Cambridge Community Chorus concert, Sunday, December 12, 2010, at Kresge Auditorium. Jamie Kirsch, Music Director.
It was a good concert. (And a packed auditorium, on a rainy afternoon! Probably at least 500-600 people.) I especially liked the lively Navidad Nuestra, by the Argentine composer Ariel Ramirez. I loved the combination of the South American folk melodies, guitars, and the real immediacy of the Nativity text. Ramirez's lyrics moved me in their earnestness and simplicity. Here is two lines from the second movement, The Pilgrimage:
On the road, on the road,
suns and moons,
almond eyes,
olive skin.
Oh, little burro of the plains,
Oh, ruddy ox.
My child is coming,
make room for him!
Mary comes alive as a young flesh and blood woman. Usually, she is depicted as a divine being, without human form. Ramirez's lyricist was Felix Luna. What a wonderful text.
The Chorus did a nice job, making it a lively afternoon.
Saturday, December 18, 2010
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Huntington Theater's Vengeance is the Lord's -- family members that can never escape
Vengeance is the Lord's, a play by Bob Glaudini, at the Huntington Theater, November 27, 2010. Directed by Peter Dubois.
A type of family drama. Instead of the usual diner or candy shop, the family business is small-time crime. They're not above murder. The family is ruled by the patriarch and matriarch, Mathew and Margaret Horvath. Good performances all around.
A good play. Despite the profanity, dog-eat-dog morality, and glimpses of loathsome personalities, Glaudini got me to believe that these people were, in fact, a real family. They treated each other as family members, even when they were swearing at each other and Woody was twisting his younger brother Donald's arm, or the mother was beating Donald with her cane. Something kept them all together, observing family holidays, hierarchies, and traditions. The affection went along with the beatings.
In fact, they were better at being a family than most families I've known. And that seemed a bit hard to believe. It's touching to see Woody (played with a measured, restrained menace by Lee Tergesen) helping his mother up the stairs. Yet, what is it in this mother that makes her worth helping up the stairs? Why would a Woody stay in this house? He seems to be trapped, like everyone is this family.
A type of family drama. Instead of the usual diner or candy shop, the family business is small-time crime. They're not above murder. The family is ruled by the patriarch and matriarch, Mathew and Margaret Horvath. Good performances all around.
A good play. Despite the profanity, dog-eat-dog morality, and glimpses of loathsome personalities, Glaudini got me to believe that these people were, in fact, a real family. They treated each other as family members, even when they were swearing at each other and Woody was twisting his younger brother Donald's arm, or the mother was beating Donald with her cane. Something kept them all together, observing family holidays, hierarchies, and traditions. The affection went along with the beatings.
In fact, they were better at being a family than most families I've known. And that seemed a bit hard to believe. It's touching to see Woody (played with a measured, restrained menace by Lee Tergesen) helping his mother up the stairs. Yet, what is it in this mother that makes her worth helping up the stairs? Why would a Woody stay in this house? He seems to be trapped, like everyone is this family.
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