New Jersey Symphony (NJS) presented a program resonating with the passion of the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries, during the weekend of February 26 and 27, in Red Bank and Newark. NJS was under the baton of José Luis Dominguez, who also helms the New Jersey Symphony Youth Orchestra, among a host of top-level arts organizations. Dominguez eloquently discussed the opening work, Louise Farrenc’s Overture Number One in E minor, Opus 23, framing this little-known masterwork that is coming into the light. He explained that the Madame Farrenc was well known and well-regarded, but the music that endures from that time is related to–shocker–the power of one’s connections. This opening piece was a harbinger of Spring, with bold and vigorous passages, graceful strings and fraught with the power of nature. We got the full measure of a season, sometimes wrathful, sometimes full of grace, in this new-found delight. And when you have the respect of a colleague like Hector Berlioz, as Farrenc did, you know you’re doing something right. Dominguez also set our expectation by giving us insight into how a program is created. Showing us the connection among three disparate composers is the beauty of how they express their passion.
Madame Farrenc’s overture’s first act companion was Juan Pablo Jofre’s Double Concerto for Violin and Bandoneon, Number One. When an Argentinean invites you to dance, you dance. If you are not familiar with the bandoneon, it is like a concertina on steroids. Jofre was the soloist on the bandoneon, and had a piano bench to put his foot upon to support the central portion of the instrument. Eric Wyrick performed the violin solos and the two master musicians gave us a brilliant rendition. The Introduction contained modal violin with rich overtones from the bandoneon, while the Allegro had verve, darkness, and joy all in one. The Adagio was achingly beautiful, with sometimes discordant darkness, punctuated by soaring arcs of beauty that spiral with allure. The Cadenza’s chaotic energy in the violin is joined by the bandoneon and the Milonga seemed like a conversation amongst the orchestra and the instruments. We watched Jofre ply his instrument, his performance sensual, soaring, breathtakingly athletic, and gently deft all at once. Jofre was audience right, Wyrick audience left, yet their playing displayed the union of brilliant minds. They did a brief fluid encore with a lush and beautiful violin line.
Deep breath! Intermission–so needed! Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky finished his Symphony Number Six in B minor, Opus 74, just a little over a week prior to his death. Romantic notions render this Pathetique as Tchaikovksy’s paean to his own career as a composer. His melodies have been used many times in popular music and this work was my second-ever classical recording. My grandmother heard the melody in the Adagio-Allegro non troppo movement and started singing “This is the story of a starry night” with the recording. You can hear in the Allegro con grazia the brilliant waltz that feels like a look back after the drama of the first movement, with its slow, dramatic opening. The Allegro motto vivace was energetic in a way that John Williams echoes in his “Heroes March” in the end title of “Star Wars” and the Finale. The Adagio lamentoso feels like entropy from an orchestral view as the life-energy wanes in the music, ultimately winking out. From sweeping drama to grand and final send off, this piece made the perfect second act for a Passion-ate afternoon.
Hungry for more NJ Symphony? Me three! Get your tickets now at https://www.njsymphony.org/events.