I know precious little of Dean's music, but what I have heard - the wind quintet Winter Songs and the fabulous Ariel's Music - lead me to believe that he is one of the most interesting composers working today. Hopefully a recording of the award-winning concerto will make its way to us soon. For now, a sound-clip is available via Dean's publisher, Boosey & Hawkes. Interestingly, as of 7:33pm CST, only 281 people have listened - I'm curious to see if this number goes up drastically in the coming days.
I think the only ranking I agree with is #1. I'm confused as why they're including "festival" orchestras and those that only present a handful of concerts a year in the list (MET, Saito Kinen, Budapest Festival, etc. - where's the Lucerne Festival Orchestra - surely they should be in the top 20 if we're including bands from this category). The Dresden Staatskapelle should be MUCH higher, etc.
My big problem is that my top 20 would change depending on the repertoire - I know I'd wager more on the Czech Philharmonic in a Dvorak symphony than I would the LSO, espeically given the rather drab accounts on the latter orchestra's LSO-Label. I'm also surprised that no French orchestra made the list.
So dear readers, what do you think? We'll probably all be in agreement that this list doesn't really mean a whole lot (Philadelphians may be the most saddened by it, Budapestians the most overjoyed), but rankings are always fun, to a certain degree....I'd love to compile a ranking of readers' views from around the world and see how the two compare - have at it in the comments section, and tell your friends to submit their rankings!
I had heard it through the grapevine, but still had much doubt. Some online sleuthing confirms it, though.
Wagner returns to Houston Grand Opera next season - Lohengrin will be return to the HGO season in October/November 2009. As far as I can tell, this opera was last presented in Houston in 1993, preceded by a Parsifal in 1992 (the U.S. debut of the notorious Robert Wilson production). The last performance of any of Wagner's operas was Tannhauser in 2001. It seems that HGO has been going for the under-three-hour repertoire, and it's great to see them venturing forth and bringing back some of the great tutonic masterpieces that have been missing, at least since I moved here in 2004.
If Charles Ward's interview with Dolora Zajick seemed to hint that she'd be taking on Ortrud, but my further sleuthing indicates that it will be sung by Christine Goerke. (NB: We love you, Dolora, but you really need get your website updated - the most recent schedule is your 2003-4 season!) Simon O'Neill will be singing the title role, which seems to bode well, since he's cast in the role at Covent Gardens in April. King Heinrich will be sung by Günther Groissböck. I can't seem to find the casting for Elsa yet - regardless, this surely calls for some celebration!
While I was thrilled to finally see an intelligent review of a Houston Grand Opera production in the Houston Chronicle (Everett Evans' review of Beatrice and Benedict), it has of course been tempered by what is my nomination for the worst piece of art "criticism" ever. It would also be a heavy contender for irresponsible financial reporting and overall shoddy journalism, if such awards existed.
The piece in question is a "13 Undercover" (cue tritone-laden synth-brass local news sound bit) story, where Houston's ABC affiliate "looks at art in Houston that you paid for". Please, click the tiny "watch the video" link and experience the investigative reporting for yourself.
Taking aim at local artists and, specifically, the Houston Arts Alliance, which supports some of the city's finest and, yes, most forward-looking arts organizations, reporter Wayne Dolcefiino, who I'm sure is an expert on the subject, lashes out because he can't distinguish between "a bunch of folks acting like fools on the beach in their underwear" and video art (the video in question can be seen on the linked website) and because he is confused by a play by Crystal Jackson that opens with the line "I'm not a queer, but I want someone to (expletive) me in the (expletive) pretty much as soon as possible." Naturally, there is no mention of where this provocative opening line leads. There is no mention of the context of the photograph. There's no mention of why Dolcefino can't understand why poems written about city monuments at different times of day might constitute worthwhile art (I'm sure he's not familiar with Monet's Rouen cathedral paintings).
Following these examples that, I'm sure, in his mind "proves" his argument, he then proceeds to quote various numbers and statistics trying to rally the troops against public funding of controversial art projects in Houston. Needless to say, Dolcefino makes no mention whatsoever at the numerous HAA-supported project that really do make a difference to Houston (such as Musiqa's children's concerts, which expose 10,000+ elementary-school students, many of whom have zero exposure to any art in their publicly-funded school, to contemporary art music from around the world every year). Just when you though negative/sensationalist journalism was dead....Search for "The Color of Money" on the ABC13.com website to see the follow-ups. My gut tells me that Dolcefino hasn't a clue how art is created, how it is received, how it is perceived by the public or future publics.
Fortunately a good number of comments have come to art's defence and voiced their support for the miniscule amount of taxpayer money that goes to the arts in our city. Dolcefino helps to get the last word in saying (at the end of this video) that artists
have complained to him that he's attacking their freedom of expression
but that they're also attacking his art. Hmm....And honestly, given what the city has done to create a world-class art scene with those taxpayer contributions compared to say, what they've done with the amount of funding given to road maintenance or an efficient public transportation system, I'd say the arts sector is one of the few recipients of public funding that's actually getting the majority of its job right.
HGO's second production this season, Berlioz's Beatrice and Benedict, is an unqualified success from all involved. A perfect autumnal souffle of an opera, the staging, singing and orchestral execution are at an exceptional level.
Joyce DiDonato, one of the HGO studio's shining success stories, is predictably brilliant as Beatrice. Her voice is pure, agile and distinctive, and her acting is superb. She clearly owned all aspects of this deceptively challenging role, capping off with a ravishing "Dieu! Que viens-je d'entendre?", surely one of the jewels of the mezzo-soprano aria catalogue.
The rest of the cast rose to the occassion as well, and the big surprise for me was the HGO debut of soprano Ailish Tynan as Hero. The choice to cast her with DiDonato meant an exquisite blending of sound in ensemble moments (further complemented when Leann Sandel-Pantaleo's Ursula joined in).
Norman Reinhardt brought a bright, Italianite sound to the role of Benedict, and I found this to be a very appropriate contrast with DiDonato's more velvety, refined sound. Reinhardt's acting was brilliant, hamming up the witty reparte with DiDonato to just the right degree. Berlioz's added role of Somarone was engagingly improvised by Donald Maxwell (another HGO debut).
The HGO Orchestra and Chorus, led by Michael Hofstetter (you guessed it - another HGO debut), were brilliant. If some of the Gallic sensibility of the opera was inevitably lost in English translation, it was present in the orchestra's playing. Wind solos were distinctively phrased, and the entire ensemble played with a lightness and precision that brought to mind some of the very distinctive French orchestral playing heard on recordings from the 1960s and 70s and, nowadays, more and more disappearing. The entire piece sounds difficult in that Mozartian way - perfection is required of all involved, and even the smallest error in timing, intonation or phrasing has the potential to derail an entire scene. This production, however, fell into none of the traps. It was an exemplary evening of control and poise.
The new Michael Gordon multimedia work Lightning at Our Feet receives its premiere tonight at the University of Houston. We are thrilled to have the composer in residence all week.
The Houston Chronicle's preview of the event can be found here.
HGO opens its 2008-9 season this weekend with that perennial pair, Cavalleria Rusticana and Pagliacci. In February, Charles Ward of the Houston Chronicletook aim at HGO's selected repertoire and casting for the season ("Will HGO subscribers buy into new season?" - no longer available at their site):
"Houston Grand Opera faces a
big challenge with its 2008-09 season: persuading ticket buyers to pay
the usual price for an evening of opera choruses...Fully
staged, costumed and choreographed, it will feature selections ranging
from the have-to-have (the Anvil Chorus from Aïda [sic]) to the gorgeous but
unknown (a large swath from Modest Mussorgsky's Khovanshchina) to bits
of Broadway. The rub? It will replace one of the
two operas HGO normally stages in the winter. That, it's easy to
predict, will rub some subscribers the wrong way."
Having spoken with many close acquaintances in the HGO orchestra and chorus, Chorus! has generated a
heap of excitement in the pit, and I, for one, am looking forward to it. The HGO Chorus is always a highlight of HGO's productions, so the performance as performance will be extraordinary, and Houstonians will get to hear at least portions of operas that will likely never be staged in their entirety in this city (Khovanshchina, War and Peace).
Ward aptly points out HGO's heavy reliance this season on HGO Studio alumni, which is indeed a double-edged sword. Of course, any big fan of opera would love "big names" coming to Houston for all of the productions. The singing of the alumni and studio members is always very good, often great, and sometimes mind-blowing. What I see as more of a problem is balancing out the casts more, a challenge which was apparent in the production of Cav/Pag.
First off, Houston got their star power in the force-of-nature that is Dolora Zajick. Her Santuzza was perfection and a distinct characterization of the role, a perspective she consciously thinks about, as mentioned in her recent interview with Ward: "Singing Santuzza is a challenge, Zajick says, because it's too easy to portray her as 'a simpering victim.' Zajick says she tries to show 'a tougher side — a slightly spiteful side,' to make Santuzza interesting."
Zajick's singing was excellent - her voice is glorious in all registers, she has amazing stage presence and is a very good actress. She simply sounded and looked amazing (and I didn't realize she was in her late 50s!). Fortunately, the rest of the cast stepped up to her standards, and the Mascagni opera came off more uniformly excellent in the singing department than the Leoncavallo. The voices were all there, and Brandon Janovich, in his HGO debut, was a brilliant Turridu, matching Zajick's vocal power and virtuosity. The only slight disappointment was the acting of Charles Taylor, especially after Santuzza reveals Lola's disloyalty - the rage in the vocal writing was wonderfully brought across by Taylor, but he actions didn't reveal anything - it was a stand-and-sing moment.
This left me a little worried for Pagliacci, where Taylor would be portraying Tonio, but he stepped up in the acting department. Admittedly, he was helped by a much more technicolor set and costume design. The problem with Pag seemed to be that there wasn't a "big voice" for the cast to live up to. Canio seemed to be just a tad too big a role for Vladimir Galouzine, who has a great voice in the low and middle register (I would almost mistake him for a baritone), but struggled with "Vesti la Giubba". A similar problem at the climax can be heard in his performance of the aria here:
Ana Maria Martinez, an HGO favorite, also has a beautiful voice, and looks stunning, but again, I feel Nedda is not a great role for her - she lacks the raw power that I like in this role. It's probably unfair to compare, but I always come back to Montserrat Caballe's RCA recording of the role, where she perfectly balances a beautiful and venomous quality in her voice.
Elijah Moshinksy's Welsh National Opera production emphasizes the contrast between the two operas. Stephen Walsh's review of a Cardiff performance describes the production perfectly: "Mascagni's archetypal gut-tearer was staged as an echo of post-war
provincial realism, complete with Sicilian village, backslapping,
wine-slurping chorus, and all the rest of the good old operatic
clutter. Leoncavallo's subtler piece represented modern production
values, bare stage but for a clapped-out lorry for the travelling
theatre, 1940s dress, and clever lighting."
I was left with mixed-bag feelings. I typically like Pag better. Musically and dramatically I think it's more satisfying, but in this performance, Cav was more enjoyable, largely due to the superior, even level of the singing.
I joined the artistic board of Musiqa, Houston's composer-led new music organization, this summer. We get a delayed start to our season tonight, after our first event was delayed by a certain hurricane. The program includes Thomas Ades' Court Studies, Eric Moe's Time Will Tell, Iannis Xenakis' Rebonds (B) and two works by Musiqa composer Rob Smith - his solo percussion Breaking Point and a new collaboration with Travesty Dance Group, Transparent. The event is at Zilkha Hall in the Hobby center at 7:30pm - more information at www.musiqahouston.org.
