Another Good Long Weekend
I experienced another great long weekend of music.
On Friday at the CCC at 12:15 I met up with two friends
who’ve been unemployed from Motorola for quite some time
and got jobs downtown. So that makes it easy to enjoy
the lunchtime music here. We ybrought bag lunches to
hear World music by The Princes of Futa, an Afro-beat
band who played a good one hour set of very danceable
music. As some kids and young adults attested.
==================
Later on at Friday at 7:30, “Giasone” by Cavalli was being
performed at the Harris. I never heard of Cavalli before
but being recommended by Phil Morehead (of Lyric) and
Helen Baisey (of the CCC), I bought a ticket. It was an
amazing combination or modern staging combined with
post-renaissance opera music. The counter-tenor who
sang Jason and the seductress of Medea stole the show.
Mabel Kwan, (dal niente pianist) who came down from
the balcony at intermission to steal an empty seat,
happens to have gone to school with Sasha Cooke,
who sang Medea.
==================
The 5th House Ensemble performed some “fish quintets”
at Liz Stein’s violin salon on Saturday Saturday at 3:00,
In the Fine Arts Building. First was the famous Schubert
“Trout” Quintet. Then the short, very more modern
“L’Image Reconsitituee” by Mei-Fang Lin. Kevin Puts’s
quintet “The Red Snapper” wound up the concert.
As a side note, cellist Herine Coetzee Koschak had the
pointiest shoes, with clarinetist Jennifer Woodrum not far
behind.
FYI, PianoForte Foundation is seeking other venues during
the construction of a new high-rise at the corner of the
Fazioli Salon.
===================
The Third Coast Percussion Ensemble gave a slam-bang
performance at the U of C’s International House Saturday at
7:30. Sets by 3rd Coast’s own David Skidmore, Otto Muller’s
world premier “Escoria” and Marcos Balter were on the first
half. After intermission, we were treated to a Wolfgang Rhim’s
“Tutuguri” with all kinds for drums, two gongs and a woodblock.
It was at least 30 minutes of arm-brutalization for the group,
but so fine for the audience.
===================
The full-time six CSO French Horn players gave a
concert at Fullerton Hall in the Art Institute on Sunday at
2:00. After a short lecture on modernist art by Mary-Sue the
horn players were out in force to play some transcriptions
of English madrigals. Then an interesting “Call for Two Horns”
by Reynolds began and ended backstage, in a sort of antiphonal
call to the hounds. Then two Reicha trios, some American folk
music renditions by Turner and after intermission two new
wonderful works for me by Malacha and Jeurissen. The encore
was “Now Is the Month of Maying” by Thomas Morley.
===================
dal niente presented a concert at Nichols Hall in
Evanston Sunday at 7:30 which included:
The world priemire of the Oboe Concerto by Robert Keely
was well tooted by Andy Nogal, who switched to English
Horn in the last movement. Robert was one of the three
composers in the audience.
Amy Briggs then enthusiacally did a piece by Gyorgy
Ligeti – “”Etudes pour piano: preimier livre”. I thougt the
intensity on her face showed that she deserved all
the applause she received.
“tinted sky” by Kirsten Broberg started very calm and quiet
but had an an ever-rising tempo and timbre that climaxed
with piccolo, and a few strikes on the glockenspiel by
Rob Dillon who brought it to a fine high-piched conclusion.
After intermission, Amy Briggs got back on the piano
to play the best of Magnus Linberg’s “Piano Jubilees”
i.e. 1, 3, 4 & 5.
The whole ensemble got back on stage to play
“Pre-Pulse Suspended” by Lee Hyla. Lee was there
to reluctantly accept applause.
BTY, Amy Briggs won the pointiest shoes award beating
Kirsten Broberg and Shanna Guiterrez who had an leopard
print on her shoes.
==================
Monday at lunchtime the Irish group Bal-Tinne gave a free
concert at the Daley Center Plaza as a preview for the
Celtic Fest in Millennium Park this coming weekend.
http://www.baaltinne.com/
It got my legs moving, but I didn’t get up and dance
like some of the young kids around the plaza.
–
Bruce
