Here's something you might be interested in.
I have never understood Stravinsky. He's one of the those composers who just hasn't done it for me. Prokofiev? Got it. Ravel? Totally. Shostakovitch? For sure. Mahler? All day.
Why has Stravinsky eluded me? I know I'm supposed to get him. Some say he was the dominant composer of the 20th Century. If there is one thing I admire, it's dominance.
While I'm not a Yankee fan, I admire them. I can't stand the Patriots but I'll watch Tom Brady dominate the opposing defense with joy. I'm not Roman but give me all the biographies you can find on Caesar. I'll shop at Walmart without the slightest prick to my conscious.
When The La Jolla Symphony opened their concert with Stravinsky's Symphonies of Wind Instruments, I was ready to "get it" but failed. I was impressed with the musicianship of the players but failed to understand Stravinsky's musical grammar.
The second piece on the program was Debussy's Danse Sacrée et Danse Profane. This piece was for strings and harp. The harpist was Charissa Barger. Ms. Barger was a winner of the La Jolla Symphony Young Artist Competition.
I'm not a harp expert. The only thing I've heard about the harp is that harpists spend half of their lives tuning their harps and the other half playing out of tune.
Ms. Barger proved that to be a silly joke. Not only was her playing beautiful to hear, it was beautiful to watch. Her hands performed a dance of their own beyond the sacred and profane dances in Debussy's music.
I liked the piecemeal approach to opening the season. First we heard the winds by themselves with the Stravinsky followed by the strings alone with Debussy.
The third piece of music brought the entire orchestra together for Ravel's Mother Goose Suite. The more I listen to Ravel, the more beloved he becomes.
I haven't read much biography on Ravel so I was delighted by the program notes which explained his habit of leaving the adults at a party in order to go play games with their children. This is a temptation that I myself have given into on occasion.
The Mother Goose Suite had all the elements of Ravel that I love. I get it. The La Jolla Symphony delighted the audience with their playing and the first half of the concert ended with a feeling of satisfaction.
Little did we know what was waiting for us after the intermission. Suffice it to say we would be dominated.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJSywT-JlPw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc6LztUH4GE
I have never understood Stravinsky. He's one of the those composers who just hasn't done it for me. Prokofiev? Got it. Ravel? Totally. Shostakovitch? For sure. Mahler? All day.
Why has Stravinsky eluded me? I know I'm supposed to get him. Some say he was the dominant composer of the 20th Century. If there is one thing I admire, it's dominance.
While I'm not a Yankee fan, I admire them. I can't stand the Patriots but I'll watch Tom Brady dominate the opposing defense with joy. I'm not Roman but give me all the biographies you can find on Caesar. I'll shop at Walmart without the slightest prick to my conscious.
When The La Jolla Symphony opened their concert with Stravinsky's Symphonies of Wind Instruments, I was ready to "get it" but failed. I was impressed with the musicianship of the players but failed to understand Stravinsky's musical grammar.
The second piece on the program was Debussy's Danse Sacrée et Danse Profane. This piece was for strings and harp. The harpist was Charissa Barger. Ms. Barger was a winner of the La Jolla Symphony Young Artist Competition.
I'm not a harp expert. The only thing I've heard about the harp is that harpists spend half of their lives tuning their harps and the other half playing out of tune.
Ms. Barger proved that to be a silly joke. Not only was her playing beautiful to hear, it was beautiful to watch. Her hands performed a dance of their own beyond the sacred and profane dances in Debussy's music.
I liked the piecemeal approach to opening the season. First we heard the winds by themselves with the Stravinsky followed by the strings alone with Debussy.
The third piece of music brought the entire orchestra together for Ravel's Mother Goose Suite. The more I listen to Ravel, the more beloved he becomes.
I haven't read much biography on Ravel so I was delighted by the program notes which explained his habit of leaving the adults at a party in order to go play games with their children. This is a temptation that I myself have given into on occasion.
The Mother Goose Suite had all the elements of Ravel that I love. I get it. The La Jolla Symphony delighted the audience with their playing and the first half of the concert ended with a feeling of satisfaction.
Little did we know what was waiting for us after the intermission. Suffice it to say we would be dominated.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJSywT-JlPw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cc6LztUH4GE