The Mariinsky Orchestra Concert Report - Book Report/Review Example

The Mariinsky Orchestra Concert Report 11, Oct Time; 8pm-10.30pm Venue; Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium Introduction Eleventh, Oct is perhaps one of the most memorable days of my life. I had a chance to attend the Mariinsky Orchestra concert held at Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium. The whole town was waiting in anticipation and people were passing it as a joke that Russia was coming to New York. According to the tour program, we were among the first to have a taste of Mariinsky flavor.

This is a concert report accounting for the events and experience with Mariinsky Orchestra concert. Mariinsky Orchestra I had done beforehand personal investigations on Mariinsky Orchestra. The Symphony orchestra is arguably the oldest Russian performing Orchestra. Valery Gergiev, the leader, and performance conductor has been instrumental in making Mariinsky a success (Thomas 1). The theatre was well prepared and certainly customized for this particular performance. Arrangement of the hall, lighting, stage sound system, decorations and curtains were all-perfect for the performance.

The overall performance was astounding. Contrary to the modern music, concerts performed by young contemporary rock or reggae artists this performance was characterized by great deal of experience and originality in playing instruments. As the ensemble performed Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, and Shostakovich, every instrument was played with impeccable clarity and finesse. Stage presence and good use of onstage space was observable. The performance reminded me of the first time I read the book Romeo and Juliet.

Amazingly, the ensemble could tell the whole story by use of instruments and stage performance without speaking a word. Prokofiev arguably took the longest time to perform. Every aspect of this performance was amazing. The drumbeats corresponded with a rise and fall of tempo and tone variation. Profokiev performance consisted of three mini performances Friar Lawrence, Masks, as well as Montagues and Capulets. The music from the different types of violins, piano cornets, harps, and flutes produced an impeccable tone and tempo variation that gave the music and the performance a great perspicacity of taste.

Daniil Trifonov displayed his talent with the piano. Arguably, no one could play it better than him. I particularly enjoyed the Tchaikovsky Piano Concert number one, which was conducted by Valery Gergiev himself. It was amazing to see how a single man could make the whole ensemble produce such artistic piece of music by careful articulation of his movement. Daniil Trifonov artistically and calculate strokes each key on the piano to produce a tune in which other instruments joined in. Starting with a low tone, almost incomprehensible, the music then grew slowly by slowly as dictated by the conductor.

The energy in the music was particularly dictated by the gusto in his directional movement. Although I was seated at the far end, I could tell that the ensemble were playing the instruments from experience rather than following him as he conducted the piece of music. They were hardly looking at him. Silence, suspense, and muteness and sections of stillness-permeated sections of the performance made it feel like several songs intertwined together. Shostakovich piano performance left me stunned.

Although I was not so sure, I felt they played shostakovich Symphony No. 1in G-sharp Minor. This piece dates back to 1920s when Shostakovich came up with the work as a graduation presentation at Leningrad. The Shostakovich began with a low pitch and the pianist had no difficulty playing his instrument. However, as the performance progressed, the tempo kept on increasing and I could not understand how Trifonov could play the syllables at such a high rate. It was as if he was playing a hundred keys in a second.

It showed a great deal of experience with instruments. I could tell from the audience that everybody wanted to join in and participate with Gergiev as he directed this piece of music. Slow movements that increased with each increase in tempo, a touch of climax, and then everything goes down to the original calmness. The three performances were all performed well and were characterized by years of experience in playing different types of musical instruments. Although Gergiev seemed to be overly enthusiastic as he led the team, the whole team never made a flop anywhere.

Since the role of the lead is to direct the play of music, the ensemble playing Shostakovich and Tchaikovsky ought to be periodically looking at the conductor. This would create cohesion between the movements of the music conductor, tone, tempo, and the instrumentalists. Additionally, some calm moments were so calm and slow that the sound from the string instruments sounded whiny. Conclusion The experience with Mariinsky Orchestra concert was one of a lifetime. I came to understand why this ensemble is the worlds’ oldest and best performing.

It was a real Russian masterwork. They presented three unique performances Prokofiev, tchaikovsky and Shostakovich. Prokofiev was the longest but most captivating. Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich were more stunning due to the unique talent and expertise required to play the instruments. Compared to contemporary music performances, this type of performance is great, original and worth watching. It would be highly recommended for someone to have a taste of Mariinsky Orchestra. Given another chance, I would watch such a performance once again.

Works Cited Thomas, Robert. Overnight Review: Mariinsky Theatre Orchestra at Valley Performing Arts Center. 2011. Web 11, Nov 2011.