26 August 2017

Musica Elettronica Viva - Ferrara, 2002


Here is a recent find from dime - a superb concert from Musica Elettronica Viva in 2002. Many thanks to tricko, durian1 and Owombat for making this available, and also to htakat for the great artwork. 

This music has made a strong impression on me - it unfolds in a series of tableaux, which are quite different in style, with references to several of the group's known themes, and more - at times, it could almost sound like a remix of Luigi Nono. The whole thing is held together through a strong programmatic propulsiveness - the effect is not dissimilar to reading Joyce's Ulysses.

The break about halfway through is to allow the whole piece to fit onto two CDs - if, like me, most of your music is stored on a hard drive and CDs have become more or less redundant, the two pieces can just be joined together.

Musica Elettronica Viva
Ferrara, Italy - 9th June, 2002

Alvin Curran - piano, keyboards, shofar, live electronics
Frederic Rzewski - piano
Richard Teitelbaum - keyboards, live electronics
Garrett List - trombone
Steve Lacy - soprano saxophone
George Lewis - trombone, live electronics
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23 comments:

  1. Tantris10 May 2008 at 14:06:00 CEST

    FLAC

    http://rapidshare.com/files/113482420/MEV2002.part1.rar
    http://rapidshare.com/files/113488151/MEV2002.part2.rar
    http://rapidshare.com/files/113492005/MEV2002.part3.rar
    http://rapidshare.com/files/113497838/MEV2002.part4.rar

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  2. Tantris10 May 2008 at 14:38:00 CEST

    ... if you have other recordings of Musica Elettronica Viva, why not share them here. I'd be very interested in recordings from earlier in their history, for example ...

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  3. Anonymous10 May 2008 at 22:36:00 CEST

    Hi - is there an MP3 version available?
    Thanks

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  4. htakat11 May 2008 at 15:42:00 CEST

    well done tantris .
    i'll see you again ,thanks
    htakat

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  5. centrifuge12 May 2008 at 08:57:00 CEST

    thanks tantris, this looks very interesting indeed - god knows when i shall find time to give it a proper listen, but in the meantime i guess i'd better grab it ;-)

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  6. Anonymous13 May 2008 at 10:04:00 CEST

    Agree with "Anonymous": pity there's no mp3 version. That flac thing takes a lot of space, a lot of work and imho the result of all that doesn't give better quality.

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  7. Tantris13 May 2008 at 10:28:00 CEST

    You're welcome, htakat - you did a great job on this one.

    To anonymous / Ratel - the number of downloads already exceeds 60, suggesting that most people either prefer a lossless, better quality version, or can easily make their own conversion to mp3 without relying on someone else's effort. For my part, the real 'pity' is the dearth of comments on the music, which makes me question whether the initial effort is really worthwhile.

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  8. Anonymous13 May 2008 at 18:20:00 CEST

    Flac isn't a problem it took me awhile to figure out how to switch files to mp3 here is a link for a free download when it expires uninstall then reinstall for free http://www.nch.com.au/switch/plus.html > you have to remember uploading and and posting requires alot of work I have done a few on another blog and now know from experience , so I really don't see why it could be a hassle to have to deal with flac files . I do agree with you guys mp3 is easier and I do prefer them , but sometimes this is the way they post and you have to deal Steve

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  9. Anonymous13 May 2008 at 18:22:00 CEST

    By the way great posts guys and folly for too see what will be posting another Eric Stach disc a double disc looking forward to see what your remarks are Steve

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  10. Anonymous13 May 2008 at 19:10:00 CEST

    Jazzme -

    Thanks for the information. I'll try it on my Mac. Tantris: no disrespect intended in asking for MP3s - I was just geeked about hearing this music asap! MEV with Steve Lacy is high level genius, indeed.

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  11. centrifuge15 May 2008 at 16:42:00 CEST

    i gotta ask... those "deep sonar" noises near the beginning (and later on) - is that not the sound of someone receiving mail (etc) on a mac..?! a sample, or someone's computer addition? :)

    it's interesting music all right, plenty going on for sure... i wasn't too happy about the piano-and-poetry section (eek)

    george lewis (sigh)

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  12. centrifuge15 May 2008 at 17:35:00 CEST

    what a very interesting concert :))

    there was one point in the first half, lacy started up with some spirals and i thought at first teitelbaum was playing a sample of braxton...! let's not forget mr b. continued listening to lacy (and marsh) long after he stopped listening to other sax players

    thanks again...

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  13. Anonymous21 May 2008 at 22:29:00 CEST

    >the two pieces can just be joined together...

    when this was originally posted at dime last month by user 'tricko' - to whom due credit for making this available should be given - it was a single file -- that is, the whole performance uninterrupted as intended by musicians and as actually broadcast live on italian radio.. it is only later that somebody split the file in two parts, for mere cd-burning reasons, and reposted it as an, er, upgrade... your advice to join the two parts again, hence restoring the artistic integrity of this performance, is a good advice. thank you.

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  14. Tantris26 May 2008 at 13:14:00 CEST

    Thanks - I have edited the post to acknowledge tricko.

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  15. Anonymous27 May 2008 at 10:37:00 CEST

    hi tantris,
    just came across this, a fine effort!
    thanks everyone helping!
    cheers
    Owombat

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  16. Anonymous29 May 2008 at 05:56:00 CEST

    Thanks for posting this! It's a similar lineup to "United Patchwork" which I've heard and is fascinating -- that's shorter pieces (10 on 2 LPs).

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  17. Anonymous19 February 2010 at 12:57:00 CET

    cool !!


    / METEK

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  18. guttergeodine11 September 2011 at 01:06:00 CEST

    now if only I could find united patchwork...

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  19. Anonymous11 December 2014 at 16:23:00 CET

    It would be good to have this record of MEV with Steve Lacy available again, for those of us who missed it the first time around! Also the French Radio tapes of the Lacy ensemble with Derek Bailey, if you still have them? Simply invaluable website!

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  20. Tantris26 August 2017 at 08:54:00 CEST


    Their performance yesterday evening at the sweltering Noumatroff at Mulhouse was trademark MEV - a series of tableaux, held together by Rzewski's piano, punctuated by all manner of sounds, events, perceptions and imaginings along the way, including, bizarrely enough, Mr Trump being serviced in the shower. Hopefully a recording will emerge in due course - it was being videoed, and it might even appear on France Musique's à l'improviste.

    In the meantime, here's this Ferrara concert again to whet our appetite;
    Mega


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  21. francisco santos26 August 2017 at 10:40:00 CEST

    BIG THX!...

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  22. Dominic26 August 2017 at 17:16:00 CEST

    Thank you so much for this. And yes, À l'improviste is a radio program very much worth investigating. Anyone can download episodes as podcast and each individual episodes' page often present us with a video of the concert being broadcast and sometimes even in binaural mix for the headphone.

    Here is the page for the program, new season will start in a few days...

    https://www.francemusique.fr/emissions/a-l-improviste

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  23. rev.b27 August 2017 at 05:18:00 CEST

    Wow, here's a jaw dropper. I know what to expect at the same time I have no idea what to expect. Looking forward, thanks.

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