Organist David Schelat Features Bach & Original Works on Gabriel Kney Organ

Market Street Music Artistic Director and Organist, David Schelat

By Christine Facciolo

Organ concerts aren’t usually a big attraction, but David Schelat drew a respectable crowd to his Market Street Music Festival Concert on Sunday, October 23, 2016 at First & Central Presbyterian Church on Rodney Square in Wilmington.

Schelat took the audience on a wonderful journey from Bach to Schelat in a program that demonstrated not only his musicality and virtuosity, but also the breathtaking capabilities of the church’s Gabriel Kney organ — the only one of its kind in the mid-Atlantic region.

Schlelat devoted the first half of the program to works by J.S. Bach, believed by many to have been the greatest composer in the history of Western music. Indeed, the selections here amply demonstrated that Bach was much more than a mere mathematical counterpoint machine — which is why he is accorded such importance by composers of the Romantic era and beyond.

The concert opened with a performance of Bach’s most recognizable work, the Toccata & Fugue in D Minor (565). The church nearly seemed to shrink under the mighty sounds of that infamous opening motif. Schelat turned in an energetic yet deliberative reading, revealing details of this intricate and powerful work which are usually glossed over in more frenzied renderings.

Schlelat then offered three chorale preludes from the Schubler, Leipzig and Orgelbuchlein (Little Organ Book), which represent the summit of Bach’s sacred music for solo organ.

Some of the pieces were very familiar, like the Schubler chorale prelude Wachet auf or Sleepers Awake, BWV 645. Schelat’s gentle reading of the beautiful melody of this simple Lutheran hymn revealed the quiet sanity of Bach.

Likewise, Schelat’s understated approach to the chorale prelude from the Orgelbuchlein O Mensch, bewein dein Sunde gross, BWV 622 brought out not only the pain and regret in the opening of the piece but also highlighted the curious serenity and mystery in the music.

The Leipzig selection Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend, BWV 655 offered a nice contrast to the previous two. Its infectious rhythms and lighter texture made the music a joyous, swirling experience.

Schelat bookended the section with the quietly monumental Prelude and Fugue in B Minor, BWV 544, one of Bach’s more mature essays in the genres and a fitting complement to the pyrotechnics of the opening Toccata and Fugue in D Minor.  The second half of the program featured more modern fare, opening with Hindemith’s rarely performed Sonata I. Schelat delivered Hindemith’s sparse textures with clarity and articulation. The rhythms were crisp yet never mechanical, giving the reading an invigorating sense of purpose.

By contrast, Vierne’s diaphanous Clair de Lune, Opus 53, No. 5 seemingly dissolved metrical rigidity, producing an almost ethereal quality while the organ sang the deeply affective melodic line.

Schelat concluded the program with one of his own compositions, an organ sonata in three movements: Folk Song, Sarabande and Allegro. The short melodic piece was written in 2011 for colleague Michael Brill who premiered it in France. Most interesting was the first movement — Folk Song — which featured the melody played in the petals accompanied by arpeggiated harmonies in the keyboard.

See www.marketstreetmusicde.org.

Has It Really Been 525,600 Minutes...Times 20? RENT Celebrates a Milestone at The Playhouse.

Julia Mason is the Marketing Manager for The Buccini/Pollin Group. Her additional passions include her website, positivelyglamorous.com, making homemade ice cream and the great outdoors.

Rent 20th Anniversary Tour by Jonathan Larson at The Playhouse on Rodney Square is the revival of Larson's 1996 Broadway landmark that encompasses social issues and unveils the dark realities individuals face through powerful music and dance. Although a serious premise, the audience will definitely experience a few chuckles throughout the thought-provoking musical.

The production opens up with Benny — Mark and Roger’s previous roommate — purchasing the building in which the two, along with a unique group of close-knit homeless people, reside. Benny secured funding for the building from his wealthy father-in-law, to fuel his desire is to build a high-tech cyber-arts studio on the property.

Benny’s first step toward his goal is ensuring everything goes smoothly, but the residents are not about to leave without a fight. Maureen, Mark's former girlfriend, is happy to be in charge of the protest. Benny offers a deal to Mark and Roger: Stop the protest and they can remain rent-free. However, things do no go as planned, and chaos erupts (which Mark videotapes). From there, everyone is locked out of the place they once called home.

I should note that this was my very first time seeing Rent, and I’m so grateful I was able to experience it at the historical Playhouse on Rodney Square. Throughout the performance, what stood out most to me (besides the powerful music) was the stage décor and the lighting; it really brought the musical to life and was much more interactive than plays I have seen in the past.

My favorite character by far was Angel, played by David Merino. His voice, energy and dance skills were incredible, and you could feel is love for the character radiating throughout his performance. A newcomer to the theatre scene, Aaron Harrington, who played Tom Collins, has a deep, beautiful voice that also stood out among the extremely talented cast.

Overall, the play was wonderful, and it engulfed the audience, getting them to interact a few times. The person that joined me (who chooses to remain anonymous) even became unusually teary-eyed!

There is only one day left of this performance, tonight (October 30). Don’t miss your chance to see it — even if you have seen Rent in the past — this cast will make it a memorable experience!

See www.theplayhousede.org.

DSO Chamber Series Highlights Two Great Works

DSO Concertmaster, violinist David Southorn

By Christine Facciolo
The Delaware Symphony Orchestra opened its 2016-17 Chamber Series Tuesday, October 18, at the Hotel du Pont’s Gold Ballroom with stellar performances of two of the most important works of the chamber music repertoire: Schoenberg’s Verklarte Nacht and Vivaldi’s iconic The Four Seasons.

Schoenberg and Vivaldi might seem like an odd pairing, but both works explore an insightful journey via the pictorial marriage between poetry and music.

Inspired by a poem by Richard Dehmel, Verklarte Nacht describes a conversation between a man and a woman as they walk through a dark forest under a brilliantly expressive night sky. The woman is pregnant with a child of a different man. The man she is walking with loves her and tells her he is prepared to accept her unborn child as his own.

The work unfolds in five sections which correspond to the structure of Dehmel’s poem. The various emotions of the two characters — love, pain, guilt, forgiveness — find their equivalents in Schoenberg’s passionate music, making the work one of the first examples of program music written for a chamber ensemble.

Originally scored for string sextet, DSO Music Director David Amado opted for the expanded version for string orchestra. The group of 22 strings produced a meaty performance that emphasized the dramatic structure of Verklarte Nacht but never at the expense of the score’s lyrical beauty. The textures were appropriately bass heavy, yet every line came through with exceptional clarity, allowing the counterpoint to drive the music and lead the ear through the dense harmonic web. The cadences, where suddenly a radiant major chord wells up from the dour depth, produced a profound sense of exaltation.

The second half of the program featured Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons — one of the most recognizable works of the classical music repertoire. Like Verklarte Nacht, The Four Seasons conveys a journey through spring, summer, autumn and winter. Each season is introduced by a poem, possibly composed by Vivaldi, that offers a description of what experiences the music is about to conjure up: The heat of summer; the peasant celebrations and imbibing of autumn; the violent storms of spring; and the cold and ice of winter.

DSO Concertmaster David Southorn was nothing less than brilliant as soloist in these four “evergreen” concertos. He delivered it all — a powerful sound; immaculate precision and compelling agility in the furious figurations of the fast sections; impeccable phrasing and a polished lyricism in the more tranquil sections. This was a zestful performance that continued unabated until the final note was struck.

Southorn was ably supported by the 22 string players. This was a beautifully balanced performance with a nice contrast between soloist and orchestra. The programmatic drama of the score was neither shortchange nor overdone, leaving the impression that each participant had contributed something important.

See www.delawaresymphony.org.