Concert Date: February 12, 2005
by Ann Mitchell Horne, special to this newspaper
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From the size of the audience in attendance at the Imperial Valley Symphony Mid-Winter Concert, it appears the decision to move to Saturday night was a wise one. The theater was not full, but was easily double those seen on many mid-week performances. The music presented Saturday was diverse, with something to please every concert-goer. The theme for the evening, explained by Maestro Jacklich, was prompted by the approaching Valentine’s Day, and was centered on love relationships.
The overture to Mozart’s Cosi fan tutte opened the concert. The opera itself is the only one in this writer’s memory to be performed four times in our area. Joel Jacklich, the orchestra’s founder and director for thirty-one years, took the microphone to tell the convoluted love story to which the overture is a prelude. The strings took a few measures to unify the tempo, but sailed through the rest of the piece with vigor.
Again at the microphone, Mr. Jacklich detailed the life of Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809), often called the father of the symphony, of which he wrote over 100. The conductor told of the London Period of Haydn’s long career, including the “Drum Roll,” or Symphony 103 that the orchestra played next. They began to play after the initial tympani roll from which the work gets its name. All went well until the middle of the second movement when the lights on stage suddenly faded to black. Waiting for them to return, the director spent over 10 minutes of ad-lib telling of more stories about Haydn and other composers of the era. With repairs completed and the lights again illuminating the music, the concert resumed. Because of the size of our orchestra, the music of the Classic Period is a wise choice for them. If only the intonation in the first violins could be solved, we would have an orchestra of which we could be very proud. Everything else is there.
The second half of the program featured mezzo-soprano Patricia McAfee. She made an elegant entrance with her long red hair bound around her head, and attired in a glittering gown. Her rich tone was evident from the very highest to the lowest registers of her voice, all of it needed to do justice to Beethoven’s “Ah, Perfido” (Perfidious One). After the orchestra’s rendition of Lehar’s “Vilia,” from The Merry Widow, Ms. McAfee returned to sing the “Habanera” from Carmen.
Selections
from Broadway shows concluded the second part of the program and included songs
from
We are so blessed to have an orchestra here in our remote desert area. This dream came true because we have a conductor of great knowledge and ability who has dedicated himself to planning, rehearsing, and performing for us over the past thirty-one years. We who love music should thank him personally for his long tenure and excellent work. The Imperial Valley Symphony’s spring concert, featuring the winner of the local young artist competition, will be on a Saturday night in April. The concerts are free, but contributions are requested.
Ann Mitchell Horne is a long time Imperial
Valley music educator, having taught vocal music in the Calexico schools, music
pedagogy at SDSU-IVC, private voice in her own studio, and having founded and
led the group Creation Unlimited for many years prior to her retirement.
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