‘Wherever this is’

4/30/2025

“I’m about to give you all of my money,
And all I’m askin’ in return, honey
Is to give me my propers” – Aretha Franklin

Des Moines gets little respect from some popular touring artists. Last summer, Lil Wayne stood up is Wells Fargo Arena audience for more than three hours as he sat on the airport tarmac in his private plane, later revealed to have been funded by dubious Covid Relief payments.

Madeleine Peyroux brought a more obvious disrespect to town, reminding her Hoyt Sherman audience three times that she lived in New York City and didn’t think much good about people who didn’t. She referred to Des Moines only as “wherever this is” and chided the audience for not calling out the name of the author of a long paragraph she read about disillusion and protest. (It was James Baldwin, as if everyone in New York would know that.) 

Peyroux acted surprised that the audience did not look sick. “Really, you look like you’re alright,” she said with sarcastic disbelief. She implored the audience to cheer along with her for arsonists setting Teslas on fire, and she showed disdain for their lack of response. She called the arsons the only news “that made me feel better.” She only played songs from her new album and spoke only about herself. She completely ignored a standing ovation.  

Unlike Peyroux, Des Moines Symphony Orchestra’s (DMSO) all-German concerts in April were received with unanimous audience approval. The fact that Carl Orf’s “Carmina Burana” was the highlight in those concerts demonstrated how fickle and disingenuous politics are in regard to music. 

It has been 89 years since Orf’s masterpiece premiered, coincidentally in the same year that Hitler came to power. For most of the time between then and now, Orf’s magnificent symphony of songs has been blacklisted because of its circumstantial connection to the Nazis. (Nazi leaders were divided about it, many wanting to ban it for its celebration of paganism.) Today, it is a showstopper, and younger generations than mine don’t care one iota about its political controversies. 

DMSO and Des Moines Metro Opera (DMMO) have no problems getting respect from the world outside. Joseph Giunta’s DMSO cover of “Carmina Burana” attracted three big-time opera singers who are particularly famous for their work on Orf’s spectacle. Amy Owens, who is also renowned as a jazz singer, defied the chromatic range, hitting notes in unearthly altitudes. Simpson grad Craig Irwin balanced her ethereality with his earthbound baritone. Christopher Pfund owned the role of The Roasting Swan with appropriate conceit. 

In a 2021 interview with CITYVIEW, Des Moines Civic Center Director Jeff Chelesvig told us that the Civic Center building itself made his job easy. Many famous performers marveled at its architectural perfection, designed by the late Chick Herbert. Under Chelesvig, that building consistently placed in the top three internationally for attendance relative to population. 

DMMO is also held in the highest regard by international artists. A large part of its success has come by operating in summer, when big-city operas aestivate and great singers are available. That doesn’t explain why so many of them return to Indianola multiple times. Hera Hyesang Park will come here after a year performing on all continents but Antarctica. That’s not atypical of DMMO stars. Again, the building itself garners their respect, but for its intimacy.

So why do multiple pop and jazz musicians disrespect Des Moines audiences while so many classical stars cherish performing here? And who are the real prima donnas of the new century?

 

May touts

Rising superstar Sun-Ly Pierce (last year’s Rosina in “Barber of Seville” and this year’s fox in “The Cunning Little Vixen”) and pianist Allen Perriello perform a free concert May 3 at Plymouth Church, 3 p.m.

Des Moines Art Center continues its infatuation with Caribbean art with “Light Within Ourselves: Haitian Art in Iowa.” Through Sept. 7. 

CelebrAsian’s “In Full Bloom – 50 Years Ray of Freedom” May 23 and 24 celebrates visionary Iowa Governor Robert Ray and the half century of Asian immigrations that have enriched Iowa culture so magnificently. Fifteen villages will represent the countries from which they came. ♦