My habit is to not read reviews prior to a concert or a play. Most reviews are subjective because I rarely agree. The program started with a piece written by Mozart when he was 9; with all the depth and passion and musical genius of that age whose life had so far consisted of playing the piano or violin all day. As the brief Symphonic piece progressed, it speeded up, indicating that the composer had anticipated the audience wanting it quickly over.
The next piece, by an Australian in 2006, Brett Dean, was The Lost Art of Letter Writing, better titled The Lost Art of Musical Composition. Composers really can't write words with musical notes that create the same picture by pretending the ears are eyes. It was another composition in which the orchestra tuned up for four movements, the first featuring Temple Bells. If a theramin had been added, it would be great background music to a remake of Spellbound.
The piece was written with violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann in mind He played so many high notes so fast, it looked as though he was bowing on his nose. After crescendos ascended for several measures, it resembled nap time at day care. Even the orchestra looked bored, waiting for some music to happen beyond soft temple bells and lots of low notes on the basses. Meanwhile, violin notes high enough that only a dog could hear them were leaving the older audience nodding off in their silence until sudden crashing music woke them. In the next two movements, the full orchestra was engaged in playing unique solos, in random keys, and tempos sounded like an off pitch a cappella choir of strings. The movements each represented an historic letter. Since it was unlikely many in the audience had read these four letters (Hamburg-1854, The Hague-1882, Vienna-1886, Jerilderie Letter-1879) it added to the difficulty of identifying the images. Despite the high decibels, an approximately four bar theme emerged, quickly obscured by the atonal accompaniment and, finally, cavalry arrived (light snare drums and lots of running sounds) to rescue the orchestra just in time for Intermission.
The third piece was Mozart's violin concerto No.2, written when he had grown up to 17. It was played beautifully by Mr. Zimmermann who was loudly applauded to four stage call-backs, though he used a fraction of the virtuosity he displayed in the Dean piece. This suggested I was not alone in my lack of appreciation of the 'modern piece'.
Finally Schumann's Symphony No. 2, melodic, rhythmic and pure vanilla brought it all back to the real world.
The next piece, by an Australian in 2006, Brett Dean, was The Lost Art of Letter Writing, better titled The Lost Art of Musical Composition. Composers really can't write words with musical notes that create the same picture by pretending the ears are eyes. It was another composition in which the orchestra tuned up for four movements, the first featuring Temple Bells. If a theramin had been added, it would be great background music to a remake of Spellbound.
The piece was written with violinist Frank Peter Zimmermann in mind He played so many high notes so fast, it looked as though he was bowing on his nose. After crescendos ascended for several measures, it resembled nap time at day care. Even the orchestra looked bored, waiting for some music to happen beyond soft temple bells and lots of low notes on the basses. Meanwhile, violin notes high enough that only a dog could hear them were leaving the older audience nodding off in their silence until sudden crashing music woke them. In the next two movements, the full orchestra was engaged in playing unique solos, in random keys, and tempos sounded like an off pitch a cappella choir of strings. The movements each represented an historic letter. Since it was unlikely many in the audience had read these four letters (Hamburg-1854, The Hague-1882, Vienna-1886, Jerilderie Letter-1879) it added to the difficulty of identifying the images. Despite the high decibels, an approximately four bar theme emerged, quickly obscured by the atonal accompaniment and, finally, cavalry arrived (light snare drums and lots of running sounds) to rescue the orchestra just in time for Intermission.
The third piece was Mozart's violin concerto No.2, written when he had grown up to 17. It was played beautifully by Mr. Zimmermann who was loudly applauded to four stage call-backs, though he used a fraction of the virtuosity he displayed in the Dean piece. This suggested I was not alone in my lack of appreciation of the 'modern piece'.
Finally Schumann's Symphony No. 2, melodic, rhythmic and pure vanilla brought it all back to the real world.
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