 |
The Plainfield Symphony Orchestra performs
in Plainfield's historic Crescent Avenue Presbyterian
Church, shown here from the roof of City Hall. |
With conductor Charles Prince at the podium, the Plainfield Symphony Orchestra (PSO)
closed its 98th season with a stellar performance of Mahler's 9th
Symphony. The after-party honored John Stewart, former chief of staff to
Mayor Adrian Mapp, and his partner Craig Bowman, both of whom have been
generous supporters of the PSO.
Under Prince's tenure the PSO has broadened its repertoire and taken on
more challenging works as Saturday evening's concert demonstrated. A
student of both the fabled Leonard Bernstein and former Boston Symphony
Orchestra conductor Seiji Ozawa, we are indeed fortunate to have him as musical director and conductor of the PSO.
PSO Treasurer Mary Burgwinkle, board member Beki Perkins and PSO executive administrative assistant Carolyn Wellington were busy as one-armed paperhangers checking in the crowd who were either purchasing or picking up reserved tickets.
Crescent Avenue Presbyterian Church was literally filled to the rafters
with a full house in the nave and the balcony and the side aisles filled
with folks sitting in pews along the walls (removed from the front of
the nave to make room for the very large orchestra Mahler symphonies demand).
The final concert was dedicated to the late Albert (Al) Jorgenson, who
was the Orchestra's percussionist for more than 50 years and recently
passed away. Following tributes by both Prince and PSO board president
Peter Lomanoco, Prince led the PSO in an orchestral tribute performance of Jose Serebrier's
arrangement of Tchaikovsky's "None But The Lonely Heart." (Serebrier is a
former conductor of the PSO and a renowned composer.)
From the outset, Mahler's 9th sets about breaking traditions. The first
movement is slow, with a syncopated rhythm that Leonard Bernstein
suggested referred to Mahler's irregular heartbeat (which would eventually lead to
his death).
The second movement's lãndler (folk songs) are eventually so transformed as to be unrecognizable except as a bitter comment made striking by the extreme orchestration.
The third movement, which Mahler calls a rondo-burlesk, is another
departure from the standard orchestral format, as is his notation that
he wanted the movement played "with defiance".
The fourth and final movement is slow and seemed to me hymn-like (some
people say they can hear the hymn tune for "Abide with me" in the
movement's opening. As with much of Mahler's late music, it seems
preoccupied with death (there is also a quote from the Kindertotenlieder,
his song cycle concerned with the deaths of children), and the movement
ends in the faintest whisper of the violins -- and then silence.
The audience sat spellbound for some time after the music stopped, then burst into standing applause when Conductor Prince finally lowered his arms and turned around.
The after-party, which was mobbed, was at the Prospect Avenue home of
Natalie Chermak and Elliott Beneroff, and honored longtime volunteers
and supporters John Stewart and Craig Bowman.
The 99th season, whose schedule was announced on Saturday, will include a
Wagner concert (which should also be mobbed) as well as a Brahms and Beethoven
evening, and closes the season with a performance of Scriabin's
ferociously difficult "Prometheus: The Poem of Fire" (Symphony No. 5).
Another challenging and exciting year to look forward to with the PSO.
As an aside (I am a compulsive program booklet reader), the large number of full- and half-page ads, and the wide variety of advertisers, are a mark of the success by hard working board members at twisting arms.
Bravo to all!
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