December 10, 2023

The Top Fifty Performances of 2023

December 10, 2023

Original image of Yujia Shen at the Diastole Scholars Center by There Stands the Glass.

The accompanying image of Yujia Shen at Diastole Scholars’ Center encapsulates my year. Classical violin (and piano) provided default ambience throughout 2023. By arriving early and through financial outlays, I claimed spots up front at dozens of concerts. The books in the room are also meaningful. My evenings were devoted to reading when I wasn’t attending performances.

1. Hilary Hahn at the Folly Theater
My review.

2. The Smile and Robert Stillman at the Midland Theatre
My review.

3. Kassa Overall and Omari Jazz at Mississippi Studios (Portland)
My Instagram clip.

4. Samara Joy at the Folly Theater
My review.

5. The Metropolitan Opera’s Tannhäuser at Lincoln Center (New York City)
My review.

6. András Schiff at Helzberg Hall
My review.

7. Mike Dillon and Brian Haas at the Brick
My review.

8. Yujia Shen at Diastole Scholars’ Center
My review.

9. Jake Blount at the Folk Alliance International Conference
My review.

10. RP Boo, DJ Alphabeta and Whorxata at the Encore Room
My review.

11. Pretty Yende at the Folly Theater
My review.

12. Adam Larson, Matt Clohesy and Jimmy Macbride at Westport Coffee House
My Instagram clip.

13. Tim Bernardes at Mississippi Studios (Portland)
My review.

14. UMKC Opera’s Proving Up at Spencer Theatre
My review.

15. Bill Frisell, Greg Tardy, Gerald Clayton and Johnathan Blake at the 1900 Building
My review.

16. Boston Camerata’s Dido & Aeneas at Community Christian Church
My Instagram photo.

17. Hermon Mehari Quartet at the Folly Theater
My review.

18. Off!, Upchuck and Weaponize Chomsky at the recordBar
My Instagram clip.

19. Thomas Rosenkranz at White Recital Hall
My review.

20. Juan Diego Flórez at the Folly Theater
My review.

21. Devin Gray, Maria Elena Silva and the Extemporaneous Music and Arts Society at Firehouse Gallery
My review.

22. DJ Lucas, Papo2oo4 and Subjxct 5, Lil Heavn, Paris Williams and N1n4 Freakqncy at Farewell
My review.

23. Thee Sinseers, the Altons and Alanna Royale at Lemonade Park
My review.

24. Willi Carlisle and Betse & Clarke at Knuckleheads
My Instagram snapshot.

25. CRAG Quartet, Joshua Gerowitz and the Extemporaneous Music and Arts Society at the Bunker
My review.

26. Artemis at the Gem Theater
My review.

27. Queens of the Stone Age, Viagra Boys and Jehnny Beth at Starlight Theatre
My review.

28. Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s Listening Forest at Crystal Bridges (Bentonville)
My Instagram clip.

29. Miguel Zenón Quartet at the Folly Theater
My review.

30. Bob Weir at Louisville Palace (Louisville)
My review.

31. Bonnie “Prince” Billy and Michael Hurley at the Aladdin Theater (Portland)
My review.

32. Christian McBride, Benny Green and Gregory Hutchinson at the Village Vanguard (New York City)
My review.

33. Rod Fleeman Trio at Green Lady Lounge
My Instagram clip.

34. Nickel Creek and Gaby Moreno at Muriel Kauffman Theatre
My review.

35. Alien Nosejob, Citric Dummies and CKrit at Howdy
My review.

36. Danielle Nicole and Katy Guillen and the Drive at the Uptown Theater
My Instagram snapshot.

37. Pat Metheny’s SideEye at Muriel Kauffman Theatre
My review.

38. Janet Jackson and Ludacris at the T-Mobile Center
My Instagram snapshot.

39. Big Freedia at Boulevardia
My Instagram clip.

40. Jean-Yves Thibaudet at the Folly Theater
My Instagram snapshot.

41. Parker Quartet at Polsky Theatre
My review.

42. Eugene Friesen and Henrique Eisenmann at the 1900 Building
My review.

43. Chalis O’Neal at the Blue Room
My Instagram clip.

44. Booker T. Jones at the Folly Theater
My Instagram clip.

45. Rob Magill and Marshall Trammell, the Extemporaneous Music and Arts Society and Alber at Farewell
My review.

46. The Salvation Choir at Theis Park
My Instagram clip.

47. Hot Chip and Cadence Weapon at Wonder Ballroom (Portland)
My Instagram clip.

48. Randy Porter, Tom Wakeling and Todd Strait at the 1905 (Portland)
My review.

49. John Mellencamp at the Midland Theatre
My Instagram clip.

50 Kentucky Opera’s Cinderella at W.L. Lyons Brown Theatre (Louisville)
My Instagram snapshot.

There Stands the Glass’ top albums and songs of 2023 are listed here.

Last year’s concert rankings are here.

William Brownlee

December 10, 2023

Opera Review: The Metropolitan Opera’s Tannhäuser at Lincoln Center

William Brownlee

December 10, 2023

Original image by There Stands the Glass.

The death and destruction wreaked by the coronavirus pandemic is tragic. I was lucky. Blessed by good health while holed up in Kansas, I gained new appreciation for my expansive suburban home and marvelous life partner.

I took advantage of the free streams offered by the Metropolitan Opera on more than 150 evenings during the days of isolation. I’ve been looking forward to returning to Lincoln Center ever since.

Remembering I was dissatisfied with $25 tickets on a remote balcony at the massive opera house in January of 2019, I elected to splurge on seats to watch Donald Runnicles conduct Richard Wagner’s Tannhäuser on Wednesday, December 6.

The most expensive concert tickets I’ve purchased didn’t allow me to rub shoulders with masters of the universe. Instead, I was surrounded by fellow opera fanatics from the Americas, Europe and Asia who appreciated being close enough to Runnicles to hear the maestro’s strenuous gasps.

As with the National Football League, experiencing the event in person is in many ways inferior to viewing a polished television broadcast. Even so, I relished hearing the unfiltered voices of Ekaterina Gubanova, Elza van den Heever and Andreas Schager for the duration of the four-hour and thirty-minute performance.

William Brownlee

December 2, 2023

Album Review: Bob Dylan- The Complete Bukokan 1978

William Brownlee

December 2, 2023

For decades I thought I couldn’t have picked a worse era in which to see Bob Dylan for the first time. I didn’t know what to make of the 1978 concert at Kansas City’s Kemper Arena.

I accepted the conventional wisdom that Dylan’s tour in support of Street Legal was an artistic debacle. The new four-hour and thirty-minute The Complete Budokan 1978 changed my mind

Forty-five years later, the arrangements rendered by the band still sound more suited to Neil Diamond or Elvis Presley than to Dylan. Yet I now appreciate how much fun Dylan was having. Besides, I like Diamond and Presley.

The cheese doesn’t lend itself to protest material, but readings of love songs like “Is Your Love in Vain?” and "The Man in Me" fill me with the sort of giddy yearning I’ve rarely felt since I was a teen.

William Brownlee

November 29, 2023

Wrap It Up

William Brownlee

November 29, 2023

Haters be damned. I look forward to the annual sharing of Spotify’s personalized Wrapped initiative. I already know what I listened to in 2023, but I relish seeing other people’s lists of most-streamed artists.

My enthusiasm is ironic, as the streaming revolution killed my lucrative career 20 years ago. Everyone who protests about the ethical and sonic superiority of physical recordings is welcome to visit my home.

I spent tens of thousands of dollars building a collection of more than 5,000 LPs and CDs in the 20th century. That era is over. Streaming is a dream come true for passionate music fans with broad tastes.

The brief thank-you videos popular artists provide Spotify aren’t coerced. A thousand artists earn more than a million dollars on Spotify every year. And Spotify pays 8,000 artists more than $100,000.00 every year. Not bad for a level playing field.

Oh, by the way, here are my December concert recommendations for KCUR.

William Brownlee

November 27, 2023

November 2023 Recap: A Monthly Exercise in Critical Transparency

William Brownlee

November 27, 2023

Screenshot of the trailer of Opernhaus Zürich’s production of Richard Wagner’s Götterdämmerung by There Stands the Glass.

Top Ten Albums of November

1. Bertrand Chamayou- Letter(s) to Erik Satie

Correspondence with John Cage.

2. Sullivan Fortner- Solo Game

Two sides of the pianist.

3. 2 Chainz and Lil Wayne- Welcome 2 Collegrove

Duffle bag boys.

4. Yuhan Su- Liberated Gesture

Good vibes.

5. DJ Manny- Hypnotized

Superior footwork.

6. Viktor Orri Árnason and Álfheiður Erla Guðmundsdóttir- Poems

Icy.

7. Thandi Ntuli and Carlos Niño- Rainbow Revisited

Sunshine.

8. Nitai Hershkovits- Call On the Old Wise

Wisdom of the elders.

9. Blockhead- The Aux

Underground all-stars.

10. Sarah Davachi and Quatuor Bozzini- Long Gradus

Deceptive drones.

Top Ten Songs of November

1.Tokischa- "Candy"

Not so sweet.

2. Danny Brown featuring Kassa Overall- "Jenn's Terrific Vacation"

An unexpected update of 2011’s “Fields”.

3. Rico Nasty, NCognita, Simon Said. and Raedio- "Lackin"

Complete.

4. Björk featuring Rosalía- "Oral"

“I just don’t know.”

5. Atmosphere- “Traveling Forever”

Never-ending tour.

6. 070 Shake featuring Ken Carson- "Natural Habitat"

Uncaged.

7. Larry June, Cardo and the Alchemist- "The Great Escape"

Free.

8. Majid Jordan- "Eyes Closed"

Smooth operator.

9. Yahritza Y Su Esencia and El Yaki- "Nos Equivocamos"

We were wrong.

10. Willi Carlisle- “When the Pills Wear Off”

Reckoning.

Top Ten Performances of November

1. András Schiff at Helzberg Hall

My review.

2. Juan Diego Flórez at the Folly Theater

My review.

3. Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s Listening Forest at Crystal Bridges Museum (Bentonville)

My Instagram clip.

4. The Danielle Nicole Band and Katy Guillen and the Drive at the Uptown Theater

My Instagram snapshot.

5. DJ Lucas, Papo2oo4, Subjxct 5, Paris Williams, Lil Heavn and N1n4 Freakquency at Farewell

My review.

6. Kelly Hall Tompkins at the Folly Theater

My review.

7. UMKC Opera’s “The Magic Flute” at White Recital Hall

My review.

8. Jackie Myers, Rich Wheeler and Sebastian Arias at the Market at Meadowbrook

My Instagram snapshot.

9. The Extemporaneous Music and Arts Society’s “Intersect & Interdependence” at Charlotte Street Foundation

My Instagram clip.

10. East Hill Singers at Rolling Hills Presbyterian Church

My Instagram snapshot.

The previous monthly survey is here.

William Brownlee

November 27, 2023

Concert Review: Juan Diego Flórez at the Folly Theater

William Brownlee

November 27, 2023

The ticket I purchased for Juan Diego Flórez’s recital at the Folly Theater on Sunday, November 26, cost about as much as a bottle of generic cough syrup. The discounted front row seat I grabbed in the Harriman Jewell-Series’ Black Friday sale compels me to prepare for the worst.

Flórez, one of the most popular opera stars of the past 25 years, suffered from a cold. The tenor sniffed, snuffled and cleared his throat throughout his appearance. After sitting just ten feet from Flórez, I’m at risk of contracting the bug.

Given the magnificence of the recital, I won’t be resentful should I fall ill. His range may have been reduced, but Flórez didn’t seem to have trouble projecting his unamplified instrument. I considered popping in earplugs at intermission.

Flórez thrilled dozens of his fellow Peruvians in the audience of about 700 in an encore without pianist Vincenzo Scalera. He accompanied himself on guitar as he belted out two or three of his country’s folk songs. Bring on the breakdown.

William Brownlee

November 23, 2023

Concert Review: DJ Lucas, Papo2oo4 and Subjxct 5 at Farewell

William Brownlee

November 23, 2023

Original image of Sujxct 5, DJ Lucas and Papo2oo4 by There Stands the Glass.

I made "Strange Art Rap Decisions" on Wednesday, November 22. A friend with compatible taste encouraged me to attend a rap show at Farewell headlined by DJ Lucas. I’m glad I took his advice even though it meant spending $20 on cover charges ($10 at Farewell and $10 for a rock show next door at Howdy) and standing on cold cement for almost four hours.

Supported by the dynamic Subjxct 5 and Papo2oo4, Lucas’ outlandish raps referenced Emily Dickinson, Sylvia Plath, Carrie Underwood and Eminem. The insular Dark World crew “from out the woods” of Western Massachusetts is reminiscent of Kansas City’s Black Clover and the Twin Cities’ Doomtree collectives.

Standing amid three dozen people, I wondered why the immensely talented trio isn’t better known. Are the literary references too brainy? Is its musicology (Papo2oo4 shouted out the Kansas City cult figure Rich the Factor) excessively geeky? Maybe the crew’s overt drugginess is a barrier.

Also at Farewell: Paris Williams (pop-rap with guitar and drums), Lil Heavn (Lil Peep-er) and N1n4 Freakquency (industrial footwork). And at Howdy: The Blast Monkeys (Tonganoxie pop-punk), Ivory Daze (grunge revivalists) and Island Policy (Topeka’s Puddle of Mudd).

William Brownlee

November 17, 2023

Opera Review: UMKC Conservatory’s Die Zauberflöte at White Recital Hall

William Brownlee

November 17, 2023

Original image of the temple “boys” at curtain call by There Stands the Glass.

Five years ago, I didn’t know the difference between Puccini and Verdi. I discovered I’ve since become an odious opera elitist at White Recital Hall on Thursday, November 16. The alterations made to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte in a UMKC Conservatory production outraged me. Yet even when condensed, sanitized and slightly dumbed down, Mozart’s genius still shines brightly. The orchestra conducted by Nicholas Perry Clark performed commendably. Among the solid cast, I most enjoyed Angelo Silva as Tamino, the three attendants of the Queen of the Night and the three “boys” of the temple. I paid $25 to sit amid the audience of about 250. The production streams here. My sniveling reservations aside, it’s well worth watching.

William Brownlee

November 15, 2023

Concert Review: András Schiff at Helzberg Hall

William Brownlee

November 15, 2023

Pre-recital image by There Stands the Glass.

Unlike her intemperate husband, my life partner isn’t prone to hyperbole. So I took notice when she proclaimed “this is a once-in-a-lifetime experience” during the intermission of András Schiff’s solo piano recital at Helzberg Hall on Tuesday, November 14.

Indeed, the circumstances were fortuitous. I purchased tickets for a pair of seats in the third row when a deep discount was offered to the public by The Friends of Chamber Music on Halloween. We were ideally positioned to witness Schiff’s delicate fingering and pedal work amid the attentive audience of about 1,000.

Schiff made eye contact with us while introducing each selection with illuminating and highly entertaining analysis. And what music! By my count, he rendered four pieces by Johann Sebastian Bach, two apiece by Ludwig van Beethoven and Franz Schubert and single selections by Joseph Hayden and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

The centuries-old works seemed brand new in Schiff’s hands. He seemed aware of the transcendent“once-in-a-lifetime” spell he cast as he played for well over two hours. Even at 70, Schiff gave the impression that he was entirely willing to perform all night.