To Be or Not to Be......Hamlet as Opera

Have any of you had a chance to attend the Met Opera's live HD broadcasts at your neighborhood cinema screens? This past Saturday in NYC they performed an operatic version of Hamlet composed by the relatively unknown Ambroise Thomas, beamed live in HD to millions of people around the globe, who were watching (and presumably cheering, as our audience was) in theaters that had to be open during the middle of the night in some timezones. Regardless of the broadcast time, reports show theaters in all locations are absolutely full at each of these live Met Opera HD broadcasts and having to open adjacent theaters in cinema complexes to accommodate the overflow crowds.

And now I can see why! Hamlet, in this case, was an all-around amazing, energizing and unexpectedly fulfilling experience both in terms of the shared media performance in the packed cinema, and in the quality of the opera's music and the singers performing it. I had not had a chance to hear/see either of the two principals in a live performance previous to this, and was astounded at the acting ability (Simon Keenlyside, playing Hamlet, in particular) on top of the glorious vocal techniques. Gone are the days when typically-very -large opera stars stood still in place and sang their arias, then moved stiffly across the stage to their next blocking position to await another vocal cue. In virtually all of the operas I have seen lately, the singers are (almost all) quite trim, stylish and youthful - if you met them on the street you would have no idea what they do for a living - and their staging requires them to do varying feats of near-acrobatics in aerobic levels of movement while portraying the stories and action with the other characters.

Marlis Petersen, playing Ophelie, was beautiful to watch with a lyrical tone to match, singing demanding technical passages with absolute tonal assurance and heart-wrenching emotion in the "mad scene". The back-stage drama involved with her doing this role almost equaled the onstage story - due to illness of the scheduled soprano she was contacted in Europe, agreed to take the part on little more than 48 hours notice, and received coaching from the opera conductor via Skype until she could finish her current performances and fly to the Met in time for opening night! So we have yet another reason to rejoice over the benefits of modern media in its combination with classical music, beyond even the fact that non-wealthy music listeners everywhere can now, thanks to media advances, watch live performances of the Metropolitan Opera in NY with much better seats than the patrons in the opera hall!

The camera crews - placed not only on stage but also in the orchestra pit and backstage - are obviously extremely talented, experienced and well prepared, aimed on specific solo instruments in the orchestra interludes at exactly the moments they begin their particular solos, and catching tiny changes in facial expression or eye contact among the "characters" on stage. There were delightfully enlightening and honest interviews with the stars as they came off stage at intermission - for example, it was quite inspiring to hear Simon Keenlyside admit that he "doesn't read music very well at all" and learns his music/notes pretty much by ear, as he acts out the part - simply singing his feelings rather than expressing them in speech. The fact is, he is a more powerful and intense actor than most that are seen in movies or television - he just happens to have an incredibly expressive singing voice to go with it. It would seem to me that this makes him an ideal opera singer for the "masses" of folks who might never have ventured into exploring that dramatic form of music.

I hear that there is an encore broadcast of this performance being shown again the cinemas, perhaps this coming weekend or next. My recommendation would be to find out where, and "just GO!"

between heaven and earth: Mahler's Resurrection Symphony in San Francisco this evening

This blog is called "Pomoja" precisely because it was intended to discuss some of the ways that music can "unify" people, causes, cultures, or disparate groups in a shared goal or experience. For those of you who have never had the exhilarating and unifying experience of being present amongst a huge audience during a live performance of the Mahler Second ("Resurrection") Symphony, my enthusiastic recommendation would be "just GO!"

And if you ever have the opportunity of hearing Maestro Michael Tilson Thomas conduct this special Mahler work with the San Francisco Symphony (joined by the San Francisco Symphony Chorus and guest soloists) then my enthusiasm would turn to urgent pleading: "you HAVE to go!".
Which is exactly what I was fortunate enough to do, just this evening.

The only unfortunate part, in my personal opinion (but also that of the audience members around me whom I talked to), was that the performance took place in Davies Symphony Hall, the home of the San Francisco Symphony for many years now, which has acoustic and ambiance issues that diminished the experience a bit for those of us who happened to be seated in sections that are beneath balcony "overhangs".
When one has been fortunate to hear a beloved work (such as this Mahler Symphony is for me)in many different halls worldwide, it is impossible not to "compare" the overall affect of the experience and ambiance in each location. This evening I tried very hard not to compare some very memorable experiences in much larger halls - with stages that could accommodate choruses 2-3 times the size of tonight's excellent (but less powerful) ensemble, where the sound of the timpani and brass threatened to blow the roof off the building, and the close of the work found the entire chorus, orchestra and audience in visible tears because the ambiance and structure of the hall assisted in creating that unified moving experience.

Because I feel strongly that the San Francisco Symphony's conductor Michael Tilson Thomas (known affectionately as MTT in these parts) is the greatest living conductor/interpreter of Mahler, I went to Davies Hall tonight hopefully expecting an equally memorable and spiritually uplifting experience. The fact that this did not quite happen in spite of MTT's (and the orchestra's) brilliance of execution and affinity for the composer, was most probably due, I suspect, to a couple of things: 1) this Friday evening concert began at 6:30 so that city workers could attend before going home - great idea but I wonder if the orchestra was still a bit emotionally exhausted from the regular 8pm performance of the work the night before, and not quite "warmed up" to this slightly unusual start time? 2) as mentioned earlier, our being seated under the overhang of a balcony, which dampened a lot of the power and "immediacy" of the orchestra's live sound, making their presence on the stage feel more emotively distant and less personally involved (as my seat neighbors also remarked)...and 3)again in comparing experiences (even subconsciously), I could not help but be amazed at the amount of noise and distracting movement going on throughout the audience in general - constant coughing (but some folks seemed to save it up for the most important silences in particular), rustling of programs or throat candy wrappers, shifting in squeaky seats, etc...in contrast, as I mentioned, I have heard this piece performed live in halls 2-3 times the size, where one could have literally "heard a pin drop" throughout the entire symphony. Obviously I am not sure if this was due to the hall acoustics actually being excellent in the wrong direction, or to the current cough bugs inhabiting San Francisco, or if Friday evening audiences are restless in particular, or all of the above....
So- having digressed a bit to describe my own slight personal disappointments vs expectations, am I still urging and begging you to go? Absolutely! And if you happen to be in San Francisco area this weekend, March 13 or 14, DO go to Davies Symphony Hall and try anything you can to beg, buy or steal a ticket for the two remaining performances of this symphony (just don't get seats beneath the overhangs!)

Why? Partly the piece.....and partly the conductor.
In my opinion and that of many of my musician colleagues, MTT is rightfully referred to as "Gustav Mahler incarnate". When MTT walks out on stage to conduct Mahler, one almost feels that discussions of his "interpretations" seem perhaps an irrelevant or even inaccurate assumption, because the phrasing, orchestral shading, rhythmic nuance, dynamic contrasts - and above all, the emotion in the perfectly-timed "silent pauses" - all seem to flow naturally from within, as if Mahler were there, composing and conducting it, all at the same time.
And that was certainly true this evening as well. As previously mentioned, I have been fortunate to hear this work in live performances with many recognized Mahler conductors, and of course in countless recorded versions. But I have never, before tonight, been made so effortlessly aware of tiny distinct details that revealed emotive changes and personality characteristics within each phrase, each color, each instrumental section and each thematic change of direction.

The performance of the first movement in particular gave entirely new meaning to the concept of "story telling" in music. The opening phrase was perfectly crafted both technically and emotionally, raising a question and suspense before an entire cast and characters seemed to appear in bold colors or sinister shadows. The care and tenderness that MTT lavished on the lyrical phrases was so heartbreakingly beautiful as to be almost painful, and this seemed to be partly due to the uncanny amount of spaciousness with which he allows the lyrical lines to unfold, while giving much meaning and energy to each pause. Tension built in the contrast between dry cellos and basses in their descending lines and a sweeter, almost "heavenly' instrumentation given to ascending lines - meanwhile this gentle pulse, like a heartbeat, beneath it all. "Beauty" battled with "ugliness" at moments when Mahler intentionally uses piercing woodwind or brass instruments to cut into the proceedings, and even more impressive than the final three notes of the movement were the perfectly judged spaces between them. It brought to mind something a friend of mine often says - if you go to an old cemetery and look at the tombstones, they usually have two dates carved on them - the date of the persons' birth and their passing - and those dates are usually separated by a dash (-)....so my friend points out that what matters in life is what we do in the "dash". It is so often the same with music - it is most profound, moving and unifying by what we do in the silence between the notes. Both Mahler and Michael Tilson Thomas would seem to be unparalleled in that aspect.

Mahler actually stipulated for an extended period of that silence (or break) to occur after the first movement, so that listeners could "clear their minds" before continuing with the next four movements that complete this massive work. The following movements offer a marvelous juxtaposition of many different musical genres, as if glimpses into different periods of a character's life....the Viennese elegance of waltz and minuet, superbly played by the orchestra this evening, and then immediately a Kletzmer-like episode that was brilliantly shaped by MTT and played with just the right amount amount of "attitude" even at tempi that were a bit faster than this writer has normally heard in that section.

Mahler Second Symphony is often called the "Resurrection" Symphony due primarily to the words that Gustav Mahler chose as the sung text for the choir and vocal soloists that join the orchestral forces in the final movements, and I have been told that this piece also has the interesting distinction of being mentioned the most times (of any classical music work), by people describing a permanent or life-changing "spiritual experience" that occurred unexpectedly when attending a live concert. If these "conversions" are true, I would suspect they most often happen in the shining moments of the final movement or the magical entrance of the Mezzo soprano solo in "Urlicht".
Soloist Katarina Karneus performed that role with great dramatic passion, conviction and warmth of tone, though from our seat location I wished for a more legato line and effortless sense of soaring, particularly in the highest notes of the mezzo part. Soprano Laura Claycomb seemed on this evening (again perhaps due to acoustics in my region of the hall) a bit weak, lacking in radiance or color and at times drowned out by the musical goings on. The Symphony Chorus, as mentioned earlier, was generally excellent despite a couple of slightly ragged entrances and being restricted in numbers (one assumes) by the space availability above the stage. The orchestra, even if they might not have been quite as zealously energetic as in other Mahler symphony performances under MTT that I have attended in Davies Hall, were still phenomenally good, particularly the piccolo and percussionists, but it seems unfair not to then mention the strings and the french horns and the woodwinds and the brass in general....and on and on. (If you want to see each member of the orchestral family in full action, and hear its unique colors and capabilities, go watch a live Mahler symphony performance!)

The real star of the evening was Gustav Mahler, an incredible composer who was, first and foremost, a human being who endeavored to portray every possible human emotion in his music so that generations to come would have the opportunity, in live performances, to experience through his music a unity amongst their humanity. But with Mahler's music as perhaps with no other composer, the humanity, insight and genius of the conductor leading the performance becomes the all-important ingredient that determines the quality of that live experience for the orchestral players and for the participating audience members. Any orchestra and every audience is fortunate indeed if their Mahler has MTT at the helm.

So if you can't make it to Davies Hall in San Francisco for the remaining two performances of Mahler 2nd Symphony this weekend, try to catch another concert date, especially for any of the Mahler symphonies with MTT conducting.
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{A little tip: in symphonic programs where no choir is involved, the hall sells the seats behind the orchestra, up at the back of the stage. Personally, as a musician and performer when attending a concert, that is my absolute favorite place to be, where one can watch the orchestra members each contributing their part of the whole, watch the conductor living the piece in union (hopefully!) with the orchestra, and watch the audience beyond them respond to the thoughts, feelings, values and experiences being so timelessly expressed. The sound of the instruments is also the most "immediate" and "live" from this unique vantage point although of course the blend of instruments may not sound the same as from out in the balconies and rows}.

Planning Meeting This Sunday (Feb 28th) in Oakland, California!

Meeting *OPEN TO ALL* to plan Oakland's participation in UN-sponsored International Day of Peace.

St Paschal Baylon church
3700 Dorisa Ave, Oakland, CA 94605
(Golf Links Road exit off hwy 580)
[map & directions here]

For more details, see Listen for Life "Peace Day 2010" page.

Campaign volunteers and musicians sought for life-changing opportunity

There is an exciting new campaign about to be launched worldwide. Starting with our elementary school children, it can definitely make a permanent difference in the lives (and communities!) of the next generation. This program is called the MusicMessage Campaign and it needs the help of every single one of you to make it effective!

Here's the scoop:
During our various LfL outreach projects both nationally and internationally, we have become convinced that the music and lyrics our young people listen to, profoundly affect their cultural attitudes about themselves and others, and consequently impact their behavior and therefore the communities where they grow up. Three powerful reminders of this fact, recently, have been:

1) in media interviews with the youth being tried in the Richmond, CA gang rape, newspaper articles quoted them as saying that their music taught them cultural attitudes that females had no value and were not "human", and that rape was a positive action, etc...
and
2) at the Oakland International Film Festival a few months back, there was a film called "Through the Walls" - this groundbreaking documentary video was created inside San Quentin Prison by the inmates themselves, and in their own "language" and style of rap music, several inmates acknowledge that the lyrics and music that their gang cultures had adopted, had absolutely been the single largest influence upon the negative thinking and violent actions that landed them in prison.

Our Listen for Life music listeners, volunteers, musicians and educators all concluded that if music can be used as a powerful weapon for inciting violence and negativity, then it has equal, if not greater, power for good – but that power and potential will remain largely untapped (at the conscious level) until we demonstrate the possibilities, and inspire the next generation to deliberately view (and use) music as a positive unifying force.

So, we're inaugurating a new LFL program we've called "Musicmessages" that could help turn this situation around in a positive, concrete, cross-cultural and creative way, starting with the youth - our next generation - who are most vulnerable and easily influenced by the music listening choices of their older siblings and relatives surrounding them.
To make this happen, we need volunteer organizers, admin assistants, teacher training assistants, educators, youth, parents, presenters, and positive, inspiring musicians of all ages, cultures, languages and countries.....in every single location, large or small, on the planet!
We also need virtual volunteers to help us get the word out via social networks and start a grassroots fundraising campaign so that we can bring the MusicMessage program to more schools.
If each music listener around the world donated $1 (or the equivalent) on the Listen for Life website for the MusicMessage project, we could influence the hearts, minds, and music listening choices of the entire next generation within a much shorter time frame - and that would prevent a LOT of potential violence in our communities!

Since LfL (www.listenforlife.org) is based in Oakland California, which has real challenges with gangs and youth violence, we are starting the campaign there - so if you happen to live in the Bay Area and can help in any way, we need to hear from you NOW because we are bringing the program to the Oakland schools in the most at-risk neighborhoods in a few weeks' time! Contact us - dstoering@listenforlife.org

Interested??
Do you like more detail?
Then read on.......
and if not, please still read the very bottom bits in BOLD!

There are five segments to the MusicMessage campaign, starting with a simple 45-minute assembly (combining multimedia and live performance)in each participating school, given at no cost to the school through Listen for Life volunteer musicians, presenters and organizers. Sponsored small-group follow-up sessions in the school then help each individual child to create his/her own positive music message (ie a melody or drum beat or lyric) and those messages of peace will be sent via mobile phone technology to individual students in another city or country. This will help each child to know that they do not have to have popular but negative musicians/groups to "speak for them' as they will have discovered the power of their own voice - and their own choice, in what music will influence their lives and their communities in the future.

The goal is to eventually help every child (and adult!) throughout the world to discover his/her own voice and positive message for others. Listen for Life is starting with the elementary schools in Oakland California, where our headquarters are, but we have an exciting, simple and successful template for this program that can be adopted by any group of volunteers, teachers, parents, and musicians in any country or culture.

The program can be carried out during class times or through after-school programs and community centers.
The MusicMessage project is designed to have five principal components:
a) through LFL-led school-wide assemblies that combine media examples (our interactive, cross-cultural Travels with Music series, and age-appropriate segments from a few films) and live interaction with visiting master-musicians of all genres, we raise the students’ awareness of music’s effect on their thoughts/behavior, and its potential for both negative and positive consequences in the community
b) as a LFL “mini-residency”, in follow-up small-group sessions (either during school time or in after-school programs, depending on the wishes of each particular school) we facilitate/encourage EACH of the students to create their own music (with or without lyrics) that they feel will deliver a positive message of peace to their peers; and then
c) we help the students to send their music messages to other students in another school/state/country via mobile phone technology
d) we combine all of the schools' musicmessages into an actual composed piece, and teach the kids to perform this piece that they helped compose, to be shared in their community as a city-wide celebration of UN Peace Day (September 21st each year worldwide).
e) At least one copy of the cross-cultural interactive education resource Travels with Music will be licensed to each school as part of this program, for subsequent use by all teachers (as desired), using multicultural music to integrate their lessons in social studies, geography, history, ESL, literacy, computer skills, and (where provided in the curriculum) music and arts.

Based on previous research, experience and successes, we are convinced that youth can be helped to discover that the music and lyrics they hear repeatedly will have a profound impact on their thoughts, their outlook, and their cultural assumptions. And they can be inspired to believe in the power of their own voice, to deliver messages (through music) that can uplift others and change the world.

Personally I cannot think of any one single campaign that could be more important in our present world, or for future generations......which is why my every waking moment has been rather consumed with developing and launching this newest project, and I haven't exactly kept up my promise to post on this blog on a more regular basis! (But that shouldn't stop all of you from commenting and adding to it, please!)


Also please remember - we need to encourage all of our youth to listen.....for LIFE!
And to do that we need YOU - not just your friends and the musicians you recommend and the music listeners in your social networks and the wonderful donors who could hopefully contribute $1 each to the campaign - yes, we need all of them too, but we ALSO need YOU!

Spread the (music)message..... THANKS!

A new Listen for Life production in the making...

First, some brief background info: Our hybrid social venture Listen for Life (www.listenforlife.org) is a global family of music listeners, performers, and producers, all working together to restore music as a channel of communication and a unifying force for peace.

We work towards that mission through a variety of outreach, education, and/or conflict resolution projects, live music programmes, and cross-cultural media productions - all funded from our personal pockets and occassional sponsorships/donations.

Well, yesterday LFL Productions filmed a wonderful live concert event, "Folks Songs and Rituals of Old Russia", put on in San Francisco by two different internationally recognised women's ensembles working together - KITKA and KOSTROMA. The part of their programme that I am especially excited to share in our eventual television/video version was an enactment of a Russian village wedding ritual showcasing the conflicting emotions of parents, families, girlfriends, and the participating villages of the two spouses-to-be. This programme will also provide wonderful content for a future unit on Russia within our Travels with Music series (www.travelswithmusic.com) which offers an interactive experience of the world's cultures through the eyes and ears of their master musicians and local villagers as well. More about TWM in a future posting, or you can check out the website for a glimpse at one or two units from Series One - 6 hours of interactive content featuring 15 cultures thus far .....
And if you happen to be in the Bay Area this month and want to catch the Russian village wedding "live" then there are two more performances on the 13th (Menlo Park) and 27th (Point Reyes Station). See KITKA's website for details.
If you prefer to be an arm chair traveler, however, you will be able to catch the performance on our LFL Productions video online, coming soon....
and any professional film-makers, videographers, production crew, editors, cameramen or sound engineers are always welcome to join our existing LFL production teams all over the world or start up a new one in your location and help us to capture special music events and cross-cultural opportunities that can be shared with all peoples as a way to build peace through a greater appreciation and understanding of other traditions. Join us in making a difference through Music in Action! www.listenforlife.org

WANTED: your thoughts, ideas and opinions about.....

........Unity - through music! Is it possible?
Nearly every person on this planet listens to music in some form or another.
Research has shown that music can build bridges, ease tensions, create a common denominator for renewed discussion during conflict resolution, express emotions that are too powerful or dangerous for words, lift the spirits and enrich the hearts or minds of those listening in a group.....
So if most people on the planet participate in something with that many positive benefits, why not create a heightened awareness of that potential, and encourage the deliberate use of music as a unifying force throughout the world?

If you are interested in one particular organisation that works towards this mission/cause then you might like to view the following video link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6xE0iy7MXk

But I believe that the tremendous potential within the communicative power of music is much too important to be left to the success or failure of any one particular individual, group or organisation in any single generation -
EACH of us can start, in our individual lives, and we can create a positive "cause" or "movement" of sorts by spreading this awareness through social networks and online tools, while also sharing our own ideas or experiences of specific instances where music has provided (or can provide) a positive, all-important tool for mental/spiritual nourishment, conflict resolution, or cross-cultural communication.

I would love your ideas, not only on the potential uses/power of music , but also on ways in which to spread this awareness and message successfully around the globe, particularly to the people and regions that need it most.
We need your advice and participation!

Yet again I have to apologize for the very long time since my last posting. My global organization Listen for Life has been extremely busy, focused on a number of projects on three different continents, but I would like to tell you about just one of them at the moment.

As most of you will recall, January 2008 was a nightmarish time of post-election violence in Kenya. A member of Listen for Life's advisory board has been a highly respected youth leader for years in Kenya, and we heard from him first hand about his mother being chased from her home in the rioting, and running - with her next door neighbor - from the torch-brandishing youths of conflicting tribes, who were told by warlords that they would be paid for each home that they burnt. While the two women were trying to escape into the woods, her neighbour was shot with an arrow and his mother had to keep running. She hid for days and eventually our friend was able to collect enough funds to charter a small plane and ferry her and many other women and children of that village out of the area. His mother only recently returned to her home but there is nothing left and the situation is actually much worse for everyone there, now, than it was before the violence. Before, people from the various tribes lived and worked together but now there is distrust, animosity, and lack of peace.

He therefore came to Listen for Life some months ago and asked us to come to Kenya and set up a project there, because he is convinced that the very best way to make a permanent, positive impact in this situation is through music.
Listen for Life has therefore teamed up with another organization called the World Youth Alliance (WYA) and the deputy director of that global organization is in Kenya. Together we have planned what we believe to be a very worthwhile project of great potential and power: at specific youth events of music and dance, scheduled for late April and early May, we are bringing together the youth and leaders from the 7 principal (previously warring) tribes and we are flying in professional media producers from Listen for Life in USA and Europe. They will then teach workshops for those gathered, about filming and recording their own native musicians - thus giving them a new job skill, potential employment, and helping to preserve their cultures, while at the same time giving them an activity that promotes peace, centered on the one common denominator: music. They will also help them to set up their own radio station and/or programming, in order to give the future generations of Kenya a voice for positive change rather inciting others to continue the divisive violence.

The WYA has contributed what they can to support and organize these unique, imaginative events which are scheduled to take place in 3 locations of Kenya over a 12 day period, but they contacted us recently saying that their funding source for the project itself had suddenly evaporated and they are now reliant on Listen for Life in the USA to find funding or donations from any individuals, groups, micro-lenders, corporations, etc (of ANY country), in order to cover the $8000 of budgeted expenses for all of the project and its three events - but if we don't find that funding THIS WEEK, they will be forced to cancel or postpone the events until a later time because we won't have time to get the Visas for the LFL production people to travel to Kenya to teach the workshops, and the WYA will also not be able to secure the venues for the music and cross-cultural sharing and dialogue that has been set up as part of this important project.
Meanwhile, as I have been getting the word out in Kenya about the scheduled workshops, we have had wonderful offers of other locations and regions of Kenya that would like to host the events at a 4th location during the same time period. So far, over 200 youth from all over Kenya are signed up to attend the workshops and events. Keeping in mind that in Africa, a "youth" is traditionally someone up to age 35, and the potential for impacting both current and future generations with this potential project, becomes quite evident. If we end up having to postpone the events, then I will believe that was meant to be, but for now I am sharing this with everyone just in case some of you feel that it should definitely take place NOW and want to be involved in some way or know someone who might be able to help. If so, please get in touch with Listen for Life (which is a 501c3 organisation) immediately ! The website is www.listenforlife.org or you can email me (dstoering@listenforlife.org) or the Executive Director, Andy Anderson, at aanderson@listenforlife.org THANKS!