Louis Roney: Hearing a change in our musical climate

• Any music lover living in our area should now perforce applaud things taking place on our musical scene. Any attentive musician would have to be deaf not to have discerned a change in our local musical climate and activities. Today I hear orchestra sounds that were not here yesterday and musical professionalism and performing talents I had heretofore only wished for. At the fore, stands at least one name, that of new conductor Eric Jacobsen who seems to be dreaming new dreams for us and making them come true. He has visions on the way to becoming reality, and for that fact we thank him...and wait...

The opening concert of the Orlando Philharmonic Orchestra on Saturday, Oct. 24, brought the debut of new maestro Eric Jacobsen. He acquitted himself with brisk, and matter-of-fact communication with his minions, and he knew just how to ask for what he had in mind.

Beethoven’s popular Leonore Overture No. 3 opened yet another program and came off with necessary pomp and circumstance.

Then came the familiar Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 1 in B flat minor, performed with elegance by Joyce Yang, pianist, who has played for the Orlando public since the age of 13 and is now, at the ripe old age of 29, a renowned musical artist. Yang brought her own quite romantic interpretation of the famously romantic Tchaikovsky to her audience and received a careful and meticulous accompaniment from conductor Jacobsen. Lovely young female pianists are in good supply it would seem, and wonderful they are!

After intermission came the world premiere of “Freight and Salvage” by composer Gabriel Kahane. In composer Kahane’s words, “I thought of the relationship of my work as a song writer to my work in the concert hall.” To this hearer, Kahane’s “music” contained little to no melody and was merely “disconnected but organized sounds,” with the orchestra at one point singing a “song” amid a plethora of sounds. The only audible words were “kids fall down in the snow.”

Daphnis et Chloe Suite #2 by Ravel came to the rescue and ended the program with grace and lush beauty. Kudos to the Orlando Phil woodwinds, especially first flute, Colleen Blagov, who provided collaborative artistry with her solos. Conductor Jacobsen’s debut holds great promise for times to come – a wonderful addition to the musical scene in our city. See you at the next concert (Nov. 6 at 8 p.m. at the Bob Carr).

• Wednesday’s third Republican debate was not all music to my ears. On Nov. 11, 2010 I had written: “My b.w. tells me that whether or not you like Marco Rubio this guy is headed for the White House unless he self-destructs. He’s got a lot of plusses, and my b.w. is an uncanny odds-maker.”

So far, I believe Marco to be the winner in all three debates. Two others who were on top of their game were Ted Cruz and Chris Christie. At the last debate, the losers were the people who asked the questions – the media. Finally both Cruz and Christie asked the pertinent question: With all the problems in this world you are asking about fantasy betting and gay bashing? The audience went wild. Rubio was asked why he didn’t quit his Senate job since he had missed most of the votes recently. He answered: Why didn’t they ask that question when McCain missed 30 percent of the votes when he was running, and both Kerry and Obama missed 60 to 70 percent of their votes in the Senate when they ran for president and nary a question was asked. Now that the media game is up, maybe it will be possible to get on with substantive discussions of problems facing us. It still amazes me that the Republicans can field such a knowledgeable and qualified group of Americans any of whom could do the job. On to debate No. 4.