Great Falls Symphony "Great Winter Getaway," Jan. 19

Before I start into Saturday night's show, I first must say that my critiques come from a place of respect. 

The Great Falls Symphony is perhaps one of the most talented group of performers in the area. They're like a well-oiled machine, but not one that is incapable of making missteps.

The Great Falls Symphony Orchestra

Saturday's performance was good. If I were being critical, I would say it was passable.


The show opened with Gioacchino Rossini's "The Siege of Corinth Overture." It's a wonderful little piece of music filled with chilling moments and joyous ones. The capable hands of the symphony made the most of it. 

They then played "Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis," by Ralph Vaughn Williams. It was the highlight of the night for me.

There were moments that moved me, moments that delighted me, and others that made me forget where I was, even for a brief moment, as I got lost in the music -- just as advertised.


Before intermission they played two more pieces with the Cascade Quartet featured in front of the rest of the orchestra. One piece was a Mozart, the other was by a composer whose name I've forgotten. The piece was performed in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and was written by an African composer. If someone knows the composer's name and the name of the piece I will update this post.
 
The symphony closed out with Mendelssohn's Symphony No. 4, Opus 90 in A Major, perhaps his most well-known piece.


I think they hit the right notes and ended the night with a joyous mood.


All said, Saturdays performance struck me as a vanilla one, if we're comparing it to some of their other shows.

Harpist Deborah Henson-Conent

The music they played, while beautiful, might be heard in any symphony orchestra across the country. Maybe that's not so bad, but part of me wanted more.

The Great Falls Symphony is at its best, I feel, when they are taking calculated risks. Presenting music in intriguing ways, sometimes with unconventional guest artists such as Chris Thile, Deborah Henson-Conant or the Ahn Trio. 

I would not expect the symphony to feature a guest artist for every show. It's not feasible. Plus, I do enjoy hearing what the symphony can do on its own from time to time. 

Maybe Saturday's show was meant to be a bit more traditional, and maybe that's what more season ticket holders want. 

Some of my favorite concerts, however, have come from the times they weren't playing it by the book. It's a minor quibble, perhaps as I still expect the symphony to take calculated risks in their upcoming shows.   

Finally, I think part of me was disappointed in that it seemed like there was a portion of the symphony players missing from the show. At times I told myself, "this feels like a super sized Cascade Quartet performance." 

The Cascade Quartet

I say at times because they did perform several pieces that could not be performed by a quartet. This was a full symphony performance. 

Also, it seemed a bit on the short side. 

The music started around 7:30 and it was over around 9:10, 9:15. That's still an hour and 40 minutes. 

Maybe it's just me, but when it ended a part of me wished they would have played a few more numbers, even though they did include two pieces before intermission that weren't on the program. 

I expect most people left Saturday evening feeling entertained. I did, I just wished they could have reached for that upper level a bit more than they did. 

It's not easy to do, so perhaps my expectations are a little high. I think, though, when you've proven you're more than capable of hitting that mark, it's natural to expect it more often than not.