Editorial Board
Melanie
Eskenazi
Webmaster: Len Mullenger
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Seen and Heard International Concert Review
Finsterer, Ortiz, Matthews, Glaser, Romaneiro: Soloists, New Juilliard Ensemble, Joel Sachs, director and conductor, Alice Tully Hall, New York City, 16.11.2006 (BH)
Mary Finsterer: Nyx (1996) * Pablo Ortiz: Heat Wave (2006) *** David Matthews: Violin Concerto No. 2 (1998) ** David Glaser: Apparitions (2004) * Ricardo Romaneiro: Blue Steel (2006) ***
***World premiere **Western Hemisphere premiere *New York premiere
New Juilliard Ensemble Emi Ferguson, Flute Xiang-Yu Zhou, Bass Clarinet Kyung-Eun Na, Piano
A pelting rain probably winnowed the audience a bit on
this particular evening, which is too bad since those
absent missed out on some of the latest archaeological
finds from all over the world, ferreted out by Joel Sachs,
the New Juilliard Ensemble’s director and conductor.
“Hits and misses” are part of the thrill of contemporary
music – you never know whether you’re hearing the inaugural
performance of a new classic, or the first reading of
something that may never see the light of day again.
Tonight’s haul was a good one.
With
Heat Wave, written for the ensemble, Buenos Aires-born
Pablo Ortiz wanted to recreate the feeling of slowly entering
a quiet swimming pool, of hot and cold sensations as one
travels from one end to the other. Rapidly flowing
lines for winds are quickly taken up by the rest of the
ensemble, which eventually subsides down a bit, but the
result is a sort of gurgling perpetual motion. Like
a number of composers who have written for this group,
Ortiz has given them a real workout, not as languid as
his inspiration might suggest.
Completely
different in tone was David Glaser’s Apparitions,
inspired by a series by artist Linda Plotkin, whose miniatures
(6” x 6”) incorporate imagery and fragments of Asian papers.
Glaser has imagined eight movements whose titles correspond
to Plotkin’s collages, from the brevity of “Sun and Silver”
(about 30 seconds long) to “Ocean Vision,” shimmering
with some lovely oboe solos. Stylistically Glaser
and Webern would have a lot to chat about, with tiny moments
flickering through the ensemble, although Mozart’s “Haffner”
and “Posthorn” Serenades are also cited as influences.
Certainly the radiant reading coaxed by Dr. Sachs from
his Juilliard players made one ponder the ever-fertile
union of the aural and the visual.
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