A panoply of interesting concerts

There´s such a multitude of concerts in our city that I´m hard put to keep up. Here´s a selection of worthwhile experiences in recent weeks.

In Easter Week and for the seventh consecutive year took place "El Camino del Santo-Música Clásica en San Isidro", led since its inception by pianist José Luis Juri. This year each concert was dedicated to one composer. I chose two: Beethoven and Boccherini (the others: Mozart by the Orquesta Académica del Teatro Colón, Brahms by Gintoli and Panizza and Chopin by Lavandera).

Beethoven was played by Juri, Pablo Saraví (violin) and Gloria Pankaeva (cello) and the venue was the Colegio San Juan el Precursor, which lies just in front of the left side of the Cathedral at San Isidro. You take a walk along two tiled sides of the four enclosing a lovely open-air patio, and you then find yourself in a rather big hall (about 400 capacity?) with pretty decent acoustics.

The programme varied the textures: the lovely "Spring" Sonata for violin and piano, the "Moonlight Sonata" por piano and the early but splendid Trio Op.1 Nº3, already quite Beethovenian. The "Spring" Sonata was played with much charm and accuracy; the "Moonlight" had a few slight problems but was good; and the Trio was excellent throughout. The ideal encore was new to most of the public: the one-movement Trio in B flat major, G154, WoO39, light and exquisite, dated 1811.

Luigi Boccherini was a very talented Classicist, one of the best chamber music composers of his time, but his sacred music is little-known; that´s why I was very interested in his Stabat Mater, offered Midday at the Cathedral, which looks beautiful after a well done recent renovation. The work dates from 1781 in its first version (the one we heard) and lasts 41 minutes. Boccherini wasn´t dramatic, and although the music is very pleasant to hear, the starker aspects of the text are skimmed over in favor of nicely professional music. It was marvelously sung by Soledad de la Rosa, and very correctly played by the historicist string quintet Tempo Barocco led by violinist Fabrizio Zanella.

As readers are aware, I am a firm admirer of the Academia Bach, organized by Festivales Musicales, whose very soul was and is Mario Videla, now in its 32^nd. Season (!). The venue, as usual, was the Iglesia Metodista Central, with its perfect acoustics. This year the emphasis is put on the relationship between Johann Sebastian and his son Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, whose birth tercentenary is being feted. As usual in the Academy´s concerts, Videla gives an explanation of the occasion´s characteristics, and this time he gave learned and fascinating details about the importance of CPE Bach as a composer and as the great custodian of his father´s scores

The Symphony Wq (the Wotquenne catalog) 182 Nº3, for strings and continuo, is a pure example of the "Sturm und Drang" artistic revolution (think of Haydn´s Symphonies Nos. 44 to 49) with its inklings of the future Romanticism. This CPE style had great influence on Mozart.

The CPE side continued with two short motets Wq 208 1 and 2 (premiere) with texts by Christian Gellert, a severe poet. The choir was supported by continuo and the sound has stronger liens to the Baroque than the symphony.

Finally, the very developed Oboe Concerto Wq 164, with brilliant solo work by that grand veteran, Andrés Spiller. The Soloists of the Academy were in resplendent form throughout this section, and their old friends, the GCC- Grupo de Canto Coral directed by Néstor Andrenacci, were their stalwart and reliable selves in the motets.

The main glory of the Academy has been the premiere of dozens of Johann Sebastian´s cantatas. They now added a short (17 minutes) but fascinating one, Nº 26, "Ach wie flüchtig, ach wie nichtig" ("Oh, how ephemerous, how vain"). The anonymous text is appallingly gloomy ("everything that we see will fall and expire") but the music is marvelous. The initial chorus has an imaginative orchestration with unusual three oboes and an intricate texture, whilst the long tenor aria is a devil of a piece, one of the greatest technical challenges of the Baroque for the singer.

Tenor Pablo Pollitzer may not have an ingratiating timbre but he does show an amazing command of florid singing, including admirable breath control. The other soloists, from the choir, were in a lower level, but the GCC and the players were very good under the stylish conducting of Videla.

Curiously someone had the bright idea of offering the National Symphony and the National Youth Choir (Néstor Zadoff) to Videla for a wonderful combination of Carl Philipp Emanuel´s Magnificat and Johann Sebastian´s Easter Oratorio. This happened just days before the Academy´s concert and it came out as a combination of masterpieces sung and played at a high level and as a splendid prelude to the Academy´s cycle.

One bad point: the resonant acoustics of the church San Benito Abad, an ample venue where only slow music played softly is heard cleanly. I found unnecessary some intercalations of extraneous polyphony by the Coro Nacional de Niños, although they sang nicely. The mixed choir and the orchestra were in very good form under the positive conducting of Videla. Attractive solo singing by de la Rosa, countertenor Pehuén Díaz Bruno and baritone Alejandro Meerapfel, whilst Pollitzer was a bit rough.

For Buenos Aires Herald

A panoply of interesting concerts

            There´s such a multitude of concerts in our city that I´m hard put to keep up. Here´s a selection of worthwhile experiences in recent weeks.

            In Easter Week and for the seventh consecutive year took place "El Camino del Santo-Música Clásica en San Isidro", led since its inception by pianist José Luis Juri. This year each concert was dedicated to one composer. I chose two: Beethoven and Boccherini (the others: Mozart by the Orquesta Académica del Teatro Colón, Brahms by Gintoli and Panizza and Chopin by Lavandera).

            Beethoven was played by Juri, Pablo Saraví (violin) and Gloria Pankaeva (cello) and the venue was the Colegio San Juan el Precursor, which lies just in front of the left side of the Cathedral at San Isidro. You take a walk along two tiled sides of the four enclosing a lovely open-air patio, and you then find yourself in a rather big hall (about 400 capacity?) with pretty decent acoustics.

            The programme varied the textures: the lovely "Spring" Sonata for violin and piano, the "Moonlight Sonata" por piano and the early but splendid Trio Op.1 Nº3, already quite Beethovenian. The "Spring" Sonata was played with much charm and accuracy; the "Moonlight" had a few slight problems but was good; and the Trio was excellent throughout. The ideal encore was new to most of the public: the one-movement Trio in B flat major, G154, WoO39, light and exquisite, dated 1811.

            Luigi Boccherini was a very talented Classicist, one of the best chamber music composers of his time, but his sacred music is little-known; that´s why I was very interested in his Stabat Mater, offered Midday at the Cathedral, which looks beautiful after a well done recent renovation.  The work dates from 1781 in its first version (the one we heard) and lasts 41 minutes.  Boccherini wasn´t dramatic, and although the music is very pleasant to hear, the starker aspects of the text are skimmed over in favor of nicely professional music. It was marvelously sung by Soledad de la Rosa, and very correctly played by the historicist string quintet Tempo Barocco led by violinist Fabrizio Zanella.

            As readers are aware, I am a firm admirer of the Academia Bach, organized by Festivales Musicales, whose very soul was and is Mario Videla, now in its 32^nd. Season (!). The venue, as usual, was the Iglesia Metodista Central, with its perfect acoustics. This year the emphasis is put on the relationship between Johann Sebastian and his son Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach, whose birth tercentenary is being feted. As usual in the Academy´s concerts, Videla gives an explanation of the occasion´s characteristics, and this time he gave learned and fascinating details about the importance of CPE Bach as a composer and as the great custodian of his father´s scores

            The Symphony Wq (the Wotquenne catalog) 182 Nº3, for strings and continuo, is a pure example of the "Sturm und Drang" artistic revolution (think of Haydn´s Symphonies Nos. 44 to 49) with its inklings of the future Romanticism. This CPE style had great influence on Mozart.

            The CPE side continued with two short motets Wq 208 1 and 2 (premiere) with texts by Christian Gellert, a severe poet. The choir was supported by continuo  and the sound has stronger liens to the Baroque than the symphony.

            Finally, the very developed Oboe Concerto Wq 164, with brilliant solo work by that grand veteran, Andrés Spiller. The Soloists of the Academy were in resplendent form throughout this section, and their old friends, the GCC- Grupo de Canto Coral directed by Néstor Andrenacci, were their stalwart and reliable selves in the motets.

            The main glory of the Academy has been the premiere of dozens of Johann Sebastian´s cantatas. They now added a short (17 minutes) but fascinating one, Nº 26, "Ach wie flüchtig, ach wie nichtig" ("Oh, how ephemerous, how vain"). The anonymous text is appallingly gloomy ("everything that we see will fall and expire") but the music is marvelous. The initial chorus has an imaginative orchestration with unusual three oboes and an intricate texture, whilst the long tenor aria is a devil of a piece, one of the greatest technical challenges of the Baroque for the singer.

            Tenor Pablo Pollitzer may not have an ingratiating timbre but he does show an amazing command of florid singing, including admirable breath control. The other soloists, from the choir, were in a lower level, but the GCC and the players were very good under the stylish conducting of Videla.

            Curiously someone had the bright idea of offering the National Symphony and the National Youth Choir (Néstor Zadoff) to Videla for a wonderful combination of Carl Philipp Emanuel´s Magnificat and Johann Sebastian´s Easter Oratorio. This happened just days before the Academy´s concert and it came out as a combination of masterpieces sung and played at a high level and as a splendid prelude to the Academy´s cycle.

            One bad point: the resonant acoustics of the church San Benito Abad, an ample venue where only slow music played softly is heard cleanly. I found unnecessary some intercalations of extraneous polyphony by the Coro Nacional de Niños, although they sang nicely. The mixed choir and the orchestra were in very good form under the positive conducting of Videla. Attractive solo singing by de la Rosa, countertenor Pehuén Díaz Bruno and baritone Alejandro Meerapfel, whilst Pollitzer was a bit rough.

For Buenos Aires Herald

“Rigoletto” and “Carmen” in refreshing traditional presentations

            Thirty years ago I wouldn´t have included in the title of this article "refreshing traditional presentations", simply because even the most audacious ones (some exceptions apart) respected the libretto. Of course there are many ways of doing something right, and the stagings had leeway for imagination, but the essential thing was that looking at a photograph you knew which opera was depicted; now frequently you don´t. And young people were given reasonably faithful images of what the composer and his librettist specified.

             Now teenagers are offered complete travesties, and  their ignorance doesn´t allow them to realise that something´s rotten in the state of Denmark. For humanistic subjects are relegated in school  and few parents are able to give them what the studies don´t (often they know as little as their children). Generations that are now over fifty should know better, but often think that "you have to go with the times" and that "if this is trendy in Europe and accepted there, it should be here as well". So kudos to people doing opera here that show some common sense and offer us productions that aren´t insulting.

            As I am a veteran, I certainly don´t need yet another "Rigoletto" or "Carmen", but at least I went away from two recent productions with some pleasure instead of strong irritation.  Of course, private companies must make ends meet and this is increasingly difficult in a crisis-ridden Argentina with dwindling sponsors, so they tend to go to surefire hits. Thus "Rigoletto" at Juventus Lyrica´s 15^th season at the Avenida, or "Carmen" by the Ensamble Lírico Orquestal at the Auditorio de Belgrano.

             I believe "Rigoletto" to be the best of the so-called Verdian Popular Trilogy, the others being "Il Trovatore" and "La Traviata". Three marvels, no doubt, but dramatically and musically  "Rigoletto" is the most advanced.

            This "Rigoletto" had two excellent points: the natural interrelation of  characters as marked by producer Ana D´Anna and the lovely Renaissance costumes of Ponchi Morpurgo as spruced up by María Jaunarena. But I desagree with the heavy wooden unit set of Gonzalo Córdova, which is neither evocative of the Duke´s palace (it is a must visit if you go to Mantova) nor does it separate the street from the inside in the Second Act; and though his lighting is adequate for the dark needs of certain scenes, the joyful beginning of the First Act certainly needs more light.

            In just four performances there were three casts; I went to the first one. Baritone Ernesto Bauer showed considerable progress in musical line and volume from earlier performances in other parts; he was always musical, expressive and thoughtful (forget enormous voices of superhuman expansion such as Cornell MacNeil). After some initial stridency, Natalia Quiroga Romero was a positive Gilda; by the Fourth Act she had found not only a softer voice and better line, but also touching inflexions. Sebastián Russo, tall and slim, looks the Duke´s part, and he has some agility as well as good highs, but he had trouble in maintaining a consistent musicality.

            A new name, Felipe Cudina Begovic, showed a good bass voice as Sparafucile. Nicolás Secco was a rather strained Monterone. Griselda Adano has the right looks for the seductive Maddalena and sang well. The others were in the picture: Tamara Odón, Juan Font, Maximiliano Agatiello, Juan Pablo Labourdette and Ivana Ledesma. The choirs in this opera are only for men, and were quite satisfactory (Juan Casasbellas prepared them). The hero of this interpretation was Antonio Russo, who in his late seventies looks admirably fit and phrased with unerring vision, even if the orchestra had some smudges.

            Last year the Ensamble Lírico Orquestal led by Gustavo Codina had offered a concert version of Bizet´s "Carmen" at the Auditorio de Belgrano. This time it had a production, and the orchestra  accompanied from the stalls. The Auditorio doesn´t have a pit, but the first four rows were occupied by the orchestra (of course, the seats were taken away) and it worked well, for after about 30 precipìtous steps from on high, the first rows go UP, not down. It doesn´t seem to bother the players. So it seems in a way that we have an alternative venue for opera.

            "Carmen" is generally offered now with the Guiraud recitatives, much better here than the original opéra-comique with spoken parts, for very few are able to deliver decent French; singing masks defects.

            Enrique Folger is a redoubtable José, intense and dramatic. Mariana Rewerski has the looks but not the tragedy for the title role and her voice lacks real mezzo color. Cecilia Layseca was a tasteful though small-voiced Micaela, and Sebastián Angulegui was a poor Escamillo. Very good the Frasquita of Ana Laura Menéndez, less so the Mercedes of Milagros Seijó. First-rate the smugglers Sebastián Sorarrain and Sebastián Russo, and Claudio Rotella as Zúñiga.

            Codina led an orthodox "Carmen" with a correct small orchestra; the choirs were middling. The best aspect of the staging was the adequate costumes of Mariela Daga;  Raúl Marego (producer and stage designer) gave a pleasant image of the proceedings within the libretto indications. A pity that the hall was very hot, the timings went awry both before the opera and in the intervals, and the lighting was mournful during the latter. But the place was full and the show was roundly applauded. There were only two performances.

For Buenos Aires Herald

The Big Three launch their seasons

             Late April is the usual launching time for the seasons of the Big Three, and so it was again this year. The Mozarteum Argentino, with its two series at the Colón, presented the Munich Chamber Orchestra with trumpet soloist Hakan Hardenberger;  the brilliant duo made up of Boris Belkin (violin) and Michele Campanella (piano), began the Nuova Harmonia activity at the Coliseo; and the choir Musica Quantica made its presentation for Festivales Musicales at the Auditorio de Belgrano.

            The Munich Chamber Orchestra was here three years ago for the Mozarteum. Then and now, their assertive concertino Daniel Giglberger practically officiates as "conductor" with body language from his post. In fact  they are not a true chamber orchestra, which should include winds and be able to play the Haydn and Mozart symphonies, but a string ensemble, though larger than the Baroque ones. For a total of 21 we heard eleven violins, four violas, four cellos and one bass, plus one piano used in a modern work (the same artist also played the harpsichord in a Baroque piece).

            Hardenberger was brought by the Mozarteum 21 years ago and his comeback was very welcome, for the Scandinavian is certainly one of the best  trumpeters in the world and I found him in full form. He intervened in the second and third scores of the First Part and chose two opposing styles: the Baroque represented by Georg Philipp Telemann´s splendid Concerto in D, TWV 51:D7; and modernism by André Jolivet´s Concertino for trumpet, piano and strings, an eclectic piece of much imagination. His playing was admirably clean, with  beauty of sound, precise articulation and sensitive phrasing; he was well abetted by the Orchestra and pianist Jean-Pierre Collot.

            The ensemble by itself gave us the one-movement Symphony Nº 10 for strings by Felix Mendelssohn, written with astonishing precocity at 14 (1823) in a predominantly classical style with some Romantic inklings.

            Interestingly, they started and ended with Twentieth-century Hungarian composers: Sándor Veress (1907-92) was a disciple of Béla Bartók, as his "Four dances of Transylvania" prove; they are light, well-wrought and pleasant. As to Bartók´s Divertimento, it may be the best string piece of his time, with a density of thought and composing mastery that goes beyond the genre. The encore is probably the one that should win the Guinness record of performances: the third movement of Mozart´s Divertimento K.136.

            The group is very professional and has a high degree of accuracy. The interpretations are orthodox, though I miss at times some electricity.  Munich is a very musical city and they are good ambassadors.

            Both Belkin and Campanella have had ample and important careers; it was predictable that their recital would give us two hours of musical pleasure. They played a lovely programme of traditional features: Mozart´s Sonata Nº 26, K.378, one of his best; that epitome of singability, Schubert´s "Duo" Sonata Op.162, D.574; and the wonderful Franck Sonata, with its combination of cyclic construction, deep Late Romantic feeling and inventive counterpoint. The encores were equally beautiful: Schubert´s final movement from his Sonatina Op. 37/3, "Allegro moderato"; and Beethoven´s "moto perpetuo" third movement of Sonata Nº 8.  In other words, a whole programme of sonatas without the violin display pieces; both partners were absolute equals.

             These players have a mature conception of the works, based on full-range techniques and knowledge of styles. It is always comforting to hear this sort of music-making. My reservations are minimal: Belkin´s timbre not quite settled in Mozart, a few circumstantial slips from Campanella. But this is nitpicking for it was a first-rate night.

            Since last year Festivales Musicales is barely hanging on to be still considered as one of the Big Three, for sponsorship has dwindled and with it the money to bring over foreign artists. Their formula has changed: they used to be adventurous, now it´s famous repertoire mostly by selected Argentine artists. I do hope the situation will eventually bring us back to their former ways.

            Musica Quantica is a very good chamber choir molded by Camilo Santostefano into a tight, disciplined unit, able to give us very refined shades of vocal color. Their programme for the First Part included some pieces I had heard from them last year in the Midday Concerts at the Gran Rex, but it was interesting to meet them again at the Auditorio de Belgrano.

            They started with Johann Sebastian Bach´s  double-choir motet "Komm, Jesu, komm", with Manuel Adduci (viola da gamba) and Leonardo Petroni (organ). Two Romantic motets followed: Mendelssohn´s "Warum toben die Heiden" and Josef Rheinberger´s "Anima nostra". Then came what for me was the zenith of the evening: Britten´s complex tripartite "Hymn to Saint Cecilia" on elaborate poems by W.H.Auden.

            Two contemporaries completed the First Part: the fascinating "Leonardo dreams of his flying machine" by Eric Whitacre and the repetitive "De profundis" by the Filipino John Pamintuan.

            Dare I say it, I am no fan of the "Misa criolla" by Ariel Ramírez, to my mind overpraised and oversung. This group gave it a very Northwestern view, which I think is suited; two baritones and a tenor were the soloists, but one of the former had the larger share and sang very "jujeño". Several singers accompanied with charango, guitar, winds and percussion.

            Encores: Piazzolla´s "Fuga y misterio", and "El guayaboso" by the Cuban López Gavilán. Musica Quantica is certainly one of our best choirs nowadays.

For Buenos Aires Herald

The first Verdi and the fourth Wagner

            The two greatest names in opera converged recently. La Plata´s Argentino offered Richard Wagner´s "Der Fliegende Holländer" ("The Flying Dutchman"), whilst a relatively recent private group, the Compañía Lírica G.Verdi, gave  at the Avenida the long-awaited revival of Giuseppe Verdi´s "Oberto, Conte di San Bonifacio".

            The main news at La Plata was the very fact that the season began. "...Holländer" had a welcome local premiere last year after having been scratched in 2002; 2013 was a time of terribly low productivity and constant troubles for the Argentino.

            This year rumors of grave difficulties were again to the fore, and the revival of the same production of "Holländer" coincided with changes at the helm. Out went Leandro Manuel Iglesias as General Administrator and Sergio Beros replaced him; the latter had worked with Jorge Telerman when he was mayor of our city; Telerman is now the President of the  Instituto Cultural that oversees the Argentino, and Beros was  the Executive Secretary of the Institute. On the other hand, the worthy Guillermo Brizzio, who was Director of Artistic Programming, is being replaced by Gabriel Senanes, who was the Colón´s Artistic Director during an uneven period (Telerman had named him). Time will tell if these changes will be positive.

            This "Holländer" repeated Louis Désiré´s wrong-headed production,  revived by Lucía Portela. Again we had the ridiculous toy boat, the incomprehensible goings on during the Overture, the unacceptable presence of Senta during the First Act, and so on...

            I liked the decision to maintain Wagner´s first version, in one long act instead of three; it lasts about two hours and a half, similar to "The Rhinegold". The continuity was maintained with skill by the young Argentine conductor Federico Víctor Sardella, who in 2010 studied German opera (and "Holländer" in particular) with a Mozarteum  scholarship in Berlin. He has talent and good sense, and apart from some low horn and trumpet croaks the Orchestra responded well.

            The Argentino´s excellent choir, now under Hernán Sánchez Arteaga, was reliable as always. The ghost choir of the Dutchman´s ship had an off-stage eerie sound; it seemed recorded, which would be alright in this particular case.

            I am of two minds about the Dutchman as sung by the Argentine Héctor Guedes, who has a long European career. The voice has problems: it spreads in high notes, sounds unpleasant in the low register, and intonation is sometimes awry (granted, Wagner´s melodic lines are very difficult). On the other hand, he has authority and presence.

            As last year, Mónica Ferracani was a wonderful Senta: apart from not being blonde, as the libretto wants, everything is perfect: her tall, commanding beauty; the perfectly projected full voice; the conviction of her interpretation. Erik, her suitor, was sung with much intensity by Enrique Folger. Daland was again taken acceptably by Víctor Castells. Claudia Casasco was a correct Mary, and Patricio Oliveira a vocally miscast as the Steersman as well as a clownish interpreter.

            When will we hear and see the first three operas in the Wagnerian canon? Please, programme "Das Liebesverbot", "Die Feen" and "Rienzi" (we only had a badly truncated concert version of the latter)!

            In these last few years, instead, we heard and saw the first three Verdian operas; "Nabucco" (the third) is by now a staple, but "Un giorno di regno" (the second) was premiered in 2012, and now we had the revival of "Oberto, Conte di San Bonifacio" (the first), only offered in 1939 during the Colón Spring season commemorating the centenary of its world premiere. "Oberto" had been announced last year by the same group; however, they had to postpone it for this season.

            This year they billed it at first as a premiere, and when they were advised in a musical forum that the Colón had already done that, they changed it to "complete version, Argentine premiere".   I sent them mails indicating that their version is indeed complete, for I checked it with the excellent Marriner recording, but neither they nor I could find concrete evidence about whether the Colón´s premiere had cuts; so I believe they can´t support their claim. Nevertheless, I´m very happy they put it on stage, for it was a necessary and interesting experience.

            Mind you, it is a first step in a long road and far from the quality of "Nabucco". Of course, the 26-year-old Verdi has influences (Bellini, Donizetti, Mercadante) but in the best fragments you already find the Verdian style, especially the trio and the great "concertante", though there are good moments in some of the arias.

            I won´t mince words, the libretto (by Antonio Piazza as revised by Temistocle Solera) is deplorable, telling a  Medieval story of love and vengeance in primitive terms. But Verdi´s ability to extract dramatic force from unpromising material is already there.

            I was well impressed by the vigor and clarity of Ramiro Soto Montllor´s conducting, especially as he had a lot of previous work to make sense of poor orchestral parts; apparently there´s a need for a critical edition. Both the 33-strong Orchestra and the 34-voice Chorus collaborated with enthusiasm though they have some way to go in purely technical matters.

            The production by Adriana Segal (advised by Lizzie Waisse) respected time (1228) and in very general terms, place (Bassano, Ezzelino´s castle and surroundings). Mariela Daga is an experienced hand at period costumes. Stage designs were middling (Mariano Campero and Juan Bautista Selva). The supertitles were untidy and there was nary a word about the opera in the hand programme.

            Sabrina Cirera dominated the cast with her fierce, dramatic Leonora (the first of three in Verdi´s career!).  I liked Nora Balanda´s personality and vast range as Cuniza. The men were in a lower level: Walter Schwarz (Oberto) has a good line but little volume, and tenor Pablo Selci (Riccardo) is afflicted with a bleat, though he sang resolutely.

            But reservations apart, an A for will and hard work.

For Buenos Aires Herald