Passaggio/fail basis
Not only has physical therapy healed Mariusz Kwiecien‘s shapely back, it’s apparently added a third to the top of his range. [New York Times]
Not only has physical therapy healed Mariusz Kwiecien‘s shapely back, it’s apparently added a third to the top of his range. [New York Times]
This is no floppy Don Giovanni at all. I hope he doesn’t do too much of that calisthenic staging and saves it all for Saturday matinee!
Between him and Jonas there’s going to be a testosterone charged weekend — so, better let Betsy_Ann know so she can go get extra smelling salts and mint juleps.
Betsy_Ann is going to need a bigger verandah.
So how did Mariusz do this evening? I was at the John Williams concert at The Phil and when it was over walked over to the Met to watch on the TV in the lobby. I saw the beginning of the graveyard scene and he was still on his feet, getting up and down from the floor gingerly, but looked great! The sound is terrible on those TVs, and I was in a hurry to get home, so I didn’t stay to watch much.
How was the Williams concert?
The Williams concert was just plain old FUN! I’d never been to one of these before, and he doesn’t only conduct his own composed music but chooses other composers’ work that he finds to be stellar examples of film scoring.
This was the program:
Richard A. Whiting -- “Hooray for Hollywood” to a montage of favorite films
Erich W. Korngold -- March from “The Adventures of Robin Hood”
Bernard Herrmann -- Scene d’Amour from “Vertigo”
Alex North -- Forest Meeting/Love Theme & March from “Spartacus”
John Williams -- Selections from “Close Encounters” & “E.T.”
Tribute to the Film Composer -- montage of films & themes
Carlos Gardel -- Por una cabeza (tango from “Scent of a Woman”) Violin solo by Gil Shaham
John Williams -- 3 pieces from “Schindler’s List”
Violin solo by Gil Shaham
Jerry Bock -- Excerpts from “Fiddler on the Roof” with violin solo again by Shaham
John Williams -- Main Title from “Star Wars”
3-4 encores of music from Star Wars
There were accompanying films for some of these selections. He does these concerts all over the country, something I wasn’t aware of earlier. It was great to hear this music performed live by the Phil and the violin solos played so beautifully by Shaham, who seemed giddy with delight and truly enjoyed himself up there.
Surprisingly, there was no music from any of the 3 Harry Potter films he scored -- some of the most recognized movie music themes ever composed. He seems to downplay his work for that franchise and is all about his work for Spielberg -- maybe the HP experience was unpleasant, or Warner Bros won’t allow him to play his own themes? Odd.
I have never seen such an enthusiastic audience -- screaming and cheering when they recognized a theme, and giving the 83 year old maestro standing ovations. It was a a good mix of people of all ages, especially kids. I was last thereon Sunday afternoon for Britten’s “War Requiem”, which was quite the contrast to this cheerful evening.
Thank you, bluecabochon, for that amazing review. Jealous that you heard the Schindler’s List live. Amazing piece of work.
I love that John Williams seems to so be enjoying where he is right now. Super.
Thanks again.
Bluecabachon:
I listened and to me he seems to have exactly the right weight, the right timbre, and the right personality for this work.
He made it through vocally very well. There was what I think was an interpolated high note with the Commendatore, that had a little crack near the end, the only sign of vocal stress I heard. I missed a bit of the opening of Second Act so maybe someone else will let you know about that.
I hope he did not overstrain his back!!!! It seemed hard to believe he had just been under the knife, and hardly an effete one at that.
Toi, toi, toi on Saturday!
Thanks, Camille! I looked over on opera-l and was surprised to find that no one had anything to say about it, including the guy who seems to go to every performance, who sends updates at intermission from his iPhone.