The Northwest Chamber Orchestra Opening Gala!
a review
I just returned from seeing the Northwest Chamber
Orchestra's performance of William Bolcom's
Concerto Serenade for Violin and
Strings, John Adams'
Shaker
Loops and Philip Glass'
Piano Concerto No.
2.
First of all, this was a
wonderful performance. While the NCO isn't a premiere ensemble, they interpreted
the pieces quite well.
The Bolcom
piece was a bit disappointing to me, this was the first time I heard it and it
didn't seem up to the level of some of his other work. The ensemble did a good
job with it and the soloist Marjorie Kransberg-Talvi did her able best to
enhance the piece with her performance and stage
presence.
To say that I have not been a
fan of John Adams is an understatement. My first exposure to his work was at the
World Premiere of Death of
Klinghoffer at the San Francisco Opera. To say
that I disliked it would also be an understatement. I hated it. Everything about
it. It sucked and I've avoided anything with his name on it since. I'm willing
to admit now that I've misjudged him, at least his non-operatic work.
Shaker
Loops is an excellent piece. Stunning. It was
just a bit beyond the NCO's comfort level which was unfortunate. Given the right
ensemble, I think this piece could be transcendent. I'm going to seek out some
of Adams' non-operatic work now and re-evaluate
him.
When it comes to Philip Glass, I
am a devote. A fan. I really like his stuff and have for at least the last 20
years when I first found a copy of Einstein on the Beach at my local library. I
have been a bit disappointed with his recent work because it seems that he has
been adapting existing pieces for new ensembles and giving the pieces new names.
This seems the height of laziness and is a bit of a disappointment. When the
concerto began, I feared that this was going to be the case again. As the piece
progressed, however, it strayed more and more from Glass' old territory and into
some new themes and ideas. Once the second movement (featuring R. Carlos Nakai)
began, it really moved into new areas. Unfortunately, Mr. Nakai's flute sounded
way out of tune with the rest of the orchestra and was somewhat jarring. At the
end of the movement, the flute and piano (performed excellently by Paul Barnes)
performed a duet which was beautiful. The third movement was great and really
saved the piece as a whole.
The rest of
the season finds the NCO re-hashing the well-worn composers which guarantee
ticket sales, but do little to move classical music forward. They are taking
some interesting chances on their programs using the Garfied High School
orchestra for their next concert and world premiering a new piece by C. Curtis
Smith in April, but I'd hope to see them take more risks like today's program in
future seasons.
Posted: Sun - September 25, 2005 at 05:40 PM
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