Category: Music

REVIEW: Maxim Vengerov with Polina Osetinskaya

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Sunday, November 26th, violinist Maxim Vengerov and pianist Polina Osetinskaya graced Hill Auditorium. It was a full house with a diverse audience, as both of them are world-renowned musicians in high demand. Maxim Vengerov is a Grammy award winner who began his career as a solo violinist when he was just five years old, also the age Polina Osetinskaya began her piano career. With repertoire from four different composers, the music expressed all kinds of emotion, a fitting ambiance for Sunday being the first day of snow and the last day of break.

They opened with Clara Schumann’s Three Romances for Violin and Piano, Op. 22, a bittersweet melody that the piano weaved together and the violin brought to life with a strong vibrato on every note. Vengerov and Osetinskaya balanced each other well by taking turns crescendoing or decrescendoing, neither ever overwhelming the other: it was literally the dynamic of a tug-of-war in love.

The next few pieces, in contrast, were striking and sprightful. Whenever there was pizzicato, a technique where the player strums the strings with their fingers, Vengerov would use his whole arm with flare. With every musical line, he played with a full bow that led to a few passionately broken bow hairs. In general, I was enamored by the skill he handles his bow. A lot of the pieces have spiccato, which is a technique where the bow bounces off of the string, and Vengerov transitions seamlessly between the spiccato and legato. The piano creates a similar dialogue by interchanging staccato (a technique of playing notes short but is fundamentally different from spiccato) and legato too.

Since it was only the two playing, the usually cramped stage looked bizarrely empty. People often talk about stage presence when it comes to dancers and singers, but this pair’s stage presence was enough to fill up the whole space. It’s always exciting whenever famous musicians come to town, and this was my second time seeing Vengerov at Hill Auditorium.

This was their concert program:

Clara Schumann
Three Romances for Violin and Piano, Op. 22

Johannes Brahms
F-A-E Sonata (Scherzo excerpt)

Robert Schumann
Violin Sonata No. 3 in a minor, WoO27

Sergei Prokofiev
Five Melodies for Violin and Piano, Op. 35bis
Violin Sonata No. 2 in D Major, Op. 94bis

 In addition, they included three encore pieces. 

It was a wonderful show and definitely something I recommend classical music lovers attend!

REVIEW: Complete Solo Violin Sonatas of Eugene Ysaÿe Presented by SMTD Violinists

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To celebrate the 100th Anniversary of Ysaÿe’s Six Sonatas for the violin, 13 students studying under Professors Danielle Belen, Aaron Berofsky, David Halen, and Fabiola Kim gave an outstanding performance of the complete set on Monday, November 20th in the Stamps Auditorium on North Campus.

The violin is most commonly seen in an orchestra or accompanied by a pianist. Ysaÿe’s sonatas, however, only showcase the violin. His work highlights the raw beauty and power a talented musician can bring out of such a small instrument. The music made full use of what the violin has to offer through double stops, chords, harmonics, and more, all techniques difficult to master because the slightest tilt of the bow or millimeter difference between the fingers can taint the sound. When Professor Belen and Professor Kim opened the event, they said this was a rare performance only made possible because of the talent that SMTD has.

It was my first time listening to Ysaÿe’s sonatas except for a brief video clip I saw of Maxim Vengerov playing a passage in Sonata No. 3 in D minor, “Ballade,” op.27. It’s a gorgeous movement that has a consistent melodic theme with different variations, but unlike Vengerov’s fierce interpretation, the student soloist Yuchen Cao had a much more gentle and relaxed approach, almost as if he were stroking the strings with his bow.

Sonata No. 2 in A minor, op. 27 had a few elements that pleasantly surprised me. In the II movement, Malinconia, the soloist uses a mute, a tool that string players put on the bridge of their instrument to create a fuzzier sound. Similarly, the III movement, Danse des Ombres, began with pizzicato, a technique where the player strums the strings with their fingers. Both were fun and interesting additions that contrasted the heavier or brighter music that violinists tend to emphasize in solo works.

The last act performed by Tianyu Lin simply blew me away. His technique, the vibrato, the intonation, and the tone, were perfect, making his double stops and chords beautifully ring and synchronize. The precision he had when scaling the fingerboard from its lowest to the highest range was flawless. I honestly feel like I was more enamored by his skill and talent than the music.

Symphonies and concertos are all lovely, but it was a nice change of pace to listen to a collection of Sonatas live. I’ve always been aware that the music department at UofM is top-tier, but this event let the individuals who make up the department shine.

REVIEW: Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra’s Music from Video Games

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On Saturday, November 17th at the Michigan Theater, the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra held a concert called Music from Video Games, which was the opening night of their 2023-2024 Pops season of performances. They played various arrangements and medleys of the original soundtracks of Super Mario Bros., Final Fantasy, The Legend of Zelda, Halo: Reach, and more. I love playing video games and I’ve always enjoyed concerts more when I was familiar with the music, but even for the music from games I haven’t played before like Metroid or Mega Man, I still had a good time. 

In addition to having music unique to each specific game, video game franchises such as Pokémon, Mario, Zelda, etc. all have iconic tunes for various occasions: healing, leveling up, losing a life, opening a chest, and many more. It’s similar to how McDonald’s has their famous jingle “I’m Lovin’ It”. The music is a core part of the game; listening to it is enough to embody the experience of playing it. The arrangements and medleys created a fun blend of familiarity and anticipation that made it super exciting whenever my favorite melodies came up.

The best part of the night for me was the concertmaster’s solo which was a bittersweet rendition of The Legend of Zelda’s main theme. The entire medley included OSTs from some throwback games like Spirit Tracks (2009) to the more recent Breath of the Wild (2017). It took me a bit to even realize the music was from Spirit Tracks until I heard the percussion using instruments to replicate the sounds of a train traveling on railroad tracks. My only wish is that there was a bigger feature of Zelda’s theme, perhaps with another violin solo or even better, a harp solo.

Music truly has such a big impact on the gaming experience and is actually something I listen to in my free time. For people who don’t have much experience with video games, it may seem bizarre, but I highly recommend listening to some tunes from Zelda as a start. It was genuinely a great event and I’d love to come back again next year.

 

REVIEW: All About the Trio

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Kerrytown Concert House hosts various events including bluegrass, klezmer, string or wind quintets, and various jazz groups. “All About The Trio” is a concert residency hosted by some jazz greats from the Midwest: pianist Ellen Rowe, drummer Sean Dobbins, and bassist Paul Keller. These three are highly respected players in the Detroit jazz scene and beyond. It was a treat to see their trio perform last Sunday. The concert featured the music and legacy of Duke Ellington and proved equally enjoyable and educational. 

The concert featured 7 unique Ellington tunes including Take the A Train, In A Mellotone, In A Sentimental Mood, and Rockin’ in Rhythm to name a few. I enjoyed the set and the choice of tunes. A few I knew and a few I didn’t. I had never been inside this venue before, and I was surprised by the small space. The audience was essentially divided into two groups based on where you were seated in the room. This offered an intimate atmosphere, good for a lively and conversational concert like this one.  The sound was very hot in the room—I heard everyone very well.  

Ethan Moleski from the University of Michigan’s School of Music (BFA Jazz 24’) joined the trio on tenor sax during the middle of the set. Ethan served as a guest artist, playing In A Sentimental Mood in the style of Coltrane and Duke’s 1963 album. Ethan has a lovely sound and is very sensitive to the style of the recording he was working from. A senior in college, Ethan is ahead of his time in improvisational technique, sound, style, and passion. 

As a thoughtful pianist and composer herself, Ms. Rowe interjected with interesting information about Duke Ellington and his specific compositional choices throughout the concert. She informed the audience why Duke made the choices he did compositionally, with extra insight into his improvisational tendencies. I appreciated Rowe’s thoughtful piano playing behind all this information—each aspect she explained was apparent in her playing. She played sensitively to the style of Duke, and each transcription of his improvisational solos was spot on. I enjoyed having many of these tunes backed up with facts beforehand—it offered an informed aspect to the concert experience. I am reminded of these concepts when listening to Duke myself!

There are a plethora of diverse events to see at Kerrytown Concert House. Ellen Rowe’s trio will be back—playing a concert full of holiday fun on December 17th at 2 pm. Student tickets are available at Kerrytownconcerthouse.com. 

 

 

 

Image thanks to Kerrytown Concert House.

REVIEW: Philippine Culture Night

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My friend (left) and I (right) in the PCN Centennial jeepney cutout.

On November 18th, the Filipino American Student Association put on its annual culture night: Philippine Culture Night Centennial. This year’s PCN commemorates the hundredth year of having a filipino club at the University of Michigan, so suffice to say it was a particularly important celebration. It also dealt with a larger context for filipino and filipino american identity with the theme of “who are you?”, seeking to ask the audience what their culture means to them. As a half-filipino american myself, I found that this theme of identity connected greatly to my own personal experience of trying to understand and discover what being filipino means to me.

Wayne State’s Fil-Soc band performance

After speeches from FASA’s co-presidents and cultural executive board chairs and a dinner filled with filipino dishes supplied by M-dining (which surprisingly wasn’t bad), the night’s performances gave way. Beginning with amazing covers of OPM music—original pinoy music—I enjoyed UofM’s own Greenwood Sessions’ renditon of “Raining in Manila” by Lola Amour and Wayne State’s Fil-Soc Band’s rendition of “Hanggang Kailan” by Orange and Lemons (shoutout to my friend Jordan with the super awesome guitar and vocal skillz 😎). OPM is a genre of music that I love; even when I don’t understand the filipino languages that they sing in, connecting to the raw music and culture of filipino karaoke makes the genre invaluable. Besides the music can just be a good vibe, y’know?

Tinikling performers wearing barong right before their performance

Under dimmed lights did Pandanggo sa ilaw come to kick off the dance performances. Pandanggo sa ilaw is a traditional filipino dance where dances balance lit candles on top of their hands and heads to simulate the flight of fireflies. I especially enjoyed their teal and orange costumes—flawlessly unwrinkled thanks to the iron the choreographers took from me (joke lang).

Perhaps one of the most recognizable dances of the night, traditional Tinikling performed with a live Rondalla performance (an ensemble of various stringed lutes). If you’ve ever walked by Mason Posting Wall from 5-10 on Mondays and Wednesdays in the past few months, then you’ve definitely seen these bamboo sticks being clapped while people dodged bruising their ankles. Additionally, Purdue’s own filipino organization performed Maglalatik (a dance performed shirtless while clapping coconut shells strung up on one’s body) while throwing a lot of their ‘behinds’ on stage. For the first time I also saw a live Kulintang gong ensemble performed by PACE-MI (Philippine Arts & Culture Ensemble of Michigan) with their renditions of pre-colonial traditional dances as well.

Now, I also was a performer in this PCN as a part of the Modern Tinikling showcase. Displaying traditions with modern sensibilities, Modern Tinikling performed to the songs “Humble” by Kendrick Lamar, “America has a Problem” by Beyonce, and “Barbie World” by Nicki Minaj (with Aqua). Not to be biased but we were pretty hype. The two modern dances that followed were pretty cool too I guess >_>. In all seriousness, I was impressed with the choreography and fun both modern dance groups showed, for I will be humming “Asan Ka Na Ba” by Zach Tabudlo for months now.

One last note on the performances as well, I was glad to see Hawai’i Club perform their traditional hula dance to celebrate their culture as well. While the night was mostly comprising filipino cultural performances, the point of the night was to celebrate identities and cultures which it was great to see them given a platform to do so.

My FASA Lineage photo in-front of the pagapir fan wall

I would say that my first PCN experience set a high bar for next year. So, I’d especially like to give a big thank you to FASA’s cultural chairs for organizing the event, Philip Churchley and Isabelle Lamug (my ate, pictured above in the middle of the photo). I look forward to my involvement in FASA and their respective events moving forward, and I’m super glad to be a part of this amazing community!

REVIEW: Beethoven’s Mass in C Major

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The evening of November 16th at Hill Auditorium allowed for a beautiful night of music from the University of Michigan’s SMTD Choirs. University Choir, Orpheus Singers, and Chamber Choir dazzled audiences with Beethoven’s Mass in C major, Op 86. This performance was conducted by Eugene Rogers and featured many soloists from the chorus.

The majority of this was performed by the Chamber Choir, with additional support from Orpheus Singers and the University Choir joining during grandiose moments. The Chamber Choir is the most advanced choir at the University, featuring some of the best singers in Ann Arbor. [From smtd.umich.edu] “The Chamber Choir performs 6-8 concerts annually in both Hill Auditorium and in special settings, such as the University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA), and is often featured at high profile U-M special events. The Chamber Choir has been featured on GRAMMY-winning and GRAMMY-nominated albums; sung with the Detroit and Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestras; performed at conventions of the ACDA and NCCO; and has toured internationally. They perform standard, classical, and contemporary choral works and often perform commissioned works in world premieres.” They remain a high-profile collegiate choir with free concerts throughout the year! 

The orchestra that played this evening with the choir was lovely. A full choir performing with an orchestra is always a treat—the sound was unmatched. The combined choirs emit a mighty sound, with well over 100 singers from the music school present.  I appreciated the sound provided by the space in Hill Auditorium—it was properly fitting for the group. The blend was well-balanced from the balcony, and I received most of the Latin diction throughout. The work sounded regal in its orchestration, which was fitting for the period and intention.

I’d like to name each soloist from the mass to commend them for fantastic work: Tyler Middleton (MM 25), Amante Pando Girard (BM 24), Juliet Schleffer (MM 24), Amber Rogers (MM 25), Bryan Ijames (DMA Choral Conducting), Jabari Lewis (MM Vocal Performance 25), Genevieve Welsh (MM Choral Conducting 24), Pelagia Pamel (BM Voice 24). Each voice dazzled through the orchestra’s texture, presenting a nuanced sound to the traditional work. I admired their preparation and stamina throughout the performance!

I appreciate Dr. Roger’s thoughtful selections for the choirs, I always find them appropriate and culturally educational. This performance wraps up the 2023 season for the SMTD Choirs. They will be back in January performing at The School of Music, Theater, and Dance’s biggest event of the year, Collage. This will take place on January 20th at 8 pm, in the historic Hill Auditorium. This annual concert is a showcase of all the brilliant work throughout SMTD. It is a “collage” of the music student’s “collage” experience, if you will. It is a highly anticipated event throughout the community and often attracts over 3000 audience members. Get your tickets early!

 

 

 

Image thanks to The University of Michigan’s SMTD Livestream.