Was yesterday some kind of national holiday? We were surprised at the National Symphony Orchestra concert when the conductor came out, took his initial bow, then immediately launched the orchestra into a rendition of the National Anthem. I've been to dozens of NSO concerts, and this is not their normal procedure.
Everyone, having just settled in and having arranged their bags and heavy winter overcoats around them and on their laps, had to stand up and figure out what to do with all their stuff.
Once our patriotic duty was done, though, the orchestra settled down to play an all-French musical concert, beginning with a work by a living composer, then doing a 1930 work, then an 1830 work.
The opening work was certainly the most interesting of the evening. "Apex" is a work of the profilic French composer Pascal Dusapin. It's very modern and abstract, a collection of tone clusters and swells of sound one might called organized noise.
Chinese pianist Lundi Li provided the entertainment for the featured work of the evening as he played the very difficult Ravel Piano Concerto in G Major. Generally I only like the first movement, which reminds me of the jazz influences of the major classical works of George Gershwin. The middle, slow movement was interesting, though, and Li's work can best be described as placid. Then he moved into the bombastic final movement and we finally got to see some emotion from the piano.
After the intermission, they played Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14.
The symphony played well under the baton of Emmanuel Krivine.
Oh, did I mention the audience kept applauding between movements?
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Mechanical music
The rubber and metal of the escalators at the Silver Spring Metro were all rubbing together tonight in such a way as to sound exactly like a gaggle of saxophones playing jazz.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Concert time
Last Thursday Kevin and I went to go hear the National Symphony Orchestra play one of its regular subscription concerts. It featured Philippe Jordan making his directorial debut with the orchestra.
Jordan is young, tall, and slender, looking very elegant in his white tie and tails, and he worked with a great deal of energy and enthusiasm. The strings took a moment to warm up at the beginning, but ultimately the orchestra played well for him throughout the performance.
Featured soloist for the evening was Lynn Harrell, the well-known American cellist, who played the Schumann Cello Concerto in A minor, Op. 129. Harrell is a master of technique and his nearly fifty years of professional experience was readily apparent as he finessed his way through the Schumann. Thursday was a tough crowd, though, giving him only one extra curtain call before the nearly full house ran out for intermission cocktails.
NSO opened the evening with Prokofiev's Symphony No. 1 in D major, Op. 25, "Classical," featuring several tunes that are very recognizable to those who listen to classical music radio stations. After intermission, they closed with the familiar Beethoven Symphony No. 4 in B-flat major, Op. 60. The Beethoven was clean in the classical manner, though I thought Jordan embued it with a bit of a Romantic flavor, not unexpected, given his high level of opera conducting experience.
We had a good time, and I think Kevin particularly enjoyed the people watching. Our seats were right in the middle of the center section about 60% of the way back, so we had great views of the stage and many of the patrons. Some of the people do carry on so! We had a group behind us that went from chattering about their New York Broadway trips to their hints on ski resorts and skiing all of whom had to be in their sixties.
Jordan is young, tall, and slender, looking very elegant in his white tie and tails, and he worked with a great deal of energy and enthusiasm. The strings took a moment to warm up at the beginning, but ultimately the orchestra played well for him throughout the performance.
Featured soloist for the evening was Lynn Harrell, the well-known American cellist, who played the Schumann Cello Concerto in A minor, Op. 129. Harrell is a master of technique and his nearly fifty years of professional experience was readily apparent as he finessed his way through the Schumann. Thursday was a tough crowd, though, giving him only one extra curtain call before the nearly full house ran out for intermission cocktails.
NSO opened the evening with Prokofiev's Symphony No. 1 in D major, Op. 25, "Classical," featuring several tunes that are very recognizable to those who listen to classical music radio stations. After intermission, they closed with the familiar Beethoven Symphony No. 4 in B-flat major, Op. 60. The Beethoven was clean in the classical manner, though I thought Jordan embued it with a bit of a Romantic flavor, not unexpected, given his high level of opera conducting experience.
We had a good time, and I think Kevin particularly enjoyed the people watching. Our seats were right in the middle of the center section about 60% of the way back, so we had great views of the stage and many of the patrons. Some of the people do carry on so! We had a group behind us that went from chattering about their New York Broadway trips to their hints on ski resorts and skiing all of whom had to be in their sixties.
Monday, January 12, 2009
No Russians this year
Well, I don't get to dance with the Russians this year.
I was called again to come to audition for a supernumerary role with the Mariinsky (Kirov) Ballet's Don Quixote production, so I dragged myself down to the Kennedy Center for the auditions tonight. You may recall that I've danced with them the past three years. But, not this year. They only cast eight men, all of them about 5'8" or 5'9" and with a similar build.
So much for all my practicing on my grands jetés and plies. LOL. Seriously, though, professional ballet is often cast based on who fits the existing costumes, not who is the best dancer, and it sounds to me like they've got eight costumes for eight average-sized guys. The production opens tomorrow night, so there wouldn't be time to build all new costumes for a bunch of different sized supers.
I'm not all that disappointed. Since I don't live in Foggy Bottom anymore, it's a major effort to commute all the way down to the Kennedy Center daily, and, on top of that, the television weathermen are predicting really cold temperatures ("fifteen year lows") the end of the week. So, I'll just stay home and keep warm.
I was called again to come to audition for a supernumerary role with the Mariinsky (Kirov) Ballet's Don Quixote production, so I dragged myself down to the Kennedy Center for the auditions tonight. You may recall that I've danced with them the past three years. But, not this year. They only cast eight men, all of them about 5'8" or 5'9" and with a similar build.
So much for all my practicing on my grands jetés and plies. LOL. Seriously, though, professional ballet is often cast based on who fits the existing costumes, not who is the best dancer, and it sounds to me like they've got eight costumes for eight average-sized guys. The production opens tomorrow night, so there wouldn't be time to build all new costumes for a bunch of different sized supers.
I'm not all that disappointed. Since I don't live in Foggy Bottom anymore, it's a major effort to commute all the way down to the Kennedy Center daily, and, on top of that, the television weathermen are predicting really cold temperatures ("fifteen year lows") the end of the week. So, I'll just stay home and keep warm.
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