It’s the latter, the trim and easy-to-use edition, that makes its New York City debut this week at the Manhattan School of Music in three performances (4/25-29).  Steven Osgood conducts and stage direction is by Jay Lesenger.

Corigliano and Hoffman in 2011

There’s tons of places online to learn more about the origins and reception of “Ghosts.”  Something I didn’t find readily was the tidbit that the original title was “A Figaro for Antonia.” John and Bill did innumerable talks around Manhattan in the months leading up to the premiere and I recall one of them saying that whenever they said that the name of the opera, the response was “What?!”

So they came up with a new and much better title, while the opera within the opera bears that vowel-heavy original name.  And the rest is opera history.

Robert Wood,

“Positions 1956” uses various 1950’s instructional manuals, all dealing with “positions”  (sexual, physical exercise, partner-dancing) as source material for a three-part 90-minute musical theater work that follows a year in the life of a newly-wed couple, capturing the end of post-war American idealism as it gives way to the looming uncertainty of the 1960’s. The work has an appealing semi-narrative structure.  There’s an overall sense of going from point A to point B, but with a distinctly non-narrative feel as various series of positions are explored. Part 1 “Marriage Manual” features 13 songs/numbers that deal with sexual positions (“Sideways,” “Doggie and Astride,” “Anal Intercourse”). Part 2 “Physique” uses various exercises as its structural elements (“Washboard Abs,” “Leg Extension”), and Part 3 “Social Dancing” is organized around a series of dances, starting with the tango, and ending with a hint of rock-and-roll.

Cummings’ music uses repetitive structures to great effect, deftly combining minimalist gestures with historical nods to Baroque music, marches and military music, and popular dance forms. There are wonderful musical moments, and some truly creative, funny musical juxtapositions.  Yet this is very much a libretto-driven opera, and what the music does best (as good theater music should) is illuminate the lyrics and the drama, and otherwise keep a low profile.

The lyrics by Korie are masterful. There are moments of great poignancy (“Missionary Position” in Part 1, where The Bride, in a dreamy haze, really does “lie on her back and think of England”) and also some hilarious touches (“Doggie” and “Neck Development”). The best of the rhymes rival those of Sondheim. Two that I particularly remember were: “Foreplay: some want less play, and some want more play,” and “Press your dress and shine your shoes, when you’ve got postpartum blues.”

The singers did a good job with parts that were not easy, both musically and physically. The Bride & The Groom (Amedee Moore and Jesse Blumberg) have to romp around in bed while singing, and Blumberg somehow managed to sing while doing pushups. Their characters don’t develop very much, but that seems about right for young newlyweds in 1956: they’re appropriately clueless. The other two characters, both nicely sung by Vale Rideout, are more nuanced and each sad in his own way: the closeted Trainer at the gym, and the could-have-been dancer now Instructor at the Arthur Murray studio. Stage Director Noah Himmelstein put a fine touch on the whole: there was a lot of physical action to be worked out, and it was done well, particularly in a small space that never felt cramped.

Problems? Sure, there were a few. I thought the musicians (violin, cello, one wind player, and electric keyboard) were under-rehearsed. Some of Conrad Cummings’ music is rhythmically very complex, and it didn’t always come out cleanly. While researching this review, I came across a YouTube video of a 1996 performance of “Sitting Position” (a song that appears in Part 1 of the opera) which made me realize how much better this music can sound when played with precision. There was also the issue of amplification: all the singers and musicians were miked and run through a mixer with added effects. Of course the keyboard had to be, but it would have been interesting to hear the others unamplified. I’m just not sure it’s helpful in such a small space, and it’s disconcerting to be sitting six rows away from singers but hear their voices coming from speakers rather than their mouths. That would also have eliminated another problem: the occasional nasty static when the remote mics worn by the singers got caught in their costumes or in the sheets.

But overall, “Positions 1956” is a good work that deserves more performances in coming years. UrbanArias’ first commission is a success.

– Scott Pender

Previously on MyBigGayEars:

Share the “Positions 1956″ with Conrad Cummings and Michael Korie

View excerpts of Conrad Cummings’ opera “The Golden Gate”

Get used to Ades’ name, if you don’t already know it.  Next fall, he’ll conduct eight performances of his opera “The Tempest” at The Metropolitan Opera, all part of a typically busy season for Ades.  Besides composing and conducting he’s also recognized as a formidable pianist.

Busy is a word that could also describe Ades’ music.  His writing is usually dense with activity.  So the relative restraint of “The Four Quarters” came as a surprise.  It’s a programmatic work cast in four movements that depict the flow of a day.

“Nightfalls,” the opening, consisted primarily of hushed layers of sustained notes.  Played with a straight, vibrato-free tone, it brought to mind images of a computer screen-saver.  “Morning Dew” was mostly pizzicato strings in rhythms both random and complex, just like rain on the rooftop.  The underlying sophistication of the writing appeared when the players switched to bowing and the same melodic and rhythmic patterns were still in place.

“Days” had an arched dynamic and climaxed in a kind of battle cry of intensity.  Finally came “The Twenty-Fifth Hour,” which according to the program notes was written in an unusually complicated meter (24/16 or 2/4 + 3/16 and 2/4 + 6/16).  Tribute goes to the Emerson for bringing out the grounded and spacious quality of the visceral movement.

Come to think of it, “Four Quarters” wasn’t so restrained after all.  But it was almost a trifle in comparison to the breadth and weight of Beethoven’s String Quartet in A Minor, Op. 132 that came after intermission.  Everything framed the central, prayerful movement, a lifesafer amidst much sustained dejectedness.

The Emerson handled the Beethoven with the requisite concentration and devotion. But Haydn’s Quartet in F Major, Op. 77, No. 2, which opened the afternoon, lacked thoughtful shaping as well as strict accuracy.

Before the music started series producer Daniel Berkenblit greeted the audience and introduced his successor, Derek Delaney.  Berkenblit is retiring from the volunteer position when the season ends later this month.  He began his association with the series in 1969 and took over as director 10 years later.  Local music lovers can rest easy.  Next season’s line-up of 14 events was just announced and it includes a return of the beloved Emerson String Quartet.

Previously on MyBigGayEars:

Thomas Ades’ collaboration with partner Tal Rosner performed by NY Philharmonic

Thomas Ades at Carnegie Hall 3/27

Ades with his partner, video artist Tal Rosner:

March 15: DDT and Courtenay Budd will perform two song cycles: Lament for the Death of a Bullfighter and Miz Inez Sez (Symphony Space)

March 23: Four Hand Piano recital DDT and Marc Peloquin. DDT will premiere the big new solo Ray’s Birthday Suit. (The Barge under the Brooklyn Bridge)

March 25-26: American Opera Projects presents Haddock’s Eyes. (Galapagos Arts Space, Brooklyn)

March 29: Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony perform Syzygy with soprano soloist Kiera Duffy (Zankel Hall)

April 12: Felix Variations (world premiere), String Quartet No. 2 (NY Premiere), A Field Manual, performed by Felix Del Tredici, the Orion Quartet and the Fireworks ensemble with soloists Courtenay Budd and Michael Kelly. (Le Poisson Rouge)

Earlier this month the Detroit Symphony and conductor Leonard Slatkin performed “Final Alice” with soprano Hila Plitman.  Here are some choice excerpts from a review by Mark Stryker for the Detroit Free Press:

It’s not just that such an opulently tonal score — with its sing-songy Big Tune based on what critic Andrew Porter called a “Tea for Two” rhythm — was so contrarian in an era when high-modernist severity and purity ruled the roost. Or that the orchestration might have made Richard Strauss blush, with its gazillion strings, quadruple woodwinds, six horns, four trumpets, nine percussionists and a “folk group” of two soprano saxophones, accordion, mandolin and banjo.

Or that Del Tredici also employs a bullhorn and a theremin, whose campy electronic whine quavered whenever Alice grew or shrank. Or that the acrobatic demands placed on the narrator-singer-actor required superhuman agility, stamina and diction from amplified soprano Hila Plitmann, who delivered brilliantly. She sang Del Tredici’s luscious arias with soaring affection and shuffled personas like a demon to play Alice, the King and Queen of Hearts, the White Rabbit and the Gryphon.

No, in the end what was so striking was the crazy combustion. The sheer barrage of noise, crescendos, glissandos, multiple tempos and looking-glass distortions created a hubbub so self-indulgent that I kept saying: I can’t believe Del Tredici wrote that.

But as the King of Hearts intoned, we should start at the beginning. Del Tredici spent 20-plus years obsessing over Carroll’s “Alice” stories. “Final Alice” is his most grandiose vision, with texts drawn from the trial scene of “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” other Carroll stories and poems, as well as the Victorian verses that Carroll and others parodied. Don’t worry too much about the specifics. It’s messy. Deal. Dive in and sort it out later.

Thanks to all of you, my readers. Or maybe I should say my viewers – hopefully you’re not just dropping by but also reading and listening.  Considering that the primary focus here is a niche within a niche – the GLTB community in classical music – I’m most gratified.

What else would you like to see, hear, read?   Should I open up the site and provide an opportunity for GLTB artists to place ads for their new CDs or concerts?  (A little revenue for the creator/writer would be nice.)

The reach and effect of this site was made real to me in a new way a couple of days ago when I received an email from a 16 year-old composer/clarinetist/organist.  He asked for some guidance in the next steps toward a career and thanked me for the “tireless efforts to promote talented classical artists in our community!”

Then, on Thursday March 8 begins the latest and greatest installment yet of Michael Tilson Thomas and the San Francisco Symphony’s American Mavericks program.  Concerts and sundry special events large and small continue through the end of the month at Symphony Hall in San Francisco, in Ann Arbor, Chicago and in New York at Carnegie Hall.

The programs are an astounding mix of audacious music from the 20th and 21st centuries.  And of the 17 composers listed on the program’s website, 7 are gay or lesbian. So wouldn’t it be great if the conductor and visionary mastermind behind all of this was also out?!  Talk about an irony that someone who champions the daring and experimental is so timid and reserved.  (Honestly, if anyone can find documentation of MTT ever speaking to the gay press or otherwise being publicly out, please post it in the comments section for all to see.)

Anyway, for those of us not lucky enough to be in one of the chosen Maverick cities, there’s lots of cool stuff on the American Mavericks site.  And WQXR is dedicating most of the month of March to related programs on its contemporary music web station Q2 Music.

Here’s a teaser video from one of the most intriguing programs, bringing together vocalists Jesse Norman, Meredith Monk and Joan LaBarbara performing John Cage’s “Songbook.”  (Is anyone placing bets on whether Norman actually shows up for the performances?)

A death watch is the simplest way to describe the months leading up to New York City Opera’s curtailed and displaced 2012 winter season.  The company’s financial crisis caused it to abandon the David H. Koch Theater (formerly the New York State Theater), it’s long-time home at Lincoln Center, and to be at such loggerheads with the musicians union that the season itself was in jeopardy.

But a new production of “La Traviata” did go on as scheduled at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, followed by four performances of “Prima Donna,” the 2009 opera by Rufus Wainwright, the popular Canadian-American singer/songwriter.  The opening (Sunday February 19) had a virtually sold-out house with a number of luminaries from a variety of artistic realms.

In making the decision a year or two ago to mount Wainwright’s opera, it probably never occurred to City Opera management the potential irony of the choice.  Yet the piece is a wistful paean to the past glories of opera, mostly from the point of view of the recently retired but still conflicted soprano who is the main character.  During the performance, it wasn’t hard to make a mental leap and consider how City Opera’s best days are probably long gone.  Even apart the work’s theme, the shaky orchestra playing, elegant if economic set and poor lighting were reminders enough of the company’s on-going troubles.

The opera is in French, with a libretto by the composer and Bernadette Colomine.  Musically it’s a lean, almost understated affair. For Wainwright, a life-long fan of opera but a composer more experienced in song form, it was a wise choice to not overreach. Instead of attempting some hip new fusion of pop and classical, he wrote in a confident but highly traditional, even nostalgic style.  There was a gentle Puccini-like yearning during the opening broken chords as well as a variety of passing homages to other composers throughout the two and a half hours or so of music.  And was it a reference to “Der Rosenkavalier” that the tenor’s fiancé was named Sophie?

As Regine Saint Laurent, soprano Melody Moore had an always pleasant voice, but seldom showed the bigger than life heft of a true diva.  The vocal part may not have been written to that scale, but the character still seemed to call for it.  A more flashy though briefer role was that of Marie, the maid.  Soprano Kathryn Guthrie Demos hit all the notes though her voice was chirpy and small.

Likewise, the young Taylor Stayton never quiet filled out the pivotal role of the journalist and wannabe tenor, either vocally or dramatically.  A synopsis I found online (none was given in the BAM playbill) referred to the journalist as formidable and revered, but Stayton seemed like a cowed cub reporter.  Baritone Randal Turner, though, was terrific as the arch and wise cracking butler to the diva.  By the way, that same synopsis suggested that the butler had a “trusted companion” who appears in act one.  But on Sunday afternoon he just looked like some guy arranging roses onstage.

During a prolonged fantasy in the second act, Saint Laurent relives a scene in an opera that she triumphantly premiered.  Call it the opera within the opera.  Here Wainwright’s vocal writing changed from something rather conversational to a more noble, gilded style.  After the return to reality came the sad climax in which nearly every orchestral passage contained a descending bass line.  Perhaps if City Opera had given a more emphatic performance, there’d have been a greater emotional vibrancy throughout rather than just the prolonged sadness at the end.

Ultimately, “Prima Donna” is an opera queen’s opera about opera queens.  The character of Phillip, in particular, was worshipful of the Madame, at least until he cracks and storms off.  Turner’s fey body language was delightful, though it never undercut his powerful singing.  The onstage props also suggested a some links to Wainwright himself, who’s certainly got his own cult of personality in today’s music world.  There were copious photos on the diva’s mantle, and a nostalgic reverence for her past costumes.  And the ultimate gesture of the diva’s departure from music was her final autographing of a LP.

Being at the opening performance was something of a thrill for this upstater. Though it wasn’t quiet as gay an audience as I’d expected at a Rufus Wainwright concert, a few celebrities were easy to spot. Yoko Ono arrived with her son Sean Lennon and they sat just a few rows away.  I took the occasion to wish Ono a happy birthday, one day late.  (How did I so readily know her birthday?  It’s a date we share!)  During intermission we spotted the tall and handsome Angelica Houston.  This was Doug’s turn to make an unbidded but friendly remark to a celebrity, telling her how much we’re enjoying her new show (“Smash”).

Then, of course, there was the ever stylish Rufus. I was surprised he wasn’t seated in one of BAM’s prominent boxes (for all to see) but was instead in the orchestra. He was wearing a black tail coat, with a jeweled wallet chain, with an open collared shirt and heavy necklaces, plus a toreador hat and a walking stick in hand. He was accompanied by the tall dark and handsome Jorn Weisbrodt. Shortly after they were seated down front, Weisbrodt could be seen ruffling Rufus’ long hair.

Photos by Carol Rosegg courtesy New York City Opera.

Here’s a video presentation of Rufus talking about the opera and the City Opera cast performing excerpts: