This recital of three new works written for the Milwaukee ensemble Present Music, founded in 1982 by Kevin Stalheim, who remains its conductor, is a decidedly mixed bag. At the weak end of the spectrum is Randall Woolf's negligible Motor City Requiem, which features a tape montage of Motown snippets surrounded with jive-y, meandering noodling by the ensemble. Village Idiot by Russian-Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin is an immediately appealing work. The composer, whose son is schizophrenic, was inspired by artists ...
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This recital of three new works written for the Milwaukee ensemble Present Music, founded in 1982 by Kevin Stalheim, who remains its conductor, is a decidedly mixed bag. At the weak end of the spectrum is Randall Woolf's negligible Motor City Requiem, which features a tape montage of Motown snippets surrounded with jive-y, meandering noodling by the ensemble. Village Idiot by Russian-Australian composer Elena Kats-Chernin is an immediately appealing work. The composer, whose son is schizophrenic, was inspired by artists with schizophrenia, and its title is an unsubtle jab at the lingering public perception of people with mental illness. As is often the case with her work, this piece is indebted to Philip Glass, particularly the lush harmonies and mechanistic rhythms of "Beauty and the Beast." Even though it lacks blazing originality or strong individuality, it's attractive and deeply felt, with moments of astonishing beauty. The real find here is Armando Luna's Graffiti, each of whose 11 brief...
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