State Theatre New Jersey. Balcony (Seat F101, $57).
Program
Symphony No. 38 in D Major, K. 504 "Prague" (1786) by Mozart (1756-1791).
Rounds for Piano and String Orchestra (2021-2022) by Montgomery (b. 1981).
Suite from Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme, Op. 60 by Strauss (1864-1949).
Program for the afternoon. Lasted 1:45 hours, with intermission.
As part of its Centennial celebration, NJ Symphony has invited back its past conductors to lead several concerts. I know Manahan from the days NYC Opera was still a functioning organization. Turns out he was NJS's interim director for the years 1983-1985, before I began attending NJS concerts regularly.
The Prague symphony was written by Mozart when he was in Vienna. The Prague audience at that time was a lot more receptive than Mozart's home town, so the Symphony was premiered there, and hence its name. Symphonies No. 39-41 readily come to mind when one talks about Mozart, but the Prague can hold its own, with its many memorable melodies. The Adagio opening of the first movement also stands out, with many comparing it to the dramatic opening of Don Giovanni. If one searches the web for "Mozart's most popular symphonies," No. 38 is often in the top five or ten. It's always a pleasure to listen to a familiar Mozart piece.
The symphony is also unusual in that it has only three movements: Adagio-Allegro, Andante, and Finale (Presto).
Mozart's Prague Symphony was the first on the program.
Jessie Montgomery must be one of the hottest composers nowadays. Her work is programmed by many orchestras, national and regional. A check of her website shows her work being performed by nine different organizations for November (admittedly one of the busier months).
Today's 14-minute work is quite accessible. She asks the soloist and the orchestra to use some interesting techniques to produce different sounds. A couple of interesting situations. The pianist stands up and plugs the strings on the piano on one occasion. On a couple of other occasions the violins play arpeggios as the background: think Mendelssohn violin concerto, but for the whole section. The effect didn't quite work out in this instance. There is a 4-minute cadenza that is partially improvised.
The Program Notes makes this a "brainy" piece. It's based on T. S. Eliot's poem "Four Quarters," and is in Rondo form. Today's soloist Pratt collaborated with Montgomery during the composition process.
This was my first encounter with Pratt, and he certainly got the job done. A recipient of the prestigious Avery-Fisher grant, he has performed with many well-known ensembles. This work was one of his seven commissions for either piano and string orchestra; or piano, string orchestra, and Roomful of Teeth (which also has as one of its members Caroline Shaw).
An enjoyable piece, but probably requires multiple listenings to appreciate many of the subleties, e.g., there is a rondo within a rondo!
Awadagin Pratt was masterful in the performance of Jessie Montgomery's work.
In the opera Ariadne auf Naxos is incorporated a play. The original plan was a three-act play, which didn't work out. A second attempt didn't work either. Out of that music Strauss extracted nine movements and published them as a suite. He also incorporated some work of the 17th century composer Jean-Baptiste Lully into the music. That was 1920, and this suite supposedly became a 20th century classic. This was my first encounter with it.
The titles of the movements are: Overture to Act I; Minuet; "The Fencing-Master;" "The Entrance and Dance of the Tailors;" "Lully's Minuet;" Courant; "Entrance of Cleonte, after Lully;" Prelude to Act II; and "The Dinner."
It was easy enough (most of the time) to trace the movements in the suite. The Program Notes describes the piano part as being very difficult, which may well be true. What the Notes doesn't say is that the Concertmaster also has quite a few difficult passages, bordering on virtuosic. The suite is compared with the suite from Der Rosenkavalier, although there didn't seem to be as many melodies in the suite we heard today. (Perhaps my unfamiliarity is a factor.)
Eric Wyrick had some difficult violin solos in Strauss's suite. I was somewhat surprised at how small the ensemble was. There were, for instance four violins.
I drove up to New Brunswick at about 1:45 pm, and got a 30% discount senior ticket. The concert was poorly attended, which was unfortunate.
I am somewhat looking forward to the concerts conducted by former music directors. The only two I know are Jacque Lacombe and Gemma New. In the earlier communications Lacombe was scheduled to conduct Faure's Requiem, but he is no longer on the roster. A report I saw said it is due to a schedule conflict, indeed he has a commitment in Greece. But I do wonder if the story is a bit more complicated, as I understand these schedules are set years in advance.
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