The musicians ofPresent Music have always been its strong suit. Hearing them play two movementsfrom Philip Glass’ Glassworks (1981)with precision and tight ensemble was the highlight of the evening. Themovement “Facades” was a not uninteresting, pleasant and peaceful meditation.“Rubric” was minor-key gleeful Glass, percolating with energy. Music by Glasswas revolutionary when it appeared in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Time hassoftened its edge. The style infuriated music academics, but cleared the palateof dry and dull atonal sounds then in fashion in contemporary music. I rememberattending an early 1980s Glass concert, featuring Glassworks, at Walker Art Centerin Minneapolis.The audience was an entertaining and potent mix of safety-pin-in-ear types andmiddle-aged concertgoers.
CarolineMallonée’s Reaction, for eightplayers on mixed instruments, was premiered, beginning with fast, drypointillistic sounds, and easing into a lengthy final section that blanketedatmospheric haze. Lukas Ligeti, son of master composer Gy%uFFFDrgy Ligeti, was afeatured guest. His string quartet MovingHouses (1996) made little impression. Even with the deliberate purpose of achanging landscape, the piece did not present any clear ideas, wanderingaimlessly. The imbalance in amplification did not help, with the cellooveremphasized. Ligeti later played solos on his invented electronic marimba,cuing programmed sounds with mallets. The process was enticing. I spent theentire first piece trying to figure out what was going on; mallet hits did nottranslate into discernible reactive%uFFFDsounds.
Ligeti joined theband Burkina Electric, from the West African country Burkina Faso. Lead singer Ma%uFFFD Linganiwas decidedly the charismatic star with her upbeat energy and distinctivelooks. She was flanked by two stylish male dancer/singers. The band is as muchabout contemporary African choreography as it is about music. A guitar playerand drummer (Ligeti) joined the electronic tracks.
