Wonderful New Music!
August 6, 2010
Monday was another fantastic Chamberfest day – made me sad I had missed the weekend! I thought it was rather fitting to mark my return to the festival with my return to St. Brigid’s. SB’s is one of my favourite concert venues, despite the horrifically uncomfortable pews made for little people of past days, and the lack of A/C on oppressively hot days (like yesterday). I must admit that there were a few times when I felt like following the host’s directions: “raise your hand if you feel faint and one of the volunteers will come and get you”. I love the addition of a barbeque outside! I hate the omission of beer inside. Hmmm.
I managed to hit the 130, 3 and 1030 concerts. I had planned on the 8pm, but after being so stimulated by new music at 130 and 3, and tired from the heat, I simply couldn’t fathom sitting through the Tchaikovsky trio. (Why didn’t the 8pm concert fit the new music marathon theme?) Percussion? Now, that I could have done! 130’s concert featured the incredibly talented Penderecki String Quartet, trumpeter Amy Horvey and accordionist Joseph Petric performing works by Giacinto Scelsi, Juliet Palmer, Glenn Buhr, Marzan Mozetich. Palmer and Buhr were in attendance.
Horvey’s Scelsi was fantastic! I have to admit, I wasn’t much of a fan of Palmer’s piece, although I think it was more the performance of it that bothered me. There was all this head bobbing during the rests, and the phrase was constantly lost. It would have benefited from more rehearsal, and overall investment into the performance process. That said, this is often the case with ‘world premieres’ – the kinks are still being worked out. Buhr’s quartet was next, interesting although not terribly original. And it was the same for the Mozetich – this one sounded a bit like Holocaust movie music mixed with Steve Reich’s pulsing patterns. Throughout this concert, I was impressed by the musicians. It’s wonderful to see such committed performances of new music.
After a CMC-provided reception in the basement, the Ottawa New Music Creators presented a concert featuring a variety of genres from string quartet, to harp, clarinet (with acting) and saxophone. I love the feel of this community in Ottawa and look forward to seeing them in action over the next years. We are lucky to have so many creators right here in the capital!
Toca Loca and DJ P-Love closed off the day for me, and what an awesome finisher it was! I adore seeing contemporary performances that incorporate video and ‘urban’ sounds like turntables and such. There was even one piece with karaoke! The first piece was a twisted take on Hitchcock’s The Birds and Psycho. It was like chamber music for piano and video. It’s made my list for future projects, for sure! Toca Loca is a top notch ensemble, and this was a top notch performance. I only wish there had been more people there to enjoy such a one-of-a-kind experience!
I missed the last three days – came down with a bit of something, and after my own few hours of practice after work simply didn’t have anything left! Sad, too, for I was really looking forward to young violin sensation Isabelle Faust and Angele Dubeau with La Pieta! Tonight, I’m headed over to Dominion Chalmers to turn pages for the Schumann celebration, and looking super forward to it. This is it, people! We’ve got today and tomorrow – get out there and enjoy the close of the 2010 Chamberfest season!
Jacqueline Woods (disappointed in her inability to be as hardcore a Chamberfester as in previous years…)
