Leonard Bernstein Festival
Posted: Fri Jan 11, 2008 1:01 pm
The Philadelphia Orchestra, in honor of Leonard Bernstein's 90th birthday, is performing a four part festival commemorating his work. Last night was the premier of Week One. The orchestra played Bernstein's "Symphonic Dances" from West Side Story, and the night was bookended by Tchaikovsky's "Fantasy-Overture," from Romeo and Juliet and his symphonic poem, Francesca da Rimini, which tells Francesca's story (Francesca and Paolo) from Dante's Inferno. So essentially the theme for the night was how love kills. Uplifting, eh? It actually was some very beautiful music.
Each year the orchestra puts together a couple of these themed series, and I find this work to be their most thoughtful. I am by no means knowledgeable about classical music. I attend the orchestra relatively regularly, but do not study with any discipline. Which means all of what I'm going to write here are my woefully lay opinions. Now, I know Bernstein from studying musical theater and I've always appreciated his work. But most of his time was spent in the classical genre. West Side Story is a gorgeous piece that fuses a very Americana feel with Latin influences. It has a litheness about it, a simple elegance that makes it so enjoyable, yet fun. But sitting between Tchaikovsky, even the short pieces performed last night, there's no comparison. Tchaikovsky's work has such power, the way he uses the strings and horns to speak to each other, with the flautist getting a word in here and there. It's like he teases you through the entire piece before he brings about his audacious denouement.
The Philadelphia Orchestra does a really astounding job throughout their season. You can go to see a couple different orchestral pieces each week, if you really wanted to. Plus the orchestra plays the pit for both the Philadelphia Opera Company and the Pennsylvania Ballet, this time of year. Theys some hard-working people.
I sat in what is termed the Conductor's Circle. It is on the first tier level, but arcs across the back of the stage. So in those seats, you're at the backs of the musicians, just above them, looking out over the rest of the audience. The seats are on the cheaper side because they have such an unusual perspective, but I think their some of the best in the house. You can actually feel the music vibrating your seat, as the foot of the risers sit on the stage. You also have this perspective, sitting just above the orchestra, where the bows for all the stringed instruments seem to be dancing for you. But, more importantly, you get to watch the conductor conduct. The Philadelphia Orchestra's been fortunate to call Christoph Eschenbach their own for the past five years, and he is entertaining to watch conduct. And not in that I'm-a-conductor-look-at-me way. It's obvious he is very passionate about his work, and to see him elicit the performances he does is
Each year the orchestra puts together a couple of these themed series, and I find this work to be their most thoughtful. I am by no means knowledgeable about classical music. I attend the orchestra relatively regularly, but do not study with any discipline. Which means all of what I'm going to write here are my woefully lay opinions. Now, I know Bernstein from studying musical theater and I've always appreciated his work. But most of his time was spent in the classical genre. West Side Story is a gorgeous piece that fuses a very Americana feel with Latin influences. It has a litheness about it, a simple elegance that makes it so enjoyable, yet fun. But sitting between Tchaikovsky, even the short pieces performed last night, there's no comparison. Tchaikovsky's work has such power, the way he uses the strings and horns to speak to each other, with the flautist getting a word in here and there. It's like he teases you through the entire piece before he brings about his audacious denouement.
The Philadelphia Orchestra does a really astounding job throughout their season. You can go to see a couple different orchestral pieces each week, if you really wanted to. Plus the orchestra plays the pit for both the Philadelphia Opera Company and the Pennsylvania Ballet, this time of year. Theys some hard-working people.
I sat in what is termed the Conductor's Circle. It is on the first tier level, but arcs across the back of the stage. So in those seats, you're at the backs of the musicians, just above them, looking out over the rest of the audience. The seats are on the cheaper side because they have such an unusual perspective, but I think their some of the best in the house. You can actually feel the music vibrating your seat, as the foot of the risers sit on the stage. You also have this perspective, sitting just above the orchestra, where the bows for all the stringed instruments seem to be dancing for you. But, more importantly, you get to watch the conductor conduct. The Philadelphia Orchestra's been fortunate to call Christoph Eschenbach their own for the past five years, and he is entertaining to watch conduct. And not in that I'm-a-conductor-look-at-me way. It's obvious he is very passionate about his work, and to see him elicit the performances he does is