Concert Review: Songs For An Empty Pocket

Musicians gather at Symphony Space to celebrate John Eaton's birthday.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Jalalu-Kalvert Nelson pays tribute to the late John Eaton, using the sound-box
of a Steinway piano as a natural onstage amplifier. Photo by Jeremy Tressler.

It was part birthday party, and part wake for a composer who died in 2015. On Saturday night, composers, music lovers and the curious gathered at the Leonard Nimoy Theater at Symphony Space on the Upper West Side to commemorate what would have been the 84th birthday of John Eaton: composer, inventor and iconoclast.  Mr. Eaton was a well-loved teacher and creator of the "Pocket Opera" series, which offered quirky, chamber-sized stagings on the little downstairs stage at Symphony Space. He was a kind, gentle and towering figure and his students came forward to create this evening of their work. The concert, "Celebrating John Eaton's Legacy" was presided over by the composer's widow Nelda Nelson-Eaton.

Concert Review: Yes, She Has No Bananas

Julia Bullock embodies Joséphine Baker in Perle Noire.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Julia Bullock (center) and composer-percussionist Tyshawn Sorey recreate the world of Joséphine Baker in Perle Noir
at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Photo by Stephanie Berger © 2019 Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is no stranger to being used as a performance space. Operas, concerts and galas have been mounted in its galleries, atria and wide open spaces. However, Wednesday night's New York premiere of Tyshawn Sorey's Perle Noire: Meditations for Joséphine used an even more unusual location:  the Grand Staircase that leads upward from the entrance hall to the upper galleries of European art.  It starred the museum's current artist in residence, the powerhouse soprano Julia Bullock in a work that was part monodrama, part song cycle.

Concert Review: Four-Armed is Forewarned

The Philadelphia Orchestra opens Carnegie Hall
by Paul J. Pelkonen

The pianist Lang Lang. Presumably this is not how he injured his left hand before Wednesday night's season-opening Carnegie Hall concert where he played with Chick Corea and Maxim Lando. Photo © Sony Classical.

How do you get three pianists to play together?

That conundrum, explored by only a few composers over the centuries, was what faced Yannick Nézet-Séguin and the Philadelphia Orchestra as they prepared for Wednesday night's concert opening the 2017-18 season at Carnegie Hall. The program featured two Leonard Bernstein works flanking George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. This was an important concert for the resurgent Philadelphians, who missed their chance to play opening night three years ago. It was also a crucial concert for music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, whose profile has risen in New York since he accepted the post of music director at the Metropolitan Opera, effective in the 2020 season.

Concert Review: When the Typewriters Talk....

Lincoln Center Festival does Naked Lunch.

by Paul J. Pelkonen

Liquid courage: Peter Weller drinks up in Naked Lunch.
Image Copyright 1991 201th Century Fox.

Ornette Coleman carved his own path as a composer. As he burst upon the scene, he epitomized the atonal explorations of free jazz and then developing his own musical system of “harmolodics” to express himself with saxophone and pen. On Tuesday night, the Lincoln Center Festival kicked off its week-long Coleman tribute with a screening of Naked Lunch, the surreal, disturbing and very funny David Cronenberg film for which Coleman supplied part of the soundtrack.

Summer Festival Preview: Lincoln Center Festival

No symphonies. No concertos. No opera. No problem?

by Paul J. Pelkonen

The legendary saxophonist Ornette Coleman's spirit lives on at this year's Lincoln Center Festival.

The Lincoln Center Festival continues to push the cutting edge, leaving symphony, concerto (and yes, opera) behind for a bold poutpurri of world music, electronica and one of the most innovative voices in American jazz: Ornette Coleman.

Bacharach to the Future

Some reflections on a lost album and my early love of music.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Burt Bacharach. © 1971 A & M Records.

Ever have one of those moments where music makes you travel back in time? That happened to me last night around 1am, when I sat down very late, put up my feet, put on my big headphones and listened to the 1971 record Burt Bacharach, the fourth studio album from the composer and arranger who has been part of this country's musical landscape for an amazing sixty-four years.

Concert Review: He's Bad And He Knows It

Esa-Pekka Salonen makes CONTACT! at National Sawdust.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Your host: composer Esa-Pekka Salonen offered Monday night's CONTACT!
concert with the New York Philharmonic at National Sawdust.
Photo by Mat Hennek © 2015 Deutsche Grammophon/UMG.

The still-new Williamsburg performing arts space National Sawdust was host to members of the New York Philharmonic on Monday night, for the latest installment of CONTACT!, the new music series instituted by current music director Alan Gilbert. This performance was under the auspices of current Philharmonic composer in residence Esa-Pekka Salonen, the Finnish composer and conductor who recently (and publicly) turned down the post of music director with the venerable orchestra.

Opera Review: Learning to Fly

Lawrence Brownlee flies high in Charlie Parker's YARDBIRD.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

(Ed. Note: the complete review of YARDBIRD appears on the website OperaPulse.)

The jazz-man testifies: Lawrence Brownlee in Charlie Parker's YARDBIRD.
Photo by Dominic Mercier © 2015 Opera Philadelphia.

The American tenor Lawrence Brownlee rose to fame singing bel canto repertory, operas that require a light and agile voice with a bright, even brassy tone. This month at Opera Philadelphia, Brownlee applies his remarkable instrument to the title role of Charlie Parker’s YARDBIRD. In this new opera by Daniel Schnyder, Brownlee portays not just the famous jazz musician (who died in 1955 at just 34 years old) but his signature alto saxophone sound, using his nimble instrument to create the vocal equivalent of Parker’s bebop.

To read the whole review by Paul J. Pelkonen, visit OperaPulse.

In Memory of Ornette Coleman

The alto saxophonist and jazz pioneer was 85 years old. 
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Ornette Coleman. Image © Sony Entertainment

The composer, saxophonist and legendary jazz pioneer Ornette Coleman has died. In tribute, Superconductor offers a complete streamed performance of his seminal album Free Jazz, a collective improvisation for double quartet. It says more than any words could.

Concert Review: Goin' South

The American Composers Orchestra ends its subscription season with Border Vanguards.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Flyer for Border Vanguards, last Friday's concert at Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall, featuring
the singer Luciana Souza (center.) Art © 2014 American Composers Orchestra.

The American Composers Orchestra is dedicated to the performance of modern music. Under the leadership of former New York City Opera music director George Manahan it remains a crack collection of players who conduct fearless exploration of fresh musical terrain. Last Friday night, the ensemble ended its 2013-14 Orchestra Underground subscription series at Carnegie Hall's downstairs performance space Zankel Hall with Border Vanguards The program explored music from five composers. With two rarities and three premieres, this was an exciting evening laced with exotic sounds and rare percussion instruments.

Concert Review: Jazz Odyssey, Part II

Gilbert's Playlist opens with Wynton Marsalis' Swing Symphony.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Meeting of the minds: Wynton Marsalis (left) and Alan Gilbert share a moment.
Photo by Chris Lee for nyphil.tumblr.com © 2013 The New York Philharmonic

The New York Philharmonic are back for a month-long stand at Avery Fisher Hall. On Saturday night, the orchestra played the final concert in the first weekend of Gilbert's Playlist, the month-long festival centered around the contents of music director Alan Gilbert's hard drive. The concert explored the amorphous territory between jazz and 20th century classical music, and featured the first subscription performances of Wynton Marsalis' Symphony No. 3, dubbed the Swing Symphony by the trumpeter turned composer.

Concert Review:`Smoke on the Water

Matt Haimovitz' Uccello play jazz at Bargemusic.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Hot jazz on a cello can have this effect. Art by Evilistical, © the artist.

On Sunday afternoon, the Uccello ensemble visited Bargemusic, the floating chamber music venue on a coffee barge tucked under the Brooklyn Bridge. Led by Matt Haimovitz, the the Grammy-nominated unit of "eight cello warriors" brought some unusual repertory: fusion jazz of the Mahavishnu Orchestra alongside more "trad" offerings by Miles Davis, George Gershwin and Billy Strayhorn.

Mr. Haimovitz formatted the show somewhere between a chamber performance and a jazz set, taking care to act as emcee and introduce each number before it was played. The concert opened with "Half Nelson," a piece by the Miles Davis nonet that originally appeared on Birth of the Cool. With Dominic Painchaud playing the bass line, Mr. Haimovitz and Leanna Rutt spun out the long, elegaic solos, creating a palpable "big band" sound that echoed the Davis group.

Spooky Nights at the Museum

DJ Spooky, new administration promise an innovative year at the MET.

It's the climate--or maybe the pants. Paul "DJ Spooky" Miller in Antarctica.
He's the Metropolitan Museum of Art's new Artist-in-Residence.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art is one of the greatest arts exhibits in New York City. For next season, the museum is shaking off its staid image and rebranding its annual concerts and lectures offering as Met Museum Presents. 

The Museum has a new Director for its concerts and lectures: Limor Tomer, whose resume includes work at WQXR and the Whitney. To revitalize this program (which was under the aegis of the now-retired Hildje Limondjian for 41 years), Ms. Tomer has in turn enlisted Paul Miller, the decidedly "downtown" musician better known as DJ Spooky, That Subliminal Kid. Mr. Miller is the museum's first-ever Artist-in-Residence.

The programming for next season has its share of exciting intiatives, designed to bring concerts and performances out of the cavernous Grace Rainey Rodgers Auditorium and into the museum's actual exhibit spaces. The program offerings include: 

The Peony Pavilion: The so-called "Ming Ring" (blame the Lincoln Center press department for that one) gets a new score from Chinese composer Tan Dun, and a new stage in the Museum's Astor Court Chinese Scholar Garden. Although only 50 people will be able to attend each performance, a live simulcast to the Rodgers Auditorium will expand the opera's on-site audience.

The Met Reframed:

DJ Spooky's initiative this year seeks to combine turntablism, chamber music, and mixed media (including iPads and GPS) for an exciting series of concerts. Works on the schedule include The Nauru Elegies (examining the plight of that much-harvested South Pacific Island), Of Water and Ice which draws inspiration from the rapidly shrinking ice-cap of Antarctica, and an iPad Mixing Project to take place in the Museum's Great Hall.

The Endellion String Quartet:

Another cycle of the Beethoven String Quartets (following the 2011 appearances by the Pacifica Quartet) does not necessarily qualify as "innovative", but this young European ensemble should make these immortal works interesting. Six concerts over two weekends will encompass the entire cycle of quartets.

The Salomé Chamber Orchestra

This exciting young orchestra will offer a series of performances featuring Bach's Brandenburg concertos, a concert pairing the Four Seasons by Vivaldi with similar concertos from Astor Piazzola. All of these concerts will feature instruments from the Sau Wing Lam collection, which will promptly return to their display cases.

Additionally, the Museum will continue its partnership with the New York Philharmonic hosting new music concerts in the CONTACT! series. Other concerts include an appearance by jazz saxophonist Charles Lloyd, a Valentine's Day concert by Judy Collins, and a Mozart concert by the Salzburg Chamber Soloists.

Recordings Review: The Battle of Vienna: 1928

Exploring Ernst Krenek's Jonny spielt auf. 

The stage set for the train station scene in Jonny spielt auf, 1928.
Photo from the Vienna State Opera Archives © Wiener Staatsoper.

On Dec. 6. Decca Classics' latest slate of back-catalogue opera reissues includes the important  Leipzig recording of Ernst Krenek's jazz opera Jonny spielt auf..

An Austrian of Czech descent, Krenek (1900-1991) was no jazzman. He was in fact a fiercely eclectic, modern composer whose music veered from tonality to serialism and sometimes back again in the course of a long, brilliant career. Today, he is best remembered as a music educator and for making the first attempt to edit the score of Mahler's Tenth Symphony. He is also an important, underrated composer in the 20th century whose cerebral music deserves more exposure.

A pack of Austrian Jonny cigarettes ca. 1928.
This is not an endorsement, nor is it intended
to promote the use of tobacco in any way.

Jonny (the title translates as "Jonny Plays On") was the hot opera of 1928. Krenek was inspired by the jazz revue Chocolate Babies. The opera premiered in Leipzig in 1927 and was an instant success. It is the story of a love affair between Max, an intellectual composer (Krenek himself?) and Anita, a soprano. The title character, an itinerant African-American musician (usually played by a white actor in black-face sets the world dancing after he steals Max's violin.

When Jonny-mania hit Vienna, Krenek's innovations drew the ire of that city's leading music critic, one Julius Korngold. The father of composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold, the elder Korngold worked hard to promote the virtues of his son's more conservative (but equally brilliant) opera, Das Wunder der Heliane. But he did so by writing negatively about Krenek's opera. The effort backfired, and Heliane fizzled.

The competition between operas extended as far as the smoke shops of the Austrian capital. Ostereiche Tabakregie promoted the elegant, expensive "Heliane" cigarettes as an alternate to the cheap "Jonny" blend. Like Krenek's opera, the plebian taste proved more popular. (You can still buy Jonny cigarettes in Austria. In interest of public health, this blog does not recommend you do so.)

Krenek had a bona fide smash on his hands. Jonny crossed the pond, with the Metropolitan Opera mounting the work in 1929. The libretto was rewritten so that Jonny was no longer an African-American, but the role was played by a white actor in blackface. It ran for seven performances, and has never been revived.

The rise of Adolf Hitler led to both operas being labeled "Entarte Musik," examples of what Nazi censors called "degenerate" art, and then banned..  Jonny languished in obscurity for the next 50 years. Although it never regained a place in the repertory, it is staged occasionally, with productions in Vienna (2005) and at the Teatro Colon in Argentina in 2006. Both composers emigrated to America. Krenek became an academic and wrote an important Violin Concerto. Korngold went to Hollywood and found fame writing film scores.

The recording in question comes from the 1990s, when Decca started a program to record and preserve these specific operas that were declared "degenerate." Both Jonny and Heliane were recorded as part of that series. The jazz opera was preserved on this excellent two-CD set, featuring the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra conducted by Lothar Zagrosek. The cast features heldentenor Tom Krause as Max, and soprano Allessandra Marc as Anita. Thanks to this reissue, you can discover Jonny for yourself.

You can learn more about Ernst Krenek and his opera at the Ernst Krenek Society.