What a week . . .

January 25, 2008 at 6:34 AM

Well, it's been an interesting week musically. On Saturday I went to a performance by Pinchas Zuckerman and the Royal Philharmonic. The program was Weber's Overture to Oberon, Beethoven's 7th, and the Beethoven Violin Concerto. The overture and symphony came first, with Zuckerman conducting. As I was waiting for the concert to start I realized that I'd never really seen a high level professional orchestra before. Sure, local symphonies, and some summer festival stuff, but when you live in Kansas there aren't a lot of options. ;) It was a exciting to see how such an orchestra perform live. The Weber was great — colorful, light, virtuosic. Their Beethoven was was also amazing. They took the famous Larghetto faster than some versions I'd heard, but I really liked it — it gave the movement a more more sweetly melancholy feel rather than making it a heavy dirge.

And then, what I was most looking forward to — the Beethoven concerto. I'd never seen Zuckerman perform before, so it was a real treat. He has a lovely, sweet tone, and a natural ease to his playing, along with amazing technique of course. My only complaints would be that his style was slightly too romantic for the Beethoven — just a few too many slides and surges of vibrato for my taste. Zuckerman is also not the most extroverted musician. His face and gestures just didn't open up very often. My favorite part was the second movement, where he seemed the most passionate, open, and expressive. Overall though, it was a really beautiful performance.

However, having said all that, I have to admit — my very favorite thing about this concert was watching the concertmistress, Stephanie Gonley. She so captivating, both as a person and a violinist. When she first walked onstage, I was a little surprised — partly since female concertmasters aren't as common, and also simply because of her physical appearance. She wore a lacy black shirt, long ruffled skirt, and quaint looking heels. And her HAIR — this massive poof of greying ringlets going every direction. It was the most amazing head of hair I've ever laid eyes on (aside from my boyfriend, who could very well pass for Franz Liszt). Gronley looked more like a character from Sweeney Todd than the usual symphony member. But her playing and leadership were excellent — really, really excellent. I could always hear her beautiful, clear sound above the orchestra (though that was partly because I was sitting near the front). She was always very clear and decisive, yet totally natural, and never excessive. And her face and gestures were just so expressive, always matching the constantly changing characters in the various pieces. She had that perfect balance between clarity and simplicity which is so important in a good concertmaster. I could hardly keep my eyes off her the entire concert. Really inspiring . . .

. . . Hah, and even more so, ironically, in light of the news I got the following day. Saturday morning I auditioned for my college orchestra, playing some Tchaik 5 excerpts and a little sight reading. Well, on Sunday when I went to pick up my music, I learned that I'd been chosen as concertmaster. I have to admit, I was somewhat shocked, considering I'm once of the younger orchestra members (by the way, a big thanks to all of you who encouraged me on the discussion board about this). Now that the initial shock has worn off and I've had a chance to look over the music a bit, I'm excited about the opportunity. Our first program is Wagner's Overture to Dei Meistersinger, Weber's Bassoon Concerto, and Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. I love the music, especially the Mussorgsky, and think it'll be a fun concert. :)

The last nice thing about this week was getting back to lessons again. Over break I started some new repertoire: the Mozart's D Major Concerto, Sarasate's Introduction and Tarantella, the last movement of the Brahms G Major Sonata, and a String Nonet that I'm performing for a composer friend's graduate recital. I'm excited — it's a nice variety, and I adore the Brahms. I'm also really enjoying the Mozart. I learned the A Major way back when in my Suzuki days, so it's nice to come back and try another Mozart with more maturity and experience. It's quite challenging, but brilliantly written. I can't help thinking how well it employs the violin's range — so much of that lovely middle upper register where you can really sing. The Sarasate is quite a handful for me, but still fun. It requires a lot of creativity to practice it effectively, since so many of the bowing techniques require full tempo to work. If any of you have advice, I always appreciate ideas. :)

From Terez Mertes
Posted on January 27, 2008 at 5:03 PM

Enjoyed reading your comments and YAY! on the concertmaster position!

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What a week . . .

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