Alex Ross's Blog, page 237

Fleischmann forever

Photo: Mark Swed / Los Angeles Times.

Mark Swed, in the Los Angeles Times, writes about the Los Angeles Philharmonic's tribute to the late, great Ernest Fleischmann, longtime manager of the orchestra. Mark's photo shows Esa-Pekka Salonen snapping a picture of a new sign marking Ernest Fleischmann Square, at the corner of 1st and Grand. In a related item, Mark gets a non-denial denial from Pierre Boulez on the subject of his rumored Waiting for Godot opera. Will Robin obtained a similiarly ambiguous answer when he asked Boulez about the rumors last year in Berlin. One thing is certain: le Maître looks natty in those aviator shades.

For Robert Tear

A Stenhammar moment

Le Comte Ory; or, missed opportunities

I'm happy that the Met staged Rossini's Le Comte Ory, an opera I've cherished since I first saw it at the Opéra Français de New York in 1993, with Lauren Flanigan, Kristine Jepson, and Jeffrey Francis. The Met production, by Bartlett Sher, has a handsome sheen and meets a basic standard of frisky fun, hosting a full-on threesome at the climax. (There's a woman, a man disguised as a woman, and a woman singing the part of a man.) But I'm with Anne Midgette in thinking that the show fell short of what the company might have achieved. For one thing, it was rather blatantly conducted; Yves Abel, in 1993, elicited more stylish results from a less starry ensemble. There was too much farcical mincing about, especially on the part of Juan Diego Flórez. Only Joyce DiDonato seemed intent on digging deeper into the score, which, as the scholar Philip Gossett points out, is full of "sexual and musical shadows, disguises and illusions." And, speaking of Gossett, the Met didn't make use of Damien Colas's new critical edition of the opera, which Gossett supervised for Bärenreiter's Opere di Gioachino Rossini series. This edition reinstates substantial passages that were cut from the original finales of both acts. (The previously published score represents, in Gossett's opinion, a version simplified for the provinces.) As Anne says, the Act II finale seemed especially abrupt on opening night at the Met. If the Zurich Opera can stage Le Comte Ory in its original form, why can't the Met? Still, the production is worth seeing, and the trio is beautifully outrageous.

Quoting the audience

Steve Smith has a delightful review of Esa-Pekka Salonen's final "Hungarian Echoes" program at the New York Philharmonic. Finding a new way to write about a subscription orchestra concert is a substantial challenge, and Steve has met it. His framing device reminds me of a review that I once wrote for the Times and that didn't run because of lack of space. (It was "killed," in the parlance of the biz.) No great loss, but I was somewhat proud of the opening:

After an evening of Futurist piano music at the Kaye Playhouse on Tuesday night, two departing concertgoers were overheard trying to critique the concert in halting phrases. "There was no . . . ," one said.  "Yes, it was not . . . ," her companion replied. They walked off in melancholy silence. The problem, to bring the unhappy truth out in the open, was that there wasn't very much music.

The greatest audience comment ever recorded is, I think, a remark overheard at a performance of Ernst Krenek's Second Piano Concerto at the Boston Symphony in 1938. A Boston matriarch responded to Krenek's twelve-tone discourse by saying, "Conditions in Europe must be dreadful."

Miscellany: Takemitsu, Denk, etc.

Last week, the New York Philharmonic played Takemitsu's Requiem in honor of the victims of the Japanese earthquake. The performance is now available as a download; proceeds go to relief efforts.... Jim Jarmusch reads the text of Feldman's Neither, which appears in NYC Opera's Monodramas program, premiering tonight.... Jeremy Denk is a last-minute substitute for Maurizio Pollini at Carnegie Hall this Sunday; the program consists of Ives's Concord Sonata and Bach's Goldberg Variations.... A new group called Sound Icon makes its debut tomorrow in Boston, playing the first half of Gérard Grisey's Les Espaces Acoustiques and Joshua Fineberg's Recueil de Pierre et de Sable.... Two notable opera premieres on the horizon: Gerald Barry's The Importance of Being Earnest, at the LA Phil on April 7 (part of Aspects of Adès); and Bernard Rands's Vincent, at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music on April 8.... As a former resident of Brooklyn Heights, I'm amazed to see new music arriving in that sleepy burg. Mellissa Hughes, who gave a sensational performance as Glenn Beck at the recent Eighth Blackbird fest, sings tonight in the Music at First series. Michael Gordon's Timber comes on April 8.... Ace musical comedians Igudesman and Joo play the 92nd Street Y on March 30. ICE presents works of Mario Diaz de León and John Zorn leads an NYC Opera Masada marathon on the same congested night.... Marino Fromenti gives a lively program of Weill, Nancarrow, Birtwistle, Adams, Thelonious Monk, Nirvana, and Björk at Poisson Rouge on March 29.

Australian snapshots

I've back from Australia, having greatly enjoyed my time with the Australian Chamber Orchestra. I'm deeply grateful to those who brought it about. Here are a few miscellaneous pictures.

Each weekday morning in Sydney, I had first-rate coffee and curried eggs at Bar Akbar, on the ground floor of the Theosophy House, across the street from my hotel.

The dressing room at the Sydney Opera House. Cecilia Bartoli used it immediately after I did; I hope she didn't mind that I prepared the piano.

Traveling with a string orchestra, you never have to worry about getting separated from the group: just look for the violin cases. Or the very tall people (double-bassists).

In the Next Room, or the Vibrator Play was on at the Sydney Theatre Company, which is run by Andrew Upton and Cate Blanchett. I have to confess that a major highlight of my Australian trip was discovering that Upton and Blanchett are fans of The Rest Is Noise.

Of the larger Australian halls I heard, the best-sounding was the one in Perth.

Brisbane, recovering from the flood.

Wollongong!

The beach at Wollongong.

I have a passable knowledge of Australian composers, but I'm learning much from Gordon Kerry's book New Classical Music: Composing Australia. On the trip I had the pleasure of meeting Richard Mills, James Ledger, Julian Day, and Graeme Koehne. I'd met the excellent Andrew Ford previously.

On the way back, a tantalizing glimpse of New Zealand. Greetings to Chris Knox!

Back home, I can relax in my Francis Bacon armchair.

Wasteful packaging of the week

Is it necessary to kill this much tree to send one DVD?

Herr, Herr, Herr

A belated birthday offering for the late J. S. Bach, and a prelude to tonight's performance by the Bach Collegium Japan.

Takemitsu Requiem