The Queens College Orchestra – MAMBO!

College just started.  Music just given out.  Only five rehearsals to get it perfect.  The Aaron Copland School of Music’s College Orchestra, conducted under the outstanding director Maurice Peress, did it.  They were phenomenal!  I went with my roommate, a girl who appreciates the realm of classical, orchestral music, but who, unlike me, doesn’t listen to it exclusively.  She hasn’t been to many live performances of great composers before.  I enjoyed seeing her face glow as she heard Copland’s scenic melody, as shewitnessed Erica Gailing’s flawless performance, and as she waited in such anticipation to shout out “MAMBO!”  It’s always an experience to listen to live orchestra.  There are certain vibrations and emotions in the air that are simply not there when listening to the radio or to CDs.  It’s impossible to simply give an overview of the entire performance so…

Let’s go piece-by-piece, shall we?

Aaron Copland’s Four Dance Episodes from Rodeo 

Imagine.  You’re a handsome cowboy galloping up to a nearby old western town.  You tip your hat to the town’s sheriff, the children running at your side, and the lovely ladies sitting on the porch.  Do they fan themselves to fend off the dire heat of the desert, or are they swooning over your rugged beauty?  You plan to stay a while in this old western town.  You plan to settle down for some time, find that girl of yours, and sweep her off her feet.  Together, you waltz under the bright stars of a desert not yet polluted by extreme light.  But then it’s time to go.  You can’t stay put for too long – you are a rugged cowboy, a loner.  That night before you leave, you stop by the saloon, boisterous with the village drunks and promiscuous women.  You swear it’s your last song, so you live it up!

That’s what I see when I hear Aaron Copland.  His “americana” style is awe inspiring and leaves no one in the audience with a closed mouth.  Jaws drop at the grandiosity of his music.  The orchestra did a magnificent job.  Just watching as the violins fiddled away to the tune makes you want to get out of your seat and do a little dance!

Bruch’s Concerto for Violin and Orchestra in g-minor, Op. 26
Soloist – Ms. Erica Gailing, Violin

This might be one of Bruch’s most well-known pieces of music, next to Scottish Fantasy and Kol Nidrei.  What makes this piece so well-known to me is the fact that at the end of my senior year at Great Neck North High School, my orchestra, under Maestro Joseph Rutkowski, performed the first several minutes of this piece with soloist Eric Zhang.  I sat in the audience, as compared to sitting in the clarinet row, listening to the different parts of the orchestra.  Of course, I couldn’t help but listen to my part – the clarinet – and replay it in my head.  Granted, the piece is a lengthy one, and we couldn’t possibly perform the whole thing back in a high school orchestra.  So when Ms. Erica Gailing, a junior in the Macaulay Honors College, played that last note that Eric had played, but then continued on, I couldn’t help but smiling.  Now I could hear the rest of it!

Erica Gailing was amazing: from her beautiful and flowing white dress, to her closed eyes and feel for the music.  Her bowing was powerful and sharp.  I especially love when violinists play harsh chords, and Bruch is perfect for that!  An overall FANTASTIC performance!

Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from Westside Story

Before the orchestra even lifted their bows, Maestro Peress turned to the audience and said, “I’ve been told the orchestra isn’t loud enough when screaming ‘MAMBO’, so you are going to have to help.”  He told the orchestra to start from four measures before 442 so that the audience could have some practice.  And then they began.

It’s hard to meet someone who doesn’t know Westside Story.  Whether it be the music from the musical or the storyline, it’s world renown.  Now I must be honest, I’m not usually a fan of medleys.  But this medley was specifically written by the composer himself and was a lot more complex than those played in high school orchestras.  What made the performance were the faces of the individual musicians on stage.  You could see their enjoyment of the piece.  You could see the tapping of foots, the smiling faces, and the bobbing of heads.  It’s hard not to smile when an orchestra is happy!

LeFrak Concert Hall
Wednesday afternoon, September 12, 2012 at 12:15
Friday evening, September 14, 2012 at 7:30

Marina B. Nebro