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Oratorio Society: Britten’s WAR REQUIEM

Monday April 22nd, 2013 – The Oratorio Society of New York presented a performance of Benjamin Britten’s WAR REQUIEM at Carnegie Hall this evening.

One of the greatest and most meaningful choral works ever created, the WAR REQUIEM was commissioned for the re-dedication of Coventry Cathedral in 1962; the church had been almost totally destroyed by German bombs in 1940. Britten, a life-long pacifist, drew on the poetry of Wilfred Owen
– who had been killed in 1918 (one week before the Armistice ended the war) at the age of 25 while fighting in France
– as well as the texts of the Latin mass for the dead in setting his
masterpiece. Though deeply spiritual in atmosphere, Britten intended the
WAR REQUIEM to be a secular work.

The Oratorio Society, one of New York City’s oldest cultural treasures, traces its history back to 1873. Founded by Leopold Damrosch, the Society presented their first concert on December 3,
1873. One year later, on Christmas night, the Society began what has become an unbroken
tradition of annual performances of Handel’s Messiah. In 1891, the Oratorio Society participated in the opening concert of what is now Carnegie Hall.

The chorus and musicians of the Society under Kent Tritle’s baton tonight unfurled the sonic tapestry of Britten’s creation in a performance which greatly satisfied both the ear and the soul. In the composer’s structuring of the REQUIEM, the large chorus and orchestra – supporting a soprano soloist – sing the Latin texts of the mass while a chamber orchestra (led by David Rosenmeyer) accompanies the tenor and baritone soloists whose words come from the poetry of Wilfred Owen. From high up in a side balcony, the voices of children from the choir of Saint John The Divine (directed by Malcolm Merriweather) provide an angelic sound, accompanied by a small organ.

Britten’s score, richly textured, amazes in its rhythmic and instrumental variety. Marked by off-kilter harmonies and shifting tonalities, the music is grand and theatrical one moment and poignantly stark and personal the next. The juxtaposition of public mourning and private grief – and of the liturgical and poetic texts – give the REQUIEM its unique resonance.

Of the three vocal soloists, soprano Emalie Savoy (currently a Met Young Artist) revealed a sizeable lyric instrument with a blooming high register and a capacity to dominate the massed choral and orchestral forces. Tenor John Matthew Myers sang with a plaintive, clear and warm timbre while baritone Jesse Blumberg gave a wonderfully expressive rendering of the texts, his voice hauntingly coloured in his long final solo.

At the close of the piece, all the participants were warmly lauded by the audience.

“My subject is War, and the pity of War.
The Poetry is in the pity…
All a poet can do today is warn.” ~ Wilfred Owen

Now, nearly a century after the poet’s warning, mankind continues to use war as a means of settling religious and ideological differences. This evening’s concert fell on Earth Day, reminding us of the fragility of the planet on which we all live. Only by turning away from gods and politics – those great dividing forces – can we hope to find a path into a safe and meaningful future. Like the poet’s two soldiers from opposing armies who find themselves dying side by side in a ditch far from their homes as the REQUIEM draws to a close, we must learn to embrace our common humanity before it’s too late.

The evening’s participating artists will were:

Kent Tritle, conductor
David Rosenmeyer, chamber orchestra conductor
Emalie Savoy, soprano
John Matthew Myers, tenor
Jesse Blumberg, baritone
Choristers of the Cathedral of St. John the Divine,
Malcolm Merriweather, conductor
Chorus and Orchestra of the Society

April 22, 2013
Ballet Hispanico @ The Joyce

Above: Min-Tzu Li and Jamal Rashann Callender of Ballet Hispanico in Nacho Duato’s JARDI TANCAT. Photo by Jeaux McCormick.

Sunday April 21, 2013 matinee – A recent visit to a Ballet Hispanico rehearsal was an ideal introduction for me to this vivid and delightful Company. Today at The Joyce I got to see them in full regalia: lights, costumes, the works. It was an exhilirating afternoon.

Nacho Duato’s JARDI TANCAT finds its roots in folk tales from Catalonia, transformed into songs sung by Spanish singer Maria del Mar Bonet . The ballet opens in silence with six dancers in a patch of sunlight on a darkened plain; they are simple countryfolk who work the barren land,
praying to God for the rain that does not come:

“Water, we have asked for water

And You, Oh Lord, You gave us wind

And You turn Your back on us

As though You will not listen to us”

As the music begins, the sun brightens further and the choreographer presents us with passages of ensemble work in which the dancers capture the spirit of the land and the longing for relief from the hardships of their lives. Despite the bleakness of their daily labours, they seem to find a quiet joy in their sense of community.

In three stunningly beautiful duets, Duato extends the art of partnering in fresh ways and the Ballet Hispanico dancers respond to his vision with clarity and passion. The three couples today were: Melissa Fernandez with Donald Borror, Martina Calcagno with Mario Ismael Espinoza, and Min-Tzu Li with Jamal Rashann Callender. JARDI TANCAT is a spell-binding work, holding the audience in a keenly attentive state. The moment it ended I was ready to watch it again: and how often can we say that of a dancework?

Above: from TANGO VITROLA, photo by Paula Lobo. Click on the image to enlarge.

An old gramophone sits illuminated on a high pedastal at the back of the stage as Donald Borror, his dorsal muscles expressive in the golden light, dances the opening solo of TANGO VITROLA. This magical tango-ballet unfolds against a sonic tapestry of scratchy old 78s; among the songs from the 1920s are “Rosendo”
and “La Cumparista” by Orquesta Típica Criolla de Vincente Creco; and
“El Llorón,” “Pena Mulata” and “El Porteñito” by Roberto Firpo.

Magnificently lit by Joshua Preston, the dancers – the women in slinky black frocks and stiletto heels and the men bare-chested in black trousers and wearing fedoras – weave thru choreographer Alejandro Cervera’s intoxicatingly seductive patterns, periodically retreating to watch the others dance from rows of cafe chairs at either side of the stage. Desire and provocation tingle in the air of this dreamlike nightclub where the sexy atmosphere is over-laid with the almost formal courting rituals of the tango. Attitude is all as the dancers revel in their own attractiveness.

Above: from NUBE BLANCO, photo by Rosalie O’Connor

Theatrical elements come into play for the final NUBE BLANCO; again Mr. Preston’s lighting is a vital factor in this work set by choreographer Annabelle Lopez Ochoa to recordings of Maria Dolores Pradera. The dancers, all in bright red shoes, are called upon to act and vocalize along with executing the earthy moves, hand-clapping and foot-stomping culled from the flamenco vocabulary. Meanwhile an allusion to ballet comes in the fluffy white tutus worn by the women. A particularly riotous male quartet (“uno! dos! tres! cuatro!”) clearly caught the audience’s fancy, as did a charming mimetic vignette by Mario Ismael Espinoza, one of the Gotham dance scene’s sexiest guys. In the end the dancers stagger in, each wearing one shoe with the other foot bare; one of the girls has put on all the white tutus at once, tramsforming herself into a giant animated snowball. Her final arabesque, foot pointing to heaven, gave NUBE BLANCO its concluding mirthful image. As the dancers stepped out for their bows, I found myself whooping and screaming along with the rest of the crowd.

Above: Mario Ismael Espinoza in NUBE BLANCO, photo by Rosalie O’Connor

An absorbing, sexy and vastly pleasing afternoon of dance. Ballet Hispanico continue their season at The Joyce for another week: performance and ticket information here.

I give Ballet Hispanico six stars out of a possible five: go, and be seduced.

April 21, 2013
Wagner in Spain

My beautiful soprano-friend Erika Wueschner is currently in Barcelona singing Freia in DAS RHEINGOLD at the Gran Teatre del Liceu. In this production photo Erika is with the Japanese mezzo-soprano Mihoko Fujimura, who is singing Fricka. More details here. Watch the finale of the opera here.

April 21, 2013
Temptation

The Temptation of Sir Percival

Arthur Hacker/1894

March 30, 2013
Bella

Bella in Mourillon

Marc Chagall/1926

March 28, 2013
Rehearsal: Zvi @ Steps Repertory Ensemble

Wednesday March 27th, 2013 – Choreographer Zvi Gotheiner is setting his dancework “Chairs”, which premiered in 1992, on the Steps Repertory Ensemble who will be performing it during their upcoming season at Ailey Citigroup Theater. My friend Joe and I dropped in at a rehearsal today to see how things are developing.

For this dancework, Zvi uses music culled from film soundtracks, Rachmaninoff etudes, and Russian Orthodox
sacred music. Today we were watching the dancers work on specific passages…

…stopping periodically to refer to a video of a live performance which gave us an idea of how the work will feel when it’s costumed and lit. Mindy Upin and Lane Haplerin, above, having a look.

There’s a tremendous sense of energetic flow in the choreography, particularly in a quartet passage…

…and Zvi spent some time working out partnering details with dancers Jake Bone and Lane Halperin (above); their duet has a restless, space-covering energy.

We’d just missed a sampling of a duet for two men (David Scarantino and Clinton Edward Martin, above) but just from the phrases we saw, and a few sneak peeks at the video, “Chairs” is clearly a very interesting piece.

Most of my photos today looked like this:

So we’ll have to wait for the performances to get the full impact of what “Chairs” will look like. Just as I did a few months when I checked out Manuel Vignoulle’s rehearsal, I really loved the atmosphere at the Steps Rep studio. And it’s lovely to chat with the Company’s director Claire Livingstone.

In addition to Zvi’s “Chairs”, and the Vignoulle creation, the programme will feature works by Shannon Gillen, Ricky and Jeff Kuperman, Yesid Lopez and Nathan Trice.

March 27, 2013
AIDA at the Teatro Colon 1968

This 1968 performance of AIDA from the Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires, cropped up on the Opera Depot website and thought the combination of Martina Arroyo (above) and Carlo Bergonzi as Aida and Radames would be exciting to hear, since they are two of my all-time favorite Verdi singers. Both are in prodigious voice, providing phrase after phrase of wonderfully generous vocalism. My thanks to Dmitry for making me a copy.

Martina Arroyo never made a commercial recording of AIDA, and Bergonzi’s Radames on the Decca label (with Tebaldi) was recorded in an unusual acoustic which even later tampering-with could not make really enjoyable. So it’s wonderful to have this live recording from the Colon in perfectly good sound and with both singers on impressive vocal form.

The Teatro Colon (above) is a vast house (1,000 standees may be accommodated), and over the years has been rated high acoustically by singers and listeners alike. On this evening in 1968, the crowd surely senses that they are hearing teriffic vocalism from Arrroyo and Bergonzi and they repay the singers with generous ovations throughout the performance.

Bruno Bartoletti is on the podium; over the years I have heard performances conducted by this man that seem ideal and others that are less inspiring. For this AIDA he sets a generally fast pace (the ballet segments are wickedly speedy – I would not want to have been dancing in this performance!) but he certainly gives his singers a lot of leeway, and they enjoy lingering on high notes and having the opportunity to sustain favorite phrases.

There are some off-notes and a few unhappy bits from the pit musicians, and one jarring passage in the Tomb Scene where Bartoletti inexplicably rushes ahead of Bergonzi who is in the middle of some raptly poetic music-making; it takes a few bars to get things back in sync.

Carlo Bergonzi (above) has always been my personal king of tenors; yes, I know all his flaws and yes, he went on singing too long after he should have stopped. But in his heyday he was just so thoroughly pleasing to listen to, his marvelous turns of phrase and beautifully sustained vocalism always make me feel…happy. The beauty of hearing the Italian language wrapped in Bergonzi’s plangently expressive sound has always given me particular joy; even now, if I’m feeling blue, I’ll reach for that first Decca recital disc and soon I’m transported out of myself and basking in the music that has kept me – both spiritually and psychologically – on an even keel all these years. His singing in this AIDA is simply marvelous to experience: the unstinting generosity of both voice and style, the many small touches of sustained notes and his lovely colourings of the words in a rich emotional palette. It’s Verdi tenor singing at its best.

Martina Arroyo is in glorious voice also, rich and even throughout the role’s vast range. If she does not employ the ravishing piano effects that some sopranos have in this music, we are amply compensated with the velvety splendour of Arroyo’s sound and her plush phrasing, as well as her dramatic awareness which never carries her to excess. In this grand performance, the great Martina rises to the high-C of ‘O patria mia’ – a note which has defeated many a soprano – with blessed assurance and sustains it with glorious ease. In the opera’s concluding Tomb Scene, she and Bergonzi trade passages of soul-pleasing Verdi vocalism, and together they sustain their final joint phrase seemingly beyond the realm of human possibility.

The Serbian mezzo-soprano Biserka Cvejic (above) is probably not on anyone’s list of top-ten mezzos; yet if she had been the Amneris in either of the last two AIDAs I heard at The Met, I would have been satisfied. It’s a crusty, Old-World sound with an ample and pleasing chest register and higher notes sometimes approached from below. Cvejic has the role well in hand and if her singing doesn’t rise to the level of the soprano and tenor, neither does she let down her side of the triangle.

Cornell MacNeil is a powerful, dramatic Amonasro and I was surprised to find Nicola Rossi-Lemeni listed as Ramfis: this basso – a famous stage-creature of the 1950s – is surely nearing the end of his singing career by 1968. If not vocally prime, he surprises with some very robust moments (‘Immenso Ptah!’) and makes an authoritative impression.

March 26, 2013
The Temptress

In the film WHITE MISCHIEF – which I have watched a good two dozen times since I first saw it at the cinema in 1987 – the character of Alice de Janzé (above) is played by the English actress Sarah Miles. The film revolves around the still-unsolved murder – in Kenya in 1941 – of Josslyn Victor Hay, 22nd Earl of Erroll.

Lord Erroll was a notorious womanizer and a major player in the Happy Valley crowd – a group of wealthy British ex-pats who came to Africa prior to the start of the second World War and lived as gentlemen farmers: drinking, hunting, playing polo and sleeping with other men’s wives.

During the night of January 24,1941 Joss Erroll was killed by a shot to the head fired by an unknown assailant who had flagged down the Earl’s Buick on the Nairobi-Ngong Road. The car with his Lordship’s body slumped on the floor was found at dawn, stalled in a ditch with its headlights still on.

Suspicion fell on Sir Jock Delves Broughton with whose wife Diana the Earl of Erroll has been carying on a very public and high-profile affair. Sir Jock stood trial for the murder but the case against him was weakened by several factors: he was known to have passed out drunk on the night of the murder, and his physical infirmities (night blindness and a limp caused by an old injury) seemed to preclude the notion that he had walked the two miles from his villa to the murder site (and back home) in the darkness of the African night.

Alice de Janzé was in the courtroom every day of the proceedings. She has been having an off-again-on-again affair with Joss Erroll for a long time and was thought to be deeply in love with him. She was known to have been jealous of Joss’s involvement with Diana Delves Broughton.

In the film, when the case against Sir Jock seems to be unraveling, Jock’s lawyer points to Alice – seated in the gallery – and alludes to the fact that she should in fact be on trial, having both motive and opportunity, as well as a weapon to carry out the crime.

“Has the Countess de Janzé been eliminated as a suspect?” the judge asks the prosecutor.

“She has, your Honor.”

“On what grounds?”

“On the grounds that she was in bed with a gentleman at the time.”

To which Ms. Miles as Alice pipes up: “But we weren’t doing anything!”

The jury acquitted Sir Jock of the murder of his friend the Earl of Erroll; but suspicion clung to him and a year later – his life complicated by financial woes – he committed suicide. The other prospective suspect in the Erroll murder, Alice de Janzé, went on for a few months with her eccentric life; then she too killed herself with a self-inflicted gunshot on September 30th, 1941, shortly after having turned 42 and facing a diagnosis of uterine cancer.

In view of all this, Paul Spicer’s biography of Alice de Janzé, entitled The Temptress, was a fascinating read for me. Alice, an American, became a French aristocrat in 1921 when she married Count Frederic de Janzé. The couple had two daughters – to whom Alice could not relate and turned their upbringing over to an aunt and various governesses – and they lived for a while in Paris before moving to Kenya where Alice was absorbed into Happy Valley set. She met and lunched with Karen Blixen, known by her pen-name Isak Dinesen, perhaps the most famous landowner in Kenya at the time and the subject of the film OUT OF AFRICA.

In 1926 the Count and Countess returned to Paris in an effort to save their marriage following much excessive behavior on Alice’s part in Kenya. But Alice then took up with Raymund de Trafford, with whom she had already started an affair in Kenya, and as this romance became increasingly intense, her husband the Count de Janzé quietly filed for divorce.

On March 25th, 1927, de Trafford informed Alice that their hoped-for marriage would not be possible: he stood to be disinherited if he married her, his family finding Alice not up to their standards. He was being summoned back to London immediately, and Alice went with him to the Gare du Nord to say farewell. As the couple embraced in the train compartment, Alice pulled out a small revolver and shot de Trafford and then herself. They both survived; Alice stood trial, and her shooting of her lover was eventually determined to have been an attempt at suicide gone awry. She had spent time in a mental hospital as she recovered from her gunshot wound; she received a suspended sentence of six months and paid a fine of 100 francs as penance for her crime of passion.

Above: Alice de Janzé at her trial

Incredibly, de Trafford did finally marry Alice in 1932 but the marriage quickly soured. In 1937, following their divorce, Alice resumed her life in Kenya, now heavily addicted to drugs. The Erroll murder and ensuing trial were to comprise the final chapter of her life.

Visiting the morgue where Joss Erroll’s body was laid out, Alice was said to have kissed his lips and said “Now you are mine forever!” In the film WHITE MISCHIEF, this scene takes on a far more graphic, sexual tone.

In THE TEMPTRESS, Paul Spicer is able to convince us that Alice de Janzé was the real murderer of Joss Erroll. She had the motive of jealousy, was known to be capable of shooting someone she loved, and she knew where Joss would be on that fateful night. A set of tire tracks indicating a vehicle heading up the Nairobi road away from the murder scene – and in the direction of Alice’s home – were never thoroughly investigated. The contents of Alice’s suicide notes were never revealed, though the author feels they likely contained a confession.

Alice de Janzé was buried by the river that ran thru her property at Wanjohi Farm in Kenya. Her grave was unmarked to prevent possible looting by the native Kikuyu.

March 25, 2013
Rehearsal: Cherylyn Lavagnino Dance

Above: dancer Justin Flores, photo by Kokyat.

Sunday March 24, 2013 – Today I went over to to the studios at Tisch/NYU where Cherylyn Lavagnino was working with her dancers on a new ballet set to the Schubert piano trio in E-flat, a piece that has always evoked dance images for me. Entitled TREIZE EN JEU, it is an ensemble work that features intimate duets mixed into a larger and finely-structured setting.

Stepping off the elevator to the second-floor studio space, the sounds of the Schubert score at once made me feel that I was in for something special, and that was indeed the case. A roomful of dancers, many of whom I know, were mid-phrase when I walked into the studio. It took only a few seconds of observation to determine that this would be a truly pleasing afternoon, as much to the ear as to the eye.

Cherylyn Lavagnino’s works, though fresh in detail, are rooted in the traditions of classical ballet. The girls are on pointe and the vocabulary is rich. Subtle nuances in the port de bras and partnering put a distinctive gleam on the choreography, and transitions from unison ensemble passages to a focus on individuals or couples are accomplished in the twinkling of an eye. The dance springs ever from the music, and what heart-filling music it is.

For this large work, Cherylyn has assembled a group of dancers with a high level of technical accomplishment and with distinctive personalities. They work beautifully as a collective yet their individuality is never submerged; thus in the bigger moments of the work the eye is constantly lured from dancer to dancer.

A series of duets give us a chance to savor some lovely partnerships: Claire Westby and Eric Williams, Laura Mead and Justin Flores, Ramona Kelley and Adrian Silver, and the long-limbed and lithe pairing of Giovanna Gamna and Michael Gonzalez. Each couple creates a unique atmosphere; it was so satisfying to watch them ironing out the details under Cherylyn’s watchful eye. Justin later worked on the piece with the delicious Selina Chau – there will be double-casting during the performance run at Baruch College in June. Samuel Swanton joined in an energetic male quartet, and two very attractive apprentices – Kristin Deiss and Lila Simmons – filled out a double-trio of women who weave patterns while the sumptuous Claire and Eric are dancing. Laura Mead who made such a lovely impression in Pontus Lidberg’s WITHIN for Morphoses last October, looks fetching indeed, and the elongated shapes created by Giovanna and Michael gave their duet a particular appeal.

It was particularly meaningful for me to see Ramona and Adrian dancing together again, for it was in this very studio in 2009 that I first met them when they were rehearsing a John-Mark Owen duet. Their partnership remains an intriguing combination of delicacy and strength.

As the dancers dispersed after a final run-thru, Selina and Justin remained to do some intensive work on the partnering. Their dedication and keen focus on detail gave a clue as to why Cherylyn’s works always end up looking so good.

This new Schubert ballet can be seen (with the score played live!) from June 12th thru 19th when Cherylyn Lavagnino joins Dušan Týnek Dance Theatre and Zvi Gotheiner as part of the inaugural year of a new festival
celebrating music and dance at Baruch College. Exact dates and times will be announced soon, and the festival extends thru June 22nd with solo nights for Zvi and Dušan.

March 24, 2013
Paul Taylor @ Lincoln Center 2013 #5

Above: from Paul Taylor’s PROMETHEAN FIRE. Photo by Paul B Goode. Click on the image to enlarge.

Saturday March 23rd, 2013 matinee – My final performance of the Paul Taylor Dance Company‘s 2013 Lincoln Center season. It’s been a brilliant three weeks and the Company are dancing superbly. Celebrating Bach’s birthday with a Bach ballet on every single programme has been an added source of joy, and the Company’s press liaison Lisa Labrado assured me of a warm welcome every time I attended. The Taylor company are outstandingly generous to dance writers, and it’s always a great pleasure to find Rachel Berman and Richard Chen-See – former Company dancers – circulating among the guests, making us feel a part of the Taylor family.

This matinee opened with KITH AND KIN, dating from 1987 and set to a Mozart serenade. A tall and elegant couple in brown – radiant Amy Young and James Samson – preside over a flock of energetic young people who seem to be celebrating the sheer joy of being alive in stylized passages of leaps and restless comings and goings. Set slightly apart from this community is the magnetic Heather McGinley, a friendly (and gorgeous) guardian angel. In the central adagio, Amy and James dance with formal grace as Aileen Roehl and Michael Apuzzo swirl about them, perhaps representing their younger selves. This ballet, new to me this season, shows a happy meeting place of generations, with the stately ‘senior’ couple presiding overall yet still capable of having a little fun of their own.

The poignantly dark splendours of THE UNCOMMITTED evolve first to the gleaming, celestial strains of Arvo Part’s Fratres as the dancers – in richly-hued body stockings with rose-red highlights – appear in a series of brief solos. This is a world inhabited by lonely spirits, seeking – but eventually unable – to connect with one another. Paul Taylor again turns again to Mozart as a series of duets unfold; each couple hovers on the brink of understanding but in the end none can sustain a relationship. Even the number of dancers involved – eleven – implies from the start that there will always be an odd man out. Despite its rather bleak emotional outlook, THE UNCOMMITTED provides a wonderful opportunity to focus on the individual lustre of each of the dancers – and what an ensemble it is: Michael Trusnovec, Amy Young, Robert Kleinendorst, Michelle Fleet, Parisa Khobdeh, Eran Bugge, Francsco Graciano, Laura Halzack, Michael Apuzzo, Aileen Roehl and Michael Novak.

Bach provides the setting for a grand finale to the programme: PROMETHEAN FIRE. For this ballet, the entire Company are onstage; the dancers listed above are joined by James Samson, Sean Mahoney, Jamie Rae Walker, Heather McGinley and George Smallwood. In their velvety black costumes subtly trimmed with silver, the dancers revel in Mr. Taylor’s complex and visually inspiring combinations: PROMETHEAN FIRE is a masterpiece of structure, formal yet joyously human in expression. The heart of this sumptuous ballet is an adagio in which the combined genius of Mozart and Taylor moves us to the highest realms of spiritual satisfaction. Parisa Khobdeh and Michael Trusnovec were at their most transportive here, the partnering remarkable in its beauty and power, their personal magnetism magically aglow. Indeed it was one of the most moving and soul-stirring experiences in my long memory of watching dance.

PROMETHEAN FIRE concludes with a splendid tableau of the Company dancers and for a moment we could simply relish their collective perfection, for it is they who in the end have the ultimate responsibility of making the choreography live and breathe. Then Mr. Taylor appeared for a bow and the audience swept to their feet with resounding cheers.

March 23, 2013