A Rare Occurrence

This week I had the pleasure of attending two musical performances, a rarity in my life since I am so often in rehearsal or performing. What a pleasure! It also has reminded me of the universality and timelessness of great music.

The first was a concert devoted to the music of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, presented by Sonic Generator. I interviewed two of its core members about a year ago, and finally made it to a concert. To my delight the hall was packed. Many friends and acquaintances were in the audience, as well as a diverse group of student-aged folks. The atmosphere was casual and attentive, and especially intimate because of those folding chairs meant for very small butts.

It was a well-programmed concert drawing our attention to the French-American connection. From Varèse to Glass and Reich, we also heard a few 21st century discoveries by François Sarhan, John Zorn, and Pierre Jodlowski. My favorites were ones filled with whimsy--Pirouette , cacahouète by Sarhan, and Glass' Metamorphosis IV. They just seemed to fit my mood for the evening.

Pirouette was a brilliant interplay with the musical and verbal babbling of a sweet child, with the bass clarinet, violin, and percussion interwoven melodically as well as harmonically. At times the recording truly faded into the texture, and the resultant sound was mesmerizing as my ears worked to distinguish what was being performed live versus what was not. Cellist Brad Ritchie's stoic composure gave Glass' Metamorphosis a required seriousness, but his bike shorts wearing alter ego as one of the videoed personas aroused the largest chuckles of the evening. The new music scene can often take itself too seriously, and I was impressed with the ease of this group to engage the audience with humor without being patronizing.

Steve Reich's Pulitzer Prize winning Double Sextet (2007) proved to be the show stopper. While listening I was trying to discern in words the major differences between our three top American minimalists, John Adams, Philip Glass, and Reich. Here's what I concluded. You can always hear some rock and roll in John Adams, and he creates a brilliant textural palette that is focused on theatricality. Glass transfixes with sonority, and Reich seems to be more harmonically driven, with a rhythmic sense derived from musical theater. I could swear I heard vamping taken from a Sondheim musical in his Double Sextet. No matter how you describe it, the piece was a success, as well as the concert. Yeah for New Music in Atlanta!

Last night I saw Atlanta Opera's production of Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice, starring David Daniels. It was another first for me, the first Atlanta Opera production I've seen since they moved to the Cobb Energy Center. I loved it. David sang well and acted poignantly. The chorus was inspired. Conductor Harry Bicket pulled out a lithe performance from them that even contained some pseudo-Baroque vocal gestures. Amazing. The orchestra played with air and lightness and an overarching sense of line. Eighteenth-century opera in Atlanta, on a big stage. Who coulda thunk it? Not me. It's another exciting development in the music scene in Atlanta.

It has been an awesome week so far. I can't wait to see, or hear, what is next!