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Show 'Labored' but... Concert judged excellent Judging from the rows of empty ! seats at the Utah Symphony's ' Contemporary Concert in Kingsbury Hall Thursday night, it became obvious that the average concert goer only wants to hear those war-horses that he's heard all his life. It's a shame though that so many people didn't take the energy to expose themselves to new ideas The work is a fascinating series of interplays between instruments and sections. It is at times very powerful, at other mysterious or playful, with snatches of color tossed from instrument to instrument. in-strument. The work is superbly fitted "to the abilities of the orchestra. or-chestra. The first movement especially called for careful ensemble en-semble between soloists, and the winds were tight and played well. It is a piece that needs other hearings though (for me at least), to fully comprehend the workings of it. I hope that the work will be kept in the repertoire. Now if the Symphony will only record the piece The audience was then thrown into the malestrom of Walton's "Symphony No. 1." Watts led a propulsive first movement, all too often messy and hectic, with sloppy brasswork. The orchestra recovered in the sec movement with a tight n formance. After a well-paced xZ movement, marked by superb f Playing the orchestra showed fatigue in the final movement. A recommendation after the far is that the orchestra needed morf ..rehearsal, or a less strenuou program. I nominate Robert Lentz Der cussionist, as the outstanding player of the evening. His per formance on the tympani was at once the most virtuosic and musical I have seen. The next Utah Symphony concert will be Friday, December 8 in the Tabernacle. The featured work will be Bloch's "Sacred Service," one of the outstanding choral works of this century. Don't miss it. because the Symphony played an adventuresome program under the direction of Ardean Watts. It is always an experience to hear Charles Ives. There is a vitality and liveliness in his work found in few other composers. Unfortunately the performance was labored; instead of enjoying the work, both orchestra and conductor seemed to be just trying to get through the piece. This might well be the most difficult work the Symphony will play this year, but it must sound light and off-hand. The first movement never achieved the evocative atmosphere it should have. The strings at first were too loud, later they were out of tune (especially the violins; I know that not all of those microtones were written), and the conductor's tenseness kept the orchestra from being free. Ives' humor is obvious in the middle movement, who else would put "Oh, Come all ye Faithful" in a minor key? Well then, why weren't . people laughing, enjoying themselves? them-selves? Do they think" that one goe to concerts merely to be edified and "cultured" by Great Music? If so, that seems to me to be a waste of two hours. The last movement was invigorating; in-vigorating; the composer was able to overcome the conductor, and the work ended with an exciting barrage of sound. The first performance of Ramiro Cortes' "Movements In Variation" was next, with the composer conducting. Why should the Utah Symphony play better under a guest conductor than it does for its own associate conductor? Mr. Cortes conducts with elan, and the orchestra, caught up in his excitement, ex-citement, gave its best performance per-formance of the evening. |