Not to short change the rest of the concert, but for me the highlight of our Classical subscription concert last night was the Austrian violinist Benjamin Schmid playing the pants off of the William Bolcom Violin Concerto. He was just rock solid, and aside from the chops, had a clear affinity for the jazz/classical fusion sound world that Bolcom frequently spends a lot of his compositional time in. The concerto is a revelation for me – I had heard it performed only once before, with piano accompaniment, and since it was in the midst of a competition, much of it failed to make an impression on me. Now, having a full rehearsal plus the dress rehearsal to acquaint myself with the work, I have to say that this piece really deserves to be heard much more often. True, it’s a bit over-orchestrated, which requires some diligent work to balance the soloist with the orchestra, but the colors that Bolcom achieves are quite striking and attractive. Plus, the last movement is just about as charming as a piece of classical music can get, I must say! Our soloist this week, Benjamin Schmid, is also an accomplished jazz violinist, as you can see in the video below:
As for the rest of the program, the Rossini Overture to Semiramide featured our spectacular wind section, and they all outdid themselves – earning a “bravo” from the podium (in full voice) during the performance. Well deserved, indeed! The Tchaikovsky First Symphony really came together after a rather rough and apathetic rehearsal (by the orchestra, not the conductor). More great playing from the winds and brass, and we strings acquitted ourselves pretty well, with the viola section getting a rare solo bow.
Sunday afternoon brings the presentation of the Hitchcock film Psycho, with live orchestral accompaniment – if you haven’t yet gotten tickets, plan to show up around 2 pm at the Schnitzer box office to get tickets – there will be a long line to get in.
Online tickets for Psycho – must purchase by 1 p.m. day of show. After that, box office opens at 2:00 p.m.