Otherwise, you may feel just a wee bit twitchy during the second half of Martin McDonagh’s “A Skull in Connemara,” a dark-as-night comedy enjoying a decidedly vivid production at Center Stage. You may want to avoid a front row seat, too.

Bone particles (or a realistic semblance thereof) fly as forcefully as insults and insinuations in this play. It’s set in an Irish town where space in the church yard cemetery is at such a premium that those who have rested in peace for seven years are disinterred to make way for fresh customers.

OK, so. That sure sounds extreme, but not in Connemara.

No one even gives this practice much thought until Mick Dowd, the man in charge of the skeletal business, faces the prospect of uncovering his own wife. You see, her death never was satisfactorily explained for some people in town, so reopening her grave takes on a whole new level of interest.

Things get pretty messy, in physical and emotional terms, before the digging (also in physical and emotional terms) is done. Oddly enough, things get awfully funny, too.

“A Skull in Connemara” springs from ...

Continue reading "'A Skull in Connemara' gets smashing production at Center Stage" »

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Categories: Center Stage, Drama Queens
        

As she is the first to tell you, Carrie Fisher has had an eventful life. Since a lot of those events involved drugs, alcohol, rehab, and battles with bipolar issues, you might not think that it could be such a funny life, too. But funny it is. Pretty endearing, too.

Fisher happily shares her experiences in “Wishful Drinking,” a solo theatrical vehicle the actress/writer introduced in 2006 with considerable success. The show, which arrived at the Hippodrome this week, still has legs. The level of sturdiness, though, can vary from performance to performance. (Video from an earlier production -- pre-weight loss -- is posted below.)

There’s no use pretending that opening night on Tuesday went smoothly. Fisher, who could not have been more unflatteringly attired (surely her weight loss since becoming a spokesperson for Jenny Craig deserves a better outfit), often sounded halting, even with a teleprompter.

The uneven pacing made the show’s length more problematic, underlining the fact that ...

Continue reading "'Wishful Drinking' makes rough landing at the Hippodrome, but still flies" »

Posted by Tim Smith at 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Drama Queens, Hippodrome
        

If Oliver Hardy had been a conductor, I imagine he would have been just like Joseph R. Olefirowicz, who is as cool and funny and expressive as can be in this clip from the Volksoper in Vienna.

One look, and I knew I had to share it on your favorite Wednesday online featurette in the entire cyber-cosmos, Midweek Madness. You will thank me. Profusely. (As I thank my Florida buddies for alerting me to it.)

This was filmed just last week during a concert version of ...

Continue reading "Midweek Madness: The ultimate in carefree conducting" »

Posted by Tim Smith at 6:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (7)
Categories: Clef Notes
        

There's a great opportunity to experience an important silent film, D.W. Griffith’s "Intolerance" from 1916, with live musical accompaniment from the Baltimore band Boister at 7 p.m. Thursday at Stevenson University. It's a free event -- with advance reservations (call 443-334-2163).

Here's more from the press release:

The concert will be held in the ...

Continue reading "D. W. Griffith classic will be screened with live soundtrack" »

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Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

After Bach spins 30 ingenious variations on that material, he reprises the Aria, which cannot help but sound all the more fulfilling, having generated so many powerful intellectual and emotional responses.

It is no accident that this Aria provides the opening and closing sounds in the Arena Stage presentation of John Logan's "Red," a portrait of the brilliant, path-breaking painter Mark Rothko -- for many people, his work represents something profoundly spiritual, too. (The production originated at Chicago's Goodman Theatre.)

The intermission-less play is, essentially, a series of variations on complex, challenging themes of art and philosophy. It ends where it started, pondering an answer to the most difficult question of all: What do you see?

Talking about art can turn pretentious and tedious in no time. A play about talking about art could be even worse. Logan's remarkably feat here is to address a whole bunch of difficult issues in such a way that they become not just interesting and illuminating, but also downright entertaining.

The drama in the play is largely ignited by the commission Rothko received to paint murals for the Four Seasons Restaurant in New York, an unlikely -- and, as it turned out, impossible -- place for his art. "Red" lets the artist to rant marvelously at the rich and oblivious who would be dining in front of his work.

Other great material involves Rothko discussing ...

Continue reading "Seeing 'Red' at Arena Stage: A compelling experience" »

Posted by Tim Smith at 1:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Drama Queens
        

Camilla Williams, who broke a racial barrier several years before Marian Anderson famously did so at the Metropolitan Opera, died from cancer at the age of 92 in Bloomington, Ind., where she was a professor emeritus at Indiana University.

Ms. Williams is credited as the first African American to be featured in a starring role with a major American opera company. That debut on May 15, 1946 was in the title role of "Madama Butterfly" with the New York City Opera. The soprano went on to become the first singer in a major role at the Vienna State Opera in 1954, a year before contralto Marian Anderson made her Met debut.

Ms. Williams also was involved in another bit of history -- she sang the national anthem at the Lincoln Memorial before Martin Luther King's delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech there.

Here is a disarming video clip of Ms. Williams describing her early career, which got a boost from the legendary ...

Continue reading "Camilla Williams, who broke down racial barriers in opera, dies at 92" »

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Categories: Clef Notes, Opera
        

This ensemble of 15 from Quebec City delivered a sterling demonstration of period instrument panache, and had the extra advantage of a Pied Piper-like soloist who worked his magic on three concertos.

The whole program had an infectious energy. And, for all of the obvious discipline and fine-honing in the execution, there was an air of spontaneity, too.

If you never thought a "historically informed" performance could be fun, this concert would have turned your ears.

Les Violons du Roy, conducted by founding artistic director Bernard Labadie, got things started with Handel's Concerto Grosso in B-flat (Op. 6, No. 7).

There were pianissimi of the finest grade. Every crescendo, accelerando, ritardando and other expressive device was achieved with great finesse.

The overall sound of the orchestra was quite warm, far from the dry tone of early music groups in the first days of the authenticity movement; tempos, too, felt more flexible.

When speed was desired, as in the most spirited variations in the "La Follia" Concerto Gross by Geminiani (after Corelli), it hit unabashedly supersonic levels, yet never left a single player in the dust. Solo playing within the ensemble was uniformly impressive, at whatever speed.

The rest of the program was devoted to ...

Continue reading "Les Violons du Roy, recorder soloist Maurice Steger light up Shriver Hall " »

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Categories: Clef Notes, Shriver Hall
        

Eschenbach cooked up an Austro-German feast that mixed standards -- Mozart's Clarinet Concerto, Schubert's Symphony No. 9 -- with a fascinating dose of new music by Munich-born composer and clarinetist Jorg Widmann, who was also the soloist in the concerto.

Widmann's "Armonica," from 2006, has a prominent part for the glass armonica, that ethereal instrument invented by Benjamin Franklin.

The device provides not only sonic interest here, but also a way for the composer to treat the rest of the orchestra. Waves of sound emerge, gradually, pulsate and dissipate.

In addition to the exotic flavor of the armonica, the orchestra is enhanced by such unexpected instruments as ...

Continue reading "Austro-German feast from Eschenbach, NSO; Jorg Widmann dazzles in debut" »

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Categories: Clef Notes, NSO
        

Music can tell stories as riveting as the best literary texts, can paint images as vivid as the finest works on canvas. That message is reinforced on the first half of the latest Baltimore Symphony program, and then, to an extent, reversed on the second.

The sonic-only pictorial lesson comes from Beethoven’s “Pastoral” Symphony, the composer’s extraordinary evocation of a visit to the countryside, complete with babbling brook, tipsy farmers and a cool thunderstorm.

This classic is matched with a multimedia production, “LIFE: A Journey Through Time,” with an evolutionary tour of nature through the work of National Geographic photographer Frans Lanting, matched to music by Philip Glass.

Here, the sounds serve as complement or counterpoint to the imagery. The accompaniment was not created with the visual in mind, but matched to it subsequently. The pictures clearly could stand on their own without a note, but the match-up provides an extra kick. 

Marin Alsop, who was instrumental in generating the Lanting/Glass epic, introduced it to the BSO in 2007. Given all the other music available by Glass, one of Baltimore’s most famous sons, and given that his 75th birthday will be observed on Tuesday, it’s disappointing that we didn’t get something new to the BSO repertoire. “LIFE” is a compilation of previously existing pieces (arranged for orchestra by Michael Riesman). A symphony by Glass would have been very welcome.

Leaving that aside, it was impossible not to be impressed by ...

Continue reading "BSO takes nature walk with Beethoven, Frans Lanting, Philip Glass" »

Posted by Tim Smith at 10:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: BSO, Clef Notes, Marin Alsop
        

Here's more from the release:

Readings will take place on Saturdays in February and March, at various theaters in the Baltimore area. Directors will be assigned a script, and are responsible for casting actors to fill the required roles, holding at least one read-through rehearsal, and being present to direct the staged reading on the date scheduled. Prior theater experience is preferred, but not necessary.

For more information, contact Miriam Bazensky: vchair@baltplayfest.org, 410-756-2762.

Posted by Tim Smith at 12:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Drama Queens
        

Hey, I know you don't want to forget to wish Mozart a happy 256th birthday. (To tell the truth, I almost forgot myself.)

As Nicolas Slonimsky so succinctly put it in his Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, Mozart was the "supreme Austrian genius of music whose works in every genre are unsurpassed in lyric beauty, rhythmic variety and effortless melodic invention." That covers it pretty well.

To mark the composer's birthday, I wanted to keep it short, sweet and sublime -- three of the most divine minutes in all of Mozart -- "Soave sia il vento," the trio from "Cosi fan tutte."

In this scene, two women who think their boyfriends are sailing off to war, and the cynic who knows it's a ruse meant to test the issue of fidelity in the female sex, join voices in wishing the men a safe journey.

The whole thing could have been played just for laughs in this very adult comedy, but Mozart, that "supreme genius," went for something else -- the heart. You may need to have yours examined if you ever find yourself less than deeply entranced by this trio.

There are many wonderful performances out there, but I could not resist this one, because it features two of my all-time favorite singers ...

Continue reading "For Mozart's birthday, three of his most divine minutes" »

Posted by Tim Smith at 9:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Clef Notes
        

The orchestra, founded in 2000 by composer, pianist and conductor Darin Atwater and made up predominantly of African American musicians, had an affiliation with the Baltimore Symphony for most of its first decade.

Thanks to the recently launched Hippodrome Arts Fund, Soulful Symphony is now a partner with the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center.

"We're ready to launch this thing again," Atwater said. "It's a new chapter, a new home -- but the same soul."

One aspect of that new home is the possibilities it offers to have a more ...

Continue reading "Soulful Symphony's first Hippodrome season to open with Michael Jackson tribute" »

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Categories: Clef Notes, Hippodrome
        

Michael Weller’s recent drama “Fifty Words” focuses unflinchingly on a married couple, Jan and Adam, who have to face something formidable in their Brooklyn brownstone — a night entirely alone.

It’s the first such night since their son was born nine years earlier; the boy, having finally made a friend, is away on a sleep-over. This leaves the parents with a lot of time, if not each other, to kill.

Adam, a moderately successful architect, decides an amorous romp with his wife is in order, before he has to leave for another business trip in the morning. But Jan seems terribly preoccupied, both with left-over work related to her start-up business and with her absent child, who has developed a distinctive way of hiding under his own troubles.

Before long, the spring-loaded spouses uncover any number of suspicions, resentments and long-avoided truths.

“It’ll sting; I can’t help that,” Adam says to Jan at one point, treating a fresh cut on her foot after one of their rounds.

That’s nothing compared to the emotional wounds inflicted on both people before the night is over, more wounds than could ever properly heal. Recalling earlier conflicts, Adam tells his wife: “We were just learning how to hurt each other back then. We were amateurs.”

They are professionals now.

Everyone knows some seemingly incompatible mates who are nonetheless bound together. Marriages can be complex, as theater-goers already know well from Edward Albee’s “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” In that drama, George and Martha reveal an uncanny ability to goad and ensnare each other. Their weapon — or refuge — of choice is booze, so much easier than sex.

For Adam and Jan, physical intimacy is the trap, and has been from the day they met. They have developed ...

Continue reading "Everyman Theatre explores marital crisis in (more than) 'Fifty Words'" »

Posted by Tim Smith at 9:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Drama Queens, Everyman Theatre
        

My thanks to Brian Sacawa, the effortlessly cool dude who guides Mobtown Modern, for alerting me to a contrapuntal tribute to Lady Gaga.

I got quite a kick out of what you might call Bach's "Bad Romance," so I just had to choose it for my next installment of the life-enhancing feature known as Midweek Madness. You might go a little gaga over it, too.

Let the fugue begin:

Continue reading "Midweek Madness: The art of the fugue, Lady Gaga-style" »

Posted by Tim Smith at 6:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Clef Notes
        

The early music scene in our region -- the early music scene, period -- is particularly fortunate to have Opera Lafayette as a major player.

The D.C-based company has been reviving neglected repertoire since 1995, and doing so with remarkable style. Several Naxos recordings document the quality.

The latest discovery, in a production presented at the Kennedy Center's Terrace Theater Saturday night and heading next to New York on the way to Versailles, is Pierre-Alexandre Monsigny's "Le Roi at le fermier."

This 1762 opera enjoyed considerable popularity back in the day, so much so that it was performed in 1780 in the Theatre de la Reine, starring no less than Marie-Antoinette. That alone gives "Le Roi at le fermier" ("The King and the Farmer") abundant curiosity value.

When Opera Lafayette performs the piece at Versailles, it will be with restored sets from 1780, which, somehow survived all these years in storage. The performances, Feb. 4 and 5, will be in the recently renovated Opera Royal at the storied palace.

"Le Roi et le fermier" abounds in felicitous melodies that settle easily into the ear, and they are enhanced by remarkably colorful orchestration.

The libretto by Michel-Jean Sedaine spins a simple tale set in Sherwood Forest involving a farmer named Richard and his concern for his beloved Jenny (the role Marie-Antoinette sang). That concern stems from the fact that Lurewel, a courtier of the King of England, has dastardly designs on Jenny.

The king, lost during a hunting expedition, ends up in Richard's humble abode, where he learns how decent and wise commoners can be, and how bad Lurewel is for his image. All ends sweetly.

It may be hard to, um, wrap one’s head around the notion that Marie-Antoinette would want to perform in an opera that depicts how benevolent a monarch could behave toward the little people of his kingdom -- a message that doesn't seem to have stuck with the Queen of France, or her hubby, who witnessed her performance.

But it is easy to ...

Continue reading "Opera Lafayette uncovers Monsigny work once sung by Marie-Antoinette" »

Posted by Tim Smith at 12:24 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Clef Notes, Opera
        

Carnegie Hall seems more than ever to be the epicenter of classical music life in this country, what with the Achievement Program already launched and the National Youth Orchestra of the United States being created there in 2013.

Another of the many initiatives that keep Carnegie Hall so interesting is a festival called "Spring for Music," which bowed last year.

This annual event in May focuses on "the quality and creativity of North American orchestras." With tickets popularly priced at $25 and repertoire that emphasizes the off-beat, the festival has obvious appeal.

The two major orchestras in our area will be showcased during the 2013 Spring for Music.

Marin Alsop will lead the Baltimore Symphony May 6, 2013, in a program that includes ...

Continue reading "Baltimore, National symphonies to play Carnegie Hall's 2013 Spring for Music " »

Posted by Tim Smith at 2:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: BSO, Clef Notes, NSO
        

I always worry about my blog-only readers missing some of my inestimable prose elsewhere -- that's the kind of caring person I am -- so I just wanted to let you know that I have a follow-up to the New York Philharmonic cell phone disaster in today's Sun.

This one looks at how some of our local arts organizations are trying to cope with the menace from those smart (or evil) phones.

And speaking of that menace, please take a moment to check out a great refresher course on cell phone etiquette from the Washington Post's Maura Judkis. Not that you need the reminder, of course, but you may know some less enlightened souls would would benefit from the suggestions. And, one day, we may all once again enjoy the fullness and richness of uninterrupted live performance.

Posted by Tim Smith at 12:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens
        

It is possible to quibble with the idea of cramming three blockbuster works into a single program, but the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra carries it off.

Ravel’s “Bolero,” that brilliant study in rhythmic and melodic reiteration, not to mention crescendo, is more likely to serve as a concert finale than a curtain-raiser, leading into Tchaikovsky’s barnstorming Piano Concerto No. 1. But here they are, back to back.

And after two of classical music’s Greatest Hits, why not one more? Well, at least one of classical music’s Greatest Minutes — the introductory passage of Strauss’ “Also Sprach Zarathustra,” forever identified as the theme from the sci-fi classic “2001.” The rest of Strauss’ ambitious reflections on the writings of philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche may not be quite as popular, but the whole thing is a marvelous showpiece.

What makes these three war horses well worth trotting out together is the terrific music-making they inspire. On Thursday night at Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, the connection between music director Marin Alsop and the BSO sounded like it had reached a tighter, more spirited level. This was especially evident in “Also Sprach Zarathustra.”

Of course, there was an instant let-down at the very start. The indelible opening, with its gradual sunburst of C major, should rattle your chair, tingle your spine. It has a lot better chance to do that when ...

Continue reading "Alsop leads BSO in blockbusters; Olga Kern featured in Tcahikovsky concerto" »

Posted by Tim Smith at 6:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: BSO, Clef Notes, Marin Alsop
        

Just saw the news that Etta James has died in California at the age of 73 of leukemia.

Although she had a difficult life, including bouts of drug addiction, she managed to maintain a decades-long career in a tough business, leaving her mark on jazz, R&B, gospel, blues and soul. Many vocalists have taken inspiration from her art.

Although probably best known for her searing performance of "At Last," I think this recording of Etta James singing ...

Continue reading "Etta James, influential jazz singer, dies at 73 " »

Posted by Tim Smith at 11:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
Categories: Clef Notes
        

Like much of the world, I have been riveted by the horrid fate of the Costa Concordia, which ran aground last Friday. It should never have happened, of course, and the investigation into the how and why is likely to be long and painful.

News reports about the first victim identified from the wreckage only adds to the darkness of this event. He was a 38-year-old Hungarian violinist named
Sandor Feher, who worked aboard the ship as a member of the the Bianco Trio.

Witnesses say that Mr. Feher first helped children with their life jackets before returning to his cabin for his violin. It is hard not to think of the Titanic and stories of its musicians.

Here is a video Mr. Feher posted just last month in an effort to ...

Continue reading "Hungarian violinist died aboard Costa Concordia; helped children to safety" »

Posted by Tim Smith at 5:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)
Categories: Clef Notes
        

The latest proof: Center Stage will present free public readings of two Martin McDonagh plays featuring members of Everyman Theatre and Single Carrot Theatre and other local actors.

How's that for collaboration within the arts community? Pretty cool.

The project provides a neat way for Center Stage to promote its production of one of McDonagh's "A Skull in Connemara," which opens next week.

The readings will focus on ...

Continue reading "Center Stage offers free readings of Martin McDonagh plays at ale house" »

Posted by Tim Smith at 12:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Center Stage, Drama Queens, Everyman Theatre, Single Carrot Theatre
        

In advance of what promises to be one of the most kinetic concerts from Mobtown Modern this season, a performance Thursday of Michael Gordon's "Timber" for six percussionists, guest blogger Logan K. Young offers this preview. If I didn't have a BSO concert tonight, I know I'd be happily Mobtowning. -- TIM

By LOGAN K. YOUNG

It was only a matter of time — and circumstance.

With a host of smart, progressive composers disenfranchised by the politics of big choirs and even bigger orchestras, three indefatigable grad students — David Lang, Michael Gordon and Julia Wolfe — left Yale and started their own ensemble.

They christened it as only they could: Bang on a Can.

A music festival, the all-day-and-all-of-the-night Bang on a Can Marathon, soon followed. It’s still going strong (and late) today. In March 2001, BoaC’s record label, Cantaloupe Music, was born. In fact, the label just put out a wonderful sampler to celebrate its silver anniversary.

A thriving summer school, commissioning consortium and one Pulitzer Prize later, Bang on a Can has become the paradigm for DIY classical music in every stuffy college, every staid conservatory throughout the country. Not bad for a start-up, indeed.

Of the founding BoaC trio, Michael Gordon (Wolfe’s husband) has always struck me as the most unique voice. His music is consistently the most original. To be fair, that 2008 Pulitzer actually belongs to Lang. Like Brahms, he’s a real composer’s composer.

Baltimore got to hear this for herself when Evolution Contemporary Music Series presented Lang’s "The Little Match Girl Passion" at An Die Musik late last year. As duly noted, that performance did not disappoint.

Now it’s Gordon’s time. And with Mobtown Modern bringing the fine, rotating cast of Mantra Percussion to the always cooperative Red Emma’s, no one will leave 2640 discouraged either.

Apropos of their name, Mantra Percussion will be performing Gordon’s "Timber," a nearly ...

Continue reading "Guest blogger Logan K. Young previews Mobtown Modern's Mantra concert" »

Posted by Tim Smith at 10:38 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Clef Notes
        

The depressing saga of New York City Opera, which left its longtime Lincoln Center home for an uncertain future as a nomadic company, has hit an unexpected note of optimism.

Although negotiations with the musicians appeared to have broken down for good a few days ago, talks resumed and it now looks like a 2012 season -- a shadow of the seasons City Opera once offered -- will proceed. Rehearsals for "La Traviata" will now begin; that production is due to open at the Brooklyn Academy of Music Feb. 12.

Here are excerpts from the union's press release:

Continue reading "Last-minute reprieve for New York City Opera seems possible" »

Posted by Tim Smith at 5:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Clef Notes
        

Gustav Leonhardt, the revelatory Dutch harpsichordist, organist and scholar, died Monday in Amsterdam at the age of 83.

He was, to quote the Guardian's obit, "a pioneer and pillar of the early music movement." No one seriously interested in music of the baroque could have missed Mr. Leonhardt's contributions to the understanding of that genre over the past 60 years.

His work carried enormous weight as the music world began to rediscover the techniques and principles of historically informed performance practice. He leaves behind a substantial recorded legacy, and several students who have continue to contribute to the authenticity movement.

Here is a sample of Mr. Leonhardt's artistry, filmed at a recital in Paris last month:

Continue reading "Gustav Leonhardt, pioneer in early music movement, dies at 83" »

Posted by Tim Smith at 11:16 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)
Categories: Clef Notes
        

For your Midweek Madness pleasure or pain (or both), how about a night at the opera with Carol Burnett and Placido Domingo?

To give this a little extra relevance, do notice that Miss Burnett is wearing purple. We in Baltimore know how important purple is right now.

Oh yeah, this little gem even raises that ever-timely issue of ...

Continue reading "Midweek Madness: Operatic outing with Placido Domingo, Carol Burnett (some purple, too) " »

Posted by Tim Smith at 6:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
Categories: Clef Notes, Drama Queens, Opera