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| FORT WORTH SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA |
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| Miguel Harth-Bedoya Music Director |
On a Sunday afternoon, The Travelling Toe and friend attended the matinee performance of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra. Music Director, Miguel Harth-Bedoya was at the podium for the performance.
The concert consisted of three classical pieces. The first selection was "Don Juan" written by Richard Strauss. It is considered a tone poem. The internet dictionary defines a tone poem as:
an instrumental composition intended to portray a particular story, scene, mood, etc.
The poem of the same name that Strauss used as an inspiration for "Don Juan" was written by Hungarian poet Nikolaus Lenau in 1844.
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| Nikolaus Lenau |
This particular piece of music required a full orchestra and that was reflected in the sweeping sound of the music. The brass section did get a workout on this piece and there was also a beautiful oboe solo bit. As the music beings to conclude, it ends with dying somber notes to reflecting the death of Don Juan in the poem.
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| Vadym Kholodenko |
After a very brief pause to have the stagehands roll the Steinway grand piano into position, Miguel and guest performer, Vadym Kholodenko, made their way to the stage.
Mr. Kholodenko is well known and appreciated in the Fort Worth area as he was the 2013 gold medal winner of the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.
He performed Sergy Prokofeiv's Piano Concert No 5 in G Major. Before the music begin Miguel and Vadym spoke to the audience members about the piece and it was very informative and helped us to better understand what we were going to hear. Additional Miguel announced that the concert was being recorded for a future album of the collaboration of the orchestra and Mr. Kholodenko to record the Prokofiev piano concertos.
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| Sergy Prokofiev |
This particular piece has 5 movements instead of the usual 3 or 4. The first movement is up and down, fast and slow. The second is like a delicate march. The third movement is similar to the first but at a faster pace. The fourth is very lyrical much like ballet music and the fifth being the finale is faster and almost like a polka. In watching the performance, The Travelling Toe is for certain that there was not one key, black or white, that Vadym did not play. It was a very technical piece but he brought life and feeling to it. Excellent performance by the pianist and the entire orchestra - it was amazing.
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| Ludwig van Beethoven |
After a short intermission, the orchestra wrapped up this amazing program with Ludwig Van Beethoven's Symphony No 5 in C Minor. Even if you do not know classical music, you probably know the very famous 4 opening notes of this piece:
da da da daaaaaa
Miguel must know this piece intimately as he conducted it without a reference musical score. The orchestra once again outdid themselves. The effort was amazing as the music made by these talented musicians poured out from the stage and onto audience members, it was magic to hear.
According to the program notes by Jane Vial Jaffe, this piece made history:
the piccolo, contrabassoon and trombones were added for the first time in symphonic history
After playing all three very demanding pieces, The Travelling Toe is sure that the orchestra members were exhausted. Well done mighty warriors!
Disclaimer: The Travelling Toe is not a professional musical critic and any opinions expressed are for entertainment purposes only.
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