Dawn Upshaw
Saturday night's IRIS Orchestra performance was a triumph of freshness.
Guest artist Dawn Upshaw brought her crystal soprano voice to works by Stravinsky and Golijov, pieces of aching beauty that showed the power of delicacy.
Dawn Upshaw
Upshaw, who has won four Grammy Awards, displayed with her seemingly effortless prowess how the voice can become as one of the instruments, and the brilliant compositions allowed the IRIS instrumentalists to sing.
Three Songs for Soprano and Orchestra by Osvaldo Golijov (twice a Grammy Award winner) displayed not just the contemporary composer's brilliance but also the fortuitous collaboration he's had for several years with Upshaw (both, by the way, have won MacArthur ''genius'' grants).
Upshaw premiered Three Songs in 2002, and her familiarity infused the works with profound emotion. For works dealing with loss, tragedy and despair, there is uncommon beauty throughout. Golijov has us listen anew to familiar themes and Upshaw delivers with uncompromising musicality.
If the Golijov works were astounding, the similar Stravinsky pieces -- Two Poems of Konstantin Balmont and the haiku-like Three Japanese Lyrics -- were amazing. They were composed almost a century apart yet are so similar in transparent passions and brilliance.
The orchestra, led by maestro Michael Stern, opened and closed with a couple of war horses to keep the fires of familiarity burning. Rossini's ''Barber of Seville'' overture started the evening and Beethoven's rousing Seventh Symphony ended it to great applause. Also on the menu were three tiny and delightful Romanian Folk Dances by Bartok.
The IRIS Orchestra, particularly in the first half of the program, has never sounded so good. I know I've said that before, but Saturday night at the Germantown Performing Arts Centre, it played the more contemporary works with a stunning precision and elegance. Concertmaster Lev Polyakin's violin work was among many of the rich solos of the evening.
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