The live concert - Essay Example

Lecturer On April 10, at seven thirty in the evening, I attended a live music concert at the Crowder Hall, school of music,University of Arizona. The live concert was part of a series of masterpiece to be performed by the Arizona symphony orchestra on Thursday, Friday and Saturday and was it was conducted by Thomas Cockrell, the music director of Arizona symphony. For the night, the band performed “The Magic Flute” a comedy by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. This magical comedy by Mozart is a favourite with audiences and the music version was enjoyable to watch with English dialogue and English supertitles. I love going to the symphony due to the fact that the music has more quality than any other type of live music I have ever attended. The magic Flute,” Mozart’s timeless comic opera is all about young love which features some of the composer’s most wonderful music. Some critics argue that some parts of the show are really silly, but the fact is Mozart wrote really fun comic music that’s filled with the infectious enthusiasm of two teenagers who are in love for the first time. The part I enjoyed most was when the magic flute was being played, because it was intense where the artist showed all his energy and passion in order to bring Pamina, a character in the comedy, to him in process charming even the wild animals to him. The Arizona symphony orchestra is a vital part of community resource that plays a role in uniting performers and audiences through their passion for music. It’s also acknowledged through presenting world premieres, seldom performed treasures and classical gems. Founded in 1979, it holds an important place in the world of symphonic music. In the concert the band had a cast of more than 100 students, 40 to 50 actors/ singers, a dozen dancers and another 40 musicians in the pit. The band is under the leadership of Music Director, Dr. Thomas Cockrell, one of the most experienced conductors of his generation. The band performs at the Crowder hall, where people from all walks of life come to enjoy the symphony through art, comedy and live music presentation. A number of instruments are used by the symphony orchestra depending on how big the symphony is. The Arizona symphony used the violin, flute, trumpet, harp, double bass, cello, piano marimba, piccolo and viola. The marimba and xylophone were used by Arizona symphony to play melodies while they used the cellos, violas, clarinets, trombones horns and pianos play the harmony chords. In their first movements, the soloists play the melody instruments. The instruments that Arizona symphony uses to play include violin, piano, and the cello. Their woodwind section had a large variety of instrument including the flutes, piccolos, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones and the clarinets. However, their rhythm section used bass, timpani, snare drum, piano and guitar with an aim to provide backing for melodic instruments like the saxophone. Symphony music is better than any other type of performance. The concert opened with the first movement, “Concerto Fantasy”. It presented the opening thematic material, a ten-note statement of the strings accompanied with interplay between powerful Timpani strikes. The track begins without pause, where the strings and brass proceed to develop the ten-note statement while the soloists provide a relatively constant rhythmic undertone, eventually launches its dance-like energy with a popular, blues, Latin feeling, shifting between 3/4 and 4/4 meters. This was my second time to watch the group perform a live concert on stage. It was very obvious to me now that the Arizona Symphony were really good at what they did: the reason why they had so many good records. Hearing the orchestra on stage, especially was really a wonderful experience. I remember earlier the day I was so anxious that I had to take a seat early enough so that I could secure a position at the front where I could not miss anything. The large number of instruments was overwhelming and the group presented themselves in a well patterned sitting arrangement which showed their professionalism and dedication. All the members of the university of Arizona school of Dance appeared in magnificent costumes while the other band members wore suits that served as a trademark for the classical music they were to perform. The performance starts with the concerto fantasy. It was a pleasurable experience as I watched the band perform these well-known but rarely performed symphonies. What was unique about their play is the sense of lyricism in the orchestra as this was something I had not experienced before with the other orchestras. Then what followed was most fascinating as Dr. Thomas Cockrell and several members of the orchestra joined a cast of singers and created the role of narrator which effectively presented a young audience version of the opera. Also featuring were the young musicians of the Arizona symphony and professional singers as well as a large and small puppets and colourful costumes. Two flutes joined the fray for the third concerto where already I could feel Mozart is making the orchestral textures lighter to contrast more sharply with the soloist in the airy opening movement. Delicious shaping of phrases was the order of the day with a meaty cadenza. I was impressed by the violin concerto in which the principle violinist Edwin Kim relished in his beautiful sound. He showed his undoubted mastery in the way that you could hear the stretched phrases and tempo of the fifth violin and I could not help but revel in the experience. He delighted the audience with a dynamic performance of the Mozart’s technically demanding violin concerto by being creative in his approach characterized with the pristine intonation and technique. His concentration on lyrical beauty was evident. Another performer, in his wild and extroverted symphony no.4, Tchaikovsky tests the boundaries of defiance, hope, resignation and triumph. The piece was richly melodic and thunderously melodic. To show how good the orchestra was, several members had solos. The two co-concertmasters, Erika Roush and Jessamyn Schertz featured; the principal cellist Zoran Stilin, and the principal clarinettist Lucy Huestis and several other members performed notable solos. The trumpet player, Michael Kiefer gave a breath taking performance of the long solo on the posthorn in one of the movements. The harpists, principal flute, the principal oboist and piccolo player took over the centre stage of the performance as they presented their piece with wonderful soaring tones with ease. After the long-breathed slow movement the band was carried from the classical to a romantic mode before it came to a delightful end. It was needless to say the crowd loved every minute of it. The overall performance was awesome and it was no surprise that the crowd even demanded more of it. Generally the performance was very professional and it was a satisfying performance. It had all the properties that a live concert should have and the manner in which it presented itself was awesome. It was difficult to criticize their performance as the performance of the music was of high quality. However the band could benefit from taking more music classes which will teach them more of what they need to know about music. Looking at the way the band performed, it made me change the attitude that music was for the selected few. In fact, I now realize that music can not only mould your career, but also can be pursued as a career. It’s just like any other occupation and one would have a successful life through music References Walker, Robert. Music Education. NY: Charles C Thomas Publisher, 2007. Print. Read More