Paris Theatre / for Young and Old

If you want to know whats happening in Paris, check out "L'officiel des spectacles", available at Paris news stands or at www.offi.fr/enfants (for the youth theatre).

While we were there, just a couple of weeks ago, we saw a wonderful show for ages 3 and up and another for adults. Both were great. And we were astonished at just how many live theatre offerings there were for children.

Something remarkable: the show for children 3 and up was not only quite sophisticated but also ran for an hour without a break! The young children in the audience remained attentive throughout the show. Does the average French child have a longer attention span than the average North American child? Or is it that North American presenters, eternally eyeing the box office, play down to children?


La Femme du Boulanger by Marcel Pagnol was the adult show we attended. Two hours without a break! Same question about North American adults. Maybe the French are just more highly evolved or maybe it's the government subsidies?

Regarding musical presentations in Paris: Mozart, Brahms, and the usual suspects were everywhere.
Contemporary wise, New York has Paris beat to hell. Maybe it's the lack of government subsidies?

Au Lapin Rouge / At the Agile Rabbit

In June in Paris we attended that most venerable of Parisian cabarets, Au Lapin Rouge, in the heart of Montmartre.

The evening started as if we were in our neighborhood pub, but with a table of rowdy singers occupying a table at the center of the room. The order of the evening was French songs of all types, sing-alongs to begin with. As the evening wore on, we were treated to various soloists, one with a guitar, one with an accordion, all superb. There were perhaps 10 performers in a rather smallish room, seating maybe 35 people, not including the performers, cheek to jowl. At $20 a head and a minimum of one drink each, how did they do this every night? Government subsidies?

Or is this like New York, where performers pay or play for nothing, just to have a famous venue included in their resumes? Likely it's government subsidies. There are also a plethora of book shops in Paris, the result of government price controls on electronic versions of books and government subsidies for book shop start-ups. Result - real class. Perhaps capitalism and culture, even at the cabaret level, don't mix very well.

I highly recommend an evening at Au Lapin Rouge next time you are in Paris.

Pit Stop Players and Political Correctness

On Monday I heard the Pit Stop Players at the Demenna Center http://www.oslmusic.org/dimenna-center-welcome . This is a new place with a number of halls.  "Conveniently located in midtown Manhattan at 450 West 37th St. The DiMenna Center for Classical Music provides state-of-the-art rehearsal and recording space for musicians and ensembles ranging in size from soloist to full orchestra and chorus."

Led by Joshua Rosenblum the Pit Stop Players are a group of moonlighting Broadway musicians. The New York Times said "Led by conductor-composer Joshua Rosenblum, the ensemble is comprised of some of New York’s top free-lance musicians, commonly regarded as the best instrumentalists in the world. With its unique mission, exciting repertoire, and broad appeal, the Pit Stop Players have already taken their place at the cutting edge of New York’s cultural landscape."

I have the good fortune to be have been asked to compose a piece for the Pit Stop Players, to be performed in late October, just before the US election. So what am I working on? It's a piece called Hard Right, for chamber orchestra and "politician". I propose to write music for a right wing campaign speech, using some of the outrageous statements made by the US Republican presidential candidates.

Please, someone dissuade me! Compositionally speaking, I must have some sort of death wish. Classical music circles definitely cannot abide anything in the least bit controversial, unless it happened 200 years ago, or more.

Case in point, a piece of mine called Tales of the Netsilik for narrator and orchestra and based on tales of the Inuit. Samples: http://pwusk.powweb.com/voiceafire/mp3/Tales_SunMoon07.mp3 and http://pwusk.powweb.com/voiceafire/mp3/Tales_Animals10.mp3
Seemed innocent enough to me. Wrong! Turns out it cannot be played in the United States. A text that finds value in the religious system and values of a non-Christian culture is a no-no. The very poems I used, unbeknownst to me at the time, had been used in a program to educate US children about the values of other cultures. When  the good Christian people here found out about what their children were being taught, horrified, they closed down the whole thing.

It's enough to make the blood boil. Perhaps boiling blood = inspiration. I think I'll continue working on Hard Right. Maybe make it into a whole cabaret show.

What do you think? Bigotry can be inspirational. Perhaps there are some things actually worth fighting for - or against.

Finnish Accordion Fantastico

This past Thursday I heard the extraordinary Finnish accordion player-composer Veli Kujala at the Scandanavia House 58 Park Ave. Playing solo, Veli played an assortment of pieces, old and new, on the first half. The second half was devoted to his own music, in this case a theatrical piece complete with electronics and light changes and 1/4 tones. Yes, although his button accordion appears more or less normal, it will play 1/4 tones - something that Veli exploited to great effect.

Tango Dreams, my own piece for accordion and string trio, peaked Veli's interest. I'm sending it off to Finland where Veli teaches at the Sibelius Academy. I'll also include the parts for Serenity for accordion and clarinet. Thanks to the support of Joseph Petric in Toronto, I seem to have written a considerable amount for accordion, including my arrangement of all 6 movements of Ravel's Tombeau de Couperin for accordion, violin, cello, and oboe as well as a raft of tango arrangements for accordion with string trio and baritone for my show, Close Embrace.

Here's Tango Dreams as a ballet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSo7rE-eebQ&list=PLE776D037B4FA83C9&index=1&feature=plpp_video

And some of Close Embrace (an accordion spectacular):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHxJizagFD0&list=PLF385A950519C1948&index=1&feature=plpp_video

And a couple of MP3's from Tombeau de Couperin, as played by Quarteto Gelato:
http://pwusk.powweb.com/voiceafire/mp3/Tomb1Pre.mp3
http://pwusk.powweb.com/voiceafire/mp3/Tomb6Toc.mp3


Accordionists of the world, where are you? Ask me for these pieces. I would be happy to send them.

By the way, The Scandanavia House is a nice hall, about 200 seats, a fair sized stage, and lighting possibilities. Although it specializes in Scandanavian music, there are other types of music presented here. Rental?

Accordionists! Email me! rayluedeke@gmail.com

Winnipeg Symphony Success

Sunday April 29 The Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and Motus O Dance Theatre performed
Circus Terrifico for 2300 engaged and entertained and smiling patrons. That's what I'm told by
Tanya Derksen, WSO Director of Education, and Richard Lee, conductor, and Motus O.

I wasn't able to attend this premiere of the live orchestra version of Circus Terrifico. After spending a year orchestrating my own piece, Circus Music (originally for Brass Band), and re-orchestrating 30 minutes worth of Tchaikovsky ballet excerpts, I sat at home, nervous. The WSO did the show on one rehearsal from virgin parts. Wow! There were no rehearsal destroying mistakes and the show went off gloriously. Wow!

Now for the tough part - selling the show to other orchestras. Yes, tough! We have already contacted 85 orchestras, both with a mailed promo package and a phone call and a second email. (Including my own former orchestra, The Toronto Symphony) One would think that having a successful orchestra family show would be enough. It isn't. And no one seems to have much of an answer toward making it any easier.

Come on orchestra folks. Buy this show! It's exactly what I have been told is needed. You say you want new audiences. You say you need something to make money and yet be of high quality. Here it is.
Yes, I know it hasn't won a contest and it is not being plugged by Columbia Artists. Take a risk that's no risk. Circus Terrifico is a winner!
http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC48EE2B3B260B00D&feature=plcp

Advice? Suggestions? Criticism? All are welcome
www.voiceafire.com

New York's Other Opera Companies

How many opera companies are there in New York, other than the Met and the New York City Opera? Lots. There's Chelsea Opera, Gotham Opera, Opera Company of Brooklyn. There's Pocket Opera of New York and more. Last night I attended The Center for Contemporary Opera's production of Big Jim and the Small Investors by Eric Salzman, at the Flea Theater in Greenwich Village.

The Center for Contemporary Opera, of which Eric Salzman is the Artistic Director, has been around for a while. Pocket of New York is relatively new. They both follow the traditional formula for organizing and structuring a music theater company, i.e. they are both corporations with a board of directors, with a artistic and management team, and with a long list of contributors. And yet, the Salzman opera began rehearsals only 5 days before the show and included a last minute replacement for accompanist. It was opera in concert. Done well but done at the last minute with minimal rehearsal. They didn't get into the theater until the day of the performance.

I wonder if all the work required to put together an organization like this is really worth it, artistically speaking. Maybe I'm just jealous. But I think I like the Phil Glass model better. Phil drove a cab and was a professional handy man before he became so famous. He used he money he garnered from his non-musical activities to finance his musical activities and made it big-time after renting out the Metropolitan Opera. Amazing! The reward was that he maintained his independence. No board to please. No collaborators to mollify. Of course, when Phil Glass started writing in the "minimalist" style he figured no one would support it financially anyway. So why bother.

I find myself somewhat in Phil's position. I'm told that Voice Afire's operas aren't operas. I must be doing the right thing.

Butterfly's Trouble Promo Video

Butterfly's Trouble Promotional Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4R9JB02d25w&list=UUmKB0gKQ_ELcb-B_fMUUvoQ&index=1&feature=plcp

What's needed for a Promo Video? I've been told by various Arts Management people that Presenters would like to see what they will be getting if they should book your show. That means that fancy camera angles are likely out, as are fancy just about anything.

But, wait a minute. In actuality the camera always lies in one way or another. So it's a tough call.
For instance, on seeing my static and somewhat blurry video of Butterfly's Trouble being performed at the 45th Street Theatre, Robert Baird of BAM! Baird Artists Management told me that Presenters might take the image of a small black box theater to mean that the show would work only in a small black box theater. From the video, these same Presenters might conclude that this was something suitable for only a high brow audience.

Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Please take a look at my new Butterfly's Trouble Promotional Video and tell me your conclusions. Where does the show belong, vis a vis theater and audience?

Thanks. Oh yes, below is a code that the Technorati website needs to recognize this blog so that people like me, trying to bang some sense and imagination into the dull and unimaginative heads (Robert Baird says it, Not me. :), bless his helpful hyde), can obtain some needed info.

34P22FE4W8Q5

Ray