Category: Music

REVIEW: Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble

Kayla Silverstein

Saturday evening, I had the privilege and honor of seeing Yo-Yo Ma perform with the Silk Road Ensemble in acoustically-perfect Hill Auditorium. It was truly a stunning and breath-taking event. From the instant we were in our seats, we left Ann Arbor for destinations along the Silk Road – it was not just a musical experience, but a quest to far off lands. Warm, tingly, and adventurous, it was a spectacle in which, I’m fairly certain, every person in Hill that night was swept away.

The first song they performed was entitled the “Silk Road Suite” with four separate parts making up the piece. I think it was my second favorite of the performance. The rhythms kept you wanting more, rocking gently in your seat, and I couldn’t believe how much time had passed by the end. The Silk Road Ensemble performs without a conductor, keep in mind, so it was amazing to see how well they kept in rhythm – reading off each other’s’ movements and marking their pace in time.

The second and third pieces were pretty wild, but enjoyable nonetheless. I felt they went on a little too long, but I understood the artistic drive that held them within a certain space of suspense and phraseology. “The Prospect of Colored Desert” was about a tiger stalking its prey, if I heard the introduction correctly, and it made use of dramatic imagery with slides, slurs, and flurries of notes and percussion. “Playlist for an Extreme Occasion” was anything but traditional, as the program note indicates as well. It was interesting, but not very distinguishable from the rest, in my opinion.

The piece following intermission and the award ceremony, in which Yo-Yo Ma was presented with the UMS Distinguished Artist Award, was my absolute favorite, I believe. It was called, “Beloved, do not let me be discouraged…” As the title depicts, it is a hopeful story that you can almost imagine watching on stage as the artists rocked and swayed to the rhythm of their instruments. The program note on this piece reads, “The musical voice of kamancheh virtuoso Kayhan Kalhor is a natural fit for this piece, in part because Persian music often expresses a deep desire to love oneself in love.” The mood that transcended over us all caused us to weep, metaphorically at least, alongside the droning of the kamancheh.
(What the **** is a kamencheh?)

The second to last piece, “seasons continue, as if none of this ever happened” had a powerful message and if nothing else, it was absolutely intense. The shakuhachi was accompanied by a recording of electronically-generated music (shaku – what??). The story of the piece is to commemorate the tragedy of the tsunami that altered life in Japan in 2011 for so many Japanese. There was a haunting beat that led the shakuhachi in loops and circles, up and down; one could imagine getting lost in the music – lost in the tsunami – and in the horrific stories of the past that we sometimes forget…”as if none of this ever happened.”

And to conclude this intensely moving and artistic display of terrific talent from the Silk Road Ensemble, they played a stunning piece entitled, “Suite from Book of Angels.” This beat pumped out a rhythm that you couldn’t sit still and listen to. The drums made this piece for me – keeping pace for the other instruments while also treading water on its own at certain moments. It was fantastic.

Yo-Yo Ma writes in the program book: “The Silk Road Ensemble is a musical model that requires curiosity, collaboration, and wholehearted enthusiasm from all the participants. The music we play does not belong to just one culture or even to only the Silk Road region. Ensemble members are united in their demonstration of virtuosity and generosity…” “Enthusiasm” is just one word to describe the countenance of those performers on stage last night. They looked elated the entire time they were performing, and the energy they brought to the show was unlike anything I’d ever seen by an ensemble of this size. Such a display of cross-cultural unity and musical harmony, Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble presented something uniquely beautiful and a truly stellar performance.

PREVIEW: UMMA AFTER HOURS

nina.j

UMMA AFTER HOURS

Twice a year, the UMMA stays open late for visitors to explore the artwork After Hours. On Thursday March 14th, the spring celebration of the late night event will take place in the museum. There are a number of exquisite permanent collection pieces, as well as a series of visiting exhibits that are worth checking out by night. If you can’t find time during regular hours, this a great opportunity to get your art fix. In addition to the usual artwork, there will be live music performed by the Ingrid Racine Quartet, playing Jazz and Afro Pop tunes. From the UMMA’s site, After Hours is about:

Standing before the shimmering fields of color created by West African artist El Anatsui in the career retrospective El Anatsui: When I Last Wrote to You About Africa, taking a walk around London with the Queen of England’s guards in Francis Alÿs’s video work Guards, traveling to the Himalayas with Buddhist Thangkas and Treasures: The Walter Koelz Collection, Museum of Anthropology, and finding out what an architect does with Alice in Wonderland and Andy Warhol’s dessert recipes in Florencia Pita/FP mod. The

After Hours runs from 7-10 pm. Click here for more info. And for more updates about happenings at UMMA and around campus, check out the blog The Annex. See you there!

Review :: USO & the Rite of Spring

Hunter Chee

On Thursday the 28th, after a strenuous two weeks of rehearsals, the big list of hard-hitting repertoire was ready for show and the University Symphony Orchestra had an exciting concert in front of them.

The usual time. 8pm.

Beethoven’s Overture to the Consecration of the House, op.124, opened. A warming work until the conductor, Kenneth Kiesler became so entrenched in emotion that he knocked over the stand and off the music of the concertmasters! The second of the two first violinists, in shock, managed to catch the stand before it hit the ground yet the music drifted to the floor. Pause. What a moment of historically hierarchical tension: who would pick up the music sprawled across the stage floor? The concertmaster and elected leader of the Orchestra, the second concertmaster and leader of the second portion of the show, or the artistic head-honcho and man on the podium, the conductor who committed the act? With the gasp of tension evaporated, the conductor bent while trying to maintain the beat for the Orchestra and the second of the concertmasters bent to grab a sheet. The concertmaster played through the fiasco from memory, charging and digging in more, assuming full responsibility for the group. In a moment of blind luck, the two managed to pick up just the right sheets and the students were able to finish out the piece with the ink in front of them.

Schumann’s Cello Concerto in A Minor, op.129 was played magnificently by Nathaniel Pierce, the 2013 concerto competition winner and a graduating senior at the SMTD. Through the technical virtuosity required, he still managed to brandish his bow above his head like a sword upon the battlefield. In moments of rest, he’d lean down with his elbow on his knee, ducking his head – out of breath from the pace and the vigor of playing all from memory with ease. Resident cellists of the seats around me were in shock, holding their breath through muffled chuckles of delight.

Now, I hate to be the sour critic, but during the first movement of Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring aka Le Sacre du Printemps, and at many moments of climax, things simply weren’t feral or intense enough. It needed a higher decibel count. The id and rabid primal nature of Stravinsky’s writing seemed like it had been stuffed into foam, muffled from the audience. It never reached fever pitch. Anything short, in my book, is interpretively offensive. Never should a work of this stature be played like an audition excerpt. The piece asks the orchestra to channel an irreverence, a heathen-istic, and sacrificial ferocity similar to the naive audacity of the Sex Pistols.

It just felt too “inside”. By that I mean both not-outside as in the wild of nature, but also the metaphoric inside, the institution walls as opposed to the real world. The first movement was just over-thought, meta-cognitive, and drilled to a point of boredom. Just play the music, never mind the mistakes and let go, be free from performance anxiety and be open to wild abandon. Now, it is possible that I’m too much on the inside and that my ears have been temporarily deafened as well. But for a group this excellent in both accuracy and flare, they sure held back.

I give such harsh criticism because it was truly so close. The second movement – all its sections of quiet, or intentionally subdued intensity were spot on. To my ear, most were stylistically perfect. The solos were wonderfully thought out and executed. Fever pitch hit, and there were punches thrown leaving blood on the floor.

It’s odd but regardless of my qualms, my heart throbbed throughout. It’s a feeling I only get around the pieces for which I play music. I found myself foaming at the mouth not for the conductor, the soloists, or the interpretation, but for the ink, all on its own. And ya, that’s a not a common thing for me. I like to think and have often found myself asking if string players really feel this way for the ink of Mozart, Brahms, Haydn, and so on.

Ok.
Thanks for the read.
H.C.

REVIEW: New York Philharmonic

Kayla Silverstein 3 Comments
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2013/02/24/arts/24WOLLHEIM_SPAN/24WOLLHEIM-articleLarge.jpg
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2013/02/24/arts/24WOLLHEIM_SPAN/24WOLLHEIM-articleLarge.jpg

Saturday night, Hill Auditorium was absolutely packed. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the auditorium sold out before, but this was just about at peak capacity. And only after I’d finished appraising the crowd, everyone so nicely suited up, did I notice the orchestra was already tuning on stage. It was a smaller section of the orchestra that they used for the first two Mozart pieces, making up the first half of the concert. Regardless, their sound was more than impressive. From the moment the conductor walked on stage, I entirely forgot where I was until it all ended in a final, flourished wave of his arm.

The first piece, Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, K. 492 was absolutely staggering. Every turn of the music left me wondering, what’s coming next? As I sat their listening, I tried to imagine what I would be doing if I were in a silent film where this was the soundtrack. I imagined me dancing, then the floor gave out and I was falling, then I was laughing and flirting with a dashing gentleman, then he murders me! With every twist and lift of the synchronized first violinists, the attitude of the piece entirely shifted. As every overture should conclude, it was a valiant finish that left everyone squirming in their seats, wanting more.

Mozart’s Symphony No. 36 in C Major, K. 425 was the second piece and even more fantastic than its predecessor. Just as flourished albeit a little more charming and embellished with shadows of passion, this piece too was breathtakingly perfect.

That’s the other thing about the New York Philharmonic – I don’t think you can do it any better! Both their Mozart pieces and the Brahms were absolutely flawless. After the show, I had froyo with a friend of mine who attended the concert with me and I asked her, seeing as she is quite an esteemed musician herself, how do you do it better than that? She replied, simply, you don’t.

The Brahms piece they played was one that took Brahms nearly 11 years to compose. 11 years on the same symphony!? I can’t even imagine. I write short fiction as part of my creative writing major here and that would mean that I would have started a story back when I was nine if I were to write a story in the time it took Brahms to write his first symphony. What?! The piece was, of course, stellar. It said in the program that it was fairly lengthy compared to the average arrangement of the time, however, I swear it felt like I sat in my seat for not 10 minutes when it had actually been two hours for the whole concert. I couldn’t believe it had ended, and I was actually sort of upset I hadn’t seen it coming.

In conclusion to my rave review of the New York Phil, it was just so great. Peter Laki, UMS correspondent, wrote in the program book: “The classics provide us with much-needed emotional stability in these volatile and uncertain times, and we must make sure we bequeath our love of them to those coming after us, just as we inherited it from those who have been here before.” Truly, nothing is better than that.

PREVIEW: Dobet Gnahoré and Acoustic Africa

nina.j

Dobet Gnahoré and Acoustic Africa

On Thursday February 21st, Hill Auditorium will present Dobet Gnahoré an Acoustic Africa. An array of musicians from all over Africa, the group will perform rhythms and dance inspired by their native countries. Dobe Gnahoré,  a vocalist, dancer, and percussionist, will be accompanied by bassist/singer Manou Gallo from the Sierra Leone, guitarist/singer/dancer Kareyce Fotso from Cameroon. In addition, the performances will feature Aly Keita on Balafon (from the Ivy Coast),  Wendlavim Zabrone on percussion (from Burkina Faso) and Zoumann Diarra on guitar (from Mali).  The performance will be eclectic and powerful.

In conjunction with the UMMA’s El Anatsui Exhibit, the Center for World Performance Studies is sponsoring the visit of these gorgeous African artists to celebrate their culture and their art. On Wednesday February 20th, there will be a roundtable discussion in 2435 North Quad. My Thesis Advisor Frieda Ekotto will be moderating in both French and Engish. The title of the round table is Music and the Experience of Female Performance. The discussion will be  a great prelude to the fantastic show.

7 pm at Hill. Click here to check out the flier for more details. And click here to watch  a video preview of the kind of performance you will see at Hill.

REVIEW: The Avett Brothers at Hill Auditorium

Hannah Weiner 2 Comments
Avett Bros at Portland, OR
Avett Bros at Portland, OR

The same place where Robert Frost recited his poetry 51 years ago and Jerry Garcia led the Grateful Dead, Scott and Seth Avett stepped onto Hill Auditorium’s stage on February 12 to play a nearly sold out show.

The Avetts, with Joe Kwon on cello and Bob Crawford on upright bass, stood on oriental rugs facing an audience of close to 3,300. When you’re a four-piece indie folk-rock band from North Carolina, what’s your next move?

True, the modest-mannered band didn’t play in the Big House, but Hill Auditorium is the Big House for music on campus. And bands like the Avett Brothers, who perform their music with the utmost sincerity, almost always require a small venue. Or, at least that’s what I thought.

With a humble guitar and banjo, beneath tranquil lights, the Avetts began playing “Down With the Shine” from their new album, The Carpenter. It was lovely. It was peaceful. They played “Will You Return.” My feelings didn’t change; I was relaxed, enjoying the music.

And then came the “La da, la da da’s,” both from Seth and Scott, but from the audience, as well. “Do not sing if you don’t want to!” Scott yelled. People sang louder, so he repeated himself. “Don’t sing! Especially if you don’t want to!” The more he said it, the more “la da, la da da’s” came from the mouths of people sitting next to me and behind me and in front of me.

Atmosphere and audience engagement are a big selling point for me when I go to a live show, and if you manage to persuade 3,000+ people in the same room to sing, clap their hands to a beat, stomp their feet to the rhythm, and bounce their heads, then that’s something indescribable. That’s music, that’s magic.

The Avett Brothers played other songs as Joe Kwon made terrifying faces with his cello and Seth Avett waltzed around the stage with his guitar. Scott fluttered back and forth between his banjo and the piano. There was a lot of jumping up and down from band members. They played “Head Full of Doubt” with appalling energy (I’ve never seen someone bounce and dance as much as Seth Avett onstage), as well as “Laundry Room” – my favorite Avett Brothers song.

After bluegrass jam sessions that made me anxious because I couldn’t get up and dance, Scott Avett took the stage solo, with just a guitar. He played a song I didn’t know – “Murder in the City” – with such elegance that after my heart was racing from such exciting music played beforehand, I didn’t know what to do with myself besides listen to the beautifully crafted lyrics. In such simple words, the Avett Brothers manage to tell heartbreaking stories: “A tear fell from my fathers eye/I wondered what my dad would say/He’d say I love you and I’m proud of you both/In so many different ways.”

The band was clearly deflated from such an energetic opening thirty minutes, but they carried the show eloquently, all the way through their four-song encore. When they left the stage, they did so bashfully, modestly, waving and smiling, because the night before, they’d be on Late Show with David Letterman, and Ann Arbor would just be another place they had 3,300 people on their feet to hear the two brothers from North Carolina strum on their instruments.

Setlist 2/12/13

  1. Down With the Shine
  2. Will You Return
  3. Go to Sleep
  4. 74
  5. At the Beach
  6. Geraldine
  7. Head Full of Doubt
  8. Live and Die
  9. Paranoia
  10. Laundry Room
  11. Old Joe Clark
  12. Through My Prayers
  13. Murder in the City
  14. Ballad
  15. Father’s First Spring
  16. Living of Love
  17. Buck Owens
  18. Slight Figure
  19. Kickdrum
  20. Michigan
  21. ILY

ENCORE//
Carpenter, Indolence, Rollin’ My Sweet Baby’s, Shady Grove