[Dixielandjazz] "Bringing Back The Music" - Reviving The Soul of New Orleans

[Steve barbone]

List mates:

Not strictly OKOM but interesting read never the less:

"what was offered wasn't all orchestral music. This was appropriate - New
Orleans's musical soul is not solely in the classical tradition"

A hurriedly arranged musical tribute to N.O. was wildly successful in NYC
last night. 150 musicians. (NY Philharmonic + Marsalis +) Perhaps more
musical performances, or music festivals should be like this?

Cheers,
Steve


Combining Forces to Revive the Soul of New Orleans By ANNE MIDGETTE
October 29, 2005 - NY TIMES

Music is the soul of society, the heart of culture. So, at least, it was
variously pronounced by the likes of Itzhak Perlman and Beverly Sills in the
course of an evening devoted to bringing it back. "Bringing Back the Music"
was the title of the New York Philharmonic's joint benefit concert with and
for the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra on Friday night at Avery Fisher
Hall. New Orleans, of course, was the intended destination of this
particular return: orchestral music in other American cities will have to
continue to fend for itself.

If more concerts were like Friday's, orchestras might not be perceived as
struggling in any city. It was notable, in fact, that an event planned on
such short notice - in around four weeks - succeeded so well in its
conception and presentation. This all-American program reflected a kind of
thoughtfulness that is not always so evident in concerts planned with longer
lead time.

Many of the selections and the performers had special relevance to the city
of New Orleans. Randy Newman, whose mother was from New Orleans, offered a
particularly touching set, including the apt "I Think It's Going to Rain
Today," achingly sung by Audra McDonald. Leonard Slatkin, who was music
adviser to the New Orleans Philharmonic (as it was then known) in the late
1970's, conducted the end of Aaron Copland's third symphony; and Wynton
Marsalis, the city's famous musical son, offered a set with a quartet of
other jazz musicians.

The speed with which this was drawn together may have created a sense of
spontaneity that made it livelier than the average orchestra concert.
Another contributing factor, clear from the performers mentioned above, was
the fact that what was offered wasn't all orchestral music. This was
appropriate - New Orleans's musical soul is not solely in the classical
tradition - and also got the juices flowing in the audience. Classical music
may have drawn them together, but while the response to excerpts from the
Barber Violin Concerto (with Mr. Perlman) or Copland's "Tender Land" Suite
was warm, the reception for Mr. Marsalis, Mr. Newman and Ms. McDonald was
ecstatic. This kind of energy is what classical music really needs, perhaps
even more than the $300,000 that had already been raised to help the
Louisiana Philharmonic by the beginning of the concert.

To open the evening, the combined orchestras, 150 musicians strong,
unleashed upon the evening a sonic gumbo bearing the approximate form of
George Gershwin's "Cuban Overture," stirred by Lorin Maazel, newly arrived
from Japan, and looking and sounding a little tired. But there was no trace
of lag, jet or otherwise, in John Adams's "Short Ride in a Fast Machine,"
with which James Conlon opened the second half. The fourth conductor of the
evening was Carlos Miguel Prieto, the Louisiana orchestra's music director
designate, beaming from ear to ear and sounding serious, even overawed.

All well and good. But the orchestral offerings sounded almost sluggish in
comparison with the musical heart of the evening: Mr. Newman, with a hoarse
but moving delivery, and even more Ms. McDonald, who in everything from
Bernstein's "Somewhere" to a sassy rendition of Arlen and Harburg's "Ain't
It the Truth" showed the meaning of stylistic idioms, musical virtuosity
and, most important, meaningful communication.