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It practically gallops!

Odd to Joy

Lucas Richman has been waiting since 2003 to conduct Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony with the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra. He told the audience last night that when he took the job as Music Director, he knew he would save Beethoven’s Ninth for the Orchestra’s 75th anniversary season. Dangling it like a carrot on a stick, he made the audience wait a little bit longer while he presented the Tennessee debut of a new piece.

Challenging is the best word to describe “Prometheus” by William Bolcom. It was commissioned by a group of nine orchestras, including Knoxville’s. Bolcom said he was requested to write it “for the same forces as Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy.” The best part of the opus is the piano solo, performed by Jeffrey Biegel. If his eyes weren’t focused on the sheet music, I might have guessed that the expert pianist was improvising some of the dissonant tones at the beginning of the work.

Upon completion, the more familiar melodies of Beethoven’s Ninth elicited an explosion of applause and cheers from the audience. The Knoxville Choral Society and four soloists sang in German during the fourth movement. Bass Benjamin LeClair gave a standout performance.

Doc Severinsen and Frank Murphy at the Tennessee Theatre on April 14, 2011 After the concert, I waited in the Tennessee Theatre for my wife, who had been onstage with the Choral Society. As a result, we were the last to leave. When we reached the back of the house, we saw famed “Tonight Show” bandleader Doc Severinsen coming the opposite way. I had heard that he decided to stay in Knoxville after teaching at the University of Tennessee.

April 15, 2011 | Filed Under Uncategorized 

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