April 2004
U.S. premiere of Oog in LA Philharmonic New Music series
Walt Disney Concert Hall
Van der Aa: Oog for cello and soundtrack (U.S. premiere). The Green Umbrella: “Solos Night”, Los Angeles Philharmonic New Music Group, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, California, Monday, November 3, 2003
I confess that only one work really grabbed me by the shirt collar: the opening Oog, by Dutch composer Michel van der Aa, given a smashing performance by Peter Stumpf. With the cello “in an almost masochistic fight with the tape,” Stumpf piled on many extended techniques (e.g., thumping the base of the instrument) to produce a completely engaging dialogue with the electronic soundtrack. And as in the Reich at the end of the evening, the electronics sounded terrific in the room.”
— Bruce Hodges (musicweb)
Sol Gabetta, cello. Amsterdam Sinfonietta, Candida Thompson. Vakil Eelman.