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Wagner and the tango, re-examined
Roundup: Orchestra's Wagner, Dolce Suono's Tango, Trio Cavatina
Tom Purdom
Coincidences create interesting juxtapositions. The Philadelphia Orchestra and the Dolce Suono chamber music series devoted major portions of their latest programs to new arrangements of excerpts from older works.
Dolce Suono recreated the smoky brothel atmosphere of the classic tango with a new arrangement of four scenes from a chamber opera by the Argentine tango master, Astor Piazzolla. The Orchestra plunged into the realm of myth and saga with an "orchestral adventure" that condensed Wagner's Ring cycle into 70 minutes of instrumental music.
Henk de Vlieger's 1991 arrangement of Wagner's music is a successful contribution to the grand tradition of orchestral suites based on music originally composed for ballets and operas. The Dutch composer carried that idea a step further and fitted his selections into the classic pattern of the symphony. The "Ride of the Valkyries" and another excerpt from Die Walkure fulfill the functions of a scherzo movement. Other selections provide the equivalent of a slow movement, an attention-getting opening, and a big bang finale.
You don't have to be familiar with every detail of Wagner's operas to enjoy de Vlieger's adaptation. You merely need to know the music is associated with myth and epic fantasy, in the same way the Sibelius tone poem En Saga evokes the general atmosphere of the Scandinavian sagas. I've just reread one of C.S. Forester's Hornblower novels, and at one point I found images of sailing ships and the heroic struggle against Napoleonic tyranny fitted Wagner's music just as well as the cavorting of Teutonic gods.
Verging on blasphemy
At the Dolce Suono concert, the excerpts from Piazzolla's "operita" made a grand climax to an evening devoted to Spanish and Latin American composers. The plot of Maria de Buenos Aires verges on blasphemy, and the arrangement by Piazzolla specialist Tim Ribchester delivers a haunting mix of fantasy, surrealism and hopped-up bar music.
De Vlieger's Wagner condensation exploited the sonic colors in a huge pallet that included six harps and four of the ultra-romantic horns referred to as "Wagner tubas." Ribchester's adaptation of Maria de Buenos Aires created complicated textures with an appropriately oddball chamber ensemble. If you want to know what the grand finale sounded like, just imagine a flute, a viola, a guitar, a double bass and a piano playing full blast at the same time and mostly doing different things.
Piazzolla's tango music is becoming one of flutist Mimi Stillman's specialties. I was once again impressed with the way a group of classically trained musicians can convey the complex eroticism of Argentina's contribution to the mating dance repertoire.
Uninspired premiere
The Orchestra paired the Wagner with the world premiere of a violin concerto by the Pulitzer Prize winner George Walker. This was the first time the Philadelphia Orchestra had premiered a work by the veteran 87-year-old New Jersey composer. Unfortunately, Walker's concerto proved to be an uninspired effort— a series of unimaginative violin solos that alternated with brassy orchestral interludes.
The 2004 piano trio that the young Trio Cavatina included in its Philadelphia Chamber Music Society program was a more successful example of contemporary music. Its creator, Donald Martino, was an academic composer whose musical interests included jazz and Tin Pan Alley. His trio offers an interesting mix of the academic music that used to drive many of us crazy with passages that reflect Martino's expressed desire to write music that will make people say, "Hey, this is nice!"
Trio Cavatina opened its program with Schumann's engaging G Minor piano trio and closed with Brahms's second essay in that form. I attended Cavatina's concert mostly because I hoped to hear a good performance of the Brahms, and I wasn't disappointed. Trio Cavatina is a new group, formed at the Marlboro festival in 2005, but these musicians know what Brahms trios are supposed to do, and that's one of the most important qualifications a professional piano trio can bring to its work.♦
To read another review of the Orchestra's concert by Steve Cohen, click here.
To read a response, click here.
Dolce Suono recreated the smoky brothel atmosphere of the classic tango with a new arrangement of four scenes from a chamber opera by the Argentine tango master, Astor Piazzolla. The Orchestra plunged into the realm of myth and saga with an "orchestral adventure" that condensed Wagner's Ring cycle into 70 minutes of instrumental music.
Henk de Vlieger's 1991 arrangement of Wagner's music is a successful contribution to the grand tradition of orchestral suites based on music originally composed for ballets and operas. The Dutch composer carried that idea a step further and fitted his selections into the classic pattern of the symphony. The "Ride of the Valkyries" and another excerpt from Die Walkure fulfill the functions of a scherzo movement. Other selections provide the equivalent of a slow movement, an attention-getting opening, and a big bang finale.
You don't have to be familiar with every detail of Wagner's operas to enjoy de Vlieger's adaptation. You merely need to know the music is associated with myth and epic fantasy, in the same way the Sibelius tone poem En Saga evokes the general atmosphere of the Scandinavian sagas. I've just reread one of C.S. Forester's Hornblower novels, and at one point I found images of sailing ships and the heroic struggle against Napoleonic tyranny fitted Wagner's music just as well as the cavorting of Teutonic gods.
Verging on blasphemy
At the Dolce Suono concert, the excerpts from Piazzolla's "operita" made a grand climax to an evening devoted to Spanish and Latin American composers. The plot of Maria de Buenos Aires verges on blasphemy, and the arrangement by Piazzolla specialist Tim Ribchester delivers a haunting mix of fantasy, surrealism and hopped-up bar music.
De Vlieger's Wagner condensation exploited the sonic colors in a huge pallet that included six harps and four of the ultra-romantic horns referred to as "Wagner tubas." Ribchester's adaptation of Maria de Buenos Aires created complicated textures with an appropriately oddball chamber ensemble. If you want to know what the grand finale sounded like, just imagine a flute, a viola, a guitar, a double bass and a piano playing full blast at the same time and mostly doing different things.
Piazzolla's tango music is becoming one of flutist Mimi Stillman's specialties. I was once again impressed with the way a group of classically trained musicians can convey the complex eroticism of Argentina's contribution to the mating dance repertoire.
Uninspired premiere
The Orchestra paired the Wagner with the world premiere of a violin concerto by the Pulitzer Prize winner George Walker. This was the first time the Philadelphia Orchestra had premiered a work by the veteran 87-year-old New Jersey composer. Unfortunately, Walker's concerto proved to be an uninspired effort— a series of unimaginative violin solos that alternated with brassy orchestral interludes.
The 2004 piano trio that the young Trio Cavatina included in its Philadelphia Chamber Music Society program was a more successful example of contemporary music. Its creator, Donald Martino, was an academic composer whose musical interests included jazz and Tin Pan Alley. His trio offers an interesting mix of the academic music that used to drive many of us crazy with passages that reflect Martino's expressed desire to write music that will make people say, "Hey, this is nice!"
Trio Cavatina opened its program with Schumann's engaging G Minor piano trio and closed with Brahms's second essay in that form. I attended Cavatina's concert mostly because I hoped to hear a good performance of the Brahms, and I wasn't disappointed. Trio Cavatina is a new group, formed at the Marlboro festival in 2005, but these musicians know what Brahms trios are supposed to do, and that's one of the most important qualifications a professional piano trio can bring to its work.♦
To read another review of the Orchestra's concert by Steve Cohen, click here.
To read a response, click here.
What, When, Where
Philadelphia Orchestra: Walker, Violin Concerto; Wagner/de Vlieger, The Ring: An Orchestral Adventure. Gregory Walker, violin; Neeme Järvi, conductor. December 10, 2009 at Verizon Hall, Kimmel Center, Broad and Spruce Sts. (215) 893-1900 or www.philorch.org.
Dolce Suono: Piazzola/Ribchester, Suite from Maria de Buenos Aires. Mimi Stillman, flute; Burchard Tang, viola; Allen Krantz, guitar; Ranaan Mayer, double bass; Tim Ribchester, piano; Gerardo Razumney, Ronni L. Gordon, David Stillman, narrators. December 9, 2009 at First Unitarian Church, 2125 Chestnut Street. (267) 252-1803 or www.mimistillman.org/dolcesuono.
Trio Cavatina: Schumann, Piano Trio in G Minor; Martino, Piano Trio; Brahms, Piano Trio No. 2 in C Major. Harumi Rhodes, violin; Priscilla Lee, cello; Leva Jokubaviciute, piano. December 11, 2009 at Fleisher Art Memorial, 719 Catharine St. Philadelphia Chamber Music Society: (215) 569-8080 or www.pcmsconcerts.org.
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