Once again, David Robertson and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra are downright avant-garde, performing a “Water Concerto for Water Percussion and Orchestra” by contemporary composer Tan Dun Friday evening on the eve of Halloween. I couldn’t tell you if this was great music or a great performance because I’d never heard any such thing before. But I can tell you I was fascinated by the idea, the new sounds, and the new instruments.
Picture several pedestal style sink bowls (elegant ones of clear glass, not the ones in my kitchen or bathroom) filled with water surrounded by a variety of devices to make sounds with them. The ones I remember are a hollow tube that reminded me of glassware we used to use in chemistry lab in high school and college, and gourds placed in the water played like a miniature drum set. I can’t describe what all of this sounded like except to say that it all seemed to me as fluid as the water I was watching being played.
The piece began with very quiet sounds emanating from the water percussion (Colin Currie the percussion soloist) and then the audience was definitely paying full attention after the entrance of the horns. The piece ended with a shower, the percussionist holding a strainer high above his head, letting the water drain back into the bowl. In between, well, get the recording, if there is one, or ever will be!
But here’s another unique thing: This soloist (a percussionist) moved around the stage among his various instruments and was even accompanied by his own “section” (two water percussionists at either end of the stage. At various points, he had to quickly grab his next instrument for making sound within a second after turning a page of his music. Then, he moved dance like to the Xylophone and played that for a while. Usually, a soloist moves around, but only around a fixed axis.
It was a bit humorous to watch the audience give a standing ovation as I am pretty sure none of them had any way to benchmark this performance either. But I guess that’s become the thing to do now – standing ovations no matter what. It must be like grade inflation in the schools. I suppose I like the newest of musical sounds but am still a fuddy dud in other ways. Maybe they were standing for the bold selections of our conductor.
It may be a few decades before Water concertos becomes part of the standard repertoire, but this listener, who has been going to symphony concerts for more than four decades, has nothing but admiration, respect, and praise for this conductor and the new sounds he is bringing to this somewhat weary Midwestern city. If I can’t bring myself to stand up at Powell Hall, I’ll certainly make a stand here.
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