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| Peter McCaffrey. |
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| Composer Antonin Dvorak. |
Louisville Orchestra: Dvorak
Symphony No. 7
Featuring cellist, Peter McCaffrey
Jorge Mester, conductor
Reviewed by Carol Larson
Entire contents are copyright © 2012 Carol Larson. All rights reserved.
How great it was to be back in the concert hall with the Louisville
Orchestra. This evening’s performance was extraordinary. Jorge Mester and the Orchestra were on
fire!
This was the first concert of the 2012-2013 concert series and was dedicated
to Robert Whitney and the musicians of the first season of the Louisville
Orchestra, 1937-1938.
The program began with music of Czech composer Bedrich Smetana. We
heard Three Dances from the opera The Bartered Bride. This was Smetana’s second opera – an opera in which he was determined to create a truly Czech operatic
genre – and he did exactly that! This opera made a major contribution towards
the development of Czech music.
I must say that the Orchestra was phenomenal. The dances were happy and
rhythmic. The ensemble was very
tight. Maestro Mester and the Orchestra actually created the aura of being at a
wedding celebration!
The next work of the evening was the Cello Concert No. 1 in A Minor by
French composer Camille Saint-Saens, featuring cellist Peter McCaffrey. The
piece is structured in one continuous movement with three distinct
sections. I thought it interesting to note that many composers, including
Shostakovich and Rachmaninoff, considered this concerto to be the greatest of
all cello concertos!
This piece was well executed by both the soloist and the orchestra.
The fast and furious sections were played very cleanly. The slow and lyrical
sections were heart rendering. There was an added delight at the end of this
concerto. Soloist Peter McCaffrey played an encore, the Sarabande from the
Bach Cello Suite in D minor. This encore was so beautiful that there was dead
silence in the audience with a burst of applause at the end.
The last work of the evening was the Symphony No. 7 in D Minor by Antonin Dvorak, his most accomplished orchestral work. This piece was actually the icing on
the evening’s cake. In contrast to
the light and buoyant playing of the Dances from The Bartered Bride, this
symphony featured the lush and dramatic sound of the Orchestra. From the
beautiful woodwind choir at the beginning to the full, big brass sound and the powerful
passionate strings – this Orchestra had it all.
It was a memorable evening. Bravo and welcome back!
Louisville Orchestra: Dvorak
Symphony No. 7
Friday October 5, 2012
Louisville Orchestra at
The Brown Theatre
315 W. Broadway
Louisville, KY 40202
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