Squarepusher at (le) Poisson Rouge
by Caroline Sanchez Photos credit: Greg Cristman Words can barely describe the intensity of Squarepusher's Tuesday night performance at (le) Poisson Rouge. Everything from the quality of the samples to the massive
Le Poisson Rouge
JACK Quartet and Joshua Roman at (le) Poisson Rouge
Ancient and innovative can easily coexist. In music especially, composers and peroformers throughout history have looked back for guidence and inspirtaion as they move forward. Steve Reich has openly written about the debt his music owes to the 13th century French composer Pérotin and one of Felix Mendelssohn’s greatest achievements was his rediscovery of J.S Bach’s music with his mounting of the St. Matthews Passion.
On Sunday night, the JACK Quartet and guest cellist Joshua Roman continued this tradition of finding inspiration in history and programmed their findings next to the rule breakers of today. They presented three madrigals by the intensely expressive renaissance composer Carlo Gesualdo, arranged for sting quintet by JACK violinist Ari Streisfeld, as well as works by Joshua Roman, Brian Ferneyhough and a new piece, premiered by the quintet just three weeks ago in Seattle, by Jefferson Friedman.
Jennifer Koh and Ensemble LPR at (le) Poisson Rouge
Last night, trailblazing violinist Jennifer Koh was joined by Ensemble LPR at (le) Poisson Rouge. They came together for a night of music by John Zorn, Charles Wuorinen, and Ludwig van Beethoven as a part of the LPR X5 festival. All of the pieces, ‘Passagen’ by Zorn, ‘Spin-5 for Violin and 18 Musicians’ by Wuorinen, and Beethoven’s Seventh Symphony brought a sense of wild abandon that perfectly complemented the youth and excitement of both Koh and Ensemble LPR.
Koh brought a fiery passion to John Zorn’s ‘Passagen’ for solo violin, which, like Wuorinen’s, was written for Ms. Koh. The piece is rife with rapid shifts from tight, intense tremolos and harsh pizzicato to tender ghostly harmonics. Sometimes, just sometimes, Koh coaxed out a single pure clean ethereal note or phrase that would sing out from the chaos before it was swallowed up again. The uneven rhythmic chords and pizzicato playing gave a distinctly Bartokian flavor, a flavor that was enhanced by Koh’s savage bowing.
Bill Frisell, Marc Ribot, and Nels Cline at LPR
Speaking of LPR, I stopped by last night for an early set of improvisations from three of today's greatest jazz guitarists: Bill Frisell, Marc Ribot, and Nels Cline, who heads back to his
(le) Poisson Rouge and the Metropolitan Opera Preview Nico Muhly’s “Two Boys”
Nico Muhly remains one the most active young composers around. Last Tuesday night, fresh off of curating at and performing in his own festival, A Scream and An Outrage, he returned to New York for two shows at Le Poisson Rouge. The night consisted of a broad range of works based loosely based around a preview of his opera, Two Boys, premiering at the Met in October.
The opera premiered at the English National Opera in 2011. With a libretto by celebrated American playwright Craig Lucas, it examines issues associated with the darker corners of the Internet and online chat rooms. The opera is a part of Met general manager Peter Gelb’s larger effort to bring opera to a younger demographic, and the nature of the issues explored drags opera firmly into the 21st century.
Nouveau Classical Project at (le) Poisson Rouge
As (le) Poisson Rouge discovered five years ago, people like a little alcohol with their classical/contemporary music. So, when I heard Sugar Vendil's Nouveau Classical Project was doing a show Friday
Transatlantic Ensemble Redefines Classical Music at (le) Poisson Rouge
by David Artavia Transatlantic Ensemble’s Friday night performance at (le) Poisson Rouge might have created a new dictionary entry for "classical music." It doesn’t need to be played for white-haired
Iva Bittová’s “Fragments” at (le) Poisson Rouge
by Melanie Wong Czech singer/songwriter/violinist Iva Bittová expertly charmed the audience Sunday night at (le) Poisson Rouge, her flowing pale-blue-and-white attire matching the ambient atmosphere she created. Beginning the set with
Opera Hispánica Presents “María de Buenos Aires”
by Melanie Wong On Friday night, Opera Hispánica presented Ástor Piazzolla’s tango-opera, María de Buenos Aires, at (le) Poisson Rouge, the culmination of the pioneer Latino opera comapny's first festival season.