Virdulegu forsetar
Evening Music | May 6, 2010
The unending, circular surface of a Möbius strip was one of the things flying around in Jóhann Jóhannsson’s head when he composed his latest work, “Virdulegu forsetar.”
Speaking of things flying around, Halloween is approaching, so naturally we have to get in the mood. The Paragon Ragtime Orchestra plays Cora Salisbury’s “Ghost Dance”; Busoni’s “Die Brautwahl” or the “Ghostly Music Suite” features Jean-Francois Antonioli conducting the Timisoara Philharmonic; and Andre Caplet’s “Conte fantastique,” based on Edgar Allan Poe’s “Mask of the Red Death,” receives a verrrry spooky performance by harpist Frédérique Cambreling and the Monte Carlo Philharmonic under Georges Prêtre.
At last we come to the evening’s centerpiece, “Virdulegu forsetar,” over an hour long, sensually beautiful, conceptually interesting, regal, and meditative. Jóhannsson writes that the work is “about chaos and tension rather than harmony,” and that it veers “from intense joy to acute sadness. Jóhannsson plays piano and electronics, joining the Caput Ensemble, which is conducted by Gudni Franzson.
Evening Music closes with Piano Sonata No. 10 by Alexander Scriabin, played by Ruth Laredo, whose artistry you can enjoy live at the Metropolitan Museum of Art next Friday, November 5th.
Speaking of things flying around, Halloween is approaching, so naturally we have to get in the mood. The Paragon Ragtime Orchestra plays Cora Salisbury’s “Ghost Dance”; Busoni’s “Die Brautwahl” or the “Ghostly Music Suite” features Jean-Francois Antonioli conducting the Timisoara Philharmonic; and Andre Caplet’s “Conte fantastique,” based on Edgar Allan Poe’s “Mask of the Red Death,” receives a verrrry spooky performance by harpist Frédérique Cambreling and the Monte Carlo Philharmonic under Georges Prêtre.
At last we come to the evening’s centerpiece, “Virdulegu forsetar,” over an hour long, sensually beautiful, conceptually interesting, regal, and meditative. Jóhannsson writes that the work is “about chaos and tension rather than harmony,” and that it veers “from intense joy to acute sadness. Jóhannsson plays piano and electronics, joining the Caput Ensemble, which is conducted by Gudni Franzson.
Evening Music closes with Piano Sonata No. 10 by Alexander Scriabin, played by Ruth Laredo, whose artistry you can enjoy live at the Metropolitan Museum of Art next Friday, November 5th.
