This morning I headed down to Lincoln Center for this morning's open rehearsal of the New York Philharmonic. It was/is their Opening Day - and their Opening Day concert is currently being broadcast on PBS, and is schedule to be rebroadcast a few times this weekend. (Check your local listings.)
After waiting in line with my friend, Brendan*, we headed into Avery Fisher Hall, and over the course of three hours we were treated to some mighty fine music-making and music.
The first half consisted of the "Swing Symphony" by Wynton Marsalis. It's a composition for Symphony Orchestra and Jazz Band/Orchestra. -And Wynton Marsalis himself happened to be playing too! In short: I loved it. It's basically a History of Jazz told through five movements of music. There is some pretty skillful writing and orchestration, as well as some "room" for improvisation. The piece was originally premiered back in June in London with Simon Rattle, and a sixth movement has been trimmed since then. -Guess I have some investigating to do.
The rest of the program was filled out with works by Strauss ("Don Juan") and Hindemith ("Symphonic Metamorphosis on Themes of Carl Maria von Weber") which continued to show off the high level of the Philharmonic and Maestro Gilbert's fine conducting. And, as always, I loved listening to things being worked out and during the rehearsal. I particularly enjoyed how Maestro Gilbert, Wynton Marsalis and Carlos Henriquez, the bass player for the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, got the Phil players to SWING! And SWING they did!
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Topic: TLC (Read 15222 times)