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September 23, 2008
New Season, New Music
I intended to post this yesterday morning but yesterday and today were both abnormal, not bad, just abnormal.
The Fall, 2008 concert season started Sunday at Pomona College. Shirley and I go to every one of these performances that we can. They are free. They are great. And they are extremely varied. Sunday afternoon's concert was no exception.
We enjoyed nearly two hours of New Music. Well, we enjoyed most of it. In general, we are not great fans of New Music. But New Music is not a single unified genre and in this case, most of the selections were quite marvelous. From the printed program alone, we knew we would enjoy this event. Whenever we see that Genevieve Feiwen Lee is at the piano, we know we are going to have a very good time. Lee is Associate Professor of Music at Pomona College and her performances as both soloist and accompanist are always exciting. She may not be the greatest pianist in the world, but she sure is the greatest pianist we can hear from thirty or forty feet away on a regular basis. She had a role in more than half of the selections.
Tom Flaherty, also a facility member at Pomona, wrote three of the pieces on the program. Of these, I think Cellopianian Flights, in three movements, was the most enjoyable. Flaherty originally wrote the piece in 2006 for Roger Lebow on the cello and David Johnson on the marimba. At that time, he called it Cellorimbian Flights. But for Sunday's performance, Flaherty arranged it for his own cello and Lee's piano. Well, not exactly Lee's piano. As the program says, "This new version, for cello and piano, expands the sonic possibilities of the piano with a few 'preparations' inside the instrument." So between numbers the stagehands moved the piano that Lee played for most of the concert out of the way and rolled the one with a few 'preparations' into place. The first movement of Cellopianian Flights, Tangiod, seemed normal enough, at least normal enough for a Flaherty composition. But the trouble started with the second movement, Recollections. About a third of the way into it, Lee stood up, reached over the keyboard into the piano, and produced two boards with some kind of strings that she manipulated more or less like puppet strings. These strings apparently rapped around a few (two?) of the normal piano strings. By pulling on the strings, she caused the piano's actual stings to vibrate in much the same way that the bow causes the strings of a violin to vibrate. The resulting sound was rich and enjoyable but limited to two or so notes. Sometime later in the movement, Lee, with her left hand, and her page turner, with both hands, reached into the piano and pressed something against the piano strings; Shirley thinks it was one or both of the afore mentioned boards. Lee then played the piano with her right hand and the result was a kind of clunking sound, not unpleasant but certainly abnormal. And before the movement was over, Lee again stood and did what one would call pizzicato if performed on a violin. All the while Flaherty was madly playing his cello as if Lee's activities were the most normal thing in the world. Lee performed the third movement, Marchuet, in the normally way, sitting down and striking the keys with both hands. I can't really describe the piece. We both enjoyed it as the piece of music but truthfully, the abnormal use of a piano is what we will remember.
The highlight of the evening was Lucy Shelton's performance of Sequenza III (1965-66) by Luciano Berio. Shelton is a very accomplished soprano and member of the facility of the Manhattan School of Music. Sequenza III is a dramatic performance piece sung, if that is exactly the right word, a cappella. 29 English syllables from the words "give me a few words for a woman to sing, a truth allowing us to build a home without worrying before night comes" more or less form the phonemic skeleton of the piece. But it is the other vocal sounds and expressions that make Sequenza III a memorable experience. What sort of sounds and expressions? Giggles, hysterical laughter, sobs, pitiful crying, clicks, pops and trills to name a few. Shelton moved from the audience, to the stage and then sat in a chair. I don't think I have ever witnessed the performance of a piece of New Music that so captured my attention and my fascination. Bravo Lucy Shelton!
Next week, Davitt Moroney on the harpsichord playing Bach, Lebègue, Marchand and Couperin (François Couperin to be exact).
Posted by Duane Smith at September 23, 2008 8:50 PM | Read more on Odds and Ends |
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