Musical week-end

This week-end kicked off the Ann Arbor-based University Musical Society's season, which meant, in conjunction with a Gershwin concert on Friday afternoon and a masterclass with Jessye Norman, a very full musical couple of days for me indeed. (Ah, my life is difficult...)

Ahmad Jamal, via allaboutjazz.

Ahmad Jamal, jazz piano legend, set the right mood and then some on Saturday night. The group, composed of Jamal, Herlin Riley (drums), James Cammack (bass) and Manolo Badrena, filled Hill Auditorium with an electrifying energy. The four men on stage had terrific interplay, and the charisma exuded by Jamal as he played had us enthralled. What a show this 81-year-old can put on! I needed no push to stand and cheer, demanding an encore with the rest of the audience (the foursome obliged), and I left the hall buoyed by my evening.

via Friends of Chamber Music

I didn't have long to wait for another concert, as the Emerson Quartet was on the following afternoon in Rackham Auditorium performing Mozart's last three string quartets (K. 575, K. 589, K. 590), as well as his Adagio and Fugue in c minor (K. 546). There was admittedly a bit of a kerfuffle getting us all into our seats (I pity the ushers who had to maneuver a full house in the newly renumbered system!), but I doubt this is what the audience took away from the concert. The first quartet initially lacked some vigor and articulation for my taste, but the Emersons came into their own for the third movement minuet. In fact, I discovered a previously undiscovered predisposition for minuets in myself yesterday!

So I got little work done this week-end (remember, my life is difficult), but I would say it was well worth it to get to experience such an array of musical talent. I'm certainly looking forward to the continuation of my cultural endeavors in Ann Arbor - Mark Morris Dance Group this week-end at Power Center.

Idomeneo, at Boston Lyric Opera

I went to see the BLO production of Mozart's Idomeneo last night. It was my first time seeing the opera; in fact, it was my first time hearing a great majority of the music. (By virtue of my being a classical voice major interested in opera, and many companies' reliance on the same tried-and-true audience favorites, this is not a very common occurrence.) I have always grouped Idomeneo with La clemenza di Tito - in part because the latter is also a less familiar piece to me, in part because of both works' more traditional opera seria style, as compared to the beloved Da Ponte offerings. But in listening to the piece last night, it became clear to me that I can also link it to the Requiem in its choruses, considerably more than other Mozart operas. Here the chorus, particularly in the second and third acts, are given complex, pathos-ridden music that is much more than crowd atmosphere creation.

Last night's production was fast-paced and dynamic. The unchanging set of par-ruined Greek columns was simple but visually compelling throughout. The choice of time-period led me to scratch my head as a result of the costuming, however - in particular, if Idomeneo is now returning from the Trojan War, why is the High Priest of Crete a dead ringer for a Greek orthodox patriarch? Three of the main roles were compelling to watch and hear: Jason Collins, as Idomeneo, and Sandra Piques Eddy, as Idamante, were good physical foils to each other and made a strong father-son team. It was upon Idamante's second major scene, the first with his father, that I felt Piques Eddy really turned on, vocally and in her stage presence. To round out the trio was Caroline Worra as Elettra, who sang and moved impressively both in her Act I aria and in her final mad scene. One would hope an Elettra would command the stage, and in these numbers, Worra certainly did.

Between the production design and the majority of the cast, I'm happy to say I had a generally very positive first full taste of Idomeneo.