The July 24, River Concert at St. Mary’s College of Maryland began with “La gazza ladra Overture” from The Thieving Magpie Opera by Italian Romantic composer Gioacchino Rossini. The Chesapeake Orchestra started the overture with a drum roll, similar to the “Star Spangled Banner” and proceeded to play the piece with verve and gusto.
After receiving a standing ovation for the work, Jeffrey Silberschlag jokingly said “Thank you and good night!” as if the concert were over. Rossini was well known for his works, “The William Tell Overture” and “The Barber of Seville”. Johannes Brahms’ Piano Concerto no. 1 featured world renowned Italian pianist Maurizio Moretti, who played with enthusiasm and grace and skill. He has performed widely throughout Europe, Japan, the Americas and Australia.
The Adagio started out gently and sweetly and included a lovely section by the flutes and deeper strings. The third movement, Rondo: allegro non troppo began at a lively pace. After intermission, Jeffrey Silberschlag gave an informative chat about the Richard Strauss piece “Ein Heldenleben” a tone poem roughly translated as “a Hero’s life”.
Many musical themes from Strauss’s previous works were incorporated into this piece including “Don Quixote” and “Also sprach Zarathustra” (known to most as the theme from “2001: A Space Odyssey”). Most of the themes were demonstrated by various orchestra members. “A Hero’s Life” began with soaring strings. José Cueto, concertmaster and violinist from the St. Mary’s College of Maryland faculty played an extremely impressive and difficult sounding solo during the work that left the audience awestruck. The Strauss piece contained a wide assortment of styles and moods including a trumpet voluntary and a military sounding march which alternated with a pleasant theme reminding one of a spring day. In quiet sections, the summer cicadas could be heard playing along.
The concert ended with enthusiastic applause by the audience and José Cueto received many congratulations from fellow orchestra members and fans. Pianist Maurizio Moretti and violinist José Cueto are pictured.
