Piano and The PepTides

Two very contrasting concerts to continue December's music madness. First, another U Ottawa School of Music concert, 'Piano Duets and Duos' on 7th December. 17 performers under the direction of Frédéric Lacroix presented a variety of well-known and lesser known pieces arranged for four, six, eight and twelve hands on 1 or 2 pianos. Whilst Rheinberger's transcriptions of J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations were the headline pieces, I preferred some of the other pieces, such as Rachmaninoff's Romance and the comedy of Lacroix's arrangement Für Malcolm in homage to Beethoven's Für Elise. A fun festive treat for the appreciative crowd in Tabaret Hall.

Having missed their last few shows (including the 360 show at the Elmdale that won Best Live Show 2011 in Ottawa Xpress), it was interesting to see The PepTides again and in a different venue. Whilst atmospheric, the stage area at Mercury Lounge seemed a bit cramped. In the support slot, the excellent Django Libre provided a warm, nearly-Friday-feeling wash of sound.

Sadly I can't seem to find names for the 5 instrumentalists; once again, their performances blew me away. The set was another 'For Those Who Hate...' based blast of satirical indie-pop-retro fun, with a hint of blues. Compared to my previous PepTides experience, it seemed that there were more 'first time' listeners in the audience, but they still seemed enjoy the show. This time, the film clips projected behind the band were easier to see - a good touch. I also enjoyed hearing new songs 'Live Love Get High' and 'Homme Love Whore'.

There are more shows coming up as well - all in the aid of funding new album Love Question Mark: this Saturday The PepTides join the lineup of Guerilla LIVE at the NAC's 4th stage, 8pm; 27th January at the Black Sheep In; and Irene's Pun, 18th February. As a preview, the Youtube channel is here. For more info on the new album's recording and to add your support, go to their rockethub site.

Comments

Anonymous said…

thx! The PepTides xox

10:32 pm, December 20, 2011

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 .

Lang Lang: a little bit of stardust in Southam Hall

Lang Lang with Anita Pari Like many National Arts Centre regulars, the idea of a Lang Lang concert sounded fantastic... except that for me the Gala tickets are rather too expensive. As a result the turnout for today's masterclass with young artists Anita Pari (Ottawa), Alexander Malikov (Calgary), and Tina Chong (Banff) in Southam Hall was pretty good. No surprises that there were photographers and a TV camera all over the stage... so much so that during Lang's analysis of Malikov's rendition of Transcendental Étude No 8 'Wild Hunt' (Liszt), someone shouted at the cameraman to move. To my mind they seemed a little intrusive on the performances, but none of the artists seemed to take any notice. Lang Lang with Tina Chong Up first and for me the best performance was Anita Pari with the captivating Ballade No 1 by Chopin. In comparison, Malikov's performance did not have anywhere near as much projection. Final performer Tina Chong seemed

New talent at Southminster

As a follow-on from last weekend's excellent Chopin concert, there is an afternoon of New Artists from the NAC's Summer Music Institute at Southminster United Church on 17th June. Entitled 'Dover Beach and other works for summertime', the concert features new artists Katarzyna Sadej , Emily Nenninger , Drew Santini, Hannah Min, Paul Casey , Karen Kang and Bryan Wagorn. I had the chance to hear Bryan Wagorn at one of University of Ottawa's Concerts at the NAC 4th Stage concerts back in February and thoroughly enjoyed his performance. The proposed programme is very enticing: MENDELSSOHN String Quartet No. 2 in A minor, Op. 13 MONIUSZKO Sen (The Dream) Prząśniczka (Spinner Girl) SZYMANOWSKI Lecioły Zórazie (The Swans Were Flying) Ściani Dumbek (The Dark Forest) CHOPIN Piosnka Litewska (Lithuanian Folksong) Moja Pieszczotka

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