Review of Dame Evelyn Glennie playing Anders Koppel Concerto for Aluphone with Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra and Mario Venzago conducting: Review: Venzago sells out ISO by Tom Aldridge | November 24, 2014 Former music director Mario Venzago (The part about Anders Koppels concerto) An unexpected highlight of this program was the U.S. debut of a new percussion instrument, the aluphone, a series of aluminum bells of varying sizes and pitches on a stand six to eight feet in length. Film composer Anders Koppel (b. 1947) launched the instrument with his Concerto for Aluphone, a three movement work which also included a marimba, presumably added for more tonal variety. Both were played by the venerable Dame Evelyn Glennie, British percussionist extraordinaire. Cast in three movements, the aluphone dominates in the first, its timbres difficult enough to define that you have to hear it to believe it. It shimmers a bit like a vibraphone but has no equivalent electric power source to produce the latters tremolo effect. Wielding two mallets in each hand, Dame Glennie struck widely varying intervals at sometimes breakneck speed, creating a ringing tapestry of a modern idiom, acquainting us with this new sound color. Glennie introduced the marimba in the second movement, such that it gradually became more prominent and dominated the final movement. The aluphone was what was of interest. The marimba could have been left out; weve heard it before. Venzagos orchestra provided a tonal accompaniment to the percussion, scarcely leaving the key of G minor (if my ears didnt deceive me), an often subdued contrast to Dame Glassies histrionics. The aluphone deserves to make its way into all concert halls, both for percussion ensemble work and as a solo percussion instrument.
Posted on: Thu, 27 Nov 2014 08:04:58 +0000
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