New World Symphony, Miami

[cubanmiamiboy]

Last night I went to see the New World Symphony at the Knight Concert Hall. The program contained Saint-Saens’ Concerto No. 3 in B Minor for Violin and Orchestra and Mahler’s Symphony “The Titan”. Aside fROM the fact that people NEED to be notified-(in the obvious case that they don’t know)-that applause SHOULD NOT BE OCCURRING after each movement-(yes…this is one of those UNNERVING situations that makes me TOTALLY, INSANELY CRAZY!!)- the showcase was beautiful. The young Orchestra was conducted by Vladimir Ashkenazy, and Joshua Bell-(I’m sure you’ve heard of this prodigy before)-did the honors to the violin in Saint-Saens Concerto . SS's grand piece perfectly allowed Bell to display his technical prowess; however, it still requires refined musicality, which Mr. Bell showed as well. One of the things I like the most about this Concerto is that it follows the classical format of three clearly separated movements. At some point the music took on a "gypsy" flavor-(delicious melody)-before the flashy conclusion. As per “The Titan”, the Miamian ensemble captured all of Mahler's sound effects splendidly. The orchestra playing was brilliant and the dynamics were wide ranging. Mr. Ashkenazy was a clearheaded leader, and he didn’t impose a personal agenda on Mahler, neither being as icy as some conductors nor as gut-wrenching as some others. In fact, up until the final moments of the work, this was a magical reading, particularly toward the very end, just when Mahler goes over the top into the type of ecstasy only he can reach.

Coming up next, The Cleveland Orchestra and Miami City Ballet’s one-night-only performance on the 29. (Can’t wait! )

[dirac]

Thanks for the report, cubanmiamiboy. I've never heard Ashkenazy conduct, but I love his Chopin.

Joshua Bell-(I’m sure you’ve heard of this prodigy before)

Yes, indeed.

[bart]

Thanks for that review, Cristian.

BT readers might not be aware that the New World Symphony is a training "academy" for young orchestral musicians. It's a project of Michael Tilson Thomas's. Here's a Link:

http://www.nws.edu/

About the upcoming Miami Ballet/ Cleveland Symphony collaboration: it's being extensively promoted on Miami's public radio station, using a slogan that we have been discussing on Ballet Talk (can't find it at the moment). Their version is:

See the music; hear the dancing."

I checked the Arsht Center site ( http://www.arshtcenter.org/tickets/calenda...ew.aspx?id=4343 ). They're doing Symphony in C AND Symphony in Three Movements. Hurray!. I wish that things weren't so busy up here so we could drive down. It was wonderful to see that the entire house is sold out except for the highest tiers and one portion of the orchestra.