RPO’s 2013-14 season
Film Previews
Full film reviews available at rochestercitynewspaper.com.
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Guest conductor: Michael Christie
Guest conductor: Thomas Wilkins
Guest conductor: Michael Francis
WEBSITE: MICHAELCHRISTIEONLINE.COM/MC/
WEBSITE: OMAHASYMPHONY.ORG/
WEBSITE: CAMI.COM/?WEBID=2013
BORN: BUFFALO, NEW YORK
MUSIC_DIRECTOR.ASP
BORN: AYLESBURY, BUCKINGHAMSHIRE,
CURRENT HOME: MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA
BORN: NORFOLK, VIRGINIA
ENGLAND
RPO CONCERT DATES: APRIL 10 & 12
CURRENT HOME: OMAHA, NEBRASKA
CURRENT HOME: ETON, BERKSHIRE, ENGLAND
PROGRAM: HOWARD HANSON
RPO CONCERT DATES: MAY 22 & 24
RPO CONCERT DATES: MAY 29 & 31
PROGRAM: SHOSTAKOVICH, JIM BECKEL (B. 1948),
RPO PROGRAM: WALTON, GUSTAV HOLST
Conductor Michael Christie will be the one to take the RPO to Carnegie Hall next spring to perform Howard Hanson’s lyrical opera “Merry Mount.” But first, he’ll deliver it to the home crowd. Christie is from Buffalo. Hanson (1896-1981) was director of Eastman School of Music 1924-1964, and his “Merry Mount” was commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera in 1933. Christie has been studying Hanson’s portfolio of works and considers the lyric opera to “use up all the colors that Stravinsky brought to the beginning of the 20th century, and then add the reverence and grandeur of America. There are big, sweeping build-ups. It’s such a different American voice. There was Copland and Bernstein, and Hanson was just as individual.” The work will be a not-insubstantial challenge. Christie anticipates added rehearsals, and a need to ensure the stamina of the orchestra and the vocalists for this 90-minute work. He credits the RPO and ESM for taking “such an enormous cast of characters to Carnegie.” “The Merry Mount” apparently involves a “really big chorus plus individual characters and an orchestra.” Listening to Christie, who has conducted American operas and concert operas for more than 20 years, one gets the impression that he is comfortable with big — big scores, big groups of musicians and vocalists, and big sound. Perhaps it has something to do with the view he can catch in between conducting engagements around the United States, as he pilots his own single-engine, four-seat, Mooney airplane.
ALEXANDER ARUTIUNIAN SOLOIST: DOUGLAS PROSSER, TRUMPET (RPO PRINCIPAL TRUMPET)
As soon as he says, “Hello,” there is a certain laid-back quality that comes across from conductor Thomas Wilkins that makes you want to pour a cup of coffee and sit down to chat with him. He begins the conversation by reflecting on his largess about life coming into focus for a work as big as the Shostakovich Tenth Symphony. Wilkins has known he wanted to be a conductor since he was 8 years old and first heard a live symphony concert. He was captivated by the sound, and by the man standing in front who he called “the first participant in the creation of the sound.” By seventh grade, he made it to the podium before a student ensemble, where it “didn’t go well,” but he felt the encouragement of his teacher, and continued to find others with a guiding hand as he went through his studies at Shenandoah University and then the New England Conservatory of Music. Wilkins sees being a high-profile conductor as an opportunity to serve as God’s hand to shape the world around him, one individual at a time. And it may be that the story he tells that will most resonate with us is that of a college student who came up to him after a concert, asking what it meant that she had found herself in tears at the end of a Copland piece, when she had only attended the concert as a course requirement.
30 CITY SEPTEMBER 25 - OCTOBER 1, 2013
Conductor Michael Francis could just as easily be a narrator or actor from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. It’s not just that he’s English. He’s a natural storyteller, which makes his presence at the podium for the RPO season finale particularly sweet. He’ll be conducting two significant works that reflect stories, William Walton’s “Suite from Henry V” and Gustav Holst’s “The Planets.” Francis describes the “Henry V Suite” as “really strong,” and it’s worth noting that it has been used in everything from a 1946 LP with Laurence Olivier narrating to the 1989 movie “Henry V,” starring Kenneth Branagh. Our conversation on “The Planets” is more involved. A work in seven movements, written between 1914 and 1916, it cycles through the astrological concept of the influence of the planets upon the psyche. “The timing for Holst was so poignant,” says Francis. “The terrible war, the end of the Golden Era, a time shown in ‘Downton Abbey,’ and a sense of innocence eroded.” Francis’ preparation is a journey of “finding the human qualities behind the music.” What does it mean? What does it tell us? Francis notes that there is a “tremendous psychology” on how a conductor communicates with the orchestra. “They are a collective of people. They may have played the work before and with a better conductor. There are the technical details,” says Francis. After a pause, he continues, “And then, there is the overall vision of the piece I bring to the podium, while giving the musicians the permission to fill in the gaps.”
[ OPENING ] BAGGAGE CLAIM (PG-13): Paula Patton plays a flight attendant who takes advantage of her job to fly across the country revisiting her exes and hunt for a date in time for her sister’s wedding. With Djimon Hounsou, Taye Diggs, Derek Luke, Adam Brody, and Tia Mowry. Canandaigua, Culver, Eastview, Greece, Henrietta, Tinseltown, Webster BALLIN’ AT THE GRAVEYARD (NR): Produced in Upstate NY, this documentary examines the subculture of urban pickup basketball at Albany’s Washington Park. Little CARMEN (Opera): Georges Bizet’s popular opera, about the tragic love affair between a soldier and a gypsy woman, is performed by Handa Opera on an outdoor stage on Sydney Harbour. Little (Sun, Sep 29, 12 p.m.; Tue, Oct 1, 6:30 p.m.) CLOUDY WITH A CHANCE OF MEATBALLS 2 (PG): The sequel to the animated adaptation of the popular children’s picture book, this time involving an island of food/ animal hybrids. With the voices of Bill Hader, Anna Faris, James Caan, Kristen Schaal, Andy Samberg, and Neil Patrick Harris. Brockport, Canandaigua, Culver, Eastview, Geneseo, Greece, Henrietta, Pittsford, Tinseltown, Vintage, Webster DON JON (R): Joseph Gordon-Levitt makes his big screen debut as writer/ director with this comedy about a ladies man who finds that real-life ladies have difficulty competing with the ones in his pornos. With Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, and Tony Danza. Canandaigua, Culver, Eastview, Geneseo, Greece, Henrietta, Pittsford, Tinseltown, Webster ENOUGH SAID (PG-13): Julia Louis Dreyfus plays a divorced woman who begins dating a new man (James Gandolfini), only to discover that he’s her new friend’s ex-husband in this romantic-comedy from Nicole Holofcener. With Catherine Keener and Toni Collette. Little, Pittsford THE GRADUATES (NR): This bilingual documentary follows six Latino and Latina students across the country and examines the state of modern education. Little (Mon, Sep 30, 7 p.m.) THE GOLDEN BED (1925): Cecil B. DeMille’s silent film about a femme fatale who lures unsuspecting men to their deaths. Dryden (Tue, Oct 1, 8 p.m.) A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN (1992): Penny Marshall’s popular comedy about the first all-female professional baseball league. Starring Geena Davis, Tom Hanks, Madonna, and Rosie O’Donnell. Dryden (Thu, Sep 26, 8 p.m.) NOTHING BUT A MAN (1964): An itinerant railroad worker settles down and marries school teacher, only to face discrimination from his white neighbors in 1960s small-town America. Dryden (Fri, Sep 27, 8 p.m.) RUSH (R): Ron Howard’s film about the true story of the 1970s rivalry between Formula One racers James Hunt and Niki Lauda. Starring Chris Hemsworth, Daniel Brühl, and Olivia Wilde. Culver, Eastview, Greece, Henrietta, Pittsford, Tinseltown, Webster THE TIN DRUM (1979): A 3-year-old boy in pre-WWII Germany vows to