Here’s for Greta

We’ve all been watching Greta Thunberg for months now. I jokingly say she’s my hero, but I seriously have immense respect for her clarity of thought and her speaking of truths and her steely commitment. Her first quote I recall was “I don’t want you to be hopeful / I want you to panic” and her message “I don’t want you to listen to me / I want you to listen to the scientists” is simple educated respect for our core institutions despite the time off school. Yesterday’s presentation to the UN similarly rang true: “We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth”. But I worried for her. She’s young and on a big podium and she looked very stressed. We all need to stress for the position some politicians are putting us in, they being foolish or ignorant or corrupt. Increasingly, I think corrupt. As for Australia, the election speaks much of us. In that context, I am sad to have missed the recent climate marches. I was in Milan when the Paris march was held (20 Sep) and will be in Paris when the Milan march is to be held (27 Sep). That would be amusing if the issue weren’t so serious. Good on Greta and go the movement. He’s not the first to have expressed the sentiment, but as Gramsci said, what we require at this already late stage is “Pessimism of the intellect, optimism of the will”.

Thanks to Anders Hellberg who photographed Greta Thunberg outside the Swedish Parliament on 31 Aug 2018 and made his excellent pic available through Wikicommons

Delirium

It was a quick transition, but we’ve arrived in Milan and what do you know, another festival. This one is Mito Settembre Musica. We had three choices and one was easy walking distance, so made for us, but our preference anyway. Third Coast Percussion playing minimalism by Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Devonté Hynes, Gavin Bryars and David Skidmore, one member of the band. TCP are an American percussion quartet out of Chicago with a Grammy to their name, so capable and respected. Also entertaining and interactive, in the sense that David, obviously not an Italian speaker, managed to introduce the band and its tunes in Italian, if with very authentic accents on the names in English. Admittedly he was reading from a phone for some extended passages, but he had some knowledge of Italian if a strong accent. They played the mind-boggling complex rhythms and polyrhythms with commitment and attention, of course, but also with clear communication and enjoyment. They moved around and through instruments, played tuned or not, were obviously well choreographed to the extent of turning music for each other in busy passages. And the music was fascinating and complex and deliriously polyrhythmic and I love that. But oddly I felt I knew their characters by the end of the concert, or rather much earlier. Strangely clearly these were four people, not just musicians, with characters and presentations that were clear in a way that I don’t think I’ve ever experienced in concert before. The outgoing ones and the more introverted; the one who virtually stared at a current partner (some jazz players do that, I wish I could); the one who spoke in Italian and composed; the one who was everywhere at all times and seemed to have particular chops. Actually, they all did have great chops. There was humour like the encore that started with them playing large wooden hair combs and continued with a music box fed with its own pianola-like reel. There was drama with one gong and I thought I heard a synth drone at the start but that may have been soft percussion for something later was just that and there movement as players switched instruments across stage and concentrations when they played one marimba (was this all four on one?) from front and back. And there were jagged sequences and unrelenting tensions and also soft settlement and beauteous percussive sounds. And those deliriously deliciously complex polyrhythms throughout. Wow, loved it.

Third Coast Percussion comprised David Skidmore, Robert Dillon, Peter Martin and Sean Connors (percussion). They performed for RAIRadio3 and MITO SettemberMusica in the Shakespeare room at Teatro Elfo Puccini in Milan.

Communities wherever

We were still in awe of our Aachen Dom mass when we came across a poster for an orchestral concert of Mozart-Mandelssohn-Beethoven 8 and it was that evening! The fates had found us. It was a little out of town and cheap, so I expected community orchestra, and it was. Again, apt, as I’d had to pass on the Maruki performance on the very same Sunday. It was a decent orchestra of worthy size (although short on basses on the day) led by a graduate of the Guildhall in London and more and with a Taiwanese solo violinist who had graduated from the Hochschule fur Musik und Tanz, Köln, which I had passed daily near my lodgings in Cologne. This world grows small. It was a standard structure for an orchestral concert: Mozart overture from La Clemenza di Tito; Mendelssohn violin concerto Emin, followed by an encore solo of Brahms Variations on a theme by Paganini; interval; Beethoven symphony no.8. I chatted to the recordist about his setup; with bassist Klaus about basses and the Beethoven and the like; exchanged recognition with the cellist who had played that morning at the Dom. Otherwise, we enjoyed the concert immensely despite the venue's sparse vibe and its thick reverb. Po-Fan Chen performed with alacrity and clarity and obviously enjoyed the works for that. The orchestra had a similar challenge, especially on the Beethoven and I thought they carried it off very successfully. I’d never expected to find a community orchestra in my travels. I guess they exist widely but they are not located or advertised or timed so easily for tourists to find, so this was a great find a much enjoyed.


Aachen’s Sinfonietta Regio performed under Jeremy Hulin (conductor) with soloist Po-Fan Chen (violin) at the Auferstehunhskirche in Aachen. The program was Mozart overture, Mendelssohn violin concerto (with soloist’s encore on Brahms Variations on a theme of Paganini) and Beethoven Symphony no.8.

The glory of tradition

We were in Aachen, once the seat of the Holy Roman Emperor and one of the great sites of Catholic pilgrimage, so we went to Mass although not without some artistic attraction. This mass at 10.30 Sunday morning was at the Aachen Dom, one of the oldest cathedrals in Europe, constructed by Charlemagne who was buried here in 814. The attendance was not huge. We sat under the Barbarossa chandelier within the Palatine Chapel, the original Carolingian Octagon, under the Byzantine cupola mosaics. The mass was conducted just at the entrance to the attached gothic choir with its stained glass windows and collections of gold-encased relics. The Dom’s treasury has one of the best collections of religious art of this era, but that’s another story. The Chorus holds various works of gold and gems including the Shrine of Charlemagne and the Pala d’Oro, the gold encrusted main altar from which this Mass was conducted. And what a stunning work of traditional, assisted by it being in a language not understood. Not just the place, but this mass was sung, charged with incense and accompanied by organ at times, but also Mozart’s Missa brevis and rendition of Bach Jesu joy of man’s desire to accompany communion. The pipe organ was heard but invisible to us somewhere amongst the two galleries of the Octagon. We sat right in front of the string quartet with SATB soloists, behind the conductor, who performed the Mozart and Bach. There was some informality throughout, with a superbly constructed and presented homily with apt humour from the priest, evident even without understanding. The musos, too, needed some informality to adjust themselves. Their playing was lovely and sometimes superb and the acoustics were bliss. From the first songs of the Mozart, I was entranced. The Bach hit me with a sledgehammer with its superb simplicity when performed by quartet and solo singers. Just a dream. The combination of mighty tradition, religious commitment (despite the fairly casual parishioners), lofty space and aged decorations and Mozart and Bach were literally stunning. A deeply affecting experience.

Mozart Missa brevis and Bach Jesu joy of man’s desire were performed by SATB soloists and string quartet under conductor for a mass at the Aachen Cathedral. A pipe organ also played.

Music as the common language

Attending another organ concert in Europe is nothing unusual. This one was in an Evangelical church, so the space was sparse and the organ seemed the most indulgent thing in its balcony space. It was slightly unusual that we could sit in a generous balcony with the organist to experience the concert. But the most strange thing was to hear perhaps the most loquacious organist ever speaking rapidly and voluminously and to understand a word. My bad, as they say - I wish I understood some German – but it was odd. But the playing was lively and adventurous. Klaus C. van den Kerkhoff playing Jan Pieterzoon Sweelink, Samuel Scheidt, both around C15th, and Sigfrid Karg-Elert, 1909. Fugues and stops and chromatics: much easier to comprehend. Nice.

Klaus C. van den Kerkhoff (organ) performed at the Annakircke, Aachen.

Comparisons

We’ve come to Aachen, a small city (~280,000) and a centre of innovation on the German/Belgian border. It’s been a spa town since roman days and Megan was interested for its history as the imperial residence of Charlemagne and its associations otherwise with the Holy Roman Empire. It was bombed comprehensively in 1944 so not sure how much remains, but that’s to be seen. These days it’s a centre of innovation but our view has been rather more pedestrian. But an opportune discovery at the local tourist information centre told us of three interesting musicals event on the night and there were still tickets to be had when we arrived for our first choice: the final of the MozARTe 15th International Piano Competition. Four performers (form Germany, Italy, South Korea and Japan) each playing a Mozart (K.414, K.415 or K.449) or Chopin (no.2) concerto with string accompaniment (a double string quartet with double bass) for prizes from E3,000 down, judged by an international jury of eight chaired and sponsored by the local Lions group. The 34 entries were weaned to four for the final: Vincent Neeb (Germany, Mozart K.414); Riccardo Gagliardi (Italy, Chopin no.2); Gi Ran Jung (South Korea, Mozart K.449); Mizora Ozaki (Japan, Chopin no.2). It was interesting to compare two interpretation of the one Chopin; to hear the effectiveness of the accompaniment over the night; to listen to the acoustics in this older-style European chamber space and sound of the Steinway (~6 foot?) lent for the occasional; to wonder about comparing Mozart with Chopin; to make our own judgements for the audience prize; just to hear the capable playing from memory. They played in the order listed. The judges chose 1. Ozaki, 2. Gagliardi, 3. Neeb, 4. Jung. The audience (with instructions to choose one only) agreed: 1. Ozaki. My guess was agreement on 1/2 but swapping 3/4. Not that I like competitions so much but there was some decent and some excellent playing to hear and the first choice seemed pretty clear. She also seemed to get the best accompaniment of the night, playing last and with the strings nicely warmed up. Like interviews, the first up virtually never wins. But an opportune find.

Vincent Neeb, Riccardo Gagliardi, Gi Ran Jung and Mizora Ozaki (pianos) performed in the final of the MozARTe 15th International Piano Competition in Aachen.

This is CJBlog post no. 2,200.

What’s what

It’s the most renowned art piece in town and the feature of the Dom and it’s got an entry price for its tiny room with one item on display and it wasn’t even the real thing! I’m talking of the Ghent Altarpiece or Adoration of the Mystic Lamb or Het Lam Gods and it’s a C13th complex polyptych by the brothers van Eyck and it’s stunning but I was surprised to find the several panels, including the central panel, to be in the local art museum under restoration on public display. It’s fascinating to see the restoration underway and a birdcage for the two women carrying it out. No pics of that, reasonably. The completion of all panels is due in 2020 and a van Eyck festival will celebrate it, but it was a surprise. Maybe it was mentioned in the chattering audio guides or in the small display in the Dom, but I’d missed it. Also amusing was the justification for this one work being such a large part of the artists’ output. Only about 20 works are known and this is so large relative to the rest that it makes up 80% of the known output of the van Eycks. An amusing view. After spraining an ankle, my museum visits were limited, but I did see the Dom and the Het Lam version there and next day the Museum Voor Schone Kunsten, the fine arts museum dating to impressionism or thereabouts, paired with a contemporary museum next door. Not the greatest gallery I’ve visited recently, but any gallery with mediaeval works has me swooning, and there were a string of Breughels and a fascinating room of the history of portraiture, from mediaeval to George Gross, amongst more. In the face of a wobbly ankle, they were worthy outings.

Saint Bavo’s Cathedral in Ghent houses the Ghent Altarpiece (=Adoration of the ystic Lamb or Het Lam Gods) by Hubert and Jan van Eyck when it’s not in restoration at the Museum Voor Schone Kunsten. Thanks to Wikicommons for the Ghent altarpiece pic.

Not quite Invitation

It seems that European jazz revels in experimentation, or maybe I just find it. Actually, I’ve also found but not attended trad and blues and swing. But this second night was anothery, Alibaba playing free / experimental somewhere in the style of Ornette. I loved this one. A quintet with softness and dynamics and considerable flexibility but also charts and with melodies and effective harmonies and starts and stops that speak of order, even if it’s discrete. The drums and bass seldom spelt out obvious rhythms, moving accents and complexity around freely, the upright piano seemed unamplified so only really easy to hear in a solo, but was nicely subtle and chordal and the two saxes (occasionally the tenor switched to bamboo flute or vocals) concurrently soloing with sympathy and some not-too-effective-live effects. The effects may be more obvious on one of their several albums. They played an hour set before a jam session and it was a great pleasure. Then into the jam, supposedly. It seemed more a personal gig for the convenor. Not that that was bad – he did a very nice take on free trumpeting – but not exactly open. A passing mention that bass and piano were on stage, then into a 30-min duo with drums, then another drummer invited up and as that duo started I left. But it was nice playing throughout the night and nicely inventive. As for the jam, maybe it’s fate that my pic of the duo failed to save, so no pic.

Aligaga and a jam were programmed at the Hot Club Gent. Aligaga comprised Jon Sensmeier (alto), Joos Vandueren (tenor, vocals, bamboo flute), Leonard Steigerwald (piano), Frederico Corsini (bass) and Daniel Junkers (drums). Bart Maris (trumpet) convened the jam.

Twisted

Ghent is a display city of Belgium, aged and impressive, a student and tourist centre. I am yet to explore it to any degree but I’ve sat in squares on warm afternoons and perused stone architecture and considered the changes in rooflines with fashion and even passed by a genuine mediaeval castle in the middle of town with turrets on towers and a central keep. I’d have seen more and sat less if I hadn’t twisted an ankle on the steps of the first church I passed by on day 1 but I managed nearby Bar Lume to hear Renaud Gilbert playing solo violin with effects. Bar Lume is associated with the Hot Club Gent which seems to be the major jazz club in town. Renaud was just as I expected and I enjoyed him lots. Well presented and well trained. His confident bowing and pizz and sequenced arpeggiations and sharp intonation displayed his classical training, although his technique could be non-standard, like tapping strings with the violin on his lap. There were vocals and some exquisite harmonies and minimalist repetition and echoed high notes and of course various resets on various effects at his feet. I thought echo was central to his sound and I guess looping and reverb and an envelope generator. He was busy and sometimes jagged and playing to a small group including mates so this may be a new act, but I liked the outcome of minimalism and noise and capable chops. Nice one and well enjoyed.

Renaud Gilbert (violin, effects) performed at Bar Lume in Ghent.

Patrimony 3 and more

The final piece that we experienced from the Patrimoine festival came with a visit to a small town, Dinant, on the river Meuse. The sister of our host is a curator at the local historical museum, the Maison du Patrimoine Medieval Mosan, set in an old lofty castle-like stone building. We visited various local churches and trawled the exhibition. But perhaps first up was the surprise to find tenor sax statues throughout the town: this is the birthplace of Adolphe Sax. We visited a meagre display but the pride (and the marketing value) was evident. Then off to a piano concert with touring minstrel Vincent Rouard. This was original music, largely chordal and arpeggiated and fairly easy to hear. But notably he travels, seriously. By that, I mean he travels with a Kawai grand piano (~6’) in a trailer with his Bose PA and stock of CDs for sale. Good on him! I can only admire his application. Support him if you can, but if not, listen on Spotify.

Vincent Rouard (piano, vocals) performed in Dinant, the birthplace of Adolphe Sax.

Patrimony 2

We went early for the final concert of the Patrimonoire series. This was in a famed Brussels rock/pop called Ancien Bruxelles. Dark, tall stand-at tables, a huge PA that had Anna, Canberra sound engineer and just back from a few weeks doing that at the Edinburgh Festival, drool. A 128-channel analogue desk; the best standard mics; large phased array; standard lighting desk. We both noted how clear the outcome was. And it was a fascinating gathering. Another ensemble from the Belgian National orchestra, a Brass ensemble, played to the left of the stage. To the right was Marockin’ Brass,a Berber/jazz ensemble playing Coltrane with diverse rhythms and non-Western scales with lots of busy syncopations to confuse the counters. Me too. I tried to count one and in the end realised it was four below with the most twisted polyrhythms above. This was good. Interesting also to feel the infectious earthy life (as evident from the nodding bodies) against the lively, carnivalseque, but essential intellectual classical players. I was a bit surprised with a really interesting jazz vibes solo from the classical percussionist and I loved the playful fat toned Marockin’ tuba (and contra-tuba? He switched to a one very large tuba for one tune). But a fabulous gig all round and evidently enjoyed by all the players.

There on to look for a beer and perhaps a band. We happened on a rock venue and the Death metal support, Epidemian. Too loud to stay for any time, but I was enjoying the head banging and especially the well played Warwick 6-string fretless bass. Never put it past the commitment of the metal community.

A Brass ensemble from the Belgian National Orchestra played with Marockin’ Brass at Ancien Bruxelles. Death metal band Epidemian played later, elshwhere.