Jay Harvey Upstage

Jeffrey Kahane displayed flair and sensitivity. The odd absence on most American orchestra schedules of American music has been a puzzle to me ever since the bicentennial boomlet of that repertoire in 1976.  Naively, I thought widespread acquaintance with American composers would whet the appetites of managements and audiences alike to wave the flag, musically speaking, and everyone would benefit year after year. It never happened, though the market allure of world premieres has swelled the number of fresh commissions from composers with a social security number. What about those deuxiemes, those troisiemes, and so on? Better not ask. Well-known names and familiar pieces from the American catalog can still bring out the crowds, however, as was evident at Hilbert Circle Theatre Friday night, when guest artist Jeffrey Kahane played and conducted an all-American concert with the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra. Kahane, appearing for the eighth time as an ISO guest over a 32-y...

Steve Weakley is first recipient of a new award. Ralph Adams has long tended the Indianapolis jazz garden, making sure local talent both past and present is properly nurtured and remembered. His latest venture is to hold up the Wes Montgomery legacy as a way to honor outstanding local contributors to the music. Wes Montgomery (1923-68) The inaugural award goes to Steve Weakley, a veteran jazz guitarist whose work around the city is well-known. Adams, in cooperation with Chef Joseph's, Indiana Black Expo, Stuart Mortuary, the Indianapolis Recorder, and Jazz-City Internet Radio, will present Weakley in concert, fronting a quartet, at 6 p.m. March 29 at Chef Joseph's, 115 E. Ohio St. The event, originally scheduled for March 1, had to be postponed because of the wintry weather. Advance tickets, $12 each, are available online +Eventbrite .  Admission at the door, which opens at 5 p.m. Sunday,  is $15. Joining Weakley will be Kevin Anker, organ; Richard "Sleepy...

Enrique Bátiz elicited splendid playing from his orchestra The homeland salute was reserved for two spacious encores, but there was no doubt about hemispheric solidarity with the Mexican diaspora Thursday night at the Palladium, when the National Symphony Orchestra of Mexico played a well-received concert under the baton of its founder, Enrique Bátiz. Opening speeches including  bilingual welcomes by the Center for the Performing Arts' CEO, Cuban-born Tania Castroverde Moskalenko,  and Jorge Sánchez, Mexican consul in Indianapolis. About those encores: The concert's soloist, guitarist Alfonso Moreno, offered a tender Mexican love song, Un Viejo Amor , accompanied by several of the string players. At the end of the printed program, Bátiz led the orchestra in a long, splashy evocation of Mexico, followed by a rousing salute to the host country in the form of John Philip Sousa's "Liberty Bell" march. The announced program comprised a first half with the musi...

R. Hamilton Wright and David Pichette have hatched a dream about "The Hound of the Baskervilles," and the current production at Indiana Repertory Theatre is a deft interpretation of it. Before the triggering event: Sir Charles waves off servant's assistance on the treacherous moor. What the playwrights have done with Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous tale resembles one kind of dreaming that fascinates us: the way our unconscious often crafts a scenario that takes what we know about people, mixes in our suppositions about and impressions of them, adds a considerable amount of bizarre behavior that makes more sense than it should, then delivers us dry-shod on the shores of consciousness oddly refreshed and amused. When the dreamed-of genre is famous detective fiction, it's a sure bet that the deliverance will be tidier than the outcome of most dreams. In the Wright-Pichette adaptation, the deductive powers of Sherlock Holmes are intact, though the playwright...

I can't let the memory of last weekend's final measures from the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra fade any further without lifting up the wonderful trombone glissando — a French/Spanish version of Walt Whitman's "barbaric yawp" if ever there was one — in " Feria," the festive conclusion of Maurice Ravel's "Rapsodie espagnole." As I said in my review, just a couple of raucous smears evokes the suggestion that collective good times are about to get out of hand — as they often do when people pour into the streets to party. Then the piece ends, at just the right time. Cologne Cathedral: Musically, it calls for trombones. As a former trombonist, I count this moment among ten touchstones for my instrument in the orchestral literature.  I offer here nine others to suggest the marvelous ways composers characterize the trombone. Its voice is essential to so many pieces, though trombonists typically make do without the near omnipresence of the...

Anders Jalkeus (second from right) was replaced here by Janis Strazdins. In celebration of the 20th anniversary of the Christel DeHaan Fine Arts Center, the University of Indianapolis welcomed a vocal ensemble celebrating its 30th anniversary to grace the Ruth Lilly Performance Hall . Nearly all its 500 seats were filled Sunday afternoon as the Real Group, an amiable, well-honed quintet from Sweden took the stage with an ethereal vocalise. Hand-held microphones — their blend exquisitely engineered — are an essential ingredient of the sound, with occasional assistance from an electronic sequencer. The latter device gave a nice overlay to the singers' harmonies in "Words," an original song that opened the show. The power of words in English — both sung and spoken — gave the three Swedes, one Dane and one Latvian (substitute bass Janis Strazdins) immediate rapport with the audience. The patter, the arrangements, the fluid movement around the large stage — everythin...

Anticipation was nearly enough to carry the day. So last night I posted a link to a WISH-TV  feature on this Black History Month presentation by Indy Jazz Fest , masterminded by saxophonist Rob Dixon, leading a quintet supplemented by two vocalists and a poet. The Jazz Kitchen accommodated a decent-sized crowd, though (he told me after the first set Saturday) it fell short in Dixon's estimation, given the amount of publicity he had devoted to it. He had more than a bright idea going for him in the verbal-musical blend. In my anticipatory post, I used the word "glory" in a conscious echo of the acclaimed song in Oscar nominee "Selma" and alluding to the epochal Civil War movie from 1989. But I hedged a bit, given such lofty comparisons, by adding that hints of glory would be enough as "Vision of the Visionaries" unfolded. And those hints of glory were delivered in due course. But I see this program's potential as being much more, with the mer...

Miguel Harth-Bedoya worked wonders with Strauss. D. Kern Holoman, a conductor-scholar not overly given to gushing, calls the Marschallin-Octavian-Sophie trio near the end of "Der Rosenkavalier" "one of the loveliest passages in all music." Many music-lovers would be inclined to agree, adding perhaps the concluding duet in which Octavian and Sophie celebrate their hard-won love. Both episodes were highlights of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra' s performance of the "Rosenkavalier Suite" Friday night at Hilbert Circle Theatre. Among the characteristic waltzes and other love music, along with the rich comic portraiture of the awkward Baron von Ochs, this is certainly one of the most pristinely evocative suites drawn from any ballet or opera. Guest conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya elicited from the players about as perfect a characterization of it as could be imagined.  The teasing eroticism of the slow waltzes, the exuberant mastery of accelerat...

Gregory Martin (from left), David Bellman, and Ingrid Fischer-Bellman. The absence of co-founder David Bellman was felt keenly, but the Ronen Chamber Ensemble forged ahead with the planned program largely intact Monday night at the University of Indianapolis. It was a rare occasion to focus locally on chamber music by African-American composers in honor of Black History Month. The Voices of Worship Choir from the university was on hand to wrap things up in spirited fashion with two gospel numbers under the direction of Geoffrey Kelsaw. No mention was made of the reason for Bellman's absence; his mother died a few days ago, and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra principal clarinetist was in Albuquerque. Consequently, Ronen's part of the program required the elimination of a movement from David Baker' s Duo for Clarinet and Cello , a Ronen commission. Also, Christina Martin substituted in the clarinet chair for a performance of Anthony Kelley 's "Grist for...

It's not your average sextet that can find something fresh to say about both Claude Debussy's "Cathedrale engloutie" and Charlie Parker's "Red Cross" without violating the spirit of either original. Ernesto Cervini is a drummer-composer of merit. That achievement is part of the appeal of "Turboprop" ( Anzic Records ), a new CD release by drummer-composer Ernesto Cervini . Among the 10 tunes, two others are by other composers — the movie song "Cheer Up, Charlie" (from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ) and Keith Jarrett's "Windup." Both sit comfortably among the six Cervini pieces, with "The Windup" making for an exhilarating finale. The Canada-based ensemble's effervescence never gets bedraggled. The coordination is superb, and the instrumental blend holds firm. From the outset of Cervini's "Unnecessary Mountain," an urgent but understated drum pattern sets the tone for the whole tra...

Marcus Roberts represents the creative mainstream of jazz piano. Brought into the international spotlight by Wynton Marsalis three decades ago, Marcus Roberts has taken an independent place as one of the defenders of jazz tradition in the Marsalis vein — illustrating how a personal style can meld with the mainstream heritage, reinforcing it among contemporary listeners. On Friday night, he headed a trio of fellow Southerners — Thaddeus Exposé substituting on bass for regular Rodney Jordan — at Clowes Hall. The program, with a couple of episodic originals nestled among a raft of standards, went down easily with an appreciative audience. By the time of the encore, a deep-delving slow blues, there was ample evidence that the group rapport, with longtime sideman Jason Marsalis (younger brother of Wynton) on drums,  had been forged to communicate clearly to the casual and devoted jazz fan alike. Roberts has in common with a few eminent blind jazz pianists a silky touch that...

Notice of a Classical Series change  just came from the ISO this afternoon. We wish Raymond Leppard a return to good health soon. Ludovic Morlot will return to the ISO for the fourth time in the past decade. "INDIANAPOLIS – The Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra announced today that Conductor Laureate Raymond Leppard has had to withdraw from his concerts on March 13-14 due to health issues. Maestro Leppard will be replaced by conductor Ludovic Morlot , who serves as Music Director of the Seattle Symphony. Due to the change, the program will now feature Berlioz’s Overture to Les Francs-juges (Judges of the Secret Court), Ravel’s Concerto for the Left Hand with pianist Bertrand Chamayou and Brahms’ Symphony No. 1. The pre-concert presentation of the Honor Orchestra of America will continue as scheduled. Maestro Morlot’s last appearances with the ISO were in 2007, 2009 and 2011."

The  Fauré Piano Quartet has impressed the Ensemble Music Society before, and its return Wednesday night drew a capacity crowd to the Indiana History Center's 300-seat Basile Theater.   The Fauré Quartet showed its mastery of its namesake composer. There was no room for disappointment in a program that held up the gold standard of this sturdy, but small-scale, genre of violin, viola, cello and piano. A work by the ensemble's namesake crowned the concert: Gabriel Fauré's luminous Quartet in C minor,  op. 15. Fauré's chaste, animated style — which enabled even his work for larger forces to retain a chamber-music intimacy — was superbly represented here. The work is a model of smoothly connected inspirations, in which each phrase nestles next to its fellow, and none goes wasted. Coherence is both emotional and structural, as the first movement demonstrated Wednesday. The second movement, a tasty Scherzo, presented a conspicuous indication ...

Krzysztof Urbanski stands by as Gary Ginstling talks about 2015-16. With representatives of the media and the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra community forming an appreciative audience, the ISO's chief executive officer and two staff conductors publicly presented the 2015-16 season Tuesday morning on the stage of Hilbert Circle Theatre. Music director Krzysztof Urbanski, who added to his international luster the other day when he received the Leonard Bernstein Prize, a German award linked to the Schleswig-Holstein Music Festival, spoke of dreams come true here. One of them will be the opportunity to work with Emanuel Ax as soloist in a Beethoven piano concerto Sept. 18 and 19, when (unusually) the Classical Series will open before the traditional Opening Night Gala (which features Urbanski with Joshua Bell and Time for Three) . Ax, long a popular guest artist here, was the soloist in a recorded set of Beethoven piano concertos Urbanski remembers purchasing in his teens — ...

A satisfying program has to be measured by how satisfyingly it is performed. By that measure, Simone Lamsma' s recital with pianist Rohan De Silva Tuesday night was entirely successful. Simone Lamsma returned to Indianapolis Tuesday night. The 2006 silver medalist of the International Violin Competition of Indianapolis was presented by that organization in music of Dvorak, Mendelssohn, Part, and Schumann at the Indiana History Center. Lamsma's sound and assertiveness acquired prominence as the concert proceeded. Across that spectrum, she almost always made the right interpretive choices. Her projection was well-defined without becoming coarse, and the partnership with De Silva was exemplary from the start. The work that first emphasized shifts of dominance from one instrument to the other was Mendelssohn's Sonata in F major. Lamsma and De Silva smoothly exchanged the Allegro vivace movement's material, rising to an intense yet gracefully brought-off climax at...

Kevin Patterson, a veteran opera administrator who grew up here and graduated from Warren Central High School and Indiana University's Jacobs School of Music, is the new director of Indianapolis Opera. Kevin Patterson now heads Indianapolis Opera Patterson has been charged by the company's board to "make a successful opera company," he told me this morning, speaking by phone from IO's offices. "We need to get back on our feet, and build this company again." The company failed to complete its 2013-14 season, canceling the final production (Benjamin Britten's "Albert Herring"), and making structural changes that caused the departure of artistic director James Caraher within a year of the dismissal of executive director John Pickett. Since then, fundraising and marketing research resulted in the process that led Patterson to return home in a newly created position: general director. "The current financial situation is that all ...

A charming footnote in "Musicophilia," one of Oliver Sacks' fascinating books on oddities of neurology, makes short work of the legend that Dmitri Shostakovich got so close to danger during  the siege of Leningrad that he sustained shrapnel injuries to the head that assisted his composing. The leading U.S. news magazine invents a war hero. The brain can produce musical hallucinations by various means, including injury. Supposedly, the Soviet composer in the aftermath of service as a fire warden accessed musical inspiration by tilting his head in a certain way: Music would pour in. Sacks suggests that the story was an outgrowth of the government's exaggeration of Shostakovich's involvement in the defense of what is once again St. Petersburg. What we heard Friday night from the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra at the Hilbert Circle Theatre is most likely the result of normal hard work, skill, and inspiration. Some of it may have arisen before the Nazi invasio...