Monday, September 10, 2007; C05

American Opera Theater

American Opera Theater, a small fledgling group in residence at Georgetown University, presented its opening production over the weekend in the school's comfortable Gonda Theater. Titled "Ground: An Exploration Through the Cycle of Life," the work consisted of 19 vocal and instrumental works by Italian composers of the early baroque period (Monteverdi, Cavalli, Merula and a few others) performed by a cast of two and an instrumental ensemble of three. The title refers to the unifying formal element of the various numbers -- mostly chaconnes and other pieces set over a ground bass, or continually recurring bass line.

Conceived and directed by Timothy Nelson, "Ground" had no plot other than a general, stylized progression of the two characters -- soprano Elizabeth Baber and countertenor Brian Cummings -- from first love to marriage and childbirth and then to old age and death. Some of the staging was charming in its blend of simplicity and cleverness, such as when the characters sang while rolling themselves up, on the floor, in a white silk runner, one toward the other. Many such bits were obscure in meaning, but winsome.

However, with the sameness of tessitura and the repetitive nature of the songs (singers often in canon or plain imitation), one began to wish for more action, or visuals of any kind. The projections were often little more than selective surtitles, and the few images that were used bespoke a tight budget.

The singers sang, acted and moved impressively overall. Baber had some trouble with breath support in her low register, and her Italian vowels sounded distinctly American. Cummings was vocally assured, if not always in tune. The instrumentalists somehow kept their place through all the incessant repetitions (except once in the eighth piece) and produced a lovely, blended sonority.

-- Robert Battey

Acrobats swung from ropes, beat boxing combined with Buddhism, and the U.S. Army Field Band Soldiers' Chorus joined the National Symphony Orchestra, all in the first half of the Kennedy Center's "Underground Circus" Open House Arts Festival on Saturday.

The free, all-day festival is part of the Kennedy Center's prelude to the 2007-2008 season, and it's hard to imagine what could have been done to stir up more excitement. Morning acts included rock-and-roll circus troupe the Perfect Unknowns, the Zany Umbrella Circus, Naval Academy jazz ensemble the Next Wave, swing band Blue Sky 5, and the NSO. Akim Funk Buddha, a group billed as martial arts hip-hop, was especially intriguing, demonstrating phenomenal body and voice control and techniques ranging from break dancing to Mongolian throat singing.

A parade of tumblers, men and women on unicycles and stilts, and a brass band tramped through the plaza at 3, leading up to performances by Asian American drumming group Portland Taiko, Cuban salsa ensemble Aramis y su Orquesta Ashe, and a lovely Balanchine program by the Suzanne Farrell Ballet. The day culminated in an indie rock concert featuring Ben Kweller, who easily flitted from piano to guitar for thoughtful, endearing ballads, upbeat rock and even a "trucker song." He brought a drummer and bassist but was at his best alone at the piano for "Thirteen," which also showed off his harmonica skills.

Throughout the day, the NSO Instrument "Petting Zoo" and Washington National Opera's "Costume Trunk" gave children a chance to enter the world of maestros and divas, making the season introduction a complete interactive experience.

-- Ronni Reich

To satisfy an audience: Perform a stylistic grab bag with something for everyone, or, even harder, show off a specialty so well that the uninitiated become converts. Wynonna did both Friday night at the Kennedy Center.

With 20 No. 1 hits and a loyal entourage of fans, Wynonna is an expert performer. Her banter with a crowd is easy, and her voice -- clear and penetrating with just enough growl to secure tough country gal status -- is instantly recognizable. Still, this was the "fancy schmancy" Kennedy Center, she said, an arena not quite used to twang. As she sent the raw, plaintive ballad "Is It Over Yet?" soaring through the Concert Hall, one wondered if a performance of "La Boheme" might have left more dry eyes. After she had to gently ask standing, cheering audience members to quiet down so she could continue.

Wynonna was truly in her element with signatures like "She Is His Only Need" and "Love Can Build a Bridge," which she had performed with her mother as part of the Judds. She was just as committed to cross-over material, notably standards such as "Almost Like Being in Love." "I Wanna Know What Love Is" taxed the extremes of Wynonna's range and a countrified "Change the World" was a bit hard to reconcile, but she nailed "At Last," milking the effect of harp glissandi for a bravura finish.

The concert opened with a preview of the NSO Pops season, led by Marvin Hamlisch in a gregarious, splashy style that suggested a score covered with exclamation points. The enthusiasm was infectious.

The next pops concert will be Sept. 27-29, with Roberta Flack.

-- Ronni Reich

The University of Maryland's Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center kicked off its fall season Friday evening with a performance by the San Francisco-based Kronos Quartet, the first of several events the group will present during an extensive residency.

This concept concert, titled "Awakening: A Musical Meditation on the Anniversary of 9/11," featured 13 far-ranging numbers, old and new, played without pause. For three decades the Grammy-winning Kronos has been pushing envelopes; the ensemble is the gold standard of eclecticism and anything-goes experimentalism.

"Awakening," however, would have to be counted among the ensemble's misses. Despite hard and apparently sincere work by all participants, the production simply sinks under its own pretentiousness. From the microtonal keening of the adhans (Muslim call to prayer) to the first violinist's movie-monster voice-over during the attack sequence (music by the Berlin band Einstuerzende Neubauten; the name means "new buildings collapsing") to an interminable section of distorted tape loops of children describing the catastrophe while the quartet played mind-numbing ostinatos, to an actual children's choir appearing beatifically just before the end, the evening was an exercise in overproduced inanity.

With the lighting design, the staging, the excessive electronics and overdubs, I would be tempted to say it had everything but the kitchen sink -- except it did have the kitchen sink, along with utensils, scrap metal and other detritus being destroyed by the quartet members with sledgehammers and power tools during the attack sequence. Instead of stunned horror, the piece drew titters from the audience.

-- Robert Battey

Rashied Ali is the drummer who snapped the pendulum -- a free jazz legend who refused the role of timekeeper in favor of improvised clatter.

He created some monumental noise with Alice Coltrane, Pharoah Sanders, Don Cherry and Albert Ayler, but made his boldest mark in 1967 when he joined John Coltrane for one of the final recording sessions of the saxophonist's life. Later released as the album "Interstellar Space," the collaboration yielded a series of stunning duets with Ali's righteous racket jostling against John Coltrane's cosmic braying.

Stylistically, the 72-year-old Ali returned to earth decades ago, but at Twins Jazz on Friday night, his drumming still flickered with the unhinged energy that made him his name. You could hear it on John Coltrane's "Liberia," as Ali's quintet toggled between traditional swing and energetic spontaneity.

Ali kept his mouth clamped shut for most of the performance (which included a smoky take on the old Thelonious Monk chestnut " 'Round Midnight"), but not during James "Blood" Ulmer's "Theme From Captain Black." As his quintet ventured into its wildest playing of the night, the drummer bent those creased lips into a smile. Forty years after revolutionizing rhythm, Ali still seems happiest in the chaos.

-- Chris Richards

Rashied Ali returns to Twins Jazz on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1.