Symphonic Dances

In a concert devoted to the music of America, it would be a crime to neglect the Latin American part of that great continent, so we begin with Puerto Rican composer Roberto Sierra and his beguiling piece Fandangos. It’s an exploration of the famous Andalusian courtship dance, filled with the clatter of castanets, string and trumpet flourishes, and flute arabesques. The melody will feel familiar yet fresh as splashes of contemporary soundscapes mingle with folk music.

There’s more Puerto Rican magic in Leonard Bernstein’s Symphonic Dances from Westside Story, as he evokes New York’s warring street gangs. In this Romeo and Juliet tale of star-crossed lovers, the Jets are pitted against the Puerto Rican Sharks. Their catchy Latino rhythms and flamboyant percussion-driven mambos and cha-chas confront the Sharks, whose tense and explosive fight scenes are underpinned by the brassy jazz and the industrial modernity of New York itself.

Then Orchestra Wellington’s wonderful concertmaster Amalia Hall is our soloist for Dmitri Shostakovich’s Violin Concerto No. 1.  Written for Shostakovich’s friend, the legendary violinist David Oistrakh, this superb concerto is a chance to showcase Amalia’s virtuosity.

The work begins by reflecting the oppressive times in which it was written. So threatening was Stalin’s hold over Shostakovich that when he completed the concerto, in 1948, he put it aside until 1955, two years after Stalin’s death. But the gloomy opening mood soon the breaks free with wild scherzos, a yearningly beautiful passacaglia and finally a frantic whirlwind of violin dexterity.