The Heart of Robin Hood

There's much excitement going on at the Royal Alexandra Theatre these days.  The audience is invited into Sherwood Forest for a telling of the Robin Hood tale, but with a few twists.

I happened to attend on Opening Night, something I've never done before.  It was as a result of that evening being a convenient date more than wanting to go to the opening.  Being prevented from entering the theatre until about 15 mins before the show was suppose to start didn't make for a comfortable start to the evening.  The waiting area by the mezzanine doors was packed and hot.  Finally we got inside and a look at the stage.  There was no curtain (perhaps the reason for the delay since no warm ups etc. could be hidden from the audience) and what looked like a rather short stage area before the grass slopped up into a very steep hill disappearing into the fly space.  There was a band playing onstage with lots of energy, and a small pond completed the set.

When the performance started the purpose of the hill became clear, the actors and musicians slid down it, and effortlessly hopped to their feet at the bottom!  The stage didn't look very wide and thankfully they always stopped short of the audience (perhaps the material changed adding a bit of a brake).  I imagine it would be quite a visual from the front row seeing these people speeding down a hill towards you.  A few actors also climbed back up the hill using hidden hand and foot holds.

The Set with the hill open
(http://www.bostonglobe.com)

Starting in the forest, we meet Robin Hood (played by Gabriel Ebert) and his merry men, who steal from the rich for themselves and have a pact that no woman ever be allowed to join their group.  Setting up a dramatic irony problem right there.

Meanwhile at the castle (which was created by cantilevered platforms folding out of the hill),

Izzie Steele as Marion
(http://www.broadwayworld.com)

Marion (the lovely Izzie Steele) isn't happy.  Her sister wishes to marry but being the younger can't until Marion has first.  The King is off fighting in the crusades and Prince John (Euan Morton) provides the perfect suitor for the sister to push on Marion.  Marion wants none of that and escapes to the forest with her guardian Pierre (joyfully played by Christian Lloyd).  There she meets Robin Hood, is upset he doesn't do what the legend says (giving the stolen plunder to the poor), and sets herself up as Martin, fulfilling the legend.  It is Martin, not Robin, who we see in the expected green tights and feather cap.

Marion is enticed back to the castle to prevent the execution of two children by marrying John.  Robin goes to rescue her and the fairy tale has a happy ending.  His switch in opinion of women happens awfully quickly though.

Several characters, including Marion's sister in a nice dress, end up completely drenched in the pond. I'm sure the costumers are thrilled at having to deal with that each day.  There are some oddities.  It's not really a musical, Robin refuses to sing regularly, and I couldn't understand most of what the musicians were singing, so I have no idea if it was relevant or not.  Parts are gruesome.  I get that John is evil but I don't need to see him extract a guys tongue on stage to have the point emphasized.

Robin/Marion in flight

Things happen in the air, I'm not sure I'd really call it aerial work as most involves people just hanging there.  The duet with Robin and Marion isn't very interesting.  One of the funniest sort of aerial moments was Little John (Jeremy Crawford) held aloft in a basket using a henchmen that they'd killed as a puppet so John would think he was still alive.

Robin and Martin
(http://www.theglobeandmail.com)

It was an entertaining evening, and I did enjoy the "Matrix" slow motion style fight moments.  I would have to agree with the Globe and Mail review.  I hope it has a good run on Broadway, but not really sure where it fits in.

10th New Creations Festival

A many months late, Happy New Year!  It was a slow winter for my attendance at musical events, and the first concert I went to was the opening of the 10th annual New Creations Festival with the TSO.  The concert, titled Adams: Doctor Atomic, included the title work as this years featured composer was American John Adams.  Unfortunately he wasn't on hand to do the conducting honours, but was schedule to arrive in time for some of the later concerts.

I don't know what was different this year, but I found myself liking the music.   All of it, even the opening lobby entertainment by The Glenn Gould School of New Music Ensemble, was enjoyable.  "My Twentieth Century" the pre-concert Ensemble piece was different, sure, but the mixture of poetry and music worked for me.

Kevin Lau
(www.sneakpeekorchestra.com)

The concert began with a new work by affiliate composer, Kevin Lau, "Down the Rivers of Windfall Light".  It's based off the Dylan Thomas poem Fern Hill, about a child escaping into their imagination. Maybe it was the premise or the fact I was listening to the cast recording of Alice in Wonderland on my drive down, but it reminded me of that story.  I didn't find it weird, but programmatic with an overarching story that was understandable.  The brass was exquisitely used and one five note theme reminded me of the theme from Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  It had some interesting instrumentation in the percussion section, even a rain stick.

Completely switching gears, Adams' "Doctor Atomic Symphony" was up next.  It's a 25 minute, single movement work based on his opera of the same name

(www.scena.org)

about the making of the atomic bomb.  The scenes evoked are of the test site: the electrical storm that occurred a few hours before the test, a ritual "corn dance" by Tewa Indians, and the poem "Batter my heart, three person'd God" that inspired the naming of the site "Trinity".  At times it was bombastic and at others excruciatingly longing.  Andrew McCandless played the trumpet solo beautifully, as did the other brass soloists on the horn, trombone, and tuba.  In the percussion section were some things I hadn't seen before.  There was a huge set of chimes that had a set of stairs up to them, two thunder sheets, and cymbals being played by running a bow along the edges.

Magnus Lindburg
(symfonieorkest.be)

The last piece was "Piano Concerto No. 2" by Magnus Lindberg, featuring guest soloist Yefim Bronfman, who didn't look very much like his picture in the program.  Moments reminded me of "Rhapsody in Blue", and there's no doubt he's a powerful pianist.  Perhaps it was because of where I was sitting, but it sounded like the orchestra overpowered the piano at times.  The cadenza, written very late in the composing process, was impressive.  It was not my favourite piece of the night, but got a rousing ovation and multiple curtain calls.

For an analysis by a real critic, try the National Post.

TSO Goes Outside!

For the first time in a decade the Toronto Symphony ventured outside the comfy confines of Roy Thomson Hall.  They didn't go very far, just next door to Metro Square (well ok, David Pecaut Square, it was renamed last year), but it was a departure from the norm none the less.  From what I saw and heard, it was a departure welcomed by fans.  But let's go back a bit.

June 17 was the finale of the 6th annual Toronto arts festival called Luminato.  This year is also the bicentennial anniversary of the War of 1812 which has sparked interest both north and south of the border.  It's a war both sides think they won.  In Canada it's remembered because we got to DC, burned down the White House and repelled an American invasion.  In America it's remembered for the defence of Fort McHenry in Baltimore which inspired the writing of their National Anthem.  So I was eagerly awaiting the results of a co-commissioned piece from the TSO and Baltimore Symphony Orchestra (BSO) by Philip Glass, a native of Baltimore.  How would this play out with both sides thinking they're the victors?  How patriotic a piece would an American write and would it be something Canadians could really care about?  But really there isn't anything wrong with each side winning.  No one really wins in a war, and it ended with each side occupying some of the others territory which was ultimately given back, so let's celebrate that both sides developed a stronger national pride and call it a day.

An added quirk was that this piece was receiving a joint world premiere.  Not that you'd know that from the BSO promo material, although various other US articles have mentioned the TSO.  But the 7pm BSO concert of other American music included the Glass piece as well.  It would have been fun to be a fly on the wall to see if the TSO was mentioned at the BSO concert.  They were in Toronto.

After welcoming and thank you speeches from Luminato people, and concert master Jonathan Crow (very cool to see him back again for this concert) led the orchestra tuning, the concert opened with Aaron Copland's "Fanfare for the Common Man".   Eventually the camera crew figured out what shot showed the brass so their image finally made the screen.  Hidden at the back of the orchestra with all the audience on a rather flat ground limited our view substantially.  There were a few brief imperfections, but I love this piece and it didn't hurt the overall grandeur of it.

(From Luminato facebook page)

Upon conclusion we heard piccolos in the distance.  Was this aural competition or part of the show?  The answer quickly provided itself as the players and honour guard complete with muskets marched in and up to the stage.  The audience and part of the orchestra stood while both the Canadian and American national anthems were performed (you can bet that didn't happen in Baltimore!).  I know there are some Americans in the orchestra, but I'd guess that "The Star Spangled Banner" isn't a piece Canadian Maestro Peter Oundjian has often been called upon to conduct.

As the soldiers marched away CBC personality Tom Allen announced them as the "Fort York Honour Guard ladies and gentlemen, keeping out invaders for 200 years".  And we're very thankful they did :)

Philip Glass
(www.colineatock.com)

Finally it was time for the much anticipated "Overture for 2012".  There was a video introduction by composer Philip Glass who could not have looked less energetic or enthusiastic for the piece.  Does he dislike it that much?  My gut reaction: seriously dude we helped pay you for this, the least you could do is look happy we're debuting your work!  The piece itself wasn't bad.  It was typically minimalist with lots of repetition and a brassy melodic line that transfered a bit throughout the orchestra.  There was the underlying motor of the driving incessant, not quite arpeggio rhythmic patterns.  At times it got boring, and I was hoping for a change in pattern, often one came shortly after.  It was suppose to be a 12 min long piece and seemed longer than the closer to 5 it was, which I'm not sure is a good thing.  I'll second Tim Smith's comments in his blog regarding the BSO's performance "can we get some money back?"

Tom Allen, one of the highlights of the evening with his humorous and information introductions, returned with an invitation for the audience to imagine:  To imagine that we were to go home after the concert and find a job offer waiting for us.  The job is in New York and pays six times our current salary.  So we go, and then end up leaving for a church organist position in Iowa (I wonder if it was River City?).  This is what Dvorak did.  He discovered he didn't like city live and ended up in Iowa where the entertainment one summer was an Indian Medicine Man Snake Oil type show.  He went to every one to absorb the music and incorporated the themes into his most popular symphony.  That would be Symphony No. 9 "From the New World".  The TSO then played the 4th movement.

Moving onto some Canadian music, the first piece was by Malcolm Forsyth (incidentally the father of NAC Orchestra principal cellist Amanda), and was inspired by his first trip to the barren beauty that is Canada's far north.  The orchestra played "The Dance" from his orchestral suite Atayoskewin which is the Cree word for "sacred legend".  Youtube lacked a quick search result for the piece, but the NAC musicbox came through.  Take a listen here.  At times it reminds me of Copland's "Rodeo", particularly the first few bars.

View of audience from the back of the stage
(from Luminato facebook page)

Mr. Allen then tested our knowledge with a multiple choice question, who wrote the music for Lord of the Rings?  Was it John Williams, someone else I don't remember, or the Canadian Howard Shore who won three Oscar's, scored the film Mrs. Doubtfire, and suggested the name "The Blues Brothers" to Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi?  Not a tricky question to figure out.  They played a short suite excerpt from Lord of the Rings.  Having only seen the movies once I'm not familiar with the music.  It was good, but perhaps I'd find it more epic if I knew it better.

Maestro Oundjian dedicated the next piece to all the cyclists who go wizzing around the city.  Less than 4 bars in I figured it out as "The Flying Theme" from ET.  Very fitting :)

Tchaikovsky's "1812 Overture" is a masterpiece (well in my opinion).  Mr. Allen began by describing an invasion by a force that thought they'd get in, meet little resistance, take over, and be out of there by winter.  I, along with others I'm sure, assumed he was talking about the War of 1812, until he continued by saying that was what happened with France and Russia.  France thought it would be no problem to take Moscow, and Tchaikovsky's piece is celebrating the Russian defeat of Napoleon and his army. "But the parallels are similar.  So when you hear "La Marseillaise" that's them, and the bold brassy trombones, that's us!"  I'm not sure if the TSO played the full version (the recording I have runs 17 mins and includes the rarely performed vocal part), although it sounded like they did, and it didn't feel like 17 mins.  I'm also not sure if the carillons in the final section were recorded because I couldn't see if there were chimes on stage, but if it was live they were perfect.  Often I find the sound of the bells random, but this fit and the balance was superb.  They got to the climax and would you believe it FIREWORKS shot off behind the stage!  Who needs military cannon fire?  These were impeccably on the beat, and could not have have been better!  The finale even had a few extra shots that exploded in the air rather than just the single straight up shooting star type.  A Capitol Fourth (which concludes with an abridged version of the "1812 Overture" every year as the fireworks begin) could not have done it better!!

1812 Overture Finale Fireworks
(from Luminato facebook page)

The audience was on their feet immediately, not a begrudging out of obligation or slow standing ovation from this crowd, it was the real thing.  We were treated to an upbeat encore that I couldn't name but had a stick in your head tune that stayed with us all the way home.

I hope concerts like this become a tradition with Luminato and the TSO, there was a great turnout, great music, and thankfully the rain almost held off, but the few sprinkles only resulted in the opening of umbrellas, people didn't leave.  A testament to a thrilling evening of music.

Out of This World Finale: The Planets

My week of practically living at the TSO concluded on May 10 with the last in their series of concerts that included "space" music.  This one highlighted "The Planets" by Gustav Holtz.

The concert, conducted by music director Peter Oundjian, opened with "Canzon per sonare" by Gabrieli. It's a really cool piece just for brass.  Originally written for 4 trumpets and 4 trombones, it was performed by 2 horns, 4 trumpets and 2 trombones placed on either side of the choir loft!  It's an example of antiphonal music where a musical setting is played alternately by two groups, hence the placement of the instrumentalists.  It was one of the highlights of the evening.

Joaquin Valdepenas
(www.music.utoronto.ca)

Switching from brass to woodwinds, the next piece was John Corigliano's "Concerto for Clarinet and Orchestra" with the solo performed by TSO principal clarinetist Joaquin Valdepenas.  The composer was in the house and was invited on stage to describe the piece.  His father was concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic and personally knowing the clarinetist, Stanley Drucker, and his skills Corigliano decided on a piece that used the entire orchestra, had an unprecedentedly difficult opening cadenza and a slow movement filled with emotion involving a duet between concertmaster and soloist.  Apparently when first presented to Mr. Drucker he looked at the opening, closed the score and said "I can't play this".  Obviously he learned it, and with something like 150 notes in the first few measures (I haven't seen the score, this was the comparison given), it's become something like running the 4 minute mile...once one person has done it everyone wants to.  Mr. Corigliano said he's been in universities where students will stick their heads out of practice rooms and say "listen to this", then play the opening cadenza.

It's an interesting piece.  There's a lot going on and it fit my definition of "good contemporary music" by having enough there I'd listen to it again, however I was really more engrossed in watching Mr. Valdepenas play, what quality of sound over ALL registers.  The final movement continued the antiphonal theme by having some of the brass (at least 3 of the horns and likely the trumpets) separated from the orchestra.  In my section of mezzanine we had a French horn player at the back.  Definitely a different way of hearing things.  I expected to be deafened but sometimes wasn't even sure if they were playing.

While I wanted to hear the clarinet concerto, my real reason for going to the concert was "The Planets".  Pretty much every year in high school our band teacher would pull out "Jupiter", we'd badly sight read through it (as I recall the clarinet fingerings in the opening were rather tricky) and she'd collect it and put it back on the shelf.  Such a shame really, because I think with some work we might have gotten in playable.  The centre slow section always went better than the beginning :)  Going back even further my first memories of "Jupiter" was at the Ice Show one season at Canada's Wonderland.  I believe it was a pirate theme routine that used the music.  Wow, useless information, think what important stuff I could remember if I could forget things like that!  Point being, the piece and I have a history and I really like it.  However, I've never heard all seven movements (Earth is excluded and Pluto wasn't a planet in 1914-1916 when the piece was written and interestingly enough has recently been removed from the list again).

It begins with "Mars: The Bringer of War", then a very contrasting movement with "Venus: The Bringer of Peace".  "Mercury: The Winged Messenger" is light and peppy and probably my second favourite.  Then is the famous "Jupiter: The Bringer of Jollity".  Things slow down dramatically after that, and since I was already tired, I found it incredibly easy to just close my eyes, enjoy the sounds, and started to drift off.  "Saturn: The Bringer of Old Age" is incredibly beautiful.  "Uranus: The Magician" picks up in tempo and has sounds that reminded me of the suite from "The Day the Earth Stood Still".  Neptune has always been my favourite planet and "Neptune: The Mystic" is slow, calm, and relaxing, but perhaps since I'm not as familiar with these last few, they tended to blend into each other.  The conclusion of Neptune with the ladies chorus singing offstage and slowly fading away as the door to the stage is closed gave the feeling you were floating away the with the voices.  Unfortunately I couldn't just float back home to bed, driving required waking up again.

2012 New Creations

March came in like a lion, and brought with it the 8th annual Toronto Symphony Orchestra New Creations Festival.

The first piece in this first concert in a series of three was "This Isn't Silence", an intriguing title.  The first half in fact was all Canadian, including the guest vocalist.  Composed by Brian Current in 1998 when he was only 26 years old, "This Isn't Silence" was named from a direction he had written in the score during a bar of rest while a percussionist needed to change instruments.  Contemporary music is still something I don't adore, in fact most I don't even like.  This piece fell in the don't like category although he gave a passionate description of how he came to write it in discussion with TSO Music Director Peter Oundjian prior to the performance.

(photo by: Dale Wilcox)

I believe it was composer in residence Gary Kulesha who once said the goal of contemporary music is to have people hear something that makes them want to hear it again.  The next piece had that.  By composer Claude Vivier, who died in 1983, "Lonely Child" was written in 1980.  It includes a soprano part and Barbara Hannigan fulfilled the job with a dedicated embodiment of the song sentiment (see interview with her regarding this piece here).  Vivier was an orphan who in later life tried to find his birth mother.  The lyrics are part French and part a language he made up himself.  At times throughout there would be this gorgeous chord so distinct from the dissonance, and something like you'd hear during a space theme movie.  These I wanted to hold on to and imagine a lilting, floating melody line above.  But, all too soon they retreated to the ether.

Peter Eotvos
(photo by: Dale Wilcox)

The second half switched to the Eastern European portion of the evening.  The conductor throughout was Peter Eotvos (please imagine the double dot accents over the o's) who has developed a name for himself in the interpretation of contemporary music.  Also a composer the second half opened with the piece I was most looking forward to hearing, "Seven (Memorial for the Columbia Astronauts) for Violin and Orchestra".

Guest violinist Akiko Suwanai provided the solo violin part while the other 6 violins played from the front of the balcony, one in each side section.  Peter Oundjian remarked that not only is it a difficult feat to not be hearing and seeing as well as on the stage but they also have to deal with vertigo!  I had great hopes for this piece and love the idea of a memorial piece of music, unfortunately I was not impressed.  The layout of the orchestra was completely novel.  There were 49 musicians, instruments interspersed with each other in 3 rows to create 7 groups of 7 players.  But I found it very dissonant as is most contemporary music, but without anything I'd really want to hear again.  The program notes indicate that each astronaut is represented by a personal dedication cadence.  I wish these had been pointed out, because I was unable to hear any differences and the cadence was suppose to illustrate the musical cultures of each, such as India for Kalpana Chawla and Israel for the first Israeli in space, Ilan Ramon.

The evening concluded with "Messages for Orchestra" by "Hungary's leading living composer" according to the program, Gyorgy Kurtag.  It is a series of 6 vignettes paying tribute to other Hungarian musicians.  The first in fact is titled "Letter to Peter Eotvos".  It must be odd to conduct a piece that's meant to represent you, although Eotvos said it suited him when he introduced the piece.

That concludes my take on this odd evening of music.  With all that said though, I'm looking forward to next year and the creation of "A Toronto Symphony" which will be debuted.  It's a collaborative work between the TSO, composer Tod Machover of the MIT media lab, and the people of this fair city!  Check it out, and get involved.  Let's make next seasons New Creations Festival, one that can not only be respected from a technique standpoint but enjoyable music for the masses.

In the Heights

www.artscene.org

It had rap, hip hop, a hoity toity character who's favourite stance was hands on hips, a non-equity cast, and I liked it!  Honestly I know very little about equity other than assuming equity = good quality.  I need not have been worried.  The voices blew me away, the dancing to my untrained eye was top notch, the character of Vanessa could have had a bit more dimension, as the hands on hips routine got old after a while, but these things in no way diminished the performance aspect or emotional involvement on my part.

Way back on February 9 (hence why this review is shorter than usual, I don't remember details) I saw In the Heights at the Toronto Centre for the Arts.  It was a last minute decision to go and I only knew that the show had won some Tony awards (including the biggie of Best Musical in 2008) and the brief summary that was on the website.  What I couldn't understand was that the final tour date had happened almost a year ago, which I suppose indicated the Toronto production was not the original post Broadway tour.  But really it didn't matter.

The set was a street in Washington Heights, New York with the Brooklyn Bridge (ok, I'm guessing, but a bridge none the less) in the background, brownstone type buildings complete with balconies (important for the Romeo and Juliet type scene at sunrise, although with a happier ending) and businesses on the ground floor.  There wasn't a large open stage area, but the cast is rather small (12 main characters and a few additional ensemble players) and they made the most of the space they had.

http://www.intheheightsontour.com/photos.html

The plot is about family and home.  The creator Lin-Manuel Miranda based the opening on "Tradition" from Fiddler on the Roof and considers home the main theme (read more here).  While the characters are immigrants from various places and Spanish peppers the lyrics and dialogue they suck you into their lives with aspects easily reflected, if not in your own, then in the lives of those around you.  Subject matter includes parents wanting what's best for their children, children worried about living up to expectations of themselves and others, racial tensions, gossip, wanting to escape, realizing you're home, love (what's a musical without romance?), having courage to make changes, and a caring Grandmother figure who oversees it all and dispenses words of wisdom.

Characters Benny, Nina, and Usnavi
http://www.intheheightsontour.com/tour-cast.html

At the performance I saw (hopefully I'm getting these right they listed performer replacements too quickly for me to catch at the top of the show) Robert Ramirez played the roll of Usnavi, the narrator and owner of a bodega; Virginia Cavaliere was Nina, the daughter of Kevin and Camila who own Rosario's a taxi and limousine service, who's just returned for the summer from Stanford; and Kyle Carter as Benny, an employee at Rosario's who likes Nina.  The hip hop/rap style opening "In the Heights" by Usnavi describing life was understandable (which I automatically assume all rap isn't) and had quite witty rhyming at times.  Nina's soliloquy type "Breathe" took my breath away.  The actress has a beautiful voice and I hope makes it big in the future.  Benny's song "Benny's Dispatch" talking to the drivers on the road and fighting with the Spanish/English language barrier was funny.  It has a line "honk your horn" that is stuck in my head, for no good reason except I like the associated incredibly simple melody even though there's nothing special about it.

I was disappointed the program didn't list the songs or mention the band.  It's always great to take a peek into the pit at intermission.  This one might have had about 5 people: the conductor who also played keyboards, a wind player with saxes, a flute and clarinet all around him.  another keyboardist, brass player and guitars/bass.  There are clips here of some of the songs which are bouncy or heartfelt and fit into the storyline moments so well.

Here's to last minute decisions turn out to be fun evenings, cheers!

Memphis: The Musical

Fresh from Broadway is the first National Tour of Memphis, which recently made a brief stop in Toronto (so technically it's a North American tour).  The story takes place in the 1950's during a time when radio was one more segregated element in the southern USA.   I had no idea that "race music" stations were relegated to the edges of the band, typically where the signal was not as high a quality.  Mainstream stations may have had a rhythm and blues program, but based on how the musical pokes fun at this program on a white station, they were essentially a joke; not really playing black music.

In the musical, a guy named Huey Calhoun (Bryan Fenkart), who likes black music ends up in the wrong area of town at a black nightclub.  He convinces them he likes their music, and isn't interested in anything other than promoting it, well except for Felicia (Felicia Boswell).  She's a black singer, and sister of night club owner Delray (Quentin Earl Darrington), with whom Huey falls in love.  His promise of getting her singing in the centre of the radio dial is the driving force of the first act.  The sudden expansion of black music, now being called rock and roll, onto radio, TV, and the aftermath of the Huey/Felicia relationship is the subject of Act 2.

Felicia Boswell and Bryan Fenkart
(www.mooneyontheatre.com)

The story line is lively, intense, thought provoking, tender and touching all at the same time.  We see the change in characters preconceived notions about people, (namely Huey's mother played by Happy McPartlin), who are different and a younger generation that embraces the music and change.  It's sad to think that all this happened barely a generation ago.  Things don't get as far as a lynching but there's intense opposition to Huey and Felicia being together.

Unfortunately, there isn't a fairy tale ending.  Felicia's story has a happier finale than Huey's as she makes a career as a singer in New York.   By trying to force too much, too fast change wise in Memphis Huey ends up losing all the progress he made professionally.  Although I like to think he gets back on the right track at the end with a little help from old friends.

Huey and cast in final scene
(yipit.com)

The music follows the same mix of emotions.  The score (musical as well) won a Tony award in 2010 and is by founding member of Bon Jovi, David Bryan.  I particularly liked the upbeat "Everyone Wants to be Black on a Saturday Night", Felicia's heartfelt "Coloured Woman", and the song that eventually makes it on the radio in the centre of the dial "Someday".  Maybe I was just in an overly sappy mood, but "Memphis Lives in Me" brought tears to my eyes as everything Huey had falls apart.  There wasn't a member of the cast who left you feeling let down with their voice or performance.  They are all top notch talents.

Felicia singing live on the radio
(photo by Joan Marcus)

The show has now left Toronto, but should it make a return appearance and you're looking for a mix of catchy music and story with heart, check out Memphis.

TSO Goes to France

This concert, on March 30, marked the start of 3 trips to the TSO in 1 week.  They programmed a lot of good stuff all together this week.  Officially titled Thibaudet Plays Liszt, the program was almost exclusively music by French composers (except for Liszt who was born in Hungary) and featured French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, and conductor Stephane Deneve.

Opening with a lesser known work by Paul Dukas (of "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" fame) "La Peri, poeme danse" is a ballet and was the final score Dukas wrote.  It had light airy moments, lots of trembling strings, and frantic sections.  Frantic and fast were recurring themes of the evening.  However, the beginning of this piece threw me for a loop because I recognized it!  The opening brass fanfare is used in the Walt Disney World "Impressions de France" music from EPCOT which I have heard many, many times.  I went back and found the fanfare buried about 7 minutes in.  So now I know one of the composers used in the compilation.  For an interesting fanfare performance check this out.

Next Maestro Deneve introduced "The Shining One", a piece written for Jean-Yves Thibaudet by Guillaume Connesson, which apparently captures Mr. Thibaudet's style of playing.  Technically a contemporary work, in that Mr. Connesson is still living, still I really liked it!  Maybe "new" music is growing on me.  Anyhow, the title is from a superhuman character in the fantasy novel The Moon Pool from 1912 written by Abraham Merritt who was "the [American] equivalent of our own Jules Verne" according to Connesson.  Indeed there were times throughout that it had a very sci-fi feel to it.  Maybe that's why I liked it.  The thought crossed my mind that it might fit into Sci-fi Spectacular quite well.

A quick side note about the performers.  My first thought when Maestro Deneve appeared was that he looked like Penn Jillette (not just with the hair but his stature as well), the outspoken magician from Penn and Teller. Although his personality when he spoke seemed the exact opposite.  Obviously well liked by the orchestra, he was engaging to watch even if his hair was somewhat distracting (it's now even longer than in the photo).  He's the current music director of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, a post which TSO music director Peter Oundjian will fill beginning next season.

Mr. Thibaudet walked out on stage in a slim cut suit, and pointy shoes (what can I say, my seat was on the main floor, I was at shoe level) and all promo photos of him I've seen do not do him justice.  They seem so somber, yet he was smiling and seemed genuinely happy to be there, giving the Maestro a hug after his performances and acknowledging the orchestra.  For comparison, on the left is the picture in the program, and on the right one I found with a quick google search.  Personally, I think the right is much more flattering.

Back to the performance, oh wait, it's time for intermission.  Typically a dull time of the evening, but tonight William Littler was chatting in the lobby with Canadian composer Gary Kulesha on the subject of contemporary music.  A few of this thoughts, which follow, made a lot of sense to me.  Since recordings have become so prevalent, people have come to like what they know, and aren't always willing to take a risk on something new.  He said that people don't "get" contemporary music on a first hearing, so there needs to be something in there that will make them want to hear it again.  Heck, I have that problem with classical and even pops music sometimes!  I previously blogged about not particularly liking Frank Loesser on first hearing.  But it contained something that made me listen again, and it's amazing what can grow on a person.  Additionally he gave permission to not like new music.  People often feel they should like it when it's ok to say, I didn't really enjoy that.  When asked about how players respond to new works, Mr. Kulesha catagorized it this way:  5-10% of an orchestra will love playing new music, 20-30% will absolutely despise it, and the rest are professionals and will just play it.  However, he also brought out that playing new works makes players better.  Apparently the TSO typically plays slightly behind the beat of the conductor, yet in new works can have razor sharp precision and be right on top of it.

Post intermission was "Totentanz for Piano and Orchestra".  With the main Dies irae (Day of Wrath) theme running through it and lots of keyboard gymnastics to watch, I quite enjoy this piece.  It was performed at the TSO's Halloween concert as well and was one of the main reasons I wanted to come to this concert, to hear it again by a well known pianist.

The evening concluded with "La tragedie de Salome" by Florent Schmitt.  Originally written as a ballet and limited to the 20 member pit orchestra, when Schmitt had the opportunity it 1910 to expand it using full orchestral colours, he did so; also shortening the score by half to create the current symphonic poem which he dedicated to Stravinsky.  Stravinsky quite liked the work, echoing parts in his "Rite of Spring".

It has some of the frantic and fanatic elements mentioned earlier, but also great contrasts.  Played in two movements, the first ended with such power that there was some applause.   Considering some pieces with movements don't pause between them, I was wondering if it was the conclusion as well.  Without fully turning around Maestro Deneve held up 2 fingers indicating that there was still another part to go.  He didn't seem upset, some orchestra members looked amused, and it did lighten up the mood a bit before settling into the conclusion.

Electronica Meets Orchestra

March 5 was the second of three concerts in the 7th season of the Toronto Symphony's New Creations Festival.

Essentially works by composers who aren't dead.  Given my previous experience with contemporary music I was skeptical I'd enjoy this.  But John Adams, who's name I've come across in various other orchestra calenders and arts critics reviews, was conducting (his TSO conducting debut) and one of his own works was included,  so I figured, why not try something new?  The performance included 3 pieces: "Torque" by Gary Kulesha (a prominent Canadian composer), "Liquid Interface" (Canadian Premiere) by Mason Bates and "City Noir" (Canadian Premiere and TSO co-commission) by John Adams.

The first that hit me when I walked into the hall, was the amount of stuff on the stage!  I've never seen so many percussion instruments!  There were about 5 different xylophones, glockenspiels, vibraphones etc.  Most interesting were a big white drum like what you'd put ballots in to mix them up for a draw (used in "Liquid Interface" which may be classified as a wind machine) and a little room of  pot lids.  Ok, well not really but that's what it looked like (see photo).  Also 2 harps, and by the end of the evening 6 French horns, 4 clarinets, and 4 trumpets.

Pardon my poor grammar, but for my enjoyment factor 2 out of 3 ain't bad.  Being a casual concert, there was a host, in this case TSO Music Director Peter Oundjian, who introduced the pieces, which is especially nice to have for contemporary items.  He mentioned Mr. Kulesha's passion for fast cars (a Porsche Carrera specifically), and "Torque" growing out of that.  Indeed in the program notes the composer admits that the "image of rapidly rotating wheels (or tires) was in my mind throughout the writing of the work.  This may or may not have had something to do with the fact that I was shopping for a new car during the creation of this composition.  And it may or may not be related to the fact that I acquired a very fast car halfway through the writing process...", that car no doubt being the Porsche.  I really liked this piece!  Indeed the image of a car existed throughout and I was thinking it would fit in well with the Disney Hollywood Studios stunt car show.

Mason Bates (TSO website)

Next the "electronica" for the evening appeared.  If all contemporary pieces were like "Liquid Interface" I think I could say I like contemporary music.   Things with a clear theme really help.  In this case, that theme was water.  But as composer Mason Bates said in his description of the piece the temperature continues to rise throughout so you get water in all forms, not just liquid.  Mr. Bates, located between the strings and percussion, added the electronic bits, often with a techno type beat, via a laptop and large keypad.  It started with ice and real sounds of Glaciers Calving (also the name of the first movement).  Conductor John Adams had an ear piece for this first movement and when asked by Peter Oundjian afterwards said it was a click track for precision.  "Scherzo Liquido", the second movement, had electronic water droplet sounds and if I recall correctly ran right into the third and fourth movements.  "Crescent City" included hurricane, thunderstorm, and ocean parts which "relaxes into a kind of balmy, greenhouse paradise where we end the symphony in "On the Wannsee"" (from composers program notes) which featured ambient dock sounds recorded on Lake Wannsee.  The symphony concluded with the water evaporating.  Throughout there were snippets of melody that could be followed which I particularly enjoyed.  What I've heard previously in contemporary music is the use of random beats and rhythmic contortions to drive the piece, giving one the idea a pretty melody is dead.  I'm glad that's not he case.  The percussionists, particularly Mr. Rudolph (who also played a mean washboard) and the other mallet keyboard players, got a workout with 4 mallets quickly moving all over the keys.  Quite exciting to watch.

John Adams (johnadamscomposer.com)

After a quick musician change with additional horns, and several principal musicians arriving (such as oboe, trombone, trumpet, and French horn) there was a short chat between Mr. Oundjian and Mr. Adams about the creation of the piece.  Apparently "City Noir" was commissioned for the first concert by the LA Philharmonics new music director, Gustavo Dudamel.  So Mr. Adams combined the Los Angeles hollywood feel and his enjoyment of noir films into a piece that he said is similar to a movie score but without the breaks that usually come for the dialogue just when the score is getting interesting (for an interview with him about the piece go here).  I'd say interesting is a good word for it.  It followed more closely the rhythmic drive I mentioned before at points which tends to be when I get distracted.  Perhaps a noir movie accompanying it would have helped me.  There were well executed solos by a guest saxophonist, Timothy McAllister and principal musicians Andrew McCandless (trumpet) and Gordon Wolfe (trombone).  I also enjoyed watching Adams as a conductor.  His beat patterns were mostly easy to follow and there was no lack of energy or enthusiasm from him.  At the conclusion of the piece the musicians eagerly joined in the applause which I tend to use as a gauge for how well they liked the person on the podium.  I'd say he was a welcome guest conductor and indeed Mr. Oundjian had said previously that the orchestra had enjoyed rehearsals and hoped he would come back again soon.

As a first time attendee to the New Creations festival, I look forward to reading more about what next years might have in store.

PS:  I came across this as well.  The TSO got great reviews in the New York Times!