[Dixielandjazz] Even Classical Performers sometimes use Hokum

[Steve Barbone]

Nothing like a little Hokum to liven up a performance be it Jazz or
Classical. Following is excerpted for a long review.

Cheers,
Steve Barbone

The Conductor as Prankster, or Mischief Among the Musicians

NY TIMES - By ALLAN KOZINN - December 14, 2006

The temptation to toy with an audience must be fun for a performer, and Ton
Koopman tried his hand at it on Tuesday evening at Zankel Hall. . . Bach¹s
³Musical Offering² was on the first half, and his ³Coffee² Cantata was
offered after the intermission.

But Mr. Koopman divided the ³Musical Offering² into three sections. After
the Ricercari and canons, played by various combinations of the group¹s two
violinists, violist and flutist, with cello and harpsichord continuo, Mr.
Koopman and company precipitously left the stage, so although the lights
weren¹t turned on listeners who thought the intermission had arrived began
to stream out, settling down only when Mr. Koopman returned with Catherine
Manson, the violinist; Wilbert Hazelzet, the flutist; and Jonathan Manson,
the cellist, to play the work¹s Trio. The players left again before the
closing Canon Perpetuus, this time for so long that when the full ensemble,
without Mr. Koopman, returned to play the final canon, they had to wait for
people to run back to their seats.

The ³Coffee² Cantata offered less opportunity for mischief, although its
performance began with the tenor, Otto Bouwknegt, running down the aisle, in
street clothes, shouting ³Stop tuning!² before taking up the recitative that
opens the work. Beyond that, the work was semi-staged to the extent that the
soprano, Bettina Pahn, and the bass, Klaus Mertens, walked around the stage,
with Ms. Pahn sometimes sipping coffee from a paper cup. . .