Tokyo Performances

A show, a concert, and three operas

The show was "Once upon a Mattress" at TIP. It is an amusing show with instantly forgettable music. Jonathon Hagans was terrific, as always, as the wizard, and it was a pleasure to see Yayoi Dreisker on stage although in a role too small for her considerable talents. I thought that the leads were dull, but enjoyed Michelle Yamazaki's Queen Aggravain and Andrew Martinez's Jester. Otherwise the cast was very young, the directing uninspired, and the music dreary.

Contrasting was the ISSH Spring Concert which was consistently top-notch from beginning to end. Highlights were the Rautavaara settings of Lorca, the Five Hebrew Love Songs of Eric whitacre, and Psalm 84 of Grayston Ives. Dori Baunsgard's final show was a tour de force. She will be missed.

Then there were two Menotti shows in Shibuya - probably in celebration of the centennial of his birth. The first included a collection of soprano arias mostly adequately sung but with horrendous English diction. The highlight was "To This We've Come" from "The Consul", an opera which should be performed more often. The second half was a piano-accompanied performance of "The Old Maid and the Thief" unfortunately sung in Japanese, adequately sung by the women but with a pretty weak Bob. The second day included "Chip and His Dog" and "Help, Help! The Globolinks." "Chip" was new to me, and had some delightful moments. "Globolinks'" music is pretty forgettable, but the performances were tight and pretty well sung. The orchestra was electronic but quite convincing, and the conducting was excellently accomplished by Steve Charette. The acting was outrageously overdone, but it was a good afternoon in the theater for someone who wants to hear something a little different.

posted by Larry Wells @ 6:33 PM 0 comments

Korngold and Sibelius

Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra
Suntory Hall
April 24, 2011

I went primarily to hear the Korngold Violin Concerto - a piece I have always liked although I think the opening theme of the first movement sounds like the theme from the old TV series "Star Trek". The advertised soloist - a European - was replaced by a Japanese, Yasushi Toyoshima, who, if my reading of Japanese is correct, is the concertmaster for the New Japanese Philharmonic, an ace group. I am assuming (perhaps wrongly) that the European bowed out because of the ongoing "crisis" which was, at that point, many weeks old.

In any event, the performance was very good, although not electrifying. It was preceded by Sibelius' tone poem, Tapiola (which I always naturally associate with tapioca) - not his most interesting orchestral short piece. And it was followed by Sibelius' Fifth symphony, which is a big favorite of mine and which was admirably performed. The conductor, a Finn named Hannu Lintu, presumably knows his stuff, and I liked the pace and the phrasing, although the very end was a bit over the top.

The final piece was Finlandia, but I passed on hearing that old chestnut again. We had heard unexpectedly at the beginning of the concert a Bach Air in honor of the deceased in Tohoku, so I was ready to roll without another elegiac moment.

posted by Larry Wells @ 10:53 PM 0 comments