Kultur

Kultur has moved

2008-01-12T21:37:00.000-06:00

My Blog Kultur has moved. It may now be found at Kultur (http://kultur.cmichaelbailey.com). I will be shifting the majority of the material in this blog to the new address over the next few weeks.

Media: NCIS – Navy Criminal Investigative Services - “Corporal Punishment"

2007-12-05T14:23:00.000-06:00

“Corporal Punishment” first aired Tuesday, November 27, 2007

The opening scene reveals a uniformed Marine officer approaching his car at the Bethesda Naval Hospital in Washington. After gaining entrance and preparing to drive off, the driver’s side window is imploded by a raging man. The viewer is treated to alleged carjacker’s trail back to the hospital where a secured psych unit has just been blown and the alarms are singing. A less than stable veteran has just checked out AMA.

In the typical levity sequence of the show before the real action begins, Special Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) is egging Special Agent Timothy "Tim" McGee (Sean Murray) on to punch DiNozzo in the stomach so the latter may show off his granite six-pack abs. No luck their, DiNozzo requests the same from the recently arrived Mossad Agent-on-Loan-to-NCIS Ziva David (Cote de Pablo) to do the same, but she thinks DiNozzo is talking about beer. Just as Ziva is about to issue DiNozzo when Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) enters, gathering his team for the search for the disturbed escaped veteran. Ziva and DiNozzo continue with Ziva drawing back before striking DiNozzo. While admiring his abs, Ziva informs DiNozzo that Gibbs’ are still better.

The NCIS Team arrives at the hospital immediately establishing that the Marine, more than likely suffering from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), is very strong, having made his way out of a straightjacket using brute force. Gibbs finds that the Marine whose car was attacked has yet to report in and realizes that he may have a hostage situation on his hands. McGee identifies the hostage from the hospital’s internal video system. DiNozzo does a damn good Tommy Lee Jones imitation from The Fugitive, confusing Ziva, annoying Gibbs.

McGee pulls up one Marine Corporal Damon Worth (Paul Telfer)'s file, reciting his myriad of his symptoms which include paranoia, depression, aggression). Meanwhile a senatorial public relations suit, Ray Vincent (Patrick Fabian), arrives, talking on the cell phone via Bluetooth, marching around like he is someone special. He proceeds to inform Gibbs that the central issue with Corporal Worth is that a senator (from Worth’s home state of Michigan) was due to award him silver star him in three days as the Corporal went above and beyond the call in the desert theater and has been crowned a certified war hero. Gibbs is nonplussed by this Federal sack of shit, rolling his eyes.

Back at headquarters, DiNozzo attempts a failing effort for a psychological profile of the missing Corporal. DiNozzo does this by considering cinematic scenarios. Ziva and McGee discuss the Corporal’s case, revealing that Worth had a medical denial (an undisclosed anemia we learn later) to the Corps early on but this condition magically cleared up and Worth blasted through his early enlistment, improving both his mental and physical capacity and was due for a promotion to sergeant. His only break from the Marines seems to have been a hitch with the British SAS, acing the course of study. The Corporal’s nickname is revealed to be “Corporal Punishment.”

The NCIS team focus their collective attention on where the Corporal may have taken his hostage, one Navy Capt. Dr. Adrian De La Casa (Jose Zuniga). The missing doctor’s address indicates that he would have to take a toll road to work, tracking the Doctor’s car by its toll tags. The team arrives at the Doctor’s house to find him in the trunk of his own car. The garage is rigged in such a way that the paranoid Corporal can identify “his enemy” by a video camera attached to a laptop. The corporal may be bug-fuck crazy, but he is smart bug-fuck crazy.

Dr. de la Casa and the team return to NCIS headquarters were his is debriefed by Gibbs and NCIS Medical Examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum). The discussion allows for a through discussion of what appears to be a case of post-traumatic stress syndrome in the Corporal. Ducky is trying to find if Worth is merely PTSD or truly psychotic. The doctor tells Gibbs that the Marine was asking about his buddies, prompting Gibbs to find the buddies, hoping they can lead him to the missing Marine. As he is leaving the debriefing, DiNozzo alerts Gibbs that the Corporal hacked the computers to find what happened to his buddies after they left the Middle East. The team notes that one of the Corporal’s comrades is currently rehabilitating in Walter Reed.

The team heads to Walter Reed were the Corporal’s friend was rehabbing a traumatic leg amputation. The buddy, Marine PFC Nathan Stone (John Siciliano) recognizes Gibbs as a Marine. Stone proves fiercely loyal to Worth, who saved his life in Iraq, Carrying the wounded Stone out of a fire zone on his back. Gibbs convinces Stone that Worth needs his help and the private cooperates. Meanwhile Ziva and McGee are reviewing the Walter Reed video feed, noting that Worth is in the building. The quickly call Gibbs to warn him, but are too late. Gibbs already knows as the Corporal has him at gunpoint. Stone begins to tell Worth that Gibbs is also a Marine and means him no harm. Gibbs speaks softly to Worth, ultimately disarming him. As McGee place handcuff on Worth, Worth explodes, dislocating McGee’s shoulder, breaking DiNozzo’s nose and giving Ziva one hell of a shiner, but not before Ziva issues the Corporal a bit of her own brand of Israeli ass-whipping. Watching the affair is a woman at whom both Gibbs and Worth look, a representative from a commercial concern called BioTech.

Breaking to NCIS headquarters we find Ziva’s shiner going full purple. Histrionically, Abby comes in hyperventilating over her team. Of questionable social skills, Abby overreacts considering Corporal Worth and “animal” as opposed to a very sick man. This is utter bullshit. But the show gets away with such frequently. Abby and Ziva have a full contrived exchange so the writers may further juxtapose the two vastly different personalities.

NCIS Director Jennifer "Jenny" Shepard (Lauren Holly)’s office we find the female civilian suit (Karen Sutherland [Amy Carlson]) from BioTech, who witnessed Worth’s attack on Gibbs and company. She has a personal interest in the case because her company develops therapies for both physically and mentally wounded veterans. Gibbs is suspicious of Sutherland not believing her interest to be purely altruistic. She wants to know Gibbs’ intentions. Gibb replies that he just wishes to talk to the Marine.

Ducky and Ziva observe Gibbs’ interrogation of Worth from the media room. The handcuffed marine strains against his bindings; an act that makes Ziva tense. Gibbs employs a schizophrenic solo Good Cop-Bad Cop routine gain the Marine's trust. The Marine reveals that he has urges to kill and does not feel that they are right. He says that he is suffering from “needles and pills” which cloud his head. The Corporal describes the edge of insanity. He asks Gibbs for help and Gibbs offers to provide it.

Ducky later informs Gibbs that the Corporal’s symptoms predate his Iraq stint, cast doubt on a simple case of PSTD. Ducky requests urine and blood toxicology screen. Meanwhile, Gibbs says that he intends to keep his promise to help the Marine. The Marine’s initial toxicology screen revealed nothing. Following further histrionics by Abby in her lab, Abby finally asks Duck what he is looking for. Ducky replies he seeks the presence of masking agents (in this specific case uricosurics used normally in the treatment of gout) that could be hiding the presence of other substances, specifically anabolic steroids.

Upstairs in NCIS headquarters we find DiNozzo with his nose bandaged, staring at his reflection in Gibbs’ framed Purple Heart (DiNozzo keeps all of Gibbs’ commendations in his drawer to keep Gibbs from throwing them away) admiring his resemblance to Jack Nicholson’s character in Chinatown, Jake Gittes. McGee limps in with a Diet Coke trying to open it with one hand, breaking off the tab. Ziva efficiently corrects the situation with a violent blow to the can with a sharp instrument while DiNozzo, full of painkillers, does a damn good Jack Nicholson imitation.

Public relations specialist Ray Vincent clashes with Gibbs over priorities for Worth, with the series writer’s issuing the show’s statement against the war in Iraq. Ducky informs Gibbs anabolic steroids have been identified in Worth’s tissues and there is evidence that the steroid use has been over several years. PTSD is no longer the diagnoses; now it is steroid-induced psychosis. Ducky prematurely believes that Corporal Worth is the object of an experiment to create the perfect soldier. The team discusses the significance of Worth having failed his first try for the Marines because of anemia, wondering where this tidbit of information fits into the “lab rat” scenario. Gibbs elects a visit to the BioTech Company.

Gibbs and DiNozzo pay a visit to Karen Sutherland’s laboratory at BioTech. They question her about her research and the possibility that her company is experimenting with anabolic steroids on soldiers. This interview combined with further research by McGee and Ziva reveal that Karen Sutherland is legitimate and a true blue bleeding heart that volunteer’s for Doctors Without Borders using her company’s considerable resources for rehabilitating children damaged by land mines. This provides the NCIS team with the leverage to force her to hand over the project log for BioTech. She tells Gibbs that she would have provided what he wanted had he asked nicely. Gibbs replies indignantly, “This is nicely.”

The BioTech project lag reveals nada, nothing. Everything the company is involved in is legitimate and there is no drug research being conducted on soldiers, covert or otherwise. The true threat not recognized the team proceeds to the hospital to provide the Marine protection.

En route to the Corporal’s hospital room the team meets the Senator’s PR man. It is not pleasant. There is a scuffle and the PR guy manages to lose his ear piece which DiNozzo takes the opportunity to step. Gibbs informs Dr de la Casa about the steroids evidence and when pressed explains that the VA is overwhelmed by patients, more than can properly be handled. Ziva requests to see the Marine and does so against the desires of the doctor. During the visit it is apparent that Worth has been administered something that causes him to seize, the doctor claiming he is going into cardiac arrest. He tells Ziva to administer epinephrine (yea, right, like this would ever happen in real life, as likely as a razorback flying out of my ass). She does so and Worth goes wild pinning Ziva against the wall. It is instant love.

The Arthur Conan Doyle stuff: the NCIS Team figures out that the person who resetting the Corporal’s infusion is and the orderly (the one originally injured when the Worth made his initial getaway). Ziva issues him an NCIS-female ass whipping admired by DiNozzo and McGee. The interview reveals that the orderly has been supplying steroids but he does not administer them. The team Jethro (Bodine)-ciphers that the steroids have been self administered all along by Worth to cover is anemic infirmity. In his hospital room, Worth is confronted by Gibbs and Ziva. He indirectly confesses that he has to be a Marine no matter what.

Meanwhile, Ray Vincent is calling off the medal ceremony in light of this new evidence. Gibbs goes back to headquarters and rifles DiNozzo’s desk for his own Silver Star, taking the decoration back to Worth’s room and leaving it by his bedside. Gibbs is beyond such vanity and Worth deserves the medal.

Stars:

Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon)
Special Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly)
Mossad Agent-on-Loan-to-NCIS Ziva David (Cote de Pablo)
Special Agent Timothy "Tim" McGee (Sean Murray)
NCIS Forensics Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto (Pauley Perrette)
NCIS Medical Examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum)
NCIS Director Jennifer "Jenny" Shepard (Lauren Holly)
NCIS Medical Examiner Assistant Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen)

Guest Stars:

Marine Corporal Damon Worth (Paul Telfer)
Navy Capt. Dr. Adrian De La Casa (Jose Zuniga)
Karen Sutherland (Amy Carlson)
Ray Vincent (Patrick Fabian)
Chris Jenkins (Marcius W. Harris)
Marine PFC Nathan Stone (John Siciliano)

Writer: Jessie Stern
Director: Alvin Brown

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Media: NCIS – Navy Criminal Investigative Services - “Lost and Found"

2007-11-29T09:52:00.000-06:00

“Lost and Found” first aired Tuesday, November 20, 2007

“Lost and Found” further develops the character of Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) against the backdrop of a plot that borders on 30 seconds of human interest on “Good Morning America.” But effective it is, making this episode one of the more touching ones in the series history and certainly the most touching this season so far.

Special Agent Timothy "Tim" McGee (Sean Murray), in keeping with his wholesome, all-American image, turns out to be the leader of a boy scout troop. The episode opens with McGee and his troop inspecting NCIS Forensics Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto (Pauley Perrette) laboratory where he is specifically demonstrating the automated fingerprint identification system (AFIS). Abby gets a volunteer from the scout troop, Carson Taylor (Dominic Scott Kay) who has heckled her for her tattoos and has a budding interest in the cinema like one of NCIS’ own. Abby runs the young man’s prints and voila, hits a match for a child allegedly abducted with the date of last sighting.

The NCIS Team divines that the father, Brian Matthews/Taylor (Chris William Martin), technically abducted his son when his in-laws won custody of the child. Naturally, the NCIS Team would like to have a chat with Mr. Taylor and Gibbs goes and interviews Taylor’s second wife, Navy Lt. Elaine Taylor (Karis Campbell). She explains that her husband provides survivalist training and currently has a class in the wilderness. She claims he has no phone and that she has little knowledge regarding his past before meeting her. The team gathers up Mr. Taylor’s computer and discovers from his fingerprints, that he is wanted for a long cold murder.

Ziva telephones the DC Metro cops cold case squad, who assure her they will hand-deliver their file on the old murder. DiNozzo chides Ziva for having fallen for an old ruse as hand delivery means the Metro cops want in on the collar, helping themselves to the NCIS headquarters. Gibbs is nonplussed as he is turf-conscious. However, a subdued Gibbs dispatches the Metro boys out of the picture without breaking a sweat.

Gibbs proceeds to have a sit down with the Director, who is reading the Stars and Stripes where she pursues an article about Lt. Col. Hollis Mann who is retiring after 22 years and moving to Hawaii. That little tidbit of information pretty well puts the Gibbs-Mann question to bed (pardon that bad pun). Mann saw the writing on the wall in Ex-File and baled big time on the difficult Gibbs. The Director closes the paper, receiving Gibbs who desires the Director’s signature on the social services paperwork for Carson as the team cannot continue looking after the young man. The Director elects to take Carson home with her instead. She then sits down to look at the paperwork, realizing that Gibbs instead left her the case file, having set her up for the experience of being a mother for a bit. Chaucer would have liked Gibbs’ sense of humor.

So home with the Director goes Carson. He lifts the Director’s cell, calling Gibbs over. Gibbs arrives finding Carson in an easy chair listening to jazz, drinking cocoa, and bearing more than a passing resemblance to the well-known NCIS film expert. Carson owns that he lured Gibbs over under false pretenses, but proceeds to question the special agent. Gibbs treats Carson as an adult and Carson responds in kind.

The Director has been watching from the door, remarking to Gibbs how good he is with children. Gibbs explains Carson could not sleep because he was worried about his father. The Director comments to Gibbs that this is the first time they have been alone and not "working" since...and Gibbs says "Paris". She reveals that she would not be opposed to Gibbs staying the night but Gibbs does not bite. The Director makes her play now that Hollis Mann is out of the picture. But, Paris is still very real to Gibbs, a betrayal that he has yet to get beyond. He just nods and leaves.

Ziva and DiNozzo drive to the scene and hike through the night to locate the survival campsite used by Carson’s father using a map that McGee had found on Brian Taylor’s computer. Ducky and NCIS Medical Examiner Assistant Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen) conduct a "forensic psychoanalysis" of Brian Taylor, concluding he is a angry loner capable of murder). Abby finds Taylor’s satellite phone number using the Director’s cell phone, which Carson purloined again to warn his father that the Feds were looking for him. Gibbs notifies Ziva and DiNozzo that Carson alerted his father to their mission. They track Taylor via his cell phone which they find in the bed of a pickup truck driven by an unknowing man.

A set of clues worthy of Poe or Doyle lead the NCIS Team to a friend of the pater Taylor. Once located by Gibbs and McGee they find the potential witness dead as a mackerel: stabbed with the murder weapon in situ. Taylor’s friend’s telephone has blood on it and 911 was punched. Ducky opines that the assailant certainly knew the victim because of the absence of defensive wounds. The story is fleshing out to appear as if Brian Taylor killed this man who had been an accomplice in the dime store hold up and shooting (the cold case murder in which Taylor is implicated).

At NCIS Headquarters, the cold case Metro drones are George Bushing the idea that Taylor is the bad guy into the NCIS Team’s head. Abby finds the Metro drone’s forensic efforts lacking. She discovers planted evidence (a hair found in the evidence contained a artificial color not available on the market at the time of the cold case murder, indicating that the local suits planted the evidence to shorten a dead end case.

Gibbs receives a call from Brian Taylor who says he wants to talk. The call is traced to payphone in Rock Creek Park, where Metro cops and Ziva and DiNozzo arrive with Gibbs and McGee, to find Taylor. One of the Metro drones stumbles across the Taylor and lifts his gun to shoot him. In their conversation (the plot life support system considering that the cop could have simply shot Taylor and claimed self-defense and that would have been that), the Metro cop confesses that he committed the murder and by chance was able to frame the Taylor for the crime.

Gibbs (with the help of Abby) had already figured this out and steps out in time to alert the Metro drone that he was at gun point and Taylor reveals his NCIS flak jacket and that he was wired to capture the confession. Team bags the cold case metro cop leading to the conclusion where Dinozzo is trying to beat Carson’s top score on a Hollywood Trivia quiz. Carson is so similar to DiNozzo in what appeals to him that everyone has fun at DiNozzo’s expense. As Tony answers the last question that will let him take over the kid's quiz score, he thinks he has the answer right but has misspelled it (and not on purpose) allowing Carson to win. Tony bows to Carson, who graciously says a mere handshake will do. Carson’s folks show up to take Carson home. All is warm and fuzzy…and well).

Stars:

Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon)
Special Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly)
Mossad Agent-on-Loan-to-NCIS Ziva David (Cote de Pablo)
Special Agent Timothy "Tim" McGee (Sean Murray)
NCIS Forensics Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto (Pauley Perrette)
NCIS Medical Examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum)
NCIS Director Jennifer "Jenny" Shepard (Lauren Holly)
NCIS Medical Examiner Assistant Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen)

Guest Stars:

Carson Taylor (Dominic Scott Kay)
Brian Matthews/Taylor (Chris William Martin)
Navy Lt. Elaine Taylor (Karis Campbell)
Det. Marshall Collins (J.R. Bourne)
Det. Danielle Hamilton (Candice Coke)
Survivalist Trainee #1(Jeff Marlow)
Survivalist Trainee #2 (David Raibon)

Writer: David North
Director: Martha Mitchell

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Movie Review: No Country for Old Men Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen

2007-11-26T21:41:00.000-06:00

An element of film directing that brothers Joel and Ethan Coen have perfected is the global art of dialogue. This is complete film conversation from the choice written material to screen writing to regional dialect and colloquialism to an almost magically appropriate choice of actors to employ said regional dialects and colloquialisms—The whole enchilada. In this realm, the Coens have no peers, not Peckinpah, not Coppola, not even master Scorsese can touch them.

The proof of the Coens’ ear for regional natural speech is no better illustrated in the Irish-American brogue of Miller’s Crossing, the interrogative density of the North Central States in Fargo, and the mouthful-of-grits-‘n-greens salt pork drawl of pre-Depression era Mississippi in O Brother, Where Art Thou. In each of these films, the Coens carefully choreographed speech patterns and usage that seemed to make them sound more than authentic without making them sound stereotypical. The result is crystalline satire expertly clothed in the patois of the chosen region.

Add to the these films the brother’s adaptation of Pulitzer Prize winner Cormac McCarthy’s story of fate and destruction, No Country for Old Men. Deriving its title from the opening line of William Butler Yeats’ “Sailing to Byzantium,” No Country for Old Men embraces its setting of the unforgiving Texas-Mexico border region circa 1980. There is no mistaking this dialect and accent; it is 100% Texas. It is a sound of a strange alchemy of American Southern cotton bowl stirred with the piquant chilies of Mexico and spiritual cadences of Native America with heavy hints of the anvil dissonances of Germany and points east.

In the audio-narrated book version of No Country for Old Men, actor Tom Stechschulte (Fields of Freedom [2006], The Manchurian Candidate [2004]) expertly dispatches the narration with a clean efficiency, capturing the panorama of Texas-Tejano linguistics. It is challenging enough for a single performer like Stechschulte to adopt an array of characters. This challenge multiplied for the director filling these multiple roles with just the right actors—and this is what the Coens do best. In the film, McCarthy’s and by proxy, the Coens’ Hamlet is Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones). He is a 25-year veteran sheriff from a long line of veteran sheriffs who haunted the Texas border for better than a combined 100 years. He acts as the nominal narrator, the soliloquist for McCarthy’s hot, stale breath of Hell.

The leitmotif of No Country for Old Men is the chance of a coin toss. The act represents both the real and metaphorical existence of chance. In the case of the plot, the chance that Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) would come upon a Mexican heroin exchange gone bad whereby he stumbles upon a half dozen dead bodies and 2.4 million dollars in cash. Moss purloins the cash, setting in motion the employment by an un-named executive (Stephen Root) of one Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem). Chigurh is a very bad man, who, at the very lease is a socio-psychopath impossibly far beyond any form of rehabilitation, which naturally makes him a perfect assassin.

As a story antagonist, Chigurh is a curious blend of a fetishless Hannibal Lecter and Sam Peckinpah’s Bennie from Bring Me The Head of Alfredo Garcia. He fancies himself a God-like philosopher as exampled in his coin toss for the life of an unknowing gas station attendant, which the attendant wins, but a character later looses, along with that character’s life. Chigurh possesses an obscene code of keeping his promises and doing exactly what he says. He makes it a practice of leaving no witnesses to identify him. He is a perfect killing machine, employing an elaborately suppressed shotgun and pistol and a pneumatic penetrating captive bolt pistol usually employed in livestock slaughter.

Juxtaposed to Chigurh is Bell, who is world weary for having seen everything, wearing this fatigue with the patina that very little surprising him. Jones’ perfectly paced dead-pan border delivery in this blackest of black comedies should provide him his second Academy Award® nomination (after winning his first in the Fugitive [1993]). Author McCarthy reserved his finest dialogue for Bell in the book and the Coens’ have preserved this for Jones in the film. In the film, Bell is intent on protecting Moss and his young wife, Carla Jean (Kelly Macdonald) but in the end saves neither. In common, both Chigurh and Bell are focused professionals. Chigurh’s focus is maniacal and Bell’s matter-of-fact. The protagonist and antagonist never cross paths physically to meet, but continually pass through the same spaces. Ultimately, they float apart as before, and Bell realizes that where he lives is no country for old men.

An unsolicited suggestion: read the book and see the film, this way the reader/viewer gets the best of both worlds—the best in American Fiction Writing and the best in American Film Making.

Cast

Tommy Lee Jones as Sheriff Ed Tom Bell
Javier Bardem as Anton Chigurh
Josh Brolin as Llewelyn Moss
Woody Harrelson as Carson Wells
Kelly Macdonald as Carla Jean Moss
Tess Harper as Loretta Bell
Barry Corbin as Ellis
Stephen Root as Man who hires Wells
Beth Grant as Agnes, Carla Jean's Mother

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Media: NCIS – Navy Criminal Investigative Services - “Designated Target"

2007-11-21T11:11:00.000-06:00

“Designated Target” first aired Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Following the splendid “Requiem” an equally fine “Designated Target” shows a promise of the show gaining purchase with the dramatic traction of the new writing blood infused into the series.

Navy Rear Adm. Kenneth Kirkland’s (Matt Riedy) official government car has broken down, forcing the admiral to take a cab to a high level armed services meeting to which he is bringing eyes only intelligence. The cab driver, Atif Nukudna (Demetrius Grosse), turns through a park as a short-cut when a motorcycle with two riders pulls alongside the cab, the rider shooting the driver and then the admiral. The cab crashes and the motorcycle circles around to return to the cab. Curiously, the assassins step over the dead admiral and his classified documents to pick up the driver’s wallet, extracting a card and promptly leaving the scene. At NCIS headquarters, the team is summoned into action by Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon).

Initially, the NCIS team works on the assumption that the admiral was the intended target of the assassination until NCIS Medical Examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum) determines that the cab driver’s fingerprints and photo identification were taken and one of his teeth pulled. The team concludes that it was actually the driver who was the target and that his tooth was pulled for a DNA sample and his fingerprints and photo ID taken for accurate identification.

Special Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) and Mossad Agent-on-Loan-to-NCIS Ziva David (Cote de Pablo) are dispatched to the cab company to investigate. The dispatcher, Chuck Bayliss (Stephen Lee), reveals that the driver Nukudna was working off of the books for cash only, a common practice for foreign drivers. Further investigation by the two agents reveals a series of murders of cab drivers, all having in common the modus operandi of a tooth pulled, with fingerprints and a photo ID taken. An additional commonality is that all of the drivers are Burundian.

Through a Holmesian set of circumstances; DiNozzo and Ziva are led to a restaurant where many of the Burundian cab drivers congregate. This trip leads the two ultimately to the “Professor” Delphin Abaka (Basil Wallace), who ostensibly is interested in helping them in their investigation. Suspicious, when DiNozzo and Ziva observe Abaka making a cell phone call, they have Special Agent Timothy "Tim" McGee (Sean Murray) trace it, triangulating the call to a phone number leading to a Burundian woman newly arrived in the United States. Just as the remaining team prepares to leave headquarters to locate the woman, she, Sayda Zuri (Xolile Tshavalala) arrives at NCIS headquarters to claim the body of her husband. If this were not dramatic enough shock, when Sayda is taken by Ducky to identify the body, she claims that the dead man is not her husband.

Not requiring a huge leap from point A to point B, the NCIS team deduces that the assassins are pursuing any cab driver who resembles Sayda’s husband. He, Thomas Zuri (Jonathan Adams), was a political activist in Burundi, who fled the country into a safe exile in the United States, leaving his wife behind. There are elements in the current Burundian government who do not want to see Zuri’s return, fearing his leadership of a competing political party opposing theirs.

As it turns out, the US State Department helped Zuri escape from Burundi. The NCIS team seeks out and interviews the ex-agent, Derrick Choyce (Anthony Starke), who dealt with his case and who is now working in the private sector (through a second set of Holmesian circumstances the team later determines Choyce is still a State Department agent, a fact that later establishes he also sold information to the assassins).

Choyce considered it obsolete intelligence, but he told NCIS that he believed the center of the case was taxi dispatcher, Chuck Bayliss. Bayliss was the only individual who knew all of the Burundian cab drivers working “off the books” and could identify and stay in contact with them. This sends the NCIS team back to the cab company for a follow-up with Bayliss, where they find Bayliss recently deceased and in time to observe the motorcycle assassins leaving the scene.

Meanwhile, back at NCIS headquarters, tracking down Thomas Zuri proves to be a challenge. NCIS Forensics Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto (Pauley Perrette) takes a fingerprint that the missing man left on a locket he gave his wife (on the front of a photo in the locket, so it is a well preserved print) and they began trying to match the print cab drivers' licenses. Gibbs figures out that the target would have stopped cab driving when the first murder was reported and would be considered “off meter.” Gibbs has McGee search on what are known as Burundian “gypsy cabbies” who have not been working since the first murder. From five pictures that are revealed, Sayda Zuri identifies her husband's driver's ID photo. This leads the team to an address where NCIS arrives in time to prevent the "Professor" Delphin Abaka and the Burundian assassins from murdering Zuri in his own front yard.

When Gibbs speaks to Zuri, he professes concern about his wife and child. Gibbs, totally out of character and reality, actually brought Sayda Zuri along to the ultimate gun battle with the assassins where she sensibly remained in the car. Once Thomas Zuri came up the driveway beside his house, Sayda approaches him for a happy reunion, except he is shocked to see her. The reason for his surprise and ultimately Sayda’s, Thomas Zuri’s new wife and child emerge from the house, revealing that Zuri had moved on with his life after leaving Burundi.

Thomas Zuri tells Sayda Zuri that he thought her and their son were killed when their village was destroyed in the Burundi civil war. That and the fact that she never answered his letters (she having only received one), Zuri assumed the worst. In a most painful apology, Thomas tells Sayda he is sorry at the same time indicating she will not part of his future. Sayda reacts gracefully, telling him that she is only glad he is still alive.

Earlier in the episode, Ziva had been moved by Sayda’s belief that Thomas was her soul mate. Sayda’s reaction to Ziva and Ziva’s to her made of an intriguing juxtaposition of Sayda’s love for her husband and Ziva’s unresolved feelings for DiNozzo. Ziva did query Tony whether he believed in soul mates, receiving a toss-off typical of DiNozzo. The Ziva-DiNozzo dynamic shows no signs of clearing up anytime soon.

The show is making a human interest corner with “Designated Target,” and “Requiem,” and “Family” that is showing a softening Leroy Jethro Gibbs (but far from a complete softening). Season Five seems the one where Gibbs will be the great revelation.

Stars:

Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon)
Special Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly)
Mossad Agent-on-Loan-to-NCIS Ziva David (Cote de Pablo)
Special Agent Timothy "Tim" McGee (Sean Murray)
NCIS Forensics Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto (Pauley Perrette)
NCIS Medical Examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum)
NCIS Director Jennifer "Jenny" Shepard (Lauren Holly)
NCIS Medical Examiner Assistant Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen)

Guest Stars:

Sayda Zuri (Xolile Tshavalala)
Delphin Abaka (Basil Wallace)
Thomas Zuri (Jonathan Adams)
Chuck Bayliss (Stephen Lee)
Derrick Choyce (Anthony Starke)
Atif Nukudna (Demetrius Grosse)
Navy Rear Adm. Kenneth Kirkland (Matt Riedy)
Woman Dierdre (Holder)

Writers: Reed Steiner
Director: Colin Bucksey

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Media: NCIS – Navy Criminal Investigative Services - “Requiem"

2007-11-20T14:05:00.000-06:00

“Requiem” first aired Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Seven episodes deep and following a most disappointing one, ”Chimera”, NCIS grandly hits its stride with “Requiem,” the most intensely personal and character revealing episode thus far. Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) faces full on the gravity of the deaths ten years prior of his wife Shannon and daughter Kelly.

”Requiem” is an episode that cagily begins with the end a technique that jars the viewer lulled into languor by the typical NCIS introductory procedural. The episode opens with Special Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) running through the open doors of a harbor hanger, shooting and killing two armed men on either side of the exit doorway before diving into the harbor water to liberate Gibbs and a yet unidentified girl from a sinking car.

Gibbs, still consciousness, motions for DiNozzo to break the windshield and extract the girl first, who DiNozzo hauls the dock before returning for Gibbs. With the girl and Gibbs both on the dock, DiNozzo begins resuscitation on the two without apparent success. Gibbs and girl are dramatically laid out with arms splayed, their hands almost touching.

The episode then breaks to 24-hours earlier with the headquarters’ elevator doors opening, and exiting Gibbs denying Abby's request for a photo for her mobile phone. Special Agent Timothy "Tim" McGee (Sean Murray) notifies Gibbs that a young woman is waiting for him in the cafeteria. Her name is Maddie Tyler (Cameron Goodman), a name Gibbs fails to recall.

McGee tells Gibbs that Tyler claimed her desire to see Gibbs was personal. Gibbs proceeds to the cafeteria to meet this mystery woman and after some prompting, she prompts Gibbs to recall that"[She] used to come over to [his] house: [She] was Kelly's best friend." Maddie's father, a marine, is dead and she is apparently being stalked by a man she once dated, Marine Sgt. Rudi Haas (Nick Spano), and believes Gibbs to be the only one to help her.

Gibbs and Tyler make their way through headquarters where Gibbs inspects her for injury, noting bruising on her upper arms. As the two arrive at the exit elevator as NCIS Director Jennifer "Jenny" Shepard (Lauren Holly) arrives demanding face time with him stay and address the East Africa threat assessments. Gibbs ignores the Director and leaves with Tyler.

The team speculate on the Gibbs-Tyler relationship. Knowing her name, McGee searched Facebook and finds Maddie Tyler’s page where she identifies her best friend ever as Kelly Gibbs. This clears up Gibbs intense manner and focused intent. Gibbs and Tyler arrive at her house where the stalker emerges from her house. Gibbs manhandles the intruder and warns him to leave Maddie alone.

In her apartment, Gibbs with Tyler looking through a photo album documenting Tyler’s childhood. She opens the album to a photo of Maddie and Kelly aged 8, just before Gibbs left for the 1991 Iraq conflict. Maddie admits she no longer knows who took the photo. Gibbs flashes back and tell her it was he who took the photo. Maddie reveals to Gibbs that on that day, she and Kelly were burying a time capsule in Gibbs’ flower garden. Considering Kell, Maddie wonders what Kelly would be like today. Gibbs responds, “Like you.” Gibbs leaves Tyler’s house and finds that Haas is still there, but spots Gibbs and quickly drives off.

Gibbs returns to headquarters and sets his team on investigating Marine Sgt. Rudi Haas. The Director enters and immediately questions Gibbs if this is a private matter for Gibbs. She asks whether it is personal: Gibbs says private but not personal. Gibbs describes Haas as a stalker and notes that Tyler didn’t file a complaint. Gibb’s continues by informing the Director, “Are you asking do I know her, the answer is yes. Is it personal? No.” The Director directs the team to do as Gibbs asks.

Gibbs returns to his home, goes to his garden and digs up the time capsule. He takes it with him to his boat-building basement. Gibbs begins to thaw holding an abject that his dead daughter had held. This caused him to recall memories with Kelly, particularly. He recalls Kelly crying "Daddy, don’t go" [to Iraq]. This thought was interrupted as Gibbs receives a call from Maddie informing him that Haas is back. Gibbs goes to her house to find it trashed and Tyler being squirreled away into car and taken away. Gibbs suspects the abductor to be Haas and heads back to headquarters to press his team to find a connection with Haas.

Gibbs briefs the Director and the Director notes that Gibbs is concentrating on Haas. McGee accessed Haas’ phone log which reveals Haas was recently in contact with a private security mercenary firm (read: Blackwater] that has operations in Iraq. Gibbs and the Director call in the security firm head who reported that Haas turned down a job offer. The mercenary director explains why a logistics expert is worth more than a soldier in the field and Gibbs begins reacting very poorly to the mercenary’s lack of forthcoming.

The Director questions Gibbs on how long he has known Maddie Tyler, "how long? 5 years? 10 years?" and Gibbs just softly responds "15." The shoe finally falls for the Director. McGee reports that he has tracked a location that Haas uses frequently by monitoring the towers processing Haas’ phone signals. DiNozzo finds Haas work record and tracked and address to a warehouse in the area identified by McGee.

This knowledge leads the team to the warehouse. Johnny Cash is playing (“Big River”) on the boom in the warehouse. Ziva gets her Mossad vibe and hears something. They turn off Johnny Cash singing "until I die" and hear flies. The teams summons an elevator only to find Haas crucified on the floor. Ducky arrives with a dissertation on crucifixion as. Ducky then reports to Gibbs that TOD was approximately 12 hours previous and thus before Maddie could have been abducted. The team searches Haas' and discovers a GPS locator that is still active. It appears that Haas was also being stalked.

Ducky in autopsy determines Haas’ actual cause of death as acute allergic reaction to seafood. Ducky and Gibbs discuss Gibbs’ motives, which he makes clear: He will help Tyler where he could not help Kelly. McGee proves the GPS on Haas’ vehicle was purchased by the mercenary company and Gibbs recalls the mercenary director for more questioning. The mercenary director calls the Pentagon where a colonel explains that this company has been employed help the army locate stolen Iraqi treasury. Haas was to have worked out how to smuggle the money from Iraq but they didn’t know how the cash was arriving in the United States. Haas was being watched him to find for whom he was smuggling money.

While the Director pulls rank on Gibbs when he blows a hose over finding that the army surveillance team watched Maddie get abducted while doing nothing. Gibbs abruptly departs, leaving the Pentagon brass to think he has scored a turf victory, ostensibly ending his further intention for conversation with, "I think we're done here." The Director promptly responds, "The hell we are" and proceeds to threaten the colonel, ultimately obtaining the intelligence Jethro was seeking, that was: exactly where exactly did the Pentagon lose Maddie’s abductor.

The Director Jen arrives as Gibbs is leaving and informs Gibbs that the abductor was last seen at a warehouse in DC docks district. Gibbs asks the Director to brief DiNozzo. The Director asks DiNozzo about Gibbs’ hurried exit. McGee checks Gibbs desk and notes that Gibbs’ badge and ID are still there: Gibbs is going off radar to deal with the abductors directly to negotiate the release of Maddie.

The Director Jen realizes that Maddie’s role in the case involved was related to the fact that a base-quartered marine does not have is a street address with a US Postal delivery. Ziva and McGee are immediately dispatched to pursue the mailman. DiNozzo and the Director discuss the fact that Gibbs has figured out Maddie’s involvement ahead of the team and was intending to handle the situation personally. Both DiNozzo and the Director attempt to contact Gibbs with no success. DiNozzo is even with the Director attempting to dissipate the team’s heightened concern.

The scene abruptly changes to Gibbs at Maddie's flat, where he is sitting and remembering Maddie and Kelly as he gazes at their photo. Gibbs awaits the mailman. Once the mailman arrives, Gibbs takes receipt of a voucher for luggage belonging to another marine. Back in Abby's lab, Abby identifies the material isolated from beneath Haas’ fingernails as blue fin tuna which is so rare in the area that the team can readily identify the dock warehouse location.

Meanwhile Gibbs makes contact with the abductors. They instruct Gibbs on where to meet them. Gibbs proceeds to the docks where he finds Maddie being held. Gibbs a single bag of the desired money and informs the abductors that the second one is downtown. A fight with the abductors ensues and Gibbs and Maddie escape into a car. The abductors begin shooting as Gibbs puts the car into reverse and backs at full speed from the shooting off the dock into the water. DiNozzo arrives just as this is occurring and the viewer arrives at the point of the beginning of the episode.

Added to the opening scene is Gibb's vision of Kelly telling him, "It's ok, daddy, It's ok. Go back daddy, go back. Its ok. I love you Daddy, I love you" and "It's ok, go back Daddy, it's ok. I love you Daddy, love you." Gibbs sees himself reaching out to the vision of his daughter and wife, he is smiling at them and they are smiling at him. Dramatically, as the vision ends, Tony has revived Maddie and she is touching Gibbs' outstretched hand. His hand responds to the touch, indicating his survival.

The episode ends with Gibbs in his basement inspecting the contents of his daughter’s time capsule. Gibbs smiles, closes lunchbox and the trowel and promptly reburies unopened lunchbox where his daughter and Maddie had buried it.

While “Requiem” is pregnant with the use of dramatic license, once the viewer heeds Coleridge’s advice to have “a willing suspension of disbelief” the viewer is treated to the most intimate NCIS episode since the murder and sequale of NCIS Special Agent Kate Todd (Sasha Alexander) at the end of Season Two. The episode title is significant and appropriately chosen because Gibbs finally finds a degree of closure in the emotional wound of his wife and daughter’s murder.

Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Te decet hymnus Deus, in Sion, et tibi reddetur votum in Ierusalem. Exaudi orationem meam; ad te omnis caro veniet. Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis.

Stars:

Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon)
Special Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly)
Mossad Agent-on-Loan-to-NCIS Ziva David (Cote de Pablo)
Special Agent Timothy "Tim" McGee (Sean Murray)
NCIS Forensics Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto (Pauley Perrette)
NCIS Medical Examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum)
NCIS Director Jennifer "Jenny" Shepard (Lauren Holly)
NCIS Medical Examiner Assistant Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen)

Guest Stars:

Danny Coyle (Stelio Savante)
Shannon Gibbs (Darby Stanchfield)
Kelly Gibbs (Brenna Radding)
Mailman (Michael A. Shepperd)
Maddie Tyler (Cameron Goodman)
Marine Col. Stacey Radcliffe (Anne-Marie Johnson)
Army Major Max Bourdais, Ret (Mark Totty)
Marine Sgt. Rudi Haas (Nick Spano)

Writers: Shane Brennan
Director: Tony Wharmby

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Literature: Audio Book Review - No Country For Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

2007-11-20T13:58:00.001-06:00

Where are the great American writers? No, I don’t mean the shit, entertaining as it is, written by James Patterson, Michael Connelly, Dean R. Koontz, and a biblical legion of others, not even Stephen King, who is pornographically underrated as a descent writer of fiction. No, I want to know where are the Fitzgeralds, the Hemingways, the Faulkners, the O’Connors; hell, even the Percys and Weltys.

Yale blow-hard Harold Bloom shines a bit of his dim light on a select group of American writers that includes Thomas Pynchon, Don DeLillo, and Philip Roth (oddly ignoring John Updike, who is certainly deserving of the Nobel Prize for Literature). Bloom does include in his rarified group Cormac McCarthy (b. 1933), Irish-American, Roman Catholic, Rhode Island cum Tennessee cum Texas cum Arizona native, who despite coming late to the game has produced and impressive body of work.

As a novelist, McCarthy has accumulated all of the accolades that accompany fame in at least academic circles: a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1969, a MacArthur Fellowship in 1981, a National Book Award and National Book Critics Circle Award for All the Pretty Horses in 1992, and finally a Pulitzer Prize in 2007 for The Road. But you know, for the majority of the American reading public, pedestrian in their taste at best, it took Cormac McCarthy making his first ever television interview on The Oprah Winfrey Show on June 5, 2007 to give him the traction for mainstream popularity.

The Road is a very excellent book. I would direct the reader to the fine review by Gordon Hauptfleisch Gordon Hauptfleisch in this electronic magazine. But it is McCarthy’s previous book, No Country for Old Men (2005) ISBN 0-375-40677-8, that was chosen to be made into a movie by director/producers Joel and Ethan Cohen (Blood Simple, Miller’s Crossing, O Brother, Where Art Thou?) a pair well known for crashing together genre like cymbals in an orchestra and regularly creating masterpieces. And if there were ever a story written screaming to be made into a movie by the Cohen Brothers, it’s No Country for Old Men.

The present review addresses the unabridged compact disc audio presentation of the work, narrated by Tom Stechschulte, who also narrates McCarthy’s subsequent The Road. Audio books offer that additional layer of artistic expression that involves the sheer act of story-telling as an art of improvisation. Stechschulte captures perfectly the Texas border twang: half American, half Mexican, half Black, and half German, hammered on a linguistic blacksmith’s iron and quenched in the water of the Rio Grande. The voices Stechschulte effects are full of grit and life fatigue of almost having seen it all. Stechschulte’s voice proves malleable moving from male to female, ignorant to educated effortlessly.

No Country for Old Men panoramically presents an intensely disturbing and sharply refined story that mixes and confuses the divine with what is most base in the human spirit. While the plot is not demanding in the whole, McCarthy presents his characters and scenes in a Faulknarian piecemeal fashion, challenging the reader to recognize, then internalize the important plot elements while discarding the chattel of which there is very little given McCarthy’s taunt writing style, similar to that of Hemingway while being less astringent.

The story opens simply enough, disguising McCarthy’s complexly colliding themes. Llewelyn Moss, a 36-year old Vietnam veteran, is hunting antelope out on a barren desert mesa set somewhere along the Mexican-American border. It is revealed later in the story that Moss served three tours between 1964 and 1968, helping to place the period of the story in the early 1980s and not in own current time as many critics have surmised. Moss is a careful and patient man observing the landscape meticulously. After sighting several antelope but proving not able to bag one, he notes through binoculars an extraordinary scene involving pickup trucks and several apparently dead bodies. Moss observes this scene for a long time.

Finally convinced of the scene’s stasis, Moss walks to inspect what appears to have been a drug deal gone horribly awry. A pickup truck bed of heroin remains untouched at the site. A Mexican driver in a second vehicle is not so lucky having been shot, remaining barely alive. He asks Moss for water which Moss does not have. Moss procures a machine pistol from the wounded Mexican and continues to survey the scene. Moss concludes that everyone involved in this transaction did not survive it, and that one of the parties is missing. Moss follows a telling blood trail for about a mile finding a man, bled to death, this a file case filled with $100 bills, 24,000 of them in neat bank stacks of $20,000 each. Moss take s the money and returns late to his trailer that he shares with his young wife, Carla Jean. After securing the money and the machine pistol, Moss fills a gallon jug with water and begins to leave the trailer. When asked by his wife what he is doing, Moss casually responds, “I’m fixin’ to do somethin’ dumber than hell, but I’m goin’ anyways.”

And with that declaration, Llewelyn Moss returns to the scene of the crime with water for the dying Mexican only to find him shot to death and himself in the rifle scope of someone after him. Moss fancies himself the hunter, hunting for his hunters. Moss readily knows that his quest is a mistake can't quell the compulsion to challenge himself. Moss pridefully believes that he can hunt the hunter as in doing so sets his own (and many other’s) destruction into motion.

Aside from Moss, the movie presents the reader with an additional pair of antithetical main characters. The first is a sociopathic assassin named Anton Chiguhr (when pronounced almost sounds like “sugar,” a most corrosive irony in the story). Chigurh executes his profession with a clean efficiency using a pistol and shotgun, each fitted with suppressors making their discharges little more than puffs. Chigurh also uses a penetrating captive bolt pistol usually employed in euthanizing livestock prior to slaughter. Not only does this implement aid Chigurh in murder, he also finds it handy in blowing out deadbolt locks.

The second main character is the local Sheriff Ed Tom Bell, a former World War II Veteran who is brighter than the majority of his peers and attempts to find and protect Moss. Bell is all old school. Each section of the book opens with a soliloquy by Bell, mostly addressing how things have changed in crime and law enforcement in the 30 years he has worked as a law man. Bell waxes Texan on many other related subjects that oddly interweave the story’s bleak narrative. Bell is pure deadpan, but not in any ironic, comical way. Bell is tired. He is worn down and profoundly emotionally confined by all he has experienced and what he is experiencing with this bad drug deal.

Once Moss realizes the pickle in which he finds himself, he dispatches Carla Jean to stay at her mother in El Paso until the matter of the 2.4 million dollars is reconciled. Chigurh is hired by an un-named businessman to recover the drug money and begins by hunting Moss when finding his truck at the scene of the drug deal. Chigurh makes it a point to murder all he meets, ostensibly never leaving a witness. He does, however, spare a gas station owner who correctly calls the flip of a coin. A technique employed by Chigurh as a metaphor for fate. Moss manages to elude Chigurh in spite of an electronic transmitter located in the file case of money, which is eventually found by Moss and discarded in a hotel room.

Bell finds himself continually one step behind Moss and Chigurh. This affords the sheriff the time to consider the crime and begin his own search for Moss. Meanwhile the businessman who first hired Chigurh hires Carson Wells a black ops ex-Colonel who's had experience with Chigurh previously, to recover the money. Wells quickly and easily follows Moss to a Mexican Hospital where Moss is recovering from a previous experience with Chigurh, offering to protect Moss from Chigurh in exchange for the money. Wells reasons that Chigurh will kill Moss whether Moss hands over the money or not. Moss declines and Wells returns to his hotel where he is promptly murdered by Chigurh, who seems a step ahead of everyone all of the time. The phone rings in Wells' hotel room after his murder and is answered by Chigurh who tells Moss that if he brings him the money, he will spare Moss's wife, but will kill him no matter what.

The story leads to its logical end with the exception that once Chigurh has completed his job, he is involved in a freak (coin-flip fate) car accident that results in Chigurh breaking his arm in a compound fracture. Chigurh escapes the scene leaving an empty ambulance arriving and perplexed set of onlookers.

Like in his Pulitzer-prize winning The RoadMcCarthy's language is as clean and dry as cattle bones in the Texas desert. This colloquial dialog propels large sections of the story, betraying McCarthy’s sensitive ear for regional speech and dialect so effective it would be easy for one to consider him the best living American writer at capturing the linguistic essence of a geographical region. If a literate public seeks a truly great American writer, they need look no further than Cormac McCarthy.

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Media: NCIS – Navy Criminal Investigative Services - “Identity Crisis"

2007-10-24T12:10:00.001-05:00

“Identity Crisis” first aired Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Some things are more than we could ever hope for. NCIS’s fourth season had its share women issuing ass kickings. If the first three episodes of Season Five is any indication, we can expect the same brutality about every other episode. In Ex-File NCIS Forensics Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto (Pauley Perrette) pops her protagonist-antagonist one good one. In the current “Identity Crisis” another satisfying female-issued ass kicking occurs much to this writer’s delight.

“Identity Crisis” opens with NCIS Medical Examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum) is demonstrating an autopsy to enlisted students. After having opened the skull and removing the brain of a donated corpse, Ducky instructs NCIS Medical Examiner Assistant Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen) to pass the brain around to students the first of whom finds mercury dripping from the brainstem. Something is terribly amiss. .

The introductory levity portion surrounds Special Agent Timothy "Tim" McGee (Sean Murray) looking online for a dog from an animal rescue site. Before long Mossad Agent-on-Loan-to-NCIS Ziva David (Cote de Pablo) and Special Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) chime in before Gibb’s suggests McGee get an Australian Shepard because they are “workin’ dogs.” Gibbs goes to Ducky’s lab to find the good doctoring a fury over shoddy work of the original medical examiner who first examined this particular body before releasing it to cadaver autopsy. Ducky and palmer have determined that the deceased is a middle aged African-American man who had lived a violent life and been in prison (both devined by the presence of scars and tattoos.

Gibbs and Duck decide to pay the previous medical examiner a visit where Ducky threatens to treat the other doctor to a piece of his mind. Entering an autopsy suite, Ducky inquires if a Dr. Jordan Hampton is present and is greeted by a harried but very attractive female party claiming that title. Ducky is obviously taken with Dr. Hampton and his threats of giving her what for melt away as she smiles at him. Ducky and Gibbs inform her that they are looking into her former patient as a homicide, citing the mercury injection into his brain. Dr. Hampton grabs the John Doe’s file, elaborates that the police could not identify him. She claims a backed up morgue with an uncooperative police staff that would rather just close cases for the lack of protocol afforded this particular John Doe. Ducky perfectly understands, prompting Gibbs as they are leaving to remark, “Yeah, I hope she recovers from that tongue lashing.”

The scene breaks to the DC pier area where Gibbs, Ziva, McGee, and DiNozzo are looking for evidence. Gibbs and DiNozzo enter a local eatery flashing pictures of the murdered John Doe, meeting a waitress named Shannon O'Hara (Nikita Ager) who says that she has seen the deceased, who paid cash and tipped big. While discussing these findings, Gibbs and DiNozzo notice a woman too well dressed to be patronizing this particular café and observe her with curiosity. They think it odd, look away and then back only to find the mysterious woman gone. The two notify Ziva to intercept said mysterious woman outside where the three discover she is none other than FBI Special Agent Courtney Krieger (Dorian Brown), ultimately the protégé to Senior FBI Agent T.C. Fornell (Joe Spano). Ms. Krieger identifies NCIS’s John Doe as Marvin Hinton, who had previously been working for the FBI.

back at NCIS headquarters, agent Krieger makes herself at home and exchanges information with Gibbs’ team. McGee points out that he cannot find any record of Marvin Hinton and Krieger informs him he won’t. While prison mates at Cumberland penitentiary attest to Hinton’s incarceration in prison, all subsequent signs of him have disappeared. The FBI has had to literally assemble the man’s life manually. Krieger tells McGee that Hinton goes occasionally went by the alias Frederick LeClair, who is pulled up as Hinton on the computer revealing a lengthy criminal past.

As the crow flies, the FBI has had Hinton on their collective radar because his identity had been so thoroughly erased, indicating that a specialist in such identity reassignment was operating in the area and the Bureau was interested in finding the said eraser. Krieger admits that she was just babysitting Hinton while Bureau did its thing and he was murdered. Ziva reacts coldly to the FBI agent and her revelation while DiNozzo dutifully holds her hand. The renewed sexual tension between Ziva and DiNozzo is apparent and developed too soon after the exit of Jeanne Benoit. Krieger acts as sliding pitch in the two NCIS agent’s developing relationship.

Krieger takes the team to the safe house where she was holding Hinton where the team collects evidence and identifies as well as copious and conspicuous bodily fluids on the sheets of the bed as well as mercury. The team declares the safe house as the murder scene. The scene breaks to Abby’s lab where all of the evidence is taken for her analysis. Abby is quite taken with the jail-house tattoo located on the deceased body. She senses that this is a breakthrough clue but cannot decipher its secrets. Additionally, Abby identifies the presence of hair from six different women. Up in head quarters, Krieger shows DiNozzo and Ziva pictures of all of Hinton’s contacts, all women. During an interlude, Ziva, with McGee, begins to suspect Krieger as the eraser and searches her purse for hair samples from Krieger’s brush to match to Abby’s samples. McGee and Ziva discuss the pros and cons of Krieger, McGee defending her as being new to the job and Ziva noting that Gibbs dislikes her when McGee notes that it appears DiNozzo is fond of her. Ziva’s face says it all, but there remains something askew in the Ziva-DiNozzo love angle. Things are just not quite fitting.

Gibbs goes to Fornell’s office to discuss the case and specifically FBI Special Agent Courtney Krieger ultimately revealing Krieger’s novice mistakes in reporting to her superiors (via email rather than immediately by phone). Fornell reveals that what Krieger was working on an identity modifying mastermind named Kamal Konkani. Gibbs and Fornell bring this information to the attention of NCIS Director Jennifer "Jenny" Shepard (Lauren Holly) and the team has a meeting in the Director’s AV room. Krieger notes the presence of her superior with fear and Fornell proceeds to brief the group on the identity and activities of Kamal Konkani, who is thought to be a Pakistani national reared in India and England. Konkani made his name working with international terrorists and was partly responsible for several notable terrorist attacks. No country’s intelligence community has ever photographed the phantom Konkani who apparently has taken refuge in the United States in the DC area, plying his trade as an identification reassignment specialist, his true talent making people’s pasts disappear. These are handy aptitudes to have when working in the terrorism area.

Leaving the meeting Gibbs and Ziva discuss the case while Fornell trashes Krieger for her bad communications methods. Ziva is visibly pleased with this dressing down while DiNozzo defends the beleaguered agent. Ziva claims to not like cleaning up after others and accuses DiNozzo for wanting to sleep with Krieger. DiNozzo does not deny this and Ziva pretends disappointment in what she perceived was growth in DiNozzo during his relationship with Jeanne Benoit. Ziva states, “[Krieger] is just a girl; the man you were becoming needs a woman.” It is a strange relationship between Ziva and DiNozzo. There exists a sexual tension, but not like that between Maddie Hayes and David Addison on Moonlighting. This one may be playful on DiNozzo’s part but is not on Ziva’s. This is very strange Mojo, indeed.

The scene breaks to Abby’s lab where she is discussing the tattoo with Ducky via the officer monitor. Gibbs enters and Abby dutifully devotes her attention to him as he. Abby discovers that a note written by Konkani was written on cash register ribbon contaminated with spices used in Eastern Indian Food. Meanwhile, Krieger accosts Ziva in the hall and asks her if it is hard to be the only woman on the NCIS team. Ziva confidently responds no and the conversation continues with Ziva giving Krieger advice to not try and be perfect, if you make a mistake, “get back on the horse” that prompts Krieger to say she had equestrian experience and Ziva to reveal an uncle who bred Arabians. The two women begin to warm to one another.

Meanwhile, the rest of the team is tracking down Indian restaurants close to the area where Konkani is thought to live. They identify one Tandoori restaurant, which after an undercover inspection by DiNozzo and Krieger leads NCIS to a delivery boy (Robert Graves [Joe Egender]) who is questioned closely but appears clean. At this point it appears that the dead black man may have not been waiting for the eraser but was the eraser. Contemporarily, a woman (the waitress Shannon O'Hara) who had previously murdered her husband using the mercury injection to who apparently bought a new identification from Konkani, is framed by the alleged new operative for the murder of the old eraser (the original dead guy).

The plot leads the team back to the Robert Graves, who turns out to be the apprentice to Konkani, who is just being released by Ziva and Krieger at his home when Gibbs calls and tells them to detain him. He senses this, grabs a gun and attempt to shoot Ziva at which time Krieger exercises some impressive moves to disarm him while proceeding to give him a satisfying ass whipping. This finally endears Ziva to her. Back at headquarters, Gibbs and Fornell take questioning off video and proceed to extract information regarding Konkani from Graves the old-fashioned way, which ultimately leads to the true Konkani’s arrest.

“Identity Crisis" is over circuitous in the extreme and confusing, but the ass-kicking scene in the end goes a long way to forgiving these shortcomings. The DiNozzo/Ziva relationship remains muddled while introducing Krieger to the mix prompting some NCIS pendants to opine Ziva as a bisexual. I think this unlikely because of her faith conviction, but the thought is provocative. Should Dinozzo and Ziva ever sleep together, I suspect that will damage the balance of the show. There is no way these writers are going to allow Ziva to have an intimate relationship with Krieger either. But no matter, there remains much fun in this series.

Stars:

Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon)
Special Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly)
Mossad Agent-on-Loan-to-NCIS Ziva David (Cote de Pablo)
Special Agent Timothy "Tim" McGee (Sean Murray)
NCIS Forensics Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto (Pauley Perrette)
NCIS Medical Examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum)
NCIS Director Jennifer "Jenny" Shepard (Lauren Holly)
NCIS Medical Examiner Assistant Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen)

Guest Stars:

Senior FBI Agent T.C. Fornell (Joe Spano)
FBI Special Agent Courtney Krieger (Dorian Brown)
Dr. Jordan Hampton (Torri Higginson)
Shannon O'Hara (Nikita Ager)
Robert Graves (Joe Egender)
Navy Lt. Carl Greer (Emerson Brooks)

Written By: Jesse Stern
Directed By: Tom Wright

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Music : Bach: The Six Sonatas & Partitas for Violin Solo by Lara St. John, Ancalagon Records

2007-10-23T14:56:00.000-05:00

Canadian violinist and Bach specialist Lara St. John has been called many things, both positive and disparaging. After ten years on what can only be described as the brutal 21st Century Classical recording scene, this writer chooses to describe St. John as a musical Valkyrie. From the Old Norse Valkyrja, meaning "Choosers of the Slain," St. John can be seen as a rejuvenating force in Bach circles, reviving and providing youthfulness and contemporary interpretation of the supreme of the Bach canon: The Six Sonatas & Partitas for Violin Solo, BWV 1001-BWV 1006.

Or, if the reader/listener is so inclined, he or she may see St. John as the true supernatural deity described as a warrior goddesses, riding in the ranks of the gods and serving victorious drinks in Valhalla. This perhaps best depicts St. John’s steely determination to both make music and record it (on her own terms and recording label Ancalagon) thumbing her nose at the major music distributors like the Valkyrie Skogul (“Raging” against the corporate machine) producing rarified Bach, easily the best in the past 20 years.

Ten years in the making, St. John’s Bach: The Six Sonatas & Partitas for Violin Solo has not been without its preludial teases and promises. In 1996, St. John released Bach Works of Solo Violin bisecting Bach’s Six with crisp and impassioned performances of the Partita no. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004 and Sonata no. 3. in C Major, BWV 1005 (Well Tempered Productions). Following another Well Tempered Production, 1997’s Gypsy, which focused on show-stopping incendiary devices like Waxman’s “Carmen” Fantasie,” de Sarasate’s “Zigeunerweisen,” and Kreisler’s “La Gitana,”

In 2000, St. John elected to go it alone, forming her own record company, Ancalagon Records, named for her pet iguana who was in turn named for the greatest dragon of Morgoth as documented by J.R.R. Tolkien in The Silmarillion. This major endeavor resulted in The Concerto Album recorded with the New York Bach Ensemble, where St. John teased us once again with the Bach solo violin of the Sonata no. 1 in G minor, BWV 1001, whose fuga alone could disarm the Spartan 300. In 2004, St. John was approached by Sony for a project that resulted in Re: Bach which featured Bach-like confections from composer Magnus Fiennes.

Disillusioned (or disgusted) with her experience with Sony, St. John returned full time to Ancalagon Records, electing to produce her first magnum opus Bach: The Six Sonatas & Partitas for Violin Solo. It was only natural that St. John record Bach’s fractured monolith as she had been preparing for this recording all of her life in the same way Eric Clapton had prepared for his Robert Johnson tribute Me and Mr. Johnson for the better part of his career.

St. John’s Bach: The Six Sonatas & Partitas for Violin Solo is quintessential Bach for the 21st Century on a number of levels. One, she has lost none of her youthful and daring enthusiasm for the time-worn pieces while gaining a certain gravity that allows her to reveal additional treasures contained in the Master’s scores. Her Sonata no. 1 in G minor Fuga shimmers like the dancing dimes of a hard rain on a lake, each note individual, all collected as one. The corresponding Partita no. 1 in B minor, while plaintive remains playful and full of dance while still possessing that dark roasted minor-key character. St. John’s intonation and approach are flawless.

Of further note are the newly recorded Partita no. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004 and Sonata no. 3. in C Major, BWV 1005, reprised here from her debut recording which, like her original Sonata no. 1 in G minor, retains its fresh vibrancy buoyed by the gravity of experience and understanding the past ten years of having to do it all have provided the violinist. While maturing as an artist, St. John refuses to smother the repertoire, allowing it to breathe and breathe properly in today’s modern environment.

The technical aspects of Bach: The Six Sonatas & Partitas for Violin Solo are also impressive by any standard. St. John had a very specific idea of what she wanted regarding the miking and engineering of these performances. For the task, the violinist tapped Martha de Francesco to produce the recording. St. John desired a perfectly natural sound for her 1779 “Salabue” Guadagnini not to be marred by saccharine reverberation or other artificial effects. Engineer Leslie Ann Jones elected a microphone setup that used a variety of microphones arranged in specific locations with respect to St. John during the recordings.

The goal was to capture the violin in a unique three-dimensional manner. In an ingenious combination of old and new technology, DPA and Neumann microphones in cardioid and omni-directional presentation were arranged for depth while the plushness of the instrument was amply captured by an AEA88 ribbon microphone and the warmth by vintage M50 Neumann microphones run through tube amplifiers. This methodology is similar to the contemporary attempts to capture the blues harmonica sound of Little Walter Jacobs by using a combination and analogue and digital methods. The results for St. John are spectacular in the hybrid SACD-CD form of the final released product. When played on super audio equipment, Bach: The Six Sonatas & Partitas for Violin Solo is more than one could possibly sonically ask for.

In total, Bach’s solo violin corpus has been carefully considered and performed con brio by St. John on this special release that can only be considered the finest performance of these pieces in this new millennium.

Selections:

Disc 1: Sonata no. 1 in G minor BWV 1001 – Adagio; Sonata no. 1 in G minor BWV 1001 - Fuga: Allegro; Sonata no. 1 in G minor BWV 1001 – Siciliana; Sonata no. 1 in G minor BWV 1001 – Presto; Partita no. 1 in B minor BWV 1002 – Allemanda/Double; Partita no. 1 in B minor BWV 1002 – Corrente Double; Partita no. 1 in B minor BWV 1002 – Sarabande/Double; Partita no. 1 in B minor BWV 1002 - Tempo di Borea/Double; Sonata no. 2 in A minor BWV 1003 – Grave; Sonata no. 2 in A minor BWV 1003 – Fuga; Sonata no. 2 in A minor BWV 1003 – Andante; Sonata no. 2 in A minor BWV 1003 – Allegro.

Disc 2: Partita no. 2 in D minor BWV 1004 – Allemanda; Partita no. 2 in D minor BWV 1004 – Corrente; Partita no. 2 in D minor BWV 1004 – Sarabanda; Partita no. 2 in D minor BWV 1004 – Giga; Partita no. 2 in D minor BWV 1004 – Ciaccona; Sonata no. 3 in C major BWV 1005 – Adagio; Sonata no. 3 in C major BWV 1005 - Fuga: Allabreve; Sonata no. 3 in C major BWV 1005 – Largo; Sonata no. 3 in C major BWV 1005 - Allegro assai; Partita no. 3 in E major BWV 1006 – Preludio; Partita no. 3 in E major BWV 1006 – Loure; Partita no. 3 in E major BWV 1006 - Gavotte en Rondeau; Partita no. 3 in E major BWV 1006 - Menuet I - Menuet II; Partita no. 3 in E major BWV 1006 – Bourée; Listen Partita no. 3 in E major BWV 1006 – Gigue.

Personnel:

Lara St. John: Violin (1779 “Salabue” Guadagnini).

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Music: Bach: Works for Solo Violin, Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004, Sonata No. 3. in C Major, BWV 1005 by Lara St. John

2007-10-19T11:00:00.000-05:00

As an introduction to the Classical repertoire for the uninitiated, perhaps the most accessible solo instrument performance for most, after the piano, is the violin. Extrapolating that thought further, for both piano and violin, perhaps the most accessible composer to begin with is Johann Sebastian Bach (1685 – 1750). Bach’s position in musical history looms too large for brief description, but for the sake of time and space and anemic attempt will be made.

Harold C. Schoenberg, former Classical Music Critic for the New York Times entitled his chapter on Bach in his monumental Lives of the Great Composers, “Transfiguration of the Baroque.” While closely associated with the Baroque period of music, he nevertheless did not create it. Bach’s influence in the Baroque period was predated by Claudio Monteverdi and Heinrich Schutz in the early period (1600 – 1650) and Archangelo Corelli, Henry Purcell, and Antonio Vivaldi in the Middle Period (1650 – 1700).

Bach shared the late Baroque Period with two almost perfect chronological contemporaries, Domenico Scarlatti (1685 – 1757) and George Frideric Handel (1685 – 1759). All three perfected the baroque musical aesthetic, but it was Bach that attempted to systematize Baroque musical thought, most particularly with his Das Wohltemperierte Clavier (Well Tempered Clavier, BWV 846–893), Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin (BWV 1001–1006), and his instrumentally ambiguous magnum opus, Die Kunst der Fuge (The Art of the Fugue, BWV 1080).

Much has been written regarding the age which a modern performer records a given piece of classical music. Regarding Bach’s monolithic Six Suites for Unaccompanied Cello, BWV 1007-1012) many cellists choose to first record these later in their careers, examples being the master Pablo Casals(age 63) Pierre Fournier (age 55), and Mstislav Rostropovich (age 68) and the performances benefit from this. This results in introspective and extremely thoughtful performances, each mentioned deserving a listen. I do not necessarily think that the same circumstances exist for Bach’s Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin (BWV 1001–1006). Experienced young performers are more than capable of bringing a spark and freshness to these pieces that is often dampened by studied age and experience.

Bringing us presently to Canadian violinist Lara St. John. In a stroke of artistic and marketing genius, St. John released Bach: Works for Violin Solo in 1996. At age 25, the youthful St. John debuted on this recording with two Bach solo violin pieces, the Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004 and Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1005. The results were quite remarkable and well-received by critics internationally. The recording was released by Well-Tempered Productions and recorded with 24-bit technology, providing the performance with a paradoxical crispness and warmth often difficult to achieve with capturing the violin’s complex tone palette.

The choice of the Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004 and Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1005 has a creative symmetry similar to the center of the Bible bisecting Psalm 103: 1-2: “Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits…” The two pieces bisect what is Bach’s Canon on solo violin. The pieces provide St. John ample material with which to demonstrate her youthful command and informed insight into Bach performance. The Partita No. 2 Allemanda is full of dense pathos without being brittle and inaccessible. The Giga dances like the flight of birds, elegantly and with precision.

St. John saves her best playing for the Sonata No. 3, particularly in the Adagio/Fuga sections where her double stops are heart-rending, full-bodied and passionate. The Fuga is the pinnacle of refinement. St. John’s single note articulation is rarified. Bach: Works for Solo Violin, Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004, Sonata No. 3. in C Major, BWV 1005 is a great Bach violin sampler that should make the listener look forward to St. John’s recording for the complete Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin (BWV 1001–1006).

Visit Lara St. John on the Internet.

Selections:

Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004: Allemanda; Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004: Corrente; Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004: Sarabanda; Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004: Giga; Partita No. 2 in D Minor, BWV 1004: Ciaccona; Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1005: Adagio – Fuga; Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1005: Largo; Sonata No. 3 in C Major, BWV 1005: Allegro Assai.

Personnel:

Lara St. John: Violin (1779 “Salabue” Guadagnini).

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Media: NCIS – Navy Criminal Investigative Services - “Ex-File"

2007-10-18T07:27:00.000-05:00

“Ex-File” first aired Tuesday, October 9, 2007

While the NCIS writers sans Donald Bellisario are still getting their sea legs, they collectively pack four episodes of major character development into the single episode of “Ex-File,” cleverly titled as it involves Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ (Mark Harmon) third wife, Stephanie Flynn (Kathleen York), proving that at least until Army Lt. Col. Hollis Mann (Susanna Thompson), Gibbs had a major thing for redheads (think NCIS Director Jennifer "Jenny" Shepard (Lauren Holly)).

The episode opens with the wife of Marine Captain Trent Reynolds, Jill Reynolds (Lilli Birdsell) and her friend Stephanie Flynn (Kathleen York) entering the Reynolds’ house following a business trip that took Mrs. Reynolds to a pharmaceutical conference. The two enter the house looking for Mrs. Reynolds’s husband, who is apparently home because a stereo is blaring in the study. They find Captain Reynolds dead, speared from the back through his sternum by one of his own spear gun darts. Captain Reynolds propped upright by the spear in front of his laptop computer displaying a picture of his family on the screen. The team determined Marine Reynolds worked for the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and was on Fort Belfore army base, ultimately making this a joint Army-NCIS case to be led by none other than Army Lt. Col. Hollis Mann (Susanna Thompson). Sparks will fly.

When Gibbs and his team reach the crime scene, Lt. Col. Mann is already present. Mann makes it perfect clear to Gibbs that she is in charge of the investigation. NCIS Medical Examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum) estimates the time of death and the team seeing the laptop as evidence, confiscates it. The brass from the DIA sends Army Major Eric Sweigart (Myk Watford) and Army Lt. Joseph Marsden (Robin Dunne) to NCIS where the two insist that the laptop holds secrets too sensitive for the wrongs eyes and should be returned to them immediately. NCIS Director Jennifer "Jenny" Shepard (Lauren Holly) will not let go of the laptop as it is evidence and the two units come to the agreement that DIA personnel will be sent to work with NCIS Forensics Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto (Pauley Perrette), who is resistant to the idea, to say the least. The Agency sends a geek Woton named Fred Rinnert (John Mallory Asher) to oversee Abby and whom Abby initially loathes but eventually warms up to.

The NCIS-Army investigation team turns up Major Sweigert’s fingerprint on the door to the Reynolds' house. His explanation for the print was he was there having a date with Stephanie Flynn, Mrs. Reynolds’ friend and Gibbs’ ex-wife, which would place him at the Reynolds’ residence. Mann takes Gibbs to see Director Shepard to discuss Stephanie Flynn and the propriety of having Gibbs on the investigation considering his past relationship with Flynn. Mann and Director Shepard conclude that Gibbs’ involvement will not be a problem because Mann will conduct the interrogation.

Mann interviews Flynn with Special Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) and Mossad Agent-on-Loan-to-NCIS Ziva David (Cote de Pablo), in the observation room, discussing who is more attractive, Gibbs’ ex-wife number 3 or future ex-wife number 4. Gibbs shows up, Tony and Ziva being unsure how long he was behind them. Meanwhile, Flynn, tiring of the interrogation, demands to see Gibbs, yelling for him through the glass darkly. Gibbs enters the interrogation room with coffee for Flynn and Mann. Gibbs speaks briefly with Flynn; the conversation cut short by McGee’s summons of Gibbs to Abby’s lab.

Having warmed to Fred Rinnert, he and Abby found that Trent Reynolds had been sending and receiving email and using a file sharing application with which he procured Tom Lehrer's "The Elements Song" that recites the periodic table to a tune (a geek’s “Conjunction Junction”). The song was embedded on Reynolds’ hard drive and presents a query that Abby must unravel: exactly why was Reynolds sharing "The Elements Song" just before he died?

On the character development front, Ducky and Mann discuss Gibbs. Mann doesn't want to be another Gibbs causality considering Gibbs is a three time loser. Ducky absently corrects her that Gibbs has been married four times. It dawns on Mann that Gibbs must be a widower. Ducky fills in the gaps for Mann about Gibbs’ murdered family and Mann figures out that the name of Gibbs’ boat Kelly was named for his dead daughter. Gibbs arrives, redirecting Ducky to explain that a substance found on the dead marine's cheeks was tears. He was crying when he died.

Meanwhile, Tony and Ziva arrive in autopsy and reveal that the dead Reynolds' phone records disclosed nothing but that Major Sweigert had been frequently speaking with Reynolds' wife. The team surmises that Jill Reynolds was having an affair with Sweigert. After a few time calculations, the team determines that her alibi of being at a conference in Charlottesville, 2 hours drive away, would have allowed here to drive home kill her husband and drive back. Reynolds held a considerable amount of life insurance that would make a tidy nest-egg for her and her lover; an arrest warrant is issued for Mrs. Reynolds.

Abby employs a method of cyber-ciphering called steganography to divine the hidden file in files stored with “The Elements Song.” Fred offers help and Abby resists, claiming to be a control nut. She resists but warms more and more to the apparently harmless uber-geek. Meanwhile, Gibbs and Mann enter an elevator and taking advantage of the privacy, asks Mann what is wrong. Mann confronts Gibbs with not ever having told her about Shannon and Kelly. Gibbs replies that "They're dead. End of story. I've put it behind me". Mann asks "Have you?" They resume their descent.

Tony and Ziva meet DIA officer Army Lt. Joseph Marsden at the Reynolds’ house as they go to arrest Mrs. Reynolds. He reveals that he was there to discuss the death benefits she can expect. The two find Jill Reynolds obsessively cleaning the house. It is wiped completely clean. Mrs. Reynolds reveals that "Cleaning is kind of therapeutic for me", indicating an acute need for obsessive-compulsive disorder intervention. Meanwhile, Stephanie Flynn is pleading with Director Shepard to have Gibbs removed from the case. Flynn wants to protect Sweigert from any collateral career harm that could come out of this investigation. Flynn well knowing that the Director and Gibbs worked together asks whether the Director and Gibbs had been intimate. The Director prevaricates, stating her and Gibbs’ relationship was "only professional." Hmmm.

With Mrs. Reynolds’ back in interrogation, Mann confronts her over her affair with Sweigert. Mann informs her that her husband had been reading their love-emails and crying when he died. Mrs. Reynolds denies killing her husband. Gibbs and Mann get called to the labwhere McGee produces ATM footage proving that Mrs. Reynolds was indeed at the conference in Charlottesville at the time of her husband’s death. Gibbs and Mann talk. Mann asks Gibbs what if Stephanie could have possibly killed Reynolds. Gibbs thinks not and says so. Gibbs orders Tony to call Flynn to ask her to come back into headquarters only to find out that she has left her job that morning.

Meanwhile, Abby grows closer to the unlocking secret on Reynolds’ laptop Abby determines that “The Elements Song” can be filtered, providing a number of audible elements, each represented by a number on the periodic table that can be interpreted as a numeric code, one she does not understand. Fred, meanwhile, answers Abby’s phone and tells her that her that Gibbs wants to see her up stairs her. Abby locks the laptop in an evidence bag and leaves the lab. Gibbs tells Abby that he did not call her and Abby realizes that she has left Fred in her lab unattended with evidence. Abby and Gibbs race back to lab, leaving McGee to unravel the meaning of the numbers from “The Elements Song.” Abby finds her computer and the laptop erased. Everyone figures out that Fred is the killer but the team has no hard evidence. Fred begins to walk out with the team following him. They slow him down while Abby keeps asking Gibbs if she can throttle him. Gibbs says no each time.

In a most timely manner, McGee discovers that the numbers represent a bank account number for the deposit of money from the sale of defense secrets was made. It turns out that Reynolds and Fred made a cool million from a Beirut dealer. Incredulous, Gibbs asks Fred "What did you sell and who did you sell it to?" Insolently, Fred responds, "Maybe if you cut me a deal, I'll tell you." Gibbs allow Abby to hit him, thus issuing one more NCIS female on male ass whipping. It just doesn’t get better than this.

Back on the interpersonal front, Mann and Gibbs, in full party togs descend into Gibbs' dimly lit basement, with Mann questioning why all of their romantic nights end with sanding boats in his basement. They find Stephanie Flynn inside Gibbs boat. Humiliated, Flynn passes her hands over the name "Kelly" carved on the boat hands Gibbs his dog tags, which she had still had. Gibbs walks her out to her car. In Gibbs’ basement, Mann has found a cassette player with empty casette cover on his workbench. She hits 'play' and the music comes out: a home-recorded solo piano, very simple, naive, like early classical. Mann smiles until the music stops and she hears voices: Kelly's voice and Shannon’s voice. Mann's smile evaporates. Gibbs has stopped midway down the stairs, sitting, staring straight ahead, and listening to Mann listening to the tape. The voices cease. Mann fully internalizes the gravity of Gibbs’ loss and the emotionally precarious position she and Gibbs are in.

While sputtering like a Model A being cranked, NCIS is already light years ahead of last season. Gibbs and Mann seem made for one another. Tony and Ziva may finally couple like two cultural gods and McGee and Abby may try and see if things are better the second time around. And then there is the Director. NCIS sets itself apart from the CSI franchise, Criminal Minds, and Num3ers by not trying to take itself so seriously and without being pseudo-intellectual. It is a culturally aware and pleasing procedural that rarely fails to entertain.

Stars:

Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon)
Special Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly)
Mossad Agent-on-Loan-to-NCIS Ziva David (Cote de Pablo)
Special Agent Timothy "Tim" McGee (Sean Murray)
NCIS Forensics Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto (Pauley Perrette)
NCIS Medical Examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum)
NCIS Director Jennifer "Jenny" Shepard (Lauren Holly)
NCIS Medical Examiner Assistant Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen)

Guest Stars:

Stephanie Flynn (Kathleen York)
Fred Rinnert (John Mallory Asher)
Jill Reynolds (Lilli Birdsell)
Army Lt. Col. Hollis Mann (Susanna Thompson)
Army Major Eric Sweigart (Myk Watford)
Army Lt. Joseph Marsden (Robin Dunne)

Written By: Alfonso H. Moreno
Directed By: Dennis Smith

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

TV Review: NCIS – Navy Criminal Investigative Services - "Family"

2007-10-13T16:19:00.000-05:00

“Family” first aired Tuesday, October 2, 2007

”Family” opens with a gentleman in formal attire driving and, ill-advised, speaking on his cell phone. The well-dressed-man encounters another fast-moving car that fails to yield and the two collide. Our temporary protagonist bumps his head and subsequently breaks his nose when the safety airbag inflates. Apparently late for some formal engagement the gentleman speaks into the cell phone he is still holding, looks out the driver’s side window into the side-by-side barrels of a 12-guage shotgun just as it releases its soft lead pellets into his face, killing him instantly. The game is a foot.

Typical of most NCIS episodes, following the credits, the scene changes to elsewhere, in this case NCIS Headquarters. Mossad Agent-on-Loan-to-NCIS Ziva David (Cote de Pablo) and Special Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) are properly antagonizing Special Agent Timothy "Tim" McGee (Sean Murray) by, in turn, questioning him about his virginity status (McGee in the past had a tryst, if one can still call it that, with NCIS Forensics Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto (Pauley Perrette)) and super gluing McGee’s fingers to his computer keyboard. Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) enters, informing his team to mount up, NCIS has a dead Navy Petty Officer to tend to.

At the scene of the crash, NCIS Medical Examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum) examines the remains, discovering that the dead petty officer’s formal attire peels off like a basketball player’s shooting warm-ups, concluding that the petty officer was supplementing his income as a male stripper on the side. Next Ducky notes the shotgun insult, turning what Gibbs thought was a “hit and run” into a “shoot and scoot.” Furthermore, the car’s body damage and petty officer’s body injuries and position don’t add up, sending ducky into the woods to find the body of the projected, a woman.

The scene returns to Headquarters where the team inspects the evidence (the car belongs to one Nicholas Barnes (Owen Beckman)),lending them clues pointing toward the dead woman boyfriend, who turns out to be the son of an auto mechanic, Joseph Barnes (Nick Searcy). The dead woman is identified as Heidi, a well-known grifter with a mile-long police sheet. Ducky's autopsy reveals that Heidi died before the car accent due to blunt-force trauma and that she had very recently given birth, the baby missing. Gibbs is briefed and sets Abby to work.

Abby identifies from amniotic DNA that the Nicholas Barnes is not the father of Heidi's missing baby. McGee identifies a series of bank checks regularly deposited to Heidi's bank account by one Adrian Nelson. When questioned Mr. and Mrs. Nelson deny all knowledge of Heidi, but when Gibbs happens to speak with Mr. Nelson in private, the latter admits to having known Heidi and claims that she purloined and forged the checks. Unbeknownst to the Nelsons, McGee purloins DNA evidence from the couple to use to compare with that Abby has isolated from Heidi’s amniotic fluid.

Further investigation at Headquarters reveals that Heidi did not forge the checks, Mr. Nelson’s signature being legitimate and thus he is prevaricating. Tony investigations into Heidi's past victims reveal their (and there were several) uniform distaste for her because of her grafter treatment of them. Gibbs group considers the possibilities. Duck finds no baby’s deposited at orphanages or hospitals. The team begins to conclude that the killer was Nicholas Barnes.

In the laboratory Abby determines that the Nelsons are actually both the parents of the baby and Heidi is not the mother, only acting as a surrogate carrier. This begs that question whether the Nelsons murdered Heidi. The team returns to the Nelson house to find the occupants quickly exited, a baby’s room completely outfitted for an expectant infant. Gibbs and Ziva inspect nursery. Ziva and Gibbs have a dramatic character development scene regarding having children, while Gibbs returns to Headquarters to find McGee locating the Nelson’s car by GPS coordinates in their car.

In turn both McGee and Ziva confront Tony about Jeanne (the later by following Tony into the men’s toilet (something she is making a habit). Ziva points out that Tony did not think through his relationship with Jeanne. She tells him to control his emotions and Tony accosts her at this advice coming from the person who fell in love with the dead man walking Dead Man Walking. Ziva yanks up Tony's zipper (or squeezes his privates, hmmm.) and stalks out informing him he has “stepped over the line.” Tony says Ziva is the pot calling the kettle black and Gibbs enters.

Collectively Gibbs’ team locates the dead petty officer's car checks it, finding washed-off blood stains belonging to the petty officer and, oddly panda feces. Keeper of all things mundane, Abby points out that panda guano used to be used in paper manufacturing and that only one paper mill dealing with such was to be found "within 100 miles". The team drive to the mill where they find the Nelsons and realize too late that they interrupted the money-baby exchange. The Nelsons have the money and the kidnapper, the baby, while he or she drives off.

Gibbs and his team have a tense conversation where the Nelson’s become clean. The Nelsons explain the surrogacy arrangements with Heidi who had a viable uterus but no eggs, whereas Mrs. Nelson had eggs but no viable uterus. As paid surrogacy is illegal in Virginia, the Nelsons did not alert authorities of the baby’s kidnapping. Mrs. Nelson ends by threatening Gibbs if the baby dies, a weak dramatic flaw considering the previous legal ramifications of paid surrogacy.

After further emotional sparring between Ziva and Tony regarding love lost, prompting the intuitive viewer to wonder when Ziva and Tony take their relationship to a more intimate level, Abby rises to discover that the car originally carrying Heidi before her death had a new set of brake pads replaced with faulty pads, so the brakes would fail. This leads the team back to the garage and father and son Barnes. While the boyfriend, Nicholas Barnes, provides an alibi, his dad, Joseph Barnes, does not and it was his car seen at the paper mill and he also possesses a dise-by-side double-barrel 12-guage in his workshop. Joseph Barnes is arrested and Gibbs squeezes him for the baby’s location. The elder Barnes resists and Gibbs hands his badge to Ziva giving the elder Barnes a clear indication that Gibbs will proceed with his interrogation outside the purview of the law. This encourages Barnes to put a be-on-the-lookout (BOLO) on Nicholas Barnes, who has the baby.

Gibbs and Tony divine the fact that the father did not know the brake pads had been replaced with bad ones. The team finds Nicholas Barnes in the Barnes’ house, in the nursery, holding the baby. He explains that he and Heidi had planned to keep the baby but his father wanted to extort more money from the Nelsons.

Nicholas Barnes confesses that he loved Heidi and they planned to run away with the baby. The father intervenes taking the baby and killing Heidi, staging her death while Nicholas impotently did nothing. The brakes failed early Nicholas’ car wrecking with the petty officer. Joseph Barnes murders the marine. Nicholas queries Gibbs — "Am I in trouble?" Gibbs quiety responses that the "Prosecution's going to call it attempted murder: you're going to call it self-defense." Nicholas then asks Gibbs, "What do you call it?" Gibbs quips "Family." Nicholas is arrested and taken away and the Nelsons are united with their child.

In a jerking end, Tony sodden from the sprinklers having come on at the Nelson’s house moves over to the fire place and sits, alone, by the flames, looking Nelson’s with their baby. Tony pulls a letter from his jacket. He opens and reads it, "Tony, I am not coming back. You need to choose. Jeanne." Tony flashes back to Jeanne, both happy, in bed. He looks at Ducky with the parents and the baby. He looks back to Gibbs, McGee and Ziva and deposits the letter into flames, and walks towards the team. Ziva and McGee watch Tony but Gibbs watches the ignited letter.

”Family” is a splendid if lightweight second season episode that further develops our characters but at no rate to crow about. The episode had plenty of levity and intricate humor and allusions and stands heads and shoulders above the closing episodes of last season. The writer change has definitely benefited the series, but this writer expects much bigger and more compelling surprises as Season Five commences.

Stars:

Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon)
Special Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly)
Mossad Agent-on-Loan-to-NCIS Ziva David (Cote de Pablo)
Special Agent Timothy "Tim" McGee (Sean Murray)
NCIS Forensics Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto (Pauley Perrette)
NCIS Medical Examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum)
NCIS Director Jennifer "Jenny" Shepard (Lauren Holly)
NCIS Medical Examiner Assistant Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen)

Guest Stars:

Joseph Barnes (Nick Searcy),
Nicholas Barnes (Owen Beckman),
Adrian Nelson (Rick Otto),
Margaret Easly (Sara Nelson),
P.O. Christopher Munoz (Schuyler Yance)

Written By: Steven D. Binder
Directed By: Martha Mitchell

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Music Review: Brundibár by Hans Krása, Music of Remembrance, Gerard Schwarz

2007-10-06T17:42:00.000-05:00

The story of Brundibár’s composition and performance is one of grief, sadness, and outrage, as well as, devotion, faith, and generosity. The word brundibár is colloquial Czech for bumblebee and as character represents a malevolent organ grinder and title of a children's opera composed by Jewish Czech composer Hans Krása with libretto by Adolf Hoffmeister.

The children’s tale was performed by the children incarcerated in the Terezin (Theresienstadt) concentration camp in occupied Czechoslovakia. The vast majority of Terezin’s population, including Krása and many of the children who took part in the 56 performances of Brundibár were subsequently shipped to Auschwitz to be murdered.

Krása and Hoffmeister originally composed the opera in 1938 for a Czech arts competition that was subsequently cancelled due to Fascist political developments during the period. The opera was rehearsed started in the Prague Jewish orphanage in beginning in 1941. At the time, the orphanage served as a temporary educational facility for children who were separated from their parents by the war.

The opera was first performed in the winter of 1942 at the orphanage contemporary with composer Krása and set designer Frantisek Zelenka being transported to Terezin. By summer 1943, nearly all of the children and orphanage staff had found their way to Terezin courtesy of Germany’s National Socialists. Only Hoffmeister was escaped.

Reunited in Terezin with his original cast, the composer reconstructed the full score adapting it to the musical instruments and musicians available in the camp: flute, clarinet, guitar, accordion, piano, percussion, four violins, a cello and a double bass. Zelenka once again designed a set and the opera was readied for performance. On September 23rd, 1943 Brundibár premiered in Terezin and was performed 55 times in the following year.

Subjugated for German propaganda purposes, Brundibár was staged as a special performance in 1944 for representatives of the Red Cross, who inspected the living conditions in the camp. Prior to this special performance, many of Terezin’s inmates were sent to Auschwitz to reduce crowding during the Red Cross visit.

Briefly, the plot of Brundibár The plot of the opera shares common elements with older, established fairytales. Aninka (anglo – Annette)and Pepíček (Little Joe) are orphaned siblings. Their mother is terribly sick, her doctor prescribing milk to recover. Being destitute, the children do not have money to purchase their mother’s much needed milk. The pair elects to sing in the marketplace, begging to raise money. But an evil organ grinder Brundibár rules the marketplace as his own and scares the siblings away. However, a sparrow, cat, and dog, and the area children of the town run Brundibár off and sing in the market square.

It would be difficult to have found a more sympathetic conductor for this special piece of music than Seattle Symphony’s own Gerard Schwarz nor a more empathetic ensemble than Seattle’s Music of Remembrance, a nonprofit organization dedicated to remembering Holocaust musicians and their art through performance, education, and recordings like this one. The orchestra performs the opera plaintively evoking the necessary admixture of sadness, joy, memory, and hope that such a composition should evoke.

Tenor Ross Hauck and soprano Maureen McKay perform the roles of Aninka and Pepíček with innocence and wonder. Baritone Morgan Smith sings with elegantly foreboding as Brundibár, carefully avoiding caricature. The less roles also shine. Contralto David Korn sings with a nuzzle as the Cat. The small orchestra goes far in capturing what must have been the cloistered confines of the camp as the end approached. This is affecting and effecting music in any estimation.

Selections:

Hans Krasa - Brundibár: Act One; Serenade; Act Two; Overture for Small Orchestra; Lori Laitman – I Never Saw Another Butterfly: The Butterfly, Yes, That’s the Way Things Are, Bird Song, The Garden, Man Proposes, God Disposes; The Old House.

Personnel:

Music of Remembrance, Gerard Schwarz, Conductor; Northwest Boychoir, Craig Sheppard: piano; Maureen McKay: Soprano; Laura DeLuca: Clarinet.

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Media: NCIS – Navy Criminal Investigative Services - "Bury Your Dead"

2007-09-28T10:39:00.000-05:00

“Bury Your Dead” inaugurates the series Season Five and first aired Tuesday, September 25, 2007.

Out of the miasma of NCIS’s stormy fourth season emerges the link between NCIS Director Jennifer "Jenny" Shepard’s (Lauren Holly) and her nemesis Le Grenouille, who we have learned is Rene Benoit, father of Dr. Jeanne Benoit (Scottie Thompson), paramour of Special Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly). If that were not a full dance ticket for the Director, Shepard’s father, Colonel Jasper Shepard (Webster Williams) resurfaces after having been dead for 12 years in relation to the Le Grenouille case.

That is the plot line on screen. The bigger story is the exit of producer/writer Donald P. Bellisario from the set of NCIS. Web and print scuttlebutt pitted Bellisario with a discontented central star Mark Harmon. Harmon and the staff were allegedly frustrated with Bellisario’s micromanagement which led to 16- to 20-hour work days by the end of Season Four and they squeaked…loudly. The result is this changing of the guard as the series reaches its maturity in its fifth season. In any event, it should be interesting if not exciting to see how Season Five plays out.

And speaking of Season Five, the season premiere “Bury Your Dead” picks up where the limping Season Four finale left off, but in grand style reflecting the absence of Bellisario from the writing team. This episode opens with Director Shepard dreaming of the death of her father which reveals a fragmented subconscious link to Le Grenouille.

Festivities break to Tony just having met Rene Benoit (being greeted by his deep cover name Professor Anthony DeNardo) at the end of last season’s ”Angel of Death”. Jeanne, her father, and Tony are riding in a limousine, ostensibly on the way to breakfast together. In the car the three converse about Tony’s ability to shoot a gun having killed a junkie threatening Jeanne in “Angel of Death.” The conversation is interrupted by Jeanne’s beeper reminding her that she did not sign the death certificate of the two unfortunates back at the hospital.

The limousine returns to the hospital and seeing the opportunity to get away, believing his cover, his cover has been blown, Tony begins his exit. The scene breaks to NCIS headquarters where the viewer is reminded that it is actually Saturday morning and Mossad Agent-on-Loan-to-NCIS Ziva David (Cote de Pablo) and Special Agent Timothy "Tim" McGee (Sean Murray) run into one another as an elevator door opens. Ziva interrogates McGee about his presence at work on a Saturday only to find that both McGee and Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) have been at headquarters all night. The central question to all then becomes where is Tony.

The scene returns to the Benoits and Tony at the hospital. Tony manages a telephone call before being beckoned for coffee by Rene, who wants to know how Tony “stole [his] daughter’s heart.” Back to NCIS Headquarters, Director Shepard enters NCIS Forensics Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto (Pauley Perrette) laboratory while Abby lay asleep on the floor. The Director notes that the fingerprint analysis started at the end of last season on the glass of scotch left in her study has completed, indicating that the fingerprints belong to her father, Colonel Jasper Shepard, thought dead from a suicide 12 years earlier. The director attempts to erase the search while Abby wakes up.

While talking with Abby, the Director receives a phone call that is immediately dropped and alarmed, exits the lab, informing Abby that the search was unsuccessful. Abby returns to the computer screen to discover that the Director was unsuccessful in deleting the search. The cat is out of the bag. Meanwhile, Gibbs, McGee and Ziva discuss the fact that the CIA is interested in the Director and her recent activities. The Director enters and requests that McGee triangulate the cell number for the dropped call she received. The Director reveals she is trying to locate Tony, angering Gibbs, who was completely left out of the loop. The Director explains that Tony would have only used that number had he thought his cover was blown. The team locates Tony at the hospital were Jeanne works.

Meanwhile, Tony and Rene are buying coffee. After a bit of provocative conversation where Rene shines Tony on, Jeanne returns and Tony attempt to break away to move his care so it will not be towed. Rene and Jeanne return to the limousine and the scene cleverly breaks back to NCIS Headquarters where the Team is trying to gain satellite coverage of the area. When that cannot be accomplished in a timely manner, the team switches to the traffic cameras. The team notes that his car is in transit, the Director tries to call his phone, gets voice mail. The team accesses the traffic cameras in time to see Tony’s car explode.

Among the confusion of the moment, Gibbs notes that Tony’s car was following a limousine. The team gathered visual information and began research on the company. Enter Trent Kort, CIA deep undercover, coming to spar with the Director about the whereabouts of Tony. He informs the team that it was not Tony that was killed, but that had been previously determined by NCIS Medical Examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum) on autopsy of the body extracted from the car. The elevator opens, there is Tony. Tony and Kort trade uspleasantries and Tony is debriefed. He explains that Rene revealed he knew Tony’s real identity and took him in the limousine, allowing a lackey Henri to drive Tony’s car, but not before making Tony leave all of his phones and identification in the car.

When the Director questions Tony of where he went with the Benoits; Tony expresses his misgivings about Jeanne and tells the Director that he has no idea where Rene Benoit is. He was dropped off at headquarters and Benoit headed west. Tony attempts to contact Jeanne multiple times while conversing with Ziva and noting that all of his personal items have been procured by his peers in their collective misconception of his demise. Some fast information gathering by Abby reveals that the bomb signature belongs to a group who assassinate arms dealers. Tony reveals that he picks up Jeanne each morning, there is a bit of connect-the-dots and Gibbs concludes that Jeanne was the target because of her relationship to Le Grenouille and not Tony. This also negates the theory that the CIA was responsible for the bombing.

The remainder of the show passes in blur fashion. The scene breaks to the Director entering her home and receiving a cell phone call from Le Grenouille wanting to arrange a meeting. Eager, the Director demands where and out of the Director’s study walks Rene Benoit. He addresses the Director as Jenny. Tony goes to Jeanne’s and finds her gone. Rene and the Director talk about sanctuary for the arms dealer in return for international information he can provide. Le Grenouille believes himself to be the target of this group of assassins and will only trust NCIS (ostensibly because of a veiled relationship he once shared with the Director). Mixing things up, Gibbs enters the conversation and the three commiserate about the arrogance of the CIA and how they like to control, revealing Benoit’s knowing cooperation with them.

The conversation then turned to the Director’s father as Rene, confronted by the Director, admitted to having been in her study, providing the bottle of scotch and incriminating fingerprints. He called the Director’s father a fine man and validated that he had in fact taken a bribe related to the Colonel’s Pentagon arms job. He also as much admits killing Colonel Shepard, prompting the Director to remove her pistol from the drawer (from which Benoit had apparently removed the clip). Penitent, Benoit again requests refuge from the Director who pushes the pistol in his hands and demands he protect himself. Rene states his death warrant has just been singed and leaves an address if the Director changes her mind. Gibbs chides the Director about personal versus professional responsibility and leaves to pursue Benoit, leaving the real pistol clip on the desk.

Elsewhere, Jeanne leaves a note at her empty apartment for Tony, where with Ziva the two go. A flashback reveals that Tony comes clean with Jeanne who understandably does not take things well. Tony takes the next day off, McGee locates a boat where Rene Benoit has been staying. The team investigates, finds nothing and the scene fixes on the dead body of Rene Benoit laying in the water nearby, a bullet hole in his forehead.

Season Four is adequate salvaged by “Bury Your Dead.” Closure is reached on several levels while the series still retains the necessary sexual tension between Tony and Ziva and the possible return of Jeanne Benoit. Armand Assante was perfect in his brief role as Rene Benoit. If “Bury Your Dead” is any indication, then the writer change will only benefit Season Five.

Stars:

Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon)
Special Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly)
Mossad Agent-on-Loan-to-NCIS Ziva David (Cote de Pablo)
Special Agent Timothy "Tim" McGee (Sean Murray)
NCIS Forensics Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto (Pauley Perrette)
NCIS Medical Examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum)
NCIS Director Jennifer "Jenny" Shepard (Lauren Holly)
NCIS Medical Examiner Assistant Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen)

Guest Stars:

Dr. Jeanne Benoit (Scottie Thompson)
Armand Assante (Le Grenouille, Rene Benoit)
Trent Kort (David Dayan Fisher)
Colonel Jasper Shepard (Webster Williams),
Henri Rousseau (Mesrop Agjanyan)

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Music Review: A Musical Journey: Scarlatti, Schubert, & Chopin by Shirley Kirsten

2007-09-24T15:51:00.000-05:00

Not only have the Internet, mp3s, downloadable music, and new compression methods revolutionized the production, marketing, and distribution of newly-minted popular music and jazz, they have also done the same for classical music. A case in point is Left-Coast pianist, maestro, and self-described piano finder Shirley Kirsten. Kirsten has just released her third self-produced recital of piano pieces, A Musical Journey: Scarlatti, Schubert, & Chopin that follows the previously released Musical Enchantment and Inspiration. While the combination and proportion of the eras represented on this disc is curious, multiple listening go a long way in supporting Kirsten’s method and vision.

Shirley Kirsten studied in New York City with Lillian Freundlich and in the Wild West with Ena Bronstein. One of her most significant influences has been pianist Murray Perahia with whom she attended the High School of Performing Arts, and for whom she once participated with in a Master Class.

Kirsten is not only a concert performer and recording artist, but she has recently penned a tome entitled Dream Piano that documents an eventful series of piano finding adventures in the company of one character, York, a colorful, 81 year old "piana tuna." All that adds up to Kirsten being quite a character on paper which this writer can further validate through recent conversations with the pianist.

Having established that Kirsten is a cross between Agatha Christi and Muzio Clementi transplanted into the 20th Century, what of her precious Scarlatti? Kirsten is beautifully sola scriptura, carefully respectful of Scarlatti’s scores without perform them in a boring or rote manner. Kirsten has no fear taking on the Vladimir Horowitz Scarlatti book, devoting special attention to Sonatas in G Major, K. 146; D Major, K. 96; f minor, K. 466; D Major, K. 491; and E Major, K. 380. Of sensual delight here is Kirsten’s feather touch on the f minor sonata and her inclusion of the E Major Sonata, with which Horowitz opened his 1986 Moscow concert captured on Horowitz in Moscow.

Kirsten acknowledges her peer, Murray Perahia’s Scarlatti output with the inclusion of the sonata in b minor, K. 27, accentuating Perahia’s purist approach with a more fluid articulation and expression in a way flattering to both pianists. Kirsten perfectly captures the lullaby character of the B Flat Major Sonata, K. 440. Overall, this is superb Scarlatti, played with grace and care.

Kirsten’s Scarlatti recital is provocative but is made further compelling by the inclusion of a Schubert impromptu and three Chopin Waltzes. It would be simple, at first listen, to dismiss the inclusion of these Romantics with roundly Baroque Scarlatti…simple-minded, that is. Listening to this disc in one sitting brings into focus the history of pianism from mid-18th Century to mid-19th Century. Using the metaphor of confection, one could consider the Baroque musings of Scarlatti as simple, yet elegant bonbons coated with powdered sugar. Dip these bonbons in the early Romanticism of milk chocolate and one can imagine the transformation of Scarlatti’s notes into the sweetened and slightly dangerous vision of Schubert. Substituting the decadence and delicious bite of dark chocolate for Schubert’s milk chocolate and one arrives at the high romanticism of Chopin, his waltzes musical gospels teaching so much in so short a time.

Shirley Kirsten’s choice and performance of these pieces is both educational and highly enjoyable. This is not music one fills up on; it is music of which one cannot get enough. It is a pleasure to know that A Musical Journey: Scarlatti, Schubert, & Chopin is to be followed by another Scarlatti/Chopin collection.

A Musical Journey: Scarlatti, Schubert, & Chopin is available through CDBaby. Visit Shirley Kirsten on the Web.

Selections

Sonata in A Major, K. 113, D. Scarlatti; Sonata in G Major, K. 146, D. Scarlatti; Sonata in d minor, K. 1, D. Scarlatti; 4 Sonata in G Major, K 14, D. Scarlatti; Sonata in D Major K. 96, D. Scarlatti; Sonata in b minor, K.27, D. Scarlatti; Sonata in G Major, K. 391, D. Scarlatti; Sonata in C Major, K. 159, D. Scarlatti; Sonata in f minor, K.466, D. Scarlatti; Sonata in D major, K. 491, D. Scarlatti; Sonata in d minor, K. 77, D. Scarlatti; Pastorale in D Major, K. 415, D. Scarlatti; Sonata in E Major, K. 380, D. Scarlatti; Sonata in D Major, K. 492, D. Scarlatti; Sonata in d minor, K. 141, D. Scarlatti; Sonata in B Flat Major, K. 440, D. Scarlatti; Impromptu in E Flat Major, Op. 90, Schubert; Waltz in A Flat Major, Op. 69, Chopin; Waltz in b minor, Op. 69, Chopin; Waltz in D Flat Major, Op. 64, Chopin.

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Literature: Hitler’s Peace by Philip Kerr

2007-07-27T22:19:00.000-05:00

British author Philip Kerr is perhaps best known for his German trilogy, Berlin Noir, made up of three novels: March Violets (1989), The Pale Criminal (1990), and A German Requiem (1991) all based on the Berlin private investigator Bernard Gunther. The next installment of the series, The One From the Other appeared in 2006. A highlight of all four novels is Kerr’s artistic ability to make historic figures like Heinrich Himmler and Reinhard Heydrich come to life, as well as, capturing the texture of the political duplicity of the time, during and after World War II. Kerr’s 2005 novel Hitler’s Peace builds on these two talents bringing figures like Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin into close and formidable focus.

The erstwhile protagonist of this story is philosophy professor/OSS agent Willard Mayer. The youthful Ivy League-educated empirical philosopher is employed by the Office of Strategic Services without that offices knowledge of Mayer’s pro-communist past and membership in the Abwehr, Germany's military intelligence service, and as an informer for Russia's Internal Affairs Commissariat, the NKVD. For the Yanks, Mayer serves as an intelligence analyst for the OSS in Washington. Mayer takes leave with Roosevelt to Teheran, for the Big Three conference in November 1943 aboard the USS Iowa. While in transit Mayer detects what he thinks to be a conspiracy to assassinate Joseph Stalin.

At this same time, Hitler and Himmler, wanting to diplomatically deter engaging the U.S. in a second European front, are seeking a loophole in Roosevelt's demand for an unconditional surrender. The ethically conflicted Professor Mayer finds himself waist deep in alligators while forgetting he was sent to drain the swamp. Revealed in the Big Three negotiations are even more convoluted schemes, including one by an SS general assassinates Roosevelt, Stalin and Churchill while in Tehran.

Kerr has shown himself quite capable of spinning World War II yarns with the smell of sandalwood and cordite. Hitler’s Peace is an intricately conceived and delicately paced thriller. While The Pale Criminal remains Kerr’s finest work, Hitler’s Peace continues to prove Kerr’s popularity across the pond.

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org.

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Literature: The Night Gardener by George P. Pelecanos, Narrated by the Author

2007-07-03T11:40:00.000-05:00

Perhaps the only redeeming thing about the weekly wag, Entertainment Weekly is the occasional final piece is “The Pop of King” presenting the ruminations of uber-author Stephen King. King closed 2006 with various lists of the best media he encountered that year: movies, music, books…. Among the final category King frothed over George P. Pelecanos’ The Night Gardener and did so for good reason. Washington, DC native-Pelecanos is the author of two dozen novels including a highly regarded quartet of investigative procedurals featuring Derek Strange: Right As Rain (2001), Hell to Pay (2002), Soul Circus (2003), and Hard Revolution (2004). The majority of his books are set in the DC and surrounding area.

The Night Gardener is a superbly crafted police procedural, except defining the story as such is like calling pâté blood sausage. Nominally, the story surrounds a trio of detectives: one actively working, one age retired and the other unjustly disgraced. Pelecanos smartly uses flashback-forward (read: with brevity) to provide the thread joining the three incongruent personalities of straight-edged Gus Ramone, former case-closing cyborg TC Cook, and the epinephrine-addled Dan “Doc” Holiday. This thread joins two occurrences twenty years apart.

The mid-1980s found three children murdered by community gardens around Washington, DC, each anally violated and shot in the head and, each having a palindromic first name. Ramone and Holiday were rookie uniforms on the scene with Cook the attending detective sergeant. Cook, who boasted a ninety percent case closure rate (while other detectives hovered in the high sixties), failed to close what came to be known as the “palindrome” murders or the “Night Gardener” murders.

Twenty years later, Ramone is a detective on the scene of an eerily familiar set of circumstances with a dead teenager named Asa found shot in the head and anally violated on the edge of a DC community garden. The crime was anonymously called in by Holiday, now a chauffer, who while sleeping off a drunk, went to the garden to relieve himself and discovered the body.

The appeal to Pelecanos’ approach to the police procedural is that he hardly limits himself to the “just the facts, ma’am” approach. Injected into the urban body politic is commentary and observation on socioeconomic and sociopolitical elements surrounding the plot. Pelecanos’ character development is full and satisfying, demonstrating his ability to craft characters so dramatically different from one another, the reader might think they are owed their own novel.

The author does this with a narrative that is Hemingway spare and Stephan King hip. The dialog is short and plain. There is no over-intellectualization here on the part of the detectives. They are meat-and potatoes characters equally affected by good luck, bad luck, regrets, and obsessions. Pelecanos also endeavors to cause the black and white moral elements to collide, forking that grey area in which we all live.

The Night Gardener is the top of a craft too polluted by mundane and mediocre attempts at the same goal: intelligent entertainment that forces the reader to think and appreciate.

Pelecanos narrates the story in a deadpan manner devoid of any of the vocal techniques used by the best actor narrators like Will Patton, Jame Woods, and Eli Wallach. Actor narrators attempt to approximate radio theater with a single reader. Pelecanos approach more closely approximates Stephen King’s reading of his “LTs Theory of Pets” or Tony Hillerman’s reading of his “The Blessing Way.” Author narration is story telling and Pelecanos proves to be one of the better authors at presenting his own work.

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Music: J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations by Simone Dinnerstein

2007-07-03T11:38:00.000-05:00

Bach’s Goldberg Variations is a popular collection for the classically-trained pianist to record. Originally scored for harpsichord, the keyboard of Bach’s day (accepting the organ), it was not until 1955 that a recording of the aria and variations written for the Russian Count Kaiserling’s house guest was made on piano in an historically incendiary performance by the late Glenn Gould, later reprised in a dramatically different fashion on his 1981 reconsideration of the piece shortly before the pianist’s death in 1982. Gould set the tone for Bach performance on the modern Hammerklavier. The Variations discography is immense, both on harpsichord and piano. This discussion will be restricted to the latter format as the central subject of this review is pianist Simone Dinnerstein’s performance of the Variations on Telarc Classical.

Goldberg performance range from the idiosyncratic Gould’s recordings to the conservative recordings of Rosalyn Turek’s 1999 Phillips set to the neo-conservative considerations of Andras Schiff’s 1990 Decca release and his excellent 2003 ECM offering. All embracing is Murray Perahia’s 2000 Sony release, perhaps the finest recording of the pieces on piano available. Neglected in these heady categories are the very personal performances best represented by Daniel Barenboim’s 2000 live performance at Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires. Add to the Argentinean’s heart-versus-head account, Simone Dinnerstein’s carefully considered and emotionally accounted Goldberg Variations.

Dinnerstein’s artistic story is a bit of Horatio Alger crossed with La Boehm. Immensely gifted but not entitled, Dinnerstein followed and developed her gifts with a list of prominent teachers that led her to a classical music market crowded with product with the goal of recognition a demanding if not improbable task. So how did this recording come about? Dinnerstein funded its recording herself as well as a performance of the piece at her New York debut in 2005. That fully cracked the ice ceiling along with her more recent recording of Beethoven Cello Sonatas 1-3 with Zuill Bailey on Delos Records. This winding road ultimately led to a contract with Telarc Classical and this recording. So, what gold is spun from straw in this recording? Dinnerstein chooses a slow and deliberate tempo for the opening aria, recalling, but indeed going beyond, Barenboim’s in Buenos Aires. She transitions beautifully into the first variation with command and confidence, a place where many lesser talent stumble.

Like Bach’s Cello Suites, artists tend to wait until later in life to record the Goldberg Variations because of their musical demand and historic exegesis. Dinnerstein shows great courage (read “guts”) in concentrating on this set of variations and makes it pay off for her.
Dinnerstein’s right hand has prominence, something comparable to Mendelssohn performing these variations shortly after his19th Century resurrection of Bach’s St. Matthew Passion. This is as much of a comparison to the far past as one can draw. Dinnerstein’s faster tempo variations are brimming with vitality and personality and the slower variations are beautifully elaborated lace, delicate and exposed, pushing her overall performance beyond technique into the realm of emotive realization

Selections:

Aria; Variation 1; Variation 2; Variation 3; Variation 4; Variation 5; Variation 6; Variation 7; Variation 8; Variation 9; Variation 10; Variation 11; Variation 12; Variation 13; Variation 14; Variation 15; Variation 16; Variation 17; Variation 18; Variation 19; Variation 20; Variation 21; Variation 22; Variation 23; Variation 24; Variation 25; Variation 26; Variation 27; Variation 28; Variation 29; Variation 30; Aria da capo.
Personnel:

Simone Dinnerstein: piano.

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Media: True Reality Television

2007-06-11T14:30:00.000-05:00

Reality television is the basest, most banal form of entertainment. It is the least costly to produce and rakes in piles of advertising money focused on products appealing to the peasant wretched refuse and huddling masses who consume and value such programming as if it were worth something. The vast majority of reality television is anything but, being cynically contrived by producers who think even less than I of the population they are appealing to.

Having said that, every once in a while one of these shows accidentally produces a story that rises far above the common tripe populating such programs. I cite the Welsh cellphone salesman, Paul Potts, a most unlikely talent who does with music for what that art form was intended: to conceive pathos, turning it into raw emotion.

This video from Britain Has Talent is nothing short of an Arkansas ass-kicking, foot-stomping, Bombay Sapphire Martini pleasure to see three limey culture capacitors overwhelmed and humbled by the art and talent. This is the triumph of the Spirit.

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Music Review: Scott Joplin, Volume 1 by Alexander Peskanov

2007-06-05T20:34:00.000-05:00

An important distinction not made in the introductory article to this series, “A Scott Joplin Primer” is the type of piano used by the performers. Joshua Rifkin’s Joplin is played on a standard grand piano, as is Alexander Peskanov’s on Naxos’ Scott Joplin, Volume 1. the grand piano gives Joplin that concert hall sound; but much Joplin is played on an upright grand. The difference between the two is certainly sonority, the standard grand having color more diffuse than the tight-toned upright. Both have their special charms.

One must wonder who decides which rags a given pianist will record. Peskanov, in this first volume would have scored the two best known rags, “Maple Leaf Rag” and “The Entertainer” for no other reason that to garner public interest in the series. But just as Messiah is not the only composition by Handel, “The Entertainer” is not the be-all-and-end-all of Scott Joplin.

As one would expect, the disc opens with a brisk “Maple Leaf Rag.” Joplin was very specific in the meter notation of his pieces, stating that "ragtime should never be played fast." However, what is considered fast is subject to personal and period interpretation. Joplin’s biographer Rudi Blesh, elaborates, “Joplin's injunction needs to be read in the light of his time, when a whole school of "speed" players ... were ruining the fine rags. Most frequently felled by this quack-virtuoso musical mayhem was the Maple Leaf. Joplin's concept of "slow" was probably relative to the destructive prestos of his day.1

What is considered a fast tempo makes for an interesting case study. Rifkin’s “Maple Leaf” clock in at 3:13, while Peskanov’s follows at 3:11. Scott Kirby’s second recording of Maple Leaf, speeds in at 2:57, with an introduction of one bar of the second theme. Rifkin and Peskanov are respectful of Joplin’s score while Kirby very well could be criticized by Blesh for “…ruining [this] fine rag.” But nothing could be further from the truth. Peskanov takes more chances than Rifkin, and Kirby more chances than Peskanov. The result is a thrilling performance by Kirby that would cause sudden death in more conservative ragtimers. Peskanov plays this middle-of-the-road to his advantage.

Peskanov’s collection contains several notable rags in the Joplin repertoire including “Heliotrope Bouquet” co-written with the opium-addled genius Louis Chauvin. Peskanov carefully retains the calm center of this piece while often lagging behind and jumping in front of the beat. The effect is one of drama. Studied listeners will note Peskanov’s departures and elaborations compared with other pianists and will appreciate them for the delicious artifacts they are. “The Entertainer” is played with punch and gusto, figures tart and tight. Peskanov’s tempo is in keeping with contemporary performance speeds. The pianist’s dynamics once again lend a thrilling degree of drama to the pieces, ensuring they are never boring. “The Easy Winners” contain brilliant flourishes of liberty Peskanov take s with the score. More precise than Kirby and less didactic than Rifkin, Peskanov plants a spring garden of Joplin with his interpretations.

But none of these previously mentioned pieces are the real test for the pianist. Peskanov closes the disc with the ragtime waltz “Bethena” written within months after the composer’s wife’s death. It is a complex piece compositionally and dynamically. Peskanov captures the sorrow, loss, and beauty perfectly with the standard grand piano and its broader tonal palette. This disc inaugurates another Naxos series that should more than win over the fussiest of ragtimers.

Personnel: Alexander Peskanov: piano.

Selections: Maple Leaf Rag; Heliotrope Bouquet: 'A Slow Drag Two-Step'; Pine Apple Rag; Solace: 'A Mexican Serenade'; Paragon Rag; Pleasant Moments: 'Ragtime Waltz'; Elite Syncopations; Original Rag; Fig Leaf: 'A High-Class Rag'; The Entertainer: 'A Ragtime Two-Step'; The Easy Winners; Country Club Rag; The Strenuous Life; Bethena: 'A Concert Waltz'.

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Music: A Scott Joplin Primer

2007-06-04T11:46:00.000-05:00

Naxos Records is episodically releasing the complete Piano Rags of Scott Joplin (1867-1917) in the same manner as The Complete Keyboard Sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti (the two composers have more in common than one might think). The Joplin series should be between three and five CDs. Before reviewing the Naxos releases, it should be worth while to have a little background about Ragtime Music, Joplin, and available recordings.

Ragtime Music

Ragtime, jazz after it, is a unique American invention. It was popular during the early 20th Century and has its origins in period dance music from the African-American community well before being published and sold as piano sheet music. It can be considered a eutection of African rhythms, derived from the slave community (as was the blues), marches, and western European classical music.

The ragtime genre technically is a modification of the march, composed in 2/4 or 4/4 meter with a pronounced left hand bass figure struck on odd-numbered beats and chords on even-numbered beats, supporting a syncopated melody in the right hand. This defines, in the simplest terms, a “rag.” A rag written in 3/4 meter is termed a “ragtime” waltz.

Ragtime music is specifically defined by the syncopation realized when melodic accents are struck between metrical beats. This produces a melody that ostensibly avoids some metrical beats of the accompaniment by emphasizing notes anticipating or following the beat. This rhythmic effect coupled with the meter used accentuates the beat, making the music perfectly suitable for dancing. The name “ragtime” is derived from the music being described as in “ragged time,” later shortened to “ragtime.”

While Scott Joplin is a centerpiece in ragtime music, he is by no means the first or only composer to write in the idiom. Joseph Lamb (1887-1960) and James Scott (1886-1938) are often considered in the same breathe as Joplin by aficionados. Joplin often co-wrote pieces with other composers, including “Heliotrope Bouquets” with Louis Chauvin, "Swipesy Cakewalk" with Arthur Marshall, and "Sensation" composed by the aforementioned Joseph Lamb and arranged by Joplin. Ragtime continues to be composed today by William Bolcom, David Thomas Roberts, and Scott Kirby.

Scott Joplin

Scott Joplin was born outside of Texarkana, Texas between 1867 and 1868; barely four years after Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation. Joplin’s father was a freed slave while his mother was free born. Both parents had musical inclinations, providing Joplin a musically sympathetic environment in which to grow. By seven years or age, Joplin began piano lessons with a German music teacher, Julius Weiss, who provided him a broad knowledge of the classical music form, which would nurture Joplin later in his quest to “legitimize” ragtime music, creating a "classical" form of the genre. Joplin would later move to Sedalia, Missouri and attend George R. Smith College, concentrating on music theory, harmony, and composition.

Once he finished his studies, Joplin was enough advanced to turn professional and earn his living as a working musician, playing the piano in bars and clubs, writing songs and performing in dance bands, playing piano, banjo, and cornet. These early career experiences pointed Joplin in the direction of ragtime. By the late 1890s, Joplin had sold several pieces for the piano, one of which was "Original Rags", a collection of existing melodies that he wrote collaboratively with other artists, a practice common in rural blues composition of the early 20th Century.

At the turn of the century Joplin composed and sold what would become his ragtime theme, "Maple Leaf Rag" to Sedalia music publisher John Stark & Son. At the time Joplin received terms that amounted to a one-cent royalty for each copy of sheet music sold and ten free copies for his own use, plus an advance. Besides providing Joplin with a comfortable living, "Maple Leaf Rag" pushed Joplin to the front of the class of ragtime composers and firmly placed ragtime into the respectable distinction of an established musical form.

Joplin moved to St. Louis, Missouri shortly thereafter and lived there between,1900 and 1903, when he composed some of his most famous pieces, including "Elite Syncopations," "The Entertainer," "March Majestic," and "Ragtime Dance." In addition to ragtime pieces, Joplin composed two operas, Treemonisha which was published in 1911 and only partially performed during the composer’s lifetime. Treemonisha was formally debuted in 1972 by the music department of Morehouse College in collaboration with The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra. The score to an earlier Joplin opera, A Guest of Honor (1903) is lost.

Joplin contracted syphilis early in life which progressed to its terminal tertiary form by 1916, when the disease began to rob Joplin of his ability to play piano. By January 1917, Joplin required hospitalization at Manhattan State Hospital in New York City, where he died on April 1, 1917.

Scott Joplin possesses an important place in the development of piano music in American music. His antecedent was Louis Moreau Gottschalk (1829-1869) a New Orleans Creole educated in Paris and a contemporary of Frederic Chopin. Gottschalk’s compositions were full of pre-war New Orleans, Caribbean, and African influences, giving his music a progressively syncopated sound. Gottschalk’s music logically evolved into the ragtime of Joplin by the turn of the century.

Joplin’s pianism gave direct rise to the piano style of one Ferdinand Joseph Lamothe (ca. 1885/90-1941), AKA Jelly Roll Morton, who retained heavy syncopation in his playing style, which Morton humbly considered jazz and declared himself the its father. Morton’s piano style logically evolved into the stride piano of James P. Johnson (1894-1955), Thomas Wright “Fats” Waller (1904-1943) and William Henry Joseph Bonaparte Bertholoff “Willie the Lion” Smith (1897-1973). This evolutionary stream of piano originality ended with Thelonious Monk (1917-1982) who further transformed the stride style into his own unique brand of jazz.

Joplin (and Gottschalk, for that matter) may be considered the American equivalents of Italy’s Domenico Scarlatti. All were popular in their lifetimes. All three specialized in composing short keyboard pieces that were often used for music instruction. And all three remain firmly in the modern performance repertoire. Joplin’s classical ragtime certainly deserves to played along side Bach and Beethoven.

Classical Ragtime

Scott Joplin desired to raise ragtime from the mere popular to the “classical.” “Classical Ragtime” describes ragtime composition developed by Joplin and the Missouri school of ragtime composers. The term was coined by Joplin’s publisher, John Stark, as a commercial way to separate them from the rags published by other houses. “Classical Ragtime” has evolved into the description of a specific structural form.

Conceived in a miasma of musical influences, at its genesis, ragtime defied printed definition with no common musical format for describing the syncopation of the pieces. In the early 20th Century a group of composers, led by Joplin, established conventions, by proxy, as Joplin was the most popular ragtime composer and his rag structures were ultimately accepted as a compositional template.

If conceived in Heaven, the “standard” structure of “Classical Ragtime” is composed in 2/4 meter with a four-bar introduction, followed by themes in the following order: INTRO AA BB A CC DD. Technically, there are one or two more particulars, but this gives the reader a pretty good idea. This definition exists only as a starting place for understanding a musical genre that is characterized by the exceptions to this definition rather than its rule.

Available Recordings

There have been many recordings of Scott Joplin rags. A consideration of the complete discography of available Joplin rags is neither practical nor warranted for this discussion. Many worthy recordings will be ignored in this article in an effort to provide the listener a sensible starting place in listening to and considering Scott Joplin’s music.

Having said that, let’s break to the chase. Between 1970 and 1974, Bach scholar Joshua Rifkin recorded a series of three LPs on Nonesuch records devoted to Scott Joplin piano rags. All total, Rifkin recorded 24 of Joplin’s published 62 rags*. These recordings, coupled with Marvin Hamlisch's score for the 1973 Oscar-winning movie The Sting, detonated a ragtime revival rivaled only by that of the blues resurgences a decade prior. Rifkin’s Joplin was critically acclaimed and has aged well. Unfortunately, all that is available on compact disc, Scott Joplin Piano Rags is fitted with the Volume 1 LP cover, and contains 17 rags, the eight being a direct transfer from the Volume 1 LP and the remaining gleaned from Volumes 2 and 3.

This is a unfortunate and Nonesuch Records should be ashamed of themselves for not having issued a two-CD set with all of Rifkin’s performances on them. Rifkin’s approach to Joplin sounds like his approach to Bach, which is an exposition of crystalline definition. In 1981, Joshua Rifkin fired a shot across the bow of the period-performance movement with a paper presented at American Musicological Society that not only corrected history, proving that Bach’s St. Matthew Passion premiered 1727 and not the previously thought 1729 but proposed boldly that much of Johann Sebastian Bach's vocal music, including the famous St. Matthew Passion, was performed with only one singer per choral part. Rifkin was unable to finish his presentation because of what was termed “strong audience reaction.” “Strong audience reaction” is classical-speak for a riot. Leave it to a bunch of moldy music intellectuals to treat one of their own like Mussolini after his execution.

Nevertheless, Rifkin’s concept of “less is more” in Bach prevailed and may be heard in his Joplin, which he plays in the same way many Eastern Seaboard scholar’s of rural blues play that particular genre, like peanut butter smoothed to remove the imperfections. Rifkin’s treatment of meter and tempo are straight as Pythagoras and precise as an atomic clock. Rifkin plays sola scriptura to great and educational effect, giving his performances the distinction as being those to which all other are compared. He takes seriously Joplin’s declaration that, "ragtime should never be played fast." This makes listening to every other performance an adventure, one where the listen to different ragtime philosophies and appreciate them all.

So, while Rifkin is the place to start, his collection is not a “complete” recording of the Joplin rags. For complete sets the listener can look to Richard Zimmerman’s Laser Light collection, a mainstay since its release in the early 1970s, providing perfectly serviceable Joplin. There is also John Arpin’s fine set on the budget label Classical Heritage for the early 1960’s and Guido Nielsen’s more recent (2004) imported set on Basta Records. Scott Kirby’s Greener Pasture series (currently unavailable) from the mid-1990s are exceptional in their freshness and courage while his later Viridiana Productions series have been stuck at Volumes 1 and 2, are decidedly more orthodox, but equally compelling.

Listening broadly across many different performances lends the listener an appreciation of just how differently Joplin is viewed from one pianist to the next. Secondly, listening to the “Complete” corpus of Joplin, leads to an appreciation of the breadth and depth of the Joplin “Classical Rag” artistically and historically. With the new series being spawned by the Naxos label, a new focus on Joplin is certainly warranted if not needed.

* Index p. 325, Scott Joplin Complete Piano Works, New York Public Library, 1981.

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Literature: The Secret Supper by Javier Sierra

2007-05-29T10:37:00.000-05:00

At first glance, Javier Sierra's The Secret Supper plows just a little too close to the cotton of Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. Both novels deal in detail with Leonardo Da Vinci and three of his most famous paintings, The Last Supper (painted on the refectory wall in Santa Maria della Grazie in Milan, Italy) 1495-1498, Virgin of the Rocks (Louvre) 1483-1486, and Virgin of the Rocks (London) 1495-1508. Both novels deal with alleged secrets the Master intentionally introduced into his Last Supper, ostensibly to both ridicule Holy Mother Rome and to protect a secret "truth" about Jesus Christ and His extra-canonical life. Both books have as the center of this secret "truth" Mary Magdalene in a compelling relationship with Jesus, as well as Da Vinci being a member of a “secret” society. Both books address, albeit in dramatically different ways, the labyrinthine subterfuge employed by the Catholic Church in order to maintain power over and control of the world populace during the Middle Ages through the Renaissance. But gratefully, that is where the similarities end.

While The Da Vinci Code launched a fleet of books dealing with antiquity and the early Christian church, it was not the first book to deal with the subject. Umberto Eco's excellent Name of the Rose and Foucault's Pendulum are excellent examples of earlier Roman Catholic intrigue that weave history and fiction into a totally entertaining, and believable tapestry. Eco branched out beyond the Church as focal point and integrated antiquity into is other novels including, Baudolino and The Island of the Day Before. Sierra’s research for The Secret Supper was conducted contemporaneously with the publication of The Da Vinci Code. Both authors visited the same places, read the same manuscripts, and came to similar, but differently developed conclusions. The two authors used different time vehicles with which to tell their stories.

Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code was set in modern times with its protagonist an expert in religious symbology, Dr. Robert Langdon. Sierra’s The Secret Supper is set in 15th Century Italy, specifically, 1497-98 when Da Vinci was finishing his The Last Supper. Rome sends an inquisitor, Father Agostino Leyre, to Milan, ostensibly for the funeral for Donna Beatrice d’Este, the wife of Il Moro Ludovico Sforza, the Duke of Milan, the latter who is Da Vinci’s patron for painting The Last Supper in the refectory of Santa Maria della Grazie. The Duke fancies this monastery for his family burial vault. While in Milan, Leyre is caught up in a murder mystery involving a character called “The Soothsayer” associated with Da Vinci and his paintings and the last remaining remnants of Cathar heresy found in Italy. The Cathar Heresy flourished in the Languedoc region of France in the 11th through the 13th Century. The Cathars posed a danger to Rome in their belief, among others, that communion with God did not require an intermediary, the church. More over, Cathars believed that a stringently ascetic life (disparate from that in Rome was required for salvation) Da Vinci was thought to be one of the last of the Cathar Heretics and that he painted the secrets of the sect into The Last Supper. Catharism and the Languedoc are brilliantly presented in Kate Mosse’s Labyrinth.

Leyre follows riddles, twists, turns, and false observations trying to find both the mysterious killer, thought to be a Dominican Monk, the last persecutors of the Cathars. (The Dominicans play a large part in C.J. Sansom’s Dissolution demonstrating the appeal of this period intrigue in recent fiction). At the same time, Leyre comes under the spell of Da Vinci and his famous painting. Leyre uncovers all of the secrets in a plot twist recalling The Last Cato is kidnapped by the local Cathar community, shown their ways, and released to return to his job in Rome and ultimately to live a starkly ascetic existence in an Egyptian cave in the manner of Saint Paul of Thebes, commonly known as Paul the First Hermit, who live in a cave for 100 years in protection of this Christian Faith. It is here where he committed to paper his story Santa Maria della Grazie and Da Vinci’s The Last Supper.

Overall, Javier Sierra’s The Secret Supper is a very well researched non-starter. The story never captures a self-sustaining momentum, a fault that forces a good bit of the story’s importance into the last quarter of the book. Having said that, any book that requires outside study by the reader is a worthy book for consumption.

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Media: NCIS – Navy Criminal Investigative Services - "Angel of Death"

2007-05-23T22:22:00.000-05:00

"Angel of Death” first aired May 22, 2007

The final episode of NCIS’s fourth season does not require lengthy discussion. What it did require was a two-part episode. The writers and staff of the procedural were overly ambitious in conceiving this season finale. Commercial teasers indicate that everyone has a secret and they will be revealed. Well, perhaps some of them. The episode is complicated by a subplot involving two junkies and their mule, body packing what I presume to the heroin or perhaps cocaine who arrived at the airport just after NCIS Director Jennifer "Jenny" Shepard (Lauren Holly) returned from her European conference where she learned her father was still alive and had done business with Le Grenouille. No point in a blow by blow: here are the two subplots making up the episode.

Subplot 1: Three Junkies

Devon Watkins (Mike Erwin) is hit by a cab outside of the airport while texting an unidentified party that he has just cleared customs. This leg is badly broken and he is taken to the local hospital, just by chance employing Special Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) amore Dr. Jeanne Benoit (Scottie Thompson). Benoit is assigned the case, tony happens to be at the hospital at the same time when Watkin’s sister, Bernadette (Shelly Cole) and a surly Irishman named Nick Kerry (Alan Smyth) request to see him. The pair is sweating like Shaquille O’Neill at the foul line and is as manic as Robin Williams on an eight ball of crystal. Benoit allows ten minutes and repairs to the cafeteria with DiNozzo.

Meanwhile, Devon begins to tank while talking to his sister and Kerry, fearing that he is “leaking.” This suspicion reveals that Devon was acting and a drug mule and that the vehicular accident caused one or more of the balloons containing the contraband to rupture, introducing a huge amount of drug into his gastro intestinal tract. He codes, bringing Benoit back to the room where Devon expires. Kerry wants to know when the body can be released. Benoit demands an autopsy. The body goes to the morgue. What Devon was body packing is unclear.

His two accomplices display the classic symptoms of opiate withdrawal. This is support by Kerry’s suggestion to Bernadette that they acquire a bottle of codeine cough medicine at the hospital pharmacy (Federal Schedule V, requiring only an address and signature). Devon experienced symptoms more akin to a stimulant overdose (hypertension and Tachycardia) possible cocaine (as he flew in from South America) or amphetamine though also does occur in acute opiate toxicity depending on the extent of respiratory distress syndrome.

DiNozzo and Benoit go to the morgue to accost the two who are attempting to extract the drugs surgically from Devon. While waiting outside the morgue Terry opens the door and points a gun at them, forcing them into the morgue and ordering Benoit to dissect Devon to extract the drugs while his sister looks on. As encouragement, Terry pistol whips DiNozzo. Benoit agrees, putting on a mask and telling Bernadette to turn around to reduce the possibility of being exposed to diseased material when Devon is opened. This causes Kerry to back up. Benoit makes the incision and extracts a portion to the intestines containing some of the balloons dissecting them and liberating the drug into the incision site. An angered Kerry attacks Benoit over the table, where Benoit promptly plunges the scalpel into his shoulder causing him to drop the gun. Dinozzo retrieves the pistol and fires into the ceiling to discourage any more action from Kerry. That explanation dispatches this needless plot appendage.

Subplot 2: Le Grenouille

Director Shepard arrives home to find an open bottle of scotch and a half-filled tumbler. The scotch was her father’s, Colonel Jasper Shepard (Webster Williams) brand and the housekeeper, Noemi Cruz (Roxana Brusso) denies anyone had been in the office in her absence. Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) visits Shepard a short time later informing her that a 21 hour period she was unaccounted for in Europe is now causing her entire staff to be polygraphed, a fact revealed to Gibbs earlier when talking with FBI Agent T.C. Fornell (Joe Spano), who also alludes that it is the CIA requiring such measures.

It is a Friday night and Shepard calls all hands on deck to the NCIS headquarters (most of who are doing shooters at a local bar). Only NCIS Medical Examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum) and Mossad Agent-on-Loan-to-NCIS Ziva David (Cote de Pablo) remain. Ziva attempts to call DiNozzo, whose phone is off as he is being assaulted by Kerry. The pair’s conversation is vague regarding Ziva’s true feeling s for DiNozzo. She tells Ducky she has a “not so good feeling.”

At headquarters, Shepard brings in the scotch bottle and glass for NCIS Forensics Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto (Pauley Perrette) to identify the finger prints, which ultimately belong to Shepard’s ostensibly dead father, recorded as a suicide as discovered by Special Agent Timothy "Tim" McGee (Sean Murray) and Gibbs. Gibbs orders McGee to hack the CIA database to discover who is interested in NCIS and discovers it is a military arms section, linking the investigation once again to Le Grenouille.

The episode ends with DiNozzo and Benoit exited in the hospital for a linosine. Benoit says it is her secret. Benoit opens the back door, addresses the occupant in French, DiNozzo takes the far seat and is kissed on both cheeks and welcomed to the family by Benoit’s father, Rene Benoit - Le Grenouille.

Nothing would please me more than if I could froth over the NCIS season closer, “Angel of Death.” But I cannot. I am more than interested in what the writers have in store of next season, but this season’s final episode was ill conceived and at the very least should have been a two-parter sans the three junkies. NCIS blogs have long speculated that the DiNozzo-Benoit relationship was an undercover gig for DiNozzo. If it is, then NCIS is not paying him enough, because he has acted convincingly with Benoit. Touted as an episode to reveal all of the agent’s “deepest” secrets, “Angel of Death” falls woefully short. Not with a bang, but a whimper.

“Angel of Death,” is the final episode of the 2006-2007 season.

Stars:

Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon)
Special Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly)
Mossad Agent-on-Loan-to-NCIS Ziva David (Cote de Pablo)
Special Agent Timothy "Tim" McGee (Sean Murray)
NCIS Forensics Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto (Pauley Perrette)
NCIS Medical Examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum)
NCIS Director Jennifer "Jenny" Shepard (Lauren Holly)

Guest Stars:

NCIS Tech Cynthia Sumner (Stephanie Mello)
NCIS Medical Examiner Technician Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen)
NCIS Special Agent Michelle Lee (Liza Lapira),
Dr. Jeanne Benoit (Scottie Thompson)
FBI Agent T.C. Fornell (Joe Spano)
Emily Fornell (Payton Spencer)
Armand Assante (Le Grenouille)
Trent Kort (David Dayan Fisher)
Bill (Sky Soleil)
ER Orderly (Dayo Ade)
Noemi Cruz (Roxana Brusso)
Nurse Annie Hayes (Shandra Thigpen)
Bernadette Watkins (Shelly Cole)
Devon Watkins (Mike Erwin)
Nick Kerry (Alan Smyth)
Colonel Jasper Shepard (Webster Williams),
Craig Nigh (Melvin)
Samantha Bailey (Little Angel)

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Music: And On Earth, Peace: A Chanticleer Mass by Chanticleer

2007-05-18T09:48:00.000-05:00

The San Francisco-based all-male a cappella vocal orchestra Chanticleer is the only full-time choral group in the United States. Having established itself as America's premier vocal ensemble, specializing but not limiting themselves to the Early, Renaissance, and Baroque periods, Chanticleer appropriately derives its exceptional name from the clear singing rooster of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales:

A yard she had, enclosed all roundabout
With pales, and there was a dry ditch without,
And in the yard a cock called Chauntecleer.
In all the land, for crowing, he'd no peer.
His voice was merrier than the organ gay
On Mass days, which in church begins to play;
More regular was his crowing in his lodge
Than is a clock or abbey horologe.
By instinct he'd marked each ascension down

Chanticleer was founded in 1978 by tenor Louis Botto, who sang with the group until 1989 and served as artistic director until his death in 1997. Countertenor/composer Joseph Jennings took over as artistic director after Botto's death and has remained in that capacity since that time. The group is composed of 12 voices: 1 Bass, 2 Baritones, 3 Tenors, 3 Altos, and 3 sopranos. They have earned a reputation for crystalline a cappella interpretations of everything from Early Chant to Renaissance Liturgical Music to jazz and Broadway standards. Specialists in Renaissance Polyphony, Chanticleer have recorded several notable works of early music, which include the music of Byrd, Brumel, and Palestrina. The group has also concentrated on the music of the Mexican Baroque, as well as American spirituals and world folk music. The group has gained wide popularity for their several superb Christmas collections.

Chanticleer’s newest recording, And on Earth, Peace: A Chanticleer Mass is in many ways its most ambitious and satisfying project. The mass was commissioned by Chanticleer with the five liturgical movements composed by contemporary composers with disparate cultural and musical backgrounds. The mass celebrates the life of Chanticleer’s founder, Louis Botto, on the tenth anniversary of his death as well as the lives of notable San Franciscans and was premiered in April 2007.

For the uninitiated, And On Earth, Peace: A Chanticleer Mass is based upon the musical liturgy of the Roman Catholic Mass. There are five major sections of the service:

The Kyrie is the contemporary “Lord have Mercy,” offered during the Mass is led by the priest or celebrant, and repeated by the congregation. In modern times the Kyrie is recited in the vernacular having been derived from the original Greek. This Kyrie is composed by American Douglas Cuomo (b. 1958). It is highly charged polyphony using many of the older vocal techniques while incorporating pronunciations of the Greek as if through South African diction. It is a charged and lengthy piece that begins and ends quietly, but exists anxious in its interior.

The Gloria is a mass prayer termed The Great Doxology, Gloria in Excelsis Deo (literally, Glory in the heights to God). It is a prayer recited or sung after the Kyrie and before in the Scripture readings. Turkish-American Kamran Ince (b.1960) is responsible for the setting of the Gloria, subtitled “Everywhere” and sung in English and Latin, addressing the dream of ecumenicism. The piece retains continuity with a constant polyphonic drone as the underpinning of the sung words. Its character is of a slow shimmering of tones, like sunlight on warm water, agitated by external winds.

The Credo - is the recitation of the Nicene Creed, occurring after the Homily. The creed is the central choral piece of the mass. This setting, “Credo/Ani Ma'Amin” is composed by the Israeli composer Shulamit Ran. The text is sung in English and Yiddish and embraces the concept of faith in God in great adversity and uses a story of the Holocaust as a vehicle. The singing is beautiful and complex if disconcerting. The Credo is the most powerful piece of the collection.

The Sanctus - is the “Holy, Holy, Holy” of the modern mass, recited at the heart of the Eucharistic Prayer during the consecration. The text is based on Isaiah 6:3, describing the prophet's vision of God’s throne surrounded by the seraphim. Set here by the Eastern Orthodox-influenced Ivan Moody (b.1964), the Sanctus not so different compositionally from the exegesis of Sir John Tavener (b. 1944) and Arvo Part (b. 1935), both modern Eastern Orthodox choral specialists.

The Agnus Dei, literally “Lamb of God.” recited during the breaking of the Holy Eucharistic just before communion. It is lushly set here by Michael McGlynn (b.1964), the Irish choral composer who founded Irish choir Anúna. McGlynn infuses the Agnus Dei with that special spirituality championed by his homeland’s patron saint, Patrick.

Director Joseph Jennings included between these contemporary compositions medieval liturgical pieces in contrast to the modern treatments. The disc opens with a sixth century plainsong Da Pacem, Domine, Literally from the original Latin: “Give peace, O Lord, in our time / Because there is no one else / Who will fight for us
If not You, our God.” Jennings follows this with Andrea Gabrieli’s (1510-1586) Deus, Deus Meus, Respice in Me, literally from the Latin: “My God, my God, look upon me; why hast thou forsaken me?” from the Friday Prime Canonical Office. The plainsong, of which the Gregorian Chant is member, is a monophonic (using no additional harmony) choral piece, whereas Gabrieli’s Deus, Deus… is an example of polyphonic (with harmony) writing.

Jennings breaks the Glora and the Credo with two medieval pieces, O Vos Omnes (V. from Responsoria -Sabbato Sancto) (“All ye who pass by the way”) by Carlo Gesualdo (1560-1613). This is a responsorial that follows the reading of scripture and is derived from Lamentations 1:12. It is the fifth of the nine such responsories sung during the Matins on Holy Saturday. The second ancient piece is Gesualdo’s Aestimatus Sum from Psalm 87, sung as the responsorial number eight of the Matins on Holy Saturday. These pieces illustrate a more sophisticated polyphony with more complex melody lines that the Gabrieli piece. The Credo and the Sanctus are separated by Gabrieli’s O Salutaris Hostia, derived from a section of one of the Eucharistic hymns written by St Thomas Aquinas for the Feast of Corpus Christi. Aquinas wrote it for the Canonical Office of Lauds.

The Director breaks Ivan Moody’s Sanctus from the Agnus Dei with another Gesualdo composition, Peccantem Me Quotidie “While I am sinning every day, and yet do not repent.” It is a motet sung as part of Matins. The beautiful piece evokes the fragility of humanity and the sorrow for a sinful nature. Chanticleer has no peer in the performance of this music (save for perhaps the Paul Hillier ensemble, which tends to add a decidedly modern edge to ancient performances). Jennings ends the disc with a second setting of Da Pacem, Domine, one he himself arranged. This piece may be the most perfect minute and a half Chanticleer has ever committed to digital.

Da pacem, Domine, in diebus nostris
Quia non est alius
Qui pugnet pro nobis
Nisi tu Deus noster.

The voices rise like the frosted breath of prayer in some long ago monastery, “Numb were the Beadsman’s fingers, while he told / His rosary, and while his frosted breath, / Like pious incense from a censer old, / Seem’d taking flight for heaven.”

Personnel:

Matthew D. Oltman, Alan Reinhardt, Gabe Lewis-O'Connor, Eric S. Brenner, Eric Alatorre, Todd Wedge, Brian Hinman, Michael McNeil, Adam Ward, Jace Wittig, Dylan Hostetter, William Sauerland, Joseph Jennings- Musical Director

Selections:

Da Pacem, Domine – plainsong; Deus, Deus Meus, Respice in Me - Andrea Gabrieli (1510-1586); Kyrie - Douglas J. Cuomo (b.1958); (Gloria) Everywhere - Kamran Ince (b.1960); O Vos Omnes (V. from Responsoria -Sabbato Sancto) - Carlo Gesualdo (1560-1613); Aestimatus Sum - Carlo Gesualdo (1560-1613); Credo/Ani Ma'Amin - Shulamit Ran (b.1949); O Salutaris Hostia - Andrea Gabrieli; Ravenna Sanctus - Ivan Moody (b.1964); Peccantem Me Quotidie - Carlo Gesualdo (1560-1613); Agnus Dei - Michael McGlynn (b.1964); Da Pacem, Domine - plainsong (arr. Joseph H. Jennings).

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Literature: Dissolution by C.J. Sansom

2007-05-15T11:58:00.001-05:00

C.J. Sansom’s Dissolution introduces us to Dr. Matthew Shardlake, a kyphotic lawyer in the service of King Henry VIII’s Vicar General Thomas Cromwell. The period is shortly after the beheading of Henry’s second wife, Anne Boleyn and the King’s marriage to Jane Seymour. This was a period of religious revolution in England where Henry declared himself via The Act of Supremacy 1534 "the only Supreme Head in Earth of the Church of England.” That same year the Treasons Act made it high treason punishable by death to refuse to acknowledge the King as such. Both circumstances loom large in the backdrop of Sansom’s intricate murder mystery. The book’s title is derived from the dissolution of England’s Catholic Monasteries, ordered by Henry through Cromwell. Henry was given the authority to do this by the Act of Supremacy, along with the First Suppression Act (1536, dissolving smaller monasteries) and the Second Suppression Act (1539, dissolving the remaining monasteries). In April 1536 the Augmentations Office was established to handle receipt and processing of goods confiscated from the dissolved monasteries.

A government official sent by Cromwell to investigate a large Benedictine Monastery in the fictional Scarnsea, Sussex is found beheaded in the monastery’s kitchen the same day that a rooster is found sacrificed on the Church’s alter and the Church’s relic, The Hand of the Penitent Thief, stolen. Vicar General Cromwell dispatches Commissioner Dr. Matthew Shardlake and his assistant Mark Poer to the monastery to investigate the dead official’s suspicious demise. While the two investigators are in residence at the monastery, several other murders occur, in addition to the attempted murder of Shardlake. As a plot subtext, Shardlake’s developing interpersonal relationship with Poer makes for compelling reading as does Sansom’s use of Shardlake’s deformity as a metaphor of the human condition in battle with the religious strive for spiritual perfection.

Sansom, a historian and lawyer, provides an almost tactile portrayal of Tudor England as the story’s physically-flawed protagonist investigates the few nuggets of information regarding the murder he is provided. Sansom’s physically descriptive passages of the cold winter in the South of England are dense enough to chill the reader. Samsom’s politically and religiously descriptions are historically informed and educational. The author facilely leads the reader into the morally ambivalent gray area that Shardlake finds himself, that is being in favor of Church reformation for a spiritual sake while his betters have more temporal (and financial) agendas in mind. Cromwell comes off as the greed-ridden monster he was while the monks are depicted as the flawed universe of characters that inhabited monasteries in the 16th Century.

In my review of Matilde Asensi’s The Last Cato I remark on the value of a minimal bit of research on the plot subject of historical fiction. In the case of the Last Cato, I suggested a reading knowledge of Dante’s Divine Comedy in general and the middle triptych Purgatorio in particular as well as biographical familiarity with Dante. For Dissolution I will suggest that the reader pursue the following Wikipedia subjects: St. Thomas More, Thomas Cromwell, Kink Henry VIII, Benedictine Monasticism, and the Canonical Hours. I suggest Wikipedia because it is an easy resource to consult and often leads the reader deeper into related subjects that further flesh out a given subject. I also suggest other resources be used if the reader feels so inclined. Dissolution is a brisk and interesting read that makes welcome Sansom’s next two mysteries in the series, Dark Fire and Sovereign

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

Literature: The Last Cato by Matilde Asensi

2007-05-15T11:58:00.000-05:00

Matilde Asensi’s novel, The Last Cato deals with the ancient icons of The True Cross, the first Christian Emperor Constantine and his mother, Helena, Dante Alighieri’s Purgatorio and Dante’s pagan protector of Purgatory’s terraces, Marcus Porcius Catō Uticēnsis (95 BC–46 BC), also known as Cato the Younger, from which the title is derived. As has been true with every related historical-fictional novel since Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code, Asensi’s The Last Cato is crammed with historical references that while more often than not correct, are used with such poetic license that their historical worth is diminished. That is not to say that The Last Cato is not an enjoyable read, it is. It also has in its favor a unique female perspective as does Kate Mosse’s Labyrinth.

My current argument in reading this religious-intrigue fiction, supported by Stephen Prothero’s Religious Literacy - What Every American Needs to Know - and Doesn't, is that the majority of readers lack the necessary education about religion and its historical-cultural significance to fully comprehend and therefore enjoy such novels. Just a brief review of the above stated inventory presents the inquisitive reader a heady task in preparing to properly read The Last Cato. Our attention-deficient society does not demand the rigors of such study and author Asensi does not necessarily require it. However, having some idea of Church History and The Divine Comedy would be an asset.

So, in popular culture, how did we get to our fascination with the intrigue of Christianity and its origins? I don’t mean the predictable, evangelical ilk of Jerry B. Jenkins and Tim F. LaHaye’s apocalyptic yawn. I am thinking more in terms of Umberto Ecco’s fiction, such as Name of the Rose. Catholics and Non-Catholics alike cyclically have a fascination with the labyrinthine mystery that surrounds and permeates the history of Roman Catholicism. Dan Brown was not the first to take advantage of stories of myth attached to Christian theological and temporal development forged between the deaths of Sts. Peter and Paul in during the persecution of Nero and the present day. Both of Brown’s books in the genera, Angels and Demons and The Da Vinci Code deal first with secret church-related societies, The Illuminati in the former and Opus Dei. Umberto Ecco’s historically-informed Name of the Rose and Foucault’s Pendulum dealt the Roman Catholic esoterica in a densely delicious manner that required much of the reader but rewarded the same for his or her effort.

Popularly, The Da Vinci Code reintroduced the story of The Holy Grail, which was first introduced into literary lore by Chrétien de Troyes in his 12th-century epic, Perceval, le Conte du Graal (The Story of the Grail), and a bit later by Robert de Boron in his Joseph d'Arimathie. Romance was added to the story by Wolfram von Eschenbach in Parzival in the early 13th century, and the same story set to musical theater by Richard Wagner in his last opera, Parsifal, first performed in July 26, 1882. Thus, there is nothing new in the tale of the Grail. When The DaVinci Code was first published, America’s Protestant Puritan population was all a-twitter as if The Da Vinci Code were the first vehicle to entertain Jesus and Mary Magdalene’s erstwhile marriage. Much heretic blood was shed in antiquity over such theories well before there was even a printing press.

First and foremost, The Da Vinci Code stands as a breezy Summer read. Subsequent readings of the book, coupled with a bit of research on the subject (Michael Baigent, et al.’s Holy Blood, Holy Grail, Justo L. Gonzalez’s Church History: An Essential Guide and his three volume A History of Christian Thought) show the story rushed, compressed, and threadbare in places. Nevertheless, The Da Vinci Code was the father of a thousand novels devoted to antiquities, hermeneutics, and esoterica, as well as, millions of Christian sermons and homilies addressing its subject as heresy or a starting point to a dialog about Faith’s importance and/or lack thereof.

The vast majority of The Da Vinci Code’s offspring are banal at best and cultural waste at worst. Some of the better stories directly related to The Da Vinci Code include novels addressing the historical protectors of The Holy Grail - the Knights Templer: Steve Berry’s The Templar Legacy and Raymond Khoury’s The Last Templar and novels dealing with the Last Supper and the “secret” Holy Grail directly: Javier Sierra’s The Secret Supper and Kate Mosse’s superb Labyrinth. But Authors did not thankfully restrict themselves to Jesus and his ostensible family. Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason’s thinly writtenThe Sign of Four was hot off the presses after The Da Vinci Code. It is pretentiously flawed and written but did expose the provocative mystery of the 15th Century manuscript Hypnerotomachia Poliphili to light, obviously a product of the Authors’ Ivy League education. Chris Kuzneski’s The Sign of the Cross is clever but incomplete in melding the Roman Catholic gesture with a yarn about the ancestors of Pilate and their link to the Vatican. So what’s next for the genre? Well, Matilde Asensi’s The Last Cato, of course.

Asensi’s story centers on the unlikely trio of Vatican paleographer Sister Ottavia Salina, Vatican Swiss Guard Captain Kaspar Glauser-Roïst, and a Coptic Catholic archeologist, Farag Boswell. The three are brought together because of the murder of a mysterious Ethiopian man who was covered with elaborate and enigmatic tattoos. Sister Salina is called upon by Vatican potentates and Glauser-Roïst to divine the meaning of the dead man’s body art. Shady Vatican officials inform Salina that the dead Ethiopian was part of a conspiracy to steal the Ligna Crucis, pieces of The True Cross, from churches where the religious relics were kept. As the story blooms, the Holy Father charges Salina, Glauser-Roïst, and the added academic Boswell to retrieve the relics.

The story winds its way through and already well-worn path of the Vatican Library intrigue, leading to the discovery of a secret society called the Staurofilakes, who have sought The True Cross throughout history and seem to be accumulating the slivers of wood from all over the world. Glauser-Roïst, an Italian Scholar, notes that there exist clues to the Staurofilakes hidden in Dante Alighieri’s Purgatorio, the second triptych of his Divine Comedy. The three learn that Dante himself was a member of the group and hid the group’s initiation ritual in the densely written poetics of the Purgatorio, an act that earned Dante a four year exile.

The trio sets out to replicate the instructions gleaned from the Purgatorio, a process that takes them to several continents, each enduring Dante’s poetic path to perfection through the writer’s seven terraces of Purgatory, where each searcher is rendered unconscious and tattooed once each terrace is accomplished. By the end of the story, all three have acquired all of the tattoos found on the murdered Ethiopian. Along the way, the cleric Salina falls in love with the agnostic Boswell, testing her 40 year dedication to the Church. Asensi puts perhaps (and perhaps not) a fine point on the misogyny of the Vatican in detailing the shabby treatment of Salina. This is my only quibble with the book’s tone, the same one I have with Anita Diamant’s The Red Tent and India Hill’s Queenmaker. The tone is not so much revisionist (not at all) as it is browbeating, prompting me to think, “Okay, I get the point.”

The book’s end poses a much larger problem than tone with the depiction of the paradise inherited by completing the challenges of Purgatory. The story ends on a bright and shiny note that rings just a bit flat. But perhaps this is my fussiness and my sour grapes for not having the opportunity to live in such a place. Overall, the novel is rich in detail and challenges the reader to conduct outside research. Such historically based fiction has a value in informing us of ancient art still worthy of study. I prepared to read this book by reading all of Purgatorio and an Internet biography of Dante as well as of Cato the Younger. It takes very little outside work to increase the overall enjoyment of this fine book.

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Music: Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 8 by Domenico Scarlatti

2007-05-10T20:00:00.000-05:00

Naxos’ most recent pianist tapped to the projected 35-Volume Complete Keyboard Sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti is the talented Soyeon Lee. After having lauded the volumes by Jeno Jando, Evgeny Zarafiants and Konstantin Scherbakov, and the fact that the Slavic pianist have a sensitive affinity for Scarlatti, I must note that the young Korean Soyeon Lee blasts in from the outer regions to debut on the label with the Scarlatti Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 8. To consider this recording auspicious is a British understatement.

The best global description of Lee’s Scarlatti is balance. The sonic atomic and subatomic structure of her playing is in perfect harmony. Her pianism is exactly that. Those who look for the 1955-Glenn-Gould harpsichord effect on the piano need to look elsewhere. Soyeon Lee turns in a relaxed and perfectly comfortable piano performance of a demanding and unforgiving repertoire. Graceful.

Lee is not in the least bit shy in her playing or her choice of Sonatas, having gleaned five from the songbook of Vladimir Horowitz. Outstanding among the five is the F Minor Sonata, K. 466, marked andante. This minor key composition has perhaps its only peer in the Scarlatti corpus in the E Minor Sonata, K.402 in both its charm and pathos. Lee brilliantly juxtaposes the elegantly paced and ornate F Minor Sonata against the galloping B flat Major Sonata, K. 441 which sounds so modern and universal to have been composed between Louis Moreau Gottschalk and Scott Joplin.

Lee makes the D Major Sonata, K. 96 sing with her musicality and unerring sense of balance. She sports an aggressive left hand as did Horowitz with greater tonal modulation in repeats. The same may be said for the A flat Major Sonata, K. 127, with a more balanced left hand than Horowitz resulting still in a muscular performance of the piece with more vivid tonal pastels and striking tonal primary colors. Everything about this fine disc endorses it for many pleasant listenings.

At the time of this recording, Soyeon Lee was a 26-year-old piano powerhouse with a bevy of bona fides under her belt. Juilliard educated, having studying with Jerome Lowenthal and Robert McDonald. Lee gathered top prizes at the Concert Artists Guild International Competition, Cleveland International Piano Competition, and the Paloma O’Shea Santander International Piano Competition. In 2004 the pianist made her Lincoln Center recital début at Alice Tully Hall as the Juilliard School’s prestigious William Petschek Piano Début Award winner. While at Juilliard, Lee won the Rachmaninoff Concerto Competition as well as two consecutive Gina Bachauer Scholarship Competitions, and was awarded the Helen Fay Prize, Arthur Rubinstein Prize, and the Susan Rose Career Grant.

Other releases in this series include:

Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 1

Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 2

Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 3

Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 4

Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 5

Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 6

Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 7

Sonata in A major, K.181: Allegro; Sonata in E major, K.496: Allegro; Sonata in C major, K.420: Allegro; Sonata in F minor, K.466: Andante; Sonata in B flat major, K.441: Allegro; Sonata in B minor, K.87; Sonata in D major, K.96: Allegrissimo; Sonata in G minor, K.426: Andante; Sonata in A flat major, K.127: Allegro; Sonata in F minor, K.462: Andante; Sonata in A minor, K.382: Allegro; Sonata in C major, K.485: Andante cantabile; Sonata in A major, K.101.

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Media: NCIS – Navy Criminal Investigative Services - "Trojan Horse"

2007-05-10T10:00:00.001-05:00

“Trojan Horse” first aired May 8, 2007

Holy S**t! What a trainwreck of an episode! But that is not a bad thing for the tangle of the story is intriguing and that is what all drama writers hope for: a plot complex, misshapen, dirty…kind of like real life. “Trojan Horse” is the penultimate episode to the 2006-2007 season and it is going to be interesting to see how the writers resolve this cacophonous dissonance into a final brilliant chordal consonance (be that one that will certainly a cliffhanger).

“Trojan Horse” is two episodes in one. NCIS Director Jennifer "Jenny" Shepard (Lauren Holly) is in Paris, attending a security conference and leaves Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) in charge, much to the chagrin of Shepard’s Girl-Friday, NCIS Tech Cynthia Sumner (Stephanie Mello), with whom he spars with, more often than not coming up short. Gibbs’ and Sumner’s two-minute exchange along with his telephone conversation with Shepard are two of the high comedic points of the season. Meanwhile, a dead Yemeni National shows up in a cab at NCIS creating quite a stir at the gate, awakening Gibbs from the bureaucratic slumber as acting director, launching him into action, causing NCIS Medical Examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum) to win the office pool on how long it would take Gibbs to return to field work (four days). Special Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) turns out to be the loser.

First story line: the dead Yemeni National, Hamal Fahan, is a cover to smuggle one Mario Vincetti (Gary Morgan) into the NCIS lab where he could make a pistol exchange in the evidence locker related to a case Forensics Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto (Pauley Perrette) had been working on. This thread seems almost incidental as the plot element is just floating unattached to anything in the episode. The cab arrives with the dead man and the cab driver, Joey Kelly (Michael Patrick) is detained for extended questioning. Meanwhile, Vincetti, hiding beneath a false front bench seat in the cab (how did Abby miss that?) peals away the Velcro cover, subsequently breaking into the elaborately secured evidence storage in Abby’s garage lab (hence, the title “Trojan Horse”). Kelly continues to be questioned and occasionally receives phone calls on his cell (would his cell not been immediately removed from him?). Pretending that these calls are from his wife (some are), the last one is from Vincetti, telling him he is finished with the evidence switch.

But before Vincetti calls Kelly he is almost caught by Abby entering the evidence hold to remove the gun. Abby notes a small piece of foam and picks it up for further inspection. After she has left, Vincetti calls Kelly and returns to the hiding place in the cab. Kelly is released and on his way out when Abby discovers that the foam from the evidence lockup is the same as that from the cab. The cab is stopped at the gate and Vincetti and Kelly attested. The dead Yemeni National, Hamal Fahan, you ask? Oh, yea…he was killed with saxitotoxin, a marine neurotoxin closely related to tetrodotoxin (known to block sodium channels necessary for neural transmission). The man tried to obtain a student visa and was turned down and later had his alternate temporary visa extended as he was named an employee of the Yemeni embassy. He was found in the cab with a list of names, his being one. All on the list were dead. This was a red herring to divert NCIS’s attention from the evidence subterfuge. An attaché from the Yemeni embassy even comes to identify the body. The scheme was engineered by a mysterious entity “Scaletti” and his defense team to alter the evidence in his favor at trial. This party had a group of his own experts coming in to repeat Abby’s original ballistics. This part of the plot is painted a bit too thin with literary water color to lend it much validity. This story line should have been better separated expanded for a full episode of its own.

The second story line: the “real” story, occupying only about one-quarter of episode are Director Shepard’s activities in Paris, ostensibly attending a conference. She meets with Trent Kort (David Dayan Fisher), the CIA operative in deep cover with Shepard’s sacred Le Grenouille. He reveals that Le Grenouille is in Nice. In the meantime, Kort supplies Shepard with information on the whereabouts of one Colonel-General Dimitri Borov (Vladimir Skomarovsky), who is currently dying of lung cancer and whom Kort had informed Le Grenouille the Director was seeking earlier in the episode. Shepard flies from Paris to Moscow to see Borov, who had been a rival and friend of Shepard’s father during the Cold War. Okay, a lot is revealed in a short amount of time. Shepard want Borov to sign a document stating that he sold arms to Le Grenouille. Borov informs Shepard that it was he and her father involved in the affair. Borov and Shepard discuss her father’s death in 1995, when Borov informs the Director that he had seen her father just three weeks ago.

Dropped in the middle of all of this intrigue is Dr. Jeanne Benoit (Scottie Thompson) calling DiNozzo and informing him that she has found a house for them to buy. DiNozzo is nonplussed as the last time they spoke, they were to get an apartment together. Benoit and a nurse at the hospital (both clad in pink, a touch too cute) discuss Benoit’s decision to drop this bomb on DiNozzo. On the NCIS side, Mossad Agent-on-Loan-to-NCIS Ziva David (Cote de Pablo) coyly (or lamely) drops the viewer’s hints of her feelings for DiNozzo. This relationship is the most confused of the series. Contrary to other opinions, Ziva has something other than Platonic feelings for DiNozzo. This mess of an episode sets us up for the season finale where it will take some magic to resolve even part of those threads that have existed throughout the season, the least of which is the DiNozzo-David connection.

The next episode, “Angel of Death,” will air May 22, 2007.

Stars:

Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon)
Special Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly)
Mossad Agent-on-Loan-to-NCIS Ziva David (Cote de Pablo)
Special Agent Timothy "Tim" McGee (Sean Murray)
Forensics Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto (Pauley Perrette)
NCIS Medical Examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum)
NCIS Director Jennifer "Jenny" Shepard (Lauren Holly)

Guest Stars:

Armand Assante (Le Grenouille)
Trent Kort (David Dayan Fisher)
Marine Cpl. Keener (Celestin Cornielle)
Marine Srgt. Maria Sanchez (Michelle Wolff)
Mario Vincetti (Gary Morgan)
Russian Nurse (Aleksandra Kaniak)
NCIS Special Agent Lynn Davis (Corie Vickers)
Colonel-General Dimitri Borov (Vladimir Skomarovsky)
Darya Borov (Sima Kostov)
Nurse Carly Marcano (Marcy Harriell)
Dr. Ameen Temani (Brian George)
Joey Kelly (Michael Patrick)
Regine Smidt (Sandra Hess)
Dr. Jeanne Benoit (Scottie Thompson)
NCIS Tech Cynthia Sumner (Stephanie Mello)

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Music Review: Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 7 by Domenico Scarlatti

2007-05-09T15:20:00.000-05:00

Following one commanding Russian pianist, Evgeny Zarafiants, who contributed Volume 6 to the Naxos Scarlatti Sonata series, is another in Konstantin Scherbakov. Like Jenö Jandó, Scherbakov has plowed a huge furrow through the Naxos catalogue with piano series that include Franz Liszt’s transcriptions of Beethoven’s Symphonies, the complete piano music of Leopold Godowsky, as well as the Rachmaninov and Scriabin Piano Concertos, Shostakovich Preludes and Fugues, and Tchaikovsky Piano Concertos. How he could have missed the Prokofiev corpus is still a mystery.

Remaining steadfast in the Russian dedication to Domenico Scarlatti and his Keyboard Sonatas, Scherbakov provides a fiery recital, opening withy a precisely articulated performance of the F Major Sonata, K. 483. His playing here is comparable to the conservative and militaristic, harpsichord-like performances of Jandó and Zarafiants with echoes the power and command of Sviatoslav Richter in playing Bach. This meticulousness extends to F Major Sonata, K. 483 and the A Major Sonata, K. 283, where Scherbakov infuses the march-like cadences with his certain Slavic pathos. The beautiful Russian discipline is present in the quieter pieces, such as the F Minor Sonata, K. 238 and the F Major Sonata, K. 17, the two offering a revealing comparison of styles within the change from minor to major scales.

Konstantin Scherbakov, along with Jenö Jandó, and Evgeny Zarafiants, have provided the highlights among highlights thus far in the Naxos Scarlatti Sonata Series. I would not presume that this is the best that the series will have to offer before it is all said and done. I only point these out to illustrate the extremely high level of artistry that has been accomplished in the series. Every installment should be welcomed with anticipation.

Konstantin Scherbakov was born 1963 in Barnaul, Siberia. He has been the recipient of many awards including, first Rachmaninov Competition in 1983. Scherbakov recording of Liszt’s transcriptions of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony was awarded the German Critics’ Prize 2005, as well as his recording of Godowsky’s Sonata in E minor, which was awarded the German Critics’ Prize in December 2001. Scherbakov’s recording of Shostakovich’s 24 Preludes and Fugues of earned him the Classical Award 2001 at Cannes.

Other releases in this series include:

Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 1

Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 2

Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 3

Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 4

Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 5

Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 6

Sonata in F major, K.483/L.472/P.407: Presto; Sonata in F major, K.542/L.167/P.546: Allegretto Sonata in B flat major, K.360/L.400/P.520: Allegro Sonata in C minor, K.40/L.375/P.119: Minuetto; Sonata in C major, K.422/L.451/P.511: Allegro; Sonata in F minor, K.238/L.27/P.55: Andante; Sonata in F major, K.17/L.384/P.73: Presto; Sonata in A major, K.500/L.492/P.358: Allegro; Sonata in A major, K.114/L.344/P.141: Spirito e presto; Sonata in E minor, K.291/L.61/P.282: Andante; Sonata in G major, K.328/L.S27/P.485: Andante comodo; Sonata in A major, K.320/L.341/P.335: Allegro; Sonata in G major, K.283/L.318/P.482: Andante Allegro; Sonata in D major, K.313/L.192/P.398: Allegro; Sonata in D major, K.479/L.S16/P.380: Allegrissimo; Sonata in D major, K.479/L.S16/P.380: Allegrissimo.

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Music Review: C. Michael Bailey’s Desert Island Classical 10

2007-05-08T15:09:00.000-05:00

If one were to assemble a list of anything that he or she would want to have with them on a desert island, there really have to be some ground rules. I have composed endless numbers of these lists for myself, but I always cheated. If it is movies, I treat The Godfather Trilogy as a single entry. If it is music, I consider all of Beethoven's nine symphonies as one. I have been studiously listening to classical music for the better part of 30 years and decided to consider those recordings that I could not do without.

Classical Music possesses a multidimensional character that other genera do not. When one thinks of Johann Sebastian Bach's Goldberg Variations one can consider this compositions place among all compositions, among all Baroque compositions, and among all of Bach's compositions. Additionally, one has the opportunity to consider the performance: was the set played on a harpsichord or a modern piano. Then one can consider a given recording: Wanda Landowska's, Trevor Pinnock's, or Masaaki Suzuki's harpsichord performances; or, Glenn Gould's, Daniel Barenboim's, or Angela Hewitt's on piano. It is this manifold nature that makes the vein of Classical Music so rich and requiring thoughtful consideration. There are a lot of reasons for choosing one recording over another as one's favorite and I will probably employ all of them. These ten single recordings represent my lifetime of listening. They are in no particular order.

Horowitz in Moscow
Vladimir Horowitz
Deutsche Grammophon

On April 20, 1986, pianist Vladimir Horowitz performed a recital at Tchaikovsky Hall (Moscow Conservatory), Moscow, Russia. The historical significance of this performance was it was Horowitz’s first public recital in his native country since 1925. The pianist was 82 years old at the time and his return to perform in Russia was considered a national triumph. Aside from the historical significance of the concert, Horowitz’s concert captured arguable the greatest living pianist performing a wide-ranging repertoire at close to the peak of his considerable powers. His recital spans from the Baroque repertoire of Domenico Scarlatti to the Post-Romantic stock of Sergey Rachmaninov. Horowitz’s performance of Mozart’s Piano Sonata in C Major, K. 330 may be his best Mozart ever. Horowitz in Moscow is a great sampler disc offering a wide variety of musical periods performed on a special day by a superb musician.

Beethoven: Missa Solemnis in D major, Op. 123; Mozart: Mass in C minor, K. 427 "The Great"
John Aler, Tom Krause, Janice Taylor, Sylvia McNair
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, Atlanta Symphony Orchestra & Chorus, Robert Shaw
Telarc

Beethoven composed his Missa Solemnis between 1819 and 1823, premiering it in St. Petersburg, April 7, 1824. Beethoven considered his Solemn Mass the pinnacle of his creative output. Composer Jan Swafford contends that the Missa Solemnis and Ninth Symphony best represent musically Beethoven’s spirituality; the former being a metaphysical question and the latter its answer – pretty high-browed but still right on the money. This performance is by the Dean of American Choral Conductors, the late Robert Shaw. The power and majesty of the opening “Kyria,” with the fine tenor John Aler and soprano Sylvia McNair alone commands conversion. An added bonus is Mozart’s Mass in C Minor, K. 427, performed with all the gusto of Shaw’s carefully modern interpretation. Telarc would have made this release perfect by including Beethoven’s earlier Mass in C Major, Op. 86, which Shaw later recorded.

Beethoven: Symphonien Nos. 5 & 7
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, Carlos Kleiber
Deutsche Grammophon

There would be no recognition of “Classical” music without Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony in C Minor, Op. 67. Carlos Kleiber’s recording with the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra has been the gold standard for Beethoven Fifths (and Sevenths) since its original release on vinyl over thirty years ago (originally recorded March 29th and 30th and April 4th, 1974, released 1975). This was the first classical recording I had bought. The LP cover was very cool, finished with a mirror-shiny photograph of Kleiber conducting. The performances are mirror-shiny too. Kleiber extracts the potent essence of Beethoven using the Vienna Philharmonic as his vehicle. The pacing is brisk and urgent. The Seventh is treated likewise, revealing the master’s rhythmic genius in the music Wagner called “the apotheosis of the dance.” If one must own a single Beethoven recording, it should be this one.

Mozart: Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K622; Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K581
Thea King
Gabrieli String Quartet, English Chamber Orchestra, Sir Jeffrey Tate
Hyperion

Mozart was already ill when composing his clarinet music. The composer is thought to have suffered from rheumatic disease while young that later manifested as post-infectious glomerulonephritis which ultimately led to renal failure. While controversial, Mozart’s final illness was lengthy. During this time of physical stress, the composer created one of his sunniest pieces, the Clarinet Concerto in A Major, K. 622, published in October 1791, just three month before his death. The concerto was written for clarinetist Anton Stadler, who premiered the piece October 16, 1791 in Prague. The concerto has much structurally in common with the earlier Clarinet Quintet in A Major, K 581. Dame Thea King found a soul mate in Jeffery Tate who conducted the fine English Chamber Orchestra in this performance of the Concerto. King exhibits perfect modulation in the concerto and the necessary sensitivity and emotion in the quintet. King reveals, particularly in the slow movements, the composer’s melancholy, carefully masked by his genius.

Puccini: La Bohème
Luciano Pavarotti, Mirella Freni
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan
Decca

Maybe Sir Thomas Beecham’s Boheme with Jussi Björling and Victoria de los Angeles on EMI is better, but Luciano Pavarotti is the tenor (and Rodolfo) of our time just as Vladimir Horowitz was the pianist. And, Mirella Freni is no slouch as soprano in Mimi’s role. Puccini was the master of writing for the voice. Rossini may have been more Bel Canto, Verdi more tuneful, and Wagner more Teutonic (pardon the pun), but it was Puccini who captured the peasant heart, achieving perhaps the highest pinnacle in the mountain range of Italian Opera. “Oh! sventata, sventata” bristles with lyricism as does the following “Che gelinda manina.” Where Björling is more muscular, Pavarotti is “prettier,” possessing a virility tempered with an anima of perfection. It is here where if Puccini had written no other notes for the tenor voice, eh would have certainly made his mark. Freni pillages and burns “Si. Mi chiamano Mimi” with such grace it is easy to “breathe the perfume, petal by petal.” The titanic trio “O soave fanciulla” finishes the listener off before the end of the first act. Puccini looms large during a Tuesdays with Morey” period I had years ago frequently visiting a favorite retired pharmacology professor. The Professor would always say, “Michael, let’s kill Mimi one more time.

Handel: The Messiah
Scholars Baroque Ensemble
Naxos

George Frederic Handel was a Saxon who became an Englishman to compose Italian Opera, run an opera house, go broke twice, make a third fortune, start a foundation, and end up buried with Kings in Westminster Abbey. I suspect that is how one would define an impresario. The horrible irony about Handel is that in spite of his popularity as a composer in all forms including the concerto grossi, keyboard and solo instrument sonata, choral, opera, and oratorio, Handel is known but for one work. It is in the last category, the oratorio (where opera is musical theater, the oratorio is strictly a concert genera), specifically Messiah for which Handel is remembered. And that is just fine. Save for Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony, Messiah is perhaps the best loved and most performed composition globally. Of 30 performances I personally own, my favorite is the period performance by the Scholars Baroque Ensemble. A stripped-down orchestra and chorus give an amazingly full-bodied performance of the original 1742 composition. The soloists are also part of the chorus, in keeping with the standard practice in Handel's time. This is a superb recording of Messiah, but if inclined, by no means make it your only one to own.

Scott Joplin: Piano Rags
Joshua Rifkin
Nonesuch

Joshua Rifkin made his musical bones in 1981 with a paper presented at American Musicological Society where first he corrected history by proving that Bach’s St. Matthew Passion premiered 1727 and not the previously thought 1729 and second, by proposing that much of Johann Sebastian Bach's vocal music, including the famous St. Matthew Passion, was performed with only one singer per choral part. Rifkin was unable to finish his presentation because of “strong audience reaction.” Yea, I suspect it was the same “strong audience reaction” Stravinsky experienced at the premier of Le Sacre du printemps in Paris, May 29, 1913 at the Théâtre des Champs-Élysées…a surely bunch, those classical types. Before all of the Bach scholarship, Rifkin recorded a crystalline yet warm collection of Scott Joplin rags released in the 1970s. Before I ever knew of Rifkin’s Bach connection, I opined that Rifkin played Joplin as Bach would have. And that is with love, care, and precision. Rifkin bridges 300 years of music to show the thread, the remnant that exists in and through all music. The sonics of the old LP are close and warm and these characteristics well transferred to CD. There are many collections of Joplin Rag’s, but none transcends that of Rifkin.

Tschaikovsky, Dvorák: String Serenades
Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan
Deutsche Grammophon

What? No Swan Lake? Yep, that’s right. Should one wish to find the essence of Pyotr Ilyich Tschaikovsky in a small space of time, he of she need look no further. Tschaikovsky distilled every dance, ballet, waltz, and symphony into his four-movement string serenade that clocks in at less than half an hour. The late Herbert von Karajan, with the considerable forces of the Berlin Philharmonic, frame perfectly the unabashed Romanticism that emanates from the music as smoldering orange from the winter fireplace in a fine Russian palace. The added bonus is the Dvorák serenade. The Czech sensibility blends with the Tschaikovsky in a brilliantly Slavic eutectoid that rarely forms when two separate works by separate composers are brought together on the same release. This reflects the genius of Herbert von Karajan.

J.S. Bach: Goldberg Variations
Andras Schiff
ECM Records

Andras Schiff’s ECM Goldbergs are his second set, the first having been recorded some 20 years before for Decca. Both releases are quite excellent, but I suspect that nothing can replace experience, the experience of recording all of Bach’s and Mozart’s major keyboard music before returning to these 33 variations with opening aria and moving on to the monumental Beethoven. It is hard to deny Glenn Gould’s infamous 1955 set, the first recorded on piano, but these are a frenetic, manic fare. When Gould re-recorded the Goldbergs at the end of his life, his performance reflected all that had occurred in 30 years. So is true with Schiff. These ECM Goldbergs are special, like tempered carbon, hard as diamonds yet the product of thoughtful creative consideration, of better yet, a re-consideration of the past before embarking on his recent set of Beethoven’s sonatas.

J.S. Bach: Cello Suites Nos. 1-6
Pablo Casals
Naxos

There are recorded sets of Bach’s Cello Suites that have much better sonics. There are sets that view Bach from the vantage point of Haydn and those from Vivaldi. But Casal’s 1930s set were the first sound recordings to begin the deluge of recordings described above. It was Casal’s scholarship and technical ability that allowed him to resurrect music old and forgotten as Mendelssohn had done 100 years before him with the Master’s St. Matthew Passion. Casal’s suites, beaming in from almost a century ago, define what depth and density mean when applied to the performance of music and the understanding of that performed. This is music of our collective unconscious, part of all of us.

Media: NCIS – Navy Criminal Investigative Services - "In the Dark"

2007-05-03T17:03:00.000-05:00

“In The Dark” first aired May 1, 2007

The modus operandi for plot development on NCIS has typically been to establish a discreet mystery involving some esoteric bit of technology, usually solved in the assigned 44 minutes, and then to sprinkle that plot with some on-going tidbits about the personal lives of the NCIS staff. “In the Dark” proves no exception. The two performance elements are well balanced in this episode, adding to the compelling environment at the closing of the Drama’s fourth season.

The episode opens in the studio of noted blind photographer Jackson Scott (John Billingsley) who has just provided his assistant Bryn Landers (Katie Lowes) several photo proofs requested by Vanity Fair. While inspecting them, Landers notes a dead man in the corner of the photograph. This leads Scott to enlarge the photograph where the deceased is identified as a Navy Petite Officer, which subsequently led to a call to NCIS, interrupting Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) repairing the plumbing of love interest Army Lt. Col. Hollis Mann (Susanna Thompson).

At the photographer’s studio the teams learns that Scott was blinded 10 years ago and has since relied on his other senses to find his photographic subjects, a talent that has brought him wide acclaim. In the present case Scott tells the NCIS team that he was following a strange fruity smell, slightly rotten until he arrived at the crime scene where he could only smell vomit. He took his photographs and left.

Crime scene analysis by NCIS Medical Examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum) revealed that the Petite Officer had been stabbed with a folding knife found at the scene. The deceased’s dog tags had been ripped from his neck and Mossad Agent-on-Loan-to-NCIS Ziva David (Cote de Pablo) noted fresh vomit close by. During the autopsy, Special Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) updates Gibbs and Ducky on the Petite Officer’s identity, one Peter Lynn, who worked in the supply corps of the Defense Logistics Agency.

Forensics Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto (Pauley Perrette) identified Lynn from his fingerprints and was also able to match a mitochondrial DNA profile of the vomit found at the scene with the material recovered from beneath Lynn’s fingernails. Ducky details the mugger’s meal left at the scene as containing cheese blintz, “undoubtedly a cheap Bordeaux,” and veal. Ducky goes on to discover the deceased Petite Officer had the same meal as his mugger (indicating that this murder was not a random mugging) and in a morgue drawer, a faux leopard-skin bra, which he turns over to assistant Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen) for disposal. Palmer calls the erstwhile Special Agent Michelle Lee (Liza Lapira) to alert her of the recovery of the evidence of their frequent workplace indiscretions and is informed there is a matching set of panties to look for also, sending Palmer into a spin.

Gibbs, Ziva, and Special Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) go the Petite Officer’s apartment and discover several sacks of shredded documents. They bring the documents to Abby’s lab to be reconstructed, a task that even with the proper software will be time consuming. Meanwhile, Special Agent Timothy "Tim" McGee (Sean Murray) locates a diary on the Petite Officer’s computer that indicates he was approached by someone at the Navel Inspector General’s office and asked to go on a mission.

Ziva and DiNozzo pay a visit to the Navel Inspector General’s office to follow up on McGee’s lead. They meet with a sneezing, burping Navy Cmdr. Doug Jakobsen (Terry Bozeman). DiNozzo asks Jakobsen if he is familiar with Petite Peter Lynn and if he was part of the Commander’s office investigation. Jakobsen informs the two that Lynn is the subject of a classified investigation involving Lynn selling government purchasing information to competing vendors. DiNozzo informs Jakobsen of Lynn’s demise and at the same time receives a 911 text message from his amore Dr. Jeanne Benoit (Scottie Thompson). Jakobsen concludes his comments by calling Lynn a traitor who got what was coming to him (it is at this point that my 13-year-old son declares Jakobsen the murderer. He is five-for-five on such declarations).

The emergency turns out to be Dr. Benoit being evicted from her apartment, which is being turned into a condominium. DiNozzo is put out by leaving work early for what is clearly not an immediate emergency. Benoit recounts all of her current living options when DiNozzo loses his mind and suggests they move in together. DiNozzo immediately regrets this suggestion. The scene changes to NCIS head quarters where Gibbs, Abby, Scott and his assistant Landers are going over enlargements of the pictures he took the night of the murder. Abby puts up picture number six identified by Landers as the place where Scott first detected the fruit smell he followed. Gibbs asked Landers if she had been with Scott and she denied she had been and was supported by Scott, who insisted that he prefers to work alone. Abby puts up a shot of some wall graffiti that Ziva recognizes as being the restaurant where the Lynn allegedly had his last meal. The team surmises that Lynn and his accomplice used a rear exit to meet in private and Scott recalled hearing a car idling when taking one of his shots. Abby blows the shot up and gets a partial license plate number.

The team determines that the partial license plate belongs to a Honda Accord belonging to a David Wong, who works in inventory management at the Defense Logistic Agency, the same place as the deceased Petite Officer. Gibbs has DiNozzo call McGee who has found the car when questioning inventory management personnel about Lynn. McGee reports that according to the staff, Lynn was not the problem, but Wong was, who had left work four hours previously for lunch and had not returned. The scene breaks to Gibbs and Hollis Mann having a heart-to-heart. Mann wants to know how Gibbs feels about her. Gibbs lamely claims to like Mann, but has been unfocused because of the case. Mann suggests he is a “commitment-phobe.” Mann is leaving for Fort Bragg to conclude here retirement arrangements and expects some message of commitment from Gibbs when she returns.

Tony’s plight with Dr. Benoit continues as she calls to let DiNozzo know she has located an apartment for the two which DiNozzo is less than enthusiastic about. Benoit detects this accusing DiNozzo of cold feet and being a commitment-phobe. DiNozzo has almost an identical conversation about and being unfocused as Gibbs had with Mann. Meanwhile, the entire team has overheard this conversation waiting to get DiNozzo to go with them to Abby’s lab. Gibbs commiserates, but Ziva interrogates. Ziva confronts Tony on his reluctance for commitment as a fear of being hurt. The scene is so humid and dense; the viewer almost expects the two to kiss. This was definitely a “WTF?” moment.

Abby shows the team a special sub-auditable bug hidden under Wong’s Caps Lock key on his computer keyboard. It detected taps on the keyboard, each having its own unique sound. Wong was bugging himself to detect the constantly changing authentication which he used with his accomplice. The bug’s buffer retained an address that led the team to an abandoned warehouse where the team found Mr. Wong suspended by a rope from his neck until dead. Ducky declares the Wong’s death a hanging. The team finds a discrepancy between “David G. Wong” from the man’s identification and what looks like “David B. Wong” on a suicide note found at the scene. McGee believes the “B” to be an invoice number “I 3,” but finds no embezzlement attached with that invoice number.

Meanwhile, Abby analyzed every face captured in Jackson Scott’s pictures taken the night of the murder. On her first pass, she found nothing, but then she considered reflected images in class windows and through a bit of magic reproduced a picture of Bryn Landers, Scott’s assistant, who claimed not to have been with Scott that night. Under interrogation, she denies and then admits to having followed Scott. Scott, listening behind the glass, insists he would have known she was there. Ziva presents Landers with the evidence that the waiter of the restaurant the Petite Officer had attended identified her as having been there that night. Landers admits to being in love with Scott. About this time, Jimmy Palmer barges into the observation room looking for panties…I mean pipettes and Scott smells the same fruity smell he followed the night of the murder. Palmer is diabetic and he failed to take his insulin, spiked his blood glucose which led to a fruity odor to his breath.

All of this magically led the team to the office of Navy Cmdr. Doug Jakobsen, who had been embezzling money from his agency using Wong’s password. The team carefully recounts the commander’s guilt with DiNozzo adding the brilliant final touch, “…and we have come to believe it was Col. Mustard in the conservatory with a wrench.” Case closed. Back at Hollis Mann’s apartment, Gibbs is fixing her pipes and Mann jumps to the conclusion that Gibbs is going to dump her, take the offensive, never letting Gibbs respond until finally he tells her he had more work to do on her plumbing and wanted to surprise her. Mann apologizes; they kiss and make up, leaving DiNozzo and Benoit twisting in the winds of love.

In the same way that Armand Assante is perfect in his role as Le Grenouille, John Billingsley was perfect as the blind Jackson Scott. Billingsley brings whatever authenticity to a role that is necessary to drive it. His performance was outstanding. The jump from Jimmy Palmer’s fruity ketotic breath to the guilt of Navy Cmdr. Doug Jakobsen was a lot to swallow in a short amount of time at the end of the show. But all things considered, bring on the season finale.

The next episode, “Trojan Horse,” will air May 8, 2007.

Stars:

Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon)
Special Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly)
Mossad Agent-on-Loan-to-NCIS Ziva David (Cote de Pablo)
Special Agent Timothy "Tim" McGee (Sean Murray)
Forensics Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto (Pauley Perrette)
NCIS Medical Examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum)
NCIS Director Jennifer "Jenny" Shepard (Lauren Holly)

Guest Stars:

Army Lt. Col. Hollis Mann (Susanna Thompson)
Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen)
Dr. Jeanne Benoit (Scottie Thompson)
Navy Cmdr. Doug Jakobsen (Terry Bozeman)
Bryn Landers (Katie Lowes)
Jackson Scott (John Billingsley)

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Music Review: Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 6 by Domenico Scarlatti

2007-04-25T15:55:00.000-05:00

In the Twentieth Century, it was the prominent pianists from the former Eastern Bloc who championed the cause of Domenico Scarlatti and his Keyboard Sonatas. Russians Vladimir Horowitz, Emil Gilels, Nikolai Demidenko, and Mikhail Pletnev, Hungarians Bele Bartok and András Schiff, Romanian Dinu Lipatti, Croatian Ivo Pogorelić all recorded Scarlatti sonatas on piano and all in the late 20th and early 21st Centuries. Joining this group is Novosibirsk-native Evgeny Zarafiants with his Volume 6 to Naxos’ Complete Keyboard Sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti.

Zarafiants approach to Scarlatti is most comparable to Jeno Jando’s Volume 3 in this series. Zarafiants introduces his collections with sprightly played sonatas that sound as if recorded on the harpsichord or pianoforte. This is best heard on the Sonata in E major, K.135, marked allegro (and a very brisk allegro it is). His articulation is more precise than Horowitz with equal force and power.

Zarafiants transforms other sonatas, such as the Sonata in G major, K.259, marked andante and Sonata in F major, K.419, marked Presto drawing from them performances as if the music were composed yesterday. The pianist perfect casts Scarlatti’s “nursery rhyme” melodies as in Sonata in G major, K.169, marked allegro and Sonata in C major, K.502, marked Allegro. Sonata in F major, K.19 marked Allegro is played romantically as if Scarlatti were seeing beyond the Baroque horizon and past Classicism. The most contemplative piece is the Sonata in C sharp minor, K.247, marked Allegro (perhaps a slow one). Scarlatti’s use of color is well served by Zarafiants, who endeavors to uncover all shades.

The Naxos Scarlatti series is uniformly fine. It is difficult to assign superiority to any one recording in the series. Evgeny Zarafiants makes a compelling musical argument for his Volume 6

Evgeny Zarafiants was born in 1959 into a musical family where his father was an oboist and pianist and a member of the Kremlin military band. Zarafiants’ mother is a singer and pianist. The young pianist began studies with his father at six years old and by eight entered the Central Music School in Moscow. Before finishing his studies in Moscow, Zarafiants moved to Orsk and eventually completed his studies at the Glinka Conservatory in Gorky.

Zarafiants won prizes in the 1985 All-Russian Competition and in the Pogorelich Competition in Pasadena. Most recently, Zarafiants taught at the Conservatory in Nizhny Novgorod. His Naxos catalog includes, Scriabin: Preludes, Vol. 1 (8.553997) and Scriabin: Preludes, Vol. 2 (8.554145)

Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 1

Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 2

Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 3

Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 4

Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 5

Sonata in E major, K.135/L.224/P.234: Allegro; Sonata in A major, K.429/L.132/P.132: Allegro; Sonata in D major, K.478/L.12/P.503: Andante cantabile; Sonata in G major, K.169/L.331/P.247: Allegro; Sonata in G major, K.259/L.103/P.469: Andante; Sonata in C major, K.502/L.3/P.408: Allegro; Sonata in F major, K.419/L.279/P.524: Presto; Sonata in F major, K.19/L.383/P.75: Allegro; Sonata in B flat major, K.112/L.298/P.94: Allegro; Sonata in E flat major, K.123/L.111/P.180: Allegro; Sonata in F major, K.274/L.297/P.491: Andante; Sonata in A major, K.405/L.43/P.436: Allegro; Sonata in F sharp major, K.318/L.31/P.302: Andante; Sonata in F sharp minor, K.67/L.32/P.125: Allegro; Sonata in C sharp minor, K.247/L.256/P.297: Allegro; Sonata in G major, K.63/L.84/P.32: Allegro; Sonata in G major, K.63/L.84/P.32: Allegro.

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Music Review: Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 5 by Domenico Scarlatti

2007-04-25T13:29:00.000-05:00

Unlikely as it may sound, American Ragtime composer Scott Joplin shares several artistic elements in common with Domenico Scarlatti. Both composed in multiple musical idioms, yet are best known for their keyboard composing. Within that idiom, both composers specialized in short pieces, or miniatures, which have typically been used as practice exercises. For those familiar with Joplin and not Scarlatti, these similarities may serve as a segue into the great Baroque composer’s keyboard repertoire.

Englishman Benjamin Frith approaches Scarlatti from a slightly more romantic angle than previous performers in this series. While on the romantic side, he does not make it into the frank romantic territory of Horowitz or the almost enigmatic post-modernism of Ivo Pogorelich. Firth lightly brushes on his romantic shades, never obscuring the Baroque pastels of the sonatas. This is best illustrated on the slower pieces such as the Sonata in B Flat Major, K.266, which has a slightly melancholy lullaby temperament as does the Sonata in A Major, K.536. In earlier entries in this series, these characteristics have been best shown in the slower minor-key compositions. Frith’s minor-key performances, such as the Sonata in G Minor, K.546 and the Sonata in B Minor, K.227 have less a lullaby quality and more a contemplative one. Solid and straightforward, Benjamin Frith’s Scarlatti is well informed and beautifully colored.

Benjamin Frith was born in South Yorkshire and from an early age studied with Fanny Waterman. At 14 he won the National Concerto Competition, followed by the Mozart Memorial Prize, the award for Young Concert Artists. His international career was further enhanced winning a Gold Medal at the 1989 Arthur Rubinstein Piano Competition in Israel. Frith’s Naxos catalog includes: Field: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 3 (8.553770); Field: Piano Concertos Nos. 2 and 4 (8.553771); Field: Piano Concertos Nos. 5 and 6 (8.554221); Field: Piano Music, Vol. 1 (8.550761); Field: Piano Music, Vol. 2 (8.550762); Mendelssohn: 6 Preludes and Fugues, Op. 35 / 3 Caprices, Op. 37 (8.550939); Mendelssohn: 7 Characteristic Pieces, Op. 7 / Fantasia, Op. 28 (8.553541); Mendelssohn: Concerto for Violin, Piano and Strings / Violin Concerto in D minor (8.553844); Mendelssohn: Concertos for Two Pianos in A Flat Major and E Major (8.553416); Mendelssohn: Piano Concertos Nos. 1 and 2 / Capriccio Brillant / Rondo Brillant (8.550681); Mendelssohn: Sonata in B Flat Major / Fantasies, Op. 16 (8.553186); Mendelssohn: Sonata in E Major / Variations serieuses / Preludes and Etudes, Op. 104 (8.550940); and Mendelssohn: Sonata in G Minor / Fantasia, Op. 15 / Variations, Op. 83 (8.553358).

Other releases in the Scarlatti Sonata series:

Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 1

Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 2

Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 3

Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 4

Sonata in C major, K.461/L.8/P.324: Allegro; Sonata in F major, K.82/L.30/P.25; Sonata in B Flat Major, K.266/L.48/P.251: Andante; Sonata in G major, K.284/L.90/P.169: Allegro ; Sonata in E flat major, K.507/L.113/P.478: Andantino cantabile; Sonata in D major, K.214/L.165/P.430: Allegro vivo; Sonata in A major, K.404/L.222/P.436: Andante; Sonata in G major, K.124/L.232/P.110: Allegro; Sonata in A major, K.536/L.236/P.540: Cantabile; Sonata in G major, K.494/L.287/P.444: Allegro; Sonata in G minor, K.546/L.312/P.550: Cantabile; Sonata in A major, K.113/L.345/P.160: Allegro; Sonata in B minor, K.227/L.347/P.52: Allegro; Sonata in A major, K.26/L.368/P.82: Presto; Sonata in C major, K.548/L.404/P.552: Allegretto; Sonata in C minor, K.37/L.406/P.2: Allegro.

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Media: NCIS – Navy Criminal Investigative Services - "Brothers in Arms"

2007-04-25T13:24:00.000-05:00

“Brothers in Arms” first aired April 24, 2007

The Le Grenouille storyline on NCIS has its roots in the earlier episodes, “Suspicion” and “Blowback”. In the former, NCIS Director Jennifer "Jenny" Shepard (Lauren Holly) has Special Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) working undercover for her without the knowledge of DiNozzo’s boss, Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon). DiNozzo is watching a group of international arms dealers for the Director. In the latter episode, we are introduced to Le Grenouille, a major ringleader in the arms trade, who is associated with the group under DiNozzo’s earlier surveillance. It turns out that the FBI has a man in deep cover with Le Grenouille, which saves the arms dealer’s life at the end of “Blowback.” It also appears that the Director has a bit of a history with Le Grenouille, one that goes beyond the professional level and this is where the otherwise cool professional begins to lose her perspective.

The episode opens with the Director meeting a man in homeless community. They are speaking by cell phone as the director approaches. The director requests some unidentified information from the man, assuring him that he is doing the right thing. Just as the Director opens her car door to get out, a second car’s lights come on and that car speeds past the two, riddling the scene with bullets. The Director empties her pistol through the back window of the retreating car, asking her contact his he has been hit. He fails to answer because of the bullet holes in his head and throat. After the introduction, the NCIS team is at the site doing what they do and discover that the Director’s contact was not a homeless person but had shown up the previous night, newly bathed and fresh. An expensive cell phone is recovered. Mossad Agent-on-Loan-to-NCIS Ziva David (Cote de Pablo) queries DiNozzo on whether the Director was working on an operation, doubting the veracity of DiNozzo’s negative answer.

Gibbs and the Director converse by the ambulance where the Director identifies her contact as Troy Webster (Peter Birkenhead). Gibbs proceeds to fuss at the Director for her carelessness, during which she approached the team, who is trying to find witnesses to identify the car. The Director provides everything except the VIN number and the question is posed, who was the target, Webster or the Director? Back at headquarters, the team discusses Webster who is an accountant closely associated with Le Grenouille’s, possessing information on the dealer’s past, present and future arms deals. The Director updates the team that Webster was apparently having a change of heart and was going to provide her information that would help NCIS arrest Le Grenouille. Special Agent Timothy "Tim" McGee (Sean Murray) turns the discussion to the cell phone, from which some information could be gleaned. The phone is sent to Forensics Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto (Pauley Perrette) for evaluation. The Director starts barking orders over Gibbs, something she has to apologize for later. Gibbs begins to divine from the Director her obsession with Le Grenouille, but obtains only the fact that the Director is completely focused on the arms dealer’s capture. The Director is visibly distracted by the entire affair. Gibbs and the Director spar over methods and begin to address the Director’s personal feelings toward Le Grenouille. The director frames her intentions by comparing her intent with Gibbs’ when Gibbs was pursuing Ari, Ziva’s terrorist half-brother finally killed in “Kill Ari, Part 2.”

Meanwhile, NCIS Medical Examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum), is conversing with the dead Troy Webster, expounding on Mata Hari and her role in World War I when Gibbs comes at Ducky’s request. During autopsy, ducky noted that Webster was perfectly executed, i.e., that he was the target. Had the assassin wanted the kill the director, he or she would have. Ducky also noted an elevation in cerebrospinal protein that supported the discovery of an inoperable brain tumor that Ducky suspects would have killed Webster within six weeks. Gibbs thinks this is why Webster had a change of heart, but Ducky adds that Webster may have not known about the tumor as his medical records did not indicate the presence of the tumor. The two decide that because of the tumor’s size, Webster knew something was going on and decided to come clean. About this time, the lights flicker and the back-up generators start. Abby was trying to extract data from Webster’s phone which was electronically booby-trapped to destroy itself and any computer being used to access the data. To the horror of the Director all of the data was lost and she reacts with uncharacteristic pathos. The Director yells at Abby and is confronted by Gibbs. The Director changes direction, now seeking to hang a murder on Le Grenouille.

After the break, Gibbs is in the Director’s office learning that she has called the CIA. Gibbs doubts the veracity of the Director’s power in the situation. Low and behold, The CIA sends FBI Agent T.C. Fornell (Joe Spano) under the auspices of his authority in the Office of Homeland Security. After a jurisdictional discussion, Fornell reveals that he is here because he drew the short straw when the Agency was deciding who to send to the Director’s office. The Director informs Fornell that she needs to meet with CIA operative Trent Kort (David Dayan Fisher), currently undercover with Le Grenouille. Fornell is skeptical of the Agency’s desire to cooperate. The Director informs Fornell that the Agency owes her and should he want to know why, he should ask them.

The scene breaks to Abby’s lab, where she has summoned DiNozzo (who brings Ziva and McGee) to discuss some of her findings regarding the assassin’s car and the director’s car. Abby addresses the typical procedural things regarding the assassin’s car. Abby found blood on the glass of the window shattered in the assassin’s car indicating that the Director hit someone in the car and this blood was not Webster’s. Before the team can leave, Abby notes that she found something sensitive in the
Director’s glove compartment: a pair of women’s underwear. Abby reasons that this item should not show up on a government inventory log (to which Ziva agrees) and the team discusses who will approach the Director. Abby bows out and tells DiNozzo that it his responsibility. DiNozzo receives a call from Dr. Jeanne Benoit (Scottie Thompson) who tells him that her mother is coming into town and she wants him to meet them from dinner. DiNozzo tries to beg off but says he will try. Back with the team, McGee points out that as the senior field agent, DiNozzo should approach the Director about this delicate matter. As the senior field agent, DiNozzo elects to draw straws…and draws the short one.

The scene changes to the Director’s office where she schedules a meeting and asks that DiNozzo be sent to her office at the same time he is entering. The conversation that ensues is clever and funny. The Director wanted to know what DiNozzo wanted but he opted for her to tell him what she wanted first. The Director tells DiNozzo that one of the surveillance devices he tag the Le Grenouille entourage bags with has gone dark. The Director is interested in knowing when it was discovered in relation to when DiNozzo placed it (in “Suspicion”). Fornell calls the Director and DiNozzo asks about his involvement, suggesting that Fornell was chosen to handle her. The Director informs DiNozzo that the Agency drew straws and she could not believe that her reputation was such that it instilled such fear. DiNozzo elects not to address the Director’s unmentionables as well as his own collusion in straw-drawing.

The scene breaks to Abby’s lab Gibbs arrives for the DNA results on the blood spatter from the assassin’s car window. Abby shows that the blood spatter came from the driver who had a rare genetic mutation that causes Gaucher’s (pronounced "Go-Shay") disease, which is caused by deficiency of the enzyme, glucocerebrosidase. This enzyme deficiency causes a fatty substance to accumulate in certain body tissues such as the spleen, liver, and bone marrow and is treated with a drug called Ceredase® for which only one local prescription could be found, supplying Abby the address of the afflicted. This sends the team to the address to discover bloodied bandages and the driver dead. The Director is foiled once again in finding a human being to connect her beloved Le Grenouille to arms dealing or murder.

Following the third break, the scene changes to the Director’s office. The Director is having a snifterful of cognac while reading Ducky’s autopsy report. Ducky arrives at her office and they discuss the results. It is immediately apparent that Ducky is there to discuss his psychological profile of Le Grenouille. Ducky points out that the arms dealer is refined and educated and that this type of assassination is not his direct style. Ducky states that a man whose favorite opera is La forza del destino (Giuseppe Verdi, 1862) “is sophisticated and is far more likely to use that sophistication as his weapon. Violent murder is just not his style.” The Director confronts Ducky’s admiration of Le Grenouille and ducky confronts the Director on her unresolved feeling about the man (Ducky is searching for answers on Gibbs’ behalf). Ducky applauds Gibbs for at least listening to him while the Director blew him off.

The scene then changes to DiNozzo at a restaurant awaiting the arrival of Dr. Benoit’s mother, who is also a doctor, Dr. Helen Berkley (Sara Botsford). DiNozzo meets her alone while Dr. Benoit is in the lady’s room and finds himself under immediate attack and scrutiny. Dr. Berkley possesses an air of arrogance that while DiNozzo is familiar with from his own pedigreed rearing, he is not used to being on the receiving end of. The conversation is tense and candid. As a viewer, it was difficult to watch DiNozzo be dismembered by Dr. Berkley. At an opportune time, the scene changes Gibbs and the Director entering a limousine to meet with Trent Kort to find out if Le Grenouille was the murderer. Kort supports Ducky’s conjecture that this is not the arms dealer’s style. If Le Grenouille contracted a murder, he would use one Andre Jones (Mo Gallini).

The scene changes to the team preparing to capture Andre Jones for questioning. Jones suspects Le Grenouille sold him out and attempts to pick up a gun leading to his shooting death. Again, the Director is without a living human to implicate Le Grenouille in either arms dealing or murder. Back a headquarters, Gibbs has a heart-to-heart with the Director, warning her that she will no longer be director should she not change her focus and approach. Gibbs again tries to divine what the deal is between the Director and Le Grenouille. Gibbs receives a call from Abby who has been performing some space-age investigative work with cell phones, determining that the next arms shipment is to occur within 24 hours. The Director again meets with Kort who reveals that Le Grenouille ordered no one to harm Troy Webster. Kort also reveals that Le Grenouille retains a forgery artist to produce documents legitimizing shipments. The team tracks the forger down (an art teacher) and Gibbs and the Director lean on him, demonstrating their unique interrogation techniques. Through several other twists and turns that includes customs and a shell company, the team identifies the dock and container number and all head out. Once opened, the team discovers a load of squirt guns, a bottle of Champaign and a note to Webster from Le Grenouille wishing him best wishes on his new career.

With three episodes left in the season, NCIS writers predictable turn up the plot level by an order of magnitude. Revealed here, as with a two-by-four, is the fact that the Director and Le Grenouille had a significant history only she knows about. This is one plot element to resolve by season’s end. Also, it is difficult not to have a suspicion of DiNozzo and Dr. Benoit’s relationship when one considers that someone is stalking them. Could Ziva be smoldering for DiNozzo? DiNozzo might just not care for his treatment at the hands of Dr. Helen Berkley and takes exception to Benoit’s description of him “wearing expensive shoes.” Previews of “In the Dark” show an angry Army Lt. Col. Hollis Mann (Susanna Thompson) possibly giving Gibbs the relationship what-for while Gibbs possibly breaks off with her. A dark embrace is seen along with more feminine unmentionables. Now things are really rolling.

The next episode, “In the Dark,” will air May 1, 2007.

Stars:

Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon)
Special Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly)
Mossad Agent-on-Loan-to-NCIS Ziva David (Cote de Pablo)
Special Agent Timothy "Tim" McGee (Sean Murray)
Forensics Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto (Pauley Perrette)
NCIS Medical Examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum)
NCIS Director Jennifer "Jenny" Shepard (Lauren Holly)

Guest Stars:

FBI Agent T.C. Fornell (Joe Spano)
Mitchell Reese (J.C. MacKenzie)
Andre Jones (Mo Gallini)
Tim Gerber (Patrick Robert Smith)
Jeanne Benoit (Scottie Thompson)
Trent Kort (David Dayan Fisher)
Troy Webster (Peter Birkenhead)
Dr. Helen Berkley (Sara Botsford)

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Literature: Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know—and Doesn’t by Stephen Prothero

2007-04-18T10:36:00.000-05:00

What would be a theological argument for God’s sense of humor? I think it is threefold. First, God gave imperfect Man free will (this is Arminian and not Calvinist thought). That alone should be evidence enough. Second, God entrusted his Word to imperfect Man with free will to be written down and declared by that imperfect Man with free will to be God’s inerrant Word (for Fundamentalists) and divinely inspired (for Evangelicals). Third, when the imperfect Man with free will reaches the age of 40 years, he or she can be both nearsighted and farsighted at the same time. Ain’t that a kick in the head?

Having established God’s sense of humor, we can extrapolate this line of thought to consider God’s sense of irony. It turns out that this divine sense of irony is manifest in Stephen Prothero’s new book, Religious Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know—and Doesn’t. Prothero is chairman of the Religion Department at Boston University and the good professor spends a good deal of time putting a fine point on the supposition that, “The United States is one of the most religious places on earth, but is also a nation of shocking religious illiteracy.” His argument for the existence of this religious illiteracy is provocative and the results of such are grave.

Prothero’s approach to his discussion is fresh because he has no faith dog in this hunt. His degree is not in Divinity but religious studies. He is interested in the mechanics of religion not its promise. Prothero correctly puts forth that ignorance of the history and doctrine of any religion is dangerous because of the highly charged environment in which religion exists where there is a dangerously small window for both tolerance and misunderstanding. Plainly said, it is too easy to misinterpret doctrine, one’s own or others to justify behavior. The author points out that this ubiquitous religious ignorance is not confined simply to the religion a given group practices, but also one group’s understanding and attitude toward other groups.

This prompts Prothero to put forth a civic education in religion be taught in school. He argues that teaching about religion is both constitutional and called for and that a common level of religious literacy will go a long way to promoting greater understanding and tolerance. Prothero lays out the reasons that lead to our religious ignorance and how we can address such ignorance and then supplies a brief dictionary of religious concepts that all should know in order to properly and intelligently discuss religion and its ramifications. This book is a must read for anyone wanting to have any intelligent religious discourse.

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

April 19, 2007 @ 11:57AM — Duane wrote:

Thanks for bringing this to our attention C. Michael. It might have been helpful to provide a few examples of how religious illiteracy leads to intolerance among the faithful, or perhaps just some additional explication on your part. We can imagine such a thing happening, of course, but Prothero must have provided a few 'case studies.'

Religious studies sounds like a worthwhile inclusion in the curriculum. God knows there's plenty of time for it, at least at my son's middle school, where an inordinate amount of time is spent reviewing last year's lessons in preparation for state testing. At what grade level does Prothero recommend these studies begin?

I tend to dismiss the fundamental tenets of all religions in the abstract, but I am woefully ignorant of religious particulars outside Christianity, and even there I am barely conversant. Another victim of our educational system and too much TV. Read more? Yeah, OK. But still, it would have been useful to me to have a basic school-based grounding in religious studies at an early age.

April 19, 2007 @ 13:46PM — C. Michael Bailey replied:

Thank you for your kind comments. I did short change Prothero, who did provide several examples where religious illiteracy proves particularly grave. One example is in the jury room of a murder trial where a healthy discussion of sentence is taking place. One member of the jury quotes Leviticus 24:20 (NASB):

"...fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth; just as he has injured a man, so it shall be inflicted on him."

and the defendant was sentenced to death. This citation of the Old Testament Law is in direct conflict with the teaching of Jesus (whom conservative Christians claim to follow to the letter), who addresses the Law directly in Matthew 5:38-39 (NASB):

"You have heard that it was said, 'AN EYE FOR AN EYE, AND A TOOTH FOR A TOOTH.' But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also."

Prothero points out this fallacy of reason and further discusses that cases like this caused the Bible to be prohibited in jury rooms. This is my particular favorite example because it proves Alexander Pope's subjection that "A little learning is a dangerous thing."

Like you, I have a son in middle school and I was pleasantly surprised with his sixth grade history course presenting a historical treatment of Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism. The text used as tasteful and neutral in presentation. Prothero is not so specific about when religion should be taught, opting to infer that elementary school and beyond would be appropriate.

It was thinking about my son's experience that drew me to this book, but for reasons different than Prothero's. I see in the current political climate a social need to be able to "talk the talk" regarding "Christian discourse." When one hears Dr. James Dobson publicly questioning the Christian bona fides of presidential possibility Fred Thompson, one must know what those bona fides are or are perceived to be in order to make informed judgements in discussion.

With the current exacerbation of Evangelicalism in the United States there is far too great a danger of those expressing "Religious Certainty" to discriminate against those expressing something less or different. The major point that Prothero makes is that those with "Religious Certainty" are not necessarily (and are more often than not) the most knowledgeable about their own and other's religious histories and doctrines. I promote that it is incumbent upon us as members of "Culture" to be properly educated on that "Culture" of which religion is a major element.

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Literature: Berlin Noir by Philip Kerr

2007-04-14T13:02:00.000-05:00

Why would a critic in 2007 suggest that a potential bookworm to return to the early ‘90s for his or her pleasure reading? There are two reasons. The first reason is Philip Kerr’s 2006 The One From the Other. After a publication hiatus of 15 years and a literary one of two, Berlin private investigator Bernard Gunther returned to fresh pages in a hard-boiled tale more tragic, gritty, and aromatic than any Sam Spade tome. At the end of The One From the Other we find Gunther, in 1949, forced to leave his homeland because of some postwar reconstruction chicanery. But that book revealed that Gunther had quite the history in prewar Berlin. Gunter had been a Kriminalinspektor with the Kriminalpolizei (KRIPO), was subsequently forced into the SS (never having joined the National Socialists) when Hitler came to power at which time he leave KRIPO to start a private investigation business.

The second reason is writing like this:

By now I had realized that Hildegard Steininger was about as self-contained as a fountain-pen, and I figured that she probably preferred the kind of man who could think of himself as little more than a blank sheet of writing paper. And yet, almost in spite of her, I continued to find her attractive. For my taste, she was too much concerned with the shade of her gold-spun hair, the length of her fingernails and the state of her teeth, which she was forever brushing. Too vain by half, and too selfish twice over. Given a choice between pleasing herself and pleasing someone else she would have hoped that pleasing herself would have made everyone happy. That she would have thought that one would almost certainly result from the other was for her as simple a reaction as a knee jerking under a patella-hammer.

— from The Pale Criminal

The previous history of Bernard Gunther is detailed in three novels written between 1989 and 1991 comprising Kerr’s “Berlin Trilogy” and collected under the 1993 title Berlin Noir. These three novels were March Violets (1989), The Pale Criminal (1990), and A German Requiem (1991). The scene is pre- and post-World War II Berlin and the surrounding climes. The backdrop is one long yawn of horror beginning with the high-water mark of National Socialism and ending with the bleak allied occupation and reconstruction.

The title March Violets is an allusion to those Germans coming late (out of personal necessity) to the call of National Socialism. What Kerr does is inject intravenously the hard-boiled noir of Sam Spade into 1936 Berlin at the height of the grimy National Socialist success. Kerr captures this morally-absent backdrop very effectively. Bernhard Gunther is a private detective who specializes in missing person cases. Gunther is retained by a wealthy German industrialist, Hermann Six, to investigate the arson murder of his daughter and son-in-law and the theft of some priceless jewelry.

Bernard Gunther is rapidly assimilated into a major conspiracy involving two highly placed Nazi’s Reichsmarschall Hermann Goering and Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler. The case submerges Gunther at once into the Berlin super- and sub-cultures. Noisy cabarets; Jesse Owens at the Berlin Olympic games, the bed of a famous actress; and the Dachau concentration camp all figure large in Gunther’s search. He has a talent for being beaten and issuing beatings when necessary. The environment is corrupt and militarily decadent in which Gunther becomes a pawn in order to save his own life. The story is complex and not completely resolved in the end. The tone is brutal with all life very cheap in the pre-war years

The Pale Criminal is heads and shoulders a better novel than March Violets, while the latter was not truly bad. The title is derived from Nietzsche’s Thus spake Zarathustra:

“Ye do not mean to slay, ye judges and sacrificers, until the animal hath bowed its head? Lo! the pale criminal hath bowed his head: out of his eye speaketh the great contempt.”

The scene is two years later than March Violets. SS-Gruppenführer Arthur Nebe, the head of Gunther’s old employer, the Kriminalpolizei (Kripo), has an audience with Gunther in the middle of the night. It seems that SS-Obergruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich believes Gunther would be politically useful to him Gunther was again part to Kripo. Shortly before his meeting with Nebe, Gunther is retained by a certain Frau Lange, who is being blackmailed by an unknown party. In the process, Gunther’s partner is murdered and the man blackmailing Lange allegedly commits suicide.

Interrupting his case with Lange, Gunther is asked to return to Kripo by Heydrich (who in March Violets sent Gunther to Dachau) to investigate the deaths of several young German girls. Through a series of clever ties, the two cases become one, involving the ultimate embarrassment of Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler, who is peripherally involved in the girl’s disappearance, by Heydrich. There is no love lost between the two Nazis. The book has everything to endorse it: a beginning, middle, and end, and the association between the three is tidily resolved.

A German Requiem has a very different backdrop than the first two-thirds of this trilogy. The year is 1947 and Berlin remains in ruins, partitioned between the victorious allies. The British, Americans, French, and Russians are bureaucratic and corrupt in their own special ways. But it is the Russians (“Ivans”) for whom Gunther reserves his greatest hatred. Kerr depicts his typical Russian as a dirty illiterate peasant, mindlessly brutal and effortlessly cruel. That is the majority. He also addresses the Russian aristocracy provides the character of the Russian Col. Palkovich Poroshin, an officer who approaches Gunther to help prove the innocence of one German war criminal-turned black marketeer Emil Becker in the murder of U.S. Counterintelligence Corps (CIC) Capt. Edward Linden. Gunther leaves his philandering wife, Kirsten, in Berlin and heads to Vienna, where Becker is being held. Becker claims that he has been framed while delivering SS files to Linden at the request of the mysterious Konig. Gunther’s search for this mystery man draws the attention of the ostensible CIC operative John Belinksky, who also believes Becker was set up for this fall. Belinksky spends a bit of time saving an apparently hapless Gunther from various bad fates. In the story, Gunther encounters ghosts, one in former Kripo head Arthur Nebe, presumable executed in the wake of the attempt on Hitler’s life and former Gestapo head Heinrich Muller, last seen outside of Hitler’s bunker on that fateful day at the end of April 1945.

Tracking down these people and working as an operative, Gunther, is sucked into a complex vortex plot and subplots that have become Kerr’s standard in his series, which continues with the recently published .

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Media: Minus Imus

2007-04-13T08:29:00.001-05:00

Good Friday, April 6, 2007, radio personality Don Imus got up and went to work as he has done most business days since 1978 and performed the same radio show he has always performed: one that appeals to a lower common denominator than Rush Limbaugh, but still this side of Howard Stern. The content was not remarkably different than past shows, including faux-provocative statements and attempts at humor, usually at the expense of some focused group (read: minority). Imus has been allowed and enabled by his handlers (read: CBS and MSNBC) to say whatever he pleased without impunity. Imus grew intellectually fat and complacent in his cozy womb of network protection, never noticing that the times they are a-changin’.

I am perfectly sure that Imus made his unkind remark about the Rutgers’s Women’s Basketball team without even a fleeting second thought and in the same vein that he often referred to his own New York Knicks as “carjacker’s in shorts,” a comment no less racist but directed at a much less sympathetic target. And necessisarily, Don Imus was sacrificed, because that is what was called for and the public was to have no less than is head on a platter. I cry no tears for the silly so-and-so. He has had it coming for years. But in Clint Eastwood’s immortal words in his movie Unforgiven, “..we all got it coming to us, kid.”

Imus is not a cause; he is a symptom of a much bigger cultural problem, and I don’t mean the one Fox News or CNN is fighting. Follow the money and it will lead to the source.

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Music Review: Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 4 by Domenico Scarlatti

2007-04-13T08:02:00.000-05:00

Beatrice Long approaches her assignment of Scarlatti Keyboard Sonatas with quiet grace and a light touch. Where Jeno Jando’s Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 3 was faithful to the harpsichord performances, Long provides her selections with more air to breath. Long immediately captures the contrasting natures often intended in Scarlatti’s compositions. Though not explicitly stated, Long’s Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 4 offers several such contrasting pieces.

The Sonata in E-Flat Major, K. 474, marked Andante cantabile, was a Horowitz vehicle, where that master played with an authoritative left hand, so authoritative a hand that it almost booms. Horowitz often injected the romantic into his Baroque and Classical pieces and this E-Flat Major sonata is no exception. Where Horowitz’s playing is on the tart side, Long is relaxed, filling in all of the sonic spaces of the composition. Her pacing is slightly slower than Horowitz’s overall. Long leans this sonata against the K. 516 in D Minor, marked Allegretto. Here her playing is staccato tart and precise, with a booming left hand where called for. This is a composition of punctuation where K. 474 is one of narrative.

Another contrasting pair of sonatas is the K. 443 in D Major, marked Allegro and the K. 158 in C Minor, marked Andante. The K. 443 is filled with tumbling figures that resolve in searching passages and marches. Scarlatti produced in the K. 443, a piece full of fleeting feeling. Long captures the swift changes well, expressing them with drama and precision. In contrast the K. 158 offers a slower tempo, a minor key, and a smoother texture while retaining the same range of emotions, albeit muted. Long’s light and careful touch are well employed on this collection, yet another fine addition to Naxos’s on-going Scarlatti Keyboard Sonatas series.

Beatrice Long received degrees from the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia and the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore. Long trained under teachers that includes the late Mieczyslaw Horszowski, Leon Fleisher, Enrique Graf, Seymour Lipkin, and Fou Ts'ong. Long won the top prizes at the Robert Casadesus International Competition, Taipei International Competition, and the World Piano Competition in Cincinnati. She collaborates with her sister Christina as the Long Duo, performing frequently in broad and unusual repertoire. Long’s previous releases for Naxos include the complete Mazurkas by Alexander Scriabin (Naxos 8.553600)

Sonata in E Major, K.215/L.323/P.281: Andante; Sonata in G minor, K.4/L.390/P.60: Allegro; Sonata in F Major, K.107/L.474/P.98: Allegro Sonata in A minor, K.532/L.223/P.536: Allegro Sonata in E Flat Major, K.474/L.203/P.502: Andante cantabile Sonata in D minor, K.516/L.S12/P.523: Allegretto; Sonata in A minor, K.175/L.429/P.136: Allegro; Sonata in C Major, K.132/L.457/P.295: Cantabile Sonata in F minor, K.519/L.475/P.445: Allegro assai Sonata in B Major, K.262/L.446/P.301: Vivo Sonata in C minor, K.99/L.317/P.135: Allegro; Sonata in D Major, K.443/L.418/P.376: Allegro; Sonata in C minor, K.158/L.4/P.123: Andante; Sonata in E Major, K.403/L.470/P.436: Allegro; Sonata in B Flat Major, K.550/L.S42/P.554: Allegretto; Sonata in G Major, K.470/L.304/P.379: Allegro.

Other releases in this series:

Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 1

Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 2

Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 3

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

TV Review: NCIS – Navy Criminal Investigative Services - "Cover Story"

2007-04-13T07:57:00.000-05:00

“Cover Story” first aired April 10, 2007

Okay. The time has come for a little “come to Jesus” discussion regarding NCIS specifically and television dramas in general. What we typically see on television (including news reporting) is not real life. It was never intended to be. Television is a homogenized, sanitized, autoclaved, and hermetically-sealed product for mass consumption, the greater the mass, the better. As something being consumed, if television were regulated as food and drugs are, it would be scrutinized the point of banality. But that should offer no comfort because television programming itself ensures almost a bad a fate as it is based on a cultural lowest common denominator, where viewers are throttled by Jungian archetypes so basic that lower level primates can grasp their significance.

The majority of television programming envolks Coleridge’s plea for “That willing suspension of disbelief, which constitutes poetic faith,” in order to more fully enjoy the programs being watched (and again, this unfortunately applies also to news reporting). So, where do we the viewers draw the line for this will suspension? Regarding NCIS, no one in their right, above average IQ, mind is going to mistaken the law enforcement practiced on the drama for how it is really done. If the viewer require that level of fidelity, I recommend The First 48, which shows the grueling monotony that makes up the bulk of law enforcement. But, in a word, that is boring.

Why this prelude to a review of the NCIS episode “Cover Story?” Because “Cover Story” is the least satisfying episode aired in this, the program’s fourth season. The plot of this episode surrounds the plot of Special Agent Timothy "Tim" McGee’s (Sean Murray) follow-up to his successful novel, Deep Six, which he shamelessly based on his NCIS co-workers. When two murders occur involving two strangers McGee has based characters on in his new book, things get dicey for the team. A mysterious note reveals that one more murder is to occur and the victim is somehow defined in McGee’s unfinished text. The episode is propelled by the need to find out how McGee’s draft was released and who the next victim will be. The leak of the draft occurs from McGee’s discarded typewriter ribbon and the next victim was to be Forensics Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto (Pauley Perrette).

The antagonist in the episode is an employee of the coffee shop, Landon Grey (Steve Braun), McGee frequents and where he saw the two people he based characters on everyday. In the mix is McGee’s morally ambivalent publisher, Lyndi Crawshaw (Jayne Brook) and her assistant, Todd Ryder (Wilson Cruz). “Cover Story” compares poorly with more complex episodes such as “Grace Period” or “Blow Back”

The next episode, “Brothers in Arms” will air April 24, 2007. According to TV.com, there remain five episodes, including the Season Finale. We should hope that the writers are busier creating a provocative ending to this season than they were the plot of “Cover Story.”

Stars:

Forensics Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto (Pauley Perrette)
Special Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly)
Special Agent Timothy "Tim" McGee (Sean Murray)
Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon)
NCIS Director Jennifer "Jenny" Shepard (Lauren Holly)
NCIS Medical Examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum)
Mossad Agent-on-Loan-to-NCIS Ziva David (Cote de Pablo)

Guest Stars:

Landon Grey (Steve Braun)
Lyndi Crawshaw (Jayne Brook)
Todd Ryder (Wilson Cruz)
Rick Green (Nynno Ahli)
Johnny Smokerson (Chris Akers)

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Media: NCIS – Navy Criminal Investigative Services - "Grace Period"

2007-04-06T08:47:00.000-05:00

“Grace Period” first aired April 3, 2007

The fourth season of NCIS has dealt very little with contemporary personal loss. Past loss has been covered in detail. The murder of Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs’ (Mark Harmon) family surfaces with quiet regularity. The death of former NCIS Special Agent Mike Franks (Muse Watson) was the topic of the previous episode, “Iceman”. We get a little closer with Mossad Agent-on-Loan-to-NCIS Ziva David’s (Cote de Pablo) budding relationship with a poisoned and dying IAEA agent in “Dead Man Walking”. However, these episodes may only be considered a Wagnerian prelude to “Grace Period” where Gibbs’ team is face with their own fragile mortality.

The episode opens with an NCIS team from the Pentagon manning a weekend stakeout on a tip of possible terrorist activity. The team is made up of group leader NCIS Agent Paula Cassidy (Jessica Steen), NCIS Agent Rick Hall (Sasha Roiz), and NCIS Agent Jim Nelson (Jacory Gums). Cassidy receives a call from her ostensible Middle Eastern operative who wants to meet in an empty building. Cassidy dispatches Hall and Nelson into the building which promptly explodes…break to the introduction. Meanwhile, Gibbs and Army Lt. Col. Hollis Mann (Susanna Thompson) are taking batting practice with Gibbs playfully instructing Mann while Mann shines him on. Gibbs gets the call, going to headquarters not using his inside voice, dispatching his crew to investigate the bombing.

At the crime scene, a space rented by an Islamic nonprofit group, NCIS Medical Examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum), observes what Gibbs states that the explosion appears to have been the part of a suicide bomber, whose head the team cannot find. A distraught Cassidy helps at the scene, visibly shaken when seeing her dead colleagues. Gibbs takes her outside for a sit down, instructing Special Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) to find the bomber’s missing head. Gibbs gives Cassidy the old heave ho in the back of an ambulance. Cassidy holds herself responsible for the death of her team Special Agent Timothy "Tim" McGee (Sean Murray) is dramatically affected by the agents’ deaths as he had attended school with one of them. Gibbs informs the crew that it was supposed to be his team taking care of that weekend, inferring that it could have been two of their team dead.

The discussion is interrupted by the arrival of two Middle Eastern men, greatly anxious at the damage at the scene. They are members of the Islamic nonprofit Coalition for Peace. The two men, Jamal Malik (Dominic Rains) and Abdul Wahid (Haaz Sleiman) are looking for their friend, Yahzeed Fahad, who is the president of their organization. Conveniently, Ziva locates the bomber’s head in the building’s rafters and drops it to the floor where it is identified by his partners. The two men are taken back to NCIS headquarters and questioned by Gibbs and Ziva together, where they try and convince Gibbs they are not criminals. They do convince Gibbs they are innocent while on the other side of the glass DiNozzo tells Cassidy Gibbs wants her to remain at headquarters.

Meanwhile Forensics Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto (Pauley Perrette) is analyzing the voice data from the phone call received by Cassidy before the explosion. She discovers McGee grieving in her lab and she comforts him. Gibbs enters and Abby identifies the dead suicide bomber as Yahzeed Fahad and further reveals that he was in the US Navy, discharged in 2004. Ducky chirps in to bring Gibbs and Cassidy to the morgue to let them know that Fahad had been dead 24 hours (based on deterioration of the brain) before the explosion and therefore could not have made the phone call credited to him. This establishes the either Abby or Ducky as being wrong, providing the necessary internal conflict for the episode.

Breaking to the next scene, Ziva details the search of Fahad’s apartment which revealed no evidence that the dead man would have been a suicide bomber. Cassidy reveals an intense dislike for Ziva evidenced with impatience. DiNozzo attempts levity to lighten the mood, Gibbs pops the back of his head and sends Cassidy and DiNozzo back to the crime scene to investigate if there was another way out of this building that appeared to have only one. At the crime scene, Cassidy and DiNozzo reveal their previous personal history and discuss DiNozzo’s floundering love life. Cassidy councils DiNozzo that life is too short not to tell those you love that you love them.

Meanwhile, Abby determines that all of the suspect telephone contact came form the same disposable phone and that the first call could be traced to a company, Kertek Computing where Fahad worked. This company was responsible for developing software for the disabled. McGee reasons that NCIS can obtain vocal samples from all employees to identify the caller. Gibbs, Ziva, and McGee head for Kertek where they meet Azid Abu Selom (Shaun Duke) and learn that Fahad was an instructor. Abby compares the voice samples with the suspect sample with negative results. Abby was given a Fahad training video to which she compared the suspect sample and got a positive match. Who is right…Ducky or Abby?

Back at the crime scene, DiNozzo searching for a secret passage employs a clever method involving cigar smoke being pulled through cracks in the wall and the two locate a secret passage into an office where they discover pieces of sunglasses like those worn by the bomber of the true bomber having been there. Ziva and Gibbs go to see Ducky who has determined Fahad’s cause of death, which was from suffocation due to having a silicone substance poured in his mouth and nose. Ducky insists that his opinion on the time of death is correct.

Gibbs and Mann meet at Gibbs’ house for dinner in the basement and Mann reveals to Gibbs that she plans to retire and pursue her private life, ostensibly with Gibbs. Meanwhile, Abby lifts a print from the sunglasses that leads the team back to Kertek, where the team has to fight it out with the operative, who is ultimately shot and killed by Cassidy and the rest. From a recovered flyer, the team learns of a conference of Islamic clerics to address the Shiite-Sunni rift. McGee’s evaluation of the dead man’s laptop reveals experimental vocal simulation software for use with the disabled who can no longer talk. The team determines that the silicone poured in Fahad’s oral and nasal cavities was to make a mold to develop the software to mimic Fahad’s voice. So both Ducky and Abby were right (as if it were to be any other way).

Jamal Malik and Abdul Wahid are called back in for questioning and reveal that the most important clerics in the Shiite-Sunni issue will be attending. The clerics wish to visit the site of the explosion for prayers. The team prepares to accommodate the request. The clerics are divied up by the agents, leaving Cassidy with no one to watch. At the explosion site everything is ready and the clerics arrive and prepare for prayers. Gibbs tells Cassidy that this is her time to pray for her team, not work. Meanwhile, Abby evaluates fingerprints from the laptop and finds Jamal Malik’s, indicating his involvement. McGee calls Gibbs who finds Malik missing. The secret door opens with Malik wired, prepared to push the button. Cassidy runs through the door, knocking the bomber down as the door closes and the bomb explodes.

DiNozzo is devastated and the episode ends with DiNozzo telling Jeanne Benoit (Scottie Thompson) that he loves her. “Grace Period” is one of the three best episodes of this season. The loose ends begin to be resolved, with several still evident (Shepard’s association with "La Grenouille" and the strange woman stalking DiNozzo and Benoit). We are roaring into the end of the season.

The next episode, “Cover Story” will air April 10, 2007

Stars:

Forensics Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto (Pauley Perrette)
Special Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly)
Special Agent Timothy "Tim" McGee (Sean Murray)
Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon)
NCIS Director Jennifer "Jenny" Shepard (Lauren Holly)
NCIS Medical Examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum)
Mossad Agent-on-Loan-to-NCIS Ziva David (Cote de Pablo)

Guest Stars:

Jeanne Benoit (Scottie Thompson)
NCIS Agent Rick Hall (Sasha Roiz)
NCIS Agent Jim Nelson (Jacory Gums)
Abdul Wahid (Haaz Sleiman)
Jamal Malik (Dominic Rains)
Salman Umar (Ankur Bhatt)
Azid Abu Selom (Shaun Duke)
Army Lt. Col. Hollis Mann (Susanna Thompson)
NCIS Agent Paula Cassidy (Jessica Steen)

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Music: Domenico Scarlatti - Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 2 by Michael Lewin

2007-04-06T08:44:00.000-05:00

American pianist Michael Lewin takes on the second batch in Naxos’ set of The Complete Keyboard Sonatas by Italian Baroque composer Domenico Scarlatti. The recital is fairly evenly distributed by Kirkpatrick designation and reveals a cautious and studied hand on the part of Lewin. As I suspect will be the model for all subsequent volumes in this series, the disc opens with a bright major-key sonata, qualified as presto. In this case it is the D Major Sonata, K. 492, which Lewin infuses with a subtle momentum behind the hop-scotch melody, exuding a bright happiness. Lewin sets his performance bar high and keeps to that level throughout the recital.

Lewin performs several sonatas in common with those pianists before him. As one would suspect, he is most closely comparable with Mikhail Pletnev on sonatas K. 3 in A Minor, K. 141 in D Minor, and K. 213 in D Minor. Lewin also possesses a similar carefully considered approach as Andras Schiff on sonatas K. 27 in B Minor and K. 517 in D Minor. The more slowly paced of these sonatas (K. 213 andante) is beautifully played, displaying Scarlatti’s affinity for slower, minor-key compositions. Lewin and Horowitz share several sonatas, K. 33 D Major, K. 322 A Major, K. 146 G Major, and K. 39 A Major. Lewin consistently stays within his vigilant performance lines on all but the A Major where he plays with all of the unabashed gusto, if not brute force, of Horowitz.

Disc highlights, as with Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 1, are found in minor key sonatas. Sonata K. 481 in F Minor is graciously played with a gently considered tempo, andante cantabile. Sonata K. 517 in D Minor is quite the contrast to K. 481, Lewin hitting the nitro switch while modulating through one of Scarlatti’s more complex exercises. Michael Lewin’s contribution to the Naxos Complete Keyboard Sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti inspires this listener the desire to hear the next installment.

Michael Lewin studied with Leon Fleisher and Yvonne Lefebure at the Juilliard School of Music. Following wins at the Kapell International Piano, Beethoven Fellowship, and Liszt Piano Competitions, he began an international career throughout the USA, Europe and Asia. Lewin has appeared with the Netherlands Philharmonic, Boston Pops, Phoenix Symphony, New Orleans Symphony, Colorado Springs Symphony and the Chamber Orchestra of Puerto Rico. He lives in Boston, where he teaches at the Boston Conservatoire. Lewin has previously recorded for Naxos the piano works of American composer Charles Tomlinson Griffes 3 Tone Pictures / De Profundis / Sonata (8.223850) and Piano Works (8.559023, 8.225163, and 2 8.559046).

Selections: Sonata in D Major, K.492/L.14/P.443; Sonata in D Major, K.492/L.14/P.443; Sonata in A minor, K.3/L.378/P.59; Sonata in D minor, K.32/L.423/P.14; Sonata in D minor, K.32/L.423/P.14; Sonata in D Major, K.33/L.424/P.130; Sonata in A Major, K.208/L.238/P.315; Sonata in A Major, K.208/L.238/P.315; Sonata in A Major, K.209/L.428/P.209; Sonata in E Major, K.20/L.375/P.76; Sonata in E Major, K.20/L.375/P.76; Sonata in E minor, K.98/L.325/P.219; Sonata in B minor, K.27/L.449/P.83; Sonata in B minor, K.27/L.449/P.83; Sonata in D Major, K.436/L.109/P.404; Sonata in D minor, K.141/L.422/P.271; Sonata in D minor, K.141/L.422/P.271; Sonata in D minor, K.213/L.108/P.288; Sonata in G Major, K.14/L.387/P.70; Sonata in G Major, K.14/L.387/P.70; Sonata in A Major, K.322/L.483/P.360; Sonata in A minor, K.109/L.138/P.290; Sonata in A minor, K.109/L.138/P.290; Sonata in G Major, K.146/L.349/P.106; Sonata in A Major, K.39/L.391/P.53; Sonata in A Major, K.39/L.391/P.53; Sonata in F minor, K.481/L.187/P.504; Sonata in D minor, K.517/L.266/P.517.

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Music: Domenico Scarlatti - Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 1 by Eteri Andjaparidze

2007-04-06T08:33:00.000-05:00

For its inaugural release of The Complete Keyboard Sonatas by Domenico Scarlatti, Naxos chose Tbilisi-native Eteri Andjaparidze. Russian pianists were among the first artists to champion the cause of Scarlatti sonatas performed on piano. Andjaparidze continues in the tradition of Horowitz, Pletnev, and Demidenko are among the better known Russians who favor Scarlatti for performance. Andjaparidze continues this honor to the Italian composer with a precise and respectful recital of a collection of sonatas concentrating on the latter third of the corpus.

In common with Horowitz, as that Russian serves well as a comparison, Andjaparidze covers Sonatas in F Minor, K. 184 and E Major, K. 531. In Andjaparidze shares Horowitz’s vibrancy without his eccentricities. Her playing is fluid and carefully measured. On the E Major sonata, Andjaparidze affects a softer touch in the left hand than Horowitz (an understatement, to be sure). Where Horowitz is metronomic, tossing grenades in the lower register, Andjaparidze dances even handedly across Scarlatti’s pastoral landscape.

Highlights of the remainder of the disc include the opening C Major sonata, K. 487, which Andjaparidze asserts with command and attention. Also outstanding is her performance of minor key sonatas in G Minor, K. 450 and D Minor, K. 434. The G Minor sonata illustrates the cusp of the minor key as it connects Baroque to Classical, looking forward to Mozart and his more romantically inclined minor key piano works. The D Minor sonata is a study in aching gentleness, a work of empathy with loss. The centerpiece of the collection is the Sonata in E Minor, K. 402, one of the lengthiest of Scarlatti’s sonatas; Andjaparidze summons all of her talent into this carefully paced, emotional composition. This is Scarlatti’s minor key universe. Also covered by Andras Schiff respectfully, Andjaparidze takes her expert time in spinning out this masterpiece, making this fine collection worth owning for the E minor sonata alone.

Andjaparidze’s musical bona fides are well acquired as her father, Zurab Andjaparidze, was a leading tenor in the Bolshoy Theatre and her mother an accomplished pianist from whom Andjaparidze received her first lessons. Andjaparidze was educated at the Tbilisi Special School of Music for Gifted Children. She made her debut at the age of nine and won first prize in the Transcaucasian Competition in Baku in 1972 after which she became the youngest performer in the Fifth Tchaikovsky International Competition in Moscow in 1974.

Andjaparidze continued her studies at the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory and in 1976 was awarded the Grand Prix at the Montreal International Piano Competition. She continues to perform widely and is a noted music educator Faculty of Purchase College of New York State University. She has made several previous recordings for Naxos and its affiliates including Christmas Piano Music (Naxos 8.553461), Confrey: Piano Music (Marco Polo 8.223826 and 8.559016), and Prokofiev: Ten Small Pieces / Sarcasms / Visions Fugitives (Naxos 8.553429).

Selections:

Keyboard Sonata in C Major, K.487/L.205/P.421; Keyboard Sonata in C Major, K.487/L.205/P.421; Keyboard Sonata in F minor, K.184/L.189/P.102; Keyboard Sonata in B Flat Major, K.544/L.497/P.548; Keyboard Sonata in G minor, K.450/L.338/P.422; Keyboard Sonata in F Major, K.44/L.432/P.116; Keyboard Sonata in D minor, K.434/L.343/P.498; Keyboard Sonata in D Major, K.430/L.463/P.463; Keyboard Sonata in G Major, K.427/L.286/P.286; Keyboard Sonata in G minor, K.8/L.488/P.64; Keyboard Sonata in G Major, K.13/L.486/P.69; Keyboard Sonata in G Major, K.523/L.490/P.527; Keyboard Sonata in G Major, K.523/L.490/P.527; Keyboard Sonata in E minor, K.402/L.427/P.436; Keyboard Sonata in E Major, K.531/L.430/P.535; Keyboard Sonata in E Major, K.531/L.430/P.535; Keyboard Sonata in C Sharp minor, K.246/L.260/P.296; Keyboard Sonata in C Sharp minor, K.246/L.260/P.296; Keyboard Sonata in A Major, K.533/L.395/P.537; Keyboard Sonata in C Major, K.421/L.252/P.459; Keyboard Sonata in F Major, K.446/L.433/P.177.

Music: This Rhythm on My Mind By Wycliffe gordon and Jay Leonhart

2007-04-06T08:27:00.000-05:00

Few jazz recordings heard this year will be as big-hearted, sincere, and thoroughly entertaining as the Wycliffe Gordon and Jay Leonhart This Rhythm On My Mind. On the cover, this looks like the unlikely duet of two bass instruments, double bass and trombone, but it is much more. It's an old time original jazz vocal and scat-fest, with both Leonhart and Gordon singing – together, separately, whatever.

The title track gives the listener a pretty good idea of what is coming. The duo sings, scats, and show off their respective instrumental wares. They demonstrate an empathic camaraderie on a handful of originals and standards that include Ellington’s “Mood Indigo,” Eddie Harris’ "Freedom Jazz Dance," and Lester Young’s "Lester Leaps In." The potential listener may think this recital would be boring because how can two bass instruments performing as a duo make any kind of interesting music?

Gordon and Leonhart, an unlikely pair to be sure, meld perfectly, personally, and instrumentally. Above all, the pair has fun - together as musicians performing – and in the music they provide the listener. Leonhart’s bass playing is beyond compare. His rhythm and time are right on and his singing is a true pleasure. As for Gordon, one never knows what to expect. His Louis Armstrong-influenced vocals are infectious with good will and he’s playing his signature trombone one minute, then a tuba, then a didgeridoo. This is one of the most entertaining discs, of any kind, released this year.

Tracks:

Rhythm on My Mind; Problem; I Want My Blooz Back; Mr Leonhart Mr Gordon; Mood Indigo; Toast My Bread; Eddie Harris (Freedom Jazz Dance); Missin’ RB Blues; Lester Leaps In; All Alone; Little Honey; Lucky Day; Home for Supper.

Personnel:

Wycliffe Gordon: trombone, tuba, vocals, didgeridoo; Jay Leonhart: bass, vocals; Jim Saporito: percussion (11); Henry Allen: tenor sax (9); Wayne Escoffery: tenor sax (7).

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Music: An Introduction to the Keyboard Sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti

2007-03-25T08:54:00.001-05:00

The leading classical music label, Naxos, undertook recording the complete keyboard sonatas of Italian Baroque composer Domenico Scarlatti beginning with the release of Scarlatti: Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 1 (Eteri Andjaparidze, piano) in 1999. Since then, seven more of a projected 35 volumes have been released. This piano music is easily accessible and enjoyable by listeners of all levels. As an introduction to a series of reviews of the Naxos releases in this collection, I wanted to provide a brief introduction to Scarlatti and the modern interpretations of his music.

Giuseppe Domenico Scarlatti (October 26, 1685 – July 23, 1757) was born in Naples, the sixth of ten children of Baroque composer Alessandro Scarlatti and Antonia Anzalone. While sharing a birth year with two other notable Baroque composers, Johann Sebastian Bach and George Frederic Handel, Scarlatti’s unique compositional vision rested on the apex of the Baroque period giving way to the Classical period.

Scarlatti was thought to have had is early training at the hand of his famous father. During his early life into his adulthood, Scarlatti traveled widely, spending time in Florence, where he met keyboard maker Bartolomeo Cristofori, who was then experimenting with transforming keyboard playing from the plucked-action harpsichord to the hammer action of his gravicembalo col piano e forte. He visited Rome and then Venice, where Scarlatti met the famous castratos Nicolo Grimaldi and Farinelli (Carlo Broschi) (the latter who has provided through his letters the lion’s share of what is known about Scarlatti’s adult life) and also made the acquaintances of composers Gasparini, Vivaldi, and Handel.

This meeting with Handel was fortuitous as it led to a later anecdotal meeting of the two musicians resulting in a "contest of virtuosity" where Handel was to have bested Scarlatti at the organ while Scarlatti bested Handel on the harpsichord. Whether spurious or true, the story makes for great drama and the consideration of such a concentration of genius in Venice in the 18th Century.

Scarlatti distinguished himself in a variety of compositional vehicles including opera, oratorio, and sacred, having held several notable positions in Spain and Portugal. But what Scarlatti is most prominently remembered for are 555 short sonatas for keyboard written originally as Essercizi ("Exercises"). When he died in Madrid July 23, 1757, Scarlatti left a treasury of his harpsichord sonatas manuscripts, which were largely unplayed beyond Spain and Portugal until pianist Carl Czerny published a selection of the sonatas in 1839. Publication of an ostensibly complete set of sonatas was made by Alessandro Longo (designated with “L” numbers), who provided the first systematic numbering of the sonatas in 1906. Ralph Kirkpatrick added to and reorganized the sonatas (designated with “K” numbers) in a 1953 critical edition considered de rigueur for Scarlatti performance. In 1967, Giorgio Pestelli published the most recent accepted edition of the sonatas using the “P” numbering system.

The majority of Scarlatti’s 555 sonatas were envisioned in pairs with one sonata in minor key and its partner in the corresponding major key, but both of the pair always sharing the tonic. Beyond this tonal relationship, these sonata pairs existed dynamically in contrast or complement. Sonata pairs with a complementary association may share stylistic agreement or harmonic palette. Those pairs that contrast one another may do so in tempi or compositional complexity. The result is an almost inexhaustible collection of keyboard pieces, all of high artistic quality and accessibility.

This almost inexhaustible assembly of music becomes infinitely inexhaustible when considering recorded performances. Scarlatti has received much attention since the 1940s when master harpsichordist Wanda Landowska recorded her landmark collections. Landowska, who was uncompromising with her Bach (Landowska to Pablo Casals: “You play Bach your way, and I'll play Bach his way”) certainly took her liberties with Scarlatti. Nevertheless, her Angel recording is uniformly fine displaying not only Landowska’s iconoclastic streak, but also mid-Twentieth Century Scarlatti thinking. Other recorded Scarlatti using a harpsichord was recorded most notably by Ralph Kirkpatrick, whose ‘50s era critical edition is still widely referenced. Kirkpatrick’s playing is faithful and his Archiv disc beautifully captured. Scott Ross recorded all 555 sonatas on harpsichord and organ on 34 discs, originally for Erato, but now available on Warner Classics. Ross has staying power. Pieter-Jan Belder is currently working on a complete set for Brilliant Classics, performed on both harpsichord and piano, which he is recording in Kirkpatrick numerical order and is currently at Volume IX, a three-disc set (ending with the K427 G major sonata).

A revolution akin to that detonated by Glenn Gould’s 1955 piano recording of Bach’s Goldberg Variations (Sony) occurred with Vladimir Horowitz’s 1964 recording Horowitz Plays Scarlatti (Sony), which effectively put Scarlatti on the map in the Twentieth Century. For the Scarlatti novice, this Horowitz is the place to start. In spite of the pianist’s reputation for being a high Romantic, Horowitz had a great affinity for Bach, Scarlatti, Clementi (another favored Horowitz composer), Haydn, and Mozart. The playing, for sure, is Vladimir Horowitz, and aside from a booming left hand, he is more faithful to Scarlatti than Landowska. Other notable piano performances of Scarlatti Sonatas include Andras Schiff’s tastefully middle-of-the-road Decca recording, Mikhail Pletnev delightful two-disc Virgin set, Ivo Pogorelich’s densely enigmatic – and enjoyable Deutsche Grammophon recording, and Yevgeny Sudbin’s recent BIS set. All offer a universe of Scarlatti interpretation, some beyond reproach, some controversial, but all excellent because the original composition is excellent. So now we welcome the Naxos series into the fold, using different pianists for each set and offering the recordings a cost where owning the entire set is affordable.

Next: Scarlatti: Complete Keyboard Sonatas, Vol. 1, Eteri Andjaparidze, piano.

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Music: Joe Zawinul - Brown Street

2007-03-23T10:41:00.000-05:00

Brown Street shows the genius of Joe Zawinul against the brightly colored backdrop of a big band, in this case the German WDR Big Band of Cologne. The collection showcases Zawinul compositions from his time at the helm of Weather Report. Notably absent (perhaps by design) from the collection is WR’s most popular piece, “Birdland.” This is fortuitous as several other WP classics receive a big band treatment they richly deserve.

Zawinul’s original orchestrations are recast by arranger Vince Mendoza, who does a yeoman’s job of drawing Zawinul’s orchestrations into tighter perspective using the wares provided by the WDR Big Band to splash this repertoire onto a big canvas. Within the big band is the working unit of Zawinul, former WR members bassist Victor Bailey and percussionist Alex Acuna and Nathaniel Townsley who is the Zawinul Syndicate’s current drummer.

This lineup summons that certain magic that made recordings like Sweetnighter (Columbia, 1973), Black Market (Columbia, 1976), and Heavy Weather (Columbia, 1977). But Zawinul and Mendoza do not restrict themselves only to Weather Report material. Certainly a densely orchestrated “Black Market,” a rocking medley of “Badia/Boogie Woogie Waltz” and a balladic “A Remark You Made” are appropriate from the WR book. Zawinul and Mendoza attend to several para-WR pieces including an extrapolated “Carnavalito” and likely a definitive “In a Silent Way” where Zawinul perhaps finally wrestles the piece away from the late Miles Davis. Brown Street is a superb release from this fusion master

Tracks:

Disc: 1: Brown Street; In a Silent Way; Fast City; Badia/Boogie Woogie Waltz; Black Market. Disc: 2: March of the Lost Children; Remark You Made; Night Passage; Procession; Carnavalito.

Personnel:

Joe Zawinul: keyboards, vocoder; Victor Bailey: bass guitar; Nathaniel Townsley: drums; Alex Acuna: percussion. Additional personnel: WDR Big Band.

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Media: NCIS – Navy Criminal Investigative Services - "Iceman"

2007-03-23T10:37:00.000-05:00

“Iceman” first aired March 20, 2007

“Iceman” welcomes back one of ’s most compelling characters, Former NCIS Special Agent Mike Franks (Muse Watson), the man who trained Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) upon the latter’s release from his Marine Corps commission. His brief return develops his character better than any single character this season.

“Iceman” opens with NCIS Medical Examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum) entering his domain of the NCIS morgue for an early morning autopsy of one Marine Corporal Liam O'Neill (Jeremy Roberts) who was found ostensibly frozen to death the previous day. Ducky opens the body bag to find a fit Caucasian man in his early twenties who apparently sustained some trauma to his face. About the time Ducky notes this fact Corporal O'Neill opens his eyes and inhales deeply. Ever the Scot, Ducky takes it all in stride and the episode is off.

Opening headquarters banter between Special Agents Timothy "Tim" McGee (Sean Murray), Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly), and Mossad Agent-on-Loan-to-NCIS Ziva David (Cote de Pablo) addresses Ziva’s uncharacteristic tardiness, DiNozzo’s serial tardiness, and alludes to both Christ’s raising of Lazarus and past episode ”Dead Man Walking all in one dialog. DiNozzo reveals that Corporal O'Neill was to be redeployed to Baghdad in two days after 15 days stateside. In the morgue, Ducky and Gibbs discuss the case, Ducky dithering on, trying Gibb’s poor patience. Just when Gibb’s thinks Ducky has nothing to offer him, the doctor informs Gibbs that the Corporal was struck in the head and his face held in the snow until the Corporal was “dead.” Ducky defined the prognosis as equivocal. Out at the crime scene DiNozzo is on the phone with Dr. Jeanne Benoit (Scottie Thompson), whispering sweet nothings while Ziva declares to McGee that DiNozzo has commitment issues ( The lady protests too much, methinks). DiNozzo’s side of the conversation is a bit cheap as he and Benoit make plans while Ziva finds the Corporal’s cell phone. The team locates the Corporal’s car and searches it.

Gibbs and Abby have a summit at the lab where Abby alerts Gibbs to a packet of some green organic substance yet to be identified and some receipts indicating that the Corporal had spent some time back in Baghdad during his two-week furlough in the States. McGee identifies the Corporal’s trip within his trip. Apparently, O'Neill left the US eight days previously under his civilian identification arriving back previously two days. His transportation was on a cargo transport called Fast Flight (presumably making his detection as an airline passenger impossible through standard channels). Gibbs and Ziva go to check out Fast Flight and meet one Nick Taylor (Steven Elder), owner of the operation. When confronted with O'Neill transport, Taylor proved all was legal and that the flight was free for the Marine. Taylor explained that he understood that O'Neill was returning because his unit had been hit and his friends injured. When Ziva revealed that someone attempted to kill O'Neill, Taylor was taken aback and revealed that O'Neill met son “BAGs” (bad-ass guys) in Baghdad. Ziva receives a call alerting her that someone is at the hospital. Gibbs assumes next-of-kin; Ziva replies O'Neill has no next-of-kin the pair arrive back at the hospital to find Former NCIS Special Agent Mike Franks at his son’s bedside.

Franks gives Gibbs the Reader’s Digest. Franks fishes Gibbs for his son’s assailant. Prognosis is poor as O’Neill has poor brain function. Meanwhile DiNozzo and his ladylove go climbing on a store-bought ledge. They are to race to the top and should DiNozzo win or not, he must tell Benoit he loves her. True to form, DiNozzo fails with rippling ramifications. Abby and McGee go to work on O’Neill’s cellphone, learing that they must break a pin for voice mail. They do unearth an association O’Neill had with a Pagoda Investments owned by a loan shark Jimmy Shaloub (Navid Negahban) from whom O’Neill tried to borrow money. Shaloub is on Homeland Security watch list and has dealings with foreign banks that are suspicious. Gibbs and Ziva meet with him. Shaloub proves a cool one, not rattling during interrogation. Gibbs has Ziva call in cards in Tel Aviv on Shaloub and activates McGee on Shaloub’s finances. And Franks brings bad news to Gibb’s regarding his son. Franks glimpses Shaloub’s information before Gibbs can stop him.

Franks goes to Abby to get O’Neill’s effects, his dog tags and rosary. Franks goes to the hospital to detach his son’s life support, draping him with his dog tags and placing the rosary in his right hand. O’Neil dies quietly. Meanwhile Abby finds a match to fingerprints in O’Neill’s car; they are Franks, placing him in O’Neill’s car. Franks enters into shadowed suspicion. While evaluating the situation at headquarters, Franks calls Gibbs on his cell phone and asks Gibbs to meet him at a secluded place. Tony cannot get a hold of Benoit on the phone to Ziva’s glee, and interrogates DiNozzo about “getting the cold elbow [shoulder].” Ziva does reach to the heart of the matter, accusing DiNozzo of not taking care of emotional business. Ziva is just a wee bit obsessive about this relationship.

Franks meets Gibbs they have a heart to heart, Franks revealing that he had seen his son and did not tell Gibbs to avoid questions about what his son was involved in. Gibbs pries and Franks owns loaning him $25,000, O’Neill taking $500 and leaving the rest with his father. Gibbs becomes angry with Franks’ evasions and Franks confronts Gibbs on his reaction to his daughter’s death. The exchange is charged, Franks defiant to Gibbs at his threat of coming after him. Franks departs via rental and Gibbs takes the plates. Meanwhile DiNozzo goes to Benoit’s house and is confronted head on about his lack of commitment. DiNozzo equivocates and Benoit shows him the door.

Ziva reports to Gibbs that her Tel Aviv source found next to nothing on Shaloub. Gibbs gives Franks’ tags to Ziva and has her and DiNozzo locate him. Abby reports the makeup of the green substance found with O’Neill, it is Henna, a substance used as body art and hair dye in the middle east. Gibbs goes to the morgue to find if O’Neill had any tattoos, and he has not. McGee breaks O’Neill’s voice mail code and finds a message from Fast Flight’s Nick Taylor demanding more money. The flight Taylor mentioned in the message landed in just the previous hour and a half. The team heads to Fast Flight to find three dead bodies and evidence of human transport (of three people) it a cargo vessel.

One of the dead was Taylor and the other two were determined to be foreign undesirables who had paid their way into the US. A third person is missing; whose belongings contained a Koran. Franks’ car is located and in it a recently fired pistol. Thinking Franks is guilty the team goes on all points. The pistol is covered with a mysterious white dust determined to be powdered silica proved to be from a glass plant next to Fast Flight. Reinvestigation of Shaloub proved that he frequently traveled Fast Flight. Abby identifies the gun from Franks’ car as the murder weapon. Gibbs realizes that Franks had it to plant on Shaloub. Gibbs breaks Shaloub in interrogation with the silica evidence and the claim of an eye witness watching Shaloub dump the gun in a Dumpster.

Gibbs meets Franks and discovers the third occupant of the plane, O’Neill’s future Moslem wife and current mother of his son. Franks reasons that they are not relevant to the case and takes the pair to Mexico.

The end is spooky. It shows an unidentified woman looking at surveillance pictures of DiNozzo and Benoit. Are those the lips and nose of Ziva David? Is it Jeanne Benoit? Or, is it a hitherto unidentified fem fatale? Oddly, the final five seconds prove to be the most provocative of a superior episode of NCIS. The season finale will be a barnburner.

The next episode, “Grace Period” will air April 10, 2007 (tv.com)

Stars:

Forensics Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto (Pauley Perrette)
Special Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly)
Special Agent Timothy "Tim" McGee (Sean Murray)
Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon)
NCIS Director Jennifer "Jenny" Shepard (Lauren Holly)
NCIS Medical Examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum)
Mossad Agent-on-Loan-to-NCIS Ziva David (Cote de Pablo)
NCIS Medical Assistant Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen)

Guest Stars:

Former NCIS Special Agent Mike Franks (Muse Watson)
Marine Cpl. Liam O'Neill (Jeremy Roberts)
Nick Taylor (Steven Elder)
Dr. Jane Leisten (Stephanie Venditto)
Jimmy Shaloub (Navid Negahban)
Dr. Jeanne Benoit (Scottie Thompson)

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Literature: The One from the Other by Philip Kerr

2007-03-23T10:26:00.000-05:00

There is a certain beauty and fortune in rushing into a library to return a book and deciding to check out another to read while one’s son is practicing soccer. Such was the case with my discovery of Philip Kerr’s The One fro the Other. In reading this, the latest of Kerr’s ongoing saga of the German private investigator Bernard Gunther, I realize I have entered a story that takes place in 1949, but began many years before, before World War II and before its aftermath, with Kerr’s “Berlin Trilogy” which is made up of his novels, March Violets (1989), The Pale Criminal (1990), and A German Requiem (1991). Gratefully, I did not suffer from having not read these earlier books and The One fro the Other is quite self contained.

The book’s title is derived from a quote attributed to German Lutheran theologian Reinhold Niebuhr, that would eventually transmogrify into the ubiquitous “Serenity Prayer” — “…and the wisdom to distinguish the one from the other.” This prayer is important when considering that Gunther is returning to private investigation after several years of running, Kristen’s, his ailing wife, hotel in Dachau. It is four years after VE day and Gunther and Kristen move from Munich to Dachau to help her father run his hotel. In the wake of the end of the war and war crime trials, Kristen’s father commits suicide and Kristen is institutionalized, catatonically paralyzed by schizophrenia. Gunther decides to sell the hotel, borrow some money and return to the only thing he knows, investigative work. Prior to the war, Gunther had been a member of the civilian police. Never a member of the Nazi party, he always managed to stay on the outside of that unpleasantness, enabling himself to condemn National Socialism while still celebrating Germany. A member of Berlin’s KRIPO (Kriminalpolizei) in prewar era, Gunther was obliged to become a member of the notorious SS, a fact that haunts the investigator.

The One from the Other focuses on a series of missing-Nazi cases Gunther accepts as he renews his private investigator’s license. In a dizzying series of seemingly unrelated scenes the circumstances clear somewhat when Gunther is savagely assaulted, has his little finger traumatically removed, and subsequently convalesces at mysterious private estate to recover, with equally mysterious caretakers. Gunther, almost unwittingly, becomes a pawn in a medical experimentation conspiracy involving Germans, Jews, and a lot of money. Kerr creates an intriguing picture of postwar occupied German. The picture is of a gritty reconstruction where the Classical world abounds in both temporal reality, speech, thought, and expression. While Kerr employs much of the mechanical methodology of Noir specialists Raymond Chandler and Mickey Spillane, he gratefully casts the hard-boiled language of Gunther in Germany. This alone makes the Bernie Gunther novels delightfully refreshing.

In the end, the 15 years that separate the Bernie Gunther of A German Requiem and The One from the Other reveal a very measured consideration by Kerr of how the properly age his protagonist without emasculating him. The Gunther of the Berlin Triology just becomes more like himself in The One from the Other, a supremely nationalist German without the National Socialist pretense. Gunther is a German everyman trying to get by with his German rectitude under the most adverse circumstances. The One from the Other ends in a plot spoiler not to be revealed here, of heartbreak for Gunther and the hope for the next Bernie Gunther novel.

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Literature: 24 Days by Rebecca Smith and John R. Emshwiller

2007-03-02T12:03:00.000-06:00

Wall Street Journal reporters Rebecca Smith and John R. Emshwiller close the prologue to their book 24 Days: How Two Wall Street Journal Reporters Uncovered the Lies That Destroyed Faith in Corporate America with these words: “Some senior Enron officials, trying to explain the ruination of their own company, would point to the Journal pieces written during those first twenty-four days. For some of those officials, it may have marked the first time in their careers that they were overly modest about their own contributions.”

Such is the fate of those at the top of the food chain. No one in authority is ever responsible for the criminal activities they, themselves endorsed by the silence or disinterest. In the case of the last days of Enron, Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling were known to blame their company’s declining stock price on the bad publicity put out by short-sellers trying to capitalize on a decline in the value of Enron’s stock or the press, in this case, the Wall Street Journal.

The marketplace is clotted with books about Enron. Of those devoted as general reference are: Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron, Pipe Dreams: Greed, Ego, and the Death of Enron, Power Failure: The Inside Story of the Collapse of Enron, Conspiracy of Fools: A True Story. While these books differ subtly from one another in their focus, they all have in common and acceleration of the story after October 16, 2001; the day Enron announced a third-quarter loss of $618 million. Circumstances were further accelerated the next day when Enron publicly corrected an accounting error related to the so-called Raptor partnerships created by CFO Andrew Fastow, reducing Enron's assets (shareholder equity) are reduced by $1.01 billion. The freezing of Enron’s 401(k) retirement plan followed this action ostensibly for administrative changes.

Where these other books focus on the scandal as a whole, 24 Days: How Two Wall Street Journal Reporters Uncovered the Lies That Destroyed Faith in Corporate America instead focuses on the efforts of Wall Street Journal investigative writers Rebecca Smith and John R. Emshwiller to begin to unwind the Enron saga, focusing on the period between October 16, 2001 and December 2, 2001, the day Enron declared bankruptcy. The story is told from the point of view of journalists uncovering a story, revealing each new discovery chronologically as the reporters were alerted to them as opposed to the aforementioned books, which presented their cases from the inside out.

Smith and Emshwiller also make the Enron reportage part of the story, addressing The Smartest Guys in the Room’s Bethany McLean, the Fortune journalist who first questioned the veracity of Enron’s share price and Kurt Eichenwald, the white-collar crime report from the New York Times and author of Conspiracy of Fools. In the end of this story, the media were as much of the story as the Enron principles. Smith and Emshwiller deal even-handedly with all journalists involved. This is in keeping with the pair’s perspective for 24 Days.

A real value to 24 Days Part IV – “Aftershocks and Revelations.” Here, the relationship between Enron’s deal with Blockbuster and the special entity “Braveheart” is made clear as is the fall of the Enron Broadband division. Arthur Anderson and its collective guilt is revealed in retrospective real time. This section also addresses Sherron Watkins, the Enron Vice President who worked with Andrew Fastow and ultimately sent the now famous memo to Lay that started the internal ball rolling downhill. Watkins went on to write Power Failure with Houston journalist, Mimi Swartz. Smith and Emshwiller deftly reduce the Watkins story to intentions and perceived intentions better than any other book on the subject.

24 Days and all similar books end well before the final shoes dropped in the Enron case. Since the publication of these books, Ken Lay has died, Andrew Fastow and Jeff Skilling and a mountain of other players have gone to jail and some have completed their pornographically short sentences. A follow-up on Enron will eventually be needed to tell the whole story.

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Literature: The Fire - The Bombing of Germany 1940-1945 by Jorg Friedrich

2007-03-02T11:58:00.000-06:00

"The bombardier, whether or not he aimed for a target, caused damage. He fired a shot basically like a cannon’s, but vertically. It was all the same whether he fired blindly or aimed. The site where the cannonball hit was a target of some kind. Sometimes it was hit intentionally, sometimes unintentionally. The rules changed, however, when the pathfinders and bombers began to divide up the work. The grammar of shot and target became insignificant. The pathfinder no longer indicated a point but rather outlined and area. It then was not a matter of “hitting” discreet objects within an area—instead, the demarcated area comprised all that was simply was not supposed to be and was to be removed from the world. Annihilation is the special extension of death. The victim does not die his death, because he does not have one. He finds himself in a sphere in which life has ceased."

This paragraph occurs a mere 69 pages into Jorg Friedrich’s study of the allied air war in Germany, The Fire: The Bombing of Germany 1940-1945. I cite this not as an example of reportage or analyses, but as exceptional writing. This is dense yet distilled thought: crystalline, clinical, and dispassionate. This passage captures Friedrich’s tone for the rest of the book. It is not judgmental because it need not be. The subject matter alone is the judgment and the justice, if that is what it can be called. Friedrich relates a six-word commentary of Der Brand (the original German): “It is an encyclopedia of pain.” I contend that this book is actually a dictionary. It is a dictionary of loss.

Friedrich makes no attempt to justify the German position in the war - he knows he can’t. He does not make a case for the firebombing as an Allied war crime. All war is crime and Augustine’s concept of a “just war” is just so much theologic masturbatory fluff. Friedrich carefully documents the history of air warfare (from The Great War to 1945), the weapons of such (planes, ordinances, radar), people (pilots, navigators, bombardiers), and the intercourse between them. He addresses the strategy of the bombing campaign exhaustively leading to Dresden, but highlighting Hamburg and Berlin in the wake.

The author addresses the land, the terrain, that was affected, introducing each region with a brief history, often reaching back 1500 years, illuminating the cultural loss resulting from the bombing. He does the same for buildings: Goethe’s birthplace, Beethoven’s house. He details libraries destroyed and priceless art lost. With a heartbreaking clinical clarity, the author leads us through first-hand accounts of the morbidity and mortality of the bombing, describing the modes of death in fire bombing, survivors bringing their dead loved ones' remains in pales and buckets and leaving them lined up by the cemetery (“A boy in a Luftwaffe uniform came out of a cellar crying with a covered enamel pail in his hand. Someone asked him what was the matter, to offer some comfort. It was his parents … All day long the people of Darmstadt brought their dead in old pails, a whole family in a washtub.”). The author describes the mass burials and cremations necessary for disease prevention.

In his deductive manner, Friedrich moves from the sky, to the land, to cities, to the buildings, to the people and culture (nearly equated), all lost to the science of terror. This is what was not taught us in our anemic history surveys in high school and college. Depicted is horror too often lost in the present’s fascination with the new pornography: death, torture, and suffering. We should be braced by descriptions like:

“Incineration forced the body to make expressive gestures that the beholder tried to decipher.

‘A young woman was lying there like a sculpture that didn’t come out very good. The legs were charred high-heeled boots were stretched out high backwards; the arms raised as if in defense. The face was still preserved in outlines; the mouth with brownish rows of teeth wide open, so that you could not tell if the face was laughing or screaming.’

The laughing was not funny and the scream was not painful. This creature was an expression not of feelings, but of its creator. It was a sculpture of the fire war.”

Whether Berlin of Baghdad, war is crime.

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Media: NCIS – Navy Criminal Investigative Services - "Skeletons"

2007-03-02T11:53:00.000-06:00

“Skeletons” first aired February 27, 2007

Wet and dripping is the motive of this episode of NCIS. Indeed there are “Skeletons,” but there are also copious amounts of gelatinous matter and the requisite effluvium—a sticky situation indeed. Speaking of sticky situations, Army Lt. Hollis Mann (Susanna Thompson) makes her way back into an episode where we discover she and Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) have not spoken since ”Sharif Returns”. In addition, Forensics Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto (Pauley Perrette) has boy problems that only Gibbs can address. Alas, I digress before even starting.

The episode opens on a military funeral. While the service is wrapping up, two service men in charge of maintaining a military mausoleum are trying to remove the door to one of the crypts to ready it for another occupant. The attempt results in an explosion of sorts with extremely disgusting consequences: decomposing body parts and skeletal remains. Thank God there is no smell-a-vision. The scene at NCIS headquarters is equally tense and surreal as Abby is acting odd (perhaps this show’s biggest irony). She accosts Special Agent Timothy "Tim" McGee (Sean Murray) for money to feed into the candy machine, ultimately secures the funds from Special Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly), spawning a discussion of exactly what “nugget” is. Gibbs arrives and gathers his forces for an apparent explosion at a local military mausoleum.

At the mausoleum, the bomb squad tells Gibbs, DiNozzo, and Ziva no explosives were found. the bomb squad details that the funeral was for a Marine Lance Corporal 9and thus the NCIS involvement) who was to be interred in the family mausoleum is a space with his grandfather. NCIS Medical Examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum) and NCIS Medical Assistant Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen) arrive to correct McGee’s metaphor for the mess they have as “effluvium” as opposed to porridge. Ducky notes that there is enough decomposing matter for two people present in the crypt. He further surmises that the bodies were living as of two weeks before and then provides the theory that the lack of ventilation and the amount of gas that would be produced buy the bodies would be enough to provide the explosion.

At the NCIS morgue, Ducky and Palmer have a “Meat Puzzle” not unlike that which the saw in a previous episode involving the sale of body parts (“The Meat Puzzle,” originally aired February 8, 2005). Ducky determines that the bodies were dismembered and that there were actually at least five bodies involved, thus there being the possibility of more bodies in the mausoleum. At least one of the bodies was an elderly woman who was murdered. Ducky fears a mass murder.

Back at the NCIS lab, Abby is still in a gothic foul mood as the scene opens on her instant messaging her apparent problem. Gibbs and DiNozzo come in for information. Abby tells them that the bodies must have been bled dry before dismemberment as she has little of no blood to work with. She also notes that the screws used to close the crypt covers appeared to have been recently loosened compared to the other, rusted screws of the mausoleum. Regarding this, Abby notes that there are two other crypts with similar signs of recent, unauthorized entry, one Marine and one regular army, the latter involvement setting the stage for the entry of Army Lt. Col. Hollis Mann.

Gibbs heads out for the mausoleum and encounters Lt. Col. Hollis Mann, fetching in her contemporary camo-green. She immediately takes charge (of Gibbs, that is) and follows him into the crypt, Gibbs ordering Ziva and DiNozzo to remain outside. Gibbs behaves like a school boy much to the glee of Ziva and DiNozzo. The subsequent conversation veers between the matter at had and the pair’s unfinished romantic business. This conversation demonstrates that the NCIS writers can write provocative and amusing dialog when they want to.

Gibbs and Mann do find more body parts and Ducky is able to assemble five full bodys with no apparent trend existing among them save for the fact they are dead and dismembered. Ducky echoes the earlier observations of Abby, that the bodies were all suspended and drained as a butcher would do. Palmer enters to let Gibbs and Mann know that NCIS Director Jennifer "Jenny" Shepard (Lauren Holly) wants to see both of them. NCIS staff identifies all of the bodies and the elderly woman happens to be the mother of a man that Ziva and Dinozzo see at the mausoleum. After a terse and cursory conversation, Jenny asks Mann to remain behind. Jenny notes that the Sharif (”Sharif Returns”) investigation ended well and Mann noted the commendation she received. Jenny ostensibly offers Mann and opportunity to join NCIS when her commission is up in six months. The two share drinks and some delicious bits of information about working with Gibbs.

Gibbs and DiNozzo host a stakeout for the man seen at the mausoleum, who has been identified as Len Grady (Corin Nemec). He is linked to two of the murders. The two apprehend Grady and take him back to NCIS for questioning. Meanwhile the crew searches his home which reveals that he is a jack-of-all-trades. The team searches his refrigerator and locates…a pork chop…that becomes central latter in the episode. Gibbs and Ziva question Grady who sends mixed signals to Mann who is witnessing the interrogation. Gibbs shows him photos of all of the victims and he denies knowing any of them. Mann believes him at least partially innocent; Gibbs warns her that regardless of appearances, Grady may still be involved. Mann ends the segment saying that, Grady may not be directly responsible, but knows who is.

Mann and Gibbs return to NCIS headquarters and Mann behaves very much like the woman in charge. She takes charge of the team and Gibbs does not interfere. Gibbs and Mann go to Abby who gives them a run down on all of the cutlery found at Grady’s house. Abby notes that the pork chop from Grady’s freezer and the cut rib cage of one of the victims were cut with the same device, most likely a butcher’s saw. Mann comments that Grady has a partner and his partner is a butcher. Further investigation reveals that Grady’s girlfriend, Natalie Dalton (Alexandra Lydon) is a butcher who taught Grady the trade. A search of her shop reveals the presence of human blood and she puts on quite the convincing act. She is brought in for questioning that Grady is allowed to view. Grady cops to the entire gig, protecting Dalton. He is formally taken in to custody. After questioning Dalton, Mann convinces Gibbs to let Dalton go. Gibbs and Mann follow her and find her dismembering her last victim in Grady’s van. This wonderful conspiracy mirrors that in “Smoked”.

A rocking good time is what we are having as season four begins to draw to a close. The end is not yet in sight and should involve the Jenny-La Grenouille angle. For the time being, we can detect some tying up of loose ends. Not discussed here was the failing relationship of Abby with Marty Pearson (Michael Gilden), ostensibly because she is “too large.” This closes Abby’s romantic fling of the season sadly as it does acknowledging the tragic death of Michael Gilden, December 5, 2006. NCIS takes a hiatus, returning April 3rd with “Iceman.”

Stars:

Forensics Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto (Pauley Perrette)
Special Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly)
Special Agent Timothy "Tim" McGee (Sean Murray)
Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon)
NCIS Director Jennifer "Jenny" Shepard (Lauren Holly)
NCIS Medical Examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum)
Mossad Agent Ziva David (Cote de Pablo)
NCIS Medical Assistant Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen)

Guest Stars:

Army Lt. Hollis Mann (Susanna Thompson)
Len Grady (Corin Nemec)
Natalie Dalton (Alexandra Lydon)
Former Marine LCPL Lloyd Jackson (Philip Anthony-Rodriguez)
Marine EOD Sgt. Dan Trask (Brian Markinson)
Former Marine PFC Kenneth Dixon (Chris Tardio)
Jacob Torrance (Brian Cousins)
Madeline Torrance (Erinn Bartlett)

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Media: NCIS – Navy Criminal Investigative Services - "Dead Man Walking"

2007-02-23T20:41:00.000-06:00

“Dead Man Walking” first aired February 20, 2007

With a plot stripped from the current events surrounding the decidedly Cold War murder of former Soviet operative Aleksander Litvinenko, the NCIS team is asked to investigate the poisoning murder of an American nuclear inspector. The twist is the inspector himself is requesting the investigation.

International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspector Navy Lt. Roy Sanders (Matthew Mardsen) enters NCIS headquarters with Special Agent Timothy "Tim" McGee (Sean Murray) (wearing a $2000 Armani Jacket – the spoils of his writing career) requesting Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) to investigate his murder while dramatically pulling out a clump of his own hair and showing it to Gibbs during his request. Mossad Agent Ziva David (Cote de Pablo) begins the first segment with a strange déjà vu regarding Lt. Sanders. Ziva seems to know him from somewhere. Gibbs enters and reveals that Sanders is still being examined by NCIS Medical Examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum) and his thought is Lt. Sanders is suffering from radiation poisoning, but the source is yet unknown. Ziva tries to think of where she knows Lt. Sanders.

Fearing the McGee has also been exposed, he is forced by Forensics Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto (Pauley Perrette) to strip completely so that he and his clothes can be analyzed for radiation. Abby wants his Armani jacket also, promising she will not harm it. Meanwhile, Ducky has a living client for a change who is able to talk back to him. Blood samples are drawn and sent to radiobiology for analysis. However, Ducky and Lt. Sanders believe that he has been poisoned with an alpha emitter (such as Polonium-210 as in the Litvinenko case) rather than beta- or gamma- emitters (such as Uranium-238 and Plutonium-239). Alpha particles can be stopped by the dead skin cells on the epidermis, but when ingested can wreck havoc on internal organs).

Ziva is ordered to accompany Lt. Sanders to Bethesda, where he is being transferred. Gibbs is hoping that this will jog her memory of where she has seen Sanders. Sanders registers what looks like flashing recognition before Ziva launches into her attempts to make a connection. Make a connect they do, but it is just Ziva’s dumb luck. The scene breaks to Gibbs and Special Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) visit IAEA headquarters and meet Sanders’ colleagues Mark Sadowski (Marc Vann) and Diane Russio (Kate Norby) and the harried secretary Holly Stegman (Erin Torpey). Gibbs appraises them that Sanders was poisoned with radiation. DiNozzo searches Sanders’ desk finds a picture that proves to be his sister. The radiobiology lab returned the results showing that Sanders was poisoned with Thallium no longer than 72 hours previously. This send the NCIS team into an investigation of where Sanders had been in the previous 72 hours.

Meanwhile, at the hospital, Dr. Timothy Hass (Scott Klace) explains to Sanders that the two tables he is taking, Prussian Blue, has been used for many years as a poison antidote. He goes on to say that it works best as a preventative. Abby begins her analysis of everything Sanders could have ingested. While Ziva is questioning Sanders she discovers that she knows him from passing him while running in the mornings. This sets a spark between to two that appears to be ultimately doomed by Sanders’ impending death. While DiNozzo and McGee search Sanders car, they note the smell of cigars (yes, this is foreshadowing). They remove Sanders’ gym bag for analysis by Abby. Gibbs arrives and sends the pair to Sanders’ apartment to look around.

Ziva walks in the garden with Sanders and questions him about his personal life, trying to find if he has a significant other. He says there are none. Ziva begins to look doomed in her attraction to him. She asks him to detail his day, which included a trip to the local shooting range. After Sanders falls faint into Ziva’s arms, the two return to his room to find Sadowski and Russio, the latter of whom Ziva questions more closely about his personal life. When Ziva suggests that he may be gay, Russio says no and proceeds to tell her why (but it is not what you think).

Dr. Timothy Hass (Scott Klace) reports to Ziva that Sander’s radiation levels continues to increase, indicating that he is still being poisoned. As Ziva relates this to Gibbs, Gibbs’ ears perk up at the thought that Sadowski and/or Russio may be trying to kill him. Meanwhile McGee and DiNozzo go to the shooting range where DiNozzo is assaulted by the proprietor, who had previously been sued for sexual harassment. McGee found a hot source at the range, but could not discreetly identify the source. McGee notes that one common denominator is Sadowski who was at the shooting range and in the hospital room. Gibbs had him brought in and leaned on him with no results.

Abby determined that there was cigar ash among the most radioactive of the micro-debris. Thus, the cigars were spike with thallium, which was subsequently delivered by insufflation. This method of delivery is similar to that of intravenous administration as highly lipid-soluble substances readily pass into the blood stream when inhaled into the lungs. Ziva secured the cigars, and Gibbs requested all of the bank records of everyone at the IAEA. Sadowski falls ill at the same time Gibbs looks at footage from the firing range where Sadowski inhaled second-hand smoke from Sanders’ cigar, thus exonerating him. Russio emerges as a likely suspect. DiNozzo and Ziva have a heart to heart in the hospital lobby.

At NCIS headquarters, Ducky provides Gibbs his results of the checkups of all the IAEA personnel. He notes that one person had traces of ferric ferrocyanide, the chromophore in Prussian Blue, indicating that one of the staff was taking the substance to protect against radiation poisoning. Ducky pointed out the guilty party on a computer screen and referred to the party as her. After some harrowing minutes, Gibbs and McGee go to the IAEA and apprehend the secretary Holly Stegman, who had poisoned him on the $50,000 behalf to scare him from going to Uzbekistan where he was to conduct an inspection that would have found them not in compliance. The episode closes with Sanders still alive and sharing a tender moment with Ziva. Perhaps, finally, Ziva will find love.

“Dead Man Walking” is an above average episode of NCIS. While not a disappointment, it did not carry the momentum established by the recent ”Friends and Lovers” and ”Blow Back”. The next episode, “Skeletons,” promises the return of Army Lt. Col. Hollis Mann, who will undoubtedly heat things up for (and with) Gibbs.

Stars:

Forensics Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto (Pauley Perrette)
Special Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly)
Special Agent Timothy "Tim" McGee (Sean Murray)
Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon)
NCIS Director Jennifer "Jenny" Shepard (Lauren Holly)
NCIS Medical Examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum)
Mossad Agent Ziva David (Cote de Pablo)

Guest Stars:

Mark Sadowski (Marc Vann)
Dr. Timothy Hass (Scott Klace)
Diane Russio (Kate Norby)
Holly Stegman (Erin Torpey)
Dee Dee Chesney Diane Delano)
NCIS Special Agent Michelle Lee (Liza Lapira)
Navy Lt. Roy Sanders (Matthew Mardsen)

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Movie: The Smartest Guys in the Room

2007-02-15T11:29:00.000-06:00

Based on Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind book of the same name, Alex Gibney’s documentary The Smartest Guys in the Room is a necessary reduction and simplification of the Enron scandal gratefully explained in non-business, pedestrian terms. The book Smartest Guys in the Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron was an exhaustive look at the scandal by Fortune magazine journalist Bethany McLean, who penned the first story questioning the market dominance of Enron, “is Enron Overpriced,” published in Fortune, March 5, 2001. By all accounts, this was the first negative or even questionable coverage of Enron to appear in print. Authors McLean and Elkind do all but take the credit for getting the Enron death spiral started. Nevertheless, the Peter Coyote-narrated documentary is assembled in such a way to demonstrate both the arrogance and naivety of the three Enron principles, Ken Lay, Jeff Skilling, and Andy Fastow.

The documentary remains faithful to the book insofar as what is dealt with on celluloid is concerned. In deference to an obvious time factor, director Gibney leaves out entire sections of discussion, most critically Rebecca Mark, the Pussy Galore of Enron who wasted billions of dollars on the ill-conceived deals in Dabol, India and later with the Enron water concern Azurix. She would have added sex-appeal to the case but her absence in the documentary is no deal killer as there are plenty of other examples of faulty thinking to consume. Time is allotted to Ken Lay and Jeff Skilling humble upbringings and to their ultimate academic and political successes in the early years of Enron. They are certainly not treated sympathetically, but the authors and director do take a human interest position in the documentary, carefully illustrating how otherwise good people can make profoundly bad and, in many cases, illegal decisions. Time is also given to the early Enron Energy scandal that took place in the New York offices in the late 1980s that threatened to sink Enron then, setting up the pattern of pushing the business envelope far into the red area of impropriety.

The perspective of both the book and documentary is well beyond the simple contemporary journalism surrounding the Enron story as was the case with Wall Street Journal writers Rebecca Smith and John R. Emshwiller’s 24 Days: How Two Wall Street Journal Reporters Uncovered the Lies That Destroyed Faith in Corporate America, which focused on the 24 days between Enron’s 2001 third quarter earnings report and the company’s bankruptcy. McLean, Elkind, Gibney spend much more time behind the stories than on the revelation of the story. The non-technical content of the documentary helps define the level of graft and mismanagement that took place at Enron, placing blame with everyone involved. It is a must see for anyone interested in corporate scandal in the early twenty-first century.

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Media: NCIS "Friends and Lovers"

2007-02-15T11:28:00.000-06:00

“Friends and Lovers” first aired February 13, 2007

The NCIS writers use the cheapest convenient coincidence convention to create the most delicious plot twist of the season. And it has nothing to do with the dead sailor found in an abandoned building, whose cause of death is a bit mysterious.

A couple returns to the place of their first meeting to seal the deal on marriage. While proposing, the erstwhile groom stoops to a knee in proposal and notes a dead body, replete with maggots, killing the moment. The team is meanwhile receiving knife training from Mossad Agent-on-loan Ziva David (Cote de Pablo), trainees including the delectable NCIS Special Agent Michelle Lee (Liza Lapira), who almost skewers Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon) before he orders the team to Georgetown to pick up the stiff.

Things move quickly. NCIS Medical Examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum) notes advanced liver disease and a high blood alcohol. First indications show death through overdose misadventure as several other agents were identified in the sailor’s blood. Forensics Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto (Pauley Perrette) identifies the toxic agent that killed the sailor as oleandrin and neriine, naturally-occurring cardiac glycosides similar to digitoxin, derived from the oleander plant. The sailor was murdered.

But that is just the boring subtext to the story. The Special Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly) - Dr. Jeanne Benoit (Scottie Thompson) story hits a high note the day before Valentines Day. Over a romantic martini, DiNozzo and Benoit are interrupted by Benoit’s persistent former boyfriend, whom DiNozzo wants to help out of the picture and who Benoit wants to take care of herself. Later, DiNozzo shows bigger balls in his exchanges with Benoit than previously regarding this mysterious suitor and her reluctance to dispatch him when he discovers that he and the mysterious suitor both arranged for an island get-a-way with Dr. Benoit. Tony waffles none at all, making his displeasure and suspicion perfectly clear.

At headquarters, Ziva looks at a police sketch of a woman seen at a local bar with the dead sailor, shortly before her death. Noting a resemblance to pop star Shakira, Ziva proceeds to shake her assets in DiNozzo’s face, mimicking the beautiful Latina, while he looks for an intimate vacation for him and Dr. Benoit. City cops Detectives J.D. Morris (Michael Whaley) and John Carson (Jonno Roberts) interrupt the proceedings, bringing Gibbs a junkie with the dead sailor’s credit card. The junkie implicates himself is hinging around long enough to rob the sailor before he died.

Meanwhile, Abby and Special Agent Timothy "Tim" McGee (Sean Murray) look at a laminated card found in the dead sailor’s pocket. Abby notes that a blood stain was intentionally laminated. Further investigation revealed that the killer had left NCIS a message written in blood and then cleaned, “Expect More.” Ducky determines that the oleander was administered in the alcoholic beverages consumed by the unfortunate sailor. At the same time, NCIS Medical Examiner Assistant Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen) and NCIS Special Agent Michelle Lee are playing grab-ass beneath a table.

Gibbs wants to search the private club where the sailor had been in attendance but has the jurisdictional problem of not being able to get a warrant through detective J.D. Morris. Gibbs takes the problem, with NCIS Special Agent Michelle Lee, to NCIS Director Jennifer "Jenny" Shepard (Lauren Holly) and receives no satisfaction. DiNozzo identifies the strange woman last seen with the dead sailor. DiNozzo and detective John Carson strike up a relationship while investigating a case. Carson just lost a girlfriend and DiNozzo has gained one. The circumstances, while depicted as unassociated, are weirdly intertwined. The exchange while viewing a stake out is foreshadowing. The two prove to be kindred spirits and strike up quite the budding relationship.

Abby identifies the blood on the laminated card as that of a woman who was murdered some months ago. She turns out to have been poisoned with oleander. An investigation of the crime scene evidence reveals a planted bloody footprint containing a covert message on the sole of the boot. When photographed and folded, it reveals the message, “Dead Whore.” The team has a serial killer.

The team still has no legal way to enter the club and the security is hip to the city’s attempts to infiltrate, not allowing any agents in. The team works their collective way around this problem by sending in McGee under his pen-name Tom E. Gymcity (Deep Six) with Ziva, Abby and Lee, all in heels. They are to locate the missing woman last seen with the dead sailor. Jon Carson notes the woman in the alley. She presses the head of the clubs security for money not to tell the authorities that the club was involved in the two known murders. The security chief breaks her neck and is met with the NCIS team and gunfire is exchanged. The security chief and girl lay dead and John Carson collapses with a gunshot wound to the chest. DiNozzo gives aid until Carson expires.

The bloody boot print is traced to the dead sailor, who turned out to be the murder of the girl whose blood was left on the card. The final scene shows DiNozzo asleep in Benoit’s sofa and Benoit deleting one last email message from her persistent suitor, who has finally accepted that she is gone. It is a picture, which she opens before deleting, showing her and a smiling John Carson, disappearing into the ether.

While the writers fooled around with passable scripts for the better part of the season, they have finally arrived in living color. A season climax is looming and we can see it beginning to take shape. The story line is developing in such a way that we should expect a renewal for next season.

Stars:

Forensics Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto (Pauley Perrette)
Special Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly)
Special Agent Timothy "Tim" McGee (Sean Murray)
Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon)
NCIS Director Jennifer "Jenny" Shepard (Lauren Holly)
NCIS Medical Examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum)
Mossad Agent Ziva David (Cote de Pablo)

Guest Stars:

Matt Barrows (Daz Crawford)
Mary Elizabeth Donahue (Debbie Campbell)
David Cross (Brady Smith)
Lisa Delgado (Corri English)
Frank Holtz (Dean Cechvala)
Detective J.D. Morris (Michael Whaley)
Dr. Jeanne Benoit (Scottie Thompson)
Metro Police Detective John Carson (John Carson)
NCIS Special Agent Michelle Lee (Liza Lapira)
NCIS Medical Examiner Assistant Jimmy Palmer (Brian Dietzen)

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Literature: Beethoven - The Universal Composer (Eminent Lives) by Edmund Morris

2007-02-15T11:27:00.000-06:00

Pulitzer-prize winning biographer Edmund Morris is perhaps best know for his detailed biographies of Theodore Roosevelt, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt (1979) and Theodore Rex. But in Beethoven: The Universal Composer, Morris heeds the call of editor James Atlas and HarperCollins for a contribution to The Eminent Lives Series, which currently contains biographies of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Sigmund Freud, and Alexis de Tocqueville each written by expert biographers. Morris writes on no less an historic figure than Ludwig van Beethoven, the titan of Western Music.

Morris, a musician and music scholar, has studied Beethoven for fifty years. He distills in that most British fashion, the life of the great composer, focusing equally on Beethoven’s life, art, personal and professional relationships, health, and place in the history of music. Morris deftly characterizes Beethoven’s place among contemporary and near contemporary composers thusly:

“Of all the great composers, Beethoven is the most enduring in his appeal to dilettantes and intellectuals alike. Bach and Mozart had their periods of misapprehension—the former mocked as passé even in his own lifetime, the latter miniaturized by the Victorians. Handel, by contrast, was giantified, but as the composer of Messiah mainly, at cost to his operatic achievement. Haydn—Beethoven’s teacher—is admired more by connoisseurs than by the general public. Schubert was still being caricatured as an idiot-savant songster long after World War II. Brahms has never gone down well in France; Bruckner is a minority taste outside the German-speaking world; and Sibelius, who once seems sure of a seat on Parnassus, has been replaced by the masturbatory Mahler…” That certainly hits the high points.

Beethoven—a name so big he need be known only those three syllables. Lesser gods were known by one name before him, Homer, Virgil, Plato, Aristotle and even lesser ones than that after. Morris captures this bigness without hyperbole if such an exaggerated descriptive can be applied to such a larger-than-life talent. Morris carefully navigates the composer’s childhood and adolescence, focusing on Beethoven’s paternal grandfather, Ludwig, as inspiration more than his drunken and abusive father, Johann. Morris details Beethoven’s first publications and evolution toward both the Eroica and deafness. The writing begins to gain momentum when Morris juxtaposes the despair of the Heiligenstadt Testament with the music composed during and shortly thereafter Beethoven’s stay in that rural setting north of Vienna. It continues to speed to the famous Third Symphony, where Morris describes the effect of its performance at the Lobkowitz Palace:

“Anyone can walk into the second-floor concert hall and having first gotten used to its disconcerting smallness, imagine two fortissimo chords of E-flat major exploding around the room. They were cannon shots of a new symphonic language, remarkable not for their mere loudness…but for a discharge of energy that almost immediately drove the E-flat in the low strings down to a C-sharp, a pitch so far removed fro the tonic that it seemed a miracle that Beethoven could modulate back home only twelve bars later.”

The initial failure of Fidelio is ruminated on at length, ending the unpleasant segment with a description of Beethoven’s December 22, 1808 concert, where the composer unleashed on a naive public his Fifth and Sixth Symphonies, Fourth Piano concerto, portions of the C-major Mass and his Choral Fantasy all to the tune of four hours of music. The concert went poorly and Morris quotes Mark Twain, that it would be merciful to draw, “the curtain of charity over the rest of the scene.”

The “Immortal Beloved” is addressed as well as the death of Haydn, the meeting with Goethe, and the family strife in the Composer’s efforts to gain guardianship of his brother Casper’s son, Karl. Clearly, Beethoven was quite mad during this period as evidenced by his paranoid behavior and bad temper. His musical output declined as well as his health, primarily due to chronic hepatic disease resulting from fulminating ulcerative colitis. It was 1815, and the music was indeed running out of the composer. Morris notes that Beethoven, in a spasm of creativity, jotted down four bars that would ultimately become the fugal ending of his future masterpiece, the Ninth Symphony.

Beethoven emerged slowly from his personal strife into what is called his “Third” and final creative period. The beginning of this period is debatable, but it more than likely began with the composition of the thirty-three “Diabelli Variations.” This last period produced the grand Missa Solemnis, the last five string quartets, the last five piano sonatas, and the most sublime the Ninth Symphony. This is rarified music to be sure. Morris describes the latter:

“It was [Beethoven’s] downbeat, therefore, that produced the most revolutionary sound in symphonic history: a long, hovering, almost inauditable bare fifth on A, seemingly static yet full of storm. High over this cloud layer, like reflections of distant lightening, a series of broken fifths dropped pianissimo and very slowly. They repeated themselves, no louder, while the hovering fifth prevented any sense of acceleration.”

An astute listener does not need to read music to understand what is happening. It is as perfectly obvious as it is revolutionary. This is the pinnacle of Western Musical Thought, well described in words. All music was permanently changed with the Ninth Symphony. Not Brahms, Liszt, Wagner, Bruckner, Mahler, or anyone thereafter produced such music. Author Morris not only presents with crystal clarity, he does so in a way beyond argument. Beethoven: The Universal Composer is a grand introduction to Beethoven before one embarks on Thayer or Solomon.

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Media: NCIS "Blow Back"

2007-02-15T11:26:00.000-06:00

“Blow Back” first aired February 6, 2007

Could anyone play a dangerous foreign (never mind the nationality) operative with better than and with the effortlessness as Armand Assante? Doubtful. NCIS is graced with Assante’s virile presence, ever so brief, in “Blow Back.” The journeyman actor plays the mysterious arms dealer whose code name is "La Grenouille" (The Frog). His presence and the revelation of several side relationships marks the best, most integrated NCIS episode of the 2006-2007 season.

The story begins with the apprehension and kidnapping of an Israeli arms intermediate, Eli "Goliath" Lisack (Assaf Cohen) by mysterious forces that turn out at the end of the segment as Special Agent Anthony "Tony" Dinozzo (Michael Weatherly) and Mossad Agent-on-loan Ziva David (Cote de Pablo). Lisack, having been sedated in the kidnapping, awakens on a small jet plane with DiNozzo and Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon), where he is relentlessly taunted by Gibbs and DiNozzo, who tell him a variety of tales about their destination. Ziva enters the cabin and stops short of issuing Lisack a now famous NCIS female ass kicking for being a treasonous Israeli. Just when Lisack thinks he is going to be turned over to a foreign concern to be disposed of, he finds himself deplaning in Washington DC. En route, Lisack gives up rogue American arms operative with former ties to national intelligence, Charles Harrow (Fred Tate), who, as Lisack reveals, has agreed to sell the U.S. Navy’s intelligence software, Ares, to the highest international bidder.

At NCIS headquarters, Special Agent Timothy "Tim" McGee (Sean Murray) and Forensics Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto (Pauley Perrette) discover more information about the mysterious Charles Harrow. Discovering his address, Gibbs sends Ziva and McGee (couldn’t find DiNozzo, who was wooing the comely Dr. Benoit on the cell phone) to Harrow’s address. DiNozzo and Gibbs begin scouring intelligence about Harrow and stumble upon a Trent Kort (David Dayan Fisher) who turns out to be a suspect that NCIS Director Jennifer "Jenny" Shepard (Lauren Holly) had DiNozzo watch in a previous episode. Gibbs notes the surprise on DiNozzo’s face at seeing Kort and asks him if he knows Kort. DiNozzo lies to Gibbs.

Visibly shaken, DiNozzo barges into the director’s office while an assistant is tending to the Director’s broken bra strap, the ensuing conversation can only be described as titillating. Getting down to business, DiNozzo informs Shepard of his discovery. Shepard is curious as to why this man was not identified earlier than now (a keen bit of foreshadowing noted). DiNozzo is expresses his fear for having lied to him. Gibbs is brought into the discussion, making the scene more awkward than the broken bra strap. Shepard asks Gibbs to call off Ziva and McGee and he toys with her. She loses her temper and directly orders Gibbs. In the meantime, Ziva and McGee are hot on the hunt. They just begin to apprehend Harrow when they are called off by Gibbs and ordered to only follow, but not approach him.

Back at NCIS, Gibbs and Shepard have a spirited discussion of Shepard’s use of DiNozzo, the Director chiding Gibbs for having quite. Gibbs brings up the distant past with Shepard and Paris, prompting the Director, in a beautifully choreographed scene of sexual tension, to pull rank on Gibbs. DiNozzo is monitoring the bidding on Ares, identifying an Irish national as one the bidders. Tony expresses his regret to Gibbs for having lied to him. Gibbs is equivocal. Ziva and McGee have their cover blown and set out on a foot chase with Harrow, who runs up a set of stairs, experiences a myocardial infarction, and promptly dies. The Director proves unimpressed with the loss of her most valuable intelligence asset.

Shepard completely loses her shit with her staff, an experience only intensified by Gibbs’ insolent chiding. Gibbs suspects that Shepard’s interest in Harrow has nothing to do with Ares. Ziva and DiNozzo are dispatched to Harrow’s house to recover anything that may look like Ares. Gibbs approaches the Director for some answers regarding this entire case. Shepard reveals that in the past she knew La Grenouille (Armand Assante) and that something personal is amiss. Ziva and DiNozzo return with the goods to NCIS headquarters and Abby and McGee find Ares among all of the stuff. The team determines when and where Harrow was supposed to meet La Grenouille (with highest bidder for the Ares program) and then realize they no longer have Harrow to make the meeting. NCIS is in need of a certain late-sixties English gentleman.

Enter NCIS Medical Examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum), who is tapped to conduct the exchange with La Grenouille. The team is assembles replete with the sniper team (Archangel) of DiNozzo and Ziva (Ziva as marksman). Ducky meets the operatives and turns over the software. He is then approached by La Grenouille with whom he converses in French about Italian opera. They seal the deal in Ducky’s car, drinking 200-year old cognac. Ducky finds the poisonously urbane La Grenouille charming who reveals his name as Rene. To help Ducky cover, he wears an earwig and is directed by McGee over the technical points. Before La Grenouille departs, Duck presses him for payment (which is in diamonds). As La Grenouille ascends into the plane, Shepard is asked by Ziva to give the kill order. Shepard receives a 911 call on her phone. She calls down Ziva and reveals that the CIA is in deep cover on the plane with La Grenouille, ostensibly in the guise of Trent Kort.

By ten lengths is “Blow Back” the best episode of the season. Finally NCIS writers have quite farting around and begun a story line with meat. What propel episodic shows are questions. What was Shepard’s relationship with La Grenouille? What is Shepard’s relationship with DiNozzo? What are Shepard’s feelings toward Gibbs? Where is DiNozzo going with his relationship with Benoit? Where does Ziva, who is now a third wheel, fit in? When will McGee and Abby re-consummate their relationship? “Blow Back” shows NCIS getting its traction and accelerating toward the season’s end.

Stars:

Forensics Specialist Abigail "Abby" Sciuto (Pauley Perrette)
Special Agent Anthony "Tony" DiNozzo (Michael Weatherly)
Special Agent Timothy "Tim" McGee (Sean Murray)
Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs (Mark Harmon)
NCIS Director Jennifer "Jenny" Shepard (Lauren Holly)
NCIS Medical Examiner Dr. Donald "Ducky" Mallard (David McCallum)
Mossad Agent Ziva David (Cote de Pablo)

Guest Stars:

Cynthia Sumner (Stephanie Mello)
La Grenouille (Armand Assante)
Trent Kort (David Dayan Fisher)
Martin Quinn (Corey Stoll)
Charles Harrow (Fred Tate)
Nick Hurley (Jim Parrack)
Charles Harrow (Fred Tate)
Max Phillips (David Batiste)
Regine Smidt (Sandra Hess)

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007

Literature: The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner, Audiobook

2007-02-15T11:24:00.000-06:00

Considered with Absalom, Absalom!, The Sound and the Fury may rightly be considered William Faulkner’s masterpiece. The two southern Gothic stories share the characters of Quentin Compson and Shreve in an overlapping of story lines. The Sound and the Fury was first published in 1928 but did not gain popular attention until 1931, when Faulkner published perhaps his most commercially minded novel, Sanctuary. Richly complex, The Sound and the Fury is considered finely crafted, displaying all of the elements of exceptional fiction writing. For this reason, the book is included in countless college and university curricula where students are exposed to its complexity too early for their understanding.

To this reader, Faulkner was never as accessible as when narrated. A number of years ago, I listened to the tale of Joe Christmas in Light in August (1932). Faulkner wrote in an early twentieth century cadence heavily influenced by the Southern African-American vernacular. Reading this is often challenging enough even not considering the stream of consciousness narration often employed by the author. A good narration goes a long way in clarifying the story. Such is the case of Grover Gardner’s reading of The Sound and the Fury.

Gardner’s voice is captured against a paper-dry aural backdrop with no compression or reverberation used. His ability to shift between accents, patois, and vernaculars is seamless with little or no bleed through. This dry sound is well suited for Faulkner’s story of the post Reconstruction decay of the Southern Aristocracy. Gardner’s best reading is of the April 6, 1928 chapter narrated by the bitter Jason Compson IV. Gardner captures Compson’s black humor and insincerity perfectly. He is equally up to the task for the Benjy and Quentin sections, capturing the white heat of thoughts and memories fleeting by faster than images can be mentally integrated and understood. Literary criticism would do well to focus on these sections in comparison with the words of Christ in the Gospel of John shortly before His Passion. Christ speaks in metaphor and allegory in an almost ethereal manner very much in keeping with those motifs (shadow and light) employed by Benjy and Quentin in their fractured narratives.

Simply listening to a narration of The Sound and the Fury does not necessarily substitute for actually reading the book. A story so complex requires study. Faulkner does not make things easy for the reader and this approach is anathema to our Twenty-First Century tendency to fast culture consumption with little consideration. This story requires the reader to employ all means necessary to understand the story and the manner in which the story is told. While not a substitution for reading, the narrated book does allow the reader to better understand the rhythm of Faulkner’s writing, aiding in the textual reading.

This review was first published in Blogcritics.org

© Copyright, C. Michael Bailey, 2007