A FORGOTTEN MASTERPIECE DISCOVERED

Maestro Israel Gursky and the cast of Vittorio Gnecchi's Cassandra

If ever a neglected work merited unearthing Vittorio Gnecchi's Cassandra fills the bill. Thanks to the efforts of Teatro Trattacielo's Founding Executive and Artistic Director Duane D. Printz, New York City's dedicated opera lovers had the opportunity to hear this work in concert form at the highly suitable Gerald W. Lynch Theater at John Jay College of Criminal Justice (part of CUNY).

There was a crime of sorts in the suppression of this magnificent work, the result of a scandal of plagiarism in which those taking the part of Richard Strauss (but not Strauss himself) accused Gnecchi of plagiarizing his 1908 Elektra, in spite of the fact that Cassandra premiered in Bologna in 1905! Significantly, Toscanini himself conducted the premiere. Italian musical politics were really something! They still are.

Luigi Illica's libretto was adapted from Aeschylus' Oresteia and deals with the part of the story of the fall of the House of Atreus in which Agamemnon returns as a hero from the Trojan war, bringing as concubine the seeress Cassandra.  

In Agamemnon's absence, Clytemnestra has been frolicking with her husband's brother Aegisthus. She apparently truly loves her brother-in-law but is also seeking revenge against her husband who had sacrificed their beloved daughter Iphegenia to secure favorable winds to carry him to Troy to fetch the naughty Helen who had run off with Paris.  Sounds like a telenovela, right?

As in Puccini's Turandot (of which we heard echoes in the music), the titular character does not appear until Act II. But she is worth waiting for! This is a superb role for a mezzo-soprano and Alessandra Volpe fulfilled the task with magnificence and a large dusky sound that made her prophesies poignantly terrifying. Her generous tone cut through the orchestration like a warm knife through butter.

The entire cast was well chosen and there wasn't a disappointing voice in the bunch. Soprano Elena O'Connor made a stunning Clitennestra, showing her character's rage in her first aria "No, non propiziarie preci!". We enjoyed the change of colors when she sang of her love for Egisto.

Her romantic duets with baritone Shea Owens as Egisto involved overlapping voices and thrilling harmonies.  And we loved Mr. Owens' aria "Il Fato volge in suo turbine". When Agamennone returns in triumph the crowd welcomes him but Egisto sneers in "Udir cantare Agamennone, e ridere!"  The subsequent confrontation between the two brothers is powerful and dynamic.

The role of Agamennone is a difficult one and veteran tenor Arnold Rawls tackled the punishingly high tessitura with aplomb. His return to Argolis is marked by the sweetest sound, as if he is totally unaware of the tragedy to come. 

Baritone Stefanos Koroneos has never sounded better than he did singing ll Prologo with superb diction, making every word count and elucidating the story, which is more than we can say for the choruses. The New Jersey Choral Society and The Connecticut Choral Society, along with the Festival Youth Chorus, lay down a lovely carpet of sound but did not have the crisp diction to which we are accustomed.

In several roles, soprano Meredith Mecum made a fine forceful showing with a brilliant tone; we particularly enjoyed her brief solo as Una Coèfora "Placato mare ed aera placato!"  Baritone Joseph Flaxman excelled as Il Fazionario (The Guard). Baritone Peter Kendall Clark came across well as Il Navarca as did Jon Tetelman in a tenor solo. Young Nicholas Newman piped up as the child Orestes, requesting his father's sword.

One could consider the star of the evening to be conductor Israel Gursky who brought out the many nuances of this impressive score.  There is nothing shocking about the chromatic harmonies but there was ample lyricism to satisfy our 19th c. ears. One could identify Puccini-esque elements in the opening Prologue.

The introduction to Act I was particularly lyrical when a lovely melody floated through the sections of the orchestra on gossamer wings. We loved the portentous sound at the end of Clitennestra's rage aria, not to mention the use of the harp when Egisto sings of leaving Clitennestra.

As Agamennone approaches by ship, Maestro Gursky guided the orchestra into a recreation of the surging sea.  Upon his arrival at Argosy the music is triumphant with brass. The orchestra gives us the full monty at the bloody conclusion.

Whew!! This powerful story was given the exactly right music by Signor Gnecchi and the opera was given the exactly right production by Teatro Grattacielo.

It's too bad we must wait another year for more of Grattacielo's discoveries.

(c) meche kroop

BASS' NEW HOME

Miori Sugiyama, Tami Petty, Michael Brofman, Kristina Bachrach, Laura Strickling, Dominic Armstrong, and Tobias Greenhalgh

The Brooklyn Art Song Society is a unique treasure on the New York City musical scene. We have trekked to the farthest reaches of Brooklyn to hear their roster of splendid singers and to immerse ourselves in their innovative programming.  We are pleased to report that BASS, has begun their seventh season in a new and permanent home--the Brooklyn Historical Society. We are even more pleased to report that the location is a grace note away from several subway stops and marvelously close to Manhattan.

This season's ambitious undertaking has a theme--Wien: Fin de Siècle-- and comprises an exploration of that period of musical maximalism we call Late Romanticism.  Our eyes love Klimt.  Our ears love Mahler. The nine songs by Alexander Zemlinsky that we heard last night filled our heart with joy to the point of bursting.

The opening event of the season was a benefit recital and the large space was packed. What a pleasure to see the results of Founder, Artistic Director and Collaborative Pianist Michael Brofman's consistently excellent programming.  Preceding the recital was a lecture by NYU Professor of History Larry Wolff on the political and cultural environment in Vienna during this epoch.

The aforementioned Zemlinsky songs were shared by soprano Kristina Bachrach and baritone Tobias Greenhalgh. Ms. Bachrach sings with a melting tone and a fine vibrato. She seemed to immerse herself in each song and drew the audience toward her.  The songs are brief vignettes, mostly about love, with "Hütet euch!" bearing a shift from the lighthearted arrival of love to the warning about love's equally precipitous departure. The change in coloration was admirable.

Mr. Greenhalgh has recently returned from the Wiener Kammeroper; although we had no complaints about his fine German diction before, we noticed a crispness that might have had us taking him for a native speaker. We particularly enjoyed the baritonal resonance of his instrument when he struck a lulling tone in "Schlaf nur ein!" The change of color from the anxious tone of the insomniac to the lulling reassurance at the end of each verse was quite lovely. We also loved the ardent romanticism of "Unter blühenden Bäumen".

It was no fault of Mr. Greenhalgh that we could not relate to the lengthy and less accessible piece "An den Mond" by Hans Pfitzner. The text by Goethe is filled with troubled emotions; the vocal line is less melodic; the harmonies are more ambiguous. Mr. Brofman's piano captured the anxiety.

The second half of the program comprised almost as much Strauss as we wanted to hear.  The great thing about Strauss is that he is like champagne for the ear.  One can imbibe to excess but one can never get enough! Miori Sugiyama took over for this set as collaborative pianist.

Soprano Laura Strickling has a warm stage presence and great ability to form a connection with the audience. Her German diction is a thing of beauty.  Perhaps the charming "Ständchen" was our favorite in this set; the melody always accompanies us on our way home. We enjoyed her in storytelling mode when she gave a convincing performance of "Die Nacht", another melodic gem. Strauss is a perfect fit for her brilliant tone.

She also sang Joseph Marx' "Selige Nacht".  Every time we hear a Marx song we wonder why his songs appear so rarely in lieder recitals. Ms. Strickling captured the romantic mood and used superb dynamic control from the pianissimo beginning to the thrilling climax. Marx' "Nocturne" gave Ms. Sugiyama an opportunity to show off some dazzling runs on the keys.

Tenor Dominic Armstrong used a gently caressing and tender tone for Strauss' "Heimliche Aufforderung" but became quite ardent at the end, pushing his tone a bit. We noticed this also in "Zueignung" when we wished he would float the top notes instead. One can be passionate at less volume!

We were quite taken, however, by his performance of "Allerseelen", another favorite of ours. On this one day of the year, the poet (Hermann von Gilm zu Rosenegg) can reunite with the spirit of his loved one and Mr. Armstrong appeared to be seeing her spirit and, consequently, so did we.  It was a powerful effect and an interpretation we will long recall.

The final set on the program was the perfect conclusion. Soprano Tami Petty, first brought to our attention as a Joy of Singing winner, has a voice that is made for Strauss. She performed his autumnal Vier letzte Lieder and held the audience spellbound. Three of the texts are by Herman Hesse. 

The songs are said to be autobiographical, the summing up of the composer's life. "September" contains several melismatic passages that Ms. Petty made the most of, while "Beim schlafengehen" brought out all of Ms. Sugiyama's expressiveness.

The two artists worked well together and the final piece "Im Abendrot" (text by von Eichendorff) was filled with ethereal ambiguity. The end of the recital?  The end of Strauss' career? The end of his life?

We heard five superb singers paying tribute to four fine composers. We eagerly await the next installment of Wien: Fin de Siècle on November 4th.  "Wien II" will tackle the music of Hanns Eisler's Hollywood period. It will be a wonderful opportunity to hear another side of Ms. Bachrach's artistry and to reconnect with tenor Nils Neubert--yet another favorite singer of ours.

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THE DUDE OPENS THE SEASON AT CARNEGIE

Opening night at Carnegie Hall!  What better choice could there have been than the Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela, led by the youthful and exciting Gustavo Dudamel. He electrified the audience with his conducting and charmed them later with his brief speech about the unifying power of music.

Venezuela's forty plus years of supporting El Sistema has resulted in the SBSOV, in which an astonishing 70% of the musicians have grown up with the orchestra, starting as children a couple decades earlier. The fostering of young musicians is now spreading worldwide. New York City unfortunately lost Maestro Dudamel to Los Angeles where he has created the Youth Orchestra Los Angeles. Our loss, their gain.

The musicians of SBSOV clearly play because they love music, and they play brilliantly because they love Maestro Dudamel. His choice of program was unusual in that both major works began life as ballets. We know Ravel's La Valse as the ballet Balanchine created for New York City Ballet in 1950 and which reappears every few years.

This is the first time we have heard it performed as a concert piece. Ravel often denied that the piece reflects post-WWI cultural collapse; the listener should feel free to experience the piece on its own terms. We experienced it as disturbing with a sense of unease; it began with some rumbling in the double basses joined by portentous kettle drums.

There are some lovely intervals in which the harp seems to recall a gentler epoch but there are frequent incursions of anxiety. The piece ends with a clash of cymbals. We think of it as a waltz on steroids. The Russian impresario Diaghilev commissioned the work as a poème choréographique but then refused to choreograph it. Ravel never forgave him.

Consequently, in the 1920's it remained as a concert piece until Bronislava Nijinska choreographed it in 1929; we were unable to find a filmed version of it. The Balanchine version however remains stuck in our memory and invaded our mind's eye while listening to Dudamel's astute evocation of Ravel's brilliant orchestration.

However, we were able to locate a number of YouTube films of the second piece on the program--Stravinsky's ballet Le sacre du printemps. Of course the sound of SBSOV could not have been duplicated but we were interested in seeing what Diaghilev had in mind when he commissioned the work from the young as-yet-unknown Igor Stravinsky.

There is a wonderful YouTube of the Joffrey Ballet's re-creation of the original Nijinsky choreography which we recommend to readers. Fans of the artist Nicholas Roerich (anyone who has visited the eponymous museum on the Upper West Side may fall into that category) will thrill to his sets and costumes.

Composers have been known to later deny anything programmatic about their work. Again, it is up to you, the listener, to use your own imagination. This was a seminal early 20th c. work and music would never be the same afterward. It is not much of a stretch to form an analogy with WWI, after which the world would never be the same.

The work caused a riot at its premiere in 1913 and one wonders whether it was the music or the dancing!  The music is propulsive with radical rhythmic variety and orchestral coloring which M. Dudamel captured at full speed.

We don't generally think of the bassoon as an instrument of melody but that is just one of the radical choices made by Stravinsky as he used just that ploy to begin the piece; it is a mysterious theme that recurs under different colors throughout the work.  There is vigor and cacophony to spare and colorations not heard anywhere else. Sometimes the music scampers and sometimes in insinuates.  There are prolonged silences in which one holds one's breath.

The piece ends with a rising motif in the flute as the sacrificial maiden dances herself to death--at least that's what happens in the ballet. The music has also been used by Maurice Béjart in a more abstract ballet.

The daring M. Dudamel delighted the audience by closing with a number of selections from around the world in 2/4 time, maintaining the theme of dance music. We heard a lively Hungarian Rhapsody by Brahms with alternating sections of forcefulness and lyricism, a selection from Copland's Rodeo with syncopated percussive elements, the Trisch Trasch Polka by Johann Strauss, the rousing "Malambo" from Ginastera's ballet suite Estancia, and finally the "Mambo" from Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story.

The musicians were seen to rise from the chairs and dance. The audience was heard to rise from their seats and applaud wildly.

But the evening wasn't over yet.  There was an encore the name of which we did not catch, but it will remain in our memory as Concerto for Maracas and Orchestra.  The featured young percussionist drew sounds from those Latin American percussion instruments that we could never have imagined.

What a night!  Viva El Sistema!  Viva Maestro Dudamel!  Viva the Simon Bolivar Symphony Orchestra of Venezuela!  Viva José Antonio Abreu who founded the orchestra and was honored by M. Dudamel. Viva Carnegie Hall!

(c) meche kroop

BARE OPERA GIVES GREAT GALA

Bare Opera Gala (photo by Gustavo Alberto Mirabile)

STANDING

Suchan Kim

Francisco Corredor

Briana Hunter

Sungwook Kim

Larisa Martinez (Gala host)

Joshua Bell (Gala Host)

Liana Guberman

Justin Brown (stage director)

SEATED

Laetitia Ruccolo 

Min Lew (Bare Opera General Director)

Kirsten Scott

Life in New York can be tense, stressful, and competitive!

Life on Planet Opera is warm, relaxing, and mutually supportive!

Take, for example the gala evening offered by Bare Opera, one of our highly treasured small companies. Hosts for the evening were the wildly talented and gracious Joshua Bell and the equivalently talented stunning soprano Larisa Martinez, toward whom we have oft tossed journalistic bouquets.  The venue was their lavishly appointed triplex that seems to have been designed for this type of event.

The room was packed with lots of luminaries from Planet Opera and everyone was there to share in the good will, imbibing champagne and a generous spread of edibles both before and after the musical portion of the evening.

Guests had the opportunity to hear four rising stars-- soprano Liana Guberman, mezzo-soprano Kirsten Scott, tenor Sungwook Kim, and baritone Suchan Kim-- in a tempting program of arias, duets, and ensembles. We use the word tempting because guests were indubitably tempted to order tickets for Bare Opera's upcoming Cambiale Matrimonio, written by Rossini at the tender age of 18.  (And what's YOUR 18 year-old doing with his free time, LOL?)

Francisco Corredor, himself a talented character tenor, served as Master of Ceremonies and introduced each number with style and humor. Justin Brown staged the evening, utilizing the space well, including the staircases; the singers were mysteriously masked.

Singers were accompanied by a trio of musicians with the lovely Laetitia Ruccolo playing the piano, cellist Elad Kabilio (famous for his "Music Talks"), and violinist Omer Ashano who was responsible for arranging the music along with Ms. Ruccolo.

The program was wisely chosen to include audience favorites--entirely suitable for a light-hearted evening. "Pronto io son", from Don Pasquale, involves Dr. Malatesta (Suchan) coaching Norina (Liana) on her portrayal of his convent-educated sister. The couple did justice to Donizetti's tuneful music.

Mozart got a happy hearing as well.  From Nozze di Figaro, we heard "Aprite, presto, aprite" with a frantic Susanna (Liana) trying to get rid of Cherubino (Kirsten) before the Count discovers his presence in the Countess' bedchamber.

From Mozart's Don Giovanni, Suchan performed the lovely serenade "Deh vieni alla finestra".  From Cosi fan tutte, Fiordiligi (Liana) and Dorabella (Kirsten) bade farewell to their departing lovers along with Don Alfonso (Suchan) in the trio "Soave sia il vento".

Rossini was also represented on the program with "Zitti, zitti, piano, piano" from Il Barbiere di Siviglia" with Kirsten as Rosina, Suchan as the eponymous barber, and Sunwook as Count Almaviva. For the finale, the entire cast joined forces for more Rossini--the quartet "Arpa gentile" from Il Viaggo a Reims.

In the hands of Ms. Scott, the event went smoothly and artistically.  We would expect no less from this fine company and have already planned to attend Rossini's early opera which will be performed November 4th, 5th, and 6th.  And so should YOU!

We love opera that is informal and accessible and, also important, affordable!

(c) meche kroop

STEPHANIE BLYTHE MASTER CLASS at JUILLIARD

Stephanie Blythe

Stephanie Blythe is our hero, or heroine, if you will. You may know her as the highly acclaimed mezzo-soprano, but she is also an acclaimed master teacher.  Her direct "no nonsense" approach to teaching never fails to offer the student useful pointers. The proof of the pudding is the change one hears in the half-hour allotted to each student.

What is remarkable about the audience is how supportive they are, partly mirroring her supportive attitude and partly reflective of the overall mood we have noticed within Juilliard's Vocal Arts Department.

Each of yesterday's participants has a special vocal quality that Ms. Blythe never failed to praise.  But she made the point that a beautiful sound is not enough; she points the student toward maximum artistry and connection with the audience.  This artistry does not come from histrionics but from simplicity and understanding of the text.

Two of the composers represented in the program were present in the audience.  We wondered what the young singers felt.  Probably a lot of excitement and some additional pressure.  They didn't seem to show any anxiety however. The singers were apparently encouraged to choose their own songs. Each one had prepared by intensely studying the text--extremely important in art song performance.

First on the program was bass-baritone Cody Quattlebaum who performed John Musto's setting of James Loughlin's "Rome: In the Café" from the cycle Viva Sweet Love. Mr. Quattlebaum clearly had spent time with the text and we particularly enjoyed his reading of it. There is a haunting mystery about the subject observing a woman in a café and the drama of her daily appearance to meet a man who attempts to console her as she weeps.

Mr. Quattlebaum was rather eloquent as he described his learning the text and his thoughts about it.  Ms. Blythe coached him on spinning the tone, even on the shortest notes, advice we would hear again and again. As we keep hearing, it is the BREATH that connects the notes.  Ms. Blythe spoke about string instruments and bowing, a useful metaphor indeed; phrases must have direction.

As the possessor of a low voice, Ms. Blythe had some special tips for Mr. Quattlebaum and also for mezzo-soprano Kelsey Lauritano who followed with Ricky Ian Gordon's  "X" from the cycle Late Afternoon.  There was no doubt that Ms. Lauritano has a deep feeling for Jean Valentine's text about a brother who died of AIDS and parents who didn't want his name on the AIDS quilt; she had found the cycle herself and chose to learn the song.

Her coaching involved allowing a bit more head voice in the mix to carry the sound. She was asked to sing the song with intimacy and simplicity. We have never heard it put this way before but we loved the concept that eye contact creates an active audience.

Tenor Matthew Swensen performed "The Lake Isle of Innisfree",  Ben Moore's setting of a text by William Butler Yeats.  He sang it with the most beautiful sound which Ms. Blythe praised--but she wanted him to look at the audience more and connect. She initiated a valuable discussion of rubato and the "give and take" which that score marking indicates; the singer must take time here to take us to the place of tranquility of which Yeats wrote.

She further advised more attention to the dynamic markings of the song.  Other points included smiling with the heart instead of the mouth and not furrowing the brow. There was a valuable trick offered--running a piece of Scotch tape across the brow so that one can be made aware of this bad habit and correct it.  Now that's something everyone can try!

The final entry on the program was soprano Julia Wolcott's performance of "Orinda Upon Little Hector Philips" from Ben Moore's cycle So Free Am I. The sad text by 17th c. poet Katherine Philips is a eulogy to her babe who died. The text is difficult to speak, let alone to sing--especially at the upper register of the soprano range. 

We loved the sound of Ms. Wolcott's voice but had to look up the text online. Ms. Blythe's coaching was, of course, to pay more attention to enunciating the text! There was also the suggestion to use less histrionics. 

There was more discussion of vibration and taking time to spin the tone, especially on the short notes--and where did we hear that advice before! When taking a breath, the singer should maintain the space of the prior phrase--all great advice.

Pianists for the master class were excellent: Michal Biel, Katelan Terrell, and Adam Rothenberg.

Ms. Blythe is a champion of contemporary music, of which we are not.  When she summed up the afternoon she expressed her belief that music recently written speaks to us today. It has not so far spoken to us, however!  Yet we acknowledge that what we heard today was more successful at reaching us.  We think of it as perhaps a whisper that may grow in volume as in Rossini's "La calunnia" sung by Don Basilio in Il barbiere di Siviglia.

It was a truly valuable experience, for the audience as well as for the singers. Ms. Blythe stressed the fact that singers could try out what she offered and "take it or leave it".  We hope they will take it!

(c) meche kroop

I'M NOT GETTING MARRIED TODAY!

Blythe Gaissert and Leah Partridge (photo by David Andrako)

It's a grand old ballroom at the Stanford White designed Harmonie Club and we are all atwitter anticipating a glamorous wedding.  We are greeted by liveried servants with goblets of wine and take our seats at beautifully appointed tables.  The feast is about to begin.  There will be live music and we are happy to be seated near the musicians. Crystal chandeliers glisten overhead in 19th c. glory.

There is a gorgeous bride, a real beauty.  BUT THERE IS NO GROOM! Poor Aurelia Havisham has been stood up by Matthew Compeyson.  What a disaster!  But she was stood up many long years ago and has gone bonkers.  And who doesn't love a mad scene? Watching someone decompensate has a weird thrill.  What will they say? What will they do?

This wedding was another one of On Site Opera's devilishly clever concepts of immersive opera. This production inaugurated their sixth season of producing rarely seen operas in unusual locations that are well suited to the material. To do this successfully requires tight creative collaboration among highly talented people.

General Artistic Director (and Co-Founder) Eric Einhorn possesses finely honed directorial skills and exquisite taste. No doubt he helps his singers get inside the characters they portray--a necessary skill since they are often just inches away from an audience member. There is never a lapse of dramatic honesty and urgency.

Producer, Co-Founder, and Executive Director Jessica Kriger has the skills to bring all this together.  Under her guidance, On Site Opera has expanded its sixth season which now comprises three additional events.

Music Director Geoffrey McDonald handles his chamber orchestra with incomparable skill. He was fortunate to have the string quintet known as "Sybarites" augmented by seven winds, percussion, harp and piano, performing the score to Miss Havisham's Wedding Night the 1979 monodrama by Dominick Argento.  The orchestration was quite interesting with growling bass and profuse employment of percussion.

The Hector Berlioz 1829 monodrama La Mort de Cléopâtre served as curtain raiser but was anything but a throwaway. Mezzo-soprano Blythe Gaissert made a convincing Queen of Egypt with her gloriously smoky timbre, lyrical phrasing, and fine French diction. The vocal line varied from angular to lyrical, all of which she took in vocal stride. The libretto was written by Pierre-Ange Vieillard de Boismartin.

Her costuming by Fay Leshner was completely on the mark and the hair and make-up design by Affan Malik made her look exactly as we had imagined Cleopatra would look.

Although she was not ditched on her wedding day, her plight shared a common theme with that of Miss Havisham. After two successful liaisons with Anthony and with Caesar, she is unable to win the affections of Octavius and commits suicide by snake bite. The rubber snake was so cleverly manipulated that we thought it was real.

We were shaken by this performance although the main event was yet to come. Ms. Havisham was portrayed--NO! LIVED--by soprano Leah Partridge. It was so utterly convincing a portrayal of delusion and hallucination that we feared poor Ms. Partridge would go over the deep end.  Fortunately, she emerged unblemished at the end, her contorted face restored to its lovely shape.

Her voice is a thing of crystalline beauty and it was well employed in the service of the text written by John Olon-Scrymgeour who based her character on the character of the same name in Charles Dickens' Great Expectations. The phrases are wildly disjointed and make only the strangest kind of sense--something psychiatrists call "primary process thinking".

It is interesting that Miss Havisham does not lack self-awareness. She opens by singing "It is Miss Havisham's Wedding Day! Unique behavior is expected".  Later she admits "I am a little out of my wits". Costume, make-up and hair design all contributed to the feeling of disjointed reality.

In a directorial masterstroke, the monodrama ended with Cleopatra joining Miss Havisham for tea, thus linking the tales of abandoned women. The audience was served wedding cake before having the opportunity to greet the artists. Performing up close and personal like that with no other singer to bounce off seems to be the most demanding form of performance but Ms. Gaissert and Ms. Partridge deserved all the accolades they got.

Shawn Kaufman was responsible for the effective lighting design.

One rarely witnesses such an effective coming together of the arts. There are many excellent small opera companies in New York, each one with its own special take. This form of producing opera is original and highly affecting.  It is also costly to produce since the audience must be limited. We'd bet that the ticket income doesn't come close to meeting the costs of production. Financial support is always welcomed.

We are already on board for The Tell-Tale Heart, the premiere of a new opera by Gregg Kallor taking place in a secret crypt on October 26th and 28th. Don't miss your chance.  It is sure to be sold out.

(c) meche kroop

JUILLIARD SEASON OPENER

Mirga Gražintyé-Tyla and Llewellyn Sanchez-Werner with the Juilliard Orchestra

What a dazzling manner in which to begin the new season! This may be the first time we enjoyed an evening of symphonic music from the opening note to the final chord. There was not a single longueur. 

To begin with, it was a special thrill to see a woman on the podium--a feeling we get when Eve Queler wields her baton. But Lithuanian conductor Mirga Gražintyé-Tyla is only 30 years old and has already achieved fame through her prodigious talent and her unique style on the podium-- which possibly reflects her association with firebrand Gustavo Dudamel.

It's unfortunate that the New York Philharmonic lets exciting conductors slip through its fingers but Juilliard did not, more credit to them. This young woman is fun to watch. She has the petite form, lithe athleticism, and soft arms of a ballerina. The envy of the old biddies next to me was so green that they could have worn it on St. Paddy's Day--what with their criticism of her bare arms.

But those bare arms bore watching as her grace, her flexible wrists, and seemingly boneless arms gently coaxed the young musicians into making the finest music we have heard in a very long time.  When the music called for emphasis, the bones reappeared as she pointed precisely and jabbed angularly.

That being said, the proof of the musical pudding is in the sound and we got the impression that she formed a great relationship with the musicians who played as if their lives hung in the balance. Such gusto!  Such involvement!  Major WOW!

The program was wisely chosen.  The opener was a piece entitled "Fire" by the conductor's countrywoman Raminta Šerkšnyté, and a most accomplished piece it was. It was commissioned by the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and premiered in 2012 in Munich.  It was meant to be inspired by and played alongside Beethoven's Fifth Symphony.

The program notes were rather academic and went over our head but the music did not.  Some people like to think about music but we like to experience it emotionally. The opening movement, marked "Misterioso" succeeded at creating an air of mystery through some growling percussion and the lower voices of the winds. The mood soon shifted and it became obvious that the piece favored texture over melody.

The second section, marked "Con brio", shifted the mood entirely and the orchestra erupted into an explosion of sound.  It wasn't until the closing bars that we caught the hommage to Beethoven's Fifth in its fate theme.  The audience's applause erupted similarly. It was a piece of startling originality and color. The composer had to be coaxed to come out and enjoy the accolades.

The second selection involved an exceptionally artistic performance of Beethoven's Piano Concerto #3 in C minor, Op. 37 by the wildly talented Llewellyn Sanchez-Werner.  Only 19 years old, this prize-winning prodigy is in his second year of the Master of Music program at Juilliard and seems headed for greatness.

The three movement concerto seemed to reflect Beethoven's admiration for Mozart. The first movement, marked "Allegro con brio", established the key immediately with arpeggiated figures and allowed Mr. Sanchez-Werner to dazzle us with trills and scale passages; the second lyrical theme involved melodic elements that seemed to want to belong in an opera that Mozart might have written.

The second movement, marked "Largo", was one of ineffable loveliness and seemed introspective. The "Rondo Allegro" offered a cheeriness and a welcome familiarity as the theme recurred with freshness.

The work was well chosen in that it allowed Mr. Sanchez-Werner to show off his technique in the lively passages and his lyricism in the slow sections.

The final work on the program was Berlioz' Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14. The opening movement featured ascending and descending scales in the violins that showcased the string section's tight collaboration.

Our favorite movement was the second "Un bal" which gave the harps a lovely theme. The third movement was very special with an offstage oboe answering the call of the one onstage and a finale giving the percussionists a real workout.   The wild final two movements gave full rein to emotionality.

Standing ovations greeted the artists as Maestro Gražintyé-Werner strolled around the orchestra, honoring each section.  Honors belong to everyone onstage. This performance is one we will not forget.

(c) meche kroop