![](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/12\/profit.jpg?resize=177%2C150\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
It was great to meet up with OSO president Elaine Calder as I walked up to the stage door before the concert tonight to hear the words “the house sold well tonight”. And the snow which we’d been threatened with never materialized (always sure box office death here in snow-phobic Portland).<\/p>\n
It’s far too early to say at all whether this is the first of many concerts that will sell well – and bring the welcome (and in recent years all-too-rare) sight of a full or nearly full Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall. But it’s a start.<\/p>\n
The concert went pretty well – in some cases very well, indeed. The opening of the concert saw a much-reduced string section plus harpsichord for the Vivaldi Four Seasons<\/em>. Solo violinist Elina V\u00c3\u00a4h\u00c3\u00a4l\u00c3\u00a4 gave a spirited and technically stunning account of the four concertos which each evoke a different season of the year. For my money, the best moments were all in the slow movements of the concertos, when V\u00c3\u00a4h\u00c3\u00a4l\u00c3\u00a4 provided a kaleidoscopic variety of sound – from full-throated to nearly a whisper – and played some simply gorgeous ornaments to the normally spare and simple melodic lines, especially in Spring<\/em> and Winter<\/em>. I’d love to hear her play the Sibelius concerto, or the Mendelssohn – she has the perfect sound for those pieces: lean but not slight, projecting but not penetrating, and able to shift from warm to icy cold in an instant. I said it yesterday – buy tickets to this set of concerts – you won’t be sorry.<\/p>\n Edward Elgar’s In the South<\/em> came next, and I think that this piece really shows (along with the Also Sprach Zarathustra<\/em> from the season opener) the growth in the orchestra under the direction of Carlos Kalmar. The virtuosity of the orchestra is really becoming a factor – this Elgar is not<\/em> an easy piece, and we were reading it down quite handily at the first rehearsal. The orchestra is coming to the hall ready to play, and our game faces are on. It’s not just the influx of new faces that is raising the bar, the veterans are also stepping up to meet the challenge, and it’s a fun band to be in when it’s going full-tilt. On this subject, I was pleased to hear a story the other day of a comment made by a distinguished visitor. Our principal oboist, Marty Hebert<\/a>, is the son of the former piccolo player of the Cleveland Orchestra<\/a>, William Hebert<\/a>, who played in that orchestra from 1947-1988, including the terrifying reign of George Szell<\/a>. He came to hear a rehearsal and a concert with the OSO, and was heard to remark “that is quite a disciplined orchestra”. This is like having Donald Trump come to your house and say “you really know how to make money”. High praise – for the Cleveland Orchestra is above all an orchestra which prides itself on discipline – holding a high standard at all times.<\/p>\n The show repeats Sunday and Monday<\/a> in Portland, then we take the show on the road to Salem<\/a>, at Willamette University.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It was great to meet up with OSO president Elaine Calder as I walked up to the stage door before the concert tonight to hear the words “the house sold well tonight”. And the snow which we’d been threatened with never materialized (always sure box office death here in snow-phobic Portland). It’s far too early […]<\/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":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[115,2],"tags":[67,55,3666,3662,62,3660,3659],"class_list":["post-559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-music","category-the-orchestra-world","tag-classical","tag-orchestra","tag-oregon","tag-portland","tag-symphony","tag-viola","tag-violin"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pa8kC-91","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":70,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2006\/08\/26\/first-concert-of-2nd-decade-is-done\/","url_meta":{"origin":559,"position":0},"title":"First concert of 2nd decade is done…","author":"Charles Noble","date":"August 26, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Tonight we played a mixed-bag sort of program as part of the symphony-in-the-parks concerts at Harrison Park in S.E. Portland. We had a pretty good crowd, and the weather was warm (high 80's) though the sun was largely down by the time we got to the 7 p.m. start 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":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5528,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2010\/11\/05\/portland-youth-philharmonic-concert-saturday\/","url_meta":{"origin":559,"position":1},"title":"portland youth philharmonic concert saturday","author":"Charles Noble","date":"November 5, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm sad that I'm going to miss this concert - the season opener for the Portland Youth Philharmonic - at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall Saturday night.\u00a0 For one thing, it's an all-American concert - a relative rarity in concert halls these days.\u00a0 In addition, it's an opportunity to hear\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\/2010\/11\/walkingColor5x7-285x400.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":172,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2007\/01\/17\/snow-daze\/","url_meta":{"origin":559,"position":2},"title":"snow daze","author":"Charles Noble","date":"January 17, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"snow at the pool, originally uploaded by nobleviola. We had an unexpected snow storm hit the Portland metro area Tuesday morning. Of course, it should have been expected, as our intelligence-challenged local forcasters insisted that only minor flurries would mar an otherwise pristine day. The rest of us, city governments\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":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":13889,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2015\/09\/04\/waterfront-concert-thanks-for-turning-out-portland\/","url_meta":{"origin":559,"position":3},"title":"waterfront concert – thanks for turning out, portland!","author":"Charles Noble","date":"September 4, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"click image to view gallery full size","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\/2015\/09\/IMG_5030.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/IMG_5030.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/IMG_5030.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/IMG_5030.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":7639,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2012\/05\/31\/feeling-horny\/","url_meta":{"origin":559,"position":4},"title":"feeling horny?","author":"Charles Noble","date":"May 31, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Tonight, the NW Horn Orchestra presents its sixth (!) annual blowout (sorry) at the Old Church. The concert will feature 20 of the top horn players from around Oregon, and the program will include works by Bach, Bizet, Gabrielli, and \u00a0Barber, as well as a new work commissioned from Kevin\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "french horn"","block_context":{"text":"french horn","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/instruments\/french-horn\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/image001-300x463.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":638,"url":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/2008\/01\/03\/pyp-chamber-concert-coming-up\/","url_meta":{"origin":559,"position":5},"title":"pyp chamber concert coming up","author":"Charles Noble","date":"January 3, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Ingrid Arnett Community Relations Director (503) 223-5939, ingrid@portlandyouthphil.org America's first youth orchestra presents chamber music concert PORTLAND, OR - (January 3, 2008) Members of the Portland Youth Philharmonic, America's first youth orchestra, will present a CHAMBER MUSIC CONCERT on January 13, 2008 in the Portland Art\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "chamber music"","block_context":{"text":"chamber music","link":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/category\/music\/chamber-music\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559","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=559"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/559\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nobleviola.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}