Hector Olivera
Hector Olivera, the 2nd concert of the regular concert series of our 50th season, was his 23rd appearance at Dickinson! Mr. Olivera’s opening selection, That’s Entertainment, was a spectacular display of the many sounds available on the Dickinson organ. Flawless playing! He showed a great sense of wit and humor in addressing the audience following this opener.
The second selection was entitled Berceuse, which was a very peaceful lullaby featuring the large and lush string section of this instrument as a background to many of the lovely solo voices found on this organ.
Next on the agenda was number 10 of a set of 12 Noels for Organ entitled New Book of Noels by the 18th century French composer Louis-Claude D’Aquin. D’Aquin titled this piece Noel, Grand Jeu et Duo. Like the other Noels in the set, each bears a title that is suggestive of the composer’s idea of the registration to be used to play them. Mr. Olivera made this piece dance between manuals / sections on the “tinkling” sounds of the organ contrasted with the full sounds of the manuals and pedal. A brilliant Baroque Christmas piece; well played and registrated.
The next selection, Kitten on the Keys, was a delightful dialogue between the piano and organ.
Many people would recognize Moonlight and Roses as the next choice by our guest performer. This piece of music was originally written by a British-born organist who immigrated to the United States. Edwin H. Lemare, upon his arrival in America quickly found employment as a church organist in a number of large New York City churches. This was one of the few compositions he wrote and often played as a classical piece in church with his original title of “Andantino in D-flat.” It wasn’t until two American songwriters: Ben Black and Charles N. Daniels (pseudonym Niel Moret) added the words “Moonlight and Roses” that this tune really “took off” and became very well known. Mr. Olivera uses a very nice reserved registration for this lovely tune.
In sharp contrast with the previous selection is, as HO puts it, a Spanish / Cuban dance-style piece of music that may be a Flamenco, or a Malaguena, or maybe just a stylized improvisation. Ravel’s Bolero was a great composition moving from very delicate to very powerful registration with nice use of the organ’s percussion sounds.
The song Open Your Heart, a Lyn Larson original, was next featuring the string section of the organ and the wonderful styling of this tune by our featured performer.
Then Mr. Olivera pulled his cell phone out of his coat pocket and, addressing the audience, mentioned that he just received a text message from his wife reminding him to tell the audience that there would be CD’s of his organ stylings available for purchase in the lobby during the intermission. What a great sense of wit and humor!
The last selection before the intermission was a medley of tunes from the movie The Titanic, including My Heart Will Go On (and on and on and on... as he quipped), and Nearer My God to Thee. This was a tonal description of the many moods of the maiden voyage of the ship: the calms and the excitement associated with the tragic ending of the journey, and featured the 4’ tibia of the organ.
INTERMISSION
To open the second half of the concert, Mr. Olivera chose the Coronation March from The Prophet by Giacomo Meyerbeer. He made the DTOS theatre organ sound like a grand concert or cathedral organ. Great job, well played!
Next on the program was our artist’s own styling / arrangement of the 1953 theme song / movie entitled Walking My Baby Back Home. Mr. O never seems to disappoint with a really neat arrangement of this mid-20th century tune.
Songs from the 1936 musical Showboat by Jerome Kern were next on the program, including Ol’ Man River. What a great arrangement!
The next and closing selection was a lengthy Tribute to Christmas, including O Come All Ye Faithful, O Little Town of Bethlehem, Let It Snow, Deck the Hall, Ave Maria (Schubert), God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen, We Three Kings, Angels from the Realms of Glory, Angels We Have Heard on High, Silent Night, and ending with Hallelujah Chorus. A great medley with a lot of well-played and clever stylings.
For an encore Mr. Olivera played the song My Way, popularized in 1969 by Frank Sinatra. Its lyrics were written by Paul Anka and set to the music of the French song Comme d'habitude composed and written by French songwriter Jacques Revaux, performed in 1967 by Claude François. Anka's English lyrics are unrelated to the original French song. The song was a success for a variety of performers including Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, and Sid Vicious. Sinatra's version of My Way spent 75 weeks in the UK Top 40, a record which still stands. Another wonderfully a song stylized version of a very popular song by our featured artist.
There are good performances and bad performances, but most fall in between and lean more toward the better than the worst. In Mr. Olivera’s performance, my findings and preferences lean entirely to the better. His arrangements of familiar tunes were outstanding, his registration (choice of stops / sounds) used were all great choices, and his playing was flawless! That’s as good as it gets. It just can’t get any better! Hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.
Jim Matz
Guest Reviewer
jamatz@msn.com