Glass and Mozart and Stravinsky

It was Thursday nite, we were on our way to the Hult for a performance
of the Eugene Symphony. As usual, it was raining but we opted for
sheltered parking and walked right into the hall. I had purchased
upper orchestra seats and so did not bring the trusty binocs.
First up was Philip Glass "Facades" from Glassworks. He originally
wrote this for Koyaanisquatsi and was to accompany images of
buildings in the Manhattan Financial District. However, it ended
up as an out-take but subsequently used by director Godfrey Berio
in a short film called Evidence accompanying shots of children's
faces as they watched TV. The music took us back to a time of
first viewing that extraordinary film. Next was a composition by Mozart-
Concerto for Violin and Orchestra #5 with guest soloist Martin
Chalifour. He is a world-renowned artist with a firm grasp of the
material. The music itself is Mozart at 19 just getting started on
a brilliant career. We greatly enjoyed it. Then it was intermission
and norma went in search of familiar faces while I studied my
program and conversed with nearby seatholders. When everyone
had returned to their seats, the featured work Igor Stravinsky's
The Rite of Spring began. This performance, about 1/2 hour in
length tells of the pagan sacrifice of a virgin to please the gods
of spring. It caused quite a stir in Paris when first performed in
1913. In fact there was a shouting match with intermittent scuffles.
A little over 90 years later, the audience was not as likely to break
out in a commotion, but the orchestra sure made up for that with
the complement of double sets of kettledrums, big bass drum and
gong. Lots of discord and some fantastic passages of folk music
based tunes kept the multitude attent. When the last notes had
died, the applause was strong with many giving standing ovations.
Subsequently, we worked our way through the throng and found
our car. Due to the almost sellout crowd we waited some time for
traffic to clear and let us make our way to the street and home.
A nite at the Symphony is a great way to spend a rainy Thursday
in Eugene, Oregon.