Word: bach
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...probably as underapreciated as it is slightly overused. Like voices calling and responding to one another, they act, unlike much musical interscenic filler, to further contemplation with subtle gradations of emotion rather than the current fad of ironic comment or scene-labeling through dastardly clever epoch-hopping musical selection. Bach (played by Laura Lee'00) and Gounod (Luba Mandzy '01) trade strains here, at the same time softening and commenting upon the rough edges of Miller's emotional landscape...
...treatment of melody seemed stratified between two extremes: the endless, flowing melodies of the quartet and strings, and the terse melodic fragments delivered by the remainder of the ensemble, particularly the glockenspiel and the brass. The program notes describe the use of a principal theme and motives from both Bach chorales and Beethoven Quartets op. 135 and 74. However, these melodic fragments, regardless of their origin, sounded only as quotes, isolated from the dominant texture. What was lacking was any real sense of interaction between these two melodic worlds. The program describes the principal theme as being part...
President of the 15-member Organ Society at Harvard, Forger has been playing for about 10 years, expanding his range on organs everywhere from inner-city meeting houses to Johann Bach's home church in Germany...
...finish. The orchestra attacked it with zest and did a fine job handling this picturesque masterpiece. However, with so well known a piece, any orchestra has to work that much harder to present the music in an engaging and expressive manner. That extra oomph was lacking in the Bach Soc's standard, somewhat unoriginal interpretation of the symphony. The most lyrical moments sometimes came across as a bit too brisk and deliberate--as, for example, in the famous cuckoo trill bridging the second and third movements. Tipler's choice of tempi was a little mystifying, especially in the second movement...
...general, the Bach Society Orchestra gave a skillful and mature performance of an intelligently crafted program. Most of the flaws undoubtedly stemmed from adjusting to a new conductor and the relatively short amount of rehearsal time for such a challenging set of repertoire. Altogether, the concert succeeded in making a pleasant evening, and left audience members humming or whistling the undeniably memorable tunes...