I went to the Guthman finals at the Ferst Center a couple of weeks ago and found that the new seats don’t aggravate the problem with my back if I use the lumbar pillow that I keep in my car. That meant that I could actually attend this year’s Dance Canvas showcase, Introducing the Next Generation, last night. There were some really good pieces in it, too, so I’m glad that I was able to go.
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Thursday’s Atlanta Symphony Orchestra concert was preceded by a wonderful chamber concert programmed by principal harpist Elisabeth Remy Johnson. It featured five women composers in honor of Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day. Sadly, aside from one piece a year by Jennifer Higdon, the ASO includes women composers on the obnoxiously long list of groups of composers that it rarely bothers to program for its Delta Classical Series. This concert represented a 500% increase in the number of women composers that series subscribers will hear in Symphony Hall this year. Kudos to Remy Johnson for pushing for this program and shame on the ASO for failing to deliver a meaningful variety of music to its audiences. I can’t think of a single reason that they couldn’t have put one small piece by a different women composer on each week’s program in March. Or, for that matter, one piece by a Black composer each week in February for Black History Month. It’s absurd that concert goers in the 19th century probably had as much or more exposure to women composers than we do now, with artists like Beach, Farrenc, or Smythe being regularly programmed. Aside from a significant number of contemporary composers, we have centuries of works to draw from so there are no shortages of pieces that will fit into any given program. It bugs the crap out of me that, as a regular concert-goer, I hear the same pieces over and over again from the same men from the Classical Music Pale of Settlement between the Rhine and the Volga when there are so many other amazing pieces of work that are ignored just because the (mostly) men who are in charge of programming were all brought up with the same tradition of music education that seems to have its roots in the toxic German nationalism of the 19th and early 20th centuries.
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I can’t even begin to describe how delighted I was by the feet Atlanta Ballet’s performance of Johan Kobborg’s production of Bournonville’s La Sylphide last night. Kobborg’s notes for the program point out how distinctive Bournonville’s use of intricate, speedy, and precise footwork is and I have to say he was absolutely right: the bouncing, flitting, flicking, hopping, feet were definitely what held my eye throughout the work.
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The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s concert for the evening was conducted by Assistant Conductor Stephen Mulligan. The program opened with Sibelius’ Symphony no. 1. According to the notes, Mulligan traveled to Finland to study Sibelius’ music and I think it showed in his conducting: he clearly understood the piece and it came across as robust and fully realized under his baton. I do wish that I’d been able to hear his expertise expressed on a different of Sibelius’ pieces, though. Sibelius’ work always makes me think that there’s a certain intentionality to his composition; that every note is carefully considered and every chord formed with a purpose in mind. Often this is what I like most about his works: a sensation that every minor thing in a piece that touches me was an intentional act by the composer to reach me. The first symphony, though, seems a bit over-thought to me. I always feel like there should be more to it for all of the thought that the composer put into it. That’s not to say it’s bad so much as it always leaves me wanting to listen to something else of his instead.
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Last night I caught Thread: Women’s Voices Through Dance, a collaboration between artists in the Atlanta and Chattanooga areas staged at Emory’s Performing Arts Studio. I honestly didn’t know much about what to expect, but it promised reconstructions and there really aren’t many people doing classic modern dance pieces in the metro area, so I bought a ticket. It turned out that there was only one reconstruction, but I didn’t feel disappointed because the show was still enjoyable.
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There were four pieces on last night’s program by Full Radius Dance at 7 Stages, all choreographed by Douglas Scott. It included two rather moving pieces in the middle bookended by lighter works at the beginning and end. Overall, it was a pretty good show.
Continue readingDue to some back issues, I wasn’t really able to comfortably sit and write this out the weekend before last when I saw Ballet Hispanico perform at the Rialto. I generally don’t get around to completing a writeup if I don’t get to it within a day or two, but I really wanted to make sure that I got something down so that I will be able to remember them since I enjoyed the show so much. In particular, I want to remember to keep an eye out for works by choreographer Michelle Manzanales, whose Con Brazos Abiertos opened the program.
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