MSO Does Mozart, Strauss and Dvorak

On Saturday January 17th, 2009 I attended the Memphis Symphony Orchestra’s (MSO) performance of selections by Mozart, Strauss and Dvorak. The program began with the familiar melodies from the overture to Mozart’s opera, Don Giovanni, proceeding then to my favorite piece of the evening, Don Juan, Opus 20, by Richard Strauss. It required a full orchestra and then some! I liked the rich sound and the passion and yearning it inspired. I think the violins really made the performance what it was because they created tension by means of various motives played quickly, even urgently, in a minor key. Strauss’ Burleske in D minor was next on the menu for our aural palate and it was quite impressive in a rather different way from Don Juan. While Don Juan employed a large orchestra, focusing on the strings for most of the dramatic effect, the Burleske had something else to offer: a prodigious Irishman (Barry Douglas) at the grand Steinway piano. His skills were top notch. I particularly enjoyed the instance when he rapidly played a sequence of chromatic scales…all the way down the piano!! It was definitely a treat to see him perform! The Dvorak was lovely but not quite as impressive as the other pieces on the program. I particularly enjoyed the dance-like third movement…in fact, I liked it even more than the fourth movement (even though the fourth movement is generally supposed to be the most impressive and dazzling of the four).
As always, I encourage more Rhodes students to take advantage of the student rates and the coda tickets offered by Rhodes, and see go to the Symphony!! Tickets start as low as $5 through coda, and $10 at the MSO box office (located in the Cannon Center). The next performance is Saturday February 7th at 8 pm at the Cannon Center, located down town. It features Scott Moore on the trumpet. I hope to see you there!-Brigid Hannon