ClevelandClassical
022211CMACalderBittovaRev
Review
Iva Bittová and the Calder Quartet at the Cleveland Museum of Art (February 18)
by Timothy Robson
The Cleveland Museum of Art’s Viva! & Gala series presented fiddler and vocalist Iva Bittová and the young and ambitious Calder Quartet on Friday evening, February 18, in an unusual and brilliant show (their word, not mine) that combined classical and folk music, improvisation, theater and avant garde vocal performance. It will easily qualify as one of the outstanding musical events of the current season.Iva Bittová has been described in publicity as a force of nature, and it is hard to imagine a more imaginative performer. Her vocal production is not that of a classical “trained” singer. She uses what might be described as an Eastern European folksinging production, sounding sometimes rather nasal, forced and harsh, but totally on pitch, with an astonishing range of vocal sounds and improvisatory ornamentation, and the ability to bend pitch and words to her own purposes. Often her vocalizations were not sung words or texts (although some were); rather they were voiced phonemes or fragments of words. They reminded me of a folk music version of jazz “scat singing,” in their free-flowing improvisatory nature, with the musical and emotional aspects taking precedence over the textual.
The Calder Quartet (Benjamin Jacobson and Andrew Bulbrook, violins; Jonathan Moerschel, viola; and Eric Byers, cello) have in the past few years received prominence for their performances of modern literature (particularly works by Christopher Rouse and Thomas Adès) as well as more traditional works (a recent CD contains quartets by Mozart and Ravel). Young and good looking, the four men were dressed in identical dark suits with white shirts and long skinny ties, looking like investment bankers. Their collaborations have included not just living classical composers, but they have joined forces with the indie rock bands The Airborne Toxic Event and Vampire Weekend. Mr. Bulbrook gave spoken commentary at several points, which was helpful to guide the audience through what was a somewhat confusing and fragmentary program. (I eventually decided that looking at the printed program was more trouble than it was worth and closed it, just paying attention to the performance in front of me. Likely that’s what the performers were after.)
Prior to intermission, Ms. Bittová and the Calders joined forces for arrangements of folksongs in a variety of combinations of strings and voice, mostly by Béla Bartók and Leos Janácek (whose Moravian song settings were arranged for this combination by Vladimír Godár), but including two extended improvisations by Ms. Bittová, accompanying herself on the violin, as well as a composed work by Ms. Bittová. The folksong arrangements were brief, blending one into the next, in one case with Ms. Bittová creating elusive vocal sounds of birds and mosquitoes as the quartet turned the pages of their music. She was excellent at preventing audience applause in inopportune moments. Her performance was that of an accomplished actress singing with utmost communication.
Iva Bittová’s extended improvisations blended her violin playing with extended vocal techniques, moving around the stage, circling the seated quartet while playing and singing, sometimes turning her back on the audience for dramatic effect. The violin played drones, arpeggios, pizzicati. Sometimes she sang without accompaniment. Occasionally there were recognizable English words; more often the singing was not recognizably in a language; phonemes were used for their own expressive purposes. The effect was subtle, seemingly a lament, but with occasional glimpses of humor. During the second improvisation she descended from the stage to the aisles of the Gartner Auditorium to perform amidst the audience.
The first half of the performance apparently scared some audience members: there were a few more empty seats after intermission, but the reception of the performers by the audience was warm. The composition of the audience was interesting: people old and young and everything in between. At intermission I spoke to a young woman not of my previous acquaintance who had heard the concert advertised on the radio and decided on a whim to attend. She was entranced.
After intermission, the Calder Quartet performed English-born instrumentalist, improviser and composer Fred Frith’s Lelekovice, dedicated to Iva Bittová after the composer met her in her home town of Lelekovice, Czech Republic. The work is in nine brief movements which share common musical elements (the extended glissando most prominently) and has musical roots in minimalism, but very flexibly employed. One of the movements calls for the quartet to play “like a group of Suzuki five year olds.” Although Lelekovice is notated for string quartet, the composer encourages collaborative improvisatory efforts to enrich the quartet. The Calders performed the first few movements by themselves; then, quietly, Ms. Bittová entered from stage left, sat on a vacant piano stool and eventually joined in vocal improvisations for several of the later movements. Again, she injected dramatic elements, sometimes keening, prayerful fitting intricately and seamlessly into the instrumental texture. It was a tour de force for both quartet and singer.
Although I have tried to do so here, it is impossible to describe in words the nature of Iva Bittová’s performance. She has several recordings easily available on Amazon and iTunes, and I recommend them for a better idea of her talents. Likewise, the Calder Quartet’s recordings can be found at the usual download and purchase venues. But better yet, if you have another chance to see these performers, either together or separately, don’t miss them.
ClevelandClassical
