Stony Brook Symphony Orchestra Lights Up Staller with Dueling Pianos

By Alison Prelusky
Staff Writer

The Stony Brook Symphony Orchestra, under the direction of guest conductor Jeffery Milarsky, performed on the main stage of the Staller Center on Saturday night. The program consisted of Maurice Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite, Francis Poulenc’s Concerto in d minor for Two Pianos and Orchestra, and Igor Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements. 

All music in the program was written in the 20th century; however, the similarities ended there. Each segment of the night’s performance provided a new luscious flavor for the audience’s collective palate, and the vision of each composer was beautifully realized by the orchestra’s immaculate performance.

Ravel’s Mother Goose Suite was first in the program. When a musical piece’s title and subsequent movements allude to children’s nursery rhymes and fairy tales, it’s easy for an audience member to expect a light, undemanding piece of music. This was certainly not the case. The piece boasted complex melodies and instrumentations, as well as an equally astounding array of moods and emotions. Movements such as “Pavane of the Sleeping Beauty” and “Conversation of Beauty and the Beast” delivered dramatic and even shadowy elements to the piece, while “Laideronnette, Emperess of the Pagodas” and “The Fairy Garden” offered a lush and bright sound that served to invigorate the entire concert hall.

The second musical work of the evening was Poulenc’s Concerto in d minor for Two Pianos and Orchestra, which featured piano soloists Yi-Chun Sunny Kuo and Tania Tachkova. The first movement seemed to have a “dueling pianos” theme; each soloist seemed to command one half of the orchestra to musically “gang up” on the other half, which  entertained visually as well as aurally. The second movement began with only the two pianos, increased in complexity and speed as the rest of the orchestra was added, and finally ended with a repeat of the movement’s beginning. The third and final movement began on a somewhat playful note, but once again became more dramatic with the addition of the rest of the onstage instruments. The piece ended with a flow of cascading chromatic piano notes, followed by the thunderous applause of the audience.

After a brief intermission, Stravinsky’s Symphony in Three Movements was performed as the final piece of the night. As was to be expected, the orchestra did a fantastic job of channeling the composer’s characteristic in-your-face style. Although the piece is incredibly complex and chaotic-sounding in some parts, each individual part fit perfectly the other. While many audience members probably had no clue as to the piece’s time signature changes, it is a safe bet that quite a few were probably tapping their foot along. The piece’s tight, metered ending served to particularly showcase the brass section, but the night was not over before the concert’s audience demanded multiple curtain calls. This was a fantastic concert, and with two other performances to come during the fall semester, the Stony Brook Symphony will surely deliver.

The Stony Brook Symphony Orchestra will have its second performance of the semester with the Camerata Singers and Chorale on Saturday, November 12th at 8 p.m. Tickets for the general public are $16, while students and seniors may purchase tickets for half price.