Mar 22
One of these days, maybe not this year or next or even the year after that,
Because, as much as some may hate to believe it, one day a larger city’s orchestra is going to snatch him up from under the MSO’s tutelage and all of East Central Indiana will refer to his tenure as the “gold ol' days.”
Rattay is that good of a conductor. And his greatness was especially clear during the MSO’s latest concert Saturday evening in Emens Auditorium.
“The Tale of the Three Strausses” was the theme of the night, with the well-known “On the beautiful Blue Danube” beginning the evening in a unique and wonderful way.
Rattay started the piece off slowly, a rarity with American orchestras which typically begin the piece with a bombastic flair. The MSO’s process allowed the audience to tune their ears to the fanciful movements in the piece.
The same was true with the “Voices of Spring” piece performed after the intermission. This time, the orchestra began with the alert attention that was more than loud noise. It was the appropriate start for a Straussian piece so well known.
Sarah Hibbard was the guest artist for the evening, using her beautiful soprano to add more flavor to the orchestra’s interpretation of Richard Strauss. Although she did not seem as strong a soprano needed to perform “Vier Letzte Lieder," at times her voice and the orchestra’s collaboration was unbelievably beautiful and well worth the price of admission.
It is with the final piece, also by Richard Strauss, where Rattay shows his ability to take musical risks that are intriguing and enjoyable. As was the case with Miles Davis during his “Kind of Blue” days, he encourages the musicians to bring their own voices to the performance. He also transitions these amazing artists beautifully in between movements, keeping the performance in a classical realm rather than a New Age version of Strauss.
He is incredibly expressive during the piece without being overbearing or cartoonish in his body movements. He truly feels the music and the musicians do as well. The performance from all involved was simply great.
Unfortunately, not many community members or BSU students were on hand to see and hear this very good orchestra. Not many cities of
Hopefully, it won’t be after Rattay has moved on to his next orchestra.
