UMS 2009

Every year, the University Musical Society of the U of Michigan presents a list of world class performances with very affordable ticket prices (with student discount). This year, I still managed to enjoy the discounts thanks to Pei Ying. We went to two concerts in March:

New York Philharmonic (3/7)

· Mendelssohn : A Midsummer Night’s Dream Overture (1826)
· Schumann : Symphony No. 4 in d minor, Op. 120 (1841)
· Mussorgsky : Pictures at an Exhibition, arr. Ravel (1874/ arr. 1922)
· Encore - Brahms : Hungarian Dance No. 1
· Encore - Bizet : Farandole

The Silk Road Ensemble, Yo Yo Ma (3/14)

· Kim/Umezaki/Tong : Wandering Winds
· Kayhan Kalhor, arr. Ljova : Mountains are Far Away
· Zhao Jiping : Sacred Cloud Music
· Shane Shananhan : Saidi Swing
· Rabih Abou-Khalil : Arabian Waltz
· Angel Lam : Empty Mountain, Spirit Rain
· Dmitry Yanov-Yanovsky : Paths of Parables
· Colin Jacobsen : Ascending Bird
· Encore - Wu Tong : Sheng solo
· Encore - Traditional : Ethiopian Song “Musiqawi Silt”

The New York Philharmonic was awesome; personally I like the Pictures at an Exhibition a lot. The music supposedly depicts a tour of an art collection. Although it did not summon instant images to my mind, it was an interesting exercise to try surmising the artworks depicted based on the style of the music.

The Yo Yo Ma concert on the other hand was a disappointment. I didn't have high expectation even before attending the concert, as I was aware that I am not a person opened to all types of music. The performances did open my eyes as I was introduced to some new instruments, but really Yo Yo Ma's name should not be put in the title. He was just a participant in the ensemble, and his name was clearly used to boost attendance. Overall it was disappointing to whoever who wants to see him showing off his extraordinary talent.

I should note that there was a decidedly odd work which included a narrator telling stories so lame that they were actually funny. I bet that part managed to wake a lot of people up :)