NEW YORK, NY, February 26, 2008 - What does classical music have to do with sex? Hailed as “the hottest classical band in New York,” Fireworks attempts to answer that question with “Sex Music”, a multi-media exploration of classical music’s erotic side, at 7:30pm on Friday, March 7, 2008 at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia at the Peter Norton Symphony Space in New York City.
Long the province of refined taste, sophisticated artistry, and hushed reverence for distinguished masterpieces, Fireworks breaks the classical concert experience free of its genteel façade, exposing a world of passion, lust, and decadence.
Boy meets bass in Jacob Druckman’s “Valentine”, a virtuoso tour de force requiring the solo bassist to sing, hum, and whisper to his four-stringed partner while attacking it with both hands and a variety of striking instruments in a “de-Sade-like” manner.
The escapade expands to a duet with Derek Bermel’s playful and raunchy “Coming Together” for saxophone and cello. Based entirely on the musical gesture of the slide (“glissando”), the quasi-theatrical “Coming Together” plays out a scene of increasing sexual tension, as the two instruments slowly converge in range and rhythmic intensity until they erupt in a frenzy of stroking and shrieking.
The first half of the program concludes with an excerpt of Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David del Tredici’s “Sweet Gwendolyn and the Countess”, a setting of noted New York poet Edward Field. Soprano Lauren Skuce and baritone Chris Trakas join the full eight-player ensemble to explore Field’s blush-inducing portrayal of a taboo lesbian encounter, awash in Del Tredici’s sumptuous musical romanticism. A perfect fit for this program, Fireworks will give the full premiere of this work, also at Symphony Space, on May 31.
The second half of the program begins with Classical music’s ultimate erotic crescendo, Maurice Ravel’s “Bolero”, presented in a new arrangement by Fireworks’ director Brian Coughlin.
Fireworks then delves into the rapturous world of early 20th-century decadence, first with an arrangement of the sultry and dolorous “Afternoon of a Faun” by Claude Debussy, accompanied by Italian animator Bruno Bozzetto’s classic film, “Allegro non Troppo”. A daring and risqué counterpart to Disney’s “Fantasia”, Bozzetto’s film provides a colorful and voluptuous landscape for the faun’s sensual frolic.
Strauss’s tantalizing depiction of Salome’s infamous “Dance of the Seven Veils” follows, complete with a contemporary take on the seductress’s classic strip tease, performed live by the incomparable New York modern dancer and choreographer, Jimena Paz.
The program concludes with Frank Zappa’s irreverent “G-Spot Tornado”, performed in the powerhouse rock arrangement that brought down the house at New York’s Miller Theater in the ensemble’s portrait concert of the composer last February.
CONCERT DETAILS
Friday, March 7, 2008, 7:30 PM
Peter Norton Symphony Space (Leonard Nimoy Thalia)
2537 Broadway at 95th Street
New York, NY 10025
Tickets: $21 general admission
Available at (212) 864-5400 or online at http://symphonyspace.org
