04-07-2019, 12:14 PM
The season finale was Beethoven's Mass in C and Salonen's Karawane - both heavy choral pieces. There were so many factors working against me making this performance - my mom of course, and then there was this invitation to work Skulls & Roses, a Dead-related music fest happening in So.Cal this weekend. S&R reached out months ago so it's been on my radar (this was also the time that Man at Arms: Art of War S3 was originally projected to start filming but still no word). S&R finally made an offer last Monday, which was way too weak and late, plus there's no way I could take off for that right now with my mom. At least I got to this symphony.
I didn't know Karawane. The program described it as like Escher's Ascending & Descending, a tone poem where the chorus sings gibberish as a comment on the ineffective political talks prior to WWI. It was a crazy piece, massive percussion which I always enjoy, including two xylophones, a set of gamelan gongs, rainsticks and some instruments I didn't know. They showed a vid of Salonen himself chanting the gibberish in a B&W performance that reminded me of the Residents. At first, I thought of Twilight Zone soundtrack themes. Then I fell asleep. The piece totally lost me but I gotta give cred to a composer that can get an 80+ member chorus in formal attire to sing gibberish like a century later.
Mass in C was pure Beethoven, a piece I didn't know. Four guest vocalists from the Met Opera sat in, and really elevated it. This was the first time I was annoyed by the supertitles, because the translation of the lyrics were just repetitive 'praise Jesus' stuff which I found distracting.
The symphony seemed off. In the first piece, a violinist struck a music stand with a bow, which woke me up. Several performers were late getting to their seats for the second piece. Danny dropped his baton during that too, but recovered by carrying on empty-handed with great panache.
Next season was announced - the only thing that got me was Carmina Burana. We're still planning to get season tix, but the cheap seats.
We walked there and back, and had dinner at Laili (so delicious and nutritious...and pricey). It was a lovely evening.
I didn't know Karawane. The program described it as like Escher's Ascending & Descending, a tone poem where the chorus sings gibberish as a comment on the ineffective political talks prior to WWI. It was a crazy piece, massive percussion which I always enjoy, including two xylophones, a set of gamelan gongs, rainsticks and some instruments I didn't know. They showed a vid of Salonen himself chanting the gibberish in a B&W performance that reminded me of the Residents. At first, I thought of Twilight Zone soundtrack themes. Then I fell asleep. The piece totally lost me but I gotta give cred to a composer that can get an 80+ member chorus in formal attire to sing gibberish like a century later.
Mass in C was pure Beethoven, a piece I didn't know. Four guest vocalists from the Met Opera sat in, and really elevated it. This was the first time I was annoyed by the supertitles, because the translation of the lyrics were just repetitive 'praise Jesus' stuff which I found distracting.
The symphony seemed off. In the first piece, a violinist struck a music stand with a bow, which woke me up. Several performers were late getting to their seats for the second piece. Danny dropped his baton during that too, but recovered by carrying on empty-handed with great panache.
Next season was announced - the only thing that got me was Carmina Burana. We're still planning to get season tix, but the cheap seats.
We walked there and back, and had dinner at Laili (so delicious and nutritious...and pricey). It was a lovely evening.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse
