So, on the second of the two nights (Thursday), this was
the end: after the young soloist, standing next to Kurt Masur, sang the
words, "All Rise," the chorus came in with the same invocation, but very
loud, and then the Ah- Zum began again, three identical notes with the
last held and then the next, a
minor third below-Ah-Zum, Ah-Zum, Ah-Zum------, Ah-Zum, Ah-Zum--the
chorus in a chant like the beginning of the piece, then the orchestra and
the band, in a long crescendo to climactic hymn. The audience, which
was much hipper than the first night's, had already been clapping after
each section of the piece, and now, as the music moved majestically and
affirmatively toward its powerful conclusion, you could sense an energy
coming from the people listening as well. This feeling kept growing as
the music gathered and regathered volume
and momentum, so that before the band began its coda there was applause,
and then after the young men and women in the chorus finished their last
song the place erupted with sustained cheering and clapping, with everyone
standing.
After continued applause and curtain calls, with Wynton
at one point coming out front at Masur's signal and then returning to the
trumpet section, the chorus spontaneously began singing its song again,
this time with most of the kids swaying back and forth as they sang, many
actually dancing in place. The band members clapped in rhythm, and
then the orchestra members and Masur did the same, and the audience, too,
so that almost everyone in Avery Fisher Hall was clapping to the singing.
Then the men in the band picked up their instruments and played the song
the chorus was singing, the same song that in the piece the band had just
played before the chorus sang it. The band played for several minutes
and then, at another signal from Masur, came forward to the podium.
Wynton was first, and when he reached the front he kept on walking, with
the band members following, just as they all have in so many other places
in the world, but here they were on stage with an entire orchestra.
What next? Wynton led the band, still playing, around the stage,
walking between the aisles formed by the orchestral musicians' chairs.
The
chorus then picked up its singing, so the hall was now one great festival,
with chorus singing, band playing and marching, orchestra and conductor
clapping, audience standing and clapping and cheering. No one would
stop.
Finally, Masur caught Skain's eye, and the two men looked
at one another for a long moment, with Masur seeming to look also in the
direction of WM's horn. Another pause, and then Wynton stood up and
slowly walked to the front. This must have been the only way to quiet
the hall. Wynton then played a short, hushed Embraceable You.
Not another sound in the packed house while he played. Then the cheering
began again, and with two minutes left until the philharmonic would have
owed about $10,000 in overtime, Masur took the
concertmaster's hand in his own and led him jubilantly off stage.
Carl Vigeland
For more info on the performance, link to: http://www.jazzatlincolncenter.org/jalc/news/991203news.html |
Wynton and James Oliverio at 2:30 AM at Wynton's apartment
just a few weeks before the premier. James was helping Wynton get
the composition into the computer as he was writing it, and also assisted
in the orchestration. The day Dave Monette visited and took this
picture was typical of the month or so before the performance - 18 hour
days composing and entering music into the computer! |
