A genuinely funny opera performance

Posted on July 12, 2012 by vhk10

All too often at performances of the opera you get that rather strained, knowing laughter that people produce when they feel it’s expected of them rather than when it is actually derived from the performance. There was a fair amount of it at WNO’s Beatrice and Benedict a few weeks ago.

But others in the family reported that Opera Project’s lightly-staged Barber of Seville at St. George’s Bristol was genuinely hilarious. They got to go because I couldn’t use the tickets I’d won at the quiz a few weeks ago. Musical standards were fine once the orchestra had settled down.

Meanwhile my daughter has alerted me to this on YouTube, which matches opera arias/extracts to Harry Potter characters, with clips from the films. I can’t always comment on the appropriateness of the extracts (composers included Boito and Meyerbeer and the music was not all familiar to me), but it occurred to me that the compiler would have had even more choice if they’d used Wagner (both draw on North European mythology) and/or Russian opera. Any ideas about an operatic Dumbledore?

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The WholeNote

Posted on June 27, 2012 by vhk10

On a visit to Canada last month I found a copy in our hotel room of a publication called The WholeNote. It’s a monthly magazine about classical music (also covering jazz, musical theatre and world music) in the Toronto area. The issue I read had an yellow insert in the middle called ‘The Canary Pages’ with details of many local choirs, which appears annually. The rest of the magazine consisted articles by local authors, mostly previewing what was coming up in the area, and book and recording reviews. The level is often quite erudite; an article about Handel’s Semele traces the myth back to Thracian origins with discussion of the Indo-European roots of the names of the characters involved. (Though this relied a bit too much on The Golden Bough for my liking).

It’s a quite substantial seventy pages or so (not including the ‘Canary Pages’), with several pages of concert listings and some advertising but not a huge amount. So I wonder, is there anything like this in Britain? A Time Out focussing on serious music? Is there something in London that I just don’t know about?

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The sword of Damocles

Posted on June 12, 2012 by vhk10

I missed most of the Bath Festival this year, but caught towards the end the Belcea Quartet’s Beethoven programme at the Assembly Rooms.

After hearing an efficient performance of the fifth of the ‘Haydn’ quartets, I managed to track down the tubs of ice cream in the interval. (There is a cabinet of them in a corner of the room with the bar in, but watch out as some are the diabetic ones). Fortified, I returned for Op. 130.

I think I know this least well of all the late quartets. This performance included the Große Fuge, which I’d only ever before heard played separately. And somehow the knowledge that this finale was coming up informed the rest of the performance. Between the movements the pauses were longer than usual, as if the performers needed to summon up extra strength for what lay ahead. And while there was great dynamic contrast in the earlier movements, there was also a sense that something had to be kept in reserve. The audience, too, seemed to be holding its collective breath. Apart from those who were afflicted by coughs; this concert had more extraneous noise than I’ve heard in a while, including dogs barking outside, the dreaded Nokia ringtone in the first half, and programme-rustling. This last was partly because of the kind of crackly paper on which the programmes have been printed for this Festival – something for the organisers to take note of for next year?

So when the Große Fuge came round, we were all hanging on every note (and weren’t disappointed). But it’s very hard to concentrate on the earlier part of the quartet if you’re so eager to hear how the performers will manage the end of it. Perhaps the Große Fuge is better detached and performed on its own after all. Or maybe someone should try programming the quartet without saying in advance what the final movement will be. Has this ever been done?

This programme is being repeated on June 13th, broadcast live on Radio 3 and available on demand for a week afterwards.

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The Britten Sinfonia at the Wiltshire Music Centre

Posted on June 11, 2012 by vhk10

I made a detour to hear the Britten Sinfonia at the Wiltshire Music Centre in Viennese repertoire. Bath itself has a lack of concert halls that are a natural size for a small orchestra – the Assembly Rooms and Guildhall can only accomodate chamber concerts, the Abbey has awkward sightlines and acoustic and is rather cramped for the performers, at the Forum the audience feels miles away and the Michael Tippett Centre is some way out of town.

The programme began with Schubert’s German Dances as arranged by Webern. I find these really rather poignant pieces, since they represent both the world Webern arose from and the one which rejected his own compositions. And while they don’t rank very high in the list of Schubert’s compositions, their melodies are lodged in my memory from previous hearings.

Webern’s 5 movements Op. 5 followed, a real test for the orchestra’s being unconducted but it came off. The performance was discreetly directed by the leader, who however, remained uncredited although she got a bouquet at the end (I learnt later that she’s Jacqueline Shave).

After the interval, Roderick Williams sang a selection of Schubert songs arranged by Webern. These arrangements, though attractive, are less interesting than the dance arrangements which we heard in the first half, and were made while he was still a student.

Mahlers Rückertlieder sounded light and fresh, though I did miss Um Mitternacht which is the greatest of them in my opinion. And the programme ended with the second performance of Schubert’s 5th that I’ve heard in three weeks! (rather faster than the other one)

I had a look for the oboist I used to know in the Sinfonia but I think she must have sent a dep to this concert. I am a ‘friend’ of the orchestra on Facebook although they don’t seem to update very much with their forthcoming concerts, which is a pity.

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The cost of score hire

Posted on June 7, 2012 by vhk10

I have the option of hiring a score of a well-known choral work for £5 for a forthcoming concert. I’m not sure whether this reflects the actual expense of hiring, or whether the choir has added a markup, but when you add postage to me, it is only a pound or two short of what it would cost to buy a good used or even a new copy of the vocal score of the same work.

Is this now the going rate for score hire? At this rate I am going to start acquiring a library of the works I sing.

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Bruckner and the snoring hummingbird

Posted on May 25, 2012 by vhk10

During rehearsals our choirmaster, Gavin Carr, told about the viral YouTube video of a hummingbird apparently snoring. I’m not sure quite how this was intended to inform our performance of Bruckner’s Mass in F minor – not at least by a direct imitation of its tone which was a bit shrill. I think we were to remember that the piece is far from being heavy and loud all the way through.

I’ve sung all Bruckner’s motets and his Te Deum but this piece was totally new to me. Trying to locate it in the matrix of things I’ve sung, I decided it worked best to treat it as if it were Elgar, who must have looked to Bruckner as a model. There’s a phrase in Elgar’s Benedictus (which I sang for the first time during rehearsals for the Bruckner) which I’m sure is lifted from the Agnus Dei of this mass. But Bruckner lacks the twinge of English melancholy that you find in Elgar. It’s all a little bit too certain for my taste. And what did he have against compound time? My score had one bar of it towards the end, but even that seemed to have vanished from more modern editions. A recurring problem was that of coming in in exactly the right place in the middle of several bars where the harmony didn’t change at all and some Urthema relentlessly ploughed on.

Nevertheless, I’m glad I’ve sung it and would be interested to do more Bruckner masses (the one accompanied by wind players sound particularly intriguing). We had good company in the shape of the Bath Phil (who also played Schubert’s 5th), a fine team of young soloists, and a sizeable and appreciative audience.

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a quiz at St. George’s

Posted on May 14, 2012 by vhk10

I took part in a piece of Bristol University research, held one evening at St. George’s Bristol, after picking up a flyer about it in a local music shop. The researchers were looking at concert programming – what makes an appealing concert programme and how does this differ if the potential audience is more musically knowledgeable? Do people avoid relatively unknown pieces or are some people actually attacted by the idea of hearing something new? Do people like programmes all from the same composer or period, or prefer variety? We were offered multiple-choice options for programmes and picked selections that we would like. (I suspect at least one of the ‘new music’ pieces was actually invented, so as to be guaranteed to be new to everyone!)

To gauge our level of musical knowledge there was an associated quiz. I won’t go into great detail because the researchers might use the questions again elsewhere. There were some simple aural tests, questions on musical history, and pieces of music and instruments to identify. We were also played multiple recordings of the same passage and asked which interpretation we preferred. I’ll just describe one question which was I think included out of interest rather than to test us. We heard three performances of a piece of guitar music by Albeniz and were asked to say which we thought was played by a woman. Actually I got this right, though purely by guessing. With pianists, I think it is true that women tend to have a lighter touch than men, but the overall range is the same, so you can’t tell by listening.

I’m happy to say that I won the competition, mainly due to being able to identify most of the pieces of music, so I got two free tickets to go to St. George’s in June.

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The Big Space

Posted on May 11, 2012 by vhk10

The Cathedral Chamber Choir spent Low Sunday weekend at a new venue for us, Liverpool Anglican Cathedral. I’d sung there once before, a huge combined NW choral societies’ performance of Gerontius. I remember two things from that: one was that you couldn’t find a better demonstration that sound travels much slower than light, as the semi-chorus had to be re-positioned several times before they were able to keep toghether with the orchestra. The other was that we carefully seated ourselves somewhere with a sightline (vital for the reason I have just given), only to find a row of tall members of the RLPO chorus, who had been excused the morning rehearsal, appearing after lunch and blocking our view completely. I spent the concert swaying from side to side to get a fleeting glimpse of the conductor.

Back to Low Sunday 2012. We sang the Saturday evensong in the Lady Chapel – itself larger than most churches. We filled this relatively intimate space with Byrd’s Sing joyfully, V-W’s O taste and see and for a bit more beef, Stanford in B flat.

On the Sunday we were in the ‘Big Space’ for which we had one of the Cathedral’s approved organists. I know the requirement to use an organist on this list puts some choirs off coming to Liverpool, but without it a lot of rehearsal time could easily get used up on getting the ensemble together. Our Mass setting was Mozart’s in F K192, which I think I may have done before, but if so remembered nothing from it. Evensong featured Howells’ Gloucester canticles and a second helping of Stanford, Ye choirs of new Jerusalem which we used to bawl out on Easter Day at Little St. Mary’s. This being Liverpool, we only had rather miserable scraps of psalmody to sing. I had a look at their chant book and it seemed to have a very limited variety of chants, so clearly psalms aren’t a very high priority.

I got some time to look around the building and found a window near the West end depicting a selection of church musicians. There can’t be many representations of John Goss and F.A.G. Ouseley in stained glass.

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An unrepresentative audience for Berlioz

Posted on April 25, 2012 by vhk10

I went to Welsh National Opera’s production of Beatrice and Benedict at the Bristol Hippodrome. This was a sumptuous production, with lavish sets and costumes, and beautifully lit as the evening turned to moonlight in the first act. But if what you’re impressed by at the end of the evening is the lighting, hasn’t something gone wrong?

There weren’t problems with the singing – the usual crop of WNO regulars did a good job – and I fear that the root of it was really in the work itself. It pains me as a Berlioz enthusiast to say this, but at the end of the day this opera really feels a bit more like extended incidental music to a cut-down version of Shakespeare’s play. Ah yes, Shakespeare. This performance was in English, and while some of the Bard’s lines were retained, this showed up that the rest of the back-translation into English didn’t really match up. At least with Berlioz’ French libretto, it’s all equally distant from the original.

I had the feeling that the production had been tailored to appeal to a particular audience, with its extravagants sets, mannered acting (everyone froze during Hero’s big aria in Act 1) and Donald Maxwell’s buffo Somarone. Now I am not someone who feels it is an offence against political correctness if those attending an artistic event do not precisely match the make-up of the local adult population in all respects; but I think this was the oldest opera audience I’ve ever been a part of, and I saw only one black person in it. Shouldn’t WNO be trying to reach a wider cross-section of Bristol?

Reviews:

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Ambrosian rites

Posted on April 22, 2012 by vhk10

I spent much of Holy Week in Milan, and was able to get to Palm Sunday and Maundy Thursday services in the Cathedral. There is a tradition of elaborately choreographed liturgy there which I’ve experienced before – does it go right back to St. Ambrose, who was responsible for introducing more ceremonial?

I was particularly fortunate on Palm Sunday when I came in as part of a procession and was one of the first to be directed to the north transept, where I had a ringside view of the altar. I was right next to the choir, of about 30 men and boys. Two organs were used, the main one for accompanying the congregation, and a chamber organ with the choir (the treble soloists were miked). As tends to happen in Italy, the music didn’t really live up to the liturgy. There was some plainsong and responsorial psalms (which one could join in, as the music was printed in the service booklets) and much of the choir’s music appeared to be home-grown (they sang from copies of a hand-written score). It was not trite and not in unison, but not very interesting either.

I didn’t go to the Chrism Mass on Maundy Thursday, but I saw a service booklet and the quality of the music appeared to be rather higher, with more plainchant and some familiar hymns. Good to see that Purcell’s Westminster Abbey has made it over the Alps! There was also a hymn to the tune of Abide with Me, which I’ve come across elsewhere in Italy.

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The Spirit of Schubert

Posted on April 11, 2012 by vhk10

The latest survey of a composer’s entire output on Radio 3 focused on Schubert. As I’ve said in my last posting, I was present at a live evening broadcast, but I also found time to listen to some of the rest of the programming, avoiding the ‘dedication and request’ slots for the most part.

As usual with these ventures, there was a chance to discover lesser-known pieces: for example, Schubert’s setting of a psalm in Hebrew for a Viennese synagogue. This was balanced by avoiding those pieces such as Fierrebras that I’d previously tried and failed with. Of course the programmes had to include all the Lieder (I recall the previous broadcast of all the Lieder over the space of a year to mark the anniversary of his death). It was fun to play the game of turning on the radio and trying to guess the singer; as they largely stuck to great interpreters of these songs, I was able to do this a lot of the time.

But I have one gripe. When this was done for J.S. Bach, the programming was comparable in its overall length and the number of separate pieces to be included. With Bach, the programme listings told you exactly when every last cantata and chorale prelude was due to be programmed, and details of the performers, no matter what time of day or night it went out. With Schubert, this was only done for the major works; everything else was grouped into ‘themes’. So if you had a favourite obscure song or classic performance, you could not find out when it would come round or who the singer would be. Did they broadcast Dinu Lipatti playing the Impromptus? Marian Anderson singing Death and the Maiden? I hope so, but I had no way of telling, or of making a point of catching them.

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an invited audience

Posted on March 28, 2012 by vhk10

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I attended a concert which was broadcast live as part of the BBC’s mammoth Schubertiad, Elisabeth Leonskaja playing the last two piano sonatas, D959 and D960, in the Assembly Rooms.

The audience was not very large, and I knew a fair number of them, which gave the event the feel of a private party. In fact, on talking to some it became clear that almost all of us, myself included, had been given our tickets by various cultural organisations in Bath. I suspect that the tickets had probably not sold well because there isn’t a regular concert series at the Assembly Rooms outside the Music Festival and the Mozartfest, so people didn’t really know about it. So a few days ago tickets were distributed via channels that were likely to reach music lovers.

Anyway we agreed that the concert really should have attracted a bigger audience. She favoured slower tempi and a less demonstrative style than some. Apart from a moment in one encore, it was all note perfect. The encores were the slow movement of D664 and, almost inevitably, the impromptu in Gb.

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