SERENDIPITOUS SPACES october 1997 / planet of the arts 9 A Many-Course Bacchanal The heartfelt account of a marvelous encounter with a great musician. by Karen Myskiw e began with a gentle caress, a touch on her neck, running his hands smoothly along her spine. The erotically lit piano shone with an aubergine opalescence highlighting her midriff. Her interior glowed in chartreuse splendour. I felt like I was on a surrealist ride, lucidly dreaming. My breathing became shallow and mea- sured as, with precise strokes, each key punctuated the air... as if on a respirator, the music being the life force. I had not known what to expect when I pur- chased my general admission ticket to the Philip Glass concert. I had been to the Vogue Theatre before, and enjoyed the intimate yet accommodat- ing space. From most vantage points, the acoustics are consistently good. Yet I had only heard a small sampling of Glass’s works on CD. What I encountered immediately made me a captive voyeur. Mad Rush began the evening’s rapture. My sens- es aroused, I felt the electrolytes in my being ignite, coursing through me, quickening my responsivity to the outside world. Yet I was in tune with the moment. I let go... In one instant I became a Queen Bee feeding on Royal Jelly, my thorax swollen, a means for reproduction, my labours no more sig- nificant than my many suitors. Feeling syrupy and sticky I tasted the rhapsody as it coated my body from the inside out, precious as amber, petrified, filling every pore. His hands became the vehicle for transcendence. Nimble, poised, and virile, his fingers caressed the keys gently yet boldly. He knew her body: the piano melted. Five Metamorphoses, an adaptation of The Thin Blue Line and Metamorphosis, transported me to a countryside of poppies, an opiate that numbed and intoxicated. As | listened, I became a gypsy dancing through the lolling hillside, the golden sunlight caressing my skin and hair. I performed Salome’s dance of seduction within the oasis, chains of gold draping my midriff, at first tinkling tenuously, then increasing in fervour as the heat rose from within. Losing self in the grotto of longing, time and space escaped meaning. I found myself wandering deeper and deeper into the catacombs where lay my ancestors. Remnants of my lineage wove a mosaic of present, future, past: reminiscent of a Coptic tapes- try’s brilliance in warp and weft. Beneath the headiness of the ocean I drowned in the delirium of dullness. Dullness acted as a force- field buffering me from all harm. Osmosis, salinity, searching for an inner ocean, I felt calm, yet fully aware of the life which surrounded me. I sank, heavy like lead, my final breath expelled. I would lie asleep in oxidation, encrusted and decorated, decay- ing and invaded, as host, offering my most basic ele- ments — hydrogen, oxygen, calcium, and mercury — to the life around me. The cycles of the tides revealed and concealed the rhythm of this meta- morphosis. Six Etudes, a work in progress which will even- tually become sixteen discrete pieces performed as one concert, evoked other stimuli with its multiplic- ity of sensation. We were given a sampling of a many-course bacchanal. To tantalize, the first three Etudes liberated the palette: oysters and caviar, champagne and truffles. The melody was like the bouquet of Bourgogne Cabernet Sauvignon, aged in oak barrels... or Chateau du Pape, smooth and ele- gant, with a long finish. To complement, des fro- mages off colour, musty and acrid, pale and creamy, voluptueuse, served with loin seared just beyond rare. Though the small stage and Baby Grand piano recreated the intimacy and immediacy of a night- club, Glass’ playing filled the auditorium like the most fantastic aurora borealis 1 encountered one frozen February night at three in the morning in Winnipeg: a pageant of purples and oranges flush- ing the sky, quixotic and intoxicating. I had no breath. A dichotomy of complexity and minimalism, modernism succeeded in music where it might not have in architecture: it captured the essence of expe- rience. The philosophy of asceticism strips the musical structure to its essentials. Layered with nuances, the Kafkaesque pieces had a melancholy directness as intellectual as it was sensual. Existential and sublime, sweet and piquant, as brutal as absinthe, but as nullifying, I drank Glass’s potion. I was satiated. fet I found myself craving more. After standing ovations Glass played three encores; the crowd, being polite, did not entreat further. A true master of his art, Glass satisfied his patrons with his skill and professionalism. To put it bluntly, his performance was exceptional. ce) IN THIS SECTION SERENDIPITOUS SPACES 10 Subterranean City Prophecy Sun Voyage to a strange underground place. The Two Night Phish Phry Ryan Tunnicliffe Voyage to a groovy dank temporary city aboveground. “a Machine For Living Rodney Sanches Optimizing interior architecture for creative living. 12 So, Why Travel? Craig Stewart The bearable lightness of being in New York City. SERENDIPITOUS SPACES october 1997 7 plonet of the orts 9 A Many-Course Bacchanal The heartfelt account of a marvelous encounter with @ great musician. by Karen Myskiw began with a gentle cares a touch on her neck, running his hands smoothly along her spine. The erotically lit piano. shone With an aubergine opalescence highlighting her midi. Her interior glowed in chartreuse splendour. 1 fl like I was on sure ride, lcily ‘reaming. My breathing became sallow nd mea sured a, with precise strokes, each key punctusted the aia ifon respirator, the musi being the life fore. Thad not known what to expect when I pur chased my general admision to the Philip Glass concert. I had been to the Vogue Theatre before and enjoyed the inmate yet acommodat. ing space. From moet vantage points, the are consistently good. Yt I had only heard small sampling of Glass works on CD. coursing through me, qui to the outside world, Yet I was in tune with ng on Royal Jelly, my tl py and sticky Its Increasing in fervour asthe het rose from within Beneath the eadine rum of dullness. Dull A busering me fro all ha skill an ne Cabernet Sauvignon, agen smooth and ele ment, des 10 14 SERENDIPITOUS SPACES wi IN THIS SECTION ‘Subterranean City Prophecy Sun The Two Night Phish Phry yan Tunniclitfe Machine For Living Rodney Sanches So, Why Travel? Craig Stewart