I was really looking forward to today’s performance because chamber music is perhaps where the majority of new music is being written. It’s no longer exactly feasible for a contemporary composer to write for orchestra, so we turn to the chamber ensemble, where virtuosity can be pushed, sounds can be exploited, and a clarinet can easily walk over to play into a timpani. The San Francisco Symphony’s musicians did not disappoint. This was a wonderful program (if perhaps just a little too heavily weighed toward music write approx. 60 years ago) that was a great final evening for this festival. I wish there were at least one more new piece being performed (Meredith Monk’s work was great, just I wanted more of this modern sound world) but, on the whole it was impeccably performed, wonderful music. Thank you UMS for bringing to Ann Arbor such an exciting and ear-opening festival!

Incredible. A simply incredible performance. This felt like what a concert should feel like. A concert should challenge notions, push the audience into new places, and hopefully create something really moving as a result. And I think the SFS succeeded here. Stunning program, brilliant execution, and great music. Bravo.

I’ve given myself a night to try and digest what happened last night, and I very much still in awe. The beauty and technical mastery of the performance was, to put it lightly, astounding. I was completely transfixed by the production, the beauty of the images, and the immenseness of the task for Yves Jacques. There was a certain virtuosity to the performance that demands a completely dedicated actor, and Yves Jacques seems to be that man. The performance was beautiful and masterful.

Nothing like an impeccable performance of some Beethoven to add to a great night. It was a wonderful performance, with some really great playing and some really great music. Maybe not the most “maverick-ey” of Beethoven’s music, but still really great things in this. I, like Matt, almost wanted some variety by the end (would love to hear me some Ravel), but that in no way takes from the beauty and passion of these musicians, who clearly know how to make this music shine.

Quite an incredible show! It’s really true that McGregor has created his own unique vocabulary, those motions were like nothing I had seen before. And such a fascinating and powerful language it is. The bending bodies consistently reminded me of Dali’s paintings. To me, McGregor’s vocabulary as a choreographer seemed to be almost surrealist in ways. Something as natural and as physical as motion was explored in such a different landscape, in such different circumstances, that it really encouraged a lot of thought. It was a beautiful show, a lovely length, and an incredible display of strength and endurance from the performers. Bravo to Random Dance and McGregor for creating such an event.

Seconded! Always a good thing to remember that risks don’t always pay off brilliantly. Doesn’t mean we shouldnt do them, though!

I have a very special relationship with Messiaen’s music, and this was my first chance to see From the Canyons to the Star live. I’ve been a huge fan of the piece since I discovered it a few years ago. To me, the music is about spirituality. It’s about finding God in the earth and nature and all its bounty. And the performance today was spectacular. It was a divine exploration into the mind of someone alone in the greatness of the Utah canyons.
The film didn’t really work for me, to be honest. It had too much power to change what the music was saying. And the music had so much to say. That being said, I think it was a well made film, with great symbolic content. I would love to see it in perhaps a museum or a theater. But when paired with one of my favorite piece by one of my favorite composers, it fell short for me. But I suppose it is important to remember the beauty of the performance offered by the Hamburg Symphony and the wonder that is the music.

I first heard about this opera sometime around my Sophomore year in high school. I managed to acquire the recording soon after. Never once did I ever consider the thought that I might be able to witness this thing. I honestly thought it was something for the history books. Something that exists and should be heard of, but something that isn’t necessary or practical to see. Perhaps this was also to qualm my own jealous thoughts about those that could see it. But I saw it. And I saw it twice. And I am so incredibly blown away.
Einstein is a work of living, breathing art. Which is fascinating and horrifying and all other kinds of words that can’t begin to describe it. The level of precision in the imagery elevates it to something I think might be beyond words. Or perhaps it would ruin it to put it into words. It’s striking beauty, turning life into art and art into life and living on all the boundaries.
I feel like a need a week to process this, dear lord.