ICE delivers startling new music from Europe
“The most disarming work on the program took a radically different approach. As its title suggests, Patricia Alessandrini’s “Omaggio a Berio” paid tribute to the Italian composer Luciano Berio, specifically his “Folk Songs.” But the melodic ingenuity and ethereal character of Alessandrini’s piece were testament to her ear for the softest imaginable colors and tones. The work positioned several musicians around a grand piano, some reaching inside it to delicately pluck its strings, others playing into the instrument to generate additional overtones. Meanwhile, a nearly imperceptible vocal chant whispered along. All of this opened at barely pianissimo level and remained quite hushed, so that when a single pitch resounded fully, it amounted to a startling effect. The ICE musicians – on flute, voice, clarinet, viola, cello, percussion and piano – achieved extraordinarily diaphanous sound in a beguiling piece Alessandrini had updated for this Chicago premiere.”
Howard Reich
