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Kansas City's Online Journal of the Performing Arts

Kansas City Symphony
Stern Conducts Sibelius
Friday,  November 20 at 8 p.m.
Saturday, November 21 at 8 p.m.
Lyric Theatre
11^th and Central Streets, Kansas City, MO
Sunday, November 22 at 2 p.m.
Carlsen Center at JCCC
12345 College Boulevard, Overland Park, KS
For tickets call 816-471-0400 or online at www.kcsymphony.org.

In addition to its world premiere of the Avner Dorman Piano Concerto in the concerts of November 20-22, the Symphony plays two pieces by composers who are pillars of patriotism: Jean Sibelius (Symphony No. 2) and Bela Bartok (Hungarian Sketches).

Sibelius, the great Finnish composer, wrote his Second Symphony in 1902 during a period of Russian domination of his homeland. More than any other piece of music he wrote, with the possible exception of Finlandia, the Second Symphony evokes the images and colors of his native land. Many have felt that its evocation of Finland's natural beauty and the spirit of its people was a coded message to his fellow nationalists to resist the Russians.

Although Sibelius was greatly influenced by Beethoven, Tchaikovsky and especially his beloved Brahms, he retained a distinctive character in his compositions, with a style and idiom uniquely his own.  The symphonic historian Charles O'Connell wrote of the Second Symphony that "this is the real Sibelius, terse, powerful, and convincing; devoid of the factitious and the unnecessary, naked and pulsating and enormously vital."

The spirit of Finnish folk music is everywhere in the Second Symphony.  The music almost begs us to imagine the many fjords and crags of the land, jutting out into the ever present ocean, and the meadows and fields and small villages of its people. 

The patriotism of the work is felt most strongly in the second movement, where the plaintive sounds of the bassoon seem to portray to tragic affliction which the Finnish people sometimes suffer.  However, these afflictions are wiped away by a stirring rumbling from the timpani, picked up by the strings in pizzicato and then carried to a stormy climax by the full orchestra.

Patriotism is also present in Bartok's Hungarian Sketches.  All of Bartok's music, in fact, is powerfully expressive and utterly unlike almost anything else we hear in the concert hall.  A tiny, frail man, Bartok possessed a powerful and distinctive personality which led him to pursue his ideals with force and integrity in every way.  He never swerved from his goals, even when it led him to fierce opposition of the Nazis and relocating away from his beloved Hungary.  Said the music historian Arnold Schonberg, "he was prepared at all times to stand up to the Establishment in defense of his music and in defense of his liberty." 

Bartok had an international reputation for his scholarly researches into folk music, and these idioms almost always find their way into his compositions.  The Hungarian Sketches are no different, as the composer transcribed five piano pieces, entitled "Evening in Transylvania," "Bear Dance," "Melody," "A Bit Drunk" and "A Swineherd Dance," using folk elements but restated in his distinctive compositional style.  We can hear much of his native Hungary in these pieces, both romantic and humorous in turn.  What really comes through, however, is the passion of the composer for his homeland, a theme which revisited him throughout his career.

Sibelius and Bartok, two of the great nationalist early twentieth century composers, make an appropriate pairing in this concert.  Bring your Finnish and Hungarian flags, and wave them proudly at this concert.

UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance
Hansel und Gretel
Thursday, November 19 at 7:30 p.m.
Friday, November 20 at 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, November 21 at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, November 22 at 2:30 p.m.
White Recital Hall, Performing Arts Center
4949 Cherry, Kansas City, MO
For tickets call 816-235-6222 or online at www.umkc.edu/conservatory.

Engelbert Humperdinck's tuneful opera Hansel und Gretel may be based upon a Grimm Brothers fairy tale, but it is anything but children's fare, as generations of parents have discovered in the theater to their dismay.  Child abuse, torture and cannibalism, anyone?  Yet behind this grim (pun intended) story line lay a few eternal lessons (watch out for yourself, never trust anybody else) and much glorious music.  Few operatic scores are full of such brilliant tunes and lush orchestration as the score of this Wagner-inspired opera.

It's a perfect piece for young voices, and is an excellent choice for the Conservatory's opera program.  Besides, we are getting close to the holidays, and Hansel und Gretel is a perennial Christmastime favorite, although the reasons have always escaped this listener, unless it has something to do with candy and gingerbread houses.

The four performances feature alternating casts of talented student singers, so you may want to go twice just to hear them all!

William Baker Festival Singers
Annual Thanksgiving Benefit
Friday, November 20 at 7:30 p.m.
Broadway United Methodist Church
74^th and Wornall, Kansas City, MO
Free admission, but good will offering accepted.

The William Baker Festival Singers is producing a concert to benefit the Bridge of Home foundation as part of a Thanksgiving fund raising effort.  Joining the Singers this evening will be the gospel group Keystone.  According to publicity, "the one-hour program will include classical gems, but will be focused primarily on the American folk hymns, spirituals and gospel songs that are favorites of Festival Singers audiences.  You will clap your hands and celebrate the inspiring stories about how hurting people are gaining new life."

Kansas City Civic Orchestra
Nostalgic Classics
Saturday, November 21 at 7:30 p.m.
Founder's Hall at Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral
13^th and Broadway, Kansas City, MO
Free admission.

Under the leadership of Christopher Kelts the Kansas City Civic Orchestra performs fine renditions of classic works with talented musicians from the community.  This year the orchestra is celebrating its 50^th anniversary.

This opening concert features the music of Henry Purcell, as adapted by modern composer Steven Stucky, and with Faure and Haydn, so the orchestra spares no challenges in assembling its programs. 

The Purcell piece should be the most intriguing for classical music fans.  Stucky has taken a longstanding Purcell favorite, Funeral Music for Queen Mary, and given it a modern twist.  Faure is represented by the ravishing Pelleas et Melisande Suite, one of this listener's favorite scores.  For the Haydn, Kelts has chosen one of the late symphonies, Symphony No. 104, otherwise known as the "London" symphony after the city for which it was composed.  This is the post-Mozart Haydn, the master having learned much from his onetime pupil, and is one of Haydn's most sophisticated creations.

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.