The CSO and More

Saturday night was amazing.

I had the privilege of attending a performance of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra on Saturday evening. What a pleasure! The venue (The Music Hall) is absolutely beautiful. It was originally completed in 1878, recognized as a National Historic Landmark in the mid-1970s, and underwent renovation is 2016-2017.

The performance itself was called Dawson, Beethoven & Bernstein: A Shared Humanity. Part of the narrative in the program says this: "At first glance, the works ... might seem unconnected, but they find common ground in their themes. Each is an expression of cultural identity."

The first piece was Beethoven's Overture to Fidelio, Op. 72.

James Conlon (conductor) speaks about Beethoven's longing for shared humanity, saying it is evident in several of his symphonic works and especially in Fidelio, his only opera. The opera reflects the triumph of love over humanity and justice over tyranny, perhaps a reflection of Beethoven's view of life. This is the final version of the overture that Beethoven wrote.

Next came William Dawson's The Negro Folk Symphony.

I had not only never heard this symphony before, but I had never actually known that Dawson wrote an opera. Yet, when it premiered with the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1934 it received a great deal of critical acclaim, from both black and white critics. One of the four concerts performed was broadcast nationally. Dawson was the third African American composer with a symphony premiered by a major American orchestra in just a few years. And yet, even after this reception, the symphony was seldom performed in the years that followed and has only started to garner renewed interest in recently.

Given what I heard, I hope that it receives many more performances. The music was beautiful, expressive, exciting, riveting, and very clearly linked to African American culture and sound. I'm just sorry that this was Dawson's only opera.

After the intermission we heard Leonard Bernstein's Symphonic Dances from West Side Story. We probably all know that West Side Story is a sort of retelling of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, and I am willing to be that many of us have seen the show on stage or in a movie version. In fact, there is a new West Side Story movie out right now (I haven't seen it yet.) I would imagine that when West Side Story first premiered on Broadway in late 1957, it was somewhat of a shock to the audience, not a light-hearted love story but instead a social criticism within a love story, set in New York in the middle of the tension and violence of gang wars.

This presentation focused specifically on the music that accompanies the show's dances.

And finally, back to Beethoven with Leonore Overture No. 3, Op 72b.

Beethoven spent years working on Fidelio and made numerous revisions. In fact, I believe he wrote four overtures over the years. The first version of the opera was actually called Leonore, and there ended up being three version of the overture; it is third version we heard to end the performance.

I was completely impressed with both the music and the musicians. The acoustics in the Music Hall were wonderful, and the seat I had was second row balcony, right in the center. I literally had tears in my eyes a few times as I listened - music can do that to me. If you ever have the chance to see CSO, I definitely recommend it!

And if you enjoy music with passion and obvious cultural relevance, please look for Dawson's symphony. I understand there is actually at least one recording from 1934 available on YouTube - although I haven't had the chance to go look for it yet.

I left Cincinnati yesterday, and have now arrived in Branson, MO for a few days. I haven't been here before, but plan to explore now. It's looking like sun and temperatures in the mid-40s or low 50s, so I will definitely be looking for walking paths first thing in the morning! I will be back when I have something interesting (or at least I hope interesting) to say.