Classic Ross Amico

Category: Daily Dispatch

“The Mikado” Cultural Appropriation or Satire?

Everyone is so nervous about having charges of cultural appropriation leveled against them these days that I imagine “The Mikado” must be a sensitive subject beyond the insular sphere of Savoyards. You know, like Italians at their Heritage Day celebrations who remain willfully oblivious to Cristofero Colombo controversies. At least, to my knowledge, “The Mikado” hasn’t led to the kind of self-abasement producers routinely inflict on themselves whenever they want to stage “Madama Butterfly.” Anyone with half a brain understands “The Mikado” is not about the Japanese anyway, but rather a veil of rice paper behind which English society and institutions are savagely lampooned. According to Gilbert, “‘The Mikado’ was never a story about Japan but about the failings of the British government.” Yes, there are stereotypes, but they are of a sort that are so far over the top, with characters named Nanki-Poo and Yum-Yum, as to neutralize any idea of serious offense intended.

The opera is not without its issues, of course. It is a product of its time (first produced in 1885). So it could raise some eyebrows, or even a few hackles in the 21st century. But mature and educated people understand how to put things in context, without being driven to obscure or obliterate history. I mention all this not to offer an apologia for one of Gilbert & Sullivan’s most popular works, nor to defend the practice of Western actors in “yellow face,” but rather because, in the course of a coincidental exchange with a friend of mine last week, during which many G&S videos were swapped, I happened across this 1967 film version with members of the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company, including acclaimed G&S interpreters John Reed, Donald Adams, Valerie Masterson, etc. D’Oyly Carte was the foremost producer of G&S operettas from the beginning of the Gilbert and Sullivan partnership, in the 1870s, into the 1980s. You can choose to ignore, if you like, but I intend to watch. Happy birthday, Sir Arthur Sullivan!

BONUSES!

Groucho Marx as Ko-Ko

Kukla, Fran and Ollie’s “Mikado”

Eric Idle updates the list

May 13, 2024
Fiery Beethoven Ignites Princeton Symphony

It’s easy to be complacent about early Beethoven, but last night the Princeton Symphony Orchestra offered a performance of the Piano Concerto No. 1 that was both engaging and, in its outer movements, an unanticipatedly fiery affair.

Although in style the concerto is very far away from Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony (preceding it by a good quarter century), there was no shortage of Joy in evidence as soloist Sara Davis Buechner launched into the last movement with a playful accelerando. It was one of many inspired, seemingly irrepressible touches, as the pianist played throughout, even when she wasn’t necessarily supposed to, spontaneously, during the louder tutti passages! In a performance that was full of surprises, she astounded even by offering her own cadenza. Her enthusiasm was infectious, and the audience responded to the fresh approach.

Kudos to timpanist Jeremy Levine, as always lending visceral support with his percussive contributions. He supplied plenty of lift and imbued the piece with moments of awesome temperament. All the love usually goes to Concertos 3, 4 and 5, but the orchestra and soloist made the strongest possible case for 1 being a neglected gem.

On the second half, music director Rossen Milanov led Schumann’s Symphony No. 4 with great authority, the musicians hanging on his every gesture, as he guided them with the kind of expressive freedom one would expect more from a solo piano recital. But here, the 50 or so musicians followed him as one. Very impressive indeed. In the most thrilling performances (I’m thinking of the classic Furtwängler recording or an underrated one by Adrian Boult), the propulsive fourth movement can build to such intensity that you feel as if you want to leap out of your seat. Last night’s performance, while not wanting for rhythmic drive, was most magnetic in the contrasting lyrical passages, which came across as enchantingly as the most transporting music by the composer’s close personal friend, Felix Mendelssohn.

The concert opened with “Become River,” a hypnotic quarter of an hour crafted by the environmentally-focused John Luther Adams. Adams, not to be confused with the other John “Nixon in China” Adams, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 2014 for “Become Ocean,” the first of what has turned out to be a cycle of “Become” pieces. The title is taken from a poem by John Cage. But don’t expect the music to sound anything like Cage. The concept echoes more Smetana’s “Moldau,” tracing a river on its course, only without the Romantic nationalist underpinnings. This is the 21st century, so execution-wise, you’d be better off imagining what it would be like if Arvo Pärt had written the opening of “Das Rheingold.”

The strings played so high at the start, in support of percussionist Greg Giannascoli, who elicited equally stratospheric tones by running a bow across a set of crotales, or antique cymbals, that they likely set dogs howling in Bucks County. But like water itself, the music soon expanded to find its way into every corner of the orchestra to create a meditative space, disturbed only by inappropriate sotto voce whispers, a dropped cell phone, and chair kicking on the part of those in my vicinity.

Hell may be other people, but the Princeton Symphony Orchestra did everything it could to allow one to conceive of a better world.

The program will be repeated this afternoon at 4:00 at Richardson Auditorium in Alexander Hall on the campus of Princeton University. For tickets and information, visit princetonsymphony.org.

May 12, 2024
Happy Mother’s Day Mom Remembering You

Gone but not forgotten. Happy Mother’s Day, Mom.

May 12, 2024
William Grant Still Afro-American Composer

They say that still waters run deep.

William Grant Still, frequently described as the “Dean of Afro-American Composers,” wrote a lot of attractive music, much of it informed by the black experience. This week on “The Lost Chord,” to coincide with Still’s birthday anniversary (born on this date in 1895), we’ll hear some of it, including the delightful Symphony No. 2, subtitled “Song of a New Race.” Also, a more serious work fueled by racial injustice, “And They Lynched Him on a Tree,” for double-choir, narrator and orchestra.

Still, who died in 1978, emerged from unlikely circumstances – born in Woodville, Mississippi and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas – to become a major force in American music. Having abandoned a career in medicine for studies at the Oberlin Conservatory of Music and the New England Conservatory in Boston, where he studied with George Whitefield Chadwick, Still was a “first” in many respects.

His Symphony No. 1, the “Afro-American Symphony” was the first written by a black composer to be performed by a major orchestra (the Rochester Philharmonic). He was the first to be given the opportunity to conduct a major orchestra (the Los Angeles Philharmonic, at the Hollywood Bowl). His opera, “Troubled Island,” became the first to be produced by a major company (the New York City Opera). Another of his operas, “A Bayou Legend,” was the first to be performed on national television (as late as 1981). His works were performed internationally by the Berlin Philharmonic, the London Symphony Orchestra, the BBC Symphony, and the Tokyo Philharmonic.

Perhaps the least likely pupil of Edgard Varèse, Still incorporated jazz and blues elements into his concert music. He cut his teeth writing arrangements for Paul Whiteman, W.C. Handy, and Artie Shaw. According to Eubie Blake, one of Still’s improvisations in the pit during Blake’s revue “Shuffle Along” became the basis for Gershwin’s hit tune “I Got Rhythm.” (Blake conceded the appropriation was probably inadvertent.) Still and Gershwin were on friendly terms and made it a point to attend one and another’s performances.

Listen to Still’s Symphony No. 2 – first performed in 1936 by Leopold Stokowski and the Philadelphia Orchestra – and see if you don’t agree that Gershwin could only wish that he had composed its elegant second movement.

We’ll follow that with a very different piece, Still’s choral ballad “And They Lynched Him on a Tree,” composed in 1940. Poet Katherine G.C. Biddle, niece of Charlotte Mason, “Godmother of the Harlem Renaissance,” provided the libretto. The work is scored for contralto soloist, as mother of the victim, a “white chorus” to depict the mob, a “black chorus” to discover the lynching, a narrator (William Warfield in this recording), and small orchestra. The piece is almost exactly contemporary with Abel Meeropol’s “Strange Fruit.” It was given its first performance by the New York Philharmonic, conducted by Artur Rodzinski.

Finally, at the end of the hour, we’ll decompress with Still’s beautiful and contemplative “Summerland.”

I hope you’ll join me for “Still Runs Deep” – music by William Grant Still – this week on “The Lost Chord,” now in syndication on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon!

Remember, KWAX is on the West Coast, so there’s a three-hour difference for those of you listening in the East. Here are the respective air-times for all three of my recorded shows (with East Coast conversions in parentheses):

PICTURE PERFECT, the movie music show – Friday on KWAX at 5:00 PM PACIFIC TIME (8:00 PM EASTERN)

SWEETNESS AND LIGHT, the light music program – ALL NEW! – Saturday on KWAX at 8:00 AM PACIFIC TIME (11:00 AM EASTERN)

THE LOST CHORD, unusual and neglected rep – Saturday on KWAX at 4:00 PM PACIFIC TIME (7:00 PM EASTERN)

Stream all three, at the times indicated, by following the link!

https://kwax.uoregon.edu/

May 11, 2024
Mother’s Day Music Sweetness and Light on KWAX

Get ready for the mother of all shows this week, on “Sweetness and Light.” It’s music for Mom for Mother’s Day!

Enjoy works on nursery themes by Grace Williams, Charles Williams, and Vaughan Williams (all unrelated). Also, Wolfgang Amadeus Williams – er, I mean Mozart.

Of course, Mom deserves more, so I’ve also enlisted Yo-Yo Ma (despite his name, not really a mother, though if said properly, guaranteed to get Mom’s attention) and Luciano Pavarotti (accompanied by Henry Mancini, no less).

Start your day with a musical candygram. It’s a suite of sweets for Mom on “Sweetness and Light, this Saturday morning at 11:00 EDT/8:00 EDT, exclusively on KWAX, the radio station of the University of Oregon!

Stream it, wherever you are, at the link.

https://kwax.uoregon.edu/

May 11, 2024

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