![\"Des](\"http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/mw3beyondthescoreprokofievsfifth.jpg\")
<\/a>Beyond the Score<\/em><\/h3>\nChicago Symphony Orchestra<\/strong>‘s ever-expanding Beyond the Score<\/em> program, which originated in 2005, is a fantastic audience development tool. The format features theatrical narrative performed eloquently by William Dick, Sarah Hinzman<\/strong>, Jill Shellabarger<\/strong>, and Roger Mueller<\/strong> – a remembered favorite from last year’s Beyond the Score<\/em> production of\u00a0Beethoven\u00a0Symphony No. 5.\u00a0Adding to the narration are instructive and illuminating musical excerpts performed by the Symphony. All of which accentuated\u00a0with hand-paced projections providing both more visual interest and historical context. This particular program gave a surprising amount of insight into Prokofiev’s life; and furthermore, into his compositional process, the lives and works of other notable Russian composers from Mussorgsky to Shostakovich, and the historical context in which Prokofiev was writing. This type of program runs the risk\u00a0of offending those who constantly admonish others to ‘let the music speak for itself.’ However,\u00a0it\u00a0is humbling (and yet, restorative) to be reminded through music of times not so long ago\u00a0in which our world also\u00a0faced fear and terror fueled by hatred.<\/p>\nProkofiev Symphony No. 5 in B-flat Major, Op. 100 (1945)<\/h3>\n
The eminently singable melodies are the hallmark of Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony and the Des Moines Symphony displayed commitment to highlighting each in its own richness. The careful balance of lower strings allowed the first sweeping melody of the Andante<\/em>, played by flutist Kayla Burggraf<\/strong> and bassoonist Kevin Judge<\/strong>, to soar over the rest of the texture.\u00a0Likewise, the regard and thoughtfulness towards balance allowed solo themes from clarinetist Gregory Oakes<\/strong> and oboist Jennifer Wohlenhaus<\/strong> to command attention in the Allegro giocoso<\/i> finale. To this taste, the brass articulations in early soli sections were lacking in clarity.\u00a0As the intensity heightened in both the first and final movements though, the brass\u00a0and the percussion sounds\u00a0unquestionably blossomed. The work of Aaron Williams<\/strong>, Robert Meunier<\/strong>, Thomas Mackey<\/strong>, and Michael Geary<\/strong> was particularly thrilling in the Andante. <\/i>While there were some surprisingly anemic moments in the\u00a0Adagio,<\/em>\u00a0this did not extend\u00a0into the incredible buildup of tension and\u00a0brilliance in the Allegro giocoso<\/em> finale coda.<\/p>\nThe Prokofiev optimism, the sounds of fairy-tales, exuded throughout\u00a0this performance and yet the\u00a0undercurrent of brooding and ominousness intensified the entire listening experience. Prokofiev commented, “The Fifth Symphony is the culmination of an entire period in my work. I conceived it as a symphony on the greatness of the human soul.\u201d It is ventured here that these\u00a0contextualized performances\u00a0serve as reminders to\u00a0the extent of the greatness of the human soul: to continue composing, creating, and absorbing\u00a0sounds beyond the limits of fear and malevolence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This type of program runs the risk of offending those who constantly admonish others to ‘let the music speak for itself.’ However, it is humbling (and yet, restorative) to be reminded through music of times not so long ago in which our world also faced fear and terror fueled by hatred. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1162,1181,1222,1249],"class_list":{"0":"post-5067","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"tag-beyond-the-score","8":"tag-des-moines-symphony","9":"tag-joseph-giunta","10":"tag-prokofiev","11":"entry","12":"has-post-thumbnail"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5067\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Prokofiev Symphony No. 5 in B-flat Major, Op. 100 (1945)<\/h3>\n
The eminently singable melodies are the hallmark of Prokofiev’s Fifth Symphony and the Des Moines Symphony displayed commitment to highlighting each in its own richness. The careful balance of lower strings allowed the first sweeping melody of the Andante<\/em>, played by flutist Kayla Burggraf<\/strong> and bassoonist Kevin Judge<\/strong>, to soar over the rest of the texture.\u00a0Likewise, the regard and thoughtfulness towards balance allowed solo themes from clarinetist Gregory Oakes<\/strong> and oboist Jennifer Wohlenhaus<\/strong> to command attention in the Allegro giocoso<\/i> finale. To this taste, the brass articulations in early soli sections were lacking in clarity.\u00a0As the intensity heightened in both the first and final movements though, the brass\u00a0and the percussion sounds\u00a0unquestionably blossomed. The work of Aaron Williams<\/strong>, Robert Meunier<\/strong>, Thomas Mackey<\/strong>, and Michael Geary<\/strong> was particularly thrilling in the Andante. <\/i>While there were some surprisingly anemic moments in the\u00a0Adagio,<\/em>\u00a0this did not extend\u00a0into the incredible buildup of tension and\u00a0brilliance in the Allegro giocoso<\/em> finale coda.<\/p>\n The Prokofiev optimism, the sounds of fairy-tales, exuded throughout\u00a0this performance and yet the\u00a0undercurrent of brooding and ominousness intensified the entire listening experience. Prokofiev commented, “The Fifth Symphony is the culmination of an entire period in my work. I conceived it as a symphony on the greatness of the human soul.\u201d It is ventured here that these\u00a0contextualized performances\u00a0serve as reminders to\u00a0the extent of the greatness of the human soul: to continue composing, creating, and absorbing\u00a0sounds beyond the limits of fear and malevolence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This type of program runs the risk of offending those who constantly admonish others to ‘let the music speak for itself.’ However, it is humbling (and yet, restorative) to be reminded through music of times not so long ago in which our world also faced fear and terror fueled by hatred. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1162,1181,1222,1249],"class_list":{"0":"post-5067","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"tag-beyond-the-score","8":"tag-des-moines-symphony","9":"tag-joseph-giunta","10":"tag-prokofiev","11":"entry","12":"has-post-thumbnail"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5067","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5067"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5067\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5067"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5067"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/sybariticsinger.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5067"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}