A Weekend of Rach n' Roll on Fire
In addition to being a master composer, Rachmaninoff was an amazing virtuoso pianist and in the early 1900's achieved much notoriety throughout the western world. With others like violinist Paganini or pianist Franz Liszt, this Romantic Era of composition saw classical music virtuosos treated like popular rock stars are treated today - they were on the cutting edge of popular music and had large fan-followings (not to met ion the resulting extreme personalities of the performers themselves).The guests joining The Phoenix Symphony for this weekend's classics concerts harkin back to that era of 'classial rock star'. The trio of young, hip string players in Time for Three blur the boundaries of Classical music and are genre-bending daredevils on stage. They worked personally with composer Jennifer Higdon to create all the amazing string effects and fancy fingerwork of her Concerto 4-3 - a melding of the styles of Classical and Bluegrass. Check out the video below to hear from Jennifer Higdon how it all came together, then be sure to grab your tickets to see her work paired with Rachmaninoff's elegant Symphonic Dances and Haydn's Symphony No. 59 ("Fire Symphony").
After you've attended the concert, let us know what you thought here in the comments! Did the sonic world of Bluegrass and the traditional symphonic sound combine for a fabulous fusion?
7 Comments:
Congratulation Maestro Christie and the Phoenix Symphony on more great programing! You continue to expose us to contemporary "classical" music while performing pieces like the Rachmaninoff that in their time were surely considered "cutting edge." And it certainly worked. Jennifer Higdon's Concerto was a feast for the ear as well as the eye thanks to the amazing performers in the Time for Three trio. The entire piece was an absolute joy and I did not want it to stop! The orchestra was a perfect backup to the trio. Give us more, please!
Sonny the Cat is back!
No, I didn't cancel my subscription for this season. I have attended every single Classics concert. After last season's furious blogging, I thought I would take it easy and simply enjoy each program without being The Critic or The Champion.
I wanted the readers to know that the opinion expressed in some of Sonny’s columns were not all mine. I incorporated the voices of fellow listeners who were reluctant to use this system. It appeared that some orchestra members took it as a personal attack by me. It was never intended as such. I too am a classical musician and want to see the genre grow in popularity while maintaining respect.
It was hoped that some other Cat would blog in and that I would respond at an appropriate time. However, that has not happened. So, here I am Mary Ellen.
Before I get into general business, why don’t I comment on the most recent program that featured “Time for Three.” WHAT A COMPLETE WASTE OF A GOOD ORCHESTRA’S TIME! Having listened to Jennifer Higdon’s Percussion Concerto and other orchestral pieces, I expected better than the full orchestra counting rests. That trio of juveniles obviously found an audience for their schtick. But, go play in your own Pops gig/recital. Too bad we didn’t cancel their appearance instead of that by Jaime Laredo.
I'll bet the Rachmaninoff seems more "cutting edge" today than it did in the 1940s. The Grove's article on Rachmaninoff in the mid-20th century more or less wrote him off as someone whose music was so old-fashioned that it would soon be forgotten. Yet while my teachers were excoriating Rachmaninoff in the classroom, I was playing his 3rd Symphony in the orchestra. I still love that work, and it's closely related to the Symphonic Dances.
I enjoyed the concert (I went Thursday); I did get the feeling that many of the attendees were neophytes. That's a good thing, though the applause after each short movement of the Haydn symphony or any brief silence of the Concerto was disconcerting... I think someone said something about it at intermission, because the audience was totally silent during the Rachmaninoff.
I also was moved by the opening tribute, despite having just dissed the Elgar in front of my companion as the sort of thing one always hears on such occasions. So the concert began and ended with "bleeding chunks" (as we sometimes call excerpts removed from their original context) but I was able to keep my nose in joint.
A friend and I are Classics 16 subscribers, and we agree with Sonny -- that Higdon piece was a complete waste of time for everyone involved. We liked her Percussion Concerto, but this one pushed the envelope of "classical music" too far for our tastes. At least we can relax and enjoy Mahler this week!
I'm surprised and disappointed by the negative comments on the programming. I thoroughly enjoyed this concert. The Higdon piece and the trio were entertaining. I'm a Classics 8 subscriber of several years but am far from a classical music expert. For those of us who find much of the modern classical music to be personally inaccessible because of the atonality, etc., it was a pleasant surprise to encounter a modern melodic piece that was enjoyable and entertaining. I hope the Phoenix Symphony will continue to keep in mind us folks with common tastes and not just listen to the musical snobs.
Elizabeth,
Just because someone doesn't agree with you about a specific piece doesn't mean that he or she is a "snob." Tastes differ. And the only way to become an "expert" about classical music is to listen extensively, and maybe do some reading about composers and compositions. One of the problems with most blogs, sometimes including this one, is that each poster tends to believe that his or her opinion represents "received wisdom," when in general it represents only that person's background, experience, etc. It's too bad if we can't express diverging opinions without edging toward name-calling.
I just wanted to chime in that I hope not too much weight is given to the opinions posted here. I actually became a subscriber because of the inclusion on the season schedule of challenging works which were subsequently roundly condemned here.
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