Filed under: Reviews | Tags: Adam Blackwell, Aldemaro Romero, Astor Piazzolla, Carlos Chávez, Carlos Zamora, Denver Biennial of The Americas, Eddy Marcano, Felipe Hildago, Fernando de la Rúa, Jim Polsfut, Phillip Glass, Robert Coombe, University of Denver, YOA, Youth Orchestra of The Americas
Friday night, July 9, a truly fine concert was presented by the Youth Orchestra of the Americas at the Newman Center on the DU campus. It was in collaboration with Denver’s new celebration entitled the Biennial of the Americas. For those of you who may yet be unfamiliar with the Biennial of the America’s, it is a month long celebration of innovation, imagination, and the artistic achievement of the entire Western Hemisphere of 35 countries hosted by the City of Denver.
Preceding the concert was a reception that included many dignitaries and persons of note. University of Denver Chancellor Robert Coombe was the host of the concert, and the esteemed guests included the former president of Argentina, Fernando de la Rúa, Amb. Adam Blackwell from the Organization of American States, and Jim Polsfut, President of the Americas Roundtable, Biennial of the Americas.
You must understand that the Youth Orchestra of the Americas is comprised of 24 members between the ages of 18 and 30 and they represent some of the finest young musicians in this hemisphere from nineteen different nations. The auditions for this string orchestra are rigorous, and it seems to me that virtually every member of the orchestra could easily be a soloist. And by the way, one of the members of this orchestra is DU’s own Sarah Johnson. This orchestra brought with them two conductors, Felipe Humberto Hidalgo Harris of Chile, and Eddy Marcano of Venezuela.
Harris’ career as a conductor began with the founding of the Youth Orchestra of Santiago (1996). In 1998 he conducted the Symphonic Bows and Youth Orchestras of Falcon in Venezuela. In 2000 he was appointed resident conductor of the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Fifth Region. He has created numerous children’s orchestras in various parts of Chile. He is director of the Metropolitan Student Orchestra (OSEM) which is a major Symphony Orchestra of the Foundation for Youth and Children Orchestras of Chile. He has led in the OSEM orchestra since 2003. He has also toured with the National Youth Chamber Orchestra to Cuba.
As a violinist, he was the first concertmaster of the National Youth Symphony Orchestra of Chile since its inception, concertmaster of the Chamber Orchestra of the Teatro Municipal, and Principal Second Violin with the Philharmonic Orchestra at Carnegie Melon (Pittsburgh). Hidalgo has performed as soloist with various orchestras and groups throughout Chile (Concepción Symphony, Orchestra USACH, and UC Chamber Orchestra among others). He was also one of the founders the Ensemble Quidrivium, and has conducted and performed numerous premieres of contemporary Chilean, Latin American, and American works, such as the South American premiere of George Crumb’s Black Angels. He has recorded five CDs of Chilean contemporary music.
Eddy Marcano is one of the great violinists and conductors of Venezuela and is recognized as one of the leading exponents of the instrument throughout Latin America. As an orchestra member, he is first violinist of the renowned Simón Bolívar Symphony Orchestra, a position for which he has received the highest decorations. As a soloist, he has performed with leading orchestras in Venezuela and around the world, receiving the highest accolades. He has participated in national and international festivals throughout Latin America and in Germany, Spain, the United States and England.
Marcano is professor of violin at the Simon Bolivar Conservatory of Music and the Emil Friedman School. He also served as President of the Nueva Esparta Symphony Orchestra Foundation and director of the Junior Orchestra af the Mantalban Academic Center. He has been engaged by UNESCO and the Organization of American States (OAS) in establishing youth and infant orchestras in Honduras, Mexico, Uruguay, Paraguay and Guatemala, for which orchestras he has also served as conductor and violin professor. He is a member of the UNESCO Music of Venezuela Council.
The program opened with a work by Philip Glass, entitled “Company.” Glass is an American composer – he was born in 1937 – and is considered one of the most influential composers of this century. He is known as a minimalist composer who uses music with repetitive structures, but recently, he has been avoiding that particular label. This work, “Company”, certainly fills the description minimalist. It is a brief work which has driving rhythms and a sense of urgency, even though the first movement is relatively slow. The second movement ends rather suddenly leading to a flowing third movement. The final movement is fast, and recalls many of the ideas of the previous movements, but it also ends rather suddenly. This is a difficult work and it was immediately apparent that this is, in spite of its youth, a very professional orchestra. Their playing is exciting, very precise while being extremely passionate. Glass arranged this work for string quartet. This is the first time I have heard the string orchestra version and I think that I prefer it, especially when it is performed with such remarkable musicianship.
Following the Glass, the YOA performed the Sinfonia Nr. 5 by the great Mexican composer, Carlos Chávez (1899-1978). Chávez had a very wide range of abilities; he was a conductor, a composer, pianist, a musical scholar of great ability, and the executive director of the National Bureau of Fine Arts. His first published compositions come from his early twenties, and if one looks hard enough, one can still find some of his songs in print, which have always reminded me of Henri Duparc. His fifth symphony is a neoclassical work that contains some very imaginative writing in its elaboration of themes and instrumental technique. In the first movement, the themes are very closely related, in fact they seem almost like different rhythmic variations of the same theme. There are groups of 16th notes that seem to unify the entire structure. It is very different from the second movement which seems almost improvisational and ends very quietly. The third movement contains some contrapuntal rising which makes it very easy to assign the label “neoclassical.” This is also a very difficult piece and the Maestro Eddy Marcano seemed more comfortable in this work than he did in the Glass. His conducting was very expressive and also very expansive. The orchestra had absolutely no problem with the difficult rhythms and dynamics that changed with great suddenness. It was also obvious that the orchestra enjoyed playing this piece, as well as being a member of a group that was able to perform well in public.
At the beginning of this performance it was announced there would be some changes in the program. However, the addition was announced so quickly that I simply did not catch it, so my apologies must go to those who performed and those who read this article. The piece that they did perform displayed the amazing ability of the concertmaster and the principal cellist. Both had remarkable technique and remarkable tone production. The work was conducted by Felipe Hidalgo, and it was very interesting to have such a fine orchestra conducted by two fine conductors. At the outset, it seemed one could classify Maestro Hidalgo’s conducting as a little more emotional than Marcano’s, but I must say that both conductors received what they asked for in the way of emotion and musicianship. And, again, the orchestra played with noticeable enthusiasm as they had for Maestro Marcano.
Hidalgo also conducted the next work on the program, “Sikuris Atacameño,” by Carlos Zamora, who was in the audience. Zamora was born in Chile in 1968 and is a conductor, as well as a fine composer who has written concertos, opera, chamber works and orchestral pieces. This work, and it may seem a strange thing to say in a review, was simply beautiful, however, there is no other way to describe it. A sikuri is a folk dance, and the Atacama is a region of high desert close to the Andes. This was conducted with great sensitivity and the audience responded with great enthusiasm in greeting not only the performance, but the composer as well. This was another 20th century composition that, like all the rest on this program, was tonal centered. It is interesting that so many South American composers seem to be returning to a tonal center. It seems to me that they far outnumber American composers in that respect, even though I can think of one American composer, albeit born in Argentina, who writes with a tonal center, and that is Luis Gonzalez. An argument can certainly be made that there are many composers all around the world who have returned to tonal centered compositions, but, as noted, that direction seems to have been spearheaded in South America.
Next on the program came Muerte del Angel by Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992). Piazzolla was influenced a great deal by jazz, particularly the Gerry Mulligan octet. But it was his composition teacher, Nadia Boulanger, who convinced him to return to his roots and concentrate on the tango. La Muerte del Angel belongs to an after-the-fact cycle of five Angel pieces that use the duple meter that is quite syncopated called a “milonga” and is generally thought to be the predecessor to the tango. This work, written for solo violin and string orchestra, was performed by Eddy Marcano, and is a fugue that uses tango rhythms. It is an incredibly expressive piece. I hope that one of these days I can see the score, because it seemed to call for “scooped” pitches from the solo violin which were very reminiscent of the way Fritz Kreisler played. In any case, it added much to the ambience of the work. Marcano is an excellent violinist, and not only did the audience enjoy his playing, but it was clear that the members of the orchestra did, as well.
The YOA next performed the “Fuga con Pajarillo” from the Suite for Strings by Aldemaro Romero (1928-2007). Romero, like Piazzolla, was influenced by jazz, and this composition is a compilation of flavors – jazz and Baroque. The parajillo is a dance in triple meter, and waltz like, but the accent must be placed on the second beat rather than the first. The fugue can best be described as riveting and exciting. This was so well done, that as an encore, the orchestra repeated it. It was clear that both Marcano and the orchestra enjoyed performing the work, and the audience certainly enjoyed hearing it twice. It was absolutely spellbinding.
Deservedly, the Youth Orchestra of America received a standing ovation, and it was interesting that after the applause subsided, and the members of the orchestra were leaving the stage, spontaneous applause broke out again from the audience and everybody on stage acknowledged it. In the face of such wildly extravagant comments that serious music is dying – and there are those in Denver who say that it is – it is refreshing to see young people so very talented and working so hard. This is a fine orchestra and the musicians in it worked very hard. I also hasten to point out that nearly every state in the United States has a youth orchestra that is just as good. So where do the rumors of the death of serious music come from? My strong suspicion is that it comes from individuals who do not know or appreciate serious music and therefore dismiss it out of hand. And since when did ignorance become a point of view?
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Here’s a reader who watches for your new reviews because they are a pleasure to read and because they always give me something new to think about.
Comment by Patricia July 12, 2010 @ 10:08 pmI am pleased to hear that my father’s music, Fuga con Pajarillo, has been included in this concert. On behalf of my father I thank Eddy Marcano for his kindness and I invite all conductors to include more of Aldemaro Romero’s 100 academic pieces. Forty of them have not yet been premiered. To Mr. McNail, I thank you for such wonderful review and for your support to young and new generations of talented musicians!
Comment by Ruby Romero July 19, 2010 @ 8:53 pm