channel surfing with mikel rouse
i just got back from watching mikel rouse's music for minorities at uclalive. ian krouse's new opera was just next door and we walked into it by accident. we were about to take our seats, but when i saw an orchestra in the pit i knew it was the wrong place. i also remembered the bad review of it in the la times this morning.
we went back across the hall from freud playhouse to mcgowan hall (which really is a 100 seat little theatre). it was a good venue for this concert, attendance was pretty good the hall looked 3/4 full. which is not bad for a 4 day run.
general observations
the most important information needed for the performance was the brief description mikel gave after the concert. he described music for minorities as small piece that has no central theme and viewing it is akin to channel surfing his home movies.
the piece was a well constructed mix of video interviews, staged scenes, still life montages, organized around rouse's loosely constructed pop songs
the piece had no real narrative that tied the videos together. although people told snippets of stories. i kept expecting the stories to be tied in or to have an "aha" moment that would bring some central theme of the human condition at the end.
in one way this style of composition is very much like the wagner/gesamtkunstwerk style melded with obliqueness of virgil thompson and gertrude stein's librettos. instead of the nonsense patter words that combined that have no overall meaning, but maybe an effect. these stories each have literal meaning, but have very little to tie together as a subject drama. on a whole its very oblique, each section has its own very short narrative, but like in channel surfing you do not find out how everything ends.
so what does that add up to?
i liked it
i thought it was well constructed, the lighting design tied together the video and live stage performance perfectly, mikel's performance was great.
playing to prerecorded tracks works well, after the performance he alluded to using the prerecorded tracks was better than finding the money to pay per diem to musicians on a tour. this setup is much easier to see more traveling productions like this. technology has made it easier to record and edit music and video within our own homes. rouse also stated without huge financial backing more of us have the tools to create for ourselves.
video production was spotty. i liked some parts better than other. some of the found images (tv commercials and video game excerpts) didn't seem to add anything to the music. other techniques worked really well. his split screen interviews and detourned CNN newscast were the highlights. it would be great to see him collaborate with somebody who has a strong background in film to fully realize his ideas. i think the ideas are strong, but the realizations are hit and miss. i also have similar feelings towards reich's latest video/music collaboration 3 tales, although the video is by reich's wife beryl korot. not taking in part the narrative arch, i think this is one reason why the the video in philip glass/geoffery reggio koyaanisqatsi films work better than the reich/korot and rouse video productions. obviously money and budget plays a big part, but to me the glass/reggio films are the gold standard for the realization of film and music.
i didn't really come away knowing anything about the people from louisiana, he had great stories that he told after the concert, which then i could make some of the connections he talked about. but the editing was so short that i could not process them into living people. that's probably why don't enjoy sitting around looking at other peoples vacation photos and home movies. they really are only snapshots of a time and place that you had to be there to enjoy.
stopping for a sidenote....
i am not a music critic, these criticisms/observations are of the highest level of a composer whose music i really admire. he knows who he is, has a strong voice and vision to try things with video, music and words. i'm much more interested in watching a piece that deals with music, video and words than the ars antiqua offerings that are still currently available at your local concert hall
in this genre he is working the same ground as meredith monk, robert ashley and laurie anderson (as well as others) while pushing the combinations of music/video/speech as non-narrative subject drama. watching his works makes me feel like the first time i watched a robert altman movie listened to monteverdi's madgrials of war and love as a whole. they all are dealing with real people and real life. this genre is the combination of things that rouse calls "opera verite" and to me is the most interesting new sandbox to play in. rouse might be working out the kinks of his art in public, but at least he is pushing forward and creating something that has honesty in the human condition.
i know i am projecting onto a composition what i would like to hear, especially since i have spent a lot of time thinking about this subject. although technology gives us access to more music than ever, i'm very fortunate to have the opportunity to be able to catch a live performance by a great composer. it makes me feel good to see a performance from somebody whose best days are yet to come.
we went back across the hall from freud playhouse to mcgowan hall (which really is a 100 seat little theatre). it was a good venue for this concert, attendance was pretty good the hall looked 3/4 full. which is not bad for a 4 day run.
general observations
the most important information needed for the performance was the brief description mikel gave after the concert. he described music for minorities as small piece that has no central theme and viewing it is akin to channel surfing his home movies.
the piece was a well constructed mix of video interviews, staged scenes, still life montages, organized around rouse's loosely constructed pop songs
the piece had no real narrative that tied the videos together. although people told snippets of stories. i kept expecting the stories to be tied in or to have an "aha" moment that would bring some central theme of the human condition at the end.
in one way this style of composition is very much like the wagner/gesamtkunstwerk style melded with obliqueness of virgil thompson and gertrude stein's librettos. instead of the nonsense patter words that combined that have no overall meaning, but maybe an effect. these stories each have literal meaning, but have very little to tie together as a subject drama. on a whole its very oblique, each section has its own very short narrative, but like in channel surfing you do not find out how everything ends.
so what does that add up to?
i liked it
i thought it was well constructed, the lighting design tied together the video and live stage performance perfectly, mikel's performance was great.
playing to prerecorded tracks works well, after the performance he alluded to using the prerecorded tracks was better than finding the money to pay per diem to musicians on a tour. this setup is much easier to see more traveling productions like this. technology has made it easier to record and edit music and video within our own homes. rouse also stated without huge financial backing more of us have the tools to create for ourselves.
video production was spotty. i liked some parts better than other. some of the found images (tv commercials and video game excerpts) didn't seem to add anything to the music. other techniques worked really well. his split screen interviews and detourned CNN newscast were the highlights. it would be great to see him collaborate with somebody who has a strong background in film to fully realize his ideas. i think the ideas are strong, but the realizations are hit and miss. i also have similar feelings towards reich's latest video/music collaboration 3 tales, although the video is by reich's wife beryl korot. not taking in part the narrative arch, i think this is one reason why the the video in philip glass/geoffery reggio koyaanisqatsi films work better than the reich/korot and rouse video productions. obviously money and budget plays a big part, but to me the glass/reggio films are the gold standard for the realization of film and music.
i didn't really come away knowing anything about the people from louisiana, he had great stories that he told after the concert, which then i could make some of the connections he talked about. but the editing was so short that i could not process them into living people. that's probably why don't enjoy sitting around looking at other peoples vacation photos and home movies. they really are only snapshots of a time and place that you had to be there to enjoy.
stopping for a sidenote....
i am not a music critic, these criticisms/observations are of the highest level of a composer whose music i really admire. he knows who he is, has a strong voice and vision to try things with video, music and words. i'm much more interested in watching a piece that deals with music, video and words than the ars antiqua offerings that are still currently available at your local concert hall
in this genre he is working the same ground as meredith monk, robert ashley and laurie anderson (as well as others) while pushing the combinations of music/video/speech as non-narrative subject drama. watching his works makes me feel like the first time i watched a robert altman movie listened to monteverdi's madgrials of war and love as a whole. they all are dealing with real people and real life. this genre is the combination of things that rouse calls "opera verite" and to me is the most interesting new sandbox to play in. rouse might be working out the kinks of his art in public, but at least he is pushing forward and creating something that has honesty in the human condition.
i know i am projecting onto a composition what i would like to hear, especially since i have spent a lot of time thinking about this subject. although technology gives us access to more music than ever, i'm very fortunate to have the opportunity to be able to catch a live performance by a great composer. it makes me feel good to see a performance from somebody whose best days are yet to come.
Labels: review
posted by paul bailey at
12:37 AM
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