Skip to main content

Musical interlude

The diplomatic cultural events circuit seems to become busier now that summer is here! First Doors Open Ottawa (during which M and I sampled the Norwegian Ambassador's residence, French Embassy, 7 Rideau Gate amongst others) followed by a return to New Edinburgh for a garden party on Thursday 16th.

GartenFest was organised by the German Embassy as the third in a series of summer events (the first two were a fundraiser for the Ottawa Bach Choir and a Community Celebration). The more informal event of the three saw an audience/guest list attended the Ambassador's residence on Coltrin Road for a klezmer concert (not to forget the delicious food and wine!) featuring Berlin band Di Meschugeles. After attending a short klezmer concert during the Welsh Proms in 2010 featuring local group Klezmer Kollectiv, the theme seemed interesting.



Di Meschugeles' aim, as explained by singer Ofer Waldman between songs, was to rediscover the distinctive sound of klezmer as a 'secular' musical form and through this to also to create new material (for more information on the history of klezmer, see this Wikipedia article). From my (non-expert) ears, one can make a few links between klezmer and some European folk tunes; klezmer also spread around the world, notably to the US, so maybe one can hear some influences in genres such as trad jazz, or blues? Certainly Di Meschugeles are amongst a group of musicians interested in the genre - Oi Va Voi spring to mind. The set drew an enthusiastic response from the audience (still too formal to really be called a 'crowd'!) with a fair bit of dancing too. Most of the songs were from their very new album Kiever Tramvay, which looked to be selling quite well on the night! Prior to this show, Di Meschugeles had, with the support of the Embassy and the Goethe Instutute, played at the 2nd Montreal International Yiddish Theatre Festival.

A fun and very interesting evening, yet again proving the variety of the 'diplomatic cultural events circuit'!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Angela Hewitt Week, 14th-20th May 2012

I just received information from a friend about Angela Hewitt Week in Ottawa, 14th-20th May as declared by Mayor Jim Watson. Ms Hewitt is performing with Chamber Players of Canada on Friday 18th May; there will also be An Afternoon With Angela Hewitt on 20th May at the National Arts Centre hosted by the Canadian Friends of the Trasimeno Music Festival .

Pigeon Funk

Notes on a very random purchase. Earlier today I acquired Venetian Snares 'Rossz Csillag Alatt Sz ü letett ' purely on the basis of the language and artwork. Its certainly something different - and most definitely not pop. After a bit of searching: Venetial Snares is, according to Wikipedia, the performing name of Aaron Funk, who seems to specialise in experimental tracks in odd time signatures. Article here . The sleeve notes for this album (whose title is Hungarian for 'Born under a bad star') poses the question: what if, for just a day, we could both be pigeons? Interessant. Apparently this concept (a day in the life of a Hungarian pigeon) is non-typical of Venetian Snares sound, but one could ask, does Mr Funk do 'typical'? On first listening, the sound of this CD mixes classical/traditional Hungarian sounds and breakbeats. but aside from that? Definitely a 'listen for yourself' artist; try the website , fan site or myspace .

Mini update

I have finally sorted out my site links to reflect some new/renewed interests and my current location. We have something of a National Arts Centre bonanza shortly: I had already booked to see Angela Hewitt on 16th Feb but found a good ticket offer on LivingSocial.com to see Radu Lupu this coming Wednesday, 26th. In addition to all that, New Yorker music critic Alex Ross (his recent book, Listen To This , is excellent, as well as his previous tome, The Rest Is Noise ) is giving a talk there on 13th February. This is all followed in March by a complete about turn to the Bronson Centre to see Finnish band Apocalyptica . They have been somewhere on my radar for a while but I was spurred on to book tickets after a bout of nostalgia. M and I were regular visitors to Wolverhampton UK to see various bands at Civic Hall/Wulfrun Hall; a few months ago a mutual friend posted on that there Facebook thing about seeing said Apocalyptica at Wulfrun Hall. Nostalgia for the venue and renewed intere...