Author Archives: menglu tian

I went to the Mozart concert on March 23^rd conducted by Otto Tausk at Chan Center. The conductor said that it is was a dream to bring Mozart’s last three symphonies (Nos. 39, No. 40 and 41) together on the stage. The three final symphonies were composed after a nearly two-year gap after his rest and were composed in just three months. They belong to the “Classical Era” in music history; at the same time, we have to notice that these three works were composed in the late 18^th century, and thus they were a part of the transition, with innovations to nineteenth-century music. Since we have learned the first movement of Symphony No. 40 in G minor, I will skip the introduction for it.

Symphony No. 39 in E-flat Major, K. 543

Symphony No. 39 is as “elegant, witty, and superbly entertaining” as the programme said. When the first movement began, I could feel a warm and bright atmosphere, as if spring were coming and flowers beginning to blossom. Everything seemed to be peaceful. How did it give me such a pleasant feeling? The symphony begins with a soft slow tempo in the Adagio of the preparatory section, which reminds me of the tender spring thunder. It also forms a strong contrast with the Allegro that follows, as it sounds more graceful and gentle. It is the clarinets Mozart used that contribute to a mellow sound and harmonious atmosphere. Moving on to the second movement, more warmth was added in the melody. It was played softly and melodiously. I can imagine an elegant woman walking along the river in the lingering light of the sun. Different from the second graceful second movement, the third movement, a minuete, brings me to a scene where lively young men and women holding hands, dancing in a beautiful garden.  It is said to be based on a traditional dance tune from Switzerland whose “rustic nature is enhanced by the sound of clarinets.” The symphony wraps up with a nimble and witty finale that is totally opposite to the first two movements. It gave me an impression of being full of vigor: birds flying and singing, dears and dogs running across the forests. According to the introduction on the programme, this finale summons images of the comic opera world that Mozart understood fully.

Symphony No.41 in C Major, K.551 Jupiter

It is the longest (about 33 minutes) and last symphony, with four movements in sonata form that Mozart composed during the summer of 1788. It is regarded as the greatest symphonies in classical music. Jupiter mirrors No. 40 in dispensing with the slow introduction. Then, we can feel an immediate turn to a joyous and energetic music world. Although it is very lively and fast, it still retains an unforced elegance. Among the four movements, the finale, Molto allegro, is probably of the most significance. On the one hand, Mozart incorporated elements of fugal writing – five-voice fugato at the end of the fourth movement. On the other hand, he also tried to be innovative: he dropped the trumpets and drums for the slow movements, leading to a brisk and nimble symphony. The finale perfectly concludes Mozart’s career as a symphonist. I was fortunate to attend this concert and had a close experience appreciating Mozart’s changes in emotions when composing the last three works.

I watched “The Magic Flute” on February 2^nd at Chan Center. This was actually my first opera experience. It is also Mozart’s last work; the composer died two months after the show premiered, in 1791. It is an opera in two acts to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The story was originally written by the German poet C. M. Wieland. In the opera, the Prince Tamino is persuaded by the Queen of the Night to rescue her daughter Pamina with the accompany of Papageno from captivity under the high priest Sarastro. With the power of the magic flute, Tamino learns the high ideals of Sarastro’s community and seeks to join it. Tamino and Pamina undergo severe trials of initiation, which end in triumph, with the Queen and her cohorts vanquished. I think that Mozart successfully bestows characters with lives and unique personalities via different styles of composition.

My favorite piece is the Lied, “The bird-catcher, that’s me.” This is a lied that expresses the simple characteristic of Papageno. Then how to prove he is a simple man with music? Mozart composed it in a very simple way; it is strophic and the melody repeats over and over again with only the words change stanza by stanza. The jumping of the notes also forms a strong contrast with the composition for other characters, indicating that he is a very happy man. While the famous “Queen of the Night” aria introduces the audience with a totally different woman; she jumps from high note to high note, which is inhuman to some extent. The through-composed aria is also off the scale, which implies that the queen is a very complicated and unpredictable person. The through-composed aria contributes to the dramatic effect of the opera. When it comes to Sarastro and priests, it is another story: Sarastro sounds very calm and serious and the chorus of priests sounds like a choir singing a hymn. Actually, when I heard this, I felt very confused: shouldn’t Sarastro be a very bad guy? Why did he have such a peaceful aria? Well, the answer was revealed in the next few scenes that he is not as bad as described by the queen of the night. Thus, the aria foreshadows the climax of the story.

In spite of the composition, I have to admit that I personally didn’t like the story. I think it is very cliché –a prince and a princess falling in love at first sight and then living happily ever after, while Papageno, the bird catcher, was like a clown in the show and fail the trials. He fell in love with Papagena only after realizing her true appearance. I’m not a fan of 18th-century literature and art because of the ideology of fixed classes and expectations on the social division of labor. But it is also because of the unique social context that contributes to the “classical era.”

Overall, this is a good performance. The student actors and actresses showed their talent and passion in the opera. I was fortunate to attend the opera with full costumes at an affordable price.

I went to the 2019 Young Prodigies Concerto Gala on April 7^th at the Chan Center. It was held by the Music without Borders Society in collaboration with MWB Symphony Orchestra and Tom Lee Music. Seven famous pieces were selected, and I will discuss the two of them listed.

Piano Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11

This Piano Concerto was written and performed by Chopin in 1830 when he was twenty years old (how talented he was to compose this in such a young age!). The first movement has three themes, which are introduced by the orchestra at the beginning, and then the piano follows, playing the first them. At the very beginning, the introduction by orchestra makes me feel creepy, which is a general impression for minor tones in my mind. But this soon changes when the piano plays the leading part. I could feel a very happy and lively atmosphere via the jumps of the notes. The second theme is more lyric, which sounds more elegant and elaborate. The third theme is in a major key. Similarly, it is introduced in the exposition by the orchestra, and then the piano joins. Obviously, this is a very difficult theme to play. When I saw the hands of the pianist move on the keys with nonstop, I can do nothing but gasp in admiration for the young pianist. But when I compare the performance with the recording, I found the degree of the pitch was different between the two versions, which led to different emotional expressions.

Piano Concerto No. 2 in C minor, Op. 18

This Piano Concerto was composed by Rachmaninoff between the autumn of 1900 and April 1901. Only the third movement was played at this concert. It is written in three-movement concerto form, which engages a change in the key for each movement. The complete work was premiered on 9 November 1901. This is an important piece of Rachmaninoff’s as it established his fame as a concerto composer. The Allegro scherzando begins with a short orchestral introduction that modulates from E to C minor. A piano solo then leads to the primary theme. It is so agitated that one can feel the composer’s intended emotions: being unstable, confused, and at a loss. This impression concurs with his personal life as he was struggling with depression for 7 years. However, when the secondary lyric theme comes, one can feel the changes in his emotion: it is slower and softer. After that, an extended and energetic development section is heard. I can imagine the struggling and anxiety through the fast tempo and stormy motifs. But, finally, the movement ends very triumphantly in the tonic major, as if to demonstrate that the composer has recovered from the depression. The melody makes me believe that he was ready for a new life and became energetic and excited again.

What impressed me most from the concerti were the pianists – they are still secondary school students! But they have demonstrated their talent, passion, and diligence in playing the piano. This concert was also a collaboration of the young pianist with a very experienced orchestra, which is very precious for the young prodigies.

The concert “J.S. Bach: the Circle of Creation” was held on January 25^th at the Vancouver Playhouse with Elisa Citterio the music director, Alison Mackay in charge of creation, script, and programme, and Kevin Bundy as the narrator. There were 24 works presented in total, including almost all of the music forms in the Baroque era, including the cantata, sonata, orchestral suite, concerto, and canon.

One may be curious why there was a narrator in the concert. This is actually the most impressive part of the concert: by having an actor/narrator, this was no longer a soporific, boring orchestral concert, where the audience watches the show quietly; instead, it was fun, educational, comprehensive and innovative. To enhance the theme, “the circle of creation,” a storyline ran through the concert, helping audiences understand Bach, his lifetime, the social context, and the development of musical instruments while listening to the masterpieces, thereby purposefully encouraged the audience’s engagement by stimulating their vision and auditory. A little story was inserted between every piece and this essential storyline was linked by the narrator; if he was the branch, then the orchestra was the leaves grown on it. Besides, he also helped to heighten the audience’s emotions: take the Canon triplex on the first 8 notes of Goldberg Variations, BWV 1087/13, for instance. He invited audiences to join him in singing a simple tone. It was the first time I felt that “classical music” can also be interesting and colorful. My favorite two pieces of the night were the Brandenburg Concerto no. 3 in G Major, BWV 1048 and the Canon triplex on the first 8 notes of Goldberg Variations, BWV 1087. which I will examine briefly.

Brandenburg Concerto no.3 in G Major, BWV 1048

The Brandenburg Concertos are a collection of six instrumental works. The works were presented in 1721 and then became some of the best orchestral compositions of the Baroque era. As a typical chamber music concert, there were three violins, three violas, three cellos, and a basso continuo that also included a harpsichord in this case. The melody of the first movement brought me back to 18^th century Europe: I could imagine the nobility in fancy clothes chatting in a magnificent room. The key in G major left audiences with solemn but hopeful impression. The second movement had a faster tempo. It reminded me of the hustle and bustle of city life if anything. The outer movements use the rit, which was popular at the time and that reminds audiences of the beginning of the concerto, thus forming a coherent structure.

Canon triplex on the first 8 notes of Goldberg Variations, BWV 1087

This work was discovered in 1974 with an appendix in the form of fourteen canons built on the first eight bass notes from the aria. It is quite a simple piece. The narrator invited audiences to join and learn the melody just as Bach once taught his students. The audience learned that this type of canon was used for teaching, as a lot of musical instruments were new in this era. The canon, as we have learned in class, is a contrapuntal compositional technique that employs a melody with imitations of the melody played. In this case, the first 8 notes of Goldberg, like the title indicates, were played repeatedly. I was surprised about the audience engagement during the concert, as this was the first time I saw the audience singing in a classical music concert!

Overall, this was an excellent event. Actually, it is also my favorite concert as it surprised me in stage performance and design. Concerts of this type should be presented! They would definitely change people’s attitudes toward classical music. Even children would enjoy the show.

I watched the famous musical “Chicago” at the Ambassador Theatre, New York, on February 24. “Chicago” is an American musical recomposed from a book about Jazz-age Chicago by Ebb and Bob Fosse, depicting actual criminals and crimes from 1926. The story is a satire on corruption in the administration of criminal justice and the concept of the “celebrity criminal.” It is said to be one of the oldest musicals on Broadway. The original production ran from 1975 to 1977, and the present version was choreographed by Fosse and brought to the stage in 1979.

The performance, both by the band and actors/actresses, was impressive and unforgettable. There was a square area in the center of the stage where the band played the music. Around the band was the acting area, but sometimes the actors also interacted with the band and audiences. The costumes for the band and actors/actresses created a strong contrast: the band was dressed in suits, while the others were in black flimsy tops which were see-through. Seeing the costumes at the very beginning, one could sense that the musical would be a story of desire, sex, and city. The theme tone could be identified by the makeup and dancing as well: red lipsticks and a combination of jazz and Burlesque dancing maximized the dramatic and comedy expression that appealed to the emotions and intrigued the intellect. The Overture: All That Jazz and Cell Block Tango are probably the most popular two pieces from this musical, which was composed in the late nineteenth century.

All that Jazz:

Of course, Jazz is the main theme. Jazz is a performance style that developed among black musicians around 1910. The music usually consists of popular songs, blues, or abstract chord series called “changes,” but also “a special, highly charged way of performing that music.” The overture begins by the trumpet playing, coloring the scene with a lazy tone that is the primary key. It is like improvisation: the musicians freely elaborate around a song, as our textbook says. Then, the ensemble begins with a fast tempo and powerful beat as the secondary key begins, as if the stage has been set and audiences were to be brought back to the scenes where the story happened through a time tunnel. Usually the secondary key engages in a special rhythmic style involving highly developed syncopation, emphasizing the off-beat. This is called a “backbeat” in jazz parlance. It left me with a bright but sarcastic impression – not for the story only, but probably also to reveal the ironic social atmosphere in 19^th century Chicago. I can imagine the story taking place in a luxurious and dissipating city where neon lights shine until midnight. The rhythm then slows down and the story begins – a soft, sexy female voice invites audiences get prepared and watch the story with her.

Cell Block Tango

This song summarizes six women’s lives. Specifically, it tells the stories that brought these women in the cell, behind the bars. It begins (and also ends) with six keywords for each woman such as “pop” and “ah ah,” followed with lyrics “he had it coming,” the structural motive that appears several times in both the melody and the story line. The prelude fades in and becomes faster and faster with every appearance of the motive. The actual stories were presented in a talkative way: actress introduced very powerfully and firmly their past, one by one, feeling wronged to be put in the jail – they did nothing wrong!

The work was written to present the irony of the society: an innocent woman was executed because she did not have a good lawyer; the murderers, however, managed to be released and finally became celebrities in Chicago. The strong drum beats were like their strong emotions: endless desire, hatred, and the up-and-down dramatic life. The main theme, “he had it coming… he only had himself to be blamed… if you were been there, if you’ve seen it, I bet you would have done the same,” reappeared with the familiar melody in the whole song. It is the core motive, and it is also the central idea of this section. The drums also implied their determination to commit the crimes.

Overall, this was a wonderful experience in New York watching a fantastic Broadway show!