Concert Review: Ema Nikolovska at the Folly Theater

Sharing the gloriously odd feature embedded above is the best way to illustrate why I’m smitten with Ema Nikolovska. I was swooning by the conclusion of the operatic vocalist’s United States recital debut at the Folly Theater on Wednesday, March 6.

The voice of the Berlin resident and native Macedonian is good, but good voices are a dime a dozen. Nikolovska is special because she’s a goofball. Her quirky sense of humor and bold creativity are distinctive qualities in the po-faced realm of classical music.

Her delivery of typical repertoire- art songs by Franz Schubert and a set of Claude Debussy compositions she characterized as “a lot of ennui”- was faultless. Yet the unconventional elements of the program were best.

A reading of Margaret Bonds’ “Songs of the Seasons” was exceptionally romantic. The sympathetic playing of pianist Howard Watkins enhanced each endearing moment.

Even better, Nikolovska’s take on Nicolas Slonimsky’s “Five Advertising Songs” almost had the audience of about 300 rolling in the aisles. (Here’s the original "Children Cry".) Paying the Harriman-Jewell Series $20 for the recital was a deal, even if it wasn’t half as freaky as the video.

Concert Review: Juan Diego Flórez at the Folly Theater

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

The ticket I purchased for Juan Diego Flórez’s recital at the Folly Theater on Sunday, November 26, cost about as much as a bottle of generic cough syrup. The discounted front row seat I grabbed in the Harriman Jewell-Series’ Black Friday sale compels me to prepare for the worst.

Flórez, one of the most popular opera stars of the past 25 years, suffered from a cold. The tenor sniffed, snuffled and cleared his throat throughout his appearance. After sitting just ten feet from Flórez, I’m at risk of contracting the bug.

Given the magnificence of the recital, I won’t be resentful should I fall ill. His range may have been reduced, but Flórez didn’t seem to have trouble projecting his unamplified instrument. I considered popping in earplugs at intermission.

Flórez thrilled dozens of his fellow Peruvians in the audience of about 700 in an encore without pianist Vincenzo Scalera. He accompanied himself on guitar as he belted out two or three of his country’s folk songs. Bring on the breakdown.

Concert Review: Mahani Teave at the Folly Theater

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

The front row seat I claimed for Mahani Teave’s appearance at the Folly Theater on Saturday, September 9, allowed me to closely observe the pianist’s dramatic facial expressions and involuntary body contortions. She often seemed overcome by the staggering beauty she rendered in her North American recital debut.

I too was profoundly moved during the free, general admission concert that opened the 2023-24 season of the Harriman-Jewell Series. Like Teave, I’m regularly staggered by the momentous profundities conveyed by sound.

The Easter Island resident with a name so musical it could serve as a yoga mantra (muh-HAN-ee tee-AH-vay) interpreted compositions by Frédéric Chopin, Franz Liszt and Franz Schubert with such insightful tenderness that I feared both of us might faint.

Not even the pandemonium instigated by four people in the row behind me resembling an extended game of hopscotch could spoil the experience. Hear for yourself, but before doing so, make sure you’re seated in a safe place should you swoon to the same Chopin piece she played in Kansas City.

Concert Review: Pretty Yende at the Folly Theater

Original image of Kamal Khan and Pretty Yende by There Stands the Glass.

I was overcome with gratitude at the Folly Theater on Saturday, September 7.  As soprano Pretty Yende and pianist Kamal Khan performed Gaetano Donizetti’s exquisite “L’amor funesto”, I knew that I might never again experience a moment so sublime.  The discounted tickets I purchased for the Harriman-Jewell Series’ 1,000th concert provided a priceless experience.  Having become a fan of the South African star during my pandemic-inspired opera binge, Yende’s spectacular gown, incredible dramatizations and lustrous voice were almost too much to take in from a distance of just 15 feet.  Stunned by the artistic perfection before us, my date gasped “what is going on!” We’re still stunned two days later.

Concert Review: Damien Sneed at the Folly Theater

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

Knowing they’d be amused by my response, two cousins asked me what I’d been listening to when we chatted during a family gathering on Sunday, November 20.  I told them that in addition to watching a new production of Richard Strauss’ “Der Rosenkavalier” (gorgeous!), I’d spent the first part of the day taking in new music by GloRilla (wild!) and Run the Jewels (vital!).

The cousins laughed at the idea of their graying relative enjoying hip-hop and opera on a frigid Sunday.  I don’t find it odd.  A concert presented by the Harriman-Jewell Series at the Folly Theater that evening displayed similar stylistic breadth.  An audience of about 200 heard a splendid mix of Black gospel, opera, European art songs and contemporary classical music.

A 78% discount on two seats in the third row convinced me to attend the recital billed as “Our Song, Our Story: The New Generation of Black Voices.”  What a bargain!  I’ll remember the concert overseen by Damien Sneed for years.  The perplexingly unpolished presentation belied the emotional impact of the staggering talent displayed by seven musicians. 

Rather than expounding on Raven McMillon’s heartrending treatment of “Balm in Gilead,” Sneed’s reading of Hale Smith’s startling “Evocation” or the Griot String Quartet’s interpretation of Coleridge-Taylor Perkinson’s “Calvary” or assessing the success of the concert’s premise, I’ll simply note that sitting twenty feet from the category-defying Raehann Bryce-Davis was a privilege.

Concert Review: Harmony Zhu at the Folly Theater

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

Sixteen-year-old Harmony Zhu displayed disarming poise and unlimited potential at the Folly Theater on Sunday, November 13.  The same couldn’t be said for dozens of members of the audience of more than 500 at the Harriman-Jewell Series' free Discovery Concert.

Cacophonous clatter occasionally overwhelmed the pianist’s recital.  Babies babbled.  Toddlers yammered.  Children rolled metal drink canisters on the floor, tossed programs and played with the springs in creaky theater seats.  Minors weren’t the only offenders.  A few older people hacked and wheezed as if they were in their death throes.  

Zhu rose above the tumult as she played four Frédéric Chopin compositions as well as selections by Claude Debussy, Sergei Rachmaninoff and Nikolai Kapustin.  Her affinity for Chopin’s deliciously morbid laments is unexpected in a bright young talent who has probably never misbehaved in a concert hall.

Concert Review: Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo conducted by Marin Alsop at Helzberg Hall

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

I can’t recall the last time I had so much unadulterated fun at the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in Kansas City.  Overseen by the unassuming star conductor Marin Alsop, Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo did away with the veil of pretension that too often stifles joy at Helzberg Hall on Monday, October 10.

With the artificial construct of high culture eradicated, the Brazilians’ elite renderings of compositions by Heitor Villa-Lobos and Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov could be appreciated without the default filter of stodgy formality.  From my perch in the least expensive seat ($38.50!) high above the stage, I had a bird’s eye view of how exceptional artists can thrive in the absence of the haughty affectations associated with traditional concert halls.

Only “Concerto for Harmonica and Orchestra, Op. 86” and José Staneck’s subsequent encore of “The Girl from Ipanema”- ugh, a bane of my existence!- didn’t fully succeed.  As is usually the case in the room, the sound of the amplified instrument died before it reached the cheap seats.  An invigorating reading of the ear-tickling “Scheherazade” after intermission made up for the lapse.

The 1,600-capacity room was half full. The low turnout heightened the sense of relaxed intimacy. During a post-concert chat, Clark Morris, the Executive and Artistic Director of the Harriman-Jewell Series, cited a concurrent professional football game as the reason for the empty seats. Alsop responded with words to live by: “with music, you always win.”

Concert Review: Daniil Trifonov at the Folly Theater

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

Possession of a deeply discounted ticket for Daniil Trifonov’s April 24 concert at the Folly Theater helped sustain me in the bleakest moments of the pandemic.  I’d been looking forward to the pianist’s twice-rescheduled recital for a long time.  I can’t speak for others in the audience of about 700, but the misguided calls for a boycott- Trifonov was born in Russia- meant nothing to me.

The first half of the concert exceeded my lofty expectations.  The 45-minute free-for-all was the most exciting performance I’ve heard in 2022.  Hunched over the piano and panting heavily, Trifonov lurched as if he was enduring electrical shocks during a rendering of Karol Szymanowski’s discordant Sonata No. 3, Op. 36.

Trifonov then teased out unexpectedly jarring aspects of Claude Debussy’s Pour le piano L. 95.  Even better was a riotous interpretation of Sergei Prokofiev’s avant-garde Sarcasms, Op 17.  The pianist’s revelatory approach implied the three composers anticipated the subsequent innovations of Pierre Boulez, John Cage and Cecil Taylor.

I correctly anticipated the second half of the concert- Johannes Brahms’ Piano Sonata No. 3- would be a letdown.  My indifference to Brahms remains intact even though Trifonov invested everything he had into the work.  As he sweat profusely while abusing a piano bench, I contemplated my good fortune to be seated 20 feet from one of the world’s foremost musicians.

Concert Review: Joyce DiDonato and Il Pomo d’Oro at the Folly Theater

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

An overcome admirer told Joyce DiDonato that her Eden presentation provided him with a sacred experience during a post-concert talk at the Folly Theater on Tuesday, April 13.  Unlike the emotional patron, I didn’t commune with God during the 90-minute concert.  Yet I’m convinced I glimpsed the future.  Eden represents a viable path forward for classical music.  Four elements make the global tour extraordinary.

A Sight to Behold

Max Richter’s 2019 appearance in Austin may have been the first time I attended a classical presentation at which an even feeble attempt was made at creating a compelling visual experience.  Eden possesses the production values of a concert by an upper-tier indie-rock band.  Gorgeous lighting effects and a small circular platform with a pair of mobile spheres provided visual interest.

Back to the Garden

DiDonato is out to save the world.  She acknowledged she’s mocked by cynics during the post-concert discussion.  Yet the environmentally themed repertoire inspired me.  I fully intend to plant and nurture the seeds from the packets freely distributed to members of the audience of more than 750.

Dat Voice, Tho

The diva doesn’t mind getting dirty.  The barefoot soprano writhed on the floor, played air flute, shot imaginary arrows and feigned flirtations with musicians.  DiDonato is among the most convincing operatic actors.  And her unamplified voice had no trouble reaching my seat in the upper balcony.  

The Golden Apple

The most impressive aspect of Eden may be the herculean accomplishment of shuttling Il Pomo d'Oro from city to city. More than two dozen members of the European ensemble played a enormous range of music with graceful aplomb. The absence of individual credits in the program is my sole grievance about the unforgettable presentation.