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Arts
Monday, November 25, 2019 — 5A
This past Wednesday evening, Hill Auditorium hosted the Orchestre
Métropolitain de Montréal as part of the group’s 2019 United States tour.
According to the program, Orchestre Métropolitain began in 1981 with
a mission “to share its passion for symphonic music and make it accessible
to all.” Today, the Orchestre Métropolitain is the premier orchestra
in Quebec and regularly tours to parade their musical capacity. The
Orchestre Métropolitain visited the University Musical Society at a key
point in the group’s history, as they will embark on their 40th season in
2020.
Hill Auditorium was packed wall-to-wall with appreciators of classical
music. Despite the impressive turnout, I did not see many students in the
seats.
The performance from Orchestre Métropolitain and Joyce DiDonato
was a showcase of pure musical talent at the classical, refined level. The
Orchestre Métropolitain is an example of career orchestral musicians,
and I believe it is beneficial for students to see the results of that kind of
musical passion in the form of a beautiful performance from groups like
the Orchestre Métropolitain.
The Orchestre Métropolitain were joined by multiple Grammy Award
winner Joyce DiDonato. In the past, DiDonato has held residencies at
Carnegie Hall and the Barbican Centre in London (an artist-in-residence
is someone who is recruited by a particular institution to produce creative
work for them on a regular basis). DiDonato treated Hill Auditorium to
her sought-after vocals, absolutely sweeping the Ann Arbor audience
off of their feet, yielding many a rose upon the stage at the end of her
performance of excerpts from Mozart’s “La Clemenza di Tito, K. 621.”
The orchestra was led by Maestro Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who has an
extensive track record as far as musical directorship goes. Nézet-Séguin
has been the conductor of the Orchestre Métropolitain since 2000 and has
directed music at the Metropolitan Opera, the Philadelphia Orchestra and
the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra.
One aspect of Nézet-Séguin’s work that caught my eye was his level
of comfort with being at the center of the stage. Nézet-Séguin cracked
smiles, embraced DiDonato and found ways to make the audience laugh.
The conductor is a position that would seem to carry immense pressure
and duress, but I saw genuine joy from Nézet-Séguin as he guided the
orchestra. It was apparent that Nézet-Séguin truly enjoyed the music he
was cultivating, and it was heartwarming to see real passion at the root of
this masterful directorship.
It was a remarkable experience to watch the combination of masterful
conductorship and pure vocal talent with a robust orchestra to back it all
up.
After leaving Ann Arbor, the Orchestre Métropolitain will continue
their tour in New York and Philadelphia.
DiDonato’s dream
at Hill Auditorium
COMMUNITY CULTURE REVIEW
ZACHARY M.S. WAARALA
Daily Arts Writer
When I tell someone that I’m a country music fan, I usually
hear one of three different responses. Unless the person is a fan
themselves, they either laugh me off completely, contextualize
their interest in the genre (“I listen to it in the summer
sometimes”) or they mention Dolly Parton. The latter comment
is demonstrative of “the great unifier” at work, a term that the
WNYC podcast “Dolly Parton’s America” coined for Dolly in
its first episode. The podcast’s host, Jad Abumrad, claims that
deciphering this universal admiration for Dolly is what sparked
the creation of the series in the first place. Which other musical
artist can boast crowds of drag queens and red hat wearers
alike? Which other musician can do this as a woman over 70
years old? Only Dolly.
My first introduction to the blonde, bedazzled “Backwoods
Barbie” was memorably immersive. In the summer of 2013, my
family took a trip
to Dollywood in
Tennessee.
The
theme park draws
its
inspiration
from the Smoky
Mountains
that
surround it, close
to
where
Dolly
actually grew up.
In fact, a replica
of her childhood
home sits tucked
away
amid
roller
coasters,
carousels
and
food
stands
in
the center of the
park.
Dolly
is
omnipresent
throughout
the
park’s
150
acres
—
on
lamppost
signs,
in
loudspeakers,
etched
on
the
backs of benches.
But
this
two
room
cabin
is
undoubtedly
the heartbeat of
the Dollyverse. When my family huddled inside, we all spoke
in hushed tones. Then another couple entered behind us and
simply stared. Although it hit me then that Dolly is somehow
sacred, I still didn’t understand why.
At first glance, she’s a walking, talking
contradiction. Displaying a tiny cabin
in the middle of a commercial theme
park and presenting both as authentic is
just one instance. Claiming to be “real”
underneath her over-the-top appearance
is another. But the examples continue.
On recent albums like 2014’s Blue Smoke,
Parton draws inspiration from a place and
lifestyle that she left over 50 years ago.
Dolly is a serious songwriter, but in any
given interview you’ll find her making a
joke about her breasts. Her iconic hit “9 to
5” is a feminist anthem, but Dolly steers
clear of making any overtly political
statements.
In 2019, artists making a stand is not
only encouraged, but expected. Dolly
has seemingly
already
made
a
stand
by
penning
and
singing “9 to
5,”
so
what
would
be
the harm in weighing in on the
politics of today? If anything, my
inclination is that not speaking up
would be career-damaging. This
is what the fifth episode of “Dolly
Parton’s America,” titled “Dollitics,”
investigates.
As it turns out, Dolly has her own
set of rules. “I don’t do politics,”
Parton asserts in an interview with
Abumrad, “I have too many fans on
both sides of the fence. Of course, I
have my opinion about everything,
but I learned years ago to keep your
mouth shut about things.” This was
disheartening to hear. As a woman
with so much fame, wealth and
reach she could a lot of good with
her platform politically. “Keeping
her mouth shut” sounded more like
a business strategy. But as Abumrad
points out as the episode continues,
Dolly doesn’t actually keep her
mouth shut at all. She just doesn’t
throw stones.
Her implicit activism spans back to the beginning of her
career. Never one to back down from difficult topics in song,
“The Bridge” from 1968 is about an unmarried pregnant woman
committing suicide. In 1980, an even more popular Parton
released the album 9 to 5 and Odd Jobs, which includes several
songs advocating for the humanity of marginalized people.
In “Deportee (Plane Wreck at Los Gatos),” she sings for the
migrant workers that are sent back to Mexico and end up dying
in a plane crash. “The radio said they were just deportees,”
Dolly cries. In “Dark as a Dungeon,” Dolly illuminates the poor
working conditions in mines.
And in the sixth episode of “Dolly Parton’s America,” a
frustrated present-day Parton admits that “(She hates) those
Christians that are so judgemental” toward the LGBTQ+
community. She refuses to go right out and say it, and she
refuses to bash anyone, but Dolly is very much her own kind
of activist — one that charmingly disarms others by making
jokes about her own appearance, one that accepts everyone, but
definitely doesn’t always agree with them. Her stance is quiet
in interviews, but loud on her albums. This is just one piece of
the puzzle that makes Dolly so enchanting, but it’s especially
relevant in 2019.
As the election cycle picks up speed this year, I’m curious to
see how artists respond. Will more statement songs like “This
Is America” be released and become popular? Will pop instead
lean away from reality and into otherworldliness or escapism?
If one thing is for certain, it’s that Dolly Parton won’t be
endorsing anyone. But I still think that her approach to politics
is useful. It’s a strategy for starting a dialogue. Acceptance as
a means of meeting people where they are, not as a way to let
harm continue unnoticed.
It’s Dolly’s world: On the power & politics of Miss Parton
MUSIC NOTEBOOK
KATIE BEEKMAN
Daily Arts Writer
GEORGE BUSH WHITE HOUSE
I had never been to The Fillmore before I went last
Wednesday night for a ScHoolboy Q concert, with Nav
as the opener. It seemed counterintuitive to me to see a
herd of hyped-up young adult rap fans in such a classically
beautiful theater. Talk about an interesting juxtaposition.
The wooden floors were what really concerned me: I’ve
seen the way wooden floors react to lots of jumping, and
I wasn’t certain they were going to make it through the
show. I calmed down and rationalized that the people
running the venue knew what they were doing.
When Nav came out, I was concerned for the fate of the
rest of the show. The crowd was dead and the performance
had little energy behind it, with Nav simply walking
slowly back and forth across the stage, attempting to get
the audience to sing along to no avail. I never do this at
concerts, but I stood looking at my phone or talking to
my friends most of the time. I kept complaining about my
legs hurting. It was already 8 p.m. and I had class the next
morning.
I kept my hopes up for ScHoolboy Q. I had wanted to see
him in concert ever since some of my high school friends
told me that he is a terrible live performer. I had heard
he performed even
his most energetic
songs in such a
half-hearted
way
that the audience
couldn’t
get
invested
in
the
performance. This
fascinated me, as
SchoolBoy
had
always
been
an
artist whose music
pumped me up. I
wanted to put it to
the test and see if
he could prove his
critics (my friends)
wrong.
Long
story
short, he did.
Although
not
flawless,
the
performance itself,
in
combination
with
the
energy
from the crowd,
allowed
for
a
perfectly
imperfect concert.
ScHoolboy himself
sounded
great,
rapping
a
large
portion of the most
of the songs, as opposed to letting the audience or backing
track do the work for him. The audience was filled with
diehard fans who screamed their approval after the first
note of every song played.
One thing that pleasantly surprised me was how he
actually played the majority of his songs all the way
through. Many of his most popular tracks, such as “THat
Part” with Kanye West, “CHopstix” with Travis Scott,
“Floating” with 21 Savage, and “Collard Greens” with
Kendrick Lamar, have substantial features on them. Many
of the rap artists I’ve seen live only perform their portions
of the song and then move on. For ScHoolboy, it definitely
worked in his favor to perform the full versions of the
songs. When there were lulls in the energy of the crowd,
he would play one of the fan favorites and get everyone
back into it again. Even the people in the balcony were
standing up and dancing around to “Man of the Year” and
“Numb Numb Juice.”
ScHoolboy said the crowd at The Fillmore was the
best he’d ever seen in Detroit. During pretty much the
only time he spoke to the crowd, he said: “I’m not gonna
lie, I don’t really be having that much fun in Detroit but
tonight is kinda fun, dog, this is kinda tight.” Giving us the
credit we deserved was a smart move on ScHoolboy’s part
because the energy in the theater amped up even more
after his speech.
The setlist itself was quite comprehensive, covering
most of his biggest hits while also covering a decent
portion of the album behind this tour, CrasH Talk. The one
place where ScHoolboy erred was with the song he chose
to end the show. His penultimate song of the evening was
“Hell of a Night,” which, by all standards, would have
been a great song
to close with. It’s
a popular, high-
energy tune that
had all of The
Fillmore jumping
off the walls.
Unfortunately,
ScHoolboy
tried
to do something
a little different
by
ending
with
“Blessed,”
a
slower song that
isn’t available on
any
streaming
services.
Although
it
would have been
a
wonderful
addition
to
the
setlist
at
any
other point (who
doesn’t
love
an
ode
to
the
original
fans?),
ending the show
with it killed the
excitement
that
the rest of the
show had built up.
I still left sweaty
and buzzing, but
definitely not as much as I would have if he’d ended with
a more “predictable” song. Despite being disappointed
by the final note, I still left the concert satisfied and
impressed by both his performance and the excitement of
the crowd. For my first concert in Detroit, I really can’t
complain.
ScHoolboy Q at The Fillmore: Good
CONCERT REVIEW
GIGI CIULLA
For The Daily
Although not flawless,
the performance itself, in
combination with the energy
from the crowd, allowed for
a perfectly imperfect concert.
ScHoolboy himself sounded
great, rapping a large portion of
most of the songs, as opposed to
letting the audience or backing
track do the work for him.
Which other musical artist
can boast crowds of drag
queens and red hat wearers
alike? Which other musician
can do this as a woman over
70 years old? Only Dolly.
DiDonato treated Hill
Auditorium to her sought-after
vocals, absolutely sweeping the
Ann Arbor audience off of their
feet.