Thierry Fischer Conducts Ravel, Liszt & John Adams

Last night, like most Friday nights, I was at Abravanel Hall for a Utah Symphony concert and I loved every minute of it!  The orchestra, once again under the baton of Music Director Thierry Fischer, began with Slonimsky's Earbox by John Adams.  I was unfamiliar with this piece but I enjoyed it immensely because it is incredibly dynamic with non-stop energy coming from every section.  I especially loved all of the percussion and the almost strident blasts from the brass.  Next, the orchestra was joined by Joyce Yang for Piano Concerto No. 1 by Franz Liszt and this was pretty spectacular!  The first movement is incredibly dramatic and I loved watching Yang's fingers fly up and down the keyboard.  The second movement is very romantic with beautiful passages by the solo piano while the third movement is playful with a theme played by the triangle and duets between the piano and several woodwind instruments.  The final movement returns to the dramatic themes introduced at the beginning with a powerful march played by the brass.  I have seen Yang perform at Abravanel Hall before and she was simply brilliant last night.  She received a thunderous standing ovation and performed a beautiful rendition of Prelude in G Minor by Sergei Rachmaninoff as an encore.  After the intermission, the orchestra played several pieces by Maurice Ravel.  The first was Une barque sur l'ocean and, as I listened, I could see a violent storm, suggested by a theme played by the timpani, at sea with a boat being tossed about on turbulent waves.  Next came Valses nobles et sentimentales which are a series of light and airy waltzes.  The concert concluded with La Valse and during this piece I imagined a large group of waltzing couples dancing in a ballroom in Vienna and I especially loved the theme played by the harps.  It was a lovely evening of music and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.  The same program will be performed again tonight and, since all the cool kids spend their weekends at Abravanel Hall, I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here).