Ron Bierman

SD OPERA Company

Presents:
ALL IS CALM
The Christmas Truce of 1914

Per Ron Bierman
When San Diego Opera General Director David Bennett realized earlier this year that the scheduled Vancouver-derived production of Hansel and Gretel wouldn't fit comfortably on the Balboa Theater stage,
All Is Calm: The Christmas Truce Of 1914
was an obvious holiday-season alternative. He'd already been thinking about it for the company's Detour Series of less traditional works.

The roughly 75-minute long musical drama, tells the true story of the spontaneous unofficial truce between WWI enemies, who left their trenches and entered the narrow no-man's land between them, to join in a celebration of the Christmas Holidays. It wasn't unusual for soldiers in trenches to sing during lulls in the fighting, sometimes to taunt the enemy, and sometimes to entertain them. The truce of 1914, was precipitated by Christmas carols sung by German troops. Allies responded with carols and other songs of their own. Eventually, there was enough mutual trust that soldiers began leaving trenches to exchange small gifts, organize a soccer game, and bury soldiers who'd died on the ground between the opposing trenches.

Peter Rothstein wrote the libretto based on material from the period, the most important of which, is the verbatim text of letters and war journals written by soldiers who participated in the truce. These are spoken by cast members, with nearly 20 different English, German, French and Flemish accents and dialects, coached well for accuracy by Vanessa Dinning.
Each quote ends with the writer's name, rank and military affiliation.

The cast also sings many songs, most of them mentioned in the soldier's writings. They include those popular during the war and several traditional Christmas carols.
All were arranged by Erick Lichte and Timothy C. Takach, and are sung a-cappella in the languages of the soldiers. Conductor Juan Carlos Acosta said, "Should we ever
doubt the power of music to bring people together, we can remember these brave young men, called out of the trenches by a song."

The show opens in a cheerful optimistic mood, with propaganda tunes used to encourage young men to enlist for an exciting adventure - one not likely to last very long. Reality begins to set after the troops arrive on the battlefield in the rain, and then find rats scampering in the trenches. When one soldier reports in a letter that a close friend has been killed by a sniper, the true nature of war finally sinks in. The song "I Want to Go Home" replaces " Alexander's Ragtime Band."

The San Diego Opera co-produced All Is Calm with SACRA/PROFANA, and Bodhi Tree Concerts. The two organizations had performed the work before, in a smaller theater. Bodhi Tree's cofounder, bass Walter DuMelle, joined a mix of opera company chorus members and SACRA/PROFANA singers to make an all-male choir
of 16.

The performance reached a rapturous heart-warming peak roughly halfway through, as enemies, now temporarily friends, sang a long gorgeous multipart arrangement of "Silent Night." Harmony and key changes, were managed beautifully as the soldiers sang, sometimes in multiple languages ... at the same time.

More satisfying moments are shared by the soldiers, but we know the war went on for four more years. It's not a surprise when a high-level officer orders an end to the truce, which was never approved to begin with. The troops join one last time for
"Auld Lang Syne" ... and a brief reprise of "Silent Night."

CHAD FRISQUE - Tenor

All Is Calm was the San Diego Opera debut of director Alan E. Hicks who recently assumed a newly created position shared between the Opera and San Diego State University. He kept the cast active in the background, except unavoidably, when the score sometimes seems as much a choral concert as a musical drama. SDSU was further represented by costume designer Professor Denitsa Bliznakova, and the university's Head of Lighting Design Anne E. McMills. Realistic German and Allied forces' uniforms heightened the production's impact. Varied lightening and sets by Tim Wallace, further reinforced the feeling that the action was taking place on a desolate battlefield.

The full choir, conducted by Acosta, was excellent throughout. Tenor Chad Frisque's
solo "Will Ye Go to Flanders?" was an early highlight. It was Frisque, who first brought All Is Calm to the attention of each of the three co-producers several years ago.

DuMelle's stentorian voice commanded attention as he delivered quotes, most notably from Winston Churchill. He was one of five bass and bass-baritones who gave the choir an unusually deep rich sound.

All Is Calm: the Christmas Truce of 1914 and the events on which it is based, provide a reason to feel good about humanity. Regardless of nationality, race, or religion, people have many more needs and desires in common than not. When enemies realized that, they no longer wanted to kill each other. I wish I were able to leave it at that, but the war continued. Some who had participated in the truce were killed. Before the conflict ended, despite moments of calm, an estimated 20 million more had died in military actions, half of them civilians.

For full season performance schedules and ticket information visit the
San Diego Opera website.

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San Diego SYMPHONY:
Presents . . .

Per Ron Bierman

Guest Conductor David Danzmayr led the San Diego Symphony with unusual intensity in a program of one new work and two familiar favorites. Forceful skyward thrusts demanded full power when needed - and an active left hand called for expressive playing. The orchestra responded with performances that brought a range of satisfying effects, from compelling excitement to wistful tenderness. The program opened with the world premiere of "Hands of Mist", by Javier Álvarez. Commissioned by the San Diego Symphony, the work paints an emotional musical picture of the confusing world faced by those immigrating to the United States from the South.

David Danzmayr - Conductor

Sometimes reaching near cacophony, Álvarez builds atmosphere and tension in the first of three parts, as boisterous modern orchestral sounds, are mixed with suggestions of a train in motion, and bursts of Latin melodies and rhythms. In the second part,
a boy soprano enters to sing the text of the poem that inspired the piece. It is by United States Poet Laureate Juan Felipe Herrera.
The boy, alternating between Spanish and English as he sings, sounds frail against a continuing tumultuous instrumental background. "I am the lost child between furious towers between two flags ..." When the poem completes, the boy's despairing voice disappears, and broiling, conflicting motifs continue unresolved.

Twenty minutes of continuously aggressive music, changing rhythms, snatches of incomplete melodies, and an unmelodic vocal part make a clear statement. - "Arms of Mist", is indeed an ingenious depiction of immigration's emotional impact, and a clear, affecting plea for greater empathy, especially for the children affected. But, out of context, the very techniques that make it so effective as a political and moral statement, make it less attractive as a purely musical experience. Kudos nonetheless, to the San Diego Symphony for commissioning this powerful statement, on one of today's most controversial societal issues.

CONRAD TAO - Pianist

Tchaikovsky's first piano concerto is a decided "warhorse". But, if some didn't buy a ticket, because they think they've heard it too often ... they made a mistake. Conrad Tao's nearly unbelievable performance, proved warhorses can still be worth trotting out. Tao's roaring octaves, poetic feather-light runs, and astounding speed and accuracy, must be sending many professionals home in a state of frustrated envy, and causing amateurs to give it up altogether. Maestro Danzmayr paid attention to what was going on at the keyboard, and the orchestra and pianist were in synch throughout a truly exciting performance. During an extended ovation, from an audience that had leapt to its feet - the young pianist received an equally appreciative hug from the Maestro.

Tao was minus his jacket when he returned to the stage for an encore. The black short-sleeved tee he'd had underneath remained to make him look even younger than his 24 years. He sat down, pivoted on the bench to the audience and got a big laugh, when he announced he'd be playing a fugue from Bach's Sonata No. 3 for solo violin. And, that he did, though not on the violin, with a thoughtfully tender approach, that seemed to bring Bach forward over 200 years to the Romantic Era.

Conrad Tao

Many Russian composers who worked under Stalin's watchful eye, including Prokofiev, lived with more than their share of controversy. They faced physical threats if their music displeased the regime - and hostile critical reaction from Western critics if it didn't. Prokofiev's reputation, unfairly I believe, has been hurt by the view that he knuckled under and compromised his musical integrity. He did indeed produce a few over-the-top patriotic pieces, no doubt partly to appease the regime. But, he was in fact, a patriot - and also a former spoiled child prodigy, who couldn't stand the thought that other composers might be better at something than he was - even, if what they were better at, was turning out blatantly politically inspired works. He displayed his need to be the best from the beginning, competing with Haydn when he wrote his first symphony, "The Classical". And when Stravinsky achieved both praise and notoriety for "Rite of Spring" - Prokofiev responded with the "Scythian Suite", to show he could write music of even greater pagan brutality.

His seventh symphony, written while he was ill, and almost certainly knew he was dying ... doesn't try to prove anything. It is immediately appealing, full of his genius for melody. The opening movement sets the tone. The first theme seems resigned, - yet the second ... is filled with soaring beauty. The following movement approaches the simple naïve buoyancy of "Peter and the Wolf". The third is introspective and wistful. The final movement, bubbles with childlike joy, before an unexpected return - of the poignant soaring second theme of the first movement. And then, clock-like percussion and pizzicato, in the strings foreshadow - the closing notes ..... resigned acceptance of the end.

When some expressed disappointment in the ending, Prokofiev wrote an upbeat alternative. Danzmayr (above) chose the original ending, a more appropriate one, given the composer's health and personal problems as he wrote the symphony. The conductor consistently made intelligent choices throughout the piece, and the San Diego musicians followed him alertly to deliver a fine performance of an underappreciated work.

Visit the San Diego Symphony website for a schedule of concerts remaining in their 2018 - 2019 SEASON

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SD SYMPHONY Orchestra:
Presents . . .

Mariinsky Orchestra

Per Ron Bierman
It was a rare event, two symphony orchestras on stage at the same time, and Russian conductor Valery Gergiev was spectacular. He first set a carefree festive mood with the drinking song from Puccini's "La Traviata", performed with Viennese flair by the Mariinsky Orchestra and six singers from the Mariinsky Theater's Atkins Young Artists Program. Puccini's call to hedonistic living was followed by the boisterous joy of Glinka's overture to Ruslan and Ludmilla at the fastest tempo I ever expect to hear, a full minute faster than some of the best recordings. While perhaps wondering how a toothpick became his baton (though not his San Diego choice), you can judge the speed for yourself in a YouTube video recorded during a previous Gergiev concert.

Russian Conductor - Valery Gergiev

The breakneck speed, without seeming a showoff gimmick, demonstrated the agility and precision of the Mariinsky musicians and the warm rich sound of the string section.

The mood quieted considerably when the San Diego Symphony Orchestra, with Gergiev still in command, replaced the visiting musicians for Borodin's evocative tone poem "In the Steppes of Central Asia". The San Diegans followed Gergiev's demands in yet another impressive showing of how beautifully they play for every resident or guest conductor - though the immediate comparison with the preceding touring orchestra, did suggest there's a bit further to go before it can claim a place among the very best in the world.

Valery Geriev

Musicians from both orchestras, over 120 in total, combined after intermission for a monumental performance of Shostakovich's mammoth, and somewhat controversial 7th symphony, the "Leningrad". Does it kowtow to Stalin's regime or mock it? If my friends were off to the Gulag or a firing squad - it just might affect what I wrote. But, since Shostakovich was Russian to the core and in Leningrad while composing the first three movements as Germans attacked, it's more likely he was sincerely honoring the strength and tenacity of the Leningrad citizens who withstood Hitler's invasion, as they had Napoleon's.
The symphony has received arguably more justifiable criticism on artistic grounds (with which I disagree). In a first movement that approaches a half hour in length, Shostakovich displays an obsessiveness surpassing that shown in Ravel's "Bolero". A banal jaunty melody, based in part on a theme from "The Merry Widow" by Lehar, a favorite of Hitler's repeats 12 times - gradually changing in color and orchestration, to a mood of uneasy foreboding. The German army approaches.

The two lengthy middle movements, in which Shostakovich paints a nostalgic picture of a simpler and happier pre-war life, and the beauties of nature, were treated with lingering attention to detail by Gergiev, and I found my mind wandering at times, when the lingering seemed excessive. In sharp contrast with the overture, his interpretation of the "Leningrad" was at the high end of performance times ... running over 80 minutes.

My attention snapped back into place, as the conductor blazed his way into the exciting finale. Hall acoustics didn't always cope well with the very loudest of combined-orchestra moments - but, as Gergiev worked his substantial forces into near-frenzied triumph, I felt as if I too, were celebrating an elating victory. The stunning climactic ending, brought an excited sellout audience immediately to its feet for extended ... and unusually enthusiastic applause. It was a memorable evening!

For concert schedule and ticket information visit the San Diego Symphony
Photos courtesy San Diego Symphony.

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San Diego OPERA:
Presents . . .

Per Ron Bierman -
The San Diego Opera's production of Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro featured expressive singing, clever attractive sets, beautiful costumes, and strong comedic and dramatic acting. The work is generally called a comic opera, but as director Stephen Lawless pointed out during my interview with him, "There are tears behind the laughter." The difficult political and social issues hiding behind laughter came from the Beaumarchais play on which the opera was based, and Mozart and librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte had to make light of them or risk censorship. The play's depiction of royal abuses probably contributed to the start of the French Revolution. Napoleon went so far as to say the it was, "the Revolution already put into action."

Susanne Mentzer, Ashraf Sewailiam,
Evan Hughes, Sarah Shafer

Lawless's production got off to a promising start. Conductor John Nelson led San Diego Symphony Orchestra musicians in a spirited performance of the familiar tuneful overture. In the opening scene, four silent liveried servants of Count ALMAVIVA (John Moore) entered through separate doors to light faux candle chandeliers. The chandeliers began a stately ascent as servants left and singers entered.

Mozart's extraordinary music perfectly matches the actions and emotions of Da Ponte's complex characters and, in spite of many intervening revolutions, the conflicts depicted by Beaumarchais remain unresolved today. Conductor John Nelson (above) - Delighted #MeToo-driven applause followed MARCELLINA's, "The wildest of the beasts in the forest or the plain, his mate does not constrain or use with force." And, sung with strength and sly Evan Hughes (seated) and John Moore wit by bass-baritone Evan Hughes, "Open your eyes", Figaro's politically-incorrect aria on the untrustworthiness of women, garnered laughter. It's no wonder that Figaro remains one of the most popular operas ever written, fifth in performances last season ... worldwide.

But a favorable impression of conductor, orchestra, and Leslie Travers' sets and costumes soon gave way to concern. The orchestra, perhaps carried away by the exuberant overture, overpowered Hughes and Sarah Shafer (SUSANNA) as they discussed preparations for their imminent marriage. Shafer's lovely, but non-Wagnerian soprano was at times barely audible. Fortunately, Maestro Nelson soon adjusted, and the orchestra meshed-well with the singers for the remainder of the performance.

Evan Hughes & Sarah Shafer

The Marriage of Figaro's plot centers around Count ALMAVIVA's attempt to bed SUSANNA on her wedding night, even though he had previously proclaimed an end to that lordly prerogative. First recorded as "the right of kings" in Babylonia nearly 5,000 years ago, there is little evidence the practice was common, much less legal, in 18th Century Europe - but, that didn't discourage its use as a plot device nor as an ire-rousing issue during the French Revolution.

FIGARO and SUSANNA aren't the only ones discomfited by the Count's intentions. The COUNTESS (soprano Caitlin Lynch) joins with SUSANNA in a plot to embarrass her husband. Though it is her wedding night, she reluctantly agrees, and farce-like complications ensue, especially since SUSSANNA doesn't entirely trust FIGARO either. CHERUBINO (mezzo-soprano Emily Fons in a "pants role", as an older boy with burgeoning desires) adds to the comedic confusion, with a pure clear voice, almost like that of a very good counter-tenor. She pops in-and-out of the set's many doors, hides Emily Fons, Sarah Shafer and John Moore under beds, and finally jumps out of a window ... to avoid the jealous Count. Lawlesses's long history with Figaro productions, this is his sixth, makes him well qualified to milk as many laughs as possible out of the action, without underplaying the "tears behind" them.

Vocal highlights included Lynch's smooth buttery voice, as she lamented the Count's loss of interest with the famous arias "Oh, love" and "Where are the lovely moments." John Moore as the rakish Count ALMAVIVA, excelled in the Act III aria "Must I see a serf of mine made happy while I am left to sigh." Susanne Mentzer (MARCELLINA), acted and sang recitative - but, on opening night was a bit under the weather. To save her voice, soprano Julia Metzler stepped in, with little time for preparation, to sing the more taxing vocal passages from the side of the stage. The two coordinated so well that the substitution did little harm to the effectiveness of Mentzer's performance.

Also featured in the production are the powerful bass Ashraf Sewailam as Dr. BARTOLO, Joseph Hu as DON BASILIO, Scott Sikon as ANTONIO, and Lisa Frisque as BARBARINA. San Diego Opera's chorus master Bruce Stasyna, enhanced recitative passages as continuo harpsichordist.

At nearly three hours and 20 minutes, Figaro is a long opera - but the San Diego production held attention from beginning to end, and garnered a well-earned extended standing ovation when the excellent cast took its bows. October 28th, is this production's final performance of four. For information on that, and the rest of the season visit the San Diego Opera website.

Photos courtesy of San Diego Opera.

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SD OPERA - Interview
STEPHEN LAWLESS

Stephen Lawless will be directing the San Diego Opera's production of The Marriage of Figaro this week. I met with him in the opera company's rehearsal room recently to discuss that, how he came to be a director, and his views of a director's responsibilities.

"My parents were of the generation that listened to the radio. I remember there was always music around. I grew up in the North of England in the 60s, so it was The Beatles. In fact, one of my teachers taught, I think it was Paul McCartney.
It was fantastic music."
 Stephen Lawless

Per Ron Bierman
The director's grammar school in England gave him a chance to hear non-pop styles as well. "It used to do yearly productions of Gilbert and Sullivan. I got sort of interested in that, and went to see the Doyle Carte - then started reading about Gilbert and Sullivan, and opera." And that, became his main musical interest. "The major companies came to Manchester, and it was cheap! I remember having a box at the opera house, and we were not a wealthy family, so it had to be cheap."

By his final year of high school, Lawless had become so taken with opera, that he, rather naively, decided to write a letter describing his interest in directing to John Copley - whom The Daily Telegraph recently described as Britain's "best opera director". It's surprising the letter found its way to him. He was, as all good directors often are, travelling. Lawless sent the letter to Covent Garden, where Copley had been working, and got an answer three months later ... post marked Hawaii! The letter had followed Copley from London to a production in Australia, and then to Hawaii ... where he was vacationing. It said, "Come see me in London".

The first opera to really stir his ambition was The Barber of Seville, the predecessor to the Mozart opera he is rehearsing this week in San Diego. He thought he had tickets for The Magic Flute. "I'm glad it wasn't that. It might have put me off for life. When I heard the overture (to Barber), I realized I recognized the melodies. They'd been used in countless cartoons and countless movies. I suddenly realized I knew more about opera than I had imagined. The Magic Flute, I've only directed it once, and I don't think I'd ever do it again. It's too difficult."

It's likely that The Magic Flute seems comparatively difficult, partly because he has an incredible amount of experience with The Marriage of Figaro. "Within a year of leaving the Opera Center I was working at Glynbourne as a stage manager, and the first show I worked on was Figaro. I must have worked on 30 performances. Four year years later I was assistant director and I revived it. It was the famous Peter Hall production with Kiri Te Kanawa, Ileana Cotrubas and Frederica von Stade."

After a United States tour, Lawless had seen perhaps 80 performances. "I mounted my own production for a college in London in the late 80s - and that's really what got my career started." He staged that production again in Hong Kong, Dallas and Toronto. He's now done a total of six new productions, and San Diego's will be the fifth time, the most recent one has been staged.

Lawless's views have changed over the course of his many interpretations of Figaro. Recently, while studying Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte, Mozart's other collaborations with librettist Lorenzo Da Ponte, he noticed both are in two acts, with a comic emphasis in the first, and a more serious mood in the second. He decided The Marriage of Figaro should be interpreted in a similar fashion. Though often comic, "There is something more serious at play." As in Chekov, there are tears behind the laughter. And that's what we're trying to go with. What the countess asks of SUSANNA, for example, to meet the count in the garden disguised, is terrible for her ...a huge terrible imposition on her wedding day.

Da Ponte placed characters of depth into realistic, if comically portrayed moral and political dilemmas, as relevant today as in the opera's 18th Century setting. Lawless pointed out that a 1988 Peter Sellars production had, with startling prescience, been set in a Trump Tower luxury apartment.
Martin Zysset as DON BASILIO

"After working on Figaro for 40 years, I feel, apart from four pages, I finally have the whole thing together. They're in the Act II finale, where Mozart wins hands down. "It's so brilliant and so fast. At first glance, it's probably hard for most opera goers to believe a sought after professional, was still discovering new things after staging six productions and seeing hundreds of performances." But the opera's vocal score approaches 400 pages of action, dialog and situations open to multiple interpretations. "I am in awe of Mozart, and of Da Ponte to a certain extent. The opera covers everything. It's funny. It's serious, and it's political. It does all the right things for me.
The political isn't abstract, it's personal -- proof of what savvy artists they were."

Lawless's passion for Mozart hasn't narrowed his field of interest. "To be honest, if the subject and the music interest me, I'll direct anything. Because I've been doing this for a long time now, if somebody asks me to do an opera I don't know well, I first listen to it. If I get that gut reaction, it only needs to be for about four, five or eight bars, if the images start happening of what it looks like, of what you want to do with it, if it's strong enough, that gut instinct, you keep working to see whether it will expand.

SD OPERA ... "Fans"

And if there's something in there, whether it's #me too or Trump or whatever {long pause}. I believe what we artists do, what we provide is the alternative to what politicians do. Art says, 'This is something to strive for,' and it's about humanity and the humanities, whereas I think politics goes in the totally opposite direction. So if I can find something that has that kind of social conscience, that's one of the things that makes me interested."

Rossini's Cinderella is among the operas he has turned down, more than once - because, he struggled with how to portray good. Then, "I was working with a mezzo-soprano in Canada on Anna Bolena, and she was married with a daughter, who knitted stockings and sold Girl Guide cookies. And I thought, that's good. And suddenly, into my head came a production. Having turned it down for years, now when I meet with general directors, I ask are you thinking at all of doing a Cenerentola, because I'm desperate to do it."

What happens, once he decides he wants to direct? After a short sardonic laugh, he said,
"You fight with the management about more money, both for the design and for the people."

Although the list of the operas Lawless has worked on in his long career is extensive - he still has quite a list of new projects he'd like to take on, including Pirates of Penzance by Gilbert and Sullivan, the duo who first stirred him to learn more about opera. "I have a wish list. In fact, I have three wish lists. One is for six main-stream operas I've never done, another is for six occasionally done, and the last is for six I'm never going to do because no one's ever heard of them, or would want to put them on." He'll be directing two he's wanted, in the coming year Così fan tutte and Káta Kabanová. A production of Don Carlos was discussed, but fell through when a key figure dropped out. He's hoping the project will be taken up again next year.

When we discussed recent operas, Lawless mentioned he'd been asked about doing Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking, and was impressed by the opera, but couldn't do it because of a scheduling conflict. He also spoke favorably of Minitour by Birtwistle, a composer of notoriously thorny music. "This one is more lyrical than you might expect."

His impressively full directing schedule means a lot of travel - which has become more difficult for nearly everyone. He used to travel often with his partner, a lighting designer - but, "Whatever disputes we'd had at home tended to carry over into the lighting session." They decide to work apart. Lawless manages four months of the year, at a relatively new home in Scotland ... it's a needed break from opera.

When I asked what experiences in his career have given him the most satisfaction he said, "I've had lots of satisfying experiences. Rehearsing Figaro time after time after time, never ever bores me. It always throws something new out, that you have to deal with."
Lawless also recalled, "Der Rosenkavalier at the Bolshoi - I remember the curtain calls, and drinks on the stage after the show." As he went to get his coat, he was alone in the auditorium. He stopped to look back at the stage, relishing the moment ... thinking 'this is quite special.'
But what he calls "the best day of his life", was only peripherally related to his profession. "It was here when I did Trovatore. The day between the general and the first night was my birthday. I flew down to Laguna San Ignacio, rented a boat and spent two hours with a California gray whale and her calf. It was the most extraordinary day of my life.
Absolutely thrilling!"

EVAN HUGHES
SD Opera Star

When we turned to the financial difficulties of many of today's opera companies, Lawless said, "The state of opera tends to follow the state of the country or the city, and if money's tight, it puts a lot of pressure on the business. There's not a lot of state funding at the moment. There's good emphasis now on writing new works that actually engage with contemporary issues, and on companies trying to take opera to people rather ...
... than trying to pull them in."

When French revolutionary leader Georges Danton said that the Beaumarchais play on which The Marriage of Figaro is based "killed off the nobility," he was premature. Too often, the names have just changed from King and Count to Prime Minister, President, or just plain "Boss". Though written over two centuries ago, Figaro continues to "engage with contemporary issues" - a major reason Stephen Lawless has been a bit obsessed with getting its mix of comedy and serious moral dilemma just right. I'm looking forward to seeing his most recent production, and hope that by the time of the first performance,
he's mastered those four remaining pages.

The San Diego Opera's production of
The Marriage of Figaro will have four performances, and stars John Moore as Count ALMAVIVA, Evan Hughes as FIGARO, Caitlin Lynch as COUNTESS, Sarah Shafer as SUSANNA, Emily Fons as CHERUBINO, Susanne Mentzer as MARCELLINA, and Ashraf Sewailam as BARTOLO.
John Nelson is the Conductor.

Visit San Diego Opera for ticket information for The Marriage of Figaro and other productions scheduled for the current season.

Ashraf Sewailam - "Marriage of Figaro"

Photos - Courtesy of SAN DIEGO OPERA

San Diego OPERA House

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Per Ron Bierman:
Pianist Lang Lang, all but disappeared from the concert stage late last year while recovering from an arm injury caused by intensely rushed practice of Ravel's concerto for left hand only. Now back touring, he was the main draw for the opening of the San Diego Symphony Orchestra's 2018-19 Season. .

Lang Lang's exquisitely crafted interpretation of Mozart's 24th piano concerto followed. It is one of the most introspective of his concertos ... especially as interpreted by Lang.

San Diego Symphony
Presents . . .

Pianist - LANG LANG

His performance proved all is well, and why he is one of the few superstar classical-music attractions. With less flamboyance, conductor Edo de Waart confirmed his formidable international reputation is also deserved, and the orchestra responded with passion to his authoritative direction.

Conductor Edo de Waart

The program, at little more than an hour with no intermission, was shortened to allow time for related season-opening (and fund raising) festivities. Orchestra members performed in formal garb appropriate for a night of celebration. The bright cheerfulness and romantic ardor of Berlioz' Béatrice and Bénédict Overture, conducted with vigorous precision by Maestro de Waart, was a perfect start. LANG LANG

The pianist is known for rapturously emotional gestures which, for some, detract from his performances - but, they are perfectly consistent with the Romantic repertoire for which he is best known. Similar gestures and interpretations are more arguably inappropriate for Mozart - and Lang's Mozart is more romantic poetry than classical rigor. But, when performers show genuine emotion as they play, it makes it far more likely the audience will too ... regardless of repertoire.

For the concerto, Edo de Waart led a smaller orchestra more typical of Mozart's era. That allowed Lang to apply as delicate a touch to the keys as I've ever seen, without the solo line becoming lost in the orchestra. During quieter passages, he had a gentle, beautifully liquid sound, and forceful passages with difficult trills and runs, were managed with virtuosic flare.

The encore was a Horowitz-like arrangement of Chopin's "Minute Waltz" with lots of rubato and impishly impertinent mild dissonance - an exclamation point on a crowd-pleasing performance.

The colorful full-length gowns of the orchestra's female musicians, were a visual complement to the spectacular orchestral colors of the concluding "Fountains of Rome" by Respighi. De Waart led a performance of impressive glittering brilliance. Strings were silky smooth. Silvery woodwinds, coiled seductively in a musical image of falling, splashing water - and de Waart's management of dynamics, produced climaxes with exciting impact.
When five French horns entered in perfect unison with heroic power, it seemed a stirring promise of what is to come in the season to follow.

Rafael Payare

Rafael Payare's appointment as the orchestra's new music director and conductor was announced last year, but previous commitments have pushed his first scheduled appearance with the Symphony into January 2019.

It will be a challenge for him to top what comes before he arrives, if conductors, soloists and orchestra musicians continue to perform as well as they did on opening night. Maestro Payare is inheriting the keys to a roaring smooth-handling vehicle.

LANG LANG - Popular Young Pianist

Uncredited photos courtesy of San Diego Symphony.

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Presents . . .

The FOUR TOPS
and
The TEMPTATIONS

Per Ron Bierman
Nostalgic fans mobbed the San Diego Symphony's Four Tops and Temptations Concert. Tables, stands and lawn were packed. Ticketless fans settled in spots outside the entrance, joining boats in the bay in listening to music that had created lasting memories. Tunes you hear growing up never leave you. You can tell how old someone is, by asking which radio station they listen to. "The one that plays oldies from the 60s," is a good indicator, even if La Jolla's excellent plastic surgeons have intervened. Fond memories are why Motown vocal groups and "ghost" bands from the Swing Era still attract enthusiastic audiences.

Wiith their many number-one hits and more than half a century of sold-out venues, it's not surprising to see The Four Tops at 79 and The Temptations at 68, on Rolling Stones' list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. For many years rivals, they now tour together, recreating the Motown grooves and soulful sounds they, and other groups such as The Supremes, made so popular in the 1960s and 70s.

The Four Tops opened the concert. The original members of the group performed together from 1953 until Lawrence Payton became ill and died in 1997. Today, at 82, Abdul "Duke" Fakir is the sole surviving founding member and still performing. Although he was sitting on stage because of a recent injury, it's likely he'll be on his feet dancing again before another birthday. He and the others, flaunted flashy gold-sparkle jackets and gold pants, while they sang hits that included "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)," "Reach Out I'll Be There," and "It's the Same Old Song."

The Temptations too, have one surviving founder, Otis Williams, now 76. Founded a bit later than The Tops, the male vocal quintet began as The Elgins a mere 58 years ago - changing to their current name shortly after they learned there was already another Motown group named The Elgins. The Temptations have had more internal disagreements than The Four Tops, and far more turnover. Even so, Williams has managed to keep performances at a high level, with little change in signature vocal sounds and harmonies. He has felt an obligation he has said, "To make it all come together, the dancing, the harmony, the dressing." The smash hits reprised by The Temptations in the concert's second half, included "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone," "Just My Imagination," and "My Girl."

The groups have maintained their signature synchronized dance moves - although on this night, perhaps because Fakir was unable to join the other Tops, the Temptations would have had a big edge in a dance competition. Their moves were more precise and continuous.

Current arrangements and feel, especially in the case of The Four Tops, aren't identical to the originals. The Tops most popular recordings, featured baritone Levi Stubbs, usually in arrangements that intentionally forced him up into a tenor range to get a strained, raw emotional sound. The current Four Tops lead, Harold "Spike" Bonhart, typically sings in a more comfortable range with a smoother sound.
Levi Stubbs
On recordings, the two vocal groups were often backed by the Funk Brothers, Motown Records' studio band, augmented by a small chorus and a few strings. The nearly twenty musicians in the tour band, shared with a few substitutions, are as much Vegas as Motown. Changed arrangements, have affected The Four Tops more than The Temptations, because the latter has always been a little closer to prevailing mainstream styles. Even their black and white outfits were more conventional than The Tops' golden glitter.

Purists may have been bothered by differences between the original recordings and the concert performances.
But most, including me, were happy to hear the latest versions of legendary Motown groups singing songs so many have enjoyed for so long - songs that had the audience singing along, and clapping rhythmically,
while swaying with arms in the air.

For information about future San Diego Symphony concerts visit here.
Photo courtesy San Diego Symphony.

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La Jolla Music Society's SUMMERFEST:
Presents . . .

Per Ron Bierman
"Carnival," the opening concert in Cho-Liang Lin's last season as music director of the La Jolla Music Society's Summerfest, was an unusual jumble of works. Bartók's Contrasts for clarinet, piano and violin was written for jazz clarinetist Benny Goodman. It is based on Hungarian and Romanian folk dance - and, though composed 80 years ago, includes bitonality that still imparts an edgy "modern" flavor. Villa-Lobos's "Bachianas Brasileiras" suites for eight cellos and soprano, were written to honor Bach with Brazilian-influenced melodies and rhythms. And Saint-Saëns wrote "Carnival of the Animals", a work for 11 instruments, on a lark. He refused to publish it during his lifetime, thinking it would detract from his reputation as a "serious" composer.

Cho-Liang Lin

This potpourri of styles, purposes and instrumentations looks strange on the same program. But excellent musicians, clearing enjoying themselves, made it work well indeed.
Anthony McGill
Bartok's "Contrasts", written for clarinetist Benny Goodman, is an unusual mix all by itself. The first movement might cause conservative listeners to flee as violin and clarinet compete in different keys with rhythms not always easy to follow. The second movement is in one of Bartok's mysterious "night music" moods, and the final third was heavily influenced by 20th Century swing styles. Anthony McGill, principle clarinetist for the New York Philharmonic, violinist Paul Huang and pianist Shai Wosner supplied an appropriately jazzy interpretation in a witty virtuosic romp that might have made Benny Goodman a touch jealous.

For the two "Bachianas Brasileiras" suites on the program, Lin not only had to book eight good cellists, he also had to decide where they would sit. First chair was easy. Lynn Harrell has been a respected cellist and educator for about half a century. But, should he share the stand with a promising young player who would benefit from the experience, or the cellist with the next most impressive resume? The mutually appreciative looks and smiles of the octet members as they played indicated the issue had been successfully resolved.
Lynn Harrell
Though intonation was occasionally imperfect, the octet gave a spirited account of "Bachianas Brasileiras No. 1", making more of its Latin rhythms than many classically trained musicians tend to do. The fifth of the "Bachianas Brasileiras" suites followed. It adds a vocal line on top of the eight cellos, and soprano Lyubov Petrova supplied the concert's most beautiful moments with controlled power as needed and high notes of gorgeous clarity. It was a dramatic and affecting performance.

For an encore, Harrell and company chose "Por Una Cabeza" by Argentinian tango legend Carlos Gardel. It's probably best known as the 'tango' in a memorable dance scene with Al Pacino in the film "Scent of a Women". While it was a delicious encore, a flock of cellos will never be my favorite for tango orchestration.
"Carnival of the Animals" has become so associated with children's concerts, that it seemed a questionable closing piece. Wrong again! Actor Mark Pinter delivered the short poems written (for an adult audience) by Peter Schickele, aka P.D.Q. Bach. Pinter elicited each of Schickele's intended laughs, and the playing captured Saint-Saëns' musical imitation of animals, skeletons and aquariums - as well as any I've heard in concert or on a recording.
Mark Pinter

The entire evening was thoroughly enjoyable, and a fitting first farewell to violinist "Jimmy" Lin, Summerfest's creative and effective music director for nearly 20 years. This season includes many more performances, plus open rehearsals and master workshops. Concerts include everything from solo pianists to fair-sized orchestras. For a schedule of the events remaining visit here.

Photo of eight cellos, Ron Bierman, all others courtesy of La Jolla Music Society

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San Diego SUMMER POPS:
Presents:

GODFATHERS of Latin Jazz

Per Ron Bierman:
The San Diego Symphony's 2018 Bayside Jazz Series continued with "Godfathers of Latin Jazz " - a concert inspired by trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie's merger of bebop and Afro-Cuban rhythms. Dizzy had wanted something new for a 1947 Carnegie Hall concert, "One of those tom toms" he said, thinking of the different hand-struck drums played by Latin percussionist Machito and others. To get the effect he wanted he added Cuban conguero Chano Pozo.

For the bayside concert, curator Gilbert Castellanos booked trumpeter Jon Faddis and conguero Carlos "Charlie" Chavez to represent Gillespie and Pozo.

Faddis fit especially well. He met Gillespie when he was 12, and later often performed with him, eventually going on to lead the Dizzy Gillespie 70th Birthday Big Band and the Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All-Stars. Gillespie once said of him, "He's the best ever, including me!" His protégé wouldn't have disappointed at this concert.

Guest star Jon Faddis appeared for the first time on "Tanga" by Afro-Cuban music icon Mario Bauza. It was the only piece on the program neither Gillespie nor Pozo had a hand in writing. Faddis used a mute for solos on "Tanga" and the following happy medium tempo "Fiesta Mojo." He immediately demonstrated why Gillespie admired his playing - beautiful tone, effortless control and technique at any speed, and a gift for melodic improvisation. His power and talent for high notes, came to the fore in "Things to Come," a piece of in-your-face flashy big-band bebop Dizzy wrote to shock the jazz establishment with new harmonies and reckless speed. Castellanos, also a Gillespie protégé, had an admiring grin on his face that said it all as he watched Faddis play.
"Manteca" by Dizzy and Pozo opened the second set and proved a wild workout for the four trumpets of the KSDS band. The virtuoso display began when eight-bar solo shots for each went around a few times, then became more frantic as the length switched to fours, then twos.

An arrangement for just rhythm section, flute and muted trumpet of "Con Alma," Dizzy's most beautiful tune, calmed things down. Almario and Faddis were at their melodic best.

An exciting extended version of "Night in Tunisia" by Dizzy and his wife Lorraine closed the concert, and offered trombones and saxophones their first big chunk of spotlight. Alto-sax player Charlie Arbelaez, one of the band's best soloists, went for laughs and got them by abruptly stopping several of his brief solo spots without completing promising lines. Any doubt that he was playing around, was removed by a sly grin and the virtuosic fountain of bebop melodies he exploded with during his last turn at the plate.

The clowning around wasn't out of place. When introducing tunes, Jon Faddis's relaxed playful stage presence showed he'd learned something from both Gillespie's trumpet playing and creative comedic asides.

Faddis is the second of Dizzy Gillespie's protégés to be booked by Castellanos this season. Arturo Sandoval, the other, entertained a large appreciative crowd two weeks ago with a sextet that often had a more prominent swinging Latin flavor than Faddis in a big-band setting. It's more difficult to get the balance between jazz and Latin with a much larger band, and Chavez's congas sometimes disappeared below an over-miced bass and excellent, but aggressive, jazz drumming. Though the concert was advertised as "Godfathers of Latin Jazz," the result seemed more likely to appeal to those who dig mainstream jazz, big bands and a ton of impressive trumpet solos.

For information about other concerts scheduled in the Bayside Series visit the Symphony website.
Photos courtesy San Diego Symphony.

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SD Symphony's SUMMER POPS:
Presents . . .

Per Ron Bierman
Arturo Sandoval is best known as a Latin trumpeter. But, at their San Diego Bayside Jazz Performance, his sextet displayed exceptional versatility. At tempos from ballad-slow to escape velocity, they rocked the waterfront with Latin, bop, funk and even a little metal rock. Sandoval, in addition to trumpet, played flugelhorn, keyboards, and timbales, with a few vocals and a lot of clowning around thrown in

Arturo Sandoval

The sextet included Michael Tucker, tenor saxophone, Tiki Pasillas, Latin
percussion, Max Haymer, piano, John Belzaguy, bass and Johnny Friday, drums, all first-rate musicians. The leader switched between Latin and straight-ahead jazz. The saxophonist was more often in jazz's mainstream. After Sandoval, he had the most solo space, and excelled in a swinging blues groove and during a beautifully melodic solo on "When I fall in Love".

The first of two sets began with an up-tempo "Bb Blues" and segued without a break into "Funk Jam." "Bb Blues" featured typically high trumpet work, virtuosic runs and scat singing from Sandoval, the scatting reminiscent of Clark Terry's hilarious work on "Mumbles", a recording that great trumpeter made half a century ago. The second tune, segued to a funky pop-mood with the leader on Moog synthesizer for fuzz guitar effects before he switched to trumpet to take it out.

Arturo Sandoval

What followed was a roughly seven-minute monolog ramble by Sandoval, friendly and relaxed, but longer than it needed to be. Among other things, the audience learned that he ODs on espresso (no drugs or alcohol) - and thinks the best cigars now come from Honduras rather than Cuba.

Any impatience I felt during the digression quickly disappeared as "Lion for Lyons," an old Gerry Mulligan tune, began with a soft tasty duet between sax and trumpet. The arrangement and solos were jazz at its confident, relaxed best.

"Seven Steps To Heaven" finished the first set, in a frenetic romp with infectious Latin percussion. The mood continued after the break, as the second set began with "The Peanut Vendor," a Cuban tune first recorded in the 1920s, and so often recorded since, that it's in the Grammy Latin Hall of Fame. A standard vehicle for Sandoval, it's a showcase for his extraordinary range on the trumpet, from tuba-like pedal tones to tones disappearing into frequencies ... only dogs can hear.

When Sandoval came down the steps into the audience to slow the pace, he graciously acknowledged the presence at the concert of saxophonist James Moody's widow, signed an autograph or two, and accepted the gift of a cigar which - to his great satisfaction, turned out to be Honduran! Having built some close-up rapport, he explained that, while he didn't have much of a voice, he was going to do a ballad he loved.

After a quiet instrumental intro, Sandoval sang "When I fall in love," proving he didn't have a great voice. But by then, the audience was in his pocket, and willing to accept feeling and obvious love of the tune as a substitute.
Other tunes in the second set included two of Sandoval's own. "Soca Beat" returned the vibe to light-hearted Latin, this time Jamaican rather than Cuban, with the leader using the Moog's Caribbean steel-drum setting to reinforce a Calypso-related Soca Rhythm.

Surenã, the second of Sandoval's tunes, was introduced as a vehicle for percussionist Pasillas, but the spotlight was on the leader's florid, near-classical piano technique for a long stretch, before moving to Pasillas for the last few minutes.

The concert closed with a swinging version of Dizzy Gillespie's classic tune, "Night In Tunisia." Sandoval is probably the best-known of Dizzy's proteges, and the arrangement's mix of jazz and Latin styles brought out the sextet's most entertaining and satisfying best, sending the crowd home with appreciative smiles

At 69, with over a half century of performing and a trunk full of awards as musician and composer, Sandoval can, understandably, sound a bit cranky when referred to as a "Latin trumpeter." With an almost child-like drive to entertain and amaze, he goes out of his way to show his talent is indeed much broader than that. Though a bit of a showboat at times, he is a terrific and versatile musician, who works his tail off on stage with infectious energy and skill. His sextet is a treat to see and hear.

The San Diego Symphony's Jazz Curator Gilbert Castellanos was, like Sandoval, encouraged and helped in his early career by Dizzy Gillespie. This coming week Castellanos brings a third Gillespie protégé, Jon Fadis, to the Bayside Jazz series in a tribute to "The Godfathers of Latin Jazz." For information about that and other scheduled concerts in the series visit here.

Dizzy Gillespie

Photos courtesy San Diego Symphony.

SD Symphony's Summer POPS Bayside Concerts

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Interview:
Offers ...

A Conversation with - GILBERT CASTELLANOS

Per Ron Bierman
It's a marriage committed to musical excellence. Jazz trumpeter Gilbert Castellanos says of his wife Lorraine, "She's a classically trained guitarist, and her practice can be intimidating at times." That helps motivate him to practice more, usually four or five hours a day. But she has said, his practicing inspires her to practice more because she feels guilty if she doesn't. Fortunately for the couple, and perhaps the neighbors, they both have successful careers that prevent them from escalating into a friendly, but potentially fatal competition.

I got an idea of the extremes a practice competition might go to when Castellanos explained why he no longer teaches at Los Angeles's USC Thornton School of Music. He'd leave San Diego at five in the morning and return at one the next morning. He did that two or three times a week for 12 years before finally deciding -- maybe it was taking up too much time?

Lorraine Castellanos

In an hour conversation by phone I learned how Castellanos came to practice as he does, what jazz means to him, and the training and experience that have led to a highly satisfying career. He began piano lessons at age five and got his first trumpet at six. The importance of practice was instilled in him by his father. Though himself a multi-instrumentalist and band leader, "He also ran an upholstery business out of his home, so there was no way of me saying, 'Oh yeah, father, while you were at work today I practiced five hours.' He was always there, so I literally had to practice five or six hours a day. Gilbert Castellanos

"When I was 11, I played the American and Mexican national anthems as an opening for my father's Afro-Cuban band and got to play in the band at the concert too. My father paid me like a regular, and a light bulb went off. I thought, hey, this is the first time I've had this much money in my hands." After working hard to learn his father's charts, he began to form his own groups. And in 7th grade, "We didn't have a jazz program. I convinced my band director to start one."

His jazz chops developed rapidly. He was just 15 when he performed at the Monterey Jazz Festival with trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie, who became a mentor. "He was extremely encouraging. To this day I still think he was responsible for helping me get a scholarship to the Berklee College of Music in Boston." After Berklee, formal training continued at Cal Arts in Los Angeles.

Castellanos first received national attention in his twenties when he recorded three successful albums with a combo called Black/Note. A lot has happened since then. Today he performs often with various groups led by himself or friends, runs a jazz conservatory, curates jazz programs for the San Diego Symphony and the San Diego Museum of Art, leads open-to-all weekly jam-sessions at two venues, and works on UCSD's summer jazz-camp with its founder Dan Atkinson.

Castellanos has won the San Diego Music Award for best musician several times, and last year received a "Jazz Hero" award from the Jazz Journalists Association.
Like his practice routine, Castellanos's love for jazz was inspired by his father. "He had a huge LP collection. That's all I listened to when I was a kid." He made cassette recordings of Basie, Clifford Brown, "Fats" Navarro, and many others. Uneasy about sleeping in the dark alone in his own room, he used jazz to ease his fears. "At that stage of my life I would listen to jazz every night on a player under my pillow." The night before my interview he had spent the entire evening at home listening to his own collection of LP jazz classics, surprising friends with a rare 10-inch disc recorded in 1954 by trumpeter Clifford Brown.

Robert Dove & Gilbert Castellanos

Passionate about keeping the jazz tradition he came to love alive, he founded The Young Lions Jazz Conservatory in 2013. There will be 100 students ages 10-18 in the class entering this fall. In addition to running the nonprofit organization, Castellanos is one of its instructors and a mentor to students. He pushes them to take practice as seriously as he does, telling them, "When I was your age, this is how I started out. I had to learn to play the Blues in all 12 keys. When you can do that we'll go to the next stage."

Performance opportunities for students are also a priority. He feels especially good about the Panama 66 sessions at Balboa Park's museum of art. "It's gone beyond my expectations. The young Lions play from six to eight, followed by my jam session from 8:30 to 11:30. The output of support from the community is just incredible. We get over 200 people every week." Students have also performed before the main acts he books for the San Diego Symphony at the Jacobs Music Center and the bayside Embarcadero. Referencing Wynton Marsalis's New York success, he calls, "The combination of Jazz at the Jacobs and the Young Lions Conservatory Lincoln Center West." His dream is to have a permanent performance venue for both the Young Lions and established jazz musicians.

I was pleasantly surprised a few years ago when I learned of incoming Symphony CEO Martha Gilmer's interest in adding more jazz to the organization's programming. Then, given the popular preference for rap and rock, I was amazed when Castellanos managed to make the concerts she encouraged a huge success! She told him to "dream big" and bring the people that inspired him. So he did. He books, "My idols, the people I grew up listening to on record, musicians I would love to see on stage, musicians I really look up to and respect."

Every concert in both the winter and summer series has been either sold out or close to it, even when there isn't a well-known headliner. "People were getting tired of driving to Los Angeles to hear this type of program. It's kind of come full circle now. We have Los Angeles folks who drive down to the Jacobs in San Diego and make a weekend of it.

"And I had a great experience a few weeks ago--standing room only at the Blue Whale in Los Angeles for a tribute to Lee Morgan. It was an all-San-Diego group I put together to show the Los Angeles community how we do it down here. I think people were blown away, and it reminded me of why I love it here and haven't moved to other major cities. I believe San Diego is going to be a major hub for jazz in a few years."

Despite everything else going on, there's still that four hours or more of practice each day. He warms up for 90 minutes. "Yeah, I wake up and go to my long tones for 40 minutes before my cup of coffee. It's me stretching out like an athlete. I have to do that every day. It's my day job. I look at scales as colors, and apply them to my music, and that's how I teach the kids too. I know what I'm going to practice before I go into my session. Like, for example, sometimes I call them blue or red days. Blue might be just etudes and classical inserts. Maybe I'll just work on diminished patterns for an hour. My red days I focus on jazz, transcribe a solo or write out an arrangement, or just practice jazz etudes."

Practice sessions and concerts lead to "warm downs." "If you've had a rough day, a three-hour rehearsal and a three-hour concert, you have to loosen up afterwards. Especially a brass player. You're going to be a little swollen. After a concert you might want to talk to your fans, talk to your musicians. I disappear into a corner for ten minutes or so, and play long tones as soft as I can, and pedal tones" (tones below the normal trumpet range and tough to do correctly).

While most brass players warm up, not all warm down. Castellanos said that one of his idols, Freddie Hubbard, didn't, "He never warmed up either, and that's why, as he got older, he wound up really damaging his embouchure."

Unlike anyone else I've ever spoken to, Castellanos says he never gets nervous when he performs. But he can become flustered when not performing. "Nerves only get to me when I don't have my horn. Like when I'm at a social gathering talking to someone. I remember one time I was at a grocery store buying some stuff. I had a cartful, and this older women cane up to me, and was like, 'Oh, Gilbert! How are you doing?' It caught me off guard to the point where I got so freaked-out that I left my cart there. Got in my car and went home!"

In spite of his success and obvious skill Castellanos is far from complacent. When I complimented him on his tone and technique, he reluctantly admitted his sound was, "You know, it's getting there. Sound is the most important thing to me. It doesn't matter how fast or high or loud you can play. A warm beautiful sound is what people remember. I'm going to be a student of this music the rest of my life. There's no way I'm ever going to master jazz, or even the trumpet."

Gilbert & Lorraine Castellanos

Both Gilbert and Lorraine have grueling time commitments, but it hasn't affected their relationship. "Lorraine's my best friend. We do everything as a couple. If we're not making music together, we're out doing other things together. We don't have kids, except for two furry ones, a Doberman and a cat".

"I'm a lucky man to have someone who supports what I do. She's a musician. She gets the lifestyle. It's a big plus."
It helps with the practice schedule too, Lorraine has been quoted as saying, "Our dog Nina is maybe not so fond of the trumpet, especially the high notes. But she's the only one."

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Mainly Mozart Festival "Sibelius Prokofiev"

Per Ron Bierman

"Thamos, King of Egypt", a play by Tobias Philipp, baron von Gebler, premiered in 1774. Mozart completed incidental music for it, the 18th Century equivalent of a movie soundtrack, in 1780. Before Mainly Mozart's performance of a concert version of the play, conductor Michael Francis, with a typically mischievous smile, said the original with Mozart's music would make for a really boring four hours. Mozart supported that view in a letter to his father saying he couldn't use the music he'd written because the play had failed. Francis and director Cynthia Stokes solved the problem by slashing the baron's text to a farcical smidgen - while leaving Mozart's music intact. The result clocked in at less than an hour.

Conductor Michael Francis

Though wisely not four hours long, the result was still perhaps the most ambitious production in Mainly Mozart's 30-year history. The orchestra's usual 50 or more superb musicians, moonlighting from key symphony chairs in Chicago, New York and other major cities, were joined by actors, baritone Richard Ollarsaba and more than 50 members of the San Diego Master Chorale. Spoken dialog was in English. The chorus sang in German with English supertitles ... above the Balboa Theater stage.

Maestro Francis began the piece with the orchestra and half the chorus onstage. As missing chorus members entered from the lobby, they marched solemnly down two aisles adding to the opening's ominous mood. Francis whirled to give direction alternately to those on the stage and those approaching. Chorus members wore headdresses and cloaks suggesting mysterious ancient Egypt. It was a striking moment, with an air of heavy serious intent.

The mood changed suddenly as several stage-front actors exposed director Stokes' true vaudeville-like plan with motions and costumes reminiscent of Steve Martin's Egyptian skit on Saturday Night Live. Background film clips and stills of hieroglyphics, camels and pyramids reinforced the setting, and the tongue-in-cheek mood. There was even a hilarious moment when one of the plays evil schemers pulled an obviously fake asp from a pocket, then raced screaming from the stage as the snake in her hand turned and struck repeatedly.

The incidental music, unlike the baron's play, was taken seriously. Three of its seven movements include the chorus. Both orchestra and chorus responded with precision and beauty to Francis's energetic conducting, remaining perfectly synchronized as he signaled changes in tempo.

Baritone Richard Ollarsaba played king Menes, the rightful king, forced to pose as the high priest Methos. (That's all I will say about the baron's appropriately satirized plot.) The bearded Ollarsaba's speech and demeanor made him an imposing pillar of gravitas and authority amidst those hamming it up as though in a silent movie. He spoke lines furthering the plot until unveiling a powerful and attractive voice in the work's only aria ... which comes in the final movement.

Richard Ollarsaba
The director's approach brought laughs, but I disagree with the decision to have actors mime theatrically at the front of the stage throughout almost the entire production. It reduced the impact of Mozart's suite, the work of a maturing composer soon to write operas still among the most performed in the world. Audience reaction to the playful abuse of "Thamos, King of Egypt" was, however, overwhelmingly positive. A delighted standing ovation lasted for four curtain calls.

Two works for violin and orchestra preceded "Thamos, King of Egypt". The first was the seldom heard "Suite for Violin and Strings" by Sibelius, one of the lighter pieces he composed in the last 30 years of his life. During those years he had drastically reduced the time he spent composing, even though he remained in relatively good health until he died suddenly at 92. The piece is a delightful surprise for those familiar only with his more substantial and serious earlier works. A near concerto in three brief movements, it opens in a gentle light-hearted mood. The second movement has a sweet romantic innocence. The final third's speed and unrelenting cascade of notes are a challenge for the soloist, one conquered with brilliant nonchalance by violinist James Ehnes (above).

I've added "Sibelius's Suite" to my download want-list,
but may have trouble finding a recording to match Ehnes's live performance.
Ehnes and orchestra followed the suite with Prokofiev's second violin concerto, a longer work with more persistent demands on the soloist. Instead of the usual orchestral introduction it begins with a rather somber solo violin. Ehnes's full tone captured its mood, and the same rich sound had an even greater impact on the second movement's main theme, one of the most warmly beautiful to be found in any modern concerto. The freewheeling finale dances sardonically. Odd rhythmic effects include a bass drum rather than timpani and, perhaps in a nod to Madrid where the concerto premiered, castanets.
Ehnes was in total command of his instrument, and Francis's accompaniment blended perfectly.

Mainly Mozart's 2018 Season, featuring works written by Mozart as he matured, ended on June 24th. Next year, Mainly Mozart will feature pieces composed when he was married, living in Vienna and nearing the peak of his powers.
Not to be missed! Visit the Mainly Mozart website for more on the organization and its exceptional visiting musicians.
Stage photo Ron Bierman ... others courtesy Mainly Mozart.

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Mainly Mozart Festival:
Presents . . .

Per Ron Bierman

Every year since 1989 Mainly Mozart has been bringing many of the best orchestra musicians in the country to San Diego to perform a month-long series of concerts ranging from solo recitals to orchestral. When Michael Francis succeeded founding music director and conductor David Atherton in 2015 he reemphasized the organization's name by planning a six-year chronological traversal of Mozart's music. The first-year featured Mozart as prodigy. This year, the third, Mozart is a "rebel" breaking ranks with the music establishment and the control of his father Leopold.

As a concept, I can't argue with the clever choice of composer Jean-Féry Rebel's 1737 ballet "Les Élémens" to open the season, and not just because of the composer's name. The work announces itself with a rebellious dissonant 12-note chord, perhaps suggested to Jean-Féry when he time-traveled to the late 20th Century to listen to György Ligeti's "Atmosphères". Unfortunately, Les Élémens isn't performed very often because, beyond that startling first chord and a lively well-orchestrated finale, it is average Baroque Era fare, even when woodwinds and percussion frolic and the entire orchestra plays with style and precision, as it did on this night at the Balboa Theatre.

Anne-Marie McDermott

Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 13 is quite a different story. It's one of three he wrote when 27, for his own performances in Vienna when he was maturing rapidly into a style of his own. The 13th would probably be programmed more often and called a great piano concerto in the Classical style, if he hadn't written 27 piano concertos, some even more emotionally and technically marvelous. Solo pianist Anne-Marie McDermott, a frequent and welcome Mainly Mozart performer, gave an idiomatic performance with sparkling, evenly executed runs and trills and exquisite clarity at all tempos.

Following intermission, Francis set a fast tempo for Mozart's overture to the "Abduction from the Seraglio".

MOZART

Mozart, with a salesman's recognition of Europe's craze for Turkish music in the late 18th century, included a drum, triangle and cymbals in his orchestration. The performance was an enjoyable romp and a perfect setup for Beethoven, the rebel whose second symphony concluded the concert. It was performed with compelling drive, effective dynamic contrasts, and wonderfully clear section balances. But what else would you expect from an enthusiastic young conductor leading a band that includes 15 concert masters competing for first chair?

The Mainly Mozart festival continues through June 24. Visit the Mainly Mozart website for more information.

Orchestra photo Ron Bierman,
others courtesy Mainly Mozart.

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SD Opera:
Presents . . .

Per Ron Bierman
I spoke earlier this year with Elaine Alvarez who sang the lead in the San Diego Opera's production of Florencia en el Amazonas by Mexican composer Daniel Catán and librettist Marcela Fuentes-Berain. Alvarez told me that when she got a call from the San Diego Opera General Director David Bennett, "I was at a train station in France, and it was cold. I started jumping up and down!" And he was like, 'Do you think you're going to be ready to sing this? Is this in line now with where your voice is.' And I'm like, a hundred percent! "Yes! Yes! Yes!" Florencia appealed to her Latin heritage, she knew her voice was ready, and Spanish was her first language. She'd sung Beatrice in Catán's earlier opera Rappaccini's Daughter and was delighted with the opportunity to make her San Diego debut with another of his works.

Elaine Alvarez

Alvarez enjoyed performing even as a toddler. Her mother, Yasmin Alvarez, was a music teacher in Cuba. She continued her studies in Miami where Elaine was born, going on to become a music professor. "There was always music in my house." Yasmin, intrigued by the "Mozart effect," experimented. She noticed her daughter was constantly singing and imitating her. And, every time Mozart's harp and flute concerto was played, "I would freak-out in my crib jumping up and down." A little later it became clear Alvarez loved the reactions she got when she was performing. Her mother plays classical piano and guitar, but learned early-on she wasn't comfortable playing for an audience. "She got all the stage fright and it skipped me (laughs). There are all these photographs of me as a toddler standing on the coffee table performing for my grandparents, and there were so many people living in my house, I always had a big audience!"

She's gone on to much bigger audiences after attending the Manhattan School of Music, the Music Academy of the West, the Academy of Vocal Arts, and studying with, among others, Renata Scotto and Marilyn Horne. She won the Marilyn Horne Foundation Competition and also spent two summers with Horne at The Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara that "were unbelievably informative" because of the high caliber of people she met and worked with.
Marilyn Horne
"My first voice teacher trained me as a lyric coloratura. [She continues to warm up with coloratura passages to maintain youthful agility.] The majority of what I worked on in undergraduate and grad school was
Bel Canto ... The great thing about that is it's quite healthy, as long as you're moving your voice flexibly, naturally, you're not going to do any damage to it. That era doesn't require a lot of weight in the sound." The teacher told her it was obvious she'd be a bigger voiced soprano - but, if she pushed too hard she'd risk blowing out her voice. "Of course I wanted to sing Puccini and Verdi, but my teacher said, 'Nope, nope. We're doing song literature, we're keeping it light.' Towards the end of grad school I sang Mimi for the first time ... Mimi was a perfect fit from the beginning. This was when I felt home for the first time. This was my voice."

Elaine Alvarez's (left) professional debut came as PAMINA in Oper Leipzig's 2006 production of Mozart's The Magic Flute. "Which has to be one of the most ill-fitting roles (laughing) that I've ever attempted. But it was a natural thing that you would give a 26-year old. Once I sang it I said I am never singing this opera again. It was a terrible fit, and I felt like a bull in a China shop." But it was a learning experience, she didn't sing badly, and the right fit wasn't long in coming.

The following year she was second-cast to Angela Gheorghiu as MIMI, and the famous soprano was released by the Lyric Opera of Chicago after missing six of ten rehearsals. Alvarez's stand-in performance got star-is-born reviews. The Chicago Tribune said, "The voice bloomed under pressure the way you want a Puccini voice to bloom, yet kept its warm tonal finish when she floated the high pianissimos opera lovers wait for in rapt anticipation." In addition to good reviews, Alvarez's performance led to a friendly relationship with the production's director Renata Scotto, who continues to offer career advice. "Scotto is part of a generation that knows how to spot talent when it is still in development."

At least she had a few days' notice before going on in Chicago. When she backed-up as VIOLETTA in 2009 at Munich's Bavarian State Opera, the singer in the role became ill at the last moment. "I had a quick costume fitting, a half hour with the conductor, and then it was, OK, this is where you're coming in, this is where you're going to exit. At the end of the second act you need to be in front of the curtain instead of behind it, and the stage is covered with leaves, so try not to fall!" There wasn't a whole lot of time to be nervous.

Since then, Alvarez has sung a wide variety of roles, lyric to dramatic, Verdi to Korngold and Catán. She believes you need to try a lot of different things before you can, "Figure out what you really do best. I don't want to be good in a lot of different areas. I want to be really excellent at something specific. In this part of my career I have a laser focus on Puccini, Verdi, and some French."
    Scenes (right & below) from SD Opera "Florencia en las Amazonas"

As her voice matured, it gained power without losing agility. At 37 it now falls into the relatively infrequently used soprano category of spinto d'agilitá. She can sing Puccini for lyric sopranos, but also "push" to heavier roles such as Bellini's Norma.  Scotto told her, "Yes! That's where you need to go." Her close relationship with Opéra Royal de Wallonie in Liege, Belgium has helped her move in that direction - and she's excited about the possibility of a role there next season (not Norma) that would be "a giant dream come true." She's also hoping for more Verdi, and is in talks with a company about Don Carlo.

Early Verdi operas such as Luis Miller also appeal because, "They really zoom in on the qualities that are unique to my voice, that I have a lot of power but I have a lot of agility ... When you look at the earlier operas though, they all have ridiculous plots. Ernani is one of the most ridiculous plots I've ever - I'm literally the entire show convincing the tenor not to kill himself. It's a very strange, strange opera. I end up being pursued by my uncle. I have an affair with the king. "But it's cool!" It's the beginning of the evolution of a genius. "The later works are more about the power and drama in the voice."

When our discussion turned to the current state of opera Alvarez said the recession caused serious problems, both economic and artistic. Many donors were lost and the recording industry collapsed. Marketing has reacted by pushing companies to rely more on youth and physical appearance. There's the "New element of HD broadcasting that requires us all to look like movie stars in addition to having the training that's required for a professional opera singer." She feels this has resulted in the loss of a whole generation of singers. Marketers and casting committees can seldom match a Scotto's eye for talent, artistry and potential. "Sopranos don't move into their best years until 35 or 45. At 27 I'm worlds away from moving into what my best repertoire is going to be. After I turned 30 and my voice started to change and gain weight, moving into roles such as early Verdi was a natural fit because I'd grown into them. I could wield the weight in my voice, I could handle the power and stamina that was required of me in thes roles."

The recession affected Alvarez directly. When work dried up in New York, to supplement her income, she worked as an assistant to a senior VP at Sirius radio for a year. "It was for the Howard Stern show. And it was wild, like joining the circus. At first I didn't want anybody to know I was an opera singer. But soon Howard found out, and it became a thing. I had to sing on the show almost every day. He loves individuality, things that are unique, and having an opera singer on hand all the time was amusing to him. I loved working with the writers there. They're real comedians, and hilarious. It got to be fun. In the beginning I cannot believe (laughs) - I'm like, don't put my name on anything! But he kept saying my name on the air, and the fans soon outed me on Facebook and Twitter."
Her career got back on track in the 2012/13 season.

Elaine Alvarez (left) was excited about the upcoming San Diego production of Florencia en el Amazonas. "It's not Verdi. It's not Puccini, but it's mine in a different way. I love that it is a Latin American composer writing in Spanish. Catán's ability to translate the Latin American experience into sound is exceptional." The entire cast is enthusiastic about stage director and choreographer Candace Evans' inventive approach. "The set is really cool. We're on a full-sized boat ... The chorus, of course, is the Amazon. They're the creatures. They're the river. Wait until you see what the chorus is doing. They are in head-to-toe leotards as lizards, frogs, birds. They're doing an amazing job, and sound amazing. And they seem to be having fun!" Some even lost weight when they learned they were going to be in leotards.
Elaine Alvarez has had hit lows and highs in her career, but in a sunken outdoor theater in Athens, it became crystal clear why she was doing it. "I wasn't singing in one of the movements. It was packed. Completely sold out. I look up and there's the Parthenon and a full moon behind it. The orchestra is playing, the chorus is singing, and Muti is there with his hair all over the place from the wind. And I thought, I can't believe this is my life. It's like a postcard. The realization of all of the dreams I had when I was kid."

For ticket and season schedule information visit San Diego Opera.
Marilyn Horne photo from Broadway World archive, others courtesy San Diego Opera.

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Interview:
Presents . . .
Patrick Carfizzi
In

Per Ron Bierman
Bass-baritone Patrick Carfizzi appeared in the San Diego Opera's production of Pirates of Penzance early this season. He and I met over an informal lunch to discuss that and much more.
Although he had appeared professionally a few times before, Carfizzi's career really took off at 23 when, fresh out of advanced music studies at Yale, he auditioned for the Metropolitan Opera. I suggested a role at the Met is certainly a nice way to come out of school. "Yes, a lovely way ... But after my audition for their Young Artists Program they said, 'Thank you very much. Have a nice life.' And I thought to myself, well OK, I've sung at the Met, perhaps as much as I'll ever be allowed to. Then Lenore Rosenberg [the program's director] called a few weeks later and said, 'Do you want to make your debut?' After I picked my teeth up off the floor, I said yes." He's performed hundreds of times at the Met since then and in many other opera houses around the world.

Carfizzi sings a variety of roles, but specializes in comedy. "Your first role was in Rigoletto, which few people would describe as a comedy. How did you go from there to Major-General Stanley in Pirates?"

"(Laughs) Rigoletto's Ceprano is just a great debut role. But comedy has always suited my voice."
When he explored the lyric-baritone repertoire while a voice student, he and his teachers always concluded his range and vocal quality were better suited to bass-baritone roles, and of the comic roles composers score in that range Carfizzi said, "I absolutely adore them." The complexity of the characters and the situations they get into fascinate him. And he likes thinking about what makes us laugh. "Does pain make us laugh, or seeing something that makes us uncomfortable ... or something bordering on evil ... or just something that's silly?"

Carfizzi's website is worth visiting just for the photos of him in outrageously funny costumes. When I asked if spending more time than most singers with makeup and wardrobe specialists was grueling. He said he loves working with them. It all started when he made his Carnegie Hall debut while still a voice student. His father insisted he wear lifts, pointing out that the guy next to him on stage was 6-foot three or four, the woman on the other side nearly six feet, and he was five seven. "(Laughs) So I've had alterations to my appearance from the very beginning. It's another wonderful layer to bring to characters." And he enjoys the team-feeling that comes from working with the designer, the costumer, the seamstress and other members of the production crew. "It's an ongoing joke with family and friends that if they can recognize me on stage, it's a rare occasion."

In a recent interview with San Diego Opera's Nic Reveles Carfizzi said he'd spent six months preparing for his San Diego role. He prefers at least that much time for roles he hasn't sung before, but scheduling doesn't always allow it. Much of whatever time is available, of course, will be devoted to making sure he can sing the part, but like any good actor, he also does his best to understand and become the character he will play. Patrick Carfizzi with Dr. Nic Reveles

Since Carfizzi sings with many different companies, I asked how he felt about the travel. "Travel is a good thing. They don't tend to build opera houses in bad places. I mean, a month in San Diego. (Laughs.) Can you complain?"
When I asked if he noticed differences in audiences around the world, or even U. S. cities, he said the largest differences seem to depend on the day of the week, the time, or how busy the city is that day. But cultural nuances do mean that jokes are sometimes appreciated in different ways, and laughter doesn't always come in exactly the same spots.

Speaking of audiences, when Carfizzi played Papageno in a Dallas production of The Magic Flute, the performance was broadcast to Cowboy Stadium (now AT&T Stadium). With the sports tie-in, during intermission Carfizzi led the stadium and opera house in the wave. I said, "But you wouldn't do it at the Met."
"Well......, I don't know." "Would they let you do it at the Met?" "That's a better question."

"Pirates of Penzance"

I think the wave would work in San Diego's relatively low-key atmosphere. But when a member of Opera management joined us after the interview, he seemed more than a little nervous that Carfizzi might actually try it. The singer and I believe the wave, Gilbert and Sullivan, and even Broadway musicals with classically-trained voices can expand audiences and still be satisfying fun for veteran opera-goers. Not all donors agree.

Carfizzi has played some of the most substantial roles for his voice range including Figaro and Dulcamara. I asked, "As you accumulate more experience and your voice perhaps changes a bit as you grow older, does that affect the roles you would like to do or are able to do?"

"I'm growing into my core repertoire. Most singers who sing what I do need to get to early forties (he is 43) to have enough life experience. It's always felt very much like my home ... but it's feeling even more that way now." As for new roles, he has long wanted to do Gilbert and Sullivan, and is delighted to be in San Diego for Pirates. He said it's unlikely he'd be asked to sing the dark Scarpia, but he would especially like to sing Falstaff and perhaps Gianni Schicchi in a few more years. There are also a few roles, like the boyish Papageno, he will be leaving behind. While he'd be happy to do it again, he may no longer be the choice of casting directors.

We spoke next of some of the best and worst experiences of Carfizzi's roughly 20-year career. He generalized about the best. "I've had a lot of fun over the years (laughs)!" He feels privileged and honored to have worked with so many amazing artists--to listen to, and be on stage with Renee Fleming or Placido Domingo, and gifted younger singers such as counter tenor Iestyn Davis and others. "The total experience keeps evolving and is a great gift."

When I asked about bad experiences, he laughed and said there had been a few. After some urging for specifics, he described working on a production with an unnamed director who had turned to drugs while battling a threatening personal situation.
I said, "You probably felt bad both because you were sorry for him and he couldn't do his job."

"I felt bad because he was a raving lunatic-yelling and screaming!" The company let the director go after a few weeks, but Carfizzi was impressed that the situation was handled as well as it could have been, and came away feeling more than ever that he was a member of a wonderfully supportive community.

My final question was about the importance of music to him. "A few years ago when you were here for to play Kissinger in Nixon you ended an interview by saying, 'Singing has seen me through many of the challenges and trials in my life.' That seemed an odd way to end an interview. I would have been dying to ask what and how."
Patrick Carfizzi
Carfizzi explained. He had Limes disease for three and a half years of high school, and at 23 was hit by a drunk driver while a pedestrian. In both cases music "kept him sane." Two hours after the accident, while he was lying on a gurney, to distract himself, he began singing through the entire scores of Don Giovanni and La Boehme. He'd made it a point to learn all the parts in an opera when he was practicing a new role.

Music has always helped him cope. When he got too wound up, his father would say to him, 'Why don't you go for a walk and sing something!'" He laughed, as both of us had done often during the interview, and as I did during his star turn as the "very model of a modern major-general."

"Patrick, I enjoyed meeting and talking with you!"
"I enjoyed it as well and hope to see you again."
"I know I'll see you. I'll be the one helping you start the wave at intermission."
Visit SDOpera for ticket information and a complete schedule of next season's productions.

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San Diego OPERA:
Presents . . .

"One Amazing Night"

Ron Bierman

The San Diego Opera's last concert this season was billed as "One Amazing Night." The program was originally scheduled to feature soprano Lise Lindstrom and tenor René Barbera, but Barbera was released from his commitment when he was offered a Teatro alla Scala debut as Ernesto in a new production of Don Pasquale. He's sung multiple time in San Diego, and will likely return, but the company understood a La Scala debut means too much to an opera singer's career to stand in his way. Bass-baritone Greer Grimsley, who had previously performed with Lindstrom in the San Diego production of Salome, was an effective stand-in. Earlier this season Grimsley played the pirate king here in Pirates of Penzance with surprising comic flair, though best known for dark or heroic roles.

Lisa Lindstrom

While perhaps "amazing," is a bit of marketing hyperbole for all but a few concerts each decade, Lindstrom and Grimsley did certainly impress and entertain with solos and duets in a well-chosen mix of operatic show pieces and Broadway standards. More than 50 members of the San Diego Symphony filled the Balboa Theater stage behind them. The orchestra provided accompaniment and several purely orchestral selections as well. The first of these opened the program when guest conductor Jerome Shannon led an exciting performance of Glinka's Overture to Ruslan and Ludmilla. Lindstrom and Grimsley followed the overture with dramatic solo arias, Lindstrom choosing "Es gibt ein Reich" from Richard Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos and Grimsley "Die Frist ist um" from Richard Wagner's Der fliegende Holländer. The arias were an introduction to the wide range and superb vocal quality of the two singers and supported San Diego Opera's General Director David Bennett's earlier introductory statement that "expressive singing" is the company's top priority.

Greer Grimsley

The intermezzo from Puccini's Manon Lescaut provided an orchestral interlude before Lindstrom and Grimsley were together for a duet from Puccini's Tosca in which Tosca first meets Scarpia, her villainous would-be seducer. Lindstrom was believably defiant but vulnerable, and Grimsley masterful in his portrayal of the powerful and unscrupulous Scarpia.

After intermission the orchestra led the way again with the overture to La forza del Destino by Verdi. The San Diego musicians played well here and throughout the evening, sounding even better than usual in the friendly acoustics of the Balboa Theater. Maestro Shannon accelerated beautifully into the overture's fateful final chord, an appropriate lead-in to a long dark excerpt from Verdi's Macbeth when the singers returned for a duet in which Lady Macbeth encourages her hesitating fearful husband to follow through on a plot to murder the king. Lindstrom and Grimsley acted and sang with dramatic flair while again displaying the vocal skills that have kept them in demand for leading roles in companies around the world.

The overture to Franz Lehar's The Merry Widow operetta signaled a transition from heavily dramatic to shorter vocal selections from both Lehar operettas and Broadway. Grimsley's version of "Some Enchanted Evening" was a concert highlight, even if it couldn't entirely erase the memory of Ezio Pinza, the operatic bass who first sang it in South Pacific. A performance of his on YouTube will bring nostalgic memories and possibly chills to those old enough to remember when he made it a pop hit.
Lindstrom too enchanted with "Meine Lippen Sie küssen so heiss," (My lips give so fiery a kiss). from Giuditta by Lehar. In response, Grimsley impishly stole a quick kiss as he returned to the stage to join her in "I love you so," a duet from The Merry Widow.

Three more from Broadway musicals followed, the last, "People Will Say We're in Love" from Rodgers and Hammerstein's Oklahoma, brought enthusiastic curtain call demands from an audience clearly wanting an encore or two that never came. The sell-out crowd had to leave still wishing for even more, but delighted nonetheless.
For information about The San Diego Opera's coming season visit here.
Photos courtesy San Diego Opera. Photos Courtesy - SD Opera

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SD Symphony Orchestra:
Presents . . .

Per Ron Bierman

The San Diego Symphony, along with many others, is this year celebrating the 100th anniversary of the birth of Leonard Bernstein. The first half of the Symphony's "Dances Suites and Serenades" concert consisted of "Three Dance Variations" from Bernstein's ballet Fancy Free, and Serenade (After Plato's "Symposium"). Fancy Free was choreographed by Jerome Robbins. Robbins collaborated on all of Bernstein's ballets and his hugely successful Broadway musical Westside Story. Fancy Free features Three Sailors on leave who want to impress two young women. Since two doesn't equal three, except possibly in fake-news reports, they dance to showoff and help the women decide which two suitors will win approval. Galop, waltz and danzon variations provide solos for each sailor in which to demonstrate skill and personality.

Fabien Gabel

Conductor Fabien Gabel seemed to be imitating the sailors' moves, nearly leaving his feet at times in the exuberant galop, swaying romantically to the waltz, and moving with the Latin rhythms of the danzon. The orchestra responded in kind to make the perfect dance partner. It was a strong performance with an appropriately brash trumpet solo by Neal Berntsen and colorful, idiomatic percussion.

Bernstein's Serenade (After Plato's "Symposium") is one of the most immediately appealing of his more "serious" works. In five movements rather than the usual three, it was written for virtuoso Isaac Stern and features a solo violinist from beginning to end. What's in a name? I suspect it would be programmed more often if simply called Bernstein's violin concerto rather than the composer's intimidating preference. Soloist Simone Lamsma has a beautiful tone that projected clearly from the lowest notes to the highest airy harmonics, and her technique never failed, even in the exceptionally difficult third movement.

The Dutch-born violinist hasn't recorded enough to become a household name, but complimentary reviews of recent performances with the Cleveland, Chicago and Royal Concertgebouw orchestras, among others of the world's best, may change that. Bernstein's orchestration excludes woodwinds and brass and has few passages that might cause the solo line to be lost in the accompaniment. Still, the interplay between soloist and orchestra is tight and can go wrong. Maestro Gabel was in step with Lamsma throughout the performance. The final movement is the most eclectic. An orchestral introduction has a harshly modern sound. That soon gives way to a duet between violin and cello, a concert highlight in the warmly romantic version of Lamsma and Principal Cello Yao Zhao. The work concludes with rambunctious brio and echoes of Bernstein on Broadway. Simone Lamsma

Benjamin Jaber

The concert's second half was friendly enough to be included in a future summer-pops program. (No, that's not a complaint.) I've never heard the San Diego Symphony Orchestra's strings sound more luscious than they were in Richard Strauss's Suite from Der Rosenkavalier. And Principal Horn Benjamin Jaber and the section he leads played Strauss's stirring brass calls with heroic passion. Gabel's interpretation was solid except for an overdone hesitation intended to heighten anticipation of the rousing closing passages after the final gorgeous waltz.

If you need some cheering up, Jacques Offenbach is a go-to guy. Even the 19th Century critics who criticized him for a lack of depth acknowledged his exceptional melodic gift. In 1938 Manuel Rosenthal arranged many of the best tunes from Offenbach's roughly 100(!) operettas to create the Gaîté Parisienne ballet. While several of the operettas are still performed today, Offenbach is probably best known for suites based on Rosenthal's arrangements. Gabel programmed nine of the 19 ballet numbers including the "Infernal Galop," better known as the "Cancan," Offenbach's most familiar melody. His Gaîté Parisienne was lively and sparkling without neglecting the beauty of Offenbach's more romantic passages. Leonard Bernstein

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San Diego OPERA
Classical Interview:
Presents ...

Laura Kaminsky - Interview

Per Ron Bierman

As One, Laura Kaminsky’s first opera, premiered in September 2014. While many contemporary operas are performed once and never heard again, it has been staged more often every year since then, and is already scheduled at nearly a dozen venues for 2018. In a recent phone interview, Kaminsky and I spoke about that success, her peripatetic career, and what influences the music she writes. Laura Kaminsky (right)
As One came about, because she was intrigued by the story of how an upcoming New Jersey vote on the legality of Gay unions, might affect a couple married for 20 years with two children. They planned to stay married, as the husband underwent the process of becoming a woman – and, had to face the possibility they would no longer be legally married, once the transition was complete, and they were living in a Lesbian relationship. Although, the many works she created before her first opera, take advantage of what she calls the “nuance and intimacy” of creating and performing chamber music, this couple’s story screamed OPERA!

ZERO IN ON
“As One” – Opera
San Diego Opera
Dates: Nov 10-11-12th, 2017
www.sdopera.com

Kaminsky said, “As One, is a piece about identity and the journey to self-actualization.” Her long-time interest in the issue of marriage equality, led her “to an understanding of how people define themselves and … how they may or may not, be supported by [societal] structures. We thought things were getting calmer and more equal - and, sad to say, it seems now there’s a backlash.” And, that makes As One, even more relevant today … than when first written.

Its unexpected continuing success has changed her life. After leaving her position as Artistic Director of Symphony Space in New York City, she’d originally planned to find another full-time job, once the opera was completed during a six-month break. Instead, part-time positions as composer-in-residence at American Opera Projects and as professor of classical composition at SUNY’s Purchase College, have allowed her to complete a second opera, and half of a third.

Can classical music make a difference when it comes to social and political issues? Kaminsky is convinced it can - and, while As One is her first opera, it isn’t the first of her pieces to bring meaningful attention to a serious problem. While teaching at the National Academy of Music in Ghana, in 1992 and 1993, she was working on a commissioned piece for an AIDS benefit in Connecticut. She said, “I didn’t know what the concept was going to be, only the deadline.”  She hadn’t been aware of the AIDS crisis in Africa, until she met a community of medical missionaries who were dealing with it. “There were villages I’d go through where there was nobody left.”  Everyone had died of the disease. She’d found her concept. “I wrote … And Trouble Came: An African AIDS Diary.”

It has been performed many times since then, to increase awareness, and raise funds for treatment and research. Any money she makes for the piece, she continues to send to the Medical Mission Sisters in Ghana.  Kaminsky reacted in a similar way in 1999, while visiting a war-ravaged village in Croatia. Her “Vukovar Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano”, is dedicated to the victims of ethnic cleansing.

When I asked, if she had turned to opera relatively late in life, because the words enhanced her ability to communicate on the issues driving her - she said, she’s gotten comfortable at this point, with telling a story in words - a story with characters and relationships, but has always felt that instrumental music can also tell a story. While in Seattle, as chair of the music department at Cornish College of the Arts, she tested that idea with a lecture, in which she asked members of the audience to react to the piece she’d written while in Croatia, without telling them what it was, or what it was about. After they’d listened they said, “We can’t tell what the issue is, but there’s a kind of a conflict, and there’s a part that’s about despair, but then there’s a sense of hope, and then there’s fear.”  It was a gratifying confirmation of the music’s ability to communicate without words.

When I asked, which issues were currently most on her mind, and likely to lead to new musical expression - she hesitated before answering, “I’m actually daunted, and feeling disdain, dismay and concern. It’s horrible that there are so many choices.”  She then, singled out the human race’s impact on the environment, as something that seems certain to lead to new projects.

It had already been the catalyst for one of her most often performed compositions. When I asked her to talk about some of the most gratifying experiences in her career, after citing the reaction to As One, and her collaboration with co-librettists Mark Campbell and Kimberly Reed, she thought next, of working with the Fry Street Quartet on the “Crossroads Project”. The multimedia piece, was initiated by climate-change specialist Robert Davies, who invited Kaminsky and Rebecca Allan, to write music that would increase the impact of his lectures. The resulting production has been touring successfully for several years.

Bad experiences? We both laughed when Kaminsky said, “Nobody likes having a performance that’s so bad, you don’t want to stand up and take a bow. I’ve had a few of those in my day, where I don’t really want to acknowledge that I wrote the piece.”

Kaminsky’s career and interests have led to extensive travel. A piece called “Wave Hill”, was written in Virginia, Paris, St. Petersburg, Russia and New York City. When I jokingly asked, if she toted a piano, she said, “I write music on the subway, on buses and airplanes. It doesn’t really matter where I am. I carry music paper, a laptop, and a computer program with me, that allows me to notate.” She later uses a keyboard, to check notes and harmonies. When it comes to audiences, she said, “I try to make the best and most honest music I can. If it feels truthful and complete, I just hope it will appeal to people.”

Polish Gold Cross of Merit

A final indication of Laura Kaminsky’s passions and priorities, came when I asked if there was one award or commission she treasures among the dozens she has received. She chose the Polish Gold Cross of Merit presented by the President of Poland (photo), for exemplary public service or humanitarian work. In her acceptance speech, she said, ”For me, bringing people together, across cultures to share their art is among the best ways to bridge barriers, forge new understandings, and simply, to make the world a better place.”

As One was performed at San Diego’s Joan B Kroc Theatre on November 10, 11 and 12th, 2017.
Visit the San Diego Opera website for additional information.

(Courtesy – Broadway World)

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San Diego Opera:
“As One”

The HAUSMANN Quartet

If a spouse transitions from one sex to another, in a state where Gay marriage is illegal, is the marriage still valid? There are many possible reactions to that question, including heated discussion, juvenile giggling, or reactionary distaste. Composer Laura Kaminsky, chose empathy for those most directly affected. The result, was her first opera, a striking statement at a time when empathy for anyone different is in short supply. As One, a chamber work for two singers and string quartet, does a compelling job of describing a transgender's struggle with sexual identity. It is the latest offering in the San Diego Opera's detour series, which features smaller-scale works … outside the usual operatic repertoire.

Kaminsky's choice of artistic partners, was as fortunate as her timing. Kimberly Reed, a transgender woman, and Mark Campbell, one of today's most successful librettists, collaborated to produce a story that feels real and has emotional impact.

Laura Kaminsky
ZERO IN ON
“As One” – SD Opera Company
Where: Joan B. Croc Theatre
Dates: Nov 10-11-12th, 2017
www.sdopera.com

Hannah grows up, wanting to be the best boy there is, the fastest, smartest, and strongest - but can't hide from herself, the guilty thrill of wearing a blouse under her jacket, or letting a feminine side appear in flamboyant penmanship. When she accidently comes across the word ‘transgender," she begins to realize, she is not the only person who is troubled by the difference between her physical and psychological characteristics. Thus begins, the arduous process of accepting herself for who she is. An inspired decision, places the singers, a baritone and a mezzo soprano, on stage at the same time to represent the warring aspects of a transgender's psychological makeup.

Kelly Markgraf & Blythe Gaisser

The intimacy of the San Diego Opera production, was aided by the relatively small size of the Joan B Kroc Theatre. Director Kyle Lang and scenic designer Jonathan Gilmer incorporated optional background films, shot by co-librettist Reed, and minimal sets featuring simple geometric shapes. The Hausmann String Quartet, conducted by Bruce Stasyna, was on a riser toward the back of the stage. No props or extras were used. The opera's 80-minutes, riveted attention, with singers in near perpetual motion, and an unbroken stream of music.

Baritone Kelly Markgraf, has a romantically warm, auditorium-filling voice, and an assured stage presence - no doubt in this case, enhanced by his familiarity with the opera. He sang the role of ‘Hannah before’, at its 2014 Premiere, and has done it several times since. Mezzo-soprano Blythe Gaissert, was part of the workshop team, before the premiere, and has sung the role of "Hannah after", in multiple subsequent productions. Her voice, strong and rich, blended perfectly with Markgraf's - especially in the closing duet … when they become "as one".

In a recent interview, composer Kaminsky told me, she had memorized and internalized the libretto, before beginning to work on the score. She wanted to be sure, an audience could readily understand the words, and the visceral energy behind them. Though not long, the roles are difficult and exhausting. The singers, are seldom out of the spotlight, and vocal lines are rhythmically challenging. She told me, she had been influenced by working with eastern European and African musicians, and tended to "push against" the more often regular meters of Western music, and the "tyranny of the downbeat."

The Hausmann Quartet was also challenged. They played without a break, for almost the entire 80 minutes - entwining beautifully, with an equally near-continuous flow of vocal lines.
Kaminsky said, she was never an opera buff, and had not (at least consciously), been influenced by the famous grand operas. Her style, is clearly contemporary, with an individualistic mix of influences. As One, has no arias to rival Puccini. She seems to believe, the music has to reinforce, rather than overwhelm the words, for the opera to be the effective statement she envisioned.

As One, hit a sweet spot for receptiveness, and its success is accelerating. Having been produced by nearly a dozen opera companies, since its premiere three years ago, it has already been scheduled by about as many more, in 2018 alone. It humanizes one of the world's least understood, and most often mistreated minorities, at a time when the substantial progress made by minority groups is under attack. It has low production costs, in an era of budget retrenchment. And, like it or not, modern audiences raised on "in-depth" … 40-second news clips, reality TV, and social media trivia, are more likely to be attracted by single-act productions, that take a deep-dive into the life of a contemporary real person - than four-act operas, with implausible plots about misbehaving royals.

Laura Kaminsky provided her photograph above,
others … compliments of San Diego Opera.
There is much more ahead … in the San Diego Opera's 2018 Season!

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RON BIERMAN

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