The Arts in New York City

Walking into the New York Philharmonic’s rehearsal, I suddenly had the feeling that I was at the wrong place. Why are there so many people here just for a rehearsal? After a few minutes a sitting down and listening to the performance, I realized the answer.

Featuring Prokofiev’s Romeo and Juliet, the rehearsal also included Liszt’s Les Préludes, Symphonic Poem No. 3, and Elgar’s In the South. The music was exceptional, but the setting seemed odd. Rather than crisp suits and polished shoes, the musicians all appeared pedestrian. The audience members also appeared very informal. Rather than a formal music group, it just seemed as if a random assortment of people were picked from the street and asked to play onstage. Their music, however, separated them from the rest of us.

It is difficult to fathom encapsulating words to describe their performance: beautiful, majestic, mind-blowing. Individually, all of the performers seemed to be on task with the music. For example, the bows of all the performers for a given string section all rose and fell in synch with one another. When the sounds of each instrument came together to produce a gestalt, the true passion and emotions of each piece could truly be felt. From pianissimo to fortissimo and back again, the powerful crescendos made the music worthwhile. Having never heard any of these pieces before, I was filled with awe just listening to them.

It was also interesting to see Riccardo Muti serve as the conductor. His criticisms to the musicians themselves as well as his engaging of the audience kept everyone in the room alert and interested during the performance. My only complaint was the wooden chairs. Even with the amazing performance of the Philharmonic, it was difficult to sit on the chair comfortable for three hours. Even though it was just a rehearsal, seeing the New York Philharmonic perform was one of the best musical experiences I have ever had.

What are some of the essential elements of dance? What makes dance so unique? What makes dance an art form? Incognizant of what dance truly meant, I was given the opportunity to peek inside the world of Dante Adela for three hours.  His discussions, life story, and demonstration of dance have all greatly impacted my current understanding of the topic.

His first exercise involved everyone forming a circle and then pretending we were in a shower, with the water suddenly turning cold. As most of the students tried to show this with their bodies, they ended up laughing. Adela explained that when dancing, you can’t be afraid of looking foolish; he helped show dance’s aspect of vulnerability. With the same exercise, he was able to demonstrate how the body can communicate emotions and thoughts without verbalization. Based on Adela’s body language, by viewing the transition of the water being warm in the shower to the water suddenly turning cold, everyone in the classroom was able view the body’s distress.

Hearing about Adela’s life story was also quite fascinating. Throughout his life, he studied and learned different dance styles, from break dancing to ballet. When he talked about dancing a specific form (ballet, for example), he stated that he tries to incorporate every dance form that he has individually learned into his movements. His dancing is the net result of all of the experiences of his life. Even his martial arts background has affected his dancing.

The video of his dance performance involving the woman was also very significant. Beautifully done, the video involved a drunken man being followed by a woman in white. What was most fascinating was that although everyone in the class had seen the same video, the interpretations were all slightly different. This showed that dance is able to communicate emotions and thoughts, but the exact interpretation is completely open to the viewer. Just one visit with Dante Adela has helped truly expose me to dance. An exceptional artist, he has now made me more open to further exploring and enjoying this intricate art form.

Listening to Julliard Jazz was by far one of the liveliest experiences I have had in very long time. I have heard jazz music before but have never attended a live performance until now.

Improvisation is one of the essential elements of any jazz performance. With solos flying left and right from the ensemble, all of the improvisation pieces were superb. Just by looking at the musicians, you could easily tell that the music had truly swept them away off into another world. The music flowed through each musician and allowed them to play whatever came to mind, enabling the beautiful solos heard. With some musicians closing their eyes, tapping their feet, or snapping their fingers, they were all absorbed by the music, and the audience was brought along for the splendid ride. Each solo was unique and vibrant. Even Frank Wess, a frail, 87 year-old, had come to life when he played, especially during his solos. My favorite solos were from the pianist, who played with a strong rhythm that could easily be absorbed. Frank Wess’ solos were dazzling as well. Such emphasis is placed on these solos because they result solely from what the musician was feeling at that given moment during the performance. These improvisation solos make the performance heard at Julliard Jazz one-of-a-kind (literally).

The musicianship as a whole was also phenomenal. No mistakes were made during playing and everything seemed to be in perfect harmony. Even the song that Frank Wess had introduced to the ensemble, which was only rehearsed for two days, was phenomenal. Out of all the songs, my two favorites were “Tickle Toe,” and “Freckle Face.” Both of these songs had uplifting beats and were a pleasure to listen to. Brandon Lee, despite his young age, did a marvelous job of conducting this passionate group of musicians. The Julliard Jazz Ensemble was one of the best live groups I have ever had the pleasure of viewing. Count Basie would have been proud.

On Thursday November 19^th, 2009 I was in the presence of the world-known Italian conductor Riccardo Muti. The atmosphere was one of angst to see the conductor and hear the famous orchestra. The repertoire included Franz Liszt’s Les Preludes, Symphonic Poem No.3, Edward Elgar’s In the South Overture, and the highlight of the three, Selections from Romeo and Juliet by Sergei Profokiev. The three pieces, although their composition ranged over a century, were each epitomical works of program music.

Many in the audience would have left Lincoln Center fixated with pieces from Romeo and Juliet. It without a doubt was the main feature, however Franz Liszt’s Les Preludes, Symphonic Poem No. 3 served as an incredible headway into the program music. Despite the fact that it was only a fragment of a set, the use of the orchestra to create or depict the emotions, development, and scene he wanted was amazing. The 6- minute piece was broken down into four parts -according to Liszt- which were love, war, beauty of the countryside, and destiny. Muti actually extended the piece an extra minute or so, because the original would have been five minutes. Nevertheless the music was complemented greatly by Muti’s control of the huge orchestra that made use of tone color as exactly Romantic composers did.

The piece began with merely the string the entering. The lower ones began followed by ultimately the violins. This string intro immediately incorporated the brass section with a pushing and ‘all-over’ the place melody which reached its peak with a build up in fortissimo dynamics that lead to a hard drop to a soft tutti phrase. The flutes accentuated the ‘love’ part of the poem with held graceful legato lines.  The ritornello phrase that was focused on throughout made its way back into the piece by individual instruments at a time, and even sections at a time. Dynamics built up intensely in the ‘war’ and ‘destiny’ portion as did the tone color especially with the brass. Muti’s control of the brass section in this piece was unparalleled. He was able to successfully get the most out of them without hurting them too much. The same ritornello fragment that was originally used in ‘love’ was used in the ‘war’, just much at much faster tempos and volumes. In each part of the poem one could tell how Muti followed Liszt’s notation of alternating instrumentations to create the emotions in his sequence. Experiencing the ‘beauty of the countryside’ was the most rewarding. Muti focused on this one more than the other parts and used the delicate woodwinds, and violins to elongate sound. There weren’t many climbs and the brass was hardly used. However, even the powerful brass took turn to beautifully create the ‘natural’ countryside at the conductor’s whim. It was very waltz-like. Muti’s transitions were the most extravagant. In them he explored dynamics and tone color the most. In the last part ‘destiny’ he dictated a fuller sound with the entire orchestra showing off their versatility along with strong percussive accents. Drum rolls, the tympani, and cymbals make the last part the strongest. From his legato ‘love’ piece, to his march-like climb to ‘war’, to the ‘Bambi’-like countryside, and ultimately the extravagant ‘destiny’ he was able to experiment with what Romantics did most, expressiveness and color.

The theme throughout the entire poem was never lost. Muti truly dictated the tempos beautifully as they changed from love, to war, nature, and destiny. The moods of the piece were conveyed even more successfully with the power of the brass even when it was used in lyrical rhythms. That was the most impressive technique, the fact that in one moment instruments that sounded graceful, like the strings, were played vivace to create an eerie sound and vice versa.

Overall, Muti’s casual, yet concentrated demeanor proved that he was worth the money to see. His brilliance as well that of the orchestra was superb. Both he and that ‘animal’ he controlled were in the lime-light that morning, and nothing could stop them. Not even a pink sweater.

The New York Philharmonic Orchestras rehersal was enlightening. As a novice of classical music and orchestras in general, i did not have any expectations and could not say whether i was someone who appreciated classical music or orchestras in general. That changed by the end.

My lack of knowledge was so obvious and acute that after the orchestra had finished warming up (with scales probably), i turned to my classmate and said “they don’t seem very good,” thinking that was an actual piece. However, when the first piece actually did begin i was taken aback by the deepness and complexity of the music which seemed to fill the room. I have heard scores in the background of movies, i had never heard one live, and it was different to say the least. The music had a sort of fullness and gave a certain satisfaction, particularly when the trumpets and other brass instruments were included. The conductor was not too over the top but still seemed to be doing his job from what i could tell, and some of the most interesting moments were when he would stop the music and verbally engage the musicians. I could not here what he was saying but people in the front row often laughed and he was no doubt offering his constructive criticism. It was interesting to see how a professional conductor interacts with  a professional orchestra.

Despite my appreciating for the orchestra’s uniqueness, i was not entertained by it. I have great veneration for the musicians and i understand why other people appreciate it, to me it was like a bad movie with great effects- impressive and sometimes captivating, but not something i would go to again. My interest had reached its peak in the first 5 minutes and was reduced to boredom after the first piece. The entire performance seemed entirely too long, though i cannot say for sure since i am not exactly an aficionado. Those around me who understand and like classical music seemed to have found the music very enjoyable, for a novice like myself, it was not.

Being a fan of the Romeo and Juliet score by Prokofiev, my perception of the rehearsal is biased. Though the interruptions during the music did take away from the flow of some songs, I found the event still extremely enjoyable. I have never heard the New York Philharmonic and I have never heard the score played by a live orchestra. So when I heard my favorite selection from the score, “Montagues and Capulets”, I feel in love with it all over again. The sound of all the musical pieces was so crisp and so nuanced that every piece they played, with or without the interruptions, sounded beautiful.I was surprised by the range of the age of the musicians. They ranged from young to old, yet all seemed to play at a very high level. The length of the rehearsal might be good enough for the musicians, but for the listener it can start to seem way too long and make the listener inclined to sleep through a portion of it. If you enjoy classical music though, or enjoy the sound of instruments beautifully collaborating together, then this will be worth the length. The songs played were truly music to my ears.

I think going to the performance would be much more rewarding. You listen to a polished concert with no interruptions; however for someone who has never listened to the philharmonic before, can enjoy the music with the interruptions and wants cheaper tickets, this might be a good performance to attend.