First off, this was a Carnegie Community Concert—a great program (sponsored by Carnegie Hall, underwritten by Target) that brings classical/jazz/community sings concerts to all five boroughs for free. Props to all! Sunday's concert was at the Brooklyn library branch right near Prospect Park.
Mixed bag because the "heart" was in the right place while the execution didn't quite live up to the promise. The performing group was Manhattan Brass, a quintet (two trumpets, French horn, trombone, bass trombone) that has been around for the past 20 years. They pointed out that Sunday was their first concert of the new season; I hope that explains some of the errant performances I experienced.
Highlight: Stuffy Turkey (Thelonius Monk)—this was the last piece on the program and a great finish. The opening, not so great. The Prologue and Tonight from Bernstein's West Side Story suffered from an arrangement that hinted at what should have been there but wasn't.
Two J.S. Bach transcriptions (by the group's bass trombonist—hmm, alto flute and bass trombone in one weekend!) were interesting, especially for their adherence to form.
I found form to be a little less apparent in Vincent Persichetti's Parable II for Brass Quintet, Op. 108 (1968). It had the loud, splashy outbursts I associate with compositions of that era, along with an aleatoric section (characterized by chance or indeterminate elements: <aleatoric music> first known use: 1961)—everybody plays their own little snippets in their own way for a specified portion of the piece—and a generally rambling quality that left me a little, how do I say? meh.
Two Madrigals (Carlo Gesualdo) displayed his penchant for exploring/expanding the boundaries of harmony in the 16th century; three contemporary works (Jan Bach, Peter Maxwell Davies, Kitty Brazelton—a commission) were a bit of a mixed bag as well.
The playing was pretty good (one trumpeter seemed to be having an off day with his instrument as well as his technique and breath control), but over all I was a little underimpressed. Still, the commitment from the Carnegie Hall group is to be commended, and I hope to attend at least one Carnegie Community Concert in each borough this season.
Kudos to Carnegie and Target!
ConcertMeister
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