Arts reporter and critic Rosemary Ponnekanti keeps you in touch with the arts and culture scene with the help of other News Tribune writers, critics and editors.
Rosemary Ponnekanti is the arts reporter at The News Tribune, and has been a classical music nerd nearly all her life. Besides spending way too much time in galleries, museums and concert halls, she occasionally brings a whistle or double bass to Celtic jam sessions, and insists on singing "Happy Birthday" in four-part harmony.
Other contributors include:
> Arts & entertainment editor Craig Sailor
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OK...there's a catch. In order to get $25 tickets to the musical "Wicked" opening at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle on Sept. 2 you'll have to enter a lottery.
Click on "more" to read details from the press release...
On with the "Ring" cycle (see above post). Wagner's four-opera epic continued last night with the opening of "Die Walkure," to a rock-concert-style audience reception. The five-hour opera sustained the magic of the sets and special effects, while the music was outstanding and the acting mostly good.
Highlights were the set for Act I, with Hunding's house crouched Hobbit-style in a tangled, lowering forest, and the stark misty rock that was home base for the Valkyries, the flying female goddesses who fight at human battles and bring the dead to Valhalla. Singing-wise, Stephanie Blythe as Fricka took the prize, developing her role as chief goddess with might, morality and a phenomenally powerful voice. Stuart Skelton made a wild, tensely-wound Siegmund with astounding breath control. Margaret Jane Wray was a let-down as Sieglinde, a lovely voice but wimpy character. Janice Baird filled all expectations as a gutsy Brunnhilde, mischievous and full of life, and convincingly despairing at the fire-filled end.
The members of the Seattle Symphony played, for the most part, excellently, with tight brass and a lyrical cello/bass section (including a very beautiful Act I cello solo.) A disappointment was Robert Israel's costumes for the Valkyries: matching the other naturalistic robes, they were just too muted-green to live up to the fierce glee which these nine women brought to the roles. And the wings on the helmets were just long enough to look, unfortunately, like bishops' miters or nuns' wimples - not exactly warrior fashion.
The cycle continues with "Siegfried" on Wednesday, but tonight I'm going to "Das Barbecu," the ACT spoof about what the Norse gods do off-stage down on the ranch in Texas.
Dates for "Ring" performances are: “Das Rheingold”: 7 p.m. Aug. 17 and 25; “Die Walkure”: 6 p.m. Aug. 18 and 26; “Siegfried”: 6 p.m. Aug. 12, 20 and 28; “Gotterdammerung”: 6 p.m. Aug. 14, 22 and 30
Information: 206-389-7676, 800-426-1619, www.seattleopera.org
Last night I was at the opening of Seattle Opera's "Ring" cycle: the four epic Wagner operas telling the story of "Der Ring des Nibelungen," the Norse myth of a cursed golden ring that causes mayhem and destruction. You can read my Sunday story about the whole thing here.
And the first opera, "Das Rheingold," truly lived up to the magic of the ring. Telling the tale of how Alberich the dwarf stole gold from the river Rhine, forged a ring and then cursed it as the god Wotan seized it from him to pay for his new castle Valhalla, the opera wove a magic of its own through beautiful sets and even, strong musicianship.
Three sets make up the location for "Das Rheingold." The curtain opened on one of the best: underwater in the Rhine, created by shimmering blue-green lights on a gauze scrim, with strangely coiled rocks at the bottom. Through this watery expanse "swam" the Rhine maidens, attached at the hips to trapeze lines (which didn't distract too much) and outfitted with stunning midnight-blue mermaid dresses, sparkling and finny. What's amazing is not so much that Woglinde (Julianne Gearhart), Wellgunde (Michele Losier) and Flosshilde (Jennifer Hines) executed such impressive front and back flips between their ropes but that they sang so fluidly and harmoniously at the same time. A bit too giggly, perhaps, but the scene was delightful.
For the upper world, set designer Thomas Lynch created a perfect Northwest forest, full of conifers and mist for the gods to act out their destiny in. (The production is recycled from previous Ring cycles in 2001 and 2005.) Valhalla was a far-distant promise. Even better was the set for Nibelheim, the underground mine caverns where Alberich forged the ring and dominated his minions. Making excellent use of darkness, the slopes of the woodland became black tunnels with shimmering jewels, extremely spooky and great for the special effects of Alberich's shape-changing.
But you don't just go to opera for the sets, and this year's "Ring" sees some sterling singers. Stephanie Blythe shines as the sexy, worried Fricka, Marie Plette is suitably light and young as the ransomed Freia, while Greer Grimsley as Wotan and Kobie van Rensburg as Loge make a dramatically tense pair, Grimsley fierce and full, van Rensburg lyrical and light.
Everyone looks like they come out of a "Lord of the Rings" set but it's all so atmospheric you don't really mind. About the only disappointing thing is the static, stylized blocking for all the gods - let's hope that things move more in the next three operas. I'll be going to "Die Walkure" ("The Valkyries") tonight to see and hear those loud ladies riding through the clouds.
The PLU music trip to China continues (see below), despite governmental worries about Americans spreading either swine flu or political discontent on the 20th anniversary of the Tienanmen massacre.
Here's the latest from music professor Greg Youtz:
"Our concert at the Sichuan Conservatory of Music was cancelled by the
Provincial authorities due primarily to the concern that an army of 71
travelers from the United States might be bringing swine flu to Chengdu!
This, despite the fact that we have been in China for a week, show no
symptoms, and have successfully perfromed at two other venues! But, the
local authorities are taking no chances and have the stain on their
reputation of having had the first case of H1N1 flu in China here in
Sichuan. Apparently a strong suggestion also went out nationally from the
Central Government in Beijing that large-scale meetings with foreigners
were to be avoided during the three days surrounding the sensitive 20th
anniversary of the events of 1989...
However we were allowed to perform as scheduled at a temporaty village
erected for 10,000 victims of last year's earthquake in the small town of
Dujiangyan. We were welcomed there very warmly, performed on an open-air
concrete stage under a warm sun, and were a huge hit with lots of small
kids who all wanted to touch the tuba.
Our students played basketball and football with them to the immense
amusement of the parents. Back on the bus, our students decided to take up
a collection and purchased about US$200 worth of sports equipment in a
local store and returned to the village and delivered it to the community
center. We were very proud of them!
On now to Shanghai, in the hope that we will indeed perform there our
final concert at China's oldest music conservatory..."
-Greg Y
As posted below, the PLU music department is in China again, on their annual study trip and musical exchange between performers and composers from both countries. (BTW, we were wrong: dancer Robin Jaecklein is not, in fact, on this trip, but will leave on a second PLU trip in a couple of weeks.)
PLU professor and composer Greg Youtz is a veteran of these trips, and he's emailing updates for the GOArts blog. Here's the latest from Greg:
"Well, we knocked some serious socks off last night in Xian! The hall was nearly full- mostly conservatory students and faculty, but also 50 members of a band from a coal mine in the north of the province who had driven down by bus to hear us! The Wind Ensemble under Ed Powell began the
concert with a low-key Copland piece, and then got hotter and hotter. The audience seemed intrigued with John Adams' "Lallapalooza"- a giant whirling machine of intricate minimalist bits- they roared with approval my "Monkey King" with its Beijing Opera tunes and Chinese theme- and they were whooping at the end of David Joyner's "From Blueness to Brightness" in which they got their first taste of jazz...
After intermission the Jazz Ensemble took them on a ride from ballad to funk that ended in two encores and calls of "bu gou!" (not enough!). Afterwards both conductors and I and the drummer (!) Luke Peterson signed a lot of autographs...
Everyone taking care of us, from the Conservatory liaison person to our own tour guides, seemed a bit astonished at our success! So- we are feeling good, and heading off today to see the famous "Terracotta
Warriors" before flying to Chengdu this evening. The weather is sensational, the swine flu is absent, and we are stoked!"
-Greg Y
Deborah Page
Ladyfest, the not-for-profit celebration and showcase of female artists and performers, comes to Sanford and Son Saturday.
Though the event started in 2000 in Olympia (featuring Sleater-Kinney, Cat Power and Neko Case) it's been celebrated all over the world since then. And now it's made the 30 miles up I-5 to Tacoma.
The all-volunteer, community-produced day features performers Deborah Page, Voxxy Vallejo, Starstruck, Tammy Robacker, Brit Baab, Civita, the Barefoot Collective and more. Visual artists include Ann Koi, Jada Moon and Jayme Ferrari.
Admission for the all ages event (1 p.m. - 10 p.m.) is $10 and proceeds benefit Domestic Abuse Women's Network. Visit www.ladyfesttacoma.com/ for more info.
Sandford and Son is at 744 Commerce in Tacoma.
Art by Mindy Barker
Pink Martini is kicking off the 09-10 season for the Broadway Center for the Performing Arts. The wildly eclectic Portland band performs an October 8 show at the Pantages Theater.
Fans know the band ranges from Spanish to Japanese and from songs about tomatoes to skinheads.
It's a fitting kickoff for BCPA -- the entire season, announced this week, is just as varied as Pink Martini's repertoire.
Performing during the 26th season are: Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt, Gaelic Storm, Seattle Men’s and Women’s Chorus and Ladysmith Black Mambazo.
Other appearances include Public Radio International's Ira Glass, the Smothers Brothers, Dance Theatre of Harlem Ensemble and Soul Street Dance Co.
Theater includes "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "The Salvation of Iggy Scrooge"- both in partnership with Theatre Northwest - and the return of "Defending the Caveman."
The company that produced "Altar Boys" is bringing "Cabaret" to BCPA April 16, 2010. The cool thing about this performance is that BCPA is transforming their newest rehearsal hall into the Kitkat Club for a post-peformance reception.
For fans of classic movies BCPA is partnering with The Grand Cinema for The Cary Grant Screwball Comedy Film Festival. Films include "Arsenic and Old Lace," (Oct. 30), "Philadelphia Story" (Feb. 14) and "His Girl Friday" (April 2).
Read here for ticket purchasing information:
(FROM LEFT) Greg Bowers photographs Clement Reid in a historical part of Chengdu, China in March, 2007. Looking on is a local interpretor and Greg Youtz. The three PLU composers (along with David Robbins) were in China for an exchange concert. (PHOTO BY KAREN ROBBINS)
A group of local musicians, dancers, students and teachers are off to China for two weeks as part of an annual Pacific Lutheran University program. PLU has been sending students to Sichuan Conservatory in Chengu to study language and culture for 27 years now, and the program has also allowed Chinese composers to visit and premiere works in Tacoma.
Who's on the tour this year? PLU's wind and jazz ensembles, who will visit Beijing, Shanghai & Xi'an, perform on the Great Wall, give a goodwill concert in the earthquake-damaged village of Dujjangyan, and give a jazz clinic in Chengdu. They will premier a work by PLU composer Greg Youtz, who will accompany the group, and a recent composition by PLU jazz director David Joyner.
Also going to China is dancer and choreographer Robin Jaecklein, who teaches dance at the School of the Arts. Jaecklein is excited about the tour, saying she'll come back with lots of extra ideas for her curriculum at SOTA.
The group is spending the next few days in Beijing. Stay tuned for update emails from Greg Youtz.
If you're down by the Pantages today, tomorrow and Thursday, you'll probably notice all the buses transporting thousands of schoolkids. They're downtown listening to the Tacoma Symphony's annual Simply Symphonic concerts.
So there's nothing particularly new about orchestras giving schools concerts, but the TSO's program is admirable in both academic reach and sheer size. Around 4,500 fifth-graders from 82 schools and 13 districts in the South Sound--up 12 per cent from last season--will hear the orchestra play Offenbach, Beethoven, Tchaikovsky, Bach and more this week. It's a program that recently won the TSO The 2009 Impact Award from The Nonprofit Center.
But as well as reaching so many kids, the orchestra's program does it in a way that both complements their school learning and gives them a taste for classical music. Classroom activities and a learning CD prepared by TSO conductor Harvey Felder link music to patterns and structure in math, architecture and poetry. Teachers also report that the classical concerts, which for many students are the only ones they've ever been to, also calm worries about deployed parents and uplift imaginations through the Pantages' beauty.
Says TSO executive director Andy Buelow: “These fifth grade students are among the most engaged audiences I’ve ever encountered. Nobody has told them yet what kinds of music they’re supposed to listen to and like, and they come...with open ears and minds.”
And all of this only costs each student $3: The rest of the $20 per-child cost is borne by sponsors and the TSO itself.
And if anyone thinks that classical music is for old folks over 35, think again. Here's what one student said from last year's concert:
"On our concert day I was really feeling kind of sad, but when I walked into the Pantages Theater, that frown turned upside down. The instruments looked strange to me. I’ve never seen some of them before. Mozart is my favorite composer and I loved the music that you played."
What's the next step? My suggestion is downloadable TSO tracks at www.tacomasymphony.org, and low-cost kids concerts open to the public, so parents can find out how cool it is too.
Tacoma Concert Band are going all out for their final performance for the season this Saturday night at the Pantages. The program is billed as East-meets-West: an American band playing both American and Asian pieces, and featuring young Korean concert pianist Eun Joo Chung.
Chung has made quite a career for herself since her Carnegie Hall debut in 2004, giving recitals in Berlin and Vienna and opening Seattle's Town Hall Virtuoso Piano Series. She's won international competitions like the Viotti, Schubert and World Piano Competitions, and has been called "striking and impressive" by pianist Leon Fleischer (a former teacher) and "a remarkable artist" by the Seattle Symphony's Gerard Schwarz.
This Saturday, Chung will be playing the solo in the concert band version of Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue," and the “Grande Polonaise Brillante” of Fredric Chopin. The 28-year-old Tacoma Concert Band will play a variety of pieces with Asian themes (Chinese, Korean, and Japanese), as well as a Gershwin medley, Holst’s “Jupiter” from “The Planets,” and Sousa (can you have a concert band show without it?)
The concert begins at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Pantages Theater, 901 Broadway, Tacoma. Tickets from $15. 253-591-5894, 800-291-7593, www.broadwaycenter.org
This Sunday, one of the world's greatest pianists will play the Pantages, courtesy of the Tacoma Philharmonic. Not only that, but he'll play with what for him is a relatively recent phenomenon--using both hands.
It's Leon Fleischer, of course, that child prodigy of two Jewish immigrants who began playing at four just by listening to his brother's piano lessons. Soon after, he studied with piano great Artur Schnabel, debuting with the New York Philharmonic at 16 and launching into an international career. Until, at 37, it all fell apart: Fleischer suddenly began to suffer from a neurological disorder called focal dystonia, which removed all sensation and control from two fingers in his right hand. His career was cut short, his family fell apart and he considered suicide, before deciding to devote himself to teaching, conducting and learning left-hand piano repertoire (of which there's actually a lot.)
Just five years ago, though, Fleischer's story had an unbelievably happy ending: Rolfing and botox injections restored function in his fingers, and his comeback in 2004 with the CD "Two Hands" is well-known.
On Sunday, Fleischer will play Bach, Debussy, Albeniz and Chopin--with two hands--in a Tacoma recital as part of his 80th birthday tour. The concert will begin with a screening of the 17-minute, Academy Award-nominated documentary on his life, "Two Hands," by Nathaniel Kahn.
Fleischer isn't just a heart-warming success story. He's a phenomenal pianist, being the first living musician to be inducted into the Classical Music Hall of Fame in 2000 and winning a Kennedy Center Honor in 2007, among many other awards around the globe. Don't miss this chance to hear him play.
Concert 3 p.m., pre-concert talk 2 p.m. Sunday April 19 at the Pantages Theater, 901 Broadway, Tacoma. Tickets $32.50-$62.50. 253-591-5894, www.tacomaphilharmonic.org
Times are tough--no surprise there. And so it's maybe no surprise to people who know classical music to hear that the Northwest Sinfonietta is changing its program for this weekend (Friday in Seattle, Saturday in Tacoma) from cutting-edge contemporary to crowd-pleasing Mozart.
Don't get me wrong: I love Mozart and always have. And I'm the first one to say, if playing Mozart keeps an orchestra in business, then I'm all for it. I'll miss the clarinet concerto premiere that was to be, and Prokofiev's Symphony no. 1 (another fave of mine) but if you have to pick all-Mozart, this is definitely a great concert, with excellent soloists.
Here's what they're doing this weekend:
"La Finta Giardiniera" Overture, K. 196
The Violin Concerto No. 5 in A, K. 219 with soloist Rebecca Young, the 18-year-old Key Bank Youth Concert winner
"Exsultate Jubilate" K. 165 with soprano Jessica Robins Milanese, who shone in Tacoma Opera's recent "The Barber of Seville", and
Symphony No. 29 in A, K. 201
Says music director Christophe Chagnard: “This all-Mozart celebration focuses on a defining period in Mozart’s life (1773-75) when the child prodigy became the towering man who marked his century as its greatest musical genius."
And in case you needed any more encouragement, the Sinfonietta is selling tickets to both performances at $20 each with student prices at $10 (with a student ID).
Concerts are 7:30 p.m. on April 3 at Nordstrom Hall, Seattle, and 7:30 p.m. April 4 at the Rialto Theater, 310 S. 9th St., Tacoma.
Tickets: 253-591-5894, 800-291-7593, www.orchestraexperience.com
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