{"id":14048,"date":"2016-03-16T23:26:22","date_gmt":"2016-03-17T06:26:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/?p=14048"},"modified":"2016-03-20T12:36:16","modified_gmt":"2016-03-20T19:36:16","slug":"this-weekend-at-the-oregon-symphony","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2016\/03\/16\/this-weekend-at-the-oregon-symphony\/","title":{"rendered":"this weekend at the oregon symphony"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Don
Don Quixote – Picasso<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If this past weekend’s Oregon Symphony concerts were a bit of a programming head-scratcher\u00b9, this weekend’s are right on the money. Three (not four) works, each a stunning examples of their composer at the height of his powers.<\/p>\n

Haydn’s Symphony No. 90 is, well, his ninetieth work in the genre – and with Haydn, if a symphony hasn’t gotten a nickname, it’s going to be hard to pick from a lineup. That aside, it’s a fantastic work that seems to have a little bit of everything. The winds and strings all get a good workout with some crazy passage work in the outer movements. The two inner movements are a double-variation\u00a0Andante<\/em>, which has some gorgeous moments for both the principal flute and oboe (with a bit of “anything you can do, I can do better” oneupmanship), and a quite refined (for Haydn)\u00a0Menuetto<\/em>. But it’s the last movement that has the big joke – most likely aimed at his patron Prince Esterhazy – the finale that won’t quit ending. It proved confounding to early audiences, and I’m betting that we’ll get a lot of people to applaud at the “wrong” (but actually, in terms of the joke, the “right”) time.<\/p>\n

Brahms’ Variations of a Theme of Haydn<\/em> follows, and aside from having an inordinate amount of viola audition excerpts embedded in its confines, it is one of the most perfect gems of an orchestral piece that Brahms ever wrote. The theme is lovely, and orchestrated so perfectly, and then it is simply transported. Not just varied, but taken to entirely new emotionally experiential planes. And the way he mashes everything back together in the finale is something that only Bach was able to do better.<\/p>\n

The ‘big’ piece on the program is what I regard as Richard Strauss’ most masterful tone poem,\u00a0Don Quixote<\/em>. So much of Strauss’ work can be seen as simply facile and emotionally remote, with emphasis placed upon beauty over every other consideration. Here, however, we get our third set of variations in this program (yes – some subtle, cleverly tight programming here, not shouting it at the audience, preening for attention, high marks for this!) that tell the story of the addled knight errant (represented by the solo cellist) and his faithful, not-the-sharpest-knife-in-the-drawer companion, Sancho Panza (of course, represented by the viola, along with the bass clarinet and tenor tuba) as they seek to save the Don’s hallucinated damsel in distress, Dulcinea. It is an incredible journey, vividly told, and while beautiful, also very deeply emotional in its description of a once proud man losing his very grip on reality.<\/p>\n

I’m very much looking forward to preparing these works, and hope you can join us for what should prove to be a remarkable concert!<\/p>\n

www.orsymphony.org<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00b9Four work concerts almost never work. The concert is either two long overall, or one half is unbalanced. In general, it feels like one extra work has been shoehorned into the standard formula. In addition, having the\u00a0Quiet City<\/em> soloists play from the midst of the orchestra and then proceeding directly into\u00a0Miraculous Mandarin<\/em> deprived them of a proper solo bow (and audience appreciation), and the cityscape connection was so tenuous as to be nonexistent, so radically different were the sound worlds. Just my opinion, your mileage may vary…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

If this past weekend’s Oregon Symphony concerts were a bit of a programming head-scratcher\u00b9, this weekend’s are right on the money. Three (not four) works, each a stunning examples of their composer at the height of his powers. Haydn’s Symphony No. 90 is, well, his ninetieth work in the genre – and with Haydn, if […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[3747,3672,3749,3746,3668,3748],"class_list":["post-14048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-orchestra-world","tag-brahms-haydn-variations","tag-cello","tag-christian-poltera","tag-haydn-symphony-90","tag-oregon-symphony","tag-strauss-don-quixote"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-3EA","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6124,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2011\/04\/06\/opening-statements\/","url_meta":{"origin":14048,"position":0},"title":"opening statements","author":"Charles Noble","date":"April 6, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"\u00a0 The concert the Oregon Symphony is presenting this weekend has been given the title \"A Pair of Sixth Symphonies\". The first of the pair is by a Czech composer who many have heard of, Bohuslav Martinu, but whose works most likely have remained unknown to the vast majority of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "appreciation"","block_context":{"text":"appreciation","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/appreciations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/kunsthandel_stephan_andreewitch_ansicht_von_wien_von_ptzleinsdorf_aus_gesehen_12573345815208-e1302140214362.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":13320,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2014\/05\/08\/mahlers-das-lied-von-der-erde-rare-portland-performance\/","url_meta":{"origin":14048,"position":1},"title":"mahler’s ‘das Lied von der Erde’ – rare Portland performance","author":"Charles Noble","date":"May 8, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm gestating a blog entry about community\u00a0orchestras, but in the meantime, please enjoy this video featuring Principal trumpeter Jeff Work and Acting principal bassist Ted Botsford, as they talk about why this weekend's concert featuring Franz Joseph Haydn's \"Miracle\" Symphony No. 96 and Gustav Mahler's Symphony Without a Number \"Das\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "concert preview"","block_context":{"text":"concert preview","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/concert-preview\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/05\/13954860379_1055d198ce_o.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14052,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2016\/03\/21\/a-huge-thank-you\/","url_meta":{"origin":14048,"position":2},"title":"a huge thank you","author":"Charles Noble","date":"March 21, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"I don't normally do things like this on the blog, but I needed to express my heartfelt thanks to all of my colleagues at the Oregon Symphony for their support and love this weekend. I was called upon, with\u00a0just a few minutes notice, to play principal viola for this past\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"FullSizeRender-3","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/FullSizeRender-3-e1458579101443.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/FullSizeRender-3-e1458579101443.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/FullSizeRender-3-e1458579101443.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/FullSizeRender-3-e1458579101443.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":459,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/10\/04\/web-ticket-offer-from-oregon-symphony\/","url_meta":{"origin":14048,"position":3},"title":"web ticket offer from Oregon Symphony","author":"Charles Noble","date":"October 4, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"This will be a great concert, and for $10 - c'mon, it's a steal! $10 Friends and Family offer Spanish Splendor with the Oregon Symphony October 13-15 Carlos Kalmar, conductor Patricia Risley, mezzo-soprano Join us for an evening filled with mystery and surprise\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 love, passion and seduction. Featuring the cheerful,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "the orchestra world"","block_context":{"text":"the orchestra world","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/the-orchestra-world\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/10\/oslogo.png?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":989,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/05\/23\/a-look-back-pt-1\/","url_meta":{"origin":14048,"position":4},"title":"a look back, pt. 1","author":"Charles Noble","date":"May 23, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"I thought I'd start off next Monday by taking a retrospective at the 2007-2008 OSO season, both on stage and off. But for now, a list of the works we performed this season on the Classical Subscription and Inside the Score series. I'm always somewhat dumbfounded when I look through\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "music"","block_context":{"text":"music","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7528,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2012\/04\/24\/oregon-symphony-broadcast-schedule-announced\/","url_meta":{"origin":14048,"position":5},"title":"oregon symphony broadcast schedule announced","author":"Charles Noble","date":"April 24, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Finally! The Oregon Symphony is back on the airwaves, and not only our local FM station (89.9 FM Allclassical.org), but streamed around the world and available for two weeks after the broadcast date as an archived stream. Kahane Plays Mozart Carlos Kalmar, conductor Jeffrey Kahane, piano Vaughan Williams: Symphony No.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "radio"","block_context":{"text":"radio","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/303"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14048\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}