There's been an ongoing debate for years about the future of world-class orchestras, not only in the United States but around the world. Serebrier brings the house down with a flourish at the punchy finale, once again leading to several minutes of sustained applause. 2: Farandole" (is it just me or was Dvorak listening to this before he wrote "Legends"?). Again, all of Serebrier's players do magnificent, and thrillingly lyrical, work in this piece which contains one of the best-known main themes in all of classical literature.Īfter several minutes of well-deserved applause, Serebrier returns for a great encore, Bizet's sparkling "L'Arlesienne Suite No. "Pictures," though perhaps a bit on the less showy side, offers some fine solo moments for instruments not usually thrown into the spotlight, including the bassoon. Serebrier leads these young players through the sweeping strings and palpable percussion effects with flash and brilliance. It's interesting to really analyze how many brilliant modern orchestral techniques Stokowski brings to bear on "Bare Mountain" especially, something that routinely escapes a lot of listeners due to its having become such a standard piece of concert hall fare. Here, though, we get the full flower of Stokowski's orchestration genius merged with the compositional brilliance of one of the most florid Russian composers, and it is a musical match made in heaven. Next up are two magnificent Stokowski transcriptions of famous Mussorgsky compositions, "A Night on Bare (Bald) Mountain" and "Pictures at an Exhibition." Of course both of these pieces have made it into the popular vernacular, the first through Stokowski himself in Disney's Fantasia, and the second in more pop-oriented recordings by such acts as Emerson, Lake and Palmer and the early synthesizer wizard Tomita. Equal parts lyrical and strident, Serebrier's piece certainly deserves attention from the world's best orchestras (and I couldn't help but wonder if it could be adapted for string quartet, as it reminded me several times of Villa-Lobos' many works in that idiom). The final two movements which segue into each other are slower, more introspective fare, with the finale featuring some wordless vocals by Carole Farley. Interestingly, the second movement is given over exclusively to the celli for the first several minutes, something rarely seen (or heard) in the orchestral repertoire. The first movement starts with a bang, with a brisk pummeling motive. Serebrier starts the program off with Wagner's "Prelude to Die Meistersinger." The brilliant brass playing with perfect intonation made this an obvious crowd-pleaser with which to get the show on the road.The next piece was decidedly less mainstream, Serebrier's own Symphony No. In a performance spanning a couple of warhorses, one demanding new piece and a suitably flashy encore, Serebrier and his charges rise to the occasion with some beautifully textured and nuanced playing that proves that these "youth" are indeed ready for prime time. The fact is, though, that these young people are more than deserving of the accolades Serebrier invites for them. Serebrier doesn't just communicate that delight in his frequent smiles and gestures to these young soon-to-be professionals-he actually takes several opportunities to have whole sections and individual soloists stand for some audience recognition, something that rarely if ever happens in the more staid confines of big city philharmonic halls. What a sweet and bracing breath of fresh air it is to see conductor/composer José Serebrier taking such obvious delight in the brilliant playing of his National Youth Orchestra of Spain on this concert DVD filmed at Chester Cathedral in Britain.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |