As you may know, this past January 27, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart would have been celebrating his 250th birthday, were he still in a state capable of celebration. Since he is not, the coordinators at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall took it upon themselves to organize a three day, weekend-long tribute. On Friday, the Albany Symphony Orchestra performed: Saturday brought the young talent group From the Top: The New York Philomusica rounded out the celebration on Sunday.
I had never been to an orchestral concert before, and I want to throw that out there right now. So when I got myself a couple of free tickets to the ASO performance, I was not really sure what to expect. And perhaps some of the more striking things I witnessed were fairly commonplace when it comes to live orchestral music. The following is an account of the show from the perspective of a total newbie and his roommate.
Friday night was brisk, making the walk downtown more of a jog to escape the cold, but we quickly warmed up once inside the building. We were a few minutes late, so we were quickly ushered to our seats while maestro Claire Fox Hillard was explaining the piece with which they would start the performance. Immediately after sitting down I noticed that despite sitting in the section of seats reserved by RPI, we were surrounded by well-dressed old people. Luckily, we had on our nice clothes for the occasion. I felt very high class.
The sheer size of the venue was impressive. The room itself has to be four or five stories high, with two balconies and even those little booths on the sides of the music hall where the really rich people with binoculars-on-a-stick would sit back in the day. The general area seats were pretty close together, allowing for quite a crowd in the space available, and also making for an ideal spot to bring a date. Along the ceiling were names of famous composers: Chopin, Haydn, Beethoven, and yep, Mozart.
Speaking of Mozart, the performance began with the first, second, and third movements of his Symphony No. 41, “Jupiter.” The first movement had quite a bit of energy in it, and it brilliantly displayed how a live orchestral concert is far superior to a recording. At one point in the piece, the main melody switched back and forth between the violin and viola sections, making the music dance from one side of the stage to the other. The second movement was much more subdued, but watching the bows of the cello section all move together in perfect unison was mesmerizing. The third movement was faster, like the first, except it brought prominent wind instruments into the fray, almost battling with the strings.
The second piece played was the Piano Concerto No. 19, and the orchestra brought on Frédéric Lacroix, a doctoral student at Cornell and concert pianist, as a special guest. He displayed exceptional ability with the many solos in the piece, especially in the first and third movements. Like the previous piece, the second movement was more mellow than the others, and rather than outstanding solos from the piano, the audience was treated to more of a marriage between the piano and the remainder of the orchestra. Throughout the performance, Lacroix swayed with the music, showed intense facial expressions, and even mouthed some of the piano parts he was playing.
After the piano concerto came the intermission, followed by a short piece, which the conductor explained Mozart wrote at the age of 16 “while all of his friends were hanging out at the mall and playing video games.”
The next piece to be performed was Mozart’s Clarinet Concerto, and for me it was the highlight of the night. Susan Martula, a performer and teacher with extensive clarinet experience, was the guest soloist for this part of the show. She stood centerstage in a sparkling blue dress, standing out against the sea of black worn by the rest of the orchestra. One of the most impressive elements of this part of the show was that Martula played the entire piece without reading off the sheet music, which not only required her to memorize all three movements, but also allowed her to face the audience directly so we could watch her fingers moving furiously on her instrument. When the third movement finished, she received a standing ovation from much of the audience.
The final piece to be played was the fourth movement of “Jupiter,” ending the night where it started. Throughout the piece, most of the orchestra was playing simultaneously, with the strings producing an unrelentingly complex-sounding melody. The piece ended very powerfully, and the show ended.
Overall, the entire experience was very impressive. Not only was the music masterfully played by the soloists and the orchestra, but the venue itself was outstanding. And now, this orchestra concert newbie is going to keep his eye out for future shows down at the Troy Savings Bank Music Hall. Now if only next time I can get myself a date.
