Opening weekend garners critical acclaim

The NJSO’s 2014–15 opening-weekend performances of Carmina Burana garnered critical acclaim.

The Star-Ledger

An orchestra's opening night of the season should always be a festive affair, with gala attire, local luminaries in the audience and music chosen to invigorate a crowd.

The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra met all those marks at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center on Friday, complete with appearances by Govs. Thomas Kean and Brendan Byrne and Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno. But this year, an extra element of warmth accompanied the event and suffused the performances.

As its gala honoree, the orchestra chose Dr. Victor Parsonnet, who served as board chairman for 16 years and is chairman emeritus. The orchestra presented him with its Note of Triumph award, which is given only when extraordinary commitment to the organization merits it. In addition, the audience sang "Happy Birthday" to ring in his 90th, complete with performances by the Westminster Symphonic Choir, whose members were scattered throughout the hall.

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Music director Jacques Lacombe opened the program with George Antheil's "McKonkey's Ferry," a part of the New Jersey Roots Project which celebrates composers with local ties. The piece commemorates the Battle of Trenton led by George Washington and was a nod to New Jersey's 350th anniversary.

It got the concert off to a lively start, vividly capturing the tension of the Delaware River crossing. Military drumming, acid-tinged melodies and suspenseful string ostinatos led to pounding, percussive climaxes. If at times bombastic, with a puzzling inclusion of castanets, the choice was still meaningful and vibrantly played.

Next, Debussy's "Nocturnes," - the event's high point - created effective contrast to the more forceful surrounding works. In "Nuages," meant to evoke a cloudy sky, Lacombe drew shimmering, lushly textured sound with unified, mellow winds and warm strings gently undulating, like waves that crested but never broke.

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Lacombe lent a discerning ear to [Carmina Burana], shaping it with sensitivity. The interpretation was dynamic, with extremes of power and quiet inherent in the piece but also an unusually rich and colorful variety in between ... the interpretation and the expressivity made for a memorable rendition of the piece.

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Read the full review at nj.com.

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Examiner.com

Maestro Lacombe led from memory a stirring performance of Carl Orff’s “Carmina Burana” (1937), which brought the entire audience immediately to its feet at the final resounding orchestral chord. The conductor relished conjuring energy from every quarter of the immense orchestra and chorus and kept the momentum going relentlessly, without flagging. Percussion and brass got a strenuous workout, and their contribution, together with the chorus, created ever-intensifying tension that naturally led to the well-deserved explosive ovation.

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This electrifying season opener portends well for the varied, creatively programmed concerts to come. With the mighty NJSO and compelling music-making of such outstanding caliber in your backyard, who needs to schlep to New York?

Read the full review at examiner.com.

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ASBURY PARK PRESS

Conductor Jacques Lacombe, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, Westminster Symphonic Choir and vocal soloists enjoyed a long, standing ovation from the crowd at the State Theatre in New Brunswick Saturday night following the opening program of the group’s 2014-15 season, with Carl Orff’s strange, tuneful “Carmina Burana” as the centerpiece ...

[Lacombe] brings a terrific energy to the ensemble, with creative programming and powerful interpretations of new and standard material. All of that was on display Saturday night ...

The evening opened with Trenton-born composer George Antheil’s “McKonkey’s Ferry,” a work from the mid-20th century with more than a hint of Shostakovich’s influence ... [In] the 1940s, [Antheil] followed a popular trend of Americana works, including “McKonkey’s Ferry,” which celebrates George Washington leading his troops across the Delaware, not far from Trenton, toward a decisive Revolutionary War victory for colonists.

Caveats aside, “McKonkey’s” is a thoroughly crafted, brilliantly orchestrated and engaging score, and the NJSO performed it with the energy and attention to detail it deserved.

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It’s fun just to watch Lacombe. He works without a score, from memory, and his gestures are an informative, economical choreography. It’s never excessive, but he’s willing to use his whole body to get the point across. Each nuance yields an electric response from the musicians, who clearly appreciate his surety.

Read the full review at app.com.

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NJARTS.NET

Lacombe and the orchestra — with the help of the Westminster Symphonic Choir, soprano Aline Kutan, tenor Jean-Francis Monvoisin and baritone Jonathan Beyer — gave Carl Orff’s hour-long Carmina Burana the rich, epic treatment it requires.

While the opening “O Fortuna” chorus of Carmina Burana (repeated at its end), which seems to contain an element of supernatural force, is its most famous part, the piece is actually a long, winding journey, touching on all kinds of human experiences, from grubby tavern-going to rapturous love. Appropriately, the orchestra played the more aggressive passages with pulse-pounding energy but also shifted gears for the more ethereal or earthily humorous passages.

Read the full review at njarts.net.