Remembering the Dead: September 11 Concerts

See my rundown of September 11 anniversary concerts in the Washington area:

September 11 Commemorative Classical Concerts in the Washington Area (The Washingtonian, September 6):

Classical music may be on the decline, or at least contracting, as a commercially viable form of entertainment, but when it comes time to observe something formally or ceremonially, nothing else fits the bill quite like an orchestra, chorus, and classical music. So it is hardly surprising that the concert tributes to the tenth anniversary of the September 11 attacks are piling up in the Washington area. Even ten years later, how those events are commemorated is controversial, as the recent flap over the proposed cover art for a recording of Steve Reich’s piece WTC 9/11, showed. As previewed a couple weeks ago, the World Doctors Orchestra will mark the day with one of the obvious choices for the occasion, Mahler’s “Resurrection” symphony, with proceeds going to benefit Whitman-Walker Health. What other concerts are planned for our area?

Settings of the Requiem Mass, or works that similarly pray for the repose of the dead like Mahler’s second symphony, make the most sense. Washington National Cathedral’s three-day commemoration of the anniversary begins this Friday, September 9, with a performance at 7:30 PM of the German Requiem of Johannes Brahms by Cathedral musicians and guest artists, including soloists Christine Brandes and Eric Owens. This free concert (but tickets must be obtained in advance) “will honor the 9/11 victims and survivors, their families, and emergency response personnel, as well as the nearly 6,000 fallen military service members whose lives have since been lost in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.” Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta will speak during the event. [Continue reading]

For Your Consideration: 'The Debt'

One of the worst criminals of the Holocaust, Josef Mengele, infamous for his medical experimentation on prisoners at Auschwitz-Birkenau, managed to avoid capture in South America until his death in 1979. The Mossad reportedly had a chance to abduct Mengele when he was in Argentina, but already had its hands full catching Adolf Eichmann. What if a team of Mossad agents had managed to capture and kill Mengele instead of letting him go? What if the story they told after the mission did not turn out to be quite true?

This is the conceit of John Madden's new film The Debt, which follows three Mossad agents in the 1990s as they look back on their mission, in the 1960s, to abduct a Mengele-like Nazi war criminal -- Dieter Vogel, with the nickname "The Surgeon of Birkenau" -- from East Berlin. The movie is a remake of Assaf Bernstein's Ha ḥov, an Israeli film from 2007, and the screenplay credits include Assaf Bernstein and Ido Rosenblum, from the original movie, as well as Matthew Vaughn, Jane Goldman, and Peter Straughan. The narrative construction, shifting between the two time periods, helped by having two mostly different sets of actors, is sometimes confusing and circles back on itself, layering meaning and multiple perspectives into lots of scenes. All in all, this is a thinking person's espionage thriller, a film whose tension is heightened -- or perhaps deflated, depending on your point of view -- by degrees of moral complexity.

Other Reviews: Washington Post | TIME | Roger Ebert | A. O. Scott | Wall Street Journal | NPR Movie Review Intelligence

Most of the film's weight rests on the character of Rachel Singer, whose first action in the field as a Mossad agent is the mission to capture Vogel. The doctor is hidden in plain sight, as a gynecologist living and working under an assumed name, and Rachel is sent as the bait, masquerading as a patient seeking advice on her problem getting pregnant (these sequences are the most tense in the movie). Jessica Chastain (The Tree of Life, The Help) finds a powerful combination of vulnerability and fierceness as the young Rachel, the traces of sympathy and humanity betraying her as she matches wits with Vogel. The three agents -- Singer, a smart-aleck Stephan (Marton Csokas), and wounded-puppy David (Sam Worthington) -- unable to get Vogel out of East Berlin as planned, are forced to hold him in their rented apartment until they reach a solution. Danish actor Jesper Christensen is a fiendishly smart and suave monster as Vogel, playing on every sympathetic string he can find in Rachel.

The anguish of a life telling a story that is not true is written on the scarred, lined face of Helen Mirren, as the older Rachel. Mirren, who remains one of the most elegant and talented actresses around, shows every sign of pulling off that most difficult thing in youth-obsessed Hollywood, having a glamorous career late in life. Likewise, the torment of the love triangle that developed in the stress of their time together in East Berlin is told in the strain on the faces of the other older counterparts, Tom Wilkinson and Ciarán Hinds (the latter reunited with Mirren from Prime Suspect). Director John Madden, who has not had much success since Shakespeare in Love and Her Majesty, Mrs. Brown in the late 1990s, may have hit his stride again. The Debt is not a home run, it has its longueurs and its missteps, but it is a solid and enjoyable movie.

In the Washington area, The Debt is screening exclusively at the E Street Cinema.

Notes from the 2011 Salzburg Festival ( 19 )

West-Eastern Divan Orchestra

After a thirty minute delay, the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra (WEDO) took to the stage of the Großes Festspielhaus, to perform Mahler’s Adagio from the 10^th Symphony and Beethoven’s “Eroica”. For an (alleged) youth orchestra, there are a surprising variety of balding patterns among the players, and Barenboim’s younger son, violinist Michael, at the first desk. Several of the musicians that still perform with the orchestra are already established members of proper, paid, professional orchestras—but for one reason or another still tour with the WEDO which is in any case and for all the good intentions, more Spanish than either Palestinian or Israeli. It is questionable how much intercultural dialogue the work the project, founded by Barenboim together with Edward Said to get some outreach going in the Israeli-Palestinian question. Only: Now that Said is dead, one wonders who will present the Israeli side of things.

Beethoven & Mozart, Sy.5 & Sinfonia Concertante, Barenboim / WEDO Warner Beethoven, Mozart, Schoenberg, Tchaikovsky, The Salzburg Concerts, Barenboim / WEDO C-major (DVD)

The disquieting political aspect of the whole presentation was furthered by the presentation of the “2011 Tolerance Award by the European Academy of Sciences and Arts” to Daniel Barenboim. To the hardened cynic this ostentatious support for Daniel Barenboim’s work reeks of B.S. at best (just like the Nobel Peace Prize nomination of Barenboim’s—not his fault, of course, which only further exposes that particular prize as a painful joke that discredits the whole Nobel brand). And at worst the “Tolerance Award” might strike one as high-society’s most acceptable and chic form of anti-semitism. Well, a hardened cynic might think that, at least. Daniel Barenboim is too clever not to know that this kind of hoopla is distracting, and he accepted the prize with demure demeanor and humble reference to the orchestra, carefully side-stepping any Palestine-Israel claim on the orchestra in the process, and then poked a hole in the award’s title: “Tolerance Award? I’m surprised, actually, because tolerance is not what we are about. Tolerating is in spite.” Even hardened cynics would have liked that one.

They would have liked the musical performance even better! Very beautiful long lines rising and falling (not always perfectly together) and soft transitions marked this very well conceptualized and conducted Mahler Adagio. A gorgeous, surprisingly pain-free, and sumptuous world of Mahler where the anguish was ironed out, fluidity reigned, and softest sounds emerged organically from fortissimo outbursts. The shrieking chords that mark the descent toward the Purgatorio (the short third movement of the Tenth) were paused for, then stacked and harmoniously drawn out—different, and lovely. The WEDO’s thick, fast, zesty Eroica was at least as good, showed off the wide dynamic bandwidth of the orchestra, the mature, fantastic woodwinds (fourth movement), and Barenboim’s penchant for a dark and varnished sound that’s sadly gone rather out of fashion in this repertoire. In the third movement he leaned back and let the orchestra play on its own, just giving seemingly careless cues here and there before—nearly poking the principal second violinist’s eye out with a baton stab’n’swirl in the process—getting back into active conducting as an excited forte broke out. If only all not-actually-that-young youth orchestras with politically questionable baggage sounded that good!

It's about the Light

Sundogs are a brilliant stream of white light, a rainbow without the colors. So brilliant, so stunning, that if you placed an icon at its base you could have a visionary religious experience. On my first early morning bike ride after the deluge of Vermont that was Hurricane Irene, the air was so full of moisture I witnessed a very rare multitude of these amazing albino rainbows and one had a cow at its base. I don't quite know the significance of that moment, but it gave me enough of a kick to power up a very steep hill -- a mystical cow, indeed.


The effect of light on the landscape of southern France not only produces excellent wine but inspired Cézanne to such a degree that he changed forever the way we visually perceive the natural world.

This summer I visited this region of rugged mountains with its ancient cities and countrysides, a patchwork of vineyards, sunflowers, and lavender. I couldn't help but view most everything in cubist form -- even without wine. The farm markets were pure visual pleasure. I did eat my way through several so it wasn't totally visual, but I do see why the still lifes of fruits and vegetables were so important to Cézanne. They are life, full of abundance and possibilities.

Pissaro's exposure in his early years to the Caribbean and Venezuelan light had an effect on his work. In the current exhibit at the Clark, Pissaro's People, you can see it in his gentle layering of paint to achieve some stunning luminous color, especially the violets.

I was looking forward to this exhibit but found the selections a bit sentimental. I have to hand it to the Clark: they know their audience (over 65) and, with this and similar exhibits, are able to pack the museum by the bus loads.

This packed-house phenomenon may peak in Washington, D.C., when the Phillips Collection opens Degas’s Dancers at the Barre: Point and Counterpoint on October 1st. The exhibit will explore Degas's fascination with dance through the Barre painting and related preparatory works. I finally got to visit Jacob's Pillow this summer and can see how easy it could be to fall under the spell of dancers in motion.

Another good reason to visit the Phillips in February will be Snapshot: Painters and Photography, Bonnard to Vuillard. The camera was a totally new amazing gadget for artists, just as film would later be for Picasso and Braque. For a painter like me, whose vision has been shaped by the photographic format and who takes a lot of photos, this should be an interesting experience.

There are many exhibits to see as the fall arts season gets underway, including a much-anticipated de Kooning show at the Museum of Modern Art. I'll do my best to share what I see.

From the 2011 ARD Competition, Day 6

Squeezed between Salzburg and the last few dates of the Ultima Contemporary Music Festival, I am back again at the annual ARD Music Competition. The 2011 lineup of instrumental categories includes Piano, Trumpet, Oboe, and Organ, back for the first time in twelve years. Being a bit late to the party, I got into the game only on Saturday the 3^rd, for the second round of the trumpets in the BR Studio 2.

Up fourth, but the first trumpeter I’ve got to hear, was Jonathan Müller (Germany) performing Hans Werner Henze’s “Sonatina for Solo Trumpet” as the required modern piece (other choices being Luciano Berio’s Sequenza X and neoclassical Jean Françaix’ Sonatine pour trompette et piano [apparently the withdrawn original version]) and the flashy Concert Piece No.1 by Vassily Brandt, ‘founder of the Russian trumpet school’. During the Brandt piece, Müller featured a jarring fortissimo, penetrating, glaring sound—as if in constant fanfare-mode. A fact ameliorated by attempts at mezzo-piano, but not qualitative changed… with precise attacks, but scared ones. He certainly has the ability to play what he needs to play, but not—my feeling—the excess control to play with it. The same approach worked better for the short Henze three-part 1974 Sonatina (Toccata, Canzona, Segnali), not the least because the soft and sharp mutes used take the edge off his tone a bit. With modern music, it is either extremely difficult to tell qualitative differences because of excessive complexity, or extremely easy when one interpretation sounds like just-notes and another like music. The former can be expected in a competition setting (notoriously unmusical events, as far as music-events are concerned); unfortunately it sounded largely like a technical exercise here, too.

His countryman Simon Höfele chose Françaix as the ‘modern’ piece, except that Françaix rarely sounds modern. The Sonatine seems difficult without sounding like an Étude in the first part, has a melodious and pretty, muffled lyrical quality in the second, which is followed a brief cadenza-like unaccompanied part (least satisfying, musically, by far), and finally a romp & circumstance of a bumbling ride with gaiety before letting fly. A satisfying piece, seemingly well played. A bobble in his valiant opening and a few mistakes couldn’t distract from a beautiful and sensitive rendition that made sense out of the occasionally hollow Brandt composition. Höfele’s pleasing, comfortable tone was combined with a beautiful real piano; trumpeting in lavish velvet. He might have hit a few percent fewer notes than his predecessor, but played in a different league musically and expressively. The gratuitous runs were integrated into the fabric of the Konzertstück—and no longer sounded gratuitous. Far and away the best performance of the five I heard.

Frenec Mausz (Hungary) performed the Oskar Böhme Concerto in f-minor and the Henze Sonatina: the former in confident, harmonious, and one-dimensional sound; maudlin-Christmasy in the slow movement, and eventually with a turn toward the strident in his tone. The Henze was tackled with hesitation, not gusto, neat staccato attacks, but the prescribed pianissimo was nonexistent and the dynamic range generally flattened.

Senne LaMela (Belgium) began with the Henze. A promising start with nicely separated notes and only the occasional struggle descended into a lot more struggle during the second movement before emerging most successfully in the (apparently least tricky) third movement, getting more out of the dynamic markings than any of the other four Henze-performances I heard. If he had only forgone the circus trick of playing the piece from memory he might have made yet even more out of the work. With brilliance to his tone and playing, he threw himself at the Brandt-piece, which might have been thoroughly impressive had it not been marked by too many mistakes and slips. His confident, perhaps too-confident, demeanor on stage meant a calm, no-nonsense, gimmick-free presentation and he thankfully desisted from the eye-rolling before notes, as if hitting the next one depended more on the grace of G_d above than the musician himself. Too bad the brilliance eventually detracted more than it added, because the ears sought (in vain) differentiation, subtlety, and occasional softness… something trumpets are in fact able to deliver.

Takashi Shinozaki (Japan) performed the same works as his Hungarian colleague. Very colorful with the soft mute in the Henze Canzona, with soft and true pianissimos and harmonica-like sounding flutters, he turned in the most interesting second movement of the Henze, falling short only on the last few bars where the diminuendo from ffff to ppp came out as a move from mezzoforte to mezzopiano, at best. The Brandt, performed with a different trumpet, was not 100% on pitch, largely note-correct, but didn’t sound internalized (understandable, that, actually), and altogether taken a touch slower and seemingly more nervously than his predecessors did.

More tomorrow from the Organ & Oboe semi-finals.

In Brief: Labor Day Edition

Here is your regular Sunday selection of links to good things in Blogville and Beyond.

• Roberto Alagna, French Arias

  The online listening queue is full of great choices: Massenet's Le Cid from the Opéra de Marseille; the concert by the finalists of the Metropolitan Opera competition; pianist Zhu Xiao-Mei and the English Chamber Orchestra playing Mozart and Haydn at the Festival International de Piano de La Roque d'Anthéron; pianist Yulianna Avdeeva and the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment from Warsaw; Patrizia Ciofi and Vivica Genaux in Rossini's Stabat Mater from the Festival de Saint-Denis; and contemporary music from the Festival Agora at the Centre Pompidou. [France Musique]


• It's the last week of the Proms: a recital by Christian Tetzlaff and Lars Vogt; the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra with Hélène Grimaud and again with Anne-Sophie Mutter; David Robertson leading the BBC Symphony Orchestra, with Christian Tetzlaff playing Harrison Birtwistle's violin concerto; Janine Jansen with the (bankrupt) Philadelphia Orchestra; John Eliot Gardiner leading the Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique in Weber's Der Freischütz; and the blockbuster closing concert. [BBC Proms]


• Politics and culture should not mix, but they do all too often and from both sides, unfortunately. Artists regrettably inject their politics into their public performances. Some political activists target musicians of certain nationalities, to make a political statement by ruining an entire audience's evening. Both are to be deplored. This happens to Israeli musicians, as it did to the Jerusalem Quartet at the Library of Congress a few years ago, and to the Israel Philharmonic this week at the Proms. Even the reaction of critics to the event turns political. [Jessica Duchen]


• Here is a Y-chromosome follow-up to the silly furor over the dress worn by Yuja Wang at the Hollywood Bowl. (The only ones upset were "a few Communist party officials," the violinist joked in response to the press tempest in a teacup.) Now violinist Charlie Siem ("in a Dior Homme sweater") is profiled in Vogue. We should be so lucky that classical music, at least a small fraction of the time, is sexy. I have heard Siem play only in online videos, none of which have converted me to his cult yet -- put your tongue back in your mouth, Jessica Duchen -- but best of luck to him. [Vogue]


• Tenor Jonas Kaufmann canceled a run of performances in Japan, to have a node surgically removed -- scheduled for as soon as possible after a September 2 performance in Stockholm. We wish him a speedy recovery. [Jonas Kaufmann]


• Another talented tenor, Salvatore Licitra, remains at a Sicilian hospital, in a coma following a crash while riding a scooter. He was reportedly not wearing a helmet. His condition remains very serious. [Opera Chic]


• UPDATE: Norman Lebrecht is reporting that Salvatore Licitra has died. Our condolences to his family and friends. [Slipped Disc]

Annapolis at 300

See my review of the first CD released by the Annapolis Symphony Orchestra in Sunday's Washington Post:

Charles T. Downey, Annapolis Symphony Orchestra’s ‘Three Symphonic Centuries’
Washington Post, September 4, 2011

Three Symphonic Centuries, Annapolis Symphony Orchestra, José-Luis Novo

The Annapolis Symphony Orchestra is good at anniversaries. This year, the orchestra celebrates its 50th; in 2008, it celebrated the 300th anniversary of the signing of the Royal Charter of the City of Annapolis with a historically themed concert that featured four pieces written at 100-year intervals, from 1708.

Live recordings from the two 2008 performances (Nov. 7 and 8) were produced and edited by Jamey Lamar (engineering by Bruce Egre of Azica Records), for the group’s first professionally produced CD, on the ASO’s own newly founded label. The disc is a significant achievement for a small, regional, professional ensemble — though not necessarily for the quality of music making, which is good but not extraordinary. It is also a sign of how niche-oriented the classical music world is becoming.

A Corelli concerto grosso (Op. 6, No. 9 from around 1708) has a buoyant lilt in the phrasing, notable for an ensemble that doesn’t specialize in baroque music, with a fine-edged solo group composed of three string principals plus local harpsichordist Joseph Gascho. The orchestra’s music director, Spanish conductor José-Luis Novo, leads a competent performance of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, from 1808, but the meat of the program is too squarely and safely played to provide much interest. Ravel’s “Rapsodie Espagnole,” from 1908, adds some welcome color and exotic flavor to the stew. [Continue reading]

SEE ALSO:
Tim Smith, 3 musical centuries (Baltimore Sun, November 13, 2008)

Arundel Digest (on the Richebourg donation)

50th anniversary season of the ASO, with another piece by Thai composer Narong Prangcharoen at the opening concerts (September 23 and 24)

What to Hear Next Season: Regional Orchestras

See my preview of the score of smaller orchestras in the Washington area:

Preview of Washington’s Regional Orchestras (The Washingtonian, September 2):

For an art form that is supposedly dying, classical music certainly has enough practitioners in the Washington area. There are so many regional orchestras, both professional and volunteer -- over 30, by one count -- that it is hard to keep track of them all. The advantage of these organizations is that one of them may be relatively close to where you live, especially convenient for those who live in the suburbs, and the ticket prices tend to be lower than the two leading orchestral ensembles in the area. At the same time, from what I have heard anyway, the musical quality is, not surprisingly, correspondingly lower. Whether that is a fair trade off is a matter of a listener’s personal taste. These ensembles do still offer musically rewarding experiences that enrich their local communities, and they may be more welcoming and appreciative of the their audience’s support. For the listener interested in hearing more unusual repertoire, these smaller ensembles sometimes take bigger risks, too.

The National Philharmonic has the luxury of playing in one of the most beautiful orchestral acoustics in the area, the Music Center at Strathmore. Perhaps for that reason, the ticket costs are roughly equal to those of the Baltimore Symphony and National Symphony. The all-professional National Philharmonic does offer an excellent option for introducing the young person in your life to classical music: Kids can get a free ticket when accompanied by an adult paying full price. Next season includes Corigliano’s "Red Violin" concerto (October 1 and 2), Amy Beach’s Grand Mass in E-flat Major (November 12), and the Martyrdom of St. Sebastian to honor the 150th anniversary of Claude Debussy’s birth next year (May 19), plus a lot of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and other favorites. [Continue reading]