Photo Courtesy of Present Music
Present Music's “All Souls Eve”
Present Music has long been known for their Thanksgiving concerts, but this year they tackled another holiday: Halloween. In their “All Souls Eve” program at the Milwaukee Art Museum, they created an experience built around the Mexican Dia de los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Food trucks outside the museum offered Mexican food and hot chocolate, and artist Franciso X Mora constructed a lovely ofrenda, an altar to honor dead ancestors. The ofrenda included slips of paper where guests could write names of loved ones to remember, adding them to a box. It was a great participatory element to encourage connection to the concert’s themes.
Perhaps a mischievous ghost had sabotaged the emcee microphone, because it was nonfunctional for the whole spoken introduction. But the first piece, La Calaca by Gabriela Ortiz, saved the moment. This string quartet explored the duality of life and included a melody of the Huichol people from Mexican state of Nayarit. The theme of duality manifested in many quick changes from lively rustic moods to more sinister episodes, all very idiomatically written for the instruments. Second violinist Ji-Yeon Lee had some highlights, especially in the appearance of the Huichol melody over a drone. The quartet gave a precise, satisfying performance of this work.
Evan Chambers’ song cycle The Old Burying Ground offered an American perspective on death, inspired by epitaphs in a colonial cemetery in New Hampshire. The first song was immediately appealing, with a sense of sweep. Violinist Ben Russell sang in a folk style, combining humanity and nobility, and with well-executed inflections and ornaments. The second song, “Emma,” featured soprano Alisa Jordheim. This was a brilliant piece of text setting, slowly leaking out more details about Emma until revealing that she died at the age of two. Unfortunately, another microphone issue hurt this performance. Jordheim was often hard to hear above the ensemble unless in her higher range. The instrumental component was great, though; Chambers knew how to use small touches that were just right. In “A Bar So Pure,” Tenor Brian Giebler gave a beautiful performance. He has one of those ideal tenor voices, smooth and effortless.
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Moments of Great Power
In what was maybe a bridge to the fourth movement (the text wasn’t listed in the program), Alisa Jordheim had a spoken text moment over accompaniment. Again, hard to hear. All three singers joined in the closing “Paths of Peace,” building to moments of great power. The repeated text “All her paths are peace” didn’t quite click for me. I felt Chambers’ intent for catharsis, but for some reason I couldn’t connect. But that’s a small qualm in the context of a very accomplished piece. Throughout, Chambers showed an economic control of material and directness of expression. Conductor Deanna Tham brought this all together with care.
It's an impressive feat for a world premiere to slot in just right to a concert’s larger theme, and Viet Cuong’s Music of the While did just that. Inspired by Henry Purcell’s use of ground bass in pieces like Music for a While, this music brought together ideas of death, time, and existence. After opening with a striking electric guitar solo by Derek Johnson with a delay pedal—I’ve rarely heard electric guitar so beautiful and plaintive—the ensemble entered with a groove over an ever-present repeated bass line. Cuong knew just when to ease up on the full texture for more detail and clarity. Byways in the music focused on some strings, or brought forth a heroic trumpet solo, or had piano and mallet percussion trading off. At one point a drum set kicked in, fulfilling the promise of the opening guitar. This piece created a vivid image of human striving against the inevitability of death and suffering. In the pantheon of Present Music premieres, this one ranks highly for me.
George Crumb’s “Where Have All the Flowers Gone,” from his opus American Songbook, was a great choice for a Halloween concert. Alisa Jordheim, with a properly calibrated mic, sounded fantastic, from humming to singing to speaking. She captured a dreamy quality that was just right. Brian Giebler was faultless once again. The percussion-heavy ensemble contributed a spooky atmosphere, and Deanna Tham’s cues were very clear and satisfying to watch. In Crumb, those cues feel like part of a ritual, setting off the next musical event.
The exploration of life and death ended with the boisterous Conga-Line in Hell by Miguel del Águila. The piano was a crucial glue in this piece, and pianist John Orfe nailed his role. The music ramped up to something very exciting and very loud. Deanna Tham inhabited this and the other music with her whole body as she conducted.
Aside from the microphone issues, this was a highly successful Present Music concert. Satisfying performances, a worthy world premiere, and immersive touches like the ofrenda and food trucks. I would love to see Alisa Jordheim and Brian Giebler featured again in other great contemporary works.
