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CD & LIVE CONCERT REVIEWS
Miller Theatre at Columbia University Composer Portraits Edgard Varese Alarm Will Sound Alan Pierson, conductor Varese’s compositions are redolent of the sounds and sights of his adopted homeland, America, where he emigrated in 1915, eventually taking citizenship in 1926. Varese’s music is full of speed and light, dynamics and architecture, reflecting the scale of the NYC skyline in particular. He was a visionary who struggled with the boundaries of conventional rhythm and melody, creating a singular sound world that both pointed to the future and now resides quite comfortably in the very future he once foresaw. Varese is the epitome of how percussive and intricate sound worlds can be engaging with his genius for evolving organic sound sculptures that through their extraordinary sense of dynamics and balance create an emotional force out of the ordered chaos that swirls around in his works. The musicians of Alarm Will Sound under the guidance of their superb musical director and conductor Alan Pierson, captured the underlying currents of Varese’s compositions with a superlative sense of control, dynamic and expert phrasing, that although never creating extravagant fireworks ably established the proper mood and atmosphere of each piece on the Miller program. They were augmented with students from the Manhattan School of Music, who performed more than capably, seamlessly melding into the professional ensemble. The students were featured alone on, Ionisation, under the guidance of Jeffrey Milarsky, competently capturing the work’s tribally intense sense of ritualistic driving force. Varese’s works are primarily on the shortish side; the whole of his oeuvre could be captured on two cds, and it was a pleasure to encounter a full evening of them, encompassing some of his most well known works and including an early art song that was reminiscent of the fruitful French period of small vocal gems. Un grand sommeil noir, from 1906, could have nestled comfortably alongside the finest of Debussy’s or Faure’s work’s in the same genre. It was affectingly sung by Louise Fauteux, accompanied by John Orfe on piano, although a bit lacking in rounding off of the phrases. Ms. Fauteux’s performances of the two songs comprising Offrandes on the other hand were more effective and the ensemble’s work was well focused and evocative, with Mr. Pierson leading Alarm Will Sound with taut control. Density 21.5 for solo flute was superbly performed by Jessica Johnson who not only caught the bucolic pastoral feel of the work, but imbued her rendition with great shape and tonal phrasing. Her control of her instrument in this demanding work was outstanding. The program opened with Dance for Burgess, a work of antic exuberant energy and drive. AWS displayed a joie de vivre that was both pithy and fun. Much like a fanfare for a circus parade of the demented. Poeme electroniuqe for tape, Varese’s masterpiece of color and rhythm, is tape generated with electronic oscillators, bells, machinery; tape fragments of voices, et al, and was created for the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair. The Dutch Philips Company provided the resources for Varese to compose this masterwork in a genre hitherto untried by the composer. He met the challenge by creating one of the 20th century’s signature works. One can only imagine how this must have sounded in the environment for which it was designed. 425 loudspeakers placed all around the audience walking through the Le Corbusier pavilion. Yet hearing it through the medium of only two loudspeakers emanating from a stage is an exhilarating experience in and of itself. Mr. Pierson spoke before the audience about the piece at the Miller and then we heard a recording provided by Terry Pender and the Computer Music Center at Columbia. AWS also performed a transcription adapted by Evan Hause in the second half of the program. It was a brilliant attempt at incorporating this with human elements, i.e., players and voices on traditional instruments and although the effort was admirable the end result was slightly deficient. There actually seemed to be more “soul” in the taped recording. AWS gave an expert reading of Hyperprism, an astonishing piece of depth and precision. The work is balanced equally between wind instruments and percussion and one marvel's at the variety of color that Varese is able to draw from this set up. AWS found the color and provided a wonderful sense of dynamism. I felt Varese “won” in the performance of Deserts. While AWS proved worthy to the task, I don’t think they got beyond the mathematical logic and general signatory style of Varese. One could revel in the array of colors emanating from the stage but the performance lacked a forward sense of urgency. The ensemble “performed” Integrales in every sense of the word. Expertly choreographed by Nigel Maister, members of AWS were stationed throughout the theater, some on stage, some in the balcony and the remainder in the orchestra section. This created an elaborate surround sound effect that also had strong elements of “dopplerism” as the players interacted with one another, creating an engaging and enveloping soundscape that ebbed and flowed in dynamics and intensity. John Hammel |
PHIL KLINE - ZIPPO SONGS AND JOHN THE REVELATOR Joe’s Pub 425 Lafayette Street, NYC. NY Sunday, January 21, 2007 Phil Kline Zippo Songs Theo Bleckman, vocals, Phil Kline, guitar, Todd Reynolds, violin, David Cossin, xlyphone and percussion Three Rumsfeld Songs/Zippo Songs/The Funeral of Jan Palach Lionheart Vocal Ensemble; Ethel Quarter John The Revelator
The Zippos Song were preceded, sort of a warm-up as it were, by the three Rumsfeld Songs, short, sharp, pithy take downs incorporating the verbal absurdities that have issued from out of the mouth of the former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld. The words are taken from his press briefings. Mr. Kline perfectly captures and encapsulates the essence of bueareaucratic double-speak and the arrogant spin that this man and the current administration in Washington employ(ed) by starkly and simply setting the words to melodies of elegant originality and spare instrumentation. Mr. Bleckman was highly successful in conveying the absurdity of the texts with wry readings that were perfectly augmented and supported by Mr. Kline’s guitar, Todd Reynolds on violin and Dave Cossin on xylophone and percussion. The Zippo Songs were not as successful less due to some of the technical difficulties Mr. Bleckman was encountering with his microphone, than to the fact the he is an artist who relies on the microphone so integrally to create his art. His thin, smallish voice is an instrument that amplification enhances (the smaller the voice, the better amplification aids in projecting a quality of unforced “naturalism”), and over the years he has honed a style and technique that integrates electronics perfectly to suit his bel canto style of singing. For my taste though, in the Zippo Songs, I find his basic laid back approach too enervating for songs of such searing intensity. Mr. Kline has set these works of American G.I.’s haiku like inscriptions etched onto the sides of Zippo cigarette lighters, with an eloquence and insight into the myriad emotions afflicting men on the front line of a dangerous game, war, to perfection. This set of modern lieder are haunting works of astonishing emotional depth and insight into a side of humanity too often glossed over by big budget flag waving Hollywood movies of the past. The lyrics capture the desperation and bravado of men who risked everything for a variety of reasons and whose lives, if they survive, are irrevocably changed by the process. I grew up during the turbulence of the Vietnam era and saw first hand the devastating effects wrought by the horrors of combat and how it hollowed out parts of a survivor’s soul. Mr. Kline, with his compellingly stark instrumentation, captures the horror, the spiritual elevation at times and the dark anger at the heart of these poems. I simply find Mr. Bleckman’s post-modern, understated approach too lacking in conveying all of the nuances and colors of these emotions. I would love to hear these works sung with more intensity and overt projection. I believe these anonymous authors poems are done a disservice without an empathetic emotional leap back to an understanding of the 1960’s and early 1970’s and the intensity that these writers would or could have been feeling. The musical performances by Mr. Kline, Reynolds and Cossin, on the other hand, were fully supportive of the texts and utterly engaging. John The Revelator is an astonishing composition that breaks down stylistic differences and re-constructs them at the same time that Mr. Kline honors choral vocal traditions that go back centuries and still have the power to resonate and uplift today. A blending of styles as diverse as Gregorian Chant, Bach, Machaut, American hymns, blues, Brian Wilson, Aaron Copland, and Samuel Barber, it is all seamlessly brought together in an organic whole, with the finest sense of compositional craftmanship. This work is utterly moving as it progresses and coalesces Baroque counterpoint with more modernistic tendencies of writing, i.e.,hints of minimalism, blues, and post modernism. Mr. Kline writes beautifully for the male vocal sextet Lionheart, playing to their individual and ensemble strengths with elegance, refinement and wit. The texts are drawn from American hymns, the Book of Jeremiah, Samuel Beckett, the poet David Shapiro and bluesman Blind Willie Johnson. The fact that Mr. Kline can draw from these disparate elements and create a harmonic work of such magnitude, in such an organic fashion is cause for celebration. One hungers for an official studio recording/documentation of this extraordinary work. Lionheart performed these works with consummate energy and commitment, their blend a sublime evocation of the texts. Kudos to the staff at Joe’s Pub for a wonderful mic’ing of these superb voices. The string quartet Ethel were their usually fastidious and committed selves, providing incisive support, when called upon to do so, both to Lionheart and Mr. Kline’s music. John Hammel |
Miller Theatre at Columbia University Friday, February 2, 8:00 P.M. Composer Portraits Frank Zappa Fireworks Ensemble with Zephyrus Winds Frank Zappa’s brilliant compositions dive well below their surface charm to reveal complex contrapuntal energy and drive as well as shards of humorous insight exposing the foibles of the human condition. Rhythmic diversity and complex intricacies are part of the game plan and performers are required to master whirlwind unison playing with stop on a dime theatrics. Throw in healthy dollops of melodious material and you have yourself a master composer, who, whether employing classical or rock ensembles has always been a musical force to be reckoned with. His music has a logic and linearity to it that many other modern composers sorely lack. Mr. Zappa had and continues to have his champions, most notably Pierre Boulez and Kent Nagano. A scant two short weeks after the all Varese program the Miller presented the works of his musical admirer if not outright disciple, Frank Zappa. The evening’s program was divided into three parts. Mr. Zappa’s chamber works, then his compositions for orchestra and finally works for rock ensemble augmented by flute, violin and cello, hardly standard instruments in the rock genre. The whole concert was put together by Brian Coughlin, bassist and leader, of the Fireworks Ensemble. He also arranged most of the pieces in the second half of the program. The Zephyros Winds and a string quintet presented the chamber works in the first third of the program. They perfectly captured and encapsulated the modally tonal and finely detailed rhythmic and harmonic complexities in Mr. Zappa’s scores with pithy élan. The opening numbers, Number 6 and Times Beach II and III, provided vast quotients of color, energy and counterpoint as well as plenty of flash for the players to revel in. In None of the Above they brought out beautiful examples of the unusual coloring that Mr. Zappa was capable of evoking, along with controlled sliding around the semi-demi tones and stop on a dime dynamics. Mr. Zappa’s sophomoric humor, especially evident in his works that either lyrically or instrumentally employ his penchant for scatology, was humorously evoked in Questi Cazzi di Piccione in which the musicians virtuosically “imitated” the plopping of city pigeon’s droppings. Maestro Jeffrey Milarsky led a chamber orchestra in three Zappa works that have been recorded numerous times, most notably by the aforementioned Pierre Boulez and his Ensemble Intercontemporain. Mr. Milarsky brought out the gorgeous sound imagery in Naval Aviation in Art?, and was able to conjure an eerily beautiful tone painting of aircraft flying overhead with a cool Doppler effect. The Girl with the Magnesium Dress is Zappa at his sociologically wittiest. It is scored for keyboards, percussion, harp, mandolin and guitar, all plucked. The work is a tone poem about a girl who hates men. She lures them to dance with her shortly after which her “magical magnesium dress” is the cause of their eminent demise. Mr. Milarsky and the small ensemble were able to bring out the fascinating color scheme of the piece to its fullest effect. Perhaps Mr. Zappa’s most well know classical transcription, The Perfect Stranger, is slyly hilarious tale through instrumental tone painting about a traveling salesman who rather easily seduces a “slovenly housewife.” We hear/see the doorbell ringing, the enamored housewife’s facial expressions and the “demonstration” by the salesman, all told or seen through the eyes of the family dog, Patricia. The piece is obviously narrative in form and is full of lazy slides and drizzling glissandos. Mr. Milarsky’s conducting was precise, taut and yet fluidly in command in keeping forward momentum throughout the story. A wonderful performance especially in the vacuum cleaner effects. The Fireworks Ensemble took the stage ready to rock and rock the Miller they did. Mr. Zappa was noted for his exactitude with his rock charges, and carefully composed every note. He allowed some space for improvisation but intrinsically his music was through composed and expected to be followed to the letter. He demanded the same musical rectitude and discipline as any orchestral conductor or composer and rehearsed his players relentlessly until they got it down pat. Fireworks displayed just the same paradoxical balance of rigor and looseness that was evident in the best of Zappa’s ensembles throughout the years. The Black Page, Numbers 1 and 2 were originally conceived as drum showcases for the formidable Terry Bozzio so it was only natural that Eric Poland, lay the foundation for each work. This music is highly demanding but the Fireworks Ensemble, comprising the standard rock and roll trio format of guitar (Oren Fader), bass (Brian Coughlin) and drums (Eric Poland) and organically augmented by flute (Jennifer Grim), cello (Leigh Stuart) saxophone (Michael Ibrahim), keyboards (James Johnston) and violin (Jennifer Choi), handled it all with comfortable ease. King Kong allowed Ms. Choi, a notable classical soloist, to show off some highly competent and committed rock/jazz fusion chops. Perhaps a second career is in the cards if she so desires. The Purple Lagoon/Approximate was given a passionate performance with the ensemble’s unison riffing balanced by exciting solos from Mr. Ibrahim on the saxophone, followed by Mr. Fader’s wah wah guitar and finally Mr. Couhlin on bass before heading back into yet more exacting unison rhythmic riffs. Fireworks ended the evening with virtuosic turns from everyone in the band, bringing the Miller audience to its feet. They tore into G-Spot Tornado with great energy and vigor, driving the melodic line and harmonic colors forward relentlessly. Their rendition packed a huge punch and had the dissonances and consonances sliding and swirling around each other seamlessly. The cries of encore at the end, alas, fell on deaf ears. John Hammel |