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Philharmonic 360
Jun. 29th, 2012 11:55 pmMithras, Ivy03, and I just got back from an amazing concert. The Philharmonic did a concert in the armory of directional music. We sat on the ground (in very comfy chair things) in a circle in the center, with the orchestra(s) broken into three stages around us, and soloists all over the place. (In the stands, in the balconies, amongst the audience.) There was an incredible variety--an uncredited piece we couldn't identify, Boulez's Rituel in memoriam Bruno Maderna for Orchestra in Eight Groups, the finale of Act I of Mozart's Don Giovanni, Stockhausen's Gruppen for Three Orchestras, and Ives' The Unanswered Question. So a mix of opera, chamber music, super atonal modernist stuff, and somewhat more coherent modernist stuff. The uniting element, though, was each piece shifted among different groups. Which, when you were in the center of the orchestras, gave the music a tactile quality that was amazing. (Also amazing is getting to watch Alan Gilbert conduct 20 feet away, from the front.)
The Boulez and Stockhausen both got a little old--none of us are huge modernist fans. But I loved the opening piece and Don Giovanni was fantastic. And the modern stuff was significantly more interesting that it would have been unidirectionally.
I hadn't heard The Unanswered Question in over a decade, and I'd forgotten how much I love that piece. Also, I've only ever heard it live. Ivy03, on the other hand, had only ever heard recordings. It's an entirely different thing. The look on her face as she heard it the way it was intended to be played and then some (it's supposed to be live and with an offstage trumpet solo--in the round just amps it up incredibly) was perhaps the best part. It's an astonishing piece, somehow bridging between the theory of the modernists and the accessibilty of more classical pieces. The strings wrap you in a soothing blanket, and then the trumpet pokes you in the side and the flutes yell at it.
Gilbert was clearly having the time of his life. Apparently, this has been in discussions for years. He was so thrilled to have this work, it was incredibly charming. And oh, it worked.
The Boulez and Stockhausen both got a little old--none of us are huge modernist fans. But I loved the opening piece and Don Giovanni was fantastic. And the modern stuff was significantly more interesting that it would have been unidirectionally.
I hadn't heard The Unanswered Question in over a decade, and I'd forgotten how much I love that piece. Also, I've only ever heard it live. Ivy03, on the other hand, had only ever heard recordings. It's an entirely different thing. The look on her face as she heard it the way it was intended to be played and then some (it's supposed to be live and with an offstage trumpet solo--in the round just amps it up incredibly) was perhaps the best part. It's an astonishing piece, somehow bridging between the theory of the modernists and the accessibilty of more classical pieces. The strings wrap you in a soothing blanket, and then the trumpet pokes you in the side and the flutes yell at it.
Gilbert was clearly having the time of his life. Apparently, this has been in discussions for years. He was so thrilled to have this work, it was incredibly charming. And oh, it worked.
