Susan Tedeschi

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MEMORIES OF MAW: When Leonard Slatkin made his Music Academy of the West (MAW) debut recently, conducting the summer festival’s grand finale orchestra concert at The Granada, the last piece we heard in the concert, and for the season, was a grandiose cream puff of a symphony—Tchaikovsky’s Fourth. I wished the program’s order had been reversed, finishing off with the more brain-engaging sounds of the opener, Benjamin Britten’s Sinfonia da Requiem, Opus 20. But no matter: As usual with MAW orchestra concerts, the playing was strong and wise, beyond the years of the young musicians.

Tchaikovsky’s puffery did nothing to diminish the collected memories of another great musical summer courtesy of MAW. By now, it’s hard to imagine cultural life in Santa Barbara summers without the blessing of the Music Academy. ’Twould be a far bleaker musical place. Classical music fans would be restless, possibly resorting to vandalism to while away the hours. Instead, impressive and polished sounds await us.

This summer, for instance, Josef Haydn—that great and still underrated composer who died 200 years ago—was a star of the season, performed at each Tuesdays @ 8 program, along with varied goods, including an enchanting, text-less version of Igor Stravinsky’s “L’Histoire du Soldat.” An otherwise moving reading of Gustav Mahler’s Seventh Symphony, at the Granada, was unfortunately diluted by a half-hour demonstration/lecture, violating the notion that the concert stage should be a Gab-Free Zone. But we had to charitably remember that MAW is an educational institution, too, and the pedagogical reach extends to the public sector.

Marilyn Horne

For the anticipated opera production of the summer, voice program head Marilyn Horne stoked up the easygoing 19th-century fare of Ambroise Thomas’s Mignon in the Lobero. Opening night turned a tad bizarre. Both leads were done in by laryngitis, and understudies, including the luminous Mignon sub Kathryn Louise Lewek, were elevated to the spotlight at the last minute—nonetheless prevailing. In an unintentional postmodern twist, tenor Joshua Stewart acted but lip-synched his part, sung boldly from music stands at stage right by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré. By Sunday afternoon’s performance, Stewart and intended Mignon Simone Osborne were back in action.

Kathryn Louise Lewek

In the MAW margins, plenty of fascinating diversionary programming beckoned, including master classes, the tasty and surprising student-run Picnic Concerts on Fridays, the Plays Well with Others evening, and the Chamber Music Marathon. Thanks for the MAW memories, once again.

BLUES FAMILY CREST: Susan Tedeschi, who brings her cool/hot band to the Lobero on Friday, began wowing crowds with her feisty and friendly aplomb as a blues singer/guitarist in the mid ’90s. She won love and critical approval playing the Lilith Fair and opening for arena bands—including the Rolling Stones—while blazing a trail for other female artists in the line of blues (with side trips into gospel, gritty soul, and blues rock). Then her life took a dramatic turn upon entering the extended Allman family, marrying guitar hero Derek (Allman Brothers Band, Derek Trucks Band) Trucks. These days, Tedeschi and Trucks make for a happy, harried pair, bringing up two kids and tending to careers alone and together.

Last May, in the Lobero’s embracing ambience, Tedeschi made stunning cameos with the Trucks Band. Far from riding on Trucks’s coattails, Tedeschi is a very impressive, maturing artist in her own right, as heard on the wondrous, more gospel- and rock-inflected new album Back to the River (Verve Forecast). Her Lobero show promises to be a hot, and warming, night of American music.

GUILTY-CUM-POPULIST PLEASURE OF THE WEEK: Say what you will about Katy Perry, her lyrical indiscretions and fun-loving sensibilities of sight, post-disco sound, and perky retro fashion: This Santa Barbara-bred gal is pure summery pleasure to these ears, not to mention the biggest homegrown seller in pop music since sliced bread. She hits the Bowl stage on Sunday in a delayed grand homecoming, after having been pre-empted by Jesusita in May.

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