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Symphony Marks Third Show
NEW BRITAIN -- The third concert of the New Britain Symphony Orchestra (NBSO) season offered a potpourri of composers, including a work by New Britain's Andrzej Anweiler. An audience of about 800 received the program with enthusiasm.
The orchestra opened with the enjoyable and rousing overture composed by Franz Peter Schubert (1797-1828) for the stage play, Rosamunde, Princess of Cyprus. Next, the NBSO performed The Unanswered Question composed by Danbury, Connecticut native Charles Edward Ives (1874-1954). Ives is hailed as the founding father of American music and is considered as the composer of American music that was unequivocally American.
The Unanswered Question is somewhat of a transcendental piece. The well-polished strings represent eternity while the trumpet asks a serious question in a forthright manner and is mocked each time by the winds, which become increasingly dissonant with each answer; finally, with no answer given, the strings fade away.
The NBSO, along with the excellent performance of principal trumpeter James Ranti, caught the fundamental irrational and mystical elements of Ives’ short piece.
Anweiler's Concertino for Piano and Orchestra, performed with manifest interpretation by the composer-soloist is aptly described by him as "an eclectic work in three movements." The concertino (short concerto) opens with a cacophony of animated brass, tympani and the piano. The first movement, almost Poulenc-like in sound and style, has a graceful and profound lyrical sense to it. The second movement entitled "Nocturne" is very romantic in its melodies and Anweiler moved through it like a zephyr over a field of wheat, the orchestra responding in like manner.
The finale permitted the soloist and orchestra to interplay between them, which Anweiler and the ensembles of the NBSO did admirably. The brief work ends with an immense metrical climax. Anweiler in this work makes obvious his rich talent as both composer and soloist extraordinaire.
The audience responded with a standing ovation and the soloist and orchestra encored with a repeat of the third movement.
The concert concluded with the Concerto in B Minor for Cello and Orchestra, opus 104 of Antonin Leopold Dvorak (1841-1904) with soloist Jennifer Combs. Dvorak composed this concerto during his second stay in America in 1895. It is a fine example of a beautifully orchestrated composition and one of the reasons it is so popular a work in the orchestral repertoire. The first movement is powerful, opening to the melodious French horns and strains of a clarinet moving quickly to sections that highlighted the rich playing of Combs. The second movement (adagio ma non troppo) is smooth, restful and warmly lyrical. Combs' bowing was unhurried which is required by this movement and to which the orchestra responded well.
The third movement (allegro moderato) closes slowly but surely, almost like a whisper, with echoing fragments of the initial two movements. The work ends strongly necessitating virtuosity in bowing the cello. Combs facial and body language and her dexterous bowing and fingering created a oneness of soloist and instrument, moving indeed. Combs' consummate talent was well demonstrated and much appreciated by the audience, who gave her a standing ovation.
A somewhat distracting aspect of Maestro Lazloffly's conducting is his ever-directing the soloists. Rather then cueing the soloists at appropriate times, he does more so.
The conductor's task is to keep the orchestra coordinated with the soloist, not the other way around. Another annoyance of the concert is having a person, in this and other concerts, come out before the performance with this or that announcement. This time it was to introduce "Maestro Sean Patrick O'Lazloffy" to banter about St. Patrick's Day and the "wearing of the green."
This unnecessary chitchat is banal. All that needed to be said, and Lazloffy should have done so, was that the orchestra would play Londonderry Air (a.k.a. Danny Boy), an often performed piece marking the popular Irish holiday. Aside from these distractions, Sunday's performance by the NBSO, its ensembles, soloists, and Lazloffy's continuing skill of bringing them all together earns fine marks.
Dr. Richard L. Judd is president of Central Connecticut State University.
Virtuosi Concert Delights
by Amy Baroni, Special to The Herald
May 21, 2002
NEW BRITAIN -- The Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra delighted the audience Friday night at First Church of Christ with its last New Britain concert of the 2001-2002 season. The program was expertly conducted by the group's founder and artistic director, maestro Adrian Mackiewicz.
The program opened with"Pelleas and Mellisande" by Jean Sibelius. The suite is in nine movements and was written originally as incidental music for a play. The movements, each having a programmatic title referring to the play, varied in colors and expressions. This was a good opener to the program even though it was somewhat surprising at times with some movements containing a strong use of the timpani. The craftsmanship of the players lived up to the sophistication of this work, which was presented as lively and interesting.
Next in the program was Tchaikovsky's "Variations on the Rococo Theme," Op. 33, performed with cellist Jennifer Combs as soloist. Combs gave a flawless performance that captivated all. She played with precision and romantic expression typical of world-class performers. The interpretation was clean and direct.
The highlight of the evening was the world premiere of Andrzej Anweiler's Symphony No. 1. Anweiler has been internationally acclaimed as a pianist having unique style and elegance. His first symphony should be described just as favorably. The movements in this work varied greatly in style and tempo but truly allowed one to feel the emotion and technical brilliance within his music. The first movement is based on the theme of "Dies Irae" from a seventh-century Gregorian chant. This movement is very melodic but also structurally complicated. The second and fourth movements follow a somewhat similar structure with extensive use of rhythm, and percussive effects of strings and occasionally timpani. The third movement of the work was dedicated to the composer's sister, who died last year, and included all the personal feelings and emotions one goes through when losing a loved one. Very different from the other three, it was very romantic and personal.
In the five years since the inception of the Virtuosi it has become an orchestra with exceptionally gifted musicians and an audience of devoted followers who are treated to the highest-quality performances. Mackiewicz conducts with expression that inspires the players and the audience.
Amy Baroni is executive director of the Greater New Britain Arts Alliance.
Television & Arts...
Composer-soloist, Anweiler a hit with Virtuosi
New Britain - The weather outside was dreary and miserable, but within First Church on Friday evening, the Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra presented a concert to cheer and delight the spirits of music lovers.
Under the direction of Adrian Mackiewicz, with Andrzej Anweiler, internationally recognized pianist and composer from New Britain, the concert selections were well chosen, beautifully played and included the world premiere of an original work, Concertino for Piano and Small Orchestra by Anweiler. Set in three movements, the concertino opened with a stunning burst of energy, which quickly moved Into a dramatic showcase for the piano.
Contemporary tonalities and colors, sometimes sharp and shrill, were echoed from piano to orchestra, almost appearing simple, but full of suppressed excitement and vitality. Woodwinds came into play in the haunting second movement, which featured a measured and thoughtful expression of mood, bringing the vividness of the first movement to a restful conclusion.
In his third movement, the composer presented a variety of orchestration, well defined by Conductor Mackiewicz. Robust themes and frolicsome moments surprised and beguiled the ear as Anweiler's piano led the way, ever forceful, authoritative, and indicative of a life force. It was exciting to be present at this premiere and to hear and see the appreciative standing ovation accorded Anweiler and his composition .
The program opened with two selections, the Sibelius Romance in C and Canzonetta, played by the orchestra and Chopin's Andante Spianato and Grand Polonaise Brillante featuring Anweiler. The tonalities of the Sibelius, from the opening richness to a sweet melancholy to dark tones, were emphasized by the conductor so that the integration of themes and rhythms was handled with fluidity and grace by Mackiewicz.
Anweiler's Chopin, from its elegant shading of tones, to its brilliant cascades of sound, was performed with an elegance so intense that one almost thought he was making it up as he went along, so closely were the soloist and music aligned. It was the performance of an accomplished pianist, whose splendor of tone and expression brought out the beauty of the Chopin work.
For its final selection, Conductor Mackiewicz had chosen Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari's Serenade for String Orchestra, which showed off the shimmering qualities, the sweeping capabilities of sound, the purity of tone of the musicians. Concerts by the Connecticut Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra are indeed to be treasured as part of New Britain's cultural scene. Webster Bank sponsored the reception following the concert.
- J.V.W.B.
The Herald (January 23, 2001)
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