An old saying has it that the superior person discusses ideas, the average person discusses things, and the inferior person talks about people. The latter aberration has infected our public discourse for some time, but I never expected it to extend to a symphonic concert.
The concert in question was Sunday’s matinee of the Portland Symphony Orchestra at Merrill Auditorium, during which violist Laurie Kennedy’s performance of Ernest Bloch’s “Suite Hebraique” was preceded by a movie of her thoughts about music, the viola and the Portland Symphony.
Pleasant enough, if vapid, the segment had absolutely no place in a concert of classical music, and indeed may have prejudiced the relatively sparse audience against Kennedy, principal violist of the PSO.
She gave a creditable, if low-key, reading of Bloch’s ethnic viola concerto, with only a few missed notes, but the experience was spoiled by the previous injection of personality. Please, please, don’t do this again. It is amateurish and unbefitting of a first-class symphony orchestra.
The Bloch was preceded by an interesting version of Samuel Barber’s “Essay No. 1, Op. 12, which revealed the intense passion simmering behind this composer’s normally buttoned-down work.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.