Columbus’ chamber orchestra, ProMusica, opens its intriguing new series, Naked Classics, with an investigation of Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony (No. 6 in F major, Op. 68). Naked Classics seeks to demystify great works, making them accessible to an audience that might not have much or any familiarity with classical music and also providing a fresh perspective to the public that already loves the work in question.
Presented by London-based Paul Rissman, the first half is a multimedia presentation illuminating the construction of the work and providing insights into the composer’s life while the second half is a presentation of the symphony itself. I was lucky enough to communicate with Janet Chen of ProMusica. She advised that the collaboration with Rissman came through the connections of Music Director David Danzmayr (conducting the performance on Friday). “Paul is working with major leading orchestras in the world (including the Royal Scottish National Orchestra, New York Philharmonic, London Symphony, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, and Vienna Philharmonic), and has now taken the opportunity to bring NAKED CLASSICS and its chamber orchestra iteration to the United States, RIGHT HERE in Columbus Ohio with ProMusica!”
Beethoven’s Sixth was composed with and premiered in tandem with the better-known, stormier Fifth, and takes on the painting of scenes in a more direct way than most of his large-form works. Tom Service, in a terrific piece for The Guardian, wrote that the Sixth is ripe for rediscovery. He called the climactic movement, “Where Beethoven achieves something more purely spine-tingling and life-enhancingly joyful than almost anywhere else in his output.” Chen made the excellent point that “ProMusica, being a chamber orchestra, is special in that we perform works such as Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, in the instrumentation in which the composer intended. Orchestras during the time of Mozart and Beethoven were more the size of ProMusica — 30-40 musicians onstage versus 70-80, which is typical of a Symphony Orchestra. ”
Chen described the series as a whole, “Naked Classics is like your favorite cooking show. During the cooking show, the Chef explains to audiences why certain ingredients were chosen to make up a recipe. Why do we use garlic? Why do we combine certain flavors, herbs, seasonings, and why do we let it simmer for so long? During the cooking show, we gain a better of understanding of why ingredients are chopped, tossed, served — to create a mouthwatering dish. This is exactly what we do during the first part of Naked Classics, but just in a musical sense — what are the ‘musical ingredients’?”
Naked Classics continues through this 2016-2016 season and beyond. Regarding the next iteration in April, Chen said, “Schubert Symphony No. 10. Schubert is known to have written nine symphonies before his unfortunate death at the early age of 31. A piano sketch was later discovered, and scholars note that this was potentially the beginnings of his 10th symphony. Brian Newbould, a renowned Schubert scholar from the UK, actually orchestrated the sketch into what is now known as Schubert’s 10th Symphony. So the April Naked Classics will be a fascinating journey as audiences learn how one can “construct” a work based on a single sketch. ”
This attempt to humanize classical music comes at it from a different angle than what we’ve seen in Columbus before. It’s a must-see for anyone who’s been intrigued by Beethoven or ProMusica and promises to be illuminating even for the people who can hum the Pastoral in their sleep.
Naked Classics is at the Southern Theatre at 8:00 pm on October 7. All tickets are $25. For tickets and more information, visit promusicacolumbus.org.