Music

Fatoumata Diawara

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Fatoumata Diawara photoI bought these tickets without really knowing anything about the artist or the music.  Our seats were in the second row, which turned out to be fantastic.  The songs were very beautiful, mellow and similar in tone.  This is her first tour in the USA, and I hope it is a successful one.  She sang in Bambara, which was as she explained after the show, her mother tongue, and the only one where she feels she can communicate musically.  About halfway through, she started to do more dancing, with a more uptempo beat and inviting people to join her on the stage.  Several (presumably) African students joined her, with a big hug before they left stage.  Soon everyone was dancing in the aisles, in front of the stage, even stodgy folks like myself in the second row.

map of Mali
Mali

After the concert, she came back for some questions.  Paris seems to be their home base, and their manager translated English questions from the audience into French. Corine Thuy, doing backup vocals and percussion, is from La Réunion, a French DOM-TOM island north of Madagascar.  The other band members are from Cameroon, Togo, and Brazil/France.  In her responses, she explained that she isn’t interested in politics, that it hasn’t helped anyone, that she is interested in peace.  She also acknowledged the difficulties she has encountered in the music world, where a woman may perform as a man’s wife, sister or cousin, but not as the lead.

A very enjoyable concert, all in all.

Song Trailer

Interview and singing at the Hop office on Dartmouth campus

Hop Program Notes (PDF)

Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers

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I received the email on January 31 that Steve Martin was coming to the Hopkins Center in May. It was an unexpected show opportunity and tickets were expensive.  However, I did buy tickets that day, which was a good thing because it sold out right away.  As it is, ours seats were near the back.

Although I remember back to some of his shows where he played banjo, I didn’t really know what to expect.  Indeed, Steve said during the show, its a bit like Jerry Seinfeld having a concert of his bassoon music: you don’t know what to expect.

But it was a great show, of rollicking bluegrass with a great band, and Steve’s very dry and self-deprecating wit.  Hard to believe he’s 67!  He wrote most of the music (“to avoid paying royalties”), and he played one of 5 multiple banjos, alon with some singing, in particular the “Atheists have no songs”.  He is clearly an accomplished player, and so were the other musicians.

The band was great, both vocals and instrumentals, and the finale featured some funny violin riffs (Flintstones!) during a very fast song.

All in all a fun performance!

Steve Martin Playbill

Dartmouth Symphony Orchestra

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Symphony Publicity photoI quite enjoyed the Dartmouth Symphony on Saturday night. And I love the photo (at left) that they used to publicize the show.

In general this was a high caliber performance, and I feel lucky to have it so accessible. Students are in front in the orchestra, but there are a fair number of other professionals involved. For example, there were 3 students violists listed, but 8 playing, 4 students cellists with 8 playing, 1 student bassist but 3 playing. And I bet that these students aren’t music majors, but are all doing other stuff, and still finding time to practice 2 or 3 hours a day.

The first piece was a short and sweet piece for strings only by Tchaikovsky. It made a nice introduction to the concert.

The second item was a Cello Concerto by Shostakovich. The soloist was Bonnie Thron, who I had heard was a Hanover native, although this wasn’t in the program.  She was a tall and striking woman, playing on a small platform facing the audience, providing a very good view of her playing. I particularly liked the first part of the 2nd movement, which was very lush.  This was followed by a long solo cello cadenza. I am sure it was played well, and certainly it was interesting to watch her expressive technique, but the music really didn’t appeal to me.

After intermission, it was time for Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. It’s strange but I really have not heard this played very often in concert. Perhaps there is a fear that it is too much of a cliche or something, but it really is such a great piece of music. The dynamic contrast, starting right off, going from very loud to very soft, is something that is really spectacular when heard live. Also, the tempo was quite fast – faster than in the recordings I have.

This piece drew an ovation from the audience, as might be expected. The encore piece was a short Trepak from the Nutcracker Suite – lively and fun.

Program Notes