The Orchestra Now (11/19/23)

Woefully Late Again 

In my defense, I went to the airport at the butt-crack of dawn on 11/20/23 to spend a wonderful Thanksgiving week in Ohio with my extended family. That said, here’s my report about this great concert I heard. 

The School for Scandal Overture (1931) – Samuel Barber (1910–1981)
Death and Transfiguration (1890) – Richard Strauss (1864–1949)
Symphony No. 4* (1853*) – Robert Schumann (1810–1856)

The Barber, at eight minutes, was a wonderful curtain-raiser (though there is no curtain at Symphony Space, where the concert was performed). I mostly know Barber from his edgy/modern works, but this was written when he was 21, so it was pretty much an early student work. It was tuneful and effective.

The Strauss was also an early work (he was in his mid to late 20s). This tone poem certainly hinted at some of his darker works that would appear later—though he could also sparkle, as he did in Der Rosenkavalier. It was interesting to hear this early work, with its weightiness.

The Schumann was a real piece of work on many levels. My concert mate asked me whether we had heard this orchestra play this piece before (we had not but we had heard a Schumann piece at a previous The Orchestra Now concert).

Here’s the deal about Schumann’s fourth symphony. It was really his second symphony*1841, but the critics pretty much skewered it. He removed it from publication and then reworked it as his fourth symphony*1853, which was much better received. My concert-mate and I agreed that we knew many of the themes and motifs of the reworked symphony. And we had a swell time at the concert.

A little late but worth the wait, I hope.

ConcertMeister