“The Williamsburg Symphonia provided perfect relief from the nonstop coverage and awareness of the senseless terrorist attacks in Paris last weekend and before that Beirut, the bombing of a Soviet aircraft, the threat of an ISIS attack on Washington, D.C. and global border unrest,” writes John Shulson in Wednesday’s (11/18) Virginia Gazette. The orchestra’s “program Monday in the Kimball Theatre, to alter the oft-quoted phrase, proved that music does have the charms to soothe the soul.… That’s not to say the horrific acts in Paris were out of mind. Prior to presenting Fauré’s Orchestral Suite: Incidental Music to Pelleas et Melisande, music director Janna Hymes thoughtfully explained that the evening’s programming of the French work was set about a year ago.… She indicated the thematic nature of the poignant work, essentially death and sadness, made it an appropriate tribute to Paris and its citizens and, in fact, all who are suffering under the threat of ISIS.” Other works included Antonio Rosetti’s Symphony in G minor and Haydn’s Symphony No. 104. “For a few hours, Hymes and the Symphonia allowed thoughts of peace and satisfaction to overshadow those of death and destruction.”
Posted November 20, 2015
