Tulsa World reviews JFJO’s world premier of Ludwig
‘Ludwig’ jazzes up Beethoven classics
By JAMES D. WATTS JR. World Scene Writer
Published: 6/14/2010 2:20 AM
One thing is certain: A great deal of time and an incredible amount of effort went into the creation of “Ludwig,” which had its world premiere Saturday to open the 2010 OK Mozart International Festival in Bartlesville.
One other thing is certain: All that time and effort more than paid off.
“Ludwig,” conceived by the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey, arranged by Noam Faingold and performed by the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey and the Bartlesville Symphony Orchestra, is one incredible, exhilarating piece of work, a unique melding of classical and jazz music to create something remarkable and new.
Thankfully, Saturday’s performance at the Bartlesville Community Center was captured on audio and video — we counted about 10 cameras, stationary and mobile, on and around the stage — which means there is hope of a life hereafter for “Ludwig.”
In simplest terms, “Ludwig” is this: two Beethoven symphonies — the No. 3, “Eroica,” and the No. 6, “Pastoral” — that have been arranged to accommodate the quartet of piano, lap steel guitar, upright bass and drums that is the Jacob Fred Jazz Odyssey.
Simple, but inadequate. “Ludwig” is a complete reimagination of these symphonies. It is not a jazz combo being placed, as it were, on top of a classical symphony, or a back-and-forthing of musical phrases in the form of a concerto with the soloist being a jazz band.
What makes “Ludwig” work is that the jazz and classical entities are completely and organically integrated — something achieved by more or less deconstructing Beethoven’s music and rebuilding it according to the detailed plan established by the score but building it with some different materials.
The Beethoven symphonies are there in “Ludwig,” their musical structure intact, familiar melodies all in place. And yet, they sounded startling and new.
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Tags: 3rd, 6th, band, Bartlesville Symphony Orchestra, Beethoven, brian haas, BSO, Chris Combs, classical, eroica, jacob fred, jacob fred jazz odyssey, jazz, jeff harshbarger, JFJO, Josh Raymer, live, Ludwig, music, OK Mozart, oklahoma, pastoral, review, symphonies, symphony, tulsa, Tulsa World