A seasonal favorite encores at Wamsutta

“The Harper and the Minstrel,” husband and wife Jay and Abby Michaels, play an astonishing variety of instruments from the past. Jay is a virtuoso of the harp but also plays string dulcimer and guitar, while Abby plays a variety of flutes, recorders and whistles as well as the hammer dulcimer and psalter. This past Saturday they brought their magic to the Wamsutta club as part of the Wepecket Island records “salon series.” For the fifth year, they focused on songs of the season, both winter and Christmas. Abby has a lovely soprano voice, though at times her facial gestures are a bit disconcerting. The sound they bring out of their historically correct instruments is haunting and peaceful, and the hour and half passed much too quickly. With food and drink available for purchase in a close-up homey setting, these first Saturday of the month concerts are a treat as well as a bargain.

Dorothy heads north: The Snow Queen at New rep

The latest offering at the New Rep is a musical adaptation of the classic Hans Christian Andersen story The Snow Queen, the story of a girl overcoming numerous trials to save her friend. The story line follows closely to the original fairy tale. If you have seen the original Wizard of Oz with Judy Garland, you will find enormous overlap: plucky young girl meeting numerous odd creatures, some friendly, some evil, and overcoming great odds to achieve her goal. The heroine, Gerda, even has special red shoes! The production relies heavily on the staging, which is beautifully done, with falling snowflakes and a magical sense to the backdrop. The cast are generally strong, with Victoria Britt making a very convincing pre-pubescent heroine. Maurice Parent has several scene-stealing moments, notably as The Old Crow/flyer with a British accent. Unfortunately the singing voices are not quite up to the task with the exception of Aimee Doherty as the Snow Queen, who has a wonderful voice. The production, at over two and a half hours with intermission, is a bit long and could be tightened. More hit than miss, and worth seeing.

Handel + Haydn's Messiah soars again

H+H first performed excerpts from Handel’s Messiah at its inaugural concert on Christmas Day in 1815 and performed the complete work three years later. The oratorio has been performed every December since 1854. This year’s performance played to a sold-out Symphony Hall and was well-received despite rather variable performances by the four soloists. The soprano, Sophie Bevan, was magnificent, and the contralto, Emily Marvosh, had a clean clear voice. The baritone, Christpher Purves, had a fine voice but little stage presence. The weakest link was tenor James Gilchrist, whose voice was thready and mannerisms annoying. Outstanding work by the H+H chorus meant that whenever the full chorus was center-stage, the performance soared. The wonderful period orchestra took second place to the vocals, but performed flawlessly, with special kudos to Ian Watson at organ and harpsichord and Jesse Levine on trumpet.

BSO presents a study in contrasts

This week’s BSO concert was a study in contrasts. The opener was a bitter-sweet add-on: a glorious rendition of Bach’s Air on a G String, sweet to hear but added as a tribute to Joseph Silverstein who recently died. Next up was Haydn’s Symphony #30 – the Alleluja. Just as “Nobody doesn’t like Sara Lee,” it is hard to dislike a Haydn symphony. These were largely composed as easy listening for the Esterhazy family and friends, and are pleasant to the ear but rarely dramatic. Of course the orchestra’s playing was flawless. After this came Bartok’s Piano Concerto #2, a piece that represents everything I dislike about 20th Century composition. Yefim Bronfman attacked the piano. The first movement featured a battle between the piano and the brass section, which probably ended in a draw. The second movement revived the strings, which had sat mutely for the first, in a remarkably contrasting section of sweetness. Mr. Bronfman is a titan of the piano, and many in the audience were wildly appreciative, but I found the piece atonal and hard on the ears. After intermission, another contrast: Tchaikovsky’s Symphony #1, “Winter Daydreams.” An evocative piece that draws on Russian folk themes, the orchestration and complexity showed how far the symphonic form had evolved over the century between Haydn and Tchaikovsky. Of course, Andris Nelsons' gyrations at the podium always add to the visual impact of the BSO.

NBSO goes 3 for 3 with homeruns

We were sure we would enjoy the Rachmaninoff and the Beethoven, but came not knowing what to expect from the opening work, Sea Portraits by composer Stephen Paulus. I tend to associate most classical works composed after the early part of the 20th century with atonality and dissonance. Much to our delight, Sea Portraits was a lyrical celebration of the South Coast, open and accessible. Commissioned by the Symphony for its 90th anniversary, it is a work in four movements: Sunrise, Sailing, Storm and Moonlight on the Sea. For this Centennial performance, the Symphony had a marvelous addition: a visual portrait of the South Coast by artist John Robson that filled the backdrop behind the symphony. Described by Mr. Robson as “a stream of consciousness in color, shape and form,” the images perfectly accompanied the music. Next up was pianist Anne-Marie McDermott, a world-class performer whose mastery of the complex work was a marvel. The rhapsody involves a delightful back-and-forth between soloist and orchestra, and was performed by both with bravado. The orchestra was in full voice, with harp and three percussionists added to strings, brass and woodwinds. After a well-deserved standing ovation and curtain-call, Ms. McDermott rewarded the audience with a delightful short work by Liszt as an encore, a very common NBSO tradition. After intermission came Beethoven’s 7th – a late work showing his mastery of the symphonic form. Here we had no multi-media and no soloist, just a thoroughly polished symphony orchestra doing full justice to this magnificent work. If you missed this performance, it is a shame – but be sure not to miss the rest of the season.

African-American experience 1945

Growing up in Canada in the 1950’s, I had very little experience with African-Americans and thus had a shocking exposure when I went on a spontaneous drive to Florida around age 13 with my uncle and some older cousins. We drove uneventfully from Montreal as far as Washington and then entered the south. My jaw dropped when I saw rest rooms and water fountains labeled “whites only” and “colored only.” I was thus looking forward to the Lyric Stage’s production of “Saturday Night/Sunday Morning,” which centered around a fictional black beauty parlor in Memphis in 1945, a time not that different from the 1950’s. While there were some stirring moments, such as the comment by the black postman, saved from military duty by his polio-afflicted leg, “why fight for freedom over there when we need to do it here?” Another dramatic highlight was the story told by a customer whose husband went in uniform with his family to get supplies only to be sneeringly told: “you might have been a soldier there, but here you are just a nigger.” Unfortunately, these dramatic moments were drowned by the mundane day to day chatter among the boarders/assistants at Miss Mary’s shop. The dialog was tedious, and the accents, perhaps authentic, made the story hard to follow, though easier with repetition. It was hard to really care about the characters. More could have been done with this raw material.

Baroque Venice in Boston

Venice, built out of the sea, was devoted first to commerce and second to religion. Its musical tradition developed later, and was centered on church music. By the 16th century, Venice was an important center of music, and its best-known composer to modern audiences is Giovanni Gabrielli. On Friday and Sunday, Handel + Haydn brought to Jordan Hall a feast of Venetian Baroque music, featuring works by Gabrielli and composers previously unknown to us, including Dario Castello, Biagio Marini, Giovanni Fontana and Michaelangelo Rossi. The works were clearly historically-correct. In addition to the organ, harpsichord and violins, we heard a trombone, dulcian and theorbo. Leading the ensemble was Richard Egarr, directing from the keyboard as well as playing a harpsichord solo. The instrumentalists took turns coming and going, with one piece featuring violinist Aisslinn Nosky on stage and the other two playing an echo from just off-stage. This was clearly chamber music with the small groupings of instruments, and was better suited to the smaller confines of Jordan Hall. The playing, as one would expect from H+H musicians, was superb, and Mr. Egarr’s obvious enthusiasm for the works and his brief introductory comments added to the enjoyment.

Vive La France, Vive La Piaf!

Since 2015 is the 100th anniversary of the birth of Edith Piaf, it is an appropriate year to have a touring company present “Piaf! Le Spectacle,” which we saw at the Zeiterion on Sunday. The show is done in two halves. The first does Piaf as street musician, getting by on hand-outs from the crowd. The cast are dressed in a manner reminiscent of the era, and the giant backdrop screen has a marvelous series of montages showing Paris of the 1930’s and 1940’s. After intermission, the second half showcases Piaf as international star, and the singer is now in a little black dress while her band members have changed into tuxedos. The visuals show us Piaf on magazine covers, a montage of her famous lovers, and Piaf in glamorous locales. Marvelous as are the photos and visuals, the show succeeds because of the music. Anne Carrere IS Edith Piaf, though with perhaps a slightly better voice! The songs of the first half were less familiar, while the second half featured all of the Piaf signature songs (La Vie en Rose, Je ne Regrette Rien, Padam, etc). The band includes a piano, bass, accordion and percussion, and while at times a bit too loud, was generally excellent. Ms Carrere has a sparkling personality to go along with her magnificent voice. She got the audience to sing along for one song, and pulled men out of the audience to join her as props for a few songs. A great show.

Tabor goes Green

Tabor Academy hosted an evening of traditional Irish music at the Firemen Center Friday night. Leading off were the Buzzards Bay Buccaneers, a duo playing Irish jigs and reels on the Irish Bouzouki and autoharp. These instruments made the music sound better than the traditional fiddle, though their playing was a bit off-key at times. Next up were husband and wife Jay and Abby Michaels, “The Harper and the Minstrel.” They play an astounding variety of instruments, including harps, of course, and flutes and whistles. Abby’s gentle soprano and Jay’s baritone are also used to good effect. They got a well-deserved ovation after their set. Headlining the program was Irish balladeer Gerry O’Beirne, who was artist-in-residence at Tabor this past week. He captured the audience with his voice, masterful guitar playing and puckish personality. He agreed to do “Danny Boy” at audience request “as long as you do NOT sing along.” For an encore, he did an acoustic guitar piece that displayed his mastery of the instrument. If you missed this show, you can catch Jay and Abby at the Wepecket Salon Series concert in December

Elijah soars with the New Bedford Symphony

Mendelssohn’s Elijah was modeled after the great Baroque oratorios of Handel, Haydn and Bach and is a sublime work. It features four soloists, chorus and large orchestra augmented by an organ. Sunday’s performance by the New Bedford Symphony did it justice. The four soloists were uniformly excellent, with a special bow to baritone Philip Lima. As Elijah, he had the greatest share of time and was magnificent. Not only does Mr. Lima possess a glorious voice, but he had a great stage presence. He WAS an Old Testament prophet – at times commanding and others sorrowful. It would not have surprised me had he brought down hail and brimstone. The chorus, which was the Rhode Island College Concert Chorus augmented by members from the Sippican and Greater New Bedford Choral Societies, started off somewhat tentatively but gained in strength as the performance went on. Several members of the RICCC were called out to join the soloists in some sections and displayed excellent voices. The orchestra performed flawlessly, and the organ sections blended in perfectly without dominating. The English lyrics (the piece was first performed in Birmingham in its English edition) made it easier for the audience to follow the biblical tale. A sublime afternoon at the Z.

Fredheads gather in the basement

It has been many decades since we were last in that subterranean shrine to folk music, the Club Passim. In fact, the last artist we saw there was probably Joan Baez when she was one step up from street busker. Nowadays the Club runs concerts just about seven nights a week. Little has changed – it is very small and very crowded, with 4 to a table barely big enough for two. The food is casual hearty – burgers and fries style, with a lengthy drink menu. With a small kitchen, service tends to be slow. We were there to see Fred Eaglesmith, Canadian troubadour of cars and trains and unrequited love. This time Fred added a back-up singer, a big-haired Texas gal who opened and then sang harmony on many songs. He kept his drummer, bass player and guitar player of many years. Fred is one of those artists you either love or hate. His gravelly voice is a bit reminiscent of the early Bob Dylan, and his stage repartee is heavy on insults and irony. He doesn't get this way often, so the evening was a must for fans.

A Number: solid acting, weak story at New Rep

The story line (I hate to call it a plot) of A Number is thus: father loses his wife to suicide, tries to raise infant son alone but fails miserably, at least in part due to alcohol and drug use. Son shipped off somewhere unspecified but to try again, father has him cloned and apparently does a better job the second time. Unknown to him, multiple clones are made ?why? The cloned son discovers this and is very upset. The original son appears, angry and bitter. One of the other clones shows up at the end. The dialog never really hangs together, and too many lose ends are left to make this plausible. The theme is supposedly “nature versus nurture,” but we never really know enough about the second son to know how much he differed from the first. The set is spare and modernistic, and neither adds to or detracts from the play. The acting is excellent. Nael Nacier uses simple changes of costume and accent to pull off being the three different clones. Dale Place over acts at times but is an effective father who has made many wrong choices. The play is mercifully short at just about one hour. As a Black Box, little theatre, presentation, one’s expectations would have been lower, but as a Main Stage piece, this is simply not worth your time.

Russia invades Symphony Hall

Our first BSO concert of the new season featured two contrasting works. The first half was Prokofiev’s Cantata Alexander Nevsky, and the second, Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances. The great Russian film director Sergei Eisenstein created Alexander Nevsky in large part due to the propaganda need of the Soviet government in the late 1930’s. Stalin feared an invasion by the Nazis and wanted a film that would raise Russian morale. The story of a 13th Century Russian folk hero was designed for that purpose. Despite its genesis, Alexander Nevsky is considered one of the great films of all times. Prokofiev was enlisted to write the movie score, and he turned this score into a free-standing Cantata for chorus and orchestra. Like the Marseillaise, the cantata has stirring music and blood-curdling lyrics best not translated. Each movement of the Cantata depicts a portion of the film, though in a much more flowing coherent musical rendition than can be done with a film score.The full Tanglewood Festival Chorus filled Symphony Hall with rich sound. A short solo section was beautifully sung by Russian mezzo-soprano Nadezhda Serdyuk, making her BSO debut. At the end of the piece, we were ready to serve the defense of the Motherland! After intermission we were treated to a sweet melodic and pastoral contrast. Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances was written in America, and sounds much more American than Russian. A beautiful section is played by the woodwinds alone without strings, and the finale includes brass fanfares. Both pieces showed off the splendid acoustics of Symphony Hall and led to standing ovations

Handel and Haydn at 200

Handel and Haydn opened their Bicentennial year with the classics: Haydn and Mozart. Leading off was Haydn’s Symphony #99 – a pleasant piece in which he first used the clarinet as part of the orchestra. Haydn spent the bulk of his career as Kapellmeister to Prince Nikolaus Esterhazy, one of the most powerful men in Austria, and I must believe that his style was developed as he wrote what would have been “easy listening” music for the rich and powerful. It is hard to dislike Haydn, but at the same time, it is hard to be passionate about his orchestral works, all of which sound vaguely similar. That said, H+H did a technically perfect rendering of the piece, and it was a relaxing opening. A short choral piece followed – Samuel Webbe’s “When winds breath soft” written for 5 voices and sung beautifully by a subset of the H+H chorus. The first half ended with a reprise of last year: a short section from Haydn’s Creation. The second half was devoted to Mozart’s stirring Requiem. Listening to this piece, unfinished at his death, it is hard not to feel the pain of the composer who died so young, and who wrote this as his own epitaph. The four soloists sang primarily as a quartet, and had fine voices, with a special shout-out to bass-baritone Dashon Burton for his mellifluous deep voice. The bulk of the singing was done by the full H+H chorus, and their technical mastery carried the day. This was a most stirring piece, sung stirringly. For readers on the South Coast: H+H will be giving a concert in Westport on November 22 as part of the Concerts on the Point. Don’t miss it.

NBSO opens its Centenary Season

100 and counting! The New Bedford Symphony Orchestra kicked off its centennial season with a pre-concert party and free birthday cake in the street before the concert. Indoors was an even better feast. The lead-off was Berlioz’s Le Corsair overture, a Pops favorite with rousing melody and a crashing brass finale. Then came the Sibelius Violin Concerto, the only such work composed by the Finnish national hero. Unlike many violin concertos, the Sibelius clearly separates violin from orchestra, with each operating sequentially for most of the piece rather than together. This requires a strong soloist, and Martin Chalifour fulfilled the role admirably. As is typical for the NBSO, Mr. Chalifour is not a “rock star” soloist, but a first tier player with numerous appearances with major orchestras. He received a well-deserved standing ovation. After intermission we heard perhaps the best known and recognized symphony not called Beethoven’s Fifth: Antonin Dvorak’s 9th Symphony “From the New World.” This was perfectly played and reflected the maturation of the NBSO to a truly first class orchestra. A fine kick-off to the season. Join the NBSO for the rest.

Broken Glass at the New Rep

The year is 1938, and in Brooklyn, Sylvia Gellburg, has become paralyzed from the waist down for no reason, to her husband’s dismay. He has consulted the dashing, handsome Dr. Harry Hyman to treat Sylvia. Meanwhile, across the Atlantic, Kristallnacht has occurred: that night in 1938 when Nazis went on a rampage, shattering the windows of Jewish shopkeepers and burning synagogues. Sylvia is obsessed by a news photo of two elderly Jews forced to clean the sidewalk with toothbrushes while a mob taunts them. Dr. Hyman has become convinced that Sylvia’s paralysis is psychosomatic, brought on by some unknown stress, and spends a good part of the play trying to tease out the root cause. In the mean time, Phillip Gellburg, a Jew who wants desperately to assimilate, gets into trouble with his Wasp boss at the Brooklyn bank where Phillip is the only Jew. During the course of the play we learn more and more about the Gellburg’s failed marriage, and the denouement is fairly predictable. The cast is strong, with particular kudos to Anne Gottlieb as Sylvia. Jeremiah Kissel’s Phillip is well-played, but his lines were often swallowed. Benjamin Evett, who has played many roles at the New Rep, is a very credible dashing ladies’ man. The other parts: Eve Passeltiner as Harry’s wife Margaret, Christine Hamel as Sylvia’s younger sister, and Michael Kaye as the rich Wasp boss, are less demanding but well-done. The action shifts seamlessly from Dr. Hyman’s office to the Gellburg bedroom to the bank with a revolving stage. Coming from Arthur Miller, you expect unhappiness, and Phillip Gellburg carries unmistakable overtones of Willy Loman, insecure in himself. Do not go to the New Rep to be “entertained” but do go to experience powerful acting.

Kinky Boots- a Message with Pizzazz

If you are at all a fan of Harvey Fierstein (Hairspray, Cage aux Folles), you must see Kinky Boots. The story line of this musical smash is simple. Charlie Price does not want to take over the family shoe factory but is forced into it by his father’s sudden death. He soon finds that cheap imports have ruined the business and is on the verge of having to shut the factory. He is inspired by an adoring employee to find a niche instead of giving in, and runs across Lola, an exuberant transvestite, who in turn convinces him to design glamorous boots sturdy enough for the heavier frames of male cross dressers. Lola shows a flare for design and joins the firm, to the disgruntlement of the macho male employees. In the end everyone learns to accept people as who they are and they take the Milan shoe show by storm. The music, by Cyndi Lauper, is in turns heartwarming and over the top and the dance numbers by Lola’s “Angels” and the rest of the cast are show stoppers. The touring cast was uniformly excellent in voice and stage presence. The band, perhaps a bit too loud at times, was excellent otherwise. The audience got quickly caught up in the action and gave the cast a standing O. An enjoyable evening in the theatre.

Tanglewood: heavenly music; traffic from Hell

My visiting sister-in-law wanted to go to Tanglewood, and we had not been there in decades, so we planned a weekend trip: drive out early Sunday, check in to our hotel, have a picnic lunch on the grounds, see a 2:30 concert, have a nice dinner in Lenox and then an 8:30 concert. The estimated travel time was 3 hours, so a 9 AM start would offer lots of leeway. WRONG. The unplanned: an accident on 495 that meant the hour up to the Turnpike turned into 2 hours. Very heavy traffic on the Turnpike west for no obvious reason, and then bumper-to-bumper the last 5 miles in Lenox. With no chance to stop at the hotel, we got to the parking ground at 2 PM, 5 hours after leaving. Parking was several hundreds yards from the gate, up a steep hill. That left us time for a hurried lunch and just enough time to find our seats. We were warned that traffic out after the afternoon concert and in for the evening concert would be equally bad, so cancelled our dinner reservations and settled for the mediocre cafeteria on the grounds for supper. Ah, the music, that almost made us forget the logistics. The afternoon sandwiched violinist Joshua Bell between two colorful orchestral pieces: Moussorsky’s Night on Bald Mountain and Ravel’s Symphonie Fantastique. Both had rich orchestration with full tympany and showcased the talented BSO performers admirably. Joshua Bell demonstrated why he is such a sought after soloist with his mastery of the instrument and stage presence. The evening performance was another tour-de-force, this time featuring cellist Yo-Yo Ma and pianist Emmanuel Ax performing all five of Beethoven’s sonatas for cello and piano. Talk about three all-stars! Mr. Ma was his usual flamboyant self, and Mr. Ax showed why he is a multi-Grammy winner. Doing the sonatas in sequence allowed us to follow the composer’s growth, with particular change between the 2nd and 3rd, written 11 years apart. The increased complexity was apparent. Should you go, and the music is sublime, I would advise getting there the day ahead to allow for much more relaxed experience, and staying as close to the grounds as possible.

There's no fool like an old fool: Lear on the Common

This year was the 20th presentation of free summer Shakespeare on the Boston Common by the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company. The play ran July 22 to August 9 at 8 PM except for an earlier start on Sundays. Reserved seating up front was available for donors, and there were many requests for donations at the show, but basically you could show up with your lawn chairs or blanket and enjoy an evening of professional theatre at no charge. The logistics were well-handled, and easy parking was available at the underground garage. The acoustics were excellent, and the actors could be heard everywhere. The play is well-known: the aging King Lear decides to turn over his kingdom to his three daughters equally, but at the last moment asks them to profess their love. The two older daughters fawn over him, while the youngest expresses her love plainly. The enraged king disowns her on the spot and divides his kingdom in two instead, and Cordelia leaves with the king of France, who appreciates her honesty. Lear soon finds that his loving daughters are not so loving when he has no power or wealth, and is driven mad. The climax of the first half is his encounter with Mad Tom in a raging storm, with water pouring down and giant fans blowing. There are, as in all Shakespeare, sub-plots aplenty, and the play ends with the stage littered with bodies. All of the cast were excellent, with Will Lyman’s Lear a tragic figure for the ages and Brandon Whitehead’s Fool getting many of the best lines and applause. My only issue was the late start. For a long play, an earlier start would make it much easier for working folk to enjoy.

Mississippi comes to New Bedford

Wepeckett Island Records sponsors a “salon series” of concerts held at the Wamsutta Club the first Saturday of the month. These are in the folk/blues genre and feature performers you may not have heard of but should have. While these are usually evening concerts with table seating and the chance to buy food and drink, the August concert is the exception. It is billed as the Annual Blues and Barbecue Bash and is held outdoors, weather permitting, headlining Sherman Lee Dillon from Mississippi. This month’s Bash had perfect weather, almost Mississippi-like, but with a breeze and the shade of the big oaks. The barbecue came first, and was inside in the air-conditioned Wamsutta bar, featuring all-you-can-eat burgers, chicken wings, salads and watermelon and cookies. We then were invited outside to be serenaded by Sherman Lee backed up by Wepeckett’s own Jack Radcliffe on keyboard (and occasional fiddle) and Don Barry on the bass. Don also ably handled the sound system and sang a couple of songs. One of these was a very touching original song about an elderly couple that surely brought some tears to the eyes of many. Sherman Lee is a perennial Wepeckett favorite. He mixes blues singing with stories about growing up in rural Mississippi, accompanying himself on steel guitar and harmonica, with the occasional banjo thrown in. The bass and keyboard back-up was seamless, and when Sherman Lee needed a breather, Jack filled in with his usual flawless keyboard. Coming up in the rest of 2015 are concerts on Sept 5, Oct 3, Nov 7 and Dec 5. The prices are reasonable, the evening fun and the atmosphere homey. Do yourself a favor and check these out!

Back to the 60's and 70's with fun

Most of my posts are about classical music, but our tastes are eclectic. As long as it is good, we enjoy all kinds of genres. Last night we happened upon a talented and fun group that do the songs of our youth. The City of Newton puts on free concerts during the summer, and most of the groups performing are enthusiastic but not that talented. We were having a bite to eat in Newton Center and saw a group setting up, so decided to grab our blankets and at least listen to the first few numbers. The group was The Reminisants, and they were GOOD. They did a mix of songs originally done by all the greats of the 60's and 70's (Roy Orbison, Elvis, The Moody Blues, etc) and if you closed your eyes, you could believe you were hearing the originals. The keyboard and guitars were first rate, and their stage presence made it even more enjoyable. The group performs frequently all over eastern Massachusetts, and I would encourage you to check their schedule and give them a listen. (www.reminisants.com)

Fun with Roberto Plano and Friends

Roberto Plano is an Italian pianist of international renown, who has played twice with the New Bedford Symphony. Back in the United States, he made a delightful stop in Marion between extended performances in Newport and Chautauqua. Billed as “An evening with Roberto Plano and Friends,” the event was held as a fund-raiser for the NBSO at Tabor Academy’s Lyndon Auditorium. First on the bill were two duets with NBSO concert master Jesse Holstein: Mozart’s Sonata in G, with the piano playing the dominant role, and the inventive Tzigane of Ravel, with the violin having center stage. Both were played flawlessly. A short interlude was provided by the Planos’ daughters, 6 and 8, making their “North American debuts.” They played short pieces separately and then as piano 4-hands, and performed like young professionals. Next came arias sung by NBSO development assistant and professional soprano Martha Gannon, accompanied by Mr. Plano. Her voice was rich and nuanced, and the “O mio babbino caro” brought a standing ovation. The evening ended with a piano 4-hands duet with Mr. Plano’s wife Paola Del Negro, an accomplished pianist and teacher in her own right. They did rousing renditions of Schumann’s Polonaises and Brahms’ Hungarian dances to well-deserved applause. For an encore, the duet did Victor Borge proud by “fighting” over the piano keyboard. A wonderful, if all too short evening. Please come again, Roberto.

Beautiful music by the shore

The Buzzards Bay Musicfest is the best summer music festival you have probably never heard of. Now in its 19th year, the festival brings in musicians of national caliber to the seaside town of Marion, Massachusetts, every July for a week. The musicians must enjoy it, because many return year after year, staying with host families in town. With little rehearsal time, they present 5 days of concerts. This year we had two chamber music concerts and two orchestral concerts. An innovation last year was devoting one evening to jazz. This was a big success in 2014 and so was repeated, bringing back the Sean Jones Quartet. The music selection is heavy on the classics: Mozart, Brahms, Bruch, Rossini, Beethoven and JC Bach. The only 20th Century composer represented was Rachmaninoff, but they clearly know their audience. The playing is uniformly strong. Perhaps because these are all seasoned professionals, you would never guess they may have only had a day or two to rehearse together. While I hate to single out any work over another, the Saint-Saens Carnival of the Animals, complete with Ogden Nash’s witty narrative was a favorite, and conductor Andres Cardenes did a tour-de-force on the final day, both conducting and playing the violin solo in Bruch’s Violin Concerto #1. The festival is funded by contributions and entry is free, though donations are accepted. Do plan to put it on your calendar for next July.

Light Up the Sky lights up Lyric Stage

The Lyric Stage's revival of Moss Hart's charming comedy Light Up the Sky is aptly named, as the cast in this fast-paced comedy make for a delightful evening's entertainment. The play tells the story of a pre-Broadway Boston tryout of a new play by a neophyte playwright. The characters include the playwright, an over-the-top director who cries at the drop of a hat, the producer and his wife who have put up the money after reading the script, the leading lady and her dull stockbroker husband and her caustic mother, as well as an accomplished playwright who acts as a form of Greek chorus, a visiting Shriner and a new grad who is ghost-writing the leading lady's autobiography. The opening appears to be a flop and the the three main experienced characters berate the playwright, who decides to give it all up and go home. The morning papers, however, give the show rave reviews and so they must convince the playwright to return.
The lines are witty, the acting superb, and the time just flies by.  A wonderful ending to the 2014-15 season.

Spanish Baroque at Jordan Hall

As part of the Boston Early Music Festival, Jordi Savall and his ensemble joined with the Tembembe ensemble to perform a feast of early Hispanic music on a variety of period instruments. Despite the logistic flaws (more on that below), it was received with thunderous applause. Mr Savall, of course, is one of the great names in early music. A gambist, he has been performing widely since the 1970's with his group Hespérion XXI. Mr. Savall played a treble viol built in Venice around 1500 and a bass viol built in 1697. His ensemble played a variety of percussion instruments, guitars, theorbo and vihuela. Joining them was the Tembembe Ensamble from Mexico, all teachers at the National University, playing a variety of guitars, violin, and maracas and singing. The first half of the concert included four lengthy pieces from the 16th and 17th centuries, and after intermission began with some traditional Scottish pieces transcribed from bagpipe to viol. They then returned to their Spanish roots, and even favored the appreciative audience with an encore. The playing was sublime, and the few vocal pieces featured Tembembe members with superb tenor voices. The only fly in the ointment was the amateurish logistics. I dropped my wife off 30 minutes before concert time, with everyone milling about in the street and returned about 15 minutes later to find the doors just opened and the audience sent in a conga line down and back a long corridor to be checked slowly in by two ticket checkers. After intermission, Mr Savall made a number of remarks about the instruments and introduced the players, but even though we were in the 11th row dead center, I could barely hear half of what he said. Surely a microphone could have been made available! Jordan hall was almost 100% filled. If you plan to go next year, get your tickets early!

Classic Pops - why we love it

Thursday, June 4 was Tech Night at Pops - all of Symphony Hall was filled with MIT alumni back for reunion. The program was varied and lovely. After a lively Festive Overture by Shostakovich we had the haunting Ayesh's Dance and Lezghinka by Aram Khachaturian. This was followed by Stokowski's transcription for orchestra of Bach's Toccata and Fugue; this was BSO playing at its finest - you could actually "hear" the organ. The final selection before intermission was a fascinating diversion: the ensemble Gamelan Galak Tika, a nine-member group playing the traditional Balinese gamelan - a sort of ancient xylophone struck by hammers - played a selection from a concerto for gamelan and string orchestra. The audience was mesmerized. Starting the second half was the MIT school song and then an MIT senior, John Bowler, soloed in the first movement of Grieg's wonderful Piano Concerto in A minor. Having been subjected to various "talents" from sponsoring organizations, I was skeptical, but was wowed by the virtuoso performance. Mr Bowler could probably give up engineering and make his way on the concert stage if he desired. The finale of the concert was three Pops renditions of popular music from the past - with a twist, that Keith Lockhart gave us each time three selections from which to choose and used audience voting to make the choice. There are not many venues in which one could hear the Toccata and Fugue and Dancing Queen on the same program! All in all, one of the best Pops concerts we have heard.

La Juive - powerful theatre

We were lucky to be in Nice, France, this May when Halevy's opera La Juive had four performances at the Nice Opera House. Written in 1835, this opera was widely performed for the next 100 years and then fell out of favor. The recent staging packed a powerful punch. The basic story line is a variation on the eternal triangle with racism thrown in. Rachel, the daughter of the Jewish goldsmith Eleazar, is in love with "Samuel," who is actually the Christian general Leopold, just returned from vanquishing the Hussites, but who claims to be Jewish to win her favor. He attends a Passover Seder wearing a skull cap but remaining silent during prayers and trying to discard his matzoh. Also in love with Leopold is the princess Eudoxie, who asks Eleazar to make a pendant for her fiancee. Rachel denounces Leopold at the banquet as having slept with a Jew, her. Rachel, her father and Leopold are all condemned. Eudoxie visits the doomed Rachel and begs her to recant to save Leopold and after much soul-searching, Rachel does just that. A twist is that the leader of the Christians is Cardinal Brogni, who came late to the clergy after his family and possessions were burned by invaders. Eleazar tells him that his daughter was actually saved by a Jew and that he knows their whereabouts, but refuses to tell him as punishment. Eleazar asks his daughter if she will save her life by converting but she refuses. At the final scene, Rachel is cast into the flames and then Eleazar tells Brogni that it is HIS daughter who is dying. All of the lead roles had powerful voices and all wonderfully expressive faces that added to the drama. The Nice Opera Orchestra was superb. The only detraction was the heat in the venue, which is beautiful but lacked functioning air conditioning. If you have the chance to see this opera, grab it.

NBSO Goes Out With Flare

The final New Bedford Symphony concert of the 2014-15 season was a bell-ringer! First up was Berlioz' Roman Carnival Overture, a fast-paced orchestral piece featuring brass and full percussion. Flawlessly paced and played, it got the audience "up" for the rest of the evening. This was followed by Edward Elgar's deeply moving Cello Concerto, a work that became the "signature piece" of famed cellist Jacqueline du Pre. The concerto was composed just after WW I, and the tragic loss of lives in that conflict clearly influenced Elgar's composition. The magic was briefly interrupted by a broken string, but the professionalism of soloist and orchestra allowed them to pick up and finish while returning the audience to intense contemplation. The solist, Jesus Castro-Balbi, was flawless in his interpretation. After intermission came Borodin's In the Steppes of Central Asia, with its evocation of endless open spaces and horsemen, a beautiful and well-known classic work. Again the orchestra played to perfection. The final work was The Pines of Rome by Ottorino Respighi. This saw the return of a full, and I mean full, orchestra. We had multiple percussionists on stage, a brass section playing off stage and Paul Cienniwa on the organ. The work also allowed several of the woodwind players to show off their talents. The rousing finish left the audience breathless and on their feet. I look forward the next, centennial season with great anticipation.

Handel & Haydn finishes with a flourish

During their bicentennial season, H&H have brough out all the "big guns." Last month was Elijah, and the final concert of the season was Haydn's The Creation. In additon to the always-splendid H&H chorus, this wortk requires top-notch soloists, and we were not disappointed. Tenor Jeremy Uriel, a newcomer to H&H but not to the concert stage, was a fine Uriel. Sarah Tynan, a British soprano, was another newcomer to the H&H, but also a seasoned operatic performer. Her voice soared but the words were often lost in her trills. Heading the cast as Raphael and Adam was bass-baritone Matthew Brook. His expressive facial gestures added a touch of whimsy to the performance as he described the arrival on earth of the nimble stag and the burrowing worm. All three voices were sublime, as was the chorus. The H+H orchestra gave a flawless performance, and we got to hear featured the forte piano played by Ian Watson accompanying many of the recitals. A fitting ending to a celebratory season.

BSO starts slow, finishes strong

The week 26 performance featured several old "war horses," in performers and selections. The guest conductor was Bernard Haitink, the renowned Dutch conductor who has been on the podium for 60 years, and the pianist was Maria Joao Pires. The opener was the Overture to Manfred by Schumann. As one would expect from the BSO, it was beautifully played, but had little character and sounded like background or movie music. Next up was Mozart's Piano Concerto #23. As Ms. Pires is a Mozart specialist, the piece was technically perfect. Unfortunately, it is a "small" piece, almost more of a chamber music piece, that was not well-suited for Symphony Hall. The pianist got a well-deserved ovation, but we finished the first half somewhat disappointed and bored. Fortunately the second half was a rousing rendition of Brahms' Symphony #1, often referred to as "Beethoven's 10th," reflecting the weight of expections that had been placed on Brahms' shoulders. He took five years to complete the work, and it is monumental. Fully orchestrated, the piece more than filled the hall, and was a suitable last concert for our BSO subscription.

New Rep season ends with a thud

The final play of the 2014-15 New Rep season was to be The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore, starring Olympia Dukakis. Unfortunately, Ms Dukakis pulled out many months ago, due to "a family commitment." (Perhaps she and Tom Brady have a common family?). Instead of replacing her, the theatre changed horses completely and subsituted a world premiere of a new play by Ronan Noone, an Irish immigrant who attended Boston University and now teaches at the Walnut Hill School. The play is "Scenes from an Adultery," and stars Ciaran Crawford, Peter Stray and Leda Uberbacher. The plot as it is involves a married couple, Tony and Lisa, (Stray and Uberbacher) and their long-time friend Gasper (Crawford), a bachelor who plays the field. Never seen are another couple, who are having marital difficulties due to the husband's one-night stands. Should they get involved? Should they stay out of it? WHO CARES! Gasper is sure that he caught the wife also having an affair. Should they tell the husband? Should they stay out? The lack of serious plot development is covered up by lots of swearing and over-emoting, mostly by Tony. To show his true friendship to Gasper, Tony reveals that he had an almost-affair while away on a business trip which he stopped before consumation because of his conscience. Gasper, of course, tells Lisa about this, leading to another marriage falling apart. The denoument involves a modest surprise which I will not reveal lest you are set on seeing the play. The actors are generally good and the set is attractive but the material is weak. Don't waste an evening.

City of Angels - rollicking fun

The current show at Lyric Stage, running through May, is City of Angels, a musical comedy which pokes fun at both Hollywood and the "noir" genre while entertaining the audience. The play includes a "play within a play," which sounds complex but works well. A writer of hard-boiled detective novels is in Hollywood on contract to turn one of his novels into a screen play. We see the ex-cop private eye solving a disappearance and attempted murder while lamenting his lost love and breaking the case in a series of scenes. Simultaneously we see the Hollywood big shot producer/director insisting the writer change the story line to be more "Hollywood." We see all the stereotypes of syncophantic hangers-on, starlets and crooners buzzing around the producer. There are affairs, marital spats and reconciliations. All this with a finely-sung set of lyrics and a great band barely seen behind a curtain. Most of the cast play two roles - one in the "real" Hollywood and another in the detective story, and this works. Most are familiar faces in the Boston theatre scene, and all have adequate if not great singing voices. Go see it!

NBSO conquers Russia

Under the direction of David MacKenzie, the New Bedford Symphony has become a first-class orchestra. This was demonstrated Saurday evening at the Zeiterion with two Russian masterpieces. The first half was devoted to Shostakovich's 9th Symphony, a relatively short work that premiered in 1945. WHile I am not a great fan of 20th Century music, the performance of this complex piece was flawless. It was also a demonstration that Dr. MacKenzie is challenging us to listen to pieces outside of the Romantic period. The second half was the magnificent 2nd piano concerto of Rachmaninoff, featuring Ukranian-American pianist Marina Lomazov as the soloist. Ms Lomazov brought energy and enthusiasm to the piece and was amply supported by the full orchestra. Several members of the orchestra had cameo solos, and all held up their end well. The piece gathered a well-deserved standing ovation, and the audience was in turn rewarded with a charming short solo piano encore. The final concert in the 2014-15 season is on May 9. Do not miss it!

The God Box

The God Box, running at the New Rep's Black Box little theatre through April 19, is the third and last in their series featuring women theatre makers. Like the first two previously reviewed, it is a one act short piece with a solo performer. In this case, Antonia Lassar is both playwright and performer. The basic plot line is that Gloria Adelman, an observant Jew, is cleaning out her daughter's apartment after the daughter dies tragically in a car accident. She finds a shoebox labelled "God" and in it an assortment of objects (New Testament Bible, Crystal, Koran) suggesting that her daughter may not have been an observant Jew. Armed with her superb cheesecakes as warm-up gifts, she sets off to discover what her daughter may have become. In addition to playing a somewhat over-the-top Jewish mother, Ms Lassar also takes the roles briefly of a Christian minister, a new-age practitioner and a Muslim with an Irish accent. The play is quite funny and while somewhat "in-group" in its use of Yiddish-isms and jokes that are funnier if you grew up Jewish, is universal in its look at what faith means.

Folk music fun in New Bedford

New Bedford has many under-appreciated cultural events, one of which is the "salon series" of folk concerts put on by Wepecket Records' Jack Radcliffe. These are held the first Saturday of every month at the Wamsutta Club in a cafe setting. Most of the audience sits at tables and you can order food and drink to enjoy while you listen to the music. The cost is low, and while you do not see big name acts, the singers are uniformly good. The most recent concert had "the two Rix:" Rick Nestler and Rik Palieri. Both of these singers have toured and sung with Pete Seeger. Rick Nestler is a gravelly-voiced singer-songwriter who has seven albums to his credit and who wrote "The River That Flows Two Ways," the anthem of the Hudson River. Rik Palieri is a multi-instrument virtuoso who not only played guitar and banjo, but also the Native American flute and the Polish bagpipe. The concert included lots of audience sing-along and was a rollicking evening of fun. Look for these events on-line and come on out!

H+H revisits St Matthew Passion

In their bicentennial year, Handel and Haydn are pulling out all the stops, presenting a sort of "greatest hits" of period pieces. I have reviewed Elijah in a previous post and this past weekend was a full performance of Bach's St Matthew Passion, a lengthy work that at is often presented as excerpts. Here the full performance lasted 3 hours with a brief intermission. A "passion" is a recital of Jesus' arrest, death and burial, and can be taken from one of the four Evangelists' texts. Director Harry Christophers describes the Bach Passion as probably the greatest work of classical music ever written, and must indeed have been innovative for its day. While I hate to say a critical word given such hyperbole, I found the performance a bit flat for such a lengthy period of sitting. The lion's share of the work belongs to tenor Joshua Ellicott as the Evangelist. He gives the narrative and intoduces the other characters. Fortunately he had a splendid voice and expressive face. Baritone Roderick Williams played Jesus, a surprisingly small part, and while his voice was beautiful, he lacked emotion. The soprano Joelle Harvey soared in her parts, while the mezzo Anna Stephany came across as a bit dull. Both tenor Matthew Long and baritone Sumner Thompson were adequate but not inspiring. An interesting feature of the piece is Bach's use of solo instruments to back up a number of the solo vocal presentations. This allowed H+H's superb instrumentalists to display their virtuosity. The chorus performed as two antiphonal choirs, and a third choir made up of students from H+H's Vocal Arts Program came in at times to add volume. The voices of the H+H chorus are magnificent, but the work did not really allow them to display their full range. The ending of the Passion was more of a whimper than a shout. An important work, a huge effort, but on the whole not as satisfying as was Elijah.

Do you remember when rock was young?

If you came of age on late 50's, early 60's rock, then the "Doo Wop" concert was aimed at you. Producer Todd Baptista, a New Bedford native, has put on a series of concerts bringing back the legends of yesteryear, some of whom still "have it," while others do not. The concert held March 28 featured three old-timers, and in a novel twist, a 20 year old touted as "the future of Doo Wop." Kid Kyle began singing in public at 8 and is now 20. Backed up by a trio who could have been his grandfathers, he demonstrated a great voice and stage presence. He did some new material and some oldies, and was worth seeing. Next up were the El Dorados, best remembered for a late 50's #1 hit Crazy Little Mama At My Front Door. The group on stage included two survivors of the original group and some new members. One of the originals noted that they had not performed a full set since 1957, and unfortunately it showed. The group was personable and cute, but often singing in different keys. Other than the remeniscence, not worth presenting on stage. After intermission we had to suffer through Jimmy Clanton, whose best known hit was Venus in Blue Jeans. Jimmy has long since lost his voice but not his ego. He kept name-dropping and ended his set calling up loyal female fans who were presented with handkerchiefs. We would have walked out were there not a final act we wanted to see. Last up were The Crystals, three women including one orinal group member, De Dee Kenniebrew. The Crystals turned out hit after hit (Da Doo Ron Ron, Then He Kissed Me, He's a Rebel) and brought the house down. All three did solo leads and their harmony was perfect. There was no way to tell which was an original without being told. A great ending to a show that was a mixed bag.

Catharsis for the artist

Alice Manning wrote and performs the one-woman show "Stronger than the Wind" now playing in the New Rep's Black Box Theatre, one of three small plays celebrating women playwrights. The play is based on her own experience: giving birth to twin boys, who were kept in the neonatal intensive care unit becuase of low birth weight. One does fine but the other contracts a serious infection which involves the brain and results in multiple neurosurgeries that leave him with partial paralysis and seizures. The actress gives a biting performance portraying arrogant doctors, unfeeling nurses and later heartless welfare workers and school officials. She makes it easy for us to visualize Doctor Condescending and friends. Despite the underlying pathos, there is plenty of humor sprinkled throughout. The few moments of helping humanity do not take up nearly as much (or enough) space - perhaps she did not consider them dramatic enough. While I am sure writing this play was cathartic for the playwright, it is less clear that the audience enjoys the experience. Ms Manning's acting talents do carry the play.

Two theatrical Afro-American experiences

We saw back-to-back two very well-done productions focusing on African-American experiences of years past. At The Lyric Stage, is Intimate Apparel, a moving play by Lynn Nottage set in the beginning of the 20th Century in New York. The heroine is Esther, beautifully played by Lindsey McWhorter, a very plain "spinster" of 35 who has come North to make a career for herself. She learned to sew and has become a successful seamstress of lingerie, with patrons fom all walks of life. What she really wants is to open a hair salon for Black women, and she has been saving diligently for this for many years. She resists the insistence of her landlady that she lower her standards to find a husband. When a surprise letter from a West Indian laborer on the Panama Canal arrives, she begins a correspondence through a wealthy but lonely patron, as Esther cannot read or write. The pen pals form a distant romance, and she agrees to marry George if he makes it to New York. Her other male contact is Mr. Marks, a religious Jew who sells her fabric. The two have a suppressed, since taboo, attraction to each other. George proves to be a manipulative cad. He romances Esther's friend Mayme, a prostitute unaware George is Esther's husband. George leaves Esther penniless, and she must begin again. All of the cast are superb and credible in their roles. Our only issues are that at over 2 hours,the play ran a bit long, and that the accents adopted made some of the dialog hard to follow. Go see it. Recounting events from some 50 years earlier was a dramatic reading of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, by Harriet Jacobs. Beautifully played at the Zeiterion by Cherita Armstrong, Harriet gave us a moving experience of what life was like for a slave in the American South in the mid 1800's. Her first mistress, a caring woman who taught Harriet to read and write, left her unprepared for the depradations of her next owner. She described her life hiding in a tiny garret space for many years before she could finaly escape to the free North. Tying Harriet's story together with the broader history of the times and the links to New Bedford were represenatives from the NB Historical Society and The American Place Theatre, who sponsored the program.

Acting Tour de Force at New Rep

The current performance in the New Rep's Black Box small theatre is The Amish Project, a one-woman play exploring the horrific events at Nickel Mines, PA, where 5 Amish school girls were shot by the local postman after he ordered the teachers and the male students out, and then shot himself. Danielle Kellerman plays seven different characters, using facial expressions, mannerisms and voice to morph from an innocent schoolgirl to a pregnant Hispanic teenager to the wife of the shooter with barely a pause. That she was able to mostly succeed in this is a testimony to a wonderful actress. Unfortunately, the play itself is less than stellar. While the material is powerful and emotional, the flow is often confusing, and many audience members left wondering what they had seen. While the pregnant 16 year old was fully fleshed in, and perhaps the most distinct character in the play, it was not at all clear why she was even in it. The author used a visiting male academic as a sort of narrator, appearing as a student of and friend to the Amish who could explain their way of life. The motivation of the shooter was less than clear. The distraught wife of the shooter had the largest part and brought the most raw emotion to the play. Ms kellermannn deserves better material to showcase her talent.

Whistle blowers, nude and clothed

A few weeks ago we had an interesting juxtaposition of artistic views about whistle blowers and the public's right to know. We saw Laura Poitras' Academy-award wuinning documentary Citizen4 at the West Newton Cinema, followed by the New Rep's production of Muckrakers. Laura Poitras clearly distrusts the US government and everything it does. Her portrait of Edward Snow allows him to express his viewpoint with no counter, and she regards him as a hero. There is no appreciation of the irony in his stated "I knew what I was doing and was prepared to take the consequences" and his hasty flight from Singapore to escape American justice, and his asylum in Putin's "democratic" Russia. The cinema verité style gets a bit boring, but the subject matter is fascinating, albeit one-sided. Muckrakers is anything but boring. Esme Allen plays Mira, a New York activist who believes there should be no secrets, who is hosting Lewis Wheeler playing Stephen, a British "muckraker" who has published secret US files about the Iraq war. The fast-paced play (75 minutes with no intermission) has the two of them discussing how Stephen came by the files - and there is a more nuanced viuew of Stephen than Poitras gave us of Snow -Did Stephen mislead the lonely homosexual army clerk to get him to pass on the files? Stephen, too, is not a hero, but his protection is not flight. Instead, he uses a host of encrypted unreleased files that he threatens to have released should he be arrested. A scene in which Ms Allen is fully nude on stage adds shock value but does not really add much to the plot or character development. The ending does have a major twist which I will not reveal if you have not seen the play.

Handle & Haydn excel

As part of their bicentennial season, H&H are finishing with three of the greatest oratorios in the canon. This past weekend was Medelssohn's Elijah. This lenthy (over 2 hours plus intermission) piece requires a strong Elijah, and in Andrew Foster-Williams they found a winner. His strong and melodious bass-baritone voice was supplemented by enough acting talent to let his face express the feelings of the prophet. Equally strong was sopranno Sarah Coburn, beautiful in her gold lame gown and with a voice that carried through Symphony Hall. The other principals, including 7th grader Gabreil Haddad, while not as magnificent were more than adequate for their lesser roles. And what can one say about the H+H chorus? Most of the chorus members are accomplished singers in their own right, and under returning guest conductor Grant Llewellyn they provided music that varied from plaintive to soaring. The orchestra obviously plays a subsidiary role to the voices but was wonderful in its own, and the use of the organ added the right biblical feel. Still coming up are Bach's St Matthew Passion and Hayd's The Creation. I urge you not to miss them!