Chamberfest: Berg's Lyric Suite and Gellman's Musings.

Today at noon marked the third to last concert of this year’s Chamberfest, which included not only Alban Berg’s Lyric Suite performed by the St. Lawrence String Quartet, but a world premiere of Steven Gellman’s Musings, commissioned and performed by none other than this year’s Chamberfest artistic directors, the Gryphon Trio. Hosted by Gary Kulesha, there was chance for the performers and Mr. Gellman to illuminate different aspects of the works presented.

The concert began with Steven Gellman introducting his work, giving the audience a chance to see into the inner workings of the composer. Gellman expounded on his phases as a composer, ranging from the extremely experimental, to his current take on creating works of greater depth and accessibility. While I disagree with the notion that experimental composition lacks depth, I understand his desire to more readily connect with his audience. With that in mind, his work showed a heritage of experimental practice combined with a sensibility of accessibility. Although I wasn’t that ‘into’ the work in it’s entirety, feeling like some things did not really come together, there were many interesting ideas in contrast and texture, and I found that the slow movement, a duet between the violin, stood apart from the rest.

The second piece on the program, Berg’s Lyric Suite, began with St. Lawrence String Quartet’s own Geoff Nuttall detailing not only the inner compositional workings of the piece, but also the ’secret’ programmatic aspect. Basically, nearly fifty years after the work’s inception, a score was discovered amongst Berg’s possessions that contained a detailed programme outlining how the piece relates to his love affair with a woman named Hannah Fuchs-Robettin.

The Lyric Suite being amongst my favourite works, I was excited and pleased to hear the St. Lawrence String Quartet perform. They attacked the music with the sort of intensity required to draw out its passion, moving from idea to idea, contrast to contrast in nearly seamless transition. To add to it, they also played with a sort of dramatic flair that much of the standard string quartet repertoire does not allow for.

Finally, the audience, as was my listening partner, seemed a little shaken by the police sirens and loudly revving motorbike accompinament provided by the street outside. However, it may be seen as testament to St. Lawrence’s engaging performance that the audience truly wanted to stay focused. I also cannot help to add that we do live in a loud modern world, and that post-John-Cagean philosophy tells us to embrace all listening moments, especially when we can’t to anything to change them!

Craig Pedersen
www.craigpedersen.com
www.newmusicottawa.blogspot.com
www.chamberfest.wordpress.com

Creative program at Chamberfest 2009

I feel like I have been attending more and more concerts and writing less and less. I went to three concerts yesterday, and one today! I am extremely impressed by the level of thoughful programming that has gone into this festival. I hate to pick favourites, so I won't! I will say, however, that every couple of days I find myself telling a friend that they missed something amazing, possibly the "best concert yet". Needless to say, I think it's time to let go of the quantifying and get to some qualifying, in an effort to pinpoint pieces of what it is that I find successful about the concerts I have attended.

I think it is safe to say that the concerts I have enjoyed the most have all taken place at the festival's late night "club" at St. Brigid's Centre for the Arts and Humanities. What is it, though, that makes this space so special?

For starters, the atmosphere is casual. Listeners are afforded the opportunity to have a drink, eat some food and share a conversation between songs without drawing too much attention. Second, the space, albeit crowded and hot, provides a sense of intimacy and connection between audience members and performers. Third, while it may seem safe to say that all the performers at the festival are performing at a high quality, there is something that seems to set some performers apart, that goes hand in hand with having an alternative venue. For me, alternative venues leave room for ALTERNATIVE AND CREATIVE PROGRAMMING that isn't always considered appropriate in the concert hall.

Take for instance the late night concerts which I have attended: Jonathan and Jennifer Swartz's violin/harp duo playing their own arrangements of twentieth-century classics. Fratelli Della Casa using barebones 'lead sheets' to arrange and improvised upon seventeenth-century popular tunes. Fright Night with Poe, in which performers created a theatrical and musical re-telling of Poe's works, including narration, visuals, acting and of course, great music and storytelling. Finally, this evening's concert with the New Berlin Ensemble and their set of music entitled L’accordéoniste in which they performed German, Italian and French cabaret music.

What here, is the common trend which the late night venue aptly supports? Musicians who think outside of the box and are involved in not only performing music, but arranging, writing and perhaps most importantly, interacting with it. To quote Gary Kulesha at last night's "New Music Dialogues": Music is a living art form!

Craig Pedersen
www.craigpedersen.com
www.newmusicottawa.blogspot.com
www.chamberfest.wordpress.com

Mussorgsky and Symond.

Last night's Fright Night at Saint Brigid's was an experience in storytelling. During first half, as I listened to Mussorgsky's Songs and Dances of Death, a few thoughts came to me. I was reflecting upon the way that great storytelling can be what separates a good singer from a great. Take for instance, Pomakov and the Mussorgsky. Here we have a work that ponders different aspects of death - from that of a child, to a mother, to nature and finally the death of soldiers in war. The objective elements of the music are in place: the notes, rhythms, dynamics, etc., and of course the text or story. The storytelling paradox of the work, however, lies in the fact that the text is in Russian, and that the average western concert-goer will not explicitly understand the meaning of the text. We are left then, with the performer, Pomakov, who, having mastered the objective standards of the song, must then imply the meaning of the text through his control of emotion, nuance, body language, and movement, in an effort draw in the audience, and share with them the content of the repertoire. This is no small feat, and may account for why we can consider Pomakov's performance last night to be not only good, but great.

Unbeknown to me, the second half of the concert would share a different treatment of storytelling, as performers took the stage to present Canadian composer Norm Symonds' setting of Oscar Wylde's The Canterville Ghost. Here, however, the text was explicit and easy to understand, while the accompanying music was more abstract. Instead of the musical expression illuminating the meaning of the text, as in the Mussorgsky, the text in Symonds' work served, in a way, to illustrate the meaning of the sounds which accompanied it.

I found that in many ways, Symonds' musical accompaniment was reminiscent of the music we often find backing a cartoon - extremely programmatic, over the top, often whimsical and at times serious (if not a hair overdramatic). In reflection, I can see how one may used those same descriptors to describe the literary work's of Wilde. It was this way that Symonds was able to marry the text with music. The piece was well executed and extremely entertaining.

This concert was an example of the type of artistic and innovative programming that creates a stimulating musical atmosphere in which our art form can be supported and flourish. Keep it up!


Craig Pedersen
www.craigpedersen.com
www.newmusicottawa.blogspot.com
(cross-posted at www.chamberfest.wordpress.com)

Chamberfest: Opening Night.

Opening Night.

The James Ehnes/Jon Kimura Parker concert last night was wonderful. I really only have one point to touch upon in this entry. For me, it was a delight to see the interaction and interplay between these two performers. Chamber music is largely dependent upon the abilities of performers to connect to one another’s musical sensibilities and then present a united front whereby they can turn outwards and share the music with their audience. Knowing that the repertoire for last evening’s concert is dependent upon such interplay – whether it was Mozart’s exploration of the interactive potential between the violin and piano or Ravel’s belief that the instruments are “fundamentally incompatible” – I went into the concert with a real sense of what to listen for.

From the outset of the Mozart, it was clear that both Ehnes and Parker are seasoned professionals that share a musical intuition and sense of storytelling. Their abilities to shift gears at the drop of a hat, or to turn their energies on a dime is a treat for concert-goers. From beginning to end, they created their space and shared with the audience their appreciation for this music, even through the less compelling parts of the repertoire.

Craig Pedersen
www.craigpedersen.com
www.newmusicottawa.blogspot.com
(this post has been cross-posted at chamberfest.wordpress.com)

Chamber Music Festival.

Hey all,

I've updated the calendar to include all things relevant from the upcoming Ottawa Chamber Music Festival.

This year I have been asked to blog all the concerts I go to, so expect to see some posts here in the next couple of weeks. Also check out http://chamberfest.wordpress.com/ to see what other people are saying.

Keep it real,


Craig

Jazz Festival?

Hey, it's not the sort of thing we usually post on this blog, but (A) there ain't much else goin' on, and (B) these look pretty interesting. The 2008 festival's "Ottawa Composers Collective" concert was certainly something of interest to new music enthusiasts.

This year's festival offers a number of workshops that sound promising. You can find them here.

You may also want to check out Dave Douglas's "Brass Ectasy" on June 25th. Maria Schneider is also an amazing composer and arranger, playing on the 29th.

Hey, Weinzweig!

R.

June!

Hey music lovers,

Is everyone looking as forward to tonight's Musica Nova concert as I am? Things are starting to happen in the capital city!

Well, they were. April was a pretty good month for new music if you dug deep enough. May wasn't bad. June and July appear to be drier than a witch's... well, you get the idea. What a bummer!

I have added two items to the calendar. The bad news is, they're both for tomorrow, and the worse news is, they're at the exact same time!

One is the Ottawa Chamber Orchestra Concerto Competition, which will have some Hindemith and Wieniawski. The other show is pianist Dina Namer, playing music of 20th-C. Israeli (is that a redundancy?) composers and Bloch, in honour of the 50th anniversary of his death. I've got a bit of an inside scoop, because Dina lives next door - she sounds amazing!! :)

Here's hoping something comes together for June and July. I'll be out of town during the chamber music festival, but I know there'll be something for us there, so I'll do my best to get events on the calendar.

If things don't pick up, we may have to take matters into our own hands!! Actually, we are! Craig and I, along with flutist/composer Aura Giles, are working on a new music concert series, kicking off in the fall. You can be absolutely sure that we will advertise like crazy on this blog for those shows!!

Enjoy the rain!

-Ryan