“Stylized yet sensual… the highlight of the festival was Christopher Cerrone’s “In a Grove,” a haunting psychological thriller with a libretto by Stephanie Fleischmann.”
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New York Times
“A vividly immersive thriller... not a word or note is without purpose, and both are captured, if not enhanced, in this richly produced recording.”
In addition to Ligeti himself, the program includes established figures like Molly Joyce and Nina Young as well as an intriguing coterie of up-and-coming compositional talents.
In A Grove is vividly produced… not a mere document of the premiere, but a creation of its own, carefully considered for the studio… commanding attention until the end.
Seth Colter Walls reviews our new studio album, Telekinesis: “And here it is... Tyondai Braxton in full command of his art…”
For contemporary classical artists, metadata is not just an abstract consideration.
These three concerts in this collaborative group’s In Visible Roads festival all look at the piano in one way or another. On Friday there’s a glimpse at composers who are either synesthetic or take an avowedly coloristic approach to composing.
Timo Andres’ piece, which features the cellist Inbal Segev performing with the Metropolis Ensemble, is based on John Vanderlyn’s “Panoramic View of the Palace and Gardens of Versailles” (1818-19), a massive painting on nearly 2,000 square feet of canvas that requires its own circular gallery in the Met’s American Wing.
Mohammed Fairouz, a prolific and inventive young composer, has written a new oratorio seeking to capture some of Jerusalem’s complex dynamics and sounds.
Mr. Kaplan played “New Dances of the League of David,” a 60-minute suite that incorporates new miniatures by this 21st-century band of composers into Schumann’s “Davidsbündlertänze,” a project commissioned by Lyrica Chamber Music and Metropolis Ensemble.
The composer and pianist Timo Andres’s take on the “Coronation” (otherwise known as the Piano Concerto No. 26 in D) felt necessary — not a lark but a surprisingly moving dazzler.
Jon Pareles from The New York Times reviewed The Roots performance at The Public Theater on May 13, 2014, featuring Metropolis Ensemble conducted by Andrew Cyr, D.D. Jackson, Jeremy Ellis, Craig Harris, Rahzel, and Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson. Here are a few excerpts from the article:
“Conundrum, provocation, history lesson, ritual, chamber recital, jazz concert, elegy — the Roots’ performance at the Public Theater on Tuesday night was decidedly not a standard kickoff for a hip-hop album. That was clear when, near the beginning of the show, balloon animals were dropped onto the stage, covering it knee-deep; for the rest of the performance, each entrance and exit was accompanied by balloons popping underfoot like gunshots. Dozens of nooses also hung overhead.
The musicians weren’t the same Roots band seen regularly on NBC’s “Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon.” They included the Metropolis Ensemble — the conductor Andrew Cyr, a string quartet and four singers — and the jazz pianist D. D. Jackson, who wrote dramatic, somberly dissonant arrangements for the ensemble. Mr. Jackson also hurled crashing free-jazz clusters and tremolos in a duet with Questlove on drums. Jeremy Ellis tapped out some two-handed workouts from a sampler, and near the beginning of the concert, there was a primordial drone from Craig Harris on didgeridoo, joined by the percussive vocals of Rahzel, a pioneering beatboxer. Two male dancers also appeared, break dancing amid the balloons.
It was a miscellany of grim tidings and stubborn determination, of sounds both earthy and avant-garde, of bitter realities and electronic hallucinations… This performance wasn’t the rollout of a consumer product; it was joining a cultural continuum."
The musicians weren’t the same Roots band seen regularly on NBC’s “Tonight” show with Jimmy Fallon. They included the Metropolis Ensemble — the conductor Andrew Cyr, a string quartet and four singers — and the jazz pianist D. D. Jackson, who wrote dramatic, somberly dissonant arrangements for the ensemble.
Metropolis Ensemble, a talented freelance orchestra, responded with skill and exuberance to Mr. Tan’s thrusting arms and clutching fingers.
Metropolis Ensemble transformed the house into a concert hall. A string quartet and a harpist were stationed in the parlor, percussion and vibraphone could be heard on the second floor, and a violin and a woodwind trio occupied the third floor.
Avner Dorman’s music works its magic by melding far-flung influences and making them sound natural together.
What impressed most was the diversity of approaches that the composers involved took to stretching a more or less conventional chamber ensemble’s sound through electronic legerdemain.
Avner Dorman writes with an omnivorous eclecticism that makes his music on Concertos both accessible and impossible to pigeonhole.
“All told, twenty-six works of various lengths were performed, most contemporary and eclectic.”
Metropolis was really an umbrella group that brought together instrumental soloists, chamber ensembles, singers and a few composers for a benefit performance for Partners in Health.