I had the pleasure to attend the concert in Orpheum Theatre where Vancouver Symphony Orchestra plays Mendelssohn and Beethoven’s concerto featuring a French pianist, David Kadouch.
The concert began with a concert overture called ‘The Hebrides (Fingal’s Cave), Op. 26’ by Felix Mendelssohn. Mendelssohn drafted this overture on during his traveling in Scotland where a friend of his and him went to see a famous attraction: the flooded grotto known as Fingal’s Cave. He wrote to his sister, Fanny, ‘In order to make you understand how extraordinary the Hebrides affected me, the following came to my mind there’, and followed by a draft opening of the Hebrides Overture.
There are rich orchestral cues and dynamic in the overture, I heard the main theme was played several times in the beginning, modulation, development, and Coda section. The smooth melody presented the audiences with a feeling of a gentle breeze from the ocean and waves at the cave. Although I was sitting in the very back of the Orpheum Theatre, the full audience attention as well as the beautiful architecture of the theatre gave me a sense of enjoyment and peaceful mind, reminded me again how beautiful and pure music is.
Beethoven’s Piano Concerto (No.3 in C minor, Op. 37) begins with its first movement, allegro con brio. It’s a perfect combination between the orchestra and piano. Theme one was opened by wood instrument, followed by the rest of the orchestra. The piano was leading in theme two and was played back and forth as a conversation between the orchestra and the piano.
The second movement, Largo, created such a strong contrast by starting with a slow piano solo. It introduced a gentle and peaceful atmosphere where previous strong and powerful theme faded away for a while. It continued to be an interactive conversation between the piano and the orchestra. It was such a beautiful movement.
Speaking of the piano solo part, it was played by the multiple prize-winning French pianist David Kadouch. Although heard from faraway stages, I was truly amazed by his flawless performance and well-demonstrated emotions through different movements.
The last movement, Rondo: Allegro, a very lively tone and themes were presented in the finale. Close to the ending, encouraged by the wind instrument and lively clarinet theme, the piano started to shine by using octaves and finally leading to a glorious ending.
After the intermission, the concert started again with the Overture in ‘The Creatures of Prometheus’. This was Beethoven’s first theatre score and his only full-length ballet. It was a brief but energetic introduction to the rest of that piece.
Last, Beethoven’s Symphony No.2 in D Major, Op. 36 was played. Symphony No. 2 was not the most popular symphony composed by Beethoven, however, Beethoven
completed the piece during the time he knew that his deteriorated hearing condition was unrecoverable. He was devastated and ashamed and wrote the ‘Heiligenstadt Testament’ for this brother. However, no signs of dark emotions were played in this symphony, and it represented advances in many ways over his previous works.
I was amazed again and again every time I go to a live performance or an orchestra symphony, not only because of how skillful and dedicated the musicians are, but also because of the stories and history behind each masterpiece.