Fiddler on the Roof of Technology
by BLC ©2004
‘Interactive Arts Performance Series’- Mari Kimura, violin: Gemini
(1993); ECO (1993); Guitar Botana (2004); Izquierda y Derecha (1998) •
Jean-Claude Risset: Variants (1994) • Robert Rowe: Submarine (1997) •
Tania León: Axon (2002) • Frances White: The Old Rose Reader
(2004) • Conlon Nancarrow: Toccata (1980’s). Presented by New York
University’s Department of Music, Performing Arts Professions, Music
Technology Program. Frederick Loewe Theater, February 9, 2004.
The New York Times called one of her solo performances
"chilling…gripping… charming…a virtuoso playing at the edge." Mari
Kimura is to the violin what perhaps Henry Cowell and later John Cage
were to the piano in the 1920’s and 30’s—taking it into the future with
extended techniques and sounds. Of course, Cowell used his entire body
to elicit music from the piano; Cage changed the sound of the piano
with preparative manipulations. Kimura surrounds herself with "robots,"
which she commands with great concentration, yet somehow gets them to
produce a diversity of styles and approaches.
Having said all that, it turns out the oddest selection this evening
was actually the least avant-garde, Frances White’s The Old Rose
Reader, a visual work in which a video screen has a big role to play,
scrolling down and fading text in and out, while a man’s voice recites
highlights from the text. The narrator (Hervé Brönnimann,
Ms. Kimura’s husband), speaks softly, sometimes almost inaudibly, and
one might question the need for narration when titles are legible, but
Ms. White seems to have a marvelous instinct for overall effectiveness.
Her long solo line for the violin, accompanied by the composer’s
characteristic electronic whirr, underlined the emotions felt. "Reader"
was the only work on the program that ran substantially more than ten
minutes and yet it seemed to touch the audience the most. Ms. White’s
obvious passion for flowers —they appear often in her titles—resulted
in a collaboration with her husband, James Pritchett (text and video).
Especially moving was the retelling of a legend about a woman who in a
dream follows a crow to a vast eternal garden full of the most
exquisite roses, coming in all shades, colors and aromas, where she
finds peace and happiness. That story could have carried the day, but
the video went on to list the names of hundreds of species of rose and
several other anecdotes about them and their breeders, making it more
than just an accompaniment to music.
(continue)
