State Theatre New Jersey, New Brunswick. Rear Orchestra (Seat S101, $33.)
Program
Overture to Die
Meistersinger von Nurmberg by Wagner.
Songs of a Wayfarer
by Mahler.
Symphony No. 1 in C minor, op. 68, by Brahms.
Anne had commitments in Chinese New Year celebrations at
a local senior center and at church, so while she was busy cooking and putting
final touches to the programs, I went to this concert by myself. And Joe Jr and family are in town, so I left
them at our house also.
I misplaced the Program booklet for this concert, so have
to work some of this from memory.
Bergmann is a Norwegian conductor who now leads several small(ish)
orchestras including the Calgary Symphony, he is described as “imposing and
energetic.” “Imposing” could mean his
height, he is at least a head taller than Wyrick, and conducted without a
podium.
Wagner’s Meistersinger, which we saw within the last
couple of years, is also interesting in a couple of other regards. Composed on a break between the ring cycle
operas, it is nevertheless quite tonal, and is based on a human story rather
than Nordic and other legends. The Program
Notes (as I remember it) says there are three themes which Wagner wove together
neatly towards the end. I could hear the
themes, but didn’t quite get the weaving part.
After this 9-minute piece, Bergmann talked a little about
the program and how compassionate each of the pieces was. He also introduced Kielland as someone who
swims in the ocean every day, which is interesting. Even more unbelievable though, is that she
lives in Northern Norway.
Mahler wrote a suite of six songs after he was rejected
by a Johanna Richter. It was originally
written for voice and piano, and was eventually condensed to four, with full orchestration. The titles of the four songs are a good
indication of the mood: when my sweetheart is married; I went this morning over
the field; I have a gleaming knife; and The two blue eyes of my beloved. Kielland conveyed the resignation, sadness,
and anger quite well, except every now and then the full orchestra would
overwhelm her low notes. NJPAC is
considerably more voluminous than the State Theatre, I wonder how well she would
fare then. The Program Notes pointed out
the similarities between the songs (especially the second and the fourth) with
Mahler’s first symphony. The second song’s
connection was obvious to me, the fourth escaped me.
Kielland and Bergmann after the performance of Songs of a Wayfarer. My hands were not steady at all as I was trying to do this quickly before the ushers showed up to stop the photo-taking.
It is well known that Brahms heard “Beethoven’s footsteps
behind him” and took 20 years to publish his first symphony. But it is a great symphony. The fourth movement, of course, contains a
very familiar melody that is reminiscent of Beethoven’s Ninth. Wyrick had to do some solo passages, which he
did beautifully. The four movements are (i) Un poco sostenuto - allegro - meno allegro; (ii) Andante sostenuto; (iii) Un poco allegretto e grazioso; and (iv) Adagio - Piu andante - Allegro non troppo, ma con brio - Piu allegro. (Note: these movement markings are from Wikipedia, and not from the Program Notes.)
Bergmann after the Brahms Symphony.
Again the attendance was not good. Today was college night, and students from
several colleges were present.
As concerts go, this was a good one.
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