Enjoying the Local Music Scene

Last night, Helen and I attended the season finale of the Chamber Orchestra of the Springs. It was a delightful concert.

For one thing, the Chamber Orchestra performs in local churches - Saturday night at the Church at Broadmoor (UCC) and Sunday afternoons at First Christian downtown. The Church at Broadmoor is a wonderful building, whose multiple levels make the most of the hillside side overlooking a small lake. The sanctuary is all glowing wood and reassuring fieldstone, to which the huge beams of the ceiling form a striking counterpoint. The center of the ceiling is offset, so the right and left sections rise to the ridgeline at different angles. I think part of the idea is to convey the idea that one is sheltered by the legs of a cross.

Anyway, the concert opened with Mendelssohn's overture to Ruy Blas. This was one of the pieces neither of us had heard before, and it has all the elements of a good classical overture - drama, variety, pace, beautiful harmonics. (I've sometimes thought that the real function of the overture is to make sure that all the instruments are in tune, because a good one will tell you if they are not.)

Beethoven's Violin Concerto in D completed the first half. The soloist is a young violinist who was raised in Colorado, and has been in the first violin section of the Colorado Springs Philharmonic for the past two seasons. This was the one familiar piece on the program, at least as far as Helen and I were concerned, and it was very well played. Ms. Cedeno-Suarez had a few intonation problems, but her performance really engaged the work.

The second half of the program consisted of two choral pieces by Gabriel Faure. The first was the haunting Cantique Jean Racine, sung by a very young ensemble from the Colorado Children's Chorale. This is a setting of Racine's adaptation of an old hymn. I think this was the high point of the entire evening. Faure's Requiem followed, sung by a somewhat older chorus, with some passages going to an adult baritone. This was very well done. It is a quiet piece, in keeping with the theme of seeking rest for the souls of the departed.

Altogether, this was a fine end to a good season. We bought our season tickets for next year at the concert, and we don't know why we waited until 2008 to enjoy the pleasures of this very competent small ensemble.