NAUMBURG AND WAGNER HONORING EACH OTHER

 Erin Wagner

(photo by Jiyang Chen)

In a world in which artistic organizations come and go, in which artistic missions are altered to suit changing tastes, and in which new institutions are mere flashes in the proverbial pan, it is reassuring to know that Naumburg Orchestral Concerts has been providing free outdoor concerts for New York City concert goers for a record 121 years! This is the oldest free concert series in the world! 

That inclement weather drove Monday night's concert indoors took nothing away from the experience. St. Mary's church in the Theater District is not only capacious but visually artistic. The space was filled to capacity and a large clutch of disappointed would be audience members were sadly left outdoors.

And what a concert they missed! This was not  the first time that the venerable Orchestra of St.Luke's was invited to perform at the Naumburg Concerts and it was a most fortunate choice. Under the baton of Maestro Brad Lubman, a program of Mozart works was scheduled, offering works from his teenage years all the way through to his mature works.They were perfectly suited to the outdoor venue of the Naumberg Bandshell in Central Park but, by virtue of some superb performances, survived the steamy atmosphere inside the church whilst nasty thunderstorms raged outside. 

The Naumburg Concerts historically presented vocal music at a time when opera was all the rage. To our delight, that tradition was preserved at this performance by the welcome presence of Erin Wagner, a singer we much admire and whose career we have documented from her undergraduate days at Manhattan School of Music, through her winning of multiple competitions. 

 Five years ago, Ms. Wagner won the Walter Naumburg International Competition. Listed on the program as a mezzo-soprano, a fach by which we know her, we were puzzled as soon as we opened the program. Her selection of Mozart arias did not include the expected "Parto, Parto" but did include the moving "Porgi amor" from Nozze di Figaro!

We managed to find Ms. Wagner backstage during intermission and heard the news from her directly. There is a change of fach in progress and we are totally on board with it.  Without benefit of costume or set, Ms. Wagner conveyed the pensive and pleading tone of the abandoned Countess Almaviva from Nozze di Figaro with all the artistic subtlety the aria demands. Cherubino's aria "Voi che sapete" was delivered with totally different coloration, just as one might expect from a hormonal youth. Both characters are lovelorn but in different ways.

By contrast, "Tutte nel cor vi sento"  from Idomeneo is an expression of  Elettra's jealous rage, all of which came through loud and clear.  It was illuminating to hear the artist create three different characters in three different situations. Several  concert arias completed the set and the artist graciously acceded to the audience's demands for an encore.

The remainder of the program showed the range of Mozart's talent from his teenage forays Divertimento in D Major, K 136 and Symphony No. 21 in A major, K. 134 to his mature Eine Kleine Nachtmusik, K. 525 of l787 which was our favorite instrumental work on the program. We certainly got the point that Mozart was a master of the sonata-allegro form but the final piece showed off his melodic mastery and left us humming the tunes,a situation which regular readers know is one of the things we most appreciate about music.

We wondered how many  people in the audience were aware of the energetic fight to preserve the Naumburg Bandshell from demolition several decades ago. Fortunately Elkan Naumburg's plan to democratize musical performance has been preserved. The story is well worth your attention, not only the story of the building of the bandshell and its history but also the story of the initiator of the concert series and the involvement of his family.

 There are even connections  with Walter Damrosch and Marcella Sembrich whose vocal foundation has benefitted so many young singers. Even the story of the architecture of the Naumburg bandshell is fascinating. Indeed we are happy that it was preserved!

© meche kroop

OUR THIRD DIDO

Kelli O'Hara and Victoria Clark (photo by Erin Baiano)

Henry Purcell's first opera, first performed in 1689 by students in a school for young ladies, lay dormant for two centuries, but we have seen three performances of this seminal work this season. The one we saw last night at New York City Center had the largest audience by far. The large theater was packed and the audience enthusiastic. Much of the credit lay at the feet of Master Voices, the group formerly known as The Collegiate Chorale. They have, apparently, a huge following and tackle a wide variety of genres.

Not for nothing did they cast the major female roles with famous Broadway stars who were lavishly costumed by the designer Christian Siriano, whose fame was flaunted in the press. We say "Anything goes if it brings people to the opera!"

The glamour took nothing away from the musical values. Kelli O'Hara  made a sympathetic Dido and Victoria Clark's star turn as the Sorceress brought shivers of wicked delight. They both sounded terrific and if their voices were amplified it was done with subtlety.

Canadian baritone Elliot Madore sang with honeyed tone and created a fine believable Aeneas such that we wanted to shout out "Don't fall for that false Mercury!" In Nahum Tate's libretto, which does not completely follow the story as told in Virgil's Aeneid, poor Trojan Aeneas is tricked into abandoning Dido, Princess of Carthage, in order to found Rome. Or so he is told by the false Mercury, enlisted by the Sorceress. No reason is given for the Sorceress to have such enmity toward Dido. We have missed Mr. Madore since he graduated from the Lindemann Young Artists Program and were very very happy to see him onstage once more.

Dido has two handmaidens--one is her sister Belinda who encourages her to consider Aeneas as a suitor. In this role, soprano Anna Christy, a favorite of the Santa Fe Opera where we have thrilled to her performances, has a gorgeous high clear voice with a beautiful timbre. The second handmaiden was performed by Sarah Mesko, whose lovely chocolatey mezzo voice graced the stage of the Santa Fe Opera as well.

Tenor Nathaniel Dolquist was given the role of the First Sailor; his aria was the one spot of humor in this very sad opera. Aside from singing it well, we might add that his every word was understood. The same can be said for Mr. Madore. We realize that higher voices are more difficult to understand and for this reason we feel justified in our sole complaint of this excellent evening--titles were badly needed. One tends to feel the way one does when listening to an opera in a language that one only half knows. One catches a word here and there and figures out the essence of the meaning but one wishes to hear and understand the entire thing.

There was a surprisingly delightful addition to the program. Since the prologue to the opera was lost long long ago, the task of writing one was given to Michael John LaChiusa who wrote both music and lyrics for "The Daughters of Necessity: a Prologue". He used every skill he possesses from his Broadway experience to write something that was both artistic and accessible.

He created a scene that reminded us of the Three Norns in The Ring Cycle. Three very funny Norns, as a matter of fact. He calls them Fates. The first, Nona, sung by Ms. Mesko, spins the thread of life and is focused on the past. The second, Decima, sung by Anna Christy, measures the thread and concerns herself with the present.  The third, Morta, sung by Victoria Clark, cuts the thread at the time of death and is, therefore, the one determining the future.

The punchy dialogue about life, love, and death worked extremely well with the music written by LaChiusa, which was interspersed with baroque music. Much of the humor came from the Fates' interaction with the Master Voices, arranged upstage in tiers. There was a running joke of Morta and her scissors ending the lives of various choristers who fell from the ranks and collapsed on the floor, to be hauled away. One of them, trying to avoid the deadly scissors, fled upstage. Ms. Clark's flair for comedy was impressive.

The singing of the chorus was exemplary and much of it employed such good diction that we got most of what they were singing. They seemed like a true Greek Chorus, commenting on the action and interacting with the singers.

No less could be said of The Orchestra of St. Luke's who performed superbly under the baton of Ted Sperling. Purcell's music has never sounded so fine!

If we did not have such antipathy toward barefoot modern dance, we might have found more to enjoy in the choreography by Doug Varone. His athletic dancers lept and spun and rolled around on the floor. They also moved the minimal furniture and interacted with the singers. Clad in black, they mostly moved as a unit. Our companion thought they added something to the performance.

It is not necessary to know the political atmosphere of the 17th c. but it is interesting. Purcell was born at the time of the Restoration and scholars have "found" an allegory in the story. Dido is said to represent the British people while Aeneas represents James II. The Sorceress is said to represent the repressive Catholic church, luring James to abandon his subjects by denying them secular entertainment.  Welcome Charles!!

This makes us wonder what is going on today that makes this story of deceit of a ruler by evil forces so relevant.  Hmmm.

(c) meche kroop

HE'S A VERY NAUGHTY BOY

Eric Idle, Victoria Clark, William Ferguson, Lauren Worsham and Marc Kudish
photo by Erin Baiano

“Tis the season to be jolly... and jolly we were Monday night at Carnegie Hall when the Collegiate Chorale presented the New York premiere of NOT THE MESSIAH (He’s a Very Naughty Boy).  Inspired by Monty Python’s The Life of Brian and written by Eric Idle and John Du Prez, the work can be taken as a parody of the life of Jesus, in the form of an oratorio.  But what an oratorio!  We lost count of how many different styles of music we heard—mariachi, flamenco, country, Doo-wop, spirituals and a quartet of bagpipers, members of New York Metro Pipe Band.

Not only is it the season for jollity but it also seems to be the week for parody and gender bending.  Not only have we enjoyed the parodies of Christmas songs brought to us by New York Festival of Song (see prior review) but also the parody of ballet brought to us by Les Ballets Trocadero de Monte Carlo in which men get on point and get us to giggle over every classical ballet trope.  

In order to create effective parody one must have great affection for the thing one is satirizing.  We are reminded of the late (but not forgotten) La Gran Scena Opera Company that parodied great divas with great affection.

In this case, the Mother of the non-Messiah is named Mandy and her baby, fathered by a Roman, is named Brian.  Broadway star Victoria Clark, a mezzo-soprano, sang the role of Mandy with her usual pizazz and opera star William Ferguson lent his sweet tenor to the titular role.  His love interest (Yes!) named Judith was winningly sung by soprano Lauren Worsham who slips into operatic roles as easily as she does into cabaret and Broadway. Ms. Worsham and Mr. Ferguson sang so beautifully together we mentally cast them as Candide and Cunegonde.

Eric Idle narrated and sang while successful contributions came from bass Marc Kudisch. The stage was filled with the splendid Orchestra of St. Luke’s backed up by the enormous Collegiate Chorale whose singing was so perfectly in unison and so imbued with fine diction that we understood every word. More credit to Ted Sperling, Director and Conductor!

Not so with much of the other singing which was “enhanced” by body mics rendering much of the very clever dialogue muffled.  This was the only flaw in an otherwise sensational evening of broad satire and belly laughs. Happily, Mr. Ferguson and Ms. Worsham managed to be understood. When lyrics are that clever we want to hear every word. Titles would have been welcome.

In “We Love Sheep”, Lynne Marie Rosenberg came onstage with three very realistic looking sheep who opened their mouths to sing along, creating an unparalleled moment of glee.  

Mr. Ferguson’s solo “I Want to Change the World” was incredibly moving and Mr. Idle’s “I Want to Be a Girl” was incredibly hilarious. Mr. Kudish had a very funny song “What Have the Romans Ever Done for Us”, a good satire of colonialism. 

Brian wants freedom from Roman rule and peace for his people; he joins The People’s Front of Judea and meets Judith.  They are caught in flagrante delicto by his mother.  Brian is just a very naughty boy, or so says his mother. Judith sings the lovely “You’re the One”.  The people are convinced he is the Messiah.  He denies it.  They insist. They find his sandal and, in a Cinderella moment, track him down. Mr. Kudish was particularly funny in “Hail to the Shoe”.

Nothing is sacred to Monty Python nor to Mr. Idle and Mr. Du Prez.  Even the crucifixion becomes an object for laughter.  Mr. Idle portrays a poor guy who gets crucified every morning and taken down every night.  The closing song was “Always Look on the Bright Side”.

Significantly, no one walked out in protest.  We can assume that the delighted audience knew exactly what they were getting into.

(c) meche kroop