Kate Soper’s work, like that of many other artists, was interrupted by the pandemic. I survived the moment.
Soper still started posting spares when her highly anticipated opera, The Romance of the Rose, scheduled for April 2020, was cancelled. smartly shot excerpt online. And while “Rose”‘s world premiere date is still unknown, she’s moving forward on multiple fronts. We shared our selection on YouTube.
She also contributed the short story “Clear Voice” to McSweeney last year for the literary magazine’s “Audio Issue”. (Although this is also available as a series of videos online, fans should be springing for the deluxe, print plus audio A more witty and then philosophical version of her stories about software installation manuals and the commercial use of classical music. )
But now it’s 2022 and live performance is once again the norm. What about Soper’s return to ambitious dramatic productions on stage? The group’s program of season-opening concerts — exactly what it promised — lived up to this promise. Announced by the ensemble at Roulette on Wednesday, the evening included the world premiere of Soper’s “HEX,” billed as “a dramatic satire in which a new musical ensemble inadvertently opens the gates of hell.” rice field.
But “HEX” turned out to be trivial in the end. The 19-minute piece (which is really just an extended comedy sketch) opens with Media Resolution, in which multiple classical her pianists take turns performing conceptual art stunts. They are said to have to repeat one sinister (and possibly medieval) musical figure about 78,000 times, after which the devil is summoned.
But this charming setup lingers with little musical development. Finally, there’s officially the demon played by Subtle Menace by Rick Burkhardt. He takes turns playing the piano, resulting in a welcome musical embellishment for the over-repeated tune. But just as things are getting interesting, the curtain falls.
In Soper’s script, the mortal musician’s conceit is presented as a sluggish effort by a group of busy artists struggling to coordinate their schedules. (They also need something appropriately “flashy” for their grant proposal, yet easy to make.) It’s self-awareness sliced near the bone and wet on Wednesday It seemed to explain why he was the only member of Ink.
Instead, supporting her was Orlando Furioso, a chamber group led by Chilean drummer and composer Vicente H. Atria. These virtuoso musicians were onstage (ghostly) players tasked with responding vividly (albeit too briefly) to improvised variations of repetitive pianistic motifs.
Atria’s group not only brought a lively spark to ‘HEX’, but helped save the concert and achieve a balanced success. its new self-titled album Aguirre label.
With microtonal harmonies, hypnotic ostinato rhythms and the occasional smash-cut style reminiscent of John Zorn, Orlando Furioso announced Wednesday its place as a punchy creative force on the New York scene. . The highlight of that set was his 11-minute song “Raso, Sarga, Tafetán” by Atria. After the performance, he described it as a study of layered patterns from the stage. But it hardly needed it, as the song’s swinging, meandering interactions spoke for themselves.
Early on, the work featured keyboardist Andrew Boudreau, cellist Daniel Huss, trumpeter David Acevedo, and woodwind specialist David Leon (who doubled up on clarinet and saxophone throughout the concert). provided an insane blend of ingredients for
Atria’s rhythms had a welcoming and sociable impetus, and the microtones he wrote on the keyboard suggested a personal, even closed, language. (Boudreau played with a synth setup that mimicked an atypically tuned harpsichord.) His other Atria work on this program has a similar idiosyncrasy, including the driving “Bootstrap Bernie.” was a hit. And Soper also joined the group as a guest, lending her sparkling vocals to the song “En Tornasol.”
If it’s by the Wet Ink Ensemble, give it credit. Even when they couldn’t get together to showcase their prowess intensively, the group was able to help shine a light on up-and-coming artists.
Kate Soper and Orlando Furioso
Performs at Roulette in Brooklyn on Wednesday.