#OperaPlot 2011 -- The Denouement

The #OperaPlot contest is over for this year, and as always, competition was stiff. As you may recall, the idea was to give -- in a humorous fashion -- the plot of an opera using only the 140-character limit allowed on Twitter (actually, the count was less because each entry had to include the hashtag #operaplot).

Since a few of the winning tweets are NSFW, I'll just point to the complete list of winning entries. There were five winners, five runners-up, and additional prizes for the best pop culture reference, best song parody, best modern opera plot, and even best #OperaPlot fan art!

So how did I do? Well, I was one of the runners-up again this year with the following entry:

Ramades and Aida get in on the ground floor of a pyramid scheme. #operaplot  [Aïda]

Which, considering how many thousands of entries were submitted from all over the world, I think is quite an honor!

I'm already thinking about possible entries for next year. How about you?

Review: Wuorinen Chamber Music: New works from an established master

This new release from Naxos presents an interesting picture of Charles Wuorinen’s chamber music output. It starts with his first string quartet from 1971, which serves as a point of reference. The rest of the disc features works written within the past few years, simultaneously showing just how much Wuorinen’s style has matured, while his musical language remained fairly consistent.

Wuorinen’s First String Quartet is very much a work of its time. Although one could characterize the music as atonal, it sounded to me like there were pitch centers (but not triads) that Wuorinen would go away from then return to. The quartet has a stop-and-start feel to it -- long, drawn-out notes followed by frantic bursts of activity. But there’s a logic to those tempo shifts. It’s as if the quartet is breathing in and out, moving ahead in a series of ripples.

The other major work on the album is his Second Piano Quintet from 2008. Some might call it a 12-tone composition, but even on first hearing it seemed to me there was something more going on. It’s the kind of structure I expect to find in more tonal works. The end result was I thoroughly enjoyed the composition. It was fresh, innovative, yet not so far removed from convention that the listener has no point of reference.

Also included on the release are two shorter works, Wuorninen’s Scherzo for piano, and the Viola Variations. Stylistically, both lean more toward the string quartet than the piano quintet, but still engaging works, nevertheless.

The musicians on this release, the Bretano String Quartet, pianist Peter Serkin and violist Lois Martin, all play with authority and conviction. They’ve internalized this music and present it with expressiveness and warmth.

Review: This Fairy Tale has a happy ending (and beginnng and middle)

This new release features three orchestral works by Czech composer Josef Suk, son-in-law to Antonin Dvorak. JoAnn Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra turn in solid performances of these works, and produce a disc that rewards repeated listening.

Suk’s Fantasy in G minor for violin and orchestra, Op. 24 starts the program. Michael Ludwig shines as the soloist, bringing just a hint of Slavic expression (for want of a better term) to the music. Although Suk didn’t use Czech folk music in his compositions, this performance leaves no doubt as to his nationality.

The centerpiece of the release is Suk’s Fairy Tale, Op. 16.  Although influenced by Richard Strauss, Suk took a different path. His orchestration is just as brilliant and exotic as Strauss, but without the latter’s brashness and aggressiveness. Falletta and the Buffalo Philharmonic hit the right tone just about all the way through the work. The soft passages are tenderly beautiful, the dramatic ones authoritative without being bombastic.  In this recording one can understand why the Fairy Tale is one of Suk’s most popular works.

The final work on the album, the Fantastick scherzo, Op. 25, trips lightly along. Falletta keeps the music moving along, while lingering over the introspective sections long enough for the listener to savor them.
Particularly striking is how well-recorded this release is. Suk’s music is as much about orchestral coloration as it is about structure, and Buffalo Philharmonic has a warm, inviting sound that really adds to the performance of these works.

Recommended for the performances, and a real bargain for the price.