The description is from Michael Tilson Thomas, who gave his all tonight
to an "American Mavericks" concert, "The World of George Antheil." The
late composer, whose 100th birthday falls on July 8, is somewhat of a an
asterisk in the history of 20th century American music. After a definitive
performance of the Sonata No. 2, the delightful "A Jazz Symphony," and a
kind of premiere of the original "Ballet mecanique," that asterisk shines
even brighter, but it remains in place nevertheless to denote a quirky,
interesting *footnote*. Other opinions may vary, as they must. Still I am
very glad to have heard the concert.

"Ballet mecanique" was at the heart of the event, with 16 computer-assisted
player pianos, two grand pianos, xylophones, bass drums, a tam-tam,
electric bells, a siren and airplane propellers. The footnote to the
footnote is that -- according to Paul D. Lehrman who is responsible for the
reconstruction and programming -- this was the first *real* world premiere
of the work. Obviously, in the 'Twenties, there was no Musical Instrument
Digital Interface (MIDI) which makes a performance possible on the scale
Antheil composed it; the Lehrman version was performed twice before,
including a Carnegie Hall event a few months back but even that didn't have
the full forces required. We did. How did it go?

Here are some possible summaries: 1. It felt so good when it stopped, 2.
"Les Noces" on steroid, 3. Everyone should hear it once, few may want to
repeat the experience, unless "1,240 measures of brutal rhythms" is your
idea of a good time... or of music that matters.

Thanks to MTT's brilliant salesmanship and superb direction (although
he had to follow a "click track" over headphones) and the musicians'
dedication, the reaction in Davies Hall was an ovation, but I think that
was for the effort and "curiousity factor."

"A Jazz Symphony" is something else. It's impossible to hear it
without grinning madly. From its genuinely crazy rhythms to what MTT
correctly called "deliciously mawkish" moments of popular music, this is
a delightful, *repeatable* work...  of the asterisk kind. No MIDI program
can measure up to Michael Linville's heroic and brilliant piano solos --
the man was on fire. Mark Inouye played a mean trumpet.

Of course, the presence of Julie Steinberg on the program -- playing
the Antheil Sonata No. 2 for the second time during MTT's five-year
directorship here -- assured gender equality in world-class pianism. David
Abel was the awesome violinist, and the shoeless William Winant played the
role Ezra Pound performed at the original performance of the piece: he
turned pages for Steinberg and than hopped over (it's faster in socks)
to the percussion for the powerful finale.

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