Concert Review: Faith Without Pause

Bernard Labadie leads Bach's Mass in B minor.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Bernard Labadie leads Les Violons du Roy and La Chapelle de Quebec
in Bach's Mass in B minor. Photo by Melanie Burford.

Johann Sebastian Bach's Mass in B minor is more than church music. It is a towering setting of the Catholic liturgy that while never performed in full in the composer's lifetime, can elevate the listener no matter what faith they profess. Its glories were on full display in Carnegie Hall on Tuesday night. The performance (mounted without an intermission) was by the period ensemble Les Violins du Roy and La Chapelle de Quebec under the leadership of their founder Bernard Labadie.

Concert Review: The Philosopher's Stone

Daniel Barenboim and the Staatskapelle Berlin at Carnegie Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Bruckner (left) and his critics, Eduard Hanslick, Max Kalbeck and Richard Heuberge.

At the end of its first week, the ongoing Carnegie Hall Bruckner marathon has moved into familiar territory this week, leaving behind the obscure early symphonies for works which, while not programmed with great frequency nonetheless show up regularly in the repertory of large symphony orchestras. Here it was the turn of the Symphony No. 6 (nicknamed "The Philosopher"), paired with Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 22, a genuine crowd-pleaser.

Opera Review: Country Discomfort

The Met revives Leoš Janáček's Jenůfa. 
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Karita Mattila (standing) holds Oksana Dyka in a key scene from Act II of Jenůfa.
Photo by Ken Howard © 2016 The Metropolitan Opera.

This latest Met revival of Jenůfa, the third opera by Czech composer Leoš Janáček is one of the most important productions of the current season. It allows a new generation of opera-goers to discover one of the most powerful dramas of the 20th century, thanks to the presence of a near-ideal cast. On Monday night, soprano Oksana Dyka was incandescent in the title role, a peasant girl whose suffering makes her one of the great operatic heroines. She's pregnant by a man that does not love her. She is attacked and mutilated by his love-struck brother. And then the baby is drowned.

Last Ash-in' Zero

"Opera lover" ruins two performances at the Met.

by Paul J. Pelkonen

Opera spoiler: Roger Kaiser (inset) ruined Saturday's Metropolitan Opera performances
of Rossini's Guillaume Tell and L'Italiana in Algeri.
Background photo by Ken Howard.

I was on a train last night coming back from a performance at NJPAC when I checked my Twitter, and learned that Saturday's matinée performance of Rossini's opera Guillaume Tell was ruined when a man dumped a "white powder" into the orchestra pit at the Metropolitan Opera. Here's a quick recap of the story, in case you haven't heard it by now. 

Obituary: Einojuhani Rautavaara (1928-2016)

The composer of eight symphonies and fourteen concertos was 87.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Composer Einojuhani Rautavaara at his piano.
Photo by Outi Pyhäranta. 

Composer Einojuhani Rautavaara died yesterday. The grand master of Finnish music was 87. His eight symphonies and enormous output of opera, songs and orchestral works broke bold new ground in the 20th and 21st centuries, and his legacy to younger composers can be heard throughout the world's concert halls.

Concert Review: The Voice of the North

The Orchestra symphonique de Montréal returns to Carnegie Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Kent Nagano. Photo courtesy Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. 

Ten years ago, Kent Nagano became music director of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal. Once regularly recorded with a fat contract on Decca classics the ensemble had suffered a falling-off following the abrupt 2002 exit of artistic director Charles Dutoit. As a result. the past ten years have seen only infrequent visits to venues like Carnegie Hall. On Tuesday night, the OSM returned to that historic stage with a program of Ravel, Beethoven and Stravinsky, designed to show their many strengths and hopefully guarantee more frequent visits.

Concert Review: Live...With a Net

Joshua Bell rings out at Mostly Mozart.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Joshua Bell and friend.
 Photo by Eric Kabik for IMG Artists.

The influence of Johann Sebastian Bach on Western music is pretty much incalculable, beyond the words of a mere blog to describe. On Tuesday night, Joshua Bell returned to the Mostly Mozart Festival for an evening celebrating Bach's legacy and influence on three composers who followed him: Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann.

Riot Act: The Rite of Spring Turns 100

Reflections on Igor Stravinsky's ballet masterpiece.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Do the circumstances of a work's premiere out-weigh the importance of the work itself?

Costumes for the premiere of Stravinsky's The Rite of Spring.

Igor Stravinsky's Le Sacre du Printemps, better known in this country under its original title The Rite of Spring is one work where that is entirely possible. The Rite premiered in Paris 100 years ago, and the audience's reaction to this new music had shadowed it ever since: a near-riot of well-dressed Parisians booing, catcalling, and in more than a few cases, getting caught up in the violence of the music and assaulting their neighbors.

The cops showed up at intermission.

Metropolitan Opera Preview: La Rondine

The Met presents the return of Puccini's bittersweet rarity.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

On the couch: Kristine Opilais as Magda in La Rondine.
Image © 2013 The Metropolitan Opera.

La Rondine ("The Swallow") is not a complicated story, but it has the misfortune of being neither tragedy (nobody dies) nor comedy (it has a sad ending). The opera falls between two stools, and as a result has never earned a place at the table.

Rare bird though it is, this is still a mature product of Giacomo Puccini's later years. (It premiered in 1917, and follows La Fanciilla del West in the composer's catalogue.) Puccini's heady music is redolent of the gilded age, depicting the world of a "kept woman" in early 20th century Paris with gorgeous dance rhythms. There are parts for two leading sopranos--and two leading tenors.

This stylish production was originally conceived in 2008 for the so-called "love couple," Angela Gheorghiu and Roberta Alagna. With Ms. Gheorghiu currently persona non grata at Peter Gelb's Met (not to mention in the middle of a nasty divirce with Mr. Alagna) this revival offers Kristine Opilais her chance for a house debut. Giuseppe Filianoti is Ruggero, the man she loves and ultimately, rejects.

La Rondine opens Jan. 11, 2013.

Happy Birthday, Claude-Achille Debussy

The father of modern French music turns 150.

Claude-Achille Debussy

Today we're celebrating the sesquicentennial birth of one Claude-Achille Debussy, composer, pianist and artist extraordinaire. And we're also going to talk about the movies.

I had a "Debussy moment" the other day. I was watching a movie I've seen many times, David Fincher's The Game.

(Plot spoilers follow after the jump.)

Opera Review: La Plaisanterie Polonaise

Le roi malgré-lui at Bard SummerScape.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Motel hobbies: The Act III set for Le roi maigre-lui at Bard SummerScape.
Photo by Corey Weaver © 2012 Bard SummerScape/Bard Music Festival

The Fisher Center sits on the Bard College campus in the quiet college town of Annendale-on-Hudson. This Frank Gehry-designed theater is home to Bard SummerScape, where New York's opera lovers travel to hear works from deep in the repertory that are way off the beaten path of Verdi, Puccini and even Wagner. This year, the festival made its first comic offering: Emmanuel Chabrier's Le Roi malgré-lui ("The King in Spite of Himself") a comic confection that had just three performances at its 1887 debut--before the theater burned down.

The case for reviving Le roi malgré-lui is a difficult one. Although the opera contains some entertaining melodies, the weak libretto undermines the composer's efforts. The plot is a cross between the (failed) 1840 Verdi comedy Un Giorno di Regno and the composer's later Un Ballo in Maschera--with a reluctant ruler running afoul of an assassination conspiracy--and eventually joining it.

Here's the story: King Henri, a callow French nobleman is newly elected to take the throne of Poland. He hates his job. He abdicates, switches identities with his best friend Nangis, and joins a conspiracy against himself. Finally, he (reluctantly) takes back the reins of power and wins the girl, who happens to be married to one of his courtiers. The story contains a series of comic gyrations that can leave even the most jaded opera-goers scratching their heads.