Tonight we played our final concert (in Salem) with Hilary Hahn.\u00a0 The entire orchestra has been excited and inspired by her appearance with us this week, and we’re sorry to see her go.\u00a0 I hope that she returns soon – and with the Higdon Violin Concerto that is paired with the Tchaikovsky that she played this week on her new album!\u00a0 I’ll especially miss the remarkable Bach encores that she played each night.\u00a0 I’m struck by the fact that when she plays Bach, I just hear Bach – not her playing Bach – but Bach speaking directly to me through her.\u00a0 That’s the aim of any honest musician – to give a voice to the composer in the manner the composer intended.<\/p>\n
The rehearsal period for this concert was very intense.\u00a0 Carlos was intent on getting us back to our end-of-season form in record time, and we’re most of the way there, I think.\u00a0 It can be difficult, when the orchestra is apart for nearly nine weeks during the summer, to keep the ensemble cohesive and focused over the summer break.\u00a0 On the plus side, we do return to the new season more refreshed than an ensemble with a full summer season and touring itinerary.<\/p>\n
This week is a very different sort of concert than the one we just finished up.\u00a0 Instead of a contemporary, high energy opening piece, we have the slow and sublime prelude to Wagner’s opera Parsifal<\/em>.\u00a0 Whereas we had the ultimate Romantic concerto in the Tchakovsky violin concerto last week, this week we have the height of Classical elegance with Mozart’s piano concerto no. 24 in c minor, with soloist William Wolfram.\u00a0 And in contrast to the sardonic wit and intimidating power of Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony, we have the piety and reserve of Mendelssohn’s Fifth Symphony “Reformation”.\u00a0 To top it all off: an orchestration of Liszt’s Mephisto Waltz No. 1.\u00a0 Should be fun!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Tonight we played our final concert (in Salem) with Hilary Hahn.\u00a0 The entire orchestra has been excited and inspired by her appearance with us this week, and we’re sorry to see her go.\u00a0 I hope that she returns soon – and with the Higdon Violin Concerto that is paired with the Tchaikovsky that she played […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":303,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1045,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-programming-music","category-the-orchestra-world"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-1pf","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":14152,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2016\/06\/29\/oregon-bach-festival-report-part-one\/","url_meta":{"origin":5409,"position":0},"title":"oregon bach festival report – part one","author":"Charles Noble","date":"June 29, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"On Tuesday night, the Oregon Bach Festival gave the first concert of\u00a0its\u00a0modern orchestra, the Oregon Bach Festival Orchestra (there might be an additional 'festival' missing in there, but it bothers me, so I'm leaving\u00a0it out). It was a special concert, one of two that I can recall during my time\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\/2016\/03\/macmillan_conducts.jpg?fit=270%2C270&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12763,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2013\/07\/07\/obf-passing-the-baton\/","url_meta":{"origin":5409,"position":1},"title":"obf – passing the baton","author":"Charles Noble","date":"July 7, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"It was my final performance at the Oregon Bach Festival for 2013, and it was quite a historical event for the festival. This concert marked the symbolic 'passing of the baton' from founding Artistic Director Helmut Rilling to the Artistic Director Designate Matthew Halls. Rilling conducted a family affair first\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "soloists & recitals"","block_context":{"text":"soloists & recitals","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/soloists-recitals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/1044258_10151705975801162_893702049_n.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/1044258_10151705975801162_893702049_n.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/1044258_10151705975801162_893702049_n.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/1044258_10151705975801162_893702049_n.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":14164,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2016\/07\/11\/oregon-bach-festival-2016-wrap-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":5409,"position":2},"title":"oregon bach festival 2016 wrap-up","author":"Charles Noble","date":"July 11, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Wow. What a festival this 2016 edition of the Oregon Bach Festival was! Playing OBF has always had its special moments over the years. Since playing my first OBF in the summer of 1996, I've seen so many fantastic singers and instrumentalists come through. Thomas Quasthoff, Yo-Yo Ma, Jeffrey Kahane,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "summer festivals"","block_context":{"text":"summer festivals","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/summer-festivals\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/macmillan_conducts.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":6644,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2011\/06\/24\/bach-festival-musings\/","url_meta":{"origin":5409,"position":3},"title":"bach festival musings","author":"Charles Noble","date":"June 24, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm just entering my first weekend of the Oregon Bach Festival in Eugene, Oregon, and there's a lot going on at the southern end of the Willamette Valley. The OBF is starting its search for a successor to the festival's co-founder and artistic director for the past 41 years, Helmuth\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "appreciation"","block_context":{"text":"appreciation","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/appreciations\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"jeffrey kahane and yo-yo ma at oregon bach festival","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/5864896036_3d439de024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":14784,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2018\/07\/31\/summer-catch-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":5409,"position":4},"title":"summer catch-up","author":"Charles Noble","date":"July 31, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"I can't believe that it's been nearly two months since my last post! Lots of stuff has been happening, musically. In early July I was at the Oregon Bach Festival in Eugene, Oregon. I played three orchestral concerts there, and two chamber music concerts. The orchestral concerts were a mixed\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "music"","block_context":{"text":"music","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/07\/IMG_4363-e1533020147432-500x376.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12732,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2013\/06\/26\/oregon-bach-festival-preview\/","url_meta":{"origin":5409,"position":5},"title":"oregon bach festival preview","author":"Charles Noble","date":"June 26, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"We're just had our first rehearsal of the first week of the 2013 Oregon Bach Festival. 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