‘The return of The Magic Flute’

    

The Met

It’s almost time for The Magic Flute, Mozart’s Masonic opera, to return to The Met for its annual run. From the publicity:

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s

The Magic Flute

The Metropolitan Opera

December 12-January 4

Tickets (from $35!) here

The Met’s family-friendly production of Mozart’s dazzling fairy tale returns, sung in English and running under two hours. Nimrod David Pfeffer and J. David Jackson share conducting duties, leading a standout cast in Julie Taymor’s magical staging. Tenors David Portillo and Duke Kim share the role of Tamino, the brave prince on a quest to win the clever princess Pamina, sung by sopranos Hera Park and Emily Pogorelc. The cast also features tenors Will Liverman and Sean Michael Plumb alternating as the luckless bird catcher Papageno. Sopranos Kathryn Lewek and Aigul Khismatullina alternate as the Queen of the Night. Basses Solomon Howard and Pectin Chen take turns as Sarastro.

Prior to the December 14 performance, children and families are welcome to join our Holiday Open House. The Open House is free to all ticket holders for the December 14 performance.

The Met

World Premiere: Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden, Vienna, 1791. A sublime fairy tale that moves freely between earthy comedy and noble mysticism, The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte in the original German) was written for a theater located just outside Vienna with the clear intention of appealing to audiences from all walks of life. The story is told in a singspiel (“song-play”) format characterized by separate musical numbers connected by dialogue and stage activity, an excellent structure for navigating the diverse moods, ranging from solemn to lighthearted, of the story and score.

The Met

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-91) was the son of a Salzburg court musician who exhibited him as a musical prodigy throughout Europe. His achievements in opera, in terms of beauty, vocal challenge, and dramatic insight, remain unsurpassed. He died three months after the premiere of Die Zauberflöte, his last produced work for the stage. The remarkable Emanuel Schikaneder (1751-1812) was an actor, singer, theater manager, and friend of Mozart who wrote the opera’s libretto, staged the work, and sang the role of Papageno in the initial run.

The libretto specifies Egypt as the location of the action. That country was traditionally regarded as the legendary birthplace of the Masonic fraternity, whose symbols and rituals populate this opera. Some productions include Egyptian motifs as an exotic nod to this idea, but most opt for a more generalized mythic ambience to convey the otherworldliness that the score and overall tone of the work call for.

The Met

Mozart and his librettist, Emanuel Schikaneder, created The Magic Flute with an eye toward a popular audience, but the varied tone of the work requires singers who can specialize in several different musical genres. The baritone Papageno represents the comic and earthy, the tenor Tamino and the soprano Pamina display true love in its noblest forms, the bass Sarastro expresses the solemn and the transcendental, and the Queen of the Night provides explosive vocal fireworks.

     

‘Mozart and More on Sunday’

    

Bro. Erik, Organist of my lodge and others, invites us to a free concert Sunday. From the publicity:

Bro. Erik Carlson will perform a free concert, “Mozart and MORE,” at the Church of Saint Thomas More in New York City Sunday, April 21 at four o’clock.

Included on the program will be Mozart’s Missa Brevis in G Major for choir and strings alongside works by Haydn, and others. A reception will follow.

Bro. Carlson is the Director of Music and the Organist at St. Thomas More. The church is located at 65 East 89th Street, between Madison and Park avenues.

     

‘The Magic Flute returns to The Met next month’

    

The Met

The new issue of my lodge’s monthly magazine reminds me that it’s almost time for The Magic Flute, Mozart’s Masonic opera, to return to The Met for its annual run. From the publicity:

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s

The Magic Flute

The Metropolitan Opera

December 8-30

Tickets (from $37!) here

The Met’s family-friendly production of Mozart’s dazzling fairy tale returns, sung in English and running under two hours. Patrick Furrer and Gareth Morrell share conducting duties, leading a standout cast in Julie Taymor’s magical staging. Tenors Piotr Buszewski and Joshua Blue share the role of Tamino, the brave prince on a quest to win the clever princess Pamina, sung by sopranos Janai Brugger and Liv Redpath. The cast also features famed tenor Rolando Villazón reprising his uproarious portrayal as the luckless bird catcher Papageno, alternating with baritone Alexander Birch Elliott, and soprano Kathryn Lewek as the Queen of the Night, alongside basses Brindley Sherratt and James Creswell as Sarastro.

Prior to the December 10 performance, children and families are welcome to join our Holiday Open House. The Open House is free to all ticketholders for the December 10 performance.

The Met

World Premiere: Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden, Vienna, 1791. A sublime fairy tale that moves freely between earthy comedy and noble mysticism, The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte in the original German) was written for a theater located just outside Vienna with the clear intention of appealing to audiences from all walks of life. The story is told in a singspiel (“song-play”) format characterized by separate musical numbers connected by dialogue and stage activity, an excellent structure for navigating the diverse moods, ranging from solemn to lighthearted, of the story and score.

The Met

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-91) was the son of a Salzburg court musician who exhibited him as a musical prodigy throughout Europe. His achievements in opera, in terms of beauty, vocal challenge, and dramatic insight, remain unsurpassed. He died three months after the premiere of Die Zauberflöte, his last produced work for the stage. The remarkable Emanuel Schikaneder (1751-1812) was an actor, singer, theater manager, and friend of Mozart who wrote the opera’s libretto, staged the work, and sang the role of Papageno in the initial run.

The libretto specifies Egypt as the location of the action. That country was traditionally regarded as the legendary birthplace of the Masonic fraternity, whose symbols and rituals populate this opera. Some productions include Egyptian motifs as an exotic nod to this idea, but most opt for a more generalized mythic ambience to convey the otherworldliness that the score and overall tone of the work call for.

The Met

Mozart and his librettist, Emanuel Schikaneder, created The Magic Flute with an eye toward a popular audience, but the varied tone of the work requires singers who can specialize in several different musical genres. The baritone Papageno represents the comic and earthy, the tenor Tamino and the soprano Pamina display true love in its noblest forms, the bass Sarastro expresses the solemn and the transcendental, and the Queen of the Night provides explosive vocal fireworks.

     

‘Mozart’s Masonic opera at The Met’

   

The Met

It’s halfway through its three-week run already, but there still is plenty of opportunity to take in the Metropolitan Opera’s new staging of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s “Masonic opera” The Magic Flute. Actually, this is Die Zauberflöte, as it is a German-language production of more than three hours, as opposed to The Met’s annual Christmastime production of Julie Taymor’s English-language suitable-for-children confection.

Tickets, starting at $39.50, can be booked here. And this will be part of The Met’s Live in HD series in movie theaters. From the publicity:

One of opera’s most beloved works receives its first new Met staging in 19 years—a daring vision by renowned English director Simon McBurney that The Wall Street Journal declared “the best production I’ve ever witnessed of Mozart’s opera.” Nathalie Stutzmann conducts the Met Orchestra, with the pit raised to make the musicians visible to the audience and allow interaction with the cast. In his Met-debut staging, McBurney lets loose a volley of theatrical flourishes, incorporating projections, sound effects, and acrobatics to match the spectacle and drama of Mozart’s fable.

Kathryn Lewek

The brilliant cast includes soprano Erin Morley as Pamina, tenor Lawrence Brownlee as Tamino, baritone Thomas Oliemans in his Met debut as Papageno, soprano Kathryn Lewek as the Queen of the Night, and bass Stephen Milling as Sarastro.

Creators

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-91) was the son of a Salzburg court musician who exhibited him as a musical prodigy throughout Europe. His achievements in opera, in terms of beauty, vocal challenge, and dramatic insight, remain unsurpassed. He died three months after the premiere of Die Zauberflöte, his last produced work for the stage. The remarkable Emanuel Schikaneder (1751-1812) was an actor, singer, theater manager, a friend of Mozart who wrote the opera’s libretto, staged the work, and sang the role of Papageno in the initial run.

The Met

World premiere: Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden, Vienna, 1791.

Die Zauberflöte—a sublime fairy tale that moves freely between earthy comedy and noble mysticism—was written for a theater located just outside Vienna with the clear intention of appealing to audiences from all walks of life. The story is told in a singspiel (“song-play”) format characterized by separate musical numbers connected by dialogue and stage activity, an excellent structure for navigating the diverse moods, ranging from solemn to lighthearted, of the story and score. The composer and the librettist were both Freemasons—the fraternal order whose membership is held together by shared moral and metaphysical ideals—and Masonic imagery is used throughout the work. The story, however, is as universal as any fairy tale.

The Met

The libretto specifies Egypt as the location of the action. Egypt was traditionally regarded as the legendary birthplace of the Masonic fraternity, whose symbols and rituals populate this opera. Some productions include Egyptian motifs as an exotic nod to this idea, but many more opt for a more generalized mythic ambience to convey the otherworldliness that the score and overall tone of the work call for.

Music

Die Zauberflöte was written with an eye toward a popular audience, but the varied tone of the work requires singers who can specialize in several different musical genres. The comic and earthy are represented by the baritone, Papageno, while true love in its noblest forms is conveyed by the tenor, Tamino, and the soprano, Pamina. The bass, Sarastro, expresses the solemn and the transcendental. The use of the chorus is spare but hauntingly beautiful, and fireworks are provided by the coloratura Queen of the Night.

Please note that video cameras will be in operation during the May 31 and June 3 performances as part of the Met’s Live in HD series of cinema transmissions.

     

‘For your Brotherly Love’

    

For Your Love, Bro. Francis Dumaurier’s biography of Bro. Giorgio Gomelsky, has been available in digital format for more than a year, but the high quality print versions are coming to market now. In fact, on Sunday, Dumaurier will launch his book in London with a celebration at the historic Crawdaddy Club, where the Rolling Stones got their start and the Yardbirds later served as the house band. (A New York City book launch is coming in June.)

Giorgio Gomelsky (1934-2016) was the impresario and record producer who figured significantly in the Swinging Sixties without himself becoming a household name. I mean he was a name in my household—or at least in my bedroom where my record collection was—but I don’t think he ascended into the stratosphere like Brian Epstein, George Martin, Andrew Oldham, et al.

But, did you know it was Gomelsky who introduced the Beatles to the Stones? Sure, they would have met eventually, but that encounter was sixty years ago last Friday at the Crawdaddy Club. Later in 1963, the Stones would have their first hit single with “I Wanna Be Your Man,” penned pretty much for them by Lennon and McCartney.

Born in Soviet Georgia and died in New York City, Gomelsky’s story has ups and downs, all of which are pretty amazing. He was at Masonic labor in l’Union Française 17 in the Tenth Manhattan District, as is Bro. Francis.

Francis Dumaurier

Tickets to the event Sunday can be had here. There will be a book-signing, live music, and more.

     

‘Art which affects the passions by sound’

    

Sorry for the blur. It’s the only image I have.

True Craftsman’s Lodge 651 has a concert planned for April. Guitarist Alessandro Minci is a Mason at labor in Numa Pompilio Lodge 1334 (GOI) in Frosinone, Italy.

A graduate, with honors, of Alfredo Casella Conservatory of Music, Minci is a well known performer, having played in a number of festivals around the world. You can read more about that here.

As you can see on the flier, an “evening of Masonic musical magic” awaits us April 14. This definitely is a lodge activity I support. See you there.

(If you are unsure about recognition, we Americans are in amity with the Grand Orient of Italy. The English have other ideas about il bel paese.)

     

‘A language of delightful sensations’

    

Ally Retberg

That part of the lecture describing the Liberal Arts, as we in New York have it, says music is “a language of delightful sensations far more eloquent than words.” In the wide diversity of rituals known throughout English lodges, there probably is similar phrasing in a Second Degree, but the recent news I’m telling you about this morning concerns live musical performance at Freemasons’ Hall.

The London headquarters of the United Grand Lodge of England, erected on land where Freemasons have been meeting since 1775, features the Cafe and Bar. Simple foods and ample beverages, and, now, live entertainment. Ally Retberg, a singer and actress known for the musical Friendsical—yes, based on the television program—will perform jazz standards (Sinatra, Ella, Nat King Cole) next Thursday night in the debut of live music in the venue, which is open to the public.

I know I’ve been writing a lot about the English lately, and this is largely because of the energy unleashed by the UGLE’s leadership and professional team. From a distance, it seems the creative initiatives that engage Freemasons, the public, and the media alike are recasting the once elusive fraternity as a lively cultural player. I don’t see much of that sort of enterprise evident in the United States. Here in New York City, I can’t say there is demand for another bar with live music (whereas I can say the corrupt city and state governments make such business models nearly impossible), but other sizable Masonic venues elsewhere may recognize a chance to learn something from Great Queen Street.

(I’ve been meaning to tell you about the classical and pop music concerts—by candlelight!—at the Philadelphia Masonic Temple, and hopefully they are successful and will be continued.)

So congratulations to UGLE’s business departments, and good luck to Miss Retberg!

     

‘And give us a hand o’ thine’

    

Finally, this year is done, but not before a teamwork of media and academia boasts of an achievement in historical research that you and I have known all along.

Today’s Evening Standard and a growing number of other outlets report how a Scottish scholar, who specializes in anthropological and sociological facets of music, has “discovered” that the tradition of locking arms while singing Bro. Robert Burns’ “Auld Lang Syne” began with…the Freemasons!

Hmmm, you don’t say.

Read all about it here.

That’s it for me, brotherans. Signing off for 2021, and wishing all of you a Happy New Year that won’t suck nearly as much as did this annus horribilis.

     

‘Magic Flute at The Met’

    

The Met Opera

Bro. Mozart’s The Magic Flute will return to the Metropolitan Opera next month for its annual yuletide run. This, Mozart’s final opera, has its 230th anniversary this year, and The Met again is staging the popular Julie Taymor production (in English, less than two hours, puppets!).

I never understood how it became a Christmas thing, although it is child-friendly.

The Met Opera

You know the story is rife with Masonic symbols and themes. If you’ve never been, maybe plan a group outing for the lodge and families. Tickets start at $30.

The Met Opera

Exactly six months ago, BBC Music Magazine published a guide to its favorite recordings of the beloved work. Click here.

     

     

‘Project Lyre goes live’

    

I think this is something like three years in the making, but one California Mason’s goal to return music to ritual work advanced one big step this afternoon when Project Lyre went live on Reverb Nation.

Geoffrey Schumann, of North Hollywood Lodge 542, has posted four compositions on the musician networking site:

The Exalted Jewel March

The Grand Theme

The Staircase

Time to Vote

The objective is to return That Elevated Science to the ambiance of lodges that are bereft of organists. Schumann previously made files available by request, but this endeavor seems to be for the benefit of the Masonic world. I think the grand lodge’s website will host the files later.

It is a lamentable fact that the fraternity suffers a shortage of musicians today. There’s no rule anywhere that stipulates organ playing for lodge life, but that evidently was the tradition for many years. Plenty of lodges today have a large keyboard instrument neglected somewhere on the north side. Other instruments could be played, but I suppose the power of a reed or electric organ really fills the room. (At Masonic Hall, a pipe organ occupies the west of the lodge rooms, behind the Senior Warden, and I don’t know where my lodge would be without Bro. Erik.)

Well done, Bro. Schumann!

     

‘The performing arts and Masonic values’

     

The downtime granted us by this endless quarantine lockdown business seems to have permitted a burst here and there of musical creativity.

The following are two songs newly uploaded to YouTube that express Masonic sentiments I think we all can appreciate. As we in New York say in the lecture of the Second Degree: Music “wraps us in melancholy, and elevates us in joy.”

Because it rings like a drinking song, I’m partial to the second one—despite the mistaken mention of James Madison, of whom there is no record of being a Freemason.

     

Died #otd: Chester Arthur Burnett

     

Courtesy Howlin’ Wolf Blues Society

Died on this date 45 years ago: Chester Arthur Burnett.

That’s Howlin’ Wolf to you and me.

While I have yet to find the specifics of his lodge membership, we all know African-American musicians, who traveled extensively, very often sought Masonic belonging so as to have an extra-friendly support system wherever they turned.

It seems the only clue we have is that pinkie ring visible in this photo, shot by Brian Smith in 1964.

That’s not much at all, of course. We do not know where or when Burnett received the degrees of Freemasonry. If the Mississippi native was made a Mason after relocating to Chicago, which is home to myriad lodges of offshoots derivative from Prince Hall Masonry, then the unanswered question could become more complicated.

I’m happy just to think of him as a Brother, without the political complications.

Burnett is said to have stood six and a half feet tall, and otherwise was massive in stature. I’d like to see the Ruffian tasked with the final blow. (And, if you know how physical a Prince Hall degree can be....) I hope he was a ritualist. A charge, for example, emanating from his presence would resound very effectively!

The music of Howlin’ Wolf reached a whole new world during the late 1960s when blues-based, guitar-heavy rock bands performed his songs. Just off the top of my head:

“I Ain’t Superstitious”

Jeff Beck Group

“Back Door Man”

The Doors

“Spoonful”

Cream

“Wang Dang Doodle”

Savoy Brown

“No Place to Go”

Fleetwood Mac

“Smokestack Lightning”

The Yardbirds

“Killing Floor”

Jimi Hendrix Experience

(and adapted by Led Zeppelin as “The Lemon Song”)

I’m sure there are many others. It actually took a Rolling Stones appearance on Shindig! in 1965 to bring Burnett before an American television audience. (And that Masonic ring can be seen.)

Raise your glass today to the memory of Howlin’ Wolf: Bro. Chester Burnett.

     

‘King Solomon’s Temple, nazis, and a legendary piano’

     
It has been known as “The Immortal Piano” and “The Siena Piano” and “The King’s Piano” and “The Harp of David Piano,” and legend says it is made of cedar from King Solomon’s Temple; after failing to sell via eBay earlier this winter, the magnificent upright piano made in Italy in 1799 was auctioned last Monday by Winner’s Auctions.

It was hoped the singular piece would garner between $1.5 million and $2 million, but the final gavel sounded after 33 competitive bids at $320,000.

Courtesy liveauctioneers.com

The Solomon’s Temple bit aside, this piano has an unbelievable history. From the auction house description:


The story of this piano starts at the beginning of the 19th century, when a harpsichord maker from Turin, Italy, named Sebastian Marchisio worked on building a new piano. Many legends have been told about the raw materials used by Marchisio. Inter alia, it is claimed that the source of wood for the piano was from the trees Hiram brought to King Solomon for the building of the first Temple.

Courtesy liveauctioneers.com

Sebastian managed to finish the resonance box before he passed away, but not the whole piano. His son Enrico continued building the piano, and after Enrico’s death, his grandsons Luciano and Raffaelo, talented craftsmen in their own right, made some changes, including adding strings, keys and hammers, while leaving the original resonance box built by their grandfather. The work was finally completed c. 1825. The new piano had a unique tone, unlike any instrument built until that time. The combination of Sebastian’s original resonance box and the enhancements contributed by his grandchildren created a more delicate sound than the pianos of those days, much like a harpsichord, yet more powerful, like a piano.

Courtesy liveauctioneers.com

The piano was given as a present to their sister, Sebastian’s granddaughter, Rebecca, who lived in Siena. The piano became very famous there, as it was frequently featured at festive events in the city. Toward the 1860s, the Marquis of Siena ordered a more magnificent appearance to be given to the piano. Sculptor Nicodemo Ferri, Rebecca’s son, and great-grandson of the original creator of the piano, Sebastian, together with his cousin, architect and painter Carlo Bartolozzi, were commissioned for this work. They produced the piano’s magnificent and impressive frame and its cover, which remain to this day. The design includes portraits of famous composers Mozart, Handel, and others. At center, they carved David’s harp, as well as lions, cherubs, and more. The refurbished piano is considered one of the most beautiful and impressive musical instruments in the world. Furthermore, the new design also included new technology: a staticofone, an iron-reinforced frame, which enhanced the sound. In 1867, after the piano’s design was completed, it was sent to Paris for the World’s Fair. The piano was exhibited in the Italian Pavilion, where renowned pianist Camille Saint-Saëns was one of the many who played it.

Courtesy liveauctioneers.com

A year later, in 1868, the City of Siena (after convincing Ferri) gave it to King (then Prince) Umberto I on the occasion of his marriage to Margherita, Princess of Savoy, with pianist Franz Liszt playing on it at the ceremony. Liszt also played it on other occasions in later years. Umberto was crowned King of Italy in 1878, and the piano earned the name “The King’s Piano.” The piano was transferred to Palazzo del Quirinale. It remained there for approximately 70 years, serving the royal family. Queen Margherita often entertained in the palace’s music room, where the piano stood, and it is reported to have been her favorite instrument.

During the 1880s, Mattis Yanowski, a refugee from Czarist Russia, performed before King Umberto, performing wondrously. After the performance, the king approached Yanowski, complimented his playing. He told him about the wondrous piano in his possession, justifiably nicknamed “David’s Harp,” and he invited him to play at his palace. The invitation and the description of the piano left a great impression on Yanowski, but the king’s murder prevented Yanowski from seeing the piano and it remained an unrealized dream. On his deathbed, Yanowski extracted a promise from his grandson Avner Carmi, one of the first piano makers and tuners in the Land of Israel, to go see the legendary piano in Rome. Carmi first traveled to Berlin in 1920 with the goal of studying music and piano tuning. On his way, he went to Rome and attempted unsuccessfully to get into the palace to see the piano. He visited Rome several times more over the following years, but each time, he did not manage to see the legendary piano. Once, he was even arrested by the palace guards, and released with his friend Arthur Schnabel’s intervention.

Courtesy liveauctioneers.com

Carmi was drafted into the British army during WWII, and he served in Egypt. One day, soldiers from his unit who were searching for mines using metal detectors, discovered a plaster-covered piano buried in the sand, and brought it with them. The unit’s officers wanted to discard the piano, but Carmi convinced them to hold on to it as a means to entertain the soldiers. In a strange twist of fate, Carmi himself did not realize that this was the piano he had been seeking all those years. After the war, the piano was sold at auction in Gaza City, where a Tel Aviv dealer bought it. Carmi despaired of searching for the legendary piano while visiting Monza after the British conquest, when he discovered that the piano had been looted by a senior Nazi officer, apparently Rommel himself. When he returned to Tel Aviv, he met that same dealer who had bought the piano in Gaza. He bought it from him for next to nothing because the crowding at the dealer’s store was insufferable.

Carmi began refurbishing it, and much to his amazement, after discarding a few pieces of plaster from the piano, carved cherubic figures peeked out at him from the wood. As he continued to work, he realized that the legendary piano he had been searching for over the years now stood in his living room. Excited, Carmi wrote to the King of Italy to tell he had the piano, and that he had commenced the grueling work of restoring it. It took him three years and 90 liters of acetone to recreate its external appearance. Carmi then traveled to the United States with the piano, where he restored its original special sound. The piano starred in American media with the best musicians of the day playing it, such as Arthur Rubinstein, Penina Saltzman, Charles Rosen, Alfred Cortot, and others. Many articles and extensive write-ups have covered it. There was an attempt to produce a movie about it, but Avner Carmi passed away before this idea was realized.
Carmi’s children eventually sold the piano to a private collector.
     

‘Handel’s temple of sound on Mott Street’

     
Almighty pow’r, who rul’st the earth and skies,
And bade gay order from confusion rise;
Whose gracious hand reliev’d Thy slave distress’d,
With splendour cloath’d me, and with knowledge bless’d;
Thy finish’d temple with Thy presence grace,
And shed Thy heav’nly glories o’er the place.

Solomon, from the libretto


What are you doing in two weeks? Get the boys from lodge and your ladies together for a class trip and go get some culture! Handel’s oratorio Solomon will be performed by Amor Artis Chorus at Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral. From the publicity:

G.F. Handel’s Solomon

Sunday, March 8

3:30 p.m.

Amor Artis Chorus

Basilica of St. Patrick’s

Old Cathedral

261 Mott Street, Manhattan

Tickets here

Seize a rare opportunity to hear Handel’s majestic oratorio Solomon. Alex Ross of The New Yorker deemed Act III “Handel’s genius at its vertiginous height . . . [a] temple of sound, which has withstood the centuries and shines brighter than ever.” Led by the “exquisite” singing of Sarah Nelson Craft in the title role (Opera News), Amor Artis, in collaboration with our friends, the “truly excellent” dynamos of New York Baroque, Inc. (The New York Times), will present this famous story of wisdom and judgment, which features some of Handel’s grandest choruses. Join us at the beautiful space at the Basilica of St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral.

Amor Artis Chorus
with
Madeline Healey, soprano
Katie Lipow, soprano
Sarah Nelson Craft, mezzo-soprano
Alex Guerrero, tenor
Michael Steinberger, tenor
Richard Holmes, baritone

New York Baroque, Incorporated


British Choirs on the Net explains:

The popularity of oratorio in England owes much to the nation’s choral singing tradition and the patronage by the Elector of Hanover, later George I, of George Frederick Handel. In his oratories, Handel sought both to educate and entertain, and provided a foil to the more restrained and devotional religious music of Byrd and J.S. Bach.

Handel composed Solomon between May 5 and June 13, 1748. The librettist, as with his next work Susanna, is unknown. The plot is simple with Act I dealing with the inauguration of the newly completed temple, and ends with Solomon beckoning his queen toward the cedar grove, where one suspects it is not just the “amorous turtles” that “love beneath the pleasing gloom.” Act II is based around the well known story of two women arguing over who is the mother of the newborn baby, and Solomon’s sharp thinking to find a solution. Act III portrays the visit of the Queen of Sheba (also known as the Queen of Egypt and Ethiopia), and her amazement at the glory and splendor of Solomon’s court.

With a relatively small and diverse cast of characters (Solomon, Queen of Sheba, two Harlots, Zadok the Priest, and a Levite), it falls to the chorus, as builders and inhabitants of this “golden city,” to emphasize the grandeur and splendor of Solomon’s kingdom, and to literarily provide the pillars of the whole piece. These grand choruses, seven of which are in eight voice-parts, add to the texture and opulence of the oratorio mirroring the glory of the court and religious intensity.

Always an astute businessman, Handel praised and paid homage to his patron by highlighting the perceived parallels, for the eighteenth century audience, between Solomon and George II. The qualities of Solomon, as portrayed by Handel, his piety (Act I), wisdom (Act II), and splendor (Act III), were also attributable to the reigning English king, and Handel duly praised the establishment virtues of happy marriage, rural contentment, and a national religion.
     

‘Esoteric music symposium upstate’

     

Nazareth College’s School of Music will host this symposium next year. (Hat tip to the lovely and talented Chuck Dunning for sharing this on Faceypage today.)

Esoteric Music, Music Performance,

and Music Research Symposium

February 22-23, 2020

Nazareth College

Rochester, New York

Paper Submission Deadline: November 15, 2019.
Proposals received by October 15 will be given priority consideration.

Call for Papers

This symposium seeks to bring together music scholars, performers, and teachers with a sincere interest in the intersection of music and esoteric ideas and practices. Proposal abstracts should be limited to 500 words and sent in PDF form to Marjorie Roth.

Topics touching upon, but not limited to, the following are welcome:

• Music and the Pythagorean Tradition (numbers, sacred geometry)
• Music and Esoteric Experience (spiritual/religious/mystical)
• Music and Cosmology
• Music and Contemplation
• Music and Esoteric Symbol (sound, text, image)
• Music and Esoteric Traditions (alchemy, astrology, Hermeticism, Freemasonry)
• Music and Alternative Realities
• Esotericism and Music Pedagogy
• Esotericism in Music Performance and/or Composition
• The Harmony of the Spheres

Contacts: Marjorie Roth, Nazareth College; and Justin Ray Glosson, Texas Tech University.
     

‘The Magic Flute at The Met’

     
Unlike the previous, this edition of The Magpie Mason looks only four months into the future when The Met will continue its annual tradition of staging Mozart’s Masonic opera The Magic Flute at Christmastime.

Courtesy The Met

Click to enlarge.

The show will run December 15 through January 4. Tickets start at only $30.

Again it will be Julie Taymor’s production of the opera, meaning it is a very accessible presentation—in English and less than an hour and forty-five minutes long.

The story is a fairy tale, but what makes it Masonic are the ritual elements and symbols that will be obvious to the initiated eye. Enjoy.

From the publicity:

A beloved holiday tradition continues as Mozart’s delightful fairy tale returns in the Met’s abridged, English-language version for families, perfect for younger audiences, with no intermission and a running time of less than two hours. Lothar Koenigs conducts a dynamic cast of standout Mozarteans in Julie Taymor’s magical production, an enduring Met classic with its eye-popping puppetry and stunning visuals.

World Premiere: Freihaus-Theater auf der Wieden, Vienna, 1791. A sublime fairy tale that moves freely between earthy comedy and noble mysticism, The Magic Flute (Die Zauberflöte in the original German) was written for a theater located just outside Vienna with the clear intention of appealing to audiences from all walks of life. The story is told in a singspiel (“song-play”) format characterized by separate musical numbers connected by dialogue and stage activity, an excellent structure for navigating the diverse moods, ranging from solemn to lighthearted, of the story and score.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-91) was the son of a Salzburg court musician who exhibited him as a musical prodigy throughout Europe. His achievements in opera, in terms of beauty, vocal challenge, and dramatic insight, remain unsurpassed. He died three months after the premiere of Die Zauberflöte, his last produced work for the stage. The remarkable Emanuel Schikaneder (1751-1812) was an actor, singer, theater manager, and friend of Mozart who wrote the opera’s libretto, staged the work, and sang the role of Papageno in the initial run.

Courtesy The Met

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The libretto specifies Egypt as the location of the action. That country was traditionally regarded as the legendary birthplace of the Masonic fraternity, whose symbols and rituals populate this opera. Some productions include Egyptian motifs as an exotic nod to this idea, but most opt for a more generalized mythic ambience to convey the otherworldliness that the score and overall tone of the work call for.

Mozart and his librettist, Emanuel Schikaneder, created The Magic Flute with an eye toward a popular audience, but the varied tone of the work requires singers who can specialize in several different musical genres. The baritone Papageno represents the comic and earthy, the tenor Tamino and the soprano Pamina display true love in its noblest forms, the bass Sarastro expresses the solemn and the transcendental, and the Queen of the Night provides explosive vocal fireworks.

Of course the publicist here is mistaken about “the legendary birthplace of the Masonic fraternity,” but it is right to understand Egypt was central to a few Masonic rites that were active during Mozart’s lifetime and may have influenced him.