Howdy folks. If you've been looking for those promised "extended reviews" of Piccolo performances and wondering when thjey're going to show up on Charleston.net, the answer is, they're not. We've had a technical difficulty (namely, somebody went on vacation), and to paraphrase former Sen. Fritz Hollings, "the ox is in the ditch." No, we don't know what that means, either, but it certainly is colorful, isn't it?
Rather than posting them at Charleston.net, we're just going to skip the middle man and post them here as extended comments. Sorry for the confusion...
Reviews: 1. The Divine Counterpoint of Johann Sebastian Bach; 2. Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players; 3. Brown Bag and Ballet; 4. Early Music Series; 4. Rock and Roll Heaven.
BY WILLIAM FURTWANGLER
> Post and Courier Reviewer
> The music of J. S. Bach and Antonio Vivaldi lifted spirits Thursday
afternoon at the acoustically perfect St. Johannes Lutheran Church, as
part of Piccolo Spoleto’s Spotlight Concerts.
> This second of three presentations, subtitled “The Divine Counterpoint
of Johann Sebastian Bach,” supplied members of the Charleston Symphony
Orchestra an opportunity to masquerade as the Amabile Chamber Orchestra
with conductor Alex Agrest (normally a violist).
> The only problem, and it proved a big one, was the church’s lack of
adequate cooling, so that the hot, humid afternoon air played tricks
with the strings’ tuning. This devilry led to more than a handful of
sour notes.
> Vivaldi’s “Concerto for Four Violins in B minor, Op. 3, No. 10,” one of
the concerti named “L’estro armonico,” opened. Violinists Rosalito
Mikulinsky, Brent Price, Karen Blake and Megan Holland had the ideal
model to display their skills.
> Agrest displayed a well-developed affinity for Baroque music throughout,
keeping matters moving at a sprightly pace, never dragging in the slow
movements. Amabile, fully constituted, consisted of four first violins
and three second violins, each section separated on either side of the
conductor as the antiphonal nature of the music requires. Also were two
each violas and cellos and one double bass, plus the harpsichord. The
first movement (only) of Bach’s “Concerto in D minor for Harpsichord and
Strings” followed, with Julia Harlow as an outstanding soloist. But why
only one movement of three? Harlow also provided first-rate
> harpsichord continuo in the other works presented.
> Flautist Tacy Edwards soloed in Bach’s “Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B
minor.” Dance sections and florid melodic inventions for the flute make
this work appealing, with Edwards keeping matters lively and lyrical.
Mikulinsky returned as soloist in Bach’s “Violin Concerto No. 1 in A
Minor,” giving us Bach in the grand manner, with plenty of vibrato and
Romantic flourishes. Her approach, despite the current craze of
so-called “historically informed” performances, still works wonders.
>
>
>
> BY SANDY KATZ
> Post and Courier Reviewer
> The program notes say its “Like nothing you’ve ever seen and heard
before” but you may never want to see them again.
> The 20-something’s in the audience were feverishly signing up for
e-mails and souvenirs after the show, so maybe there was a generational
gap going on.
> Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players were alive, loud and obnoxious
during their performance at Piccolo Spoleto Fringe at American Theater.
The idea of this show is to put rock music with slides found at estate
sales, garage sales or those slides thrown in the trash, but often, the
sound quality was so loud that most of the lyrics were lost in
> translation.
> While some of the songs cleverly followed the slides, there were only a
few audible words during the “Look at Me” set. The slides were projected
on a large screen showing two friends in various stages of their lives.
the problem was, there were only three words to the song that were
identifiable.
> Jason Trachtenburg, the Dad, was lead singer, if you want to call it
that. It was more like yelling or talking through the loud music that at
times was noisy enough to damage the eardrums. He looked and acted like
Weird Al. There is some talent in there some place, but it was hard to
tell where. Was it a 70’s reality show or imitation of Ozzie’s family
minus Ozzie’s talent?
> Rachel Trachtenburg, 11, was probably the best part of the show,
drumming up a storm with ease. She is a talent to be reckoned with and
it will be interesting to see what she does in the future.
> Tina Pina Trachtenburg ran the slide projector very clumsily. Once
again, it was haard to tell if the technical problems with this
performance
were real, but
> it was a bit unnerving to say the least.
> Halfway through the hour show, the full house started to lose the
audience. It was a sideshow in itself to watch the audience members
sneak out of their seats as discreetly as possible, a few brave souls at
a time. This show bordered on stupidity.
It should have been obvious by the
> amateurish quality of the opening act what kind of show was going to be
presented. “The WOOZ” was a three-piece garage band spouting their own
tunes to music so loud I held my hands on my ears. I couldn’t understand
a word they said. One song was called “646,” and I heard that number
over and over again until it was too much to take. They usually play in
the subways of New York. Maybe the sounds of the trains drown them out.
The performers were likeable, but that’s not enough when you pay to be
entertained. However, the twenty-something’s seemed to enjoy themselves
immensely, so maybe I was too old for this show – along with all those
audience members that left.
>
>
>
>
> BROWN BAG AND BALLET
>
> By Nada Arnold
>
> Had Leonard Bernstein lived to see his “Jubilee Games” composition set
to ballet, he might have been stunned by prodigy Jonathan Tabbert’s
mature and polished oeuvre, a world premiere presented by the Charleston
Ballet Theatre to a full house at Thursday’s Piccolo Spoleto’s Brown Bag
and Ballet dance series.
> Certainly the Harkness Foundation for Dance had already acknowledged the
23-year-old’s talents with a recent grant for “Jubilee,” an elegant en
pointe effort danced by CBT principals Jennifer Balcerzak, Stephanie
Bussell, Marcie Campo, Kathleen Dwyer, Jessica Roan, Janet V. Meister,
Charles Glunk, Stephen Gabriel, Tanner Hronek, and Matthew McKinney. The
women, regally gowned in lavender, the men in black with purple tights,
blended faultless en pointe turns and classical leaps, fluid lines at
once serene, prayerful, youthful, joyful.
> Tabbert, a choreographer since age 9, is most inspired by the violin,
effusing in “Jubilee” an uncanny match of movement to sound. Resident
choreographer Jill Eathorne Bahr, who has watched Talbert develop as
both choreographer and dancer since he joined CBT in 1999, said, “There
are choreographers who are dance arrangers, and choreographers like
Jonathan who really create movement to music.”
> It is his genius, she added, that allows him to visualize dance on
multiple levels.
> Bahr choreographed two other offerings: “Slither,” set to a Dmitri
Shostakovich piano trio, is just that, a stylized modern dance form that
focuses on shapes, angular arm-and-leg stances and a delicious
> belly-dance-like twists of the torso. If it looked easy, it reflected
consummate control, as elastic dancers Bussell, Campo, Roan, Meister,
Hronek, and Glunk glistened from the effort.
> And onto the finale, Bahr’s gorgeous ode to Flamenco, “Bolero.” A
showstopper since its 1995 premiere, star Stephen Gabriel and his
partner, Janet Meister, never fails to amaze, a re-incarnation of the
smug, flamboyant Spanish masters but with Bahr-inspired panache. As the
music heats up, principals from “Jubilee,” including choreographer
Tabbert, plus CBT apprentices Jolene Chase, Amanda DeCenso, Danielle
Forestall, Kate Loh, Melissa Weber, Lara Prester and Danny Mitsios, rev
up the stage. Red dresses swirl in gorgeous patterns, punctuated by
straight-backed males in Matador black—with everyone’s feet, arms,
hands, even fingers, flying. You never want to see anyone else’s
Flamenco. Ever.
> The crowd stood and roared, and front-row visitor, Ariyana Doctor, a
sixth grader at Fraser Elementary, echoed, “It was awesome.”
> The Jubilee-fronted Brown-Bag program repeats June 4, 9, and 11,
alternating with other Brown-Bag repertoire.
>
> BY MARY SOLOMON
> Post and Courier Reviewer
> One of the most popular and well-known orchestral works appeared on
Thursday’s Early Music Series, Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons.” Amos Lawrence,
solo violinist, led the Charleston Baroque Ensemble in a masterful
performance of this perennial favorite to a larger than usual audience
at the First Presbyterian Church. It was a perfect marriage of acoustics
and these baroque instruments.
> Vivaldi has written music which accurately exemplifies the many moods of
each season, beginning with Spring. Lawrence perfectly captured the
murmuring streams of water, awakening birds with all their twittering
and chirping, and flower-bedecked meadows, as the world comes to life
and is reborn again.
> Summer came alive with voices of the cuckoo and turtledove heard over
the land. The ensemble showed great passion as it portrayed the fierce
thunder and lighting of the summer’s stormy weather.
> Huntsmen, horns and hounds were audible in Autumn as the prey slowly
dies in agony. The slow section of this movement was beautifully played
with Lawrence’s wonderfully sustained control. It was one of the
highlights of the program.
> The season of winter brings this masterpiece to a close with the fear of
falling on the ice, snow and teeth-chattering cold, lazy days by the
fireside and the slowing down of life in general.
> “Four Seasons” is a picturesque work of many moods and Lawrence and the
Charleston Baroque Ensemble played it to a fair-thee-well. Lawrence
plays with effortless technique, tenderness, and vivacity and the
ensemble followed his lead. Coordinator of the series, Steve Rosenberg,
reminded the audience that the program will be repeated on Sunday at 1
p.m. It’s a chance to hear this great group of musicians bring this
audience favorite to life again. Thursday’s audience gave them a
standing ovation and called them back several times to show their
appreciation for their remarkable display of talent.
>
> BY SANDY KATZ
> Post and Courier Reviewer
> “If you believe in forever and life is just a one night stand; if
there’s a Rock ‘n’ Roll Heaven, you know you got a hell of a band.”
> The lyrics opened up the Musical Theatre at the Charleston Music Hall’s
production of Rock ‘n’ Roll Heaven. This Sheri Grace Production
> entertained an appreciative and enthusiastic audience that nearly filled
the hall with patrons clappin, stomp’n and furiously mouthing the words
of the musical icons.
> The multi-talented Sheri Grace Wenger found some amazingly talented
singers and dancers to portray famous dearly departed artists like
Elvis, Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison. Each nailed their artist through
costumes, wigs, mannerisms and vocal qualities.
> Elvis (Brandon Joyner) came out to the fanfare of “2001: Space Odyssey”
and girls were swooning and falling all over him as he sang his songs.
The most outstanding of his songs was “Heartbreak Hotel,” and he tore
the house down at the finale with “Jailhouse Rock.” His swivels, swirls
and facial expressions made him the King.
> Dusty Springfield (Tiffany Parker) sang “Son of a Preacher Man” so
sweetly. She continued in this darling mode as Laura Branigan with
“Gloria.” Willie Mae (Big Mama) Thornton (Monique Waters) was the comic
relief. She shone like a shining star in the finale rendition of “John
the Revelator.” Ray Orbison (Ralph Daniel) had a beautiful rendition of
“Pretty Woman.” Janis Joplin (Kain Cameron) in an outrageous costume,
blew us away with “Mercedez Benz.” The audience was rocking and rolling
with her.
> Jim Morrison (Ryan Ahlert) was all over the stage in the famous Morrison
stupor. Ahlert had the perfect voice quality and charisma to engage the
audience. Otis Redding (Lamont Garner) went romantic with “Try a Little
Tenderness.” John Belushi (Ryan Mitchell) did his signature somersault
and dance shuffle as one half of the Blues’ Brothers.
> Wolfgang Jack (Richard Carter) was the backstage emcee with the deep voice.
> The lighting and set were spectacular. Lights illuminate the stage and
stars shone and lights twinkled. That was the set. Very heavenly!
Costumes and wigs by Jeannie Joyner and Ashley Perryman made the
performers seem as if they were clones of the dearly departed artists.
> The musicians were awesome and never upstaged a singer. They knew their
place and it was wonderful. What an evening of pure entertainment. Rock
‘n' Roll Heaven is a must-see for this Piccolo Spoleto season. It’s got
the makings of a wonderful Broadway show. The cast is superb and you
will fall in love with these icons all over again.
>
Went to the free Piccolo Spoleto Jazz Festival event at the Robert Mills Manor yesterday (thursday). It was incredible- got to hear the Franklin Street Five and Latoya Smith bang out some incredible music followed by some of the legends of the Jenkins Orphanage including Oscar Rivers and Lonnie Hamilton. The whole thing was a tribute to William Blake (from the Jenkins Orphanage) sponsored by the Jake Savage Foundation who are bringing music and instruments to low income kids. Jack McCray was doing everything except picking up the sax himself. It was a great day with kids running around getting their face painted and musicians playing long and loud only for the love of the music and the event.
Posted by: Aden Xander | Friday, June 03, 2005 at 11:37 PM