Composer Spotlight: Wolfgang Mitterer

MUSIC
THURSDAY & FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29 & 30, 2018
8:00 PM

Ensemble Signal
THURSDAY:  Austrian Cultural Forum New York
11 East 52 Street, Midtown, Manhattan
FRIDAY:  St. Peter's Church
619 Lexington Avenue, Midtown, Manhattan

Free (reservation suggested for Thursday show)
THURSDAY:
INFO

FRIDAY:
INFO

Wolfgang Mitterer is one of those once young Austrian composers who began popping up in the '80s or so who like to have a lot of fun with tradition.  Mitterer doesn't do deconstructions of past music as much as reconstructions, making them more consonant with contemporary modes of listening (he does the converse with pop when the mood strikes him).  These two different shows should show him at his best.  Thursday offers a song cycle for baritone, prepared piano, and electronics after Schubert.  You will probably enjoy it, whether or not Schubert would.  Friday brings mobile beats, a frisky piece that lives up to its title (even if it turns out to have been named after the ensemble for which it was originally written) -- as well as a set by Mitterer on the St. Peter's organ, accompanying himself on electronics.

MAKE A NIGHT OF IT:  For Thursday, is David Tanis still even cooking at the Monkey Bar?  Even if he isn't, Edward Sorel's mural remains.  For Friday, I'm going to send you to Aquavit, where Chef Emma Bengtsson is doing very good things, even if her Nordic isn't as "New" as some claim (that's not wholly a bad thing).