The Oklahoman
By Lauren Monteiro
January 16, 2020
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Saturday’s riveting Oklahoma City Philharmonic concert, "Minimalism in a New World," celebrated trailblazing American composers who created their own musical styles — following the suggestion of Antonin Dvorak, who urged Americans not to copy the conventions of Europe, but rather to find their own uniquely American voices.
"The Dog Breath Variations," a fun, eccentric work by the genre-bending, progressive-rock icon, Frank Zappa opened the concert. The clean and enjoyable performance had cinematic whimsy and attention-grabbing fanfares, but was slightly hindered by an overcautious air of academic sterility, unbefitting of long-haired prog rock.
Returning guest artist Jennifer Koh closed the first half with a polished performance of Philip Glass’ "Violin Concerto No. 1." While partly due to the nature of Glass’ unique compositional choices to de-emphaize soloistic expression, some moments of imbalance rendered the solo violin nearly inaudible in the orchestral texture.
The slow second movement was hypnotically enchanting, and despite a few moments of unsettling instability in the orchestra, the kaleidoscopic rhythmic and tonal shifts created an overwhelmingly magical sound-world. The first half finished on a beautiful note with Koh’s encore of solo Bach, a stunningly emotive contrast with the impersonal Glass concerto.
The orchestra more than found its footing in the second half. Their heroic performance of Dvorak’s "8th Symphony" was confident, exciting, and exceedingly expressive. Remarkable solos by cellist Jonathan Ruck and flutist Valerie Watts were just the icing on the already wonderful cake that was the outstanding performance of the full orchestra.
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