Open Wardrobes

Yes, it's already week 3 (and this week I am more ahead of the game in writing about it). Last night Kelly and I caught the ICOF concert at Temple Israel featuring the Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment (OAE) and the SPCO. As with last weekend's concert, this concert also featured each orchestra as half the concert. The OAE, an orchestra which only performs on period instruments (i.e. gut string on the violins, no valves on the trumpets, etc), kicked things off with several Baroque pieces: a divertimento by Mozart, a sinfonia by C.P.E Bach, and a Haydn violin concerto. All three pieces were led by the OAE's Rachel Podger who directed from the violin. (Like the SPCO the OAE does not have a single music director.) First, I have to say that these musicians were great fun to watch (it's always a pleasure to watch performers who are clearly enjoying themselves), especially Ms. Podger. The Mozart, for example, was a lively little piece (you can always count on Mozart to be good fun) and the C.P.E. Bach piece was filled with musical twists and turns. All in all the OAE put on a very nice performance and I enjoyed all 3 pieces, but while it felt solid it did not feel like anything spectacular. It was all good, but not great.


The second half, on the other hand, was given over entirely to the SPCO and Shostakovich's Chamber Symphony in F and was a truly remarkable piece (here I must once again admit my bias towards the SPCO). This is an incredibly intriguing and dynamic piece, always changing, and filled with "darker" notes. Unlike the Baroque pieces of the first half, the Shostakovich had the feel of a deep story lurking behind the notes. It was dramatic, such as the sudden end of the third movement, and the more subtle end of the fifth, in which the lead violin plucked the final notes along with the harp, underscored by sustained notes from the rest of the strings. Ruggero Allifranchini, the SPCO's associate concertmaster, led this piece from the violin, and if you have ever seen him in performance you know he is a treat to watch. He is very intense and clearly relished the piece. The rest of the orchestra as well excuted this piece marvelously, and what a piece. At the end I turned to Kelly and said, "Holy crap, that was COOL!" It really was one of the most amazing pieces I've every heard (and after the Vaughan Williams two weeks ago, that is saying something) and I will definitely be tuning into MPR this Saturday night to catch the live broadcast of that concert. One of the pieces I heard the SPCO play back when I first joined the staff was another Shostakovich piece (a piano concerto, I think) which was also amazing, and so Kelly and I have come to the conclusion that we really like Shostakovich. (It makes me regret the fact that I missed the ICOF concert back in Week 1 where the Chamber Orchestra of Europe played multiple Shostakovich works, including another chamber symphony.)


With just one week left I am thankful that I've had the opportunity to catch so much of the festival so far, as I have been treated to one amazing performance after another by the world's top chamber orchestras. This festival is the first of its kind, and from what I've seen I hope it will not be the last.