From Neoclassic ballet to stark operatic drama

            Last year the Colón Ballet offered a Neoclassic trilogy. This season their Directress, Lidia Segni, is offering a second trilogy. With no foreign guests, it was a good demonstration of the current quality of the home dancers and fortunately the verdict is quite positive. I don´t agree with the repetition of the first piece, "Marguerite and Armand", the Frederick Ashton choreography telling the story of the Lady of the Camelias; for those who saw last year´s trilogy, it was a duplication. But it is a reasonable assumption in Neoclassic terms of the famous sad Romantic tale; originally created as a vehicle for Margot Fonteyn and Rudolf Nureyev, to make its full effect it needs stronger personalities than Natalia Pelayo and Juan Pablo Ledo (there was a double cast, I saw the performance on October 17), but they certainly danced very well. The plot is faithfully followed and the music is Liszt´s mighty Sonata in an arrangement by Dudley Simpson in which the orchestra merely supports the piano, always the protagonist. Martín Miranda gave some character to the Father, although he looked too young, whilst Sergio Hochbaum as the Duke, "protector" of Marguerite, had to bear a wig that made him too old to be believable. In the "social scenes" a covey of eight dancers were Marguerite´s admirers. The uncredited stage and costumes designs were tasteful, as was the lighting of Rubén Conde. Iván Rutkauskas played splendidly  and curiously, Carlos Bertazza, Assistant Conductor of the Phil, was at the helm of the Orquesta Estable.

            Frankly, I saw little Neoclassic in  the strangely called "Fug@ technica", a choreography by the young Belgian Éric Frédéric on minimalist music by Alexander Balanescu. I didn´t like the repetitive music, led by Balanescu himself on the upper stage, plus Freddy Varela Montero (violin),Stanimir Todorov (cello), Mario Fiocca (viola) and Daniel Bugallo (percussion). But the dancing moves of this local premiere were brilliant, very imaginative and dynamic, with mostly modern steps plus some token academic ones ironically mixed. I enjoyed myself with the energetic and perfectly controlled execution of the difficult, even acrobatic steps by the talented young dancers, featuring Carla Vincelli and Ledo plus several duos and solos by other artists.  Movements in and out of the stage were yuxtaposed with quicksilver lightness and rapidity. It was plain that there is strong renovation; in the listing of the members of the Colón Ballet there are no less than 23 reinforcements. I recently read in a report by the Auditors of the Colón that the law under which a dancer can retire after 20 years of service is in force; why, then, is the Ballet full of people that largely pass the 40-year mark? But to come back to this piece, it was a success. The utilitarian costumes by Vittoria Bergallo worked well in this context, as did Conde´s lighting. 

            The other premiere, "Before Nightfall", used the motoric, attractive music of Martinu´s Double Concerto for two string orchestras, piano and timpani, quite well played by the Estable under Bertazza. It is certainly one of the best ballets of the prolific Dutch choreographer Nils Christe, and this was pure Neoclassic at its best: three Pas de deux and a Pas de six of perfect harmony and correspondence with the music, with a purity of line almost Balanchinian. With a very suggestive blue stage design by Thomas Rupert amd lovely costumes of the same color by Annegien Sneep (who also put on the Christe choreography) and very adequate lighting by Conde, this was a quality presentation. And it was very beautifully danced by all concerned. 

            In total contrast, the revival of Gerardo Gandini´s chamber opera "La casa sin sosiego" was a starkly dramatic and necessary event. On a libretto by Griselda Gambaro that is both cogent, intense, intelligent and allusive, this metaphore about our "desaparecidos" was staged at the Centro Cultural Haroldo Conti, the most symbolic of all places, as it is the ex-ESMA. I had been present at its premiere twenty years ago at the Teatro General San Martín, and I was impressed then, but this performance now moved me deeply. The 70-minute, one-act opera mixes spoken and sung fragments, and as an example of Post-Modernism it combines the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice with the horror of that "casa sin sosiego" where Teresa was imprisoned and then "disappeared". Juan (a spoken role) wants to bring her back. 

            Gandini´s extremely subtle and beautiful music quotes the passage from Monteverdi´s Orfeo in which the Messaggiera tells Orpheus about Eurydice´s death and resignifies it in lovely madrigal-like groups. Teresa´s music is bare and tragic. Three Women, one of them doubling as Ruth, a tenor in a double role (Fool/Orpheus), and a baritone in three parts (Man, bartender, guard) complete the roster. Many of Gambaro´s phrases stay in the mind hours after attending the opera, reminders of repressive times (but I like my history complete and I don´t forget, as so many do, that terrorists are also part of what shouldn´t come back). Marvelously expressed by a strong cast led by Oriana Favaro, with Mauch a sensitive actor (Juan), Alejandro Spies a virulent Guard, Pablo Pollitzer a convincing Fool/Orpheus ; Cecilia Mazzufero and Nadia Szachniuk (sopranos) and Cecilia Arellano (mezzosoprano), plus the ten-member instrumental group Compañía Oblicua under Marcelo Delgado The staging by Pablo Maritano was strong and true. 

 

For Buenos Aires Herald

EL CASO COLÓN-RING: KATARINA RETORNA A SU CASA

    Como recordarán los lectores, cuando se anunció el proyecto Colón-Ring lo ataqué fuertemente por considerarlo absurdo, y más recientemente agregué algunas noticias con respecto a la conferencia de prensa ofrecida por Katarina Wagner (la régisseuse) y Cord Garben (el autor de la reducción a siete horas de "El Anillo de los Nibelungos" de Wagner). El martes pasado (Nota: una semana antes de la publicación de este artículo) Katarina, bisnieta de Wagner y co-directora del festival de Bayreuth, estuvo brevemente en el Colón. Se encontró con Pedro Pablo García Caffi, el Director General y Artístico del Colón, y le dijo que no estaban listos los elementos requeridos para empezar a ensayar; por lo tanto, retornaba a Alemania y esperaría allí que el Colón le avisase que las cosas estaban prontas.

    Siguió una tanda de repercusiones en diarios locales y alemanes, en su mayor parte con diferentes matices. Lo que se leerá aquí es mi enfoque personal del asunto basado en una compilación y síntesis de una amplia información. Todo el intríngulis da la sensación de ambigüedad y verdades a medias. Ítems:

    1) A través de los años Alejandro Cruz (La Nación) ha escrito muchas notas sobre los graves problemas del Colón; ahora publicó una entrevista (telefónica) con García Caffi  sobre el incidente, y lo menos que puedo decir es que estoy asombrado por sus contestaciones. "El Colón ha cumplido con cada punto estipulado en cuanto a la producción del Colón Ring. Vamos bien, alegres y contentos". Sin embargo, Katarina dijo a la agencia DPA que había encontrado "condiciones inadecuadas para trabajar en el teatro. Yo no podría haber ensayado ni siquiera una escena con los cantantes, y no había disponibles ni trajes ni pelucas".  GC dijo a Cruz que "sólo falta terminar 15% de la escenografía".

    2) Dos semanas antes de la referida polémica visita, el Colón anunció que dos de las cuatro representaciones se habían cancelado. Según GC, esto se debía a que el Gobierno de la Ciudad había determinado un corte presupuestario ocasionado por las difíciles condiciones financieras actuales. ¿Pero qué pasa con las obligaciones contractuales establecidas con el amplio grupo de cantantes y con el director de orquesta? Dijo GC: "los costos se redujeron en 43,35% eliminando esas dos funciones"; ¿pero acaso piensa él que los artistas aceptarán sumisamente que les paguen menos? ¿Acaso no podría ser que la decisión fue el resultado de muy pobre venta anticipada ya sea porque los precios están por las nubes (platea $3.000) o que al público no le interesa el proyecto –o las dos cosas?

    3) Un rumor insistente expresa que algunos materiales que deben importarse para la producción están languideciendo en la Aduana porque no se concedió autorización para despacharlos. No lo puedo asegurar del todo, pero hay una declaración de GC  diciendo que se buscaban dentro del país materiales sustitutos.

    4) GC dijo a Cruz que no era cierto que Valentina Carrasco (una argentina que trabaja en La Fura dels Baus) iba a reemplazar a Katarina. Pero otras informaciones refutaron esto rotundamente, expresando que habían sido enviados mails a los cantantes informándoles que Carrasco sería la régisseuse. GC dijo que suponía que Katarina volvería, y ella dice lo mismo, de acuerdo con lo expresado en el primer párrafo de este artículo.

    5) Sin embargo, hay un hecho muy negativo: durante el período de ensayo de su contrato con el Colón Katarina ha aceptado poner en escena una gran presentación por el cincuentenario de Audi en Ingolstadt, Alemania, el 11 de Noviembre. Josef Öhrlein, del Frankfurter Allgemeine, sugirió que con este retorno ella podría estar ganando tiempo para preparar ese show. Öhrlein cita estas palabras de Katarina: "Cuando Audi me propuso que yo tomara a mi cargo el lado artístico de la celebración, no hesité un segundo". Aparentemente, no tiene angustias éticas...

    6) Hay una regla general en la actualidad: el régisseur elige su escenógrafo y vestuarista. Si Katarina no vuelve, Carrasco deberá olvidarse de las ideas radicales de La Fura y adaptarse a las de los diseñadores Frank Schlössmann y Thomas Kaiser.

    7) Otro problema concierne al director de orquesta. Julien Salemkour estuvo aquí para dar un concierto inesperado en Agosto con fragmentos del Ring. Luego su nombre fue reemplazado por el de Roberto Paternostro; más tarde volvió a mencionarse a Salemkour y finalmente el director será Paternostro. GC dice que no le gustó cómo dirigió Salemkour. Curioso, ya que este artista fue asistente de Barenboim varios años y preparará la Orquesta de La Scala para el director argentino.

    8) La idea original había sido hacer una coproducción del Colón-Ring con otras salas. GC admite que esto no ocurrió. De modo que el aspecto de ganancia económica parece estar en peligro.

    9) Pero hay además otra cuestión. La Orquesta Estable hizo algo que hubiera debido hacer en Marzo: protestó los inhumanos requisitos físicos que implica estar tocando durante siete horas (p.ej., terrible para las trompas), pidió una compensación monetaria y añadió que se sabe que la Deutsche Welle hará un film sobre el Colón Ring; esto debería significar más dinero para la Orquesta.  (En realidad, la DW hace ya tiempo que está en BA y quiere documentar todo el proceso). La Orquesta afirma que tocará y que sólo quiere poder hablar con las autoridades, pero esto, inicialmente prometido, no tuvo lugar. El comportamiento lógico hubiera sido utilizar ambas orquestas, la Estable y la Filarmónica de BA, aunque esto jamás se propuso.  Creo que usar una sola orquesta plantea un problema médico y que la Estable debería insistir en este factor, pero no lo ha hecho.

    Seguramente tendré ocasión de volver sobre el tema a medida que este asunto se desarrolle.

Traducción del artículo para el Buenos Aires Herald

 

 

 

The Colón-Ring affair: Katarina goes home

            As readers may remember, when the Colón-Ring project was announced I roundly panned the project as absurd, and more recently I added some news concerning the press conference given by Katarina Wagner (the producer) and Cord Garben (the author of the reduction to seven hours of Wagner´s "Ring of the Nibelungs"). Last Tuesday Katarina, Wagner´s great-granddaughter and co-leader of the Bayreuth Festival, was briefly at the Colón. She met Pedro Pablo García Caffi, the Colón´s General and Artistic Director, and told him that she hadn´t found in place the required elements to start rehearsing; so, she was returning to Germany and would await there word from the Colón that things were ready.

            There followed a stream of repercussions in local and German papers, most with different nuances. What follows is my personal view of the matter based on a conflation and synthesis of a wide array of information. The whole matter has the feeling of ambiguity and half-truths. Items:

            1) Over the years Alejandro Cruz (La Nación) has written several pieces on grave problems of the Colón; now  he published an interview with García Caffi about this incident, and the least I can say is that I´m flabbergasted by his answers. "The Colón has fulfilled every point stipulated about the production of the Colón Ring. We are going well, happy and contented".  However, Katarina told the DPA agency that she found "inadequate conditions to work at the theatre. I couldn´t have rehearsed even one scene with the singers, and there were no costumes or wigs available".  Cruz talked by phone with GC, who told him that "only 15% remains to be finished of the stage designs". 

            2) A couple of weeks before this troubled visit, the Colón announced that two of the four performances were cancelled. According to GC, this was because the City Government had determined a budget cut due to the straitened financial conditions it is going through. But where does this leave the contractual obligations with the host of singers or with the conductor?  Said GC: "eliminating two performances the costs were reduced by 43,35%"; but does he think that the artists will meekly accept being shortchanged?  Couldn´t it be that the decision was rather the result of very poor advance sale because either the prices are sky-high (stalls $ 3.000) or the public wasn´t interested in the project –or both?

            3) An insistent rumor has it that some imported materials for the staging are languishing in the Customs depots beacuse the authorisation to allow them entrance wasn´t granted. I can´t vouchsafe this, but there was a declaration by GC that substitute materials were being sought within our country.

           4) GC told Cruz that it wasn´t true that Valentina Carrasco, an Argentine from La Fura dels Baus, would take over. But other informations refuted this in no uncertain terms, saying that mails had been sent to many of the participating singers telling them that Carrasco would be the producer.  GC says that he supposes Katarina will come back, and she says the same, as intimated in my first paragraph.

            5) However, there´s a moot fact: during the period of rehearsal of her contract with the Colón Katarina has accepted to stage a big presentation of Audi´s half-centenary at Ingolstadt, Germany, on November 11.  Josef Öhrlein, of the Frankfurter Allgemeine, has suggested that she may be trying to gain time to prepare the show. She is quoted by Öhrlein thus: "When Audi proposed that I would take over the artistic side of the  celebration I didn´t hesitate a second". No ethical pangs from her, apparently.  

            6) A general rule nowadays is that the producer chooses his stage and costumes designers. If Katarina doesn´t come back, Carrasco would have to forget about La Fura and its often radical ideas and adapt herself to the ideas of the designers: Frank Schlössmann and Thomas Kaiser.

            7) A further problem concerns the conductor. Julien Salemkour was here for a previously unannounced "preview concert" in August. Later his name was replaced by that of Roberto Paternostro; then back came Salemkour´s; and finally the choice is Paternostro. GC says that he wasn´t pleased with Salemkour´s conducting. Curious, for this artist has been Barenboim´s assistant for years and will prepare the Scala Orchestra for Barenboim.  

            8) The original intent was to do coproductions with other opera houses. GC admits that this hasn´t happened. So the business side seems in jeopardy. 

            9) But there´s another matter. The Orquesta Estable did something it should have done in March: it protested the inhuman physical requirements of playing during seven hours (terrible for the horns, e.g.), asked for monetary compensation, and added that it is known that Deutsche Welle will make a film on this Colón Ring and that it should mean more money for the Orchestra.  (In fact, the DW has been in BA since more than a week ago and they want to document the whole process). The Orchestra affirms that they will play and only want to have talks with the authorities, but this, initially promised, hasn´t happened. The logical thing would have been to use both orchestras, the Estable and the BA Philharmonic, but this was never broached. I believe there´s a medical problem using just one orchestra and that the Estable should insist on this factor, but they haven´t.

            I will surely have occasion to write again as this affair evolves.

For Buenos Aires Herald

End-of-season time plus the BA Phil

            We are in the final weeks of the season and some institutions are ending theirs. Festivales Musicales finished its activity (although the Bach Academy, its "daughter", still has one concert to go) with a splendid Bach-Vivaldi concert at the Colón. It had only one fault: it was too short. At the start of the Second Part, given over to the most famous of Vivaldi´s Glorias, it would have been nice nd useful to add a violin concerto from this composer. 

            Mario Videla was at his best as conductor and had at his command a picked orchestra of moderate historicism.  We had a fluent and beautifully played First Suite by Johann Sebastian, a model of style and execution. Then, the most brilliant of Bach´s Cantatas for solo voice, Nº 51, "Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen" ("Be joyful unto God in all places"), where both the soprano and the solo trumpet have difficult florid music. Soledad de la Rosa´s crystal-clear voice and easy highs are just the ticket for this music. And Fernando Ciancio, except for a tiny accident at the end of the initial Aria, played with beautiful tone and real agility.

            The Gloria, RV 589, doesn´t need such a huge choir as the 101 voices of the Orfeón de Buenos Aires (Néstor Andrenacci and Pablo Piccinni) and I wonder why, in a Baroque piece, especially when they call themselves a "project choir", in other words, a flexible organism that adapts to different necessities. But they sounded very well, powerful, in tune and in style. The Ensemble Academia Bach was again outstanding (lovely work from oboist Andrés Spiller), De la Rosa and countertenor Martín Oro sang with quality (although their timbres don´t blend ideally), and Videla was sensitive and exact.

            There were rumors during the year that the hard economic situation of the country was affecting sponsorship and that next year´s Festivales season was imperiled. But  they decided to form a Circle of friends, and their support has saved them. However, there are almost no foreigners and the programming (announced as has become a good practice in the last concert of the season) is very conservative, when Festivales was in its early years quite adventurous. Still, I can only feel glad that this institution and its "daughter" will be us in 2013. 

            Nuova Harmonia ended its season with a concert by the Camerata Ireland featuring its longtime leader, pianist/conductor Barry Douglas (they came to us in 2000). As pianist Douglas has been a frequent and always welcome visitor. In his early maturity he showed himself once again   impeccably stylish and accomplished.  He offered admirable performances of two standards, Mozart´s Concerto Nº 19 and Beethoven´s Nº 2, plus a Nocturne and Aria for piano and orchestra by John Field, the Irish composer who invented the Nocturne and influenced Chopin. As he is very pleasant, I would have preferred to hear one of his seven concerti instead of the Mozart, for they are not known here and should be. 

            The other two pieces were the witty Overture "La Scala di Seta" by Rossini, and some charming "Druid dances" by Edward Bunting (1773-1843), an important compiler of Irish folklore. Surely Bunting´s and Field´s pieces were premieres. I´m afraid I am much less impressed by the Camerata than by Douglas; there were mistakes in the woodwinds (especially the oboe at the start of Rossini), horns were woolly and the strings had more than a touch of acid. They are, yes, disciplined and correct, but on this showing they are second-line. The President of Ireland, visiting our country, came to the concert with his retinue. 

            Nuova Harmonia´s programme for 2013 was announced and showed they do have yet some strong sponsors, with heavy accent on symphonic and chamber orchestras. I am very glad that this is so, for back in 2002 they almost died and were rescued by the Italian Government; now Italy is hardly up to the job, so it means that they have been skillful in obtaining sponsors on their own. 

            When the Buenos Aires Philharmonic´s season was announced early this year I was happy to find that Jorma Panula, the veteran Finnish conductor, would make his belated debut and conduct Sibelius and Nielsen; but I was also surprised that he would be burdened with no less than four Argentine scores and that he would have two Phil first desks playing concerti. As it happened, he was replaced (no explanation at all) by two of our best young conductors, who acquitted themselves quite well, but without the benefit of specialised experience in the important Nordic repertoire, so little-known and -appreciated here. Maybe Panula thought they asked too much from him.

            I have space for only the first of the two, conducted by Alejo Pérez and having as main work the marvelous Fifth Symphony by Sibelius. Although not quite as convincing as other instances either from Pérez or the Phil (some passages weren´t distinct enough, or didn´t have all the impact they need) it still was great to hear this music live. A well-written Neoclassic Concertino for clarinet (premiere) by Fermina Casanova was followed by Piazzolla´s "Contemplación y danza", both superlatively played by Fernando Rey. Richard Strauss´ very Romantic First Concerto for horn was executed by Fernando Chiappero with some accidents but fine timbre. At the start, the 1913 "Poema de las campanas" by Alberto Williams was an interesting choice.

For Buenos Aires Herald

A varied cocktail of opera and ballet

 There are few examples in our midst of such sustained artistic work  as that of the Ensamble Lírico Orquestal led by conductor Gustavo Codina and his wife, soprano Cecilia Layseca.  In recent years they have expanded their activities after obtaining the management of the Teatro del Globo, a cozy venue of warm acoustics just a few meters from the Coliseo. There they offer their own projects but also help other outfits to present theirs. They also hire the premises of the Auditorio de Belgrano for other activities. I will cover today their abridged concert "Carmen" (Bizet) at the Auditorio and the revival after 41 years of Carl Orff´s "Catulli Carmina". 

            "Carmen" worked quite well, in fact I was surprised by some aspects of it, which proved much better than my expectations. Codina has been Principal Conductor of the Agrupación Sinfónica de Morón since 2004; although the Orchestra exists since 1969, its performance of "Carmen" shows that they have grown professionally a lot during this tenure, for the playing was clean and energetic, with some beautiful solos. They blended seamlessly with the similarly capable Orquesta del Ensamble Lírico Orquestal. Codina established logical tempi and phrasings according to good tradition, and he also got a fine sound out of the choir he founded, the Coral Ensamble.  A further good point: all the best music was respected and the plot could be followed fluently.  And although it was billed as a "concert version", there was useful (uncredited) dramatic interplay allowing to call it semi-staged (with no costumes and stage designs but with enough movements to make the goings on quite operatic).

            The cast was one of the best that can be assembled here. Although Mariana Rewerski now lives in Europe, she was here for some weeks and sang both this "Carmen" and Beethoven´s Missa Solemnis. Blessed with fine looks and a flexible, beautiful voice handled with ease, she may lack some tragic earthiness but otherwise she was fine. Enrique Folger is a true "spinto", an intense, expressive and big voice used always with a sense of theatrical characterisation; he overdid it at times, but in the right direction:  an exciting Don Jose. As to María del Rocío Giordano, she may be the best Micaela we have, a gorgeous lyrical voice very full and  used with skill. Sebastián Angulegui´s voice isn´t ingratiating but his Escamillo was well phrased. All but one of the flank roles were satisfactory: Laura Domínguez (Mercedes), Sebastián Russo (Remendado), Sebastián Sorarrain (Dancaire), Claudio Rotella (Zúñiga) and Ricardo Crampton (Morales) were all pluses; only the shrillness of Mariana Mederos (Fransquita) was a hindrance in this very good group. 

            Back to home base, the Teatro del Globo, for the final offering of the season: the revival of Orff´s "Catulli Carmina", the second part of his "Trionfi". The first is the great hit "Carmina Burana", done almost every season; the third, "Il trionfo di Afrodite", was premiered here (and not revived) when the whole "Trionfi" were presented at the Colón conducted by Pedro Calderón and choreographed by Yvonne Georgi. The riotous color and melodic charm of "Carmina Burana" wasn´t duplicated in the more severe second and third parts, and as the years went by Orff became more and more ascetic: "Antigone", "Prometheus" (not heard here) are tough nuts to crack. But "Catulli Carmina" still has enough musical interest and accessibility to make its musical acquaintance a pleasure. It means "Songs of Catullus", the Roman erotic poet, and the texts don´t mince words; they are in Latin, but the faithful supertitles in Spanish left no doubt about the high sexual content, centered on the troubled loves of Catullus with Lesbia, who isn´t lesbian but a promiscuous heterosexual. This 1943 piece, called "ludi scaenici", is based on choral works done in 1930-2 ("Odi et amo"). In its 47 minutes we go through a Prelude, three acts and an Exodus. The instrumentation is based upon that of Stravinsky´s "Les Noces": pianos and percussion. Catullus is a strong tenor, Lesbia a sweet soprano, and the ample chorus comments on  the action, applauds or laughs derisively.

            The musical side went admirably. Codina understood the style, the Coral Ensamble was excellent, lustily commenting on the goings on, and the pianists and Percussion Ensemble of the IUNA prepared by  Mariana Calzado Linage had all the necessary rhythm. Sebastián Russo was the very good tenor and Cecilia Layseca sang with delicacy and charm. I do have some strictures concerning Carlos Trunsky´s choreography. It wasn´t varied enough and at times the sexual movements were too obvious: you need suggestion, not imitation. The Compañía de Danza del IUNA (Roxana Grinstein) tried their best to be convincing. I didn´t like the stage designs of Víctor De Pilla; the costumes by Alicia Gumá were mostly black tunics and a couple of revealing outfits; Lesbia at the end appears half-naked. 

            As "Catulli Carmina" is short, it was preceded by another work: a choreography by Trunsky based on the interplay of a boy and his shadow, changing the original narrative of Dukas´ "The Sorcerer´s Apprentice". The reduction for two pianos is the composer´s. There were good lighting effects by David Seldes. The moves were of variable interest and the grotesque added noises by the Child even bothered the music, well played by Andrea García and Ivana Rabellino. The dancers were Darío Martín Rodríguez and Gastón Exequiel Sánchez (Child and Shadow).

For Buenos Aires Herald

 

The charms of choral music, with or without an orchestra

            There are two basic types of choral music: a cappella (the choir alone, though it can occasionally have some instrumental support doubling the voices or a piano accompaniment); and choral-symphonic, most of the time with vocal soloists. The weekends are flooded with concerts of a cappella choirs, but there are far less occasions to see the great works that join a chorus with an orchestra, for two main reasons: the disappearance of the Asociación Wagneriana and the very meagre attention given to this repertoire by the authorities of the Buenos Aires Philharmonic. So most of the good work is done by the Coro Polifónico Nacional with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional.

            One of the greatest challenges is Beethoven´s Missa Solemnis, arguably the most important mass along with Bach´s in B minor. Pedro Calderón did it some years ago with the forces above, and now that he is 79 he gave his solid interpretation once again with them, and with soloists that come from the CPN (soprano Soledad de la Rosa and tenor Ricardo González Dorrego) plus mezzosoprano Mariana Rewerski replacing the announced Lucila Ramos Mañé,  and bass Christian Peregrino. The CPN was led by its Principal Conductor Roberto Luvini.  

            This is a terribly dense score and admittedly there were occasional fissures, but the overall concept was right and there was a lot of sustained musicianship from the orchestra (especially fine solos from the concertino), the choir (the sopranos mostly coping with the very high notes that Beethoven put in their parts) and the soloists. In this Mass the soloists´ work is very integrated with the choir and there are no arias for them, but the writing is quite difficult. Although both de la Rosa and González Dorrego lacked dramatic intensity, they sang purely and in tune, no mean feat. The presence of Rewerski was a pleasant surprise, for she  lives in Europe; her voice is fresh and beautiful. Peregrino has the proper weight but his vibrato is sometimes too accused. Calderón was, as his wont, the master builder we have known for decades, and structure is of the essence in this masterpiece; I only missed some added inspiration in key passages.

            Another OSN concert, at the Auditorio de Belgrano (their usual venue), gave us the chance to hear again a splendid Rachmaninov work, "The Bells", on an adaptation of Poe´s poem by Balmont. Forty-two minutes of colorful, varied music, splendidly orchestrated, where the only problem is that some climaxes mix  the full-strength choir with the soloist, swamping him under a wall of sound (not a fault of the interpreters).  The joy of "The golden jingle bells" (with a tenor), the solemn "Sweet wedding bells" (with soprano), the demonic "Sonorous alarm bells" (no soloist but tremendous choral singing) and  "The Funereal Iron Bells", aptly marked "Lento lugubre" (with bass/baritone), are the four parts of a score that was the composer´s favorite. It dates from 1913.

            The big CPN sang lustily and the orchestra played enthusiastically. The best soloist was Alejandro Meerapfel, who sang with commanding power. For some reason Alejandra Malvino, a mezzosoprano, was assigned a soprano part; the strain in high notes was comprehensible, then, but she managed alright. González Dorrego was again the tenor, singing clearly and musically. All were led by the young Colombian Hadrián Ávila Arzuza, currently Principal Conductor of the Sinfónica de Córdoba; trained in Russia, he knows the style well and communicated with skill his ideas to all concerned.

            Alas, the rest of the programme wasn´t up to the main score of the evening. It started with a prettry horrible premiere, a 6-minute thing called "Ongilash" by its composer Luis Zubillaga, an Argentine who died in 1995 after a life of extreme convictions wrongly oriented in music and politics. It started with a terrible howl, followed by a minute of talks (yes, talks) by the orchestra members with newspapers in their hands, and it ended with almost five minutes of music that went nowhere. By the way, "Ongilash" was an invented word by a small kid, Zubillaga´s son. A wan and rather disjointed execution of Brahms´ "Variations on a theme of Haydn" (well, Brahms and the musicologists thought at the time that the "Divertimento on St Anthony´s chorale" was Haydn´s; it came out that it isn´t; no matter, it´s a fine tune for variations)  closed the First Part. A pity that Uruguayan pianist Raquel Boldorini fell ill, for she was to play my favorite Mozart Concerto, the dramatic Nº 24.

            The famed series of Conciertos de Mediodía, a branch of the Mozarteum Argentino, presented a German group of very important trajectory: the Hamburg Monteverdi Choir (no connection with the similarly named outfit founded by Gardiner). Led since 1994 by Gothart Stier, it was founded by Jürgen Jürgens in 1955 and made memorable records. After l8 years, of course the singers and the conductor have a fine rapport.  In typically contained German fashion, they sang with style and refined dynamics never going beyond a forte. The Gran Rex is hardly adequate for this sort of intimate interpretation but I still got a lot of pleasure out of their traversal of "Four Centuries of European Choral Music", as they called their concert.

            The composers were Monteverdi, A.Scarlatti, the unknown Johann Gottfried Schicht, Bruckner, Mendelssohn, Brahms, Stanford, Britten, Debussy and Orff, plus a vidala by Chazarreta, hardly European.

For Buenos Aires Herald

The Big Three have a good week

            Concert life remains vivid and interesting, witness the good week the Big Three have just had. The Mozarteum Argentino presented a splendid recital at the Colón with cellist Sol Gabetta and pianist Bertrand Chamayou. Nuova Harmonia gave us at the Coliseo the return of Erich zu Guttenberg with the valuable debut of the Orchester der Klangverwaltung. And Festivales Musicales brought us at the Colón another worthwhile first visit, pianist Natasha Paremski.

            Our Sol Gabetta is now at 31 among the most feted cellists in the world. Chamayou is the brilliant pianist we have already appreciated last year in a solo recital and in this season as soloist with the Toulouse Capitole Orchestra.   His appearance was motivated by a sad circumstance: the untimely death of Mihaela Ursuleasa, originally announced. Well, Gabetta and Chamayou proved a fine team and the only problem was that the cellist´s sound is delicate rather than expansive;  although Chamayou often plays softly  he is very powerful in the fortissimi and sometimes overwhelmed her. But the quality of the phrasing and adaptation to different styles were never in doubt, and the purely technical accomplishment was astonishing in both artists.

            The First Part gave us the elusive Debussy Sonata, full of subtleties, and then Franck´s Violin/piano Sonata in the version for cello and piano, which sounds very well, for the cello´s singability is very apt for the long Franckian melodies. The Second Part offered the Shostakovich Sonata, a piece where different moods make deep contrast and ask a lot of the interpreters, and Piazzolla´s "Le Grand Tango", written for Rostropovich and  not one of his most inspired creations. The encores were a beautiful Hebrew melody by Bloch, a Ginastera piece with malambo rhythms and one of the best Piazzollas, the  melancholy "Oblivion". The charm and sensibility of Gabetta and the impressive command of Chamayou were fully in evidence thorughout. But I do feel that this sort of music sounds best in a smaller hall than the Colón.

            "Orchester der Klangverwaltung": "Orchestra of the administration of sound". What a strange name. "Administration" suggests bureaucrats rather than artists, or anyway the practical rather than the sublime. Nevertheless, the energetic and committed artists of this orchestra evidently feel music very deeply, and so does their conductor, the at long last returned Enoch su Guttenberg, remembered by veterans for his memorable Bach concerts with the Neubeuern Choir. In fact thirty years ago or so he was compared with Karl Richter, and when Rilling came, Bach lovers again evaluated three great specialists.

            This Orchestra was founded in 1997 by violinists Andreas Reiner and Josef Kröner, and they are still with it; then  and now, their Principal Conductor was and is zu Guttenberg. The biography in the hand programme  says that the organism contains members of such orchestras as the Philharmonics of Vienna, Berlin and Munich, no less, as well as renowned chamber players. Also, that some of them have instruments by Stradivari, Amati or Guadagnini. So, no wonder that the strings sound so well. I suppose that the orchestra is together a few months of the year, mainly when their other famed orchestras are on holiday. I suppose then that their summer residence, Herrenchiemsee (near one of Louis II´s famous palaces), is also their main one (halfway between Munich and Salzburg).

            Concerning zu Guttenberg, who looks very spry in his late seventies, I have long been surprised after his memorable Bach that I have heard so little about him; although his musical points of view have inspired this Orchestra, he has also been controversial. His phrasings and tempi are often unconventional, and you can like them or not; in this concert I have generally liked them, although some tempi seemed too fast and accents could be found overwrought. Nevertheless, most of the time I deeply enjoyed this programme of the Viennese school made up of masterpieces: the Mozart Overture for "The Magic Flute"; Haydn´s marvelous last Symphony, Nº 104, "London"; and that problematic wonder, Schubert´s Ninth Symphony, "The Great".

            The Orchestra played beautifully most of the time, but there were tiny misadjustments and smudges now and then; as conductor and orchestra know each other so well, it must have been circumstantial and didn´t affect the quality of the interpretations; I did prefer Haydn and Mozart to Schubert, however, for I felt there a lack of singability. And by the way, their visit was also a replacement, as the Orchestra MDR Sinfonie Leipzig under Kristjian Järvi cancelled its tour.

            Finally, 26-year-old Russian-born Natasha Paremski, fully American after 17 years of residence there, clearly evident in her showy gestures and dress code. But what matters is her playing, certainly redoubtable in a tough programme that had two Russian masterpieces at both ends: Prokofiev´s Seventh Sonata and Mussorgsky´s "Pictures at an Exhibition". In the middle, Chopin: two difficult Ballades (Nos. 1 and 4) and the dreamy Berceuse. Encores: Rachmaninov´s Etude-tableau Op.33/3 (slow), a repeat of the Berceuse, and a long and foolhardy choice that was the best thing of the evening: the almost unplayable "Islamey" by Balakirev, true terror of pianists (she signed herself before playing).

            She has strong ideas of her own (I sometimes disagreed) but she is a major pianist capable of lovely softness and of steely fortissimi. Better in the Russians than in the complex world of the Ballades, she was quite often arresting.

Splendid presentation of Rossini´s Cinderella

            It may be that the Colón has never seen such a splendid presentation of a Rossini opera as the current "La Cenerentola" ("Cinderella"). It was the work of three important artists. The first two were Colón directors and the third has been an enthusiastic opera goer for decades. I am referring to Sergio Renán, three-time Director (not two as his biography says in the hand programme) and certainly in his most brilliant period  one of the two best Directors of the Colón since 1950 (the other, of course, was Enzo Valenti Ferro). To Emilio Basaldúa, who took the Colón in the midst of the 2002 crisis and did a valuable job curtailed because his administration was cut short too soon. To Gino Bogani, famous costume designer that had never been invited by the Colón to collaborate in the staging of an opera.

            The Colón has had prominent interpreters during the past half-century: Teresa Berganza and Lucia Valentini-Terrani as the protagonist, Renzo Casellato as Don Ramiro, Sesto Bruscantini as Dandini, Wladimiro Ganzarolli as Don Magnifico; Bruno Bartoletti and Steuart Bedford were notable conductors; and the productions by Joachim Herz and Roberto Oswald were certainly first-rate. All balanced, I´d say that the 1967 performances were the best, but the one I´m commenting on comes a close second.

            Pride of place goes to the production. After a long period Renán made his rentrée as producer last year with "The Magic Flute", which unfortunately I didn´t see (I was on a trip). Now in his late seventies, he showed in this "Cenerentola" that his vivid imagination remains intact, and this time (it wasn´t always so) he chose admirable co-equippers. His first decision was to keep the visual side contemporary with Rossini; a pox on the German aridity and conceptualism that plagues Europe nowadays. But at the same time he incorporated technological aspects that enriched the goings on.  That´s why the programme says that he is the creator of both "stage direction" and "audiovisual media": I had never seen the use of live video projection on a big scale of the singers´ faces in key moments, and it works admirably to heighten certain passages. Stage movements were psychologically logical  and the whole had theatrical rhythm and animation. A charming touch was the airborne carrosse that transports Angelina to the feast.

            He was greatly helped by one of the best stage architectures created by Basaldúa; making full use of the restored gyrating disk he built several structures, all of them fully adapted to the needs of the action. So he evoked perfectly the seedy home of Don Magnifico, the cellar in which the same character is named Great Sommelier or the lavish palace of Ramiro. All of it was done with great accuracy by the Colón workshops, who even in the uncomfortable conditions under which they labor are still first-rate. So there was beauty and appositeness on stage. To boot, Bogani imagined very beautiful gowns and other clothes within the style of the 1800s. And the lighting by Eli Sirlin gave Renán all the necessary contrasts of light and shadow.

            Some quibbles: a) it was unseemly that early in the First Act the choir crossed hanging laundry within the house and saw Clorinda and Tisbe in their underclothes, b) the Storm was funnily illustrated with a filmed video of a 1920´s car, which jarred with the rest of the production. c) I see no reason for the inclusion of ballet in the Finale.

            The cast: the four principals made their local debut. Serena Malfi is very young (born 1985) and will surely give her voice more volume and resonance with time. She started rather weakly (though I´ve often observed that the "new" acoustics cause some distortions in the balance: if I am seating on the left, stalls row 9, I hear the singer with less projection than if I were dead center or on the right). But she gained confidence as she went along; she looks nice, has an adequate style and her florid singing is already pretty good, if you don´t compare with Bartoli or Garança. Kenneth Tarver has the limpid high notes required as Ramiro, he looks handsome and moves well; he is colored, which at first takes some accommodation from the audience, but soon the loss in verisimilutude is compensated by his stylishness.

            Dandini, the valet that impersonates Ramiro, needs a lighter touch than the rather rough handling of the role by Greek baritone Aris Argyris; competent but no more. On the other hand, the discovery of the night was the very good buffo Carlo Lepore, who has perfect control of the fast patter singing and of all the adequate gestures, so that he manages to be funny in what is after all a rather monstrous stepfather. Carlos Esquivel, curiously made up to look like Einstein, sang the wise Alidoro very well. And the two stepsisters made a fine team, singing and acting very convincingly: soprano Marisa Pavón and mezzosoprano Florencia Machado.

            Reinaldo Censabella conducted with care and good tempi, with only minimal details out of joint in what is a very difficult piece, and the Orchestra sounded in good fettle. A pity that the announced Bruno Campanella didn´t come (no explanation), for he is a specialist, but the results were quite respectable. The Choir in the safe hands of Peter Burian made an agreeable contribution.

For Buenos Aires Herald