For me, the weekend included a trip to the Indianapolis Museum of Art to see the outdoor "Oedipus at Colonus" (see my review of "Oedipus Rex" here and a visit inside the IMA to see the newly reconfigured African art galleries (more on that soon).
I also took a Chicago drive to see the Goodman Theatre's powerful production of "The Iceman Cometh" starring Nathan Lane and Brian Dennehy. On the way, I listed to a newly released recording of the play "8," based on transcripts from California's Proposition 8 legal battles. It features George Clooney, Brad Pitt and many others.
What about you? Did you get to hear James Bond music with the ISO? Catch Lainie Kazan at the Cabaret at the Columbia Club? Go see "The Avengers" for the third time?
What A&E did you encounter this weekend?
And, FYI, The first IBJ A&E Road Trip--a bus trip for IBJ A&E readers featuring unique arts experiences--will be announced later this week. Watch for it on the blog.
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On Friday I heard a fine senior recital at Carmel High School that featured bassoonist Tom English, who is headed to the Oberlin Conservatory this Fall, and trumpeters Glen Dash and Jacob Hook, both of whom will be studying trumpet at the IU Jacobs School of Music. Works included the Fanfare for Two Trumpets of Anthony Plog, the Bassoon Concerto of CM von Weber, the Arutunian Trumpet Concerto played by Hook, and the Ewazen Trumpet Sonata played by Dash. Pianist John Glennon served as accompanist and the two trumpeters were joined by CHS Band Director Michael Pote for a rousing finale of Bugler's Holiday.
Saturday night was the final concert of the season for the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, and it featured violin soloist Andres Cardenas, whose day job is concertmaster of the Pittsburgh Symphony. He showed a rich and dark sound in the opening so Prokofiev's Violin Concerto #2, and the blend and balance between soloist and ensemble was excellent throughout except for a curious moment of intonation difficulties in the low strings. There was some wonderful writing for the woodwind soloists - after all, this is the composer of Peter and the Wolf. The soloist created a fine range of tonal colors and emotions in this interesting and complex work. ICO Music Director Kirk Trevor conducted the concert, which opened with Schreker's Intermezzo for Strings. This was my first time to hear any of this German composer's works, and the Intermezzo is a fine late Romantic melodic movement with lovely violin solos that were performed by a guest concertmaster. Schreker was quite popular, especially as an opera composer early in the twentieth century, but was marginalized by the Nazis and died in 1934. His works are now being performed more frequently, and the Intermezzo is definitely a fine addition to the string orchestra repertoire. A spirited and fun performance of Haydn's Symphony #99 in Eb concluded the concert. This was Haydn's first symphony to use clarinets, and interestingly enough, he did not really employ them much with the oboes, bassoons and flute, particularly in the woodwind heavy trio to the minuet. They did get a couple of nice moments in the finale. Trevor's interpretation of this symphony was streamlined, with a brisk tempo in the minuet and a dashing finale. All in all a fine ending to the season.
- NVR, Social Media Strategist foe NSO