Here’s insight on what I do all day. I recently had to plan a mock recital for a class, and provide accompanying program notes. Classical music may not be your thing, but try educating yourself on something outside your realm of interest. Click on the text to enlarge.

Mai..mai..mai

Speaking with Bayan Northcott uncovered a wealth of information about the WCSSs and the period in which they occurred. This post draws together some clips from the interview. The interview progressed with Northcott going through his diary.

He began with some contextual remarks about the scene, and the position of Maxwell Davies, Birtwistle and Goehr.

First a comment about the number of people in attendence:

He continues, providing a context for understanding how they were able to draw so many participants:

On the morning of the first day, the participants made their way to Tisbury:

Upon arrival, Northcott first met Bill Hopkins and Robin Holloway:

On Saturday, 15th August there was a dinner and people explored the house.

On Sunday, 16th at 9am:
Composition class with Alexander Goehr, talking about rhythm and articulation

Then there was a rehearsal of the choir, conducted by John Alldis:

Lunch; then a composition class with Alexander Goehr:

Tea, then at 5.0 p.m. a lecture by Alexander Goehr:

Music in Our Time
ALEXANDER GOEHR will lecture on certain aspects of contemporary music with particular reference to works being performed in the evening concert.

Following the lecture was more choir practice, dinner and a concert by the Melos Ensemble, introduced by Michael Tippett:

8.30 pm Wardour Castle Assembly Room

MUSIC IN OUR TIME
Introduced by Michael Tippett
A concert of contemporary English Music.
MELOS ENSEMBLE
Three Piano Pieces – Hugh Wood
Monody for Corpus Christi – Harrison Birtwistle
Piano Sonata – Anthony Gilbert
Second Piano Sonata – Michael Tippett
Five Little Pieces (first performance) – Peter Maxwell Davies
Suite Op.11 – Alexander Goehr

Monday, 17th, 9am:
Composition class with Hugh Wood, analyzing Schoenberg’s op. 19, no. 4:

Then more choir with Maxwell Davies, lunch and composition class with Alexander Goehr and Michael Tippett:

5.0 p.m:

Early Organ Music            Recital 5.0 p.m.
Peter Maxwell Davies will introduce and play early music on a newly restored Snitzler organ. Works by: Dunstable, Taverner, Byrd, Tomkins, Gabrielli, Scheidt, Zipoli etc.

Then a choir rehearsal with John Alldis, and the evening concert:

Chamber Concert 8.30 p.m.
Melos Ensemble
Pianoforte Trio in F sharp minor Haydn
Six Little Piano Pieces, op. 19 Schoenberg
Seven Sketches, op. 9 Bartok
Première Rhapsodie for clarinet and piano Debussy
Four Pieces for clarinet and piano, op.5 Berg
Fantasia in C minor, K475 Mozart
Trio for Piano, Violin and Horn, op.40 Brahms

Tuesday, 18th

Composition class at 9am:

then choir:

and composition class with Maxwell Davies, talking canonic and rhythmic aspects of his work, with an aside about Britten’s War Requiem [late in the interview Northcott clarified that this aside was actually made on the Friday, after the rehearsal for the evening concert at the Old Wardour Castle], Stravinsky’s Threni:

Quartet for the End of Time Lecture 5.0 p.m.
Olivier Messiaen, the Man and His Music
given by Hugh Wood

Then more choir, in Northcott’s account including Verdi’s Ave Maria and Bruckner’s Gradual: Christus factus est. Neither of these pieces appears in the published programmes:

The evening concert was as follows:

Clarinet Trio in E flat K498            Mozart
Four Impromptus, op. 142            Schubert
Quatuor pour la fin du temps Olivier Messiaen

The Melos Ensemble performed; Nortcott comments on their presence at the WCSSs:

Wednesday, 19th:

Instead of composition class, in the morning was the first workshop by members of the Melos Ensemble of works especially composed for the WCSS. All of those who had nominated themselves as composers were invited to write a work for this occasion. The pieces rehearsed were by Edward Cowie, Philip Pilkington. (LS100049, 33′57″)

Northcott didn’t attend the 5.0 p.m. recital of Bach, Rameau and Couperin, but did return for the evening discussion about opera:

Opera Today 8.0 p.m.
Alexander Goehr, Peter Maxwell Davies, Michael Tippett
Chairman: Harrison Birtwistle

Thursday, 20th:

The 9am composition class was devoted to listening to a recording Messiaen’s Turangalîla:

Northcott confirmed the McGaw recital as following the printed programme, with Mendelssohn, C.P.E. Bach and Satie. Northcott missed the Pruslin (then aged 24) lecture, Characterization in Mozart Opera.

Following the lecture was a concert including music by Cage and Feldman, put on by Roger Smalley and David Bedford, which doesn’t appear in any programmes:

Friday, 21st:

Owing to the ‘glorious weather’ Northcott took leave of the official routine and spent time talking to Patrick Carnegie.

After the break was a composition class, with Northcott’s piece being workshopped. The following is included for those interested in Northcott’s early composition:

After lunch, Northcott, with Edward Cowie and Maxwell Davies walked to the Old Wardour Castle, discussing conducting along the way. The evening concert took place there and there was a rehearsal.

8.30 pm Old Wardour Castle
Nocturnal
A concert in the open air of English and Italian echo-music from the 16th and 17th centuries for brass and voices
Given by: Gabrieli Ensemble and Choir conducted by Peter Maxwell Davies, Alexander Goehr.
Music by Maschera, Isaac, A and G. Gabrielli

Wood’s files included a document which gives the details of this concert:

Canzon Cornetto a 4 Scheidt
Quam Pulchra Es Dunstable
Courant Dolorosa a 4 Scheidt
Paduan a 4 Scheidt
Cor Mio, mentre vi miro Monteverdi
Air, Corante, Allemande, Corante, Saraband Cocke
INTERVAL
Sonata, Hora decima No. 6 Johannes Pezel
Sonata, Hora decima No. 39 Pezel
Adieu, Adieu, my heart’s lust Cornish
Fair Phyllis I saw Farmer
Draw on, sweet night Wilbye
April is in my mistress’s face Morley
Canzon Primi Toni a 8 Morley
Canzon Septimi Toni a 8 G. Gabrielli

Northcott comments on the concert, some of the problems in performance and confirms the contents of the concert.

Saturday, 22nd:

Most of the day was spent rehearsing for the evening participants’ concert.

The programme is as follows:

Concert 8.30 p.m.
Participants Concert
A concert given by the participants of the summer school
Conductors: John Carewe, Michael Tippett
Morgengesang C. P. E. Bach
Sequentia Sanctia Evangeli Secundam Lucan, in illo Tempore XXII 14-20 Peter Maxwell Davies
Ave Maria Verdi
Gradual: Christus factus est Bruckner
Music for a film scene Schoenberg
Canzona II David Ellis
Movement Neville Gambier
Castle Music Anthony Gilbert
Serenade Op.11 Brahms [three movements only]

Northcott’s comments here are especially enlightening, with asides about compositional priorities at the time (‘relevance’, ‘unity’) and the notion of basing works on early music. He neglects to mention Tippett’s Little Music for Strings, although he does mention Tippett as being there conducting the rehearsal for this.

The day ended with a late-night party.

Sunday, 23rd:

Bill Hopkins drove Northcott, Robin Holloway and Anne Carr-Boyd back to London.

Dans la Venise du XVIIème, brillante, où la musique et la poésie comptent parmi les arts les plus nobles et les plus célébrés, s’épanouit Barbara Strozzi, fille adoptive du poète Giulio Strozzi, célèbre en son temps et prisé par les grands musiciens tel Monteverdi pour les livrets de ses opéras.

Barbara Strozzi devient chanteuse et compositrice de talent. Elle met en musique les poèmes de son père et s’inscrit dans la continuité de Monteverdi en composant des madrigaux, forme savante et évoluée de la chanson où poème et musique se rejoignent intimement. Elle fera partie de la célèbre Accademia degli Unisoni, créée par son père, cercle d’artistes, musiciens, poètes, philosophes… qui se réunissent pour débattre de l’Art. Elle écrira des airs, des madrigaux, des cantates et des motets.

Ce disque,  vraiment sublime, présente des madrigaux magnifiquement interprétés par les artistes de la Cappella Mediterranea dont voix et instruments se prêtent avec un remarquable talent à toutes les nuances d’expression des sentiments épanchés dans les poèmes. Ah! la voix de Céline Scheen dans le Lagrime mie et celle de Mariana Flores dans le Che si puo fare (pour moi la plus belle pièce de cet album tant pour le poème, que pour les instruments et la voix)! La première pièce est un madrigal de Monteverdi. Elle fait partie du Huitième Livre – Madrigali guerrieri ed amorosi (1638). Le compositeur  décrit dans ce recueil ses techniques de compositions, Barbara Strozzi les appliquera. Suivent les compositions de Barbara Strozzi sur les poèmes de son père à l’exception du Dispietata pietate composé par Sigismondo d’India sur un poème de Torquato di Tasso (1544-1595). Un autre madrigal de Monteverdi,  Si Ch’io vorrei morire, Il Quarto Libro (1603) en plage 9.

Barbara Strozzi, virtuosissima compositrice , un superbe album à écouter pour découvrir ce qu’est l’art du madrigal…

Françoise Vandenwouwer

Plus qu’un concert, la quintessence de l’esprit du Poème Harmonique revenant à l’intimisme  de ses débuts. Un travail poussé de Benjamin Lazar sur la gestuelle des chanteurs, magnifié par l’éclairage à la bougie, la présence d’artistes emblématiques (Claire Lefilliâtre dans son célèbre Lamento della Ninfa monteverdien popularisé par le film Le Pont des Arts) servent une célébration de l’esprit vénitien dans les plus belles années de l’âge baroque, alors que les formes populaires et savantes s’entremêlent, que la vérité des sentiments et la liberté du langage n’ont pas encore cédé le pas à la froideur de formes codifiées.  Du sublime de Monteverdi à l’impertinence inquiète de Manelli, de la déploration abyssale à la légèreté aérienne des canzonette et bergamasques, les mille facettes d’un art mouvant et insaisissable comme le reflet de la lune sur les canaux…

Créé au Festival Calperformances de l’Université de Berkeley (San Francisco) dans le cadre de la seconde résidence du Poème Harmonique en juin 2008, ce programme a également été donné aux Potsdamer Festpiele (Berlin), au Festival Viva Voce (Caen), au Festival de Sablé-sur-Sarthe), au Festival Bemus (Belgrade), au Théâtre Jean Vilar de Vitry-sur-Seine et en tournée par le Festival Automne en Normandie.

PROGRAMME

Claudio Monteverdi

Lamento della Ninfa

Dormo ancora (extrait de Il Ritorno d’Ulisse in Patria)

Francesco Manelli

Bergamasca : La Barchetta passaggiera

Chi non sà come Amor

Son ruinato, appassionato

Ciaccona : Acceso mio core

Jacarà : Aria alla napolitana

Canzonetta : Sguardo lusinghiero

Anonimo

Villanella ch’all’acqua vai

Le Poème Harmonique & Vincent Dumestre

Claire Lefilliâtre, soprano / Jan Van Elsacker, ténor / Serge Goubioud, ténor / Arnaud Marzorati, basse

Olivia Centurioni, violon / Lucas Guimaraes, lirone / Françoise Enock, violone / Joël Grare, percussions / Jean-Luc Tamby, colascione et guitare

Vincent Dumestre, théorbe, guitare baroque et direction

Travail scénique : Benjamin Lazar (que l’on retrouvera dans l’opéra en chansons La La La)

Patrizia Ciofi

Patrizia Ciofi, che sarà Amenaide nell’imminente Tancredi al Regio di Torino, festeggia oggi il suo compleanno.

Nata a Casole d’Elsa (pr. Siena), si è diplomata in canto a Livorno, perfezionandosi poi alla Chigiana di Siena, a Fiesole e a Massa. Tra i suoi maestri Carlo Bergonzi, Shirley Verret, Alberto Zedda, Claudio Desderi. Vent’anni fa il suo debutto a Firenze con Giovanni Sebastiano di Gino Negri. Fondamentale la collaborazione con il Festival di Martina Franca dove ha cantato tra l’altro La Sonnambula, la Medèe di Cherubini, la Lucie de Lammermoor (versione francese dell’opera di Donizetti), l’Otello di Rossini, I Capuleti e i Montecchi di Bellini. Sebbene specializzata in ruoli rossiniani e nell’opera italiana della prima metà dell’Ottocento, grazie allo studio costante e a doti interpretative al di fuori del comune è riuscita ad affrontare il repertorio barocco. Grandissima Violetta in varie edizioni della Traviata, tra cui l’indimenticabile performance a Venezia nel 2004 per la riapertura della Fenice dove ha dimostrato doti sceniche eccezionali.

Una piccola antologia della sua arte:

Iniziando da Monteverdi:

al Bellini de “I Capuleti e i Montecchi”

al Verdi de “La Traviata” (1ª versione)

al Donizetti de “La fille du régiment”

e ancora Donizetti nella versione francese della “Lucia” in una interpretazione veramente superlativa:

(Consiglio vivamente anche l’ascolto e visione di “Que n’avons nous..”, aria sostitutiva nella versione francese di “Regnava nel silenzio”, presente nelle icone dei video correlati)

1964 Programme of Concerts as given in the publicity leaflet, a copy of which was given to me by Michael Hall. The comments are those by Hugh Wood. As further composers are interviewed their comments will be added alongside those by Wood.

Wardour Castle Summer Concerts

16-22 August, 1964

President: MICHAEL TIPPETT

Musical Director: HARRISON BIRTWISTLE

These concerts run concurrently with the Wardour Castle Summer School.

Sunday 16 August

8.30 pm Wardour Castle Assembly Room

MUSIC IN OUR TIME

Introduced by Michael Tippett

A concert of contemporary English Music.

Promoted by: Institute for the Promotion of New Music

Morag Noble – Soprano

Margaret Kitchin – Pianoforte

Peter Maxwell Davies – Pianoforte

Melos Ensemble

Three Pieces for Piano – Hugh Wood

Suite for String Trio (first performance) – Neville Gambier

Piano Sonata – Anthony Gilbert

Second Piano Sonata – Michael Tippett

Monody for Corpus Christi – Harrison Birtwistle

Five Little Pieces (first performance) – Peter Maxwell Davies

Suite Op.11 – Alexander Goehr

Monday 17 August

8.30 pm Wardour Castle Assembly Room

Chamber Concert

Melos Ensemble

Pianoforte Trio, F sharp minor – Haydn

Six Little Pieces – Bartok

Seven Sketches – Debussy

Première Rhapsody – Debussy

Vier Stüke – Berg

Fantasia in C Minor, K. 475 – Mozart

Horn Trio on E flat, Op.40 – Brahms

Tuesday 18 August

5.0 pm Wardour Castle Assembly Room.

Lecture: Oliver Messiaen, The Man and His Music

Given by Hugh Wood

Wednesday 19 August

8.30 pm Wardour Castle Assembly Room.

Discussion: Opera Today

Alexander Goehr, Peter Maxwell Davies, Michael Tippett.

Chairman: Harrison Birtwistle

5.0 pm Wardour Castle Assembly Rooms.

A Matinee for Erik Satie

Given by Susan McGaw – pianoforte

Gymnopédies – Satie

Sonatas – C. P. E. Bach

Vieux sequins et Vieilles Cuirasses – Satie

Songs without Words – Mendelssohn

Jack-in-the-Box – Satie

Friday 21 August

8.30 pm Old Wardour Castle

Nocturnal.

A concert in the open air* of English and Italian echo-music from the 16th and 17th centuries for brass and voices

Given by: Gabrieli Ensemble and Choir conducted by Peter Maxwell Davies, Alexander Goehr.

Music by Maschera, Isaac, A and G. Gabrielli

* under cover if wet

Wood’s files included a document which gives the details of this concert:

Canzon Cornetto a 4 Scheidt

Quam Pulchra Es Dunstable

Courant Dolorosa a 4 Scheidt

Paduan a 4 Scheidt

Cor Mio, mentre vi miro Monteverdi

Air, Corante, Allemande, Corante, Saraband Cocke

INTERVAL

Sonata, Hora decima No. 6 Johannes Pezel

Sonata, Hora decima No. 39 Pezel

Adieu, Adieu, my heart’s lust Cornish

Fair Phyllis I saw Farmer

Draw on, sweet night Wilbye

April is in my mistress’s face Morley

Canzon Primi Toni a 8 Morley

Canzon Septimi Toni a 8 G. Gabrielli

Hallo,

eine eindrückliche BBC-Produktion von 2008 u.a. über Martin Luther und Johann Sebastian Bach wurde im Oktober 2009 nochmals ausgestrahlt. Der englische Autor Simon Russell Beale untersucht die geistliche Musik in der westlichen Welt und stellt fest, dass Martin Luther selbst ein Komponist gewesen ist und eine tiefgreifende Wirkung auf die sakrale Musik ausgeübt hat. Von ihm inspiriert ist J.S. Bach der größte Komponist – der das Luther-Vermächtnis in seiner sakralen Musik umgesetzt hat.

Beeindruckende 6 Videos von der BBC-Sendung - mit fantastischen Bildern – authentischen Bach-Luther-Örtlichkeiten und eindrücklichen Bach-Werken – sind bei YouTube erschienen und stelle sie hier interessierten Besuchern zur Verfügung - ein richtiges Highlight für den heutigen Reformationstag.

Part 1  

Part 2

Part 3  

Part 4  

Part 5  

Part 6  

Grüße

Volker

Corto de los Quay con escasísima difusión (tal es así, que no lo encontré subido anteriormente por alguien en Google, por lo que esta podría considerarse la primera subida existente).
Es una instalación que fue creada por encargo, con motivo de la celebración de los 400 años de la primera ópera de la historia: “Orfeo”, de Monteverdi.
Me es muy difícil emitir una opinión imparcial sobre cualquier obra concebida por estos dos genios-enfermos-increíbles artistas, dada mi idolatría absoluta hacia ellos. Por eso simplemente les recomiendo que la vean, sean seguidores de su arte o no. Los Quay siempre marcan el camino en lo que hacen.

Más información:

http://www.britfilms.com/britishfilms/catalogue/browse/?id=518883C51b07420792qvI2CA7A39

http://www.vertigomagazine.co.uk/showarticle.php?sel=cur&siz=0&id=906

Link

Pass: Qrosawa

After Danielle de Niese’s recent (Le) Poisson Rouge concert, I decided to let one Angeleno meet another and brought my boyfriend, Lawson, around to the autograph table.  Ok, the egotist in me also wanted her autograph on the full-page interview I did of her for TONY, but that’s neither her nor there…nor is it in a frame on the wall behind my desk….

At the table, they’d set up her new Mozart CD among some other fanfare, including the new DVD of the Glyndebourne L’incoronazione di Poppea, something I wish had been out when I’d gotten to Poppea on the Opera Project and rocked out with the 90s-fabulous Rene Jacobs DVD.

“Oh, they finally put it out on DVD,” I casually mentioned to Lawson, turning the case over to inspect the back.

“No dear,” some altacaker behind me said, snatching the DVD from my hand.  “That’s not the same as what you just saw tonight.”

“Yes, I’m well aware of that,” I said.  If she only knew how intimately aware I was of that.

“No, you just don’t understand…none of you understand…you just don’t get it…Harry, tell them how they don’t get it.”

Before Harry could respond, we began to slowly inch away.

I have some thoughts ensuing from my last post.  The first is about music.  This blog is primarily about classic Christianity as revealed through texts.  A discussion of Haydn’s Creation and the doctrine of creation is not about any classic texts of the faith, and a significant portion of it was about a teaching or idea.  However, a discussion of a piece of classical music such as that is consonant with the aims of Classic Christianity as seen in the sidebar on the main page.

The riches of the Great Tradition are not only locked away between the covers of books.  Another of the places where Christians can find the richness of the past ages is the arts.  Haydn’s Creation carries within it pieces of the tradition, truths that are timeless, enrobing them in the flesh of music.  The beauty of Haydn’s composition sings forth the beauty of creation.

Haydn’s Creation is but one example of many, but is an entrance into one facet of how music can carry the tradition through the ages.  Similar to Creation is Handel’s Messiah, also an oratorio, recounting the life and theology of the Messiah in beautiful music with words all taken from Scripture.  Within that tradition of performance-oriented classical music we also have Bach’s cantatas based on the passion narratives of the Gospels, Brahms’ German Requiem, and Stravinksy’s Symphony of Psalms among others.  All of this music captures in some way some aspect of the Great Tradition.  All of this music is worth listening to as music, as art.  And, I believe, all of this music is a vehicle of God’s grace and revelation.

Most Christian music, however, has been composed for use in worship.  The earliest surviving music is the chant of the ancient churches, Gregorian, Byzantine, Syrian, Egyptian, Ethiopian, Armenian.  Related to these are Anglican plainsong and the chant of the Slavic churches.  This music is filled with an austere beauty and able to create space for worship of a type that modern worship music does not.  The Renaissance produced music so beautiful one imagines that the angels in heaven must use it as they gather around the Throne of the Almighty, especially Palestrina but also Tallis, Allegri, and others.  All of this ancient, beautiful music for worship stands within the same musical tradition and is very valuable.

Composers of classical music have also written music for times of worship.  Tchaikovsky wrote settings for the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom.  Monteverdi wrote Vespers.  Verdi and Mozart both wrote Requiems.  Vivaldi wrote a Mass.  Their music has also been applied to hymns by different lyricists, such as Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy” providing the tune to “Joyful, Joyful.”

Also important is the tradition of hymnody.  I speak now of music with English lyrics.  These old hymns are worthy to be sung in congregations all of the world.  The best of them have resonant theology with captivating music.  My favourite hymnographers are Charles Wesley and John Mason Neale.  Some of my favourite hymns by other writers are “Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence,” “Alleluia! Sing to Jesus,” “I Cannot Tell Why He Whom Angels Worship,” “As I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” and “Holy, Holy, Holy.”

In modern worship, these hymns sometimes fall through the cracks as we seek to be cool and contemporary and relevant, singing only the newest and hippest songs.  Yet these songs, these tunes with these words, connect us to the tradition of Christians who have gone before us, passing along their thoughts and theology, their beauty and sense of holiness.  I encourage leaders of worship to keep the hymns in the repertoire amongst the newer songs.

Exciting to my mind are some new hymns that have been produced (we’re talking hymn as a musical genre).  The only things that come immediately to mind are “In Christ Alone,” and “How Deep the Father’s Love for Us.”  Other musicians who have kept links to the old music, old poems, and old theology have produced new music for liturgical settings, as John Michael Talbot who has essentially produced the entire Mass and Steve Bell who has a version of the Sanctus, “Holy Lord.”  Steve Bell has also recorded musically new yet truly old songs on his album Devotion, though these are not all his own compositions.

A study of the old music is important for those who wish to engage in the creation of new music.  Some churches act as though only the old is worth singing; this is not true, for the old was once the new.  Some churches act as though only the new is worth singing; this is also not true, for the new is untested and untried.  A combination of the two is worth singing, in my opinion.  However, a knowledge of this old music, of Haydn, Palestrina, Tchaikovsky, Wesley,  and Neale, of what has gone before, will undoubtedly deepen the new music, as a knowledge of old poetry can deepen new poetry, that of old theology new theology, that of old paintings new paintings and so forth.

Since we’re talking about music, I do listen to some new Christian music besides John Michael Talbot and Steve Bell.  I am a fan of Rich Mullins and dc Talk (both “old” new music by now), some Newsboys, Jars of Clay, and Third Day as well as a certain amount of new worship songs by the likes of Matt Redman and people whose names escape me (except — because I worship at Little T — Mike Janzen and — because I’m kind of oldskool — Graham Kendrick).

Music is an important part of the life of church, ancient and modern, old and new.  We should tap the resources of this vast tradition that spreads out behind as well as all around us.

The first program of the first season of Hubbard Street’s Edgerton Administration opened last night. Its dancers, currently numbering seventeen, have settled into one another nicely — a lot of faces came and went at the company over the past few years but during the evening I realized the revolving door had slowed enough for me to see both individuals and nuanced group dynamics. And as for the work? Surprises all around.

Of Resident Choreographer Alejandro Cerrudo’s dances, “Lickety-Split” — his first for HSDC — has moved me the least. It gives a suite of Devendra Banhart songs more depth and complexity than I would ever hear on a plain listen — even more than I think they have, in fact — but it has always been a piece I find myself counting, learning step-by-step while I watch it, as opposed to being swept away by the phrases and spatial arrangements themselves. Perhaps the now-three-year-old dance has simply had time to set, or Cerrudo has taken this latest remount as an opportunity to exert new direction on his work, but “Lickety-Split” has never looked more whole or been more satisfying than it is now. Some elements — the design of its opening in particular — were as genius as ever but what had been, for me, its Achilles’ heel — the closing section — has become the celestial ascent it seems Cerrudo had intended all along. One stunning performance took it from harbinger of greater things to a manual of style.

Lucas Crandall’s brief “The Set” looks just as great in its own skin. Cerrudo got as many laughs in the drag role as did its originator, Jamy Meek (now, along with Shannon Alvis and Jim Vincent, with Nederlands Dans Theater) but by a totally different approach. Meek, apart from a beautiful dancer, is an extraordinary clown, while Cerrudo is a comic ninja — the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it swiftness of his visual punchlines sat neatly in the masterful subtlety of Crandall’s choreography. Meredith Dincolo and Jason Hortin were as spectacular as they’ve been before, reprising roles.

I was told that one of Vincent’s last acts as Artistic Director was to remount, with Taryn Kaschock Russell, Nacho Duato’s “Jardí Tancat,” a 26-year-old sextet that’s become, by both ubiquity and praise, beyond reproach. Not that I would — the first time I saw the piece, at sixteen, was nearly a religious experience. But I know it probably too well, and was shocked at the gulf between Vincent’s last staging (meticulous and confined in a way that perfectly suited the thankless and simple imagined biographies of its characters) and this one (muted, wistful, indulgent and beige). It’s astoundingly dense — I’m always glad when it’s bookended by intermissions — but whereas the last performance I saw committed itself to the near-impossible task of showing every single bit of information, last night multiple images were sacrificed to the lingering trail of whatever preceded them. It was danced well, mind you, but it was also directorially abridged and musically tardy — I wanted to tell everyone in the house seeing it for the first time they were missing half. Having learned two of its three male roles I can attest to the abusiveness of Duato’s musicality in “Jardí” but, whether or not I could execute it to his satisfaction (judging from the fact I never performed it, guess not), I’d gladly defend each count. Kellie Epperheimer and Kevin Shannon did fine work with the second duet but, watching the opening movement (which is danced in silence) I kept thinking, what’s the damn rush?

Closing out was Jorma Elo’s “Bitter Suite,” which title had me worried going in. Elo’s part of a powerhouse duo that unfortunately works alone: his movement vocabulary is unique, brave, detailed, fresh and funny but without an editorial and compositional advisor the diarrheal aspects of his work undercut its creativity. Set to the second and third movements of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto and “Pur Ti Miro” from Monteverdi’s opera L’Incoronazione di Poppea, this sprawling world premiere opened with a silent scene casting Robyn Mineko WIlliams odd-out among an ensemble of eight; introductory suggestions of ignored handshake offers gradually drifted up her arm and into her torso while the other dancers jerked to the right with one arm high, creating a rose bush’s time-lapsed bloom via Ailey’s “I’ve Been ‘Buked.” In a rather beautiful duet, Ana Lopez is dragged a few inches at a time across the floor in a position that’s Sphinx on the bottom and one of Matthew Bourne’s male swans on top. However, “Bitter Suite” feels too long; there’s enough movement in it for one great work of equal length and two mediocre bonus numbers. Much of it is gorgeous, I’ll say, like the opposing tick-tocks of a standing weight shift with the legs of a dancer lying supine downstage, or subtly-rhythmic jumps as Super Mario as they are Parsons’ “Caught,” but undifferentiated visual stimuli always becomes a wash and, if someone (me) who loves contemporary dance, Hubbard Street Dance Chicago, Mendelssohn and dramatic lighting (by James F. Ingalls) finds it hard to stay engaged, I wonder what hope the rest of the public has. What do I know, though — the audience seemed to like it enough.

Continues through Sunday at the Harris Theater for Music and Dance; visit hubbardstreetdance.com for more information.

[Continuación final del extracto anterior]

Salvo error,  entre todos los hechos relativos a los romanos que se encuentran en la historia antigua sólo hay un ejemplo de bien perfectamente puro. Bajo el triunvirato, durante las proscripciones, los personajes consulares, los cónsules y pretores cuyos nombres figuraban en la lista abrazaban las rodillas de sus propios esclavos e imploraban su ayuda proclamándoles sus dueños y salvadores;  el orgullo romano no se mantenía en la desgracia. Los esclavos, con razón, les rechazaban. Sin embargo un romano, sin haber tenido que humillarse, fue ocultado por sus propios esclavos en su propia casa. Los soldados, que le habían visto entrar, torturaron a los esclavos para obligarles a entregar a su dueño. Los esclavos lo padecieron todo sin doblegarse. Pero el amo, desde su escondite, veía la tortura. No pudo soportar el espectáculo, se entregó a los soldados y fue muerto inmediatamente.

Quien tenga el corazón en su sitio, si tuviera que escoger entre varios destinos, optaría por ser, indiferentemente, ese amo o uno de sus esclavos, y no uno de los Escipiones, o César, Cicerón, Augusto, Virgilio o incluso alguno de los Gracos.

He aquí un ejemplo de lo que es legítimo admirar. En la historia hay pocas cosas perfectamente puras. La mayoría se refiere a personas cuyo nombre ha desaparecido, como ese romano o como los habitantes de Béziers a principios del siglo XIII. Si se busca nombres que evoquen la pureza se encontrarán pocos. En la historia griega a penas si se podría mencionar a Arístides, a Dión, el amigo de Platón, y a Agis, el joven rey socialista de Esparta, asesinado a los veinte años. En la historia de Francia,  ¿hay más nombres que el de Juana de Arco? No es seguro.

Pero eso importa poco. ¿Qué es lo que obliga a admirar muchas cosas? Lo esencial es admirar únicamente lo que se puede admirar con toda el alma. ¿Quién puede admirar con toda el alma a Alejandro, como no tenga bajeza de alma?

Hay gente que propone eliminar la enseñanza de la historia. Cierto es que habría que eliminar la absurda costumbre de sacar lecciones de la historia, al margen de un esqueleto de datos y puntos de referencia tan magro como sea posible, y dedicarle a la historia el mismo tipo de atención que a la literatura. Pero suprimir el estudio de la historia sería desastroso. Se percibe demasiado bien en los Estados Unidos qué es un pueblo carente de la dimensión del tiempo.

Hay quien propone enseñar la historia dejando las guerras en el último plano. Eso sería mentir. Bien advertimos hoy, y es igual de evidente en lo que se refiere al pasado, que para los pueblos no hay nada más importante que la guerra. De la guerra hay que hablar tanto o más que hoy, pero es preciso hacerlo de otra manera.

Para conocer el corazón humano no hay más procedimiento que el estudio de la historia unido a la experiencia de la vida, de modo que se iluminen mutuamente. Existe la obligación de proporcionar este alimento a los espíritus adolescentes y de los hombres. Pero es necesario que sea un alimento de verdad. No sólo que los hechos sean tan exactos como se pueda controlar, sino que además sean mostrados en su verdadera perspectiva en relación con el bien y el mal.

La historia es un tejido de bajezas y crueldades donde de tarde en tarde brillan unas gotas de pureza. Ocurre así ante todo porque entre los hombres hay poca pureza, y además porque la mayor parte de esa poca pureza permanece oculta. Hay que buscarla, si se puede, a partir de testimonios indirectos. Las iglesias románicas y el canto gregoriano sólo pudieron surgir entre poblaciones en las que había mucha más pureza que en los siglos posteriores. Hay que amar la parte muda, anónima, desaparecida.

Es absolutamente falso que un mecanismo providencial transmita lo mejor de cada época a la memoria de la posteridad. Por la naturaleza de las cosas, lo que se transmite es la falsa grandeza. Hay un mecanismo providencial, pero sólo opera mezclando un poco de grandeza auténtica a mucha falsa grandeza; a nosotros nos corresponde discernirlas. Sin eso estaríamos perdidos.

La transmisión de la falsa grandeza a través de los siglos no es algo específico de la historia. Es una ley general. También gobierna, por ejemplo, las letras y las artes. Hay un cierto predominio del talento literario a través de los siglos que responde al predominio espacial del talento político; se trata de predominios que tienen la misma naturaleza, temporal en ambos casos, y que pertenecen los dos al ámbito de la materia y de la fuerza, igualmente bajos. De modo que pueden ser objeto de trato y cambio.

Ariosto no se sonrojó al decirle a su señor, el duque de Este, en su poema, algo parecido a lo siguiente: Estoy en tu poder a lo largo de mi vida, y de ti depende que sea rico o pobre. Pero tu nombre está en mi poder para el futuro, y de mí depende que dentro de trescientos años no se hable para nada de ti, y de que se hable bien o se hable mal. Nos conviene entendernos. Dame tu favor y tu riqueza, y tu elogio lo haré yo.

Virgilio tenía un sentido de las conveniencias demasiado agudo para exponer públicamente un trato de este género. Pero en realidad tal es el trato que hizo con Augusto. Sus versos resultan con frecuencia deliciosos, pero a pesar de ello habría que encontrar para él y para los que son como él un nombre que no fuera el de poeta. La poesía no se vende. Dios sería injusto si la Eneida, compuesta en estas condiciones, tuviera tanto valor como la Ilíada. Pero Dios es justo, y la Eneida dista infinitamente de tener ese valor.

No sólo en el estudio de la historia: en todos los estudios propuestos a los niños se desprecia el bien; y, cuando llegan a hombres, sólo encuentran en el alimento que se ofrece a sus espíritus motivos para encallecerse en tal desprecio.

Es evidente, es una verdad que se ha convertido en lugar común entre los niños y entre los hombres, que el talento no tiene nada que ver con la moralidad. Pero a la admiración de los niños únicamente se propone el talento en todos los ámbitos. En todas las manifestaciones de talento, cualquiera que sean, ven desplegada con impudicia la ausencia de las virtudes que se les recomienda practicar. ¿Qué hay que concluir, como no sea que la virtud es propia de la mediocridad? Este convencimiento ha penetrado tanto que la propia palabra virtud, en otro tiempo cargada de sentido, es ahora ridícula, al igual que las palabras honradez y bondad. Los ingleses están más próximos a su pasado que los demás países, de modo tal que hoy no hay en la lengua francesa palabra alguna que pueda traducir good y wicked.

Un niño que ve glorificar en las clases de historia la crueldad y la ambición; en las de literatura, el egoísmo, el orgullo, la vanidad y el ansia por destacar; en las de ciencia, todos los descubrimientos que han trastocado la vida de los hombres, sin tener en cuenta el método del descubrimiento ni los efectos de esa transformación, ¿cómo puede aprender a admirar el bien? Todo lo que intenta ir contra esa corriente tan general –por ejemplo, los elogios a Pasteur— suena a falso. En la atmósfera de la falsa grandeza resulta inútil querer recuperar lo verdadero. Hay que despreciar la falsa grandeza.

Cierto es que el talento no tiene que ver con la moralidad; pero ocurre que en el talento no hay grandeza alguna. Es falso que no haya vínculos entre la belleza perfecta, la verdad perfecta y la justicia perfecta; hay algo más que vínculos: hay una misteriosa unidad, pues uno es el bien.

Existe un punto de grandeza donde el genio creador de belleza, el genio revelador de verdad, el heroísmo y la santidad son indiscernibles. En los aledaños de ese punto se advierte que los géneros de grandeza tienden a confundirse. No es posible discernir en Giotto el genio del pintor y el espíritu franciscano; ni en los cuadros y los poemas de la secta Zen en China el genio del pintor o del poeta y el estado de iluminación mística; ni tampoco, cuando Velásquez pinta en lienzos reyes y mendigos, es posible discernir el genio del pintor y el amor ardiente e imparcial que traspasa el fondo de las almas. La Ilíada, las tragedias de Esquilo y  las de Sófocles llevan el sello evidente de que los poetas que la compusieron se hallaban en estado de santidad. Desde el punto de vista puramente poético, sin tener en cuenta nada más, es infinitamente preferible haber compuesto el Cántico de san Francisco de Asís, esa joya de belleza perfecta, que toda la obra de Victor Hugo. Racine escribió la única obra de toda la literatura francesa que puede colocarse al lado de las grandes obras maestras griegas en un momento en que su alma se veía atravesado por la conversión. Estaba lejos de la santidad cuando escribió sus otras obras, pero tampoco se encuentra en ellas esa belleza desgarradora. Una obra como King Lear es el fruto directo del puro espíritu de amor. La santidad resplandece en las iglesias románicas y en el canto gregoriano. Monteverdi, Bach y Mozart fueron seres puros tanto en su vida como en su obra.

Si hay genios en los que el genio es puro hasta el punto de estar manifiestamente cerca de la grandeza propia de los santos más perfectos, ¿por qué perder el tiempo admirando otros? A los otros se les puede emplear, buscar en ellos conocimiento y placer, pero ¿por qué amarles? ¿Por qué entregar el alma a otra cosa que el bien?…

(Simone Weil, extraído de Echar Raíces. Editorial Trotta. 1996)

specialissima cornice e specialissimo repertorio per il prossimo concerto di cantus anthimi:

Domenica 20 settembre 2009  ore 21  Assisi,

Basilica Superiore

Solisti vocali e strumentali della

CAPELLA DVCALE VENETIA

Coro

CANTUS ANTHIMI

Direttore

LIVIO PICOTTI

Claudio Monteverdi

(1567-1643)

Vespro della Beata Vergine

(1610)

Iniziativa promossa dalla Regione del Veneto in collaborazione con la Basilica Papale  e il Comune di Assisi in chiusura dell’anno 4 ottobre 2008 – 3 ottobre 2009 che ha visto il Veneto a nome dell’intera nazione offrire l’olio per la lampada votiva che arde presso la tomba di San Francesco.

Ingresso libero

At the suggestion of Sledpress, I acquired a copy of “L’Incoronazione Di Poppea” and I’ve just finished watching an extraordinary production of Claudio Monteverdi’s finest opera.  This production is pure joy and it gets better with each scene.

Please click on the photo above and visit the site of Kultur.com to read about this Glendebourne Opera production and enjoy a video clip of the opera.  I not only enjoyed the music, but the glorious costumes and wonderous staging too.

This opera is actually an ironic work.  Eros and Fortuna seem to win a victory over their rival (Virtue) when a lovestruck Nero banishes his wife Octavia, exiles too Poppea’s husband Otho, forces critical Seneca (Nero’s tutor) to commit suicide and then marries the ambitious Poppea.

Of course educated viewers of this opera know that Nero’s reign was a disaster, Poppea probably died at his abusive hands (or feet), Otho would eventually return from exile and rule briefly, and it would be Seneca’s treasured Stoic philosophical writings and brutal tragedies that became part of the fabric of Western culture — influencing playwrights, philosophers, theologians and thinkers of all sorts to this day. Fortuna and Eros win an empty victory that only serves as a warning to eschew their “blessings”.

Here are some links to ancient sources about the reign of Nero.

Suetonius ‘ Life of Nero

Tacitus’ Life of Nero

Seneca’s “Octavia”

Plutarch’s Life of Galba

Plutarch’s Life of Otho