New London – The Eastern Connecticut Symphony Orchestra began its 2018-19 season Saturday at the Garde Arts Center with trapeze-like performances of four distinctive pieces, including three rhapsodies, all of which called for intricate coordination among all four sections of the ensemble.
“It was terrifying,” one member of the orchestra could be heard saying after the performance, which was attended by about 900 people and that began at the new ECSO start time of 7:30, a half hour earlier than concerts of the past.
There were a few wobbles at the beginning as players worked out opening-night jitters, but the overall effect was masterful, as music director and conductor Toshiyuki Shimada drew out all the tempo changes and dynamic variances to enhance the drama.
The highlight of the evening had to be Sergei Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini,” Op. 43, featuring the smoking hot playing of pianist Svetlana Smolina, who came out on stage in a glittering red strapless gown so beguiling that the audience chuckled when she had to adjust her dress to be comfortable enough to sit in front of the keys.
Never letting her concentration waver, Smolina proceeded to pounce on each note with either great ferocity or eager tenderness, majestically alternating between a clump of chords and a cascade of shimmering harplike high notes.
This rhapsody is a real showpiece, with one of the most romantic melodies of all time, and the execution of the work was exquisite, Shimada wringing every last sentiment out the string section while Smolina alternately marched and gamboled up and down the keys right up until the humorous and unexpected ending.
The audience gave Smolina and the orchestra one of the most extended standing ovations ever during an ECSO concert.
The Rachmaninoff piece had been preceded by George Enescu’s “Romanian Rhapsody,” Opus 11, No. 1, a lively and colorful piece that proved very enjoyable, with its danceable Romanian folk melodies influenced by gypsy music, not to mention its frenetic pace. The orchestration included a piccolo solo that burst forth like a teapot whistle and had several members of the audience holding their ears, and later the circus-like tempo full of trumpet wails, cymbal crashes and kettle drum rolls kept the audience fully engaged, except for a brief interlude in the balcony when the ECSO youth orchestra and string ensemble were allowed to filter into the back of the Garde during the performance.
(It should be noted that the young people were a great addition to the orchestra as it played the national anthem to start the season, and it was wonderful to see them in the audience as well, but perhaps the ECSO should have allowed more time for them to get from the stage to their seats.)
Two other pieces on the night, Maurice Ravel’s “Rapsodie espagnole” and Christopher Rouse’s “Rapture,” were equally engaging.
"Rapture," one of the few ECSO performances featuring a living composer, is a real find, starting out as a tone poem solidified by the ostinato line of the double basses and featuring bird-like melodies in the flute section as well as the interesting juxtaposition of the bassoon and violin.
As the tempo gradually increases throughout the piece, the brass and percussion sections become more prominent, with the unusual scoring calling for a bass drum, triangle, tam-tam, chimes and glockenspiel. The unusual combinations in the percussion section combined with the gradually increasing tempo required a circus-like performance by Shimada, who brilliantly cued players and held the sections together as the piece came to its thrilling and beautiful ending.
Ravel’s masterpiece, a big and brooding homage to the composer’s Basque heritage, needed no introduction to the ECSO crowd, and as with other works on the night Shimada did not offer one, an unusual departure for the maestro. Instead, he let his players do the talking, spinning out a dramatic interpretation of the Spanish melodies, full of fire and rhythmic perfection featuring castanets and the tambourine. The final festival movement brimmed with lively playing, particularly in the woodwinds, bringing the evening to an exciting and upbeat conclusion.
Argentinian famous blog "Blueberry Musica" invited Svetlana to give an interview prior her recital at CCK Symphony Hall:
http://blueberrymusica.blogspot.com.ar/2017/10/nos-encontrabamos-aguardando-en-el.html
http://blueberrymusica.blogspot.com.ar/p/blog-page.html
LIFESTYLES
Review by Kay Anthony
Every once in awhile, members of Ponca City Concert Association are surprised and thrilled to find just one of the concerts during the season is more than worth the whole membership. Hearing critically acclaimed Russian pianist, Svetlana Smolina on March the 19 on the Poncan Theater stage was the one for me this year. I had read that she was an outstanding pianist with a luxuriant tone, that had impressed critics and audiences the world over, but I was not prepared for the amazing talent Live on Stage and our board members had booked for us.
Just for fun, during the intermission, I decided to ask as many people as I could for a one word adjective to describe how they had felt about the concert thus far. Some of the many comments, most similar in meaning, but all having their own special take were awesome, excellent, fantastic, wonderful, enchanting, marvelous, mesmerizing, brilliant, intense, scintillating and wow! One could not just say one word and said simply, “a stellar performance”.
Others wanted to comment on her appearance, which was over the top. The statuesque beauty had long blonde hair down to her waist, and easily could have been a model. The first half she appeared on stage in a floor length tangerine ball gown, and the second half, changed into a teal/blue sequined gown that she said she had put on especially for her performance of “Blue Danube”. When she played it later, we would not have cared what she had on, but were truly transported to the Danube River as she played a most difficult arrangement of the complete Strauss waltz. In introducing the number, she said when she was first given the score, she looked for the other piano part because there were too many notes for one pianist. Somehow, she mastered the arrangement and it truly was one of the favorites of the evening.
A grouping of pieces from Tchaikovsky’s “”Nutcracker Suite” was especially fun to hear in piano arrangements rather than with a full orchestra. The well known “March” followed by “Dance of the Fairy Draget” conjured up pictures of the ballet, but “Trepak” at the end was so fast and furious I had trouble imagining someone being able to dance that fast. It was a great way to end this suite and was over almost before it began.
Other selections from Chopin, Schumann, Shubert and Balakirev were equally played to perfection but too numerous to comment on all individually in this review. However the Balakirev number was, according to Svetlana, one of the hardest pieces in piano literature, and she said she had to work the most on it, and shed many tears, in learning it. To say the least, this practice paid off and it was incredible.
Born in Russia, but having been in the United States for some time, she still had a Russian accent, but managed to communicate with us exceptionally well as she explained about each of the works in detail. I reminded a few who said they couldn’t understand everything she said, how hard it would be for us to be in Russia and try to do the same thing to their audiences, speaking their difficult language! I gave her an “A” for effort and thought she was charming, and appreciated her ability to laugh at herself. One very endearing statement she made that we all understood was the fact that she loved playing in our breathtaking Poncan Theater and said she had been in few concert halls as beautiful as ours, and hoped that we appreciated it, and would really like to be invited back. In many classical concerts, there are a string of lengthy compositions, some by composers at least I had not heard of. However, Svetlana chose familiar composers and pieces for the most part that we could identify with and really enjoy her renditions of them. Another audience favorite was Franz Liszt’s “Liebestraum”, sometimes called “Dream of Love”. People who have visited European countries were again transported to the country and many memories came to our minds upon hearing such classics. Another in this same vein was Bizet’s opera, “Carmen”, which took place in a cigar factory in Seville, Spain with a bull fighting theme. This piece happened to be her last one, and her whole demeanor changed as she threw herself into the bull fighting section. The whole number was emotion packed and as she said, usually was a show stopper. She teased that she hoped we would still remember other numbers she had played prior to the last one.
Although she didn’t give an encore performance, she received a standing ovation practically before this last number was over. We all wished for more, but knew this special concert had to come to an end and I am quite sure not one in attendance left not thinking they had been highly entertained by one of the best.
The last concert of the season, Stringfever, will be on April 14 at which time memberships for next season will have been sold and those holding new memberships will be admitted to this concert too.
Information on the drive will be in The Ponca City News soon, but those wanting it now can call Leslie Rardin at 765-3971.
http://assets.mediaspanonline.com/prod/12797521/pcn-2016-03-23-a-006.pdf
October 21, 2015
"Four unfinished portrait" - a music subscription with the same name opens tomorrow night in the Nizhny Novgorod Philharmonic. The first concert dedicated to Sergei Rachmaninoff. Today the artists had a final rehearsal. It was visited by the film crew of the program "Vesti - Volga region".
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http://elcomercio.pe/blog/operaperu/2015/10/svetlana-smolina-brillo-en-lima
(Ópera Perú) La pianista rusa Svetlana Smolina hizo una particular y muy intensa presentación este jueves 24 de setiembre en el Auditorio Santa Úrsula.
El evento fue especial ya que la joven intérprete dedicó al público limeño un programa doble, algo muy inusual en las salas de concierto. En la primera parte, Smolina ofreció un recital de piano en el cual demostró su versatilidad interpretando obras de Tchaikovsky, Schumann, Chopin y Liszt. Esta obras tenían como tema conductor el amor. Hablamos de la suite “Cascanueces” de Tchaikovsky, Scherzos de Chopin, “Widmung” de Schumann, y “Liebestraum” de Liszt. Todas las obras fueron aplaudidas efusivamente.
En la segunda parte Smolina interpretó el famoso segundo concierto para piano y orquesta de Rachmaninov, junto a la nueva Orquesta FIlarmónica Teresa Quesada, la cual está conformada por los mejores músicos del país. La orquesta estuvo bajo la dirección el experimentado Pablo Sabat.
Así es como Svetlana Smolina mostró su versatilidad y talento en un programa intenso que dio grandes satisfacciones al público.
Opera de Monte Carlo, Monaco. Recital with Vadim Repin for Prince Albert II Foundation
Review from the recital with Vadim Repin, Koerner Hall, Royal Conservatory, Toronto, CA
http://www.examiner.com/review/vadim-repin-tears-it-up-at-koerner-hall
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