Westfield Symphony Sings and Dances Tunefully at Rahway's UCPAC

Last Saturday marked the first performance of the New Year for the Westfield Symphony Orchestra and they could not have picked a better place to do it - the Union County Performing Arts Center in Rahway. 

Restored to its early twentieth century glory, it was ideal for the mostly early to mid-twentieth century music played and the varied venues presented. The program entitled “Shall We Dance” featured a troupe of dancers led by Carolina Juarena, as well as Stravinsky’s “Firebird Suite” for orchestra, and Britten’s “Serenade” for tenor, horn, and strings.

Before the concert, Barbara Thompson gave an informative and enjoyable lecture about the music being performed.  She was also joined the horn soloist, Patrick Milando, who showed the differences and demonstrated on the natural horn (no valves) and the modern French horn. His demonstration and narration was informative and interesting for the audience.

The program opened with Britten’s “Serenade” for tenor, horn, and strings. The piece is a song cycle of six British poems on the subject of night, with the prologue and epilogue played by the natural horn. Patrick Milando explained during the lecture that Britten liked the rustic sound of the natural horn and it truly did capture the mood of the poems.  Mr. Milando played with a clear tone and amazing precision. 

Charles Reid, the tenor soloist, sang beautifully, with a relaxed, easily produced tone, but sadly, his English diction was somewhat muffled and most of the time hard to understand. This lack of good diction took away from the enjoyment of the piece, since understanding what the poems were about was the key to a complete performance.  The string orchestra, conducted by David Wroe, was lovely and well balanced with the singer.

The next six numbers were performed by three couples dancing to music played by the orchestra. The first couple, Travis and Jaimee Tuft, danced a waltz to Johann Strauss’s “Blue Danube” later did a jazz rendition to “Begin the Beguine” by Cole Porter.  Jaimee and Travis in their Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers attire and dance style, not only seemed appropriate for the historic theatre, but was danced with utmost elegance by the couple.

“Watermelon Man”, a jazz number by Herbie Hancock, was ably danced by Carolina Jaurena and Carlos Donan, but the couple did not really show how talented they were until the second half, when they danced to the piece “Oblivion” by Astor Piazolla. Their balletic interpretation of the romantic number was beautifully rendered with precision.  The piece also had a violin solo played by concert master, Byung-Kook Kwak, which he played with exquisite tone and deep emotion.

Roberto Pagan and Rosa Guiliana Paredes danced an exciting samba in the selection “Tico Tico” by Zequina de Abreu. Ms. Paredes performed some amazingly flexible and fast moves and seemed to do most of the work in this number. She was adequately supported by Mr. Pagan, who although a bit portly, managed to move quickly and lift her with no problem.  All the dancers ended the segment with the “Mambo” from “West Side Story” by Leonard Bernstein.  Each showed their different styles of dancing incorporated nicely into the selection.

The program ended with the “Firebird Suite” by Igor Stravinsky. Although the complete “Firebird” was written as a ballet, this shorter version was performed only by the orchestra. It was, however, played so well by the orchestra and the various solo instruments, one could feel the emotion of the story and picture the dancers.  Maestro Wroe also appeared to almost be dancing himself as he conducted the piece completely off score.

The audience truly seemed to enjoy the performance and many rose in a standing ovation to show their appreciation. The Westfield Symphony Orchestra is a true asset to New Jersey, and it is understandable why the NJ Council on the Arts has awarded them the Citation of Excellence for five consecutive years.  Let’s hope the support continues and they can make music for many years to come.