Here's lookin' at you, kid: Fourteen fun facts about the music of "Casablanca"

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This Saturday and Sunday (February 15 and 16) the symphony celebrates Valentine's Day weekend by showing on of the great romantic films of all time, "Casablanca," with the orchestra playing the score live. Since Valentine's Day is on the 14th, here are 14 factoids about the music of "Casablanca," cribbed from imdb.com and other sources.

1. Dooley Wilson (Sam) couldn't play the piano. He was a professional drummer who faked it. The real pianist was Elliot Carpenter, a veteran of the James Reese Europe band who was also a conductor, author, and songwriter. Carpenter was playing behind a curtain but positioned such that Dooley could watch, and copy, his hand movements. Interestingly, Wilson was the only cast member who ever visited the real Casablanca.

2. Sam's piano sold for more than $600,000 at a New York auction in December 2012. The small, portable upright had only 58 keys. “It’s a cafe piano,” said the auctioneer at Sotheby’s, David N. Redden. “It was designed to be wheeled from table to table. The pianist would move it to the next table. It’s rather like the violinist coming round to each table.”

3. Warner Bros. had intended to use the "Horst-Wessel-Lied", the anthem of the Nazi party, during the "battle of the anthems" sequence. The copyright was controlled by a German company, however, so Warners dropped that anthem for the 1840s song "Die Wacht Am Rhein" ("Watch on the Rhine") rather than violate the rights (which would have prompted the German copyright holder on the song to prohibit the movie from being shown in any country not at war with Germany).

4. Many of the extras in that scene had real tears in their eyes. A large number of them were actual refugees from Nazi persecution in Germany and elsewhere in Europe and were overcome by the emotions the scene brought out.

5. The winner in that battle, the French national anthem "La Marseillaise," reoccurs throughout the film. It stands as a symbol for all the values fascists in general and Nazis in particular hated: liberté, egalité, fraternité (liberty, equality, brotherhood). The film begins and ends with "La Marseillaise"—a reminder that the fight for those values would go on.

6. That great romantic ballad "As Time Goes By" was written by lifelong bachelor Herman Hupfeld. It debuted in 1931's Broadway show "Everybody's Welcome", sung by Frances Williams,

7. The composer of the "Casablanca" score, Max Steiner, didn't want "As Time Goes By" used as the identifying song for Rick and Ilsa. After shooting had completed, Steiner said he would rather compose an original song in order to qualify for royalties. However, Hal B. Wallis replied that since the filming had ended, Ingrid Bergman had cut her hair very short for "For Whom the Bell Tolls" (1943) and she therefore could not re-shoot already-completed scenes that had used "As Time Goes By". In a 1943 interview Steiner finally admitted that the song "must have had something to attract so much attention".

8. "As Time Goes By" was a personal favorite of playwright and high school teacher Murray Burnett, whose unsuccessful play "Everybody Comes to Rick's" was the basis for "Casablanca." Burnett visited Vienna in 1938, just after the Nazis had entered. Later, after visiting a café in south France where a black pianist had entertained a mixed crowd of Nazis, French and refugees, Burnett was inspired to write his play.

9. After the film's release, "As Time Goes By" stayed on radio's "Hit Parade" for 21 weeks. However, because of the coincidental musicians' union recording ban, the 1931 Rudy Vallee version (which includes the rarely-sung verse) became the smash hit.

10. Because "As Time Goes By" had been written years before the film was made, it was deemed not eligible for an Oscar, and was not nominated for Best Song of the Year. The song is, nevertheless, number 2 on the American Film Institute's (AFI) 100 Years... 100 Songs list.

11. The music heard over the film's opening credits was a retread. Steiner had originally written and used the theme for the 1934 John Ford film, "The Lost Patrol". Steiner slightly altered the tempo and instrumentation of this theme music for "Casablanca".

12. Although M.K. Jerome and Jack Scholl are listed in the opening credits for "Songs", they are in fact represented by only one song ("Knock on Wood"). The other song they wrote for "Casablanca," "Dat's What Noah Done," was cut from the picture.

13. According to The Making of Casablanca: Bogart, Bergman, and World War II By Aljean Harmetz, Corinna Mura, the female guitarist who sings "Tango Della Rose" at Rick's, was a popular singer who had her own radio program, performed three times for F.D.R., and appeared on Broadway and on the opera stage. "Trained by her parents to be a coloratura soprano from the time she learned to talk," writes Harmetz, "Mura ran away from opera as an adolescent. One of her partisans was Edwin Schallert, drama reviewer for the Los Angeles Time. Schallert gave Mura a grade of A+ and said she always performed brilliantly with the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera. Even though she was under contract to RKO for a while and she would come back to Warner Bros. in 1943 to sing the love song Steiner wrote for 'Passage to Marseille,' Mura's success on the stage never translated to movies."

14. American popular music is a constant presence in Rick's Café. "The carpet of background music," writes Harmetz, "includes 'Crazy Rhythm,' 'Baby Face,' 'I'm Just Wild About Harry,' 'Heaven Can Wait,' 'Love for Sale,' 'Avalon,' 'If I Could be with You One Hour Tonight,' 'You Must Have Been a Beautiful Baby,' and 'It had to Be You.' Often the songs underscore the dramatic content. When Ilsa enters the café for the first time, the band plays 'Speak to Me of Love'."

The essentials: The St. Louis Symphony presents "Casablanca," with the score performed live by the orchestra under Steven Jarvi, Saturday at 7 PM and Sunday at 2 PM, February 15 and 16. Showings take place at Powell Hall in Grand Center. For more information: stlsymphony.org.

St. Louis theatre calendar for the week of February 10, 2014

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 ArtsZipper site.

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Harvest Theatre presents The Andrews Brothers Musical running through February 15. “This musical comedy follows three brothers who work back stage for the USO in hopes of one day becoming USO performers, will they get there big break? Join us to find out!” Performances take place in Werner Auditorium Concordia Seminary, 801 Seminary Place in Clayton. For more information: brownpapertickets.com.

The West County YMCA presents a Fairy Tale Factory production of Beauty and the Beast Friday through Sunday, February 14 - 16. Performances take place at the West County YMCA, 16464 Burkhardt Place. For more information, call (636) 532-6515 Ext. 227.

The Lemp Mansion Comedy-Mystery Dinner Theater presents its Bullets in the Bathtub through April 27. The Lemp Mansion is at 3322 DeMenil Place. For more information: lempmansion.com

The Bissell Mansion Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre presents Flaming Saddles through April 27. The Bissell Mansion is at 4426 Randall Place. For more information: bissellmansiontheatre.com

Upstream Theater presents Forget Me Not by Tom Holloway through February 16. "Forget Me Not is the story of a man who was told his mother had died and was shipped to Australia when he was three years old. And of his mother, who never stopped celebrating her little boy's birthday. And of his learning about himself-and about what it means to love." Performances take place at the Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information, including show times: upstreamtheater.org. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

Mustard Seed Theatre presents Gee's Bend through February 23. The play “explores the affect of the Civil Rights Movement on a remote island in Alabama.” Performances take place at the Fontbonne Fine Arts Theatre, 6800 Wydown Blvd. For more information, call (314) 719-8060 or visit the web site at www.mustardseedtheatre.com. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

The Monroe Actors Stage Company presents the Noel Coward's Hay Fever through February 16 in the Historic Capitol Theatre in downtown Waterloo, Illinois. For more information, visit www.masctheatre.org or call 618-939-7469.

The Black Rep presents actress/comedian Phyllis Yvonne Stickney in Laughter and Lyrics on Friday, February 14, at 8 and 10:30 PM. The performances take place at the 560 Music Center, 560 Trinity in University City. For more information: theblackrep.org.

Photo: John Lamb

Stray Dog Theatre presents Douglas Carter Beane's The Little Dog Laughed Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 PM through February 22, with an extra 2 PM matinee on the 22nd. “A devilishly hilarious Hollywood agent, a movie star with a recurring case of homosexuality, and a hustler and his ambitious girlfriend struggle to uncover the truth about what they really want. In the process, they trigger a non-stop stream of laughs in this Tony-award winning comedy. For MATURE AUDIENCES: In an effort to keep the selection of shows engaging and dynamic, this production may not be appropriate for all ages.” Performances take place at The Tower Grove Abbey, 2336 Tennessee. For more information, visit straydogtheatre.org or call 314-865-1995. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

Photo: John Lamb

The West End Players Guild continues their 103rd season with Brian Friel's Lovers by Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM and Sundays at 2 PM, February 14 - 23. There will also be a show on Thursday, February 20, at 8 PM. “Renowned Irish playwright Brian Friel spins the tales of hope and regret of two very different couples - one a pair of youngsters just beginning their love life, the other a couple entering the twilight of life together. Set in contemporary Ireland, Lovers offers hard lessons about Irish life and whether love can make a difference.” Performances take place at the Union Avenue Christian Church, 733 North Union at Enright in the Central West End. For more information, call 314-367-0025 or visit www.westendplayers.org.

KTK Productions presents A Love Story by Sherry Stryhal February 14 - 23. Performances take place at Southampton Presbyterian Church, 4716 Macklind. For more information, call 314-351-8984.

Photo: Lon Brauer

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents Other Desert Cities February 12 - March 9. “Things get bumpy when promising young novelist Brooke Wyeth returns home to Palm Springs to get her family's approval of her newest work - a tell-all memoir dredging up long-kept family secrets. Daring her conservative parents to oppose her, Brooke draws a line in the sand, and when it is crossed, the result threatens to undo them all. Politics, lies and regrets collide in this biting, sharp and fiercely funny Pulitzer Prize finalist.” Performances take place on the mainstage at the Loretto-Hlton Center, 130 Edgar Road in Webster Groves, MO. For more information, call 314-968-4925 or visit repstl.org.

St. Louis Community College at Florissant Valley Theater Department presents Reasons to Be Pretty February 14 - 22. Performances take place in the Fisher Theatre on the campus at 3400 Pershall Road. For more information, call 314-644-5522.

St. Louis Community College at Meramec Theatre Department presents Tales Of The Lost Formicans Wednesday through Sunday, February 11-16. Performances take place in the theatre on the campus at 11333 Big Bend Road. For more information, call 314-984-7500.

Dramatic License Productions presents A Valentine Cabaret: Love Songs of Broadway Friday through Sunday, February 14-16. Performances take place at Dramatic License Theatre located at the upper level of Chesterfield Mall (near Sears and across from Houlihan's Restaurant). For more information, call 636-220-7012 or visit dramaticlicenseproductions.org.

The Ivory Theatre presents singer Christy Simmons and pianist Paul Westcott in Valentunes: A Cabaret About Love and Stuff on Sunday, February 16 at 2 PM. The Ivory Theatre is at 7620 Michigan. For more information: brownpapertickets.com.

Photo: John Lamb

New Jewish Theatre presents The Whipping Man by Matthew Lopez through February 16. "A seriously injured Confederate soldier returns to the ruins of his once grand Richmond home at the end of the Civil War to find only two former slaves and no one else - creating an unlikely trio - a Jewish Confederate soldier and former slave owner and his two former slaves who were raised as Jews. As the three gather for a makeshift Passover Seder, they come to terms with their shared past and secrets as they ask the age-old question "Why is this night different from all other nights?"" Performances take place in the Marvin and Harlene Wool Studio Theater at the Jewish Community Center, 2 Millstone Campus Drive in Creve Coeur. For more information: www.newjewishtheatre.org or call 314-442-3283. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

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.

Friends again

James Gaffigan

Who: The St. Louis Symphony conducted by James Gaffigan
What: Music of Mendelssohn and Brahms
When: February 7-9, 2014
Where: Powell Symphony Hall

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St. Louis Symphony Orchestra guest conductor (and fellow Rice University alum) James Gaffigan gave us a highly dramatic and immensely satisfying Mendelssohn "Symphony No. 3 in A minor," op. 56 ("Scottish"), Friday morning, along with an equally impassioned Brahms "Concerto in A minor for Violin, Cello, and Orchestra (Double Concerto)," op. 102. Symphony Concertmaster David Halen and Principal Cello Daniel Lee were the soloists in the Brahms, demonstrating that you don't have to fly in stars to get stellar performances.

"The lovable side of Brahms' nature," write Wallace Brockway and Herbert Weinstock in their chatty "Men of Music," "is nowhere better illustrated than in the circumstances surrounding the composition...of the "Double Concerto." Brahms wrote it in 1887 in an attempt to mend fences with his friend and musical collaborator Joseph Joachim, from whom he had been estranged for six years after Brahms was caught in the crossfire of Joachim's messy divorce.

The attempt was apparently successful. Joachim and cellist Robert Hausmann (who had commissioned the work) gave the first performance with Brahms on the podium. Indeed, listening to the intimate relationship between the violin and cello in this music, it's impossible not to picture the kind of close friendship Brahms wanted to rekindle. As Paul Schiavo writes in his program notes, "the cello and violin are equal partners, paradoxically both solo, yet conjoined... The violin finishes the cello's sentences; the cello chuckles at the violin's jokes. They are having an intimate conversation, really listening to each other, supporting, and forgiving each other."

Daniel Lee and David Halen

In giving the solo roles in the concerto to colleagues who have worked together for years, I think the symphony has given us a performance with an extra degree of depth and resonance. Mr. Halen and Mr. Lee were clearly very much in synch with each other throughout the concerto, taking on the role of old friends Brahms has written for them.

For me, the whole collaboration was neatly captured in a moment during the Vivace non troppo finale when, after the statement of the first theme of the rondo, Mr. Halen and Mr. Lee looked at each other and shared a smile as if to say, "that was fun, wasn't it?" That attitude comes across to an audience, which is probably one reason why they got a smattering of spontaneous applause after the first movement and a well-earned standing ovation at the end.

This is difficult material to perform, by the way. That's partly because, as Brahms wrote to Clara Schumann, he was "writing for instruments whose character and sound one can only incidentally imagine" and partly because the soloists have to work so closely, often trading licks like traditional fiddlers. Mr. Halen and Mr. Lee played together like a single instrument, weaving a seamless garment of sound. Nicely done, gentlemen.

Mendelssohn got the idea for his "Symphony No. 3 in A minor", op. 56, ("Scottish") back in 1829 during a walking tour of the British aisles. Scotland in general and Edinburgh in particular made a strong impression on him. Although most of the symphony wasn't written until 1842, Mendelssohn got the idea for the slow introduction to the first movement when he visited the ruined Holyrood Chapel in Edinburgh. "In the evening twilight," he wrote, "we went today to the palace where Queen Mary lived and loved... Everything round is broken and mouldering and the bright sky shines in. I believe I today found in that old chapel the beginning of my 'Scottish' Symphony."

Holyrood Chapel

The actual "Scottishness" of the rest of the symphony has been a subject of some debate among critics over the years, but everyone seems to agree that this dramatic and engaging work is one of Mendelssohn's best. It was also, despite the number assigned to it, his last; he died five years after its 1842 premiere.

James Gaffigan gave it the full Romantic treatment, beginning with a forceful declaration of that "Holyrood" introduction followed by a statement of the main theme that brought out the clarinet melody more prominently than usual—a nice touch. That set the tone for the rest of this highly charged performance, which emphasized strong tempo and dynamic contrasts and left many individual moments lingering in my memory.

The clarinet theme of the second movement, for example, sounded especially perky in the hands of Scott Andrews, as did the oboe reply from Phil Ross. The horns, led by Associate Principal Thomas Jöstlein, also impressed me with their balance of power and precision in the rapid passages here. In fact, the winds and brasses sounded excellent all the way through, which is no small accomplishment for a morning concert. Warm-ups must have started fairly early.

The third movement Adagio was powerfully majestic and the A major restatement of the "Holyrood" theme at the end sounded notably jubilant, bringing everything to a highly satisfying conclusion.

The concert opened with an equally fine reading of Mendelssohn's "Die schöne Melusine (The Fair Melusina) Overture," op. 32 from 1833, inspired by a medieval French fairy tale about a water sprite's unhappy love affair with a human prince. The piece is a bit discursive in places but offers opportunities for the winds to show off. And so they did, with the limpid melody that represents the heroine first stated by the clarinets and played quite effectively Friday morning by Associate Principal Diana Haskell and Tina Ward and later picked up beautifully by the flutes (Ann Choomack and Associate Principal Andrea Caplan). This strikes me as somewhat minor league Mendelssohn, but Mr. Gaffigan and the symphony musicians certainly made a fine case for it.

For what it's worth, I couldn't help noticing that Mr. Gaffigan, like many of the symphony's guest conductors, had a very physically demonstrative style on the podium, often favoring big gestures and generally characterized by what seems to be a real joy in music making so large that it can barely be contained. As an audience member, I've always found that approach appealing.

Next on the schedule: Lift Every Voice: A Black History Month Celebration with Kevin McBeth conducting the orchestra and IN UNISON chorus Friday, February 14, at 7:30 PM. Then Steven Jarvi conducts the orchestra for a live performance of Max Steiner's score for Casablanca, accompanying a showing of the classic film. There will be a drink special, popcorn, another movie-themed goodies, all of which you can take into the hall with you. The opening credits roll at 7 PM on Saturday and 2 PM on Sunday, February 15 and 16, at Powell Symphony Hall, 718 North Grand. For more information: stlsymphony.org.

St. Louis classical calendar for the week of February 10, 2014

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The Bach Society of St. Louis presents an A Choral Celebration of St. Louis on Sunday, February 16, at 3 PM at The Touhill Center on the UMSL campus. “Seven of the region’s finest choirs will present a diverse choral music concert reflecting St. Louis’ rich heritage. In honor of the 250th anniversary of the city of Saint Louis, this benefit concert will be offered free to the public, with donations benefiting the Assistance League of St. Louis…Jim Connett from the Radio Arts Foundation will be the host. Under the umbrella of St. Louis Sings and the Bach Society of Saint Louis, the program will feature: the Bach Society of Saint Louis Chorus, Saint Louis Chamber Chorus, Ambassadors of Harmony, St. Louis Symphony IN UNISON Chorus, the Archdiocesan Chorus, St. Louis Children’s Choirs, and the UMSL University Singers.” For more information: www.bachsociety.org

The 442s

The Center for the Humanities at UMSL presents The 442s on Monday, February 10, at 12:15 PM at the J. C. Penney Conference Center, room 402, on the UMSL campus. "The 442s are what we get when two outstanding members of the world-renowned St. Louis Symphony Orchestra combine with two of the city's finest jazz musicians from the Erin Bode Group. Join us to hear this 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 plays guitar, accordion, melodica, and glockenspiel in the group, The 442s also features Shawn Weil on violin, Bjorn Ranheim on cello, and Sydney Rodway on bass. In addition to performing, The 442s discuss their unique partnership, compositional style, recording project, and genre-defying sound that is gaining them local and national attention." For more information: www.umsl.edu/~cfh

The Chamber Music Society of St. Louis presents Even More Love Fest, featuring soprano Miran Halen and pianist Alla Voskoboynikova, on Tuesday, February 11, at 7:30 PM. The program features music by Poulenc, Thuille, Farkas, and Hahn. The concert takes place at The Sheldon Concert Hall, 3648 Washington. For more information: chambermusicstl.org.

The Chamber Players of St. Louis and the Laclede Quartet presents a concert by the Maryville Symphony Orchestra on Sunday, February 16, at 3 PM. The concert of Austrian Favorites features Telemann's Concerto in G for viola, Haydn's Symphony No. 68, and Schubert's Symphony No. 8. The concert takes place at the Maryville University Auditorium, 650 Maryville University Drive. For more information: maryvillesymphony.com.

The Kingsbury Ensemble

The Kingsbury Ensemble presents Vivaldi, Venetian Cantatas and Concertos on Saturday, February 15, at 7:30 PM. “The Kingsbury Ensemble, St Louis early music group on period instruments, will present a program of instrumental and vocal music of the Italian Baroque. Guest soprano Kristen Watson,praised in the New York Times for her "beautifully shaped, carefully nuanced singing" joins Kingsbury musicians Margaret Humphrey and Marc Thayer, violins, Douglas Worthen, flute, Elizabeth Ramos, viola, Ken Kulosa and Stephanie Hunt, cellos, Fred DeVaney, bass, and Maryse Carlin, harpsichord. On the program: concertos for one and two cellos, concerto for flute "La Notte", cantatas "Nulla in Terra Pax Sincera" and "O qui Coeli", all by Antonio Vivaldi.” The performance takes place at Memorial Presbyterian Church, 201, South Skinker. For more information: www.kingsburyensemble.com

The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra presents Lift Every Voice: A Black History Month Celebration on Friday, February 14, at 7:30 PM. The concert is part of the STL Symphony in the City series. “his annual concert celebrates African-American cultures and traditions that have influenced the history of St. Louis, as well as cities around the world. Join conductor Kevin McBeth and the St. Louis Symphony IN UNISON chorus to commemorate influential leaders who helped shape history.” The concert takes place at Powell Hall, 718 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information: stlsymphony.org.

The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra presents the classic film Casablanca with the score performed live by the orchestra on Saturday, February 15, at 7:30 PM and Sunday, February 16, at 2 PM. "Cozy up next to your sweetheart Valentine’s weekend for this screening of the ultimate love story. The 1942 classic film starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman will be played in its entirety with the score performed live by the STL Symphony. It’s the perfect date night for any couple - Here’s lookin’ at you, Kid.” The concert takes place at Powell Hall, 718 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information: stlsymphony.org.

The Clarion Brass

The Sheldon Concert Hall presents The Clarion Brass on Tuesday and Wednesday, February 11 and 12, at 10 AM. “Composed of five of the best brass players St. Louis has to offer, the Clarion Brass captures the beauty and majesty of brass repertoire. Led by St. Louis favorite, trumpeter Mary Weber, Clarion Brass performs numerous concerts, educational master classes and private events throughout the St. Louis area.” The Sheldon is at 3648 Washington in Grand Center. For more information: thesheldon.org.

The Tavern of Fine Arts presents a classical open stage night on Monday, February 10 from 7:30 – 9 PM. “Come by yourself or bring your quartet. Sight read through a Beethoven quartet or use this as an opportunity to put the finishing touches on that Hindemith Viola Sonata you have been working on. All ages and skill levels are welcome. We have a 6' grand piano and an accompanist.” The Tavern of Fine Arts is at 313 Belt in the Debaliviere Place neighborhood. For more information: tavern-of-fine-arts.blogspot.com.

Chuck's Choices for the weekend of February 7, 2014

As always, the choices are purely my personal opinion. Take with a grain (or a shaker) of salt.

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Winter Opera St. Louis presents Verdi's Falstaff Friday at 8 PM and Sunday at 3 PM, February 7 and 9. Performances take place at The Skip Viragh Center for the Arts at Chaminade College Preparatory School, 425 S. Lindbergh. The opera is sung in Italian with project English supertitles. For more information, visit winteroperastl.org.

My take: I haven't seen this production yet, of course, since Winter Opera only does two performances. But Falstaff is widely regarded as one of Verdi's masterpieces. The libretto is by Arrigo Boito, one of the best librettests around back then and a pretty respectable composer in his own right (his Mefistofele is still the best operatic version of Faust ever). It's based on Shakespeare's Merry Wives of Windsor along with bits Henry IV, Parts 1 and 2. That, along with the fact that the Skip Viragh Center is one of the best opera houses in town, are good enough reasons to put this one on the list.

Photo: Stewart Goldstein

The Black Rep and the Missouri History Museum present Ntozake Shange's For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf through February 9. Performances take place in the Lee Auditorium at the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park. For more information: mohistory.org.

My take: There has been no shortage of productions of Ntozake Shange's 1975 "choreopoem" lately, but this appears to be a good one. In her review for 88.1 KDHX, Tina Farmer says it's "a vibrant interpretation that keeps the focus squarely on the material and performances...The excellent cast commands attention at every turn, and the mix of voices, rhythms, and movement create a colorful and complex patchwork."

Upstream Theater presents Forget Me Not by Tom Holloway through February 16. "Forget Me Not is the story of a man who was told his mother had died and was shipped to Australia when he was three years old. And of his mother, who never stopped celebrating her little boy's birthday. And of his learning about himself-and about what it means to love." Performances take place at the Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information, including show times: upstreamtheater.org.

My take: Upstream has, once again, taken on a tought-provoking play about difficult subject. In this case, it's non-humanitarian child migration. "The policy of child migration for non-humanitarian reasons is disturbing," writes Tina Farmer in her review for 88.1 KDHX. "The fact that some of these children were, literally, stolen from their families is tragic and appalling. Director Philip Boehm steadily guides this fascinating and compelling production, keeping the focus clearly on the story and actors."

The Fox Theatre presents the ABBA musical Mamma Mia! Friday through Sunday, February 7-9. The Fox Theatre is at 517 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information, call 314-534-1678.

My take: As I wrote in my review of the 2002 USA tour of this show on its first visit to the Fox, I am not now nor have I ever been a fan of the 1970s pop quartet ABBA. When they were cranking out hits like "Dancing Queen", I was sneering at them and listening to Elvis Costello and The Ramones. But when I first saw Mamma Mia! in London back in 2001 surrounded by wildly enthusiastic Brits (who apparently feel about ABBA the way the French feel about Jerry Lewis), I had to admit it was great fun. I found it a completely captivating evening of musical theatre, mostly because Judy Craymer, director Phyllida Lloyd and playwright Catherine Johnson (all from Britian, where this show began) have put together a fast-paced, funny, and occasionally even touching show that can send even a die-hard ABBA hater like yours truly out of the theatre with a smile on his face and a handful of those bouncy, hook-laden melodies rattling around in his brain. So enjoy it, already.

Peabody Opera House presents the new national tour of Man of La Mancha Friday through Sunday, February 7-9. “Man Of La Mancha is a remarkable show and one of the great theatre successes of our time. This play-within-a-play is based on Cervantes's Don Quixote. We have a poignant story of a dying old man whose 'impossible dream' takes over his mind. Against all odds, a man sees good and innocence in a world filled with darkness and despair. Man Of La Mancha won 5 Tony Awards including Best Musical, along with the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical and the Outer Critics Circle Award.” For more information, visit peabodyoperahouse.com or call 314-622-5420.

My take: It's an established musical theatre classic and the Peabody is a great house for musicals, largely because it's so much smaller and gets you so much closer to the action. That's especially important in a piece like this, which was always conceived as a (relatively) small cast show. I think that's all I need to say.

Photo: Ken Howard

The St. Louis Art Museum presents Metropolitan Opera Live at SLAM: Dvorák's Rusalka on Saturday, February 8, at 11:5 AM. The live digital HD video broadcast from New York takes place in The Farrell Auditorium at the Art Museum in Forest Park. For more information: slam.org.

My take: Opportunities to see this opera about a water sprite and her tragic lover for an earthbound prince (sound familiar?) are rare, so this HD broadcast from the Met might be your only chance.  It's widely regarded as one of the most successful Czech operas and is as popular there as it is rare over here, although in recent years performances have become more common.  And the HD experience is about as close as you can get to the real thing.

Photo: John Lamb

New Jewish Theatre presents The Whipping Man by Matthew Lopez through February 16. "A seriously injured Confederate soldier returns to the ruins of his once grand Richmond home at the end of the Civil War to find only two former slaves and no one else - creating an unlikely trio - a Jewish Confederate soldier and former slave owner and his two former slaves who were raised as Jews. As the three gather for a makeshift Passover Seder, they come to terms with their shared past and secrets as they ask the age-old question "Why is this night different from all other nights?"" Performances take place in the Marvin and Harlene Wool Studio Theater at the Jewish Community Center, 2 Millstone Campus Drive in Creve Coeur. For more information: www.newjewishtheatre.org or call 314-442-3283.

My take: This is the second time around for this piece in the last year. The local premiere by the Black Rep got plenty of critical acclaim but, as Andrea Braun writes in her review for 88.1 KDHX, this production "matches that level of excellence, and due primarily to directorial choices, occasionally surpasses it...The South was a more cordial place than the North for Jews in that era, and many thrived there until after the Civil War, even though this is a people who understood the horror of enslavement. That irony and all that is revealed on this stage will certainly intrigue you and provoke some interesting discussion." Held Over:

Photo: Jerry Naunheim, Jr.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents The Other Place through February 9. "Brilliant research scientist Juliana Smithton is on the cutting edge in her field, but her life is beginning to come unhinged. While promoting her groundbreaking drug for the treatment of neurological disorders, she experiences a disturbing medical episode of her own and begins to lose her own tenuous grasp on reality. The past blurs with the present and fragmented memories collide in this riveting drama where nothing is as it seems." Performances take place in the studio theatre at the Loretto-Hlton Center, 130 Edgar Road in Webster Groves, MO. For more information, call 314-968-4925 or visit repstl.org.

My take: Once again, the Rep studio theatre has come up with a winner. Sharr White's play is, as I write in my review for 88.1 KDHX, "a compelling drama about what happens when reality, perception, and memory become disconnected from each other." The script is a strong one, with dialog poetic enough to be interesting while still natural enough to sound real. And Mr. White's characters have depth and the story makes sense. Acting and technical aspects of the show are flawless.

Organic growth

Local Harvest's Morganford store

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If you get your notions of reality from cable TV "news," blogs, or (worse yet) that great oxymoron of the 21st century, "reality" television, you'd be might be justified in thinking that you were surrounded by heavily armed, angry dolts without a shred of compassion and incapable of rational thought—or, indeed, any thought at all.  You would, however, be dead wrong.

You'd be dead wrong because anything you get from any of the sources listed above is, by definition, designed to attract your attention.  And ordinary, everyday things don't attract your attention because—well—they're ordinary.  Fact is, most people are basically decent and inclined to be compassionate and helpful.  It's a survival trait for our species; without it, we would have exterminated ourselves millennia ago.

I was reminded of this recently by the outpouring of support for Local Harvest Grocery, a small local business specializing in locally grown and organic food.  Back on January 27th the store, which is on Morganford just south of Arsenal, sent out an S.O.S. to its customers via its Facebook page.  "Dear Local Harvest Family and Friends," began the post, "We are writing to tell you that we are in trouble and need your help."  The post went on to say that 2013 had "brought several large blows from which we have not been able to recover" and that unless the store raised $120,000 by February 7th, they'd be forced to close.

The problem?  Local Harvest had expanded too quickly too soon—one of the top ten reasons for small business failure, according to the New York Times.  Having successfully added a café and expanded from their original small storefront to a larger space, they took what proved to be an expensive leap and opened a store in Kirkwood.  It failed, leaving them in dire financial straits.

The short-lived Kirkwood store

In an effort to raise the cash, Local Harvest offered customers a gift certificate to be purchased now and redeemed for 10% over its face value in 2015, along with a year long punch card.  For $100 customers would get a card good for $10 a month at their cafes for 12 months.  They also set up an account with microfinance platform IndieGoGo as well as a fund-raising "Buycott" dinner at the Local Harvest Café on February 3rd.

The response from customers and other businesses in the community was quick and positive.  Lemmons Restaurant on Gravois hosted a "We Love Local Harvest" party on the 30th.  4 Hands Brewing Company (a brew pub just north of Soulard) hosted a twelve-hour fundraiser on the 31st at which $2 of every beer purchased went to Local Harvest.  Blank Space on Cherokee hosted one as well on the 2nd.  Even the local Fox affiliate got into the act with a very positive story on the 27th.

My wife and I did our part as well, purchasing a gift certificate and making a point of including the store in our regular shopping.

The result?  On February 1st, the following status update appeared on the Local Harvest Facebook page: "Update: We just reached our goal of $120,000! Thank you, St Louis. What a week!"  The day of the Buycott dinner, owners Patrick Horine and Maddie Earnest followed that up with a lengthy status update that read, in part: "We understand that now we have a solemn responsibility to you. We have to make good decisions and run our businesses so that they grow and are profitable, so we can be here for you for the next year and for many years after that. We have to continue being a community asset and providing clean, local foods. We have to help food entrepreneurs and small farmers get started and keep the current ones growing."

So, the next time you're inclined to think the worst of the human race, remember this story of the Little Market That Could and all the St. Louisans who pitched in to help them keep going.  If that doesn't warm your heart on these cold February nights, nothing will.

Music of love and friendship

James Gaffigan

This weekend (February 7-9) marks the return to the Powell Hall stage of Lucerne Symphony Chief Conductor (and fellow Rice University alum) James Gaffigan for a program of music by Mendelssohn and Brahms that puts two of the symphony's own in the spotlight.

The concerts open with "Die schöne Melusine (The Fair Melusina) Overture," op. 32 from 1833.  It's not, as you might think from the title, the overture to an opera or play but rather a stand-alone concert work based on an extra-musical subject.  It's the sort of thing Liszt would later call a "symphonic poem." That wouldn't happen for another decade, though, so back then such pieces were simply called "concert overtures."  Mendelssohn's far more well-known "The Hebrides" op. 26 (a.k.a. "Fingal's Cave") is a classic example.

The story of "The Fair Melusina" comes from the realm of the supernatural.  "The eponymous heroine," writes Paul Schiavo in his program notes, "derives from a medieval French tale about a water nymph, or mermaid, who can pass as a human being. She falls in love with a human prince and agrees to marry him on the condition that he leave her alone one day every week, when she secretly reverts to her half-fish form. When her husband discovers her true identity, their happiness ends and Melusina is exiled to an aquatic fairy realm." 

This is not unfamiliar territory for classical composers; a similar story drives Dvořák’s 1901 opera "Rusalka" (the Metropolitan Opera live HD broadcast of which is, coincidentally, showing at the Art Museum on Saturday afternoon).  As Robert Schumann noted, though, Mendelssohn doesn't attempt literal storytelling her so much as he “portrays only the characters of the man and the woman, of the proud, knightly Lusignan and the enticing, yielding Melusina."  You hear the latter in clarinet arpeggios and the former in a more heroic theme for the strings.  Nice stuff, and not heard as often as "Hebrides"; the last symphony performance was in 2008.

The ruins of Holyrood Abbey's nave in August 2011

The other Mendelssohn piece on the program—the "Symphony No. 3 in A minor", op. 56, “Scottish”—is much more well known and is frequently heard in concert halls and on the radio.   Although most of it wasn't written until 1842, Mendelssohn got the idea for the slow introduction to the first movement when he visited the ruined Holyrood Chapel in Edinburgh on 1829 walking tour of Scotland.  “In the evening twilight," he wrote, "we went today to the palace where Queen Mary lived and loved…Everything round is broken and mouldering and the bright sky shines in. I believe I today found in that old chapel the beginning of my ‘Scottish’ Symphony.” 

That opening theme aside, though, the "Scottish" nature of the symphony is a subject of some debate among critics and program annotators.  Some, like the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Eric Bromberger, feel that "no one is sure what that nickname means. This music tells no tale, paints no picture, nor does it quote Scottish tunes."  British composer and conductor Julius Harrison, on the other hand, thought the symphony "illustrates the near-scenic aspect of Mendelssohn's romantic art" and felt that the jaunty clarinet theme of the Vivace non troppo second movement has "a touch of 'Charlie is My Darling' about it's dotted quavers—something Mendelssohn may have remembered and set down."

I fall more into the late Mr. Harrison's camp, but wherever you come down on the "Scottishness" of this music there's no getting around its unflagging appeal and elegant construction.  To hear this music is to love it.

Love played a part in the composition of the second work on this weekend's program, the "Concerto in A minor for Violin, Cello, and Orchestra (Double Concerto)", op. 102.  "The lovable side of Brahms' nature," write Wallace Brockway and Herbert Weinstock in their chatty "Men of Music," "is nowhere better illustrated than in the circumstances surrounding the composition" of this piece.  Brahms wrote in in 1887 in an attempt to mend fences with his friend and musical collaborator Joseph Joachim.  Brahms had taken (or appeared to take, anyway) the side of Joachim's wife in an ugly divorce suit six years earlier and Joachim refused to forgive him despite repeated attempts at reconciliation.

A commission for a concerto from Robert Hausmann, the cellist Joachim's string quartet, finally gave Brahms the opening he needed.  Brahms approached Joachim for advice on the concerto and, as it evolved from a cello concerto to an unusual concerto for violin and cello (harking back to the old Baroque concerto grosso), the old musical partnership between the two men was rekindled.  "This concerto is a work of reconciliation," noted Clara Schumann in her journal. "Joachim and Brahms have spoken to each other again for the first time in years."

Daniel Lee and David Halen

It's a remarkable piece due in part—as Mr. Schiavo notes—to "its insistence that the cello and violin are equal partners, paradoxically both solo, yet conjoined. Like all great pairings, the union engenders something entirely new—in this case a crazy hybrid super-stringed instrument that can plummet as low as a cello and soar as high as a violin in one delirious run."  It opens with a dramatic declaration for the cello, followed by a more lyrical theme on the violin.  The cello quickly joins in and soon they're off on a rapturous duet that will continue, in various forms, for the next 33 minutes or so.  "They are having an intimate conversation,' writes Mr. Schiavo, "really listening to each other, supporting, and forgiving each other. Together they make a better person."  It really is a labor of love, and that comes through is every measure.

That said, Brahms himself was somewhat dismissive of the concerto and lacked confidence in his writing for the solo instruments.  "It is quite a different matter," he wrote to Clara Schumann, "writing for instruments whose character and sound one can only incidentally imagine than for an instrument which one knows totally—as I do the piano." 

And he wasn't alone in his misgivings.  As Peter Gutmann writes at Classical Notes, Edward Hanslick (normally a fan) dismissed it as “a product of a great constructive mind rather than an irresistible inspiration of creative imagination and invention.”  Brockway and Weinstock go ever further: "It is of appalling difficulty both for soloists and audience: playing it may give the pleasure of obstacles overcome, but there is no such reward for most listeners."

Listening to the Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman recording with Daniel Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony now, I find it impossible to agree with that assessment.  The give and take between the soloists that Mr. Schiavo describes is irresistible to my ears. 

Brockway and Weinstock are right about the technical challenges, though.  Fortunately this weekend's performances will feature concertmaster David Halen and principal cellist Daniel Lee in the solo roles, so technique isn't likely to be an issue.  And there will be the additional appeal of watching these two colleagues work together.

The Essentials: James Gaffigan conducts the St. Louis Symphony with soloists David Halen (violin) and Daniel Lee (cello) in the Brahms "Concerto in A minor for Violin, Cello, and Orchestra (Double Concerto)", op. 102, along with Mendelssohn's "Die schöne Melusine (The Fair Melusina) Overture," op. 32 and "Symphony No. 3 in A minor", op. 56.  Performances are Friday at 10:30 AM (a Krispy Kreme coffee concert with free doughnuts), Saturday at 8 PM, and Sunday at 3 PM, February 7-9, at Powell Hall, 718 North Grand in Grand Center.  For more information: stlsymphony.org.  The Saturday concert will be broadcast live on St. Louis Public Radio at 90.7 FM, HD 1, and streaming from the station web site.  But, of course, it’s best heard live.

St. Louis theatre calendar for the week of February 2, 2014

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 ArtsZipper site.

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Harvest Theatre presents The Andrews Brothers Musical opening Friday, February 7, and running through February 15. “This musical comedy follows three brothers who work back stage for the USO in hopes of one day becoming USO performers, will they get there big break? Join us to find out!” Performances take place in Werner Auditorium Concordia Seminary, 801 Seminary Place in Clayton. For more information: brownpapertickets.com.

The Lemp Mansion Comedy-Mystery Dinner Theater presents its Bullets in the Bathtub through April 27. The Lemp Mansion is at 3322 DeMenil Place. For more information: lempmansion.com

Winter Opera St. Louis presents Verdi's Falstaff Friday at 8 PM and Sunday at 3 PM, February 7 and 9. Performances take place at The Skip Viragh Center for the Arts at Chaminade College Preparatory School, 425 S. Lindbergh. The opera is sung in Italian with project English supertitles. For more information, visit winteroperastl.org.

The Bissell Mansion Murder Mystery Dinner Theatre presents Flaming Saddles through April 27. The Bissell Mansion is at 4426 Randall Place. For more information: bissellmansiontheatre.com

The Looking Glass Playhouse presents the satirical musical revue Forbidden Broadway: Greatest Hits through February 9. Performances take place at 301 West St. Louis Street in Lebanon, Ill. For more information, visit www.lookingglassplayhouse.com.

Photo: Stewart Goldstein

The Black Rep and the Missouri History Museum present Ntozake Shange's For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Enuf through February 9. Performances take place in the Lee Auditorium at the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park. For more information: mohistory.org.

Upstream Theater presents Forget Me Not by Tom Holloway through February 16. "Forget Me Not is the story of a man who was told his mother had died and was shipped to Australia when he was three years old. And of his mother, who never stopped celebrating her little boy's birthday. And of his learning about himself-and about what it means to love." Performances take place at the Kranzberg Arts Center, 501 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information, including show times: upstreamtheater.org.

Mustard Seed Theatre presents Gee's Bend February 7-23. The play “explores the affect of the Civil Rights Movement on a remote island in Alabama.” Performances take place at the Fontbonne Fine Arts Theatre, 6800 Wydown Blvd. For more information, call (314) 719-8060 or visit the web site at www.mustardseedtheatre.com.

The Monroe Actors Stage Company presents the Noel Coward's Hay Fever February 7-16 in the Historic Capitol Theatre in downtown Waterloo, Illinois. For more information, visit www.masctheatre.org or call 618-939-7469.

DaySpring School of the Arts presents It's a Wonderful Life Friday at 7 and Saturday at 3 PM, February 7 and 8. Performances take place at the Kirkwood Community Center, 111 South Geyer Road. For more information, visit dayspringarts.org.

Photo: John Lamb

Stray Dog Theatre presents Douglas Carter Beane's The Little Dog Laughed Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 PM February 6-22, with an extra 2 PM matinee on the 22nd. “A devilishly hilarious Hollywood agent, a movie star with a recurring case of homosexuality, and a hustler and his ambitious girlfriend struggle to uncover the truth about what they really want. In the process, they trigger a non-stop stream of laughs in this Tony-award winning comedy. For MATURE AUDIENCES: In an effort to keep the selection of shows engaging and dynamic, this production may not be appropriate for all ages.” Performances take place at The Tower Grove Abbey, 2336 Tennessee. For more information, visit straydogtheatre.org or call 314-865-1995.

The Fox Theatre presents the ABBA musical Mamma Mia! Friday through Sunday, February 7-9. The Fox Theatre is at 517 North Grand in Grand Center. For more information, call 314-534-1678.

Peabody Opera House presents the new national tour of Man of La Mancha Friday through Sunday, February 7-9. “Man Of La Mancha is a remarkable show and one of the great theatre successes of our time. This play-within-a-play is based on Cervantes's Don Quixote. We have a poignant story of a dying old man whose 'impossible dream' takes over his mind. Against all odds, a man sees good and innocence in a world filled with darkness and despair. Man Of La Mancha won 5 Tony Awards including Best Musical, along with the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Musical and the Outer Critics Circle Award.” For more information, visit peabodyoperahouse.com or call 314-622-5420.

The St. Louis Art Museum presents Metropolitan Opera Live at SLAM: Dvorák's Rusalka on Saturday, February 8, at 11:5 AM. The live digital HD video broadcast from New York takes place in The Farrell Auditorium at the Art Museum in Forest Park. For more information: slam.org.

Photo: Jerry Naunheim, Jr.

The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis presents The Other Place through February 9. "Brilliant research scientist Juliana Smithton is on the cutting edge in her field, but her life is beginning to come unhinged. While promoting her groundbreaking drug for the treatment of neurological disorders, she experiences a disturbing medical episode of her own and begins to lose her own tenuous grasp on reality. The past blurs with the present and fragmented memories collide in this riveting drama where nothing is as it seems." Performances take place in the studio theatre at the Loretto-Hlton Center, 130 Edgar Road in Webster Groves, MO. For more information, call 314-968-4925 or visit repstl.org. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

The St. Louis Family Theatre Series presents Seussical the Musical Sunday, Friday, and Saturday February 2, 7, and 8. Performances take place at the Florissant Civic Center Theatre at Parker and Waterford in Florissant, MO. For more information, call 314-921-5678 or visit www.florissantmo.com.

Photo: John Lamb

New Jewish Theatre presents The Whipping Man by Matthew Lopez through February 16. "A seriously injured Confederate soldier returns to the ruins of his once grand Richmond home at the end of the Civil War to find only two former slaves and no one else - creating an unlikely trio - a Jewish Confederate soldier and former slave owner and his two former slaves who were raised as Jews. As the three gather for a makeshift Passover Seder, they come to terms with their shared past and secrets as they ask the age-old question "Why is this night different from all other nights?"" Performances take place in the Marvin and Harlene Wool Studio Theater at the Jewish Community Center, 2 Millstone Campus Drive in Creve Coeur. For more information: www.newjewishtheatre.org or call 314-442-3283. Read the 88.1 KDHX review!

Lindenwood University presents The Women of Lockerbie February 6 - 8. Performances take place at the J. Scheidegger Center for the Arts on the Lindenwood campus in St. Charles, MO. For more information, call 636-949-4433 or visit lindenwood.edu/center.

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.

St. Louis classical calendar for the week of February 3, 2014

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The St. Louis Art Museum presents Metropolitan Opera Live at SLAM: Dvorák's Rusalka on Saturday, February 8, at 11:5 AM. The live digital HD video broadcast from New York takes place in The Farrell Auditorium at the Art Museum in Forest Park. For more information: slam.org.

Cantus in 2009

St. Louis Cathedral Concerts presents the choral ensemble Cantus on Saturday, February 8, at 8 PM at the cathedral at 4431 Lindell. "Cantus is known worldwide for its trademark warmth and blend and its engaging performances of music ranging from the Renaissance to the 21st century. The Washington Post has hailed the ensemble's sound as having both "exalting finesse" and "expressive power" and refers to its music making as "spontaneous grace." Cantus performs more than 70 concerts each year both in national and international touring, as well as in its home of Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota." For more information: www.cathedralconcerts.org

Daniel Lee and David Halen

James Gaffigan conducts The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra with soloists David Halen (violin) and Daniel Lee (cello) in the Brahms Double Concerto, along with Mendelsshon's Symphony No. 3 and The Fair Melusina Overture. Performances take place on Friday at 10:30 AM, Saturday at 8 PM and Sunday at 3 PM, February 7 - 9, at Powell Symphony Hall, 718 North Grand. "Showcasing the talent of great St. Louisans as part of the St. Louis sestercentennial, STL Symphony Concertmaster David Halen and Principal Cellist Daniel Lee take center stage in Brahms' glorious Double Concerto, the composer's final orchestral work, known for its outpouring of lyrical phrasing and enchanting chemistry between violin and cello. American conductor James Gaffigan returns to lead Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 3, "Scottish," a work inspired by the composer's discovery of the rhythms and folk dances of Scotland." For more information: stlsymphony.org.

The St. Louis Symphony Orchestra presents Someday We'll All Be Free—The Music of Donny Hathaway on Wednesday, February 5, at 7:00 PM. The concert is part of the STL Symphony in the City series. "National recording artist and Manager of the St. Louis Symphony IN UNISON church program, Brian Owens, will lead a powerful evening featuring the music and songs of Donny Hathaway, a St. Louis product. This concert is part of the STL Symphony's Black History Month celebrations at Powell Hall, and is made possible by Monsanto Fund." For more information: stlsymphony.org.

Alarm Will Sound

The Sheldon Concert Hall presents the contemporary chamber ensemble Alarm Will Sound on Thursday, February 6, at 8 PM. "The ensemble performs the newest music being composed today with energetic virtuosity and a sense of adventure, creating programs that not only span a wide range of styles, but also transform the traditional concert experience itself." The Sheldon is at 3648 Washington in Grand Center. For more information: thesheldon.org.

The Tavern of Fine Arts presents The Cello Society of St. Louis in a preview the upcoming St. Louis Symphony performance of the Haydn Sinfonia Concertante on Saturday, February 8, at 4:00 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 a concert by baritone Jay Chacon on Saturday, February 8, at 8:00 PM. The Tavern of Fine Arts is at 313 Belt in the Debaliviere Place neighborhood. For more information: tavern-of-fine-arts.blogspot.com.

Winter Opera St. Louis presents Verdi's Falstaff Friday at 8 PM and Sunday at 3 PM, February 7 and 9. Performances take place at The Skip Viragh Center for the Arts at Chaminade College Preparatory School, 425 S. Lindbergh. The opera is sung in Italian with project English supertitles. For more information, visit winteroperastl.org.

Taking the Fifth

Jaap van Zweden

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Who: The St. Louis Symphony conducted by Jaap van Zweden
What: Music of Beethoven and Shostakovich
When: January 31 – February 2, 2014
Where: Powell Symphony Hall

It was a case of saving the best for last this weekend as the St. Louis Symphony concluded its four-week "Beethoven Festival" with stunning performances by guest conductor Jaap van Zweden of the Fifth symphonies of Beethoven and a composer who greatly admired Beethoven, Dmitri Shostakovich.

The pairing of these two symphonies isn't just a clever gimmick. Both works, as Paul Schiavo points out in his program notes, are works "of strife or pathos progressing to exultant finales. That progression makes for a musical drama that is both elemental and thrilling."  That said, these two symphonies come from vastly different worlds—and not just because one was written 120 years after the other.

The Beethoven is certainly the more famous and less ambiguous of the two.  "Beethoven's Fifth Symphony," wrote English scholar and BBC classical music producer Basil Lam back in 1966, "was the first of a new kind of symphony, which, because it expressed in musical terms the optimistic humanist philosophy, became almost the norm in the nineteenth century."  The message of triumph through struggle could not be clearer, especially in the exultant final pages of the last movement where, as Mr. Schiavo writes, "the dramatic passage from darkness to light, from despair to joy—that is the “meaning” of the finale and the goal of the entire symphony."

That's not to say that there aren't plenty of traps for the unwary conductor. Tempi have to be carefully chosen (especially now that "original instrument" guys like Roger Norrington have shown us the kind of excitement you can generate by paying attention to those metronome markings) and the overall interpretation has to maintain a sense of momentum and progress towards that joyous finale without feeling rushed and without neglecting the many wonderful orchestral details Beethoven provided. 

None of this posed a problem for Mr. van Zweden and the orchestra, though.  The first movement was crisp and incisive, setting the stage for the dramatically charged (and bracingly brisk) reading that was to follow.  The second movement Andante con moto was expressive but never lugubrious and the scherzo was appropriately mysterious.  And the finale was, indeed, joyous.

Those orchestral details referred to above came through with great clarity as well.  The entrance of the basses and cellos at the beginning of the fugato section of the scherzo was exceptionally dramatic, I thought, and the winds were lovely throughout.  This was, in other words, a Beethoven Fifth that was perfectly balanced and even, at times, revelatory.  Which, for a piece this well known, is saying something.

Shostakovich's Fifth has a complex history.  The composer wrote it quickly (in three months) in 1937, partly in response to harsh criticism of his surreal and lurid 1934 opera "Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District" by the Stalin regime.  "The opera disappeared overnight," notes Michael Tilson Thomas in an episode of the PBS series "Keeping Score" on the Fifth, "and every publication and political organization in the country heaped personal attacks on its composer."

This was at the height of that outbreak of official violence now known as the Stalinist Terror, so being blacklisted didn't just put your career in jeopardy but your life as well.  The composer set out, therefore, to produce a work that would appear, at least on the surface, to meet the demands of heroic socialist realism. He even went so far as to accompany the first performance with an article in the Moscow newspaper Vechernyaya Moskva titled "A Soviet Artist’s Reply to Just Criticism"—lest there be any doubt that he had Learned His Lesson.

It worked.  Shostakovich was officially rehabilitated and for many years afterwards the Fifth was seen, even in the West, as a classic example of Triumph through Struggle.  It was only many years later, when the composer's private thoughts about the Fifth began to come to light, that it became apparent there might be a deeper meaning to this music—a meaning apparent to the opening night audience in Leningrad in 1937, even if the commissars missed it.  "Many in the premiere audience were seen to weep openly," writes Richard Freed, in his notes for Leonard Slatkin's 1986 recording with the SLSO. "[T]hey wept, Shostakovich himself felt, because 'they understood; they understood what was happening around them and they understood what the Fifth was about.'"

Listening to it now, it's impossible not to hear despair and defiance instead of patriotic uplift, especially in the ominous mock fanfare of the opening and the succession of aggressive march tunes in the finale. The second movement Allegretto is a Mahlerian parody of a waltz, complete with squawking clarinet (nicely done by Dana Haskell in the E-flat clarinet, an instrument that doesn't get many solos, along with fellow single reeders Scott Andrews and Tina Ward) and, unexpectedly, a graceful little violin (David Halen, in a fine moment with the harps). And the third movement Largo clearly feels like lament for all the friends and family the composer lost to the Terror, memorialized with chorale-like string writing (rendered with great intensity by the symphony strings) that calls to mind the liturgy of the banned Russian Orthodox Church.

Mr. van Zweden's interpretation, while not downplaying the music's drama, sounded very much informed by the tragic and defiant subtext of this piece.  The trumpets in the first movement march had an aggressive and mocking snarl, for example, and the mournful little celesta figure that closes the movement was allowed to die into a brief and telling silence.  The dark comedy of the second movement came through loud and clear and the Largo was just as heartbreaking as it should have been.  I can only imagine what it must have meant to an audience in 1937, most of whom would have lost friends and family to the Terror (as did the composer himself).

The biggest challenge with the Fifth, though, is the finale.  Take it one way (usually with faster tempi) and it becomes, as Shostakovich wrote at the time of the work's premiere, "the optimistic resolution of the tragically tense moments of the first movement."  Change it just a bit, and it becomes a parody of militaristic triumphalism.  Mr. van Zweden's interpretation felt like it emphasized the latter while still allowing us to understand what Stalin and company thought they heard.  I'd say that's masterful.

The St. Louis Symphony's intoxicating pair of Fifths will be performed again tonight (Saturday, February 1) at 8 PM and Sunday at 3 PM at Powell Hall in Grand Center.  The Saturday concert will be broadcast live on St. Louis Public Radio at 90.7 FM, HD 1, and streaming from the station web site.  But, of course, it’s best heard live.

Next on the schedule: James Gaffigan conducts with soloists David Halen (violin) and Daniel Lee (cello) in the Brahms "Double Concerto," along with Mendelsshon’s "Symphony No. 3" and "The Fair Melusina Overture."  Performances take place on Friday at 10:30 AM, Saturday at 8 PM and Sunday at 3 PM, February 7 - 9, at Powell Symphony Hall, 718 North Grand.  For more information: stlsymphony.org.