Word: orchestra
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...performance, summoning him back to center stage for three curtain calls. At the last bow, Martin and the ensemble played the Badinerie section of the Suite once again for the enthralled audience. They played the movement in an extremely whimsical style. Martin's improvised virtuosic flourishes, coupled with the orchestra's drastic dynamic changes, brought chuckles and cheers from an audience that was probably unaccustomed to such notice from the performers...
...Bach Concerto in D minor for Harpsichord and Orchestra was an intriguing piece, evoking dark Transylvanian images through the spidery tone of the harpsichord and imperceptible shifts from major to minor keys. Soloist Ian Watson performed superbly, though it seemed there were a few intonation problems in the high register of the harpsichord...
Highlighting the sublime concert was the Academy's ease and grace onstage. From the first notes of tuning heard from backstage to the grand and perfectly controlled performance, small details of the musicians' gestures marked the orchestra as both startlingly elegant and endearing. One had the sense that these performers were not only consummate musicians but also good friends who truly enjoyed the music they were playing--confirmed by the fact that they needed no conductor. They seemed to move and breathe together as a body...
...could close your eyes, tone down the orchestra a few notches and simply listen to the singing, you might think the Lowell House production of Verdi's Rigoletto a remarkably fine one. As it is, watching what happens on stage doesn't add much to what you hear. There simply isn't that much to see, and what one does see tends to lessen, not strengthen, any dramatic impact...
...less satisfying and, as the central character of the opera, embodied the troubles of the production. His baritone was adequate, if not especially exciting, but it somehow lacked sheer force at crucial moments. Part of the problem lay in that his voice was drowned out every time the orchestra launched into the "curse" motif. And although he made a valiant effort to look appropriately anguished, his arm-waving and facial expression never quite succeeded in evoking the passions of the embittered hunchback...