When it is Valentine’s Day, it is just impossible not to think of love. The “I love you” balloons, entwined hands, red roses, heart shaped everything, and of course, listening to a Schubert Piano Trio- it is just so difficult not to think of love.
It was a prefect setting to contemplate about love- a beautiful afternoon at the Rackham Auditorium with the best artists to perform a serenade for you and you only. The program for the day comprised of both the Schubert piano trios- the B-flat Major and the E-flat major. Normally, these don’t get performed together. So everyone was excited.
The three artists entered and they took their positions. And the evening started with the mellow sound of the cello followed closely by the violin. Just three minutes into it, and that’s when I fell in love- with Schubert!
Schubert, the genius composer
Schubert composed both his piano trios close to his death (and after the death of Beethoven). So Beethoven’s shadows are seen in these compositions. But what is so impressive about each of the pieces in addition to their clear structure is that if there is a musical definition of love,beauty and life- then this is it! It just doesn’t get better than this.
Let’s consider the B-flat Major. The Allegro Moderato was so pleasant and fluid. The long sustaining notes for the cello echoed by the violin and the piano punctuating each melody and everything complementary to everything else- it was so beautiful. The second movement embarks into a sense of longing and almost contented sighing with solos and duets that were just unbelievable. The third movement goes back into this happy phase- almost playful. The fourth movement was more passionate and aggressive with the piano parenthesising each melody played by the violin and cello and it ended on a triumphant gleeful note.
Artistled Recording
The E-flat Major followed after the intermission and it was a revelation. Each movement was so beautiful that it was just too good to be true. It gave a feeling that you get when you look at the pristine beauty of the majestic mountains of Yosemite from the Tunnel view for the first time or when you look down at the Colorado river from the highest point at Guano point in the Grand Canyon or at a sunset over Lake Michigan at the Sleeping Bear dunes park! It was a piece where each melody seems to cite an instance of happiness and urges you to be happy.
To me, the E-flat Major is a joyous celebration of all there is to love and life when you have not an iota of doubt about a prosperous future or benevolent heavens.You just can’t help feeling happy when you listen to it. The feeling you get when you look a baby’s smile or feel your mother’s touch- it is so so beautiful!It somehow directly connects to that part of the brain that creates happiness.The ending seemed as if a level of matured happiness has been achieved and it was a quiet joyous conclusion!With these pieces, you feel “safely” joyous as it is set in a familiar structure and yet there is so much going on.
David Finckel,Wu Han, Philip Setzer
It is definitely to the credit of the musicians that they were able to bring out of the genius of the composer by executing it so flawlessly. There was a harmony among these musicians and the mastery exercised by each musician over his or her field made the concert what it was- an absolutely beautiful evening!
There was an encore when they played a slow movement from Mendelssohn’s piano trio. Already you could see the difference in beauty between Mendelssohn and Schubert!It’s like looking at the beauty of two different rose buds.
I love the signing that UMS sets up these days after the concerts. It gave a chance to interact with the musicians. These world-class musicians are so down-to-earth and easy-going.
Overall, it was an enthralling evening…when love was definitely in the air in the garb of music.
Same time, last week, I was awaiting with bated breath to hear some Latin Jazz. And why did it take so long for me to post, well.. where do I start! It has been one of those weeks when you never know what you are doing, why you are doing it but you know that you have to keep doing it as your life depends on it- aka exam week! Also, there were three unique performances ( Luciana Souza, Schubert Piano trios and Bela Fleck) in store that week and my musical senses along with my academic were totally overwhelmed. So anyway, here goes….
It started with a very Latin-jazzy tune with Luciana Souza crooning away to the lovely harmonising of Romero Lubambo on his guitar and then Cyro Baptista joined in with his percussion. So at the very beginning itself, I was spellbound by the magical phrasing, the perfect harmonising and the totally crazy but superb percussion!
Luciana Souza Trio
I don’t know which artist to talk about first in the trio! You know what, let me do it in the alphabetical order (Ok, i was lying, i wanted to talk about Cyro first!). So first comes Cyro Baptista. Ok, this man is a crazy genius. He is like a mad inventor who just gets the most fabulous tunes out of ordinary things. He had a gas pipe whistle, a brush, some beads, a wheel like thing with balls embedded in it that made such a distinctive clanging sound, shakers made out of vegetables and gourds, metal sheets, rocks…. he was totally amazing in his percussion arrangement. Apparently, Cyro’s favorite store is Home Depot where he goes looking for new material for new percussion instruments.
Of course, in today’s electronic world, you can get whatever sound you want. But hearing those sounds (like a bird flying away or rain pouring down) live produced from real tangible instruments on stage? Well, the effect is totally different. His superb grasp of the rhythm and the way he blended all the funky sounds from his myriad instruments into the music was just breath-taking.
Cyro Baptista
In his solo, he showed a glimpse of what he could do. You could here the tides and the ocean one minute, then the next moment you were in a jungle with the birds chirping and the whooshing of the wind. But then, suddenly you would be transported ina train to join an army parade. There were so many combinations of sounds – with echos, with tribal sounds, animal sounds- he was a true entertainer.To me, he was the highlight of the evening. But, that said, the others weren’t any less stars.
Luciana Souza has a voice that is made for this genre. She has this pleasant yet deep yet not too shrilly voice (it’s hard to describe it!). She can sing so fast (almost breathlessly) or slip into a very slow soul-stirring song that makes you cry. Her phrasing and the improvisation was impeccable. To me, “firewood” was a very memorable song with very very creative percussion.There was a song about a two exes on the dance floor dancing with their current partners respectively, with the female looking at her ex with a longing (ah…these songs are so melancholic). In this one, Luciana’s phrasing (like tatara or papparapap similar to solfeggios of a sort being put together),matched Romero’s harmonising so well. This was a fast number and she executed it so well.
The charming Luciana Souza
Her song selection is very enjoyable. Her music flows like poetry and she is drwan by the sounds of nature too. “Tide”, “Amulet”- all these songs were thoroughly enjoyable. She explained that she is looking at the bossa nova genre from a new perspective- that of a Brazilian who has settled elsewhere and that is where most of her songs come from. The deep sorrow in most of the Brazilian songs will be somewhat surprising to people from other countries. But it had a tinge of dark humor that was pleasant.
Now about the other star of the trio- Romero Lumbambo. Remember when he had come alongwith Ms. Gal Costa? Well, I saw a different side to him today. He was totally in his element and was making “jokes with his guitar”. His playing was just fun and complimented the singing and the percussion. The spontaneity was amusing and totally entertaining.
Romero Lubambo
When the performers are true friends and have true respect for each other’s work, it shows. The camaraderie and as a result of it, the beautiful music and add the artists’ great sense of humor to it-it was a party that you didn’t want to miss!
At the end of the concert, there was an added bonus! We had a Q&A session with them and learnt so much more. Of course, I had to go ask a stupid question right. I asked them if they rehearsed (ok ,people, I don’t know much. me a jazz novice you see).. And Luciana, smilingly said,” No. We know the arrangement of the song. Then it is based on the audience, the mood of the evening and it’s all spontaneous. Maybe we should rehearse more (with a twinkle)”.
hmmm… nah! these guys are great doing what they do and I don’t think they need any practicing!
As for Latin Jazz- an art form where there is so much room for spontaneity and creativity- I am loving it!
Yours truly,
Krithika, for [art]seen
Krithika is totally looking forward to Cyro Baptista’s ” Beat the Donkey” show on Mar 13th!
Saturday night was the coffee shop performance of my friend Abigail Stauffer. I can’t stop listening when she starts singing and plucking the divine strings on her guitar. Her voice is pure like an angel but cultured with the depth of folk singing.
Abbie sings both covers for today’s music and her own original songs. She makes songs like Jay Sean’s Down sound romantic and poetic. It is truly beautiful. Her best songs, however, are the ones she writes herself. She is the most talented songwriter I know. She is a poet with music, a painter with a guitar. My favorite song, College, Love, and Cheesecake, is one about love and simile. I constantly listen to another one of her songs Beloved. I bought her CD because of these two songs, but there are so many other great pieces on it and it was totally worth the $8.
Abigail’s friend Rebecca sang with her on many of her songs and was really great, but this was Abbie’s show and I want to write about how amazing she really is. To listen to some of her music, search for Abigail Stauffer on www.youtube.com or become a fan of her on www.facebook.com.
Abigail’s voice is what is so amazing about her performances. It is clear and strong, yet she makes it sound so easy to put all of that emotion into it. She has complete control of her voice and can jump octaves in an instant only to come right back to the same note. The note strings that she puts together are original and flawless, sometime surprising and unexpected. Her style itself screams unique.
I would love to go to another concert or buy another CD, so you can be sure that I will be there next time too. Café Ambrosia was a great venue for the occasion, this being their first concert, and it was comfortably packed. I know that Abbie enjoyed herself and that the crowd loved her, so it was a great night and I’m sorry if you missed it.
As always,
This is Danny Fob: Artist and Art Reviewer
So Percussion (2007 New York performance of Steve Reich’s “Music for Pieces of Wood”)
So, this post is pretty delayed. There is no real excuse. We all talk about how busy we are. Since we are all busy, it is boring to talk about. I won’t bother.
The background on this one is that I am generally pretty skeptical of what can only be described as “weird shit”. Obviously, the presentation of weird shit stretches across all art forms, across all sectors of life. Damien Hirst-weird shit. Philosophy- weird shit. Unicycles- weird shit. The list goes on. I expected weird from So because they planned to play a set of only Steve Reich. Of course, “shit” may be weird to me and not so weird to you. However, although I can’t be certain, I would guess that there is some consensus to the fact that the work of composer Steve Reich is pretty weird. Reich, they say, is a composer of contemporary classical music- or, is that classical contemporary? He works in the realm of minimalism, art broken down to its most fundamental aspects.
First off, the UMMA space was a really great space for this performance. The apse, in the old part of the museum, had rows and rows of chairs set up and the upstairs had seating around the railing overlooking the main floor. We sat upstairs to catch a view all of the instruments as well as the audience. In an improvement from past performances at UMMA, the stage did not have a curtain- it was just an elevated platform at the end of the hall. We were truly in a museum- even museum security! (Why do I get the impression that museum security guards are pretty square? Maybe art museums should look into hiring security guards that are interested in art in order that they can also act as guides or helps in the galleries. Or maybe it’s just the uniform and the mandatory cold glares that make me think they are squares- easily changeable characteristics). One particularly cool only-in-an-art-museum moment was during the “Mallet Quartet” piece, you could see the shadows and reflections of the percussionists movements on the art and the walls in bright golds and oranges and, well, normal shadows.
And, the music was weird. Definitely. Especially the piece that was not percussion instrument based- “Four Organs” (in which, a UofM music student played the maraca part for 15 minutes. A crazy show of endurance. Listen to the song below and think about this kid keeping that exact maraca rhythm for 15 minutes. You just wanted to cry for the kid and his forearms. Absurd). However, despite its experimental force, the pieces found ways to connect with me, rather easily. In the excerpt from ‘Drumming’, I could hear the United States’ history with Africa, and a US battle march played with all four percussionists on a line of six (yes? I think, six.) drums and their interconnections and intricacies. In every piece, really, I could find something to latch onto, something to think about and study. The pieces they played are in the playlist below (except for the newest piece, “Mallet Quatet”, which they were playing for just the second time in the states. It is a Reich piece commissioned for So Percussion (and a few other percussion groups).
I had the opportunity to talk to these guys for a bit at the Eve after party- a really fun time hearing these young dudes philosophize and tell stories in the hip bar atmosphere. But, at one point, one of the guys, Adam, was talking about what he has seen from being on tour and playing around the country. He said that people are trying, again, to understand what is true American culture- like, what is ours and what is theirs? And, perhaps slightly biased, but nonetheless, he got the sense that rhythm and percussion just made sense to people in terms of helping to define American culture. That, although the Reich pieces were pretty out, people could find ways to relate to their patterns and rhythms.
Great night. The dudes are working on an album with Matmos for this summer. Matmos always seems to be doing pretty cray cray thangs- so definitely watch out for that.
It’s Valentine’s day and if you are bored of the candies, flowers and the usual, treat yourself and your Valentine to the Schubert Piano Trios concert today at the Rackham Auditorium. Cellist David Finckel and Violinist Philip Setzer along with pianist Wu Han, will perform Schubert’s two piano trios.
To quote wikipedia, “A piano trio is a group of piano and two other instruments, usually a violin and a cello or a piece of music written for such a group. It is one of the most common forms found in classical chamber music.” (this is for the benefit of those new to classical chamber music like myself!).
Schubert composed his famous piano trios during his final year. He died at a very early age of 31 but was a prolific composer who wrote almost 1000 works in his short career. His piano trio in E-flat major is especially very popular and has been used as a theme in many modern movies.
Wu Han is one of the most influential musicians in classical music and is a versatile collaborator with the best ensembles of today. David Finckel (also the husband of Ms. Han) is a cellist who is an amazing soloist as well as a much-sought after collaborator. Philip Setzer is the founding member of the Emerson String Quartet that has won over eight Grammy awards and the Avery Fisher Prize. As you can see, each of today’s performers are stars in their fields and seeing them perform together is a special Valentine Day’s treat!
What: Schubert Piano Trios
Who:
Wu Han, piano Philip Setzer, violin David Finckel, cello
When: Sunday, February 14, 4 pm
Where: Rackham Auditorium
