The Start of a New Season by Music Director Michael Christie
Every time I’ve had the opportunity to hear or perform music from Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess I’m astonished by the way it tugs at every possible heart string. Oh yes, the questions about race and portrayal of a culture, perceived or otherwise this opera raises keep us all thinking and reassessing. In the end, I revel in the distinct personalities of the characters, possibly more than what I find most other opera composers able to fashion. If we left skin color the same but changed the time and place would the reaction have been so prickly? I’m glad we have a great deal of distance between our time and the premier of Porgy. I’m not sure how we would cope if it were being premiered today.
Changing tunes slightly…
To a certain extent the Pops audience, perhaps more than the Classics, has witnessed the more overt attempts to blend the western orchestra with folk traditions of our own and other countries. Experiencing the music of Argentinean composer Osvaldo Golijov is going to be a very moving experience for our patrons. Golijov infects one culture with the other and the result is magnificent. Listeners will go beyond the experience of orchestra as “back-up” band when they hear his music. This makes me wonder, have we come far enough along in this community to more fully explore the representation of other cultures through “world music” presentations or is it merely a spectator sport? When I’ve mentioned before that a symphony orchestra has 500 years worth of music to choose from when planning a season, I didn’t mean just what we call western music!
One test to measure our community’s interest will be the activities surrounding the premiere of Music Alive Composer-in-Residence Mark Grey’s Navajo Oratorio. My hope is that people are genuinely interested in the history and culture of the Navajo nation and will turn out not only for the Oratorio but also for the forums and other presentations. Six free events illuminate the tradition that will be represented in the Oratorio as well as where the Navajo Nation is going in the future.
People ask whether orchestras are relevant. I hope we prove that The Phoenix Symphony is a driver in this community through our activities in the coming season.
Changing tunes slightly…
To a certain extent the Pops audience, perhaps more than the Classics, has witnessed the more overt attempts to blend the western orchestra with folk traditions of our own and other countries. Experiencing the music of Argentinean composer Osvaldo Golijov is going to be a very moving experience for our patrons. Golijov infects one culture with the other and the result is magnificent. Listeners will go beyond the experience of orchestra as “back-up” band when they hear his music. This makes me wonder, have we come far enough along in this community to more fully explore the representation of other cultures through “world music” presentations or is it merely a spectator sport? When I’ve mentioned before that a symphony orchestra has 500 years worth of music to choose from when planning a season, I didn’t mean just what we call western music!
One test to measure our community’s interest will be the activities surrounding the premiere of Music Alive Composer-in-Residence Mark Grey’s Navajo Oratorio. My hope is that people are genuinely interested in the history and culture of the Navajo nation and will turn out not only for the Oratorio but also for the forums and other presentations. Six free events illuminate the tradition that will be represented in the Oratorio as well as where the Navajo Nation is going in the future.
People ask whether orchestras are relevant. I hope we prove that The Phoenix Symphony is a driver in this community through our activities in the coming season.
9 Comments:
Responding to Maestro's "social" commentary about Porgy and Bess:
I love Gershwin's music, as written, because it is gorgeous and deeply moving regardless of the opera's original text or the libretto. It's odd that every live performance of the opera has had to depend on an all-Black cast of singers and actors.
I propose that The Phoenix Symphony present a "COLOR-BLIND" concert performance of PORGY & BESS with the best available vocalists and the Phoenix Symphony Chorus. Such a "unique" event would certainly make news worldwide!
Music Director and Scholar Warren Cohen of the Musica Nova Orchestra chimes in:
As a point of information; any staged performance (at least until the copyright runs out) of Porgy and Bess, must be presented with a black cast; the composer stipulated this explicitly. However a concert performance of excerpts ( but not the complete opera!) can be done by anyone.
A few years back lyric-coloratura soprano Carolyn Whitaker gave a concert performance of excerpts from Porgy and Bess with the Honolulu Symphony, where she sang all three female soprano parts; her "Porgy-Sporting Life" was part Scottish, Hawaiian and German, and she is Irish with bits of other British Isle stuff thrown in. They called it the "Celtic Porgy and Bess". It worked really well and sounded very different. I think the "Celtic" performers gave the music a new twist! Incidentally, it was a great opportunity for
her as she would never have otherwise even thought of singing that music if the gig had not come up, and as it turns out "My Man's Gone Now" became one her favorite party numbers, and a sure-fire winner for her!
This was easier to do in Honolulu where color-blind casting is the norm, and has been for decades.
Warren
good luck meastro, with the upcoming season; i am looking forward to the mahler..
It was a GRAND season opener!
Singer Dennis Roland will indeed go into the Phoenix Symphony history books as the jazz singer who brought the house down.
He and his superb combo of McGuire, Brotman, Gough, and Warner created a Big Band sound with the full orchestra. I will buy all of his CDs. An encore performance would be a delight.
Maestro Christie had the individual members of the orchestra aggresively attacking every entrance in Gershwin's An American in Paris. It was an eye opening reminder of how lucky we are to have him and an orchestra that can deliver the message.
Tubist Pack showed off an extra-jazzy solo. It gave me fresh insight into the part after all these years. By the way, welcome back Big John Lofton!
Our Governor conducted the Star Spangled Banner with a steady slow beat that allowed the Toscanini arrangement to shine. The counter-melody by the low brass in the middle section was an interesting change from the usual by Sousa. More local orchestras should switch to this version.
The Program Notes by music scholar and conductor Loras John Schissell provided long-winded but brilliant essays on each piece. I read them after I got home.
Thank you Maestro Christie for sticking to strictly conducting and not talking during this concert. Your enthusiasm and charm are apparent through your facial expressions and body motions on the podium. Can we do the same next week? Congratulations again on a brilliant start to the season.
Maestra Carolyn Broe of the Four Seasons Orchestra plucks in:
"Hi Sonny,
I recommend that Isola Jones sing the lead part. She has an incredible voice and she has sung "Porgy and Bess" with the Metropolitan Opera. She happens to be black and happens to live in Phoenix Metropolitan. Jones sang Carmen last year with AZ Opera. She would be my top choice for voice quality, power and timbre for this part.
I saw a white woman sing "Summertime" on a replay of a Lawrence Welk show that I viewed about a week ago. It made me realize that black women did not get a chance to sing on stage very often during Gershwin's and Welk's time... In perspective, Welk was probably ahead of his time by integrating his show when others would not have done so.
Today we have reverse discrimination. People wonder, can a white person sing the blues? Will a performance of Porgy and Bess by a non-black non-African American singer have the same power, the same earthiness, the same poignancy that Gershwin intended? IF this is a concert version rather than a staged version, then anything is possible. However, a staged version with non-African American singers would seem out of context to me.
Yours, Carolyn
Dennis ROWLAND (sorry for the previous misspelling) and The Phoenix Symphony:
Rather than an encore concert, I would recommend that CONCORD RECORDS issue a CD of the singer accompanied by the Biggest Big Band in Phoenix, The Phoenix Symphony that is. Surely, there are plenty of other unexplored orchestral arrangements. I believe that EVERYONE that was in attendance last night would purchase at least one copy. You could have it for sale at the Symphony Gift Shop every week. It could become a national phenomenon.
As we know, The Phoenix Symphony has been out of the recording business since conductor James Sedares left us. (By the way, I resent the fact that the Arizona Republic article that saluted the orchestra's 60th anniversary seemed to intentionally erase the very youthful and thoroughtly modern Sedares era altogether.) With extremely marketable personalities in Christie and Rowland, this could be the start of another recording dynasty. Perhaps the "Navajo Oratorio" would be another recording project?
Sonny the Cat wrote,
"Thank you Maestro Christie for sticking to strictly conducting and not talking during this concert....... Can we do the same next week?"
Well Sonny we finally agree on something.
I would kindly remind "anonymous" that Thursdays are the more traditional concert giving format but audience members can attend Friday morning, Sunday afternoon (when scheduled) or Saturday night to learn more about the pieces from the stage. Not everyone knows as much as you seem to about the music and the response to a little bit of commentary has been positive. I would suggest you consider attending Thursday if that is the type of concert experience you prefer.
Thanks for writing.
I will prepare myself on "Saturday night to learn more about the pieces from the stage."
How far in advance do you schedule guests for the pre-concert and intermission interviews? If those could be announced on-line or on KBAQ during the week, we can better decide if getting to the Hall early is worth it.
For example, if you have invited Golijov to speak about his music, especially the string ensemble arrangement of "Last Round," I will forego a big dinner and be there in the front row to learn something.
A good intermission feature would be the Maestro and Bonnie Wolfgang openly discussing how to handle the beginning of The Rite of Spring, moments before it is played. I'd give up a social visit with Caliente Cat and Old Ray for that.
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