June 18th, 2011 §
Winterreise is one of the best concerts you will ever attend. A splendid evening of Schubert music. Choreographer Jochen Ulrich worked hand in hand with composer Heinz Winbeck to develop a full length score of the best of Schubert's music for orchester and a singer.
The singer Martin Achrainer fills each song full of portent and passion. Fans of German lieder would swoon. I hope there's a compact disc for sale. In his dramatic performance, Achrainer often takes the role of the composer Schubert himself, writing out sheafs and sheafs of music on stage in the first act.
The stage is dramatically decked out with a huge round mirror overhead, about 15 metres across, which can flutter in moments of dramatic importance offering a strange through the looking glass feel. At the front corner of the stage there is an impressionist painting of Schubert's time. Alas, the painting at 1.5 metres wide is too small to be intelligible and too large not to notice. Most of the lighting is strongly green tinted for some reason. Alas for most of the piece, the lights are also just too bright. I'm no fan of watching dance in the dark, but until the last half hour of the two hour performance, one felt that one was under rehearsal lights and the light technicians went off duty while the choreographer and dancers worked.
Jochen Ulrich Winterreise ensemble
With such bright lights, the large atmospheric candelabra arrangements on stage had little effect.
In spite of the interrogation lights, the dramatic development is extremely difficult to follow. In the beginning there is a stream of beautiful women wandering on stage only to be accosted by pairs of men and disappear. Later when the women reappear on stage they are inebriated and stumbling. Now they are out and out ravished by packs of four and five men. Looking into the program one learns that there's a bride (Clara Pascual Martí) and her mother (Irene Bauer). Bauer changes costume more than anyone else in the production, strutting gorgeously in high heels and a tight tiny white skirt in her first appearance and with a long spell in the second act in a long black evening gown, an elegant precursor to the flappers. I've rarely seen someone dance so well in high heels but as the mother, Bauer is sadly often left to just wander around.
Fabrice Jucquois Irene Bauer Clara Pascual Marti
The cast list continues with a father (Fabrice Jucquois), a sister (Anna Sterbová), a brother in law (Wallace Jones) and an uncle (Daniel Morales Pérez). On the other side we have a groom (Matej Pajgert), his mother (Sarah Deltenre), his father (Alexander Novikov), his brother (Emilijus Miliauskas), his female cousin (Lucia Patoprstá) and his sister-in-law (Marietta Kro). Who all of these people are we really have no idea. They spend a lot of time kissing one another and pulling up the women's skirts. Kro is particularly winsome in her long dress with her attentive lover Daniel Morales Pérez. Wallace Jones impresses with his tender attentions to his partners male and female in his appearances. Jucquois convinces as a sufficiently dominant patriarchal presence.
Schubert's personal life was difficult, he often lived abroad. Towards the end of his life he suffered from severe illness and near blindness. But there is no direct equivalent in the Ulrich's libretto. Ulrich's starting point was of course Schubert's music and curiously wedding scenes from the films of Fellini and Kusterica.
Fellini's mad weddings are difficult enough to comprehend on film. In the theater, one doesn't have the same chance to change viewpoint or perspictive, unless its via selective light of which we saw little. I'm not quite sure how an early death to syphilis at 31 (Schubert's fate) is equivalent to incest and rape among the gypsies.
Still the lyrics of the Winterreise songs (the words were not written by Schubert but rather by a poet he admired, Wilhelm Müller or for some of the songs by composer Heinz Winbeck) do support Ulrich's dark vision:
Heart be still
Why do you hammer relentless
It's the will of the heavens
That I must leave you now.
Of course, with dancers as luscious as Bauer, Kro and Patoprstá one doesn't always need a linear libretto. The men don't look too bad stripped to the waist and in black trousers either. Whatever the story, there is far too much walking and too much pantomime. Why they wander and wander in circles is a mystery to me. I can understand that Ulrich wants to experiment with gait, but that doesn't seem to be his intention. It's as if we are watching an early walk through where the steps haven't all been set and the dancers are just finding their places.
Nearly all of these episodes could be energetically danced and bridged with dance. Grigorovich told stories through dance in his ballets, particularly Romeo and Juliet, I don't know why Ulrich doesn't want to take the final step and insist the movement tell his story.
No matter how fed up one gets with strutting dancers and the incoherently episodic story, one can always return in the end to Achrainer's singing.
Besides Achrainer's fine singing, the musical side had solid support from a good orchestra performance under conductor Takeshi Moriuchi's energetic leadership. Maaki Namekawa's solid piano solos.
The final half-hour picks up when the lights go down and something approaching a marriage and the family photo afterwards slowly devolves to surrealistic spinning of the stage while a figure in red silk lies crucified. At one point the feathers are thrown up in the air over the group as dancers pose in the middle giving us the effect of one of those glass snow scenes shaken up as the snow floats down. Later Achrainer plays with a wooden rocking horse in the foreground with dark glasses, slowly going blind and losing his mind.
One wonders why Ulrich waited for the last half hour to do something with the lights and to really work his story.
In the end, no harm is done. For the languid stretches, one can close one's eyes and just listen to Schubert's astonishing songs beautifully renderd by both orchestra and singer. Yet if it weren't for the wonderful music, Winterreise might be judged confusing and over long.
In spite of it all, there is great pleasure in Winterreise. At least Ulrich's dancers are doing something and there's great music to hear. Dance life can be much worse: one could be stuck in the Vienna contemporary dance scene, watching dancers sulk in the corner in dirty jogging suits, picking at scabs on their arms. Go to Landestheater Linz instead.
While you're at Landestheater Li, don't miss the Promenadenhof next door. There's a fabulous garden and the traditional Austrian pastries are top-notch.
Having seen Winterreise here in Linz, I'm very curious about the Hamburg Ballet's version by John Neueimeier from 2001.
For more information about Jochen Ulrich's Winterreise, including performance dates, photographs and tickets, visit the Landestheater Linz website.
October 4th, 2010 §
dark side of the lens whales
dark side of the lens gulls
dark side of the lens diver
This film is supposed to be about surfing and underwater photography.
For me it is about the sea and it is a paeon to this monument of beauty spanning most of the planet.
I see this and I wonder how we continue to relentlessly despoil this unrepairable wonder with oil spills, deslickers, polluted rivers, radioactive waste.
The wickedness of civilisation, at least in its capitalist extant, is to borrow the profit of today against the misery of tomorrow. Man has been at this a long time though. The folk of Easter Island expired when they consumed their entire food chain.
Even archeology has not been enough to sober world leaders apart from that fleeting glimpse of a president Gore.
But back to the film and the ocean. Don't miss the splendid soundtrack and the free poetry of the voiceover. Here's a few strong phrases.
i never set out to become anything particular, only to live creatively...
my heart bleeds celtic blood and I'm magnetised to familiar frontiers...
if i only scrape a living it's a living worth scraping..
Both words and music strongly wrought by subject and filmmaker Mickey Smith.
A small SEO thanks to energy drink Relentless for making this possible. Via ISO50.
October 4th, 2010 §
Normally our beat around here is high culture and dance. While figuring out how to get get some of our own videos out to you, I ran across a heavy metal music video which really works. In its way, this bit of guitar porn is a dance video itself.
In the middle 030 drags a bit, it even seems like director Jeppe Kolstrup is going to back off the logical conclusion of his own idea. But no, he takes it to the end. Leaving a clear view of the face of the model to the end is a nice touch.
Full length UNCUT version of '030' by The Good The Bad
Sex sells. Especially good sex.
September 19th, 2010 §
Another good concert in the fabulous Melt series from Pazit . The Melt series in the Austellungsraum at 23 Gumpfendorferstrasse is the most vibrant concert series in Vienna now for electronic and experimental music. Pazit focuses usually on strong singer/songwriters and doesn't really limit the series too much by genre. In the current series of concerts, there's been real experimental, along with Falco revival Tanz Baby and even almost reggae.
Tanz Baby is a little bit kitsch with David Kleinl going somewhat over the top in his ersatz Falco persona. But like the original Falco, Tanz Baby is playful and fun. Everyone there had a great time.
Here are some photos.
tanz baby david kleinl bubbles
tanz baby david kleinl
Tanz Baby at Melt Continues »
March 2nd, 2010 §
Superb trumpet play, along with quiet mastery on the guitar. Your ears are there for Paolo Fresu but Ralph Towner makes it all possible.
I bought the Chiaroscuro CD while I was there. Surprisingly the CD is just a shadow of how Fresu and Towner play live together. This is one rare occasion where the live performance clearly outranks what the musicians can do in the studio. I guess you had to be there.
Porgy & Bess artistic director Christoph Huber was very animated after the show as well. It was one of the top five concerts I've ever attended there in five years.
Paolo Fresu on trumpet
Paolo Fresu on trumpet
Paolo Fresu on trumpet
Paolo Fresu and Ralph Towner at Porgy & Bess: Chiaroscuro tour Continues »
November 9th, 2009 §
Managed to catch some Viennale films and a couple of Viennale parties.
The strange thing at the parties is that many of the people there had not been to any films or to just one film. I suppose at the films many of the people had not been to any parties.
If you get the chance, I'd recommend to do both.
While I was at the Soul Powered evening on 31 October I managed to snap some photos both upstairs and downstairs.
Viennale party upstairs Badeschiff
Viennale Soul Powered on Badeschiff Continues »
April 6th, 2009 §
Tomasz Stanko is a legend of Jazz trumpet. He's won more prizes than you or I could forget. So what has he done with his later years?
Instead of getting toasty around the couch playing old standbys (often what happens to older jazz musicians and even more so with rockers), boring himself and us, Stanko puts together a new collective every two or three years with hand-picked younger recruits.
With fresh blood in his veins (Stanko refers to himself as a vampire), he infects his young with his talent and musical ingenuity. The result tonight is called the Tomasz Stanko Nordic Quintet.
The music was langorous and melodic. An easy to degust, but complex pleasure.
Alexi Tuomarila's work on the piano was understated but overwhelming. Olavi Louhivuori showed more flash on drums but equal power. While less scintillating themselves, Jakob Bro and Anders Christensen on electric guitar and electric bass solidly held up the foundation under Stanko, Tuomarila and Louhivuori.
Not to be missed if you get the chance.
Here are some pictures of Tomasz Stanko Nordic Quintet in action at Porgy & Bess - I recommend clicking an image for the slideshow as that houndstooth jacket wreaks havoc with the ImageMagick thumbnail algorithms.
Alexi Tuomarila Tomasz Stanko (Leica 90mm 2.8)
Alexi Tuomarila Tomasz Stanko Jakob Bro (Leica 90mm 2.8)
Tomasz Stanko Nordic Quintet at Porgy & Bess Continues »
March 27th, 2009 §
On Monday, I thought I was dropping in on a young composers concert at Porgy and Bess. Something about the Konservatorium Wien. To my surprise, there turned out to be as much dance and performance as music.
MIR geht es gut - Petra Straussová
The best dance piece which I saw was called MIR geht es gut. It's about two girlfriends who meet repeatedly in the underground or at a joga class or via a quick handy call. If you've lived in Vienna any period of time, you are familiar with the persistenty shallow "Mir geht's gut und dir?" At first you think they really want to know. But not at all. It's equivalent of the empty North American. "How are you?" for which there is only one acceptable answer. "I'm great and how are you?"
MIR geht es gut - Petra Straussová
It's an absurd situation. Why do people speak at all if they have nothing to say. Both Petra Staussová and Simone Kühle managed to catch the inflection and frantic feel-good vibe of the modern urban woman perfectly.
MIR geht es gut at the Fidelio-Wettbewerb Konservatorium Wien Continues »
February 24th, 2009 §
Rigmor Gustafsson Quartet at Porgy and Bess Vienna February 24 2009.
The club was quite full. The audience really enjoyed Rigmor Gustafsson's sets. The musicians were very professional. A good chill atmosphere. Nothing electric though. An agreeable evening of pop-jazz.
Something of a time-warp back to the days of James Taylor and Carly Simon. Amusingly enough those two are now bourgeois.
Rigmor Gustafsson Quartet 1
Rigmor Gustafsson Quartet 9
Rigmor Gustafsson Quartet 19
Rigmor Gustafsson Quartet at Porgy and Bess Vienna Continues »
January 30th, 2007 §
Great party on an icy Saturday night in Vienna.
Great dancing from this group of friends
this is what I love about goa
the music, the light and the joy
flowing through one's whole body.
Perfect moment.
Beautiful people. Nice atmosphere. Full, but not too crowded. Nothing worse than a goatrance party where there is no space to dance.
Austrian GoaTrance Photos: Cosmic Party WUK 27-1-2007 Continues »
