By Megan Holley
At Abravanel Hall in Salt Lake City, the Utah Symphony is performing Tchaikovsky’s 4th and The Red Violin. When you first walk into Abravanel Hall, from the sparkling lights to the beautiful acoustic performance hall, your breath will be taken away at how magnificent it is. It is a formal event, and the performance will blow you away at its impeccable quality. The performance is conducted by Andrew Litton, who has an energy while he conducts that aids in the portrayal of the story the music is telling. When the performance starts and as it progresses, you can tell that the performers worked hard on making the performance as amazing as it is while making it seem like a walk in the park.
During “Three Dances from Fancy Free” in the third movement, which is called “Galop”, the symphony did a phenomenal job with making it easy to imagine that many horses were galloping. “Three Dances from Fancy Free” was written by Bernstein. The guest artist Philippe Quint, who performed with the symphony during “The Red Violin”, was remarkable. Quint plays his violin with so much emotion that you could feel it while he performed, even when three of his bow strings broke he continued like nothing happened. “The Red Violin”, written by John Corigliano,is fabulous. During the first movement, “Chaconne”, in “The Red Violin” the beginning sounded as if magic is happening and it was like the magic is trying to bring hope to others. When the lower register instruments came in during the first movement while the higher register instruments were still playing, you could imagine a beautiful struggle in a battle between hope and the world. During movement three of “The Red Violin”, “Andante Flautando”, the Bassists David Yavornitzky, Corbin Johnston, James Allyn, Benjamin Henderson, Edward Merritt, Jens Tenbroek, and Thomas Zera, aidd nicely in building the intensity of the music by hitting their bows against the strings on the basses. While the music is intense, and even when it is not intense, the tone quality is incredible, and it is still so full of emotion. Quint did an encore of “The Red Violin” by performing a solo of the fifth movement, remarkable–the incredibly high notes he plays are all right on pitch and he plays the violin incredibly fast. “Symphony No. 4 in F Minor, Op. 36” by Tchaikovsky, was the last thing they played. The harmonies combined with the dynamics and emotion create a blissful experience. In the first movement, “Andante Sostenuto”, the brass section has an incredible start with the same tone quality as the beginning of the concert. The melodic tone quality in movement two, “Andantino in Modo Di Canzona”, is soothing and is refreshing after the end of movement one being quite intense. In the final movement, “Finale: Allegro Con Fuoco”, it is so intense and dramatic for an ending, simply put, it is breathtaking.
The Music Director, Thierry Fischer, has been the director since 2009 and extended to 2022 just recently. His choices in music and how the symphony is directed is shown throughout the performance in how the symphony plays.
If beautiful and well performed music makes you teary eyed, bring tissues. Tchaikovsky’s 4th and The Red Violin is so well performed, and the amount of emotion played is a real tear jerker. The Utah Symphony continues to be a gem in this community.
Note: I am a young person, relatively speaking—I just turned 18. The Symphony is for everyone! Please, young people, invest in some beauty and fun with Utah Symphony’s student All Access Pass so you can take advantage of the inexpensive access to culture.
The Utah Symphony Presents Tchaikovsky’s 4th and The Red Violin
Abravanel Hall, 123 W South Temple, Salt Lake City, UT 84101
Tickets: Student/Under 30 $20.00 – $84.00, Wheelchair $28.00 – $72.00 Regular Ticket $28.00 – $89.00
Contact: 801-533-6683
October 26 10:00 AM, 7:30 PM, October 27 5:30 PM
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