San Francisco Classical Voice

Last Monday evening's concert by the San Francisco Contemporary Music Players celebrated the seventy-fifth birthdays of Berio and Boulez, former enfants terribles who have long since become illustrious icons of musical modernity, The works chosen were from their most influential period, and served as a welcome reminder of their important musical legacy

Berio has always been the more eclectic and experimental of the two, drawn early on 'to electronic music and world music, having composed for a wide range of performing media. Two of his solo Sequenzas were presented on the first half of the program. These are part of a series of works exploring new techniques of composition and performance practice.

Sequenza V for trombone (1966) is a musical theater niece in the absurdist style. The trombonist appears in a spotlight, his face painted in clown makeup. A few fragmentary opening passages, with mocking distortions by the cup mute, give way to vocal echoes and inaudible asides from the performer. At one point vigorously blowing into the mouthpiece and energetically manipulating the slide creates no sound for all hie effort. The only word we hear him mutter is "Why?", exasperatedly. Pathos and humor viewed with irony and compassion are at the heart of this work. Life is a bizarre circus and we are its unwitting clowns, very much in the spirit of Beckett and Fellini. Trombonist Hal Goff brought this piece off beautifully with an effortless combination of athletic theatricality and first rate musical skill.

Sequenza III for soprano (1966) was composed by Berio for his then wife, the late Cathy Berberian, well known for her vocal virtuosity and uncanny mimetic abilities. This piece is replete with vocal tricks and tics, suggesting a character in the throes of a nervous breakdown, reminiscent, in its prodigious way, of Lucky's monologue in Waiting for Godot. It was performed by the extraordinary soprano-Phyllis Bryn -Julson.with vivid theatricality, and at the same time, wonderful poise and control- a truly artistic rendering of this difficult composition.

Also on the program, Berio's Linea (1973) was a supple quartet for two pianos (Karen Rosenak and Thomas Schultz), vibraphone (Daniel Kennedy), and marimba (Kenneth Piascik). A dance piece in thirteen short sections, it was unobtrusive in its fluid blending of textures and lines, with enough beauty and emotive variety to hold one's interest on a first hearing. The performance impressively conveyed its vigor and elegance. Boulez was never an absurdist and his works are not theatrical. His perspective is more philosophical. His emotive outbursts are often balanced by a sensuous, detached calm. His music contains strong oppositions of fire and ice held in a state of controlled tension.

His precocious First Piano Sonata (1946) is a good example. Its ten minute length abounds in volatility; its disjunct post-Webernian style is full of dramatic contrast. Thomas Schultz gave it a serious, attentive performance, but one lacking the fierce energy and abandon that can make this work a stunning experience.

The musical highlight of the evening was the first of Boulez' Improvisations Sur Mallarmé (1958), scored for soprano with percussion ensemble. The players include four percussionists (often playing gongs and other metallophones). The other instruments are harp, piano, chimes, and celesta. They provide a wonderfully cool, exotically varied and haunting landscape in which the singer resides.

Boulez captures the mood of Mallarmé's famously enigmatic poem, evoking the icy imprisonment of irresolution (or perhaps inauthenticity). Bryn-Julson's utterly beautiful rendition would be difficult to match, and the ensemble was a marvel of expressivity. Guest conductor George Thomson decided to close the program by repeating this piece, and it was freer, more natural, more expressive and meaningful the second times The roster of performers included Karen Gottlieb, harp, Julie Steinberg, celesta, William Winant, vibraphone, Tyler Mack, chimes, and percussionists Daniel Kennedy, Scott Bleaken, David Carlisle, Russell Greenberg.

The concert also included two more unaccompanied vocal pieces sung by Bryn-Julson, a short selection by Boulez and a longer one by Georgy Kurtag, the Attila-József Fragments. Both provided further examples of her remarkable artistry, This was a concert to rekindle our enthusiasm and appreciation for modernism. Happily, the two Bs are still active and highly visible on the international music scene, and they continue to write music.

(Jules Langert is a composer and teacher who resides in the East Bay )

©2000 Jules Langert, all rights reserved