About four years ago, Edward Burtynsky's titanic and disturbingly beautiful photos made up the most powerful exhibition I've seen at the Cantor Arts Center. Mining and refining leave scars on the Earth, but Burtynsky finds color and light inside.
Burtynsky now has an exhibition focusing on oil up at the Corcoran Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. (in case you happen to be passing through). Sprawling images of old derricks, ship-breakings and trashed cars are compelling even online.
Magazine writer and blogger Tyler Green also has an interesting snippet of Burtynsky's life story up on his blog, "Modern Art Notes."
Pictured: Edward Burtynsky's photograph "Oil Refineries #23, Oakville, Ontario, Canada, 1999." From www.edwardburtynsky.com.
Friday still means free experimental music at the Cantor Arts Center, and today I was back to watch more musicians with new takes on Mark Applebaum's wild "Metaphysics of Notation" score. (I was last there in May for Sam Adams and his laptop.)
Today featured the Weekly's A&E intern, violist Be'eri Moalem; and his cellist girlfriend, Julia Jurkiewicz. The pair originally met playing a Brahms quartet together. They took on Applebaum's score of symbols, flowers and dots with verve. I enjoyed the rich range of sound: mournful, smooth, intricately patterned, minimalist, lively.
At one point, Be'eri stomped and Julia knocked rhythmically on her cello, creating a sort of fast-paced folk dance. Later, I peered at that section of the score to see what had inspired them, and found sharp diagonals emanating out from peaceful centers, and curving lines wrapping around like ribbons.
Other moments were very familiar: I heard pieces of Bach and hints of "Avinu Malkeinu" and other Jewish songs. Be'eri said later that some of the notation's imagery reminded him of the emotions called up by other pieces of music. He has more to say about the score online.
The upstairs balcony where the score lives is a very resonant space, which players have enjoyed. It's also, of course, surrounded by visual art. In the middle of today's concert, I slipped into the neighboring Frank Lobdell figure-drawing exhibition for a moment. It was a pleasure to hear the gorgeous sounds of the strings ebbing into the gallery as I admired Lobdell's deft drawings of women. One moment the music added more grace to the women's curves; another, it contributed drama to the inky shadows drawn behind them. Each art form helped me find more to appreciate in the other.
Concerts are planned through February, with recordings of past performances up at the museum.
Pictured: Be'eri Moalem and Julia Jurkiewicz playing at the Cantor. Photo by Rebecca Wallace.
It wasn't your everyday orchestra moment at the Palo Alto Philharmonic on Saturday: In the middle of a concert, somebody brings out a cimbalom.
But, hey. If you're playing the folk-rich "Hary Janos" by Kodaly, you've got to have a concert hammered dulcimer from Central/Eastern Europe. The cimbalom is a particular star in the "Intermezzo" movement of the opera. "Intermezzo" leaps like a peasant dancing girl (landing, of course, on the first syllable like the Hungarian language does), and the cimbalom adds a rippling depth. At times I could picture a girl's tiny feet tripping across the strings, as though she had jumped up to dance on the instrument itself. The concert was definitely an international experience, Hungarian-themed with works by Bartok and Dohnanyi, and people chatting in Hungarian. (For an even more international flavor, watch this YouTube video of a Japanese orchestra playing the "Intermezzo.")
Cimbalom player Roman Titcu kindly let us climb up on stage after the concert to look at the gleaming instrument. I'm now in favor of having someone walk in with a cimbalom on many occasions. Long city council meetings, maybe. Or while you're stuck in line at the bank. Imagine.
Pictured: Top: Cimbalom player Roman Titcu with his instrument on stage at the Cubberley Community Center Theatre, last Saturday after performing. Above: A close-up look at the cimbalom. Photos by Rebecca Wallace.
Kudos to producers at our Media Center, who picked up six Western Access Video Excellence (WAVE) Awards last weekend. A good reminder of the zings of variety you can find on local TV.
Watch the award-winning shows here -- if you're like me, you might end up transfixed by a Mongolian contortionist in a shimmery costume (and apparently no skeleton). Then get pulled into a cool contemporary dance piece called "The Grape Dance" that incorporates a huge green rubber band and was inspired by the struggles of Mexican immigrants helping to build the wine industry.
The contortionist was part of a show called "The Theatre Factory," which brings in local theater groups to perform -- I'd love to see more of that. The WAVE-honored program, produced by Patricia Neme and Patty Page, focused on Velocity Circus, a multimedia/circus entertainment company in San Francisco.
Other winners include The Stephanie Herman Show (she of the Grape Dance), in which the former principal ballerina dances and talks about the creative process behind her works. More dance is to be had in the Studio Sesson on the African-dance troupe Fua Dia Congo, all whirling colors, drums and singing. (Full disclosure: My friend Karen Adams produced this program, with Muisi-Kongo Malonga and Dan Beaulieu.)
Also in the arts, a Jook Joint show (a VJ-style blues program) focusing on Etta James took home an award. It was produced by E.C. Scott and Gregg Mitchell.
Andrea Throndson from Abilities United produced a more serious piece on living with developmental or physical challenges. But the most serious program by far was a poignant PSA by Edoardo De Armas on preventing suicides at the train tracks.
Which is worse: sweltering in a stifling theater, or having a key moment in a play ruined because an old air-conditioning system came roaring on at the wrong moment and drowned out the dialogue?
If you build a $32 million theater, one would hope you could avoid both problems. While giving a press tour of Menlo-Atherton High School's glossy new performing-arts center yesterday, principal Matthew Zito was particularly proud of the A/C. He said it's been designed to run no louder than 17 decibels. On behalf of actors everywhere, thank you.
The new theater is quite a sight. While Zito said he thinks it blends well with M-A's low-slung '50s architecture, I am happy to disagree. The new building is swoopy and dramatic and glassy in the front, like a spaceship set down in cornfields. It sure beats the old J Building cafetorium it replaced. I like the way it stands out; you can't miss it, certainly not from Middlefield Road, and it puts M-A on the map in an entirely new way for my, shall we say, vintage-looking alma mater.
The 492-seat house is richly red in theme, with a 40-by-50-foot stage and a fly space that extends up 70 feet into the sky. The control booth is huge, in hopes that it will serve as an educational space for M-A students learning about stagecraft. The green room is actually green.
Out front is a courtyard, where Zito envisions a jazz quartet or Polynesian dancers might perform. Drama students are already using it for rehearsal. Meanwhile, jazz teacher extraordinaire Frank Moura finally has a nice new music room elsewhere in the center, with plenty of input into the acoustics. And I am envious of the big dressing rooms with their flashy lights bordering the mirrors.
The school will use the performance space most of the time, with the city of Menlo Park claiming 55 days of usage a year, mostly in the summer, Zito said. The Music@Menlo-ites are surely eager to use the space; its artistic directors will hold a special concert on Oct. 11 (already sold out) to herald its opening.
And I'm looking forward to seeing a full event schedule. Theater manager Cara Arcuni said a new website with calendar will launch soon.
Pictured: Top: Glossy windows at the front of the new performing-arts center. Above: A view from a catwalk looking down on the stage. Photos by Rebecca Wallace.
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About Me
Name: Rebecca Wallace
Location: Palo Alto, California, United States
I cover visual art, music, theater and dance for the Palo Alto Weekly ... which means it's a challenge trying to decide what to do on the weekend. Here's hoping that in this economy the arts scene stays diverse and vibrant. Fingers crossed (and many tickets bought).
About four years ago, Edward Burtynsky's titanic and disturbingly beautiful photos made up the most powerful exhibition I've seen at the Cantor Arts Center. Mining and refining leave scars on the Earth, but Burtynsky finds color and light inside.
