This was the program: (pictures of conductor and soloist included)
Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos, direction
Alexandre Tharaud, piano
Isaac Albeniz/Rafael Frühbeck de Burgos Castilla, Granada, Sevilla, Asturias, Aragon, extraits de la «Suite espagnole»
Maurice Ravel Concerto pour piano et orchestre en sol majeur
Maurice Ravel Daphnis et Chloé, suite N° 2
Maurice Ravel Boléro, pour orchestre
My favorite moments were the second movement of the Ravel piano concerto, the encore played by Tharaud, the solo flute player, and the first two thirds of bolero.
The pianist was really inspiring to me, in how he carried the melody in the slow movement of the ravel, creating a sense of suspension, of something indefinite. In his encore (a chopin number) he did this same thing, his control over the melodic voice allowed a certain flexibility that i found fascinating.
Bolero, as many of you may know, begins with a snare drum ostinato that continues throughout the piece, which is one 15-minute crescendo. The rhythm started by the snare drum remains throughout, getting increasingly louder until it is joined by another snare drum to ramp up the volume in the final minutes of the piece.
(This is one in a repertoire of pieces that I played when I was in youth orchestra in Indianapolis, ages 14-18 or so. I remember getting so tired with this pizzicato as our conductor tediously rehearsed each wind instrument solo. )
back to the OSR, and tonight's bolero. I was really struck by how quietly they began this piece, and with how much restraint they played. The first flute solo was so beautiful and so audaciously soft. However, as the piece progressed, it got steadily louder but never got loud enough. I felt like the orchestra was more concerned about staying in rhythm and playing with a nice sound than playing the music, and just letting it go and get really loud and huge and raucous at the end. that was disappointing.
something about this interpretation seems very swiss though. nothing too out of control.
My favorite moments were the second movement of the Ravel piano concerto, the encore played by Tharaud, the solo flute player, and the first two thirds of bolero.
The pianist was really inspiring to me, in how he carried the melody in the slow movement of the ravel, creating a sense of suspension, of something indefinite. In his encore (a chopin number) he did this same thing, his control over the melodic voice allowed a certain flexibility that i found fascinating.
Bolero, as many of you may know, begins with a snare drum ostinato that continues throughout the piece, which is one 15-minute crescendo. The rhythm started by the snare drum remains throughout, getting increasingly louder until it is joined by another snare drum to ramp up the volume in the final minutes of the piece.
(This is one in a repertoire of pieces that I played when I was in youth orchestra in Indianapolis, ages 14-18 or so. I remember getting so tired with this pizzicato as our conductor tediously rehearsed each wind instrument solo. )
back to the OSR, and tonight's bolero. I was really struck by how quietly they began this piece, and with how much restraint they played. The first flute solo was so beautiful and so audaciously soft. However, as the piece progressed, it got steadily louder but never got loud enough. I felt like the orchestra was more concerned about staying in rhythm and playing with a nice sound than playing the music, and just letting it go and get really loud and huge and raucous at the end. that was disappointing.
something about this interpretation seems very swiss though. nothing too out of control.
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