Interludes

2014’s Best in Music

• By drediman
• December 23, 2014
• No Comments

Opera aside, 2014 was a very theatrical year for classical music. One of the trends that I’ve observed over the last couple of years is the growing interest to combine classical music with other performing or visual arts, further blurring the boundaries between performing arts genres. For me, this is an exciting trend. Instead of being gimmicky, I feel that many of these combinations in fact have a synergistic, sometimes overwhelmingly emotional overall impact. Out of the approximately 60 music performances that I attended this year, the following ended up being my top experiences of 2014.

1. BEETHOVEN’S 9^TH SYMPHONY (MOSTLY MOZART FESTIVAL ORCHESTRA)

Beethoven’s 9^th Symphony is one of the most well-known pieces of classical music around. This monumental, almost operatic work has been served well by this year’s Mostly Mozart Festival Orchestra’s lean and mean rendition. Instead of sitting back and basking in the predictable glories of the score, the orchestra’s playing forced us to lean forward to actively engage in the ecstatic music anew. Kudos to conductor Gianandrea Noseda for leading this muscular reading of the 9^th. I’d also like to mention that this more intimate reading wouldn’t have been nearly as effective if it weren’t for the clever reconfiguration of the distancing Avery Fisher Hall for these Mostly Mozart concerts.

2. THE RITE OF SPRING (ORCHESTRA OF ST. LUKE’S)

One hundred years ago, Igor Stravinsky’s ballet score for “The Rite of Spring” caused rioting in the streets of Paris. So radical was Nijinsky’s choreography and Stravinsky’s accompanying score that the world would never be the same. A century on, it is Stravinsky’s score that still captivates and jars with its raw, jagged dissonances. For Lincoln Center’s White Light Festival, the Orchestra of St. Luke’s was tapped to perform this game-changing score (led by conductor Jayce Ogren). But instead of Nijinsky’s tribal choreography, we had Basil Twist’s large-scale puppets, his largest to date. Twist’s puppetry was packed with unexpected dramatic gestures, fitting perfectly with the celebrated score.

3. PHILIP GLASS / STEVE REICH CONCERT

Inarguably, the two titans of contemporary classical music are Philip Glass and Steve Reich. In a series of sold out concerts at BAM, these two living legends were brought onto the same stage after years of allegedly not getting along with each other. Although both men have defined the musical genre known as minimalism, each of their sounds are uniquely their own. It was true gift and thrill to hear, back-to-back (at least at the performance I attended), majestic highlights from Glass’s hypnotic opera “Akhnaten” (isn’t it due for a major New York production soon?) and Reich’s delicate yet stirring “Music for 18 Musicians”.

4. TEARS BECOME… STREAMS BECOME… (HELENE GRIMAUD PLAYS DEBUSSY, RAVEL, LISZT)

Pianist Helene Grimaud recently collaborated with visual artist Douglas Gordon on a monumental scale to create an art installation entitled “tears become… streams become…” at the Park Avenue Armory. In a series of concerts, Ms. Grimaud activated Gordon’s epic sea of sorrow by playing piano pieces by Debussy, Ravel, and Liszt. The results were palpable. I was immensely moved by the results of this cohabitation of music and visual art. Each commented on the other in an integral way to meditate on and express the vastness of this world’s sorrows; neither was subordinate.

5. ST. MATTHEW PASSION (BERLIN PHILHARMONIC)

Perhaps the snob event of the year, also at the Park Avenue Armory, was the incomparable Berlin Philharmonic’s two performances of Bach’s “St. Matthew Passion”. As conducted by Sir Simon Rattle and directed by bad boy director Peter Sellars (who has really settled down with his work here), the seminal oratio became a moving personal experience. The intimacy and immersion achieved by this landmark production was such that each of us were led through the Passion as participants and not merely as spectators. Special mention must also be paid to the production’s vivid vocal and dramatic performances, particularly Mark Padmore for his deeply felt and transcendent performance as the Evangelist.