I quite enjoyed the Dartmouth Symphony on Saturday night. And I love the photo (at left) that they used to publicize the show.
In general this was a high caliber performance, and I feel lucky to have it so accessible. Students are in front in the orchestra, but there are a fair number of other professionals involved. For example, there were 3 students violists listed, but 8 playing, 4 students cellists with 8 playing, 1 student bassist but 3 playing. And I bet that these students aren’t music majors, but are all doing other stuff, and still finding time to practice 2 or 3 hours a day.
The first piece was a short and sweet piece for strings only by Tchaikovsky. It made a nice introduction to the concert.
The second item was a Cello Concerto by Shostakovich. The soloist was Bonnie Thron, who I had heard was a Hanover native, although this wasn’t in the program. She was a tall and striking woman, playing on a small platform facing the audience, providing a very good view of her playing. I particularly liked the first part of the 2nd movement, which was very lush. This was followed by a long solo cello cadenza. I am sure it was played well, and certainly it was interesting to watch her expressive technique, but the music really didn’t appeal to me.
After intermission, it was time for Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. It’s strange but I really have not heard this played very often in concert. Perhaps there is a fear that it is too much of a cliche or something, but it really is such a great piece of music. The dynamic contrast, starting right off, going from very loud to very soft, is something that is really spectacular when heard live. Also, the tempo was quite fast – faster than in the recordings I have.
This piece drew an ovation from the audience, as might be expected. The encore piece was a short Trepak from the Nutcracker Suite – lively and fun.