The Concert I Attended

The Concert Experience

The concert I attended was a Reno Chamber Orchestra on March 18, 2018. The performance was held in the Nightingale Concert Hall at the University of Nevada in Reno. The guest performers were Yaniv Attar, a male artist from Israel, and Bella Hristova, an upcoming female star. Attar was the guest conductor with Hristova playing the violin. According to the concert posters, the two guests were introduced as reputable musicians. Attar, for instance, is a winner of three major music performance awards and a globally recognized orchestra conductor. He is the current director of the Pennsylvania Chamber Orchestra. Hristova likewise is an award-winning performer currently with over seven awards in her honor. She performs chamber music and recitals in the US. Three performances were on schedule: Battalia á 10, C.61 written by Heinrich Biber. The Octet in E-flat major, Op. 20 (arr. Yoon Jae Lee) by Felix Mendelssohn and the Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, K. 219 “Turkish” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The rich profile of the performers and the great content on the schedule motivated me to not only attend but also be attentive during the entire performance. In this essay, the second and last pieces are discussed.

The Second Piece: Octet in E-flat Major

The second piece was Octet in E-flat major, Op. 20 (arr. Yoon Jae Lee) by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy. The orchestra began to play piano as soon as Hristova, the violin soloist came in. She started by playing forte and then she allowed the sound to rise slowly and gradually fall. The interchange between this crescendo and decrescendo would then give way to the orchestra playing mezzo piano which would also crescendo progressively. Towards the end of the piece, the soloist was playing and then she gradually faded off.

Violin Concerto No. 5: ”Turkish”

Violin Concerto No. 5 in A major, K. 219 ”Turkish” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was the last in the list of performances. The varied pace and liveliness of this piece made it more interesting than the previous piece. Like the other piece, it began with strings which were later joined by the woodwinds. The later rhythm trade-offs between the woodwinds and strings made the tune awesome to listen to, reminding everyone of the greatness of Mozart. The last performance had three movements: Allegro Aperto, Adagio, and the Rondo.

Allegro Aperto

The initial movement was marked by string and woodwind instruments seamlessly uniting. They had an Allegro Aperto tempo the violin played a cadenza as the movement ended.

Adagio

In the second movement, strings started just like in the previous movement. However, the rhythm changed from fast-paced to adagio, gracefully and slowly. The oboes, cellos, and flutes began to play, and the cello once again ended this movement with pizzicato or plucking notes.

Rondo

In the third movement, the violin started, followed by the cellos, then the double basses. The sound of unison between strings and horns delicately playing in the background was distinguishable as the movement reached its mid-point. The end of this movement occurred with some notes from the flutes. The violins started by playing fortissimo followed by the woodwinds. In the middle of this, the horns and violin play a fanfare-like style. Ultimately, the piece came to an end with a decrescendo from the violins.

Comparing the Performances

In comparison with the last performance, the second performance was marked with four movements. Although the initial movement started similar to the second performance, the tempo here was Allegro moderato ma con fuoco. The second, third, and fourth movements significantly contrasted with the last performance. In the second movement, strings started just like in the previous movement. However, the tempo changed from moderato to andante. The third movement was a Scherzo: Allegro leggierissimo with the number of voices at eight. The last movement was presto. In this movement, the cellos dominated the sound exploding at a rapid pace that finally went into a decrescendo.

Connection to Classroom Learning

The songs I listened to relate to the elements learned in class in several ways. The different rhythms in terms of sound duration, harmony, form, and texture among others could be distinguished easily, with some examples given in earlier paragraphs. Overall, the two songs, despite having separate movements, finally reintegrated with each telling its story. The content learned helped me identify when there was an elemental change in any of the movements.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the audience loved this performance. The orchestra played the three pieces nicely with the guest artists participating and offering guidance. Instrumental balance, dynamics, and tune were sufficiently covered. Regarding the audience, I was not surprised by the sold-out capacity, although I had not expected it to reach that extent. Indeed, the event organizers had done proper sensitization and marketing. Also, the profile of the guests was impressive, and this must have attracted their fans as well. Although modern entertainment is now the standard, this experience reminded me how much effort and time is used by those in an orchestra to bring classical music to us.

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