Let’s call Mr. Levit’s recital “interesting.” He took a two-hour program and, by skipping two applause exits each half, and by starting both halves of his program briskly, was able, with his inward and deeply personal playing, to turn it into a nearly two-and-a-half hour recital. I have never heard any of the four works on the program played more slowly, with greater variations in pacing and volume, and with a more willfully conscious shaping of every phrase. That does not mean the music-making was bad, just very unusual, idiosyncratic, and attention-getting. I heard things in each work that I had never heard before, thanks to Levit’s focused attention to detail. Would I want to hear pianism like this very often? Definitely not. But why not hear an artist with a very unique view of his art provide something different, thought-provoking, and challenging!!

First of all, thank you to UMS for bringing this adventurous program to Hill. I am so grateful that such unusual programing makes it into our neck of the woods. The idea of presenting a performance of this fascinating work with visual images was a clever one.

The music was transfixing. I still find Messiaen’s musical world challenging, but there is an aura around the music that I find very appealing. I thought the Hamburgers did a fine job with the piece, and pianist Francesco Tristano was a revelation. His playing was precise, rythmically perfect, and powerful. I can’t think of a better work than this to introduce us to this extrordinarily promising young artist. And, how nice to see and hear Jeffrey Tate, one of the world’s most elegant conductors.

Now, to the trash. Ah yes, the video accompanying the music wasn’t just about trash; it was trash itself. It was tired, disjointed, boring, cliched, and vapid. It did nothing for the music; indeed, as some writers above have already stated, it took away from the wonderful music. Had a high school video class teacher assigned this project to his sophomores over the weekend, I might have expected the video we saw today as the product of one of the more talented students – a quick little piece of filmmaking accomplished over a couple of days. But to have a piece of junk like we saw attached to a world tour is mindboggling. I do not understand why museums, performing arts organizations, and the like, hold “video artists” to so much lower standards than other artists. If the video we saw were a piece of music, it would never get performed. If it were a painting, it would never get hung.

In a sensible world, a video artist would have been chosen to film the very landscape that inspired Messiaen. We could have had a visual equivalent to the music we were hearing. But no, that would be too dull for the Eurotrash set. So, instead, we get a mishmash of simplistic – that’s right, just as stated earlier – trash.

Well, the second movement of the Beethoven sonata was not “serene” where I sat, because it was constantly disrupted by the “gathwump, gathwump, gathwump” of an oxygen machine two rows behind me. The endless noise put a major damper on my ability to enjoy what appears to have been a superb recital. Why are people so rude and insensitive? Should these machines not be turned off during the actual performances? UMS, is there anything you can do about this?

UMS, feel free to bring back Stile Antico whenever they tour this country. They are simply wonderful. Not only are they glorious in voice, but also charming in personality. The young announcer in their group was simply adorable in that “English” sort of way. Great program, great singing, great evening of music. AND, I loved the venue, not only for its acoustics (although St. Francis is equally fine), but also for the way the benches treated our butts!! Thick Cushions, Yes !!!!! And, finally, how nice to finally have face to associate with that slightly mysterious, mellifluous, English-accented voice that softly comes from the ether before concerts with “Ladies and Gentleman” !!

A perfect night of music-making! Everyone on that stage was nothing short of superb, and the program they chose was clever and well-constructed. My companion and I had such a wonderful time that we could not help but once again express our regret about the demise of UMS’s recital series. There is something so wonderful about spending a night with one singer exploring his or her art. Oh, to hear Nathan Gunn do one of his recitals, or Matthias Goerne (who, happily, will be doing a recital in Kalamazoo as part of next year’s Gilmore Festival). If we can’t have a recital series, let’s at least hope we see even more of these glorious recital-type programs scheduled as part of other series in future years. Thank you, UMS, for a major treat.

Wow, what a revelation this wonderful choir was. The members sang with amazing precision, superb nuance, and spectacular power, as appropriate to the particular music at hand. The addition of rythmic body movements in many of the musical numbers was charming. I am a huge Eric Whitacre fan, and I have never heard a finer rendition of his justly famous “Cloudburst” than last night. The style of the Schola Cantorum falls squarely within the crisp and subtle “English” approach to choral singing, rather than the massive (and somewhat sludgey) approach taken in Central Europe and the Slavic Countries (and as evidenced by the richly beautiful, but one dimensional, singing of the Russian State Symphony chorus a couple of weeks ago). This “English” approach was perfect for the material chosen, and I must say, that material was very well thought out. The “popular” songs of the second half, done in extraordinarily complex and intriguing arrangements (for example, the sophisticated Mambo number), were a joy to listen to. You could see the joy of singing on the faces of the chorus. Their smiles radiated throughout the church. This was one of the most satisfying choral recitals I have been to in years! Please, UMS, bring them back when they do their next American tour.

Speaking of Stratford, this production reminds me of an earlier Richard III with Brian Bedford. That production, like this one, actually had the audience laughing along with Richard, which is clearly what Shakespeare had in mind. Here, the added fun of over-the-top cinematic “Saw”-like touches made things even more amusing. The first writer was disturbed by the laughter during the chainsaw massacre. I, on the other hand, had a satisfied smile on the my face. What clever staging, what insights, what fine acting. Truly entertaining theater.

This was one of the softer, more gentle Bach B-minor Masses I have heard, and a bit of a revelation because of it. The chorus sweetly enveloped the audience with its highly nuanced singing – an audience that was silent in rapt attention throughout the performance. The solo instrumental work from the orchestra was extraordinary and, as one writer above has noted, Clint van der Linde was especially fine, indeed spectacular. A true, special treat!!

Well, talk about two concerts in one evening!! The Vivaldi was dead, dead, dead – one of the flatest and most boring runthroughs of this too-often-performed collection in decades (Winter excepted), and not all that well performed by our soloist either. Poor Mr. McDuffie was having a bad stretch. And then – POW – the spectacularly beautiful, thrillingly intense Glass violin concerto, well played, with passion. McDuffie came out a new man. Every moment thrilled. The idea of matching complimentary works from different eras was interesting (I guess it must be a theme at UofM this year), but I do so wish that visiting European original instruments groups would stop programing The Four Seasons for every darn concert. Enough already! I recently heard Fabio Biondi's Europa Galante group perform the work, and it was indeed exciting (every note sounded fresh), but still, I don't think ticket sales are dependent on having TFS on every program.

Some music events exceed expectations, some match, some disappoint. When UMS announced that Pieter Wisplewey would finally make an appearance in Ann Arbor, I became extremely excited, because I have several of Pieter’s recordings. I said to myself, this should be a highlight of the Spring. Well, it was a highlight of the entire year!! Even my high expectations were surpassed. The performance of the Britten suites was so comprehensively involving that one could hear a pin drop at Rackham. Every note held insights, every passage was emotionally gripping. Wispelway had charm as well, and his playing was rich in sound, powerful and precise, and he demonstrated yet again what a remarkable composer Bejamin Britten was. Except for a slightly too lighweight first Bach cello suite at the beginning, every other moment during the 2-plus hours was graced with remarkable artistry. It is amazing to me how UMS can so quickly respond to a cancellation by presenting an artist of similar world-class stature. Thank you, Ken Fisher and Co, you do a magnificent job, and I echo the writer above who seeks quick re-engagement of Mr. Wispelwey.