Count Basie Theater, Red Bank, NJ. Balcony Center (Seat F113, $61).
Program
Sarah Gibson warp & weft
Rachmaninoff Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Op. 43
Berlioz Symphonie fantastique, Op. 14
Gemma New at the end of the concert. The applause was justifiably quite enthusiastic.
This is another of those "former NJSO conductor" concert. Gemma New was assistant (or associate) conductor when Jacque Lacombe was the music director of the orchestra. When I started to type this I didn't remember ever seeing her conduct. A review of the blog returned one concert, in 2016. By that time she had left as associate director of the orchestra. Other than that I didn't say anything about her conducting, one can take whatever from such silence.
While this concert happened about a week ago, I remember one of the things I noted was this was an enjoyable concert. While my added understanding of the Rachmaninoff and Berlioz pieces no doubt played a role, New's interpretation of the pieces surely added a lot to how good the concert was. Contrast this with what I said about Manahan's and Jarvi's recent appearances, where I didn't say much about the conductors.
New started the program by describing the Sarah Gibson piece. She used phrases like "a wall described by the same note," and "decorations." Much of modern music is so nebulous that the casual listener could use words like "trenches" and "graffiti" to describe the same music. At less than 15 minutes (time stamp of 8:19 pm when the piece was finished, and I am sure the performance started after 8:05 pm) it was no particularly difficult to sit through. I recall asking myself "where is the wall?" and "where are these decorations?" Note that the Program Notes doesn't remotely say what New said. Instead we are asked to imagine the workings of a (weaving) loom.
The one thing very noticeable was the beat changed continuously. New's conducting motion was fluid, but she clearly delineated the different notes in a measure: I noticed 2s, 3s, 4s, and 5s. I am sure some 6s were thrown in as well. What is unknown to me how helpful this is to the musicians. Such mechanical movements diminished a lot for the Rachmaninoff and Berlioz pieces.
After the Sarah Gibson piece. Note the absence of the piano for the Rachmaninoff piece to follow. A rather rare occurrence at an NJS concert.
I do wonder if Rachmaninoff's rhapsody tells a particular story, or is just an exercise in compositional techniques to showcase a composer's and an artist's skills. I am okay if it's just the latter, and in any case I have trouble trying to get a story out of it. The things that make the music interesting are: the basic theme from Paganini, which is a nice tune; the melody inversion in one of the variations; the use of dies irae; and that indeed we have variations on a theme in the composition. For the pianist there are technical challenges to overcome. George Li made it look easy, perhaps too easy.
Li and New after the Rachmaninoff.
He played an encore. My remark to Anne was one can never out-Rachmaninoff Rachmaninoff, so it must be difficult to find a suitable encore piece.
Similarly, knowing some elements regarding the Berlioz piece also makes the piece that much more enjoyable. It's always poignant to remember that in real life Berlioz got his wish fulfilled, but the dream did turn into some sort of nightmare. He married the object of this fantasy, Harriet Smithson, but they separated after about 10 years.
Quite a few percussion instruments for Berlioz's Symphonie fantastique. At one point there were four people hitting the timpani drums.
The auditorium again had many empty seats in it, which was a pity. The audience applauded quite enthusiastically, though.
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