One of my favorite nights out on the town of Richmond has to be seeing a show from the Richmond Symphony Orchestra. About 4 years ago I saw my first show, the tickets were a gift. Not expecting much, I went and what I saw changed my mind forever. Since then, I’ve been a season ticket holder the past 3 years. I love seeing the RSO perform. When you see them perform, you’d think you were in New York City or Paris, but actually you’re fortunate enough to have a professional symphony right here in Richmond.
One of the first pieces performed during the October 14th show was, Holy Roller by Missy Mazzoli. The piece was beautiful, and modern. Before the performance we were shown a video message from Missy explaining that her piece was inspired by two “outside artists”; Ferdinand Cheval and Simon Rodia. Both artists created such different and personal pieces of art; now called monuments. She said this piece was her version of “outside art”. Once that picture was painted the music made for a very exciting piece.
The second performance was by far my favorite. The featured performer of the evening was pianist Michael Chertock. We were able to see his craft in action as he played Concerto No. 23 for piano & Orchestra in A Major, K. 488 by Mozart. The piece was truly amazing. I loved the passion you could see Michael had as he played. The orchestra and Michael were playing off of each other and you could tell both parties enjoyed as did the crowd. Mozart paints such a beautiful picture in your head. Critic Alfred Einstein said it best when he said, “the piece brings a breath of fresh air into a darkened room“.
The third and final piece was a Russian ballet by Igor Stravinsky called “Petruska (1947 revision)”. The piece had a mixture of about everything from moments of slow music to very fast. In fact, the piece is even billed as “burlesque in four scenes” with a sad ending with comedy, joy, drama and pathos. The piece has so many different instruments and sounds at what time. It makes for a very dramatic and fun experience to be listening for different instruments as they seem to ever changing throughout the piece.
All in all, one can experience many different feelings after a night with Richmond Symphony Orchestra. I anxiously look forward to the next show. We are so very lucky to have this treasure in our community.