The Peabody Symphony Orchestra (PSO) held its first concert of the 2024–25 season on Thursday, Oct. 3 at 7:30 p.m. in the Miriam A. Friedberg Concert Hall at the Peabody Institute. Under the baton of conductor Joseph Young — Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg artistic director of ensembles — the orchestra presented works by Samuel Coleridge-Taylor, Robert Schumann and a performance of Darius Milhaud by soprano Tina O’Malley, winner of the 2024 Sylvia Green Voice Competition. This concert was part of the ongoing Ruth Blaustein Rosenberg Concert Series.
The first presented piece was Coleridge-Taylor’s Ballade in A Minor. According to composer and music scholar Michael-Thomas Foumai. Coleridge-Taylor was born in 19th-century London to an African father and white, British mother. From a young age, he displayed talent as a singer and violinist and was able to make a name for himself despite considerable racial discrimination. With compositions that explore themes of Creole and African heritage, Coleridge-Taylor has frequently been referred to as the “African Mahler.” In this way, his work is reminiscent of that of Antonín Dvořák and Johannes Brahms, whose compositions center on Central European folk culture.
Other influences include the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge, of whom the composer’s mother was a great fan. This is likely why she decided to name him after the writer. Interestingly, Coleridge-Taylor’s poetic, stanza-like structure, as seen in the Ballade, is reflective of the poet’s literary Romantic style.
The piece began with a triumphant beginning that awakened the crowds. Throughout the piece, the brass and woodwind sections were constantly interchanging with the strings, which created a nice contrast that enhanced the harmonies. The brass section was especially noticeable throughout the piece, which blended beautifully with the graceful cello section. This portion was followed by a sweet violin melody that expressed a sentimental scene similar to an imagery of a Studio Ghibli movie, like floating upon an everlasting green hill under a sun-kissed sky.
The brass and woodwind section entered again as the violin melody progressively grew in resonance, trailing into an entirely different section. The transition was created with a lot of trills, mixed with parts of the original heroic-sounding theme, which was introduced by the flutes along with the violins. The ending was marvelous, with a transition into trills by the flutes and a lot of running tremolos by the violin section, which was pushed and built up by the nice clash of symbols in the percussion section. Overall, the piece created a fairy-tale imagery that made you want to linger in the moment.
In an interview with The News-Letter, freshman Alex Woloschinow described his thoughts on rehearsing and performing with the PSO in preparation for this concert. According to Woloschinow, the concert cycle for this performance was three weeks long with two to three rehearsals a week. Woloschinow stated that there was a pretty quick turnaround, but he did enjoy the rehearsals, working alongside the conductor and watching the progress in the orchestra.
“I really liked working with [Young],” Woloschinow said. “He is not strict, but he is stern in what he wants from us. It adds a little bit of responsibility in what you’re doing, and it feels as though you have a duty to meet his standard of excellence. But, he [sets the standard] without being oppressive, which I really appreciated. [His joy in conducting] really translated to how the orchestra sounded and felt.”
Milhaud’s Quatre Chansons de Ronsard was the second piece in the program, where the text was taken from a group of poems by French Renaissance poet Pierre de Ronsard. Called a “prince of poets,” Ronsard was a member of La Pléiade, a French group seeking to revive classical forms of poetry. His verses were used by many composers including Georges Bizet, Richard Wagner, Cécile Chaminade, Camille Saint-Saëns and Francis Poulenc. The tessitura of Milhaud’s composition is demandingly high, and, upon completion in 1941, it was dedicated to soprano Lily Pons.
The piece was introduced with a cheerful beginning, seemingly link the audience was entering into a quaint village. Then, O’Malley joined the orchestra with a high soprano voice that filled the entire hall.
The violin accompaniment solo in the background was supported by the steady beats of the other strings, further amplified by the brass and flute sections. Even with the backing of the orchestra and singing without a mic, O’Malley’s clean vibratos allowed for the sound to travel significantly. Throughout the piece, the rhythmic changes were left to the singer, while the accompaniment of the orchestra kept the beat going the entire time.
The piece was reminiscent of the holiday season spirit, similar to the chaos of a busy Christmas day. It’s the feeling of excitedly opening presents with family then going sledding and enjoying a nice cup of hot cocoa in front of the fireplace afterward. The adventurous and curious nature of the piece really gave off a nice homey ambiance that made the audience’s hearts feel full. O’Malley’s smile also radiated throughout the hall, which added to the already-cheery atmosphere that the music created.
While playing orchestral music is one skill, being able to accompany a soloist is another. Woloschinow said accompanying O’Malley took an entirely different skill than just playing as part of an orchestra.
“Part of how we rehearsed is learning how to adjust your dynamics to suit a different range,” he said. “It’s one person against nearly 100 people, and it shouldn’t feel like a competition. I really had to learn to treat my instrument in a way that was appropriate to accompany somebody because you never want to make a soloist work extra hard to soar above, and you just want to give them space.”
The concert finished with Schumann’s Symphony No. 1 in B-Flat Major, Spring. According to K. Dawn Grapes, Schumann sketched out his first symphony in just four days and completed the full composition within the month; the composer had strong imagery in his head throughout the creation of the piece.
He began each movement with titles: “The Beginning of Spring,” “Evening,” “Merry Playmates” and “Spring in Full Bloom.” During a rehearsal, he asked conductor Wilhelm Taubert to “infuse [his] orchestra with some spring yearning.” Later on, worried about obstructing the listeners’ imagination, he removed the movement subtitles, freeing up room for personal interpretations.
The opening of the piece began with an empowering feeling, as though an emperor was marching down the streets regally. The descending line in the flutes, along with the flute solo, worked as nice overtones to guide the music. Hearing the viola melody clearly was delightful to hear, as violins are usually given this role. The music was pushed further as it triumphed with oboe and clarinet solos, and an exciting escapade section with a flute solo, where many notes were flying. Many sections traded melodies between different instruments, which made the music even more thrilling.
The second movement was very serene, and the melodic line swayed the audience. The cellos took over the melody very successfully, which emitted a gorgeous sound. The beautiful blend of harmonies between the different instruments really showed the superior musicianship of the students. The third movement went back to the triumphant section found in the first movement, featuring another playful moment with melodic exchanges between the strings and wind sections.
The fourth movement recalled a vibrant, flamenco-like dance consisting of a lot of footwork. It was very triumphant and consisted of highlighting moments that exploded into bursts of energy. The blaring, over-joyousness was consistently strengthened by the brass section underneath, which allowed for the vivacity to last throughout the entire piece.
Eventually, the tubas came into the piece together, followed by a flute solo, which then went into another joyful run with the violins playing faster notes enhanced by lower voice support. After this section, the melody went back to the Spanish theme, creeping toward the finale with pushing beats that grew to the ultimate climax. For the finale, the upper strings were also strengthening the sound, ending in strong, chordal quarter notes.
“It was a really fun concert,” Woloschinow said. “Having a really energetic, engaged audience and feeling the community of the orchestra [makes me excited] for the next few years to come.”
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