In the July 2 issue of The New Yorker (subscription required), Alex Ross writes, “One night last fall I emerged from a subway stop downtown and encountered a raucous demonstration connected to the Occupy Wall Street protests. I was on my way to a concert of the Brooklyn Philharmonic, in the Winter garden at the World Financial Center. The transition from street action to classical performance should have been jarring, but the Brooklyn Philharmonic has lately become a different kind of orchestra, and no mental adjustment was needed. The lead vocal soloist was the hip-hop- artist Yasiin Bey, formerly Mos Def. He performed a few hip-hop tracks with orchestral backing, and also delivered Frederic Rzewski’s 1972 protest piece ‘Coming Together.’ … The orchestra, working through minimalist patterns, matched him in intensity. For once, classical music seemed in the thick of political life. … On a golden June evening, the Philharmonic took over Restoration Plaza, in Bed-Stuy. … First up was DJ Eddie Marz’s ‘Ill Harmonic,’ which began life as a hard-driving electronic fantasia on material from the ‘Eroica’ finale. … After intermission, Yasiin Bey reprised several of his orchestral raps from earlier in the season, with the hip-hop-literate composer Derek Bermel contributing finely stitched arrangements. … The Brooklyn Philharmonic was unmistakably alive and unpredictably kicking.”
Posted June 28, 2012
