REVIEW: Shakespeare & Company, Twelfth Night and The Taming of the Shrew

Shakespeare & Company, Lenox

www.shakespeare.org

“Shrew” runs through August 17, 2019

“Twelfth” runs through August 4, 2019

by Shera Cohen

Remember the Doublemint Gum ad of the 50’s and 60’s telling potential gum chewers that this terrific product in the green wrapper doubles your pleasure and doubles your fun?

In the case of Shakespeare & Company’s 2019 season, two of the Bard’s most familiar comedies are featured; i.e. “Twelfth Night” and “The Taming of the Shrew”. For those thinking about attending either or both plays, do not fear. These are among the most accessible in Shakespeare’s cannon of works.

Shakes & Co.’s campus is the site of several theatres, some indoors and some outdoors, with many plays happening simultaneously. Its actors are students, trainees, and professionals. Don’t be surprised if you see many of the actors employed in administrative work as well. These thespians are multi-talented.

"Shrew" photo by Zachary De Silva

Performing at The Dell, located on a lovely hilltop on the Edith Wharton Estate, is “The Taming of the Shrew”. Director Kelly Galvin takes Shakespeare’s romance of the foolishly coy Beatrice and Benedict to extreme buffoonery. Our heroes. We root for them, in spite of the obvious ending. All’s well that ends well in the Bard works. Basically, if no lead character is mangled, tortured, or dies, the story falls into the Comedy Classification.

With action at lightning speed, the comings and goings of the troupe never fail to delight the many children in the audience as well as their adult escorts. Every primary color of the rainbow brightens the characters and helps to define their moods. There is no reason to include Shakespeare’s “clowns” which refers to the oft-needed comic relief, as nearly all of the characters serve as clowns.

“Shrew” takes place on one of the outdoor theatres. All actors perform without amplification. I took the opportunity for a few moments to perform a little test. I was curious; just how far away could the audience hear every word? I walked as far back as the Stable’s Barn (another theatre venue and the rest stop for Wharton’s horses) and was able to clearly listen to each word of the play.

'Night" photo by Daniel Rader

Doubling your fun is “Twelfth Night” with the premise that twins (one Caucasian, one Black) are mistakenly identified as other characters, are unaware of the other’s existence, and fall in love with his/her prospective mates as fast as you can say, “Twelfth Night”. Most Shakespeare comedies follow this format: twins, mistaken identity, and the entire town is duped unbeknownst to everyone.

Allyn Burrows, Artistic Director of Shakes & Co. and director of the play, has taken full-on liberty with the set, music, lighting, and dance. This “Twelfth Night” has been placed in "a dance hall on a boardwalk by the sea," where the music is doo-wop and Motown, the dance is rock & roll, and the lighting is neon.

While the plot is rather boring and completely predictable, it is the music and dance that prevails in this comedy. Couple those factors with the four clowns (Steven Barkhimer at Sir Toby, Nigel Gore as Sir Andrew, Deaon Griffin-Pressley as Sebastian, Bella Merlin as Maria), and the play belongs to them.

Yet a few words about Miles Anderson as Malvolio, as the strait laced, snooty servant. Anderson’s first time at the Shakespeare & Co. theatres is stellar. He is bullied and ridiculed to the point that one might not agree that “Twelfth Night” is a comedy. That’s the way the Bard wrote the story.

REVIEW: Jacob’s Pillow, Umanoove/Didy Veldman

Jacob’s Pillow, Becket, MA

www.jacobspillow.org

through July 21, 2019

by Josephine Sarnelli

It was Albert Einstein who wrote, “A table, a chair, a bowl of fruit and a violin; what else does a man need to be happy?” Choreographer Didy Veldman seemed to have embraced this philosophy in creating her work “The Happiness Project.” The stark set consists of four small boxes containing a multitude of props, that also function as tables and chairs. The stage is otherwise filled with four dancers and one violinist. The last scene even includes a bowl of strawberries.

Photo by Grace Kathryn Landefeld

Alexander Balanescu, the violinist, composed the beautiful musical score. While walking around the stage with the dancers as he performs, his role is somehow reminiscent of the Stage Manager in Thornton Wilder’s play “Our Town.” Whether being the catalyst for the dancers’ actions or responding to their needs, Balanescu is always an integral part of the performance. Veldman masterfully has him interacting with the dancers, rather than relegating him to an orchestra pit.

Unlike Dance Theatre of Harlem, which is more dance than theatre, Veldman’s   Umanoove tends more toward theatrics. The dancers have speaking roles and a significant amount of the evening is devoted to exploring the question raised by Balanescu, “What makes you happy?”

Through a series of solos, duets and pas de trois, the pursuit of happiness is addressed, oftentimes with humor. One dancer attempts to find happiness by affixing herself to a blissful couple, only to realize that their joy cannot be experienced simply by proximity.  

In another vignette, designer named products are extracted from one of the boxes and hoarded by a dancer. But instead of happiness, he finds himself literally tethered to his material possessions and encumbered in his movements.   

Dance enthusiasts will be thrilled with the technical proficiency and athleticism of all four dancers. They move fluidly in both their solos and duets; their lifts appearing effortless.

Although the duration of the performance is only 73 minutes, it seemed longer. Too much repetition is used to develop the theme, especially when employing props of plastic sheeting and a glass of water. Perhaps more dancing and less acting would keep the audience more engaged. Although an imaginative concept, the production borders on being an allegorical journey found in the genre of moralistic plays.

Despite these concerns, if Franklin D. Roosevelt was correct in suggesting that happiness “… lies in the joy achievement, in the thrill of creative effort,” then Veldman and her troupe should be pleased with their debut production. 

REVIEW: Jacob’s Pillow, Mark Morris Dance Group

Jacob’s Pillow, Becket, MA

www.jacobspillow.org

through July 21, 2019

by Shera Cohen

A reason for my annual visit to Jacob’s Pillow is to see the Mark Morris Dance Group. Indeed, the troupe has been one of the most popular on the Pillow’s calendar for the past 25 years.

Photo by Christopher Duggan

On an extremely hot evening, the Ted Shawn Theatre was at full capacity seating. It’s nights like these when you get to know your seat neighbor quickly. In fact, the audience often seemed like one in their frequent revelation of the dance pieces. Many in the crowd were young; suspecting that they might be wannabe dancers who grabbed the opportunity to see one of the best and well-renowned dance companies in the world.

Four segments created the program. Picking one word to describe the performances would  be “eclectic”. The dancers were 17 men and women. For the most part there was no uniformity of apparel, hairstyles, sizes, shapes. The dancers were never in assigned “roles” even as male or female. If stories were told, the most obvious would have been “Sport”. It was also the most comic. Some of the dancers looked as if they were country club members, others just beach bums. Using all sorts of sport-props; the most comic being one dancer dragging another on the floor, the full length of the stage.

The other two section of the First Act, “Prelude and Prelude, and “Words,” showed the dancers’ skills in slower movements, creating geometric designs with their bodies; i.e. squares, triangles.

“Grand Duo” followed intermission. A rousing, quick-moving, lengthy piece, permitted the young dancers to sometimes work as a team, some singular, and full ensemble. Again, eclectic body movements from head to toe rarely replicated those of any other dancer on the floor. As a whole, the different pieces of development created one picture with a western theme. The segments of “Grand Duo” strung together were: Prelude, Stampede, A Round, and Polka.

Pre-recorded, electronically developed music usually accompanies dance performances. Kudos to Mark Morris and the Pillow for selecting Colin Fowler on piano and Georgy Valtchev on violin, working together and as soloists. The two men sat on the left side of the stage, unobtrusive to the dancers and the audience. Their talents alone would have made for a special evening. Add the Mark Morris Dance Group, and the performance was just right.

REVIEW: Tanglewood , Gautier Capucon, Jean-Yves Thibaudet

Tanglewood, Lenox, MA

www.bso.org

July 17, 2019

by Michael J. Moran

Threatening clouds on a humid Berkshire evening added an extra frisson to an exciting program in Ozawa Hall of music by four composers for cello and piano played by a French-born duo of international superstars. Only a light shower fell, but the concert more than fulfilled its promise.

Thibaudet & Capucon

Cellist Gautier Capucon and pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet began with Schumann’s three 1849“Fantasy Pieces,” Opus 73, which the composer suggested could be played by cello, clarinet, or violin and piano. The deep resonance of Capucon’s playing, along with Thibaudet’s mercurial pianism, made the cello an ideal instrument to convey the fanciful nature of this delightful suite.

The opening half of the concert closed with the first of the two cello sonatas by Brahms. Completed in 1865, it makes up for the lack of a traditional slow movement with varying tempos in each of its three remaining movements. The sensitive presentation by Capucon and Thibaudet captured both the classical influence of Bach in the outer movements and Mozart in the central minuet and the romantic outpourings throughout.

Intermission was followed with a fascinating twelve-minute rarity called “Malinconia” that Sibelius wrote in 1900 after the death from typhus of his fifteen-month-old daughter. But rather than the “overpowering sense of misery” identified in Jay Goodwin’s program notes, the committed performance of this demanding score by the Capucon-Thibaudet duo conveyed both intense grief and profound affection.

   

The program closed with a passionate account of Shostakovich’s only cello sonata. Written in 1934, it combines the sarcastic and serious sides of his developing style to produce an enigmatic whole. Capucon and Thibaudet rendered the lyrical yearning of the first movement, the playful mockery of the second, the tragic pathos of the third, and the childlike simplicity of the finale, all with the utmost conviction.

The duo rewarded the enthusiastic capacity audience with two French encores, both played with their trademark elegance: a sensuous excerpt (presented in this format “for the first time,” according to Capucon) from a double concerto they recently commissioned by Swiss composer Richard Dubugnon; and the touching “Meditation” from Massenet’s opera “Thais.”

Other upcoming concerts in Ozawa Hall this season include: soprano Renee Fleming, the

Emerson String Quartet, and pianist Simone Dinerstein premiering a new work by Andre Previn and Tom Stoppard (July 24); “Song of America: Beyond Liberty,” sung by baritone Thomas Hampson (July 31); and Beethoven trios played by pianist Emanuel Ax, violinist Leonidas Kavakos, and cellist Yo-Yo Ma (August 6).

REVIEW: Tanglewood, Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra

Tanglewood, Lenox, MA

www.bso.org

July 15, 2019

by Michael J. Moran

Except for a few veterans who may return for a second or third season, the TMCO is a new orchestra every summer when it comes together for eight weeks. “Young professional-level musicians of exceptional ability…on full fellowships” perform music ranging from the standard classical repertoire to rarely heard material to world premieres. This concert in Ozawa Hall featured one piece from each category.

The seldom-heard work, which opened the evening, was Respighi’s 1927 “Botticelli Triptych,” three musical impressions of paintings by Italian Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli. “Spring” was bright and ecstatic; “The Adoration of the Magi” was haunting, with radiant solos by bassoonist Jordan Brokken and oboist Andrew van der Paardt in quotes from the Advent hymn, “O Come, O Come Emmanuel;” and “The Birth of Venus” was warm and heartfelt. Australian-born conducting fellow Nathan Aspinall led a polished performance.

Helen Grime

The first half of the concert closed with the world premiere of a joint TMC/Boston Symphony commission, Helen Grime’s “Limina,” a thirteen-minute depiction of “thresholds” between various expressive states. The densely orchestrated score for large ensemble produced a range of sonorities, from forbidding to caressing, but these fearless musicians met its awesome technical demands with aplomb. Irish conducting fellow Killian Farrell directed a stunningly virtuosic performance. A TMC composition fellow in 2008, the Scottish composer expressed her appreciation to them all in a curtain call.

The program’s established masterpiece, which followed intermission, was Tchaikovsky’s sixth symphony, which he himself nicknamed the “Pathetique” after its first performance just a week before his sudden death in 1893. From a deeply felt opening “Adagio-Allegro non troppo,” to a delicate “Allegro con grazia,” a scintillating “Allegro molto vivace,” and a devastating “Adagio lamentoso” finale, TMC conducting faculty head Stefan Asbury inspired playing of technical finesse and passionate conviction from his young musicians. Outstanding solo performers were bassoonist Morgan Davison and clarinetist Kelsi Landon Doolittle.

Several upcoming TMCO concerts this summer look especially enticing. BSO Music Director Andris Nelsons will lead them in a complete three-concert production of Wagner’s opera “Die Walkure” in the Koussevitzky Music Shed (July 27-28); and BSO “artistic partner” and composer Thomas Ades and TMC conducting fellows will direct them in the closing program of the annual Festival of Contemporary Music, this year honoring the late Oliver Knussen, in Ozawa Hall (August 12).

REVIEW: Boston Symphony Orchestra, Verdi Requiem

Tanglewood, Lenox, MA

www.bso.org

July 13, 2019

by Michael J. Moran

A balmy Saturday evening in the Berkshires, with gentle breezes and a nearly full moon, formed a natural cathedral for a moving performance of a choral masterpiece by one of the world’s greatest orchestras and choruses, their inspiring young music director, and four world-class soloists, each in peak vocal form.

Written to commemorate the first anniversary in 1874 of the death of Italian writer and patriot Alessandro Manzoni, Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem Mass unfolds over 85 minutes in seven movements, dominated by the second and longest, the “Dies Irae” (Day of Wrath), but also containing many passages of hushed devotional beauty throughout.

 

Sung in Latin, the Requiem opens with a quiet “Introit and Kyrie,” then shifts dramatically into the harrowing first notes of the “Dies Irae,” itself consisting of nine short sections. Bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green brought stentorian gravitas to the “Mors Stupebit” (Death Shall Be Stunned) passage of the “Tuba Mirum” (Wondrous Trumpet) section. Kristine Opolais’s ethereal soprano intertwined rapturously with Oksana Volkova’s earthy mezzo-soprano in the “Recordare” (Remember) section, and later in the “Agnus Dei” movement. Tenor Jonathan Tetelman sang the “Ingemisco” (I Sob) section with poignant fervency.

The Tanglewood Festival Chorus, prepared by their conductor, James Burton, sang in every  movement but the “Offertory” and “Lux Aeterna” (Eternal Light). The seventh and shortest movement, “Sanctus” (Holy), is a three-minute outburst of joy sung by only the chorus, with exuberant force and precision. Their careful gradations of tone and clear articulation, from the softest to the loudest portions, were consistently impressive. 

Andris Nelsons

Verdi’s Requiem has both been praised as his “greatest opera” and criticized for being “too operatic;” this performance would not have been as effective without the committed leadership of Maestro Nelsons, who found an ideal balance between those two perspectives on the piece. Few conductors can better organize this large an ensemble so that every note is audible even in this vast sonic environment.

Now in his fifth Tanglewood season as BSO Music Director, Andris Nelsons is directing more concerts this summer than ever before. The dividends of the close bonds he has developed with orchestra and audience members alike were in thrilling evidence tonight.

REVIEW: Sevenars Music Festival, Opening Concert

The Academy, South Worthington, MA

www.sevenars.org

July 14 - August 18, 2019

by Michael J. Moran

The Academy at night

This family-based music festival, founded by Robert and Rolande Schrade and named after  the first letter of their names and those of their five children, opened its 51st anniversary season on “Bastille Day” with an exhilarating program of French music performed (mostly) by members of the extended Schrade-James family.

It opened with two pieces from Debussy’s first book of “Images” played by Lynelle James, daughter of pianists David James and the late Robelyn Schrade-James and a granddaughter of the founders. Her “Reflets dans L’Eau” (Reflections in the Water) was lithe and sensuous, while “Mouvement” (Movement) had quicksilver energy. Lynelle’s father, David, next played Debussy’s “Clair de Lune,” from his “Suite Berganasque,” with gentle simplicity. He then brought vigor and clarity to Ravel’s compact three-movement “Sonatine.”

Lynelle’s aunt Rorianne Schrade, youngest daughter of the founders, followed with an alternately dreamy and dramatic account of Chopin’s Impromptu in F-sharp Major. The first half of the program ended with Lynelle and her brother Christopher James offering a fluid, engaging performance of an arrangement for cello and piano of the closing “Allegretto poco mosso” movement from Cesar Franck’s violin sonata in A Major.

The program’s second half was devoted to a delightful rendition of the “Carnival of the Animals” by Camille Saint-Saens in a version for two pianos, played by Lynelle and Rorianne. Each of the piece’s fourteen short movements depicts a different animal, except the eleventh, which depicts pianists. These players performed this and the other movements with humor and the mood best suited to each selection: majesty for the opening “Royal March of the Lion”; torpor for the ultra-slow “Tortoises”; and tender grace for the familiar “Swan.”

A special pleasure of this presentation was the hilarious narration by Ogden Nash, elegantly delivered by New York-based radio personality Magee Hickey, fresh from covering the city’s blackout for WPIX the night before. She even managed to keep a straight face when reading Nash’s clever rhyming of “boomerang” with “tasty kangaroo meringue.”

The joyous atmosphere of this musical family gathering was an auspicious launch to this beloved festival’s second half-century.