Mom, Ray and I went to the Carpenter Center in Richmond, VA see a fabulous program put on by the Richmond Symphony Orchestra and guest pianist Dmitri Shteinberg. It was a great chance for me to see the newly refurbished Carpenter Center, aka Richmond CenterStage, which I hadn't visited since it reopened in 2009. The Richmond Symphony Youth Orchestra performed on that stage many times when I played flute with them, and I knew from experience that the upper seats were the best in the house. They're less expensive, but you get a bird's eye view combined with the best possible acoustic mix.
The RSO, conducted by Steven Smith, knocked it out of the park. The 20th century program consisted of the following: "Fanfare to Precede 'La Peri'" by Paul Dukas, Debussy's "Sarabande" & "Danse" (orchestrated by Maurice Ravel), the 1919 "Firebird" by Igor Stravinsky, and Rachmaninoff's monstrous 3rd piano concerto. Guest artist Dmitri Shteinberg (DMA from Manhattan School of Music) is a faculty member at Virginia Commonwealth University. He has a long history of collaborative and solo performances and has recorded for Summit Records, Bavarian & Israeli radio / television, and NPR.
The brass section ably tackled the Dukas "Fanfare", a bright and short work that caught the (initially distractible) audience's attention. RSO's brass section filled the Carpenter Center with rippling phrases that culminated in a series of brilliant closing cadences. The previously, and few, chatty audience members finally turned their attention to the performance.
Claude Debussy & Maurice Ravel were one of musical history's greatest A-Teams (another was The Mighty Handful). Ravel orchestrated Modest Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" which was a massive success; more so, even, than the original work for 4 hands (2 pianists, for the non-musical readers). Over thirty years after Debussy composed "Sarabande" (1896) and "Danse" (1890), Ravel gave them the same treatment. The orchestral version of "Sarabande" was, to me, pensive and deliberate. "Danse" was more playful and unpredictable, with some rhythmic instability due, at least in part, to Debussy's meandering pulse emphasis. Last night's program notes quote Thaddeus Carhart when describing Impressionist music: "Bar lines - like children - should be seen, and not heard." That is the absolutely word and truth when it comes to Debussy & Ravel. There is always an internal pulse that cannot be broken, but is often bent or adjusted to suit the moment, or to wring the last drop of music from the inner viola harmonies.
There isn't much to say about the 1919 "Firebird" Suite that critics, students, composers, colleagues, and laymen haven't already written. I will say that I, after years of practicing excerpts and studying excerpts for music history listening quizzes, underestimated the total effect that the ~25 minute suite has on a listener. From the eerie, understated opening to the interlocking woodwind flourishes; from the incredible swells near the second transition that are reminiscent of "Scheherazade - The Ship Breaks Against A Cliff Surmounted By A Bronze Horseman" to the abundance of unique leit motifs; this piece plays upon the entire range of our emotionally reactive subconscious. I. Love. Stravinsky.
Rachmaninoff's third piano concerto is a beastly composition; the initially seductive and disarming theme erupts into virtuosic passages that showcased Shteinberg's technical prowess. He performed the entire piece from memory, typical for concertists - but it's is more impressive when you consider the piece in its entirety. From beginning to end, Rachmaninoff manipulates the themes and fragments into alternately tender and explosive moments. The RSO balanced the intense and technically demanding performance with a unified orchestral "voice" that effortlessly traded the thematic material throughout the ensemble. I'm not sure what the piano version of articulation is called (I'm a flutist, we use the tongue to articulate passages in a similar fashion to the way the tongue is used in speech), but Shteinberg's was flawless. The Intermezzo (mvt II) had a crystal clear but "full" quality; in other words, the combined effects of the dynamic range, harmonies, musicality, and that indescribable quality known as beauty which makes me feel too small for my skin. It's an almost transcendent feeling, and I love that we have an ensemble and performers like this in my home town. Bravo, RSO & Dr. Shteinberg!
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