High energy doesn’t even begin to get it!
You have to attend one of these concerts in order to really understand what’s happening here. 115 or so teen-agers on one stage, drawn together by their love of music, and their capability at expressing that love, make a truly joyful noise! There were also 18 young singers in the balcony for the first work, and offstage for the final piece. High energy is the trademark of this exhuberant group, and the opening concert of their 11th season was no exception. Under the baton of their founding music director and conductor Liza Grossman, Saturday evening’s concert took us—musically—around the world as well as the universe.
The program began with a convincing performance of Dragon and Phoenix, a movement from the monumental Symphony 1997 (“Heaven Earth Mankind”) by Tan Dun. Although he has composed symphonies and operas, he is probably best known for his film scores, including the music for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
From the opening chords in fifths, the piece pulses with energy. Birds sing in China as they do in the rest of the world, and he utilizes their song to good effect. A chorus sings wordless melodies, wafting ethereally over the orchestra, morphing into joyous shouts. Near the end, the orchestra joins in with slashing chords, and a final shout from all the musicians.
Every year, musicians vie for a prestigious prize—to perform in a solo capacity with their peers. This year's winner was John Stuart Ely III, percussion section leader, who demonstrated his tuneful abilities with an outstanding rendition of Paul Creston’s melodious and occasionally jazzy Concertino for Marimba and Orchestra. Written in 1940, the concerto received a fresh and vibrant performance from Mr. Ely’s hands, which were usually seen only as a blur from their rapid motion, whether with wooden or felt-tipped mallets. He received several floral tributes and a balloon or two from his admirers.
Gustav Holst made clear that his orchestral suite The Planets (which dates from 1918) was based on the astrological significance of the planets and not by classical mythology, which must have disppointed scholars. Nevertheless, it is probably his most popular composition. The CYO gave it a handsome, full-bodied performance.
The seven movements each represent one of the known planets (but not including Earth) at the time it was written. MARS is all about the chaos of war, with marching soldiers, etc.; VENUS is peace (with lovely horn solos); MERCURY is a traveler, epitomized by a scherzo; JUPITER is jovial and good-natured, with rich, lush unison strings as background; SATURN is deliberate, the senior citizen of the bunch, with ethereal melodies from the winds over the steady beats of the low strings: URANUS is the magician, who may be a bit of a klutz, but is a good-natured one; and finally, NEPTUNE is the mystic, introduced by the flute and ending with the eerie, fading voices of the chorus from off-stage.
This was a challenging program for any orchestra, let alone one with barely three months of practice under its fingers. The very rare intonation or togetherness discrepancies will undoubtedly vanish before the end of the season, as the musicians get to know and trust each other a bit better. If you have (or know of) a student who is leaning toward studying music, attending a concert by this rambunctious group of musical ambassadors could very well be a positive factor in the decision-making progress. And if you don’t—you’ll enjoy their vibrant performances anyway!
Two more concerts are scheduled for this season. Jazz and Blues meet the Orchestra, featuring pianist Mike Garson, on March 18, 2006, at 7:00 pm in CSU’s Waetjen Auditorium and Rock the Orchestra, with exact date in May and special guest artist to be announced. For upcoming concert information, or to volunteer your services to help this most worthy cause, visit the web-site: http://www.cyorchestra.org
From Cool Cleveland contributor Kelly Ferjutz artswriterATadelphia.net
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