Glories of an Invisible Orchestra
Dance is widely known as "Music in Motion," but while motion is getting all the attention, music usually has to wait for this "pro-music" column. The problem is mostly positional.
You can see the musicians of the San Francisco Symphony front and center, usually without the distraction of arabesques and battements sur le cou-de-pied. In contrast, the best visual experience of the San Francisco Opera and Ballet orchestras is the top of some heads — of the taller musicians in the pit.
At the current Program 6 of the Ballet in the War Memorial Opera House, up with this injustice we could no longer put.
The two new and bold works leading the way, Yuri Possokhov's 2011 RAkU and the world premiere of Ashley Page's Guide to Strange Places — impressing with their energy, drama, wide sweep, and irresistible appeal — are based on music to match. The company's own Shinji Eshima (a bass player with the orchestra for more than three decades) wrote the score for RAkU and John Adams' eponymous composition serves Guide to Strange Places.
It is undeniable that the eyes have it: Of Yuan Yuan Tan's many triumphs, perhaps none is more memorable than the Princess in RAkU, a dramatic, if chronologically confusing work, from Japan's warrior past. Set against Alexander V. Nichols’ design intimating Kyoto’s Golden Pavilion (its burning in 1950 is part of the story here, although the rest of piece channels time of a century before), the piece opens with an extended, spirited war dance by four samurai, reminiscent of Spartacus from Possokhov’s original Bolshoi home company. Noh and Butoh sensibilities also are evident, but in the end, the dance is all Possokhov.
The frenzied scene yields to the stillness of a royal couple standing side by side, Tan and Damian Smith's Prince make their appearance in the stylized manner of Noh theater. Few dancers can be immobile and yet convey a range of emotions; Tan does as no other. Without moving a muscle, she emanates strength, submission, love, and fear.
Possokhov and Nichols provide a breathtaking moment as the Princess' large, colorful, ceremonial kimono flies up in the air, revealing a small, simply dressed woman — defenseless without the splendor of the disappearing garb, predictive of the coming tragedy.
When the Prince leaves for battle, the Princess is subdued by the crazed Black Monk (Pascal Molat in a scary-great performance), and during the conflagration from the burning Golden Pavilion, the remains of the prince and his sword are returned to her from the battlefield. As she scatters his ashes around her, snow begins to fall, and her prostrate body is covered with ashes and snow.
Eshima's music — now available on a CD recorded by the SFB Orchestra — is pulsing with desire, passion, drama, and eventually stark tragedy. Under Martin West's baton, the orchestra covered itself with glory, as solo performances of exceptional quality reached out from the pit.
Brilliant playing by principal cellist Eric Sung through the climactic final scene was the fitting conclusion to special solos by Kevin Rivard on French horn, former Cleveland Orchestra principal Laura Griffiths on oboe, Rufus Olivier on bassoon, and Olga Rakitchenkov on harp.
Add to those: Michael McGraw's contributions on piano, David Rosenthal's on marimba, and Steve D'Amico bass solo during the kimono lift. A surprising and powerful musical addition is chanting by zen monks, coming from all over the Bay Area to participate. Their text: "We listen to your suffering, and chant for your well being."
The orchestra is at its best again with Adams' darkly idiosyncratic and disquieting, breakneck music from 2001, inspired by a guidebook to Provence. It is used by Page — former dancer with the Royal Ballet, now director of the Scottish Ballet — to produce dance that is "savage and earthy" by his own description. With its mix of casual and balletic choreography, Guide has some similarity to the concurrently running Program 5's Robbins Glass Pieces.
Page's piece is lead by four fabulous pairs from among the company's constellation of stars: Sarah Van Patten and Anthony Spaulding, Maria Kochetkova and Gennadi Nedvigin, Frances Chung and Pascal Molat, Vanessa Zahorian and Jaime Garcia Castilla.
The program opens with Act III of Rudolf Nureyev's reworking of the Marius Petipa Raymonda, to Alexander Glazunov's pseudo-Hungarian music, featuring Sofiane Sylve and Tiit Helimets. It too is performed well, but that's not much help for a musically and dramatically debile piece.
'405 Shrader': a Miniscule Embarrassment of Riches
A new music venue in San Francisco is happy news, even if 405 Shrader's capacity is only 35. It's a Victorian storefront on the Panhandle, but with potential. Importantly, concerts scheduled here "for local artists and neighborhood audiences" have excellent programs, major performers — and they are free, even including a wine reception at each.
"Yes, the concerts are all free, but for our younger (and needy) artists we do pass the hat," says Ellen Milenski, who is overseeing the project. So, tickets: No. Hat: yes. But consider the programs, all beginning at 7 p.m.:
- March 30: Schubert, Delphine Op. 124, No. 1; Messiaen, Trois Mélodies (1930); Verdi, Songs — Greta Feeney-Samuels, soprano; Theodora Carson, piano April 6: Franck, Sonata in A Major for Violin — James Kirksey, viola; Carson, piano
- May 11: Shostakovitch, Sonata for Viola, Op. 147; Telemann, Sonata — Don Ehrlich, viola; Carson, piano
- May 18: Schoenberg, Three Piano Pieces, Op. 11 and Cabaret Songs — John Duykers, tenor; Milenski, piano
Testimony Goes Online
The video of San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus world premiere recording Stephen Schwartz's Testimony, under the direction of Timothy Seelig, premiered last week at Davies Symphony Hall, went online and reached 14,000 viewers in the first day.The work is inspired by text from the It Gets Better Project, created to show young LGBT people the levels of happiness and potential their lives will reach if they can just get through their teen years.
Schwartz collaborated with Dan Savage, creator of the project. Testimony was recorded and engineered by Leslie Ann Jones, Grammy award-winning Director of Music Recording at Skywalker Sound.
Opera Fashions at Napa Valley Museum
"Divas Unzipped: Costuming the Stars of San Francisco Opera" was just one of the, well, zippy titles at the Napa Valley Museum, where an exhibit of opera costumes is accompanied by several programs, culminating in "The Mozart Supremacy," presented by conductor Thomas Conlin.From the museum's spirited description:
Two of the most glamorous industries — entertainment and fashion — have been intertwined throughout the 20th and 21st centuries. Napa Valley Museum’s exhibition Mozart’s Muses, celebrates the glamor, luxury, and artistry in the sumptuous fabrics, lavish lace, and delicate embroidery of costumes from San Francisco Opera’s recent productions of Mozart’s operas.The show runs through April 30. It includes costumes designed by Michael Stennet for his production of Mozart’s Idomeneo, with designs reminiscent of Tiepolo; Andrea Viotti's "techno-Matrix chic" Don Giovanni costumes; Robert Perdziola's for Cosi fan tutte; and David Hockney's for The Marriage of Figaro and The Magic Flute.
Remaining events are:
- "The Mozart Supremacy," April 12, 7 p.m.
- Film screening: Amadeus, April 19, 7 p.m.
- "The Art of Costume Design," with Sandra Ericson, April 26, 7 p.m.
Cinnabar Don Giovanni
Petaluma's Cinnabar Theater presents Mozart's Don Giovanni for an unusually long run through April 15. Mary Chun is music director, Elly Lichenstein is stage director.Anders Froehlich is cast in the title role; Kelly Britt as Donna Anna, Eileen Morris as Donna Elvira, Emma McNairy as Zerlina, Mark Kratz as Don Ottavio, Eugene Walden as Leporello, William O'Neill as Masetto, and John Minagró as Commendatore.
The production is underwritten by the Schomer family in memory of Mary Lou Schomer, Cinnabar's box office manager for many years.
Terra Incognita, Revisited Sweeps Izzies
Photo by Erik Tomasson
Outstanding Achievement in Performance, Company
- The Dancers of Terra Incognita, Revisited, West Wave Festival, Z Space
- Garrett + Moulton Productions, The Experience of Flight In Dreams, ODC Theater
- Joe Goode Performance Group, The Rambler, Novellus Theater
- Nimely Pan African Dance Company, Breaking of the Poro Bush, 33rd San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival
- San Francisco Ballet, Ghosts, War Memorial Opera House
- Te Mana O Te Ra, Varua Te Fenua: The Spirit of the Land, 33rd San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival
Outstanding Achievement in Performance, Ensemble
- Anthony Spaulding and Sarah Van Patten, Underskin, San Francisco Ballet
- Christy Funsch and Nol Simonse, Etudes in Detention, Dance Mission Theater
- Katie Faulkner and Brandon Private Freeman, Until We Know For Sure, The A.W.A.R.D. Show! 2010-2011, ODC Theater
- Lorena Feijoo and Vitor Luiz, Talk To Her, and Pas de Deux from Le Corsaire, San Francisco Ballet, Festival Del Sole
- Maria Kochetkova and Gennadi Nedvigin, Theme & Variations, San Francisco Ballet
Outstanding Achievement in Performance, Individual
- Gennadi Nedvigin, as Franz in Coppelia, San Francisco Ballet
- Jenna McClintock, When It Frays, Im’ij-re, West Wave Festival, Cowell Theater
- Muriel Maffre, The Complete Works of Muriel Maffre, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Gallery 3
- Sofiane Sylve, Symphony in C, 2nd Movement, San Francisco Ballet, Stern Grove Festival
- Tina Kay Bohnstedt, Lady of the Camellias, Act 1 Pas de Deux, Diablo Ballet, Lesher Center for the Arts
Outstanding Achievement in Choreography
- Alex Ketley, Kara Davis, Katie Faulkner, Manuelito Biag, Terra Incognita Revisited, West Wave Festival, Z Space
- Amy Seiwert, Requiem, Smuin Ballet, Novellus Theater
- Amy Seiwert, When It Frays, Im’ij-re, West Wave Festival, Cowell Theater
- Janice Garrett & Charles Moulton, The Experience of Flight in Dreams, Garrett + Moulton Productions, ODC Theater
- Mary Armentrout, the woman invisible to herself, Mary Armentrout Dance Theater, Milk Bar at the Sunshine Biscuit Factory
Outstanding Achievement in Visual Design
- Alexander Nichols, Scenic Design; Mark Zappone, Costume Design; Christopher Dennis, Lighting Design, RAkU, San Francisco Ballet
- Axel Morganthaler, Lighting Design; Robert Rossenwasser, Set Design; Colleen Quen & Robert Rossenwasser, Costume Design, Scheherazade, Alonzo King Lines Ballet, Novellus Theater
- Basil Twist, Scenic Design; Jack Carpenter, Lighting Design; Wendy Sparks, Costume Design, The Rambler, Joe Goode Performance Group, Novellus Theater
- Christopher Haas, Set Design, Triangle of the Squinches, Alonzo King Lines Ballet, Novellus Theater
- Enrico Labayen, Costumes & Visual Design, En-Gulfed, Labayen Dance/SF, Dance Mission Theater
- Olivia Ting, Media & Set Design, Passages: For Lee Ping To, Lenora Lee Dance, Dance Mission Theater
Special Award Honorees
- Lorena Feijoo, Maria Kochetkova, Yuan Yuan Tan, Sarah Van Patten, and Vanessa Zahorian – "The Many Faces of Giselle" — for "five stellar interpretations of the title role in the quintessential romantic ballet Giselle," performed by the San Francisco Ballet
- Nina Menendez and the Bay Area Flamenco Partnership – for the 2010 Festival Flamenco Gitano which presented two multi-generational families of flamenco artists from the Spanish gypsy community of Andalucia in performances displaying how the music and dance traditions of flamenco are passed down through several generations
- Patty-Ann Farrell – for her lighting designs for the 33rd San Francisco Ethnic Dance Festival at the Novellus Theater, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
Long Beach Opera's Adventurous Double Bill
From SFCV contributor Lisa Hirsch, proprietor of Iron Tongue of Midnight:
Long Beach Opera has just completed a run of a typically audacious double bill, pairing Martinu's Tears of a Knife with Poulenc's The Breasts of Tirésias. Both come from the surrealist/absurdist vein of drama, with the Martinu being as incomprehensibly grim as the Poulenc is delightfully silly.Presented at the Center Theater with a small orchestra behind the stage and with minimal settings, the two starred the wonderful Ani Maldjian, a soprano with a rich, flexible voice and equal gifts for comedy and tragedy. I'm not sure I can describe the Martinu other than to say that Eleanora, a young woman, falls in love with a dead man, while her mother wants her to marry a neighbor, who might be called Mr. Saturn or Mr. Satan — the synopsis and projected text didn't quite agree.
The girl eventually kills herself and finds that the dead man was Mr. Saturn (or Satan) anyway. I found Tears of a Knife rather puzzling plotwise, though the music had that Martinu sparkle and bite and included some faux-20s pop music as well. Suzan Hanson played the girl's mother, Robin Buck the neighbor, and Roberto Perlas Gomez the dead man. [Editor's note: more detail would be appreciated here from those unfamiliar with the opera.]
Tirésias was as delightful and absurd as Tears of a Knife was incomprehensible, a genuine romp from the start. Thérèse (Maldjian) turns into a man, Tirésias, husband (Buck) turns into a woman, or at least a man capable of giving birth to 40,049 babies. The good friends Monsieur Presto (Benito Galindo) and Monsieur Lacouf (Doug Jones) find themselves dueling — and kill each other — as they both say the other won a particular bet. Even after death, they have a delightful friendship. [Editor, shaking head: Here she goes again!] Poulenc also takes the opportunity to write plenty of charming jazz/pop-inflected tunes, heightening the absurdity of the plot.
Under music and artistic director Andreas Mitisek, the orchestra played well. Ken Roht directed, doing a great job in a small space and small budget.
Stop the World, I Want to Boogie
It's called "dance anywhere®" (complete with the registered trademark symbol) or, if you prefer: "The 8th Annual Conceptual Public Art Performance Piece." It calls for everybody everywhere to stop at noon on March 30 (at 3 p.m. in New York, 4 p.m. in Buenos Aires, 9 p.m. in most of the Continent, 10 p.m. in Istanbul, Nairobi, and Minsk... and so on), and start dancing.
"dance anywhere®" creator Beth Fein says "When I first thought of 'dance anywhere®' it was just an idea. Imagine if we all took a moment to dance. It changes your day, your mood ... when you stop to dance, you find inspiration and creativity you may have forgotten. With tough economic times, and so much divisive discourse, here is common ground we can all enter, even if just for a moment — anyone can dance anywhere."
I wonder if I start advocating simultaneous deep breathing the world over, it would catch on faster if I called it "deep breathing®"? If you'd like to "dance anywhere®" in company, be at noon on Friday at one or more of the following locations:
- Raisa Simpson & Push Dance Co./Oakland Museum of CA
- Anne Bluethenthal Dance/SFMOMA
- Kara Davis/San Francisco Civic Center
- Alyce Finwall Dance Theatre/343 Sansome Rooftop Deck
- Sue Li Jue/Facing East Dance & Music
- Beth Fein & Dancers/San Francisco
- RoCo Dance Youth Company Mill Valley/Depot Plaza Mill Valley
One Man's Auerbach Memories
Bicontinental (San Francisco and Brno) music lover Charlie Cockey reports to Music News from the March 14 San Francisco Performances concert of Lera Auerbach's music, with cellist Alisa Weilerstein and soprano Lina Tetriani:
The Auerbach concert was, for me, a mixed bag, but the plus parts were quite a plus. The pieces all being her own compositions, Auerbach's playing must be considered sui generis, but somehow I never connected with the evening's first piece, Last Letter, a dramatic piece for mezzo-soprano, cello and piano, Op. 76, with text by Russian poet Marina Tsvetaeva. This was mainly because despite Auerbach reading the poem aloud in English beforehand and the English translation being in the program, I rarely knew where I was in the piece.This is a pity because it is obvious that Auerbach, herself a poet of some reknown at least in her native Russia, has invested a great deal of herself here, and all three musicians performed with great panache and feeling, particularly American cellist Alisa Weilerstein, who wrung oceans from every note. Perhaps it was also that Georgian-Russian-American singer Lina Tetriani's diction was often indistinct, or perhaps that her high notes were never less than forte and often rather shattery. Whatever the reason, I felt at sea during much of that piece.
The Sonata for Cello and Piano is a huge and hugely emotional thing, commissioned and championed by David Finckel and Wu Han. Here both Weilerstein and Auerbach shone equally, playing with great intensity and emotional commitment, but for me a second hearing is required to make a meaningful judgment.
The evening's high point was definitely the piece titled 24 Preludes for Piano, and yes I called them "the piece," because that's how she envisioned them. They share certain commonalities, both texturally and thematically, although each is in itself a complete statement. There is a sort of grand arc to the set, with earlier themes being reprised, particularly in the finale (marked, appropriately, grandioso), which closes with a variation on the opening theme of the first prelude, taking what appears there as a flourish, a clarion pronouncement, a sort of mini-fanfare, and transforming it here into a quiet, slower, peaceful farewell: an echo, a "Lebewohl."
Much in the Preludes hearkens back to the Russian Avant Garde of the 1910s and 1920s, music of amazing vitality: there are several striking percussive piano passages, a la Alexander Mosolov; there are hints throughout of Scriabin, Roslavets, and Prokofiev, and, in one surprising and delightful moment — the opening of her E-major Prelude — even an indirect quote from Bach's A-minor Prelude of the Well Tempered Clavier Book One, much as Ligeti's Horn Trio quotes that of Brahms — intended, she said, to give the listener a momentary "feeling of familiarity." It was definitely a moment of light and clarity amidst all that darker dissonant modernity.
There are several other quite lovely moments along the way, including: a chorale in Prelude No. 6 with beautiful, compressed, bell-like sonorities reminiscent of Olivier Messaien's 1st regard from Vingt regards sur l'enfant Jesus; the lushly arpeggiated Prelude No. 16, her acknowledged climax of the set; and the grand summation of Prelude No. 24, framed by a haunting melody played rasqueado-like on the keyboard. Overall, 24 Preludes for Piano are/is indeed a piece well worth getting to know.