United States FRAGMENTS 2: Alisa Weilerstein (project creator & cello). Zankel Hall, Carnegie Hall, New York, 21.1.2025. (RP)
Bach – Cello Suite No.2 in D minor, BWV 1008
Alan Fletcher – Allemande
Daniel Kidane – Sarabande I, II & III
Gity Razaz – ‘Secrets’, ‘Invocations’
Caroline Shaw – ‘Microfictions’ Vol. 2, I, II & III
Ana Sokolović – ‘Fragments’ I, II & III
Production:
Director – Elkhana Pulitzer
Scenes & Lighting – Seth Reiser
Costumes – Molly Irelan
Hair & Makeup – Heather Sterling
Artistic Producer advisor – Hanako Yamaguchi
Alisa Weilerstein brought FRAGMENTS 2 to Zankel Hall for its New York premiere. This is a series of hour-long performances in which Weilerstein integrates movements from Bach’s six cello suites with 27 new works that she commissioned from established and young composers. She unveiled the initial concert in the series in 2023 and has been touring with the standalone segments.
FRAGMENTS grew out of Weilerstein’s experience during the COVID-19 pandemic. Envisioning a time when there would again be live audiences in concert halls, she pondered: ‘What would our experience of music be like if we could be given the chance to simply listen first?’ The result was six programs to be released over several seasons. Each ‘Fragment’ is played without pause, and the order in which works are performed is not provided before the concert, but on this occasion was accessible through a QR code in the program distributed after the performance.
FRAGMENTS 2 weaves together eighteen short movements of music by Alan Fletcher, Ana Sokolović, Caroline Shaw, Daniel Kidane and Gity Razaz with the dances from Bach’s Cello Suite No.2. Opera director Elkhana Pulitzer created a space in which lighting and architectural elements add to what is intended to be an atmosphere of discovery and adventure. Magenta, green and white dominate the lighting concept. Weilerstein’s purplish dress, fishnet stockings, black boots and frizzed hair seem inspired by photos of an all-female orchestra from the Weimar Era.
The audience experienced the emotional arc that Weilerstein and her collaborators crafted unhindered by knowledge of what the music was, except for the readily recognizable Bach. The lack of information, however, did not translate to a lack of structure: the dances of the Bach Cello Suite provided the backbone of the performance and landing pads to ground the mind and ear.
Weilerstein played with her exceptionally high level of technical excellence, passion and emotional intensity, and produced sounds that ranged from fierce stabs to lyrical passages. The intricate filigrees of sound were transfixing, while the ethereal harmonics often emerged as cries. Double stops were perfectly in tune, as was her spiccato playing where her bow danced across the strings.
Near the end came one of the most intriguing pieces, with Weilerstein strumming on the cello while she sang a song without words. It not only provided musical contrast but also changed the mood entirely. Suddenly, the audience was transported to another time and place, almost primeval, by the music that she made.
Undoubtedly, for some, the entire concept of FRAGMENTS amounts to little more than the equivalent of setting your listening device to random play. For others, it was simply the freedom to be part of an all-immersive experience. Her concept might seem a bit whacky to some, but then there were no program notes in Bach’s time. Seventeenth-century audiences were only required to listen, which is all that Weilerstein asks.
Rick Perdian
Featured Image: Alisa Weilerstein © Fadi Kheir