Atlanta Ballet: Carmina Burana

Posted on February 3, 2017 by Robbie

I remember seeing Atlanta Ballet’s production of David Bintley’s “Carmina Burana” when they staged it in 2013 and absolutely loving it. The choreographed movement isn’t super complex or exciting, but it is incredibly impressive that Bintley managed to pull three coherent stories out of the the collection of fairly random, raunchy poems in medieval vulgar Latin that Orff put to dramatic music. And the work is often hilarious and is entirely entertaining.
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Atlanta Opera: Maria de Buenos Aires

Posted on February 2, 2017 by Robbie

The Atlanta Opera’s production of Astor Piazzolla’s “Maria de Buenos Aires” was a true delight. It was staged in the event space at Paris on Ponce, La Maison Rouge, which is a decent sized space decorated with a variety of novel tchochkes kind of like one of those restaurants with a name that ends with an apostrophe and an ‘s.’ The action took place in a C shaped area that enveloped the front of the audience, with a stage to the left that led to a higher, narrower stage in front. To the right was a bar set and on the floor in front of the higher stage were a couple of small, high tables and chairs, such as you might find in a bar or café. The word “Maria” was written in ribbons of cloth woven through nails on the front wall.
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ECMSA: Violamania!

Posted on January 28, 2017 by Robbie

How many violists does it take to induce mania? Yinzi Kong seemed to think that nine would be enough when she programmed “Violamania!” for the Emory Chamber Music Society of Atlanta. The program consisted of nine pieces arranged for viola ensembles of sizes ranging from solo to eight, with occasional accompaniment from piano or harpsichord.
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Bent Frequency and Michael Fowler: Sound Worlds – The Sonification of the Japanese Garden

Posted on January 20, 2017 by Robbie

At work today, I was told that I should have worn red and black instead of purple and black. Apparently, this was to signify support for some local falcons who might get to go to the superb owl. Apparently ornithophilia¹ is pretty wide spread in Atlanta because the performers at this evening’s concert at Kopleff Recital Hall got the memo and wore red and black, as well. I’m not sure if this owl is like the one from Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH or more like Wol from Winnie the Pooh – both are superb in their own, distinct ways – but it must be impressive to have so many people excited about local birds visiting it.
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Alonzo King’s Lines Ballet

Posted on January 14, 2017 by Robbie

I’m having a hard time coming up with anything to say about this evening’s performance by Alonzo King’s Lines Contemporary Ballet Company at the Ferst Center. It was definitely enjoyable, with some spectacular dancing and some very interesting aesthetics, but nothing really stuck with me. I came away impressed but hungry for something a little more.
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ASO: Donald Runnicles with Kirill Gerstein

Posted on January 12, 2017 by Robbie

Donald Runnicles opened this evening’s Atlanta Symphony Orchestra program with the world premiere of a new piece by Marc Neikrug, “The Unicorn of Atlas Peak.” It is, apparently, named for a mutual acquaintance of Runnicles and Neikrug’s who, it seems, lives on Atlas Peak and may actually be a unicorn…or a guru…or just some dude whom they’ve both made up to hide the real way that they met, which probably involved some kind of scandalous intrigue or another. It began softly, with a kind of forced sense of mystery, and built up to something best described as meh. By the end it was completely uninteresting. It just never seemed to go anywhere nor to express anything meaningful. The parts that I found the most interesting seemed more like sketches of something that needs to be developed at a later time. It was not a strong start to the concert.
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ASO: Laura Jackson with Avi Avital

Posted on December 3, 2016 by Robbie

This evening’s Atlanta Symphony Orchestra concert under the baton of Laura Jackson was novel for a few reasons. First, it featured a mandolinist as the soloist. It’s a fairly quiet instrument to put on the stage of Symphony hall and I’m not aware of a mandolin concerto being programmed since I’ve been attending ASO concerts. Secondly, it featured two concerti instead of the usual one, both featuring mandolinist Avi Avital. Finally, the first three of four pieces on the program featured a slimmed down orchestra. There was one Baroque era piece and one Romantic era piece that adapted Baroque era pieces, both of which included a harpsichord in the orchestration. The third piece for small orchestra was from the 21st century but featured the mandolin, which would be overpowered by a full orchestra.
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