Venue
The selected concert for the report is Dimash Qudaibergen’s solo concert. The concert took place in 2019 at Barclays Center, New York. The Barclays Center is an indoor arena used for a multitude of purposes located in Brooklyn. It is important to note that the venue was highly suitable and appropriate for the soloist’s style of music and performance methods since it enables greater use of special effects and acoustic enhancements.
Performer
The key soloist was Dimash Qudaibergen, who is a rising international star from Central Asia. The core musical instruments used include drums, electric piano, electric guitar, and dombra, which is a Central Asian musical string instrument. The vocal range varied between tenor and bass, but some elements of soprano can be noted since the artist is notorious for his high vocal abilities. In the case of the background, Dimash Qudaibergen comes from Kazakhstan as a music writer, soloist, and singer. He is best known for his exceedingly wide vocal range, which includes two semitones and six octaves (“Dimash World” par. 24). He is currently 28 years old, was born in Kazakhstan, and currently lives there. He became globally popular due to his vocal abilities making him one of the best singers internationally.
Music Performed
The concert features a wide range of different music styles, which allow the singer to demonstrate his exceptional vocal range. There is no available information on the composers, but Dimash Qudaibergen is evidently one of them for the ethnic pieces. The works include popular music, opera, and rhythm and blues (R&B) music. From the research, it can be stated that opera music was initially produced in the 16th century in Italy (Kobbe 537). Florence was the very first recorded location where opera music was demonstrated to a wide audience. It has become highly prominent since then and remains as such even in the modern day. It had a profound influence on the global scale, but it most deeply reflects and shapes the European culture. In the case of popular or pop music, the genre primarily originated in the 1950s in both the UK and the US, and it is the most prominent form of music today (Warner 25). It represents the culture of a new era of technology and Western influence, which is manifested in its global popularity (Green 141). Globalization and cultural imperialism of pop music cannot be overstated, and some might even state that it led to the Westernization of the world.
It is important to note that another interesting musical genre present in the concert was R&B music. It is a unique genre closely related and tied to pop music, which arose as a standalone category between the 1950s and 1970s (Larroque 57). It deeply reflects and represents the African American culture and community. The music encapsulates their struggles, search for freedom, fight for justice, and cultural pain. The choice or order of musical selections was effective at creating strong contrast during the concert. The purpose was evident and clear since the performance is primarily watched to enjoy Dimash’s vocal capabilities, and thus, having contrasting genres enabled him to explore them fully.
Musical Description
The general nature of the music at the concert was diverse and multidimensional because Dimash jumped from opera to R&B to pop music sporadically. A specific emphasis should be given to the piece called “If I Never Breathe Again,” which used the binary AB form. It was distinct by the presence of two sections of equivalent lengths, where the former was slow and low intensity, and the latter was dynamic and intense. The piece’s timbre was loud, high-pitched, piercing, and soprano with polyphonic texture elements. The main reason is that music contains a multitude of independent rhythms and melodic lines, which are performed in harmony with each other as well as with the main singer.
The first section of the piece used largo tempo, but the second one utilized allegro. In other words, the pace was markedly different, which made the first half slow and gradual, whereas the following part was dynamic and fast-paced. For the rhythmic characteristics, the initial segment was mostly adherent to the flowing rhythm, but it shifted towards an alternating and progressive version in the remaining half. The piece mainly demonstrated color melodic ideas since it had a clear base pitch, and there was some reliance on a groove.
Audience Response and My Personal Response
The audience for the venue was highly diverse, but I did not expect that Dimash would be highly popular among young Americans. The audience was highly excited, thrilled, and emotionally engaged with the performer. There was a clear interest in the performer himself because Dimash is a massively popular individual internationally with a significant following of fans. I agreed with the audience’s reaction to Dimash’s concert because it made the musical experience mutual, reciprocal, and engaging. During the first section of the “If I Never Breathe Again” piece, the audience was the most excited and cheerful, which was particularly positive and interesting. For example, the piece began with Dimash stating, “I love you, dears,” which was immediately followed by screams, shouts, and cheers (Dimash Qudaibergen). The soloist and the background music were mostly quiet, which left only the audience’s expressions, enabling a high level of engagement.
The performance can be confidently stated as being one of the most convincing concerts. The artist deeply and strongly connected with the audience in the most appropriate way within the context of each music. My impression is that Dimash shows an extra effort to pay attention to his audience by engaging with them directly through short phrases, body language, and musical accentuations. For the final impressions, the concert was a massive success, which left me with a greater interest in both the performer as well as the vocal music in general. Dimash’s exceptional vocal range allows him to perform almost any music and make the latter sound perfect. The variety of musical genres performed provided the richness of experience unparalleled in many modern concerts, where the key goal is a singer’s vocal abilities.