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Half-Bach’d: Alisa Weilerstein’s Cello Mashups
Newly commissioned works interwoven with the Bach cello suites don’t add up to a greater whole.
Bathed in emerald or fuchsia light, costumed by Molly Irelan in a short dress, fishnet stockings, and clunky boots, Weilerstein shared the stage with Seth Reiser’s sets, an arrangement of slabs like so many sawn-up doors. She alternated sections of Bach’s Second Suite with music by an international collection of composers: Alan Fletcher, Ana Sokolović, Caroline Shaw, Daniel Kidane, and Gity Razaz. Whatever expressive unity it possessed came from the unabated ferocity of Weilerstein’s playing, the way she yanked the bow across the strings, digging into each note, slapping staccatos, or firing off a quick passage in violent bursts.
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