Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique

I specifically picked last night's Utah Symphony concert for the program but I was really excited to discover that the guest conductor was the new Music Director Markus Poschner.  I've seen him conduct the orchestra before and I always enjoy watching him on the podium because he is so expressive (and frequently conducts without a score as he did last night).  The orchestra began with For A Younger Self, a violin concerto composed by Kris Bowers who is known primarily for his film scores, with Charles Yang, to whom the piece is dedicated, as soloist.  The composer likened this piece to the Hero's Journey as a musician finds confidence as a performer after years of study.  I really liked the back and forth between Yang and the orchestra in the first movement because it is so chaotic and then I loved Yang's virtuosity in the violin solos featured in the second movement.  The final movement is incredibly dynamic and I enjoyed watching Yang's fingers fly up and down his violin!  Yang is known for an encore that went viral on social media featuring "A Change Is Gonna Come" by Sam Cooke which he spontaneously improvised after a performance with the Dallas Symphony and I was absolutely thrilled when he did it for us.  Not only does he play a bluesy rendition of the song but he also sings it (he has a great voice and could probably have a singing career if playing the violin doesn't work out) and the crowd went crazy!  After the intermission, the orchestra played Symphonie fantastique by Hector Berlioz and I was so excited to hear this piece performed live in its entirety for the first time.  It begins as a daydream about a woman the protagonist loves but then turns into a nightmare where he kills her and she comes back to haunt him (it is rumored to be inspired by the composer's own unrequited infatuation with Harriet Smithson) and you can really hear a shift in the mood as the piece progresses.  There is a recurring theme, which represents his obsession with the woman he loves, introduced by the flutes and violins in the first movement and then repeated by various instruments throughout but I especially love the theme played by the brass with a tolling bell in the final movement because it is so ominous (I always see the opening credits of The Shining in my mind whenever I hear this).  It was an epic performance and I haven't felt so exhilarated by a Utah Symphony concert in a very long time!  This same program will be repeated tonight and I highly recommend getting a ticket (go here).

Note:  I was sitting next to a college student attending his first Utah Symphony concert and he asked me lots of questions about the orchestra and classical music.  I am definitely not an expert (to say the least) but I enjoyed talking to him because I attended my first Utah Symphony concert when I was in college and I would have loved to have had someone answer my questions.