Night After Night

Best of 2006.

From the December 28 issue of Time Out New York (on newsstands this afternoon), here are my lists of the year's top ten classical events, classical recordings and non-classical recordings. TONY's list of top non-classical live events, which was assembled by the entire music staff, included two of my choices: Anthony Braxton's 12(+1)tet at Iridium and Ornette Coleman at Carnegie Hall.

CLASSICAL EVENTS (NYC-only, roughly chronological)

New York Philharmonic "Hear and Now" Concerts: Hosted by sharp, affable composer Steven Stucky, these midweek concerts offered valuable glimpses of the creative process in new music.

Lincoln Center's Golijov Festival: Lincoln Center did itself proud when it mounted a major celebration of a significant modern composer, including plenty of context.

Hercules at BAM: Luc Bondy's spare, elegant staging gave Joyce DiDonato plenty of room for a harrowing portrayal of a Handel heroine coming unhinged.

Valery Gergiev's Shostakovich cycle: Leading two orchestras in seven concerts during the spring and fall, the Russian maestro cut straight to the heart of works both familiar and obscure.

Lysistrata at New York City Opera: Mark Adamo's sexy, sassy comedy proved that contemporary opera can be genuinely funny -- and touching -- without pandering.

Student composer concerts: Students from New York University, Columbia University and the Juilliard School revealed a refreshing range of fresh, individual voices, sans dogma.

"Steve Reich @ 70": An unprecedented collaboration between Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and BAM celebrated one of our foremost composers while he was still around to participate.

The new season at the Metropolitan Opera: Anthony Minghella's visually stunning Madama Butterfly and Bartlett Sher's larky Il Barbiere di Siviglia lived up to the buzz generated by Peter Gelb's new regime.

Semele at New York City Opera: The company's hot streak in Handel was extended by this playfully staged oratorio, which featured daredevil singing by Vivica Genaux.

Pierre Laurent Aimard at Zankel Hall: The masterful French pianist interrupted his previously scheduled programming for an impromptu world premiere on Elliott Carter's 90th birthday.

CLASSICAL RECORDINGS

Peter Lieberson: Neruda Songs (Nonesuch) The late, lamented mezzo Lorraine Hunt Lieberson poured her heart, soul and voice into her husband's radiant love poems.
(ArkivMusic, Barnes & Noble)

Richard Wagner: Die Walküre (Testament) Hans Hotter's anguished intensity in Wotan's Act Two soliloquy is but one high point in a magnificent, previously unissued 1955 Ring cycle.
(ArkivMusic, Barnes & Noble)

Claudio Monteverdi: Vespers of 1610 (Hyperion) Robert King leads his King's Consort in a performance of regal poise and pious grace, in a recording made possible by true believers.
(ArkivMusic, Barnes & Noble)

Osvaldo Golijov: Ainadamar (Deutsche Grammophon) Golijov's chamber-opera fantasy on the death of Lorca is charged with heated passion, fiery love and a riveting machine-gun fugue.
(ArkivMusic, Barnes & Noble)

Frederic Chopin: Waltzes (Harmonia Mundi) Alexandre Tharaud weaves Chopin's 19 waltzes into a compelling, personalized tapestry of intoxicating melody.
(ArkivMusic, Barnes & Noble)

Magnus Lindberg: Clarinet Concerto (Ondine) Stellar soloist Kari Kriikku takes center stage on a disc of contemporary works as communicative as they are inventive.
(ArkivMusic, Barnes & Noble)

John Adams: My Father Knew Charles Ives; The Dharma at Big Sur (Nonesuch) The composer conducts authoritative accounts of two of his most evocative, engaging recent works.
(ArkivMusic, Barnes & Noble)

Ben Johnston: String Quartets Nos. 2, 3, 4 and 9 (New World) The Kepler Quartet presses this American maverick's cause with the initial volume of a commanding complete run.
(ArkivMusic)

Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 6 (Ondine) Christoph Eschenbach's tenure with the Philadelphia Orchestra has completely unraveled; here's compelling evidence of what's been lost.
(ArkivMusic, Barnes & Noble)

Nico Muhly: Speaks Volumes (Bedroom Community) The first recording by a young composer on the rise blends ancient modes and contemporary gear to timeless ends.
(Bedroom Community)

NON-CLASSICAL RECORDINGS

Joanna Newsom: Ys (Drag City) While the singer-harpist is clearly dancing in her head, the sweeping elegance of Van Dyke Parks's arrangements invites everyone inside.
(Barnes & Noble)

Ornette Coleman: Sound Grammar (Sound Grammar) The wily alto icon serves up endless melody and wit, and his crack current band offers solid support.
(Barnes & Noble)

Gnarls Barkley: St. Elsewhere (Downtown) Slinky grooves by Danger Mouse and unfettered soul from Cee-Lo Green make this more than simply the album that went "Crazy."
(Barnes & Noble)

Cursive: Happy Hollow (Saddle Creek) Swing and sway to the sounds of small-town ennui and repression, courtesy of this ambitious set of "hymns for the heathen" by Tim Kasher & Co.
(Barnes & Noble)

My Chemical Romance: The Black Parade (Reprise) Gerard Way's anthems of adolescent angst attain epic proportions in a Technicolor production worthy of Queen.
(Barnes & Noble)

Tengir-Too: Mountain Music of Kyrgyzstan (Smithsonian Folkways) Flickering Jew's harps and the high lonesome wail of singer Zainidin Imanaliev are just two highlights of a disc rich in nearly lost treasures.
(Barnes & Noble)

Album: Microbricolages (Delhotel) This young quartet from Monterrey converts a bewildering range of pop appropriations into a compelling set of miniatures that burst with style and humor.
(CD Baby)

Corey Dargel: Less Famous Than You (Use Your Teeth) A promising young "artsongwriter" stakes out his turf with a set of poignant vignettes, set to pleasantly tricky electronic compositions.
(Darla)

Celtic Frost: Monotheist (Century Media) On its first new record since 1989, the seminal Swiss metal band sounds heavier and more unholy than ever.
(Barnes & Noble)

Joseph Holbrooke Trio: The Moat Recordings (Tzadik) A long-delayed session by the late avant-garde guitarist Derek Bailey finds him striking a simpatico chord with old friends Gavin Bryars and Tony Oxley.
(Tzadik, Barnes & Noble)

Interestingly, one of the "classical" releases (Nico Muhly) could easily have traded places with one of the "non-classical" releases (Corey Dargel), but I called those two the way I felt them. I didn't get my act together this year in time to submit my non-classical list to Idolator's Jackin' Pop poll, but I did submit it to the Village Voice's Pazz & Jop poll. Just for grins, I also assembled the following list of top singles and tracks for the latter:

Gnarls Barkley: "Crazy" (Downtown)
Christina Aguilera: "Ain't No Other Man" (RCA)
Beyonce: "Check on It" (Sony)
My Chemical Romance: "Welcome to the Black Parade" (Reprise)
Prince: "Lolita" (Universal)
Rihanna: "S.O.S." (Def Jam)
Shakira: "Hips Don't Lie" (Sony)
Justin Timberlake: "SexyBack" (Jive)
The Raconteurs: "Steady As She Goes" (V2)
Bob Dylan: "Someday Baby" (Columbia)

Farewell, Godfather. And happy holidays to all!

Playlist:

Napalm Death - Smear Campaign (Century Media)

Vincenzo Bellini - La Straniera - Renata Scotto, Beniamino Prior, Domenico Trimarchi, Teatro La Fenice Chorus and Orchestra/Ettore Gracis (Opera d'Oro)

Dark Funeral - The Secrets of the Black Arts (Death), De Profundis Clamavi ad Te Domine and Attera Totus Sanctus (both Candlelight)

Enslaved - Ruun (Candlelight)

Ernest Chausson - Poème; Andre Jolivét - Violin Concerto - Isabelle Faust, Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin/Marco Letonja (Harmonia Mundi)

Dmitri Shostakovich - Cello Concerto No. 1*; Symphony No. 5 - Lynn Harrell*, New York Philharmonic/Lorin Maazel (Deutsche Grammophon "DG Concerts" download)

Daath - The Hinderers (Roadrunner; March 15 release)

Rush - Moving Pictures (Mercury)

Sean Noonan's Brewed by Noon - Stories to Tell (Songlines; January 9 release)

Klaus Schulze - Moondawn; Irrlicht (Revisited/SPV)

Meshuggah - Destroy Erase Improve (Nuclear Blast)

Scritti Politti - White Bread Black Beer (Nonesuch)

Robert Ashley - Dust (Lovely)

Jean-Michel Jarre - Oxygene (Dreyfus)

Hall and Oates - The Essential Hall and Oates (RCA/Arista/Legacy)

Franz Schubert - Symphony No. 9; Richard Strauss - Tod und Verklärung; Claude Debussy - La Mer; Ibéria; Ottorino Respighi - Feste romane; Hector Berlioz - "Queen Mab" Scherzo (from Roméo et Juliette); Felix Mendelssohn - Incidental Music to A Midsummer Night's Dream; Peter Il'yich Tchaikovsky - Symphony No. 6 - Philadelphia Orchestra/Arturo Toscanini (RCA Red Seal)

Hallelujah chorus.

Trinity Choir and Rebel Baroque Orchestra at Trinity Church
The New York Times, December 19, 2006

Handfuls of Handel.

So Much More Than 'Messiah': Appreciating Handel in All Seasons
The New York Times, December 15, 2006

I've always loved it when the Times staff has done these single-composer record round-ups, in which each critic gets to sound off about a handful of favorites. This one, in which the mandate was everything by Handel except Messiah, was the first one in which I was able to participate.

Unsurprisingly, a few of the essential Handel recordings -- I'm mainly thinking of Lorraine Hunt Lieberson's Avie recital CD (on Tony's list) and Andrew Manze's recording of the Op. 6 Concerti Grossi (on Allan's) -- were snatched up by others. Even so, I'm completely happy with the worthy releases I covered. Here they are, with click-through purchase links provided.

ARIAS Sandrine Piau, soprano; Les Talens Lyriques, conducted by Christophe Rousset (Naïve 8894; CD).
(ArkivMusic, Barnes & Noble)

‘LA MAGA ABBANDONATA’ Simone Kermes, soprano; Maite Beaumont, contralto; Il Complesso Barocco, conducted by Alan Curtis (Deutsche Harmonia Mundi 74321-95644-2; CD).
(ArkivMusic, Barnes & Noble)

‘GIULIO CESARE’ Danielle de Niese, Sarah Connolly, Angelika Kirchschlager, Christopher Maltman; Glyndebourne Chorus; Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment, conducted by William Christie; directed by David McVicar (Opus Arte 0950; three DVDs).
(ArkivMusic, Barnes & Noble)

‘WATER MUSIC,’ ‘MUSIC FOR THE ROYAL FIREWORKS’ English Baroque Soloists, conducted by John Eliot Gardiner (Philips 464 706-2; CD).
(ArkivMusic, Barnes & Noble)

KEYBOARD SUITES Keith Jarrett, pianist (ECM New Series 1530; CD).
(ArkivMusic, Barnes & Noble)

=====

Ethan Iverson has provided a terrific detailed recap of the Pierre Laurent Aimard recital at Zankel with the surprise Elliott Carter premiere that I mentioned in the post immediately below this one. Ethan also covers what appears to have been a very impressive Chicago Symphony concert the previous night, as well as a deeply weird performance by the Amsterdam Baroque Orchestra at Zankel the following night -- weird not in the sense of badly or perversely played, but rather presented in an awkward manner. At two points during what the audience clearly assumed was a non-stop performance of Bach's complete Musical Offering (since there was nothing to suggest anything but in the program), the group stopped playing and left the stage, which lead numerous audience members to get up and head for the lobby. Most of them scrambled back when the musicians returned to the stage and patiently waited for them.

The performance of the Musical Offering itself was uneven and idiosyncratic, although it picked up steam in the trio and improved from there. The "Coffee" Cantata, on the second half, was much more straightforward and entertaining, starting with the tenor's surprise entrance from the rear of the theater, in stage clothes.

I'm predicting light posting in the next few weeks; for one thing, it's just that time of the season, and for another, Dr. LP hit town on Wednesday night, which means there's nuptials to be planned and at least one party of which we'll be the center. Still, be sure to look in once or twice before the end of the year; there will certainly be a few more nights of activity -- not to mention those inevitable top ten lists, which I'm not allowed to reveal until the issue of TONY in which they'll appear hit the stands on December 26.

Playlist:

Robert Schumann - Genoveva Overture; Piano Concerto in A minor*; Symphony No. 4 (arr. Mahler) - Martha Argerich*, Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra/Riccardo Chailly (Decca Concerts download)

King Crimson - Greek Theatre, Berkeley, CA, Aug 13, 1982 (DGMLive.com free download, a pitch-corrected version of King Crimson Collectors Club Vol. 14)

Grateful Dead - Download Series: A Night at the Family Dog, San Francisco, CA, Feb. 4, 1970 and Dick's Picks, Vol. 20: Onondaga County War Memorial, Syracuse, NY 09/28/76 (Grateful Dead)

Yes - Essentially Yes (Eagle 5-CD box)

Hatfield and the North - Hattitude (Hatco)

21st Century Schizoid Band - Pictures of a City: Live in New York (Iceni)

Pastime with good company.

I should have guessed that spotting Elliott Carter at Monday night's recital by pianist Pierre Laurent Aimard at Zankel Hall portended something out of the ordinary. Carter has been a genial presence at practically every performance of his music that I've caught in recent years, but nothing of his was scheduled for Aimard's concert -- which just happened to coincide with the composer's 98th birthday.

Aimard's program, "A Study of a Study," opened with consistently smart pairings of etudes by Ligeti -- a specialty of this pianist -- with similar works by Debussy, Chopin, Rachmaninoff, Liszt and Messiaen. In each case, Aimard aptly demonstrated how Ligeti's music echoed and extended the ideas of his forebears.

The second half of the program included further etudes by Bartók, Debussy, Scriabin and Ligeti. But those were preceded by an impromptu: the previously unannounced world premiere of a new piece by Carter, titled Caténaires. The work, a bristling moto perpetuo toccata the likes of which I'd never previously encountered in Carter's music, commanded a resounding ovation, during which Aimard literally lept from the stage to salute the composer.

Following a whispered conversation, the pianist returned to the platform, and announced that he'd told Carter he should play the piece again. I don't think it was my imagination that suggested the second performance of the brief work was more finely controlled than the first. (Look for a review of this quietly staggering concert from Allan Kozinn in The New York Times on Wednesday.)

Afterward, I headed off for a much-belated hang with my distinguished companion, during which we compared notes on an altogether energizing performance and engaged in a mellow discussion of classical pianists, journalistic ethics and the best albums of the year, over decent plates of calamari and cocktail shrimp.

Playlist:

Corey Dargel - Less Famous Than You (Use Your Teeth)

Album - Microbricolages (Delhotel)

My Chemical Romance - The Black Parade (Reprise)

Joanna Newsom - Ys (Drag City)

24 and more.

Arnaldo Cohen at Town Hall
The New York Times, December 12, 2006

In search of the lost note.

CD review: Augusta Read Thomas - Prairie Sketches
Tony Arnold, soprano; Amy Briggs Dissanayake, pianist; Callisto Ensemble, conducted by Cliff Colnot
ART 19912005; CD
The New York Times, December 10, 2006
(Amazon.com)

Fortunate and few are the contemporary composers whose works have been documented by record labels in a timely manner. But Augusta Read Thomas provides a shining example of self-reliance. She is among the most commissioned and most performed of American composers, yet her representation on disc long lagged behind her prolific output.

Two years ago Ms. Thomas took matters into her own hands, bravely financing and releasing a disc of two pieces for large ensembles. Last June she reissued that disc with an additional work; now she follows it with a collection of chamber pieces.

Ms. Thomas's compositional idiom is one of modernist complexity, yet the sheer delight she takes in exploring instrumental sonorities proves infectious. Members of the Callisto Ensemble, a string quartet, bring out poetry and drama in a series of brief pieces for one or two players.

"Rumi Songs" in particular evokes the Persian mystic's characteristic ecstasy in a passionate dialogue for violin and cello. Amy Briggs Dissanayake offers elegant, precisely shaded accounts of Ms. Thomas's attractive Piano Études, presented in three contrasting, interrelated pairs.

Ms. Thomas once again demonstrates her knack for illuminating text with colorful, evocative gestures in two works for soprano and an ensemble of winds, strings, piano and percussion. "Bubble: Rainbow - (spirit level)," composed for Elliott Carter's 95th birthday, is a bristling, eruptive setting of passages by Elizabeth Bishop and Emily Dickinson. In "Prairie Sketches I," which includes harp and a chorus of three female voices, Ms. Thomas revels in the poet Suzann Zimmerman's paean to a sweeping Kansas landscape with music by turns radiant and ethereal.

Tony Arnold, a soprano who specializes in contemporary music, handles Ms. Thomas's leaping vocal lines with intensity and assurance. STEVE SMITH

=====

For some reason, this review never made it to the Times website. I've presented it here precisely as it appeared on Sunday, but I've taken the liberty of annotating it with a few appropriate links. While I've previously avoided linking to Amazon.com, in this case there's no alternative; happily, it appears that the company's record of political donations actually improved this year.

Tudor housing.

The Tallis Scholars at St. Thomas Church
The New York Times, December 7, 2006

Eye on the hurricane.

Remember the recent flurry of activity that surrounded Dave Douglas's call to arms with regard to the overlooked heroes of jazz in the '70s and '80s -- the period in which the music was allegedly dead? Remember Ethan Iverson's response, and his subequent challenge to the Internet masses, summoning proof to the contrary? Remember how all kinds of folks responded to the call, myself included?

Well, don't look now, but our little communal revolution has just made the pages of The New York Times, in a think piece that appears in the December 6 issue. And don't look at me: this was the doing of the very smart and stylish Nate Chinen.

The article mentions a new Wiki site called Behearer.com, established to document this massive shift in what we've heretofore been forced to accept as The Canon. Prodded by Ethan, I just looked at the site for the first time yesterday, and am both terrified by the responsibility of filling in the blanks and thrilled by the opportunity to do so.

No telling how long this article will be available for free viewing, so get over there now -- and don't fail to notice the stylish screen caps from Darcy's Secret Society and Destination: Out in the sidebar.

Hymns without hers.

Chanticleer at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
The New York Times, December 5, 2006

(Headline inspired by Time Out New York theater and cabaret critic Adam Feldman.)

Micro review.

"I know what's on your minds, because it's on our minds, too," saxophonist Phillip Johnston announced from the stage of Joe's Pub shortly into a set by his temporarily reunited Microscopic Septet on Saturday night. "'The Micros aren't as good as they used to be,'" he deadpanned. He added, "I'm here to say, we never were."

That self-deprecating streak ran throughout the commentary that punctuated the band's recreations of charts originally performed circa 1980-1992. I arrived in New York a year too late to catch the Micros, as they were known then, during their original run, but I did attend an earlier reunion at Town Hall in 2000. I wrote a preview piece on the Microscopic Septet's two New York reunion dates for Time Out New York -- and apparently didn't say anything too egregious, since TONY wasn't among the eminent publications singled out for mild chiding during the set.

Opening with an ebullient "Night Train Express," an unofficial theme song penned by non-member Wayne Horvitz, the Micros served up a tight, buoyant set of old favorites, in which Dixieland exuberance, swing sophistication, bop daredevilry and avant-garde boisterousness mingled comfortably with influences from rock, ska, reggae and assorted Latin idioms. As I noted in that preview, the Microscopic Septet stood apart from its downtown NYC peers in a number of ways -- mainly for finding a vitality in jazz wholly separate from the nascent Marsalis-led neoconservative revolution happening uptown, but also because instead of striking an ironic pose, the Micros served up a sort of disciplined whimsy, the likes of which can only be found in the work of the Willem Breuker Kollektief.

Rallied by the release on the Cuneiform label of two double-CD sets that collect all four of the band's albums, plus rare outtakes and bonuses (including several takes on their "greatest hit," the theme pianist and co-founder Joel Forrester composed for the radio series Fresh Air), Johnston came back to New York from his current home in Australia for two shows on Friday and Saturday. The latter, which was the first announced, was packed with friends, family and fans from the group's original heyday. (Having failed to reserve a table space, I was blessed to bump into a friend on the waiting line: poet and food blogger Peter Cherches, who graciously allowed me to crash his party.)

Alto saxophonist Don Davis's sputtering opening solo in "The Lobster Parade" called to mind the signature style of another early Micro, John Zorn; Forrester followed with holy-roller gospel flourishes, while baritone saxophonist Dave Sewelson quoted "Hey Jude" at the start of his free-form blurt. Davis floated lazily across the bristling minimalist pulsations in a series of solos during "Second Avenue." Forrester's "Came From Behind" opened like a samba tune with a stuck groove, blossoming into boisterous 7/4 swing. Johnston referred dismissively to a critic's description of his "Waltz of the Recently Punished Catholic Schoolboys" as klezmer-influenced (although, it should be stated, that description is included in the band's bio on his website); tenor saxophonist Paul Shapiro abstained from "klezmerity" in his swooning solos.

"Get Lucky" featured tumbling melodies and stop-start accents set to a perky ska rhythm, with a disco-fied piano break. Forrester's "Boo Boo Coming" featured a loping reggae rhythm. During the gnarled rhythmic tangle of "Almost Right," the pianist tossed in a quick, atonal reference to "The Song Is You" in a boisterous solo anchored by the rock-steady beat of bassist David Hofstra and drummer Richard Dworkin. "A Strange Thought Entered My Head" could have been the soundtrack to a boozy Chuck Jones cartoon: a drunken march leading to a series of delirious escapades. The breezy "Lobster in the Limelight" (a vintage performance of which can currently be viewed on YouTube) was followed by another old signature piece, "Take the Z Train," which opened as a mysterious ballad with a handsome solo by Shapiro, transformed into a buoyant strut with another sizzling Davis solo, and ended as a surf-rock blowout with several false finales.

Throughout the evening, Johnston and Forrester offered droll references to the Microscopic Septet's obscurity in one self-immolating quote after another. Such flagellation was certainly amusing, but the rowdy, sold-out audience suggested that the band had in fact succeeded in attracting an audience in tune with its subversive moves. Rushed off the stage at the end of its set, the group retired to a back room where it graciously received its fans -- one of whom, Lee Konitz, was surrounded by admirers of his own.

Playlist:

Frederic Chopin - 24 Preludes, Op. 28; Berceuse, Op. 57; Barcarolle, Op. 60; Piano Sonata No. 2; Impromptu No. 3, Op. 51 - Arthur Rubinstein (RCA)

Frederic Chopin - Ballades Nos. 1-4; Scherzos Nos. 1-4 - Arthur Rubinstein (RCA)

C.P.E. Bach - Mache Dich Auf, Werde Licht; Danket dem Herrn - Simone Kermes, Lydia Vierlinger, Markus Schäfer, Klaus Mertens, Vienna Chamber Choir, Wiener Akademie/Martin Haselböck (ORF)

Alvin Curran - Songs and Views of the Magnetic Garden (Catalyst)

Luciano Berio - Formazioni; Folk Songs*; Sinfonia** - Jard van Nes*, Electric Phoenix**, Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra/Riccardo Chailly (London)

Ralph Vaughan Williams - Quick March - Sea Songs; Five Variants of "Dives and Lazarus"; Symphony No. 7, "Sinfonia Antartica"* - Linda Hohenfeld*, Philharmonia Orchestra/Leonard Slatkin (RCA)

Peter Maxwell Davies - Symphony No. 8, "Antarctic Symphony" - Bremer Philharmonic/Peter Maxwell Davies (MaxOpus download)