LEFTOVERS: HAL HUNDLEY

posted by James Reel

    I usually have to leave at least a couple of tidbits out of the articles I write. Here are interesting quotes without a home from Hal Hundley, who runs Redondo Music Theatre, and who directed a lot of shows in Tucson in the 1970s and ’80s; now, having returned to Tucson after several years away, he thinks some things have changed:
    “What I’m seeing, which I never saw in my earlier days, is that a lot of these little theater companies are very cliquish, very possessive of their actors, and don’t want them to go perform with other companies, which I think is ridiculous. I tell my actors, ‘Go out and do as many shows as you can.’ ...
    "This is our third show, so now I’ve had a pretty good turnout [for auditions]. The important thing to me as a director is I’d rather see just 25 good people than have to wade through 100 to get that same 25.”

REVIEW: BARRY DOUGLAS/TUCSON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

posted by James Reel

    There’s nothing less imaginative than a “Three Bs” concert—Bach, Beethoven, Brahms—unless one goes fishing around for some attractive oddities among those thrice-familiar composers’ works. That’s what George Hanson did last night to launch his 12th season as music director of the Tucson Symphony Orchestra. The first half held no surprises: the Brahms Piano Concerto No. 1 in an incisive, controlled performance featuring Barry Douglas. The second half contained the unexpected items: Ottorino Respighi’s orchestration of Bach’s Passacaglia in C minor, and Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy, again showcasing Douglas and including a cameo appearance by the Tucson Symphony Chorus.
    First it was necessary to suffer through 10 minutes of non-musical junk: an audience sing-along version of the Star-Spangled Banner—bad music imposed upon bad lyrics, badly sung—and a pep talk by the orchestra board’s president. Save it for the people who haven’t already bought tickets and need some persuading. Perhaps this was a subtle measure of damage control, as was the presence outside the hall of perky cotillion girls in their little black dresses, chirping “Welcome to the symphony!” to arriving (if scant) audience members. Management and its allies probably figured they had to do something to counteract the low-key, dignified presence of musicians outside the hall quietly publicizing their troubled contract negotiations, not to mention a recent article in the Tucson Weekly detailing the TSO’s ongoing financial trouble and its needless feud with the Tucson Symphony Women’s Association.
    What matters most to the public is what happens on the Music Hall stage, and last night’s music-making was exceptionally solid, though it held no real interpretive surprises. Hanson and the orchestra opened the Brahms concerto with well-judged contrast between the dramatic first subject and tragic-lyrical second. The violin playing was crisply articulated if not as juicy-toned as one might wish in Brahms, the woodwinds and brass blended into and emerged from the ensemble admirably and new timpanist Kimberly Toscano played with both forcefulness and control. In the first-movement climaxes, though, the lower string sound was poorly defined, and the orchestra didn’t achieve its proper fullness until the quieter second movement.
    As for Douglas, he got off to an arresting start with some powerful trills, but his approach to most of the first movement was patrician; until the outburst in the development section that brings back the first theme, Douglas’ manner would not have been inappropriate in the slow movement of a Mozart concerto. In the slow movement he produced greater variety of tone, pearly in the outer sections and stentorian in the middle. Only in the concluding Rondo did Douglas display the grand-manner extroversion you’d expect of a Tchaikovsky Competition gold medalist, and ultimately it seemed right that he withheld it until the finale.
    Respighi’s orchestration of the Bach Passacaglia, originally for organ, deserves to be played much more often. The original score lends itself well to the Respighi treatment, richer and more colorful than the Ancient Airs and Dances but less raucous than the Roman trilogy. It’s an expert orchestration that often evokes the organ without being hobbled to organ sonorities, and the TSO played it beautifully—here, at least, was the lush sound missing from most of the Brahms. It was a fine showcase of what an adept orchestra and sympathetic conductor can do.
    Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy has quite different requirements, and the performers met them well. It’s mostly the pianist’s show, and Douglas knew exactly what to do with this strange piece; his playing was effervescent and witty, not settling into the pomposity that can make the score seem like such a parody. Hanson kept the orchestral lines clear and balanced, and the choral work was excellent—dynamic and crisp. Given the orchestra’s financial trouble, it seems unwise to bring out the full, paid chorus for merely five minutes of work, but the performance was good enough to make one forget, just for a while, those unpleasant realities.

MERMAN VS. SHAKESPEARE

posted by James Reel

    Invisible Theatre is running a sweet little show called The Big Voice—God or Merman?

    Now, here's a real odd couple. Jim is an extroverted Brooklyn Catholic who, as a boy, dreamed of becoming pope, mainly because he liked the clothes. Steve is an introverted Arkansas Baptist who, as a boy, toyed with the idea of evangelism until he learned that queers aren't welcome at the seminary, even if they never stray far from the closet.
    Jim grew up going to Broadway shows starring the likes of Laurence Olivier and Vivian Leigh. Steve once saw a dinner-theater production featuring Bob Crane.
    Jim and Steve meet on a cruise--in the Bermuda Triangle, aboard the sister ship of the Andrea Doria. Surely, the relationship has about as much of a chance of success as Ethel Merman did when she tried to sing quietly.

    Shakespearean language is rich, but it's also hard for nonprofessional actors to wrap their mouths around. Yet Shakespeare was a mainstay for the Tucson Parks and Recreation Department's Tucson Community Theatre during the 10 years Michael Givens was in charge of it.
    Not surprisingly, Givens has chosen a Shakespeare work to launch a new company also backed by Parks and Rec, the El Rio Theatre Project.
    Givens is the recreation coordinator at the El Rio Center, but his group is going to hie itself to a different venue, the amphitheater at Himmel Park, to present Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, a comedy of romance and hidden identity.

SASO CONDUCTING CANDIDATES

posted by James Reel

    This press release just arrived from the Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra:

    The Southern Arizona Symphony Orchestra has named four finalists for Music Director and invited them to conduct the orchestra during the 2007-2008 season.
     More than 50 candidates from the United States and abroad applied for this position, according to Search Committee co-chair Tim Secomb. Audiences, donors and musicians will be invited to give input on the four finalists. SASO presents five concert programs each year, with two performances each, one in Tucson and one in SaddleBrooke. This community orchestra was established in 1979.
     • Brian Asher Alhadeff, a conductor and pianist, recently completed his Doctor of Musical Arts with emphasis in orchestra conducting at the University of California in Los Angeles. Since 2003, he has served as associate conductor of the Beverly Hills Symphony. He also served as Director of Orchestras for Grand Rapids State University in Michigan, where he was a visiting assistant professor. Alhadeff is Artist and Music Director of the Hradec Kralove International Summer Opera Festival in the Czech Republic with the Eastern Bohemian Philharmonic Orchestra. He‚s also experienced in conducting opera, ballet and musical theatre. Alhadeff will conduct SASO‚s first concert cycle on Sept. 30 at SaddleBrooke and Oct. 7 at St. Andrew‚s Presbyterian Church. The program includes Massenet's Suite no. 4: Scenes pittoresques, Jacob's Bassoon Concerto with Jessica Campbell as soloist and Franck's Symphony in D minor.
     •Thomas Elefant was both a string player and brass player before turning to conducting at age 27. His doctoral studies were in conducting and viola at Michigan State University. He served as Music Director/Conductor of the Richmond Symphony Orchestra in Indiana from 1985 to 1997. After moving to Israel, he conducted the Camerata Chamber Orchestra in Israel and on tour in Europe. In 2000 he founded the Inter-Generational Symphony Orchestra in Tel Aviv, which he led through 2006. He returned to the United States in 2007. Born in Santiago, Chile, he recently conducted the Orquesta de la Universidad de Santiago. He is proficient in Hebrew, Spanish and Hungarian. Elefant will conduct SASO's second concert cycle on Nov. 11 at SaddleBrooke and Nov. 18 at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church. The program features Nielsen's "Helios" Overture, Weber's Concerto No. 1 for clarinet and orchestra with soloist Lucy Huestis and Beethoven's „Symphony no. 6.
     • Matthew Fritz of Scottsdale holds a bachelor's of music in violin performance from Arizona State University. He recently completed his Master of Music at the Eastman School of Music, where he studied conducting with Neil Varon. He served as assistant conductor of the Eastman Philharmonia and the Eastman School Symphony Orchestra. He is the founder and music director of Neo, a student-run outreach orchestra at Eastman offering free, family-friendly concerts designed to cultivate new audiences for classical music. In 2005 he attended the Conductor‚s Institute in Mendoza, Argentina. Fritz will conduct SASO's third concert cycle on Feb. 10, 2008 at SaddleBrooke and Feb. 17, 2008 at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church. The program includes Mascagni's Intermezzo from "Cavalleria Rusticana," Faure's "Masques et bergamasques," Strauss' "Burlesque" with pianist Angeline Ng and Mozart's Symphony No. 26, "Linz."
     • Linus Lerner is completing his Doctorate in Music Arts at the University of Arizona, where for three years he served as co-director of the UA Philharmonic Orchestra and assistant conductor of the UA Symphony and Opera Orchestras. Since 2003, he has been Artistic and Executive Director of the Reveille Men‚s Choir. He also is Music Director/Conductor at the Church of the Painted Hills Choir. Between 1988 and 1996, he studied and worked in Brazil, where he conducted the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul Youth Orchestra, the Camarata Consort of Guitars and several choirs. Also an opera singer, Lerner knows Portuguese, Spanish, Italian and German. Lerner will conduct SASO's fourth concert cycle on March 30, 2008 at SaddleBrooke and April 6, 2008 at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church. The program includes Handel's "Water Music" Suite No. 3 (G major), Elgar's "Sea Pictures" with mezzo soprano Kristin Dauphinais and Tchaikovsky's Suite no. 2, "Caracteristique."
     SASO's current Music Director Adam Boyles, who has led the orchestra since 2005, programmed this year's season and will conduct the final concerts on June 1, 2008 at SaddleBrooke and June 8, 2008 at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church. His program includes the premiere of a SASO-commissioned work, Crabtree's "Vegas! An American Nightscape," plus Bernstein's "On the Town: Three Dance Episodes" and Boyer's "Ellis Island: The Dream of America." Boyles is now Director of Orchestras at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston. Previous SASO music directors include Warren Cohen (1997-2005), Alan Schultz (1981-1995) and founding music director Henry Johnson (1979-1980).
     Resident Conductor for the season is Martin Majkut who received a Fulbright scholarship in 2003, when he moved to the United States from Slovakia. He is currently enrolled in the University of Arizona's Doctor of Musical Arts program.
     The 2007-2008 SASO season is sponsored by arts advocate and volunteer Dorothy Vanek. For more information about SASO and its upcoming concerts, visit www.sasomusic.org or call 323-7166. Tickets are $15, with discounts for seniors and students at the Tucson concert series. Season tickets also are available for $50.
    All performances are on Sundays at 3 p.m. The SaddleBrooke concert series is presented at Desert View Performing Arts Center, 39900 S. Clubhouse Drive. The Tucson concerts are at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, 7575 N. Paseo del Norte.

DIAMOND MUSIC

posted by James Reel

    Got an extra million dollars lying around the house? You can trade it for fake diamonds made from Beethoven’s hair.

SYMPHONY STRIFE

posted by James Reel

    Dave Devine’s contribution to the current Weekly is a good story about the feud between the Tucson Symphony Society—the formal entity that is the Tucson Symphony Orchestra—and what was formerly known as the Tucson Symphony Women’s Association. The way Dave tells it, this looks like a bullying money grab by the TSO, a financially desperate organization that is overspending by half a million dollars a year. Read the article, and see what you think.