To my embarrassment, this was the first time I had heard Evelyn Glennie perform live. Until then, I knew her only through such things as television broadcasts of the Proms in Britain and CDs, and had thought, well, that is about it. Rather, because my daughter is hearing impaired, I had been more impressed by Glennie’s essays about being unable to hear.
My impression of her playing from those recordings was not that it was especially precise. I had not felt that she paid exceptional attention to sound, either, but this concert completely overturned that impression. Her extremely delicate yet dynamic and richly colored performance, standing barefoot on stage, was entirely different from what I had heard on recordings. Being barefoot may be connected to her hearing impairment (does she hear the stage vibrations through her feet?), but after seeing it, ordinary performers standing on stage in shoes and making sounds with their heels began to seem rather insensitive to sound.
The performance itself was very dense. It felt as though I had encountered a proper concert for the first time in a long while. That is what one expects from a top-class performer. The program was also admirable: although it consisted almost entirely of contemporary works, it never bored the audience. Perhaps it is a matter of my taste, but I particularly liked her performances of Zivkovich’s Ilijas and Heath’s Darkness to Light. The 1st movement of Rosauro’s Marimba Concerto, played as an encore, was far more dynamic than on the CD and seemed transformed.
What disappointed me was the level of the audience. With Takemitsu Memorial Hall almost full, I wonder whether there were quite a few invited guests and casual spectators who had seen her on television and wanted to see a “deaf performer.” I was sitting in an S-seat costing ¥6,000, but the person one row in front of me nodded off from the beginning to the end of the concert. (They were awake during the interval.) To be able to sleep through such exciting playing, they must have been very tired.
About 200 people formed a long line for the autograph session after the concert. I, too, bought Her Greatest Hits, which was released that day, and, like a fan, had it signed. On the CD, the recording of Light in Darkness on DISC 2 felt closest to the sound on the day.
The next time she comes, I will certainly go to her concert again. At the same time, I would like young marimbists to see her performance and absorb many things from it.
1999-09-12
(Natsuhiko Sakimura)
Evelyn Glennie Recital: Programme A
Date and time: July 3, 1999 (Sat), 6
Venue: Tokyo Opera City
Concert Hall (Takemitsu Memorial)Evelyn Glennie, Marimba, Percussion
Fluctus (1988) / Nebjosa Zivkovic
Drum Dance / John Psathas
The Golden Age of the Xylophone / Unknown (arr. Glennie)
Darkness to Light (Asian premiere) / Dave Heath
Intermission
Frum / Askell Masson
Valse Brillante / George Hamilton-Green
The Castle of the Mad King / Nebjosa Zivkovic
Ilijas / Nojosa Zivkovic
The Cheese & The Worms (Asian premiere) / Stewart Wallace
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