| 07 March 2010
Renée Fleming with the Russian National Orchestra at Mizner Park on Saturday night. (Photo by Sherry Ferrante)
She opened the New York Philharmonic's current season with an infrequently heard song cycle by Olivier Messiaen, and her newest album is a collection of rarities from the verismo composers of the late 19th century.
One of the best things about Renée Fleming is her fondness for fresh, interesting repertoire, and the soprano offered ample evidence of this side of her art as she opened the Festival of the Arts Boca 2010 in Mizner Park on Saturday night.
A chatty, friendly presence on stage, dressed for the first half in green and the second in a grayish silver with a black wrap ("This is my summer dress," she said to laughter from the large, slightly chilled crowd. "I'm so disappointed."), Fleming joined conductor Patrick Summers and the Russian National Orchestra at the Count de Hoernle Amphitheater for an evening of arias and songs that ranged from bel canto to classic Broadway.
Fleming was in strong voice for most of the night, with the velvety lower range that has made her singing so distinctive in full flower, and her highest notes powerful without being shrill. In her very first aria, the coloratura showstopper D'amor al dolce impero, from Rossini's 1817 opera Armida, all of Fleming's beautifully rounded instrument could be heard, bottom to top, as she nimbly negotiated the busy embellishments of its repeats.
After an impressive Casta diva, the standout aria from Bellini's Norma, Fleming moved to Tchaikovsky, presenting one of her signature pieces -- the Letter Scene from Eugene Onegin -- and something most unusual, an attractive aria (Pochudilis mne budto golosa) from The Oprichnik, an earlier (1871-4) Tchaikovsky opera.
The Onegin scene showed also that Fleming is a first-rate singing actress. She fully engages herself with the text, and in the climactic pages of this aria, with its famous descending-scale motif, Fleming sang with a straightforward purity that expertly mirrored Tatyana's painful honesty in offering her heart and her life to a man who is about to reject her.
Patrick Summers leads the Russian National Orchestra on Saturday night. (Photo by Sherry Ferrante)
That first half of Fleming's concert also featured the orchestra in the overture to Norma as well as the overture to Glinka's Ruslan and Ludmila. Both were played with intensity and drive by this big band, though perhaps with less of the precision the group demonstrated last year under its chief conductor, Mikhail Pletnev.
Fleming opened the second half with a lovely quartet of songs by Richard Strauss -- Ständchen, Freundliche Vision, Winterweihe and Zueignung -- in which she could float her voice luxuriantly above the rich orchestration, and did so. She is a fine exponent of this repertoire, and in Winterweihe, her avowed favorite of the four, she brought an added layer of warmth and earnestness to its lullaby-like melody that dipped into the bottom of her range.
A verismo package of arias by Leoncavallo, Giordano and Mascagni that followed the Strauss (and the Intermezzo from Puccini's Manon Lescaut) offered not just good singing, but revelation. Here is a body of overlooked music by Puccini's contemporaries that deserves to be heard more often, and Saturday night's audience gave them generous applause.
After beginning with a marvelously judged reading of the great farewell aria (Donde lieta usci al tuo grido) of Mimì from Act III of Puccini's La Bohème, Fleming sang two arias from Leoncavallo's treatment of the same story, which at the time was a source of bitter dispute between the two composers that destroyed their friendship. And the Leoncavallo version has much fine music, including Testa adorata, a wonderful aria for Marcello that was popular with an older generation of tenors.
Fleming sang two playful, witty arias of similar character, the better of which, Musette svaria sulla bocca viva, was a reminder in its melody and layout that Leoncavallo is also the composer of Mattinata (perhaps best-known in its pop-crooner version as You're Breaking My Heart). In this and the second aria (Mimi Pinson, la biondinetta), Fleming sang with charm and sparkle.
Giordano's death scene for Loris from Fedora (Troppo tardi! Tutto tramonta, tutto dilegua), which features a reminiscence of that opera's hit tune, Amor ti vieta, was in Fleming's hands moving and deeply affecting. Best of all was Un dì (ero piccina), from Iris, Mascagni's Japanese-themed opera of 1898. A smartly paced aria based on swiftly moving back-and-forth minor chords and a catchy modal melody, this is a most effective theatrical piece even without the stage, and Fleming made a marvelous case for it.
A lush performance of the first Hungarian Dance (in G minor) of Brahms served as a nice crossover transition to Fleming's final set, two songs by Richard Rodgers: Hello, Young Lovers, from The King and I, and You'll Never Walk Alone, from Carousel. Fleming used a handheld microphone for these plush songs, perhaps because her voice had begun to tire, and also to help make herself heard above the elaborate arrangements here, which were replete with wind solos and numerous harmonic changes from the original.
The arrangement was misguidedly busy on Hello, Young Lovers, but quite effective on You'll Never Walk Alone, with a strong trumpet motif that led the way in the middle to a massive brass statement. Fleming had plenty of stamina left for the higher reaches of You'll Never Walk Alone, and after a standing, shouting demonstration from the audience (which in any case had handed her its collective heart during the Puccini), sang two encores: I Feel Pretty and Somewhere, from Bernstein's West Side Story.
Although some of the topical rewrites of the I Feel Pretty lyrics, reflecting Fleming's receipt of the keys of the city, weren't really necessary, she sang both of these songs with the same sense of style, dedication and general excellence that distinguished this concert, and that continues to distinguish this artist's inquisitive, intelligent career choices.
The Festival of the Arts Boca 2010 continues today with two literature events. Author Noël Riley Fitch will speak at 4 p.m. in the Cultural Arts Center on the second floor Plaza Real in Mizner Park; her lecture is titled Appetite for Life: Writing the Story of Julia Child. At 7 p.m. tonight at the Count de Hoernle Amphitheater, writer David Brooks of The New York Times gives a talk on the current political outlook. Tickets: $25-$50. For tickets, call 866-571-2787; for more information, call 561-368-8445 or visit www.festivaloftheartsboca.org.
Renée Fleming speaks Saturday night to a crowd at Mizner Park. (Photo by Sherry Ferrante)
| 03 March 2010
Jazz pianist Eldar.
At the age of 23, most jazz musicians are still figuratively getting their feet wet in both their art and their lives. Which puts young pianist Eldar Djangirov at least up to his waist by comparison.
Going by only his first name since starting his recording career nine years ago, Eldar (eldarjazz.com) released Virtue, his sixth CD overall and fourth for Sony Masterworks, last August. The largely-original disc is adventurous and unpredictable; a maze of complex melodies, rhythms and harmonies that illustrate how far beyond his years this young pianist and composer is.
"I was writing this record over the course of about a year-and-a-half," Eldar says, "while soaking up as much music and practicing as much as I could. Many of the tunes started as certain experiments, and little by little, each one developed into its own form. Some expanded slowly; others fast into complete tunes. I've been on the road for the record for about six months, and the response and appreciation has been really good, especially in Europe. People seemed really into it over there, and also in New York City and on the West Coast."
In the liner notes to Virtue, Eldar calls the music "a fitting soundtrack to my life and the things I have seen and experienced while living in New York City since 2007." That soundtrack, complete with recording partners Armando Gola (bass), Ludwig Afonso (drums) and Felipe Lamoglia (saxophone), will be on display March 11 at the Count de Hoernle Amphitheater in Boca Raton's Mizner Park as part of Festival of the Arts Boca.
"I found the right core band for this record, musicians who could take what I was writing, put it in their own terms, and know what to do with the vocabulary,” he said. “I met Armando while he was playing with Arturo Sandoval, and Armando introduced me to Ludwig. We ended up playing for about 10 hours the first day we got together.
Then we did a tour where we started experimenting with some of the material that ended up on ‘Virtue.’ When we went into the studio, there was an evolution and a confidence. Everything had become more clear through being on the road beforehand."
The pianist's other festival performance is at the amphitheater on March 12 with the Russian National Orchestra. The classical guest appearance gives a clue as to where Eldar's serpentining journey to the Big Apple began, both geographically and musically. And it's a musical roadmap unlike any other.
Eldar Djangirov was born Jan. 28, 1987, in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, in the former Soviet Union. His mother Tatiana Djangirov, a local music instructor, started teaching him classical piano lessons at age 5. Eldar was playing at a Russian jazz festival by age 9, where he caught the ear of American jazz supporter Charles McWhorter, who recommended the young pianist for a summer jazz camp at the Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan.
While Eldar attended the camp at age 11, the Djangirov family settled in Kansas City, the Midwestern town where Charlie Parker -- and a great deal of jazz history -- was born.
"I spent a lot of time in both the Missouri and Kansas sides of Kansas City," says Eldar, who still speaks Russian fluently, and has only a hint of an accent when he speaks English. "They were only a few streets apart where I lived. The town was really vibrant while I was there, and there were so many older musicians that I could learn from."
It didn't take long for Eldar's open ears and promising future to be recognized by jazz royalty. He became the youngest guest ever to appear on venerable British pianist Marian McPartland's National Public Radio program Piano Jazz at age 12, and Dave Brubeck wrote a letter to immigration authorities to recommend that he be allowed to stay in the United States.
That wish was granted, and the young pianist celebrated by releasing his independent debut, Eldar, at the ripe age of 14. That same year, he won the student jazz piano competition at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival in Idaho.
"Growing up while having a recording career has been very interesting," Eldar says with a laugh. "It has its pluses and minuses, but the important thing is to keep playing and composing. I was brought up learning classical music through my mother, and it’s still a big part of my daily practice routine. You use certain parts of your brain playing classical, and others playing jazz. Oscar Peterson was the first jazz pianist I ever heard, and he had a huge impact. My father Emil, who was a doctor in mechanical engineering and traveled through the Soviet Union, collected jazz records and introduced me to Oscar. I've opened some shows for Dave Brubeck, too. I have a lot of respect for him, and I'm thankful for all of his support."
Other influences include Art Tatum, Thelonious Monk, Bill Evans, Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock. Eldar's sophomore effort, Handprints, was released in 2003, and he was signed to the Sony Classical label the following year. His 2005 major label debut, also titled Eldar, featured saxophonist Michael Brecker, bassist John Patitucci, and liner notes by iconic jazz pianist and educator Dr. Billy Taylor.
Literally and figuratively, Eldar had arrived. He'd already relocated to San Diego with his family, and had been admitted to the Brubeck Institute at the University of the Pacific in Stockton. He soon moved to Los Angeles, and was studying at the Thornton School of Music at the University of Southern California when he recorded Live at the Blue Note in 2006 with guest trumpeters Roy Hargrove and Chris Botti. The 2007 release Re-Imagination earned Eldar his first Grammy nomination for best contemporary jazz album just as he was getting his feet set in Manhattan.
"I finished high school while we lived in San Diego," he says, "and then I started studying at USC. I'm an only child, and my mother teaches for the Yamaha School of Music in California, so she wanted me to stay. She said, 'You only just graduated high school; I don't want you to leave yet.' I knew it would make her happy, so even though I wanted to move to New York, I stayed in Los Angeles to be with her for a few years."
For the last few years, Eldar has lived in the jazz epicenter.
"I'm close to Columbia University, so places stay open late and there's always something going on," he says. "The city itself provides so much inspiration."
With the release of Virtue, Eldar may have sealed his role in future jazz history.
Saxophonist Joshua Redman guests on its opening track, Exposition, on which Eldar, Gola and Afonso play frenetically in shifting time signatures too complex to easily distinguish.
Trumpeter Nicholas Payton forms a horn section with Lamoglia on Blackjack, a number in standard 4/4 time that the pianist and rhythm section make sound like anything but. Of the piano trio numbers, Blues Sketch in Clave shows Eldar's Latin jazz vocabulary, and the quieter Lullaby Fantazia skates between 4/4 and 5/4 time and features a memorable, haunting melody.
The disc's depth, complexity, wide range of influences, and synchronicity between the piano, drums and electric bass is akin to late-1970s Weather Report (Eldar also adds occasional, Joe Zawinul-influenced electric keyboards). And like many of that supergroup's best studio efforts, Virtue has the expression, energy, spontaneity and fire of a live album -- but with the immaculate instrumental sounds of a controlled environment. In this case, that was Avatar Studios in New York City.
"That's exactly the kind of feel we were shooting for," Eldar says.
Ten years ago, Eldar was playing on National Public Radio with McPartland, one of only a handful of living jazz greats who appeared in Art Kane's famous 1958 photo, A Great Day in Harlem. Many prodigies might have burnt out or sold out during the 10 years following such an appearance, but Eldar shows why he's avoided such pitfalls by stating where he wants to be in another decade's time. With one foot in tradition, and the other placed forward to create transition, he may be assembling a jazz standard for tomorrow.
"When people tell a young kid that they're the greatest thing since sliced bread, they can naturally stop moving forward," he says. "But if you realize that you need to constantly do just that, you've made a conscious effort to dedicate yourself to the art. I definitely just want to stay on an upward slope. Which means keeping motivated and clean, getting better, and keeping my vision over the horizon, even though we can't know what'll be there.
“It would've been hard to predict the changes that have happened in the music industry over the past 10 years. You just have to keep progressing, because that's the only thing you know you can control. The dedication, and improvement, should give you self-satisfaction."
Bill Meredith is a freelance writer based in South Florida who has written extensively on jazz and popular music.
Eldar performs during the Festival of the Arts Boca with his quartet at 7 p.m. March 11, and guests with the Russian National Orchestra (with pianist Conrad Tao and conductor Constantine Kitsopoulos) at 7 p.m. Friday, March 12, at the Count de Hoernle Amphitheater in Mizner Park, Boca Raton (866-571-2787).
An Eldar discography
Virtue (Sony Masterworks). Tracks include Blues Sketch in Clave, Lullaby Fantazia, Vanilla Sky. Released 2009.
Re-Imagination (Sony Masterworks). Tracks include Interludes 1 and 2, Out of Nowhere, Blackbird. Released 2007.
Eldar: Live at the Blue Note (Sony Masterworks). Tracks include What Is This Thing Called Love, Straight, No Chaser (with Roy Hargrove), Sincerely. Released 2006.
Eldar (Sony Masterworks). Tracks include Sweet Georgia Brown, 'Round Midnight, Nature Boy. Released 2005.
| 02 March 2010
Mezzo-soprano Kelley O'Connor.
Kelley O'Connor would like to spend some time pursuing her passion for cooking in the house she just bought in her hometown of Fresno, Calif.
But for the time being, the world of contemporary classical music has plenty for her to do.
Most notably, O'Connor is currently championing the Neruda Songs, a five-song cycle written by the American composer Peter Lieberson for his wife, the celebrated mezzo Lorraine Hunt Lieberson, who died at 52 in 2006 of breast cancer.
The songs have become a special document of creativity and love, and they draw on a similarly inspired document, the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda's Cien Sonetos de Amor, written for Neruda's third wife, Matilde.
"I find that if I really invest in them, and in their message, people have a really great response to it," said O'Connor, 29. "It's not just because of Lorraine and Peter, and their story. The songs are timeless and beautiful, and I've gotten lucky enough to sing them."
O'Connor, a mezzo-soprano, said the songs are about mature love, and that gives them a special kind of depth. Still, it was daunting to be picking up the mantle of the pieces, which were associated with Lorraine Lieberson, and which she recorded not long before her death with James Levine and the Boston Symphony.
"I was a little worried about it," O'Connor said of meeting the composer. "I did have to prove myself to him. But after I sang them in Chicago, he told me, 'They're yours,' and stopped coming to performances."
O'Connor has appeared several times in South Florida, twice with the Cleveland Orchestra in Miami for the Bernstein Symphony No. 1 (Jeremiah) and the Beethoven Ninth, which was later recorded. She also sang the Ninth last season under Itzhak Perlman at the Festival of the Arts Boca, and she'll return to that festival March 10 to sing Prokofiev's Alexander Nevsky, which will be performed as a backdrop to the 1938 film by Sergei Eisenstein.
It's the first time she's sung the Prokofiev score, and while the music suits her dark voice, the language is proving a challenge.
"The sound is a very Eastern European sound, and it fits my voice. But Russian is very difficult to sing," O'Connor said, noting that she will be singing with the Russian National Orchestra, "and that they might know what I'm saying."
The RNO will be led by Constantine Kitsopoulos, and the choral parts will be sung by Miami's Seraphic Fire.
O'Connor said she has fond memories of singing with Perlman at the Boca festival, which is sponsored by her management company, IMG.
"I had a great time. I always love the Beethoven Ninth," she said, which she has recorded with the Cleveland. "And to sing it with Itzhak: he's such a legend in our world. Just to even meet him was a special thing."
Growing up in central California, O'Connor first sang in school choirs and community theater, but it was during choir work at the University of Southern California that she developed the skill that would help her become a sought-after artist in new music.
"I did voice there, but it was in choir where I really developed my ear," she said. "That really helps me with contemporary music. I wouldn't be able to read this music without it."
A key break for O'Connor came when she was asked to sing the trouser role of the martyred Spanish poet Federico García Lorca in Ainadamar, an opera by the contemporary Argentine composer Osvaldo Golijov.
O'Connor said the experience singing and then recording the opera was a life-changer for her, especially because of the changes demanded by director Peter Sellars, which required Golijov to compose new music, some of which O'Connor had to learn in a very short time.
"I really love being able to create on the spot. It's much more liberating as an artist to work with a living composer, to have things written for you, for your voice," she said.
O'Connor sang in the original Tanglewood production in 2003, in the revised version for the Santa Fe Opera in 2005, and on the subsequent recording of the opera, which won two Grammy Awards for 2006: best opera recording and best classical contemporary composition.
But O'Connor more often appears at orchestra concerts, not on stage, and she said she has her Ainadamar co-star, soprano Dawn Upshaw, to thank. It was Upshaw who has created a modern model for singers as contemporary music advocates rather than opera divas.
"Dawn Upshaw was a pioneer in doing this, and now it's not frowned upon," O'Connor said. "My road has gone this separate way, and now it's OK."
In December, O'Connor will sing Hippolyta in the Chicago Lyric Opera production of Britten's A Midsummer Night's Dream, but the rest of the year takes her to much of Europe and North America for performances of the Neruda Songs in Edinburgh, Seattle, Los Angeles, and Canton, Ohio; Beethoven Ninths in Budapest, Athens, Chicago, New York and Oklahoma City; a Mahler Third in Milwaukee and a Mahler Eighth in Nashville; and a St. John Passion in Calgary.
O'Connor would like to do some more Mahler, in particular the Kindertotenlieder and the Rückert Lieder, but she's also open to the idea of doing some jazz.
"You know, I love singing in Spanish," said O'Connor, who can sing the E below middle C comfortably. "But I'm also Portuguese. I'd like to find someone to set some songs in Portuguese: it's such a beautiful language, and it would be great to do."
In her free time, she'll be looking forward to hosting dinners for her fellow musicians at her new house in Fresno.
"My mom's ready for me to get out of her kitchen," she said. "I can't wait to have singers over. We love food and socializing. It's a great luxury, and now I have my own place."
Kelley O'Connor will appear Wednesday, March 10, with the Russian National Orchestra at the Festival of the Arts Boca, in a performance of Sergei Prokofiev's score for Alexander Nevsky, directed by Sergei Eisenstein. The film will be shown on a giant screen during the performance. O'Connor will be accompanied by the Seraphic Fire concert choir; Constantine Kitsopoulos conducts. Also on the program will be La Belle Dame Sans Merci, a new piece by the philanthropist and composer Gordon Getty. 7 p.m., Count de Hoernle Amphiteater, Mizner Park, Boca Raton. Tickets: $25-$150. Call 866-571-2787 or www.festivaloftheartsboca.org.
A Kelley O'Connor discography
Beethoven: Symphony No. 9 in D minor, Op. 125 (Deutsche Grammophon 477 7132-6). With soprano Measha Brueggergosman, tenor Frank Lopardo and bass René Pape. Cleveland Orchestra/chorus, directed by Franz Welser-Möst.
Golijov: Ainadamar. (Deutsche Grammophon 477 7165-5) With Dawn Upshaw, Jessica Rivera and Jesus Montoya. Atlanta Symphony Orchestra/chorus, directed by Robert Spano. (Click here for sound samples.)
| 01 March 2010
Bass-baritone Daniel Okulitch.
Like it or not, the cutting edge of European set and stage design came hurtling into Palm Beach Opera for its production of Mozart’s Don Giovanni.
Stefano Poda’s creation arrived simultaneously with a cold blast of fresh air. It is visually stimulating and wholly original. The company took a chance on hiring this gifted young Italian director, 39, whose splendid costumes dazzled the eye, whose brilliant lighting caught every mood, and whose cavernous set puzzled and challenged the mind at every turn with its many topsy-turvy drop scenes.
In what his program notes call his "search for aesthetic and operatic unity," Poda -- who also handled the choreography and direction -- has indeed placed his imprint on this production.
The risk involved is enormous, because it seems calculated to satisfy one man’s controlling, self-centered vision. And as a consequence of taking on all these operatic disciplines, something inevitably suffers or is diminished. In Saturday’s performance, it was the projection of the voices and the awkwardly slow pace of Mozart’s dramma giocoso. In opera, as in a lot of enterprises, four heads are better than one.
The singers were excellent, all of them on top form and in good voice, but in Poda’s vast open space they had nothing off which to "bounce" their vocal talents. The set -- three enormous walls, white, white , white, one each side of the stage and one at the back -- had 11 doorways and nowhere to hide. Librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte’s text continually has characters seeking hiding places. After all , this is about a womanizing libertine and his intrigues in small-town Venice (where Poda has moved the action from Spain).
Instead, characters stand exposed, center stage, leaving the audience to imagine they’ve hidden. Engaging the audience in thinking is one thing, but that's hard to do with a bare stage and vast open spaces; filling them with slow-moving ghostlike supernumeraries and six footmen holding silver candelabras does not cut it.
Cecilia Dougherty as the Lady in White.
Another filler, the Lady in White, was dreamily performed by Cecilia Dougherty. Palm Beach Opera audiences are not ready for this "heady" sort of treatment, brilliantly innovative though it is. With more rehearsal time and a couple of tweaks, Poda’s vision could have been greatly improved.
As Don Giovanni, Canadian baritone Daniel Okulitch was outstanding. His lovely high baritone was smooth and supple. Italian bass Luca Tittoto was his clever witted servant, Leporello. His flexible bass sounded exceptional and his acting in the part was just right.
Soprano Alexandra Deshorties.
The lovely French-Canadian soprano Alexandra Deshorties gave a nicely sustained performance as Donna Anna. Her voice was at times thrilling and beautiful, avoiding the shrill overtones so often adopted by women who sing this tragic role. Her lover, Don Ottavio, sung by Italian lyric tenor Francesco Marsiglia, was superb, delivering his two arias with a quality and beauty rarely heard in this role.
Mezzo-soprano Michele Losier.
French-Canadian mezzo-soprano Michèle Losier had the thankless task of being the jilted paramour of Don Giovanni, who warns others of his treachery. Losier sang well and acted Donna Elvira convincingly. Soprano Irene Roberts, a Palm Beach Opera Young Artist, was delightful as Zerlina, unsuccessfully seduced by the Don. Her Batti, batti aria was sweetly sung to her betrothed, Masetto, bass Bradley Smoak, also a Young Artist, who acted the jealous innocent and sang well.
Singing the Commendatore was American bass Peter Volpe, and what a great voice he has. Volpe thrilled the audience as he sang "the good conscience" of Don Giovanni from the orchestra stalls. It was an effective piece of direction by Poda, but would have meant more had the two men gone at it on stage, which was Mozart’s own vision. Unfortunately, the Don’s voice was marred by a thick scrim, as he sang his replies to the Commendatore from the back of the stage as he goes down to Hell.
Superlatives abound for the Palm Beach Opera Orchestra playing in the pit under the inspired artistic director, Bruno Aprea, who discovered Poda in Italy last year. Mozart’s music sounded heavenly in their sensitive handling of the score. And compliments also go to Bruce Stasyna for some fine harpsichord accompaniments.
What remains in the mind from this production is Poda’s brave attempt at unified artistry, his magnificent costumes, and the beautiful singing. Look out, Milan!
Rex Hearn has covered opera in South Florida since 1995.
The final performance of Palm Beach Opera's Don Giovanni, featuring Daniel Okulitch, Alexandra Deshorties and Michèle Losier, begins at 2 p.m. today at the Kravis Center. Tickets: $23-$175; call 561-833-7888 (PB Opera) or the Kravis Center (832-7469), or visit www.pbopera.org or www.kravis.org.
| 28 February 2010
Margrave Christian Ludwig of Brandenburg (1677-1734), dedicatee of Bach's Brandenburg Concertos.
On the one hand, it's no mystery why the Brandenburg Concertos of J.S. Bach should be so rarely played in local concerts.
Engaging as they are, canonical and popular as they unquestionably are, they are also very difficult. And in some ways, that only deepens the mystery: If you're an ambitious instrumental musician or conductor, why not spend some time learning or programming this music?
Whatever the reason, area audiences are indeed fortunate in the fact of the Firebird Chamber Orchestra, the instrumental ensemble wing of the Seraphic Fire choral organization. This weekend, the Miami-based group launched a three-year project that will see it traverse the entire six-concerto Brandenburg cycle, and the results so far are nothing short of magnificent.
On Saturday night at All Saints Episcopal in Fort Lauderdale, Patrick Dupré Quigley led the Firebird in all-Bach evening of the Brandenburg Nos. 3 and 5, as well as the Orchestral Suite No. 2 and the Cantata No. 84, Ich bin vergnügnt mit meinem Glücke. It was a wonderful 75 minutes of peerless music, peerlessly played and sung, and a real tonic for the average concertgoer, who can hear plenty of smaller Bach works most seasons but so rarely gets to hear these larger pieces.
Flutist Ebonee Thomas.
For Brandenburg No. 3, Quigley had a 10-person ensemble, with his violins and violas standing up, and that might as well have been an announcement to everyone that this was going to be about energy and engagement. This familiar music was beautifully and expertly performed, with a marvelous lightness and vigor that imbued every bar and that surely spoke of the fun the musicians were having performing it.
The first movement of the concerto was taken at a good, brisk tempo, there were strong, dancelike accents as the music chugged forward, and in addition to the near-faultless accuracy, there were deft dynamic touches such as a diminuendo on the main theme of the first movement as it headed for the last part of its downward scale. Harpsichordist Kola Owolabi ad-libbed an appropriate eight bars or so for the missing slow movement, and the closing movement then raced along at a terrific clip, with an absolutely palpable sense of joy in music-making.
All of the instruments could be clearly heard, which helped the audience appreciate the skill of each player. Concertmaster Adda Kridler stood out here, with a kinetic, dazzling performance of her part, which at times approaches a solo violin concerto.
The Fifth Brandenburg Concerto was no less brilliant, with Owolabi, Kridler and flutist Ebonee Thomas making stellar contributions. Thomas has a large, polished sound with a true singing quality, and Kridler's dark tone is married to a laudable precision that adds a definitive feel to everything she plays. Owolabi handled the whirling, spinning, bravura solo part of the first movement most capably, with a couple tiny gaps that sounded as though they were caused by the harpsichord's mechanism.
Soprano Kathryn Mueller.
The three played the trio sonata second movement with a lovely seriousness that further showcased their individual excellence, and in the final movement, the tempo again was swift, and the feeling athletic, even amid music of quite a different character than the close of the Third Concerto. Both Brandenburgs were played with the kind of youthfulness and power that perfectly suited concertos written to impress and entertain, and if this kind of performance is what we can expect from the future Firebird Brandenburgs, the next two installments will be required concertgoing for South Florida classical fans.
The other two Bach pieces on the program were equally accomplished. The Cantata No. 84 featured the soprano Kathryn Mueller singing a text of simple thanks (its title translates as I am content in my good fortune). Mueller has a full, strong voice that was able to handle the leaps of both the cantata's arias -- the title aria spans a tenth in a very short time -- with smooth shifting from low to high. She sings with fine diction and sonic purity, characteristics even more in evidence in the second aria, Ich esse mit Freuden mein weniges Brot (I eat my humble bread with joy).
Because the final chorale had to be sung as a solo, it added still further to the overall feeling of piety and simplicity. Oboist Rick Bashore was the fine instrumental soloist who joined the Firebird for the cantata, contributing a nice round sound that blended well with Mueller's voice.
The concert closed with the Orchestral Suite No. 2 (in B minor, BWV 1067), featuring flutist Thomas. This performance had a broader approach, with slower tempos and fully fleshed melodies, even though it began with a rather quick pace for the Overture. Thomas played excellently throughout, and of course was the star of the show during the final Badinerie, which blazed along like a speed trial.
To hear this great music played so well, and so freshly and energetically, was an unalloyed delight, and long overdue for area audiences. It reminded me of the orchestral player interviewed at the end of John Eliot Gardiner's Bach cantata pilgrimage of 1999, who said she and the other players were wondering why they just couldn't keep on going, just keep playing Bach day after day.
Here's hoping one day the Firebird and Seraphic Fire join forces for a local version of the Bach cantata pilgrimage. Saturday night's performance showed they could do it, and that would be a gift for South Florida classical music like no other.
