea a step further; by telling the story in both directions, the characters’ timelines are allowed to intersect once, in a central scene.

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By Nancy Plum

Princeton University Summer Chamber Concerts continued its 2024 season this past week with a presentation by three instrumentalists who have put their collective talents together to create an exciting new experience for their audiences. Violinist Friedemann Eichorn, cellist Peter Hörr, and pianist Florian Uhlig each have had successful international solo careers and have joined forces in the past five years to explore chamber repertory as the Phaeton Piano Trio. Named for a mythological character but performing with solid down-to-earth musicianship, the Trio came to Richardson Auditorium last Monday night for an evening of Franz Joseph Haydn, Felix Mendelssohn, and Antonin Dvorák. The ensemble may be relatively new, but its playing style is rooted in centuries-old performance practice and interpretation of the classics. more

July 10, 2024

By Nancy Plum

Audiences usually identify the saxophone with such jazz and blues superstars as Charlie Parker and John Coltrane, but New Century Saxophone Quartet has shattered that image. For more than 30 years, this ensemble has shown that four saxophones can well match the pitch and dynamic range of a string quartet, amassing an impressive repertory for this combination of instruments along the way. The four members of New Century Saxophone Quartet brought their combination of “skillful artistry and down-home fun” to Richardson Auditorium last Tuesday night as part of the 57th season of the Princeton University Summer Chamber Concerts series. Performing music spanning more than 270 years, the Quartet well demonstrated the saxophone’s abilities to emerge from smoky jazz clubs to the forefront of the classical concert stage.  more

July 3, 2024

“THE SOUND OF MUSIC”: Performances are underway for “The Sound of Music.” Presented by Kelsey Theatre and The Yardley Players; and directed by Kristy Davis, the musical runs through July 7 at Kelsey Theatre. Above: Watched suspiciously by the (offstage) Nazis, the Von Trapp Family Singers give a performance on which their lives literally depend. From left are Aurora Quinn (Louisa), Emma Poppell (Brigitta), Gabi Oliano (Gretl), David Nikolas (Captain Von Trapp), Laney Kenwood (Liesl), Lauren Wolensky (Maria), Scarlet Hillman (Marta), Trevin Davis (Kurt), and Joseph Wilson (Friedrich). (Photo by John M. Maurer)

By Donald H. Sanborn III

Yardley Players Theatre Company is presenting The Sound of Music at Kelsey Theatre. Kristy Davis directs and choreographs an appealing production that honors the 1965 film adaptation, while accentuating the benefits that a live production can offer the story.

The Sound of Music marks the final collaboration between composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II. The book by Howard Lindsay and Russell Crouse is suggested by Maria Augusta Trapp’s memoir The Trapp Family Singers. The show follows Maria’s journey from novice at Nonnberg Abbey to governess for the seven children of the stern widower Captain Von Trapp; and the threat posed to the family by the Anschluss (the Nazi takeover of Austria) in 1938.  more

June 26, 2024

By Nancy Plum

Princeton Festival switched gears this past Thursday night to chamber music with a return visit from the popular ensemble The Sebastians, which draws its moniker from the middle name of towering Baroque composer Johann Sebastian Bach. Surmising that Bach might actually have been called “Sebastian” by his friends, the instrumentalists first came together with the goal of playing “mixed chamber music at a high musical level, with friends.” Twelve members of The Sebastians came to Princeton’s Trinity Church last Thursday night as part of Princeton Festival, performing music of their namesake, as well as Bach’s contemporaries. Demonstrating the range and capabilities of 18th-century strings, flute and harpsichord, the conductor-less chamber orchestra showed how Bach’s influence is still felt to this day.

Although German composer Georg Philipp Telemann was more recognized than Bach in his own lifetime, his music was overshadowed by other 18th-century composers until the early 20th century. Since then, his music has been recognized as equally complex and intricate as the more well-known Bach and Antonio Vivaldi. Telemann’s Concerto in A Major for Flute, Violin and Cello was initially published in a collection known as “musique de table,” in the tradition of musicians performing while guests were enjoying a meal. The Sebastians began Telemann’s four-movement work gracefully, with David Ross’ Baroque flute providing a richer and more mellow sound than its 21st-century counterpart.

The combination of a slightly lower Baroque pitch, warm period instruments, and animated music seemed to bring down the temperature on a sultry evening as the ensemble created its own world of precise rhythms and tapered phrase endings. Joining Ross as Concerto soloists were violinist Daniel Lee and cellist Ezra Seltzer. All players watched one another well, with each soloist providing clean melodic passages. The second movement “Allegro” featured Lee and Seltzer in duet under extended trills from Ross. A courtly third movement showed Seltzer plying a wide-ranging cello line, while the light orchestration enabled the audience to hear Kevin Devine’s excellent harpsichord accompaniment.

Violinists Lee and Nicholas DiEugenio were showcased in Telemann’s Gulliver Suite for Two Violins in D Major, inspired by Jonathan Swift’s 1726 satirical novel Gulliver’s Travels. Throughout this narrative piece, Lee and DiEugenio frequently played in pure thirds, effectively bringing to life the Laputians and Lilliputians through fleeting passages played with precision and a bit of humorous acting at the close.

The Sebastians are known for Bach, and even with one Brandenburg Concerto cut from Thursday’s program, there was plenty of the Baroque master to enjoy. Concerto No. 6 in B-flat Major was the only one of Bach’s set of six pieces that did not use violins; the composer scored the three-movement work instead to feature two violas da braccio, which were relatively new at the time and which were expertly played in this performance by Jessica Troy and Kyle Miller. The orchestration often juxtaposed the violas against two more familiar violas da gamba, stylistically played by Matt Zucker and Adrienne Hyde. The Concerto’s key of B-flat and the absence of violins kept the texture mellow, as Troy and Miller maintained a lively dialog with cellist Ezra Seltzer and the two da gambas provided a solid foundation to the sound. Cadences were short and clean, and phrases well tapered. The third movement gigue-like “Allegro” was chipper without being too fast, and was especially noteworthy for Seltzer’s nimble cello lines.

The closing Brandenburg Concerto No. 3 in G Major brought the strings of The Sebastians to the stage, with the resulting performance being energized and refreshing. Quick thematic passages were passed down the row of violins and then to the violas, and the instrumentalists showed uniform dynamic contrasts. The second movement “Adagio” was originally composed as only two notes, with the intention that players would improvise a bridge between the two faster movements. Violinist Lee provided a quick improvisation over the two harmonic chords, before the orchestra was off to the races again to close the concert in spirited 18th-century fashion.

“AN EVENING WITH SANTINO FONTANA”: The Princeton Festival has presented “An Evening with Santino Fontana.” Broadway and film star Santino Fontana (above) performed a program of highlights from musical theater and animated films. Fontana was accompanied by pianist Cody Owen Stine. (Photo by Princeton Symphony Orchestra staff)

By Donald H. Sanborn III

An Evening with Santino Fontana” has concluded the Princeton Festival’s season. The June 22 concert took place in the festival’s performance tent on the grounds of Morven Museum & Garden.

A debonair baritone, Fontana entertained the audience with standards from Broadway musicals and one animated film. Pianist Cody Owen Stine accompanied the singer on all but one selection. In between songs, Fontana shared amusing anecdotes about his experiences performing onstage and in studios. more

June 19, 2024

By Nancy Plum

It all began with a bet. Three male buddies were arguing over everyone’s favorite topic — fidelity. To prove his point that women are fickle, one dared his companions to entice their fiancées to betray them by pretending to be two other suitors. The companions agreed, and mayhem ensued — all to the delicious music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. This, of course, is the plot of Mozart’s popular opera Così fan tutte, which musically addresses the age-old question, “Are women really all like that?” Premiered less than two years before Mozart’s death and full of challenging music for both singers and instrumentalists, Così has remained a popular staple of opera repertory for more than 200 years. The Princeton Festival brought this classic to life this past weekend as a cornerstone presentation of its two-week series of performances and lectures. Accompanied by the Princeton Symphony Orchestra and led by conductor Rossen Milanov, six singers took on the daunting assignment of interpreting Mozart’s complex score, delving into the realm of the theatrically silly along the way.

Sunday afternoon’s performance at the pavilion of Princeton’s Morven Music & Garden (the opera officially opened last Friday night) brought a full house under a tent on a perfect weather night for opera. The “Overture” that opened the production was short by 18th-century standards, but set the scene for the action to come. Milanov and the Princeton Symphony players found an elegant Viennese flow to the music, aided by wind solos from oboist Kemp Jernigan and flutist Scott Kemsley. Stage Director James Marvel took the opportunity to introduce the characters during the “Overture” — sisters Fiordiligi and Dorabella, their respective fiancés Guglielmo and Ferrando, the streetwise maid Despina, and the scheming “philosopher” Don Alfonso. Mozart’s original setting was 1790s Naples, but scenic designer Blair Mielnik and costume designer Marie Miller moved the opening scene far from the 1700s to what looked more like a flamboyant beach community.  more