Count Basie Theater, Red Bank, NJ. Balcony (Seat G111, $52).
Yang and Zhang after the Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto.
Program
Hymn for Everyone (2020-22) by Montgomery (b. 1981).
Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor, Op. 23 (1874-75) by Tchaikovsky (1840-1893).
Symphony No. 8 in G Major, Op. 88 by Dvorak.
This is the season opening weekend for New Jersey Symphony. There was a celebration honoring Zhang's 10th season as Music Director for NJS yesterday at NJPAC. For tonight it was simply more like a regular season concert, albeit after a summer hiatus. Attendance seemed to be better than usual,which was good. There were still a lot of empty seats in the balcony, so "good attendance" is relative.
The pieces by Tchaikovsky and Dvorak are popular in the orchestra repertoire; however, the season began with a piece by Jessie Montgomery, whose music finds its way onto many orchestra stages nowadays.
The well-written Program Notes on Hymn for Everyone has a great description of how the piece came about. Evidently the hymn came to the composer spontaneously, and the melody moved through different orchestral "choirs." (Paraphrasing the composer's words.) The backstory - added by the editors -- was that Montgomery's mother passed away in the year the work was composed, thus tapping into the tradition of hymns offering solace.
The end result reflected the description quite well. Not in a good way. I have heard Montgomery's work before, while not wowing, they have been quite enjoyable. Today's just sound repetitious, and after several repeats it ceased to be captivating, or moving, for that matter. At 12 minutes it felt 8 minutes too long. Actually it seemed to last a lot more than 12 minutes.
After "Hymn for Everyone." The stage hands had a bit of trouble opening the lid of the piano to prepare for the Piano Concerto. I was worried that the lid would fall down during the performance.
Joyce Yang came on the music scene quite a while ago (I would even say 20 years?). She then disappeared for a while - my best guess is to raise a family. I had seen her perform only once,about 10 years ago, also with New Jersey Symphony. Today she was in great form, attacking the piano with fierce determination, and finessing it to coax out the lyrical, and doing all that with supreme confidence. Somewhat missing in the whole performance was a sense of direction, it seemed to go from one passage to another as the music explores what the instrument is capable of. Very impressive technical display, even more impressive as Tchaikovsky wasn't a pianist.
To be fair, the composition contains many hummable melodies and unforgettable passages Perhaps that should be enough, or perhaps one should expect more? The Program Notes also says Tchaikovsky quoted from Cossack, French, and Ukrainian sources.
Yang played an encore that Google identified as Rachmaninoff's Prelude No. 12 in G# Minor, Op. 32. (She did announce it, I got only the Rachmaninoff part.)
Dvorak's Eighth Symphony is only second in popularity when compared to the "From the New World." This Symphony is actually harder to pull off. One place where ensembles often fall short is the large number of repetitions can overwhelm the audience (with boredom) in a less-than-stellar performance. Tonight's performance occupies a middling ground. Which may be okay, but a bit disappointing. From the balcony the balance between the orchestra sections were sometimes problematic. The oboe was always weak, what was unexpected was the flutes were not as dependable as they usually were.
End of Dvorak's Eighth Symphony. The principal bass left to join the Baltimore Symphony. I didn't see her as an extra in the last few NY Phil performances, either.
I walked away thinking while this orchestra has improved a lot over the years, it still has a way to go.
Anne had a commitment for a church event, so she couldn't go. Our friend from college, Shirley Y came instead.
It was a bit nippy, and a storm was supposed to hit the next day.
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