Opera in Berlin (I), a challenge to tradition

 

            I first visited Berlin in 1964, when the Wall separated East from West, and at that time I saw "The Marriage of Figaro" at the Deutsche Oper (West) and "Don Pasquale" at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden (East). I was back in August 1989, some months after the Wall fell down, but it was summer and there was no opera. This year I made my trip in late September, just a few days after the beginning of the operatic season, and I was able to attend at the unified Berlin a total of four operas, two each at the Deutsche and at the Staatsoper.

            The aim of this article isn´t political, but  I can´t avoid the fact that I experienced three different Berlins: in 1964 an isolated but brilliant West  and a rundown East; in 1989 the start of the transition to unity, when the scars of the past remained very visible in the East; and now a marvelously vital unified Berlin where you almost see no difference between both sides;  twenty years later I felt a glamorous, beautiful, green and open city exempt from traffic jams, vital, disciplined, cosmopolitan and admirable.

            The operatic structure remains amazingly like it was in 1964: the two great opera houses I mentioned were already there, as was the Komische Oper, successor to Klemperer´s 1920s Kroll Oper, smaller and always associated with both the avant-garde and its apparent contradiction, operetta. I couldn´t go there, alas, for it would have completed my overview. But some general conclusions can be made anyway. First, the city maintains three fulltime opera houses, and controversy has raged over its impact on the budget, especially now that Berlin, notwithstanding its fine image,  totters under a very heavy deficit. One of them, many say, would have to go; if one of them has to be sacrificed, I wouldn´t condemn the two main houses but the Komische. However, it would be wonderful if they kept having three. But, truth to tell, it´s the only city in the world that does that: two yes (London, New York, Paris, Vienna, Munich), but three…There´s a second factor: Vienna, e.g., has two very contrasting ones (Staatsoper and Volksoper) but both the Deutsche and the Staatsoper in Berlin tread the same ground, which puts them in very direct rivalry (the feud some years ago between Barenboim at the Staatsoper and Thielemann at the Deutsche ended with the departure of the latter, both battling for a greater share of the Berlin Senate´s subsidy).

            There´s another very important matter: the colossal amount of opera available. For these theaters are all repertoire houses, not "stagione" like La Scala or the Colón, This means that they have a steady core of no less than about thirty operas (or at the Komische also operettas) but others vary each year; I haven´t counted them, but I´m probably right if I state that each year a Berliner can see between 500 and 600 performances of opera of roughly about a hundred titles, perhaps even more. Of course there´s now a steady touristic input, but this wan´t so in 1964 and there were audiences for roughly the same amount of performances. "Repertoire" also means that they have house singers under yearly contract, but  the two bigger houses have many guests (singers, producers, conductors).

            I came out of my experience with two opposed impressions: on one side, a hearty respect for the musical quality exhibited (especially the orchestras) and for the well-oiled daily functioning presenting big, difficult and diverse operas night after night: a phenomenal capacity for efficient professional work. On the other, dismay at the aesthetics of the productions, which –as implied in the title of this article- dislodge tradition to such a degree that I felt they are ruining their own culture. This has been going on with increasing strength during the last two decades, and for those who like me believe in maintaining our roots, it´s so discomfiting that I left every night with a bitter taste in my mouth.

The crux of the matter is this: producers feel they have to offer "their" vision of the opera, with no regard to the original contents of the libretti; they think they are co-authors, not interpreters, and that only an extreme avant-garde view will do. Most of the time I couldn´t have told which opera I was viewing by the looks of it, that´s how distorted they were. It´s a curious schizophrenia: libretti and music are left untouched, but anything can go on stage; many call them "concept" productions, which means to have a wholly arbitrary view of the original. The sad thing is that public money and management support such travesties, and so do many critics. It is, I´m afraid, a losing battle to denounce this situation and hope that it will change. It seems to be the "Zeitgeist", the spirit  of our time; I can only call it "extreme decay" and say that they give the young terrible models. Certainly they haven´t seen Strauss or Wagner but what the producer imposes on them. Thirty or forty years ago I came out of an opera performance in Germany with a degree of pleasure that has simply disappeared now. In a couple of weeks I will give details of what for me was good and bad in operatic Berlin.

For Buenos Aires Herald

Interesting music from the National Symphony

I have often written of the admirable qualities of our National Symphony (Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional) firmly led by its Principal Conductor, Pedro Calderón. This organism has no decent acoustics to rehearse or to play, its concerts are free -which is demeaning- and it has no budget to hire valuable guests from abroad, exceptions apart. Nevertheless, their concerts either at the Stock Exchange (Bolsa de Comercio) or at the Law School (Facultad de Derecho) of the UBA are often first-rate and illuminating. They should have a quality auditorium and a decent budget, for they are surely one of the best orchestras in South America, but the Governments (not just this one but many before it) have obstinately refused to give them reasonable conditions; it is a measure of the cultural blindness that pervades our country at the official level.
With the very welcome presence of pianist Marcelo Balat, they offered a splendid concert at the Bolsa on August 21. After a scintillating rendition of Mozart´s Overture to “The Marriage of Figaro”, Balat and Calderón tackled Rachmaninov´s best work, the Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini, a filigree of enormous imagination and accomplishment, played with admirable pianism and well-adjusted accompaniment. Although I was sorry that four of the twelve numbers of Prokofiev´s Suite from the ballet “Chout” were eliminated, the interpretation gave us all the sarcasm and precise savagery of this masterpiece. As there are never any comments in the hand programme, they should at least have the name right: they printed “Chauf”.
David Handel is a dynamic American conductor who works regularly with orchestras at Mendo-
za and La Paz. He presented a very ambitious programme and I think it was too much for the brass players, in particular provoking a fatal trumpet accident in Wagner. The First Part was dedicated to the arduous and complex Symphony Nº 2, “The Age of Anxiety”, by Leonard Bernstein, based on a W. H. Auden text about human relationships, and with such sections as “The seven ages”, “The Dirge” and “The Masque”. Musically it is very ingenious, in particular in the 14 variations of “The seven ages”, where each variation is based on an element of the preceding one (except the first, of course). It has a difficult piano obbligato part, very well played by Paula Peluso. Handel showed command and forceful views in his energetic interpretation, seconded with fine concentration by the orchestra.
The Second Part was all-Wagner and too long, one of the Overtures should have been eliminated. It started with the Overture to “The Flying Dutchman”, stormy as it should be. “The “Entrance of the Gods into the Walhalla” is a concoction (by the composer) on the final minutes of “The Rhine Gold”. Preceded by the “Dawn” music, we then heard the marvelous “Siegfried´s Rhine Journey” from “The Twilight of the Gods”, quite convincing despite the terrible trumpet accident. And finally, the “Tannhäuser” Overture, where lip fatigue made it hard to hear balanced chords. But all in all, an exciting concert.
Mario Perusso was the hero of the following great occasion, a not unblemished but still valuable rendition of Donizetti´s Requiem Mass, so much less-known than Verdi´s but very interesting and with some magnificent moments in its 75-minute duration. An inspired blend of bel canto and sacred music, this Mass is unfinished, and the hand programme didn´t help by stating that after the Offertory we heard the Sanctus, Benedictus, Agnus Dei, Communio and Responsory; we didn´t because they don´t exist… Fine jobs from the Coro Polifónico Nacional under Roberto Luvini and the Orchestra, and of course Perusso was his utterly reliable self. Both Ricardo González Dorrego (tenor) and Alejandro Meerapfel (baritone) had commendable moments, with Soledad de la Rosa (soprano) doing well the little she has to sing, and the small-voiced Laura Domínguez (mezzosoprano) correct in her music. Only Alejandro Di Nardo (bass) was weak, with insecure intonation.
At the Facultad de Derecho, quite as bad in acoustics as the Bolsa but bigger, I heard on October 16 a fine programme conducted by Calderón. The start wasn´t promising; perhaps under-rehearsed, there were too many hesitations and blurred sounds in that magnificently unorthodox Overture by Berlioz, “Les Francs Juges”, which evokes the Judges of the Secret Courts of Germany in the Late Middle Ages. But Tchaikovsky´s Violin Concerto brought us the fresh talent of Lucía Luque, a 21-year-old “Cordobesa” with a fine European career. In this infernally difficult piece it is a “tour de force” to be able to solve every detail, and some weren´t perfect, but by and large she impressed with her accomplishment and commitment; she is both intense and refined. The accompaniment was mostly accurate. She gave an attractive encore: Kreisler´s “Recitative and Scherzo-Capriccio”.
There was a further merit in this concert: Calderón never shirks from major challenges, and he gave us what was only the second performance in B.A. of Edward Elgar´s huge, Romantic, rambling but fascinating First Symphony. Melodically inspired, complicated texturally, ambitious and very noble in the Victorian way, this is fine music and I enjoyed it in Calderón´s ample, well-considered reading, followed with intelligent concentration by the orchestra.
If under such restricted conditions the Orchestra can give us such valuable nights, think of what it could do with a little consideration from the authorities and some interest from the Congress. It´s a matter of politics and policy.

Mozarteum and Festivales end their seasons

        For me this is a melancholy time, the end-of-season time. It wavers according to institutions and circumstances but it tends to be between October 15 and November 15. As I don´t believe in seasonal culture, I can hardly tolerate the barren months of Summer; in Europe it´s different, there are plenty of musical festivals to assuage my thirst; but here… So it´s a time for DVDs and CDs, old and new, but my anxiety for live music becomes pretty unbearable as March approaches with its timid pre-season efforts.

            The Mozarteum Argentino ended their year with less than glory, for the final balance of an Austrian musical embassy was too uneven for satisfaction.  On paper it looked good: Haydn and Schubert by the Wiener Akademie Orchestra, the Chorus sine nomine, four imported soloists and the conductor Martin Haselböck. But doubts began to creep in soon after the beginning. In fact the arrogant statements of Haselböck in a BA newspaper didn´t bode well, with his claims of giving us entirely new views of those great classics or his affirmation that Schubert´s Mass Nº 2 and Haydn´s Stabat Mater are masterpieces;  those few early minutes confirmed that this is still rather immature Schubert (he was eighteen), only picking up from the Benedictus (a lovely trio). But it also proved that the choir is a really poor one, both in the quality of their voices and in their accuracy, apart from being too few (eight women, six men). There was a positive side: the Orchestra (14 strings, one bassoon, harpsichord –not organ as stated in the hand programme) sounded quite well, Haselböck´s phrasing was musical (and traditional) and two soloists were worth knowing: Polish soprano Aleksandra Zamojska and Austrian tenor Bernhard Berchtold, quite mellifluous. Through the microphone it was announced that baritone Christian Hilz was affected by our climate, so it was logical that he sounded under the weather…

            The big Haydn Stabat Mater dates from 1767, early for this composer; it is certainly fluid and accomplished, but rarely comes to greater things. Here two oboes were added to the orchestra, which again sounded quite nice. The Choir, however, was even shallower. The soloists as before, with some rather brilliant moments for soprano and for tenor; here we also heard the local debut of the young Austrian mezzosoprano Ida Aldrian, promising but still a bit green. Haselböck has the measure of this music, but no revelations came from him.

            Although it wasn´t the end of Conciertos de Mediodía (there are still two concerts to come), the presentation of Marcela Roggeri and Elena Tasisto at the Gran Rex was of special quality and a good occasion to mention here that these concerts celebrate their fiftieth anniversary, quite an admirable feat: 50 years providing good music for free at the lunch break (1 to 2 p.m.).  It was courageous to present such an innovative and profound combination of music by Sofia Gubaidulina and texts by Marina Tsvietaieva. Both are independent Russian voices of great value, clear-minded, intense and uncompromising. Roggeri´s immensely assured pianism and Tasisto´s moving diction complemented themselves perfectly..

            I was fascinated by the debut of Les Sacqueboutiers de Toulouse ending the season of Festivales; the venue was the Avenida. These artists are dedicated to the noble art of playing wind instruments used in the Late Renaissance and the Early Baroque and three of them are wonderful players: Jean-Pierre Canihac in cornetto ( a wooden trumpet of sweet sound), Daniel Lassalle in tenor sackbut and Fabian Dornic in bass sackbut (being the antecessors of the trombone). I found Jean Imbert marginally insecure playing natural trumpet (although I agree it´s the devil to play).  With the fine support of two local players (Manfredo Kraemer, violin; Federico Ciancio, harpsichord and chamber organ) and with the Argentine soprano Adriana Fernández, who lives in Europe, showing her admirable sense of style in several pieces, this concert was sheer delight and demonstrated how to be both entertaining and instructive.

            The programme, concocted by Canihac, gave us the music of Kromeriz, where the bishop of Olomouc had formed a splendid capella; thus in this Moravian town worked admirable composers such as Pavel Vejvanovsky (Serenada; Sonata "Tribus Quadrantibus") and Johann Schmelzer (Sonata a 3 in C, Sonata in G "La Carolietta"). German masters such as Johann Theile from Hamburg (Sonata "Sublationis") were also heard. But there was also the Venetian influence: Claudio Monteverdi ("Laudate Dominum"; "Confitebor"; "Lettera amorosa") or Ignatio Donati (O gloriosa Domina) or Tarquinio Merula ("Su la cetra amorosa"), plus the Italian influence on Händel ("Occhi miei, che faceste") and the great  master Heinrich Schütz who brought the technique of the Gabrielis to Germany (Buccinate in Neomenia Tuba). A truly exquisite night, one of the very best of the year.

            There are plenty of Bach cantatas still unknown here, but Mario Videla with his Bach Academy keeps unveiling new ones at the Central Methodist Church. With nine admirable players (Soloists of the Academy) and two fine singers (soprano Mónica Capra, baritone Norberto Marcos) plus the Grupo de Canto Coral (Néstor Andrenacci) he gave us Cantata Nº 96, "Herr Christ, der ein´ge Gottessohn" ("Lord Christ, the only Son of God"), a splendid work with a very fine initial chorus and a demanding soprano aria. Claudio Barile played at the beginning Carl Heinrich Graun´s interesting Concerto in E minor for flute, two violins and continuo.

Disaster, jubilation and stark drama

            Things have been jumping in our operatic world lately. Disaster struck the Teatro Argentino of La Plata with their worst production ever, a total travesty of Donizetti´s "Lucia di Lammermoor". In complete contrast, Juventus Lyrica provided a jubilant version of that lovely operetta, Lehár´s "The Merry Widow". And Buenos Aires Lírica gave us an admirable version of Menotti´s always relevant and stark drama "The Consul".

            I presume Reinaldo Censabella (the Argentino´s Artistic Director in 2008) didn´t imagine the dire results of his decision to engage as producer the "platense" Claudia Billourou, who lives in Europe as assistant producer; Marcelo Lombardero, the current Artistic Director, maintained the engagement. The production showed us the very worst of bad European ideas about production: not so much the trendy mania about taking location and time out of context but the utter lack of taste and total arbitrariness. Thus Scott´s "The bride of Lammermoor" is no longer a conflict between Scottish aristocrats about 1690 but a brutish contemporary Mafioso tale. A few examples: Sir Edgar of Ravenswood strolls in a bicycle and in casual attire; the same unit set (a three-sided box by Juan Carlos Greco) is good for everything, in and out of doors; no fountain; no "tomb of my ancestors";  during the whole mad scene an enormously obese person straight out of Monty Python´s "The meaning of life" eats and drinks away whilst the presumed ghost of Lucy´s mother is impersonated by a well-known human-rights activist of La Plata, etc.

            The poor singers did their best in this horrid context. Paula Almerares is more a lyric soprano than a true coloratura but she sang valiantly and often beautifully, even if she was overstretched at  times. Uruguayan tenor Juan Carlos Valls was mostly agreeable to hear, with a clear lyric voice and good highs. Fabián Veloz for the moment isn´t a dramatic baritone; he sang musically but we never believed he was the villain. Christian Peregrino sang Raimondo initially with too much vibrato but he later settled down. In the flank roles there were good jobs from Leonardo Pastore and Vanesa Mautner; Sergio Spina was too harsh as Normanno.

            Usually the Choir under Miguel Martínez is a big plus at the Argentino, but they seemed discouraged by what they were forced to do and were below their standard. So was Carlos Vieu, the conductor, generally first-rate but this time lacking in conviction and with uncommon maladjustments in his orchestra.

            Eight years ago the Colón audiences were overjoyed by a marvelous "The Merry Widow" in German for the first time here ("Die Lustige Witwe") with Von Stade, Allen and Rudel, produced by Mansouri. I can give no higher praise to the recent Juventus production than to consider it a worthy successor. In what is certainly one of the best jobs of Ana D´Anna, she produced with clear understanding of the world of operetta, with the considerable assistance of Gui Gallardo (especially in the spoken dialogue); everything was buoyant and fleet, and her stage designs were tasteful and functional. And the impeccable costumes of Ponchi Morpurgo had the benefits of long and cultured  experience. The dances choreographed by Igor Gopkalo were quite in the picture, with its Slavic touches.

            Soledad de la Rosa was wonderful; she lacked the "physique du role" but otherwise she was ideal: lovely singing, charm, excellent acting, good German. Her partner was no less convincing: Armando Noguera´s light baritone suits Danilo perfectly, and he is a master of timing and inflexion. Sonia Stelman was a very agreeable Valencienne. Unfortunately, her Camille de Rosillon was too green: Sebastián Russo sang with stilted style and white tones and seemed ill at ease. I am accustomed to baritones as Baron Mirko Zeta; Argentine character tenor Carlos Rivas at first disconcerted me, but he´s a pro of such roles in Germany and I was soon accepting him as a definite positive contribution. Norberto Lara was an ebullient Njegus. The others were variable though always enthusiastic.

            Carlos Calleja seemed a born Viennese as he led with subtlety his fine orchestra, largely made up of members of the appallingly dissolved Orquesta Académica del Teatro Colón .Both choristers and dancers fully entered the spirit of this evergreen operetta, deeper than it may seem.   

            For the sixth time our city has witnessed Menotti´s "The Consul", and again it seems completely contemporary in its Kafkian portrayal of a police state. In the model production of Fabian Von Matt we feel it as a compelling drama that has lost none of its urgency. He has added lateral booths where the burocracy of terror is displayed, whilst the room in Sorel´s house and the Consulate are starkly evoked. Fine work from Daniela Taiana (stage designs) and Stella Maris Müller (costumes).Very well conducted by Javier Logioia Orbe, this presentation of BAL gave us an extraordinary local cast, fully as good as the mixed English/Argentine cast we saw at the Colón in 1999 produced by the composer.

            Carla Filipcic Holm was as true and sincere a Magda as can be imagined, and she sang with world class quality. Hernán Iturralde as John was no less admirable, and Virginia Correa Dupuy was an expressive Mother. There were fine contributions from Osvaldo Peroni providing needed comic relief, Elisabeth Canis in a complete portrait of the Secretary, and  from Walter Schwarz, Mariano Fernández Bustinza, Andrea Nazarre, Gabriela Ceaglio and Vanina Guilledo.

For Buenos Aires Herald

Austrian guests and local orchestras enliven season

 

            The concert season has recently been quite interesting. Distinguished Austrian visitors gave us  great classics in high style and our two main orchestras proceeded with their seasons at an appreciably high level.

            The Mozarteum brought us in succession at the Coliseo two worthy outfits: the Vienna Piano Trio and the Camerata Salzburg. Violinist Wolfgang Redik and pianist Stefan Mendl were founder members of the first named  in 1988 and are still there; their current cellist is Matthias Gredler, replacing Marcus Trefny since 2001. They have of course a sense of style that comes not only from the ambience in which they grew up but also of great teachers such as the Beaux Arts Trio. I was very much impressed by Gredler´s sound quality, always burnished but precise, with perfect intonation. The pianist is a first-rate technician who had moments of real virtuoso. I do have small misgivings about the violinist, to my mind a bit spiky and lacking in sensuousness for the Romantics, but he certainly plays well and is integrated with his partners.

            The programme for the first subscription series started with Haydn´s most famous Trio, Nº 25, "Hungarian", in a clean, dynamic version.  The second choice was inspired, Smetana´s sole Trio is a Romantic, expansive score of great emotional impact and difficulty and it was played with true conviction. Mendelssohn´s Second Trio, op.66, less often played than the marvelous First, is a redoubtable work nonetheless, and it was a proper homage in the year of the bicentenary of his birth to hear it in such an involved and well-wrought interpretation. There was a lovely encore, the Andante con moto from Schubert´s Second Trio. I couldn´t hear the second programme, which included a rarity, Anton Rubinstein´s Second Trio.

            The Camerata Salzburg is the new name of an ensemble who left quite a mark here as the Academic Camerata of the Salzburg Mozarteum in three splendid visits with wise old Sandor Vegh in 1989, 1991 and 1993. They keep to the standards we appreciated then: they play orchestrally as if it were chamber music, each member listening intently to all others and being acutely aware of a group personality.  And they are naturally picked players of different nationalities, more cosmopolitan than of yore. Their period with Roger Norrington has given them a leaner sound, almost vibratoless. Their current conductor is violinist Leonidas Kavakos, but he fell ill and was replaced by a very proficient artist, pianist Stefan Vladar, who proved a convincing leader.

            I caught their second concert, centered –as the other- on Haydn and Mozart. It was a great pleasure to hear such smooth, clear and up-to-date versions of wonderful music, Classicism at its best. I strongly suspect that the Orchestra had rehearsed the main pieces with Kavakos and that Vladar took over as the conscientious professional he is, keeping to the general mold. Haydn´s Symphony Nº 83, "The Hen", starts in G minor with a great whiff of "Sturm und Drang", but soon evolves to major regions and is mostly bubbly and full of invention; "tempi" now tend to be a bit faster (especially the menuets) than in Vegh´s time, but everything coheres with a common intention; individually several are virtuosi, especially the oboist and the flutist.

            Mozart´s Piano Concerto Nº 19 has always been a favorite of mine, so full of charm and fascinating ideas. Vladar proved to be a very fluent pianist, playing sometimes a bit too fast but with great command and taste.  The mighty "Jupiter" symphony (Nº 41), with that miraculous counterpoint in the Finale, is tough Mozart to crack; it was mostly very good, but some lines were obscured in the multiple entries of the last movement. The sweet encore was the third movement of Mozart´s very early Cassation K.63 for strings (a melody with pizzicato accompaniment).

            In a noble gesture, the Mozarteum gave a hand to Nuova Harmonia, harassed by cancellations due to the influenza crisis, and the Camerata Salzburg also played for them, now led by concertino Alexander Hohenthal from his playing post. After an almost exact repetition of Haydn´s Symphony Nº 83, he played very nicely Mozart´s Concerto Nº 5 for violin, "Turkish", with frequent and apposite cadenzas and enough character in that strange episode of the last movement that gives the piece its nickname.  A very accurate and stylish version of Mozart´s marvelous Symphony Nº 36, "Linz", gave full pleasure.

            Arturo Diemecke was at the helm at a B.A. Phil concert (at the Coliseo) where the excellent soloist was Ángel Frette in vibraphone playing two premieres: a l5-minute Vibraphone Concerto by the French composer Emmanuel Séjourné (1961) that seemed to me short on substance though it gave good chances of sparkle to the player, and an arrangement by Saúl Cosentino of his tango-tinged "Nuestra esperanza" (Nº 3 of his "Minisuite"), pleasant enough. "Catalonia" (6 minutes) is practically the only independent orchestral piece we have by Isaac Albéniz, so its very agreeable music was a homage to the centenary of his death. A splendid performance of that evergreen, Tchaikovsky´s Fifth Symphony, brought the concert to an end.

            Finally, Pedro Calderón conducted in a state of grace Bruckner´s mighty Eighth with the National Symphony, proving again that in this repertoire they are locally unbeatable: the best leader and the best orchestra, with fantastic brass playing. This was at the Facultad de Derecho.

For Buenos Aires Herald

Fine interpretations from the Philharmonic

The Buenos Aires Philharmonic was conducted in four concerts by its current Principal Conductor, Arturo Diemecke, who again showed his mettle and command. The first one I am reviewing was quite difficult and it included the world premiere of "Auris Concertum" for cello and orchestra, written by the Argentine composer Alejandro Civilotti Carvalho (1959) and dedicated to Queen Sophia of Spain, who facilitated a cochlear implant on the composer, thus avoiding his deafness. It is a big, 38-minute score; as I had the score in my hands and wrote the programme notes, let me quote myself: "it has a fluid language of clear tonal reminiscences, based on intervallic work and on brief rhythmic-melodic motifs. It shows conscientious artisanship and a moderate idiom without avant-garde ambitions". On hearing it I felt it was too long for its material and at times a bit arid, though it had the benefit of excellent playing by Eduardo Vassallo and careful accompaniment.

It was preceded by "Uirapurú", a tone poem that was later a ballet, by the great Brazilian Heitor Villalobos, as a homage to the composer on the fiftieth anniversary of his death. The music takes its name from a small Amazonian bird of varied singing, and its luxuriant orchestration and melodic richness evoke the jungle with a symbiosis of the telluric and French impressionism. The conductor´s colorful handling of the 18-minute piece gave us the true ambience of this very personal creation. The concert ended with the "long" Stravinsky "Firebird" suite (1945), which adds to the five-number 1919 suite another five (three pantomimes, a pas de deux and a scherzo) and changes some aspects of the orchestration, notably in the Finale. Diemecke showed again his empathy with such music and got a splendid version out of an inspired Philharmonic.

            The very long following concert offered the Mahler Ninth Symphony for the second time this season (it had been done already by the National Symphony under Calderón) and preceded it with the charming Weber Second Concerto for clarinet, which allowed us to meet one of the best players in the world, Wenzel Fuchs (he is the soloist of the Berlin Philharmonic). Although the constant pendular movement of his body was distracting, the execution was fabulously accurate in the fast passages and had moments of breathtaking subtlety in pianissimo that were on the verge of inaudibility and somehow remained full and beautiful.

            Mahler´s Ninth is enormous and notoriously risky, both for its exacting technical requirements and its constantly changing moods, as well as for the heavenly Nirvanesque slowness of the Finale. Although Diemecke is up to the challenge, this time the Phil didn´t respond quite so well, especially the violins in the highest reaches; and there were some hesitant or maladjusted moments in the Rondo Burlesque. But I also missed a measure of inwardness.

            The other two concerts combined Diemecke with our great pianist Nelson Goerner. In the first he was at his best in that special "tour de force", Ravel´s expressionistic and weird Concerto for left-hand piano, of such imagination that at times it seems that both hands are playing. An intellectual grasp of the layers of meaning the music contains and the complete command of the mechanics gave us a model version from the pianist, although there were minor smudges and slidings from the very difficult orchestral parts, and also some exaggerated stridency. Goerner played an encore with exquisite taste, the slow movement of Schubert´s Sonata op.120. The Ravel had been preceded by that wonderful Haydn Symphony, Nº 96, "The Miracle", in an interpretation that was full of character though not without some unhinged details.

            There was a rather interesting premiere by a local composer starting the Second Part: Claudio Alsuyet´s "…De sombras", symphonic movement. As he tells us in the hand programme, this work started as a Viola Concerto for Marcela Magin, and there are traces of it yet; since then he transformed it  twice, this is the second mutation and it adds a homage to his teacher Julio Palacio, who died last year. Also, it is part of a diptych, for the second piece is called "…De luces".  The music alternates shadows and illuminations, consonance and dissonance, within its basically tonal sound. I found it attractive and expressive.

            The disconcerting and fascinating Ninth Symphony by Shostakovich (1945) with its satirical, acid, tongue-in-cheek tunes, was hardly what was expected at the end of the war: no patriotic epic with chorus but a light, brilliant score. Diemecke caught its spirit perfectly and most of the playing was very accurate.

            The second collaboration of Diemecke and Goerner was in a concert for Nuova Harmonia. The pianist played the mighty Beethoven "Emperor" Concerto (Nº 5) with his wonted seriousness; a lot was very good, but I felt that his approach was too heavy, obscuring sometimes melodic orchestral material; and though a couple of blurred passages were circumstantial considering the solidity of his technique, he has accustomed us to perfection. He was very well accompanied, with a strongly profiled statement of the principal themes. Goerner played beautifully two Chopin encores: the variegated Nocturne Nº 13 and the fleet Etude op.10 Nº 4.

            The moody and dramatic Symphony Nº 2 by Sibelius provided a fine ending in the intense interpretation by Diemecke, who again showed his uncanny memory and painstaking phrasing in this very complicated music, so personal and innovative.

For Buenos Aires Herald

                

Mixed bag of modern ballet, rococo opera and piano music

            Modern ballet seems to have a dearth of first-rate choreographers the world over. True, we don´t get many visits from abroad nowadays, but it´s been ages since really inspired dance creators have been here: Pina Bausch, the first Béjart, Neumeier, Kylian in his first visit, Nikolais, the Pilobolus group, José Limón, the Martha Graham group.  .

            The Mozarteum has brought to us recently at the Coliseo the Ballet Biarritz directed by its choreographer Thierry Malandain. They premiered "Le Sang des Étoiles" ("The Blood of Stars"), a 70-minute piece in thirteen parts. It is a curious mixture of Greek myth and contemporary ecological concern. The music comes from two different fields: six songs by Gustav Mahler and seven light  selections featuring Johann Strauss II (two polkas, "the" waltz – yes, "The Blue Danube"- and a march), Waldteufel (the "España" waltz) and Minkus (the famous ballet of "The Shadows" from "La Bayadère", currently being performed complete at the Teatro Argentino). It isn´t the first time that I find it irksome to use sung material of very definite connotations for completely irrelevant dancing, but Malandain really exaggerates; just one instance, the grotesque lack of rapport between the metaphysical content of "Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen" ("I am leaving this world") and what is narrated on stage. When the choreography is playful and has apposite music, the results are pleasant enough, though the dance steps have little personality; but when it tries to be profound it ends up being merely pretentious. It does have a tender episode when the dancers have bear suits and somehow mimic the Petipa corps de ballet in Minkus with gangling charm. And the thirteen very cosmopolitan dancers (few are Basque), following the globalization trend, are generally quite good and disciplined, though with very different physiques.

            The Colón´s Center for Experimentation presented at the Teatro del Globo "La hija del enfermero" ("The male nurse´s daughter"), a choreographic tale by Carlos Trunsky using the extended score that John Cage called "Four Walls" as musical support. The key to this strange mixture is the phrase Trunsky puts as subtitle: "And if Nature were also an invention?" He imagines a homoerotic relationship between a male nurse and a dying man out of which comes the birth of the daughter. It is very much in line with current obsessions about sexual diversity but seen through a fantastic philter.  The strong dichotomy between what one sees and one hears bothered me; indeed, Cage composed it for Merce Cunningham in 1944; it was played only once. The hand programme doesn´t specify the content of the Cunningham piece, but that choreographer (recently deceased) was extremely ascetic and believed in pure choreographic lines with no narrative sense; however, he was very young then and his ideas weren´t fully matured, so maybe some dramatic ideas were there. The music is strictly diatonic (only white keys), repetitive, with big silences and ostinatos. It isn´t my cup of tea, but I must admit that Cage almost never is. It was splendidly played by Haydée Schvartz.

            Trunsky is discreet in his depiction of the couple´s love; his choreography sometimes is quite expressive, though there are plenty of typical contemporary trademarks. I especially liked the movements of the child (not a baby), with the right ludic, improvisatory and disjointed quality. And I found the scene of the patient´s death tasteful and moving. The dancers were excellent: Leandro Tolosa and María Kuhmichel.  The patient was played by Gaby Ferro with adequate introspection, and in the only vocal interlude he sang accurately in an agreeable pop voice. With a spare but well considered stage design and functional costumes, Marta Albertinazzi did a professional job; so did Eli Sirlin in the lighting.

            The Colón Institute of Art put on at the Golden Hall of the Casa de la Cultura a welcome rarity: "La schiava liberata" ("The liberated slave"), composed by Niccolò Jommelli in 1768 on an intricate libretto by Gaetano Martinelli. The composer was at the time very successful in a style midway between the Baroque and Early Classicism, and indeed he was a model for the teenager Mozart of "Mitridate Re di Ponto". This is the first time that one of his operas is premiered here, and I found it  worthwhile. The semistaged performance used mostly makeup and costumes to suggest the eighteenth century traits; it was a nice production by Lizzie Waisse. The small instrumental group, which included two musicians from Boston, was stylishly conducted by Bruno D´Astoli. The whole thing showed the sure hand of Jeffrey Gall, visiting us for the fourth time as general coordinator, and of Igor Herzog in the musical coaching. Among the singers I especially liked Verónica Julio, Jaquelina Livieri and Sebastián Angulegui, but the others were in the picture: Andrea Maragno, Gabriela Ceaglio, Laura Domínguez, Emanuel Esteban (as the "gracioso") and Christian Casaccio (a bit strained).

            Csarmen Piazzini gave a model recital for Festivales Musicales at the Auditorio de Belgrano, honoring both Haydn and Mendelssohn (respectively two hundred years of his death and his birth). Always a distinguished player, she is now an admirable exponent of both composers: an uncanny precision and a well-ordered mind that phrases unerringly with just the right turn of phrase. From Haydn, Sonatas Nº 40, 42 and 50; from Mendelssohn, seven of his "Songs without words" and those marvelous "Serious Variations".

For Buenos Aires Herald

Opera: new start for the Colón

 

An event marked the world of opera in our midst in recent weeks: finally, after interminable 22 months, the Colón presented an opera to its public, albeit of course at the Coliseo: Christoph Gluck´s "Orfeo ed Euridice".

            "Orfeo…" was the choice of Mario Perusso when he was last year in charge of the Artistic Direction during Horacio Sanguinetti´s tenure as Director General of the Colón; it was maintained in all its particulars by Pedro Pablo García Caffi, who now jointly holds the posts of General and Artistic Director. It was plausible to offer it, as our main opera organization hasn´t done it since 1977, and it is undoubtedly an important title in operatic history. And it seemed to have some substantial positive points: a title role (Orfeo) sung for the first time here by a countertenor (Franco Fagioli) instead of the habitual mezzosoprano; a cast made up of three international Argentine singers; a conductor making his B.A. debut after decades of specializing in the eighteenth-century repertoire (Arnold Östman); and a proved producing team (Roberto Oswald and Aníbal Lápiz). Nevertheless, I was partially disappointed.

            Of course, the mere fact that the Colón is giving us opera with a decent level after such a long wait is something to rejoice about. But there were problems. First, the performing edition. The 1761 Vienna version in Italian, although initially unsuccessful, is a landmark: Gluck, with his librettist Raniero de´ Calzabigi, produced the first reform opera. Called "azione teatrale" (theatrical narrative), it shows in six succinct tableaux the story of Euridice retrieved from death by Orpheus, again dead through Orpheus´ disobedience to Hades´ strictures and finally saved by Amor (Cupid). Gluck, by then a seasoned operatic composer, had followed hitherto the general rules of the current florid and often superficial Italian style (the glories of Handel  were decades in the past); he rebelled against it and produced a noble, lyrical, simple score, aiming for sincerity and musical lines true to the poetry. Although he made his point, there are flaws: too short (only 70 minutes), Euridice left with no singing at all during the first two acts, and a lack of contrast that made for monotony.

            He rewrote it in French for Paris in 1774, certainly ameliorating it: he added a lovely aria for Euridice in the second act ("Cet asile aimable et tranquille"), and crucially in Hades the magnificent Dance of the Furies taken bodily out of the concluding part of his own reform ballet "Don Juan".  Common practice during the twentieth century (the Colón included) added those pieces to the Italian version (translating the Euridice aria) and it was certainly for the better. The hand programme announced the Dance of the Furies and eight dancers, but with no explanation it was not performed. Internal problems or a last-minute Östman decision to stick to the strict Italian version? But he allowed a gross distortion: the inclusion of a florid Gluck aria of another origin adapted for Orfeo at the end of the First Act, which in the very words of Ramiro Albino (the author of the programme notes) "is impregnated by those Baroque elements so criticized by Gluck and Calzabigi". And Östman left out the Euridice aria.

            Granted, the Colón Orchestra isn´t Gluckian in style, but I had hoped Östman would instill the right phraseology. No true historicist performance can be done without the proper instruments, and of course the Colón doesn´t have "chalumeaux" (old-style clarinets of limited register) or "cornetti" (wooden trumpets). But I had hoped for crisper articulation and some Baroque intensity; what I heard was bland and monotonous, though not unmusical.  The Choir was correct under Salvatore Caputo (his swan song, for he is departing from his post).

            Of course, Gluck couldn´t change in Vienna the fact that a castrato would sing Orfeo, and that was certainly against his desire for realism. Nowadays it is certainly more plausible, if we are to respect the original "tessitura", to have it sung by a countertenor rather than by a mezzosoprano. Franco Fagioli is certainly a good one; he´s having a brilliant European career. He certainly sings well and has a wide register, though his timbre isn´t always ingratiating. Virginia Tola is enjoying quite a success in concerts with Plácido Domingo, but that doesn´t make her an Euridice:  her timbre and style are nineteenth-century and in such terms she is quite a good singer, but her vibrato and phrasing are not for Gluck. She looks beautiful and acts with conviction.  Beauty is also a quality of Paula Almerares, though I don´t imagine Amor (or Cupid) looking like a lovely blonde in party dress. Her voice sounded diminished, as if her recent exertions as Lucia had tired her, but she sang nicely.

            Oswald offered a handsome Greek unit set, hardly convincing as both Hades and the Elysian fields. The proceedings were glacial and conventional (except the crucial misstep of having Euridice enter majestically at the very beginning and suddenly drop dead).  There were yards of white and black material in the clothes designed by Aníbal Lápiz, some agreeable and some absurd (a few of the dancers seemed to wear diapers). I disliked Orfeo´s outfit (maroon and black) and a black cape whose only purpose seemed to be something for the Furies to hold on.

            The choreography by Lidia Segni followed academic lines, sometimes too mannered.  The dancers complied.

For Buenos Aires Herald

A Philharmonic feast from Israel .

            A "Philharmonic" is a person who loves music. When an orchestra takes that name, it doesn´t mean that it is any less professional than a Symphony, but it adds a sentimental element. Thus we have many organisms that have adopted it, among them the Israel Philharmonic (IP).

            The IP is seventyish now (it was born in 1936), the same age as its for-life conductor, Zubin Mehta. Born in Bombay, Mehta has been associated with the IP since 1969; he was named Musical Director in 1977 and in 1981 he was given the above-mentioned high distinction, especially for a non-Israeli and non-Jew. Our city has received Mehta and the IP many times; in fact, no other foreign organism has visited us so often. Mehta has also come with the New York Philharmonic when he was their Musical Director, and even before that he conducted B.A. orchestras in his first visit, back in 1962. Although our city has never been able to appreciate him in opera, he has been at the helm of the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino for decades and has in recent years held the crucial post of Music Director at the Munich Opera. He has also been a conductor of star events such as the concerts of the Three Tenors.

            So after five years Mehta and the IP were back to give two benefit concerts for three Jewish organizations at the Gran Rex and one concert at the Luna Park for COAS. Yes, I know, bad acoustics in both cases, but size was privileged (the Coliseo is better but a good deal smaller, and even better and smaller the Auditorio de Belgrano). Prices at the Gran Rex were very high in dollars, and more reasonable at the Luna (in pesos). The audiences were heterogeneous, not the usual concert crowd. It showed in lack of concentration, ill-timed applause and too much noise in Mahler. But by and large the concerts were successful and a high point in the season.

            The first concert at the Gran Rex was surefire material:  two brilliant and rather short tone poems by Richard Strauss –"Don Juan" and "Till Eulenspiegel´s merry pranks"- and Beethoven´s Seventh Symphony. Strauss specially suffered from the opaque, matte acoustics, making it very hard for conductor and orchestra to give us the full richness contained in the music. The interpretations were orthodox and safe and the playing was obviously very good, with virtuoso moments from the concertino and the first horn. The Seventh was more exciting, perhaps because the artists were learning to compensate the defects of the venue but  the Beethoven orchestration is less heavy and was allowed to register better; the conductor´s sense of rhythm was a plus.  The encores were splendid: Mozart´s Overture for "The Marriage of Figaro" and Johann Strauss II´s splendid polka "Unter Donner und Blitz" ("Under Thunder and Lightning").

            Curiously enough, Mahler´s enormous and shattering Ninth Symphony was offered for the third time this season (after Calderón with the National Symphony and Diemecke with the BAP). I have unforgettable memories of the Second under Mehta in an earlier visit of the IP, but then, that was at the Colón…However, was it only the abysmal difference in acoustics or was it also that the outer movements didn´t have quite enough intimacy and metaphysical communication (it is the composer´s adieu to life) and the middle ones lacked bite and sarcasm? Yes, it was all very professional and serious (except a couple of minor mishaps) but I missed the depth of Abbado/Berlin Phil or Haitink/Concertgebouw. And Mehta was wrong in giving an encore, even as an exception to the unwritten rule: after that protracted Adagissimo dissolving into silence, nothing else is possible. Certainly not Piazzolla´s "Adiós Nonino", even in a tasteful string arrangement very well-played.

            The Luna Park date was a happy and light occasion.  Of course there the sound is amplified, but it was rather well done, except that the second violins were too backward (at least from my lateral seat, where plenty of street noise intruded: trucks revving up beat the orchestral pianissimo). A badly diagrammed hand programme, with no mention of movements, didn´t help the enthusiastic but not very knowledgeable audience to learn when to applaud. But all was well with the music, the orchestra always accurate, warm and fluent, and Mehta completely comfortable in all the scores he chose. The concert started with a tribute to an Argentine composer: Juan  José Castro´s charming Overture to "La zapatera prodigiosa". Then, a beautiful and mellow interpretation of that loveliest Beethoven symphony, Nº 6, "Pastoral".

            The Second Part started and ended with two Johann Strauss II masterpieces: the Overture to "Die Fledermaus" and the "Emperor Waltz", both played to the manner born (Mehta has always had a soft spot for Viennese music). A rather unexpected choice was Joseph Haydn´s Trumpet Concerto, being so classic and chamberlike, but the Orchestra gave beautiful support to the talented solo player, Yigal Melzer, who strung his notes immaculately, with pure sound and perfect articulation. Then, "Adiós Nonino" (the arrangement was uncredited) before the waltz. The encores: three polkas by Johann II: "Tritsch-Tratsch", a very rare one supposed to be called "Leichte Füsse" (but I couldn´t find it in Grove) and "Unter Donner und Blitz". We all went home elated. 

            A final remark: Mehta, energetic as always, has found a new welcome vein of tasteful elegance.

           

 

The wide world of singing

In music there's nothing quite as personal as singing. Our vocal cords are our own instrument and no two voices are exactly alike, although they can be imitated – still, no one has out-Callased Callas and no one ever will.
In recent weeks we've had a wide variety of music made to be sung. This is a panorama, and I'll start with the recital of Handel's Italian cantatas and sonatas offered by María Cristina Kiehr at the Avenida for Festivales Musicales, accompanied by Les Goûts-Réunis. This is a fine instrumental historicist group made up mainly by Argentines, with such famous names as Juan Manuel Quintana (viola da gamba) and Manfredo Kraemer (violin), and its name refers to the blend of three musical "tastes": Italian, French, German. Although the complete ensemble is made up of ten players, their number varied from piece to piece. Three sonatas gave us the best chamber Handel. The Trio Sonata in G minor, HVW 390 (op. 2 No. 5), had fine work from Kraemer but some hesitant moments from oboist Diego Nadra; the ample continuo was played by Quintana, Shizuko Noeri (replacing Dolores Costoyas) in theorbo, Federico Abraham (bass) and Jorge Lavista (harpsichord). The Sonata in F, HWV 369 (op. 1 No. 11) for recorder and continuo featured beautiful playing from Rodrigo Calveyra. And the Trio Sonata in D, HWV 385, an early work, was played plausibly by recorder, oboe and continuo, again with very nice participation by Calveyra and rather faulty by Nadra.
The two chosen cantatas (out of a great number), written in Rome around 1707-8, were clear examples of the early genius of the composer, who was then 22-23 yearsold. Armida abbandonata is based on Tasso's Gerusalemme liberata and the sad end of Armida's love affair with Rinaldo. Alternating recitatives and arias, this cantata for soprano, violins (Kraemer and Clara Krug) and continuo was dramatic and lovely. María Cristina Kiehr, who lives in Basel, is a specialist of this repertoire and her clear voice manages the stylistic difficulties quite well as long as either strong dramatic inflexion or strength at both ends of the register are not required, but in serene singing she warbles beautifully. To my mind she was much more comfortable in Tra le fiamme (Il consiglio), text by Benedetto Pamphili about Daedalus and his son Icarus, which has the curious condition that its initial aria is repeated at the end to stress its moral: don't go near the flames, you'll get burnt. She sang with abandon and freshness, very well accompanied by the whole ensemble. The success was such that she added two pieces; the first was Quel augel from Aci, Galatea e Polifemo (1707, on the same subject as his later Acis and Galatea); the second was a serene aria from the oratorio La Resurrezione.
choral bachianas. Festivales' "daughter", the Academia Bach, presented an interesting session at the Central Methodist Church. Countertenor Martín Oro sang the premiere of Bach's Cantata No. 54, Widerstehe doch der Sünde ("Withstand Sin") as well as the brilliant Vivaldi motet Longe mala umbrae terrors ("Go away, evils and terrors of the shadows"). The cantata was written at Weimar in 1714 and is short – two arias separated by a recitative, on a Pietist text by Georg Lehms–, attractive music that can be sung by a mezzosoprano or a countertenor.
The Vivaldi motet shows again that it is a mistake to confine him as an instrumental composer, when he wrote so much vital vocal music. This one, after many hurdles, ends with a resplendent Hallelujah. Oro's voice is full and satisfying in the center but often hooty in the highs, although he is a good stylist. The Soloists of the Bach Academy (six strings) under Mario Videla accompanied with crisp elegance. The concert had started with another premiere, Carl Heinrich Graun's Concerto in C minor for organ and strings: although I liked the music and Videla's playing, I disliked the sound of the organ. 

Scaling out. In the concert series called "La Scala fuera de La Scala," at the Auditorium Borges of the National Library, baritone Víctor Torres offered an enterprising Baroque programme accompanied by lutenist Igor Herzog. He chose sixteenth-century authors: an all-Purcell group, then three lute pieces (German Anonymous and two Italians, Alessandro Piccinini and Pietro Paolo Melli) preceding a Caccini bouquet. Although Torres wasn't in his best voice, he sang with his wonted expressiveness and good taste, and Herzog accompanied as the true artist he is.
Another session in the same series provided the opportunity of appreciating a commedia madrigalesca, that late development in the history of the madrigal in which a story is told by five singers taking on a number of roles. The Conjunto Madrigalista Francisco Guerrero gave us a fine version of Adriano Banchieri's funny and stimulating Festino led with taste and humor by Néstor Andrenacci, who also sang.

Two soprano recitals at the Manufactura Papelera allowed the audience to appreciate the fine vocal qualities and ample range of interests of Soledad de la Rosa and Natasha Tupin. The former gave us La mort de Cléopâtre by Berlioz, five lovely songs by Bizet and eight varied ones by Bernstein. The latter, more clearly a coloratura, stressed showpieces such as Philine's Polonaise from Thomas' Mignon or Bel raggio lusinghier from Rossini's Semiramide. Damián Ramírez (countertenor) contributed some roughish Handel and was better as Arsace to the soprano's Semiramis. César Tello accompanied poorly.

 

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From Haydn to the avantgarde

            Recent weeks have brought a wealth of new music, if you take that to mean "new" from any period. Not all were premieres, of course, but enough to make life interesting.

            As you know, this is the year in which we commemorate the bicentenary of Franz Joseph Haydn´s death, and it´s a good thing that he´s being copiously remembered, for only Mozart can give us so much serenity and poise.  There was the wonderful debut of the Haydn Trio Eisenstadt, which takes its name from one of the Esterházy palaces in which Haydn labored for three decades.  They offered at the Gran Rex, for the Midday Concerts, two mature Trios, Nos. 29 and 27, and as an encore the 2^nd. Movement from Nº 28, and I can´t conceive better playing from the pianist, always incredibly polished and nevertheless expressive. The string players were very good too, but they weren´t favored by the Gran Rex´s acoustics, which tend to eat up string sound. The novelty in this case was Lalo Schifrin´s "Elegy and Meditation", an agreeable surprise in which this artist, long associated with films, TV and symphonic jazz, proves himself a convincing creator of chamber music quoting Haydn´s Sonata Nº4 within a tonal texture of considerable refinement and beauty.  The players: Harald Kosik, piano; Verena Stourzh, violin; Hannes Gradwohl, cello.

            The Fundación de Música de Cámara has long accustomed us, through the wise Artistic Direction of Guillermo Opitz, to concerts programmed with talent, which means both renovated and attractive. "Solamente Haydn ´09", at the Museo de Arte Decorativo, was an almost complete success with three instrumental scores alternating with eleven vocal pieces in three languages, all of them very rarely played or presented as a premiere. Textures changed constantly.  The Quartet in G for flute and strings, Hob II G/4, started proceedings. It was followed by four of the admirable late songs on poems by Anne Hunter, and by three duets from the enormous number of Scottish songs arranged by Haydn for voice (or voices) and piano trio, although they were sung in German .

            The Second Part started with a very enticing work, dubious according to Grove (but no matter, it sounds so nice): "The Echo", "to be executed in two different spaces for two ensembles of three strings each"; the instrumental groups overlapped each other with perfect intonation and gave sheer pleasure. Two Duets and two Canzonettas on poems by Carlo Francesco Badini showed Haydn´s affinity with the Italian style, though I was sorry that an arbitrary staging by Betty Gambartes robbed them of their eighteenth-century charm. Finally, "Notturno in C major", Nº 1 of a series of eight written for London and originally for "lira organizzata", a now forgotten instrument replaced by flute and oboe; the orchestration also includes horns and strings. This is a lovely work from Late Classicism and it was very neatly played by the whole ensemble, both Fabio Mazzitelli (flute) and Marcelo Baus (oboe) being particularly ingratiating. The very musical young singers were María del Rocío Giordano (soprano) and Carlos Natale (tenor), well-accompanied by Miriam Bircher. All five string players and two hornists were first-rate.

            Soprano Sylvie Robert has done wonderful work on behalf of the avant-garde in recent years, especially in scores by György Kurtág. Now she gave us admirable performances of two very different pieces at the Alianza Francesa. She started with "Lonh" by Kaija Saariaho, in fact derived from her opera "L´amour de loin", about the love of a Crusader and a Maghreb girl; if the opera is overlong and too morose for its material, "Lonh", for soprano and electroacoustic sounds, is just the right length for its hypnotic, sinuous music; barely lighted in the dark, Robert sang with involved and refined phrasing. I didn´t enjoy "Du noir des signes", an instrumental piece by the Argentine Santiago Díez-Fischer; harsh aggressive catalog of violent gestures without direction.

            But "Voi(rex)" (2003) by Philippe Leroux (1959), a 25-minute premiere, was the main point of the night and worth knowing. An introduction and five movements deal with the same set of words; the musical material is contrasted with an electronic processing in real time. The interaction of the soprano and the instrumental sextet is quite complex; although not every fragment is of sustained interest, a good deal convinces and impresses. The sextet under José Amato played very well and Sylvie Robert gave a virtuoso performance; only the electronic realization wasn´t quite right .

            TACEC  is the new Center for Experimentation and Creation of the Teatro Argentino (La Plata) and its creator, Martín Bauer, is transporting to another city the principles he applied at the Colón´s CETC.  The venue is more comfortable than the Colón´s , bigger and with no interfering columns, and with a plainer, less convoluted stage. Bauer had a success at the CETC with John King´s "La Belle Captive" and it was only logical that he should ask the composer for a premiere at the TACEC. This was "Galileo Galilei", an adaptation of Bertolt Brecht´s play. Specifically called "experimental opera" for two actresses, choir, string quartet and electronic sounds, it was partially successful. Too much talk, pointless casting of actresses instead of actors, relentlessly unpleasant string music, but beautiful choral fragments although in a style two centuries earlier than Galileo, and fine visual design of cosmic implications. An excellent feminine chorus (6 voices), imaginative work from Maguna/Bainbridge in the visuals.

For Buenos Aires Herald

"Giselle" and "Romeo and Juliet" start ballet seasons

 

            Our two biggest official ballet companies started their seasons. The Colón at the Coliseo offered "Giselle", whilst the Argentino of La Plata presented Prokofiev´s "Romeo and Juliet" in a new choreography by Maximiliano Guerra.

            Eight months have passed since the last appearance of the Colón dancers, an unconscionable amount of time by any standards in the art that most depends on keeping fit. In fact, the Colón Ballet has undergone a series of changes in their directors during the last eighteen months, with the consequent difficulties in performance plans. Guido de Benedetti lasted only six months before disagreements with the then Executive Director of the Colón , Martín Boschet,  forced his resignation. He was succeeded by a duet, Olga Ferri as general overseer and Jorge Amarante as Director of the Ballet. Their plans also were curtailed by gross mismanagement (both Boschet and Horacio Sanguinetti, then General Director of the Theatre). After Pedro Pablo García Caffi´s assumption as General Director of the Colón, he named Lidia Segni as new Director of the Ballet. She announced rather ambitious plans that were to start with "Le Corsaire"; but she didn´t do her homework: the Colón neither has a production of its own of that ballet nor had access to foreign productions of it. So, "Giselle" it was, the most overperformed of all ballets. To make things much worse, only three performances in successive days and with three different casts… The Ballet has twelve presentations planned for the whole year, certainly as meager a season as I can remember. A conservative calculation of the salaries of seven inactive months leads to the conclusion that at least two million pesos of taxpayers´ money went to naught.

            Segni is certainly able; she has had a long career as Principal Dancer and in recent decades has worked a lot as an organizer with Julio Bocca´s Ballet Argentino. Rather than a choreographer in her own right, she is a retoucher of old choreographies, and so she presents this "Giselle" as "her" version of the old nineteenth-century Romantic ballet by Jules Perrot and Jean Coralli as revised by Marius Petipa. I see little of interest or personal in her views, apart from good knowledge of tradition. The music by Adolph Adam, with the interpolated "Pas paysan" by Burgmüller and a fragment by Minkus, has charm and nice melodies. The story of the peasant girl fooled by Albrecht, an aristocrat, gone mad by the shock and collapsing dead at the end of the First Act, gets its fantastic counterpart in the Second Act, a "ballet blanc" where the Willis (the souls of betrayed girls)  led by their Queen want to take revenge on Albrecht,  but he is saved by Giselle, herself a Willi.

            I found the performance no more than correct, although I make allowances for the difficult rehearsal circumstances of a Colón in turmoil. But by the high standards by which the Colón must be judged (even in "exile") this was no more than acceptable. I would single out the special quality of Silvina Perillo as Myrtha, Queen of the Willis, the nice flexibility of Carla Vincelli and Federico Fernández in the "Pas paysan" and the good characterization of Hilarion by Vagran Ambartsoumian. But I found the main couple no more than professional: Karina Olmedo and Alejandro Parente weren´t expressive enough and lacked nuance in their steps. As to the Corps de Ballet, it looked rather disjointed in the First Act but the girls alone were much better as the Willis.

            Stage and costume design were blessedly traditional and ascribed to "Producción Teatro Colón". The Colón Orchestra under Carlos Calleja just went through their paces.

            I believe Prokofiev´s "Romeo and Juliet" to be the best full-length twentieth century ballet music. The Argentino took a long time getting round to it, presenting in 2003 a curtailed choreography by Oscar Araiz with the strange idea of three Juliets. Then there was a new choreography by Paul Vasterling in 2007 and a new production, with stage design by María José Besozzi and costumes by Alicia Gumá. This year there´s a change of Direction of the Argentino Ballet, Rodolfo Lastra, and though he maintained the 2007 production he asked  Guerra to provide another choreography, which seems unnecessary spending when the rights to the Vasterling are still held by the Theatre. But I must admit that I liked Guerra´s work even if heavily influenced by what is for me the best choreography, the wonderful Macmillan seen at the Colón with Bocca and A. Ferri many years ago. The action scenes were particularly positive, with plenty of able swordmanship (the dancers surely had expert specific training). And the Romantic ones had true sensitivity and tenderness.

            I was much impressed by the debut of Elizabeth Antúnez, who should have a fine career: a lovely body, fully flexible, a natural intensity and an already mature sense of style. The Romeo, also seen in 2007, was good: Bautista Parada. With very able work from Victor Filimonov as Mercutio, Javier Abeledo as Tybalt and Fabiana Maggio as the Wetnurse and the smaller parts  in the picture, the show was quite enjoyable, with a vibrant and attentive Corps de Ballet.  I was disappointed by the off-night of the Argentino Orchestra under Luis Gorelik, perhaps affected by recent labor troubles; but this is great music and deserves loving care.

For Buenos Aires Herald

AN ORCHESTRAL MISCELLANY

            One of the good points of the current season is that there has been interesting work from our orchestras. This is a panorama of recent weeks of the National Symphony (Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional) and of a concert by the Camerata Bariloche.

             I lament the mediocre venue of the Bolsa de Comercio, but that´s that. I was surprised by the quality of conductor José María Sciutto, making his debut. He´s Argentine though he lives in Italy. He was very accurate and stylistic in an attractive programme with Mozart (his Second Horn Concerto, quite well played by Gastón Frosio) sandwiched between a Rossini overture (to "La scala di seta") and his magnificent Stabat Mater, an intense, dramatic and well-wrought one-hour score. With beautiful singing from the Coro Polifónico Nacional prepared by Roberto Luvini, three of the soloists were first-rate: Alejandra Malvino (mezzosoprano), Carlos Ullán (tenor) and Lucas Debevec Mayer (bass); only Susana Caligaris (soprano) was off-style, singing "verismo" instead of Rossini.

            Probably Mahler´s Ninth is the greatest challenge the NS has had so far in this season, but the wise conducting of Pedro Calderón brought the project to an admirable result at the Facultad de Derecho. It´s the third time I appreciate him in this marvelous score, and he has the measure of it in tempi and phrasing; the orchestra was pliant and concentrated.

            Back at the Bolsa, a pleasant French programme conducted by Calderón started with D´Indy´s Symphony on a mountain tune, for piano and orchestra, a lovely creation based on an Auvergne folk tune, endlessly varied in the three movements; it has long been absent (about two decades ago it was played by Gerardo Gandini) so I was a happy to meet it. It came out well, but no more, because Silvia Dabul´s piano sounded very backward; maybe the effect of the acoustics, but probably also a rather weak pulse from the clean pianist and a too sonorous orchestra. Saint-Saëns´ fine Third Concerto for violin came out quite better, with Luis Roggero in very good form and a professional accompaniment. A correct but hardly electric performance of Dukas´ "The Sorcerer´s Apprentice" rounded out the evening.  

            An all-Liszt programme at the Bolsa was conducted by Roberto Luvini, who also prepared the Coro Polifónico Nacional, and featured the premiere of the one-hour Missa Solemnis written for the inauguration of the Gran Basilica (modern-times Esztergom). Dated 1855, revised 1857-8, it is a mature work of impressive breadth, Romantic but very much in the sacred tradition, with admirable polyphonic textures. It will stand as one of the most important premieres of the year. Luvini showed fine command of his forces and he had an excellent group of soloists: Soledad de la Rosa (soprano), María Luján Mirabelli (mezzosoprano), Ricardo González Dorrego (tenor) and Luis Gaeta (baritone). In the initial Part, a conscientious interpretation of "Les Préludes" and an unfortunate one of the First Piano Concerto with a Viviana Lazzarin out of her depth.

            Mexican conductor Enrique Barrios was at the helm in a mostly Russian concert at the Bolsa. The premiere of Mexican composer H. Hernández-Medrano´s "Homenaje a Copland" (symphonic fugue in one movement) passed without arousing much interest; it seemed to me rather anodine and poorly structured. The very difficult and long "Symphony concertante" for cello and orchestra by Prokófiev, a late score of intermittent grandeur, was played by a proficient José Alberto Araujo. Mussorgsky-Ravel´s "Pictures at an Exhibition" was offered with some moments of real impact, the "Great Gate of Kiev" appropriately majestic. I was told that Barrios wasn´t paid his fee nor his stay in BA…Can we expect foreign conductors to visit us if they are treated thus? Let´s hope that the new Director of Arts, José María Castiñeira de Dios, will put things right.

            Back at the Facultad de Derecho, there was a praiseworthy concert under Andrés Spiller, the NS´ Assistant Conductor. The charming early "Spring" ("Printemps") by Debussy, and that towering masterpiece, Bartók´s Concerto for orchestra, were done with fine musicianship although with not quite enough virtuosity. But the special interest of the session was the premiere of Luis Mucillo´s  "Liebeslieder" ("Love songs") on texts by Rilke, Heine, Hoffmannsthal and Novalis, luckily printed in the hand programme with their translations. It demonstrated yet again that Mucillo is a very special Argentine composer, of encompassing, deep European culture, a true humanist as well as a sensitive musician. The beautiful, transparent orchestration was the perfect foil for the attractive melodic word-setting. Although Víctor Torres has been in better voice in other occasions, there´s no gainsaying his intelligence and expression.

            The Camerata Bariloche offered a concert at the Great Hall of the Hotel Panamericano, which has good acoustics and is quite pleasant. Due to the illness of Fernando Hasaj, José Bondar led it with real musicianship and command. The playing in J.S.Bach´s Concerto for two violins was hand-in-glove from Bondar and Elías Gurevich, with the ensemble not quite in tune. Mozart´s severe Adagio and fugue was well-interpreted but with some lapses. The Second Part, however, found the ensemble in top form, both in Suk´s "Meditation on the chorale St. Wenceslas" and in Dvorák´s Serenade op. 22: not only were they very professional but they phrased with taste and charm. The fleet encore was Mozart´s second movement from Divertimento K. 137. It was one of four concerts that benefit the Fundación Teatro Colón, certainly in need of help nowadays.

For Buenos Aires Herald

Guests from abroad enrich the musical season

            From three continents came welcome guests that gave variety to the season. Fifteen years after her Colón "Carmen" we had a return visit from American mezzosoprano Denyce Graves; this was for the Mozarteum at the Coliseo. In a year that has seen many cancellations of orchestral visits due to the international crisis and A influenza, the presence of the Taipei University of Arts Orchestra (debut) allowed us to have contact with Taiwanese culture; this was at AMIJAI. The same venue renewed our acquaintance with violinist Shlomo Mint. Finally, Dutch clarinetist Geert Baeckelandt offered French music at Pilar Golf accompanied by our pianist José Luis Juri.

            I have nice memories of Graves´ earthy Carmen. But that doesn´t make her a concert singer. She keeps her stunning looks (certainly stressed by her chosen wardrobe) and the voice remains ample in volume and register; alas, it has a good deal more vibrato than of yore. Add to that an insecure sense of style for the Baroque and for German Romantic Lieder, immoderate gestural histrionism and  excessive ethnicity in her timbre, and it explains why I got only moderate pleasure from this recital. She is decidedly out of her depth in Handel ("Ombra mai fu" from "Serse", and especially "Hence, hence, Iris, hence away!" from "Semele") and although there were occasional felicities, neither R. Strauss (the overfamiliar "Morgen" and "Zueignung") nor Brahms ("Verzagen", "Der Tod, das ist die kühle Nacht" and "Botschaft") are her cup of tea. She showed herself closer to the French repertoire with two lovely Duparc songs, "Chanson triste" and "Le manoir de Rosemonde", though she wasn´t quite comfortable in the curious vocal "Danse macabre" by Saint-Saëns (I certainly prefer the tone poem). Finally in her true repertoire, I liked her in Dalila´s sensuous "Mon coeur s´ouvre à ta voix" from the same composer´s "Samson et Dalila", where her deep chest tones and enticing phrasing were convincing.

            "Acerba voluttà" is the Princess of Bouillon´s perfervid aria from Cilea´s "Adriana Lecouvreur", a "verista" burst of temperament that is quite difficult to bring off as a recital piece; Graves managed it halfway. But from then on, she was on safe American ground and she gave pleasure. Robert Saari´s three-song cycle "When the forsythia bloom" (2006) was a premiere (she was its first interpreter); soft, sentimental melodies with sweet harmonies, they are agreeable to hear. From the longer set of "Old American songs" arranged by Copland, the hymn-like "Zion´s walls", the funny "Boatman´s dance", "At the river" (frequently quoted by Ives) and "I bought me a cat", an accretion song with onomatopoeic sounds in which Graves had a ball. Sandwiched between two of the above, the premiere of Gene Scheer´s sensitive "Lean away". Finally, three Negro spirituals: "Swing low, sweet chariot" (arr. Marvin Mills), "Prayer" (Leslie Adams) and the rhythmic "Git on board" (arr. Simpson); I prefer them sung more straightforwardly, but Graves´ approach was interesting. The inevitable encores: "Habanera" and "Séguedille" from Bizet´s "Carmen", still attractive though a bit mannered of phrasing.  The impressive pianist was Jerry-James Penna (debut), well attuned to every style and technically impeccable.

            The Taipei University of Arts Orchestra was founded in 1983 and it is of course a youth project, with for some reason a strong majority of women. Their programme included two standards (Tchaikovsky´s Violin Concerto and Mendelssohn´s Fourth Symphony, "Italian"), and a double homage to our country: Ginastera´s "Impresiones de la Puna" and "Prélude pour la fin du monde", written by our composer Claudia Montero López for Bahía Blanca´s Festival, a very tonal seven-minute melody (premiere here). Yi-Fang Huang, although Taiwanese, migrated to Argentina early in life and studied with Bajour and Spiller; he is now back in Taiwan. Technically correct, he was short in Romantic phrasing and juicy sound, things that Tchaikovsky needs. The Ginastera was played not in a normal flute but in an attractive Chinese flute, the "bandgi", quite accurately, by Ren Zong.

            The Orchestra sounded rather stilted in Tchaikovsky under Chiu-Sen Chen (debut), but he found more animation for Mendelssohn, and curiously enough was at his best in the three encores: Weber´s Overture to "Oberon", a Taiwanese melody and an Intermezzo from Schubert´s "Rosamunde". In these pieces there was careful balance, adequate intonation and good style.

            Mintz is a known quantity here; the originally announced quartet of Russian players who was going to play chamber music with Mintz didn´t come (the influenza scare?) and the Orchestra of Canal 7 with whom he was to interpret Mendelssohn wasn´t allowed to perform because as an official channel it had to comply with the influenza prohibition to play. So we finally had Vivaldi´s "The Four Seasons" with the group Estación Buenos Aires led by Rafael Gintoli. It wasn´t a historicist approach, of course, but it sounded quite well, with Mintz the true virtuoso we have often met, and the small string ensemble reasonably accurate. Gintoli with Paula Peluso (piano) and Jorge Bergero (cello) played with fine style Piazzolla´s "Las Cuatro Estaciones Porteñas" in an arrangement by José Bragato.

            Geert Baeckelandt, after some initial hesitation in Chausson´s "Andante and Allegro", was splendid in sound and execution in Saint-Saëns´ late Clarinet Sonata op.167, Debussy´s Rhapsody and Poulenc´s Sonata, all for clarinet and piano. He had a partner of great quality in pianist Juan José Juri. The down side was that the programme was too short, only about 55 minutes.

For Buenos Aires Herald

 

           

Monteverdi´s "Ulysses" lights up the season

                Claudio Monteverdi´s three extant operas are the earliest masterpieces of the genre we have. The composer lived long enough (1567-1643) to start as a Renaissance creator and end as a full-blown Baroque. His first opera, "Orfeo" (1607), represented a giant step forward compared to the initial operas of Peri and Caccini (1597-1600).  It is a real musical tragedy that only the marvelous Lament from "L´Arianna" has survived of the next ten operas he wrote between 1608 and 1640. In 1641 he wrote "Le nozze di Eneo con Lavinia" (lost) and fortunately still with us, "Il ritorno d´Ulisse in patria". Finally on the following year "L´incoronazione di Poppea". With the premiere by Buenos Aires Lírica of "Ulisse" at the Avenida, our city has finally seen and heard all three Monteverdi operas. 

                The work of a 74-year-old composer, "Ulisse" is an astonishingly imaginative and fresh opera, almost on a par with "Poppea". We only have a manuscript copy of "Ulisse" in Vienna, reprinted in 1921. Three different editions came out in 1927: D´Indy, Van der Borren and Westrup. Now there are several critical editions, notably that of Alan Curtis (2002), and some excellent recordings, such as those conducted by Harnoncourt and Jacobs.  

                "Ulisse" was originally premiered at the Teatro San Cassiano in Venice, either in 1641 (Grove´s Dictionary in the 1954 edition) or 1640 (Claudio Ratier in the hand programme of BAL), which had opened in 1637 as the first opera house in history opened for the general public. There was a Bologna version a few months later with some changes. Giacomo Badoaro´s libretto is based on Homer´s "Odyssey".

                Baroque operas of those times have skeleton scores, just the melody line and the bass. The musical director of the BAL presentation, Juan Manuel Quintana, did "Ulisse" with René Jacobs in 2006 and certainly the Argentine conductor had  a good model; although he did some things differently, his options were always in the style and well integrated. He used string quintet, flutes, "cornetti" (wooden trumpets), theorbos (archlutes), dulcian (bassoon-like), harpsichord and viola da gamba. His group is called I Febiarmonici and sounded splendid apart from very minor details. Quintana added some pieces by Rosenmüller and Kindermann. The opera lasted about 2 h 45´. One role was substituted: Euriclea, Ulysses´ nurse, disappeared and Melanto, Penelope´s maid, took her place.

                Badoaro´s text is generally very good, but with one reservation: the climax comes at the end of the Second Act, when Ulysses kills the three Pretenders; if the love duet of Ulysses and Penelope had been added there, the drama would have ended satisfactorily. As it is, the protracted Third Act is unnecessary: a superfluous comic number for Iro the glutton is followed by several attempts to convince Penelope that Ulysses is indeed who he claims to be. So much of the music is beautiful that it´s hard to choose, but I especially like Penelope´s lament and Ulysses´duet with his son Telemaco.

                The vocal level was very high, in fact up to the best European standards in at least five instances: Ulysses, Telemaco, Penelope, Eumeo the shepherd and the God Jupiter. In my recordings Ulysses is taken by tenors, but it sounds splendid in a high baritone such as Víctor Torres (the same happened in "Orfeo" back in 2002), who was in top form. Franco Fagioli´s countertenor has grown a lot and is now full-voiced; he sings with style, taste and resounding highs. Evelyn Ramírez was a severe but expressive Penelope, sometimes bursting with anger but never losing her line. Eumeo was sensitively sung by Carlos Ullán, very refined and with lovely timbre. And Gustavo Zahnstecher was  brilliant and accurate as Jove.

                I confess to some disappointment with María Cristina Kiehr, a specialist of this repertoire; her voice has lost beauty and top; although as Fortuna and Minerva she had fine moments, sometimes her singing went quite awry. Oreste Chlopecki did three parts: Neptune, Antinous (one of the Pretenders) and Time in the allegorical Prologue; he has the deep low tones required although his phrasing can be rough. Jaime Caicompai was in very good voice as Eurimaco. He did a torrid love scene with a nice-sounding and good-looking Pilar Aguilera as Melanto (she also sang Juno). I didn´t much like the prancing and mincing of the other Pretenders, Damián Ramírez and Pablo Pollitzer, although the former did well as Human Fragility in the Prologue.  Osvaldo Peroni wildly exaggerated his Iro the glutton, leaving little music to appreciate. Nadia Szachniuk, a new name to me, was correct as Love. Three Choruses (of Phaeacians, in Heaven, at Sea) were sung by generally accurate solo voices. Quintana led voices and instruments with the fine authority of a true connoisseur.

                Of the production the good point was the stage design: a huge tree opened up to show Penelope´s Palace, well-made in several levels (Alejandro Bonatto and Jerónimo Basso). But Bonatto, after a plausible First Act, grossly mismanaged the rest, with tasteless homo- and heterosexual goings on in full view of Penelope, and completely botched killing of the Pretenders.  The dress code according to costume designer Sofía Di Nunzio varied from Pseudo-Greek to Renaissance to formal contemporary. Lighting by Gonzalo Córdova and choreography by Cecilia Elías were neuter in effect. But the total balance of the night was positive and we certainly have to thank BAL for completing the  Monteverdi trilogy.

For Buenos Aires Herald

The Emerson, Menotti and "Messiah": rampant diversity

            In just four days, this reviewer saw and heard as dissimilar expressions of classical music as can be. Juventus Lyrica offered a Menotti double bill at the Avenida; The Emerson Quartet made its debut for the Mozarteum at the Coliseo; and Festivales Musicales gave us Handel´s Messiah at the Auditorio de Belgrano. Rampant diversity indeed. And all three defied the ban on shows imposed by the measures against the influenza A pandemia; it has affected all official musical activity and some of the privately organized events as well.

            Gian Carlo Menotti was certainly one of the most successful opera composers of the twentieth century. Reviled by many colleagues and reviewers as a dyed-in-the-wool conservative, this creator managed to use tonality in a creative and theatrical way. He also proved to be a first-rate librettist of his own operas and of Barber´s "Vanessa". It was a brilliant idea of Juventus Lyrica to pair Menotti´s first two operas and I´m glad to say they made quite a success of it.

            "Amelia al ballo" is a 65-minute "opera buffa" written in 1937 when the composer was 26. The Colón premiered it in 1954 with Arizmendi, Cesari and Falzetti, and revived it in 1982 with González, Gaeta and Ranieri. I was present both times and had fun with this "joujou" based on a very simple conceit: Amelia is frivolity itself and only cares about going to the first ball of the season; when the husband discovers she´s having an affair with a neighbor, both men after initial violence discuss the matter calmly; in a fit - it´s getting late for the ball- she crushes a flower vase on her husband´s head; when the police comes she accuses her lover of being a thief and the attacker of her husband, and she goes to the ball… with the police officer. The music is simple, clear and attractive, with some expansive moments for tenor and soprano. It was nicely sung and acted by Eleonora Sancho, Gustavo Feulien (The Husband) and Norberto Fernández in fine form as the Lover. Agreeable though a bit slow the playing under Leandro Valiente, and involved the singing of the Choir.Very adequate stage designs and sympathetic production by Florencia Sanguinetti, and beautiful gowns by María Jaunarena.

            "The old maid and the thief" has more substance; it was also innovative in being the first opera originally conceived for radio broadcasting (NBC premiered it in 1939). The interesting idea in this 75-minute opera is the relativity of behavior: an old maid mistakes a hobo with a thief, but induced by her chambermaid  makes him stay for a week, during which she of the impeccable life becomes a thief herself to supply the hobo/"thief" with goods. When she discovers the truth she goes out to denounce him to the police; during that while he, again induced by Laetitia the chambermaid,  indeed robs the old maid and goes off with her car and Laetitia. The music is more elaborate, with telling concerted work. Our city had only seen a rather poor condensed version with piano at La Scala de San Telmo, so this real premiere certainly made sense.

            There was brilliant singing and acting from Eugenia Fuente (Miss Todd, the old maid), Sonia Stelman (Laetitia), Sebastián Sorarrain (Bob, the hobo) and Vanesa Tomas (Miss Pinkerton, a gossipy friend). And a very intelligent job of producing and stage designing from Ana D´Anna and apposite costumes from Jaunarena.  Valiente led the orchestra with a firm hand.

            CDs had already told me that the Emerson Quartet is one of the very finest we have, but their debut here provided triumphant confirmation. They have existed for thirty years and two of the members (the violinists) are founders. They have two special characteristics: a) they are the only quartet I know where violinists and violist play standing, apparently to maintain greater vitality and attention; b) the violinists alternate between the posts of first and second violin. The foursome is made of true virtuosi with a total immersion in chamber-musical exchange: Eugene Drucker and Philip Setzer (violins), Lawrence Dutton (viola) and David Finckel (cello). Drucker led Charles Ives´ already prophetic First Quartet (fine choice) and Schubert´s Quartet Nº 14, "Death and the maiden", Setzer led the Ravel Quartet and the Scherzo from Mendelssohn´s "Four pieces", op.81 (as encore). I won´t be redundant: all was played with supreme clarity and insight, although I have a preference for the immense subtlety displayed by them in the Ravel.

            Everything has been said about Handel´s "Messiah"; it is a wonder and will always remains so.  With the augmented Camerata Bariloche and the Orfeón de Buenos Aires (prepared by Néstor Andrenacci and Pablo Piccinni) Mario Videla´s conducting was orthodox and proficient, with animation in his phrasing and clearness of gesture. I was amazed by the quality of the choir, who sang with uncanny precision the very florid singing assigned to them. The orchestra was quite good too, with resounding solos from trumpet player Fernando Ciancio. The soloists ranged from high class (Víctor Torres and Carlos Ullán) to uneven though with fine moments (Martín Oro and Silvina Sadoly). The concert was recorded, and with the public present two baritone and trumpet passages were re-recorded. I don´t abide Videla´s deep cuts, however; I can accept the eight from the Appendix, but not another seven pieces. A blot in an otherwise satisfying session.

For Buenos Aires Herald

Three admirable duets and a fearless pianist

            There are some weeks when Buenos Aires seems a really important city for classical music. Between June 16 and 23 three international violin/piano duos and a local pianist tackling avant-garde material gave me the feeling of being in Paris or New York.  

            I will give pride of place to the marvelous debut of Hilary Hahn and Valentina Lisitsa at AMIJAI: not only the playing was of almost unbelievable quality but the programming was fascinating. Hahn is certainly one of the very best young artists we have: the purest violin school (Jascha Brodsky, last disciple of Ysaÿe) but also a humanist education that shows her as much more than a greatly gifted player. There´s sheer pleasure at hearing her full, burnished, clean sound of perfect intonation and her tremendous variety in articulation, but, more important, you have the impression that the logic and sense of ultimate direction are unerring. She played a programme that was both long and very difficult as well as unendingly adventurous and unhackneyed. And she had the privilege of a distinguished partner, for the Ukrainian Lisitsa is an astonishing pianist whom I hope will come back for solo recitals. She is a powerhouse when needed but also plays with refined softness and relaxation.

            To include three sonatas by Charles Ives was audacious and rewarding (probably premieres here), for this Connecticut yankee was one of the great pioneers of modern music and his sonatas, written between 1909 and 1916, teem with harmonic and rhythmic "trouvailles". We heard No.4, "Children´s Day at the Camp Meeting", Nº 2, with movements named "In the barn" or "The revival", and Nº 1, with normal appellations for the movements (Andante or Allegro) but plenty of novelties. Hahn also did two of the six sonatas for solo violin created by the Belgian Eugène Ysaÿe in 1923, tough stuff indeed in terms of the hurdles involved but very interesting as music, especially Nº4; the one-movement Nº 6 is less valuable. And it was a real pleasure to hear a selection of Hungarian Dances by Brahms, presumably in Joachim´s arrangements, and the famous Romanian Folk Dances by Bartok as arranged by Székely.  The lovely encore was Paganini´s "Cantabile".  

            Last year the recital by Joshua Bell and Frédéric Chiu was a high point of the Mozarteum season. Now I felt the same about their session for Nuova Harmonia at the Coliseo. They did an impressive sonata programme, featuring two of the best-known, the Franck and the Brahms Third, as well as Beethoven´s No.4, surely the most valuable of the early ones. Bell on his own played Ysaÿe´s Sonata Nº2, pervaded by the "Dies Irae" so often used by composers, as well as by Bach´s Third Sonata; an imaginative work of much power. Their encore was the exhilarating "Souvenir d´Amérique on ´Yankee Doodle´" by Vieuxtemps.

            Apart from a few strained passages in the Franck by Chiu, the playing was throughout of a very high standard and fully integrated. Bell is admirably smooth and orthodox; you are always assured of accomplished music-making and impeccable taste, as well as superlative technique. Although Chiu´s special field is the twentieth-century, he is worth hearing in Romantic music for his intelligent phrasing and sense of form.

            Clara Cernat, a stunning Romanian blonde, and Thierry Huillet, French pianist, are a couple in real life and their musical duet started in 1996. Their programme for the Mozarteum at the Coliseo reached a pinnacle in the Ravel Sonata Nº 2, which showed them at their very best: although her teachers weren´t French  she has assimilated the Gallic style perfectly, probably because Huillet sounds like an ideal specimen of that school (the cleanest articulation and attack, suavity when required, enough volume but never massive). Their inflexions in the Blues, or their virtuosity in the "moto perpetuo" Finale, are things to remember. They had started with a pleasant execution of Beethoven´s First Sonata, already quite characteristic of the composer.

            I wasn´t happy with the program of the Second Part, all transcriptions except Huillet´s own "Sacromonte", a good Andalusian image in modern terms, with a sector of the piano prepared to give a percussive sound. But the arrangement of Saint-Saëns´ "Dance macabre" was poor (and uncredited), and Liszt´s Hungarian Rhapsody Nº 12, although arranged by the composer, sounds much better in its piano original. Massenet´s "Thaïs" Meditation was probably heard in the Marsick arrangement (again uncredited). Although the playing was mostly beautiful, I think the striving for glamour was excessive. Encores: Monti´s "Czardas" and Cyprian Porumbescu´s "Ballad" (only Romanian music in the evening).

            The all-Stockhausen session of Horacio Lavandera for the Colón CETC at the Teatro del Globo was in its own terms quite a success, whether you like the music or not. The composer was a lifelong avantgardist and his piano music was always central in his career. Lavandera combined the works in a special way and used not only piano but also various synthesizers, including a small one that sounded like a cross between a celesta and a typewriter.  His command of all the music was crushing. He alternated four pieces in the small synthetizer taken from "Tierkreis" (quite tonal little pieces) with the "24 Natürliche Dauern" (24 Natural Durations) and three of his "Klavierstücke" ("Pieces for clavier"), IX, XI and XVI, the latter combined with an array of electroacoustic sounds. It was fun to see and intriguing to hear.

For Buenos Aires Herald

Our orchestras do good work under bad conditions

Apart from a reference to the Buenos Aires Philharmonic´s first concert, I haven´t mentioned our two principal orchestras (the other one, of course, is the National Symphony) during these recent weeks. It´s time to take stock. The good news is that although both organisms are operating under difficult conditions, they are giving us appreciable quality and rather interesting programming.
The Philharmonic is still run by Arturo Diemecke (Artistic Direction) and Eduardo Ihidoype (Executive Direction) and as it happened last year, they seem immune to the chaos that seems to touch almost everything that attains to the Colón. This year they have a better venue for their 16-concert subscription series (far too short, however), the Coliseo.
The second concert was conducted by John Neschling, the distinguished leader of the Sao Paulo Symphony. The programme was quite valuable. It started with a clean and powerful version of one of Haydn´s best symphonies, Nº 88. Then we met a great player, Finnish cellist Anssi Karttunen, who did a magisterial execution of Haydn´s Concerto in C, with crystal-clear articulation and intonation. However, I disagree with the avant-garde cadenzas he played, operating on a completely different sound world. Karttunen also played what was probably a premiere, “Cantique” op.77a Nº 1 by Jan Sibelius, which has a subtitle: “Laetare anima mea”, lovely music lovingly played, and an unexpected encore probably of Karttunen´s authorship, a Fantasia on a Cobián tango, “Nostalgias”.
The Second Part was appropriately all Brazilian, by two of their by now historic composers: “Enchantment” by Mozart Camargo Guarnieri (1907-93), a pleasant piece, and Villa-Lobos at his best, the “Chôros Nº 6”, wildly imaginative and personal music which I had the privilege of hearing under the composer in September 1953 with the National Symphony. Under Neschling it sounded splendid.
Diemecke took over for an all-Czech concert that gave me deep pleasure. Two masterpieces were played to the hilt: Smetana´s Overture to “The Bartered Bride” and Dvorak´s Symphony Nº 5, “New World”. There was a special treat between both: the premiere of the individual and very charming Oboe Concerto written in 1955 by Bohuslav Martinu, magnificently played by a talented Spanish artist, Lucas Macías Navarro, who made his debut.
The debut of Bartholomeus-Henri Van de Velde started unpromisingly, when he stepped down twice from the podium because cellular phones kept ringing, but a very pleasant interpretation of Haydn´s Symphony Nº 73, “The Hunt”, put things right. Two players of the orchestra, co-concertino Pablo Saraví and Hernán Briático, leader of the second violins, gave us two Concerti, a Baroque (Vivaldi´s op.3 Nº 8, “L´estro armonico”) and the premiere of Malcolm Arnold´s Concerto for two violins and string orchestra, first played by Menuhin and Lysy at the Bath Festival in 1962. It is, as always in this composer, very agreeable, succinct and Neoclassic. The players, of different but complementary sounds, had rehearsed both pieces well and played like the fine professionals they are, and the Phil accompanied likewise, although I missed a harpsichord or theorbo in Vivaldi (I don´t believe this repertoire should be played in symphonic programs).
I disagree completely with the playing of Mendelssohn´s Second Symphony, “Song of Praise”, without the sung portions, which in fact take two thirds of the original 70-minutes length. The composer thought of the work as a unity, a symphony-cantata. It should be played by itself or left alone if no choir was available. The Phil will do all five symphonies as a homage to the two-hundredth anniversary of the composer´s birth, but the programmers haven´t taken the right path. As the slow “Adagio religioso” is an introduction to the sung sections, it was a pat ending to the concert, although Van de Velde showed himself an intense and convincing interpreter and the Phil responded well.
The National Symphony is condemned this year to bad acoustics for its free concerts: the Bolsa de Comercio and the Facultad de Derecho UBA have unduly resonant halls and the Bolsa is small, only 450-capacity. The NS deserves far better, but they have lost access to the Auditorio de Belgrano because the authorities didn´t pay in 2006-7 the renting of the hall, and quite rightly the Auditorio´s people have lost all faith in the Culture Secretariat. But the players have a long history of disastrous handling by the functionaries and they keep admirably their spirit. The Orchestra is still our best. It should play in the main halls and not for free, which is demeaning (the Phil is quite expensive). But it should also have the money to pay for good conductors and soloists and for scores, and it is a scandal that their budget is constantly under-used by the authorities. A not irrelevant point: there are no programme notes…
The Principal Conductor remains Pedro Calderón, seventyish but still in very good form. Their concert of April 17 at the Facultad started with a well-constructed interpretation of Mendelssohn´s Symphony Nº 3, “Scottish”, but it was the Second Part that impressed me: an intimate, tasteful rendering of the tender “Il Tramonto” (“Sunset”, on a Shelley poem), beautifully sung by mezzosoprano Gabriela Cipriani Zec, and in total contrast, the fantastically colorful “Feste Romane”, played with abandon and stark strength by a NS in splendid condition and led with a master hand by Calderón. I will be back in a couple of weeks with further comments on this orchestra.
For Buenos Aires Herald

Warhorses gallop again

            It is in the nature of things that opera companies of any level should prefer a select group of warhorses for their ventures, as they find a ready market for them, considering the fact that most people either have a routine-inclined temperament or simply don´t have much information and/or curiosity. Thus such operatic items are taken out of their stables and left to gallop again in the wide open prairies,

            Giuseppe Verdi and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, in their best-known efforts, are a cinch, even if conditions aren´t right, for another sign of the times is that people are quite ready to receive with warm applause interpretations that in more knowledgeable times would have been booed.

            I¨ll start with the best of three recent revivals, that of Verdi´s "Il Trovatore" at the Argentino of La Plata. This is a singer´s opera "par excellence" and of course we don´t have artists that can compete with the best in the world, but we did have a local cast of good level with responsible artists. I was present at the fourth and last performance, and one should bear in mind that in this type of high-strung singing there can be important differences from one date to the other.  In this particular one, the best interpreter was Alejandra Malvino, who sang her old gypsy Azucena with considerable stamina and character after a start that was a bit unfocussed. Gustavo López Manzitti may not have an ingratiating timbre but he sure has guts; his singing was virile and strong, with a resounding high C to his "Di quella pira". In good health Luis Gaeta is our best Verdian baritone, but he hadn´t quite recovered from a laryngitis that had forced him to sing only one act of the first performance (he was replaced then by Luciano Garay).  So he sang with comprehensible caution and although there was taste and musicality, the Conte di Luna also needs blood and thunder. As to Haydée Dabusti, this sensitive soprano has had more convincing nights; she sounded clean and transparent, but you need darker shades and a sense of instinctive passion in Leonora. Ricardo Ortale, a baritone, sang Ferrando, a bass role whose range he encompassed well, but I found his interpretation too free and "verista". In the flank roles, good work from Vanesa Thomas, Sergio Spina, Claudio Rotella and Francisco Bugallo.

            Carlos Vieu is probably the best resident opera conductor of his generation. True, his tempi sometimes challenged the singers and the chorus, but this is as it should be, for "Il Trovatore" needs urgency and intensity; the orchestra responded reasonably well, though there were fissures of intonation in the brass section. The very good chorus of the house, under Miguel Martínez, entered enthusiastically in the spirit of the staging.

            Marcelo Perusso had already produced the piece for the Argentino in 2006 and this was a revision of that concept (he had also done a different production for Buenos Aires Lírica). I rather liked what he did, for there were several positive points: he respected the original historical context (the fifteenth-century Spanish Civil War), he managed fast and convincing adaptations of the stage pictures to the different scenes (only one interval), he imagined dramatic stage designs with an adequate lighting plot, and the costumes of his collaborator, Stella Maris Müller, were always adequate. I was only bothered by some unnecessary gruesomeness.

            I´ll be brief with the other two offerings. I´m sorry to say that I can only report favorably on some of the singers and the chorus of Fundamús´s presentation of  Mozart´s "The Magic Flute" at the Avenida, but I was unhappy with the production and the orchestral playing. Pride of place goes to Lucas Debevec Mayer´s Sarastro, so much deeper in sonority and interpretation now than when he did it at the Colón in 2004. Graciela Oddone sang Pamina with involvement but also with some undue strain. Maico Hsiao sang his first Tamino as alternate to Carlos Ullán; the Taiwanese tenor was likeable and sweet but lacked expansion. Luciano Garay´s Papageno was too vulgar; the character is a simple, warm man; the singing was acceptable, no more. His Papagena was the charming Laura Penchi. The Queen of Night of Natalia Quiroga was inadequate: completely undramatic and barely managing most of the notes.  The Monostatos of Fabián Frías had little character. I found the Three Ladies good (Claudia Montagna, Trinidad Goyeneche and Verónica Canaves) and very dignified the Speaker, Edgardo Zecca. The others were tollerably in the picture.

            The orchestra sounded unclean and imprecise under Reinaldo Zemba, and Eduardo Casullo signed one of his weakest productions, with badly chosen projections instead of stage designs and many wrong indications to the singers . Some of Mariela Daga´s work as costume designer I liked (Sarastro, Pamina´s gowns), some I didn´t (the Genii, Papageno).

            When I was told that Verdi´s "Aida" would be staged at the diminutive Roma (Avellaneda) I thought it ludicrous, and I wasn´t wrong. In fact several announced artists walked out of an impossible production. Forgiving what I saw (imagined by Florencia Bendersky and Sergio Grimblat) I can report that Sebastiano De Filippi at the podium did his best (and so did the conductors of three different choirs) to solve the music´s challenges , and the main singers did have some salvageable qualities: Svetlana Volosenko, Juan Borja, Lidice Robinson and Marcos Nicastro.

 For Buenos Aires Herald

The Big Three hold their own

            Yes, the Big Three are holding their own, and this is quite a feat in a crisis year. We are still on the radar of important groups and soloists, though the institutions have to do a lot of juggling with figures and sponsors to maintain their standards.

            As has been true during the last conflictive decade, the Mozarteum Argentino is  bringing to us relevant personalities in this season at the Coliseo . A case in point: the presentation at the Coliseo of Concerto Köln and the mezzosoprano Vivica Genaux giving us high-profile Baroque. They exist since 1985 and are surely one of the best historicist ensembles; she comes from Alaska, of all places, and is one of the most accomplished specialists of the Rossinian and the Baroque repertoires. The players gave us some wonderful Handel and Vivaldi, the singer (beautifully accompanied) offered gems by Handel and Hasse.  

            First the initial suite from Handel´s "Water Music" was done as indicated by natural horns, Baroque bassoon, oboe and strings with harpsichord. It was a beautiful performance, flexible, accurate and pointed, by all 19 instrumentalists; it would be churlish to note that a  few of the horn sounds weren´t perfect, it is the very devil to play. "Sta nell´ircana" is a tough aria sung by Bradamante in that fantastic Handelian opera, "Alcina", unfortunately still missing from our city´s records; it showed the qualities of the singer: a very clean resolution of the divisions, a fierce sense of character and style, enough volume, but one could cavil at the excessively baritone-ish low notes. But she was refined and dreamy in the slow, lovely aria "Cara speme" from the same composer´s "Giulio Cesare" (his only opera staged several times in B.A.), accompanied only by cello and harpsichord.  Some strong Vivaldi made for adequate contrast: Concerto No.23 for cello, strings and continuo (he wrote 27!), with very good work from the soloist, Werner Matzke. A stunning virtuoso aria from Handel´s "Ariodante", "Dopo notte", allowed for an impressive display of pyrotechnics from Genaux.

            Another lovely Händel, Concerto grosso op. 3 Nº 2, showed the prowess of violinists Markus Hoffmann and Stephan Sänger and of oboist Saskia Fikentscher. Then, again from "Giulio Cesare", the difficult "L´angue offeso", where again Genaux showed herself an accomplished artist.  Finally, an almost unknown composer here but a great name in his time, Johann Adolf Hasse (1699-1783), was represented by a typical "da capo" aria, "Di quell´acciaro al lampo" from "Solimano", allowing for further display from the mezzosoprano. Two contrasting encores from the same extraordinary Handel opera, "Rinaldo" (its success determined the composer to live in London), also absent from our stages: the expressive "Lascia ch´io pianga" (Genaux at her best) and the assertive "Combatti da forte", brilliantly handled. The orchestra gave magnificent support throughout.

            The London Festival Orchestra is an old friend here; they have visited us several times, always led by its founder, Ross Pople; but he used to lead from his cello first desk, now he´s a full time conductor. His current group was invited by Nuova Harmonia for its cycle at the Coliseo, and they brought two first-rate soloists, flutist Alison Hayhurst and oboist Malcolm Messiter. 

            Bartók´s Divertimento for strings is certainly a masterpiece and it provided a fine start, though the orchestra was marginally less accomplished than I hoped,  playing at first with small intonation blemishes that were gradually ironed out. Pople is a good professional but I find him lacking in charisma and electricity, which this music needs to be at its best. As to Bach´s Suite Nº 2 for flute and strings, Hayhurst played beautifully with a clean sound and very controlled vibrato. The orchestra was very agreeable to hear; however, I missed the presence of a harpsichord or a theorbo to give more weight to the continuo.

            Attributed to Vivaldi, to Benedetto Marcello and finally to his brother Alessandro, it may be that the famous Oboe Concerto in D minor (by whoever it was) is the finest that instrument has, with its magnificent Baroque melodies and harmonies. Messiter gave us a memorable version, adding very apposite ornaments and displaying a lovely timbre complementing accurate and very musical phrasing. Again no harpsichord or theorbo, however, but fine string support for the soloist. Finally, Schubert´s wonderful Symphony Nº 5 sounded in style and sweet, though the last ounce of grace escaped Pople and the orchestra was too small (just 22 players is certainly not enough for a Pre-Romantic or even for a Late Classical symphony). There was a beautiful encore: the "Dance of the Blessed Spirits" from Gluck´s "Orfeo ed Euridice", where Hayhurst had another chance to show her liquid tone and impeccable taste.

            Festivales Musicales gave us a standard Mendelssohn night in homage to the bicentenary of his birth. Again the Coliseo was the venue; the Buenos Aires Philharmonic played (it did a similar programme in its own subscription series)  and the conductor was the 39-year-old Britisher Michael Seal, who made his BA debut last year in April with the same organism.  He showed himself expert and energetic, obtaining good though not outstanding results in the Overture for "A Midsummer Night´s Dream", the Violin Concerto and the Fourth Symphony, "Italian". His talented soloist was the young Argentine Xavier Inchausti, a master of execution though not quite of enough interpretative depth. He played a fine encore, Ysaÿe´s Sonata-Ballad Nº 3.

 

For Buenos Aires Herald

From the Suisse Romande to turbulent London

                   The Suisse Romande is francophone Switzerland and its capital, Geneva, is the resident city of the splendid Orchestra of the same appellation founded by the great conductor Ernest Ansermet in 1918, who remained at the helm almost fifty years; their prowess was firmly established by a great number of wonderful recordings, many of which still are necessary references. The SRO has just visited us led by their impressive Principal Conductor, Marek Janowski, and featuring the splendid French pianist Jean-Louis Thibaudet. Their two concerts with different programmes were offered by the Mozarteum Argentino at the Coliseo.

                The succession of famous conductors at the helm of the SRO speaks clearly of the importance of the post: Paul Kletzki, Wolfgang Sawallisch, Horst Stein, Armin Jordan, Fabio Luisi and Pinchas Steinberg. The big orchestra (108) is very cosmopolitan in its integration. Janowski is much appreciated here as an opera conductor for admirable interpretations of R. Strauss ("Die Frau ohne Schatten", 1979) and Tchaikovsky ("Pique Dame", 1981).  As to Thibaudet, he was Cecilia Bartoli´s pianist in her only BA visit and he came back several times as a recitalist or with orchestra. I´m sorry that the biographies of the artists almost always omit mentioning their previous visits.

                The first programme had only two works: the quirky and virtuosic Liszt Concerto No.2 and Bruckner´s Sixth Symphony. Thibaudet has fantastically  fleet and accurate fingers and his rendering was precisely articulated even in the wildest moments; his sound, as befits the French school, is clean but not meaty. I deeply admired the perfect rhythm and infinitesimal adjustment of orchestra and soloist. Thibaudet played as encore Chopin´s Waltz Nº 3, op.34/2, a quiet, reflexive piece.

                The Bruckner Sixth is certainly less inspired than most of its companions, its rather dry mien far from the moving flights of the last three symphonies. But it remains a granitic monument with many fine instances of his style. The conductor showed complete mastery of the intricate textures and was abetted by a very disciplined orchestra with fine strings and brass; however, the Coliseo´s rather harsh acoustics conspired against the roundness Bruckner needs.

                The second programme was curious, all Ravel except the initial score; the Swiss composer Michael Jarrell (1958)  wrote a 17-minute piece with a long title: "Le ciel, tout à l´heure si limpide, soudain se trouble horriblement" ("The sky, a little while ago so limpid, suddenly is horribly troubled"). I found this premiere (not so indicated: premieres should be identified) rather interesting; it exhibits a wide and wise palette and it sounds coherent within its style, which seems to blend the Polish school with swaths of impressionism.

                Thibaudet, as expected, was a marvelous interpreter of Ravel´s Concerto  and the very difficult orchestral solos were beautifully executed in impeccable accord with the pianist. The soloist´s encore was Brahms´ Intermezzo op.118/2, very neat though not quite as deep as the German school´s better exponents.

                Janowski did an effective combination in the Second Part: he conducted seamlessly Ravel´s "Valses nobles et sentimentales" and "La Valse"; it worked well and the orchestra played beautifully, even if the very last drop of virtuosity wasn´t quite there (I remembered Abbado with the Berlin Philharmonic). The encores were stunning: a surprisingly Italianate Intermezzo from Puccini´s "Manon Lecaut" and a brilliant "Farandole" from Bizet´s "L´Arlésienne".  

                From quiet Geneva to the turbulent London of Hogarth´s eighteenth-century "The Rake´s Progress", fashioned  into an opera by librettists W.H.Auden and Chester Kallman and composer Igor Stravinsky. When premiered in 1951 in Venice, it marked the last stage of Stravinsky´s "Neo" period, in this case taking Mozart as his model. The result is controversial and not to everybody´s liking; personally I enjoy it a lot and was glad that Buenos Aires Lírica decided to present it at the Coliseo. The Colón offered it in 1959, 1977 and 2001, with an especially good cast in this latter date (Groves and Ramey).

                I believe that "progress" should be translated as "carrera", not "progreso", as they decided at BAL. It´s an eighteenth-century use of the word, and both librettists and composer want a setting of that time, true to Hogarth´s inspired satirical engravings and oils. I feel producer Marcelo Lombardero was wrong in transporting the action to a vague mid twentieth-century, especially mixing up dates incongruously (there´s even a disconcerting 2025). There were,  accepting the transpositions, grave distortions, such as the golf course at the beginning instead of Trulove´s house and especially the transformation of a cemetery with an opened grave into a container close to a subway station. Of course there were opportunistic quotes from the current economic crisis. The whorehouse was too garish and Luciana Gutman´s costumes tasteless. The Auction scene went better. The Bedlam seemed too simplified and conventional.  Daniel Feijóo as stage designer went along with Lombardero´s ideas.

                The musical side was much better. Alejo Pérez was the very effective conductor of a talented hand-picked 31-member orchestra and the choir solved well its part under Juan Casasbellas. Jeffrey Lentz made a valuable debut as Tom Rakewell; he has the right sort of voice, sings very musically and is a convincing actor. Gustavo Gibert was  professional and firm as Nick Shadow. Evelyn Ramírez sang well her grotesque Baba the Turk and Ana Laura Menéndez was correct but rather pale as Anne. Christian Peregrino was stalwart as Trulove. Good jobs from Marta Cullerés, Santiago Bürgi and Walter Schwarz.

For Buenos Aires Herald

The Colón awakens, Muscovites and Italians impress

             This umbrella title refers to various events: the first concert of the Buenos Aires  Philharmonic, the presence in our season of pianist Boris Giltburg and of the Moscow Symphony, and the visit of I Virtuosi Italiani.

            The main news about our Phil is that the initial subscription concert of their season at the Coliseo happened at all. The last activity of any Colón artistic body happened on November 20, 2008. Fully five months and a week later, the theatre as an institution finally contacted its audience. The yearly budget is supposed to be hundred million and 90% of it is salaries, so about 40 million were spent without its justification, the act of performing; deduct if you will 10 million for the 40-day vacation period, and there´s still 30 million that simply vanished, victims of the Colón´s troubles. Those are still there, witness a flyer distributed to the public that denounced the gross mistakes of the City Government. But good sense prevailed, and the Phil played.

            The concert was interesting, as it contained two worthy and rarely played symphonies, Haydn´s No.22, "The Philosopher", with its fascinating orchestration of French and English horns, and Mendelssohn´s incredible First, certainly the most talented ever written by an adolescent (no, I´m not forgetting Mozart). They were homages respectively to the bicentenary of the former´s death and the latter´s birth. Nice, well-considered readings by Hungarian conductor Zsolt Nagy (debut) and an attentive and clean orchestra.  But the high point was the fantastic performance of Chopin´s Piano Concerto No. 2, for Boris Giltburg is at 25 one of the very best of his generation; he has it all: a wonderful technique of meridian clarity, the refined sense of phrasing of a patrician artist, the unerring feeling for style. The pleasure was prolonged by a perfect Etude "La leggierezza" by Liszt. That composer closed the evening with his tone poem "Les Préludes", in a rather blemished execution.

Giltburg also offered a recital at Pilar Golf that included a stupendous interpretation of Liszt´s great Sonata, certainly his masterpiece and one of the touchstones of the repertoire. It was amazing to watch as pure piano playing of immense accomplishment, but  even more as sensitive understanding of the myriad changes of mood that occur in this challenging score. He had started with the rarely heard Grieg Sonata that combines the composer´s German training with inklings of his future Norwegian footprints. Giltburg played with total command although his touch seemed a bit too heavy at times.  I do take issue with him, however, with the final work of the programme: the same Chopin Concerto he did at the Phil but in a poor arrangement for string quartet. The Concerto may have a mediocre orchestration but it is certainly better than this unconvincing contraption, for it never sounds like chamber music. Of course Giltburg played beautifully and local string players were correct, but it didn´t work.

Moscow is a city that has always had many orchestras. As the decades went by, their denominations have varied. A few came our way, and I particularly remember their Philharmonic under Kondrashin, the Russian State under Svetlanov and the Tchaikovsky Symphony led last year by Fedoseyev. All first-rate. I wouldn´t put the Moscow Symphony in the same league, but it was worth hearing for the sake of an idiomatic Tchaikovsky Fifth Symphony (if you except the rather faulty horn solo) and curiously enough, for the encore, that came off best: the same composer´s big waltz from "Swan Lake" was truly balletic, warm, pointed and in tune. But the context also is important: this concert at the Coliseo was previous to the orchestra´s visit to the Ushuaia Festival, that amazing idea born some years ago in the brain of Argentine conductor Jorge Uliarte. He may not be a great maestro but he is certainly a doer; it´s no easy thing to plan and accomplish an international classical music festival at the southernmost city of the world.

The rest of the programme at the Coliseo included the very difficult Rachmaninov Third Piano Concerto, quite well played by the young Croat, Goran Filipec: he certainly can vanquish with apparent ease the appalling technical problems, although I missed some intensity at certain points; the orchestral accompaniment sounded glutinous, indistinct. The concert had started with a nondescript performance of "A Night in Bald Mountain", the astonishing tone poem imagined by Mussorgsky and Rimsky-Korsakov.

The debut of I Virtuosi Italiani was a good start for Nuova Harmonia´s season at the Coliseo. The group of sixteen string players is led by Alberto Martini and gave us an interesting conspectus of Italian music from Classicism to the moderate Twentieth Century, reserving the Baroque for the encores. Martini is certainly a forceful leader and his interpretations were always vital and interesting, but on the other hand in his role as concertino he sounded at times out of tune and his tone wasn´t particularly ingratiating. The ensemble, though, is first-rate, and in fact includes some violinists (Glauco Bertagnin and Luca Falasca) that are better than the leader. We heard Boccherini (Symphony op.35/1), Viotti (Sinfonia Concertante in F for two violins), Paganini (Cantabile), Bazzini (Reverie), Respighi (Antique dances and arias, Third Suite), Rota (Concerto for strings) and Vivaldi ("Summer",1^st and 3^rd movements). Argentine cellist Leonardo Sapere played beautifully in the encores José Bragato´s arrangement of Piazzolla´s "Adiós Nonino".

For Buenos Aires Herald 

 

The abominable case of the shrinking Colón

               This is a horror story. It started in July 2007. A meeting between Jorge Telerman and Mauricio Macri after the latter won the election for Chief of Government of the Buenos Aires Autonomous City had as main purpose to establish a pact for the long six months of transition until Macri took over. It transpired among other things that Macri had asked Telerman to lower the city deficit drastically; it applied to all areas, of course, but it affected the Colón immediately.

             But there had been another episode back in July 2007: somehow it was published in the front pages what Macri had said to Telerman: that 700 people were enough for the functioning of the Colón; Telerman disagreed and said that 1300 was alright. As public opinion  was staggered by Macri´s position, he sent a letter disavowing that affirmation; but many didn´t believe him, me among them. However, although he was vague in his words, he did say in February 2008 that the personnel would be reduced.

The whole of 2008 was a period of stagnation. In January 2009 Horacio Sanguinetti resigned as Director General of the theatre; he gave no official reasons, but I explained them in my article of March 10, "Questions about the Colón Theatre". Briefly summarized as a reminder, they were the presence of Martín Boschet back at the Colón (he had been fired by Sanguinetti) and "strong hearsay about wholesale discharges of Colón employees…Sanguinetti would never agree to a shrinking Colón".  About Pedro Pablo García Caffi, named Sanguinetti´s successor, I mused, "what are the conditions unknown to the public under which Macri has designated him?" And I pointed out  the necessity of "clearing up all doubts concerning the rumors about restructuring" (at the time both Macri and García Caffi denied it!).

Now the cat´s out of the bag and the news are bad bad bad. García Caffi has eliminated ten whole sections of the Colón and the new magic number is 808!  In fact, out of 450 about 40 to 50 are pensioned off, and the rest aren´t fired (they can´t be under the law of public employment unless very grave offenses are involved) but transferred…to jobs in completely irrelevant areas of the Government (Hernán Lombardi, the Minister of Culture, has already said that there are no places for them in his ministry). So we are going to have an assistant producer in a menial job at a hospital.

But can you imagine a Colón without an Administration, a Maintenance office, a Photograph and Video Section? Any Colón at all? And why those sections and not others? What criterions were used? Has this any common sense? In a nutshell, the decisions are arbitrary and nonsensical.

García Caffi was summoned to the City Legislature´s Committee on Culture to explain all this and the result was shameful. His words were preceded by those of Máximo Parpagnoli, the spokesman elected by the Colón Assembly of workers; he was asked to make his statements by the Committee presided by Inés Urdapilleta (Frente para la Victoria).  He denounced the current situation with unassailable arguments. Some of them: since January 11 all workers are strictly forbidden to enter the theatre; workers pressured without notification to initiate pension procedures haven´t been paid since January; contracts at the Colón are discriminated against, ending not in December but in March or August; no labor negotiations have been opened; a good deal of the people that are being forcibly transferred will probably be replaced for they are necessary, so the city budget will be bigger, not smaller; the transferees will be assigned to Health, Security and Green Spaces; the Autarchy Law is being deliberately flouted in many points, even by Macri.

When García Caffi started to read, it was the same text he had read at the ceremony in which he was invested Director. He started by stating that the Colón´s structures are obsolete and that there had been a lot of irresponsibility and errors; a deep structural reorganisation is in order. And then he pronounced the phrase that was his undoing: "the Colón is a theatre of production, not an assurance of public employment that piles up people in corridors". As he was booed, he sprung to his feet and left swiftly, leaving in consternation the whole assembly, including the other directors of the Colón.  Urdapilleta tried to keep the meeting alive, but what happened was that those legislators that had voted against the Autarchy Law put the blame on its laxity and wrongheadedness (and I agree). The ending was spectacular and lapidary, for Urdapilleta said: "García Caffi came to answer for something that Macri has asked from him: if you want to be the Colón´s Director, 400 people must go".  García Caffi was summoned for the following week, but he refused to comply pleading that he had been offended. So things were left unexplained.

At a press conference some days later, the workers were backed by the presence of Gustavo López, Under Secretary General of the Nation and former Culture Secretary of the City; he promised his support. Matters are far from calm and anything can happen in the next few weeks. A final word: I deplore the lack of reaction from the citizens at large, as if the gradual destruction of the Colón doesn´t concern them; it does, and they should get involved.

For Buenos Aires Herald

Mozarteum starts season with controversial Berlioz

            The Mozarteum Argentino has long been our main private concert institution, keeping to a consistent high  quality level, few exceptions apart. I´m afraid that the start of the 2009 season falls into the latter category and am truly sorry it was so, for the idea was very promising: the first performance of "Lélio" by Hector Berlioz in Argentina, and preceded, as was the composer´s idea, by the "Fantastic Symphony".  It could have been presented in straight concert fashion and that would have been alright; however, this was a multimedia performance from France, and there lies the problem.

          But before I get into the reasons for the disappointment, a paragraph or two on the works themselves. Almost no one disagrees with the statement that the "Fantastic" is one of the very greatest symphonies ever written; this true manifest of Romanticism is also the undoubted masterpiece of Berlioz, that strange and isolated genius of French musical history.  Created in 1830, this "Episode in the life of an artist" is programmatic and was inspired by the famous book of Thomas de Quincey, "Confessions of an English Opium -eater". In the words of Berlioz (reproduced in the hand programme): "A young musician, of great sensibility and ardent imagination, poisons himself with opium in a moment of despair caused by a frustrated love" (Berlioz smitten with English Shakespearian actress Harriet Smithson, who would eventually become his wife). "The dose of the narcotic engulfs him in deep sleep and evokes strange visions. His experiences are transmuted into musical images and his loved one becomes a fixed idea that he hears everywhere". Thus the listener goes through five tableaux: "Dreamings, passions", "A ball", "Scene in the fields", "March to the gallows" and "Dream of a  witches´ Sabbath", where the "fixed idea" becomes a burlesque dance.

        Rich material indeed for the listener´s imagination. But I very much doubt that even 1 % of the audience in this presentation found any connexion between what we saw and heard; it was indeed boringly and snobbishly irrelevant. Credited –if such is the proper word- to Jean-Philippe Clairac and Olivier Deloeuil, it was sad and distracting to see. On stage, in front of the orchestra, the protagonist deambulates in a state of confusion; the first dancer (so-billed, I would call them models) writhes erotically in a furious red garment; so do the second, third, fourth and fifth, although one of them is in her undies; all try to excite the almost inanimate opium-eater, and briefly (and tastelessly) unveil their breasts. Meanwhile, during the whole fifty minutes, women are endlessly enduring the process of makeup in the three screens over the orchestra…

        What a pity, for the musical interpretation was worth hearing but didn´t stand much of a chance. In fact it was an important premiere of sorts: the first time that the composer´s orchestration was being heard here in its original version, with such instruments as the ophicleide (later replaced by the tuba), and with such fine matters of execution as were used at the time of its premiere.  The debut in BA of the Orchestre des Champs Élysées (Paris) founded in 1991  by Belgian conductor Philippe Herreweghe (who came along on this tour) was  very adequate. This artist was here about two decades ago as a distinguished interpreter of the Baroque with the Collegium Vocale Ghent. A thorough musician, his "Fantastic" was perhaps too contained, but it was beautifully played, especially in the subtler moments, and the artists surely know exactly what they are doing. There was no acoustic chamber (due to the lighting needs of the production) and the sound projection was thus inhibited.

        "Lélio, or the return to life", was concocted between 1831 and 1832 and purports to show the protagonist of the "Fantastic" recovered from his bout with opium and decided to reasume his creative work.  It is in fact a hodgepodge of odds and ends from the composer´s workshop with no unity whatsoever, certainly minor after the towering Symphony. But it is  still worth knowing and quite pleasant. Of the six pieces for various ensembles I think the Fantasy on Shakespeare´s "The Tempest" is the best, with its evocation of Miranda, Ariel and Caliban. There are two tenor songs, both very sweet, one with piano ("The Fisher",on Goethe) and one with harp (appropriately, "The Aeolian harp"), and they were beautifully expressed by Robert Getchell (debut), mellifluous and accurate. A stirring "Song of the Bandits" showed to best advantage the powerful voice and presence of baritone Pierre-Yves Pruvot (debut). A local choir, our Grupo de Canto Coral led by Néstor Andrenacci, did a nice job in their three appearances, including a "Chorus of Shadows".  The Orchestra accompanied very well, with sensitive moments of phrasing.

            Blissfully there were little dramatic shenanigans, except for the text of the protagonist written by Berlioz in wildly Romantic terms, and said with approximate French by a too emphatic Marcial Di Fonzo Bo, debut of an Argentine living in France (listen to Jean-Louis Barrault in the Boulez recording). Otherwise, only a brief appearance of the "fixed idea" and anodine images in the projections, apart from a seconds-long appearance of a full frontal nude woman (certainly a first for the Mozarteum!).  Lesson to be learned: don´t import European shows unless you´ve seen them before and approved (this was premiered at Poitiers only a few weeks ago).

 

For Buenos Aires Herald

Still another "Traviata"

            I am certainly not alone in having reached saturation point with some tired operatic warhorses, such as "Carmen", "La Boheme", "Tosca", "The Barber of Seville" and of course Verdi´s "La Traviata". But it is a truism that people flock like faithful parishioners whenever they are put on stage, no matter if well or ill. I keep being amazed at the lack of curiosity and the passive intellectual stance of such an attitude; still, that´s what happens and as a reviewer I´m condemned to endless repetitions.

            This year the otherwise very interesting season of Buenos Aires Lírica (BAL) started out with a particularly unfortunate choice, "La Traviata", for it had long been known that this opera was also in the plans of Juventus Lyrica (JL), and furthermore  this institution likewise initiated its activities with this opera in their original plans; when BAL insisted in staging it, JL decided to postpone their presentation, ending the season with it. Really a pity.

            About this famous creation I want to stress some points.  First: one needs to place it in an  historical perspective to realise that at the time of its premiere (1853) it was quite a shocker: even in the sweetened and softened Francesco Piave libretto, it showed a contemporary whore on the operatic stage, and indeed the Austrian censure in Italy forced the composer to place the action in the early eighteenth century to make it more palatable. Of course, Alexandre Dumas Junior had been one of the innumerable lovers of Marie Duplessis, the model for his novel and play "The Lady of the Camellias", rebaptised Marguerite Gautier by the writer and Violetta Valéry by the librettist. As a teenager I saw the admirable George Cukor film "Camille" and of course I was bowled over by Greta Garbo; when I revisited it as an adult I found that she was far too refined for the part .

            Second: why is it that Violetta didn´t pass on the tuberculosis bacilli to her men? It was supposed to be very contagious!

            Third: it serves no useful purpose to change the time period in the staging. Paris 1850, that´s what it should be if you are interested at all in the social mores. Although even in our dissolute times it´s still not done to marry a whore, other aspects have changed: aristocrats that keep women are on the wane, bourgeois fathers are more flexible, and TB and the Koch bacillus are much more under control.

            Fourth: the Piave libretto could be much improved. E.g., is Germont deaf that he doesn´t hear Violetta saying "don´t you know I am struck by a terrible illness"? For not only he has no reaction, but later tells her that she will have a happy life… And there are plenty of loose ends. 

            But of course the music is the thing, and so much of it finds Verdi at his most inspired that one forgives some miscalculations, such as the two trivial choruses in the Third Act. Such things as the big Violetta/Germont duet or the protagonist´s "Addio del passato" are among his greatest utterances.

            And how did BAL´s version measure up? Acceptably, no more. There was a point

 of interest: the debut of an Argentine soprano, Ivanna Speranza, who started her European career about five years ago. Her parts so far, such as Adina and Nannetta, show her has a light lyrical soprano: hardly the ticket for Violetta. Naturally, there´s the notorious obstacle for lyrical-dramatic sopranos of the florid "Sempre libera", but most of the music requires  strong center and  low registers and a profoundly dramatic interpretation. A role in which Muzio and Callas worked wonders. Personal reactions to timbre vary widely; Speranza sounds to me frequently uneven and metallic, not rich enough. Her presence is unprepossessing and she is particularly unconvincing in spoken bits such as when she reads Germont´s letter. Now and again she does some nice vocal things, witness her soft and tender "Dite alla giovine", but  she is not a Traviata.

            She wasn´t helped by a weak Alfredo; Arnaldo Quiroga sounded and acted ill at ease, far from his best work (Rinuccio in "Gianni Schicchi"). Omar Carrión was his predictable self as Germont: noble singing of fine line but limited expansion and a severe impersonation that however is leavened by some tenderness. Of the others I found the ladies (Vanina Guilledo as Flora, Rocío Arbizu as Annina) more satisfying than the men (a too soft-grained Gastone –Gustavo De Gennaro- a bland Grenvil –Walter Schwarz- and contrariwise too rough-and-ready Douphol and D´Obigny –Ernesto Bauer and Claudio Rotella).

            The enthusiastic choir was led by Juan Casasbellas.  The best thing was a vehement but controlled reading by Carlos Vieu with a choice orchestra. His intensity and thorough knowledge (he conducted without a score!) meant an important plus.

            The production by Pablo Maritano placed the action apparently around 1950, considering the miniskirts and the gowns designed by Sofía Di Nunzio (some rather untasteful).  The stage designs by Diego Siliano include some imaginative and beautiful projections of the city and otherwise respond to Maritano´s ideas; e.g., a First Act alternating between the vestibule and the main hall of Violetta´s party or a Fourth where her bed is prolonged by stylized perspectives. The Third Act was the weakest, including a poor choreography by Cecilia Elías. Elsewhere there were some good ideas along with very conventional movements.  

For Buenos Aires Herald

"Swan Lake", blend of French and Russian tradition

            The three Tchaikovsky ballets remain the best of the nineteenth century, with only one composer offering real competition: Léo Delibes with "Coppélia" and "Sylvia". "Swan Lake" (1877), "The Sleeping Beauty" (1890) and "The Nutcracker" (1892) certainly have the most elaborate and memorable music of their time and have evoked choreographies of lasting power.

            But "Swan Lake" had a difficult choreographic history, for its premiere at Moscow´s Bolshoi Theatre, signed by Julius Reisinger, was a failure. Two further versions, by Joseph Hansen (1880) and Lydia Geiten (1882) had no better luck. Paradoxically it was the success of Marius Petipa as choreographer of the two later ballets mentioned above that saved "Swan Lake"; the great French master of the Maryinsky Theatre at Saint Petersburg did his own choreography though with the assistance of Lev Ivanov, who did a short version with only the Second Act. Both worked on the dances of the other acts, and their joint efforts gave us the ballet that became a standard over the years, blending the pure academicism of Petipa with the poetic vision of Ivanov.  Alfio Agostini mentions complementary characteristics: "formal clarity and disquieting psychological symbolism, fascinating virtuosity and expressive intensity". And particularly the complex double role of Odette-Odile combining the ecstatic abandon of the woman-swan and the magnetic provocation of Odile.

            Other choreographers made their contributions later, especially Aleksandr Gorki in 1901 and Nicolas Sergeiev in 1934, both respecting the general scheme of Petipa and Ivanov. An observation about the music: Petipa asked Riccardo Drigo to add a few orchestrations of Tchaikovsky piano pieces and also some music of his own. And frankly some of those added pieces are distinctly below the much better quality of  poetic and inspired fragments that were already there in 1877.

            With its mix of "ballet blanc" in the second and fourth acts and divertimento-oriented dances in the first and third, "Swan Lake" provides an important challenge for a big company. The steady progress in recent years of the Teatro Argentino Ballet of La Plata allows them to meet the difficulties with professionalism and discipline. Their version, by Mario Galizzi, dates from 2004 and I feel it solves most problems of the Petipa/Ivanov tradition.  In at least one case there´s an improvement: the first act is very weak dramatically in the original and needs some pep; Galizzi provides it creating a meaty role, the Buffoon,  with his agile evolutions and innocent humor. I´m sorry that the choreographer cuts a big Waltz in the third act, however.

            The hand programme gives information on the overwhelming presence in the Argentino´s seasons  since 1948 of the second act , but the whole ballet was only offered in 2002 and 2003, where the original had contributions from Galizzi and Jack Carter, and in 2005, when the Petipa/Ivanov was revised by Gustavo Mollajoli.  As "The Sleeping Beauty" was staged recently and "The Nutcracker" is programmed for December, the Argentino now has all three in the repertoire, quite a feat.

            A blot in the general picture, however: there were to be two initial performances with the debut of stars from the Ucranian Kiev Ballet, Natalia Lazebnikova and the Czech "danseur" Jan Vana; apparently problems in rehearsals converted the first night into the dress rehearsal; the money had to be returned to the audience, though the resident  "platense" public could see the rehearsal. Just bad planning or labor troubles? Anyway, a real pity for it was an unpleasant sign at the very beginning of the season. So I´m commenting on the only evening where the visiting dancers could be seen. There were later performances with regular members of the company.

            The purity of the Russian school is always a pleasure to see, and the mentioned artists are good specimens. Lazebnikova is beautiful, has the technique for those terrible 32 "fouettés" she does as Odile  and at least attempts to show the dramatic distinction between her two roles. Vana as Prince Siegfried is handsome, very young and lithe, but his face is immutable through all vicissitudes; maybe the years will bring what he now lacks in expression, for he is certainly talented.

            I enjoyed the vivacity of Martín Quintana as the Buffoon and the good teamwork in the Pas de Trois of the First Act from Paula Elizondo, Stefanía Vallone and Esteban Schenone. In the second act Victor Filimonov appeared as Von Rothbart, the evil magician that has transformed the girls into swans; he, in former years a Siegfried, also comes from the Russian school, though a member of the company for the last decade. He knows the ropes and was good, but the part increasingly looks dated with its melodramatic gestures; some reforming touches would be welcome. Other parts, such as the Princesses in the third act "divertissement", were well taken. 

            In the second act I enjoyed the work of the girls of the "corps de ballet", who danced with stately and noble discipline and with adequate physiques . The solos of the "Three adult swans" were elegant, but the famous grotesquerie of the Pas de quatre of the little swans did show some unevenness.

            The pleasant stage designs of Augusto González Ara and the splendid costumes designed by Eduardo Caldirola certainly added visual charm. And the musical side was well realised by an attentive orchestra led by the sure hand of Javier Logioia Orbe.

 

For Buenos Aires Herald

The Colón still in trouble

            Recently the new Director General of the Teatro Colón, Pedro Pablo García Caffi, announced a mini opera season along with plans for the Ballet, the Buenos Aires Philharmonic and the Center for Experimentation (CETC). I wish I could be more upbeat, but truth to tell I still feel that the Colón is in very deep trouble and there are many prickly aspects to consider apart from the mere enumeration of what will be offered to the public in the months ahead.

            First the bare facts. Except for the CETC, which will use the Teatro del Globo, all the rest will have the Coliseo as its house, which is logical enough; at least it corrects last year´s silliness when Horacio Sanguinetti (and Martín Boschet) refused to give us an opera season: the Coliseo is the only hall that has a big orchestral pit apart from the closed Colón. But just four opera titles and two of them are chamber operas and another is a staged oratorio! Only three performances of each for a grand total of twelve. Pathetic.

            The "opera" season starts with Honegger´s "Joan of Arc at the stake" ("Jeanne d´Arc au bûcher"), certainly a worthy score, but it was done twice in recent years, so it is hardly necessary. Conductor (C): John Neschling. Producer (P) and Stage Designer (SD): Roberto Plate. Actors: Vera Cirkovic, Didier Sandre, May 19, 22 and 26.

            "The Abduction from the Seraglio" ("Die Entführung aus dem Serail"), Mozart. C: Michael Güttler. P: Willy Landin (Daniel Suárez Marzal sent an angry letter denouncing that Sanguinetti had given him the assignment). Singers: Verónica Cangemi, Natasha Tupin, Roberto Saccà, Maurizio Muraro. July 24, 26 and 28.

            "Orfeo ed Euridice", Gluck. C: Arnold Östman. P, SD: Roberto Oswald. Costume designer: Aníbal Lápiz. Singers: Franco Fagioli, Virginia Tola, Paula Almerares.  August 25, 28 and 30. This is the best project of the year and the first time that Orpheus will be sung here by a countertenor.

            "I due Foscari", Verdi. C: Carlos Vieu. P: Mario Pontiggia. The only singer announced is Amparo Navarro. November 29, December 1 and 5.

            As there are no concerts announced with  the Colón Orchestra , they have an extremely light year, although they will also play in one of the ballet programmes.

            The Ballet under Lidia Segni will begin in June with "The Corsair", the Romantic ballet with music by no less than five composers, and choreography (Cr) by Marius Petipa and Konstantin Sergeyev. Dates: 17, 18 and 19.

            No dates or place announced for a triple bill by Mauricio Wajnrot (Cr), two of them with unappealing music (Art of Noise, John Adams), surely recorded, not live. Stravinsky´s "Symphony of Psalms" is the third.

            The Minkus/Prebil "Don Quixote" comes back yet again in October 17, 27 and 31., and in November 1. The final offering will be the Nureyev (Cr) "Nutcracker" (Tchaikovsky) in December 18, 19, 20 and 23.  No conductors and no guest stars are announced for the whole season.

            I have no space for details of the season of the Buenos Aires Philharmonic, but a good point is that Arturo Diemecke remains in charge. Programming is heavily based on homages to composers that are having round-number anniversaries: Händel, F.J.Haydn, Mendelssohn, Albéniz and Villa-Lobos. Of the few premieres I will only mention Martinu´s Oboe Concerto and Arnold´s Concerto for two violins. Conductors: Zsolt Nagy, Neschling, Michael Seal (with Festivales Musicales), Bartholomeus-Henri Van de Velde, Helmuth Rilling (with Festivales),  Yoav Talmi, Alejo Pérez. Only 16 concerts, fewer than last year. Soloists: Boris Giltburg (piano), Anssi Karttunen (cello), Lucas Macías Navarro (oboe), Wenzel Fuchs (clarinet), Radovan Vlatkovic (horn), violinist Elmar Oliveira, pianist Anna Fedorova, several Argentine artists including pianist Nelson Goerner, cellist Eduardo Vassallo and violinist Xavier Inchausti, solo singers , the Colón Chorus (Salvatore Caputo) and the Orfeón (Néstor Andrenacci).

            The CETC starts well with Stockhausen played by Horacio Lavandera (June 18). I´m no fan of John Cage, so I don´t relish the prospect of his "Four Walls" (July 10, 11 and 12). On the other hand, the virtuoso group Les Percussions de Strasbourg will premiere Gérard Grisey´s "Le noir de l´étoile" on August 28 and 29. With music by Marcelo Toledo, "Cantar la Nada" will be presented by the Ensemble Resplandecencias on September 5 and 6. Then the Swiss Trio Flückiger/Läderach/Rütsche will play on September 30. Finally, two Schönberg masterpieces, "Pierrot Lunaire" and "Transfigured Night", will be interpreted by Eliana Bayón and Soloists of the Camerata Bariloche. November 14 and 15.

            Signs of alarm: Gustavo López, Under Secretary General of the Presidency, denounces that García Caffi plans to reduce the total number of personnel from 1242 to 808, which will entail the elimination of vast areas of production and administration and will put in jeopardy the operational capacity of the theatre. Add to this disaster that the veil drawn over the restauration of the theatre is as thick as ever, that Boschet´s plan  hasn´t been disavowed although it was strongly attacked months ago in the papers, that no chronology has been announced for the reopening, that the Colón Chamber Opera has been eliminated,  that the Colón´s workers are demanding negotiations on grave matters of labor structure, that a recent judicial decision has commanded the Executive to pay their salaries to workers going through the retirement process, and things look very complicated indeed.  Reader, blame the authorities in the whole line of command: both Sanguinetti and now García Caffi have implemented  Macri´s guidelines.

For Buenos Aires Herald

Lemper fascinates, the National Symphony impresses

            Ute Lemper is a diva of a special kind. About ten years ago she gave a recital at the enormous Gran Rex and she managed to give it an intimate feeling. Then and know, she was fulfilling what she considers her mission in life, as she stated it at her recent AMIJAI presentation: to keep alive the message of playwright Bertolt Brecht and composer Kurt Weill, the spirit of the Weimar Republic´s "Kabarett". Their high priestess for decades had been Lotte Lenya (Weill´s wife) and  her "Berlin Theater Songs" remains the recording to have as indispensable reference. The harsh cynicism and bittersweet quality of the Brecht-Weill repertoire certainly need the German language and the Berliner accent, even if Lemper defends as an alternative the use of translations.

            Sinuous, lanky and blonde, the now fortyish artist keeps well and is still a formidable exponent of the genre.  Lemper is a deft linguist and feels completely at home singing in French and English, but still she is always at her best in her native German, where her strongly dramatic diction gives sense to every word. She is as much an actress as a singer, and her interspersions of stories between the songs can be very funny, as that of a red boa called Fifi which was around the successive necks –if we are to believe her- of Marlene, Lotte, Thatcher, Helmut Kohl, Eva Perón, Cristina F. de Kirchner, Hillary Clinton and Condoleeza Rice… She even made fun of AMIJAI´s rabbi. But she also got serious and mentioned the Holocaust, her need to sing in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv to atone the sense of collective guilt that Germans still feel.

            Perhaps the audience didn´t care that she juggled the announced programme around in a totally helter-skelter way, eliminated whole authors (such as the admirable Belgian Jacques Brel) and added things such as the two Hava Alberstein songs in Yiddisch, evidently as a homage to the Jewish people that were of course in important number at the packed AMIJAI. They don´t have to review the concert…

            Her voice is rather astonishing. She is a very sophisticated artist and nothing in her sounds spontaneous; she is thus completely different from Lenya´s direct style, which I certainly prefer; her vocal limitations are compensated by raw authenticity. Lemper is influenced both by traditional and cool jazz and by rock; her scats are imaginative and complex, the voice slides with ease into stratospheric heights and then descends to contralto depths. On the other hand, generally in her interpretations,  if she can be sweet and "legato", she falls into excessive raucousness much too often.

            I won´t attempt to establish the exact programme, but Weill dominated with three Brecht pieces both in German and English,  two of Weill´s American creations, the lovely "Speak low" from "A touch of Venus" and that perfect "September Song" from "Knickerbocker Holiday", and the nostalgic "Youkali" in French. From the Dietrich "Fach", two Hollaender items, "Lola" and "Koffer in Berlin", done very differently from the model (Marlene sighed in deep contralto tones, Ute takes flight exuberantly in all directions). Two from Piaf´s songbook: "Milord" and "La vie en rose", "Lemperized" (Piaf was all heart ). The Communist composer Hanns Eisler´s "Ballad of Mary Sander" and a couple of Lemper´s own songs. And I have mentioned the Alberstein pieces.

            She was marvellously accompanied by a topnotch jazz pianist, Werner "Vana" Gierig, who did wonders of his own. The announced guitarist Mark Lambert didn´t appear.

            My other subject is very different: the season of the National Symphony (Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional) has started and it needs an evaluation. Readers know I admire the technical quality and the spirit of this organism, so often battered by the authorities. This year is like 2008, only worse: bad acoustics (the Bolsa de Comercio and the Facultad de Derecho), free, very few premieres (none important), third-line visiting conductors, scarce soloists of importance, no programme notes, unnecessary little concerts here and there, though I count as positive  a short Cuyo tour. Still at the helm will be Principal Conductor Pedro I. Calderón and Assistant Conductor Andrés Spiller, who will  take on about 2/3 of the total amount of concerts.  The National Symphony deserves much, much more, but it won´t have it with this Government and this Secretary of Culture (José Nun).

            Their two initial concerts at the Bolsa on Fridays at 7 p.m. had full, respectful and enthusiastic houses . Programmes were attractive. The  first was conducted by Calderón: it included Beethoven´s Mass in C major (45 minutes), beautiful music rarely heard, with the splendid Coro Nacional de Jóvenes (Néstor Zadoff) and correct soloists: Silvina Sadoly (soprano), Alejandra Malvino (mezzosoprano), Maico Chia I Hsiao (tenor) and Martín Caltabiano (baritone, rather weak in the low notes). The purely decorative Concert Piece op.154 by Saint-Saëns was very nicely played by harpist Lucrecia Jancsa. Finally, four numbers from Mendelssohn´s music for Shakespeare´s "A Midsummer Night´s Dream", ending of course with the Wedding March, rousingly played.

            Spiller offered another great Mendelssohn score, "The First Walpurgis Night", on a strange Goethe text, music of strong character played to the hilt and sung with radiant tone by the Coro Polifónico Nacional (Darío Marchese) with talented work from baritone Alejandro Meerapfel and tenor Ricardo González Dorrego and less involvement by mezzosoprano Laura Domínguez. A powerful rendition of Prokofiev´s masterful Fifth Symphony ended this rewarding concert.

 

For Buenos Aires Herald

           

             

"Carmen" again, and the Juventus Lyrica anniversary

            I can understand that  independent operatic organisations need surefire stuff to ensure adequate box office, and this in part explains the routine programming that often affects our seasons; it is also an indictment of the audiences´ lazy taste. So Fundamús, led by producer Eduardo Casullo, gave us "Carmen" for the umpteenth time, thus starting the whole operatic year. Frankly the prospect didn´t enthuse me. The venue, as usual in recent years for them, was the Avenida, home to most "alternative" opera. And –I´ve said it before and will continue to harp on this point- the small pit is a very limiting factor .

            As both an aesthetic and pragmatic decision (for it cuts costs) Casullo has had resort lately to a production system that gives us projections as main visual attraction, substituting onerous constructions. It can work well, especially when it shows, e.g., big photographs of good resolution of ample landscapes. The controversial point this time was the exclusive use of Picasso pictures chosen by Edgardo Beck from the collections of three museums. The problem here was whether those shown were apposite to the dramatic situation and my verdict is half right and half wrong; at their best they reinforced the plot situations but at their worst they seriously weakened them. Costumes were traditional and rather good (designs by Mariela Daga). Choreographies (by Gabriela Castro Barros) seemed unnecessary in preludes though the three girl dancers were expressive.  Casullo´s indicated stage movements varied between the realistic and intense contrasted with some tradition-bound and rather undramatic groupings.

            I heard the second performance cast. Usually it isn´t Micaela that one remembers but it was so in this case: María Rocío Giordano was crystalline, musical and charming. The seasoned Carmen of Alicia Cecotti was professional enough but unalluring in timbre. Juan Carlos Vasallo sang a stolid though firm Don Jose; as an actor he was a cipher. Alberto Jáuregui Lorda presented a rather aged Escamillo with sufficient means but little flexibility. In the smaller parts I was agreeably surprised by the clarion neatness of Oriana Favaro´s high register. Workmanlike jobs from Verónica Cánaves, Alejandro Di Nardo, Maico Hsiao, Hernán Sánchez Arteaga and Gonzalo Castro Santillán.

            Positive aspects were a clear rendition of the orchestral writing by Roberto Luvini and the ad-hoc players, and enthusiastic work from the young Nuevo Coro de Ópera (Ezequiel Fautario). The Nuevo Coro de Niños (Rosana Bravo) was acceptable but very uneven in age and appearance.

            By and large the semistaged lyrical concert celebrating Juventus Lyrica´s tenth anniversary was enjoyable and at times moving. It was a dicey proposition to combine so many singers in such a variegated mosaic and I can´t say that all the choices of producer Ana D´Anna and conductor Antonio Russo were right, either in regard to repertoire or singers. But many were, sometimes strikingly so, and the spirit of comradeship and love for opera was infectious and empathetic. The venue was also the Avenida.

            The First Part concentrated (with the exception of Rossini´s "Barber of Seville") in what has been the greatest love of D´Anna and Russo during the nine preceding years: the three Mozart Da Ponte comedies and the same composer´s "Magic Flute". "Don Giovanni" had been the starting opera of the company´s trajectory and naturally had  the lion´s share. No less than six fragments, most of them with dramatic continuity, gave a satisfying conspectus, where only some acidity in the high notes of Lara Mauro (Donna Elvira) marred the vocal pleasure derived from some of our best singers: bass-baritone Lucas Debevec-Mayer´s Giovanni, by now a classic, full of innuendo and subtlety; Soledad De la Rosa´s Donna Anna, not ideally dramatic but so well vocalised; Carlos Ullán´s refined Don Ottavio; Sonia Stelman´s delicious Zerlina.  All this had been preceded by an ideal rendition of that marvelous trio from "Così fan tutte", "Soave sia il vento", where De la Rosa, Stelman and Debevec-Mayer did marvels of blend and taste in "pianissimo".

            I wasn´t so happy with "The Magic Flute", where only the Papageno-Papagena duet really worked (Fabián Veloz and Laura Penchi); Stelman was stretched by Pamina´s "Ach, ich fühl´s" and so was Marcela Sotelano in the admittedly terribly difficult aria by the Queen of Night, "Der Hölle Rache" (absurdly sung on a bicycle taken from the production of "Les Contes d´Hoffmann").  But great things were in store: three fragments of "The Barber" where Veloz stunned the audience with a brilliant "Largo al factotum", Ullán and Laura Polverini were quite nice in "Se il mio nome", and all three were fluid and comedic in "Zitti, zitti". Both "The Barber" and Mozart´s "The Marriage of Figaro" are fresh in my memory, for they closed the 2008 season. From "The Marriage" we heard the delightful Cherubino of Cecilia Pastawski ("Voi che sapete"), the stalwart Figaro of Debevec-Mayer ("Non più andrai") and seven singers in the Second Act Finale, ending in a spirited brouhaha.

            The size of the orchestra was too small (16) to be truthful to intense, accented passages, and if this was felt in Mozart and Rossini, it was much worse in later music, even if they played rather well under the careful conducting of Russo. The stagings were mostly right but certain things were overdone (the use of the middle corridor or the jokes with the players) and the clothing concept was inconsistent, at times in good period costumes, veering suddenly into modern tuxedos, or making do Carmen´s dress for the travestied Nicklausse.

            In the Second Part I rule out Verdi´s "Nabucco" chorus, "Va pensiero", sang by the soloists (bad idea) and although Debevec-Mayer sang smoothly, Wolfram´s third act recitative and aria from Wagner´s "Tannhäuser" was out of place, for it wasn´t done (and will never be) by Juventus. No less than ten operas (eleven if you count the encore "Toast" from "La Traviata") and an operetta ("Die Fledermaus") was too much and the contrasts were jarring at times, especially with the  "Carmen" fragments, poorly done by María Luján Mirabelli and Norberto Fernández. The latter was too uneven in the famous "Una furtiva lacrima" from "L´elisir d´amore" by Donizetti; but the composer was meltingly sung by Santiago Bürgi and Polverini in two fragments from "Don Pasquale". Verdi was made proud in the "Rigoletto" Quartet, admirably sung by Fernández, De la Rosa, Fernando Grassi and Mirabelli. I also enjoyed the two pieces from "La Boheme" (Puccini): Musetta´s Waltz with a provocative Penchi and the Third Act final quartet, with Fernández, De la Rosa, Penchi and Grassi. Penchi  was also a fine Adele in "Mein Herr Marquis" from Joh. Strauss II´ "Die Fledermaus". De la Rosa sang with lovely line Tosca´s "Vissi d´arte" (Puccini) and the programme ended with two fragments from the Venice Act of Offenbach´s "Les Contes d´Hoffmann", quite well done by a septet and a small choir. Long life to Juventus Lyrica!

 

For Buenos Aires Herald

           

Juventus Lyrica´s noble project

            Back in 2000 the Colón was still with us, an international house of world renown though not without some unevenness. Important stars still came and brought further lustre to the great theatre´s reputation, as had happened during the preceding decade notwithstanding the chronic labor troubles.  We had become accustomed to the Colón as the sole provider of opera. But two artists had a vision: a private opera company at a smaller theatre, the Avenida, would give their chance to young local singers and would base their offerings on team work. It was the idea of producer Ana D´Anna and conductor Antonio María Russo and they have kept firmly on the same line ever since. They will now offer the tenth consecutive season and it´s time to take stock.

            Of course, "alternative opera", as it came to be called, sprouted other initiatives, both rival and complementary: Buenos Aires Lírica (BAL) is solidly ensconced at the Avenida with a five-opera season, and the same theatre is also the venue for Adelaida Negri´s Casa de la Ópera and for Fundamús, led by Eduardo Casullo (sometimes they work together). If you add to it the annual production of the Compañía de las Luces of Marcelo Birman at the Museo de Arte Decorativo plus other ventures (such as the astonishing feat of Ars Hungarica last year, premiering operas of Haydn and Kodály), you can safely count, without the Colón, on seeing no less than about  fifteen operas with orchestra a year within the boundaries of our Capital. Add –for it´s close by- the efforts of Avellaneda´s Roma, and we get about nineteen! And there are still to be counted the rather numerous operas with piano (particularly at the Manufactura Papelera). And of course, the other great official opera house, La Plata´s Argentino, giving us another half dozen at only an hour of roadway. So, if we admit that the Colón will have a season, we will get this year about thirty operas with orchestra!  Plenty of work for our lyric artists and quite a different situation compared with what prevailed in the period 1990-99.

            All this talk of crisis, but we are offered thirty operas. OK, some are substandard and few can be compared to the Colón, but it is still impressive and reveals a huge appetite for opera, paradoxically blossoming in very difficult times.  But such things happen when enterprising and talented people do their work with intensity, love and hard but positive work. And this is what D´Anna and Russo have done, along with by now a huge number of collaborators. True, there have been some missteps, even grave ones, and one has often wished that more money came in Juventus´  way, for they deserve it and sometimes their restricted means haven´t allowed them to put on as good a production as they surely wanted to. But one also remembers feats such as the very difficult and marvelous Verdi "Falstaff" having a quality production, or the almost perfect "The Medium" (Menotti), or the charm and admirable discipline of last year´s "The Marriage of Figaro".

            This week  their tenth year is celebrated by a staged operatic concert offering a judicious selection of some high points of these seasons that made us get to know so many talented young people, many of them by now fully launched in careers that are no longer promising but full-fledged, in no small way thanks to the admirable musical and theatrical training they got from Juventus.  Yes, I agree with what surely some readers are thinking, that their repertoire is often too hackneyed, but it is unfortunately true that the majority of the public wants the same warhorses again and again. And a private company with no public subsidy can only count for revenues on the sale of tickets, the generous support of sponsors, the always hard-to-obtain ads, eventually on recordings or DVDs. But there´s so much competition for the same pool of money that it is quite difficult to survive.  And that explains the endless "Traviatas" and "Barbers" and "Carmens" or the insistence on the Mozart-Da Ponte trilogy. I really wish they could vary the menu more, and for that to happen it would be enough that each production were sponsored by some tycoon that loves music and  gives money for that only reason. Where oh where are they? On the other hand, why can´t the audience do some homework and be less routine in their tastes?

            But meanwhile new young artists of talent crop up every year, nurtured with companionship and generosity by the guiding hands of mature artists that understand the need to steep them in the great traditions of opera. True, the Avenida´s pit is small and limiting, and there´s far too much Italian repertoire compared to the enormous amount of worthwhile opera that is never offered here, and it is in this sense that I wish our milieu will progress in the future. I also hope that Juventus and  the other groups will spare us some of the ugly, tasteless and utterly wrong productions that we see with dismay, bad imitations of Europe´s worst models.

             But the fact remains: opera is alive and rather well in BA, and today I want to thank Juventus Lyrica for the many rewarding experiences they gave our audiences through the years, with their warmth and solidarity almost always to the fore.

 

For Buenos Aires Herald

 

Questions about the Colón Theatre

As luck would have it, on the very day that the First Part of my article "The Colón disaster" was published Pablo Toledo was signing in the same page "Horacio Sanguinetti resigns". By then I was on the first leg of a trip. A month later I was back and found out that Buenos Aires City Chief of Government Mauricio Macri had announced Sanguinetti´s successor as Director General: Pedro Pablo García Caffi. It´s time now to take stock.
A) Sanguinetti´s reasons. Officially neither he nor Macri gave any explanation, but word of mouth is powerful and all my sources coincide, so I will venture some suggestions. As City functionaries insisted, Macri and Sanguinetti had a meeting prior to the latter´s holiday at Unquillo, Córdoba, and there was agreement on the main lines of the Colón at that point. But a few days later, out of the blue came out Sanguinetti´s letter of resignation, known unorthodoxically through the press, for Macri received it a whole week later! The contents were perfunctory and traditional, mere "personal reasons". Reluctantly interviewed in Córdoba, Sanguinetti was hermetic and merely said that his motivations were no secret to Macri and that it was up to the city´s highest authority to expose them publicly. He also said that after returning to our city he would be willing to have a talk with Macri if the Chief of Government so wanted. As it turned out, this happened the day after García Caffi took up the post, but the communiqué only stated that Macri was grateful for Sanguinetti´s work during 2008 and had thanked him. After that, no more contacts with the Government´s officials, but I was told of some private letters and talks with Colón employees.
It would seem that three factors had bothered Sanguinetti enough to finally offer a resignation which to my mind was a foreseen conclusion, considering the numerous rumors in the previous months and the abundant speculations about his replacement, as I mentioned in the last paragraph of the Second Part of "The Colón disaster". The foremost is the fact, abundantly documented, that Martín Boschet is back at the Colón. In the item "The future" in the mentioned article I wrote about "the silly scandal...of the centenary of Converse" that led to Macri allowing "Sanguinetti to drop Boschet", whom as you may remember was the Colón´s Executive Director, "the PRO´s confidence man" and the real authority at the Colón , thus having "a most unhealthy double command". His return in the shadows, for he has no definite job assigned, shows that he is still protected by the PRO, and this was insulting to Sanguinetti. In fact, Boschet seems to have full access to both SYASA (the management of the building´s restoration) and to the UPE ("Unidad de Proyectos Especiales", named by the Ministry of Urban Development to coordinate matters). Furthermore, he seems to have the support of García Caffi. And this begs a question: in what capacity? A delegate of the Government? For his erstwhile post (Executive Director) is taken by Dr. Emiliani, a labor lawyer designated by Macri.
Two other factors may have influenced Sanguinetti. One, although Macri by the Autarchy Law has the right to name four of the five Directors invented by that bad legal instrument (and he has: García Caffi, Emiliani, and two accountants, Freda and Escobar), a lawyer and two “numbers people” are hardly what the law states, "personalities with a proven cultural trajectory", and in fact the designations could be impugned. Sanguinetti probably thought that as General Director he should have been consulted . And finally, strong hearsay about wholesale discharges of Colón employees; as many as 300 are mentioned. Both Macri and García Caffi have denied it but the very directors Macri chose seem to point to restructuring, and it´s a fact that many have deep apprehensions about their future. I believe Sanguinetti would never agree to a "shrinking Colón", no matter how wrong he may have been on other issues.
B) García Caffi. Although the media generally refer to him as a former member of the Cuarteto Zupay, in fact he has had an important career as a cultural administrator. He was for five years Executive Director of the Buenos Aires Philharmonic, bringing to us such soloists as Itzhak Perlman, Yo Yo Ma and Evgeny Kissin and doing almost complete cycles of Mahler and Bruckner. He has long been the Executive Manager of the Camerata Bariloche, obtaining for them long national and international tours. And finally, he presided over the first season (with international artists) of La Plata´s new Teatro Argentino, until the economic tsunami of 2001 led to the abrupt curtailment of the season; this was a provincial decision. But it was objectionable that the authorities gave no explanation about the subscribers´ money, an eventually it was García Caffi´s successor, Daniel Suárez Marzal, who compensated them with three free performances the following year. García Caffi is effective, knowledgeable and very much a politician with well-oiled contacts (as is his brother Eduardo, who has held a variety of cultural posts). The question is, what are the conditions unknown to the public under which Macri has designated him? Only time will tell. But I would like to point out aspects that to my mind are paramount and urgent.
a) The exact determination of the 2009 season, particularly the operas. I referred to a plan left by Sanguinetti (it was prepared by Mario Perusso) in my above-mentioned article; will it be accepted? I´m told that no contracts were signed. Anyway, either that plan or another has to be put in place with utmost expediency to save the season: the public mood won´t accept another barren year.
b) The coordination with SYASA and UPE of the Colón´s restoration ; the establishment of a strict chronogram (May or August 2010?: the latter date was mentioned by Macri at Davos); the truth about the characteristics of the proposed works (it would seem that Boschet´s ideas are still very much on the table: ¿the VIP Colón shopping?).
c) The clearing up of all doubts concerning the rumors about restructuring, the payment of salaries in due time (many found that their money hadn´t been deposited and at least one wrote a harsh letter about it to Macri).
d) The choosing of the various buildings where the Colón personnel will work this year, for the Colon is off bounds to them, by order of the Ministry of Urban Development.
One important designation was that of Reinaldo Censabella as Musical Director, a post nonexistent in the Autarchy Law. But then, neither is there any mention there of an Artistic Director. It transpired that in fact García Caffi will be both General and Artistic Director. Nothing at all is known about the Philharmonic; it is to be hoped that Arturo Diemecke will be confirmed as their Artistic Director. Neither do we have any news about the Ballet, the Center for Experimentation or the Institute of Art. García Caffi also decided that the personnel will prolong their vacations until late in March, thus gaining time for planning . I do hope we will soon have good news , the theatre and our public sorely need them. He has an initial vote of confidence, let him not waste it. After the "annus horribilis" (2008) we certainly need a better 2009.

For Buenos Aires Herald

The Colón disaster

In the first half of 2008 I wrote several articles about the Colón situation. The last was called "The Colón´s sad centenary" and was written late in June. Long months elapsed as the paralysis went on. I will now synthesize five main subjects: the so-called 2008 "season"; the internal chaos; the building´s restoration; the Autarchy Law; and the plans for 2009.

A) The "season". There was one really positive thing: the Buenos Aires Philharmonic under the aegis of Arturo Diemecke gave us a good panorama of symphonic music and it accomplished the feat of maintaining its original programming both in the artists it presented and in the varied list of worthwhile scores it played at the Coliseo and the Ópera.

There´s another positive fact; the Institute of Art managed to offer at the Teatro 25 de Mayo a praiseworthy presentation of Purcell´s "The Fairy Queen" with students led by Jeffrey Gall.

Nothing else was unblemished, apart from the "original sin" of the year: no opera season. Small chamber operas don´t begin to compensate for the loss of the big ones, although they can be an agreeable complement; but the year of the Colón Chamber Opera was very poor in quantity and quality. The Center for Experimentation (CETC) had just one bright moment: Marta Lambertini´s "¡Cenicientaaaa!". The Chorus spent long weeks inactive, and similarly the Colón Orchestra, whose conductor Carlos Vieu resigned with a strong letter of solidarity with the organism mentioning a list of working conditions that hadn´t been met by the authorities. Sporadic valuable concerts (Decker, Corboz) don´t make a year.

The Ballet had a sad time; a first half under Guido De Benedetti was marked by dire shortages (no money available for slippers or for a dancing floor needed to level rough spots) and wholesale eliminations of programmed pieces. After fighting with Executive Director Martín Boschet, De Benedetti was replaced by a team made up of Olga Ferri and Jorge Amarante. Their luck wasn´t much better and after several mishaps the year was topped by the cancellation of all activities (not just the Ballet) in December due to an administrative snafu.

Uneven chamber concerts at unrepresentative venues in the Capital ( I single out something positive though hardly characteristic of a lyric theatre, a Franck series of organ music in various churches), a much heralded but to my mind unconvincing "federal Colón" (a "Traviata" in San Luis and some other things in the provinces), a total lack of activity at the "Salón Dorado" after the wrong-headed concert on May 25 although the hall was workable (ditto for the CETC´s theoretically restored premises), complete the lopsidedly grim panorama of what was the centenary year of the great institution.

B) The internal chaos. Boschet was planted at the Colón as far back as May 2007; he was the PRO´s confidence man and one of the factors in Ignacio Liprandi´s downfall as prospective Minister of Culture. When Horacio Sanguinetti, already in trouble due to rash statements to the press, took charge as Director General in December 2007, he had to accept the presence of Boschet as Executive Director (he shouldn´t have). From then on, there was a most unhealthy double command. In the traditional and time-proved organizational matrix, the Colón had a General Director, an Artistic Director, and Directors handling the Administrative and the Technical sides. The General Director had veto power and was the last instance; and he depended in the chain of command from the Culture Secretary (now Minister). In the current Colón crazy scheme, there were two Co-Directors and no Artistic Director, and Sanguinetti depended on Chief of Government Mauricio Macri himself, not on Hernán Lombardi (Minister of Culture) or on his Secretary of Cultural Management ("Gestión Cultural"), Pablo Batalla. Good riddance, you might think, for the idea of a dependence on Batalla, a notoriously controversial ex Executive Director of the Colón who shouldn´t have have had a post in Macri´s Cultural scheme, was certainly worrying. But in fact Macri, his Vice Chief Gabriela Michetti and his Cabinet Chief Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, supervising .Sanguinetti and/or Boschet, proved that none of this quintet understood the way a great lyric theatre functioned, and the whole year become a comedy of errors with the exceptions above mentioned (delegation on capable people like Diemecke and the Institute´s Director Ana Massone certainly was a good thing).

Now and then, out of the murky internal panorama, some matters became unavoidably public: the resignations around June-July of Vieu, De Benedetti and Irene Amerio (who held the important role of Director of Studies, the person who coordinates the artistic affairs of the theatre), the complaints published in the press, the very poor repercussion of the centenary´s celebrations, the cumulative anguish and rage of the employees, the lack of clarity in all communications and its effect on public opinion. The constant difficulties provoked by a completely dispersed Colón rehearsing or working in uncomfortable or inadequate buildings, the cancelled performances, the public statements of such beloved conductors as Daniel Barenboim and Franz-Paul Decker deploring the current state of the Colón. And two matters that kept on being delayed week after week and were both crucial: the whole sorry affair of the old and the new Master Plans and the ugly manipulations surrounding the project of the Autarchy Law, undergoing constant reworkings.

C) The building´s restoration. Chief of Government Mauricio Macri was informed of the characteristics and advancement of the Master Plan (MP) as early as May-June 2007. When he won the elections he had a crucial interview with the then Chief Jorge Telerman, who along with the Minister of Culture Silvia Fajre had always promoted the MP. It transpired that Macri had asked Telerman to cut down the heavy City deficit in the long six-month transition until Macri took over in December, and newspapers informed that restorations in progress wouldn´t be affected, but it turned out to be untrue. Indeed, from July on work at the Colón was progressively paralyzed. When Macri denounced in February 2008 the stopping of the reforms he was being disingenuous.
Apart from matters of finance, there had been strong attacks on the modifications and telltale photographs were published; some of the worse aspects were avoided through the resolute action of people such as the patrimony specialist Fabio Grementieri or the Colón photographer and ATE labor leader Máximo Parpagnoli. But Macri confirmed Architect Sonia Terreno as Director of the MP and decided not to investigate.
Things got much more complicated. Macri decided to change “supervisor” and switched control of the MP from the Ministry of Culture to the Ministry of Urban Development (“Desarrollo Urbano”), which meant an executional delay of several months. But he also decided to call a bid for the management of the MP; this was won in June 2008 by SYASA (Seminario and Sons); the terms of the bid call for severe sanctions if the main work isn´t finished by December 2009. But SYASA couldn´t control a basic factor: the interruptions during the second half of 2007 had left the City with a big debt owed to the main Spanish concerns that had won the bids years ago , San José and Dycasa. It took until late September 2008 to reach an agreement and liberate the funds allowing the work to resume. Which it did, though rather slowly.
Further complications: not content with having the MP controlled by SYASA, the Ministry for Urban Affairs invented an Unidad de Proyectos Especiales (UPE) to control SYASA! But Minister Daniel Chaín still said that the Ministry didn´t decide what had to be done, that supposedly it was the Colón´s authorities that provided the requirements. And Executive Director Martín Boschet presented a plan to SYASA that put heavy emphasis on VIP venues, gift shops and tea rooms whilst neglecting spaces for production. When published by La Nación, it was promptly disclaimed by Chaín and Colón General Director Horacio Sanguinetti, both insisting that the Colón´s traditional vocation wouldn´t be altered. But many employees thought otherwise and believed that there were signs of a drastic orientation change toward a multiuse Colón with much less integrated production and reduced personnel. At the present time we still don´t know (and neither does the Legislature) exactly what plan has been accepted and is being put into execution by SYASA and the MP.
Damage control is being tried through an ad-honorem Commission of Notables, two from the Colón (Roberto Oswald and Mario Perusso) and two from cultural life (Architect Alberto Bellucci, Director of the Museum of Applied Arts, and Gisela Timmermann, Executive Director of the Mozarteum Argentino); the names are irreproachable and one hopes they will be able to put some order in this mess. On the other hand, an internal commission named by Sanguinetti and integrated by technicians of the theatre has had no chance to act and they have even been forbidden to enter the Colón by the Ministry! In fact, the annual holidays have arrived for the Colón´s personnel, so the problem will be when they come back in the middle of February; theoretically they should be assigned to different buildings all over the capital but won´t be allowed to work at the Colón itself, wholly taken over by SYASA and the MP. And there are denunciations that no inventories have been made and that patrimony may disappear.
D) After half a dozen versions and endless controversy , the Autarchy Law so urgently demanded by Sanguinetti finally passed, when a definitive text incorporated a Board of Directors of five members instead of the twin Directors we had during most of 2008. This change convinced the leading members of the Frente para la Victoria (“Kirchnerista”) and the Coalición Cívica (Carrió) to vote with PRO , whilst others protested to no avail (Patricia Walsh, Néstor Ibarra, etc.) against what they felt were gross mistakes; the law passed with a big majority. Among many other dangerous or wrong dispositions I single out: a) The five-member Board, which surely dilutes authority; b) The Board lasts as long as the Chief of Government (this is autarchy??); c) Many windows are opened to let the Colón drift out of its main vocation; d) The Law only insures that salaries will be paid by the City, but all the rest must be obtained by the Colón: it will be reduced to a second-rate theatre, for in this devalued country only the Government can dispose of enough money to pay for the international artists and productions that make a great opera house. Just one good point: the elimination of the so-called “cuenta única” that didn´t allow multi-year contracts.
E) The future. A silly scandal allowed Sanguinetti to get rid of Boschet, for it was exposed in La Nación that the latter had allowed the celebration of the centenary of Converse, the brand of sport footwear, at the CETC (Center for Experimentation) featuring one of the Ramones, a famous punk rock band. There have been flagrant attacks against the Colón´s vocation in earlier years (the A.N.I.M.A.L. rock group, Cerati, etc.) but somehow this struck a public nerve and Macri allowed Sanguinetti to drop Boschet. Anyway it was for a short time, due to the new Board of Directors allowed by the Autarchy Law; but when the members were known, it came out that one is a labor lawyer and two are accountants; hardly people “with a known trajectory in the arts” as is specified in the Law… The first member is of course Sanguinetti, and the fifth is supposed to be a technician of the Colón, but an internal election had no quorum, so there are four named directors, not the required five.
Finally Sanguinetti decided to present a restricted opera season in 2009 at the Coliseo, the same theatre that he had discarded in 2008; he now says that the financial conditions of the agreement are much more reasonable. Five operatic titles is certainly little, but at least there is a season. The biggest event will be Wagner´s “Parsifal”. Two rather small operas will hardly take advantage of the Coliseo´s big pit: Mozart´s “The Abduction from the Seraglio” and Gluck´s “Orfeo ed Euridice”. A standard Verdi, “Rigoletto”. And a double bill with Dallapiccola´s “Volo di Notte” and Puccini´s “Suor Angelica”. No details about singers yet.
Various rumors have circulated about replacing Sanguinetti, even mentioning Plácido Domingo, but the Colón is in such a parlous condition that the 2009 season will surely be a thankless task for whoever holds the helm. Time will tell.

For Buenos Aires Herald

A varied musical roundup (II)

This is the second and final instalment of the season´s musical roundup. I will start with two concerts of the Pilar Golf cycle, certainly the most important of what might be called "the countries area". Argentine soprano Carla Filipcic Holm spent a year in Germany with various engagements but she also took special courses on the interpretation of the German Lied. It certainly showed in her splendid all-Schubert recital with a common theme: specifically songs for women. Although she missed the opportunity of doing short groups with the same heroine, her programme was very attractive, and if some pieces are very well-known, others were almost novelties: "Iphigenia", "Daphne am Bach". The soprano sang everything with exquisite phrasing and lovely voice, and she was partnered with great sensitivity and accuracy by Diana Schneider.

"The legacy of Cremona" was in principle a good idea: a group of local players had at their disposal splendid instruments made in that city for the collection of Carlos Pedro Blaquier, following the techniques that have long distinguished that city of "luthiers": models of Stradivarius, Guarneri, Montagnana and Landolfi. Unfortunately someone programmed the Brahms Piano Quintet with a poor pianist, Eduardo Páez; with his mistakes and lack of style he apparently disconcerted the string instrumentalists, who sounded under-the-note and murky. Things turned much for the better with the original and lovely Dvorák Quintet for strings with double-bass op.77; a rarely played work was given its reasonable due and some of the lustre and quality of the instruments could be appreciated. The artists were Pablo Saraví and Hernán Briático (violins), Verónica D´Amore (viola), Siro Bellisomi (cello) and Luis Tauriello (double bass).

The Midday Concerts of the Mozarteum at the Gran Rex provided some nice surprises. The Ensemble Musica Viva is made up of Argentine players living in France: Mónica Taragano (flute), Pablo Márquez (guitar) and Ezequiel Spucches (piano). They were joined by the French cellist Johanne Mathaly and the Argentine violinist residing here Elías Gurevich in an out-of-the-trodden-way programme: the very pleasant Sonata op.48 for flute and piano by our seminal composer Alberto Williams, valuable music by the great Brazilian Villa-Lobos (Two chôros for violin and cello and the Guitar studies Nº 10, 11 and 12), "Al declinar el día" by the Argentine Gustavo Beytelmann (1945-) and "Tango que yo ví bailar" by the French composer Thierry Pécou (1965-). All of this provided varied and attractive textures and the instrumentalists were first-rate.

In the same cycle it was a real pleasure to hear the Austrian Minetti Quartet (Maria Ehmer and Anna Knopp, violin; Markus Huber, viola; and Leonhard Roczek, cello). They offered two substantial scores (Berg´s Quartet op. 3 and Schubert´s Quartet Nº 14, "Death and the Maiden") in well-considered readings, as befits disciples of the Berg Quartet. Young, concentrated and proficient, they should have a fine career.

Their season closed with the debut of the important Coro de la Comunidad de Madrid, very well conducted by Jordi Casas Bayer. There were only three "foreigners" in their programme: Rossini with his funny "Carnevale di Venezia", Fauré´s refined "Cantique de Jean Racine" and our Guastavino´s "Gala del día". And just one piece of the great Renaissance Spanish repertoire: F. Guerrero´s "Niño Dios de amor herido". Two fine composers of their country were represented with well-wrought and inspired pieces: Rodolfo Halffter by his "Three epitaphs" (for Don Quixote, Dulcinea and Sancho Panza) and X. Montsalvatge by two of his "Canciones negras". The rest was an exhilarating zarzuela recital, with pieces by Barbieri, Giménez, Bretón, Chueca, Vives, Alonso and Sorozábal done in authentic style.

A lute recital is a rare occasion; although the instrument has a big repertoire, little of it is played. The Museo Larreta is an adequate venue and the Argentine player Evangelina Mascardi, who lives in Europe, gave an illustrative cross-section of tasteful and charming music: Charles Mouton´s "Pieces in A major, a contemporary of J.S. Bach, Sylvius Leopold Weiss ("Suite in G major", "Tombeau sur la mort de M. le Comte de Logy") and by Bach himself ("Prelude, Fugue and Allegro", BWV 998). Except in the Allegro of the Bach score, her interpretations were clean and in style. This was a session of the Bach Academy.

Víctor Torres is undoubtedly our best chamber baritone and he is always looking for interesting and neglected music. He certainly found two lovely British cycles for his recital at the Auditorio Borges of the National Library in the series "La Scala fuera de La Scala": the "Songs and proverbs by William Blake", a mature Benjamin Britten; and Ralph Vaughan Williams´ "Songs of travel" on texts by R.L. Stevenson. With fine English diction and his ingrained musicality, the artist gave an object lesson of insightful interpretation and was well abetted by the talented pianist Haydée Schvartz.

The intelligent soprano Soledad de la Rosa also gave an impressive recital of British music but with guitar, well played by Guillermo Gutkin. This was at the Salón Anasagasti of the Jockey Club and for Ars Nobilis. The First Part was dedicated to the Baroque with three great composers: John Dowland, Henry Purcell and George Frideric Handel. Britten took the Second Part with his "Songs from the Chinese" and some of his imaginative arrangements of English popular songs. The singer´s wonted musicality and complete professionalism were constantly in evidence, as well as careful diction. And thus I lay down my pen.

For Buenos Aires Herald

A varied musical roundup (I)

In tight synthesis I will try in two final articles to bring to an end the classical music reviewing of last season.

Ending the Cycle of Contemporary Music prepared by the Teatro San Martín, and after a delay of a week caused by a blackout, there was a homage to Stravinsky with a 1917 work (hardly contemporary) that defies classification: "L´histoire du soldat" ("The soldier´s tale"), a Russian folk tale adapted in French by Charles Ramuz but offered in Spanish translation by Marcelo Lombardero at the Teatro de la Ribera. The composer wanted a stage piece that could travel easily from city to city in Switzerland and be cheap, due to the straitened economic circumstances of World War I (that country was neutral). The music is concise, rhythmic, polytonal, whilst the tale of a soldier duped by the Devil seems rather weak by now. The seven players under Santiago Santero were correct but too manicured for the score´s raw power. Lombardero both produced and played a cynical, sarcastic Devil; Claudio Gallardou was an agreeable Soldier and Héctor Calori a good Narrator; Laura Aguerreberry (Princess) was given too little to dance or mime. The production used projections in excess, some of them incongruous.

In 1934 Claudia Muzio had a great success at the Colón when she premiered Licinio Refice´s "Cecilia". We had to wait until late in 2008 to see a revival of this sacred opera based on Saint Cecilia´s martyrdom (called the Patroness of musicians, in fact her story has little to do with music). On a poor libretto by Emidio Mucci, the composer wrote a post-verista opera that is impersonal though pleasant enough to hear. Adelaida Negri´s Casa de la Ópera put it on at the Avenida with the soprano as the protagonist, a part that suits her better than others at this stage of her career. The Brazilian tenor Miguel Geraldi made a fine debut as her husband, Valeriano. Roberto Falcone was forceful as Amachio, María Laura Martorell fragile but appealing as the Angel, Mariela Barzola rather shaky as the Old Blind Woman and Sebastián Sorarrain a good Tiburzio. The production and stage designs by Alejandro Atías were too kitschy for my taste, I preferred the costumes by Mariela Daga. Giorgio Paganini led a convincing performance and the choirs were good enough.

"¡Oh, el amor, el amor…!", music and libretto by Valdo Sciammarella, was premiered by the Colón Chamber Opera at the Teatro SHA. It lasts just half an hour, so it was rather absurd to offer it alone. The work is certainly inferior to the same author´s charming Peruvian Colonial story "Marianita limeña" but is well written in a moderate language. It tells an amoral true story: in 1909 a man who had made love to a widow and her two daughters was absolved because he maintained them! The subject is treated with light sarcasm and touches of grotesque. Well conducted by Bruno D´Astoli and produced by a good team that provided fun and clear narration (Ximena Belgrano Rawson, producer; Víctor de Pilla, production design; Alicia Gumá, dress design; Mauricio Rinaldi, lighting), it also had a good cast: Vanesa Tomas, Laura Penchi, Silvina Martino, Mirko Tomas, Rocío Arbizu, Fermín Prieto, Juan Barrile and Alejandro Di Nardo.

The CETC (the Colón´s Center for Experimentation) had a very poor season apart from the premiere of Marta Lambertini´s "¡Cenicientaaa!" (about which I wrote some months ago). A rather strange venue, the Sala Villa Villa of the Centro Cultural Recoleta, was the ambience chosen for a programme of music by Martín Matalón, an Argentine who lives in Europe and wrote the music for the restored version of Fritz Lang´s film "Metropolis". His music is long in timbric resources and short in substance. First we heard three pieces called "Traces": No. I for cello (Martín Devoto), No. VI for flute (Patricia Da Dalt, excellent), No. 4 for marimba (Angel Frette, very good), all with added electronics. The main piece was "Monedas de hierro", for ten players and electronics, in eight parts totalling 14 minutes; its succinctness was telling, for the material was interesting enough as sonorities but wouldn´t have sustained a longer span.

The Czech Center organised an agreeable concert at the "Microcine" of the Centro Cultural Recoleta, rather dry in acoustics but bigger than "micro". Two scores were original for wind quintet: Antonín Rejcha´s Quintet op. 88 Nº 2, a good exponent of early Romanticism, and the Small Serenade by Jaroslav Zich (1912-2001), a pleasant Neoclassical score. The others were arrangements for the same combination of flute (Raúl Becerra), oboe (David Bortolus), clarinet (Luis Slabý), bassoon (María Marta Ferreyra) and horn (Carlos Hussain): two fragments from "Along an overgrown path" (original for piano) by Janácek and a curious transcription by David Walter of the famous Dvorák String Quartet op. 96, "American". Very proficient playing.

"Music in singular" is a cycle of modern music structured by Gerardo Gandini. I heard only one of the five concerts offered at the Auditorio Borges of the National Library and it proved very worthwhile. Pianist Haydée Schvartz and violinist David Núñez played with high quality a difficult and rewarding programme: two scores by György Kurtág ("Eight duos op.4" and "Three pieces op.14e"), the fascinating "Musica ricercata" by György Ligeti (11 pieces), the adventurous "Sequenza VIII" for solo violin by Luciano Berio, the five subtle "Studies" (1990) by Gandini and Ravel´s 1927 Sonata.

For Buenos Aires Herald

The hard ways of modern music

The music of the twentieth century has undergone innumerable changes of style. After World War II creative richness began to suffer from an increasing anomie, as if the dialectic of the history of music had come to a dead end, and such false alternatives as conceptualism, minimalism and extreme Dadaism took over. What has happened so far in the twenty-first century certainly gives the future little hope.

I will refer now to the Cycle of Contemporary Music presented by the Teatro San Martín in diverse venues, a total of 14 sessions, some of them staged. As has happened since its inception twelve years ago, the programmer Martín Bauer stresses the avant-garde and experimentation, so that it isn´t a balanced view of what is being or has been written. This year though there was a homage to Stravinsky with his 1917 "The Soldier´s Tale". I will only comment on those sessions I attended, the others either collided with other events which I felt were more important or quite simply I decided they were too far out.

The initial concert was played in memory of the recent death of the influential German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen by the German Ensemble Recherche (debut) at what seems to me an ideal place, the Sala Casacuberta of the San Martín, a warm hemicycle of fine acoustics. It was an all-German programme which included works by Stockhausen, Helmut Lachenmann and Mauricio Kagel (who also died last year and was born in Argentina). In the Fifties Stockhausen innovated with indetermination (aleatoric music) and electronic music (now called electroacoustic). Later on he leaned toward mysticism of a kind in his immense project "Licht" ("Light"). Between 1952 and 1984 he wrote 14 "Klavierstücke" ("Pieces for keyboard") where he explored a vast gamut of sonorities. The curiously denominated "Nº4 Klavierstück X" (does it mean that we heard the fourth section of a bigger work?) lasts all of 27 minutes, dates from 1954-5, revised in 1961, and is an exhaustive and exhausting sampler of clusters and resonances, brilliantly played in this concert by Klaus Steffes-Holländer.

I found Stockhausen´s "7.Stunde aus Klang: Balance" ("7^th hour from Sound: Equilibrium") much more concise (13 minutes) and convincing, with a fine ear for timbric combinations (flute: Martin Fahlenbock; Jaime González, English horn; Shizuyo Oka, clarinet). Helmut Lachenmann´s "Fluid Trio" seemed rather too hermetic; clarinet, viola (Barbara Maurer) and percussion (Christian Dierstein). Kagel´s "MM51" was added to the programme; playfully Dada, it features metronome and laughing. Fine execution all around.

I missed deliberately both concerts by Joan La Barbara (Feldman, Subotnick); I was sorry to miss Messiaen´s "La Nativité du Seigneur" by organist Theo Brandmüller; I couldn´t hear the two concerts by the French ensemble L´instant donné, featuring specially Gérard Pesson, Sciarrino and Castiglioni.

The premiere of Iannis Xenakis´ "Oresteïa" (1967-87-92) proved to be a major event. An adaptation of Aeschylus´ trilogy on the Atreidaes, this opera for baritone, mixed choir and chamber ensemble uses appropriately stark sonorities particularly interesting in the choral and percussion writing. The baritone not only sings in his normal voice the Presence of Agamemnon and the Presence of Apollo but also, in anguished and sustained falsetto, the prophecies of Cassandra, the Voice of Pallas Athene and two coryphaei. Florian Just coped well with his arduous task. The Grupo Vocal de Difusión led by Mariano Moruja gave expression and accuracy to the choral fragments. Alejo Pérez was the excellent conductor of 13 first-rate players. The down side was Carlos Trunsky´s production, wrongly tilted to extravagant and confusing choreography instead of powerful miming, but three of the dancers were admirable: Leandro Tolosa (Orestes), Victoria Hidalgo (Electra) and Laura Cuchetti (Clitemnestra). Edgardo Trabalón was weak as the Presence of Aegisthus. I didn´t enjoy Marta Albertinazzi´s concepts as stage and costume designer.

Garth Knox is a marvellous violist, fully committed to the avant-garde. The First Part of his concert gave us two unconvincing works, although Giorg Friedrich Hass´ "Solo" had the interest of letting us hear the sound of the viola d´amore; the other was Feldman´s "The viola in my life", where Knox was accompanied by pianist Lucas Urdampilleta. A good deal more attractive was the English composer George Benjamin´s "Viola-viola" for viol and viola d´amore, with fine textural combinations; Knox was complemented very well by Mariano Malamud, who played the viol.

But the main point of the concert were the three scores by Gérard Grisey (1946-98), principal exponent of "spectral music". After a "Prologue" for solo viola, there was a chamber piece called "Periods" (seven players) and finally a truly rich and varied score, "Partials", with no less than 17 players well led by Santiago Santero.

A change of venue: an homage to Marcel Duchamp at Fundación Proa (La Boca), but as a composer! He seems to have been the first to discover chance as a possibility, long before aleatoric music became trendy. I was interested by the first two pieces ("Erratum musical" for three voices, and "La Mariée mise à nu par ses célibataires même", where Czech flutist Petr Kotik showed himself a virtuoso) and bored by "Sculpture musicale". Apart from the well-known "Density 21.5" for solo flute by Varèse, the rest was a total loss: John Cage ("Five" and "Fontana mix") and Steve Reich ("Pendulum music").

I have no space here for the concluding "Soldier´s tale", I will write about it soon.

For Buenos Aires Herald

"The tales of Hoffmann" , Offenbach at his best

            Labor conflicts are the bane of official theatres. In the last couple of years the Colón, the Cervantes, the San Martín and the Argentino of La Plata have had several episodes of varying gravity. I have enough experience on the subject to state that truth isn´t unilateral, but in most cases it is the fault of functionaries, although some protests go beyond logical bounds. Recently the Argentino cancelled Verdi´s "Nabucco" at the last moment  because the Chorus declared it was in assembly during rehearsals as a reaction against unfulfilled commitments from the authorities; they had signed agreements earlier in the year to ameliorate working conditions and they hadn´t honoured them. Most of the other employees of the theatre had expressed their solidarity with the chorus. After tense weeks an interim solution was arrived at, and the otherwise successful season could resume with the closing opera, Offenbach´s "Les Contes d´Hoffmann".  I heard the fourth and last performance, where there was a clear indication that all was not well, for a member of the chorus read a communiqué announced that the show would go on as a sign of respect for the audience, but that the conflict wasn´t solved.

            A few days later it became known that the commanding team was resigning: Fernando Di Rito, General Administrator, and Reinaldo Censabella, Artistic Director. And shortly after the ex General Director of the Colón, Leandro Iglesias, took Di Rito´s post. It was further announced that in March Marcelo Lombardero would take over from Censabella, though he will maintain his predecessor´s plans for 2009 (published in the hand programme of "Hoffmann" and featuring the first ever R. Strauss at La Plata, "Salome"). So the team that led the Colón in 2006-7 will be at the helm in what is now Argentina´s most important functioning opera house, with its imposing new 2.200-capacity main theatre. I hope they find a way of solving the labor troubles before the start of the season, otherwise the phantom of cancellation will rise again.

            Offenbach´s only opera is the culmination of his career, mainly as the writer and almost the creator of French operetta. One of the most interesting operas of the French repertoire, it shows unlimited freshness of inspiration and is based on the extravagant loves of Hoffmann, with the audacity of putting the famous author of fantastic tales as the protagonist. The libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré is structured as a prologue, three acts and an epilogue, and it features a devilish character under four different guises, always Hoffmann´s nemesis.

            Death took the composer before he could put the final touches on his score, so it was lightly revised and completed by Ernest Guiraud as an "opéra-comique", with spoken parts; it was later adapted as straight opera with very few spoken bits surviving. There remain some moot points concerning  details of the Prologue and the Epilogue and the order of the three acts. The Argentino´s production placed the Venice Act as the Third, when habitually that place is held by the Munich act with Antonia; it makes better sense of the reprise of the Barcarolle in the Interlude before the Epilogue, but Antonia´s act is musically longer and better.

            There were two casts combined irregularly in the four performances; I´m commenting the one I heard. Hoffmann is an immense part, present almost throughout the 160 minutes the opera lasts. It needs stamina, expansion, lyricism, good French and acting. Marcelo Puente did lack a more penetrating voice of considerable volume, but otherwise fulfilled all requirements; he is pleasant, personable, professional  and agile.

            Although Cuban bass-barytone Homero Pérez Miranda has been often cast locally in a variety of important roles, I don´t find his voice ingratiating ; it is gritty and too backward in projection. But he is intelligent and a good actor, so he knew how to differentiate between his four villains; he was at his best as Coppélius.

            Two of the ladies were outstanding. Laura Rizzo has sung with success Olympia the doll at the Colón and in Paris; she was again brilliant in the florid singing and the interpretation was very funny with well-imagined mechanical movements and some musical innovations. Soledad de la Rosa sang with crystalline timbre and perfect line as Antonia . Of the others I especially liked Mario De Salvo as Crespel, Antonia´s father, and Vanesa Mautner as Hoffmann´s "mentor" Nicklausse. In the picture Gabriel Centeno in three of the four characteristic tenor parts (good in his operettish Franz), Alicia Cecotti as the courtesan Giulietta, Sebastián Sorarrain as her lover and Alicia Alduncin as the Voice of the Mother (Centeno was weak as Spalanzani, terrible French). The voice of the Muse (María Rosa Hourbeigt, spoken role) was badly recorded, almost inaudible.

            The veteran Uruguayan conductor Federico García Vigil did a workmanlike job, keeping things reasonably together and with correct tempi, but his orchestra lacked animation and color, though the playing in itself was good. The Chorus under Sergio Giai got into the spirit of the opera and sang accurately.

            The production by Carlos Palacios was a strange mixture of positive imagination with wrongheadedness and kitschy taste, with such absurdities as substituting Antonia´s claustrophobic room by the open air with the tomb of her mother. A pity for there were production values in the stage designs of Nicolás Boni and some of the costumes by Mariano Toffi.

For Buenos Aires Herald

 

               

           

Adventurous choral music

            Recent weeks have given us a wealth of offbeat choral music with two high points: the revival after decades of negligence of two valuable twentieth-century scores: Arthur Honegger´s "Le Roi David" ("King David") and Benjamin Britten´s "Saint Nicolas".

            I have cherished Honegger´s symphonic psalm  ever since I first heard it live conducted by Albert Wolff in 1953. In 1956 I bought the version conducted by the composer; since then I obtained Leopold Hager´s excellent CD and heard it twice more in concert; but now it has been absent for almost three decades. It was high time for the audience to renew its acquaintance with this masterpiece written in 1921 when the composer was 29. Based on a drama by René Morax, it was initially conceived as a biblical drama or sacred opera but was soon transformed into an oratorio. There were two versions: the first had an orchestra of 23 player according to Zadoff´s notes, but the composer in his recording says they were 17; the second, a full orchestra. I had always heard the latter, but Néstor Zadoff, the conductor of this revival, chose the former and it was very interesting, although he further reduced the 23 or 17 to only 14, combining winds with percussion, alternated piano and organ and only two strings, cello and bass. The sound was stringent and salutary, providing quite enough support to the big (84-strong) veteran but fine-sounding Grupo Coral Divertimento. I take exception to the cuts Zadoff made, for after so much time we were entitled to hear the whole thing, and anyway it isn´t long; it lasted almost an hour with Zadoff, it lasts 66 minutes with Hager and no less than  79 with the composer conducting! Practical reasons may have led to the elimination of the contralto´s song of the handmaiden, but he also cut  the choral Song of Praise and the psalm "In my distress". Nevertheless I hugely enjoyed the occasion, especially in the biggest number, the Dance before the Ark, which builds to a grandiose climax, and the final alleluias of pure "Bachian" beauty.

 The choral and orchestral interpretation was very convincing. The Narrator (an innovation) was the excellent Augusto Morales, quite expressive and with perfect French diction. The very correct though not intense enough tenor was Ricardo González Dorrego, and soprano Rebeca Nomberto recovered from a weak start and went on to well-voiced melismas. The Witch of Endor was voiced with raucous, agonic projection by María Rosa Chiaravalloti.  

I was present at the premiere of "Saint Nicolas" in our city: it was offered in 1954 by that wonderful institution, the Asociación de Conciertos de Cámara, conducted by Washington Castro. Since then I´ve been hoping for its revival (if there was one I missed it). It is a 50-minute cantata written in 1948 on the life of Saint Nicolas, converted later into Santa Claus, with an adequate text concocted by Eric Crozier. It assembles a mixed choir, a children´s choir and a chamber orchestra reinforced with organ and four-hand piano. Britten´s music is admirably fresh and varied, of course tonal, and it shows again his empathy with the sound of children. Premiered (and recorded) at the Aldeburgh Festival with Peter Pears as Saint Nicolas, it is  the recording to have.   

There were three performances in diverse venues; I heard the third at the church of Saint Ignatius, the oldest in BA. The subway strike and one of the habitual protests at the nearby Plaza 25 de Mayo led to an unconscionable delay of 70 minutes, but there was also bad planning: the local priest was still saying mass at 8,15 p.m. when the concert was announced at 8 p.m… Nevertheless I enjoyed this reencounter after so many years, for the combined Coro Polifónico Nacional (Roberto Luvini) and Coro Nacional de Niños (Vilma Gorini de Teseo) were quite good (the kids a bit overwhelmed in sound by the adults)  and the competent ad-hoc orchestra (18-strong) were all led by Luvini with a clear hand . The weak link was tenor Pablo Travaglino, who doesn´t have the means for such a exposed part, although he read the music accurately.

Now to famous waters with Joseph Haydn´s mighty oratorio "The Creation" ("Die Schöpfung") offered at the Facultad de Derecho by Pedro Calderón leading the Coro Polifónico Nacional (Luvini) and the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional, both in fine shape. The three Archangels were sung superbly by Soledad de la Rosa (Gabriel) and quite well by González Dorrego (Uriel) and Marcos Nicastro (Raphael), and in the last part Norberto Marcos was a fine Adam and Silvina Sadoly a well-sung but rather pale Eva. Calderón showed again his versatility and conducted with  command.

It was nice meeting Juan Pedro Esnaola´s 1826 Mass for four voices. The score was found by Juan Florentino La Moglie and transcribed by Norberto Broggini and this was the premiere of this pioneer Argentine sacred score written in the Italian style at only 18-years- old.  As the Mass is incomplete they added a Benedictus from his still earlier Requiem  and in place of the Agnus Dei the motet "Agnus innocens". All the interpreters were good, though soprano Elena López Jáuregui and tenor Carlos Ullán were more sonorous than tenor Pablo Pollitzer and bass Walter Schwarz. La Moglie conducted with professional acumen the Cappella Vocale and the Orchestra "Proyecto Esnaola". The venue was the very full Cathedral.

 

For Buenos Aires Herald

                                                                                            

 

The everlasting magic of Mozartian opera

One of the main trends of the last thirty years has been the steady increase of Mozartian opera. In particular the Da Ponte trilogy and "The Magic Flute" have become quite as popular as "La Boheme" or "La Traviata". I believe this has to do with many factors: the eternal appeal of the composer´s music; his uncanny psychological penetration; the excellence of Da Ponte´s libretti who make for excellent theatre; the high degree of professionalism and training of contemporary singers; the historicist tendencies; the relative lower cost of stagings as compared to full-scale operas.

It doesn´t mean, however, that the world of Mozartian opera is free from the current plague of preposterous productions. The most recent batch, however, has avoided the worst pitfalls, especially the transposition in time to the present or the gross lapses into obscenity.

Buenos Aires Lírica (BAL) has given us "Don Giovanni" and Juventus Lyrica (JL) "The Marriage of Figaro" ("Le nozze di Figaro"), both at the Avenida. There were good points in both, though I incline to the latter for the best all-round effort.

In BAL there was one crucial casting mistake, the Giovanni, and some misguided markings from the Italian producer, Rita De Letteriis, but most of the evening was reasonably satisfying though it never delivered the special Mozartian magic alluded to in the title of this review. De Letteriis had a resonant debut in this city with her quite good Monteverdi "L´incoronazione di Poppea"). Mozart seems to agree less with her. There were an astonishing number of "non sequiturs" where she simply seemed not to have read the libretto and the singing actors seemed too often at sea in their relationships. There was nowhere as much fun as the libretto contains, and in the dramatic side there were ludicrous moments such as the totally unconvincing fall into Hell of Giovanni. On the other hand she kept to the Mozartian period.

In any production the stage and costumes designers follow the producer´s lead and if he/she is wrong, so quite often are they. I found the reticulated backdrop by Santiago Elder quite beautiful, the redeeming element of an otherwise minimalist staging that didn´t evoke the various ambits called for, and the stage props were at times absurd. Eduardo Lerchundi is a talented veteran costume designer and some of them were very attractive, but not Giovanni´s, who never looked like an aristocrat.

I said before that the Giovanni was miscast; indeed, Gustavo Ahualli, an Argentine who´s having a career in the USA, showed a serviceable voice, no more, with little insinuation and beauty, and as an actor was much too vulgar. Hernán Iturralde, usually excellent, seemed constrained by the producer: he sang well but with less humor than he showed in other circumstances, and acted rather stiffly. The outstanding artist was Carlos Ullán, who, although he exaggerated the recitatives, interpreted with sterling quality his two arias. Ricardo Ortale did with stalwart authority the "Commendatore", the stone guest. Gustavo Zahnstecher sang nicely as Masetto.

The best of the ladies was Carla Filipcic Holm as Donna Anna; her voice has grown a lot, and although there was some stridency in "Or sai chi l´onore", she found her stride afterwards. Andrea Nazarre was a late replacement for Gabriela Ceaglio as Donna Elvira, so she was comprehensibly nervous; quite young and with little experience, this tough role is still beyond her but she has good qualities. Ana Laura Menéndez sang correctly as Zerlina, but with little charm and innuendo.

Carlos Vieu showed his accustomed firmness and musicality as the conductor of a good orchestra, and the choir under Juan Casasbellas was correct. I was sorry that Elvira´s "Mi tradì" was cut, I suppose because of the replacement. Naturally the Avenida´s stage doesn´t have space for the three "orchestrinas" at the close of the First act, so the polyrhythms and stereophonies of that fragment went for nothing.

I found producer Ana D´Anna´s approach to "The Marriage of Figaro" quite refreshing. She narrated with ease, kept the story clear even in the intrincate Garden Scene and stuck to the original setting in time and place; I only object an excess of sexual play and slaps. The stage designs by Raúl Bongiorno were excellent, both beautiful, in style and functional, and the costumes by María Jaunarena showed a growing maturity.

Antonio Russo was an impeccable conductor, of perfect tempi and phrasing, and got the best out of the very professional orchestra. Pleasant work from the Chorus (Miguel Pesce). The cast I saw (there were three) had the special interest of the local debut of Chilean soprano Macarena Valenzuela as the Countess; I would call it a triumph, for she has a fine lyrical voice capable of much shade and very well used; also she looks right for the part. The very charming Laura Penchi was a vital, very physical Susanna and sang with much stamina and line, only faulted in the lowest notes. The Cherubino of Cecilia Pastawski was delightful in every way, and also moving. A well-sung Marcellina from Lara Mauro, a coquette Barbarina from Mariana Mederos and agreeable Peasants (Silvana Gómez, Marcela Marina).

Marcelo Otegui gradually became a sparkling Figaro, though the voice is impersonal. Fernando Grassi was a correct Count; I expected more from him. Barely acceptable Leandro Sosa (Don Bartolo), good Santiago Bürgi (Basilio), Sebastián Russo (Curzio) and Claudio Rotella (Antonio).

For Buenos Aires Herald

The special aura of recitals

There is a special aura of anticipation in instrumental recitals: concerts for one or two artists. The player stands either alone or accompanied by one other player, and in most cases, the accompanist is really a full-time partner for his music is just as exacting. There´s nothing to occult their mistakes or to minimize their perfection: they are exposed all the time. This is a survey of piano recitals in recent weeks.

The piano dominates this repertory area. A Vietnamese, Dang Thai Son, offered the recital for Chopiniana that had been suspended last year due to an intoxication. I was deeply impressed by his artistry. He won in 1980 First Prize in the Tenth Chopin Competition at Warsaw. He alternates concert giving with recordings and professorships in Montreal and Tokyo. Dang Thai Son is an exemplar of the astonishing adaptability of Orientals to a completely alien culture, such as Occidental classical music. Urbane and contained, he showed an admirably clean technique up to any challenges and an exquisite taste, being particularly stylish in Impressionist music. His version of Ravel´s marvellous and rarely played "Miroirs" ("Mirrors") was outstanding in every way. So were Fauré´s Nocturnes 1 and 2, on the road to Debussy parting from Romantic bases. His Chopin was very solid and with no mannerisms: Ballads Nº.3 op. 47 and Nº.1 op. 23, 4 Mazurkas op. 24 and Scherzo Nº2 op.31, and as an encore, the Waltz op.9/2. The witty "Golliwogg´s cakewalk" from Debussy´s "Children´s corner" was the other brilliant encore.

Veteran Argentine pianist Aquiles Delle Vigne, who lives in Europe, made a poor "rentrée" in Chopiniana after many years. A very fallible mechanism and a marked eccentricity in phrasing were evident in Chopin´s Mazurkas op.6/2, 24/1 and 68/2, and in his Second Sonata. The pianist´s work was better in Mozart´s Fantasia K.475. The Gershwin "Rhapsody in blue" was billed as arranged by Delle Vigne but it sounded pretty much like straight Gershwin and was erratically played. The encores were Liszt´s "Consolation No.3 "(we needed to be consoled…) and some Piazzolla. By the way, the originally announced program was tougher, for it included Beethoven´s Sonata No. 12 and Rachmaninov´s Second Sonata.

Elsa Púppulo has for long decades been one of our most accomplished pianists. However, in recent years she has been disconcertingly uneven for an artist of such impressive mechanism. In her recital for Chopiniana, moreover, she seemed ill. I know she can play to perfection the terribly difficult Chopin Etudes, but this didn´t happen this time ; also, she changed the order without reason and it wasn´t announced. After the initial Franck "Prelude, chorale and fugue", played with acumen, an unconscionable amount of time passed before she appeared for the Chopin pieces, and she looked out of sorts. The Second Part started quite well with strong performances of Liszt´s Hungarian Rhapsodies Nos. 13 and 11. She then played a selection of Rachmaninov´s Preludes, mostly very well, but it was inconsiderate to the public to do a different selection than the printed one in the hand programme. Such matters must be taken care of by Martha Noguera, the enterprising pianist who is at the helm of Chopiniana. Two short pieces by Grieg and Chopin were the encores. The venue for this and the preceding concerts was the Teatro Santa María, a rather mournful hall who tends to put a pall on the proceedings.

A small but attractive venue is the Museo Fernández Blanco, who gives an intensive amount of concerts a year, some of them quite good. The Israelite pianist Immanuela Grunberg, also a Doctor in Music and active in the USA, presented a commented Schubert recital. She played one of the three admirable "Pieces for keyboard" ("Klavierstücke")-Nº 2-, the Four Impromptus op.90 and the great Sonata Nº 20. She wasn´t note-perfect but showed herself a good stylist, lyrical and dramatic. In the Sonata she chose her tempi well, though she was a bit hesitant in transitions and had some memory problems. But in all it was an interesting traversal of fine music.

Volker Ziemendorff is another pianist who may have some missteps but shows intellectual comprehension of the finer points of style and is always thoughtful in his interpretations. The venue was again the Fernández Blanco. A First Part dedicated to the

Classic Era with fine sonatas by Haydn (Hob. XVI/49) and Mozart (Nº 14, K.457) was presented with understanding and sense of form but also with mistakes and memory failures. In the Schubert "Moments musicaux" the contrast was even greater between the stylistic and the executional sides. Schubert´s Impromptu op.142/1 went better. Followed a good selection of our senior composers: Gianneo´s difficult "Bailecito" (the pianist had a false start), Guastavino´s simpler one, the charming Tango from "Aquel Buenos Aires" by Pedro Sáenz and Ginastera´s sweet "Danza de la moza donosa" from "Tres danzas argentinas". Finally, Chopin´s Scherzo No. 2 was rather satisfying until the final dishevelled pages.

At an unexpected but interesting venue, the Aguaribay in Mendoza 3821, occurred a special event: the complete performance of "…aus Märchenzeit" ("…from fairy-tale times") by one of our best composers, Luis Mucillo. It is a vast, 75-minute, seven-part suite of immense intellectual accomplishment and often fascinating sounds, and was admirably played by three pianists, Aldo Antognazzi, Alexander Panizza and Mucillo himself. The biggest and most complex was "Hoffmannesque tale: the sounding glass". All showed a transcendent imagination.

For Buenos Aires Herald

The richness of the choral-symphonic repertoire

In recent weeks the music lover has had occasion to appreciate a good deal of the best of the beautiful choral-symphonic repertoire , albeit in different levels of interpretation. Hereby a synthesis of events.

Pride of place goes to the end-of-season concert of Festivales Musicales at the Auditorio de Belgrano, where the much-loved veteran maestro Michel Corboz showed yet again his acumen as a specialist of this texture. The programme combined two scores of different composers: Francis Poulenc´s "Gloria" and Puccini´s 50-minute "Messa di Gloria". The former lasts about 25´, dates from 1959 and is typical of the author in its beauty of melody and harmony and its contrast between sublimated numbers and others of jubilant nature and syncopated rhythm, which accords with the celebratory character of the Gloria. The Messa on the other hand is an early work (1880) by the future master of opera and responds to the family tradition of sacred music at his home town, Lucca. It shows the sureness of hand of the composer, even in elaborate counterpoint, although what we hear is the 1893 revision, surely more polished than the original. As was to be expected, there´s ample melody and warmness in this music, not transcendent but surely very pleasant to hear.

The Colón Orchestra didn´t sound completely assured in some moments of the Poulenc but seemed good enough in Puccini. The Colón Choir under Salvatore Caputo was strong and brilliant though not quite subtle enough in slow hushed passages. Soledad de la Rosa was admirably musical and crystal-clear in Poulenc, and in Puccini baritone Víctor Torres sung with his wonted refinement and tenor Enrique Folger forced his fine timbre with verismo excesses.

Johann Sebastian Bach´s Mass in G minor is the most monumental work of the repertoire and one of the most difficult, only surpassed by Beethoven´s shorter but mighty "Missa Solemnis". In the last three decades Bach has gone though a historicist revolution and we no longer accept versions of admirable beauty and accomplishment but with a Romantic outlook such as Von Karajan´s. On the other hand I feel that interpretations with modern instruments but with Baroque "manners" such as Karl Richter and early Helmut Rilling are still valid and moving. Late Rilling, Harnoncourt, Gardiner and others give us swift tempi, historical instruments and very transparent textures. It´s a streamlined Bach, to my mind less communicative but attractive in its exactness and timbres, but it demands a very high grade of professionalism.

This marvellous Catholic Mass produced by a Lutheran , incredibly unitary although it is a patchwork of new music and recycled material from earlier cantatas, is always astonishing in its unbounded imagination and superlative contrapuntal technique. It´s a tall order to offer it, but La Bella Música resolved to present it. The institution has presented valuable choral-symphonic works in recent years, generally with good results. This time they were mixed. Andrés Gerszenzon conducted some time ago a "St. Mathew Passion" that followed historicist principles but was often devitalized, and this happened again with the Mass. His tempi were generally well-chosen, he used trumpets and horn on the mold of the Baroque period, he innovated by assigning to soloists (on the basis of sparse accompaniment) fragments generally done chorally, but there was little tension and expression in the phrasing. When one isn´t moved by the "Crucifixus", something is wrong.

Care had been taken to try to assemble good players and singers but results weren´t quite what was expected. I do single out the notable first trumpet Valentin Garvie, Argentine though living in Europe, for his precision and intonation, but the horn player, imported from Brazil, was lamentabl The Baroque Ensemble "de la Bella Música", 26-strong, had well-known players (Marchesini, R. Rutkauskas, G. Massun, Barile, F. Ciancio) but the total result wasn´t as satisfactory as the work demands; I was surprised by considerable lapses of intonation and some playing didn´t have the right timbre (Barile). The Coral del Siglo XXI (40 singers) conducted by Guillermo Dorá acquitted themselves rather well, though they were the victims of inappropriate phrasing.

It was audacious to assign the contralto parts to a countertenor, something that both Harnoncourt and Leonhardt have done in the casting of cantatas, so I suppose there´s some basis for it. The very young Damián Ramírez has a beautiful timbre and he did an expressive "Agnus Dei" but I found him hesitant in "Qui sedes". Víctor Torres was admirable in "Et in spiritum sanctum" and less so in "Quoniam", perhaps upset by the horn player. I found Ricardo González Dorrego charmless though accurate in "Benedictus". The participation of sopranos Silvina Sadoly and Marisú Pavón was correct and that of Lídice Robinson as second soprano, unnecessary. The venue was the Coliseo.

About 35 years ago Purcell´s semiopera "Dioclesian" had a good premiere, I believe under Raymond Leppard. Its revival by the Sociedad Händel led by Sergio Siminovich was warranted by the quality of the piece but unfortunately was very poor due to the quite mediocre orchestral ensemble (intonation was awful) and the amateurish though enthusiastic chorus. Siminovich´s technique was as always confusing in its ample but imprecise gestures, though I grant him the merit of bringing to us interesting and neglected pieces. There was good work from sopranos Silvina Guatelli and Natalia Salardino and countertenor Damián Ramírez, less good by tenor Mario Martínez and bass Francisco Bastitta.

For Buenos Aires Herald

Kodo, the name for wondrous percussion

Many years ago, in 1969, the Mozarteum Argentino brought us a superb ensemble, Les Percussions de Strasbourg, and they came back about a decade ago, giving us the very best resources of percussion music in the Occidental tradition. Now, closing their season at the Coliseo, they left the audience spellbound with a marvellous Japanese ensemble, Kodo, bringing the utmost perfection in Oriental percussion.

"Kodo" means two things: the heart-beat, origin of all rhythm, heard by the foetus in the mother´s uterus ; and "children of the drum", a reflexion of Kodo´s desire to play with a child´s simplicity of heart. Although they preserve and reinterpret traditional Japanese arts, they are also influenced by the frequent "tournées" that Kodo has made since its already far-off inception, in 1981. It has offered about 3.100 performances in 45 countries; their year divides into three equal parts, 1/3 to their voyages abroad, 1/3 to performances in Japan and 1/3 to preparing new material in Sado Island.

In their repertoire there are three main elements: pieces based on traditional popular art; works by friends and mentors of the organisation (Maki Ishii, Shinichiro Ikebe), the Kabuki artists Roetsu Tosha and Kiyohiko Senba and the jazz pianist Yousuke Yamashita, and creations by members of the group incorporating inspirations from their trips all over the world.

The Artistic Director is Mitsuru Ishizuka and there are 13 interpreters: 10 men and 3 women. They are listed in the hand programme heading, but not identified in the various numbers. The show was continuous and comprised eleven numbers.

Before I go on to describe individual pieces, a general impression. As a Westerner with a superficial familiarity with the Japanese ethos, I was deeply impacted by the tremendous discipline and visceral power of the players. My images of Japan come from their drawings which were such an influence on the Impressionists, by their films, especially those of Akira Kurosawa, and by some books. An insular country, it has kept fiercely to its traditions, particularly in rural areas, but in the big cities has had a powerful input from the USA MacArthur plan after World War II, so that Tokyo is a strange mixture of profoundly dissimilar views of life. The composite image is that of an ethos in which we find side by side powerful images of the samurai past with its code of honor, its martial arts, the command of every fibre in the body (in common with the Chinese), its hara-kiri or seppuku, its kamikaze soldiers, along with delicate paintings, exquisite and morose soft music from the koto or the flute and women in elaborate and beautiful kimonos and heavily whited facies.

Kodo asks from its players awesome stamina and total precision. They certainly give of themselves generously, with "esprit de corps". Their main instrument is the "taiko", a drum that comes in very different sizes, from small to a gigantic one that presides over the proceedings from the back of the stage. They are aesthetically beautiful and the artists elicit from them an enormous variety of sounds, from extreme "pianissimo" to granitic "fortissimo". The Artistic Director knows how to dispose them with a true sense of show. The massed sound is overwhelming, although there are segments where the unrelenting battering gets monotonous, for they tend to stay in one rhythm for long periods. But when the drums tend to outstay their welcome comes the contrast of a ruminative soft flute, or of sweet-voiced singing (not the nasalized shrillness of the Chinese).

The programme starts with a thrilling number, "The tribe" by Leonard Edo, a telluric outburst of fantastic power. Then, "Door to the unknown" by Tsubasa Hori, where a metaphysical contact with other worlds is attempted. "The woodcutter´s song" is traditional and has at first an antiphonal vocal structure which leads to "Miyake", where the men strike implacably drums set in the ground. "Monochrome", by Maki Ishii, is a mixture of regular and irregular rhythmic patterns in a constantly spiralling dynamic progression. "Cymbals", by Ryutaro Kaneko, is a subtle interplay of small cymbals linked to Buddhist religious practices. "Three cold days, four hot days", by Eiichi Saito, refers to the end of winter and is a powerful piece of strong contrasts. "Butterfly", by Saito, has a refined choreography by Ayako Onizawa and offers a moment of poetic respite. "The path of dew" refers to the journey through life and prolongs the charm and subtlety of the preceding work.

But now came the greatest possible contrast. In a display of extreme strength and endurance, a half-naked player, all fiber, played during about 15 minutes the gigantic drum mentioned earlier in this review with almost terrifying speed and enormous sound. Frankly I feared for his heart. The training of such players surely implies special techniques of control and concentration.

The final number, "Taiko in festive chariots", is traditional, and makes a grand celebration to crown a very special experience. The communication with the audience was vivacious and authentic, the success particularly important considering that these were people attending a subscription series of Occidental classical music.

In fact, this was quite a gamble for the Mozarteum, but their instincts were unerring: they gave us a show of marked aesthetic and cultural value, moreover quite accessible due to its paradoxically primitive impact. They got us in touch with the real Japanese character. Thanks for that gift.

For Buenos Aires Herald

Worthwhile music from the XXth and XXIst centuries

Although the bulk of the concert repertoire remains the music of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, we certainly need to know –and know well- the music that is closer to us in time, if not in sensibility; some musics of recent decades ("recent" meaning the last ten) remain problematic for the average audience, and some are so even for those of well-honed taste. But it´s certainly aesthetically unhealthy for the listener to remain isolated from the music of his contemporaries and even from that of his grandfathers´ time.

Fortunately this year there has been a good deal of interesting music from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. I will give pride of place to the concerts of the series "Classics of the twentieth century" organized by the Fundación Encuentros de Música Contemporánea which celebrates its forty years under Alicia Terzian´s direction. And her Grupo Encuentros commemorates its thirty years of activity. At AMIJAI they offered three concerts complementing the group with "friends" and totalling 17 players. I´m commenting on the first two; I couldn´t hear the third, dedicated to "Borges and the music of Buenos Aires".

Programmes were long and extremely varied. The first started with one of the most hermetic pieces of Ravel, the "Three poems of Mallarmé", sung by mezzo Marta Blanco rather reticently and accompanied by ten players. Seven instrumentalists gave us the fascinating "Chôros No. 7" (1924) by Villa-Lobos. Then, a world premiere, "Tenue brillantez" by Patricia Martínez (1973), a commission from Encuentros, deploying with professionalism the paraphernalia of the avant-garde. I was happy that one of the nicest pieces of our repertoire got a merited revival, Virtú Maragno´s "Baladas amarillas" (1952), well-sung by Blanco. The strangely called "Dramatic Polimaniquexixe" by the Chilean Jorge Antunes (1942) is a short suite billed as "largely erotic" and written for cello, clarinet and piano. Then, a very interesting experience, one of the first pieces conceived for quarter-tones, the Mexican Julián Carrillo´s "Cristóbal Colón" (1925) for voice and seven players. Followed the half-hour cantata "El martirio de Santa Olalla" created by Rodolfo Arizaga in 1952, a valuable composition in stylized Spanish archaism too long absent from our programmes (I was present at its premiere but had never heard it since). Finally, the clearly Armenian "Chant to Vahan" by Terzian herself, a suggestive composition with five small bells.

The often done "O King " by Luciano Berio is a homage to Martin Luther King and it started the second concert. The difficult "Dérive" (1984) is one of the few works by Pierre Boulez heard here, his symphonic works apparently beyond the possibilities of our orchestras; the ensemble played it well, quite a feat. The early "Cabaret songs" (1937-39) by Britten are light and agreeable and were well done by Blanco. Next, a revelation to me, the post-Romantic and very expressive "Der Wind" (1909) by Franz Schreker. Some of Shostakovich´s "Poems by A. Block", spare and stark, were heard, by voice and a piano trio that played separately or jointly in different poems. "Ascolta l´uccellino" is a commission by the Fundación Encuentros to Chilean composer Boris Alvarado and it mixed whistling, singing and avant-garde trademarks. I found Terzian´s "Les yeux fertiles" on Paul Éluard a bit too attuned to current European fingerprints, I prefer her in the Armenian-influenced scores; the piece is sung and spoken, a combination I find forced.

The ensemble is very professional and solid, and was well-rehearsed by Terzian, who also did the somewhat excessive comments. Make no mistake, these concerts were very useful and interesting and prove yet again that Terzian is a major figure in the promotion of the music I´m commenting on.

Apart from the AMIJAI concerts, the 40^th International Festival of Encuentros included other sessions. I found particularly important the one dedicated to twentieth-century French music and basically featuring Olivier Messiaen. It happened at the Auditorium of the Consejo Profesional de Ciencias Económicas, a chamber venue of good acoustics at Viamonte 1549. The main work was the transcendental "Quartet for the end of times", an eight-movement instrumental work of moving mysticism written for clarinet, violin, cello and piano and composed at a relatively benign concentration camp in 1941, where it was premiered with the author at the piano. The proficient players were Claudio Espector (piano), Sergio Polizzi (violin, the only one with some difficulties not quite solved), Carlos Nozzi (cello) and Eduardo Ihidoype (clarinet). Also by Messiaen were "Three Melodies" from 1930 and "Le merle noir" for flute and piano. It was interesting to hear "Viens! Une flute invisible soupire…", a piece written for flute, piano and voice by André Caplet in 1900, and Roussel´s "Two poems of Ronsard" (1924) for flute and voice (without the habitual piano). Good jobs from mezzosoprano Marta Blanco and flutist Fabio Mazzitelli. Terzian coordinated.

An independent homage to Messiaen, and a very good one, was the premiere of his "Les corps glorieux", a 1939 score splendidly played by Argentine organist Diego Innocenzi, who resides in Switzerland. In 50 minutes and seven movements we hear "seven brief visions of the life of the reborn". This was at the basilica of the Santo Domingo convent, which holds a splendid organ of very full and varied registers, fully used by Messiaen. The work was impressive, especially in the "Combat between Death and Life". It was certainly useful to see the player via closed-circuit TV.

For Buenos Aires Herald

Nuevo curso: Antonin Dvorak

A partir del próximo martes 4 de noviembre se dictará en el Club del Progresoun curso sobre la vida y la obra de Antonin Dvorak (1841-1904), a cargo del lic. Pablo Bardin.

Serán 4 clases los martes 4, 11, 18 y 25 de noviembre en el horario de 18.15 a 20.15.

Arancel total $100.

Sarmiento 1334

inscripciones: institucional@clubdelprogreso.com

www.clubdelprogreso.com

Great symphonic experiences

Nuova Harmonia ended its season with a marvelous symphonic experience at the Coliseo: the only concert of the Tchaikovsky Symphony Orchestra Moscow under Vladimir Fedoseyev. It used to be called the Moscow Radio Symphony and it visited us under that name some years ago, led by the same conductor, who has been with it for 34 years and is now a spry 76-year-old. They brought us two standard Russian masterpieces: Rimsky-Korsakov´s "Scheherezade" and Tchaikovsky´s Fifth Symphony. Under normal circumstances I would attack the yuxtaposition of two such well-known scores and would call for something more innovative, but after hearing them I stand not only content but enthusiastic.

The orchestra has had great Russian conductors since its inception in 1930: Orlov, Golovanov, Gauk, Rozhdestvensky and for more than the last three decades, Fedoseyev. It was in 1993 that it took the current name. The fact that its 95 players have interpreted the chosen scores dozens of times under the same guidance certainly gives them an assurance that is reflected in the sovereign quality of phrasing they show. Fedoseyev isn´t a precisionist and this is felt in minuscule misadjustments that however don´t affect the paramount interpretations, of an authenticity in both composers that made for a memorable occasion.

The players are individually virtuosi and have both that unmistakable Russian expressivity and great discipline; it is uncanny to hear the massed violins to play with exactly the same bowing and attack. In "Scheherezade" both the concertino, Mikhail Shestakov, and the first cellist, Vladimir Nikonov, were wonderfully sweet and accurate. The myriad shadows of the score were ideally phrased, with a subtlety and beauty that made for ecstatic hearing. And Tchaikovsky´s Fifth, was simply ideal in tempi, timbres, tensions and releases, becoming a profoundly moving experience, as well as thrillingly virtuosic. A curious bit of data: both works were written in 1888.

Encores: both by Tchaikovsky: the "Panorama" from "Sleeping Beauty", too slow for comfort in Fedoseyev´s view, and the "Spanish Dance" from "The Nutcracker", on the contrary overfast but certainly exciting.

An impromptu visit was that of the Brazilian National Symphony Orchestra, 77-strong, sited in Rio de Janeiro, born in 1961 and making its local debut at the Avenida with the leadership of Ligia Amadio, well-known here for her concerts with the Buenos Aires Philharmonic. It was a pleasant surprise and it showed a marked advance in Rio´s symphonic life, which used to be quite poor decades ago . It isn´t on a par with the splendid Sao Paulo Symphony under Neschling, perhaps the best Latin-American orchestra nowadays, but the Rio players are quite good, and under the energetic and knowledgeable conducting of Amadio showed themselves very listenable.

I was sorry about the substitution of the very interesting early Ginastera work , Suite from the ballet "Ollantay", by the overdone dances from his "Estancia". And although I certainly enjoy Villa-Lobos´ "Bachianas Brasileiras No. 7", I would have preferred the originally announced Chôros No. 7, less played and quite advanced in idiom. But both were played with stamina and accuracy, except for some difficult writing in the final Fugue from the "Bachianas". I also liked Camargo Guarnieri´s "Three orchestral dances".

I was much impressed by the Brazilian pianist Linda Bustani, whom I hadn´t heard before, in a talented traversal of the scintillating Ravel Concerto, with fine style and exactitude. She was correctly accompanied. It was probably a local debut.

The Freiburg Young Philharmonic made its second visit to BA under its Chief Conductor, Andreas Winnen, at a Midday Concert of the Mozarteum at the Ópera. The disciplined orchestra showed again that it is well steeped in the best German tradition, although one couldn´t call Winnen imaginative, but I was really stunned by the wonderful playing of Annette von Hehn (violin) and Stefan Heinenmeyer (cello) in Brahms´ Double Concerto, strong, accurate and stylish. They also did themselves proud in the Handel/Halvorsen Passacaglia, adapted from the original for violin and viola.

The B.A.Philharmonic has offered some worthwhile concerts in recent weeks. Its Chief Conductor, Arturo Diemecke, showed again his mettle in the sprawling but fascinating programmatic symphony by Tchaikovsky, "Manfred", on Lord Byron´s ultra-Romantic account of an antihero, and the orchestra responded well to the very hard challenge. Before the interval we heard an accurate though a bit mechanical account of Schumann´s Piano Concerto by Evgeny Mikhailov, somewhat lacking in the poetry that Nelson Freire had offered us earlier this season.

Although I only heard the general rehearsal, I was very favourably impressed by the perfervid traversal of Rachmaninov´s intense First Symphony under Roslen Milanov. There was also a correct version of Alberto Williams´ First Concert Overture, and an agreeable one of Poulenc´s Piano Concerto, with very professional but rather heavy playing from Akiko Ebi.

The following concert was really important. Günther Neuhold directed with firm hand a very tough programme, eliciting good playing from the Phil, not quite perfect but always respectable. The pleasant Violin Concerto by Alicia Terzian, redolent of Armenian folklore, was splendidly played by Rafael Gintoli. Then came a very characteristic score by Olivier Messiaen, perhaps a premiere: "Et exspecto resurrectionem mortuorum", five fragments for winds that combine mysticism with quite modern procedures. And finally, Barshai´s string orchestra arrangement of the autobiographic Quartet No.8 by Shostakovich, which sounds well in its new attire as Chamber Symphony op. 110a. It was a co-production with the Fundación Encuentros Internacionales de Música Contemporánea.

For Buenos Aires Herald

The variegated paths of Renaissance and Baroque music

In two successive days the Mozarteum Argentino gave us the return of Hespérion XXI in Ibero-American Renaissance music (at the Coliseo) . Both events were richly rewarding and demonstrative of the immense variety of those periods.

We had earlier visits from the specialist ensemble founded by Jordi Savall; it started as Hespérion XX and as the new century began, was renamed Hespérion XXI. As it came this year, it included four "viole da gamba", led by Savall in the smallest one, the others being Sergi Casademunt, Fahmi Alqhai and the Argentine Juan Manuel Quintana; Xavier Díaz-Latorre and Enrique Solinis in guitar and the "vihuela" (its cousin, so to speak); David Mayoral and Mehmet Yesilcay in assorted percussion; and Adela González-Campa in period castanets. The instrumentalists were complemented by another Savall-led ensemble, La Capella Reial de Catalunya, a flexible vocal ensemble that has often done choral work in its augmented form. Soprano Montserrat Figueras, Savall´s wife, was taken ill and splendidly replaced by the Argentine Adriana Fernández, who is having a fine career in Europe. The others were all men: countertenor David Sagastume (Basque), tenor Lluís Vilamajó (Catalan), Italian baritone Furio Zanasi, the stunning Venezuelan bass Iván García (with a curious hairdo) and bass Daniele Carnovich (Italian). As you see by the surnames Alkhai (probably Maghrebian) and Yesilcay (Turkish), and by the Italians and Latin-Americans, this is certainly a cosmopolitan ensemble based at Barcelona. By the way, Hespérion comes from Hesperia, an ancient name of the Iberian Peninsula.

Savall has been responsible with his different groups for a staggering 170 CDs, all of them highly professional in execution and musicologically up-to-date. The particular programme I heard is called "Encounters of musics of fire and air, from Old Iberia to the New World", and is designed in a total of twenty pieces, each part containing successively groups of four, two and four works. They purport to be good samples of musical hybridization ("mestizaje") between Spain and Latin America from the 16^th to the 18^th century. And viceversa, the influence of Latin American musical idioms on Spanish composers residing in Spain. Mostly this traversal was both instructive and enjoyable.

There was a cunning alternation of vocal/instrumental and purely instrumental pieces, almost all rather short. The first group began with a "Moresca" (Moorish-style) by Pedro Guerrero, followed by a hybridization: "Negrilla a 4", that is, a piece in Negro style for four singers, called "San Sabeya gugurumbé", by that great writer of "ensaladas" (quodlibets of melodies), Mateo Flecha, also author of the so-called "Dindirindin a 4", so-called because of the repetition of that onomatopoeic phrase, "Ande pues nuestro apellido". A Pavane and Galliard by Luis de Milán (here Catalanized as Lluís de Milá) completed the group. Milán started the second group of two with an imaginative "Fantasía VII". Bartomeu Cárceres curiously combines Gascon and Catalan in a dance of French origin, the "branle", called "Tau garçó la durundena". The final group of the First Part combined two Spanish resident composers , Diego Ortiz in two dances, "Romanesca y passamezzo moderno", and Antonio Martín y Coll in "El villano", with two transplanted Spaniards: Juan Pérez Bocanegra wrote down in 1631 an indigenous Quechua piece, the expressive "Hanacpachap cussicuinin", and from Juan García de Zéspedes (Mexico) came an astonishing villancico (Christmas carol) on the guaracha rhythm (!), "Ay que me abraso", written before 1678.

The second Part started with the "Obertura/Corrente italiana" by the great Catalan Joan Cabanilles, followed by "Todo el mundo en general", an anonymous piece praising the Virgin, "concevida sin pecado original" (period orthography). Then, "Glosas" (variations) on that same work written by Francisco Correa de Arrauxo, and a typical Spanish "Romance", "Desde las torres del alma", by Juan Blas de Castro. Then, from Martín y Coll, the exciting "Danza del hacha", and an anonymous piece, "Seguidillas en eco: De tu vista celoso". The final group began with an improvisation on the dance called "Canarios", with a funny false start by the guitarist, and virtuoso playing by Savall; there followed a piece characterized as "Mestizo e Indio": "Tleycantimo choquiliya", in a mixture of Spanish and Nahuatl (the Aztec language), by the Portuguese Gaspar Fernandes; a fine "Gallarda Napolitana" by Antonio Valente; and an overlong "Negro a 5" by the Portuguese Frei Filipe da Madre de Deus: "Antonya Flaciquia Gasipà", which means "Antonia, Francisca, Gaspar". The encore was an improvisation on the only four notes we have of the musicalization of the "Romance del Conde Claros".

Turning to the interpretation, Savall decides everything and does it admirably, for he is an expert musicologist as well as a first-rate virtuoso. All players are very good, but I would single out the percussion group (what an assortment of castanets and drums!), the principal guitarist and Casademunt. Of the singers I preferred Fernández, García and Zanasi; the others had flaws, such as breaking the vocal line or crooning too much.

The following day they gave a totally different programme with a very long title: "Lights and shadows in the century of Colón: History and poetry in dialogue with the Arab-Andalusian, Jewish and Christian musics of old Hesperia until the discovery of the New World". It would have been fascinating to attend, but I had an important date elsewhere: Festivales Musicales offered J.S.Bach´s "St. John Passion", and that is unmissable.

Once again, Hespérion XXI gave us much to enjoy.

For Buenos Aires Herald

Opera: admirable Gluck, flawed Rossini

Buenos Aires Lírica (BAL) and Juventud Lyrica proceeded with their seasons, the former with much better results. I don´t think that the inclusion by BAL of Gluck´s "Iphigénie en Tauride" was warranted, because last year we had a very worthy revival from the Compañía de las Luces led by Mauricio Birman. Much more necessary was the other "Iphigénie", "en Aulide", last seen at the Colón in 1949. But this said, I do admit that the BAL revival was valuable . I might add that the absence of the Colón has left the field wide open for BAL to be our most important BA opera organisation. It doesn´t mean that they are the equal of the Colón when this theatre is fully operative; of course, the resources available to a municipal theatre with a big budget aren´t comparable. And they, as the other companies that use the Avenida as venue, have the disadvantage of a small pit (45 players) that the Avenida´s owners stubbornly refuse to enlarge. But they have a consistently better level than other groups, for by careful planning and marketing they have managed to have full houses in all five performances of the operas they offer.

I have great sympathy for the aims of Juventus Lyrica (JL) founded before BAL by Ana D´Anna: to promote young singers is certainly laudable. Also, there´s great warmth and sincerity in what they do, which creates a specially nice ambience. Alas, they have two problems: they are underfinanced and that shows in the insufficient means for such items as scenery and clothing, and D´Anna has sometimes chosen badly her producers (other than herself). In the particular case I´m mentioning, producer Horacio Pigozzi ruined a "Barber of Seville" very well conceived musically by maestro Antonio Russo and with several worthwhile singers.

Now back to "Iphigénie en Tauride". The opera is the best of the "tragédies lyriques" composed by Gluck for Paris and made him the legitimate successor of Rameau. It was written in 1778 on a libretto by Nicolas Francois Guillard based on Euripides. The libretto is good and the music, noble, inspiring and dramatic.

The musical side of this revival was quite satisfying. I was really surprised by the sense of style of the young Argentine conductor Alejo Pérez, who is having a fine career in Europe, though associated rather with contemporary music. The result here, with an augmented Camerata Bariloche, was splendid: intensity, precision, beautiful playing and a dramatic approach that never went off bounds.

There was a fine cast. Virginia Correa Dupuy showed yet again that she is a special singer; the role is apt either for a dramatic mezzosoprano or soprano, and her voice has the timbre of a mezzo in the middle and low ranges but clears up in the high range and sounds like a soprano. Her musicality is refined (lovely pianissimo) and she acts with involvement. Tenor Carlos Ullán had one of his best nights in his well-sung and –acted Pylades, the bosom friend of Orestes, played and sung with excessive emphasis by baritone Luciano Garay but undoubted commitment. A new voice, Ernesto Bauer, sang an impressive Thoas, the Scythian tyrant. Crystalline singing from Eugenia Fuente (the goddess Diana), nice work from the Priestesses (Vanesa Tomás and Vanina Guilledo), a correct Greek woman (Andrea Nazarre) and forceful appearances of Mariano Fernández Bustinza (Scythian) and Claudio Rotella (temple minister). The young and well-chose finely prepared by Juan Casasbellas. The six dancers did agreeably in Cecilia Elías´ sober choreography.

Which brings me to the production and stage designs of Rita Cosentino. It was a mix of right and wrong. Right: the expressive interchange among the singers, always dramatic; the evolutions of the Chorus, functioning according to the Euripides play. Wrong: the use of a unit set (the ruins of a palace) to be both beach, prison, temple and room; the absurd stylistic solecisms, such as putting a twentieth-century armchair in a crucial scene. The costumes by Stella Maris Müller were pleasant for the women but unlikely for the men; the Greeks looked like informal boys of our age and Thoas was most un-kinglike. The lighting by Horacio Efron exaggerated the initial storm.

About the "Barber" I´ll be brief. Laura Penchi was a delightful Rosina, pert and fluid. Fabián Veloz was a convincing Figaro, no mean feat for a singer of little experience; he has a fine lyrical timbre. Duilio Smiriglia is overweight for Almaviva and hardly suggests a Count, but he has a nice voice, still undertrained. Alberto Jáuregui Lorda made an unconventional though credible Don Bartolo. Mario De Salvo is a good singer but lacks volume and presence for Don Basilio. Santiago Tiscornia was a sonorous Officer, Leonardo Menna a pleasant Fiorello, and poor Silvana Gómez had to deal with an outlandish marking of Bertha by the producer but sang acceptably. Very good playing from the orchestra and appropriate work from the Chorus under Miguel Pesce.

The production was unretrievable in every imaginable aspect. The completely incongruous Flamenco ballet (not bad in itself) in the Storm, the ridiculous restriction of space in the First Act, the tasteless, even obscene markings of the singers, the absurd clothes (the Count as a coya), the incredible transposition of the action to the twentieth century, etc.,etc. Mini Zuccheri is just as guilty in her clothing designs and the stage décor (Juan José Cambre) was very poor.

For Buenos Aires Herald

Pianists galore this season

A salutary trend of recent seasons has been the comeback of piano recitals. Not in the big cycles (Mozarteum Argentino, Festivales Musicales, Nuova Harmonia) who keep to one pianist per season (I would say that two is the right proportion) but in smaller venues and organizations. A major factor has been the appearance of Chopiniana, the cycle led by Martha Noguera in which there is always something of Chopin, but no longer exclusively as at first. Now we have eclectic programmes, which I find much better. Also, there is the increased activity of the Museo Fernández Blanco and other places. Truth to tell, in full season there are about 35 concerts a week of varied types, and no critic can –or should- cover all of them (some are below par), but there remains a substantial quantity of good concerts.

First, a Big League one. I have stated before my belief that Nelson Goerner is the best Argentine pianist of his generation; he is now 39. This was triumphantly confirmed by his wonderful concert for Nuova Harmonia at the Coliseo. I now raise the odds and place him as among the very best of the globe. He unites in ideal proportions transcendental technique and a deep maturity in phrasing and style. He may look unprepossessing but don´t be influenced by this: just listen to him five minutes and only the music will matter.

His programme was solidly Central European and nineteenth-century, and as usual, he chooses well. The 31 minutes that Schubert´s extraordinary Three Pieces (D.946) lasted convinced me again that this very late piano music from this composer, considered extended Impromptus, is among his most innovative and personal. Marvellously apposite and thoughtful interpretation, note-perfect to boot.

I have heard Beethoven´s Sonata No.26, wrongly called "Les adieux" (it should be "L´adieu"), quite often in concert, but this one stunned me, especially the fantastically difficult final "Vivacissimo", played with uncanny precision. Very slightly controversial was his version of Brahms´ late "Fantasies" op.116, three fast and virtuosistic Capricci interspersed with four contemplative Intermezzi; I hold no reserves about the beautifully intimate version of the Intermezzi, but some of the phrasing in the Capricci seemed to me a bit awkward.

Liszt´s "Petrarch Sonnet No.2" was simply ideal; his frenetic and almost impossible to play "Spanish Rhapsody" had the most fantastic execution I´ve ever heard; yes, Goerner is the mature artist that can gives us a reference Beethoven sonata, but he is also the coruscating virtuoso in showpieces. One string broke during it but he proceeded unfazed; however, apart from comprehensible exhaustion, it was apparently the reason for not playing an encore.

I was very angry when a freak and uncomprehensible call "from Martha Noguera" left me a message telling me that the concert by Libor Novácek was cancelled; it wasn´t! Apparently a boycott? Noguera of course was sorry and flabbergasted. I had good references from his concert, however. But I could hear the following pianist, the Canadian Daniel Wnukowski (debut), of Polish descent, 27-years-old. After agreeable versions of two arranged (well) pieces based on J.S.Bach´s originals (Busoni´s version of the chorale "Nun komm, der Heiden Heiland", and the famous arrangement by Myra Hess of the chorus "Jesu, Joy of Men´s Desiring" from Cantata No. 147) we heard an appropriate but not impeccable Sonata Nº 10, K. 330, by Mozart, and a meritorious traversal of Beethoven´s last sonata, No. 32, where the initial movement seemed a bit too forceful and brusque but the second movement took its rightful time to develop from the initial slow theme to the intricate variations and innumerable trills of the last pages, finely done.

He came into his own in the enormously variegated 24 Preludes op.28 by Chopin, where he displayed not only his affinity with the style but also the big guns to deal with some of the atrociously difficult ones as if they were child´s play; this was great playing and show Wnukowski to be a distinguished Chopinian. And he manifested his virtuosism in the encore, the fun variations by Horowitz on Mendelssohn´s "Wedding March". The venue is unpleasant, the Teatro Santa María, dark and rather ugly, but the acoustics are good. After abundant vicissitudes, this third concert of the Chopiniana seemed to find a third and final piano for the cycle, a 1908 Steinway in good condition with its original ivory keys.

Another fine experience was offered by Ukrainian pianist Julia Bochovskaia at the Gran Rex/ Mozarteum Midday Concerts, a return visit since her 2006 local debut. Fresh, young and beautiful, she is solidly grounded and intelligent. Her traversal of Austro-German repertoire was both sensitive and solid, with finely honed technique and a keen sense of style. I could only hear the third movement from Haydn´s Sonata Hob. XVI:24 (due to BA´s infernal traffic), but it was clean and invigorating. She chose three beautiful Brahms pieces: the Intermezzi op.119 in C and op.117 in E flat and the strong Ballade op.118 in G minor; she handled them with expertise. Then she did a strange thing: she allowed no time for applause and went on directly to Schumann´s interesting "Humoresque" op.20, a mosaic of contrasting music: the Apollo/Eusebius introspective side and the fast, exhilarating Dionysos/Florestan side. Lovely playing all the way, complemented with two other Schumann pieces: the sanguine "Aufschwung" from "Fantasiestücke" op.12, and a slow one that my memory refused to identify.

For Buenos Aires Herald

High times for symphonic music: the Hallé visits us

The third visit over the decades of the Hallé Orchestra from Manchester has marked an especially high spot in the musical scene. As the "biography" in the hand programme of the Mozarteum Argentino says nothing about earlier visits to our country (a common trait in material from abroad, but also an undiplomatic one that should be corrected) it must be stressed that the Hallé was here under the great Sir John Barbirolli (1968) and much later under Stanislav Skrowaczewski. Those with Barbirolli were memorable, those with the Polish conductor very professional but less interesting. Both were Principal Conductors of the Hallé, as is the case with Sir Mark Elder (local debut) since 2000. They offered two subscription concerts and a Midday Concert (the latter for free) all at the Coliseo.

Elder has had a substantial career marked by his years as Music Director of the English National Orchestra(1979-93) and guest conducting with prestigious concert and opera orchestras. He has an eclectic taste and a big repertoire.

The Hallé is the oldest professional orchestra in England and this year celebrates its 150^th anniversary. In its current shape it is fully equal to its 1968 incarnation under Barbirolli, which is saying a lot. The Orchestra isn´t one of the biggest, but its 82 players sound like a hundred, are 100 % professional, keep a nice balance of ladies and gentlemen and of youth and maturity. Under Elder´s fine conducting the orchestra solves with perfect intonation and true virtuosism the greatest difficulties. It has a beautiful collective sound and a triggerlike response to every gesture of the Maestro.

I unfortunately couldn´t hear the first concert, which included Richard Strauss´ "Don Juan", Grieg´s Piano Concerto, Wagner´s First Act Prelude to "Lohengrin" and Elgar´s "Enigma Variations". Happily I caught the latter when it was included in the Midday Concert. The second concert started with Verdi´s Overture to "The Sicilian Vespers", followed by Liszt´s First Piano Concerto, four Preludes by Debussy (originally for piano, orchestrated by the Hallé´s composer-in-residence Colin Matthews and an Argentine premiere; both facts were omitted in the programme page) and Shostakovich´s First Symphony. The Midday Concert had "Don Juan" (which I couldn´t hear), three of the four Debussy Preludes and the "Enigma Variations". Along for the tour we met for the first time 27-year-old Polina Leschenko, a beautiful blonde born in St Petersburg that has built a solid career since her debut at 8-years-old; only 27 and almost 20 years of experience.

Now to what I heard. A sanguine, forceful and precise account of Verdi´s Overture. An admirable version of Liszt´s Concerto, adroitly accompanied and played by Leschenko, who showed not only a masterful technique but an approach both subtle, elegant and full of strength, almost like a young Argerich (who has promoted her). The encore was quite unusual: music lovers know well Chopin´s "Andante spianato and Grand Polonaise", but as a piano piece; here we were offered the piano and orchestra version! The orchestra hasn´t much to do, however, so we marvelled again at Leschenko´s delicacy in the "Andante" and strong rhythm coupled with the effortless solving of the many intricate passages of one of Chopin´s great showpieces, this particularly scintillating Polonaise.

It was the Orchestra that asked Mathews to orchestrate the Debussy Piano Preludes, and he did all 24. Frankly I see no need for this exercise, for the shimmering Debussy pieces are truly pianistic and orchestration (even a good one, as Mathews´), far from enriching them changes their essence. For the record, they were: "Homage to S. Pickwick, Esq., PPMPC", "Canope", "La puerta del vino" (in Spanish in the original) and "The hills of Anacapri". But the evening ended with a very detailed view of Shostakovich´s so impressive First Symphony, written at 19-years-old, still a student but already a master. The strongly contrasted score was rendered in all its sad nostalgia and ferocity with feats of very fine playing.

The encores mitigated a complaint of mine: no British music in the programme. But then, as Elder himself acknowledged, the logical British quota came to the fore in Elgar´s lovely "Sospiri" for strings (which I can´t remember having heard here) and the entrancing "Knightsbridge March " from Eric Coates´ "London Suite", heard only once here (Bedford with the B.A. Phil). It was a charming end to a significant concert. But on the following midday I was completely bowled over by a much bigger Elgar score, the wonderful "Enigma Variations" premiered here by Sir Malcolm Sargent. This has long been a Hallé specialty, and the Barbirolli version, along with the Boult, retain their places as the great references. But Elder´s minute control and total understanding, and the coruscating brilliance of the orchestra in the terribly difficult fast bits coupled with their full and noble sound in such a variation as "Nimrod", made for a fantastic version that had me in tears. It was the final cap on a great visit.

A personal wish which I hope will come true: we know admirable London orchestras as the Royal Philharmonic, the Philharmonia and the BBC, but we have never been visited by the other two superb organisms, the London Symphony and the London Philharmonic; I´ve heard them in their home city, but I do believe the Argentine public will welcome them with open arms.

For Buenos Aires Herald

Diversity in Opera: Purcell and Perusso

The fascinating diversity of opera was well illustrated in recent weeks by two very different shows. La Plata´s Teatro Argentino, as it has done in recent years, presented a premiere by an Argentine composer: Mario Perusso wrote the music and his son Marcelo the libretto of an opera based on Jean Cocteau´s "The two-headed eagle" ("L´aigle à deux têtes") called "El ángel de la muerte". At the refurbished Teatro 25 de Mayo in Villa Urquiza the Colón Institute of Art presented the semi-opera by Henry Purcell "The Fairy Queen", quite loosely based on Shakespeare´s "A Midsummer Night´s Dream".
First, a personal caveat. As readers know, I´m not usually late for the events I cover, but this time I was…twice. In the case of La Plata, I really feel I´m not to blame: it was a long-weekend Friday, so I planned two hours to get there instead of one; it took me an unconscionable two hours 20 minutes. In the case of the Theater 25 de Mayo, I plead guilty of ignorance. I had never been there and I don´t know the area. I looked at the Filcar and Juramento seemed the right way to get there from Palermo; alas, Juramento is obstrued by the railway; I was deviated by diagonals and couldn´t find my way back for a full 40 minutes. So I got there 20 minutes late. I´m sorry, then, but this review misses from 20 to 25 minutes of each show, and my verdict is on what I could hear.
Argentine opera is more abundant than generally known; there are over hundred operas written, though not all are available (many were lost). There have been too tendencies: Argentine or Pre-columbine subjects, or European ones. Mario Perusso has written in both. He has created four, widely spaced chronologically: "La voz del silencio" (1969), an experimental work that was recorded; "Escorial" (1989) on an Expressionist play by Ghelderode; "Guayaquil" (1993) on the crucial meeting between San Martín and Bolívar; and the one I´m reviewing on a famous historical play by Cocteau. His play was premiered in 1946 with Edwige Feuillère y Jean Marais and the film was made in 1948 with the same actors.
The play is loosely inspired in the murder of the famous Sissi, wife of the Austrian Emperor Franz Joseph. An anarchist tries to kill the Queen in the opera, but she, a recent widower of her husband, assassinated on the very day of her wedding, finds in the anarchist an amazing physical resemblance to her husband; both fall in love at first sight, and the story goes on with many surprising twists. The principals are mezzosoprano and tenor, and other characters enrich the action: the Queen´s mother (Archduchess), the director of the secret police, Oskar de Grössenbach (important member of the Court) and Noemí (lady in waiting). The libretto innovates from time to time on the original play, but the general traits remain. The music is accessible, with a combination of tonality and atonality that is never aggressive and often lyrical; the vocal lines are quite melodic in such pieces as the love duet. The orchestration is attractive though not original. In all, this is a reasonably good opera that combines love and politics adroitly. For me Perusso´s best was "Escorial", but I have a bent for expressionism.
The production was very good, with beautiful scenery by Marcelo Perusso and convincing moves for the singers. There were also lovely clothes by Stella Maris Müller and fine lighting by José Luis Fiorruccio. The orchestra was prepared and led with great understanding by Guillermo Scarabino. There was no chorus.
The lead singers were interesting. The experienced mezzosoprano Alejandra Malvino dealt finely with her vocal lines and cut a beautiful figure. Young tenor Marcelo Puente certainly has talent, good looks and an attractive voice, but he lacked the big guns for some of the music. A pleasant Patricia González (Noemí), an expressive though uneven Enrique Folger, a very strong Leonardo Estévez (Richard of Streber, the chief of the Secret Police), a well-sung but undramatic Archduchess (Alicia Alduncin) and three bit singers, Oreste Chlopecki, Claudia Montagna and Roxana Deviggiano, made up the good cast.

"El ángel de la muerte" de Mario Perusso

Henry Purcell´s "The Fairy Queen" (1692) is a series of "masques", that typically English semiopera that combines music with dances and Baroque scenery and has the character of a divertimento. It used to be combined with the plays. It has little argumental relevance and no dramatic coherence, so its charm comes from the beauty of the different fragments, very high in this case. It was premiered years ago by a British group of great quality. I was unprepared for the very nice and serious results of this production of the Colón Institute, although I had seen a good condensed "Orlando" (Handel) two years ago, supervised (as in this occasion) by the notable countertenor Jeffrey Gall.
A valid orchestra very well led by Bruno D´Astoli, with the assistance of a true specialist like Igor Herzog, a stylish production by Lizzie Waisse, agreeable choreography by Margarita Fernández, funny and expressive puppets by Adelaida Mangani (a curious but convincing addition) and a particularly beautiful stage design by Gerardo Pietrapertosa, plus a decent cast and the adequate restauration of the well-appointed small theatre, all summed up made for a fine evening. Among the singers I single out Andrea Maragno, Damián Ramírez, Soledad Espona and Lucas Somoza.

For Buenos Aires Herald

Varied symphonic activity in BA

I will start with an interesting visit, that of the Liège Philharmonic under Pascal Rophé(debut) and featuring the first appearance in BA of the great USA mezzosoprano Susan Graham. Two different concerts for the Mozarteum at the Coliseo with French-Belgian programming. Naturally enough, being born in Belgian Liège, César Franck was featured in both nights: in the first, his impressive symphonic poem "Le chasseur maudit" ("The damned hunter"); in the second, his great Symphony. Many forgot that the Liège Philharmonic has already been here, and that it played the Franck Symphony; it was in 1998 and it was led by their then Principal Conductor, Pierre Bartholomée. In both concerts the audience heard "Nuits d´été", the introspective, refined song cycle written by Berlioz on lovely poems by Téophile Gautier, such as "Le spectre de la rose". Although written for voice and piano around 1840, it was orchestrated in 1856 and became thus the first song cycle with orchestra. The first concert also included Debussy´s "La Mer" and the second, the "Roman Carnival" by Berlioz. I could only hear the second .

Rophé is a sanguine but accurate conductor, capable of giving plenty of dynamism to that fantastic overture "Roman Carnival" and also to build a convincing whole in the Franck Symphony, quite tricky in some aspects due to its heavy texture. The Orchestra seemed to be vastly improved since 1998, with fine intonation, an attractive and intensive collective sound and a good deal of discipline. But the gem of the evening was "Nuits d´été", accompanied with taste, and sung with superb style and beautiful voice by the admirable Susan Graham, a major artist , the outstanding vocal visitor of the year (as was Hampson last season). I was told she had bronchitis, but it didn´t show, a token of her fine technique.

Arturo Diemecke is a strange conductor: he is a thorough professional with a gift for integration of vast aural canvases, he has a fantastic memory, he is undoubtedly concentrated and communicative, and the B.A. Phil likes him; but the moment he turns to the public he becomes a clown with glam gestures; it almost seems a double personality. I appreciated his art recently in a general rehearsal and a concert. The first started with a 20-minute discussion about working conditions, a sign that all is not well at the Phil. But once the music started, I heard a committed conductor and orchestra. In particular, the virtuosic and extended symphonic poem by R. Strauss, "A hero´s life"; I was really impressed by the power and accuracy of the playing, including fine solos by Pablo Saraví, the concertino. That programme also included "Three songs" by Osvaldo Golijov, an Argentine having a big success in USA; they were very well sung and interpreted by Virginia Correa Dupuy. And also one of the best works of Ginastera, the "Variaciones concertantes", cleanly played.

The following Diemecke concert was also very good. Russian pianist Evgeny Mikhailov, in his second visit, played with fine mechanism the Schumann Concerto; the lack of greater tone quality was, I think, the fault of a rather metallic piano. Tchaikovsky´s "Manfred Symphony" is a controversial long score which I personally admire a lot. It is based on the ultra-Romantic work by Byron and the antihero goes through many vicissitudes admirably reflected in the texture and organization of the music. Diemecke´s conducting was taut and dramatic , as well as colourful , and the orchestra responded quite well.

The National Symphony has also given us some valuable experiences. I could only hear part of the general rehearsal of a concert conducted by Pedro Calderón. I missed the Dvorák Overture "In Nature´s realm" and most of R. Strauss´"Death and transfiguration", though I heard its last minutes and I liked the interpretation. The Wagner Prelude to the Third Act of "Lohengrin" was forthright and brilliant. And the Khachaturian Violin Concerto had a very able interpretation by concertino Luis Roggero, well accompanied by the Orchestra.

The audacious program imagined by conductor Luis Gorelik was a stimulating experience. The First Part was given over to Luciano Berio, with the premiere of his "Rendering" and the revival of his "Folksongs". "Rendering" is a strange and not quite convincing score, for it tries to complete the Schubert Tenth Symphony with Berio´s clouds of indeterminate sound and it doesn´t jell; also, the rescued Schubert is pleasant enough but very far from the Eighth and Ninth Symphonies. On the other hand, the "Folksongs" are very expressive and resourceful reworkings of folksongs from many parts of the world. I though Vera Cirkovic´s performance too uneven vocally and full of theatrical gestures. Gorelik handled both scores very well. The second Part allowed us to hear Prokofiev´s cantata "Alexander Nevsky", a masterpiece of tremendous power and imagination. Alejandra Malvino sang her Lament with intensity and the National Polyphonic Choir was outstanding, producing massive and well-tuned sound. The Orchestra responded with great punch and professionalism to Gorelik´s fine conducting.