Orchestra Concert Report

On Sunday, October 30th, I attended a live performance by the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Jacek Kaspszyk as a part of their 2016 U.S. tour. When I walked into the concert hall, there was an electric atmosphere as a crowd of people was waiting in anticipation to find their seats and settle down to enjoy the show. In order to have a better idea of what I was about to experience, I read the playbill that explained how the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra is the premiere musical institution of Poland. After I had a sense of the importance of the music I was about to hear, I took the time to look at the setup of the stage. All of the chairs were angled into a semicircle formation, centered around the conductor 's stand. On the left hand side, were the violins and other string instruments with the flute, oboes, and clarinets in the middle and the heavier sounding cellos on the right. One of the key components in the …show more content…
37 was my favorite part of the entire night. The concerto starts of with a mysterious low bass sounding melody brought in by the cello section that is echoed by the clarinets and trumpets in a higher octave. Once the cellos and violins enter the space of the sound building within the orchestra, the tempo slows down to a softer, controlled sounding melody that is accented by the quick separated notes played by the flutes. A few minutes into the piece the pianist adds in and establishes a trade off between the main orchestra and the staccato, high pitched notes that seem to string together as the soloists hands fly across the piano. Although the piano and orchestra seem to move together clearly repeating a light hearted melody, the piano adds flourishes with the harmony played by his left hand. When the piano drops out, the orchestra plays what sounds like a whirlwind of contrasting melodies, giving the music this sense of