New Jersey Symphony and New Jersey Ballet. Xian Zhang, conductor; Yo-Yo Ma, cello. November 12, 2022.

NJPAC, Newark, NJ.  Grand Tier (Seat D104, $144).

Program

Herald, Holler and Hallelujah by Wynton Marsalis (b. 1961).

Cello Concerto in B Minor, Op. 104 by Dvorak.

Selections from Four Dances from Estancia by Alberto Ginastera.

100 years ago, 19 musicians started an ensemble in Montclair, which eventually evolved to the current orchestra.  While the 2022/2023 season started a few weeks ago, tonight's concert is the Centennial Gala of such an event.

The Program Notes states that the durations of the three pieces are 6, 40 and 11 minutes, totaling to less than one hour.  While the program didn't start at 7:30 pm, it didn't end until around 9 pm.  Several people spoke congratulatory messages, including Governor Phil Murphy.  I guess that's to be expected.  Not that people would remember much what was said, except perhaps Murphy and Ma knew each other from their college days.  (They both attended Harvard at about the same time, and Murphy evidently was an aspiring musician then.)

The Marsalis piece was co-commissioned by NJ Symphony and was first performed at NJPAC in January.  The Program Notes describes it as "exuberant and celebratory," and that it "floats in and out of marching band, big band, and jazz."  The ensemble consists (coincidentally?) of 19 brass and percussion players.

All good.  While I didn't get the range the Program Notes talks about, I certainly hear Gershwin, Copland, and lots of jazz in the piece.

There are several YouTube videos with Yo-Yo Ma playing the Dvorak concerto.  I saw (parts of) two of them, and they are both great.  My expectations were thus high.  And looking back, one of my previous encounters (two entries in the blog) was a great experience.  Alas, expectations were not met.  A major contribution to the disappointment has to be the acoustics at our seats.  The cello sounded distant, and therefore weak.  The other reason - perhaps - was Ma made this look easy, so there was less appreciation of the degree of difficulty involved.  I had written previously about the background, and the loss expressed in the last movement.  That came through in the recordings I viewed, but not tonight.

For those who think this writer is being too critical, let me say perhaps Ma doesn't have any bad days, but the listener may have a bad day every now and then.  Also, at Gilbert's farewell concert in June, 2017, with NY Phil, Ma joined the cello section after performing as a soloist, I didn't notice him in the orchestra today.

I don't understand how the third piece fits in with the program, especially since I have not noticed much cooperation between NJ Ballet and NJ Symphony in the past.  One could also ask why the Montclair choral ensemble wasn't included in today's celebration, as they have been cooperating with the Symphony for quite a while.

The Brass Section was in First Tier for the Marsalis piece.  The percussionists and the conductor were on the regular stage.

Before the performance of the Dvorak cello concerto.  When I checked earlier in the day, only a few tickets were left.  A typical NJ Symphony concert would have 40% or so empty seats in my experience.

Ma didn't bring out his cello after the performance, meaning there would be no encores.  He did try to whip up the audience to applaud the orchestra.

Ma made it a point to go to the cello section and shake hands with the players.

After the performance of Ginaster's dances.  Time stamp was 8:59 pm.

The other source of puzzlement is why only three of the four dances were included in the last piece.  Be that as it may, the music was accompanied by pairs of ballet dances who were either delivering a story, or simply dancing for dancing's sake.  The lady sitting a few seats away from us kept complaining (too loudly, at times) they should shine more light on the stage.  I agree with that sentiment.

Perhaps I am looking at it all wrong.  As a musical event this wasn't the best of my experiences with NJ Symphony.  One could argue for a celebration this fit the bill.  And the Symphony raised a lot of money from the event ($1M?). My counterargument then is if it's not about musical excellence, then what is it about?  One could go back and forth, but it was what it was.

We left right after the program ended, even though there were rumors of an encore.  Somehow I got the impression Parking Lot C (our usual place) was closed (turns out it wasn't), so we parked in this huge underground Military Park lot, and we didn't want to be stuck in traffic when we leave.  People were handing out these "commemorative" books, and I grabbed one.  It contains some interesting tidbits, including that once Ma, Ax, and Dudley Moore (!) performed with the Symphony.

100-year birthdays, no matter whose, don't come around that often.  I was glad to be at this one.