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BMOP Concert
Nov. 3rd, 2007 02:23 pmLast night the Boston Modern Orchestra Project opened it's season with a program of music for orchestra and various keyboard instruments.
Chamber Concerto III: Another View - Elliot Schwartz
This piece was in a rather old-school American atonal/collage style reminiscent of Earle Brown. It's not really to my taste, but Schwartz clearly knows what he's doing. I really liked a particular arpeggio texture that recurred in the woodwinds and then appeared in the piano part in a very beautiful way. The concerto was full of lovely imitative interactions between the piano and the orchestra. However, the piece didn't seem very much like a concerto to me - the piano part wasn't soloistic enough.
Wayang V - Anthony Davis
BMOP performed Wayang V in 2002, also with Davis himself as the soloist, and I really hated it then. I liked it quite a bit better this time, although I still didn't love it. There were plenty of great places where Davis established terrific jazz-inspired motifs and then let them groove along, especially in the piece's first section. The improvisational piano solo sections were much more interesting and cohesive this time than they were in 2002. In my favorite of these sections, Davis started out with a tone-cluster based motif in the lower octaves and then developed and expanded it while working his way up the keyboard.
Side by Side - Michael Colgrass
This piece featured soloist Joanne Kong, who played both the piano and the harpsichord. there were several points in the last half of the piece in which she played them simultaneously. The piano was prepared, a choice that I'm not sure really worked. I thought it cut down on the contrast between the two instruments. Nevertheless, I quite liked Side by Side. It had all the whimsy and surreality of a weird but good dream. Or a painting by Hieronymous Bosch. The material for the harpsichord gave the instrument an otherworldly quality. Colgrass' rhythms were wonderful, too, making the piece terrificly sprightly and witty. I got to talk to the composer a bit after the concert, and he was a very nice guy.
Piano Concerto - David Rakowski
This work had the soloist play both a piano and a toy piano. Any day I get to see a toy piano on the concert stage with an orchestra is a good day. This piece was incredibly fascinating and involved, and I loved it. The first and last movements made amazing use of rapidly repeated notes, giving the movements a lot of forward momentum and drive. The orchestration was clear and imaginative. Rakowski used the toy piano somewhat sparingly, but that made it all the more effective. Luckily, BMOP will be releasing a recording of this piece, because it's something I very much want to hear again. I think I need to hear it again to really absorb and understand it, too.
Chamber Concerto III: Another View - Elliot Schwartz
This piece was in a rather old-school American atonal/collage style reminiscent of Earle Brown. It's not really to my taste, but Schwartz clearly knows what he's doing. I really liked a particular arpeggio texture that recurred in the woodwinds and then appeared in the piano part in a very beautiful way. The concerto was full of lovely imitative interactions between the piano and the orchestra. However, the piece didn't seem very much like a concerto to me - the piano part wasn't soloistic enough.
Wayang V - Anthony Davis
BMOP performed Wayang V in 2002, also with Davis himself as the soloist, and I really hated it then. I liked it quite a bit better this time, although I still didn't love it. There were plenty of great places where Davis established terrific jazz-inspired motifs and then let them groove along, especially in the piece's first section. The improvisational piano solo sections were much more interesting and cohesive this time than they were in 2002. In my favorite of these sections, Davis started out with a tone-cluster based motif in the lower octaves and then developed and expanded it while working his way up the keyboard.
Side by Side - Michael Colgrass
This piece featured soloist Joanne Kong, who played both the piano and the harpsichord. there were several points in the last half of the piece in which she played them simultaneously. The piano was prepared, a choice that I'm not sure really worked. I thought it cut down on the contrast between the two instruments. Nevertheless, I quite liked Side by Side. It had all the whimsy and surreality of a weird but good dream. Or a painting by Hieronymous Bosch. The material for the harpsichord gave the instrument an otherworldly quality. Colgrass' rhythms were wonderful, too, making the piece terrificly sprightly and witty. I got to talk to the composer a bit after the concert, and he was a very nice guy.
Piano Concerto - David Rakowski
This work had the soloist play both a piano and a toy piano. Any day I get to see a toy piano on the concert stage with an orchestra is a good day. This piece was incredibly fascinating and involved, and I loved it. The first and last movements made amazing use of rapidly repeated notes, giving the movements a lot of forward momentum and drive. The orchestration was clear and imaginative. Rakowski used the toy piano somewhat sparingly, but that made it all the more effective. Luckily, BMOP will be releasing a recording of this piece, because it's something I very much want to hear again. I think I need to hear it again to really absorb and understand it, too.
