Symphony Preview: Moonlight serenades

It has been quite an active spring for the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) string section, with a series of both live and on-demand concerts showcasing what Music Director Stéphane Denève has called the “heart of the orchestra.” In the concerts Maestro Denève will conduct this weekend (April 30 through May 3), though, it’s the SLSO winds who will be in the spotlight with a pair of works by Mozart and Richard Strauss.

Richard Strauss, age 24

“This program of wind music,” observes Mr. Denève in the SLSO program notes “is all about opportunity. For Mozart, it was the opportunity to try out a new ensemble and a new sound. For Strauss, this piece was a big break, an opportunity that led to performances by a major court orchestra and a commission from Hans von Bülow, a leading conductor of the day.”

“A big break” is putting it mildly. The Strauss work that opens the concerts is the Serenade for Winds in E-flat major, op. 7. Completed in 1881 when the composer was a mere lad of 17, it’s generally regarded as a remarkably mature-sounding piece for someone who had yet to take his high school final exams. It sat around for a year while Strauss started (with minimal enthusiasm) his university education, but it finally got a premiere on November 27, 1882, by the Dresden Tonkünstlerverein (Dresden Musicians’ Society) under Franz Wüllner.

Given that Wüllner was an old friend of Strauss’s father, that might not have been all that impressive, but a repeat performance in 1883 got the attention of the influential conductor Hans von Bülow. Von Bülow added the Serenade to the regular repertoire of the highly regarded Meiningen Court Orchestra (which he had founded)—a gesture that led to what Stefan Schenk calls “an effusive letter of appreciation” from Strauss:

Esteemed Herr von Bülow!

To my immense joy I heard the news from Mr Spitzweg the day before yesterday that it is the intention of your Excellency to perform my Wind Serenade Opus 7 in one of your concerts. I am delighted that such great honour has thus been bestowed upon my little beginner’s piece. – And I would like to express my most heartfelt and sincere thanks to you, esteemed master.

Listening to this friendly seven-minute work, all that might seem like a lot of fuss, but that’s just because Strauss achieved such a warm, welcoming effect without straying significantly from traditional musical structures that date back to Mozart—whom Strauss very much admired. Indeed, Strauss’s instrumentation is very close to Mozart’s; he just cuts back on the clarinet family and adds a couple of flutes for a brighter sound. You can hear that clearly in the performance by members of the University of Michigan Symphony Band on YouTube.

Mozart, as drawn by Doris Stock, 1789

Which brings us to Mozart. His Serenade No. 10 in B-flat major, K. 361 (370a) takes up the rest of the program. It picked up the nickname "Gran partita" because that title was added to the manuscript after the fact by a hand clearly not Mozart’s. Presumably it’s a comment on the work’s length (around 45 minutes, with seven movements) as well as the size of the ensemble (12 winds and a double bass).

That’s not large by contemporary standards, of course, but consider that back in Mozart’s day a harmonie (wind ensemble) usually consisted of around a dozen musicians playing pleasant background music for aristocratic garden parties. The harmonie of Emperor Joseph II, for example, “set the gold standard foraristocratic entertainment.” By doubling the size of the band and writing a work of symphonic proportions, Mozart was breaking new ground.

That said, there’s a lot about the origins of this work that are, to say the least, unclear. “The Serenade No. 10 in Bb Major,” writes David Stanley “is both well-known and a mystery”:

We will likely never know the exact date of composition for this serenade.  Scholars have examined a wide variety of sources: Mozart’s manuscripts, the type of paper he used, his thematic catalog, works composed at the same time, correspondence between other musicians—nothing is conclusive.  We know Mozart was in his late twenties and that the piece, or part of it, may have been premiered in Vienna on March 23, 1784

What we can say, just from listening to it, is that it goes well beyond the bounds of simple background music for the idle chatter of the well-born. The opening Largo—Allegro molto fills the standard sonata form with nobility and good humor. The two Menuetto movements are eminently danceable despite being longer and more elaborate than would have been typical for a serenade back then. The Tema con Variazioni sixth movement assigns a different pair of woodwinds to each variation, giving everyone a chance to show off. And the exuberant Finale, in the words of Dr. Michael Fink, “adds a finale on top of a finale. The clipped repeated sections of this rapid Rondo tumble forward impetuously.”

The Adagio third movement has become especially well known, thanks in part to Peter Shaffer’s play “Amadeus.” Shortly after meeting Mozart for the first time and finding himself appalled by the composer’s loutish behavior, Antonio Salieri hears the opening of the Adagio and is thunderstruck by its profundity:

It started simply enough: just a pulse in the lowest registers—bassoons, basset horns—like a rusty squeezebox. It would have been comic if not for the slowness, which gave it a kind of serenity. And then, suddenly, high above it, sounded a single note on the oboe. It hung there unwavering, piercing me through, until breath could hold it no longer, and a clarinet withdrew it out of me, and sweetened it into a phrase of such delight it had me trembling…It seemed to me that I was hearing the voice of God…and it was the voice of an obscene child! [from “Amadeus,” 2003 revision]

If you know the play, you also know that this is not a happy revelation for Salieri.

Buffet Crampton basset horn

One more cool thing about the “Gran Partita” is that it offers a rare opportunity to hear an instrument popularized by Mozart’s friend and fellow Mason Anton Stadler: the basset horn. Essentially a larger version of the clarinet with a more powerful low end and a darker tone quality, it looks a bit like a cross between a clarinet and a sax, especially in the elegant format offered by Buffet Crampton of Paris. Playing the basset horns this weekend will be SLSO E-flat clarinetist Ryan Toher and guest musician Jane Carl.

You can experience that Adagio along with the rest of the Serenade No. 10 in any number of ways on YouTube. If you want just the music with a synchronized display of the score, there’s this 1994 recording conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras. If you’d prefer a live performance, The Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France has one for you recorded on March 7, 2016, at the Auditorium of Radio France. Personally, I prefer the latter (they appear to be playing those cool Buffet Crampton basset horns, for one thing), even though there is much to be said for being able to read the score along with the players.

The Essentials: Stéphane Denève conducts members of the SLSO winds in the Serenade for Winds in E-flat major, op. 7 by Richard Strauss and the Serenade No. 10 in B-flat Major by Mozart. Performances are Friday at 11 am, Saturday at 7:30 pm, and Sunday at 3 pm, April 30 through May 2, at Powell Symphony Hall in Grand Center. Only 300 tickets will be sold for each performance and strict health protocols will be in place. For more information, visit the SLSO web site.

This article originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

Symphony Digital Review: Flute and harp take center stage in a mostly-French program

Mostly French and mostly featuring music for flute and harp, the latest St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) digital concert was recorded with a live audience at Powell Hall last fall. It’s available for on-demand streaming at the SLSO web site through May 22.

[Find out more about the music with my symphony preview.]

L-R: Jennifer Nitchman, Chris Tantillo,
Allegra Lilly

It opens with a virtuoso performance by SLSO Second Flute Jennifer Nitchman of "Reflections" for solo flute by the late American composer and flutist Katherine Hoover. A series of variations on a Norwegian folk melody based on the composer’s own improvisations, it’s an episodic piece that uses the full dynamic and tonal range of the flute. This isn’t flashy music, but it demands a high level of skill nevertheless. Ms. Nitchman does a flawless job capturing the work’s “high lonesome” sound and meeting its challenges.

Up next is Debussy’s 1915 Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp. It comes from a difficult time late in the composer's too-brief life when his personal and professional fortunes were a bit rocky. Given the turbulence of the life of its composer, it’s perhaps not surprising that this is a work that, as Ms. Nitchman says in her spoken introduction, displays “lots of different moods and characters.”

This is elusive, evanescent music with many shifts, changes, and pauses that require close communication among the musicians. Thanks to the intimate videography, you can see as well as hear that happening among the members of the ensemble who are, in addition to Ms. Nitchman, Principal Harp Allegra Lilly and violist Chris Tantillo. Ms. Nitchman says she loves this work. Judging from the quality of the performance, her fellow musicians seem to agree.

Allegra Lilly

Aside to whoever did the closed captions: the composer is Claude Debussy, not Clause Bedussy (whoever that might be). Just saying.

Ms. Lilly is in the spotlight next for the delightful 1953 Sonata for Harp by the unjustly neglected Germaine Tailleferre, the only female member of the group of French anti-Romantic composers known as "les six." Written for the famed Spanish harpist Nicanor Zabaleta, Tailleferre's Sonata is such a consistently entertaining and appealing work that I'm a bit surprised it's not better known. Lively, inventive, and melodically rich (including a little four-note motif towards the end that will make you think of either “merry Christmas” or “meet the Flintsones”), it is, past question, a real gem.

Ms. Lilly’s expert performance gives that gem a brilliant polish. The opening Allegretto brims with bucolic joy, the Lento sways gently like a berceuse, and the Perpetuum mobile finale bubbles along like a champagne fountain.

L-R: Jennifer Nitchman, Ryan Toher
Allegra Lilly, Eva Kozma, Rebecca Boyer Hall,
Chris Tantillo, Alvin McCall

Here, again, videography adds an extra dimension to the experience, allowing one to see clearly the intimate dance that takes place between Ms. Lilly’s hands and the instrument’s strings while her feet work the pedals. A lot of effort goes in to producing that liquid sound we’re used to hearing, but one rarely gets to see it from Powell Hall’s seats.

The concert ends with Ravel’s 1905 “Introduction and Allegro” for flute, harp, clarinet, and string quartet. It’s a deservedly popular piece, with a short languorous introduction that quickly makes way for a lilting waltz theme, which in turn goes through some inventive melodic and harmonic changes. Ms. Nitchman, Ms. Lilly, and Mr. Tantillo are joined here by violinists Eva Kozma and Rebecca Boyer Hall, Ryan Toher on clarinet, and cellist Alvin McCall for the kind of elegant, vivacious performance that Ravel would probably have loved.

In her spoken introduction, Ms. Lilly points out that one of the remarkable things about the “Introduction and Allegro” is that way it shifts back and forth between a harp concerto and an integrated chamber piece. The performance by this fine septet deftly balances those two aspects of Ravel’s writing

The St. Louis Symphony’s mostly French chamber concert runs around an hour and is available on demand through May 22nd. Its considerable attractions are of the small, intimate variety, which makes the program ideal for the digital video format, with its ability to put the viewer right in the midst of the music. For information on this and other live and digital SLSO concerts, visit the SLSO web site.

This article originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

Symphony Review: Spring is a holiday for strings with Leonard Slatkin and the SLSO

Virtuosity both individual and collective was on display in the concert last Friday, April 23, as SLSO Conductor Laureate Leonard Slatkin led the orchestra in works that, as Mr. Slatkin noted in his spoken introduction, are really hard to play: Britten's "Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge" for string orchestra, Ravel's "Tzigane," and Ginastera's "Variaciones concertantes."

[Find out more about the music with my symphony preview.]

Leonard Slatkin and the SLSO strings

The three works in question have more in common than their technical difficulty, however. All three are also examples of the popular musical form theme and variations, in which a simple theme becomes the basis for increasingly elaborate changes and transformations. They are otherwise three very different pieces, having originated in three different countries and embracing three very different musical styles.

The concert opened with a tribute by the young Benjamin Britten to the life and work of his teacher and mentor Frank Bridge (1879-1941). Written in only three months in 1937 when Britten was just starting to make a name for himself, “Variations” is both a brilliant work of musical architecture and an exciting showpiece for the string ensemble.

Mr. Slatkin and the SLSO strings delivered a wonderfully varied and technically brilliant realization of Britten’s genius Friday night. There were fine individual performances, to be sure, such as Concermaster David Halen’s incisive solo in the acerbically satirical “Bourée classique” fifth variation, but on the whole this was yet another excellent demonstration of the depth of talent in the SLSO string pool. You could hear that the week before in Associate Conductor Stephanie Childress’s killer rendition of Respighi’s “Ancient Airs and Dances,” and you can hear it on-line through May 8th in Music Director Stéphane Denève’s “The Heart of the Matter” digital concert.

This has been, in short, a great spring for strings.

Speaking of great string playing, Assistant Concertmaster Erin Schreiber knocked everyone out with her impassioned and nuanced performance of the next work on the program, Ravel’s "gypsy" pastiche “Tzigane.” Inspired by dazzling bit of Roma-esque improvisation by Hungarian-born classical violinist Jelly d’Arányi, “Tzigane” is rather like Sarasate's "Zigeunerweisen" on steriods. It demands emotional commitment in the long, soulful a cappella opening as well as serious technique in the many virtuoso passages that follow.

Erin Schreiber

Ms. Schreiber has demonstrated her mastery of her instrument many times in the recent chamber music series and she did it once again Friday night. She did it again Friday night, wearing a flowing bright red gown and playing her characteristic dark red violin with fire and finesse. The standing ovation she got was honestly earned and well deserved.

The concluding work, Ginastera’s 1953 "Variaciones concertantes," is essentially a “concerto for orchestra"—a work in which each section of the ensemble gets an opportunity to take the spotlight. The SLSO performed this vital and entertaining piece in 2014, and many of the soloists from back then reprised their excellent work Friday night. That includes (but is not limited to) Andrea Kaplan in the “Playful variation for flute,” Scott Andrews in the “Scherzo for clarinet,” and Beth Guterman Chu in the “Dramatic variation for viola.”

In the “Variation for oboe and bassoon,” Principal Bassoon Andrew Cuneo and oboist Xiomara Mass sounded like a pair of old friends in easy conversation. Allegra Lilly played the main theme with elegance, her harp imitating the “open strings” of a strummed guitar in a duet with the smooth cello of Melissa Brooks, and David Halen once again dashed off the rapid-fire “Perpetual motion” variation with the kind of apparent ease that comes only with serious work.

Mr. Slatkin wove all these strands together into a seamless tonal tapestry that felt perfectly balanced and was capped by an energized run through the final variation based on the malambo, a dance form that originated with Argentine gauchos and which crops up in other works by Ginastera.

Next at Powell Hall: Stéphane Denève returns to conduct Richard Strauss’s “Serenade for Winds” and Mozart’s “Gran partita” serenade Friday at 11:30 am, Saturday at 7:30 pm, and Sunday at 3 pm, May 1-3. Only 300 tickets will be sold for each performance, and strict health protocols will be in place. For more information, visit the SLSO web site.

Meanwhile, the SLSO’s digital concert series continues with on-demand performances of “The Heart of the Matter,” through May 8; and a concert from last fall’s chamber music series featuring works by Debussy, Ravel, and the mightily underrated Germaine Tailleferre through May 22.

This article originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

St. Louis theatre calendar for the week of April 26, 2021

Now including both on-line and live events during the pandemic. To get your event listed here, send an email to calendar [at] stageleft.org.

Arts for Life presents an on-demand video stream of their fifth annual Theatre Mask Awards, honoring excellence in community theatre productions during 2020, on their YouTube channel. Act Two Theatre’s production of the farce “Who’s in Bed with the Butler?” leads this year’s Theatre Mask Awards nominations with nine. Alton Little Theater, with its two productions of “Inherit the Wind” and “The Miracle Worker,” earned 12 nominations in total – six for each. Two classic comedies by Clayton Community Theatre, “The Philadelphia Story,” and Monroe Actors Stage Company, “The Solid Gold Cadillac,” both received eight nominations apiece. Arts For Life announced the TMA nominations on March 12, during the nonprofit organization’s first-ever virtual trivia night. For more information: www.artsforlife.org

The Black Mirror Theatre Company presents Nuts and Bolts: Playwriting 101, an interactive, 6-week introductory class on Zoom, Thursdays from 7 to 9 pm through May 6. "Are you interested in writing your first short play, improving your playwriting basics or simply joining a short-term writing group to give your skills a spring work out? Join local playwright Michelle Zielinski in an exploration of the elements that make a good play." For more information, send emtil to blackmirrortheatrestl [at] gmail.com

The Blue Strawberry presents Open Mic Night with Sean Skrbec and Patrick White Sundays at 7 pm. "Come on down and sing, come on down to play, or come on down to listen and enjoy." The club is operating under a "COVID careful" arrangement with restricted indoor capacity, mask requirements, and other precautions. The Blue Strawberry is on North Boyle in the Central West End. For more information: bluestrawberrystl.com.

Sister City Circus

Circus Harmony in St. Louis and Circus Circuli in Stuttgart, St. Louis's German sister city, present Sister City Circus, on Circus Harmony’s YouTube page.  "Through a series of online meetings, workshops, and classes the two troupes created 6 different circus acts and then filmed them at iconic architectural locations in each of their cities." This and many other Circus Harmony videos are available at the Circus Harmony YouTube channel.

Fly North Theatricals presents three new free digital series. Their new digital line up includes The Spotlight Series, the Grown-Up Theatre Kids Podcast, and Gin and the Tonic. The Spotlight Series highlights the Fly North family of students and actors performing songs from previous FNT shows. In the Grown-Up Theatre Kids podcast you can join Colin Healy and Bradley Rohlf every other Friday as they explore life after drama club and what it means to make a living in theatre far from the lights of broadway. Gin and the Tonic is a "reckless unpacking of music history’s weirdest stories hosted by Colin Healy.” The Spotlight Series and Gin and the Tonic are available at the Fly North Theatricals YouTube channel and the Grown-Up Theatre Kids podcast can also be found on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Sticher, other podcast platforms. All three are updated on a bi-weekly (every other week) basis.

The Lemp Mansion Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre presents A Fistful of Hollers through May 8. "Gun slingers, dance hall girls, cowboys, gold diggers, cowboy boots and ten-gallon-hats will abound. Rowdy cowboys will duel to the death as the crooked sheriff watches with glee. But none of these characters are as dangerous as Nasty Nate, he’s the orneriest gun in the west and word is that he’s going to be stirring up trouble at the Lemp Mansion." The Lemp Mansion is at 3322 DeMenil Place in south city. For more information: www.lempmansion.com

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show

Metro Theater Company presents The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show (La Oruga Muy Hambrienta Espectáculo), a bilingual production based on the books by Eric Carle, through May 16. "He's enchanted generations of readers since he first began nibbling his way to our hearts in 1969. Now, everyone's favorite caterpillar takes the stage in a dazzling, critically acclaimed production – featuring a menagerie of more than 75 larger-than-life, magical puppets." Live performances take place outdoors at the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center, 210 E. Monroe Avenue in Kirkwood. MO. The production is also available via on-demand video streaming April 28 through May 16. For more information: www.metroplays.org

Moonstone Theatre Company presents Moonstone Connections, a series of in-depth interviews with arts leaders by company founder Sharon Hunter. New episodes air the third Tuesday of each month; see linktr.ee/moonstoneconnections for more information.

The Muny presents Attuned: Cast Me at the Muny, a nine-part podcast that "showcases audition tips and funny stories, while offering an inside look at what makes casting a Muny show so challenging." The series is available on demand at the Classic 107.3 web site. For more information: classic1073.org/podcasts

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, in collaboration with Baltimore Center Stage, Long Wharf Theatre, The Public Theater and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, present Play at Home, a series of micro-commissioned short plays from some of the American theatre's most exciting and prominent playwrights. These new plays – which all run 10 minutes or less – are available for the public to download, read and perform at home for free at playathome.org.

Deal Orlandersmith in
After the Flood

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and All Arts present Until the Flood, written and performed by Dael Orlandersmith, via on-demand streaming. "On August 9, 2014, Darren Wilson, a white police officer, shot and killed Michael Brown, an African American teenager in Ferguson, Missouri. The shooting ignited weeks of social unrest, propelled the Black Lives Matter movement and prompted a controversial investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. Celebrated writer, performer and Pulitzer Prize finalist Dael Orlandersmith traveled to St. Louis and conducted interviews with dozens of people who were grievously shaken by Brown’s shooting and the turbulent aftermath. From these intimate conversations, Orlandersmith created eight unforgettable characters who embody a community struggling to come to terms with the personal damage caused by these events." For more information: allarts.org

R-S Theatrics presents While the Ghostlight Burns, a virtual discussion series featuring R-S Artistic Director Sarah Lynne Holt in conversation with St. Louis theatre artists, Mondays at 7 pm.  Conversations will be archived at the R-S Theatrics YouTube channel. For more information: r-stheatrics.com/while-the-ghostlight-burns.html

Come Together

The St. Louis Shakespeare Festival presents streaming videos from the SHAKE20 festival, including re-imagined, condensed versions of classic Shakespeare plays and new takes on old favorites like Joe Hanrahan's Come Together, at the Shakespeare Festival Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pg/STLShakesFest/videos

SATE, in collaboration with COCA and Prison Performing Arts, presents Project Verse: Creativity in the Time of Quarantine. Project Verse presents two new plays: Quatrains in Quarantine by e.k. doolin and Dream On, Black Girl: Reflections in Quarantine by Maxine du Maine. The performances are streamed free of charge on SATE’s website and Facebook page. For more information: slightlyoff.org.

Classic Mystery Game

SATE also offers streaming performances of the shows originally scheduled for live 2020 productions: The Mary Shelley Monster Show, As You Like It (produced for SHAKE20, Project Verse, and Classic Mystery Game. The shows are available on their YouTube channel.

Upstream Theater presents Healing: an Upstream Theater Retrospective available on demand at the company's YouTube channel Fridays at 8 pm through Sundays at 9 pm through May 9th. "We hope you are as eager to return to the stage as we are. In the meantime, we asked some of our Upstream artists to revisit a few of our past productions that in one way or the other explored the theme of healing." For more information: https://www.upstreamtheater.org

The Performing Arts Department at Washington University presents Homecoming Voices via on-demand video through May 2. "Four PAD alumni were commissioned to write plays for our season.  Each playwright was limited to writing a play under 30 minutes in length, with a cast of 2- 4 actors. Writers were free to write what they wanted, but each was deeply aware of the extraordinary social and pandemic moment we share.  The playwrights are: Nastaran Ahmadi ('00), Marisa Wegrzyn ('03), Chauncy Thomas ('06) and Liza Birkenmeier ('08). All have developed thriving careers in theater and television, and we are thrilled to hear their voices again on campus." For more information: edison.wustl.edu

Supper

The Performing Arts Department at Washington University presents Washington University Dance Collective production Supper via on-demand video through May 16. "Defined as a meal of an intimate nature, this is what you will experience, small but delightful morsels of creatively short dance offerings that work together to create a feast for the “virtual” senses.  Join us for an evening of dance that is both fulfilling and satisfying." For more information: edison.wustl.edu

Looking for auditions and other artistic opportunities? Check out the St. Louis Auditions site.

For information on events beyond this week, check out the searchable database at the Regional Arts Commission's Events Calendar.

Would you like to be on the radio? KDHX, 88.1 FM needs theatre reviewers. If you're 18 years or older, knowledgeable in this area, have practical theatre experience (acting, directing, writing, technical design, etc.), have good oral and written communications skills and would like to become one of our volunteer reviewers, send an email describing your experience and interests to chuck at kdhx.org. Please include a sample review of something you've seen recently.

Symphony Preview: Variations squared

St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) Conductor Laureate Leonard Slatkin has been a favorite of local audiences since his tenure as Music Director from 1979 to 1996. The orchestra’s international profile increased substantially during his years here and has remained high ever since. Now that he and his wife, composer Cindy McTee, have settled permanently in Clayton, he has once again become a fixture in the local music scene and hosts a nationally syndicated radio program, “The Slatkin Shuffle.”

Frank Bridge
PD-US, Link

This weekend (April 23-25), Mr. Slatkin returns to conduct the orchestra he has called “his family” in a program dominated by the popular musical form theme and variations, in which a simple theme becomes the basis for increasingly elaborate changes and transformations. It’s an ancient approach to composition, dating back to at least the 14th century. It has sprouted variations of its own, such as the passacaglia and chaconne, which served as the foundations for some massive works of musical architecture in the hands of composers such as Bach and Biber.

This weekend’s concerts open with one of the less famous examples of the form, the “Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge,” op. 10 for string orchestra by Benjamin Britten. Written with astonishing speed in 1937 (three months, end to end) on a commission by conductor and practicing physician Boyd Neel for the orchestra that bore his name, the “Variations” are a tribute to Britten’s teacher, the British composer Frank Bridge (1879-1941).

Bridge was an early champion of Britten’s music, while Britten, for his part, greatly respected and admired the older man, both as a composer and mentor. Based on a pair of themes from the second of Bridge’s “Three Idylls,” Op. 6 from 1906, the work’s ten variations are each intended as a representation of what Britten saw as aspects of Bridge’s personality (as described in Tim Munro’s program notes). A few are also witty parodies of the styles of earlier composers, such as the “Aria Italiana” (variation 4) with its echoes of Rossini.

“Britten's variations,” writes Kai Christiansen, “are a multi-layered tour de force that entice one to seek out not only more Britten, but music of the worthy Frank Bridge as well.” If you want to make their acquaintance in advance, let me direct you to a rather striking performance by the Royal Philharmonic under Sir Charles Groves on YouTube. You will, however, want to mute the annoying commercials.

Jelly d’Arányi
By Unknown author,
Public Domain

Next, Assistant Concertmaster Erin Schreiber is the soloist in Maurice Ravel’s 1924 high-wire act “Tzigane.”  The title is French for "gypsy," and while this fiercely difficult piece for violin and orchestra doesn't use any actual Hungarian folk tunes, it certainly conjures up the feel of that kind of music. The slow, smoldering romanticism of the opening eventually gives way to a wildly energetic finale that will test the skill of the best violinists.

Ravel was inspired to write the work after hearing the Hungarian-born violinist Jelly d’Arányi in a private performance of Ravel’s Sonata for Violin and Cello. Although she was a classically trained performer, Ravel asked her to play some “gypsy” music. She responded with what William E. Runyan calls “a dazzling informal improvisation in the Gypsy style,” and Ravel was hooked.

The virtuosity continues in the final work, the "Variaciones concertantes," op. 23 by the Argentine composer Alberto Ginastera. It takes the conventional theme and variations form and combines it with a concept that emerged mainly in the 20th century, the "concerto for orchestra"—a work in which each section of the ensemble gets an opportunity to take the spotlight. Bartok's "Concerto for Orchestra" is probably the most famous example. Benjamin Britten's most famous set of variations, the "Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra," is another.

Alberto Ginastera
en.wikipedia.org

Ginastera adds a bit of whimsy by giving each variation a descriptive title: "Variazione giocosa per Flauto" ("Playful variation for flute"), "Variazione drammatica per Viola" ("Dramatic variation for viola"), "Variazione in modo di Moto perpetua per Violino" ("Variation in perpetual motion style for violin"), and so on. "These variations have a subjective Argentine character," writes the composer in his notes for the Boosey and Hawkes edition of the score. "Instead of using folkloristic material, I try to achieve an Argentine atmosphere through the employment of my own thematic and rhythmic elements... All the instruments of the orchestra are treated soloistically. Some variations belong to the decorative, ornamental, or elaborative type; others are written in the contemporary manner of metamorphosis, which consists of taking elements of the main theme and evolving from it new material." Should be a good workout for our "orchestra of virtuosos."

The last time the SLSO performed the "Variaciones concertantes" Juanjo Mena was on the podium conducting the large orchestra version with 50 players in the string section. The work was originally written with a smaller ensemble in mind, though, and that’s how we’ll hear it this weekend, with a string section about half the size of the one used seven years ago.

The Essentials: Leonard Slatkin conducts the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra in Britten’s “Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge,” Ravel’s “Tzigane,” and Ginastera’s "Variaciones concertantes." Only 300 tickets will be sold for each performance and strict health protocols will be in place. For more information, visit the SLSO web site.

This article originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

Symphony Digital Preview: The harp of the matter

The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) continues its 2021 digital concert series April 22-May 22 with a program of music that's mostly French and mostly for the harp.

Katherine Hoover

Recorded at live concerts last October 30 and November 5, the program opens with the sole outlier, "Reflections" for solo flute by late composer and flutist Katherine Hoover. Composed in 1982, this short piece is described by the composer as "Variations on an ancient Norwegian chant. Written outdoors at Artpark, NY." It certainly has that solitary, "high on a mountain top" feel that I associate with (say) Andean or Native American flute music—haunting, mysterious, and compelling. Listen to Kate Steinbeck's 2002 recording on YouTube.

The harp comes into play for the rest of the program: Debussy's 1915 Sonata for Flute, Viola, and Harp; the delightful 1953 Sonata for Harp by the unjustly neglected Germaine Tailleferre; and Ravel's "Introduction and Allegro" for harp, flute, clarinet, and string quartet from 1907.

Debussy's Sonata comes from a difficult time late in the composer's too-brief life (he died in 1918 at the age of 51 after a long and painful battle with colorectal cancer) when his health, romantic relationships, and professional fortunes were all a bit rocky. Both happy and mournful, the Sonata looks back to Debussy's youthful interest in the pentatonic scale and harmonies derived from Eastern models. The composer himself voiced ambiguous feelings about it in a letter to his friend Robert Godet. "The sound of it is not bad," he modestly wrote, "though it is not for me to speak to you of the music. I could do so, however, without embarrassment for it is the music of a Debussy whom I no longer know. It is frightfully mournful and I don't know whether one should laugh or cry - perhaps both?" Listen to this 1962 recording by noted harpist Osian Ellis and the Melos Ensemble with a synchronized score and see what you think.

Germaine Tailleferre

Written for the famed Spanish harpist Nicanor Zabaleta, (a name well known to us music lovers d'un certain âge) Tailleferre's Sonata is such a consistently entertaining and appealing work that I'm a bit surprised it's not better known. But then Tailleferre has never achieved quite the recognition she deserved. The only female member of that group of French anti-Romantic composers known as "les six" (the others were Darius Milhaud, Francis Poulenc, Arthur Honegger, Georges Auric, and Louis Durey), Tailleferre was also the most long-lived, shuffling off her mortal coil in 1982 at the age of 91. I don't now whether she played the harp or not, but SLSO harpist Allegra Lilly (quoted in the program notes) feels that the Sonanta "could only have been written by someone with a deep understanding of the sonority of the harp and how one’s hands fit onto the strings." You can hear that in this YouTube video recorded by Woojin Lee in 2018 at the Conservatoire National Supérieur Musique de Paris.

Composed in 1905 on commission from the harp manufacturer Érard, the "Introduction and Allegro" is classic Ravel, with a short languorous introduction that quickly makes way for a lilting waltz theme, which in turn goes through some inventive melodic and harmonic changes without ever leaving the three-quarter time signature. It's the most well-known work on the program, so you've probably heard it before. If not, YouTube has a recording by members of the Academy of St. Martin-in-the-Fields that comes with a synchronized display of the score.
 
Performers for these concerts are harpist Allegra Lilly, flutist Jennifer Nitchman, and clarinetist Ryan Toher, along with violinists Eva Kozma and Rebecca Boyer Hall, violist Christian Tantillo, and cellist Alvin McCall.

As this is being written, two other programs in the SLSO’s digital concert series are still available: “Night Music,” through April 24 and “The Heart of the Matter,” through May 8. For information on the SLSO's digital and live offerings, visit the SLSO web site.

This article originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

Symphony Review: Superlative Respighi and Mozart highlight Stephanie Childress's second appearance on the SLSO podium

One of the delights of the recent live and digital concert series at the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra has been the way they have focused on the SLSO string section. I have been impressed with their sound for some time now, but I was most strongly reminded of it this past weekend (April 16-19) in the second two programs (the first was April 9-11) led by our new Assistant Conductor Stephanie Childress.

[Find out more about the music with my symphony preview.]

L-R: Xiaoxiao Qiang, Shannon Farrell Williams,
Stephanie Childress

This was most apparent in the work that closed the concert (which I saw on Saturday the 17th), the third and last of the "Ancient Airs and Dances" suites by 20th century Italian composer and musicologist Ottorino Respighi. That historical sensibility of the musicologist informs the “Ancient Airs and Dances” suites, which are transcriptions of the works of Italian composers from the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries.

Written under the shadow of fascism in 1931, the third suite is the most dramatic and even melancholy of the three, and the only one written for string ensemble alone. With moods ranging from romantic yearning to tragic nobility, it calls for players with a wide expressive range and a conductor who is sensitive to both the work’s technical demands and its emotional depth.

Ms. Childress and the SLSO strings were all of that in abundance Saturday night. The opening “Italiana” flowed gracefully like the two galliards on which it’s based. The “Arie di corte” reflected the many mood changes of the six love songs that form its basis, from refined courtly romance to rustic lust, complete with a seriocomic imitation of a bagpipe drone. The “Siciliana” third movement seemed to radiate nostalgia and regret. It and the concluding “Passacaglia” demonstrated the robust, full-bodied sound of the full ensemble at its best.

The “Passacaglia,” in fact, was a remarkable achievement all by itself. It’s the only one of the four movements based, not on a lute tune, but rather on a work written for the more expressive Baroque guitar (by Count Ludovico Roncalli, from his 1692 “Capricci Armonici”). It covers a wider emotional range than many of the other originals, which may be one reason why Respighi chose to simply orchestrate it without substantial changes. The result is a work of tragic grandeur, and Ms. Childress and her forces gave us every ounce of that in this powerful and moving performance.

Ancient Airs and Dances

The concert opened with a pair of works that allowed us to hear the SLSO winds in fine form along with their fellow members of the band, beginning with a bright and brash romp through the Overture in D major, written in 1790 by Italian-born virtuoso cellist and composer Luigi Boccherini. Xiomara Mass and Cally Banham were an elegant and precise presence on oboes, Roger Kaza and Julie Thayer bright and powerful on the horns, and the reliable Andrew Cuneo an elegant voice on bassoon. It was an excellent way to open the evening, and I was disappointed that the applause for it didn’t go on longer.

The Mozart Sinfonia concertante in E-flat major for Violin, Viola, and Orchestra, K. 364 was next, featuring excellent solo performances by violinist Xiaoxiao Qiang and violist Shannon Farrell Williams. Essentially a symphony with a group (a pair, in this case) of instrumental soloists, the sinfonia concertante was a popular form when Mozart wrote his for a 1779 European tour. His contribution to the form often gets high marks for the way it gives equal prominence to both of its solo instruments.  Ms. Qiang and Ms. Williams made the most of that as they merrily flipped melodic lines back and forth and took their star turns at cadenzas both flashy (in the noble Allegro maestoso first movement) and heartfelt (in the romantic Andante second movement). I had the sense that I was watching a convivial musical conversation between them and Ms. Childress

Regarding that slow movement, Ms. Childress and the musicians gave it an especially poignant sense of what Shakespeare’s Duke Orsino calls “a dying fall” that “came o'er my ear like the sweet sound / That breathes upon a bank of violets.” It was a fine contrast to the brisk sense of occasion of the first movement and the elegant dance of the last.

Next at Powell Hall: Local favorite Leonard Slatkin returns Friday and Saturday at 7:30 pm and Sunday at 3 pm, April 24-26, to conduct Britten’s “Variations on a Theme of Frank Bridge,” Ravel’s “Tzigane” (with Assistant Concertmaster Erin Schreiber in the virtuosic solo part), and Ginastera’s demanding “Variaciones concertantes,” op. 23. Only 300 tickets will be sold for each performance and strict health protocols will be in place. For more information, visit the SLSO web site.

Meanwhile, the SLSO’s digital concert series continues with on-demand performances of “Night Music,” through April 24; “The Heart of the Matter,” through May 8; and, from April 22 through May 22, a concert from last fall’s chamber music series featuring works by Debussy, Ravel, and the mightily underrated Germaine Tailleferre.

This article originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

St. Louis theatre calendar for the week of April 19, 2021

Now including both on-line and live events during the pandemic. To get your event listed here, send an email to calendar [at] stageleft.org.

Arts for Life presents an on-demand video stream of their fifth annual Theatre Mask Awards, honoring excellence in community theatre productions during 2020, on their YouTube channel. Act Two Theatre’s production of the farce “Who’s in Bed with the Butler?” leads this year’s Theatre Mask Awards nominations with nine. Alton Little Theater, with its two productions of “Inherit the Wind” and “The Miracle Worker,” earned 12 nominations in total – six for each. Two classic comedies by Clayton Community Theatre, “The Philadelphia Story,” and Monroe Actors Stage Company, “The Solid Gold Cadillac,” both received eight nominations apiece. Arts For Life announced the TMA nominations on March 12, during the nonprofit organization’s first-ever virtual trivia night. For more information: www.artsforlife.org

The Black Mirror Theatre Company presents Nuts and Bolts: Playwriting 101, an interactive, 6-week introductory class on Zoom, Thursdays from 7 to 9 pm through May 6. "Are you interested in writing your first short play, improving your playwriting basics or simply joining a short-term writing group to give your skills a spring work out? Join local playwright Michelle Zielinski in an exploration of the elements that make a good play." For more information, send emtil to blackmirrortheatrestl [at] gmail.com

Home

The Black Rep presents Home by Samm-Art Williams, recorded at Edison Theatre on the Washington University campus and streaming on demand from Thursday, April 15, through April 25. "Directed by Producing Director Ron Himes, Home tells the story of farm boy Cephus Miles who has inherited the family farm. He is content working the land until the girl he loves leaves for college and marries someone else. After a stint in prison for his opposition to the Vietnam War, he moves to the big city where he enjoys the fast-paced city life. His return to North Carolina, the farm, and the girl, reveals the true meaning of Home." For more information: http://theblackrep.org

The Blue Strawberry presents Open Mic Night with Sean Skrbec and Patrick White Sundays at 7 pm. "Come on down and sing, come on down to play, or come on down to listen and enjoy." The club is operating under a "COVID careful" arrangement with restricted indoor capacity, mask requirements, and other precautions. The Blue Strawberry is on North Boyle in the Central West End. For more information: bluestrawberrystl.com.

Sister City Circus

Circus Harmony in St. Louis and Circus Circuli in Stuttgart, St. Louis's German sister city, present Sister City Circus, on Circus Harmony’s YouTube page.  "Through a series of online meetings, workshops, and classes the two troupes created 6 different circus acts and then filmed them at iconic architectural locations in each of their cities." This and many other Circus Harmony videos are available at the Circus Harmony YouTube channel.

First Run Theatre presents its 2021 Virtual Reading Festival Friday through Sunday, April 23-25, at 6:30 pm via Zoom. "Please join us for three nights of play readings from four different midwestern playwrights. We use our Reading Festival every year to help us make programming choices for the next season. We invite you to stay with us after the readings to discuss the plays and let us know which shows you would like to see on next year’s season." For more information: firstruntheatre.org

Fly North Theatricals presents three new free digital series. Their new digital line up includes The Spotlight Series, the Grown-Up Theatre Kids Podcast, and Gin and the Tonic. The Spotlight Series highlights the Fly North family of students and actors performing songs from previous FNT shows. In the Grown-Up Theatre Kids podcast you can join Colin Healy and Bradley Rohlf every other Friday as they explore life after drama club and what it means to make a living in theatre far from the lights of broadway. Gin and the Tonic is a "reckless unpacking of music history’s weirdest stories hosted by Colin Healy.” The Spotlight Series and Gin and the Tonic are available at the Fly North Theatricals YouTube channel and the Grown-Up Theatre Kids podcast can also be found on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Sticher, other podcast platforms. All three are updated on a bi-weekly (every other week) basis.

The Lemp Mansion Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre presents A Fistful of Hollers through May 8. "Gun slingers, dance hall girls, cowboys, gold diggers, cowboy boots and ten-gallon-hats will abound. Rowdy cowboys will duel to the death as the crooked sheriff watches with glee. But none of these characters are as dangerous as Nasty Nate, he’s the orneriest gun in the west and word is that he’s going to be stirring up trouble at the Lemp Mansion." The Lemp Mansion is at 3322 DeMenil Place in south city. For more information: www.lempmansion.com

The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show

Metro Theater Company presents The Very Hungry Caterpillar Show (La Oruga Muy Hambrienta Espectáculo), a bilingual production based on the books by Eric Carle, April 25 thru May 16. "He's enchanted generations of readers since he first began nibbling his way to our hearts in 1969. Now, everyone's favorite caterpillar takes the stage in a dazzling, critically acclaimed production – featuring a menagerie of more than 75 larger-than-life, magical puppets." Live performances take place outdoors at the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center, 210 E. Monroe Avenue in Kirkwood. MO. The production is also available via on-demand video streaming April 28 through May 16. For more information: www.metroplays.org

Moonstone Theatre Company presents Moonstone Connections, a series of in-depth interviews with arts leaders by company founder Sharon Hunter. New episodes air the third Tuesday of each month; see linktr.ee/moonstoneconnections for more information.

The Muny presents Attuned: Cast Me at the Muny, a nine-part podcast that "showcases audition tips and funny stories, while offering an inside look at what makes casting a Muny show so challenging." The series is available on demand at the Classic 107.3 web site. For more information: classic1073.org/podcasts

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, in collaboration with Baltimore Center Stage, Long Wharf Theatre, The Public Theater and Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, present Play at Home, a series of micro-commissioned short plays from some of the American theatre's most exciting and prominent playwrights. These new plays – which all run 10 minutes or less – are available for the public to download, read and perform at home for free at playathome.org.

Adena Varner and family

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents a live video stream of the WiseWrite Digital Play Festival running until the end of the Rep's 2020-2021 season. “Step into the imagination of three young playwrights as The Rep presents professional readings of their new plays.” The production is directed by Adena Varner, the Rep's Director of Learning and Community Engagement. For more information: repstl.org.

Deal Orlandersmith in
After the Flood

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and All Arts present Until the Flood, written and performed by Dael Orlandersmith, via on-demand streaming. "On August 9, 2014, Darren Wilson, a white police officer, shot and killed Michael Brown, an African American teenager in Ferguson, Missouri. The shooting ignited weeks of social unrest, propelled the Black Lives Matter movement and prompted a controversial investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice. Celebrated writer, performer and Pulitzer Prize finalist Dael Orlandersmith traveled to St. Louis and conducted interviews with dozens of people who were grievously shaken by Brown’s shooting and the turbulent aftermath. From these intimate conversations, Orlandersmith created eight unforgettable characters who embody a community struggling to come to terms with the personal damage caused by these events." For more information: allarts.org

R-S Theatrics presents While the Ghostlight Burns, a virtual discussion series featuring R-S Artistic Director Sarah Lynne Holt in conversation with St. Louis theatre artists, Mondays at 7 pm.  Conversations will be archived at the R-S Theatrics YouTube channel. For more information: r-stheatrics.com/while-the-ghostlight-burns.html

Come Together

The St. Louis Shakespeare Festival presents streaming videos from the SHAKE20 festival, including re-imagined, condensed versions of classic Shakespeare plays and new takes on old favorites like Joe Hanrahan's Come Together, at the Shakespeare Festival Facebook page at www.facebook.com/pg/STLShakesFest/videos

The St. Louis Writers' Group presents a reading of David Hawley's play Screens on Monday, April 19, at 6:320 pm via Zoom. "Nadine and Ben have planned a nice dinner at their apartment for a few intimate friends. The trouble is, everyone keeps looking at their screens, so Nadine suggests a game: anyone can use their phone, but any calls, texts, emails, pictures or whatever, have to be shared with the whole group there that evening. Maybe some embarrassing stuff will come out, but that's the fun part." For more information, visit the St. Louis Writers' Group Facebook page.

SATE, in collaboration with COCA and Prison Performing Arts, presents Project Verse: Creativity in the Time of Quarantine. Project Verse presents two new plays: Quatrains in Quarantine by e.k. doolin and Dream On, Black Girl: Reflections in Quarantine by Maxine du Maine. The performances are streamed free of charge on SATE’s website and Facebook page. For more information: slightlyoff.org.

Classic Mystery Game

SATE also offers streaming performances of the shows originally scheduled for live 2020 productions: The Mary Shelley Monster Show, As You Like It (produced for SHAKE20, Project Verse, and Classic Mystery Game. The shows are available on their YouTube channel.

 

Looking for auditions and other artistic opportunities? Check out the St. Louis Auditions site.

For information on events beyond this week, check out the searchable database at the Regional Arts Commission's Events Calendar.

Would you like to be on the radio? KDHX, 88.1 FM needs theatre reviewers. If you're 18 years or older, knowledgeable in this area, have practical theatre experience (acting, directing, writing, technical design, etc.), have good oral and written communications skills and would like to become one of our volunteer reviewers, send an email describing your experience and interests to chuck at kdhx.org. Please include a sample review of something you've seen recently.

Symphony Preview: Springtime, then and now

This weekend (April 16-18) St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO) Assistant Conductor Stephanie Childress returns to the podium to lead the orchestra in yet another program of springtime music, from an animated 18th-century overture to an early 20th century suite based on courtly dances from the 16th and 17th centuries.

Boccherini by Pompeo Batoni -
Public Domain, Wikipedia

The concert opens with the local premiere of the Overture in D major, written in 1790 by Italian-born virtuoso cellist and composer Luigi Boccherini. Despite its brevity (around 5 minutes or so), it’s sometimes referred to as a “sinfonia” because it consists of three interconnected movements played without pause:  Allegro con molto spirito, Andantino, Allegro come prima.

The opening and closing movements are essentially identical: lively (if not downright brash) with prominent parts for the winds. Which, in this case, means two oboes, two horns, and a bassoon. The middle section is more tranquil and could easily be an operatic aria. It’s a pretty jolly way to start the proceedings, in any case. If you’d like to check it out in advance, Richard Egarr and the Academy of Ancient Music have a fine one for you on YouTube, performed on period instruments.

Boccherini is not an “A-list” composer, so if his name is familiar to you at all, it’s likely because of the extremely popular minuet from his String Quintet in E, Op. 11, No. 5 or his  Cello Concerto in B flat major. My own favorite (if less well known) Boccherini work is his Guitar Quintet No. 4 in D. This piece has a bouncy fandango final movement that includes parts for castanets and a sistrum, a kind of rattle that dates back to ancient Egypt—which must have raised some eyebrows back in the late 18th century. His 1780 “La Musica Notturna delle Strade di Madrid” (“Night Music of the Streets of Madrid”) is also worth a listen, reflecting as it does the many years he spent in Spain.

“But I digress,” as Tom Lehrer would say.

The concerts continue with something that will probably be more familiar, the Sinfonia concertante in E-flat major for Violin, Viola, and Orchestra, K. 364, by Mozart. Written when the composer was touring Europe in 1779, the work is generally considered to be Mozart's most successful experiment in this form, which is essentially a symphony with a group (a pair, in this case) of instrumental soloists.

The Mozart family, c. 1780
en.wikipedia.org

In writing a sinfonia concertante, Mozart was tapping into a popular trend. A Classical-era version of the Baroque concerto grosso, it was, as Tim Munro writes in his program notes, “all the rage” in Mannheim, where composers of the “Mannheim school” were cranking them out. The form also attracted the attention of both Haydn and J. C. Bach (one of Johann Sebastian’s many composing sons). The former  wrote a 1792 sinfonia concertante that was a major hit in London while the latter, who also spent a good deal of time in the English capitol, wrote eighteen of them.

Mozart’s contribution is much admired for the way it gives equal prominence to both of its solo instruments, the violin and the viola. Mozart was, as Thomas May writes in program notes for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, “an excellent violinist [who] loved to play viola in string quartet ensembles, enjoying the perspective of being ‘in the middle.’" It’s fortunate, then, that this weekend’s soloists are not strangers brought together for the event but rather members of the SLSO: violinist Xiaoxiao Qiang and violist Shannon Farrell Williams.

That seems especially appropriate when you consider the way New York Philharmonic program annotator James M. Keller described the Presto final movement:

For a moment we are transported to the drawing room of an 18th-century aristocrat. The conversation is clever and cultured, but suddenly all heads turn as one of the assembled eminences—a Voltaire, perhaps, or a Franklin—imparts an observation that towers above the surrounding babble, and then brings the proceedings back to earth with an irrepressible chortle.

If you’re going to have irrepressible chortles, you probably want them coming from folks who know each other, right? Anyway, if you want to eavesdrop on their party, there is a plethora of good performances on YouTube. I rather like this one by the New York Classical Players because of the sheer energy of the interpretation.

Respighi and Claudio Guastalla in 1932
by Archivio Storico Ricordi,
CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikipedia.org

The concerts conclude with the last of the three “Ancient Airs and Dances” suites by Ottorino Respighi. Although known for his trio of blockbuster tone poems celebrating his adopted city of Rome, Respighi wrote a wide range of music, including transcriptions of the works of Italian composers from the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. The “Ancient Airs and Dances” collections fall into that latter category, consisting of orchestrations of works originally written for that most intimate of string instruments, the lute.

Written over a period 14 years, the suites cover a lot of emotional territory. The third suite, which dates from 1931 (two years before Respighi stopped composing and five before his death), is the most dramatic and even melancholy of the three, and the only one written for string ensemble. The four movements and their sources, as given in the score, are as follows:

1. Italiana (Anonymous: Italiana (Fine sec. XVI) – Andantino): This is a combination of two galliards—the anonymous “Italiana” and “La Cesarina” by the 16th century Italian lutenist and composer Santino Garsi da Parma. The galliard was a lively dance, often paired with the more sedate Pavane. Respighi makes the entire movement rather stately.

2. Arie di corte (Jean-Baptiste Besard: Arie di corte (Sec. XVI) – Andante cantabile – Allegretto – Vivace – Slow with great expression – Allegro vivace – Vivacissimo – Andante cantabile): Yes, there are a lot of tempo indications and swift changes of mood here, mostly because this is a mashup of six “Airs de cœur” (love songs) written and/or collected  by the Burgundian lutenist/composer/anthologist Jean-Baptiste Besard  in his 1603 lute compilation “Thesaurus harmonicus.” That far back in history, it’s not always clear who was the composer and who was the collector.

3. Siciliana (Anonymous: Siciliana (Fine sec. XVI) – Andantino): As lutenist Paul O’Dette writes in the notes for his excellent collection of the original tunes Respighi adapted for his three suites, this piece was “commonly known as Spagnoletta throughout seventeenth-century Italy and Spain. Numerous settings of it survive for lute, guitar and various ensemble combinations.” Respighi’s transcription gives the tune an emotional range not present in the original.

4. Passacaglia (Lodovico Roncalli: Passacaglia (1692) – Maestoso – Vivace): The passacaglia is a dance based on a series of variations on a simple tune. Baroque giants like Bach used it as the foundation for massive examples of musical architecture, but even in its original form for Baroque guitar this one, from Count Ludovico Roncalli’s 1692 “Capricci Armonici,” covers a lot of expressive territory. “The wide variety of strumming and plucking techniques employed by Roncalli,” notes Mr. O’Dette, “is mirrored by Respighi’s colourful orchestration.”

OK, maybe that’s more than you really needed to know about this lovely work, which runs under 20 minutes. But I found it fascinating to hear the performances of the originals by Mr. O’Dette and his fellow musicians juxtaposed with Respighi’s transformations. It gave me an added degree of insight into just how ingenious he was in his arrangements, while still respecting the originals. There’s a fine performance of Respighi’s work by the Chamber Orchestra of New York on YouTube if you want to make the comparisons yourself, since the link to the album by O’Dette and company includes excerpts of each track.

The Essentials: Stephanie Childress conducts the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra and soloists Xiaoxiao Qiang (violin) and Shannon Williams (viola) in Boccherini’s Overture in D major, Mozart’s Sinfonia concertante, and Respighi’s “Ancient Airs and Dances,” Suite No. 3. Performances are Friday at 11 am, Saturday at 7:30 pm, and Sunday at 3 pm, April 16-18, at Powell Hall in Grand Center. Only 300 tickets will be sold for each performance and strict health protocols will be in place. For more information, visit the SLSO web site.

This article originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.

Review: The SLSO strings get to the heart of the matter in a rich romantic digital concert

The title of the fifth concert in the on-demand video series by the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra (SLSO), “The Heart of the Matter,” reflects not only the powerful emotional content of the four short works for strings that make up the program, but also the fact that the string section is often regarded as the heart of the orchestra. Under the baton of Music Director Stéphane Denève, that heart beats with real passion in this concert, which is available through May 8th.

[Find out more about the music with my symphony preview.]

The concert opens with Elgar’s “Serenade in E minor,” Op. 20.  With two dance-like movements bracketing a sweetly amorous Larghetto, the “Serenade” was inspired by the composer’s love for his wife Alice. The string sound is rich and warm, and Maestro Denève’s interpretation brings out all the sweeping romance in Elgar’s music. The Larghetto is an especially attractive mix of sentiment and nobility while the opening and closing movements gambol trippingly on the bows of the SLSO strings.

Stéphane Denève conducts the SLSO strings

Next is Tchaikovsky’s “Andante Cantabile.” Originally the second movement of his 1871 String Quartet No. 1, it was so touching that it soon had a life of its own as a work for string orchestra. Mr. Denève’s take on it allows the composer’s irresistibly melodic score to speak for itself, without either downplaying or overstating its lush Romanticism. Perhaps best known in an arrangement for solo cello with either piano or orchestral accompaniment, it works every bit as as well as an ensemble piece that, like the Elgar, shows off the rich sound of the SLSO string section.

The second half of the concert features what Mr. Denève, in his spoken comments, describes as a pair of “beautiful meditations on loss, love, and life.” It begins with Puccini’s 1890 “I Crisantemi” (“The Chrysanthemums”). Written in a single night in response to the news of the death of a close friend, this brief, beautiful work gets a typically nuanced reading from Mr. Denève and the band.

The concert concludes with Anna Clyne’s “Within Her Arms.” Like Puccini’s “Crisantemi,” it was composed in just 24 hours in response to news of a death—in this case, the passing of Ms. Clyne’s mother in 2009. It begins with a soft, despairing sigh that slowly builds to a mix of anguish and even anger. About two-thirds of the way through, there’s an abrupt break, like a pause for breath, followed by something that sounds like acceptance.

The scoring for 15 strings means that each individual player can be clearly heard, so there’s no room for error. And there aren’t any in this performance, which reaches out and grabs you by the heart, not letting go until the tranquil final notes. Assistant Concertmaster Erin Schreiber and her characteristic red violin lead the way here with some fine solo lines, but everyone in this ensemble is top notch.

In his comments, Maestro Denève asks why we enjoy listening to sad music these days. The reason, he suggests, is that works like “I Crisantemi” and “In Her Arms” “speak to that astounding capability that makes us all human, the power of compassion.” If so, perhaps we need to hear a lot more sad songs these days, since our nation and, indeed, or world seem desperately in need of a compassion upgrade.

Performed and recorded at Powell Hall last November 20th, The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra’s “Heart of the Matter” concert was originally intended to be performed for a live audience, but a rise in COVID-19 cases obliged them to perform without one. It runs around 45 minutes and is available on demand through May 8th. Information on upcoming SLSO concerts, both live and on-demand, is available at the orchestra’s web site.

This article originally appeared at 88.1 KDHX, where Chuck Lavazzi is the senior performing arts critic.