Composer/keyboardist/producer Elodie Lauten creates operas, music for dance and theatre, orchestral, chamber and instrumental music. Not a household name, she is however widely recognized by historians as a leading figure of post-minimalism and a force on the new music scene, with 20 releases on a number of labels.
Her opera Waking in New York, Portrait of Allen Ginsberg was presented by the New York City Opera (2004 VOX and Friends) in May 2004, after being released on 4Tay, following three well-received productions. OrfReo, a new opera for Baroque ensemble was premiered at Merkin Hall by the Queen's Chamber Band, whose New Music Alive CD (released on Capstone in 2004) includes Lauten's The Architect. The Orfreo CD was released in December 2004 on Studio 21. In September 2004 Lauten was composer-in-residence at Hope College, MI. Lauten's Symphony 2001, was premiered in February 2003 by the SEM Orchestra in New York. In 1999, Lauten's Deus ex Machina Cycle for voices and Baroque ensemble (4Tay) received strong critical acclaim in the US and Europe. Lauten's Variations On The Orange Cycle (Lovely Music, 1998) was included in Chamber Music America's list of 100 best works of the 20th century.
Born in Paris, France, she was classically trained as a pianist since age 7. She received a Master's in composition from New York University where she studied Western composition with Dinu Ghezzo and Indian classical music with Ahkmal Parwez. Daughter of jazz pianist/drummer Errol Parker, she is also a fluent improviser. She became an American citizen in 1984 and has lived in New York since the early seventies
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Monday, August 21, 2006
Bolotowsky resuscitates a flute
On Sunday I was surprised and delighted by a most unusual flute duet. It was a discreet, unadvertised venue, in the intimate loft setting of the Spring Street art studio in Soho.
The flute, made of fine wood (and some metal) is a modern replica of the C. Delusse Baroque Bass Flute, crafted by Peter Noy. But it wouldn’t have seen the light of day if Andrew Bolotowsky had not ordered it five years ago… that’s how long it took for this neo-Baroque creation to emerge – a bass flute with a really wide range, and one that matches both male and female vocal ranges.
The sound, as played by the best flautist I know, was a surprise: a soft, whispering tone, almost oriental in color. The mysterious quality of this instrument is almost indescribable. It is like the design break-through of the muted color. It is a technical challenge to play this particular flute, as for instance having to play a C note as a C sharp, but the result was fresh and exciting, through a series of tunes by Purcell, Vivaldi, Couperin and others, arranged either for solo flute or flute and soprano – with the lyric voice of Mary Hurlbut, whose personal style combines the no-vibrato, clean, early music sound a la Sequentia, with full-blow operatic emotionality in other sections, making the Baroque material very exciting.
posted by Elodie Lauten
3:41 PM
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