Amor & Pscyhe by Opera Feroce (Morningside Heights)

When I say "delightful surprise," I really mean it.  And there was never more delightful a surprise than when I literally stumbled across a hand made poster stuck to a telephone pole a few months ago in Morningside Heights, just outside of a Youth Hostel on 106th Street--advertising a chamber opera inside the hostel!  It turns out that a local group called "Opera Feroce" was putting on a baroque opera pastiche called "Amor & Psyche."  This wonderfully small, and magnificently talented group came together and put on one of the most amazing chamber operas I've ever seen!  I was so surprised--perhaps because of the venue and perhaps because I wasn't really sure what to expect--that I left the event in awe of the work, the musicians, and the singers...all simply amazing individuals and performers. 

In short, three singers, Hayden DeWitt, Alan Dornak, and Beth Anne Hatton, bring together a magically twisted tale of baroque intrigue, love, and life, through characters, who make us laugh along the way.  The accompanying micro-orchestra of Motomi Igarashi (viola da gamba), Vita Wallace (violin), and Kelly Savage (harpsichord) plays with great skill and finesse.  And together, the group works in a very precise and beautiful way.   We look forward to more of their concerts, especially in November with plans for a performance of "Amor & Psyche" at the Burke Library, Union Theological Seminary and Columbia University.

Riverside House Party: Music of Mark Enslin

Mark Enslin: Composer and More...!

I hope that a tradition will emerge from this reporting of small venue musicales, whether in NYC or elsewhere.  Specifically, I hope to begin introducing the musically-interested world to regionally disparate composers and musicians.

About a month ago, I had the privilege of meeting Mark Enslin, an extremely talented composer and wonderful individual who lives and works in Champaign-Urbana, IL.  Mr. Enslin works at the School for Designing a Society, and utilizes many of his talents in his position(s) there.  He is a "composer, performer, actor, activist, organizer, and teacher"...and much more.  We met at a House Party given by "What a Neighborhood!" (Vita and Ishmael Wallace) in Morningside Heights, and the two pieces performed were by Mr. Enslin.  One was a solo piano piece with spoken accompaniment, performed by Susan Parenti (also of the School for Designing a Society), called "Unentitled," which was an absolutely fantastic work of about half an hour, and had audience participation linked to its performance--it was a musical event + performative art event.  The second work was a piece designed for a "one-man-band" consisting of some 17 instruments, including such "invented" instruments as the "UtterBot," which can create a range of almost infinite pitches and inter-pitches through modulating the water level in the instrument.  It also included an instrument called the "Trombrella," as you might imagine--a trombone + umbrella.  These were both pieces that will long be remembered by the audience, and we hope that Mr. Enslin continues his excellent craft, as his work was much enjoyed by all.  And it is surely a craft that made many of those present think more creatively and constructively about music, sound, and art itself.

Elliot Carter: A Premiere at 103

(NB: That's not Mr. Carter in the photo, by the way  ;-)

Some amazing sights and sounds a few weeks ago at the premiere of a new Elliot Carter piece: first, Elliot Carter himself showed up at the concert premiering his work along with two other contemporary composers, and offered up some background to the work entitled by its parts "Two Controversies and a Conversation."  The work was a New York Philharmonic co-commission with Aldeburgh Festival and Radio France.  And as the website of CONTACT! noted..."Two Controversies and a Conversation is more compact in scale and intent than Carter’s pioneering Double Concerto (1961) and takes a different approach to the relationship between the soloists and orchestra."

The second delight, the piece itself by Carter seemed to emerge delightfully out of his atonal Phoenix: a career based on a harsh panoply of sound, deconstructing any semblance of tonality, finally arising in his 104th year with an atonality that no longer bludgeoned the listener, but invited and warmed him/her.  I was very happy to see this iconic composer in person, and hear him speak about the work, and his process.  And I can now see/hear why so many commentators are saying "your work after 90 is your best!"  Truly, he's polished it to a point that it is a suave and unpretentious compositional style, that isn't quite cliched (though, there is always that risk) as other atonal compositions.  The problem with many contemporary works is that their style, structure, and context often buries them in a gutter of unrecognizable modern atonality, so that for many untrained ears (and some trained!), baroque music all sounds nauseatingly the same--but at least it is not abusive on the ear.  Somehow, Carter has achieved something better, greater, and completely inviting, and we are happy for that, and for his continued contributions to contemporary classical music.