Heaven Bellamy
3/17/17
The Symphony at the Boston
Symphony Hall was a provocative experience for the soul. Being present in a
room where music is being created with such precision, and execution was a
privilege. Each musician did justice to the work of Hayden, Debussy and
Beethoven. The “Women of Tanglewood Festival Chorus” was also an exciting
addition to the incredible sound of the orchestra. The gallant space itself was
certainly complimentary to music that was produce. There was massive embroidery
that framed the orchestra, which made watching the show that much more special.
The
symphony opened with Hayden, who is renowned for his spontaneous “jump scare”
melodies. In Adagio – Allegro di molto,
the first few stanzas are pianissimo, with soft interjections of flute and
clarinet. But in the middle of the piece where it seems like it is about to
end, Haydn surprises the audience with a booming fortissimo, and heavy use of
the upright bass. Bernard Haitink, the conductor was very exquisite with these
loud dynamic moments by making sure that when the score read pianissimo, they
played exceptionally soft so that when it was time to play loudly, it was more
impactful. Presto, one of Haydns more
redone pieces because of its signifigance and effect on that time period of
classical music, could not have been played any more professionally. The
dynamics were impeccable throughout each change of key signature, and specific
choices by the conductor. One of the more noticeable changes that Haitink made
that was not necessarily written in the original piece was that during the
harmony section, instead of making their part marcado as written, it was played
specifically as staccato. This was an excellent choice because the bass, and
the cello part did not overpower the melody as a result.
Debussy’s Nocturnes was brought to life with the
presence of about forty more members of both the orchestra and the chorus on
stage. It definitely made a difference in sound, and each crescendo was
attacked with more passion because of the size of the group. Each first chair
member attacked their solos and standing parts with intensity because it was
harder for them to be heard. The last piece done in the Debussy section was the
most chilling portion of show. The harmony between the soprano voices of the
chorus, and the lower brass was unbelievably balanced. This piece was lengthy,
and had several of the same repeating patterns, but it was beautiful, and the
audience had no trouble sitting through it.
The last portion
of the symphony was composed of pieces by Beethoven, Symphony No. 7 in A, Opus 92. These were monstrous pieces with
intense structure and very difficult key and time signature changes. However
the players in each section were able to maintain their ambattur’s throughout.
The most moving pieces in this section of the show were Presto, and Allegretto.
They were up-beat, and had the audience nodding their heads to the repeating
rhythm.
If you have
an appreciation for excellent music, then it is important that you watch a
performance by the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It is unbelievably astounding in
every audible way.
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