State Theatre of New Jersey, New Brunswick. Orchestra (Seat D103, $25).
Program
La creation du
monde (The Creation of the World) (1922-23,) Op. 81 by Milhaud (1892-1974).
Rhapsody in Blue
(1924) by Gershwin (1898-1937).
Piano Concerto in D Minor in One Movement (1933) by Price
(1987-1953).
Suite from The
Firebird (1909-10, 1919 revision) by Stravinsky (1882-1971).
This was an interesting concert, all the pieces were
composed within 20 years or so, in early 20th century. Joshua Weilerstein was the assistant
conductor of New York Philharmonic, and now leads an ensemble in Lausanne. He is the brother of the well-known cellist
Alisa Weilerstein.
French composer Darius Milhaud was known for
polytonality, jazz, and Brazilian rhythms.
The Program Notes added “an unmistakable French irony.” Again per the Program Notes, “The Creation”
was derived from African folk tales. I
am sure there are multiple versions of how the world came into being in the
diverse continent, and wonder what particular regional tales Milhaud had in
mind when he wrote this. (We can start
with the former French colonies, I guess.)
The piece was performed by a small ensemble, dominated by
woodwind, brass, and percussion instruments.
The creation story is told by the sequential introduction of animals,
vegetables, then man and woman who come to awareness, desire, consummation, and
fulfillment. Easy enough, except I
didn’t get the “plot” at all, such as it is.
I did hear the clarinet solo, but couldn’t associate it with “the human
couple’s dance of desire.” I suppose
additional hearings would make me more appreciative of the piece. For this hearing, the only “characteristic” I
could get was the jazz.
The opening theme from George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue is well-known,
especially for someone who sits inside United Airlines aircraft a lot. While I am sure I have heard this before, I
was familiar only with segments it, totaling less than 5 minutes. To a jazz aficionado, the intervening parts
where the music meanders on must sound great, to me it was just music
meandering. I wonder if I will ever get
to appreciate jazz in all its forms.
Weilerstein did relay a story about Gershwin talking to
Ravel and Stravinsky about learning composition from them. Ravel’s answer was Gershwin shouldn’t try to
be the second Ravel, and Stravinsky, after finding out how much Gershwin made,
said may be he should be Gershwin’s student instead. He also talked about how unusual Florence
Beatrice Price’s life was.
This was our first encounter with Price, the first African-American
female composer to have a symphony performed by a major American orchestra (the
Chicago Symphony, no less.) Only the
reduced score was left (didn’t they have an archival system at CSO?), and what
we heard today was reconstructed by Trevor Weston of Drew University. The style is “neo-romantic,” which to me simply
meant traditional. The Program Notes for
a concert I attended recently mentioned that Dvorak thought it would be proper for
American composers to find their voice in spirituals; regardless of if Price
had met Dvorak (as Weilerstein mused), there were certain some similarities in the
sound with the New World Symphony.
Aaron Diehl after performing the two piano pieces.
Frankly, up to this point the concert had been more a
lesson in musicology, illustrating what composers did during the 30 or so year
time period. So I was happy to be on familiar
ground when the Suite from The Firebird was performed. It closed out the evening in some enjoyable music. The excerpts are: Introduction and Dance of the Firebird, Dance of the Princesses, Infernal Dance of King Katschei, Berceuse, and Finale.
Joshua Weilerstein led a spirited rendition of Stravinsky's Firebird Suite.
We were at our Pastor’s house for dinner, and mistimed when
we left, so we just made it to the State Theatre. Our tickets at $25 each were a great deal,
and the auditorium was reasonably full (at least the orchestra section.)
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