Melissa's Musical Experience: DSO Symphonie Fantastique

Here I am with my laptop watching the Detroit Symphony Orchestra

I thought I would give the Detroit Symphony Orchestra online a try on January 25, 2015 at noon. I didn’t expect to really like it especially after having experienced the exceptional carillon and percussion show only two nights before. But, feeling crunched on time I thought I would give it a try. The performance consisted of three pieces all by different composers.

The first piece was by contemporary classical Japanese composer Toshio Hosokawa called Blooming II. As I listened I kept thinking of time lapse camera footage of a flower’s lifecycle. The piece begins with a light, airy mystical sound, as though a flower was emerging from the ground. As the flower grows the sound began to intensify, at times it sounded like the flower was struggles, possibly being pelleted with heavy wind and rain. Eventually, the rain calms to only a slights sprinkle with the flower blooming. It even sounded as though bees were buzzing around the flower at one point. At the end the tempo slows and the intensity softens as though the flower is slowly dying. It has a very anti-climactic ending just like a flower withering up and falling off the stem. This was an interesting piece, I liked the different ways he represented a plant maturing with the instruments. However, it was not my favorite even though it was good.

The second piece was by Hungarian composer Bela Bartok, called Piano Concerto No 3. Bartok immigrated to the United States when WWII began and struggled to make money for his family, because he was very ill with Leukemia and he wasn’t well known in the US. However, he was commissioned to create this concerto which seemed to give him a boost of energy, probably leading to this piece having a softer, happier feel compared to his earlier pieces that were more somber. He dedicated the concerto to his wife for her 42nd birthday which was October 31. Unfortunately, he was never able to complete the last 17 measures dying on September 26th. Using his notes his friend Tibor Serly completed the concerto.

Not knowing anything about the concerto I watched the DSO staff prepare for it by rolling a baby grand piano out, and I began to worry. I love listening to piano, but I never think it’s fair to have one contend with a huge orchestra. That probably seems silly, but I have heard some pieces where the piano doesn’t stand out and it gets drowned in all the noise. Of course, I understand in some pieces it’s only supposed to add to not stand out, but…I know if played well a piano can be jaw dropping. After the piano was placed, a young woman came out on the stage standing next to the piano, and then the conductor appeared. I watched the audience’s reaction and they were all clapping wildly as the two took their positions. As the piece begins it became very clear why everyone had been so excited about the pianist. She was electrifying! I have only heard a couple of pianist perform at that level…ever. Of course, I had to find out more about her.

Her name is Beatrice Rana from Italy, and she possess a very rare maturity for her 21 years. I wasn’t able to find a link to this particular DSO performance, but I am including two other links at the bottom of this post one is her website and the other is an exceptional performance of Rachmaninov Etude Tableau Op 39 No 6 that she did when she was 17 or 18. She has been winning many prestigious piano competitions since she was 18 and she is in demand all over the world to play with various orchestras. It turns out the day she had the show in Detroit (which was actually January 22, 2015) she was celebrating her 21st birthday!

The final piece, Symphonie Fantastique, was created by French composer Hector Berlioz in 1830. While the stage was being adjusted for the performance the announcer began to explain why Berlioz wrote this symphony. It didn’t shock me to find that he lived and composed during the Romantic era, which was perfect for a guy like Berlioz. While living in Paris he began going to Shakespearean plays, and one night while at one such play he fell madly in love with an actress named Harriet Smithson. He composed the symphony shortly thereafter for her. The symphony consisted of five movements all represents a young man’s changing desires and feelings for a woman. It is a strange symphony sounding warped and dream-like at times. Once again it didn’t surprise me to learn he had probably been taking opium while composing.

Overall, the DSO was a good experience, but I would rather see shows in person when possible.