Venetia Antiqua Ensemble (Chiesa di San Giovanni Evangelista, Venice)

The week I spent in Venice this September gave me a wonderful opportunity to discover the city and its rich history.  One thing I really wanted to do while I was there was see a performance in the famous La Fenice opera house.  Unfortunately, when I checked for tickets online, only the most expensive seats were still available, and I did not feel like spending hundreds of euros for a ticket.  I was a bit disappointed.

During one of my daily walks exploring the city, I happened to pass by the Scuola di San Giovanni Evangelista, and noticed a sign announcing a concert of early music by the Venice Music Project in its small church on the Friday evening, my last night in Venice.  On an impulse, I bought myself a ticket (and it was very reasonably priced)!

On the evening, I made sure I got to the little church early and took a seat in the front pew.  The harpsichordist was tuning her instrument before the concert began (see photo).

The Venice Music Project brings music from the 17th and 18th centuries, with original instruments and performance practices.  The evening I attended, they performed pieces by Steffani, Vivaldi, Handel, and Albinoni, some of them sung by American soprano Liesl Odenwaller.  Her rendition of Handel's "Tune Your Harps" was very charming.  It was a lovely concert and a fitting way to end my week in Venice.

Orphée et Eurydice (De Munt, Brussels, June 2014)

I bought tickets to this opera after reading two articles about it in the newspaper, one that ended with the wish that everyone should see this opera, because it was impossible for any opera to be "more real, more pure, and more beautiful" than this production by Romeo Castellucci of Gluck and Berlioz's tragedy.

The production combined the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice with the real life story of Els, a young woman with Locked-In syndrome in a nursing home outside of Brussels.  Halfway through the opera, when Orpheus descends to the underworld to find Eurydice and bring her home, cloudy livestream images take us literally to Els' beside, where she is listening to the opera along with us, via headphones.  The music of the descent accompanies words on the screen that tell us Els' life story: a happily married young mother of two children, who is suddenly, without reason taken away from all of that by a freak accident: a stroke, whereby she ends up as a Locked-In syndrome patient: awake, aware, but in no way able to move, speak or interact with her environment, trapped in her own body.

It is hard to describe, but the way the production was put together and performed was incredible and the entire experience was very moving.  I'm so grateful I was able to go.

L'Oro d'Italia Photographic Concert

In the context of the Italian presidency of the Council of the European Union, my husband and I attended this event at the BOZAR in Brussels last night.  I had no idea what to expect, as it was billed as a "photographic concert".  It turned out to be an very entertaining tribute to Italian cinema.  The Roma Sinfonietta Orchestra played the music composed for famous Italian movies while still photographs from the production of those movies were projected on a huge screen at the back of the stage.  In between, commentary was provided by well-known Italian actor Giancarlo Giannini.

The best moment of the evening was the only time actual moving picture footage was used, when a short clip of Anna Magnani singing in one of her films was projected, and after a few bars, the live orchestra joined in to accompany her.  It gave me goosebumps.  Magnani, the first Italian woman to win an Oscar, and considered one of the greatest actresses in Italian cinema, died in 1973 - however, for a brief moment, it was as if she had come back to life in a Brussels concert hall.

The evening left me wishing I knew more about Italian movies.  The only things that were familiar to me were the music from Sergio Leone's westerns (famously composed by Ennio Morricone), the theme from Il Postino (composed by Luis Bacalov) and of course, both the movie and the theme song La Vita e Bella (directed by Roberto Benigni and composed by Nicola Piovani).  Of all the films spotlighted in the concert, this was the only one I have actually seen, and in retrospect, it seems quite a shame.

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Linda picked this one, and I had no idea what to expect, but was curious: two young South Korean women who play traditional instruments in a modern way - they were billed as having an affinity for Phillip Glass type minimalist music.  The venue was also a new one for me: the concert was held at the Keizersberg Abbey, which turned out to be a very fitting location.

The music was actually more melodic than I would have expected, given the comparison to minimalist music, but I was actually glad - to me, a melody makes a piece that much more accessible and enjoyable.  It was fascinating watching the two musicians play their very unique instruments (we were lucky enough to nab seats in the first row), in the sober and mystical abbey church.  They played pieces that alternated between on the one hand, quite loud and rhythmic, and on the other, softer and quite contemplative.

Below a video I found of one of the pieces I enjoyed the most, entitled "Passing Rain":





After the concert we had the opportunity to have a glass of abbey beer in the monks' dining room, served by two monks in full attire, which was a first for me!

All in all, an enjoyable and unique evening.

Violent Femmes

 A few months ago, I saw that the Violent Femmes were going to be at the AB in Brussels.  I was tempted to get tickets, but then I wondered if it wouldn't be disappointing seeing them again after a very memorable show in Milwaukee in 1983, or perhaps they wouldn't even play material from the old albums, the ones I loved way back when (yeah, I think I've mentioned I'm old).  So I put it out of my mind.

Until my sister saw them at the Shaky Knees music festival in Atlanta in May and raved about how great they were, and how they played the entire first album from beginning to end, and how awesome that was.  The only thing I could do at this point was GET TICKETS, right away, and pray, pray, pray pray pray pray, that they were going to do the same kind of show in Brussels.

So with great anticipation I headed into Brussels by train yesterday evening, met my husband, and walked to the AB.  The opening act, surprisingly enough, was the Belgian group Rhythm Junks, whose lead singer and harmonica player, Steven De Bruyn, happens to be the uncle of a boy and girl my kids went to grade school with.  I had never heard the group play before, and they were actually really good, with a unique sound. There were also quite a few people I recognized as fellow parents from our neighborhood.  It sure is a small world sometimes (especially in Belgium).

At 9 pm sharp, Gordon Gano (guitar), Brian Ritchie (bass), Brian Viglione (drums) and John Sparrow (cajon box) simply walked out onto the stage and started right in on the first song  ("Blister in the Sun") off the first album as the crowd went wild and we all sang along loudly to every verse...which continued as they proceeded to play through the entire album, obviously enjoying themselves, and making a crowd of mature fans go wild, including a midlife mosh-pit!    After the ten songs from album one, the show continued with a bunch of songs from their second and third albums and more recent work ("Freak Magnet").  Every song was a blast to hear (as we all continued to sing along, loudly).  And it reminded me of how many hits they actually had, and how many of those songs were an integral part of the soundtrack of my life through high school and college.

The band also included a horn section called Horns of Dilemma for some of the songs like "Black Girls" or "Confessions", where the musicians create a free-form noise jam. Apparently, the line of up of the Horns of Dilemma changes every show, adding local musicians or friends as circumstances allow.  It was neat to see that Steven De Bruyn on harmonica was included in the group, and even got a bit of a solo when the entire band came out to play a wildly arranged version of "Blister in the Sun" as their encore number.

And then, at 10:30 sharp, it was over.  Time to head back to the train station, passing through throngs of people who had just finished watching the end of the England-Uruguay match, seeing proud Uruguayans celebrating in front of the Brussels stock market building, and making our way through crowds of tourists taking selfies on the Grand' Place.  But with the music of the Violent Femmes still reverberating through my mind.  And so happy I took my sister's advice.

Paul Weller (AB Brussels)

My husband is much more of a Paul Weller fan than I am, so when I heard he was coming to the AB in Brussels, I got him tickets for Father's Day. However, I do have a couple of Jam and Style Council tapes (yes, tapes - I'm old) in my collection, so I was also looking forward to the concert. This is my favorite Paul Weller song: He didn't play it in Brussels; he only played one other number that I knew from his Style Council days (My Ever Changing Moods, video below) and the awesome Start from the Jam, but he had me from the minute he walked on stage and started playing to the very end. The Modfather - wow! Very intense, incredible guitarist, great singer. And a silver fox to boot. Here is he is with the band who supported him last night in Brussels (who were great as well): It was hot and sweaty in the AB but I'm really glad we went to Brussels on a muggy, steamy, stormy night to see him!

Jasper Steverlinck - Try-Out Tour

I am a huge fan of Jasper Steverlinck, and most specifically, his voice.  He is an extremely talented songwriter and
musician, but it is his incredible singing that I admire the most.  It's hard to put into words, but hearing him sing always lifts me up somehow.  My husband feels the same way and we've been to see his group, Arid, twice live, and have most of their albums.

So when I saw Jasper was going to be doing a "Try-Out" tour at small venues we were both excited and got tickets right away.  The closest location for us was a small club we had never been to out in the middle of nowhere.

We got there and we surprised to see how small and intimate the venue was - a dark basement-level club no bigger than my own living room, with a small stage set up at the front and a bar at the back.  We grabbed some bar stools and got a spot about 5 feet from the stage.

The only downside to the entire evening was that it took a long time before the concert actually began.  Not being savvy about how small clubs operate, we got there not long after the doors opened (8 pm) and were finally put out of our misery when Jasper finally came out a bit after 10.  The lady next to us had been stressing and looking at her watch for the past two hours, because she was worried about being home too late for her babysitter, but when Jasper began to sing, all was forgiven.

He sang new songs from his upcoming solo album, but also a lot more of the old Arid favorites than I had dared to expect, and most of them with an "unplugged" pared-down arrangement; after all, the only accompaniment was himself on guitar and his excellent pianist Valentijn Elsen.  Several of the new songs sounded great, but it was of course wonderful to hear some songs I really love; I was especially happy to hear "You Are".

What an amazing experience to hear all of this so up-close and in such an intimate setting.  I don't think there were more than 60 people in the room, and Jasper kept us mesmerized for two hours.  Not an easy task with people drinking and chatting at the bar at the back of the room, but he did it.  His stage presence and warm personality as well as lots of eye contact with the audience made everything seem effortless.  I was so captivated I didn't even notice the lady next to me slipping out at some point to relieve her babysitter; it was only at the end I realized there was someone else in her seat.  Wow.

I can't wait til the new album comes out and then hopefully a full tour to support it; we'll definitely go.  But somehow I can't help but thinking that nothing will ever quite compare to the unique evening in Glabbeek last Saturday night.  Thanks, Jasper.