Performers: Aoede Consort (Sabrina Manna, Molly Spooner, sopranos, Mary Abba-Gleason, Ann Marie Rimualdo, mezzos, John Schreiner, tenor, Jim Crum, Alexander Jones, baritones, Dan Foster, director), Sten Isachsen, guitar, Felicity Cashman, percussion, Mark Frederick, violin, Leslie Boyer, narrator

Program: "Mid-Winter Songs": Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco (1895-1968), Romancero Gitano, Op. 152, Poems by Federico García Lorca ("Baladilla de los tres rios", "La Guitarra", "Puñal", Procesión, Paso, Saeta", "Memento", "Baile", "Crótalo"); Eric Whitacre (1970-), Five Hebrew Love Songs, Poems by Hila Plitmann ("Temuná", "Kalá kallá", "Lárov", "Éyze shéleg!", "Rakút"); Morten Lauridsen(1943-), Mid-Winter Songs, Poems by Robert Graves ("Lament for Pasiphaë", "Like Snow", "She tells her love while half asleep","Intercession in Late October")

I arrived late, missed some of 1st part of the concert ("Romancero Gitano"), stood in back, but it was worth it! Alex Jones continues to amaze me with his rich, deep baritone voice, he is developing into a soloist of some note (No pun intended!).

I have 3 complaints in this otherwise laudable, challenging, most interesting concert: 1st, words! I couldn't understand much of what the group was singing, due in part to the sonorous acoustics of that impressive space; 2nd, balance was often a problem, the men generally more than holding their own, the women, of all things not, especially the lower voices (mezzos). Dan Foster has a good group of singers, he needs some stronger voices in the middle range to balance the strong soprano & bass parts, & maybe one more tenor (Other than himself). Where was d'Arcy? 3rd, text in the original, at least Spanish, if not Hebrew. I am constantly irritated when I don't have original text. If the language is a difficult one, like Hebrew or Russian, then how about providing text with phonetic spelling? This is often the procedure with choral groups. who can't relate to Cyrillic or other non-Latin alphabets.

That said, both the baritone (Jones) & tenor (Schreiner) solos were very good in the opening selection ("Romancero Gitano", texts in the original Spanish below), but text was lost, as only English translation was provided. I appreciate having something in hand, better than nothing, I suppose, but I really like to have the original, & not merely a synopsis. The guitar accompaniment by Isachsen was excellent, created the proper ambience for anything south of the (French) border.

I was also somewhat at sea in the "Hebrew Love Songs", performed in Hebrew, text in translation. The violin & piano accompaniment was effective, the imbalance mentioned earlier was particularly noticeable here, the lower female voices being overwhelmed by the sopranos. Lovely vocalise with sounds, not words, but I still could have used the Hebrew original!

No such problem with the Lauridsen "Mid-Winter Songs" (Texts were provided, in the original English), the one spoiler being the swirling, cathedral-like acoustics, which sometimes made words disappear in a maze of sound. Still, the refrain of the Part 1 ("Dying sun, shine, warm a little longer!") came through loud (Not too much so) & clear. Effective alliteration in Part 2 ("Like Snow"): "sh" (She), "sn" (snow), "se" (secretly), "w" (world waked), "d" (dazzling, drowsy) & wonderfully evocative imagery ("dazzling of the drowsy eye", "warmer that fingers feared", "histories of the night"). Best, also the shortest of the 5 parts was "She tells her love while half asleep", Part 3: Harmony, disharmony, voices growing apart, then coming together, with the momentous, if mysterious concluding lines:

As Earth stirs in her winter sleep
And puts out grass and flowers
Despite the snow
Despite the falling snow.

While Dan Foster did speak to use about some of the works on the program, much of this was inaudible, so I append the following, captured on the Internet, written by Lauridsen:

Mid-Winter Songs on poems by Robert Graves was commissioned by the University of Southern California to celebrate its Centennial in 1980 and premiered that year by the USC Chamber Singers, conducted by Rodney Eichenberger. The cycle has since been widely performed in both its original chorus/piano version (recorded by Choral Cross-Ties, conducted by Bruce Browne, on Lauridsen — The Complete Choral Cycles) and the subsequent chorus/orchestral setting, commissioned and premiered by the Pasadena Chamber Orchestra in the Ambassador Auditorium in 1983 and recorded by the Los Angeles Master Chorale, conducted by Paul Salamunovich, on Lauridsen — Lux Aeterna (RCM).

In reading Graves (1895-1985), I became very much taken with the richness, elegance and extraordinary beauty of his poetry and his insights regarding the human experience. Five diverse poems with a common "Winter" motif (a particular favorite of mine, rich in the paradoxical symbolism of dying/rejuvenation, light/darkness, sleeping/waking) suggested a cohesive musical cycle. The principal musical materials for the entire work, especially the intervals of an ascending major ninth and descending major second, are derived from the opening choral setting of "Dying Sun" and recur throughout the piece. The cycle is cast in an overall arch form, framed by the intensely dramatic and passionate setting of the "Lament for Pasiphaë" and the gentle, prayerful "Intercession in Late October."

(www.peermusicclassical.com/composer/composerdetail.cfm?detail=lauridsenprogramnotes)

Much better said, certainly more eloquent & to the point, than anything I could say about these lovely, evocative songs.

The last of the 5 parts, "Intercession in Late October", has a veritable spate of evocative, wonderfully suggestive images: "drifts of yellow sand", "fearless of moaning reed or sullen wave", "brambleberries" (firm and fragrant), "On ivy-bloom butterflies wag", finally: "clean hands and love-submissive heart". Alliteration ("How hard", "Firm and fragrant", "brambleberries" & "butterflies"), the references to Midas & Crone, all in all a lovely series of images, following on the 4th part, infinitely more external in nature: "Suddenly stirring", "timeless principalities", "worm of death", "hillside haunting", & the disarming finale: "But found no winter anywhere to see".

The piano playing in the Lauridsen selections, especially the last 2, was outstanding. By Maestro Dan Foster, I believe.

I applaud the effort, the imagination of Foster to find this kind of lyricism & take a chance on his audience, some 40 to 50 brave souls, from what I could see.

There is indeed a place for such music making, Foster's ensemble fills a need, & they are excelling, with the caveats I have outlined above.

Romancero Gitano:

"Baladilla de los tres rios"

El río Guadalquivir
va entre naranjos y olivos.
Los dos ríos de Granada
bajan de la nieve al trigo.

¡Ay, amor
que se fue y no vino!

El río Guadalquivir
tiene las barbas granates.
Los dos ríos de Granada
uno llanto y otro sangre.

¡Ay, amor
que se fue por el aire!

Para los barcos de vela,
Sevilla tiene un camino;
por el agua de Granada
sólo reman los suspiros.

¡Ay, amor
que se fue y no vino!

"La Guitarra"

Empieza el llanto
de la guitarra.
Se rompen las copas
de la madrugada.
Empieza el llanto
de la guitarra.
Es inútil callarla.
Es imposible
callarla.
Llora monótona
como llora el agua,
como llora el viento
sobre la nevada.
Es imposible
callarla.
Llora por cosas
lejanas.
Arena del Sur caliente
que pide camelias blancas.
Llora flecha sin blanco,
la tarde sin mañana,
y el primer pájaro muerto
sobre la rama.
¡Oh, guitarra!
Corazón malherido
por cinco espadas.

Guadalquivir, alta torre
y viento en los naranjales.
Dauro y Genil, torrecillas
muertas sobre los estanques.

¡Ay, amor
que se fue por el aire!

¡Quién dirá que el agua lleva
un fuego fatuo de gritos!

¡Ay, amor
que se fue y no vino!

Lleva azahar, lleva olivas,
Andalucía, a tus mares.

¡Ay, amor
que se fue por el aire!

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Performers: Julian Mesri, piano (Beethoven), Leo Brown, violin, Christine Bowman, piano, Lizzie Schwartzman, piano, Noah Lindquist, piano (Paganini)

Program: Beethoven, Sonata in F minor, Op. 2/1; Paganini, Concerto No. 2 in B minor, Op. 7 ("La Campanella")

What a big sound in that walled off space in otherwise spacious Chapin Hall! Both piano & violin project extremely well there, the audience doesn't miss a beat, even the occasional missed note or pedal misstep.

I thought Mesri rushed much of the 4 movements of the Beethoven sonata, sometimes missing a note, other times producing a chirpy or choppy sound, even in slower sections. Continuity, fluidity, even in the Adagio movement, were generally absent, & the various transitions from very slow to very fast not always successful. Still, any sound coming from that glorious Steinway Bösendorfer instrument is impressive, & Mesri had his moments. A pity he didn't calm down & let the music do the talking for him. Another distraction was the persistent clop clopping of his foot on the floor.

The Paganini, while not without its problems, was more successful. What a challenge for any performer, student or professional! There were some tuning problems, e.g. in the 1st movement (Allegro maestoso), & while Brown managed to survive the extremely high notes, it was more often than not a matter of survival. And he played without a score! Transitions from high to low didn't always work for him, e.g. 1st & 3rd movements, timing sometimes got off because of his rush to make it through the long runs & not miss a beat, & high notes & double stops were a constant problem, not to lose pitch but maintain tempo.

Piano accompaniment for the Paganini was uneven: Bowman missed notes & sounded extremely tentative, Schwartzman was somewhat better but produced a rather harsh, pedestrian sound, Lindquist sounded a lot more like a real partner in the 3rd movement, less of a mere subscript to the major player.

Both works were demanding, especially the Paganini, all the performers are to be commended for taking this kind of music on. A learning experience!

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