Ostrava, a smallish Czech city of some 300,000 people about 10 kilometers from the Polish border, hosts the biennial Ostrava Days, a small festival, itself, but with audiences usually numbering a couple hundred. Both city and fest think big. In recent years, Ostrava has seen a remarkable amount of development via commerce and construction, as well as a laudable push to renovate the industrial facilities if its mining past into theaters, galleries and other art spaces. For its part, Ostrava Days is oriented toward big music--the 2015 edition even featuring a night of works for three orchestras--all the while making room for smaller-scale compositions.
One such evening this summer, under the banner "Solos Into the Night" (which duly stretched to 1:30 in the morning, Central European Time) was built largely around solo performances; more to the point, around virtuosic solo performances. Cello pieces by Kaija Saariaho and Christian Wolff were played, respectively and exceptionally, by John Laitenen and Charles Curtis.
Iannis Xenakis' Embellie for lone viola, from 1981, was given an especially stunning rendering by FLUX Quartet leader and S.E.M. Ensemble concertmaster, Conrad Harris.
Meanwhile, bassist James Ilgenfritz successfully navigated the many knots of Elliott Sharp's Aletheia (2014). Also, the Berlin-based vocal calesthenicist David Moss read from/riffed on Wittgenstein, as if avant-garde performance were stand-up comedy without the jokes (which some, no doubt, would say it is).
It takes a special player to impart the connectivity running through Wolff's often disparate phrases. To wit, Curtis wasn't the only soloist to rise to the challenge. Enter, then, the exceptional pianist Daan Vandewalle. He gave a recital pairing two of Wolff's works, the Long Piano (Peace March 11) (2004-05) and the 1960 Suite II, the latter with Daniel Costello on French horn. Long Piano, in particular, never sounded brittle or overly abrupt. Under Vandewalle's hands, the piece made no unnecessary flourishes, especially in the surprising, mid-phrase ending, which he delivered without hesitation. Indeed, without so much as an extra breath.
Again this August, the selection of contemporary chamber works across the nine days was well programmed. Alvin Lucier's mesmerizingly loping Orpheus Variations (2014) for cello, French horn, paired flutes, trombones and trumpets was a triumph, thanks to longtime collaborator Curtis. Moving like a spider pacing up and down his cello's neck, he was not just a joy to hear. No, Curtis was a pleasure to watch, too.
As in New York earlier this month, Orpheus was conducted by Petr Kotik, which made plenty of sense. The interlocking lines and doubled instruments bore a striking resemblance to his epic Gertrude Stein setting, 1978's Many Many Women, which was presented at Ostrava in 2013.
In past productions, Master-Pieces was a meditation on what makes, well, a masterpiece. Now, it may well have been one. Against the stark and angular staging, in any event, this revised score features some of the warmest music Kotik has written.
Occurring near the end of the festival, it was difficult not to listen to Stein's own unanswered question and not think about the nebulous nature of "masterpieces," per se. We know what kings and dictators are, what constitutes a blizzard or a hurricane, even how a hit single is determined. But a masterpiece? Who makes such a judgment? Suffice it to say Ostrava Days 2015 was nine days of brilliance, maybe even mastery. And anyways, "masterpiece" sounds like something for the mantelpiece. Ostrava Days is music that's living and breathing, a bit of tradition well-steeped in the contemporary.
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