THE MERCHANT OF VENICE AND HIS SONGS

Nicholas Tamagna, Jessica Gould, Christopher Morrongiello, Gabriel Sloyer, Kate Grimes, Ayo Haynes, Ezra Knight, and David Arrow

It has been four centuries since the death of William Shakespeare and his work is still providing ample fuel for classes in English literature and playwriting as well as fodder for theaters worldwide.

Leave it to Salon/Sanctuary Concerts to come up with a highly unusual evening that was both entertaining and illuminating. The Floor of Heaven--Scenes from a Merchant and Songs of his Venice was a unique entertainment interspersing scenes from The Bard's controversial play The Merchant of Venice with music from that period.

Erica Gould adapted the script and directed the piece along with Deborah Houston who also devised the period appropriate costuming.  Soprano Jessica Gould lent her lovely voice to the music and also did the musical research, along with lutenist Christopher Morrongiello. There is a big difference between art produced by a "committee" and art produced by synergy. This work belonged to the latter category.

Although knowing the play in advance would have given one an edge, the synopsis in the program was sufficient to appreciate the work. Five actors doubled in about twice as many roles. Every word uttered came directly from Shakespeare.

In the role of Bassanio, Gabriel Sloyer stood out by virtue of his somewhat contemporary acting style which did not in any way interfere with the Elizabethan dialogue but made the action clear.

Kate Grimes made a wonderfully believable Portia, especially when she appeared in the courtroom as the wise doctor who solves an insoluble problem. We love the fact that Shakespeare wrote a female character with both strength and softness.

Ezra Knight was magnificently compelling as the moneylender Shylock. We are not color blind and the fact that Shylock and his daughter Jessica were both cast with Afro-American actors added greatly to our insight into Shakespeare's treatment of "the outsider". We left deep in thought about the way our society treats "the other", making this work particularly relevant at this time.

As his guilt ridden daughter Jessica who can no longer get joy from music, Ayo Haynes turned in a fine performance. Her love for the Christian Lorenzo gave us plenty to think about what it means to live in a society less liberal than our own.

David Arrow portrayed the wealthy merchant Antonio, so kind and loving to his friends but so scornful toward "the Jew". We gave thought to how otherwise fine people can be corrupted by societal values.

Our only criticism of the evening was that the actors were "on the book", somewhat impairing the dramatic impact.

The music we heard did not come from the play but was written in that epoch. Selections were chosen to amplify the spoken word.  Christopher Morrongiello has a soft touch on the lute that was unusually pleasing to our ear (if not to Shylock's guilty daughter)!

We do so love duets! Although most people who enjoy "Pur ti miro, pur ti godo" believe it was written by Monteverdi, Ms. Gould's scholarship tells us this is not the case. Monteverdi's death left his final opera L'Incoronazione di Poppea unfinished and this gorgeous duet from that opera was written by one Benedetto Ferrari, who probably lifted it from one of his own operas, Il pastor regio.  Whoever wrote it, we loved it and were saddened to learn that none of Ferrari's operas have survived.

Another delightful duet was Thomas Campion's "Come cheerful day". Ms. Gould's soprano harmonized beautifully with the countertenor of Nicholas Tamagna.

Our favorite aria was "Ohime, se tanto amate" written by Salomone Rossi, a Jewish composer of that period whose excellent music delighted both Christian and Jew in 17th c. Venice. We have heard his music before at Salon/Sanctuary Concerts and have always enjoyed it.

We have been slowly learning about Early Music and tonight we focused on the use of the dissonant interval of a second. It took a while to take that in but now we love it.

There was one curiosity on the program--there was an Ashkenazi Hebrew chant from 16th c. Venice entitled "Ma'oz Tsur" which Ms. Gould performed with an Italian accent.  Hmmm.  We hope it was an authentic Venetian accent and, if we know Ms. Gould, it probably was!

(c) meche kroop

EPISTOLARY EROTICISM

Tony Boutté, Jessica Gould, Melissa Errico and Jonathan Cake

Once again, Salon/Sanctuary Concerts has presented a compelling site-specific work that we were happy to see for the second time and would be happy to see again next year.  The sisters Gould have created this absorbing production--"More Between Heaven and Earth"--from the letters exchanged between two important figures of the 18th c. including music of that period performed by members of the Salon/Sanctuary Chamber Orchestra.

Thomas Jefferson's philosophy has always held an appeal for us and it was fascinating to find out a little bit about his private life.  Following his wife's death he was sent to Paris as the United States' Minister to France.  There he met and fell madly in love with the young, beautiful and talented Maria Cosway who was unfortunately in a loveless marriage with a man who repressed her artistic self-expression. Notwithstanding, she managed to write music, paint, play the harp and fortepiano, and eventually to found a school in Italy.

The romance was carried on by letters, often delivered with long delays after being subject to interception.  The prose is elegant and subtle; obviously the two of them missed each other, held one another in very high regard and nourished each other not only with words but with music--music which they had heard together in their initial 6 weeks acquaintanceship in Paris (during which they were never alone) and music which Ms. Cosway composed for Jefferson and sent to him.

But she lived in London and he lived in Paris.  At one point she visited Paris without her husband but somehow the two didn't manage to see each other alone until her last night there.  Whether they were kept apart by social obligations or their pride, each hoping for the other to make the first move, we will never know. We do hope that they consummated their love! 

Due to the Revolution in 1789, Jefferson was obliged to return to the United States and Cosway returned to Italy, the country of her birth.  Jefferson became Secretary of State and never returned to Europe.  In 1801 he became President, never to see Cosway again. After a 14 year silence, the couple renewed their correspondence until Jefferson's death in 1826.  Quite a relationship!

This fascinating tale was told in a script constructed by Erica Gould from the letters and writings of the two lovers.  Jessica Gould was responsible for the concept and the curation of the music which she sang along with tenor Tony Boutté.  Antonio Sacchini's opera Dardanus provided both instrumental excerpts and some passionate arias, with further musical contributions from Jacques Duphly played by Elliot Figg on the harpsichord and from Archangelo Corelli, played on the violin by Tatiana Daubek.

Famed actress Melissa Ericco was completely convincing as Cosway and also sang quite beautifully a sad lament of longing "Ogni dolce aura" which Cosway composed expressly for Jefferson. Royal Shakespeare Company actor Jonathan Cake cut a fine figure as Jefferson. Each narrated and read from the letters with additional narration provided by Christen Clifford.

Sumptuous costumes by Deborah Wright Houston and the setting in the Revolutionary period Fraunces Tavern compounded the illusion that we were visiting the 18th c.  If we could go back in time, we would have wanted to devise a way for this couple to have gotten together more!

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EXODUS!

Reg E. Cathey (photo by Stephen de las Heras)

Here in 21st c. America we do not think very often about slavery and rarely talk about it.  But if you attended Salon/ Sanctuary Concerts on Saturday you would probably still be thinking about it.  We surely are!  The title of the compelling event was "Exodus-- Dreams of the Promised Land in Antebellum America".  It was reprised from last year and presented in the historical Fraunces Tavern, a building dating back to the American Revolution, the oldest surviving building in New York.

Jessica Gould, Founder and Artistic Director, conceived the program and her sister Erica Gould constructed the script  from several sources--curated  writings of former slaves who were interviewed during the Great Depression for the Federal Writer's Project of the WPA; the writings and speeches of abolitionists; and wisely interpolated passages from the Haggadah which is a Jewish text read during Passover telling of the liberation of the Hebrew people from slavery in Egypt.

The texts were read by the impressively thunder-voiced actor Reg E. Cathey,  Rosalyn Coleman Williams and Jennifer Rau.  So many sad stories were read that it was difficult to stay dry-eyed.  Several thoughts stick in our mind--that Lincoln was compared to Moses since neither of them lived to see the fruits of their efforts; that there was a slave pen in the shadows of our nation's Capitol as described by Solomon Northrup, a free man who was kidnapped, drugged and sold into slavery right there in D.C.  Significantly, his book Twelve Years a Slave was recently dramatized on film.

It further sticks in our mind that women, at that time, were not permitted to vote and could only petition the government or try (gently) to persuade their husbands.  Listening to accounts of enslaved children being beaten was particularly painful.  We were thinking of the Law of Unintended Consequences and how many of our social problems today are the rotten fruits of slavery from a century and a half earlier, with disruption of families being a most direct one.

This feast for the intellect also included a generous helping of music from the period between 1780 and and the mid 19th c. performed a cappella by The Western Wind.  Until 1810, there was a singing school movement in New England which was established to improve the quality of congregational singing.  People got together as they do today in community choruses; these were social events at which men and women could mingle freely without chaperones. We got to hear a number of songs composed for these schools.

We especially enjoyed the humorous song "Complainer" sung by a trio of male singers who harmonized so beautifully--tenors Todd Frizzell and David Vanderwal and baritone Elliot Z. Levine.  The Western Wind also includes two sopranos--Linda Lee Jones and Michele Kennedy and counter-tenor William Zukof who also contributed some excellent program notes about the music.

After 1810 this movement spread to the frontiers. Another song that delighted us from that period was "The Marching Song of the First Arkansas" with clever lyrics set to the tune of "Glory Glory Hallelujah".  This song paid tribute to the African-American soldiers who fought for the Union and saved Washington.  Now how many people know that!

We noted that the first piece of music published in North America by a woman was "The Promised Land" by Matilda T. Durham in a widely circulated songbook  The Southern Harmony which is still in use in Kentucky! 

This song closed the program.  Our thoughts as we left this stimulating event were that this land we live in is the "promised land", not some place in the hereafter--and the sacrifices of our forebears have made it so.  But we also acknowledge that slavery exists in other lands and hope that members of the audience will be moved to support efforts to bring that sad feature of the human condition to a speedy end.  Three cheers for freedom!

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JEFFERSON IN LOVE

Melissa Errico & Campbell Scott

Jessica Gould & Tony Boutté

Photos by Stephen de las Heras






How thrilling it was to occupy the same space occupied by our third president Thomas Jefferson--to hear the story of his lengthy epistolary romance with Maria Cosway, to hear music she wrote for him, to learn about the private life of this great man of The Enlightenment.  In a site-specific work taking place in a room at Fraunces Tavern in Lower Manhattan, Salon Sanctuary Concerts presented "More Between Heaven and Earth", an interdisciplinary performance conceived and curated by Jessica Gould, with script and direction by Erica Gould.  The authentic costumes and wigs were by Deborah Wright Houston.

The time straddled the turn of the 19th c.  and the events took place in Paris and London.  Jefferson and Cosway, a multiply gifted married woman, met in 1786 in Paris and carried on a correspondence for the next four decades, with a brief reunion and a lengthy break.  There was clearly a meeting of the minds, a sharing of souls, and perhaps some heartbreak involved. The script did not make clear whether the romance was consummated physically but that matters little.  Her marriage and his duties to the newly born United States of America were insurmountable obstacles.  There is no love like forbidden love!

Actress Judith Hawking narrated the story with a wink and a twinkle in her eye.  Beautiful Melissa Errico gave an excellent portrayal of Maria Cosway and was quite moving in her performance of songs that this amateur musician composed.  We have never seen them in books of baroque or classical songs but would wish to learn them; they are quite excellent in their directness and simplicity, especially "Ogni dolce aura".  The great man himself was brought to sympathetic life by actor Campbell Scott.

Vocal honors were shared by Jessica Gould herself who lent her powerful soprano to the aria "Cesse cruel amour"  (from Sacchini's opera Dardanus which Jefferson and Cosway had seen together) and tenor Tony Boutté  who sang "Jours heureux" from the same opera.  More excerpts were to follow with much appreciative applause from the audience who sat along the perimeter of the historical room.

Music was provided by members of The Sebastians; leader and harpsichordist Jeffrey Grossman accompanied the singers and also played a lovely solo by Jacques Duphly entitled La Medée; violinist Daniel Lee joined him for the Adagio from Archangelo Corelli's Sonata in G minor.

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MYTHOLOGY, MAYHEM, MUSIC AND HISTORY

We wonder what to call an original event synthesizing mythology, music and history;  we will just call it "wonderful".  When the multi-talented Gould Gals come up with an idea for one of their Salon/Sanctuary Concerts we just know it will be thoroughly researched, well-cast, effectively produced, enlightening and always entertaining.  Last night's event at the Broad Street Ballroom was all of the above.

The premise for The Heirs of Tantalus was that some of the more lurid events of Ancient Roman history bore interesting parallels with Greek mythology (leading one to wonder whether our own culture re-enacts the myths of our own past.)  Specifically Nero's murder of Agrippina paralleled Orestes' murder of his mother Clytemnestra in The Oresteia.  There are still parts of the world where revenge and retaliation take precedence over rationality; the work is highly relevant.

Musical research by Jessica Gould was responsible for some fine selections from works by baroque composers--mostly from Handel's Agrippina and Monteverdi's  L'Incoronazione di Poppea.  Ms. Gould herself employed her generous soprano in  solos and in some fine duets with countertenor José Lemos.  We particularly enjoyed the stunning harmonies in the duet "Pur ti miro" from L'Incoronazione di Poppea.

Narration and dramatic readings from Suetonius, Aeschylus and Euripides were adapted by Erica Gould and spoken by fine actors Steven Rattazzi and Ethan Peck, both of whom hit exactly the right tone.  Female roles were portrayed by Rosalyn Coleman Williams who seemed to overact to some extent.  The wonderful resonance of the performing space made the amplification of the actors seem unnecessary and unwelcome.

Stage direction by Erica Gould was interesting but also led to much swiveling around in the chairs to see who was speaking at the rear of the audience space.  Fortunately, the singing took place on an elevated stage which also held the ravishingly talented musicians--The Sebastians Chamber Players, conducted from the harpsichord by Jory Vinikour.  We enjoyed the fine playing of Deborah Fox on the theorbo.

Costumes by Lara de Bruijn were effective, as was lighting by Alexis Caldwell.  It was a stimulating evening and sent us out into the night with many thoughts about the mythology of our own cultural past (The Wild West, the gunslinger, the resourceful pioneer) and how that influences our present day politics.  Many thanks to the Gould Gals!

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WHAT'S THE POINT?

            Salon /Sanctuary Event-- photo by Dalibor Plavsic

Salon/Sanctuary concerts never disappoint; they offer their entertainment with a generous serving of illumination.  Monday night's event entitled "On Point" was a case in point.  Several interesting points were made about the common origins of sword fighting and ballet dancing, the latter one of our favorite art forms, the former a revelation.  You take some of the stances and lunges of sword fighting and meld them with 17th c. court dance and--voila!--the birth of ballet.

Stage Director and Fight Choreographer Erica Gould, sister of Founder and Artistic Director Jessica Gould, made sure that the audience left with a clear picture of how this evolved.  In an exemplary show of scholarship, engravings from the 17th c. were studied to replicate the stances of sword fighting, illustrated by sword fighters Jacqueline Ann Holloway and Robert Westley.  Analogous ballet moves were illustrated by two ballet dancers from New York City Ballet--the lovely long-limbed Megan LeCrone, partnered to perfection by Jared Angle.  The two pairs danced side by side and comparisons were easily made.

The music chosen was likewise from the 17th c. and was played with grace and gusto by members of The Sebastians Chamber Orchestra.  The first half of the program comprised works by Johann Heinrich Schmelzer, G. F. Händel and Antonio Vivaldi.  In Schmelzer's Balletto for Strings and Continuo in G, the string quartet (Daniel S. Lee and Beth Wenstrom on violins, Katie Hyun on viola, and Hannah Collins on cello) played with clarity, augmented by Charlie Weaver on the baroque guitar playing the continuo part.  The name of this piece is "Die Fechtschule" (the fencing school); the alternation of spirited and frisky allegro sections and stately lyrical adagio sections provided a great deal of variety.

The most interesting part of the Händel Sonata in B-flat  was Mr. Weaver's playing of the theorbo, as long in neck as a giraffe.  Vivaldi's Trio Sonata in D minor "La Follia" opened in waltz time with a mournful melody that gave way to no small degree of frenzy with lots of syncopation and challenging embellishments.

But it was the second part of the program described above which captured our imagination.  The dancing and sword-fighting were performed to Heinrich Ignaz Franz von Biber's Battalia a 10 in D major, a radical piece of writing with harmonies way ahead of their time.  At one point, different meters and keys were played simultaneously, a challenging task for the musicians who rose to the occasion.  It was here that we observed the intense eye contact between both members of each couple and the compelling mirroring between the two couples. 

The effectiveness of the illumination was our subsequent ability to watch ballet and see many of the moves in a new light. May we propose a good look at Maria Kowroski dancing "Red Angels" on Youtube?  Much gratitude was felt to Salon/Sanctuary for this new insight.

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