Classically Speaking

I’m a fan of Mark O’Connor's music, no matter what genre he’s playing or composing.  So when I heard that he was performing on Mountain Stage with his group Hot Swing, I made sure to find a way up to Morgantown to hear the concert. 

It was a long trip on a rainy day, and I was passing up a night in my own bed and the chance to hear the Peabody Trio play Mendelssohn and Schubert a lot closer to home.  I started to wonder if it was worth all this trouble. 

Once I heard O’Connor warming up during the soundcheck, I knew I’d made the right decision.  The moment he started playing, I lost track of whatever conversation I was having and just listened. 

This entire Mountain Stage show was amazing; each of the groups gave great performances, the venue was nice, and the audience was engaged throughout the night.

Larry Groce described this as a “picker’s show,” rightly so with all the great guitar, banjo, mandolin, and bass playing.  But it was definitely also a “bower’s show,” with some really cool fiddling/violin playing.*  Mark O'Connor's playing was exuberant and just amazing.  I was especially taken with the performance of a tune by O'Connor called "Gypsy Fantastic."  Plus, the Depue Brothers Band took the stage with four violin players.  Their set included a pretty wild performance of the Hoedown from Copland’s Rodeo.

This show will be on the radio in April. It will also be available online by then -- as a podcast and streaming through NPR Music.  You simply must hear it.

Bonus: I’ve got some free download cards for a few tracks from a recording of Mark O'Connor's string quartets. I'll send one of these cards to the first 10 people to email feedback@wvpubcast.org with “Americana” in the subject line.

Links:

* Mark O'Connor
* Mark O’Connor interview 
* The Depue Brothers Band 
* Mountain Stage 
* Mountain Stage @ NPR Music 
* Mountain Stage Podcast 

* Violin, fiddle, I don’t care what you call it – if you must, you can take up that argument in the comments.

 
I make it a habit to attend St. John’s Episcopal Church evensongs in Charleston which are held twice a year, around All Saints’ and the first of Lent.

This past Sunday’s offering was outstanding and boasted the largest crowd I’ve ever seen there. While the parish supports this tradition, visitors from many other congregations attend as well.

 
 

 
The repertoire is always Anglican choral music, and Director Brenda Vanderford excels at it, as does her choir.

This music demands skill at singing both chant and a cappella, although some pieces were well accompanied by organist Carol Eich.

C.V. Stanford’s wonderful “Magnificat” and “Nunc dimittis” were lovely.

Soprano Rosemary Cardenas soared over the choir in the former and baritone Ray Shackleford was solid in the latter.

Precenter Wayne Eich negotiated the Versicles well, a difficult task.

 
I’d never heard the Basil Harwood anthem “O How Glorious is the Kingdom” with its strong unison statements. It gave both choir and organ a chance to shine.

 
 
My favorite was Eleanor Daley's haunting "In Remembrance" from her Requiem, named outstanding new choral composition by the Association of Canadian Choral Conductors in 1994.

A prolific contemporary composer, Daley has a gift for melody and text-painting.

"In Remembrance," set to an old anonymous text is beloved by choral singers and audiences as well.

I’d missed singing the hymn For All the Saints that morning, but was treated to all eight verses as the St. Ambrose Choir recessed. 

The crowning touch of all their evensongs is high tea. A splendid feast of varied finger foods with tea, coffee, and wine is always set afterward for all to enjoy. And there’s an entire table of desserts.

So – if you’re looking for something to do Sunday, February 21, 2010, head over to St. John’s at 5 pm for their Lenten Evensong.

At first I was put off by the ticket price ($12) but upon reflection, realized that’s cheap by opera standards – just not by movie standards. However, I actively looked but couldn’t find the price ahead of time.

Not publicizing the ticket price was the least of the cinema’s sins. They simply didn’t promote it at all.

We only heard it about in Charleston because the Huntington cinema contacted us about it. And of course, that resulted in only about a dozen folks showing up to view it.

Those few opera lovers were treated to fine entertainment. At first I was worried because the time was only 1 hour, 49 minutes. It’s a four-act opera, for heaven’s sake!

There are more productions scheduled, including two full-length ballets, so if there’s a Marquee Cinema near you, watch for it about every two weeks. The showings are Thursday evenings at 7 pm and Sunday afternoons at 1 pm.

There are two live productions scheduled, but they are supposedly not going to be shown in Charleston. That’s a shame because they’re two of my favorite operas – Carmen and Il Trovatore.  There are also two notable full-length Tchaikovsky ballets – Swan Lake and The Nutcracker.

The next opera is Bellini’s I Puritani.  It's slated for Thursday, October 15 at 7 pm & Sunday October 18 at 1 pm. Check the Marquee Cinema nearest you for details.

I guess when it comes to opera, I’m more of a purist than I thought.

The semi-staging of La Boheme by the WV Symphony was well sung, but to my taste, not well presented.

I have a degree in theatre and I’ve sung or worked on about 20 operas. I see opera as the ultimate theatrical production, using all the arts: vocal and instrumental music, drama, art, dance (although the ballets are now more often omitted either in composition or performance).

I have no philosophical problem with resetting the work in another era, and welcome the occasional “rehearsal” attire and/or minimal set and props.

While I did have some problems with the costuming (I didn’t care for the jeans, and I recognized some attire of chorus friends), the minimal set and props didn’t bother me at all.

What did bother me was the distraction of the orchestra on stage. Opera is all about the vocal music and on-stage drama. I know; some of the drama is a little hard to swallow. I mean, who admits to everlasting love ten minutes after meeting?

Boheme is filled with many small, private moments between the loving couples and soliloquies. You simply can’t have that with a full orchestra on stage behind them.

I know that Puccini’s music is lush and enticing, but the orchestra over-shadowed the vocalists in many of the climaxes, and was not in sync with the singers in others.

The singer should be free to express the music at his or her pace during a performance. I know there were monitors, but certainly the vocalists could not have felt like they were in control of tempi or expression. An orchestra in the pit allows the conductor to face the singer, and therefore provide proper accompaniment.

I’m sorry, but the opera orchestra belongs in the pit. They could still have performed the action in the same manner, just concentrated it all downstage.

BTW - In real life, Marcello and Musetta are husband and wife. Makes for nice chemistry.

Editor’s Note: Agree? Disagree? The West Virginia Symphony blog is inviting people who attended the opera to submit their own reviews. Or you can leave a comment here.