Last night's Utah Symphony concert was really exciting because Maestro Thierry Fischer was back on the podium (for the first of his final four appearances as music director of the symphony) and he led the orchestra in a brilliant performance of Symphony No. 5 by Anton Bruckner. I had never heard this piece before but it was very dramatic, to say the least, and I loved it! The first movement begins very softly and slowly and then builds and builds into a powerful conclusion. The second movement features a plaintive theme introduced by a solo oboe and then continues with variations by the strings, which are incredibly beautiful, and by the brass. The third movement alternates between a menacing theme and a slow pastoral theme and they compete for dominance and then kind of meld together. The opening notes of the fourth movement mirror those of the first and then there is a jaunty theme played by the solo clarinet (which I absolutely loved) that is echoed by the strings and then becomes a fugue where the instruments seem to be chasing each other. The movement concludes with the repetition of all of the various themes found throughout the piece and it was absolutely epic! I really loved the emotion and, even though I am not as knowledgeable about the structure of music as I would like to be, I enjoyed the fact that I could recognize all the themes that were being repeated! This is the only piece on the program (it is 76 minutes long) and it will be performed again tonight (go here for tickets).
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