New WRTI host a winner on the air and on the stage
Plus, 96th annual Academy Awards telecast a class act
Meg Bragle had to have been the busiest person in the Delaware Valley during the last few weeks.
The 2 to 6 p.m. classical music host on WRTI (90.1 FM) did not miss a minute of any of her broadcasts while rehearsing two different mezzo soprano parts in oratorios by Antonio Vivaldi and Johann Sebastian Bach.
Alas, the lone performance of Vivaldi’s “Juditha Triumphans” with Tempesta di Mare is past. It took place at Penn’s Irvine Auditorium on Saturday. There is
more to come.
At 7 p.m. Wednesday, Bragle appears in Bach’s “Wir müssen durch viel Trübsal” as part of the Philadelphia Organ Festival, for which it is one of four programs in local venues this week.
Meg and I begin a conversation about the craziness of mastering two roles while presiding over a daily four-hour radio show by translating Bach’s title from the German.
I’m fairly versed in the language but didn’t know what “Trübsal” meant. We decided “Wir müssen,” etc. means “We must go through many adversities.”
Audiences will hear more of what Bach means if they attend Wednesday’s performance at the Unitarian Society of Germantown, 6511 Lincoln Drive, in Philadelphia. John Walthausen is the featured organist, and Bragle is joined on stage by soprano Rebecca Myers, tenor Gregório Taniguchi, and bass Christopher Talbot.
Bragle intends for singing to
remain an essential part of her life now that she is at WRTI fulltime.
“Radio is a big surprise,” Meg says by telephone as she heads from ‘RTI studios to a “Juditha” rehearsal. “I did it a little when I was at Interlochen, (a major music venue and educational center in Michigan) but I never thought of it as a career.
“Singing is and remains my career. I was happy to find such a vibrant music community with so many ensembles when I moved from Michigan to Philadelphia seven years ago.
Along the way I met Zev Kane from WRTI and mentioned that if they could ever use me to fill in for a host, I’d be happy to do it. That’s exactly what happened. I began being asked to substitute for classic hosts during their vacations and days off. When Kevin Gordon retired last year, I asked myself, ‘Why not?’ and applied for a full-time host position. I wasn’t given any promises and didn’t have any expectations, but now I am part
of a team that presents a wide array of classical music to a loyal audience.
“I learn something every day. I know the classic repertory quite well, but each day I am introduced to pieces and composers with which I am not familiar.
“It took a lot of juggling to fit my on-air schedule with my rehearsal schedule, but I am not the only one who needs such accommodation, and Tempesta and the Organ Festival were great about working around the other obligations in my life.”
I ask Meg the last time she was able to have a decent sleep. She says she doesn’t remember.
Music has always been an essential part of Meg Bragle’s life.
She began playing the violin via the Suzuki method at age 3.
“I was enthusiastic about it and excited by it. I began studying at Interlochen. I was also interested in the choir there. Mel Larimer, the choir director there, encouraged me to continue signing.
“I loved both of my musical paths: violin and the voice. When it came time for me to go to college, I looked for a school at which I could major in both.
“It is not as easy a quest as it sound. Many college music departments do not approve of majors, especially in performance, splitting their time between two different disciplines. They wanted me choose. I was accepted in some programs for voice, some for violin, and few would allow me to pursue both courses.
“The University of Michigan did, so that where I went. The irony is I was graduated with a double major, but they weren’t violin and voice. They were voice and English literature.
“I’ve played the violin in orchestras, but I doubt you’ll ever see me doing that. I have chosen the voice. My interest in English literature may tell you why.
“I love the word. I love expressing words and telling stories through them.”
It is clear Meg enjoys words from her performance on WRTI. She says she enjoys doing research and sharing the anecdotes and historical tidbits with which she introduces pieces.
As do her colleagues, Melinda Whiting and John Scherch, Meg brings the enthusiasm she had as a toddler playing the violin to her bright and personable presence on the air.
The Philadelphia Organ Festival, a production of Partners for Sacred Spaces, has a week of concerts planned in venues throughout the region.
• On Tuesday, organist Parker Kitterman appears with vocalists from Opera Philadelphia in the U.S. premiere of a 1926 Colombian silent film, “Garras de Oro” with a score by Juan Pablo Carreño, at Rodeph Shalom, 615 N. Broad St., in Philadelphia.
• On Thursday, organist Daryl Robinson plays Gustav Holst’s “The Planets” at the Philadelphia Episcopal Cathedral, 19 S. 38th St., Philadelphia.
• On Friday, the festival ends with organist Alcée Chriss performing works by César Franck and Sergei Rachmaninoff in a program called “Romance in the Garden” at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square.
A lot to like in Oscars show
Television finally figured out how to produce and present an awards ceremony.
With only a smattering of glitches, such as not focusing solely and closely on the screen memorializing those who passed and a few errant presenters’ moment such as the lame banter between Melissa McCarthy and Octavia Spencer, last week’s Oscar program was the best in this century.
Possibly the best since the glory days when Bob Hope and Johnny Carson were the annual hosts.
Jimmy Kimmel, this year’s host, fits into the Hope-Carson mode better than anyone, even better than Neil Patrick Harris.
Kimmel is a quick and pointed ad libber. He is used to speaking unscripted and responding comically to what he hears. He obviously goes to movies and knows the people involved in them.
The Motion Picture should stop fooling around by searching for a host every year. Like Messrs. Hope and Carson, Kimmel should be a perennial.
Four other elements catapulted this Oscar ceremony to the finest of all time.
First and foremost was the almost total absence of political rant or advocacy.
In the few instances world events did receive comment, it was appropriate, such as when director Mstyslav Chernov accepted his the Best Feature-Length Documentary award for his “20 Days in Mariupol,” a testament to the siege Ukraine has endured at Russia’s hand the past few years. No other issue received notable attention, and no one spouted his or her personal convictions when the occasion should be confined to the film industry and the collaboration it engenders.
Second was a return of glamor to the proceedings. Having multiple past recipients present awards has been done before, but never to the effect mustered by ABC. Few, Robert Downey Jr. excepted, looked dressed down or slovenly.
Women’s gowns were varied in style instead of rooted in cookie-cutter couture du jour. They were in an array of colors.
The men were mostly in matching, well-fitting, traditional formal wear. As a group, the presenters and audience hearkened back to an older Hollywood, where how onE looked mattered and where movie stars set a standard.
Even Billie Eilish looked fairly well dressed, as if it matters given her prodigious talent and likeable presence.
This leads to the third element: class. The ceremony seemed orderly and elegant.
There were no stupid skits, a la the pathetic segment that Lisa Ann Walter contributed to the otherwise fine Screen Actors Guild Award or the sophomoric shtick Anthony Anderson pulled, but did not pull off, at the Emmys.
These Oscars exemplified taste. They knew the difference between comedy and shlock. Or worse, clutching at straws and coming up with bad ideas.
The bit in which Jimmy Kimmel tried to entice a nude John Cena on stage worked, not only as smirky homage to an incident involving David Niven 50 years ago but because
Cena was so insouciant in playing his role.
Another good joke was the pairing of “Twins” costars Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito. John Mullaney was terrific doing his riff.
This year’s producers found the right kind of humor. They didn’t seem desperate or misguided.
Song presentations were another example of the quality this year’s show exuded. Simplicity ruled.
There was no garish production numbers dwarfing the nominated tunes. Instead, the Native American number from “Killers of the Flower Moon” was performed with respect and dignity.
The only time broadcast expanded from a direct presentation to a lavish number was when Ryan Gosling did his song “I’m Just Ken” from “Barbie.”
Wasn’t that a joy? Gosling showed he’s ready for Broadway now. He outHarrised Neil Patrick Harris.
Rather than being stupid like myriad Oscar productions of the past, Gosling’s performance was funny and witty and a sign that producers knew what comedy is. And that is isn’t warmed over shtick smacking of ’70s TV.
I mentioned the deci
sion to have five former recipients present the four major acting awards.
There may not have been a doyenne of old Hollywood among them, assuming such a doyenne could be found, but it was wonderful to see Sally Field, Jessica Lange, Tim Robbins and of course, Rita Moreno, all of whom continue to work but suggest an earlier era of moviemaking on the Oscar stage.
The fourth element is the excellent choices voters made selecting this year’s recipients.
Any of the 20 actors honored with nominations would have done credit to the Oscar.
Academy members this year honored the truly best in each acting category.
Few actresses have to do the work Emma Stone did in creating an original being and deciding how she moves, talks, and ticks the way Stone did as Bella Baxter in “Poor Things.”
Da’Vine Joy Randolph, who talked in her acceptance speech about crossing 13th Street from Temple’s Presser Hall to Annenberg Hall, transformed what could have been a standard acting role into a moving work of theatrical art.
Robert Downey Jr. showed a range he isn’t often called on to play.
Cillian Murphy kept the discipline and determination of Robert Oppenheimer at the forefront of his performance.
This year, voters were even smart about how to honor movies that may not be as known or popular as others but which deserved significant recognition. Writing awards were bestowed upon “Anatomy of a
Fall” for best original screenplay and “American Fiction” as best adapted work, from “Erasure” by Percival Everett.
Best International Film went to “The Zone of Interest.”
All three of these were nominated for Best Picture, and two had actors in the running, but the Oscar voters found the best places to bring recognition to these great works.
I hope ABC and the Motion Picture Academy learned something for this year’s deft and graceful performance. The 2024 Oscar show is truly a model for how an award ceremony should be done.