Week 13

Last night I went to the Concerto Competition Concert. I would say it was pretty good. The soloists consisted of a violist and a saxophonist. I felt that they both gave good performances and displayed the works well. The concert started off with the viola concerto that consisted of one movement. It was slow and dramatic showing off the warm tone of the viola well. I was surprised to hear a vocalist who never played the instrument in his life composed it. It is interesting how compositions can intertwine with different genres to be voiced melodically. While playing piano I try audiating different instruments to bring out the melody and character in a piece. Perhaps that is what the composer did. I can definitely hear that piece as an opera as well. The saxophone piece was very atonal so I was not very fond of it. The playing was very well rehearsed and formed well. Instead of the whole orchestra the ensemble consisted of three quintets that were seated separately. I remember the finals night of the competition and the ensemble part sounded more difficult on piano. I really felt bad for that pianist that day. The next performance was a piano concerto played by one of the piano faculty at Illinois State. The professor of composition here wrote it as well. I moved closer to the stage so I could watch her hands. It was very entertaining seeing the numerous trills that glimmered throughout the piece and how relaxed she was. The concert ended with Stravinsky’s Firebird Suite that is mostly known through Disney’s movie Fantasia. I thought of the movie cartoon interpretation throughout the whole piece and it is amazing how well it fits in with the music and how well I remembered it after years of not seeing it. That was a great performance as well except for the coughing duet that took place during the quiet movements between an audience member and percussionist on stage. Since it was the last concert of the year, I am looking forward to next year’s concerts!

WC: 346