An Evening of Beethoven

An Evening of Beethoven

Utah Symphony

September 11, 2009

Abravanel Hall

Matthias Bamert, Conductor

Jennifer Frautschi, Violin

The evening started out like any other with the Utah Symphony. Ralph Matson (the concertmaster) walks out. The orchestra "tunes." Then the conductor comes out (not the closet, from backstage. Jeesh people!) The orchestra stands. The maestro steps up to the podium to begin and instead of having sat down like usual, the orchestra (with the exception of the celli and bassi) stayed standing. I was thinking, "okay, this must be some type of 'visual effect' for the 'Overture to The Creatures of Prometheus, op.43' that Maestro Bamert decided on." Than they began to play a familiar tune. (I can't hum it for you here, so I'll just give you the words. Boring, I know.) "Oh, say can you see by the dawn's early light?" The audience stood (I would hope so.) Some in the audience sang. Followed by thunderous applause. (Okay, maybe not thunderous, but you get the idea.)

The Overture was next. Having never heard it before, it sounded awfully familiar. (Unfortunately, my lack of knowledge of proper terminology while doing reviews of this sort is extremely limited; so suffice it to say, I enjoyed it.) Maestro Bamert left the stage. Assistants came in and moved the 1st violins around. (They had to make way for the violin soloist.)

The Concerto for Violin in D Major, op. 61 was incredible. (It lasted roughly 45 minutes. That's a lot of music.) There are three movements. I. Allegro ma non troppo II. Larghetto III. Finale: Rondo. The first (at first) seemed to drag a little, but then I got into it. (Then the audience applauded after the first movement. Cretins! (Of course I say that with love.) (Honestly, I have no idea why it's considered taboo to applaud between movements. I just know it is, so I don't.) Ms. Frautschi played gracefully. She moved her body (slightly) with the music. Which I didn't find distracting. Sometimes people will wear sequins and THAN move to the music. The lights catch all of the sequins and well, instant migraine. That didn't happen last night. (Thank goodness.) The Larghetto segued into the Finale: Rondo. The high notes echoed through the hall. The trills were exquisite. In response to the audiences applause, Ms. Frautschi came out for FOUR CURTAIN CALLS. (Pardon my ignorance, but I'm not entirely sure what the proper phrase for concerts such as this is. Maybe I'm just involved in theatre too much. I don't know.)

And now, the moment we've all been waiting for...Dun Dun Dun Duuuuuuuuhn! The most famous four-note motif in all of classicdom. (Yes, that IS a word. Well, it is now anyway.) This has always been one of my favorite works. In fact, this is the first symphony (that I remember) ever heard. I was a student at Centennial Elementary School in Nampa, Idaho. The music teacher introduced us to Beethoven. We watched a movie. The title of it was/is (if memory serves. It doesn't always.) Beethoven Lived Upstairs. Well, something like that. I decided I wanted to be just like Beethoven. Well, except for the "dirty old man" thing. All I had ever heard was the first movement. It's the most popular. It would be at Boise State University about 15 years later before I heard the rest of the symphony. At 7:30 in the morning. (That's an awful time for a class by the way.)

The violins play quietly at the end of the third movement, than it "breaks forth triumphantly" as the fourth movement begins. There is no pause between these movements. (I'm sensing a theme...)

The entire evening was great. The fifth is still among my favorite symphonies.

Mission the Musical

Mission the Musical

WestofEast Productions

Written and Directed by Jed Christensen

Music and Lyrics by Eric Malizia and Jed Christensen

I saw an ad for Mission: The Musical on playersanonymous.org while I was posting notices for my company's production of Dido and Aeneas. They were asking for people to come and audition. I probaby would have if I hadn't been busy with Dido. So I emailed them to reserve a couple of tickets for Saturday the fifth of September for the matinee performance.

From the playbill..."Mission the Musical is a coming of age story about the journey through one of life's toughest trials: A mission. It is the story of two young men from very different worlds." Kendall is turning 19 and will be serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saitns. Meekum leaves home to serve in the Army of Helaman (you know, the story of the 2,000 stripling warriors from the Book of Alma in the Book of Mormon...).

"Along the way both will meet interesting and unforgettable characters. Both will learn valuable lessons about life, faith, and the power of decisions. And both will forge the unbreakable bond of friendship that forms when in the service of God."

The musical opens with the mothers of Kendall and Meekum. They are holding their new-born sons. When the curtain opened I, at first, thought the actress playing Susan, Kendall's mom, had forgotten to remove her socks. But then I realized the woman on the other side of the stage was from another century. (There wasn't much difference in their costumes, except for color.)

Nineteen years later! Kendall is in his bedroom with his girlfriend. He tries, several times, to kiss her. All attempts are unsuccessful. They are repeatedly interuppted by Mom (Susan), Dad (George), and Grandpa (Earl). (Earl was one of my favorite characters. He was the one who saw life a little differently, perhaps, because he's also the oldest character in the show.) Kendall shares (to one extent or another with parents, girlfriend and the audience) his concerns, his worries about serving a two year mission. (Anyone who HAS served a mission has felt these. I know I did.)

In the Nephite world, Meekum tells his mother he will join Helaman's army in defense of his people. She reminds him of the covenant they made to never go to war. "That was our fathers," he replies. (For more information on this, read of the Book of Alma in the Book of Mormon.) As a result he leaves.

Moving right along...Kendall leaves on his mission. (He stays up until 3 am writing his talk. Susan laments over his leaving. George tells her to make up her mind as to whether or not she wants him to go. And Kendall and Melissa, his girlfriend, get into an argument.) Meekum meets a fellow soon to be warrior and they run off to Helaman's Army's camp. (Try saying that three times fast.)

At the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Kendall meets his companion. Who feels that showering once a day is a little ridiculous. Nine weeks later Kendall leaves the MTC. (This nine-week period takes place in about five minutes. Mostly dance. With a tap dancing janitor, who by the way, wore a santa claus wig and beard. I guess the producers have never heard of buycostumes.com...That's were I get all my wigs. For my performing arts company silly!)

We see Meekum and the other Nephites for a minute and then the scene changes to Kendall's apartment where he lives with his current mission companion, Elder Walton. Elder Walton is a trunky missionary about to go home. ("Trunky" is a term used in the mission field for those who get lazy and all they begin to do is think about going home, so they don't do much in the way of "missionaryizing." Yes, that is now a word. I just made it up.)

Then, INTERMISSION!! During which time, I leaned over to my assistant..."The girl playing Melissa can't act to save her life. This stage kinda sucks (ADD moment: We're looking for a place to hold our season next year.) This music reminds me of Bare the Musical." She agreed on all points. (Bare the Musical takes place at a Catholic school. Peter wants to bring his relationship with Jason out in the open. Jason says no, they break up. Jason decides he does in deed love Peter, ends up overdossing and dies. That's a VERY brief summary. It's actually a much better show then I have made it sound here.)

Act Two begins with the Lamanites, (aka, the "bad guys" of the Book of Mormon. Well...nevermind. I don't want to confuse anyone. In this case, the Lamanites are the bad guys.) dancing around in their loin clothes. (Dont' worry, they were decent.) Kendall wonders if he's doing any good. Helaman and Nephites go to battle against the Lamanites. They fight. (The fight scene needed some more rehearsal time.) Melissa tells her boyfriend du jour, "I have brains too." Elder Walton prepares to go home. They finally have begun to have some success in their missionary work. Then Susan and George get a letter, "He's coming home." At the train station, Kendall says goodbye to Elder Smith (his current companion - missionaries go through a lot of companions. I personally had 12.) Meekum says goodbye to a friend. Then Kendall and Meekum sing, "Goodbye Brother, Good Fight." Meekum returns home. His mother sees him. "My son." (Then the scene ends with that.) The next scene is at the air terminal. Kendall has come home. He and Melissa get back together and the show ends.

Despite some poor acting, poor singing, poor directing the show was pretty good. I would have liked to have seen more with Meekum. I had nothing to relate to him with. We see Kendall with his girlfriend, mission companions. But not so much with Meekum. We don't get to see him grow. There could have been more of Kendall's growth as well, but what we did get to see was "okay." The man who played George, also performs with the Utah Opera. I have seen better things from him before, which leads me to believe the directing wasn't exactly beer and skittles. (Which is partly why I said, "poor directing.")

Helaman...oh boy, well he was kinda scrawny. I my biceps are bigger than his calf muscle. (Okay that's a stretch, but still.) I've always imagined Helaman to be big and muscular. Not skin and bones. Of course, that could've been a casting issue. In the program the writer and director mentioned some of the issues they had with casting...So perhaps that was the issue with some of the other people. Well, I'll go with that.

Would I see it again? Perhaps. It runs until this weekend. The final show is Saturday September 12th at 7pm. Matinee at 1pm. I might go. But then I have tickets to the symphony on Friday and an "Opera Gala" concert for Saturday evening. And Glenn Beck is doing a "special" on Fox News during the day on Saturday. So perhaps I won't be seeing Mission the Musical again during this run. Hopefully, next time, they'll get a few of the bugs worked out (in the script. ie., adding some detail in the Nephite scenes. "Give me something to relate to!")

Messiah

Messiah

by George Handel

December 14, 2008

Somewhere in the Salt Lake City, Utah area...

This is my first negative review, but to be honest, I didn't find much to be positive about with this particular production. Let me say this; I almost left two measures into the overture. There's not much worse than listening in the first violins play flat. Well, I guess, at least they were consistent. (Imagine me rolling my eyes at this point...)

I almost left, it was so bad. Than I thought, well I might as well stay so I can write a review about it. So, I suffered through it. Wishing I had ear plugs throughout most of it.

This production was presented by several churches in the area (due to the negativeness of this review I have opted to leave out any direct reference to the locale, the church(es), the soloists. In part, because I'll most likely join the choir and audition for a solo for the next year's production. I'll comment more on that later.).

The soloists were picked from the chorus. That has an advantage, but personally, I want to hear a soloist. I takes time for the soloists to step out of the choir sits and go to the place to sing their aria. Which only adds to the, well for lack of a better word, uncomfortableness of the event.

As with the Messiah Sing-In I participated in a couple weeks previous, this group did highlights of the complete work. Just once, I'd like to go to a presentation of Messiah and hear the complete work. With orchestra of course. And live. Sure, I can listen to the complete work on CD, but hearing it live is SO much better. I digress, back to the topic at hand.

SC, a high school student, sang "Comfort ye, my people." You know, I'm just going to leave it at that. He's a high school student. DL - "Every valley shall be exalted." In my notes I wrote, "Oh my ears!" DL was also the timpanist for the orchestra. The timpani sounded wonderful. Than the chorus sang, "And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed." They lacked any and all emotion.

"Thus saith the Lord, the Lord of Hosts," in my score is listed as a baritone number. Um, RC is a tenor. He tried to sound like a baritone. I get that sometimes in these types of productions you have to have tenors sing baritone roles to fill in, as it where, for parts where you don't actually have a decent baritone. But a note to the tenor filling such a part, DON'T TRY TO SOUND LIKE A FREAKING BARITONE! Another comment about DL and RC, they both breathed at the end of EVERY MEASURE! I get that sometimes you need to breath during those long phrases in "Every valley," but not every measure.

"O thou that tellest good tidings to Zion" was sung by JA. I kinda wish she had stuck to choral singing. Another note about each of the soloists up to this point, none of them looked out of their music for more than half a second, except to look at the conductor. DN sang the recitatives (numbers 14-16) leading up to the chorus number "Glory to God" (Number 17). She did a good job at it, except the high note at the end of 16, "And suddenly there was with the angel." This good be attributed to nerves. I'm going to be nice for a moment and give her the benefit of the doubt. During "Glory to God," I received a bonus. The violins weren't playing flat. Woot Hoot! I was happy.

HM sang "Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion." She has a nice sound on the sustained notes, though her voice is whiny at times. The top of her voice was nice, but the bottom seemed to "fall out" of her voice and she sounded unsupported on the lower notes. Again, could be due to nerves...(I'm trying to end my mean streak...Okay, not really.) Than the orchestra hurt me again in number 20 during "Come unto Him."

Number 23, "He was despised and rejected." Ms. TO, (this is taken directly from my notes) Wow a contralto. She wasn't flat at all. She looked up from her music. What is she doing here? The chorus number (Number 33) "Lift up your heads, O ye gates" wasn't bad at all. DW sang, "why do the nations so furiously rage together?" He has a nice bottom, the top isn't so good and the middle is kinda spread. He sings with lots of tension. (By the way, I'm talking about his voice, NOT his physical attributes.)

I was glad to see that the audience respected the tradition of standing during "Hallelujah!" I didnt' want to be the only one. That would've been awkward.

"I know that my Redeemer liveth" was sung by Ms. TR. She has a pleasant voice. Not really screechy, but a little more "airy" than I prefer. But than, I'll take airy over screechy anyday. "Dang you orchestra!"

Mr. DW, who also sang "Why do the nations so furiously rage together?" also sang "The trumpet shall sound." The same problems presented themselves with this aria as well. He was slightly under pitch on the high notes, it's probably technique issues, though I'm not qualified to say much in that regard. But reading his bio included in the program, one would think he'd have done a better job than he did. By the way, the trumpet solo, was flawless. And wouldn't you know, the violins were conspiring against me.

The final movement, number 53, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain" is difficult to sing. Okay, so it's not terribly difficult until the "Amen" section. I felt sorry for the soprano, who kept getting lost and looking over to the soprano next to her trying to figure out what page they were on. I think at that point, I would've made up my own part and sang whatever note I heard in the orchestra.

As I was leaving the hall I updated my facebook status via text to say, "Joey didn't think it possible to ruin Handel's Messiah." One of my friends commented back saying, "you mean you didn't think it was possible and someone did?" "Yes," I replied. "Maybe you're just too picky." And maybe I am, but that's life. We get over it eventually.

The Forgotten Carols

The Forgotten Carols

2008 Tour - Salt Lake City, Utah at Cottonwood High School

by Michael McLean

Michael McLean - Uncle John

Kelly Shepardson - Connie Lou

Christy Summerhays- Lillian

Jordan Bluth- (several different characters)

Gili Getz- Dr. Halifax

Lynne McLean- Sarah

I first saw The Forgotten Carols in Boise, Idaho in November 2005. I loved it. It reminded em of what Christmas is about. The birth of Jesus the Christ. Love. Forgiveness. Hope. I sang with the Boise LDS Institute of Religion Choir at the time and that choir was asked to be the "backup choir" for that performance. As I said, I loved the show than. It has only gotten better since then.

This is not a complete synopsis, but here is a brief one. John is staying in a "relative's" home. The "family" hires a nurse to come and watch him while he's there. He's really old, you see. John asks her for help to put the ornaments on the Christmas tree. "It's a very big tree." She does, wishing she were somewhere...anywhere else. John explains the meaning of each ornament. As the play unfolds, we learn that John is roughly 2,000 years old. As each ornament is put on the tree, John shares a carol, a Christmas carol, that has since been forgotten. But that have great meaning.

We hear from the innkeeper who turned Joseph and Mary away. John talks of when he met George F. Handel. (Who is represented by the quill pen ornament, the pen he used to write Messiah.) A dream that he (Handel) had had. About not being able to sing in the Celestial choir at the birth of Jesus. (That song, Handel's Dream, is probably my favorite. Oh who am I kidding, I like all the songs.)

We also see Constance, Connie Lou as Uncle John calls her, as a child. (This is new. I like it, it adds some power that wasn't in the show when I first saw it. And it gives it more depth. I'm all about depth.) We see her father as a soldier in war (I believe world war 1. Though it might've been ww2...) I'm not going to go on with the story, you'll have to see it yourself. It truely is an amazing show. A DVD of the performance is available at deseretbook.com (and no, Deseret Book did not pay me to make that annouoncement for them.)

After the show was ended, Michael McLean came out to do his traditional epilogue. He sits at the piano and sings "We can be together forever someday." Than he has the audience join him. He shares some other personal stories. One of which goes like this: "You know what the best part of doing a show with your wife is? Making out backstage." (Lynne McLean is his wife.) After the final stuff was over, Michael had everyone in the audience hum, Silent Night. He asked that there be no applause as he left, because he wanted us to leave that auditorium thinking of Christ. He "directed" us as we hummed as he walked off stage. He finished, the house lights came up and people slowly began to leave. It was truly a great experience.

I have no comments about any of the cast. They were all outstanding. They were funny when they needed to be. Serious. And emotional, as the situation required. I have on the other hand seen Jordan Bluth in another peformance. He sang the role of John Taylor in Joseph Smith, the Prophet by Rob Gardner. I had the opportunity to sing in the choir when it was recorded live at Abravenel Hall in Salt Lake City, Utah. Conducted by the composer. I was also in the choir when it was presented in the Tabernacle in Salt Lake in April 2008. (Which was attended by President Thomas S. Monson.) Excue me, I'm getting lost in my thoughts. I was talking about Jordan Bluth...I liked him in Joseph Smith, the Propeht as well. This is another show, that will become part of my Christmas tradition.

Messiah Sing-in

Messiah Sing-In

Timpanogos Festival Orchestra and Chorus

Lois Stout, Conductor

Friday, December 5, 2008

Alpine Tabernacle

American Fork, Utah

Mary Billeter-Young, Soprano

Laura Garff Lewis, Mezzo-Soprano

Todd Miller, Tenor

Gary Sorenson, Baritone

This is the first year I have sung with the chorus. I attended the sing-in in 2006 about a week after I moved to Utah. But I had to leave shortly after "Thus saith the Lord." An announcement was made, "anyone parked in the Checker parking lot will be towed." I was in the checker parking lot. There were no other parking spots available. The streets were full of parked cars (not the middle of the road, silly. The sides.) So I went home. Sadness! But this year, I got the necessary information, so joined the chorus. YAY!!! I had a fun experience. Of course like any other music that I'm learning, I begin to hate it. I started hating Baroque music. We had something like four rehearsals total. Thankfully we didn't have to memorize it. Phew!

I love the opening number (after the overture). "Comfort ye my people." Those are the first words in the work. I can't really explain what that means to me, but suffice it to say, that those four words speak volumes to me. I have often said on my facebook profile, that a musician's job is to inspire hope. And indeed it is. Thank you G.F. Handel.

The one thing about the set up for this sing-in is that the powers that be put Hallelujah! at the end of the program. Handel put it as the end of Part 2. The end of the work is "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain." Than the final, "Amen." Usually nothing comes after "amen." That usually means it's over. Perhaps, this year, I'll figure out why they do that.

Ms. Billeter-Young. Wow, where do I begin? She has been singing the soprano role for this sing-in for...well years I'm sure. She seems like a sweet lady and perhaps she was just having a bad day. But she was flat. Alot! I know I'm flat sometimes so I don't have a lot of room to talk. But seriously!

Ms. Lewis did great. There aren't a lot of arias for the Mezzo in this work, especially since it was cut practically in half. But I enjoyed listening to her.

Mr. Miller has a nice voice that carried through hall. His voice is slightly lighter than what I'm used to listening to on recordings of Messiah, but I liked it. (And I know, you're probably asking yourself, "why do I care what Joey thinks about so and so's voice?") "Comfort ye my people," is what it's all about. If the tenor blows that aria, the first words the audience hears for the evening, than there is no hope for the rest of the performance. Well, needless to say, Mr. Miller didn't blow it. I enjoyed it. (Although he sways. I do it to. I'm trying to quit. I promise.)

Mr. Sorenson has a lot of energy. I've never known a baritone that didn't. At least none that I can think of at the moment. "The trumpet shall sound" is probably one of the most popular pieces from Messiah. And with good reason. It's energetic. It requires something more than a good range and fast breathing to do it. Mr. Sorenson did an amazing job.

Overall, this was a fun and exciting evening for me. To sing the music of the great Mr. Handel, especially Messiah, a work which was written in approximately three weeks, was a great experience for this tenor.

Plaid Tidings

Plaid Tidings

SCERA Center for the Arts - Orem, Utah

Nov 28 - Dec 23, 2008

Jinx - Shawn Mortensen

Smudge - David Smith

Frankie - Geoff Reynolds

Sparky - Conn Curran

Directed by Robinne Booth

Plaid Tidings in the sequel to Forever Plaid. Stuart Ross, the playwright, was asked to do a sequel to his hit Forever Plaid shortly after 9/11. Until than, he had avoided doing a sequel, feeling that sequels were for movies like, Rambo, Lord of the Rings, Home Alone, Indiana Jones, and Harry Potter. "It was at a time when we all needed a little joy and a little cozy holiday fun to lift spirits."

The show opens with the four plaids singing Deus Ex Plaid. They remember their previous "trip" to earth (after their deaths) and are trying to figure out what they're doing back. Perplexing dilemma. They argue with each other. One of them notices all the Christmas decor. They fight and argue some more about why they're back to do a Christmas show.

They eventually acquiesce and do the Christmas show. I think the highlight of the evening is in the second act. Frankie, Jinx, Sparky, and Smudge do highlights from the Ed Sullivan Show. Jinx sings, I'll Be Home for Christmas, while the rest of them "perform" "talents" that one would see on the Ed Sullivan Show. From seals juggling, dogs jumping through hoops, balancing plates on little sticks... It's, as I mentioned earlier, the best part of the show. At least for me. The entire piece is entertaining. And at the time it was written, we (Americans) needed to be entertained. We needed to be distracted from the cares of the world.

Conn Curran was sick the night I went. In his place David Whitlock played the role of Sparky. When I saw this show in 2007 at SCERA, Mr. Whitlock was part of the cast as Sparky.

Overall, this was a great production. I have seen it twice now and will continue to see it every Christmas as long as there is still breath in my body and strength in my legs to carry me to the theatre. Christmas time for me is always hectic. I'm always going from one performance to another. And I usually end up hating the holiday season by December 15th. This year was no different. It's always nice to attend a show, that is simply fun. Helps you relax.

I'm Sorry

I apologize that it's been so long since I posted anything. My last review of Aida was done at work. Well I started to feel guilty for using company equipment (not time. I stayed after hours.) for my own personal ventures. And, since I had moved the previous month (November 2008), I had to cancel my internet service. Well, actually I was bumming off my Grandma's internet. I lived in her basement. That was nice, I didn't have to pay for it. But now I have internet at my new apartment and I'm about nine shows behind. So these next nine posts will probably not be as detailed as some of my others. But if you think about it...nine shows with an average of two and a half hours each...that comes to...wait...I don't know, like twenty hours or something. I'm a musician, not a mathematician!