Recent arts coverage:
- Evolutionary biology. Aesthetic determinism. Live action role playing. The Rude Mechs are making a new play again
- Suburban battlefield: Women fight invisible foe in Amie Siegel’s ‘Black Moon’
- In eerie paintings by Ana Fernandez, a house isn’t just a house
More arts coverage | Follow this blog on Twitter @artsinaustin | Read recent arts reviews
Austin360 blogs > Austin Arts: Seeing Things > Archives > 2009 > October > 05
Monday, October 5, 2009
More live music without the mud
Yes, you can enjoy live music in Austin without destroying the lawn at Zilker Park. (See “ACL grounds to remain closed until end of month.”)
On Wednesday, two of Austin’s busiest virtuosos — pianist Anton Nel and cellist Bion Tsang — team up for concert of sonatas by Barber, Prokoviev and Grieg.
The concert by pair of UT music professors is a t 7:30 p.m. in Bates Recital Hall. Tickets are $10 ($5 for students).
The concert will also be Web cast live. Log on to www.music.utexas.edu a few minutes before the concert begins to catch the live stream.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Music
Live music without the mud
Not into rolling in the mud in Zilker Park to see live music?
This Saturday, Austin Classical Guitar Society brings virtuoso Kazuhito Yamashita to town for a rare concert.
Yamashita rose to international prominence when he performed phenomenal feats on the solo classical guitar including Dvorak’s ‘New World Symphony’ and Musorgsky’s ‘Pictures at an Exhibition.’ He recorded and toured extensively with flute giant James Galway and has enjoyed the distinction of being Japan’s most celebrated classical guitarist. Though a legendary performer, Yamashita makes trips to North America with extreme rarity.
For Saturday’s concert, Yamashita will play Sonata No.1 for solo guitar “The Blue Flower,” by Keiko Fujiie. He’ll also play his arrangements for Bach’s Cello Suite No.1, BWV 1007 and Bach’s Violin Sonata No.2 BWV 1003.
8 p.m. Saturday. Northwest Hills United Methodist Church, 7050 Village Center Dr., Tickets: $35-$60. www.AustinClassicalGuitar.org
Unaccompanied Cello Suite No. 6 in D Major, BWV 1012: I. Prelude by Johann Sebastian Bach. Arranged by Kazuhito Yamashita. Guitar : Kazuhito Yamashita. Live at Tokyo Bunka Kaikan, Tokyo, Japan. May 20, 2000
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Music
Review: Ballet Austin
As the Austin City Limits Festival celebrated nineties bands like Pearl Jam in Zilker Park, down the road at the Long Center Ballet Austin also celebrated the nineties this weekend—the 1890s. Friday night the company proved its classical chops in “Swan Lake’s” second act, based on Russian greats Maurius Petipa and Lev Ivanov’s 1895 choreography, and artistic director Stephen Mills’ newest creation “The Firebird.”
In both ballets, the company’s women proved that to excel in classical ballet is to be able to transform into something more than human. As swan leader Odette, Ashley Lynn Gilfix remade her arms into delicate wings. Dancing the ballet’s central pas de deux, with Frank Shott as Prince Siegfried, Gilfix met the challenge, but both dancers seemed uncharacteristically anxious.
“Swan Lake’s” precise and demanding choreography leaves no place to hide less-than-stellar technique, and the corps dancing demands absolute unison movement. Ballet Austin’s sixteen swans performed with amazing synchronicity—quite a feat since the orchestra and dancers seemed like they were still testing out one another’s musicalities. The swans’ crispness made them seem worthy adversaries to evil sorcerer Von Rothbart (Christopher Swaim). As they battled him in the final moment, they seemed like a corps of swans who just might win.
“Swan Lake” and “Firebird” made an interesting program, in part because Mills’ striking use of asymmetry in “Firebird” sharply contrasted with Petipa and Ivanov’s absolute symmetry.
As the title character, Aara Krumpe was stunning. She has a perceptive ability to create angles with her body. Her chin has just the right thrust. Her eyes have just the right sharpness. As evil magician Kastchei, Edward Carr also made the most of the choreography’s clever shapes. Evil villains and beautiful birds: they are ballet’s winning combination no matter the century.
Clare Croft is an American-Statesman freelance arts critic.
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment
Recent arts coverage:
Beili Liu beguiles in a solo exhibit | An art history mystery solved: The Petrobelli Altarpiece | Be a part of art history | Follow @artsinaustin on Twitter
Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment Categories: Alert
