University Symphony Orchestra Concert Report

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On Tuesday, March 3, 2015, I attended the University Symphony Orchestra. This performance was conducted by Ferenc Cseszkó and featured the 2014 University of Idaho concerto/aria competition winners. The orchestra presented four pieces, with one intermission that occurred approximately twenty minutes into the performance. The University Symphony Orchestra was the first orchestra concert I had ever attended. I was surprised by the amount of tuning that was done during the performance. I expected the instruments to be tuned before the performers came out. However, they tuned them at the beginning and repeatedly throughout the performance. There was a relatively small crowd in attendance, which I expected on a Tuesday night. The audience was …show more content…

Léo Delibes was a French composer of operas and ballets. He wrote Les filles de Cadix in the 1880’s as a solo soprano (Leo Delibes). Léo Delibes composed his pieces during the Romantic era. This era is known for the emotional weight present in each song. Les filles de Cadix is an example of a Romantic piece heavy in emotion. The work began with a quick tempo that becomes quieter when the soprano enters. The music had a repetitive pattern. It went from a forceful, hasty tempo, to a gentler, slower tempo. The soprano sung in a wide range of pitches and melodies, which was popular during the Romantic era. Her voice would leap from a low pitch to a high pitch and vice versa. The performance of the song was well done, even though the soprano’s voice was occasionally overwhelmed by the …show more content…

Today, he is predominantly remembered for this music publishing. Though not considered a major composer of the Classical period, he was friends with several of them and published numerous works by each. His piece, Viola Concerto in D Major, is cherished by viola players and is considered to be one of the best viola solos to emerge from the Classical era (Su Chu-Ching). Viola Concerto in D Major contains the formal structure that was famous in the Classical era. The first movement is in sonata allegro form because the orchestra began the piece by stating the themes before the viola soloist started to play. Those themes were continuously played throughout the movement, a feature of the sonata allegro form. The violins played at an average tempo when the soloist was not performing. During the solo act, the orchestra maintained a soft, slower tempo. The Viola Concerto displayed the technical proficiencies of the soloist impeccably. I assume that the difficulty of the song for the soloist is the reason this piece is adored by viola players. I, however, did not enjoy the piece as much as I enjoyed the other performances. Due to the slower tempo and the repetitive nature of the allegro, I found the themes to be bland and tedious. Also, while the solo was impressive, the timbre of the viola was grating and

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