The Orchestra Now (1/27/19)

The Enchanted Lake (1909) – Anatoly Lyadov (1855–1914)
The Firebird Suite (1909–1910; 1945) – Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971)
La Valse (1919–1920) – Maurice Ravel (1875–1937)
Pictures at an Exhibition (1874; 1922) – Modest Mussorgsky (1839–1881);
arr. Ravel

No notes were taken, so all write-ups are from memory. Lyadov is a composer whose name I know and whose music I’ve probably heard (in recordings) but this is the first time I’ve heard his music live (I think). This was a nice curtain raiser, with slightly ethereal writing for the strings. Overall, it was sort of an impressionistic wash of sound, with slight increases and decreases of volume. Very pleasant.

Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite is ten movements taken from the ballet of the same name. Some of the movements are affiliated with certain characters (Firebird, Prince Ivan Tsarevich, Khorovod, and Princesses), but that didn’t mean a lot to me, as I’ve never seen the ballet. Even with the requisite spiky rhythms and dissonances, my favorite movements were Prelude and Dance of the Firebird, Infernal Dance, Lullaby, and the Final Hymn. An interesting fact here is that while the ballet itself premiered in Paris in 1910, the Suite premiered in New York at the Metropolitan Opera House in 1945. That would have been the old Met, a building that, alas, I never had the opportunity to see (it was demolished in 1967, long before my arrival in NYC).

Rounding out the first half of the program was La Valse, which was a nonstop waltz that was at times beautiful, at times eerie, and at times slightly off kilter. As with the previous two pieces, there were lots of splashes of orchestral color. It’s not often I get to hear works that include two harps along with the strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion. This was a lot of fun.

Pictures at an Exhibition was a delight. The setup is that Mussorgsky wrote tribute pieces based on the artwork of Viktor Hartmann. We begin with a promenade to take us to the first work of art, The Gnome. A second promenade leads us to The Old Castle, while a third promenade takes us to Tuileries and Bydto (Polish Ox-Cart). Fortunately, there was not a promenade to every piece of art. The final promenade led to the final seven pieces of art. Each piece of art had varied moods attached, which gave Ravel a chance to really shine in this orchestral arrangement of what was originally a piece for piano. Favorite movements of mine included Ballet of the Unhatched Chicks, The Marketplace at Limoges, and the finale, The Great Gate of Kiev (which, if you Google/Yahoo! it, you’ll probably recognize). The very appreciative audience applauded loudly and longly.

A word on the orchestra itself; it is described as a training orchestra. The players are all graduate students gaining experience as orchestral players. But it also goes a little further, broadening the horizons of the players and audience alike. For example, program notes for the four pieces were written by four orchestra members (one each) and each piece was introduced from the stage by four different orchestra members (one each). While all four deliveries from the stage were good, a shout out has to be given to the percussionist speaking about the Mussorgsky. He included show and tell by demonstrating the sound effect of a whip (using a slapstick—two pieces of wood that physically get slapped together) and orchestral chimes (in this case one only) used to very good effect in The Great Gate of Kiev. On the minus side, the flutist who introduced the Stravinsky repeatedly referred to it as the Suit. Granted, English was most likely not his first language, but someone should have helped him out to have it rhyme with sweet. But I quibble. Not only did all eight acquit themselves well, the entire orchestra played the heck out of all four pieces, ably conducted by Zachary Schwartzman. Well done, one and all.

ConcertMeister