Dante Guevara Dallas Symphony Orchestra October 27, 2011 Pieces Performed: Kabalevsky: Overture to Colas Breugnon, Opus

24 Beethoven: Concerto No. 3 in C minor for Piano and Orchestra, Opus 37 Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade, Opus 35 The Dallas Symphony Orchestra played the concert inside the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center located in downtown Dallas. The concert consisted of three different pieces; Kabalevskys Colas Breugnon Overture, Beethovens Piano Concerto No. 3 in C minor and Rimsky-Korsakovs Scheherazade. Maestro Carlo Rizzi, an Italian born conductor, who appeared with a Texas Ranger cap stole some laughs from the audience, was in charge of conducting all the three different musical pieces. Markus Pawlik from Germany played the piano in the Beethovens piece and Nathan Olson played the violin soloist part in the Scheherazade piece. The orchestra floor was full of people on every single row, not so much the grand tier and terrace areas. There was bad weather outside and that might have caused that the whole concert hall did not get fully packed with public. The concert hall is acoustic with tall ceilings and a big stage that can easily fit forty to fifty musicians. The concert performers were all dressed up, all men in black suit with white shirt and bow tie and the women all in black. Objective Description of the Music Kabalevsky: Overture to Colas Breugnon, Opus 24 This piece sounds highly energetic and definitively a good way to start a concert because the sound is very awakening, more like an invitation to pay attention because is going to be very exciting. From the beginning, by how the conductor moved the baton and the expression on his face I could see that this piece transmits a lot of energy ranging from overwhelming fortissimos with noisy in a high-spirited way winds, the orchestra gets involved gradually throughout the piece with its strong percussion as well. The melody succession is with high pitches in a sonata form, the texture seem to be polyphony together with a loud dynamic, more like fortissimo. Regarding the instrumentation part, I was able to hear flutes, clarinets, trombones, tuba, timpani, cymbals, harp and strings. Beethoven: Concerto No. 3 in C minor for Piano and Orchestra, Opus 37 This piece is laid out in a three-movement format, which is fast-slow-fast with strong tonality and brings memories of great confidence in oneself or ones abilities to achieve great things despite powerful obstacles. To me it sounded like a very complicated piece with a very complicated interaction between the orchestra and the pianist. Throughout many passages of the piece, the orchestra repeats with its rich sonority many passages that are first played by the pianist. These movements kept me puzzled because it was hard to tell exactly were the music was headed like on the last movement, I expected the theme to be played on a concluding argument by the full orchestra but to my surprise it

was played only by a single bassoon. The instruments used in the concerto are woodwinds, timpani, solo piano by Markus Pawlik, strings, horns and trumpets in pairs. Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade, Opus 35 This work is a four movements piece. In this work, the orchestra tells a story of far away lands, distant in both time and place. Each movement is related to the 1001 nights of Arabian legend and they are: The sea and Sinbads ship, the tale of Prince Kalendar, the young Prince and the Princess, the festival at Baghdad- the sea the ship goes to pieces in a rock. Although I am able to see this work like a suitable arrangement of slow rhythm, I think that is very relaxing, especially the way in what instruments take turns playing passing the melody from one instrument to another. The instruments used in this work are solo violin by Nathan Olson, flutes, oboes, English horn, clarinets, horns, trumpets, trombones, tuba, timpani, strings, etc. Subjective Reactions to the Music Kabalevsky: Overture to Colas Breugnon, Opus 24 This piece particularly enjoyed significantly because it left a strong motivation to listen to the whole concert. The opening with the conductor temperament and the motivation he showed from the beginning left a good impression. Beethoven: Concerto No. 3 in C minor for Piano and Orchestra, Opus 37 This is a very satisfactory performance of the concerto. What held my attention was the concentration of each performer, specially the soloist, the way Markus Pawlik played the piano, everybody could see the passion in his eyes, in the movement of his arms while he played the piano. This definitively was a new experience and I am thinking about going back and taking some of my family. Rimsky-Korsakov: Scheherazade, Opus 35 The excellent violin performance by Nathan Olson I think left everybody in the venue satisfied. His passion flows in the air when he is playing the violin. Olsons control of the violin leads to a masterly sense of resolution towards the end of the finale. Overall, I enjoyed the music; besides being the first time I attended a symphony concert, I found it to be very emotional. All those sounds in a very organized way give you a sense of tranquility and piece of mind. I have no hesitation in recommending this concerto because is a thoroughly fine performance and also has none of the monotomous playing where you hear every piece like the same, and of course, it has the extra virtuosic part where one can enjoy talent in its most pure form.