The National Symphony Orchestra mixes contemporary and classical

 Conductor James Gaffigan by Margaretta K. Mitchell



Not Mozart nor Schumann nor guest pianist Ingrid Fliter could outshine the contemporary music of Fluss ohne Ufer ("Shoreless River") by German composer Detlev Glanert, a piece co-commissioned* and played by the National Symphony Orchestra in its U.S. debut last weekend at the Kennedy Center.

It was a full night at the NSO.

The youthful and energetic guest conductor, James Gaffigan, briefed the audience about the composition's background: It is about a shipwreck, love, a battle, and two occupants, one of whom was not supposed to be onboard. And the boat sinks. Mr. Gaffigan compared parts of it to Debussy and said the timing juxtaposed to last week's ship catastrophe off the coast of Italy was coincidental.

With ominous sounds, the basses quietly forebode the calamity about to occur.  Faint notes suggest the tension might be coming from offstage rather than from the orchestra itself, adding to the mystery. The music gradually transforms to produce scary images of a monster rising from the water's depths, giving Hitchcockian warning about the eminent tragedy.

Momentum builds to vibrant clashing and roar of waves. Cannons to right of them, cannons to left of them are heard with dynamic contributions from strings and horns adding to the ferocious ending which gradually converts to tranquility as water covers the boat, it sinks, and the music subsides to match the starting notes.

Mr. Glanert, 51, a native of Hamburg, helped the orchestra rehearse "Shoreless," Mr. Gaffigan said, and the composer was present for the Friday evening performance as well. When the orchestra finished playing his work, Mr. Glanert, smiling broadly, enthusiastically bounded upon stage to receive multiple ovations from the standing audience.

Composer Detlev Glanert

Ms. Fliter, who has performed with NSO every other year since 2008, played an audience favorite, Schumann's Piano Concerto in A minor, Op. 54, her fingers flying like speedy spiders building webs back and forth across the keyboard. She bobbed up and down on the piano bench displaying vitality and enthusiasm one can only envy. 

Not to be overlooked, two of composer Mozart's works began and ended the evening: Divertimento in D major, K. 136 and Symphony No. 41 in C major, K. 551, "Jupiter," which turned out to be Mozart's last symphony. Program notes said nineteenth century critics began calling it "Jupiter" after the god, rather than the planet, presumably because of its "fugal finale" and emphasis on "stately trumpets and timpani." Timpani, finale, or sonata, a symphony orchestra can do no wrong with Mozart.

*Other co-commissioners of "Shoreless River" were Germany’s WDR-Cologne, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam, and the BBC for the BBC Proms in London.

Coming up:

What: A program of classical and contemporary music featuring soloist Jörg Widmann with Christoph Eschenbach conducting.

WIDMANN - Armonica

MOZART - Clarinet Concerto in A major, K. 622

SCHUBERT - Symphony No. 9 in C major, D. 944 "The Great"

When: January 26-29, 2012

Where:  The Kennedy Center

Metro station: Foggy Bottom and ride the free shuttle (every 10 minutes) from there to KC (or walk it)

For more information and tickets: Click here or call 202-467-4600 from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily.

patricialesliexam@gmail.com

The Mariinsky Ballet was ecstasy at the Kennedy Center

 

The Mariinsky Ballet's The Firebird/guardian.co.UK

Really.

 

If I had been able to find a ticket for a second consecutive performance of Les Saisons Russes, I would have snarfed it up, but all I could locate on the Web Friday were two $252 seats for the Sunday matinee. A bit out of my range.

 

The performance was that outstanding.

 

On stage and presented in almost three hours of dance were sex, passion, mayhem, music, magnificent costuming and perfect sets.

 

See what you are missing sans a ballet subscription?

 

 

Had there been no dancers on stage, the music by the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra would have been enchanting enough.

 

The placement of Chopin's Chopiniana at the beginning was a smart spot since it would have been overwhelmed by the passion of Stravinsky's The Firebird and Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherazade which followed. Michel Fokine crafted the choreography for all ballets about 100 years ago.

 

Chopiniana was a harmless romantic poem, without plot or much controversy, but nevertheless, vastly entertaining. The ballerinas wore cream-colored calf-length dresses with scooped necklines and danced in front of a Watteau-like landscape, an elegant backdrop to prepare the audience for what lay ahead.

 

The Mariinsky has danced The Firebird  for 18 years, and The Firebird (Alexandra Iosifidi) was spectacular in resplendent orange with yellow streaks and a red-feathered headdress (or, from the ceiling, that's what it looked like). Her resistance and fight with Ivan-Tsarevich (Alexander Romanchikov) were skillfully portrayed, but the stand-out, as least for costuming and horror, was the awful Kashchei the Immortal (Soslan Kulaev) and his minions. Not to demean the Russian artisans in any way, but it was Ballet on Broadway with all the theatrics.

 

For the third ballet, Scheherazade, the audience became peeping Toms, able to gaze stealthily inside a harem and learn what happens when body guards and gatekeepers depart. It was as wild a scene as one could hope.

 

Throughout the night, the cymbals, harp, horns and strings got a sound workout. After the performance, Russians were heard discussing the impossibility of obtaining Mariinsky tickets in the motherland.

Run, if you can, and sign up for a ballet subscription next year, and do not miss another Mariinsky which should leave you days later with beautiful imagery of its majesty.

'Iron Lady' wins Oscar for 'Dullest Movie'

Darling, the critics are right: It is not worth seeing unless you:

1. Adore Meryl Streep who puts out another stellar performance

2. Are a makeup artist (incredible. Kudos to Marese Langan)

3. Write historical fiction

In the audience at Tysons Corner was no one under age 45, and there is reason for their absence: b o r i n g.

Really, if you must see it, save your neck and take a pillow. Or, save your cash and take a nap (at home).

Factually, it appears to be accurate for about half the show but about one-third of it occurs in dementia victim Margaret Thatcher's head as she talks with her dead husband, Denis Thatcher, played by Jim Broadbent who does a right jolly good job. (Mrs. Thatcher, 86, is still living.)

By means of mental flashbacks while the prime minister suffers the vagaries of dementia, the movie tells Mrs. Thatcher's life story from later childhood (admirably played by Alexandra Roach) through her reign as the only female (and longest serving? Wikipedia is dark (save the Internet) and I cannot verify) British prime minister in the 20th century.

Actual footage of British riots inflamed by Mrs. Thatcher's "let them eat cake" attitude are included.

David Gritten at the Telegraph says Ms. Streep's performance overshadows the movie, and who can deny it?

What else is there to say?

Except, darling, I have grown rather weary of Meryl Streep, and respectfully request, please, someone else in a starring role.

Dancing talk at Glen Echo

A Saturday "swing" night at Glen Echo where the crowd danced to the music of Blue Sky 5 + 2, sponsored by Flying Feet Enterprises/Patricia Leslie

Act I

Overheard at the unheated dance hall (where it doesn't take much to warm up), a conversation and an offer between two 60-somethings.

"Susan," dressed in black dancing shoes, black tights, black "swing" skirt and a decidedly unsexy fleece zipped to her neck, stands next to a column waiting for the 8 p.m. swing lesson to begin.

"Dave," dressed in an all-black suit with orange tie and wearing a woolen knit cap with his name stitched across the forehead (which he never removes), approaches Susan and once they engage in conversation, takes aim with a fox's stare, never taking his eyes from hers.  He has targeted more prey.

Dave: Hi.

Susan: Hi.

Dave: My name's Dave.

Susan (smiling): I am Susan.

Dave: You look familiar.

Susan: (? and rolls her eyes)

Dave: I know you! Do you work at the ______________ ?

Susan: Yes, I do! I don't recall seeing you there.

Dave: That's because my business ________________.

Susan: Oh, well, I work in a nearby building.

Dave: Oh.

Pause

Dave: I am looking for a wife.

Susan: I am not material.

Dave: How come?

Susan: (?) Been there, done that.

Dave: And?

Susan: (?) And?

Dave: And?

Susan: It's too confining and ....

Dave interrupts: But I have a lot of money!

Susan: (And?)

Dave: I own my own business which I am going to sell for $___ million. I know Stevie Wonder.

Susan: (Wondering how Stevie Wonder has crept into the conversation) I just saw him on TMZ.

Dave: TMZ? What's that?

Susan: A trashy TV show

Dave: Where do you live?

Susan: Northern Virginia

Dave winces.

Susan: Where do you live?

Dave: Northern Virginia (pause): I got an offer on my house last week for $1.6 million, and I bought it for $100,000 20 years ago.

Susan (Fancy that): Did you accept the offer?

Dave: No, I'm gonna wait for something higher.

Susan:

Pause

Dave: Don't you ever get lonely?

Susan: Sometimes.

Dave: I lived with someone for 18 years.

Susan (Congratulations): Where is she?

Dave: I dunno

Pause

Dave: I have a place in Key West, too.

Susan:

Dave: I am going to dance with you.

The scene ends as the dance class begins.

Act II

An hour later on the dance floor with 400 people dancing swing to an orchestra. After several dances, Dave finds Susan.

Dave: Let's dance. I know the steps; follow me.

(Turns out he is a very good dancer.)

Dave (emphatically): Put your arm here! (On his)

Susan: Well, if you know the steps, why did you come to the class?

Pause

Dave: This is the Fox Trot (as he glides her along backwards on the floor where her foot is crushed three times by men weighing 200+ lbs.).

Susan: I thought we were supposed to be doing "the swing."

Dave: This is what we are doing...the Fox Trot.  Just don't think about it.

Susan (As they dance): I was wondering (pause)... if this is called the Fox Trot, is it because... this is the way foxes trot?

Dave: (?)

After three numbers together, Susan takes a water break where she spots an obnoxious neighbor across the dance floor. Fearful of an invitation (or not) to dance,  she makes a break and escapes into that good night.

It pays to get out.

What: Dancing to live music

When: Thursday - Sunday nights, some Sunday afternoons

Where: 7300 MacArthur Boulevard, Glen Echo, MD 20812

How much: $15 or $16

For more information: Call 301-634-2222 or email info@glenechopark.org

patricialesliexam@gmail.com

National Symphony Orchestra tickets on sale for $11 each

Christopher Eschenbach is the National Symphony Orchestra conductor, and Michelle DeYoung is a mezzo-soprano who will sing March 8, 2012/The Kennedy Center

Stephen Hough will play Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 1 April 19 and April 20, 2012/The Kennedy Center

It's true!

According to a mailing I received from the Kennedy Center: Pick any three concerts (certain dates and times) from remaining programs for $33 total, or six concerts for $66 (better seats), or nine concerts for $99 (premium orchestra seats).

No handling charge!  And no Saturday nights, but there are some Friday nights: Jan. 20, Feb. 3, Feb. 10, Mar. 9, Mar. 23, May 18, and June 8, in addition to Thursday nights and several Friday matinees and a couple of Sunday matinees (Jan. 29 and Feb. 19).

I don't have to list all the performances, do I? Good! Get'em while they are hot.

Log on to nationalsymphony.org/tripleplay and choose the Triple Play Subscription under NSO Classical. Make your selections and check out and look for your tickets in the mail, or call 202-416-8500 to speak with a human. Three's the minimum.

Offer ends February 29, 2012, and it can be withdrawn at any time so you better get to clickin'.

While $11 is higher than what you may pay for the Wizards (30 cents), members of the National Symphony Orchestra are true team players who put out a solid performance and win every time.

'Sonia Sotomayor: The True American Dream'

Last summer it was reported that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor has received an advance of  $1.2 million for her upcoming autobiography. 

It is doubtful that "New York Times bestselling author" Antonia Felix received an advance like that for her book, Sonia Sotomayor:  The True American Dream, but she beat the justice to the bookstores, at least, with her "yes" biography of the first Hispanic member appointed to the Supreme Court. 

("Yes" books are those which essentially affirm everything about the subject and make for rather dour, uneventful reading and information since very little negative is included. And if this title doesn't confirm it, what does? Note to Justice Sotomayor:  If your book is still in the draft stages, please make it as objective as you can if you want to sell more copies and include at least some negatives. "Yes" books generally fail at the bookstore but your intent may be, unlike 99.9% of celebrities taking pen to paper, non-profit-motivated.)

Anyway, back to the book:  If you have any curiosity about Justice Sotomayor's background, Ms. Felix's book for information is worth a read, and it's the only one (for adults) out of the gate at this time.

For a middle-school reading level, it is well written, although in "chop chop" style (like Wikipedia or an encyclopedia) and documented with references, an index, and a list of cases.  It may be a
publisher's "author for hire" book.

Like so many books published now, the editors have gone missing.  Folks, the machines can't do it all.
 And since it's a "yes" book, it is not "fair and balanced."

Ms. Felix describes Ms. Sotomayor's life from childhood to present with as much public information the biographer could find. 

A few highlights: 
Sonia Sotomayor's father died when he was only 42, and Sonia tried to escape her sadness with books, lots and lots of them, including Nancy Drews (but not enough books to overcome her ignorance of the "classics" where, at Princeton, she was handed the wonderful self-assignment to read many of them, and she did.) (An associate professor at Virginia Tech, a high school valedictorian like the justice, with several books and articles in her repertoire, told me her (the professor's) writing suffered from a lack of reading good fiction, i.e. classics, when she was growing up, more reason to read more of them.)

Anyway, Justice Sotomayor adored the television show, "Perry Mason" which helped shape her desire at age 10 to become a lawyer, and instilled her with an appreciation for the prosecution side. 

Not until she went off to Princeton had she ever visited a bookstore, but her family had a set of encyclopedias.   (After high school, a condescending Harvard counselor's attitude led the future justice to reject Harvard. )   

When Sonia Sotomayor was only a college sophomore, she filed a successful complaint with the federal government about the dearth of Latinos on the Princeton staff.  

She attended law school at Yale and worked for five years in the New York's District Attorney's office which she left for private practice. A study of her judgeship from 1993-1998 revealed her sentences were harsher than most. Her 1994 injunction, which essentially ended the baseball strike, endeared her eternally to baseball fans everywhere, and her diabetes and gender make her work harder than men.

For her swearing in to the Supreme Court, she wore an off-the-rack suit.  

Her "distance marriage" to Kevin Noonan, whom she had dated since high school and married after she graduated from Princeton, lasted seven years. The divorce was amicable.

The book is nicely designed with a catchy cover (a photo of the justice), but some of the text is too dry for us non-lawyers.

P.S. If you, dear reader, are unhappy with President Obama in any way, just consider his choices for the U.S. Supreme Court, Justice Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, and be thankful he was in office to make them.

Tunisians celebrate their revolution at the Kennedy Center

Jaloul Ayed, composer, at the Kennedy Center/World Leadership Forum

Hannibal Barca

Composer and Tunisia Minister of Finance, Jaloul Ayed

Tunisia's revolution/Wikimedia Commons/Rais67

To pay tribute to the first anniversary of the January, 2011 uprising in Tunisia which ultimately cascaded into Arab Spring triggering the people's revolts against harsh regimes in Egypt, Libya, Syria, Bahrain, and Yemen, the Embassy of Tunisia with the Tunisian Ministry of Culture hosted a gala concert Monday evening at the Kennedy Center, composed for the occasion by none other than Tunisia's minister of finance, Jaloul Ayed.
Premiering in the U.S., Hannibal Barca, the Symphony commemorates composer Ayed's longtime hero, Hannibal Barca, who in the third century B.C., marched with 40 elephants and 80,000 warriors across the Pyrenees and Alps Mountains from Carthage into Rome, defeating an army twice the size and capturing Italy for 15 years. 
With resounding clashes and horns heard gloriously throughout the hall, Conductor Jean-Charles Biondi enthusiastically led the Kennedy Center Opera House Orchestra, augmented by many Tunisian musicians who joined in making triumphal music for the audience of 2,000 which excitedly applauded at the end of the three movements,  The Pride of Carthage, The Long Crossing, and The Glorious March.
Ayed composed the music to honor not only the feats of Hannibal Barca but to link his victories with that of a young fruit vendor, Mohammed Bouazizi, who, in December, 2010, set himself aflame, so frustrated by despicable acts of the Tunisian government.  The cause for Bouazizi's action enraged the Tunisian people who, one month later, took down their government, laying the foundation for other nations to follow.
Said one listener afterwards, "I heard a lot of Arabic influences," but others disagreed, hearing only the powerful sounds of victory.
Beginning the evening's performance were the Tunisian and the American anthems followed by Verdi's Overture to La forza del destino which the Opera House Orchestra played with the vigor and polish of the expertise it owns.
Question:  Does Timothy Geithner make music?