When Mahler Met Saint Saens
Mike Anderson, Julie and Mayor Tom Tait, Director Anthony Parnther
and OCS Exec President Dorothy Rose.
“The Mayor’s Concert” – as it came to be called, was billed as “Saint Saens Meets Mahler.” And quite apart from the dignitaries who attended on June 26th, Servite Auditorium was packed with one of the largest crowds ever. And the Mahler came to a close with some of the crowd literally whooping and hollering. It was an event for the record books.
But back to the beginning, a cool beginning, out of the afternoon heat into blissful air-conditioning. I had made a point of sitting where I could see the hands of pianist Lynn Czae on the keyboard. To my mind that’s half the entertainment! And on comes this slight wisp of a woman, so delicate and demure in her white silk gown. Her public Facebook page gives a neat rundown of her career from the age of five when she won her first major competition!
Camille Saint Saens came first, the Piano Concerto No.2. The first movement seemed moody, and Parnther was able to keep the orchestra very soft, when necessary, gently underscoring the piano.
The second and third movements ramp up the pace and before long Ms. Czae’s dainty fingers are rattling with incredible speed up and down the keyboard. Breathtaking. And most lovely, I thought, the many moments when Anthony Parnther turned to watch Lynn play and ensure that the orchestral entrances were exactly what she was expecting. Finally, at presto speed, the orchestra and soloist rushed tumultuously along, gaining volume and momentum and finishing in a whirlwind of G minor arpeggios.
Conductor keeps an eye on his piano
soloist, Lynn Czae.
Audiences at Servite seem not to know that convention has it you don’t clap between movements. But this was not the tentative clapping of the few whom nobody told. It was always the wholehearted enthusiasm of people who simply loved what they saw and heard. And that made the concert so engaged, so real, so participatory.
Saint Saens was short (in length) so we were able to tuck in the first movement of Mahler before the intermission. At this point Parnther did what many directors do nowadays – give the audience a few clues to watch out for. Musicians had to be on their toes when he called on one section or another to give him a short riff (my word here) “three measures before 36”. And the next moment they had better play it for us to get the theme! It was not only entertaining but very useful. So we launched into the first movement which sounded like a sluggish April morning slowly dispelling the mists over a soft French landscape as the villagers emerge for a day of farming and trade. Then the cuckoo flies across the meadow. (Did you know cuckoos only sing when in flight? So there’s always a chance of seeing the bird of you hear it.). The horns sound off in the distance. Huntsmen, perhaps, off to chase a boar, perhaps. All this, from the music.
Pianist Lynn Czae with Councilor Lori Galloway.Intermission
This is notable because of the photo ops. Everybody and her grandmother wanted to take snaps of the lovely soloist and her family. Who can blame them? They LOVED her. There she stood with the Mayor Tom Tait, who also had an entourage comprising his lovely wife, Julie, along with Councilors Gail Eastman, and Lori Galloway. Now get them with the conductor; now with Ms Czae again. Now with – who was that? No matter; every one was in a party mood. And with raffle tickets in our hands we eventually surged back into our seats to see if we had won a prize as Carol Latham (OC Symphony board member) drew the numbers. Over 400 of us were disappointed!
Now to more Mahler. I think, movements 3-5, with #2 having been dropped as is often the case. Because Mahler is not as well known as Beethoven, Mozart or Bach, that doesn’t mean he couldn’t write a good tune. In fact, familiar snippets of melody, lodged somewhere deep in our musical memories, kept popping up like delicious surprises.
Mahler apparently liked to make a lot of noise! For this Symphony No. 1, “Titan” he wanted TEN double basses. And Parnther got them, albeit half hidden in the wings of the stage. The woodwinds were almost doubled in strength, as were the brass. There were strings galore. And I think that I heard a few squeaky notes just off pitch, and the occasional entrance of an instrument before the intended time! A bassoonist had trouble with a reed which gave rise to a muted discussion among the wind section. All quite entertaining. But you had to be very close up and have a pretty good ear to spot that. And the full effect was balanced, well-rounded and powerful.
As the symphony came to is climax the whole audience rose to its feet with applause and sheer elation. From the back, whooping and hollering! It was simply magnificent.
The Mayor has apparently already informally referred to the OC Symphony as Anaheim’s Resident Orchestra, and I believe this will be formalized with a proclamation in City Hall some time in July. It will be well deserved.
The orchestra will be back in the Fall, but not before playing for the crowds in the open air in Pearson Park, and Birch Street, Brea (July 5,6,7) in the evenings; and a Gala on July 10th. All these events you can find on the OC Symphony’s website.
Thank you, OCS, for giving us such joy.
The strings and hammers of the grand piano reflected off the underside of the lid.
Photos by Michael Buss
OC Symphony - an American Landmark Link to Anaheim Arts Council
Underscore from lone bassist
Wind bands are not everybody’s “cup of tea”. But growing up in England there is no avoiding the rich brassy sound of the old colliery bands, or the precise, exquisitely balanced music of military bands – like the Band of the Royal Marines. Whether on the march or entertaining the crowds in the park on a warm summer afternoon, bands are a British way of life.
And so to Servite School, regular pitch of the Orange County Symphony, and on May 15th, the two wind orchestras, youth and adult set out some of their extensive repertoire.
I came away thrilled, entranced by what I saw and heard. Here was symphonic excellence as good as any I have heard – and that includes the splendid Pacific Symphony, whose concerts I used to attend regularly a few years ago.
In the first part of the evening the Youth Wind Symphony took center stage under the safe and energetic baton of conductor and music director Anthony Parnther. When you pick up on his fun approach towards music you have little doubt the players must love him. For the most part these musicians were students at high school or college, immaculate in black and white dress. They started a little hesitantly into four Scottish numbers and gained in confidence as they went.
The Youth Orchestra takes the applause
Before long their playing was crisp, accurate and expressive. Conductor Anthony Parnther took time to introduce the graduating high school members of the orchestra. No fewer that four of them came from Loara High School. That school must have a good band program! And most of the students were planning to go on to major in music at college.
Think of it – here are students who keep up their grades, participate fully in school music programs AND take time to benefit from the free musical education they receive from the OC Symphony. This is a marvelous breeding ground for some of the best Orange County’s young musicians.
Even more important – the future of America’s rich musical culture rests with students like these.
Part two of the program brought the full adult wind symphony on stage. This is a fully professional orchestra comprising musicians who will play with many other bands and groups, and many local educators. They are stunning. Now director Parnther has changed from his casual black shirt and pants into white tie and tails. And he warns us up front that we are in for a wild ride.
No prizes here - but name that instrument!
Composer Ron Nelson’s Rocky Point Holiday takes the audience on the first ride. You imagine the Pacific coastline, musically wild, pitching and rolling between canyons, cliffs, beaches, landslides, forests and crashing waves. From there we moved to the more elegiac gentleness of Aaron Copland’s Down a Country Lane. Delicious familiarity washed over us as the band played Liberty Bell and America the Beautiful.
But perhaps the biggest delights were the two pieces by young composer Carter Pann, present in the audience for this performance. Mr. Pann seems not content with gentle, lyrical pieces from which the audience can get away home with a good tune to hum. His forté is to dazzle and bemuse you with musical renderings of mind blowing abstract themes. You could almost complain – there’s too many notes! His Slalom certainly fulfills the conductor’s prediction of a wild ride. But as if that were not enough, Carter Pann also got to hear a performance of his Concert Logic inspired by logic games from Ancient Egypt through to today’s Rubik’s cube. It is a piano concerto.
It took many emails before Parnther could even find anyone to play the piano part. It is so hard, so complex in its rhythms, and intense, frenetic outbursts of energy that most pianists refused to learn the piece.
An artist of great versatility and musical fervor
Then enter young Ryan MacEvoy McCullough, undaunted, with his mop of tousled hair and spectacles, reminding you instantly of a grown up Harry Potter, stepping forward to perform the magic.
The performance unfolded – the conductor no longer easily conducting some familiar piece but intent on every page, the orchestra counting the measures ready to enter at the precise moment. But who could ever know what that moment was? Yet somehow soloist, orchestra and conductor melded into a performance whole that simply left you breathless. And at the conclusion when Carter Pann came on stage to share the applause you knew, if you thought about it, that you had just witnessed sheer musical genius.
Another highlight was Michael Daugherty "Brooklyn Bridge for Clarinet and Symphonic Band" where the clarinet soloist was Adrienne Geffen. A more lyrical piece, the musical themes bounced back and forth from solist to orchestra. But visually we were transfixed by the young and talented Ms Geffen who commanded the space like a seasoned pro. What a treat!
And where was this brilliance on display? In Carnegie Hall, or the Walt Disney Concert Hall, or the even Segerstrom Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa Here? No, right here, in Anaheim, in a school hall. For twenty bucks.
Dear readers, in this OC Symphony we have a treasure on our doorstep. And I have only just begun to see what they can do. It’s a costly business to bring an orchestra to such a level of excellence, and by so doing, thrill audiences and perpetuate the finest of symphonic music. If you’ve never heard this orchestra before, consider finding a future performance and making it a priority.
Congratulations OC Symphony.
The Youth Orchestra takes the applause
Before long their playing was crisp, accurate and expressive. Conductor Anthony Parnther took time to introduce the graduating high school members of the orchestra. No fewer that four of them came from Loara High School. That school must have a good band program! And most of the students were planning to go on to major in music at college.
Think of it – here are students who keep up their grades, participate fully in school music programs AND take time to benefit from the free musical education they receive from the OC Symphony. This is a marvelous breeding ground for some of the best Orange County’s young musicians.
Even more important – the future of America’s rich musical culture rests with students like these.
Part two of the program brought the full adult wind symphony on stage. This is a fully professional orchestra comprising musicians who will play with many other bands and groups, and many local educators. They are stunning. Now director Parnther has changed from his casual black shirt and pants into white tie and tails. And he warns us up front that we are in for a wild ride.
Think of it – here are students who keep up their grades, participate fully in school music programs AND take time to benefit from the free musical education they receive from the OC Symphony. This is a marvelous breeding ground for some of the best Orange County’s young musicians.
Even more important – the future of America’s rich musical culture rests with students like these.
Part two of the program brought the full adult wind symphony on stage. This is a fully professional orchestra comprising musicians who will play with many other bands and groups, and many local educators. They are stunning. Now director Parnther has changed from his casual black shirt and pants into white tie and tails. And he warns us up front that we are in for a wild ride.
No prizes here - but name that instrument!
Composer Ron Nelson’s Rocky Point Holiday takes the audience on the first ride. You imagine the Pacific coastline, musically wild, pitching and rolling between canyons, cliffs, beaches, landslides, forests and crashing waves. From there we moved to the more elegiac gentleness of Aaron Copland’s Down a Country Lane. Delicious familiarity washed over us as the band played Liberty Bell and America the Beautiful.
But perhaps the biggest delights were the two pieces by young composer Carter Pann, present in the audience for this performance. Mr. Pann seems not content with gentle, lyrical pieces from which the audience can get away home with a good tune to hum. His forté is to dazzle and bemuse you with musical renderings of mind blowing abstract themes. You could almost complain – there’s too many notes! His Slalom certainly fulfills the conductor’s prediction of a wild ride. But as if that were not enough, Carter Pann also got to hear a performance of his Concert Logic inspired by logic games from Ancient Egypt through to today’s Rubik’s cube. It is a piano concerto.
It took many emails before Parnther could even find anyone to play the piano part. It is so hard, so complex in its rhythms, and intense, frenetic outbursts of energy that most pianists refused to learn the piece.
But perhaps the biggest delights were the two pieces by young composer Carter Pann, present in the audience for this performance. Mr. Pann seems not content with gentle, lyrical pieces from which the audience can get away home with a good tune to hum. His forté is to dazzle and bemuse you with musical renderings of mind blowing abstract themes. You could almost complain – there’s too many notes! His Slalom certainly fulfills the conductor’s prediction of a wild ride. But as if that were not enough, Carter Pann also got to hear a performance of his Concert Logic inspired by logic games from Ancient Egypt through to today’s Rubik’s cube. It is a piano concerto.
It took many emails before Parnther could even find anyone to play the piano part. It is so hard, so complex in its rhythms, and intense, frenetic outbursts of energy that most pianists refused to learn the piece.
An artist of great versatility and musical fervor
Then enter young Ryan MacEvoy McCullough, undaunted, with his mop of tousled hair and spectacles, reminding you instantly of a grown up Harry Potter, stepping forward to perform the magic.
The performance unfolded – the conductor no longer easily conducting some familiar piece but intent on every page, the orchestra counting the measures ready to enter at the precise moment. But who could ever know what that moment was? Yet somehow soloist, orchestra and conductor melded into a performance whole that simply left you breathless. And at the conclusion when Carter Pann came on stage to share the applause you knew, if you thought about it, that you had just witnessed sheer musical genius.
Another highlight was Michael Daugherty "Brooklyn Bridge for Clarinet and Symphonic Band" where the clarinet soloist was Adrienne Geffen. A more lyrical piece, the musical themes bounced back and forth from solist to orchestra. But visually we were transfixed by the young and talented Ms Geffen who commanded the space like a seasoned pro. What a treat!
And where was this brilliance on display? In Carnegie Hall, or the Walt Disney Concert Hall, or the even Segerstrom Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa Here? No, right here, in Anaheim, in a school hall. For twenty bucks.
Dear readers, in this OC Symphony we have a treasure on our doorstep. And I have only just begun to see what they can do. It’s a costly business to bring an orchestra to such a level of excellence, and by so doing, thrill audiences and perpetuate the finest of symphonic music. If you’ve never heard this orchestra before, consider finding a future performance and making it a priority.
Congratulations OC Symphony.
The performance unfolded – the conductor no longer easily conducting some familiar piece but intent on every page, the orchestra counting the measures ready to enter at the precise moment. But who could ever know what that moment was? Yet somehow soloist, orchestra and conductor melded into a performance whole that simply left you breathless. And at the conclusion when Carter Pann came on stage to share the applause you knew, if you thought about it, that you had just witnessed sheer musical genius.
Another highlight was Michael Daugherty "Brooklyn Bridge for Clarinet and Symphonic Band" where the clarinet soloist was Adrienne Geffen. A more lyrical piece, the musical themes bounced back and forth from solist to orchestra. But visually we were transfixed by the young and talented Ms Geffen who commanded the space like a seasoned pro. What a treat!
And where was this brilliance on display? In Carnegie Hall, or the Walt Disney Concert Hall, or the even Segerstrom Performing Arts Center in Costa Mesa Here? No, right here, in Anaheim, in a school hall. For twenty bucks.
Dear readers, in this OC Symphony we have a treasure on our doorstep. And I have only just begun to see what they can do. It’s a costly business to bring an orchestra to such a level of excellence, and by so doing, thrill audiences and perpetuate the finest of symphonic music. If you’ve never heard this orchestra before, consider finding a future performance and making it a priority.
Congratulations OC Symphony.
Press 2010 - 2011 Season
OC Symphony’s
Finale Tops remarkable season!
by
Dennis P. Hollow
It was a beautiful afternoon last Sunday which saw the Finale performance of the Orange County Symphony Orchestra at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim. Although it was sad to see the season end, it was certainly an uplifting performance which left all attendees on a high note.
The afternoon started off with a silent auction which featured many sought after items and a live auction conducted by Kent French, from the Anaheim Ducks, who is getting a great reputation as a master of live auctions. His pleasant voice and whimsical manner helps generate funds to offset costs for the OCS.
Dorothy Rose, Executive Director of OCS, welcomed attendees and thanked them for coming and participating in the silent and live auctions as well as expressed the Symphony’s gratitude for supporting them throughout the year.
The food and service were excellent but really was the main event of the afternoon was the repertoire prepared by the orchestra which traversed a Salute to the Big Apple featuring New York, New York and Sound of Music.
And, if the Salute to the Big Apple wasn’t dramatic enough, Maestro Anthony Parnther brought on stage Catherine Ireland, soprano and John Atkins, tenor, both local Southern California residents to sing, “Con te Partio”( Time to Say Goodbye) made famous by legendary blind vocalist Andre Bochelli. Ireland and Atkins did an outstanding job and certainly created lots of chills running up and down the spines of many listeners because of their dramatic vocal abilities.
Selections were played from long time favorite, Sound of Music, with both vocalists doing a great job bringing back memories of legendary visuals from seeing the movie by the same name. Looking at the audience during this song many were moving their heads gently from side to side keeping cadence with the song as they smiled with enjoyment
The theme from Schindler’s List featured OCS’s Seungjai Chung, concert master, who played the haunting melody from the movie “from his heart and with love for the violin” which he played since he was seven years old.
In speaking with OC Symphony supporter Alcee Reed, she said, “the performance was fantastic. The orchestra and both singers were outstanding.” Mary Jo Hesketh, said, “it was an awesome performance. The selections were just outstanding. The music was thrilling and memorable. Everyone should take the opportunity later this year in November to attend the opening performance.”
Former Anaheim City Councilwoman and Anaheim Kiwanis President, Shirley McCracken, said, “the OC Symphony was showcased this afternoon with an outstanding performance that thrilled all of us. Susan Faessel, immediate past president, Anaheim Beautiful, said, “I feel so honored to have attended this performance with my husband, Steve. This experience allowed me to step back from my daily worries and responsibilities. I feel so relaxed. My head feels clear and my thoughts are focused.”
It was a wonderful afternoon. As we left the performance, many were whistling or humming songs they heard. Many probably experienced pleasant memories from days gone by, and thoughts of younger years. It all adds up to a great afternoon that will long be remembered.
First violin, Seugjai Chung, during his performance of the theme from Schindler’s List.
Tenor John Atkins and Soprano Catherine Ireland singing selections from Sound of Music.