September - 21st Century Music

June 16's concert was given over to choral music, with many
recent works scattered among traditional American shape-note
numbers and pieces from Balkan and Georgian folk idioms.
Zeke Hecker's Turtle Sings an Egg Song and Grandpa Bear’s
Lullaby are eerie cradle tunes, harmonically sophisticated and
most effective. Four Shakespeare Songs, by Paul Brust,
tellingly explores a wide variety of moods, ranging from
bouncy to warm, joyous to deliberate -- and all are splendidly
written for its singers. Doncaster's fine Irish Hymn setting is
like the proverbial swimming swan: one notes the smoothly
sailing exterior, not the crafty mechanism that drives it.
Fussell’s two pieces from his Pioneer Songbook are sensitive,
heartfelt entities that go down like finely aged scotch. And
Donald Martino’s early “The Lion. The Tiger” from the Bad
Child’s Book of Beasts presents its charmingly ironic poem
perfectly, indulging in a stretto-like combination of its two
primary ideas at work's end.
Performances were nearly all first-rate. From the rich trove of
efforts here, one can cite Jacqueline LeClair's stunning oboe
playing (featuring a huge tone and sparkling technique) in the
Concertino, Susan Hampton's, and Robert Schultz's riveting
presentation of Garasha, Marshall Urban’s huge and splendid
baritone voice in the Ruehr and Barber's Despite and Still,
cellist Darry Dolezal's thoughtful yet passionate playing in the
Thomas, Julie Hanson Geist's sensitive soprano singing in
Incarnations and Goethe Lieder, Matthew Doherty’s durable
and flexible fluting in Memo 4, Sandra Hebert’s marvelously
understated pianism (quite different from her usual outsized
playing style) in Copland's Three Piano Excerpts from “Our
Town,” and the Arcadian Winds' bouncy, effervescent
rendition of György Ligeti's Six Bagatelles. David Hoose’s
conducting on Cloud Collar, Concertino, and Goethe Lieder
was terrific, ideally balancing tightness and sensitivity. Village
Harmony, a Vermont-based, adolescent-aged choral group
(whose members also dance and play instruments), was
marvelous. Led by Larry Gordon, this well-drilled ensemble
boasts a big, hearty sound; poised and polished, they’re
capable of much warmth and sensitivity but effectively impart
an authentic and appealing rawness to the more rustic folk
numbers.
The chamber qualities of Stravinsky's last major neoclassic
work, The Rake's Progress, perfectly suit the moderate
intimacy of the Wheeler Opera House, beautifully restored in
what is by some measures America's most affluent
community. Like the modest-appearing, multi-million-dollar
pseudo-, neo- and amplified-restored Victorian homes that dot
the tree-lined grid of Aspen's West End, the opera is in its
place: careful, orderly, presentable, piquant, retrograde and not
without some charm. But alive Yes! -- thanks be to the
infusion of the youthful talent and energy of the imported
Aspen Music Festival personnel who altogether exceeded the
achievement of the San Francisco Opera's revival in June.
Of the principal characters, only Eric Lodal's Nick paled by
comparison to his San Francisco counterpart, superstar Bryn
Terfel. Michael Slattery's Tom, on the other hand, greatly
surpassed Raymond Very's fine performance in San Francisco,
especially in his ability to characterize effortless, wide-eyed
indolence. If Slattery's voice hadn't been so endearing, this
reviewer would have been fooled into shouting "Stop
smirking; get off your duff, and get a JOB!"
Costumes were done in contemporary style, with Tom's
clothes appropriately becoming darker as his sins
accumulated. The demonic Nick Shadow wore a wonderful
suit with iridescent, flame-red highlights. Sets, while not up to
David Hockney's conceit of magnified engravings, were
serviceable and effective, helping to put focus on the human
actions in the morality play rather than stealing the show at the
characters' expense, as Hockney's seemed to do. As an in-joke
for the present economy, the bread-making machine in the
Aspen production was depicted by a PC, with a floppy as an
input rather than a stone. Does this imply that the IPO craze
in Silicon Valley is in for hard times
In short, a commendable effort!
The Aspen Festival's Progress
JEFF DUNN
Aspen Opera Theater Center presents Igor Stravinsky's The
Rake's Progress, with Michael Slattery (Tom), Kerri Marcinko
(Anne), Eric Lodal (Nick), and Judith Ann Metzger (Baba),
directed by Edward Berkeley, conducted by Alan Gilbert.
July 13, Wheeler Opera House, Aspen, CO.
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