The Wire: Ostrava Music Days
Publikováno: 5.10.2023
Ostrava is at the heart of a former industrial region linking the Czech Republic and Poland. Like Detroit and Liverpool, the urban population has been hollowed out and the city center is quiet. In ideology and approach, the Music Days, founded and run by the seemingly ageless Petr Kotik, compares with the Huddersfield festival. Ostrava’s sizeable audience is probably younger, and state support seems more generous.
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The venue for Ostrava New Orchestra and the chamber-size Ostravská Banda is the cavernous Triple Hall. It’s good to hear 20th century classics by Xenakis (Shaar, Échange) and Maderna (the gritty, expressionist Violin Concerto)). A more recent classic is Frederic Rzewski’s A Long Time Man (1979), featuring Daan Vandewalle (piano) and Ostrava New Orchestra conducted by Johannes Kalitzke, with a prominent “chain gang” section beating unlikely percussion. Kalitzke’s own Story Teller, featuring Andrej Gál’s lyrical cello, begins a long concert – Kotik’s programming is always value for money. In the Banda events, the work of Zygmunt Krauze (born 1938) stands out. His beautiful Rivière Souterraine 3 features a fluttering, tremulous piano part played by the composer, while Eric Wubbel’s Auditory Scene Analysis (I) is a tough, worthwile listen. Raven Chacon’s mostly solo pieces begin a long night of concerts at the former industrial plant of PLATO arts venue. With his singular artistic vision, he’s a composer we need to hear more from.
Andy Hamilton, The Wire | you can buy the new issue of The Wire online >>> or read the article here >>>
