By Oregon Coast TODAY
It will be a genre-bending evening when the Newport Symphony Orchestra performs its 2023-24 season finale, “Boléro and Symphonic Jazz, a musical journey through time” at the Newport Performing Arts Center on Saturday and Sunday, March 23-24.
Covering a span of 300 years, selections will include a concerto by Vivaldi all the way to the premiere of a jazz flute suite commissioned for the event by the Newport Symphony.
Saturday’s performance features a pre-concert talk by conductor Adam Flatt at 6:45 p.m. and, following the concert, a special complimentary “Wine Down” with select wines from the Flying Dutchman Winery of Otter Rock and an array of food.
The concert opens with “Symphony No. 1 in G Major,” composed in the 1770s by Joseph Boulogne Chevalier de Saint-Georges, a fascinating man born into slavery and later educated in Paris among the French aristocracy. This short work is representative of the Style Galant music which had become fashionable during the early 18th Century, with characteristically simple and clean presentations of themes that strived to have an immediacy of appeal.
Next, guest artist flutist Kim Scott, will join the orchestra’s string section and harpsichord to perform the Vivaldi “Concerto for Piccolo in C Major RV443,” composed in 1728. Vivaldi adroitly composed for the piccolo, displaying virtuosic filigree mimicking bird calls and acrobatic figures that demonstrate the impressive capabilities of the tiny instrument.
Scott will next perform her new work, “New Jazz Suite” an arrangement commissioned by the Newport Symphony. Scott is a classically trained crossover jazz flutist enjoying immense popularity since the mid 2000s. Her albums consistently appear on Billboard’s Top Ten list of Smooth Jazz artists. The suite consists of three of her biggest hits arranged for flute solo, jazz combo and orchestra.
Scott’s music captures the mellow vibe and refreshing groove of a genre that became mainstream in the 1970s and 80s with Chuck Mangione, Al Jarreau, Spyro Gyro and later, Kenny G. The outer two movements of the suite, “Shine!” and “Back Together Again” are filled with delightful and uplifting rhythms and improvisations that give a nice contrast to the expressive middle movement, the ballad “Right of Passage,” which weaves the listener through relaxing, sultry lines that are supported by the orchestra’s rich harmonies and punctuation of its lilting rhythms.
The performance closes with the ever-popular piece, “Boléro” by Maurice Ravel. A true master of orchestration, Ravel had such a keen knowledge of the capabilities of each instrument in the orchestra that he was able to take advantage of the colors and effects of various combinations of instruments, even adding the saxophone and celeste to use their specific timbres, in order to create a musical tour through the orchestra, as each instrument takes a turn at playing the melody. The work gradually and skillfully lays out a satisfying crescendo to an exciting, crowd-pleasing ending that assures that Boléro will continue to remain Ravel’s most beloved piece among audiences worldwide.
Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. General admission ticket prices start at $44.25 and are $15.50 for students.
