Copious Notes

Carrie Underwood sings the national anthem before the start of the NFL Super Bowl XLIV football game between the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints in Miami, Sunday, Feb. 7, 2010. Photo by Eric Gay | AP.

Last night, you saw her sing the national anthem at the Super Bowl.

June 13th, you can see Carrie Underwood at Rupp Arena. The chart-topper and “American Idol” winner’s concert adds to a strong 2010 concert lineup for Rupp, which has already welcomed Brad Paisley and Breaking Benjamin-Three Days Grace, and has Black Eyed Peas, Tim McGraw and Taylor Swift on the way.

Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday at the Rupp Arena ticket office and all Ticketmaster outlets. Craig Morgan and Sons of Sylvia are opening.

Underwood is touring on the success of her latest album, “Play On,” which features the hit, “Cowboy Casanova.” Here in the Bluegrass State, we have to enjoy it when the Oklahoma native invokes the name Louisville Slugger in her hit “Before He Cheats.” She won season four of “American Idol,” besting Southern rocker Bo Bice.

This is one of several Underwood appearances in the region this Spring. She’ll be in Pikeville April 3 and Cincinnati on April 25.

Naomi and Wynonna Judd perform at Philips Arena in Atlanta in 2000. Photo by Leita Cowart for the Herald-Leader.

Before performing on the “CBS Early Show” Saturday morning, Wynonna Judd announced it is “take your mother to work year,” and that she would be touring with her mom, Naomi Judd.

It will be The Judds first tour since 2000, when the chart-topping mother-daughter duo stopped by Rupp Arena for a performance that included a cameo by sister Ashley.  That concert was taped for a CBS special, later that year.

According to Wynonna Judd’s Nashville-based publicist, the tour will kick off as Christmas shows at the end of this year and then move out to arenas in 2011.

Naomi and Wynonna have teamed up since 2000 for a few one-night concerts, and Naomi sang on Wynonna’s 2003 single, “Flies on Butter.” But this will be the duo’s first tour in a decade.

Tour dates for The Judds have not been announced yet.

Here’s Wy, making the announcement:

Watch CBS News Videos Online

The Who's Roger Daltrey, left, and Pete Townshend perform during halftime of the NFL Super Bowl XLIV football game in Miami, Sunday, Feb. 7, 2010. Photo by Mark J. Terrill | AP.

“This will be their last song,” I said, as The Who wound into “Won’t Get Fooled Again,” during their Super Bowl halftime performance on Sunday night.

“Why?” my daughter asked.

“Because it’s one of their biggest songs, one of the greatest songs in rock ‘n’ roll history,” I replied, making a statement I firmly defend.

First off, it is a song that has everything going on. You initially hear it through the authority of Pete Townshend’s power-chord lead guitar and the pulsating synthesizer that are trademarks of the song. But imagine it without the late John Entwistle’s intricate bass roll, particularly in the chorus, or the late Keith Moon’s train-wreck drumming that sounds random until you focus on it and see the wonderful rhythm in it.

And then there’s Roger Daltrey. Yes, 90 percent of the vocals are more valuable in the actual lyric than the performance. But that “YEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAH!” coming out of the bridge — gotta tell you, I was praying for that on Sunday night, because The Who song lives or dies on that word being delivered with force, authority and passion. I put it up there with — I know to some, I am committing blasphemy here — the baritone “Freude!” in Beethoven’s “Ninth Symphony.” It must be there, it must be perfect, or else, why bother? Really? Go home. Fortunately, Daltrey nailed it Sunday.

But back to those lyrics. This 1971 song sprang out of a time of pretty wide-eyed idealism that was starting to realize change wasn’t as easy as it seemed. Hmmmmm. Some people may find that a little relevant today, judging by what you read in progressive media. “Meet the new boss, same as the old boss,” is the key lyric in this song that the National Review named as the No. 1 conservative rock song of all time in 2006, and liberal provocateur Michael Moore wanted to use as the lead-off track in his 2004 anti-Bush polemic “Fahrenheit 9/11″ — his request was rejected. One form of authority ain’t much different than the other, Townshend said, and seems to continue to say. How rock ‘n’ roll.

Pair that with one of the most exhilarating performances in history, and a deceptively simple sounding song, and you have one for the ages.

Were the kids alright with it?

Well, I didn’t hear grumbling about how old The Who looked like I did in 2006 when the Rolling Stones played the halftime show. I’d credit that to them for not trying to act like they were still in their 20s while showing that these days, the mid-60s rock - Daltrey is 65 and Townshend is 64. In fact, my son picked up his Guitar Hero controller and played along, and my daughter was vigorously defending the band against charges of lip syncing some of her friends were texting around.

The Who may not trump Green Day — Who-like in spirit, I’d say — or Lady Gaga among their faves. And there was some grumbling of why can’t a current chart-topper play the Super Bowl half time show. But this year’s did provide a moment of music appreciation.

Check out Walter Tunis’ review of the halftime show.

Lexington Chamber Chorale music direcrtor Gary Anderson conducts the choir in a rehearsal at Transylvania University Tuesday night. Photos by Rich Copley | LexGo.com.

Why?

It’s a question any arts group should ask itself, even a volunteer ensemble. Why devote a couple hours a week to rehearsal, and more as performances approach, learning material even professionals find challenging? Another stand in the spotlight? To make a statement? To hone a craft that you love?

Saturday night, the Lexington Chamber Chorale gave a pretty emphatic answer: It is a group of serious singers who want to develop their craft by challenging themselves with new, interesting material.

Singers rehearsed in mixed groups, like they sang at the beginning of Saturday's concert.

Fascinating would also be an apt description of the fare in “Music from the Land of the Midnight Sun,” the choir’s decidedly wintry concert of Scandinavian music. It was a program inspired by Chamber Chorale director Gary Anderson’s work with Swedish choral conductor Gary Graden. Graden was actually supposed to conduct Saturday night’s concert, except he fell ill and had to stay back home. Anderson seamlessly stood in for him.

Guest percussionist Anders Åstrand was able to make the journey and joined with Jim Campbell, head of the University of Kentucky’s award winning percussion program, to add another dimension to the evening.

It began with the chorale processing into the sanctuary of Central Baptist Church where it surrounded the audience to sing the improvisation “Veni Sancte Spiritus/Adoro te devote,” a piece in which different parts took on the task of singing a chant while others improvised. It was an opening where you may have gotten a decidedly different performance from others in the hall, depending on where you sat.

Improvisational choral singing is one of Graden’s specialties, and we heard it again on full display in American minimalist composer Terry Riley’s “Olson III,” a piece that in this performance sounded similar to choral work by György Ligeti, albeit a bit more free and underscored by Åstrand’s jazzy marimba and the high tones of Campbell’s accompaniment.

Per a request at the beginning of the concert, the approximately 55-minute performance was presented without applause or break. There was a program with a schedule of pieces, though it was easy to lose your place getting wrapped up in the often intricate, sometimes unusual sounds of the chorus taking on this unfamiliar repertoire.

It was mesmerizing and, considering the music’s northern origin, appropriate to an evening where the audience exited into a snowy landscape and bitter cold temperatures. A few utterances of “Gloria” and “peace” even lent the night a Yuletide vibe.

No, a night of music from a far off, vaguely familiar land, utilizing unusual techniques may not be the board room recipe for building an audience. But Central Christian was packed Saturday night demonstrating that if you do something you love and do it very well, often an audience will find you.

Daniel Mason is concertmaster of the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra and Jessica Miskelly is concertmaster of the University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra. Both of their orchestras will be playing Max Bruch's "Violin Concerto" with guest soloists in February 2010. Photo by Rich Copley | LexGo.com.

Max Bruch is not exactly one of the Three Bs of classical music: Bach, Beethoven and Brahms.

“I don’t even know if he’d make a ­second tier of Three Bs,” says Daniel Mason, ­concertmaster of the Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra.

But Bruch (1838-1920) did write an iconic work: his unique “Violin Concerto No. 1 in G minor.” This month, Lexington has a chance to hear two live performances of this work.

On Friday night, rising violin star Arnaud Sussmann will perform the piece, which was written in 1866, with conductor Scott Terrell and the Lexington Philharmonic. Eight days later, on Feb. 20, international recording star Sarah Chang will play the concerto with conductor John Nardolillo and the University of Kentucky Symphony Orchestra. Chang released a recording of the concerto, along with Johannes Brahms’ Violin Concerto, last year.

To get a little ­perspective on the piece, I caught up with Mason and his concert­master counterpart in the UK Symphony, ­Jessica Miskelly, to talk about the masterwork.

Question: I was looking up the Bruch concerto in iTunes, and there were recordings from Jascha Heifetz to Joshua Bell and everyone in between. Why is it so popular?

Mason: It’s very user-friendly. It’s the kind of piece you can learn for the first time as an ­advanced student, so for many ­violinists, it’s one of their early big pieces. That means it’s one of the pieces that tends to be most ­comfortable for life.

If you set a recipe for a violin concerto, the things that you would want as a violinist are all there in the Bruch concerto. For example, at the beginning of the piece, you don’t have to wait very long to play. When you do play, you play a beautiful, sonorous G-minor melody. It makes it very inviting to play because the sound on the open G-string on the violin is one of the better features of the instrument. So, at the beginning of the piece, it makes you as a player say, “Oh! Nice sound.” …

So you do that thing a little bit, and it lets you warm up and settle down, and then, bit by bit, are layered more demanding things which are written to show off the skill of the player, but not written in a way to be more difficult than they sound. …

It’s interesting that a composer such as Bruch, who is not one of the Three Bs, was able to pack so many good musical ideas into this one piece. If he had spread them out over several pieces, he would be a good composer of that rank. But because he was able to concentrate all those good ideas in one piece, that piece really makes the reputation of the composer. … You wonder, was this person always working below that level, or was he just working way above his level? How did that ­happen, that one real stroke of genius?

Miskelly: I can still remember the first time that I ever heard the piece. We were driving along in my parents’ car, and it came on halfway through the first movement, and then it went into that gorgeous second movement, and it gripped me. I probably had my mouth open the whole time. And I think it is for that second movement that violinists and audiences keep coming back to it over and over again. The ­melodic line, I can’t get over. He just wrote a really inspirational piece that I think speaks to many people.

Q: Both of you have played it as soloists. What is it like to play?

Mason: Everybody has recorded it. So the ­challenge is to play how you as an artist want to present it. Read the rest of this entry »

“Battlestar Galactica” star Mary McDonnell will speak at Transylvania University at 7:30 p.m. March 10.

Mary McDonnell

Yes, McDonnell has also been nominated for two Academy Awards, for Dances with Wolves (1990) and Passion Fish (1992). But we’re talking President Laura Roslin, people! Cylons beware.

McDonnell, who has also been nominated for an Emmy for her work on “ER” and has numerous Broadway and Off-Broadway stage credits, is coming to Transy as part of the University’s William R. Kenan Jr. Lecture Series. The event is free and open to the public, but it is ticketed. Tickets will be available beginning Feb. 22.

The Lexington Ballet presents an original production Feb. 5 and 6 at the Downtown Arts Center. “Nonsense” is a collection of works that draw on a variety of styles, from classical ballet to James Brown. Enjoy Matt Goins’ rehearsal photos above and make sure to read Robert Parks Johnson’s preview.

Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra executive director Peter Kucirko posed with his cello in the window of Bella Rose in 2004 for the Herald-Leader's Arts Preview. Photo by David Stephenson.

Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra executive director Peter Kucirko is resigning from the orchestra, effective July 1.

During his 11-year tenure at the Lexington Philharmonic, Kucirko guided the organization as it searched for a successor to music director George Zack, who retired last year after Scott Terrell was hired. Kucirko said his retirement had been in the plans before that search began.

“I had specific conversations with our executive committee saying this is the time period I would like this to happen, and that’s what is happening,” Kucirko said Wednesday afternoon. “I wanted to be sure we got them through the transition and about a year into Scott’s tenure.”

Kucirko said he and his wife, harpist Maria Adamo, plan to stay in Central Kentucky where he wants to play cello more, consult with arts groups such as Actors Guild of Lexington, and focus on their avocation: raising miniature horses.  One of those horses, Nonesuch Spirit of Opie, is in residence at the Kentucky Horse Park.

The equine pursuit inspired “Horsetails,” a music and visual arts project Kucirko and Adamo developed that was a successful fundraiser for the Philharmonic from 2003 to 2006 and has been reprised this year as part of the Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

Kucirko came to the orchestra in April 1999 from Philadelphia where he was an active cellist with the Philadelphia Orchestra and many other ensembles and served as executive director of the Reading Symphony Orchestra, general manager of the Pennsylvania Pro Musica and executive consultant to Peter Nero and the Philly Pops.

Recently, Kucirko has been playing cello for the Lexington Ballet, and he will be part of this weekend’s production, “Nonsense.”

The Philharmonic has begun searching for Kucirko’s successor.

Plácido Domingo in the title role of Verdi’s “Simon Boccanegra.” Photo by Marty Sohl | Metropolitan Opera.

This weekend, the Metropolitan Opera’s Live HD series lets viewers in on one of the big events in classical music this season: Tenor Plácido Domingo going deep to take on the title baritone role in Giuseppe Verdi’s “Simon Boccanegra.”

It is the first time Domingo has sung a baritone role at the Met, and New York Times critic Anthony Tommasini wrote that he “sounded liberated” and delivered “some of his freshest singing in years” as the leader and outsider in 14th-century Italy. It is also coming at a time when Domingo is the subject of controversy, with some people wondering if the tenor is spreading himself too thin with posts as music director of the Los Angeles Opera and Washington National Opera as well as singing and conducting commitments at the Met and elsewhere.

The showing of the live performance from the Metropolitan Opera stage starts at 1 p.m. SaturdayFeb. 6 at Regal Hamburg Pavilion, Cinemark Fayette Mall and Cinemark Richmond Centre.

The performance will be shown again at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 24.

George Clooney, left, and Vera Farmiga are shown in a scene from "Up in the Air." Both are Oscar nominees, and the film is up for best picture and several other honors. Photo by Dale Robinette | Paramount Pictures.

Lexington native George Clooney is once again an Oscar nominee, this year for Up in the Air, a movie that got a lot of love from the Academy when nominations were announced on Tuesday morning.

The film, about a man who has untethered himself from any personal commitments, also got nods for best picture, best supporting actress for Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick, best director for Jason Reitman, and best adapted screenplay for Reitman and Sheldon Turner. It is the third acting nomination for Clooney, who won best supporting actor in 2005 for “Syriana” and was also nominated for best actor in 2007 for “Michael Clayton.” He was also nominated for best director and screenplay in 2005 for “Good Night, and Good Luck.”

In addition to “Up in the Air,” Clooney’s “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” was nominated for best animated feature.

Jeff Bridges. Photo by Matt Sayles | AP.

If precedent-setting awards are any indicator though, Clooney will probably end up applauding Jeff Bridges on Oscar night, March 7. The veteran actor, who filmed two movies in the Lexington area in the last several years, “Simpatico” (1999) and “Seabiscuit” (2003), has already picked up the Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild Award among several other honors for his performance as an aging country musican in “Crazy Heart.” The movie, which is scheduled to open Friday in Lexington, also has Kentucky ties in writer and director Scott Cooper, who grew up in Somerset. Maggie Gyllenhaal, who plays a reporter who interviews Bridges’ character, also earned a nomination for best supporting actor.

That’s the local interest in Oscar, though the world will be buzzing about the Academy’s new 10-feature slate of best picture nominees, and which blockbusters made it in along with the art-house fare that has dominated the category the past decade.

Among the surprises was “The Blind Side,” Sandra Bullock’s based-on-a-true-story film about a man who rises from poverty to become a professional football player. The hit joined “District 9″ and “Up,” also nominated for best animated feature, as films the Academy hopes will draw more viewers to Oscars, which have suffered declining ratings in recent years.

Kathryn Bigelow. Photo by Matt Sayles | AP.

The best picture contest though seems to come down to a David-and-Goliath race between James Cameron’s “Avatar,” now the all-time box office champ, and his ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow’s low-budget “The Hurt Locker.” If Bigelow beats her ex in the best director race, it will be the first time a woman has won the Oscar for best director.

Despite 10 nominees for best picture, there are some notable snubs, primarily “The Hangover,” which was a surprise winner of the Golden Globe for best picture comedy or musical. It also would have brought some populist interest to Oscar as “Hangover” is the highest grossing R-rated comedy in history. Of course the whole 10-picture, let’s-get-more-blockbusters-in-the-race thing started when critically acclaimed Batman film “The Dark Knight” was shut out last year. This year’s well-received “Star Trek” reboot was expected to be the best shot at a franchise film making it into the race, but it was left out of the running.

More reading: ‘Avatar’ and ‘Hurt Locker’ lead nominees.