Eastman Presents

The Corea/Gadd Band

It’s difficult to know which factored more into the excellent attendance at this concert – the notoriety of Chick Corea and/or Steve Gadd, or its auspicious timing at Meliora weekend (the University of Rochester’s “family weekend”). Personally, I’ve been a Corea fan ever since my teens, when my younger brother introduced me to “Return to Forever” (the band, the album, and the song).

Both musicians were given honorary degrees by Eastman, and Steve Gadd, who went to high school in Irondequoit and graduated from Eastman, actually started to cry when he received his. They both played incredibly (as did the other multicultural members of the band), and while they mostly played songs from a soon-to-be-released album they were promoting, they did play “Return to Forever” (I was hoping for “Spain” or “500 Miles High”…). It was fascinating to watch Gadd at the drums – his short-sleeved shirt showed that his arms are still, at his age, all muscle. They definitely left the audience wanting more when the left the stage.

Orchestra dell’Accadamia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia – Rome

Coming on the heels of the Corea/Gadd concert, one couldn’t help but draw audience comparisons. While there was more age diversity (including plenty of youth on this Monday night) than usual at a symphonic concert, there were also plenty more empty seats. I liked that the hall lights were dimmed only slightly (I find the usual darkening of the hall not only is an invitation to nap, but is also harder on the eyes as you’re staring into the lighted stage). However, that must have given the sizable orchestra (and it was enormous – 36 violinists!) a better view of how sparse the audience was. A pair of Eastman students behind me were commenting about their need to go practice, and one of them remarked that there was no reason to stay past intermission (the piano soloist was in the first half). Ah, the arrogance of youth – I just hope these musicians don’t encounter audiences like themselves someday! To be fair, one of them did return. But not everyone did. Were these people really only there to hear the truly talented Beatrice Rana play Prokofiev’s Piano Concerto No. 3 in C Major, Op. 26? Or were they frightened by the second half of the program (which didn’t specify the lengths of the pieces), which would commence around 9:15 and included two Respighi pieces with 4 movements each?

The entire performance, from the mass entrance of the musicians to the two encores, was riveting. The orchestra’s pianissimos were stunning, and the conductor, Sir Antonio Pappano, must have known how special his orchestra’s ability to play softly was, because their first encore was a deliberately quiet piece by Sibelius. The 24-year old Rana was amazing to watch (and hear, of course) at the piano. Her playing was forceful but not showy, and after a standing ovation, she graced us with an encore.

It would be nice if Eastman would consider starting weeknight performances at 7:30, instead of 8:00. This might encourage more young people to attend, and more people to stay for the entire program. It would also be nice if more Rochesterians would give this series a chance and trust the Director of Concert Activities – it’s obviously put together very thoughtfully to offer a diversity of programming (the remaining five performances include a Grammy-winning bluegrass band, a British period instrument orchestra, a centennial celebration of jazz pianist Marian McPartland, an all-male Argentinian dance company, and someone named Patti Lupone…). Each performance is one-of-a-kind in Rochester, so you can’t wait for a review or word of mouth – you have to take a (very small) leap of faith that the programming will be entertaining, uplifting, sometimes horizon-broadening, and worth your time and money. I’m glad I did.

For more information on the remaining performances, visit: 

http://eastmantheatre.org/events/?criteria=event_series&series=Eastman%20Presents%20Series

Rochester Oratorio Society – Amy Beach’s Grand Mass in E flat, Opus 5

I’ll admit, I was puzzled when my brother from Baltimore asked if he could fly up for the night, just to attend the Rochester Oratorio Society (ROS) performance of Amy Beach’s Grand Mass. I had posted the concert on Facebook, because Concentus Women’s Chorus was performing a few pieces on the first half of the program, and my purpose had been to get fellow Rochesterians to attend, not anyone from out of town! Even Concentus’ conductor was curious.

Now, my brother is a bit of a classical music nerd, so my guess was that he likes to collect performances, the way a philatelist collects stamps. And the mass was a piece he hadn’t heard performed, nor was he likely to in another setting. While that was a piece of it, he explained that it was primarily because Amy Beach, born in 1867, is an important American composer, like George W. Chadwick and John Knowles Paine. Um, who? I’ll admit, I had never heard of any of these people! So if they are so relatively unknown, why are they important? And how can you be unknown and important? Well, apparently, she was among the first American composers to achieve prominence in the Western musical tradition. Oh, and she was a woman.

The work is not particularly sophisticated, and her inexperience is evident in the sometimes odd settings of the Latin text (a quick look on Wikipedia confirmed that she wasn’t really familiar with Latin, but I think we can give her a pass, since she was only 20 when she composed the piece). But the entry also asserted that this was the first mass written by a woman. Let that sink in. In the pre-concert interview, WXXI’s Brenda Tremblay asked soprano soloist Elena O’Connor about her experience learning and performing the piece, and Ms. O’Connor remarked that Beach was “meticulous in her notations – she was a woman who knew what she wanted.”

The soloists were very good, although I particularly enjoyed the baritone, Keith Brown, and Ms. O’Connor. I’ll admit, though, that when the four of them sang as a quartet I sometimes had difficulty discerning the notes through all that vibrato. My brother and I both noticed that the keyboard player hopped back and forth between the organ and the piano. He wondered if perhaps some wind instruments had been substituted with a piano reduction. Since it was my initial impression that there wouldn’t be a piano (hence the need for Concentus to sing only a cappella songs), I suspect musician costs became a factor. Even though ROS is a 130+ member volunteer chorus, I’m sure the instrumentalists, in addition to the soloists, were all paid. Thank goodness for the Decentralization Grant that supported this performance!

Kudos to ROS Artistic Director Eric Townell for putting together this collaborative performance to celebrate the centennial of Women’s Suffrage and the 150^th anniversary of Beach’s birth. I applaud his risk-taking inclusion of the Young Women’s College Prep Charter School Choir. Concentus was truly honored to have been invited to participate in the event.

For information on the rest of ROS’ season, visit https://rossings.org