Luciform, a concerto for flute and electronics written for Claire Chase herself, hit hard with a veneer of Stockhausen, circa Studie I and II. While the Varèse was clearly the concert’s focus both historically and thematically, Mario Diaz de Leon’s Luciform and Marcos Balter’s Pessoa (both 2013) nevertheless gave crisp, fresh definition to the modern flute idiom. The majority of works presented included as many as ten prerecorded flute tracks, played alongside the singular Chase, who sometimes gave the impression that she was in at least three places at once, overlapping condensed ghosts playing impossible harmonies. Now, nearly 80 years later, “Density” was a fitting name for the solo concert for many reasons, not only for Chase’s truly virtuosic performance of the seminal Density 21.5. So named for the density of platinum (in grams per cubic centimeter), the piece was originally written for the première concert of George Barrere’s platinum flute. The oldest piece on the program, and the only one from the first half of the 20th century (written in 1936 and revised in 1946), Edgard Varèse’s Density 21.5 for flute alone. The flute is one of the most venerable musical instruments we have (the earliest archaeological records have been dated to over 35,000 years ago), and as Claire Chase proved Thursday night at The Kitchen in Chelsea, it retains an energy that ensures it will continue to play a vital role in the future of concert music.
0 kommentar(er)
