Juilliard Jazz in NYC

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Reviews

Published on Monday, 28 February 2022 15:17

Written by Jack Angstreich

Conductor David Robertson at Carnegie Hall

At Carnegie Hall, on the evening of Wednesday, February 23rd, the Juilliard Orchestra, under the estimable direction of David Robertson, played in a terrific concert of American orchestral music influenced by jazz.

The program opened delightfully, with a marvelous performance of Leonard Bernstein’s brilliant Three Dance Episodes from On the Town, from his popular 1944 musical with book and lyrics by the wonderful Betty Comden and Adolph Green and choreography by the legendary Jerome Robbins. The music began with the exuberant The Great Lover, followed by the magnificent, lyrical Lonely Town (Pas de deux) and concluding jubilantly with the jocular and celebratory Times Square.

The impressive soloist Yan Liu then took the stage for a superb rendition of Aaron Copland’s extraordinary Clarinet Concerto of 1948 which has an introspective, gorgeous first movement leading into an eccentric cadenza and and a final second movement with dancelike rhythms reminiscent of the composer’s famous ballet scores, but here with virtuosic jazzy inflections. The clarinetist was handed several floral bouquets from members of the audience and was enthusiastically applauded.

After an intermission, the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra joined the ensemble to conclude the program with an enthralling account of Wynton Marsalis’s fabulous, monumental Swing Symphony of 2010. This work in seven movements virtually defies description with its exhilarating medley of innumerable styles and genres with many instrumental solos. After the first movement Robertson told the audience, “It’s okay if you applaud” and after the second he said, “We have five more encores.” The musicians deservedly received a standing ovation.

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