the finale

Sadly - last night we had our final concert of our season of the Sarasota Orchestra.  But it was a fitting finale with Mozart's Requiem. An odd juxtaposition for us having just seen Mozart dying in the National Theater Live production of Amadeus...

a lovely work for voice and symphony orchestra - last night sung by four soloists and the award winning Estonian Philharmonic Choir.  And extra special to all because they were performing on the independence day of Estonia and as you may recall - our wonderful conductor Anu Tali is from Estonia...

A review of the Requiem performed on the 200th anniversary of his death by the NY Philharmonic had a fitting conclusion and perfectly created the sense of loss and awe felt in this unfinished masterpiece-

"But the memorial will continue. In fact, our entire concert life may be an extended tribute to Mozart, who towers above it all like some child god so acquainted with grief that his music seems to save us from its burdens. He is forgiving and compassionate to all: to listeners who come with simple love of his melodic grace; to characters who people his operas, each granted a caress of musical sympathy; to musicologists who, faced with marvels, sometimes murder to dissect; even to critics who, weary of devout worship, vainly try to see how a man could write such music, why it sometimes fails, and why it so often seems beyond human judgment altogether."

so on we go-  next up Paul Taylor Dance Company guests of the Sarasota Ballet....always something on the calendar---

I wept

the performance given by Lucian Msamati was so masterful and moving that I wept for him.

Here is the blurb from the NTLive website -
Lucian Msamati plays Salieri in Peter Shaffer’s iconic play, broadcast live from the National Theatre, with live orchestral accompaniment by Southbank Sinfonia. In the play, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, a rowdy young prodigy, arrives in Vienna, the music capital of the world – and he’s determined to make a splash. Awestruck by his genius, court composer Antonio Salieri has the power to promote his talent or destroy his name. Seized by obsessive jealousy he begins a war with Mozart, with music, and ultimately, with God. After winning multiple Olivier and Tony Awards when it had its premiere at the National Theatre in 1979, Amadeus was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film.

The production had its issues - too modernist for my taste with people walking around and in and out of the central action - especially the wandering musicians ... but OMG the performance by Msamati was so powerful. A good and pious man at war with his God. His faith and his ultimate renunciation of it - just heartbreaking.  A man gifted enough to know his own mediocrity- created his sorrow leading to his rage against the one being (Mozart) his God had chosen (in Salieri's view) to be God's voice via music.

The performances were all terrific but Msamati was arresting in his portrayal of Salieri. The actors who played Mozart and his wife were also fabulous...

A very sad tale---

all photos from the NTLive FB page-

And just by happenstance - we are scheduled next week to hear Mozart's Requiem at the Sarasota Orchestra performance (words sung by an award winning Estonian Choir)

So another WOW performance at NTLive.... look for these in your area because they are soooo worth seeing/hearing.... and next up- the opera Italian Girl in Algiers (on Tuesday night)...

Lindoro’s attempts to escape Mustafà, the Bey of Algiers, have all been in vain. To top it off, he is now faced with a hand-me-down bride instead of his missing beloved, Isabella. But a unique turn of events brings Isabella right where she needs to be to save her lost fiancé. And she knows exactly how to get them out of this bind.

so stay tuned... because the night after the opera - it is theater with an extremely well reviewed Born Yesterday - the Wall Street Journal said-

More to follow- as always....