Marina Nebro: Arts and Culture

The Queens College Orchestra Conducted by JoAnn Falletta

My last mention of the Queens College Orchestra was back during my first semester here. It was then led by Maestro Maurice Peress, but because of his sabbatical, is now being led by various guest conductors. The repertoire from tonight’s concert, conducted by JoAnn Falletta is also being performed tomorrow, conducted by Tong Chen and Alex Yu.

June 2011 … Edward Smaldone

Concerto for English Horn and Orchestra … Ned Rorem
Preamble and Amble
Love Letter
Recurring Dream
Perpetual Motion
Medley and Prayer

Scheherazade … Rimsky-Korsakoff
The Sea and Sinbad’s Ship.
The Kalendar Prince.
The Young Prince and The Young Princess.
Festival at Baghdad. The Sea. The Ship breaks against a cliff.

Professor Smaldone is the Director of the Aaron Copland School of Music here at Queens College. Little did I know that he is also a composer! June 2011 is a piece that he wrote back in, well, June 2011. In the program notes, he describes this particular month as a special one yet also a month not so different from any other. In some ways that month was intensely exceptional, in other ways it was like many months prior or since. What I have to say to that comment is that it was extremely different from other months, because it was in this particular month that June 2011 was composed.

The piece begins with an excited air to it. He says the motives and melodies were tossed from choir to choir in a kind of highly spirited dialogue evoking the exuberant rhythms of jazz. As I was listening to the piece, I heard lines that reminded me much of Leonard Bernstein’s “Boys” from West Side Story. The jazz feel was definitely there, as well as the jumping around of the melody – similar to the dance number in the musical. He ends the composition with a soft airiness that was absent from the beginning with the loud percussion and brass. If this month were truly a special month, it must have been filled with many different emotions. The music reflects this whirlwind as the tempo, dynamics, and articulations change throughout, transforming a harsh, exciting piece into a peaceful and melancholy one.

Ned Rorem’s Concerto for English Horn and Orchestra was performed by Edino Biaggi, an Argentinian prodigy who has grown up to perform in many orchestras and important venues throughout South America and is now a faculty member at the Aaron Copland School of Music. I loved reading that Edino performed his first concert tour when he was nine. This reminds me of a close family friend, Maxim Lando, who is in a similar position now – a fifth grade student who has performed concertos and chamber music all over the East Coast and even in Italy.

The composer, Ned Rorem was very conscious about the instrument he chose to be featured. He says the English Horn cannot hold its own against an orchestra as singularly as a piano or trumpet or cello or flute. I noticed that the composition paid close attention to the soloist’s entrances, as they were always highlighted with a soft orchestra playing in the background. As a musician who has previously performed a concerto, I know that it is not always the case that the soloist is allowed to shine this way throughout the entire piece, but rather will frequently play in unison with the entire orchestra (at least that was the situation with the Bach F Minor Concerto). Before reading the program notes by Rorem, I recognized the heavy use of other double reeded instruments (oboe and bassoon) in the background. To make the sound gleam like an opaline reed through a wash of brass and silver… I used an orchestra… with a pair of oboes like nephews often flanking, sometimes goading, their wistful relative. Very often the oboe or bassoon would echo the line played by Biaggi. This was very prevalent in the movement titled “Love Letter,” as the oboe, bassoon, and english horn would converse with each other, as if they were the pen writing on paper.

Most of the movements, excluding “Perpetual Motion” which was loud, exciting, and energetic with the inclusion of a lot of percussion, were very mellow and almost dream like. It is not rare to see a musician get taken up in his performance, and often times I find the player’s movements a bit distracting. I enjoyed Biaggi’s limited motion, especially in such a tranquil piece.

I almost don’t even need to write about Rimsky-Korsakoff’s Scheherazade. If you don’t know this piece off the top of your head, you definitely would recognize it once you heard it. Rimsky-Korsakoff is one of the “Mighty Five,” a group of Russian composers who had the aim of producing a specifically Russian kind of art music, rather than one that imitated older European music. Among these five are also Mily Balakirev, César Cui, Modest Mussorgsky, and Alexander Borodin. Just last night I was listening to WQXR and they broadcasted a piece by Borodin and mentioned his place in the Mighty Five. One of my favorite pieces, recently, is Pictures of an Exhibition by Mussorgsky.

After a dramatic entrance by the horns and lower strings, the piece starts off with a violin solo (Monica Martin). This line of music repeats itself through the composition’s entirety, ultimately ending the last movement. Martin had such a light touch on her violin, though she also created such a strong sound when directed by the music and conductor. The specific line that is repeated throughout starts in the lower notes of the violin – such a rich register. The line ends, though, with the softest and most precious high note.

One thing that I loved about this piece was that it had a narration. Similar to Mussorgsky’s Pictures, Scheherazade follows a narrative and the music really paints a picture in the listener’s head. The last movement, with its crashing symbols, rolling bass drum, and large crescendos and decrescendos really makes the audience feel like it’s on a sinking ship! The flutes play a melody that sounds like the whistling wind as sea water splashes onto your face. This movement, especially, is extremely powerful.

I am never left with disappointment when I go to a Queens College Orchestra concert. If anything, I am left dumbfounded at the amount of talent that my fellow students have! If you haven’t witnessed one of their performances yet, go as soon as you can!

The Queens College Orchestra Concert
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Samuel J. and Ethel LeFrak Concert Hall

Marina B. Nebro

Comment from Karen - March 21, 2013 at 5:58 AM

Really nice review and again… kudos to the students of the Aaron Copland School of Music and all of their instructors. What fine musicians are being trained for the future! BRAVO!

Comment from EMS - March 23, 2013 at 6:56 AM

It was a very special week of concerts at Queens College, especially welcoming back all of the Alumni: JoAnn Falletta, Tong Chen, Alex Yu, Edino Biaggi and even Edward Smaldone (who never left!).
Thanks for this warm assessment. The students did a fantastic job!