August is certainly the right word for this past weekend
Sam Black, for The Duluth MN Reader
Final of the LSCO was as diverse as expected
The 30th annual season of the Lake Superior Chamber Orchestra concluded last Thursday at Mitchell Auditorium on the Scholastica campus. Music Director Warren Friesen programmed three orchestral pieces and one pantomime that W.A. Mozart left incomplete. Composers by the names of Theodore Gouvy, Tina Davidson, and Erwin Schulhoff are not common to the concert venues in Duluth, or many other places on a regular basis. That’s what Friesen likes to bring home.
For my tastes, the ‘Celestial Turnings’ by Tina Davidson needs to be replayed several times in the next month. So many layers of strings, setting a mood, and watching/listening to the creation of the universe unfold within the span of about twenty minutes.
The modern completion of the score to the Mozart pantomime based on an old story about Pantalone and Columbine was rather boring, while the skit itself was quite entertaining. The story unfolded, and the lovely maiden knew the partner she wanted. As usual, there was inadequate money for a transaction. After some changes of clothes, and behind the scene exchanges of purses of coin, the clown won his lady, and the old doctor had to be content with simply being old. Thanks to Jean Sramek for bringing this story to the stage, and Ann Gumpper for creating costumes and modest scenery to make up for the lacklustre background music.