Monday, May 16, 2005
CLASSICAL SAX
Last Saturday's concert at Severence was sadly the last in our series of tickets, and also a new classical music experience.
The concert opened with the Cleveland Orchestra's rendition of Mozart's Linz Symphony--something I need to add to my CD collection.
Next came Joseph Lulloff's performance of Ingolf Dahl's Concerto for Alto Saxophone and Wind Ensemble.
I grew up on Dixieland Jazz, with a Godfather who owned a dance hall dedicated to ballroom dancing of the big band era variety, an uncle and cousin who played in the orchestra. I have memories of sitting on the orchestra platform and feeling the music vibrate through me, and a love of guitar that even prompted me to attempt to learn to play one.
Classical sax, however, was totally outside of my experience. According to the program notes, "Dahl wrote the initial version of the Concerto for Saxophone and Concert Band in 1949." The Concerto is immersed "in new musical ideas and techniques, [and] proved to be one of the most challenging works ever written for wind orchestra. The difficulties of the solo part, in fact, proved so daunting that no soloist beyond Rascher (who premiered it in 1949 at the University of Illinois) wanted to play the original version."
Dahl prepared an abridged version which was first presented in 1959.
Joseph Lulloff is professor of saxophone performance studies at Michigan State University, as well as a world class performer who will travel with the Cleveland Orchestra as featured soloist during their West Coast Tour. Lulloff is gifted with the instrument. The strain caused by this performance was written on his face. He put everything he had into it.
But the music...! "New musical ideas" indeed. Closer to new age noise. I hope when he goes on tour, he plays something a little more musical, but then again he's going out to the West Coast where the likes and dislikes are certainly different from mine. This might be just their cup of tea.
