A Rare Opportunity

15.05
Now getting fired up for a performance this evening of Steve's Reich's Drumming by the Colin Currie Group. I'd not heard of this ensemble until last week at the Esplanade when I picked up a flyer for the concert, but they sound like the business to me. Let's face it, opportunities to hear Reich performed live in this part of the world come few and far between, and I'm pleased to take this one.

23.16
Magical concert. Reich may sound good in recordings but you've got to experience the music live to feel the sound as you need to. And when it's delivered by players of this calibre, then you're taken to another place.

I vaguely wondered in advance of the concert if the hypnotic qualities of Reich's work might have a narcotic effect in the concert hall. In the event, I've never felt more alert. And watching the performers move around the stage to their various instruments, movements effected with great care and a kind of stillness, gave the longer pieces played - Drumming especially - a kind of ritualised, dramatic quality.