Review: BYU Symphony Orchestra Concert

Despite the warnings from my friends about the lack of adequate preparation time for their concert, I went to the BYU Symphony Orchestra concert anyway. However, instead of cringing, it was very enjoyable.

The last concert lasted about two and a half hours, so I was quite relieved when this one lasted only an hour and a half; much more manageable. I think the players were relieved, too.

The first piece was Brahm's "Academic Festival Overture," conducted by grad student James Arbizu. The piece was generally good and in tune, through at times the upper brass covered up the string and woodwind parts completely. Several key points were a bit disappointing; the climaxes didn't climax very much and the ending could have been more spectacular. However, it was stately and lively and played with a good conception for the meaning of the piece.

The second piece, "Concerto Grosso for String Orchestra and Piano Obbligato" by Bloch was a little more disappointing. The tuning wasn't quite so good, and the piano was covered up almost the entire song. Although I enjoyed the piece, I was often distracted, especially, by the tuning of the first violins in the upper register. Runs were generally weak, as well. On the plus side, the balance was maintained very well among the strings, especially the viola, cello, and bass sections. The piece was cleanly articulated, too.

The concert ended with Dvorak's "Symphony No. 8." This was the best piece on the program, especially the first movement. The first movement was clean and well played. Dynamic contrast gave it a polished finish that was only intermittently present in the other pieces. The second through fourth movements, while not as good as the first, were still well played. A few runs were still weak and the trumpets covered up a few parts, but generally good balance was maintained.

All in all, it was a pleasant evening, and I was glad I went. Despite the lack of time for solid preparation, I was impressed by the hard work the orchestra put in to achieve the level of playing that they did.