7:30 pm, Great Hall, GBPAC, Cedar Falls
Gary Kelley, visual artist
Mozart – Symphony no. 41, 'Jupiter'
Holst – The Planets
Related post – Planets, WCFSO on air
Audience finds WCFSO satisfying, provocative
by George F. Day
Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier
November 9, 2007
No ordinary concert, this one was disturbing, satisfying, provocative, and brilliantly innovative. Held in the Great Hall of the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center under the direction of music director Jason Weinberger, the program consisted of works by Mozart, Holst and artist Gary Kelley.
Mozart’s Symphony no 41, nicknamed ‘Jupiter’, came first. The orchestra’s reading was brisk and affectionate. The piece served as a perfect introduction to the spellbinding experience that was to follow.
After intermission Holst’s ‘The Planets’ was performed by a huge crowd of players on stage – a startling image after the relatively small ensemble that played the Mozart. ‘The Planets’ was written during World War I and that terrible conflict was reflected a number of times in the piece, especially in ‘Mars, Bringer of War’. Each individual section of ‘The Planets’ dramatizes some general aspect, attitude or condition of humanity – a meditation, as it were, on the human condition. Starting contrasts are present, such as the powerful dark hammer blows of Mars, the bright sweetness of Venus, the madcap dance of Jupiter and the solemn fatalism of Saturn.
On this occasion the music was played in darkness, with a large screen placed above the orchestra. On it was projected a series of Kelley’s paintings. The works changed and moved with the music, reflecting or amplifying the mood or attitude suggested by the music. Thus we experienced something like a grand concerto, with the paintings as soloist carrying on a dialogue with the full orchestra. The line, color and form of Kelley’s paintings were compelling. His subjects were extraordinarily varied and inventive. These not only accentuated the moods and themes of Holst’s score, they also moved viewers to ponder questions evoked by the combination of the two art forms.
Much credit should go to Messrs. Kelley and Weinberger, as well as special kudos to Scott Smith of River Run Productions for the seamless coherence of the images.
What was the audience’s reaction to this rich feast? I would describe it as a prolonged frenzy. Every single person I spoke with agreed with my friend who called the evening a ‘wondrous musical-visual-poetic event’.
Note: All reviews are edited for length and spelling.