31
Jan
2007
This weekend the Quad City Symphony Orchestra is celebrating composers who stood apart, in some way, from the conventions of their time. Although the program does include Beethoven and Strauss, the emphasis is on modern American composers, three of whom are living.
As Music Director and Conductor Donald Schleicher explained, these are (or were) composers "on the cutting edge" who "invented and created and didn't just follow the patterns of their predecessors.
"So often we play music by dead composers," Schleicher said. "Dead composers were once living, so I think it's interesting to investigate and perform music by living composers. Like an artist, composers sometimes become more famous after they die."
I was talking to someone, and she hadn't ever seen an opera," recalls Stacy Eckert, who performs the title role in Opera Quad Cities' new production of Carmen. "And I was trying to explain Carmen, and I said, 'Well, I bet you know more tunes from the show than you think you do.' And she said, 'Aw, no, I don't know any of them.'
There's
a look that passes between brothers Robert and Scott Cerny when I
interview them. It's merely a glance, but in that split second,
they've communicated which of them will answer the question.
When
you open your copy of the River
Cities' Reader to see
what's being offered in the way of live entertainment, you might
come to the conclusion the Quad Cities has little to provide in the
way of indie rock.
Year-end
lists of the best albums of the past 12 months are cruel, because
either you'll go bankrupt buying all these fantastic records or
you'll resent how much great music you're missing because you
can't afford to buy them.
Augie
March, Moo, You Bloody Choir. Charting number-one singles
on the Australian home front, it's shocking that Augie March
achieved close to no notice in the States. Elegant in its simplicity,
the band's brand of rock can be compared to post-alt-country-era
Wilco, but with a definite Aussie influence - think elements of
Midnight Oil, but more literate. Past albums saw Augie March rushing
forth like a speeding train, but this time the songs are built around
acoustic, rather than electric, guitar parts, so they have a more
cautious and quiet path to their destinations. From pop anthems to
grandiose ballads, singer-songwriter Glenn Richards uses lyrics as
instruments strung together to shimmer like violin strings or crash
into one another like cymbals. While Australian critics sing the
band's praises, and fans sing their songs, one can't help but
wonder if we Yanks are simply mooing in the wrong bloody choir.
If you're looking to "take a cup of kindness" this December 31, the following local venues will - to borrow some phrasing from "Auld Lang Syne" poet Robert Burns - be more than happy to fill your pint-stowp with a right gude-willie-waught. But they'll also be showcasing some of the area's most popular bands, so take a look at who's playing where, and when, and what sorts of New Year's Eve treats you can expect if you attend.
They're
not quite in the league with The Who or the Stones, but Bob Dorr &
the Blue Band are celebrating their silver anniversary this year. And
to mark those 25 years, they've released a retrospective two-DVD
set of live performances (produced with the help of Iowa Public
Television) and a separate live CD of their 25th-anniversary concert
recorded in April.
