François Delarozière speaks for Penny Stamps

The Penny Stamps series brings a large array of artists to give talks at U of M. It is part of the the School of Art and Design, but the free lectures are also open to the public. Yesterday's speaker in the Michigan Theater was François Delarozière, the artistic director of La Machine, a French theater troupe of craftsmen, performers and dreamers who create mechanical creatures and structures. These gargantuan constructions are breath-taking: Jules Vernesque visions of the future filled with kindly, automatonic monsters. It was truly inspirational to see the sketches and some of the work that goes into planning and constructing the machines, wholly unpractical and absolutely magical. But the most amazing element was how much a 37-ton hydraulic spider comes to life as it begins to move. Presumably because of a mixture of anthropomorphism and awe of discovery we seldom have past childhood, it was downright moving to see these steel and wood animals walking through the streets. As Delarozière stated, they are alive to us, because motion is life.

La Machine built a spider that "lived" in Liverpool in 2008.

Liverpool poster, via lamachine.co.uk.

An uncommon elephant in Nantes, via Liverpool 360º.

Delarozière will also be speaking tonight at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit at seven o'clock, for anybody who is local. I highly recommend it!

Musical week-end

This week-end kicked off the Ann Arbor-based University Musical Society's season, which meant, in conjunction with a Gershwin concert on Friday afternoon and a masterclass with Jessye Norman, a very full musical couple of days for me indeed. (Ah, my life is difficult...)

Ahmad Jamal, via allaboutjazz.

Ahmad Jamal, jazz piano legend, set the right mood and then some on Saturday night. The group, composed of Jamal, Herlin Riley (drums), James Cammack (bass) and Manolo Badrena, filled Hill Auditorium with an electrifying energy. The four men on stage had terrific interplay, and the charisma exuded by Jamal as he played had us enthralled. What a show this 81-year-old can put on! I needed no push to stand and cheer, demanding an encore with the rest of the audience (the foursome obliged), and I left the hall buoyed by my evening.

via Friends of Chamber Music

I didn't have long to wait for another concert, as the Emerson Quartet was on the following afternoon in Rackham Auditorium performing Mozart's last three string quartets (K. 575, K. 589, K. 590), as well as his Adagio and Fugue in c minor (K. 546). There was admittedly a bit of a kerfuffle getting us all into our seats (I pity the ushers who had to maneuver a full house in the newly renumbered system!), but I doubt this is what the audience took away from the concert. The first quartet initially lacked some vigor and articulation for my taste, but the Emersons came into their own for the third movement minuet. In fact, I discovered a previously undiscovered predisposition for minuets in myself yesterday!

So I got little work done this week-end (remember, my life is difficult), but I would say it was well worth it to get to experience such an array of musical talent. I'm certainly looking forward to the continuation of my cultural endeavors in Ann Arbor - Mark Morris Dance Group this week-end at Power Center.