Henry VIII & Jordi Savall too

Go medieval on your ears: Early music heavyweights headed to Houston

The city exercises its musical acumen this upcoming fall and spring with the 2010-2011 season of Houston Early Music, an organization specializing in music from the Middle Ages through the 18th century.

Obscure? Yes.

A hotbed of talent? Indeed.

Witness the synergy of seasoned musicians and historical instruments in this medley of mesmerizing melodies:

Jordi Savall could steal a show in The Route to the New World: Spain to Mexico, a collaboration with Da Camera of Houston. An icon in early music pedagogy, research and performance, Savall is the star viol player, conductor and composer of contemporary Catalonia, and will be importing his own renowned Hespèrion XXI with soprano Montserrat Figueras and La Capella Reial de Catalunya.

"Jordi Savall is a huge name in early music and known worldwide," says Bettie Anderson, a past president of HEM and continuing board member. "He's a real heavyweight in the genre and should be extraordinary."

The baroque compositions of Old Spain will be buttressed by references to the Mexican Baroque and living huasteca and jarocho traditions by Mexico's Ensemble Tembembe in commemoration of the 200th year of Mexican independence. The Hispanic celebration comes together on Oct. 2 at the Cullen Theater at Wortham Center.

HEM honors the holiday spirit with "A Piper's Nöel" on Monday, Dec. 13, when Christ Church Cathedral will resound with a robust blending of voice, shawn, sackbut, recorder and bagpipes. Audiences can revel in the range of Renaissance polyphony and modest piper's tunes produced by the award-winning mixed ensemble.

With director Adam Gilbert's pre-concert lecture, spectators may brush up on the medieval carols of England, France, Spain, Italy and Germany and clue in to the present-day celebrations in Rome's Piazza Navona.

Salute the spring with "The Harmony of Nations" on March 28 at the Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church, featuring English violinist and conductor Monica Huggett.

"Huggett is the most enchanting baroque violinist and an adventure to watch — a little show within a show," Anderson explains. "She's a dumpling of a woman, so you'd never guess she were so lightening fast. Her music is just riveting — even if you didn't know anything about the Baroque and violin, you'll be able to appreciate it."

Huggett brings a dynamic program from the United Kingdom, including Biber's "Mystery Sonatas" for virtuoso violin, exquisitely refined French music for the viola da gamba, sprightly tunes from Jacobean England and a sonata for violin and harpsichord by J.S. Bach. She'll be bringing her Trio Sonnerie group, considered one of the most imaginative, flexible and dynamic period instrumental ensembles, boasting the versatility to expand from a trio of violin, viola da gamba and keyboard into a full chamber orchestra.

Supplement the performance with a pre-concert lecture by the song-savvy Gregory Barnett of Rice University's Shepherd School of Music.

"The Six Wives of Henry VIII" represents HEM's season finale with the return of the internationally acclaimed Flanders Recorder Quartet. A guest appearance by soprano Cecile Kempenaers will give homage to the sheets of contemporary music by award-winning Belgian composer Piet Swert. Recorder quartet, voice and narrator will coalesce in this compilation of medieval and improvised music, a scene from Shakespeare, letters from King Henry and Anne Bolyen and original verse written specifically for the project.

Henry VIII may be a familiar story — but think of this rendition as a 21st-century remix being spun at Trinity Episcopal Church on May 2, 2011.

Little known fact: The king was an accomplished musician himself. Get the full scoop before the performance at a talk delivered by Thomas Crowe of the University of St. Thomas.

"Our concerts are really choice," Bettie Anderson says.

The eclecticism of the season, combined with the appealing tariff, places Houston Early Music's lineup among the not-to-be-missed music events of the months ahead.

unspecified

Movie Review

Houston native Wes Anderson shows off comedic side in The Phoenician Scheme

Photo courtesy of TPS Productions/Focus Features

Benicio Del Toro, Mia Threapleton, and Michael Cera in The Phoenician Scheme.

If you were to do a poll of the best comedy filmmakers of the 21st century, writer/director Wes Anderson is not the obvious choice to come out on top, but there’s an argument to be made for him. His quirky style doesn’t yield the guffaws that more broad comedies do, but the absurd situations he creates in his films are often more consistently funny than anything else.

Anderson’s inimitable approach is once again on full display in The Phoenician Scheme. At its center is Zsa-Zsa Gorda (Benicio Del Toro), a much-hated businessman who’s looking to complete a number of big projects in the fictional country of Phoenicia. As he seems to be the target of multiple assassination attempts, he appoints his daughter, Liesl (Mia Threapleton), as his heir to try to ensure his legacy.

Both she and his new assistant, Bjorn (Michael Cera), accompany him around the country as he tries to enact a scheme to have others cover the bulk of the cost for the various projects. Those he attempts to convince include Phoenician Prince Farouk (Riz Ahmed), brothers Leland (Tom Hanks) and Reagan (Bryan Cranston), fellow businessman Marseille Bob (Mathieu Amalric), ship captain Marty (Jeffrey Wright), his Cousin Hilda (Scarlett Johansson), and Uncle Nubar (Benedict Cumberbatch).

Put in Andersonian terms, the film is a mix between the madcap antics from The Grand Budapest Hotel and the impenetrable storytelling of Asteroid City. If you were to try to understand every detail of what’s going on in the story of The Phoenician Scheme, it might take three or more viewings to do so. But the film is still highly entertaining because Anderson fills its frames with his typical visual delights, great wordplay, and his particular version of slapstick.

Much of the comedy of the film derives from Anderson inserting moments that initially come as a surprise and then utilizing them as running jokes. The film features more blood than usual for the filmmaker, but each time a character gets wounded (or worse), it gets funnier. The assassination attempts get broader as the film goes along, and the matter-of-fact way in which they’re treated by Gorda and others is also hilarious.

Of course, Anderson is the cinephile’s comedy director, so the film is also full of high-brow things like allusions to paintings, tributes to other filmmakers, and classical music. Each time Gorda has an attempt on his life, he briefly finds himself in a version of limbo, depicted in black-and-white by Anderson. The cast of characters Gorda finds there - including Bill Murray as God - could come straight out of a 1950s Ingmar Bergman movie.

Del Toro has delivered some great performances over the years, but this one is near the top for him. This is his second Anderson film (following The French Dispatch) and he nails the deadpan method. Also great is Cera, who uses a ridiculous accent to make a big impression. Threapleton, the daughter of Kate Winslet, makes the most of her first big film role. The list of supporting actors is too deep to properly laud everyone, but they all fit in seamlessly.

Opinions will differ, but for this critic’s money, Anderson is at his best when he fully leans into the comedy of his films. He does just that in The Phoenician Scheme, to the point that it doesn’t matter that the story is overly complex. The combination of his eye for visual detail, a witty script, and committed performances make it a success.

---

The Phoenician Scheme is now playing in theaters.

movies film