CD REVIEW: MUSICA SONORA/DIA DE LOS MUERTOS

posted by James Reel

The Day of the Dead is upon us, a fine time to call to your attention a CD by the local early-music vocal ensemble Musica Sonora. The group has available a CD recorded during a 2006 concert featuring Tomás Luis de Victoria’s Officium Defunctorum, or Requiem Mass, and it’s a perfect tie-in with Day of the Dead activities in the Spanish-speaking New World.

For a bit of background, let’s turn to the program notes distributed at the concert:

Día de los Muertos [is] a tradition celebrated particularly in Mexico and parts of Central America and the United States, in which the souls of the dead visit the living for a short time to eat favorite foods and commune with the living. In pre-Columbian times, the festivities were held for a month, but after the advent of the Spanish in the New World, the tradition was blended with elements of Catholicism and restricted to two days. Dead children return to their families on Nov. 1 (All Saints’ Day) and deceased adults visit on Nov. 2 (All Souls’ Day). Family graves are cleaned and altars prepared, decorated with marigolds, copal incense, candles photographs of the deceased, and special food. Children (living but perhaps dead, as well) eat sweets in the shape of skulls and _pan de muerto_ is found in local bakeries. To honor the dead and their living loved ones, we offer a performance of this Requiem Mass. In the Catholic tradition, the Office of the Dead is said on All Souls’ Day for the benefit of souls in purgatory and at other times for a particular dead person, and dates from the eighth or ninth centuries, actually predating the Requiem Mass itself. It includes psalms, passages from scripture and other elements, divided into Vespers, Mass, Matins and Lauds. The Mass for the Dead, also called the Requiem Mass after the first words of the introit (“Requiem aeternam”), dates from the 14th century. Unlike the usual sort of Mass of the Catholic liturgy, in which the lectionary changes with the church calendar, the Requiem Mass is fixed, with texts specific to the form. More joyful Mass elements, such as the Gloria and Credo, are omitted. With Victoria’s Officium Defunctorum as a centerpiece, our program extends back in time to include works from Requiem Masses by Cristobal de Morales and forward to instrumental composers of the 17th century.

One of those other composers is Francisco de Peraza (1564-1598, making him about a generation younger than Victoria and two generations the junior of Morales). This program includes two short organ tientos of Morales, played by Jeffri Sanders; the music sounds a bit exotic, suggesting at least a faint Middle Eastern influence (don’t forget the centuries-long Moorish domination of Spain, which had ended less than a century before this music was written). As for the Victoria Mass, it includes a great deal of lovely, smoothly flowing polyphony, as well as some segments of plainchant—including the famous Dies Irae, the “Day of Wrath” motif that would later find its way into several Romantic-era works, including nearly every major composition of Rachmaninov.

The Musica Sonora performances under the direction of Christina Jarvis are quite fine; I only wish that the group had been able to include program notes, rather than just track listings, in its four-page CD booklet. I assume the disc is available only at Musica Sonora concerts and through its members and director; you’ll find contact information at the group’s Web site.

ADVICE COLUMNS AND CHINESE MENUS

posted by James Reel

Time for links to my latest contributions to the Tucson Weekly. First, some advice about the latest ATC production:

Be honest: Would you really want to spend an evening with an advice columnist? By definition, she would be a know-it-all and maybe even a scold, dispensing opinions in such a steady stream that somehow, the whole encounter would revolve around her, rather than the people she would advise. Yet Ann Landers, or at least the version of her onstage courtesy of Arizona Theatre Company, turns out to be a more than tolerable companion. She's frank and extroverted and funny, but never so full of herself that she forgets that her job is to provide comfort and guidance to other people--people whose troubles may initially seem peculiar, but who have a great deal in common with each other, and with Landers herself. The famed, deceased advice columnist, whose real name was Eppie Lederer, is the subject of a one-woman show by David Rambo. ATC's production, which opened last week, is deftly directed by Samantha K. Wyer and boasts a splendid scenic design by Tom Burch, but the prime attraction is the woman on stage, Nancy Dussault. The term "veteran actress" is too often merely a euphemism for "old-timer," but Dussault is a veteran in the true sense: a deeply experienced performer who can slip into a role like this and bring it fully to life without displaying a single little actorly trick. Dussault is so engaging and believable that the play, _The Lady With All the Answers_, often seems more substantial than it really is.

The full review is here. Meanwhile, over in the Chow section, I scout out a Chinese restaurant:

I'd heard mixed reports about Ba-Dar Chinese Restaurant on East Broadway Boulevard. Ten years ago, Rebecca Cook, then the Weekly's able restaurant critic, paid one quick visit to the place and remarked, "On first impressions, the restaurant maintains a solid 'as it should be' with something extra in terms of variety." Since then, I've come across comments declaring that Ba-Dar offers the best Chinese food in Tucson, and that it offers the worst. Ethnic restaurants usually go wrong when they pander to bland middle-American tastes, so on a recent visit to Ba-Dar, my dining group (including a China-born friend) pretty much shied away from the standard menu (fairly extensive, but not overwhelming) and instead ordered items mainly from the Chinese menu, which is available only by request.

Find out what happened here.

WHY I'M A MAC

posted by James Reel

This has nothing to do with the blog’s usual subjects, except perhaps its broadcasting connection, but this article from that most indispensable publication, The Onion, reports that Microsoft’s notorious bugginess is reaching ever farther:

WASHINGTON—According to an FCC report released Monday, a new $300 million Microsoft ad campaign is responsible for causing televisions all across the country to unexpectedly crash. Enlarge Image Microsoft Ad Users have reported a number of failures resulting from the defective commercials, ranging from inability to change channels to "couldn't finish Heroes." The Microsoft ads, which began airing earlier this week, are being blamed for generating critical system errors in more than 70 million televisions. In addition, thousands of frustrated Americans said that the ads have caused their TVs to become unresponsive, their screens to turn blue, and a small box with the message "terminal application error" to suddenly appear. "I was in the middle of watching Monday Night Football when, all of a sudden, that stupid ad comes on and my TV freezes up," said Scottsdale, AZ resident Michael Chaplin, adding that he never wanted to see the commercial in the first place. "The next thing I know, all these numbers and symbols show up and I get an error message saying 'invalid file format' or something. Now my TV is ruined."

You’ll find the full article here. Perhaps I should point out to the uninitiated that The Onion is satirical.

NEGATIVE REVIEWS

posted by James Reel

The proprietor of Vineography, a wine blog I read, has explained why he rarely writes negative reviews. The world of wine criticism is rather different from that of performing-arts criticism, but there are times when I elect not to review something if the evaluation is going to be negative.

First, can the subject of the review, by its very nature, withstand critical scrutiny? Any professional performance is fair game, but student and amateur efforts can’t be held to the same standards. If I review an amateur performance favorably, I try to make it clear that I’m working on a sliding scale, and an impressive performance by a community orchestra wouldn’t be so impressive from the Tucson Symphony (unless the amateur performers really outdo themselves). But if the amateur performance doesn’t cut it, what’s the point of calling attention to this fact, rather than passing over the performance in silence? Amateur orchestras and theatrical troupes exist to give non-professionals a creative outlet; unless the artistic director is overly ambitious and misrepresents the company, these people aren’t trying to compete with the professional and semi-pro groups—they’re simply performing for their own amusement, for an audience dominated by their families and friends. If it’s clear that’s what the group is, and it isn’t putting itself forward as a real alternative to the pros, what’s the point of damning the results? Best to let them go about their worthy business without worrying about public criticism.

The case against negative reviews of books and CDs is quite different. There are a great many books and CDs coming out every week, and fewer and fewer venues for reviews. Space is limited, so why not focus on calling people’s attention to the best that’s out there, rather than condemning crap that they wouldn’t want to buy? In this instance, the focus is on the good of cultural consumer, not that of the producer. Of course, a book or recording by a high-profile artist deserves attention even if it’s bad, because of the heightened public interest. Otherwise, if space is limited, we should focus on the criticism that will do the public the most good.

NED ROREM LIVES!

posted by James Reel

Last week, embroiled in radio fundraising, I didn’t have a chance to note the 85th birthday of Ned Rorem, one of America’s finest composers but a fellow perhaps better known as a sometimes disturbingly frank diarist. It’s Elliott Carter who’s getting all the attention these days because he’s turning 100, and because he’s long been the American poster boy for the Modernist establishment. But frankly, Rorem’s music is the more attractive and, yes, meaningful, if you go to the trouble to hear it. (It does require some effort; I’m not aware of any Tucson performances of Rorem’s music this season, and we have precious little of his music in the KUAT-FM library.)

Frank Oteri wrote a good overview of Rorem’s chamber music for the latest issue of Chamber Music America’s magazine, but that is not yet online. Right now, you can read a good interview with Rorem here, courtesy of the South Florida Classical Review. The author is Lawrence A. Johnson, a fellow I tried to hire as my successor as classical music critic at the Arizona Daily Star more than 10 years ago. Larry had other fish to fry, though. Turns out he got fried by his Florida newspaper not long ago—he is one of the latest of many classical critics to get dumped by America’s increasingly irrelevant daily newspapers. I’m glad he has an online outlet for his work.

LOVE'S LABOURS

posted by James Reel

Last week, I teased you with a positive comment about the new Arizona Repertory Theatre production. Now here’s the review, from this week’s Tucson Weekly:

It just doesn't make sense: Four bright young men want to live forever--at least in other people's memories--by giving up all a young man's pleasures in life. They want to form a renowned academy, and in the process they forswear women, freedom of movement and partying down. The project is sure to fail, especially once four young women show up to distract the guys from their endeavors. Other things don't make sense in this story, which is Shakespeare's _Love's Labours Lost_. The dialog is full of fancy wordplay and obscure topical references that nobody can understand anymore. If a joke needs a footnote, can it possibly be funny? Well, sometimes, yes, for the UA's Arizona Repertory Theatre has managed to mount an utterly hilarious production of this, one of Shakespeare's most peculiar comedies.

The full review lurks here. While you’re at the TW site, take a look at my preview of a one-night performance slated for this weekend:

Harry Clark is a cellist, not a visual artist, but he does create portraits: performances that draw together musicians and actors to tell the story of some remarkable arts figure. Almost (but not quite) all of Clark's subjects have been composers, and those portraits are the backbone of every Chamber Music Plus Southwest season. A new season is about to begin, but with something unusual: a portrait not of a musician, but a painter. Western artist Maynard Dixon is Clark's latest subject. Clark, as cellist, will perform a new score by Tucson guitarist-composer Brad Richter, and he's assembled a script drawn mainly from Dixon's writings, to be read by actor John Schuck. Schuck has most recently made sporadic appearances on _Law and Order: Special Victims Unit_, but he's probably best remembered as Rock Hudson's police sidekick in the 1970s TV series _McMillan & Wife_. He's also been spending a lot of time in revivals and tours of such musicals as _Annie, 1776_ and _Annie Get Your Gun_. Schuck won't be singing, just speaking in the Maynard Dixon show, which is titled _Go Ask the Little Horned Toad_. It's being presented in conjunction with an exhibition of Dixon's work at the Tucson Museum of Art, the organization that commissioned the performance.

The whole story is here.