Viva Mozart thrills Callaway audience
Lorna Wood, Patricio Cobos and Maureen Gallagher
The LaGrange Symphony Orchestra concert, Viva Mozart, featuring soloists Maestro Patricio Cobos and Maureen Gallagher, was a treat for all!
The concert was dedicated to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and some of his most well-known works for reduced orchestra. With only a handful of string players and only four wind players at any given time, the LSO produced a bold, rich sound one might expect from an orchestra twice the size!
The first piece, Divertimento in F major, K 138, “Salzburg Symphony No. 3” was a perfect way to jump-start the program. The first movement offered a wonderful conversation between the first and second violins while the low strings contributed a balance which did not over-power the melody. This musician was impressed by the clarity of each note heard in the fast runs of the violins! The second movement was a nice mood change with the low strings bringing out their full sound. I would have liked to have heard more dynamic changes brought past the edge of the stage in this movement and the third movement.
Even though constructed the same way as the first, the second piece, Divertimento in D major, K 136, “Salzburg Symphony No. 1” was performed in such a way that I did not say to myself “here we go again!” The bold entrances kept my interest sparked and I was impressed by the fact that the group was able to play repeats differently each time to prevent any monotony! The second movement had nice call and response throughout the chamber group and the dissonances were played to perfection! This time the dynamic contrasts were near perfect in the third movement!
Maureen Gallagher, playing the viola, joined Maestro Patricio Cobos, playing violin for a magnificent performance of Sinfonia Concertante in E flat major, K364 for violin and viola. Ms. Gallagher had a beautifully rich tone that blended delightfully with Cobos’ polished sound. The first movement began with a bold statement and the second movement was absolutely beautiful with the emotional strains of the viola and violin and the sensitive accompaniment of the orchestra. Played with vigor and precision, the third movement was a perfect ending to this piece! To wrap things up for the evening, the LSO performed Symphony No. 14 in A major, K114. The duet between the first and second violins was nice and I was quite impressed with the ease of passing the melody between the flutes and the strings. During both this piece and the one before, the French horns were spot-on with nice tones and good conversations with the other wind players. I quite enjoyed listening to the string basses in the third movement. What an ending during the vibrant fourth movement with the rich violin sound counteracting with the elegant ornamentations of the flutes. The mixture of Mozart and the LaGrange Symphony Orchestra was a thrilling combination of music and musicianship.
LSO receives Challenge America grant from
National Endowment for the Arts
The LaGrange Symphony Orchestra announced today it has received a Challenge America Fast-Track Review Grant in the amount of $10,000 from the National Endowment of the Arts (NEA). Funding will allow the LSO to expand the audience for its annual children’s concert “Music Tells a Story,” to include more than 400 children from neighboring Meriwether County, Georgia.
Scheduled for March 2010, “Music Tells a Story” explores the region's American Indian heritage and will feature orchestral music composed by LaGrange College Professor Lee Johnson and narration exploring the Cherokee Indian's experience during the Trail of Tears written by Gayle Ross.
Dr. Scott Smith, President of the LSO Board of Directors, expressed thanks on behalf of the entire organization saying, “The LSO is grateful to the NEA for their positive consideration of our application. This grant will allow the Symphony to provide 3rd and 4th grade students from Meriwether County the same opportunity currently afforded students from Troup and Chambers Counties to enjoy a live orchestral concert in Callaway Auditorium, complete with story-telling and audience participation.”
Sellout crowd enjoys Christmas with the LSO
Debbie Ogle, Dr. Patricio Cobos and Bettie Biggs (l-r), pictured following the concert
Maestro Patricio Cobos and the LSO were joined by local talent in the form of the LaGrange College Singers, Debbie Ogle, Director and Long Cane Middle School Chorus, Bettie Biggs, Director for a wonderful evening of holiday music. Read what the critics had to say about this performance.
December 10, 2009
Christmas with the LSO
Local Talent Abounds in LSO Christmas Concert
By David Kocsis, special to the LaGrange Daily News
Last night’s LSO concert at Callaway Auditorium presented a unique opportunity for those who had tickets or wished to attend. Namely, trying to find a parking space! The parking lot was more reminiscent of a shopping mall at Christmas than an LSO symphony concert. Were we in for something special, I wondered? It turned out that we were!First of all, the auditorium was filled to near capacity. This, by itself, makes the musicians feel good and willing to give their maximum for audience enjoyment. Second, out pops Maestro Cobos wearing a Santa hat. This, in turn, makes the audience feel good and gets them in a right jolly mood.
Leroy Anderson’s “Sleigh Ride” got the performance rolling (or sliding, as the case may be), and was performed to perfection, as well as I have ever heard it. First chair trumpeter David Chapman finished it off with a “whinny” to end all “whinnys”
The first third of the program was devoted to all orchestral selections, and I was very impressed by the improved ensemble playing of the orchestra. This may have been helped, in part, by having the entire ensemble moved forward to accommodate the choral ensembles so that the “megaphone effect” of the stage shell is not as pronounced.
The second third of the program introduced the audience to the LaGrange College Singers under the capable direction of Debbie Ogle. This group performed in a professional manner with great intonation and balance between parts. I only wish that they had chosen a wider variety of selections to perform. Eventually, no matter how good, my ear gets tired of the “syrupiness” of too much John Rutter. I would be remiss, however, if I failed to mention the fine musical performance given by Sharon Coffey as soprano soloist in the “Et Misericordia” from Rutter’s “Magnificat”.
The big surprise of the evening for me was the outstanding performance given by the Long Cane Middle School chorus under the direction of Bettie Biggs. What a performance! The contemporary “Mid-Winter” by English composer Bob Chilcatt has to be daunting to a middle school student with its unorthodox melodic line, but these students sang it like it was no more difficult than “Silent Night”. Their unison intonations were near perfect, their diction was superb, and the poise was totally unexpected from children of middle school age. The credit for performing at the level that they did is due entirely to the direction of Bettie Biggs, for being capable of knowing how to bring out the best that these kids have to give. Well done!
Congratulations to everyone who participated in this joyous seasonal event. May it be a portent of greater things to come.
October 27, 2009
Sorcerers, Witches and Things
LaGrange Symphony makes things go bump in the night
By David Kocsis, special to the LaGrange Daily News
Certainly, with Halloween just around the corner, Tuesday night’s program of phantasmagoria was imminently appropriate. “A Night on Bald Mountain”, “Danse Macabre” and “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice” all have one thing in common – they are extremely difficult works for any orchestra to pull off with the effect desired by the composer. That effect is to conjure up in the listener’s mind the story the composer is trying to portray and leave a bone-chilling effect, or scare the pants off of you, whichever you prefer!
I cannot praise the string orchestra enough for their precise playing, intonation and, in general, playing as one unit. Up and down, from violins to basses, this is universally true. That this orchestra exists in a city of less than 28,000 is nothing short of phenomenal. The enthusiasm and appreciation shown by the audience is well deserved. But, when tackling the forces of evil portrayed in these highly stylized late Romantic orchestral works, the effect was sometimes not that desired by the composer.
The opening work, Mussorgsky’s “A Night on Bald Mountain” is musically portraying evil incarnate. I did not get this at all. The entire opening was taken at too slow a tempo to draw out the effect that Mussorgsky was portraying. When the brass came in with the menacing theme, it was loud but ineffective. All was not lost, though. The ending of the work showed complete repose and return to the good in life - just as it should.
The Albinoni “Adagio in g minor” was exquisitely carried out by the string orchestra. This work is very repetitive and can be extremely boring, but Maestro Cobos somehow managed to make each iteration sound fresh and appealing.
Was it Death tuning his fiddle? Indeed it was! In Camille Saint-Saens “Danse Macabre”, Concertmistress Lorna Wood played the violin solos with passion and panache, and it seemed to me that she was enjoying it immensely. The entire work evoked just the picture the composer was trying to portray, and was thrilling from beginning to end.
In Paul Dukas’ “The Sorcerer’s Apprentice”, a piece in which the brass players can revel, I’m afraid they reveled a little bit too much. Some of the lush French harmonies served up by the string section were not heard because the considerable brass forces simply outplayed them. An orchestra is an ensemble, not a solo competition. Let’s do better in the future.
Pianist Kseniia Polstiankina, winner of the 2009 Young Artists Competition was the featured performer in Rachmaninoff’s hauntingly beautiful “Concerto No. 1 in f# minor”. This young lady has a great abundance of technical ability, but in some passages of the work, the massive demands of hands the size of Sergei Rachmaninoff (he could “comfortably” reach 2 notes past an octave on the piano) were more than she could accurately manage. I also was a little disappointed that she neglected the long, overarching melodic phrases of this concerto, breaking them up into smaller phrases instead. The audience demanded two encores of Ms. Polstiankina, and we were treated to two delightful Sonatas of Domenico Scarlatti (1685 – 1757). The artist was really in her element here, showing flawless technique and complete mastery of the medium. Well done!
September 22, 2009
A Merry Gathering
Symphony opening concert is full of surprises
A Review By David Kocsis, special to the LaGrange Daily News
In baseball, many fans hope that winning an opening game portends a winning season. The same may be true for the beginning of a new season for any symphony orchestra. On Tuesday night, the LaGrange Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Maestro Patricio Cobos scored many hits, had few strikeouts, and generally gave us a preview of what could be a magnificent season for this orchestra.
The program opened with Beethoven’s sixth symphony, the “Pastoral”. The opening bars were lovingly played, which is not normal for a Beethoven symphony, but this feeling and interpretive introspection by the orchestra and Maestro Cobos were right on the mark. The orchestra played as a unit right through the first three movements, but fell a little short on the “storm” section of the fourth movement where the playing became a little ragged, and I would have liked to hear a greater accent on the “lightning flashes” during the storm. However, the storm subsided into the idyllic repose of the fifth movement which, to me, is a hallmark of this signal work. It would be very hard to find a better overall performance of this work, even more remarkable when one considers the minimal rehearsal time afforded the players.
Incidentally, someone should review the Program Notes a little more carefully. However did Beethoven manage to write nine symphonies, five piano concertos, 32 piano sonatas and one hundred and forty one other major works from bagatelles to opera considering that the program notes observed Beethoven’s birth and death dates covered a span of only 21 years, and those pre-dating the death of Bach by 17 years!
The second half of the program opened with Rossini’s overture to the opera “The Thieving Magpie”. In this work, the orchestra played a little slower tempo than is usually heard from a major orchestra, but I think Maestro Cobos was right in opting for a clean performance rather than a slap dash performance. Some lightness and lilt was sacrificed, but the overall musical concept was cohesive.
Of all operatic voices, good tenors are the rarest, and outstanding ones even rarer. Adam Kirkpatrick certainly belongs in the outstanding category. This was a new name to me, but one I’ll not likely forget. The opening three selections were warhorses of all great tenors so drawing a comparison with many of them was inevitable. I found Mr. Kirkpatrick’s voice to be very much like Pavarotti’s; a little lighter, but without the “edge” that Pavarotti’s voice had. This soloist has one of the great tenor voices I have heard, coupled with flawless intonation, great vocal technique and outstanding musicianship. He swapped the Mozart and Puccini selections fearing, I think, getting somewhat tired before hitting the “high c” that the Puccini requires. The swap made the Puccini an extraordinary performance, but the Mozart was a little less than it might have been. The Symphony is to be commended for bringing this fine artist back to his roots where a hometown audience was able to pay its respects. I wish the orchestra accompaniment had been up to the caliber of Mr. Kirkpatrick, but just listening to his voice made the orchestra playing disappear into the background.
The concert ended with a rousing rendition of Verdi’s “Triumphal March” from his opera “Aida”, with an added, well-deserved encore of an abbreviated version of the overture to Bizet’s “Carmen”. I had to agree with Maestro Cobos’ comments at the end of the regular program. This is a superb group of musicians who come together and play music as well as or better than any orchestra of similar size. I can hardly wait for the next concert!