Concerto
Jacksonville, Robert E. Jacoby Symphony Hall, 18 settembre 1998
| Marilyn
Horne Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra - Joann Falletta Berlioz: Le Corsaire, ouverture op. 21 Rossini, Tancredi: O patria...Di tanti palpiti Strauss, Salome: Danza dei sette veli Thomas, Mignon: C'est moi...J'ai tout brisé Saint-Saens, Samson et Dalila: Mon coeur s'ouvre à ta voix Copland: Simple gifts Copland: Ching-a-ring chaw Copland: Long time ago Copland: I bought me a cat Copland: At the river Rodgers e Hart: Bewitched, bothered and bewildered Porter: In the still of the night Gershwin: The man I love Bernstein: Symphonic dances from West side story |
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| Symphony season starts out
with memorable performance The Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra opened its 1998-99 season by bidding farewell to one of the great talents of operatic music and welcoming back one of the rising young talents in conducting at the Times-Union Center for the Performing Arts last night. Marilyn Horne bid the crowd adieu after a heart-melting rendition of Stephen Foster's Beautiful Dreamer. She is on a farewell tour and plans to retire to teaching and occasional pops appearances. What a shame, because her classical work was enthralling. The great mezzo-soprano, winner of many Grammys and accolades, held the crowd enraptured with an aria that was apropos for the times, about Delilah's seduction of Samson. The aria in the second act of the Saint Saens Samson et Dalila opera is one of the world's most famous and beautiful and Horne's dulcet tones were perfect for the pars as Delilah sang her way into Samson's heart so that she could snip the power from his hair. In saying goodbye to the audience, Horne said her voice was not getting any stronger. Her phenomenal voice control and sweet tone has not suffered at all, but it was apparent in the first half of the program that her power has waned. Her voice didn't reach the back rows of the hall and barely reached mid-floor when she was trying to match the orchestra in forte parts of Rossini's Tancredi and Thomas Mignon. In the second part of the concert, however, she was given a microphone for a set of pop songs, and she won standing ovations from the audience for her performance. Guest conductor JoAnn Falletta, the new music director of the Buffalo Philharmonic and a much traveled artist, was again dazzling in her work with the orchestra as she was last year at the Jacksonville podium. She led atour-de-force of the orchestra with Richard Strauss' Dance of the Seven Veils, in wich Eric Olson's oboe emoted another seductive picture of Salome performing for the prize of John the Baptist's head. The finale, the Symphonic Dances from West Side Story by Bernstein, was so energetic, precise and exciting that it bodes very well for a year in wich guest conductors will be at the hel of the orchestra seeking to win the music directorship here. Too bad Falletta is not one of the candidates. Bob Phelps - The Times-Union, 19 settembre 1998 |