On Sunday Feb. 17 in Wadsworth Auditorium, the Geneseo Symphony Orchestra put on their concert, “The Mozart Effect.” The concert showcased soloist soprano senior Sarah Ploof and soloist trumpet player junior Josef DiGiorgio (Elijah reed/ staff photographer).
The hum of tuning instruments swallowed all other sounds in Wadsworth Auditorium at 3 p.m. on Sunday Feb. 17. Grouped together by instrument sections, the Geneseo Symphony Orchestra sat on stage to perform their concert, “The Mozart Effect.”
Geneseo Symphony Orchestra conductor Leah McGray led the concert, which featured the 2018-2019 Concerto Competition Winners soprano senior Sarah Ploof and trumpet player junior Josef DiGiorgio. The concert revolved around Mozart, one of McGray’s favorite composers.
“We haven’t really done a lot with classical or Baroque era music,” McGray said. “Mozart is one of the most evocative and astounding composers of that era. I’ve heard it said that Mozart is too easy for high school students and too hard for professionals, but luckily this orchestra is somewhere in the middle.”
McGray saved the intricate “Symphony No. 40 in G Minor” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with its four complicated movements, for after the performance’s intermission. To start, the orchestra played a different, similarly engaging Mozart piece called “Overture to Le nozze di Figaro (1786)”.
The orchestra followed the swells and crescendos of the piece with an invigorating relish, energizing the auditorium with sound that bounced off the walls. This piece stood apart from the subsequent pieces because the orchestra was unaccompanied by soloists, spotlighted for each musician’s individual training and talent.
This prepared the audience for the arrival of the soloist soprano Ploof, performing the Jules Massenet piece called “Adieu, notre petite table” from the opera “Manon.” Silence filled the room as Ploof stepped into the lights of the stage, sparkling with eye-catching sequins to match the grace of her singing voice.
Ploof’s addition to the orchestra’s sound was mesmerizing, her voice a sweet harmony to darker notes from instruments like the bass and the trombone. At points in the song, Ploof unleashed a thrilling vibrato before scaling back into a gentle diminuendo, coaxing the audience into a waltz with her dynamically-rich sound.
The solo posed a welcome challenge for Ploof, a vocal performance and mathematics double major.
“It was difficult, especially with the recitative,” Ploof said. “The solo is not very metered and there isn’t a lot of structure to it, so I had to be creative. I’ve never performed with [the Geneseo Symphony Orchestra] before, but it was a great experience. I was scared, but it was fun.”
Ploof’s solo was followed by DiGiorgio’s on the trumpet in the piece “Concerto for Trumpet and Orchestra (1950)” composed by Alexander Arutiunian. DiGiorgio often played with the orchestra during this piece, but in moments of true suspense he waited quietly with trumpet in hand.
At the end of the concerto, the orchestra cut off and let DiGiorgio play by himself. It seemed DiGiorgio was totally alone onstage, blasting melody from his trumpet while all eyes in the room were on him.
After an intermission, during which audience members praised the musicians in hushed awe, McGray announced that the orchestra would be performing the challenging “Symphony No. 40 in G Minor (1788)” by Mozart; a piece that is nodded to enough in popular culture for it to be familiar to audience members.
The orchestra performed professionally and exceptionally, pushing energy into the dynamic changes and creating a palpable excitement with the music.
The Geneseo Wind Ensemble will be the next musical group to demonstrate the talent of Geneseo’s music department on March 1 at 8 p.m. in Wadsworth Auditorium.