cueballnavigator

I caught as much as I could – chamber music, Book of Longing, Rise and Fall of Mahogonny, The Constant Wife, Mahler/Strauss/Dukas. I definitely recommend it!

Book of Longing is a collaboration between Philip Glass and Leonard Cohen. I was fortunate enough to see Book of Longing at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC. It has to be one of the most amazing productions I’ve ever seen!

Cohen’s recorded voice is used throughout to recite his poetry. They have four vocalists who also sing most of his lyrics. There are eight other musicians on stage – percussion, violin, cello, oboe/English horn, clarinet/flute/sax/bass clarinet, double bass, two keyboards – one of which was Philip Glass himself! The production was so amazing. The stage was simply set and blocked. The back drop contained Cohen’s works with a screen they displayed different images with each song. It was so passionate – melancholy and fantasy like.

As a music major I’d also shyied away from Glass because of how people describe him. But after seeing Book of Longing and hearing him speak and a fan.

I was only able to catch a couple of days of the Atlanta Jazz Festival but it was definately worth it. I heard some really amazing musicians not the least of which was Herbie Hancock! I also caught Joe Gransden on the Futures of Jazz Stage – he was awesome too!