By Evan Gillespie,Tribune Correspondent
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Opera's Upshaw, eighth blackbird soar with 'Ayre'

If the DeBartolo Center for the Performing Arts offers just one concert a year at the level of Saturday's performance by Dawn Upshaw and eighth blackbird, the venue will fulfill its promise of significantly enhancing South Bend's cultural opportunities. Upshaw's presentation of Osvaldo Golijov's "Ayre" song cycle was world-class entertainment the likes of which is not often available in this part of the country.

The concert was a three-part treat. Argentinean guitarist-composer Gustavo Santaolalla opened the show with six of his own songs -- rough-edged love songs for the most part -- and he was joined by Upshaw on two of them. Santaolalla has written scores for films such as "Amores Perros," "21 Grams" and "The Motorcycle Diaries," and his songs are based firmly in South American folk traditions.

The ensemble eighth blackbird contributed the final segment of the concert's first half with their rendition of Derek Bermel's "Tied Shifts," a recent piece based on the rhythms and melodies of Bulgarian folk music. The ensemble displayed remarkable virtuosity as they charged through the lightning-fast barrage of notes, stalking the stage theatrically, confronting one another as their instruments' parts intertwined and collided. The close of the piece's first movement elicited a breathless gasp of "Wow" from the audience.

Upshaw joined eighth blackbird, Santaolalla, and other musicians after intermission for the performance of "Ayre." The cycle began with "Maņanita de San Juan," a Sephardic folk song delivered by Upshaw with fiery imperiousness. The song was followed by "Una Madre Comiķ Asado," a lilting melody that disguises disturbing lyrics. The third song, "Tancas Serradas a Muru," was nothing short of amazing; Upshaw's crystalline soprano was replaced by an explosion of vocal fury that sent the concert's energy level through the roof.

The cycle lost some emotional steam in its final third. Upshaw's spoken recitation of Mahmoud Darwish's poem, "Kun Li-Guitari Wataran Ayyuha Al-Maa," was a jarring departure from her previously transcendent vocal acrobatics, and the decision to present the poem in English translation was puzzling. The concluding song, "Ariadne en su Laberinto," was a circular, meandering piece featuring wordless vocals; it was, certainly, beautiful, but its formlessness was something of an anticlimax.

Nonetheless, the concert was the rare chance to experience, in one evening, the work of one of the most respected opera singers in the world, an innovative and renowned composer, a top-notch guitarist and songwriter, and an immensely talented new music ensemble.

Copyright 2005 South Bend Tribune