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The Snails
KIYO Cheung: just another art Student
Concert Report on :Gershwin Himself Plays Rhapsody in Blue
A concert which brings dead alive
When a great composer passed away, it means that all his masterpieces would only played by the other musicians. There is no way for us to enjoy the original version of the music pieces, as the dead can never come alive again. However, with today’s technology, the dead, George Gershwin, has come alive with his music.
Music map
This impressive music concert is called ‘Gershwin Himself Plays Rhapsody in Blue’, which consists of several programmes, which are all the great American music; including ‘Kiss Me, Kate Overture’, ‘On the Town Three Dance Episodes’, ‘Rodeo: Saturday Night Waltz and Hoe Down’ and ‘Porgy and Bess A symphonic Picture’. The most highlighted one is ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ , which was played by the spirit of Gershwin.
The conductor David Charles Abell, literally invited George Gershwin as the soloist of ‘Rhapsody in Blue’. By converting the records from Gershwin’s piano performance in 1924 into MIDI, the computer and piano can work together perfectly to produce the extraordinary piano piece; it imitates the performance of Gershwin in live. The glissando and the crazy range of different timbres is amazingly presented, which leads my heart beats with the melodies. All the highs and lows notes are pleasing to the ears and melting the audiences into this timeless piece of music. Especially the clarinet player at the beginning of the piece, the melodies are beautifully played and it is highly remarkable. This entire piece of music is very energetic and playful. It reminds me of Tom & Jerry cartoons. I literally saw a mouse plays tricks on a cat, and try to calm it down after making it angry. A scene of cat-chasing-mouse was in my head in that moment. I am in love with ‘Rhapsody in Blue’ and so amazed by the performance.
The entire performance is incredibly stunning.It was exactly like the spirit of Gershwin arrived to the concert and played the piano. I was so impressed by the collaboration of musicians, conductor as well as ‘Gershwin’(the computer). It was such an exciting idea to bring the dead to life, or in order words, bring the record to live performance. By using this technology, we can enjoy the ‘live performance’ by the composer or musicians who have passed away. I wish this technology can be further used in bringing the dead alive; however, I do not think that computer can take place of human performance. Computer, afterall, is just a brainless machine which do not have feelings. Maybe it can imitates the music notes perfectly, but it seems that something are missing in the piece of music; something which is spiritual. I really hopes that this kind of technology would only used in imitating the music records of the dead composers or musicians, instead of gradually taking place of human performance.
Another highlight of the concert is the conductor, David Charles Abell. He is one of the most famous conductor in the world, who has conducted several top British orchestras, like the Royal Scottish National and London Philharmonic. I noticed David years ago as he is the conductor of several concerts and operas which I am in love with; for example, the tenth Anniversary Concert of Les Miserables and Sweeney Todd. These two musicals are the inspiration of my life. I am so addicted to them that I almost watch the concerts at least once in a month and listen to the music while I am doing assignments or making artwork. In fact, I am listening to ‘Who am I’ in the tenth Anniversary Concert of Les Miserables now. In my opinion, both 25th and 10th Anniversary concerts are spectacular. The entire music performances are so well conducted and it is remarkably beautiful and touching. Due to those incredible concerts, I started to notice and appreciate David; the young, talented and passionate conductor. It was such a honour to watch him conducting the orchestra in live. During the show, I can feel his great passion towards music as well as the strong connection between him and all the musicians. The cheerful, energetic and powerful movement shows that he is really enjoying the show, which made me hardly took my eyes out of him.
To me, Music is like a powerful pill. It can heal one’s heart; cheer up one’s mind; inspire one’s idea. Music cheers me up and makes me ‘feel like a zombie gone back to life’ while I am in a low mood.It makes me stronger and encourage me to have the courage to confront with something that I was afraid of. No matter I am sad or happy, music is always the one by my side. This concert does not only bring the dead alive, but also bring me alive.
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