It was such a wonderful concert presented by the American Symphony Orchestra at Carnegie Hall last Friday. As a beginner of classical music, without too deep knowledge about the program, I came to just enjoy the music melody more than really appreciating the music. I wish to open the door of classical music by watching this concert. Tonight’s performance was really awesome. It did not disappoint me.
In my opinion, Carnegie Hall is the most beautiful music concert hall in the United States and the icon of New York City. I was impressed by the acoustics for the hall, which made every note heard in each corner of the hall. I was really struck by the beauty of Carnegie Hall and overwhelmed by their architecture. Everything is perfect except the fact that some audiences used to keep coughing during the performance, which really disturbed the concert in some extent. Besides, if all audience could come on time, they would not affect the other audience.
American Symphony Orchestra is a young and energetic orchestra. The youthful member of orchestra can attract younger demographic and make classical music more relevant. The music director and conductor, Leon Botstein, aims to bring some new ideas of orchestra performance to the audiences. In each concert, they present various themes in the program including history, literature, or politics etc. Each piece of music was revolved around the chosen theme, and they were connected to one another. Most of the pieces were easy listening. The tickets are accessible to the general public. The program of this concert had a variety of performing forces, from a piano solo to a choral performance from the one-act opéra-comique, Djamileh.
The theme of this concert is “Orientalism in France.” Orientalism is a term that artists or composers express their interest and obsession of the eastern culture. Orient means the East. French orientalism is more engaged in North Africa or West Asia. I could feel the orientalism in the pieces of Saint-Sean’s “Orient et Occident” and Maurice Delage’s “Quatre Poèmes Hindous”.
The piece which impressed me mostly in this concert was the “Four Hindu Poems” by Maurice Delage. This piece was composed in India in 1912. It is full of color of India. The melody has captured the essence of India. The soprano solo, Julia Bullock, did an excellent job. Her voice was so penetrating and smooth. This piece really gave me a feeling of leisurely walking near a river in a small city in India. The melody was clear and simple. The difference between the actual live performance and the recording was the soprano was more clear and impressive. Besides, it seems the speed of the piece was little slower in the live performance.