Foundation for Modern Music Premiere

Akhenaten soars with Mohammed Fairouz's throbbing grooves & distinct culturalinterpretation

Written with cellist Adaiha Macadam-Somer and pianist Paul Boyd in mind,Akhenaten: Dweller in Truth unfolds as a double concerto with allusions to the1985 novel of the same name by Naguib Mahfouz.
Although not a programmatic translation of the text, composer Mohammed Fairouzencapsulates the narrative's principal struggle: Convention facing change as aparley between two characters.

If Superman soared east past Michael Daugherty's Oh, Lois!from his Metropolis Symphony, he would surely find himself in the musical world of Mohammed Fairouz'sAkhenaten: Dweller in Truth with theflexatone replaced by the Middle Eastern darbuka.

Think relentless and tireless uneven metrics within a common time framework, breathless rhythms and a shrieking piccolo that surges faster than a speeding bullet and more powerful than a locomotive intensifying en route to a climactic whip. The throbbing grooves suck you in; the thunderous textures don't let go.

As an audience member, I couldn't help breaking a sweat. The work dangerously verges on the fringe of lusty turbo flash. But with ample inventiveness that hint at Fairouz's thoughtful craftsmanship, his Akhenaten will be heard as often as the composer's popular vocal works.

It's often said that one of the risks of globalization is the assimilation of a rainbow of cultural identities into a single homogenous, jejune voice. For Houston, such implosion would be a calamity.

That Akhenaten's debut wasn't presented with choreography was the only regret. After all, it was conceived as a ballet akin to Copland's Appalachian Spring. I imagined the kind of movement language Stanton Welch, Dominic Walsh or Karen Stokes would dream up for such a thrusting sketch.

The world premiere of Akhenaten at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts was the Arab-American composer's first in Houston. It's pertinent that Foundation for Modern Music commissioned the work and devoted a playbill to his opus consisting of the Chorale Fantasy for string quartet, The Poet Declares his Renown for string quartet and baritone and States of Fantasy double concerto for violin and cello.

As the company celebrates its 25th birthday, artistic director Raúl Orlando Edwards' focus has shifted to tune into music and people that translate Houston's ethos.

It's often said that one of the risks of globalization is the assimilation of a rainbow of cultural identities into a single homogenous, jejune voice. For Houston, whose value is entrenched in its demographic multiplicity, such implosion would be a calamity.

New York-born Fairouz may be a child of the cosmopolitan Internet age: His music synthesizes minimalism, hard rock, jazz and jazz hands, musical theater, avant-garde and ethno-folk styles. But he does so in such a way that diverse creative impulses coexist and keep their individual distinct character.

Written with cellist Adaiha Macadam-Somer and pianist Paul Boyd in mind, Akhenaten unfolds as a double concerto with allusions to the 1985 novel of the same name by Nobel Laureate Naguib Mahfouz. Although not a programmatic translation of the text, Fairouz encapsulates the narrative's principal struggle: Convention facing change as a parley between the High Priest of Amun and Nefertiti, the pharaoh's royal wife.

Fairouz sets the two conflicting dramatis personae in the solo instruments and pits one against the other. What begins as a rigid dialogue evolves into all out urban warfare with a nod to Philip Glass's operatic setting of Akhenaten, during which incessant arpeggiated broken chords vie for attention.

Fairouz encapsulates the narrative's principal struggle: Convention facing change as a parley between the High Priest of Amun and Nefertiti, the pharaoh's royal wife.

Adaiha Macadam-Somer's effusive treatment of vocal-like passages lept off the page and cut through thick virile textures while keeping a regal affect. With percussive accuracy, Boyd's muscly reading punished whomever or whatever stood in his way. It was up to conductor Clifton Evans to mitigate between them and the newly formed Houston Composers Orchestra.

Akhenaten followed States of Fantasy when sisters Batya Macadam-Somer and Adaiha Macadam-Somer tore up the five-movement showcase.

That's what transpired in the double cadenza during which the duo exploited the instruments' singing abilities and juxtaposed virtuosic dexterity.

The violin-cello conversation matures through well defined counterpoint, fugues and palindrome melodic lines. An ominous coupling of low-tessitura bassoons and basses introduces polyphonic textures that taste of Mahlerian grandeur. States of Fantasy ends big, just like a speeding Mack Truck that can't be stopped.

In Chorale Fantasy — where a frozen chord bowed on open strings breathes repose in the outro — and The Poet Declares his Renown, the composer's fondness for counterpoint, gentle dissonance, perfect intervals and whispers of non-specific eastern folk zeitgeist diverge away into nomadic tangents. As if amid a tête-à-tête, the intimate vocals of baritone Marcus DeLoach subsumed gravity into the world of 20th-century Argentinean poet, Jorge Luis Borges, whose text Fairouz supported with an intense foundation.

An unexpected appearance by the third Macadam-Somer sister, Eden, set the program in motion with her own oeuvres mused by 13th century Sufi mystic, Rumi. Equally comfortable singing pure, wholesome folk airs and frolicking around the fiddle at the same time, Eden Macadam-Somer pioneers a genre of honest and bewitching musical coalescence.

The concert was quite the Houston welcome for Fairouz. Dismiss any ideas of a southern genteel debutante entrance. The Foundation for Modern Music's event was an involved intervention on the city's classical music scene. Houston will see more of Fairouz in the near future.

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Movie Review

Daniel Craig shines in Queer, an unapologetic tale of love and loss

Photo courtesy of A24

Drew Starkey and Daniel Craig in Queer.

As recently as the late 2010s, if a movie was made about an LGBTQ+ character, it was more than likely about their coming out experience. Romance, if it existed, was typically chaste, and actual sex was almost completely out of the question. Things have changed dramatically in the 2020s, to the point that a major movie star has no issue starring in a film called Queer.

Based on the 1985 novella by William S. Burroughs, the film features William Lee (Daniel Craig), whom everyone calls just Lee, a writer living in 1950s-era Mexico City who spends most of his time haunting local bars with friends like fellow writer Joe Guidry (Jason Schwartzman) and hitting on younger men. His early interactions in the film seem to indicate that Lee has a bad reputation within the local gay community, as multiple people avoid him or give him odd looks.

Lee senses an opportunity when he encounters a newcomer, Eugene Allerton (Drew Starkey). Despite some awkward interactions, the two of them start spending time together, although Lee has much more invested in the relationship than Eugene does. Their hit-and-miss bond continues until Lee, who’s starting to get into drugs in addition to the booze, convinces Eugene to accompany him on a trip to South America.

Directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Justin Kuritzkes (making their second straight film together after Challengers), early on the film seems to be mostly about the divide between an older person who’s grown comfortable in his ways and a younger person who’s living a relatively carefree life. The introduction of drugs into the plot changes things, though, with Lee searching out more ways to open his eyes to what the world has to offer.

Guadagnino and his team use some interesting visual storytelling techniques to introduce ideas that may not be present in the actual script. The most successful, demonstrated in multiple scenes, is the superimposition of movements by Lee over what’s actually taking place in the scene. The subtle overlay gives the audience insight into Lee’s true feelings, showing what he can’t or won’t say out loud.

Music also plays a big part in how the plot is perceived, with the use of anachronistic songs from Nirvana and Prince serving to heighten certain moments. The score by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross is not as in-your-face as the one they did for Challengers, but it complements the film well, especially when the plot starts to get trippy in its final half hour.

Craig, who appears sweaty and disheveled for much of the film, is about as far from the suaveness of James Bond as you can get in this role. He takes multiple risks with his performance and almost all of them pay off. Starkey’s character is subdued by comparison, but still comes off well. Schwartzman and Lesley Manville are given showy roles, with both using altered appearances that make them nearly unrecognizable to deliver memorable performances.

Queer is not as accessible as Challengers was storytelling-wise, but the fact that it tells a story about gay men living their lives as they see fit with no interference or questions shows how far the film world has come in a short period of time. It also continues Guadagnino’s streak of making audacious films in a way that few other filmmakers are willing or able to approach.

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Queer is now playing in theaters.

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