SPOLETO BUZZ BLOG

I had to leave Grace Church, Mozart, Villaume, and John Kennedy early, though, since I wanted to be at another church, the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist, for the 6pm start of Piccolo Spoleto’s tribute to Robert T. Jones. Bob was the Post and Courier’s Spoleto overview critic from the festival’s earliest days, traveling to Charleston each year from New York City to do the job Blair Tindall is doing this year. In the early 90s, he and his longtime partner Jorge retired in Charleston, and he began writing a bi-weekly column on the arts in Charleston for the P&C in addition to his Spoleto coverage. During that time, while I was the editor of Charleston Magazine, I became friends with Bob when I hired him to write a retrospective feature for the magazine on his (at that time) nearly 20 years covering the Spoleto Festival for the P&C. Bob certainly had some stories to tell about the festival: seeing artists like Renee Fleming, Yo Yo Ma, Bobby McFerrin and many others play there for the first time, before they were household names, and other tales, not all of them fit for print in a family paper. It’s very likely that Bob saw more of the Spoleto Festival than any other human being, living or dead. He had a sharp wit and an equally sharp pen, and he was a good friend. So it was important to me to be at the Tribute Concert Ellen Dressler Moryl had scheduled as part of Piccolo’s Spotlight Concert Series.

Moryl gave a few brief remarks, then ceded the floor to longtime Post and Courier writer Carol Furtwangler, one of Bob’s best friends. Carol spoke eloquently about her friendship with Bob, ending with her hope that he “awaits us in whatever dimension music eternally plays.”

Afterward, members of the Chamber Music Society of Charleston performed beautiful renditions of Samuel Barber’s timeless Adagio for Strings, Philip Glass’ String Quartet No. 2 (a favorite of mine), a suite for wind sextet from Leos Janacek, and Hector Villa-Lobos’s Last Distribution of Flowers for flute and guitar. It was a touching farewell, one of many gestures Piccolo and Spoleto adminstrators have made this year to acknowledge Bob’s too-early death and his enormous contribution to Charleston and the two festivals.

Taken together, the two afternoon concerts also highlighted the importance of local churches to Piccolo and Spoleto. When you can’t get an expensive new symphony hall built, you gotta use what you’ve got. And churches certainly have the acoustics for classical music. Just don’t expect to sit comfortably in them for long.

Here what it looked like yesterday at Grace Church (left) and the Cathedral (right).

Later Friday afternoon, I dropped by the last of Spoleto’s Intermezzi concerts at Grace Episcopal Church, where Emmanuel Villaume and the Spoleto Festival Orchestra were performing an all-Mozart program: his popular Concerto No. 2 for Flute and Orchestra and the Symphony No. 40, one of his most well known.

(Side note: last Tuesday, I stopped by the Charleston County Main Library downtown in the early afternoon to catch a few minutes of their American Film Series, which on that day featured Milos Foreman’s wonderful Amadeus. With two of Mozart’s operas in this year’s festival (Don Giovanni in Spoleto and The Abduction from the Seraglio in Piccolo), plus a host of other presentations in the two festivals, including Friday’s Intermezzi concert, it was interesting to watch once again Peter Shaffer’s fantastic film about one of the world’s greatest creative geniuses. Plus F. Murray Abraham and Tom Hulce are brilliant as Salieri and Mozart.)

Music in Time director John Kennedy came in a little late and joined me in the back of the church where I was standing. “I hate the seats in here,” he confided. “I’d rather stand in the back than sit.” Given that Mozart’s 40th Symphony is one of only two he wrote in a minor key (G minor) — and that because he was heavily influenced by the Sturm und Drang (”Storm and Stress”) movement prevailing in Germany and Austria at the time, it occurred to me afterward that Kennedy may also have been checking out the historical precendents for his own new work, entitled Storm and Stress, which opened the Festival Concert last Sunday. Didn’t have the chance to ask him, but he did apologize for not making it to A Perfect Ten the previous evening. Which I thought was awfully nice of him.

On Friday at 2pm, I went to St. Johannes Lutheran Church on Anson Street to see a special event: the Celtic fiddle ensemble Na Fidleiri, comprised of 25 fiddles, guitars, banjos, mandolins, assorted other Celtic instrumentation and singer, all directed by Mary Scott Taylor — wife of the very talented Robert Taylor, who himself is director of the CofC Concert Choir, the Madrigal Singers, and is CSO Choral Director. I imagined that the concert was part of Piccolo’s Folk & Fret Series, which is why I was at St. Johannes Lutheran Church. When I arrived on Anson Street at 1:59pm, though, and saw all the available parking in front of the church, it became clear I’d imagined wrong.

Silly Spoletian, I thought to myself. This event is at Charleston Music Hall, not St. Johannes Lutheran Church.

As it turns out, Na Fidleiri was in fact performing at the Circular Congregational Church yesterday, not at either of the other two locations. At Charleston Music Hall, though, I found the Lovell Sisters on the stage, so I decided to make do with what I had in front of me. I’d like to have seen Na Fidleiri, but poor organizational skills, the hassle of parking, and a brain cloudy from two weeks of non-stop festival-going had brought me to Charleston Music Hall, so I decided to go with the current rather than bucking it.

It was a happy mistake, it turns out. I’d planned to catch the Lovell Sisters’ fusion of bluegrass, folk, country and contemporary acoustic music at noon on Saturday, but Friday worked just fine for me, seeing as how I was already there. I hope Sheri Grace Wenger is pleased with the turnout for her programming at the Music Hall, which also includes Quintango Cabaret, Blue Plantation, John Brannen, and the music theatre events A Chorus Line, The Rock and Roll Heaven Show (big shout-out to my lovely friend Tiffany Coleman in that one), Unforgettable, and Always … Patsy Cline. There was a huge crowd at the Friday matinee concert, which suggests she’s doing pretty well. Hope so.

The Lovell Sisters consist of 14-year-old Rebecca on mandolin, 15-year-old Megan on Dobro, and 19-year-old pre-med student Jessica on violin, with all of them also on vocals. They’re backed up by Joshua Miller on guitar and banjo, and Jess Holloway on bass. The five of them made great, toe-tapping music, and the three girls performed (and worked the audience) in a manner well beyond their years. If Jessica becomes a doctor, she’ll have missed her calling. The three girls and Joshua chatted with audience members (mostly the young girls) and signed autographs in the lobby afterward. When Jessica said, “Thanks for coming, really,” she looked right into the eyes of the person she was talking to and you could see she meant it.

Not that he’s part of either festival, but Ryan Adams’ presence in Charleston for a concert at the NCPAC does happen to coincide with the closing weekend of both Piccolo and Spoleto, so I figure Parker Posey’s former boyfriend is fair game for blog coverage. Also, the fact that he called our offices today to complain about a preview article we ran about him in this week’s paper sort of helps me rationalize it. Adams, who’s touring in support of his new album, Cold Roses, apparently hit the King Street mile pretty hard last night, keeping the rock star stereotype alive at Cumberlands, the Kickin’ Chicken, and the Upper Deck, among other downtown watering holes. Not 30 minutes ago he was on 96Wave, singing a song he wrote today about the Upper Deck. Staffer Sara Miller sez two friends of hers were at the Deck last night when he was there, and later left with him to continue the party at his hotel room, playing guiter with him until the wee hours of the am. Maybe he’ll be out and about again tonight after his concert. Let us know if you see him. Especially if he’s misbehaving.

I was a little bit late to Monday’s installment of Piccolo’s early Music Series at First (Scots) Presbyterian Church, featuring Charleston Pro Musica in a program entitled “Greatest Hits of the Renaissance,” so I missed the introduction of all the players. And, unfortunately, there was no printed program. But the lineup included seven musicians — Steve Rosenberg on a variety of small guitars, a percussionist, a violin, and cello, and a trio who played a variety of the fun, unusual-looking woodwinds that are particular to that era. There were also two vocalists, one of whom I believe was Jose Lemos, but don’t hold me to it. The crowd was a good one, and I once I’d taken my seat I remembered immediately why it was I used to so enjoy catching Steve Rosenberg’s troupe at the CofC’s Monday Night Concert Series as often as I could. Early Music, of course, is stuff that predates “classical” music as we know it — generally dating from the beginning of the Baroque preiod back to the onset of human history, though there was no rock banging at yesterday’s concert). They played Renaissance-era folk music from all over the world, though my own favorites were weighted toward the British Isles and the Middle East. The sizeable crowd were clearly no strangers to this music, and they had a great time with songs like “The Raggle Haggle Gypsy” and “Alas, I Lie Alone.”

Just in case there was anyone out there thinking Spoleto Festival USA, now more than a week old and entering the home stretch of its final seven days, had run out of fodder for the buzz machine, Emmanuel Villaume tonight proved that this festival still has energy to burn. At least until Lee Breuer decides to change his DollHouse again, what people are going to be talking about for the remainder of this week is the two hours that transpired on the Gaillard stage during this evening’s Festival Concert. Emmanuel isn’t above getting himself airborne during his more enthusiastic moments of conducting, especially when the music calls for it, and he had plenty of opportunity tonight.

John Kennedy’s Storm and Stress, an original commission for the festival this year, started things off. Kennedy’s musical roots are in percussion, and his 10-minute work was full of it, as well as a lot of other sounds evocative of nature’s wrath: wind, rain, thunder; he worked interesting snippets of jazz and what sounded like showtunes into the work, and at one point there was an unmistakable nod to Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. Some of the effects he pulled from the Spoleto Festival Orchestra musicians were completely new to me: at one point he had the double-bass players thwacking their bows against the bridge; elsewhere he had the violin section making sounds I’d bever before heard from an orchestra, but the effect was remarkably similar to a flock of birds chittering.

The work ended, literally, with a tremendous bang, and during the ovation Emmanuel was looking for Kennedy, who I eventually saw cruising down the aisle house right, toward the stage, where he disappeared into a door. That, I thought for a moment, was the wrong door. Sure enough, Kennedy seemed to become lost in the dark backstage area, because the crowd continued to applaud, and he continued to not appear. Finally, when Emmanuel held up a sheet of the music to stand in for John, the slightly flustered composer stepped through a door onto the stage and the ovation began all over again.

The real excitement was only beginning, though. When preternaturally gifted young pianist Andrew von Oeyen was finished playing Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto, the “knuckle buster,” the Gaillard crowd had leaped to its feet and was shouting its appreciation almost before the final note has sounded. On the third curtain call, I saw Emmanuel speaking to von Oeyen as they were taking their umpteenth bow; when he was called out a fourth time, von Oeyen marched straight to the piano, sat down, and knocked out a delightful Gershwin tune (can anybody tell me what this was exactly?) that had the audience positively giddy.

After then intermission, Emmanuel led the SFO through a thunderous Rite of Spring (which Kennedy’s earlier work had some interesting similarities to). I think this was probably the first time Stravinsky’s Rite had been a part of the Spoleto or Piccolo program since several years ago when Charleston Ballet Theatre performed a hair-raising version (it was written as a ballet, after all) beneath Angel Oak to much acclaim (and probably a few cold showers, if I remember right). Emmanual and the SFO gave it a hell of a return tonight.

My only beef with the evening: their air didn’t seem to be on during the first half of the program. If I was wiping my brow, I know von Oeyen was hot.

Grade: B
A nostalgic trip down memory lane for the boomer generation

Motown Revisited
Local talents get it on at That ’60s Soul Show
by Sara Miller

The aptly titled That ‘60s Soul Show delivers on its promise, entertaining the mostly middle-aged audience with a two-hour set of faithful renditions of classic hits from Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, and other Motown-era artists.

That ‘60s Soul Show relies heavily on the vocal talents of local singers Bobby Alvarez, Quiana Parler, and Amanda Morris to stand in for the aforementioned legends, and they are all acceptable substitutes.

Organizer Lawson Roberts was wise to set this event up at Bar 145, which has a great cabaret atmosphere. The stage seemed a bit crowded, with an excellent horn section, a precise drummer (or two, when Alvarez grabbed the bongos) and arranger Taras Kovayl on keyboards, but this problem was overcome by having the singers appear onstage one at a time for most of the show.

The horn section really kept things rolling and added that extra authentic ’60s touch to the production, providing wonderful trumpet and sax solos at just the right times. It was, however, a little strange when only one of the singers was onstage and background vocals seemed to materialize out of thin air (the other singers were behind a curtain at the side of the stage.)

The volume was turned way up, almost to an uncomfortable level, but the trio of singers deserved to be heard. All three of them have soulful voices and an obvious love for the music they’re singing; as the only male vocalist, Alvarez had to cover a lot of different singers and always looked and acted like he was having a damn good time doing it.

Song highlights included Alvarez’s “My Girl,” during which he hit some incredibly high notes spot-on, the trio singing together on “Midnight Train to Georgia,” and anytime Parler took on the persona of the Queen of Soul (“R-E-S-P-E-C-T,” “Natural Woman”).

There was a long, long intro before Alvarez launched into “Let’s Get It On,” giving everyone more than enough time for the Viagra to kick in. While Alvarez has a strong, talented voice, pulling off Marvin Gaye is a tall order — his spirited determination almost gets him there, but it’s pretty tough to replicate the master of soul.

After the intermission, Parler came out and wowed the crowd as Michael Jackson in his younger, more innocent days, tearing through “I Want You Back” and “ABC.” About the only time the show slowed down was during a Morris/Parler duet on a languorous version of The Shirelles’ “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow,” which Roberts mentioned was inspired by VH1’s Divas Live show.

Throughout the evening, Alvarez worked hard to get the crowd going, and they repaid him with handclaps, hoots, and hollers, and the occasional dance breakout. The show was remarkably similar to listening to a ’60s soul compilation CD or oldies radio before they started adding all that rock ’n’ roll from the ’70s — and hence perfect for parents and grandparents, or anyone with a love for classic soul hits.

If it’s not obvious by now, I’m a big fan of John Kennedy’s Music in Time series. I love the fact that there are young and not-so-young composers out there creating music that’s not easily classifiable, that’s crossing genres and breaking rules, that’s making use of new instrumentation and technologies, that’s certainly not “classical” in the dead, white-wigged European sense, and that doesn’t fit neatly into radio-friendly three-and-a-half-minute chunks with lame lyrics about adolescent heartache, because these composers aren’t interested in the stupid restrictions the commercial radio format places on music. I also like Music in TIme because John Kennedy is a remarkably friendly, interesting, articulate guy with a cool vision.

So it was disappointing to find that Wednesday evening’s presentation of the second Music in Time program, which had been scheduled to be the series’ first ever open-air concert in the Cistern, was relocated to the Gaillard Exhibition Hall because of the rain that’s plagued us all week. I know John had been looking forward to the series’ first outdoor program, and he’d specifically selected the one work on that night’s program for the honor. But he took it well, and the exhibition hall turned out to be a great venue for the piece after all.

Composer Iannis Xenakis’, Kennedy told the huge crowd who showed up at the Gaillard for the concert, was also an architect and a mathematician. His Pléïades is a four-movement, all-percussion work that calls for improvised metal instruments, xylophones, vibraphones, marimbas, and dozens of different kinds of drums. A New York-based group of young musicians called So Percussion (see more on them in my feature for the City Paper here.) started their concert with a work that wasn’t on their program but which Kennedy noted is in their regular repertory: Steve Reich’s short composition of phasic, overlapping rhythms entitled “Drumming Part 1,” which the four tackled with jaw-dropping precision and plenty of verve. They then moved into the main course for the evening, during which they pounded out 40 minutes of blood-quickening, hair-flattening percussion music that had audience members bouncing in their seats, tapping their toes, nodding their heads, and often plugging their ears, especially during the higher-pitched sections of the first, all-metal movement. I noticed all the players wore ear buds connected to wires that ran down there back, and it eventually dawned on me that they must all have been listening to a metronome; otherwise I can’t see how they could possibly have played the amazing work.

So Percussion got a long standing ovation, and the crowd clearly had loved the work, plugged ears and all. So is performing again in MiT’s third program on June 4 (tomorrow) at Recital Hall. Before that, though, they’re playing a couple of sets at Mt. Pleasant’s Village Tavern tonight, which I hope to make. (It may not be radio airplay, but it’s close.)

From the Chapel Theatre, I hoofed it up Calhoun to King and across a flag-filled Marion Square to John Street and Charleston Music Hall, where I found Sheri Grace Wenger in the lobby overseeing the start of a 5pm show from longtime Piccolo fave Quintango. If you’ve never seen them before, Quintango is a quintet of five musicians (piano, double-bass, cello and two violins) who play tango music (get it? quin-tango?). They’ve been packing ‘em in at Footlight Theatre for as long as I can remember. Since Footlight isn’t producing its own Piccolo series this year, Wenger decided to make them part of her new series at Charleston Music Hall, which has never been utilized for the festivals, apart from the occasional Pat Conroy lecture about depression or suicide.

Wenger’s got a big lineup of audience-friendly stuff at the Music Hall, which technically may be the most sophisticated performance venue in town (and rent for the facility reflects that). Straight music performances on the program include singer-songwriter John Brannen, the Lovell Sisters (who played with the CSO at last Friday’s opening night Sunset Serenade), Blue Plantation, and Quintango. Wenger’s also got a slate of music theatre in the space: her ever-popular Always … Patsy Cline, Workshop Theatre in Columbia’s production of A Chorus Line, and her own long-running Rock ‘n’ Roll Heaven show. It’s a lot of ground to cover, and, again, there’s no guarantee that Wenger will make back the money she’s sunk into renting the facility and hiring these groups to perform, to say nothing of the cost of producing her own stuff. But she told me yesterday she was pleased with turnout so far (though the rain had her, like everyone, worried), and there seemed to be a good crown in the theatre for Quintango.

With Quintango, all you get is tango music, but they do that exceedingly well. Host and violin player introduces each song with a story or a short history less, and there’s lots of references to Argentina and Buenas Aries. This production also includes a pair of dancers, who liven up the already sulty songs with some very real, very good tango dancing. The crowd at Wednesday’s afternoon show was predominantly of the grey- and silver-haired variety, but what was happening between the dancers up there was enough to stand in for a week’s worth of Viagra.

What with the rain and all, John Kennedy has decided to move tonight’s 9pm performance of Iannis Xenakis Pléïades from the Cistern to drier climes up Calhoun Street — specifically to the Gaillard Exhibition Hall (the auditorium is already booked for a dress rehearsal of Contemporary Legend Theatre’s Kingdom of Desire).

It’s a shame, because I know Kennedy was really looking forward to the program’s first-ever outdoor performance at the Cistern, and Xenakis’ pounding, all-percussion work would have been perfect for it.