Sequenza21/The Contemporary Classical Music Weekly

Philadelphia Sounds: Mozart Reloads

Just as Philadelphia finishes up celebrating Ben Franklin�s 300th birthday, along comes Mozart�s 250th, and Philadelphia continues the celebrations with Mozart: Reloaded, a �revisioning and revisiting� of Mozart�s music in a variety of styles and media, at the Kimmel Center as part of the Fresh Ink Series.

Jazz Pianist Uri Caine is known for his improvisations on classical compositions, and he does it again here, improvising madly to every other phrase of the Piano Sonata in C Major. Maddening, because I would have preferred hearing the theme first and then variations, but with styles and tempi varied, it was clever, and the audience was amused, as one can be with such familiar material. In fact, the improvisations settled down for a serene and graceful second movement, and a raucous and highly syncopated stride finale.

Tony Miceli is a whiz on the vibes and jazz, and with his quartet and vocalist Joanne Pascal presented Ridente la calma and Voi che sapete from Marriage of Figaro. Slow scat intro accompanied only by string bass sets up the theme for the instrumental improvisations, which were more interesting than the vocals. It�s not the first time an operatic aria has been turned into a pop song.

Create an entirely new opera, why don�t you, and that�s just what Gloria Justen does. She wrote, narrates and plays three tracks of electric violin, and acts the lead in Foxy Lady and the Magic Box, about a fox who finds a plan to build a magic box. The accompanying music is intricate, interesting and involving, as are the soprano and bass vocal parts. It�s not quite The Magic Flute, but more akin to Peter and the Wolf, and would make a charming animated feature.

During a stage equipment reorganization, Lydia Kaminska translated two of Mozart�s organ pieces into accordion works, with delicacy and finesse.

Group Motion dance theater presented a multi-media work to music and videos by Peter Price in a variation on The Magic Flute, An Unveiling, with choreography by Manfred Fischback, in which dancers revise the story in modern and surrealistic ways.

A quartet of world premieres of piano based on Papageno�s Birdcatcher theme were performed by Charles Abramovic to open the second half: Sebastian Chang�s On the Road, Jan Krzywicki�s Vogelf�nger, Evan Solot�s No Flutes Allowed, and Robert Maggio�s love�bird. Inversion and fugue is Chang�s take in a thoroughly modern mode. Krzywicki uses the trill motif in several variations as the basis for his birdsong in a dreamy setting with great delicacy. Trumpeter Solot emphasizes the bass range for his motif and keeps it there as a ground for his new-agey version with both minimalist and jazzy touches. Maggio�s love�bird starts out majestic and covers the whole keyboard dramatically and intensely.

Steel drums always have a warm bubbly sound and signal fun, and Delaware Steel played Harvey Price�s arrangement of the overture to The Magic Flute to close the program. (Reposted from Penn Sounds 1/25/06)

posted by Deborah Kravetz 1/26/2006