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Boston's Chorus pro Musica Presents Rossini's Petite Messe Solennelle March 20, 2011

Chorus pro Musica, under the leadership of Music Director Betsy Burleigh, will present a performance of Gioachino Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle featuring lyric coloratura soprano Carole Haber, mezzo-soprano Hillary Nicholson, tenor William Hite and bass Paul Guttry, on Sunday, March 20, 2011, 3:00 PM, at Old South Church [Copley Square, 645 Boylston Street, Boston, MA 02116].

Gioachino Rossini’s Petite Messe Solennelle, completed just five years before his death in 1868, was Rossini's last major work, after a period of over 30 years during which he published no new music except his Stabat mater. Rossini called it “the last of my sins of old age.” It created an immediate sensation, notwithstanding the comment, attributed to Napoleon III, that the work was “neither petite, nor solemn, nor particularly liturgical.” Like all of Rossini's music, it is melodic, spirited, and irresistibly engaging. “Petite” only in instrumental accompaniment—two pianos and harmonium—the Mass includes exquisite writing for four soloists and chorus that makes it a fitting climax to the life of the man considered the greatest Italian composer of his time.

By the way, March 14, 2011 is the 147th anniversary of the first performance of Rossini's Petite messe solennelle. The work was first performed on March 14, 1864 at the home of Count Alexis and Countess Louise Pillet-Will at 12 rue de Moncey in Paris. The occasion was the dedication of the chapel in the newly-built home. Rossini stood behind the accompanists, indicated the tempo for each section, and turned the pages. Attendance was by invitation only. Among those attending was the ailing, impressionable Meyerbeer, who stood throughout the performance, trembling, sometimes raising his arms, sometimes weeping.

On the following day there was a larger performance for a very distinguished audience of government officials and luminaries (but apparently not Rossini). The critic for Le pays was struck by the diversity of the scene:

“Rossini [who was not present] would have enjoyed a rare spectacle that some attentive persons noticed: a Mass, a religious piece, performed at 10:00 at night in front of an audience of women dressed to the nines, to inaugurate the mansion of a Protestant patrician, before the Papal nuncio, who spoke with goodly courtesy to the Ambassador from Turkey, while a Jewish artist [Jules Cohen] directed the orchestra.”

Petite Messe Solennelle was never performed in a Catholic church during Rossini's lifetime because the Pope refused to allow women to sing in church, despite Rossini's request. (Rossini did not like boy trebles as a substitute for women's voices.)

Lyric coloratura soprano Carole Haber won the N. Meyer Baker Award and the Eleanor Steber Music Foundation Award at the 1989 Washington International Voice Competition at the Kennedy Center. She is well known for her interpretations in the Mozartian and Bel Canto styles. She made her operatic debut as the Queen of the Night in The Magic Flute. Her performances of this role throughout the East Coast have been highly acclaimed by The New York Times, High Fidelity, Opera News and The Boston Globe, among others.

Mezzo-Soprano Hillary Nicholson has performed leading roles with opera companies and orchestras throughout the United States.  She has appeared as Carmen with the Sacramento Opera, Emilia in Otello with the Tampa Bay Opera, Dame Quickly in Verdi’s Falstaff with the Mississippi Opera and the Opera Festival of New Jersey, Suzuki in Madama Butterfly with Ocean State Lyric Opera and Ma Moss in Aaron Copland’s The Tender Land with the Skylight Opera Theatre, a performance taped for broadcast on Public Television.
Tenor William Hite has been described by the Boston Globe as “a breathtaking communicator.” The San Francisco Chronicle remarked that Hite in Purcell's King Arthur “lavished the music with considerable eloquence” and the Wall Street Journal deemed his Apollo in Monteverdi's Orfeo “outstanding.”
Bass-baritone Paul Guttry is a former member of Chanticleer and of the medieval music ensemble Sequentia. He has performed with the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Emmanuel Music, Handel & Haydn, and Collage New Music and has concertized throughout the United States and internationally with the Boston Camerata, Chanticleer and the Ensemble for Early Music. He can be heard on recordings on the BMG, Erato, and Koch International labels.

Tickets:

Concert tickets are $25, $40 and $50, with discounts available on selected seats for groups, students, seniors and WGBH members. Reserved seats may be selected and tickets purchased at www.choruspromusica.org, or by phone (24 hours a day, 7 days a week) at 800-658-4CPM (800-658-4276). For wheelchair-accessible seats, call 617-267-7442.

Elegant Dinner & Cocktail Party at St. Botolph Club Following Concert:

The concert will be immediately followed by Chorus pro Musica’s Elegant Dinner and Cocktail Party at the beautiful St. Botolph Club located at 199 Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, about 2.5 blocks from Old South Church. Tickets to the gala dinner will be $500 and will include VIP seating at the concert AND a chance to win “Dinner for Six” prepared by the fabulous chef Joyce Della Chiesa and held at the home of one of the board members of Chorus pro Musica. In addition to “Dinner for Six,” the winner will receive an invitation to the gala reception held after the June 5 afternoon concert featuring Symphony of Psalms at Jordan Hall. All funds raised from the dinner and raffle will go toward the support of Chorus pro Musica and its concert season. Gala dinner tickets can be purchased at www.choruspromusica.org.

BOSTON JAZZ RADIO GETS AXED

IN ONE WEEK BOSTON JAZZ RADIO LANDSCAPE
GETS CUT DRAMATICALLY
WFNX AXES JEFF TURTON
WGBH CUTS AL DAVIS and KEVIN BALL
RON GILL DEPARTS FOR N. CAROLINA & WILL NOT BE REPLACED BY LIVE HOST


Boston-MA--May 11, 2009--Jazz host Jeff Turton announced today that WFNX FM has cancelled his show, The Sunday Jazz Brunch, as of his show yesterday after 26 years on the air on Sunday mornings.

“I got a call late last week informing me that this past Sunday would be my last show. The reason being given is budget cuts related to diminished revenues at both ‘FNX and at the Boston Phoenix. While I wasn't surprised, given the nature of the newspaper business and radio in general, I am incredibly disappointed. I’m not sure where to go next but I guess I'll sleep in for a couple of weekends and then figure it out. I still plan on being active in some way but everything happened pretty quickly so I really haven't had much of an opportunity to figure out what's next,” noted Turton in an e-mail Monday morning.

Legendary jazz concert promoter Fred Taylor weighed in. “I think it shows WFNX’s total lack of acknowledgement of Boston’s arts community. To cut one lonely jazz show like this which represents a basic American art form from the station’s 24-7 programming is unconscionable,” he said upon hearing the news.

“Jeff Turton has been a jazz resource for Boston listeners for 26 years. He hosted the go-to show on Sunday morning radio, and he will definitely be missed.” stated noted jazz writer and Marsalis Music Creative Consultant Bob Blumenthal.

Last week came the news that WGBH FM jazz host Ron Gill would be moving to North Carolina to live with relatives after 23 years on the radio here and the jazz scene held its collective breath and wondered who would be his replacement host. Then the word came that his show would be covered by another syndicated show taped on the west coast by Bob Parlocha.

Next there was a call from WGBH 9 year veteran jazz DJ Al Davis. “I can’t book any guests on the show until I speak with WGBH. They’ve called me in for a meeting and it sounds serious,” said Al to publicist Sue Auclair.

Tuesday, May 5 brought the news that ALL of the Jazz Gallery hosts would be departing at the end of May. That included Davis on overnight Fridays, 15 year veteran Kevin Ball overnight on Saturdays and Ron Gill, overnight on Sundays. Davis and Ball will be occasional substitutes for Eric Jackson’s “Eric In The Evening.”

All live-hosted weekend jazz shows will be gone, as of May 30 and the new programming will feature “Jazz With Bob Parlocha,” the program that is syndicated nationally and now already airs on 89.7 FM overnights on weeknights.

While it’s good that jazz will still be on the air on WGBH FM, it disconnects the regional audience from the live Boston experience, say some.

Scented Geraniums

Lime Scented Geranium with Tiny Purple Flowers!

One of the most pleasurable things in gardening is having your plants offer up fabulous fragrances.

Scented geraniums will keep you in good stead in this regard. Many years ago I would travel with friends for an afternoon at Caprilands in Coventry, Connecticut and it was there that I first learned about scented geraniums. I never really took kindly to "normal" geraniums as they didn't smell well!

The woman who ran Caprilands was quite unique. She would hold court and offer up very entertaining lectures in the greenhouse followed by a luscious lunch for approximately 75 women in her antique farmhouse. Adelma Simmons was wonderful and her thriving business selling herbs and plants was amazing.

I purchased my first scented geraniums from her and some of the ones in my window today are decendents of her plants. Every winter my window becomes overgrown with big leafy plants that fragrance my flat with scents of rose, lemon and lime.

For some reason, my nutmeg geraniums have failed over the last couple of years. It's as if they are more fragile and likely that something environmentally evil is at work in their demise.

I would like to try nutmegs again as these are incredible in their aroma and the leaves are very delicate. Flowers are secondary to the scented geraniums unlike other geraniums.

Aromatherapy is another passion. Recently I bought some geranium scented oils at Whole Foods and it's fantastic. I realized after using it in a diffuser one day, that the fragrance was actually Rose Geranium.

One of these days, I would like to have a little greenhouse!

The Fabulous Eartha Kitt

Eartha Kitt at Newport, 2005, photo copyright Sue Auclair

Eartha Kitt at Scullers in the '90s; copyright Sue Auclair

The first time I met Eartha Kitt was in the mid '90s when she was booked at Scullers Jazz Club, a little club I had been one of the founders of in Boston. I had never worked with Ms. Kitt before and was eager to see her perform.

She was very nervous before her show. You could NOT speak to her!

What amazed me was that she was willing to do several interviews on camera in the afternoon, including a live shot on the 5 pm newscast on WBZ TV with host Joyce Kulhawik. There were at least 3 other camera crews on hand as well, New England Cable News, WHDH TV and WLVI TV.

Before each interview, Eartha was sullen, quiet, and seemed to be uneasy, but once the lights and the cameras were rolling, she completely transformed! She growled, she hissed, she purred, she drank a little Dom Perignon [that was her favorite!] and she wowed everyone! I had not seen her in action before, but THIS was amazing.

Hours later, it was show time, and Ms. Kitt came down to the club in a slinky black gown, her makeup and hair were flawless. She traveled with a professional stylist to each concert. She looked fantastic.

I went to hug her before the show, already feeling close to the diminutive singer, but was immediately rebuffed! "Don't TOUCH me!" she ranted. It was then that I realized that she was going through some heavy mental preparation and before a show, you dared not get near her!

After the band vamped through an uptempo tune, the club announced, "Ladies & Gentlemen, Ms. Eartha Kitt!" and the band went into her opening song. She walked brazenly onstage and immediately captivated every single person in that room with her magic. She was in control. No one dared to move or speak, Eartha was in charge!

Her show was tight, hotly scripted like a 75 minute little Broadway show, complete with jokes, dancing, monologues, and high kicks. She tortured the man in the front row, ogling him and making him embarassed, while the audience laughed. She employed the services of our young and handsome club manager, Miguel, who played the role of the young waiter that she desperately wanted to seduce with a bottle of Dom Perignon.

Eartha packed the club nightly with rave reviews and standing ovations. She was a prize and we gradually became friends. We had lunch, champagne, and on another occasion, two large glasses of really fine wine on her birthday when she was in town for a Broadway show.

Over that wine, we compared notes about life, she talked a good deal about her difficult and painful childhood and how that had shaped her life. She was a real life Cinderella . . . abandoned by her mother and raised by a step family who abused her, but she still became the princess of the world.

Then in 2005, my other client, the Newport Jazz Festival, had a last minute opening slot at the Newport Casino's Friday night kickoff concert. Danny Melnick and I convinced George Wein to bring in Eartha Kitt for a Newport debut.

George was reluctant since he had thought of her as an artist who worked in small clubs, and he worried that she wouldn't sell enough tickets at the 3000 seat Newport Casino venue.

But I knew we could make it sell out, since I knew that Eartha understood the meaning of publicity. Further, she was in the New England area on the day of the Newport press conference and I knew that I could get her to come to the event to announce her appearance.

Wein finally relented and Eartha was booked. I went into third gear as we had only three days to plan what would become a media explosion. I located video from the old Scullers shows and edited it and sent it to all the TV outlets in Boston, Providence and APTN. I hired a stretch limo [white of course] and had her driven to Newport for the media event. Clearing one key TV interview with her PR firm for Associated Press Television Network, I greeted Eartha outside and brought her to her dressing room. We HAD to make her happy, so food, tea, whatever she needed was brought in on a dime. I raced all around like a crazy woman!

After the announcements of the lineups for the jazz and folk festivals were almost finished, producer Danny Melnick said, "And now, we have a surprise, we have our opening artist here today to meet you. Here's Eartha Kitt!"

The crowd of writers and journalists and producers went wild. Eartha strutted up to the podium and GROWLED! This was her trademark from the Catwoman role in the Batman series. The media roared. They loved her and, again, Eartha was in charge!

She told a few stories--she mentioned that she had danced at the very first Newport Jazz Festival in 1954 with the Dizzy Gillespie Orchestra and she said she loved having heard the great Billie Holiday sing. She adored her.

She said her goodbyes, the crowd cheered and George Wein leaped to the podium and gave thanks to the sponsors including the CEO of Dunkin' Donuts, who was in the audience. Well, when Eartha heard this, she came back and said, "Wait a minute! You OWN Dunkin' Donuts???" "grrrrrrrrr!"

"Well," she said, "I have a little story to tell you. When I was 16, I was a member of the Katherine Dunham Dance Troupe in New York and I made $10 a week. $5 went to the rent, and $5 went to Dunkin' Donuts!"

What a coup! She now had Dunkin' Donuts in the palm of her hand!

Tickets went on sale the next day and there was an immediate rush at the box office. The TV stations all ran tape, the papers put her on their covers. The Mayor declared "Eartha Kitt Day in Newport." Eartha was already a hit.

Friday, August 12, 2005 was opening night of the 51st Newport Jazz Festival and Eartha hit the stage with a roar.

Special lighting was brought in by my pal Len Schnabel of DesignLight to accentuate her show to the large audience.

A packed crowd gave her standing ovations and CBS Sunday Morning captured parts of the show. It was a huge success. Afterwards, she gave a riotous interview to Reuters Television over a glass of red wine. Newport toasted Eartha in a big way.

The two photos above are my shots, the first is Eartha at Newport during the standing ovation in 2005. The lower one is a photo from one of her Scullers shows. Both are copyright, Sue Auclair