Upcoming performances
11.11.2009
IMPROMPTU rides again...
The Mozartfragmentarypantomimereconstructionproject which I was recruited to direct for the Chicago Humanities Festival and which I've blogged about before appeared this past Monday at the University of Chicago Theater and Performance Studies Workshop . Minutes before the workshop kicked off we discovered 1. half the costumes were gone, including Jonathan DeSouza's entire costume and that 2. toenails (mine) react badly to being mowed over with pianos. Undeterred, this weekend we/the show travel/s to the American Musicological Society annual conference in Philadelphia to participate in its first year of experimental performance panels ... whoo hoo!
10.30.2009
what better way to celebrate halloween
than an opera about death - cum - trapped - in - a - room - with - your - least - favorite - humans - for - all - of - existential - eternity? Which begs the question, do you think Weird Al Yankovic was riffing on Sartre when he wrote his timeless classic "Stuck in a Closet with Vanna White?" Perhaps tonights Opera Vangaurd production will shed some light on the never ending rabbit hole of historical antecedents...or maybe I've just neatly squared away my dissertation topic.
Lutkin Hall here I come.
(n.)
Lutkin Hall here I come.
(n.)
10.28.2009
SALON XXVIII
Thanks to all for a fun (and extremely packed-in) salon on Saturday!
Emily Jones (Dept of Visual Arts, University of Chicago), video art
"The square became a circle but still was a square"
Sam Goodman, dance, and Jake Wise, clarinet
an improvisation
Jonny Thakkar, Jon Baskin & Etay Zwick
editorial staff of The Point Magazine (an introduction)
Larry Zbikowski, guitar
"Vals-Chôro" from the Suite populaire brésilienne (1912), Heitor Villa-Lobos
Impromptus (1968), Richard Rodney Bennett
La Catedral (1921), Augustin Barrios
Jon Ullyot & Ben Kolak, mockumentary
"SPAMASHED!"
Emily Jones (Dept of Visual Arts, University of Chicago), video art
"The square became a circle but still was a square"
Sam Goodman, dance, and Jake Wise, clarinet
an improvisation
Jonny Thakkar, Jon Baskin & Etay Zwick
editorial staff of The Point Magazine (an introduction)
Larry Zbikowski, guitar
"Vals-Chôro" from the Suite populaire brésilienne (1912), Heitor Villa-Lobos
Impromptus (1968), Richard Rodney Bennett
La Catedral (1921), Augustin Barrios
Jon Ullyot & Ben Kolak, mockumentary
"SPAMASHED!"
10.25.2009
Anne LeBaron @ U of C
Anne LeBaron presented this past Friday to a (rather poorly -- yikes!) attended colloquium in Fulton Hall. The subject: her opera, Sucktion. LeBaron's work sounds immediately fascinating. Here's a random selection from her very impressive CV: she won a Guggenheim, studied with Ligeti (not in that order), has written a "dance opera" called Pope Joan, and Wet, another opera about the big business of water and the horrors of floods and she, I'm quoting, lectures at CalArts on the "concept of HyperOpera." (I don't know what this means but surely it is meant to address the hyper, erratic, overblown aspect of opera--aspect, or sine qua non--that is, the histrionic too-muchness of opera, perhaps in order to address what happens when the "Opera/Too-much" dial continues to be turned even further up, up, up?)
In the beginning of her lecture Anne charmed us by revealing a years-long fascination with old vacuum cleaners and vacuum cleaner sounds. She played us early samples of her work, female vocalizations layered on top of recorded & processed vacuum sounds. At times the two seemed uncannily to merge, and at one point, LeBaron had the vocalist spit and buzz into the vacuum mouthpiece to produce a series of fun sounds that would probably make Kaija Saariaho jealous. LeBaron's collaborators on Sucktion include the poet Douglas Kearney, whose libretto is a clever homage to Marinetti typeface. This all seemed promising.
LeBaron saved the nugget of her presentation for last -- that is, the semi-finished, workshop staging of the opera in L.A. But this is where things started to go downhill. LeBaron later mentioned she feared that 40 minutes of vacuum sounds weren't in and of themselves interesting enough to justify the ticket prices (okay, I made that part up, but she did say she was worried the vacuuming lacked moxy) so she crafted a heavy-handed scenario to go along with them. (For the record, vacuum sounds are TOTALLY interesting. Maybe not for forty minutes, sure, but for at least 25. If John Cage can get away with Points in Space, I say go for it!)
Oppressed housewife cleans house, anticipating the arrival of her husband home from work. (The singer/actress in this case was Asian, and one grad student floated the thought that LeBaron intended the opera as a critique of interracial marriage. Or better, I thought, that the Mail Order Bride phenomenon in this country replicates/updates in the 21st century the phenomenon of the overbored, undersexed housewife of the 1950s? But LeBaron seemed uninterested; or else this was my private flight of fancy. Anyway.)
The husband arrives home (a recorded voice-over, "Honey, I'm Home"; i.e. there is no "husband"), finds the place a mess & retires for the night. Depressed, the housewife turns melancholy. A vacuum arrives. A present from her hubby. She falls in love (with the vacuum), sprawls on it orgasmically and thus the comedy endeth.
To put it simply, the problem? Too much scenario and too literal.
1. Put the husband in a locked closet stage left so that the "housewife" (or is she a dominatrix? an updated Alcina?) controls his exits and entrances.
2. Or make it Erwartung Appliance! Instead of losing her fiancé, this poor woman is in denial over the death of her beloved vacuum.
3. Or make the husband's cleanliness phobia the center of the (o_p)/e(r?)a and his hapless wife the Mrs. Haversham of the Ace Hardware Cleaning aisle.
A dash of the intellectual wit that has made LeBaron such a successful composer and a writer is needed. Instead, the staging we saw consisted of the soprano (who, by the way, is a musicologist and member of the group that commissioned the opera) putting on and taking off rubber gloves, stuffing them into her oversize apron pockets, dropping them, and putting them on again. LeBaron's score, and her ideas, play happily far off of the beaten path. But this opera needs a director so that the curiosity that motivated its inception gets taken up a notch. Staging, to honor its points of origin (the ideation of the opera, the wit and spirit of adventurousness that composers like LeBaron bring to the table), should amplify, qualify & problematize that origin; not bow to it.
-majel.
In the beginning of her lecture Anne charmed us by revealing a years-long fascination with old vacuum cleaners and vacuum cleaner sounds. She played us early samples of her work, female vocalizations layered on top of recorded & processed vacuum sounds. At times the two seemed uncannily to merge, and at one point, LeBaron had the vocalist spit and buzz into the vacuum mouthpiece to produce a series of fun sounds that would probably make Kaija Saariaho jealous. LeBaron's collaborators on Sucktion include the poet Douglas Kearney, whose libretto is a clever homage to Marinetti typeface. This all seemed promising.
LeBaron saved the nugget of her presentation for last -- that is, the semi-finished, workshop staging of the opera in L.A. But this is where things started to go downhill. LeBaron later mentioned she feared that 40 minutes of vacuum sounds weren't in and of themselves interesting enough to justify the ticket prices (okay, I made that part up, but she did say she was worried the vacuuming lacked moxy) so she crafted a heavy-handed scenario to go along with them. (For the record, vacuum sounds are TOTALLY interesting. Maybe not for forty minutes, sure, but for at least 25. If John Cage can get away with Points in Space, I say go for it!)
Oppressed housewife cleans house, anticipating the arrival of her husband home from work. (The singer/actress in this case was Asian, and one grad student floated the thought that LeBaron intended the opera as a critique of interracial marriage. Or better, I thought, that the Mail Order Bride phenomenon in this country replicates/updates in the 21st century the phenomenon of the overbored, undersexed housewife of the 1950s? But LeBaron seemed uninterested; or else this was my private flight of fancy. Anyway.)
The husband arrives home (a recorded voice-over, "Honey, I'm Home"; i.e. there is no "husband"), finds the place a mess & retires for the night. Depressed, the housewife turns melancholy. A vacuum arrives. A present from her hubby. She falls in love (with the vacuum), sprawls on it orgasmically and thus the comedy endeth.
To put it simply, the problem? Too much scenario and too literal.
1. Put the husband in a locked closet stage left so that the "housewife" (or is she a dominatrix? an updated Alcina?) controls his exits and entrances.
2. Or make it Erwartung Appliance! Instead of losing her fiancé, this poor woman is in denial over the death of her beloved vacuum.
3. Or make the husband's cleanliness phobia the center of the (o_p)/e(r?)a and his hapless wife the Mrs. Haversham of the Ace Hardware Cleaning aisle.
A dash of the intellectual wit that has made LeBaron such a successful composer and a writer is needed. Instead, the staging we saw consisted of the soprano (who, by the way, is a musicologist and member of the group that commissioned the opera) putting on and taking off rubber gloves, stuffing them into her oversize apron pockets, dropping them, and putting them on again. LeBaron's score, and her ideas, play happily far off of the beaten path. But this opera needs a director so that the curiosity that motivated its inception gets taken up a notch. Staging, to honor its points of origin (the ideation of the opera, the wit and spirit of adventurousness that composers like LeBaron bring to the table), should amplify, qualify & problematize that origin; not bow to it.
-majel.
10.24.2009
Forms of Flight @ HCL
Saturday Oct 24 (TODAY!)7:30 pm
Clarinetist Cory Tiffin and Alejandro Acierto will perform works by Elliott Carter, Olivier Messiaen, Francis Poulenc, Giacinto Scelsi, Augusta Read Thomas, George Flynn, Alejandro T. Acierto, and Jeffrey Young.
Space is limited, please RSVP to FormsOfFlight@gmail.com to get on the list.
(n.)
10.21.2009
Ear Heart Music : Makers @ The Tank
Thursday Oct. 22, 7:30pm
Nicholas DeMaison hosts a public conversation with composer Jason Eckardt about the fact that I have, for the last 5 years, visually misinterpreted the cover of Jay's CD, "Out of Chaos," understanding it not as Richard Serra's hotly controversial "Tilted Arc," placed in 26 Federal Plaza in New York in 1981 and removed on March 15 1989, but rather as a profile of a giant (and perhaps imaginary) stereo speaker pointing to the left, cutely photoshopped onto a picture of the same plaza. Silly me.
In addition to presenting some of Jay's music via high-fi wax cylinder, there will also be a live performance of "Equilibrium" by Kobe Van Cauewenberghe and Kjersti Kveli.
Following our discussion, Ear Heart Music (curated by Amelia Lukas) continues at 8:30 with a concert by Kjersti and Asami Tamura, entitled "Killing the Songbird with Toys."
See you there.
(n.)
10.18.2009
Lucinda Childs at the MCA
I fell for it. No, I TOTALLY fell for it.
The MCA press for its Lucinda Childs show last weekend advertised not "Lucinda Childs Dance" or "Lucinda Childs, Adapted, Updated" but "Lucinda Childs." Period. And the only accompanying photo on their website is a lithe Lucinda Childs doing something extremely cool with her arms that I can't reproduce. (I tried.) I don't mean to accuse the MCA of false advertising, but they really had me: I thought, despite her being 70 years old, Lucinda Childs herself was going to walk up on the stage and dance. And come on: I'm not insane. Dancers age better than the rest of us. Look at frigging Baryshnikov! But I should have known. There's an age at which respectable artists of all stripes stop publishing photographs of their current selves and use the same one indefinitely. Lucinda looks a little too gorgeous in the photo to be 70. But then, who knows? It seemed to me at least plausible that if she were 70, and that picture had been snapped when she was 60 (it's a stretch, but not totally ridiculous) it might be the case that the show was not just a showcase of her work, but that Lucinda would appear in the flesh. And in a way she did.
"Dance" is a reconstruction commissioned by the Richard E. Fisher Center at Bard. The original piece (1979) comprises three 20-minute pieces with music by Philip Glass. Rather than simply reenacting the piece and having done with it, the creative team last weekend thought it would be a good idea to project a live recording of the original, 1979 version on top of the live dancers. A very, very thin scrim divided the audience from the stage making this possible. The video was rarely in sync with what was going on onstage and the projected dancers were also very, very large by comparison so that they dwarfed the live performers.
Childs' choreography Mickey Mouses Glass's music. (Translation: it's repetitive.) 20 minutes kinda crawls. The problem wasn't that the dance was boring. In fact, the video projected dance was riveting. If the MCA had shown an hour of the video only (by Sol LeWitt) I would have left, a happily paying customer. The problem was the discrepancy between the live and the video-projected dancers. On the video (which included a breathtaking solo dance by Lucinda for Lucinda), Childs' choreography worked. It was repetitive, but in a good way, because the ingenuity of the movements bear repeating. The dancers are poised on a giant grid, 12X12 squares. They skip along the grid at breakneck speed as though it were propelling them along. LeWitt's camera follows the dancers, making it seem as if they're actually hopping up and down in place on a moving sidewalk. The effect is a bit like Irish dancing, to use a terrible comparison -- the torso stays totally upright; the feet do all the work. Childs' facial expression in her own dancing is also unusual--rather than looking out at an imagined audience, she looks inward. She's doing this dance for herself and we're incredibly lucky to catch her in the act. I almost felt voyeuristic watching the video. But the live dancers on Friday dispensed with everything that made the original dancers so unearthly. Theses were rule-bound, balletic, posed. Less skittish, more robust, more effortful. They looked like they were trying very, very hard.
In case you'd rather hear it from someone who actually knows something about dance, read the Laura Molzahn review in the Trib.
-majel.
The MCA press for its Lucinda Childs show last weekend advertised not "Lucinda Childs Dance" or "Lucinda Childs, Adapted, Updated" but "Lucinda Childs." Period. And the only accompanying photo on their website is a lithe Lucinda Childs doing something extremely cool with her arms that I can't reproduce. (I tried.) I don't mean to accuse the MCA of false advertising, but they really had me: I thought, despite her being 70 years old, Lucinda Childs herself was going to walk up on the stage and dance. And come on: I'm not insane. Dancers age better than the rest of us. Look at frigging Baryshnikov! But I should have known. There's an age at which respectable artists of all stripes stop publishing photographs of their current selves and use the same one indefinitely. Lucinda looks a little too gorgeous in the photo to be 70. But then, who knows? It seemed to me at least plausible that if she were 70, and that picture had been snapped when she was 60 (it's a stretch, but not totally ridiculous) it might be the case that the show was not just a showcase of her work, but that Lucinda would appear in the flesh. And in a way she did.
"Dance" is a reconstruction commissioned by the Richard E. Fisher Center at Bard. The original piece (1979) comprises three 20-minute pieces with music by Philip Glass. Rather than simply reenacting the piece and having done with it, the creative team last weekend thought it would be a good idea to project a live recording of the original, 1979 version on top of the live dancers. A very, very thin scrim divided the audience from the stage making this possible. The video was rarely in sync with what was going on onstage and the projected dancers were also very, very large by comparison so that they dwarfed the live performers.
Childs' choreography Mickey Mouses Glass's music. (Translation: it's repetitive.) 20 minutes kinda crawls. The problem wasn't that the dance was boring. In fact, the video projected dance was riveting. If the MCA had shown an hour of the video only (by Sol LeWitt) I would have left, a happily paying customer. The problem was the discrepancy between the live and the video-projected dancers. On the video (which included a breathtaking solo dance by Lucinda for Lucinda), Childs' choreography worked. It was repetitive, but in a good way, because the ingenuity of the movements bear repeating. The dancers are poised on a giant grid, 12X12 squares. They skip along the grid at breakneck speed as though it were propelling them along. LeWitt's camera follows the dancers, making it seem as if they're actually hopping up and down in place on a moving sidewalk. The effect is a bit like Irish dancing, to use a terrible comparison -- the torso stays totally upright; the feet do all the work. Childs' facial expression in her own dancing is also unusual--rather than looking out at an imagined audience, she looks inward. She's doing this dance for herself and we're incredibly lucky to catch her in the act. I almost felt voyeuristic watching the video. But the live dancers on Friday dispensed with everything that made the original dancers so unearthly. Theses were rule-bound, balletic, posed. Less skittish, more robust, more effortful. They looked like they were trying very, very hard.
In case you'd rather hear it from someone who actually knows something about dance, read the Laura Molzahn review in the Trib.
-majel.
10.17.2009
Chicago Humanities Festival
I'm directing a show at the Chicago Humanities Festival here on the University of Chicago campus this afternoon: come!
The show, which is improvised, is based on an incomplete fragment of a commedia dell'arte pantomime Mozart sketched out for himself and his pals to play in Vienna during carnival. Mozart reserved the role of Harlequin for himself and had his dad Fed-Ex his Harlequin outfit for the occasion. Unfortunately for us, only Mozart's violin line survived the centuries, along with an extremely spare, and often confusing scenario (including, for instance, that Harlequin goes from being alive in one scene to stone dead in the next for reasons that are not apparent, or the instruction that the "Doctor" is to exit and then that the Doctor then ... exits, again [from offstage?!])
Fortunately, the violin part alone is worthy of an Animaniacs appearance -- it does half the work of inventing action for us. Roger Moseley, who found the pantomime & engineered its musical reconstruction is jaw-droppingly good at revivifying 18th-century musical topics. He directs the ensemble from the piano bench.
I also decided to insert a couple other extraneous Mozarty bits into the score this time around: 1. Mozart's Turkish March for piano solo (which accompanies the otherwise totally unmotivated entrance of a "Turk" in Mozart's scenario, hence the appropriately out-of-place music) and 2. an aria for Columbine -- at Martha Feldman's request, Barbarina's aria from Figaro. The aria (accompanied by Pierrot) is a total red herring (no one has uttered a word thus far, let alone belted out opera), recalling, I hope, Christina Ricci's completely bizarre and wonderful tap dance in the middle of Buffalo 66, which has a similar effect.
As an additional layer, thinking the commedia relationships bear a striking resemblance to day-to-day academia (lecherous old professor, scheming post-doc, emo undergrad, innocent English major from Minnesota) the characters are dressed in U of C nerd wear.
There is a typo on the Chicago Humanities official webpage, which, alas, lists Roger Moseley as the sole director. Anyway, come, and while you're at it, try to pass yourself off as an "Educator" at the door so you can get in for free (think pocket protector, bedhead, fanny pack).
Feat.:
Harlequin: Jon Eliot
Pantalone: Greg Anderson
Pierrot: Peter Schultz
Columbine: Majel Connery
Doctor: Jonathan DeSouza
Violin: Emily Norton
Clarinet: Danny Gough
Piano: Roger Moseley
Cello: Emily M.
2p-3p
The show, which is improvised, is based on an incomplete fragment of a commedia dell'arte pantomime Mozart sketched out for himself and his pals to play in Vienna during carnival. Mozart reserved the role of Harlequin for himself and had his dad Fed-Ex his Harlequin outfit for the occasion. Unfortunately for us, only Mozart's violin line survived the centuries, along with an extremely spare, and often confusing scenario (including, for instance, that Harlequin goes from being alive in one scene to stone dead in the next for reasons that are not apparent, or the instruction that the "Doctor" is to exit and then that the Doctor then ... exits, again [from offstage?!])
Fortunately, the violin part alone is worthy of an Animaniacs appearance -- it does half the work of inventing action for us. Roger Moseley, who found the pantomime & engineered its musical reconstruction is jaw-droppingly good at revivifying 18th-century musical topics. He directs the ensemble from the piano bench.
I also decided to insert a couple other extraneous Mozarty bits into the score this time around: 1. Mozart's Turkish March for piano solo (which accompanies the otherwise totally unmotivated entrance of a "Turk" in Mozart's scenario, hence the appropriately out-of-place music) and 2. an aria for Columbine -- at Martha Feldman's request, Barbarina's aria from Figaro. The aria (accompanied by Pierrot) is a total red herring (no one has uttered a word thus far, let alone belted out opera), recalling, I hope, Christina Ricci's completely bizarre and wonderful tap dance in the middle of Buffalo 66, which has a similar effect.
As an additional layer, thinking the commedia relationships bear a striking resemblance to day-to-day academia (lecherous old professor, scheming post-doc, emo undergrad, innocent English major from Minnesota) the characters are dressed in U of C nerd wear.
There is a typo on the Chicago Humanities official webpage, which, alas, lists Roger Moseley as the sole director. Anyway, come, and while you're at it, try to pass yourself off as an "Educator" at the door so you can get in for free (think pocket protector, bedhead, fanny pack).
Feat.:
Harlequin: Jon Eliot
Pantalone: Greg Anderson
Pierrot: Peter Schultz
Columbine: Majel Connery
Doctor: Jonathan DeSouza
Violin: Emily Norton
Clarinet: Danny Gough
Piano: Roger Moseley
Cello: Emily M.
2p-3p
Mandel Hall
1131 E. 57th St.
Chicago, IL 60637
Adults: $10.00
Chicago, IL 60637
Adults: $10.00
Educators & Students: FREE
10.09.2009
Monday, Oct 12 Workshop on Peter Maxwell Davies
Oh, shameless plug!
My work on Peter Maxwell Davies (dissertation in embryo) is finally taking form. I'll be presenting next Monday, October 12 at a newly-constituted workshop in Theater & Performance Studies at the University of Chicago, run by David J. Levin & Christopher Wild. The paper is slated to appear later this winter (don't be deceived: it isn't actually winter outside, though it feels to be) in the Oxford University Press journal, The Opera Quarterly.
Come see me embarrass myself:
Monday, Oct 12
Germanic Studies Department
Wieboldt Hall, Rm #206
3-5:00p
there will be wine
-majel.
10.08.2009
Strangely Glad to Live in America Today
I'm not sure what's weirder: the guy who wrote the program to pull this voice-to-pixel-to-music-and-back-to-speech-again gizmo off, or the excitement on the part of the German speaking segment of the world for hyper-efficient technology. Gah!
Austrians Must Make Great Interrogators Since They Can Make Even Pianos Talk
Austrians Must Make Great Interrogators Since They Can Make Even Pianos Talk
9.23.2009
Mario Diaz de León on Tzadik
Not an Opera Cabal event....
Friday, September 25, 2009
8:30-10:30pm
Roulette
20 Greene St.
NYC
Mario Diaz de León's music focuses on acoustic/electronic hybrids that often fuse the two elements into unified meta-instruments. Often structured as walls and gestures of shimmering sound, his work is influenced by contemporary composers Scelsi, Ligeti, Dumitrescu and Radulescu as well as a wide range of electronic music, free improvisation, underground metal and American noise bands like Metalux and Sejayno. ICE is featured on his debut album for John Zorn's Tzadik label, and members will perform several of his pieces from the album live at this event. Also featured will be the Talea Ensemble, conducted by Nicholas DeMaison.
Prism Path for two alto flutes and percussion (2009) WORLD PREMIERE
Mansion for two alto flutes, percussion, and electronics (2009)
The Flesh Needs Fire for flute, clarinet, and electronics (2007)
Gated Eclipse for sextet and electronics (2006) NEW YORK PREMIERE
ii.23 for viola and electronics (2002)
2.20 for string trio and electronics (2003)
(n.)
Friday, September 25, 2009
8:30-10:30pm
Roulette
20 Greene St.
NYC
Mario Diaz de León's music focuses on acoustic/electronic hybrids that often fuse the two elements into unified meta-instruments. Often structured as walls and gestures of shimmering sound, his work is influenced by contemporary composers Scelsi, Ligeti, Dumitrescu and Radulescu as well as a wide range of electronic music, free improvisation, underground metal and American noise bands like Metalux and Sejayno. ICE is featured on his debut album for John Zorn's Tzadik label, and members will perform several of his pieces from the album live at this event. Also featured will be the Talea Ensemble, conducted by Nicholas DeMaison.
Prism Path for two alto flutes and percussion (2009) WORLD PREMIERE
Mansion for two alto flutes, percussion, and electronics (2009)
The Flesh Needs Fire for flute, clarinet, and electronics (2007)
Gated Eclipse for sextet and electronics (2006) NEW YORK PREMIERE
ii.23 for viola and electronics (2002)
2.20 for string trio and electronics (2003)
(n.)
9.22.2009
SALON XXVII
Thanks to everyone for a top salon this past Saturday. The lineup (which included some unannounced surprises):
Martina Bohacova & Petr Tobiska (international standard ballroom dance)
"Lovely standard," from the Lento dancing club in Prague
Roger Moseley & Thomas Christensen (piano four-hands)
Isolde's "Liebestod" (the love-death theme from Tristan und Isolde), transcribed by Franz Liszt for two hands, subsequently arranged for four
"Souvenirs de Munich," quadrille on themes from Tristan
Roger Moseley (piano)
Happy Birthday in the style of a Chopin mazurka
Thomas Christensen (piano)
Happy Birthday in the style of a Bach fugue
Sidney Nagel (piano) & Young-Kee Kim (movement)
a birthday dance inspired by Scriabin (Op. 11, no. 13), with choreography by Irene Hsiao
(via Skype!)
Jonathan Ullyot (reading)
from a collection of prose poems called "New Spleen"
Tim Munro (flute), Majel Connery (voice), Roger Moseley (piano)
"Deux poèmes de Ronsard," op. 26 nos. 1 & 2 (1924 Albert Roussel, 1869-1937)
"Fantaisie" in Em, Op. 79 (Gabriel Fauré)
"Une flûte invisible" (Camille Saint-Säens)
Aaron Curtis (academic reading)
"The Heathrow Jesuses"
a poetico-philosophico-theological essay on love, death, god, sacrifice, and public transit
Rohit Kukreti (guitar, voice)
classical Indian-influenced blues folk
Martina Bohacova & Petr Tobiska (international standard ballroom dance)
"Lovely standard," from the Lento dancing club in Prague
Roger Moseley & Thomas Christensen (piano four-hands)
Isolde's "Liebestod" (the love-death theme from Tristan und Isolde), transcribed by Franz Liszt for two hands, subsequently arranged for four
"Souvenirs de Munich," quadrille on themes from Tristan
Roger Moseley (piano)
Happy Birthday in the style of a Chopin mazurka
Thomas Christensen (piano)
Happy Birthday in the style of a Bach fugue
Sidney Nagel (piano) & Young-Kee Kim (movement)
a birthday dance inspired by Scriabin (Op. 11, no. 13), with choreography by Irene Hsiao
(via Skype!)
Jonathan Ullyot (reading)
from a collection of prose poems called "New Spleen"
Tim Munro (flute), Majel Connery (voice), Roger Moseley (piano)
"Deux poèmes de Ronsard," op. 26 nos. 1 & 2 (1924 Albert Roussel, 1869-1937)
"Fantaisie" in Em, Op. 79 (Gabriel Fauré)
"Une flûte invisible" (Camille Saint-Säens)
Aaron Curtis (academic reading)
"The Heathrow Jesuses"
a poetico-philosophico-theological essay on love, death, god, sacrifice, and public transit
Rohit Kukreti (guitar, voice)
classical Indian-influenced blues folk
9.06.2009
9.03.2009
Vesalii Icones and the Horizon of Expectation
With only one show to go, I thought I'd post a taste of more to come.
Conceived at the height of his career in experimental music for the stage, Peter Maxwell Davies’ Vesalii Icones was originally scored for the Pierrot Players, a group started by Davies that would redefine the meaning of fringe, and push German expressionism to new extremes. Unlike Pierrot, Vesalii is written for a single dancer who interacts silently with a discordant ensemble. As Davies’ only choreographed work, Vesalii permitted experimentation on a new level with two of the composer’s perennial preoccupations: excessive embodiment, and the slippery division between sacred and profane. The piece begins with an unlikely superimposition of 16th-century anatomical diagrams with the fourteen Stations of the Cross. The above diagram corresponds with Davies' sixth station, Christ receives the Cross. It is the task of dancer and ensemble to intelligibly engage two systems of representation (religious iconography and the
medicalization of bodies in decay) very much at odds with one another -- or perhaps offering unexpected mutual illumination.
With direction by Majel Connery (Ph.D. candidate, University of Chicago), stage design by Rose DiSalvo (B.A., UCLA; MFA Art Institute of Chicago), choreography by Adrian Jevicki, and with dancers Brian Moore and Sam Goodman. Preview performance Monday, September 7th at High Concept Laboratories at 8p. Discussion with Luis-Manuel Garcia at 9p. Till then.
-majel.
8.26.2009
8.25.2009
SALON XXVI
'Twas a smallish salon, but airtight. We spent the entire evening in Sidney and Young-Kee's perfect little ballroom.
Amelia Lukas, flute/alto flute
Syrinx (1913, Debussy)
Couleurs du Vent (Kaija Sarriaho)
Larry Zbikowski, guitar
J.S. Bach, Prelude from Prelude, Fugue, and Allegro (BWV 998)
Heitor Villa-Lobos, Prelude 2 and 1 from Cinq Preludes (1940)
Agustín Barrios Mangoré, Las Abejas (1921)
Nahee Park
slide presentation on
Experimental Astrophysics
in Antarctica
and finally
"The Story of Scrivener and His Aislyn"
a short stop-motion animation film by
Evan Curtis
Amelia Lukas, flute/alto flute
Syrinx (1913, Debussy)
Couleurs du Vent (Kaija Sarriaho)
Larry Zbikowski, guitar
J.S. Bach, Prelude from Prelude, Fugue, and Allegro (BWV 998)
Heitor Villa-Lobos, Prelude 2 and 1 from Cinq Preludes (1940)
Agustín Barrios Mangoré, Las Abejas (1921)
Nahee Park
slide presentation on
Experimental Astrophysics
in Antarctica
and finally
"The Story of Scrivener and His Aislyn"
a short stop-motion animation film by
Evan Curtis
Rehearsals aplenty
Everybody's multitasking these days. Vicky, doing what Vicky does best -- reducing a piano to total helplessness.
And Fearless Leader Number One setting up the recording equipment for a rehearsal tape of usw.
Kevin, our protector, is back in town. We have air filters humming in the performance space. I just spent an entire day shopping for costumes (bootlessly -- there were none to be found) and am about to begin another. We're one day away from the Pierrot premiere, four days from usw, and thirteen from Vesalii Icones. Come and get it, Chicago!
- majel.
And Fearless Leader Number One setting up the recording equipment for a rehearsal tape of usw.
Kevin, our protector, is back in town. We have air filters humming in the performance space. I just spent an entire day shopping for costumes (bootlessly -- there were none to be found) and am about to begin another. We're one day away from the Pierrot premiere, four days from usw, and thirteen from Vesalii Icones. Come and get it, Chicago!
- majel.
8.21.2009
USW rehearsal
Some pictures from yesterday's rehearsal. Below, the ensemble with Nick DeMaison, conductor. Note the enormous super hub cap dangling perilously from PVC pipe scaffolding (far left). This thing is hella loud when you bang on it with a hammer.
And a consultation with the composer, Lewis Nielson.
-majel.
And a consultation with the composer, Lewis Nielson.
-majel.
8.20.2009
And away we go ...
After an unofficial kick-off party at the warehouse last night (er, very early this morning ...) the cast, crew and production teams for Pierrot Lunaire and Lewis Nielson's USW are in Chicago, and officially off and running. Apart from one minor snafu (the employees at Laguardia apparently played a fateful game of toss-and-drop with Emily Dufour's cello so that it arrived at Midway not only devalued but essentially unusable; thus, three days after her marriage to our violinist, Christopher Otto, Emily found herself devising the best way to sue the New York Laguardia airport) everyone is well and feeling fine. We even stumbled through (a version of) Pierrot before the party -- the other Pierrot, the one Schoenberg scribbled down during a week of indigestion and insomnia, then buried in the back of his desk drawer.
In a moment of calm-before-the-storm, Nick DeMaison, Music Director of Opera Cabal:
And yours truly in what I suppose one would call a head-slapping moment?
Photos by Kevin Simmons. Stay tuned for more.
-majel.
In a moment of calm-before-the-storm, Nick DeMaison, Music Director of Opera Cabal:
And yours truly in what I suppose one would call a head-slapping moment?
Photos by Kevin Simmons. Stay tuned for more.
-majel.
8.10.2009
SALON XXV
Bringing up the rear as far as this post is concerned since, holy cow, this salon was weeks ago...
A quick highlights-only version (dare I say, twitter-friendly version ... shudder). July 25 we were graced with an unexpected visit from two recent Obie grads, Sam Goodman, and Teddy Rankin-Parker, two of the more interesting boyz I've crossed paths with this summer. Sam and Teddy live with a few other young folks in a former Lithuanian community center out on Archer (very west Bridgeport & très, très cool) and specialize in performance that falls squarely outside the box.
For his brief set at the salon, Teddy grabbed his cello and chatted easily with the audience while tuning up (so easily, so tunefully ... had the performance already begun?) that we hardly noticed he'd been picking the strings the whole time like a guitar. Did this cello have a bow? And then, of all unforeseen things, this Teddy tilts back his head and starts crooning (what, a cellist bursting into song? but yes!) something à la Adam Sandler. Then suddenly it's all over and we're listening to a Bach cello suite. But then this too breaks down into repeated phrases, an improvisation on Bach's already very improvisatory little tune, and then, in a sudden fit of inspiration, Teddy turns to his pal, Sam (who's sitting in the front row wearing what I can only describe as an old-school wrestling singlet get-up) and says, "Sam, come play the piano." Sam without hesitation tip-toes over to the piano and starts playing, and he and Teddy finish off with some piano-cello joint improv. It was a sight to behold.
I also want to mention that I -- proudly, yes -- debuted my Little Tikes Crocodile Piano and sang a little ditty from Gilbert & Sullivan's Ruddigore. My partner in crime, Nick DeMaison, performed Orwellian oratory on his trusty accordion.
More to come August 22nd (the next salon).
-majel
A quick highlights-only version (dare I say, twitter-friendly version ... shudder). July 25 we were graced with an unexpected visit from two recent Obie grads, Sam Goodman, and Teddy Rankin-Parker, two of the more interesting boyz I've crossed paths with this summer. Sam and Teddy live with a few other young folks in a former Lithuanian community center out on Archer (very west Bridgeport & très, très cool) and specialize in performance that falls squarely outside the box.
For his brief set at the salon, Teddy grabbed his cello and chatted easily with the audience while tuning up (so easily, so tunefully ... had the performance already begun?) that we hardly noticed he'd been picking the strings the whole time like a guitar. Did this cello have a bow? And then, of all unforeseen things, this Teddy tilts back his head and starts crooning (what, a cellist bursting into song? but yes!) something à la Adam Sandler. Then suddenly it's all over and we're listening to a Bach cello suite. But then this too breaks down into repeated phrases, an improvisation on Bach's already very improvisatory little tune, and then, in a sudden fit of inspiration, Teddy turns to his pal, Sam (who's sitting in the front row wearing what I can only describe as an old-school wrestling singlet get-up) and says, "Sam, come play the piano." Sam without hesitation tip-toes over to the piano and starts playing, and he and Teddy finish off with some piano-cello joint improv. It was a sight to behold.
I also want to mention that I -- proudly, yes -- debuted my Little Tikes Crocodile Piano and sang a little ditty from Gilbert & Sullivan's Ruddigore. My partner in crime, Nick DeMaison, performed Orwellian oratory on his trusty accordion.
More to come August 22nd (the next salon).
-majel
6.21.2009
SALON XXIV
June 20th marked the first in the summer salon series. Helluva salon, if I may say so. Oldies but goodies in the lineup included:
Thomas & Clara Christensen (piano four-hands)
"Fantasy in F minor for Four Hands," Franz Schubert
Larry Zbikowski (acoustic guitar)
"Rosita (polka)," Francisco Tárrega
"Suite No. 2 in popular style," James McGuire
"Five Pieces from Venezuela," harmonization by Vincente Sojo
David Bashwiner (guitar & voice)
three adorable new songs:
"Meat Hooks," "Sad Little Creature," and "Hey, Cute Girl"
On the second half of the program, we saw a demonstration of a work in progress by Nicholas DeMaison, my fellow collaborator in all things Opera Cabal and currently hailing from New York, and Jason Ponce, all the way from the University of California at San Diego (both are working toward composition Ph.D.s there). Nick and Jason shared a June residency at High Concept Laboratories in Chicago. (A.k.a. the giant, cool-looking warehouse-cum-performance space across from the Hideout -- it's so new it doesn't have a website. Yet!]) The planned work is a trio for piano, percussionist, and live computer processing. I'll do my best to describe their preview performance. Nick, as pianist, sat and played at the piano keyboard in the traditional sense while Jason, as percussionist, played with a variety of mallets on the inside strings of the instrument (manipulating or to some degree interfering with what Nick was playing). At the same time, a video camera mounted vertically over top of the piano tracked Jason's movements in order to then translate those movements into electronic sound (this is the part where I get lost). The total result (an extremely cool-sounding blend of Bach & what I can only call truly "High Concept" technological noise) was pumped through four speakers placed evenly around the room. Those at the center of the room sat in the sweet spot.
We were also graced with a surprise visit and performance from distinguished Korean p'ansori artist, Chan E. Park, who gave a full concert in the ballroom during the second half of the program. This is possibly the coolest, most emotionally transparent music in the world and while it can involve a number of musicians at once, for this salon there were only two performers in the ballroom: Chan's husky, soulful voice (a cross between Johnny Cash and Freddie Mercury in the body of a woman) and her trusty drum.
-majel
Thomas & Clara Christensen (piano four-hands)
"Fantasy in F minor for Four Hands," Franz Schubert
Larry Zbikowski (acoustic guitar)
"Rosita (polka)," Francisco Tárrega
"Suite No. 2 in popular style," James McGuire
"Five Pieces from Venezuela," harmonization by Vincente Sojo
David Bashwiner (guitar & voice)
three adorable new songs:
"Meat Hooks," "Sad Little Creature," and "Hey, Cute Girl"
On the second half of the program, we saw a demonstration of a work in progress by Nicholas DeMaison, my fellow collaborator in all things Opera Cabal and currently hailing from New York, and Jason Ponce, all the way from the University of California at San Diego (both are working toward composition Ph.D.s there). Nick and Jason shared a June residency at High Concept Laboratories in Chicago. (A.k.a. the giant, cool-looking warehouse-cum-performance space across from the Hideout -- it's so new it doesn't have a website. Yet!]) The planned work is a trio for piano, percussionist, and live computer processing. I'll do my best to describe their preview performance. Nick, as pianist, sat and played at the piano keyboard in the traditional sense while Jason, as percussionist, played with a variety of mallets on the inside strings of the instrument (manipulating or to some degree interfering with what Nick was playing). At the same time, a video camera mounted vertically over top of the piano tracked Jason's movements in order to then translate those movements into electronic sound (this is the part where I get lost). The total result (an extremely cool-sounding blend of Bach & what I can only call truly "High Concept" technological noise) was pumped through four speakers placed evenly around the room. Those at the center of the room sat in the sweet spot.
We were also graced with a surprise visit and performance from distinguished Korean p'ansori artist, Chan E. Park, who gave a full concert in the ballroom during the second half of the program. This is possibly the coolest, most emotionally transparent music in the world and while it can involve a number of musicians at once, for this salon there were only two performers in the ballroom: Chan's husky, soulful voice (a cross between Johnny Cash and Freddie Mercury in the body of a woman) and her trusty drum.
-majel
5.19.2009
SALON XXIII
It has come to my attention that my salon tally is hotly contested by two parties, Sidney Nagel and Young-Kee Kim, who allege that certain off-road salons (at the Experimental Station last year, and the Zhou B. Art Center the year before) may or may not in fact be actual salons. If they are proved to be non-salons, I may be forced to reduce the tally. If not, I will not. But given that Sidney and Young-Kee are physicists (remember, these are dangerous people who allege the existence of anti-matter and other such ridiculous stuff possibly responsible for the election of Barak Obama) so I will continue proclaiming twenty-three until actual evidence of negation comes to light.
Be that as it may, we slowly approach the undisputed third anniversary salon this July. Get your horses ready.
Last Saturday's salon (no. 23 and/or ?!@#$) found the company upstairs in Sid and Young-Kee's sultry ballroom for 2 separate presentations: one by Sem Sutter, bibliographer at Regenstein Library, and a second by Michael Schmidt, who debunked dubious claims that the golden ratio governs the architecture of the Parthenon and the pyramids in Gaza. Downstairs marked the final installment in a series of solo drum recitals (Dan Siakel), as well as the first, I hope, of performances by Jonathan Katz (pianist/composer, Northwestern University) and Jonathan Green, who has possibly the finest baritone voice within the borders of the state of Illinois.
The next salon is June 20th, feat. a mostly musical line up, and other bits and nibbles. In other news, we bid farewell to Giordano's pizza, which faithfully provided pizza for salon attendees for nearly three years. Bring on the Eduardo's.
-majel
Be that as it may, we slowly approach the undisputed third anniversary salon this July. Get your horses ready.
Last Saturday's salon (no. 23 and/or ?!@#$) found the company upstairs in Sid and Young-Kee's sultry ballroom for 2 separate presentations: one by Sem Sutter, bibliographer at Regenstein Library, and a second by Michael Schmidt, who debunked dubious claims that the golden ratio governs the architecture of the Parthenon and the pyramids in Gaza. Downstairs marked the final installment in a series of solo drum recitals (Dan Siakel), as well as the first, I hope, of performances by Jonathan Katz (pianist/composer, Northwestern University) and Jonathan Green, who has possibly the finest baritone voice within the borders of the state of Illinois.
The next salon is June 20th, feat. a mostly musical line up, and other bits and nibbles. In other news, we bid farewell to Giordano's pizza, which faithfully provided pizza for salon attendees for nearly three years. Bring on the Eduardo's.
-majel
4.26.2009
Talea Ensemble @ Players Theatre
How many concerts are happening this week?
Count the stars in the sky.
Measure the waters of the ocean with a teaspoon.
Number the grains of sand on the seashore.
Impossible you say?
Yes and it is just as impossible for me
to say how many concerts are happening this week.
So if you're not going to see Die Walküre (Don't do it!! Half of it is just a long slow boring retelling of Rheingold by Wotan accompanied by cellos and trombones!! It's NOT all riding here and hoy-a-hoy-a-hoy there all the time!) at the Met, then consider coming down to The Players Theatre in the West Village to hear some boot-stompin' new music from Europe, including two US premieres (Billone & Romitelli). The ensemble is awesome, and it's been a total joy to work with them. The music is unbelievably cool. How could you even think about Brunhilde on a night like this?
Talea Ensemble
Tuesday, April 28
The Players Theatre, NYC
115 MacDougal St. (in the West Village)
8pm
Works by Hurel, Ferneyhough, Billone, Rands, and the US Premier of Domeniche alla periferia dell'impero by the late Fausto Romitelli.
(n.)
Count the stars in the sky.
Measure the waters of the ocean with a teaspoon.
Number the grains of sand on the seashore.
Impossible you say?
Yes and it is just as impossible for me
to say how many concerts are happening this week.
So if you're not going to see Die Walküre (Don't do it!! Half of it is just a long slow boring retelling of Rheingold by Wotan accompanied by cellos and trombones!! It's NOT all riding here and hoy-a-hoy-a-hoy there all the time!) at the Met, then consider coming down to The Players Theatre in the West Village to hear some boot-stompin' new music from Europe, including two US premieres (Billone & Romitelli). The ensemble is awesome, and it's been a total joy to work with them. The music is unbelievably cool. How could you even think about Brunhilde on a night like this?
Talea Ensemble
Tuesday, April 28
The Players Theatre, NYC
115 MacDougal St. (in the West Village)
8pm
Works by Hurel, Ferneyhough, Billone, Rands, and the US Premier of Domeniche alla periferia dell'impero by the late Fausto Romitelli.
(n.)
4.15.2009
Threepenny Retrospective
Plans are being laid for the next big thing (Nick's residency at High Concept Laboratories in June and July / Opera Cabal's residency at the same in August), but before too much time passes, I thought I'd throw up some pictures and thoughts from our recent Threepenny run at Riverside Theatre.
First the pics, then some thoughts.
All pics by Carol Rosegg, courtesy of Columbia Stages.
Daryl Brown (Balladeer)
Linn Maxwell (Mrs. Peachum) and cast
Rebecca Comerford (Lucy), Neal Moeller (Macheath), Caroline Kaplan (Polly)
Oliver Burns (Tiger Brown) and R.Paul Hamilton (Mr. Peachum)
Alyssa Ciccarello (Jenny) and Neal Moeller (Macheath)
Caroline Kaplan (Polly) and Linn Maxwell (Mrs. Peachum)
the cast
Opera Cabal
Kevin Sims, Chris Coletti, Steve Menotti, Eric Huebner, Amy Schumacher, Justin Kujawski, Amelia Lukas, Alejandro Acierto, Geoff Landman (Kobe van Cauwenbergh behind me), Nicholas DeMaison
Most of those photos and a bunch more are also floating around on Facebook.
Some of you may know that Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times was kind enough to review both our production of the Weill/Brecht and the Manhattan School of Music production of Britten's Beggar's Opera, which, coincidentally, was performed at the exact same time ... right across the street. A nice coincidence to get the attention of the Times, that. His full review can be read here:
The Sly and the Shady on Two Opera Stages
I think we all (those members of the production with whom I've discussed this) had (predictably) mixed feelings about the review. We were happy to get the attention, and perhaps a little TOO aware of being reviewed on opening night, particularly in a show locked in by such unique constraints (a mini-budget, academic production crammed into a creation process designed to showcase a "standard" 70-minute thesis show with a 7-person creative team). It probably goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway, that by Friday night it was an alarmingly different show (and really now, I'm not just saying this out of a sense of self-preservation ... authorities as unbiased as my Mom can vouch for that truth since she sat through all of the first three performances!), and if the review had come on Saturday night instead of Wednesday night, I have strong suspicions that much of the underhanded-style complimenting would have been unnecessary. When I read the piece Thursday night, I thought, "Well, he's being honest. We WERE shaky last night." But mostly I found it to be an interesting wake-up call -- a realization of the danger and the glory that accompany the possibility, perhaps unique to NYC, that even an M.F.A. production could be graced with a glance from the likes of the Times.
In the end, it may be enough that Opera Cabal is on the radar ... and next time we'll be ready, particularly on opening night.
Before going away again, I thought I might also add some more photos from the December show at the AV-aerie that have also recently surfaced. I think these are all by Andy Gricevich of The Nonsense Company, and are all taken at rehearsals in High Concept Laboratories.
Rick Burkhardt
Corey Bertelsen
Nicholas DeMaison (apparently trying to fly)
(n.)
First the pics, then some thoughts.
All pics by Carol Rosegg, courtesy of Columbia Stages.
Daryl Brown (Balladeer)
Linn Maxwell (Mrs. Peachum) and cast
Rebecca Comerford (Lucy), Neal Moeller (Macheath), Caroline Kaplan (Polly)
Oliver Burns (Tiger Brown) and R.Paul Hamilton (Mr. Peachum)
Alyssa Ciccarello (Jenny) and Neal Moeller (Macheath)
Caroline Kaplan (Polly) and Linn Maxwell (Mrs. Peachum)
the cast
Opera CabalKevin Sims, Chris Coletti, Steve Menotti, Eric Huebner, Amy Schumacher, Justin Kujawski, Amelia Lukas, Alejandro Acierto, Geoff Landman (Kobe van Cauwenbergh behind me), Nicholas DeMaison
Most of those photos and a bunch more are also floating around on Facebook.
Some of you may know that Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times was kind enough to review both our production of the Weill/Brecht and the Manhattan School of Music production of Britten's Beggar's Opera, which, coincidentally, was performed at the exact same time ... right across the street. A nice coincidence to get the attention of the Times, that. His full review can be read here:
The Sly and the Shady on Two Opera Stages
I think we all (those members of the production with whom I've discussed this) had (predictably) mixed feelings about the review. We were happy to get the attention, and perhaps a little TOO aware of being reviewed on opening night, particularly in a show locked in by such unique constraints (a mini-budget, academic production crammed into a creation process designed to showcase a "standard" 70-minute thesis show with a 7-person creative team). It probably goes without saying, but I'll say it anyway, that by Friday night it was an alarmingly different show (and really now, I'm not just saying this out of a sense of self-preservation ... authorities as unbiased as my Mom can vouch for that truth since she sat through all of the first three performances!), and if the review had come on Saturday night instead of Wednesday night, I have strong suspicions that much of the underhanded-style complimenting would have been unnecessary. When I read the piece Thursday night, I thought, "Well, he's being honest. We WERE shaky last night." But mostly I found it to be an interesting wake-up call -- a realization of the danger and the glory that accompany the possibility, perhaps unique to NYC, that even an M.F.A. production could be graced with a glance from the likes of the Times.
In the end, it may be enough that Opera Cabal is on the radar ... and next time we'll be ready, particularly on opening night.
Before going away again, I thought I might also add some more photos from the December show at the AV-aerie that have also recently surfaced. I think these are all by Andy Gricevich of The Nonsense Company, and are all taken at rehearsals in High Concept Laboratories.
Rick Burkhardt
Corey Bertelsen
Nicholas DeMaison (apparently trying to fly)And some ensemble shots
(n.)
4.06.2009
SALON XXII
Hats off to the rough & tumble crowd who trekked through something between sleet and Armageddon to come out for last night's salon. Presentations ranged from the propagandistic to Gotan Project-esque (the world premiere of Charlie Williams' group, Truco, to my great mirth featured an instrument that mimics a Bandoneón but has no bellows and is operated by blowing into a tube that connects to a weird piano-looking thing, making the player of this contraption look like a brain in a vat). David Bashwiner completed his lecture series "3 Interesting Pop Songs" with a brief look at "All By Myself," which, in an odd twist of fate, is owned by the Rachmaninoff estate. Finally, a guest appearance from Alberta's Emma Hooper, a wonderful reader of her own writings.
Stay tuned for May.
-m.
Stay tuned for May.
-m.
3.20.2009
SALON XXI
Dear, dear salon:
It's been a long time. Things (dissertation proposal) came between us. But we press on. And what a salon. By my counting, which is impressionistic, there were approximately ... A LOT of people out last Saturday, March 14.* They broke down the doors with a battering ram, set fire to the the piano, threatened the cats, swung drunkenly from the balcony and ran off with the pizza. From now on, I'm carrying a big stick and making loud noises. I ... really mean it ... now.
The program was spectacular. Really.
Irene Claude, flute; Clara Christensen, piano; Meg Lauterbach, cello
[Trio for flute, cello and piano, H. 300, c. 1944 (Bohuslav Martinu, 1890-1959)]
Charlie Williams, piano
[transcription of principal theme from The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,
Larry Zbikowski, guitar
[Fantaisie Elégiaque à la mort de Madame Beslay, op. 59, c. 1836
(Fernando Sor, 1778-1839)]**
Laure Dutirou-Mason, speaker
[presentation & tasting, on & of Armagnac]
Joshua Adams, poetry
[poetry reading]
Roger Moseley, ne'er do well, piano
[death-defying improvisation in the style of Imaginary Composer X {1750-1815}]
[death-defying improvisation in the style of Imaginary Composer X {1750-1815}]
*My third-grade classroom held a competition at Easter [secular = schmecular] to guess the number of jelly beans in a jar. There were probably 250, and since the average third-grader is open to wild speculation our submissions ranged between 4 and 2,000. I guessed that there were 2,000 jelly beans. I'm thinking there were a million people at the salon. Just to be on the safe side.
**excerpted from Larry's performance note and subsequent written communication: "This work was written in memory of Charlotte Beslay, who was Sor's student ... a pianist who had come to the attention of Rossini; perhaps because of this the fantasy is written in a compositional register that is by turns operatic and pianistic ... [I]n the concluding section of the piece the compositional register changes significantly away from the operatic/pianistic tropes Sor uses and toward something much more contemplative. From this contemplative music there emerge a couple of brief fragments of melody. [Editor's note: I urge the faint of heart to stop reading beyond this point.] In the published score (from c. 1836) there is written above these fragments, 'Charlotte! Adieu,' and one can clearly hear the melody setting these unspoken words."
-m.
-m.
3.13.2009
Threepenny Opera @ Riverside Theatre
www.3penny.org
www.columbiastages.com for tickets or 212-854-3408
April 1-3; 8pm
April 4; 2pm & 8pm
Riverside Theatre
91 Claremont Ave.
Directed by Henning Hegland
Music Direction by Nicholas DeMaison
After working with The Nonsense Company in December, we thought perhaps this newfangled idea of "collaboration" was something we should pursue more actively. Hence, the raw production POWER of Columbia University and the Norwegian flair of Henning Hegland, infused with Opera Cabal's...well...let's just call it "unique"....all infused with Opera Cabal's "unique."
(Yes. I did use it as a noun.)
(n.)
High Rise Chamber Music Benefit Concert
Thursday March 19th, 2009
7PM
Join the musicians of Opera Cabal for an evening of new chamber music, live electronic sound installation, wine, appetizers, and a silent auction, all in a beautiful midtown Manhattan high-rise apartment.
Featured performers include Amelia Lukas, Vicky Chow, Kobe Van Cauwenbergh, Steve Menotti, Nicholas DeMaison and Amanda DeBoer playing music by Webern, Kurtag, Carter, Takemitsu, Cage and Schwitters. Sound installation by Jason Ponce.
All proceeds benefit Opera Cabal's 2009-2010 season.
Featured performers include Amelia Lukas, Vicky Chow, Kobe Van Cauwenbergh, Steve Menotti, Nicholas DeMaison and Amanda DeBoer playing music by Webern, Kurtag, Carter, Takemitsu, Cage and Schwitters. Sound installation by Jason Ponce.
This event will be held at
111 West 67th St.
NYC
(between Broadway and Columbus)
111 West 67th St.
NYC
(between Broadway and Columbus)
To be placed on the guest list, you
MUST RSVP to operacabal@gmail.com
Once arriving at the building, the doorman will show you the way to the party.
MUST RSVP to operacabal@gmail.com
Once arriving at the building, the doorman will show you the way to the party.
Suggested donation: $20/$10 students
Checks payable to Fractured Atlas are also acceptable. All proceeds benefit Opera Cabal's 2009-2010 season.
12.28.2008
Ursularia (photos by David Stewart)
As a postscript to Majel's last post, here are a few more pictures of (most of) the people who made this show happen.
All photos in this post were taken by David Stewart.
4/5ths of the Ursularia cast
(Ryan Higgins, Majel Connery, Rick Burkhardt-also director, Andy Gricevich)
***
Amanda DeBoer
***
(body cast by Rose DiSalvo)
**
David Medine (viola)
**
Amelia Lukas (flute)
**
The hands of Mark Holley
**
Karen Schultz-Harmon
**
Nicholas DeMaison
**
And let us not forget our illustrious parachute.
(n.)
All photos in this post were taken by David Stewart.
4/5ths of the Ursularia cast
(Ryan Higgins, Majel Connery, Rick Burkhardt-also director, Andy Gricevich)
***
Amanda DeBoer***
(body cast by Rose DiSalvo)
**
David Medine (viola)
**
Amelia Lukas (flute)
**
The hands of Mark Holley
**
Karen Schultz-Harmon**
Nicholas DeMaison**
I find this photo strangely...err....telling...
***
***
And let us not forget our illustrious parachute.(n.)
12.25.2008
Ursularia 2008
To prove this happened, since, given our record you never know (no, we didn't get shut down by the Chicago police this time, but we did get shut down by the AV-aerie's power supply on opening night, after plugging in the 102nd power strip), here's a quick narration of events. All photos here were taken by our excellent stage designer, Rose DiSalvo.
Presenting ... Ursularia @ AV-aerie, 2008 ...
First of all, how cool is this space? Apart from the 75 white wedding chairs which, however unintentional (the white, not the chairs), probably added to the overall weird emphasis on whiteness established earlier on by the giant, hovering parachute. Marshall Preheim, who runs the AV-aerie, just happened to have one sitting in a giant parachute box at the back of the space. Good thing. (Thanks, by the way, to Fred Grier for his help hanging the parachute.)
As a frame for the stage space it worked, quite simply, awfully well. Here are views from stage right, center and left, respectively (you can pick out conductor Nick DeMaison [also composer of Ursularia, also Music Director of Opera Cabal] in the first photo, center; you'll know him by his side-burns):
But as a backdrop, it was,
I think it's fair to say,
cooler ...
than ...
... cool. As before in 2007, the opera featured soprano Amanda DeBoer as Ursula's immortal soul. Here, darlingly, she gurgles and screams her last.
as Nonsense Company actors Andy Gricevich and Ryan Higgins look icily on. Rick "the professor" Burkhardt manned the overhead projector.
One does have to talk about oneself, but one does so obliquely and in passing. Here she is, Ursula (me/Majel Connery), framed by Rose DiSalvo yarn art (+ Rose's neon lights in the second photo.)
Needless to say, but saying so anyway, we're terribly grateful to everyone for coming out (some from states and states away). Any audience is a friend of Opera Cabal. And by the way, yes, I'm blogging on Christmas and no, I'm not avoiding my family.
-m.
Presenting ... Ursularia @ AV-aerie, 2008 ...
First of all, how cool is this space? Apart from the 75 white wedding chairs which, however unintentional (the white, not the chairs), probably added to the overall weird emphasis on whiteness established earlier on by the giant, hovering parachute. Marshall Preheim, who runs the AV-aerie, just happened to have one sitting in a giant parachute box at the back of the space. Good thing. (Thanks, by the way, to Fred Grier for his help hanging the parachute.)
As a frame for the stage space it worked, quite simply, awfully well. Here are views from stage right, center and left, respectively (you can pick out conductor Nick DeMaison [also composer of Ursularia, also Music Director of Opera Cabal] in the first photo, center; you'll know him by his side-burns):
But as a backdrop, it was,
I think it's fair to say,
cooler ...
than ...
... cool. As before in 2007, the opera featured soprano Amanda DeBoer as Ursula's immortal soul. Here, darlingly, she gurgles and screams her last.
as Nonsense Company actors Andy Gricevich and Ryan Higgins look icily on. Rick "the professor" Burkhardt manned the overhead projector.
One does have to talk about oneself, but one does so obliquely and in passing. Here she is, Ursula (me/Majel Connery), framed by Rose DiSalvo yarn art (+ Rose's neon lights in the second photo.)
Needless to say, but saying so anyway, we're terribly grateful to everyone for coming out (some from states and states away). Any audience is a friend of Opera Cabal. And by the way, yes, I'm blogging on Christmas and no, I'm not avoiding my family.
-m.
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