POST-CONCERT WRAP UP

Another thrilling program by the Northbrook Symphony; let me use this
public-media forum to salute all of our fine players and thank them for their
tireless work and fine playing. Individual instances of brilliant orchestral
playing are too numerous to mention!

It's interesting to note (as I have done numerous times in the past) how the NSO
can dash off a piece of music that is totally unfamiliar to the players when we first
rehearse it; in performance, the orchestra sounds as is they have been playing the
piece for years---the mark of a truly fabulous ensemble.

(FYI-- we hold three weeknight rehearsals of 2 hours, 15 minutes each,
          A separate rehearsal of the same length for our strings,
          And a final dress rehearsal before the concert; that's all)

ALSO interesting is the fact that these "potpourri" concerts are very challenging,
since you have to "change gears" stylistically from one work to the next. It's
especially tough in rehearsals, when we are getting accustomed to the music.
So, even though the total playing time of the music on this program was
around an hour, we absolutely filled our allotted rehearsal time working on
details and "concept".  That's why a NSO concert is NEVER dull or routine--
we really work hard to project the CHARACTER of the music---that which lies
beneath the surface of the notes themselves.


Here's my report on each of the SEVEN WORKS which you heard---

1.) A totally unfamiliar work was the opening Tchaikovsky Dance from the
Maid of Orleans, which was certainly worth all of the trouble it took to track
in order to play it today. We worked through it (rather quickly) in each of our
four full rehearsals. The rhythmic drive and the virtuosic main
theme that jumps all over the scale....all tossed off with brilliance and ease. We
worked on a few of the trickier passages, but spent most of our time adjusting
rhythms to produce the most exciting effect. I look forward to playing it again soon.

2.) Little to be added to the exquisite performance of the Dvorak Romance by
violinist Claire Bourg; what a lovely young lady and superb, sensitive performer;
a joy to work with her. I rehearsed with her only this past Thursday for an hour to
work through the piece (with me at the piano); her sound, her approach were
exactly right; again, I suggested some minor adjustments, most of them to
encourage that we linger a bit longer on certain phrases, or accentuate some of
Dvorak's dark, delicious harmonic progressions. The challenge was to find a nice,
flowing tempo (which Claire suggested) and then to combine it with the lovely
sense of nuance and phrasing which you heard so effectively conveyed. We
rehearsed only on Thursday night with soloist and orchestra together (I had
forgotten to rehearse this work with the woodwinds prior to Thursday---oops---
so the orchestra was ALSO playing its part together for the first time just 3 days
ago).

What you heard today was the result of much hard work, diligence, talent,
and sensitivity. The NSO always reacts to and interacts beautifully with our guest
soloists---and young Ms. Bourg---and Dvorak---brought out the best in of all of us.

3.) Yes, The Moldau of Smetana IS a great work; I thought our performance was
about as good as it gets. The orchestra's playing was simply magnificent, and I dare say
that we honored the composer's vision--- not only the pictorial aspects of the work,
but the true soul of the Bohemian nation in all of its glory; pretty bold claim on
my part---- but there you have it, nonetheless.

It's great to take a "warhorse" like this and work on it in detail; again, we didn't
spend much time rehearsing it, since most of the players knew it.  We took time
to work on and coordinate all of Smetana's marvelous "water" effects in the opening---
the flutes, clarinets, and the "rolling" wave-like string accompaniment; we also took
some time to accentuate and adjust the tempo and rhythm of the wonderful POLKA,
which I think sounded exactly the way the composer intended.  The moonlit
"water-sprite" ballet also took some major adjusting--- it sounds easy, but it's
full of little coordination and intonation challenges, and the big storm scene near
the end--which admittedly is full of faulty balances in the orchestral writing (poor
Smetana was losing his hearing at the time he wrote this) but, with minimal re-writes
from me, I think it sounded truly tempestuous.  I am proud of this performance.

4.) Bartok's charming Romanian Folk Dances were also wonderfully played;
some of our string players have performed this before but, despite its relative
simplicity, it STILL takes a lot of care to play in an idiomatic way.... you could almost
imagine the WORDS to these little songs being sung by the instruments-- the
chant-like, exotic piccolo solo in the 3rd dance, the wistful, gorgeous violin solo
in the 4th....all played by our orchestra with a lovely, atmospheric sense of color.

5.) Wasn't the Mlynarski MAZURKA a delightful work?  PROOF positive (again)
that the totally unfamiliar music we present is guaranteed to please!  The work
seems pretty straightforward, but it's LOADED with lots of little speed-ups and
slow-downs that have to be played in an idiomatic way.  Special thanks to
concertmaster Tom Yang, who re-worked a lot of the violin bowings, which
really increased the sense of STYLE...that special "sweep" and elegance that
is so essential in this work.  ANOTHER one that may turn up again before
very long.

6.) The Chopin MAZURKA was quite an event; I approached the orchestral
transcription cautiously, since the piano original is perfection in itself---and tampering
with it can only dilute its effect; the only reason I went ahead with it is because
I knew that the NSO would play it with exquisite care and nuance...as if it were
being improvised on the spot.  And they did. It took a couple playings in rehearsal
for me to get a feel for the music, since a conductor needs to be very aware of
the way an orchestra responds to a new work.  As we worked through it,
the little tempo adjustments and rhythmic accentuations-- the things the bring
the work to life in a real idiomatic way---began to emerge, as you heard today.
The mysterious, wistful, "remote" sound of the playing was exactly right.

In fact, I'll say here publicly what I've been saying for the past ten years--
the Northbrook Symphony plays with flexibility, nuance, sensitivity and variety
of tone color as well or better than any orchestra I have worked with; I
regard it as something we do uniquely well....and thus, I knew my
orchestration of Chopin's unearthly Mazurka would receive the best
possible performance under the NSO.

7.) The Liszt Hungarian Rhapsody--- a perfect example of how DIFFICULT
an orchestral transcription of a very free-wheeling, improvisatory PIANO original
can be.  Special thanks to Tom Yang for leading our violins and violas in all
of those "rhapsodic", flowery passages in the slow, soulful Lassan (opening).

There are SO many little stylistic quirks and flourishes that are necessary to
really bring this music to life---everybody expects to hear them, since the
work is so well-known; lots of little "lifts", accents, speed-ups, slow-downs--
EASY TO CONTROL if you are a solo pianist, DIFFICULT to control with
an orchestra of 75 players.  In fact, this work proved to be the most challenging..
and sometimes frustrating..in rehearsal, since it requires so many little
adjustments of rhythm and tempo. But, as I said to the orchestra in rehearsal---
we must perform this work with at least as much sense of STYLE as the
Tom & Jerry cartoon version...and, of course, we did.

I'm glad I made it through this one; very strenuous program (we rehearsed
through it from 1:30 to 3 pm prior to the concert---so the players really put
in a full day's work).

But to perform for such a wonderfully appreciative audience is a great pleasure
for us; it is really a joy to have an opportunity to play this great music for you.

Please continue to check in on this BLOG as the season progresses.

Thanks for reading!

Larry R