Magnus Lindberg concert
Jan. 18th, 2008 09:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariThis past Sunday's Globe had a short article about Magnus Lindberg and his music. He sounded pretty interesting, so I decided to go to Thursday's concert at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum even though I had not previously heard of him or listened to any of his music.
It turned out to be an interesting concert. The International Contemporary Ensemble is very good and I certainly would want to hear them perform again. Lindberg's music was pretty good. Unfortunately, his pieces had a tendency to wander off and loose focus for a while here and there. But when the music stayed (or got back) on track, it was good.
Linea D'ombra
This piece was the most overtly modernistic of the evening. It was angular, atonal, and at time chaotic, but it also had a prominent sense of fun and exuberance that a lot of similar modernism lacks. I just wish that the incredible opening sonority of at least one of the players screaming while the clarinetist played a somewhat high and strident note had come back at some point during the piece. It was a terrific and unique sound and I really wanted to hear it again.
Clarinet Quintet
I enjoyed this piece the most. It featured a florid, virtuosic clarinet line against string accompaniment. There was a lot of subtle interplay between the clarinet and strings. There were some really great examples of this in the combination of slides in the strings with rapid downward scale passages in the clarinet.
Piano Jubilees
This set of 6 short piano pieces had some really good moments and some moments that utterly failed to hold my attention. Maybe it was the pianist - he came across as a little brittle and detached.
Duo Concertante
This had a great ending that managed to be both a gentle wind-down and an abrupt finish at the same time. There was a lot of nice stuff going on here, too. Especially in the use of the guitar and mandolin.
It turned out to be an interesting concert. The International Contemporary Ensemble is very good and I certainly would want to hear them perform again. Lindberg's music was pretty good. Unfortunately, his pieces had a tendency to wander off and loose focus for a while here and there. But when the music stayed (or got back) on track, it was good.
Linea D'ombra
This piece was the most overtly modernistic of the evening. It was angular, atonal, and at time chaotic, but it also had a prominent sense of fun and exuberance that a lot of similar modernism lacks. I just wish that the incredible opening sonority of at least one of the players screaming while the clarinetist played a somewhat high and strident note had come back at some point during the piece. It was a terrific and unique sound and I really wanted to hear it again.
Clarinet Quintet
I enjoyed this piece the most. It featured a florid, virtuosic clarinet line against string accompaniment. There was a lot of subtle interplay between the clarinet and strings. There were some really great examples of this in the combination of slides in the strings with rapid downward scale passages in the clarinet.
Piano Jubilees
This set of 6 short piano pieces had some really good moments and some moments that utterly failed to hold my attention. Maybe it was the pianist - he came across as a little brittle and detached.
Duo Concertante
This had a great ending that managed to be both a gentle wind-down and an abrupt finish at the same time. There was a lot of nice stuff going on here, too. Especially in the use of the guitar and mandolin.
