PHILHARMONIA BAROQUE ORCHESTRA at ALICE TULLY HALL

Anthony Ross Costanzo and Anne Sofie von Otter onstage at Alice Tully Hall

The Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra presented an unusual program last night that offered delights, both expected and unexpected. Let us begin with the expected delights. Hearing countertenor Anthony Ross Costanzo singing Händel was the main reason we decided to review this evening and he did not disappoint.

Mr. Costanzo's selections served to show off the many special qualities of his instrument and the artistry with which he employs it. In "Inumano fratel ... Stille amare" from Händel's Tolomeo, he began as a victim complaining about how he has suffered at the hands of Fate. When he sang of his beloved, his color warmed and softened, and toward the end, as the poison (actually just a sleeping potion) took effect one could hear the grief and acceptance creep into his voice, accompanied by sobbing strings. We were also impressed by his strength at the lower end of the register.

For vocal fireworks we had to wait for "Vivi tiranno!" from Rodelinda, in which the wild flights of melismatic singing were employed to express Bertando's passion. (Apparently, the aria had the desired effect on Grimoaldo who relents and restores Bertando to the throne.) It was a landmark performance, doing credit to this artist whom we have thrilled to since his student days.

Mezzo-Soprano Anne Sofie von Otter is known to us mainly in her role as Octavian in Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier, one of our favorite operas. We were very much looking forward to hearing her last night and for the most part we enjoyed her performance but we were disappointed in her use of the loathed music stand. We can understand its use in modern works and in ensemble singing but not for the Händel arias.

We admit that her dramatic skills almost overcame the handicap but it did interfere with her connection with the audience, giving us the chance to focus on the superb oboe solo of Marc Schachman in "Will the sun forget to streak" from Handel's Solomon. (If Handel decided to use an English libretto, we can decide to omit the diacritical marks, LOL.)

We enjoyed "Iris, hence away"--Juno's aria of revenge upon the unfortunate title character of Semele. Ms. von Otter invested the performance with plenty of drama in the florid melismatic passages and brought the aria to a powerful ending. 

The two singers sang a charming love duet from Solomon, one with intertwining vocal lines and a playful aspect. Speaking of playful, there was a lagniappe not on the program which both tickled us and also made us a bit uncomfortable.  Let us explain. Ms. von Otter is a head taller than the diminutive Mr. Costanzo. In the duet "My dearest, my fairest" from Purcell's . Pausanias, the pair played it for laughs in a way that might have diminished Mr. Costanzo were he not so secure. It just reminded us of how awkward we have felt on dates with men who were "vertically challenged", as they say.

Readers will be happy to know that we kept an open mind to the contemporary music on the program and were rewarded by aural pleasures.  Arvo Pärt's Summa was composed in 1977 and revised in 1991 for this combination of voices and string orchestra. Thankfully, it was tonal and not terribly challenging. There was a repetitive motif running through the short work. 

Our two vocal artists were well matched by a solo violin and viola in Pärt's  1984 "Es sang vor langen Jahren", which opened with a lovely string tremolo. The text was by Romantic poet Clemens Brentano.

We also liked two related pieces by Caroline Shaw which confirmed our opinion that singers excel in writing for the voice. We heard the world premiere of "And So" which was related to a work from three years ago called "Red, Red Rose" with a text by Robert Burns--a text which scanned and rhymed--two qualities which we feel tend to inspire melodic music. 

Ms. von Otter limned the pretty little turns in the vocal line and floated some exquisite high notes. The Burns work had the quality of a folk song with repeated verses.

We have yet to mention the instrumental pieces on the program, which opened with the Overture to Partenope by Händel. Maestro Nicolas McGegan has a modest appearance on the podium, without theatrics, but pulled together a consistently excellent performance from his mostly string orchestra which also includes a pair of Baroque oboes, a bassoon, a theorbo, and a harpsichord. During the Shaw we were sure we heard a celeste but could not see one!

The major instrumental work on the program was Händel's Concerto Grosso in B-flat major, of which we preferred the graceful Minuet and the spirited Gavotte.

The program closed with a Suite from Purcell's The Fairy Queen in which the theorbist occasionally swapped his theorbo for a Baroque guitar.

What an interesting concept it was to combine Baroque music and Modern music on the same program--all played by a Baroque ensemble!

(c) meche kroop

COME TO THE CRYPT

Joshua Roman, Gregg Kallor, and Elizabeth Pojanowski (photo by Andrew Ousley)

What better place to experience The Tell-Tale Heart, Edgar Allen Poe's 1843 short story, than the spooky crypt of a church?  What better time than Halloween? We are deep underground at the Church of the Intercession in Harlem to experience a landmark collaboration between On Site Opera and Crypt Sessions. We are not here for a reading but for the premiere of a new dramatic cantata composed by pianist/recording artist/composer Gregg Kallor.

Both collaborating companies have found their niche in the wild west landscape of 21st century music performance. On Site Opera produces operas in site-specific locations and has been reviewed by us many times. Crypt Sessions produces a series of compelling works, all in the crypt of the church.  They are new to us.

There were two curtain-raisers that gave us a flavor of Mr. Kallor's writing style. The first short solo entitled "Where You Are" pleased us with it's ear-tickling melding of classical and jazz styles.

The second piece, entitled "Undercurrent", (premiered recently at SubCulture) was a three movement "sonata" for piano and cello which couldn't have been more different than the Debussy piece we heard two days ago at Music Talks. It seemed to be a dialogue between the percussive piano and the lyrical lines of the cello, beautifully played by Joshua Roman. The dialogue often seemed at cross purposes except for the lyrical central movement; we seem to always prefer the Adagio in any piece!  

The centerpiece of the evening was the premiere of Mr. Kallor's The Tell-Tale Heart. The two musicians were joined by mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Pojanowski who performed the story with fine English diction and dramatic intensity. We were amazed that this difficult work with its strange vocal lines had been committed to memory and we appreciate the effort. A music stand would have destroyed the carefully crafted illusion of madness created by Ms. Pojanowski.

The narrator of the story is a madman, a psychopathic murderer who tries to convince us of his sanity. Our diagnosis is paranoid schizophrenia due to the presence of delusions about the victim's eye and auditory hallucinations!  The narrator gives himself away, thinking that the police can hear the beating of the corpse's heart from under the floorboards but readers can assume it is his guilt producing the hallucination.

The performance was directed by Sarah Meyers with spooky lighting designed by Shawn Kaufman.

Having been thoroughly creeped out, it was quite a relief to hear the soothing Spiegel im Spiegel by Arvo Pärt. We loved the part in which the piano played repetitive arpeggios in second inversion with the cello providing lyrical passages of ascending and descending scale passages. The overall effect was a peaceful meditative one that calmed down our rapid heartbeat.  And we lived to tell the tale!

(c) meche kroop

DID YOU FALL FOR DANCE?

The Black Swan Pas de Deux

We "Fall for Dance" every year, joining hordes of New Yorkers willing to wait in line for $15 tickets to see diverse dance companies strut their stuff, aiming to win the hearts and minds of people who may not have otherwise been exposed to dance performance.  Although there is an attempt to demonstrate this diversity, there is very little nourishment for those of us whose affection lies with classical ballet.  We have not succeeded in appreciating companies that produce works that look embarrassingly dated nor companies that knock themselves out trying to be original, nor companies that appear to be everyday people wearing unbecoming street attire showing us what their aerobic classes at the health club look like.  We are alone in our state of disinterest.  The audience appears to go wild with whoops, hoots and wild applause no matter who is dancing.

Interestingly, it is the drag ballet company Les Ballets Trockadero de Monte Carlo who demonstrated the most respect and reverence for the dedication, artistry and hard work mastering classical technique.  Their campy sendups of our classical treasures manage to delight the uninitiated with their humor and simultaneously impress us balletomanes with their stunning technique.  Their Black Swan Pas de Deux was the highlight of the week.

American Ballet Theater performed José Limon's "Moors Pavane" with Julie Kent and Stella Abrera looking marvelous.  But with so little classical ballet on the five programs, we had hoped they would have chosen to demonstrate something from the classical canon. demonstrating the glories of point work... like The Black Swan Pas de Deux for example.  Perhaps they didn't want to be outshone by the "ladies" of The Trocs!

More was hoped for also from the Royal Ballet.  Two beautiful dancers with beautiful bodies performed some beautiful moves in a piece commissioned for the festival.  They were on point.  As an added benefit, they performed to live music by Arvo Part, although the cello playing was a bit unfortunate.  The sad part was that Liam Scarlett's choreography was devoid of meaning and feeling.

As for the rest of the programs, there was a lot of sound and fury without significance.  Unmusical music, uninspired gyrating, lots of herky-jerky-twerky motion, rolling around on the floor, ersatz copulation, meaningless rushing to and fro.  Long on energy, short on artistry.  Lest you conclude that we just hate modern dance, stand by for our review of Lars Lubovich later this month.  Now there's a choreographer who knows what to do with dancers!

© meche kroop