The celebrations of Steve Reich's 75th birthday head to Paris for Steve Reich: Pulsations, a week-long series of concerts, dance performances, and other events at Cité de la Musique. Pulsations begins with a concert by Ensemble Modern, Synergy Vocals, and the composer himself. The all-Reich program includes the French premiere of his Pulitzer Prize-winning piece Double Sextet paired with Drumming (Part 1) and Music for 18 Musicians. The concert will be broadcast on France Musique next month.
Steve Reich turned 75 last week, ushering in a number of public celebrations, including an NPR tribute, a prize package contest with his publisher Boosey & Hawkes, the new Nonesuch Radio station Steve Reich @ 75, and, just this past Sunday, an all-Reich concert by Kronos Quartet in Berkeley. (See below for concert reviews.) Now, the celebration shifts to Paris for Steve Reich: Pulsations, a week-long series of concerts, dance performances, and other events at Cité de la Musique.
Pulsations begins with a concert in the Salles des Concerts by Ensemble Modern, led by Brad Lubman, and Synergy Vocals tonight, for which the composer will join on piano and percussion. The all-Reich program includes the French premiere of his Pulitzer Prize-winning piece Double Sextet as well as a performance of Drumming (Part 1) and the seminal 1976 piece Music for 18 Musicians. The event also includes a post-concert discussion with Reich. The concert will be broadcast on Radio France's France Musique on November 28 at 8 PM.
On Saturday, percussion students from the Conservatoire de Paris perform Reich's 1986 piece Six Marimbas, a rescoring for marimbas of his earlier Six Pianos (1973), in a free concert at Rue Musicale.
Also on Saturday, and again on Sunday, back in the Salles des Concerts, choreographer Karine Saporta presents a new version of her piece Notes (2008), including the work of video artist Angie Eng and set to the music of Steve Reich: Violin Phase, Different Trains, It's Gonna Rain, and Triple Quartet.
Next Tuesday night, October 18, Steve Reich: Pulsations concludes with a concert in the Salles des Concerts by the Brussels Philharmonic, led by Michel Tabachnik, pairing Reich's The Desert Music (1983) with Beethoven's Symphony No. 5.
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Across the English Channel, the London Symphony Orchestra is offering its own celebration of Reich's 75th birthday with two different events in London this Saturday featuring Reich's music: an afternoon performance demonstration by orchestra members with students from the Guildhall School at LSO St. Luke's followed by an evening concert at Barbican Hall with Synergy Vocals. The evening's all-Reich program includes Three Movements, The Four Sections, Clapping Music, and The Desert Music.
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Kronos Quartet's all-Reich concert at Berkeley's Hertz Hall on Sunday included the three string quartets the composer has written for the group—Different Trains, Triple Quartet, and, most recently, WTC 9/11, in its Bay Area premiere—plus selections from The Cave, Reich's 1993 collaboration with video artist Beryl Korot. The San Francisco Chronicle's Joshua Kosman, reviewing the concert, says "you could hear just how strongly the quartet has inspired him over the years." Read the concert review at sfgate.com.
San Jose Mercury News music critic Richard Scheinin says WTC 9/11, Reich's reflection on the 2001 World Trade Center attacks, "felt not only visceral, but somehow physical—a solid monument of memories, a sculpture extracted from sound." Scheinin says he "found it to be immersive and moving, this terse, somber testimonial." Read the review at mercurynews.com.
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To peruse Steve Reich's Nonesuch catalog, head to the Nonesuch Store, where CD orders include high-quality, 320 kbps MP3s at checkout.
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