Word: groupe
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1990-1999
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Long live concept albums! The Olivia Tremor Control, a loose group of musical misfits based in Athens, Georgia, manage to start off with everything that's wrong with concept albums and end up with everything that's right. First, begin with the pretentious, overly intellectual premise: the OTC set out to create an audible representation of dreams within music that pulses "with the rhythms of modern life." Next, toss in some unnecessarily complex musical tampering: a bass line from one original song is altered for various other songs whose remaining components are then manipulated and layered on top of other...
...Library on April 8, given by the Van Swieten Quartet, who are in residence at the Longy School. They played rarely heard early Beethoven (the Op. 18 String Quartet in C minor) with a musicality that was undercut somewhat by the lack of humidity, a condition to which the group's rare, expensive instruments are sensitive. Still, they kept some monstrous repeats from being boring, choosing unpredictable phrasings and doing an unforgettable job of blending, without becoming indistinct especially the harder-to-hear viola (Joan Ellersick). The tempi were on the whole a bit shy for Beethoven, but the musicians...
Laughter on the 23rd floor is the bittersweet tale of the office hijinks of a group of writers for a '50s variety show, starring the comedian Max Prince (Nicholas Meunier '02). Not much happens in the way of plot--there are two meetings and a Christmas party--but Simon makes up for it by creating a hilarious group of eccentrics, which the cast of this production brought to life with great success...
...standout in a very strong cast is Reihan Morshed Salam '01 as Ira. He provoked laughter from the first moment he stumbled onstage as the hysterical, perpetually tardy hypochondriac of the group. Whether throwing shoes out the window after a contest with Brian (Daniel Brunet), writing "I have a brain tumor" on the wall as "proof" of his illness or fighting with Max over a line, Salam stole the show whenever he got a chance. He had quite a bit of competition from Milt (Geoff Oxnard '99), the womanizing flashy dresser, and Val (Fred Hood '02), the choleric Russian head...
...Library on April 8, given by the Van Swieten Quartet, who are in residence at the Longy School. They played rarely-heard early Beethoven (the Op. 18 String Quartet in C minor) with a musicality that was undercut somewhat by the lack of humidity, a condition to which the group's rare, expensive instruments are sensitive. Still, they kept some monstrous repeats from being boring, choosing unpredictable phrasings and doing an unforgettable job of blending, without becoming indistinct especially the harder-to-hear viola (Joan Ellersick). The tempi were on the whole a bit shy for Beethoven, but the musicians...