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December 22, 2005
Santa Monica Symphony 12/11
Hey, I'm not just movies & TV. I've got some culture in me, too.
Heard the Santa Monica Symphony play the other day. This is the 2nd time I've heard them, and once again, I was impressed by how good they sound, considering they play for free for an audience mostly consisting of the Greatest Generation (i.e. OLD). OK, they're all pro's and studio musicians, probably, so I shouldn't be surprised.
Anyway, the program consisted of an early Schubert symphony, a concerto for piccolo & contrabassoon (yes, you read that right) by a 20-something baby composer, and excerpts from Copland's Rodeo.
The Schubert symphony was good. Like Mozart, it had nice melodies and was certainly enjoyable to listen to, but lacked a little passion. I think this was a symphony Mr. Schubert wrote in his teens, so I'll cut the guy a break. I'm sure after he'd heard a few more Beethoven symphonies, he got a little deeper with his stuff. Hopefully, at least, he started using less of the clarinet and more of the bassoon.
The Concerto for Piccolo and Contrabassoon was doomed from the start. The concept was to write a piece of music for the highest instrument in the orchestra and the lowest. Note to music lovers: the highest & the lowest instruments are meant for texturing and building sound, and not for carrying melodies by themselves. This just didn't work. In fact, I'm fully behind anyone who would like to burn every contrabassoon in existence. (How can the bassoon be so amazing and the contrabassoon be so horrible?) Besides the failed concept, I think composer Damian Montano wrote some good music. Whenever you read "premiere" in the program, you know you'll be hearing something weird, and this had it's atonal moments. But it also had some great sections (when the full orchestra took over the theme). Montano writes for TV and movies, and listed a film scorer as one of his influences, and the music was a little too background-y, but (when the contrabassoon wasn't trying to croak itself a solo) pleasant.
Finally, Copland's Rodeo was entertaining. The brass came in to liven things up. The different movements rarely maintain a theme for very long, which would be my biggest complaint. But when they got to Hoe-Down at the end, I was ready to dance like a Sooner or a Cornhusker. Unfortunately, I hadn't eaten dinner and that is also the music for The Beef Council's ads ("Beef -- It's What's For Dinner") and the entire last movement made me starving for a steak.
Posted by JoshHornik at December 22, 2005 06:17 PM
Comments
Hi. I can't believe that you actually managed to make a symphony concert review funny! Now that's blogging talent!
Posted by: Lauri at December 29, 2005 12:33 PM