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Music Director: Daniel Spalding
Principal Soloist: Gabriela Imreh
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May 22, 2009 at 12:15 pm and 1:30 pm
Trinity Episcopal Cathedral
801 West State Street
Trenton, New Jersey
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Daniel Spalding, Conductor
Youth Concerts featuring music from Leonard Bernstein's West Side Story
(Sponsored in part by the Frank & Lydia Bergen Foundation)
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The concert
New classical music lovers from the Trinity Episcopal Day School
Gabriela & Maestro with students from Emily Fisher Charter School
"Wow, those guys are impressive!"
May 16, 2009
Danbury Concert Association
Ives Concert Hall, Western Connecticut State University
Danbury, CT
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Daniel Spalding, Conductor
Leslie Johnson, Soprano soloist
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Mahler/Schoenberg - Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
Mahler/Stein - Symphony No. 4
Strauss/Schoenberg - Kaiserwalzer
"Philadelphia Virtuosi scale down the classics"
By Gilbert Mott, CONTRIBUTING WRITER
When Arnold Schoenberg's 12-tone innovations were still new, in the 1920s, he formed a concert society in Vienna to present his works and those of his students. The programs were filled out with older music, often orchestral pieces that had been arranged for smaller ensembles.
Gustav Mahler had been a supporter of the young Schoenberg, who returned the favor by presenting his works. The Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra, led by their music director, Daniel Spalding, recreated one of those programs in Ives Hall in Danbury on Saturday.
The Virtuosi accompanied guest artist mezzo-soprano Leslie Johnson in Schoenberg's arrangement of Mahler's "Songs of a Wayfarer." Each player is a soloist in this size group and there were many sensitive pairings of instrument and voice. Johnson has a rich mezzo sound, full in its lower registers and bright on top. Her portrayal was full of character, her use of the German language acute. If occasional details in the playing were smudged, the overall sweep and spirit were there. The fourth and last song had a finely spun-out transition to the final section, which died away beautifully in the singer's rendition.
The second half of the program was Mahler's Fourth Symphony, in an arrangement by Schoenberg's student Erwin Stein. This version has the intimate feel of the salon, and the group's supple rhythmic sense added to that impression. The quintet of strings played together sensitively, and Robert Huebner's clarinetplaying often had a touch of klezmer in its sound. The second movement has the first violinist play in an unorthodox tuning, imparting a slight strangeness to the sound, and Georgy Valtchev captured the spirit nicely.
The slow movement was a highlight, starting with cellist Charles Forbes and violist Dennis Krasnokutsky in a well-matched duet, and building in passion and intensity. Johnson came back on stage for the finale, singing with the spirit of childlike wonder and joy in the song setting that closes the symphony.
Big moments like the third movement's long built-up climax sound thin without the full orchestra in this arrangement, and the piano part often sounds like it's filling in missing parts rather than adding its own voice. There are many details of individual lines to be savored, though, and the Virtuosi's colorful playing brought them out.
As Spalding jokingly told the audience, the group played its encore first on the program: Johann Strauss's "Emperor Waltz," in a Schoenberg arrangement that must have lightened the atmosphere at those groundbreaking concerts in old Vienna.
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March 22, 2009 at 2:00 PM
Kupferberg Center for the Arts
CUNY Queens College, New York
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Daniel Spalding, Conductor
Gabriela Imreh, Piano soloist
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Mozart - Divertimento in D, K. 136
Bach/Stokowski - Air on the G String
Bach/Stokowski - Preludio in E
J.S. Bach - Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor
Tchaikovsky - Souvenir de Florence
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January 31, 2009
The EMMA Concert Association & Flagler College
Flagler College auditorium
St. Augustine, FL
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Daniel Spalding, Conductor
Gabriela Imreh, Piano soloist
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Mozart - Divertimento in D, K. 136
Bach/Stokowski - Air on the G String
Bach/Stokowski - Preludio in E
J.S. Bach - Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor
Tchaikovsky - Souvenir de Florence
A review by Hunter B. from Yelp.com
I was fortunate enough to catch the Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra in concert recently in St. Augustine, Florida, at Flagler College (thanks to one prolific Yelper with mad musical skills).
They not only put on an excellent, lively show, but they made it fun for the audience. That's not always the case with classical concerts, so when it occurs, it's worth noting.
The music director and conductor, Daniel Spalding, has an easy way with the audience as well as his musicians. A conductor with a sense of humor, Spalding was kind enough to greet people after the show and sign a few CDs (yes, we got one).
Principal soloist Gabriela Imreh is also worth noting for her work on the piano and her own sense of humor ... even if she ran a little long introducing one Bach piece. Actually, she clocked in at nearly 15 minutes, but her playing, and that of the group, eclipsed the breathy and funny intro. In fact, she and Spalding both framed the pieces in a very effective way that added to the performance.
I'm almost embarrassed to admit that, having been to a fair number of Philadelphia Chamber Music Society concerts, I hadn't really heard about the Philadelphia Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra. Since it looks like I'm the first to review this outstanding group on Yelp, maybe I'm not alone. So here's hoping many others will find out about them and catch a performance, wherever you may be located.
Highly recommended.
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January 29, 2009
Big Arts Great Performers
Sanibel, FL
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Daniel Spalding, Conductor
Gabriela Imreh, Piano soloist
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Mozart - Divertimento in D, K. 136
Bach/Stokowski - Air on the G String
Bach/Stokowski - Preludio in E
J.S. Bach - Piano Concerto No. 1 in D minor
Tchaikovsky - Souvenir de Florence
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November 7, 2008 - 8pm
Haas Stage at the Arden Theater Company
Philadelphia, PA
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Daniel Spalding, Conductor
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"ON THE EDGE"
Works by Bach, Mozart, Lekeu, Shostakovich, Reich and the world premiere of “Variations of Madness” by Kurt Coble and his P.A.M. Band (Partially Artificial Musicians).
Click here for the "On the Edge" experience.
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A clip from WABC News Oct 22, 2009
Click the Play button below to play the video
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