“People come to music events to experience enthusiasm or truth, astonishment or beauty, and anyone hearing the Blue Rose Trio will find what they’re looking for.”
— Grant Barnes, audience member
“We just love the events!”
— Carol Lemlein & Eric Natwig, audience members
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Concert III: DANCE PROGRAM *** Laura Karlin & Marlon Pelayo |
Gifted choreographer and dancer Laura Karlin and dancer Marlon Pelayo, both of Invertigo Dance Theater, joined the Blue Rose Trio (“BRT”) for a whirlwind musical trip inspired by dance. For this third and final concert of the 2008 Inaugural Season, the BRT crafted a program of unexpected depth, scope and conceptual artistry, that stretched from Eastern Europe through the United States to South America.
The BRT opened with Haydn’s beloved “Gypsy” Trio, with its lively rondo based on an Hungarian gypsy tune, followed by the wonderful second movement from Czech composer Antonin Dvorak’s F Minor Piano Trio, pulsing with the rhythm of his native folk music. Hopping across the Atlantic, we sampled a bit of “traditional” American music with the lyrical “Appalachia Waltz” arranged for piano trio, and were treated to another side of violinist Audrey Solomon, two-time Alaska State Fiddling Champion, when she “fiddled” to accompaniment of the piano and cello in the BRT’s own arrangement of “Wizard’s Walk.”
The L.A. Musical Salon had commissioned four new pieces of choreography from Ms. Karlin for this concert. Working in close collaboration with the BRT, and within the constraints of a small performance space, she created a foursome of extremely witty, athletic and strongly visual dances for two dancers, all of which had their world premieres at this concert.
In an interesting programming twist, the BRT chose to include two pieces which it had played at earlier concerts – “Song of the Black Swan” and “Tango à Trois” – among those Ms. Karlin choreographed, in order to give the audience two entirely different sensory experiences of the same music, while at the same time weaving a connecting thread through the three-concert series.
The dance portion of the concert opened with Menescal/Boscoli “O Barquinho” (“The Little Boat”) to an arrangement for piano trio created by the BRT, followed by an evocative work developed by Ms. Karlin for Villa-Lobos’ “O Canto do Cisne Negro” (“Song of the Black Swan”).
The dancers took a brief break for the BRT to play their theme song — the extremely engaging “Danza de la Rosa Azul” (“Dance of the Blue Rose”), specially written for the BRT by composer Neal Desby.
Ms. Karlin and Mr. Pelayo returned to dance Piazzolla’s “Oblivion” and, lastly, one of the high points of the evening – the “Tango à Trois.” Taking her cue from the title (“Tango for Three,” inspired by a romantic triangle), Ms. Karlin’s clever and comedic choreography told the story of jealous lovers and romantic triangles, using members of the BRT (who were hard-pressed to keep their mind on the music as they played) as part of the ever-shifting triangles.
One of the most hilarious moments came when Ms. Karlin and Mr. Pelayo glided onto the piano bench on either side of pianist Rose Chen as she played, crowding her until she yelled at them in Chinese, greeted by howls of laughter throughout the room – later, to Rose’s total chagrin, she learned that one of the audience members was unexpectedly fluent in Mandarin Chinese and understood what she had said!
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April 5, 2008 ◊ Grilled Asparagus Salad with ◊ Pre-Choice of: Roasted Rack of Lamb with or Sauteed Chilean Sea Bass with ◊ Georgia Peach Melba with Cookies Coffee & Tea |