{"id":634,"date":"2020-10-27T22:10:57","date_gmt":"2020-10-27T22:10:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/judithgwolf.com\/judywp\/?page_id=634"},"modified":"2020-10-27T22:25:40","modified_gmt":"2020-10-27T22:25:40","slug":"opera-news-critics-choice-february-2019","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/judithgwolf.com\/judywp\/opera-news-critics-choice-february-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"Opera News, Critic\u2019s Choice, February 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-1ggy16-6bc23af68b6b86cf5f42f6514fb2b81e\">\n.avia-section.av-1ggy16-6bc23af68b6b86cf5f42f6514fb2b81e{\nbackground-repeat:no-repeat;\nbackground-image:url(https:\/\/judithgwolf.com\/judywp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/JGW-Typemix.jpg);\nbackground-position:0% 0%;\nbackground-attachment:scroll;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div id='av_section_1'  class='avia-section av-1ggy16-6bc23af68b6b86cf5f42f6514fb2b81e main_color avia-section-no-padding avia-no-border-styling  avia-builder-el-0  el_before_av_section  avia-builder-el-first  avia-bg-style-scroll av-minimum-height av-minimum-height-custom av-height-custom  container_wrap sidebar_right'  data-section-bg-repeat='no-repeat' data-av_minimum_height_px='300'><div class='container av-section-cont-open' style='height:300px'><main  role=\"main\" itemprop=\"mainContentOfPage\"  class='template-page content  av-content-small alpha units'><div class='post-entry post-entry-type-page post-entry-634'><div class='entry-content-wrapper clearfix'>\n\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-18ynbm-c754ca760f502b463c0757e9b15776fa\">\n#top .av_textblock_section.av-18ynbm-c754ca760f502b463c0757e9b15776fa .avia_textblock{\nfont-size:32px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<section  class='av_textblock_section av-18ynbm-c754ca760f502b463c0757e9b15776fa '   itemscope=\"itemscope\" itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/CreativeWork\" ><div class='avia_textblock'  itemprop=\"text\" ><p>Media<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n<\/div><\/div><\/main><!-- close content main element --><\/div><\/div>\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-1335wa-93efb7f96e54436e2338ced3b000c63f\">\n.avia-section.av-1335wa-93efb7f96e54436e2338ced3b000c63f{\nbackground-color:#fefbf1;\nbackground-image:unset;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div id='av_section_2'  class='avia-section av-1335wa-93efb7f96e54436e2338ced3b000c63f main_color avia-section-default avia-no-border-styling  avia-builder-el-2  el_after_av_section  avia-builder-el-last  avia-bg-style-scroll container_wrap sidebar_right'  ><div class='container av-section-cont-open' ><div class='template-page content  av-content-small alpha units'><div class='post-entry post-entry-type-page post-entry-634'><div class='entry-content-wrapper clearfix'>\n\n<style type=\"text\/css\" data-created_by=\"avia_inline_auto\" id=\"style-css-av-yxjbm-9cd2bcf0f8f3b5e56786ac0ff0e03d9c\">\n.flex_column.av-yxjbm-9cd2bcf0f8f3b5e56786ac0ff0e03d9c{\nborder-radius:0px 0px 0px 0px;\npadding:25px 25px 25px 25px;\n}\n<\/style>\n<div  class='flex_column av-yxjbm-9cd2bcf0f8f3b5e56786ac0ff0e03d9c av_one_fourth  avia-builder-el-3  el_before_av_three_fourth  avia-builder-el-first  first flex_column_div  '     ><div  class='avia-builder-widget-area clearfix  avia-builder-el-4  avia-builder-el-no-sibling '><section id=\"nav_menu-2\" class=\"widget clearfix widget_nav_menu\"><div class=\"menu-sb-menu-container\"><ul id=\"menu-sb-menu\" class=\"menu\"><li id=\"menu-item-144\" class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-home menu-item-144\"><a href=\"https:\/\/judithgwolf.com\/judywp\/\">Home<\/a><\/li>\n<li id=\"menu-item-143\" class=\"menu-item menu-item-type-post_type menu-item-object-page menu-item-143\"><a href=\"https:\/\/judithgwolf.com\/judywp\/judith-g-wolf\/\">Judith G. 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Sparr, electric guitar<br \/>\nTimothy McAllister, alto saxophone<br \/>\nTim Hugh (cello)<br \/>\nNaxos (American Classics 8.559824)<\/p>\n<p>Kenneth Fuchs (b. 1956) is a prolific American composer and professor of music composition at the University of Connecticut. He is a longtime friend and artistic collaborator of conductor JoAnn Falletta; this is the fifth album of Fuchs\u2019s music that Falletta has recorded with the London Symphony on Naxos. This collection features Poems of Life, an eighteen-minute song cycle for countertenor and orchestra to poems by Judith G. Wolf.<\/p>\n<p>Fuchs has arranged twelve of Wolf\u2019s poems into five movements. The flow from one poem to the next within each movement is seamless, both musically and thematically. Collectively, Wolf\u2019s poems traverse an emotional arc from the death of a loved one to spiritual transcendence. Fuchs shapes the cycle skillfully, starting with solo voice, then adding incrementally to the instrumentation. The countertenor, Aryeh Nussbaum Cohen, begins \u201cEthereal\u201d with a pleasantly arching a cappella melody, a good depiction of the opening phrase (\u201cA wisp of thought\u201d). A solo cello answers the vocal line, then voice and cello counterpoint continues into the second poem, \u201cTime Slips Away.\u201d Nussbaum Cohen\u2019s attractive, gently pulsating countertenor intertwines beautifully with Tim Hugh\u2019s rich, singing cello tone.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s the Prologue. In Movement I, Fuchs introduces English horn and strings. Wolf\u2019s poems clearly inspire Fuchs to creative tone painting, and he shows imagination within his primarily conservative harmonic sound world. Augmented seconds suggest exoticism, which is later reinforced by the gentle Ravelian swirls of \u201cWatching for Death,\u201d as more of the orchestra gradually joins in. The orchestra swells marvelously at the end of this poem. In the next one, \u201cFace,\u201d the harmony becomes more penetrating and pungent, but softens suitably on \u201cIt is lonely there \/ but comforting.\u201d Nussbaum Cohen is subtle and expressive, with cushiony, admirably consistent tone that resonates comfortably with Fuchs\u2019s lush orchestrations. In Movement II, \u201cForever Gone\u201d veers into slushiness, but that may have been hard to avoid with lines like \u201cBorne by gentle breezes \/ coasting on a down draft.\u201d Fuchs goes back to solo voice for the Epilogue, then brings in expressive strings for the last poem, \u201cEpiphany,\u201d right on the word \u201cGod.\u201d He pulls one last bit of piquant harmony out for the last line, \u201cAm I dead or merely dreaming?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The disc also features a set of three concertos. The piano concerto, subtitled \u201c\u2018Spiritualist\u2019 (After Three Paintings by Helen Frankenthaler),\u201d is fully diatonic for most of its running time, but has some welcome tangy interjections in the second and third movements. Glacier, the electric guitar concerto, isn\u2019t driving or grinding in the exciting way one might imagine; possibly the title may have been a clue to this. Happily, it becomes edgy and syncopated toward the end of the fourth movement, complete with a solo break and distorted riffs.<\/p>\n<p>Timothy McAllister delivers unusually pure and sweet tone in the cadenzas of Rush, the alto saxophone concerto. Pianist Jeffrey Biegel and guitarist D. J. Sparr also provide expert performances in their respective solo pieces. Falletta shows a clear affinity throughout for Fuchs\u2019s warm, spacious, neo-Romantic idiom, and the LSO responds with lush yet pristine playing.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Joshua Rosenblum<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><!-- close content main div --><\/div><\/div><div id='after_section_2'  class='main_color av_default_container_wrap container_wrap sidebar_right'  ><div class='container av-section-cont-open' ><div class='template-page content  av-content-small alpha units'><div class='post-entry post-entry-type-page post-entry-634'><div class='entry-content-wrapper clearfix'>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-634","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/judithgwolf.com\/judywp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/judithgwolf.com\/judywp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/judithgwolf.com\/judywp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/judithgwolf.com\/judywp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/judithgwolf.com\/judywp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=634"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/judithgwolf.com\/judywp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/634\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":650,"href":"https:\/\/judithgwolf.com\/judywp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/634\/revisions\/650"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/judithgwolf.com\/judywp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}