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Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

Kansas City Symphony
Stern Conducts Copland & Beethoven
Friday, March 5 at 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, March 6 at 8:00 p.m.
Lyric Theatre, 1
11^th and Central, Downtown Kansas City, MO
Sunday, March 7, at 2:00 p.m.
Yardley Hall, Carlsen Center at JCCC
12345 College Boulevard, Overland Park, KS
For tickets call 816-471-0400 or online at www.kcsymphony.org.

When in the 1940's the Koussevitzky Foundation commissioned a symphony from one of America's best-loved composers, Aaron Copland, he knew that the resulting work was going to be a major milestone in his career, and perhaps in American music of the 20^th century.  Copland was well known for his brilliant ballet scores which cleverly incorporated American themes into sparkling music perfectly suited for dance (e.g., Billy the Kid and Rodeo), but he had rarely ventured into the purely instrumental realm (his first two symphonies were much shorter works, composed years earlier before he had gained fame).

Knowing that his Symphony had to have a central theme to tie it together, Copland cleverly turned to a small work he had written for the Cincinnati Orchestra in 1942, as a contribution to boosting home morale during the dark days of World War II.  The Cincinnati Orchestra had commissioned ten fanfares from different composers, and Copland's Fanfare for the Common Man had stood out as being among the best.

Seizing this idea, Copland founded the last movement of his Symphony on the fanfare. In fact, closer listening suggests that the entire symphony grew out of roots found in the fanfare, whose half-dozen melodic passages figure prominently in the symphony.

Although each movement is outstanding, particularly the charming third movement, it is the finale with the Fanfare theme literally trumpeting a ringing affirmation.  It is one of the most listenable, charming and incisive works of the American repertoire, and with it Copland certainly lived up to the expectations raised by the commission.

Beethoven's First Piano Concerto, the other major piece on this program, dates from his early years as a piano virtuoso prior to the onset of the deafness which plagued much of his middle and late career.  Beethoven was known as a pianist of rare ability, flailing away at the keyboard with uncommon abandon and capable of almost unbelievable technical virtuosity as well as brilliant improvisations.

Beethoven once said, "A quiet life; I don't think I'm cut out for it." This attitude permeates his first piano concerto.  As commentator Harry Goldschmidt as written, "A constantly combative spirit comes to the fore [in this concerto], challenging the old regime, boldly encouraging anything which has the face to oppose the past.  Here already is the spirit of the First Symphony, which is similarly written in the basic key of all keys - C Major. Only Beethoven could have used such a 'naked,' melodically unyielding motif."

In this concert, the KC Symphony audience will hear it performed by Robert Levin, a famed musicologist as well as performer, who has studied and written comprehensively about the music of Mozart and others.  A champion of both traditional and modern composers, Levin has recorded all of the Beethoven piano concertos, when he is not busy with his concertizing or his teaching duties at Harvard, where he serves as a professor of music.

The final piece of the Symphony program is A Haunted Landscape by George Crumb, who since the 1950's has been one of the major voices of American composition. Famed for his compositions for "prepared" piano (i.e. altered in some way) and other unusual instrumentations,

A Haunted Landscape was commissioned by the New York Philharmonic in 1984.  Of this piece, he has written: "Sometimes one feels an idyllic sense of time suspended. The contemplation of a landscape can induce complex psychological states and perhaps music is an ideal medium for delineating the tiny, subtle nuances of emotion and sensibility which hover between the subliminal and the conscious."

Crumb brings a number of interesting sounds to bear.  In addition to the usual orchestration, he incorporates into the score parts for certain "exotic" instruments -- Caribbean steel drums, Cambodian angklungs, Japanese Kabuki blocks, the Brazilian cuica, and the Appalachian hammered dulcimer.

The Friends of Chamber Music
Stanislav Ioudenitch & Behzod Abduraimov, pianists
Friday, March 5 at 8 p.m.
Folly Theater
12^th and Central, Downtown Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-561-9999 or online at www.chambermusic.org. 

Unless you have been snoozing under a rock for the past several years, you know that Stanislav Ioudenitch is the UMKC Conservatory of Music grad who was the co-winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition in 2001. He is now the Artistic Director and Associate Director of the International Center for Music and the Youth Conservatory of Music at Park University. In this concert, Ioudenitch appears with one of his talented students, Behzod Abduraimov, who won the London International Piano Competition in 2009.

Click here to see KCM's VID interview with Ioudentich and Abduraimov.

Abduraimov was born in Tashkent in 1990 and began to play the piano at the age of five. He was a pupil of Tamara Popovich at the Uspensky State Central Lyceum in Tashkent, and since 2007 has been pursuing a Bachelor's Degree at the International Center for Music at Park University, Kansas City studying with Ioudenitch.

Abduraimov also won third prize in the Musician of XXI Century international piano competition in Kazakhstan in 2000 and a diploma from the International Tchaikovsky Competition for Young Musicians in Xiamen, China, in 2002. He also won first prize in the International Piano Competition "Le Muze" in Agropoli, Italy, in 2003, and at the Lennox International Young Artists Competition last year.

The program will include the 24 Preludes, Op. 24 and some Waltzes Chopin; the Saint-Saëns/Liszt/Horowitz  version of Danse macabre; two other works by Liszt, Transcendental Etude No. 8 in C Minor, "Wilde Jagd" and Hungarian Rhapsody No. 6, and end with a rare performance of Rachmaninoff's Suite No. 1 for Two Pianos, Op. 5

Wylliams/Henry Contemporary Dance Company
"Wylliams/Henry on the Edge"
Friday, March 5 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, March 6 at 8 p.m.
The Foundation
1221 Union Avenue in the West Bottoms, Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-235-6222 or online at https://tickets.cto.umkc.edu/public/load_screen.asp

The Wylliams/Henry Contemporary Dance Company was founded by Leni Wylliams and Mary Pat Henry in 1991 and is celebrating their 19^th year in presenting exciting and cutting edge works created by outstanding American choreographers and dancers.

"Wylliams/Henry on the Edge is a new addition to the regular concert season. This concert includes provocative, sensual, edgy, and out of the box choreography.  We set this performance in an alternative venue, The Foundation, in the West Bottoms, to attract an audience that enjoys art openings and avant garde events," remarked Mary Pat Henry co-founder of Wylliams/Henry Contemporary Dance Company.

This performance will include "Untitled" by Tiffany Sisemore, a Charlotte Street Foundation 2009 Generative Award winner, as well as "Eden" by DeeAnna Hiett, a Charlotte Street Foundation 2008 Generative Award winner. "2146 in a Series" by Susan Warden is a NEA Choreographic Fellowship Award by the founder of the Susan Warden Dancers.  Other works are  "Trap Door Party" by Josh Beamish, Artistic Director of the Canadian Dance Company MOVE, and "I Want a Hot Dog for My Roll" a Tribute to the Apollo Theater's Butter Beans and Susie by Mary Pat Henry, co-founder Wylliams/Henry Dance Company. 



Kansas City Chorale
Sing to Love
Saturday, March 6 at 7:30 p.m.
Visitation Church
5141 Main Street, Kansas City, MO
Sunday, March 7 at 2:00 p.m.
Asbury Methodist Church
7500 Nall Avenue, Overland Park, KS
For tickets call 816-444-7996 or online at www.kcchorale.org

Conductor Charles Bruffy brings back his Kansas City Chorale this weekend for a concert devoted to "Spring, the season of love." The nationally famous troupe will perform the second book of Johannes' Brahms' romantic Liebeslieder Waltzes, as well as a "bouquet of love songs" hand-picked by Maestro Bruffy.

In a break from Chorale tradition, six professional dancers from TC International Dance Studio will be at the concerts waltzing to the music.  If there is enough room in the aisles, you are probably welcome to join them yourself, if so inspired.



Harriman Jewell Series
Moscow State Radio Symphony
Saturday, March 6 at 8 p.m.
Folly Theater
12^th and Central Streets, Downtown Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 815-415-5025 or online at www.harrimanjewell.org.

The Moscow State Radio Symphony was founded over 30 years ago for the purposes of Russian radio broadcasts of symphonic favorites, but now tours the world over to bring its impressive musicianship to audiences everywhere. For this, its second appearance on the Harriman Jewell program, the Symphony will perform an all-Tchaikovsky program under the direction of Alexei Kornienko.

On the schedule are the charming Polonaise (dance) from Tchaikovsky's best known opera (at least to Western audiences), Eugene Onegin; the Suite No. 4, Op. 6, called Mozartiana, and Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 3 in D, the so-called "Polish."

According to a review in the Los Angeles Times, "the overall impression...was one of orchestral polish and muster....  This orchestra is a crack ensemble that brings a rigorous approach to music-making that left little to ambiguity."

The Tchaikovsky pieces here are from the earlier part of his career, for the most part, and are among his most charming compositions.  You won't find more a genuine Tchaikovsky performance than one by one of Russia's leading orchestras.

Lied Center at KU
The Albers Sisters
Sunday, March 7 at 2 p.m.
Lied Center at University of Kansas
1600 Stewart Drive, Lawrence, KS
For tickets call 785-864-2787 or online at www.lied.ku.edu

The Lied Center brings a trio of young string instrumentalists to the Lied Center on Sunday afternoon to play the music of Mozart, Beethoven and contemporary composer Ross Bauer.

Natives of Boulder, Colorado, each of the sisters has had an impressive individual career.  Violinist Laura is the concertmistress of the San Francisco Opera orchestra and is a graduate of the Cleveland Institute of Music and Juilliard. Violist Rebecca performs with the St. Paul Chamber Orchestra and is also a Juilliard graduate. Cellist Julie is a resident of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center and has performed with orchestras around the world.

As a trio, the group has appeared at such venues as Alice Tully Hall at Lincoln Center, National Theatre in Taipei, Severance Hall, Weill Recital Hall, Wigmore Hall in London, and Zankel Hall. Their performances have also been seen and heard on Live from Lincoln Center, Kennedy Center Honors, Japan's NHK, Washington D.C.'s Voice of America and Bavarian Radio.

Philharmonia of Greater Kansas City
Family Concert
Sunday, March 7 at 3 p.m.
Graham Tyler Memorial Chapel at Park University
8700 N.W. River Park Drive
Park University, Parkville, MO
Free admission. 

The Philharmonia of Greater Kansas City is on a search for a new music director, and this concert will feature the talents of the three finalists for the position, Grant Harville, Travis Jurgens and Christopher Kelts.  Among the pieces will be shorts by Dvorak, Brahms, Glinka, Bizet and Humperdinck (the real one, not the pop singer). 

Fans of the Philharmonia will not want to pass up this opportunity to review and compare the talents of the three contestants for this position.



Youth Symphony of Kansas City
Concerto Showcase and Guest Artist Concert
Sunday, March 7 at 4 p.m.
Music Hall
301 West 13th Street, Downtown Kansas City, MO
Free admission.

The Youth Symphony, both its both its Symphony Orchestra and Academy Orchestra, will perform a free concert Sunday afternoon with guest artist Greg Foreman, organist. No further information is available about this concert.


UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance
Art Sounds: Playing Fields
Tuesday, March 9 at 7:30 p.m.
Epperson Auditorium, Kansas City Art Institute
4415 Warwick, Kansas City, MO
Free admission.

According to publicity for this event, "Playing Fields is an original ArtSounds event realizing a collaboration between James Mobberley and Brett Reif. It is a difficult event to describe. Part musical experience with over 40 minutes of original music by Dr. Mobberley, part gallery exhibition experience involving three new installations by Brett Reif and part theatre involving 21 Kansas City Art Institute freshmen from Brett Reif's 'Performance Workshop' who will perform the installations."

We are not sure what "perform the installations" means, but we do know that James Mobberly is the chair of the UMKC Conservatory's composition department, so the musical portion of this event counts as a performance which you should consider this weekend.  The art aspect of it is out of our league, but it sounds like an interesting multi-media experience.

By Don Dagenais

City Classics Music and Dance Columnist; Classical Contributor

A lifelong classical music fan, Don Dagenais is a frequent preview speaker for the Lyric Opera of Kansas City and has taught classical music and opera courses at several Kansas City venues. He has served on the boards of directors of a number of performing arts organizations including the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, the Lyric Opera Guild, UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance, Opera Volunteers International, the Civic Opera Theater of Kansas City, Inspiration Point Fine Arts Colony, Octarium, and the Friends of the Symphony.  He has been the past president of most of these organizations and is current the president of the Friends of the Symphony. 

Dagenais co-authored a history of the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, published on the occasion of its 50th anniversary (2007) and has written books on the histories of both the Lyric Opera Guild and Opera Volunteers International, as well as an introductory book for opera novices (Your Passport to the Opera).  He has received several local and national awards for outstanding volunteer work for the arts, including a lifetime achievement award from The Coterie Theatre in 2000, the Kansas City Musical Club's annual award in 2001, a Partners in Excellence Award from Opera Volunteers International in 2002, a Bravo Award from Opera Volunteers International in 2004 and a community service award from the Daughter of the American Revolution in 2008 honoring him for his community service to the arts.

In addition to his music interests, Don is president of the board of directors for the Metropolitan Ensemble Theater and has served on the boards of The Coterie Theatre and the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, serving as president of each organization.  He publishes newsletters for seven arts organizations.  When not involved in the performing arts, Don is a senior real estate attorney with Lathrop & Gage LLP in Kansas City, Missouri, where he has practiced law since 1976 after graduating from the Cornell Law School.