Critiques
Over the past three years, i have been given the oportunity to hear and see many preformances. These preformances range any where from a recording of my own groups participation at a festival, to attending a Phillharmonic Orchesrta. Or from school plays and musicals to Musicals at Victorial Place theatre in London. I have included a few critiques of soloists, professional orchestras/ groups, and theater arts.
Lunchtime Concert Series.
St. Martin-in-the-Fields Organ Series, David Pipe.
Friday April 1st 2011, 1:00pm
St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square London.
Works Preformed:
Prelude and Fugue in G minor Brahms
Fantasia chromatica Sweelinck
Il penseroso Liszt
Trans. David Pipe
Lullaby Huw Morgan
Sonata Philip Moore
Allegro agitato
Andante Tranquillo
Allegro con brio
The Environment in which the concert was held had wonderful accustics. The Church it's self was beautiful to look at but once Pipe started to play your breath was blown away. To hear such snorous and moving sound was increadable. The preformance overall was truely amazing and something i will never forget. I Liked how you could not see him playing unless you turned around, it added an effect that made you want to close your eyes and become intwined with the music.
My favorite piece of the concert was "Il penseroso" by Liszt. I feel they way it was played it capivated your emoitions and made you cringe deep down inside while wanting to hear more. The mood of the piece made me go though many emotions, there were times when i felt scared, others sad, and yet sometimes relieved. While the dynamics were not extensive thought this piece i felt it was compensated with riveting emotion. I could feel the passion coming from his finger tips, i think that is what made it so enjoyable to listen to.
I also throughly enjoyed "Prelude and Fugue in G minor. I enjoy the many layers of the fugue, and how when you really listen you hard you can hear all the different themes and when they repeat. The harmonies in this piece are dieing for resolution alot of the time and when they finaly reach the cadence point your ears are relieved. But the suspence created with the harmonic layers and ryhthems keep you attentive and constantly listening.
Friday April 1st 2011, 1:00pm
St Martin-in-the-Fields, Trafalgar Square London.
Works Preformed:
Prelude and Fugue in G minor Brahms
Fantasia chromatica Sweelinck
Il penseroso Liszt
Trans. David Pipe
Lullaby Huw Morgan
Sonata Philip Moore
Allegro agitato
Andante Tranquillo
Allegro con brio
The Environment in which the concert was held had wonderful accustics. The Church it's self was beautiful to look at but once Pipe started to play your breath was blown away. To hear such snorous and moving sound was increadable. The preformance overall was truely amazing and something i will never forget. I Liked how you could not see him playing unless you turned around, it added an effect that made you want to close your eyes and become intwined with the music.
My favorite piece of the concert was "Il penseroso" by Liszt. I feel they way it was played it capivated your emoitions and made you cringe deep down inside while wanting to hear more. The mood of the piece made me go though many emotions, there were times when i felt scared, others sad, and yet sometimes relieved. While the dynamics were not extensive thought this piece i felt it was compensated with riveting emotion. I could feel the passion coming from his finger tips, i think that is what made it so enjoyable to listen to.
I also throughly enjoyed "Prelude and Fugue in G minor. I enjoy the many layers of the fugue, and how when you really listen you hard you can hear all the different themes and when they repeat. The harmonies in this piece are dieing for resolution alot of the time and when they finaly reach the cadence point your ears are relieved. But the suspence created with the harmonic layers and ryhthems keep you attentive and constantly listening.
Piano Man: The Best of Billy Joel.
Calgary Philharmonic Orchestra presents The Best of Billy Joel with featured guests Jeans 'N Classics.
Friday June 11, 2010
Jack Singer Concert Hall, Calgary Alberta
Works preformed: Various Billy Joel tunes.
At first i was expecting the CPO to be playing Billy Joel's tunes, but once i go there i found out that there were special guest Jeans'N Classics. This was a bit of a disapointment because for the majority of the time all you were listening to was Jeans 'N Classics do covers, while the CPO played a minor role and only played parts of songs that were normally orchestrated. I found this to take away from the preformance because it was nothing like what i thought it would be. Having the CPO looking very professional in the back ground then the members on Jeans 'N Classics walking on in very cassual clothing took away from the preformance, i found it to rather distracting and i often founf myself wondering why they didn't look very professional.
Aside from my disapointment i did enjoy the show, i found that the main singer to be captuvating with his voice. Their use of dinamics were very effective. Since they were covering very famous and popular songs i found it nice that they stuck to how it was supose to sound rather then changing it up and making it their own, like what artists normally do when they do covers.
I found that once i got past my initial disapointment i was able to realy enjoy the show because all of the artist had alot of stage presence. Though the orchestra played such miniscule parts, i found that when they did play the passion they put into their parts was remarkable. Never once while they were on stange did a single preformer look bored, or not completely engaged in what they were doing. When i look at how these musicians conduct themselves it gives me inspiration to work harder. These professional musician get to play music and get to do what they love for a living, never at any point in time were they distracted, i thought that that was admirable.
Friday June 11, 2010
Jack Singer Concert Hall, Calgary Alberta
Works preformed: Various Billy Joel tunes.
At first i was expecting the CPO to be playing Billy Joel's tunes, but once i go there i found out that there were special guest Jeans'N Classics. This was a bit of a disapointment because for the majority of the time all you were listening to was Jeans 'N Classics do covers, while the CPO played a minor role and only played parts of songs that were normally orchestrated. I found this to take away from the preformance because it was nothing like what i thought it would be. Having the CPO looking very professional in the back ground then the members on Jeans 'N Classics walking on in very cassual clothing took away from the preformance, i found it to rather distracting and i often founf myself wondering why they didn't look very professional.
Aside from my disapointment i did enjoy the show, i found that the main singer to be captuvating with his voice. Their use of dinamics were very effective. Since they were covering very famous and popular songs i found it nice that they stuck to how it was supose to sound rather then changing it up and making it their own, like what artists normally do when they do covers.
I found that once i got past my initial disapointment i was able to realy enjoy the show because all of the artist had alot of stage presence. Though the orchestra played such miniscule parts, i found that when they did play the passion they put into their parts was remarkable. Never once while they were on stange did a single preformer look bored, or not completely engaged in what they were doing. When i look at how these musicians conduct themselves it gives me inspiration to work harder. These professional musician get to play music and get to do what they love for a living, never at any point in time were they distracted, i thought that that was admirable.
"Double Trouble"
Written by Eric Grant
Performed June 8th
Bishop Carroll High School Theater
There were 4 characters in the play and each had transformed themselves into a twenty-something characterization of essentially us all. The first character that we were introduced to was Clark; a 23 year old working at a dead end office job who comes home to find his roommate and friend Kent- a party animal, passed out on the couch and their house is in disarray, for me this personifies the university/college experience by showing us that we are still in the middle of something and doing what we have to do to get by. Clark begins to get angry and wakes up Kent to inform him that they have 2 girls coming over for dinner and drinks. 1 of them being Clarks current girlfriend of 6 months and the other being her best friend. As soon as the characters Lauren and Becca hit the stage I hated them. They we’re the personification of that ditzy blonde that everyone of us knows; except on a whole new level. These characters worked very well in progressing the storyline because we soon find out that Becca needs Lauren to break it up with Clark so she can study the effects of a break-up for a class on match-making she’s taking. At first Lauren seems hesitant to do this however she thinks about it and agrees. From the moment Clark welcomes the girls into the house – Kent becomes very protective of himself, the place and to a degree; Clark. He knows that the girls are silently judging the place and he hates them for that. For a character that appears to be so happy go lucky at points it was tough to see him act all defensive. Soon we find out why. As soon as clark leaves the room to go get appetizers and drinks Lauren pulls Kent to the side and begins to tell him the plan that Becca and her have hatched, Kent is horrified to learn this as he and Clark have been best friends since middle school. Tempers begin to flare as Kent tries to get the girls to leave, however they turn the tables when Clark walks back in and see’s Kent freaking out. Kent tries to explain himself and it doesn’t work. Clark tells Kent to behave himself or risk being thrown out. So Kent walks stage right and begins to ponder what to do. As soon as he has a plan he gets up and yells “Bro-Talk Initiate” and all other characters on the stage just look at him wide eyed. Clark realizes this and comes up with a cover by saying that Becca needs a refill on her water, he excuses himself and him and Kent begin to stage whisper right under the proscenium as the girls are upper stage right discussing what to do if all fails. Kent tries to tell Clark what the girls are doing and is just met with futile attempts. This time Clark tells Kent to get lost and they wil talk after. Kent storms off the stage and slams the door leaving with a nice parting line. As soon as Kent leaves, Clark goes over to talk with Lauren. Lauren begins to tell Clark those words that everyone hates to hear “Its time we had a talk.” From then on it’s a downhill coaster for Clark as she begins to tell him all the reasons why they are breaking up and much to Becca’s delight Clark is in disbelief. Becca begins to giggle and Clark turns around and tells her to shut it. From then on we see Clark begin to lose a grip on his once girlfriend. He tells her and Becca to get out of the house. Lauren tries to redeem herself by telling Clark that she still cares about him; however this is met with a “Just get out” by Clark. Next we see the girls leave and go into an isolation spotlight where Becca thanks Lauren and then makes a joke. Lauren gets upset by the joke and tells Becca to shut up. As the girls are leaving, Kent comes back into the house where he see’s Clark staring in disbelief on the couch. He and Clark have a moment when they realize that friends are always there for one another. And the lights dim as the ending music plays.
The people who played these characters were very well casted and you could tell that they had put a lot of time and effort into making the characters believable, from the attire that they were wearing to the way they carried themselves on stage.
I found that the entire stage was used very well, the director was able to pinpoint locations that might have been hard for the audience to see and he found a way to make it a strong point. The stage was set up in the style of an apartment, a couch taking center stage just in front of the proscenium with tables on either end. It was effective in making the audience believe that it truly was the living room of two college/university students. The director had also chosen to leave cans and a beer-amid in the middle of a stage to show that there was a party there last night. The actors were very good in their blocking; essentially using the whole stage to play out the story. What didn’t seem to work was the cluster of items strewn about the stage; however I can’t think of a way to fix that seeming how it was essential to the plot and provided the actors stage business to look busy in times where they didn’t have lines.
For the technical aspects the director chose to use music very effectively, the intro song “Bro Hymn” by pennywise was useful in setting up the fact that it was going to be a fun and amusing piece rather than a dreary, deep piece. The lighting within the show was fantastic, at points the director chose to use isolation spotlights to provide the audience a sense of being outside of the apartment. The ending song that the director chose was “Underdog” by Spoon. This song was effective in causing the feelings that everything would be alright and that the characters would be able to move on.
Due to it being a one act play, there were really no transitions to take note of. However right before the characters of Lauren and Becca came to the apartment they were set in an isolation spotlight to provide the audience a sense of them being outside of the apartment while Becca explained her plan to Lauren. This also happened after Lauren broke up with Clark and the girls had a moment off stage right where Lauren and Becca had a fight.
Performed June 8th
Bishop Carroll High School Theater
There were 4 characters in the play and each had transformed themselves into a twenty-something characterization of essentially us all. The first character that we were introduced to was Clark; a 23 year old working at a dead end office job who comes home to find his roommate and friend Kent- a party animal, passed out on the couch and their house is in disarray, for me this personifies the university/college experience by showing us that we are still in the middle of something and doing what we have to do to get by. Clark begins to get angry and wakes up Kent to inform him that they have 2 girls coming over for dinner and drinks. 1 of them being Clarks current girlfriend of 6 months and the other being her best friend. As soon as the characters Lauren and Becca hit the stage I hated them. They we’re the personification of that ditzy blonde that everyone of us knows; except on a whole new level. These characters worked very well in progressing the storyline because we soon find out that Becca needs Lauren to break it up with Clark so she can study the effects of a break-up for a class on match-making she’s taking. At first Lauren seems hesitant to do this however she thinks about it and agrees. From the moment Clark welcomes the girls into the house – Kent becomes very protective of himself, the place and to a degree; Clark. He knows that the girls are silently judging the place and he hates them for that. For a character that appears to be so happy go lucky at points it was tough to see him act all defensive. Soon we find out why. As soon as clark leaves the room to go get appetizers and drinks Lauren pulls Kent to the side and begins to tell him the plan that Becca and her have hatched, Kent is horrified to learn this as he and Clark have been best friends since middle school. Tempers begin to flare as Kent tries to get the girls to leave, however they turn the tables when Clark walks back in and see’s Kent freaking out. Kent tries to explain himself and it doesn’t work. Clark tells Kent to behave himself or risk being thrown out. So Kent walks stage right and begins to ponder what to do. As soon as he has a plan he gets up and yells “Bro-Talk Initiate” and all other characters on the stage just look at him wide eyed. Clark realizes this and comes up with a cover by saying that Becca needs a refill on her water, he excuses himself and him and Kent begin to stage whisper right under the proscenium as the girls are upper stage right discussing what to do if all fails. Kent tries to tell Clark what the girls are doing and is just met with futile attempts. This time Clark tells Kent to get lost and they wil talk after. Kent storms off the stage and slams the door leaving with a nice parting line. As soon as Kent leaves, Clark goes over to talk with Lauren. Lauren begins to tell Clark those words that everyone hates to hear “Its time we had a talk.” From then on it’s a downhill coaster for Clark as she begins to tell him all the reasons why they are breaking up and much to Becca’s delight Clark is in disbelief. Becca begins to giggle and Clark turns around and tells her to shut it. From then on we see Clark begin to lose a grip on his once girlfriend. He tells her and Becca to get out of the house. Lauren tries to redeem herself by telling Clark that she still cares about him; however this is met with a “Just get out” by Clark. Next we see the girls leave and go into an isolation spotlight where Becca thanks Lauren and then makes a joke. Lauren gets upset by the joke and tells Becca to shut up. As the girls are leaving, Kent comes back into the house where he see’s Clark staring in disbelief on the couch. He and Clark have a moment when they realize that friends are always there for one another. And the lights dim as the ending music plays.
The people who played these characters were very well casted and you could tell that they had put a lot of time and effort into making the characters believable, from the attire that they were wearing to the way they carried themselves on stage.
I found that the entire stage was used very well, the director was able to pinpoint locations that might have been hard for the audience to see and he found a way to make it a strong point. The stage was set up in the style of an apartment, a couch taking center stage just in front of the proscenium with tables on either end. It was effective in making the audience believe that it truly was the living room of two college/university students. The director had also chosen to leave cans and a beer-amid in the middle of a stage to show that there was a party there last night. The actors were very good in their blocking; essentially using the whole stage to play out the story. What didn’t seem to work was the cluster of items strewn about the stage; however I can’t think of a way to fix that seeming how it was essential to the plot and provided the actors stage business to look busy in times where they didn’t have lines.
For the technical aspects the director chose to use music very effectively, the intro song “Bro Hymn” by pennywise was useful in setting up the fact that it was going to be a fun and amusing piece rather than a dreary, deep piece. The lighting within the show was fantastic, at points the director chose to use isolation spotlights to provide the audience a sense of being outside of the apartment. The ending song that the director chose was “Underdog” by Spoon. This song was effective in causing the feelings that everything would be alright and that the characters would be able to move on.
Due to it being a one act play, there were really no transitions to take note of. However right before the characters of Lauren and Becca came to the apartment they were set in an isolation spotlight to provide the audience a sense of them being outside of the apartment while Becca explained her plan to Lauren. This also happened after Lauren broke up with Clark and the girls had a moment off stage right where Lauren and Becca had a fight.
