Bill T. Jones choreographs Kurtág(December 2002) Rich in meaning, concentrated in expression, the music of Hungarian master György Kurtág has lately found increasing favor among dance makers and theater directors. A recent pair of adventurous stage works - notable for their highly contrasting responses to Kurtág's music - bear testament to the worlds of thought and feeling contained within.
Bill T. Jones, one of America's leading choreographers, set selections from two of Kurtág's string quartet works - String Quartet No.1 and Twelve Microludes for String Quartet - to create a striking new dance titled WorldWithout/In for his group, the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company. WorldWithout/In made its debut in January 2002 at the University of Iowa's Hancher Auditorium, accompanied by the Orion String Quartet. The quartet's role in the work went well beyond the usual notion of "accompaniment:" not only did the players join the dancers on stage, but were given movements of their own to execute as they played Kurtàg's demanding score. Carol Hymowitz of the Wall Street Journal reported that Jones asked them to memorize most of the complex piece, so they could discard their stands and move among the dancers on the elaborate pyramid stage set. The Village Voice described WorldWithout/In as "a fairy tale gone awry, a jigsaw puzzle whose pieces don't fit. To several magically atmospheric pieces for string quartet by György Kurtág, nine dancers appear on [Bjorn] Amelan's illuminated double staircase, emerge from curtained alcoves beneath it, and weave among musicians....who themselves travel with this moveable ritual." Kurtág is well known for his Kafka Fragments (1985, soprano and violin), aphoristic settings of diary entries and letters by the great writer. That work forms the basis for an audacious new multi-media project titled Kafka in Love, scheduled for March 2003 by the Toronto-based opera company Autumn Leaf Performance. Described by director Thom Sokoloski as a "water-opera," Kafka in Love will be staged at Toronto's elegant Hart House swimming pool. In addition to the soprano and the violinist, Kafka in Love incorporates an actor, two synchronized swimmers, two puppeteers, floating miniature puppet stages, video, and soundscape. The work's theme is Kafka's love for Felice Bauer, set against the mysterious backdrop of Prague between the wars. Of course, Kurtág remains a strong favorite in the concert hall. In New York, the current season has been graced by a pair of all-Kurtág concerts, given by the Ensemble Sospeso (September 2002) and the Miller Theater at Columbia University (March 2003). Reviewing the Sospeso event, Bernard Holland of The New York Times asserted, "Mr. Kurtág has the gift of being elaborate and yet leaving an impression that every superfluity, plus a little more, has been pared away....Quite a trick." > News Search |
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