In this Part II of NSO Showcase's "Welcome Back Concerts" featuring live and televised NSO performances from March of 2021, we present pieces for chamber-sized orchestra, including some favorites and some new discoveries.
Show Notes
Program
Ottorino Respighi
Antiche Danze ed Arie - Suite No. 3
Joseph Bologne
Symphony No. 1 in G Major, Op. 11
Aaron Copland
Quiet City
- Kathryn Meany Wilson, English horn
- William Gerlach, trumpet
W. A. Mozart
Symphony No. 40 in G minor, K. 550
P. I. Tchaikovsky
Serenade for Strings in C major, Op. 48
Gianandrea Noseda, conductor
Reflections by Nicole Lacroix
Last November, NSO Showcase brought you Part 1 of a 2-part set of “Welcome Back” concerts from a series of live and televised performances led by Gianandrea Noseda in March of 2021. It was the first time the Maestro and the orchestra had gotten together since the start of the pandemic, and the excitement was palpable.
Certain constraints were in place: the orchestra was reduced in size to about 32 players, and the brass and woodwinds had to play behind a plexiglass partition, but the musicians were happy to be performing together again.
The result is a cornucopia of pieces for chamber-sized orchestra, including some favorites and some new discoveries.
Featured works include Respighi’s Ancient Airs and Dances Suite No. 3 for String Orchestra; Mozart’s “Great” G-minor Symphony, No. 40; and Tchaikovsky’s Mozart-inspired Serenade. Delightful discoveries range from the Symphony No. 1 by Joseph Bologne (known as the “Black Mozart” in his day); to Copland’s Quiet City, featuring principal trumpet William Gerlach and English horn soloist Kathryn Meany Wilson.
It’s a festive start to the new year, with a plethora of orchestral music in many different moods—from melancholy to joyous—reflecting the journey we have all taken in these past two years.