Word: staccatos
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...little musicians are gathered in the basement of River East elementary school in one of New York's tougher neighborhoods: East Harlem. At the back of the room is a sign admonishing them to PRACTICE MORE; in front is this dervish of a drill instructor, issuing staccato directives from beneath a cloud of frizzy, dark hair that seems charged by her kinetic energy. "Don't anyone make a sound. Fix your feet and your bow right away. O.K., eyes on me. No fooling around...
This modernist feel was especially punctuated by guest conductor Christoph Eschenbach who donned a black (of course) collarless (priest?) buttonless (zipper?) shirt. Eschenbach's every motion was like clean staccato, a human metronome for the orchestra. And even special guest Midori's movements seemed strangely reminiscent of C3PO. The analogy should probably wisely end here...
...tough choice whether to prefer Sekino's amazing dynamic control or her fabulous dress. Her rendition of the Mozart G Major Concerto began with projection problems but blossomed into a miracle of subtly shaded staccato. To be fair, Lin was better at conversing with the orchestra, but Sekino gave a more exciting performance. Where appropriate, she amplified the music to operatic dimensions...
Louis Leakey's enthusiasm for Africa and the search for earliest man were infectious. Speaking before a packed lecture hall in his staccato-like voice, punctuated by rapid inhales, he cast a spell, making each listener believe he was speaking only to him or her. His following in America was cultlike. Consumed with devotion and swept up in his charisma, many developed a desire to follow somehow in his footsteps, to please...
...last piece on tonight's program is Walter Piston's Third Symphony, a warm, polished, slightly reticent work. The HRO's brass section, sometimes dicey, was wonderful here in rehearsal and Yannatos' tough love made its staccato playing even better. The slow turns of the oboe at the outset have an Italianate flavor (Walter's grandfather was named Antonio Pistone) and the tonal language is cosmopolitan: Piston, luckier than most Harvard seniors, won a Paine Traveling Fellowship after graduation. You'll want to listen in the third movement for exuberant music that Dr. Y wants to deliver in "band style...