Ortiz work provides the highlight in NEP’s ambitious season opener
Gabriela Ortiz’s Antrópolis was performed by the New England Philharmonic in its season-opening concert Sunday evening at Jordan Hall.
The New England Philharmonic is a talented all-volunteer orchestra. While their passion is undeniable, their resources and scale differ from larger professional ensembles.
It’s good to keep this in mind when attending a concert like NEP’s season opener, which, was well-executed and enjoyable even with a few missed moments Sunday evening at Jordan Hall.
The program was buoyed by the exuberance and clear direction of conductor Tianhui Ng and a rock-solid percussion section that anchored the ensemble throughout. Still, the overall effect was a tad uneven, characterized by some off-color notes and slightly garbled entrances and rhythms.
The through-line of Sunday’s program was looking at old cultures and ancient traditions through new music and new eyes, culminating in Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, which is perhaps the quintessential example of this.
The standout piece of the evening was the Boston premiere of Gabriela Ortiz’s Antrópolis. The work was inspired by nightclubs of the past and present in Mexico City, called “antros” by the locals. The composer was in the house and stepped up to the mic to provide a personal introduction to the piece; she listed the exact antros and time periods she references in the music, which provided a handy listening guide for the four parts of the short piece.
Apart from a slight miscue from the cello section at the beginning, this music was fun, pure and simple. One could hear shades of Gershwin’s American in Paris or even Bernstein’s West Side Story—the orchestra at one point had a vocalization that brought to mind the latter’s “Mambo!” shout. Most importantly the ensemble, and percussionist in particular, seemed to really enjoy playing this piece. The timpani solos woven throughout were handled with great panache and the Latin rhythms got the audience swept up in the groove.
Next came the world premiere of The Seas Between Us by Eric Nathan, who was also on hand to give a quick rundown of his inspiration. Nathan has been composer-in-residence with NEP for five years and is wrapping up his tenure this season. This new work, featuring Mexican flutist Alejandro Escuer as a soloist, was meant to capture the variegated moods, colors, ideas, and traditions that the sea can conjure, from death to hope.
It was a definite about-face from the pulsating Latin rhythms of the first piece on the program, moving more into the world of amorphous time signatures. The music began with several tutti chords from the full ensemble that then sonically spread out into a wave-like murmur before the solo flute entered. Escuer’s part was that of a bird standing alone against the stormy seas, and he held this role effectively, leaning into the instrument’s natural bird-like sound and overblowing the flute at certain points to illustrate the creature’s peril. The piece also included another interesting use of vocalizations from the orchestra imitating winds sweeping across water.
The Seas Between Us had three movements, each with a different theme—loss and hope, death rituals and dances, and the vastness of the ocean—but the movements were somewhat insufficiently contrasted . The only recognizable sonic distinction was the aforementioned vocalizations, and the use of bells in the percussion to indicate a death march.
The music achieved its goal of conjuring an atmosphere of chilly sea-spray and images of rushing waves and birds fighting against whirling winds.
The last piece on the program, Stravinsky’s classic Rite of Spring, was performed competently, but a few big moments, like the iconic opening bassoon figure and the major horn blast in the second half, were whiffed. Rite is immensely difficult with its polyrhythms and general atonality, and while the NEP played most of the tortuous score well, it seemed like it could have benefited from one more rehearsal.
The New England Philharmonic will return on December 8 at 3 p.m. for their annual family concert at the Boston University Tsai Performance Center. nephilharmonic.org
Posted in Performances
Leave a Comment
Subscribe via RSS.