Coril Prochnew as Donna Elvira doesn't recognize Leporello (Phil Meyer) in Repertory Opera Co. 's "Don Giovanni"

While L A Opera presents “Don Giovanni” at the Walt Disney Concert Hall with sets of crinkled white paper and a big orchestra and a big-name conductor, out in Pomona, Repertory Opera Company brought to a small, but enthusiastic audience, its version of “Don Giovanni”,the 1787 Mozart opera, to the First Christian Church, Pomona last Saurday.

With talented singers, colorful costumes, decent portable sets and a piano accompanist who kept things moving right along, the opera company closed its current season with a fine showing.  Repertory Opera Company is staffed by professionals whose training is evident.

Using humor, the Company made light of the twisted plot-line which encompasses some dark happenings as Don Giovanni, that is, Don Juan, carries his libidinous ways to more than simple persuasive seduction.
The production’s director (and Artistic Director) LizBeth Lucca cleverly used English dialogue to allow the audience to follow the action in place of recitative, but even then the complicated story took almost 3 hours (with a lengthy intermission) to unwind. With no English translation, the on-stage action was not always clear, but the English filled in well. The Italian, the language of this opera, was not always clear.

Raul Matas headed the cast as the dashing lover, Don Giovanni, who counted his conquests in the thousands; Phil Meyer played the saucy servant, Leporello; Coril Prochnow, Donna Elvira; Andrea Fuentes, Donna Anna; Steve Moritsugu, Don Ottavio; Carol Winston, Zerlina; Franco Rios Castro, Masetto; and Robert Arce, Commendatore.

Meyer, as Leporello, took command of the stage in each of his scenes with a strong bass-baritone voice, and led the comic interpolations, particularly in the aria “Madamina, il catalogo e questo” (“The Catalogue is thus”), as he recounts not only hundreds of women his master, Don Giovanni, seduced in various countries, but eagerly reports that there were thousands of women he came to, uh, know in Spain.

Matas integrated well with Meyer and others in the cast, using his liquid voice well in the song “Deh, vieni alla finestra” (“Come to the window”). Andrea Fuentes as Donna Anna was crisp and direct throughout, but particularly strong in her aria, “Or sai chi l’onore” (“You know now who attempted to rob me of my honor”). Coril Prochnow as Donna Elvira carried the story persuasively, especially in her important aria “Mi tradi quell’alma ingrate” (“That ungrateful soul betrayed me”) using her wonderful soprano voice to lead the way to Don Giovanni’s doom as he is dragged to Hell in the opera’s final scene. Prochnow’s voice warmed and became a fuller voice as the afternoon went along.

Lucca’s direction kept the complicated story under control;  the simple sets from the production’s design, Anne Henderson, were both dramatic and appropriate; costuming by Lorna Vaccari and Sharla Wickman was colorful.

The Company’s Musical Director, Brian Farrell, produced top piano accompaniment, including directing from the piano.
The program credits Chorus Master, Kevin Wiley and Robert Sage for musical support.

No program has been announced for next season; however information is available about the group at www.repertoryoperacompany.org.

By Bill Peters

Keith Clark played Taps at the funeral of President John F. Kennedy in 1963.

When we think of honoring American soldiers, nothing is more of a humbling tribute than the simple tune played on a bugle: Taps.

Today, Armed Forces Day, has been set aside to recognize, as President Obama declared in his Presidential Proclamation, to “pay tribute to the unparalleled service of our Armed Forces and recall the extraordinary feats they accomplish in defense of our Nation.”

All branches of the service will today set aside a brief time to pay their respects and have us remember the sacrifices citizen soldiers have paid over the course of the nation’s history. These ceremonies, often, if not always, end with the playing of the simple tune that is called Taps.

Jari A. Villanueva, retired US Air Force Band bugler, and bugle historian reveals the story behind Taps at his website, www.tapsbugler.com and in his booklet, “24 Notes That Tap Deep Emotions”.

Villanueva recounts that during the Civil War, General Daniel Butterfield wanted a different tune for lights-out than the French-based “Extinguish Lights”. In one story, a letter from an Army private, Oliver Norton, who was serving as bugler at the Headquarters of Butterfield’s brigade claims Butterfield “wrote” Taps. Norton said Butterfield sent for him, showed Norton an envelope with some notes on a staff in pencil and asked the bugler to play it. Butterfield fiddled with some of the notes, then directed Norton to use it at the close of the day, the “Go to Sleep” order.

Butterfield, however, discounted this version. His recollection was that he sort of whistled a tune similar to the then-used “Extinguish Lights” to his wife who put it down on paper. Butterfield did call Norton to his tent to change some notes to suit him, apparently. But it would appear, Villanueva concludes, that Butterfield did not write Taps, but slightly revised the tune from an earlier version. There may be other worthy stories as well.

Nevertheless, Taps has become the symbol of the nation’s gratitude for those who served.

One of the most famous buglers to play taps is Keith Clark, Army Band bugler, who sounded Taps at the funeral of President John F. Kennedy on Nov. 25, 1963.

Midnight Winds

A collective of Los Angeles-based composers, named Synchromy, will have new and original works performed by Midnight Winds, a wind quintet, at Pasadena’s Lineage Performing Arts Center at 6:00 p.m. Sunday, May 20.

Synchromy composers Jason Barabba, Jenni Brandson, John Frantzen and Vera Ivanova, plus guest composers Adrienne Albert and Dwayne Milburn will have their music performed, in most cases, for the first time publically.

Midnight Winds will perform the music. They will be joined by guest artists Christoher Ahn, cello; Ann Noriel, soprano; and Choreographer Hilary Thomas.

Midnight Winds, now in their 12th year together, have appeared in concert series at Greystone Mansion, Trinity Lutheran, Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Chamber Music Sedona, and maintain a strong relationship with the Polish Consulate of Los Angeles and the Polish Music Center.
Members of Midnight Winds are Maciej Flis, bassoon, Amy Tatum flute, Jennifer Johnson, oboe, Andrew Leonard, clarinet and Allen Fogle, horn.

Tickets are $15.

Lineage Performing Arts Center is located at 89 S. Fair Oaks Ave., Pasadena.

Gavin English, General Manager, Store Operations West Coast introduces Pasadena Steinway to Board members of the LA Chapter of Music Teachers Association California.

Generations of Pasadenans have encouraged a love of classical music. As early as 1904, Alice Coleman Batchelder founded the Coleman Chamber Music. In 1906, Batchelder, along with Marjorie Branson, Vera Barlow and Barbara Ebert took the lead in establishing the Tuesday Musicale. Both groups are still going strong.

Even when Pasadena was a small town, as many as three music companies sold pianos to an eager group of citizens who believed that a piano in the parlor was an absolute must in a proper home. Many long-time Pasadenans recall Gulbranson and Barry and Grassmuck stores.

While those early Pasadena years cannot be reclaimed, an interest in home music is growing. To fill that need, Steinway Pianos last week opened a gallery in Pasadena featuring more than a dozen of its products at Steinway Pasadena.
Sales Representative of Steinway and Sons, Alissa Gaerte, says the company is proud to bring its instrument expertise to a community with such a deep interest in music.

“Steinway and Sons looks forward to serving Pasadena and the surrounding communities with its factory-owned and operated stores. We intend to be here for a long time and are anxious to give-back to the community.” Steinway provides pianos for such local performing music organizations as the Pasadena Symphony-Pops and Camerata Pacifica.

The gallery, located at the corner of Colorado Blvd. and Arroyo Parkway, Pasadena, includes a recital hall that will seat about 60. Steinway intends to make the recital space available for master classes by top piano performers but also for piano teachers and their students.

In a pre-opening event, Steinway Pasadena invited pianist Jon Kimura Parker to hold a master class. Parker was in Southern California to perform with the San Diego Symphony and in a chamber concert in La Jolla. Gaerte said the master class was attended by local piano students.

The store has been hosting visits by music teachers, as well, to encourage their use of the recital space located within the store. There will be a grand opening ceremony on Tuesday, May 22 with a ribbon cutting by Pasadena Mayor, Bill Bogaard.

Steinway pianos have long been considered the premium keyboard instrument. Although the company was founded in Germany, pianos are now manufactured in the United States. The most often asked question is about the cost of the large concert-grand piano favored by many artists: are you ready? The nine-foot Model D concert grand carries a price tag of $148,400. Gaerte is quick, though to tell you the Steinway gallery offers a variety of fine pianos at prices starting around $4,000.

Pasadena Steinway is located at 150 E. Colorado Blvd, Suite 101. 

By Bill Peters

Marvin Neumann is the Crown City Symphony conducts, however guest conductor Cynthia Nuñez will lead in the performance of  Gabriel Fauré’s “Pavane”

Mezo, a cellist with Pacific Symphony , has been a regular performer locally. The highly respected musician has performed extensively in Europe, Asia, and in the United States. He was trained in Budapest and Germany and recently graduated from cello studies with Ralph Kirschbaum, the distinguished cellist at USCs Thornton School of Music.  Mezo will perform Tchaikovsky’s Variations on a Rococo Theme.

In addition to Fauré’s “Pavane”, the program will include Tchaikovsky’s “Pezzo Capriccioso” and a portion of Edvard Greig’s “Homage to Sgurd Jorsalfar”.

Free admission to these concerts.

The First Baptist Church of Pasadena is located at 75 N. Marengo Ave., Pasadena. The Altadena Community Church is at 943 E. Altadena Dr., Altadena.

 Mezo recently appeared at Casa Romantica, San Clemente’s Cultural Center and Gardens. Here is a video of his performance, accompanied by pianist Steven Van Hauwaert:

The new chorus, officially titled the JPL Chorus of the Pasadena Symphony Association, is under the direction of Pasadena Symphony Director of Choruses, Donald Brinegar. Brinegar will also be leading the Pasadena City College Chamber Singers at the performance.

JPL is the home of many employee musical groups which include a chamber ensemble, a jazz band, and several singing groups. The partnering of this group of about 53 JPL employees came about as a result of a conversation between Stephen Kulczycki, Deputy Director of Communications and Education at JPL, and Pasadena Symphony CEO Paul Zdudnek.

“I suggested that we might get good participation if we tried a chorus,” Kulczycki told Zdudnek. “We got about a hundred people to express some interest.”

The two then turned to Donald Brinegar to bring performance reality to the deal. Brinegar is no new-comer to the chorale arena. His Donald Brinegar Singers have graced every local performance venue singing with the Pasadena Symphony, the Pasadena Pops, the California Philharmonic Orchestra, and preparing singing choruses for performances in the Hollywood Bowl, Disney Hall, Ambassador Auditorium, and more.
Brinegar is Professor of Music, Coordinator of the Music Department and Director of Choral Studies at PCC as well as adjunct Professor of Graduate Choral Conducting at USC.

The combined choruses program will include a mixture of classical repertoire to the popular. The musical compositions will range from Benjamin Britten to John Lennon/Paul McCartney.

The concert is free and reservations are not required.

The Ambassador Auditorium is located at 131 St. John Ave., Pasadena.

Full information about Summer Concerts, programs, ticket prices, and amenities.

Mayday. Mayday. That’s the day when our local music-makers begin to tout their summer season programs. Pasadena Symphony and Pops has begun a telephone sales pitch for their four-concert series at the Arboretum which begins June 16. CalPhil just released a notice of its five-concerts (plus replays at Walt Disney Concert Hall) at the Santa Anita Race Track offering its first concert on June 30. Southwest Chamber Music is ready to go with four Saturday concerts (plus repeats on Sunday) in its Summer Festival at The Huntington Library beginning July 14. There is much more music throughout the summer such as those presented in city parks but most are free concerts composed of smaller music groups. We’re talking about the glossy program, season ticket, picnic, and dining concerts.

Southwest Chamber: at home at The Huntington Library

Southwest Chamber has been at The Huntington Library in San Marino for the past 16 years. The Art Gallery Loggia, the porch attached to the main gallery, with chairs sensibly set; or the open seating on the lawn adjacent to the Loggia, is an ideal location for a summer night.

Pasadena Pops:  moves to The Arboretum

The Pasadena Pops new home, The Arboretum, is the 127 acre garden and historic site off Baldwin Ave. in Arcadia. The central grassy area, called the Bauer Lawn, will be set with an erected, covered stage with excellent acoustics and innovative design. Tables, set in a circular layout will be covered with fine linens; additionally the Pops will offer the lawn area behind the pools, with blanket and low-back chair seating.

California Philharmonic: new set-up at Santa Anita Race Track

The California Philharmonic moves its Cal Phil Festival on the Green to Santa Anita Race Track infield location in central Arcadia. CalPhil will have a state-of-the-art stage set-up and offer table seating, benches, and lawn area.

Amenities

Southwest Chamber notes that parking and entrance to The Huntington Library grounds is free. The Library opens the main gallery for ticket-holders both before the concert and during intermission. A special dining option is available at The Huntington Tea Room which will offer Julia Childs –inspired menus by Executive Chef Jon Dubrick. Rest room facilities are conveniently located inside the Library.

CalPhil at Santa Anita will offer an array of amenities that includes, for instance, your picnic if you wish, or gourmet dining; your wine, or perhaps, a selection from the full bar; ample restrooms; unlimited parking; and the unforgettable sensational views of the San Gabriels from the infield of the track. The stage shell will have a sound system and there will be conveniently placed jumbo video screens.

Pasadena Pops amenities are expanded over its previous concert venues. In their inaugural year at The Arboretum, the Pops will provide free parking to all. In its brochure, the Pops promises convenient parking and entry to the grounds with two fully functioning box offices, one at the south depot across from the Westfield Mall and the other at The Arboretum’s main entrance. Your picnic basket and beverage will be welcome, but a wide variety of onsite food vendors from gourmet food trucks will be available; a full beverage center for beer, wine and coffee; an option to pre-order a gourmet picnic dinner from the organization’s restaurant partners with convenient pick-up on the grounds; air-conditioned, lighted, and flushable restrooms. The stage acoustical shell will feature excellent lighting and high quality line array and lawn speaker systems all surrounded by video screens.

The music

Southwest Chamber Music will bring its unique brand of classical music. Included throughout the season will be the music of Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Cesar Franck, Gabriel Fauré, André Jolivet and Darius Milhaud. Southwest Chamber’s cadre of professional musicians are considered master performers.  Concert dates are Saturdays, July 14, July 28, Aug. 11 and Aug. 25; Sundays concerts are July 15, July 29, Aug. 12 and Aug. 26.  Concerts  Jeff von der Schmidt, Southwest Chamber’s Artistic Director, conducts.

California Philharmonic Orchestra will present musical programs that lean toward the more classical, but includes lots of Broadway tunes as well.
Composers represented are Aaron Copeland, Modest Mussorgsky, Ottorino Respighi, Berlioz, Strauss, Glinka and Beethoven. Broadway songs from “The King and I”, “Gigi”, “Man of La Mancha” and movie themes from films like “Star Wars” marks the summer series programs. Guest artists include pops singer/composer Vanessa Carleton, “Phantom of the Opera” (Las Vegas production) Kristi Holden, Broadway star David Burnham, pianist Gayle Martin Henry, and baritone Cedric Berry. The Association will have a starring role in one concert, and the USC Marching Band helps kick things off for CalPhil’s opening concert June 30 (and the repeated July 1 performance at Disney Hall). Other dates the first at Santa Anita, the second at Walt Disney Concert Hall, are July 14 and 15; July 28 and 29; Aug. 11 and 12; and Aug. 25 and 26. Victor Vener conducts the California Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Pasadena Pops’ music program leans toward the very familiar, and light for its summer music which is anent of its winter Pasadena Symphony Classical Series. The audience will hear the music of George Gershwin, Cole Porter, see a concert version of “They’re Playing our Song”, and enjoy a tribute to the Italian-American experience in song. Guest artists include Michael Feinstein, the American Songbook aficionado, Lucy Arnaz, the daughter of the creators of “I Love Lucy”, comic Robert Klein, Michael Feinstein, the American Songbook aficionado, pop-opera group Poperazzi, and pianist Kevin Cole.  The Pops musical programs are to be held  on June 16, and follows the one-night concerts on July 21, Aug. 18 and Sept. 8. Marvin Hamlisch, Principal Pops Conductor, appears with the orchestra on three concerts, but hands the baton to guest conductor Michael Krajewski (himself Principal Pops Conductor of Houston and Atlanta Symphonys) for the Aug. 18 concert.

Ticket information

Southwest Chamber Music concerts at The Huntington Library begin at 7:30 p.m., grounds open at 5:45 p.m. for picnicking on the lawn; special concert dinner service begins at 5:45. Series subscription tickets are: Loggia, $162; Lawn, $100. Single tickets are: Loggia, $45; Lawn, $28. Dinners are $55, tax and tip included.

Pasadena Pops concerts at The Arboretum begin at 7:30 p.m.; grounds open at 5:30 p.m. for picnicking at your assigned table or on the Bauer Lawn. Series subscription tickets are: Tables for 6, and tables for 10, ticket prices range from $720 to $2,160 and $1,200 to $3,600. Single table seats, series, $120 to $360; Lawn, $80; kids under 14, $40. Single concert tickets are available in all seating arrangements. Single concert table-seat ticket prices range from $35 to $96; Lawn single concert ticket prices are $20; kids under 14, $10. Discounts for groups; also up to 15% discount with purchase of 4-series Pops subscription. All parking is free. Tickets and information: (626) 793-7172.

California Philharmonic concerts at Santa Anita Race Track begin at 8:00 p.m.; grounds open at 5:30 p.m. for pre-concert family-friendly activities and live jazz. Series subscription tickets are available in various options, but generally Tables of 6, and tables for 10, are priced from $891 to $2,168, and $1,650 to $3,920; Lawn or bench area pricing from $57 to $113. Single concert table seats ticket prices range from $55 to $98; Lawn or benches, $20 to $25. All parking is free. Discounts are currently posted at www.goldstar.com with 50% discount on single tickets for concerts at The Arboretum. Walt Disney Concert hall performances begin Sunday afternoons at 2:00 p.m. Series subscription tickets are available in various options, but generally, ticket prices for those concerts range from $69 to $400. Single concert ticket prices range from $25 to $100. Ticket information: (626) 300-8200.

By Bill Peters

Sarah Wallin Huff will have her 2007 composition recorded through a $7,500 KickStarter project.

A string quartet will perform at the Our Savior Lutheran Church, Arcadia at 3:00 p.m. Saturday, Apr. 28 playing works by Beethoven, Dvorak, and violinist Sarah Wallin Huff.

Huff, joined by violinist Doris Chiang, violist Miguel Cunanan and cellist Anne Sherrill, will give a reading of her 2007 composition “Anima Mechanicae: Soul of a Machine”. Huff, who seems otherwise reliable, reports that the anthropomorphic machine displays growing emotions through her music.

The approximately 12 minute piece allows the listener to experience the transformation of an advanced computer program through emotions expressed in musical sections “Mechanically,”, “Quixotically”, “Pensive”, “With impish behavior”, “Tenderly”, and “Surreal”.

The quartet will also perform Beethoven’s fourth movement of the String Quartet in G-major; and the entire popular Dvorak “American”, the Quartet No. 12 in F-major.

Tickets are $10.

The Our Savior Lutheran Church is located at 512 W. Duarte Rd., Arcadia.

Through, apparently, Pasadena Symphony’s Artistic Advisor, James DePreist, the Symphony was able to attract American soprano Christine Brewer to perform in Pasadena. Unfortunately, DePreist, who was originally scheduled to conduct this final season concert of Pasadena Symphony, will not lead Saturday as a result of unanticipated heart bypass surgery. DePreist will be replaced by Kansas Symphony Orchestra’s music director and conductor, Michael Stern.

Ms. Brewer has had an extraordinary career to date in opera, concert and recital. She has been recognized widely for her Richard Strauss interpretations. She will bring to the Ambassador Auditorium stage a voice hailed for its warmth and its brilliance in a performance of Strauss’ “Four Last Songs”. Brewer sang these works in 2008 at Walt Disney Concert Hall in a concert with the L A Philharmonic that was conducted by the then new conductor-designate, Gustavo Dudamel.

In 2006, Telarc released an album that included “Four Last Songs” with Donald Runnicles and the Atlanta Symphony. Her most recent CD, released last year, provided further evidence of her affinity for and ability with Strauss works. That album, “Great Strauss Scenes”, again with Runnicles and the Atlanta Symphony, offers scenes from some of Strauss’ best known operas, with bass-baritone, Eric Owens. Owens distinguished himself locally in his 2008 appearance with the Pasadena Pops.

Strauss wrote the “Four Last Songs” in 1948 at age 84. It is believed that they represent a sort of swan song: he died the following year. Known widely by the German title, “Vier letzte Lieder” (also, “Four Last Songs”), the songs are “Fruhung” (“Spring”); “September”; “Beim Schlafenguehen” (“Going to Sleep”); and “Im Abendrot” (“At Sunset”). Brewer brings her special voice to Strauss’ poignant music.

Michael Stern must feel a bit picked on, but we hope, proud, to fill in for DePreist. Stern’s last trip to Southern California was to replace an ailing Jeffrey Kahane. In 2010, Kahane, conductor of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, was suffering mononucleosis; Stern was brought in as a replacement for that concert. Los Angeles Times music critic Mark Swed commented, reviewing the concert at the Alex Theatre, said that he hoped we would see Stern return to the area for more conducting chores. Stern is in his seventh season at Kansas City Symphony and press reports seem to indicate that he is well received there.

In addition to the Strauss “Songs”, Stern will conduct the orchestra in Richard Wagner’s “Dawn and Siegfried’s Rhine Journey” from “Gotterdammerung” (“Twilight of the Gods”), and Antonin Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8.

Ticket prices start at $35.

The Ambassador Auditorium is located at 131 St. John Ave., Pasadena.