The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com
Arts
EVENT PREVIEW
Kronos Quartet to enchant ‘U’ String group strives to make orchestral music relatable By KATHLEEN DAVIS Daily Arts Writer
When envisioning a string quartet, one generally thinks of soothing Mozart melodies in stuffy concert halls filled Kronos with a tired, Quartet geriatric audience. The Kronos Quar- Power Center tet wants to Friday and take cliché Saturday and spin it at 8 p.m. 180 degrees. $20 No musical group is quite as genre-defying as Kronos. As the talents behind the hauntingly beautiful soundtracks composed by Clint Mansell for Darren Aronofsky’s films “Requiem for a Dream” and “The Fountain,” the quartet can also boast experience performing alongside an expansive list of famous artists, such as David Bowie, Paul McCartney and Björk, and have appeared on recordings for Nelly Furtado, Dave Matthews Band and Nine Inch Nails. Their independent discography includes 43 studio albums, five soundtracks and two compilations. Based in San Francisco, the group received a Grammy award in 2004 for Best Chamber Music Performance, seven first-prize American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers Awards and the Polar Music prize in 2011. David Harrington, who
formed the quartet in 1973, plays violin alongside fellow violinist John Sherba, violist Hank Dutt, and cellist Sunny Yang. Although members have come and gone, Harrington has been a constant presence in Kronos for the past 40 years. Harrington accredits Kronos’ four-decade success to maintaining a balance between staying in step with mainstream media and not letting expectations define what the quartet could be. “I read the newspaper every morning and I try to find out what’s going on,” Harrington said. “I try to not limit my explorations throughout the world of music and not to observe anyone else’s definitions of what might be of interest to (Kronos).” Despite touring and public performance on the road, Kronos maintains a close working relationship with composer Clint Mansell and director Darren Aronofsky. Internationally, Kronos has collaborated with artists from every corner of the world, including Inuit throat singer Tanya Tagaq, Chinese pipa player Wu Man and Mexican rock band Café Tacvba. The quartet also doesn’t shy away from passion projects. In 1994, Kronos performed a musical accompaniment alongside Allen Ginsberg as he read his controversial poem “Howl” inside Carnegie Hall. Kronos has also been associated with critically acclaimed political documentaries, including “How to Survive a Plague,” about the early years of the AIDS epidemic, and “Dirty Wars,” an investigation of alleged U.S. government cover-
ups of overseas military operations — which Harrington acted as music supervisor for. “Ever since I was a teenager, I wanted some way to be able to express some of the things I personally felt,” Harrington said. “I thought, ‘What can a normal person do in this situation to voice their outrage about what the world was going through?’ I realized it was possible to make musical experiences really reflect the time we’re apart of.” Kronos prides itself on staying in tune with the next generation of young composers. The quartet has acted on this through a relatively recent initiative: the creation of the Kronos: Under 30 Project. Incepted in 2003 to celebrate the group’s 30th anniversary, the program has accepted over 1,000 applications all over the world from young composers. The quartet selects one outstanding piece every few years to play on tour, helping young composers launch their careers while keeping the quartet at the cutting edge of string music. “What has happened since (Kronos: Under 30 Project) is that our music is getting younger and younger, because younger composers have realized that Kronos is interested and our ears are open,” Harrington said. “If there’s someone with a real viewpoint and amazing talent and a voice that needs to be heard, we’re going to try and find that person.” Harrington said he hopes that prospective audience members — especially the young ones — in Ann Arbor won’t shy away from the idea of a string quartet concert.
TV NOTEBOOK
Forward thinking ‘The Fall’ By NATALIE GADBOIS Senior Arts Editor
It begins with a nighttime routine. Put your hair up, wash your face, wipe down the sink. Contemplate the day ahead before crawling into bed. Then, the murder. Deviance is built into everyday life; violence is the terrifying exception to the regular “make the kids’ lunches,” “take the dry cleaning in,” “reschedule that meeting for next Tuesday.” Normalcy is followed by inhumanity. Mundane life threatened with violence; this is the style of the BBC series “The Fall,” about a serial killer living in Belfast and the seasoned investigator brought in to find him. Jamie Dornan, recently chosen to play the sexually aggressive Christian Grey in the new “50 Shades of Grey” movie, is fittingly cast as Paul Spector, a charming serial killer who specializes in the murder of young professional women. Gillian Anderson (“The X-Files”) plays Stella Gibson, the detached investigator from London trying to uncover the monster behind a spate of female strangulations. At first, “The Fall” looked like another pulpy thriller — the kind that draws you in with violence and sadism even though you know you should look away. In the first episode, we watch a murder unfold: we see the break-in, the struggle and a terrible death. But the episode doesn’t end with a body, but rather with the murderer lovingly tucking his daughter into bed. The pilot establishes the paradox between loving father and methodical murderer, letting us know right away that this guy has deep issues with women. We are confused and fascinated by Paul — drawn in by the universal obsession with things that go bump in the night. Because of this, at first it doesn’t register that the writers are quietly establishing a feminist agenda that complicates the way we view both Paul and Gibson. Detective Gibson is understandably intimidating to anyone;
Friday, January 17, 2014 — 5
TV AND FILM NOTEBOOK
HBO
Arya and Gendry 5ever.
A vigorous defense of the art of relationship shipping By GRACE PROSINEWSKI Senior Arts Editor
Whether you’re enduring a seemingly endless hiatus (“Sherlock”) or mourning the death of your favorite character (“Downton Abbey”), fandoms can be a source of comfort — where you can bond with like-minded people who don’t question why you’re openly weeping over the demise of a fictional character. One of the most enjoyable parts of belonging to a fandom is shipping, or romantically pairing, certain characters together. Ships can be canon, meaning characters are officially paired off in the original work, or they can be non-canon “crack” ships, where there is practically no chance of the characters being united in the original source material. I typically anchor myself to canonical ships, as “crack” ships can, and often do, get weird ... fast. However, there are a few characters so blatantly perfect for one another that imagining them ending up with anyone else is unfathomable, even if the original writer thinks otherwise. Neville Longbottom and Luna Lovegood (“Harry Potter” series)
BBC
Fifty shades of flannel.
whip-smart, no-nonsense and seasoned to handle even the most brutal murders. She is a powerful force regardless of her gender. But the other characters’ wariness of her can’t be the result of simple intimidation; she is an authoritative, competent and archetypally masculine woman. We have seen these kinds of women on television before — Olivia Pope from “Scandal” or Dr. Temperance Brennan from “Bones.” But unlike Gibson, these women are often invincible only until their own emotions get in the way. They are masculine until they show proper female emotion, and powerful until they crack and admit they need help. In contrast, Gibson never fits into gender norms, which makes her
Strong women showcased in BBC drama the most susceptible to judgment. For example, in the third episode her top button comes undone during a press conference, and as she calmly informs the public about the murders of three women, the media instead focuses on her “sexiness.” She brings a
man home for a one-night stand, and when she feels nothing afterwards, she is judged for having neither moral scruples or guilt. She is a woman who acts entirely on her own needs, but because she doesn’t live in a vacuum, she is forced to face the social implications of her actions. Many crime shows disregard any sort of nuanced social commentary, instead focusing on simplistic ideas of good and evil, justice and retribution. “The Fall” dares to question societal norms, reminding us that even in the face of senseless murder, real people still live in a world where many of their greatest problems are intangible and bloodless. Murderers and thieves and rapists aren’t created in a vacuum; other people and outside ideas affect their rise. Gibson and Specter are distinctly new characters within the overdone world of crime thrillers. Both are psychologically complex; both in rebellion against social constructs; both sympathetic without being likeable. “The Fall” doesn’t overtly inundate us with theories and ideas, but instead creates everyday lives wracked with violence and obsession. We are hooked because we want to understand who this terrible man is, and “The Fall” begins to explain by first exposing the society and environment that shaped him.
I will not hear of any universe where Neville and Luna from “Harry Potter” do not end up together. In my opinion, this is one of the rare instances when movie canon trumps book canon. It’s the ultimate opposites-attract story, with the shy awkwardness of Neville contrasting, yet complementing, the sheer absurdity and ethereality of Luna. Now, technically, after the books ended, J.K. Rowling announced on her website that Luna ended up with Rolf Scamander and Neville with Hannah Abbott. However, she did later come out and say that she could see
INTERESTED IN COMMUNITY TRENDS?? ENJOY WRITING??
IF YOU SAID “YES!!!!!” APPLY TO THE COMMUNITY CULTURE BEAT Email jplyn@umich.edu for more info
a relationship between Neville and Luna working out. That, and the fact that the relationship made it into the movie, is enough for me. Eponine and Enjolras (“Les Misérables”) Eponine is the reason every teenage girl gets into the musical “Les Misérables.” Eponine’s unrequited love for Marius is the stuff diary entries are made of, albeit super violent French diaries. As you get older, you start to see some problems with this storyline. Eponine is a badass street chick who manages to become a decent person in spite of her crazy parents. In short, she’s awesome. But Marius falls for the dainty, bland Cosette. Don’t get me wrong, Cosette went through some serious stuff
Falling in love is a form of socially acceptable insanity as a kid, but as a character she doesn’t wow me in quite the same way. Instead of the obviously blind Marius, Eponine should go for the daring, passionate leader Enjolras. He’s got so much more to offer in terms of real substance. And if the character looks anything like Aaron Tveit ... well, that’s just a bonus. Jack Frost (“Rise of the Guardians”) and Elsa (“Frozen”) I, like many people, am completely obsessed with the movie “Frozen.” However, I’m going to be completely honest — I have never seen “Rise of the Guardians.” I know little to nothing
about it, but after reading one BuzzFeed article extolling the praises of a Jack Frost/Elsa ship, I am thoroughly convinced. They both have awesome ice powers and a strong desire to protect their sisters. It’s not rocket science to see why they’re great for each other. These starcrossed lovers are truly a “crack ship,” as the characters come from completely different times, mythologies and perhaps most importantly, movie studios. Basically, there’s little chance of Jack Frost and Elsa ever meeting. Arya and Gendry (“Game of Thrones”) This isn’t technically noncanon. With two more books left in the “A Song of Ice and Fire” series, there’s still more than enough time for this ship to really set sail. Do you hear me, George R.R. Martin? There’s still time! If you only watch “Game of Thrones” and you feel weirded out by the age difference, take comfort in the fact that the next two books wouldn’t be shot for quite awhile, giving the actors time to grow. Arya and Gendry are both tough fighters who support and challenge one another. They could finally bring about that much sought after Stark/ Baratheon marriage. Look, we all know Daenerys is going to win the Iron Throne — she has dragons for god’s sake. But that doesn’t mean that Arya and Gendry can’t have a happy, fulfilling life as Wardens of the North. Yes, I have considered the “Arya-doesn’t-need-a-man” position, and as a feminist I can understand that thought process, but hear me out. I’m not saying Arya needs Gendry. I’m saying she wants him, because let’s be honest, who doesn’t? Say what you will about respecting a writer’s true vision ... you can’t beat true, fictional love. And thus, I will go down with these ships.