The Travelling Toe and 2 friends attended the Sunday matinee of the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra performance with Maestro Miguel Harth-Bedoya at the podium
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| Miguel Harth-Bedoya |
The first piece presented was "Four Dances from "Estancia" by Alberto Ginastera. The piece written in 1941 originally for a ballet which was not performed until May,1943. Mr. Ginastera, an Argentine composer, drew on the gauchos theme for this music. The program provides this insight for the music:
"Estancia" is the Argentine word for "ranch". The story of the ballet is about a boy from the city who wants to win the heart of a ranch girl. She rejects him, as he seems to be no match for the gauchos who work on the ranch. But in the end, the city boy earns the ranch girl's favor by proving he can compete with the gauchos.
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| Alberto Ginastera 1916-1983 |
Parts of this music were quite lively and all of it was enjoyable. It did require a large number of various percussion instruments to achieve that South of the Border rhythm. The piece was very delightful.
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| Javier Perianes |
During a short pause the beautiful Steinway piano was rolled to center stage. Then the featured soloist, Javier Perianes, with Maestro Harth-Bedoya, came on stage and the second selection of music began. The featured piece was "Pianola Concerto No.5 in F Major", composed by Camille Saint-Saens. Oh my, this was just an amazing piece, so beautiful. It was so interesting to observe Mr. Perianes play this piece. He was so attuned to the music and those emotions just flowed from the piano out to the audience. Excellent!! Of course, after that amazing performance he received a prolonged standing ovation. An encore was required and thoroughly enjoyed. Mr. Perianes needs to be scheduled for a return engagement as soon as possible.
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| Camille Saint-Saens 1835-1921 |
After the intermission, the Maestro lead the orchestra in "The Symphonic Dances from West Story". The music was written by the legendary Leonard Bernstein for the musical "West Side Story", which premiered on a Broadway stage in 1957. In 1960, Mr. Bernstein adapted parts of the play's score into an orchestral work that featured just the dances. The premier of this work was at Carnegie Hall in February, 1961, with the New York Philharmonic.
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| Leonard Bernstein 1918-1990 |
The orchestra was outstanding in this performance as well. Totally enjoyable. Again after a well deserved standing ovation, the Maestro did provide an encore for the appreciative audience.
What a wonderful and lovely day at the symphony!
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| LIFE IS BETTER WITH MUSIC |
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