music
Jose Ruiz
The Glendale Symphony Orchestra opened its season with the New
World Symphony dedicated to America, shortly after the devastation of
Sept. 11, and brought it to a fitting close Saturday night with a
tribute to "America the Beautiful," closing the circle that began
with uncertainty but ended in a shimmering halo.
Opening with Beethoven's Triple Concerto, soloists Debra Price on
violin, Margaret Moores on cello and John Berkman on piano, received
a rousing ovation for their energetic performance.
After intermission, American composers Samuel Barber and Aaron
Copland were bountifully served as Maestro Sidney Weiss, conductor
and music director, raised his baton and conjured magic sounds from
the violin section in Samuel Barber's beautiful "Adagio for Strings."
The maestro knows a thing or two about coaxing music from a
violin, and the orchestra always responds to his leadership with
flowing musical ribbons that spin like silk around the audience.
The strains of Copland's "Appalachian Spring," with its stirring
cascading melodies did more than evoke the pastoral fields at the
base of majestic mountains. There was something transcendental this
evening -- something bordering on the mystical.
As we sat drinking in the rich orchestral blends, it wasn't hard
to realize how fortunate we were to be celebrating an evening of
America the Beautiful -- and how close we may have come to losing
moments like this almost a year ago.
With threats of war and terrorists, with people kidnapping
children, with crime escalating, thank goodness people still can take
time to listen to music. It's like being in a different world, with
the musicians riveted to their instruments, and Maestro Weiss
masterfully guiding the melodies.
The audience sat in rapt attention, a cacophony of faces from
every ethnic mosaic, listening to the themes of an American composer
celebrating the land, played by musicians celebrating the music,
shared by all, celebrating freedom.
There's something about music that can take you to those places
especially when it is delivered with passion, ardor and devotion, and
if you ever seek a synonym for those three words, you can find them
at The Alex Theatre -- under "Glendale Symphony Orchestra."
