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A commemorative stamp issued in 1973 celebrating the life and works of George Gershwin, including Porgy and Bess/U.S.Postal Service
Hurry to Baltimore tonight or tomorrow for a knockout performance by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Morgan State University Choir in concert with national opera stars who present George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess.
You ain't heard nuthin' 'til you hear (and see) this.
Another commemorative stamp issued in 1973 celebrating George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess/U.S.Postal Service
It's performed with spine-tingling songs, duets and trios, ("Summertime," "It Ain't Necessarily So," "I Got Plenty o' Nuttin,'') by singers who act, move, and dance, far more than anticipated for a concert opera.
Who needs sets with glamour like this flowing across and above the stage? Which is where the Morgan State Choir stood in all-black ensembles, about 50 voices strong, under the direction of Eric Conway.
The show's director, Hana S. Sharif, excels with her cast and crew, including effective, unnamed fight and sound managers.
The words to the music are screened above the performers, but the production stands on its own, and the words are unnecessary.
In 2015 the Morgan State University Choir sang at the White House for President and Mrs. Barack Obama in a televised live performance/Photo, Morgan State University Choir
Excellent, essential contributions by the BSO's xylophonist and pianist produce a hush in several places when they play solo, always under the capable direction of Conductor Marin Alsop.
While I waited in line to order my dinner at Strathmore before the Thursday evening performance, the couple behind me told me they had come just for the choir.
"Have you heard them?" they asked me.
No, I had come just for Porgy and Bess which I've heard and seen many times.
"Well, just you wait!" they exclaimed. "They are outstanding!" And they were, combined with the soloists and orchestra.
One of the soloists is the talented tenor, Larry Hylton, another star graduate of the Duke Ellington School of the Arts, who played Sportin' News, and there he was, a'prancin' and dancin' across the floor, back and forth, in yellow pants and a top hat made to stand out.
The show is a fast-paced exhibition by George Gershwin (1898-1937) which takes place in Charleston, S.C. during the Great Depression, when a woman, Bess, becomes the property of one man, Crown,
then another, Porgy, and finally, Sportin’ Life, who carries her away to New York.
No matter how many time you have seen this show, the exceptional tunes endure.
Bass-baritone Robert Cantrell is Porgy who carries the role fittingly, strong and rich, while he limps in suspenders across the stage, aided by a crutch, but it's the powerful voice of baritone Lester Lynch as Crown who makes his presence keenly felt even before he enters the stage. He commands the crowd's attention and sets the pace for the action, whisking Bess away to his land of no forgiveness.
Soprano Laquita Mitchell is the beautiful Bess who dashes out in a bright red, sexy dress to catch the hand of the most available.
The first mid-act applause followed soprano Reyna Carguill's incredible solo as Serena, who delivers "My Man's Gone Now," after Crown's murder of her husband, Robbins (Joshua Jones).
Another show-stopper is soprano Jasmine Habersham
who plays Clara and begins the show serenading "Summertime" to her baby until her husband, Jake (Cameron Potts) comes on stage to cradle their child and croon "A Woman is a Sometime Thing."
Alexandra Crichlow Bradshaw is the distinguished Maria who joins Ms. Carguill and Mr. Cantrell in the closing of "Bess, Oh Where's My Bess?"
Porgy takes leave of the stage singing "Oh, Lawd, I'm On My Way" to follow Sportin' Life and his Bess to New York.
Not to miss!
What: Porgy and Bess by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra and the Morgan State University Choir and more
When: Tonight at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m.
Where: Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, 1212 Cathedral St.
Baltimore 21201
How much: Tickets information is at the link. For special "Young and Free" discounts at the Sunday performance, click here.
For more information: Call 410-783-8000.
I'm on my way....
to Baltimore
I'm on my way
to a heav'nly land
for in that town
I'll hear the grand
music o'er the land
Oh Lawd, I'm on my way
I'm on my way to a heav'nly land
I'll ride that long, long road
If You are there to guide my hand
Oh Lawd, I'm on my way
I'm on my way to a heav'nly land
Oh Lawd, it's a long, long way
But You'll be there to take my hand
Oh, I got plenty o' nuttin'
An' nuttin's plenty fo' me
I got no car, got no mule, I got no misery
De folks wid plenty o' plenty
Got a lock an dey door
'Fraid somebody's a-goin' to rob 'em
While dey's out a-makin' more
What for?
I got no lock an de door
(Dat's no way to be)
Dey kin steal de rug from de floor
Dat's okeh wid me
'Cause de things dat I prize
Like de stars in de skies
All are free
Oh, I got plenty o' nuttin'
An' nuttin's plenty fo' me
I got my gal, got my song
Got Hebben de whole day long!
patricialesli@gmail.com
Sani ol-Molk (1814-1866), Scheherazade and the Sultan, 1849-1856/Public Domain, commons.wikimedia.org
Bravo! Bravo!
That was the response from the sold-out, standing audience at the conclusion of two Scheherazades played by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra at the Music Center at Strathmore.
Listeners were spellbound by Scheherazade.2 by John Adams (b. 1947) and Scheherazade by Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov (1844-1908).
Mr. Adams wrote Scheherazade.2 for his longtime friend and collaborator, Leila Josefowicz, the BSO guest artist who was Scheherazade at the concert.
Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra/Baltimore Symphony Orchestra
Like Rimsky-Korsakov's composition, Scheherazade.2 was thrilling and captivating, almost as if the audience became peeping people, witnessing private, dangerous events.
Fortunately, although contemporary, Mr. Adams's Scheherazade.2 lacked harsh clashes and stifling pauses which afflict many modern works.
Both Scheherazades are poignant masterpieces, played with large orchestras, using almost the same instruments with the addition of Mr. Adams's celesta and cimbalom.
An Arabic manuscript of the 1001 Nights by Unknown/Public Domain, commons.wikimedia.org
In both performances, the cello and bass captured the tensions and fears caused by the sultan, evident throughout the music which contained agonizing combinations, as the imaginary, ruthless dictator practices torture, but gradually succumbs to the
magic of Scheherazade.
Ferdinand Keller (1842-1922), Scheherazade and Sultan Schariar,
1880/Public Domain, commons.wikimedia.org
Wearing a sleeveless, colorful tunic, Ms. Josefowicz played her violin with gusto, occasionally stomping her foot, standing in the shape of a Z, mostly perpendicular to the audience and adjacent to BSO's conductor, Marin Alsop, who complimented Ms. Josefowicz's ability to perform without notes.
Sometimes the violinist threw back her back as if to taunt her invisible captor, the 15th century sultan.
According to legend, Scheherazade (also called Shirazad, Shahrazad, and Shahrzad) was the name of the last bride of the murderous sultan who, over 1001 nights, killed 1001 women, one by one on their wedding nights, fearing their unfaithfulness.
That is, until the last bride, Scheherazade, who regaled the sultan night after night with stories and endings she left until the next night and the next and the next...for 1001 nights. By then, the sultan was enraptured and made Scheherazade his queen to live forever in the pages of 1001 Nights.
At evening's end, Conductor Alsop recognized the principal musicians, the soloists in the Rimsey-Korsakov, the first violinist and concertmaster, Jonathan Carney who played like it was his last concert, and cellist Dariusz Skoraczewski, another evening star among many.
Indeed, Rimsey-Korsakov brought my friend and me to tears, emotionally wrought by his compelling Scheherazade.
For both composers, their creations began with art.
Mr. Adams visited the Monde Arabe (the Arab World Institute) in Paris where he saw renditions of cruelty and brutality inflicted upon women beginning with illustrations from the 15th century. (Additions from the 21st century: Trump, R. Kelly, Harvey Weinstein, Bob Kraft, Bill O'Reilly, Matt Lauer, Mark Halperin, Tucker Carlson)
On International Women's Day weekend, Conductor Alsop called Mr. Adams "probably the biggest feminist I know."
Wikipedia says Rimsey-Korsakov had an interest in the Orient and the pictures from 1001 Nights helped drive him to his greatest composition.
Although Rimsey-Korsakov's version ends happily with Scheherazade able to prolong and save her life through her marvelous story telling, Conductor Alsop said Mr. Adams's composition leaves it up to the listener to decide the outcome.
In which case, (thank you, Mr. Adams) with her bow, Scheherazade pierces the throat of the cruel dictator whose streams of blood turn into coral snakes which the heroine rides to the torture chambers. There, snake-strangled guards loosen their grips on chamber keys which our heroine scoops up and unlocks prison doors, freeing all captives.
Together, the former prisoners and Scheherazade leave the Earth to ride on, ride on the snakes in majesty up to the heavens where they alight from the rocket snakes to step upon starry skies and to this day, wink at us nightly from their pedestals in the universe.
Meanwhile, continuing their journeys, the corals speed through the universe to their temporary residency on the planet Mars, which to this day is known as the Red Planet.
Sometimes, as it were, these kind beasts are yet called upon to awake from hibernation and be born again, to render aid to those on Earth, and descend upon legislators in Annapolis, Maryland who disavow the Bravo Symphony Orchestra's financial needs.
On Earth, the rocket snakes embrace the people's representatives whose skin turns coral red as they become servants in the kingdom of Daniel Sultan, a worse destiny, not yet known.
So ends the tale of a thousand and one nights of pleasure with the Bravo/Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.
You see what music and art can do! The beat goes on.
Next up for the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra:
Appalachian Spring March 14 at Strathmore, March 15 and 16 at the Meyerhoff in Baltimore, and
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix March 22 and 24 at the Meyerhoff, and March 23 at Strathmore.
patricialesli@gmail.com
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