September 10, 2024
Oak Hill, Piedmont Park
Atlanta, Georgia – USA
Atlanta Symphony Orchestra, William R. Langley, conductor.
SHOSTAKOVICH: Festive Overture
DVOŘÁK: Symphony No. 8 in G major (mvt. I. Allegro con brio)
Jessie MONTGOMERY/arr. Jannina Norpoth: Starburst
Adolphus HAILSTORK: Symphony No. 1 (mvt. IV. Vivace)
KHACHATURIAN: “Sabre Dance” from Gayane Suite No. 3
RIMSKY-KORSAKOV: Scheherazade (mvt. IV. Allegro molto)
RACHMANINOFF: Symphonic Dances (mvt. III. Lento assai – Allegro vivace)
BEETHOVEN: Symphony No. 5 in C minor (mvt. IV. Allegro)
Mark Gresham | 12 SEP 2024
Fifty years ago, the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra (ASO) played its first outdoor concert in Atlanta’s iconic Piedmont Park. That inaugural Park concert took place on June 23, 1974, conducted by the legendary Robert Shaw, the ASO’s music director at the time. The program included a mix of light classical works and popular pieces designed to appeal to a broad audience. It was part of an initiative to make classical music more accessible to the public, offering a free performance in a relaxed outdoor setting, and marking the beginning of a longstanding and well-loved tradition of summer performances there.
These outdoor concerts were a departure from the formal concert hall atmosphere and became a way to introduce new listeners to the orchestra while fostering community engagement. They also helped solidify Piedmont Park as a popular venue for cultural events, with the Atlanta Symphony returning for many more performances over the years.
On Tuesday evening, the ASO returned to Piedmont Park’s Oak Hill, on the park’s south end near 10th Street, led by resident conductor William R. Langley. Langley (who goes by the nickname “Buddy” offstage) made his first podium appearance in a Piedmont Park concert as the orchestra’s new associate conductor just one year ago, on September 30, 2023. He loves the task of leading them:
“What an absolute honor it is to be a part of this rich ASO tradition of bringing live music to 10,000-plus people in Piedmont Park year after year! In a word: thrilling!” said Langley in an post-concert text.
The Atlanta Symphony Orchestra returned to perform at Piedmont Park on Tuesday, September 10, 2024. (courtesy of ASO)
On this occasion, rather than light classical works mixed with pop-music fare, Langley conducted a more substantial potpourri of popular classics that foreshadow some of the repertoire in store for Symphony Hall listeners in the 2024-25 season’s subscription concerts.
The program opened with Dmitri Shostakovich’s lively and exuberant Festive Overture, Op. 96. The overture opened with a bold, majestic brass fanfare, followed by a whirlwind of energetic and buoyant flourishes in the strings and winds. It soon transitioned to a faster pace with cheerful melodies full of celebration and optimism, showcasing Shostakovich’s ability to blend grandeur with accessibility. The brass fanfare returned before a development section, acting as a punctuation point, then again near the end of the overture, as the piece built toward its triumphant conclusion, setting a tone of grandeur for the program.
Next came the first movement of Dvořák’s Symphony No. 8 in G major, Op. 88 (“Allegro con brio”), another vibrant and optimistic work in which Bohemian folk-inspired melodies are interwoven, with dynamic contrasts and interplay among sections of the orchestra.
The general upbeat character continued with two contemporary works by celebrated African-American composers.
Originally composed for string orchestra in 2012, Jessie Montgomery’s Starburst evokes the rapid expansion of light and color, inspired by the concept of the formation of a star. The music is full of rhythmic vitality, with driving syncopations and vibrant textures, creating a sense of propulsion and excitement. Jannina Norpoth’s arrangement for full orchestra expands the work’s timbral palette, adding depth and color to the already dynamic piece.
Adolphus Hailstork’s Symphony No. 1, composed in 1988, reflects his blend of traditional symphonic form with African-American musical idioms. The ASO played the only fast-paced fourth movement (“Vivace”), with its exuberant character and rhythmic drive, highlighting Hailstork’s ability to fuse classical symphonic structure with elements of jazz and spirituals, making it both engaging and distinctly American.
At this mid-point in the program, Langley relinquished the podium to Joia Johnson, an ASO board and Chorus member who, in an auction at the ASO Gala, won the opportunity to have a conducting lesson with Langley and conduct in this concert the driving, relentless “Sabre Dance” from Gayane Suite No. 3 by Armenian composer Aram Khachaturian.
After that, Langley returned to the podium to conduct the exhilarating final movement of Rimsky-Korsakov’s orchestral suite Scheherazade.
ASO associate concertmaster Justin Bruns delivered the violin solos with good presence and warmth, portraying the voice of Scheherazade herself, a recurring theme intertwined with the work’s bold orchestral textures.
Here is the place to mention the concert’s necessary amplification, which is often a mixed blessing. In general, it felt excessively unbalanced, on this occasion favoring the lower end of the spectrum, which also felt muddy at about 50 feet from the stage (acknowledging that it could sound very different to an audience 100 yards away). At the same time, the upper strings did not sound puny, and from my vantage point, I could hear Bruns’ violin solos in Scheherazade quite well, which was a genuine plus. Let’s face it: amplification is essential in an outdoor concert, especially when playing to a crowd of thousands, and it is a blessing when done well.
An audience of over 10,000 gathered on Oak Hill under a first-quarter moon and a fair sky, taking in Tuesday night’s performance by the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra at Piedmont Park. (courtesy of ASO)
Then came the two final works listed on the formal program list. First, the final movement of Rachmaninoff’s Symphonic Dances, Op 45, which opened with a haunting, slow introduction (“Lento assai”) that gave way to an energetic “Allegro vivace” of swirling, rhythmic motifs and sweeping melodies, followed by the final “Allegro” movement of Beethoven’s iconic Symphony No. 5 in C minor, filled with heroic, victorious themes, bringing the concert to a rousing formal end.
But what Piedmont Park concert could truly end without the most obvious encore: John Philip Sousa’s march, The Stars and Stripes Forever?
From the Festive Overture to The Stars and Stripes Forever, the repertoire in this ASO program kept the energy consistently high. Langley’s pragmatic conducting in the outdoor context kept the performances musically viable. While my feeling near the end was that the concert was going on a little long (90 minutes without intermission), the Sousa march dispelled that, giving the enjoyable evening a satisfying sense of closure. ■
EXTERNAL LINKS:
- Atlanta Symphony Orchestra: aso.org
- William R. Langley: williamrlangley.com
- Piedmont Park: piedmontpark.org
Read more by Mark Gresham.
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