Symphony’s performance of new music and old should not have been missed

Symphony’s performance of new music and old should not have been missed

EDITOR:

New symphonic music at the Powers Auditorium played by the Youngstown Symphony Orchestra under Maestro Randall Fleischer was a welcome sound. In the past year, I needed to go to Pittsburgh to hear new music, some of which, such as the Theofanidis violin concerto, had been commissioned by the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra.

The composition was titled Impressions of the Butler, by the American composer Gregory Prechel. The work could be said to be patterned after Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition, but the paintings at the Butler Institute were light years superior to those Mussorgsky depicted.

Prechel’s musical depictions were very good and very much to the point of the artwork. The music itself reminded me of John Williams. I found the movement ”Youngstown Strike” to be the most “grabbing” emotionally. However, the page one article in Sunday’s Vindicator described the music very well.

But there was much much more to the evening’s concert that was very unjustly neglected in the article. These were the Romeo and Juliet Overture Fantasy, by Peter Ilyitch Tchaikovsky, and the Concerto for Cello and Orchestra, by Antonin Dvor °k, with Wendy Warner as the soloist.

Tchaikovsky’s Romeo and Juliet Overture was composed in 1869, and first performed in March, 1870. It has since become very popular, and has unfortunately achieved warhorse status with some orchestras. That was not evident in the Youngstown Symphony performance. As directed by Maestro Fleischer, it was intense, dramatic, and very well focused.

The same could be said about the Dvor °k. The concerto was composed between 1894 and 1895, and was first performed in March 1896. The soloist, Wendy Warner, was superb. Her technique was flawless. Her instrument deserves a mention likewise. It was quite recently made in Chicago. It has an excellent tone and an assertive voice, thereby guaranteeing that it will not be inadvertently drowned out by the orchestra. Could she and a violin playing colleague join the Youngstown Symphony playing the Brahms Double Concerto at some future date?

A performance such as that described above deserves a larger audience. Youngstowners are doing themselves no favor by not attending. They miss much that is worth hearing. New music “packs the house” in Pittsburgh. They are not afraid of it.

JEROME K. STEPHENS

Warren

Invest in our parks

EDITOR:

If President Obama is looking to stimulate the economy he should invest some of the stimulus money in our National Parks. This would benefit everyone on three fronts.

Just like the CCC (Civilian Conservation Camps) of past it would create jobs, restore degraded structures and provide public recreation.

Creating jobs to fix and repair our parks gives pride to the workers. American goods would need to be bought for such repairs.

Many of our parks have been neglected by past shrinking budgets. It’s time to invest in our future generations and preserve the parks’ structures.

Parks provide recreational experiences for everyone.

Isn’t it wise to spend our money on us instead of corrupt corporations and financial institutions who believe in the trickle down theory? Spend some of our stimulus money to preserve and rebuild our parks.

ERIC THOMPSON

Mercer, Pa.