LINCOLN CENTER

Metropolitan Opera

National Council Grand Finals

This is our 3rd year to attend the National Finals.  It is always a hoot! The singers are all wonderful, the venue is filled, and the audience keeps score of the singers in their programs.  After each singer the house buzzes with conversations and the singers are evaluated.  It is a competition.

Today was no exception.  All the singers were good and all the songs they sang were "showstoppers."

At the end, though, something special happened.  We came to New York to find those transcendental moments during which it is evident that we're experiencing something really special.  That happened this afternoon.

While the judges were tallying their results, a performing member of the Metropolitan Opera fills that time with some singing.  This afternoon, Angela Meade sang two operatic "candysticks"; "Casta Diva" from Norma by Bellini and "Ebbed? Ne Sandro lantern" from "La Wally" by Catalani.  The music was amazingly beautiful and the human voice was why we moved to New York.

A human standing alone on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House with a full orchestra is a setting for fear, anticipation, and wonder.  Angela Meade filled a very big space with nothing but her voice.  It was wonderful.

This is not Angela Meade but it is Rene Fleming singing from La Wally...

Rene Fleming again singing "Casta Diva."

"The Met’s annual National Council Grand Finals Concert allows several of the finest young singers in the U.S. and Canada to impress some of the world’s most perceptive judges of talent, and, hopefully, to embark on major careers. The soprano Angela Meade, one of the most renowned of the recent winners, will host the event and also sing; Fabio Luisi, the company’s principal conductor, is on the podium."

"Some of today's greatest singers got their start in the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, including Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Thomas Hampson, Stephanie Blythe, Ben Heppner, Patricia Racette, Samuel Ramey, Deborah Voigt and Frederica von Stade."

"The Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions is an annual singing competition sponsored by the Metropolitan Opera. Established in 1954, its purpose is to discover, assist, promote, and develop young opera singers. The competition is held in four stages: Districts, Regional, Semi-Final, and Final competitions. Each stage is judged by a panel of representatives from the Metropolitan Opera. There are a total of 14 regional competitions within the United States and Canada and 41 district competitions within each region. Winners from the district competition compete in Regionals, and then the winners of regionals are awarded a trip to New York City where they compete on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera in the National Semi-Final Competition. Approximately 10 semi-finalists are chosen to compete in the final competition, 5 of which are awarded a grand prize of $15,000 and the remainder of which are awarded $5,000."

Met Competition Features Nation’s Top Opera Talent

The winners of the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions, left to right, Reginald Smith Jr, Marina Costa-Jackson, Nicholas Brownlee, Virginie Verrez and Joseph Dennis on Sunday. 

By Pia Catton

March 22, 2015 9:23 p.m. ET

Some of opera’s rising stars performed in a career-making concert on Sunday: the Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Auditions, a competition that helped launch international stars such as Renée Fleming, Susan Graham and Thomas Hampson.

Out of nine finalists, five won individual cash prizes of $15,000. The competition is structured to award as many as five winners, though in some years fewer awards are given.

The 2015 winners are: Joseph Dennis, tenor, 30 years old; Virginie Verrez, mezzo-soprano, 26; Nicholas Brownlee, bass-baritone, 25; Marina Costa-Jackson, soprano, 27; and Reginald Smith Jr., baritone, 26.

Each of the nine finalists took the stage twice, singing alone onstage accompanied by the Met orchestra led by principal conductor Fabio Luisi.

Their work ranged from popular arias, such as Mr. Brownlee’s rendition of “Madamina, il catalogo è questo” from Mozart’s “Don Giovanni,” to rarities such as Mr. Smith’s performance of “Oh, Lawd Jesus, heah my prayer” from Louis Gruenberg’s “The Emperor Jones,” which premiered at the Met in 1933 and hasn’t been performed there since 1934.

“It was appreciated by the orchestra,” said Mr. Luisi, who led the musicians in learning the work for this occasion.

Arias last only a few minutes, but those few minutes on the Met stage have the potential to be life-changing. Mr. Smith said what calmed him was seeing Mr. Luisi in the pit. “He’s a relaxing conductor. You see him there smiling.”

To reach this level, the singers had previously won regional and district competitions, then came to New York for a semifinal round last Sunday that was closed to the public. 

Finalists were chosen by a panel of opera experts from the Met and other companies.

On Sunday, each finalist sang two arias onstage, then, while the judges deliberated, the audience was treated to a performance by 2007 winner Angela Meade, whose career trajectory is something any young star could envy. 

After the National Council performances, she was asked to cover, or understudy, at the Met—and when the lead soprano fell ill, Ms. Meade made her professional operatic debut at the Met in Verdi’s “Ernani.” 

On Sunday, Ms. Meade performed “Ebben?…Ne andrò lontana” from Catalani’s “La Wally” and “Casta Diva” from Bellini’s “Norma.”

“Even after eight years, that took me right back to the same place,” she told the audience after singing.

Now in its 62nd year, the National Council Auditions are designed to identify exceptional singers, but also to create a pipeline of talent for the Met Opera. 

The performance was as well-attended as most operas, and patrons packed the reception to meet the singers and seek autographs. 

After the performance, the winners and finalists—Jared Bybee, baritone, 28; Allegra De Vita, mezzo-soprano, 25; Kathryn Henry, soprano, 22; and Deniz Uzun, mezzo-soprano, 26—were toasted by Met general manager Peter Gelb.

Asked what she might do with her prize money, Ms. Verrez cited the high cost of training and auditioning: “I owe a lot of money to my mother.”

Below shows something interesting.  The Metropolitan Opera joins the wheelchair community with the Cocktail Bar.

The ushers help all patrons using assistance to their seats and then removes their devices to the lobby during the performance.  It's at that point that the wheelchairs, walkers, and cocktails become one.

LINCOLN CENTER

Alice Tully Hall
Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center

Intimate Expressions: Schubert & Schnittke

"Robert Schumann wrote that 'One glance at Schubert’s Trio—and the troubles of our human existence disappear and all the world is fresh and bright again.' Three outstanding musicians perform this radiant trio, alongside Schubert’s melodic Violin Fantasy and Schnittke’s riveting Cello Sonata."

Schubert - Fantasy in C major for Violin and Piano, D. 934, Op. 159 (1827)
Schnittke - Sonata No. 1 for Cello and Piano (1978)
Schubert - Trio No. 1 in B-flat major for Piano, Violin, and Cello, D. 898,Op. 99 (1827)

Juho Pohjonen - Piano
Benjamin Beilman - Violin
Jan Vogler - Cello

Here's a teaser for the program...

RECITAL

Carnegie Hall
Piotr Anderszewski

Bach - French Overture in B Minor, BWV 831
Schumann - Novelette in F-sharp Minor, Op. 21, No. 8
Schumann - Fantasy in C Major, Op. 17
Bach - English Suite No. 3 in G Minor, BWV 808

“It can be hard not to wax hyperbolic when confronted with the pianist Piotr Anderszewski's sensitive touch and potent imagination,” declared The New York Times. Known for his individuality and fresh interpretations, Anderszewski is renowned for his musical intellect and thoughtful approach. The Guardiansaid, “The tone and touch of Anderszewski's playing are so seductive that it is easy to forget how classically correct a musician he is.”

"Carnegie Hall presents a recital by pianist Piotr Anderszewski tonight, March 19 at 8:00 p.m. in Stern Auditorium / Perelman Stage. Schumann's Novelette in F-sharp Minor, Op. 21, No. 8 and two works by J.S. Bach -- French Overture in B Minor, BWV 831, and English Suite No. 3 in G Minor, BWV 808 -- replace previously announced works by Beethoven, Bartók, and Schumann. Schumann's Fantasy in C Major, Op. 17 remains on the program."

"Mr. Anderszewski is regarded as one of the outstanding musicians of his generation. In the 2014-2015 season, he can be heard in recital at Vienna's Konzerthaus and Amsterdam's Concertgebouw. His orchestral engagements include appearances with the London Symphony Orchestra, NHK Symphony Orchestra, and Vienna Symphony Orchestra, as well as three appearances in Bamberg as part of a residency with the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra. Additional highlights include a series of recitals with baritone Matthias Goerne in Vienna, Berlin, and London."

MUSI

Review: Piotr Anderszewski Goes for Dim Lights and Intimacy at Carnegie Hall

By ANTHONY TOMMASINIMARCH 20, 2015

Photo

Piotr Anderszewski performing at Carnegie Hall on Thursday.

 Credit

In “Unquiet Traveler,” a revealing 2008 documentary that follows the great pianist Piotr Anderszewski on a tour through his native Poland, this powerfully individual artist speaks of the “extreme loneliness” of a recital, of the “heroism” but also of the “cruelty involved.”

Those comments came to mind in the summer of 2009, when I heard Mr. Anderszewski play a late-night recital at the Kaplan Penthouse, a program pairing a partita and an English suite by Bach. In this intimate, informal space, Mr. Anderszewski seemed not to be bravely grappling with loneliness but sharing his music amid friends.

On Thursday night, Mr. Anderszewski appeared on a big, exposed stage: Carnegie Hall. Yet, for this program of works by Bach and Schumann, he tried, it seemed, to make the space feel intimate. During performances, the house lights were kept dim enough that you could not read the titles of the movements in the pieces. Only a narrow overhead light made him visible. The implicit message seemed: What did it matter whether he was playing the Gavotte I or the Passepied II movement during Bach’s French Overture in B minor, a remarkable 35-minute work? We were invited to listen in the moment and let Mr. Anderszewski take us through this music.

His sensitive performances also fostered intimacy. Even the unusual choice and ordering of the program countered the typical notion of a concert pianist come to dazzle us. One of the two Schumann works he played was the towering Fantasy in C (Op. 17). But having begun with Bach, he ended with Bach, the English Suite No. 3 in G minor, not, as most pianists would have, the Schumann Fantasy.

In performing Bach’s French Overture (written for the harpsichord) on the piano, Mr. Anderszewski made full use of the modern instrument’s sustaining richness and capacity for shadings. Still, he often played rolled chords and scurrying passages with a slightly metallic gloss and textural lightness that intriguingly evoked the sound of the harpsichord. He brought infectious, rhythmic vitality to his playing in the dance movements. Does Mr. Anderszewski know how to dance a gavotte? He must.

Schumann lived in awe of Beethoven. But the other composer who hovered over his work was Bach. Mr. Anderszewski surely wanted that connection to come through on this program. You almost never hear Schumann’s Novelette in F sharp minor (Op, 21, No. 8), the last piece of a piano suite from 1838. This 11-minute episodic work is like a suite in itself, full of lyrical bursts and swirling passagework broken up with feisty dance episodes. Mr. Anderszewski conveyed the music’s teeming Romanticism while also revealing internal Bachian complexities.

His account of the Fantasy de-emphasized the monumental qualities of Schumann’s three-movement score to bring out its poetic, yearning explorations. Even the march movement was intricate and intimate.

After his vibrant account of the Bach English Suite (one of three he has recorded for his latest Warner Classics CD), he played encores: three Hungarian folk songs by Bartok, then the first three of Beethoven’s Six Bagatelles (Op. 126). That he did not announce the encores suggested he hoped the audience would just listen. That they did.

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PERFORMANCE

Merkin Hall
New York Festival of Song: Brava Italia

Chelsea Morris, soprano
Julia Dawson, mezzo-soprano
Alec Carlson, tenor
Shea Owens, baritone
Steven Blier, Michael Barrett and Christopher Reynolds, piano

"Five young artists will take the audience on an exploration of Italian song, from the lyricism of the Romantic era into the sophisticated tone poems of the verismo era, paired with a wide array of music by Italian-Americans. The program includes songs, arias and ensemble pieces by Giuseppe Verdi, Gioacchino Rossini, Ildebrando Pizzetti, Ferruccio Busoni, Alfredo Catalani, John Musto, John Corigliano, Dominick Argento and Harry Warren (the composer of 42nd Street, born Salvatore Guaragna)."

Hearing the way these singers use the human voice is amazing.  Last Thursday evening we went to a small recital of members of our choir at Marble Collegiate.  Our choir is filled with wonderful, performing, traveling singers.  They are all really good.  One mezzo soprano sang in about 5 styles with 5 different voices.  She sang as a pop singer, a Blue Grass singer,  a few other styles, and as an opera singer.  It is amazing the power that is produced when these trained singers kick it into their opera voice.  There is nothing else like it.

It was a full evening of Bel Canto singing.  It was pretty, beautiful, and fun.

The Merkin Hall is a small venue and the acoustics are good.

Interestingly, three of the four singers trained in Houston, Texas at Rice University.

PERFORMANCE

J. P. Morgan Library and Museum
Young Artists Series

Kim Kashkashian, viola
Péter Nagy, piano

Grammy Award-winning violist Kim Kashkashian and internationally celebrated pianist Péter Nagy perform works by Schumann, Brahms, Bartok, and contemporary Hungarian composer László Tihanyi. 

Schumann, Fantasiestücke, Op. 73 (Arr.)
László Tihanyi, Eight Invocations to the Lunar Phases
Bartók, Rhapsody No. 1 for Viola and Piano
Brahms, Viola Sonata in E-flat Major, Op. 120, No. 2

The weather today is 55 degrees in the afternoon and getting down into the 30s this evening.  A perfect evening to walk to The Morgan for a little music.

PHILADELPHIA

Today, Friday, we rode the train to Philadelphia so we could visit the Barnes Collection and other art and historic sites.

The above busts of Ben Franklin are NOT from the Barnes.  They are in the lobby of our hotel.



Saturday morning we headed off to see the Barnes Collection.  Access to the Barnes is tightly controlled.  The reason is because the new Museum recreates the rooms, spaces, art works, and the "ensembles" in which they were previously arranged by Dr. Barnes.  The previous housing for the works was a large residence.  Therefore, the copied, recreated rooms are not full museum size that are seen in most art museums.

At this point I must mention that there's a really interesting story about how the Barnes Collection came to be, how it was intended by Dr. Barnes to be used, and how it now is a public museum.  The story is too long to tell here but I suggest you visit the following websites.

Website for history of Barnes Collection...

The Barnes Foundation's official website...

The story is so fascinating that a documentary was made and it is quite enjoyable...

Visiting the Barnes was a total success.  Upon entering the first room the magnitude and quality of the paintings is breath taking.  Everywhere your look, paintings found in textbooks are on every wall.

The sheer number of Cezannes, Renoirs, Matisses, Picasos and other worthy painters becomes numbing and overwhelming.  Traveling to Philadelphia to visit the Barnes is a worthwhile trip.
We then went to the Rodin Museum.

The Rodin Museum's website...

The Rodin has the largest collection of Rodin's works outside of Paris.

Information about the Rodin Museum...

The Burghers of Calais and Bill

The Three Shades (Ghosts) from the Gates of Hell

The Gates of Hell.

The Kiss

Now, I want to show you something remarkable.

Look at the way the fingers engage with the flesh of the woman.  It is static, clumsy, and not realistic.

Several years ago we visited the Borghese Gallery in Rome.  The most stunning work I saw there was by Bernini.  At the age of 23 years, he did the most remarkable pieces of art I've ever seen.

Another point to consider... Rodin worked in clay and could change and redo all he desired.  Bernini worked in stone and when a piece of stone was removed, purposely or not, it remained removed!

Look at the following site and see a master's work.  Enlarge the picture and then run through the included photographs.

Bernini did this work showing flesh when he was 23 years of age!




Today, Sunday, we spent almost 5 hours at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  It was a pleasant surprise.

They have a good collection and items are displayed well.  In the European sections the pieces are placed into rooms of homes, estates, castles, churches, etc.  So, the paintings are displayed in a very natural setting.



Today, Monday, was our day for visiting some of the historic sites in Philadelphia; specially,  the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, and the Delaware River.

The Liberty Bell showing the crack with light shining through it.

"The bell was originally cast in 1752 in London, England. It was commissioned as a bell for the Pennsylvania State House (now called Independence Hall).

The Crack: The bell first cracked during a test ringing. After cracking, the bell was recast twice in 1753 in Philadelphia by John Pass and John Stow (the old bell was broken up and melted down, more copper was added to the metal alloy to make it less brittle, and the bell was re-cast).

The restored bell was probably rung at the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia (on July 8, 1776). It rang to announce many important events in early American history, including Presidential elections and deaths.

The bell cracked again on July 8, 1835, while being rung at the funeral of John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the Supreme Court and one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. The crack's dimensions are 24.5 inches long by 1/2 inch wide."

This is the site for Independence Hall from the National Park Service...

Following our tour of Independence Hall we found ourselves outside in a square behind Independence Hall.  We noticed another smaller building immediately adjacent to Independence Hall named Great Essentials.  We went in and found an extraordinary display of documents.

Immediately following the signing of the Declaration of Independence, they printed up multiple copies to taken throughout the colonies to be read to the citizens.  In Philadelphia a man named Nixon received his copy, walked out of Independence Hall, and read to the citizens of Philadelphia.  His personal copy that he read that day is on display!  And, contrary to the documents found in the Archives Buildings in Washington, DC, this copy is clear and easy to read.

They also had George Washington's personal copy of the new Constitution!  Washington had chaired the Congress to draw up the Constitution.   His personal document was on display and was also in wonderful, readable condition.

The site for the Great Essentials...

 "What are the "Great Essentials of Society and Government" that John Adams wrote that the Founders sought to identify? Just as they were innovations then, they have become familiar to us now. They are:

· Whatever power government possessed came from, and could be reclaimed by, those who are governed.

· Free and independent nations existed to secure the welfare of the people.

· Just government depended upon a written constitution, not the personal whims of human leaders.

· Power must be carefully separated, balanced and shared by national, state, and local governments.

The Founders searched among the greatest philosophers to identify these ideas. They distilled and refined them. And they offered them to the world in three documents totaling fewer than two dozen pages endorsed by the simple act of signing name to paper."

THEATER

Pearl Theater
A Winter's Tale - William Shakespeare

"A moment of jealousy and an act of anger lead to a lifetime of regret for Leontes, the rash king who destroys his family on a whim. But as time glides gently on, fate , love, and a few true friends, are ready to work wonders to restore happiness to his world. In THE WINTER’S TALE, Shakespeare’s later-career wise and winsome fairytale, nothing is truly lost—certainly not love—if only we know where to seek it."



The New York Times' review...

Review: ‘The Winter’s Tale’ and Its Wronged Queen, via the Pearl Theater Company

By ALEXIS SOLOSKIFEB. 22, 2015

Sommeliers, please advise: Which wine pairs best with simmering sexual jealousy? What digestif should you serve to a romantic rival? Vinous questions bubble up during Michael Sexton’s production of “The Winter’s Tale” at the Pearl Theater. The first three acts play out at a tipsy dinner party that could rival “Disgraced” for discomfiture. At least these Shakespeareans make it to the dessert course before things go seriously awry.

In a handsome if hodgepodge dining room (courtesy of the set designer Brett J. Banakis), the Sicilian king Leontes (Peter Francis James) entreats his pregnant wife, Hermione (Jolly Abraham), to convince the Bohemian king Polixenes (Bradford Cover) to stay a little longer. But jealousy, that green-eyed monster, has got Leontes in a stranglehold. He’s convinced himself that Hermione and Polixenes have cuckolded him. So he accuses and imprisons his wife, imperiling her and their boy, Mamillius, and their unborn daughter. Anyone for seconds?

Mr. Sexton’s production is elegant, inventive and visually interesting. Bohemia’s seacoast is conjured by shifting and dust-sheeting most of the furniture. The famous bear is summoned in a riot of fur coats. And yet, blame the weather, blame the title, blame the Pearl’s location on an especially frigid block on West 42nd Street, but this staging sometimes seems chilly, too.

Mr. James is terrific at finding the excitement within a line of verse. Leontes behaves monstrously, but Mr. James makes him somehow sympathetic, a man who, as his servant Camillo (a fine Tom Nelis) says, is “in rebellion with himself.” (Note to the Pearl: If Mr. James hasn’t played Othello yet, he should.) But not all the other actors can dredge up such riches in the text, so the pacing sometimes drags. The sheepshearing scenes — despite the comic talents of Adam Green, Dominic Cuskern and Steve Cuiffo — seem studied rather than rollicking. And everyone seems mildly embarrassed by the musical numbers.

The storytelling could perhaps be clearer. (Walking to the subway after a preview performance, I overheard a couple of spectators explaining the plot to their companions.) But “The Winter’s Tale” is a hard story to tell, a tragedy that takes an abrupt detour toward amnesty and grace. Mr. Sexton’s may not deliver quite the “deal of wonder” the final act promises, but his show is a pretty good deal all the same.