Opera Review: Peace and Truth in Mid-Air

Satyagraha returns to Brooklyn Academy of Music.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

A wilderness of ramps: Leif Arun-Solen is Gandhi in Satyagraha.
 Photo by Stephanie Berger for BAM.

Once every few seasons, an opera production emerges that enables this writer to see the art form in an entirely new light. This year, that production is Satyagraha by Philip Glass, which returned to the stage of the Brooklyn Academy of Music last week. (BAM NextWave was the sight of the first New York performances of this opera in 1981.) This staging brings Philip Glass' three act meditation on the early years of Mahatma Gandhi to a literal circus, combining singing, dance, aerialism and other feats to make this cool, cerebral opera into a warm and intimate experience.

Concert Review: Unbowed, Unbeaten, Unbroken

Sō Percussion and the JACK Quartet play new works at Zankel Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Photo of Sō Percussion by Janette Beckman. Photo of the JACK Quartet by Shervin Lainez.

Carnegie Hall, with its multiple venues and well of donors is instrumental to the contemporary music community. Starting in 2016, the historic venue celebrated its 125th year with the 125 Commissions project, offering 125 new compositions in celebration of the venue’s anniversary in 2016. On Tuesday night, the subterranean stage of Zankel Hall hosted two important contemporary ensembles: Sō Percussion and the JACK Quartet, performing a trio of these new pieces.

Concert Review: The Human Stain

Philip Glass' Music With Changing Parts at Carnegie Hall.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Philip Glass.
Photo by Andras Bitesnich for Orange Mountain Music.

Is there a point, in the creation of art for the entertainment of others, where the value of that creative act has to be weighed against the limitations that the human body can endure? That question applies to both the audience and performers attending Friday night's concert at Carnegie Hall featuring the first New York concert performance in 38 years of Philip Glass' 1970 composition Music With Changing Parts. This performance formed the centerpiece of Mr. Glass' residency at the Hall this season, and of the venue's ongoing festival celebrating the music and culture of the 1960s.

Concert Review: A Journey in the Dark

Matt Haimovitz at The Crypt Sessions.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Candlepower: Matt Haimovits and friend at the Crypt Sessions.
Photo by Andrew Ousley for the Crypt Sessions.

The cellist Matt Haimovitz is one of the mavericks of his instrument, breaking new ground with each commission for solo cello and each group project. To celebrate the release of his new disc Overtures, Mr. Haimovitz agreed to play The Crypt Sessions, the chamber music series mounted deep beneath the Church of the Intercession at 155th and Broadway.

Obituary: David Bowie 1947-2016

"Something happened on the day he died"--Blackstar
by Paul J. Pelkonen

David Bowie in the video for the title track of Blackstar.

David Bowie, whose contributions to music, art, fashion and popular culture mark him as one of the most important artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, died yesterday after an 18-month battle with cancer. The artist had just celebrated his 69th birthday with the release of ★ (Blackstar), his 25th album.

Concert Review: Reunited With Minimal Fuss

Steve Reich and Philip Glass open BAM NextWave--together.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Across the great divide: the composers Philip Glass (left) and Steve Reich.
Photo courtesy Nonesuch Records.

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Philip Glass and Steve Reich were friends and sometimes collaborators. A rift between the two men resulted in each becoming a separate driving force behind minimalism, a compositional style that favored small melodic cells, expanded, repeated and grown into huge crystalline structures that beguiled the ear and soothed the mind. Both men are now 77, and have ended their forty-year feud. On Tuesday night at the Brooklyn Academy of Music,  the composers took the stage together for the first time in decades.

Concert Review: Pyramids and Floods

The Collegiate Chorale premieres works by Glass and Golijov.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Pyramid scheme: James Bagwell (center) leads the

Collegiate Chorale and the American Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall..

Photo by Erin Baiano © 2013 The Collegiate Chorale.

Last night at Carnegie Hall saw the Collegiate Chorale offer two of the more interesting New York premieres of the 2012-2013 season. The concert, performed with the American Symphony Orchestra under the baton of James Bagwell offered Philip Glass' Symphony No. 7 (the Toltec) with Oceana, a cantata by the Argentinean composer Osvaldo Golijov.

The High Priest of Minimalism

Conductor James Bagwell interviews Philip Glass.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Toltec ruins at Tula, Mexico.

Fans of the music of composer Philip Glass should flock to Carnegie Hall tomorrow night, where James Bagwell and the Collegiate Chorale will give the New York premiere of Mr. Glass's Symphony No. 7 "Toltec." The work appears on a program of modern music that also features Oceana by Osvaldo Golijov, a work in the style and structure of a Bach cantata. Mr. Golijov is the current composer-in-residence at Carnegie Hall.

The following is a brief interview between Mr. Bagwell and Mr. Glass, provided to Superconductor by the good folks at Michelle Tabnick Communications.

(No, I didn't do too much work on it, but how often do you get to run an interview with a composer like Philip Glass?)

Opera Review: Einstein on the Beach

Reposted from The Classical Review.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Helga Davis (left) and Kate Moran perform Knee Play No. 2 from Philip Glass and Robert Wilson's Einstein on the Beach at the BAM NextWave Festival. Photo by Stephanie Berger © 2012 Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Like a comet that only passes earth once every 20 years, Einstein on the Beach has returned to the Brooklyn Academy of Music. This new touring production of Philip Glass and Robert Wilson’s collaboration—presented as part of the BAM NextWave Festival—keeps the opera’s anarchic spirit intact while still packing an impressive theatrical wallop.

Read the entire review here at The Classical Review.

The Age of Plastic

Einstein on the Beach in LEGO.®

LEGO man on the beach, presumably waiting for Einstein. Photo © SodaHead.com.

As a warm-up for next fall's BAM production of Philip Glass' Einstein on the Beach, check out this YouTube visualization of the opera's scenes and knee plays...rendered in LEGO®. Enjoy.

Koyaanisqatsi in 5 Minutes

This is your brain.

Photo from Wikimedia Commons.

This is your brain on drugs.

Well, not really.

Tooling around on the Inter-tubes today, I found a version of Godfrey Reggio's 1978 film Koyaanisqatsi, sped up 1,552% by visual artist Wyatt Hodgson. Mr. Hodgson's version uses a different score ("The Holy Egoism of Genius" from The Seduction of Claude Debussy by The Art of Noise) and has been compressed to run for just five minutes. The song's been cut a little short too.

If you're not familiar with Koyaanisqatsi, it is a meditation on the imbalances of modern life. It is assembled footage, dating from just before its 1982 release to documentary footage and stock imagery dating all the way back to a NASA film from 1962.

Although it is only 86 minutes long, time speeds, slows and bends in upon itself as the images fly by. The images range widely: staring pedestrians shot on the street, cars and televisions being assembled, and the most famous, iconic shots: clouds racing across mirror-front skyscrapers.

Enjoy.

Balance Out of Life from Wyatt Hodgson on Vimeo.

And here's Godfrey Reggio's original on YouTube.

Concert Review: Glass and Steel

The American Composer's Orchestra premieres Philip Glass' Ninth Symphony.

Composer Philip Glass turned 75 last night.
Photo from Orange Mountain Music.

The New York premiere of a composer's Ninth Symphony is a momentous occasion. When the composer is Philip Morris Glass, the most important voice in American music in the last three decades, the occasion is simply historic.

On Tuesday night, Mr. Glass' friend and collaborator Dennis Russell Davies led the American Composers Orchestra in the first U.S. performance of the Glass Ninth, paired with the New York premiere of Lamentate by Arvo Pärt. The concert also marked Mr. Glass' 75th birthday, which will be celebrated throughout 2012 in opera houses and concert halls around the world.

Mr. Pärt's work was both puzzling and frustrating, a sort of piano concerto with the orchestra playing in dissipated fragments. The very absence of a center line meant that the listener was forced to draw on the pauses as elements of sound, constructing the structure negatively as the orchestra played on. The work seemed to wander for 37 minutes between what the composer described as two polarities.

The first of these is a Mahlerian brass theme, that occasionally repeats, contrasted with a second figure for the strings and piano. But in building from these slender materials, it proved difficult to grasp the entire structure as it unveiled. Piano soloist Maki Namekawa did an admirable job with the solo part, although her hot pink concert gown was the most vibrant thing about the performance.

Philip Glass is not primarily known as a symphonist, but has honed his craft over the last two decades at the prompting of Mr. Davies. He started with the "Low" Symphony (based on the work of David Bowie and Brian Eno) and explored choral writing, poetry and folklore in his Fifth, Sixth and Seventh. The Ninth has the same structure as the Eighth, with three similar movements. But in this work, the years of honing pay off in a big, muscular composition that makes virtuosic use of a large orchestra.

The familiar Glass ideas are present: ostinato rhythms, built from whole-tone arpeggios that repeat in an obsessive fashion before changing tack and giving way to a new set of repetitions. But the writing is meatier than in his early period, and the orchestration lends gravitas to the musical ideas. The writing technique actually recalls complex, so-called "progressive" rock music, with the music never flowering fully before changing direction on the listener's frustration and fascination..

Over his 40 year career, repetition remains a central idea in Mr. Glass's oeuvre. So perhaps it is fitting that each abstract movement of the Ninth is built on the same frame. Each movement starts slowly, building to a loud, almost Brucknerian climax. Like Strauss' Alpensinfonie, the true climax is at the center of the middle movement, a stunning peak of sound that had the Carnegie Hall audience on edge.

The Occupation of Lincoln Center

This is what a guy with a sign looks like.'

I'm not actually at Lincoln Center tonight--am home after seeing Avanti! perform at Carnegie Hall. But since I'm home and on WiFi, I'm following the story on Twitter. I thought it would be interesting to share what's going on.

This is what the death of freedom looks like. Photo by Lauren Flanigan.

So the police have barricaded off Josie Robertson Plaza (that's the main plaza with the fountain. The New York Philharmonic let out around 10:30 and attendees were asked to leave quickly and ushered off the plaza.

This is what the end of free speech looks like.

There has been one arrest, a man who was holding up copies of the Occupied Wall Street Journal. There he is surrounded by a swarm of cops.

This is what freedom to assemble looks like.

With the Plaza blocked off, protestors have lined up along Broadway. Composer Philip Glass, whose opera Satyagraha is being played tonight for the final time this season, read a prepared statement:

Philip Glass, reading a statement. Photo by Michael Kink.

Laurie Anderson and Lou Reed also addressed the crowd. Here's a transcript of Mr. Reed's statement from the mic check:

"I'm a musician in New York. I've played all over. I was born in Brooklyn. But I've never been more ashamed than to see the barricades tonight. The police are our army. I want to be friends with them I want to Occupy Wall Street. I support it in each and every way. I'm proud to be part of this. Thank you."
--Lou Reed, addressing the General Assembly at #OccupyLincolnCenter.

Occupy Wall Street to "Mic Check" Lincoln Center

General Assembly planned for Josie Robertson Plaza

Occupy Wall Street poster by Lalo Alcarez.
© 2011 by the artist.

Concert, opera, theater, ballet and circus-goers attending a performance at Lincoln Center tonight might want to give themselves extra time on their commute to and from the venues. That, or use the underground tunnels.

The Occupy Wall Street movement is coming to Lincoln Center Plaza. 

The group, which protests economic inequality, has targeted the arts complex in a post on their website, as the site of a General Assembly, the peaceful (but loud) nightly meeting where members of the movement are given the opportunity to speak, amplified by the "people's mic": a repetition of their statement by the assembled crowd.

Tonight's G.A. is planned to take place in conjunction with the Metropolitan Opera's last 2011 performance of Satyagraha, the Philip Glass opera that explores the life of Mohandis K. Gandhi. The Mahatma's non-violent methods are an inspiration to the Occupy Movement.

Mr. Glass is planning to join the General Assembly and speak to the occupiers. Presumably, he will come out after Satyagraha ends, which should be about 11:15.

The choice of venue is also calculated to annoy New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. Mayor Bloomberg, one of the 12 richest men in America, is among the major donors to Lincoln Center.

In November, Mayor Bloomberg personally authorized the NYPD to "evict" the Occupiers' two month old encampment at Zuccotti Park. The action led to citizens, journalists and even a city council member being injured and jailed by the cops. But the clean-out has freed the movement to travel the city and spread ther message.

Another target is  billionaire David H. Koch, the right-wing backer of the Tea Party movement. Mr. Koch recently slapped his name across the former New York State Theater after making a hefty donation to the coffers of the arts center.

If they're blocked from the plaza (as they probably will be, most likely by a combination of Lincoln Center security and NYPD) the Occupiers are planning to stage a hunger strike. According to their website, the strike will continue until they are once more allowed to stage protests in the city's public and privately owned plazas and parks.

Opera Review: Protest and Survive

The Metropolitan Opera revives Satyagraha.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Peaceful journey: Richard Croft as Mohandis K. Gandhi in Satyagraha.
Photo by Ken Howard © 2011 The Metropolitan Opera.

Talk about good timing.

No one could predict that the Metropolitan Opera's scheduled revival of Satyagraha, Philip Glass' 1980 opera retelling incidents in the life of Mohandis K. Gandhi, would coincide with Occupy Wall Street. Based in lower Manhattan, the Occupy movement models itself on the Mahatma's principle of "truth-force", or non-violent protest, that gives the opera its title.

Concert Review: Existential Park

Philip Glass and the New York Philharmonic play Koyaanisqatsi

Welcome to Vega$. An image from Koyaanisqatsi.

The year 2011 marks the 75th birthday of composer Philip Glass. As part of the celebrations, Wednesday night's New York Philharmonic concert at Avery Fisher Hall featured a complete performance of Mr. Glass' 1982 score for Koyanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance, the powerful film by Godfrey Reggio. The performance featured the celebrated orchestra, the Philip Glass Ensemble and the Collegiate Chorale.

Koyaanisqatsi is a meditation on the imbalances of modern life. It is assembled footage, dating from just before its 1982 release to documentary footage and stock imagery dating all the way back to a NASA film from 1962. Although it is only 86 minutes long, time speeds, slows and bends in upon itself as the images fly by. The images range widely: staring pedestrians shot on the street, cars and televisions being assembled, and the most famous, iconic shots: clouds racing across mirror-front skyscrapers.

At the Wednesday night performance, Avery Fisher Hall was darkened. The film was shown above the black-clad orchestra in its entirety. Below, Philip Glass Ensemble director Michael Riesman conducted from a laptop, which displayed the sheet music and a running data-stream of the film footage in the background.

The accompanying score opens with a Bach-like figure played repeatedly, accompanying a bass voice chanting the title over and over. This gives way to surging chorales of horns and human voices singing prophecies in the Hopi language. The effect is hypnotic, and more powerful when combined with Mr. Reggio's potent film. Early images featured the demolition of an abandoned St. Louis housing project. You could almost feel the unease from a New York audience trying not to think of the fate of the World Trade Center.

Like other composers who prefer a place deep in the harmony over taking the lead, Mr. Glass played the second keyboard part. The Philharmonic lent power and depth to the score, creating resonant sonic pictures that worked perfectly with the film. Impressive playing came from the brass and low strings, particularly the cellos led by Carter Brey.

Koyaanisqatsi seems amorphous on its first approach, but this performance revealed a definite structure of the film in a series of acts. The most powerful passage was the high-speed footage of cars hurtling at night through the streets of Los Angeles and New York. This was contrasted with the slow images of pedestrians, staring men and women, and even a man shaving with a disposable razor.

Although the point of this work is serious, much of the sonic trickery and visual jazz of this film is light in nature. Perhaps that is because the stock footage from Koyaanisqatsi has been referenced over 20+ years of The Simpsons: the rising moon, the racing cars, even the shots of hot dogs and Hostess Twinkies being manufactured.

Players and film were at their most serious for Mr. Glass' final crescendo, labeled "Prophecies" on the album. This music accompanied footage of a failed 1962 NASA test flight. The shots of the exploding Atlas rocket  ended the evening in a dramatic, powerful crescendo, showing the folly and insignificance of man's existence before the credits rolled.

An Extremely Violent Tribute To Philip Glass

Highway traffic, from the experimental film Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance ©1983 MGM/UA.

Yesterday, Jan. 31 was Philip Glass' birthday. Last year, we celebrated with a "minimalist" version of the song "Happy Birthday." You can find a link to it here.

This year, I didn't feel like typing out those words over and over, or paying copyright dues to Jessica Hill.

A few years ago, this great American minimalist composer received this interesting (albeit extremely gory) tribute to his film Koyannisqatsi: Life Out of Balance. Made by I & S studios. Enjoy!



All video content © Gracie Films/20th Century Fox.

Concert Review: Vivaldi Through a Modern Glass

Robert McDuffie
Photo by Christian Steiner

On Wednesday night, violinist Robert McDuffie and the Venice Baroque Orchestra brought their current tour to Carnegie Hall. The program explores the connection between Vivaldi's Four Seasons, arguably the most famous set of violin concertos ever written, and the Violin Concerto No. 2, a new work by minimalist Philip Glass.

The Four Seasons had an energetic, rustic style, choosing a very fast tempo and playing through his cadenza passages with precise, rapid-fire delivery. "Summer" featured slower, more languid melodies and an impressive thunderstorm from the cellists. The familar "Autumn"was graceful and more elegant, with the small orchestra providing able accompaniment. "Winter," which has the toughest rhythmic passages and some of the most difficult cadenzas in Vivaldi's work, provided a fitting climax to the cycle.


This new concerto, subtitled The American Four Seasons is an unusual Philip Glass composition. The shortened forms allow the New York based composer to experiment with neo-classical textures, shot through with echoes of Vivaldi's own style.

Driving, repeated notes (a hallmark of this composer's style) keep the engine moving and form a strong foundation for the soloist. The result is a series of concise movements with welcome pauses in between. Unlike Vivaldi's works, Glass chooses to let the listener figure out which season belongs to which concerto. (This writer guesses: 1) Winter, 2) Spring, 3) Summer, 4) Fall.)

Glass alternates the movements for orchestra with a series of soliloquoy passages for the violin, instead of the more conventional cadenzas. Mr. McDuffie played the articulated phrases with skill and fire, drawing beautiful sounds from his vintage instrument. As the movements played and the months passed, the orchestra built up momentum. In the final pages, the violinist led the band through racing glissando chords and swift, descending arpeggios, to thrilling effect.

Mr. McDuffie played the solo violin parts standing up, which is not unusual. However, the violinists and violists in his ensemble played standing up as well, which changed the balance of the sound somewhat and allowed more eye-contact interaction between the soloist and his fellow string players. (The lower strings, keyboard, and theorbo remained seated.)