Author: JM

JM is a dual degree student in the School of Music, Theatre & Dance and the College of Engineering. Some of her favorite things include running, reading, all things creative, and the color purple.

REVIEW: Ann Arbor Symphony – Liszt & Tchaikovsky

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The Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra’s Saturday evening performance at the Michigan Theater was a musical tour de force showcasing a variety of styles and textures.

The concert opened with Wang Jie’s Symphonic Overture on “America, the Beautiful.”  A fugue on the iconic patriotic song that evokes “spacious skies,” “amber waves of grain,” and “purple mountains majesty,” Ms. Jie’s rendition is fittingly also inspired by Pike’s Peak. This mountain in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado is the location that inspired Katharine Lee Bates to write the poem that would be set to the tune we know as “America, the Beautiful”. However, Ms. Jie’s composition was quite a contrast from the style of the original tune that was written in 1882 by Samuel A. Ward. It was dynamic, fresh, and very much alive. Although it was short in length, it managed to get a lot across in that short span of time, and as a listener, I enjoyed every minute and was not ready for it to end when it did. Even more of a treat was the fact that Wang Jie was present in the audience, and when she came onstage at the end of the piece, the audience received her with enthusiastic applause.

In the second piece on the program, Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2, soloist Anton Nel dazzled the audience, even garnering calls for an encore, which he obliged to. His playing, which was light and technically brilliant, drew me out of my seat in the hall and into the world of the music for the duration of the piece.

Last on the program was Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5 in E minor, Op. 64. The orchestra overall was excellent, but it was the solo players that shone through in this piece. I was especially impressed by the clarinets at the very beginning of movement 1, the Andante – although they were playing as a pair for most of the time, their blend was such that they sounded like a single instrument. Furthermore, the solo horn in the second movement was exquisite.

The Ann Arbor Symphony’s concert, entitled “Liszt and Tchaikovsky,” was one not to be missed. At the end of a stressful week, it was the musical escape that I needed

PREVIEW: Ann Arbor Symphony – Liszt & Tchaikovsky

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On Saturday, November 2 at 8pm, the Ann Arbor Symphony will be presenting a concert at the Michigan Theater. While the headline pieces on the program are Lizst’s Piano Concerto No. 2 and Tchaikovsky’s Symphony No. 5, I’m actually most excited for Wang Jie’s Symphonic Overture on “America the Beautiful. On their website, the A2SO invites audience members to “soar through the Rocky Mountains to the Garden of Gods and atop Pikes Peak” in this piece. It combines a “majestic fugue which traces the silhouette of this prominent peak with faint echos of the familiar patriotic song written atop the same mountain.”  While there aren’t any mountains to visit in Ann Arbor, musical evocations of them might be the next best thing!

This event is on the Passport to the Arts, so pick up a voucher for a free ticket on the night of the concert! Alternatively, tickets can be purchased online on the A2SO’s website.

REVIEW: Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool

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Before seeing the documentary Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool, I was familiar with some of Miles Davis’s most iconic music (like his album Kind of Blue), but I didn’t know very much about him outside of these recordings. That said, this film, which shares its name with Davis’s 1957 compilation album and is directed by Stanley Nelson, offers a deeper look into the many years of his career, as well into him as a person.

The film went through his life in chronological order, and since he was born in 1926, there is not a lot in the way of video of the early years of his career. However, the documentary deftly handled this, and still managed to be quite engaging. As black-and-white archival images panned across the screen (a classic move from a PBS documentary), Miles Davis’s own words (many of which were from his autobiography, Miles: The Autobiography) were read by actor Carl Lumbly. The film additionally features interviews with scholars and some of Davis’s closest colleagues.

While Miles Davis is certainly one of the giants of jazz, the documentary also does a remarkable job of showing the complexity and flaws behinds the star. He was not a warm personality. Despite his capacity for beautiful music, he was an abusive husband, which is revealed in the film during interviews with his late first wife, Francis Davis (who is featured on the cover of Miles’s album Someday My Prince Will Come). In one perhaps telling (and mildly humorous) anecdote, a colleague recalls asking Miles how he was going to drive his family in his Ferrari. Reportedly, he responded that his kids could call a taxi. He struggled for years with alcohol and cocaine, and the film does not sugarcoat this.

In fact, it was in part due to his struggles with addiction that Miles did not pick up the trumpet for over five years. Between 1975 and 1980, his career was virtually on hold, and many doubted that he would ever return to music. However, he made an incredible comeback, and in my opinion, this was one of the most compelling storylines of the documentary. Not only did he return to the stage, but rather than pushing back on the changing tastes in music, Miles embraced it and adapted, pushing the conventional boundaries of genre.

Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool is now showing at the Michigan Theater. If you are interested in learning more about the jazz legend, I strongly recommend it!

 

 

REVIEW: Cappella Pratensis – Missa Maria zart

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Cappella Pratensis’s performance of Missa Maria zart was an excellent opportunity to experience Renaissance-style polyphony – which may sound foreign to our ears – live. Despite its significant differences from the music of today, the Dutch-based ensemble deftly showed that such music can be both accessible and enjoyable.

At over an hour long, Missa Maria zart is one of the longest, most complex Mass settings (compositions putting the text of the Catholic Mass to music) known. Running throughout the entire mass is the same underlying melody, known as a cantus firmus, and the entire piece is consequently known as a cantus firmus Mass. In the case of Missa Maria Zart, the cantus firmus is a German melody called Maria zart, or “Sweet Mary.” The performer’s comments during the pre-concert lecture, as well as the program notes, helped audience members to gain a greater understanding of the music and its complexities. Additionally, the text of the entire mass, as well as the English translations, were printed in the program, which allowed listeners to follow along. The Mass’s music was an experience in itself: in the echoey acoustics of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, the resonant harmonies and interplay of the voices rung throughout the space. Despite the piece’s extraordinary length, I found myself engaged throughout its entirety.

Outside of the music, I was impressed by several other aspects of Cappella Pratensis’s performance. For one thing, it is a physical feat to sing almost continuously, without water or an intermission, for over an hour. Secondly, it was fascinating how other (non-musical) types of art were incorporated into early music making, including Cappella Pratensis’s historically informed performance. I enjoyed the opportunity to look at their partbooks, both their modern reproduction of Missa Maria zart, and their facsimiles of original chant melodies, up close. It’s crazy that the musicians of Cappella Pratensis can read four parts from the markings on the page. Called mensural notation, it looks vaguely like modern musical notation, but it’s not obvious how to read it. Also, I enjoy doing calligraphy when I have spare time, and aesthetically, the partbooks were works of art. The beauty of the lettering and flourishes around the notation are very different from modern musical notation, in which the parts exist with the primary utilitarian purpose of readability. Even their sturdy music stand, which was constructed of solid wood, featured intricate carvings on its sides.

In conclusion, I am glad to have had the opportunity to experience Jacob Obrecht’s expansive Mass setting, Missa Maria zart, in live performance.

 

PREVIEW: Take Your Pick: Collecting Found Photographs

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The University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA) invites visitors to “come help build [their] collection of “ordinary” American 20th-century photographs.” The exhibition Take Your Pick: Collecting Found Photographs, which will be on display through January 12, 2020, features over 1,000 amateur photographs from the 20th century. The photographs are on loan from the private collection of Peter J. Cohen, who has amassed more than 60,000 photographs from flea markets across the United States and Europe. Visitors may vote on their favorites, and the photographs with the most votes will be added to UMMA’s permanent collection.

In addition to being visitor-interactive, this exhibition asks some interesting questions regarding the definitions of art: “What belongs in a permanent collection, and why? Who and what should be represented, and how should we decide?” As is noted on the exhibition webpage, this collection of original photographs is of special significance in today’s digital age, when most photos only ever exist as files on an electronic device.

Be a part of the dialogue and check out Take Your Pick: Collecting Found Photographs at the University of Michigan Museum of Art!

PREVIEW: Cappella Pratensis – Missa Maria zart

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If you would like to try something new in terms of music listening, join Cappella Pratensis, a Dutch-based early music ensemble, this Friday, October 25 at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church. The performance will begin at 8 pm, with a pre-concert lecture starting at 7:15.

Missa Maria zart (Mass for Gentle Mary) is a 15th-century polyphonic, or multi-part, work composed by Jacob Obrecht. At the time it was written, the piece pushed boundaries – at 69 minutes, it is the longest known Mass ever composed. Centuries later, the piece is still beautiful to modern ears, albeit very different in sound from the “mainstream” music of today. That said, it is pieces like these that were the origins of the music we listen to today.

Tickets, which are $15 with student ID, may be purchased online at https://academyofearlymusic.org/portfolio/cappella-pratensis/ or at the door on the night of the performance.