For Your Consideration: 'Surviving Progress'

R. Wright, A Short History of Progress

Surviving Progress, a new documentary by Mathieu Roy and Harold Crooks, is a bit of a downer ultimately. Although it opens with a whimsical touch, it too quickly devolves into the standard sort of preachy, end-of-the-world mode. "Increasing complexity" is part of human progress as we change as a species, the film claims, but we must not delude ourselves into thinking that all progress, or all change, is necessarily good. The film draws upon the ideas published in Canadian author Ronald Wright's book A Short History of Progress, and a rather charming opening sequence shows the reactions of a series of people to the question "What is progress?" There are bemused looks, sighs, and one excellent "um..." The viewer is likely experiencing the same emotion: we know that we are supposed to want and expect progress, but exactly what it means for us may be hard to define.

In extensive comments in the film, Wright outlines his idea of "progress traps," situations in which human advances lead to "too much progress." For example, prehistoric humans reach a level of hunting mastery at which they essentially wipe out the animals that used to sustain them. Extending this idea to the entire arc of human history, Wright concludes that "we have to confront the possibility that the entire experiment of civilization is, in itself, a progress trap." This thesis revisits ideas in his essay from 2000, provocatively titled Civilization is a Pyramid Scheme, underscoring the confluence of several world-wide trends. First is the problem of population growth: what will happen if all of China's population reaches the standard of living of Americans? Related are, in Wright's thinking, the concentration of wealth in the hands of the few, the powerful interests of large corporations leading to the destruction of ecosystems, and the wrong-headed refusal of banks to cancel debts.

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Yes, you have heard all of this before. Wright marshals a lot of historical background, trying to trace why previous civilizations failed and what in our current situation might be analogous to those causes. Further evidence, or at least the impression of it, is provided by scientist Jane Goodall, physicist Stephen Hawking, writer Margaret Atwood, economist Michael Hudson, environmentalist David Suzuki, genetics pioneer Craig Venter, and energy expert Vaclav Smil. All of their contributions are charming and engaging, as are the many beautiful shots of glowing, pulsating cities and exotic landscapes (cinematography by Mario Janelle) and mini-profiles of everyday people from around the world. In the end, though, there is little concrete to focus on, and one may or not be convinced by the thesis that civilization itself is the source of our problems.

In the Washington area, this film is screening exclusively at Landmark's E Street Cinema, through Thursday only.

Ionarts-at-Large: Fischer Iván's Touch for Mahler

Even amid the Gustav Mahler-overkill of today’s concert scene—no renowned orchestra without a complete Mahler cycle in the last couple of years; every other provincial band taking a crack at his symphonies—a performance of his Third Symphony is still an event.

It’s Mahler’s most expansive symphony, his most expensive (bar the Eighth), and his most bewildering (bar the Seventh). Little wonder it is the least performed of the first four “Wunderhorn Symphonies”. But it is also Mahler’s boldest symphony, Mahler at his clichéd best, and when the finale is brought off just right, it is the symphony with the most ecstatically moving ending: A flight of music that carries the listener through a weightless journey of the imagination.

That’s a high bar to meet for any performance, and few ever get there. Of the five Mahler Thirds I’ve heard live in the last two years (Mariss Jansons/RCO in Amsterdam, Vladimir Jurowski/LPO in London, Jansons/BRSO in Munich, Esa-Pekka Salonen/Dresden Staats-kapelle in Leipzig, and now Fischer Iván with the Munich Philharmonic ), none had that sense of apotheosis one hopes for. Jurowski managed two superb, gripping movements, but tapered off. Jansons/BRSO offered sheer flawlessness, but never achieved lift-off in the finale. Salonen/Dresden didn’t get properly started until the fourth movement, but went far in providing for that final flight of fancy.

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Dip Your Ears, No. 115 (Manfred Honeck and Mahler)

G.Mahler, Symphony No.1, Honeck / Pittsburgh SO Exton SACD

Because we don’t have enough Mahler to satisfy our every taste and desires, Manfred Honeck has also started a cycle “if it is possible, in the next five, six years” with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. If the audiophile Exton label doesn’t get its distribution act together, it may not matter, since we can’t get a hold of the recordings… but if we do (and I’ve snagged a copy of the First, released in April 2010; the Fourth has come out since, and the Third, recorded in June (2010) is available-ish by now, too), we might find it’s much more than another layer of Mahler-overkill.Über-idiomatic and rambunctious, joyously self-celebratory, laugh-out-loud daring, hyper-romantic but without the (differently-appealing) heavy hand of Bernstein, it is one of the most notable Firsts to have appeared in a very long time. Perhaps that can be partly blamed on the old zither teacher of Honeck.

When Honeck was a kid, he was—very reluctantly, because it was deemed cruelly uncool even then—made to learn the zither. He had an old teacher; not technically gifted but of a generation that had the Austrian folk music and rhythms in their blood and able to pass it on. Recording Mahler now, Honeck said that now he knows why he has reason to be thankful for those lessons: because he took to Mahler’s Ländler-rhythms like fish to water. “That’s something you can’t learn”, he suggests, “but rather absorb and hope to be able to pass on. In any case, that’s what I’ve tried with these recordings and so far I am very happy with the result.” The fact that he plays the unique rhythms and snaps up wherever they appear, contributes a good deal to the zest and color of this recording.

In Brief: Showers, Flowers Edition

Here is your regular Sunday selection of links to online audio, online video, and other good things in Blogville and Beyond.

• Watch a production of John Adams's Nixon in China from the Théâtre du Châtelet (embedded here), staged by Chen Shi-Zheng. [ARTE Live Web]


• Watch Mariss Jansons conduct Janácek's epic Glagolitic Mass, with the Bavarian Radio Philharmonic Chorus and Orchestra. [ARTE Live Web]


• Soprano Sandrine Piau, tenor Topi Lehtipuu, baritone Johannes Weisser, and the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin help the choir Accentus celebrate its 20th anniversary, with Laurence Equilbey conducting a performance of Haydn's Creation in the Salle Pleyel in Paris. [France Musique]


• Colin Currie joins the London Philharmonic and conductor Osmo Vänskä for the world premiere of Kalevi Aho's percussion concerto, from Royal Albert Hall in London, with music of Brahms and Schumann. [France Musique]


• You can watch Nikolaus Harnoncourt conduct the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Beethoven's Missa Solemnis. [Medici.tv]


• The official selection for the 65th edition of the Cannes Film Festival has been announced. Clips included. [Le Figaro]


• Listen to Donizetti's opera Gianni di Parigi, from Wexford Festival Opera. [Österreichischer Rundfunk]


• From Prague, Vivica Genaux joins the Collegium 1704 for music by Mozart, Vivaldi, and others. [Österreichischer Rundfunk]


• One of the delights of French television, the marionette news satire program Les Guignols de l'Info, will soon be available on your iPhone, with a free app. [Le Figaro]


• A rare performance of Henri Sauguet's 1939 opera La Chartreuse de Parme, from the Opéra de Marseille. [France Musique]


• Listen to Franz Welser-Möst conducting the Vienna Philharmonic, in music of Dvořák, Enescu, and Mozart, with violinist Fanny Clamagirand and violist Antoine Tamestit, from the Festival George Enescu in Bucarest. [France Musique]


• Also from the Enescu Festival, the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields playing music of Schoenberg, Dinu Lipatti, and others. [France Musique]


• More from the Enescu Festival, with Camerata Salzburg performing music by Mendelssohn (including the Lobgesang symphony) and Bach. [France Musique]


• More Mendelssohn from Camerata Salzburg, including the Scottish symphony and the concerto for two pianos with Katia and Marielle Labèque. [France Musique]


• Listen to the Pavel Haas Quartet play Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, and Smetana, in a concert from Graz. [Österreichischer Rundfunk]


• From the Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord, Jean Deroyer leads the Ensemble Court-circuit in a program of recent music by Christophe Bertrand, Gérard Grisey (Talea), Tristan Murail (La Mandragore), Philippe Leroux, and Philippe Hurel. [France Musique]


• Listen to The Clerks perform music of Dufay, Obrecht, Ockeghem, and Josquin, in the Herkulessaal of the Liechtenstein Museum Wien. [Österreichischer Rundfunk]


• You can watch more of Gustavo Dudamel's Brahms this week, with the second and fourth symphonies from the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France. [Cité de la Musique Live]


• From back in 2009, Gustavo Dudamel leads the Simon Bolivar Youth Orchestra in a performance of Evencio Castellanos's Santa Cruz de Pacairigua (1954), from the Salle Pleyel. [France Musique]


• Cornelius Meister conducts the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, with violinist Simone Lamsma as soloist, in music of Mozart and William Walton. [Österreichischer Rundfunk]


• Listen to a concert featuring the winners of the 8ème Concours International de Chambre de Lyon for brass quintet. [France Musique]


• A recording of Verdi's I Masnadieri with Joan Sutherland and Samuel Ramey at the Welsh National Opera, under the baton of Richard Bonynge. [Österreichischer Rundfunk]

Concerto Köln at LoC

J. S. Bach, Orchestral Suites, Concerto Köln (2010) E. F. Dall'Abaco, Concerti, Concerto Köln (2005)

The playing of Concerto Köln, heard on Friday night in a blockbuster concert at the Library of Congress, offered an apt contrast to the more pop-oriented approach of Christina Pluhar and L’Arpeggiata last month. Here was musicianship just as virtuosic, a sense of improvisatory freedom just as fluid and spontaneous -- just with actual 18th-century music. The visit by this highly esteemed early music ensemble, its first to Washington in fourteen years, was high on our list of things to hear this month, not least because the ensemble, one of the pioneers of the historically informed performance (HIP) movement, continues to break ground in the refreshing and brash style of their performances.

Harpsichordist Markus Märkl provided a thread of varied improvisation that united the music, a selection of solo concertos and orchestral pieces from the late Baroque hit list, both in his continuo playing, admirably inventive, and in the little intonationes that he spun effortlessly from each tuning session into the key of the piece to follow. Motifs from the ritornello of the first movement of Bach's third Brandenburg Concerto seemed to ripple through Märkl's tuning chords, but it may have been my imagination. Earlier versions of the group's program had included Bach's second Brandenburg Concerto, which perhaps because the group's trumpeter was not on the tour, was replaced with Brandenburg No. 4, which also had to be canceled because the group's concertmaster, Markus Hoffmann, ran into trouble obtaining a U.S. visa.

Without their leader, a few minor moments of uncertainty crept into the violin section, with the firsts and seconds standing on opposite sides of the stage. The tuning of the bass line was at times a little raucous, although it was not always clear if the lead cello, the violone, or the occasionally added bassoon was to blame. Overall, this was a strikingly unified performance, with all of the musicians so rhythmically unified, their careful monitoring of one another replacing the need for a conductor. The dance movements, as in Bach's first orchestral suite, music the group has recorded so memorably, were enlivened with a sense of weight and lightness, giving the aural sense of choreographed movement. The slow movements were shot through with poignancy, and scintillating virtuosity was always put to the service of expressive line. Only a little pre-Classical sinfonia (A major), by Giovanni Battista Sammartini (1700-1775), disappointed and only because it was not as perfectly formed a piece as the earlier Baroque pieces on the program.

The assortment of soloists was mostly excellent, led by Susanne Regel who not only tamed the often unruly oboe d'amore but made it sing poignantly in Bach's A major concerto for that instrument (BWV 1055, reconstructed from the harpsichord concerto Bach later adapted from it). The group's artistic director, Martin Sandhoff, shone on flauto traverso, matched on that instrument by Cordula Breuer in a little gem of a concerto (op. 5/3, E minor) by Evaristo Felice Dall'Abaco (1675-1742), a composer also featured in the group's discography. The pair of musicians came back for another astounding display of virtuosity, with Breuer on recorder and Sandhoff on traverso, in the Telemann concerto for those instruments (E minor) that replaced the Brandenburg Concerto on this concert. Only guest cellist Jan Freiheit, formerly of the Akademie für Alte Musik Berlin, sounded merely good, in an odd little cello concerto by Vivaldi (D minor, RV 407), with some sour intonation in the slow movement and momentary lacks of clarity in the demanding runs of the fast movements. A single encore, the familiar Air from Bach's third orchestral suite (later adapted as the so-called "Air on the G String"), was played lovingly but straightforwardly, without a single rolled eye, from the musicians or even the critic.

The short American tour by Concerto Köln ends on Tuesday night, with a concert at Walt Disney Hall in Los Angeles. More Bach is on the way at the Library of Congress, when Tonya Tomkins performs all six of the composer's solo cello suites (April 28, 8 pm).

For Your Consideration: 'The Lady'

Luc Besson's new film, released last fall in France, offers an account of the life of Aung San Suu Kyi, the Burmese democracy activist and now politician. It has many of the appealing qualities of this sort of inspiring historical biopic: victories won through perseverance and dignity and sweeping views of exotic landscapes (cinematography by Thierry Arbogast, with Thailand standing in for Burma, which is still mostly a closed nation). The film is apparently true to life, tracing Suu's life from the assassination of her father, Aung San, often considered the founder of modern Burma; through her marriage to Oxford don Michael Aris, with whom she had two sons; her unexpected return to her native country after many years of living abroad, where she was quickly enlisted into the campaign to return Burma to democracy after years of military rule; and her commitment to her political work in Burma, in spite of the toll it took on her family. Besson even includes some actual footage shot by Burmese journalists who have ended up in prison because of their connections to Suu's NLD movement.

The problem is that The Lady should be a much better film than it is. Besson is a frustrating filmmaker, having made extremely strange and yet powerful and beautiful films like Le Grand Bleu and stylish thrillers like La Femme Nikita and Léon (The Professional) early in his career, but since The Fifth Element having made nothing really memorable or even enjoyable. Rebecca Frayn's screenplay telescopes an enormous life somewhat awkwardly, stalling about half-way through and falling short in many ways (not least, in some less than inspiring dialogue). The movie founders when it shifts from a story of Burma to Suu's personal tragedy: Michael is diagnosed with cancer, and she is unable to return to England to see him before he dies, knowing that the military government would never allow her to return to the country.

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The hollowness at the film's center is disappointing since the cast generally does well, beginning with the radiant, noble Aung San Suu Kyi of Michelle Yeoh (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). Her husband is played with donnish reserve by David Thewlis (best known as Prof. Lupin in the Harry Potter movies), who also plays Michael's twin brother by cinematic sleight of hand. Besson, on some level, had to have been dreaming of some sort of battle featuring these two actors, perhaps with wands on the tops of the famous spires of Oxford. Then there are the Besson tics: it would not be a Besson film without a montage to a pop song (footage of monks marching in Rangoon to the strains of When Love Comes to Town, by U2 and B.B. King; the credits roll to Sade's Soldier of Love). Classical music, regrettably, is featured represented by the Pachelbel chestnut Canon in D.

The history of Burma and Aung San Suu Kyi was the backdrop of John Boorman's Beyond Rangoon, where it was seen principally through the eyes of an American woman (Patricia Arquette) visiting her sister in Rangoon. That movie was a flop in box office terms but had much in it to enjoy, in fact doing a much better job than Besson's film at giving a sense of Burma and its people, especially through the amazing performance of Arquette's local tour guide, U Aung Ko. (For a less hagiographical approach to the subject matter, there is also the recent documentary They Call It Myanmar, which I have not seen.)

Shortcomings or not, the film deals with a subject that cannot help but be inspiring. Although the screenplay does not continue to the present day, Suu's struggle continues. Suu lived under house arrest until 2010, when the government finally released her, and she continues to fight for democracy, just this month arguing over conditions allowing her to take a seat in the Burmese parliament, after the political party of her movement, the NLD, won 43 or the 45 available seats in the recent election. Although she is cautious in her optimism, Suu's willingness to leave Burma for a foreign trip, even she admits, is a good sign that Burma is moving in the right direction, toward democracy.

This film is now playing at Landmark Bethesda Row and other area theaters.

Rachmaninoff and Elgar, Bridged

Many thanks to Robert R. Reilly for this review from the Kennedy Center.

Thursday evening (April 19, 2012) found the National Symphony Orchestra in top form. Under guest conductor Andrew Litton it essayed Frank Bridges’ The Sea, Elgar’s Symphony No. 1, and Rachmaninoff’s Piano Concerto No. 1 played by Stephen Hough.

The sumptuous, opulent sound of these four contemporaneous composers’ late-romantic music filled the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. The music makes major demands on the orchestra, all of which were met by the fabulous playing of the NSO. Whether from the Leonard Slatkin legacy, which favored British composers, or Andrew Litton’s talents, or most likely a combination of both, the NSO players shone in every department.

F.Bridge, The Sea et al., J.Judd / New Zealand SO Naxos S.Rachmaninoff, Piano Concertos, S.Hough / A.Litton / Dallas SO Hyperion E.Elgar, Symphonies 1 & 2, J.Barbirolli / Philharmonia EMI E.Elgar, Sy.#1, In the South, M.Elder / Hallé Orchestra Hallé

Given Slatkin’s penchant for things British during his long tenure here, it was a surprise to see that this was the first D.C. performance of The Sea. One could have been swallowed in the enormous cushion of sound that Litton and the NSO created in Bridges’ brilliant impressionistic tone poem but for the finely detailed lines of wind and brass that danced above the strings. The third movement adagio, titled Moonlight, was captured in all its subtlety (bravo to the timpanist for playing a true pianissimo). Litton got every bit of the poetry and nearly all the power of this piece, which greater grip should have delivered fully.

Stephen Hough and Litton have a Rachmaninoff history: They recorded the Rachmaninoff concertos with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra – a very well-received release on the Hyperion label. Therefore, their seamless partnership in the Rachmaninoff First was no surprise, and every bit a pleasure. Hough is a pianist who combines fingers of steel with a poetic soul. He nailed the power and passion of the piece, but also caught the playful and decorative aspects of the music.

Elgar’s First Symphony is a combination of powerful sentiment and stateliness, of the processional and the passionate interwoven. To have its full effect, its presentation must be heartfelt; neither sloppy nor sleek. Litton did not err like Georg Solti, who tried to conduct the symphony as if it were Beethoven. Solti’s mistakenly celebrated recording was, I found, perversely aggressive and put me off the work for many years until it was finally opened for me by the warmth of John Barbirolli’s justly famous 1962 recording with the Philharmonia Orchestra on EMI. (I mention this because Solti’s recording is listed in the suggested recordings of the Playbill concert booklet. Avoid it at all costs, and look for Barbirolli, Boult, or Elder instead.)

Litton found the right balance. The first movement could as well have been titled The Sea, with its huge surges, ebbs and flows. There were some tricky, slightly blurred transitions, but this was a very minor quibble. The second movement, marked allegro molto, was played well-nigh perfectly with tremendous excitement. It was exhilarating. The adagio was heart stopping. Litton and the NSO pricelessly captured the hushed, almost sacred moments of such great tenderness that a musical friend of Elgar declared it “the greatest slow movement since Beethoven.” This is music to crack open the heart. The delicacy of the NSO’s delivery was refined to the point of perfection. Litton brought the symphony to an exuberant climax in the closing allegro.

Washington audiences have a reputation for being promiscuous with their standing ovations. They might well be, but in this case the performance fully justified it.

The program will be repeated Friday afternoon at 1.30PM and Saturday evening at 8PM.

RRR

Charles' Washington Post Review here.

NSO and Stephen Hough

Charles T. Downey, NSO program has British flavor
Washington Post, April 20, 2012

Rachmaninoff, Piano Concertos, S. Hough, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, A. Litton

The National Symphony Orchestra has so far followed a busy March — given Christoph Eschenbach’s major festival of Austrian, Hungarian and Czech music — with a less hectic April. The musicians haven’t had much chance to rest, though, with guest conductor Andrew Litton leading a full program with a decidedly British flavor. A praiseworthy trend in music selection continued Thursday night at the Kennedy Center’s Concert Hall: Two of the pieces had not been heard from the NSO since the 1990s, and one was given its NSO debut.

The new piece was Frank Bridge’s “The Sea” from 1911 — a charming alternative to such other British marine depictions as Britten’s “Sea Interludes” or Vaughan Williams’s “Sea Symphony.” Bridge used evocative extended harmonies reminiscent of Debussy (which have now made their way into American film-score composition) to create a majestic vista of the ocean in the first movement (“Seascape”), which Litton and the musicians punctuated with vivid dynamic swells. [Continue reading]

National Symphony Orchestra
With Stephen Hough (piano) and Andrew Litton (conductor)
Kennedy Center Concert Hall

Frank Bridge, "The Sea" (online score)
Rachmaninoff, Piano Concerto No. 1 (online score)
Elgar, Symphony No. 1 (online score)

PREVIOUSLY:
Andrew Litton: 2009 (Higdon, Piano Concerto) | 2009 (Lang Lang) | 2007 (Bergen Philharmonic)

Anne Midgette, Hugh Wolff: All the Right Moves (Washington Post, April 25, 2008) -- Stephen Hough in Saint-Saëns' fifth piano concerto ("Egyptian")