Bach & Vivaldi with Berkshire Bach
The Berkshire Bach Society continues its 2022 season on May 14 with a marvelous program of vocal music by Bach (Wachet Auf) & Vivaldi (Gloria). James Bagwell will lead the ensemble and spoke with us about the music and the performers.
For guest conductor, working with the Tulsa Symphony is a homecoming
“I think that was actually the first time I ever heard this work, when I saw that movie for the first time,” Bagwell said. “One reason is that it, like many of Mozart’s early symphonies, was eclipsed by the greatness of his last three symphonies, which are masterpieces.
TSO presents Mahler's Symphony No. 1 with guest conductor James Bagwell
Bagwell did a lot of conducting with various Tulsa-area music ensembles once upon a time.
Westminster Symphonic Choir Performs Live Concert at Trinity Cathedral
Bagwell maintained good control over the cadences, leading the ensemble to the high point of the movement on the text “et lux perpetua luceat eis.” This movement flowed effortlessly into a second movement showing a solid sound from the alto section leading the melodic material.
TSO Commemorates Veteran's Day with Britten's War Requiem
Leading the performance -- which will feature the Tulsa Oratorio Chorus, the Tulsa Opera Chorus and Youth Chorus, and the University of Tulsa Concert Chorale along with the TSO -- will be guest conductor James Bagwell, our guest today.
I had the opportunity to interview our guest choral conductor, James Bagwell, regarding his preparation of the Tanglewood Festival Chorus.
James Bagwell: Super Conductor
Bagwell's diversity has won the high-profile admiration of pop singer Natalie Merchant, one of his neighbors and frequent collaborators.
James Bagwell Conducts the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra in Beethoven's 8th Symphony and Mozart's Requiem
Bagwell has also worked with both the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra and Light Opera Oklahoma in the past -- the latter for about a decade -- and he returns to our community on Saturday the 17th (tomorrow night) to appear as Guest Conductor with the TSO at the Tulsa PAC
An Interview With James Bagwell, Music Director of the Collegiate Chorale, Soon to Lead Them in a Concert Performance of Boito’s Mefistofele
In our conversation, Music Director James Bagwell expands on the history and unique qualities of Boito’s lone operatic masterpiece.
“Botstein, whose essays into late romanticism can be inspiring or puzzling, demonstrated what his band can achieve when mightily challenged, and James Bagwell’s Bard Festival Chorus were in expert riotous form.”
“Last night, Leon Botstein and choral director James Bagwell created the first landmark in 2018’s musical history.. .the Bard Festival Chorale, directed by James Bagwell. Whether screaming out the Chorus of the Tortured or the atonal last Brecht-written hopeful chorus, or giving vent to megaphoned commentary, this was incredibly difficult. Loud choruses in minor-second harmonies were sung out with seemingly not a single problem. The choruses were invariably loud, urgent, discordant. Yet the effects were uniformly effective. . . The policemen were vicious and the voices from the chorus quoting icons of the time through megaphones were equally powerful.”
“The Bard singers, under the direction of James Bagwell, were a highlight of and an authoritative presence throughout, projecting Nono’s fractured, eerie voicings and wailing walls of sound with confidence from their station behind the orchestra. More than the instrumentalists and most of the vocal soloists, or the conductor, Bagwell’s choir gave this allegorical beast much of its galvanizing force.”
“Instead of an overture, INTOLLERANZA opens with an a cappella chorus, “Live and be vigilant“, with the sopranos singing in the extreme high register. This marked the start of the Bard Festival Chorale’s excellent participation in the performance: under James Bagwell’s direction, the intrepid ensemble sang out, screamed, spoke, used mikes and megaphones, and were active participants in the narrative.”
“James Bagwell led his eager Chorale and the American Symphony Orchestra with sympathetic verve.”
Glass Notes
I've known (you) and the chorus for a long time. They are excellent. This piece was originally written for the 60th birthday of Leonard Slatkin and the National Symphony Orchestra in 2005.
“Botstein, whose essays into late romanticism can be inspiring or puzzling, demonstrated what his band can achieve when mightily challenged, and James Bagwell’s Bard Festival Chorus were in expert riotous form.”
“Last night, Leon Botstein and choral director James Bagwell created the first landmark in 2018’s musical history.. .the Bard Festival Chorale, directed by James Bagwell. Whether screaming out the Chorus of the Tortured or the atonal last Brecht-written hopeful chorus, or giving vent to megaphoned commentary, this was incredibly difficult. Loud choruses in minor-second harmonies were sung out with seemingly not a single problem. The choruses were invariably loud, urgent, discordant. Yet the effects were uniformly effective. . . The policemen were vicious and the voices from the chorus quoting icons of the time through megaphones were equally powerful.”
“The Bard singers, under the direction of James Bagwell, were a highlight of and an authoritative presence throughout, projecting Nono’s fractured, eerie voicings and wailing walls of sound with confidence from their station behind the orchestra. More than the instrumentalists and most of the vocal soloists, or the conductor, Bagwell’s choir gave this allegorical beast much of its galvanizing force.”
“Instead of an overture, INTOLLERANZA opens with an a cappella chorus, “Live and be vigilant“, with the sopranos singing in the extreme high register. This marked the start of the Bard Festival Chorale’s excellent participation in the performance: under James Bagwell’s direction, the intrepid ensemble sang out, screamed, spoke, used mikes and megaphones, and were active participants in the narrative.”
“James Bagwell led his eager Chorale and the American Symphony Orchestra with sympathetic verve.”
“Under the baton of James Bagwell, the 26(!) members of the American Symphony Orchestra sounded wonderful. The Collegiate Chorale, who produced the event, sang with brio.”
“…[T]he splendid choral writing and the rich orchestrations, elegantly performed by the American Symphony Orchestra under James Bagwell.”
“Last week’s positively splendid concert presentation of Knickerbocker Holiday at Alice Tully Hall, conducted by James Bagwell, featured sumptuous contributions from The Collegiate Chorale and the American Symphony Orchestra.”
“The Concert Chorale of New York (James Bagwell, director) was splendid in the choruses, especially the elaborate contrapuntal pieces in which Mozart was inspired by the choral works of Bach, which were just becoming known in Vienna at the time.”
“Chorus master James Bagwell did a magnificent job of molding the chorus of 50 into a powerful character in the drama, both as weighty, massed sound and as the battling contrapuntal factions whose eternal differences are the tragic heart of the opera.”