The American Classical Orchestra (ACO), described by its founder/conductor as "our labor of love," utilizes period instruments to better produce classical pieces as the composers composed them. Their 40th Anniversary Concert included Mozart's Andante in C Major for Flute & Orchestra, with Sandra Miller as soloist. Miller is a founder of and principal flute for the ACO, and she was wonderful on the wooden period flute she used.
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| Sandra Miller |
The program also included Mozart's Andante from Serenade, K. 388, played by the woodwinds section, again with period instruments. I don't have the musical vocabulary to discuss in detail period instruments vs modern ones, but I do know that they are harder to play--and particularly harder to play loud enough to be heard in a good-sized auditorium. The piece was completely audible, present, and beautiful. I'm sure the superb acoustics of Alice Tully Hall enhanced the performance.
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| Thomas Crawford |
The program ended with Beethoven's 7th Symphony, on which ACO did an okay job. The experience may have been injured by Crawford's prefatory remarks, which included snippets of the piece with explanations of how they were written and why they were notable. The remarks were interesting in themselves, but acted as spoilers. In addition, the performance lacked oomph.
Wendy Caster
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