Monday, October 1, 2007

Olga Kern and the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra

I attended the opening concert of the 2007-2008 Classics concert series this past Friday. Now, Charlotte has always had the opportunity to receive great international talent in its midst. The Carolina Concert Series (which hosts more visiting European orchestras than any other organization in the region) presents such a strong line up of big name talent, often rivaling the CSO. Yet it was a delightful treat to hear the up and coming Russian pianist Olga Kern perform at the Belk Theatre with the Symphony. A striking blond, dressed in a fiery red dress and heels as she strode to the piano, is the kind of attractive young musician that garners attention for her passionate renditions, much like violinist Joshua Bell. But this night, the music obviously took center stage.

Like most first fine arts performances of a season, upon the arrival of the conductor to the stage, everyone stands and sings the national anthem. As the focus of the program was Russian composers, we sang to Igor Stravinsky's much less robust 1941 symphonic version. It's also the Stravinsky's 125th birthday this year, so go figure.

Also on the lineup was American composer Jennifer Higdon's "blue cathedral", a short, ethereal and absolutely spell-binding piece that brings to mind, as intended by Hidgon, a glass cathedral floating in the clouds. Using various bells, chimes, percussion instruments, and even the gentle tinkling of silver Chinese health balls (which members of the orchestra gently shook in their hands in unison at one point), Higdon's musical portrait of an imaginative and contemplative sanctuary had the sort of healing quality that brought to mind the transition from mortal realms to spiritual. It is little wonder that she wrote the piece to mark the death of her brother to cancer.

Stravinsky's "Symphony in Three Movements" was also another inspired piece, originally intended for score to the 1943 film "Song of Bernadette". Instead, it became his imaginary soundtrack to a war documentary he had seen on China's scorched-earth tactics. The music, like all Stravinsky, is like an earful of Picasso...disjointed, patchy, only vaguely following a common color or musical theme, yet bold enough to hold your interest. Some compare the sudden jumps in rhythm and tone to an audible example of channel surfing the tv, going back and forth between musical ideas (think of the "Fox News Alert" ditty sandwiched between a random MTV pop song and maybe something airy on Lifetime). It's not for the faint of heart (or ears, in this matter).

Finally, one of my personal favorites, Segei Rachmaninov's 2nd Piano Concerto, was played beautifully by Kern. Various themes from this particular piece have shown up everywhere in pop culture, from classic movies to Top 40 songs, because the melody is so defined and memorable. A sense of romance, longing, and deep yearning drenches every note, making it impossible to dismiss or ignore what you hear. Kern's interpretation of it was nearly perfect (if not played a tad slower than I'm personally used to) and she received such an ovation that she played two encores (quite rare, it's usually only the traditional one encore): a Russian folk dance and "Flight of the Bumblebee". Her enthusiasm was catching, the energy was enough to set the hall on fire, and everyone went home happy, including myself.


And so that was it. I've kept my word and posted once again. ;-) Your thoughts are appreciated!