Shopping Bag
My AccountThis recap is provided by contributor, Teresa Bergen. Ms. Bergen is the author of the novel Killing The President, and in addition to writing, transcribes and edits oral histories, paints animal portraits, makes costume devil horns, teaches yoga, and plays bass in an indie rock band.
Who ever expected to see a romantic and musical take on George Orwell’s 1984 that featured violin, piano, police whistle, duck calls, a pie tin and a baby in the audience laughing, perfectly timed, during the rests? Not me. But that’s what I saw at Reed College Friday night, when about 300 people gathered to see “Hearing Voices” by the Third Angle New Music Ensemble.
Their mission statement says that they “are committed to presenting world class performances of new chamber music which challenge and entertain our audience, artists and composers.” They also emphasize playing the work of living composers, and commissioning new works.
I will warn readers up front that while I know chamber music from a chamber pot, that’s about the extent of my knowledge. So please keep that in mind when I state my musical opinions here.
Third Angle presented four works, which combined music with narrated stories. The first was the aforementioned 1984, composed by John Deak and performed by two people. Artistic director Ron Blessinger mainly played violin, and Susan Smith mainly played piano. Blessinger also had to narrate while playing, a feat I would not want to attempt (and you wouldn’t want me to, either, if you’d ever been subjected to my early years spent tormenting a half-size violin). Their performance was fun and dynamic, but I really wished that Blessinger had miked his vocals. I probably missed a third of the words. And as a word person, that drives me crazy.
I’m happy to say that all the other narrators had microphones. The second piece, composer Gregory Vajda’s “Gulliver in Faremido,” was a premier performance. Based on a story by the Hungarian writer Frigyes Karinthy (1887-1938), it catches up on Gulliver’s later travels, during World War I. He gets lost at sea, escapes a sinking ship via hydroplane, then keeps going up and up until he arrives on another planet. There he meets the locals, intelligent machines who communicate via music and consider themselves much superior to humans. It was kind of a depressing tale. But the musicality of the machine creatures was quite convincing, and featured a captivating reading by writer/actor/singer David Loftus.
I was especially excited about “A Ride on a Red Mare’s Back,” because our famous and prolific local writer Ursula Le Guin was there to read her story. This is one of her children’s books, about a girl whose little brother is stolen by trolls. With the help of her magical toy horse, they track down her missing brother, who is enjoying the life of a troll child. But they persuade him to return home. Le Guin’s reading was very enjoyable. She excelled on the troll voices. The musical score by Bryan Johnson (who was also playing guitar) blended nicely with the story and also the paintings by Julie Downing that flashed on the screen behind Le Guin. This piece was especially satisfying in a traditional way – the story had a beginning, a middle and an end, and a happy one, at that.
I liked the music best for the last piece, “Serpentine Variations: The Serpent King,” but the title character was a real jerk who never got his comeuppance. This was also a premier. The composer, Robert Kyr, is a professor at the University of Oregon. He created this piece in response to Italo Calvino’s version of an old folk tale. In the story, a barren queen envies all the animal mother with their babies, and exclaims, “I would even be satisfied with a serpent child!” Well, she soon becomes pregnant, and guess what she gives birth to? Sssssss. But she loves her serpent baby and gives him a nice big cage and plenty to eat. All kinds of trouble and weirdness break loose when he demands a beautiful bride with lots of money. The story is broken into fifteen scenes, with a musical variation on a theme after each part. These were great, with some pieces extra snaky (thanks to the alto sax player, the musical stand-in for the serpent’s voice), and other pieces reflecting royal dance scenes. The narrator, actor Michele M. Mariana, was outstanding, with her many voices and excellent comic timing.
Third Angle has some other shows coming up, including free concerts every Friday at noon throughout February, downtown at the Gerding Theater at the Armory. They also have a show March 5 at the Hollywood Theater. And if you happen to be spending springtime in China, catch them at the Beijing Modern Music Festival in May.
Image credits Third Angle, LibraryThing
