On the surface last night’s Old First Concerts program, Cycles of Resistance, showed promising qualities. Soprano Chelsea Hollow commissioned a series of compositions that (according to the program book) “explores poetry and texts of resilience and rebellion throughout the 20th and 21st centuries.” Back in my student days, as well as during the first half of the twentieth century, those poems, texts, and songs were the domain of folk music: music “of the people” and “by the people.” These days the currency of poems, texts, and songs has been undermined by tweets, blogs, and friending, all of which seem more than a little feeble in the context of a past century that sustained two world wars, epidemic, and economic depression.
By way of disclaimer, I viewed Hollow’s program through live-stream, rather than sitting in Old First Presbyterian Church. I was so dissatisfied with the works of the four composers that preceded the intermission that I was thankful to be able to depart “virtually” without making any fuss. To a great extent those four offerings were all undermined by an overabundance of commentary, none of which registered with much permanence. Some of that commentary came from Hollow herself, while others were provided through recordings made by the composers. None of that verbiage did very much to prepare the audience for the experience of listening to these new compositions being offered (all world premiere performances); and, while there is no questioning Hollow’s skills as a vocalist, the execution of the scores seemed to be more a matter of technique than one of engaging the attentive listener.
Clearly, a lot of thought went into preparing this program; but the results that I sampled only reminded me of Gertrude Stein’s there-is-no-there-there epithet.
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