Jennifer Higdon<\/strong> \u2013 blue cathedral American composer and flautist Jennifer Higdon, now in her early sixties, wrote her orchestral concerto blue cathedral<\/em> almost 25 years in the past as a fee to commemorate the seventy fifth anniversary of Philadelphia\u2019s Curtis Institute of Music however it emerged as one thing far more private. Her youthful brother, Andrew Blue Higdon, had simply died of pores and skin most cancers and that occasion seeped into the piece. The brief work has turn out to be certainly one of her most carried out and it’s simple to listen to why when performed like this by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra beneath Vasily Petrenko. Higdon has created a sonic journey by way of area and into heaven. The music is reflective, contemplative, with chimes and ringing percussion; glasses half full of water, orchestra members holding and gently rotating tiny Baoding<\/em> (aka Chinese well being) balls. There can also be very tender writing for the strings and Peter Grimes<\/em> immediately got here to thoughts. Fragmentary chords for flute (Andrew Blue\u2019s instrument, immaculately performed on this event by Emer McDonough) and clarinet (Jennifer Higdon\u2019s instrument, performed completely now by Katherine Lacy) intertwine and interact tenderly; in the end the temper darkens. The motion then, nonetheless, turns into extra optimistic because the journey positive aspects momentum. Higdon\u2019s compositional fashion has been described as neoromantic (although there aren’t any discernible melodies), and sticks to tonality. It may be very simple listening fashionable music, and infrequently has been criticised for that. Often, with fashionable music, you simply can’t win.<\/p>\n Part German, half Japanese violinist Arabella Steinbacher delivered a high-quality efficiency of Prokofiev\u2019s Second Violin Concerto earlier than the interval; the concerto is extra typical than his earlier, bolder compositions (akin to his First Violin Concerto, composed some 18 years earlier), with melodies primarily based on Russian folks tunes. Prokofiev wanted to appease Stalin as, in 1935, Prokofiev needed to depart Paris and the United States and re-settle in Russia. Steinbacher recorded each concertos with Petrenko and the Russian National Orchestra some ten years in the past to nice vital acclaim. In the opening Allegro moderato, <\/em>Steinbacher was in flip vivid and heat, although often I needed for higher quantity. Steinbacher held us spellbound within the central lyrical Adagio, <\/em>then entertained us within the last exhilarating dance, with its uncommon references to Spain and clacking castanets (the premi\u00e8re of the concerto was held in Madrid). Petrenko was clearly very a lot at house with the work, and his orchestra adopted his directions to the letter, holding down the quantity as a lot as attainable. Petrenko and the RPO have cast a wonderful partnership. Steinbacher\u2019s partaking fashion received over the viewers and we had been rewarded with an encore, a part of Prokofiev\u2019s Sonata for Solo Violin.<\/p>\n Berlioz\u2019s Symphonie Fantastique<\/em> was described by Leonard Bernstein as the primary musical expedition into psychedelia and that’s how the orchestra marketed this entire live performance. History suggests Berlioz composed no less than a portion of it beneath the affect of opium. The orchestra had been on completely their high kind, throughout all sections and taking part in like this the orchestra can definitely compares favourably with any of the world\u2019s most interesting ensembles. Petrenko carried out with finesse, readability bordering on nearly navy precision; the strings specifically sounded very good, the final two actions had been thrilling and crisply executed. Kiyomi Seed, second timpanist, caught eye and ear all through, so rhythmic and fascinating to look at. The growling tuba made us all smile. This was an exquisite live performance and I already sit up for their subsequent on the Royal Festival Hall (Shostakovich\u2019s mighty Eighth Symphony, on June seventh).<\/p>\n John Rhodes<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n [ad_2]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [ad_1] United Kingdom Higdon, Prokofiev, Berlioz: Arabella Steinbacher (violin), Royal Philharmonic Orchestra \/ Vasily Petrenko (conductor). Royal Festival Hall, London 10.5.2023. (JR) Vasily Petrenko conducts the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra \u00a9 Mark Allen Jennifer Higdon \u2013 blue cathedralProkofiev \u2013 Violin Concerto, No.2 Op.64Berlioz \u2013 Symphonie Fantastique, Op.14 American composer and flautist Jennifer Higdon, now in her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":102283,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-102281","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-theatre"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102281","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102281\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102283"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/showbizztoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"United](\"https:\/\/seenandheard-international.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/world-flags\/images\/flags\/24\/gb.png\" "\\"United")
United Kingdom<\/span><\/span><\/span> Higdon, Prokofiev, Berlioz:<\/span> <\/strong>Arabella Steinbacher (violin), Royal Philharmonic Orchestra \/ Vasily Petrenko (conductor). Royal Festival Hall, London 10.5.2023. (JR)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/seenandheard-international.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/253675-vasily-petrenko-with-the-royal-philharmonic-orchestra-at-the-royal-festival-hall-wednesday-23-march-2022-credit-mark-allen-500x327.jpg\")
<\/em>Prokofiev <\/strong>\u2013 Violin Concerto, No.2 Op.64
Berlioz<\/strong> \u2013 Symphonie<\/em> Fantastique, Op.14<\/p>\n