'Dutchman' and the Walking Dead

Christiane Libor (Senta) and company, The Flying Dutchman, Washington National Opera (photo by Scott Suchman for WNO)
Richard Wagner considered Der fliegende Holländer -- premiered in Dresden in 1843, with the composer conducting -- as the first of his true music dramas. To this day, it is the earliest Wagner opera staged at Bayreuth. It is also one of the composer's most accessible works, and when it receives a strong cast, like the one heard on Saturday night for the opening of Washington National Opera's production, it can pack quite a punch.

Eric Owens brought more subtlety than power to the title role, vocally speaking, but rather than a menacing antihero, his Dutchman was a sympathetic figure. It was easy to agree with or at least understand his railing doubt of God as a result, where in some performances one assumes, like Dante in Inferno, that the damned are justly damned. We have had glowing reports of Berlin-born soprano Christiane Libor, and she was a generally excellent Senta, with a blazing top for the large ensemble moments, if some shakiness in the soft moments, in the Act II ballad, for example. In another fine company debut, Ain Anger was burly of voice, if a little wild, but made a believably greedy and petty Daland. The voice of tenor Jay Hunter Morris did not suit Erik, with a nasal and braying tone, scooping up to high notes, and disturbingly chewed diction, but his more villainous take on the character worked well as a foil to Owens.

Other Reviews: Anne Midgette, At WNO, strong ‘Dutchman’ cast makes up for production’s deficits (Washington Post, March 9)

At the podium Philippe Auguin led a precisely calibrated rendition of the score, with Wagner's later emendations observed, as is usually the case. The only tempo choice that raised an eyebrow was that for the spinning song in the second act, which was positively glacial. The chaos of the Act III confrontation with the ghost sailors, with its pandemonium of onstage piccolos and wind machine, was skilfully handled, although unfortunately with the ghost crew piped into the theater through the sound system.

Much of Stephen Lawless's staging, revived from its last production here, in 2008, seems calculated to take us into the disturbed mind of Senta: Giles Cadle's raked floor and skewed concentric rectangles exaggerate the sense of vertiginous perspective; Joan Sullivan-Genthe's garish lighting of icy blue, blood red, and neon chartreuse glows with menace. In the most striking effect, the silhouette of the Dutchman in the painting revered by Senta disappears suddenly, to reappear as the actual Dutchman, positioned in the same way against the backdrop of barren cliffs. Lawless's eccentricities -- the clumsy angel wing, heavy-handed bird imagery, and especially the zombie brides who haunt the fishermen, instead of the ghostly crew -- still seem forced, but overall it is, like many of Lawless's productions, able to walk the fine line between banal traditionalism and disorienting experimentalism.

This production continues through March 21, at the Kennedy Center Opera House.

Ibragimova Plays Bach

Bach, Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin, A. Ibragimova (Hyperion, 2009)

Charles T. Downey, Bringing out the best in Bach
Washington Post, March 10

Violinist Gidon Kremer once said that Bach’s solo violin sonatas and partitas were the “Bible of music.” Most violinists who record these six works too early in their careers end up recording them again after they have found their mature musical voices. This fact, however, didn’t deter Alina Ibragimova from making her Bach solo recording in her mid-20s. And the Russian-born violinist, now 29, played four of these six works during a substantial recital Sunday afternoon at the Phillips Collection.

Ibragimova’s finger pyrotechnics were most impressive as she turned in supersonic accounts of the Presto and Corrente movements... [Continue reading]

Alina Ibragimova, violin
Music by Bach
Phillips Collection

Till Fellner Back at Austrian Embassy

Bach, Well-Tempered Clavier, Book 1, T. Fellner (ECM, 2004)

Charles T. Downey, Adhering to his exquisite musicality, Fellner plays a sophisticated recital (Washington Post, March 9)

The devastating snowstorms of 2010 deprived Washington of one concert in Till Fellner’s complete cycle of Beethoven’s piano sonatas. Snow fell again this week, but for his latest recital here, presented by the Embassy Series at the Austrian Embassy on Friday evening, the Austrian pianist dodged winter’s last gasp.

Fellner’s programming approach was similar to that of his Kennedy Center recital in 2011, beginning with music requiring exceptional finesse and concluding with a virtuosic tour de force. In Mozart’s Rondo No. 3 in A minor, K. 511, and in Piano Sonata in E-flat, K. 282, Fellner played his trump card... [Continue reading]

Till Fellner, piano
Music by Mozart, Bach, Schumann
Embassy Series
Embassy of Austria

PREVIOUSLY:
Beethoven sonata cycle
Fellner's Bach

Perchance to Stream: More Snow 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.

• Listen to a performance of Bach's Saint John Passion, featuring the Bach Collegium Japan at the Palau de la Musica in Barcelona. [France Musique]


• Christian Thielemann conducts the Berlin Philharmonic in Liszt's Orpheus, Henze's Sebastian im Traum, and Beethoven's third symphony. [ORF | Part 2]


• A performance of Halévy's La Juive, starring Neil Shicoff (Eléazar) and Soile Isokoski (Rachel), recorded at the Wiener Staatsoper. [ORF]


• At the Montreal Bach Festival, the Freiburger Barockorchester performs music by Vivaldi and Bach. [ORF]


• Pierre-Laurent Aimard and conductor Pierre-André Valade join the Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France for a Soirée "musique spectrale," featuring composers Tristan Murail and Hugues Dufourt. [France Musique]


• Marie-Nicole Lemieux in a recital at the Wiener Konzerthaus last month, with music by Fauré, Lekeu, Hahn, Debussy, and others. [ORF]


• Pianist Fazil Say performs three Mozart sonatas at the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées in Paris. [France Musique]


• From the Théâtre des Champs-Elysées, Philippe Herreweghe conducts Collegium Vocale Ghent and the Orchestre des Champs-Elysées in Dvorak's Stabat Mater. [France Musique]


• Listen to Gothic Voices, in a concert recorded at Cadogan Hall, London, with music from the 12th century to the present in honor of Mary, Star of the Sea. [BBC3]


• Sakari Oramo and the BBC Symphony Orchestra perform Nielsen's fourth symphony, recorded last month at the Barbican Hall. [ORF]


• Listen to a concert performance of Berlioz's Damnation de Faust, recorded last month at the Opéra National de Bordeaux. [France Musique]


• Listen to the new chamber opera from composer Gavin Bryars, Marilyn Forever. [ABC Classic]


• From the church of Ste Elisabeth de Mons, Le Petit Chœur d'Ath and the Ensemble Concert Bourgeois perform sacred music by Jean-Michel Cabau. [RTBF]


• The Orchestre National de France performs music by Alfredo Casella, Musorgsky, and Shostakovich under conductor Gianandrea Noseda, with mezzo-soprano Olga Borodina. [France Musique]


• The Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra performs Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde, with soloists Michelle DeYoung and Simon O'Neill. [ABC Classic]


• A recital by pianist Gaspard Dehaene at the Musée d'Orsay with music by Bach, Haydn, Mozart, and Schumann. [France Musique]


• From a concert recorded at the Geneva Conservatory, the Apollon Musagète quartet plays music by Josef Suk, Janacek, and Dvorak. [ORF]


• Violinist Nemanja Radulovic and the Orchestre National de Lille, under conductor Kirill Karabits, perform music by Yann Robin, Paganini, and Mendelssohn. [France Musique]


• Daniel Barenboim conducts the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra in music of Debussy, Boulez, and Ravel, recorded in the Philharmonie de Paris. [France Musique]


• Have another listen to the Metropolitan Opera broadcast of Bizet's Carmen. [France Musique]

Celtic Necropolis Near Troyes

There is news of a major archaeological find in France, at a site near Troyes. Researchers are sifting through a large neolithic necropolis, containing the resting place of a Celtic prince buried in the 5th century B.C. The extensive funerary complex, covering an area over two hectares, contains remains of men, women, and children buried over a period of about 1,600 years. Jean Chichizola has a report (Découverte à Troyes : une nécropole d'une rare longévité, March 6) for Le Figaro (my translation):

The necropolis was used in effect from the end of the Bronze Age (1400 to 1300 B.C.). A razor, an object of prestige, found in a 14th-century tomb seems to indicate that the individuals in question were members of the elite. Bastien Dubuis, the scientist in charge of the dig from Inrap, also underscores the European dimension of the site as a way to understand the end of the Bronze Age. For the early Iron Age, a warrior was found with a sword of that metal. A woman, buried very close to the prince's tomb in a hollowed-out tree trunk and wearing bronze bracelets, interests the archaeologists. It may be a close relation -- ancestor, grandmother, mother? -- of the occupant of the burial mound.

DNA analysis may allow the mystery to be understood. One thing is certain: the notable Celtic person buried in the princely tomb managed the symbolic integration of all these earlier sepulchers within the boundary of his mausoleum. More DNA analysis may establish if family bonds among all or some of these individuals explain such an action. Ditches three meters in depth, demanding a collective and exhausting effort from the local population, did in any case surround the whole thing. An amazing sign of power and surely also pragmatism (the outer appearance of the mausoleum being thus tripled at little cost), which obviously impressed the surrounding population for a long time.

The contents of the princely tomb found so far include an Etruscan bronze cauldron, used to store wine, and a Greek ceramic wine pitcher, evidence of the trading between Mediterranean cultures and the Celts, signs of the preeminence of the person buried in the tomb. See more pictures of the find.

Classical Music Agenda (May 2015)

With the arrival of May, the classical music season draws near its end. Although some organizers have already closed up shop by this point, here are the Top 10 performances worth hearing in May.

Sibelius, Violin Concerto (both versions), L. Kavakos, Lahti Symphony Orchestra, O. Vänskä (BIS, 1992)

KAVAKOS:
Greek violinist Leonidas Kavakos will have a brief residency with the National Symphony Orchestra in May. He will begin it as a concerto soloist, performing the Sibelius violin concerto with the NSO (May 7 to 9), with Christoph Eschenbach also conducting Mahler's fifth symphony. Next he will take the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater's stage as recitalist, in a concert with Christoph Eschenbach at the piano (May 11, repertoire not yet announced). Finally, he will take the podium of the NSO and conduct works by Musorgsky and Sibelius, as well as playing the solo in Bach's A minor violin concerto (May 14 to 16).

VOICES:
Take your pick of mezzo-sopranos Isabel Leonard and Tara Erraught, who will alternate in the title role of Rossini's La Cenerentola, a delightful corker of a comic opera in a production by Spanish director Joan Font and his troupe Els Comediants (May 9 to 21) at Washington National Opera.

We raved about soprano Heidi Melton in a Wagner program with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra in 2013. She returns to sing Richard Strauss's Four Last Songs with the BSO in May, along with guest conductor Markus Stenz leading performances of music by Weber and Schumann (May 21 and 22 in Baltimore; May 23 at Strathmore).

Opera Lafayette gives a staged performance of André Grétry's L'Épreuve Villageoise, from 1784, in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater (May 30). Pascale Beaudin and Emmanuelle de Negri each take a turn at the role of Denise.

Bach, Partitas, I. Levit (Sony, 2014)

KEYBOARD:
Washington Performing Arts presents two pianists who should be on your radar, both in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater. Igor Levit will play an afternoon recital with music of Bach, Rachmaninoff, and Beethoven, plus Ronald Stevenson's Fantasy on Peter Grimes (May 9). The following day, English pianist Paul Lewis has his turn, playing the last three sonatas of Beethoven (May 10).

In the same week, the National Symphony Orchestra presents French organist Thierry Escaich in a recital on the Kennedy Center Concert Hall's organ (May 13). He plays music by Vierne, Bach, and Stravinsky, as well as his own compositions and, even better, improvisations.

CHAMBER MUSIC:
Pro Musica Hebraica presents the ARC Ensemble in a concert called Before The Night: Jewish Classical Masterpieces of Pre-1933 Europe in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater (May 7). The program includes music by Jerzy Fitelberg (String Quartet No. 2, 1928), Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (Piano Quintet No. 1, 1931–32), and Erich Korngold (Suite for 2 violins, cello, and piano, left hand, 1930).

You will want to hear the new piano trio by Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho, performed on a free concert by violinist Jennifer Koh, cellist Anssi Karttunen, and pianist Benjamin Hochman (May 22) at the Library of Congress. The three musicians, in various combinations, will also play other music by Saariaho, Ravel, and Debussy.

See the complete calendar after the jump.

Read more »

Kennedy Center Announces New Season

The Kennedy Center has a shiny new Web site to go with its new president. Earlier this week, Washington's leading cultural institution announced its new season, marked by a desperate, rather pathetic grab for more popular programming, but there is relatively little new of interest to readers of Ionarts.

For this Wagnerian at least, top billing goes to the long-awaited debut of Washington National Opera's first complete staging of the Ring cycle (April 30 to May 22, 2016). We have already reviewed three of the four operas in Francesca Zambello's American-themed staging, but the chance to see the whole cycle with Philippe Auguin at the podium and, as Brünnhilde, Catherine Foster (Cycles I and II) and Nina Stemme (Cycle III) makes this the highlight of the season to come. If you need to find me during that month, I will probably be in the Kennedy Center Opera House. Adding the premiere of a major revision of Philip Glass's Appomattox is another positive, while the Return of the Musical, with the Lost in the Stars I found so tedious at Glimmerglass, is a decided negative.

The National Symphony Orchestra's season has a few high points, starting with Donald Runnicles at the podium and soprano Olga Peretyatko singing Strauss's Four Last Songs (October 1 to 3); Christoph Eschenbach conducting Mahler's third symphony, with Anne Sofie von Otter as soloist (November 5 to 7); and Jiří Bělohlávek leading Martinů's sixth symphony, plus Igor Levit as soloist in Beethoven's fifth piano concerto (November 19 to 21). Interesting world premieres include Tobias Picker's Concerto for Orchestra (March 10 to 12, 2016) and Sean Shepherd's violin concerto (June 2 to 4, 2016). The speculation about the successor to Christoph Eschenbach will continue, something that will increase with each guest conductor's appearance.

On the Fortas Chamber Music series, we look forward to the Tallis Scholars (December 3), eighth blackbird (March 7, 2016), and the Takács Quartet (April 20, 2016) -- dotted amid a bunch of crossover acts that do not interest us. On the theater season, Belgium's Ivo van Hove will direct a production of Sophocles's Antigone, starring Juliette Binoche (October 22 to 25). The ballet season will feature visits from the Joffrey Ballet (Nutcracker), the National Ballet of Canada (The Winter's Tale), American Ballet Theater (The Sleeping Beauty), the Mariinsky Ballet (Raymonda), New York City Ballet, and the Royal Swedish Ballet (Juliet and Romeo). Contemporary dance is also heavy on the usual suspects: Alvin Ailey, Ronald K. Brown, Paul Taylor, plus the 50th anniversary of Twyla Tharp's company (November 11 to 14).

Beyond these highlights, it looks like Ionarts will be reporting somewhat less from the Kennedy Center next season.

Reviving Strauss's 'Guntram'

(L to R) Zachary Nelson, Robert Dean Smith, Maestro Antony Walker, Marjorie Owens, Tom Fox, and cast
in Guntram, Washington Concert Opera (photo by Don Lassell)
Wagner's last opera was Richard Strauss's Guntram, or so the joke goes. Its story, about a wandering minstrel-knight who falls in love with another man's wife, only to deny himself her love because of his guilt at killing her husband, has strong echoes of Meistersinger here, Parsifal there. Derivative or not, the composer's first performed opera was a flop, both in 1894 when it was first premiered and after Strauss revised it in 1940. The libretto, written by Strauss in imitation of Wagner, is a bit of a dud -- although more compact than Wagner's more unwieldy examples -- but the music is generally quite glorious, especially in the revised version performed by Washington Concert Opera on Sunday evening at Lisner Auditorium. It was the first time the work came under review in the history of Ionarts, a welcome addition to the celebration of the Strauss anniversary, for which the National Symphony Orchestra and other groups focused on the same old, often-done works.

Another reason why Guntram is so little performed is that the title role is a killer, and the risk for a heroic tenor in learning it is far greater than with a more established work by Strauss or Wagner, where the payoff in future performances is more certain. Robert Dean Smith, an American singer we have reviewed mostly in Europe, gave it his all. His reliably powerful instrument, giving out only on a few strained high notes over two hours of mostly impassioned shouting, still had considerable suavity and suppleness in Guntram's Act II song scene. One of the best young Strauss voices I have heard in recent years -- soprano Marjorie Owens, heard at Wolf Trap's Ariadne in 2008 -- surpassed Smith as Freihild, the role created by Pauline de Ahna, the soprano who would become Strauss's wife. While Owens had plenty of zip to launch herself over the large orchestra, the voice is a precision instrument, silky but full-bodied, particularly exultant in the awakening scene toward the end of the second act.

Other Reviews: Anne Midgette, Washington Concert Opera exhumes Strauss rarity — once (Washington Post, March 3)

Freihild's evil husband, Duke Robert, is not that much of a role, sung capably by Annapolis-born baritone Zachary Nelson. The villain duties fall more to Freihild's father, the Old Duke, voiced with snarling outrage by baritone Tom Fox, while bass Wei Wu, a regular in the Washington National Opera young artist program, had a robust turn as Guntram's fellow-knight, Friedhold. The supporting cast was generally strong, with a stand-out performance from the youthful, bright-toned tenor of James Flora as the Duke's Fool.

Antony Walker, who is also mid-run as conductor of Washington National Opera's production of Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites, brought out this perfumed score's beauties. His hardy orchestra could have benefited from another rehearsal or two, to be sure, but they did justice to Strauss's youthful excesses -- double harps and double timpani, the latter with plenty of rumble in the battle scene -- if not yet approaching the wonders of the later orchestrations. The strings, in particular, felt underpowered -- numbers-wise, 10/8/7/6/4 -- and at moments of great strain, like the conclusion of the first act, the sound squealed at the edge of ugliness. The male chorus, with a number of regulars from the WNO chorus, was stalwart in their limited appearances, most beautifully in the off-stage monastic Requiem Mass sung for the murdered Duke Robert.

Washington Concert Opera's 2015-2016 season is devoted to the bel canto era, with performances of Rossini's Semiramide (November 22, 2015) and Donizetti's La Favorite (March 4, 2016).