Carnegie Mellon Philharmonic Orchestra, Cyrus Forough, Ronald Zollman - Thursday April 29, 2010

This concert is just the kind of show that I love. Two twentieth century pieces that are known but not often played (at least not here) and a gem for violin and orchestra from the late twentieth century that may never be played by the PSO. My friend, Herr Heine, asserts that an orchestra made up of talented undergrad and grad students, with lots of rehearsal time, can rival Americas better orchestras (though perhaps not our best). I will not argue the point as this show was a great example of what he was going on about.

Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem opened the program. Written for the 2600th anniversary of the Japanese empire by a 26 year old Britten, it was rejected by the Japanese government, ostensibly due to the use of Christian mass names for the three movements. They might also have rejected it on musical grounds as it is neither a celebratory piece nor a comforting requiem. Britten was a pacifist (even in WWII) and must have had strange feelings about writing a piece for the Japanese government that had invaded and ravaged much of Asia. The "Lacrymosa" movement, literally meaning weeping, opens with these loud, intense, abrupt, drum beats, indicating a searing pain rather than any sense of gentle weeping. The music is low in register, plodding in it's beat, producing a feeling of relentlessness, inevitability. The "Dies Irae" or Day of Wrath is a fast, intense Scherzo that becomes frenzied at moments. It is playful in a sense, with a darkness to it. The third and last movement, "Requiem Aeternum" or eternal rest, tries to reconcile the pain and wrath of the first two movements. It is slow and conciliatory, certainly not triumphant. The CMU Philharmonic presented this well. The trumpet player on this piece stood out in particular.

Witold Lutoslawski's Chain 2 for violin and orchestra came second in this program. This is the piece that I HAD to see and hear. While i have seen both of the other two pieces on this program and will likely have more opportunities in the future, the same cannot be said of Lutoslawski's masterpiece. That is a shame as I have enjoyed this piece since buying Anne-Sophie Mutter's first recording of it about twenty years ago. The piece is in four movements, composed using a technique where Lutoslawski links together successive bits, linking soloist to other instruments then back to the soloist. In parts of the piece, the conductor does not keep time but cues the start of a new bit, allowing the soloist and orchestra to sync up with some freedom. Perhaps this technical stuff does not matter. The music is quite engaging while not following typical violin concerto conventions. Cyrus Forough, a violin professor at CMU, was the soloist. He brought an intensity to this piece that is not present in the two recordings I know. This worked quite well here. He also brought off the unusual parts calling for unconventional bowing (harmonics?) techniques. The orchestra played with passion in dialogue with their professor. I was fully satisfied that I had heard a great performance of this piece. Now if Cyrus would just perform the Saariaho concerto here next year...well I can dream, can't I?

Stravinsky's Symphony of Psalms is yet another masterpiece, finishing the program. Written for the Boston Symphony in 1930, it is a setting of three Psalms for chorus, sung in Latin, and an unusual instrumental ensemble. The strings consist only of the cellos and basses. This gives the piece a dark quality. Two pianos play a prominent role as the percussive instruments they are. There are woodwinds and brass though no clarinets. The instruments were set up symmetrically on stage. The music is nominally in three movements, one for each Psalm, but performed without break. The music throughout does not reflect a pristine unambivalent relationship to ourselves or our God. Unusual rhythms, strange harmonies, dark instrumentation for me captures the Old Testament person and God relationship, visceral, awesome, scary at times. Did this bunch of amateurs reveal this in the piece. I was satisfied that they did so. Robert Page prepared the chorus and they sang like you would expect, beautifully with texture and power and economy of movement.

These were thoroughly enjoyable performances. The only downer was how few people were in the audience. But we few, we lucky few were treated to a great show.

Moe Seager, Point Brugge Restaurant, Pittsburgh - Monday April 26, 2010

When I first met Moe a few years ago, I remember thinking, that is a poet. Funny given my strident anti-essentialist stance in most things. I think that means that poetry flows from him even when you're just hangin' out. Moe has been doing Jazz poetry shows in Paris for awhile and i have enjoyed some of his recordings, but this was my first chance to experience it in the flesh.

A pick-up jazz trio accompanied Moe: Hill Jordan on tenor and soprano trombones; Dave Pellow on stand up bass; Spider Rondinelli on drums. Hill and Dave did most of the soloing, with the Soprano trombone being a new instrument for me, punchy and clean. Moe performed his poems in a rhythmic sprechtstimme showing great sense of timing with these skilled musicians.



The video is fragment from a Paris performance of "Jazz Is" which Moe did perform here. Variously funny, sensual, political, spiritual - sometimes all at the same time. The loose spontaneity was great fun. Local singer/blues jazz violinist Lydia joined the guys for a few numbers, sliding right in and adding some great textures to the sound. Also joining in the free flow of music and words was Johnny Alston, former Pittsburgher now from New Mexico playing a Native American flute that had a beautiful ethereal quality. For a pick up band, they worked well together to the appreciation of the small but enraptured crowd. I felt like I was transported back in time to some kind of alternative beat universe when the beat poets and jazz musicians helped shock our country out of the horrors of the fifties.

Viva Monsieur Seager

Adrian Belew - Club Cafe, Pittsburgh - Friday April 23, 2010

This is a picture of Adrian with his custom Parker guitar. His show at the intimate Club Cafe was billed as a one man electric show "Painting with Guitar". Adrian's Elephant blog entry explains this:
http://elephant-blog.blogspot.com/2010/04/about-painting-with-guitar.html
I explain it by saying "Boys and their toys". What great toys and what great music he produces with them. He has been downsizing his setup but with new technology, he has more options with this sleek setup. This show really was like hanging with Adrian, very casual and loose. He stopped twice to take questions and chat with the standing room audience.

Adrian opens with a Bears' song "Doodle". Poppy with some fiendish guitar. With a pained look, he stated that he wished he had never written the next song, because it is so hard to play. Nailed it. "Walk Around the World" is from his album Side One. He called the next song "Variation of Wave Pressure" from an Einstein quote. At one point he looped a complicated guitar figure and sang the Subway 5 dollar footlong jingle over it, claiming they stole it from him. One long instrumental included a long "within You, Without You" section, showing off his Sitar effect setting. He shared that Jeff Beck is his favorite guitarist, which makes sense given their similar staccato, fragmentary, disjointed styles. he met Jeff Beck after a King Crimson show that Beck had attended. When they went to shake hands, Beck instead rubbed his forearm against Adrian's (wanting that skill to rub off). Adrian played about 11 songs, one just written a few days ago called "Eurrail Pass" about his travels in Europe years ago. Stories about gear, Zappa and his paintings were interesting. And the guitar playing is as good as it gets.

In updating us on his three bands, Adrian shared that the Bears will do music as he and the guys have enough music to put out an album. Given that the other Bears have real jobs, they will stay mostly a studio band. The Power Trio (go see them if you haven't, if you have, you will want to see them again) will tour Europe later this year and the states again next year. King crimson is on a break but Belew expressed confidant hope that they will play again, just waiting on Robert. Adrian and Robert have always seemed like such an odd pair to make such phenomenal music together, Adrian being so engaging with the audience while Robert minimizes his presence to just the music. Perhaps that difference helps bring them together (and the musical sensibilities).

I am looking forward to my next encounter with Adrian as he is just starting to figure out his new toys as a new and more complex palette can only be a good thing for this restless genius.

Wilco - Carnegie Music Hall, Oakland - April 11, 2010

I had given up on going to this show after having snoozed when the tickets went on sale. I then looked up some of the set lists earlier in the tour and was amazed at these crazy, long shows they were doing. So I persisted and found tickets just days before the show. And I am glad I did.

Sometimes I give a song by song account but 37 songs (not a typo) are too many to discuss. Wilco (the song) from Wilco (the album) was the opening song by Wilco (the band) after the theme music from the Price is Right accompanied the band's entrance. Yes humor does belong at this show. Great song and a prototype for the show. Catchy tunes, accessible with lots of flourishes, little and big from Nels Cline. I first saw Wilco at the 3 Rivers Arts Festival at a free show in 2003 (I have a magnificent live recording of the show made by the great local taper, Alex Heard, let me know if you would like a copy). When they returned to the 3 Rivers Arts Fest the next year, I believe it was their first show after frontman Jeff Tweedy finished rehab and the first live show with Nels. I remember thinking that Tweedy is a great guitarist in his own right and wondered why they needed this new guy. Well, it turns out that Nels is outstanding, famous in his own right among guitar afficianados and perhaps the most economical guitarist around. What I mean by that is, within the confines of these short, 3 to 7 minute songs, Nels adds little runs throughout and solos, some concise and some luxurious and magnificent like in "Impossible Germany". Cline can play clean and conventional solos as well as seriously dissonant feedback flourishes. The rest of the band are not pikers either. John Stirratt plays a solid, mostly underneath bass. Glen Kotchie plays some complicated drum parts, showing of particularly on "I am Trying to Break Your Heart" with it's loose percussive opening. Pat Sansone is the multi-instrumentalist that adds versatility to the band, including at times a Sonic Youth like guitar fuzz wall of sound. Mikail Jorgenson plays some great keyboards, stepping out front with regularity with a bluesy and rock'n'roll style (though I believe he slipped a little melotron in there as well).

They mixed up the songs well representing their entire history. They ran through 14 songs including mixing in a lot of new material with familiar songs including "Handshake Drugs", "California Stars" and "Impossible Germany" back to back to back. As song 14 was winding down in a dissonant wall of sound, the melancholy "Poor Places", the crew invaded the stage with lamps, a pared down drum kit, a simple keyboard setup and acoustic guitars. Spiders(Kidsmoke) emerged from this transformation. This and the next seven songs were performed from this front of stage setup. The audience was not necessarily in sync with the band. Jeff Tweedy stated the obvious after Spiders, that this is a quieter part of the show, adding that that means "we can hear you talking". He dedicated the next song "More Like the Moon" to people in the audience (like me) who don't have 50 bucks to throw away by not paying attention. "War on War" and "Forget the Flowers" were highlights of the intimate set. The stage was transformed back during "Passenger Side" and "Airline to Heaven", the third song with Woody Guthrie lyrics that they performed this night. Another 12 songs followed before the encores. This included the "Jesus Etc." singalong, a raucous "Heavy Metal Drummer" and the dinner coupon giveaway. There really were too many highlights to highlight all of the. Suffice it to say, they moved from pinnacle to peak. A rocking "Casino Queen" was the first encore, yes Wilco can rock pretty hard when they decide to. "Outtasite (Outta Mind)" and "I'm a Wheel" finished things off in satisfying fashion. Thirty seven songs, about three hours of music and high-jinks.

This was my fourth Wilco show, all have been excellent, this one the best yet.

Outstanding!!!

Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, Stephen Hough, Yan Pascal Tortelier- April 9, 2010

Two familiar composers wrote the two pieces on this program. One piece, Tchaikovsky's Second Piano Concerto, is a major piece of music written by a perennially popular composer that has NEVER been played by the PSO. Tchaikovsky's first Piano Concerto has been wildly popular since it's premier over 135 years ago. It was savagely criticized by Nikolai Rubinstein, powerful Russian pianist and conservatory director. Then he began playing it when it became extremely popular. Tchaikovsky wanted him to play the second one (capitalizing on guilt?) but he died before that happened. However, he did render some mild criticism, that it was over long and episodic. I did this long winded intro because what interests me is that the second one seems more obviously open to stinging critique while the first is so obviously enjoyable.

The kicker here is that this long neglected piece, which is a mess, a wild, unbalanced, out of control, thoroughly enjoyable mess, was thoroughly enjoyed by the audience. And the audience was caught up in it enough they applauded after the first movement (shocking, I know). They gave it a huge ovation at the end of the piece. A big part of this is certainly that Stephen Hough brought it off with intensity, brilliance and flair. So why did it take 135 years to play this here. Other composers have written more than one piano concertos where one is wildly popular and still had the others played at least a bit. Ah the mysteries of show biz.

Another Russian, Sergei Prokofiev, wrote the piece on the second half of the program. Prokofiev's Fifth Symphony is one of seven and probably the best regarded. He is quoted as saying that it is "a symphony about the grandeur of the human spirit". It's hard to know what to say about something like that. The first movement opens quietly, builds, ebbs and flows and is a great example of the smooth, lyrical flowing Prokofiev. At least, for Prokofiev, the human spirit has some variety and lightness to it. Tortelier played with this variety well, building to a big climax by the end of the movement, the brass parts big, full and grand (the audience applauded again, twice in one evening, are the times changing?). The second movement, fleet, interwoven with lots of delicate touches. I love the clarinet parts as well as the prominent piano bits. This movement does remind me of the ballet composer Prokofiev without quoting himself directly. I don't know if this has been choreographed but I can picture the dancers in my head. While grandeur is not the word I would use for this movement, I am fine with the human spirit part. The long adagio third movement again places dancers in my head, now it is either Juliet or Cinderella in their thoughtful, wistful moments. The last movement starts with a quiet prelude that gives way to the opening theme which will also closes the movement. This theme is busy and propulsive. Lyricism returns in the middle of the movement though the frenetic figure is never far away. Among the many choices to make here, I was thinking about Tortelier's decision to emphasize intensity and the frenetic brilliance of the end of this movement. At one point, this repetitive figure takes over powerfully then most of the orchestra falls away until just a few instruments continue frantically. The orchestra wells up again for the big finish. It is an odd and distinctive end to the symphony. Tortelier and the orchestra brought this off with brilliance and intensity, quite impressive.

Prokofiev did write seven symphonies which makes him a serious 20th century symphonist. I especially like 1 and 5 through 7. However, I think of Prokofiev at his best in his ballet music and his concertos. I have long thought that he had not ever figured out symphonies despite his persistence. However, in discussing this with Herr Heine after the show, his take was that this was about Prokofiev's ambivalence about the form rather than a lack of skill. I like that.

Relache - Saturday April 3, 2010 - Andy Warhol Museum

Relache is a new music classical chamber group out of Philadelphia. Though they have been around awhile, this was my first encounter with them. Their press states that they have been around for 25 years and that they have had a variety of members and configurations. At this show, however, they were an 8 piece ensemble and a rather unusual one at that. The string players, viola and double bass, generally lose out to the violin and cello for choice parts, not here with nary a violin or cello in sight. Add four woodwinds (flute/piccolo; oboe/english horn; clarinet/sax and bassoon), keyboards and drums/percussion and you have Relache. All of the pieces performed were written for Relache and for this unusual configuration.

Eric Moe wrote Eight Point Turn, a twelve minute piece that seemed part jazz (drummer sitting behind a drum kit as rock/jazz drummers do) part neo-classical (I was reminded of Stravinsky's A Soldier's Tale). A rather insistent, propulsive rhythm moved the piece along, accessible immediately to my ears, light but quite enjoyable.

David Mahler, a Pittsburgher like Eric Moe, wrote Scenes of Sacred Peace and Pleasure, which draws on David's love of early American folk songs and spirituals. I know of this because Julia has been singing three-part acapella arrangements of folk and early American songs with david and his wife Julie for the past couple of years. This piece uses 14 folk songs in a variety of forms and conflagrations. While I did not recognize the names of the songs listed in the program, the tunes were all familiar. Though it started playing things straight, Mahler then mish mashed the melodies together in Ivesian fashion, with things happening on top of each other then moving back toward simplicity at the end. I enjoyed this quite a bit, especially the reminiscence of Ives (or even another favorite of mine, Schnittke, though without the anxiety).

Kyle Gann's Venusfinished the first half of the program. This is part of Gann's own Planets suite ala Holst (see my last post). In the notes, he contrasts his Planets of "Free Will" astrology with Holst's traditional view. I probably need to hear this again (or the whole piece) to get his point. This piece was again accessible, had some interesting rhythms, was rather light and static overall.

Paul Lansky's Comix Tripsopened the second half with light hearted whimsical music based upon comics Peanuts, Captain Marvel, Alfred E. Newman and Little Orphan Annie. I enjoyed this piece as well though I was listening for more contrast among the four parts as the four choices seem to have been chosen in part due to being quite different comic strips.

Guy Klucevsek is new to me. Three selections from a larger piece called Wings/Prayerclosed out the show. Tangocide came first. This has a caberet, klezmer sound, witty, light and fun with great clarinet bits. Still Life with Canon has a very different mood, slow and somber with prominent oboe and bassoon parts, nicely interwoven. Dance bounces along nicely, similar in mood to the first piece, finishing with a flourish.

Five pieces, all with this odd instrumentation, enjoyable, easy on the ears (who said new classical music had to be alienating). Relache were impressive in their delivery. Again I am thinking about the similarities and differences with popular music. The audience conventions are so very different. I wish the two could get the best of each other. I almost always wish audiences at popular music shows would actually be quiet and pay attention to the musicians. On the other hand, Classical audiences could relax a bit though I do like the rapt attention.