Market Street Music features Organ Recital at First & Central

Gabriel Kney organ at First & Central Presbyterian

When you walk into the First and Central Presbyterian Church at Rodney Square, you walk out of the night and into a brightly lit space.  The organ console is at the very center of the chancel.  The organ case is behind the console with its beautiful white wood housing encasing the massive ranks of the 1989 instrument built by David Kney.

David Schelat started with Dieterich Buxtehude’s  Praeludium in D major and the church filled with sound.  The acoustics  created a swirl of sound as each new line chased the prior one into oblivion.  

Mr. Schelat then played selections from Bach's Orgelbüchlein, choosing several short pieces which demonstrated the range of sounds the Kney can produce such as the Zimbelstern bells for the New Year: In you is joy (BWV 615).

David Schelat, organist &
Music Director, Market Street Music

The Toccata and Fugue in A minor by Johann Ludwig Krebs was the centerpiece of the program.  Mr. Schelat has such technical mastery that the complex pedal lines, the fast scales, contrasting themes played simultaneously and the registration seemed to magically unfold.   The virtuosity of this piece rivals anything by Bach, with whom Krebs studied.

After the intermission, Mr. Schelat played one of his own compositions — an organ sonata in three movements.  The piece is quite melodic, but has innovative ideas such as the melody line played in the pedals for the folk song movement, with the keyboard playing an arpeggiated harmony.  The relatively short piece, with its clear conception, was written for a colleague, Michael Britt, who premiered it in France.

Mr. Schelat used a lot of dynamic variation with the swell pedal for the Cesar Franck Fantaisie in A and the Piece Héroique,  His encore, one of the Noel variations by Charpentier gave us an opportunity to hear the organ’s reed and piccolo stops.  

This was a great tour of an amazing organ led by a local virtuoso, right in the center of Wilmington.

See www.marketstreetmusicde.org.

The Newark Symphony Orchestra: A Crowd-Pleasing Season Opener!

What a relief — classical music is not dead! The Independence School's 900-seat auditorium was nearly full for the Newark Symphony Orchestra's season opening concert.  The program, which included Aaron Copland's Fanfare for a Common Man, Antonin Dvořák's Cello Concerto in B minor, op. 104 and Brahms' Symphony No. 4 in E minor, was a crowd pleaser.

Newark Symphony Orchestra, led by Simeone Tartaglione

The Newark Symphony's Music director, Simeone Tartaglione conveyed his musical ideas passionately and precisely as the community orchestra's leader.   With Copland's Fanfare for a Common Man, he showcased the group's excellent and strong brass section. 

Cellist Ovidiu Marinescu wowed the audience with his virtuosic playing in Dvořák''s challenging and soulful Cello Concerto in B minor.   The concerto, which is not unlike Brahms' concerti and symphonies, is full of longing and tragedy.  Masterfully constructed, the concerto showcases the soloist and allows him to lead the orchestra.

Tartaglione's love for Brahms — and Brahms' Fourth Symphony in particular — was evident in his conducting and in his pre-performance discussion.  An optimist, his discussion highlighted the salvation in Brahms' triumphant themes, which juxtapose the deeply tragic ones.   Once again, the brass, joined by an equally stellar woodwind section, excelled in the performance of this rich symphonic work.   But there is no happy ending with Brahms: A composer who felt more deeply or understood the human condition more thoroughly has never existed.  
See www.newarksymphony.org.

Bootless Gets Rowdy with Jerry Springer

Robert Bove as Jerr

If you’re familiar with Wilmington’s Bootless Stageworks, you know it never shies away from controversial work — and JERRY SPRINGER, THE OPERA (featuring Delaware Arts Info Blog's own Jessica Graae!) is one of the most no-holds-barred shows they’ve done yet. The British opera (based, of course, on the American “trash-TV” show) has met with protests in the UK since it opened in 2003, offending the religious and sensitive while simultaneously racking up awards. The Bootless production takes the relatively large-scale show and capsulizes it into an intimate, almost interactive event in OperaDelaware’s tiny Black Box theater.

A couple of things to know about JERRY SPRINGER: First, it’s a true  opera -- almost. All of the characters sing all of their lines in operatic style with two exceptions: Jerry himself, and his Security guy Steve. And second, there is more profanity, sexual innuendo, culturally insensitive language and stereotyping than any other show I can think of off hand. And that doesn’t even include the portrayals of God, Jesus and Satan in the third act. Expect it to be extremely funny, expect it to be dark, expect plenty of social commentary, but don’t expect political correctness.

As Jerry, 2012 WMGK Comedy Contest winner Robert Bove effectively  takes a central role in the middle of the madness that is his show, with its frenzied audience and parade of lying, cheating guests, all of whom are on the show to reveal a dark secret (or two) to their partners. Catfights, pole-dancing, and emotional solos ensue. When one guest is revealed to be a member of the KKK, things turn violent, moving the action to Purgatory and, eventually, Hell.

The stellar casts features some of the region’s brightest rising opera  singers, including Jessica Graae, Elizabeth Zell, Michael Popovsky, Kimberly Christie, Michael Gamache and Cynthia Ballentine, as well as local musical theater denizens Colleen McGinnis, Nichalas Parker, Geoff Bruen, and Robb Russ. Every character (and each actor plays at least two) has their “Jerry Springer Moment” where he or she gets to steal the scene — or at least co-steal it.

The live orchestra, led by James W. Fuerst, blended with the voices  without overpowering them nearly perfectly — no small feat in such a small room, with actors who are not mic’d.

Hearing beautiful singing voices use extremely profane language is a  big part of the show’s appeal — it’s a juxtaposition that never fails to entertain (though a lot of classic operas are full of similar scandals, so it’s both modern-day parallel and juxtaposition). For this, alone, I would recommend the show. But the JERRY SPRINGER is also more than a freak show — it’s an honest commentary on the cult of “junk” culture that goes deeper than you might expect.

Jerry Springer, The Opera runs through Saturday, October 20. Reserve tickets at bootless.org.

(This review also appears in Stage Magazine)