It was a wonderfully talented cast of singers led by the young conductor on the rise, Ward Stare, the current resident conductor who seems to be taking the fast track to the big leagues.  It was a real treat to work with a young conductor who was so full of energy and confidence with his musical intention and ability to communicate it with the stick, but at the same time easy-going and making for a relaxed and fun working atmosphere.  The orchestra was simply fantastic.  I’ve done a lot of Magic Flutes in full production and various abridged versions and I’d say this was luxury accompaniment, without a doubt.  Best of all, the orchestra’s home, Powell Hall, is not only beautiful, but has an acoustic that any orchestra would want for.  I’m not exaggerating when I say that the hall practically sings itself.  It seems strange to think a space would make us sing with more or less ease, but I can honestly say that a place like that does make it easy to sing.  Again…we like that.

Here are some pics I took of the hall.  I was told it was originally built as a movie theater.  Grander days for the movie going experience, apparently.

Powell Hall

Below is the orchestra warming up for their concert the evening before our performance.  They were doing Dvorak’s 7th Symphony, A Haunted Landscape by George Crumb (very cool piece), and Strauss’s Four Last Songs sung by Christine Brewer.  A very enjoyable concert, for sure.  Sorry the picture isn’t quite in focus, but it was taken with my iPhone and the usher lady scolded me with lightning speed for taking a picture .

St. Louis Symphony

As one last little offering, I will share something I found amusing.  Downstairs in Powell Hall there are dressing rooms for the musicians where each has their own closet of sorts.  One of the musicians had the door covered with various cartoons and commentaries.  I liked this one so much I had to take a picture.

Using this unusual space to the fullest, I make my descent from the heavens, the roof of the adjacent four-story building, via my chariot, the fire escape.  The initial mission is to help heal and save the world. But then I see a cute hunter girl with silly notions of virginal aspiration and, surprisingly enough, that changes my focus.  The expected convoluted operatic mayhem ensues. You can be sure I get the girl in the end, but there’s that whole snafu of my wife turning her into a bear. DOH!

The cast a fantastic group of singers the spanning range of voice types including two very fine countertenors.  We also have top notch band of musicians playing period instruments including harpsichord, theorbo, viola da gamba and two violins.

Click on the image above for the company website or here for ticket purchasing.  Tickets are $30.  Note that there is a rain date for each performance on the following day.

(By the way, I am usually annoyed and puzzled by websites with landing pages that use flash or whatever else to delay you from getting to the info you’re actually looking for.  Billy, however, has by far the best and most affective use of this landing page thing that I have ever seen.  Check it out.)

So now I am in rehearsals for this weekend’s VOX Opera Lab, concert performances of new operas in development with orchestra, presented by New York City Opera.

I will be singing in two very different and interesting pieces.  This Saturday afternoon at 2:30 at NYU’s Skirball Center, I will bring to you the role of The Monster in a beautiful and poignant section from the opera Mary Shelley by composer Allan Jaffe and Librettist Deborah Atherton.  Believe it or not, I get to sing quite lyrical and enjoyable lines with a picturesque and thought provoking text.  No silly growling and grunting and such.

Then, on Sunday the 15th at 7:30PM, I am in De Deo by composer Paola Prestini and librettist Donna di Novelli.  I will be unleashing a dramatic tour-de-force, singing three roles in one as the Thug/Shephard/Jailer.  This will be taking place at the super hip and cozy club, Le Poisson Rouge.  This is a spot for the coolest of cats, so make sure your face is in the place!

So there it is.  I was inspired for the opening theme of this post by my schedule the other day when I recorded the cow voice for the PBS thing and then went to City Opera for VOX rehearsal to give voice to the Monster and then the Thug/Shephard/Jailer.  Very interesting work, indeed.  (That’s what I tell myself, at least, when I look at my bank account! )

We had three performances of the Brahms Requiem with the Silicon Valley Symphony for very engaged and appreciative audiences at the beautiful California Theater in San Jose.  Gregory Vajda led the big ensemble with soul, conviction and nuance.  Lisa Vroman sang simply beautifully in the soprano solo.  The chorus and orchestra came together powerfully to provide that broad and earthy wall of sound so crucial to this piece.  Your truly, bringing up the low end, did my best to sing with both passion and subtlety in the powerful baritone solo.  Thankfully, this reviewer enjoyed my contribution.  The review on whole is a bit confusing and, for my taste, a bit unfair and perhaps undereducated in some of the comments about the orchestra and chorus.  Nevertheless, I’ll gladly take the high praise he dished on me:

“Yet the performance improved when Curran started
singing in the third section (“Lord, make me to know
mine end”). Whether feeling inspired or challenged
by his bold delivery, the choir suddenly found a
strength that had been lacking. Unfortunately, it
lasted only through the end of Curran’s solo.
Elegantly and powerfully, the bass stole the
spotlight. When he sang “Lord, what do I wait for?
My hope is in thee,” the audience surely felt the
helplessness in that cry….

Curran’s return in the penultimate movement (“For
we have no permanent city, but we seek one to
come”) once again underscored his power to draw
more musicality from the whole ensemble.”

Brahms German Requiem
Thursday 7:30 pm March 24, 2011
Saturday 8:00 pm March 26, 2011
Sunday 2:30 pm March 27, 2011

Information and tickets can be found at www.symphonysiliconvalley.org.

Brahms is one of my favorite composers of song.  I love the way he writes so generously and naturally for that “slow and low” kind of vibe that a bass like myself likes.  There is an earthiness about his music that I just can’t get enough of.

So I really fell in love with his body of song literature first.  But then when I first heard and experienced the Brahms Requiem live, the profound greatness of the composer was forever confirmed in my mind.  What was most amazing was to learn that he was only 35 years old when he completed it, having started it three years earlier.  The picture I have used of him here is from about that time, showing not the wise, old, intense and bearded Brahms, but a fairly youthful-looking one.   I got this image off a blog post I found which has quite a nice succession of pictures of Brahms through his life.

Whether you are a well-schooled lover of classical music or a complete newcomer to the vast repertoire of the great composers, I strongly recommend taking some time to familiarize or re-acquaint yourselves with one of the greatest pieces in the vast repertoire written for the human voice.  Here is the Wikipedia page for the piece, which very nicely highlights one of the wonderful distinguishing characteristics of the piece:

Although the Requiem Mass in the Roman Catholic liturgy begins with prayers for the dead (“Grant them eternal rest, O Lord”), A German Requiem focuses on the living, beginning with the text “Blessed are those who bear pain: for they shall be comforted.” This theme—transition from anxiety to comfort—recurs in all the following movements except the final one. Although the idea of the Lord is the source of the comfort, the sympathetic humanism persists through the work.

On that note, I would like to acknowledge the passing of Dr. James McDonald.  I was fortunate enough to study with him and his wife Ruth Ann during my time at Indiana University and for two summers in the German for Singers program at Middlebury College.  His love for people, music, laughter, the voice and even the German language gave me and so many others a treasure chest of fond memories and wonderful lessons, both in and out of the studio.  My performance in this Brahms Requiem will be dedicated to both the memory Dr. J and the life of Ruth Ann.  How could anyone think of one and not the other?

For a beautiful site established by their daughter with many wonderful words from family, friends and former students, visit http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/drjamesjimmcdonald