{"id":37444,"date":"2016-06-27T10:05:33","date_gmt":"2016-06-27T14:05:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/?p=37444"},"modified":"2016-06-27T10:05:33","modified_gmt":"2016-06-27T14:05:33","slug":"scrutiny-westben-arts-festival-the-pencil-salesman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2016\/06\/27\/scrutiny-westben-arts-festival-the-pencil-salesman\/","title":{"rendered":"SCRUTINY | Melody Is King In 2016 Westben Arts Festival Opener The Pencil Salesman"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pencil Salesman, albeit a bit of a work in progress, is a welcome addition to the Canadian canon of contemporary music drama.<\/h3>\n
\"The
The Pencil Salesman (Photo courtesy Westben Arts Festival)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

World Premiere Saturday, June 25, at The Barn, Westben Arts Festival. Additional performances June 26, July 1, 2, and 3.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

CAMPBELLFORD, ON \u2014 With the world premiere of The Pencil Salesman<\/em> yesterday afternoon, the 17th<\/span> chapter of the Westben Arts Festival\u2019s opening has been written \u2014 pun intended. This one was extra-special because of the unveiling of a brand new opera by pianist-composer Brian Finley, who together with his wife soprano Donna Bennett are the driving forces behind the Westben Arts Festival, a musical haven in the Trent Hills, a scenic area located along the Trent Severn Waterway in Northumberland County, a leisurely two-hour drive east of Toronto. I\u2019ve heard about the Festival for years but never had the pleasure of seeing a performance there. I am glad I finally remedied that yesterday. The show took place in the rustic venue known as The Barn. I don\u2019t know the seating capacity, but my guess is it\u2019s under 200. It\u2019s not air conditioned and on a warm day like yesterday, it was slightly uncomfortable. I was fortunate enough to be near one of the many free-standing \u2014 and surprisingly silent but powerful \u2014 fans in the auditorium. It was quite a long opera, slightly over 2 \u00bd hours with a short intermission. A full house, the famously loyal and supportive Westben audience made up mostly of local folks, gave it an enthusiastic reception.<\/p>\n

I recently interviewed<\/a> Brian Finley, the artistic director of Westben and the composer-librettist of The Pencil Salesman.<\/em>\u00a0 In our chat, he spoke extensively about the genesis of this work, commissioned by his friend, Dr Agnes Herzberg, Professor Emeritus of Statistics at Queen\u2019s University. The heart of this multi-layered story has to do with human connectedness in the modern age. It underscores how technology, meant to enhance human communication, ironically hinders it, especially on the more profound, interpersonal, face-to-face level. The story is told through the eyes of its protagonist, the family patriarch, Boris Ball (baritone John Fanning), the inventor of the \u201cPersonal Touch\u201d typewriter. As the world moves on from his invention to other devices such as the computer and the mobile phone, Boris Ball, instead of accepting the future, continues to cling to the past, to the memory of his dead wife Rose (soprano Donna Bennett), shutting himself off from the younger generation \u2014 son Edward (tenor Keith Klassen) and his wife Daisy (soprano Virginia Hatfield) and their daughter Violet. It\u2019s up to a chance encounter with the pivotal Pencil Salesman (bass-baritone Alex Dobson), the catalyst in Boris\u2019s eventual reconnection with his estranged family, that he finally chooses to embrace the future.<\/p>\n

\"The
The Pencil Salesman (Photo courtesy Westben Arts Festival)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Musically it\u2019s a conservative work, with a formal structure that recalls classical compositions of the past, but with just enough harmonic modulations and dissonances here and there so it won\u2019t be mistaken for a piece from the past. There are clearly defined arias \u2014 in fact; spoken dialogue invariably leads to song. There\u2019s an amusing choral number of the Personal Touch TM Factory, a moment that allows the chorus to shine.\u00a0 There\u2019s even a cleverly constructed \u201cHappy Birthday Fugue.\u201d Finley reserves his most inspired melody for the final duet between Boris and his dead wife, Rose. The opera ends with Boris finally letting go of the past, and the memory of his dead wife, to embrace the future. I find the ending surprisingly powerful and moving.<\/p>\n

Much of the credit goes to the strong ensemble cast, led by veteran baritone John Fanning. In good voice, his Boris has the proper dramatic gravitas without being overly crusty and unsympathetic. Soprano Donna Bennett is a perfect foil as his wife Rose, and she sang with clear, well focused, lovely tone. Equally fine was the gleaming soprano of Virginia Hatfield as Daisy, a role with a considerable dramatic\/emotional range. Keith Klassen brought his bright tenor and typically engaging personality to the role of the son Edward. Supporting characters were all ably taken, particularly Flo (Gabrielle Prata), Aaron (Robert Longo) and the young Violet of Olivia Rapos. And of course one mustn\u2019t forget the title role of the Pencil Salesman, mellifluously sung and deftly acted by Alexander Dobson, who also doubled as Frank. \u00a0Finley tailored the vocal writing for each character to the individual singer, a luxury that\u2019s only possible in original creations. The twenty-member chamber orchestra played well under the knowing baton of Daniel Warren. Composer Brian Finley contributed on the keyboard, playing beautifully, particularly the Mozart sonata-like main theme that recurs periodically throughout the opera.<\/p>\n

Final impressions? \u00a0The Pencil Salesman<\/em> is quite an enjoyable show, albeit a bit of a work in progress. It combines classical music sensibilities with inspired melodies in the best Bernstein and Musical tradition. To say this piece sounds like a musical is not a put-down but a compliment. The goal, after all, is to tell a story and to touch an audience. Too often with contemporary classical music from Schoenberg Berg and Webern to Stockhausen Cage and Carter, the urge to break new musical ground means the audience leaving the theatre unmoved, or worse, befuddled. Not the case with The Pencil Salesman<\/em>, a very human story expressed in accessible and tonal music. If I were to quibble, I fine that there\u2019s so much detail in the plot \u2014 a rather ambitious total of 7 vignettes \u2014 that it makes the first act a bit unwieldy. In Act Two, there are some noticeable gaps in the story-telling. Michael Mori has done a good job with his directing, but I think some judicious cuts, especially with the material that\u2019s not essential to the main story, would tighten it considerably. Finley has injected quite a bit of humour into the proceedings but for some reason, much of it seemed lost to the opening audience. That being said, all in all, it was a good effort. With a bit of fine-tuning, it certainly will be a welcome addition to the Canadian canon of contemporary music drama.<\/p>\n

#LUDWIGVAN<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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