A substantial review of our world premiere performance of The Only Moving Thing has appeared in the Washington Post, written by Anne Midgette.
Her entertaining, evocatively written review begins:
Six musicians are playing a duet with recorded versions of themselves. It is like looking into an electronic mirror. The mirror refracts the rapid, driving beat of piano and marimba; it adds a reflected gleam to long-held chords of strings and winds. The players, live and recorded, create layer upon layer of sound, a rich mille-feuille of music, while pinwheeling light-images create visual parallels on the wall behind them.
Apparently we are “the straight-A students of the contemporary scene. It’s new music you could bring home to your mother. In performance, eighth blackbird embodies a slightly geeky spirit of earnestness.”
Midgette seemed most taken with Reich’s new work, fruit of “a warm late period that verges on the downright romantic.”
The second half generated a more complex reaction. She thought that the “controlled chaos” of Michael’s “jam session” and the “intense quiet and complexity” of Julie’s work overstayed their welcome, while Lang’s “had a tonic delicacy in comparison,” including the “wistful, elegiac second movement.”
Comments 1
Actually I think Anne is spot on with her review of the concert. The Reich piece was remarkable and I was especially moved by the lushness of the middle section of the piece. This work is destined to become part of the canon of American music.
“Singing in the dead of night” was interesting and had some remarkable moments but needs some serious editing of the extraordinary amount redundant material. As for the staging/choreography, I am not sure it added much. I have seen works where the birds did their own staging to much better effect. In this performance, I also would have liked to see the sound picture change along with the staging as I have seen many times in their all-acoustic performances.
Regardless, a remarkable pair of pieces and performances, played masterfully by the birds. We’re fortunate to have them in Richmond. They add so much to our community of artists.
Posted 28 Mar 2008 at 2:54 pm ¶Post a Comment