Yoyo Ma is a world renowned cellist. I personally have never heard anyone play a stringed instrument the way this man does. He is amazing to listen to and apparently just as enthralling to see in person.
Yoyo Ma will be performing with The Silk Road Ensemble at Hill Auditorium Saturday March 16th at 8pm.
More information on Yoyo Ma:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yo-Yo_Ma
Information on his Performance:
http://ums.org/performances/yo-yo-ma-and-the-silk-road-ensemble
Beautiful Sounds of Yoyo Ma:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHzfD6XLK7Q
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.
Hello all! I hope you had a wonderful weekend full of shows and company (pun intended)(this makes me wonder how I have friends). I went to a lot of shows during mine and I want to tell you about one I saw on Friday evening with a friend. By the Skin of Our Teeth, written by Thorton Wilder, won a Pulitzer Prize for Drama, but its greatness in the literary world means more than just dramatic genius. The play is confusing and strange while also being fantastic and eye opening. It is hard to describe, and hard not to… It’s just one big mess in my head, basically. But I loved it so much and all of the thoughts that it provokes.
By the Skin of Our Teeth takes a look at basic human natures and those characteristics that make us human. By dividing human identities amongst a family of four and a family friend, the author shows how humanity grows and changes throughout history, how we have the capacity to destroy and to rebuild. It displays the human condition through metaphors and mixed timelines, displaying both the complete loss of faith and the ability to regain it and find hope again. All of this you don’t really understand till the end though. I guess I should start from the beginning.
The show began in the stone age, or was it the 50’s? You can’t really tell. While Mr. Antrobus, head of the family is off at work, Mrs. Antrobus is home with the maid, making house and trying to raise two kids. But while this may seem like a regular American family at first, it follows that the husband is off discovering the wheel and the alphabet, a dinosaur is freezing outside as an ice age approaches, the maid is milking a mammoth, and the son is Cane, renamed after infamously murdering his brother. Historical figures, like Moses, Homer, and the nine Muses, find shelter in the Antrobus’ home while they all huddle together and try to survive the approaching wall of ice. The play focuses on the unconditional love, compassion, and duty displayed by a mother, the unrivaled anger, innovation, and passion of a father, the suffering and joy of children, and in the maid we see a woman’s ability to inspire and dream while also maintaining a sense of reason. Sabina, the maid, breaks the fourth wall the entire play, coming out of character to explain to the audience how strange a scene is, or how she is as lost as us. It’s hilariously relieving as an audience member and very clever of the author, as he tells us that the production is supposed to be this puzzling.
The second act places itself in Atlantic City on the boardwalk as Mr. Antrobus becomes president of the Ancient and Honorable Order of Mammals, Subdivision Humans. Though we find ourselves on a boardwalk full of performers, dancers, sailors, business men, etc, it is also obvious that the great flood is approaching. Other orders of animals are sending representatives in pairs, a modern day fortune teller is predicting the great deluge as a prophet would. Mr. Antrobus reflects Noah as he summons these animals and his family onto a boat to once again start anew, but he also represents a more modern issue of adultery as he once again cheats on his wife with Sabina. President with a beauty queen, breadwinner with the maid, these are both archetypes of adultery that warrant discussion in the play. Henry, formerly Cane, feels the angst of adolescent and attempts to run away while his sister experiments with new fashions disliked by her mother an unnoticed by her otherwise distracted father. The play questions modern family dynamics as much as it does humanities abilities to cope during disasters and traumas.
The last act of the play opens on the shell of the Antrobus home, darkened and destroyed by war. Sabina seeks them out with a flashlight, declaring the end of a war. This act describes war, pushing a WWII theme onto the stage with set, wardrobe, and writing. It illustrates the effect tragedy, chaos, and destruction that humanity has the capability to inflict upon one another. The act also shows us how even a family that has lasted for thousands of years, through flood, fire, and ice, can still give up and lose hope. Mr. Antrobus and Sabina both feel the weight of what the world has done, and it takes so much for them to believe again. Henry becomes the enemy once again, led by his false belief of the neglect of his family. We see them struggle and fight and then make up when his mother shows him the truth of a family’s love. Sabina, inspired, reignites that spark of invention and human preservation that has always kept Mr. Antrobus going. We feel revived with the sensation of renewal. The Antrobuses move forward to try again where humanity has failed so many times. And Mr. Antrobus recalls the figures in human history that have inspired the philosophies of man, including Socrates and the Bible, as hours in the night. They pass slowly throughout history, but for human kind, what is history but one night in all of destiny?
It is a difficult play to describe. Its poetic nature donates so much to discussion that I want to stop here and just say how absolutely wonderful the cast was. They took something very difficult and played it perfectly, managing to mix its comedies with its dramas so fluidly that the audience was surprised to be laughing one moment and then shocked the next. It was a beautiful performance I and find myself better to have [seen] it.
Thank you for reading,
As always,
This is Danny fob. Artist and art reviewer.
We came late to the concert by an hour or so. I had never been to this specific venue and didn’t know what to expect, there was a large congregation of people on the covered hockey rink, that is where we ended up, amidst throngs of pre-pubescent looking girls in spandex, tipsy twenty-somethings, bobbing heads, shouldered girls, flailing bodies, glow sticks and splashes of alcohol.
Matt and Kim have a lovely musical sound and stage presence. Their playful vocals were partnered by crowd interaction, conversation and grinning facial expressions. Kim decided to take a walk on the audience at one point. They were very pleasant to watch and listen to.
Passion Pit had a very cool light show. There were white fabric orbs suspended above them, which were illuminated by different colored lights for each song. Unfortunately the bass was so high that much of the more impressive falsetto from the singer and keyboard were lost. Which is a shame, the higher vocal experimentation is one of the more enjoyable aspects of Passion Pit, in my opinion.
All in all I was somewhat disappointed with Passion Pit’s performance. The poor quality of the sound was coupled with a lack of Performance zeal, the whole experience was overpowered by the largeness of the arena. I still enjoy listening to Passion Pit and have no doubt I will be for a long time. I hope I’ll have another opportunity to see them in a smaller venue in the future.
Hi Everyone! I know it’s been a really really really really long time, but Danny Fob is back to tell you about the amazing things happening all around campus. Sorry for the hiatus, but I had this crazy horrible busy semester that involved some really epic research and papers. Basically, I had no life and couldn’t even see shows, might as well write about them. Everyone I know had the same experience, so hopefully this one will be way better. It is my last, so let’s hope so.
Anyway, tonight I’m going to The Skin of Our Teeth, a SMTD production. I am looking forward to seeing it. Apparently it is rarely put on or seen, so this should prove to be a rare and wonderful experience full of the adventures of a family as it connects to different periods of history and society. I am seeing it tonight, Friday at 8pm, but if you plan on seeing it, it is also playing Saturday at 8pm in the Lydia Mendelssohn Theater and then again on Sunday, February 24th at 2pm. I hope you all come out and see it!
Preview for Argo
up to make sure you still see all your Oscar nominated movies before the 24th? Well if so… you are in luck!
That’s because Argo is still playing and if you are looking for another reason beyond, “I need to catch up on my Oscar movies,” then I have some. I recommend seeing Argo because it is a good mix of true story, politics, thriller, and ultimately one about peace and cooperation .I know several people have dismissed Argo as saying that it isn’t the epic thriller it should be for the thriller category, and it isn’t political enough to rub shoulders with new and old classics such as Good Night, and Good Luck or Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. But it is still good to see. Perhaps it would be more sizzling and spine tingling if it could fit into thriller genre. Or have a more serious in depth feeling if it could fit into the political movie genre. But to be true to a few different genres, in addition to maintaining veracity with actual events is not always an easy feat. But Argo manages it.
I will say that once you realize what Argo stands for, you will realize that truth is stranger than fiction. Or maybe just that the CIA’s ways are strange. Some of the humor that Hollywood makes about itself is pretty hilarious. My favorite line is, “You can teach a rhesus monkey to be a director!” I will also say that the depiction of the Middle East is realistic and nothing related to orientalism. Ironically, this is referenced in the movie as well.
So, yes if you love to have a thrill, like 1970’s garb, are a 1970s history buff, or better yet a 1970’s Mid-east-US relations history buff, and like some action… then this is your movie. Go and see it!
