The Best of A Beast: 2012

Napoleon.

It's been quite a year.

If you've read this blog steadily over the last four years, and especially between the lines, I imagine you can't help but notice that this was the year when people and things started disappearing. Penelope, the Femme Fatale, Isabella, the Manhattans, most of the known associates,The Little Chinese Man, and the frequency of posts- where did they go? I've decided not to reveal all of the reasons behind this just yet, but eventually I probably will when I feel enough distance exists. Amidst all of this carnage (and believe me, it was carnage), I didn't even get around to writing posts about two performances listed below, and really didn't do the justice I intended to a third. Having spent most of the last twelve months changing some things and attempting to right others, I can only tell you it is my full intention to remedy this in the new year.

Looking back, it was also a different year for what made the list. Opera, which was nearly absent last time, came back to dominate this year's model, and even though my Number 1 isn't an opera it truly felt like one, so add one more for a total of six of the ten slots being taken by operas.  It was also a good year for Cal Performances, which presented three of the top ten performances and three of the honorable mentions. San Francisco Opera returned to the list after being absent last year, thank goodness, because let's face it- there is nothing better than opera and when SFO is putting junk on the stage life becomes a bit dull. However, it wasn't a great year for theater- at least the theater I saw, though there were some good things going on at Berkeley Rep which got honorable mentions.

I also saw fewer recitals, attended less dance, films, pop, and jazz performances and little of what I did attend in these areas impressed me this year, so there hasn't been much mention of these.  It's not that I'm getting lazy, at least I hope it's not that, but this has been a year of change and transition and I needed to take some time away from attending performances and writing about them to actually sort some things out. So without any further blather on my part, though  reserving my right to elaborate further on any or all of the items mentioned above or below at a future time, here are the best performances I experienced as an audience member during the last year:

1. Napoleon
Rarely, if ever, have I had the pleasure of experiencing something so completely immersing and engaging on every level of artistry. Abel Gance's 5 and 1/2 hour silent film from 1927  is more than a masterpiece- it's visionary, epic in the truest sense of the word, and fascinates from beginning to end. But the experience was really made sublime by the accompanying performance of the Oakland East bay Orchestra under the baton of Carl Davis conducting his own heroic score. To experience it all inside the exquisitely restored art deco Paramount Theatre was just icing on the cake. This not only lived up to the "once in lifetime" hype- it exceeded it by every measure. I really regret not writing a post about this- maybe one day.

2. Nixon in China
Nixon was the best thing San Francisco Opera has put on the stage of the War Memorial since The Makropulos Affair, and easily stands as the highlight of David Gockley's (who commissioned the John Adams work while he was with the Houston Opera) tenure. Superb casting and a production which really brought the opera's nuances to the fore made for one of the most compelling experiences I've experienced in the house. I was lucky to see it twice during the run, and could have easily enjoyed a third viewing. I regret never going back to write about this in-depth because there is so much to say about it, especially the third act, which many observers seemed to view as a throw-away, but I felt was the heart and soul of the work, a beautifully executed denouement where the main characters gather and internally ask themselves "What do we now after we've changed the world?" and can only respond with "What is left to do?"

3. Certitude and Joy
Erling Wold's chamber opera based on the real events surrounding a woman who sacrificed her own children to God by drowning them in the San Francisco Bay stuck in my head for weeks afterward. Wold's compelling score, played by the recently Grammy-nominated Zofo Duet and the earnest commitment of everyone on the small stage to make this work created something which deeply moved me. I'll never forget how I felt when it ended.

4. Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Philharmonia Orchestra's Mahler's 9th
As I mentioned in the original post, this performance brought me to tears. Thinking about its effect still makes my eyes swell.

5. Einstein on the Beach
Cal Performances was instrumental in making this revival of the original production happen and as promised, it was something every opera fan should have seen. Like Napoleon, Einstein lived up to the hype. How lucky are we in the Bay Area to live in a place where not one, but two rarely experienced major works of art appear on local stages in the same year?

6. Lohengrin (no post)
If only every production offered by San Francisco Opera were this good. Brandon Jovanovich was perfect in the title role, with an excellent supporting cast, a thoughtful production, and extraordinary conducting from Luisotti as he popped his Wagner cherry. Magnificent on every level- the company should be quite proud of it.

7. Esa-Pekka Salonen and the Philharmonia Orchestra's Wozzeck
Had this been a fully staged production and taken place at the War Memorial Opera House it would have easily been number two on this list.

8. Joyce DiDonato and the Alexander String Quartet: Camille Claudel: Into the Fire
While I admired Jake Heggie and Gene Scheer's Moby Dick in its San Francisco debut this past fall, I ultimately felt the second act didn't live up to the artistic level and expectations created in its first. It left me wondering what the team could have done with more time to work on the opera, which felt like it was lacking something at its core. On the other hand, this smaller scale work arrived onstage so fully realized in its conception and execution it made me yearn for a larger, full-blown opera to be developed from the material. DiDonato just had what was probably the best year of her career (so far) and in retrospect this concert performance seemed like a harbinger for what was to follow.

9. Christian Tetzlaff and the San Francisco Symphony
The epitome of a rock star performance by a classical musician, and a perfect combination of piece and performer.

10. The San Francisco Symphony's American Mavericks Festival
Last season's Centennial celebration by the San Francisco Symphony had no shortage of highlights, but the return of the American Mavericks festival highlighted so many elements of what makes this organization and orchestra under Michael Tilson Thomas so great. Not every moment worked, but the sum of every concert worked extremely well, with each featuring at least one truly memorable and exciting performance, often much more. Criticized by some for not being mavericky enough in its programming, those who actually attended were thrilled to be a part of it- I certainly was, and the next version can't arrive soon enough.

Honorable mentions (in no particular order): An Iliad, Keith Jarrett, Ojai North!, Nameless Forest, You Killed Hamlet, The Mariinsky Ballet and Orchestra, Hilary Hahn, and Khatia Buniashvili's dress.

On a personal note, I want to thank Isabella- for everything you've given both from a distance and up close. Thank you Sheila, for being a wonderful listener in many ways. And thank you Thaïs, for killing the Femme Fatale and in doing so forcing me to figure out what's next.

And finally, I'd like to thank you, whoever you are, for reading this. See you next year.

American Mavericks IV: Sundays with Cowell, Partch, Riley, Subotnick, Reich, Monk, Foss, Del Tredici

Meredith Monk and Vocal Ensemble with members of the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) perform the world premiere of the SFS commission "Realm Variations" by Meredith Monk at Davies Symphony Hall, San Francisco on Sunday, March 18, 2012. Photo by Kristen Loken 

Along with the three concerts featuring the full orchestra, San Francisco Symphony's American Mavericks festival featured two programs of chamber music on consecutive Sundays. The first had a fair amount of empty seats, but a very appreciative audience to hear a real grab-bag of 20th Century American music. It began with Jeremy Denk performing five solo pieces by Henry Cowell. These pieces suited Denk's talent and temperament almost perfectly- the usual physical expressiveness of his playing found a perfect foil in Cowell's demanding score, and he rose to the challenges of each, making them look easier to play than they had any right to- or to put it another way, he looked like he was enjoying the himself. Each piece had its own merits and challenges, but the one with the most impact was the gorgeous Exultation, with the aptly titled The Banshee leaving an almost equally strong impression.

Another five pieces by Harry Partch followed, performed by PARTCH on instruments created by the composer to accommodate compositions written for special tunings and a forty-three note scale featured in the works. The instruments are stunningly unique and beautiful, and the members of the ensemble obviously were masters of them. The PARTCH folks were performers as much as musicians, lending the selections a theatrical flair that was initially amusing, especially in San Francisco, which played well to the home crowd, as did Barstow, but the set stretched on a bit and became repetitive.

Terry Riley's G Song for String Quartet received a lush treatment from the Symphony musicians performing it, but its roots as a chaconne made it feel rather ordinary and out of place in context, and in a hall as large as Davies.

The final work of the first concert was Morton Subotnick's Jacob's Room: Monodrama, featuring a chamber orchestra and the composer's wife, singer Joan La Barbara, on vocals. Originally envisioned as a larger work on an operatic scale, the current version features La Barbara and musicians performing a piece not easily described- a Holocaust-themed work incorporating elements of Virginia Woolf's novel. Haunting, especially int he cadenzas where La Barbara let loose with an emotional vulnerability in her voice which was equally thrilling and disturbing. It felt a little long, with the limitation of having only one voice, even with one as chameleon-like as La Barbara's, eventually making itself felt. Still, it's power was undeniable and proved to be a potent ending to the afternoon.

From left to right San Francisco Symphony percussionists Tom Hemphill, James Lee Wyatt III, David Herbert, Jack Van Geem and Raymond Froehlich perform Steve Reich's Music for Pieces of Wood during the American Mavericks Festival, March 18, 2012 at Davies Symphony Hall. Photo by Kristen Loken.

A week later the house appeared full and people were eagerly seeking tickets out front. The concert began with Jack Van Geem, Raymond Froelich, David Herbert, Tom Hemphill, and James Lee Wyatt III performing Steve Reich's Music for Pieces of Wood, the pieces of wood being distinctly tuned claves. Not only was this piece a musical and rhythmic delight, it was amazing to watch the five percussionists perform it.  Requiring a level of physical and mental concentration that looked exhausting to execute, it was exhilarating to watch and hear as each musician entered one by one to create staggeringly complex patterns that shift in meter 58 times during the three separate sections. I loved every moment.

The audience seemed primed to hear the world premiere of Meredith Monk's Realm Variations, including the woman seated next to me who had flown up for the afternoon just to hear it. No one was disappointed. Monk's piece has a unique power and a palatable sensuality coursing through it. Featuring six singers and seven musicians, it was written for the Symphony's Catherine Payne, whose solo piccolo opened the work and continued to have a strong presence within it for the remainder. Monk at 70 years old still possesses an amazing voice, making herself clearly heard among the other talented singers assembled for the work. Sid Chen's bass was a standout among the excellent ensemble. On every level, Realm Variations felt like a complete triumph and the one piece commissioned for the festival that really felt substantial.

Pianist Jeremy Denk and members of the San Francisco Symphony perfrom Lukas Foss' "Echoi" during the American Mavericks Festival at Davies Symphony Hall on March 18, 2012.
Photo by Kristen Loken 

After these two splendid performances the afternoon was beginning to feel like it may prove to be the sleeper success of the entire festival, but the momentum didn't hold for the second half. Lukas Foss' Echoi, performed by Denk on piano, Carey Bell on clarinet, Peter Wyrick on cello, and Jack Van Geem manhandling an array of percussion including the lid of a trash can, had moments of interest during its four sections, but in the end proved too dense and hard to follow on a cold listening (I couldn't locate a version to hear beforehand). The four musicians worked hard to make it seem like something more than the sum of its odd parts, but they lost me early on and by the time Van Geem beat the strings of Denk's piano and hit the lid of the trash can in the Echoi IV I was ready to move on.

Michael Tilson Thomas conducts Kiera Duffy, soprano, and members of the San Francisco Symphony in David Del Tredici's "Syzygy
Photo by Kristen Loken 

Doing so took awhile, as it took some time to set the stage for David Del Tredici's Syzygy, which made for a long and dreary ending to the afternoon. Even the splendid vocal talents of soprano Kiera Duffy couldn't salvage it as she alternately yelped, barked and sang two poems by James Joyce, used here as the work's text, while MTT led a small ensemble that never quite made it to anywhere musically interesting.

American Mavericks III: It Might Get Loud- Varèse, Feldman, Adams, Bates

I've long admired Thomas May's program notes and I was halfway through reading about Mason Bates' Mass Transmission, commissioned by San Francisco Symphony for the American Mavericks festival, when I thought to myself May must have written this, so I turned to the end and lo and behold, I was right. He also wrote the notes for the other commission premiering this night, John Adams' Absolute Jest. May's notes are so well-written and intriguing that my anticipation for hearing these two pieces rose substantially- and I was already thinking this would likely be the best concert of the five offered. He almost got me thinking of the other pieces on the program, Morton Feldman's Piano and Orchestra and Edgard Varèse's Ameriques, for which he didn't write the notes, as afterthoughts.

I only mention this because the reality of the concert itself proved to be the opposite of what of I anticipated. After hearing Bates' wonderful Alternative Energy performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra when they rolled into town as part of the American Orchestra series last month, I was primed for more. Mass Transmission is nowhere near that level. Resting somewhere between Deep Forest and The Art of Noise, the three part work for organ (Paul Jacobs), chorus (conducted by Donato Cabrera) and electronica (Bates), seems like an extended fragment culled from something larger, but there's little in it that led me to want to hear more.

Adams' Absolute Jest should really be credited to another composer- Beethoven, because on hearing it for the first time the only memorable parts are those lifted by the former more or less straight from latter's late quartets and scherzo of the Ninth Symphony. Great choices to borrow (steal?) from, to be sure, but if the listener knows these works even casually, Absolute Jest comes across as little more than a Beethoven mixtape performed by an orchestra- "Ah, there's Op.131! That's from 127! Yes, there's the Scherzo again..." and so forth for twenty minutes. This didn't stop the orchestra from giving it a strong, vigorous performance, and there was something quite thrilling indeed in hearing an entire string section play riffs from the quartets, with the added bonus of having the powerhouse St. Lawrence String Quartet rocking the center of it all with glee, but I was somewhat dumbfounded by the standing ovation the work received and felt like we had all just been had- as if the joke were on the audience for thinking there was something substantial in it all.

I will say, however, The St. Lawrence String Quartet really impressed me. This was the first time I've seen them and I would go out of my way to do so again- even if that means heading all the way down the road to Stanford.

Just before launching into the Feldman, MTT decided to say a bit about the piece, which he obviously didn't plan on because he didn't have a microphone at hand. He was hard to hear from where I sat toward the rear of the orchestra, but I think he was alluding to the similarity between the composer's work and those of the painters he admired- especially Rothko. Sadly, MTT didn't do his impersonation of Morty, which is pretty damn funny.

I vividly remember going to SFMOMA on a rainy afternoon one day years ago, looking at Rothkos, and thinking what the fuck?- I could paint that. Thankfully I was with a guy who was an art history major and I asked him to explain the paintings to me. It only took a few minutes of his comments for me to realize I could never paint anything like that. Feldman's Piano and Orchestra is similar in that on its surface it appears quite simple, and its slow, meditative pace, quietly played, isn't easily penetrated without concentration. This isn't made any easier by the part for the soloist, here performed by Emmanuel Ax, who seems to do little more than chime in somewhat regularly with two dissonant chords. But as the piece progresses, and once I started understanding what I was hearing (it did take some time and some deliberation) I was amazed by its structure and the power underneath its placid surface. By the time it concluded, I was deeply moved and impressed by the performance and felt it truly defined the spirit of the festival.

But MTT wasn't finished, and after a long break to organize the stage to accommodate 125 musicians, including fifteen(!) percussionists, he led the orchestra in a stunning, pulverizing performance of Varèse's Ameriques. The antithesis of Feldman's quiet complexity, this was a barrage of sound I could physically feel coming from the stage. Mark Inouye led the brass section through a storm of outbursts and the percussionists created more noise than I would have thought possible, and in the most wonderful way. Taken together, the pieces on the second half of the program proved to be the highlight of the festival (though there's one more program left of chamber-sized pieces)- and truly defined what makes a "maverick."  

American Mavericks II: Bring the Noise- Cage, Foss, Cowell, Ruggles

The somewhat subdued response in the house last Thursday night for the opening night concert of the San Francisco Symphony's American Mavericks festival gave way on Saturday night to a rambunctiousness onstage that made itself felt in the audience.

John Cage's Song Books performed by Joan La Barbara, Meredith Monk, Jessye Norman, Michael Tilson Thomas and members of the San Francisco Symphony during the American Mavericks Festival at Davies Symphony Hall. Photo credit: Kristen Loken  

How could it have been otherwise, with the Symphony starting the night off with a delightful staging of John Cage's bizarre performance piece Song Books? Cage's piece contains 90 different "songs," each a solo in "one of four categories: 1) song [an actual one or something approximating what we know as one]; 2) song using electronics; 3) theater; 4) theater using electronics." The categories alone are hint enough that what's about to be performed was going to be unusual and it certainly was. The SFS brought some serious vocal talent to make it work: Meredith Monk, Joan La Barbara, and Jessye Norman. Also appearing in the piece was Michael Tilson Thomas and assorted members of the orchestra. What did they all do? Well, Norman used an antique typewriter to compose a note in French. Monk sang a quote by Thoreau as if it were a taunt and waddled around the stage like a duck. La Barbara did a take on her own "Circular Song." Cellist Amos Yang and Principal Bassoon Stephen Paulson played cards. MTT played with string and then noisily chopped up some cucumbers, threw them into a blender, turned it on and drank the results. Someone barfed- repeatedly and a pianist took a nap at the keys. There were 80 other things going on, but I can't tell you what all of them were, as most of it was unfurling simultaneously across the stage and it was almost too much to take in. There was "real" music and "singing" as well, some of it quite striking coming from all three guests and the assorted players, but in the end it hardly felt like that was the point and yet it was the entire point- what exactly does constitute a song? Song Cycles, at least as performed here, is one of those things you either go along with and love, or could just as easily hate. The audience seemed split into thirds- the lovers, the haters, and the baffled. I loved it.

After the intermission came three works which sounded almost traditional compared to the first half. Lukas Foss' Phorion was played in its non-aleatoric version, which I have to admit was a bit disappointing since the Festival is about breaking boundaries- why not go with the version which is more challenging? Thomas gave us the reason- when the piece was premiered in its aleatoric version by Bernstein in 1967, the ten minute work required ten hours of practice. Fair enough. A composed version of sampling using the prelude of Bach's Partita in E, Phorion (the word is Greek for "stolen goods") is an inventive novelty with enough charm and wit to seem more substantial than it is- but that's really the key to sampling- start with something good and use it well, and most folks will find it entertaining.

Speaking of entertaining, pianist Jeremy Denk was the soloist for Henry Cowell's Piano Concerto. Requiring a level of almost absurd dexterity to perform, including playing two octaves with a forearm and hitting tone clusters with a fist, once the novelty of how it's played wears off, the result is a pretty substantial piece of music that doesn't come across as a gimmick, but rather three movements of inventive, attractive melodies and rhythms, though I could swear I heard the "Mexican Hat Dance" music somewhere in the third movement. Denk handled the piece with aplomb, coming out in Johnny Cash black and performing with a James Cagney-like swagger.

Carl Ruggles' Sun-Treader has two things going for it- an absolutely fantastic opening and an equally wonderful finish, and it may be the loudest thing you've ever hear performed by an orchestra. However, in between those massive wall-of sound bookends, the piece lost me as it meandered over assorted sunspots, but man, that black-hole of a finish was some incredible noise.

American Mavericks: Copland, Harrison, Ives- and meeting Jeremy Denk

Charles Ives

Though the audience felt a bit subdued at the opening concert for the San Francisco Symphony's American Mavericks festival, there was nothing of the sort coming from the stage. Surprisingly, Music Director Michael Tilson Thomas began the performance without any introductory comments- he seemed content to let the music do the talking on this night and indeed it did. Leading off with Copland's Orchestral Variations, MTT and the orchestra showcased the more unfamiliar side of the composer- dark, brooding and aggressive music that sounds like the blueprint for film noir soundtracks with no sign to be found this is the same guy who wrote Rodeo or Appalachian Spring. The orchestra's brawny approach matched it perfectly.

Lou Harrison's Concerto for Organ with Percussion Orchestra followed, featuring soloist Paul Jacobs and seven percussionists. Beginning with an Allegro section reminiscent of a drumline, the work proceeds through a variety of different musical terrains - an Adante follows for just the organist and then a dream-like Largo lulls the listener to a quieter place -indeed, it put the guy next to me to sleep. He awoke with a snort when the Canons and Choruses section began, which was a gorgeous, deliberate meditation full of hypnotic counterpoints. The final Allegro section veers into something that sounds almost delightfully like surf music, and Jacobs and the percussionists tore through it with a Ventures-like glee. At the end, MTT held the score aloft and kissed it.

During the intermission I took the opportunity to introduce myself to Jeremy Denk, who was seated next to cellist Steven Isserlis during the performance. Denk is performing in three of the scheduled Mavericks concerts and Isserlis is in town to perform Schumann's Cello Concerto with the Philharmonia Baroque Orchestra. I was hanging fire at the rail of the rear boxes as Denk came in from the lobby, giving me the chance to buttonhole him in person. He proved to be kind and gracious, though for a moment he seemed apprehensive, as if he wondered exactly what I might be up to once it all clicked into place. The popular, well-regarded pianist and I have a bit of a thorny history, but I'll cheerfully admit to admiring the man's abilities with a keyboard whether it be attached to a piano or a computer. His recent recording of Ives is marvelous and if you haven't already read it, check out his brilliant piece in the Feb. 6 issue of the New Yorker on the trials of recording the album's Concord Sonata.

An orchestrated version of the same made up the second half of the concert. The piece was obsessed over for years not only by its composer, but also by Henry Brant, who worked on re-orchestrating it for more than forty years. Between the two of them, I doubt there's a single work in the entire musical canon that has had so much time has been spent on its creation and revision. It proved to be an enormous, frequently thrilling beast, with the orchestra's string section sounding (and I know I've said this before, but it keeps happening) better than ever. The four sections eschew sonata form and instead evoke the spirit of four mid-nineteenth century literary personages of Concord, Mass- Emerson, Hawthorne, the Alcotts and Thoreau. Emerson is the thorniest, Hawthorne the most interesting and diverse. The Alcotts mirror their history of transcendentalism and Thoreau is, well, Thoreau. The gorgeous hymnal section of the Hawthorne section proved to be the highlight for me before it (d)evolves into a cacophonous mash-up of who knows how many borrowed tunes- a feature of each of the work's movements, but done with special flair here. The time Brant expended on Ives' work proved to be well-spent- in his hands the Concord is an orchestral piece with a gravitas wholly different than its inspiration.

There's still time to buy a $100 pass for all remaining festival performances. Call 415 864 6000, or go the Davies box office. Also, Eva Soltes' great documentary on Lou Harrison continues at the Roxie this weekend and is well worth seeing.

Lou Harrison: A World of Music

Eva Soltes' documentary, Lou Harrison: A World of Music, is a warm, loving tribute to one of America's most original musical minds with a depth beyond most films of its kind. Often in documentaries about individuals, especially when the subject is a musician, there's a tendency with filmmakers to try create an aura of mystery or tragedy around the subject. Soltes' film has none of that- she lived across the street from Harrison for years and treats him, and his partner Bill Colvig, as real people, and as friends. That she does so without a trace of sentimentality is half the film's strength. The other half comes from her subject: Harrison's a truly unique American persona- a visionary musician who despite having suffered a breakdown that made him something of a recluse for years, he comes across as avuncular, warm, intelligent and curious. The more Soltes' camera exposes him, the more one wants to know about him. The same can be said of  Harrison's music, which runs through almost the entire film, but in wisely chosen and edited segments 

Despite the film's brief feeling (it's 90 minutes), there's a of lot territory covered- Harrison's childhood and early career in New York are given in-depth treatment, and the social/cultural contexts of his lifetime are seamlessly woven into the personal narrative, such as the tribulations undergone by friend, mentor and fellow musical visionary Henry Cowell. Soltes shows the man as well as his times, often revealed in engaging anecdotes by fellow artists including Merce Cunnigham, Terry Riley and Michael Tilson Thomas. But it's Harrison's own honesty and openness which truly make the film a small wonder- a portrait of a lone wolf, fully engaged with everything around him, and using it to create a life and art unique to his own vision.

The film opens today at the Roxie in San Francisco. Highly recommended.

American Mavericks begins this week

A  major highlight of the San Francisco Symphony's Centennial Season is the return of the American Mavericks festival, last held in 2000.

I was going to write a preview of it, but blogger SF Mike has a post that captures the enthusiasm for the upcoming concerts as well as can be done. You can read it here.

On the other hand, Josh Kosman of the SF Chronicle brings up some valid points about what (and who) is missing this time around (or how much 2012 seems like 2000 all over again). You can read that here.

Having missed it before (I was traveling that summer), I'm more in Mike's camp, enthusiasm-wise. Regardless, everyone admits it's a big deal, including Alex Ross of the New Yorker, so if you don't want  to miss one of the major music events of the year, get a ticket now before they're gone. The Symphony is offering an incredible deal- $100 will buy you a pass that's good for every concert. Mike says they're going fast.