P.D.Q. Bach in Houston: We Have a Problem!

Peter Schickele introduced audiences to the excruciating music of Johann Sebastian Bach's supposed son P.D.Q. some four decades ago, when the works of actual baroque masters were enjoying a renaissance after languishing for centuries in relative obscurity. In this 2005 concert recorded on the campus of Rice University in Houston, TX, Schickele demonstrates that he's lost none of his comic edge, as he serves up many of the classic routines from his numerous albums. Familiar highlights include the cantata “Iphigenia in Brooklyn,” marked by an elaborate aria on the words “running knows”; the oratorio “The Seasonings,” complete with its aria “Open Sesame Seeds”; and Schickele's own “Unbegun Symphony,” with no first or second movement and no theme that isn't already recognizable from someone else's music. Since the P.D.Q. Bach phenomenon has always depended a great deal on visual humor, this DVD gets more of the fun across—the one exception, surprisingly, being the New Horizons in Music takeoff that presents Beethoven's Fifth as a sports contest between orchestra and conductor (perhaps because it's in the form of a radio broadcast, the routine works better when simply heard; all the bits of business on and off the stage here seem like needless clutter). Generally, however, this is an enjoyable romp, with Schickele's clowning and the poker-faced contributions of the players and singers adding to the entertainment. Presented in Dolby Digital 5.1 and stereo, DVD extras include a repeat of “Unbegun Symphony” with all the themes identified, a series of sung rounds, a radio interview with Schickele, and printed biographies of Schickele, conductor Peter Jacoby, and old P.D.Q. himself. Recommended. Aud: P. (F. Swietek)