The Oakland Symphony’s season-opener on Friday “paired Arrigo Boito’s Prologue to Mefistofele with a jazz set supported by the orchestra,” writes Michael Zwiebach in Tuesday’s (10/15) San Francisco Classical Voice. “The extra, backstage brass for Mefistofele was provided by members of the Oakland Symphony Youth Orchestra, the Oakland Symphony Chorus … participated, the Piedmont-East Bay Children’s Choir sang the part of the Cherubim, and the soloist [was] Cody Quattlebaum…. Music director Michael Morgan led a well-characterized performance with just the right mix of grandeur, comedy, and vigor…. The evening then turned to jazz…. From his debut album Suite Elemental, multi-instrumentalist/composer Josiah Woodson … took two movements and arranged them for orchestra. They are expansive compositions that took well to the new setting…. The most unusual thing … was the easy way that the Oakland Symphony switched gears to jazz…. The orchestra’s brass players … swung like they were born to do it…. The evening’s final addition was jazz pianist Taylor Eigsti … performing works from his new album, Tree Falls.… In its inclusiveness and its promotion of the city’s musical culture, [the Oakland Symphony is] a model of what a local orchestra might aspire to.”
Posted October 17, 2019
