I had a pleasant conversation with pianist Orli Shaham this afternoon, which I’ll be editing into a podcast for the Princeton Symphony Orchestra. Shaham will be the soloist in an all-Mozart program, which will include the Piano Concerto No. 20 in D minor, at Princeton University’s Richardson Auditorium on February 8 & 9. If, in just hearing about it, you already can’t contain yourself, you’ll find more information on this and the rest of the season at princetonsymphony.org.
Tag: Mozart
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NJ MVC Heaven vs. Hell South Brunswick
I love the MVC on Route 130 in Dayton, NJ, the one that serves South Brunswick. Every time I go there, everyone is so nice and I never have a problem. Whenever I choose the one closer to home, the one in the Trenton area, it’s like running a gauntlet, with the employees lining up with chains and broken bottles, ready to challenge me to produce six points of identification.
For those of you with question marks over your heads, in New Jersey the MVC is the same as everyone else’s DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles). It stands for Motor Vehicle Commission. We’ve got to be different, because, look at us, we’re New Jersey. We won’t even pump our own gas.
To add to my enjoyment, every time I go to South Brunswick, I am issued a number preceded by the letter K. Classical music people inevitably associate that with a Köchel number. The Köchel catalogue is a system that was devised in the 19th century by Ludwig von Köchel to organize what he thought were the complete works of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart into chronological order. So K = Köchel = Mozart in the minds of most classical music folks. Unless they’re deranged Scarlatti people, in which case they think of it as a Kirkpatrick listing.
Yesterday I was rewarded with K085 – Mozart’s Miserere in A minor. I must say, a miserere is uncannily appropriate for a visit to the average MVC.
To make yesterday’s visit even more delightful, I discovered a second Köchel number on my new license plate. I’ll refrain from posting what that is, exactly, since I already share too much of myself on social media, and I don’t want any pranksters reporting my license plate for random crimes I didn’t commit (or any I did commit, for that matter). Suffice it to say, the number stands for another dreary sacred work. That’s me all over.
So, not as good as last time, maybe, when I got K231, which translates into one of Mozart’s most scatological canons, “Leck mich im Arsch” (literally, “Lick Me in the ***”). You can read about that visit here:
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1032769507642112&set=a.883855802533484
BONUS FOR SCARLATTI-PHILES: I must say you have the advantage this time, as here’s the Keyboard Sonata in F major, K (Kirkpatrick listing) 85:
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Founding Fathers Musical Talents
Founding Fathers music!
A quartet for “open strings,” attributed to Benjamin Franklin
“A Toast” (to George Washington) by Declaration signer Francis Hopkinson
Franklin’s glass harmonica
Mozart’s Adagio for the instrument
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Cosi fan tutte Last Chance Princeton
Mozart’s “Cosi fan tutte” is a farce with humanity. You have one more chance to see it at The Princeton Festival. The opera concludes its run at the performance pavilion on the grounds of historic Morven Museum & Garden, 55 Stockton St. (Route 206), on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
Did you know that originally Antonio Salieri took a crack at composing it? In 1994, two fragments in Salieri’s hand were discovered in the Austrian National Library. That was before Lorenzo Da Ponte’s libretto was taken up by “the creature.”
Of course, Mozart had an “in,” as he had already collaborated with Da Ponte on “The Marriage of Figaro” and “Don Giovanni.” And anyway, with all respect to Signor Salieri, the subject matter seems much more in line with Mozart’s saucy sensibility. While the Viennese of 1790 were worldly folk, “Cosi” would be given the side-eye in the 19th century, when the opera was deemed risqué or even immoral. If it was done at all, it was presented with tasteful alterations. It was only in the 20th century that the work’s reputation was restored.
Yeah, the characters are knuckleheads – flawed, irrational, and stupid – but they are also capable of great beauty. It’s all right there in the title, often translated, if anyone bothers, as “So Do They All.”
The festival’s final week will continue to embrace a variety of genres. A Juneteenth celebration will culminate in a concert of Black choral music, sung by the Capital Singers of Trenton and friends, under the direction of Westminster Choir College’s Vinroy D. Brown, at the pavilion on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The program will include Robert Ray’s “Gospel Mass.” Earlier, there will be a flag raising ceremony, food, reflection, and fun. For details, visit the festival website at the link below.
On Thursday at 7 p.m., The Sebastians will return for a program of Baroque favorites, with a selection of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos, along with works by Telemann and Vivaldi. That concert will be held across the street at Trinity Church Princeton (33 Mercer St.).
On Friday at 7 p.m., back at the pavilion, the Juilliard-trained, genre-defying trio Empire Wild will unpack its signature mix of original music, inventive covers, and twists on the classical canon.
Finally, on Saturday at 7 p.m., Tony Award winning Santino Fontana, star of stage (“Tootsie,” “Cinderella”), film (Disney’s “Frozen”), and television (“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” “The Marvelous Ms. Maisel”), will bring the festival to an uplifting conclusion with an evening of pops, cabaret, and Broadway, accompanied by the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, again under the performance pavilion at Morven.
For tickets and information about parking, concessions, and more, visit the Princeton Festival website, at princetonsymphony.org/festival.
Video samples:
Behind the scenes of “Cosi fan tutte”
The Sebastians perform Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. 6
Empire Wild in 5 minutes
Santino Fontana
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Così fan tutte at Princeton Festival
A wager on the inconstancy of young love leads to farcical complications in Mozart’s “Così fan tutte.” The title has always been as uncomfortable to translate as the comic anguish endured by its leads. Variously known in English (if at all) as “So Do They All” and “Women Are Like That,” it’s probably best to stick with the Italian. Whatever you call it, it is generally bracketed in the composer’s top-four operas. Unsurprisingly the libretti for three of them were quilled by the flamboyant Lorenzo da Ponte, poet, priest, and profligate, friend of Casanova, and eventually professor of Italian literature at Columbia University.
The opera forms the centerpiece of this year’s The Princeton Festival. You’ll have three chances to see it, on Friday at 7 p.m., Sunday at 4 p.m., and Tuesday at 7 p.m. Performances will be held outdoors in the open-flapped, state-of-the-art performance pavilion on the grounds of historic Morven Museum & Garden, at 55 Stockton St. (Route 206).
The stage direction is by James Marvel, who, with a game cast and scenic design by Blair Mielnik, ensured last year’s production of Rossini’s “The Barber of Seville” was such an imaginative romp. This year, the team promises a fresh, contemporary take on “Così,” setting it in a pastel-colored dreamhouse villa, high above the glamorous Amalfi Coast. Attired by costume designer Maria Miller, the high-styled, jet-setting characters’ loyalty to one another is tested as the plot – and hilarity – unfolds.
The opera will be sung in Italian with English subtitles. The Princeton Symphony Orchestra will be conducted by its music director, Rossen Milanov.
Two pre-performance talks, “Not So Cozy Così,” with Julian Grant (on Friday), and “Exploring Così fan tutte,” with Timothy Urban (on Tuesday), will be offered at Morven’s Stockton Education Center at 5:30 p.m.
Also coming up: the Abeo Quartet will perform chamber music by Reena Esmail, Shostakovich, and Schubert, tomorrow, Thursday, at 7 p.m., across the road at Trinity Church Princeton (33 Mercer St.).
American Repertory Ballet will bring dance to the pavilion, with choreography by Arthur Mitchell and Meredith Rainey, and Milanov conducting members of the PSO in music by Philip Glass (“Quartetsatz”), Miranda Scripp (“Intrare Forma”), Jean Sibelius (“Impromptu for Strings”), and Edvard Grieg (the “Holberg Suite”), on Saturday at 7 p.m.
Wednesday, June 19, will be a big day, with a program of Black choral music, featuring the Capital Singers of Trenton and friends, under the direction of Westminster Choir College’s Vinroy D. Brown, providing the capstone to a Juneteenth celebration. The program will include Robert Ray’s “Gospel Mass.” The concert will be held at the performance pavilion at 7 p.m.
A Juneteenth flag raising ceremony will take place next door, at the Municipality of Princeton, at 1 p.m. The festival will continue at Morven at 4 p.m., with plenty of food, reflection, and fun, leading up to the choral concert.
On Thursday, June 20, The Sebastians will return to Trinity Church Princeton for a program of Baroque favorites, with a selection of Bach’s Brandenburg Concertos offered, cheek-by-jowl, with works by Telemann and Vivaldi.
The Juilliard-trained, genre-defying trio Empire Wild will electrify the pavilion with its signature mix of original music, inventive covers, and twists on the classical canon, on Friday, June 21, at 7 p.m.
Finally, on Saturday, June 22, at 7 p.m., Tony Award winning Santino Fontana, star of stage (“Tootsie,” “Cinderella”), film (Disney’s “Frozen”), and television (“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” “The Marvelous Ms. Maisel”), will bring the festival to a lively conclusion with an evening of pops, cabaret, and Broadway, accompanied by the Princeton Symphony Orchestra, again under the performance pavilion at Morven.
For additional events, like Yoga in the Garden and the Juneteenth oral history project, as well as information on tickets, parking, and concessions, visit the Princeton Festival website, at princetonsymphony.org/festival.
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT: “Così fan tutte,” American Repertory Ballet, Empire Wild, and Santino Fontana
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