The National Philharmonic Orchestra’s Summer Festival of Orchestral Music began on Aug. 4 with a guitar spectacular at the Lysenko Hall of Columns.
The evening began with Gioachino Rossini’s William Tell Overture. This famous work is a good opener and springs from the pen of one of opera’s most lyrical composers. From its opening virtuosic solo cello line to its evocative galloping rhythms, it exudes drama. It was a strong start to the concert and the strings brought the precise, workmanlike precision demanded by the faster passages.
The orchestra shrank in size for the next work as it welcomed Ukrainian solo guitarist Andriy Ostapenko for Joaquin Rodrigo’s 1939 Concerto “Aranjuez” for Guitar and Orchestra. The second movement is the highlight of the work and is what makes it a perennial on most classical CD stacks in homes worldwide. Ostapenko, an Honored Artist of Ukraine and regular soloist with the National Philharmonic, performed with the required virtuosity that audiences so appreciate and his flying fingers climbing and descending the finger board was a sight to behold.
Rodrigo returned after the interval with the “Kiev” Quartet of Guitarists performing the Spanish composer’s lesser-known Concerto “Andaluz” for Four Guitars and Orchestra (1967). In it are a number of pleasant moments and the four guitarists performed capably and with visible gaiety.
The concerto ended with the rip-roaring Hungarian Rhapsody Number 1 by Franz Liszt. It was a relief to hear the full orchestra back on stage and the string section again demonstrated impressive technical prowess.
Unfortunately and unnecessarily, the guitar soloists were amplified by microphone for both concertos. This was especially regrettable in the Aranjuez concerto. The natural intimacy of the hall would allow the guitar’s sound to resonate without amplification. More importantly, because the work is built on a call and response basis between the soloist and the orchestra a microphone nullifies the nuances and dynamics that make it memorable.
Overall, it was a mistake to place two Rodrigo works side-by-side. Despite being written almost thirty years apart, the two concertos have strong similarities in melody, harmony, rhythm and orchestration. I wasn’t the only one to start eying the cake decoration-like details on the ceiling as we waited impatiently for the Spanish-heavy component of the evening to end.
The Summer Festival of Orchestral Music continued on Aug. 8 with the visiting J. Pzn Sweelinck Orchestra of the Amsterdam University performing Brahms and Mahler.
A full schedule of the August schedule of the National Philharmonic website.
Kyiv Post staff writer Will Fitzgibbon can be reached at [email protected]
