Oberon's Glade

Tag: New York String Orchestra

  • Zwilich & Barber @ Carnegie Hall

    Zwilich

    Above: composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich

    ~ Author: Oberon

    Saturday December 28th, 2024 – The New York String Orchestra were back at Carnegie Hall this evening, following up their Christmas Eve concert in the same Hall with a program of Zwlilich, Barber, and Brahms. I’d been down with flu-like symptoms for a couple of days, and debated whether I should attend tonight’s concert, but I couldn’t pass up a chance to experience the Barber violin concerto played live in this hall. Whether I could make it to the evening’s end remained to be seen.

    1983 Pulitzer Prize-winner Ellen Taafe Zwilich’s composed her Prologue and Variations for string orchestra on a commission from the Chattanooga Symphony, which premiered it under the baton of Richard Cormier in 1984. In her remarks on this piece, the composer spoke of her wish to celebrate “the special sonorities, character, and expressiveness of the string orchestra”. In tonight’s performance, the young players of the New York String Orchestra truly did the composer proud. 

    The violins open the piece, with start-and-stop phrases, soon picked up by the cellos. The violins then soar over an insistent beat. After a passage of luminous softness, the celli and basses cushion sizzling violins motifs. The opening theme recurs, and then a series of slow, mysterious sustained tones lead to a full stop.

    An animated section quietens to a slightly ominous lulling atmosphere. Then an agitato springs up, full of scale-work and insistent bowing. The music turns pensive, with brooding celli and deep basses. A trudging rhythm and fading violins lead to the work’s eerie ending.

    Enthusiastic applause greeted the musicians, and then Maestro Laredo gestured to Ms. Zwilich in her first tier box to rise for a bow; well-deserved bravas greeted the composer, now in her 85th year.

    Koh jpg

    Above: Jennifer Koh – I borrowed this stunning photo from her Facebook page

    Violinist Jennifer Koh then took the stage for the Barber, my enduring favorite among all the violin concertos I have heard thru the years. Ms. Koh looked striking in a silver-gray gown, her hair a bright, fiery red.

    This was Barber’s first effort in the concerto genre, written on a 1939 commission for the then-astonishing sum of $1000. When the originally scheduled soloist, Iso Briselli, found the concerto’s third movement too short and inconsequential, the work was premiered in 1941 by Albert Spalding; it was great success, and became one of Barber’s most beloved works, perhaps second only to his Adagio for Strings.

    Aside from concert performances, I have heard this music many times at New York City Ballet, where in 1988 Peter Martins premiered his ballet of the same title at the Company’s American Music Festival. The  ballet brings together a pair of ballet dancers and a pair of bare-footed modern dancers. The original cast starred Merrill Ashley and Adam Lüders as the classical couple, and Paul Taylor Dance Company’s delightful Kate Johnson and the charismatic choreographer/dancer David Parsons as the modern couple. Tonight’s performance was spectacular both for Ms. Koh’s fascinating way with the music, and for Maestro Laredo’s savvy exploration of the score, which allowed us to savour the composer’s gift for orchestral detail.

    Ms. Koh’s timbre has a vast colour-palette, ranging from burnished purple to shimmering silver. The very opening note of the piece always intrigues me, as Barber has the piano intone the first phrase along with the violin; Bo Zhang, at the Steinway, highlighted the keyboard’s participation throughout the concerto. 

    Ms. Koh’s playing of the familiar opening melody immediately seized my imagination; her tone has a special, spiritual quality that always gives meaning to the music. The gorgeous main theme, played by the entire orchestra, inevitably stirs my soul. Oboe (William Dunlop) and clarinet (Keyu (Frank) Tao) sing clearly over a steady pulse; violin and piano mesh, Ms. Koh rising to a shining top note. Pianist and violinist unite. The music turns grand, with a huge build-up and then my favorite moment of all: a dramatic plunge to the basses’ deepest notes. Now Ms. Koh’s violin hovers on high, descends, rises again to a delicate, suspended note; her cadenza is entrancing. Oboe, clarinet, and timpani draw us on to the movement’s conclusion. Throughout, the pianist has managed to be both prominent and unobtrusive…really impressive.

    Mr. Dunlop’s playing of the oboe solo that opens the Andante was hauntingly beautiful. The celli take up the theme, the basses sound richly, the horn solo (Engelberth Mejia-Gonzalez) glows. Out of the marvelous sonic blend, Ms. Koh’s violin rises poignantly to a shimmering trill as the trumpet (Bailey Cates) and piano interject before the violinist takes up the andante‘s opening melody with heart-rending passion. A sense of grandeur fills the hall. But then, a loudly dropped object somewhere upstairs killed the movement’s marvelous finish. Why do these things always happen at the worst possible moment?

    The timpani commences the final, brief Presto, in the course of which Ms. Koh plays what feels like thousands of notes with amazing dexterity and commitment. The celli scamper up the scale. So many notes!  All this rhythmic energy comes to a sudden halt after a final violin flourish.

    The audience cheered Ms. Koh’s intense and thrilling performance. My companion – who had played the Barber in his schooldays – and I were feeling a kind of elated exhaustion, and so we took leave of Carnegie Hall for 2024.

    ~ Oberon

  • Christmas Eve 2024 @ Carnegie Hall

    Mozart

    ~ Author: Oberon

    Tuesday December 24, 2024 – I spent Chrstmas Eve with a dear, long-time friend at Carnegie Hall, where the The New York String Orchestra were offering their customary Christmas Eve concert. The all-Mozart program brought us an overture, a concerto, and a symphony – all by the Master, and all beautifully played by the young musicians of this large and unique orchestra.

    Maestro Jaime Laredo opened the evening with the overture to The Impresario, a comic singspiel which Mozart composed in 1786. This overture is short…I might even say too short!

    Morales

    Ricardo Morales (above) then took the stage as soloist in Mozart’s heavenly Clarinet Concerto. I’ve never forgotten hearing music from this celebrated piece for the first time: in the film Out of Africa, Baroness Blixen (Meryl Streep) and Denys Finch Hatton (Robert Redford) are on safari; Finch Hatton has brought along a gramophone, and he puts on an old 78 rpm of the concerto, which attracts a pair of curious monkeys who – after listening raptly for a few moments – attack the gramophone.

    The first movement, Allegro, has a pulsing, melodious start. Dulcet clarinet roulades immediately introduce us to Mr. Morales’ mastery of dynamics, and his gift for incredible subtlety in his playing. His silky-smooth sound is captivating, and his agility astounds, with  fabulously clear scale-work and a charming passage where he deftly bounces from low to high notes. A mini-cadenza leads to the movement’s finale, where the Morales clarinet warbles like a magical bird over the orchestra’s plush playing.

    The Adagio – the heart of the concerto, and perhaps of Mozart’s entire oeuvre – introduces the clarinet’s simple but heartfelt melody, soon taken up by the orchestra. A fresh, wide-ranging theme evolves, in which Mr. Morales’ control and breath support are mind-boggling to experience. Following a brief cadenza, the main theme returns, hauntingly lovely; a heavenly trill from the clarinet draws the movement to a close.

    The concerto’s final Rondo has a sprightly start; Mr. Morales commences a flow of fantastical fiorature. The orchestra has an exotic, minor-mode passage, and then the clarinet’s wide range – from gleaming highs to velvety low notes – is explored in colorful playing. A magical performance, full of wonders. Bravissimo, Mr. Morales! 

    Symphony No. 36, “Linz”, closed the evening. Mozart was en route to Vienna when he stopped at Linz to visit an old friend, Count Thun-Hohenstein. On learning that a concert was scheduled just 5 days after his arrival at Linz, Mozart worked feverishly to compose a new work for the occasion: the result was a symphony in C-major, which soon earned the nickname the “Linz” Symphony.

    The first movement has a regal start. In the ensuing melody, bassoon and oboe stand out. A wistful mood sets in for a bit, then more joyous music sounds…with an odd rhythmic echo of Handel’s Hallelujah chorus. The music flows on, by turns thoughtful and grand.

    The ensuing Poco adagio begins elegantly. The music darkens, but only slightly, with the timpani evoking a sound of distant thunder. Somber moments alternate with courtly ones. The third movement – Menuetto – feels stately and grand at first, then becomes a conventional minuet, with some outstanding playing by bassoonist Laressa Winters.

    Mozart’s chose a Presto rather than a Rondo for the symphony’s finale, wherein swift and gracious themes alternate with lyrical lulls.

    Heading to the train home, I asked my companion if he felt that Mozart sometimes went on and on in his symphonies – something one rarely feels in his operas. He replied: “I was just thinking the same thing!” 

    ~ Oberon