Kabalevsky & Fulcrum Point
Wednesday, 5/19, there were several interesting musical novelties.
At the Dame Myra Hess Concert at lunchtime, pianist Gabriele Baldocci performed some standards by Liszt and Chopin, he then embarked on something I’d never heard before. That was the Piano Sonata in F Major (#3 1946) by Dimitri Kabalevsky. It was like a Prokofiev sonata from an alternative universe. Same energy, pacing and overall effect, but with Kabalevsky’s own themes. I need to seek out some other of Kabalevsky’s
lesser played works to see how much they echo the styles of the other Dmitri.
Later at the Harris Theater, Fulcrum Point played a rather elongated concert. Fortunately is was punctuated by whimsical shorts from the Chicago Fluxus Ensemble, i.e.: Tina Laughlin drumming on a pillow; Brandon Podjasek beating on a hardhat worn by Stephen Burns; Tina and Brandon playing ping-pong a set of tympanis with paddles and then tambourines; and finally Jeff Handley playing a drum set with a pair of rolled up Onion newspapers. The final piece, “Blues for Black Hoodies” grabbed me the most. It was played by live strings accompanied by pre-recorded (tame) rapping and sampled sounds. Composer Randy Wollf explained his composition thoroughly beforehand. He managed to interwork the minimalist string part with the rap lyrics very effectively.
–
Bruce
