The Cavalier daily :: Thursday, November 5, 1970 :: University of Virginia Library

The late Sir Thomas Beecham
was asked, shortly before he died,
what music he most liked to
conduct. His response was,
"French." Sir Thomas had a lot to
say to the press in his day, as well
as to the audiences for whom he
performed, but this remark is, I
feel, reasonably correct.

He was, above all, a man of
supreme taste. One can begin to
realize whereof he spoke after the
performance of the French
National Radio Orchestra, one of
Sir Thomas' favorites, last Wed.
evening in University Hall.

Robert Schumann's Symphony
No. 4 opened the program under
the capable baton of Maestro Jean
Martinon, formerly of the Chicago
Symphony. Maestro Martinon
achieved some remarkable
orchestral subtleties throughout the
evening in a highly varied program,
predominately within the French
repertoire.

Cohesive

The sections of the French
Orchestra are cohesive, and yet very
strong individually. Especially
interesting were the brass and
woodwinds, on whom so much of
the beauty of this concert rested.
The Schumann Symphony was
given a brisk reading, and only fell
short of the full dynamism
associated with Schumann in the
Allegro and Finale movements.

Cydalise, by the contemporary
French composer Gabriel Pierne,
was the second item, and was, along
with Ravel's Mother Goose Suite, a
highlight of the evening. It is a
charming piece, a ballet, and was
performed with delicacy and charm
by the orchestra, who obviously
enjoyed the work as much as the
audience.

Warmth

The whole approach was one of
warmth and beauty, and it is this
approach to music that will assure
the French continued presence in
classical music performances
throughout the world, and may,
over the long term, return Paris to a
place of musical activity which it so
sharply lost after World War II.

Maurice Ravel's Mother Goose
Suite has long been a favorite of
concert goers, and yet is not
performed frequently in this
country at all. The richness of the
string sections of the National
Orchestra shone within the high
demands of Ravel's composition, as
did the winds.

Composed within the latter
period of Debussy's life, La Mer is
past the period when Debussy was
forced to campaign against Richard
Wagner's supremacy in both opera
and concert hall, La Mer is a great,
full-fledged popular work,
somewhat reminiscent of Hector
Berlioz, but with greater delicacy
peculiar to the French
compositions of the period.

The French National Radio
Orchestra did signal service in this
work; the performance was
exquisite and the audience
responded enthusiastically.

Cooperation

One hopes, year after year, that
audiences will cooperate within
themselves for enjoyment of live
performances at the University. It
was disturbing to me, especially in
the Schumann Symphony, to hear
the buzz of conversation in the
audience.

If there is one acoustic that does
work in University Hall it is the
voice, not necessarily on stage, but
certainly off. Patrons should not
come to concerts to discuss pressing
business or give blow-by-blow
descriptions to each other of the
music performed. Television must
have a lot to do with this.

Cabell and University Hall are
not the same as one's living room;
conversation is tremendously
distracting to the people around,
and what one may think is an
"audience whisper" turns into an
irksome noise.

John Herring took a moment at
Intermission to remind patrons that
individual tickets to performances
within the Artists Series are not
available. This means that persons
wishing to see only one or two of
the attractions will have to buy a
season subscription, upon which
the University Union bases its
financial success with the Series.
This includes the musical "1776."
There are some season subscriptions
left at remarkably reasonable
prices, although by the look of the
size of the audience, one should not
tarry.