8.24.2004
pops music
So I went to two concerts on back-to-back days this weekend. Sunday afternoon was the Tanglewood Music Center Orchestra (all students) performing Beethoven's Piano Concerto No. 4 and Mahler's Symphony No. 1. Yesterday evening was the Boston Pops Esplanade Orchestra playing the so-called hits from Broadway.
Thank goodness the Sunday afternoon concert was relatively booked. The Tanglewood season has been, for the last three years or so, alarmingly undersold. Evidently, even some of the vendors in the area: the restauranteurs and the bed and breakfast owners are getting together to talk to the Boston Symphony Organization to ask that they play less weird new stuff and possibly get better attendance. The TMCO did a valiant job with the Mahler - it's not an easy piece to play. However, the first movement was very disjointed. All of the falling fourths (the motif prevalent throughout the movement) were played differently by each instrumentalist, rather than striving for a unified vision. There were some pitch issues also in the first and second movements. Of course, the strings did a nice job of pulling their act back together by the third movement, and the fourth movement was about as exciting as it could have been. There was something missing: usually when a student orchestra plays something and isn't technically up to snuff, an audience member can still detect a passion for the music: an excitement or joy in the playing. Until the last few minutes of the last movement, there was no excitement or joy in the orchestra, particularly not in the string section, which seemed languid, even in its moments of technical proficiency. The Beethoven, to be sure, was excellent, but I was listening to the soloist more than I was paying attention to the orchestra.
As a contrast to the TMCO concert, the Pops show last night was relatively exciting: the orchestra, all professionals, were able to keep their dislike of the broadway music from showing through. Vocal soloist Kristen Chenoweth was everything she was billed to be: a loud brassy and ultimately successful broadway soprano. She was amusing as she chatted with the audience with a relatively easy banter. Her middle and low range were able to carry through the hall, supremely amplified as they were by her microphone and some of the best live audio folks in the world. However, she seemed to suffer on those high notes which, though ultimately in her range, were a bit too high tonight. The Boston Pops were much more successful when allowed to shine as an orchestra: without their soloist, they were exciting, fresh, and (as I put it after the concert), it was almost like they were playing real music. So I'm a bit of a snob: nothing new here, right? As we left, someone behind me was telling her husband: "Look how well they sell out the Pops concerts: they should do these here more often." I shudder.
Thank goodness the Sunday afternoon concert was relatively booked. The Tanglewood season has been, for the last three years or so, alarmingly undersold. Evidently, even some of the vendors in the area: the restauranteurs and the bed and breakfast owners are getting together to talk to the Boston Symphony Organization to ask that they play less weird new stuff and possibly get better attendance. The TMCO did a valiant job with the Mahler - it's not an easy piece to play. However, the first movement was very disjointed. All of the falling fourths (the motif prevalent throughout the movement) were played differently by each instrumentalist, rather than striving for a unified vision. There were some pitch issues also in the first and second movements. Of course, the strings did a nice job of pulling their act back together by the third movement, and the fourth movement was about as exciting as it could have been. There was something missing: usually when a student orchestra plays something and isn't technically up to snuff, an audience member can still detect a passion for the music: an excitement or joy in the playing. Until the last few minutes of the last movement, there was no excitement or joy in the orchestra, particularly not in the string section, which seemed languid, even in its moments of technical proficiency. The Beethoven, to be sure, was excellent, but I was listening to the soloist more than I was paying attention to the orchestra.
As a contrast to the TMCO concert, the Pops show last night was relatively exciting: the orchestra, all professionals, were able to keep their dislike of the broadway music from showing through. Vocal soloist Kristen Chenoweth was everything she was billed to be: a loud brassy and ultimately successful broadway soprano. She was amusing as she chatted with the audience with a relatively easy banter. Her middle and low range were able to carry through the hall, supremely amplified as they were by her microphone and some of the best live audio folks in the world. However, she seemed to suffer on those high notes which, though ultimately in her range, were a bit too high tonight. The Boston Pops were much more successful when allowed to shine as an orchestra: without their soloist, they were exciting, fresh, and (as I put it after the concert), it was almost like they were playing real music. So I'm a bit of a snob: nothing new here, right? As we left, someone behind me was telling her husband: "Look how well they sell out the Pops concerts: they should do these here more often." I shudder.
