cubanmiamiboy Posted October 31, 2010 Share Posted October 31, 2010 Tonight I went to the New World Symphony at the Knight Concert Hall, and they played a beautiful program, an “All-Brahms” night. The program consisted in his Hungarian dances Nos. 1 and 10, his Piano Quartet No. 1 n G minor Op 25 in Schoenberg’s reverent, faithful orchestration and finally, after the intermezzo, his Concerto No. 2 in B-flat major for Piano and Orchestra, Op 83. The first two pieces, the Hungarian Dances, were quick. The No. 1 is a textbook demonstration of an orchestra sonority contrast in between the bassoon/strings on one side and the woodwinds/triangle on the other. The No. 10 look like if it could belong to the last act of Raymonda…very reminiscent of a Csarda style. About the Piano quartet brilliantly orchestrated by Schoenberg, this is what he had to say when asked the reasons for doing it. 1-I like the piece 2-It is seldom played 3-It is always very badly played, because the better the pianist, the louder he plays and then you hear nothing from the strings. I want to hear everything. Finally, I had the pleasure to hear Polish-born pianist Emanuel Ax in a moving rendition of Brahms’ Concerto No. 2. One of my favorite parts of this concert comes in the third movement, the andante, in which the piano shares the spotlight with a solo cello playing a sweet and humble melody. The Orchestra was directed by Mr. Michael Tilson, from which I have a little anecdote to tell about tonight’s performance. Link to comment
Recommended Posts