On Friday, July 16, 2010 at St. Mary’s College of Maryland, the new college President, Joseph Urgo, opened the evening concert and introduced Joe Anderson, President of the St. Mary’s River Watershed Association. Mr. Anderson announced that this concert was dedicated to the environment.
“St. Mary’s River is on the EPA’s list of impaired rivers”, he said, and they have high hopes for a new oyster sanctuary. (The concert included a new work called “Many Rivers”, making the dedication particularly appropriate.) After a brief rendition of the James Bond theme song from “Dr. No”, the concert began with grins and giggles as maestro Jeff Silberschlag announced “We know about half of you are Russian spies” as 3 nefarious spies in Russian hats wandered stealthily across the stage. He claimed that if the audience found a spy, they should be reported to the Arts Alliance volunteers who would help to capture them.
The first “real” piece of music was “Russian Sailors Dance” a very exciting short piece with lots of percussion and strong melodies. “Concerto for Violin and Orchestra” by Wieniawski was the highlight of the evening. The concerto began peacefully and later became more intense with intricate scales and very high notes. It featured 16 year old violinist Brian Hong (pictured), Young Artist Competition co-winner. After 12 years of violin study, Brian has also won prizes at the National Philharmonic Concerto Competition, the Music Teachers National Association Virginia and Southern Regional competitions. Brian and the Chesapeake Orchestra received a well deserved standing ovation for the performance. Intermission began right after the 9 minute “Many Rivers” by William Kleinsasser, inspired by St. Mary’s River and white water rafting. This high energy piece looked very difficult to play, as it sounded like a jumble of different tunes played at once. The concert ended with Prokofiev’s four movement “Symphony No. 5”, a piece similar to Prokofiev’s 1945 “Romeo and Juliet” ballet. Some of the music portrayed Prokofiev’s anxiety toward Stalin.
The second movement was particularly agitated with a repetitive four note theme in the background. The 3rd movement, the Adagio, had various melodies and a lot of variety. The 4th movement started a little more tunefully, followed by short tension filled melodies with a number of solos that were passed around to different sections of the orchestra. First violinist, and concert master of the Chesapeake Orchestra, José Cueto, will be featured on the July 23rd River Concert playing E. Lalo’s “Symphonie espanole”. Don’t miss it!
The author, Joanna Macaulay, is a professional photographer and music lover from Calm Reflections Photography in St. Mary’s County. Some of her work can be viewed at www.calmreflectionsphotography.com
