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Members of the Pittsburgh community give their perspectives on the PSO. |
| Doug Bauman,
Cynthia Closkey, David DeAngelo, Bethany Hensel, Louis Luangkesorn, Jennifer McGuiggan, Elizabeth Perry
, Jennifer Pizzuto |
07:24 AM in Doug Bauman | Permalink | Comments (0)
Tchaikovsky is one of my favorite composers. I especially like his symphonies, and his first piano concerto is equally a favorite, it is without a doubt a sublimely romantic composition. Therefore I was eminently pleased to experience this concerto with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and pianist Sa Chen. The PSO has invited several new and upcoming soloists this year, and they have all given such wonderful performances.
09:01 PM in Doug Bauman | Permalink | Comments (2)
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The first piece this evening conjured for me the following elements -- Driving, stark, bold, dramatic, charismatic, chordal, hyperbolic, harmonic, melodious: all these words came to mind while listening to the first two movements of the Concerto for Orchestra (Zoroastrian Riddles) by Richard Danielpour. His music was certainly a joy for me to hear, for all the kinds of elements described by my adjectives, and for all the musical ideas that were some how conjured up while I listened. But to be sure, there were only a few moments of gentle tenderness in this particular composition, at least in the two movements that were performed so well by the PSO this night. The two soft moments came during the second movement, and were indeed finely woven feathery fixtures delicately wrapped between the driving rhythmic undertone which sustained the piece so well.
Before the work began, Mr. Danielpour himself introduced his composition, written in 1995, by indicating we would be hearing a series of voices, like a giant forum or committee, and by the end, it would be as if humanity would all be saying the same thing and become one.
Next came one of my favorites, Mozart's Violin Concerto No. 5, with the solo being performed by Stefan Jackiw. Mr Jackiw's performance seemed only slightly hesitant, yet technically sound during the first movement. But then came the second movement, and the passion was instantly set loose. Now we see the true tenderness and gentle heart that brought to mind my opening riddle (zart). Mr. Jackiw and the PSO instantly flowed together as a sweet amalgamation. Now we finally know the answer to my riddle... What's soft yet subtle, delicate yet fine, fragile yet tender, and gently sensitive through every bar? The PSO with Stefan Jackiw playing Mozart's Concerto No. 5. The third and final movement was again another form of riddle, or a kind of wrapping, which began sweetly and vividly, then suddenly transformed into a kind of driving waltz, a kind of mini-scherzo, embedded withing the main parts of this movement, finally to return to the sound which was as before, to provide a fine ending with a gentle smile. Was this Mozart's riddle, written in music?
Also sprach Zarathustra, Op. 30. What's there to say... the opening says it all, a huge sweeping sound. We've all heard it in 2001, A Space Odyssy. Now I hear it live, along with the rest of the composition. I have to say, other than the opening, I really only liked the quieter parts of this music (zart). There was one part in particular where the bases started off low, in grand fashion, not something you hear every day, or even every year. Then it gradually transitioned from right to left until the whole orchestra was playing. That was genius! It was definitely Richard Strauss, the sound I could instantly recognize, but on the whole it wasn't as good, in my mind, as his other compostions, especially the one I really like which was the Alpine Symphony as performed last November by the PSO.
And then there was the conductor, Maestro Andris Nelsons, who I really like very much. This is the second time I've seen him conduct the PSO. His style was stunning, with a perfect mix of aspects -- Effervescent yet not overpowering - demanding yet cordial - And his enthusiasm and smile seemed to sweep across the orchestra. His body movements were very animated, but not too much so as to take away from the soloist in the violin concerto. It was as if he was carving a beautiful sculpture, and then molding form from clay, next swimming as a swan in a lake, then walking a tightrope, and various other graceful gestures which with his body and hands formed the very texture of the music.
And finally this poem, while it begins with the advent of autumn, it also sums up the diverse forms of music experienced this evening:
Shifting shapes are formed by wafting breezes
as hue, saturation, and brightness - they adorn the ardent eye.
Subtle desires burn as yellow and orange conflagrations
indebted to the loss of green whence envy makes me sigh.
Riddles are curious forms of words and modes of thoughts
transformed to fit analogy and context quickly on the fly.
Curiosity has a hundred heads, our visage sees but one,
enhance mind's eye to fit the sky and let your mind comply.
01:28 PM in Doug Bauman | Permalink | Comments (1)
01:28 PM in Doug Bauman | Permalink | Comments (1)
Words cannot fully say, but notes can -- notes beautifully transcribed by conductor and musician into music played on the finest of instruments, and music transduced into space and time which circles and surrounds throughout the atmosphere of the concert hall with its final destination: my ears, my heart and my soul. Those lovely sounds written hundreds of years ago by composers such as Saint-Saëns with his Piano Concerto No. 2 and Hector Berlioz, with his Symphonie fantastique.
"Acclaimed French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet makes a rare PSO appearance in Saint-Saens Piano Concerto No.2, a concerto the composer remarked was a reflection of a sea voyage."
Afterwards, a friend commented amidst the loud applause: "Now that would overpower any stereo system, no matter how big."
10:26 AM in Doug Bauman | Permalink | Comments (0)
I'm intrigued by this is an amazing description of a revolutionary piece of music I've heard many times before, and I never quite envisioned it quite this way. This preview is taken from the program notes on the PSO web page:
I. Dreams, Passions. “The young musician sees for the first time a woman who embodies all the charms of the ideal being of whom he has dreamed, and he falls helplessly in love with her . . . he thinks of his almost insane anxiety of mind, of his raging jealousy, of his reawakening love, of his religious consolation.”
II. A Ball. “In a ballroom, amidst the confusion of a brilliant festival, he finds the Beloved One again.”
III. Scene in the Fields. “Finding himself in the country at evening, he hears in the distance two shepherds piping the call to their flocks. He reflects on his isolation; he hopes that soon he will no longer be alone. His heart stops beating: what if she were deceiving him? At the end, one of the shepherds resumes his melody, but the other no longer replies . . . the distant sound of thunder . . . solitude . . . silence.”
IV. March to the Scaffold. “He dreams he has murdered his Beloved, has been condemned to death, and is being led to his execution. At last, the idée fixe returns, and for a moment a last thought of love is revived—only to be cut short by the deathblow.” We hear the chop of the guillotine, the plop of the head into the basket, and the cheer of the crowd.
V. Dream of a Witches’ Sabbath. “He dreams that he is present at a witches’ revel, surrounded by horrible spirits, amidst sorcerers and monsters in many fearful forms, who have come together for his funeral. The Beloved melody is heard again, but it has lost its shy and noble character; it has become a vulgar, trivial, grotesque dance tune.” A bell tolls for the dead and the witches’ round dance combines with the dies irae in the movement’s blazing rush to the end.
09:50 AM in Doug Bauman | Permalink | Comments (0)
02:48 PM in Doug Bauman | Permalink | Comments (0)
Last Saturday's PSO concert at Heinz Hall began with Leonard Slatkin conducting Peter Mennin's Concertato for Orchestra, titled Moby Dick. The forces of the sea were fabulously brought out in this movement. Yet for me, it was like the beginning of a great symphony, only to end too soon, without the rest of the movements, and that left me hanging for more.
03:18 PM in Doug Bauman | Permalink | Comments (2)
Last Saturday, October 10 at 2 pm at the Waterworks Cinema, Marvin Hamlisch and the PSO hosted a special screening of "The Informant!", for which Marvin wrote the original score. Prior to the screening Marvin discussed many aspects of his composition and lead a Q&A with the audience who were there to see this special screening.
Someone asked if he had seen the movie (perhaps meaning the movie WITH the music), but he immediately exclaimed, humorously, that he'd seen it 1000 times. He basically plays the movie before him, just like a DVD, so that he can think of ideas to compose the music, and ways to make sure that the scene, and the music are the correct length. For him, composing film score was sort of like that saying, purportedly of Michelangelo, that goes: well, to make an elephant, I take away from the stone, and what remains, that's the elephant.
09:18 AM in Doug Bauman | Permalink | Comments (0)
This season the Pittsburgh Symphony has a theme for many of its concerts entitled "Inspired by Nature." What a fitting description, to me, of all of the classical forms of music. This evenings performance of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons was the first of these compositions that adheres to this theme. The seasons, Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter respectively, are deliciously represented by this music, it's easy to hear the specific parts and how they may represent each season in turn. When I experience this concert live at Heinz Hall it is especially pleasing. The sound is so much better, and many of the bases and lower tones were brought out in crisp and clear fashion, with dimensional effects unrealized in audio recordings. This showcased the best of the PSO string section, and one Harpsichord.
Before that was a fantastic performance of the Variations on a Rococo Theme. Anne Martindale Williams was phenomenal on the cello. Her technical mastery of this piece composed by Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky was breathtaking.
01:25 PM in Doug Bauman | Permalink | Comments (3)
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