Jay Harvey Upstage

Re M ȁrkable results in Beethoven He knew everybody was eager for the Beethoven Fifth, so  Jun M ȁrkl  kept his post-intermission remarks from the podium concise. The Japanese-German conductor, who becomes the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra 's music director in September, first had some thanks to offer.  He praised the orchestra's members in both musical and personal terms. He wrapped up with compliments to the audience, making the obvious but necessary point that the best the ISO has to offer comes out only when there are people in the Hilbert Circle Theatre seats. And there were plenty of them Friday night, as the 2023-24 Classical Series drew to a close. The program of works by Beethoven, George Gershwin, and British composer Hannah Kendall will be repeated at 5:30 this afternoon.  A wise senior music critic once told me and a gaggle of newspaper newbies something designed to check any loftiness we might be cultivating when we write about major repertoire: "Remember th

Conrad Herwig , an adept veteran trombonist, has made a specialty of small-group arrangements of jazz masters in Latin-jazz stylings . "The Latin Side of McCoy Tyner" (Savant) is a fine continuation of the series, especially given that as a composer Tyner (1938-2020) created sturdy pieces with lots of momentum as well as heart. Conrad Herwig has made Latinizing jazz classics a specialty. Tyner's heavily accented piano style isn't obsesssively expanded to the septet Herwig heads here. The arrangements welcome the occasionally laidback nature of Latin-American music. But the impressiveness of Tyner's approach is effectively translated to a band that depends on the animated verve of Camilo Molina's conga drums.  The traditional three-man rhythm section fits indelibly into that vibe, with a guest appearance on "Walk Spirit, Talk Spirit," by Latin-jazz piano maestro Eddie Palmieri. Much of the credit for the rhythm section's solidity goes to pianist B

There is no final chapter in addiction stories, "Spay" teaches us. When physiology and psychology join arms and march ahead through vulnerable lives, the forces of reason, morality, and love faint and pull their flags out of any ground in which they have tentatively planted stakes. "Spay" opened this weekend in an American Lives Theatre production on Phoenix Theatre 's Basile stage. The last line (from offstage) in this expansive, troubling one-act drama by Madison Fiedler is succeeded by a final blackout. On Saturday night, the audience seemed a bit startled into silence until the lights came back up on a curtain-call-arranged cast. I think the playwright, as well Jen Johansen, making her directorial debut, were hinting "That's it!" as well as 'No, this is not it!" It's conventional by now that many modern plays avoid clearcut resolution. In the case of "Spay," the central problem of substance abuse bakes in the need to for

The connection of the music to winged creatures was slight here and there, but the theme "In Flight" stayed consistent throughout the concert the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra played Friday night under the direction of its music director designate, Jun M ȁrkl. Jun  M ȁrkl and the ISO soar together. The important thing about thematic programming of classical music is that images both general and specific can be held in the mind while the ears are cajoled and programmatic unity takes shape. M ȁrkl 's shrewd program choices keep the flight connections aloft, ending with "The Pines of Rome," whose concluding movement blasts away birdwatching to privilege returning legions processing in triumph back to the ancient imperial capital after military triumphs elsewhere. What was up above at Hilbert Circle Theatre in "The Pines of the Appian Way" was thus the extra brass, no birds, that the score calls for to swell the victory celebration. "One of the

Dinner guest brings Don Giovanni's comeuppance to the table. Stage directors' practice of setting a scene behind the overture is a practice that sometimes  seems intrusive. Whether you know the opera or not, traditionally the audience would become accustomed to just settling in and taking in the overture as an abstract sketch of the action and more pertinent music to come.  Now for an overture to introduce the raising of an opaque curtain is somewhat old-fashioned: Modern lighting and the use of a scrim can establish a veil of illusion that the words and action blended in the libretto will substantiate and clarify over the hours to follow. The audience immediately shoulders more of a duty than simply to stop chatting and iPhone perusal and to listen; we are interpreting from the first note on. Accompanying several compelling minutes of music, Alison Moritz presents a mimed scenario in Cincinnati Opera 's production of "Don Giovanni," which opened the company's

Guest Serrato solos, flanked by Dixon and Floyd Rob Dixon  has long led  "Triology," a band name sometimes wrongly rendered as "Trilogy." But aside from that, he has accustomed any audience attracted by his marquee name to appear with a trio, "plus 1" attached to allow for guests.  On Friday night at the Jazz Kitchen , the bandstand held six musicians under Dixon's leadership and affable hosting of a full house. There were engaging anecdotes and reminiscences from the tenor saxophonist and Jazz Mayor of Indianapolis, speaking to the variety of his personal connections with music he has both played and loved as a listener. Hia special guest in the front line was alto saxophonist J. Serrato of Austin, Texas. The roster was filled out by local musicians Reggie Bishop, keyboards; Brandon Meeks, bass; Richard "Sleepy" Floyd, drums, and Joe Harrison, guitar. Meeks and Floyd are longtime Triology regulars. Serrato proved to be an excellent guest. De

Late to the two-night party by virtue of transportation difficulties, Ravi Coltrane 's man in the percussion chair, Ravi Coltrane leans into his work.  Ele Salif Howell, got the boss' indulgence to command the spotlight to end the first set Saturday at the Jazz Kitchen . Coltrane's decision to "give the drummer some" in compensation for his forced absence from the bandstand Friday seems to accord with the saxophonist's genial nature.  In many senses, the vehicle for Howell's extended exhibition was an inspired choice: "Los Caballos" by the bandleader's mother, Alice Coltrane. The pianist-composer carved out a niche of her own as the widow of John Coltrane, whom Ravi acknowledged by leading the band through the trailblazing saxophonist's "Expression" just before the set-closer. Though Alice Coltrane's original practically puts percussion in the front line, Howell's solo seemed disproportionate to me. It did have virtuosit

A son of the venerated East German maestro Kurt Sanderling, Michael Sanderling now lives in Florida.  The only Scandinavian country missing from this weekend's Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra repertoire is Denmark, as guest conductor Michael Sanderling pointed out in remarks to Friday's audience as the stage was being prepared for a Steinway piano to be moved front and center at Hilbert Circle Theatre. Sanderling hinted that the other guest artist, Kenny Broberg, might choose a Danish composer if the audience applauded heartily enough for an encore. As it happened, Broberg followed his dazzling performance of the Grieg Piano Concerto with Nicolai Medtner's Fairy Tale in F minor, op. 26, no. 3. The hint of Danish representation came only by implication, in the droll tone and deadpan delivery of some of what the German conductor had to say. He noted that the audience was getting the benefit of "a spectacle" as stagehands moved orchestra chairs out of the way to