February, Surprising February
It’s a little-known fact that there are but two basic types of program book consumers. Some read only those pages that concern the concert they are attending and save the rest for later. Others adopt a less parsimonious approach and devour the entire contents at once, knowing they’ll return to brush up on the notes for later concerts that you’ve looked at in advance.
You’ll be interested to know that we orchestra members fall neatly into two categories as well. Yes, some of us eagerly scour the entire schedule of concerts for the upcoming season as soon as the new season brochures come out. And then there are those of us who just pick up their music a week or so before the first rehearsal, using the element of surprise and novelty to spice up our season experience.
February is one of those months where either type of concertgoer or musician could be surprised and delighted by the array of pieces and shows presented. Right at the beginning of the month (Feb. 2-4), we find the new along with the old: John Adams’ insouciant and demanding Chamber Symphony, Beethoven’s least-performed piano concerto (No. 2), and Schumann’s cyclically composed Fourth Symphony. Nothing strange to be found here— but it’s all not exactly on the beaten path either.
On Feb. 9 those of us who haven’t been reading ahead either in the program book or our schedule will arrive to find Catwoman Eartha Kitt roaming the stage of the Schnitz! Not exactly everyday symphonic fare— but great artists and symphony orchestras are often comfortable on the same stage, regardless of their musical roots.
The next day (Feb. 10) we encounter the second concert in the Inside the Score series. This time we look inside the workings of Prokofiev’s Symphony No. 1, nicknamed the “Classical,” and we actually find out why it’s called “Classical” by comparing it with an actual Classical symphonic work that may have served as a model for it: Haydn’s Symphony No. 97. (I will learn something at this concert, too.)
The following weekend (Feb 16-18) brings a concert that really intrigues me. It could easily be a program put together by Eugene Ormandy or Leonard Bernstein. Barber and Copland represent an unabashed American classical music heritage, while Liszt brings the height of the 19th-century European Romantic virtuoso with his Second Piano Concerto and symphonic poem Les Preludes. And in between Bizet clears the aural palate with a light and frothy confection that is pure light and joy.
The end of the month (Feb. 23-25) foreshadows the lion’s entrance of March with the appearance of legendary banjo virtuoso Bela Fleck with his band the Flecktones in what will surely be a high energy affair.
Charles Noble
Assistant Principal Viola
