By Valerie Scher, Classical Music Critic
Union-Tribune original article here

Golijov's 'Ayre' an impressive showcase for Upshaw

During the final section of Osvaldo Golijov's "Ayre," celebrated soprano Dawn Upshaw sang with her eyes closed and her body swaying, like a diva in the throes of musical rapture. Her voice soared, attuned to the exoticism of the instrumental accompaniment, which reflected both Middle Eastern chromaticism and sultry Latin rhythms.

It was the beguiling climax to Golijov's 45-minute-long song cycle, which received its West Coast premiere Thursday at downtown's Copley Symphony Hall in the opening of the La Jolla Music Society's 2005-06 Celebrity Series.

"Ayre" was a dazzling showcase for Upshaw, for whom it was written. Even if it wasn't consistently effective, the music displayed the ingenious eclecticism of Golijov, one of today's leading composers, who was on hand for the performance.

The concert, which filled about 1,000 of Symphony Hall's 2,255 seats, launched a seven-city U.S. tour that ends Oct. 30 in Cleveland. And the soprano, who has recorded the work, was undeterred by its requirements, no matter how unconventional.

In "Morning of St. John's Day," she sang about the futility of war while clanking finger cymbals. In the Sardinian-based song "Walls Are Encircling the Land" – an example of rock-folk fusion brimming with raucous energy – she adopted such a nasal timbre that she hardly sounded like herself.

High-tech effects were part of the electronically amplified score, as when Upshaw sang with prerecorded passages or when Michael Ward-Bergman's swooping accordion sounded like something from a futuristic TV show. He and the other instrumentalists were outstanding, never more so than during Michael J. Maccaferri's klezmerlike clarinet solos.

Translations of the assorted foreign language texts were provided in the program booklet and on a screen. But not everything in the score was persuasive.

The Palestinian poem by Mahmoud Darwish – the only spoken portion – seemed out of place. And though composer/guitarist Gustavo Santaolalla's instrumental interlude was pleasant, it didn't really mesh with the rest of the song cycle.

Still, as one listened to "Ayre's" 11 sections, Golijov's powers of assimilation became increasingly apparent. The former composer-in-residence at La Jolla SummerFest aimed for an ambitious amalgam of elements that were, by turns, uplifting and earthy, traditional and experimental. Mostly, he succeeded.

Appealing in a different way was the rest of the program. Santaolalla, a close colleague of Golijov's and a force in Latin alternative music, was featured in harmonious duets with Upshaw. He also presented a delicately wistful excerpt from his soundtrack for the film "The Motorcycle Diaries," which he played on the ronroco, a South American instrument that resembles a small guitar.

By contrast, Derek Bermel's "Tied Shifts" emphasized the virtuosity of the six-person contemporary music ensemble eighth blackbird. The piece was inspired by the composer's study of Bulgarian folk music – the title refers to what Bermel calls in his program notes the "practice of tying melodic notes over a bar line, resulting in an obscuring of the meter." With pinpoint precision, the players conveyed the exciting sense of rhythmic flux as well as the solemnity of hymnlike passages.

In the process, the compositions by Bermel and Santaolalla showed that "Ayre" wasn't the only music worth hearing.

Copyright 2005 San Diego Union-Tribune