Paris in the 1920s was the place to be for musicians, artists, writers and creatives of all types – a real cultural melting pot. The “crazy years” drew writers like Hemingway, Yeats and Pound. Artists developed dadaism, surrealism, cubism and futurism.
It was the home of Picasso, Modigliani, Duchamp and Satie, Ravel and Stravinsky. Symphony Central Coast will dip into the middle of that scene, with a few different glimpses and perspectives of a vibrant period of history, complete with all the excitement, energy and effervescence of the time. There is rebellion, sarcasm, dry wit and hard work in Sergei Prokofiev’s First Violin Concerto.
The opening has shimmering delicacy and the middle section has infectious energy, with the soloist sounding like a mesmerising gypsy fiddler with many string crossings and double/triple stopped chords as the rhythms threaten to send the music off the rails. The finale reveals a pensive and beautiful grazioso as the work comes dreamily to an ethereal close. Violinist Karina Moss-Hollands will capture all this and more.
Nadia Boulanger began teaching composition at the Paris Conservatoire: her first American pupil was Aaron Copland. Realising that a ‘modern’ style was not attractive to many audiences, he deliberately wrote ‘accessible’ and popular music, creating what many consider to be the sound of American music. His ballet Appalachian Spring and Fanfare for the Common Man display optimism, grandeur and sentimentality and, abov.
