Angel Blue Takes Stage With Philadelphia Orchestra at Carnegie Hall

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Parent Category: Film and the Arts

Category: Reviews

Published on Wednesday, 23 February 2022 15:11

Written by Jack Angstreich

Angel Blue with the Philadelphia Orchestra. Photo by Steve Sherman

At Carnegie Hall, on the evening of Tuesday, February 8th, I had the great pleasure of hearing the superb musicians of the Philadelphia Orchestra, under the excellent direction of Yannick Nézet-Séguin, in a terrific concert independent of their marvelous cycle of the complete symphonies of Ludwig van Beethoven being presented at this venue this season.

The program opened with the New York premiere of contemporary composer Matthew Aucoin’s extraordinary, arresting and dramatic Suite from his opera, Eurydice, which first appeared in 2020 and was co-commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera and the Los Angeles Opera. The instrumental excerpts performed here were especially exemplary for their display of a mastery of orchestral color. Felicitously, Aucoin was in the house to experience the audience’s acclaim.

The wonderful and appealing soprano Angel Blue then took the stage—she wore a beautiful gown with a blue satin skirt and a black bodice—for an exquisite, luminous performance of Samuel Barber’s magnificent Knoxville: Summer of 1915, his setting of a prose poem by the renowned author, James Agee. Following appreciative applause, she then powerfully sang another New York premiere, “This Is Not a Small Voice,” by the contemporary  African-American composer Valerie Coleman, whose memorable Umoja, Anthem for Unity and Seven O’Clock Shout have both been performed recently by this ensemble in this hall. I found this new work compelling, with most of my ambivalence about the seeming programmatic “wokeness” of the poem by Sonia Sanchez that it sets overcome and it too was notable, like the composer’s other pieces mentioned here, for its impressive orchestration. Coleman was also present to receive a warm ovation.

The second half of the program provided a  splendid opportunity to hear some forgotten repertory—the Symphony No. 1–by a neglected African-American composer, Florence Price, whose lovely Violin Concerto was recently performed by the Juilliard Orchestra at Alice Tully Hall. The opening Allegro was melodious—even sumptuous—and gripping and drew applause. The ensuing Largo was stately, lyrical and quietly affirmative while the following movement, the Juba Dance, was joyous, celebratory and enchanting and also was applauded. The exciting finale was also dancelike but more propulsive, closing a rewarding evening.

The Philadelphia Orchestra returns to Carnegie Hall on the evening of February 21st to finish their Beethoven cycle with the First Symphony and the monumental Ninth Symphony.

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