Being Chiefly Reports on New Music and Opera (1987-88)
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A CRITICAL PORTFOLIO: REPORTS ON NEW MUSIC AND OPERA A CRITICAL PORTFOLIO: BEING CHIEFLY REPORTS ON NEW MUSIC AND OPERA (1987-88) BY A CRITIC LIVING IN HAMILTON, ONTARIO By ALAN RICHARD GASSER, B. M., M. M. EssayAccompanying a Collection of Musical Criticisms Submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts McMaster University Copyright (§) 1988 by Alan Richard Gasser MASTER OF ARTS (1988) McMASTER UNIVERSITY (Music Criticism) Hamilton, Ontario TITI..E: A Critical Portfolio: Being Chiefly Reports on New Music and Opera (1987-88) by a Critic Living in Hamilton, Ontarj[o AUTHOR: Alan Richard Gasser, B.M. (College of Wooster) M.M. (University of Minnesota) SUPERVISOR: Mr. William Littler (external) Professor Paul Rapoport (internal) NUMBER OF PAGES: vi, 151 Ii ABSTRACT The critical portfolio here collected was written under the guidance of Mr. William Littler, music critic of the Toronto Star. ][t is primarily an idiosyncratic account of the new music concerts and opera productions in the Toronto and Hamilton area between June, 1987 and June, 1988. Canadian composers, performers and performings organizations are mentioned prominently, though significant concerts and operas from elsewhere lend breadth and depth to the coverage. In an introductory essay, the thorny matter of using words to write about music is dealt with obliquely, through a discussion of the organization of the separate reports into a portfolio. The overall form of the portfolio is a literary one which alludes to traditional symphonic forms. A short statement of the author's critical predilections serves as the critical creed in which these separate reports have a common origin. The introduction also lists the publica tions in which the some of the critiques first appeared. A summary of the editorial practices of the different publications explains the outside influences on the writing included in this portfolio. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank my internship direc1tor, Mr. William Littler, for his invaluable help in procuring complimentary tickets for the large number of concerts· he encouraged me to attend. But more than that, I pay tribute to his unflaggingly cheerful spirit, which sustained me through the tedious process of facing up to what I had written. Mr. Littler's careful attention to every word I wrote on assignment for him ensured that my extravagant experi ments with the language of music criticism were always subject to close readings for exact meanings. If my strangest ideas have emerged intact, credit is due to Mr. Littler for his willingness to mine outrageous paragraphs in search of the real message. Professor Paul Rapoport, too, has been a careful reader and enthusiastic supporter. Because this portfolio grew directly from his class in practical musical criticism, much credit is due to his creative assignments and thor~Dugh reading of my material. He also has introduced me to more little-known music than I would have thought anyone person could be interested in. I am most grateful to my colleagues Mary Ann Smart, Walter Lemiski and Peter Tannenbaum, for their company at concerts .and operas, their encouragement in the class rooms and their willingness to listen to verbal drafts of many of these critiques. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS page Introduction to a Critical Pm-tfolio 1 Genesis of the Portfolio Influences Publications and Editorial Policies Personal Critical Predilections and a Creed New Music Words and Music: the Crux of Musical Criticism "Symphonic" "Poem": the Form of the Portfolio An Appraisal of the Toronto-Hamilton Area's Musical Health Chapter 1 -- New Music Concert Reviews in Toronto and Hamilton 20 1-1) New Music C0ncerts -- Out and Lux 1-2) New Music C0ncerts -- Duo VioRas Face aFace 1-3) Da Capo Chamber Players, McMaster University 1-4) Quay Works -- SubotnickjLa Barbalra 1-5) Esprit Orches~ra-- Olympic Concert Concert Reviews From Elsewhere 36 1-6) Spots by Frederic Rzewski 1-7) Mass by David Moberg 1-8) Vandervelde's Music for The Bacchae 1-9) Microfestl 1-10) Just Intonation Concert 1-11) Chamber Music of Alfred Schnittke Reviews of Recordings 47 1-12) New Music from Minnesota 1-13) Chamber Music of Aaron Copland 1-14) Minnesota Composers Forum Jazz 1-15) Isaac Stern: Two New Violin Concertos Chapter 2 -- Opera, Chorall1LIld Vocal MlllSic New or Rare Operas 57 2-1) The Chocolate Soldier (newly tmnslated) 2-2) Opera Omaha Fall Festival 2-3) Szymanowski~s King Roger in Bremen 2-4) St. Carmen ofthe Main -- Guelph v TABLE OF CONTENTS (cont.) page Repertory Operas 63 2-5) La Boheme -- Opera Hamilton 2-6) Shostakovich's Lady Macbeth -- coe 2-7) The Merry Widow -- COC 2-8) The Turn of the Screw -- COC 2-9) Riders to the Sea/Marriage Contract -- UT Opera 2-10) Faust -- Opera Hamilton Choral and Vocal Music 75 2-11) Kurt Vonnegut's Requiem Text 2-12) Nederlands Kamerkoor -- Peace and Freedom Concert 2-13) Paul Sperry --Sounds From the Left Bank 2-14) Kevin MacMillan at the Guelph Spriing Festival 2-15) Muti's Verdi Requiem: Dead or Alive? Chapter 3 -- Programme Notes 87 3-1) Elmar Oliveira Recital 3-2) Singing Wildemess Festival Concert 3-3) McMaster Symphony Concert 3-4) Burst of Bernstein, Bach-Elgar Choir 3-5) Emanuel Ax Recital Chapter 4 -- Early Music, Toronto Symphony and Unclassified Alternative Performancer Practices in Early Music (Part I) 109 4-1) Tafelmusik -- Music From Romel 4-2) The English Baroque Soloists and Malcolm Bilson 4-3) Mozart Serenade on Original Instruments 4-4) Beethoven "Nickname" Sonatas Recording Toronto Symphony Coneerts (Part II) 116 4-5) Marek Janowski -- Guest Conductor 4-6) Buhr's "Lure'''Premiere/Anne-SiDphie Mutter 4-7) R. Murray Sehafer's Harp Concerto Book Reviews, Portrait, Travel Compilation (Part III) 123 4-8) Three Books About Bernstein 4-9) My Brother Benjamin -- by Beth Britten 4-10) A Personality Profile of Karen Wolff, Twin Cities 4-11) New Director of School of Music: a Wolff in Sheep's Clothing 4-12) A Musical Critic's New York City Odyssey Appendix A -- Index of Composers and Authors, and Their Works 143 Appendix B -- Index of Published Works and Publications 148 Appendix C -- Selected References Consulted for Programme Notes 150 vi Introduction to a Critical Portfolio Genesis ofthe Portfolio The .following collection of critical reports is the result of a specific plan .to write about musical performance in the cities of Hamilton and Toronto in southern Ontario. The reports, considered as a whole, investigate primarily new music and opera as a measure of the health of the broader musical community in this specific geographical area. I have included critical reports here which deviate from the above-stated narrow focus, to add breadth and stature to the scope of the collection as a whole. Hearing and writing about new music and opera in major musical centres and in other locations has enabled me to judge the music of my particular locale in a wider context. By including standard repertoire works in the general discussion, I have increased my familiarity with the common heritage and historical background of musical criticism. I hope that this context has demonstrated my ability to measure contemporary works against the expectations of history as well as against the demands of the present era. In this introduction I hope to show that these reviews and programme notes repre sent a coherent point of view. Both the coherence and the individual point of view can be understood more in an overview of the whole coUection than in any single critical report. In addition, the very act of writing helped to fOlrm my point of view even as the finished arti cles demonstrate it. The separable activities of listening to concerts and operas, and writing , about them in various ways, constitute a type of experiment. Learning from an experienced supervisor and re-writing the original material are another kind of experiment. The finished portfolio serves as a rec0rd of the total pro1cess, in addition to defining a critical point of view. 1 INTRODUCTION 2 Nevertheless, I do not claim my point of view to be completely original. For example, the following reports originate from a point along a continuum of arts criticism which is distinctly closer to the impatience and brashness of an American or New World style than to the steady, even pace of a European or British manner. And although British and Canadian influences intrude in specific ways, they cannot be seen as predominant. The critical work here is that of an American critic, writing in Canada, primarily about music in Canada. This collection of' critical reports cannot be justified entirely by a rational, scholarly argument. This is not to say that my tastes and musical inclinations (or those of other critics) are entirely intuitive. Previous university degrees and the courses required for a graduate degree from McMaster have instilled. in me a love for some standard repertoire works and encouraged me to think rationally about music and writing. This introduction will not bring fOlrth any new truths, nor articulate a radical revolutionary position based on academicallly :sound principles. Especially, there will be no conclusions drawn in anyone place. As the introduction ends, the conclusion presents itself, intuitively embedded in thie words of the r,eviews. These critical reports may be experiments, but they are also results. The introductory material which explains the mass of critical writing is analogous to the programme notes for a concert: such notes may be useful beforehand and afterwards, but do not substitute f~Dr the art work itself. Influences There are three magazines whose music criticism has strongly influenced my work.