Spoleto Today talks to Spoleto Festival USA’s contemporary music tastemaker John Kennedy on this morning’s show. Plus, the Spoleto Chamber Music series ventures into the world of Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels with a piece from Georg Philip Telemann. The Post & Courier’s Jack McCray stops by, too, previewing a weekend of Jazz Legends in Charleston.

On Carolina Classics, hear the terrific new acoustics of the freshly-refurbished Dock Street Theatre, with performances from the Chamber Music Series’ 2010 Opening Day.

Catch Spoleto Today at 11 a.m. and Carolina Classics at 1 p.m. on WSCI-FM Charleston 89.3.  Or visit SpoletoFest.org for live streaming, videos, podcasts and more! Brought to you by SCETV Radio and WDAV Classical Public Radio.

That’s what is happening at noon. I know what Mayor Joe Riley is going to say because he has said it every year, but it’s still inspiring for the arts.

There is always a surprise at the opening at the corner of Broad and Meeting St. But go now and get a good parking spot. And look for the shade. It’s going to be a warm one.

Our Goldring Arts Journalism members will be hanging there, so look for people wearing the orange press passes. And check out our blogs and videos as we cover the festival as it has never been covered before!

You can contact us at Spoletotoday@postandcourier.com or leave comments for us. We’ll be checking for them early and often.

Here’s a comment from a reader this morning:
“We attended Present Laughter last night and it was fabulous. As good as I have seen in NY, Edinburgh and Vegas!”
Linda and Mike Leatherwood

I first heard the opening notes of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons in 1993. It was coming from the snowy static reception on a red, plastic, black and white Soviet-made TV in Budapest, Hungary. In the early 1990s MTV (thanks BBC!) had a 30-second commercial for itself that ran repeatedly – you know, like MTV did things in the early 90s. They had a clever spot that opened with “Spring” – the first notes in the audio link below– and it featured time-lapse photography of a flower blooming. It quickly cut (a la 1990s MTV jump editing) to a cold winter and a stop-motion figure of some something shivering and becoming frozen. Good ol’ MTV, way back when they played videos…

The opening bars are captivating, uplifting. During the two year Eastern Europe Grand Tour, a street vender in Krakow, Poland sold me Vivaldi’s Four Seasons on a cheaply pirated cassette. The cover art was poorly photocopied, the music barely recognizable on the muted bootleg format. But still, I could dig it.

Skip to Thursday June 4th 2009 at Piccolo Spoleto where I heard Vivaldi’s Four Seasons performed live for the first time. Wow, when they hit those opening notes (click and listen,about 3 minutes)… Not to get all warm and fuzzy, but music does move the soul, n’est pas?

Four violins, one bass, one cello, one harpsichord. They took turns with brisk high notes (feeling cold, or with the high energy of springtime) and long drawn-out tones (showing a stability, stillness, or a marked change in surroundings). After the performance one of the violinists was backstage checking her cellphone voicemail. Seemed odd to glimpse her as a mere mortal, she’d led me for the past hour to transcend the day to day. Thanks, I needed that.

Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, the 18th century masterpiece performed by Amos Lawrence and Charleston Baroque, June 4th, 2009 at Spoleto USA, Charleston, SC.
Series: Classical: Early Music Series
Thanks to Ellen Dressler Moryl and the Department of Cultural Affairs for the City of Charleston for Piccolo Spoleto.
Personally, I waited a long time to hear this live and you brought it to us, thank you.

The18th century masterpiece performed in the intimate setting and amazing acoustics of First (Scots) Presbyterian Church

Tags: budapest hungary, first scots presbyterian church, four violins, harpsichord, krakow poland, mtv, scots presbyterian church, Spoleto, stained glass, time lapse photography, violinists, vivaldi

If you’re in the mood for scandal and risqué tales of decadence, College of Charleston’s Piccolo Spoleto Stelle di Domani production of ‘Quills’ will definitely fit the bill. Also, if you’re looking for great, young talent that serves the subject well and makes you forget that they’re still in college, you’re in luck.

After leaving the Theatre 220 show, a few things came to mind. First, make sure that you familiarize yourself with who the Marquis de Sade is. I had imagined that the majority of the patrons would have been familiar with the story of the French aristocrat who sought the ultimate pleasure at all times and whose novels of sadism and other controversial subjects enraged readers during the French Revolution era. Judging by the gasps that I heard when stories were acted out, it seems that this was not the case. To depict the obscene stories that the Marquis was obsessed with, actors stood behind a white sheet and served as Shadow Puppets for the acts, which were very sensational and creatively mastered.

Second, as you’re watching the Marquis de Sade describe these stories as they’re acted out, you realize that they’re not all that far-fetched from some of the horrors that we hear about in the present day. For a man that was considered so depraved that he spent almost half of his life in insane asylums, you start to feel bad for the guy. Was he just ahead of his time or was he really the monster that they made him out to be? Also, the fact that the full frontal nudity lasts for over an hour is quite an undertaking in itself.

A talented cast and an exciting story, ‘Quills’ is an excellent choice for those looking for a thrill.

Tags: College of Charleston, controversial subjects, decadence, french aristocrat, french revolution, insane asylums, Marquis de Sade, Piccolo Spoleto, present day, scandal, shadow puppets

By Mary Solomon
Post and Courier Reviewer

For an hour and a half of unsurpassed chamber music, the Circular Congregational Church was the place to be Wednesday night.

Part of the Spotlight Concert Series, Ensemble Argos played the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Gabriel Faure, and Robert Schumann.

Members of the Greenville-based piano quartet are Mellasenah Edwards, violin; Christina Placilla, viola; Kenneth Law, cello; and Stephen Buck, piano. The ensemble was formed in 2007 but perform as if it has been together longer. Individually, they came with impeccable credentials and have played both solo and chamber music around the world.

For an opener, they chose to play one movement, the Allegro, from Mozart’s ‘G minor Piano Quartet.’ Their playing exhibited the liquid, fluid smoothness of Mozart.

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Tags: 2009, andante cantabile, argos, c minor, Charleston, circular congregational church, courier reviewer, ensemble sound, festival, fluid smoothness, g minor, gabriel faure, impeccable credentials, mary solomon, member ensemble, music around the world, piano quartet, plaintive melody, playful mood, post and courier, robert schumann, Spoleto, well deserved break, wolfgang amadeus mozart

On Spoleto Today with Marc Overton & Jennifer Foster this morning at 11 on WSCI-FM 89.3 in Charleston:
Joseph Flummerfelt, Spoleto Festival USA’s artistic director for choral activities, sings the praises of Spoleto’s choral tradition;

Make a pilgrimage to the vaunted Mepkin Abbey to hear Charleston Symphony oboist Mark Gainer perform Marcello’s Oboe Concerto;

Piccolo Spoleto Director Ellen Moryl assesses this year’s festival at the box office and talks about some of the festival’s special programs, including A World of Jewish Culture;

And Post and Courier jazz critic Jack McCray offers reviews and insights on the jazz offerings on tap for Spoleto’s final few days.

On today’s Carolina Classics with Jennifer Foster at 1 p.m.:
Listen to the complete Wadsworth and Friends: A Musical Celebration, the birthday party/tribute concert recorded last Sunday evening from Memminger Auditorium.

Join the Spoleto Today team today at 3 p.m. at Sermet’s Restaurant at the corner of King and Wentworth Streets. Marc Overton, Jennifer Foster and the rest of the ETV/WDAV radio team will be on hand to talk about Spoleto, music, the arts and all things Charleston.

Make a date to tune in tonight at 8 when ETV Radio and WDAV Classical Public Radio present a Spoleto Festival Special: The Song of the Earth. Emmanuel Villaume conducts the Spoleto Festival USA Orchestra.

For streaming audio go online to http://www.spoletochambermusic.org

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Tags: Charleston, festival, overton, Spoleto

By Carol Furtwangler
Post and Courier Reviewer

During the second week of our annual arts celebration, Spoleto Festival USA usually brings us a blockbuster, humdinger, knock-out, splish-splashy, must-see production that everybody talks about for oh, the next year or so.

“Good Cop Bad Cop” made its United States premiere Wednesday night to a sold-out house at the College of Charleston’s Emmett Robinson Theatre, and while hardly splashy, this brilliant piece is surely a must-see.

Kassys, founded in the Netherlands in 1999, “makes shows” in which theater and film are combined. They find endless inspiration in the mechanism of human behavior. Their goals include precise observation, and the concepts of humor, self-mockery and voyeurism apply in all of this company’s works.

Through genuinely innovative art and well-honed craft, these goals are supremely realized. Here, co-founder Liesbeth Gritter, Esther Snelder and Tom Heijiligers play household pets. Yes, the two ladies are cats, and Tom is a dog, carrying around a large piece of wood like a bone. But trust me, these are animals as you have never seen them portrayed before. They are, of course, portraying us.

Thankfully, there are no blackened noses, pencilled whiskers, little pink feet, lengthy, swishing tails, pointy nails, or any other artificial device to suggest cat- or dogdom. There is just the behaviors of these talented actors, so authentic as to be uncanny. Are they part cat/dog, did they study every move and mood of every canine and feline in America for the past 20 years?

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Tags: blockbuster, brilliant piece, Charleston, College of Charleston, courier reviewer, endless inspiration, festival, festival usa, furtwangler, good cop bad cop, gritter, household pets, innovative art, mechanism of human behavior, pink feet, post and courier, precise observation, robinson theatre, Spoleto, street clothes, talented actors, voyeurism, whiskers

BY WILLIAM D. GUDGER

Post and Courier Reviewer

The ninth of the Chamber Music programs at Memminger Auditorium was mostly the Todd Palmer Show.
Palmer and his clarinet have been a regular feature of many of the last Spoleto Festivals.
Palmer was also on board as an arranger, contributing a down-and-dirty version of Aaron Copland’s ‘Hoe-down’ from the ballet ‘Rodeo.’ His partners in this were Tara Helen O’Connor on the piccolo, Stephen Prutsman at the piano, and the St. Lawrence String Quartet.
This was good clean musical fun with extra percussive effects: thigh slaps and very resonant foot stomps (by Prutsman).
Palmer’s serious artistic side came to the fore in the Mozart Clarinet Quintet, K. 581, a beautiful late work of the composer’s.
I have heard him play it before with the St. Lawrence Quartet and this was the best he has ever done.
His tone was absolutely glowing, and his technique assured, even when a technical glitch with his instrument required restarting the ethereal slow movement.
Geoff Nuttall provided an introduction to the work which portends well for his upcoming role as Artistic Director of this series. He speaks with loving care about the music, pointing out some of the major landmarks we should listen for.
The concert opened with a two-violin arrangement of an aria from Argentine/Israeli composer Osvaldo Golijov’s opera ‘Ainadamar.’ The main part was taken by violinist Livia Sohn who has a particularly rich tone. Geoff Nuttall provided off-stage echoes and the accompaniment was sensitively handled by Prutsman.
I do not care for Golijov’s rather pop-derivative music, but with performers like these the music is as pretty as can be.
This concert repeats today at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Tags: 2009, aaron copland, artistic director, artistic side, chamber music programs, Charleston, clarinet quintet, courier reviewer, dirty version, festival, gudger, lawrence string quartet, livia sohn, loving care, nuttall, o connor, osvaldo golijov, percussive effects, post and courier, rich tone, Spoleto, stomps, tara helen, technical glitch

By Jeff Johnson
Post and Courier Reviewer
Piccolo Spoleto’s “Spotlight Concert,” on Monday at the Circular Congregational Church featured a very modern “Sonata for bassoon and Piano” by the contemporary composer, David Malsanka, and the original septet version of Igor Stravinsky’s “The Soldier’s Tale,” which to most ears seems modern, even though the popular work premiered in 1918.
Malsanka’s work is a rare opportunity for a bassoonist and when Christopher Sales took center stage, he played with such virtuoso power that any snakes in the building were dancing with joy. Malsanka’s four-movement piece furnished him with extremely long melodies that he performed with powerful breath control, beautiful phrasing and tonal beauty. The final movement is a long rapid build to an exciting climax with both bassoon and piano in perfect accord.
While Sales was warbling sweet sad melodies, pianist, Ghadi Shayban was creating a novel dramatic background, featuring oddly compelling strumming sounds that soared so high they sounded like a summoning for angels.
Alan Molina, violin; Charles Messersmith, clarinet; Karen Bilznik, trumpet; William Zehfuss, trombone; Edward Allman, double bass; Ryan Leveille, percussion; and, conductor, Alex Agrest, joined Sales for Stravinsky’s “Tale of the Soldier.” Usually, there are dancers, and actors to flesh out this tale of a soldier who is tempted to give up what he most cherishes to the devil, then defeats the devil only to find his life is still ruined, a theme that Stravinsky would further embellish in his operatic masterwork, “The Rake’s Progress.” The music stands well by itself, and under Agrest’s direction all the musicians contributed to the success of the piece. Since, much of the action centers on the soldier’s fiddle, violinist, Molina played a variety of melodies with ease. Bliznik’s trumpet brayed out the military themes associated with the soldier, and percussionist Leveille created vibrant drumbeats for the devil’s dance.

Sunday afternoon listening to an opera in a temple isn’t how you’d expect to get emotionally charged goosebumps, but the packed house attending “Highlights from Porgy and Bess” bounced from their seats with applause after each of the eleven songs. Everyone felt they were in the right place sharing a very special connection together.

All in all, the one hour spent in the beautiful venue of the Congregation Kahal Kadosh Beth Elohim (Holy Congregation House of God) offered a four-for (4-fer) package: the singers, the accompaniment of Chamber Music Charleston, the witty and well presented historical introduction to George Gershwin and the circumstances of the “America’s best loved folk opera” by local attorney, writer, and historian Robert N. Rosen, and the chance to visit the K. K. Beth Elohim (KKBE).

Four instruments, four voices (three singers and one historian), Mr. Rosen opened and explained the origins of the tale of “Porgy” by DuBose Heyward. He memorably depicted the “shack of a crippled street-beggar” as a locale in downtown Charleston that now has a real estate listing (holding up the proof) for $4 million dollars.

Special kudos to the clarinet (Mr. Charles Messersmith), which had such a right vibe, for the tenor Mr. Sam Hagan for so effectively engaging the room when he said, “This next piece requires a chorus, but we don’t have a chorus, but do we have each other.” The room loved the chance to join in on his cue – come to think of it - this means we were all IN a performance of “Highlights from Porgy and Bess.” It was a very rewarding feeling.

Thanks to Ellen Dressler Moryl and the Department of Cultural Affairs for the City of Charleston for Piccolo Spoleto for “A World of Jewish Culture.”

…
One of these mornings
You going to rise up singing
Then you’ll spread your wings
And you’ll take to the sky
…
Oh Lawd, I’m on my way.
…

Tags: gershwin, goosebumps, Music, Opera, porgy, sunday afternoon