St. Louis classical calendar for the week of April 27, 2015

Allegra Lilly

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David Robertson conducts the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra with harpist Allegra Lilly and tuba player Michael Sanders on Friday at 10:30 a.m. and 8 p.m., Saturday at 8 p.m., and Sunday at 3 p.m., May1-3. "David Robertson conducts a program devoted to beloved dance compositions recognized for their brilliant and rousing arrangements. The program begins with selections from the Bizet's alluring and sensual Carmen. Ravel's most famous work, Bolero, always dazzles audiences with its Spanish charm, pulse-pounding melodies and unique instrumentation. Michael Sanders is the soloist for the Tuba Concerto by Ralph Vaughan Williams." The concerts take place at Powell Symphony Hall, 718 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information: stlsymphony.org.

The 442s

The Tavern of Fine Arts presents The 442s in concert on Tuesday, April 28 at 8 PM. "What happens when you combine two outstanding members of the world-class St. Louis Symphony with two of the city's finest jazz musicians from the Erin Bode Group? You get The 442's, an exciting new acoustic instrumental quartet named for the modern standard tuning of 442 Hz! Brought together by the innovative and inspired compositions of Adam Maness, who also plays guitar, accordion, melodica and glockenspiel in the group, The 442's features Shawn Weil on violin, Bjorn Ranheim on cello and Sydney Rodway on bass. This unique collaboration, formed in the spring of 2012 by a tight-knit group whose love of good food and fine beer makes rehearsals feel like dinner parties, combines outstanding musicianship, group singing, inventive improvisation, whistle solos and special guest appearances by famed jazz vocalist, Erin Bode. Exploring the boundaries of jazz, classical, folk and rock music, their music can move you to the edge of your seat or comfort you like a lullaby, all within the same set." The Tavern of Fine Arts is at 313 Belt in the Debaliviere Place neighborhood. For more information: tavern-of-fine-arts.blogspot.com.

The Tavern of Fine Arts presents a marimba concert by Thomas Zirkle on Wednesday, April 29 at 8 PM. The Tavern of Fine Arts is at 313 Belt in the Debaliviere Place neighborhood. For more information: tavern-of-fine-arts.blogspot.com.

The Tavern of Fine Arts presents Rachel Petzoldt and Johanna Stull in a concert of music for flute and piano, with a guest appearance by cellist Ben Webb, on Thursday, April 30 at 6 PM. The Tavern of Fine Arts is at 313 Belt in the Debaliviere Place neighborhood. For more information: tavern-of-fine-arts.blogspot.com.

The Illumine Ensemble

The Tavern of Fine Arts presents a Music and Cuisine Pairing Concert with the Illumine Ensemble on Friday, May 1, at 7:30 PM. "We've cooked up another MUSIC & CUISINE PAIRING CONCERT with our friends the ILLUMINE ENSEMBLE featuring a fabulous menu of spring flavors, served up with equally tasty tunes." The Tavern of Fine Arts is at 313 Belt in the Debaliviere Place neighborhood. For more information: tavern-of-fine-arts.blogspot.com.

The Tavern of Fine Arts presents soprano Rebecca Drury and pianist Jon Garrett on Saturday, May 2, at 8 PM. "Jon Garrett (pianist, tenor) is joined by Rebecca Drury (soprano) for a wine pairing program exploring the emotional realm of our "Hellos and Goodbyes," in a musical journey of love and loss, life and death, sorrows and celebrations. Musical works will include Schumann's Frauenliebe und -leben song cycle (Woman's Love and Life), German selections by Schubert and Schumann, French songs by Faure, Debussy and Poulenc, popular musical theater, and English songs of Amy Beach and Roger Quilter." The Tavern of Fine Arts is at 313 Belt in the Debaliviere Place neighborhood. For more information: tavern-of-fine-arts.blogspot.com.

The Washington University Department of Music presents a concert by the a cappella vocal group The Whiffenpoofs of Yale, on Monday, April 27, at 7:30 p.m. "As the nation's oldest a cappella ensemble, the Whiffenpoofs have been sharing music throughout the United States and the world since their founding in 1909. The group combines a unique blend of musicianship, choreography, and showmanship to create a performance suitable for an array of different audiences. Made famous by the signature "Whiffenpoof Song" (which has been covered by artists like Elvis Presley, Bing Crosby, and Rudy Vallee), the Whiffs continue their century-old tradition each year with over two hundred performances in venues like Carnegie Hall, the Lincoln Center, and the Rose Bowl." The concert takes place at the 560 Music Center, 560 Trinity in University City. For more information: music.wustl.edu.

The Washington University Department of Music presents the Washington University Flute Choir and Community Flute Choir in a program of works for flute ensemble by Bach, Mozart, Grainger, McMichael and more. The concert takes place on Monday, April 27, at 8 p.m. at the 560 Music Center, 560 Trinity in University City, MO. For more information: music.wustl.edu.

The Washington University Department of Music presents the Washington University Wind Ensemble Concert on Tuesday, April 28, at 7:30 p.m. The performance takes place at the 560 Music Center, 560 Trinity in University City, MO. For more information: music.wustl.edu.

The Washington University Department of Music presents a Guitar Gala, featuring students in the university guitar program, on Thursday, April 30, at 8 p.m. The program includes music by Vivaldi, Villa-Lobos, Rodrigo and others. The performance takes place at Graham Chapel on the Washington University campus. For more information: music.wustl.edu.

St. Lou Fringe 2014: the Misses

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I have been a big supporter of the St. Lou Fringe festival since its inception three years ago. This year I was out of town for most of the festival’s run (June 18-22), so I only got to six events. Rather than writing a review of each one, I have decided put them into three groups: hits, misses, and flops (a.k.a. “I want my 45 minutes back”). Here are two misses and a flop, in descending order of quality.

Performance: 10; Music: 3: "Terra Camera" with Michael Hagmeier and the Illumine Ensemble – Combine a didgeridoo player in an iridescent hat and black-and-turquoise shirt, a double-reed player in a bright turquoise wig, and a violist in sparkly shoes and what do you get? In the case of "Terra Camera," you get a program of impressive performances of some not-so-impressive music.

The Illumine Ensemble—represented here by Oboe and English horn player Kate Eakin and violist Eliana Haig—is committed to the admirable goal reaching beyond the standard classical repertoire and partnering with musicians and other artists outside of the classical world. So teaming up with multi-instrumentalist Michael Hagmeier (he plays guitar and percussion as well as didgeridoo) makes sense. Unfortunately, most of the music in "Terra Camera" was Mr. Hagmeier's own, and he's a far better performer than he is a composer. There was a repetitive sameness to his music, most of which sounded like Middle Eastern and Balkan folk tunes run through a New Age filter.

So, major points for the concept, the skill with which it was executed, and for Mr. Hagmeir's interesting "Listening to didjeridu [sic] 101," describing how the instrument is played. I had no idea it was so similar to the techniques I learned as a brass player many years ago. But the show would have been better with a wider variety of music.

Interesting Premise: "How I Remember It," written and directed by Tracy Bono – Ms. Bono's memory play is based on the stories she heard from her father. She says she finds them fascinating and perhaps they are, but they play she has assembled from them has a long way to go before it achieves that state. The action jumps back and forth between the present, in which Mature Tony (Alex Saccavino) tells stories of his teen years to his Daughter (Laura Gibbons), who is assembling a family history. They're seated at a table stage right. As Mature Tony begins to reminisce, the lights fade out stage right and come up stage left, where Young Tony (Mike McPartland, looking nothing at all like Mature Tony) acts out the stories involving his wastrel older brother Charlie (Chris Ferguson), his friends Joe and Chutie (Jeremy Hyatt and Jakeb Reynolds) and his mother (Linda Daly).

Not much actually happens and the dramatic stakes are never very high. We learn why Tony never went to college, for example, but as this fact emerges only moments before we discover the reason, no real dramatic tension is built up and, in any case, Tony doesn't seem to care much one way or the other. In addition, all the performances had a kind of flatness and hesitancy that suggested a lack of rehearsal.

Ms. Bono has created some interesting characters, but she hasn't done anything much with them. I had the sense that she simply took some of her father's stories, slightly fictionalized them, and put them on stage, without creating a strong narrative framework for them. It was also not clear where, exactly, the stories were taking place. St. Louis names were dropped often, but the characters, the cadence of their speech, and the overall background seemed more appropriate to a major city like Chicago or New York.

There's the germ of a play here, but more development is clearly called for. File this under "promising, but needs work."

I Want My 45 Minutes Back: "Trial by Jury" with Act Two Theatre – It's common practice to update some of Gilbert and Sullivan's patter songs, replacing Gilbert's contemporary cultural references with ones that will work for a modern audience. For this production of Gilbert and Sullivan's one-act satire "Trial by Jury," though, director Sean Green and music director David Phillips went a bridge (and chorus) too far, dumping about half of Gilbert's lyrics and re-writing, deleting or otherwise significantly altering most of Sullivan's music.

The original operetta uses a civil trial of a breach of promise of marriage suit (a concept that is pretty much a historical relic) as the basis for a sharp satire of the British judicial system. Turning it into a TV courtroom show along the lines of "Judge Judy" isn't a bad idea, but none of Green and Phillips's updates were very skillful. The new lyrics often didn't rhyme or scan and were rarely as funny as the originals, dated or not.

The production also had a slapdash quality that suggested a lack of rehearsal and the range of talent in the cast—both singing and acting—ran the gamut from almost professional to borderline incompetent. At one point early in the show the cast and Mr. Phillips's keyboard seemed to be in different keys.

File this one under "hubris."

Beyond the Fringe

Tapman

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Monday night's special press preview of the third annual St. Lou Fringe Festival was everything I have come to expect from the Fringe. Which is to say that it was filled with the unexpected.

In a fast and furious hour and a half, we were treated to nearly two dozen short (2-3 minutes) previews—some on video, most live—of some of the 35 acts that will be appearing on the Fringe stages this year. Highlights included:

- St. Louis actor Chris Limber riffing a bit of '50s-style "beat" poetry accompanied by Michelle Isam's sax, as a preview of Chris's cabaret show "Riffs in a Set of Ten"
- An unbearably sad little vignette with a broken puppet by First Time Puppet Theater and The Helix Effect; the full show is titled "Landslide"
- Some funny improv comedy by The Creepy Basement Players and Not Quite Right
- A fun duet for didgeridoo and oboe by Michael Hagmeier and a member of the Illumine Ensemble, from their "Terra Camera" show
- A sparkly Jamie McKittrick of Salt House Collective in an oddly endearing promo for her act, "Sparkle-Ta Daaa!!!"
- St. Louis's own burlesque comedy troupe The Randy Dandies in an (ahem) unbuttoned rendition of John Prine's rudely hilarious "Let's Talk Dirty in Hawaiian" (from their production, "A Pastie Home Companion")

Landslide

There were also some impressive-looking videos from comic magician Christopher Bange's "More Bange for Your Buck," Tapman Productions' "The Adventures of Tapman" (the tap-dancing superhero), "In Full Swing" (virtuoso swing dancing) by The Four Fronts and, of course, a teeth-rattling live opener from St. Louis Osuwa Taiko.

From its humble beginnings as a loosely organized experiment back in 2012, the St. Lou Fringe has come a long way, baby. It's now a five-day extravaganza (June 18-22) that includes ten national performers along with the many local individuals and groups who, as always, make up the backbone of the festival. There are now six indoor performance venues in the midtown/Grand Center area (including The Stage @KDHX) plus "Street Fringe," a collection of free family-friendly outdoor performances at Strauss Park.

The Fringe has garnered national media attention and has also formed partnerships with many local arts and education organizations. No wonder festival founder Em Piro got a special award from the St. Louis Theater Circle back in March for the Fringe's contribution to the local performing arts scene.

Tina Farmer and I will be covering the Fringe for KDHX this year, but don't wait to hear what we have to say before jumping in yourself; you might miss the fun. Some of the shows only have two performances and none has more than four. The indoor shows all run no more than 45 minutes or thereabouts, so you can get a lot of entertainment in a short period of time. You can find a complete Fringe schedule and ticket information at stlfringe.com.