MUSIC: CSPhil – Carmina Burana

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Colorado Springs Philharmonic Conductor: Josep Caballé Domenech Date: May 21, 2017 Zones Pierre Jalbert In the final commissioned piece of this 90th Philharmonic season, Pierre Jalbert takes the term "from sea to shining sea" quite literally with his piece, Zones. With the majority of the music conveying the depths of the ocean, it was interesting to hear the various deep-sea creatures as they passed by (most of which seemed to be quite large and dangerous). Eventually, the listener arrives near the surface of the ocean and can hear the rays of light penetrating down into the water. During the last moments of the piece, the listener emerges on dry land and quickly finds themselves in the alpine "zone" of the top of Pike's Peak. Martern Aller Arten (from The Abduction from the Seraglio) / Verdrai, carino (from Don Giovanni) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart These selected arias from Mozart's repertoire weren't that recognizable, but they certainly gave soprano Celena Shafer the chance to show off. Having been in a choir before, I know I...
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MUSIC: Aladdin (2011)

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Aladdin New Amsterdam Theatre May 10, 2017 Anyone who knows me will know that Aladdin (1992) is easily one of my top three favorite Disney movies. Not only is the focus of the narrative more on the male lead than the "princess," but the songs were catchy, and the Genie was hilarious. You can then imagine my surprise to learn that this movie was now a Broadway musical (much in the same way Beauty and the Beast (1991) and The Lion King (1994) before it). Since I was in New York City on vacation, I had to take in a Broadway show and was glad that this was the one I saw. Knowing that a ~90 minute animated film would need to be padded out to a full, 2-act stage musical, the additions to the plot made sense. Many of the animal companions (if not all of them) were replaced with friends, handmaids, or lackeys in this production. The sub-plot of Aladdin wanting to...
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MUSIC: CSPhil – Swing, Swing, Swing!

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Colorado Springs Philharmonic Conductor: Thomas Wilson Date: April 1, 2017 Much like the Divas of the 60's performance, I had very limited prior knowledge of the music played during this week's Philharmonic pops. I was aware of the basic swing style of music but had little to no exposure to it's complete musical reach. My initial thoughts were that this performance would be very high-energy since swing music is often accompanied by the high-energy dance style of the same name. I was somewhat surprised to find a fair number of the songs were a little slower. Granted, you could still dance to them, but they would have been slow dances instead of swing dances. Perhaps the title of "Swing, Swing, Swing!" was a little misleading. Much of the music was of the "big band" style, which isn't always of the "swing" genre. With the focus on brass and percussion, the addition of strings to the arrangements made for quite the impressive sound, especially on the songs I...
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MUSIC: CSPhil – Dvořák: New World Symphony

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New World Symphony (No. 9) Composer: Antonin Dvořák Conductor: Josep Caballé-Domenech Date: March 11, 2017 This piece. THIS PIECE! I'll be honest; it's probably my favorite piece of classical music ever. Now that I know a bit more about it through the Colorado Springs Philharmonic's Masterworks series, I feel I can appreciate it even more. Although even if I now know the Native American, African American, Czech, Beethoven, and Wagner influences that made this piece what it is, I've loved it for so long I have trouble picking out the references. Nevertheless, being able to identify the small segments that added to the spectacular whole that is this piece just added to my love of it. If anything, the melting pot of musical motifs and themes that help to create a sound that is distinctly American, even from a Czech composer like Dvorak, is what the New World Symphony is all about. The ability for Dvorak to recognize the heritage of the Native Americans and the struggle of the African-Americans...
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MUSIC: CSPhil – Star Trek: The Final Frontier

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Colorado Springs Philharmonic Conductor: Josep Caballé Domenech Date: October 29, 2016 As someone who has only seen a smattering of Star Trek episodes and movies, I wasn't sure what to expect for this night of orchestrated music. Up until about Deep Space 9, I could recognize the opening themes for the different series, but anything after that would be new to me. I am a fan of a few of the early Star Trek films, as well as a few of the reboot ones (not Beyond, though), but only the newer ones have captivated me musically. Of course, that's probably because I enjoy the musical stylings of Michael Giacchino. While I can understand the heavier reliance on the music from the Star Trek movies, due to their ease of orchestration, the music from some of the episodes was equally as moving. This consistency and range really drove home that Star Trek isn't about the action for which Star Wars is best known, but more...
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