March 28, 2012

New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Showcases Legend André Watts and Three Young Musicians

Musical ensembles in Princeton have presented a number of fine soloists over the years, and when a superstar passes through, it is immediately noticeable. Pianist André Watts has been a legendary performer long enough to be familiar to an entire generation of concert-goers. The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) brought Mr. Watts to Princeton this past weekend in a Brahms concerto performance that thrilled both players and audience.

Music Director Jacques Lacombe preceded the American legend with a taste of the next generation of talent by starting Friday night’s concert in Richardson Auditorium with three young students in the orchestra’s education and community engagement program. The three musicians played a lively flute trio, showing poise and musicianship. It was also fitting that the NJSO followed this educational outreach sampler with Edward T. Cone’s Music for Strings, given Mr. Cone’s commitment to students over his life.

Music for Strings proved to be a block of concentrated string sound, with players uniform in their intensity and meter changes. Mr. Cone clearly liked lower strings, with the dense sound of the celli and double basses contrasted by a lyrical violin solo by concertmaster Eric Wyrick. Mr. Lacombe maintained solid control over the changing textures, bringing the piece to nothingness at the end.

André Watts joined the orchestra for Brahms’s Piano Concerto No. 2 in B-flat Major, a towering late 19th-century work combining keyboard virtuosity with a luxuriant orchestral palette. Mr. Watts was seated almost directly behind the conductor, but it was clear from the outset that both conductor and soloist had the piece well in hand and needed only occasionally to check in with each other. The first movement’s opening paired principal hornist Lucinda-Lewis with Mr. Watts in a perfectly timed duet. What set Mr. Watts well above other excellent soloists was the exact timing and rhythmic symbiosis between the soloist and orchestra. Mr. Watts’s precise dialogues with the ensemble no doubt come from familiarity, at times seeming to play just for himself, yet keeping solid communication with the orchestra. He took complete charge of tempo changes, with skips in the left hand and phrasing that always seemed to be going somewhere. Mr. Watts in particular exhibited fierce contrary motion between hands and forceful double trills to close the first movement.

The concerto was primarily about the orchestra and pianist, with a few wind solos interspersed, including from flutist Bart Feller and oboist James Roe. The third movement featured an extended duet between piano soloist and solo cello, gracefully played by principal cellist Jonathan Spitz. This movement gave the pianist a bit of a break, as the music moved languorously among several solo instruments. Mr. Watts returned to constant piano motion in the closing movement, accompanied by well-nuanced phrasing from the orchestra.

Equally as towering as the Brahms Concerto was Schumann’s Symphony No. 3 in E-flat Major, known as the Rhenish Symphony because of the influence on the composer of Europe’s Rhine River. Through the four movements of the symphony, Mr. Lacombe kept the tempi moving along at an exuberant clip, giving the impression of the Rhine rolling along. Clearly very familiar with the work, Mr. Lacombe allowed the first movement to state its point from the beginning while building dynamic swells and elegantly tapering wind phrases. The second scherzo movement maintained a rather heavy lilt with a bit of teasing in some of the internal cadential passages. Mr. Roe demonstrated delicate playing in oboe solos in the first movement, and an augmented brass section blended well with clarinets and bassoons in the fourth movement.

The nearly full house at Richardson no doubt thought it was a truly special evening to hear a soloist of this caliber, as Mr. Lacombe and the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra continue to make their mark around the state.


March 21, 2012

Shakespeare’s Works Inspired Three Composers In Spring Concert at Richardson Auditorium

Over this past season, the Princeton Symphony Orchestra (PSO) has been expanding the simple concert presentation format to creating a multi-day performance experience with pre-concert lectures, open forums with composers and soloists, and discussions of music related to the concert repertory, held in a variety of venues around town. The orchestra’s Sunday afternoon concert in Richardson Auditorium was the culmination of several public events centered on the flute concerto and other symphonic music performed, with the featured composer and soloist very involved in the process.

For this spring concert, PSO Music Director Rossen Milanov selected music related to Shakespeare, including works of three major 19th-century composers. Felix Mendelssohn composed an Overture to A Midsummer Night’s Dream at the age of seventeen for no other reason than that he liked the play. Although it was sixteen years later that Mendelssohn incorporated this music into a commission, the overture retained a youthful spirit, beginning with the well-tuned thirds in the flutes which opened the piece. Mr. Milanov maintained a light pizzicato from the strings as precise dotted rhythms moved the music forward. There was a great deal of humor and fun in this overture, such as Gary Cattley’s tuba solo representing Bottom’s transformation into a donkey. Especially lean violin playing was notable before the closing coda.

Tchaikovsky also musically addressed Shakespeare plays, with his Romeo and Juliet fantasy overture familiar to orchestra audiences. Less well known is his tone poem Hamlet, which is much darker than the Mendelssohn work, with ample opportunity for the orchestra to build drama and theatricality. The lower strings effectively set the mood, punctuated by clean trombones. This one-movement piece was a dramatic workout for the strings, with convincingly fierce playing as things got rolling. Oboist Caroline Park provided emotional contrast with a lyrical and melodic solo full of rich sound. Mr. Milanov wisely allowed Ms. Park to end her solo freely as the mood changed to a lush orchestral sound. Also impressive was the timing of the brass accents exactly with the snare drum, played by percussionist Phyllis Bitow.

The third Shakespeare-inspired work on the program was another Romeo and Juliet treatment by Sergei Prokofiev. The three selections from two Prokofiev suites performed by the orchestra were not at all in the composer’s classical vein, but closer to the dramatic late Romantic Russian style, and Mr. Milanov did well to keep the sound as full as possible without falling into the range of cacophonous. Mr. Milanov drew significant tension out of the strings during the familiar marching music of the first “Montagues and Capulets” from Suite No. 2, aided by some very nice flute work from Jayn Rosenfeld and Mary Schmidt. Prokofiev scored these pieces to include saxophone, effectively played by Ron Kerber for contrast against the orchestral palette. The three selections from Prokofiev’s two suites featured elegant instrumental solos, including English hornist Nick Masterson, violinists Basia Danilow and Valissa Willwerth, and violist Stephanie Griffin. Mr. Milanov maintained good control over this very disjunct music, bringing the final selection to a particularly ominous close, foreshadowing the drama to come in the play.

Lowell Liebermann’s Concerto for Flute and Orchestra may not have had anything to do with Shakespeare, but in this work the solo flute seemed to be a character, wandering through the opening movement’s pastoral scene against a clocklike pizzicato from the strings. Flute soloist Eugenia Zukerman (who was kept very busy that afternoon doubling as narrator for the other three works on the program) played the nonstop line with ease, achieving very nice duets with members of the orchestra, including clarinetist Gi Li and bassoonist Roe Goodman. Ms. Zukerman played with a light touch and very even agility, as other winds joined her in elegant instrumental combinations. Ms. Zukerman had her work particularly cut out for her in the third movement, as a nonstop flute line speeded along. This concerto was a very appealing work, with particularly entertaining use of such unusual percussion instruments as sleigh bells, triangles, and a ratchet.

Princeton Symphony Orchestra has made a particular point of linking concerts this season with the community. With Shakespeare, there is a great deal to work with on the Princeton campus and in the town, and the orchestra seemed justifiably pleased with the results on this initiative.


March 7, 2012

Following Its Successful European Tour Glee Club Presents “Homecoming” Concert

Tour “homecoming” concerts of college performing ensembles are fun to watch. Usually held within a few weeks of the ensemble’s return, these performances have an underpinning of fresh memories, inside jokes among the musicians, and an overall sense of pride. The Princeton University Glee Club recently returned from a tour of Paris and its environs, and it was very clear from Friday night’s concert in Richardson Auditorium that the 80-voice chorus was very proud to give the audience a taste of the music presented in Europe. Glee Club conductor Gabriel Crouch programmed the concert to show the depth of choral activities at Princeton, both in the level of music performed and the talent within the ensemble. The tour repertoire featured a cross-section of European sacred and secular music which the Glee Club used to demonstrate precise choral skills and a rich sound.

Double chorus works have traditionally been a product of continental Europe, but Mr. Crouch found an intriguing example from contemporary Britain. John Tavener’s choral works usually include edgy chord streams and harmonies, which the Glee Club sang effectively in Tavener’s Hymn to the Mother of God. Mr. Crouch followed this piece with a more traditional double chorus work from the late Renaissance, and the Glee Club sang Ruggiero Giovanelli’s Jubilate Deo with the same color and bite as the Tavener, paying particular attention to word accents and the multiple transitions among meters. This period of double chorus anthem was full of vocal lines running up and down scales, and the Glee Club brought out the rolling passages cleanly. Both the Tavener and Giovanelli pieces would have worked well in any of the Glee Club tour’s French cathedral venues, rich with centuries of choral music embedded in the rafters.

Mr. Crouch focused much of the rest of the concert on music of less familiar regions of Europe. Moving to the back of the Richardson stage, the Glee Club was able to produce a sound which reverberated well in the stone shell, demonstrating a nice melodic women’s sound and, in the Cyrillus Kreek psalm setting, appropriate Russian chording. Music from former Eastern European nations resurfaced later in the concert, with folksong settings from Bulgaria and Romania in pieces full of speedy texts and rhythms sung with some of the vocal edge one hears from choirs of this region. Mr. Crouch gave a former student a chance to shine as conductor, as Emily Sung directed a very nice setting of an Italian folk song, and Mr. Crouch joined the chorus. The Glee Club was joined onstage for one selection by the University Chamber Choir, which performed Sir William Harris’s Faire is the Heaven with clarity and good attention to the harmonies and lyrical internal lines. There were many languages represented in this concert, and both choral ensembles had the variety of texts well in hand.

The Princeton University Music Department has committed to “composition, performance, and scholarship,” and the Glee Club furthered this mission this past year by sponsoring a composition contest within the ensemble. Sophomore Ryan McCarty won this year’s competition with a setting of texts from the 11th-century Cambridge Songs. Mr. McCarty retained the medieval nature of Carissima by beginning the piece with chant-like music at intervals of octaves and fifths, sung by the men, as it would have been in the 11th century. Sound built with each vocal entrance, leading to a clear dialog between men and women on the text “noli tardare” (“make haste”). Mr. McCarty composed this piece with a fresh style and refreshing sound, and with an easy flow to the music, ending the piece on a joyous high note. Creating this choral competition not only gave the Glee Club an opportunity for its members to stretch themselves creatively, but in the case of Mr. McCarty’s work, also resulted in a piece which could go far in the choral arena.

The Princeton University Glee Club seems to be touring overseas every two or three years. With its clean singing and precise choral techniques, the ensemble has proven to be yet another solid representative of the University’s music program.


Searching for a Phantom Melody on Ravel’s Birthday

All of life’s pleasure consists of getting a little closer to perfection, and expressing life’s mysterious thrill a little better.

—Maurice Ravel (1875-1937)

For the last four years of his life Maurice Ravel, who was born 137 years ago today, suffered from a form of aphasia so severe that he could only dream of expressing “life’s mysterious thrill.” After witnessing a performance of his great “symphonie choréographique,” Daphnis et Chloe, he’s said to have lamented, through tears, “I still have so much music in my head, I have said nothing. I have so much more to say.”

It’s painful to imagine what Ravel went through, exiled from his genius, his will in limbo, apparently the delayed result of a blow to the head suffered in a taxi accident in 1932. That he would be dealt this ultimately mortal injury in a car makes for a truth-is-stranger-than-fiction coincidence, given his fascination with mechanical devices, a quality inherited from his father, whose inventions included an internal-combustion engine and an automatic loop-the-loop circus machine known as “the Whirlwind of Death” that was popular at the Barnum & Bailey Circus — until it resulted in a fatal accident.

A Debonair Wizard

Ravel was intensely, severely handsome, 5’4, slightly built, and sensitive about his small stature. In his prime, he cultivated an enlightened dandyism inspired by Baudelaire’s ideal, which was to combine simplicity and elegance while carrying out “a dignified quest for beauty.” Léon–Paul Fargue described him at the time as “a sort of debonair wizard … telling me endless stories — he could tell an anecdote as well as he could compose a waltz or an adagio.” He was a heavy smoker, a serious gardener, a bird-watcher (he excelled at bird calls), with a fondness for spicy, exotic dishes, cocktails, fine wines, Spain, Morocco, books (he had a large library), and Siamese cats. He never married, though he is said to have proposed to and been refused by violinist Hélène Jourdan-Mourhange (apparently he returned the disfavor when the situation was reversed). He did, however, enjoy playing with the children of his friends and would tell them fairy tales. One such child said that when she heard the news of his death it was like losing her own father for a second time.

Ravel’s ideas on the nature and meaning of art were primarily based on his reading of Baudelaire and Edgar Allan Poe. During his highly successful concert tour of the U.S. in 1928 he made a pilgrimage to Poe’s home in the Bronx, visited 25 cities from New York to California, enthused about skyscrapers and jazz (“I am seeing magnificent cities and enchanting regions,” he wrote to Jourdan-Morhange). He began a lecture at Rice Institute in Houston with reference to the “singular importance” for him of “the aesthetic of Edgar Allan Poe, your great countryman.” In the same lecture, he talked about the blues “one of your greatest musical assets,” and mentioned the blues element in the second movement of his sonata for violin and piano.

In fact, American music took more from Ravel than the other way around. Listen to the orchestral pieces, notably Daphnis and Chloe, and you know that Hollywood composers like Miklos Rosa and Bernard Herrmann have been there, not to mention bandleader Stan Kenton, whose signature theme, “Artistry in Rhythm,” borrows from the ballet’s opening sequence, “Invocation to the Nymphs.” You can hear echoes of Ravel in the mood-drenched music of film noir and 1940s classics like Hitchcock’s Spellbound, and numerous rock and heavy metal barn-burners have fed on the hypnotic rhythms of his Bolero, which spawned the 1934 film of the same name wherein Carole Lombard and George Raft (and their long-shot doubles) perform to Ravel’s music what may be the most erotic dance sequence in all of pre-code Hollywood.

Pilgrim’s Progress

Jazz pianist Bill Evans openly declared his debt to Ravel, and turned Miles Davis on to A.B. Michelangeli’s recording of the piano concerto in G, which eventually “became something of an obsession with Davis,” to the point where he “proselytized about it for years,” according to John Szwed’s So What: A Life of Miles Davis.

“When he plays something,” Davis said of Michelangeli’s interpretation,” it sounds like he’ll never play it again.” The words “never play it again” have a poignant resonance, for this work was first performed in 1932, the year Ravel suffered the blow that extinguished his career. The endgame quality is best heard in the original recording by Ravel’s friend, Marguerite Long, the French pianist to whom the work was dedicated. In the world of beauty created by the Adagio assai, the pianist seems to be tracing a pilgrim’s progress through dark woods shadowed by a vague furtive menace, the right hand’s walk through the shadows at times nearly thwarted, halting, almost wavering, before thoughtfully, steadfastly moving on, then simply ascending, beautifully buoyed by strings and woodwinds, to a blissful extinction, with the orchestra, reportedly conducted by Ravel himself, swooning into silence at the gates of the heavenly city.

Linking Melodies

It’s said that Ravel composed the Bolero by picking out the melody on the piano with one finger and commenting approvingly on its “insistent quality,” which he decided to try repeating a number of times “without any development, gradually increasing the orchestra as best I can.”

The seemingly random simplicity of that moment at the keyboard, the composer, in effect, taking baby steps on the way to a work of epic grandeur, suggests an analogy for the series of conundrums and coincidences that led to the writing of this anything but epic column. The wonder of music is that it can catch and disarm you in the most unlikely places, for instance when you’re being ministered to by a dentist who suddenly expresses his fondness for an album that contains a Billy Strayhorn composition you feel especially close to but whose title you can’t remember. So while the dentist is busy threading your gums with stitches, you’re racking your brain for the name of one of the moodiest and most classically nuanced numbers Strayhorn ever wrote. At this point, somewhere in the internet of your mind, a link is forming, with Strayhorn the primary subject, the bait that helps you reel in Ravel, whose mere name brings you closer to the music itself; you can almost hear Ben Webster’s tenor brewing and serving it up with a melodic sibling from Ravel that means more to you than it should because it briefly illuminates a distant scene involving a grand piano, and presto, that ghostly fragment of Ravel conjures up “Chelsea Bridge,” the title you’ve been trawling the web for. Returning home, you go straight to the most credible authority, Gary Giddins’s Visions of Jazz, and find that when composing “Chelsea Bridge,” Strayhorn “turned for instruction” to “Maurice Ravel.” Case closed? Not a chance. What about that “ghostly fragment of Ravel?”

A week later, looking ahead to the March 7 issue of Town Topics, I find that Maurice Ravel was born on March 7, 1875. No less important for the solving of the second mystery is the fact that he died on December 28, 1937, three days after my parents were married. Now the “distant scene” I saw in the dentist’s office comes into focus on the shiny black grand piano that was the great game-changer of my parents’ marriage, for whenever the tension reached the danger level, my cool, remote father would sit down at the keyboard and flood the living room with the warmth and power of his playing, pulling out the stops, unloading every weapon in his arsenal as he melted my sulking, formidably emotional mother. And what was one of my father’s primary weapons? A piece by Ravel, of course. That phantom fragment. But what was it?

The Thrill Is Not Gone

The first jazz record I played incessantly enough to provoke disparaging remarks from my parents was Chet Baker’s initial solo EP on Pacific Jazz. I was 14 and so enamoured of the music that I asked my father to give me piano lessons, a prospect that horrified him. He did, however, teach me how to pick out “Isn’t It Romantic,” my favorite song on the album.

Knowing what I know now, I wonder what his reaction would have been had I asked him to teach me my next favorite number, “The Lamp is Low”? Surely he’d have recognized one of his primary weapons in the melody, which was borrowed from Ravel’s Pavane for a Dead Princess, otherwise known as “Pavane pour une infante défunte” and dedicated to the Princesse de Polignac, a.k.a. Winnaretta Singer, heir to the Singer sewing machine fortune.

That’s it. Mystery solved. After listening to numerous renditions of Ravel’s Pavane, I have no doubt that it’s the melody I was looking for, the one my father played. But there’s still another link to open, the one leading to “life’s mysterious thrill” in its purest form, which is when beauty appears unexpectedly in an unlikely place and in the guise of a dubious medium.

Working the internal internet again, I pull up my first summer in Europe. The student tour that had begun two months before in June is almost over and I’m sharing a moment with a fellow I’ve only really begun to know — a shambling, wisecracking Phil Silvers type, a sort of playful Teddy Bear who has let on that he’s a musician. We’re in an empty recreation room on a rainy day at a student hostel in the Lake District town of Patterdale and he’s at the piano playing an elaborate, astonishingly accomplished composition of his own based on a viscerally familiar melody. Speaking musically, the tour has been two months of drunken dissonance, which gives this moment with the rain pattering at the misty windows in Patterdale a special provenance, for it turns out that this amiable Teddy Bear isn’t just a gifted musician in a realm well beyond my father’s, he’s a genius who will go on to a recording and recital career in Europe accompanying famous lieder singers, and the theme he’s built his version of a “mysterious thrill” around is the phantom melody from Ravel’s Pavane that has been haunting me ever since that day with the dentist.

———

Of the quantities of Ravel material online, I’ve consulted and sometimes quoted from Roger Nichols’s biography, Ravel (Yale University Press 2010), Arbie Orenstein’s A Ravel Reader (Dover 2003), and Deborah Mawer’s Cambridge Companion to Ravel (Cambridge University Press 2000). The version of “Chelsea Bridge” referred to is from the album, Ben Webster Meets Gerry Mulligan. Although the music I’ve referred to is available online, notably Marguerite Long’s historic performance of that chillingly beautiful Adagio, the Princeton Public Library provided the CDs I’ve been listening to, the stand-out being Claudio Abbado and the London Symphony Orchestra’s Daphnis and Chloe, which filled my humble CRV with with its orchestral power and choral glory from here to Lambertville and back.


February 8, 2012

Princeton Symphony Orchestra’s Winter Concert Journeys Through Russia With Three Composers

The Princeton Symphony Orchestra gave its sold-out audience on Sunday afternoon a comprehensive lesson in Russian history. The ensemble’s winter concert in Richardson Auditorium was titled “Simply Russian,” but there was nothing simple about the music performed. Each of the three pieces presented was infused with Russia’s rich past — both the jubilant and the intensely dark.

Princeton Symphony presented the three works by Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich slightly out of chronological order, beginning with the piece with the most wide-ranging orchestration. The ensemble’s performance of Prokofiev’s Suite from his opera Eugene Onegin was a preview of the PSO collaboration with several Princeton University departments to present the world premiere of the composer’s complete opera.

Prokofiev’s 20th-century compositional style had roots in the Classical period, shown in the 1936 Eugene Onegin Suite by the incorporation of two harpsichords contrasted against the modern and unorthodox orchestral use of saxophones. Princeton Symphony Orchestra Music Director Rossen Milanov presented the incidental music to the sixteen operatic scenes deriving a full and lush sound from the orchestra, beginning with Caroline Park’s opening oboe solo through the rich melodies in the violins against undulating violas. Mr. Milanov allowed the music to flow, lulling the audience with sweet wind solos from Ms. Park, clarinetist Pascal Archer, and flutist Jayn Rosenfeld, saving the striking contrast for the dramatic entry of the horns. The effect of two solo harpsichords was quirky for this transitional time between two world wars (they may well make more sense in the complete opera) but keyboardists Wendy Young and Steven Ryan communicated well with each other and Mr. Milanov, no doubt piquing the audience’s interest in how all this fits together.

Tchaikovsky’s 1876 Variations on a Rococo Theme is firmly planted in Tsarist Russia, and its elegance and light orchestration defer both to the Classical period and to the relative calm of life in Russia before the decline of the reign of Tsar Alexander II. Tchaikovsky’s work is an homage to Mozart, and perhaps fitting in this performance was featured cello soloist Joshua Roman, who is also youthful and prodigious. Mr. Roman showed unusual poise and respect for his collaborating musicians, constantly communicating with the orchestra players and teasing them with a saucy playing style and solid technical control. Mr. Roman handled the wide-ranging solo lines with ease, drawing a lean rich sound from the lower register and an amazingly pure tone from the highest register of the instrument. Particularly impressive was a series of 5ths and octaves in the solo cello line, played with purity by Mr. Roman. This cello soloist may have had the audience fooled a bit by his youthfulness and unassuming manner, but it was clear Mr. Roman was able to pull a tremendous range of musical effects from his bag of tricks.

The Princeton Symphony Orchestra closed the concert with a work from the depths of Russia’s darkest moments. Dmitri Shostakovich composed Symphony No. 5 in D minor in part to save himself from Josef Stalin, whose party looked for “heroic classicism” from the nation’s composers. Growing up in Bulgaria before the fall of the Iron Curtain, Mr. Milanov may well have been aware of the dire straits of Russian composers and the significance of this piece. Shostakovich seemed to take no chances with this symphony, building the orchestral sound majestically, yet still managing to pay homage to his contemporaries who did not survive the Stalin regime.

Mr. Milanov conducted this work forcefully, bringing out an air of desperation which always permeated the music. The orchestral fabric still left room for poignant wind solos, such as that of clarinetist Pascal Archer, accompanied by solo bassoonist Roe Goodman in the first movement. The music was occasionally jarring (as life surely was as well) and the terror of the times came through well. Shostakovich scored unique combinations of solos which were well played by the orchestra, including flutist Jayn Rosenfeld and hornist Douglas Lundeen and a very graceful series of sequences between clarinet and oboe. Mr. Milanov brought out well the varied and contrasting styles of the symphony, especially in the third movement, richly infused with Russian church music. A haunting exchange between harp, played by Andre Tarantiles and two flutes, played by Ms. Rosenfeld and Mary Schmidt added to the emotion of the movement, aided by almost imperceptible playing by the violins. The brass excelled at the closing moments, as Mr. Lundeen provided a calm and reassuring solo and the symphony closed gloriously.

Princeton Symphony Orchestra has had a busy week preparing this performance and the premiere of Prokofiev’s opera. The orchestra is clearly healthy and growing — certainly a pleasure to see in these tough economic times.

February 1, 2012

“Mozart, the Princeton Library, and Laycock” Celebrate William Scheide’s 98th Birthday

It is late January — it is cold, it may snow and William Scheide invited the town to his musical birthday party. These annual celebrations, presented by the Scheides and benefitting a local non-profit organization, have become a happening in Princeton, and last Friday night’s concert in Richardson Auditorium was sold out several days ahead of time — a celebration for all involved. In true Scheide fashion, the concert was not just about the birthday celebrant, and as this year’s beneficiary, the Princeton Public Library was rightfully enthusiastic.

As in past years, the visiting Wiener KammerOrchester and conductor Mark Laycock provided the music, beginning with an overture by the evening’s other birthday boy, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, who turned 256 on Friday. The overture to Mozart’s opera The Marriage of Figaro gave the Wiener KammerOrchester many opportunities to show grace and precision with Viennese flair, and the ensemble did not disappoint. The strings were very clean on the opening instrumental swirls and the flute and oboe lines could clearly be heard. Mr. Laycock maintained a nice ebb and flow to the phrases, and the KammerOrchester demonstrated a full and rich sound without becoming out of control dynamically.

These Scheide birthday celebrations have often included guest soloists, and this year the KammerOrchester was joined by the legendary husband-and-wife team of violinist Jaime Laredo and cellist Sharon Robinson. Two-thirds of the Kalichstein-Laredo-Robinson Trio, Mr. Laredo and Ms. Robinson have also had successful careers as soloists and teachers.

Other 18th and 19th-century composers have featured two solos instruments in concerto format, but Johannes Brahms was the first to combine violin and cello in his Double Concerto for Violin, Violoncello and Orchestra in A minor. This was an unusual concerto in its introduction of the opening material in a cadenza played by the cello soloist. Ms. Robinson started right off with double stops in a somewhat disjunct line answered by clean winds and a very sweet violin solo by Mr. Laredo. Mr. Laredo has an especially remarkably appealing sound in the upper register of the instrument, and he and Ms. Robinson complemented each other as they traded cadenzas and triplet passages. A very nice sonority was heard as the solo cello was accompanied by sectional violas, and the numerous instances of “question-and-answer” between the soloists were cleanly handled by the players. The gypsy-flavored vivace finale showed sauciness and flair from both soloists and orchestra, with timpanist Klaus Zauner, who had remained very subtle during the Mozart, coming to life to close the Brahms decisively.

The Scheides have maintained a long commitment to education, and the second half of the concert featured an emerging pianist playing the product of one of William Scheide’s favorite past-times — collecting rare musical scores. In his youth, Brahms apparently provided a short piano solo work to an “autograph book” of a 19th-century conductor and collector Arnold Wehner in Germany. Mr. Scheide recently acquired this book, and excerpted Brahms’s short untitled piece (titled by the Scheides Albumblatt in A minor) for New York University student Andrew Sun to play. Particularly fun was the Scheide’s printing of the piece as a program insert, enabling the audience to follow along. A student of a student of Vladimir Horowitz at NYU, Mr. Sun kept the internal running eighth notes very steady, with nice phrase direction, bringing out the suspensions which remind performers that this was a composition by a young Viennese.

Ludwig van Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 in A Major has been considered one of his more “upbeat” works, yet the circumstances of its premiere were more poignant than carefree. This symphony is also celebrating a birthday; composed between 1811 and 1812, it was premiered at a concert benefitting “Austrian and Bavarian soldiers disabled at the battle of Hanau, part of the Napoleonic Wars.” Beginning with a lilting oboe solo played by Hannes Strassl, the KammerOrchester was well-restrained but ready to unleash the powerful orchestral scales and sectional trills of the first movement. Mr. Laycock capitalized on the rise and fall of dynamics, bringing the orchestra to its fullest sound on the main theme. This was a spirited and joyful performance, suitable for the occasion, with excellent solo playing from Mr. Strassl and flutist Renate Linortner.

Beethoven composed the very familiar second movement in an andante tempo, but eventually changed this tempo to allegretto. Mr. Laycock and the KammerOrchester took the tempo on the faster side of allegretto, keeping the ostinato a bit on the dry side, contrasting with the lyrical and poignant tune from the violas and celli. Flutes and oboes played perfectly together on the melody, and one could hear the Classical counterpoint of the movement. The KammerOrchester closed the symphony well, bringing the ensemble to full sound and showing off the clean playing of the brass.

As in past years, Mr. Laycock topped off the concert with his own “discovery” of a work by a well-known composer which happens to include “Happy Birthday” interspersed into the familiar music. This year the composer was Tchaikovsky, and after weaving a convoluted tale of how this work remained hidden for the past 100 or so years, Mr. Laycock presented his version of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, also a Napoleonic work. One cannot underestimate the amount of work it takes to rearrange this piece to include “Happy Birthday” in clever and witty occurrences, and a special treat came in the way Mr. Laycock handled the Russian tunes in the overture. Joining the KammerOrchester was the excellent Russian Chamber Chorus of New York singing the opening Slavic Orthodox Troparion of the Holy Cross (usually assigned to violas and celli). Mr. Laycock also incorporated a sung Russian folk song into the overture, which includes a Russian folk dance. As an arranger, Mr. Laycock clearly had control over Russian harmonic changes, and nothing seemed out of place musically as bits and pieces of “Happy Birthday” wandered through the score. The audience was clearly in rapt attention, listening for the next appearance of the song, as Princeton wished William Scheide yet another great year.

January 25, 2012

A Powder Keg of Conflict: Religion, Family, Race, and Identity; Danai Gurira’s World Premiere “The Convert” Opens at McCarter

CULTURE CLASH: Chilford (LeRoy McClain), Bible in hand, spreads the Roman Catholic faith in 1895 Rhodesia (present day Zimbabwe), as his unconverted servant Mai Tamba (Cheryl Lynn Bruce) looks on, firmly rooted in the beliefs of her ancestors, in the world premiere production of Danai Gurira’s “The Convert” at McCarter’s Berlind Theatre through February 12. (Photo by T. Charles Erickson

Danai Gurira’s new play at McCarter’s Berlind Theatre, The Convert, is an historical drama, set in 1895-97 in what is now Zimbabwe. In her introduction to the play, Ms. Gurira describes the historical and political background: “the iron claw of colonization” with its “Western cultural impositions,” including “taxes, menial labor, and Judeo-Christian morals imposed by an uninvited lord,” clashing violently with the African people and their traditions.

Beyond history and politics, however, are the human stories that this production brings to life with riveting intensity, emotion, and unforgettable drama. There is the protagonist Jekesai (Pascale Armand), given the Christian name Ester, the young woman “convert,” who leaves the village of her family and joins the world of the Roman Catholic Church; her aunt Mai Temba (Cheryl Lynn Bruce), “mother of the earth,” who brings her niece under the protection of the Catholic Church but remains herself unconverted, wedded to ancient pagan rituals and beliefs of the Shona tribe; the dedicated catechist Chilford Ndlovu (LeRoy McClain), long ago uprooted from his family and African heritage, determined to serve the white man’s church and to convert Ester, her aunt and any other Africans he can win over; Tamba (Warner Joseph Miller), Mai Tamba’s son and Jekesai’s cousin, a young mine worker, unhappy with his lot and ready for rebellion; Chancellor (Kevin Mambo), translator for the white men, friend of Chilford, an opportunist who finds himself drastically caught between white and black worlds; Jekesai’s unscrupulous Uncle (Harold Surratt), who wants Jekesai back under his possession so he can marry her off for a rich bride price to an older man with ten other wives; and Prudence (Zainab Jah), a well-educated, outspoken woman, fiancée of Chancellor and wise friend to Jekesai.

The thirty-one-year-old Ms. Gurira, born in the U.S. to Zimbabwean parents and raised in Zimbabwe, has created a rich array of complex, three-dimensional characters — engaging, passionate, mostly likeable individuals that the audience cannot help but care about. All Africans — none of the priests or other European characters mentioned appear on stage, these characters, throughout the three-hour play — three acts, nine different scenes, all set in the modest central room of Clifford’s home — find themselves caught up in the deadly personal and societal conflicts, of 1890s Rhodesia.

The Convert, Ms. Gurira’s third play, is a finely crafted, bold combination of traditional playwriting and striking innovation, of warm humor and stark tragedy, of harsh politics and touching humanity. Ms. Gurira tells her story with captivating detail and increasing suspense, keeping a tight grip on the audience’s interest and emotions and maintaining a delicate balance between the comedic and the deeply serious from start to finish.

The Convert does make unusual demands on its audience as the plot unfolds and the characters reveal themselves. Many of the lines, in whole or in part, are spoken in the characters’ native Shona language, and the English spoken is often heavily accented. This carefully rehearsed language contributes a vital air of authenticity to the production and the world of the play. These uses of language, in their variety and shifts, also reflect the deepest issues of the play, the struggle to achieve identity and the conflict between the imposed British world and the Shona world of the ancestors. Language is also a significant source of humor here, as characters try to take on the expressions of their British masters, and the malapropisms abound.

The problem for the audience of understanding the Shona dialogue and the heavily accented English remains significant, despite consistently superb acting and diction and some helpful repetition of lines. As I struggled to pick up the exposition and plot details and to hear every exchange between characters — you won’t want to miss what these fascinating characters are saying, I occasionally wished for the clarification of supertitles or a bit less heavy accents, even if at the cost of authenticity.

McCarter’s lovingly polished, swiftly paced, highly entertaining production, with first-rate cast and crews under the direction of Emily Mann, does full justice to Ms. Gurira’s original, powerful voice. Daniel Ostling’s beautifully simple, evocative set design, subtle lighting by Lap Chi Chu, and authentic costumes by Paul Tazewell contribute richly to the world of the drama.

With the Berlind Theatre’s limited seating and just three more weeks in the run before The Convert moves to Chicago’s Goodman Theatre then to the Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles, you might want to order your tickets quickly before the word gets around and this one sells out.

Ms. Gurira has declared her interest in George Bernard Shaw and has acknowledged an indebtedness here to Shaw’s Pygmalion (transformed later into My Fair Lady). The similarities and contrasts between The Convert and Pygmalion are noteworthy. Both Jekesai and Eliza are high-spirited young women enlisted to be shaped and “converted” by strong-willed older men. Both seem at first to be willing, subservient followers of their masters, but later clash with surprising results.

The Convert, however, is definitely not Pygmalion (even less My Fair Lady). Though language, specifically learning English and the language of church scripture here, is crucial to Jekesai’s conversion and to Ms. Gurira’s plot, the world of segregation and white oppression for black Rhodesians is a long way from the world of upper crust London society. In the context of the Ndebele-Shona uprising in southern Africa in 1896-97, Jekesai is driven to far more extreme measures than Eliza’s in her battle to reconcile her heritage with her assimilation into the world of white Roman Catholicism. The Convert takes on a decidedly more serious tone than its Shavian comedic counterpart.

This historical drama with its strange language, its African setting, and characters so far removed from our own, will nonetheless resonate powerfully with contemporary audiences — not just because so many peoples in so many nations of the world today are battling to forge their national and personal identities in the conflict between past and future, but also because Jekesai and her world are thoroughly universal. As Ms. Gurira says, “The more specific you get in your cultural expression, the more human you’re going to get.” The Convert is a moving human drama not to be missed.

New Jersey Symphony Orchestra’s Winter Festival Warms Up Audience With “Fire” Themed Music

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO) focused its Winter Festival this year on the theme of “Fire,” including a well-received performance of the rarely-heard complete ballet score of Stravinsky’s The Firebird. Winter is by no means over, and the NJSO brought its festival to Richardson Auditorium this past weekend with a concert described as “Fire: Light and Legend.” Music Director Jacques Lacombe accomplished several of his stated goals with the orchestra in this concert while staying within the “Fire” theme, including presenting lesser-known works of familiar composers and promoting the music of important composers of our time. The Richardson audience at Friday night’s concert came away hearing the music of Haydn and Beethoven in a new way, as well as becoming familiar with a significant leader in new music.

Franz Joseph Haydn’s symphonies are frequently heard on orchestra programs, but often they are the same pieces — ignoring much of the composer’s more than 100 symphonic works. Mr. Lacombe found an early Haydn symphony which fit with the idea of “Fire,” and the ensemble’s performance of Symphony  No. 59 in A Major was as crisp and chipper as a crackling winter blaze.

The presence of a harpsichord onstage indicated the symphony’s roots in the early Classical period and its connection to the previous Baroque ear. The opening movement had unusual rhythmic gestures which Mr. Lacombe brought out decisively, accompanied by a well-unified string sound. Mr. Lacombe demonstrated an elegant touch to the more lyrical second phrases, keeping the movement’s “development” section light. The customary third movement, menuetto, was unusually forceful, contrasted by a flowing solo string quartet for the “trio” section and a graceful ending to the movement. A pair of horns, led by principal hornist Lucinda-Lewis, provided strong hunting calls in the fourth movement.

As music director of the New Jersey Symphony, Mr. Lacombe has made a strong commitment to contemporary music, including European composers who may not be as familiar in the United States. Kaija Saariaho is well-known in her native Finland and is clearly respected enough in the United States to be named composer-in-residence at Carnegie Hall. Ms. Saariaho has collaborated with Finnish cellist Anssi Karttunen for a number of years, and the NJSO brought both together with a performance of Saariaho’s Notes on Light —a concerto for cello and orchestra.

Saariaho scored this five-movement work for standard orchestra, with the addition of unusual percussion instruments and unconventional playing styles. Mr. Karttunen began the opening “Translucent, Secret” finding the quarter-tones in the solo line, and throughout the work he derived a variety of musical effects from the cello against a palette of orchestral colors. Mr. Lacombe kept a steady beat pattern on which the players could focus, and it was clear that the solo cellist had the piece well under control. Four flutes and piccolo excelled in the second movement, and in all movements Mr. Lacombe built dynamic intensity without allowing the piece to become strident.

Like Haydn, Beethoven is a popular composer on orchestral programs, and his 1800 Opus 43 ballet The Creatures of Prometheus is recognizable to many from its often-played overture. For Friday night’s concert, Mr. Lacombe chose to approach the familiar music as a multi-disciplinary performance, inviting two actors and a dance ensemble to convey a more complete story, accompanied by eight movements from the complete ballet score.

The story of Prometheus connects to fire in that fire brings the two central characters — clay statues — to life. In Friday’s performance, the two live characters were Zeus and Prometheus, acted by André de Shields and Claybourne Elder, respectively. Both actors conveyed their lines vividly, tying the story together around the musical vignettes. Acting the parts of the “Creatures” were dancers of The Francesca Harper Project.

Making room for actors and dancers required the orchestra to be more closely placed together on the stage, which brought out a very compact sound, especially from the winds. Flutist Kathleen Nester and oboists James Roe and Andrew Adelson played elegant solos in the overture, with Ms. Nester providing another clean solo in a later movement against pizzicato strings. A poignant duet was played late in the performance by Mr. Roe and clarinetist Andrew Lamy playing a basset horn, with a nice Viennese lilt maintained by the rest of the orchestra. Mr. Lacombe led a smooth transition to the coda as the work closed and Zeus seems to have his way at last.

The performance of the Beethoven ballet was visually interesting to look at, and with an additional libretto and lighting effects, was certainly a new way of approaching the work. Designing creative ways to present familiar music will no doubt work in the New Jersey Symphony’s favor in bringing people back to their concerts to see what is new.


January 18, 2012

PU Orchestra Vocal Competition Winners Perform Well in Concert of Handel’s Music

The Princeton University Orchestra treated its audience to a warm winter musical treat this past weekend with a concert dedicated entirely to the music of George Frideric Handel. Sometime during this academic year, the orchestra conducted a student vocal competition, and seven winners were presented in Richardson Auditorium on Saturday night, accompanied by chamber ensemble and harpsichord. The seven winners, representing all four undergraduate classes, showed themselves to be poised and self-assured singers, and proud to share their vocal skills.

Handel composed forty operas in his career, in an age when the vocal soloist was the star of the show. Arias ruled the day, and often the opera’s plot was merely a vehicle to show off a singer’s ability to race up and down scales, with extensive ornamentation. Contrasting the vocal fireworks were extended arias of sensitivity or pensiveness, giving singers the chance to pour their hearts out to the audience. The University Orchestra Handel Competition winners were capable of both styles, beginning with soprano Tanyaradzwa Tawengwa, who opened the concert with the very popular “O had I Jubal’s lyre” from Handel’s 1747 opera Joshua.

Ms. Tawengwa sang the sprightly aria with lightness and little vibrato, showing no trouble with the rungs and articulating the 16th notes well. University Orchestra guest conductor Ruth Ochs kept the chamber ensemble crisp and agile, with a very steady continuo of cello, double bass, and harpsichord. With violins placed on both sides of the podium, the instrumental themes easily passed back and forth across the stage and the instrumentalists were able to musically talk to one another.

Ms. Ochs excels at putting performers at ease, a helpful skill when presenting emerging competition winners. The second singer on the stage, however, seemed to need no assistance in showing himself to be a vocalist capable of a real career down the road. Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen grew up singing with an excellent and high-profile youth chorus, and was lucky enough to be identified as a counter-tenor in high school, when he could develop his vocal technique from the start. He has been performing solos and singing in competitions since high school, and has clearly incorporated understanding counter-tenor history and legacy into his training. “Ombra mai fu” is Handel’s most well-known aria from the 1738 opera Serse (this aria was later arranged for orchestra) and was composed for the renowned castrato Caffarelli. These arias often do not sit well in women’s registers, but a counter-tenor, with notes at the height of his register, can bring a new level of emotion to the text. Mr. Cohen started right in with the recitative to the aria, and his voice took off into the upper register with the plaintive text of the aria. With Ms. Ochs sustaining the largo tempo in the accompaniment, Mr. Cohen showed exceptional control over expressiveness and vibrato as the upper notes blossomed. It is unusual enough to come across a counter-tenor at this age, but to find one with this solid a technique shows great promise for Mr. Cohen’s musical future.

Handel left the vocal pyrotechnics to the upper voices, composing lyrical arias for the tenor voice. The two tenor competition winners controlled the lyricism of their arias well — Saumitra Sahi singing “Total eclipse” from Samson and Christopher Beard performing “Where’er you walk” from Semele. Mr. Sahi sang with thoughtfulness, and Mr. Beard performed a clean version of the popular aria with careful ornamentation and attention to detail. It was particularly interesting to note that Mr. Beard’s vocal performance background covers a wide range, from Sondheim to Carousel’s nefarious Billy Bigelow to Benjamin Britten.

Sopranos Katherine Buzard and Lieve Hendren both showed great commitment to future musical careers and operatic training, and both selected challenging pieces with dramatic requirements in high registers. Ms. Buzard sang “Ombra pallide” from Alcina with good control over very difficult runs and a solid upper register. Ms. Hendren presented the Ariodante aria “Neghittosi, or voi che fate?” with an ability to toss off the top notes and convey the dramatic mood of the text. The lone bass on the program, Torin Rudeen, sang two selections from the oratorio Messiah with a relaxed sound and good diction in arias which are tough for any bass, much less one of college age.

Ms. Ochs rounded out the vocal program with a concerto for two violins, cello, and orchestra, showing herself to be an accomplished harpsichordist as well as conductor. Violinists Dean Wang and Sophia Mockler, joined by cellist Nathan Pell, communicated well among one another in a performance which was refined from all players, especially in the well-matched instrumental ornaments.

The Princeton University Music Department focuses its attention on “composition, performance, and scholarship,” offering a seemingly never-ending array of opportunities for students to strut their skills and try new things. The seven winners of this year’s Handel Vocal Competition certainly had plenty to be proud of, and the very appreciative audience in Richardson on Saturday night could not argue with an evening of Handel.

January 9, 2012

Hamburg Symphony Comes to State Theatre

The State Theatre presents the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra with Conductor Jeffrey Tate on Wednesday, January 18, at 8pm. The program includes Vaughn Williams, Wasps: Overture; Johannes Brahms, Violin Concerto in D major, Op. 77; and Dvorák, Symphony No. 7 in D minor, Op. 70, B. 141.  Tickets range from $36-$58.

Mr. Tate originally studied medicine at Cambridge University and  practiced three years as an eye surgeon in London before he started his professional artistic career by joining the music staff at the Royal Opera Covent Garden in 1970. He assisted Sir George Solti in London, Sir John Pritchard in Cologne, Pierre Boulez for the centenary Ring at the Bayreuth Festival, and Herbert von Karajan in Salzburg. He made his conducting debut with Carmen at Gothenburg Opera in 1978.

Mr. Tate has since worked with most of the major orchestras in the world. He has recorded a vast number of landmark recordings, and  regularly conducts in the world’s leading opera houses and festivals. He is a specialist in the music of Wagner and Strauss, of core classical and romantic repertoire, of British music of the late 19th and 20th century and of classical modern and contemporary music. Since 2001, he has been Honorary Director of the National Italian Radio Orchestra. He was appointed Principal Conductor of the Hamburg Symphony Orchestra in 2009.

Violinist Guy Braunstein was born in Tel Aviv and studied the violin under Chaim Taub, Glenn Dicterow, and Pinchas Zuckerman. He started performing as an international soloist and chamber musician at a young age and has since played with orchestras such as the Israel Philharmonic, the Tonhalle Orchestra in Zurich, the Bamberg Symphony, the radio orchestras in Copenhagen and Frankfurt, the Filarmonica della Scala, and the Berlin Philharmonic.

He has collaborated with musicians such as Isaac Stern, András Schiff, Zubin Mehta, Maurizio Pollini, Vladimir Fedosejew, Yefim Bronfman, and Daniel Barenboim, among others. Mr. Braunstein was the youngest person ever to be appointed concertmaster of the Berlin Philharmonic in 2000, a position which marked his debut as an orchestral member and which he currently retains, working with the Berlin Philharmonic for four months of the year.

The State Theatre is located at 15 Livingston Avenue in New Brunswick. For tickets or more information, call the State Theatre ticket office at (732) 246-7469, or visit www.StateTheatreNJ.org.

Annual Scheide Birthday Concert Benefits Princeton Public Library

For the past four years, William H. Scheide has celebrated his birthday by indulging two of his passions: Music and philanthropy. This year, the noted nonegenarian (he turns 98 January 6), adds another of his interests to the mix. Mr. Scheide is a famed bibliophile, and he and his wife Judith McCartin Scheide will donate the proceeds of this year’s birthday concert on Friday, January 27, to the Princeton Public Library.

“It’s a perfect fit,” says Linda David Pizzico, who is producing the concert. “It’s a marriage between his love of books and his love of music.”

Tickets are $35 for the 8 p.m. concert, which will be led by Mark Laycock, former conductor of the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, with stellar soloists Jaime Laredo on violin and Sharon Robinson on cello. The Vienna Chamber Orchestra and the Russian Chamber Chorus of New York complete the bill, which will feature the Overture to Mozart’s Marriage of Figaro, Brahms’s Concerto for Violin and Cello in A Minor, Beethoven’s Symphony No. 7 and Mr. Laycock’s special birthday arrangement of Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture.

Mr. and Mrs. Scheide are longtime benefactors of the Princeton Public Library. Books have been a passion for Mr. Scheide since childhood. His family founded the Scheide Library, which includes books and manuscripts collected by three generations. Today, the Scheide Library is housed at Princeton University’s Firestone Library, and it contains copies of the first four Bibles ever printed, materials on the invention and history of printing, and prized musical manuscripts by Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, and Wagner, to name a few.

Mr. Scheide has also made gifts to libraries at Princeton Theological Seminary, Westminster Choir College, and the Seed School in Washington, D.C. as well as the Bodleian libraries at Oxford University.

Music came into Mr. Scheide’s life early. His father played piano and his mother sang. He began piano lessons at age six, and soon took up the organ as well. He graduated from Princeton University in 1936 and earned a master’s degree at Columbia University four years later. His thesis topic was “What Happened to Bach’s Music in the First Century After his Death.” Mr. Scheide taught at Cornell University for two years, playing the oboe with a group of amateur musicians who performed an all-Bach repertory. He founded the Bach Aria Group in 1946 to bring some of his music that was virtually unknown to a wider audience, and was its director until 1980.

A concern for human rights has also figured highly in Mr. Scheide’s life. He played a vital role in advancing the goals of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Past concerts honoring his birthday have benefitted Princeton Healthcare System, the Arts Council of Princeton, Centurion Ministries and Isles, Inc.

The Scheides don’t limit their sponsorship of arts events to the annual January concerts. The couple also host musical events each summer. But the birthday concert is clearly a highlight and a focus. “They do this instead of throwing a birthday bash, and every year a community organization is selected as a recipient,” says Ms. Pizzico. “This is going to be a great concert, with a packed stage. We’re hoping for packed seating as well.”

December 15, 2011

Princeton University Orchestra Alumnus Conducts Program of Romantic Music

In his more than twenty-five years conducting the Princeton University Orchestra and directing the Program in Musical Performance, Michael Pratt has no doubt seen a number of his students go on to undertake careers in music. One of the department’s early success stories has been Hobart Earle, a 1983 graduate of the University (only six years after Pratt’s arrival) and now an international conductor with a long-term post in the Ukrainian city of Odessa. Mr. Earle returned to Princeton this past weekend to conduct his alma mater’s orchestra in a program of expansive symphonic works.

Mr. Earle programmed three works composed within twenty years of one another, and each one painted a picture of a geographic region or musical era. The selections from Edvard Grieg’s music from Peer Gynt were likely more familiar to the audience from their piano transcriptions, and effectively told a story from Norwegian folklore. This music was characterized by the playwright as reflecting “apathy,” but there was nothing apathetic about the orchestra’s performance on Friday night in Richardson Auditorium (the concert was repeated on Saturday night). Mr. Earle proved right off to be a very decisive conductor, conducting without the score but with very broad conducting strokes. In the opening excerpt, he focused on the lament, emphasizing that it was clear something had happened beforehand. Steady timpani provided by Karis Schneider kept the rhythm moving forward, aided by clean upper flutes, cellos, and double basses. The melodic “Morning Mood” tune was well played by the flute, answered by oboist Drew Mayfield, and kept instrumentally lush by Mr. Earle. Flexibility was the key in the “Hall of the Mountain King” excerpt, with the staccato passages played cleanly and with direction by the ensemble.

Erik Satie’s three Gymnopedies were also originally composed for piano, with two later orchestrated by Satie’s great friend Claude Debussy. Being Debussy, one might expect a multi-palette orchestration with many winds, but in fact, the pieces are scored for strings, one oboe and two flutes. In presenting these works, Mr. Earle kept the focus on simplicity and a gentle approach, allowing the sound to float along. Crucial to Friday night’s performance was the exemplary oboe playing of Alexa McCall against a pair of horns. The second Gymnopedie was titled “Lent et grave,” with subtle shifts in effect that were well brought out by Mr. Earle and the orchestra.

Mr. Earle brought the orchestra to full volume with Johannes Brahms’s Symphony No. 3 in F Major, a monumental work with a great deal of dynamic variety in the writing. Conducting from memory (as he did all the pieces on the program), Mr. Earle maintained an easy flow to the music (aided by very subtle and precise brass), bringing the dynamics up at the end of the movement to be solid but not overwhelming. Clarinetist Jeffrey Hodes delivered an elegant melody in the first movement, in conjunction with very smooth flute playing by the section.

The second andante movement opened with very delicate playing by Mr. Hodes and fellow clarinetist Matt Goff and bassoonists Louisa Slosar and Tiffany Huang. Wind playing excelled in this movement, especially from the four oboes and perfect unison playing between Mr. Hodes and oboist Lija Treibergs. Mr. Earle kept the melody of the third movement flowing with emphasis on the offbeat phrasing, bringing out the warmth of the movement with well-blended instrumental solos. Throughout the concert, Mr. Earle held a baton, but often put it aside to move the music more effectively with his hands. This was especially the case in the allegro fourth movement, in which he allowed the orchestra to play almost on its own.

In his 19 years with the Odessa Philharmonic Orchestra in the Ukraine, Mr. Earle has been credited with introducing the region to the great symphonies of composers the rest of the world may take for granted but which may have been unknown to the closed musical circles of Ukraine. Mr. Earle seems to be one of the unknown conducting gems in this country, and as a representative of Princeton, the University could not ask for a better musical ambassador.

December 8, 2011

“Cutest Couple” Re-Unite at 20th High School Reunion: Is There a Second Chance? Can the Universe Start Over?

The PavilionCraig Wright’s The Pavilion, currently playing at the Hamilton Murray Theater on the Princeton University campus, is a play about time. At their 20th high school reunion, Peter (Matt Seely) and Kari (Katherine Ortmeyer), who were voted “cutest couple” before she got pregnant and he left while she stayed in town and settled down, encounter each other for the first time since graduation.

Peter wants another chance. Kari, living in a loveless marriage, is still bitter and angry at Peter. “Listen,” Peter addresses the Narrator (Uchechi Kalu) of the evening’s events, “can you start the universe all over again?” F. Scott Fitzgerald’s hopelessly romantic Gatsby in the 1920s — “Can’t repeat the past? Why of course you can!” — and Thomas Wolfe’s George Webber in You Can’t Go Home Again in the 1930s and countless others in fiction and life have wrestled with the same problem. Mr. Wright, writer for several TV series including Six Feet Under and author of Recent Tragic Events, presented at Intime last year, is a seasoned hand at mixing serious and light, the cosmic and the comic.

The Pavilion is the story of the 37-year-old Peter and Kari, but through the persona of its versatile and talented narrator this bittersweet romantic comedy also populates the stage with a rich assortment of eccentric old friends and classmates, including such colorful characters as Kent, the cuckolded police chief on a mission for revenge; the pot-smoking Cookie; Pudge, who mans the profit-making 900-number suicide hotline; and the tough-talking Carla, who readily offers Kari the unsolicited advice: “You want some words to live by? Here’s two: NEVER FORGIVE.”

Though two-dimensional, in many cases caricature-like, and almost, in some cases, too weird to be true, these characters add a generous dose of humor and humanity — resonating particularly for anyone who can remember living in a small town or attending a class reunion.

Ms. Kalu, casually attired in blue jeans, with bare feet, partially unbuttoned white shirt and a conspicuous pocket watch to chart the passage of time throughout the evening, fulfills her multiple roles with skill and strikingly energetic magnetism. As she observes and interacts with the two protagonists and slides seamlessly into and out of a dozen or more characters, she effectively commands the stage. Hers is also the philosophical voice of the play as she eloquently delivers lengthy poetic and philosophic reflections on mortality, missed chances, lost opportunities, and the inevitability of sorrow and regret.

The philosophy here is most effective when most down-to-earth and concise. At times it becomes long-winded and more pretentious than poetic — Mr. Wright’s fault not Theatre Intime’s. Ms. Kalu is at her best when bringing to life the odd menagerie of Pine City, Minnesota celebrators and moving along the engaging story of Kari and Peter.

Mr. Seely’s Peter, tall, dark and disheveled, is appealing — to the audience and, despite herself, to Kari too — in his genuine remorse, and his naive determination to turn back the clock and replay their past. Mr. Seely is convincing throughout, effectively in character in delivering the moments of pain, romance, and comedy, not to mention his moving performance, as part of the reunion evening program, of a guitar ballad, “Down in the Ruined World,” with original music and lyrics by Mr. Wright.

Ms. Ortmeyer as Kari provides a strong counterpart, austere and highly sympathetic as she reveals the details of her life and her sad marriage to the local golf pro. Ms. Ortmeyer is not always as clear, focused, and convincing as her two first-rate colleagues in this production, but she succeeds in creating a memorable characterization.

Set design by Elise Rise, with lighting by Will Gilpin, adopts an appropriately minimalist approach, with only two chairs and a table stage right, an additional two benches and an oval two-level platform center stage. The simplicity here is powerful as the multi-colored lighting complements the actors’ actions and words to create apposite mood shifts throughout the evening. A string of white lights above the audience to represent starlight and a disco ball for the final dance add a captivating touch to the proceedings. The apron of the stage signifies the lake’s edge in the second of two acts, as Peter and Kari sit together to work through the painful processes of memory, regret, and moving forward.

Emma Watt, Princeton University junior, has directed this production with taste and intelligence. The action moves swiftly, the interweaving movements of Peter, Kari, and the narrator are smooth and meaningful. Comic, serious, and romantic elements of the play all receive appropriate emphasis.

The pavilion that gives its name to this play is nothing more than an old dance hall, waiting to be torn down and replaced by a sports-entertainment complex, but that pavilion, holding many memories of high school dances of the past, resembles the past itself in its fragility and ephemeral nature.

“And so we have to say yes to time,” the Narrator reminds Peter near the end of the play, “even though it means speeding forward into memory, forgetfulness, and oblivion. Say “no” to time; hold on to what you were or what she was; hold onto the past, even out of love … and I swear it will tear you to shreds. This universe will tear you to shreds.”

The Pavilion, acclaimed by one critic as ”an Our Town for our time,” does indeed share many themes and concerns with Thornton Wilder’s 1938 American classic. Small town life, simple truths, and familiar romantic material predominate in both works. Our Town may provide a richer panorama of the world it depicts, but The Pavilion benefits significantly from its condensation, with only three actors instead of twenty-three, a more trenchant edge to the humor, and the entertaining virtuosity of Mr. Wright’s narrator, who must play all those other roles by herself.