Wow. Where to begin? I know that I’ve blogged about Alex Wu before. The 10/13/12 concert was not quite a lecture/concert performance, although Mr. Wu did speak about most of the pieces, and that added quite a bit of depth to the afternoon and to the performances. There were 17 pieces on the program—while I made notes for all, they might not all get full development here.
Global? Yes. USA, Dominican Republic, Canada, Brazil, China, Mexico, Japan, Italy, and France. Rhythm? Yes. Jazz, Tango, Samba, Ragtime.
We started out with a pleasant, light, almost “easy listening pop” Valentine by Fred Hersh (USA). My next favorite was Malgré Tout, (Mexico, Manuel Ponce). This piece (“after all” or “all the same”) was composed for left hand only, in honor of the sculptor who, one-handed, created a sculpture by the same name. I learn so much exploring NYC.
Argentina—Piazzolla—nuevo tango—Libertango. This was a transcription for piano of the landmark Piazzolla composition. Throughout, Mr. Wu’s technique and musicality were just great. A Brazilian three-fer gave us a Choro (very showy technique), a generation-defining tune (La Garota de Ipanema), and a Samba with very lush, dense writing.
My notes for the Choro include “SC”. To me this was music that I can imagine hearing (or imagine seeing others listening to, in old black and white films) in fancy supper clubs. The type of music that is in the background but is oh, so much more important than just being background music. Others in the SC category included two Earl Wild transcriptions of George Gershwin songs—Somebody Loves Me and a wicked version of Fascinatin’ Rhythm (this one garnered an SC+).
In a mini-Far East set, there were two Tan Dun works, Herdboy’s Song and Sunrain from his Opus 1. The first was an evocation of a folk tune while the second seemed to be a Western-music take on a folk tune. Hey, it was Opus 1—an early work. These were followed by a feathery arrangement of Sakora, a traditional Japanese folk song that took me back to the fourth grade. This tune was in our school music book and it was (to my fourth-grader’s ears) the most exotic thing I’d ever heard. That’s the power of folk songs.
Along the way, we heard nods to new age, minimalism, and blues. Truly global. While the Fascinatin’ Rhythm was a tour de force, the closing piece—Blue Rondo a la Turk (Dave Brubeck)—was classic(al) jazz.
Mr. Wu’s playing, and his clear and concise explanations, turned this into a wonderful afternoon of truly global rhythms.
ConcertMeister
This sounds like one I woulda enjoyed!
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