Ruth Lilly Performance Hall Analysis

Venue
The performance was at Ruth Lilly Performance Hall Christel Dehaan Fine Arts Center, on the campus of the University of Indianapolis. It was very beautiful, the program gave a disclaimer about the design of the concert hall; which read “The acoustics of Ruth Lilly Performance Hall was designed for optimum dispersion of sound, projecting the softest parts of the music clearly too each listener.” I was extremely amazed by this note in the program because we learned about the way that music and venues are connected. The hall is not large like a cathedral, but there were hanging from the walls so that sound would no be absorbed so easily. There was a chandelier hanging above the stage that also incorporated the microphones, and the spotlight
was mainly on the piano throughout the performances. The venue was perfect for this type of performance.
Performers
Drew Peterson is amazing! He performed all of the solo pieces that he performed he did so from memory, which was impressive. He performed at Carnegie Hall at the age of five, graduated from Harvard at age 19 with a bachelors in Liberal arts and did all of his graduate studies at Juilliard under the Kovner Fellowship. When he first entered the stage everyone started clapping until he sat down, then he took this extremely long pause closed his eyes and then started the first piece of the performance. During his playing, I noticed that the left hand was keeping the tempo in the low notes. He had very strong body language throughout the entire piece, and the audience was seriously quiet which was very surprising to me. At the end of the song to signal that he was done playing he stood up and gave the “V” shaped bow and then exited the stage after each piece which was something extremely new to me. During the intermission, is when the stage was being prepared for the second half of the show which consisted of the orchestra portion. The orchestra consisted on five sections, four students on the first violin, four students playing the second violin, four students on viola (an instrument I used to play in middle school), two cellos, and only one bass player. The orchestra entered the stage during the intermission and turned their instruments on the stage which I felt as though they should have done before they entered the stage, just to keep it slightly more professional. Ariel Rudiakov who was born here in Indianapolis, IN was the conductor for the night. He is currently the director of the Danbury Symphony Orchestra and the chamber orchestra music coach at the University of Indianapolis. He has two undergraduate degrees from the University of Illinois and a master’s degree from Yale. It was hard to see the conductor from my view due to the baby grand piano being in my way, but from what I could see he used very big movements and was tapping his foot in tempo, as Drew embellished the piano notes. There was one more performer on the stage who is not listed in the program but I call him the professional page turner. I think his role was very important and I wish I knew what his name was, but he was responsible for turning the pages of the Concerto No. 1 in D minor, BWV 1052 for Drew Peterson. I think that his position was very important and stressful because he had to be listening to both the orchestra and Drew at the same time. From his presence on stage, you could tell that he was nervous because he kept rubbing his hands on his pants which actually was slightly distracting.
Songs
Frederic Chopin was born in Zelazowa Wola, Poland in 1810.
During the early years of his life, he wrote poetry and musical compositions without any formal instruction, and his first musical composition was published at the age of seven. He studied at the Warsaw Conservatory, where he began to receive great theory, melody, and harmony instruction. He would later move to Vienna, Austria, and performed many of his works at the Karntner Theater in 1829. Romanticism was predominantly a German aesthetic which spanned from 1800-1850, with characteristics that include; dynamics, big orchestras, more emotional, and technical virtuosity. The Barcarolle in F-sharp Major, Op. 60 written by Chopin gained its popularity due to the 12/8 time instead of 6/8time. The left-hand plays the ostinato accompaniment with the melody in the A-major key, building up to the F-sharp major opening theme. Johann Sebastian Back was born in Germany in 1685 primarily a Baroque era composer, with many of his pieces and performances were written for harpsichord and organ. Many of his pieces were written for the church, coming from a long line of family musicians. The piece performed at the concert that was written by Bach was Concerto in D minor, BWV 1052 which is only one of seven that were originally written for harpsichord and later reworked for piano. In this song, his form mimics Vivaldi’s form of Exposition, Development, and Recapitulation, that he employed in many of his concertos. I think the best part about the performance of the seven that he wrote, is that they were written for young professional and student players to perform, at a local Collegium
Musicum.
Opinion
I thought that this concert was amazing, I have never attended, a piano concert in particular. I was blown away it was purely amazing and I was shocked at how talented he was, slightly jealous of his abilities but none the less amazed. My favorite song of the night was during the first half of the performance where Drew was performing the piano solos. I really fell in love with waltz number 2 in A minor. The sound was very melancholy and slow which is not like the other waltzes in the trilogy. During some of the research that I did on the songs that I heard it also says that waltz number 2 was also Chopin's favorite as well. I really did enjoy the performance, it was just a lot of clapping, and slightly confusing to someone who has always been the performer at these types of concerts.
Recommendation
I would surely recommend seeing this concert again. It was a free concert, which is always a plus for many people. It also showcased the talent of many young musicians hold. I sat next to a gentleman who was in attendance with me and began to converse with him during intermission because he seemed extremely moved by the first half of the concert. Once he introduced himself to me he informed me that this has been his first concert ever where musical instruments were presented in this way. He told me that he was from Saudi Arabia and that he was in town as a part of having his own personal concert tour in America. I was shocked that his tour included Indiana but I was happy that he enjoyed himself. If anyone stated that they would like to go see this concert a few tips that I would give are; arrive early, dress in business casual attire, and expect not to be able to take any pictures.