Last month, several members of IHS’s music program, including myself, took a trip to New York City. There, we saw several performances, including 30 Years of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Hello, Dolly!, and the New York Philharmonic. Each performance was an enlightening experience and an entirely separate genre of music. From jazz to classical, the concerts featured musicians of the highest caliber.
First, on Friday night, after a day of traveling, we walked into the Lincoln Center. It was a massive hall, and square blue glowing lights that almost looked like clouds gave the place an ethereal feel. However, the true unearthliness came not from the decoration but from the skill of the musicians.
The two-and-a-half hour long performance began with the famous trumpeter and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Wynton Marsalis. As well as being a masterful musician and artistic director, he also had great insight into the background of the pieces they were playing, and added anecdotes from when he met famous composers and performers.
They played several famous jazz songs, including a fan favorite, “April in Paris.” Even as the performance stretched thirty minutes over the expected time, I was captivated. Two singers took the stage with distinct and powerful voices. Finally, they ended with one of Duke Ellington’s best works, a piece he revised for much of his life, the “Black, Brown, and Beige” suite. It took up most of the performance. The endurance of the players was incredible to witness. I left for the hotel on Friday night stunned. Jazz, which had never been my music genre of choice, took on a whole new meaning for me. The style with which the players interpreted the music written on a sheet and turned it into a living, breathing performance was breathtaking. It was inspirational and something I hope to take with me into my own playing.
The next day we saw two performances: the Broadway musical, Hello, Dolly!, and the New York Philharmonic. Hello, Dolly!, which we saw before dinner at around four o’clock, didn’t thrill me as the jazz concert did. The actors and actresses performed very well, especially the lead, Dolly, played by Bernadette Peters. The choreography and music were expertly done and many of the characters were engaging. The plot of the musical, however, which revolved around a matchmaker who falls in love with a penny-pinching crotchety old man, simply did not do it for me. The next performance, however, made up for my lukewarm feeling about Hello, Dolly.
The New York Philharmonic was even more spellbinding than the jazz performance. They started with Sibelius’ “Pohjola’s Daughter,” which depicts a man falling in love with a goddess, who scorns him and leaves him alone on earth. The soaring lines of the brass depicted the goddesses’ splendor, and the mournful oboe solo showed the man’s woe. Each instrument was a refined voice that was both distinct and part of the entire orchestra. The piece began with the dark murmuring of cello soli, low woodwind and French horn from which rose a low cello motif. It reached its climax and then slowly receded back down. Pohjola’s Daughter ended the way it began; with a low B flat on the strings.
Then, after a brief interlude, they played Debussy’s fantasy for piano and orchestra, in which NY Philharmonic Artist-In-Residence Leif Ove Andsnes was featured as the pianist. This piece was much more soothing, with a structure that began with the rippling background of harp and the gentle solo of clarinet and oboe, which ebbed and swelled during the introduction. It then transformed from a serene piece to one vibrant with joy. It resolved, unlike the Sibelius, with a single triumphant note.
After an intermission, the New York Philharmonic ended with Bartok’s five-part Concerto for Orchestra that was much more intense than any of the concert openers. The concerto was written in the final years of Bartok’s life and he described the piece as “a gradual transition from the sternness of the first movement and the lugubrious death-song of the third to the life-assertion of the last one.”
The New York City trip was an eye-opening experience that was an insight into how others play and a way to inform my own playing. As a flutist, I hope to one day emulate the skill and musicality I heard. Overall, the New York City trip was spectacular, featuring a diverse range of musical genres. It exposed me to the kind of musical ability I had never seen or heard before.