Word: hro
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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While Brahms' famous lullaby may be his most cliched piece, it is not representative of the passion and intensity that the majority of his work invokes--certainly not of last Friday's rousing HRO concert...
...immeasurably better at writing for piano than for orchestra. In either of his two piano concertos, every part except the soloist's will seem like mere accompaniment. This was especially true in this performance of Liszt's second concerto, in A, where Yukiko Sekino '99, the winner of HRO's Concerto Competition, dwarfed her colleagues with her huge technique. Though her double notes left something to be desired (and whose don't?), her fearless and flawless octaves, the sine quibus non of Lisztian bravura, eradicated this quibble. A duet passage with principal cellist Steve Cho '97 was captivating...
...concert was top-heavy in quality but satisfying throughout. Successful performances in this especially difficult program promise great music from HRO in its next major appearance at the Brahms Festival in April...
...themes, surreptitious-sounding pizzicati, and highly percussive tutti throughout. This idiom seemed to bring out a better side of the orchestra, which took the difficult rhythms in stride, found the wit in some of Shostakovich's jazz-inflected themes, and produced an impressive tone in the louder passages. Maybe HRO felt some affinity with the piece, which the composer wrote as a senior project at the age of 18 (and you think you work too hard on your thesis). Or maybe the orchestra is just more comfortable in the twentieth century; in one concert last year, it seemed...
...wasn't the most stellar evening in HRO's history, it was by no means a black mark, either. Let's be thankful for the sheer potential of the orchestra, and keep our fingers crossed for a more appealing program next time out: perhaps something for the Brahms centenary next year? He did write a Double Concerto, after...