A Visionary Fall

I have great respect for the daily bloggers. It takes a lot of discipline to post on a regular basis. This time of year is crunch time for my family. In addition to painting, for the past sixteen years, my wife and I have produced a line of pottery and an assortment of gift items and more, of her wonderful work. So the fall is the busy, thankfully, time preparing for the holidays.

The beauty of the blog world is that I don't have to miss a beat. If there is anything of interest going on, someone is writing about it. During the run up to the election Daily Kos, Newsgrist, Newsblog, or Juan Cole among others did a fabulous job keeping me vote-smart. My usual assortment of art bloggers wrote of the new shows and the anticipated opening of MOMA this week. A humble bow to you all.

When time gets limited and the choice is writing or painting, painting wins. I've recently posted new work on my site, with more to come this week. If I could have written anything, it would definitely been something about the VERY way cool Venus, Mars, and Moon alignment or the beautiful explosion of color this fall, or about amazing sunrises as we slipped into October and November. The clouds, the stark contrasts as we move towards winter have been amazing. I don't often paint landscapes, but I shamelessly steal from nature all the time and have yet to be challenged with a law suit. There's probably something in the forthcoming new and improved Patriot Act that will challenge that.

The main reason for this post was to report on the gala opening of the new addition to the American Visionary Arts Museum here in Baltimore, The James Rouse Center For Visionary Thought. I really did have a nice post in mind, and it was a wonderful event, and the new building couldn't be more beautiful. But, you see, there was a trapeze artist, this fine twelve-piece band, and this really cold beer and, oh yeah, these dancing feet. Oh well, go here and here for writing by more disciplined folks. Or,come to Baltimore and see for yourself.

Mark Barry (www.markbarryportfolio.com) is an artist working in Baltimore.

Gil and Orli Shaham

The Shaham's, violinist Gil and his most exquisitely playing sister Orli, performed a delicacy of a concert at the Kennedy Center last Sunday (November 7). On a perfect autumn day, there was—short of staying outside—nothing more gently civilized and fun to do than follow the WPAS's call. That would have been possible even on a whim, as plenty of tickets were available at the door.

Three Mozart violin sonatas (42 to go) were the light and easily enjoyable treats in the first half. To lean back and enjoy beautiful music that, for all its undeniable quality, is not a terribly serious affair was a nice change from emotionally more taxing late Beethoven or Mahler—recent parts of my musical diet. Mlle. Shaham's fleet fingers dotted all the notes, not forgetting musicality and occasional force along the way. Her brother, meanwhile, played unpretentiously and with visible joy. It was like being witness to a friendly afternoon of Hausmusik. K. 305, K. 301, and K. 304 (in A major, G major, and E minor, respectively) showed how "light" and "pretty" need not be gentle putdowns. In fact, regularly enjoyed Mozart is like a musical detox, so naturally falls his musical idiom in place.

Gil & Orli Shaham, Prokofiev Album

Lest people come away with the idea that classical music is all about "nice" (or worse, "relaxing," like a diet of 103.5 might have you believe), the second half was all Prokofiev. Clouds moved in where sun and blue skies were before... at least on an emotional level. The "bittersweet lyricism" (Eric Bromberger) of the Five Melodies—five California-inspired songs without words, later redesignated from voice to violin—give you Prokofiev harmonies in a very seductive and rather sweet setting. The cliché of the violin singing gets its most obvious manifestation in it. Gil Shaham did his part in producing a pleasantly flowing and rich tone from his early Stradivarius, the 1699 "Countess Polignac."

Gil & Orli Shaham, The Fauré Album

Grimly the piano announces, with trills going along on the violin, what is to be expected from a War Sonata, the sonata for violin and piano, no. 1, op. 8, in F minor. The Prokofiev, all presented on the latest Shaham's release of a disc with his music and some transcriptions, was cold and aggressive at times and proved to be the worthy main course after the Mozart apéritif. Amazing fingerwork in hushed passages with intermittent arpeggios somberly moved things along to the end of a disquieting first movement. Lyrical, wistful, wild, and pouncing moments all share the second movement (Allegro brusco). Cough salvos were fired from the audience—perhaps in honor of the sonata's nickname—and after a gorgeous Andante followed the furious arpeggio-heavy Allegrissimo. Playing enjoyably well together, the Shaham's followed the work to all its depths.

More F minor Prokofiev, but of a very different character, was given as an encore, a movement from the second sonata, op. 12, topped things off with good humor. A bon-bon followed and then—Gil Shaham "promised" it would be the last one—Fauré's Clair de Lune, op. 46, no. 2, from their "Fauré Album" concluded the program.

Cleaning up after Lars von Trier

Back in June, filmmaker Lars von Trier backed out of his commitment to stage the 2006 production of the Ring cycle at Bayreuth (see my post on June 7). Well, the news coming from Germany is that Wolfgang Wagner has selected German playwright Tankred Dorst to take over for von Trier. I first read about this in the German newspapers a couple days ago, but now that news has been picked up by the English-language press:

• Tankred Dorst Sees His Upcoming Bayreuth Ring as a 'World Fairy Tale' (Deutsche Presse-Agentur, November 12)
  
• Bayreuth Festival Chooses Playwright Tankred Dorst to Direct New Ring Cycle (Associated Press, November 11)

Sets will be designed by Frank Philipp Schlössman, and costumes by Bernd Skodzig. Christian Thielemann is still engaged to conduct the orchestra.

Opera in the 20th Century

Here are the latest topics from my class this semester on Opera in the 20th Century:

• November 12: Opera in Russia (Shostakovich, Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District, 1934; Prokofiev, War and Peace, 1941–1952; and Schnittke, Life with an Idiot, 1992)
  
• November 5: Opera and Minimalism (Glass, Einstein on the Beach, 1976; Adams, Nixon in China, 1987)
  
• October 29: Opera in America (Virgil Thomson, Four Saints in Three Acts, 1934; Stravinsky, The Rake's Progress, 1951; Menotti, The Saint of Bleecker Street, 1954; Barber, Vanessa, 1958)
  
• October 22: Opera and Jazz (Ravel, L'Enfant et les Sortilèges, 1925; Krenek, Jonny Spielt Auf, 1927; Gershwin, Porgy and Bess, 1935; Weill, Street Scene, 1947)

We're getting close to the end, so I also posted some thoughts about Making Opera Relevant, which is something we have been discussing in class. I think it might be something to which some readers may want to contribute a couple cents.

Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre in San Francisco

Another of the opera productions I expressed interest in (see my preview of the Opera Season, 2004–2005) was the American premiere of György Ligeti's Le Grand Macabre (1978), in the Royal Danish Opera production, at the San Francisco Opera (until November 21). You can look at production photos from the dress rehearsal here (San Francisco Opera is full of good ideas: take heed, Washington). I wish I could go to see it myself, as I love this opera from its recording and would enjoy seeing it staged. Here's how some of the critics are taking it:

Fer it:

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Joshua Kosman, Sex, booze, vampirism and loads of slapstick: Just another night at the opera for György Ligeti (San Francisco Chronicle, October 26):

The guiding spirits here are Rabelais, Alfred Jarry (author of the scandalous 1896 play "Ubu Roi") and the cartoon worlds of Krazy Kat and Tintin, as well as (in more sublimated form) the comic opera tradition of Mozart, Rossini and Verdi. Set in four swift scenes, "Macabre" follows the travels of Nekrotzar -- the Czar of Death, the "Grand Macabre" himself -- as he rises from a cemetery and attempts to sow wholesale destruction among the heedless inhabitants of the whimsically titled Breughelland. Pompous, humorless and enormously taken with himself and his own powers, Nekrotzar expects to be greeted with nothing less than abject terror.

Unfortunately for him, Death gets no respect -- not from the other characters, whose concerns center on sex, alcohol and political advancement, and not from his creator either. While Nekrotzar's pronouncements roll forth in thunderous cadences designed to instill trembling and awe, the rest of the musical texture is mostly a cacophony of chattery pops and thunks. At the same time, "Macabre" is situated squarely -- if uneasily -- within the classical tradition. The overture for 12 car horns is a benign mockery of the brass Toccata that introduces Monteverdi's "Orfeo" (a piece to which Stravinsky offered a more respectful tip of the hat at the beginning of "The Rake's Progress"). Allusions, more or less easily audible, to everything from Beethoven to Offenbach spring up here and there.

Joshua Kosman, Opera crackles and leaps with vibrant, madcap and totally unpredictable 'Macabre' (San Francisco Chronicle, November 1):

The surge of excitement that filled the War Memorial Opera House on Friday night for the U.S. premiere of György Ligeti's opera "Le Grand Macabre" -- a heady, convivial buzz that dovetailed nicely with the profusion of Halloween costumes among the audience -- was something almost vanishingly rare in an American opera house. It was the promise of something utterly new about to unfold, something vivid and brilliant and unpredictable. And Ligeti's wondrous 1978 creation -- a profane, humane comic fable about life in the shadow of the apocalypse -- fulfilled that promise superbly.

Anthony Tommasini, Buffoons in the Bureaucracy and Death on the Doorstep (New York Times, November 2):

With the company's production of Gyorgy Ligeti's black comedy "Le Grand Macabre," which opened on Friday, Ms. Rosenberg has presented the American premiere of another bracing contemporary opera that has been neglected in the United States, though it has been seen in more than a dozen European cities since its premiere in 1978 in Stockholm. Mr. Ligeti, 81, was said not to be well enough to travel from Europe for the opening night.

The boldly modern production from the Royal Danish Opera, directed by Kasper Bech Holten, and the performance of the San Francisco singers and orchestra made a compelling case for this unconventional work. Though there were empty seats about the house, the audience, with notable numbers of festive Bay Area residents arrayed in exotic Halloween costumes, responded with a prolonged ovation. The audience reaction is important to note, because with her passion for contemporary opera Ms. Rosenberg is not just acting on principle. She strongly believes in the theatrical impact and musical richness of works like Mr. Ligeti's opera, and she is right.

Agin' it:

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Tiffany Maleshefski, End of opera as we know it (San Francisco Examiner, November 9):

One complaint would be the incoherent storyline, which asks its audience to make an enormous stretch to understand every character's motivation and symbolic placement. It is an ultra-modern opera, completely intentional by Ligeti, who wrote the piece with the belief that traditional opera was no longer relevant to contemporary audiences. Ligeti certainly has a point; but whether he has bridged the gap with this production, at least in the U.S., is questionable.

Stephanie von Buchau, 'Le Grand Macabre,' billed as a comedy, has a sour view of life (Alameda Times-Star, November 2):

WITH music critics from all over America in attendance wishing that their local companies would do something so original, San Francisco Opera Friday night presented another of its repertory coups, the American premiere of Gyorgy Ligeti's "Le Grand Macabre" (1978; revised 1996). It is possible to criticize the self-important company-inspired hoopla -- the klieg lights in front of the War Memorial; the rows of comped Halloween costumed "patrons" at the rear of the orchestra; the cartoony borrowed production from Denmark with its cheesy sex and four-letter words. That doesn't diminish the fact that if SFO had been more on the cutting edge before Pamela Rosenberg got here, it would have performed "Le Grand Macabre" years ago. Then the piece would have been long forgotten and none of the current hype would be necessary.

Richard Bammer, By turns thrilling, boring: 'Le Grand Macabre' turns the Apocalypse into a farce (The Reporter, Vacaville, Calif., November 3):

First, the overture - scored for 12 mechanical "taxi horns." Conductor Michael Boder defined the evening's musical chaos right away, creating what sounded like a dyspeptic "American in Paris." It was clear that the performance was not going to be anything like Puccini's "La Boheme." What followed was a mixture of melodic tangles of sound, some Stockhausen-like blips and bleeps, and some of the composer's patented "planes" of sound, music which avoids traditional pitches and rhythms. Unfortunately, it was by turns thrilling and boring, with little else in between to savor emotionally.

Richard Scheinin, Talented cast landlocked in long-winded 'Macabre' (The Mercury News, November 1):

Ligeti's a certified genius, a creator of amazing sound worlds, with an oeuvre that goes back to the '50s. But his 1978 opera, staged many times in Europe, revised by Ligeti in the '90s, and performed here in English, feels dated, too full of jokes, outrageousness, and endless irony: Oh, Ligeti's doing slapstick. Oh, Ligeti's doing singspiel. Oh, Ligeti's doing Da-da. Oh, Ligeti's honoring Beethoven. Oh, Ligeti's lampooning Monteverdi. Oh, he loves the tradition. He hates the tradition. He's written a comedy? Or is it a tragedy? Both? What? Isn't that funny!

Before anyone gets angry, let me say that I'm a new music freak, going back 35 years. I love much of Roscoe Mitchell's music. I love much of Ligeti's. I even love portions of "Macabre" and applaud San Francisco Opera for presenting a work so unusual. It's enough to go to War Memorial and hear Ligeti's hilarious overture, written for a dozen car horns, sounding like a gaggle of honking geese. So go. But be prepared, because this apocalyptic farce, which boasts some sensational performances, goes on too long, hitting you over the head with outrageousness.

Kapell Recordings Surface

Available from Amazon: William Kapell Box Set

This article by Daniel J. Wakin (The Found Treasures of a Great Pianist, November 10) in the New York Times was so exciting that I had to call home from my office to read it to my wife over the phone:

When the 31-year-old pianist William Kapell, one of the last century's great geniuses of the keyboard, was killed in a plane crash in 1953, he was returning from a concert tour in Australia. Now, a cache of privately made recordings from that tour has surfaced, a find that music lovers are calling an incalculable treasure, given Kapell's legendary status and dozen-year flicker of a career.

The whole story is well worth your reading time. The long and short of it is that there are three hours of new live concert recordings of this remarkable pianist, including some pieces of which there were no recordings in existence: Prokofiev's Seventh Piano Sonata, Debussy's Suite Bergamasque, Mozart's K. 570, Chopin's Barcarolle and Scherzo in B minor, and "a spectacular version of Rachmaninoff's Concerto No. 3, although an earlier, inferior live performance was briefly on the market."

I became obsessively familiar with Kapell's playing because my wife wrote her M.A. thesis on him (William Kapell: A Performance History), which she undertook because of her friendship with members of the Kapell's family here in Washington. Tim Page, the music critic at the Washington Post, also wrote a book with lots of good pictures and information (although its rarety now has driven up its price at Amazon).

Modern Art in Paris

A note from the world of contemporary art: here are translations of some news reports on the FIAC, the International Fair of Contemporary Art, at the Porte de Versailles at the edge of Paris. Valérie Duponchelle and Béatrice de Rochebouët, in an article (Fiac 2004, la sortie du désert, October 22) for Le Figaro:

Contrary to the vicious rumors, the bride was not wearing black. There has not been that air of excitement, for many seasons, necessary to the success an art fair, a vital ingredient in this context of killer concurrence: six large European art fairs in less than two months, including its direct rival, the Frieze Art Fair, which just had a media triumph in London. At the opening of the 2004 Fiac, Wednesday night [October 20], the smiles spoke volumes about the effort of the 214 galleries from 24 countries (including more than a third of new arrivals) to give new life to Paris. To spice up this 31st edition, revised and corrected by the young steering committee under the direction of Jennifer Flay, a new much anticipated formule after the deadly criticism and the flop of the VIP evening last year.

From Tuesday, as in London two days earlier, the biggest collectors and/or their advisers strode down the long aisles. Above all, eager to see Thomas Schütte's three solitary giants, placed in the space of the Nelson Gallery (installation from the Grosse Geister series already sold, remember, before the FIAC for 500,000 €).

The number of works was impressive, according to the reviewers, "considering the desertion of German galleries, all snapped up by London."

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Philippe Dagen, Morts illustres et tendances fraîches à la FIAC (Le Monde, October 22):

This year, photography is losing ground to painting, its rejuvenated and triumphant rival. If there is a general trend in this packaged FIAC, it is the domination of painting. It is no surprise that this would be the case in the historical section, but it is just the same on the side featuring younger galleries and artists. Guy Pieters is giving his space to Combas. Anne de Villepoix is showing the watercolors of Toguo. The first-timer from Geneva, Charlotte Moser, is displaying Maike Freess's drawings next to Béatrice Cussol's watercolors and Corpet's canvases. The Zürcher Gallery is showing Desgrandchamps's last triptych, JGM the suspended figures of Tatah, and Claudine Papillon the watercolors of Frédérique Loutz. The tone is no different in the Perspectives and Future Quake areas, even if objects and photographs—both often treated humorously—are more present there. Like Pretorius's pseudomedieval paintings at Zieher and Smith, impossible insects drawn by Sorbelli's two hands at Maisonneuve, some of Hajdinaj's very kitchy still lifes at GB Agency. Why so many paintings? Maybe only because for years it was no longer good taste to dare show young artists who dare to paint. Today, that proscription is dead. We're not complaining.

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Other articles:

• Harry Bellet, "Future Quake", une plate-forme pour les jeunes galeries (Le Monde, October 22)
  
• Michèle Champenois, A la FIAC, le XXe siècle dans ses meubles (Le Monde, October 23)

Bronzés 3

Anyone who likes French comic films will be happy to hear about this little article (Le tournage des «Bronzés 3» débutera en mai 2005, November 8) from Le Nouvel Observateur. The Splendid team responsible for the absolutely hilarious two films of the "Bronzés" (Les Bronzés, 1978; Les Bronzés font du ski, 1979) will begin shooting a third film in the series in May 2005. Actor-director Michel Blanc announced that the team is working on writing the script right now.

"It's moving ahead. At this point, we are meeting every day, with the other members of the team, at Marie-Anne Chazel's place. Thierry Lhermitte is typing for us with his computer because he types the fastest," Blanc explains. "The ideas are firing from everywhere around the table. We are as driven as we were 25 years ago!"

Other familiar faces who will appear in the third film include Christian Clavier, Thierry Lhermitte, Gérard Jugnot, Josiane Balasko, and Dominique Lavanant.