Concert Review: Rufus Wainwright with the Minnesota Orchestra at Orchestra Hall

Promotional card for Rufus Wainwright with the Minnesota Orchestra. (Photo by Mark C. Taylor)

Last Saturday night my wife and I went to see Rufus Wainwright with the Minnesota Orchestra. We’ve seen him several times before, at Orchestra Hall in 2010, at the Minnesota Zoo in 2012, and at the Fitzgerald Theater in 2013. Wainwright always puts on a good show, and last week’s concert was no exception, as he performed some of his best songs in front of a deeply appreciative audience. 

Wainwright is a difficult performer to try to categorize, as his music mixes pop, classical, Broadway, and opera in a style that is distinctively his own. His beautiful, soaring voice adds greatly to the flavor of his music-there is simply no one else that sounds like him. Wainwright’s songs sounded great with the Minnesota Orchestra, under the baton of Sarah Hicks, behind him. 

The program was made up of many Wainwright’s most well-known songs, including “The Art Teacher,” “Vibrate,” “Who Are You, New York?” “Poses,” “Grey Gardens,” “Going to a Town,” “Cigarettes and Chocolate Milk,” and “Oh What a World.” Wainwright actually restarted “The Art Teacher” after a verse or two, saying that something felt off, and since they were recording, he wanted to get it right. 

One of the highlights of the night was Wainwright’s version of “O Holy Night,” sung in the original French. Rufus was a little unsure, but of course he hit the high notes with style. I also really enjoyed the song “Montauk,” which came after a song from Rufus’ opera Prima Donna. Rufus called those two songs “the Philip Glass section of the evening.”

Rufus received a rapturous standing ovation after “Going to a Town.” Before he started playing the song, he talked briefly about politics, saying how disappointed he was in the Republican-led tax bill that had passed the night before. During this speech, principal trumpeter player Manny Laureano got up from his seat and walked off the stage as a protest. I noticed this, and I thought to myself for a second, “Did he leave because of what Rufus just said?” And then I didn’t think any more about it until there was a piece in the Star Tribune about the incident, making it clear that Laureano’s action was a reaction to what Rufus was saying. 

Another highlight of the night was the encore, comprised of “Oh What a World,” which sounded beautiful accompanied by the orchestra, who could do justice to the quotes from Maurice Ravel’s Bolero. Rufus also sang “Over the Rainbow” and the Leonard Cohen song “Hallelujah” to end the night, which hit me right in the feels. 

If you have the opportunity to see Rufus Wainwright in concert, do it. He’s an excellent live performer who will keep you entertained and amazed at his songs and voice.

Concert Review: Stanislaw Skrowaczewski conducts Bruckner’s 8th Symphony with the Minnesota Orchestra

Stanislaw Skrowaczewski

Stanislaw Skrowaczewski receiving an award from the Bruckner Society, April 20, 2012, at Orchestra Hall, Minneapolis. (Photo by Mark Taylor.)

Last night I saw legendary conductor Stanislaw Skrowaczewski conduct Anton Bruckner’s 8^th symphony with the Minnesota Orchestra at Orchestra Hall. It was simply amazing. Skrowaczewski was the music director of the Minnesota Orchestra, then named the Minneapolis Symphony, from 1960 to 1979. He has remained a conductor laureate of the Minnesota Orchestra and returns annually to conduct. His 52-year association with the Minnesota Orchestra is the longest time that “any one person has been associated with an orchestra in the world,” according to critic Michael Anthony. (The quote is from the Minneapolis Star Tribune, April 15^th.) Since defecting from Poland in 1960, Skrowaczewski had made his home in the Twin Cities, and he still lives here. I knew of Skrowaczewski, but I had never seen him conduct before. When I was looking through the concert season and saw that he was returning for this concert, I knew I had to go. I was able to get tickets in the front row, because at Orchestra Hall those tickets are usually cheaper than seats a little farther back. Seeing classical music performed live is such an amazing experience, and seeing it from the first row is even better. I went to the concert with my wife, and our seats were front and center, right in front of the first violin and Skrowaczewski’s podium. It was a lot of fun to watch Skrowaczewski conduct, he was pretty animated, and you could tell how focused he was on the music. Even at the age of 88, his passion for Bruckner is clear.

Skrowaczewski has told of the immense impact that Bruckner’s music had on his own life. When he was 7 years old, and already playing and composing music, he was walking the streets of his hometown of Lwow, Poland, when he heard Bruckner’s music coming from a radio out of the window of a house. He was transfixed by this music, the likes of which he had never heard before, and he stood frozen like a statue until the radio broadcast was finished. Skrowaczewski has become one of the foremost conductors of Bruckner’s work. 

I don’t know enough about classical music or Bruckner’s work in general to really analyze the content of the 8^th symphony, but it’s clearly a spectacular work. It’s about 75 minutes long, made up of four movements. It’s an exciting piece of music that builds to a memorable finish. According to the program, Bruckner’s 8^th symphony is considered the pinnacle of his work. There’s never a dull moment during the symphony, it’s a very dramatic piece of music. I had a very good view of the cello players, and it was fun to watch the eye contact they made with each other at various times. Just thinking about how all of the players of an orchestra need to come together to perform a symphony is mind-boggling. It’s also pretty amazing to think that someone could write a 75 minute symphony. 

After the concert Skrowaczewski received an award from the Bruckner Society. He seemed very thrilled to receive it, and he really seemed amazed at all the applause he got from the audience. There is a new biography of Skrowaczewski that just came out last year, “Seeking the Infinite: The Musical Life of Stanislaw Skrowaczewski,” by Frederick Edward Harris, Jr. Harris was signing copies in the lobby after the show, and so we got our copy signed. It looks like a great book, and Harris was a very nice guy. 

Skrowaczewski said in 1994 of Bruckner’s 8^th symphony, “When I conduct the 8^th symphony it seems to me that it is already over in a moment. Time really stops with Bruckner. It is like a religious meditation or a dream; you lose the notion of time.” (“Seeking the Infinite,” p. 424.) I certainly lost the notion of time last night, thanks to some great music by Bruckner, great conducting by Skrowaczewski, and great playing by the Minnesota Orchestra.

Belated Concert Review: Ben Folds with the Minnesota Orchestra

I saw Ben Folds in September with the Minnesota Orchestra. It was a terrific show, as Ben performed his perfect punchy piano pop with the Minnesota Orchestra. His songs are very well-suited to be played with an orchestra, and the arrangements of his songs were very well thought out. Of course, Folds has performed with orchestras for a couple of years now, so it’s not like this was the first time he’s done this. I have to confess, I don’t know a lot about Ben Folds’s career, and I’m just starting to get more familiar with his songs. (My wife and my best friend have both introduced me to Ben’s music.) I like his intelligent, witty lyrics and his catchy melodies. (“Steven’s Last Night in Town” has been stuck in my head for the last two days.) Folds puts on a great show, he really seems to love performing, and he seemed to get such a kick out of the orchestra playing his songs. He performed a lot of his best-known songs like “Steven’s Last Night in Town,” “Brick,” “Zak and Sara,” and “Army.” The highlight of the show may have been Ben performing “Annie Waits” as the orchestra left the stage. Ben then proceeded to make up a song about the Minnesota Orchestra, and how they have to quit playing because they have strict union rules. He then ran around the stage and played any instrument he could find on stage. It was awesome, a fun way to end the show, and it showed how much enthusiasm Folds has for performing.

Leonard Bernstein's "Mass"

On Friday night I saw Leonard Bernstein's Mass, a Theater Piece for Singers, Players, and Dancers at Orchestra Hall here in Minneapolis. It was amazing. It's difficult to describe the piece, it combines many different elements, it's a little of everything, a little bit Broadway musical, a little bit of a symphony. The piece calls for a full orchestra, a "street chorus," a chorale, a boy's choir, and dancers. All told, more than 200 different artists were on stage all at once! Mass was commissioned by Jackie Kennedy for the 1971 opening of the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. Bernstein took his inspiration for the piece from the traditional Latin Catholic mass, a link to JFK's Catholicism. (Bernstein was once asked, "What's a Jewish boy like you doing writing a mass?")

I can't say that I totally understood the piece, but it deals with faith being questioned. I couldn't understand most of the lyrics to the songs, but the music was beautiful. The music Bernstein wrote for Mass was amazingly diverse, at times it sounds like West Side Story, at times it sounds atonal, at times it sounds like folk-rock. But it's always very striking, there are themes and motifs that only last for a moment or two, but are amazingly beautiful and moving. All in all, it was a fantastic opportunity to see a great, experimental work that is rarely performed live.

My Mom went with me, she has the original album, which she just loves, and she was very excited to see Mass in person. After the show, there was a Q&A with Leonard's daughter Jamie and Minnesota Orchestra conductor Osmo Vanska. One man in the audience had been at the premiere at the Kennedy Center in 1971, and he flew in from New York just to see this performance! Also, a woman in the audience was one of the flute players at the premiere. She talked a little bit about how much fun it was to work with Leonard Bernstein, and what a joy he brought to all those around him. Hearing these personal stories was a nice end to an unforgettable evening.