January 25th, 2014: Rigoletto at the Seattle Opera

Last night was the closing night of Rigoletto at the Seattle Opera. It was an enjoyable evening, and there was much to be admired in the orchestra and the singers, but overall this production was slightly below the level that I have come to expect from the Seattle Opera.

Riccardo Frizza was the conductor for the evening. He's Italian of course, and he has conducted in several major opera houses around the world. He took the overture slowly and gravely, setting a dark and dramatic mood for the beginning of the opera. The orchestra sounded solid and impressive throughout, and at the end of it the curtain rose to reveal the opening scene of the Duke's party.

Francesco Demuro, who we saw in La Bohème back in March, was excellent as the Duke. He has a clear, rich voice and great lyricism. Already though, throughout the opening party scene, it began to be evident that the different components of the production weren't quite locked in right. Some of the dancing in the party looked awkward and contrived, and some of the singing was slightly out of sync with the orchestra. It didn't have the complete cohesion and togetherness that were present in La Bohème, The Daughter of the Regiment and Wagner's Ring Cycle.

I was immediately disappointed with Marco Vratogna's Rigoletto, both visually and aurally. He didn't look like much of a hunchback, and there was something coarse and distant about his acting. In addition, his voice didn't project very well.

The whole production was set in Fascist Italy, which I won't speak too much about as it had no impact on my impression of it. I didn't see the point of setting it there, but it also didn't interfere too much with the story, so I was neutral about it. One very interesting element of that setting though was the fact that they made Count Monterone into a sort of Jewish stereotype. He had a yarmulke on his head, glasses, and he looked slightly disheveled and was the spitting image of the concerned father. He got beaten up quite badly by the brutish courtiers who here took on the appearance of the fascist police. They would often give the Hitler salute throughout the production.

Monterone, played by Donovan Singletary, also didn't have a voice that projected very well, which is a terrible thing given that he sings about his voice "falling upon you like thunder," and his placing of the curse on Rigoletto is supposed to be imposing and terrifying; here it was neither. Soon enough the first scene came to an end, the curtain came down for a little while, and then we found ourselves in the dark alley where Rigoletto bumps into the assassin Sparafucile. Andrea Silvestrelli was a wonderful Sparafucile. I was very much looking forward to seeing him again after his performance as Hunding in The Ring. Here he didn't quite give as stellar a performance, but his appearance, mannerisms and voice all worked perfectly for the shady character.

Once we got into Rigoletto's house and he greets his daughter Gilda, the production took on a greater level of subtlety and involvement. The interactions between the two were wonderful, and Nadine Sierra was a perfect Gilda. Vratogna's stale acting and quiet voice notwithstanding, everything was done very well, and Sierra carried the show through most of this scene and into her famous aria, Caro Nome. The Duke of course appears before then, wooing Gilda and thereby prompting her to sing Caro Nome after he leaves. Demuro gave a stellar performance in this scene as well, and Gilda perfectly portrayed the innocent, naïve girl.

I should mention that my expectations for the character of Rigoletto have been set by Cornell MacNeil's performance in the 1977 Metropolitan Opera DVD. It is a truly exceptional performance and an example of a singer completely transforming into their character, so it is extremely difficult to meet that standard.

Anyways, towards the end of Caro Nome, Nadine Sierra went out on a limb and had what seemed like an extended series of elaborated endings which consisted mostly of herself singing very high notes with no orchestral accompaniment. I'm not familiar enough with the music to know whether everything she sang was merely a stretched version of what's in the score, or whether she was actually adding ornaments as well.

There were dramatic and suggestive touches added to many scenes throughout the opera. The first one was the fact that Monterone's daughter was actually present at the opening party scene, drunk and almost taken advantage of by the Duke. The next major one was in the concluding segment of the first act, when the Duke's men come into Rigoletto's house to kidnap Gilda. One of the thugs gags and binds Rigoletto's maid, and as the tense scene unfolds she sits tied to a chair sobbing.

Even though the tension and drama in the act's conclusion wasn't quite what I hoped it would be, it did achieve a certain erie quality to it. When Rigoletto tears off his blindfold and begins searching the house for Gilda, the rising motives in the orchestra were slow and deliberate, giving it a fluid drive that differs from the standard sharp-edged interpretations that move more hastily. Vratogna took no deviations from the score in his closing cries, which dampened the drama compared to some of the recordings we are used to now, but I can't complain if Verdi wouldn't have. Then the curtain fell, concluding the first act.

A long intermission followed, scarcely shorter than the second act that was to follow it. We wandered around, looked into the orchestra pit, and returned to our seats. A woman who sat next to us asked us how we were liking it so far, and apparently she was a singer herself.

The second act takes place entirely inside the Duke's home, and it is about half the length of the first act. The Duke is flustered over the fact that Gilda has gone missing, unaware that his own men kidnapped her. He figures it out quickly and goes to join her in whatever room his men put her. Rigoletto then comes in and has a dramatic confrontation with the Duke's men over the kidnapping of his daughter. The strings in the orchestra played their most fiery during the moments when Rigoletto calls the courtiers a vile race and begs them to give him back his daughter. All in all this act was very solid, moreso even than the first, and by the end of it I began to get the feeling that my slight lack of enthusiasm for the production was simply for the same reasons that I've always had a slight lack of enthusiasm for this opera compared to Verdi's other masterpieces. I couldn't pinpoint anything that was flawed musically, I think it's just not my favorite opera.

I did particularly enjoy the closing number of the second act. After Gilda and her father are reunited (this included some surprisingly emotional acting from Vratogna when he realizes that the Duke has been with his daughter) Rigoletto swears vengeance on the Duke whilst Gilda begs him to forgive him. This closing piece is very catchy and I found the interpretation and tempo to be such that it spoke to me in a way it never had before. The curtain then fell, and another long intermission followed.

The third and final act of Rigoletto is arguably the best of the three; definitely the most dramatic anyway. It takes place at Sparafucile's house on a stormy night, and Rigoletto and Gilda approach and observe the Duke inside his house, having entered in order to woo Sparafucile's sister. Gilda realizes that the Duke deceived her, but she continues to love him anyway. This act is famous for the quartet between the four characters in the scene (everyone but Sparafucile), which was performed very well by all involved. The blending of the voices on stage was particularly smooth and impressive. This act becomes very dramatic towards the end, as Gilda contemplates sacrificing herself to save the Duke, and Sparafucile argues with his sister about whether or not the Duke is to live. Eventually Gilda rushes into the house and gets stabbed, saving the Duke's life.

The musical performances from the orchestra and the singers throughout all this drama were very good, and I got very emotionally wrapped up in it. The moment that Gilda runs into the house was the only moment in the opera where my heart pounded and my eyes watered. If that doesn't happen at least once during a dramatic opera, I consider the performance to be a failure.

The rest of the act was good, although predictably Vratogna was not very convincing in his reaction to finding that Gilda was killed instead of the Duke. It's very hard to convincingly portray this, and perhaps that's another element of this opera that makes it difficult to stage effectively; many of the emotional moments are so extreme as to be impossible to actually pull off, and so it appears to fall flat. Rigoletto's final cry of "The Curse!" was quite good though; his voice soared up and out into the hall, riding on the thick orchestral texture beneath him, but ultimately I think it could have been more.

Overall, I would say that both the orchestra and Marco Vratogna lacked a certain level of intensity and emotion, while Nadine Sierra and Francesco Demuro gave stellar performances, balancing it out to make a rather good and enjoyable production, but certainly not a great one.

After the opera was over, the cast took their bows wearing Seahawks shirts, and a "12" flag descended from above the stage. I don't have much to say about this. It speaks for itself, and we can only hope it never, ever, ever happens again.

January 11th, 2014: Bach's Coffeehouse

Just two weeks after guest conductor Carlos Kalmar took the 'worst conductor of the season' award, he is usurped by Jeannette Sorrell, the conductor and harpsichord player at Saturday night's concert. It is hard to believe that she actually led the Seattle Symphony in the manner that she did, and in trying to describe her utter childish and incompetent disposition I am sure I will often find myself at a loss for words. But to ensure that you, dear reader, always run like the wind if you ever hear her name, I will do my best to relate to you what occurred on the Benaroya Hall stage this weekend.

This concert was one of the Baroque & Wine series, aptly titled 'Bach's Coffeehouse' for it contained almost entirely music that would have been performed by Bach in a famous coffeehouse in Leipzig in the early 18th century. It opened with Bach's Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B minor, followed by Telemann's Horn Concerto in D major and Vivaldi's Concerto for Two Violins in A minor. An intermission then took place, and the second half consisted of Bach's "Brandenburg" Concerto No. 5 in D major and Sorrell's own arrangement of Vivaldi's "La folia" after his Trio Sonata in D minor.

I love baroque music, and I was particularly excited about the Orchestral Suite, the Concerto for Two Violins and the Brandenburg Concerto. As musicians came on stage it was evident that the symphony had successfully reserved several of the key players for this concert tonight even though the orchestra was split with the opera, which was performing the opening night of Rigoletto on Saturday. This was very promising, and I couldn't think what could go wrong. I didn't have high expectations for Sorrell, but I also assumed that she would be sitting at a harpsichord for most of the performance, for there were two on stage. Demarre McGill, who is on extended leave from his Principal Flute position this season, was featured in the program as well, soloing by himself in the Orchestral Suite and along with others in the Brandenburg Concerto.

After the small orchestra had finished seating themselves, Emma McGrath came out to tune them, and then Demarre McGill and Jeannette Sorrell entered the stage to perform the Bach Orchestral Suite.

Sorrell was dressed in some sort of black outfit that had flowing fabrics here and there, and her red hair was done up in a fancy style. Rather than taking a seat at the conductor's harpsichord, she stepped up on the podium just to the right, picked up a baton, and very slowly and pretentiously raised her arm to give the downbeat whilst gazing melodramatically into the distance.

I could have walked out then. We all know what happens next.

But if I did walk out, I wouldn't be able to write this review and warn people. So here I am. For you I have suffered. You may as well benefit.

Under her absolutely incompetent, pretentious, insipid leadership, which was entirely obsessed with childishly dramatic faces and gestures, the orchestra lurched unsteadily into the Orchestral Suite. Whilst Sorrell stood on the podium practically masturbating, the orchestra, which would have had no problem playing together without a conductor (due to their small size tonight) were utterly disarrayed by her distracting, meaningless and useless faces and gestures. It seemed as though the orchestra was always playing just a touch faster than it wanted to, and there was almost never a time throughout the entire suite that it did not feel as though the ensemble was barely holding together. The music spoke nothing, for there was no pulse and no drive; just what appeared to be a constant tripping over itself in an attempt to gain some coherence and rhythmic integrity.

Demarre's playing was good, but it was also rendered ineffective by the havoc that Sorrell was wreaking on the performance. Her arms flailed about in grotesque and abrupt movements as her face seemed to mock some mediocre, dramatic actress. What we were seeing was the absolute worst of the musically bankrupt, self-obsessed performances typical of young European soloists, except that this was the first time we observed it in a conductor, and the result was horrifying.

It was hard to believe that Sorrell was doing what she was doing. What do you suppose she's thinking when she goes about attempting to lead an ensemble in that manner? Or is there any room for thinking with an ego as large as she appeared to have? Did she think that she was going to do something novel which nobody else had done before? Did she feel that others were merely silly for restraining themselves from some kind of "authentic artistry" in which one would bring out the emotion in the music by making melodramatic faces at the orchestra from beginning to end?

Though to be realistic, with as much self-indulgence and philosophizing as she was going through on the podium, it's hard to believe many thoughts about the orchestra entered her head. She was the star of the show, and she was going to go to the ends of the earth (and to the limits of musical masturbation and self-obsessed pretentiousness) to prove to everybody how "into the music" she was.

It may sound like I must be exaggerating, but I'm not. She completely and utterly destroyed the coherence of the ensemble and its ability to speak the music to the audience. She made the concert about herself. There was a moment or two in the orchestral suite where she did move over to the harpsichord, and during those moments the ensemble became noticeably more together. And the last movement, the Badinerie, was slightly more together than the rest of the suite, featuring brisk and impressive playing by Demarre McGill.

Sorrell took up a microphone a few times throughout the evening, and would talk about the composers they were performing and about the coffeehouses in Leipzig where this music would have been performed. Her voice was unsurprisingly that of a bimbo, and her jokes and comments were insipid.

Following the Orchestral Suite was Telemann's Horn Concerto in D major. It was a fine little piece, and the horn soloist, Mark Robbins, was exactly what you'd expect for a professional horn player who didn't feel the need to practice a little piece by Telemann before going on stage. He played well, but cracked occasionally during tough passages. Particularly during this concerto the concert took on the feel of an actual coffeeshop performance. And at the end of the slow movement Sorrell outdid herself in melodrama; the orchestra had a sequence of passages that would each end in a fermata, and as each one drew to an end Sorrell would 'cut them off' with a drawn out series of flowing movements and a laughably insipid, 'thoughtful' look up towards the ceiling.

Then came Vivaldi's Concerto for Two Violins in A minor. This is one of my all time favorite pieces of baroque music, probably the one I was most excited to hear that night. In keeping with the fact that Vivaldi wrote all his concertos for the girls at the orphanage where he worked, they had two women soloing in it; Elisa Barston and Cordula Merks. And in keeping with the rest of the concert, the first few notes of the piece were hardly together at all, and this was followed by a seemingly endless pursuit towards coherence of pulse, endless because it's never quite attained. It was like riding on a horse who never has his left legs and right legs moving quite in sync.

Barston and Merks are both fine violinists who also know when it's not important to practice. Barston made two very serious and noticeable mistakes within the first minute of the concerto. It was clear that they just saw this as a fun thing to do, figured they know the music well enough to not spend too much time practicing it, and didn't think too much about how much money the audience had paid to hear a professional performance. Sorrell kept up her antics, consistently rendering the performance lame, and finally at the end of that concerto, intermission began.

Not much happened during intermission, so we'll get right on with it.

For Bach's "Brandenburg" Concerto, Sorrell was situated at a harpsichord in the midst of a chamber ensemble. Laudate dominum. With her absence from the podium, we got the first reasonably performed piece of the evening. The "Brandenburg" Concerto No. 5 is a lovely work, and the small group of players who performed it did quite well, delivering an enjoyable performance of Bach's masterpiece.

And to close off the evening, Sorrell again led her own arrangement of Vivaldi's Trio Sonata in D minor, "La folia." With her at the helm the disjointed pulse returned, and even as the piece got faster and faster in what is supposed to be a toe-tapping endeavor, there was no toe-tapping because the orchestra wasn't on the same page. Every moment felt like a yearning for greater coherence of ensemble, and it always felt like in a measure or two it could be reached, but it never was. For an orchestra to intentionally play like this would be impossibly difficult, and it's fascinating when it happens, but such was our fate on Saturday night. Jeannette Sorrell demonstrated the power the conductor wields; she single-handedly destroyed the pulse of the music.

My girlfriend kept commenting on how Sorrell looked like a witch who was casting spells, and throughout the course of the evening it dawned on me that I was witnessing the greatest act of musical crime I have ever seen.

I am again disappointed in the Seattle Symphony for not demanding more preparedness from their own soloists and for hiring incompetent guest conductors. They think that because the audience doesn't feel ripped off on the given night of the performance that it's not doing harm to the reputation of classical music. But it is, because people are bored at such concerts, and if they aren't blaming the performers or the administration, where else can the blame fall?

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December 31st, 2013: New Year's Eve at the Seattle Symphony

Ludovic Morlot gave the downbeat, and the Seattle Symphony burst out in John Williams' iconic Star Wars music. The brass were crisp and resonant, the strings unified, the ensemble energetic and coherent. The Seattle Symphony was back! After the catastrophic performance of Beethoven's 9th symphony on Saturday, it was clear within seconds that this night would not be a repeat of that, even though most of the principal players were still missing.

With Morlot back on the podium and spirits evidently high throughout the orchestra, the New Year's Eve concert that we attended last night was a great success. It was a slight departure from the regular tradition of having Beethoven's 9th symphony performed on New Year's Eve itself in addition to surrounding nights, and although at first glance I'm always skeptical of such changes, I admit I enjoyed myself throughout most of the program last night.

Morlot and the Symphony gave a thrilling and wonderful performance of the Star Wars suite, worthy of John Williams and the London Symphony Orchestra. During passages where the strings were exposed, it was evident that the sound was just a touch thinner than normal, due to the missing principles, but the energy was definitely there.

Following the Star Wars suite, Morlot conducted Dance of the Comedians from The Bartered Bride by Smetana. It was an absolutely charming little piece, and the orchestra played it delightfully. Morlot made the most priceless gestures and facial expressions throughout this rather, dare I say, cute piece of music.

After that Jeff Tyzik, the new Seattle Symphony pops conductor, joined Morlot on stage to play a solo trumpet part in his St. Louis Blues. Tyzik appeared to be a rather boisterous personality, and his trumpet playing was very good. The piece also featured solos from Ko-ichiro Yamamoto on the trombone, as well as clarinet solos from Benjamin Lulich, who I believe is trying out for a position in the orchestra. I thoroughly enjoyed this piece from beginning to end. It was one of the most catchy pieces of jazz I'd ever heard.

Jeff Tyzik then took to the podium to conduct Glière's Russian Sailor's Dance from The Red Poppy. It's a work I was quite familiar with, and though the orchestra played it well, I felt that as it built up more and more and gained momentum, it failed to fully capture the Russian spirit that would make one tap their toes and want to start dancing to it.

And finally, to close off the first half of the program, Morlot and Tyzik traded off conducting duties in five movements from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker suite, Morlot conducting the original version of one movement, and then Tyzik conducting a jazz version of the same movement. Morlot and Tyzik seemed to think this was a brilliant idea, and I think it was the highlight of the concert for them. I enjoyed many parts of both versions, but it definitely wasn't the highlight of the evening for me. One cute thing about it though was that Morlot would take a seat at the back of the second violins while Tyzik was conducting, and play along with the orchestra.

After intermission, Jeff Tyzik, Ko-ichiro Yamamoto and Benjamin Lulich soloed as a trio in front of a conductor-less orchestra in the "Jelly Roll" Morton Suite. It was another jazz piece consisting of a few movements with odd names. I much preferred the St. Louis Blues.

Before beginning the work, Tyzik addressed the audience and commented, among other things, on how great the Seattle Symphony is for being able to play different genres of music. I wonder if this sort of insipid hogwash is actually taken seriously by anybody in the audience. I imagine even most of those not familiar with music understand that for trained musicians it's not a big deal at all; especially for classical musicians, who are backwards compatible with most other forms of music.

And finally, to cap off the concert, pianist Jon Kimura Parker soloed with the orchestra in Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue. Parker strolled on stage in incredibly high spirits, and in a highly animated manner shook the concertmaster's hand, took a bow and seated himself at the piano. Morlot was on the podium, and Benjamin Lulich kicked off the piece with the classic trill, upward scale and glissando on the clarinet, and thus began an excellent performance of Gershwin's masterpiece. Kimura Parker's playing was solid and compelling throughout, and the orchestra under Morlot's leadership was stellar.

After vivacious applause and a few returns to the stage, Parker played a short and jazzy encore, and following that, Tyzik took to the podium to conduct Auld Lang Syne, still featuring Parker on the piano. After one verse was finished, Morlot came on stage to conduct the audience in singing along, but after a few verses not many people had joined, and he appeared to give up and walked over to the piano to hang out with Parker.

In conclusion, I would say that it was a very well planned program with the exception of the Nutcracker antics. With the alternating of the classical and jazz versions it just got a little bit long, and it was one of the only lulls throughout the evening.

The orchestra sounded great, and the combination of more catchy 'classical' tunes and jazz made for a festive atmosphere. And of course, following the concert was the New Year's party in the Grand Lobby. A jazz band with a rather animated singer played mostly classic tunes, and people danced on the dance floor installed in the lobby for the occasion. All in all it was a fun night!

Next up is Bach's Coffeehouse on January 11th!

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