Cecilia Bartoli in Recital—Pure Magic

By Eman Isadiar

Each season, many artists of international stature sell out UC Berkeley’s Zellerbach Hall. But few can do so in the winter’s heaviest downpour, and none on the afternoon of the Oscars.

That is, none other than the legendary mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli.

Cecilia Bartoli makes a single, sold-out stop in the Bay Area on her world tour honoring Maria Malibran. (Photo: Uli Weber / Decca)

The Bay Area’s love affair with Bartoli began 18 long years ago when she made her West Coast début as an emerging young talent on the very same campus. Following a single appearance in 2005, Cal Performances presented Cecilia Bartoli in recital last Sunday, now as a seasoned artist at the peak of her brilliance.

Loyal fans braved the inclement weather, many traveling from afar to hear Bartoli’s program titled Maria Malibran’s Salon Romantique with pianist Sergio Ciomei.

Hot on the Trail of Maria Malibran

One might ask, “Who exactly is Maria Malibran, and what relation is she to Cecilia Bartoli?”

Apparently, Malibran was a superbly gifted 19th century singer, whose untimely death at the age of 28 may well have robbed the world of one of the greatest mezzo-sopranos of all time. She is credited with starring in the 1825 production of Rossini’s Barber of Seville in New York—the first opera ever to be performed in America.

Aside from her flawless vocal technique, Malibran is also remembered for breaking free from male domination, pursuing a life on her own terms.

As we first saw in Arie Antiche and more recently in Opera Proibida, Bartoli has once again brought a scholarly approach to her new topic of research, this time the great Maria Malibran. She is the central theme of Bartoli’s current world tour on the heels of a hugely successful concert with the Orchestra La Scintilla in 2007, the release of her two latest albums and a double DVD set.

Performance Highlights

The program opened with “La regatta veneziana”: three light-hearted songs in Venetian dialect written during Rossini’s curiously late creative surge long after his operas. Bartoli’s trademark facial humor was the perfect ice-breaker as she sang in what must be a strange-sounding country accent to the native Roman.

Then followed a variety of songs by Bellini and, again, by Rossini—both contemporaries and collaborators of Maria Malibran. This portion of the recital seemed to alternate in mood between playful and somber.

In one of the recital’s unforgettable highlights, Bartoli struck a deeply emotional chord with Bellini’s “Dolente immagine” ("Sorrowful Image"), which she delivered with heartbreaking tenderness.

Another magical moment came after intermission in Donizetti’s “Amore e morte” (“Love and Death”), which was also tragic. This particular piece revealed Bartoli’s unique ability to inhabit her music, as she remained visibly affected by the song’s poignant content long after the applause.

The music that followed was decidedly more cheerful with another song by Donizetti,“La conocchia” (“The Distaff”), which had more eyebrow humor in yet another exaggerated accent—this time Neapolitan. Then came more satirical late Rossini, leading to the recital’s climax at the end of the program.

The Show-Stopper

The four final pieces were the consummation of the program’s theme: the beautifully lyrical “Havanaise” and “Hai luli” composed by Maria Malibran’s sister, the provocative “Yo que soy contrabandista” (“I’m a Smuggler”) by her father, and the show-stopper by Maria herself: “Rataplan” (the sound of beating drums).

In a stroke of pure originality during the last piece, Bartoli’s brilliant accompanist Sergio Ciomei—a remarkable artist in his own right—slyly slipped a page of sheet music inside the piano between the dampers and the strings, creating a rattling noise vaguely resembling the sound of a military snare drum.

Secret Ingredient

Though Bartoli’s rapid staccati and delicate runs and ornaments boggle the mind, her distant, heavenly pianissimo is what tugs at the heartstrings. Her unmistakable timbre is free of the incidental breathing noises of mortal human air pipes. Then, there is her sharp artistic wit and warm, authentic personality.

While a select group of divas can dazzle audiences in lavish opera productions, Cecilia Bartoli comes to us with a dose of something different—a secret ingredient of unknown origin.

Perhaps it is the palpable sincerity in her voice, the mysterious personal connection to each of her listeners, or her complicity with the audience as a whole. Whatever the nameless element, Cecilia Bartoli is bona fide star material of the type that crosses our galaxy only once in every generation.

A Touching Farewell

The end of the program brought a series of delightful short encores: “Caro, ti voglio tanto bene” by Ernesto De Curtis, “Les ramparts de Seville” from Bizet’s Carmen, and the syncopated and lively “Canto Negro” by Xavier Montsalvatge.

Bartoli left her star-struck public with a fourth and final encore, again by De Curtis.

Making eye-contact as though with each person in the audience, she bid a soul-stirring farewell with the song “Non ti scordar di me”—“Oh Forget Me Not.”

The invisible supertitle to the crowd’s feverish applause read: “Non ci scordiamo” (“We Shall Not Forget”).

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Eman Isadiar teaches piano at the Peninsula Conservatory and writes about music in the Bay Area.

San Francisco Symphony Goes Russian

By Eman Isadiar

While music director Michael Tilson Thomas was away on tour in Southern California, San Francisco Symphony’s latest two programs back home were led by guest conductors David Robertson and Charles Dutoit.

With the exception of Debussy’s “Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun,” the concerts featured symphonic music by Russian composers such as Scriabin, Stravinsky and Rimsky-Korsakov. Anglo-Australian pianist Stephen Hough was the soloist in yet another piece from the Russian repertoire, namely Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 2.

Valentine’s Day with Charles Dutoit

On February 14, guest conductor Charles Dutoit led the San Francisco Symphony in a program of Debussy, Stravinsky and Rimsky-Korsakov. Famed for his award-winning recordings with the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal, Dutoit’s flair for the romantic made this performance a memorable tribute to Saint Valentine.

Greek Mythology Set to French Music

Debussy’s Prélude à l’apres-midi d’un faune (Prelude to the Afternoon of a Faun) got the evening off to a cosy start. Inspired by a poem by Stéphane Mallarmé, the music of Debussy depicts a faun, who, while playing his pan-pipes in the woods, chases a group of nymphs. But the creatures seem to vanish, and the faun falls asleep in the afternoon heat, drifting in sensual thoughts and visions.

Dutoit’s affinity for Debussy was apparent from the famous opening—seven falling notes of the chromatic scale played by solo flute—leading to a rather intimate rendition of this important piece of the French repertoire. The absence of a baton in conducting the Prélude was a telling indication of the Dutoit’s sensitive interpretation.

A Neoclassical Symphony

Next on the program was Stravinsky’s Symphony in C, the product of a particularly difficult period in the composer’s life marked by the death of his daughter, wife and mother from tuberculosis, and being himself diagnosed with the disease. The four-movement work was begun in Europe and finished in the United States.

Although Stravinsky’s Symphony in C does not enjoy the wide popularity of his ballet music, it represents the composer at the height of his stylistic maturity. Nearly a quarter of a century after The Rite of Spring, the symphony shares many of the same musical elements, such as its intricate, syncopated rhythms and blasts from the brass section in the most dramatic moments.
With an impressively wide dynamic range, Dutoit had complete and absolute control of the orchestra, which is as much a credit to the conductor as it is to the musicians.

The Symphony in C is clearly a modern work of daring originality with its simultaneous use of multiple tonalities and complex harmonies. Yet it demonstrates a return to baroque and classical values in its use counterpoint and strict thematic structure. This style of writing known as “neoclassicism” came into existence during the period between the two world wars, and was supported by Stravinsky and his contemporary Prokofiev among others.

“Arabian Nights” with a Russian Twist

After intermission came the evening’s centerpiece: Rimsky-Korsakov’s symphonic suite Scheherazade, considered one of the most important musical landmarks of the Russian romantic repertoire.

This was also where the musical gift of Maestro Charles Dutoit came to full view with dazzling brilliance.

Nicolai Rimsky-Korsakov belongs to a group of five Russian composers known as “The Mighty Handful”, whose mission was to establish a uniquely Russian identity in their music. Their inspiration came from well-known children’s stories from the heartland and exotic folk tales from the remotest corners of the Russian Empire.

Named after its famous narrator, Scheherazade draws from the vast collection of Persian tales called One Thousand and One Nights (also known as Arabian Nights). According to the legend, each of the concubines in a certain sultan’s harem is put to death after her purpose has been fulfilled during a nightly visit by the sovereign.

One clever concubine named Scheherazade comes up with the idea to entertain the Sultan until dawn by telling a captivating story with a suspenseful cliff-hanger every night for a thousand and one nights, thus delaying her own death.

Each of the suite’s four movements opens with a haunting melody on the violin, representing the narrator’s introduction as she takes the sultan on a journey of the mind with a new tale. Russian violinist and concertmaster of the San Francisco Symphony Alexander Barantschik played these with the utmost musical finesse and mastery.

Charles Dutoit’s precise conducting brought out in stunning clarity some of the musical details that are often lost in the rich harmonic texture of Rimsky-Korsakov’s music. Dutoit’s sweeping fortes and delicate pianissimos left the audience breathless and in awe.

With a lengthy and whole-hearted standing ovation, San Francisco fans seemed to wish Dutoit the best as he begins his tenure this year as artistic director of London’s Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.

Robertson Conducts Tchaikovsky and Scriabin with a Dash of Humor

On Friday, February 6, David Robertson conducted an exceptional performance of Tchaikovsky’s seldom-performed Piano Concerto No. 2 with soloist Stephen Hough, followed by Scriabin’s Poems of Ecstasy.

The audience was caught slightly off-guard with Robertson’s humor from the stage as he introduced himself first in the style of a restaurant waiter, listing the evening’s musical specials, and quickly slipped into the role of a flight attendant preparing the audience for takeoff.

Contrary to commonly accepted concert hall etiquette, Robertson encouraged the audience to applaud after only the first movement of Tchaikovsky’s three-movement concerto. This was done perhaps in anticipation of the extravagant orchestral ending of the first movement likely to compel some audience members to burst into premature applause.

The Forgotten Concerto

Only a few measures into the first movement, it became abundantly clear why Tchaikovsky’s Second Piano Concerto is so rarely performed. It is a work of arresting technical difficulty, marked by furiously flying octaves and three cadenzas, where the orchestra comes to a complete stop allowing the soloist to take center stage.

While the concerto remains in relative obscurity due to its technical challenges, it contains Tchaikovsky’s unmistakable lush orchestration, largely exaggerated dynamics, and passionate melodies in the “cello” range of the piano. The audience’s thunderous applause after the first movement came as no surprise given the conductor’s pre-approval.

Following a bell-shaped musical scheme, the second movement contained passages of sublime beauty, falling as though in fragrant clusters from Hough’s fingertips. This movement was framed by a delicate lyrical dialogue between the violin (Alexander Barantschik) and cello (Michael Grebanier), each pretending to be the other by playing in that instrument’s register. The dialogue was delivered with such skill that, without the visual cues, it would have been difficult to tell the two instruments apart.

The third movement was rather jovial, with hints of Russian folk dances as the piano’s principal melody is written for both hands two octaves apart, creating a gypsy-like sound. Tchikovsky uses a similar effect in the opening of the final movement of the First Concerto.

The technical bravado of the first movement once again returns in the third, although to a lesser degree. An exciting accelerando marks the final passage of the concerto, reaching supersonic speeds and ending in an awesome surge of symphonic sound. The audience showed not even a moment’s hesitation before leaping to a standing ovation.

Scriabin’s Controversial Harmonies

Scriabin’s orchestral work Poems of Ecstasy is post-romantic in style, probably influenced by the music of Richard Wagner. In Scriabin’s Poems the consonant, peaceful intervals of thirds and sixths do not occur unless they are accompanied by the dissonant, tense intervals of a tritone or seventh, in an attempt to express a certain sense of longing.

The music keeps swelling harmonically, going from one dominant harmony to another without a sense of resolution while the tension builds up. Since this work is performed widely all over the world, audience reactions are known to differ widely.

Some feel a sense of disorientation in the ever-drifting tonalities, thereby losing their sense of musical direction, while others are able to maintain their focus on the anticipated final resolution. Perhaps this is why the composer himself advises us to “look at the eye of the sun” when listening to the Poems of Ecstasy.

After twenty minutes of thickening clouds of unresolved leading tones, a long overdue major triad finally bursts through. David Robertson led a flawless performance. However, the unfortunate recurrence of a piercing electronic alarm from an unknown source inside the hall destroyed this otherwise unblemished concert.

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Eman Isadiar teaches piano at the Peninsula Conservatory and writes about music in the Bay Area.

Photos: Courtesy of San Francisco Symphony.

Fremont Symphony Shines a Spotlight On Youth

By Eman Isadiar

There were many new faces in the audience last Saturday evening at the Smith Center of Ohlone College. One person exclaimed, “I didn’t know Fremont had a symphony!”

These words are music to the ears of the orchestra’s 200-strong season ticket holders and devoted fans, who immediately know they have a new convert.

A Brilliant “Dutchman”

Following some introductory remarks from the stage, music director David Sloss opened the program with the overture to Richard Wagner’s opera “The Flying Dutchman”, which tells the story of a cursed ghost ship wandering in the North Sea. According to Sloss, Wagner first had the idea for the opera during a stormy crossing from Latvia to England as the composer and his wife escaped their creditors.

The orchestra’s highly polished rendition was remarkable from the first notes depicting Wagner’s tempestuous seas, followed by a tender, melodious section representing the opera’s female character and romantic subplot, right through the soaring, triumphant ending.

While the 20-minute overture was no substitute for the two-and-a-half-hour opera—as Maestro Sloss jokingly suggested in his opening remarks—it nevertheless communicated some of Wagner’s thrilling operatic drama.

Laura Bergmann: A Flautist to Remember

San Francisco Conservatory senior Laura Bergmann performed Nielsen's Flute Concerto with the Fremont Symphony Orchestra on February 7, 2009

Winner of the Fremont Symphony’s 2009 Young Artist Competition, Laura Bergmann, was next on the program with the two-movement Flute Concerto by Danish composer Carl Nielsen. Once again, David Sloss shared some musical insights about the piece, priming the audience for the music to come.

Among the many technical challenges of Nielsen’s concerto are the frequent changes in tempo and dynamics, all of which Bergmann observed with impressive ease. Not only did she deliver Nielsen’s fast passagework with exceptional precision and clarity, but also demonstrated her own maturity as an artist with some bold musical gestures and subtle nuances.

Studying with San Francisco Symphony’s Timothy Day at the Conservatory of Music, 21-year old Laura Bergmann already shows all the signs of a seasoned musician. With her flawless skill and deep passion for music, Bergmann is sure to join the ranks of other Fremont Symphony laureates with highly successful musical careers.

Fremont’s Young Composers

One of the evening’s most memorable highlights was the selection of seven short pieces composed by Fremont school children and arranged for orchestra by composer Mark Volkert, associate concertmaster of the San Francisco Symphony and long-time collaborator of David Sloss.

Ranging from such descriptive names as “A Mysterious Quest” to more generic titles like “The Song”, these pieces were each a miniature symphony of exceptional musical value. Mark Volkert’s flattering orchestration raised these compositions to the level of familiar masterworks by Moussorgsky and Ravel, while faithfully preserving the children’s original melodies and triads.

The pieces performed were “A Mysterious Quest” by Marie Simon, “Walking Through the Woods” by Rosemond Ho, “F Minor Melody” by Andrew Chen, “The Song” by Ruvan Jayaweera, “The Lost City” by Patrick Zeng, “Little Spring Song” by Jessica Mao, and “The Majestic Earth” by Eesha Bemra.
Fremont Symphony at its Best

The concert concluded with Symphony No. 4 by Johannes Brahms, a musical giant of the 19th century. This rather lengthy and difficult four-movement symphony is an important landmark in symphonic writing, which requires the highest degrees of both skill and stamina.

With this piece, however, the Fremont Symphony truly outdid itself, reaching new heights in orchestral technique. This once again proved that both David Sloss and the Fremont Symphony shine especially brightly in romantic repertoire of this kind.

Every note was in proportion to the work as a whole. Each of the many layers of Brahm’s music came to the foreground and faded into the background at precisely the right moments.

As a matter of concert etiquette, the public generally avoids clapping in between movements, which can disrupt the flow of the piece and break the musicians’ concentration. However, the Fremont Symphony gave us such an exhilarating performance of Brahms’ Fourth Symphony that the audience simply could not contain its excitement, and burst into applause after each and every movement.

The cheers may have been untimely, but they were a sincere tribute to a very special hometown orchestra.

Yes, Fremont has a symphony, and a darned good one at that!

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Eman Isadiar serves on the Board of Directors of the Fremont Symphony Orchestra.

San Francisco's Other Opera Does 'Don Giovanni'

By Eman Isadiar

During the long operatic dry spell until San Francisco Opera’s next production, a dose of Mozart brought relief to the city’s opera fans. San Francisco Lyric Opera managed to fit a larger-than-life “Don Giovanni" on a surprisingly small stage on the waterfront at Fort Mason’s Cowell Theater.

Appearing in the title role, Romanian bass-baritone Eugene Brancoveanu made a persuasive Don Giovanni with subtle acting and a powerful voice. Every last feature of Brancoveanu’s demeanor, gait, and gestures personified the Spanish nobleman of irresistible charm—otherwise known as Don Juan—whose amorous adventures by far outnumber those of any bachelor in history.

Scene at the Cemetery - Eugene Brancoveanu (Don Giovanni), Sergey Zadvorny (statue of the murdered "Commendatore"), and Razvan Georgescu (Leporello) in San Francisco Lyric Opera's "Don Giovanni" - Photo by: David Ransom

Brancoveanu was particularly brilliant in the aria “Finch' han del vino” (Until They Have Wine) near the end of Act 1, where Don Giovanni describes in lustful detail the twin joys of wine and woman.

The opera’s libretto was written by Lorenzo Da Ponte, who also penned the words to two other operas by Mozart, namely “Cosi fan tutte” (Thus Do All Women) and “Le nozze di Figaro” (The Marriage of Figaro).

Set in Seville, Spain, Mozart’s “Don Giovanni” is rather unsavory—at least by modern moral standards—in the way in which it mixes humor with such grim topics as rape, murder, and damnation. Yet the transcendent music of Mozart alone can justify even this most objectionable of plots.Don Giovanni’s past catches up with him when two of his past conquests seek retribution: Elvira for her unborn child, and Anna for her beloved father who was murdered by Don Giovanni while trying to avenge her rape. Anna’s young admirer Ottavio also vows revenge. A peasant girl named Zerlina, seduced on the very day of her wedding, joins the band of ill-wishers along with her fiercely jealous fiancé, Masetto, who also intends to kill Don Giovanni.

While Don Giovanni’s earthly enemies multiply, unearthly forces are also at work to settle the score. As he attempts to flee the angry mob, Giovanni and his servant Leporello accidentally wind up at the cemetery, where a marble statue marking the grave of Anna’s father comes to life and proclaims Giovanni’s impending doom. Perhaps out of both arrogance and fear, Don Giovanni mockingly invites the statue to dinner, which the stone figure accepts with an ominous nod.

The fateful hour strikes and the statue knocks on Giovanni’s door. A powerful trio ensues with Don Giovanni, the statue, and Leporello, accompanied by some of Mozart’s most fearsome music. Don Giovanni is then taken through the gates of the underworld in a fiery display of opera magic. In this version of the opera, the flames were portrayed by the perfectly choreographed serpentine movements of a group of monstrous, red-clad women—perhaps some of Don Giovanni’s own victims.

Pregnant and Abandoned - Gifted young soprano Kali Wilson appears as the heartbroken Elvira in "Don Giovanni" - Photo by: David Ransom

An especially gifted student of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, Kali Wilson sang the part of Elvira with exceptional clarity and emotion. Wilson’s skillful runs and scales in the aria “Ah, fuggi il traditor” (Ah, Run Away, You Traitor) clearly promise a bright career ahead.American tenor Ashley Faatoalia was truly impressive as Don Ottavio, and Romanian bass-baritone Razvan Georgescu brought much depth to the role of Don Giovanni’s servant Leporello. Singing the parts of Anna and Zerlina, respectively, Duana Demus Leslie and Krista Wigle each gave a captivating performance.

Grieving Beauty - Soprano Duana Demus Leslie sings the part of Anna, who mourns her father's death at the hands of Don Giovanni. - Photo by: David Ransom

Ukrainian bass Sergey Zadvorny delivered the parts of Anna’s father “Il Commendatore” and his marble statue with great control and precision, while Brazilian baritone Igor Viera gave a worthy rendition of Masetto.With a remarkable cast of voices, the chorus directed by Chip Grant also deserves mention for playing an important part in this memorable production by the San Francisco Lyric Opera.

Finally, the music provided by a fairly small 25-piece ensemble rivaled the sound of a full orchestra under the capable direction of Barnaby Palmer, whose job was rather difficult given the lack of an orchestra pit and proper seating configuration for the musicians.

While the San Francisco Lyric Opera may be the city’s best-kept secret for well over a decade, it cannot remain so for much longer with high-quality productions such as the latest “Don Giovanni.” San Francisco Lyric Opera also takes pride in fostering future generations of opera supporters by offering free admission to children 12 and under, and reserving 10 percent of its seating capacity at every performance for the San Francisco Unified School District.

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Eman Isadiar teaches piano at the Peninsula Conservatory and writes about music in the Bay Area.