|
|
| News |
Review: Umbria Jazz Festival
PERUGIA, ITALY, 2 August 2001 - For an art form that is supposed
to be either stuck, going out of style or becoming fused beyond
recognition - and which we are told represents only 2% (and
shrinking) of the market - there seems to be a lot of life left.
At least judging from the more than 200,000 people who heard
a lot of good music at the Umbria Jazz Festival last month.
The Keith Jarrett Standards Trio pulled an overflowing crowd
of 4,400 fans, at an average of $75 a ticket, in the Giardini
del Frontone on a Friday night. If there were such a thing as
"the best," the Jarrett trio might very well be it. That it
was acclaimed by an audience of, say, 10 percent the size of
a rock concert's, was already a happy surprise in relation to
that infamous 2 percent. In addition they get points for sophistication.
Given all the good faces cheering such good music, well, all
bets were off.. Jarrett's rare combination of melody, romanticism
and modernity appeals particularly to Italians. And to begin
with, remember, he plays recognizable standards, no matter how
abstractly. With their combination of finesse and playfulness,
the empathy between him and long-time associates Gary Peacock,
bass, and drummer Jack DeJohnette provokes an innocent spiritual
exchange. (They really do "play" together.) After the intermission,
Jarrett announced very slowly, with great condescension: "No
- flash - cam-eras. Nicht - Nein - Nyet - Non" - as though he
were speaking to an assembly of dunces of who cared what nationality.
This was followed by a ripple of jeering. Then he sat down at
the keyboard and played such a lovely, soul- searching version
of "Out Of Nowhere" that there were cheers once more. Jarrett
is famous for invoking the enigma of an insensitive person playing
sensitive music. One night earlier, the Gardens had been almost
as full for the piano trios of Brad Mehldau and Ahmad Jamal,
which split the bill. Neither better nor worse than Jarrett
- this is not Wimbledon, there is no champion - just different,
they were all at the height of their art. These three fine trios
on successive evenings underlined the fact that the good old
pianoforte is probably the most cutting-edge improvising instrument
of the day. The clarity of the sound, loud enough to reach the
back of the garden 100 meters away, was unreal. It was as though
the acoustic instruments were somehow amplified without needing
to be plugged in. It is always a surprise to be reminded how
local most "international" jazz festivals are. The musicians
may be multicultural, but the public tends to hail from only
as far away as the nearest big city. South of the Alps and thus
off main-stem touring circuits, Perugia is more local than most.
This magical Renaissance city two hours north of Rome in the
hills of Umbria is not a major population center. The Festival
pretty much takes over the place for ten days, though it is
at the same time a university town. For such a sophisticated
mix, very few in the passing parade were bilingual. Neither
English nor French would get you through the day. One wonders
about the quality of Italian foreign- language teaching. But
jazz teaching appears to be flourishing - or in any case the
genes are. Italy is currently producing some of the most interesting
players in Europe. Here, they were the pianists Enrico Pieranunzi
and Stefano Bollani, the saxophonist Stefano di Battista and,
most of all, the trumpet duo of Paolo Fresu and Enrico Rava,
who was awarded the prestigious Danish Jazzpar Prize for 2002.
Something of a folk hero, Chet Baker lived in Italy and learned
to speak the language while serving time in prison in Lucca
for drugs, and you can sense his funky spirit hovering over
many Italian trumpeters. In the afternoons, there was an "Australian
stage" in the recently restored Oratorio Santa Cecilia . Coming
from a faraway country with a small, mostly white, population,
their authenticity was impressive. Particularly alto-saxophonist
Bernie McGann. On the surface it might seem that McGann is derivative
of Ornette Coleman, although he is pure and deep enough to have
played something like that anyway. Disappointments included
Gato ("Last Tango in Paris") Barbieri, who did not go out of
his way to say anything of interest. The quartet of the star
guitarist John Scofield plays mostly for dancing on the U.S.
jam band circuit these days, and it was not interesting enough
for such an enlightened public sitting down and listening too
hard for Scofield's own good. Outdoors, free of charge all day
long, there were marching bands in the streets and blues, rock,
gospel and choir groups on the squares. A weeklong series of
midnight concerts by the exciting Gil Evans memorial big band
was directed by the composer's son Miles in the historic Teatro
Pavone and featured such major soloists as Bob Berg, Gil Goldstein,
Lew Soloff and Hiram Bullock. The ensemble went out of its way
to risk chaos nightly, true to Evans's conviction that "insecurity
is the fountain of youth." |
| |
| |
| |
FESTIVAL DEI DUE MONDI
Yesterday, Sunday 14 July, the final day of the festival concluded in style (thankfully the rain held off) with the Concert in Piazza where the Giuseppe Verdi di Milano Orchestra and Chorus, who have had an extremely successful first year at Spoleto, were lead and conducted by, the Festivals’ Music Director, Richard Hickox through the selection of sacred music by Verdi, Stravinski and Puccini. Soloists were tenor Francesco Meli, baritone Robert Hyman and soprano Doina Dimitriu. Just a week ago Maestro Gian Carlo Menotti celebrated his 91st birthday in traditional style with a morning serenade by not so traditional brass instruments from the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano Giuseppe Verdi. The Vilar Gala Concert included a spectacular performance of Bolero by Luciana Savignano, and recitals from the Macbeth soprano Doina Dimitriu and baritone Robert Hyman. In addition, mezzosoprano Victoria Livengood sang and Jennifer Koh played the violin. In honour of Maestro Menottis’ birthday all tickets sold on the day were offered at half-price. The run of the highly praised Macbeth finished on Saturday while the Menotti Operas ran until yesterday. As always the Spoleto Festival is known as a fountain of young new talent and this year is no exception with three young and up-coming conductors; Francesco Maria Colombo (The Medium and The Telephone), Riccardo Frizza (Macbeth) and Lawrence Renes (Symphonic Concert at the Rocca). Among the singers there was Doina Dimitriu, Tamara Mesic annd all the young artists from the production of Macbeth and the young performers from the Mezzogiorno concerts. Among these young artists there were also those internationally known stars; Riccardo Chailly conducted the Requiem mass at the opening of the festival. Spoletos’ prolonged wait for the mezzosoprano Cecilia Bartoli was well rewarded by her delightful recital in the precious Caio Melisso theatre where she sang on Friday 12 July and just a couple of days before the tenor Juan Diego Florez graced the same stage, both gave three encores and received a standing ovation. Not forgetting of course all the young dancers from the Dance Gala so rarely seen all on the same stage. Poeta in Nueva York, created, choreographed by and starring Rafael Amargo, emerging choreographer and dancer of flamenco to pay hommage to Garcia Lorca, was exceptionally well received by the public in the Teatro Romano. The 45th Spoleto Festival has overall been a successful year and has attracted attention from the press with reviews reflecting the high standard of the artistic content of the festival carefully selected by Francis Menotti.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
