State Theatre,
New Brunswick, NJ. Balcony (Seat G119,
$37).
Program
The Bartered Bride Overture (1863-64) by Smetana (1824-1884).
Piano Concerto
No. 21 in C Major, K. 467 (1785) by Mozart (1756-1791).
Symphony No. 2
in C Major, Op. 61 (1845-46) by Schumann (1810-1856).
This is a
program that contains two popular pieces, and one that is not heard often.
Since I had some
free time on my hands on Saturday, I got to look at the YouTube videos together
with the music as a preparation for this concert.
The Bartered Bride was composed by Bedrich Smetana partly
because of criticism that till then there was not much music with a Czech
character. There is of course a story behind
this comic opera, but the overture works very well by itself. The many hummable tunes in the 7-minute piece
can be passed off as Czech melodies, but are not actual folk tunes. (I got this from the online notes at the NJ
Symphony website.)
I was surprised
at how fast the music goes in the YouTube video I looked at, and wondered how
the NJSO would handle it, especially with a guest conductor. Turns out I needn’t worry, the orchestra did
very well on the precision front. One of
those days I won’t need to sit on the edge of my seat.
Today’s piano
concerto must be one of the more familiar Mozart concertos, due mainly to the
lovely second movement (Madigan’s theme).
The movement is quite simple, but could be heart-breaking in the hands
of the right musicians. The downside is
many have a mental picture of how this should be played, and would be
disappointed if it isn’t performed that particular way.
Alas, today’s
performance falls into the second category.
The overall effect was more disjoint than the “crisp and precise” I
like. And the second movement was particularly
disappointing. For the first movement
Barnatan played a cadenza he composed, perhaps it showcased his composition and
virtuosic skills, my overall reaction is a “why bother.” The three movements are Allegro maestoso,
Andante, and Allegro vivace assai.
Hans Graf and Inon Barnatan after the Mozart concerto.
In my
preparation for the concert I also listened to the Schumann symphony. When the orchestra started playing, I was
very disappointed at how little of the music I remembered, even those passages
that presented particular challenges (e.g., alternating between triple and
double time.) And even the number of movements wasn’t what I remembered: four
instead of five. And why didn’t they
refer to this as the “Rhenish” in the program?
Eventually I found out both to my relief and dismay that what I prepared
was Symphony No. 3 instead of this one.
After I settled
down and began to listen to the music, I found it to be easier to grasp than
No. 3, and it was quite enjoyable. Under
the precise baton of Graf, the orchestra played with great dynamics and sound. The movements are (i) Sostenuto assai-
Allegro ma non troppo; (ii) Scherzo: Allegro vivace; (iii) Adagio espressivo;
and (iv) Allegro molto vivace.
The relatively
short program totaled about 70 minutes of music. Attendance in the balcony section was quite
poor. Surprisingly the ushers didn’t let
people in the rear take an empty seat in the front. The entire row in front of us was empty. CS cane with us and bought a ticket for $20
at the door; he said his seat in the last row wasn’t that bad.
On our way
dropping off CS at his house, we stopped by this small Chinese restaurant in
Marlboro for an early dinner.
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