Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 1

I have a lot of Utah Symphony concerts during the month of February and this makes me so happy!  Last night the orchestra was led by guest conductor Jun Markl (who is one of my favorites) and the concert featured a performance by Concertmaster Madeline Adkins as a soloist so it was pretty amazing!  The evening began and ended with symphonic poems by Richard Strauss, Macbeth and Till Eulenspiegel's Merry Pranks, and both featured quotes from the original sources and images projected on a screen.  I especially enjoyed Macbeth because the play is one of my favorites by Shakespeare and I could definitely hear the themes representing Macbeth's ambition, Lady Macbeth's attempts to persuade Macbeth to commit murder, the murder of Duncan, the madness of Macbeth, the triumph of Macduff (I loved the fanfare), and the death of Macbeth.  I was less familiar with the source material for Till Eulenspiegel but it was really fun to hear themes representing the trickster played by the solo horn and solo clarinet and those representing his pranks on workmen, clergymen, and intellectuals.  I particularly enjoyed the powerful use of percussion when he is sentenced to death by hanging for blasphemy and the clarinet which is dramatically cut off as the sentence is carried out.  I really like Adkins so my favorite piece was Concerto No. 1 for Violin and Orchestra by Sergei Prokofiev.  Even though it was composed during the most turbulent period of the Russian Revolution, it is very beautiful and lyrical.  The first movement is ethereal and the third movement is passionate (I loved the themes played by the bassoon and the tuba in the third) but my favorite was the second movement because the violin solos are absolutely dazzling as they gain intensity and speed (the sheer number of notes played is astonishing).  Adkins performed the piece brilliantly (someone sitting near me exclaimed that it was magical) and she received an enthusiastic standing ovation!  The orchestra also performed In Nature's Realm by Antonin Dvorak.  This piece is about the power of nature as both a life-giving as well as destructive force and it is very atmospheric.  I especially enjoyed the brief themes played by the flutes and oboes signifying birdsong.  I thoroughly enjoyed this concert and recommend getting a ticket for tonight's performance of the same program (go here for tickets).

Note:  This is a Masterworks Magnified program so there are lots of activities in the lobby before the concert.  You may even encounter Till Eulenspiegel up to his usual tricks.

Origin

Last night I went back to the Broadway for an early screening of Origin, a film by Ava DuVernay based on the book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson which draws parallels between the treatment the Dalit, or "Untouchables," in India, the Jews in Nazi Germany, and slaves in the American South and argues that they are victims of caste, a structure based on the idea that one group of people is inherently better than another, rather than racism.  This is more than just an adaptation of the book because it puts Wilkerson (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) in the middle of the story as she writes it.  She formulates her thesis and conducts research while experiencing the deaths of her husband (Jon Bernthal), mother (Emily Yancy) and cousin (Niecy Nash).  Much of her research is dramatized as it is uncovered and I found it very compelling and emotional (I cried several times), especially a study conducted by Allison and Elizabeth Davis (Isha Blaaker and Jasmine Cephas Jones, respectively) and Burleigh and Mary Gardner (Matthew Zuk and Hannah Pniewski, respectively) on segregation in the South and the work of B. R. Ambedkar (Gaurav J. Panthania) advocating for the rights of the Dalit in India.  I also found much of her research to be very eye-opening and thought-provoking, particularly a document from the German archives about the Nazis using Jim Crow laws in America as the inspiration for codifying the persecution of the Jews.  Ellis-Taylor gives an incredibly powerful and affecting performance but I think this may have worked better as a documentary because I found it difficult to connect the meandering vignettes depicting Wilkerson's grief to her specific research on oppression and subjugation.  I walked out of the theater wanting to read the book to learn more.  I didn't love the structure but I would definitely recommend it because the topic is so important.

Fiddler on the Roof at HCT

I have seen Fiddler on the Roof dozens of times (it is one of my very favorite musicals) but HCT's new production, which I had the chance to see last night, is something very special. I loved everything about it! Tevye (Daniel Hess) is a poor Jewish dairyman living in the small Russian village of Anatevka at the turn of the century. He clings to his traditions as a protection from the harsh realities of life but his three oldest daughters, Tzeitel (Lauren Pope), Hodel (Haley Mendez Wawro), and Chava (Erica Schoebinger), push against them when it comes time to find a match. Every song is instantly recognizable, including "Tradition," "Matchmaker," "If I Were a Rich Man," "Sunrise, Sunset," "Far From the Home I Love," and "Anatevka" (I had to try very hard not to sing along to every one of them), and all of the performances from the talented cast are outstanding! I was especially impressed with Hess because his version of "If I Were a Rich Man" is really fun and lighthearted but he just about broke my heart with his affecting performance of "Chavaleh." His characterization of Tevye is different from the ones I have seen before and I particularly enjoyed his dialogues with God and his interactions with Golde (Dianna Graham). Other standouts for me were Alex DeBirk, as Motel, because he made me laugh out loud with his physicality in "Miracle of Miracles" and Wawro because she brought me to tears with her heartfelt rendition of "Far From the Home I Love." I was really impressed by the choreography in "Tradition," "To Life," and "Wedding Dance" because it includes very familiar sequences, especially the Russian dance and the bottle dance, but it is also new and dynamic enough that it is exciting to watch. I absolutely loved the staging of "Sabbath Prayer" because Tevye's family is located center stage and then other families come up from the pit to join them, "The Dream" because Grandma Tzeitel (Amanda Baugh) and Fruma Sarah (Malia Morris) fly in from the rafters while Golde and Tevye's bed levitates (this put a huge smile on my face because I once played Fruma Sarah), and the "Chava Sequence" because Tzeitel, Hodel, Chava, Motel, Perchik (Kelton Davis) and Fyedka (Scott Hendrickson) dance inside of a scrim that comes down from the rafters which makes it very ethereal and dreamlike. The set, always a highlight at HCT, is very minimal but effective. Most of the props, set pieces, and other miscellaneous household items are located along the perimeter of the stage which makes it easy for them to be moved on and off during scene changes but it also creates an incredibly powerful conclusion because, as the villagers leave Anatevka, they take these items with them off stage. A large and dramatic outline of a rooftop, upon which the fiddler (Aaron Ashton) sits when he plays his solos, comes down from the rafters which emphasizes the precariousness of life in Anatevka. The bare trees located throughout the theater, the barren landscapes projected on the LED screens, and the monochromatic costumes also evoke the harsh conditions found in Russia and really set the tone. Finally, what sets this show apart from any other version that I have seen is the authenticity that is evident in every aspect of the production. Great care has been taken to ensure that the costumes, make up, wigs, sets, choreography, and performances actually represent the Jewish people who lived in Russia at the turn of the century and their culture. Watching this show was a moving experience for me and I highly recommend seeing it for yourself! It runs on the Young Living Centre Stage through March 30 (go here for tickets).

The Zone of Interest

The Academy Award nominations were announced last week and the only nominee for Best Picture that I hadn't seen yet was The Zone of Interest (click on the titles for my commentaries about American Fiction, Anatomy of a Fall, Barbie, The Holdovers, Killers of the Flower Moon, Maestro, Oppenheimer, Past Lives, and Poor Things) so I decided to see it as part of my double feature at the Broadway last night.  It is one of the most unsettling movies I have ever seen because it is a brilliant depiction of the mundanity of evil.  Rudolf Hoss (Christian Friedel), the commandant of Auschwitz, lives an idyllic existence with his wife Hedwig (Sandra Huller) and their five children in a large house next to the camp.  Hedwig is able to ignore the sound of trains, screaming prisoners, gunshots, and furnaces (the sound design in this movie gave me so much anxiety) because she is living in her dream house and enjoys having prisoners as servants in the house, being given her choice of all of the prisoners' belongings, and working in her extensive gardens and greenhouse.  Her mother (Imogen Kogge) is initially impressed by her daughter's status when she comes to visit but is horrified by the flames from the crematorium and soon leaves.  Rudolf is able to speak dispassionately about the death happening all around him because he sees his efficiency in disposing of the prisoners as a means of gaining advancement.  He is so numbed by death that he casually calculates how much gas it would take to kill the officers attending a party.  The scenes of the family going about their daily life with picnics by the river, birthday celebrations, and parties by the pool are disturbing because there is always a hint of the horrors taking place in the camp just out of sight.  However, I was most disconcerted by the scenes of janitors blithely cleaning the gas chambers, ovens, and museum displays at Auschwitz in the present because this serves to emphasize how easy it is to become accustomed to evil in plain view.  Both Friedel and Huller give chilling performances that convey so much without a lot of dialogue and the haunting score emphasizes the unease.  I was very unnerved by this movie (people in my audience sat in silence long after the credits finished rolling) and I know I will be thinking about it for a long time to come.  It is very difficult to watch but I recommend it because it is so powerful.

All of Us Strangers

A few movies on my list came out in wide release while Sundance was going on so I decided on a double feature at the Broadway last night to get caught up.  I started with All of Us Strangers and I loved this moving portrait of a man who must reconcile with his past in order to move forward in the present.  Adam (Andrew Scott) is a lonely screenwriter living in an almost uninhabited new apartment tower in London.  He meets Harry (Paul Mescal), the only other inhabitant of the building, who drunkenly flirts with him one night but, even though he is desperate for a connection, he is too uncomfortable to let him in.  When he finds some photos of his parents (Jamie Bell and Claire Foy), who died in a car accident when he was twelve, he is prompted to visit his childhood home where he finds them alive at the ages they were when they died.  He is able to interact with them so he comes out as gay to them and tearfully recounts his struggle to find a sense of belonging as a child.  He begins a tentative relationship with Harry (who is charismatic and outgoing but also feels a crushing loneliness) and, as his parents express their pride in him and love for him, it grows stronger and he is able to see a future with him.  However, there is a heartbreaking twist (while "The Power of Love" by Frankie Goes to Hollywood plays) that left me absolutely devastated.  I also cried in a beautiful scene where Adam remembers a happy moment from his childhood and his parents sing along to "You Were Always on My Mind" by the Pet Shop Boys and during a scene where his parents tell him to let go of his grief and be happy (this is probably not the best movie to see if you have recently lost both of your parents).  There are some incredibly powerful themes, including identity and the search for acceptance, unresolved grief, and the need for connection, as well as some intriguing metaphors throughout (I want to see it again if I can bear it).  The needle drops are highly effective at conveying both a feeling of nostalgia for the 1980s and a feeling of longing in the present.  Finally, all four performances are absolutely brilliant but Scott is simply amazing, especially in a highly nuanced scene with Bell.  I highly recommend this but it will probably make you cry.