Movies with live orchestra accompaniment have become a common occurrence in recent years. The Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra has presented several such events. When in the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts, it comes off as an acoustic orchestra playing the film score live. This was not the case last Friday evening at the Riverside Theater, with the MSO hired to play the score for The Godfather.
The sound crew set up as many microphones as possible to amplify the orchestra, creating a highly mixed result coming through the soundboard and speakers; sort of like an enhanced soundtrack. There was virtually no acoustic orchestral sound coming out into the theater. It begged the obvious question: What was the point?
Earlier in the week, I heard the final concert of Frankly Music’s season at Wisconsin Lutheran College. It was a repeat of the winning combination of Frank Almond on violin and Stas Venglevski on bayan, joined by Roza Borisova on cello and Jeannie Yu on piano. Almond and Venglevski performed together about five years ago on this series, memorable not only for the music but also for the dry-witted banter. The same charm prevailed this time around in a potpourri of tangos in colorful arrangements by Venglevski.
Even when moody and serious, tangos always have a subtext that says, “We’re still having fun!” Traditional tangos such as “El Choclo,” “La Cumparsita” and “Jealousy” were combined with nuevo tango compositions of Astor Piazzolla. All were performed with style and flair. Venglevski dazzled with virtuoso command of his instrument. Almond responded with elegant abandon and several degrees of heat in the playing. Borisova and Yu ably joined in the fun—both as refined supporting players and as dashing, occasional soloists.
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One piece on the program was not a tango nor a Venglevski arrangement, but an original piece for these four instruments by Russian composer Tatyana Sergeyeva (b. 1951), Dark Rose. It’s challenging, fascinating music, with a temperament far from contemporary American music, combining surreal elements at times in sharp juxtaposition. It made me wonder about how much wonderful music is out there, awaiting discovery.
