Music: The instruments most musicians work with today are survivors or variations of the sonic armaments they had in other eras. Gone, for the most part, are the ophicleide, the serpent, the sarrusophone. Most of the viol family, with the exception of the double bass (and its modern derivative the bass guitar), also is gone, heard today only in specialist concerts.
But then there are the instruments that have been around for a long time but don’t get used that often. One of the most distinctive is the viola d’amore, a version of the viola with no less than 14 strings – seven of them played, and seven “sympathetic” strings underneath that vibrate along with the others.
“’Special’ is the perfect word for it,” said Richard Fleischman, the violist of the Delray String Quartet and a frequent performer in area orchestral ensembles. “The low strings are very mellow, and the high strings have a silvery, ravishing kind of sound.” It’s a soft sound, and the kind of sound that doesn’t do well up against today’s high-powered instruments, Fleischman said. It’s more suited for the intimate rooms of the 18th-century salon, and this weekend, a whole program of music for the instrument will be heard in Delray Beach.
Fleischman will play the instrument on Sunday afternoon with members of the Camerata del Re, a Baroque performance ensemble based at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. Music on the concert, called The Art of the Viola d’Amore, includes a concerto by Vivaldi, a sonata by the Baroque viola d’amore specialist Attilio Ariosti, and a short piece (Reverie) by the French Romantic composer Rene de Boisdeffre.
Also on the program are trio sonatas by Telemann and Milandre, chamber works by Frederik Rung and Francesco Giuliani featuring soprano Karen Neal, and quartets by Ottorino Respighi and the contemporary American composer Elaine Fine. Fleischman is particularly excited about the Boisdeffre Reverie, which he will play in its original chamber music version. The music, which dates from about 1890, is reminiscent of Massenet, he said, and was dedicated to Louis van Waefelghem, the greatest viola d’amore player of his day. “It’s a lovely little piece, so I’m kind of excited about playing it,” Fleischman said.
The concert is set for 4 p.m. Sunday at St. Paul’s, 181 N. Swinton Ave., Delray Beach. Tickets are $15-$18. Call 278-6003 for more information.
Russell Thomas is making a great name for himself in the world of the tenor, appearing just a couple weeks ago as Andres in the Metropolitan Opera’s mounting of Alban Berg’s Wozzeck, and having been the man who created the role of The Prince in John Adams’ A Flowering Tree. Saturday, he returns to his hometown of Miami for a concert with pianist Elaine Rinaldi. Thomas will sing Vaughan Williams’ Songs of Travel, Britten’s Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo, the Three Songs of Fiona MacLeod by American composer Charles Griffes, and Beethoven’s beautiful Adelaide (Op. 46). Mentored by James Levine and other luminaries, this is a voice on the way up. Thomas sings at 8 p.m. Saturday at the First Presbyterian Church of Miami, 609 Brickell Ave. Call 305-274-2103 or visit www.orchestramiami.org.
Film: I know this sounds like an oxymoron, but the recommendation this week is a Will Ferrell drama. In Everything Must Go, he plays an alcoholic sales executive who receives a one-two punch of being fired from his job, then comes home to find that his wife has left him, locking him out and dumping his clothes and possessions on the front lawn of their Phoenix home. Oh, and his company car gets repossessed. So to the dismay of his neighbors, he starts living on the lawn, swilling beers and trying to start over. In contrast to all his juvenile comedies, Ferrell gives a very credible performance, surely his best since Stranger Than Fiction, with nice support from Rebecca Hall and Laura Dern. Yes, this is a Ferrell move for those who would not be caught dead going to a Ferrell movie. Opening at area theaters today. – H. Erstein
Theater: St. Louis playwright Carter W. Lewis has been supplying Florida Stage with quirky comic dramas on diverse subjects for the past two decades. Currently receiving its world premiere at the Kravis Center is the enigmatically named Cha-Cha of a Camel Spider, his wide-ranging and occasionally surreal synthesis of our government’s reliance on private mercenary armies, the transporting power of art, and the lyrical nature of slam poetry. Yes, it is a lot to take in and moment-to-moment what is happening isn’t always clear, but the production is never less than entertaining. That is particularly due to Antonio Amadeo as a wisecracking Muslim cabbie and Elizabeth Birkenmeier as the poetry-spouting daughter of a Blackwater-like operative. Continuing through June 5. Call (561) 832-7469 for tickets. – H. Erstein