EDMONDS – A Sunday evening concert by the Cascade Symphony at the Edmonds Center for the Arts featured two elegant works from the late 18th century by Luigi Boccherini and Franz Joseph Haydn. The program also included a set of delightful short works by Tchaikovsky, composed with the world of children’s music in mind. The evening highlight was the return appearance of guest cellist Amos Yang.
First up on the program were the short selections by Tchaikovsky from his “Children’s Album Op. 39.” In 1878, Tchaikovsky decided to create this cycle of 24 “miniature” pieces, written first for piano, and dedicated to his favorite nephew. The Cascade Symphony played 15 of these, arranged for chamber orchestra by Lazar Gozman. Several employ folk tunes. A standout selection featured guest Concertmaster Victoria Parker’s violin, sounding playful and whimsical, like a game of peek-a-boo played by mice.
Seattle Symphony cellist Amos Yang, who last played with the Cascade Symphony two years ago, returned to perform the Concerto in B Flat Major for Cello and Orchestra by Boccherini. Before commencing on the concerto, Maestro Michael Miropolsky chatted with Yang, who noted that Boccherini (1743-1805) was one of the premier cello virtuosos of his time.
Yang noted that approximately 60 percent of the concerto can be attributed solely to Boccherini. Friedrich Grutzmacher altered much of the work.
Yang played rapturously, his eyes closed and his fingers exceedingly adept. French horns ushered in the first movement, “Allegro moderato”, which concluded with a long solo cello passage that sounded particularly sweet. The third movement, “Rondo”, with its discreet brass introduction, was sprightly and concluded the work in a major key.
Before playing Haydn’s Symphony No. 82, “The Bear,” the symphony took time to honor several regular members of their audience for 45 years of loyalty and support. Founding conductor Robert Anderson joined Miropolsky on stage to present these long-time attendees with floral offerings.
Miropolsky said in his 16 years of concert-playing in the Seattle area, he did not recall “The Bear” ever being performed. He enjoined the audience to envision themselves in the king’s palace, the environment for which Haydn composed.
Symphony No. 82 features four movements of wonderful precision, intimate dovetailing of instruments and a particularly robust percussion line. In the finale, a recurring drone in bass, woodwinds and strings suggests a bear cavorting, thus the popular nickname.
Explaining that Haydn loved to include surprise touches in his works, Miropolsky said this bear motif would have been quite the aural surprise to Haydn’s audience, which was accustomed to a smaller orchestra and had a very sensitive ear.
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