DPO offers Cosmic Voyage for April concert

By Burt Saidel

The Dayton Philharmonic’s innovative programming has created cleverly packaged concerts with wide musical variety.  The April concert, Cosmic Voyage, was a prime example of such programming.

We entered the concert past interesting displays of all aspects of conservation, ecology, bicycling and tree-hugging which did little to prepare the audience for the inter-galactic ride it was about to experience.  The magic of music put the listener in the middle of a rain forest, zipping through the solar system and hearing the ultimate sounds of nature. A guitar masterpiece was comprised of the glorious wedding of wood, air and catgut.

The concert opened with the return of composer Meira Warshauer to the Philharmonic.  In 1998, the DPO, cooperating with the Jewish Federation of Greater Dayton, commissioned a piece, Like Streams in the Desert, to commemorate Israel’s 50th anniversary.

Her first symphony continues her innovative and gently provocative use of musical imagery.  The symphony has the title Living Breathing Earth, inspired by the composer’s experiences in the rain forests of Peru.

The rain forests are often called “the lungs of the earth.”  Warshauer’s musical imagery dealt almost pictorially with cicadas, the silence of a river at night, the brilliant flashes of butterflies, and the overwhelming awe of our earth’s complex life.
The musicians were asked to stretch the sounds of their instruments and to play strange harmonies melding into transporting moods for the listener.  This is music which demands a re-hearing.  A recording will not do it justice.  One must hear, and watch, the orchestra creating these sounds to fully enjoy and appreciate them.

In 1998, Maestro Neal repeated the short work, Like Streams in the Desert for the audience.  It made all the difference.  Unfortunately, the length of the symphony precluded that and left us trying to recreate its special sounds in our memories.

Joaquín Rodrigo has produced the very soul of Spanish music.  So much of our “Spanish” music is the brilliant result of composers such as Frenchmen Jules Massenet and Édouard Lalo.  Rodrigo’s Concierto de Aranjuez is an immensely popular work.  We hear it regularly on Dayton Public Radio but not often enough from the concert stage.

Last heard by the DPO in 1973, Maestro Neal’s reintroduction was a complete triumph. He invited Bosnian guitar master Almer Imamovic as soloist.  In 2004, Imamovic played with the DPO in the special concert for Bosnian President Tihic.

The combination of a great guitarist, a great orchestra and a perfect performance hall made this concerto one of the truly memorable musical events of the year.  The familiar themes sprang from the guitar and every section of the orchestra.  

Imamovic’s cadenzas were virtuosic masterpieces.  The kinetics of the orchestra made the visual experience almost match the musical one.

The concert closed with Gustav Holst’s The Planets.  This is a popular, brash and full-bodied set of seven parts describing in music the planets of our solar system.
The music filled every corner of the Schuster and kept the musicians very busy.  The percussionists raced from instrument to instrument never missing a beat.  There were remarkable solos from all sections particularly Acting Concert Master Aurelian Oprea, cellist Christina Coletta, oboist Eileen Whalen, flautist Rebecca Tryon and English horn Robyn Costa.

Next for our orchestra is the SuperPops with the fabulous Rhythm in Shoes.  Mark May 11-12 on your calendar, but leave your dancing shoes at home.  No one can keep up with the fabulous RIS dancers.

Human Race’s Painting Churches

The Human Race Theatre Company is showing Tina Howe’s Painting Churches through May 6.  As a playwright, she has gone beyond avant garde with plays such as Birth after Birth, Pride’s Crossing and now, Painting Churches.

Howe’s characters are relentlessly dysfunctional but relatively harmless.  Her dialogue seems, at times, endlessly filled with exaggerated mannerisms.  Nevertheless, she seems to have her plays produced and actors seem to relish the challenge of her characters.

The Human Race’s Loft Theatre production of Painting Churches is a perfect example.  The company asked Margaret Perry to direct an unbelievable cast of three actors who managed to make even the most obvious inconsistencies in the plot seem believable.

As the aging couple, Kathleen Butler and Evan Thompson have stature and give their off-the-wall personae a special dignified zaniness.  Thompson is well remembered for his remarkable work, along with Scott Stoney, in Copenhagen.
As their daughter, scarred by the special abuse of her egomaniacal mother, darling Jesme Evans manages to make us care, even about her childhood artistic triumph of melted crayons.

Please don‘t ask me to explain further.  There are still opportunities to enjoy this very unusual theatrical voyage.

Pam McGinnis appearing in ‘The Curious Savage’

Pam McGinnis of Oakwood is appearing in the Beavercreek Community Theatre production of “The Curious Savage.” She portrays Lily Belle Savage, one of the greedy stepchildren intent on getting their hands on the money that their father left to their stepmother.

When John Patrick combined a rich, eccentric widow with greedy stepchildren and a host of social misfits in a sanatorium, he created the delightful comedy Beavercreek Community Theatre will be presenting at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and 3 p.m. on Sundays for the next two weekends, from May 4 through 13.

In the roles of the other two stepchildren, who put their stepmother, played by Jo Ferguson of Beavercreek, in a sanatorium to “bring her to her senses,” are Jerry Buck of Yellow Springs and Bruce Green of Beavercreek.

Alain Alejandro of Englewood, John Johns of Dayton, Christa Williams of Franklin, Jim Lockwood of Huber Heights and Beavercreek residents Megan McKenzie, Pat Phillips and Carly Scheu portray the sanatorium patients and staff.

The show, directed by Doug Lloyd of Dayton, will be presented in the Beavercreek Community Theatre located within the Lofino Adults Enrichment and Cultural Arts Center at 3868 Dayton-Xenia Road in Beavercreek.

Tickets are  $12 for adults and $10 for students and senior citizens. BCT members receive a $2 discount and there is a group discount of $1 per ticket when 10 or more tickets are purchased at the same time for the same performance.

Tickets can be reserved by calling BCT at (937) 429-4737 and leaving a message or by e-mailing boxoffice@bctheatre.org. Tickets can also be purchased online, using a credit card, through the Beavercreek Community Theatre Web site at www.bctheatre.org.

Human Race Conservatory show slated for May 9

The Human Race Theatre Company’s teen Conservatory class will present the original production “It’s a Mystery,” their end-of-year show, at 7 p.m. Wednesday, May 9, in The Loft Theatre, 126 N. Main St., Dayton. Admission is free.

Soirees Musicales to present pianist Spencer Myer

Pianist Spencer Myer will be performing several works from Mozart, Brahms, Ravel and Barber on Saturday, May 5, 8 p.m. at Shiloh Church, N. Main Street at Philadelphia Drive, Dayton.

Tickets for adults are $20; seniors - $18; students $12 and 18 & under – FREE.

Ruth Ann Swenson featured at Dayton Opera’s Star Gala

On May 4 and 6, Metropolitan Opera star Ruth Ann Swenson will make her long-awaited Dayton debut as the feature of Dayton Opera’s annual Star Gala.

Internationally acclaimed for her vocal instrument of warmth and beauty and as a dramatic and unusually sensitive artist,  she is also recognized as a woman of courage and strength.

In September, Ms. Swenson was diagnosed with breast cancer. For eight months she underwent surgery and chemotherapy, and in March returned to the rigors and physical demands of her career to sing two taxing leading-lady roles at the
Metropolitan Opera.

Dayton Opera and the American Cancer Society have joined in inviting breast cancer survivors from the Miami Valley to attend the May 6 performance at a special ticket price of $15 per person. Attendees may also make reservations to attend a private reception with Ms. Swenson following her performance.

To purchase tickets at the ACS rate, call Ticket Center Stage, 228-3630... To attend the reception, call Shannon McClure, Dayton Opera, 228-0662 Ext. 3057 before May 3. Tickets to both are limited.

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May 1, 2007
Volume 16, No. 18

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A listing of visual arts, music, theatre, and other events in Dayton and beyond.