Tag Archives: town hall

Music

Seattle Baroque not at its best

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Kevin Mallon, the third of four aspirants this season for the directorship of Seattle Baroque Orchestra, took the helm Saturday night at Town Hall for a performance of four Bach cantatas for Lent or Easter. Four singers joined the orchestra: soprano Linda Tsatsanis, mezzo-soprano Hannah Penn; tenor Aaron Sheehan and baritone Sumner Thompson.

Expecting a sublime performance, given the individually excellent musicians and the equally fine singers, it was disappointing that, while there were sublime moments, there were dynamic imbalances between performers, and sometimes tempos which seemed extreme for the context.

The four cantatas were not performed in the order of dates for which they were composed. BWV 42, “Am Abend aber desselbigen Sabbats,” which began the program, was intended for the first Sunday after Easter, with the story of Jesus’ rising. Next came BWV 159, “Sehet! Wir gehn hinauf gen Jerusalem,” for the Sunday before Ash Wednesday, presaging pain and sorrow; BWV 158, “Der Friede sei mit dir,” for the Tuesday after Easter is one of weary acceptance, and BWV 4, “Christ lag in Todes Banden,” an early cantata for Easter Day, reaches for joy.

The program began with promise. The opening Sinfonia of Cantata 158 showed the orchestra playing at its best, with the sound light, lively and clean, with the interweaving of the two oboes (Debra Nagy and Curtis Foster) and the violins led by Linda Melsted, plus fine bassoon from Anna Marsh. It continued with the highlight of the evening for this listener, Penn’s singing of the alto aria describing the risen Jesus appearing to the gathered disciples. (While translations were given in the notes, the German original of the words was not, an unfortunate omission.)

With a lovely voice, expressive and nuanced, a fine even range and well-supported low notes, Penn’s singing together with the oboes obbligato brought a feeling of soothing and peace. The tempo was on the slow side, but the flow never sagged and it gave time for the music to breathe.

However the succeeding aria for soprano and tenor suffered from a range perhaps too low for Tsatsanis, whose upper range is strong but whose lower range rapidly lost volume. At the same time, the tempo seemed surprisingly jaunty for an aria inviting the disciples not to despair despite fear and dread, and the cello continuo’s upwards swoops seemed positively flippant.

An excellent Bach singer with a strong voice, baritone Thompson sang his arias and recitatives throughout the evening with eloquent delivery and feeling, and tenor Sheehan’s lighter voice was a pleasure to hear also.

Each cantata ended with a chorale, and here the imbalances between voices and orchestra were most obvious. While tenor and bass were easily audible, soprano and mezzo could hardly be heard over the orchestra. This was somewhat better in the second half.

Except for the final cantata, much of the range for the soprano was not very high, almost mezzo range and it was hard on Tsatsanis to make herself heard.

In No. 158 the instruments were reduced to just continuo players—lute, cello, harpsichord, plus violin. In the first aria, for baritone with the soprano alternating with a chorale, Melsted played the obbligato line which became increasingly florid, though her performance lacked nuance to go with the vocal lines.

Lastly, throughout the evening, the continuo line in the cello (played by Nathan Whittaker) seemed overly prominent, almost aggressive, though surely meant to be grounding for the melodies and harmonies above it.

Seattle Baroque Orchestra can do better than this. It’s possible that with more rehearsal time (an expensive proposition) the imbalances could have been corrected.

News

Notes from the Seattle: City of Literature Town Hall

Photo of Elliott Bay Book Company in 2008, photo by Joe Mabel, from Wikicommons.

A few hundred people turned out Wednesday night to Town Hall to hear some of the stars of Seattle’s literature scene make the case for the city’s bid to become a UNESCO City of Literature. Seattlish called them “the literal literati.”

The speakers were (not in any particular order) Mayor Ed Murray and Deputy Mayor Hyeok Kim, memoirist Elissa Washuta, Sasquatch Books’ publisher and president Gary Luke, Seattle Public Library rock star Nancy Pearl, Elliott Bay Book Company’s Rick Simonson, Washington Center for the Book’s Chris Higashi, Hugo House’s Tree Swenson, and novelist Ryan Boudinot, who has been the public face and voice of the effort. It was emceed by Brian McGuigan of the Hugo House. They each made the case for why this bid is important and worthwhile.

Next week, Seattle will formally submit its application to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization to become the world’s eighth City of Literature. Being in the Great Hall at Town Hall, attendance may have seemed somewhat sparse, but that was only because the room was so big. I would guess that somewhere between one and two hundred people showed up. All were writers and/or dedicated readers.

Ryan Boudinot first raised the idea of Seattle becoming a City of Literature last June, when he gave a talk at Elliott Bay Book Company’s 40th anniversary celebration. He said:

Unesco cities of literature currently include Dublin, Reykjavik, Edinburgh, Melbourne, Norwich, and Iowa City. These cities comprise an international network devoted to collaboration and cultural exchange. Our city, which has given us so many authors, books, events, and resources deserves to stand beside these cities and uphold the responsibilities that come with the designation. I have contacted Unesco to begin the process of applying for the City of Literature program and learned that the application process begins again next year. I’ve also been consulting with friends in Reykjavik who successfully applied for inclusion in the program and reached out to Iowa City’s City of Literature Board of Directors. Tonight I’m proposing a committee to pursue City of Literature designation, comprised of representatives from Seattle’s arts organizations who have a stake in Seattle’s thriving literary culture. And I’m proposing that we present Elliott Bay Book Company’s forty-year commitment to the written word as one of the primary reasons that the world should recognize Seattle as a City of Literature. If you’re interested in becoming involved, let me know, and let’s make this happen.

(You can read the full speech here – and should.)

The first speaker Wednesday night was Elissa Washuta, who noted Seattle’s cultural history and Native American heritage. She said, “Storytelling in Seattle boasts a 10,000 year legacy.” Chris Higashi noted how Seattle voters have always supported library levies overwhelmingly. Rick Simonson talked about a reading at Elliott Bay Book Company in 1997 that was packed for then-mostly-unknown author Haruki Murakami, who hadn’t sold 10,000 books in the US at the time. Nancy Pearl was Nancy Pearl. She spoke of bringing in authors from war-torn nations to Seattle to tell their stories. Tree Swenson envisioned a city-wide literary hub.

Mayor Murray was the second speaker, who after showing off his Elliott Bay Book Company punch card, said that “Seattle is a city of literature, Seattle is a city of readers.” He went on to note that “To be a city of literature, we need to be a city of literacy” while speaking of his own learning disabilities as a child and how he learned to read and it became his favorite pastime.

One funny moment came when Ryan Boudinot tried to interrupt Brian McGuigan’s introduction of Nancy Pearl, saying he wanted to introduce her. She ended up shush both of them.

Ryan Boudinot promised that every book he writes, for the remainder of his career, “will be stamped ‘Published in Seattle.’” He challenged writers to work with one another and complete their own projects. “Now is the time for alliances,” he said. He also noted that “Seattle writers will see more visibility in foreign markets” and that “we will se an increase in cultural tourism… More writers will come to Seattle to work and learn.”

As someone who lives in Seattle and loves books and its literary scene, it was tough not to feel inspired leaving Town Hall. Seeing Seattle designated as a “City of Literature,” one of fewer than ten in the world, would be incredibly exciting and the benefits would be immense. I could think of nothing more exciting than having Seattle become a “City of Literature” in the same year it became Super Bowl champions. This is big deal.

As Mayor Murray put it, “Arts are good for business, yes, but the arts are also good for the human spirit.” He also said that this would be “recognition for something that already exists.”

{Photo by Joe Mabel from Wikicommons.}

Arts & Entertainment, Music

From the old world to the new

Jordi Savall brought his Hesperion XXI back to Seattle Friday night together with Tembembe Ensamble Continuo, and the two groups amalgamated to play Baroque music from Spain and South America.

Under the auspices of the Early Music Guild, the performance at Town Hall drew a packed house of not only early music devotees but many with a Hispanic background, helpful to understand the songs and translate the names of the many guitar-like instruments or percussion.

Savall himself took the lead throughout, playing either the bass viola da gamba (his being a superb 1697 seven-string instrument by Barak Norman) or a small Italian treble viol from 1500. Despite being in his 70s, the Catalan Savall’s fingers are as agile as ever, as he played increasingly fast and florid improvisations on dances and folias. As a change of pace, he played a solo of music from the Celtic influence in the New World, in which hornpipe and reel rhythms were clearly present despite the Hispanic environment.

The group of seven musicians included, besides Savall, three other members of Hesperion: Xavier Diaz-Latorre playing guitar and Andrew Lawrence-King on a big harp with percussionist David Mayoral on a drum which he played with sticks on both head and rim, maracas with which he seemed miraculously inventive, wood block and tambourine; and the Tembembe players: Ulises Martinez on violin and guitar, Enrique Barone on a variety of guitars and a horse’s jawbone (yes indeed: it sounded like a rattly block), and Leopoldo Novoa on guitars and marimbol. This last was a large oblong wood box on which he sat, with on the front a group of tuned metal strips over a sound hole. All of them sang lustily as well. Although between the seven there were four music stands, no one ever seemed to turn a page, all heads were turned to Savall and they all played the complex rhythms and improvisations as though by instinct.

Lively dances and songs, fandango, canarios and songs such as the jacaras “La Petenera,” punctuated the program. One jacaras, the only work in which Savall did not appear, was introduced by Lawrence-King who described it as a duet for a man and a woman who are engaging in a face-to-face, advancing and retreating aggressively. ”It’s nothing less than lovemaking from beginning to end,” he said.

It would have added to performance enjoyment had other works had similar introductions. There were no program notes, several pieces went straight from one to the next, and the program order was not strictly adhered to anyway. Not that this was particularly important as the lights were dimmed and the program not readable during the performance.

Nevertheless, the whole absorbing evening received vociferous applause and the encore of a song from Peru.

Arts & Entertainment, Literature

Eight off-site AWP events not to miss this week

Late in our hibernation, a controversy erupted where the bookfair at the Association of Writers and Writing Programs conference was temporarily excluding the general public from the fair on its final day, Saturday, March 1. It was a break from tradition that AWP said was due to complexities in Seattle’s tax code, which, they say, differ from other cities that host the conference.

I’ll be attending the conference next week, and attending to as many readings and panels as I can manage on Thursday and Friday, but, like the final day of the book fair, there are a bunch of great events that happening off-site that are open to the public. Here are a few that I recommend checking out:

Festival of Language, Rock Bottom, Wednesday, February 26, 5pm-10pm (website)

I’m not familiar with most of the fifty (!) writers booked for this reading, and that’s part of the fun. The night will be divided up into three 90-minute segments. The readings will be short, forcing authors to grab listeners immediately and turn them on to their writing. And even if not, it’ll be just a few moments until the next one takes the microphone. The one author on the roster I am most familiar with is Alissa Nutting, who wrote the scandalous Tampa, one of the most talked-about books of 2013 (though I liked her gripping and unique short story collection Unclean Jobs for Women and Girls a little more).

AWP Event with Tin House Books, Wave Books, and Tumblr, Chop Suey, Thursday, February 27, 8pm, free  (website)

This party may actually literally have it all: readings from great writers (Dorothea Lasky, Peter Mountford, Bianca Stone, and Matthew Zapruder), DJ sets from Mas y Menos and New Dadz, and free drinks, provided by Tumblr. I recommend finding a copy of Mountford’s brand new novel The Dismal Science, and asking him to sign it for you. It’s the best novel you’ll read all year that features Paul Wolfowitz.

MFA vs. NYC: The Two Cultures of American Fiction, Vito’s Restaurant, Thursday, February 27, 7pm-9pm, free (website)

This is the launch party for the a new anthology that explores the two predominant “scenes” of American fiction, edited by Chad Harbach (with N+1 magazine and author of the popular novel The Art of Fielding). This is one of the books I’m most anxious to read, and I did find The Art of Fielding to be an entertaining read, so this is on my must-see list. There was also an excerpt from the book, about the famous editor Gordon Lish, on the New Yorker’s website.

Slate Live: Audio Book Club Podcast Recording: Hugh Howey on Kurt Vonnegut, Town Hall, Thursday, February 27, 7:30pm, $10 tickets. (website)

A live taping of the Slate podcast will include a discussion about the beloved Kurt Vonnegut, and will feature Slate writers Dan Kois (Slate Book Review editor), and Hanna Rosin, plus Hugh Howey, author of the popular WOOL series.

Sex Death and Memoir Reading, Babeland, Friday, February 28, 5pm-6:30pm (website)

This reading is hosted by former students who had taken Portland author Lidia Yuknavitch’s Ecstatic States workshop. The workshop’s aim is to “go beyond the clichés of sex and death” and that’s exactly what makes Yuknavitch’s writing so compelling. Her 2011 memoir, The Chronology of Water, is such a compelling book because whether she’s writing about abuse, sex, or swimming, Yuknavitch knows that the right words are often the most direct. It’s beautifully written because Yuknavitch is honest with her readers, even when it doesn’t paint her in the most flattering light. It is one of the books that has stuck with me since reading it. I can’t wait to hear first-hand how Lidia Yuknavitch directly influenced a subsequent group of authors.

Jazz and Poetry Soiree with Molly Ringwald, Heather McHugh, Robert Pinsky, and friends, Chihuly Boathouse, Friday, February 28, 5pm, $135 tickets. (website)

Tickets for this event are long sold out, and you really didn’t want to go anyway.

VIDA: Women in Literary Arts, Hugo House, Friday, February 28, 8pm, $10 minimum donation (website)

This is one of the higher-profile readings, and for good reason. It’s loaded. It features beloved authors like Cheryl Strayed (Wild), Nick Flynn (Another Bullshit Night in Suck City), Pam Houston (Cowboys Are My Weakness), Natalie Diaz (When My Brother Was an Aztec), Kate Lebo (A Commonplace Book of Pie), and more. The readings start at 10pm, I’d recommend getting to the Hugo House much earlier.

Bedtime Stories, Elliott Bay Book Company, Saturday, March 1, $15 tickets (which includes a copy of Suzy Vitello’s new book The Moment Before) (website) 

The theme of this evening reading at Elliott Bay Book Company is “adult bedtime stories” and it stars some very well known authors: Chelsea Cain, Chuck Palahniuk, Monica Drake, Lidia Yuknavitch, and Suzy Vitello (all of whom, I think, are friends in Portland). The EBBC website says the first fifty people to arrive in the bedtime attire (safe for bookstores, presumably) will be handed a heart-shaped box of chocolates by Chelsea Cain.

{Photo by Tom Murphy VII, from Wikicommons}

Arts & Entertainment, Music

Seattle Pro Musica Honors Britten’s Legacy With “A Ceremony of Carols”

Seattle Pro Musica rehearses at St. James Cathedral (Photo: Seattle Pro Musica)

As one of the 20th century’s most beloved composers, Benjamin Britten stands out for his outstanding choral offerings. Born in 1913, the English composer left a legacy of vocal repertoire that continues to inspire to this day. In celebration of the Britten Centenary, the singers of Seattle Pro Musica have dedicated their annual holiday program the composer’s Christmas-themed choral works, including yuletide favorite A Ceremony of Carols.

Benjamin Britten

The concert pairs Britten classics with lesser-known gems by contemporary composers, making for an appealing blend of new and old that’s bound to delight fans of choral music. Festivities began with two performances at Town Hall on December 7 and continue with two more on December 14 at the Bastyr University Chapel. The program focuses on Britten’s fascination with historical texts, from 15th century British carols to 19th century poetry. Throughout his career, Britten drew upon older pieces of writing as compositional sources, passing on his penchant for combining ancient text with new music to many of today’s choral composers.

Directed by Karen P. Thomas, the 80-member Seattle Pro Musica continues to charm audiences with their annual Christmas concert, which has become a local holiday tradition. This year’s Britten celebration follows on the heels of other Seattle Pro Musica events commemorating the 100th anniversary of the composer’s birth, including a performance of the massive War Requiem in June alongside the Seattle Symphony and Chorale.

December 7th’s afternoon concert began with a candlelight procession performed by the women of the choir. The ensemble filed through the auditorium and onto the Town Hall stage while singing a medieval English Christmas chant, “A solis ortus cardine”. This opening provided a meditative counterpoint to the more energetic works ahead, while also paying tribute to the ancient chants and texts that inspired Britten and others.

Two suites of yuletide carols by Britten anchored the program, one written during the composer’s youth and the other as he was reaching artistic maturity. Composed when Britten was just 19, A Boy was Born demonstrates the budding composition student’s gift for creating complex vocal textures and using musical effects to “illustrate” words or phrases. The suite of seven carols follows a theme and variations format that explores a variety of musical moods, from the ethereal opening chorale to the victorious fanfare of the sixth and final variation, “Noel”. Thomas and the choir expertly navigated the sudden transitions between variations, which often flowed from one to another through a connecting syllable or note.

The combination of Britten’s descriptive writing and Seattle Pro Musica’s vocal versatility resulted in many magical moments during A Boy was Born’s seven movements. In the fifth variation, “In the Bleak Mid-winter”, soprano Chrissie Graham’s lush voice soared overhead in a mournful allegory of Jesus’ death. Her solo was accompanied by soft chants of the phrase “snow on snow” from the choir, transporting me to a winter landscape framed by the steady fall of snowflakes.

Premiered in 1942, Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols is full of similarly rich sonic illustrations and layered harmonies. Like A Boy was Born, A Ceremony of Carols demonstrates Britten’s penchant for all things old, especially his love for historic English poetry and chant. The work begins with a processional strikingly similar to the medieval chant that opened the concert and quickly departs on a whirlwind tour of musical expression.

Nuanced accompaniment by harpist Catherine Barrett blended well with the choir in both solo and ensemble sections. Particularly moving was the brief third movement, “That younge childe”, which featured Barrett and soprano Amanda Jessup echoing each other on a melody full of sorrowful sighs. Barrett’s playing evoked a variety of imagery throughout the work, from a rocking cradle to the biting winter wind. With this foundation, the women of Seattle Pro Musica filled in the rest of the musical story. Dramatic movements like “This little Babe” showcased the choir at its best, weaving together overlapping melodies with an ease that left me enraptured.

A surprise hit of the concert was the choir’s performance of Conrad Susa’s Carols and Lullabies: Christmas in the Southwest. Susa, who just passed away in November, wrote the piece as a companion to A Ceremony of Carols. Based on Spanish and Latin-American carols, the colorful choral suite adds guitar and marimba along with harp accompaniment. Guitarist Michael Partington and percussionist Timothy Helming brought just the right amount of Latin flavor to the suite’s ten movements.

Though the traditional Spanish tunes in Carols and Lullabies probably aren’t familiar to most American audience members, their celebratory spirit and catchy melodies give them instant appeal. The carol “Alegría” begs for a sing-along, especially given Susa’s arrangement. Baritones Jeff Myers, Jon Repp, and Lee Maneman lustily belted out the verses, then were joined by the full choir for the refrain. Other movements featured more complex harmonies influenced by Spanish folk songs and dances. With its tongue-twisting title and guitar-tinged refrain, “Chiquirriquitín” provided lots of folksy fun for both audience and choir.

Like Britten’s A Ceremony of Carols, Susa’s Carols and Lullabies is full of solos, duets, instrumental interludes, and opportunities for the entire ensemble to shine. Full of vivid colors, Seattle Pro Musica’s performance swept me away from the Seattle chill to a boisterous Latin-American Christmas celebration in warmer climes. The final carol in Susa’s suite captures the work’s exuberance, complete with emphatic strums on the guitar to emphasize the cries of “Fum! Fum! Fum!” in the refrain. Like much of the piece, it has an infectious melody which stuck with me long after the concert ended, leaving me hoping that Susa’s work will be performed more regularly.

Several Christmas-themed works by contemporary composers may have received their Seattle premiere at the December 7 performance, including Bernard Hughes’ “The Shepherd’s Carol” and Gabriel Jackson’s “The Christ-child”. Originally commissioned by the Seattle Men’s Chorus, Alice Parker’s romp Roll round with the year brought a bit of jolly good fun to round out the program.

Arts & Entertainment, Music

From Solemn To Sizzling With JP Jofre and the Hard Tango Chamber Band

JP Jofre (Photo: Sergio Reyes)

With its expressive, reedy tone and air-filled bellows that can expand more than three feet, the bandoneón is one of the world’s most dramatic instruments. Related to the accordion and concertina, the bandoneón was invented in Germany and brought to Argentina in the 19th century by German emigrants, missionaries, and sailors. It’s known for its role in Argentine tango music, where its soulful melodies and crackling chords convey the passion of the dance. Today, tango and the bandoneón are virtually inseparable.

A youthful upstart hailing from the tradition of great Argentine bandoneónists, New York-based Juan Pablo Jofre brings explosive energy to the tango genre with his lightning-fast chops and flair for drama. After starting his musical career as a drummer in a metal band, Jofre switched to bandoneón and found an outlet for his creative energies. His first album, Hard Tango, combines Jofre’s own compositions with arrangements of tango favorites. In February 2012, during their first visit to Seattle, Jofre and his ensemble blew Town Hall audiences away with tracks from the 2011 release. The energy in the hall was downright electric, with Jofre and his three-member band locked into a solid groove and amping up the excitement level with each successive tune. It was one of the most memorable performances I attended that year.

Jofre’s anticipated return to Seattle on November 22 did not disappoint. Town Hall’s main auditorium was abuzz with chatter from the crowd, eager to hear what the master bandoneónist had cooked up in the past year. Accompanied by an all-new Hard Tango Chamber Band, Jofre’s program included several solos and duets, as well as pieces for the full four-member ensemble. While last year’s quartet was comprised of musicians who hail from the tango tradition, the Hard Tango Chamber Band features players with strong classical roots. Pianist Daniela Candillari and cellist Yves Dharamraj both have orchestral experience and perform regularly in the classical realm. Well-versed in classical, jazz, and other improvisatory styles, violinist Christiana Liberis rounded out the quartet.

Clad in a slick, all-black outfit complete with his trademark dark glasses, Jofre opened the show with the cadenza from his Bandoneón Concerto. The extended solo highlighted the instrument’s enormous range, spanning from barely-audible sighs to layered chords that seemed to pay tribute to Jofre’s heavy metal past. A commanding soloist, Jofre held the audience captive with his playing, his arms spreading to stretch the bandoneón to its full wingspan while his fingers blazed over the instrument’s keys. These moments showcased Jofre at his best, as a soloist captivating the crowd with his bold musical storytelling.

Though not as energetic as Jofre’s solo sections, his set of four duets — two for violin and bandoneón, and two for cello and bandoneón — illustrated a different side of the composer’s personality. Tangodromo, an expressive duet for violin and bandoneón, swapped the traditional roles of the two instruments by assigning the melody to the bandoneón and the accompaniment to the violin. From smooth legato passages to plucked pizzicato countermelodies, Liberis balanced Jofre’s melancholy melodies with a variety of textures. A soulful player, cellist Dharamraj brought an understated poignance to his duets with Jofre, Como el Agua (“Like Water”) and Sweet Dreams.

Sandwiched between the duets was the world premiere of Jofre’s Carta de Amor. Confidently performed by Candillari, the piano solo’s opening melodies gradually blossomed into a sweet flower of a piece. Though a bit on the sentimental side, Carta de Amor demonstrates Jofre’s ability to seamlessly transform a simple mood or melodic line into something far more eloquent and complex.

The full quartet rallied for the program’s ensemble pieces, delivering the drama and intensity that audiences have come to expect from Jofre’s performances. In addition to favorites from the Hard Tango album, including the driving Universe and sprightly Primavera, several new tunes made an appearance. Written in honor of the drummer for Metallica, Lars captures heavy metal’s thrashing energy in the guise of a tango tune. Slow and sentimental, After the Rain provided a welcome break from the non-stop action. In true Argentine fashion, Jofre’s pair of Tango Movements paid tribute to his country and his mother, a moving duo of pieces that traversed a range of emotions.

As an ensemble, the Hard Tango Chamber Band doesn’t possess the fire and razor-sharp coordination of Jofre’s 2012 quartet. Instead, the musicians of the Chamber Band bring a different set of talents to the table. November 22’s performance gave Jofre’s repertoire a classical spin with smoother articulations and more pedal in the piano. In this case, the name “Chamber Band” is an apt choice — the ensemble combines the traditions of chamber music with the dramatic stylings of tango.

Jofre’s performance is part of Town Hall’s Global Rhythms series, featuring musical traditions from around the world. Next up in the series is the Krar Collective, an Ethiopian band that blends folk sounds with contemporary rock. They’ll perform at Town Hall on January 24, 2014. After that, the ladies of the Barefoot Divas present a Valentine’s Day concert on February 14.