As the University of Wisconsin-Madison Symphony Orchestra tuned their instruments at the start of Friday’s concert, the packed audience was tense with anticipation, ready for a complex and powerful program.
The first piece was Erik Satie’s “Gymnopedie,” orchestrated by Debussy. It was a wise choice to start the concert program with a light and delicate piece, because what was to come would certainly be on the contrary. Conducting student Joe Mahin led the piece, guiding the ensemble with an incredibly subtle approach that allowed for the impressionistic elements of the piece to be heard quite clearly.
After the piece concluded, a beautiful ebony Steinway D piano was rolled on stage in preparation for master’s student Minha Jeon’s performance of Prokofiev’s “Piano Concerto No. 3.” During a previous rehearsal of the concert, Jeon told The Daily Cardinal she felt “nervous but very excited.”
Jeon said the performance inspired her to become a piano professor because “the experience of playing with an orchestra is not something that many pianists are able to do regularly.”
Her performance was nothing short of spectacular. Jeon executed the piece with precision and character, always keeping the attention of the hall waiting for her next move. Backed by the skillful conducting of maestro and professor Oriol Sans, every intended climax and release that Prokofiev had written was dutifully rendered.
When speaking on the benefit that such programming provides to students, Sans told the Cardinal “the goal is to have a good orchestral experience, and it makes students happy to be able to play this piece while delivering an artistic experience for audience members.”
Sans gave an introduction to the next piece, “The Rite of Spring,” with orchestral excerpts, so the audience could better understand the work and its initial reception in 1913 — it reportedly caused a riot due to its incredible violence and dissonance. This approach was quite compelling, allowing for a better understanding of the work and its complexity.
Sans said he chose the “The Rite of Spring” because “it's a great piece of music, but also a piece that we all learn a lot from working on.”
Percussionist Dylan Chapman echoed this sentiment. “‘The Rite of Spring’ is a lot of fun because it's a good excuse for us to play loud,” Chapman said.
The piece began incredibly, thanks to the woodwinds. As Stravinsky developed and twisted his themes to express that of medieval Russia, the audience was mesmerized by the quality of sound that was produced. During all 30 minutes of the performance, attention never wavered, and throughout the changing meters and atonal dissonance, a clear artistic view was produced in the minds of all in attendance.
“If the symphony hadn’t played with the violence that they did, I might have thrown a riot outside the hall myself,” concertgoer Milo Ascher told the Cardinal.
