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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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A D V E R T I S E M E N T
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Notes From New York
Among the many New Year’s parties this year is Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra’s customary bash. This year’s concert is entitled A New York New Year’s Eve. Far be it from us to criticize the idea of a concert devoted to The Greatest City in the World, which has certainly had its share of influence on classical music history.
However, a look at the program has us puzzled. A Gershwin song, Kander and Ebb’s “New York, New York,” and selections from Bernstein’s On the Town and West Side Story are irreproachable choices for a New York-themed concert. Al Hermann’s Duke Ellington Fantasy is an homage to a composer who made New York his base. Irving Berlin worked out of the city, too, although “God Bless America” isn’t necessarily a song that reflects that. At least it’s in the ballpark, though. But what does Rachmaninov’s Vocalise have to do with The Big Apple? The same goes for Dvorák’s Ninth Symphony, which the composer wrote during a season with the Czech community in Spillville, Iowa. It looks like this concert’s New York credentials aren’t the soundest. Why not Vernon Duke’s “Autumn in New York,” or Bernard Herrmann’s music from Taxi Driver?
Still, this is better than most symphony orchestras’ New Year’s concerts — it wasn’t too long ago that FWSO was offering up the same hackneyed collection of Viennese waltzes and Mozart as everyone else. Conductor Miguel Harth-Bedoya deserves credit for picking a fresher theme.
A New York New Year’s Eve begins at 8pm Tue at Bass Performance Hall, 555 Commerce St, FW. Tickets are $25-75. Call 817-665-6000.
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