THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, May 21, 1995 TAG: 9505200047
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: MARK MOBLEY
LENGTH: Long : 119 lines
IT IS AS IF Mercedes-Benz suddenly produced a lowrider. Deutsche Grammophon, the upscale shrine of von Karajan and Bernstein, has released ``De Luxe'' by the young American composer Todd Levin. The disc has a beat, a loud beat, and you can dance to it.
``De Luxe'' features the London Symphony Orchestra and conductor David Alan Miller. The LSO isn't the only ensemble to throw a dance party - the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra may be heard in ``Dance Mix'' (Argo), a collection including pieces that have been performed in recent seasons by the Virginia Symphony.
The two discs show an old tradition is alive and well. Composers are responding to the pop music of their day, just as they did when Renaissance masses appropriated well-known tunes and Romantic works were based on folk songs. The difference now is that pop music comes not just as melodies, but often in rigorously codified and heavily synthesized forms. The gulf between the kind of music most classical audiences know and the stuff played on 103-Jamz and 96X is enormous.
Orchestral arrangements of rock songs are invariably stupid. So the trick is to appropriate rock or rap or disco energy while exploiting the unique potential of the orchestra.
Levin, 33, previously released ``Ride the Planet,'' a King Crimson-ish art-rock record. Now he is advertising a pop-art approach to orchestral writing. With its blocky scoring, heavy drums, catchy tunes and James Bond textures, it is actually pop art. Arthur Fiedler would not have been averse to conducting some of this music.
In ``Turn: Extended Dance Remix'' and ``Blur: Fragrance Free Mix,'' Levin lays down infectious house and hip-hop beats, then overlays broad melodies and classical quotes. Levin has the most success with such short works. In ``Swirl: Crystal Clear Mix,'' Levin narrates a childhood memory of watching fish in a lake. It is perhaps the most fully realized piece on the disc, with the bittersweet detachment of a Laurie Anderson story and a sonic rightness approaching that of Berio's ``Sinfonia.''
But do you want to feel time expand? Listen to ``Todd Levin: DG Ultramix.'' It'll be the longest half-hour of your life. Levin, who does not have the most listenable speaking voice, spouts coffee-house prattle about his career and the state of music over the very loud ensemble. It is like a Concerto for Quentin Tarantino and Orchestra.
Which is not to say the piece doesn't include salient observations and amusing spots. Levin notes the cologne-advertisement-style marketing of classical music; this is familiar territory for Virginia Symphony audiences, who were greeted this season by slick ads that seemed to say, ``We, the Virginia Symphony, are merely the accompaniment to yuppies' evenings out.'' And, of course, the grant applications Levin reads sound ridiculous when taken out of context.
The best moment is when Levin quotes an L.A. critic who called one of his pieces the death of art music. Levin says, hilariously, ``The death of art music - what was I thinking?''
Yet the talk distracts from some full, powerful scoring. And the device of discussing the progress of the piece is funnier in David Lang's suite ``Are You Experienced?''
The dance track ``Everyday: New Improved Remix'' bears an uncanny resemblance to the Pet Shop Boys' earlier ``Left to My Own Devices,'' down to the drum rolls and the big finish.
The Pet Shop Boys approach the pop vs. classical problem from the other side and glide right over the gap. Their 1993 album ``Very,'' its attendant remixes and their back catalog constitute a truly inventive body of work. And the stuff sounds really good loud. ``DANCE MIX''
Another disc worth blasting through your neighborhood is the generally more conservative ``Dance Mix.'' The Baltimore Symphony and music director David Zinman seem to do almost everything right, from programming to community outreach to performance. This creative program was launched at a concert followed by a dance party with a DJ.
The 12 short pieces - only two are more than seven minutes long - include three heard on Virginia Symphony concerts. The disc opens and closes with heavily accented readings of Leonard Bernstein's ``Mambo'' from ``West Side Story.'' John Adams' ``The Chairman Dances'' and John Harbison's ``Remembering Gatsby'' each receives a vibrant, elegant interpretation. Throughout the disc, the orchestra seems at home with pop styles.
Adams' fellow opera composer and minimalist Robert Moran contributes the steady, broad ``Points of Departure.'' Libby Larsen's brief, skittering and harmonically dark ``Collage: Boogie'' is one of the more arresting pieces on the disc. Michael Daugherty's ``Desi'' is a witty tribute to the singing sitcom star - like the Larsen, it crams a lot of piece into four minutes.
Freshness, vitality and originality are a lot to ask for, and some of the pieces don't quite deliver. Aaron Jay Kernis' ``New Era Dance'' is, despite its sound effects, ``West Side Story'' 40 years later. Michael Torke's ``Charcoal'' owes a lot to Stravinsky, Ravel and Debussy. A percussion work honoring the late Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham is a fine idea, but despite a few nifty tempo changes, John Harbison's thudding piece seems a little thin. DATEBOOK
Virginia Wind Symphony, classical. 2 p.m. Sunday at the Virginia Beach Center for the Arts. Also, 7:30 p.m. Monday at Great Bridge Middle School South, Chesapeake. 683-4061.
Hotel Paradise Roof Garden Orchestra. 4 p.m. Saturday at WHRO, 5200 Hampton Blvd., Norfolk. 489-9476. Also, 3 p.m. Sunday at Uncle Louie's, 132 E. Little Creek Road, Norfolk. 480-1225.
Virginia Children's Chorus, variety. 4 p.m. Saturday at First Presbyterian Church of Norfolk, Colonial Avenue. 397-0779.
Dominion Brass Band, concert band. 6 p.m. Sunday at MacArthur Memorial, Norfolk. 727-3888.
Virginia Symphony Pops. Outdoor concert at 6 p.m. May 28 on the grounds of Windsor Castle, an 18th century Smithfield plantation. Tickets: $8 advance, $10 at the door. 357-7312. MEMO: Send your notices to Roy A. Bahls, The Virginian-Pilot and The
Ledger-Star, 150 W. Brambleton Ave., Norfolk, Va. 23510. Fax 446-2963.
Include description of event, admission charge, time, date, location and
phone. Deadline is 10 days before publication. Call Mark Mobley at
446-2783, write to the above address or send electronic mail to
mobley(AT)infi.net. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
American composer Todd Levin's ``De Luxe'' has a beat, and you can
dance to it.
by CNB