Philip
Glass said of his Orion, commissioned
for the
2004 Athens Cultural Olympiad’: "It
seems that almost every civilization has created
myths and taken inspiration from Orion. In
this way the starry heavens, seen from all
over our planet, will inspire us in making
and presenting a truly multi-cultural, international
musical work."
Philip
Glass recently brought his collaborative ensemble
to Greece for the world premiere of Orion
at the Cultural Olympics on June 3rd
at the Herod Atticus Theatre in Athens as
part of the build up to the Olympic Games
due to kick-off this August.
Glass
and his colleagues have created for us a lightening
world tour of music, juxtaposing sounds we
would otherwise never hear together, uniting
musical instruments from Africa, Australia,
Brazil, Canada, China, Greece and India to
play with him in a seven-movement piece which
gave each soloist the chance to shine.
The
diverse and poetic playing of the soloists
was of a far higher standard than the actual
music composed, which is akin to New Age music.
The repetition of minimalist motifs ad
nausiam induced a kind of hypnotic torpor
in the by now typical Glassy manner. So, nothing
new there then. What made this an evening
of inspired music making was the ensemble
of internationally renowned soloists who displayed
an easy rapport with each other, devoid of
ego clashing.
While
there were three electronic keyboards – with
a youthful looking 67 year-old Glass on one
of them – there was little distinction between
them – if any. Michael Iesman, also on keyboards,
directed his forces with economy and precision.
There
were three interludes consisting of duets
by three pairs of guest artists. The first
soloist, Mark Atkins, part Irish, part Aborigine,
from Australia, played his elephant trunk-like
didjeridoo with a sombre reserve, producing
primordial basso profundo moans and groans.
By contrast, Wu Man from China, playing the
pipa, had a crystalline sharpness, sounding
like a delicate hybrid between lyre and lute.
Her sensitive solo sessions were the shining
light of the evening. Glass’ intention of
celebrating the diversity of world sounds
was perfectly illustrated when Wu Man played
a duet with Atkins: the two totally diverse
instruments harmonised incredibly well: who
would have thought that the continuo mooings
of the didjeridoo would complement so well
the subtle delicacy of the pipa?
Kilted
fiddler Ashley MacIsaac from Nova Scotia played
folk violin which sounded vinegary, reminding
one of the steel string fiddle of an orchestrion,
which didn’t really blend in with the mesmerising
moods of the other soloists. Foday Musa Suso
walked slowly and gracefully on to the stage
while playing his beautifully decorated kora.
He also played a single string bowed horsehair
instrument called a nyanyer which produced
rather harsh scraping sounds.
The group UAKTI
- the boys from Brazil - brought a touch of
Rio carnival to the proceedings, banging and
blowing on assorted bric-a brac including
drainpipes and radiators. One of their number,
Artur Andres Riberio, on flute, piccolo and
alto flute, made graceful movements
whilst playing a duet with India’s Gaurav
Mazumdar on sitar. For his solo Mazumdar played
a Ravi Shankar-Phillip Glass joint composition
with great sensitivity and refinement.
The
finale was akin to the Eurovision Song Contest
with the soignée Eleftheria Arvanitaki
singing a song from her Greek homeland, with
a dark and throaty voice. As she sang she
watched her fellow musicians intently, as
if with a sense of awe, blending her voice
with her fellow instrumentalists who joined
her in turn. It was a pity her vocal talents
were left right to the end of this amorphous
work.
Whilst
there was nothing innovatory regarding Orion
what was fascinating was to hear such a diverse
range of instruments played together by outstanding
soloists. The staging was enhanced by the
sensitive use of subtle light changes lending
emphasis to the varying moods of the music
As the
music ended the entire audience rose to their
feet in enthusiastic response to an evening
of world-wide music.
Alex
Russell
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