#morninglistening: McNulty Mozart Beauty

#morninglistening to #Mozart w/a favorite musician, #Bezuidenhout on @harmoniamundi#clas… http://t.co/FNrSwGslBX pic.twitter.com/V8v7NUfA5Y

— Jens F. Laurson (@ClassicalCritic) October 12, 2015

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La Piau Goes to Washington

Après un rêve, S. Piau, S. Manoff (Naïve, 2011)

Charles T. Downey, French soprano Sandrine Piau makes stunning D.C. debut
Washington Post, February 9

Sandrine Piau made her long overdue Washington debut on Sunday afternoon, and the Phillips Collection, celebrating its 75th anniversary season, got the glory. The French soprano’s excellent program of 19th-century songs, superbly accompanied by pianist Susan Manoff, was the latest sign of the ascendancy of the Phillips concert series, which has become one of the strongest in the city.

Manoff and Piau recorded many of these songs on their 2011 CD, “Après un rêve.” The qualities that set Piau’s voice apart on disc were, if anything, more pronounced live... [Continue reading]

Sandrine Piau (soprano) and Susan Manoff (piano)
Phillips Collection

PREVIOUSLY:
Charles T. Downey, Briefly Noted: Sandrine Piau (Ionarts, November 1, 2011)

Mel Brooks on ‘Blazing Saddles’

The movies of Mel Brooks have long been a guilty pleasure of mine, none more than Blazing Saddles. One must be careful, however, when quoting or even referring to the film, because politically correct sensitivities have eroded some people’s sense of humor. In Blazing Saddles, Brooks has his characters say the things that are better left unsaid, making fun of racists, homophobes, sexists, and other small-minded people by blasting open the dam that holds back vile talk and sentiments. No trigger warnings here: you are going to hear what people really think.

Brooks is still going strong at almost 90, as he showed when he appeared at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall on Saturday night, in a Q&A session after a screening of Blazing Saddles. Truth be told, there were relatively few questions in this part of the event, mostly just Brooks sharing memories of how the film came to be made, in a rather delightful, slightly manic monologue.

Even people who know Blazing Saddles well may be surprised to learn that Brooks had wanted Richard Pryor to play the role of Sheriff Bart. The insurance company balked, because of Pryor’s problems with addiction, but the film is still partly Pryor’s work, through the writing he contributed to the screenplay. “All of the uses of the N-word,” Brooks said at one point, “were approved by Richard.” This sounds like retroactive butt-covering on Brooks’s part, but Richard Pryor, who died in 2005, could not be reached for comment. More surprising is that Brooks approached John Wayne for the film, possibly to take the role of the Waco Kid, which Gene Wilder eventually played. Brooks said that Wayne read the script and liked it, but declined because he had “too many white Christian fans.”

For such an outrageous film, was there anything that Brooks thought was too much? He claimed he had cut only part of one scene, the scene where Madeline Kahn’s Lili von Shtupp beds Sheriff Bart. In the darkness, she says, “Is it twue what they say about you people, how you are built?” After a pause, she exclaims, “It is twue! It is twue!” Brooks said that he cut the next part of the scene, where Kahn was making noises that sounded like she was performing fellatio. Bart then said, “I hate to disappoint you, Ma'am, but you’re sucking on my arm.” A friend quipped that if Brooks were making the film now, the blowjob scene would stay and all the racist and homophobic jokes would be cut. Different times.

Brooks said it was hard to get clean takes throughout the shoot because people lost it so much on set. When the actor David Huddleston said the line, “We don’t want the Irish" (in the scene embedded above), they had to do twenty takes because everyone was laughing so much. Eventually he bought everyone on the crew white handkerchiefs and told them to stifle their laughs so they would stop burning through so much footage. Incredibly, Harvey Korman never lost it during the shoot of Blazing Saddles, according to Brooks. The only time he after spoiled a take by breaking character was in History of the World, Part I, when he told Brooks’s king, “Your Majesty, you look like the piss boy.” Brooks said that he improvised the king’s now-famous response (“And you look like a bucket of shit!”), and Korman lost it.

Puppet-Driven 'Equus' at Constellation Theater

Ross Destiche (Alan Strang) and Ryan Tumulty (Horse), in Equus, Constellation Theater (photo by DJ Corey Photography)
We welcome this theater review from Ionarts contributor Philip Dickerson.

“The Naked Play,” “The Horses Play,” “The Harry Potter is in love with a horse Play”: These are just some of the descriptive nicknames given to Peter Shaffer’s Equus. Constellation Theater has revived this dark tale, bringing new life to a play that is plagued with stigmas and practical hurdles. In her program note, director Amber McGinnis Jackson speaks of the play as having “big ideas.” Despite the beautiful exploration McGinnis Jackson takes us on, the biggest obstacles presented by the play may not lie in the theme or ideas, but in requiring six horses moving about on stage and two brave actors being nude on stage for several minutes.

This play also has an infamous history tied to its 2009 West End/Broadway revival when Daniel Radcliffe, best known for playing the title role in the Harry Potter franchise, took on the role of Alan Strang, which required the young celebrity to bare all in front of thousands, night after night. Radcliffe’s stardom made the production more about seeing Harry Potter naked, and the story fell by the wayside. Now we find Constellation Theater doing what they do best, bringing local artists together to tackle productions that others may avoid. Thanks to careful crafting by McGinnis Jackson and the bravery of actors Ross Destiche and Emily Kester, the required nudity is handled with grace and the story remains the focal point.

Other Reviews: Jane Horwitz, Constellation Theater revives ‘Equus’ to great effect (Washington Post, January 19) Mark Lieberman, Horse Whisperer: Constellation Theater Interrogates the Mind with Equus (DCist, January 21) Rebecca Ritzel, Actors head out of the theater and into the stable to prepare for ‘Equus’ (Washington Post, January 12)

At the onset, we are guided through this emotional quagmire by Martin Dysart (played exceptionally by Michael Kramer), an emotionally stale psychiatrist working day to day, until an extraordinary case is placed at his feet. A young boy named Alan Strang (Destiche) has blinded six horses for an unknown reason. Other psychiatrists have failed to get through his hardened shell, and Dysart is seemingly the boy’s last chance. Intrigued by the extremity of the case Dysart begins treating Alan. The production takes a while to find its pacing during the back and forth of the counseling sessions between Dysart and Alan and the flashbacks involving Alan’s parents (Laureen E. Smith and Michael Tolaydo), the stable master (Colin Smith), Alan’s love interest Jill Mason (Kester), and of course the Horses (Tori Bertocci, Gwen Gastorf, Ashley Ivey, Ryan Alan Jones, Ryan Tumulty and Emily Whitworth). When Alan begins to trust Dysart and play his mental “games and tricks,” the horse-like gallop sets in and the tension builds.

Beyond the intimacy displayed between Kramer, Destiche, and Kester, the horses make this production more real. The puppet head-pieces give visual satisfaction, but under the movement direction of Mark Jasser, the puppeteers provide authentic movement, mannerisms, and breath. Such authenticity is reminiscent of the West End/Broadway hit War Horse, which in many ways revolutionized puppetry. While Constellation’s horse puppets are much simpler in design, the actors bringing them to life create their reality with just as much precision.

Equus runs roughly two and a half hours with a ten-minute intermission. It closes on February 14.

#morninglistening: Hartmann by Committee

#morninglistening #Hartmann @challengerec @JamesGaffigan... http://t.co/aKHkikTHNx pic.twitter.com/tBFYrsizCr

— Jens F. Laurson (@ClassicalCritic) January 22, 2015

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Perchance to Stream: Folle Journée de Nantes Edition

Here is your regular Sunday selection of links to online audio and online video from the week gone by. After clicking to an audio or video stream, you may need to press the "Play" button to start the broadcast. Some of these streams become unavailable after a few days.

• Leonard Slatkin conducts Mahler's sixth symphony with the Orchestre National de Lyon, plus Mozart's fifth violin concerto with Vilde Frang as soloist. [France Musique]


• The Munich Radio Orchestra gives a concert performance of Benjamin Godard's opera Dante, recorded at the Prinzregententheater. [BR-Klassik]


• Listen to Giovanni Simone Mayr's opera Medea in Corinto (Naples, 1813), conducted last July by Fabio Luisi at the Festival della Valle d'Itria. [ORF]


• From the Wigmore Hall in London, the Takács Quartet plays music by Haydn and Shostakovich. [BBC3]


• Elise Caluwaerts and Wiard Witholt star in Sydney Chamber Opera's staging of Pascal Dusapin's Passion. [ABC Classic]


• In a concert recorded at the Church of Saint-Roch in Paris, Philippe Herreweghe and Collegium Vocale Gent perform Bach cantatas for Christmas. [France Musique]


• The BBC Symphony Orchestra and conductor Alexander Vedernikov perform Shostakovich's 6th Symphony and Schnittke's Viola Concerto with Lawrence Power, recorded at the Barbican Hall. [BBC3]


• Ophélie Gaillard leads soprano Claire Lefilliâtre and the Ensemble Pulcinella in sacred music by Purcell, Monteverdi, Rossi, Sanses, Merula, and other, recorded in the Cathédrale Saint-Macou in Pontoise. [France Musique]


• Watch many of the concerts from the Folle Journée de Nantes. [ARTE]


• Watch Mariss Jansons, violinist Leonidas Kavakos, and the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Chorus perform Korngold's violin concerto and Rachmaninov's The Bells. [BR-Klassik]


• Watch La Belle et la Bête, a new choreography by Thierry Malandain, recorded in San Sebastián. [ARTE]


• From the Salzburg Mozartwoche, Tugan Sokhiev leads a concert by the Vienna Philharmonic with violinist Renaud Capucon, in music of Mozart, Mendelssohn, and Dutilleux. [ORF | Part 2]


• Watch organists Bernard Foccroulle, Philippe Lefébvre, Camille Baslé, Nicolas Martynciow, Olivier Latry, and Wayne Marshall perform on the organ at the Philharmonie de Paris. [Philharmonie de Paris]


• From the Barbican Hall in London, soprano Renée Fleming joins the BBC Symphony Orchestra and conductor Sakari Oramo for music by Debussy, Anders Hillborg, and Ravel. [BBC3]


• Christian Zacharias conducts and serves as piano soloist with the Orchestre National de France, in music by Schubert (eighth symphony) and Beethoven (third piano concerto). [France Musique]


• Watch young dancers compete in the competition for the 44ème Prix de Lausanne. [ARTE]


• Ilan Volkov leads the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Festival Hall in music by Roslavets, Ravel, and Shostakovich, with pianist Ingrid Fliter. [BBC3]


• Pianist Fazil Say joins the Camerata Salzburg for a concert at the Salzburg Mozartwoche, playing three Mozart piano concertos, plus music by Mendelssohn. [ORF]


• Giovanni Antonini leads the Mozarteumorchester Salzburg in symphonies of Mozart at the Salzburg Mozartwoche. [ORF]


• Violinist Olivier Charlier and pianist Anne Queffélec play music by Beethoven and Brahms, recorded at the Salle de La Quintinie in Nantes. [France Musique]


• Adam Laloum and Stacey Watton join members of the Modigliani Quartet for Schubert's "Trout" Quintet, recorded in Nantes. [France Musique]


• Music by Johann and Joseph Strauss performed by the Johann Strauss Ensemble. [France Musique]


• The Orchestre National des Pays de la Loire performs Strauss's Alpine Symphony, with Pascal Rophé at the podium. [France Musique]


• Four Seasons by Vivaldi and Piazzolla performed by the Richard Galliano Sextet. [France Musique]


• Abdel Rahman El Bacha plays music of Beethoven at the Salle de La Quintinie in Nantes. [France Musique]


• Listen to Holst's The Planets performed by the Orchestre National des Pays de Loire and conductor Pascal Rophé. [France Musique]


• New music by Italian composers Luca Francesconi and Fausto Romitelli at the opening concert of the Présences Festival with the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France and Mikko Franck. [France Musique]


• From the Folle Journée de Nantes, a performance of Vivaldi's Four Seasons with violinist Sayaka Shoji and the Polish Chamber Orchestra. [France Musique]


• Viola da gambist Laurence Dreyfus leads Phantasm in music by William Byrd, Thomas Tallis, Matthew Locke, Henry Purcell, and others, recorded at the Wiener Konzerthaus. [ORF]


• Enrique Mazzola, bass-baritone Markus Werba, and the Orchestre National de l'Ile de France perform selections from Des Knaben Wunderhorn by Mahler, Humperdinck's Hänsel und Gretel, and Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, recorded at the Philharmonie de Paris. [France Musique]


• A recital by pianist Alexander Ghindin at the Musée d'Orsay, with music by Prokofiev, Debussy, Offenbach, Saint-Saëns, Bizet, and Richard Strauss. [France Musique]


• Concerts from 2014 and 2015 with Ludovic Morlot and Cristian Macelaru conducting the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in music of Stravinsky, Ravel, and others. [CSO]


• Listen to the 1970 recording of Vincenzo Bellini's Il Pirata, starring Piero Cappuccilli (Ernesto), Montserrat Caballé (Imogene), Bernabe Marti (Gualtiero), and Ruggero Raimondi (Goffredo), conducted by Gianandrea Gavazzeni in Rome. [ORF]

Venzago, Watts with the BSO

O. Schoeck, Sommernacht (inter alia), Berner Symphonieorchester, M. Venzago (Musiques Suisses, 2015)

The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is approaching the celebration of its 100th anniversary this Thursday. For the last program before that event, conductor Mario Venzago returned to the podium, with a pleasing selection of music that was full of surprises, heard on Thursday night in the Music Center at Strathmore. Opening with Gluck, some odd selections from the marvelous opera Armide, was an inspired choice, music that few BSO listeners are likely to have heard, at least from the BSO.

The Gluck set included the overture and several dances, plus a chaconne and finale, with a concentrated number of players, including a harpsichord for the continuo part and, somewhat mysteriously, a part for harp. The modern brass instruments had to play in a rather contained way, so as not to overwhelm the ensemble, revealing many delightful sounds, especially the hypnotic Elysium number and an ornately beautiful flute solo in the Siciliana. Gluck premiered this opera in Paris in 1777, the same year that Mozart composed his ninth piano concerto, K. 27, in Salzburg for Victoire Jenamy, the daughter of dancer and choreographer Jean-Georges Noverre. It is a jewel of a piece, given a pretty if not always easily flowing account by pianist André Watts. Venzago kept the orchestra at just the right levels to allow his soloist to come to the fore, making many little adjustments to realign the ensemble. Watts performed the cadenzas and other solo moments with some panache, but this was not exactly a rendition to be remembered, although the third movement had a daring spirit.

Other Reviews: Tim Smith, BSO welcomes back Andre Watts, Mario Venzago (Baltimore Sun, February 6)

Schumann's symphonies often bore me, but good conductors know how to fix balances to make the best of the composer's sometimes dull orchestration. Venzago did just that in this performance of Schumann's fourth symphony, in D minor, reigning in the string and brass sound to reveal the winds more and applying generous rubato to bring out the Romantic nature of Schumann's phrases. The second movement was delicate and wistful, with some tuning issues when the oboe and cello section shared a melody (not a good combination), but a lovely violin solo in the middle section. The scherzo felt plenty fast but was limber and lively than just forceful, and a trio of charming, murmuring sounds that Venzago's rubato touch brought to life. Venzago's earlier restraint of the brass now paid off, as he finally gave that section its head, driving an exciting finale to its conclusion.

This concert repeats this evening, at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall in Baltimore.

CD Review: Eschenbach's Hindemith

Hindemith, Symphonie 'Mathis der Maler' / Symphonie in Es, NDR Sinfonieorchester, C. Eschenbach (released on October 9, 2015) ODE 1275-2 | 67'32"

Charles T. Downey, Hindemith, Symphonies, NDR Symphony Orchestra
Washington Post, February 5

When Christoph Eschenbach began his tenure with the National Symphony Orchestra in 2010, he arrived with a recording contract with the Finnish recording label Ondine. He has recorded only one disc with the NSO to date, in 2011 — the orchestra’s first recording since 2001 — which inauspiciously paired some slightly sloppy Gershwin and Bernstein with the premiere of the instantly forgettable “Remembering JFK” by Peter Lieberson.

Eschenbach may not have released any more recordings with the NSO since then, but he has done so with two of his former bands: the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival Orchestra and the NDR Symphony Orchestra in Hamburg. With the latter orchestra, he made two Hindemith discs, both recorded live around the 50th anniversary of Hindemith’s death in 2013, slightly after which the NSO programmed the composer’s “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d"... [Continue reading]

Hindemith, Symphonie 'Mathis der Maler' / Symphonie in Es
NDR Sinfonieorchester, Christoph Eschenbach