Classic Ross Amico

Tag: Musical Theater

Princeton Festival Goes Virtual for 2020

COVID-19 may have put the kibosh on in-person events, but The Princeton Festival , like life, finds a way.

The June 2020 public performance season has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. In its place, the Festival has announced “Virtually Yours,” a free online series of live and recorded performances of instrumental and vocal music, musical theater, opera, and poetry, plus educational presentations, to be streamed every day, from June 1 to June 28.

“This online program maintains the high artistic quality Princeton Festival audiences have come to expect in a variety of genres, both classical and popular,” says Richard Tang Yuk, PF Executive and Artistic Director. “It includes totally new material prepared especially for us by leading artists, plus performances from our recorded archives. We’re confident audiences will find it to be an exciting and engaging series of events.”

Highlights of the “Virtually Yours” online festival will include the following (all times are EDT):

• Videos of four Festival opera productions, each streamed just once on Sundays at 1 pm. The operas are Puccini’s Madama Butterfly (June 7), Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro (June 14), the acclaimed 2019 production of John Adams’s Nixon in China June 21), and Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman (June 28).

• A “Live Musical Theater Review” (Saturday, June 20, 8 pm).

• Broadcasts of 2019 Festival concerts by Concordia Chamber Players, Van Cliburn competition pianist Rachel Cheung, and the Princeton Festival Baroque Orchestra and Chorus, airing Fridays at 8 pm on WWFM – The Classical Network at 89.1 FM and http://www.wwfm.org.

• Videos of musical artists performing from their homes (various days).

• Latin band Fleur Seule on Saturday, June 13.

• A series of podcasts launched each Wednesday on such topics as “Women in Music” and “Costuming Operas and Musicals,” along with interviews with Shai Zohar, pianist, and Sylvia McNair, soprano.

• Twelve renowned poets from the U.S., Japan, and China, reading poems on the theme of women, in a compilation of videos made especially for the Festival. To be released on Monday, June 22.

• An Opera Workshop for people who want to learn more about the art form, starting Tuesday, June 9; and a Musical Workshop for aspiring singers beginning Monday June 15.

• Lectures by prominent experts: Professor Timothy Urban on “Why We Love Opera” (Thursday, June 4) and Professor Stacy Wolf on “Beyond Broadway: The Pleasure and Promise of Musical Theater across America” (Thursday, June 18).

A full roster of “Virtually Yours” events, plus periodic updates to the schedule, may be viewed online at https://princetonfestival.org/virtually-yours/.

PHOTOS (counterclockwise from top): Richard Tang Yuk conducts the Princeton Festival Orchestra; pianist Rachel Cheung; Mark Delavan as “The Flying Dutchman;” and Allyson Briggs of Fleur Seule

May 19, 2020
Princeton Festival Goes Virtual in June 2020

COVID-19 may have put the kibosh on in-person events, but the Princeton Festival, like life, finds a way.

The June 2020 public performance season has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. In its place, the Festival has announced “Virtually Yours,” a free online series of live and recorded performances of instrumental and vocal music, musical theater, opera, and poetry, plus educational presentations, to be streamed every day, from June 1 to June 28.

“This online program maintains the high artistic quality Princeton Festival audiences have come to expect in a variety of genres, both classical and popular,” says Richard Tang Yuk, PF Executive and Artistic Director. “It includes totally new material prepared especially for us by leading artists, plus performances from our recorded archives. We’re confident audiences will find it to be an exciting and engaging series of events.”

Highlights of the “Virtually Yours” online festival will include the following (all times are EDT):

• Videos of four Festival opera productions, each streamed just once on Sundays at 1 pm. The operas are Puccini’s Madama Butterfly (June 7), Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro (June 14), the acclaimed 2019 production of John Adams’s Nixon in China June 21), and Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman (June 28).

• A “Live Musical Theater Review” (Saturday, June 20, 8 pm).

• Broadcasts of 2019 Festival concerts by Concordia Chamber Players, Van Cliburn competition pianist Rachel Cheung, and the Princeton Festival Baroque Orchestra and Chorus, airing Fridays at 8 pm on WWFM radio, 89.1 FM in the Trenton area and worldwide over The Classical Network at http://www.wwfm.org.

• Videos of musical artists performing from their homes (various days).

• Latin band Fleur Seule on Saturday, June 13.

• A series of podcasts launched each Wednesday on such topics as “Women in Music” and “Costuming Operas and Musicals,” along with interviews with Shai Zohar, pianist, and Sylvia McNair, soprano.

• Twelve renowned poets from the U.S., Japan, and China, reading poems on the theme of women, in a compilation of videos made especially for the Festival. To be released on Monday, June 22.

• An Opera Workshop for people who want to learn more about the art form, starting Tuesday, June 9; and a Musical Workshop for aspiring singers beginning Monday June 15.

• Lectures by prominent experts: Professor Timothy Urban on “Why We Love Opera” (Thursday, June 4) and Professor Stacy Wolf on “Beyond Broadway: The Pleasure and Promise of Musical Theater across America” (Thursday, June 18).

A full roster of “Virtually Yours” events, plus periodic updates to the schedule, may be viewed online at https://princetonfestival.org/virtually-yours/.

PHOTOS (counterclockwise from top): Richard Tang Yuk conducts the Princeton Festival Orchestra; pianist Rachel Cheung; Mark Delavan as “The Flying Dutchman;” and Allyson Briggs of Fleur Seule

May 19, 2020
Princeton Festival Goes Virtual in June 2020

COVID-19 may have put the kibosh on in-person events, but the Princeton Festival, like life, finds a way.

The June 2020 public performance season has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. In its place, the Festival has announced “Virtually Yours,” a free online series of live and recorded performances of instrumental and vocal music, musical theater, opera, and poetry, plus educational presentations, to be streamed every day, from June 1 to June 28.

“This online program maintains the high artistic quality Princeton Festival audiences have come to expect in a variety of genres, both classical and popular,” says Richard Tang Yuk, PF Executive and Artistic Director. “It includes totally new material prepared especially for us by leading artists, plus performances from our recorded archives. We’re confident audiences will find it to be an exciting and engaging series of events.”

Highlights of the “Virtually Yours” online festival will include the following (all times are EDT):

• Videos of four Festival opera productions, each streamed just once on Sundays at 1 pm. The operas are Puccini’s Madama Butterfly (June 7), Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro (June 14), the acclaimed 2019 production of John Adams’s Nixon in China June 21), and Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman (June 28).

• A “Live Musical Theater Review” (Saturday, June 20, 8 pm).

• Broadcasts of 2019 Festival concerts by Concordia Chamber Players, Van Cliburn competition pianist Rachel Cheung, and the Princeton Festival Baroque Orchestra and Chorus, airing Fridays at 8 pm on WWFM radio, 89.1 FM in the Trenton area and worldwide over The Classical Network at http://www.wwfm.org.

• Videos of musical artists performing from their homes (various days).

• Latin band Fleur Seule on Saturday, June 13.

• A series of podcasts launched each Wednesday on such topics as “Women in Music” and “Costuming Operas and Musicals,” along with interviews with Shai Zohar, pianist, and Sylvia McNair, soprano.

• Twelve renowned poets from the U.S., Japan, and China, reading poems on the theme of women, in a compilation of videos made especially for the Festival. To be released on Monday, June 22.

• An Opera Workshop for people who want to learn more about the art form, starting Tuesday, June 9; and a Musical Workshop for aspiring singers beginning Monday June 15.

• Lectures by prominent experts: Professor Timothy Urban on “Why We Love Opera” (Thursday, June 4) and Professor Stacy Wolf on “Beyond Broadway: The Pleasure and Promise of Musical Theater across America” (Thursday, June 18).

A full roster of “Virtually Yours” events, plus periodic updates to the schedule, may be viewed online at https://princetonfestival.org/virtually-yours/.

May 19, 2020
Princeton Festival Goes Virtual in June

COVID-19 may have put the kibosh on in-person events, but The Princeton Festival, like life, finds a way.

The June 2020 public performance season has been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. But in its place, the Festival has announced “Virtually Yours,” a free online series of live and recorded performances of instrumental and vocal music, musical theater, opera, and poetry, with educational presentations, to be streamed every day, from June 1 to June 28.

“This online program maintains the high artistic quality Princeton Festival audiences have come to expect in a variety of genres, both classical and popular,” says Richard Tang Yuk, PF Executive and Artistic Director. “It includes totally new material prepared especially for us by leading artists, plus performances from our recorded archives. We’re confident audiences will find it to be an exciting and engaging series of events.”

Highlights of the “Virtually Yours” online festival will include the following (all times are EDT):

• Videos of four Festival opera productions, each streamed just once on Sundays at 1 pm. The operas are Puccini’s Madama Butterfly (June 7), Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro (June 14), the acclaimed 2019 production of John Adams’s Nixon in China (June 21), and Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman (June 28).

• A “Live Musical Theater Review” (Saturday, June 20, 8 pm).

• Broadcasts of 2019 Festival concerts by Concordia Chamber Players, Van Cliburn competition pianist Rachel Cheung 張緯晴, and the Princeton Festival Baroque Orchestra and Chorus, airing Fridays at 8 pm on WWFM – The Classical Network at 89.1 FM and http://www.wwfm.org.

• Videos of musical artists performing from their homes (various days).

• Latin band Fleur Seule on Saturday, June 13.

• A series of podcasts launched each Wednesday on such topics as “Women in Music” and “Costuming Operas and Musicals,” along with interviews with Shai Zohar, pianist, and Sylvia McNair, soprano.

• Twelve renowned poets from the U.S., Japan, and China, reading poems on the theme of women, in a compilation of videos made especially for the Festival. To be released on Monday, June 22.

• An Opera Workshop for people who want to learn more about the art form, starting Tuesday, June 9; and a Musical Workshop for aspiring singers beginning Monday June 15.

• Lectures by prominent experts: Professor Timothy Urban on “Why We Love Opera” (Thursday, June 4) and Professor Stacy Wolf on “Beyond Broadway: The Pleasure and Promise of Musical Theater across America” (Thursday, June 18).

A full roster of “Virtually Yours” events, with periodic updates to the schedule, may be viewed online at https://princetonfestival.org/virtually-yours/.

PHOTOS (counterclockwise from top): Richard Tang Yuk conducts the Princeton Festival Orchestra; pianist Rachel Cheung; Mark Delavan as “The Flying Dutchman;” and Allyson Briggs of Fleur Seule

May 19, 2020
“The Golden Apple” Complete Recording Review

Virtually just in time for Jerome Moross’ 102nd birthday anniversary (which is today), I received a new, 2-CD set – the first complete recording – of the composer’s ebullient Broadway show, “The Golden Apple.”

Moross, of course, wrote one of the great, big screen western scores, that for “The Big Country” (1958). Prior to that, he was a protégé of Aaron Copland and a friend of Bernard Herrmann (with whom he used to sneak into rehearsals of the New York Philharmonic.)

“The Golden Apple” (1954) is a witty mash-up of Americana and Greek mythology, the scenario loosely based on elements from Homer’s “The Iliad” and “The Odyssey.” The marriage of libretto and music nimbly expands the boundaries of popular entertainment, prefiguring by several decades through-composed musical theater hits like “The Phantom of the Opera” and “Les Miserables.”

The music is quintessential Moross. There is a touch of “The Big Country” in just about everything he wrote, and if you are a fan of that score, you will likely find much to enjoy in “The Golden Apple.” The composer stitches together an infectious crazy quilt of ballads, cakewalks, marches and music hall-type numbers. Philadelphia-born Hershy Kay expertly assists with the lush orchestrations.

While it was met with critical acclaim at the time of its opening, the musical failed to find the audience it deserved. Instead, crowds flocked to “The Pajama Game.” Despite the show’s unjust neglect, one of the numbers in particular quickly became a popular standard, the bluesy ballad “Lazy Afternoon” – though others, like “It’s the Going Home Together” and “Windflowers,” are equally deserving.

The new recording, from PS Classics, is taken from a 2014 production mounted by Lyric Stage of Irving, TX, featuring a 38-piece orchestra and a 43-member cast. The texts are well-enunciated by the singers – essential for comprehension of the plot, certainly, but also a joy in itself for the wit of John Latouche’s lyrics, which tickle both the funny bone and the brain – and the recorded balance of voice and music is well-judged. Even so, the booklet contains a luxury so often sadly missing in these days of no-frills packaging: a full libretto.

A superb recording featuring the original cast was issued in 1954, but only a fraction of the show’s numbers were represented, and many of those in truncated form. Also, the sound on compact disc reissue is beginning to show its age, tinny and a tad harsh.

At last “The Golden Apple” can be heard and enjoyed as it was originally intended, with almost 90 minutes of previously unrecorded material. The release is very reasonably priced, essentially two discs for the price of one. There are periodic outbursts of applause revealing the recording’s live origins. However, these are few and largely unobtrusive. If you are a fan of Moross’ music and can tolerate musical theater, I encourage you to give it a shot.

You can find a few sound clips here:

http://www.psclassics.com/cd_goldenapple.html

“Lazy Afternoon,” sung by Kaye Ballard from the 1954 original cast recording:

August 1, 2015

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