Utah Symphony pair of Reich and Stravinsky’s debut in an elegant, spike program – Utah Arts Reviews

Steve Reich is not a composer whose name you would expect to find in a Utah symphony program. But on Friday night his monumental work Desert music He was premiered in Utah under the stick of the creative partner of the orchestra David Robertson.

With large orchestral forces, including a significantly expanded percussion section and vocal ensemble, Reich created a huge and contrasting sound landscape. Robertson, attached to the guest, synergistic vocals, gave a compelling and mesmerizing reading that captured the scope and depth of work.

A fruit composer and one of the most important figures in minimalist music, Reich still finds new ways to express himself until he never abandons his distinctive composition techniques. Desert music It started as almost any other piece he wrote, with a major rhythmic impulse played by the impact, in this case Marimbas and Vibraphoni to lay the foundations. The other instruments lifted the rhythm and gradually the full orchestra built on this main line. This technique allowed Reich to create sound waves with modulation of harmonies and changing textures and dynamics.

Reich’s work is named from one of the verses in the William Carlos Williams Collection Desert music and other poemsS Reich uses several poems from this collection and skillfully mixed lines in the overall orchestral fabric, which allows the votes to become an extension of the instrumental ensemble.

The British group of Synergy vocals has performed a number of Reich works since its founding in the 1990s. At the Friday concert, the nine -member ensemble mixed well in the orchestra texture, while remains uniquely distinctive and vocal life.

Robertson did a remarkable job of bringing the cohesion and structural unity of many different levels of play here, not an easy task, given the rhythmic and textual complexity of the work. He captured his restless energy and ruthless driving with his right direction, which allows the music to unfold with liquid phrases and a sense of purpose.

Another work on the program of this weekend was Stravinsky Le Sacre du PrintempsA work that appears at the Utah Symphony concerts at regular intervals. And even after more than a century, music is still hypnotic and still manages to sound “modern”.

The bass solo that opens Le Sacre was played with finely crafted expressions and a liquid pace by the chief musician Lori Wak, who was later mirrored by Lisa Stolz’s subtle English horn. From this unpretentious opening, Robertson embedded a well -conceived and gradual climax in the main body of the work when other members of the orchestra slowly entered. His reading captured the vitality and the almost barber pursuit of music. His choice of pace was in place and brought tension and urgency to the music. Robertson paid attention to the details of the moment in the score and his direction guarantees that the orchestra plays with precision and clarity even in the strongest passages.

The program will repeat 19:30 on Saturday. utahsymphony.org

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