web.jpg

Symphony sells out

The Utah Symphony performed for a sold-out audience last Friday at the Caine Performance Hall.

Featuring guest conductor David Loebel, the symphony played songs composed by 20th century French composers Debussy, Francaix, Poulenc and Ibert.

“I love French music,” said Susan Jelus, an audience member from the concert. “I love Poulenc and Debussy. As a matter of fact, someone the other day was asking me, ‘If you could just take one piece of music or one CD on a desert island, if you were to spend the rest of your life on a desert island, then what would you take?’ And I said, ‘I think it would have to be Claude Debussy.’”

Debussy’s piece was popular for many of the audience members, including Rebecca McFaul. McFaul is a violinist for the Fry Street Quartet, a chamber group that regularly performs on campus.

“The Debussy was my favorite because it was exquisitely crafted,” McFaul said. “It’s as the conductor tonight mentioned it, so evocative and … it’s perfect. It’s perfect music. And the Poulenc is virtuosic and also just really well put together, and the Ibert is just sort of light and silly.”

Each piece performed was unique from others, from the style of music down to the ensemble that performed each piece.

“It was neat to hear all the different things that they played and how they played each with such finesse,” said Brianne Smith, a junior studying engineering. “It was really awesome.”

The concert began with an all-string ensemble, which played Debussy’s “Six épigraphes antiques,” arranged by Jean-Francois Pailliard. The strings were joined by woodwinds and brass for the next composition, Francaix’s “Sérénade pour petit orchestra.” To perform Poulenc’s “Sextet,” the orchestra decreased its members again, but a full orchestra, including percussion and piano, concluded the concert with Ibert’s “Divertissement.”

“I just feel like they really captured the spirit and feeling of those pieces,” Smith said. “It all just came together so well, and it all sounded so wonderful.”

Founded in 1940, the symphony is comprised of 85 full-time musicians, who perform almost 200 concerts a season, according to their website. The music director is Thierry Fischer.

“It’s a really vibrant organization that has a really busy season,” McFaul said. “They play a lot of music. They reach a lot of people, and we’re lucky to have such a fantastic artistic institution in the state that’s doing so much and playing with great works of art for us every week.”

“I think there was a whole lot of energetic commitment to the music tonight,” McFaul said. “And it was fun to hear them in this smaller setting.”

The performance hall was built in 2006 and holds 421 seats, which makes the hall ideal for small acoustical performances, according to the Caine College of the Arts webpage.

“I love this concert hall and all of the productions that USU puts on,” said Linda Worsen, an audience member. “We were just talking earlier how lucky we are to live in a place where there are so many cultural things going on like this.”

In addition to regular performances from the Fry Street Quartet, the CCA hosts concerts and other events throughout the school year.

“There are so many wonderful things going on, and this was full tonight, but that’s unusual,” Worsen said. “I cannot believe that we can have so many wonderful things going on and that they’re not full. Don’t miss out on these wonderful opportunities that are available to you.”

Information for upcoming concerts and performance can be found on the student event calendar or on the CCA’s website.

“They’re exciting,” McFaul said. “That classical music is not and should not be relaxing. It is exciting, and it’s an incredible reflection of our human experience, If you choose to really listen and let yourself travel with the music, you know, you’ll go places you never thought you’ll go.”

— lormialor@gmail.com