TU Dance & Cranberry Wontons

Theoroi and friends and ioper and i attended TU Dance at the Cowles Center on Friday, May 18.
The dancers was technically spectacular and the works were well choreographed.
Costumes were great, crowd engaged... but... the movements could have been set to any music. they weren't rhythmic in any piece except the last, January: Part II with music by Amon Tobin. So i guess that's a discovery of my tastes and distastes in modern dance. But the last piece was actually everything that i DO like about modern dance, from dark, ambiguous costumes to sort of tribal precision ensemble work. 
We got great snacks and saki (from the greatest saki list i've seen in the twin cities) at Tom Pham's Wondrous Azian Kitchen, in the Caterpillar Lounge, and i love that place. so despite my sleepiness of tu dance, it was another great theoroi event! Gotta give great props to the Cowles center, too, and their magical little crystal chandeliers.

Spring Fling with the SPCO

Well, for a grey and rainy Thursday, the SPCO at Temple Israel sure broke the clouds. It was a delight - Violinist Soovin Kim performed on the two Mozart works and the Enesco octet in the place of previously slated soloist, Christian Tetzlaff, (no small charge) and SPCO Concertmaster Steven Copes (who is dreamy to watch play) led the Haydn symphony.

The first piece, a Mozart rondo, was uplifting, energetic and all that is enjoyable about classical music. Soovan Kim was great fun to watch with effortless technique and quick bowing that makes me think he might also play a mean fiddle. This piece was programmatically successful as well in its spring-like energy, optimism, and… stay with me here… casual virtuosity. The joy of this spectacular piece was apparent in each player and they conveyed this and did that crazy trick where they inspire you that you think YOU might like to pick up a viola and no big deal… just join along.

The Enescu String Octet in C was likewise spectacular, and in many similar ways, though the piece itself was far different than any Mozart. The octet was very colorful – each voice in the ensemble was very distinct and unique. The dissonance grew and resolved over and over again, playing upon and highlighting all the different textures, timbres, and atmospheres that music in this setting (smaller group) can paint. Melody lines swam through each section, drawing the listener around the violas painting beautiful shades in their lower ranges, the cellos clipping through textural pizzicato, and certainly the violins sweeping us off our feet time and again. The piece and performance alike were dazzling.

The final piece, Haydn’s Symphony No. 86 in D was rollicking and dramatic, and concluded the concert with the same liveliness and vigor that we’d enjoyed throughout. The orchestra added a couple winds and timpani, and at first, the music seemed to take a more serious turn, but we came to find out that was not at all the case. Each passage that threatened seriousness or a somber turn was countered with a dramatic pause, a lively counterpoint, or the sparkling minuet that reminded everyone not to take things too seriously.

The concert had real potential to be stuffy but was anything but. The program was refreshing, the musicians accomplished and entertaining, and the mood joyous and inspired. Kim, Copes, and the rest of the SPCO delivered a performance that reminds us all how charming chamber music really can be.

Susan Graham

Susan Graham with Theoroi presented by The Schubert Club at the Ordway
Susan Graham - mezzo soprano, with Malcom Martineau - piano
Was quite wonderful. i drove to downtown st paul by myself with no idea about parking and paid the price. drove around forever [MAD] and finally just parked at TeRy's apt building. A 15 minute walk but a guaranteed spot. Theoroi is fun to see shows with and even though i was right on the nose on time, tix were delivered with smile and i was seated with other members of the group. Back at Ordway, i feel we've all gained some level of familiarity, and therefore perhaps more honesty about the show, despite its aforethought exclusivity.

She sang songs (lieder) from a wide variety from many eras of composers writing on themes of french (poulenec), german (goethe), and english poetry (shakespere).  Her voice is an accomplished instrument and she brought passion and emotion to the program.  The whole performance surpassed all my expectations, because while i fully expected musical virtuosity, i did not expect to be so engaged with the music and selections and depth of the pieces.

Certainly our post show visit with David Evan Thomas helped me delve deeper into these mostly shorter works. As usual, i'll not fully book report, but i'd like to recount a bit about a few...

The Blessed Virgin’s Expostulation - Henry Purcell
Mad Bess (Bess of Bedlam) - Henry Purcell

Baroque. English. Beautiful control and articulation. Delicious poetry. Here, taste.

Mad Bess (Bess of Bedlam)

From silent shades and the Elysian groves
Where sad departed spirits mourn their loves
From crystal streams and from that country where
Jove crowns the fields with flowers all the year,
Poor senseless Bess, cloth’d in her rags and folly,
Is come to cure her lovesick melancholy

La mort d’Ophélie - Hector Berlioz
Honestly, this is harder to recall the music. berlioz can be hard to whistle the next day, though. Also some lovely lyrics here, and french mid-century tone poetry.

Songs from Goethe’s Wilhelm Meister - A variety pack of composers from across the 19th century writing Goethe inspired lieder. Very different, short pieces of music. i really enjoyed hearing the Tchaikovsky sung in the original Russian. This type of grouping illustrates for me the gravity of Goethe on art, music, and theater. Time to hit up the library.

Heiss mich nicht reden - Franz Schubert
So lasst mich scheinen, bis ich werde - Robert Schumann
Kennst du das Land - Franz Liszt
Nyet, tol’ko tot, kto znal (None but the lonely heart) - Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Romance de Mignon - Henri Duparc
Heiss mich nicht reden - Hugo Wolf

 And of course the encore. Which was salty and sweet.

 

I Can be a Sexy Lady was written for Ms. Graham by Ben Moore because she's so often cast in less feminine, if even female roles with her strength as a mezzo. So this bit of, er, jazz? was a fun and flirty way to dabble outside the yoozh. Also to remind us that starlets are also muses for admirers.

Oh but Á Chloris by Reynaldo Hahn was incredible. Took the audience's breath away, and then she floated away, and it ended. it was perfect.