CCM PHILHARMONIA OPENS 2017-2018 SEASON

ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

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The CCM Philharmonia opened the 2017-2018 Concert Season at the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music with the Overture to Mozart’s The Magic Flute. The capacity audience at the recently-renovated and acoustically friendly Patricia Corbett Theatre greeted Mark Gibson’s impassioned conducting of what he called, in his own words, “the National Anthem of Classical Music” with an enthusiastic response.

Gibson’s crystal clear take on Mozart’s overture was evident from the iconic opening triple chords that begin the piece to the vertiginously agile allegro that ends it. The Maestro brought out the best of his sizeable ensemble, eliciting utter clarity in the back and forth dialogue between the higher and lower strings while keeping the enthusiastic brass section of the youthful Philharmonic Orchestra from drowning out the rest of the ensemble. It was interesting to note that Gibson likes to separate his first violins to his left and the violas and second violins to his right, an arrangement that allowed for the inner voices to have much presence throughout the evening.

The orchestra quickly rearranged its personnel in order to play Brahms’ Symphony no. 3 in F. The composer spoke of the recurring F-A (or Ab)-E theme as his coded “Frei aber einsam” (Free but alone) message. Gibson described it as a Doubt melodic motif which hesitates about whether to be tonally consonant or chromatically free.

Beyond that, in his introductory words to the Brahms symphony, Gibson attributed to the Brahms a questioning quality, which in the company of the joyful Mozart overture and the second half’s austerely assertive Mendelssohn Reformation Symphony formed a musical triumvirate that expressed deeply religious feelings that ranged from questioning one’s faith to firmly believing in it. It was a fascinating program which the CCM student orchestra played with the flair and technique of a professional ensemble.

Up next the Philharmonia tackles an all-Italian line up of Respighi, Berlioz and the first act of Puccini’s Tosca. Pencil in the date of Wednesday October 4th at 8:00 p.m. and secure your tickets from the CCM box office, for the performance will fill up just like tonight’s did.

Rafael de Acha http://www.Rafael’sMusicNotes.com All About the Arts

Published by ALL ABOUT THE ARTS

Rafael de Acha has enjoyed a distinguished career in the arts as a performer, stage director, producer, and educator. He was born and grew up in Cuba. At the age of 17 he moved to the United States to study Drama at the University of Minnesota, and later Languages at L.A. City College, Music at the Juilliard School of Music, at the University of Cincinnati’s College Conservatory of Music, and at the New England Conservatory of Music, from which he received the Master's degree. He has taught courses on the History of Music at the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music and at Florida International University, and contributed writings and reviews to Seen and Heard International (www.seenandheard-international.com ) and to this blog. He co-founded the award-winning New Theatre in Coral Gables, Florida, where he produced and staged twenty seasons of classical and contemporary theater, including fifty world premieres of plays that went on to have international and national productions on and off Broadway, including Ana in the Tropics by Nilo Cruz (Pulitzer Prize for Drama 2002 and Tony Nomination 2003.) In 2006 he was presented with a citation from The Dade County Cultural Affairs Council for “trailblazing contributions to the arts in South Florida.”