Front Row Reviewers

Feb 8, 2020 | Reviews

At Salt Lake City’s Abravanel Hall, Gershwin and Dvorak by the Utah Symphony Thrillingly Fuses Old and New

Front Row Reviewers

Front Row Reviewers

By Kathryn Olsen

It is always an adventure to attend a performance at Salt Lake City‘s Abravanel Hall and this weekend’s Gershwin and Dvorak with the Utah Symphony transcends expectation. This program features work by American composers Leonard Bernstein and George Gershwin, as well as Czech composer Antonin Dvorak. While the composers are vastly different in style and background, every piece in the performance compels the audience to become emotionally involved in the experience. Remarkably, the pieces by Gershwin and Dvorak are precedents to these composers’ most notable works and are a wonderful way to build on an existing appreciation.

The program opens with a Bernstein’s Three Dance Episodes from “On the Town.” The suite prepares the audience for the intense urban feel of the Gershwin by sketching small scenes from this ballet about sailors on leave in New York City. The opening movement is a frenzied introduction to the Big Apple, while “Lonely Town (Pas de Deux)” paints a melancholic picture. It is in the third movement that the sailors seem to find their balance within the metropolis. Conductor Thierry Fischer‘s memorable energy and understanding of quirkiness is perfectly suited to bringing the ballet to life without the presence of the dancers.

Pianist Joyce Yang joins the orchestra for Gershwin’s Concerto in F Major for Piano and Orchestra. It is clear from the start that Yang’s masterful technique is in high demand throughout the work, but while the first and third movements are captivating, energizing, and breath-taking, it is in the second movement that she distinguishes herself. This movement features a collaboration between pianist and the orchestra that sometimes feels better suited to earlier periods of musical composition, but is interrupted by what one writer has described as the “American blues.” The result is a modern piece that is reminiscent at times of the nocturnes of Frederic Chopin and Yang’s performance is visionary. Fans of Rhapsody in Blue will delight in the complexity of the work as well as its soul.

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The concert closes with Dvorak’s Symphony No. 8 in G Major. I, myself, am most well-acquainted with this composer’s “New World” Symphony, so looked forward to its predecessor. While the 9th symphony explores American motifs in the new world his 8th is an homage to the Old World. The dedication is “To the Bohemian Academy of Emperor Franz Joseph for the Encouragement of Arts and Literature’ and its inclusion of folk music in the midst of distinctly Slavic stylings is a love letter to the community that he has known as a musician and composer. There are many stellar moments in this work, but the first movement’s interplay between cellos and violas is lovely and soulful at the same time.

As the program closes, Fischer demonstrates his appreciation for Salt Lake City’s continuing interest in the arts with another Dvorak piece: Slavonic Dances Op. 72, No. 7. This high-energy dance is well-known to music lovers world-wide and will be included in next year’s season. it is an unforgettable preview of what audiences have to look forward to the 2020-21 season.

This concert will only played once more, so go out on the town for a night and bring friends and family of all ages for a perfect night of diverse music.

The Utah Symphony Presents Gershwin and Dvorak.
Abravanel Hall, 123 W S Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84101
Feb 7-8, 2020, 7:30 PM
Tickets: $27.00-$102.00
www.usuo.org
Contact: 801-533-5626
Utah Symphony Facebook Page
Gershwin and Dvorak Facebook event

Front Row Reviewers

Front Row Reviewers

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