Everything you might care to know about my current state of mind is encapsulated by my steadfast commitment to attending Thomas Rosenkranz’s recital at White Recital Hall on Friday, October 20. (The recital streams here.)

The rare opportunity to hear a complete performance of Olivier Messiaen’s Vingt Regards sur l’Enfant-Jésus appealed to me more than attending concurrent concerts by Travis Scott or the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.

Friends and loved ones declined to join me when upon learning they were being asked to endure two hours of challenging solo piano at the free concert presented by the UMKC Conservatory. The translated title of Messiaen’s work- Twenty Contemplations of the Infant Jésus- was a nonstarter for at least one person.

The piece is best experienced alone anyway. Upon selecting a seat allowing me to watch Rosenkranz’s frenetic fingering, I placed my phone on the floor and didn’t once turn around to check on the responses of the approximately 100 people in the auditorium.

Transfixed, my mind only wandered to consider how curious the composition must have seemed to listeners at its premiere in 1945. It still sounds otherworldly. Allusions range from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to George Gershwin. Messiaen also seems to have anticipated the innovations of Philip Glass and Cecil Taylor.

Yet musicological musings are a secondary consideration. During one segment I sensed the incomprehensible magnificence of God from a proximate vantage point I hadn’t previously experienced. Three days later, I’m still trembling.

William Brownlee

December 22, 2021

Concert Review: Anthony Roth Constanzo at the Folly Theater

William Brownlee

December 22, 2021

Anthony Roth Costanzo censured himself at the Folly Theater on Saturday, December 18, after explaining that he and pianist Bryan Wagorn “met when we were nobodies.” After surveying the largely empty house, the countertenor exclaimed “we’re still nobodies!”

In truth, Constanzo is one of the world’s biggest opera stars. His celebrated turn in the title role of Philip Glass’ Akhnaten is among his prominent achievements. Yet he attracted what appeared to be less than 300 people in his Kansas City debut.

I took advantage of Midwestern indifference by purchasing a discounted front row seat to the concert on Cyber Monday. Positioned just 20 feet from the unamplified countertenor, I considered reaching for the earplugs I always carry with me.

The diminutive Costanzo applied startling heft to his piercing instrument. He and Wagorn repeatedly paused during a gorgeous reading of a Hector Berlioz song cycle to permit echoes of Costanzo’s powerful voice in the piano’s soundboard to reverberate.

A revealing interpretation of George Gershwin’s “The Man I Love” allowed me to hear the standard in an entirely new way. A pair of compositions he recently commissioned in his position as the current Artist-In-Residence of The New York Philharmonic were no less engaging.

Costanzo admitted his feelings are hurt when he’s asked if he’d prefer to have a “real voice.” He demonstrated his facility with voices of all types during a fascinating master class at Grant Recital Hall the next day. Even in the unglamorous setting, Costanzo shone like a certifiable celebrity.

William Brownlee

December 3, 2021

Take What You Want: The Top Albums, EPs and Reissues of 2021

William Brownlee

December 3, 2021

The Top 50 Albums of 2021

1. Kanye West- Donda