Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble sculpts colorful closer
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For the final concert of the Pittsburgh New Music Ensemble's season, "Vanishing Point," artistic director Kevin Noe hung a massive sculpture by Pittsburgh artist Val Cox above the City Theatre stage.
What was the purpose of the sculpture? How did it relate to the works Mr. Noe assembled? Did it ultimately add anything to the performance?
I'm not sure.
The Friday concert revolved around Mr. Cox's sculpture, which lighting designer Andrew David Ostrowski illuminated to match the character of each piece -- deep blue-green for George Crumb's "Vox Balaenae," orange for Jakub Ciupinski's "The Architect's Brother" and neon colors for Gareth Farr's "Kembang Suling."
Patchwork concerts that attempt to present a single musical-visual narrative -- of which PNME is fond -- can feel disjointed and overdone. The music of "Vanishing Point" hit the mark, with a thoughtful program and solid performance. I am not certain that the sculpture was indispensable, but it provided an interesting centerpiece.
One of the evening's highlights was "Kembang Suling," a impressive duet for flute and marimba whose three movements were separated by other works. Percussionist David Skidmore and flutist Lindsey Goodman played compellingly, beginning the first movement as a single voice but then tossing phrases back and forth. Despite the difference in weight class between marimba and flute, both players tossed passages back and forth effortlessly.
The first movement ended on a fast ascending run that faded into silence. The neon lighting on Mr. Cox's sculpture, combined with Mr. Skidmore's marimba groove, lent the piece a club/house feel.
Mr. Farr's post-minimalistic, grooving duet was aptly placed after Jeffrey Nytch's "Notturno." Mr. Nytch's desolate, sometimes hostile, piece featured dissonant string drones and moving wind lines.
An excerpt from "Vox Balaenae (Voice of the Whales)" took the audience underwater with percussive piano strumming and cello harmonics. Pianist Conor Hanick and cellist Norbert Lewandowski depicted flirting whales with sighing slides (although in places the piece sounded more like dolphin chatter than whale song).
Gerard Grisley's "Stele (Stone)," a bass drum duet, began with both players brushing the drums with actual paint brushes. The drums sounded like the ocean in the beginning -- a nice segue from "Vox Balaenae." With the stage set with bass drums at either wing I was expecting thunderous taiko, but the percussionists presented an impressionist narrative not a groove. A duel ensued between Mr. Skidmore, who made his drum hiss with cool rods, and Lisa Pegher, who pounded thunderously with conventional sticks.
The program ended with "The Architect's Brother," an eerie piece for piano, marimba, celeste and cello. The piano, marimba and celeste (performed on synthesizer by Robert Frankenberry) created haunting, rich textures into which Mr. Lewandowski wove snarling cello lines. The players ended in unison with a small cymbal strike -- a dark joke that sounded like a sinister smirk.
First Published August 2, 2011 12:00 am
