REVIEW: Hartford Symphony Orchestra, "Vivaldi’s Gloria"

The Bushnell, Hartford, CT

www.hartfordsymphony.org

April 12-14, 2024

by Michael J. Moran

At first glance, the seventh “Masterworks” program of the HSO’s 80th anniversary season looked like a hodgepodge of disparate, unrelated works. But guest conductor Jacomo Bairos, quoting Hartford Chorale Music Director Jack Anthony Pott, called it a “garden” displaying the “wonderful variety” of classical music.  

The evening's concert opened with several selections from “Spirituals: A Medley,” 1920's arrangements by William Grant Still, the “dean of African-American composers,” of traditional Black spirituals. The ensemble was joined in all but one number by eloquent soprano Schauntice Shepard, who brought aching poignancy to “Were You There?” and fervent hope to “Deep River.”

Jacomo Bairos

HSO concertmaster Leonid Sigal was next featured in Edouard Lalo’s 1873 “Symphonie Espagnole,” a concerto for violin and orchestra in all but name. A Frenchman’s homage to Spanish musical traditions, its five movements included offbeat and imaginative rhythms and require a virtuosic soloist. Sigal’s secure technique and silken tone, which he shaded at times to achieve a husky, almost gypsy-like sound, met or exceeded the piece’s every demand. Bairos and the HSO matched their soloist in sensitivity and flair.

The other major work on the program was Antonio Vivaldi’s 1720 “Gloria,” which has become the best known of the Italian master’s many sacred compositions. The text of the half-hour work, sung in Latin by mixed chorus and soloists, is derived from the Catholic Mass. Its 12 short movements featured wide contrasts in tempo and dynamics, including several intimate passages for soloists and one or two instruments. Bairos led a thrilling performance, with robust, flexible, and lucid singing by the men and women of the Hartford Chorale, soprano Suzanne Lis, mezzo-soprano Hannah Shea, and notable contributions from all sections of the orchestra.

The program closed with a sumptuous reading of “Make Your Garden Grow,” the stirring finale of Leonard Bernstein’s 1956 Broadway musical “Candide,” based on Voltaire’s 1759 satire, with lyrics by poet Richard Wilbur. Tenor Dominick Chenes was a plangent title character, and Lis, a radiant Cunegonde, his loving bride. The Hartford Chorale, HSO, and Bairos offered vibrant support.

The Portuguese-American Bairos, currently based in Miami Beach, Florida and Lisbon, Portugal, has a charismatic, Bernstein-esque stage presence, and his strong rapport with HSO and its audience would make him a welcome return visitor to Hartford.

The HSO’s next Masterworks program (May 10-12) will feature music of Mozart and Prokofiev.

REVIEW: Springfield Symphony Orchestra, "An American Celebration"

Symphony Hall, Springfield, MA

www.springfieldsymphony.org

April 6, 2024

by Michael J. Moran

With engaging and informative spoken remarks about each piece on the program, guest conductor Peter Boyer proved as able a raconteur as a conductor and composer in his SSO debut.

The “celebration” theme of the evening started even before the official concert with an upbeat rendition of “Happy Birthday” for 32-year SSO violinist Miho Matsuno by her colleagues under concertmaster Masako Yanagita. It also showcased the family feeling among SSO members.

They opened the formal program with two contrasting fanfares: Aaron Copland’s grand and spacious 1942 “Fanfare for the Common Man,” honoring World War II American soldiers; and Jennifer Higdon’s fast-paced 1999 “Fanfare Ritmico,” depicting, in her words, the “rhythmic motion, of man and machine…in the new century.” Boyer and the SSO were fervent advocates for both forceful scores. 

Next came a vibrant account of the concert suite from Copland’s 1944 ballet “Appalachian Spring.” Written for dancer-choreographer Martha Graham, its eight movements tell the story of a pioneer couple moving into their first home. While the most famous movement is based on the Shaker hymn “Simple Gifts,” Boyer shaped the quiet closing (which he quoted film composer Elmer Bernstein as wishing he had written) with special sensitivity. 

The concert closed with two rhapsodies for piano and orchestra, both featuring soloist Jeffrey Biegel: George Gershwin’s 1924 “Rhapsody in Blue;” and Boyer’s own “Rhapsody in Red, White & Blue,” which Biegel commissioned him to write in celebration of the “Rhapsody in Blue” centennial this year. Boyer’s piece was played first (he quipped, “you never want to follow the ‘Rhapsody in Blue’”). Biegel brought virtuosity and interpretive finesse to its energetic opening, lush, bluesy midsection, and jubilant, showy finale. Boyer led the SSO with a sure feeling for “the composer I know best.”

After KeriAnn DeBari’s sinuous opening clarinet solo (which drew an approving smile from Biegel), the pianist loosened up for a jazzy take on Gershwin’s crowd-pleasing classic. Biegel included some rare solo passages omitted from Ferde Grofe’s expansion for symphony orchestra of Gershwin’s original setting for Paul Whiteman’s 23-piece jazz band. All the musicians played with a white-hot intensity that brought the capacity audience to its feet.

The SSO’s next classical concert is “Magic & Glory” on May 18. 

REVIEW: Theatre Guild of Hampden, "Oklahoma!"

Theatre Guild of Hampden, Wilbraham, MA

www.theatreguildofhampden.org

Through April 14, 2024

by Michael J. Moran

NOTE: According to the venue website, all performances are sold out.

“Oklahoma!,” the 1943 show that marked both a new level of complexity in the Broadway
musical and the first collaboration by composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II, has been performed in many ways, but leave it to the innovative Theatre Guild of Hampden to present its exuberant new production as an immersive hoedown in its theater-in-the-round home, the Red Barn at Fountain Park in Wilbraham, MA.

Set in Indian Territory in 1906 (Oklahoma became a state in 1907), it tells the story of farm girl Laurey and her two suitors, cowboy Curly and farmhand Jud, with comic relief from cowboy Will Parker, his fiancée, Ado Annie, and Persian peddler Ali Hakim. Using minimal props (two chairs and a few cloth-covered hay bales) and open space between audience seats (with a small porch at one end) for their stage, co-directors Chris Rojas and Mark Giza wisely put the focus on their resourceful 18-member cast.

Joey Valencourt’s plaintive tenor and skilled guitar-playing make him an appealing and sympathetic Curly. Ally Reardon’s full-bodied, expressive soprano gives her Laurey a thoughtful, yearning poignancy. The chemistry between the two leads is instantly palpable. Nick Adams’ rich baritone finds hidden sensitivity in the morbid Jud. Max Levheim’s hapless Will Parker is an endearing foil for Dominique Libera’s ditsy Ado Annie. Joe Lessard is a nimble Ali Hakim, and Kathy Renaud’s portrayal of Laurey’s Aunt Eller is a hoot, with a spine of steel.

Musical highlights include: Valencourt’s exhilarating “Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin;” Levheim’s hyperactive “Kansas City;” Libera’s hilariously over-the-top “I Cain’t Say No;” Reardon’s carefree “Many A New Day;” Adams’ dramatic “Lonely Room;” a soaring “People Will Say We’re in Love” from Valencourt and Reardon; and a stirring title song by the ensemble.

Choreographer Dina Del Buono somehow keeps the full cast in frequent motion across the narrow playing space with no collisions and dances with fluid grace herself as Laurey in the haunting “Dream Ballet” that closes Act I. Instrumental support by music director Bobby Scott on piano, violinist Anne-Marie Messbauer, and percussionist Ray Cole heightens the prevailing mood of festive intimacy.

This inventive production is modest in scale but wide and deep in emotional resonance. Local fans of great musical theater should snap up tickets while they last.

REVIEW: TheaterWorks Hartford, “Sanctuary City”

TheaterWorks Hartford, Hartford CT

www.twhartford.org

through April 25, 2024

by Jarice Hanson

 

“Sanctuary City” at TheaterWorks Hartford is an ambitious contemporary play by Martyna Majok, the author of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for drama, “Cost of Living.” The 90-minute play is written in three parts and structured (somewhat) like a three-act play.

 

Photo Credit: TheaterWorks Hartford

The characters are “B” (for Boy) played by Grant Kennedy Lewis, and “G” (for Girl), played by Sara Gutierrez. It is no accident that these characters do not have an identity in the sense of having a name. They represent the many boys and girls who find themselves undocumented in America and burdened by the limitations made on them by the decisions of their parents. A third character is introduced in the third part of the play. It is “Henry,” played by Misha Yarovoy, who upends the situation and forces B and G to rethink their plans and choices.

 

All three of these characters are courageous, and the actors who inhabit them are likable. Each is smart, resourceful, and kind. The audience can’t help but hope for a happy ending. Still, there is an overriding feeling of gloom that permeates the situation, so that when the inevitable conclusion arrives, we feel a level of empathy that teaches us a lesson about people whom we may not understand. This is good playwriting, and excellent acting.

 

The play is set in the Ironbound section of Newark, shortly after 9/11. The place is a bleak, poverty ridden area known as a tough place to live. Immigration has just become a major topic for the country, and the fear immigrants experienced then, as now, is a constant undercurrent of the play’s meaning and message. When we meet B and G, they are children, facing an uncertain future, but as they grow and get to know each other, they hatch a plan for their long-term survival. Each lives with their mother, and each of those mothers are representative of so many single mothers who want the best for their children. When the children grow to be young adults living in America, we see a very different viewpoint of survival and desire.

 

This play was developed in partnership with Long Wharf Theatre, New Haven, and is listed as having two co-directors, Jacob G. Padrón, and Pedro Bermúdez. The publicity for the show states it as an “immersive environment,” largely due to Bermúdez’ stunning video projections and video design, enhanced by Emmie Finckel’s imaginatively spare set. The multi-media aspect of the show is visually arresting and flawlessly executed, but despite the augmented backgrounds and suggestion of three-dimensionality as characters are displayed against a series of screens that suggest a maze, the play itself is almost unabashedly traditional in structure and impact. The special effects are nice, but the message of this play is what stays with the audience and gives this play a social currency unlike others.

 

REVIEW: Hartford Symphony Orchestra, "Copland & Bernstein"

The Bushnell, Hartford, CT

www.hartfordsymphony.org

March 8-10, 2024

by Michael J. Moran

With a program of two complete ballets and a waltz, the sixth “Masterworks” weekend of the HSO’s 80th anniversary season offered three contrasting perspectives on the art of dance.

The first selection was notable in three respects. The orchestra and its Music Director Carolyn Kuan presented Aaron Copland’s 1944 ballet “Appalachian Spring” not in the usual concert suite, but complete; they played its original version for 13 instruments; and their performance was accompanied by a 1958 film of the ballet choreographed by and featuring Martha Graham, for whom it was written.

While the suite includes the most familiar music, the added visual dimension brought the missing numbers equally to life. And the 64-year-old Graham, in the leading role of the wife (the ballet depicts 19th-century newlyweds moving into a farmhouse) still danced with remarkable grace and agility. Kuan’s inspired leadership drew an intimate yet surprisingly full-bodied sound from the small HSO ensemble.    

The next work on the program made perhaps the most visceral impact: a buoyant account by the full orchestra of Leonard Bernstein’s ballet “Fancy Free,” also dating from 1944. This, too, was the complete ballet, not the concert suite Bernstein extracted from it. It tells the story of three sailors on 24-hour leave in New York who meet three women in a bar (the same plot soon became the musical “On the Town,” with different music by Bernstein and lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green). Highlights included: a jazzy “Scene at the Bar;” a sinuous “Enter Two Girls;” and a sultry, Latin-flavored “Danzon.”

The program closed on a glamorous note, with ballroom dancers Anastasia Barhatova, director of the Fred Astaire Dance Studios in Suffield, and Andrew Kerski sweeping elegantly across the front of the Belding stage while Kuan and the HSO played Johann Strauss, Jr’s “On the Beautiful Blue Danube” behind them. A flop when it debuted in Vienna as a choral piece in 1867, the “Waltz King” reworked it for orchestra later that year, when it quickly became the epitome of the Viennese waltz. The musicians made it sound just as stylish and sumptuous as the dancers looked in their sequined gown and tuxedo.  

The HSO’s next Masterworks program (April 12-14) will feature guest conductor Jacomo Bairos and the Hartford Chorale.

Review: Springfield Chamber Players, "March Reveries"

First Church of Christ, Longmeadow, MA

www.springfieldsymphonymusicians.com

March 10, 2024

by Lisa Covi

Photo by Eagan Pictures

New to many living in Western MA is Springfield Chamber Players, formerly known as MOSSO (Musicians of the Springfield Symphony Orchestra). Its mission is to provide small, primarily string, professional concerts in a variety of venues throughout Hampden County. 

The troupe continued its journey for the 2023/24 season as part of the Longmeadow Chamber Series held at First Church of Christ: an ideal, comfortable, and acoustically pleasing performance venue. The world-class musicians played well in this intimate setting for about 40 audience members. The program's theme was "March Reveries," and the quintet delivered an exciting and harmonious performance.

Clarinetist Christopher Cullen kicked off the Ralph Vaughan Williams piece – "Six Studies in English Folk Song". One would never guess that the composer penned his piece originally for cello and piano. Patricia Edens, cellist; and three violinists, Springfield Symphony concertmaster Masako Yanagita, Miho Matsuno, and Yuko Naito-Gotay filled out the quintet and blended seamlessly with the alto-like tones of melodic wind.

Each movement was surprisingly short and distinctive. The next two works were performed without clarinet, but solely strings. Selections from Franz Joseph Hadyn's “The Dream” (Op.50, No.5) delivered the reliable elegance of his tonic harmonies punctuated by running passages, and “contrary motion” where two musicians play notes that move in opposite directions. 

The two movements of Paul Chihara's "Ellington Fantasy: Mood Indigo" and "Sophisticated Lady" were recognizable as popular jazz tunes. However, the arrangement for string quartet transformed Ellington into an extraordinarily new feast for the ears. It echoed the music experience of Scott Joplin. 

The final piece, Bernard Herrmann's "Souvenirs de Voyage," reunited the strings with the clarinet to evoke memories of emotion, turmoil, regret, and amusement. Herrmann's skill at scoring for film and television, such as Citizen Kane and Twilight Zone's “The Living Doll,” were evident in the different points of view heard as each musician played a contrasting line in particular passages.

One advantage of the smaller venue is that each participant in the audience could hear the vibrations against the soundboards of the strings and the musicians' proficient bow techniques that usually blend into the background with larger performance groups. The chamber music series is not only highly entertaining, but a good way to access Springfield's elite performers.

Concerts continue as part of Westfield Athenaeum Chamber Music Series on Thursday, April 18 at 7pm, and once again at First Church of Christ, Longmeadow on May 12 at 3pm on the Town Green, weather-permitting.

REVIEW: Springfield Symphony Orchestra, "Fantasias"

Symphony Hall, Springfield, MA

www.springfieldsymphony.org

March 9, 2024

by Michael J. Moran

In notes for this concert, dedicated to the memory of SSO principal pianist Nadine Shank, Michelle Pina defines a fantasia as “a musical composition whose improvisational nature casts aside traditional musical forms and in turn bows to the fancy of the composer.” Guest conductor Adam Kerry Boyles, Assistant Conductor of the Hartford Symphony Orchestra, and the SSO musicians found this spontaneous quality in all six pieces on this imaginative program. 

The program opened with a glowing account of Ralph Vaughan Williams’ “Fantasia on Greensleeves,” a 1934 orchestral setting of the classic English folk song. A faster midsection, which quotes the traditional song “Lovely Joan,” offers a lively contrast. Lili Boulanger’s 1918 “D’un matin de printemps (Of a Spring Morning”)” takes the opposite approach, framing a soft, dreamy interlude with brisk, joyful outer sections. Boyles and the SSO made an exuberant case for this rarity.   

Quynh Nguyen

Vietnamese-American pianist Quynh Nguyen next soloed in classical and film composer Paul Chihara’s 2021 “Piano Concerto-Fantasy,” written for and in collaboration with her. This colorful score draws on both Vietnamese folk music and modern jazz to depict Vietnam’s past and hopes for the future. Nguyen’s technical prowess and interpretive sensitivity captured all the music’s shifting moods. Boyles and the orchestra were enthusiastic partners.

The concert’s second half featured the Springfield Symphony Chorus and UMass Amherst Chorale, well prepared by their respective directors, Nikki Stoia and Reagan G. Paras. Gabriel Faure’s 1864 “Cantique de Jean Racine” set a sacred text by the French poet to music of gentle consolation for chorus, harp, and low strings. Randall Thompson’s poignant 1959 settings of Robert Frost’s “The Road Not Taken” and “Choose Something Like a Star” are for chorus and full orchestra. Voices and instruments blended with seemingly effortless clarity under Boyles’ nuanced lead.

Ludwig van Beethoven’s 1808 “Fantasia for Piano, Chorus and Orchestra,” last performed by the SSO with Shank in 2015, completed the program. Nguyen and the ensemble rendered the many tempo changes in this sometimes ungainly but always entertaining twenty-minute piece with forceful virtuosity. Though only heard for the last few minutes, the combined choruses sang with equal strength and fluidity, investing Christoph Kuffner’s text on the power of the arts with triumphant conviction.

The next SSO concert is “An American Celebration” on April 6, 2024